The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county, Part 50

Author: W.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1214

USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county > Part 50

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

*This probably has reference to the survey.

+ Commissioner's report, 1880.

467

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

DAYTON & UNION RAILWAY COMPANY.

February 26, 1846, the Greenville & Maimi Railroad Company was char- re, with authority to build a railroad from Greenville to some point on the abn & Western line or on the Miami on the Miami extension canal, to be 1 -t mined by the directors. By an amendatory act passed March 23, 1850, tority was given the company to extend its road from Greenville west to the .dina State line. Under the charter and amendments, the road was built Dayton by way of Greenville to Union City, contracts having been let in La 1849. The formal opening to Greenville was celebrated June 10, 1852, noto Union on the 22d of the following December. The Dayton & Western ad was first used as far as the junction, but a parallel line was subsequently ocwhich was finally taken up and the Dayton & Western track again came it ise. Financial troubles came upon the company, and January 5, 1863, ve dad was sold to certain trustees, and on the Sth of the same month the . rany was re-organized as the Dayton & Union Railroad Company, and a ficate filed with the Secretary of State January 19. 1863. December 23, 7 the road was transferred to a trustee and is still held and operated under Isteeship. Its total length of track is 48.53 miles, including 1. 79 miles of lig.

THE DAYTON, XENIA & BELPRE RAILROAD COMPANY.

This company was chartered February 19, 1851, with authority to construct raroad from Dayton to Xenia, and thence intersect with the Belpre & Cin- arti Railroad, in Highland County. Work was begun in 1852; contracts for iling the division from Dayton to Xenia were let March 15, 1853, and May 854, the line was opened between those two points, distance sixteen The company having become financially embarrassed, the road was February 4, 1865, under a decree of foreclosure, to the Little Miami and lubus & Xenia Companies, for the sum of $415,000. The road is now a rof the lines leased to and operated by the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St, Railway Company.

ATLANTIC & GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.

This corporation was formed in the fall of 1865, by the consolidation dy the above name, of several New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Compa- 3 The broad-gauge track of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Company, r. Dayton to Cincinnati, sixty miles, was leased to the Atlantic & Great ern, and afterward, with the balance of the lines, reduced to the stand- d'auge. Work was begun on this road at Dayton, November 7, 1853, but it shot finished, nor were trains run until after the war of the rebellion. r 25, 1874, the stockholders of the Atlantic & Great Western Company rati- di lease made May 1, in the same year, to the Erie Railway Company, of in road and leased lines, not embracing the use of the Cincinnati, Ham- o & Dayton Railroad. After numerous financial embarrassments the road .s:laced in the hands of a Receiver. January 6, 1880, the road and all other orty of the company were sold on foreclosure to purchasing Trustees, on hf of an association of mortgage bond-holders and others interested. Komp 15, following, the Trustees conveyed their purchase to five corporators, licorganized an Ohio corporation, known as the " New York, Pennsylvania Gio Railroad Company," (of Ohio), and the company was incorporated !oh 17, 1880. A similar corporation had been organized at the same time, n Innsylvania,* and the two were consolidated March 24, 1880, forming the resat New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad Company.

hown as the " New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad Company of Pennsylvania."

468

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

CINCINNATI & SPRINGFIELD RAILWAY COMPANY.

This company was incorporated September 9, 1870, to build a road fron Springfield to Cincinnati, through the counties of Clark, Montgomery, Greene Warren, Butler and Hamilton. The road was intended to form, in connec tion with other roads already constructed, a trunk line from Cincinnati to th Eastern cities. No new road was built except 48.80 miles from Ludlow Grov to Dayton, the Dayton & Western road being used through the city of Daytor and from Dayton to Springfield the track of the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleve land Company, leased to the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapo lis Railroad Company in perpetuity, the latter now operating the entire lin from Cincinnati, under lease in perpetuity from the Cincinnati & Spring field Company, to Dayton, and the others as above stated. This road is th well known " short line " to Cincinnati.

DAYTON & SOUTHEASTERN RAILROAD COMPANY.

