USA > Ohio > Ohio's progressive sons; a history of the state; sketches of those who have helped to build up the commonwealth > Part 57
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Mr. James is married, and lives in a hand- some colonial residence on East Walnut Hills, where he entertained Sir Frederick Pollock, the noted English lawyer, on the occasion of the latter's visit to Cincinnati.
E. G. JOHNSON
E. G. Johnson.
The above is a fair likeness of E. G. Johnson, senior member of the firm of E. G. & Hale C. Johnson, lawyers, doing business at Elyria, Ohio. He has never done anything worth mentioning, except that he is the grandfather of the two most interesting characters in the above group, Margery and Dorothy Mudge.
GEORGE DUDLEY JONES
George Dudley Jones,
Attorney at law at Columbus, Ohio, was born on the 25th of May, 1854, in Madison County, Ohio. He was the son of John C. and Sarah A. Taylor Jones, both of whom were natives of this country, the father being born in Tennessee and the mother in Virginia. Both of his parents are deceased. While his parents were of Southern birth, they were of the ultra- type of ante-bellum abolitionists, and were connected with the "Underground Railroad" operations of those days. His father was a farmer, and held important county offices dur- ing most of his active life. He was originally, a Whig and in later years a Republican, and a man of strong intellect and marked charac- teristics. Mr. Jones' great-grandfather came
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from England at an early period of the nineteenth century. The early education of Mr. George Dudley Jones was received in the common schools, as well as by private tuition. He started in public life at the age of twenty-seven years, when he became a member of the Board of Education of the city of Columbus as a Republican. He remained a member of that political party until the year 1888, but left it, owing to conscientious scruples on the subject of the tariff. Since that time he has been affiliated with the Democratic party. For a number of years Mr. Jones has been a practicing attorney in the city of Columbus, and is enjoying no small measure of success in his chosen profession. In his early life he has been a school teacher, and was for some time private secretary of the late Hon. Joseph R. Swan, the author of what is known as "Swan's Treatise for Justices of the Peace," who was then general counsel of the P., C., C. & St. L. Railway Company for the Western Division. In January, 1903, Mr. Jones was appointed Director of Law of the city of Colum- bus by the Hon. John M. Hinkle, Mayor of that city. In the spring of the same year he was elected on the Democratic ticket to the responsible position of President of Council by a majority of 600 over his Republican competitor, while the head of the Democratic ticket was defeated by about 3,500 votes. Mr. Jones is a Democrat of the most pronounced type, favoring the Bryan persuasion on pending questions. He has been married twice. On the 24th of July, 1877, he was united in marriage to Miss Eva J. Latimer, by which union he was the father of three children, Grace Latimer Jones, Emerson and Margaret Fuller Jones. Emerson died in November, 1885. Mr. Jones was married a second time in 1899, his wife's maiden name being Deborah H. McDonald. Mr. Jones resides with his family at No. 1175 East Broad Street, while his office is located at No. 200 The Wyandot Building, Columbus.
Thomas R. Jones,
Mayor of the city of Wellston, Jackson County, Ohio, was born on the 8th of July, 1863, near Aberdare, Glanmorganshire, South Wales. His parents, Daniel R. Jones and Ann Jones, both natives of Wales, emigrated to the United States in June, 1870. Thomas R. Jones received but very few educational advantages in his early youth. He only attended school until he was about twelve years of age, as he was constantly laboring during his boyhood days in the mines of the Massillon district. After many years of toil, he became imbued with the desire to obtain an education, and consequently after he had reached the age of twenty-five years and had saved a little money, he began the foundation of his education. This was acquired by study at home, he choosing his books and devoting himself energetically to that purpose. Unaided by any other influence than that of his own ambition, he acquired sufficient knowledge to allow him to enter the Ada Law School, in which institution he took a course in the study of law. At that time he was thirty-three years of age. In October of the year following he was admitted to practice before the Supreme
THOMAS R. JONES
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Court of Ohio, and in the same year he was elected Justice of the Peace in Jackson County. This record is a remarkable one, inasmuch as it shows what can be done by a man who is determined to succeed in life. His connection with mining interests gave him naturally a thorough knowledge of the operations and practical workings in that field of labor, and his educational advantages, coupled with that knowledge, brought him prominently before the attention of the mine workers, with whose interests he has always been identified. He became President of Sub-District No. 2 of District No. 6 of the United Mine Workers of America. In political affairs Mr. Jones has always taken the keenest interest. He is a Republican of the most pronounced type. He served on the Republican County Executive Committee in the years 1894, 1897, 1903 and 1904. In the spring of 1900 he was nominated and elected on the Republican ticket to the highest position in the gift of his community, that of Mayor. Having served with distinction, he was subsequently elected to the same position in 1902, and again in 1903. Socially, he is a member of and a Past Noble Grand of Wellston Lodge, No. 701, I. O. O. F., a member of the Eyota Tribe, No. 106, Improved Order of Red Men, and is a Past Sachem of that tribe. He also belongs to the Elks and Royal Arcanum. He was married to Ruie Thompson, of Scioto County, Ohio, on the 15th of October, 1890. His wife died on the 8th of September, 1901. On the 7th of May, 1904, he was united in mar- riage to Sarah C. Gee. He is the father of three children, and resides with his family in the city of Wellston, Ohio.
