History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 86

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592

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PATRICK MALLON, attorney at law, and ex-Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Hamilton county, Ohio, was born in County Tyrone, North of Ireland, March 17, 1823. His parents, Bartholomew and Mary (Magurk) Mallon, were natives of North Ireland, as were their ancestors for many generations. They came to this country in 1827, locating near Saratoga Springs, N. Y., where Patrick received his early education. At fifteen years of age he entered Washington Academy, Cam- bridge, N. Y., from which institution he was graduated in 1841. He commenced the study of law in Troy, N. Y., and upon coming to Cincinnati, in 1845, resumed that study in the law office of the late Judge Alphonso Taft, and was admitted to practice in 1848. He immediately thereafter entered into a partnership with Judge Taft and Thomas M. Key, under the firm name of Taft, Key & Mallon, which partnership was dissolved by the withdrawal of Mr. Mallon, who then be- came associated with the late W. C. McDowell, under the firm name of Mallon & McDowell; this partnership was dissolved in 1857, Mr. Mallon taking a seat upon the Common Pleas Bench, to which he had been elected as Democratic nominee in the fall of 1856. In 1862 he received a renomination to the common pleas judge- ship by his party, and was defeated, then forming a law partnership with Chris- topher Von Seggern, with whom he was associated for six years. In 1870 he formed his present partnership association with John Coffey, the firm having since been

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

augmented by the accession of Guy Mallon, the son of Judge Mallon, who in 1888 became a member of the firm, which is now known as Mallon, Coffey & Mallon. Since his retirement from the Bench, Judge Mallon has been twice honored with the unsolicited nomination of his party for a judgeship, but was defeated both times. As a judge he was distinguished for the clearness of the decisions handed down by him, and as a member of the Bar he enjoys, in connection with his associates, the confidence of a large clientage. He has never been an aspirant for political prefer- ment, but accepted a position on the board of trustees of the Cincinnati University, of which lie was a valuable member for six years.

Judge Mallon was married, August 12, 1852, to Sophia O., daughter of Thomas D. Beadle, a merchant of Washington county, N. Y., whose father, Michel Beadle, was a Revolutionary soldier and rendered distinguished service in the battles of Saratoga and Bennington. Of the children born of this marriage, four survive. The eldest, Howard T. Mallon, is now engaged in business in Spokane Falls, Wash .; he is married to Gertrude, daughter of Charles Sivyer, a capitalist of Milwaukee. The second child is Guy Mallon who graduated from Woodward in the class of '81; from Yale College in the class of '85, and from the Cincinnati Law School in the class of 'S8, in which year he became a member of the firm, as above mentioned; he was elected to the Ohio State Legislature in 1889, and served one term; he is mar- ried to Hannah, daughter of Col. H. M. Neil, of Columbus, Ohio, and resides on Southern avenue, Mt. Auburn. The third child is Mrs. Sophia, wife of E. B. Sar- gent, a son of Edward Sargent, of the late book-publishing firm of Sargent, Hinkle & Company, which has its successor in the American Book Company. The fourth child is Niel Mallon, a sophomore at Yale College. Judge and Mrs. Mallon are resi- dents of Auburn avenue, and members of the Presbyterian Church, Mt. Auburn.

EDWARD ALEXANDER FERGUSON, attorney at law, was born in the city of New York November 6, 1826. His education was obtained in the common schools of Cincin- nati and at Woodward College, from which he graduated in 1843. He read law for five years, was admitted to the Bar in December, 1848, and commenced the practice of his profession. In May, 1852, he was elected by the city council to the position

of city solicitor. In 1859 he was elected to the Ohio Senate. The late President Garfield, the late Justice Woods, of the United States supreme court, Gen. Jacob D. Cox, and others afterward eminent in public life, were members of the same Legisla- ture. Of his career in the Senate, the late W. D. Bickham, of the Dayton Journal, the Columbus correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, under date of March 27, 1860, says: "Hamilton county has been ably represented this winter. Those

