USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio, from 1808 to 1908, Vol. I > Part 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59
And now, Mr. President, on behalf of a few of his friends, viz: Judge Martin Welker, Hon. John Sherman, Hon. Henry C. Hedges, G. F. Carpenter, Hon. M. D. Harter, B. F. Crawford, Nelson Ozier, and Samuel N Ford, I have the honor and the very great pleasure to present through you to the State, this portrait, and ask that it be assigned to a place on the walls of the Senate chamber.
At the close of the above remarks the Senate, by a rising vote, unani- mously accepted the portrait.
Isaac Gass was the son of William Gass, who was a member of the Second General Assembly of Ohio. He read law with James Stewart and in many ways and methods was like him. He was prosecuting attorney of the county, state senator, and also entered the military service of his country and carried
291
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY
the sword of a lieutenant colonel. He attained some prominence at the bar and was regarded as a safe counsellor and a trial lawyer of fair ability.
Robert C. Smith was born in Pennsylvania. He did not devote himself very closely to the practice of law. That he had gifts, is not questioned, but he lacked method, both of study and life, and he despised the weakness of some who gain fame and fortune by fawning. He was a true friend and the soul of honor. When the Civil War broke out, he became a soldier and served as a lieutenant in the First Ohio Independent Battery. For a number of years he was connected with the internal revenue service, and was a faithful public officer.
William Loughridge did not long remain at the bar of Richland county. He early took Horace Greeley's advice, "Go West, young man." He went to Oskaloosa, Iowa, and there became a judge and congressman.
Jacob Brinkerhoff was born August 31st, 1810, in Cayuga county, New York. He came to Mansfield in 1836, and one year later was admitted to the bar, and immediately formed a partnership with Thomas W. Bartley and entered upon the practice of the law. He soon acquired the reputation of being a lawyer of more than ordinary ability, and in 1839 was elected prosecuting attorney of Richland county, and sucessfully discharged the duties of the office for four years. In the fall of 1843 he was elected to Con- gress on the Democratic ticket. While serving as a member of this body, he became affiliated with the Free-soil party and drew up the famous resolutions introduced by David Wilmot, and since known as the "Wilmot Proviso." The original draft of this resolution in Judge Brinkerhoff's handwriting is now in the Congressional Library in Washington, D. C. Several copies of this resolution were made and distributed among the Free-soil members of Con- gress, with the understanding that whoever among them should catch the speaker's eye, and get the floor, should introduce it. Wilmot was the fortu- nate man, and thereby his name was attached to the resolutions, and it has gone into history as the "Wilmot Proviso," instead of the Brinkerhoff Proviso, as it should have been. At the close of his Congressional career he resumed the practice of law in Mansfield, in which he sucessfully labored until he was elevated to the supreme bench, his first term commencing January 9, 1856. He served three successive terms and declined a fourth nomination. The Ohio state reports from volume five to twenty, inclusive, contain many of his opinions, and they are very highly regarded everywhere by the profession. Judge Brinkerhoff had a strong sense of justice, and was ever zealous in the discharge of his official duties, and his written opinions are characterized by a fluent and perspicuous style. He was a man of broad culture, of compre- hensive views, and of remarkably quick perception, Upon his retirement from the supreme bench he returned to his home in Mansfield, where he re- mained up to the time of his death, which occurred July 19, 1880.
Thomas W. Bartley, lawyer and jurist, being president of the Senate of Ohio in 1844, became, by the resignation of Governor Shannon, governor of the State of Ohio, and administered the duties of that office until the inaug- uration of his father, Governor Mordecai Bartley, in the closing month of that year. He was born February 11, 1812. in Jefferson county, Ohio. He
.
292
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY
was admitted to the bar in Mansfield, Ohio, and served as such for four years, after which he was appointed United States district attorney and served in that office for four years. Elected subsequently to the legislature, he served one term in the House and four years in the Senate. In 1851 he was elected a judge of the supreme court of Ohio and served two full terms. His decisions are held in high esteem by the bench and bar and greeted with approval in the other states. He was a courteous gentleman, a wise judge and a careful lawyer.
