History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, Part 11

Author: Williams Brothers
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 443

USA > Ohio > Lake County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 11
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 11

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Willoughby Gazette .- The first number of this paper was issued October 1, 1868, by J. B. Brown, its present editor and proprietor. The Gazette was a four-column quarto, issued semi-monthly for the first half-year, at the expiration of which period the publication was made weekly. In 1870 the paper was dis- continued, Mr. Brown removing the office to Ashtabula, Ohio. In September, 1875, number one, volume one, of the present Gazette was issued. It is a five- column quarto, independent in everything. Its motto reads, " Money-Gold, Silver, and Greenbacks of equal value-the Unit of Values."

CHAPTER XI. THE LEGAL PROFESSION.

THE BAR.

IN both the earlier and later history of the counties, there have been men connected with the bar of Geauga and of Lake whose learning, culture, and eloquence have shed lustre upon their profession. Not only have they carried the name of Geauga and of Lake into the councils of the State, but into those of the nation. In the halls of the State, in Congress, on the Supreme bench, in defense of national honor and life, the counties have won just renown from the services of their sons of the law. Her people have been and are still justly proud of such names as Hitchcock, Phelps, Parkman, Paine, Mattoon, Wheeler,

Perkins, Ford, Bissell, Riddle, and many others, whose talents, learning, and accomplishments have made their names illustrious. Men who came here from New England to enter upon the practice of the law, came with that New England notion that theirs was everywhere recognized as the most learned profession ; that no one should seek to enter it without having first obtained a liberal educa- tion, followed by special training; and that excellence could only be reached by evincing the strictest fidelity to the chosen calling. Hence there came hither, or grew up here, men with this inherited belief, and it was not possible for the applicant for legal honors to gain admission to the bar unless he could come not only possessed of a high moral character, but with the ability to satisfy a body of learned men of his having had that careful preliminary training for his work which, combined with a well-cultivated intellect and the broadest intelligence, would insure his success and not defeat. Had this high standard of admission to the bar been always insisted upon, the profession would ever have retained that dignity and respectability which it once had, but of which it is to-day so largely shorn. Eminent lawyers still there are,-men of a broad and generous culture and of sound learning, who adorn their calling, and are respected and honored at home and abroad; but many there are, all over the land, who have sought and obtained admission to the bar, who have had no special careful training for their work, but who, with but a " smattering" of the law, and lacking studious habits, with neither character nor learning, are lawyers only in name.

The knowledge of the lawyer should be greater than that of his fellows in other departments of life, for to the tribunal where, as an advocate or counselor, his work is done, or where, as a jurist, he must preside, are brought for solution all questions in dispute arising in every other profession of life. On the one hand, for the sake of the calling itself, it is greatly to be regretted that any distinguished members of the law, which in every age has furnished to history names so hon- ored and illustrious, should be lured out of it for entrance upon political life. On the other hand, the loss to the law becomes the State or nation's gain. The legal ranks in Geauga and Lake, among other important civic trusts they have supplied, have furnished two governors of Ohio and one Supreme judge. We append a list of lawyers who have been admitted first to the Geauga County bar, and then to that of Lake County. The biographies of the most noted of these will be found elsewhere in this volume.

ATTORNEYS OF GEAUGA COUNTY.

To Samuel W. Phelps, Peter Hitchcock, and Robert Breck Parkman belong the distinction of being the first attorneys who practiced in the courts of Geauga County. They were in practice as early as 1806.

