History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 83

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302

USA > Ohio > Crawford County > History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 83

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" In six days God made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh he rested; and then he took the scraps which he could not use in the formation of the earth or the animals that walked on the earth, or in the fishes of the sea or the reptiles that crawled upon the earth; he moulded this refuse into human form, and with his fist he punched in two eyes, and put on a nose, and he called it John Luke."

Another similar case was in 1844, when a hog case was being tried in the court house; the attorney for the prosecution was Jude Hall of Upper Sandusky, the stealing having occurred in the Wyandot part of Crawford. In his speech to the jury he said: "Why, gentlemen of the jury, you may put one foot upon Her- cules, and the other upon Jupiter, and lay your telescope, straddle of the sun, and gaze over this wide creation, and you can't find as mean a man as John Smith."

This same gentleman in a case at Bucyrus, thus alluded to the opposing counsel: "Why, your honor, he's a mere circumstance, a fabric, a ruta baga."

A similar illustration occurred at Bucyrus, years later. An important case was on, and John R. Clymer was one of the attorneys, and speaking of one of the young attorneys of the opposition, with a wave of the hand he brushed him aside, with the remark: "He amounts to no more in this case than a fly on the periphery of a wheel."

Josiah Scott once went to Osceola to try a case before Squire Tuttle, and after he had made his eloquent and convincing argument, as he thought, to the jury, the opposing counsel spoke of the effort of the future Supreme Judge in the following vigorous style: "The gentleman may roar like a salamander, but my positions are adamantine, and must prevail."

Of the early lawyers, Isaac H. Allen died in Bucyrus in 1828.

John H. Morrison, soon after he left the Treasurer's office went to Findlay. He had but one arm. He was a very fair lawyer, not

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ne of the ablest in those early days, but had a een tongue. At one time he was conducting case in which he became very much interested, nd after the evidence was all in he was sat- sfied he would lose, so he opened his remarks o the jury, about as follows: "May it please he court: By the perjury of witnesses, the gnorance of the jury, and the corruption of he court, I expect to be beaten in this case." Iere, the judge, who was Patrick G. Goode, nterrupted him with the remark: "What is hat you say, Mr. Morrison?" The latter oolly replied: "That is all I have to say on hat point," and commenced his address to his ignorant" jury. At another time he had a eparation case, where the wife had taken the hild, and the husband wanted it, so Morrison or the husband, got out a writ of replevin, and he sheriff seized the child, and two disinter- :sted parties were appointed to appraise the value of it. They failed to agree, and two nore were appointed with a like result; while he third set of appraisers were at work, a rother of the mother of the child grabbed the nfant and mounting his horse, started away at ull speed. Morrison gazed after the vanishing horseman, and remarked: "There goes my ase. I could replevin the devil out of hell, if could only get appraisers to put a value on lim."

Charles Stanberg was known as the "linsey voolsey" lawyer, as he appeared in court wear- ng a suit of that material. Both he and Michael Flick left at an early date.

Josiah Scott arrived in June, 1829. One of lis first cases was before Squire Jas. Stewart, wo miles east of Bucyrus. He walked out and Jack. His client was Charles Bacon, and ;cott asked him if he thought $1.50 was too much to charge for his services. Bacon thought .ot, and the charge was made, but Scott over- poked the collecting of the bill for years. Ie was a great student, and at times very ab- ent minded. In 1840 he was a member of he Legislature, and on one of his trips to Columbus, George Lauck, who was county reasurer, gave him a package containing the noney for his semi-annual settlement with he state treasurer. Reaching Columbus he ook the package from his saddle-bags and ut it in his pocket before going in to break- ast. After he left the dining-room he found

the money was gone, he hurried back and for- tunately found the package under the table, it having slipped from his pocket. At another time he had business at Marion, and he hung up his coat in the hotel office, and went to bed. The next morning the coat was still there, but the pocket-book containing $500 was gone. Scott was a great friend of the Indians who called him "Big Head," as he wore a number 8 hat. He used to take part in their sports, and in all their cases he was the attorney for the Indians. One of the Indians named a son Josiah Scott, and when the Wyandots went west in 1843, Josiah accompanied them. Mr. Scott was born in Washington county, Pa., in 1803, and graduated with high honors from Jefferson college, Pa., in 1821. He taught in that college, studied law and was admitted to the bar. Located at Bucyrus, in 1829.

