The history of Madison County, Ohio, Part 44

Author: Brown, Robert C; W.H. Beers & Co., pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, W.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1180

USA > Ohio > Madison County > The history of Madison County, Ohio > Part 44

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James M. Horrell was born in Madison County, Ohio, December 3, 1829, and is a son of Christopher C. and Rebecca (Skiles) Horrell, natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. Horrell was raised in Pleasant Township, receiving his education in the common schools, and subsequently taught school five years. He served as Justice of the Peace in Range Township six years, during which time he began reading law. He was admitted to the bar be- fore the Supreme Court at Columbus, October 22, 1874, and afterward studied for one year under John J. Bell, of London, since which time he has been following the legal profession. In politics, Democratic; he has served as Justice of the Peace one term since locating in London.

Orson P. Converse, attorney at law, was born in Champaign County, near Mechanicsburg, Ohio, May 27, 1842. He was the fifth in a family of

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twelve children, seven of whom are living. His parents, Caleb H. Con- verse and Lovira L. Ketch, were natives of Vermont, and came to Ohio about 1822. Our subject removed from Champaign County, with his par- ents, about 1847, to the home farm near Unionville Center, Union Co., Ohio. His parents still reside there. Our subject lived on that farm, and did general farm work, going to school about three months each year, until 1860; he then entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, with the intention of preparing himself for the legal profession. During this time he taught school for a period at $I per day, " boarding around " with the scholars. When the war commenced, he left his studies, bidding good-bye for the time to his high aspirations for a professional life, and en- listed as a private in Company E, Eighty-sixth Regiment Ohio Volun- teer Infantry. He served about four months in all, chiefly in the Virginias. In the spring of 1863, when the regiment was re-organized at Camp Cleveland, for a term of six months, he again enlisted as a private, this time in Company B. When the re-organization of the regiment was completed, he was appointed Orderly Sergeant of his company. He served in this position two months, and then failing health caused him to enter the hospital at Columbus. He was discharged from there on account of general disability, from which he has never fully recovered. On December 23. 1863, he married Emiline Cramer, and went to work on a farm. He some- times taught school of winters, having very reluctantly given up reading law on account of ill health. In 1869, he accepted the position of ticket and freight agent of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad, at Unionville, Union County, which position he held until 1876. Dur- ing this time, he read law with a cousin, George L. Converse, of Co- lumbus, commencing in 1871. In order to support his family and con- tinue his studies, he taught school four or five months each winter, his wife attending to the duties of the station. He was admitted to practice at the December term, 1874, of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and shortly after located at Columbus. His wife and family still resided at Unionville and carried on the railroad company's business, with what assistance Mr. Con- verse could give after office hours. In 1876, he removed to Columbus, where he followed his profession until the spring of 1881, when he formed his present partnership with Col. J. C. and R. H. McCloud, under the firm name of McClouds & Converse. The firm enjoy a very extensive law prac- tice. Mr. Converse resides on Lafayette street with his wife and two sons- Walter and Ebbie. In the fall of 1872, he was elected Justice of the Peace for Darby Township, Union County, declining a re-election three years later, on account of his law practice at Columbus. He is a Republican and a member of the Masonic fraternity ; he belongs to no church, although his parents were both connected with the Methodist Episcopal denomination.

Martin O'Donnell, an able and rising attorney of London, was born at Xenia, Greene Co., Ohio, May 7, 1853. He is a son of Manus O'Donnell, a native of Ireland, who came to the United States about 1851, locating at Xenia, where he now resides. He married Onour Berry, also a native of Ireland. They were the parents of ten children. seven living. Mrs. O'Donnell departed this life in April, 1879. Martin is the second eldest, and when he was about five years of age his parents removed to Oldtown, the site of the Shawnee village destroyed by Gen. Clark, in 1780. In

