USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, Ohio, from the founding of Franklinton in 1797, through the World War period to the year 1920 > Part 55
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As an extemporaneous speaker and debater he has few equals. His voice has been heard on all these progressive measures for the up-lift and betterment of mankind in every state of the Union, including Canada, Cuba, Hawaii, and Enrope. As a deep thinker and student of ceonomic and political questions and conditions, as a brilliant orator and as a writer, Mr. Lentz is recognized as one of the notable men of this generation. His vol- une, "Thomas Jefferson, the Radical," from the Royeroft Press, is considered by erities to be one of the ablest books ever written on the life, character, and statesmanship of Jef- ferson.
JOHN DELANO KARNS. Success has come to John Delano Karns as a lawyer be- cause he has put forth the proper effort to attain it, indefatigable industry being the key- note whereby he has advanced himself from the ordinary rural environment to a position in the front ranks of his profession.
J. D. Karns
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Mr. Karns was born on the old homestead in Franklin county, Ohio, October 12th, 1863, the son of John M. and Millie Jane (Clover) Karns. His father was born October 16th, 1831, on West Broad street, Columbus, on the present site of the American Insurance Union building, in which Mr. Karns now has his office. His grandfather was John Karns, a native of Martinsburg, Berkley county, Virginia, born there in 1806, and removed to Colum- bus, Ohio, in 1825. So for nearly a century the Karns family has been well and favorably. known and elosely identified with the growth and history of Franklin county, and the capital city. John M. Karns, after returning from the Civil War removed to his farm in Prairie township, Franklin county, and followed general agricultural pursuits. His death oeeurred on May 10, 1912. His wife, Millie Jane Clover, was born on the family farm in Prairie township, this eounty, on December 14, 1837. She was a daughter of Joshua Clover, who was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1788, the son of Peter Clover, a native of Hesse, Germany. Peter Clover removed his family from Pennsylvania to Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1802. Joshua Clover was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was taken prisoner by the English when General Hull surrendered at Detroit. In 1814, Peter Clover, with his wife, eight sons and two daughters went to Prairie township, Franklin county, bringing with them their household effects, live stock and other portable property and here they heeame very comfortably established through their frugality and industry. The death of the mother of the subeet of this sketeh occurred on June 25, 1915.
John D. Karns was reared on the farm where he did the ordinary work of a farmer's son during the erop seasons, and attended the distriet publie schools in the winter time. Later he entered Reynoldsburg Academy, and taught sehool when in his seventeenth and eighteenth years, and in his nineteenth year he entered the junior elass at Ohio State Uni- versity where he was a student for one year. In the fall of 1883, he entered the United States Weather Bureau training school at Fort Myer, Virginia, near Washington, D. C., where he took special courses in meteorology, practical and theoretical electricity, observa- tion and signalling work, and in 1884 he was sent west by the U. S. Government to establish two meteorologieal stations in Utah. He was next stationed at the mouth of the Columbia river, at Cape Disappointment. Although he became one of the experts in the Weather Bureau, he decided that the routine work was not entirely to his liking for a life oecupa- tion, and abandoned the service in 1888 to do work in western Oregon for the United States engineering department as sextant observer, and in the fall of that year was transferred by that department to St. Louis, Missouri, on the Mississippi river improvement work, where he was regarded as one of the most efficient and trustworthy employees of the Federal Gov- ernment.
While stationed at St. Louis Mr. Karns entered the law department of Washington University in that eity, from which institution he was graduated, June 12, 1890, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and in that year he was admitted to the bar of Missouri, also to the Ohio bar, and entered praetiee in Columbus. From 1891 to 1893 he was a member of the law firm of Jones, Karns & Wilgus. He was one of the professors of the law depart- ment of the Ohio State University and served as Judge of the Municipal Court by appoint- ment of Mayor John N. Hinkle. Sinee 1907 he has been the partner of Hon. John J. Lentz of the law firm of Lentz & Karns. He has not only met with suceess at the local bar, in building up a large and growing elientage, but has also been recognized by many of the leading lawyers of the United States, who have recently eleeted him President of the Fra- ternal Societies Law Association of America, which meets annually in Chicago.