Isaac M. Jordan,
Who during life was one of the most eminent practitioners of law in the city of Cin- cinnati, and who as a jurist was a man that brought credit to the profession which he graced, was a native of Pennsylvania, being born on the 5th of May, 1835, the youngest member of a family of eleven children. At the age of two he, with his family, came to West Liberty, Ohio, where, after he had reached the proper age, he entered the public schools to be introduced into the first rudi- ments of an education. In early boyhood he displayed a keen desire for the acquisition of knowledge, and by careful study and splendid mental capabilities he became noted for his preconsciousness in that direction. After pass- ing through the local schools, he entered Northwood Institute, and finally matriculated at Miami College, Oxford, from which seat of learning he graduated in 1857. While attend- ing the University he founded the Greek letter ISAAC M. JORDAN college fraternity, Sigma Chi, now one of the most important college fraternities in this country. Upon leaving Oxford, Mr. Jordan studied law under the direction of his brother, Judge Jordan, of Dayton, and was admitted to the bar in 1860, coming to Cincinnati and forming a partnership with Salmon P. Chase, whose name is recorded in history as the great guardian of the United States Treasury during the trying times of the Civil War.
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For years later, Mr. Jordan formed a legal partnership with his brother, Nathan E. Jordan, to which firm Judge Jordan was later admitted, the firm name being Jordan & Jordan. This firm remained unchanged until the death of Judge Jordan, when Joseph W. O'Hara, who had been identified with the firm for some time, was admitted to membership, and the name of the firm was changed to Jordan, Jordan & O'Hara. Mr. Jordan was a lawyer of extraor- dinary ability, and handled many celebrated cases which, by reason of his great oratorical powers, attracted the attention of the legal profession of this country. During all of his active life he was an ardent admirer of the principles laid down by the immortal Jefferson, and his voice was heard in many campaigns, advocating the beliefs of his party. He was fre- quently offered political honors, and during the first administration of President Cleveland was tendered the appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Interior, but refused to accept this honorable position, as well as the many others before. The only political office he ever held was that as a member of Congress, to which position he was elected in 1882. On account of pressing business interests he declined a renomination. When in the zenith of his brilliant career of usefulness, a most lamentable accident, the result of carelessness on the part of an elevator attendant, caused his death on the 3d of December, 1890. In May, 1863, Mr. Jordan was married to Elizabeth Phelphs, of Covington, Kentucky, who survived him until the 5th of June, 1903. Of the five children who were born to their union, three are living. One of them, a son, Isaac M., is to-day a prominent, rising attorney, following in the footsteps of his distinguished sire.