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1865, our subject returned to Xenia ; from there he went to St. Paul, Minn., thence to Chicago, Ill., and in the fall of 1866 came back to Xenia. He attended the High School of that town, and on the 9th of January, 1867, removed to London, where he remained six months. For the following three years, he made his home in Xenia and Morrow, engaged at book-keep- ing. In 1871, he again came to London and entered the employ of Michael Riley, a leading merchant of the town. During this time he commenced to read law, and subsequently completed his studies with Col. J. C. McCloud. On the 2d of March, 1875, Mr. O'Donnell was admitted to the bar and immediately became the law partner of his preceptor. The firm continued as McCloud & O'Donnell for four years ; it was then dissolved by mutual con- sent, and Mr. O'Donnell has since been practicing alone. He possesses the largest and best law library in the city, and his practice is fully in propor- tion. His jovial manner, free and ready "mother wit," combined with steadiness of purpose, have won for him hundreds of friends in this and adjoining counties, and have placed him in the front rank among the promi- nent young attorneys of Central Ohio. He is recognized as a sound judge of law, determined and aggressive in argument, and noted for his quick per- ception of the legal points involved in a case. Of fine personal appearance, a fluent speaker, and possessing strong common sense, he is sure to discover the weak points in an adversary's plea, and is, therefore, looked upon as a dangerous foe in a legal conflict. He is politically Democratic, and in 1880 was appointed by Judge Courtright (then on the bench) as Prosecuting At- torney of Madison County. He served in that position one year. Mr. O'Donnell was married, in September, 1879, to Katy E. Malloy, a native of Warren County, Ohio. One child was given them-Carrie, now about two and a half years of age. Mrs. O'Donnell was a member of the Catho- lic Church, and departed this life May 8, 1881.

W. B. Hamilton, attorney at law, was born at Marysville, Union Co., Ohio, November 28, 1855. His father, Hon. C. S. Hamilton, was also a native of Ohio, and an attorney by profession. He died December 22, 1867, being at that time a member of the United States Congress, from the Eighth Ohio Congressional District. He married Louiza Bizant, of Muskingum County, Ohio. They had eight children, six now living. Mrs. Hamilton died in May, 1868. The subject of this sketch is the fifth child of the family, and was educated at Adrian College, Adrian, Mich. After leaving college, he taught school for some time, and then studied law with M. C. Lawrence (since deceased). He was admitted to the bar in April, 1877, and first commenced practice with Judge Lincoln, of London, in the spring of 1878. They were associated together in law practice for two years, since which time Mr. Hamilton has been alone. His efforts have gained for him reasonable success. He is a Republican in politics. He was married, June 13, 1881, to Mrs. Eva Graham, widow of Z. T. Graham, deceased, and daughter of Dr. Toland Jones, of London. Mrs. Hamilton is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Palmer C. Smith, ex-Prosecuting Attorney of Madison County, and a well-known young lawyer of London, was born in this county April 22, 1857. He is a son of Hon. Henry W. Smith, whose sketch appears in this volume. His mother was Miss Jennette Smith, a descendant of the cele- brated Otis family, of Revolutionary fame. in Massachusetts. Our subject

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received a good education, and early commenced the study of law with his father. He graduated from the Cincinnati Law School May 8, 1877, and was admitted to practice by the District Court of Cincinnati on the follow- ing day. He returned to London, and has since been engaged in the prac- tice of his profession in connection with his father. In April, 1880, he was appointed Mayor of London, to fill out the unexpired term of Noah Thomas, now Warden of the Ohio Penitentiary at Columbus. He was elected Prose- cuting Attorney of Madison County, in the fall of 1880, on the Repub- lican ticket, for a term of two years. He resigned his former position of Mayor, in December of that year, to accept the latter one. Mr. Smith was married, in April, 1882, to Bertha, daughter of Hon. George W. Wilson, a prominent attorney of London. Mr. Smith is a member of the Masonic Lodge and Chapter of London.

George B. Cannon, attorney at law, office with Mayor Bruce P. Jones. was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, January 11, 1851. His father, Mat- thew W. Cannon, was a native of Maryland, and accompanied his parents. Jesse and Margaret Cannon, to Ross County, when a small child. He was a farmer by occupation, and resided in Pickaway County until 1859, when he removed to Madison County, and now resides at Mt. Sterling, in the Seven- ty-second year of his age. He married Mary A. Lister, a native of Ross County, Ohio, and daughter of William Lister. He was a resident of both Ross and Madison Counties, and a man of great physical endurance ; he died in 1877, at the remarkable age of one hundred and four years. He lived under the administrations of all the Presidents, up to the time of his death, and walked two miles to cast his vote for Samuel J. Tilden. Mr. and Mrs. Cannon were the parents of twelve children, nine living. Mrs. Cannon departed this life February 26, 1872. Our subject was the eighth child of this fam- ily, and was seven years of age when his parents removed to Madison Coun- ty. His educational facilities were rather limited, his time being taken up in assisting his father on the farm until his twentieth year. His principle education was obtained in the hours between farm labor and retiring for the night. When twenty-one years of age, he taught the " Maxey School." in Paint Township, and was engaged in that profession for about eight years. During this time, he commenced the study of law, and in 1874, came to London and entered the law office of R. A. Harrison, and subsequently that of George Lincoln. He was admitted to the bar April 24, 1878, and afterward taught school for one year. Mr. Cannon has met with fair suc- cess in his law practice. He is a member of Chandler Lodge, No. 138, Masonic, and the Knights of Pythias. Politically, his views are in strict accordance with those of the Democratic party. He once served as Clerk of Paint Township. Mr. Cannon was married, on " Thanksgiving Day " of 1878, to Laura J., daughter of John T. Maxey (deceased). They have two daughters-Mary E. and Georgia B.