who know Mr. Ferguson will not be surprised to be informed that he commanded respect and admiration. He spoke but seldom, but his positions were always dis- tinctly taken, clearly stated and ably maintained." In politics Mr. Ferguson is a Democrat of the liberal school. Since his service in the Ohio Senate his name has several times been mentioned for the United States Senate, and other positions, but he has declined all political preferment and devoted himself to his profession. As a lawyer he is known as one of the ablest members of the Ohio Bar. He was the projector of the plan upon which the Cincinnati Southern railroad was built, and was the author of the act passed by the Ohio Legislature May 4, 1869, known as the "Ferguson Act," which provided that whenever the city council of a city of the first class-Cincinnati then being the only such city in Ohio-by a resolution duly passed, declared it essential to the interests of such city, that a line of railway should be provided between termini designated therein, one of which should be such city, a board of trustees to be appointed by the superior court of the city should have the power to raise bonds to the amount of ten millions of dollars in the name of the city. Such resolution was duly passed and a board of trustees, of whom Mr. Ferguson is one, was appointed by the superior court in June, 1869. The road was completed December 10, 1879, and the board of trustees, on October 11, 1881, leased

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

it for a term of twenty-five years at net annual rental of over one million dollars. ~ Up to the time of the completion of this road Mr. Ferguson subordinated all other interests to this, the great work of his life. He has made corporation law his spe- cialty, and has at one time or another been connected with most of the leading cor- porations of the city.

Mr. Ferguson married Agnes, daughter of Adam Moore, a native of Maryland, who was one of the early settlers of this county. Of the children born of this mar- riage six survive, three sons and three daughters. The eldest is Edward Cady Fer- guson, an attorney, practicing in this city. The next is Stanley Ferguson, also an attorney; he is married to Mattie, daughter of the late Adam A. Lever, a resident. of Loveland, Ohio, and one child, Alexina (named for her grandfather), is the fruit of this marriage. The third son, Dudley Ferguson, is engaged in business in Detroit, Mich. The daughters are Misses Nettie, Alice and Grace. All of the chil- dren reside at the family residence, which is a handsome mansion on the corner of Dayton street and Freeman avenue.

GEORGE B. HOLLISTER was born at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., N. Y., April 29, 1820, a son of Alva Hollister (a farmer) and Polly (Munson) Hollister, natives of Manchester, Bennington Co., Vt., where they resided for many years, each liv- ing to be nearly eighty years of age. Mr. Hollister's paternal grandfather was for- three years and six months a soldier in the Continental army; his maternal great- grandfather was a soldier in Gen. Ethan Allen's army of "Green Mountain boys," and his ancestors, direct and collateral, took an active part in the American Revolu- tion. When a youth, our subject attended Burton Seminary, Manchester, founded by his great uncle, Josiah Burton, and was prepared there for Middlebury College, which he entered in the class of 1847. After two years of study at college, his health failed, and in the hope of regaining it he went to New Bedford, Mass., where he shipped on a whaling vessel which for two years and a half cruised the Pacific ocean and Behring sea, and was the first whaler to enter the Japan sea. The ship returned by way of Cape Horn after a successful voyage, bringing back the young sailor thoroughly recuperated in health.