A Mr. Leggart was the next lawyer, and was a practicing attorney in 1809. Samuel Huntington was admitted to the bar at Chardon in 1810, as were also John S. Edwards, Elisha Norton, and Edward Paine; 1818, Noah D. Mattoon ; in 1819 he was appointed commissioner in chancery ; 1822, Edwin Wheeler ; 1824, Wm. C. Van Ness and Sidney B. McClurg, Wm. L. Perkins; 1828, Na- thaniel Shattuck, Seabury Ford, Horace Wilder, and Ira C. Paine; 1829, Wm. B. Bristol ; 1830, Edward S. Hamlin and Benjamin Bissell; Mr. Bissell was a member of the upper house of the State Legislature in 1839-40, his opponent for the position being Hon. B. F. Wade; 1831, Reuben Hitchcock and Sidney Smith ; 1833, Nathan Allen, Admiral N. Warren, and Horace Sessions ; 1835, Marshall B. White; 1837, David Johnson and Benj. Brainard ; 1838, Schuyler Blakesley, Lyman Cowdery, Chas. B. Smith, and Coridon Taylor; 1839, William H. Wilmot, Jerome Palmer, and Samuel White, Jr .; 1840, A. G. Riddle and Hiram Pierce; 1842, E. A. Paine, graduate of West Point; 1843, Darius Ly- man, Alanson Knox, and F. K. Stowe; 1844, B. F. Curtiss; 1845, Ezra B. Taylor ; 1846, Rufus R. Merrill; 1847, Benj. F. Abel, Erastus D. Ford, H. D. Call, and Lewis S. Hough ; 1848, H. H. Thrasher, Daniel D. Belden, Hiram Strong, Samuel S. Richmond, and Halbert E. Paine ; 1849, J. W. Scobey, Hiram Mills, H. A. Billings, M. Warren, L. O. Hotch, J. L. Oliver, J. R. Whitney, and Hiram Greves ; 1852, Geo. F. Robinson and I. N. Hathaway ; 1853, E. P. Slade ; 1854, Wm. N. Keeney ; 1856, H. K. Smith and R. W. Keeney ; 1857, S. F. Loomis; 1858, Geo. E. L. Wood and J. O. Converse; 1859, John French ; 1860, Augustus E. Miller; 1861, Lucius E. Goodwin; 1864, Jas. E. Stephen- Bon ; 1865, Milton W. Phelps; 1867, S. W. Porter; 1868, O. S. Farr and L. P. Burrows; 1869, George H. Ford; 1872, A. A. Benjamin; 1874, S. J. Rockwell ; 1878, E. L. Sampson, A. C. White, Geo. R. Stephenson, and W. S. Metcalf.

ATTORNEYS OF LAKE COUNTY.

1841, John Cradelbaugh ; 1842, M. D. Cowdery ; 1843, Horace Steele; 1845, A. N. Bissell ; 1846, David B. Conger; 1847, James L. Frisbie, John H. Chit- tenden, and Hortentius J. Paine ; 1849, W. H. Branch and Peter D. Green ; 1850, R. O. Hammond and Geo. E. Paine; 1851, Charles Tanner, John Q. Tanner, and L. S. Abbott; 1854, Wm. S. Cadman, Edwin T. Hamilton, Augus-

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# By F. Lee.

HISTORY OF GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, OHIO.

tus H. Hamilton, and Andrew J. Williams; 1857, Augustus T. Waterbury, Alvin N. Wright, and Thomas C. Grier ; 1858, Delos W. Canfield ; 1862, H. C. Ayers, P. B. Sorter, and S. S. Brenkerhoff; 1863, John L. Branch, N. C. Woodward, Franklin Paine, Jr., and W. W. Branch ; 1864, Edward J. Betts, Albion W. Tourgee, Aaron H. Foot, and Almon H. Green; 1866, Franklin H. Sherman, Francis A. Pettibone, and Jerome B. Brown ; 1867, James E. Chambers; 1868, George Mclaughlin, Edward J. Sweeney, and Robert N. Shepherd; 1869, Horace Alvord, John T. Tinker, Homer E. Stewart, John Cavendish, James A. Mc- Henry, and Charles S. Freer; 1871, Peter F. Young and Clinton . D. Clark ; 1873, Geo. H. Shepherd; 1874, Charles R. Saunders, Mason W. Safford, and Martin B. Cook ; 1877, Frank J. Jerome, Frederick E. Warren, Turhand G. Hart ; 1878, Geo. W. Alvord.

