The History of Union County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, towns military record;, Part 40

Author: Durant, Pliny A. [from old catalog]; Beers, W. H., & co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1254

USA > Ohio > Union County > The History of Union County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, towns military record; > Part 40

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).

William Lawrence, Judge of Common Pleas from 1856 to 1865, and the successor of Judge Metcalf, resided at Bellefontaine, Logan County. He was a well read lawyer, possessed remarkable industry and energy, and was a satis- factory judge. Morally, he was withont stain or blemish. He was always

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pleasant and affable, and was popular both with the people and the bar. In the fall of 1864, he was elected to a seat in Congress, and resigned his posi- tion upon the bench to enter upon his new round of duties. Near the close of the term of President. Hayes, he was appointed First Comptroller of the United States Treasury, which position he now occupies. Upon the resigna- tion of his judgeship, the vacancy thereby occuring was filled by the elec- tion of

Jacob S. Conklin, of Sidney, Ohio, who was possessed of good ability, but had not been as long in practice as Judge Lawrence. As a man, he was honest and conscientious. His habits are, to some extent, unfavorably commented upon. He is now located at Sidney, in the practice of his profession. In the fall of 1882, he was a candidate for Congress on the Republican ticket, but was defeated by Benjamin LeFevre. His successor as Judge of Common Pleas was

P. B. Cole, of Marysville, Union County. This gentleman was born at Columbus, Ohio, in 1815, and in 1820 was taken by his father, with the others of the family, to a locality on Mill Creek, in Delaware County, where he con- tinued to reside until 1833. In that year he came to Marysville, and in 1834 entered the office of William C. Lawrence, and began reading law, boarding in the family of his preceptor. He was admitted before the court in banc at Columbus, December 3, 1836, and began practice immediately afterward at the town which has since been his home. In 1847, he formed a law partner- ship with George D. Witter, which continued until the death of the latter in 1849. In the same year, he entered into partnership with John B. Coats, the relation thus formed continuing until the latter part of 1851 .* In 1871, he was elected Judge of Common Pleas, serving five years. Since the expiration of his term, he has resumed active practice, and is to-day the oldest attorney in Union County, and one of the oldest in the State. Admitted when but twenty-one years of age, his practice has extended through a period of forty- six years, in which many of the brightest lights of the Ohio bar have reached their zenith and been triumphant in their profession, only to be finally gathered to that solemn realm where earthly laws are no longer known. He is still vigorous, and bids fair to enjoy many years of active life. He is the father of three promising attorneys, who honor the profession they bave chosen. Judge Cole's decisions were reasonably impartial, and in his official position he commanded the respect of the bar. His vigorous manner of ruling and of delivering decisions at times was a feature of his administration; yet he was not rapid in the formation of opinions. He discharged the duties of his position faithfully and in a worthy manner, and his record is good. He has all his life been a man of strictly temperate habits.

John L. Porter was born in Delaware County, Ohio, October 10, 1827, and has been a resident of Union County since the spring of 1849. In the same season, he began reading law in the office of Cole & Witter, at Marysville, and finished with Cole & Coats, the last-named gentleman being admitted to the firm in that year (1849) in place of Mr. Witter, deceased. Mr. Porter was admitted to the bar before the last term of the old Supreme Court, which was beld at Marysville in June, 1851. Judge Joseph R. Swan was his principal examiner, the other members of the committee being Otway Curry, C. W. B. Allison, P. B. Cole and probably one other. He began practice at once at Marysville, entering into partnership about that time with P. B. Cole, and con- tinuing with him for two or three years. He then, for a short time, practiced

* In 1850, he was elected to the Legi-lature, being the last Representative from the district including Union County, under the old constitution, and was re-elected in 1851 from Union County alone, under the new constitution He served also in the State Senate two years, being elected in 1865. In 1844, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney, serving two years.

