SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 325 first Ohio Volunteer Infantry Company K had eighty Clark County soldiers in it ; the Thirty-second Ohio had some Clark County men ; the Sixteenth and Seventeenth and part of the Tenth Ohio Batteries were from Clark County ; the Sixty-sixth Infantry, and the Seventy-first, Seventy-sixth and Ninety-fourth Regiments had Clark County men, but the bulk of Clark County soldiers were in the Forty-fourth Infantry, One Hundred and Tenth Infantry, One Hundred and Fifty-second and One Hundred and Fifty-third National Guards, and with the One Hundred Day Regulars under the command of Col. Israel Stough. On April 19, 1861, the Springfield Zouaves entered the three months service, and about that time the Washington Guards sprang into existence ; since then there has been a Gen. J. Warren Keifer in Springfield. While General Keifer enlisted as a private early in the Civil war, he was mustered out as a major general. He is one of the very few survivors carrying that distinction. He was born January 30. 1836, and while that date fell on a Monday, A. D. 1922, he insisted that Sunday had rounded out eighty-six years—that on Monday he was turned into his eighty-seventh year, admitting that few persons are such sticklers for details. When asked about his plans for the future, the soldier, statesman and only Ohioan ever honored by being chosen speaker of the National House of Representatives looked forward with the same optimism that has always characterized him ; when seen at his office on Saturday, he was busy. He has a wonderful capacity for endurance, and is frequently called to Washington in consultation, dining only recently with President Harding. A Springfield jurist, Judge F. M. Hagan, says of General Keifer: "His services to the nation, both in civil and military life, have marked him as the most distinguished of all the sons of Clark County who have attained eminence ; impartial history will record that as speaker of the National House of Representatives, his ability justly ranked him among the first class of all the men who ever have occupied that position. General Keifer remains one of the few figures of the great Civil war whose achievements stamped them as leaders in that mighty struggle. Ever since the termination of the war, his services have been at the call of his country." It is understood that General Keifer participated in twenty-eight battles of the Civil war. He says : "I enlisted as a private soldier in April, 1861, and was in the Civil war four years. In May, 1861, I was made a major of a regiment partly organized from Clark County. I was in the first battle of the war at Rich Mountain, Virginia, July 11, 1861, and I was also in the last battle when Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomatox, witnessing his surrender. I was shot four times. I was mustered out of the Civil war at Washington, June 27, 1865, with the title of major general." In response to the direct question, General Keifer said : "Our Civil war was justified ; it was necessary to reestablish our Republic, and to free the slaves, just as God sent the plagues of blood, of frogs, of lice, of flies, of murrain, of hail, of pestilence, of locusts, of darkness and of death to the first born of Egypt, to permit the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and from slavery." Wars were justified in times past to spread religion and to destroy the power and influence of the heathen, or those of different religion or idolatrous faith. Mohammedism has 326 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY been spread by the sword, until its votaries outnumber those of the Christian faith in the world. In modern times Christian as well as Mohammedan or pagan nations have cultivated the spirit of war—in times of peace they have prepared for it, as well as in times of war. While Kaiser Wilhelm invoked the aid of the Almighty God, it was in a different manner from the prayer of General Washington at Valley Forge, who said of his troops : "May the Lord protect them and lead them to victory." The Kaiser said : "The soldier spirit is always cultivated by the Almighty War Lord," and he referred to the leaders : "Me unt Gott." On March 4, 1865, in his second inaugural address, President Lincoln in referring to the divided country, the soldiers of the North and the South,. said : "Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God ; and each invokes His aid against the other. The prayers of both could not be answered ; they have not been answered ; the prayers of neither have been fully answered, but the Almighty has His own purposes in the world," and reverting to the stirring days of 1861, when recruiting officers were combing Clark County for volunteers, it may be said that few Ohio counties of like population offered better response, either in the number or quality of its private soldiers. None would brook disloyalty, and there was nothing Turkish about Uncle Sam's American Eagle, the proud bird of freedom ; when it ruffled its feathers and spread its wings, well, "Thereby hangs a tale." While President Lincoln faced an unprecedented crisis in American history, and the people were in doubt and uncertainty, he did not at once interfere with human slavery. While the new-born republican party had not taken a direct stand against the slavery question, its leaders were among the avowed opponents of that institution ; when the President declared that the country could no longer exist half free and half slave, there was ready response from Clark County. When the slave-holding states led by South Carolina began passing secession ordinances, Clark County citizens realized that some decisive action was necessary. Within twenty-four hours after President Lincoln's call for volunteers Capt. Edwn C. Mason's company enlisted in Springfield in the three months' service. It was known as Company F of the Second Ohio Infantry, fighting under Capt. David King in the first battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, many from Clark County serving with this regiment in the Southwest in the three years' service. When President Lincoln first called on his countrymen to avenge the insult to the American flag at Fort Sumter, there was quick transformation from peace to a state of war ; the memory of it is like a passing dream, but everywhere there were spontaneous meetings. The latent fires of patriotism were soon aflame, were soon fanned into a glowing heat. There had been no parallel in history to the rush to arms, when Grant, Sherman and Sheridan led the way, and Clark County soldiers braved the rain of shot and shell on many hotly contested fields of strife. They endured long and tedious marches under the parching southern sun, through snow, rain and mud and with scanty supply of rations often, and many times nothing to eat. Some of the Clark County soldiers never returned ; and they sleep the sleep that knows no waking in the National cemeteries : Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Andersonville, wherever SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 327 they fell, and some are in unknown graves on hillsides and in the valleys, where no loving hands place flowers, the final resting of many Clark County "boys in blue," notwithstanding the G. A. R. burial plot in Ferncliff Cemetery, with its spot sacred to the unknown dead, where flowers are scattered on recurring Decoration days. In the Civil war there were many soldiers and sailors in the United States Army and Navy of whom no records exist, and the same thing is true in the preceding as well as subsequent wars. "While not a sparrow f alleth, but its God doth know," the unmarked graves never will be known to the world. While "Times that tried men's souls" is a stock expression carried over from the Civil war, later generations have experienced similar conditions ; what General Sherman said about war has been demonstrated again and again in Clark County. In 1860 the South accepted Abraham Lincoln's election as a direct menace, and the doctrine of states' rights as paramount to National control was openly advocated. It was on December 20, that year, that South Carolina took the initiative in passing a secession ordinance, and autonomy was the rule until the peace commission met in Baltimore in 1861, with the far-reaching purpose of safeguarding the Union ; when Jefferson Davis was chosen president of the Southern Confederacy decisive action was necessary. Sometimes conditions are insurmountable, and while meetings were being held and plans of action were being considered—the gun was fired that was heard round the world. On April 12, 1861, war was inaugurated following quickly the inauguration of Lincoln ; it was domestic strife with men and brothers fighting each other. It was worse than fighting a common enemy—this war to the finish among the people of one country—and the question was whether or not the United States should be rent asunder, or remain an undivided country. There must always be a planting of moral and patriotic ideas before there is personal or national advancement, and the human voice in appealing song always has telling effect in stirring people to action. The songs growing out of the Civil war have no parallel in American history ; the Puritan conscience was aroused by William Lloyd Garrison, Joshua R. Giddings, Wendell Phillips, John Greenleaf Whittier, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell and Julia Ward Howe, and the printed page—poems and song—the winged arrows of God's truth were unlimited in their effectiveness. As a result there was a revival of the feeling of accountability to God. It spread all over the country, and Clark County was in line with the rest of the world. When Harriet Beecher Stowe's great story, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," made its appearance in serial, Clark County men and women read it who never needed to read it again ; it spurred them to action, and it was the greatest human agency in bringing about the Emancipation Proclamation. It is said that those who write the hymns of a nation are responsible for its religion, and the same holds true of patriotism. Such war songs as "Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue," "The Army and Navy Forever," and "Hail Columbia," enable the students of history to approach Bunker Hill, Lexington and the later American struggles fully understanding their significance. The assertion has been repeated many times that the American flag never has been carried into any war without righteous cause, and it never yet has trailed in defeat. 