USA > Ohio > Madison County > History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 56
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The last to sit upon the beuch under the old constitution was Judge James L. Torbert, who was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1796. He was educated at the University of Princeton. He came to Ohio in 1818 and was engaged in educational (Inties in an academy at Lebanon, Ohio, among his pupils being the distinguished astronomer. Gen. O. M. Mitchell. the founder of the Cincinnati Observatory. Torbert settled in Springfield, Ohio, in 1824. and being a fine linguist, devoted himself, during the first few years there, to giving instruction in the languages. Being admitted to the bar in the meantime, he became associated with Gen. Samson Mason in the practice of law. He was elected in 1846 to succeed Joseph R. Swan as common pleas judge in the district of which Madison was a part, and filled that office until the adoption of the new constitution, holding his last term of court in London in November, 1851. His death occurred very suddenly on the 15th day of May. 1850. on board the steamboat "Tecumseh" on the Mississippi.
JUDGES SINCE 1851.
Article XI. section 12, of the constitution of 1851, apportioned the state into nine judicial districts. Each district was divided into three subdivisions, the counties of Pickaway, Franklin and Madison constituting the third subdivision of the fifth judicial district. At the April term of the court of common pleas for 1852 the Hon. James L. Bates, who had been elected the previous fall, produced his commission, dated January 16th. as judge of the third subdivision of the fifth judicial district. He was born in western New York in 1815, and was educated and a graduate of Geneva College, New York. He came to Columbus, Ohio, in 1835, read law with Orris Parish and N. H. Swayne, and was admitted to the bar in 1836. He commenced practice and formed a partnership with N. H. Swayne in 1837, which continued until he was elected judge in 1851. He was re-elected in 1856 and 1861, the last time without opposition. Judge Bates was a safe and excellent judge, was a sturdy worker, and alone did the business of the three counties satisfactorily, 'without allowing the docket to accumulate with undisposed business. After he retired from the bench he became active as a business man in the city of Columbus. He was a member of the board of education of that city and a director of the Ohio penitentiary. He was largely engaged in the settlement of large estates. He died in the city of Columbus in 1890.
The second judge under the new constitution was the Hon. John L. Green. a native of Virginia, who located in Circleville about 1830. where he won and retained a large and successful practice. He was elected to the state Senate from Pickaway and Franklin counties, serving in four General Assemblies, from 1837 to 1841. He was a member of the constitutional convention from Pickaway county which framed the con- stitution of 1851. He subsequently removed from Circleville to Chillicothe and was there elected judge of the court of common pleas for that subdivision. Thence he removed to Columbus and. in October, 1866, was elected judge of this subdivision to succeed Judge Bates. He was re-elected in 1871 and again in 1876, his term expiring ill February, 1882. He also was a very learned lawyer and a splendid judge.
During the legislative session of 1867-68 an act was passed creating an extra judg- ship for the third subdivision, and in April. 1868, Joseph Olds, of Circleville, was elected
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to fill the position. He was a native of Pickaway county and a graduate of Yale Col- lege. After serving his full term on the bench, he returned to the practice of his pro- fession and became a member of the firm of Harrison, Olds & Marsh, of Columbus. becoming one of the leading attorneys of the city.
PROBATE COURT.
The office of probate judge was created by section 7. article IV, of the constitution of 1851. The probate judge has jurisdiction in probate and testamentary matters; the appointment of administrators and guardians; the settlement of accounts of adminis- trators, guardians and trustees; the issuing of marriage licenses; the appropriation of private property for public use; the trial of certain criminal cases, and in many other matters provided by law.
Nathan Bond was the first person to be elected probate judge of Madison county, and held the office from February, 1852, to February, 1858, two terms. We have searched diligently for information of Judge Bond's life, but regret that we are unable to get it.