Mr. Karns has always been a zealous student of history and general literature, and is recognized by all his acquaintances as a well informed man along these lines. He is an author of no mean ability, having written and published considerable verse which has attracted wide attention. He has also written many artieles on meteorological and kindred subjects. which have brought him favorable mention as an author.
He is a member of the Franklin County Bar Association, the Methodist Church, and the Elks, and is the Associate Counselor of the American Insurance Union.
On April 22, 1891, Mr. Karns was married to Louise M. Bonn, a daughter of Frederick Bonn, a Methodist Minister of San Jose, California. They have one daughter, Bonnydell Karns, who was a student of the Ohio State University, and graduated from Cornell Univer- sity in 1916, with the degree of L. A., and she is at this writing taking special courses in civics and philanthropie work at Nelson Morris Institute and at Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago.
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EDMOND BOTHWELL DILLON. Standing out distinctly as one of the central figures of the judiciary of Ohio was the name of Hon. Edmond Bothwell Dillon, who died on the 11th day of November, 1919, and who at the time of his death was one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin county. Prominent in legal circles and equally so in public matters beyond the confines of his own jurisdiction, with a reputation in one of the most exact- ing of professions that won him a name for distinguished service second to none of his con- temporaries, there was no more prominent or influential man in the community long honored by his citizenship. Achieving success in the courts at an age when most young men are just entering upon the formative period of their lives, wearing the judicial ermine with becoming dignity and bringing to every case submitted to him a clearness of perception and ready power of analysis characteristic of the learned jurist, his name and work for years were allied with the legal institutions, publie enterprises and political interests of the state in such a way as to earn him recognition as one of the distinguished citizens in a locality noted for the high order of its talent.
Edmond Bothwell Dillon was a native son of the Buckeye state, having been born at Ironton, Ohio, on February 9, 1869, and was the son of Rev. J. W. and Mary Catherine (Cox) Dillon. The father, who also was a native of Ohio, was a well-known minister of the Ohio Con- ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is now deceased, being survived by his widow, who is still living. Edmond Dillon received his early education in the public schools of Gallipolis and Portsmouth, and then attended the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, which institution, in 1897, conferred on him the honorary degree of Master of Arts. In 1887 he began the reading of law in the office of S. W. Durflinger, at London, Ohio, and later with George E. Martin, of Lancaster. In October, 1891, he was admitted to the bar and at once came to Columbus and entered upon the practice of his profession. Soon afterwards he formed a law partnership with the late Judge H. B. Albery, under the firm name of Albery & Dillon. In 1897 he was appointed by the Supreme Court a member of the law examination board, on which he served most acceptably until 1903. In 1898, under a special law, he was appointed a member of the city civil service board, and served in that capacity up to the time of his elc- vation to the bench in 1903. From 1897 until he became judge of the Common Pleas Court he was attorney for the dairy and food department of the State of Ohio. In 1904 he was elected to the chair of law, as pertaining to evidence, in the law department of the Ohio State University and held that position for thirteen years. In 1903 he was elected a mem- ber of the Court of Common Pleas, in which position he served to the time of his death, a period of sixteen years.
Politically, Judge Dillon was an active supporter of the Republican party and stood high in its councils. Ile served as chairman of the county and congressional committees in the campaign of 1900, when MeKinley ran for President, and in 1912 he received the nomi- nation of the Republican party for Governor, but declined the nomination, foreseeing the com- ing split in the party. His qualifications for the office of judge were unquestionable. First of all, he possessed integrity of character. He possessed the natural ability and essential acquirements, the acumen of the judicial temperament. He was able to divest himself of prejudice or favoritism and consider only the legal aspects of a question submitted. No labor was too great, however onerous; no application too severe if necessary to the complete understanding and correct determination of a question. Ilis career at the bar and on the bench offers a noble example and an inspiration, for he was never known to fail in the strict- est courtesy and regard for professional ethics.
In college life Judge Dillon was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi and the Delta Chi Greck-letter fraternities. Ile was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Franklin County Bar Associa- tion, the Ohio State Bar Association, while, socially, he belonged to the Columbus Athletic Club and the Columbus Country Club. His religious membership was with the Franklin Park Methodist Episcopal Church and he served on its official board.