This company filed articles of incorporation, December 16, 1871 ; capita stock, $1,000,000; object, to construct a road from Dayton through Xenia, James town and Jackson Court House, to Gallipolis. intersecting Greene, Fayette, Rost Vinton, Jackson and Gallia Counties; length, 144 miles; gauge, 36 inches Very little was done on this road for several years, but by July 1, 1877, it wa finished as far as Washington Court House, 48.71 miles. Up to June 30 1880, 114 miles had been completed and were in operation, and March 18 1881, the company was consolidated with the Toledo, Delphos & Burlingto Railroad Company. The latter company was organized May 23, 1879, b the consolidation of the following companies : Toledo, Delphos & Indianap olis, incorporated March 14, 1872 ; Toledo & Maumee Narrow Gauge, incor porated May 16, 1873; Delphos & Kokomo, incorporated July 18, 1877 (thes all under laws of Ohio), and the Delphos, Bluffton & Frankfort, incorporate under the laws of Indiana, October 17, 1877. On the 17th of May, 1880, th Toledo, Delphos & Burlington Company entered into a contract with the Daytoi Covington & Toledo Railroad Company for the consolidation of the two, the cor tract being subsequently ratified by the stockholders of both companies. Th new organization was also known as the Toledo, Delphos & Burlington Rai. road Company, being formed June 21, 1880, a little over a month after th contract was made for consolidation. The new company completed th projected line from Dayton to Delphos, and after the consolidation with th Dayton & Southeastern Company. the Toledo & Grand Rapids road was pur chased (extending from Toledo ria Waterville to Grand Rapids, in Wood County) and on the 15th of April, 1881, a certificate was filed for the con struction of a branch line from Dayton to Lebanon, * Warren County, t form connection with the Cincinnati Northern Railway. May 19, 1881, a cer tificate was filed for the construction of a branch from Wellston to Irontor the northern terminus of the Ironton & Huntington Railway. The lines which were originally the Dayton & Southeastern, the Dayton, Cleveland an Toledo, and the Dayton, Lebanon & Cleveland, are now owned and manage by a recently organized corporation known as the Toledo, Cincinnati & S Louis Company. with principal offices at Toledo.

SOLDIERS' HOME RAILWAYS.

There are three lines of railway to the Soldiers' Home, viz. : One cor structed by the Toledo, Dayton & Burlington Company, from its main line another by the Little Miami Division of the Pan-handle Company; and third by the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Company, all extending from

* This branch was called the Dayton, Lebanon & Cincinnati Railroad.

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

hyton. The route over the Toledo, Dayton & Burlington is the most round- ¿out, and, since the construction of the other two lines, it is comparatively . tle used.

At the close of 1880, Montgomery County had within its limits, 75.129 les of railway, valued at $1,183,163. Railroads have become matter-of- curse institutions, and the construction of a new line is not viewed with tat enthusiastic interest which was manifested in the early days of the work. The Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton road was completed to Miamisburg, gust 18, 1851, and on the 20th, an excursion, filling four platform cars, ant down from Dayton to help celebrate the event ; tickets 25 cents for fe round trip ; J. Carey, conductor. Dinner was served at Zimmer's hotel, and when it was over, speeches were made by several prominent men. Saturday following, the party, accompanied by pieces of artillery and a nd, made the round trip to Carlisle Station, stopping for breakfast at Mi- misburg on the return. When the Dayton & Western Railroad was being cated in Dayton it was desired to condemn an acre and a quarter of land longing to N. Longworth, for depot purposes, and a jury was chosen con- sting of S. D. Edgar, Robert Means, and J. L. Williams, men of property id good standing, who decided the value of the condemned land to be $600, id the benefits accruing to other property of Mr. Longworth were placed at .,500, making him really indebted $900 to the company. The first railroad cident in Dayton occurred June 25, 1851, when a seven-year-old son of John legg fell from a car in the old Miami River & Lake Erie Railroad yard, orth of First street, and had his right leg crushed below the knee by te entire train passing over it. The injured limb was amputated by Dr. ewett.

470

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 1

CHAPTER XVII.

BENCH AND BAR OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

TN a nation of freemen, where the government is supposed to be an expressich of the people's will, the influence of such a vast body of men as the log. profession now contains, whose study leads to a correct understanding of tl nature, principles and machinery of the civil compact, cannot be overrated The American lawyer, not content with the routine of courts and profession services, directs his efforts to a wider field, following the path to which his po sition, acquirements and tastes strongly tend, he eagerly enters the politici arena, searching assiduously the honors of the legislative hall; with what su cess our history plainly testifies.