In 1848, Mr. Hollister came to Cincinnati and entered the law office of Thomas J. Strait, with whom was associated S. S. Cox. In 1850 he was admitted to the bar, and is still engaged in the practice of his profession. He was married in 1851 to Laura B. Strait, daughter of his law preceptor, and seven children were born of this marriage: Ella S., Emma B., Howard C., Thomas, Edwin S., Laura S., and Burton P. ; of these all survive except Emma B., who died in 1891; and Edwin S., who died in infancy. The family reside on Southern avenue, where Mrs. Hollister has lived for more than fifty years. Mr. Hollister became the law partner of Mr. Strait under the firm name of Strait & Hollister. Of late years he has had associated with him his sons, Howard C. and Thomas, under the firm name of Hollister & Hollister. In 1893 Howard C. Hollister was called to the Bench of the court of common pleas. of Hamilton county. Politically Mr. Hollister was originally a Whig, becoming identified with the Republican party at its formation, and has since been an earnest. supporter of it. While a member of the city council, as chairman of the law com- mittee, it became his duty to take charge of the organization of the Cincinnati Uni- versity. He subsequently entered the board of trustees of that institution, and remained a member for sixteen consecutive years. In 1866-67 he was a member of the Ohio Senate. From his youth Mr. Hollister has been a member of the Presby- terian Church, and is an elder in the Mt. Auburn church.

THOMAS ACKLEY LOGAN, attorney at law, was born in Philadelphia, Penn., Janu- ary 25, 1829. His father was Cornelius A. Logan; his mother, Eliza Ackley Logan. His parents and all the members of the family have been distinguished for intellectual and literary ability and strong individuality of character. Thomas A. Logan was originally intended for commercial pursuits, but being called as a witness in a suit.

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

in equity before Hon. M. Key, then judge of the commercial court of Cincinnati, that judge was so impressed with the clearness and legal precision of the boy's evidence that he induced his parents to put him to the study of law. He became a student in the office of Hon. Timothy Walker, took first honors in his class at the Cincinnati Law College, received his diploma in a very congratulatory speech from Gen. Winfield Scott, and was admitted to the Bar by the supreme court of Ohio, April 9, 1851. He remained for one year thereafter in the office of Judge Walker, and was then elected city prosecuting attorney; afterward resuming the private practice of his profession. In October, 1885, he was admitted to practice in the circuit court of the United States. Under the tuition of Judge Walker Mr. Logan became, while yet a student, a strong advocate of a codified system of procedure to supersede the common law practice. He contended warmly for its adoption in Ohio, contributing articles to the Western Law Monthly, and other well-known legal pub- lications, and has constantly since been identified with all movements to promote legal reforin, and to secure the administration of justice, unimpeded by technicali- ties. Mr. Logan is distinguished as a commercial lawyer, and is a recognized authority in the law of fire and life insurance and public corporations. As an adjunct to the law he studied medicine and anatomy, making a special study of the phenomena of insanity and mental diseases generally. Through his acquirements in these directions he has been retained in many of the most important cases, involving such questions, in this and adjoining States.

Mr. Logan is an enthusiastic student of ichthyology, besides other natural his- tory, and kindred subjects. He was one of the executive committee on law of the International Association for protecting fish and game, and president of the Ohio State Association for the same purpose. He was one of the originators and for many years corresponding secretary of the Cuvier Club, of Cincinnati. Mr. Logan has been twice married. In 1853 he was wedded to Jenny, daughter of Capt. Joseph Thornton, one of the pioneers of Cincinnati, and three children were born of this marriage, of whom but one, an ensign in the United States Navy, survives. His second wife was Mary Nichols, of Boston, Mass., a descendant of one of the earliest New England families. Of this marriage there is no issue. Mr. and Mrs. Logan reside at Avondale.

