USA > Ohio > Ohio's progressive sons; a history of the state; sketches of those who have helped to build up the commonwealth > Part 31
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Of those are the men who developed the natural resources; who delved for the hidden treasures of the earth ; who made the fields blossom; who carved their way through the great forests ; girded the State with iron bands ; built canals and steamboats ; erected great man- ufacturing and industrial enterprises; introduced new processes in science and mechanics ; devoted their lives to the advancement of the people in education and the dissemination of special knowledge; who championed the cause of humanity ; promoted the comforts of living and whose deeds are worthy of being perpetuated and followed by future generations. "What man has done man may do."
In the previous pages of this work is set forth the general history of the great State of Ohio-the pages which follow are devoted to the deeds and achievements of those who have made the State great. Every human life is a history, and the collected biographies of the great men of any community are the simple records of the country in which they live, and the mirror of their time. Samuel Johnson says :
"I have often thought that there has rarely passed a life of which a judicious and faith- ful narrative would not be useful."
To the student, the thinker and the historian, the lives and attainments of gifted men are of absorbing interest, showing, as they do, the difficulties which have been overcome, and how success has crowned earnest and faithful effort. These biographies are the most attrac- tive form of history, for, while they perpetuate the memory of the great, they also illustrate aptly the conduct of life, and convey to succeeding generations important lessons full of instruction, human interest, and often replete with romance. It is men such as these whose biographies are preserved in this work. They all have contributed towards the State's progress and glory. It is unfortunate that many great men have passed away leaving no printed records of their attainments, which, if obtainable, would act as beacon lights to suc- ceeding generations, and which would be preserved by their descendants as a family treasure of priceless value. The civilization of our day, the enlightenment of the age, and the solemn duty which men owe to their ancestors, to themselves and to their posterity, demands that a record of their lives and deeds should be preserved.
But there are deeds which shall not pass away And names that must not wither, though the earth Forgets her empires with a just decay.
- Byron
William Z. Davis,
At present (1905) Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, is a native of the Buckeye State, and was born in the village of Loydsville, Belmont County, on the 10th of June, 1839. He is a descendant of the Revo- lutionary stock in the Old Dominion. His father, Dr. Bushrod Washington Davis, was a native of Loudon County, Va. The late Dr. John Davis, an eminent physician and surgeon of Dayton, was his uncle. His mother, a former Miss Harriet Hatcher, was also a meni- ber of the well-known Virginia family of that name. Judge William Z. Davis was educated in the public schools and a private academy. He has been a life-long student and was for many years a member of the American Micro- scopical Society, withdrawing only because pressure of business duties interfered with scientific studies. He served out a three WILLIAM Z. DAVIS months' enlistment in the Fourth Ohio Regi- ment during the Civil War, and afterwards served in the Ninety-sixth Ohio Regiment until physically disabled and honorably dis- charged during the Vicksburg campaign. In the meantime he was admitted to the bar and after coming out of the military service, and upon regaining his health, Judge Davis entered upon the practice of the law. Almost from the beginning he was recognized as a leader in his chosen profession and obtained a large practice, which extended into all the State and Federal courts. The suggestion of his name for the office of Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio was received with enthusiasm by lawyers of all political parties throughout the State, and he was nominated by the Republican party in June, 1899, as its candidate for that office. He was elected in November of that year, ap to which time he had never held an elective office. On the 10th of January, 1900, he was appointed by Governor Nash to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Bench caused by the resignation of Judge Joseph P. Bradbury, who had resigned the day before. Judge Davis entered upon the regular term of his distinguished office on the 9th of February, 1900, which term will expire in 1906. Judge Davis has made an enviable reputation during his term of office. His decisions are closely reasoned and clearly expressed, and are always based on sound judgment, careful consideration and the established principles of the law.
