USA > Ohio > Morgan County > History of Morgan County, Ohio, with portraits and biographical sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 33
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HON. JOHN E. HANNA is not only the oldest member of the Morgan County bar, but also one of the oldest lawyers of Southern Ohio. He has resided and practiced his profession in McConnels- ville for sixty years. The county has no citizen who is better known or more highly esteemed. Full of years and honors, Judge Hanna is passing the evening of his life among the people of Morgan County, to which he came when on the threshold of man's estate. He has witnessed most of the changes which time and progressive industry have wrought in the county since its organization, and his own influence has always been cast in favor of every pub- lic measure calculated to promote the best interests of the people. The mer- chants, doctors, county officials and law- yers.of McConnelsville in 1826-where are they ?
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"They are no longer here; they all are gone Into the land of shadows-all save one. Honor and reverence, and the good repute That follows faithful service as its fruit, Be unto him, whom living we salute."
John E. Hanna is descended from a family of pioneers. His grandfather, John Hanna, was a pioneer settler west of the Alleghanies, and was the founder of Hannastown on the Loyalhanna, the first county seat of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. which was burned by the Indians and the propri- etor of the town and his wife taken pris- oners. John Hanna, the father of Judge Hanna, learned the saddler's trade, and established himself in business in Greens- burg, where he married Ann Leonard. a niece of Governor Finley. John Ilanna and wife lived in Greensburg until after three children were born, then bought a farm on the Youghiogh- eny River, in Rostrover Township, Westmoreland County, three miles above Robbstown. There, on the 19th of December, 1805, John E. Hanna was born. In 1815 the family removed to Cadiz, Harrison County, Ohio, where the subject of this sketch was reared and educaeed. The father of Judge Hanna was the first auditor of Harrison County, and afterward held the office of associate judge. John E. Hanna read law under Hon. Chauncey Dewey, and was admitted to the bar of Ohio September 25, 1825, although then less than twenty years of age.
In the spring of 1826 he came to Me- Connelsville, where his home has been ever since. June 7, 1826, he married Susan Robertson, a sister of Dr. Rob- ertson. Mrs. Hanna died April 15, 1865, and the Judge afterward married Sarah S., daughter of Rev. William Swazey.
In 1826 he was appointed as aid upon the staff of General Alexander McCon- nel, and in the following year brigade major. He held the latter position until 1834, and was then chosen brigadier- general of militia, in which capacity he served until 1840. In the spring of 1831 he was appointed prosecuting at- torney, and on the 12th of October, in the sante year, postmaster of McCon- nelsville. In 1833 the office of prose- cuting attorney was made elective and postmasters became inelegible. Ile therefore resigned the postmastership and was elected prosecuting attorney. He continued to serve in that office until 1838, and in the fall of that year was elected representative to the legislature from Morgan County. He was rc- elected the following year and served another term.
In February, 1840, he was elected president judge of the eighth judicial circuit of the court of common pleas, embracing the counties of Morgan, Washington, Athens, Meigs, Gallia, Lawrence and Scioto. In this important office he served with honor for seven years, and doubtless would have been reelected but for the fact that the legis- lature was anti-democratic. In 1854, Judge Stillwell having resigned as pres- ident judge, Judge Hanna was ap- pointed to fill the vacancy.
At the opening of the rebellion he espoused the cause of the Union with warmth, and took an active part in raising troops for the army. He was of- fered the position of lieutenant-colonel of the 17th Regiment, but declined on account of the ill health of his wife. Governor Foster appointed him one of the trustees of the Athens Asylum for the Insane, and through his influence Dr. Agnes Johnson was appointed physician
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to minister to the wants of the female patients. This was the first appoint- ment of a female physician in any of the State institutions, and experience has shown the wisdom of the experiment. In November, 1855, Judge Hanna was appointed postmaster at MeConnels- ville, and entered upon his duties in January following. He has been a life- long Democrat.
JAMES L. GAGE located in McCon- nelsville in 1827. He was originally from New York State, but came here from Lucas County, Ohio. He served two terms as prosecuting attorney, and in 1844-7 was one of the associate judges of the county. During his stay he established a foundry in McConnels- ville, which did a good business for a time, but finally resulted unsuccess- fully. After more than twenty years' residence in Morgan County he removed to the northern part of the State, where he died. He was a lawyer of fair ability.