Richard Harrison McCloud, was born in London, Ohio, March 11, 1858, and is a son of Col. J. C. McCloud, a leading attorney of the county. Richard H. grew up in his native town, and in 1875, graduated from the London High School. He then spent two years at the Ohio University, read law during his school days in his father's office, and began to read reg- ularly in 1877. On the 13th of March. 1879, he was admitted to the bar at Marysville, Ohio, by the District Court then in session. Prior to this,

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on the 1st of March, he had formed a partnership with his father and is now of the firm of McClouds & Converse. Politically. he is a Republican. In April, 1880, he was elected a member of the School Board, being the first graduate of the school who has ever filled the office, and the youngest member ever elected to that position, which he looks upon as an honor to bestow upon so young a man.

D. C. Badger, Prosecuting Attorney of Madison County, was born in Range Township, this county, August 7, 1857. His father, Benjamin Badger, is a native of Fayette County. Penn. He came to Ohio about 1827, locating in Fayette County, and to Madison County in 1845 ; he bought a farm in Range Township, where he has since resided; he owns 110 acres of land, and is one of the prominent farmers of Southern Madi- son. He married Martha, daughter of Levin Willoughby, an honored pioneer of Range Township. Our subject is the second of five children, four of whom are living. He grew up on the farm and when between fif- teen and sixteen years of age, taught school in his native township. He subsequently attended the academy at Bloomingburg, Fayette County, and Mount Vernon College, Stark County, Ohio. He afterward resumed teach- ing in Range Township for nearly four years. During this time, he read law and was admitted to practice November 4, 1879, and has since been located at London. Mr. Badger is still a young man, but his energy and perseverance bid fair to win him a place among the legal lights of the State. He is Secretary of the Madison County Bar Association, and connected by membership with the Masonic and Odd Fellow fraternities. Politically, Mr. Badger is an ardent Democrat, and in the summer of 1882 was nominated for the office of Prosecuting Attorney of Madison County, and in October was elected by 520 majority, which was one of the largest majorities ever given in this county.

Manus O'Donnell, the youngest attorney at the bar of London, was born at Oldtown, Greene Co., Ohio, and is a brother of Martin O'Donnell, previously spoken of. He attended the Xenia High School, and in De- cember, 1876, came to London, where he has since resided. He read law in his brother's office, and was admitted to the bar in November, 1882. In October, 1881, he was appointed official stenographer of the courts of Mad- ison County, which position he still occupies, and is often employed by the adjoining counties to act in the same capacity.

Among other lawyers who have resided in Madison County were J. T. Lacy and A. F. Reed, in 1852; Lawrence Weldon, in 1854; D. M. Creighton. in 1858; Darius Warner, the present United States Consul at St. Johns, New Brunswick ; George E. Rapp, at one time Mayor of London ; Martin Marshall, and A. Waddel, Jr .; also Charles P. Neal, of Plain City. At the present time there are William P. Andrews, of Plain City ; B. F. Thomas of Mount Sterling ; John C. Hayes, of South Solon ; R. S. Leake, of Jefferson ; George Hamilton and F. Webster, of London.

MADISON COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION.

This association was organized December 2, 1880, and a constitution and by-laws adopted. The following officers were elected and have served continuously to the present time. Col. J. C. McCloud, President ; George W. Wilson, Vice President ; Sylvester W. Durflinger, Treasurer; D. C.

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Badger, Secretary ; John F. Locke, P. C. Smith and Bruce P. Jones, Ex- ecutive Committee. The association meets annually, also at the call of the President or Executive Committee ; and all members of the Madison Coun- ty bar. in good standing, are eligible to membership.

