USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume I > Part 50
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not only lived and reared a family, but accumulated a large estate. Mr. Brasee was the father of seven children : three sons-John S., Morton E., and George B. Brasee; and four daughters-Ellen E., deceased wife of Theo. W. Tallmadge; Mary J., wife of J. J. Hamill, of Newark, Ohio; Clara, wife of J. H. Salisbury, of Cleveland; and Alice, deceased wife of George Witte, of New Orleans, Louisiana. We can not close this sketch in a more appropriate manner than by re- publishing a few extracts from a written statement by a prominent legal gentleman whose relations with Mr. Brasee were very intimate. We refer to M. A. Daugherty, Esq. The statement referred to was written on the occasion of Mr. Brasee's death, and was published in the Ohio State Journal, appended to his biography, written by his grandson at his dictation. Mourning the loss of a friend and a brother, Mr. Daugherty said :
"In the death of Mr. Brasee one of the brightest lights of the early jurisprudence of Ohio has gone out. The Ohio bar, during the time of his active professional life, contained, be- sides those already named, a great many distinguished men, a few of whom it may be well to mention : Vinton, Goddard, Irvin, Scott, Dunlevy, Este, Hayward, Hammond, Tappan, Odlin, Murphy, Bond, Douglas, Wilcox, Swan, King, Sloane, Wright, Nye, Grimke, Leonard, Sill, Silliman, Price, Mc- Dowell, Hamer, Corwin, Collins, Storer, Wade, Goodenow, Thompson, Fox, and Worthington. Among these and others not so well known, but of equal ability, Mr. Brasee stood as a peer and a brother; and he was esteemed not only as an able lawyer, but also as a high-toned and agreeable gentle- man. He was noted on the circuit for his apt and quaint anecdotes and other companionable qualities.
"Though decided in his political views, he could not be called a partisan, and he was never voluntarily a candidate for office. After the dissolution of the whig party, of which he was a member, and before the formation of the republican party, while the opposition to the democratic party was in a transition and somewhat chaotic state, he was, in 1855, elected to the State senate, and he served during the two sessions of 1856 and 1857, and took an active and leading part in the legislation of those two sessions, and particularly in perfect- ing the act for the 'Bank of Ohio,' which, it is generally un -; derstood, was the joint product of himself and his associate, Alfred Kelly, senator from the Columbus district. The law was drafted with great care, and, although it never went into practical effect in Ohio, it had the higher distinction of form- ing, with the law creating the State Bank of Ohio, the basis and prototype of the National Bank act, passed by Congress some seven years later.
"The modest autobiography embodied in this sketch of his life shows at once his simplicity and the force of character that enabled him to overcome the difficulties that surrounded an almost friendless boy, without education and without - wealth. More than ordinary capacity and energy were needed "to accomplish an academic education, a professional training, and the establishment of himself among the foremost men of his day. These qualities, united with sterling integrity, made him what he was, and entitle him to an honorable place in American biography."
BRASEE, JOHN SCHOFIELD, lawyer, Lancaster, Ohio, was born at Gallipolis, Ohio, August 19th, 1832. He is a son of John Trafford Brasee (a sketch of whose life appears in another place in this work) and Mary J. (Schofield) Brasee, the former a native of New York State, and the latter of Lan- caster, Ohio. His maternal grandfather, Elnathan Schofield, was a native of Connecticut, but came to Ohio at an early day, and was for a number of years engaged in making and reporting government surveys, and later was a member of both branches of the Ohio legislature. He was of English extraction. The declining years of his life were spent as a merchant. He died in Lancaster in 1841. The paternal
grandmother, Trafford, was also of English descent. The paternal grandfather, Brasec, was, in the opinion of his de- scendants, of French stock. John S. Brasee was brought from Gallipolis to Lancaster when but nine months old, and has made his home there ever since. Up to the age of thir- teen his primary instruction was in the public schools of Lan- caster and in such private classes as were available. At that age he entered Greenfield Academy, near Lancaster, which was conducted by the distinguished and late lamented Prof. John Williams. Here he remained for two years, after which he attended the preparatory school in Kenyon College, at Mil- nor Hall, under the tutorage of Rev. Norman Badger. He remained here for one year, and then entered Kenyon College, at Gambier, Ohio, where, after continuous and zeal- ous application for four years, in which he stood first in his classes in deportment and scholarship, he completed the course of study and returned to his home in Lancaster. Immediately upon his return from college he began the study of law in the office of his father. September, 1854, he was admitted to the bar, and entered