When the war was over the Michigan bound- ary came up in 1835. Mr. Scott raised a com- pany but the matter was settled by the courts and the company was not needed. In 1840 he represented the county in the Legislature and about 1851 went to Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio, where he continued the practice of his profession.

In 1856 he was appointed, by Governor Chase, a judge of the Supreme Court, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Ranney, and in October of the same year he was elected to serve the full term of five years, being subsequently re-elected in 1861 and 1866. He returned to Bucyrus in 1870 and at the close of his last term as judge resumed practice at the bar. In 1876 he was appointed, by Gover- nor Hayes, as a member of the Supreme Court Commission, a body composed of five judges, created in 1875, to dispose of a part of the accumulated business then on the docket of the Supreme Court, and having the same jurisdic- tion and power in respect to such business as the Supreme Court itself. Elected chief judge for one year by his associate members of the commission, he served ably in that capacity, and subsequently remained a member of the commission until February 1, 1879, the close of its term.

Judge Scott was an eloquent advocate and an able and learned lawyer and jurist. He was a man of excellent education, a fine math- ematician and well read in the classics. He

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was moreover a Christian gentleman, an elder for years in the Presbyterian church, of genial disposition, sparkling wit and endowed by nature with a fine presence. His active pro- fessional career covered a period of half a century, the great part of which time was spent in this community and no man was better un- derstood and more highly appreciated and esteemed. He died June 15, 1879.

George Sweney was born near Gettysburg, Pa., in 1796. After graduating at Dickinson college, he studied law and was admitted to the bar. Beginning about 1820, he practiced his profession for ten years at Gettysburg. In 1830 he came to Bucyrus, where he con- tinued in his profession. He was elected pros- ecuting attorney, and while holding that office, in 1838, was elected a member of Congress from the Fourteenth Ohio district, being re- elected in 1840. In 1853 he removed to Geneseo, Ill., but, after an absence of three years, returned and was again elected prose- cuting attorney. After his term in this office he retired from the bar. He died in Bucyrus, Ohio, Oct. 10, 1877. Mr. Sweney was a man of fine appearance, honorable character and amiable manners. He was a good lawyer but his tastes inclined him more to the study of science and literature than to the practice of his profession, which was always more or less dis- tasteful to him. He was plain and domestic in his habits and was never so well contented as when engaged in his favorite studies in the quiet and retirement of his own home.

John Smith came in 1832, but did not prac- tice law until later. At first he kept a dry goods store on the west lot of where the Quinby Block now is. He later was elected justice of the peace, and had his office in a frame just west of the Rowse Block. He was an office lawyer, and did much in the way of conveyanc- ing, writing wills, and settling estates. He was an exceedingly conscious and upright citi- zen. He was a widower and his daughter kept house for him. He died in his office forty years ago and at the time of his death was about eighty years of age.

In August, 1837, Franklin Adams located in Bucyrus, and had his office opposite the court house, boarding when he first arrived with Samuel Norton, and when the Lutherans sold their property opposite the court house in 1858,

he bought the balance of the corner and built the brick which was his office for so many years. In 1838 he was appointed prosecut- ing attorney, succeeding George Sweney who had been elected to Congress that year, and in 1839 he was elected to that office, and re- elected for two more terms. He died in 1908, having been a member of the Bucyrus bar for over seventy years.

John M. Armstrong practiced law in Bucy- rus from 1838 to 1843. He was a graduate of Norwalk Seminary and had studied his profession under Judge James Stewart, of Mansfield, graduating at the Cincinnati law school. He was a well educated and accom- plished man, but was partly of Indian blood, his father, Robert Armstrong, who had been taken prisoner by the Indians, having married a quarter-blood Wyandot woman. In 1839 he was the Whig candidate for prosecuting at- torney against Franklin Adams, but was de- feated. He moved west in 1843 with the Wyandot Indians to where the town of Wyan- dot, Kansas, now stands. A few years later he died at Mansfield where he had stopped for a visit, while on his way back fromn Washington, having gone there on business connected with the Indians. His wife was a daughter of Rev. Russell Bigelow, a prominent Methodist preacher in the early days.