Edward Kibler,
Attorney at law at Newark, Ohio, was born on the 6th of February, 1859, in the city in which he now practices his profession. His father, Colonel Charles H. Kibler, was a Judge of the Circuit Court of Ohio in the years 1895-1896. Judge Kibler has served his country, not only on the bench, but on the battle-fields during the War of the Rebellion, he having been Colonel of the Seventy-sixth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry. His mother, Mary Ellen Brice Kibler, was a native of Newark, Ohio, while Colonel Kibler was born in Pennsylvania. Edward Kibler, the son, was educated in the Newark schools and at the Wooster Univer- sity, from which institution he graduated in June, 1880, having taken the first prize in oratory, in 1879, and having represented Wooster at a State oratorical contest at Akron, in 1880. Upon his graduation the degree of M.A. was conferred upon him. After his admission to the bar, Mr. Kibler became engaged in the practice of his profession, and his advent into public life was at the age of twenty-four, when he was elected to the City Council of Newark. In addition to serving in the capacity mentioned, he was elected City Solicitor of Newark in 1891, serving for two terms. On the 17th of June, 1898, he was appointed a member of the Municipal Code
EDWARD KIBLER
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Commission of the State of Ohio, by Governor Bushnell, and for two years was engaged together with Judge David F. Pugh, of Columbus, Ohio, in preparing a bill embodying a complete revision of the municipal laws of Ohio, which was later reported to the Legisla- ture of Ohio. A considerable portion of this report was afterwards embodied in what is now the present municipal code of the State. Mr. Kibler is at the present writing a mem- ber of the law firm of Kibler & Kibler, and is Treasurer of the Newark Telephone Com- pany, of which he was one of the organizers in 1894, and of which he was President for five years. In political belief Mr. Kibler is a Democrat. He was married on the 2nd of July, 1881, to Anna H. White, of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, who died on the 24th of March, 1896, leaving three children, Dorothy Kibler, Edward Kibler, Jr., and Charles S. Kibler. His present wife was Kate Virginia Wilson, by whom he has two children, Elizabeth Boyd Kib- ler and Mary Virginia Kibler. Mr. Kibler stands high in the esteem of his fellow citizens. One of the most prominent lawyers of his locality pays him the following tribute: "Mr. Kibler is a man of broad culture. Since his graduation from Wooster University he has not, like so many others, allowed his standards of thought and reading to fall below those which he maintained during his under-graduate career. No more appreciative or liberal patron of art, literature and music exists in Central Ohio. His private library is replete with choice editions of the standard works in poetry, fiction and history. Mr. Kibler is also inter - ested in psychological phenomena, and is a deep student in the problems of ethics and sociol- ogy. On the latter subject he is the author of several interesting and instructing pam- phlets. In professional life Mr. Kibler has maintained the same high standards which dis- tinguished him in his avocations. His practice is largely confined to the higher and more difficult branches of the legal profession. Always anxious to do anything to advance the general standard of the profession and to increase the feeling of fellowship among the mem- bers of the Ohio bar, he organized the association of City Solicitors of Ohio, while he was City Solicitor of Newark, and during the time in which he held that office he was a constant attendant at the annual meetings of the association. Early in his professional career Mr. Kibler joined the Ohio Bar Association, and has since that time been a constant attendant at its meetings for many years, his worth has been recognized by his associates by appoint- ments on many important committees. Well-merited recognition of his devotion to the good of the profession came, when a few years ago the Supreme Court of Ohio appointed him as a member of the Standing Commitee to conduct the examination of candidates for admission to the bar. Since that time Mr. Kibler has been a member of that committee, and has discharged the duties falling to its members in a manner satisfactory alike to the Supreme Court and to the members of the various classes which have come before the committee for examination. In politics, Mr. Kibler has for many years been a Democrat, and, as such, he was elected, and held, for two terms, the office of City Solicitor of the city of Newark. Since then, although he has always honored the call of the party to duty on the stump and elsewhere, so far as his professional duties would permit, he has consistently refused to seek any office, although frequently importuned by his friends to stand for many important offices. Notwithstanding the active part Mr. Kibler has taken in politics, he has never been a partisan in the lower senses of the word, as he has consistently supported can- didates to local and State offices, regardless of politics, fixing his eye solely on the fitness of the candidate for office to which he aspired. As a consequence of this broad-minded view of local affairs Governor Bushnell appointed him as the Democratic member of a commission to revise the municipal code of the State. Together with Judge Pugh he visited many of the larger cities of the United States and the Dominion of Canada, studying the forms of their local government. The result was the so-called Pugh-Kibler code, which was endorsed
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by the Ohio Bar Association and the Ohio State Board of Commerce. It failed to pass the Legislature for party reasons, but several years afterwards, when the Legislature took up the subject of revising the municipal code in earnest, the Pugh-Kibler code served as a store- house of provisions which were later embodied into the present code. On account of his labors on the code, and the wide reputation of the Pugh-Kibler code, Mr. Kibler is regarded as a leading authority on the subject of municipal government, and, as such, has, by invita- tion, addressed many prominent bodies, including the Cincinnati Bar Association, 1899, the League of Municipal Officers of Iowa, at Des Moines, 1899, the National Municipal League, at Jamestown, N. Y., 1901, and the Ohio State Board of Commerce, at Columbus, Ohio."
