USA > Ohio > Logan County > The historical review of Logan County, Ohio > Part 30
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occasion of the commencement. In 1846 teen hours each day to study and the exer- cise of the lecture rooms, and in March. 1840. he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Law, but he had not yet attained his majority, and was therefore compelled to defer making application for admission the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by the same institution. He ap- preciated the value of his the rough classical education as the sure foundation of future eminence, but with a zealot's devotion he made everything subservient to his future to the bar. In the following November. profession, for with reference to the law all however, in Zanesville, he was licensed to practice, and entered upon a career which was crowned with distinguished honor. "his studies were directed. To acquire a flu- ency in speaking. the graces of declamation and skill and deliberation in debate. he en- tered heartily into all the exercises of the literary societies.
On leaving college Mr. Lawrence im- mediately preceded to Morgan county, Ohio, to which place his parents had then recently removed. There he commenced the study of law under James L. Gage, then the oldlest and ablest member of the MeCon- wellsville bar, lut becoming impressed at that time with the necessity of self-reliance. he took charge of a district school. spend- ing three months in the winter of 1838-39. as a teacher ia Pennsville, and a similar peried in the summer of the latter year in MeComellsvilk. While there he was as- sociated in his school work with Cornelia Hawkins, the daughter of Colonel William Hawkins, of MeConnellsville, and later they were married. During the period Mr. Law- rence was engaged in teaching, his devotion to his favorite profession was in no wise re- " and political career. By strict attention to linquished, and in the fall of 1839 he was entered as a student in the law department of the Cincinnati College. There he en- joyed the instruction of the Hon. Timothy Walker. author of The Introduction to American Law. and one of the most pro- found jurists of this or any other country. Under his instruction Mr. Lawrence laid broad and deep the foundations of his fu- ture reputation at the bar. He devoted six-
The previous winter Mr. Lawrence had been invited to report the proceedings of the Ohio legi-liture. then in session at Co- lumbus, but he declined to do so, but at the carnest solicitations of Charles Scott, pub- lisher of the Ohio State Journal he reported the proceedings of the Ohio house of repre- sentatives for the columns of that paper dur- ing the session of 1840-41. During that time be was also the Columbus correspond- ent of the MeConnellsville Whig Standard. edited by John Teesdale, and also for the Zanesville Republican. He wielded the pen of a ready writer, which rendered the la- bors of the position but little more than an agreeable relaxation from the pursuit of his favorite study. While in Columbus he formed the acquaintance of many of the most distinguished men of the state. which ripened into an intimacy that was of great advantage to him in both his professional the rules and proceedings of the house he also acquired an accurate knowledge of the details of legislation, which afterward made him formidable as a parliamentary tactician.
In July, 1841, Mr. Lawrence opened his law office in Bellefontaine, and up to the time of his death was continuously engaged in practice, save when his attention was claimed by the demands of official service. Ile formed a partnership with the Hon.
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Benjamin Stanton, which continued for after which the national banking act was in three years, during which peried he gave part modeled, and he left the impress of his abundant evidence of his great accuracy in broad mind. legal learning and patriotic the details of professional business, a spirit upon much of the legislation enacted during his connection with both houses of the general assembly. promptness and punctuality in the discharge of its duties, and an extensive and profound knowledge of the principles of law, which early secured to him the confidence of di- ents, and a deservedly high reputation as a lawyer. He rose almost at once into prom- inence, for he possessed broad and compre hensive knowledge of the principles of juris- prudence, a strongly analytical mind, and he feared not that laborious attention to de- tails which is one of the elements of success at the bar as well as in other walks of busi- ness life. Ile gained a distinctively repre- sentative clientage, which connected him with the important litigated interests of Ohio, and brought him into prominence as a practitioner in the supreme courts of the United States. Ile there had many impor- tant cases, including some of the greatest land suits ever heard in the American court of the last resort. From 1841 until 1843 he studied medicine, in order that this knowledge might be of benefit to him in his legal practice. In 1845-'46 he served as prosecuting attorney for Logan county, and all through these years he continued in prac- tice as a lawyer of profound legal learning. dividing his time between his practice and lis official duties.
