USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume I > Part 16
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BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPÆDIA AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
inquiry into the expediency of giving pensions to the widows of officers and soldiers who had fallen in their country's ser- vice. In 1814, Mr. McLean was reëlected to Congress by the unanimous vote of his district, not only receiving every vote cast in the district for representative, but it is recorded that every voter who attended the polls voted for him-a circum- stance, as has been remarked, that has rarely occurred in the political history of any man. During his second term in Congress, he served on the committees of foreign relations and of public lands. The wide field of public usefulness pre- sented by the representative branch of the National legisla- ture induced him to decline solicitations to become a candi- date for the United States Senate in 1815-at a time when his election was regarded as certain, although he was only thirty years of age, and therefore barely eligible. He re- mained in Congress until 1816, when the legislature of Ohio having unanimously elected him a judge of the supreme court of the State, he then resigned his seat, and was suc- ceeded by General William Henry Harrison. Judge McLean occupied the supreme bench of Ohio six years, during which he displayed those professional attainments and judicial qualities which afterwards distinguished him in his higher position as a justice of the United States Supreme Court. In the summer of 1822, he was made commissioner of the gen- eral land office by President Monroe, and, in July of the fol- lowing year, was appointed Postmaster-General. Judge Mc- Lean's friends urged him not to accept the latter position, the affairs of the general post-office then being in a very discour- aging condition. Disordered mail arrangements, depressed finances, public complaints and distrust, with other unfavor- able circumstances, presented a field which, it was thought, promised little for present satisfaction or future reputation. But, confiding in his own ability and industry, Judge McLean undertook the difficulties of the situation, and applying his vigorous mind and methodical habits to the complicated affairs of the department, and directing his personal attention to all the details of business, was so successful in organizing system, enforcing economy and honesty, and giving the pub- lic regular and secure mail facilities, that, by a nearly unani- mous vote of the Senate and House of Representatives, the Postmaster-General's salary was increased from $4,000 to $6,000. Those who, from motives of policy, opposed this in- crease in Congress, did so reluctantly. John Randolph said, the salary was for the officer, not the office, and that he would vote for the bill if the law should be made to expire when Judge McLean left the office. The distribution of the public patronage of his department exhibited in another respect Judge McLean's qualities as an executive officer, and mani- fested the rule of action which marked his character. Believ- ing that every public officer holds his office in trust for the people, he determined to be influenced by no other principle, in the discharge of his duties, than a faithful performance of the trust committed to him. No individual was removed from office on account of political opinions; and when per- sons were recommended for appointment, it was not required to be stated, as a recommendation, that they had been warm supporters of the dominant party. In all such cases, the man who was believed to be the best qualified was selected for the department. Having served as Postmaster-General during the remainder of Mr. Monroe's term, and throughout that of John Quincy Adams, Judge McLean was invited, by General Andrew Jackson, on the latter's occupation of the Chief Mag- istracy, to take charge of the War and Navy Departments,
but, having declined each of these cabinet positions, he was afterwards offered a seat on the supreme bench, which he ac- cepted. He was appointed a judge of the United States Su- preme Court in 1829, entering upon the duties of his new office at the January term of 1830. Judge McLean's eminent fitness for this position was manifested by more than thirty years' service, during which period the jurisprudence of the country was enriched by the diligent labors of his energetic and cultivated mind. Some of his charges to grand juries, at important crises, were distinguished for their ability and eloquence-one of the ablest of these having been delivered in December, 1838, regarding unlawful military combinations by our citizens against foreign governments or peoples at peace with us-this charge having special reference to the Canadian insurrection and its abettors in the United States. At various times Judge McLean was suggested for the Presi- dency. Long identified, during the latter years of his life, with the party opposed to the extension of slavery, his name was before the Free-Soil