On May 8, 1895, Judge Dillon was married to Marian Daisy Whitney. daughter of Calvin and Marian ( Dean) Whitney, of Norwalk, Ohio, both of whom are d""eased. Mr. Whitney, who was widely known as a philanthropist and supporter of benevolent enterprises, was president of the A. B. Chase Piano Company, of Norwalk. To Judge and Mrs. Dillon were born the following children: Edmond Whitney, born September 11, 1897, was a pilot and instructor in the aviation service during the recent war, and is now taking up the study
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of law at the Ohio State University; Mary Catherine, born on December 27, 1900, is a student in the Sargent School of Physical Education at Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Marian Elizabeth, born February 4, 1908.
A rare compliment was paid to Judge Dillon in 1911 when he was chosen, entirely with- out solicitation or suggestion on his part, as a candidate for Circuit Judge.
As a fitting close to this review, we present an excerpt from the memorial resolutions of the Franklin County Bar Association, and which shows in an unmistakable manner the exalted position Judge Dillon held in the hearts of those who were in the best position to know him well:
As members of the bar we feel that it is due the living as well as the dead that we should bear solemn testimony to the value of the services of our deceased brother to the judicial life which he dignified and adorned by many of the choicest labors and accomplish- ments of a professional career.
As a lawyer Judge Dillon was thoroughly grounded in legal principles; his reading was large and accurate and he possessed attainments in departments of study outside of the judicial sphere. In science and general literature and in history his reading was extensive and his memory was so tenacious that the acquisition of his study seemed always at his dis- position. He had great powers of analysis, closeness of logic and a rapidity in the forma- tion of his judgment that amounted to almost intuition. The foundations of his strength were laid in hard study, untiring efforts, indomitable energy, unflinching integrity and honor. The thoughts that we have here expressed have most of them been already voiced and long known by Judge Dillon's closest friends and especially by those who had known him since boyhood; and all who met him in his manhood and in his later life willingly join in like testimony to his purity and worth. Such a life as his well deserved high honor from courts and bar, and now that he has departed forever from us, it is fitting that a conspicuous notice should be taken of his career, both as a tribute to his memory and as an incentive for initia- tion and emulation bring an encouragement unto those yet engaged in their responsibilities and labors.
Judge Dillon "crossed the bar" in the very prime of manhood. He was conspicuous in his physical development almost to the point of perfection. He would have attracted atten- tion in any assemblage by his towering manhood, his handsome, encouraging and ennobling countenance and by his genial and gentlemanly treatment of all with whom he came in contact.
The members of the bar will ever remember wtih pleasure an appreciation of Judge Dillon expressed by his pastor, Rev. Burt David Evans, on the occasion of his funeral. As an estimate by a man entirely apart from the profession, it is worthy of reminder here and we qoute from him on that occasion. In this appreciation Doctor Evans said:
"In addition, he was a witness of the truth in his ability to see and make clear certain moral and ethical distinctions. In the legal profession that is a great task. Men who give themselves to the study of the law stand, as it were, before the great body of truth as it relates to the welfare of human society. The right and the wrong of these questions were clearly seen by Judge Dillon, His decisions were so adequately expressed that they became light to the men of his profession. It was said of him that he was a natural judge; in other words, he had the qualifications that made it possible for him to so express the moral and ethical content of a principle that other men would see it clearly and seek to embody it in their legal practice. He never could have been a pettifogger, his devotion to the cause of truth and his ability to interpret the same would not permit him to be such; on the con- trary, he constantly sought the great principles involved and interpreted them as they had to do with human conduct and welfare. It was his privilege to assist in the construction of a legal edifice builded upon the foundations of fundamental truth.
"Furthermore, he gave light to his fellowmen in the great spirit of humanitarianism that characterized his life. He said at one time that he had sought to give every man a square deal. As the dispenser of justice this was his aim, the ideal toward which he was ever striving."