In the meantime, from 1845 until 1847. Mr. Lawrence was the editor of the Logan County Gazette. On the 20th of March. 1851, the general assembly of Ohio, by a joint resolution, elected him reporter of the supreme court. It was a flattering com- pliment to his legal attainments that he was proposed for nomination by the Hon. Charles C. Convers, an eminent lawyer, and elected by the legislature as the successor of Charles Hammond, P. B Wilcox, Edwin M. Stanton and Hiram Griswold. In the capacity of reporter he prepared for the press the twentieth volume of the Ohio Reports. the last of the series in the old state consti- tution. In the preparation of this volume he did not disappoint the high expectations of those who confided it to him. In pro- priety of arrangement, in the classification of cases, in the digest of argument. in co- piousness of index and citation of authori- ties this volume was not inferior to any of its predecessors. Of this volume the Cincinnati Atlas, the editor of which is a lawyer, said : "For the first time in the Ohio Reports an attempt has been made in this volume to re- duce the arrangement of the decisions to something like a system. A division is made as follows: 1. Criminal cases. 2. Civil cases at law. 3. Chancery cases. Interspersed through the work are the notes of the reporter, referring to previous cases in the Ohio Reports upon the same points. as well as to the reports of other states. a
Again and again he was called to public office by his fellow citizens, who recognized his superior worth, his marked ability and his incorruptible patriotism. From 1846 un- til 18448 he represented his district in the house of representatives, and the following year was sent to the Ohio senate, where he also served in 1850, 1851 and 1854. He service which cannot fail in every particu- was the author of the Ohio free banking law. lar to recommend itself favorably to the
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consideration of all the members of the other distinguished members of the house. legal profession."
In 1852 Mr. Lawrence was the Whig candidate for presidential elector, and his next official service was as judge of the common pleas and district court of Ohio. He was upon the lench from 1857 until 1864. and he took to the bench the very office of the state government. His record as a judge was in harmony with his record as a man and a lawyer. distinguished by un- swerving integrity and a masterful grasp of every problem which presented itself for solution. In the meantime, from 1861 un- ti! 1864. Judge Lawrence was one of the editors of the Cleveland Western Law Monthly, and during that time his ability as a writer found scope in many of the val- uable contributions made to that magazine.
But another question was prominently before the people, and attention largely was centered upon the Civil war, brought about by the slavery controversies. Judge Law- rence then joined the army, going to the front as colonel of the Eighty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which served in Mary- land. In 1863 the President tendered him the appointment of district judge in Flori- dla, but he declined the honor, and returned to his native state, where in 1864 he was elected to represent his district in congress. Through re-elections he was continued in the council chambers of the nation for ten years, and left the impress of his strong mind and patriotic spirit upon the laws en- acted during that decade-a period of the greatest moment in the history of the coun- try because of the manifold important issues which arose out of the conditions brought about by the Civil war. While in congress he was the associate and colleague of such men as Conkling. Blaine and Garfield, and
and there existed a warm personal friend- ship between Mr. Lawrence and Roscoe Conkling. He was one of the council se- lected by the Republicans in congress, un- der the act of January 29, 1877. and argued for the claims of the Republican presiden- tial electors in Oregon and South Carolina before the Have-Tilden electoral commis- sion, the greatest election contest ever tried. He was the first comptroller of the United States treasury, acting in that capacity from July. 1880. until April. 1885, and he showed in the discharge of the duties of this position the same fairness that characterized his work in every department of his long life of activity. He made the duties of his office a matter of close and earnest study. and in their di-charge he won the approval of the administration and of the most dis- tinguished authorities. While in Washing- ton he served from 1881 until 1885, inclu- sive, as the president of the Ohio Republican Association of the capital city. On the Ist of July, 1888. he became one of the incor- porators in the District of Columbia of the American Association of the Red Cross, be- ing elected the first vice president of this organization, of which Clara Barton is the president.