Jerome Lee, of him Henry C. Hedges says: "He was a quiet man, but I doubt if he had many equals at any time in the history of our bar and few superiors in intellect or fine intellectual power. He was a man of extensive reading and knowledge of men and things. Keen in analysis, logical in statement, and intensely able in unraveling that which was irrelevant and im- material, so as to reach the kernel of truth." After the war he was chosen city solicitor of Mansfield and the duties of that office were never more ably performed than by Jerome Lee. He was compelled, on account of his health, to remove to Washington City and there for twelve years he was chief of a division in the treasury department. He performed his duties ably and well.
Robert H. Rowland was born in Richland county and after his admission to the bar practiced his profession but a short time and then went into banking business. He died some years ago in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Andrew N. Hedges was a man of faultless form and cultured brain. In a class of forty-two, he was the poet. His intellect was keen, his equipment, for his age, excellent, and his knowledge exact. For a year at the height of the war he served with Captain Shumk, the provost marshal of the district. He, too, entered upon the study of law. 'Ere he had entered actively the lists of his profession, he was met in the way, and death conquered. His life was gentle and the elements in him assured a man.
George F. Carpenter was a native son of old Richland. He practiced law for a number of years in Mansfield. He was not given to the drudgery of trial work. He was especially an office lawyer. He was always regarded as a safe counsellor: He was a business lawyer, and as a result of his thrift and economy, amassed a considerable fortune. Once at a bar banquet held in the old Wiler House, he closed an amusing reminiscent speech by saying that if he had entered some other vocation he might have been rich, but as it was he had always remained poor.
Hubbard Colby was born in New Hampshire. He came to Mansfield in the early Forties. He taught school, studied law and wrote editorials. His first law partner was Mordecai Bartley. His practice of the law was limited more especially on account of other business engagements. He, along with Edward Sturges, Andrew L. Grimes and others, organized the Mansfield Machine Works. He became interested also in the Mansfield Gas Light company, and for a number of years was very active in manufactur- ing and other enterprises of Mansfield. He was a member of the Baptist church and was largely instrumental in the erection of the church on the corner of Park avenue west and Walnut streets. Meeting with financial re-
WATER SHED BARN
295
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY
verses, he removed to California and secured a clerical position in the office of the collector of the post of San Francisco. If he had confined himself to his profession, he might have attained rank. He was a man of commanding figure and socially much liked.
N. N. Leyman was born in Richland county, Ohio. He was educated in the public schools of Mansfield. admitted to the bar on gaining his major- ity, and immediately entered on a successful practice with his former pre- ceptors. He was a young man of marked ability, but he matured early and reached his greatest height when others were only climbing the lower slopes of fame. Success came to him early and with success ambition led him onward. He removed to New York City, but his sun declined and when hope was at its highest he departed. He was not a success as a jury lawyer. He could not reach them, but always went over their heads. As an advocate in the appellate courts he had few, if any, equals at the Richland county bar. He had a keen, incisive, analytical mind. His propositions were always stated with terseness and conciseness and supported with authorities applicable.
Thomas MeBride was born November 20, 1827. in Monroe township, Richland county, Ohio. He was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He read law in Mansfield and was admitted to the bar in June, 1827, at Mt. Vernon, Ohio. The month following his admission to the bar, he opened a law office in Defi- ance, Ohio. Success followed his efforts, and two years afterward he was elected prosecuting attorney of Defiance county. This office he filled with credit for two successive terms. In 1865 he returned to Mansfield and followed the practice of his profession till his death in January. 1890. He was a man of strong will power, intense likes and dislikes, fairly cultured, more logical power than rhetoric. and he made of life a success. He was a close student of the law, but not of letters or literature generally, and thereby he lacked something of the skill and power he might have attained had he been more broadly educated. As a trial lawyer of facts, he had few equals in Richland county. He was not a polished advocate, but a vigorons one, and in invective not surpassed by any of his contemporaries. He was a skillful cross-examiner of both classes of witnesses, those determined not to tell what they knew and those eager to tell all and more than they knew. His special ability was made manifest in the examination and cross-examination of witnesses. Once re- tained in a case his every effort was put forth to gain this cause, irrespective of all other considerations. In his intensity, he made enemies of friends. but never made friends of enemies. He was devoted to the church of his choice, the Presbyterian, and was for many years a ruling elder thereof.