328 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY Sometimes it is necessary to inspire optimism in order to tide a nation over a crisis ; some of the songs of the Civil war were as effective in promoting enlistments, and arousing men and women to deeds of sacrifice and heroism, as the stimulating patriotic addresses from the recruiting officers. When the men of the Civil war heard the country's call, some of them were only boys. On January 1, 1863, when emancipation became the paramount question, there was another call ; when the men of the North invaded the South to remove the shackles of human slavery Clark County volunteers were among them. It is said there never was lack of men to fill the quota ; in the four years of war Ohio met every demand, and Clark County had its part in supplying soldiers. Business and professional men, college students, mechanics and farmers responded alike to the call for soldiers. While the mothers, sisters, wives and sweethearts were filled with sentiment when the soldiers were leaving for the fortunes of war, they soon settled down to stern realities. Some one said of the period, "Everybody knows that had it not been for the loyal women of America we would be a divided nation today." While nothing was heard about "surgical dressings," the women "scraped lint" for the same purpose, and some of the Civil war women frequented the Red Cross work rooms again. There are Clara Bartons among them, and surgical dressings do not disconcert them. No doubt many a maimed arm or leg would have been saved with better hospital facilities in the Civil war. While there were army nurses who followed the regiments, they lacked many working facilities that are now known to humanity. The Sanitary Commission of the Civil war was unable to afford the relief that has been accomplished by later organizations. NEWS FROM THE FRONT While the daily newspapers had not yet made their appearance in Clark County while the soldiers were engaged in the Civil war, there were Chicago, Cincinnati and Columbus, as well as New York, papers being read, although in most cases only the weekly issues. When there was favorable news there was rejoicing, the people gathering in groups to discuss it. The women continued scraping lint for bandages ; there were public and private contributions to the cause until after the fall of Appomattox. The bravest and best had gone to the front ; the best and the bravest remained by the stuff, and today the Grand Army of the Republic would not rob the Woman's Relief Corps of its heritage. While their numbers are reduced, their patriotism remains undiminished, and they hold their regular campfire meetings in a hall dedicated to 'them in the splendid Clark County Memorial Building in Springfield. While some of the Union soldiers would not review their war records, saying that when they were mustered out they would take care of themselves again, others enjoy meeting and discussing the stirring events. While some would not claim their pensions because they received no disabilities, others enjoyed "putting down the war" again. The campfire meetings are social opportunities, and the men and women who lived through the stirring days from '61 to '65, enjoy them. On one of the quarter-squares in the court house group is a stone bearing the inscrip- SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 329 tion : "Union Soldiers' Monument erected by Clark County in 1869," and the two cannons placed near it are an educational influence to the young who only know of the Civil war in the pages of history. Mitchell Post G. A. R., which meets in Memorial Flail, reported 130 members in the closing days of 1921, which represents a number of transfers from abandoned posts. While a number of Civil war soldiers do not affiliate with the Mitchell Post G. A. R., posts are maintained at other points, as New Carlisle, South Vienna and Catawba. When South Charleston and Enon posts were abandoned, the remaining members were transferred to Springfield. While the Grand Army soldiers have grown feeble, and their wives have grown aged with them, their friends look after their comfort on each Decoration Day, providing automobiles and assisting them in the arduous duties of laying flowers on all the graves ; as their numbers decline the graves increase, and in a few years none will be left of the Civil war veterans to, mark the spots : "Under the sod and the dew, awaiting the judgment day ; Under the one the blue, under the other the gray." While many Clark County soldiers distinguished themselves in the Civil war, they also enkindled a flame of patriotism that manifested itself in succeeding generations. In 1863, James C. Walker of Springfield carried the flag over Missionary Ridge, and in 1895, he was decorated with the Congressional medal. He wears it whenever occasion demands it, and has been signally honored because of it. Because of having this special recognition from Congress, the hero of Missionary Ridge was invited to participate in the burial service of America's unknown soldier at Arlington Military Cemetery on Armistice Day, 1921, going to Washington through the courtesy of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Walker has been indorsed by Mitchell Post as a department commander of Ohio. He served through the Civil war as a member of Company K, Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Clark County soldiers of official rank in the Civil war are : Colonel Mason, Capt. James R. Ambrose, Capt. James C. Vananda, Capt. Philip Kershner, Capt. William H. Wade, Capt. William H. H. McArthur, Col. Hugh Blair Wilson, Major Charles H. Evans, Col. August Dotze, Col. Rodney C. Mason, Capt. S. J. Houck, Capt. William S. Wilson, Capt. Howard D. John, Capt. Perry Stewart, Capt. Charles C. Gibson, Col. David King, Capt. Amaziah Winger, Lieut. Hezekiah Kershner, Lieut. Henry C. Cushman, Capt. Nathan M. McConkey, Gen. J. Warren Keifer, Capt. Luther Brown, Capt. Nathan S. Smith, Capt. William A. Hathaway, Capt. Thomas J. Weakley, Capt. Richard Montjoy, Lieut. William J. Irvin, Lieut. Charles Anthony, Sergt. Charles H. Pierce, Maj. Thomas W. Bown, Capt. Alfred Miller, Lieut. Thomas E. Stewart, Lieut. Harvey H. Tuttle, Lieut. Valentine Newman, Lieut. Elijah G. Coffin, Capt. Asa S. Bushnell, Capt. Charles A. Welch, Lieut. Benjamin H. Warder, Col. Israel Stough, Capt. James I. McKinney, Capt. Harrison C. Cross, Capt. James A. Mitchell, Lieut. Edward H. Funston, Capt. Ambrose A. Blount, Lieut. William Hunt, Jr., Lieut. Absalom H. Mattux, Lieut. Jeremiah Yeazell, Capt. Ralph Hunt, Maj. Henry H. Seys, Maj. John H. Rodgers, and some who were officers and afterward lived in 330 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY Clark County : Col. R. L. Kilpatrick, Col. Aaron Spangler, Col. James E. Stewart, Capt. Edward H. Buchwalter, Capt. R. A. Starkey, and Chap. George H. Fullerton. When the Civil war was raging at its height in 1864, three-fourths o f the Clark County men within the age of enlistment limit, and more than one-half of the voting population were in the military and naval service of the United States. At the time of the Kirby Smith raid, men without military training and but poorly equipped rushed to camp, and were hurried to Cincinnati in the defense of that city, among them some of the most prominent citizens ; they were designated as the Squirrel Hunters. Clark County men who distinguished themselves in the United States Navy were: Reed Werden, Joseph N. Miller, and later, Clarence Williams. They were all graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Some Clark County men graduated from West Point Military Academy, John Williamson, being in the class with Gen. U. S. Grant, and Gen. Frederick Funston, born at the close of the Civil war in New Carlisle, the house in which he was born still being a landmark in the community, was a West Point soldier. He came into prominence through the capture of Aguinaldo in the Philippine Islands later. In summing up Civil war activities, General Keifer says that among the rank and file were some of the best and bravest, and the Ohio rule of claiming great men applies to Clark County. All who were born, or who ever lived in the country, are listed among its distinguished citizens, no matter where they achieved distinction. However, from Big Bethel to Appomattox, wherever bloody sacrifices were to be made on river, sea or land, they were ready to make them ; they fought and f ell under McClellan, Rosecrans, McDowell, Thomas, Sheridan, Sherman, Meade and Grant, and under other equally brave commanders of the Union Army. Clark County volunteer citizen-soldiers shed their blood at Bull Run, Antietam, Winchester, Gettysburg, Organe Grove, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, New Orleans, Iuka, Corinth, Perrysville, Stone's River, Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Chickamauga, Knoxville and hundreds of other fields of carnage, all to preserve the Union established by General Washington and his patriot compeers of 1776, and the Constitution, they died in an effort to destroy the curse of the ages—human slavery. It cannot be ascertained how many soldiers and sailors of the Civil war fell and were buried in the Southland. Some who were buried where they fell were later transferred to National cemeteries, and in all of them will be found the names of men from Clark County, both marked on headstones, and recorded in registers. It is impossible to formulate a complete list of the soldier dead from Clark County, and those buried within the county represent many different volunteer regiments. They belonged to independent companies or batteries, to the regular army or navy, and to all branches of the military service. Some died in military hospitals from wounds received in battle, or of disease contracted in war service, and some died of starvation in southern prisons. The people of the Civil war period in Clark County performed their whole duty toward preserving civil and political liberty ; it was a war of humanity, and