The following " Advice to Young Lawyers" has been kindly furnished to us by Mr. Perkins, whose long and successful career as an advocate and counselor is worthy the careful study of every young practitioner who is eager to reach the " upper story" in his profession :

" FOR THE YOUNG MEMBERS OF THE BAR, BY SPECIAL REQUEST.

" Mr. Perkins made no effort to be a successful politician, and would not have succeeded if he had. From a boy of twelve or thirteen years he loved a law- book. At that early age he used to steal into his father's office, ask for a book, take a volume of reports, read the case up to the close of the ' points' and argu- ments of the lawyers, shut it, and decide the case, then open and read the opinions of the judges and the judgment or decree of the court. When he entered upon his studies he studied law as a science, with seven blank books of entries on his table ; and, having the advantage of a copious library, when the elementary book did not satisfy him he turned to and read the leading cases, and so drew the doc- trines from their fountain. He practiced the profession rather as the means of employing habits of industry than as a source of wealth. His convictions were decided and positive, and were delivered regardless of consequences to himself. So far as facts were concerned, he acted on the theory of the great Roman lawyer and orator, that his client understood them better than any other one, and so encouraged him to make frequent calls, and patiently listened to his repeated re- hearsals, and often subjected him to thorough cross-examinations, and not unfre- quently found curious spots ; for it is no unusual thing to meet with a dishonest litigant who looks upon a lawsuit as a game of chance, and believes that if he can impose on his attorney he can thereby cheat both judge and jury. He required his client faithfully to make him acquainted as well with all facts against him as for him, and in complicated cases to bring him in writing, signed by the witness, the facts to which he would testify ; and if, as is often the case, he could not get the signature, to bring the witness in vacation. During the first eight or ten years of his practice he kept a blank book, of the size of royal cap, in which he entered the preparation of his cases : 1st, the title ; 2d, the full statement of the case ; 3d, the testimony and other proofs, with names of witnesses, and what each would swear to, in the order in which they were to be offered ; 4th, legal points and authorities ; and if depositions, especially if many, a careful index and abstract was made. During the trial he was accustomed to take notes of the testimony more copiously than any other practitioner, and jurors of his circuit were accus- tomed to give much credit to them. But it was observable that the young men who came to the bar from his office-and there were many-were not accustomed to follow this precedent very closely, hence it is probable he doubted the policy of it. Though in the examination of witnesses and argument of the case he avoided the vicious habit of abusing witnesses and parties, yet he could be severe when it was deserved, and when convinced that the interest of his client required it ; and when, as sometimes was the case, he was cautioned by a friendly associate that he was making personal enemies, his reply was that he had sold himself to his client, and within the bounds of gentlemanly and honorable practice and de- portment he belonged to his client, and had no business to consider what the con- sequences might be to himself or any other than his client. All the rulings of the court during the trial, the substance of the charge, the disposition of motions before and after verdict and judgment, and even the obiter dictum remarks of the court, went on to the book ; so it became to him a valuable vade mecum.

" No man could be more popular than he was during the five years of his political life ; yet, from what precedes, it is manifest he could not, for want of taste and ambition in that direction, his reckless habit of uttering his opinions, and his devotion to his profession, from the opening morning to the closing evening, and into the late hours of night, six days in the week, month after month, and year after year, be a successful politician; so, in fact, his political period was a mere episode, and he has looked back on it and does still as the great mistake of his life, interfering with his destination ; and his advice to the young gentlemen of the bar is, that a lawyer, at the head of the bar, occupies a social position high enough to satisfy the generous ambition of the most exalted mind, and he exhorts

