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 57
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Mr. Durfinger was very quiet and as modest as a maiden. He was industrious and constantly at work. He did not care particularly to appear before a jury, but when he did he was prepared and instructive. He acted slowly and with caution. Ilis career upon the bench was short, but his charges to the jury and his opinions and decisions were clearly and ably expressed.
Charles Dresbach was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, August 15, 1859. After a common-school education, he attended the National Normal University at Lebanon. Ohio, where he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science. Afterward he was a student in the University of Michigan, in the literary department and the law' depart- ment, and graduated from the law school'in 1886. He was admitted to the bar in Michigan in 1885, and in Ohio in 1886. He at once began the practice of law in Circles ville. and continued until 1903, when he was appointed common pleas judge by Governor Nash to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Walters, who had been elected circuit judge. In 1905 Judge Dresbach was elected common pleas judge and served one term, until February 9, 1911. He then resumed the' practice of law in Circleville and resides there.
Frank G. Carpenter was born in Greene county, Ohio. His parents died when he was quite young and he was placed with a family named Story. He attended the commnon schools until sixteen years of age, when he entered the Forest Home Seminary, a private school conducted by Prof. Robert Story, and from which he graduated. He taught school three years, attended the Ohio Wesleyan University two years, and then attended the University of Michigan; he graduated from the law department in 1877. and began the practice of law with Hon. Mills Gardner at Washington C. H., Ohio. In 1879 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Fayette county and held that office until 1885. when he formed a partnership with John Logan. In 1892 he was elected state senator from the fifth-sixth senatorial district. He practiced law in Columbus from 1893 to 1899. when he returned to Washington C. H. In 1908 he was elected common pleas judge in the second subdivision of the fifth judicial district, of which Madison
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county was a part. Under the new constitution of 1912, each county is entitled to a judge of the connon pleas court, and in 1914. Mr. Carpenter was elected common pleas judge for Fayette county, being the present incumbent.
.lohn W. Goldsberry was born in Petersburg, Highland county, Ohio, October 21, 1852. He attended the country schools, and graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity. Ile studied law in the University of Michigan and was admitted to the bar in 1881. He practiced law in the city of Chillicothe from that time until 1909, when he was elected judge of the court of connon pleas of the second subdivision of the fifth district, of which Madison county is a part. He was re-elected in 1914, and now holds the position. He has held several terms of court here ..
Clarence Curtain was born in Deer Creek township. Madison county, Ohio, June 23. 1853. He obtained his early education at Coniac country school, near his home, and the London high school. He graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan in 1874: was admitted to the bar the same year, and at once began the prac- tice of law in Circleville. He was elected prosecuting attorney of Pickaway county in 1884, and served six years. In 1909 he was elected judge of the court of common pleas of this subdivision and is the present inenmbent.
Roscoe Garfield Hornbeck was born near London, Madison county. Ohio, August 18. 1879. In his youth he attended the common schools of Union and Deer Creek townships, and later the London high school, from which he graduated in the class of 1899. He was a student at the Ohio Northern University, at Ada, one year. He then became a stndeut of the Ohio State University, graduating from the law department in 1903: he was admitted to the bar the same year, and at once began the practice of law in London. In 1909 he was appointed postmaster of London, by President Roosevelt, and held that office until October 1, 1913. During his teri as postmaster he was largely instrumental in seenring city mail delivery for London.
The new constitution of Ohio, adopted in 1912. provided that, "one resident judge of the court of common pleas, and such additional judge or judges as may be provided by law, shall be elected in each county of the state by the electors of such county." Under that provision, an act was passed by the General Assembly, approved May 5. 1913. authorizing the election "In Madison county. in 1914, one judge, term to begin January 1, 1915." Accordingly, Mr. Hornbeck was elected in November, 1914, resident judge of the court of common pleas of this county, and took his seat Jannary 1, 1915. He is. therefore, the first judge to hold that office under the new constitution. Two other judges of the common pleas conrt have held that position who were, at the time, residents of this county-Judge Lincoln and Judge Durflinger-but they were elected in a subdivision of which Madison was a part.
THE EARLY BAR.