the result was the overthrow of slavery. SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 331 While Mitchell and other G. A. R. posts still exist, few communities boast of a major general of the Civil war, and in his book : "Slavery and Four Years of War," General Keifer says that as commander-in-chief he only once executed the death sentence, and that was for the worst offense a soldier can commit—desertion in the face of the enemy. He was a nineteen-year-old boy, who escaped with an older soldier who forged a furlough and went to visit relatives at Philadelphia. He delayed execution one day, thinking President Lincoln would intervene, and was reproved by General Meade. The boy was blindfolded, and a firing squad of six soldiers was called ; when the command to fire was given he fell dead, and later came a commutation of his sentence ; some one failed to do his duty promptly, and thus occurred a real tragedy. In recent years General Keifer received a letter from a Confederate soldier who relates that he fired several shots at him, and that he learned of his whereabouts through a newspaper article widely copied, detailing the story of the flag sent to the general which he had lost in the Shenandoah Valley. It was left flying over a fort to deceive the enemy while the troops were being removed ; the Confederates thought the soldiers were still in the fort, and waited until day break to attack them, finding an abandoned fort, and fifty-nine years afterward those who captured the flag returned it to General Keifer. The flag was rescued by Mrs. Mary Joy Kipp, who carried it away concealed under her skirts, and the general planned to have it preserved in Columbus by the Ohio Archaeological Society, along with other Civil war relics. By using the flag to deceive the Confederates, General Keifer was enabled to evacuate the fort with 4,000 Union soldiers, when 30,000 Confederates surrounded it. While the assassination of President Lincoln occurred before the end of the Civil war, he directed it from humanitarian motives and although misrepresented and underestimated, many of the people believed in him, and some one has said : "While in his life he was a great American, he is an American no longer, he is one of those giant figures of whom there are very few in history who lose their nationality in death. They are no longer Greek, Hebrew, English or American, they belong to mankind. While George Washington was a great American, Abraham Lincoln belongs to the common people of every land." It was Lincoln who suggested that the Lord must love the common folk because He made so many of them. Three years after the close of the Civil war, May 30, 1868, is recognized as the first Decoration Day in the United States ; it was suggested by Gen. John A. Logan, and at that time Mrs. John A. Logan organized the Woman's Relief Corps of America. It was the great Lincoln who, in a speech at Gettysburg, exclaimed : "We here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain," and while decoration in its purpose is a memorial to Civil war soldiers, the time has come when they have grown feeble and their admirers and friends assist them in the discharge of their solemn obligation—placing flowers on the lowly mounds, the resting places of their comrades in arms. Since then two wars have added younger men to the roll of veterans. Since 1919; the Decoration Day service presents the spectacle in many communities of the veterans of three wars marching in the same procession to lay flowers on the graves of comrades—the battle-scarred 332 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY standard bearers of 1861, the Spanish-Americans of 1898, and the khaki-clad youths of the World war. SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR While 1898 was a year of uncertainty for the Spanish-American soldiers in the training camps, for many of them it only meant a year's absence from their homes, however, they offered themselves a living sacrifice upon their country's altar. While they are reticent about their military experiences—say they did not have any—there was patriotism in the air when it seemed that Cuba needed them. While "Remember Buena Vista harks back to the Mexican difficulties in the '40s," "Remember the Maine" stirred the hearts of all Cuban sympathizers, and there was military .discipline and drill ; the manual of arms and the uniform awakened universal patriotism When President William McKinley called for volunteers to compel Spain to assume a right attitude toward Cuba, Springfield and Clark County contributed the full quota of soldiers and sailors, and others were disappointed because they were unable to enter the service. Col. Charles Anthony commanded the Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and Camp Bushnell was opened for training at Columbus. It is given to but few men to exhibit a war record through three successive generations, as was the privilege of General Keifer who, when the Spanish-American war was in prospect, offered his services again. He was commissioned major general by the President. Maj. Horace C. Keifer was a member of the Ohio National Guard, receiving an appointment from the War Department as captain of the Third United States Volunteer Engineers, and he was an aide of the staff of General Keifer in Florida, Georgia and in Cuba. When there was another call for soldiers in the World war, four grandsons of General Keifer responded : Joseph W., Oswin, SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 333 J. Warren, Jr., and Horace S. Keifer, and thus has he contributed to three wars, and born in 1836, he remembers much about the Mexican war—has lived through four wars. General Keifer is the only major general of the Civil war to attain the same rank in a later war, and along with his G. A. R. button he has worn a service button having four stars upon it. Keifer Camp No. 3, Spanish War Veterans, is named in honor of Horace C. Keifer who did service in Cuba. Keifer Camp uses the Mitchell Post G. A. R. rooms for its meetings. While many Spanish war soldiers did not .encounter actual service in Cuba, some enlisted for service in the Philippines, some went into the Regular Army and others into the United States Navy, and it may be said that Clark County—christened for a warrior—has had its full mede of service in bearing the country's flag to victory on land and sea. In connection with the Springfield Centennial in 1901, General Keifer said : "With all the significant things accomplished at the cost of blood and treasure in the nineteenth century, future generations will not be content to mark time over the grave of the past," and it is a coincident that at the beginning of the World war, he was in Berlin en route to Stockholm to attend a meeting of the Interparliamentary Union for Peace. He had delivered his message in Brussels, but he did not arrive at Stockholm ; it was with difficulty that he got out of Germany. THE WAR OF THE NATIONS : THE WORLD WAR In the class with Gen. John J. Pershing, who led the United States forces in France, was Gen. Frederick Funston, a son of Clark County who died while defending the Mexican border in 1916, before the United States was actively engaged in the great war. Hope centered in Funston, but he was removed by death when the country needed him most, and quoting again from an address by General Keifer in 1901: "Would to God we could foretell the events and the progress of the twentieth century, and write with the pen of prophecy Springfield's history," and while on Decoration Day every grave was singled out in all of the cemeteries ; flowers were placed on hallowed spots sacred to absent sleepers, and there were flowers on the water for all who lay buried in watery graves, he had not dreamed then of the sad hearts unable to visit overseas cemeteries ; he had not heard the Flanders Requiem : "And we shall keep true faith with those who lie asleep, with each a cross to mark his bed," although in many households today are sad hearts because of sons, brothers, aye, young husbands who sleep beneath the poppies of France. The poet exclaims : "And down in the corn where the poppies grew, Were redder stains than the poppies knew," and while some Clark County families have had bodies of their soldier dead consigned to them, others are content to leave them where they f ell in the discharge of patriotic duty. While some have objected to the use of the word civil in designating any war, and suggest that instead of Civil war the struggle between the 334 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY North and South be called the war of the states because the slavery question involved the free and slave states in conflict, others do not say World war, but speak of the war of the nations ; a few nations were not involved, and world includes all. The war of the states and the war of the nations involve very different warlike conditions ; a nation of storytellers was a development of the war of the states, but the United States had become a nation of newspaper readers, and few stories are told of the war of the nations by the soldiers. Before the advent of the daily newspaper, young and old alike enjoyed the recitals of their adventures by the Civil war soldiers who spent the best of their lives in the service. A grateful republic still holds them in remembrance ; a nation was plunged into sorrow and -debt because of human slavery. There were northern homes made desolate because of those who lie buried in the battlefields of the South, and southern firesides had their own losses, but now the whole civilized world knows the sorrows following in the wake of war. In France, Belgium and England there have been burial ceremonies connected with the bodies of unknown soldiers in honor of all the unknown dead, and finally there was a ceremony connected with the burial of an unknown soldier in Washington. ACTIVITIES IN CLARK COUNTY While there were recruiting offices and many volunteers, the flaming signs : "Men wanted for the army," always having a lure for the young men of the country ; soldier life affords to young men an opportunity of travel who otherwise would be unable to see the world, not much thought had been given as to who was enlisting and leaving the community. Young men frequently enlisting who were unknown in Clark