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CHAPTER IX.

BENCH AND BAR.

[BY HON. D. THEW WRIGHT,]
EARLY COURTS, AND LAWYERS-CRIMINAL COURT - THE NEW CONSTITUTION - COURTHOUSE-CINCINNATI LAW LIBRARY - SUPERIOR COURT AND OTHER COURT - BIOGRAPHIES OF EMINENT AND PROMINENT JURISTS.

ONE of the earliest instances of the administration of justice, in Hamilton county, occurred in the year 1788. At that time there were no settlements to speak of, and but few houses, in the country. There were no courthouses to administer the law, and not much law to administer. The citizens convened in a mass-meeting, and elected a judge and sheriff; apparently it did not occur to any one that any thing further was necessary to run a community upon perfectly safe principles. No laws had been furnished or existed for the occasion; but the simple-hearted fathers, after their day's work, slept the sleep of the just, content with the belief that, with a judge and a sheriff, they were securely reposing under the protecting aegis of a legitimate Constitutional Government. The first practical application of this new jurisprudence was the arrest of an Irishman for robbing a garden patch. The case is not found in the Ohio Reports, but it seems that "a jury was regularly called" (regularly is quite appropriate in this connection), the defendant was found guilty, in some way or other, and sentenced to receive twenty-nine lashes. The judgment of the court was carried out the same day, so that an appeal or writ of error would have been ineffectual. This improvised court, however, did not last long. It came in conflict with the military. The commandant at Fort Washington and the judge differed in their views as to some matters, and a recourse was had to violence. In the interview, the civil conservator of the peace was badly damaged.''

Civil government became a necessity upon the adoption of the Ordinance of 1787. In October of that, year Congress appointed Arthur St. Clair, governor; Samuel Holden Parsons, John Armstrong and James Mitchell Varnum, the first judges of the Territory. Armstrong declining the position, John Cleve Symmes was appointed to the vacancy. Upon the adoption of the Constitution of the United States in 1789, Judges .Parsons and Symmes and William Barton were appointed judges. Barton declined, and George Turner was appointed in his place. Rufus Putnam succeeded Parsons, who died in 1790. In December, 1796, Putnam resigned, and was succeeded by Joseph Gilman. Judge Turner was succeeded by Return Jonathan Meigs, in 1798, and the judges then in commission continued in office until the Territorial government was succeeded by the State of Ohio.

The county of Hamilton was created by proclamation of Governor St. Chair, January 2, 1790, and on that day he appointed, as judges of the county court, William McMillan, William Goforth, and William Wells. Of these first judges of the Territory riot much is known, but William McMillan appears to have been no ordinary mail. William M. Corry, a gentleman himself well qualified to judge, and who did not bestow eulogy indiscriminately, in a published address says of him: "During his professional career there was no higher man at the western bar than William McMillan. Its accomplished ranks would have done honor to older countries, but it did not contain his superior. Some of our distinguished lawyers of that day were admirable public speakers; he was not. Some of them were able in the comprehension of their caves, and skillful to a proverb in their management. Of these he ranked among the first. His opinions had all the respectability of learning,

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precision anti strength. They commanded acquiescence, they challenged opposition, when to obtain assent was difficult, and to provoke hostility dangerous."

Judge Burnet says of him: "He possessed an intellect of a high order, and had acquired a fund of information, general as well as professional, which qualified him for great usefulness in the early legislature of the Territory."

But not much of written history remains of these pristine lights of the profession. We can only glean here and there an item of information which at best is uncertain and unsatisfactory.

The first Constitution of the State of Ohio does not seem to have been particularly adopted by anybody, in the sense in which that word is now used. It was prepared by the Constitutional Convention, signed by the members thereof on the 20th day of November, 1802. and appeared to go into operation of its own motion. It was not submitted to the People for ratification or approval by them, though for many years they appeared to be satisfied with it. There is a curious uncertainty about the date of admission of Ohio, under this Constitution, into the Union. As many as seven different dates are assigned, by as many different publications. April 30, 1802, has been given by the editor of the "United States Statutes at Large," in Volume I. This was the date of the passage of the enabling act of Congress, authorizing the people to form a Constitution, and for the admission of the State into the Union But as the date of the enabling act of other States has not been regarded as the date of admission, there is no reason for making an exception with regard to Ohio. June 30, 1803, is said to be the time, in the report of the Ninth Census. But as Congress was not in session that day, having adjourned in May, this is evidently an error. November 29, 1802, being the day the Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution and adjourned, is held by many to be the proper date. Hildreth's "History of the United States" gives it as March 1, 1803, being the time when the first General Assembly met in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Another authority states March 3, 1803, that being the date of an act of Congress assenting to certain modifications proposed by the convention, relating to reservation of lands for public schools. Atwater's "History of Ohio," Mansfield's "Political Grammar," and others, give February 19, 1803,