. In the early days of mud roads and log cabins, the lawyers rode the circuit with the judge, on horseback, from county to county. equipped with old-fashioned leggings and saddlebags, averaging about thirty miles a day. The party had their appointed stopping places, and, where they were expected on their arrival, the chickens, dried apples, maple sugar, corn dodgers and old whiskey suffered. while the best story tellers regaled the company with their humor and anecdotes. With the organization of Madison county came also the attorney-a necessary attendant to the administration of justice. Throughout the earlier period of the county's history, the disciples of Black- stone and Kent do not seem to have looked upon London as a fruitful field for their profession. and for many years the county did not possess a single lawyer. From Chillicothe, Circleville. Columbus, Xenia. Urbana and Springfield came the first attor- neys who figured before the courts of this county, and, as some of them held the office
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of prosecuting attorney during those early days, it will be appropriate to give them a brief space in this chapter.
VISITING LAWYERS.
Ralph Osborn, a native of Waterbury, Connecticut, where he studied law. came to Franklinton in 1806. He remained a few years, but upon the organization of Dela- ware county, in 1808. he was appointed prosecuting attorney of that county. Soon after- ward he removed to Circleville and in December, 1810, was elected clerk of the Ohio Legislature, which position he filled five consecutive sessions. Upon the organization of Madison county, he was appointed at the first term of court prosecuting attorney, serv- ing in that capacity from 1810 to 1814, inclusive. In 1815 he was elected auditor of state, holding that office eighteen years in succession, and in- 1883 was elected to the Ohio Senate to represent Franklin and Pickaway counties. After his election as auditor of state he did not practice his profession. He died in Columbus in 1835.
Richard Douglas, the prosecuting attorney for Madison county from: 1815-17. was born in Connecticut. He read law with Henry Brush, and settled as an attorney in Circleville; about 1815 he removed to Chillicothe, where he died in 1852. He was a lawyer of more than ordinary ability, and his abounding humor and fund of anecdotes made him the most agreeable company to the lawyers while riding the circuit. It is said that he possessed considerable poetic talent and bore the title among his contempor- raries of "The Poet of the Scioto." His descendants now reside and are prominent peo- pie of Chillicothe.
Caleb Atwater located in Circleville about the close of the War of 1812 as an attor- ney at law. For several years he was postmaster and was a member of the Ohio Legis- lature for one term from Pickaway county. At the June session of the court of com- mon pleas of Madison county, in 1815, he was appointed prosecuting attorney and held the same position from November, 1822. to the same period in 1823. About the year 1827 he was appointed by President Jackson to treat with the Indians for the purchase of their lands at Prairie du Chien. Mr. Atwater's information was extensive, but he was better known as an antiquarian and historian, upon which subjects he wrote several works. He died in Circleville in 1867, nearly ninety years old. He was a native of Massachusetts.
John R. Parish was the next prosecuting attorney of this county. He was born at Canterbury, Comecticut, in 1786. He was admitted to the bar at Windham. Connecti- cut ; in 1816 he came to Columbus, Ohio, and began the practice of law; in 1820 he was elected to the Legislature from Franklin county ; prior to this he served as prosecuting attorney of Madison county from the September term. 1816, to the close, of 1819. He was a man of vigorous mind and a good lawyer, but, like many lawyers of that period. in- dulged in the convivialities of the times. He died in 1829.
Among the early prosecuting attorneys were George W. Doane, of Circleville, in 1816; David Scott, of Columbus, in 1817: James Cooley, of Urbana, in 1820. and George W. Jewett, of Springfield, in 1822. Doane was a native of New Milford. Connecticut : graduated at Union College, New York, and attended, the famous law school at Litch- field, Connecticut. He located in Circleville in 1816 as an attorney-at-law. He died on the 4th of February, 1863. David Scott was born in Peterboro, New Hampshire, in 1786; in 1811 engaged in the practice of law at Franklinton and was appointed prose- outing attorney of that county in 1813, serving until 1819, a portion of which time he was prosecutor of Madison county. James Cooley was one of the early pioneer lawyers of Urbana, and in 1826 was appointed United States minister to Peru, where he died in 1828. He was a young man of brilliant parts, of fine appearance and prepossessing manners and stood in the front rank of his associates. We have been unable to learn
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anything definite of Mr. Jewett. only that he practiced law in Springfield for several years during the early history of that city.
