USA > Ohio > The biographical annals of Ohio, 1906-1907-1908. A handbook of the government and institutions of the state of Ohio. > Part 53
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JAMES L. PRICE. .
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JAMES L. PRICE.
J AMES L. PRICE is a native of Carroll County, where he was born near the village of New Hagerstown. He is the son of Benjamin and Nancy Price, who lived to a ripe old age. His early years were spent on the farm. After the advantages of the common schools he acquired a thorough academic education, and while preparing for the study of law, taught one term of com- mon school in Harrison County, near Adena, and a second term at New Hagerstown, after which his law studies were pursued in the office of Eckley & Shober, at Carrollton, O. Mr. Price was admitted to the bar at Cadiz, and opened an office in Carrollton, where he practiced his profession until the spring of 1865. He was elected and served one term as Prosecuting Attorney and at its close moved to Van Wert, a thriving county seat in the then new northwestern section of Ohio, where he formed a partnership with Judge I. D. Clark, which relation continued for about two years.
In 1868 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Van Wert County, and served three terms in succession. In the rising northwest, which was then in its transient stage, he acquired a large practice, extending into the sur- rounding counties. Seeing the rapid growth of Lima, its fine railroad facilities, and its promise of a great business future, Mr. Price removed to that city in the year 1883, where he has since resided.
In 1894 the Republicans of the Third Judicial circuit ventured to nominate a candidate for judge of the circuit court, and while it was then and always since has been, strongly Democratic, they succeeded in electing Judge Price by over 3,900 plurality.
The six years' service on the circuit bench was a large contributing factor in his nomination for Judge of the Supreme Court. He was elected on the Republican state ticket in November, 1901,and took his seat in the court Feb- ruary 9, 1902, succeeding Thad. A. Minshall, whose term expired on that day. On February 9, 1906, he became Chief Justice of the Second Division of the Supreme Court, sitting in the north court room in the Judiciary building.
43-B. A.
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WILLIAM B. CREW.
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WILLIAM B. CREW.
J UDGE WILLIAM B. CREW was born at Chesterfield, Morgan Couty, Ohio, April 1, 1852; educated in public schools and at Westtown College, Penna. (a college under the management of the Society of. Friends); admitted to the bar by Supreme Court of Ohio, 1873; graduated from the Ohio State and Union Law College, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1874; elected Prosecuting Attorney of Morgan County, 1876; elected member of Ohio Legislature, 1889; elected judge of Court of Common Pleas for the 1st Subdivision of the 8th judicial district of Ohio 1891; re-elected 1896 and again re-elected 1901; nominated for Judge of Supreme Court of Ohio by Republican state convention held at Cleveland in May, 1902; appointed by Governor Nash July 19, 1902, to fill vacancy on Su- preme Court bench caused by death of Judge Marshall J. Williams. He was elected both for the long and short terms, in November, 1902.
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AUGUSTUS N. SUMMERS.
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AUGUSTUS N. SUMMERS.
A UGUSTUS NEANDER SUMMERS was born in Shelby, Richland County, Ohio, June 13, 1856. He is one of nine children born to the Rev. Daniel Summers and Louisa Hine, his wife. He graduated from Wittenberg College, at Springfield, in 1879; was admitted to the bar in 1881; elected city solicitor of Springfield in 1885, and re-elected in 1887 and 1889; was elected one of the judges of the Circuit Court for the Second Circuit, in 1894, and re- elected in 1900; was elected one of the judges of the Supreme Court in 1903 and entered upon the discharge of the duties of the office February 9, 1904. Judge Summers was married to Miss Nellie Thomas, daughter of the Hon. John H. Thomas, of Springfield, in 1887. They have three children, two sons and a daughter.
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WILLIAM T. SPEAR.
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WILLIAM T. SPEAR.
W ILLIAM T. SPEAR, Judge of the Supreme Court, was born June 3, 1834, in Warren, Ohio, from whence came several of Ohio's distinguished judges. His father, Edward Spear, also a judge, was a native of Pennsylvania, of Scotch descent; his mother, whose lineage is traced back to colonial times, came from Norwich, Connecticut. His parents came to Ohio, settling at Warren in the year 1819.
Mr. Spear received a common school education in the excellent union schools of Ohio, supplemented by a most valuable experience at the printer's trade. After serving an apprenticeship upon the "Trumbull Whig and Trans- cript," published at Warren, he went to New York City, where he was employed in the office of the New York "Herald," and thereafter became a compositor, and later a proofreader, in the publishing house of the Appletons.