Benjamin Franklin Clark was the second person elected to that office. He was born in Deer Creek township, in this county, December 23, 1829, in the neighborhood of which was known as "Limerick," now a part of the Gynne farm, where the first term of court was held in this county. He attended the common schools and when seventeen years of age began to learn the trade of carriage trimmer and harnessmaker at Urbana and Columbus; returning to London, he worked at his trade. He was appointed postmaster for London by President Pierce and held that office until Febru- ary, 1858, when he took his seat as probate judge, having been elected the fall before. He held the office two terms. He studied law in the meantime and was admitted to the bar in 1864. He practiced law here until 1870, when he became teller of the Madison National Bank, and ten years later became cashier of the bank. He died in 1898. Judge Clark was a worthy man and useful citizen and most highly respected. He held many minor positions of trust and responsibility.
John Henry Kennedy was the third probate judge. He was born in Morgantown. West Virginia, in 1800. When about twenty-two years old he came to Ohio and settled in Deer Creek township, in this county, but after a very short residence there he moved to Somerford township, where he resided until 1863, when he came to London to fill the office of probate judge. He held the office from February 9. 1864, to February 9, 1876. He died in London. December 16. 1879. Judge Kennedy was a most friendly and kind- hearted man. a fine conversationalist and a good story teller. It was said of him that he would willingly. if kindly approached. issue a writ of habeas corpus releasing a person from confinement in Hades.
Oliver Perry Crabb was the next probate judge. He was born in Jefferson town- ship, in this county. June 26. 1826. He attended the common schools and an academy at West Jefferson. In 1844 he went West to "grow up with the country." locating in Muskatine, Iowa. He remained there about two years and then returned to West Jefferson and was employed as clerk in a store there. He was township clerk, corpora- tion treasurer and filled other responsible and useful positions. In 1854 he was appointed deputy auditor and served six months; in 1856 was elected county anditor and held that office three terms of two years each. In 1875 Mr. Crabb was elected probate judge of this county and re-elected for six successive terms, his last term expiring February 9. 1894. Judge Crabb, soon after his retirement from the bench, suffered from failing eyesight and gradually became blind. He resides at London, being in his ninetieth year. Judge Crabb was the last person. so far, to hold that office who was not a lawyer. He had a good mind and sound judgment and was studions and careful. While on the
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bench he acquired a good knowledge of the law, and discharged the duties of the office with ability.
Jacob Leonard Haner was born in Plain City. Madison county, Ohio, September 1,
1866. He attended and graduated from the Plain City high school in the class of 1886. He then entered the Ohio State University and was a student there for three years. He then attended the University of Michigan and graduated from the law department there in 1891. He was admitted to the bar in Ohio the same year, and began the practice of law at Plain City. In 1893 he was elected probate judge, and re-elected in 1898, holding the office until November 1. 1899. when he resigned for the reason that he was then a candidate for representative and could not be voted for legally, being judge. He was elected that year representative and re-elected in 1901. At the expira- tion of his last term as representative. he located in Oklahoma, where he is now practicing his profession.
Corwin Locke was born in Somerford township in 1860. Having attended the common schools until he was about eighteen. he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University. where he was a student for two years. He then attended the law school at DePauw University two years. He was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Ohio in 1888, That same year he was elected prosecuting attorney and was re-elected in 1891. He was appointed by Governor Bushnell probate judge to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Haner. November 1, 1899, which office he held until February 9. 1900. He then entered the law office of Huggins & Huggins, in Columbus, with a view of becoming a member of that firm. He died in January. 1903. On the death of Corwin Locke the community lost a good citizen and the bar a useful member. He was scholarly in equipment. His temperament was not especially buoyant, but his conduct was marked by a sincere courtesy.
John M. Boyer was born in Delaware county. Ohio, in 1860. His father resided in ten different counties of the state until John was ten years old. His opportunities for an early education were limited. He studied chemistry and pharmacy and was clerk in a drug store at Plain City for some time. He came to London in 1880 and read law with Hon. H. W. Smith. He also owned a drug store in London for some time. In. 1892 he was appointed by President Harrison postmaster at London and held the office four years. He was admitted to the bar in 1894 and began the practice of law with S. P. Wilson. In 1899 he was elected probate judge of this county and was re-elected in 1902. holding the office until February. 1906. He was soon afterward appointed. claim agent in the law department of the Ohio Electric Railway Company. which .posi- tion he now holds, and resides in the city of Columbus.