In the spring of 1844 the Bucyrus bar was strengthened by the accession of Lawrence W. Hall, who came here from Cuyahoga county. Elected prosecuting attorney for the county, he held that position by successive elections from October, 1845, to October, 1851. At the fall election of 1851, the first under the new constitution, he was elected a judge of the Common Pleas Court, and served in that of- fice until February, 1857. He was a member of the National House of Representatives, be- ing elected in 1856. He subsequently con- tinued the practice of law in Bucyrus until his death, which took place January 18, 1863. Judge Hall was a successful practitioner, and was a politician as well as a lawyer. He was kind and genial in disposition, was very pop- ular and was noted for his urbane manners while on the bench. Being associated with that party that was opposed to the prosecution of the War for the preservation of the Union, he was arrested in 1862 and for a number of

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weeks was nominally held as a political pris- oner at Camp Mansfield, but allowed to go about on parole.

Josiah S. Plants came from his father's farm in Liberty township to Bucyrus and worked at the trade of shoemaker, and while at work kept a law book beside him from which he studied. Later he was taken from his shoe- maker's bench to teach in the schools. He then read law under Josiah Scott, and was admitted to the bar, and in 1844 began the practice of law in Bucyrus.

In the fall of 1858 he was elected a judge of the Common Pleas Court for a five years' term, beginning in February, 1859. He was dis- tinguished for industry, honesty of purpose, devotion to his friends, fidelity to his clients, and earnestness and force as a public speaker. His promising career was unfortunately cut short, his death taking place August 23, 1863, as the result of wounds received by the ac- cidental discharge of a gun while hunting in Indiana.

E. A. Wood and William Fisher practiced law in Bucyrus early in the forties, but after a short stay here removed to other locations.

Joseph E. Jewett, who came from Wayne county, conducted a law office in Bucyrus from 1844 until the fall of 1848, whn he removed to Des Moines, Iowa. While here he assisted in organizing a Masonic lodge, and was the first master. He was also the first captain of the fire department.

Enoch W. Merriman, born in Bucyrus in 1830, was admitted to the bar in 1853 and practiced until the spring of 1861, when he responded to President Lincoln's first call for troops, and was lieutenant of the first com- pany that left the county, Co. C of the Eighth Ohio. He died in camp at Grafton, W. Va., August 12, 1861.

Burr Morris, born in Stark county in 1829, was educated at Findlay Academy, read law with Henry Brown of Findlay, Ohio, and was graduated at the Cincinnati Law School in 1855. In the following year he was admitted to the bar and began practice in Bucyrus. He was twice elected prosecuting attorney, first in October, 1861, and again in 1863. Sub- sequently removed to Albany, Linn county, Oregon; he was there elected county judge and died while in office in November, 1866.

Henry C. Rowse, son of Zalmon Rowse, born in Bucyrus in 1835, practiced law here for about three years, beginning in 1857. He was mayor of Bucyrus in 1860. He died at Rockford, Ill., in October, 1862, at the time of his death holding a position as clerk in the Interior Department at Washington.

Samuel J. Elliott began law practice at Bucyrus in August, 1857. In August of the following year he was appointed probate judge of Crawford county by Gov. Chase, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of P. S. Marshall. Mr. Elliott was the only Republican that ever held office in the court house since the Republican party was formed. He held the office until October 18, 1858, when his suc- cessor was elected and qualified. In 1859 he removed to Wapakoneta, where he subse- quently died.

William S. Fitzsimmons, born in Crawford County in 1841, read law under D. W. Swigart at Bucyrus and was admitted to the bar in March, 1868. In March 1861 he enlisted in the 8th Regiment, O. V. I., with which he saw much hard service. He was severely wounded at Antietam, and finally died from the effects of his wounds, at Bucyrus, on July II, 1870.

Robert McKelley was born in Lancaster county, Pa., in 1815, and removed to Knox county, Ohio in 1834. Subsequently coming to Bucyrus, he commenced law practice here Au- gust 1, 1842. In 1845 he was appointed by President Polk registrar of the land office at Upper Sandusky. Here he had charge of the sales of the lands of the Wyandot reservation, holding the office until its removal from Upper Sandusky. From January to October, 1852, he was probate judge of Wyandot county, being the first to hold that office. In January, 1854, he was elected a director of the Ohio & Indiana Railroad Company and was its president the last year of its separate organization. While serving on its board of directors he originated the movement for the consolidation of the three companies owning the continuous line of railroad between Pittsburg and Chicago, re- sulting in the organization of the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Railway Company. He was also for several years a director and so- licitor of the latter company. He was a mem- ber of the Ohio senate for Crawford, Seneca

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and Wyandot counties from January 1, 1858, to January 1, 1860.