convention at Buffalo, in 1848, as a candidate for the Presidential nomination ; and the reports of the supreme court with the reports of his decisions upon the circuit, were well said to form a monument of judicial fame, for which the honors of the Chief Magistracy of the Republic would have been a desirable exchange. In the Dred Scott case, Judge McLean dissented from the decision of the court, as given by Chief Justice Taney, and expressed the opinion that slavery had its origin merely in power, contrary to right, and, in this country, was sustained only by local law. The honorary degree of doctor of laws was conferred upon him by not only Harvard University, and the Wesleyan University, but by several other colleges and institutions of learning in the Western and Northwestern States. His published works were; "Reports of the United States Circuit Court," 1829-42, two volumes, 8vo .; a "Eulogy upon James Monroe," 1831, and occasional addresses, speeches, etc. Judge McLean was tall and well-proportioned in person, his appearance indica- ting great vigor of body and intellectual energy. His habits of life were always simple and unostentatious. Cheerful in temper, frank in manners, instructive and elegant in conver- sation, he possessed in a rare degree the faculty of inspiring confidence and warm attachment toward him in those who came within his influence, especially in young members of the bar, toward whom his kindness and courtesy were always extended. A professor of the Christian religion, he sought to regulate his public and private life in accordance with his faith, and by diligence, justice, and charity, exhibiting the consistency of religious principles and profession with the duties of a citizen, a lawyer, a statesman, and a judge. He died just at the beginning of the war of Secession. He had watched its approach with great concern, yet with confidence in the power directing the threatened storm. He resided, during a part of his public life, on the farm which his father had settled upon as a pioneer, in Warren county, and which he owned after the latter's death, but, in later years, when in Ohio, his home was at Cincinnati. He was twice married. His first wife, Rebecca Edwards, daughter of Dr. Edwards, form- erly of South Carolina, died in December, 1840. His son, Nathaniel C., a native of Warren county, Ohio, was a prac- ticing attorney, and at the breaking out of the war of Seces- sion was commissioned colonel of the 75th Ohio. He served with ability throughout the war, participated in many of the important battles, and was promoted brigadier-general for gallant services.
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COFFIN, CHARLES DUSTIN, lawyer and judge, was born at Newburyport, Massachusetts, on the Ioth of Septem- ber, 1804. His parents were second cousins, both of the family name, and which is of Norman origin. Sir Richard Coffyn accompanied William the Conqueror to England in the year 1066, as an officer of his army. The first of the name in America was Tristram Coffyn. He emigrated from England and settled at Haverhill, Massachusetts, and his name is found as witness to the Indian grant of that town, March 15th, 1642. In 1647 he moved to Newbury where his son Tristram, junior, lived and died, while his father, with part of his family removed to Nantucket. A second son, Stephen, married Sarah Atkinson, while their youngest son, John, married the Hannah Dustin, who, in 1697 distinguished herself in a conflict with the Indians. This John Coffin and his wife Hannah were the great-grandparents of our subject, and hence his name of Dustin. In early life his father was an active business man in Newburyport, Massachusetts, but the war of 1812, which severely affected the fortunes of many of the families of the seaboard, proved disastrous to his pe- cuniary affairs, and soon after the conclusion of that war he moved West, settled in Columbiana county, Ohio, and after several years residence in that part of the State, removed to Alleghany City, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1850. His son, our subject, received the best education the common schools of the country then afforded, and at an early age, un- der the care of Professors Wampler, Campbell and others, prepared for and entered upon the study of law. First in the office of Judge J. M. Goodenow, in Steubenville, and subse- quently in that of Elderkin Potter in New Lisbon, he devoted himself with more than usual industry to the study of law and its practice in the courts of Ohio. At a session of the supreme court of Ohio, held at Canton, Stark county, he was, in September, 1823, admitted to practice, and opened an office in New Lisbon, with the result that he soon acquired a fair practice in Columbiana and some of the adjoining counties. In 1824 he married Miss Harriet Eliza, a daughter of Dr. Horatio L. Wooster of Knoxville, Jefferson county, Ohio, with whom he lived until her death in 1870. Distinguished for her domestic virtues, purity of character and love of friends that endeared her to all her acquaintances. To her husband