USA > Ohio > Guernsey County > History of Guernsey County, Ohio, Volume I > Part 18
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What is now known as the Pennsylvania railroad enters the county from the north, in Wheeling township, follows the windings of the chief stream of the county (Wills creek) on down through Liberty, Cambridge, Jackson and Valley townships, leaving the county near Pleasant City, with stations of im- portance at Pleasant City, then north through Derwent, Byesville, Cambridge, Tyner, Kimbolton, Birds Run and Guernsey and so on out of this into Tuscara- was county. The objective points of this division of the great Pennsylvania system are Marietta, at the south, and Cleveland, at the north.
When originally constructed in about 1880, this was the property of the Cleveland & Marietta company and was headed by General Warner, through whose energy and untiring zeal the road was built at a time when it taxed every thought and capacity of good business men. It opened up an excellent coal field and gave a competing freight rate out and into the county. Its ad- vent was hailed with supreme delight by all classes of citizens, as a north and south route through the county was fully as great in importance as the main line of the Baltimore & Ohio from east to west. It was built through the best valley section of the county, but necessarily over a very rough, uneven country, where much expense was necessary, the grades somewhat heavy and curves sharp. A tunnel of many hundred feet through solid rock and coal strata between Kimbolton and Guernsey had to be constructed at an expense of almost, if not fully, a million dollars. The waters of Wills creek at times flooded the tracks and this caused other expense and delay. General Warner fought on, but all to no purpose, for there came a time when he had to suc- cumb to the inevitable. The road was sold and passed into the hands of the
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present corporation, the Pennsylvania company, who rebuilt and re-equipped the same and it is now a first-class steam highway, doing an excellent business. The coal fields in and near Byesville and Pleasant City were greatly developed and this has made untold wealth to the possessors of the mineral lands, as well as afforded the company the transportation of endless tons of coal.
In the eighties, while the road was still under the ownership of the old Cleveland & Marietta, the tunnel at Guernsey and Kimbolton caught fire, and the immense coal deposit through which a section of the tunnel was made ignited and continued to burn for more than two years, causing a total loss of the tunnel and the laying of another track a distance of eight miles around a horseshoe bend, going eight miles around in order to gain two miles in its true course. This, with endless litigations, caused the company to go into the hands of a receiver and finally it was transferred to the Pennsylvania com- pany. Several of the heaviest stockholders lived in Guernsey county and when the company paid out only about forty cents on a dollar, it broke these local men up financially. It now has thirty-three miles of roadway in the county and is a great thoroughfare, especially for freighting coal from the mines, the road running through the mining section from south to north.
The Baltimore & Ohio was bonded for in this county to the extent of one hundred thousand dollars. So it will be seen that the common carrier system of today has cost the taxpayers of the past generation much money. Yet no one now desires the old system of transportation. At this date the Baltimore & Ohio road has sixteen miles on its Cumberland division and twenty-nine miles on its "Central Ohio" division, with sidings amounting to eighteen miles within Guernsey county.
What is generally styled the Narrow Gauge road, is the Ohio River & Western railroad, which cuts off only a corner of the county, where it runs from the southwest into Cumberland, having three miles of track within Guernsey county. It is still of the narrow gauge type of railroad. It was built about 1880 to Cumberland.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE BAR OF GUERNSEY COUNTY.
Wherever commerce and true civilization is found, there one will find representatives of the legal profession and courts of justice .. Most of the laws of today are based on the principle of justice and equal rights to all citi- zens, be they native or foreign-born and adopted into our national citizenship. If all men were truly informed as to the law of the country in which they re- side and transact business, and then possessed an honest, law-abiding spirit, such as is marked out by the Bible picture of the millennium dawn, there would be little use for lawyers and courts, but as we have not nearly reached that per- fected state, hence the rights of one person must be met and justice forced upon another. This requires lawyers well versed in their profession. The legal profession is one of profound principles and it is for this to point out and en- force the rights of one class of citizens as against other men and classes. While the world has no need of the dishonest lawyer, it has great need of the truly honorable attorney, who seeks ever to make peace, rather than encourage litigation among the people of his community. What is needed is the great type of legal advocates found in the Gladstones of England; the Websters. Everetts, Choates, Marshall, the Lincolns and Douglases of our own America and also those of more recent careers, who seek to make plain the fundamental law of our republic and our international relations with all foreign powers. We need, at this date, more of the great minds in law found in former years in a Hamilton, a Jefferson and our earlier supreme judges.