regularly upon its duties in partnership with his father. This continued till January Ist, 1860, at which time his father retired from practice. Subse- quently, and till within the last five years, Mr. Brasee was alone. During that period and at present he is associated with Henry C. Drinkle, Esq. The legislature of Ohio, in the session, of 1875, passed a bill (March 27th) creating a com- mission to "Revise and Consolidate the Statutes of Ohio." Governor Allen, in conformity to this measure, appointed as members of that commission Michael A. Daugherty, Lu- ther Day, and John W. Okey. After a brief period of labor on this commission Mr. Day resigned, to accept a place on the supreme court commission, and in February, 1876, Gov- ernor Hayes appointed John S. Brasee to fill the vacancy. Thus constituted, the work of the commission went regularly forward. At a later period John W. Okey resigned his place on the commission, and his son, George B. Okey, was ap- pointed to supply the vacancy. In the hands of these gen- tlemen, Michael A. Daugherty, John S. Brasee, and George B. Okey, this arduous work was completed and published. The labors of this commission extended over a period of four years, and were attended with many perplexities and compli- cations. The general laws of Ohio and decisions thereon, from the origin of the State government down to 1880, occu- pying many volumes, with varied and complicated indexes and arbitrary arrangements, were to be revised, compiled, and abridged into two volumes. So confusing and complicated was all this mass of legislative enactments that it was impos- sible to secure and maintain concurrent court decisions in different portions of the State, or permit the most intelligent legislators any latitude in re-enactments or repeals of laws in, or supposed to be in, force. When these facts are taken into consideration, some idea of the magnitude and impor- tance of the work of this commission may be realized. In this capacity Judge Brasee rendered, with the other gentle- men, great and valued service to the State; and as a result the bench, bar, and legislators of Ohio have one of the most complete, accurate, and convenient Revised Statutes to be found anywhere. The pecuniary interest of the State was zealously guarded by this commission, and the work done in the shortest possible space of time. Judge Brasee was trained in the whig party, and has ever since been a republican. He never, however, permits party influence to be a barrier to social friendships. The judge is a "general lawyer," fulfill-
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ing the requirements of the various departments of law in an exceptional degree. He has had a large share of the crim- inal practice-in his section of the State, as well as civil and railroad practice. Judge Brasee was married to Miss Anna Dickinson, daughter of Dr. Aston Dickinson, of Newark, Ohio, December 6, 1854. He is the father of six children- two sons and four daughters. His older son, John T. Brasee, is a senior in Kenyon College, and a young man of much promise. The oldest daughter is named Marian Brasee. Judge Brasee is a quiet and dignified gentleman, and is ex- tensively known and highly esteemed in all parts of the State.
BINGHAM, EDWARD FRANKLIN, lawyer and ju- rist, Columbus, Ohio, was born August 13th, 1828, at West Concord, Vermont, being the fifth son of the late Judge Warner Bingham and Lucy (Wheeler) Bingham, and is a descendant of Thomas Bingham, who emigrated from Shef- field, England, and settled in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1663. His brothers, the Hon. Harry Bingham, an eminent lawyer and democratic politician, and Judge George A. Bingham, a prominent lawyer and ex-judge of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, reside at Littleton in that State. Edward F. received his early education at the public and select schools of Vermont, and later at the academy of Peaham, of the same State, one of the oldest, best endowed, and most distin- guished of the educational institutions of that State at that time. In 1846, while on a visit to Ohio, he determined to make his home in the future in this State. After spending a brief period at Marietta College he read law with his brother Harry at Littleton, New Hampshire, concluding, as he com- menced, his law studies under the late Judge Joseph Miller at Chillicothe, Ohio. He was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Ohio, sitting at Georgetown, Brown County, the late Judge Peter Hitchcock presiding, in May, 1850. The Legislature had, in the preceding March, created the county of Vinton, and on the first day of June, 1850, he opened a law office at McArthur, the county-seat, believing that there the prospect of immediate employment and sup- port was better than elsewhere. Although a total stranger to the people of that county he soon found warm friends and steadfast clients, with plenty of business. In the following November, a vacancy occurring in the office of prosecuting attorney of Vinton County, he was appointed to that office by the court of common pleas, and was elected for a term of two years, in 1851, and re-elected in 1853 to the same office, serving therein altogether five years. In October, 