Virgil P. Kline,
Of Cleveland, Ohio, a lawyer of National reputation, is a native Ohioan, born on the 3rd of November, 1844, at Congress, Wayne County. When a small boy his parents moved to Conneaut, Ashtabula County, Ohio, where he attended the common schools. He was pre- pared for college in the Eclectic Institute, at Hiram, entered Williams College in 1864, and graduated from that institution in 1866. After leaving college Mr. Kline was Superintendent of Schools at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, for two years. In 1869 he moved to Cleveland and began the study of law in the office of Albert T. Slade. The year following, Mr. Kline was admitted to the bar and immediately formed a partnership with his preceptor, under the firm name of Slade & Kline, which lasted until the death of Mr. Slade, in 1874. Mr. Kline then became a partner of Mr. John M. Henderson, the firm name being Henderson & Kline. This VIRGIL P. KLINE firm continued until 1882, when Mr. S. H. Tolles entered the partnership, and it then became Henderson, Kline & Tolles, and so continued until the Ist of January, 1895, when Mr. Henderson withdrew from the partnership. For one year the firm was Kline & Tolles, when, on the Ist of January, 1896, another part- nership was formed with W. F. Carr and F. H. Goff, the name of the firm then becoming Kline, Carr, Tolles & Goff. Later the firm name was changed to Kline, Tolles & Goff. Mr. Kline is a lawyer of extraordinary ability, holding the front rank in his profession. No law- yer in the State is a more ready and powerful advocate or a more industrious student of his cases, or in a higher degree commands the confidence of the courts. He has an unusual tal- ent for effective work, and a recognized genius for quick and comprehensive perception and safe judgment. His clientage is made up of all classes, rich and poor. Mr. Kline has always been a Democrat in politics and in social life. Democracy is part of his nature. He has frequently been placed in nomination by his party for judicial office, for Common Pleas, Cir- cuit Court and Supreme Court Judgeships, but, although always running ahead of his ticket, he has never been elected, because, when on the ticket, his party had always been in the minority. For many years he has taken an active and prominent part in the councils
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and campaigns of his party. Whether at the bar, in politics or on general subjects, upon which he is often invited to deliver addresses, his speeches are distinguished by clearness of thought and impressiveness of delivery, by learning and brilliancy. As a man, Mr. Kline occupies a prominent station among his fellow men. Of remarkable strength of char- acter and of unquestioned integrity, generous in disposition and a hater of shams, his actions always inspired by lofty purpose, no man at the bar or as a citizen has greater influence in the community in which he lives.
E. B. Leonard,
Among the lawyers of the Western Reserve none rank higher than Mr. E. B. Leonard, of Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio. Mr. Leonard is of English parentage, and was born and raised in the Northwestern part of . the State of Pennsylvania. Receiving a care- ful training, and a thorough education, which was owing largely to his own efforts, he decided to take up the profession of the law, for which he showed a remarkable natural tal- ent, and in which he later obtained a high ยท standing. After his admission to the bar he began active practice in Ashtabula County, Ohio, his office being located in Jefferson, the county seat. There he took a prominent part in the political affairs of his community, he being a Republican of most pronounced views, aggressive and forceful in his exposition of the beliefs of that great party. As a mark of appre- ciation of the services rendered by Mr. Leon- ard in the interest of his party, as well as an E. B. LEONARD evidence of his legal ability, he was nominated for Prosecuting Attorney of Ashtabula County, to which office he was elected. He rendered valuable services to the people, and upon the expiration of his term of office he was again nominated and elected to the same posi- tion. Recognizing the fact that he was circumscribed by a narrow field of activity, he eighteen years ago removed to Trumbull County, locating in the city of Warren, where he has prac- ticed continuously ever since. His ability in the general practice of law, as well as a crim- inal lawyer, is unquestioned, and his services are in great demand in many important cases. As an orator he has most wonderful talent, and on many occasions by this gift he has been of incalculable services to his clients. Socially, Mr. Leonard is a member of the Order of Royal Arcanum, with which he has been connected for more than twenty years, and in which he has filled the most important offices. He is Past Grand Regent of that order. Mr. Leonard is a man of imposing figure, of affable manners, and has a host of friends. He lives with his family in Warren, Ohio.