Lyman Beecher Matson was educated at Wabash college, in Indiana. He studied law at Mansfield and was admitted to the bar and began the practice here. He was a very successful lawyer. He was especially strong with a . jury. He, probably, had no equal at the Richland bar as a jury lawyer. He was wonderfully successful in securing business, having a most pleasing appear- ance and manner. He died in 1876, but he had not reached the zenith of his life or of his accomplishments.
Milton W. Worden entered the army soon after his admission to the
296
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY
bar. He was a captain in the Thirty-second Ohio and lost his leg at Harper's Ferry. He was elected probate judge of Richland county, and enjoys the distinction of being the only man ever elected to that office of the Republican faith in politics. He did not long survive his retirement from office. He had little, if any, opportunity to attain success at the bar.
Samuel S. Bloom was born at Waterford, Pennsylvania, March 11th, 1834. He came to Richland county, Ohio, and settled at Shelby in March, 1856. He represented his county in the House of Representatives, General Assembly of Ohio, during the years 1853-1867 and 1877-1881, inclusive. He was admitted to the bar in 1864. He was the projector of the first paper in Shelby, The Pioneer. He established the first telephone exchange in Richland county, at Shelby. He was an ardent Democrat. He was one of the organ- izers of the First Evangelical Lutheran church, of Shelby, and was one of its devoted members. He lived an active Christian life. He was a good and useful citizen and attained some measure of success at the bar.
William W. Drennan lived at Plymouth. He never took an active part in the trial of cases, but was always regarded as a good counsellor. He had considerable success in the practice of law, but it was largely confined to office and Probate business, uncontested cases.
John K. Cowan was born in Holmes county, Ohio, and educated at Princeton, New Jersey. He was prosecuting attorney of Richland county in 1870. While he was prosecutor he was tendered a position in the office of the general counsel of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. He accepted, resigned the prosecuting attorneyship and removed to the city of Baltimore. He after- wards became general counsel, receiver and president of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and A. D. Egerton, one of President Cleveland's civil service commissioners, told the writer that President Cleveland told him that he would have appointed Cowan to a position on the supreme bench of the United States, instead of L. Q. C. Lamar, but on account of Mr. Cowan's quarrel with Senator Gorman, of Maryland, Gorman had served notice that he would defeat his confirmation.
Mr. Cowan served one year in Congress. He was a polished gentleman, an able lawyer and a Christian citizen. He had a keen, incisive mind. He could readily grasp a point and could sift the chaff from the wheat and get to the merits of the case at once. He was a brilliant orator and a power with court and juries.
A. M. Burns was born in Richland county. He began the study of the law in the office of his uncle, Colonel B. Burns, and was admitted to the bar. The war breaking out soon thereafter, he enlisted in the Fifteenth Ohio. both in the three months' and three years' service. After the war he resumed the practice of the law in Mansfield and was elected to the State Senate and served two terms. He was the author of the so-called "Burns law," that re- quires the council of any municipality to first certify that the funds for a certain purpose are in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. before a valid contract can be made. He was afterwards appointed to a position in the treasury department, but resigned that position and settled in Cleveland,
297
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY
where he died. He was a man of more than ordinary ability and measured up well with his fellow members of the legal profession.
Andrew J. Mack, of him I quote the following from the committee appointed to prepare a testimonial on his life: "The bar is today face to face with the great enemy, Death. One of our members, Judge Andrew J. Mack, has been called home. A native of Ohio for fifty years walking the earth, on the 14th inst. he came to the parting of the ways and has passed into the unseen country. His parents were of the pioneers of the county- his father strong intellectually, a man of character, self-reliant, his mother gentle, cultured, and possessed of all the Christian graces. With such a father and mother, our friend's youth and early manhood were made espec- ially bright and promising, his education was cared for, and in 1868, when twenty-three years of age, he finished his collegiate course and entered on the study of the law, and having the advantage of a course of study in the law department of the University of Michigan, he entered on the practice of his profession in 1870. Official positions came to him ahnost unsought, and he was prosecuting attorney and for two full terms judge of the Probate court, and retiring therefrom, he entered again on the practice of his profession. We note these facts, for they are a part of his life and his history. He was a genial, gentle-minded man, his domestic relations were happy, his knowledge of the elementary principles of the law excellent, and his familiarity with the practice large. He was a pleasant and attractive public speaker, and all things combined to make life honorable and useful."