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alone, subsequently forming a partnership with J. B. Coats, which was con - tinned at intervals until August, 1862, when Mr. Porter enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, remaining until the close of the war, in June, 1865. In 1855 and 1857, he had been elected Prosecut- ing Attorney for Union County, and was chosen to the same position in 1865, 1867 and 1873, serving altogether ten years, his last nomination and election being almost withont his knowledge. In the fall of 1876, he was elected Judge of Common Pleas, and served on the bench until February 12, 1882, when he was succeeded by the present incumbent, who defeated him for the position after a close canvass. After the close of the war he formed a law part- nership with Col. A. James Sterling, and this firm was not dissolved until Mr. Porter's nomination to the Judgeship. Porter & Sterling transacted a very large business in the collection of extra bounties for solliers, probably moro than all other lawyers and agents in the county. Aside from the positions men - tioned as having been held by Mr. Porter, he was one year Mayor of Marysville (about 1854), was twice chosen to the Town Council, and was a member for a time of the County Board of School Examiners, resigning the latter office when he enlisted. He is at present actively engaged in the practice of his profession, in partnership with his son, Edward W. Porter, under the firm name of Porter & Porter. Judge Porter's record on the bench is excellent. It is said of him that he was rigidly impartial, and made his decisions " according to the law and the evidence, without fear or favor," being very careful to seek the aid of only the best legal authorities.

Judge John A. Price, elected to this position in the fall of 1SS1, and the present Judge of the third snb-division of the Tenth Judicial District, which ineludes Union and Logan Counties, was born in Callaway County, Mo., No- vember 9, 1840. His father died two years later, and his mother removed with her family to Logan County, Ohio, where the son has since continued to reside. He received a common school education, read law with Stanton & Allison, at Bellefontaine, and was admitted to the bar in 1862. At the beginning of the rebellion, in 1861. he enlisted in the first company which was raised in Logan County, but was taken sick at Camp Jackson and discharged. January 1, 1864, he was commissioned First Lieutenant in the Fifth United States Col- ored Troops, and served in the campaigns of that year around Petersburg, Va. He resigned in November, 1864, on account of ill health. While he was in the service he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of his county, and re-elected in 1866 and 1868. He resigned, in 1869, to accept a seat in the Ohio Legislature, to which he had been elected on the Republican ticket.

The gentlemen who have sat upon the bench in Marysville have been mostly men of marked ability, and the distriet has been fortunate in choosing them. Some of them might have improved somewhat upon certain of their habits, but it is the history of things that all is not perfection. The business which threescore years ago was transacted by the judges in a single day has grown to proportions that would astonish those who then wore the official robes could they awake and look in upon a court of to-day. Very much more knotty points in law are presented, and a multiplicity of questions come before the legal tribunal in the place of the old land litigations which occupied the greater part of the attention of the early courts. The bench and bar of Ohio have numbered among their members some of the most brilliant and able law- vers of the nation, and it is a well known fact that some of them tried cases in the Union County courts.

THE BAR.

Among those who have practiced at the bar in Union County, are many who never resided within its limits, and of whom but little can be here said. In-

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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.

cluded among them were Gustavus Swan, afterward President Judge of the district, Abraham D. Van Horn, John R. Parish, Moses B. Corwin, Daniel S. Bell, James Cooly,* Orris Parish and Jonathan E. Chaplin; these all before there was a settled lawyer in the county of Union. Of these. all but Swan, Corwin, Bell and Orris Parish, were appointed at different times Prosecuting Attorney for this county, Vanhorn being the first, in 1820. He lived at Lon- don, Madison County, the Messrs. Parish at Columbus, and Cooly, Bell. Corwin and Chaplin at Urbana, Champaign County. Mr. Cooly was one of the earliest lawyers to locate at Urbana, and in July, 1826, was appointed to the Court of Pern, South America, Charge d'Affaires, of the United States. It is said he was sent down there to " get him out of the way of Joseph Vance, " who had political aspirations which he feared Cooly mnight defeat if allowed to remain at home. Mr. Cooly died at Lima, Peru, after a violent bilious attack, on Sunday, April 24, 1828, and his memory is greatly revered at his old home. Benjamin Stanton, a well known and prominent lawyer of Logan County, practiced considerably in Union County.

The first lawyer who came to Union County, with a view of settling, was a man named Barlow, who arrived in Marysville about 1928-30, and boarded for a short time with Silas G. Strong. He soon departed for other fields, and this is all that can be learned of him. It will be the endeavor, in this chap. ter, to give the various attorneys, as nearly as possible, in the order of their admission to the bar; but as in numerous instances dates can only be approxi- mately given, slight mistakes may occur. In all cases where these dates are not definitely known, reliance is had upon the memory of the oldest legal gen tlemen in the county -Judges Cole and Coats, Hon. James W. Robinson and Judge Porter.