HON. JAMES MADISON GAYLORD. This gentleman, an able and honored citi- zen, was born in Zanesville May 29, 1811, and died in McConnelsville June 14, 1874. He came with his parents to McConnelsville in 1818, and resided in the village until his death. He was a man of good ability, and though his educational opportunities were not great his self-acquired knowledge thoroughly fitted him for the practical duties of life. He attended the village schools, and for one year was a pupil of the university at Athens. In 1833-4 lie read law in the office of Judge Hanna, but did not complete his legal studies. In 1834 he was appointed clerk of the court of common pleas, also clerk of the supreme court (now the district court), which positions he filled until 1849. In 1850 he was elected to congress from the
thirteenth district, which then included Morgan County. At the expiration of his term he was elected probate judge, and held the office during one term. In 1860 he was deputy United States Mar- shal, and took the census of the county. In 1865 he was elected justice of the peace, and by successive reëlections was continued in that office until his death. He was a stanch democrat, always ac- tive in politics, and one of the best stump speakers the county ever had. For twenty years he was a member of the county central committee of his party. In 1836 he married Roxa, daugh- ter of N. Shepard. Three sons sur- vived him, and two of his sons were sacrificed on the altar of his country. In all his official positions, as well as in private and social life, his conduct was marked by the strictest integrity and uprightness, and his genial affability and sterling worth won the highest ap- preciation and respect. He was a very pleasing writer, and in 1872-3 contrib- uted to the Democrat, under the signa- ture of " Antiquarian," a series of re- markably interesting articles on the local history of the county, from which the editors of this volume have freely drawn, especially in the preparation of the histories of the several townships.
IlON. ELIJAH HAYWARD, aged seventy- eight, died at his residence in McCon- nelsville September 24, 1864. He was a native of the town of Bridgewater, Mass., and was mainly self-educated. He read law under Chief-Justice Par- sons of Massachusetts, and in 1818 traveled in Europe. In 1819 he came west, reaching Cincinnati in December. There he engaged in the practice of law, and for a time edited a democratic newspaper known as Liberty Hall. For four years (1825 to 1829) he represented
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Hamilton County in the legislature, and in 1830 was elected judge of the su- preme court of Ohio. In the next year President Jackson appointed him com- missioner of the general land office, which position he held until 1835. He then resigned and removed to McCon- nelsville, whither his son Fred, still a resident of the town, had preceded him. During his residence here he practiced law, and for a time was cdi- tor of one of the local papers. He did not seek business, and consequently his practice was not large. During the later years of his life he devoted much of his time to the preparation of gene- alogical histories of the Massachusetts families represented in southern Ohio. After his death his manuscripts went to the Massachusetts Historical Society. He was a life-long democrat, and was a Roman Catholic in religious faith, though reared a Protestant. Ile was an intimate personal friend of Andrew Jackson, and is said to have had con- siderable influence over him at one time. Judge Hayward was a man of great force of character, and of exten- sive and varied attainments.
HON. EZRA E. EVANS, ex-judge of the eighth judicial district, was a resident attorney of Morgan County for nearly a score of years. He was born near Belmont Station, in Belmont County, Ohio, March 5, 1816, and educated in the common schools. He read law in Cambridge, Guernsey County, under his brother, Nathan Evans, and was admitted to the bar April 17, 1837, in Georgetown, Brown County, Ohio. After practicing a short time in Toledo he returned to Cambridge, where he practiced from December, 1838, until March, 1840. He then moved to Me- Connelsville, and in 1851 was elected
probate judge, which office he held two years. In 1858 be removed to Zanes- ville, here he still resides and prac- tices his profession. In 1861 he was elected judge of the court of common pleas, and held that office one term. He was married in 1843 to Mary F. Lawrence, widow of John R. Law- rence, and daughter of Colonel Benja- min W. Talbot. Judge Evans was form- erly a whig, and is now a republican.