While there still lurks in the minds of the laity the notion that the legal profession is mostly made up of trickery, technicality and trouble-makers, the fact still remains that through them peace and order and good government obtains in this and all countries. The day has long since passed when this profession is looked upon as one of dishonor, but rather as one from which emanates our best and truest type of citizenship and statesmen.
It is regretted by the publisher that a more complete record of the first attorneys in Guernsey county is not available at present, for a chain of inter- esting sketches which might otherwise appear.
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THE FIRST COLORED JURY.
(Times of July, 1871.)
"The case of the State of Ohio versus Robert Wright (colored), for shooting with intent to kill William Lucas (colored) at Fairview last spring, is now on trial in this court before a special colored jury. The following is the panel, selected by agreement of counsel and on the order of the court, in the manner prescribed by law :
"Jordon Early, Isaac Moss, William Wooten, Simon Turner, Chas. R. Green, Cornelius Turner, Ransom Bennett, Amos Page, Joseph Early, Lewis Jackson, Enos Brady, John Singer, Jeremiah Hargrave, Charles Williams, James Berry and Amos Kimmey.
"We believe this is the second colored jury empaneled in the United States and the first in the state of Ohio; and it is the first time a colored man was ever called to sit upon a jury in this county. This unusual occurrence is a theme of much conversation and interest. Colonel Barnes appears for the state, and William Borton and J. D. Taylor, Esq., for the defendant. The court room was crowded at the opening of the trial. About thirty witnesses are subpoenaed."
DEATH SENTENCES.
The first death sentence in Guernsey county was in 1844, when Judge Kennon sentenced George Weeks to be hanged for the murder of Edward Woods. Later he was sentenced to a term in the state prison, where he finally died.
The next to be sentenced was in 1869, when Thomas D. Carr was tried and convicted for the killing of Louisa C. Fox, his girl lover who refused to marry him. He was hung Friday, August 20, 1869. He confessed at last to the crime and also it was learned that he had in all killed fifteen persons, at one time or another in his life.
FIRST GRAND JURY IN GUERNSEY COUNTY. (From the Jeffersonian, 1878.)
We recently published an account of the first term of Court held in Guernsey county. The first grand jury was empaneled and the first criminal business was transacted at the second term, which began on Monday, August 27. 1810, and adjourned on the Tuesday following. The names of the first grand jurors are as follows: Z. A. Beatty, foreman ; John Hanna, Lloyd Tal-
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bott, Thomas Cooke, John McClennahan, Andrew Marshall, Wyatt Hutch- ison, John Beham, George J. Jackson, John Moffatt, Isaac Grummond, W. Talbert, Stewart Speer, George Metcalf and E. Dyson. The grand jury at the present term of court returned twenty-five true bills of indictment against thirty-six persons. The first grand jury of this county returned three trite bills-two for retailing liquor without license and one for retailing merchan- dise without license. Proceedings under the latter indictment were stopped by the defendant coming into court and exhibiting his license. One of the men charged with retailing liquor without a license pleaded guilty and was fined six cents and costs. The other pleaded not guilty and his case was con- tinued. On the affidavit of George Metcalf, one of the grand jurors, an in- dictment was issued for Peter Wirick, Sr., returnable at the December term, for not answering questions asked him when before the grand jury. The court ordered that the prosecuting attorney be allowed ten dollars for his services at the first term of court, and twenty-five dollars at each term there- after. The prison bounds were fixed by an order of the court. They in- cluded all that part of Cambridge between Spruce and Mulberry streets.
The following were serving as justices of the peace in the townships noted in Guernsey county in 1910: T. M. Johnson, Millwood; G. C. Lanning, Mon- roe ; T. V. Foster, Monroe ; J. W. Bryant, Oxford; W. H. Brown, Oxford; N. T. Oliver, Richland : S. D. Floyd, Richland; W. H. Moore, Spencer; J. Purkey, Spencer; L. B. Hollenbeck, Valley; C. S. McDonald, Valley ; J. H. Oxley, Washington ; John D. Reid, Washington; Earnest Kirk, Westland; Harry Sawyer, Westland ; W. R. Crater, Wheeling ; Henry Wilson, Wheeling ; William Black, Wills; Theudas T. Jones, Cambridge; R. W. Lindsey, Cam- bridge ; S. P. Weisenstein, Center ; E. M. Nelson, Center; A. S. T. Johnston, Jackson ; J. B. Shafer, Jackson ; William F. Wishart, Jefferson; James Mc- Kahan, Jefferson ; J. H. Howell, Knox; J. E. Martin, Knox; H. J. Beaten- head, Liberty; S. L. Madden, Londonderry ; John Morton, Londonderry ; John T. Wyrick, Madison ; A. C. St. Clair, Madison ; J. B. Hartley, Millwood; F. W. St. Clair, Millwood.