From the commencement of our Government, four-fifths of the higher offices have been filled by lawyers. The bar stands high in public estimation and the time has never been when political office or influence was mor liberally accorded to its members than at the present day. In th most important trusts they are to be found. The National legislativ halls, and the executive departments, are filled with men whose claims t distinction, to a great extent, originated in legal excellence and acquirementa The several State Governments are in the same hands, while all the acknow. edged party leaders, and nearly all who are thought of as candidates for hig political places have been educated in the same great school. The lawyer wh prides himself on his profession, cannot avoid a feeling of complacency as h surveys its present condition in the United States, always prominent and al ways honored; and, as we believe, more at the present time than ever befor it occupies a position and wields an influence such as no other profession c calling can for a moment aspire to.

It is the nature of the profession of the law, when pursued by con genial minds, and in accordance with its inherent spirit, to elevate an liberalize the social principle. Those who attain eminence in that pro fession necessarily take deep and wide views of human conduct, obtaine by living, practical observation of the motives of men, the objects they pur sue, and the uses of those objects. Hence it is that men of that profession are ever found in the front rank of those who devote themselves to the inter ests of the age, evidenced by noble exertions and personal sacrifices in sup port 'of the great principles upon which the rights of liberty and propert depend. The history of the times since the dawning of American liberty dowi to the present, constitutes one line of successive monuments of the labors, the sacrifices, and the self-devotion of the men of the legal profession to the bes interests of their country.

Great as is the fame of many who, in ages past, have won themselves renown by their attainments, the power of their reason and their olo quence as advocates, we believe their equals are now living. We are not of those who are ever deifying the past and unable to recognize any meri or ability in the present age. Though none are more willing to pay tri bute to the well-earned fame of those who have been the glory of the Ameri can bar in periods that are gone, yet while we give the fathers all just praise, we would not depreciate their sons; and because we honor and respect the

471

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

eat lawyers of the past, we see no reason to forget those who are present with us.

Many whom the bar is still proud to number among its members, will and none the less surely in the niche of fame than the brightest names of by- ¿ne days. Nearly every county in Ohio has had members of the legal profes- on who have won well deserved local honors, while many can boast of having joduced lawyers of State and National reputation. To this latter honor Mont- mery County can lay a just and undisputed claim.

THE BENCH.

The first Judges who sat upon the bench in Dayton were: Hon. Francis Tinlevy, of Warren County, a resident of the First Judicial District, with hac Spinning, John Ewing and Benjamin Archer as Associates. Court was Ild July 27, 1803, in the upper room of Newcom's Tavern. Benjamin Van (eve was clerk pro tem; Daniel Symmes, of Cincinnati, Prosecutor pro tem. ; ¿d George Newcom, Sheriff. The officers of the court were instructed as to teir duties by the Presiding Judge, and State's Attorney, and there being no cher business to transact, court adjourned the same day. The second session v's held here November 22, 1803, the Grand Jury holding their deliberations theath the spreading branches of a large tree close at hand. The first indict- Dnt was against Peter Sunderland, for an assault and battery on Benjamin fott, to which he pleaded guilty, and was fined $6 and costs. After trying t'ee criminal and four civil cases, the court adjourned on the second day of i session. In 1805, the place of holding the courts was changed from New- en's Tavern to McCollum's Tavern, and were held in the latter building until te erection of the court house, in 1806. The State, under the Constitution of 102, had been divided into three circuits, in each of which a President of the ( urt of Common Pleas was appointed, while in every county were appointed L, more than three and not less than two Associate Judges, who were to be ridents therein during their continuance in office, and these, with the Pre- sling Judge, constituted the Court of Common Pleas. All the legal business c the county was transacted in this court, including all probate and testamen- ty matters. The Judges held their offices for the term of seven years, and Pre appointed by joint ballot of both houses of the General Assembly. The r ord of proceedings in the courts of those days was very brief and concise, ad the Supreme Court was held once a year in each county.