MELVIN CLARKE, for ten years a prac- ticing attorney of McConnelsville, was descended from Puritan ancestors, and was born in Ashfield, Mass., November 15, 1818. He was educated in the schools of his native state, and in 1838 came west. For several years he was engaged in teaching in Kentucky, West Virginia and Washington County, Ohio. Devoting himself to the study of law in his spare time he gained ad- mission to the bar in 1843, and began the practice of his profession in Mor- gan County. He had a clear analyt- ical mind, and was a cogent reasoner and an able lawyer. In 1853 he re- moved to Marietta, where he practiced law until the outbreak of the rebellion. He was one of the organizers of the 36th Regiment O. V. I., and served as lieutenant-colonel of that organization until killed by a shot from a ten-pound shell at the battle of Antietam Septent- ber 17, 1862. He was buried at Mari- etta with military honors, and a monu- ment was erected to his memory by his comrades in arms and by his associates at the bar. Col. Clarke was twice mar- ried, first to Miss Doreas Dana of New- port, and second to Miss Sophia Brown- ing of Belpre, Ohio. By his first mar- riage he had one son, Joseph D. Clarke, who was killed in the war at City Point, Va., in 1864.
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HON. ISAAC PARRISH Was a member of the Morgan County bar for several years, and represented this district in congress. He was admitted to the bar prior to 1840, and located in Guern- sey County. where he was an unsuccess- ful candidate for congressional honors; but after moving to Morgan County he sought and obtained a nomination ; was elected, and served in the congress of 1845-7. He was a democrat-a man of considerable ability-but his argu- ments were always conspicuous for that fault known to rhetoricians as "arguing in a circle." He embarked in the mill- ing business at Sharon, then in Morgan County, and while there originated a project known as the Sharon Railroad, which a few years later was merged into the famous " Calico" line. After the failure of his visionary enterprise he was one of the chief projectors and or- ganizers of Noble County. He moved west, and engaged in law business at Guthrie Center, Iowa, where he was drowned by the upsetting of a boat.
LION. DANIEL B. LINN, now a resi- dent of Zanesville, passed his early life and began his professional career in Morgan County. He was born in Muskingum County, in 1819, and in 1820 moved to Center Township, Mor- gan County. His father, Joseph C. Linn, was a man of prominence in that township; held the office of justice of the peace, and was an associate judge of the county. The subject of this notice was educated at Granville and Marietta Colleges, graduating from the latter in- stitution after a six years' course in 1840. He then taught in an academy at Belpre, meantime studying medicine, and afterward civil engineering. He next began the study of law, and in 1840 was admitted to the bar at Bucyrus.
He began practice in McConnelsville in the office of Judge Hanna, and was af- terward associated with him in practice for two years. In 1848 he edited the Morgan County Chronicle, and in 1854 established the Enquirer, a democratie newspaper, which he edited until 1859, at the same time carrying on his law business and taking an active part in politics. In 1860 he removed to Zanes- ville. Since leaving Morgan County Mr. Linn has devoted himself to the practice of law and to railroad matters. In 1866-7 and 1868-9 he represented Muskingum and Perry Counties in the State senate, and in 1870-1 represented the same district on the State board of equalization.
HON. CYDNOR B. TOMPKINS was a na- tive of Belmont County. With his father's family he came to Morgan County at an early day. He was a graduate of the Ohio University and read law with George James at Zanes- ville, after which he opened an office in McConnelsville. He was subsequently elected prosecuting attorney, and was a member of Congress from 1857 to 1861. Possessed of a tenacious memory, he seldom if ever, forgot anything he read or that came under his observa- tion. He was an able advocate, and eloquent speaker, of ardent tempera- ment, a warm, personal friend and genial companion. He died in McCon- nelsville July 22, 1862.
HON. FREDERICK W. WOOD, ex-judge of the eighth district, was for many years one of the prominent lawyers of the Morgan County bar. He passed his early life in Manchester township, this county, where his father, Frederick Wood, settled in 1832. Judge Wood was educated at Marietta and Gran- ville. He studied law in McConnels-
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ville under W. T. Bascom, and also attended the Cincinnati law school. In 1847 he was admitted to the bar and settled at McConnelsville, where he practiced until his removal to Colum- bus in 1876. He served as captain in the 86th Regiment O. V. I. in 1862, and was a member of the legislature of 1863-4. In 1864 he was a presidential elector, and in 1868 a delegate to tlie Chicago convention. He was elected judge in 1869 and served upon the bench five years.
ROYAL T. SPRAGUE came to MeCon- nelsville from Muskingum County " along in the forties," and remained three or four years, practicing in part- nership with C. C. Covey. He was a man of excellent ability. In 1849 he went to California and he has since served as chief justice of that state.
DAVID B. SHIVEL, a native of McCon- nelsville, was county recorder in 1852-55. He afterward studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar, but practiced very little. He became a teacher and died while following that profession.