Another of the pioneer visiting lawyers of the courts of Madison county, and who was prosecuting attorney from November. 1823. until the close of 1824, was Joshua Folsom, who was born at Henniker, New Hampshire, in the year 1783. He attended college at Dartmonth, but did not graduate. After leaving college, he read law at Balti- more in the office of Goodloe Harper, a very distinguished lawyer and orator and member of the United States Senate. He began the practice of law at Circleville, Ohio. about the year 1810. He practiced law at Circleville and Columbus, where he resided for some time, and then returned to Circleville. Mr. Folsom was a man of very exten- sive information. He never held any office except that of prosecuting attorney of Pickaway and Madison counties. His descendants reside in Circleville.
Besides those attorneys who were judges and proseentors of the courts of Madison county. the following have practiced law at this bar: JJames K. Corey. Noah H. Swayne. John W. Anderson. Brush & Gilbert and P. B. Wilcox, of Columbus. From Urbana came Moses Corwin and John H. Young: from Circleville, Joseph Olds. Sr .; from Chillicothe, William Creighton and Henry Brush. the latter of whom settled in Madison county and died on the farm west of town owned by Frank and Horace Jones. From Xenia came John Alexander, and from Springfield. Charles Anthony, William A. Rodgers. Samson Mason. William White, and perhaps a few others from the several towns and adjoining counties.
FORMER RESIDENT ATTORNEYS.
The first lawyer to locate in London was A. D. Vanhorn, a native of Vermont, who came here in 1819. He made his home at the hotel of Phillip Lewis and is said to have been a fine looking man and a lawyer of considerable ability. We find his name on record as prosecuting attorney in 1820. and that he died shortly after.
The next lawyer to settle in London was Patrick G. Goode. He came from Xenia in the spring of 1821, and from July. 1821, until October, 1822, was prosecuting attor- ney of this county. He possessed an overpowering appetite for strong drink, and after remaining here about two years removed to Sidney. Ohio. Soon afterward he aban- doned his drinking habits, was joined by his wife, who had previously separated from him. became judge of the court of common pleas in that district and a member of Congress, and during the remainder of his life was one of the most prominent men in that part of Ohio.
Samuel N. Kerr was the next lawyer to locate in London. He was born in Miami county. Ohio, studied law at Troy, was admitted to the bar and located here in 1824. Ile boarded at the Phillips House, and subsequently married a daughter of Colonel Lewis. He practiced his profession for many years in this county and accumulated considerable property. He was prosecuting attorney of this county from: 1825 to 1836, inclusive. and again in 1839-40. During a considerable period of the county's history he was the only resident lawyer, and is said to have been a good one. About 1851 he removed to a farm which he purchased near Peoria, Illinois, and spent the remainder of his days in that state, where he died.
Isaac N. Jones and William R. Roberts were the next to "hang out shingles" in London. The former came from Tennessee and was prosecuting attorney in 1837-8. In the fall of 1840 he removed to Philadelphia and engaged in merchandising; thence he removed to Missouri, where he followed his profession with considerable success. While in London. he married a daughter of George Phifer, a well-known pioneer of Madison county. Mr. Roberts came from Philadelphia to Ohio and settled in London about 1838: after a short residence. he removed to Indianapolis, where he married a rich wife and
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became much respected. He did not practice law and we are not advised of any further facts in his history.
James F. Freeman was born in Belmont county, Ohio, in 1815, and received the advantages of a common-school edneation. At the age of twenty-one, in 1838, he entered the law office of Samuel N. Kerr, of London, and was admitted to the bar soon after- ward. Ile immediately began the practice of his profession in London and devoted to it the whole of his energies until shortly before his death, which occurred at Harris- burg. Franklin county, in 1857. He was appointed clerk of the court in 1839 to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of John Moore, and served in that capacity until May, 1841. During the years 1852-3 he served as prosecuting attorney of the county. Mr. Freeman was a man of mich ability. a good lawyer, a keen observer and a ready speaker.