John Allen Shauck,
Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, was born on a farm in Morrow County, Ohio, on the 26th of March, 1841. He is of German extraction, his great-grandparents having emi- grated from Bavaria to the United States. Judge Shauck's parents were natives of Penn- sylvania, his father, Elah Shauck, a farmer, being born in York County, and his mother, Bar- bara Halderman Shauck, in Lancaster County, that State. His early education was obtained in the public and private schools of his home county, after which he attended Otterbein University, Westerville, Ohio, taking a classical course. After his graduation from that well- known seat of learning, Judge Shauck took up the study of law at the University of Michi- gan, at Ann Arbor, graduating from there in 1867. Being admitted to the bar, he came to
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Dayton, where he immediately opened an office and became engaged in the general practice of law, continuing in practice until he took his seat on the bench of the Second Circuit Court of Ohio, in February, 1885, to which office he had been elected in the fall of the year previous. At the close of his first term of office, having served with distinction, he was re-elected to a second term by an increased majority. In 1894 Judge Shauck was elected Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, which position he has honorably and ably filled up to the present writing. Judge Shauck is a staunch follower of Republican principles and doctrines and has rendered his party many valuable services. Hc is a man of distinguished appearance, engaging manners, decided ability, sound common sense and a polished speaker. While he lives in Columbus, he still claims Dayton, the "Gem City," as his home, and goes there every elec- JOHN ALLEN SHAUCK tion to vote. On the Ist of June, 1876, Judge Shauck married Miss Ada May Phillips, of Centralia, Ill. One daughter, Helen Camille Shauck, is the surviving issue of their union.
James L. Price,
Of Lima, Ohio, Justice of the Supreme Court of the Buckeye State, is a native of Ohio. He was born on a farm near New Hagerstown, Carroll County, on the 27th of March, 1840, and received a common school and academic education. After teaching two terms of com- mon school, he entered upon the study of law with Eckley & Shober, of Carrollton, Ohio, and was admitted to practice at the bar at Cadiz, O., in September, 1862. He immediately opened an office at Carrollton, where he served as justice of the peace and Mayor, until elected Prose- cuting Attorney, in October, 1862. After one term of service Judge Price removed to Van Wert, Ohio, in April, 1865, where he served three terms as Prosecuting Attorney, and gained a lucrative general practice. In 1883, he removed to the rapidly growing city of Lima, and there entered upon an extended practice in the State and Federal Courts, which he enjoyed until elected to the Circuit Court of the third Circuit, being the first and only Republican ever elected to the office in that Circuit prior to the year 1904, having a plu- rality of almost four thousand in a very
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strongly Democratic Circuit. He was a candiddate for and elected to the Supreme Court of the State in 1901 by a large majority, leading the State Ticket bv about five hundred votes. Judge Price entered upon the duties of the office on the 9th of February, 1902.
William B. Crew,
Whose present term of office as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio will expire in February, 1909, is one of the most distinguished jurists of the Buckeye State. He is a native Ohioan, born on the Ist of April, 1852, at Chester Hill, Morgan County. His parents, Fleming and Sarah Patterson Crew, were also natives of Ohio. A careful education was given to Judge Crew in the public schools of his home district, and "Westtown," a school under the auspices of the Society of "Friends," located in Chester County, Pennsylvania, about twenty miles from Philadelphia. Later, he attended the Ohio State and Union Law College of Cleveland, Ohio, graduating with the degree of LL.B., after having been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Ohio the year previous. Judge Crew began his public career at the age of 24, when he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Morgan County, which position he filled for one term. WILLIAM B. CREW In 1889 he was elected a member of the Ohio Legislature, attending the sessions of the 69th General Assembly. While still a member of that distinguished body, he was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the first sub- division of the Eighth Judicial District of Ohio, in the fall of 1891, filling that position with such marked ability and success that he was re-elected to a second term, in 1896, and to a third term, in 1901. When he had served less than one year of his third term, on the 19th of July, 1902, he was appointed by Governor Nash to fill the vacancy created by the death of Judge Williams, Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio. Previous to this appointment, in May, of 1902, Judge Crew had received the nomination to the same office by the Republican State Convention, held in the city of Cleveland, and, in the fall of the same year he was elected to fill out the short term, caused by the death of his predecessor, and also for the full term of six years, commencing on the 9th of February, 1903. Judge Crew was married on the 9th of May. 1876, to Elizabeth P. Worrall. His children are Mrs. Henry Ross Gall, of Washington, D. C., and F. Harold Crew. Judge Crew resides at McConnellsville, Ohio.