ALEXANDER BOTKIN HUSTON, attorney at law and ex-Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Hamilton county, Ohio, was born December 7, 1829, in Colerain township, Hamilton county, Ohio. His ancestry, on his father's side, were Scotch-Irish, on his mother's, English. His great-grandfather, John Huston, emigrated from County Antrim, Ireland, in Colonial times, and settled in Berks county, Penn. ; he was killed at the battle of Brandywine, in the war for Independence. His grandfather, Paul Huston, with two brothers-Samuel and David-came to Cincinnati in 1794. Fol- lowing the trail of Gen. St. Clair's army when it went to fight the Indians, he struck out into the wilderness and settled upon a large tract of land in Hamilton county, near the line of Butler. The settlement became known as the " Huston Settlement " (which name is still retained), and the road from it to town as the "Huston Road," long afterward becoming the Cincinnati and Hamilton turnpike. Here the grand- father reared a large family, and gave to each child a farm. One of the sons, Paul C. Huston, born in 1797, was the father of the subject of this sketch. He married, in 1822, Esther Phillips. who was born in 1802, near Pennington, N. J., and was the daughter of Titus Phillips. Her parents subsequently emigrated to the same neighborhood, and afterward removed to Sangamon county, Ill., where most of their posterity still live. Paul C. and Esther Huston, directly after marriage, settled on a tract of land some three miles from the Old Huston home, but in the same town- ship, now located about twelve miles north of Cincinnati, on the Colerain and Oxford turnpike. The tract, with subsequent additions, became a farm of about three hundred acres, part of which, including the homestead, is still in the possession of

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members of the family. Here they lived together over fifty-four years, he dying in 1876, she in 1888. Their family consisted of ten children-seven sons and three daughters-of whom seven are living.

Alexander B. Huston, the fourth in order of birth, spent his early boyhood work- ing on the farm and attending the township school. In his fourteenth year he went to Cary's Academy, which, during his term, became Farmers' College. Like most of the boys there at that time he boarded himself. He was graduated from that institution at the age of eighteen, and afterward became one of its directors. Among his schoolmates were ex-President Harrison, Bishop Walden, Murat Halstead, Hon. Lewis B. Gunckel, and the Nixon brothers, of the Chicago Inter Ocean. He then, in the fall of 1848, came to Cincinnati to study law, and entered the county clerk's office, paying his way by clerking in the daytime, reading law at night. He remained in that office six years, first under Edward C. Roll, then under James McMasters, becoming the chief deputy of the latter. In 1853 he was admitted to practice law, but did not really begin his professional career until 1856. From that time until now, except while on the Bench, he has been continuously engaged in the practice at Cincinnati, being associated with Edwin D. Dodd, as Dodd & Huston, from 1856 to 1864, with C. K. Shunk, as Huston & Shunk, from 1866 to 1875, and with John R. Holmes, as Huston & Holmes, from 1881 to 1884, the rest of the time practicing alone. Early in his career, to promote his health, which was not robust, he assisted in organizing the present Cincinnati Gymnasium, and was its first president. He early took an active interest in the Masonic Order, and was honored with the 33d degree in 1871. He is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. Judge Huston is one of a large family of Democrats, and has been more or less actively identified with the work of his party. He bas repeatedly received nominations for office from its conventions: in 1881, for judge of the court of common pleas, but was defeated; in 1884, for judge of the circuit court, but was again defeated. However, in October of the same year, he was appointed, by Governor Hoadly, to a common pleas judge- ship, vice Judge William L. Avery. He accepted, and at once assumed the duties of the office. In the fall of 1885 he was unanimously nominated by his party for the same position, for Judge Avery's unexpired term, and was elected, his term expiring February 9, 1887. In the fall of 1886 he was again unanimously nomi- nated by his party to succeed himself, but was defeated, as at former times, with the rest of his party. In October, 1893, he was placed on the ticket of the Inde- pendent Citizens' Party, without his knowledge, for common pleas judge, but he declined to run.

Judge Huston was married, December 27, 1871, to Alice M., daughter of Heze- kiah Griswold, then of Toledo, Ohio, formerly of Hartford, Conn., where she was born. Her ancestors were prominent in the history of that State. Her great-grand-' father, on her mother's side, Roger Welles, was a general in the Revolutionary war, a friend of Washington, and served on the staff of Gen. Lafayette. They have three children: Paul Griswold, born June 22, 1873, a graduate of Woodward High School, is now in his senior year at Princeton College, New Jersey; he expects to prepare thereafter for the Presbyterian ministry. Francis Phillips, born May 18, 1879, is a student at Woodward High School. Alice Welles, born June 5, 1884. The family reside on Gholson avenue, Avondale, where they have lived for over twenty years, and are members of the Presbyterian Church. Outside of the law, the Judge is fond of general literature, his "hobbies " being Shakespeare and fossils.