The enabling act, as said, was passed April 30, 1802; under which the Constitutional Convention proceeded with its work, and the Constitution, with certain propositions relating to laws within the State, was laid before Congress, for its action. Committees were appointed in both Houses to whom the papers were referred. The Senate resolution was, that a committee be appointed to inquire whether any legislation was necessary, and if so what, for the admission of the State of Ohio into the Union and for the extending to that State the laws of the United States. On the 19th of January, 1803, the committee reported that under the enabling act, the people had formed a Constitution and State Government, Republican in form, and in conformity with the principles of the Ordinance of 1787, and that it was necessary now to establish a District Court within the State, to carry into complete effect the laws of the United States within the same. On this report a bill was presented and passed February 7; the House took up the bill, and passed it February 19. This was the first law of Congress recognizing the new State. There seems to have been no formal act of admission at any time. There is, however, a collection of charters and constitutions compiled by order of the United States Senate, and printed in 1877. In this work, the Constitution of the State follows the enabling act, and is then followed by the act of admission. In this publication, the Constitution of Ohio is followed by the act of February 19, 1803, under the heading "An act recognizing the State of Ohio." The inquiry, probably, is of but little consequence now, its chief interest is the puzzling nature of the question.

Under the Constitution of 1802, the judicial power of the State of Ohio was vested in a Supreme Court, Courts of Common Pleas, Justices of the Peace, and.

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such other Courts, as the Legislature might see fit to establish. The Supreme Court at first consisted of three judges, but was afterward increased to four. Courts of Common Pleas were composed of a presiding judge and associates. The president judge, being a member of the Bar, was supposed to be learned in the law; the supposition did not, however, prevail as to his associates, who wore not lawyers. They, however, acted as probate judges, and most of them were competent to hear the probate of wills, appoint executors and administrators, and review accounts current and final. A list of the presiding judges of the Court of Common Pleas under the old Constitution is as follows, as far as can be ascertained: Thomas Gibson, in 1803; Michael Jones, in 1801; from 1805 to 1819, Francis Dunlevy; from 1819 to 1832, George P. Torrence; from 1832 to 1835, John M. Goodenow; from 1833 to 1838. David K. Este, who then went upon the Bench of the Superior Court of Cincinnati, organized that year. Este was succeeded by Oliver M. Spencer. Spencer was succeeded by Nathaniel C. Reed, who went upon the Bench of the Supreme Court of the State, being succeeded by Timothy Walker in 1841. William B. Caldwell was the next presiding judge, who also became a judge of the Supreme Court in 1850, Charles Brough and Samuel M. Hart were upon the Bench in 1850, and Robert B. Warden was the last presiding judge prior to the adoption of the new Constitution. Of the associate judges of the Court of Common Pleas, James Silvers served for three terms; Luke Foster, from 1803 to 1810; Matthew Nimmo, from 1804 to 1806; William McFarland in 1807; John Matson, from 1808 to 1810; Stephen Wood, from 1810 to 1816; James Clark, in 1811; Othniel Looker, in 1817; William Burke, in 1818, and also John C. Short. During 1820 and 1822 Othniel Looker, James Silver and Peter Bell were judges. In 1823 and 1824 Samuel R. Miller; in 1823-26, Patrick Smith and Ben Piatt; Peter Bell, Patrick Smith, and John Jolly, from 1825 to 1829; in 1829 and 1831, Enos Woodruff; Samuel Rees, in 1831; Thomas Henderson, in 1831 and 1836. Jonathan Cilley and John Burgoyne, in 1834 and in 1836, and Joseph Brown and Richard Ayers, in 1839 and 1840. Henry Moore, in 1839 and 1845. Israel Brown and Robert Moore served from 1845, and with James Saffin and John A. Wiseman were the last associates tinder the old system. It is impracticable to give the exact time of service of these various gentlemen, and it is possible the list is not complete, but the sources of information are meager. and the fact that the courthouse in this county has been twice burned deprives us of those records which in law impart absolute verity.

Although Judge George P. Torrence served for a longer time than any presiding judge except Dunlevy, the record of early days show that be assumed his political functions under circumstances that occasioned considerable comment, principally of an unfavorable nature. The Legislature of 1818 appointed him, then a sitting member of that body, presiding judge of the Ninth Circuit, Hamilton county. This Circuit was created at the same session and a few days before the appointment. The appointment was claimed to be unconstitutional under the clause:

No senator or representative shall during the term for which he shall have been elected be appointed to any civil office under the State which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased during such term.

This appointment created great excitement, it being claimed to be a flagrant violation of the fundamental law, and a judicial consideration of the question would seem to indicate that the objection was well taken. The matter was brought before the Supreme Court on quo warranto. but was dismissed for want of jurisdiction, any expression of opinion in favor of the appointment being carefully avoided. The Legislature then endeavored to exterminate the obnoxious judicial existence, by abolishing the Ninth Judicial Circuit. The Senate passed a bill for that purpose, but the House, after considering the matter several times, refused to concur, by the close vote of thirty-six to thirty-two. Nothing, however, seems to have disturbed

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the placidity of the judge's nature. He held on to his office with an aggravating persistency, and a serene indifference to fate that was a discomfiture to the evil-minded. He lived to a green old age. He was a man of amiable, jovial nature, with a kind word for every one, and he retained the respect of the entire community.