them to avoid, not only politics, but all other engagements, except such as are decidedly connected with the profession. If his ambition only is to be a pro- found lawyer, all the qualifications he needs is sound common sense, which nature must give him, for it cannot be acquired, and unwearying industry, which is within the reach of all men of sound health and perseverance. If he aspires to be an advocate, he needs, and must have, the further qualification of the largest possible English vocabulary ; for, whatever may be said to the contrary, we think by words, so that words are the tools of thought, and though almost all books are worth reading, few are worth studying, and of these few the largest and best English dictionary is the most valuable. If he had not a classical education, he should studiously read the English translations of the Greek and Latin classics, for everything valuable in them may be found well translated. To the advocate there is nothing in the whole range of human knowledge which is not useful. He recommends to the young gentlemen to settle in the largest city in their reach. Where there is the most money and the most general business, there will be the most want of lawyers. When he gets there he advises them to avoid partnerships. If he must have a partner, then, if himself an advocate, he should make his connection with a good office lawyer. If he is a good office lawyer, his partner should be an advocate. It requires more variety of talent, and more learning, to practice law in a small village than in a large city. Every man has his own particular talents and taste. In the city he can select those cases to which his talents, tastes, and acquirements are specially adapted, and apply his studies and investigations to those particular branches of the law. In the village or country, he must know and practice every branch of his profession, for he must take all the business which comes to him. If he makes a blunder in the village every one knows it; in the city none other than the immediate parties ever hear of it. Now, my young friends, farewell ; and may success and good fortune attend you in town or country ! W. L. P."

CHAPTER XII.

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

THE first physician practicing in the territory now included in Geauga and Lake Counties, in regard to whom any authentic information can be obtained, was John H. Mathews. He was born at Hoosac, Rensselaer county, New York, in the year 1785, and came to Painesville in 1808 or 1809. He was married, Decem- ber 22, 1813, to Martha Devotion Huntington, a daughter of Governor Samuel Huntington. Among his books, which are now in the possession of his son, Dr. Samuel Mathews, of Painesville, is " Ledger A," bearing date of October 12, 1809, and containing entries of accounts with many names of the families then resi- dent in the vicinity, and as far away as Euclid and the settlements in the south- ern part of Geauga County and the territory adjacent. It was not unusual for a physician in those days to have a thirty-mile ride to see a patient. Dr. Mathews built, before he was married, a frame house, still standing a few rods from its original site. He was engaged for a number of years in business, took a deep interest in the affairs of the village, and led a very active life until declining health forbade. He died in 1862.

Dr. William Harmon began practice in Painesville as a physician and surgeon in 1814. He was born in Rutland, Rutland county, Vermont, in 1785, and educated at Castleton, in the same county. He engaged in the drug business after graduating from the medical school, but failed, in consequence of the de- fault of a partner, who, having secured most of the assets of the firm, absconded, leaving him and his bail to pay the debts. The obligations were discharged to the last mill by his father, Oliver Harmon, who was obliged to sell a valuable farm. Father and family removed to Ohio, and the former was the first man who ever held the office of deacon in the Presbyterian church of Painesville. William married Phoebe Rowley, and, as stated above, came to Painesville in 1814. He died in 1820. During the half-dozen years of his residence in Paines- ville, Dr. Harmon obtained a large practice, and gained a high reputation for skill in his profession.

STORM ROSA,

one of the early physicians of Painesville, was born at Coxsackie, Greene county, New York, in 1791, and died May 3, 1864, after half a century of active prac- tice of his profession in Lake and Geauga Counties,-mostly the former. After receiving his diploma, in 1816, he removed to Centreville, Geauga County, and there remained until 1818, when he changed his residence to Painesville, where there were better promises of a successful career. The promises were finely ful- filled,-the young physician's skill soon won for him an enviable reputation. His patients increased rapidly in number, and he practiced through a large section of

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HISTORY OF GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, OHIO.

country. Dr. Storm was educated in the old school of medicine, but in 1841 he began an investigation of the Hahnemann system, and two years later adopted the new practice, and lectured upon homeopathy in the Eclectic College of Cin- cinnati, taking with him, when he assumed a professorship in that institution, all of the homoeopathic students in northern Ohio. For a number of years he held the chair of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women, in the Western Homoeopathic College of Cleveland, and upon resigning was offered a fine appointment in a St. Louis college, but declined the honor, preferring to remain in Painesville. Dr. Rosa was one of the pioneers of homeopathy in Ohio, and presided at the first meeting of physicians of that school, held at Burton. A man over six feet in height, and large otherwise in proportion, his appearance was strikingly attractive and commanding. He was married, in 1818, to Miss Kimball, of Centreville, Geauga County, and was the father of two children. He died in Painesville, May 3, 1864, after an active, useful life.