John Robert Tanner was born in Pleasant township. Madison county, Ohio. October 2. 1874. He attended the common schools. He entered the Ohio State University in 1890. and was a student in civil engineering until 1894. He afterward attended the law school of that institution, where he graduated in 1900. and. being admitted to the bar at the same time, at once began the practice of law in Mt. Sterling. He was elected probate judge of this county in November. 1905. and began his services as such. Febru- ary 9. 1906. He was re-elected in 1908. and held the office until 1913. During his first term, by an act of the General Assembly, passed April 2. 1906, the term of probate judge was made four years, and Judge Tanner served four years his second term. Upon his retirement from the bench he began. and still is, practicing law in London.
Frank James Murray was born in London, Ohio. October 19, 1884. He attended the village schools and graduated from the London high school in 1904. He attended the Ohio State University and gradnated in the College of Arts there in the class of 1908. In the same year he was elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity-a distinguished honor for literary and scholastic attainments. He attended the Law
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College of the University of Minnesota. 1908-9, and graduated from the law department of the Ohio State University in 1910, being admitted to the bar at the same time. Hle was elected probate judge of Madison county. Novmeber 5, 1912. took his seat npon the "wool sack" February 9, 1913. and is now the incumbent.
THE JUDICIARY.
The Legislature. in March. 1875. passed an act creating an extra subdivision of the fifth judicial district. In April of that year, Sammel W. Courtright, of Circleville, was elected judge of the new subdivision, consisting of the counties of Pickaway and Madison. Ile was born in Pickaway county. read law with Bellamy Storer. of Cin- cinnati, graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1863. and began the practice of law in Circleville. He was prosecuting attorney of Pickaway county for two terms, and. after twelve years' practice, was elected judge of the new subdivision, as before stated. The supreme court, uear the close of its term, declared the act creating an extra subdivision, known as the fourth subdivision, unconstitutional, for the reason that by the terms of the constitution a judicial district was divided into three sub- divisions, and could contain no more. The office therefore died at the expiration of Judge Courtright's terms. It was held, however, that, while he was not legally judge. he was de facto judge, and his decisions would not be disturbed for that reason. Ile was at that time said to be the youngest judge then upon the bench. He was exceed- ingly format and impressive when presiding upon the bench, a habit contracted while he was a very high official in the Masonic order. He died on January 2, 1913.
Under the act of 1878, Eli P. Evans was elected judge of the fourth subdivision. He was born in 1842 in Franklin county. Ohio. He read law with James E. Wright. a most able lawyer, and was admitted to the bar in 1870, immediately commencing the practice of law in Columbus. He was elected judge of the court of common pleas in April. 1878. in a new subdivision of the district, known as the fourth, consisting of Franklin county. This office, like Judge Courtright's, expired under the decision of the supreme court, but the Legislature. in 1881, passed an act creating au extra judgeship for the third subdivision. and in October, 1882, Judge Evans was elected to fill the position.
Judge Evans was re-elected several times to succeed himself, and continuonsty held the position until February, 1903. when his last term expired. He was a model jndge, studious, careful, patient. learned and upright. He served a longer time upon the bench than any of his predecessors. He died in 1905.
Edward F. Bingham was born in Concord. Vermont, August 13. 1828. He received his early education in that state, and came to Ohio in 1846. He was a student in Marietta College one year. He studied law and was admitted to the bar at George- town, Ohio, in May. 1850, Chief Justice Peter Hitchcock presiding. He began the prac- tice of law in Vinton county, Ohio; was prosecuting attorney of that county, 1851-1855. and represented the counties of Jackson and Vinton in the Legislature, 1856-57. He was a delegate from Ohio to the famous Democratic national convention at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1860, which broke into two factions, part of it adjourning to Balti- more and nominating Stephen A. Douglas. He came to Columbus in 1861 to practice law. He was city solicitor. 1867-71. In 1873 he was elected judge of the court of common pleas for the subdivision of which Madison county was a portion, and held the office continuously until April 25. 1887. He was theu appointed, by President Cleveland, chief justice of the supreme court of the District of Columbia and held that office until he retired, April 30, 1903. He died at his country home near Union, West Virginia, May 11, 1903. At the time of his death he was president of the board of trustees of Washington College of Law; a member of the National Geographic Society.