Courts and judges, in the earlier days of jurisprudence, seem to have had their own private troubles, although, to consider them in this retrospect of fifty years, they bear somewhat of resemblance to the tempest in the teapot. John M. Goodenow came to Cincinnati from Steubenville in 1832, to enter upon the practice of the law. It appears according to his own statement that he was at once solicited and urged by personal and political friends to become a candidate for presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Hamilton county. Affairs in the olden times were not different from the present day, as no man was ever known to seek office purely of his own volition. There are always admiring and disinterested friends who insist upon his sacrificing himself upon the altar of public welfare, although the lamb is generally led to the slaughter without vociferous remonstrance. He was chosen judge, January, 1833. One of the first duties of Judge Goodenow was to participate in the appointment of the clerk of the court, vice Daniel Gano. There were a number of candidates for the position, and the four judges differed as to the merits of the various individuals proposed. Two of the judges, after acrimonious discussion, announced that they would vote for a certain one, and no other, and the other judges might contemplate the situation from any standpoint they saw fit, with the largest liberty to do so indefinitely. The consequence was that no clerk was appointed for nearly a year. In December, 1833, the Bar took the matter up and urged that an appointment should be made. In February, 1834, Judge Goodenow and two of his associates, John Burgoyne and Jonathan Cilley, agreed upon Samuel H. Goodin, whereupon the Bar held a meeting and requested that the appointment should not be consummated. A public meeting denounced. The newspapers had a few remarks to make, it being alleged that there was bribery and corruption in the case. One of the judges stated that Mr. James Goodin, brother of the inchoate clerk, had offered to him, the judge, $1,000 lawful currency of the realm if he would vote for and secure the appointment of Samuel H., as clerk. There was much virtuous indignation. The morality of the community was shocked. Committees investigated, as they do now-a-days and will do to the end of time. Cards were published. Everybody made a statement over their respective signatures. The statement of the judge, Enos Woodruff, was that James Goodin offered him the money point blank and had the checks with him as evidence thereof. James Goodin's statement averred, that it was a mistake all round, that be simply offered to bet Judge Woodruff, that if he, Woodruff, would vote for his,' Goodin's, brother, and secure the appointment, he, Woodruff, should be re-elected judge. Verily! it bath " a very ancient and fish-like smell," bath Goodin's statement. And yet it seems remarkable that for many months Judge Woodruff should give his colleagues no intimation of this dire attempt to soil the purity of the ermine, if such attempt had actually been made. Mr. Goodin, however, never exercised his high vocation of clerk. actually Two of the associate judges, Henderson and Burgoyne, without the knowledge of the presiding judge or third associate, and by what must be considered as an instance of sharp practice, made an entry appointing Gen. William H. Harrison. This action was acquiesced in by the Bar and community, and Warsaw was quiet.

This conduct of his colleagues, as well it might, gave mortal offense to Judge Goodenow. He declared, that under the circumstances be could not longer hold his judicial position, and did resign in November, 1834, a consummation devotedly wished, no doubt, by Judge Henderson, who had asserted, with much vehemence, that Goodenow should be "driven from the Bench."

The county of Hamilton continued to grow in population and importance. In 1790 it had about two thousand inhabitants; in 1840 it had over eighty thousand.

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As business increased and the affairs of men multiplied, it was found that the supply of courts was not equal to the demands made upon them. The Superior Court of Cincinnati was therefore organized by the act of March 15, 1838. It had concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of Common Pleas, of all civil cases in law and chancery, wherein that court had original jurisdiction. It, was held by a single judge whose salary at first was $1,200 per year, which in 1846 was reduced to $1,000, by the provisions of an act, facetiously entitled an "Act to provide adequate compensation for judges, etc.," the same act giving judges of the Supreme Court, $1,300, and the presiding judge of the Common Pleas Court, $1,000. The first judge of the Superior Court was David K. Este, who had formerly presided in the Court, of Common Pleas from 1838 to 1845. The following gentlemen succeeded Judge Este: Charles D. Coffin, who during his life was a leading member of the Bar ; William Johnston, who served from 1847 to 1850; Charles P. James, from 1850 to 1851, and George Hoadly, who was the last judge upon the Bench. This brief notice does not do justice to the usefulness of the old Superior Court. It relieved the pressure upon the existing tribunals of the county. For many years lawyers were able to dispatch business without having a lawsuit a synonym for Eternal Justice. For similar reasons, the Commercial Court was organized by the act of February 4, 1848. It was held by a single judge, the court having concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of Common Pleas of all civil cases at law, founded on contract and of all cases in chancery. This court, during the period of its existence was presided over by Judge Thomas M. Key, an eccentric but able man. He was a Kentuckian by birth, but came to this State early in life. During the Rebellion he was judge advocate on the staff of that military Puss in Boots, George B. McClellan. In the latter part of 1861 the writer visited the city of Washington as it was all " quiet on the Potomac." At that time, it will be remembered, Mr. Lincoln was President. But there was a greater than Lincoln, and his name was McClellan, and when we happened to encounter the judge advocate, it occurred to us, that now was the opportunity of discovering bow the problem of the war was to be solved, and we, therefore, ventured a leading question as to the existing status. Those who knew Key will remember how solemn and portentous his manner always was. But now his manner was more solemn and more portentous than ever. In the profoundest depths of a melancholy confidence, and speaking unutterable thoughts in a terrible whisper, he said: "If you have no business imperatively detaining you here, I advise you to get out of this town as fast as you can. Beauregard is lying over the river with 125,000 men, and he can walk into this city, whenever he chooses." The awful gravity of the statement, enhanced as it was by the blood-curdling way of putting it was overwhelming. After events disclosed the fact that the rebel army consisted of some twenty or thirty thousand ragged chivalry. They were, however, backed up by a supply of Quaker guns, and the young Napoleon was terrified in his heart..