County. Sometimes parents favor the army on account of the rigid discipline it offers, and which they have failed to enforce ; they recognize the manly bearing that comes from military training ; they covet the splendid physiques, realizing that the manual of arms develops them. While young men sometimes enter the army to escape unpleasant home environment, when there was a call to arms it was pure patriotism that prompted Young America to quit his home, and offer himself upon his country's altar. The first World war draft called for young men between the ages of eighteen and thirty-one, and how quickly many of them registered and put themselves in line for service ; when the age limit was raised to forty-five years none shirked responsibility. Old Company B of the Ohio National Guard was on the Mexican border patrol in 1916, and when on April 6, 1917, the United States declared war against Germany this company went to France ; it is now a machine gun company. While the United States was last to get into the war—the war of the nations—and last to get out of it, the policy remains : "Trust in the Lord and keep your powder dry." Unpreparedness was heard on every side ; the United States was a peace-loving nation. However, Clark County immediately marshaled its forces when there was a call for soldiers. While America needs to be fortified, the reformers say it needs to be purified ; they urge that its larger centers were just as wicked, April 6, 1917, as Paris, London or Rome ; they were just as vulgar as Berlin or Vienna, and that they remain unchanged after going through the purifying fire of war. Some political economists charge that SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 335 America has held aloof from helping restore the peace of the world because of partisan reasons, influenced by ambitious political spoilsmen. The United States was represented at Versailles by President Woodrow Wilson, and the warring nations sent their representatives to the Disarmament Conference in Washington. The United States did not go to Genoa nor to The Hague; it dthenot assume responsibility for tne European situation. Some have charged this country with hesitating as to whether it shall do its duty by the rest of the world or live to itself ; the questions confronting the thinking people are nationalism and internationalism. Apropos the time, some one said in rhyme : "Between you and me, in the last year or two, My ideals are not so sunny ; I'm about on the brink of beginning to think. We are more or less out for the money." Under wartime conditions seemingly respectable men abandoned themselves to making money greedily, but Springfield industries were not converted into munitions of war channels ; it is urged that while America was making money, France was shedding blood—that France put up the men while America furnished the money—and General Pershing now urges a greater preparedness, saying this country may not be favored with allies again. It is said that a money-maker enjoys reading the Prophet Isaiah better than the Sermon on the Mount, and in driving home the cost of war in wealth alone President Tulloss of Wittenberg localizes the problem, saying that 961 memorial halls like the one in Springfield could be built with the money spent each day ; the cost of the great war for one year would have financed 1,752,000 Wittenberg colleges that long, and that another such war will destroy civilization. The war cost the United States $24.000,000,000, while the annual products of agriculture are less than $15,000,000,000, and the profiteer is described in the lines : "Lean was his purse in time of peace ; Open in time of war— Full was his purse when the cannons ceased, Then closed forever more," and he remarked : "This soldier bonus is going to be hard on the country." An unusual condition followed in the wake of the World war. The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Amendments were written into the Constitution of the United States, and accompanying prohibition came the liberated woman ; and the flapper has attracted much attention. It is said that respectable women copy styles from women who are far from respectability, and the young people—a generation of butterflies—care only for excitement, change and money. It is written that a nation or community, like the individual, will reap what it sows—sow to the wind and reap the whirlwind. Some of the problematic students say the world had needed a violent shaking up long before August, 1914, when Germany started the pot to boiling, and that gross materialism is still 336 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY the malady ; that humanity still has some lessons to learn—that it requires a good many reprimands to bring it to an understanding of things. While arbitration seems the humane thing, the war record of Clark County is in no sense a reproach to its citizenry. It will welcome universal peace, even though the League of Nations did not meet all the requirements. While some people argue that they are in the world, but not of it, Clark County is in Ohio, and Ohio is in the United States, and while the United States entered the War of the Nations it was not through the motive of conquest. While fireless and wireless are economic terms in common usage, the people of Clark County learned about heatless, meatless and wheatless days after the beginning of Germany's struggle for world supremacy. Platform speakers frequently urged that with the opportunity for profit removed from the individual, and greed expurged from the nations of the earth, the question of war will be settled. The World war soldiers in France said : "We are good soldiers because we are not soldiers," demonstrating clearly that the United States troops were with the Allies for a purpose other than conquest—it was wholly humanitarian. The United States never has entered war to enlarge its domain, even though the Mexican war resulted in more slave territory. When the American flag has been unfurled in war it has been for the protection of civil liberty. With 81,000 Americans—fathers, sons, brothers, husbands—who fought, bled and died in France and Flanders ; with 81,000 Gold Star War Mothers in the United States, it follows that some of this sorrow was visited upon the households of Clark County. While in time France may forget that the American Expeditionary force was there, the people of the United States have not forgotten the visit of Lafayette. When General Pershing stood at his tomb saying : "Lafayette, we are here," the greeting was "heard 'round the world." While Clark County contributed 3,300 men to the World war, and it is known that 168 of them died away from their homes, there were heroes and heroines who "carried on" in their absence, all other considerations being subordinated to wartime activities. Clark County boys received their military training at Camp Sherman and in all the military training camps about .the country. The American Legion Posts keeping alive the war memories are George Cultice in Springfield, named for the first Clark County boy who died in the service, and the Posts in South Charleston, New Carlisle and Tremont City. And in Springfield is the Antonio Bailey Post, composed of Negro soldiers, with Robert Allen as commander. The George Cultice American Legion Post commanders are Wallace S. Thomas, Dr. J. H. Rinehart and W. W. Diehl. There are Ladies' Auxiliaries in connection, those eligible to membership being the mothers, wives and sisters of the soldiers. While 3,300 Clark County soldiers were reported enlisted under the draft, it is not known how many enlisted in other communities or how many had entered the army or the navy while the recruiting offices handled the situation in Springfield. The local recruiting office being in an industrial center, attracted many young men from outside of Clark County. The Students Army Training Corps in connection with Wittenberg College attracted many young men, and the naval recruiting SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 337 station in Springfield enrolled many young men from Clark County. The Motor Transport Corps attracted many local young men ; the Kelly Motor Truck Company supplying many army trucks accompanied by local men as drivers, and Clark County was touched in many ways by the war. It is said the Springfield and Clark County Draft Boards had little difficulty with slackers. There was excellent community response to all war measure demands, men and women cheerfully giving their time to it. Just a few times freedom of speech was curtailed, one man being "ducked" because of unpatriotic utterances, his fellow workmen attending to the ceremony. While everybody responded and many sacrificed, not sufficient record was made at the time to enable full credits to be given, the community settling hack into the even tenor of its way as soon as the wartime need was ended, the men having taken care of the financial situation and the women quit their homes for the Red Cross workshops, the Dorcas of the Bible being multiplied many times in Springfield an throughout Clark County. They all served many weary hours, days, weeks and months in their united effort to "make the world safe for democracy." The Springfield and Clark County War Service (War Chest) was organized to correlate and finance all Clark County wartime activities. Its president was Warren A. Myers ; vice president, C. G. Heckert ; treasurer, J. L. Bushnell, and when the secretary, J. E. North, resigned, the duties were performed by F. A. Crothers. The executive committee members were : P. J. Shouvlin, J. E. Bowman, W. C. Hewitt, R. C. Bancroft, G. W. Tehan and H. E. Freeman of Springfield, while W. N. Scarff and John F. Brown had charge of the rural subscriptions to the fund. An active subscription campaign was launched, reaching 31,936 subscribers, who gave their money without reservation. There were Clark County boys in the service, and in ten days the amount subscribed totalled $1,339,247.66, but when the Armistice was signed the amount was automatically reduced and the amount asked was $892,831.76, but there was some shrinkage and the amount collected was $703,902.42, the disbursements being $530,148.03, and when the Armistice stopped the collection the War Service Commission had a balance of $173,754.39, which was invested