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Judge Bingham was held in the highest esteem by the bar, and was an able judge. He frequently held court in London.
George Lincoln was born in Ashford county. Connecticut, in 1825. He attended the common schools and Munson Academy, Massachusetts. He taught school in Valley Falls, Rhode Island. for three years, and in 1851 came west and taught school in Indiana, Wisconsin and Woodstock, Ohio. He studied law with General Young, of Urbana, and was admitted to the bar in 1854. He began the practice of law with Hon. Cornelius Hamilton at Marysville and located in London in 1860. In 1862 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Madison county, which office he held for one term. In 1879 he was elected common pleas judge of this subdivision, and was re-elected in 1884. Mr. Lincoln was a good advocate. He was strong and alert in cross-examina- tion. He grasped the main point in a case and hung to it with tenacity. He had a retentive memory. He was well informed on current events. He was sociable and liked to mingle with the people. He had decided opinions, which he maintained with firmness. He was a unique character, blunt, sincere and kind. He had little regard for the frivolities of modern life, but believed in the plain old ways of the early people. He was a good associate counsel, but when he was opposed to you he fought with vigor and fairness. He died in May, 1905.
David F. Pugh was born on August 23. 1846. Ile was reared on his father's farm east of Columbus, until he was just short of sixteen years old, in October, 1861, when he enlisted in the Forty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. After re-enlisting, he was dis- charged at the close of the war, July 28. 1865. He was wounded twice. He attended Ohio University after the war for three years. He then went to West Virginia, where lie studied law for seven months. He was admitted to the bar and practiced there until December, 1880, when he returned to Columbus. He was prosecuting attorney of Tyler county, West Virginia. for ten years, and during that period represented the county in the lower house of the Legislature one term, and also represented the county in the constitutional convention, which made the most of the present constitution of West Virginia. He was appointed judge of the common pleas court in April, 1887, by Governor Foraker, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Bingham, who was appointed chief justice of the supreme court of the District of Columbia. He was elected judge in 1888 and re-elected in 1893, serving until May. 1898, when his term expired.
Judge Samuel F. Steele was born in Hillsboro, Ohio. July 5. 1837. He attended. in his native town, the school of Prof. Isaac Sams, a noted educator of that day, from which school he entered the sophomore class of Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. From Miami he entered Center College, at Danville, Kentucky, and graduated from that institution in 1859. Following his graduation, he served as a tutor in Kentucky until he returned to Hillsboro in 1862. Upon his return to Hillsboro he took up the study of law in the office of the late Judge James Sloane, at that time one of the leaders of the bar of southern Ohio.
Judge Sloane early recognized the high order of legal talent possessed by his pupil and, upon Judge Steele's admission to the bar in 1864, testified to his appreciation of young Steele's ability and his entire confidence in his future as an attorney, by forming a partnership with him in the practice of the law. This partnership con- tinued under the name of Sloane & Steele until the election of Judge Stecle to the common pleas judgeship in the old second subdivision of this district, in the autumn of 1871. He held the office until February 9, 1882. Ile was a very able lawyer and was held in high appreciation as a judge. He died on December 23, 1913. He often held court at London.
Isaac N. Abernethy was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, August 9, 1844, and gradu-
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ated at the Ohio Wesleyan I'niversity in 1866. He studied law under Judge Yaple, of Chillicothe, for a while. and R. A. Harrison, at London, Ohio; was admitted to the bar in 1868, and began the practice of law in Circleville in 1869. He was prosecuting attorney of Pickaway county two terms, 1872-76. He was elected judge of the common pleas court in this subdivision in 1889 and served one term, which ended February 9. 1895.