In the year 1817, Joseph H. Crane was appointed Presiding Judge to suc- cid Hon. Francis Dunlevy. He was born in Elizabethtown, N. J., August 3, 1872, and his father was a Major in the Revolutionary war, and lost a leg i that struggle for liberty. He was a brother of Commodore William M. Cine, and of Ichabod B. Crane, the latter a Colonel of the Regular Army. I grew to manhood in his native State, there studied law under a celebrated layer named Ogden, and was admitted to practice. In the spring of 1804, h came to Dayton, opened an office and began that career which culminated i placing him in the foremost rank among the members of the Ohio bar. He n rried Miss Julia A. Elliot, daughter of John Elliot, a Surgeon in the United Eates Army, then stationed at Vincennes, one of the frontier posts. Mrs. Cine was one of the organizers of the Female Bible Society, in 1815, as was ab her husband of the Montgomery County Bible Society, organized in 1822. Tpy became the parents of a large family, most of whom died young. Two ses, William and Joseph G., were members of the Montgomery County bar, an the latter served throughout the rebellion. on the staff of Gen. Robert C. Stenck. At the close of the war, he was commissioned a Captain, with the b:vet of Colonel, in the regular army, and while Acting Military Governor ofjackson, Miss., was assassinated in the street by the notorious Col. Yerger,

472

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

an ex-Confederate officer. William died in Dayton, while practicing bis pr fession. Judge Crane was nominated for a seat in the Ohio Legislature the first political convention held in the county, September 6, 1809; was su soquently elected, and was author of what is known as the Practice Ac

He served as Prosecuting Attorney of Montgomery County from 1813 1816, and in 1817 became Presiding Judge of this district, continuing in th office until the close of 1828, having been elected to Congress in the fall that year. For eight years he ably represented his constituents in the nation legislative halls, where his profound legal abilities were soon recognized al appreciated. Upon returning from Congress in 1838, he was appointed Pro ecuting Attorney of the county, and served one year. Some years after se tling in Dayton, he formed a partnership with Col. John H. James, of U bana, which continued until 1831, as Crane & James, when Robert C. Schen was taken into the firm, and the name became Crane, James & Schenck. Th it remained for one year, at the expiration of which Col. James withdrew, a) the firm name was changed to Crane & Schenck. In 1834, this partnersh was dissolved by mutual consent, and Judge Crane became associated with E ward W. Davies, and afterward his son, William Crane, was taken into t firm, where he remained until his death. The law firm of Crane & Davi continued until the death of Judge Crane, in November, 1851.

Judge Crane was one of the ablest lawyers who ever lived in Ohio. Pd sessed of a thorough knowledge of the law by extensive reading, historical a literary, as well as professional, characterized by an even-balanced, clear-hea ed temperament, added to quick perception, a comprehensive mind, and an i stinctive impartiality, he was at all times enabled to grasp the hidden poin and dispel the cobwebs of sophistry which crafty counsel often wove arou their cases. Scrupulously honest and upright, he would not stoop to a me or dishonest action, while his generosity and unselfishness kept him compar tively poor all his life. Of a retiring disposition, his social qualities were ! tle known outside of his immediate circle of friends; but those knew him as kind, genial, whole-souled, delightful companion, whose rich store of inform tion on all subjects seemed to be inexhaustible. He was loved and venerat. by the bar of Montgomery County, and his death, in the seventieth year of age, was deeply regretted.

The next to don the judicial ermine on the Montgomery County beri was Hon. George B. Holt, a native of Norfolk, Litchfield Co., Conn., born ! the year 1790. In early manhood he entered the law school of Judges Ren & Gould, in Litchfield, and in 1812 was licensed to practice. In 1819, he rived in Dayton, then a small village, and the following year opened an off; as attorney at law. In 1822, Mr. Holt established, and for three years co ducted the Miami Republican. In the fall of 1824, he was elected to the Ls islature, and participated in the passage of laws which rendered that sessi one of the most important ever held in Ohio. Among the most important measures adopted was the ad valorem system of taxation. The columns of paper had been employed by Mr. Holt in favor of a canal communication tween the lakes and the Ohio River, a measure which had excited a bitter (- position. During this session the canal law was passed under which the Ob and Miami canals were commenced, and the policy of the State in favor of ternal improvements was considered settled. Mr. Holt was a member of committee to which the subject of a school system was referred, and the II reported by them passed into a law, which established the present comm school system of Ohio. In 1825, he was re-elected to the Legislature, and 1827 was elected to the State Senate for a term of two years, and was Cha- man of the Committee on Internal Improvements. During the last session,

Samuel aeller

WASHINGTON, TP.