The value of the practical lessons thus derived, laying as they did a solid · foundation for important duties which he was called upon to perform in after life, can hardly be estimated. Perhaps no pursuit quickens the powers of con- ception more than the craft of the printer, and especially has the experience herein outlined been of service to the judge in the preparation of judicial opinions. Says one distinguished in the craft: "Herne has uttered a sneer at the husk and shell of learning, but the best bread is made from the whole meal, and includes the 'shorts' and the 'middlings' as well as the fine flour. If every lawyer, physician, and clergyman were to spend six months at the 'case' before entering upon his profession, he would find, even in that short time of labor, a useful and fitting preparation for such literary tasks as may afterwards devolve upon him.".
The young printer appreciated his calling, but growing tired of the confine- ment of the printing office, and having imbibed an ambition for the law, he re- turned to Warren, and at once began to learn something of the practical side of the profession of his choice, by serving as deputy clerk of the Probate and Common Pleas Courts of Trumbull County. He served in these capacities for several years, devoting his spare hours, in the meantime, to the study of law under the direction of Hon. Jacob D. Cox, since Governor of Ohio, but then of the Trumbull County bar, later Dean of the Cincinnati Law School, and father of many lawyers. This preparation was followed by a course in Harvard Law School, where Mr. Spear was graduated in 1859, and, returning to Warren, was admitted to the bar at that place by the District Court. Being thus equipped by reason of his practical and theoretical training, and ready to enter the field of contest, he at once became a member of the firm of Cox & Ratliff. Later he was associated in practice with Hon. John C. Hutchins, recently of the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County. In 1871 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney for Trumbull County, serving two terms, and Solicitor of his native city for two terms; and for several years he was engaged in the practice with C. A. Harrington, Esq., the firm enjoying a lucrative business. Soon after laying down the duties of those minor positions, Mr. Spear was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, the duties of which office he entered upon in 1878.' He was re-elected at the expiration of his first term, but did not complete the second term, because of his election to the Supreme Court, which occurred in 1885. He has since been repeatedly elected to suc- ceed himself as a member of the Supreme Court, became Chief Justice in 1892, 1897 and 1904, and was renominated to succeed himself upon the Supreme Bench, for the fourth time by the Republican state convention in May, 1904, and overwhelmingly elected at the November election of that year.
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WILLIAM Z. DAVIS.
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WILLIAM Z. DAVIS.
W ILLIAM Z. DAVIS was born in the village of Loydsville, Belmont County, Ohio, June 10, 1839. He is of Virginia descent. His father, Dr. Bush- rod Washington Davis, was a native of Loudon County, Virginia, and descendant of the Revolutionary stock in the Old Dominion. His mother, nee Miss Harriet Hatcher, of Belmont County, was also a member of a Virginia family. He was educated in the public schools and in private academy; has been a life-long student, and was for many years a member of the American Microscopical Society, withdrawing only because pressure of business duties interfered with scientific experiment; served out a three months' enlistment in the 4th Ohio Regiment, during the Civil War, and afterwards served in the 96th Ohio Regiment, until physically disabled and honorably discharged during the Vicksburg campaign; in the meantime was admitted to the bar; and after coming out of the military service, and upon regaining his health he entered upon the practice of the law; almost from the beginning was recognized as a leader at the bar, and enjoyed a large practice, extending 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 remarkable enthusiasm by lawyers of all political parties throughout the state; was nominated by the Republican party in June, 1899, as its candidate for that office, and was elected in No- vember of that year, up to which time he had never held an elective office. On the 10th day 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; on February 9, 1900, he entered upon the regular term for which he had been elected in the preceding No- vember. Previous to his election to the Supreme Court Judge Davis never served upon the bench; but he was very soon after that event accredited high rank among the Supreme Judges of Ohio. His opinions are conspicuous for their conciseness and clearness of statement, and their legal ability and sound- ness. He served as Chief Justice of the court from February 9th, 1905, to Feb- ruary 9th, 1906; and at the November election, 1905, he was re-elected for a term of six years from February 9th, 1906.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE SUPREME COURT.
PRELIMINARY ORGANIZATION.
THE JUDGES OF THE TERRITORIAL COURTS OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. (1787-1802.)