Cyrus Newby was born in Highland county. Ohio, February 7. 1855. He attended the common school in the country, and was a student for one year in the normal school at Lebanon. Ohio, under the instruction of the celebrated Professor Holbrook. He read law with Sloane & Smith at Hillsboro, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in 1876. Ile practiced law there alone for five years, and then formed a partnership with his former preceptor, Ulric Sloane. Four years later Mr. Sloane located in Columbus, and Mr. Newby entered into partnership with D. Q. Morrow, which continued until Febru- ary 9. 1892, when Mr. Newby took his seat on the common pleas bench from the second subdivision of the fifth judicial district, composed of the counties of Highland, Ross and Fayette. He was re-elected in 1896 in the new second subdivision. created by the act of 1894, consisting of the counties of Highland. Ross. Fayette. Pickaway and Madi- son, and has been re-elected every five years since. being the present inenmbent.
By an act passed May- 17, 1894, the subdivisions of the fifth judicial district were changed, and the counties of Highland. Ross, Fayette, Pickaway and Madison were made the second subdivision of the district. In 1894 Festus Walters was elected judge of the court of common pleas in the new subdivision. He was re-elected in 1899. In 1902 he was elected circuit judge of the fourth circuit, and was re-elected in 1908, and again elected in 1914, being the present incumbent of the position.
Judge Walters was born in Fairfield county. Chio. in 1849. He worked on the farm and attended the common school in the winters. When he was eighteen he entered the preparatory department of Ohio University at Athens, Ohio, and in 1869 he entered the sophomore class at Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio: from there he entered the junior class at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, where he graduated in 1870. He graduated at the Law School at Ann Arbor, in 1872 and in 1873 began the practice of law at Circleville, Ohio. He practiced law there nutil 1894, when he was elected judge as before stated.
Horatio B. Maynard was born at Holden, Massachusetts, October 12, 1826, and died at Washington C. H., Ohio. September 11, 1907. He passed his youth in New Hamp- shire. and was educated at Ludlow, Vermont. Ile was admitted to the bar in that state, and in 1854 located in Washington C. H., Ohio, where he resided until his death. being one of the leading members of the bar. He volunteered in the One Hundred and Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1863. and served as lieutenant-colonel of the regiment until the close of the war. In 1868 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Fayette conty and served one term. On the death of Judge Gregg, in 1894, he was appointed by Governor Mckinley to fill the vacancy on the bench, and was elected soon afterward common pleas judge for the second subdivision, composed of Highland, Ross. Fayette. Pickaway and Madison counties; he served one term. ending February 9, 1899. He was a very able lawyer and judge and a most worthy and exemplary citizen. He held court in London frequently.
De Witt Clinton Badger was born in Range township. Madison county, Ohio, in 1857. He received a common-school education and attended the Bloomingburg Academy and Mt. Vernon College, in Stark county. He tanght school four years, daring which time he studied law. and was admitted to the bar in 1879, beginning the practice of law in London. He was elected proseenting attorney of Madison county in 1882, and served one term. In 1893 he was elected common pleas judge of the second subdivision, com-
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posed of Franklin, Madison and Pickaway counties. He then went to Columbus to reside. In 1898 he was elected common pleas judge in the new third subdivision, con- sisting of the county of Franklin, and served one term. He was elected to Congress from the Columbus district in 1902 and served one term. In 1905 he was elected mayor of the city of Columbus, and at the expiration of his term resumed the practice of law in that city.
Joseph Hidy was born in Fayette county, Ohio, August 22, 1854. He attended the common schools and graded school at Jeffersonville, in the same county. He became a student at Buchtel College. Akron, Ohio, and graduated there in 1876. He then entered the law school of the University of Michigan, graduating there in the spring of 1878, and the same year was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law at Washington C. II. He was elected judge of the common pleas court in the new second subdivision in 1898, and served until January, 1904. when he resigned a month before his term expired. which would have been February 9, 1904. He then located in the city of Cleveland and has practiced law there since.
S. W. Durflinger was born in Madison county in 1836. He received a fair early education and, at the age of eighteen, he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, gradu- ating in 1860. In the fall of 1861 he enlisted in the Thirty-third Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, and was honorably discharged in 1865. He was elected county recorder in 1866 and served three years, during which time he studied law under R. A. Harrison and was admitted to the bar in 1869. He was prosecuting attorney two terms, 1871-74. In 1883 he was elected a member of the state Senate, serving one term. In 1903 he was elected common pleas judge for this district, and served one term.
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