1855, he was elected as representative (democratic) for the coun- ties of Vinton and Jackson, and served in the Legislature during the sessions of 1856 and 1857. Although strongly urged to accept a renomination to the Legislature he declined, desiring to devote himself especially to his law practice. In 1858 he was complimented by his party with the unanimous nomination for the office of judge of the court of common pleas for the second subdivision of the Seventh Judicial Dis- trict, composed of the counties of Vinton, Jackson, Pike, Scioto, and Lawrence. The democratic party being then in a minority in that subdivision he was defeated by a small majority by his competitor, the Hon. W. W. Johnson, at present one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the State. In 1859 the Democratic Convention for Vinton and Jackson counties convened to nominate a candidate for representa- tive in the Legislature, meeting with difficulty in making a 26
nomination, in the absence of Judge Bingham, and without his knowledge, nominated him and adjourned; but, upon receiving information of this action, he immediately declined. He was a delegate from the Eleventh Congressional District of Ohio in 1860 to the Democratic National Convention, held first at Charleston, South Carolina, and, by adjournment, at Baltimore, and an eye-witness to the thrilling proceedings which resulted in the division of the party and the nomina- tion of Douglas by the Northern and Breckinridge by the Southern wing. Wishing a more extended field for the prac- tice of his profession, he removed to Columbus, Ohio, in January, 1861, where he has since resided. In 1868 he was induced by his friends to accept the position of chairman of the State Democratic Executive Committee of Ohio, and so performed its duties in that important campaign as to receive the general commendation of his party friends, but because of its interference with his professional duties, he declined further service in that position. From 1867 to 1871 he was, by election, solicitor of the city of Columbus. From 1863 to 1868 he served as a member of the board of education of the city of Columbus, taking an active interest in its proceedings, and was again elected to the same board in 1872. In March, 1873, he was nominated by the democracy as a candidate for, and in April following elected without opposition, judge of the court of common pleas for the Fifth Judicial District. At the close of his first term he was again nominated, and, in April, 1878, re-elected, without opposition, judge for a second term. His present term expires on the second Mon- day of May, 1883. He was nominated by the Democratic State Convention of Ohio, in 1881, as the democratic candi- date for the office of judge of the supreme court, and, with the rest of the candidates on that ticket, was defeated at the Oc- tober election. Judge Binghain was married November 21st, 1850, to Susannah F. Gunning, of Fayette County, Ohio, and has two sons and two daughters. The late Judge War- ner Bingham, the father of our subject, was not only a man of ability, but also possessed a lofty character. His whole life was characterized by the strictest integrity and the purest motives, which noble attributes he bequeathed to his sons,- who, in all their varied intercourse with their fellow - men, have retained them unimpaired. A member of the Franklin County (Ohio) bar, who has known Judge Bingham inti- mately for twenty-five years, estimates his character as a man and as judge as follows: "He is the good Philip Yorke of the Columbus bar, cultured, honest, humane, with manners as simple as those of a child. 'Shall I hang up your over- coat ?' said the court crier to him one morning, as he sat warming himself by the fire, not feeling very well. 'No, thank you,' said the judge, 'I will not trouble you so much, I can do it.' So sensitive is his nature that he would not impose an unnecessary burden upon any one, nor one which, by possibility, he could discharge himself. When he takes his seat upon the bench there is the same quiet, unassuming manner in his behavior, but you at once feel that you are in the presence of a great judge; his knowledge of jurispru- dence is so full and complete that you hardly know where he presides with the most learning, whether in the Old Bailey on the law side, or in the chancery division of the court. In an important railroad cause, at which he presided, and which finally went to the court of last resort upon exceptions to his charge, the court, while reversing the judgment, differed so widely that the chief-justice, in announcing the conclusion of the court, remarked, 'that there would be no future report