Abraham Summers commenced the practice of law in Bucyrus in 1850. He was elected prosecuting attorney for Crawford county in 1855 and was re-elected in 1857. He was sub- sequently twice elected probate judge, in 1860 and 1863. He afterwards removed to Hicks- ville, Ohio, where he died.

William M. Scroggs came to Bucyrus with his father in 1839. He was conductor on the first passenger train that came to Bucyrus. Was admitted to the Bar, but practiced very little, becoming Mayor of the village and county auditor.

Conrad W. Butterfield opened a law office in Bucyrus in 1853 and practiced here until 1860, when he removed to Lima, Ohio. Returning to Bucyrus in 1863 he resumed practice here and remained until 1870, when he removed to Madison, Wis. He was a man of literary tastes and was the author of several works, including a "History of Seneca County, Ohio," and a "History of Col. Crawford's Expedition Against the Indians in 1782," which latter work has had a wide circulation, and is the stand- ard authority on that campaign. He died at Madison, Wis.

Abner M. Jackson, admitted to the bar in September, 1854, began practice in Bucyrus. From 1851 to 1855 he served as auditor of Crawford county and was elected prosecuting attorney of the county in October, 1859. In 1871 he was elected judge of the Fourth Sub- division of the 3rd district of the Common Pleas Court, composed of Crawford, Hancock, Marion, Seneca, Wood and Wyandot coun- ties. In 1874 he resigned and removed to Cleveland, Ohio, from there he went to Silver- ton, Col., where he died.

Cyrus Linn, James W. Smith, John D. Sears and I. F. Price all practiced law in Bucyrus for short periods in the forties and early fifties, subsequently removing to other localities, J. D. Sears removing to Wyandot county when it was organized in 1845, and becoming the leader of the bar in that county. In 1873 he was elected without opposition to represent Wyandot county at the Constitutional Con- vention. Some years ago he retired from prac- tice and made his home in California where he died in September, 1912.

Cyrus Sears, born in Delaware county in 1832, came to Crawford county with his par- ents in 1836. Graduated at the Cincinnati Law School in 1856 he began practice in June of that year at Upper Sandusky. From April I, 1857, to June 15, 1859, he practiced his pro- fession in Bucyrus, when he removed to Upper Sandusky. In August, 1861, he enlisted in the I Ith Ohio Independent Battery of Light Ar- tillery, and subsequently made a brilliant rec- ord as a soldier, being several times promoted, and in April, 1863, becoming Lieut. Colonel of the IIth Louisiana Volunteers, afterward named as the 49th U. S. Colored Infantry. He behaved with great gallantry in various battles and was recommended for promotion by Generals Hamilton, Rosecrans and Grant.

Matthias Buchman, who read law with Judge A. M. Jackson, was admitted to the bar in 1860. He was prosecuting attorney of Crawford county from April, 1864 (succeed- ing Burr Morris, who resigned), until October, 1865. Later he removed to Cleveland, Ohio.

Among the other lawyers who practiced in Bucyrus in the later fifties and early sixties, but who remained only a. short time, were Christopher Elliott, 1858; C. M. Dodson, 1860- 1862; Archibald McGregor, 1858-60; J. A. Es- till, 1858-59; John B. Scroggs, 1861-63; and Joseph R. Swigart, 1859. Mr. McGregor dur- ing his residence here, in addition to his law practice, engaged in the publication of the Crawford County Forum. He subsequently returned to Canton, from which place he had come. Stephen D. Young practiced two years in Bucyrus, from 1875 to 1877, when he re- moved to Norwalk, Ohio, and is now judge in that district. Walter B. Richie, who came from Lima, practiced in Bucyrus as a member of the firm of Richie & Eaton from 1876 to 1879, when he returned to Lima, became prom- inent in his profession and Grand Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias of the United States.

Robert Lee, born 1805 in Butler county, Pa., in 1823, removed with his father's family to Leesville, then in Richland county. In early manhood he was engaged in various business enterprises. In 1836 he was elected a member of the Ohio legislature for Richland county and was re-elected in 1837. For ten years, be- ginning with 1839, he held the office of justice of the peace. In 1849 he was elected by the Legislature an associate judge of the Court of

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Common Pleas of Crawford county, and held that office until February, 1852, when it was abolished by the new constitution of the state. In 1853 he was elected state senator for Craw- ford, Seneca and Wyandot counties, and was chosen president pro tem of the senate, May I, 1854, serving during the illness of Lieut. Governor Myers. He was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court May 3, 1854, but he devoted very little time to the profession of the law. For one term he served as mayor of Crestline. In 1869 he was elected probate judge of Crawford county, being re-elected in 1872, and made his home at Bucyrus until his death.