When not called to Washington or else- where by official service. Judge Lawrence gave his attention to the practice of his pro- fession. Early in his professional career it was said: "Scarcely an important case has been tried in Logan county in which he has not been retained in some stage of its prog- ress, and now, though still a young man. he enjoys an extensive practice of the high- est order in the circuit and in the state and federal courts." The same authorities said : ".As a lawyer he has acquired a reputation
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for technicality En pleading's and practice. seldom wiels an herculean club, but he throws a polished shaft with unerring preci- sion and irresistible effect, and on proper recasions he rises to the emergency and deals herculean blows. The eminent ability of the gentlemen with whom his profession has brought him in contact, occasionally ai- forded a field for this higher order of foren- sie disputation." But it is the technicality of learning, and is always employed honorably. He never resorts to an unfair advantage, even in the most desperate cause. His intercourse with his brethren of the profession is character- ized by the utmost cinder, integrity and frankness. He is polite and respectful to the court. mild and gentlemanly in his examination of witnesses, and courteous in Mr. Lawrence took a deep and active in- terest in the work of the Grand Army of the Republic, having broad sympathy with the organization tending to strengthen the ties between the old soldiers. Ile was a charter member of Burnside Post. No. 8, of the Department of the Potomac organization in Washington, D. C .. May 24 1882, served as its first commander and upon his return to Bellefontaine in 1886 this post adopte !! resolutions commending his services to his comrades. It would be impossible to find a movement of measure calculated to prove of genuine practical public benefit that has not received the endorsement of William Lawrence, and in as far as possible he gave to such his active co-operation. He was a trustee of the Ohio Wesleyan University from 18;8 until his death, and was a lay delegate to the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1872, 1876. 1880 ind 1892. his address and department to the jury. which qualities have rendered him a general favorite at the bar. His humanity is no less commendable than his learning. No man, however indigent, ever vainly solicited his professional services in a just cause : and once engaged, he makes the cause his own. His chief error. If error it may be called, is in the pertinacity with which he vindicates the perscented and friendless. Mr. Law- rence is gifted with a mind remarkable for the equipoise of its faculties, rather than for any striking singularity. He is endowed with great powers of analysis and quickness of perception, which enable him instantly to discover the strong and weak points of a cause, and with an astonishing subtility of logic. by which he rarely fails to fort it or exprese them, as the case may require. The dexterity with which he conducts a cause. and the merciless minuteness with which he sifts the conscience and the memory of a While concerned with the affairs affect- ing the national policy and the welfare of the entire country, Mr. Lawrence was ever mindful of the city of his residence, and his efforts there were of great benefit. In 1871 he organized the Bellefontaine National Bank, of which he served as the president from the beginning until January, 1896, when he was re-elected, but declined to serve longer. He was one of those who organ- witness, leaves little room for more than a discussion of the legal principles addressed to the court. Yet. if the emergency de- mands it. he is no less formidable as an ad- vocate than tactician. The clear statement of his proposition -. the perspicuity of his diction ,and the marked dignity and ear- nestness of his manner rarely fail to car- ry conviction. His eloquence cannot be characterized as powerful or imposing. He ized the Washington National Building and
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Loan Association, and was one of its direc- tors. From it- organization he was a di- rector in the Ohio National Bank of Wash- ington. D. C. until he resigned in 1807. and he was a delegate to the Farmers' Na- tional Congress in Chicago in 1887: at Montgomery, Alabama, in 18So: at Par- kersburg. West Virginia. in 1804: at .At- lanta in 1895, and at Indianapolis in No- vember, 1866. Mr. Lawrence was deeply interested in the question of the production of wool and of its kindred interests and in 1887 be served as a delegate to the national convention of wool growers in St. Louis. again in Washington, D. C., in 1888 and 1889; and in January. 18 1. he was elected the president of the Ohio Wool Growers' Association, in which position he was con- tinned by re-election- up to the time of his demise. In October, 1893, he was elected the president of the National Wool Gross- ers' Association, and was serving in that capacity at the time of his death. The New York Commercial Advertiser, November 30. 1895. said : "He has made more speeches and written more newspaper articles on the wool tariff than any other citizen of the United States," while Senator Mantle. in the United States senate. said: "He is be- yond question the highest and best informed authority upen the wool quesion to be found in the country."
In 1884 Mr. Lawrence was elected a member of the Philosophical Society of Washington, D. C., a select body of learned men, and at the time of his death was the first vice president of the National Statis- tical Sociey of Washington. His broad re- search along scientific lines and on all mat- ter- affecting the social, intellectual, political and moral welfare of the country, well en- titled him to the honors which were con-
ferred upon him by different colleges. He received the degree of Master of Arts from his alma mater, and that of Doctor of Law from three Ohio colleges-Wittenberg, Richmond and Franklin.