Following are the later-day physicians in Lake and Geauga Counties :

Painesville .- Among the first practitioners were Benjamin Palmer and Dr. Clark, who settled near the village in 1819. Dr. H. C. Beardslee was born in Monroe, Connecticut, in 1807. He acquired his education at Yale College, where he graduated in 1826, and here took his degree in medicine in 1829. He began the practice of medicine in Montville, Connecticut, from which place he came to Painesville in 1845. From May, 1863, to the close of the war he was examining- surgeon of enrollment, with headquarters at Cleveland. He has an extensive practice, and is eminent among specialty students for his studies in botany, being considered as fine an authority as there is in the State, and in some of the de- partments as good as any in the nation. Other physicians are Dr. L. C. Brown, allopathic; Dr. E. B. Root, same ; Dr. Loren C. Stebbins, eclectic; Dr. A. L. Gardner, homoeopathic; Dr. H. W. Grauel, eclectic; Dr. Charles F. House, allo- pathic ; Dr. Samuel M. Sumner, homeopathic. Dr. Daniel M. Young, homo- pathic, established electro-therapeutic and Turkish baths in 1878.

Madison .- Dr. Medad P. Sherwood (for many years in Unionville, the father of Dr. W. H. Sherwood), Drs. Andrew Merriman and Edward L. Plympton, were also prominent early physicians. At present in practice, Dr. William H. Sher- wood, Dr. Robert M. Powers, Dr. J. J. Hewett, and Dr. Jones.

Willoughby .- Dr. George W. Card settled here in 1819; moved to Painesville in 1842; was connected with Willoughby Medical College. Dr. George W. Storna is now practicing; also Drs. A. H. Davis, Eli G. Clark, and Thomas Moore.

Mentor .- There are at present writing two physicians in practice,-Dr. Frank N. Todd and Dr. Lester H. Luce.

Chardon .- Dr. Evert Denton settled here in 1820. He was a man eminent in his profession and had large practice. He was of the allopathic school, a grad- uate of Columbia College and the old Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia. Dr. Denton was thrown from his horse one dark night in 1830, while returning from a professional visit, and died from the effects. Dr. Joseph Perham was in Chardon between the years 1830 and 1837, and Dr. Stephen Truesdale between 1830 and 1835, removing to Michigan in the latter year. Physicians now in practice are Dr. A. A. Dimmick, allopathic ; Drs. D. L. and A. L. Bennett, Dr. Alwood, eclectic; Dr. T. H. Sweeney, homoeopathic; Dr. P. M. Cowles, same ; and Dr. Orange Pomeroy, allopathic.

Burton .- Dr. O. L. Rider, present practicing physician, was born at Poultney, Rutland County, Vermont, July 22, 1816; came to Chardon ; here he spent about twelve years and then went to Michigan, in which State and in Wisconsin and Cuyahoga county, Ohio, he spent about twenty-five years. He removed to Burton in 1877. John S. Cleveland, M.D., was born at Rutland, Vermont, August 3, 1808; commenced his medical studies at Castleton, and concluded at Woodstock, same State; was married to Chloe H. Butler, of Rutland, January 27, 1831 ; removed to Akron, Ohio, in September, 1835 ; in May, 1837, moved to Granger, Medina county. In March, 1840, moved to Brecksville, and in 1844 located in Huntsburgh, where he remained seven years, and in April, 1851, removed to Claridon ; thence in April, 1856, removed to Burton, where he re- sided seven years, and where he died, August 27, 1863, aged fifty-five years. The other physicians are Dr. Steer and Dr. McGraw.