The senior members of the bar of Madison County, have, many of them, made up their records : those left are still to follow, and the juniors are to assume their places at the bar and on the bench ; to them will soon be com- mitted these great, responsible trusts. The perpetuity of our free institutions is committed to the guardianship and keeping of the bar and judiciary of our free country, for the history of the world teaches, and all free govern- ments illustrate this truth-treat the subject lightly as you will-that to the profession of the law civil government is indebted for all the safeguards and intrenchments with which the liberties of the people are protected ; that legislation is shaped, constitutions enlarged, amended and adopted by the enlightened administration of the statesmen in all free governments, ed- ucated for the bar, and, ascending by the inherent force of their disciplined professional life, they become the directors of the destinies of States and nations. Military chieftains may spring into power ; tyrants may for the hour dazzle, with the glamour of military parade and the pomp of war, an oppressed and frenzied nation ; but they turn as the cannonade dies away, to the statesmanship of the country, and call to the legislative halls for final debate the arbitraments of the liberties of the people.

From the days of King John to the present hour, the bench and the bar have furnished the great majority of the statesmen who have erected the bul- warks of constitutional law, and extorted from tyrants the Magna Chartas which have secured to the oppressed the guarantees of free institutions. Im- bued with the historical traditions of their predecessors, tracing the higher paths they have trod, and emulating their good example, it should become more and more the resolute purpose of the Madison County bar to so walk in the light of their professional teachings that when they are called to follow them to that upper court, and file their judgment-roll of the great trial of life with that Supreme Judge from whose bar there is no appeal,

" Thon go not like the quarry slave at night, Scourged to his dungeon ; but sustained and soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach the grave Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY.

CHAPTER XI .*

MEDICAL PROFESSION OF MADISON COUNTY-PAST AND PRESENT PHYSICIANS OF LONDON-PLAIN CITY-JEFFERSON-MT. STERLING-AMITY-MIDWAY- LA FAYETTE-SOMERFORD-LIVERPOOL -SOUTH SOLON-CALIFORNIA -TRADERSVILLE - NEWPORT - DANVILLE -LILLY CHAPEL -

MADISON COUNTY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION-ARMY SURGEONS FROM MADISON COUNTY.

TN the preparation of the following history of the medical profession of Madison County, I have tried to be thorough and impartial. The time given me for its preparation has been limited, and I have found an apathy on the subject that I did not foresee or expect when I gave my consent to attempt the enterprise. In the preparation of it, I have arranged by vil- lages, in as near a chronological order as my information would admit. In the year 1829, there existed in Ohio a law, under which the income of all professional men was taxed. Samuel Kerr was the Prosecuting Attorney of this county, and he was ordered by the court to return for taxation the names of all practicing lawyers and physicians in the county. His own name was returned as the only practicing lawyer in the county; and Loren- zo Beach, Aquilla Toland, Israel Bigelow and John Warner, as the only physicians in the county. They were each taxed $5 per annum.

In 1847, the income tax was in proportion to the amount of income, and in that year the following physicians were reported, and assessed the amounts opposite their respective names:

Thomas Adams, $1; Jacob Swank, $1; Milton Lemen, $3; Elam Bod- man, $3; Samuel McClintick. $3; William McClintick, $2; D. E. McMillen, $3; Aquilla Toland, $4; William A. Strain, $3; Toland Jones, $1: William F. Cartmell, $1; Dennis Warner, $1; Daniel Wilson, $2; M. 'Valentine, $1; William Cheney, $1; David Wilson, $3; Jennet Stutson, $4; Ezra Bliss, $2; Charles McCloud, $3; D. W. Seal. $1; A. W. Fields, $3; D. K. Bigelow, $3; J. L. McCampbell, $1; Willis H. Twyford, $2; J. H. Taylor, $1; M. P. Converse, $2; William Adams, $1; C. A. Putnam, $1; D. R. Bell, $3; J Simmerman, $1; Dr. Withrow, $1.