Key was the reputed author of the celebrated Harrison's Landing letter, in which McClellan undertakes to instruct Mr. Lincoln as to his military and civil rights, duties and obligations. As a specimen of pure unadulterated impudence, there never was anything like it in the world, and Key had an ability of impudence, which was a talent amounting to genius, and if he did not write the paper in question, be was quite equal to doing it.

Early in 1861 McClellan sent Key to interview Gen. W. T. Sherman, to see if Sherman really was crazy, it having been authoritatively stated that such was the fact. Key performed his mission and reported to the effect, that there was a screw loose somewhere, and that, in his judgment, Gen. Sherman was not fit to be entrusted with the command of a large army. The keenness of this witticism can only be discovered as the light of history falls upon the army of the West moving from Chattanooga by way of Atlanta, Ga., and the sea, to the downfall of the Rebellion and the final triumph of the Flag.

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CRIMINAL COURT.

In speaking of the administration of justice, in Hamilton county, the Criminal Court should not be forgotten, for there was a Criminal Court. In was created by the act, of March 12, 1852. The people were able to stand it for two years, when its existence was terminated by the act of May 1, 1854, The inherent defect in its condition was its judge, Jacob Flinn. He was one of the first experiments of an elective judiciary, and, so far from being a success, his court was abolished to get rid of him. A complete biography of him can not be written, for research has failed to discover material facts. This county is supposed to have been his birthplace, and he was brought up on a farm. He probably had the. rudiments of an early education, though there is no evidence of the fact. It is certain that he studied law, for he was admitted to the Bar, and the law at that time required a probationary period of educational discipline before being sworn in. As a lawyer be was a very large man with an avoirdupois approximating three hundred pounds. He was very dainty in his dress, and his personal appearance, in point of elegance, might be regarded as phenomenal. As a judge, he tried many criminals and hang one or two, very successfully. Such was the general not to say the universal estimate of his talents, his learning and his integrity, that when a too critical legislature decapitated so to speak, not to put too fine a point upon it, his eccentric judicial career, without compensation for losses sustained, the entire Bar, and the community, quite as entirely were enabled to regulate, if they could not wholly suppress, the public grief.

THE NEW CONSTITUTION.

The new Constitution was adopted in 1851, and the following were the judges of the Court of Common Pleas: A. G. W. Carter; Stanley Matthews, Robert B. Warden. They were elected for a term of five years, which expired in January, 1857, the salary being $1,500 per year. Warden resigned, and Donn Piatt was appointed to^, succeed him April 3, 1852. Judge Piatt did not long remain upon the Bench. In 1855, the judges were Carter, Nelson Cross and James Parker. Judge Cross was succeeded by Washington Van Hamm in 1856. In 1856 the judges elected were Carter, Patrick Mallon, and M. W. Oliver. Upon Judge Oliver's resignation William M. Dickson was appointed by Governor Chase, in 1859, serving till November 7th, of that year, when he was succeeded by Isaac C. Collins. Then followed Nicholas. Headington, Charles C. Murdock, Edward Woodruff, M. F. Force and Joseph CoxJudges Force, Murdock and Cox were elected for a term beginning February 12, 1872, and ending February 12, 1877. The number of judges having been increased, Jacob Burnet and William L. Avery were elected for a term which began November 6, 1871, ending November 6, 1876. For the term beginning February 12, 1877, and ending February 12, 1882, William L. Avery, Joseph. Cox and Nicholas Longworth were elected; Robert A. Johnson and Jacob Burnet, for the term beginning November 6, 1876, ending November 6, 1881. On May 10, 1878, the legislature authorized the election of two additional judges of the Court of Common Pleas, their terms to begin on the first Monday of December following their election; the term five years. Under this act Fayette Smith and Fred W. Moore were elected judges, their term beginning December 2, 1878, ending December 3, 1883. Robert A. Johnston, S. N. Maxwell, John S. Connor, M. L. Buchwalter and William L. Avery were elected for the term beginning February 9, 1882, ending February 9. 1887; Judge Avery resigned and was succeeded by A. B. Huston. Samuel R. Matthews and Charles D. Robertson were elected for the term beginning December 3, 1883, ending December 3, 1888. Phillip H. Kumler, Jacob Schroeder, S. N. Maxwell, Charles Evans and M. L. Buchwalter were elected for the term beginning February 8, 1887, and ending February 8, 1892. Matthews and Robertson were succeeded by Miller Outcalt and Clement Bates, whose term began the first Monday

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of December, 1888, continuing five years. Phillip H. Kumler. M. L. Buchwalter, Charles Evans, M. F. Wilson and John R. Sayler are now judges of the Court of Common Pleas holding office from February, 1893, for a period of five years. At the election held November 7, 1893, Howard Hollister and Dan. Thew Wright were elected to succeed Judges Outcalt and Bates. The term of office of the judges elect beginning the first Monday of December. 1893.