John Hopley came to Bucyrus in 1856 as superintendent of the Union Schools. Admit- ted to the bar in 1858, he began practice in partnership witth A. M. Jackson. In 1862 he visited England on professional business. On his return in the fall of the same year he ac- cepted a clerkship in the Treasury Department at Washington, became secretary in the office of Secretary Chase, giving especially attention to the subject of finance. He was afterward transferred to the Currency Bureau, and had charge of the statistical division. In 1864 he resigned and engaged in a New York City banking establishment. In 1866 he was ap- pointed examiner of National banks for the southern states and Kansas. In September, 1867, he purchased an interest in the Bucyrus Journal and became its editor, in the following May becoming sole proprietor of the office. He was appointed postmaster at Bucyrus in Au- gust, 1870 and held the position until Jan- uary, 1879, and was reappointed in 1890, serv- ing another four years. He died at his home in Bucyrus June 3, 1904.

Daniel W. Swigart, born in Franklin county, Pa., in 1824, came to Crawford county in the fall of 1846. He was appointed deputy clerk of the court, in which position he served until April, 1848, when he became clerk and held the office until January, 1852, when it became an elective office under the new constitution. Having graduated from the Cincinnati Law School, he was admitted to the bar in June, 1852, and at once opened an office in Bucyrus. During the Civil War he served in the Quar- termaster's Department, with headquarters at Cincinnati, and was president of the Atlantic

& Lake Erie Railway Company from Septem- ber, 1869, to August, 1873. He died very sud- denly on November 25, 1880.

Jacob Scroggs was born at Canton, Ohio, in 1827 and came to Bucyrus with his father's family in 1839. He was variously occupied for several years and in the meanwhile studied law, being graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1854. He was admitted to the bar in Hamilton county and in 1855 began the practice of his profession in Bucyrus. He was several times elected mayor of the village. He served during the greater part of the Civil War as chairman of the Crawford County Military Committee, and in 1864 and in 1880 was Presidential elector for this district.

Stephen R. Harris was born in Stark County, Ohio, in 1824. He finished his col- legiate education at Western Reserve College in 1846, and, having read law with his uncle, John Harris, at Canton, Ohio, was admitted to the bar in 1849. In the same year he opened an office in Bucyrus, being in partnership with Josiah Scott, their association being continued up to the time of the latter's death, except dur- ing the time that Judge Scott was on the bench of the Supreme Court and a member of the Supreme Court Commission. In 1895 Mr. Harris was elected to Congress from this dis- trict, serving one term. He died at his home in Bucyrus, Jan. 15, 1905.

James Clements was admitted to the bar in August, 1854. He had previously held the office of county sheriff, having been elected in 1845 and re-elected in 1847. He was probate judge of Crawford county from February, 1864, to February, 1870.

Thomas Beer began the practice of law in Bucyrus in 1862, coming to the county as the editor of the Forum. In 1863 he was elected a member of the Legislature and was re- elected in 1865. He represented Crawford county in the Constitutional Convention of 1873, and, as a member of the Committees on Judiciary and Municipal Corporations showed his great legal ability. In August, 1874, he was appointed by Gov. Allen a judge of the Fourth Subdivision of the third district of the Com- mon Pleas Court, composed of Crawford, Han- cock, Marion, Seneca, Wood and Wyandot counties, to fill a vacancy caused by the resig- nation of Judge A. M. Jackson. In October

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of the same year he was elected by the people to fill the remainder of the term expiring in February, 1877. In the fall of 1876 he was elected to a tull term of five years and re- elected in 1881. In 1885 he was elected to the circuit bench and re-elected, serving until 1893.

John A. Eaton, born in Crawford county, Ohio, in 1853, was admitted to the bar at Columbus, Ohio, in October, 1876. Until May, 1879, he practiced his profession in Bucyrus as a member of the firm of Richie & Eaton. He then went to Kansas where he engaged in the banking business, in connection with his law practice.

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History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 83

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850- Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1302

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302