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of the case, because, while voting for reversal, no two of them could agree upon the ground of reversal;' and yet, in a subsequent case, the Supreme Court laid down the law pre- cisely as this learned judge had expounded it. His nature, however, is so ingrained with a natural sense of equity that the bar, by common consent, have assigned him to the chan- cery division, where he has presided for nearly ten years with- out a single murmur of complaint ; and when we recall the magnitude of the causes here tried (for here nearly all the great causes are tried), it is a most elegant compliment to his ability and integrity. In this court there is little chance for the ornate. The young lawyer sits down to try his cause without embarrassment, for whatever disparity there may be between him and his antagonist in a knowledge of the great principles of equity jurisprudence, there is little chance for triumph, for you are confronted with the learning of a chan- cellor who has spent more than thirty years of his life in a close study of these principles. We said a moment ago that there was little chance for the ornate in this court. Ordi- narily it is so, and yet there are exceptions to the rule, for the facts and circumstances, the parties and their relations to each other, the character of the cause and the effect to be produced upon the personal or property relations of the liti- gants and perhaps to society itself, as well as the learning involved in the trial, may call forth the most mighty efforts of the human mind, and when an argument, convincing in its logic, expressed in elegant diction and embellished from every field of science and literature, would be regarded as eloquent in any other field, it would be strange if it were not so in a court of chancery, and we are not surprised when we are told by Lord Cottenham that an argument of Sir Samuel Romilly, which he heard him make in a great cause in the high court of chancery, was so beautiful that the recollec- tions of it had charmed him for twenty years. The same may be said of Mr. Binney's great argument in the Girard will case, which is probably the most clear exposition of the subject of charitable uses extant, and has been the wonder and admiration of the profession for half a century. But the eloquence displayed in these arguments was not of that order calculated to inflame the passions, but to convince the judgment, for, in the ordinary acceptation of the word, it would have little weight with a mind like that of Kent, Story, Hardwicke, or Eldon. In this court no flow of genius, no force of eloquence, no power of description, is sufficient to override the facts and conclusions to be drawn from them. To be a great equity judge requires the highest order of mind. His perceptions must be of the clearest type, for the transactions of life which come under review before him are so often involved in such perplexing doubts, that a very slight obtuseness of intellect may lead him in the wrong direction. Book after book will be cited by counsel, and case after case will be read in his hearing as conclusive upon the case at bar, but when they are closely examined they will be found not to reflect very much upon the merits of the controversy, and the wise equity judge is left, at last, to decide the questions upon the analogies of the law. We remember a cause where, for the want of learning in coun- sel, and an error of the judgment of a nisi-prius judge, acting as a chancellor, a whole family were involved in ruin. The mistake with the judge was, that which Lord Eldon once said was the mistake with Mr. Justice Bulwer, and that was, 'that he thought he knew the whole doctrine of equity.' The dif- ference between a learned judge and one who is not, is prac-
tically the difference which Horace says exists between a good and bad poet :
""'Non fumum ex fulgore sed ex fumo dare lucem.'
Upon the bench Judge Bingham looks like a piece of statuary aglow with life, but no lawyer or client, from any look or ex- pression of his, could ever tell what he thinks about a cause while it is being tried. Most of the great causes before a chancellor involve some question of truth, some imperfect obligation from which equities spring, or those which are per- fect in form, but have some underlying iniquity about them, and should not be enforced, or questions involving the con- sti uction of last wills and testaments, where the court is called upon to determine the meaning of the testator's expressions and the purposes of the will. It is in this department of jurisprudence that the judge now, from his long experience, most excels. His scholarship is so ripe and his knowledge of equity jurisprudence so extended that he is enabled to see, without great effort, where the equity lies, although I have known him to keep under advisement important causes for nearly a year. Lord Thurlow once carried an important cause, involving a family settlement, for two years; and so did Chancellor Dessaussure in one instance ; but when they were decided, the reasoning of the court was so convincing that the parties were content. It may be said of Judge Bingham, as was said of Chancellor Hardwicke and Eldon, that but few of their decisions were ever reversed-which is a compliment sufficiently high to satisfy the ambition of the most eminent judge. In conclusion, we may be permitted to say that Judge Bingham has many of the qualities of the late Robert Lush, one of the lords justices of her majesty's court of appeal, of whom it was said, that 'he was a strong judge, without the least tincture of arrogance or self-assertion; a quick judge, yet in the highest degree cautious and pains- taking; and universally popular judge, who never deviated a hair's breadth from the line of strict impartiality.'"
