History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 63

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490

USA > Ohio > Washington County > Marietta > History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 63

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Mr. Mayberry, in his long public life at Marietta, Parkersburgh, and Richmond, made friends with all whom he came in contact, and such was his even temperament that even in sharp political contests his urbanity of manner and kindliness for all humanity left his career destitute of enemies. He was a ripe scholar and a trained thinker, commanding in stature, with a pleasing address. He was a perfect type of a Virginia gentleman, of Washing- ton's time, his manner and mien occasioning many of his friends to believe his resemblance to Washington very marked. Had his ambi- tion led him to continue his public career, his political associates were confident he would have taken a ranking position in national af- fairs among the great statesmen of that day, but turning aside from the allurements of pub- lic life, he returned to the quiet old home he loved so well, in Parkersburgh. His house and grounds soon became shaded with the fine old trees he planted. His office door under the shade of the catalpas was a charmed spot to all who came under the restful influence of the peaceful atmosphere. Happiness and con- tentment followed him like a shadow. The old men loved to linger with him, and the young men to listen to the fine talk of the grand old gentleman. He devoted much of his time in later years to the rearing of blooded horses and to the improvement of the plantations he owned in the State. In his stables were some of the finest imported stock in the South and West, many of the descendants of the stables being favorite horses of the present time. He died

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while his favorite horse, Lath, was running : he expired sitting in his carriage, November 15, 1866, closing a life of nearly 77 years, leav- ing his wife and son as the only immediate relatives to deplore his loss, as he was him- self the last member of his father's family. When the news came that the pure and noble John P. Mayberry was no more, a multitude mourned over the loss of a great and good man.

ARIUS NYE was the son of Col. Ichabod Nye, and grandson of Gen. Benjamin Tupper, two of the pioneers who, with their families, made at the mouth of the Muskingum in 1788 the first settlement in the "Territory North- west of the river Ohio." He was born in the Campus Martius-"the stockade"-at Mari- etta, December 27. 1792. During his boy- hood days, educational facilities at the new settlements were quite limited. yet mainly by his own exertions he obtained what is now called a good common school education. In 1807 he went to Springfield, afterward to Put- nam in Muskingum County, and engaged in merchandising.

In 1815 he married Rowena Spencer, daughter of Dr. Joseph Spencer, of Vienna, Virginia, and sister of Mrs. General Cass. He was director in the Bank of Zanesville before he was 21 years of age. During 1817-18 he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and be- gan to make his mark in Muskingum County. In the autumn of 1822, or spring of 1823, he moved to Gallipolis, at the beginning of the "sickly season," when he was taken sick with the prevailing epidemic, or malarial fever. In 1824-25 he moved to Marietta and there ac- quired a large and lucrative practice. For several years after removing to Marietta, he served as cashier of the Bank of Marietta, In 1827 he was elected Representative in the State Legislature, and re-elected in 1828. In 1831 he was elected State Senator and served two years. At the time of the great flood in 1832, he removed his office from Putnam street to the old Ohio Company's office on Washington street, where he kept his office until he was elected judge. He early acquired a large law library, and by 1837 probably had

accummulated the largest library of any law- yer in Southeastern Ohio. In 1840 he was again elected Representative in the State Legis- lature.

Judge Arius Nye was a devoted member of the Protestant Episcopal Church ; and regarded his duties as a church man equally as important with his duties as a lawyer. It was mainly through his efforts that an Episcopal Church was organized at Marietta; and when organ- ized it was supported and maintained largely by his contributions and labors. He was lay reader and senior warden of St. Luke's Church for a great many years ; and for the first seven years, after its organization in 1826, he con- ducted nearly all the services. He was usually a delegate to diocesan conventions; and took a prominent part in the management of the af- fairs of the diocese. The Protestant Episco- pal Church in Marietta owes him a great debt of gratitude.

His son, A. Spencer Nye, became associ- ate with him in practice as A. Nye & Son, con- tinuing as a firm until 1846. In 1847. Arius Nye was elected president judge of the dis- trict composed of the counties of Washington, Morgan, Athens, Meigs, Gallia, and Lawrence. The district was large and difficult of access during portions of the year, there being no rail- roads, and especially during the spring and autumn were county seats difficult to reach. His health broke down under his labors on the bench, and he resigned in 1850. After his

health improved, he associated with him David Alban, and practiced as Nye & Alban until the commencement of the Civil War, when Mr. Alban enlisted in the army. Thereafter as lawyer, generally associated in business with some younger member of the bar. Judge Nye gave his attention to cases which were brought under his notice. His last illness was pro- tracted and painful, but borne with fortitude. He died at his home in Marietta, July 27. 1865. in the 73rd year of his age.