Had Mr. Lawrence done rothing for the world save what he gave to the public in his written articles, he would even then be en- titled to distinction and to the gratitude of His fellow men. He is author of : The Law of Claims Against Government, 1875; The Law of Religious Societies, 1883: The Or- ganisation of the Treasury Department. 1881: The Law of Impeachable Crimes. 1807: introductory and concluding chapters to lectures of J. B. Helvig. D. D., 1876: chapters in History of Campaign and Lo- gan Counties, 1872: The Causes of the Re- Lellion, 1988: Decisions of First Comptrol- ler. six volumes. 1880-1885: sketch of the Life and Services of John Sherman. 1888: Dissertation on Clithrophobia, Medical Sci- ence, 1887: The American Woul Interest. 186,2, published by the American Protective Tariff League : chapter thirty-five on Amer- ican Wool, in the volume One Hundred Years of American Commerce. New York. 1895 : most of the United States documents on wool tariff. viz : Miscellaneous Document. No. 3. Fifty-third Congress, special session : Senate Miscellaneous Document, Nos. 35, 77. 124, Fifty-third Congress, second ses- sion: Senate Document. No. 17. Fifty- fourth Congress, first session : argument be- fore the Senate finance committee, report No. 2332, Fiftieth Congress, first session. part 3. page 1954. etc., and part 4. page 2170, etc. : argument before the House com- mittee ways and means tariff hearings, Fif- ty-first Congress, first session. 1800-00, page 215. etc. ; memorial of the National Wool Growers' Association, being Senate
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Document. 20 17 Fungerarth Congress, glad with every kind of lights on earth. first session. December to. 1805: mon dial At Spremburgh in Pru- - brisa & oven wery- ing school. At Chemnitz, mitunter, is a Knitting school. In one year Chemnitz sent to the United States more than one-half of her knit goods product, valued at twelve millions of dollars. The only reason why the worl grown in the states west of the Ohin river is not all manufactured therein is because they do not have a sufficient num- ber of men skilled in wool manufacturing? of the Farmers' National Congress, being Senate Document. No. 17. Fifty-fourth Con- gress, second session. December 14. 1895: memorial of the National Wool Growers' Association. being United States Senate Document. No. 36. Fifty-fifth Congress, first session. April 11. 1897: argument on the wool tariff. before the committee on ways and means of the Fifty-fifth Congress. first session, January 6, and February 20. "We have at Columbus the Ohio State University. It was erected with means de- rived from the sale of lands granted to the state by congress for the establishment of an agricultural and mechanical college, and this was the origin.I name. For some un- defined reason the name was changed to. that of the Ohio State University. The general assembly makes an annual appro- printion of about ninety thousand dollars for its support, paid by the wool growers and other taxpayers of the state. (Ohio Revised Statutes. 3951.) It gaiolates with each annual university commencement a formidable list of law students, students in pharmacy ard journalism. Latin, Greek, but none for the much more nee led textile in- dustries of the state. The farmers of Ohio should send men to the legislature who will see that a law shall be enacted to dispense with the law and students in branches of education for whom other institutions have amply provided. and substitute instruction in textile industries and other branches rela- tive to agriculture and the mechanic arts." 1897: tariff hearings, pages 1347-140%, and appendix 2167-2208; numerous articles in the Boston Monthly Bulletin of the National Wool Growers' Association, Non-is, name changed in 1808 to the Shepherds Bulletin of the National Wool Growers' Association. which was established by his advice : sandry addresses to the Ohio Wool Growers' Is- sociation. annually 1891-1808, several of which will be found in the annual report of the state board of agriculture: memorial to the General Assembly of Ohio asking that a department for instruction in textile in- dustries be established in the Ohio State University, for which see appendix to Sen- ate Journal, session January, 1848. For six years he had been urging this in articles published in newspapers and through public addresses. In his semi-annual address to the Ohio Wool Growers' Association, Scp- tember 5. 1804. he said: "In every wool- growing state there should be established technological schools for instruction in wool and cotton manufacturing. There is an alarming deficiency in the number of Amer- As stated above, in this review, Mr. Lawrence was married to Cornelia Haw- kins on the 20th of December. 1843. but she died three months later. On the 2d of March, 1845, he wedded Caroline M. Mil- ican skilled textile workers. It is said that a clear perception of the needs of the age led to the establishment of such institutions as the high school for weaving at Chemnitz. in Saxony, whose halls on three floors are ler, a daughter of Henry Miller, and an
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excellent lady. where many virtues through Jag years blessed his home. She is a sister of Rear Admiral Merrill Miller of the United States navy. She was born at Port Repul fc. in Rockingham county, Virginia, January 20, 1828, and was educated in the Presbyterian Female Soninary at chanville. Ohio, being there a roommate of Cecilia Stewart, who became the wife of Hon. John Sherman. Six children were born unto Judge and Mrs. Lawrence: Joseph II .: Wil- liam H. : John M. : Mr. Cornelia L. Finley : Mrs. Frances C. Miller, deceased; and Mary T .. the wife of Hon. William T. Haviland.