The first lawyer who located permanently in Union County. and one who became one of its most prominent citizens, was William C. Lawrence, who was . born in Beaver, Beaver Co., Penn., March 2, 1904. He was one of seven children, and when he was quite young his father, John Lawrence, moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio, locating on the State road midway between Marysville and Delaware, in what is now Delaware County. William C. Lawrence lived on his father's farm and attended the country schools of his neighborhood. At the age of seventeen or eighteen years, he entered Washington College, in Pennsylvania, where he received a thorough course, during his last year re- viewing and studying the Greek language. By a judicious disposition of his time while in college, he was enabled to accomplish much more than many of lis classmates, and emerge from the school in excellent health and with vigor unimpaired. After being graduated he returned to his home in Ohio, and shortly after, having a desire to see and become acquainted with the South, he set out for that country. He taught a Latin school one year in Alabama, and a mixed school one year in Tennessee, and then pushed on to New Orleans. He remained in the South about four years, and read law while teaching. After his return home, he continued in the pursuit of legal knowledge, and was admitted to practice at Medina, Medina Co., Ohio, about the autumn of 1831. He had, in April, 1831, entered into a matrimonial alliance with Rosanna Piper, of Delaware County. Her father, Robert Piper, had made a location in Union County, but died while on the way there with his goods, after settling his family upon his purchase. In June, 1831, Mr. Lawrence removed with his bride to Marysville, which was then a very small and insignificant village, notwithstanding it was the seat of government for Union County. Rooms were rented for a time in the hotel which is now known as the American House, and which was then but two years of age. Not long after, Mr. Lawrence pur-

* This name is spelled elsewhere Cooley.

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chased an acre of ground in the eastern part of town, upon which was a small, unfinished house. This was fitted up by its new owner, and occupied two or three years. The family next moved upon the property at the northwest cor- ner of Main and South streets, now occupied by the family of D. G. Cross.

Mr. Lawrence was possessed of a remarkable memory, and to such an extent did he rely upon it that he never troubled himself about keeping a set of books. All his accounts were " in his head," and as it was never his cus- tom to look after them very closely, the result was that his death destroyed the record, and the family lost probably many thousand dollars, of which the greater part could have been collected, if he had taken the pains to make minutes of his dues. He realized the importance of such a step during the

last days of his life, but it was then too late. He had an extensive practice during his entire residence in Marysville, and was known as a sharp and brilliant lawyer. No point in a case that would give him the slightest advan- tage was ever overlooked, and he often brought discomfiture upon his oppo- nents in a manner even ludicrous. His practice extended over the counties of Union, Hardin. Logan. Franklin, Delaware, Marion and Champaign. From 1833 to 1838, he was Prosecuting Attorney for Union County, and some of the indictments drawn up by him indicate the witty characteristics of the man. Strange as it may seem, many of the offenders who were brought to trial in those days were charged with stealing hogs, said animals being hardly con- sidered domestic, from the fact that they were allowed to run at large the country over, and it was a difficult matter for a man to distinguish his own pork, except when he had it safely in a barrel. When a hog was wanted, it was customary to go out and shoot it; and doubtless numerous persons had not the requisite fear of the law to prevent them from occasionally shooting the wrong hog. A certain citizen, name now forgotten, had been arrested for stealing a hog, and Mr. Lawrence was employed to defend him. Now, the lawyer was fully convinced that the man was guilty, but, as in duty bound, proposed to do all in his power for him -- and, possibly, he may have been out of pork himself. In conversation with the culprit, he said to him, "Now, I haven't a doubt but you stole that hog-your countenance shows it; but you just divide it exactly in halves, and when it is dark bring one part to my house-don't let anybody see you-and I will see that you are cleared." The man promised, and faithfully remembered his word, and that night the worthy lawyer's larder was replenished by the half of a fine porker. When the trial came on, which was probably before a Justice of the Peace, Lawrence re- quested the privilege of testifying, saying he knew something about that hog. Upon being sworn, he remarked, " That man hasn't any more of that hog than I have!" It would have been a preposterous idea to accuse Mr. Lawrence of stealing. and taking him at his word the man was discharged. evidently to enjoy both the joke and the meat. And thus was one of the many "hog cases" settled.