in Liberty bonds and turned over to the City of Springfield, the income from them to be used in the support of soldiers. The Commission or War Chest also turned over a certificate for cash on deposit amounting to $7,539.69 to be held as a trust fund. It is an endowment to the City Hospital for the benefit of the service men, the principal to remain intact for fifty years. Sometimes the question has been raised as to what was done with. War Chest money, and while the facts have been published some did not happen to read the reports. The War Service activities in Clark County began April 1, 1918, the payments falling due June 1, and notwithstanding the Armistice in November, $703,902.42 was collected, those having paid in full in advance receiving pro rata rebate. The War Service paid all the expenses for the Liberty loans, and paid to the Clark County Chapter American Red Cross $204,000, and including memberships and other donations the Red Cross received $350,000 from Clark County. Under the leadership of H. S. Kissell, chairman of the Clark County War Savings Commission, the county was awarded a Vol. I-22 338 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY tablet as special recognition. He built up a good working organization and went "over the top" with $1,760,000, and the tablet in Memorial Hall tells the story. There were many willing workers, and they reached every home in Clark County. Those at the helm of the Clark County Chapter American Red Cross were : Chairman, Joseph B. Cartmell ; vice chairman, Mrs. H. H. Bean ; treasurer, Harlan C. West ; secretary, John M. Cole, and the following directors : Mrs. W. S. Thomas, Mrs. W. W. Keifer, Dr. C. L. Minor, Max L. Kleeman, Mrs. Samuel Altschul, John L. Bushnell, Dr. Bennetta D. Titlow, Mrs. E. S. Kelly, A. L. Beaupain, W. C. Hewitt, Dr. C. G. Heckert, George M. Winwood, Jr., H. E. Freeman, Charles E. Ashburner, Rev. D. A. Buckley and J. E. Bowman. As the chairman, it is said that Mr. Cartmell did not say "go" to his associates, but that when busy himself he said "come" to them, and while the local chapter American Red Cross received $350,000 from Clark County, $90,000 went direct to the national headquarters in Washington. The Clark County Chapter used $10,000 a year in helping disabled service men and their families. There were 125 working organizations in the county, the main chapter occupying an entire building in the downtown section of Springfield. While all surgical dressings and most of the garments were made at headquarters, some of the garments and most of the knitting was done at the homes of the workers and in the different auxiliaries scattered over the county. The rural response was as good as in the towns. There were 18,000 Red Cross members, and many continue their dues since the war. The church responded to the call of patriotism, ninety-five percent of the Red Cross workers being church members. Mrs. Elizabeth Coberly of South Vienna, the oldest woman in Clark County, distinguished herself both in the Red Cross workshop and in the War Savings, offering her money without solicitation. She knit many pairs of socks for the soldiers. The activities of the Clark County Chapter of the American Red Cross was recognized at the National Headquarters, and Mr. Cartmell says : "It was a wonderful group of workers." There never was a time when too much was asked of Clark County women ; they abandoned all social activities, moved by the purpose of winning the war. The Red Cross workshops made 31,487 garments, 9,167. knitted pieces, 36,088 pieces of hospital supplies, and 287,176 pieces of surgical dressings Mrs. E. P. Ross had charge of the surgical dressings and while sanitary precautions were observed, this department was regarded as the most particular ; not all the women learned to make them. While the men financed the war and the young men enlisted in it, the womanhood of Clark County responded just as valiantly and as gallantly. With sons in the trenches why would not Clark County mothers frequent the Red Cross work shops? The woman who demanded wheat bread for herself because she had given her sons. to the service, did not hail from Clark County. While there were 18,000 members of the Red Cross in Clark County at one time the Springfield Chapter cared for 5,000 "flu" patients. The city hospital is not open to epidemic diseases, and three emergency hospitals were organized in St. Raphaels and St. Joseph schools and in the Sunday School room of Christ Episcopal Church, all centrally located and open to all, and Springfield chapter equipped quarters in Wittenberg SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 339 College for the care of the S. A. T. C.. and on every side it was demonstrated that the American Red Cross is the best mother in the world. The schools and churches were closed, and for ninety days the Red Cross cared for the "flu" victims ; some of the most active workers died while ministering to others in the service. While relief agencies were better systematized in the World war, the Sanitary Commission of Springfield• received a flag in recognition of its services in the Civil war. They sent many boxes of linen to the front, and daughters of some of those Civil war mothers went regularly to the Red Cross work shops. There has been a growing need of Red Cross activities ever since the organization was established by Clara Barton. It does not confine its operations to wartime conditions, and the payment of $1 by all who enrolled in war time will enable the Red Cross to continue its service. The army of disabled soldiers is growing, since in 1919 it numbered 3,300; in 1920 it had reached 17,500, and in 1921 it numbered 26,300 World war disabled soldiers. They are all in government hospitals, and the American Red Cross ministers to them. Clark County activities are directed by the Home Service section and are mostly among disabled ex-service •men, securing compensation, placing them in vocational training, finding positions and aiding them in other ways, and with W. W. Keifer as chairman the fifth annual roll call was begun on Armistice Day and continued from day to day, the people urged to give their money without waiting for a personal request. The sale of Red Cross seals at Christmas time always meets with response in Springfield and throughout Clark County. The custom was instituted in 1908 and since penny seals may be had by all. The fight against tuberculosis is carried to many households, the sale being a volunteer service. W. W. Diehl, commander of the George Cultice Post, American Legion, in Springfield, says that many Clark County soldiers have filed their application for bonus, the members of the Clark County Bar assisting them gratuitously, the purpose of the bonus being to adjust the economic disadvantages that f ell upon the soldiers and sailors, and while General Pershing places Major Charles S. Whittlesey and Sergeants Alvin York and Samuel Woodfill in front rank as World war heroes, it is said that heroic exploits were the rule rather than the exception. Wittenberg College recently received a communication from the War Department commending the loyal service rendered to the Students Army Training Corps stationed there, the local unit being composed of about 250 men who underwent a course of military training almost equal to that given at West Point Military Academy. The 9,000 school children of Springfield accepted the quota of $20 each, and through the purchase of Thrift Stamps they raised $180,000, the school leading for the month having a flag, and the final winner was the Lincoln School, where the flag remains because the contest ended, the money having been given to the Clark County War Service organization. Little did the people of Clark County think what the murder of an Austrian Prince in the summer of 1914 would mean to them.. They rested secure in their remoteness ; the farmer continued to till his fields ; the laborer remained at his employment, and the business or professional man followed his usual routine with undisturbed equanimity. The preparation for war in Europe did not concern Clark County until one nation after another was declaring war against Germany and far-seeing Americans began to realize the possibility of this nation participating 340 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY in it, although a campaign cry in 1916 had been : "He kept us out of war." History does not record another struggle of man against his brother of equal magnitude with the World war. The world wars before the beginning of the Christian era were small as compared with it. The conquests of Alexander were not in a class with the ambitions of Germany ; while the Romans once swayed the world, most of their great battles pale into insignificance in comparison with the recent struggles on European battlefields.