Mary

Heller

WASHINGTON, TP.

477

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

328, he was elected Presiding Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and rved for the constitutional term of seven years. After the expiration of his rm on the bench, under appointment by the court, he served one year as Pros- uting Attorney of Montgomery County, one year in Mercer County, and two rms in the county of Van Wert. At the legislative session of 1842-43, he as again called to the bench, and served out the constitutional term. Part of e interval between his first and second terms on the bench was spent in agri- .Iture and stock-growing, spending much money in improving the breed of ttle, introducing the first thoroughbred Short-Horn Durham stock into the unties of Montgomery, Mercer and Miami. He was for a time President of e Montgomery County Agricultural Society, and in 1849, at the time of the olera epidemic, was chosen as President of the Board of Health. In 1850, idge Holt was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention, was Chair- an of the Committee on Jurisprudence, and took a prominent part in framing e present Constitution of Ohio. This service ended his official career, and though he partially resumed the practice of his profession, with advancing ars spent much of his time in his favorite occupation of gardening. Politi- lly, Judge Holt was for many years a Democrat; but in later life acted with e Republican party, and was firm and decided for the Union. Before leaving s native State, he had united with the Congregational Church, but for more jan twenty-five years previous to his death he was a member of the Presby- rian faith. On the organization of the Montgomery County Pioneer Society, idge Holt was chosen its President, and retained that office until his death, ich occurred on the evening of October 30, 1871, in his eighty-second year. e was married in 1821 to Miss Mary Blodget, second daughter of Dr. Will- m Blodget, who with three daughters, still survive him.

The next Presiding Judge was Hon. William L. Helfenstein, who went « the bench in 1836. Some time prior to that date, the family came to Day- n, Ohio, from Pennsylvania, where William L. had studied law and been ad- itted to the bar. He served his full term on the bench, and subsequently re- "oved to New York City, remaining there several years, finally returning to e State of his nativity, where he is now residing.

Ha was succeeded in 1843 by Judge Holt, and he, in 1850, by Hon. John pers. The only other Judge under the old regime was Hon. Ralph S. Hart, 10 was appointed in the spring of 1851. During his term the new consti- tion was adopted, which abolished the office of Associate Judge, and made ovision for a new order of things. Judge Hart, under this law, held over, id in October, 1851, was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.

The Associate Judges of Montgomery County, from 1803 to 1851 were: enjamin Archer, Isaac Spinning, John Ewing, Abner Garrard, William eorge, Philip Gunckel, James Steele. Benjamin Maltbie, Henry Hipple, hn W. Turner, Thomas Winters, George Olinger, John Shelby, Charles G. vain, Elias Mathews, Amos Irvine, Michael Cassady, Robert P. Brown and erman Gebhart.

Under the new law the term of Common Pleas Judges was changed from ven to five years. The first occupant of the bench under the new constitu- on was the Hon. Ralph S. Hart, a native of New Jersey, born in the year 310. In 1811, his family came to Troy, Miami Co., Ohio, where he was reared ad educated in the common schools of that county. In 1844, he removed to ayton, was appointed Presiding Judge in 1851, and under the new constitu- on, elected Judge of the Common Pleas Court, serving in all six years on the nch. He afterward resumed the practice of his profession, but on account poor health, abandoned the law, and is now residing on a farm in Butler

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

Township. He married a daughter of Henry Bacon, one of the promine pioneer lawyers of Dayton.

In October, 1856, Hon. Ebenezer Parsons, of Miami County, was elect Judge of this subdivision, and re-elected in October, 1861, serving until fa ing health compelled him to retire from the bench. Many other Judges this district have occupied the Montgomery County bench, from time to tin who, like Judge Parsons, were non-residents of this county, yet the latter we known gentleman served so long and occupied the bench so continuously tl he deserves mention in connection with the judiciary of this county.

The next resident Judge was Hon. John C. McKemy, who, in April, 180 was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He removed to Dayton 1869, and served on the bench until October, 1872, when he resigned and 1 sumed the practice of his profession.

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The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county, Part 50

Author: W.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1214

Author: W.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1214