Under the constitution of 1851 the District Court was composed of Common Pleas judges, and a judge of the Supreme Court. For a period of some years a judge of the Supreme Court did attend the sessions of the District Court, but this practice was finally abandoned, on account of the great pressure of business in the court of last resort. The organization of the District Court was not satisfactory to the Bar, it being a fundamental error that judges should sit to review their own decisions, and, in 1,885, the Circuit Court was created, Hamilton county being the first circuit. It is a Court of Error, composed of three judges elected for six years. The first judges were Joseph Cox, whose term was from February 9, 1885, to February, 1887. James M. Smith, from February 9, 1885, to February, 1889; Phillip B. Swing, from February 9. 1885, to February, 1891. Judge Cox was elected in 1886 to serve until February, 1893, being again re-elected and now in office. Judge Swing was also re-elected, his term expiring in 1897.

The judges of the Superior Court of Cincinnati were as follows: Oliver M. Spencer from 1851 to 1861; William Y. Gholson, 1854 to 1859; Bellamy Storer, 1854 to 1871; George Hoadly, 1860 to 1865; Charles D. Coffin, 1862 to 1863; Stanley Matthews, 1863 to 1865; Charles Fox, 1865 to 1868; Alphonso Taft., 1866 to 1871; M. B. Hagans, 1869 to 1873; J. L. Miner, and J. Bryant Walker, in 1872; Alfred Yaple, 1873 to 1878; T. A. O'Connor, 1873 to 1877; W. H, Tilden, 187.4 to 1878; 'Manning F. Force, 1877 to 1887; Judson Harmon, 1878 to 1887. J. B. Foraker was elected in the spring of 1876; the resigned in 1882 and was succeeded by Judge William Worthington, who was in turn succeeded by Hiram D. Peck, elected in 1884 serving until May, 1889. William H. Taft's first term expired in May, 1888, and he was re-elected, but resigned and was succeeded by Samuel F. Hunt. Edward F. Noyes succeeded Judge Peck, being elected in 1889. Upon his death he was succeeded by John R. Sayler. The present incumbents are Samuel F. Hunt, Rufus B. Smith and F. W. Moore.

The Probate judges of the county were the following: John B. Warren, from February 9, 1852, to February 15, 1855; John Burgoyne, February 15, 1855, to February 9, 1858; George H. Hilton, February 9, 1858, to February 9, 1861; Alex. Paddack, February 9, 1861, to February 9, 1864; Edward Woodruff, February 9, 1864, to February 9,1867; Edward F. Noyes, February 9, 1867, to February 9, 1870; George T. Hoeffer, February 9, 1870, to February 9,1873; William Tilden, February 9, 1873, to August 20, 1873- Albert Paddack, August 20, 1873, to November 1, 1873; Isaac B. Matson, November 1,1873, to February 9, 1885; H. P. Goebel, February 9, 1885, to February 9, 1891, Howard Ferris went into office February 9, 1891, and is the present incumbent, having been re-elected November 7, 1893,

COURTHOUSES.

The first courthouse was upon the corner of Fifth and Main streets. A feature of the locality was the contiguous swamp and frog pond, and the frogs of 1790 must have been more than ordinarily musical, as all the books of early times have something to say of the noises they made. Adjacent to the frogs was the public whipping- post, a feature of gentility which adorned the courthouse of every county. Our ancestors appear to have been of opinion that the sparing of the rod was a proverb not exclusively applying to the early years of human existence.

The county subsequently erected an edifice upon the same location which was quite an architectural display. It had a cupola sonic eighty feet high, was orna-

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mented with balustrades, all of which called for an expenditure of $3,000, a sure that would now scarcely suffice for the erection of an office for a justice of the peace. The courthouse of 1851 cost $695,233,29, which illustrates the advance of civilization.

Fire has played an important part in the administration of justice in Hamilton county. During the war of 1812, the courthouse was used as a barracks for soldiers, who succeeded in setting fire to the building, to its entire destruction. A large lot was then donated to the county by Jesse Hunt, and a new building was completed in 1819. It was also destroyed by fire in 1849, and the Courts adjourned to a pork house on Court street. Legal business was here transacted, until a new building was completed in 1853. It remained until 1884, when it too was destroyed by fire, upon March 29, of that year. This disaster was the result of mob violence. A man by the name of Berner was tried for an atrocious murder. He was assumed to be guilty, and his acquittal to be the result of illegitimate methods. A virtuous but excited populace arose in their indignation to vindicate the law. With an intelligence quite as rare as its results were discriminating, the mob, instead of taking the criminal, and punishing him, fired the courthouse. The fire was disastrous. The records from the earliest times were burnt. No one can ever tell what books and papers, the accumulation of an hundred years, were thus lost. The magnificent Law Library, the result of many years wise and patient collection, was completely destroyed. It was some days before the mob was suppressed. The military took possession of what remained of the courthouse, and in the course of the rioting John J. Desmond, at the head of the company he commanded, was accidentally shot and killed. He was a brave, gallant young man, and promising lawyer; a tablet to his memory stands in the courthouse near the spot where he fell. It is a satisfaction, however, to know, as was subsequently developed, that there must have been a large number of the rioters who were killed, or wounded so that they died, by the prompt measures the military adopted. The number is said to have been as large as one hundred and fifty.