Middlefield .- Dr. E. A. Burchard now in practice.

Huntsburg .- There are now in practice Dr. John Breck and Dr. George W. McMaster.

Chester .- Dr. Lyman is at this writing in practice.

MEDICAL PIONEERS AND PIONEER MEDICINE .*

Before proceeding to consider the subject in a general way, we will note the early acts of legislation to regulate the practice of physic and surgery. The first

law dates from January 11, 1811, the preamble reading as follows : " Whereas, the practice of medicine and surgery is a science so immediately interesting to society that every encouragement for its promotion should be given, and every abuse of it, so far as possible, suppressed." The State was then divided into five districts. Geauga County was included in the fifth district, with Jefferson, Bel- mont, Columbiana, Stark, Trumbull, Cuyahoga, Portage, Huron, and Ashtabula. The names of the censors appointed for this district were George Wilson, John McDowell, and Thomas Campbell. The functions of these officials were to ex- amine and license candidates to practice. This law was repealed February 8, 1812, by an act to incorporate a medical society. Among the names of medical men from the Reserve who were embraced in this corporation are those of Drs. Allen, Manning, and Casset, of Trumbull ; Orestes K. Hawley, of Ashtabula ; and J. H. Matthews and Palmer, of Geauga. These counties were in the sixth district, along with Portage, Cuyahoga, and Huron. All physicians and surgeons who had diplomas or proper credentials were at liberty to join on application.

In both of these acts irregular practitioners were not allowed the benefit of law in the collection of fees, and by the latter act were subject to fines but not imprison- ment for practicing. In 1817 the foregoing act was repealed, and another passed and amended in 1818, and also in 1820. The districts were changed to accom- modate the growing population, and the fine for illegal practice increased from five to seventy dollars as the maximum sum. The following year this act was suc- ceeded by one which remained in force and without alteration until February 21, 1824. By this law there were nine districts, corresponding in territory to the judicial ones. The only penalties for violating it were the deprivation of the aid of the law in the collection of fees and ineligibility to the office of censor. In 1824 a new and more comprehensive legal organization was effected. The State was divided into twenty districts, and the last aforementioned act repealed. Ge- auga and Ashtabula constituted the twentieth district, and the corporators' names are O. K. Hawley, Ashbel Dart, Nathan B. Johnson, John W. Scott, John Emory, Jr., Charles -, Storm Ross (i.e., probably Storm Rosa) and Andrew Merri- man. The corporators, and such other qualified practitioners as chose to join, con- stituted a district society and body corporate. Each district elected from three to five censors, whose duties were similar to those prescribed in the foregoing acts. All resident physicians of the State were required to be members; otherwise they were subject to fines, and were deprived of the benefit of the law in the collection of their medical accounts. One feature of this act is noticeable. There were no fines imposed on the irregular. He could not have the aid of the law in securing his remuneration, and he was ineligible to the position of censor. These were the sole punishments to which he was liable, while the non-affiliating regular was fined, and labored under all the other disabilities imposed on the quack besides. This section would indicate, on the part of the profession, a policy to close up their ranks for a final struggle to retain their legal privileges and immunities against the leveling tendencies under democratic institutions which, with us, so far as gov- ernmental forces are concerned, have decreed that scientific and intellectual height shall come down and repose quietly on the plain of ignorance. Before dropping the consideration of these acts to sustain scientific medicine, we wish to commend the twelfth section of the act of 1824, which declares the fine and ethical spirit of the pioneer doctors to those of their successors who are prone to introduce the question of fee rates into the sessions of our medical societies. The section reads as follows : "That the medical society aforesaid shall not either directly or indi- rectly make any order, resolution, or arrangement defining or fixing the amount of compensation to be charged or received for any services which may be rendered or medicine furnished by any surgeon or physician within this State, nor make any other order or arrangement relating to any such charges or compensation."

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History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, Part 11

Author: Williams Brothers Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Number of Pages: 443

Author: Williams Brothers
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 443