William H. Pritchard was born in Richland county. Ohio. He was educated at the Academy at Perrysville, and graduated from the University of Wooster, Ohio, in 1874. He at once began the study of law and when admitted, began the practice in Mansfield. During his residence in Mansfield he was in partnership with his brother-in-law, Judge N. M. Wolfe. He re- moved to Washington state in December, 1884, and settled at Tacoma. where he reached a high position at the bar and served several terms on the bench. He was a most careful, painstaking lawyer. No case that he was retained in could be too well prepared. He left nothing undone in the preparation. Hle analyzed both the law and the facts. He endeavored to leave no avenue open by which the opposition could surprise him.
Albert G. Day was born in Richland county, Ohio. He read law with Colonel B. Burns and was his last law partner. He was not a strong. healthy man, and was cut off early in life, before he had an opportunity to do much in his profession. He was a man of pleasing manners, social and compan- ionable.
Albert J. Twitchell was a man of commanding presence. He was a business lawyer and amassed some considerable property. He had a good . knowledge of the law. Ile was regarded as a safe counsellor. And on the few occasions he appeared in court, he showed marked ability, but the drudg- ery of trial work was distasteful to him. He was a most kind neighbor. He was always ready to offer his services and took a delight in being able to ren- der neighborly assistance.
298
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY
William L. Sewell was born in Richland county, Ohio. He was edu- cated in the public schools and in the academy at Hayesville, Ohio.
He read law with Judge M. May. After his admission to the bar, he practiced in Mansfield. He was appointed United States consul at Toronto. Canada, and afterwards transferred to Pernambuco, Brazil. He was a great wit, and that, together with his quaint way of expressing himself, made him a most welcome addition to any party. He would be the life of it. He had a sweet, sunny disposition. He always saw the bright side of life. The word tomorrow was omitted from his vocabulary. When he thoroughly pre- pared a case there never was at the Richland county bar a more dangerous opponent. He was full of resources. Knock him out on one theory and he would quickly recover and come back at you with another and beat you before you had time to gather yourself together. If he had confined himself dili- gently to the study and practice of the law he would have reached a com- manding position at the bar.
William W. Skiles was born in Pennsylvania. He came with his par- ents to Richland county, Ohio, in 1854. He was educated in the public schools and Baldwin University, at Berea, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1876. He paid his own way through college, "earning his money by teaching school." He read law with Dirlam and Matson, in Mansfield. After his admission, he formed a partnership with his brother and they located at Shelby, Ohio. The firm, by their industry, soon acquired a large and lucrative practice. He was elected to Congress in 1900 and died during his second term. He reached a conspicuous place in Congress and was highly regarded by his Congressional associates for his sterling honesty and integrity and his adhesion to his principles. He was a man of excellent judgment and most pleasing disposition. He was a student and was always an agreeable compan- ion. He was the soul of honor. His word was as good as his bond. While he was a man of strong convictions, he had charity for the man who differed with him. He was an untiring worker. When once engaged in a matter. nothing swerved him from his course till the matter was consummated. He was a good citizen and the world is better that W. W. Skiles lived in it.
Robert B. Brinkerhoff was born in Richland county. He was educated in the public schools. He read law and was admitted to the bar in Mans- field. After his admission to the bar, he began the practice in Mansfield and continued in it until he was appointed deputy insurance commissioner of Ohio. When his term of office was over, he removed to New York, and became connected as counsel for a large insurance company. He became an excellent insurance lawyer. He reached a high position in his chosen pro- fession. He was always a student. His wide range of reading made him a brilliant and instructive conversationalist.