EARLY LAWYERS.
Among the early lawyers who practiced at the Guernsey county bar were Samuel Culbertson and Gen. C. B. Goddard. They were able lawyers, and traveled from county to county on horseback, with their books and papers in saddle-bags. Many anecdotes are told of these two, mostly opposing connsels in the cases they engaged in. Samuel Culbertson was tall, bony and wiry,
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and quick to make a point against his opponent. They were the opposing counsel in a case where one party had sued another for befouling a well in the construction of a dam, rendering the water impure. General Goddard. in his speech to the jury, exhibited a glass of the water, and spoke of its pur- ity and clearness, and making the point that such clear, sparkling water (shaking the glass) could not be impure, and seemed to be carrying the jury with him. Culbertson, when he arose to reply, picked up the glass, and re- minded the jury of what Goddard had said, placed the glass on the table before Goddard, and holding up a silver dollar, said, "Gentlemen of the jury, I'll give General Goddard this dollar if he will drink that glass of pure water." Culbertson knew that General Goddard was too dignified to accept such an offer, and his refusal had its effect on the jury, and he won the case for his client. This occurred later than the Chandlersville hoax, and was a game of hocus pocus between two lawyers. General Goddard was a man of great dignity and pride of character, in his profession, and made it a point only to do business in his office. A deputy sheriff of Muskingum county, having a writ of execution to serve, met General Goddard, who was the prosecuting lawyer in the case, on the street, and said to him, "What shall I do if some one else claims the property?" He replied, "I don't do business in the street." A day or two afterwards the General met the deputy sheriff at the postoffice, and asked the result of his business. The deputy said, "You will have to call at the sheriff's office; I don't do business in the post- office." Goddard called at the sheriff's office, and was told what was done. I well remember of seeing the tall, commanding figures of Henry Stanbury and Wilson Shannon, who were occasional practitioners at the Cambridge bar, three score years ago; of Chauncey Dewey, of Cadiz; the Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, the great war secretary, who began his practice in partnership with Dewey, and also Hon. Benjamin Tappan. He was cross-eyed, and called "Old Gimblet Eyes." It was said of Judge Tappan that he was en- gaged in the trial of a case in the early days, when there were a "thousand judges on the bench, one and three naughts." Judge Hallock was the pre- siding judge. One of the associate judges lived three miles in the country, and was in the habit of coming in on court days on horseback with his saddle- bags, his dinner in one bag, and oats for the horse in the other. After the noon recess, Judge Tappan was to begin his argument to the jury. Tappan arose, addressed the court, and began. Judge Hallock interrupted him, say- ing. "Brother Tappan, there is no quorum ; you will wait for Brother Tappan replied, "Are his saddle-bags under the bench?" "Yes," "Then I will go on with my plea : they will do just as well."
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By the Guernsey Times of 1826-48 one learns the names of many of the legal practitioners of those early days. Among them were W. W. Tracey, whose card frequently appears in the Times from 1826 on, and who was later a justice of the peace and a prominent editor of the Times beginning with December, 1834, and Isaac Parrish, later a member of the noted firm of Parrish & Gaston, attorneys and counsellors at law. Among noted lawyers of the county may be mentioned :
1838-Cowen & Longley, Washington.
1843-Bushfield & Hunter (J. M. Bushfield and William Hunter), Cambridge.
1843-Ferguson & Grimes, Cambridge.
1846-T. W. Tipton, Cambridge.
1844-Kennon & White, Cambridge.
1845-Evans & Rainey, Fairview.
1845-Cowen & Grimes (B. S. Cowen and J. J. Grimes ), Cambridge.
1846-Davis Green, Cambridge.
1831-John D. Tingle, Cambridge.
1847-Samuel Bell, Cambridge.
1847-Evans & Scott ( Nathan Evans and Erastus H. Scott), Cam- bridge.
1853-J. M. Bushfield and W. R. Buchanan, Cambridge.
1853-H. Skinner, Cambridge.
1850-Thomas W. Peacock, Cambridge.
1850-T. W. Campbell, Cambridge.
1856-L. W. Borton, Cambridge.
1856-F. Creighton and J. O. Grimes, Cambridge.
1856-J. W. White, Cambridge.
1856-Gaston and W. R. Wagstaff, Cambridge.
1856-Evans and Haynes, Cambridge.
1857-J. H. Collins, Cambridge.