- Their successes had resulted from trained and disciplined legions, armed with superior weapons, against half-savage, poorly disciplined and inadequately armed adversaries. Where thousands had engaged in mortal combat, the World war numbered millions, and the soldiers on both sides were equipped with the latest death-dealing devices known to modern warfare. It was clearly a case of diamond cut diamond, although the armed soldiers only numbered about one-fifth of the actual mobilization. The remotest village and farm contributed its quota, and some one writes that when the World war began America was over-run with tramps and that the "work or fight" policy rid the country of them. However, reconstruction finds many idle men in the country, and wearing uniforms most people are moved to sympathy. As a resume of tramp history, it is said that until after the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia the genus hobo was unknown in this country. The "flop houses" have been installed again in Springfield, but industrial conditions have something to do with the question. There were not many conscientious objectors and a fine spirit of patriotism was manifested by the young men within the draft age in Clark County. After the United States declared war against Germany all recruiting stations were closed and the local draft board handled the situation in order to avoid misunderstandings and confusion. While the boys enlisted for service, when the armistice was signed they wanted out of it. They tell the story of the Negro who broke ranks, and when questioned by an officer, he answered : "I 'listed fo' de duration o' de wa' and now I's gwine back to Alabam'," and it was an unhappy after- math. The boys no longer needed on the firing line were needed at home, and the slow process was a test of patriotism. The red tape of the War Department exasperated the home folk as well, and when at the Disarmament Conference Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes fired another shot that was heard around the world—the cessation of naval activities—it seemed like the beginning of the end of warfare, and were the heroic dead able to speak they would ask for an international peace. While humanity is thinking of peace, wars come and go and again the world is a half-wrecked civilization. While Europe had preserved peace through the balance of power, the great war demonstrated the futility of such theory. As the war drew to a close there was a widespread hope, based on the passionate desire that f rom the ashes of so much sacrifice there would arise a new world filled with righteousness. Into the maelstrom of war had gone the youth of the world with amazing prodigality, notwithstanding the prophesy of Isaiah : "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation." With an army of 81,000 Gold Star Mothers in the 'United States, and the World war costing $186,000,000,000, and the National debt increased to $24,974,000,000 because of it ; with the killed in battle num- SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 341 bering 19,658,000, and the deaths from famine and disease reaching 30,470,000, why should not the world listen to Lord Bryce when he said : "If we do not destroy war, war will destroy us." A final summary shows that the United States enrolled 5,016,832 men and women in military service during the World war—more soldiers than the entire population of North America at the time of the Revolutionary war—and in the face of it all unemployed men between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five are again offered an opportunity to join the United States Army. "Coming as it does at a time of industrial depression, the announcement of army recruiting is welcome in many sections." The sale of poppies and Forget-Me-Not tags—something in soldier welfare necessary—and more young men entering the army. While the World war slogan of the Americans was "Let's go," and the English motto was : "Carry on," it was the French who said : "They shall not pass," and now the French uniform of horizon blue is replaced by the khaki of the American soldiers. A number of Springfield service men visited other cities in order to see Marshal Foch when touring this country, and yet some one says : "The war of yesterday has hardly ended than it has become necessary to think of the war of tomorrow." On the third anniversary of the Armistice, America heaped the honors upon an unknown soldier who gave his life for his country on a foreign battlefield, and the whole world looks forward to a time when war will be no more, but until the end of time tribute should be paid to those who gave their all in defense of the liberties of mankind. It is because Americans love their country, and have been willing to give their lives for it, that the United States exists today as the hope of the world. CHAPTER XXXVI THE CLARK COUNTY BENCH AND BAR The story of the bench and the bar in Clark County is contemporary with the county history. The first case in the Clark County court was scheduled in the April term, 1818, and it was brought by John S. Wallace against William Ross and Jason B. Coleman. The action was taken to collect a promissory note, and the attorney bringing the suit was James Conley. The judges were Daniel McKennon, Joseph Tatman and Joseph Layton, none of them Clark County bonafide citizens. It was Southey who said : "The laws are with us and God is on our side," and since then it has been the mission of jurists to prove the assertion. The law literature of Ohio is abundant, and it has been accumulating since Judge Timothy Walker of Cincinnati wrote "The American Law." Chief Justice John Marshall of the United States Supreme Court once said of this country : "A government of laws and not of men," and there must be some one to interpret the laws—hence the Springfield lawyers. It was Tom Corwin who said : "You never know how a jury will decide," and Judge F. W. Geiger told the Clark County Bar Association they were all playing for different things. When they do not get all they want in court they sometimes delay its progress —the mills of the gods grind slow under such circumstances. Before entering upon the practice of law in Clark County, the candidate must pass the state bar examination ; he must show literary qualifications equal to three years of high school training ; he must register as a law student three years bef ore he is admitted to the Clark County bar ; however, the requirements were not always so stringent. The Clark County Bar Association meets on the first Monday evening of each month, and each Monday is recognized as motion clay before the court. There are more than 100 lawyers at the Clark County bar, some partnerships and some practicing alone. There are some strong legal combinations, the lawyers of today having educational advantages not .enjoyed by their fathers, and yet in some of the father-and-son combinations there are fathers who have degrees from college. The 1921 organization of the Clark County Bar Association is : President, Elza F. McKee ; vice president, C. S. Olinger ; secretary, Barry Hull, and treasurer, O. L. McKinney, and in annual meeting the entire roster was continued although a question was raised about the organization. While two names had been used, it was decided that the Springfield Bar and Library Association was the legal name, such organization having established and maintained a law library. Under the rules, only members of the Springfield Bar and Library Association are entitled to the use of the library. The Clark County Bar Association members may take a $50 share of stock, and pay an annual $5 assessment and enjoy the privilege of the law library, and in that way it would automatically resolve itself into one organization. Many members of the bar did not understand the two organizations and since all want law library privileges they were given an opportunity of taking stock. Olie V. Gregory, librarian, reported $16,500 insurance on the library. Until the question was raised only about twenty-five attorneys held - 342 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 343 stock in the library. When the Common Pleas Court was located in Memorial Hall the law library as secured from the burning Clark County Court House four years ago, was also opened there. All of the Ohio reports and those of nearby states are found in it, and through its use the individual attorney does not require such an extensive and expensive working library. While books may be removed, the borrower must leave a card covering his obligation. Along with other commodities, the law has been commercialized and attorneys must make money. It has been defined as a "hocus pocus science which smiles in your face while it picks your pockets," and again the lawyers say it is not their mission to tell their clients what they cannot do, but to get them out of their difficulties after they have done certain things. President Lincoln once said : "In law it is a good policy never to plead what you need not, lest you oblige yourself to prove what you cannot," and thus unnecessary confusion is saved the witness. There is an Arabian proverb : "A secret is in my custody if I keep it ; but should it escape me, it is I who am the prisoner," and from the same source comes the statement : "A lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason ; if he possess some knowledge of these, he may venture to call himself an architect." Gen. J. Warren Keifer, who has reflected honor on the Clark County bar by serving as speaker of the National House of Representatives for many years, says that education for the practice of law includes knowledge of almost all subjects : ancient, modern, literary, scientific, biological, historical, etc., and that continued close application to study is necessary. It is said that when General Keifer was speaker the Premier of England, William E. Gladstone, while in the House of Commons cited and adopted one of his decisions—the rule of cloture, which is a most useful thing to a presiding officer—the right to close debate, cutting off obstructive motions and bringing the house to an immediate vote on the main question. It was a compliment never bef ore paid to an American parliamentarian by an Englishman. It was while the local military-jurist was a member of the Forty-seventh Congress. OTHER DISTINGUISHED JURISTS It has been the privilege of the Clark County bar to furnish three of its members to sit on the bench in the Supreme Court of Ohio, Judge William White of Springfield occupying that exalted position nineteen years. A second decisive honor was conferred upon Judge White when he was elected judge in the United States District Court, but he died before ascending the bench. Judge A. N. Summers was on the bench of the Ohio Supreme Court seven years, and since 1911 Judge James C. Johnson is one of the six judges who assume the court regalia and determine matters of statewide importance. While it is an English custom, the Ohio Supreme Court judges appear in flowing robes, although they do not affect the wigs worn by English jurists. As did his predecessors, Judge Johnson maintains his legal residence in Springfield. Clark County now has two judges holding court outside, Judge Albert H. Kunkle of the Appellate Court being in Springfield in turn with other counties. There are case and corporation lawyers in Clark County, S. A. Bowman as attorney for Whitely, Fassler and Kelly, having been the first 344 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY corporation lawyer in Springfield. They were organized to expand the business of the community, and with them he had great opportunity. William F. Devitt, who for years was private secretary to William N. Whitely, holds the record as Clark County court stenographer. He was among the earliest