she was all a wife could be, and cheered and en- couraged him in the earlier years of his professional career. In 1828 he was appointed clerk of the court of Columbiana county, and which office he held for several years, still " rid- ing the circuit." Under the constitution of 1802, before the appointment of clerk of the courts of a county could be made for the term of seven years, the applicant had to have the certificate of the supreme judges that he was qualified for the position. As matters of curiosity Judge Coffin has in his pos- session two of these certificates, one in the handwriting of Calvin Pease, as early as 1827, and the other in that of Peter Hitchcock, and signed by them and by Jacob Burnet, Joshua Collect and Ebenezer Lane, which he carefully preserves as specimens of the autography of those distinguished judges. In 1836 he was elected to Congress. At that time the district was composed of the counties of Carroll and Columbiana, and was largely democratic. Previous to that, he had de- fended the election of John Quincy Adams as entirely legal, and also the course taken by Mr. Clay and his friends in for- warding that election, subsequently, under the administration of General Jackson, he was known among the most promi- nent and active whigs in the district. His prompt attention
to business, his fairness in the discussion of the then very ex- citing political questions, his excellent character, and his uni- form courtesy and bearing had made him personally popular; and, although there still continued to be a large democratic majority in the district, Mr. Coffin was elected, although his opponent was a talented gentlemen and justly worthy of the place. On his way to Washington, the stage in which he traveled was upset in a rain-storm, the passengers drenched, and this accident caused him much physical suffering during the greater part of his term, during which he determined never again to accept a nomination. Possessed of a clearly judicial mind, he grew to dislike debate where the argument had no effect upon the decision, that being influenced by party views, no matter how opposed to the merits of the question. On the expiration of his term, as soon as his health per- mitted, he resumed the practice of the law. Great barristers, and there were many in those days in the old fifth circuit, inspired him with the ambition to be, if possible, a barrister in the best acceptance of that designation. He was also, during this time, and for several years president of the Co- lumbiana Bank of New Lisbon. Having an excellent cashier, this did not interfere with his professional business, but, on the contrary extended and enlarged his general business knowledge and skill, and his sagacity in financial affairs. In 1842 he went to Cincinnati, and in May of that year formed a partnership with the late Judge John C. Wright and John L. Miner, taking the place of Judge Timothy Walker, who had been appointed judge of court of common pleas. Here he remained until by the legislature, in 1845, without intima- tion or foreknowledge on his part, he was elected a judge of the superior court of Hamilton county, for the term of seven years, to succeed Judge David K. Este, whose term had ex- pired and who declined reelection. Judge Coffin's subse- quent services attested the wisdom of that choice. At that time the only courts in Hamilton county were the superior court, presided over by one judge, and the court of common pleas, having a presiding and three associate judges. Judge Coffin, having held the position of judge of the superior court two years, resigned, on account of the inadequacy of the salary, and, in partnership with his son-in-law, Thomas G. Mitchell, under the firm name of Coffin & Mitchell, re- sumed the practice of law. Both were strong business law- yers, masters of their profession, and had as clients many of the first men in the city. Our limits will not permit those re- marks in which we would fain indulge in treating of the char- acter of so shining a mark as this subject presents, and we must refer the reader to the reports of the circuit and supreme courts, where lasting monuments of his learning and industry will be found. In 1851 the legislature of Ohio created a new court for Hamilton county, called the Superior Court of Cin- cinnati. Judges Storer, Gholson and Spencer were the first judges elected, but in 1861, Judge Spencer having by death vacated his office, without solicitation on the part of any friend or relative Governor Dennison appointed Judge Coffin to fill the vacancy until the next election, and, so well did his ap- pointment meet popular approbation, he was unanimously chosen for the unexpired term. In the early summer of 1870, Judge Coffin went abroad for the first time. He passed some months in travel on the continent of Europe and in England, and late in the autumn returned to Cincinnati, and resumed the practice of the law. February 28th, 1880, and after but a few days' illness, Judge Coffin, while practicing law with his grandson, died, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.