Augustus N. Summers,
Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, a jurist of most eminent ability, is a native Ohioan, bred, born and educated in the Buckeye State. He was born on the 13th of June, 1856, in Shelby, Richland County, Ohio. His father, Rev. Daniel Summers, came from Pennsylvania stock, and removed to Ohio in 1847, where he attended Wittenberg College, Springfield, making his home in the State. Judge Summers received the advantage of the thorough edu- cation of his father, who trained the son in early youth most carefully. After attending the
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AUGUSTUS N. SUMMERS
public schools, Judge Summers matriculated at Wittenberg College, graduating from there in 1879, and began the reading of law under the splendid instructions of Hon. S. A. Bowman, of Springfield. He was admitted to the Bar in 1881, and was at once taken into partnership by his preceptor. In 1885 Judge Summers first came before the people as a candidate for public office, and was elected City Attorney, which position he successfully filled for six years. Retiring from his incumbency in 1891, he resumed the general practice of law, form- ing a partnership with George A. Beard, a well-known attorney, which firm continued until 1894, when Judge Summers was elected one of the Judges of the Second Circuit of Ohio, succeeding Judge Gilbert H. Stewart, of Columbus. After serving on the Bench for one term to the entire satisfaction of the people, he was re-elected by an increased majority. Judge Summers has always been an aggressive worker in the interest of his party, which he has strongly supported during his entire active career. At the Republican State Convention held in the city of Columbus, in June, 1903, Judge Summers was nominated for the Supreme Bench, the highest judicial position in the gift of the people of his State, and his election fol- lowcd in the fall of the same year. Judge Summers' name is a synonym for integrity, sound common sense and rare judgment. He is a man of great intellectual power, commanding appearance, engaging manners, decided ability, and a clear thinker. In 1887, he became the husband of Miss Nellie Thomas, daughter of John H. Thomas, of Springfield, Ohio.
William Thomas Spear,
Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, was born in Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio, June 3, 1834. His general education was received at the public schools of his native place, and at the Latin school of Mr. Junius Dana, an insti- tution of much local celebrity, which flourished during the late forties and early fifties at War- ren. Leaving this school, young Spear learned the art of printing, which he pursued for a time. and then entered upon the study of the law, having early set his heart upon a professional life. Jacob Dolson Cox, then a practicing lawyer at Warren, afterward a State Senator, General in the Union Army, and Governor of Ohio, was his tutor in the law. Desiring still further legal education, the student took a course at the Harvard Law School, graduating there in the year 1859. Soon thereafter, having been admitted to the Bar, Mr. Spear entered upon the practice at Warren, as the junior member of the firm of Cox, Ratliff & Spear. His experi- WILLIAM THOMAS SPEAR ence for a number of years was the usual one incident to the life of the struggling barrister, but in time, by industry and pluck, and devotion to the interests of his clients, he reached an enviable position at the Bar as an accurate and painstaking practitioner, and attained an equally enviable standing in the community as a man of high purposes and exemplary life.
In the year 1864, Mr. Spear was married to Miss Frances Eliza York, of Lima, New York. The union has proved in all respects a fortunate and happy one. Besides the father and mother the family consists of four sons. The oldest is a mechanical engineer. at present
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engaged in supervising the building of machinery at Birmingham, England; the second is a farmer ; the third (a graduate of the Annapolis Naval Academy, and for over ten years a Naval Constructor), is manager of the construction of submarine torpedo boats for the Electric Boat Company, Quincy, Mass., and the youngest is a student at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
Judge Spear has enjoyed, more fully than has been the fortune of many, the confidence of his fellow-citizens. He was early chosen Solicitor of his native City, serving two terms in that office; then elected Prosecuting Attorney of his county, serving in that capacity two terms ; then (in the year 1878) elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and at the expir- ation of his first term re-elected. While serving as Judge of the Common Pleas Court he was elected to the bench of the Supreme Court. and has been elected four times since, the last election being in November, 1904, when his plurality reached over 230,000. These con- tinued elections certify more fully than words can the satisfactory work he has done on the bench. His opinions are found in the Ohio State Reports from volume forty-four to volume seventy-one, inclusive, and it is not too much to say that they evince a thorough knowledge of the law, a clear comprehension of legal principles, and a trained judgment in their applica- tion to facts ; nor is it too much to say that they rank among the best rendered by the Court during his period of service.