shorthand writers in Springfield, and he was court stenographer from December, 1889, until May, 1910, and in twenty-one years he listened to many arguments. There used to be spell-binders in court, but since the advent of the daily newspaper the jurors are better informed and they are not influenced by oratory. While the jurors read the newspapers, they did not accept all they read as facts and many of them easily qualify as jurors. While jury service is sometimes irksome, the crippled arm of justice is explained through the want of competent jurors ; the better the type of juror, the quicker he is discarded by the criminal type of lawyer. When reputable, intelligent citizens avoid jury service it is not difficult for the criminal to secure a jury suited to his requirements. Business corporations are beginning to recognize the need of competent jurors if law enforcement is to be possible, and while legal exemptions are numerous there is a revolution of opinion relative to jury service. The professional juror does not stand much show in Clark County ; the time was when men with time on their hands frequented the court room, hoping to be drawn for jury service. WOMEN AS JURORS When women were first admitted to jury service in the September term of the Clark County court, 1920, five names were drawn from the wheel and Miss Leona Yeazell, custodian of Memorial Hall, where court was being held, was an emergency jury woman. There were six women and six men, and the case was a woman against a man. The opposing attorneys were John L. Zimmerman and Horace Stafford, and while the woman won the women jurors did not all support her. Early in the history of women as jurymen three women were named as members of the grand jury : Laura Neer, Anna Whitely and Mabel Jones. In these days jurors discuss the sub-conscious mind, and some witnesses understand psychology, and with a jury informed on the issues of the case there is little left to the lawyer but its logical presentation. When lawyers were recognized as orators there was little telegraph news available in daily papers, and it was first hand information when testimony was heard in court. Once upon a time the lawyers at the Clark County bar were in demand as platform orators, and they discussed the slavery question and sometimes the temperance question ; they discussed the tariff, and placed a more or less rigid interpretation or construction on the Constitution of the state or nation. While there is just as much brain force in the Clark County bar today, its environment has changed ; the intelligent reader has the same opportunity of investigation, and the sagacious lawyer realizes his limitations ; the printed page has robbed him of his thunder, and eloquence does not always rescue him from oblivion. While Springfield lawyers are known on the lecture platform, they are handicapped over the lawyers of past generations ; they cannot repeat their addresses indefinitely. A number of Springfield lawyers have distinguished themselves bef ore the local civic and literary clubs ; they have SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 345 written and read many papers, and language does not hamper them at all. While there are criminal and advisory lawyers who do not appear in court, in Springfield are corporation and private lawyers who have accumulated considerable property, and it is understood there is not a lawyer at the bar who would not offer $2 worth more counsel when asked to take a $3 fee out of a $5 bill, were such an emergency confronting him ; the average Clark County lawyer takes care of himself in the matter of charges for his services. A man looking back over the years said there had been distinguished lawyers at the Clark County bar, and in an assembly Judge F. M. Hagan once paid tribute to the pioneers, saying : "An American traveler of rare discrimination toured the world to test for himself the comparative merits of each region as a place of residence. "Returning to his own land the traveler wrote a book in which he stoutly declared that all things considered, the portion of this planet embraced within the Miami Valleys is, because of its natural resources and beauty and the intelligence, thrift, morality and progress of its people, the best place on earth for human habitation. So it is a good thing to be born and live in Clark County, one of the magnificent cluster of counties constituting this favored region where one finds opportunity and incentive. My theme is to tell the traits of some of the lawyers of Clark County; the time and occasion bids me to limit my discussion to the lawyers of the past and to briefly tell of their characteristics. Were I to enlarge the theme, there would be matter for eloquence in telling about the present bar of Clark County, whose leaders are achieving success in the practice of their profession or filling with honor and ability high judicial positions. "Transitory indeed is the fame of lawyers won in the practice, resting as it does mainly in the memory of their associates. Of all the first generation of Clark County lawyers, but one member of that bar who was their contemporary for a few years is now living, and he is with us tonight. He is a veteran of two wars, renowned as a lawyer, soldier and statesman who at nearly four score years practices his profession with unabated vigor ; we greet him in the person of Gen. Joseph Warren Keifer." (After passing his eighty-sixth birthday, the same may be said of General Keifer.) Judge Hagan limits his observations to a group of lawyers with whom he had personal acquaintance : William White, Samuel Shellabarger, Samuel A. Bowman and Oscar T. Martin. "William White, who was eight years at the Clark County bar, was for another eight years judge of the Common Pleas Court, and for nineteen years a judge in the Supreme Court of Ohio, and in its reports his opinions are monuments to him. They repay study for the broad perception of justice and equity which they display, with painstaking care and conscientious devotion to duty, as well as the choice diction in which they are couched. Here was a great and gentle spirit unawed by power and unseduced by gain, filled only with a sense of duty whose private life was as sweet and lovely as his public career was honorable. Judge White was called from the Supreme bench to a Federal court, but he was stricken by death before entering the latter sphere. "There comes to my mind the great figure of Samuel Shellabargera native of Clark County— raising himself by his own unaided efforts from humble environment to the first rank of lawyers and statesmen. 346 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY As a lawyer his early career was in the State and Federal courts in Ohio, in the closing years of his life it was in the various courts at Washington, and largely in the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Shellabarger did not have a quick mind but a profound one ; he was eminently a man of logic, second to no other. Having chosen his premises he moved with irresistible force to a sound conclusion. If ever a man practiced law because he loved to do it, that was Samuel Shellabarger. If in his judgment it was necessary, he devoted as much time in preparing and trying a case involving $100 as one involving $10,000, and as a member of Congress his legal powers were shown in framing the great reconstruction acts, together with Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner. As a lawyer of power, dignity and success he had few peers in all this land," and while Mr. Shellabarger died in Washington he lies buried in Ferncliff. While he made speeches in the Civil war, his last address in Springfield was in connection with the dedication of the Warder Library. "Another of the great figures at the Clark County bar and in the Federal and other courts of Ohio was Samuel A. Bowman, whose life was mainly spent in Clark County. He was the opposite in intellectual traits and methods from Mr. Shellabarger. Mr. Bowman did not like the ordinary tedium of the law ; it required a crisis to arouse his energy into high action. He had a quick, profound mind, and in addition to acquired knowledge he had an intuitive perception of legal principles and their correct application to concrete cases, such as distinguished that eminent Ohio lawyer, Rufus P. Ranney. When a great question confronted him in his office or at the bar, he seemed to grasp and master it and to be able to throw a flood of light through the darkest recesses of all of its complications. Samuel A. Bowman never held a public office, nor did he cultivate the grace which brings public admiration. Because of this he was not so widely known in the State of Ohio as many men of lesser merit, but he ranked and ought to rank for all time as one of its greatest lawyers. "The last to whom I shall pay my humble tribute—Oscar T. Martin —is one who passed away but a little while ago, after an active life in the profession in the county of his birth of nearly forty years' duration. He was of a different type from any of those whom I have mentioned ; a man of perpetual study, given to the greatest care in small or great matters ; systematical and methodical in the highest degree ; honorable in all his dealings ; filled with the pride of his profession ; he was a typical American business lawyer, prepared for any duty which confronted him in his profession. Mr. Martin never held or aspired to any public position ; nothing is more fleeting than the reputation of a lawyer who has not held a high judicial position or mingled statesmanship with law. It may be said with peculiar force of our profession as was said by a poet of all men : "We pass ; the path which each man trod is dimmed, Or soon shall dim with weeds ; What is there left of human deeds in endless years? It rests with God." "Each generation of lawyers has its high part to play in the great drama of life; what a precious heritage then it would be for each suc- SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 347 ceeding generation to have preserved in some imperishable form the traits of the great and honored lawyers who have preceded it. When- ever a great and upright lawyer of any community comes to the end of his earthly career the duty rests upon those who survive to see that such traits are preserved, not only