In the midst of a highly useful career William Lawrence passed away May 8. 1899. He had almost attained the age of seventy-nine years, and his long life was filled with effort that not only brought to him success, but mule his labors of the greatest value and benefit to his fellow men. Few. indeed. are they who are connected with so many lines of business activity, and his name is deeply engraven on the pages of state and national legislation. upon the history of pioneer development, upon the annals of business advancement, and upon the keystone of Ohio's legal arch, but. more than that, his memory is lovingly enshrined in the hearts of those who knew him.
JOHN M. LAWRENCE.
John M. Lawrence was born in Belle- fontaine. April 10. 1854. a son of Judge William Lawrence, whose sketch appears above. He obtained his preliminary edu- cation in the schools of Bellefontaine and in Wittenberg College at Springfield. Ohio, in which he was graduated with the
class of 18-8. receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts, while later that of Mas- ter of Arts was conferred upon him. While in college he was editor of the col- lege paper. The Wittenberger, and he was also the contest orator during his senior year. He then took up the study of law under the direction of his father and also attended the Cincinnati Law School, be- ing admitted to the bar by examination before the supreme court at Columbus in 1885. While in the law school he was a classmate of Judge Taft. After his ad- mission to the bar he returned to Belle- fontaine and took charge of his father's business at the time the Judge went to Washington to act as comptroller of the treasury. He continued in practice for about a year and then entered the Belle- fontaine National Bank, of which his father was the president, remaining there until 1897, at which time he became ac- tively associated with his father in con- trolling important interests and since the Judge's death he has given his attention largely to the supervision of the various interests of the estate.
John M. Lawrence was united in mar- riage to Miss Mary Van Devanter of Marion. Indiana, the wedding being cele- brated on the Ist of September. 1887. The lady is a sister of Willis Van Devan- ter. now assistant attorney general of the United States. There are three children by this marriage: Caroline V .. William Arthur and Ruth.
CHIARLES CRETCHER.
Charles Cretcher is now acting as solici- tor and collector for the law firm of Hus- ton & White, of De Graff, under whose di-
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rection he is studying Miw. He has been
ware store and alo of what is known as recognized as a leady a le-iness nun ci this the Home block. In the memorable storm place for a number of yours, and is get a stockholder in the Buckeye Publishing Com- pany, and was at one time po prieter and editor of that paper.
He was len in De Graff. Filet ry 20. 1874. a son of Benjamin and Hannab F. (Van Kirk ) Crotcher. Matthew Cretcher, the greit-grandfather. was born, reared, and married in Scotland, and on coming to America be settled near Maysville, Ken- tucky. where he spent the remaining years of his life. His son Matthew Creteher, Jr .. was larn and reared, and probably married in Kentucky, and on coming to this he lo- cated in Champaign county, near Spring Hill, where occurred the birth of Benjamin Cretcher, on the 2d of August, 1833. Ilis youth was spent in that county, and there he was first married to Miss Margaret M. Polk. Their children were Robert Tho- mas, who is engaged in the grocery business in Quincy, Logan county : Mrs. Nannie A. McCormick, of Champaign county : and Benjamin W .. who is vice president of the Ideal Laundry Company of Peoria, Illinois. The father followed farming in Champaign county until 1863, when he removed to De Graff, and was here engaged in teaming for a time. His first wife died here. Novem- ber 16. 1868. and on the 16th of May. 1871. he was again married. Miss Hannah F. Van Kirk becoming his wife. She was born in Quincy, Logan county, June 24. 1850. a daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth (Nickey )' Van Kirk, who were natives of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where their parents had settled on coming to America from Holland. In early life Benjamin Cretcher was employed as a salesman in De Graff. and later became the owner of a hard-
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