GEORGE W. LATTIMER. For many years George W. Lattimer ranked among the leading business men of Columbus, and while not primarily a public man he was influential in the affairs of the city. Strong mental endowment, coupled with an honesty of purpose made him a dominant factor in the circles in which he moved. He was essentially a man of affairs, sound of judgment, far-seeing in what he undertook, and successful in the enter- prises to which he addressed himself. He won and retained the good will and confidence of the people with whom he came in contact.
Mr. Lattimer was born in Columbus, December 6th, 1856, and died there February 12th, 1920. He was descended from two Ohio pioncer families. His ancestors fought in the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. Col. Jacob Lattimer commanded a regiment in the Continental army, while Captain James Atherton was killed in the Wyoming valley, Pennsylvania, while in command of his company in the French and Indian
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War. Both were direct ancestors of the subject of this sketch, and his grandparents on both sides of the house were pioneers of Ohio. Daniel Dodge and Katherine ( Hyde) Lattimer, the paternal grandparents, were natives of Connecticut. They came to Ohio and settled on land along the Scioto river in Franklin county north of Columbus in 1815. Daniel Lattimer took up government land, which he cleared and developed into a good farm through hard work, undergoing the privations and hardships incident to life in the wilderness. William Cox, the maternal grandfather, was an Englishman and served as a sailor during the French and Indian War, after which he settled in Philadelphia. He later made his way into the Wyoming valley where he met and married Ann Atherton, who was born and reared there. After their marriage they removed to Ohio, settling in Delaware county. William Cox was a cabinet maker, a trade he followed even after taking up his residence in Ohio, In iater life he retired to his farm.
Oliver Hallam Lattimer, father of George W. Lattimer, was born in Norwich township, Franklin county, Ohio, in 1827 and died in Columbus in 1865. He grew up on the home farm and upon reaching manhood married Sarah Atherton Cox, who was born in Delaware county this State in 1831. She died in Columbus in 1913. Oliver H. Lattimer worked on his father's farm until he was twenty-one years of age, at which time his father gave him a horse and he came to Columbus to seek his fortune. He went to work for Dr. Awl, who at that time was superintendent of the State Asylum for the Insane. Sarah Atherton Cox was educated in the old academy at Westerville, Franklin county, which finally became Otterbein University. She taught school for a while then accepted a position at the State Asylumnt for the Insane, and it was while the parents of our subject were employed there, that they first met.
Oliver H. Lattimer entered the bakery and confectionery business in Columbus prior to the Civil War, supplying the wholesale trade. As that was before the building of many of our railroads, he sent his bakery and confectionery products about the country in wagons. During the winter months, he was often compelled to use four and six horse teams to pull his wagons through the mud and snow. He held a large government contract for army "hard- tack" during the Civil War.
George W. Lattimer grew up in Columbus. He was graduated from Central High School in 1874, then attended school a year in Cleveland, after which he entered Amherst College, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1879. He was a member of the Chi Psi college fraternity. After returning home he read law a while in Columbus, then spent about a year in Colorado where he had mining interests. Returning to Columbus he accepted a position as secretary and treasurer of the Nelsonville Coal & Coke Company of this city, but a year later resigned. In 1882, with George B. Kauffman and L. B. Kauffman, he organized the Kauffman & Lattimer Company, wholesale druggists. This company was incorporated in 1888 as the Kauffman-Lattimer Company. Mr. Lattimer served as secretary and treasurer until his death. He was founder and for over twelve years president of the Lattimer Stove & Foundry Co., later succeeded by the A. T. Nye Co.
Mr. Lattimer was active and prominent in the civie life of Columbus until his death. He helped in the organization of the Columbus Board of Trade in 1882 and was one of its original directors. He served as president in 1906. For many years he was chairman of its public improvement committee, and served as commissioner of parks under Mayor Jeffrey. He was identified with the good roads movement for years, was president of the Franklin County Good Roads Association, and treasurer of the Ohio Good Roads Association. He was vice president and treasurer of the Ohio Good Roads Federation. He was on the first joint committee of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and the Ohio Grange which formulated many of the present road laws of Ohio. Governor Harris appointed him a dele- gate to the convention of the National Good Roads Association at Buffalo, New York, also a delegate to the convention of the National Civic Federation, which met at St. Paul and Minneapolis. Governor Cox, during his first term, appointed him a member of the State Board of Arbitration.