Judge Nye was an original, self-reliant, self-made man-a man of feeling, thought, and conviction. He will long survive in the memory of his friends, in the impressions which he made on the community where he

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HISTORY OF MARIETTA AND WASHINGTON COUNTY,

lived and in the legislation of his native State. At the time of his death, he had obtained a wider celebrity than any other Marietta man. This was due to his strong character, to his industry, to his devotion to every accepted trust. to his public spirit, and above all to his inflexible integrity of mind and heart. As a jurist he ranked among the first chancery and criminal lawyers in the West. He was deeply read in the learning of the profession and thor- oughly imbued with the lofty spirit of its great masters.

WILLIAM A. WHITTLESEY was born at Danbury, Connecticut, in 1796. In 1816 he was graduated at Yale College, and for some time thereafter was employed as teacher. 1818 he came to Canfield, Ohio, entered the office of his uncle. Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, as student at law, being fellow-student there with J. M. Giddings, and in 1820 was admitted to the bar. In 1821 he came to Marietta, and entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1825 he was elected auditor of the county, and for two successive years held that office. and received the public commendation for the faithfulness, care and ability with which he discharged his duties.

In 1839 he was the candidate of the Demo- cratic party for Representative in the Ohio Legislature, and was elected.

In 1841 and for several years following. he was associated with Gen. Charles B. God- dard. of Zanesville, in the practice of law in Washington County. In 1848 he was elected member of Congress from the district com- prising the counties of Washington, Morgan and Perry. He declined being a candidate for re-election.

In 1856 and again in 1860, and again in 1862, he was elected mayor of the city of Mari- etta, and for six years discharged the duties of that office in an approved and satisfactory manner.

Mr. Whittlesey was an inveterate and in- imitable story-teller: and it was not unusual to find half the lawyers of the city, with many of their friends, gathered about Mr. Whittle-

sey's office to listen to his stories; and no one went away dissatisfied.

For some time previous to his death, Mr. Whittlesey suffered from painful disease, but bore his affliction with fortitude and resigna- tion. He died November 6, 1866, at Brook- lyn, New York, where he had gone for medi- cal treatment, leaving one surviving child, a daughter, now the wife of W. B. Mitchell. of St. Cloud, Minnesota. His remains were brought back to Marietta, and buried in the Mound Cemetery by the side of his deceased son. the lamented Capt. W. B. Whittlesey, a brave and noble officer, who was killed at the battle of Missionary Ridge in November. 1863.

The following is an extract from the re- port of a committee, appointed by the bar of Washington County to give expression of the sentiments of the profession, in relation to Mr. Whittlesey's death :

"With feelings of the deepest sorrow and regret we, the members of the Washington County Bar, have heard of the death of our late associate, the Hon. William A. Whittle- sey. During the whole period of our connec- tion with the profession in this county, we have been witnesses of the estimable qualities of the deceased.

"As a lawyer, his discriminating mind, his legal acquirements, the friendliness and hon- esty of his counsels, his urbanity in the court room, and his uniform courtesy and kindness toward the junior members of the profession have elicited our esteem, and endeared him in our recollections.

"As a citizen and neighbor, the kindliness of his disposition, his liberality, his cheerful- ness and his remarkable freedom from all feel- ings of envy, resentment and ill-will won for him the respect and friendship of all who knew him."

DAVID BARBER, son of Levi Barber, was born at Harmar, Washington County, Ohio, August 14, 1804. He was educated at Wash- ington College, Pennsylvania, and graduated from that institution in' 1825. He studied law with the Hon. John P. Mayberry, of Marietta;

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was admitted to the bar in 1829, and engaged in the practice of his profession at Ilarmar.

In 1840 he was elected prosecuting attor- ney of the county. In 1845 he was again elected prosecuting attorney.

About 1876 he moved to the State of Illi- nois, and located near Quincy, where he ex- tensively engaged in agricultural pursuits. He died there in 1886.

LEVI HART GODDARD, son of Hon. Calvin Goddard, was born at Norwich, Connecticut, in 1810. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in, his native State. In 1835 he re- moved to Marietta, Ohio, and then engaged in the practice of his profession. After a short residence in Marietta, he returned to Norwich and there resumed the practice of law and con- tinued the same until the time of his death. He died of pneumonia, in 1862.