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WAGGONER, CLARK, collector of internal revenue for the Tenth District, Ohio, was born in Milan township, Huron (now in Erie) county, Ohio, September 6th, 1820. His father, Israel Waggoner, was a native of New Jersey, born in 1789, and came to Ohio in 1811, engaging in farming. For a time he was mail-carrier between the mouth of Huron river and Mansfield (fifty miles), with but one "clearing" on the route. The mother, Lucretia Buck, was born in Massachusetts, 1787, spending her childhood and youth at Bennington, Vermont. In 1807 she went to Buffalo, New York, and there married Peter Lake. In 1815 the family came to Ohio, locating in Huron county, where the husband soon died, and in 1819 the widow and Israel Waggoner were married. The son's school facilities consisted in what were furnished by the village district (only ordinary for those days), and ended at the age of twelve years, except two short terms at a seminary. For whatever of literary educa- tion he afterwards acquired he was indebted chiefly to what Dr. Franklin so well named and showed to be the "poor boy's college "-the printing office-which he entered as an appren- tice, at the age of thirteen years, in the office of the Milan Times, completing his trade in the office of the Norwalk Reflector. In 1838, as a "jour. printer," he accepted a situa- tion at Fremont (then Lower Sandusky), and in May, 1839, at the age of eighteen, he became the publisher of the Lower Sandusky Whig, a new paper, which was continued until 1843, when he removed the office to his native town, and established the Milan Tribune, which was published until 1851, at which time the office was merged into that of the Clarion, at Sandusky, the new paper being named the Regis- ter, in which were associated with Mr. Waggoner, Earl Bill, now clerk of the United States Court for the Northern Dis- trict .of Ohio, and Henry D. Cooke, late governor of the District of Columbia, now deceased. In 1856 Mr. Wag- goner removed to Toledo, and with G. T. Stewart, then and now of Norwalk, Ohio, purchased the Toledo Blade, Mr. Waggoner becoming the manager of the establishment, and ere long the editor of the paper, continuing as such until 1865, when he retired. He thus conducted the paper throughout the war of the Rebellion, and gave to the cause of the Union a strong and effective support. As the result of a difference in views as to the true policy for the conduct of the war, Mr. Waggoner was brought into conflict with a large portion of his republican associates in the congressional district. He was sustained in his views by the more conservative mem- bers of the party, who selected Morrison R. Waite (now chief justice of the United States) as their candidate, but who was not elected. The position of this portion of the party was that of President Lincoln, that the war, on the part of the government, should be conducted primarily to save the Union, leaving slavery and other special interests to take their chances in the result. To this was opposed the extreme, or "radical," policy, making the abolition of slavery a condition precedent in any terms for peace. Though Mr. Waite then failed of an election, the canvass gave him an introduction and standing as a sound and able conservative in policy, which opened the way to the exalted position subsequently reached by him, one more consistent with his taste and professional ambition. Mr. Waggoner's real introduction as editor to the people of Northwestern Ohio was in 1859, through a cowardly personal assault made upon him by a notorious gambler, because the Blade had expressed the opinion that it was against public policy for a man who
had in one year pleaded "guilty" to two indictments for gam- bling, to be continued as a depository of public money. His life was at that time openly threatened, as it afterwards was, because of his bold denunciation of gambling and other crimes and vices. In 1866, in connection with his eldest son, Ralph H. Waggoner, Mr. Waggoner purchased the Toledo Commercial, which he edited during his connection with the paper, and until January, 1876. It was in the conduct of the Commercial that Mr. Waggoner was most frequently influ- ential in controlling political and public results. Notable, in this connection, is the part he took in the selection of the republican candidate for governor of Ohio, in 1875, which proved to have so much bearing upon more important subse- quent events. By concerted action, in April of that year, most of the leading republican journals of the State simulta- neously brought out Hon. Alphonso Taft for that office. The ground of this action was the alleged personal popularity of that gentleman with certain classes of voters residing chiefly in cities, which popularity was mainly due to his declared opin- ions against the use of the Bible in public schools. Disagree- ing with these views, and apprehending disaster to the party from the nomination of a standard-bearer for the reason that he entertained them, Mr. Waggoner, in the Commercial, op- posed the movement in favor of Judge Taft, and urged, in- stead, the nomination of Rutherford B. Hayes, who had twice been governor, was then in private life, and had refused the use of his name for the position, just before Judge Taft was suggested, and still protested against being