Henry W. Smith was one of the early members of the Madison county bar. He was born in Oneida county, New York, in 1814. His ancestors were from Great Britain and located in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He was educated in the common schools and at Oswego Academy, New York. In 1838 he came to Circleville. Ohio, and began the study of law with H. A. Hedges, completing his studies with G. W. Doane. He was admitted to the bar in 1840 and settled in London. He was elected prosecuting attorney in the fall of 1840, in 1842 and in 1844, thus holding the office for six consecutive years. In 1856 he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the same office, and was again elected in 1860 and again in 1864. In the fall of 1848 he was elected to represent Madison, Clark and Champaign counties in the General Assembly of Ohio, and was re-elected in 1849. Ile was a very active and useful member of the General Assembly and was the author of several important laws now upon the statutes. In the fall of the year 1853 he was elected to the Senate from the district composed of the counties of Clark, Madison and Champaign. In 1870 he was appointed by President Grant assessor of internal revenue for the seventh district of Ohio and served for about three years, collecting for the gov- ernment during that time over two millions of dollars in revenue. He had two brothers who became distinguished generals in the army during the Civil War, Brig .- Gens. Morgan L. Smith and Giles A. Smith. Mr. Smith was a very competent business lawyer and enjoyed the respect and confidence of the people. He died on April 5, 1890.
In 1843 %. T. Fisher, a one-armed man and a native of Delaware county. Ohio, where he had read law and had been admitted to practice, located in London. From 1847 to 1851 he was prosecuting attorney of Madison county and represented the county in the General Assembly in 1852 and 1854: soon afterward he removed to Iowa, where he continued to practice his profession and died there.
John L. McCormack was born in London. Ohio, and was a son of Thomas McCor- mack. He was elected prosecuting attorney in the fall of 1857, and in 1858 resigned and removed to the state of Iowa, where he became editor of a paper and achieved prom- inence and success in that state.
Robert M. Hanson was born in Madison county, Ohio. in 1837. He was left an orphan at an early age. Ile attended the district schools until near the age of maturity, when he entered the Miami University at Oxford. Ohio, where he was a student for some time. He studied law with Hon. H. W. Smith, and in the meantime taught school several terms. He was admitted to the bar late in the winter of 1860-61. Before he could get located to practice law. President Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand vol- unteers. Mr. Hanson was among the first to enlist as'a private in Captain Acton's company for a period of three months. At the end of this service he was appointed captain of Company B, Ninety-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered into the service again in August, 1862. He served until the close of the war and was discharged in July, 1865. In the fall of 1865 he was elected representative from Madison county
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and served one term. In 1868 he was appointed by President Grant consul to Bremen. While in that service he suffered from a wound received in the war, and determined to return home, but the long sea voyage was too severe and on September 14, 1873. he died on shipboard, ahost in sight of his native land. Captain Hanson was a brave soldier and a splendid man. His services as a soldier were conspicuous for valor, and as a representative of his country abroad he was faithful and satisfactory.
John R. Montgomery was born in Richland county, Ohio, and located in this county as a lawyer in 1855. He was prosecuting attorney of Madison county from 1858 to 1860. In 1861 he removed to Little Rock. Arkansas, became attorney-general of that state and continued in the practice of the law for some years; he then removed to Jacksonville. Arkansas, where he purchased a large plantation and engaged in farming.
James S. Jones, a native of London, was born July 31, 1830. He studied law with Mr. Harrison, was admitted to the bar in 1853. and was prosecuting attorney of the county in 1854-5. Shortly afterward he removed to Champaign county, Ilinois, where he continued in the practice of the law until his death.
Benjamin F. Montgomery came from his home in Richland county, read law in his brother's office in London, was admitted to the bar in 1860 and practiced law here with his brother for some time. He removed to what is now the state of Utah, where he engaged in mining and became very wealthy. We are unable to obtain anything further of his history.
Richard A. Harrison was born in Thirsk, Yorkshire. England. on the Sth day of April. 1824, and, with his parents, came to America when a youth of eight years. The family located in Warren county, Ohio, and afterwards removed to Springfield. Ohio. The advantages of wealth were unknown to him in his youth: but energy and porse- verance were his, and a laudable ambition accomplished his advancement and crowning success. He was indebted to the village school for his early education, which was supplemented by instruction in the little academy conducted by Rev. Chandler Robbins, in Springfield. Ohio. From the age of twelve he was self-dependent and his aspiring and untiring efforts were the means by which he reached the desired goal. As "carrier and devil," he worked in the office of the Springfield Republic and in the printing office. the "poor man's college," he added greatly to his store of knowledge.