T HE first judicial system to be inaugurated in that part of the United States which is now known as the State of Ohio was that put in operation by the "Ordinance of 1787" by which the "terri- tory northwest of the River Ohio" was set apart as a separate govern- mental unit, and a form of local government provided for it by the Congress. By a reference to Section 4 of the ordinance, which is printed in Part One of this volume, it will be seen that it was provided that there should be "appointed a court, to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common law jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and have therein a freehold estate, in five hun- dred acres of land, while in the exercise of their offices; and their com- mission shall continue in force during good behavior." These judges, with the Governor, were to select from the civil and criminal laws of the original states such laws as they deemed suitable for the territory, and were given the power to promulgate such laws, and to enforce them, until they should be amended or repealed by a general assembly to be later organized according to the provisions of the ordinance under which they were appointed.
In accordance with this provision of the Ordinance, Congress did, on the 16th day of October, 1787, elect as judges for the Northwest Territory : Samuel Holden Parsons, John Armstrong and James Mitchell Varnum.
In the place of Mr. Armstrong, who declined the appointment, Congress appointed on the 19th day of February, 1788, Mr. John Cleves Symmes.
The first Territorial Judges (in 1787-8) were therefore, Samuel Holden Parsons, James Mitchell Varnum, John Cleves Symmes.
The salaries of the judges were fixed by Congress in an act bearing the date October 8, 1787, at $800 per annum.
President George Washington, in a message to the Senate of the United States, bearing the date of New York, August 18, 1789, nominates to be judges of the Northwest Territory "in accordance with the law re- establishing the government of the Northwest Territory," Samuel Holden Parsons, John Cleves Symmes and William Barton.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
Historical Sketch of the Judges of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Barton, who was appointed vice Judge Varnum, who had died the preceding February, himself declined the appointment, and on the 8th of September the Senate completed the reorganization of the court by confirming the nomination of George Turner, an associate justice. The court thus constituted in 1789, and acting under the Constitution of the United States, consisted of the Honorable Judges Samuel Holden Parsons, John Cleves Symmes, George Turner
Judge Parsons, then Chief Justice, was drowned in November, 1789, while returning from a treaty with the Indians of the Western Reserve, and the President nominated as his successor on the bench, Rufus Put- nam, of Marietta, whose nomination was promptly confirmed.
The court as thus organized with Judges John Cleves Symmes, George Turner, Rufus Putnam, served from 1790 to 1796, when Judge Putnam was appointed to the office of Surveyor General by President Washington, who, in the same message to the Senate, nominated Joseph Gilman to the judgeship thus made vacant. The nominations were con- firmed.
In 1798 Judge Turner resigned and was succeeded by Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., whose appointment was confirmed February 12, 1798. The court as thus constituted, consisting of Judge John Cleves Symmes, Joseph Gilman and Return J. Meigs, Jr., continued to serve until the admission of the State into the Union in 1803, and therefore, until the organization of the Supreme Court of Ohio. This court (of the Northwest Territory) held its sessions alternately at Detroit, Vincennes, Cincinnati and Marietta.
Note 1 .- It is worthy of notice in this connection that the Territorial Gov- ernment was set up by Congress in October, 1787, but that the first settlement in Ohio occurred on the site of the city of Marietta in the following April (1788). In the absence of the Governor, and Judges, who were to form the law-giving power, and until their arrival, Col. Return J. Meigs, Sr., drafted a code of reg- ulations on common foolscap, which he, tacked to the blazed trunk of a large oak, where it was read and endorsed by all the settlers. History does not re- cord a single infraction of those rules. The Governor, with a majority of the court, arrived at Marietta two months later, and set up the official government of the Territory.
Note 2 .- Upon the admission of the state into the Union in 1803, and the dissolution of the Territorial Court, Congress by an act passed in February, 1803, provided that a District Court for the District of Ohio, to consist of one judge, should be established at Chillicothe.
Note 3 .- By an act of May, 1800, the original Northwest Territory had been divided into eastern and western divisions, and an additional court created for the Indiana or western division, at Saint Vincennes, the court for the eastern division remaining at Chillicothe.
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JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF OHIO UNDER THE FIRST CONSTITUTION (1802-1851).
U NDER the Constitution of 1802 the number of Supreme Court judges was the same as under the Territorial form of govern-
ment, three, with the power vested in the General Assembly to authorize the selection of an additional judge at its discretion.