Mr. Goddard was a lawyer of learning and ability, as counsellor and consulting attorney, and his amiable and cheery social qualities made for him hosts of friends. He was mar- ried, in 1835, to Mary Woodbridge Perkins. of Norwich.

RUFUS E. HARTE was born in Middlebury, now embraced in the corporation limits of Ak- ron, Ohio. He attended the academy at Tall- madge and the preparatory department of the Western Reserve College at Hudson. In 1833 he was graduated at Yale College, Con- necticut. He studied law with Hon. Gregory Powers, of Akron. In 1835, at the session of the Supreme Court at Medina, he was ad- mitted to the bar. In 1837 he located at Mari- etta and engaged in the practice of his pro- fession, associated with William A. Whittle- sey. as Whittlesey & Harte.

In 1839 he was married to Julia Holden, daughter of Joseph Holden, of Marietta.

In 1845 he was elected Senator in the Ohio Legislature from the district composed of the counties of Washington, Morgan and Perry. In 1851 he was elected prosecuting attorney for the county of Washington. In 1852 he was elected, by the trustees of the benevolent institutions of Ohio, superintendent of the in- stitution for the blind, and resided at Colum-

bus four years, discharging the duties of that office.

In 1856 he returned to Marietta and re- sumed the practice of law, associated therein with Melvin Clarke.

In 1861 he was elected treasurer of Wash- ington County, and held that office for a period of four years. In 1880 he was elected mayor of the city of Marietta, and discharged the duties of that office efficiently.

He died in the year 1891.

CHIARLES F. BUELL, son of Daniel H. Buell, of Marietta, was born in Washington County, Ohio, March 12. 1814. He was a student in Marietta College and Kenyon Col- lege; studied law with Hon. Samuel F. Vin- ton. of Gallipolis, and was admitted to the bar in 1837. He practiced law a short time at Gallipolis, and about a year at Georgetown, Brown County, Ohio. In 1839 he returned to Marietta and engaged in the practice of his profession.

In 1860 he was elected probate judge of Washington County. After serving three years in that office he resumed the practice of law at Marietta. He died here in 1881.

WILLIAM D. EMERSON, eklest son of Caleb and Mary ( Dana ) Emerson. was born at Marietta. July 9. 1813. He was prepared for college by Rev. Luther G. Bingham, then pas- tor of the Congregational Church at Marietta. At the age of 16 he entered the Ohio Univer- sity at .Athens, from which he graduated in 1833, with the highest honors of the class. He was one of the teachers in the High School which opened up in Library Hall, on Front street, which afterwards unfolded into Mari- etta College. In 1836 he was assistant editor with his father on the Marietta Gazette. His health failing in this department, he went west and spent two years as a common school teacher. The scenery of the wide West seems to have inspired his poetic fancy, and some of his finest poems, which afterward came into print, were produced at this time.

He returned to Marietta in 1839, studied law. was admitted to the bar in 1841, and for several years kept a law office with his father.

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HISTORY OF MARIETTA AND WASHINGTON COUNTY.

In 1845 he prepared and published the first map of Washington County. He was prose- cuting attorney of that county for one year, ending March, 1848, filling the unexpired term of Arius Nye, Esq., who was appointed pre- siding judge. He was assistant clerk in the Commercial Court of Cincinnati from 1848 to 1852, and for four years after made up records in the clerk's office of the Cincinnati and Ham- ilton county courts. He kept a law office in Cincinnati until 1800. Since that time he de- voted himself mainly to literary pursuits. The bent of his mind was more for literature than jurisprudence. In 1851 he issued "Occasional Thoughts in Verse," for private distribution. In 1874 he issued a second volume of verse.

Mr. Emerson was much interested in po- etry; and established in Marietta College a prize to encourage students and graduates to write poems of merit. He died in 1891.

ARIUS SPENCER NYE, son of Arius Nye, was admitted to the bar about 1840, and in company with his father practiced law at Ma- rietta as Nye & Son.

In 1846 he was elected cashier of the Ross County Bank, branch of the State Bank of Ohio, and removed to Chillicothe, where he died in 1884.

DARWIN E. GARDNER, son of William and Sarah B. (Earl) Gardner, was born at Nor- walk, Ohio, January 25, 1820.