Henry Brown McClure,
A member of the well known law firm of Giauque & McClure, at Cincinnati, Ohio, is a native of Florida, Missouri, and was born on the 9th of September, 1847. His father,
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Henry S. McClure, was a Virginian, of Scotch-Irish descent, and his ancestors, as well as those of his mother, came to this country many generations ago. Mr. McClure received his education in the private schools of Lexington, Missouri, and at the Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, from which institution of learning he graduated in 1871, after completing a classical course. He afterwards finished his literary training at the celebrated Universities of Goettingen and Leipsic, Germany, where he devoted his principal studies to history and lit- erature. Returning to his home country he was elected Superintendent of the public schools of Glendale, Hamilton County, Ohio, holding that position from 1875 to 1880. While thus engaged he studied law under direction of Mr. Florien Giauque, and was admitted to the bar in 1880, when he immediately took up the practice of his chosen profession, becoming a member of the firm of Giauque & McClure. In politics Mr. McClure is a Democrat of the Jefferson type, and has served his party in many capacities. From 1888 to 1894 he served as Mayor of Glendale, being elected for three succeeding terms. Later he served as solici- tor of that village for one term. Mr. McClure is a lawyer of extraordinary ability, and is joint author with Mr. Giauque of "Dower, Curtesy, Annuities," a work of great merits. HENRY BROWN MCCLURE His offices are located in the Carlisle Building, Cincinnati. In 1889 he was married to Anna, daughter of the late Frank Douglass, of Cin- cinnati, who died in 1891, leaving one child, a boy. In June, 1894, he was united in marriage to Rebecah Bowen, daughter of Enoch Bowen, of Carroll County, Indiana, by which union he has one child, a son.
Aaron McNeill,
One of the foremost lawyers of the Hamilton County bar, and formerly Judge of the Insolvency Court of that county, is a native Ohioan. He is of Scotch extraction, and was born on the 8th of February, 1844, in Otsego, Muskingum County. His parents were Mal- colm and Isabella Armstrong McNeill. Judge McNeill received his early education in the public schools of his native county, and at the Muskingum College, at New Concord, one of the higher educational institutions conducted by the United Presbyterian Church. Imme- diately after leaving school Judge McNeill came to Cincinnati and entered the law school. In the interval between the sessions of the law school he studied law with Judge Prior, of Covington, Kentucky. He graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1867, was at once admitted to the Hamilton County bar, and with his fellow student, Mr. C. B. Simrall, opened an office and began practice. This partnership lasted but about eighteen months. In the spring of 1870 he formed a partnership with Mr. C. C. Archer, and for more than twenty-four years this partnership continued until Judge McNeill's promotion to the bench. In the
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fall of 1894 Mr. McNeill was named as the Democratic candidate for Judge of the Insol- vency Court, and was elected in the following year by a majority of 2,956, in the face of a Republican majority, one week before, varying from 19,000 to 24,000. After the expiration of his first term of office, the Judge was re-elected to a second term by an increased majority. The only political position Judge McNeill has ever filled has been that of Mayor of Nor- wood. To this position of trust he was elected in the spring of 1891 as a Democratic candi- date-in a city that has about two Republic- ans to one Democrat. The second time his name was before the people of Norwood for the same position, he had no opposition. His election was unanimous. After the expiration of his second term on the bench of the Ham- ilton County Insolvency Court he resumed the practice of his profession, with offices in AARON MCNEILL the Mercantile Library Building, at Cincin- nati. Judge McNeill enjoys an unusual popularity among all classes. He is a prominent Odd Fellow, an A. O. U. W. and a member of the Essenic Order.
Michael Muller,
Justice of the Peace and a well-known lawyer of Cincinnati, Ohio, was born on the 22d of May, 1860, in the Queen City. He is of German parentage, his father, Michael Mul- ler, coming from Rhenish Bavaria, and set- tling in Cincinnati, where he became engaged in the tanning business. His son, Mr. Michael Muller, enjoyed the advantages of a thorough education in the public and high schools of his native city, he being a graduate of Hughes High School with the class of 1877. After leaving school Mr. Muller decided to make the practice of law his life's work. Consequently he diligently studied and prepared himself to matriculate at the Cincinnati Law School, from which institution he subsequently grad- uated in 1888. After his admission to the bar he formed a partnership with Howard Doug- las. This partnership continued for a period of twelve years, after which time Mr. Muller practiced under his own name. His success as a lawyer has been pronounced, and he has enjoyed a large and lucrative practice. In political affairs, Mr. Muller has been affiliated with the Republican party since he had his
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