HARLAN PAGE LLOYD, lawyer, was born at Angelica, N. Y., and is descended from an illustrious Welsh family, whose estate was at Dolobran, in Wales. The head of this family was a lineal descendant of King Edward the First. One branch of the Lloyds went to England, and took a prominent part in the war for constitu- tional liberty under Oliver Cromwell. Their descendants emigrated to New England,

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and settled in Rhode Island. Several of them were soldiers in the war of the Revo- lution. Mr. Lloyd's father was Hon. Ransom Lloyd, of Angelica, N. Y., who was for many years Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Allegany county. He was the personal and political friend of Hon. W. L. Marcy, Hon. Horatio Seymour, and other prominent statesmen of New York. Judge Lloyd married Miss Julia M. Starr, of Danbury, Conn., a descendant of one of the Puritan forefathers, who joined the Plymouth Colony in 1634. Her grandfather and great-grandfather were officers in the war of the Revolution, and the former was killed in battle when the British forces assaulted his native city. Judge Lloyd's grandfather was killed in the battle of Bennington, Vermont.

From both parents, young Lloyd inherited patriotic ardor and military instincts. He had a thorough academic training, and entered the sophomore class in Hamilton College in 1856. He graduated in 1859, one of the youngest students of his class, winning the second honor in general scholarship and the highest prize in rhetoric and oratory. Three years later he received the degree of Master of Arts. For a year he was classical instructor in a collegiate institute at Bloomfield, N. J., and at. the same time pursued the study of the law. Later he placed himself under the immediate tuition of Hon. Martin Grover, Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, and was thus peacefully engaged when the firing upon Sumter called the nation to arms. He heard the appeal and closed his books. Duty was plain, and straight- way he assisted in raising and equipping the first company of soldiers which left his native village; and after the memorable disaster of Bull Run gave his entire time for several months to the work of recruiting volunteers. Untiring in his efforts in this behalf, he visited nearly every school district in his native county, and addressed numerous meetings in churches and schoolhouses. In the national emergency he freely gave heart, voice, strength and example to encourage and animate his fellow- men to the rescue of their imperiled country. A full company of the Sixth New York Cavalry, of which he was first lieutenant, enlisted under him, and marched to Camp Scott, on Staten Island. There his regiment was consolidated with another, and he was involuntarily mustered out of service. He thereupon repaired to Albany, and was admitted to the Bar by the Court of Appeals, in December, 1861, afterward taking a thorough course at the Law School of the University of Albany. Early in July, 1862, he again enlisted, this time as a private in a battery. Promotion fol-

lowed rapidly. After faithful service at Newbern and Roanoke Island, under Gen. Burnside, he was commissioned captain of the Twenty-second New York Cavalry, and ordered to the Army of the Potomac. His soldierly conduct and qualities fre- quently attracted the notice of his superior officers, and at the close of the war Gen. Custer tendered him a position in his own regiment in the regular army, but he declined the honor. He took part in the battles of the Wilderness, at Spottsylvania. Court House, Cold Harbor, the siege of Petersburg, at Jerusalem Plank Road, and in all the battles of the Wilson raid. Thence he marched to the defense of Wash- ington against Early; and thence to the Shenandoah Valley, taking part in every battle of that brilliant campaign. While leading a charge, at the head of his regi- ment, near Winchester, August 21st, 1864, he was shot directly through the body, and was considered mortally wounded. He was sent to the hospital, and thence to his home in New York, as soon as he could be removed. He partially recovered, and with an open wound took the stump for Abraham Lincoln, in the fall of 1864, and made campaign speeches till the very day of election. Then he rejoined his regi- ment in the field, and served on a general court-martial during the winter of 1864 and 1865. In the spring of 1865 he marched up the valley of the Shenandoah with Gen. Sheridan and Gen. Custer, and his regiment led the attack at Waynesboro, in the battle which resulted in the capture of the entire army of Gen. Jubal Early, one of the most brilliant of Gen. Sheridan's famous series of victories in the valley. The column pushed on to Charlottesville and Gordonsville, destroying the Virginia Central