1857-Casey & Atherton, Cambridge.
1857-V. and J. Haynes, Cambridge and Zanesville.
ANOTHER LIST OF ATTORNEYS.
The following is an additional list of lawyers who have practiced before the Guernsey county bar at different times :
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Samuel Herrick, Cambridge, and all of the following at Cambridge : Alexander Harper, Isaac Parish, William W. Tracey, Zaccheus Beatty, Thomas W. Peacock, Nathan Evans, Ezra Evans, John Ferguson, Jacob J. Grimes, John Morton, Cyrus Linn, Anthony Tennis (of Birmingham), Robert Titneck, William B. Abbott, Mathew Gaston; Joseph Johnston, Fairview ; James Rheinhart, Fairview; Samuel Armstrong, Fairview; Joseph Ferrel, Washington; John B. Longley, Washington; James Reinhart, Senecaville ; Erastus Scott, Cumberland; James Casey, Cumberland ; Francis Creighton, and the following, all of Cambridge: James O. Grimes, Vincent Haines, William Wall, George W. Phillips.
PRESENT COURT OFFICERS.
The present ( 1910) officials of the Guernsey county court are as follows : Hon. William H. Johnson, presiding judge, Zanesville, Ohio; Hon. A. A. Frazier, judge, Zanesville, Ohio; Hon. J. M. McGinnis, judge, Caldwell, Ohio; Charles S. Sheppard, prosecuting attorney; H. K. Moore, sheriff ; John S. Berry, deputy sheriff (after January, 1911) ; Elza D. Trott, clerk; Clara Linn, deputy clerk, and Orrin B. Booth, stenographer.
PRESENT MEMBERS OF THE GUERNSEY COUNTY BAR.
Bell, James W., Cambridge; Barber, N. H., Cambridge; Brown, W. H., Fairview ; Bonnell, T. A., Cambridge; Carnes, S. C., Cambridge; Carpenter, IV. A., Freeport; Campbell, J. W., Cambridge ; Collins, W. C., Cambridge; Deselm, T. R., Cambridge; Dugan, G. D., Cambridge; Douglas, J. L., Quaker City : Enos, B. F., Cambridge; Eagleson, Freeman T., Cambridge; Eagleton, William, Craig; Ferguson, J. B., Cambridge; Flood, A. B., Byes- ville; Garber, L. S., Pleasant City; Gregg, Watson H., Cambridge; Haw- thorne. Edmund, Cambridge; Joyce, James, Cambridge ; Johnson, S. M., Fair- view; Luccock, H. W., Cambridge; McCulloch, A. R., Cambridge; Mathews, E. W., Cambridge; Mathews, E. W., Jr., Cambridge; Mackey, J. H., Cam- bridge; Purkey, Joseph, Cumberland; Rosemond, Fred L., Cambridge; Scott, Robert T., Cambridge ; Smallwood, J. W., Cambridge; Stewart, W. W., Cam- bridge ; Stevens, A. L., Cambridge; Sheppard, Charles, Cambridge; Stubbs, I. E., Quaker City ; Turnbaugh, C. S., Cambridge ; Troette, J. A., Cambridge; Turner, John P., Cambridge; Turner, Milton, Jr., Cambridge; Wells, O. V., Cambridge; Weyer, Clara L., Cambridge; Webster, Edson C., Quaker City.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
With the opening up of any new country, the family doctor is as neces- sary as any other man. Grave responsibility rests on him-the diseases coin- cident to the pioneer period need speedy attention and the lives of men, women and children are often in the good physician's hands. In health and vigor all persons revolt at the sight of the medicine case and the surgeon's knife, and sometimes they say many hard things against the medical practitioner, yet when the fevered brow and quickened pulse is felt, when all life looks dark with gloom and doubt scattered in thick clouds before us, it is then that the family doctor, even in the days of "saddle-bags," was a welcome caller in the sick chamber, for he it was who generally understood how to place the sick one in possession of health and strength again. The disciples of Galen have ever been closely allied with the first settlers of a county. They have braved the storms of mid-winter and the heat of mid-summer; they have gone on foot and on horseback, crossing angry streams, by the light of day and through the darkness of the night, often against pelting storms, in order to reach the suffering sick in need of their ministrations.
It should be said that with the passing of the last half century, medical science has made a wonderful advance. Methods have been changed and a real revolution wrought-especially in surgery. The great colleges and uni- versities have educated a vast army of competent physicians and surgeons who have progressed to a point where diseases once thought incurable have come to be looked upon as simple in treatment. The per cent. of cases lost now is very small compared to the days when Guernsey county was first set- tled. Every county owes much to the good, faithful physician, who often goes unpaid for his services, but never refuses to administer to the needs of those in distress, even among the poor and unfortunate who are entirely unable to pay.