JOSEPH GASTON, NOW a successful law- yer of Portland, Oregon, was reared and educated in Morgan Comty. He read law and about 1860 located in MeConnelsville for a short time. He then went to the Pacific slope, where he has become prominent as a railroad man and lawyer.
R. D. HOPPER studied law in the of- fiee of Hon. C. B. Tompkins, and prac- ticed in MeConnelsville for ten or twelve years. He went to St. Louis some thne during the war; returned to this state and died.
WILLIAM W. PYLE, a native of Mor- gan County, and for several years a compositor in the Herald office, was admitted to the bar in September, 1865.
He never had much practice here. For a time he was local editor of the Herald. He now resides in Zanesville.
GENERAL FRANCIS BATES POND WAS born at Ellisburg, Jefferson County, New York, August 19, 1825, and died at Malta, Morgan County, O., November 2, 1883. He was the eldest in the family of Rev. Charles B. and Abbey (Russell Bates) Pond, which consisted of eight children. His family was of English extraction, and their record can be traced back to Samuel Pond, " Gen- tleman," in the year 1642. That he came of loyal, patriotic stock, is evidenced in the fact that his grandfather, Major Barnabas Pond, served with distinction under General Lafayette in the war of the revolution, while Admiral Foote was a lineal descendant of one of his ancestors.
The boyhood of General Pond was spent at his father's home, or at work upon neighboring farms until he at- tained his sixteenth year. At this time he experienced his first great sorrow- the death of his mother-a lady of rare excellence of character, and whose in- fluence contributed largely to the suc- cess that crowned his efforts in after life. Shortly after the death of his mother, which occurred in July, 1841, he entered Oberlin College in this State. He soon evidenced the posses- sion of those qualities that subsequently made everyone who came in contact with him his friend. He was possessed of a remarkably retentive memory, which in a degree lessened his scholastic labors. His college life was filled with deprivations and struggles. He was without means, and he literally worked his way through the five years' course. One of the salient points of his charac- ter then, as in after years, was his
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thorough appreciation of the humorous. Life to him always had a bright side, and he loved to look upon it. This element in his character enabled him to pass through ordeals which would have disheartened many young men of his age. He graduated with honors in the class of 1846. and spent the succeeding three years at Kent. O. One year was occupied in teaching and two as book- keeper for the firm of Charles and Marvin Kent of that place. In the spring of 1850 he came to Harmar, O., and was employed as a teacher of the classics in the Harmar Academy, taught by his uncle, Henry Bates.
During his senior year at college the question as to which profession he should adopt as his life's vocation-law or theology-agitated his mind. His father, a Congregational clergyman, and a gentleman of marked ability as a minister, was quite desirous that he should choose the former. To make the choice involved a severe struggle extending through a period of three years. He finally became con- vinced, however, that he was not called to the ministry, and wrote his father that he had decided to become a lawyer. These years of indecision he regarded as the most unprofitable of his life. In 1849 he commenced the study of the law in an office at Cleve- land, Ohio, and subsequently studied in the office of Darwin E. Gardiner, of Marietta, Ohio. At the solicitation of Hon. Henry Dowes he came to Malta November 2, 1850, and during the win- ter, and succeeding one was engaged in teaching, at the same time pursuing his legal studies in the office of Colonel Melvin Clarke. March 10, 1852, he was admitted to the bar, and immediately entered upon the active practice of his
profession. In 1855 he was elected prosecuting attorney and served two terms with credit and distinction ; dur- ing this time he was engaged in the trial of a number of important cases that gave him more than a local repn- tation as a rising lawyer.
In April, 1861, he enlisted as a private in what was subsequently known as Company H of the 17th O. V. I .. and was unanimously elected its captain, and upon the organization of the regiment was made its lieutenant colonel and served in that capacity under General Rosecrans in an active campaign in West Virginia. In October, 1861, he was commissioned lieutenant colonel with L. P. Marsh as colonel to recruit the 62d regiment. Colonel Marsh re- signed in January, 1862, and General Pond was promoted to the colonelcy and ordered to the front. He served under Generals Lander and Shields in the campaign of 1862 in the Shenan- doah Valley. From the 1st of July, 1862, he served with General Mcclellan on the peninsula where his command remained until the General fell back to Hampdon, and thence to Suffolk under Generals Mansfield and Peck. In January, 1863, he moved with his regiment to Newbern, N. C., and thence by ocean transports to Port Royal harbor. He led the advance in the capture of Folly Island, par- ticipated in the attack on Morris Island, where his command was terribly cut to pieces. In the winter of 1863-4 his regiment vetcranized, and after a furlough of one month he returned to the front and was assigned to the com- mand of General Butler, and during the campaign of 1864 he commanded the 1st Brigade 1st Division 10th Army Corps. The campaign was a severe
. bb. Fondo
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one, and from 2,400 strong in the spring his eommand was reduced to 1,100 in November, nearly all killed and wound- ed. He had one horse shot from under him, and was, as it was thonght at the time, slightly wounded in the temple. In December, 1864, he resigned his commission on account of ill health and returned to his home. IIe was made brigadier general by brevet in 1864.