DE STEIGUER, RODOLPH, a prominent lawyer, a soldier in the Mexican war, and a staff-officer in the late war of the Rebellion, was born in Athens County, Ohio, June 19th, 1827. His parents were Rodolph and Laura W. (Ames) de Steiguer, the latter being a sister of Bishop Ames, the celebrated divine. The recorded history of the de Steiguer family dates back to the thirteenth century, when the de Steiguers settled in Berne, Switzerland. The family acquired high prestige in social and military affairs and took leading and active parts in the military operations of their day and generation. Our subject's grandfather was an officer in the allied armies against Napoleon, and subsequently his estates, with those of his colleagues, were largely confiscated. Mem- bers of the family also held many civic positions. At the time of the invasion of Switzerland by Napoleon's army one of the de Steiguers held the important position of chief magis- trate of the state; and we read that in 1796 twenty-two mem- bers of the sovereign council bore the name of de Steiguer. The family were recipients of royal favors at different times. the last being a patent of nobility issued by Frederick William of Prussia, which instrument is still preserved. In 1819 Mr. de Steiguer's grandfather came to this country, ac- companied by his family, consisting of two daughters and one son, the latter the father of our subject. Before leaving his port of embarkation he was approached by a number of Swiss emigrants in straitened circumstances, who induced
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him to charter a vessel for their transportation to America, promising to reimburse him for the outlay when they should reach the new country by their labor. Landing in New York City he proceeded with his colony to Philadelphia, then to Pittsburg, and thence down the Ohio river to Marietta. Just before reaching the place last named a disturbance occurred on board his craft, which occasioned his detention for a time. The circumstance brought him in contact with parties inter- ested in lands formerly included in the large tract designated as "The Ohio Land Company's Purchase," who induced him to purchase lands of them. Accordingly, he bought a large tract in Athens County, and there settled. The colonists above named, however, had all deserted him. His son, our subject's father, was an active business man in Athens County, and was engaged in various business enterprises up to a period shortly preceding his death, which occurred November 5th, 1864. The subject of this article was educated at the Ohio University, where he applied himself until his nineteenth year, at which age he enlisted for the Mexican war, in the 2d Ohio Regiment, under Colonel George Morgan. His health breaking down he received his honorable discharge in Sep- tember of the same year. Returning, he prepared for the bar, having for his preceptor Judge John Welch, and was ad- mitted to practice in 1848. Ill health, however, admonished him to engage in pursuits less sedentary than the law, and he therefore entered the mercantile business, at which he continued until the recovery of his health. Near the close of the Fillmore administration he was appointed postmaster at Athens, and officiated as such for a number of years. Previous to the breaking out of the late war he voted the Democratic ticket, but at the opening of the war he trans- ferred his allegiance to the Republican party, with which he has since continuously acted. His views with reference to the merits of the late difficulty between the North and South were early defined on the side maintaining the Union and abolishing slavery. He accepted a commission from Gover- nor Brough as first lieutenant of the 13th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was appointed to the staff of General Wm. Sooy Smith, with whom he remained until his resignation, December, 1862. He then returned to Athens, where he ac- cepted the post of commissioner of the draft for his Congress- ional district, and discharged the duties of that office with in- telligence and zeal until the close of the war. He had formed a law-partnership with Hon. Lot L. Smith in 1858, and on the termination of the war entered actively into the practice of his profession. In 1863 he was appointed prosecutor for Athens County to fill an unexpired term, and was elected three suc- cessive terms to the same office. In 1863 his partnership with Mr. Smith terminated, and in 1865 he formed relations with Leonidas M. Jewett, under the firm style of de Steiguer & Jewett, which firm still exists, and is widely and favorably known. In 1874 he was appointed to the board of trustees of the Ohio University, and is still an efficient member of the same. Mr. de Steiguer's abilities were fittingly recognized in his election to the constitutional convention of 1873. He is generally accorded the position of one of the leaders of the Athens bar. In the practice of his profession he brings to bear exceptional ability and painstaking care. His pleadings are esteemed by the profession models of clearness and remark- able for perspicuity of statement. He has been employed in all the more important cases of litigation occurring in his sec- tion in the last thirteen years. He has also acquired some prominence as the attorney and legal adviser of corporations.
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