considered a can- didate. Notwithstanding such positive protest, and the almost unanimous support of Judge Taft by the republican daily press, Mr. Waggoner insisted that Ex-Governor Hayes should be nominated, as the only hope of unity, and for the success in Ohio, in 1875, on which so largely depended all hope of suc- cess in the approaching presidential contest. The canvass- an active and earnest one-closed with a complete indorse- ment of Mr. Waggoner's action, in the unanimous nomination of Ex-Governor Hayes by the State convention, be followed by his election over Governor William Allen, and, as direct consequences, his subsequent nomination and election as Pres- ident, in 1876. Among the incidents of Mr. Waggoner's life most satisfactory to himself, is the part he took in removing the bars of prejudice by which the colored children of Toledo were excluded from the educational facilities provided for their white neighbors. This was accomplished in 1871, after a con- test of over two years, in which the Commercial led the cause of justice against the prejudices and the timidity of the board of education. The result was finally reached through a public sentiment aroused and made effective largely by Mr. Wag- goner's persistent support of the right. It is proper to state that, upon the test of trial being made, there were found to exist none of the obstacles to the policy of justice and hu- manity so greatly feared, no trouble whatever arising from the association of races in the schools. The part taken by Mr. Waggoner in the establishment of the present system of water supply for Toledo may be mentioned. After several years of discussion, the city council, by nearly unanimous vote, had been led to adopt, and the citizens generally to accept, the Holly system of water-works. Becoming satisfied, from investigation, that this system was not desirable for the city, and that the stand-pipe plan was better, Mr. Waggoner advocated a change accordingly, which was strongly opposed by the council, sustained by a portion of the city press. The discussion lasted some three months, and was active and
Celack Maggie
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somewhat bitter, but closed with the nearly unanimous adop- tion by the council of a resolution surrendering the Holly and accepting the stand-pipe plan, which was soon after in- troduced, and is believed to equal in efficiency, economy, and durability that of any other city in the country. Mr. Waggoner preserved, and now holds as a proud "monu- ment " to his life-work, fifty bound volumes of newspapers, of which he was publisher and editor. They cover an ag- gregate of thirty-five years, and include twelve years of weekly and twenty-three years of daily journals. Through- out this long period his record was that of a conscientious, independent, and fearless advocate of truth, justice and hon- esty in every department of life. Whether in social, moral, business, or political affairs, his pen was ever ready in de- fense of the right, regardless of what, in a selfish view, at the time, seemed to be immediate disadvantage to himself. He was rarely long without the antagonism of some special in- terest; but without an exception worth naming, the outcome justified his course. As far as his action was concerned, it mattered little whether he was thus brought in conflict with personal friends or enemies, with political associates or opponents, with men of high or of low standing, with the few or the many, his course showed the same consistent and inflexible adherence to the convictions of his own mind. These once carefully and satisfactorily reached, were ever the guide for his action. So well did this fact come to be recognized that the influence of his paper was powerful with the public. Always active in the promotion of public enter- prises and local interests, he was no less vigilant in the sup- port of a sound morality and the maintenance of law and order. It is safe to say that no person has done more to ele- vate the character of the public press in Northern Ohio than did Mr. Waggoner throughout the generation of time covered by his labors as a journalist. The appointment of Mr. Wag- goner as collector of internal revenue was the unsolicited act of President Hayes, which has been more than justified by the high standing to which the district was soon brought and is maintained. Mr. Waggoner's political opinions were first formed during President Jackson's last term, when he accepted the views and policy of the whigs, then under the lead of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Thomas Ewing, and other giants in statesmanship of those days. He continued in support of the whig party until the body of the same was merged in its republican successor, in 1855, with which latter he has since been actively identified. On the 29th December, 1841, Mr. Waggoner was married, at Fremont, Ohio, with Miss Sylvia B., daughter of the late Chauncy Roberts, for many years a prominent hotel-keeper and stage proprietor at that place. They have had five children, each of whom is now living-Ralph H., an advertising broker in New York ; J. Fred., periodical and book publisher, Chicago, Illinois; Mrs. Carrie R., wife of Dr. B. J. Seward, of New Jersey ; and Misses Fanny and Mary Ella, of Toledo
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