At the time this great calamity happened Governor George Hoadly was chief Magistrate of the State. A law was passed creating a Board of Trustees to be appointed by the Governor to build a new courthouse. Governor Hoadly appointed Henry C. Urner, John L. Stettinius, Wesley M. Cameron, and William Worthington. The successful result justified this wise selection. The Board of Trustees gave their two years and a half of public service, without compensation, and the present building is the result of their labor. On January 15, 1887, the Bar gave a banquet to the trustees and architect, James W. McLaughlin, as a testimonial of their regard for, and appreciation of, the work which had been done. It was a happy occasion, for the good will and high esteem, manifested for the gentlemen named, was a tribute they will long remember.

THE CINCINNATI LAW LIBRARY.

Any account of the profession in Hamilton county would be altogether incomplete without some reference to the Law Library. For many years it has been, at least, a feature of the courthouse. It was organized in 1846, and incorporated in 1847, rooms being provided by the county commissioners. It was destroyed by the fire of Saturday night, March 29, 1884. At this time the Library numbered some seventeen thousand volumes. During the thirty-seven years these had been accumulating, its members had invested in their purchase $43,968.98. It was one of the most complete libraries in this country. Every department was full. It, gloried also in the possession of Many exceedingly rare curiosities, some of which were valuable also for occasional practical use. Among them were complete copies of the Territorial laws of the Northwest Territory and of the Territories formed therefrom; of the Territorial laws of Alabama. Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi;

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a copy of Justinian edition of 1535; of Grotius' first edition, containing pen and ink notes and emendations made by the author, and original copies of the first edition of Coke, Blackstone and Kent. On the walls were many paintings, portraits of early and distinguished jurists of Ohio. The room also held a collection of many valuable articles, the accumulation of years of active interest in the association on the part of its members, and of those who. although not members, yet realized that the public at large would be greatly benefitted by the success of such a library. Of all that was in the library rooms that Saturday night, but one book came through the fire safely-that was an odd volume of Pennsylvania laws. A few volumes, six or seven in all, happened to be out on loan, and thus were saved. All else-reports, statutes, text-books, engravings and paintings-wore reduced to ashes. The loss was a severe one. By none was it felt wore keenly than by. the librarian, Maurice W. Myers, who for almost, a quarter of a century had carefully and zealously watched over and fostered the growth of the Library. To his indefatigable zeal and constant services it was mainly indebted for much that made it what it was-the Law Library of the country. The Library was insured in the sum of $10,1)00. This was looked upon as a fund for the restoration, so far as money could restore, of the Library that was gone. No one seemed to doubt for a moment that the immediate thing to be undertaken was this work of restoration. Courts and lawyers must have law books for constant, ready use, and in no other way could the demand be better met than by the association. Its affairs are managed by a board of trustees. On Monday after the fire, March 31, this board met to consider the situation. They found that several boxes of books had arrived at the depots, which, while useful to the old Library to round out its outlines in certain respects, were not necessary to a Library which, for some time to come, should contain only actually needed working material. Several orders were also outstanding for similar books. It was voted' to return these books and cancel the orders if possible, and the treasurer was instructed to collect the insurance. On April 3, the treasurer reported at a meeting of the trustees, that the four insurance companies disclaimed all liability for loss, on the ground that the fire was caused by a riot. In the policies of three of the companies was found, hid away in the depths of the finely printed exceptions, a clause exempting them from losses so caused. The policy of the fourth company did not contain this clause. It nevertheless refused to pay, alleging that by mutual agreement, it had been provided that this clause be inserted, but that it had been inadvertently omitted. The trustees promptly ordered suit to be brought on all four policies, and the five members of the board and their firms volunteered their services in the prosecution. On April 4, the association bold a large and enthusiastic meeting in College Hall. Probably no better account of the spirit of this meeting can be given than that suggested by the following extracts from the resolutions that were then unanimously adopted:

WHEREAS, In the loss to its members and the Bench and the Bar of this county by the destruction of our Library, which call not be overstated, this Association recognizes that the greatness of the disaster is commensurate with the complete success which had crowned the zeal, intelligence and energy of the management, and is confident, so long as the same qualities are employed in the restoration of what is lost, no misfortune can be called irreparable.

Resolved, That the support and co-operation of every member is hereby pledged to the officers of this Association in every attempt and step to replace what we have lost as speedily as possible.