The tenure of office was fixed at seven years, or such part thereof as the judge was well behaved. 'The salaries of the judges were fixed at not to exceed one thousand dollars per annum.
Under these provisions of the constitution and the laws, the Gen- eral Assembly elected on April 2, 1803, as the First Supreme Court of the State of Ohio, Samuel Huntington (then the Senator from Trumn- bull County), Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr. (then a member of the Terri- torial Court)', and William Spriggs (of Jefferson County).
With this establishment of a Supreme Court in Ohio, a search of official records discloses the following to have been the personnel of that court which has reflected a lasting honor on the judiciary whose repre- sentatives they were, and on the State to whom they paid affectionate fealty.
1803-Samuel Huntington, {Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., William Spriggs.
1804-Samuel Huntington, Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., Willianı Spriggs.
Judge Meigs resigned December, 1804, to accept commission in the U. S. Army as Colonel and Commander of the Department of the Missouri.
1805-Samuel Huntington, Daniel Symmes (vice Meigs), William Spriggs.
1806-Samuel Huntington, Daniel Symmes, William Sprigg's (to April).
Judge Spriggs resigned in April and was succeeded by Senator George Tod, of Trumbull County, who was appointed to the vacancy by Governor Tiffin-and was afterward elected to the seat by the General Assembly, January 1, 1807.
In 1807 the Supreme Court consisted of Judges Samuel Huntington, Daniel Symmes and George Tod.
In 1808 Judge Symmes resigned (January 9) and was succeeded by William Spriggs (February 13). Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., having been declared ineligible to the office of the Governor of Ohio, to which he had been elected the previous October, was elected an additional Judge of the Supreme Court on the 13th of February by the joint session of
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
Historical Sketch of the Judges of the Supreme Court.
the General Assembly which also elected his colleague, Mr. Spriggs, to succeed Judge Symmes, who had resigned to accept the presidential ap- pointment of Registrar of Land at Cincinnati. Owing to these changes the court, after February 13, was composed of Judges Samuel Hunting- ton, William Spriggs, George Tod, R. J. Meigs, Jr.
The membership of the court remained as above until in December, when Judge Huntington resigned to become Governor of Ohio. He was inaugurated December 12. The House of Representatives had preferred charges early in the same month (December) against Judges Huntington and Tod, of the Supreme Court and Judge Calvin Pease, presiding judge of the Common Pleas Court of the Third District, for having, by certain decisions, set aside the act extending the jurisdiction of justices of the peace. Governor Huntington was not tried on these charges, but his associates were brought before the Senate, sitting as a High Court of Impeachment, and were acquitted.
In 1809, Judge Huntington having become Governor, and Judge Meigs having resigned to become United States Senator from Ohio, the Governor, in the message announcing these vacancies on the bench (Jan- uary 31) recommends the abolishment of the fourth judgeship for the reason that it creates two courts of two judges each, which sitting at different parts of the State in riding the circuit, tend to disagreement in decisions, and consequent confusion. Despite this recommendation of the Governor, the Legislature elected (February 17) Thomas Scott (Chief Clerk of the Senate) to succeed Judge Huntington, and Thomas Morris (a member. of the House of Representatives) to succeed Judge Meigs as an additional judge. This created a court of four members, in- cluding Judges William Spriggs, George Tod, Thomas Scott and Thomas Morris.
Judge Morris failing to qualify as judge, the General Assembly abolished the additional judgeship the following session (1810).
In 1810, the first period of seven years having expired under the State constitution of 1802, the General Assembly, on February 10, met in joint session of the two houses and elected a new Supreme Court which served without interruption until 1815. This court consisted of Thomas Scott (to succeed himself) ; William W. Irwin, of Fairfield County ; and Ethan Allen Brown, of Hamilton County.
In 1816 the General Assembly was called upon to elect successors to Judges Scott and Irwin, who had resigned, and accordingly met in joint session on the 17th day of February, and elected to the Supreme Court, Messrs. Jessup N. Couch, of Ross County; John McLean, of Warren County, and an additional judge in Calvin Pease, of Trumbull County.
The Supreme Court was thus increased to four members: Ethan Allen Brown, Jessup N. Couch, John McLean and Calvin Pease.