Affable in manner, courteous to everybody, and possessing the confidence of all who are brought in contact with him, Judge Spear is widely popular. His friends are legion. His political affiliations are with the Republican Party.
Emilius Oviatt Randall,
Reporter of the Supreme Court of Ohio, was born in Richfield, Summit County, Ohio, on the 28th of October, 1850. He is the son of Rev. David Austin Randall, D.D., and Harriet Oviatt Randall. His father was a distinguished clergyman of the Baptist Denomination, who for a long time was editor of the "Journal and Messenger," the State organ of the denomina- tion. He was a famous pulpit orator and lec- turer, an extensive traveler, and an author of books. Three great great-grandfathers of E. O. Randall fought in the American Revolution- ary War: John Randall, who enlisted from New London, Connecticut, on the 13th of July, 1775, served through the entire Revoiu- tionary War; Patrick Grant Pemberton, who enlisted in the Connecticut militia, in General Andrew Ward's command, and Benjamin Ovi- att. who enlisted as a "Minute Man," and
Another served in the Connecticut troops. lineal ancestor was Ebenezer Pemberton, one EMILIUS OVIATT RANDALL of the founders and for many years pastor of the famous "Old South Church," Boston, Mass. From this family "Pemberton's Square," Boston, was named. E. O. Randall was fitted for college in the Columbus (Ohio) High School and Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., 1869- 1870, and graduated from Cornell University with the degree of Ph.B., in 1874; from the
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College of Law of the Ohio State University, with the degrees of LL.B. and LL.M., in 1892. He was admitted to the Bar by the Ohio Supreme Court in 1890, and has occupied the posi- tion of Reporter of the Ohio Supreme Court since 1895. He has edited and published twenty- one volumes of Ohio's Supreme Court decisions. He has been professor of law of the Ohio State University since 1893; editor of Negotiable Bill Act of Ohio, and other legal text books; secretary of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society since 1894; he has edited thirteen volumes of the historical publications of that society; is a member of the American Bar Association, American Library Association, Society of Americal Authors, Sons of the American Revolution ; was a member of the Columbus Board of Education in 1887 and in 1889, President of the Columbus Board of Trade, 1889; Trustee of the Colum- bus Public Library since 1887, and President since 1903. He is author of "History of Blen- nerhasset," (1889) ; "History of the Separatist Society of Zoar" (1889) ; Associate Editor "Bench and Bar of Ohio," two volumes (Chicago, 1897) ; Editor of the "Ohio State Archaeo- logical and Historical Society Quarterly" since 1897; Mr. Randall, as associate author with the Hon. D. J. Ryan, formerly Secretary of State, is engaged in writing "The History of Ohio," which will comprise two octavo volumes, covering the pioneer growth and political development of the State; he is a life member of the "Ohio State Archaeological and Histor- ical Society," and was appointed Trustee of that society by Governors Mckinley, Bushnell, Nash and Herrick. As a political speaker and platform lecturer Mr. Randall has spoken in nearly every county in the State. He was delegate-at-large from the Ohio Society S. A. R. to the National Convention of that body held at St. Louis on the 15th and 16th of June, 1904, a delegate from the Twelfth Ohio District to the National Republican Convention, June, 1904, at Chicago, Ill. Mr. E. O. Randall was married on the 28th of October, 1874, at Ithaca, New York, to Mary A. Coy, who had three great - grandfathers who participated in the American Revolution. One was a "Minute Man" and Lieutenant of a company at Lexington and Concord, another was an officer in one of the companies that fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Randall have three children: a daughter, Rita, and two sons, David A. and Sherman B. Randall.