Coming down to the early days of Guernsey county, let it be remarked that the pioneer doctor was as capable as others of his day and generation in Ohio. It is to be regretted that no more complete record of the lives of these faithful doctors can be given than is possible to here narrate.
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PIONEER DOCTORS.
The following paper was prepared by Dr. Clark A. Moore, of Cam- bridge, at the time of the city's centennial-or jubilee-celebration in 1906: "This is our centennial,-our jubilee year,-completing as it does the first century of our city's existence. It has been, in spite of the financial de- pressions and social disorders, the most noted century of the world's history in the advancement made in medical science. Investigation and discovery, in regard to the nature, causes and prevention of disease, has given the pro- fession such a mastery over the ills that afflict mankind that the average years of human life have been largely increased. The use of disinfectants and anesthetics has made possible and comparatively safe surgical opera- tions that would have been, even fifty years ago, impossible and not to be attempted. Nevertheless, after all of these discoveries and improvements which add so greatly to the happiness and comfort as well as safety of the community, and render the practice of the profession so much more certain
and successful, yet these old doctors who practiced when Cambridge was young are worthy of all honor. They contended with difficulties of which those of the present time can have little conception. They spent their days and often their nights in the saddle, traversing roads scarcely passable, through the unbroken wilderness and over bridgeless streams, to minister to the humane wants of mankind whenever and wherever needed, and thus opened up the way to the more certain, successful and easier practice of today. The names of these old doctors would grace the pages of history of Cam- bridge-indeed such a history would be incomplete without them. They had the respect, love and confidence of their patrons and when the old doctor died the people mourned. .
"Among the earliest of these away back in the twenties, when Cambridge was not much of a town, were three Frenchman, Dr. Francis Donchonchett, La Rive and Bill. In 1824 Robert Thompson gave this notice to the public : 'Dr. R. Thompson gives this notice to the public from Crooked creek, Mus- kingum county, that he may be found at his residence, one mile east of Proud- fit's meeting-house. He will attend to all calls in the line of his profession.' He was one of the first physicians along the old Wheeling road from Beumers- town to Proudfit's meeting-house, near New Concord. His brother, Dr. John B. Thompson, resided in Cambridge and was the defendant in the first mal- practice suit in Guernsey county. This action was for failure to reset a broken ankle: it was tried in the courts of this county and then taken to the supreme court of the state, where Doctor Thompson won the case. Another
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was the eccentric Dr. John Kell, who practiced among the Irish in the early history of Cambridge ; he claimed to be a graduate in surgery of the Royal Society of Dublin.
"Another announcement, in 1824, was that of Dr. Thomas Miller, which reads thus: 'Dr. Thomas Miller, M. D., offers his services to the citizens of Cambridge and vicinity. Shop in the brick house lately occupied by Mrs. Talbot' [John B. Thompson's].
"Dr. Ignatius O'Farrill located in Cambridge in 1831. Drs. S. P. Hunt and J. G. F. Holston, father of Doctor Holston, of Zanesville, were located in Cambridge in 1836. Following these came Drs. Milton Green, J. P. Tingle, Vincent Haynes, Daniel Ferbache, and S. B. Clark, whom I remember as being my father's family physician when I was a child. Later in the history of Cambridge came Drs. Milton Hoge, J. C. Taylor, G. L. Arnold, J. W. McCall, and Dr. Andrew Wall, a man whom I esteemed greatly, having twice been his pupil in the public schools in my youth, and later in his office as a medical student. His name was a household word in the homes of Guernsey county.
"This brings us down to the present-day physicians. They are all hand- some gentlemen and good doctors, and are too well known to the people of Cambridge and vicinity to require special mention. This imperfect resume shows what magnificent progress has been made in the past hundred years. I thank God it has been my lot to live at the close of the nineteenth century. It is the golden age of the world. There has been nothing like it in history. When our labors close we can depart in peace for our eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."
The following shows the style of early doctors in advertising :
"DOCTOR CLARK
respectfully offers to the citizens of Cambridge and country a continuance of his professional services. He may be found after night at the residence of Mr. William McCracken, north of the court house. Office, next door to the former office of Miller & Clark.
"March 24. 1841."
-Guernsey Times, 1841.
"MEDICAL SERVICES.
"The undersigned respectfully requests those owing him for medical services or otherwise to liquidate either the whole or a part of their indebt-
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