After his return to McConnelsville the General again entered upon the practice of the law, and in 1867 was elected a member of the house of rep- resentatives of Ohio. At the expiration of his term he was elected attorney gen- eral of the State (1870) and served two terms. He was a member of the constitu- tional convention of 1873. Ilis official life closed with his second term in the State senate in 1883. While a member of that body he introduced and secured the passage of the law known as the " Pond Bill," an act to "more effect- ually provide against the evils result- ing from the traffic in intoxieating liquors," and which proposed taxation, as a practical and restrietive policy, under the peculiar provisions of the State constitution relating to the traffie in intoxieating liquors. Throughout his entire legislative career his ability as a lawyer was recognized, and while a member of the senate he was ehair- man of the judiciary committee. Ilis views npon all questions were sound and comprehensive, and he was re- garded as a discreet and prudent legis- lator, a safe counsellor, an efficient executive officer and a faithful guardian of every trust committed to his hands. In his political affiliation he was a republican. In religions belief he was through life an adhereut of the early teachings of his father; and the corner-
stone of his creed was, " To do good to his fellowmen."
General Pond was first married to Miss Eliza A., daughter of George L. Corner, Esq., of Malta, in 1854. She died January 13, 1866. May 21, 1867, he married Miss Emma, a sister of his first wife. She died March 18, 1870. In 1876 he was married to Miss Janet. daughter of Andrew Alexander, of Washington County, Pa. By the first marriage there were two children, Mary Blanche, now Mrs. W. F. Smith, of Barnesville, Ohio, and George Charles, now residing at St. Paul, Min. By the second, a son, Francis Newell, who died in infancy.
At the elose of his legislative services. General Pond returned to his home. but it was only for the purpose of bat- tling as a gallant soldier with the "Grim Destroyer." The wound in the right temple, which was received in an engagement at Deep Run, Va., August 16, 1864, developed into a malignant cancer, which terminated his life after nineteen years of suffering, which he endured without a murmur.
The character of General Pond seemed to be a strange mingling of manly sternness and womanly tender- ness. Kind and gentle almost to a fanlt, yet he was possessed of iron nerve and an invincible will. In his life and aims he was more the philau- thropist than the philosopher. In social life he was noted for his hospitality and genial affability. Ile possessed in a rare degree that quality of bearing and man- ner, nnited with a comeliness of person and a fine presence, which not only im- pressed the stranger, but endeared him to all who enjoyed his society, and no- where was his death more regretted than in Morgan County.
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HENRY MOORE DAVIS, for many years a member of the bar of Ohio, died at his home in Malta Township, September 20, 1882, aged 91 years. He was born near Hagerstown, Md., December 7, 1791. In the year 1802 he moved with his parents to the vicinity of East Rush- ville, Fairfield County, O. In Febru- ary, 1821, he married Elizabeth Ruth, of Knox County, O., who died March 24, 1877. They reared eight children -one daughter and seven sons; all still living save two sons. In the war of 1812 Mr. Davis joined Captain Adam Binckley's company in a Ken- tucky regiment and served under Gen- eral Harrison in his memorable cam- paigns. From 1836 to 1842 he edited and published a paper called the Demo- crat and Advertiser at Somerset, Perry County, O. He began the study of law under John B. Orton at Somerset in 1842, and was admitted to the bar in 1844. Mr. Davis resided in Perry County until 1851, when he removed to Morgan County, where he resided until his death. He was a man of moral habits and strict integrity. He joined the Methodist Church when young, and remained a consistent Christian as long as he lived. He joined the Masonic order at Lancaster in 1826, and was among the oldest Masons in Ohio.
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