Pursuant to his father's wishes, and to some extent under his supervision, he pursued a thorough course of preparatory studies and about 1839 was graduated at the Western Re- serve College. He studied law with Judge Crowell, of Warren, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar at Newark in 1841.

The same year he located at Marietta and commenced the practice of his profession and successfully prosecuted the same at Marietta until 1851, when he removed to Cleveland, and soon thereafter to Toledo, where, until the time of his death, he was extensively and pros- perously engaged in the purchase and sale of real estate. He died at Toledo August 5, 1867, at the age of 47. Mr. Gardner was an able lawyer, and an enterprising and success- ful man of business, and in the several places of

his residence had the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. He was married, in 1842, to Elizabeth P. Putnam, of Hudson, Ohio, who died in 1846, and in 1859 he married Sa- rah Williams, of Norwalk.

WYLIE H. OLDIIAM, son of Samuel and Rebecca Oldham, was born November 21, I819, at the old homestead in Ohio County, ( West ) Virginia, where his grandfather and father lived and died. When about one year old he was taken to the State of New York, where his father was employed as a missionary, teaching the Seneca Indians, lived in Corn- planter's town, remembered well the wild scenes in which his early boyhood was spent. Leaving there at five and a half years of age, he acquired such an education as the primitive schools of Virginia then afforded. In 1832 he entered the private academy at West Alex- ander, Washington County, Pennsylvania, un- der the charge of Rev. John McChiskey, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of that place and pursued his academic studies under Rev. Mr. Mccluskey's care until September, 1836, when he entered the junior class in Washington Col- lege. He was a member of the Washington Literary Society, graduated in June, 1838, and took the first honor of his society and sec- ond of his class ( the first honor of the class being by rule of the faculty due that year to the Union Society which alone prevented his obtaining the first honor of his class). In the fall of 1838 he went to Mount Vernon, Ohio, and spent one year in teaching. In the fall of 1839 he went to Lexington, Kentucky, and taught one year, near the home of Henry Clay, visiting him frequently in 1840. He studied law with Isaac Hoge, at Mountsville, ( West ) Virginia, and was admitted to the bar in 1842. Shortly after, he was elected prosecut- ing attorney. He represented Marshall Coun- ty in the Virginia Legislature in 1846-47 and '48. He practiced law at Moundsville from the time he was admitted to the bar until May, 1865. May 23, 1844, he married Mary Cur- tis, daughter of R. C. Curtis, of Moundsville.

In May, 1865, he moved to Marietta, Ohio, where he resided until the time of his death, engaged extensively and successfully in the

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practice of his profession. He died July 22, 1875.

Mir. Oldham was probably the greatest jury lawyer that ever belonged to the Washing- ton County Bar. He was a polished orator. with a large vocabulary : but he never talked over the heads of his jury. His evident can- dor and sincerity inclined jurors to sympathize with his views of the case: and his knowledge of human nature enabled him to lay the stress of his speech where it was most needed.

He was for many years a railroad attor- ney: and in that early day made a practice ( much more general now than then) of set- tling every case or claim that could be settled on reasonable terms. Indeed, he was inclined . to favor the settlement of controversies gener- ally.

The social qualities of Mr. Oldham were of a very high order. He was kind and cor- dial with every one. He enjoyed social gather- ings, and showed it by his manner. He was a good talker, but at the same time a willing listener. His conversation was always enter- taining, and usually instructive. He was quick at repartee : but there was nothing bitter about his wit. Socially he was a universal favorite with old and young, with rich and poor.

Mr. Oldham was an orator, and as states- noin and lawyer his speeches and arguments were models of beauty and eloquence. He was a good citizen, an earnest churchman, a lib- eral contributor to benevolent enterprises, a man of principle, honor and fidelity, whose death was deeply lamented by all who knew him.

JOHN M. GUITTEAU, Son of Benjamin Guitteau, was born in Fearing township. Washington County, Ohio, in 1821.

Ile was educated at Marietta College: studied law with Hon. Arius Nye, of Marietta, and was admitted to the bar in 1842. He commenced practice at Urbana, Ohio, associ- ated with Ion. Thomas Corwin, and about 1843 moved to Cincinnati. After a residence I three or four years at Cincinnati he re- moved to New York City, where he engaged in the practice of law. He died there in 1898.