But the meeting did not stop with mere resolutions. Liberal subscriptions were made to the funds necessary to restore the Library, and committees were appointed to solicit further aid, and, better still, an assessment of $100 was ordered on each member, payable in installments at reasonable intervals. With such backing the trustees did not hesitate to enter into contracts, and by April 30 they voted to accept an offer to furnish the Reports of the American Courts for $11,237.50, and, in May, one to furnish the English Courts for $5,070, and certain text-books

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and digests for $1,830. By June, 1881, the treasurer had cash receipts amounting to $0,852, and during the year ending June, 1885, he had received from subscriptions and assessments $19,808, and from the insurance companies $3,300, For, though suits had been brought against the insurance companies, the riot clause in the three of there had proven an insurmountable difficulty in the way of recovering, and they were compromised. The fourth policy was paid, notwithstanding the alleged inadvertence in its draft. The Library was well known throughout the country, and received from many quarters practical expressions of sympathy. Valuable contributions of books were made by the States of New York, Kentucky, Arkansas, Connecticut, Michigan, Iowa and Ohio. the Territories of Montana, Dakota, Idaho, Wyoming and Arizona, the city of Cincinnati, Robert Clarke & Company, Soule & Bugbee, publishers of Boston, and many other individuals. The members responded liberally to the plea for funds, The total amount paid for books from the fire down to June, 1893, was $56,025.99. In addition to that it must be remembered that there were large payments for regular current expenses. The largest single subscription was made by Rufus King, who was for many years the honored president of the association, and has shown his devotion to its interests in a thousand instances. Mr. King died in 1891, and in his will made a most generous bequest to the association. On the morning of April 3, 1884, the new Library, containing nine volumes, was open and ready for use in temporary quarters in the Debolt building-as a guest in the office of J. W. Fitzgerald & Son. It followed the Courts to the Albany building, and then to its-let us trust-permanent home in the new courthouse. Its books have all been paid for. In June, 1893, they numbered 16,373. Surely the record is worthy of preservation. It is the work of a membership not exceeding in number at any one time 250 members.

BIOGRAPHIES OF PROMINENT JURISTS.

Jacob Burnet.-But few men were more practically useful in organizing society in the Northwest through the enactment and administration of laws than Judge Burnet. He was of Scotch descent, illustrating in himself the best elements of that somewhat peculiar character. He was a son of Dr. William Burnet, of Newark, N. J., one of the medical directors and surgeons general in the Continental army. Judge Burnet came to the Miami Country, as it was then called, in the spring of 1798, to begin the practice of law. He was a member of the first Legislative Council of the Northwest Territory, exercising a large influence in the adoption of salutary laws, and now after nearly a century has elapsed, and the work has passed in review, it must be regarded as a happy circumstance that Jacob Burnet was a member of that first Legislature. Of a truth may it be said of this early pioneer in law, and in political and social economy, " their works do live after them." In 1820 the settlers on western land were hopelessly in debt to the government for the purchases they had made. There was no money in the country. Banks did nothing but fail. The sturdy woodman who more than once had gone forth, rifle in hand, to repel the onset of the savage foe upon the frontier settlement saw nothing but ruin before him. The humble home he had so often fought to defend "when the blood of his sons fattened his cornfields, and the war-whoop awakened the sleep of the cradle," was about to be torn from him, and he driven forth to the pitiless shelter of the wilderness. It was feared that an attempt by the government to collect its debts, amounting to about twenty-two millions of dollars, would result in civil war. At a time of such impending disaster, when the wisdom of statesmen was needed to divine a method of relief, and the justice of patriotism to arbitrate between exasperated partisans, Judge Burnet was the author of a scheme by which the settlers were allowed to relinquish such land as they could not pay for, applying the money they had already paid to protect the improvements which they had made. This scheme passed into a law, and the settler could once more sleep in his humble log cabin with the healthful consciousness of knowing it was his own.

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To the efforts of Judge Burnet is due in a great measure the construction of the Miami canal from Dayton to the lakes. Congress had made large grants of land to the State of Ohio to assist in the construction of canals; there were conditions, however, attached to the grants tinder which, after large amounts of money had been expended, the State was likely to lose its land grants, leaving its canals entirely uncompleted. Judge Burnet, then in the Senate, took up the matter with his accustomed zeal and energy. He succeeded in inducing the Senate to pass a bill removing the obnoxious conditions and obtaining additional grants. The bill became a law through his untiring efforts, and the contemplated works were completed.

Judge Burnet was a member of the Supreme Court of Ohio, but resigned his place to take his seat in the United States Senate, as the successor of William Henry Harrison, In the early days of which he writes, Judge Burnet and other members of the Bar were accustomed to attend the Supreme Court of the Territory at Cincinnati, Marietta and Detroit, the field of jurisprudence being a wide one. They traveled on horseback, carrying their provisions with them. The hotels of that day were not numerous, and the wayfarers slept on the ground, at the foot of a tree, using their saddles for pillows. Sometimes they would enjoy tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep, but often the gnats and mosquitoes were inexorable. The roads were merely bridle paths through the woods, and there were no bridges or ferries over streams, Consequently one of the first requirements of a good horse was that he should be an expert swimmer. With such an animal under them, it seemed to make little difference to our peripatetic Bar, whether they were on land or in the water. In December, 1799, Arthur St. Clair, Jr., and Judge Burnet set out on a trip frona Cincinnati to Vincennes, on professional business. They purchased a specimen of naval architecture known as an "Ark," into which they loaded their provisions, their horses and themselves. Four days of assiduous travel carried them to the Falls of the Ohio. Here they disembarked, mounted their horses, and plunged into the forest. As they were about to encamp for the night they encountered a band of Indians. The pipe of peace, however, seemed to be prevalent, and the high contracting powers established relations of amity. The Judge and his companions shoveled the snow off the ground, built a fire, wrapped themselves in their blankets, and laid down to quiet dreams. A couple of panthers, of inquisitive turn of mind, persisted in inspecting these intruders upon their own private domain, beleaguering their camp with a prolonged succession of those blood curdling screams, the like of which can come from no other beast of prey. The next day they encountered a severe snowstorm, blinded by the fury of which they stumbled over a troop of buffalo. The surprise was entirely mutual, but the buffaloes being more alarmed than the white man, staved not upon the order of their going. Arriving at, White river, they found an old Cabin deserted except by a pugnacious wild cat, who seemed to be of the opinion that possession was nine points in the law. As the night was coming on, and the storm raging, the question at issue between lawyer and wild cat, as to the tenancy of the cabin, became an interesting one. After consultation as to the proper mode of procedure, they moved upon the enemy's works and discomfited him until that he fled, when they enjoyed a coveted repose. The Judge reached Vincennes, where he remained a few days and then set out for home, stating with all unconscious but delicious gleam of humor, that he abandoned the intention of practicing law in that country "from a conviction that the profits of the business would not be sufficient to compensate for the fatigue and loss of time to which it would subject him."