in the memories of those who survive, but in some permanent form as a legacy, for the enrichment of the greatest profession on earth," and what Judge Hagan says with enthusiasm about his own line of activity applies with equal force to the whole community. The annals of the community show Samson Mason to have been among the early practitioners at the Clark County bar. He was identified with the development of Springfield, and when he represented Clark County in Congress he was classed as an aristocrat—a man with much dignity. He was an able lawyer and carried a gold headed cane when he appeared in public in Washington. His gold headed cane and plug hat always attracted attention. Gen. Charles Anthony, who was an early member of the Clark County bar, was a successful lawyer. He was bluff and outstanding as a jury lawyer. In his day lawyers played on the sympathy of the jurors, but in these days of subconscious minds and psychological tests, no matter how formidable, they are unable to sway twelve men who have read all of the particulars of the case. The orator at the Clark County bar must f eel the burden of his words or they fall without impress upon the jury, and "the jury outside the jury box," who always form their own conclusions. This is the age of calm reason, rather than disturbed emotion, and the Clark County legal fraternity has adapted itself to the changed conditions. Why should an attorney at the bar exert himself to the point of frenzy unless he has a distinctive message ? A case often quoted and copied into the legal reports was tried September 9, 1850, in the Clark County court—David Stewart vs. The State —and it is cited as the leading case on self-defense by lawyers all over the United States. While it deals with criminology, the way it was disposed of was a credit to the bar of Clark County. There has been litigation as an outgrowth of blasting and injuring the flow of spring water, and when sewers have been constructed the same difficulty has been encountered, until bubbling springs would now hardly suggest the name of the town, but it is all part of community development—the limestone underlying the city rendered heroic measures a necessity. While some lawyers find too little time for all their activities, and while litigation remains uncertain, the question is raised as to who patches the seat of justice, and the humorist, Abe Martin, says the difference between a world war and a legal battle is that the newspaper readers have to wear the gas masks, and some one else inquires why secure a legal education in order to practice economy ? In reviewing the history of the Clark County bar, one able jurist said that E. H. Cumming had been an early Springfield lawyer who after his marriage laid off the ermine and adopted the garb of the clergy. While he is the lone example of an attorney leaving the Clark County bar for the pulpit, a number of others abandoned the profession for business, among them Scipio Baker, T. F. McGrew, Sr., Randolph Coleman and John H. Thomas. However, in conducting constructive business they were benefited from their knowledge of law. In the days when the circuit judges came from other counties there was much difficulty with the Indians in Western Ohio and in Indiana, from horse 348 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY stealing. As the circuit judges traveled from one court to another on horseback and fording swollen streams, they were in sympathy with the settlers who suffered so many losses. There was litigation from the beginning, and the situation outlined by the Quaker poet, John Greenleaf Whittier : "No doubtful balance of rights and wrongs, Nor weary lawyers with endless tongues," seems an utter impossibility. The word bench is a time honored term, English in its origin. The judge is a public officer vested with authority 10 hear and determine causes, and to administer judgment according to the law and the evidence introduced by the litigants before him. Before the judge of the. court comes all the woes of humanity, and a well known humorist has said : "Some folks are so guilty they cannot find a lawyer famous enough to defend them." When people know themselves innocent, it is said they are satisfied with a trial before the judge, but when they are guilty they have eleven more chances of a favorable decision by leaving it to a jury. While the judge is immovable under the pressure of eloquence, when the retainer is sufficient the spellbinders at the bar are sometimes able to influence a jury. In a figurative sense, the terms bench and bar indicate the judge of the court and the practicing members of the legal fraternity. In the Clark County Official Roster chapter all the judges who have occupied the bench in Clark County are enumerated, while there is a roster of the present bar on file with the clerk of the court ; some of the members of the local bar have enrolled themselves as patrons of this history in the biography section. Laws are the necessary relations resulting from the nature of things, and many matters are settled in court about which there is no controversy ; it is litigation without the element of contest—simply an amiable adjustment of matters. Judicial proceedings do not necessarily involve controversy, and thus many prosperous attorneys seldom appear in court. The mimic dictionary defines a lawyer thus : "The man who rescues your property from the adversary and keeps it himself." There are estates to be settled and titles to be cleared, and some, lawyers establish a reputation for accuracy ; they write wills and acknowledge deeds with never any reverses following them. They are found in the Clark County bar, and while Judge Hagan pays tribute to the outstanding attorneys of the first generation, their sons are holding forth today with the same high moral purpose—some fine legal specimens who give advice that keeps their clients out of court, and still they are able to commercialize their knowledge ; the differences are adjusted through arbitration and why should the whole community know the unpleasant details ? In Common Pleas Court one day Judge Geiger exclaimed : "What is the matter, anyway ?" when a young man and his wife were explaining things, and his wholesome advice seemed to adjust the difficulty. He painted the picture of a divorced woman with a child, saying : "It is hell to be a divorced woman." When there were no skyscraper office buildings in Springfield the attorneys at the Clark County bar were easy-going, and they used to swap yarns from their chairs at the curb in front of their respective offices ; it was no trick to carry a chair down one flight of stairs, and when a SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 349 client accosted one of them he would finish the story before he would consider any further litigation obligations. Those lawyers of the past never sullied the ermine, and today there is a high moral standard at the Clark County bar ; some of its members are known in the halls of state—in the councils of the nation, and a fraternal spirit marks all legal proceedings. The Clark County Bar Association—the Springfield Bar and Library Association—affiliates with the Ohio Bar Association, and the local legal acumen has recognition in other courts. Judge Johnson, who maintains his residence in Springfield, was named by Newton D. Baker of Cleveland, who was once Secretary of War, as a member of the Ohio Committee of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, a national organization pledged to raise $1,000,000 in tribute, the income to be given in prizes to the persons who in the opinion of a jury of award have done most to advance the ideals most associated with the name of Mr. Wilson. While there are unwritten laws in society, and lynch laws in some communities that do not require legal interpretation in their execution, jurisprudence is a systematic knowledge of the laws, customs and the rights of a citizen in a state or community, necessary to secure the due administration of justice. A jurist professes, and sometimes writes the science of law, and while no one enjoys a mirthful aspersion upon his own calling more than the lawyer, it is said that those sharing office rooms in Springfield have a multiplicity of keys rather than duplication of locks on their doors. They are not like the settler who cut a hole in the cabin door for the cat and a smaller hole near it for the kittens. The legal light who defined arson as "pizen" did not practice law in Clark County, although local attorneys long ago settled the question : "May a man marry his widow's sister ?" They answer it by saying a Negro housemaid at the funeral of a woman friend issued the statement that she would marry the corpse's husband. While there were associate judges under the original Ohio Constitution, on the adoption of the second Constitution, March 10, 1851, the District Common Pleas and the County Probate Court assumed all local jurisdiction ; from the beginning in 1818 there was a presiding judge sitting with the associate judges, and he was required to hold court in turn in all the counties in the district, and under transportation difficulties the word circuit had definite meaning. The story of Count Coffinberry, who belonged to that period and who migrated about Ohio, is known to all jurists, and his epic in seven cantos : The Capture ; the Narration ; the March ; the Hazard ; the Rescue ; the Preparation, and the Conclusion, is the story of the pioneer in any community. Under the original Constitution the Supreme had both original and appellate jurisdiction, and important criminal cases were tried before it while the judges were peripatetic, still holding court in different counties. In the early days there was a bell on the Clark County courthouse and it was used in calling the litigants to court ; in recent years the bailiff shouts the words : "Come to court," repeating twice, and when he says : "Hear ye, court is now in session," the "mills of the gods" begin the grinding process—slow and exceeding fine. When court is in session those in durance vile know their doom is approaching and while the rain falls on the just as well as on the unjust, the judge is supposed to possess his soul in patience while the lawyers quibble over seemingly irrelevant matters, but that is when Judge Geiger hurries matters.