Imbned with the desire to enter the legal profession, he became a student in the law office of the distinguished William A. Rodgers in 1844, and later graduated from the Cincinnati Law School. He was admitted to the bar in April, 1846. and at once opened an office in London, Madison county. His success at the bar was immediately pronounced. and he at once became a leader in legal circles of that locality. His conspicnous ability also won political distinction, and he was elected in 1857 to the General Assembly as a representative of Madison county. In 1859 he was elected state senator from the counties of Madison, Clark and Champaign. In 1861 he was elected to Congress to fill a vacancy made by the resignation of Thomas Corwin npon the latter's appointment as United States minister to Mexico by President Lincoln. Mr. Harrison was appointed by Governor Hays, and by the Senate confirmed. a meni- ber of the supreme court commission of Ohio in 1875. but declined the honor. During the latter part of President Harrison's administration the honor of an appointment to the supreme bench of the United States would have been conferred upon him had his age not proven an obstacle, he having then passed his sixtieth birthday. When a member of the Senate. and while the momentous questions of that time were being discussed, Mr. Harrison framed a set of resolutions which were passed by the Ohio Legislature in January, 1861, pledging Ohio and its resources to the support of the Union and the administration of President Lincoln. When . Mr. Lincoln. on his way to be inaugurated, passed through Columbus, on being introduced by Governor Dennison
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to Mr. Harrison, inquired : "Is this the author of the resolution offering the resources of the state of Ohio to the government?" On being answered in the affirmative, he grasped . Senator Harrison's hand again and exclaimed in his characteristic way : "Well, I must give you an extra shake."
In May, 1873, Mr. Harrison moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he was engaged in the active practice of the law until his death, having filed a brief in the supreme court the day before he died. He was a member of the bar of London for twenty-seven years. Soon after his admission to the bar, he married here his wife, Miss Maria Louisa Warner, a daughter of one of the most prominent pioneers of Madison county. His children were all born in London, and those who have died were buried here. He died on July 30, 1904, more than eighty years of age, and was buried at London.
We have given with pleasure some space to Mr. Harrison, because he was one of the most conspicuous figures in the history of the jurisprudence of Ohio. In the long and prolific line of distinguished men of whom the commonwealth is justly proud, the public life of few has extended over as wide a period as his: and certainly the career of none other has been more varied in service, more constant in honor, more fearless in conduct and more stainless in reputation. His great legal ability and his unswerving devotion to the interests committed to his charge won for him a renown not confined to his state; at home and abroad he is recognized as one of the most eminent jurists and able lawyers who have ever been engaged in the practice of law in the state of Ohio. The people of Madison county take a just pride in his fame and career.
It is reported in the New Testament that St. Paul, who was a lawyer, learned the law at the feet of Gamaliel. It will be observed from this sketch that many lawyers read law under Mr. Harrison. When a young man wanted to learn the law, he desired Mr. Harrison's instruction. In his declining years many attorneys with important cases consulted him to learn the law. He was a modern Gamaliel.
Otis C. Smith was born in London, Ohio, in 1845. After graduating from the London high school he prepared to enter college under the instruction of Rev. C. W. Finley. He entered Miami University and graduated in the class of 1866. He studied law with his father, Hon. H. W. Smith, and was admitted to the bar in 1868. beginning the practice of law with his father. His health was delicate; his career was brief, and, after a lingering illness, he died on June 24, 1873. He had natural ability and acquired knowledge, and was most highly esteemed.
John C. McCloud was born in Union county, Ohio, in 1829. IIe attended the Ohio Wesleyan University and studied law with R. A. Harrison; was admitted to the bar in 1857, and formed a partnership with Mr. Harrison, which continued for a few years. He then practiced law until 1884, when he was stricken with paralysis and died in April, 1887. Mr. McCloud was a self-made man. He was modest and retiring. never seeking notoriety. He was friendly and encouraging to the younger members of the bar. He had good common sense and sound judgment; was a wit and a most excellent story-teller. He was strongly endowed physically and mentally and could grasp a large question in a short study.
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