Thomas F. Black was born in Richland county in 1863. He was the son of poor parents and had to make his own way early in life. He was edu- cated at the public schools and at Ada, Ohio, from which institution he grad- uated. He was admitted to the bar in 1899 and began the practice in Mans- field. He was elected mayor of Mansfield and served one term. He con-
299
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY
ducted the affairs of the office in a highly creditable manner. He was suc- cessful in his practice. He was a student of the law. He was careful and dil- igent in his preparation of his cases. He was a genial companion, strong in his friendships. He died in December, 1905. A brilliant career was cut off all too soon by the fell destroyer.
Richard Gaily was born in Richland county. He was educated in the public schools of Mansfield. He read law in Mansfield and began the practice here. He was appointed referee in bankruptcy and conducted the affairs in a manner satisfactory to all concerned. He was a close student. He had a most lovable disposition and had many warm friends. He was the soul of honor. He was frail and delicate in health and was cut off before his career was hardly begun.
Henry P. Davis practiced law in Mansfield many years and was lovingly referred to by his fellow members as the "Nestor of the bar," "the grand old man of the Richland county bar." He had many friends but no enemies. It can be said of him that as a man, as a lawyer, he left a record without a blemish, a character without reproach, and reputation without a stain. His long, honorable and useful career should be taken as an example by not only all the members of the bar, but by the citizens generally. It is the lives of such men as Henry P. Davis that make the world better for their living in it. While he was not a great man, he was a good man and his influence will be felt for many years to come.
I have endeavored to tell some things of the members of the Richland county bar. The bar of old Richland has had an honorable name. Its mem bers have attained honorable distinction in many places. They have stamped their impress on the laws of the state and nation and have attained honorable distinction in the interpretation of the laws. Their contests in the forum have brought distinction to their native heath. Let us hope the future will be even more renowned than the past.
In closing it may not be amiss for me to narrate a few anecdotes that occurred during the years of practice.
A well-known justice of the peace when asked to instruct the jury would say, "Why gentlemen, the jury understands the case: they need no instruc- tions. No doubt they will do justice between the parties."
It is told of another justice that after he had charged the jury at great length and they had been out for a long time, that they came in and asked the justice "whether what he had told them was really the law or whether it was only his notion of it."
This article has already been too long drawn out. I must bring it to a close, but in doing so I want to acknowledge my obligations to Mrs. H. C. . Hedges, who kindly gave me access to a scrap book kept by her husband in which much valuable information was obtained. I only regret that Mr. Hedges was not able to prepare this himself. We all regret that that brilliant mind, so full of reminiscences, is clouded so that this article could not have received the full benefit of it.
300
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY
OHIO STATE REFORMATORY
The state of Ohio has especially favored Richland county by locating at Mansfield one of the state's finest and most beneficent public institutions. This is the Ohio State Reformatory, formerly known as the Intermediate Pen- itentiary, located a short distance outside and northeast of the city limits. The idea of such an institution for the state was "thought out" mainly by General Roeliff Brinkerhoff, of Mansfield, then, as now, one of the leading penologists of the world, and whose study and work along the lines of cor- rections and charities have made him known the world over. To General Brinkerhoff, more than anyone else, is due the credit of the inception of this great effort of the state to reclaim and reform the young men who, while yet young in crime, are not yet beyond the pale of restoration to good citizen- ship.
This intermediate prison was needed to complete the penal system of the state, intermediate between the Boys' Industrial School and the Ohio Penitentiary. Criminologists like General Brinkerhoff and those associated with him in the agitation for prison reform, held that a combined prison and school was needed for the benefit of young offenders who are not yet given over to a life of crime, whose offenses are more due to thoughtlessness and the rashness of youth than to criminal intent, and who should not be degraded by confinement in the penitentiary and association with hardened and vicious criminals. It had been demonstrated in other states that with proper training and education many of these young violators of the law could be saved from a life of crime and made good citizens. With this object in view the friends of prison reform set about establishing such a reformatory institution for Ohio, and the results have more than justified the hopes and the efforts of those who have labored so long and earnestly for its accomplish- ment.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.