Elliot Howard Gilkey,
Marshal and Librarian of the Supreme Court of Ohio, is a native of the historic Western Reserve. He was born on the 8th of February, 1857, in Warren, Trumbull County, and is the son of Sheldon Elliot Gilkey and Emma Rob- erts-Gilkey, and comes from that good and! sturdy New England stock, that has contrib- uted so much to the civilization and energy of American life. His ancestors were among the first pioneers of Ohio, his father's people com- ing to Ohio early in the nineteenth century from Windsor, Vermont, while the parents of his mother, John Roberts and Emily Hotch- kiss-Roberts, left their home in Connecticut, the one from Hartford and the other from New Haven, about 1820, and emigrated to the West to build up a New England in the Connecticut Reserve in Ohio. They were married after coming to Ohio. When the Civil War broke
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out the father of Mr. E. Howard Gilkey enlisted in the Fifty-fourth Regiment Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, and was killed by gunshot wounds in the Battle of the Wilderness, near Chancellorsville, Va., in May, 1864. He was seen to fall in action, but his pocket Bible was the only thing belonging to him ever recovered and restored to his family. Mr. E. Howard Gilkey obtained his early education in the public schools of Cleveland, until he was admitted to the Ohio Soldiers' Orphans' Home, at Xenia, in January, 1870. Here he attended the Home's High School, from which institution he graduated in June, 1874. He started into public life at the age of sixteen, as Page in the Ohio Senate by appointment of Lieutenant Governor J. C. Lee, and on the recommendation of Superintendent Griswold, of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home. His second public appointment came in 1876, when, at the age of nineteen years, he was unanimously chosen Journal Clerk of the Senate, being the young- est person to hold that position. In the years from 1878 to 1884 Mr. Gilkey was a traveling salesman in the hardware trade, and in 1885 he entered the journalistic field and became Assistant City Editor of the Ohio State Journal. In 1882 Mr. Gilkey organized in Ohio the order known as the Sons of Veterans, with which he has been continuously affiliated ever since, having held the rank of Division and Grand Division Commanders, and being an ex-officio life member of the National Commandery in Chief. He belongs to Camp No. I, Ohio Division. Politically, Mr. Gilkey is a faithful follower of Republican principles, and is a worker in the ranks of the Republicans of Franklin County. From 1885-1887 he was finan- cial officer of the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home; from 1888-1896 Bookkeeper to the Auditor of State; Assistant Clerk in the Senate of the Seventy-fourth General Assembly, and Clerk of the State Board of Equalization in 1901. On the Ist of July, 1901, Mr. Gilkey was appointed First Assistant Librarian of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and elected to his present position on the 3rd of October, 1903, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Mr. Frank N. Beebe, former Marshal and Librarian. Mr. Gilkey was married on the 24th of January, 1884, to Florence V. Reed, of Springfield, Ohio, a soldier's daughter, and has two daughters, Helen and Ethel, and one son, Earle Lincoln Gilkey. While a member of the clerical force of the Senate Mr. Gilkey became the editor and compiler of the "Manual of
Legislative Practice in Ohio" (1900-1), and of the "Ohio Hundred Year Book," a record of State Departments for the first hundred years of Ohio's Statehood, 1803-1902. Mr. Gilkey is a man of great energy and intellectual force, of unassuming manners and a pleasant person- ality. He has a multitude of friends. His home is in Columbus, Ohio.
Lawson E. Emerson,
Clerk of the Supreme Court of Ohio, ranks among the most popular State officials. He was born in Belmont County, Ohio, on the 25th of September, 1863, and obtained his early education in the common schools of his native county, graduating from the Barnes- ville High School, and subsequently from the Valparaiso (Ind.) Normal School. For sev- eral years before deciding to study law he taught school in Belmont County, and was
LAWSON E. EMERSON
very successful in that line. He afterward studied law with the late Hon. Lorenzo Danford, and later graduated from the Cincinnati Law School. In 1890 he was appointed Deputy Clerk of the Belmont County Courts, serving under Henry M. Davies for six years. In 1895, Mr. Emerson was nominated and elected Clerk of the Courts of Belmont County, and in 1898 was re-elected for a second term. So well did he administer the office during his incumbency that his friends insisted that he make the race for a third term, but he declined, and entered the lists for the nomination for Clerk of the Supreme Court of Ohio, being nominated by the Republican State Convention that assembled in Columbus, in June, 1901. As Clerk of the Belmont County Courts and in his present post he has proven him- self a model officer, popular with the bench and bar. He has always been a Republican of the most stalwart variety. On the 8th of May, 1892 Mr. Emerson married Miss Laura Ferren, at St. Clairsville, and two little boys, Wayne and Glenn, now grace the Emerson household. At the expiration of his first term Mr. Emerson was re-elected for a second term.
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