He was the first president of the Central Philanthropic Council, vice president of the board of managers of the Associated Charities, a member of the board of directors of the Humane Society, vice-president of the Anti Tuberculosis Society, a trustee of the Hannah Neil
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Mission, president of the Ohio Institute for Public Efficiency, and chairman of the Columbus Chapter American Red Cross' general committee.
He was appointed one of the five members of the State Flood Commission by Governor Cox in 1913; was appointed one of the three commissioners by Judges of Common Pleas Courts under the conservancy aet for prevention of floods in the Franklin county district. The American Red Cross presented him with a medal for distinguished service rendered during the 1913 flood. From the time of the flood until its reorganization for the World War he acted as State representative of the American Red Cross. He was elected presi- dent of the National Wholesale Druggists' Association at Jacksonville, Fla., in 1913, and had been chairman of many important committees. For six years before his death he was chairman of the National Legislative Committee.
He was a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Ohio Chapter Sons of Ameri- can Revolution. He belonged to Broad Street Methodist Episcopal Church and was a trustee of the Columbus School for Girls. He was one of the founders of the Columbus Country Club and chairman of the grounds committee. He was a member of the Columbus Athletic and the Columbus Club.
Mr. Lattimer's first marriage was to Belle Gardner, a daughter of Andrew Gardner, who was at one time postmaster at Columbus. Her death occurred in 1886, leaving one son, Gardner Lattimer, who graduated from Amherst College in 1906. Mr. Lattimer married Minnie Williams, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Luther Williams of Columbus, in 1898. Their daughter, Jane Lattimer, graduated from the Columbus School for Girls, and is now a junior at Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pa.
For unselfish service of his fellows, no citizen of Columbus was more conspicuous than George W. Lattimer. His death, following so closely on his intensive serivce as chairman of the Columbus Chapter of the Red Cross during the period of the war, assumes the character of the supreme sacrifice made by those who fell in battle. It was not given him to fight, but it was his portion, willingly assumed and capably performed, to lead in the work of caring for the wounded and ministering to the needs of the men of army and navy and their dependents.
That patriotic and humanitarian service was the crown of years of endeavor in behalf of the unfortunate and the suffering. Born in Columbus, he spent essentially all of his years here, generously dividing his time between private business and unsalaried public service. No worthy movement in the cause of humanity lacked his sympathy; few such efforts were without his active support. Kindly in his manner, clear in his thinking, careful in his judg- ments and firm in his convictions, he was a wise counselor and a good leader.
HARRY M. DAUGHERTY. While Harry M. Daugherty, well known lawyer of Colum- bus, has passed the nadir of his professional life, yet he has many years of profitable activity before him. He is a man of thought and study and finds essential nutriment in fcasting at the boards of the legal masters of the past. Having depended a great deal upon these established authorities he has ever kept well prepared for his daily tasks.
Mr. Daugherty was born in Washington Court House, Fayette county, Ohio, January 26, 1860. He is a son of John H. and Jane (Draper) Daugherty, the father a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of Ohio. The Drapers came to the Buckeye State from Virginia in pioneer days. The records of both these old families are most creditable in the annals of Ohio.
Harry M. Daugherty attended the public schools when a boy in his native town, and later entered the University of Michigan, taking the law course, and was graduated from that institution with the class of 1881, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1883 and began the practice of his profession in his native town soon thereafter, but in 1893, seeking a larger field for the exercise of his talents, he removed to Columbus, and with the late Judge H. B. Maynard formed the law firm of Maynard & Daugherty, which partnership continued with uninterrupted success until Judge Maynard went upon the bench in 1903. Then the law firm of Worthington & Daugherty was formed and in two years Judge Worthington went upon the bench and the firm of Dangherty & Todd was formed, to which was later admitted R. F. Rarey, the name being changed to Daugherty, Todd & Rarey, and this name has been retained by the firm to the present time. It is well known throughout Ohio and is regarded as one of the strongest firms in Columbus.
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