Mr. Lawrence finally concluded that Marysville was not possessed of sufficient enterprise to induce him to remain in it, and he accordingly pur- chased considerable unimproved property at. Kenton, Hardin County, rented a place to live in, and made arrangements to remove to that town, but immedi- ately upon his return to Marysville he was stricken with typhoid fever, and died at his home in the latter place on the 21st of September. 1846, aged forty- two years and six months. He left a widow and three children (sons); the former is yet living at Marysville. The youngest child, an infant but five months of age when its father died, lived but a year after that event, its decease occuring in September, 1847. The oldest son. Col. Mæcenas C. Law- rence, after winning an honorable record as a soldier and civilian, died in

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December, 1SS1; the only survivor is Joseph W. Lawrence, now a guard at the Ohio Penitentiary. This sketch of Mr. Lawrence has been drawn to considerable length, on account of his being the first lawyer to settle in the county. He is well remembered by the older citizens.

Augustus Hall, from Mount Vernon, Knox Co., Ohio, was the second law- yer to take up his abode in Marysville, coming in the spring of 1836. He stayed here several years, was elected Prosecuting Attorney, and finally went to Iowa, in which State he was elected to Congress. He is now deceased.

P. B. Cole, a sketch of whom appears among the Common Pleas Judges, was next, and

John F. Kinney, who located in the place in the fall of 1836, was admit- ted at Columbus the following year and began practice here. He removed to West Point, Lee Co., Iowa, was twice elected to the Supreme Bench of that State, and subsequently became a resident of Utah, of which he was one of the Chief Justices, and from which Territory he was elected as a Delegate to . Congress. His home is now at Plattsmouth, Neb., and he formerly had large interests at Lincoln, the capital of that State. Succeeding him came

Otway Curry, who was admitted in 1840. probably at Columbus, and who was one of the finest lawyers and most brilliant writers the young West pro- duced. An extended sketch of him will be found elsewhere. He was for a long time in partnership with C. W. B. Allison.

James E. Wilson found his way to Marysville about 1842, but practiced little while he remained here. He was connected with the local newspaper for a time, and was Deputy Clerk of the Court -. He finally became a Metho- dist Protestant minister, and removed from the place.

Charles W. B. Allison, recollected as a fine young man and a good law- yer, settled in Marysville at about the same time with Wilson, and was for a long time the law partner of Otway Curry. He enjoyed a large practice; left Marysville about 1850; lived subsequently at Bellefontaine, Ohio, and Mar- tinsburg, Va., and died about 1880, at Wheeling, W. Va.

Jackson C. Doughty, who arrived in Marysville in 1844, remained until about 1859, when he removed to Missouri. During the war he was driven out of that State by the rebels, returned to Urbana, Ohio, and practiced with John A. Corwin. He enlisted in the Union army as a private soldier. He is believed to be now living near Mendota, Ill.

Somewhere between 1840 and 1850, Edward Stillings and Hiram Culver read law in Marysville; the former with W. Lawrence and P. B. Cole, and the latter with Mr. Cole. Both were admitted to the bar. Culver went to Oregon subsequently, and died there, and Stillings is now a resident of Leavenworth. Kan. Both were very capable lawyers. Stillings was admitted in 1846, and Culver about 18-15.

George D. Witter read law with P. B. Cole, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. In the same year he formed a partnership with his preceptor, which continued until the death of Mr. Witter in 1849. He was a bright, capable lawyer, and was only twenty-six years of age at the date of his decease.

Ransom C. Clark, who was admitted and began practice in Marysville in 1849, left the place about 1866-67, and removed to Hardin County, Iowa. He was a native of Union County, and was at one time Prosecuting Attorney. The last known of him, he was living in Fayette County, Mo.

John B. Coats is a native of Windham County, Vt. In September, 1842, he made his way westward to Greene County, Ohio, making Xenia his first stopping place. He taught school in that county from 1842 to 1848, and dur- ing that period read law at Xenia in the office of John H. Watson, who sub- sequently removed to Kansas and was elevated to the bench. Watson was a