CHARLES R. RHODES was born at Zaines-

ville, Ohio, November 5, 1819, the third child of Dr. Dudley Woodbridge Rhodes. He went to school in the preparatory department of Ken- von College in 1835, entered the freshman class in 1836, and graduated in course in 18.40, taking the second honor of his class.

Hle entered his name as a student of law in the office of Messis. Goddard & Converse, Zanesville, and was admitted to the bar at Newark, Ohio, in 1843. The same year he removed to St. Louis, Missouri, to establish himself as a lawyer, where he remained until the fall of 1836. The same year, having mar- ried Mary E. Ward, the third child of Hon. Nahum Ward, of Marietta, he returned t, Ohio, and made his residence in Marietta, where he still resides.

In January. 1855. he was elected prosecut- ing attorney, and continued in that office until January, 1857. In February, 1858, he was elected Probate Judge of Washington County, and continuedl in office until February, 1861.

During the War of the Rebellion the pen- ple living in the little townships along the Ohio River, were kept in a constant state of alarm, apprehending incursions from the law - less bands of rebels roving through West Vir- ginia. Mr. Rhodes organized a company of from 40 to 60 men, which, through the friendly assistance of Col. William Craig, quartermas- ter of the United States Army, stationed at Marietta, he was able to arm and equip, and which he, as captain, kept in thorough drill and discipline, prepared for the emergencies of the times.

He was appointed by the Governor of the State ( Hon. Rutherford B. Hayes ) delegate to the National Commercial Convention, which met at Cincinnati: the following year he was again appointed by the Governor delegate for Southeastern Ohio to the same convention, which met at Baltimore.

Mr. Rhodes' whole life in Marietta was closely identified with the manufacturing and commercial enterprises of the town, and es- pecially with the history and prosperity of St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church and Sun- day-school-for more than 30 years a member and secretary of the vestry, many times their

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HISTORY OF MARIETTA AND WASHINGTON COUNTY,

delegate to the diocesan convention, and for inore than 20 years superintendent of the Sun- day-school. He died in 1887.

MELVIN CLARKE was born at Ashfield, Massachusetts. November 15, 1818, and was the oldest of a family of eight children. He was the son of Stephen and Roxy Alden Clarke, and of the seventh generation in a direct line from John Alden, of "Mayflower" fame. His early education was derived from the common schools of Whately. Franklin County, Massachusetts, a few terms spent in a select school, and a few months at the acade- my at Conway, Massachusetts. He came west in the fall of 1838, and taught school in Ken- tucky, at Parkersburgh. ( West ) Virginia, and in this county for a series of years. Mean- while he was studying law and was admitted to the bar in 1843, and settled in law practice at McConnelsville, Morgan County, Ohio, and continued in the practice there for 10 years.

In 1853 he removed to Marietta, and con- tinued to practice his profession until the be- ginning of the war. He became a leading member of the bar, and an influential citizen.

Of his mind. the distinguishing features were clearness and strength of comprehension. He had the ability to analyze, arrange and present, in a forcible manner, the evidence in a case, and conducted, with marked talent, the important causes committed to him.

Impelled by motives of patriotism. he, with' others, was actively instrumental, at the break- ing out of the war, in raising and organizing the Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was appointed its lieutenant-colonel. and served in that capacity as a brave and gallant officer until killed by a shot from a ro-pound shell at the battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862.

He was buried with military honors in Mound Cemetery, at Marietta, and a monu- ment erected to his memory by his army com- rades and associates of the bar.

He married Dorcas Dana, daughter of William Dana. of Newport, Ohio, for his first wife, who died about 1850, and left one son. Joseph D. Clarke, who was killed in the war at City Point, Maryland, in 1864. He mar-

ried, as his second wife, Sophia Browning, of Belpre, Ohio. He was, at the time of his death, a mentber of the Congregational Church of Marietta.

SAMUEL B. ROBINSON was born at Wash- ington, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1814, and was educated at Washington, now. Washing- ton and Jefferson, College of that State. In 1835 he was editor of the Washington Re- forter. In 1836, with his widowed mother and her family, he moved to Lake Chute, and shortly thereafter to Beverly, Ohio. In 1837, at Beverly, in partnership with John Dodge, he engaged in mercantile business and con- tinned therein for seven years. He studied law. Hon. Isaac Paine being his preceptor, and was admitted to the bar in 1844, and entered upon the practice of his profession in Beverly. In 1846 he married Colina N. Dodge, young- est daughter of John Dodge, of Beverly.

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History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 63

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1490

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490