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railroad and Gen. Lee's source of supplies, until it reached a point only twelve miles from Richmond, on the west. Then, wheeling suddenly to the left, Gen. Sheridan crossed the York river to White House Landing, and joined Gen. Grant's army in front of Petersburg. During this rapid march Maj. Lloyd served as aid-de-camp on the staff of Gen. Wells, of Vermont, and won the highest commendation for his sol- dierly qualities. He was now commissioned as major. He took part with the Army of the Potomac in the daily and nightly battles which resulted in the surrender of Gen. Lee at Appomattox. He was next appointed commissary of musters by the Secretary of War, and was assigned to duty on the staff of Maj .- Gen. Torbert, com- manding the Army of the Shenandoah. He mustered out and sent home all the men of his army, and was himself honorably discharged at Rochester, N. Y., in August, 1865. Thus closed his brilliant military career.

Maj. Lloyd now cast about for a field in which to practice his chosen profession. He was not long in determining to come to Cincinnati, and as an entire stranger, without any means, he opened a law office, and began the struggle with many com- petitors. Business came slowly at first, but diligent study and faithful, energetic attention to the interests of his clients gradually enlarged his practice, and made for him the prominent place at the Cincinnati Bar which he now holds. Of the many important causes in which Maj. Lloyd has been engaged, there is none more interest- ing than one of his early practice. Some emancipated slaves sought to recover an estate which they claimed by inheritance from a runaway slave from Kentucky, who had accumulated property in Cincinnati. Maj. Lloyd was retained to prosecute their claim. Suit was instituted in 1869. The defenses of the occupying claimants were threefold: That the plaintiffs were illegitimate, as a slave marriage had no legal validity; that the plaintiffs were chattels, and had no legal status at the time the descent was cast; and finally, that if any property descended, it vested in the master and not in the slave. Maj. Lloyd took the broad ground that the validity of the slave marriage should be recognized in the interests of justice and morality, as it certainly had been under the law in many of the slave States. His argument was an exhaust- ive review of the history of the institution of marriage among the slaves in this coun- try, and of the legal authorities which recognize its validity. The superior court, in general term, unanimously sustained Maj. Lloyd's position, and gave judgment accordingly. The case was the first of its kind in the country, and attracted much attention, especially among the colored people. They looked upon the result as one of the chief steps in attaining for their race complete equality before the law. Maj. Lloyd gave the bankrupt law and the decisions under it the closest study, and was engaged in several cases which afterward became leading cases in its construction. One worthy of mention was argued at Mansfield, in this State. The case turned on the question of the power of the State Court to set aside a discharge in bankruptcy granted by a Federal Court, under the law of 1867. The question was then unde- cided. Maj. Lloyd took the negative, argued the case three times at Mansfield, and finally won it. The law in Ohio and other States has since been settled, affirming the theory of Maj. Lloyd in that case. Another important case, considered from a legal standpoint, was a copyright case in the United States Court. The case had been decided adversely to Maj. Lloyd's clients by Judge Emmons, of the United States Circuit Court, and by Judge Swing, of the United States District Court, before he was retained. The main question presented was whether a system of bookkeep- ing could be copyrighted. Maj. Lloyd argued that it could not, and both in his brief and in his oral argument before the Supreme Court of the United States pre- sented an elaborate review of American and English decisions. The court unani- mously sustained his position, in an opinion which makes this a leading case. It has already been quoted a number of times by English courts. It is reported in Volume 101, United States Reports.

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 86

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1592

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592