In 1817 the re-election of Judge Brown to succeed himself continued
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
Historical Sketch of the Judges of the Supreme Court.
the membership of the court as constituted the previous year., and this membership was unbroken until the resignation of Judge Brown in De- "cember, 1818, to become Governor of Ohio. On the 30th day of January, 1819, the General Assembly elected Peter Hitchcock, of Geauga County, to the vacancy thus created.
From 1819 to 1821 the judges of the Supreme Court were : Jessup N. Couch, John McLean, Calvin Pease and Peter Hitchcock.
In 1821, the death of Judge Couch led to the election of Jacob Bur- nett, of Hamilton County, one of the conspicuous figures in the Territorial Council and in the early history of Ohio, as his successor. The court thus constituted, being again changed in 1822 by the resignation of Judge McLean, Charles 'R. Sherman, of Fairfield County, was elected to suc- ceed him on the IIth day of January, 1823, at which election the General Assembly also re-elected Judges Pease and Burnett.
From 1822 to 1829 the judges of the Supreme Court were: Calvin Pease, Peter Hitchcock, Jacob Burnett and Charles R. Sherman.
In 1828 Judge Burnett resigned (December II), and as his successor the General Assembly elected (February 6, 1829) Joshua Collett, of Warren County. The judges for 1829 being - Calvin Pease, Peter Hitchcock, Charles R. Sherman and Joshua Collett.
In 1830 the General Assembly elected the following judges of the Supreme Court: January 30, Elijah Hayward, vice Judge Pease, term expired; February I, John Milton Goodenow, vice Judge Sherman, deceased ; the court thus consisting of Judges Peter Hitchcock, Joshua Collett, Elijah Hayward and John Milton Goodenow:
During the summer of 1830 the court was divided into two sections, sitting in separate localities in the State (under an act of the previous winter), but the illness of Judges Goodenow and Hayward, who finally resigned before the close of the year, deprived the Miami River counties and those of central Ohio of the usual court. An attempt to hold a special session in Columbus, in October, resulted in the coming together of but two of the judges, who, deciding that they were not a quorum of the court and could neither sit as a court nor legally adjourn, agreed to "separate," which they did, and nothing was done with the fifty cases on the docket. (See Governor's Message.) Henry Brush was appointed by the Governor during the year 1830 to succeed Judge Goodenow, resigned; no appoint- ment being made to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation (No- vember 6) of Judge Hayward.
In December, 1830, the Supreme Court Judges were: Peter Hitch- cock, Joshua Collett, Henry Brush, and one vacancy caused by the resig- nation of Judge Hayward.
On the 18th of December the General Assembly elected a successor to Judge Hayward in the person of Ebenezer Lane, of Huron County, and on the 20th of the month elected John C. Wright, of Jefferson County,
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF OHIO.
Historical Sketch of the Judges of the Supreme Court.
to succeed Judge Brush, who was not a candidate before the General Assembly. Judge Lane took his seat at once; Judge Wright, on the ad- journment of the Legislature.
In 1831 and 1832 the membership of the Supreme Court remained : Peter Hitchcock, Joshua Collett, Ebenezer Lane and John C. Wright.
Judge Hitchcock's term expiring on the 5th of February, 1833, there was a spirited contest in the General Assembly over the election of his successor. The election being ordered for the 16th of December (1832), on that day the assembly met in joint session, but after casting seven ballots, on all of which Reuben Wood, of Cuyahoga County, led, with Judge Hitchcock second and Benjamin Tappan third, the session dissolved without an election and the Senate returned to its chamber. The assembly was called together by another resolution on the next day (17th), and after twelve more ballots, Reuben Wood was declared to' have been elected by a majority of one vote.
Several days later the correctness of the count was challenged by a joint resolution and an investigation of the count was ordered, but the title of Judge Wood to his seat was not disturbed by this agitation.
The court for 1833-1835 was composed of Judges Joshua Collett, Ebenezer Lane, John C. Wright and Reuben Wood.
On February 2, 1835, the Governor reported the resignation of Judge Joshua Collett, and the assembly, in joint session, then elected, on the fourth ballot, ex-Judge Hitchcock, at that time Senator from Geauga County and Speaker of the Senate, to succeed him. In this contest, Senator Anthony, of Clark County, was Judge Hitchcock's principal competitor for the Judgeship and was (March 6) elected to succeed him as Speaker of the Senate. Judge Hitchcock resigned as Speaker on that day.
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