It is presumable that the many different isms and systems of practice that have prevailed here have prevailed in common elsewhere throughout the country, but it may not be amiss to mention that, owing to the scarcity of physicians, and the difficulty that the early settlers experienced in ob- taining the wherewithal for a quid pro quo when they were obliged to em- ploy them, cheaper systems of practice were introduced by charlatans. One of these was the system of "steaming " the patient. The practice was to place the patient in bed, closely covered. Then a large kettle of water was placed over the fire, in the open fire-place, with a close fitting lid, through which a long tin spout was inserted. When the water began to boil, the farther end of the spout was thrust under the bed clothes, and all the gen- erated steam was thus turned on to the patient. A large portion of the fam- ilies through the country had their steam kettle and tin spout. I remem-

* By William Morrow Beach, M. D.

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ber of an old woman over in the Darby Plains who sent for a "steam doc- tor." and who was really very sick. She did not live many hours after the " doctor's " arrival, and when they came to " lay her out," they found her parboiled! The skin slipped from her body like the skin from a boiled eel! Upon the heels of this system came the Thomsonian or botanical sys- tem. For this system they sold " family rights." Their different prepara- tions were numbered and labeled. No. 1 was good for one thing, and No. 2 for another thing. Their favorite number was " No. 6." To take a tea- spoonful of it one would think they had made a mistake and got No. 60! Capsicum, or Cayenne pepper, was the chief ingredient. "Dr. Gunn," a work on domestic practice, was placed on the table by the side of the Bible and Fox's Book of Martyrs. But this was a great improvement over the " steam doctors." But No. 6 and lobelia, as universal panaceas and spe- cifics, have had their day. A lobelia doctor was called to see a very nice little woman, a bride of three months, up at Milford, in the palmy days of lobelia and No. 6, who was moderately sick with milk-sickness. He pre- scribed a lobelia emetic. He told her to stick her finger in her throat to aid the emetic. It is likely it did to some extent, as she died in two min- utes. from collapse. But a new light has dawned. More rational systems now prevail, and the main differences now existing exist mostly in the names. Under the laws of Ohio now, all practitioners are required to be graduates of some regularly chartered college; and most of the physicians of Ohio, and all in Madison County, are moderately well qualified for the responsibilities and requirements of the calling.

LONDON.

Dr. Simon Steers was the first resident physician in or near London. He probably came from Jefferson County, Ohio. He lived on the John Thompson land. on the north side of the road, near where the lane comes out from Israel Dalby's house. He was a lame man, and under size. Will- iam Wingate, of Union Township, north of London, says that he had heard him called " little old Dr. Steers." He came to that farm, west of London, about 1810, and probably died in this county. Dr. Samuel Baldridge was the second physician here. He came about 1811. He was also a Presby- terian preacher. He is remembered by the old citizens with a moderate de- gree of respect. When he left London, about 1820, it is thought he went over about Cambridge, Ohio. Dr. Blount located here for a short time in about 1814. He was from Massachusetts, and probably from Boston, He married a Miss Donlin, who lived on the west side of Deer Creek, in Deer Creek Township, on the James Wilson farm, and nearly opposite his resi- dence.

Dr. Aquilla Toland was born September 26, 1793, in Harford County, Md. He was a pupil of Dr. Luckey, of Baltimore, and, after one course of lectures in the University of Maryland. he came West and located for a time at Franklinton, near Columbus. and. in 1819, located in London. He graduated at the Cincinnati Medical College in the year 1837, after he had been for eighteen years a practitioner here. In 1843, he was elected by the Whig party to the State Legislature. He was tall. portly, dignified, of a somewhat haughty demeanor, but extremely gracious and courteous, and courtly to his colleagues. He never had occasion for jealousy toward them, for they were compelled to be respectful, and as for practice, he always had more than was desirable. His practice was scarcely confined to the limits of the county. The business about Midway was divided between him and

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Dr. Joshua Martin, of Xenia, and he was the one relied on in great emer- gencies for twenty miles around in all directions. He always rode on horseback, and he looked like a very Knight Errant, he sat a horse so grace- fully. In the summer season he generally returned late at night, when he returred at all, and, in riding through the tall prairie grass and in unbeat- en paths, he would usually return wet to the waist by the heavy dews. Dr. Aquilla Toland was the Nestor of the profession at London for forty years, both in medicine and surgery. He died at, London, of erysipelas, Decem- ber 30, 1866, aged seventy-three years, leaving a large estate. He mar- ried, April 11, 1822, Miss Elizabeth Lewis, of London, Ohio, who still sur- vives him.

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The history of Madison County, Ohio, Part 44

Author: Brown, Robert C; W.H. Beers & Co., pub Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, W.H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1180

Author: Brown, Robert C; W.H. Beers & Co., pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, W.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1180