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nephew of Sammel D. Ingham, who was for soveral years a member of the cabinet of President Jackson. Mr. Coats was admitted to the bar at Xenia, June 17. 1547, before Judges Hitchcock and Avory, of the old Supreme Court. In ISIS he returned to Vermont because of impaired health, and remained thore until December, 1819, whou he located at Marysville, Union Co., Ohio. Ho formed a partnership with P. B Cole, and began practice at this place. which has since been his home. The firm of Cole and Coats existed until the latter part of IS5l, and in 1854 Mr. Coats entered into partnership with John L. Porter. continuing two years. A second partnership was formed between these two gentlemen in 1860, which was dissolved in 1862, when Mr. Porter entered the army. Mr. Coats hold the office of Justice of the Peace for several years, and in 1859 was elected Prosecuting Attorney, which position ho tilled for six years. He was at different times connected with the press of Marys ville, as elsewhere appears, and in 1969 was elected Judge of Probate for Union County, in which capacity he has served the publie to the present time. The active practice of Judge Coats has been somewhat limited, and for thir- teen years, or during the time he has occupied his present position, he has, as required by law, taken no part in legal matters other than those incumbont upon him as Probate officer. He has held the office longer than any of his predecessors, and the walls of the room he has occupied so long in the old court house will miss his familiar presence when he shall havo vacated his pros ent quarters and " moved up into the now," where a much pleasantor place has been set apart to the uses of the office.

llon. James W. Robinson is a nativo of Union County, Ohio. Ho read law with Otway Curry, was graduated at the Cincinnati Law School in the spring of 1851, and admitted to the bar by the District Court at London, Madison County, in April of that year. Ho formed an immediate partnership with his preceptor. Mr. Curry, which relation continued, with the exception of about one year, until the death of the latter in 1856. Engaging in practice alone for a few years, ho at length admitted his brother, Col. A. B. Robinson, as a partner, the firm taking the name of Robinson & Robinson. In 1869. Leonidas Piper was admitted as a third partner, and the law firm of Robin- sous & Piper still exists. It for several years enjoyed a very large business. but of late years this has not pushed so extensively, although it has always been good. J. W. Robinson was elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1951. hold- ing the position two years. In 1858, he was chosen to represent Union County in the lower branch of the Legislature, and was re-elected in 1860. In 1864. upon the resignation of A. J. Sterling, ho was elected to fill the vacancy thus

occurring. In 1872. he was elected to Congress, serving two years. He was a candidate for re-election in 1874, bat as it was an unfortunate year for the Republicans of Ohio, he was defeated by the Democratie nominee, Early F. Poppleton. Since his services in Congress, Mr. Robinson's health has been considerably impaired, and it is owing largely to this reason that he has not been as persistent as formerly in the solicitation of business. He is a goutle- man whom to know is to respect, and has acquired a fino property in his prae- tice and various other pursuits.

John L. Porter was the next attorney to begin practice at Marysville, but of him a sketch has already been given in connection with the bench. Horaco Ballon was here at about the same time, and read with Cole & Coats. Ho ro- moved to Logan County, Il., where he finally died.

S. Morton Tucker, a native of Vermont, came to Union County, Ohio, when small, with his parents, who settled in Umon Township. He read law with Cole & Coats, commencing about the summer of 1850, and was admitted to the bar in 1852. In the fall of the latter year ho removed to Lewis, Cass

A H. M Campbell

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Co., Iowa. Afterward lived at Atchison. Kan., from which place he enlisted in the army, although having some years before lost his left hand by the pre- mature discharge of a cannon at a Fourth of July celebration at Bridgeport, Union County, a man named Simpson being badly maimed at the same time. Mr. Tucker served as a Lieutenant during the war, and afterward located at Fort Scott, Kan., where he is now engaged in the practice of his profession. I. B. Allen located in Marysville in the fall of 1852, and removed about 1855 to Wilmington, Clinton County, near which place he now resides. It is said of him that he was particularly susceptible to all sorts of practical jokes, and the fact was not slow in finding its way into the minds of his co-laborers in the legal field. An occasion in particular is remembered, when certain of his fellow-practitioners " put him through" a so-called initiation, which so excited the sense of the ludicrous in the mind of Otway Curry, that the last- named gentleman was nearly to the point of explosion with an exuberance of mirth. The lawyers " of those days" found time to conjure up the most soul-harrowing and side-splitting "initiations " which it was ever the lot of mortal man to undergo; and among the most prominent and respected mem- bers of the bar to- day are found many who were members in good standing of the ancient and honorable orders of thirty or more years ago, whose " spells " wrought terror in the breast of the novice, and afforded the most hilarious amusement to those who were in the secret and were witnesses to the vari- ous performances.

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The History of Union County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, towns military record;, Part 40

Author: Durant, Pliny A. [from old catalog]; Beers, W. H., & co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1254

Author: Durant, Pliny A. [from old catalog]; Beers, W. H., & co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1254