Until his death in 1853 Jacob Burnet was one of the most notable figures upon the streets of Cincinnati. Tall and dignified in his appearance, he retained the style and manners of the open times. He wore the old-fashioned queue, and in public assemblies his grave stately deportment inspired, if not awe, at least respect. In his opinions and judgments he was decided. He did not believe in anything half

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way, but altogether, nor did he hesitate to state his views, when occasion required, and they were so stated as to be completely understood.

Having been judge of the Supreme Court, United States Senator, and a public man all his life, and being in affluent circumstances, he was the most prominent citizen of Cincinnati. His hospitality was generous, and his home a hostelry for the stranger. No one had appreciated fully the merits of the city, unless they had sat at his board, and there would be encountered the most distinguished men of the country. The venerable mansion, formerly so long his home, has sheltered beneath its roof Gen. Lafayette, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, William Henry Harrison, Lewis Cass, and many others whose lives are ended but whose names remain. There has been in the Queen City no other residence within whose walls have been gathered so many who have been illustrious in their day. But he selected his company. Judge Barnet's father and brothers were intimate acquaintances of Col. Burr during the Revolutionary war. and when Burr visited Cincinnati, he expected to receive the courtesies so notoriously and so liberally extended to almost every roan of prominence. Judge Burnet, however, peremptorily refused to make his acquaint ance, and with that vigor with which he entertained his views, and that perspicacity with which he expressed them, put his refusal upon the distinct ground that he "considered Col. Burr a murderer."

Charles Hammond left behind him the reputation of a great lawyer. He is of course known to the Bar, as the first of the Supreme Court reporters. There is not much in such an office to develop great abilities, and though the work is well done, doubtless there were many more who could have done it just as well. Had Mr. Hammond devoted himself exclusively to the law, he would certainly have left more enduring monuments of his fame. His argument in the celebrated case of Osborne '1-s. the Bank of the United States shows that he was a great Constitutional lawyer, and to this clay there are those who doubt whether John Marshall or Charles Hammond had the best of it. The Court, however, having the privilege of making the law, tinder the guise of declaring it, established the contrary of Hammond's views, and whether right or wrong matters not now, for error becomes truth, if it is venerable.

President Adams tendered to Mr. Hammond a seat on the Bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, but it was declined. There is no more glittering prize to be offered the American lawyer, and Mr. Hammond's action shows his independence of spirit, and that, he cared but little for the name and fame he was to leave behind him. The minutes of the Supreme Court of this State show the estimate in which he was held, by his professional brethren, in the few lines written by a lawyer fully capable to pass judgment, and one who was singularly just to his fellow men. Nathaniel Wright wrote of him thus: "Mr. Hammond was most truly a great and worthy man. Ardently devoted to truth and virtue, to charitable deeds, to Unman liberty and the Constitution of his country, his life was one of great labor, activity and usefulness. With a mind highly cultivated, clear perceptions, and, above all, of most inflexible integrity, he was fearless and independent. His professional career was fair, open, manly, and won the approbation of his contemporaries. In him the weak, unfortunate and honest ever found an advocate, the guilty never. He attained to great eminence as a lawyer, as a literary man, and as a political writer."

If the student of belles-lettres, of rhetoric, and correct literary expression, will carefully analyze the few lines of the above eulogy, he will discover a wealth of meaning, scarcely ever found in classic literature. Many men are great; how few are worthy! Can there be higher aims in human life than truth, virtue, charity and human liberty? If there be crowns reserved, they must be for those who labor with activity and usefulness, for such noble ends. The mind that is highly cultivated has become so, because it has recognized the fact that genius is not the result of

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great labor, and that work is worship. Clear perceptions are God-given. That purification of the intellectual eye, which enables it at once to discover among the shapeless ore of the unexplored mines that which is rich and that which is dross, is not :acquired, ii belongs to the few who are chosen from the many called. That inflexible integrity, without which no man can be fearless and independent, was commemorated two thousand years ago.

"Justum ac tenacem propositi vivum."

The just man, of firm purpose, is steadfast still, and the wild fury of his fellowmen can not move him from his settled resolve. In this his eminence was great as a literary man and political writer, for although tradition has assigned him the place of Ohio's foremost lawyer, as an editor he was greater still. He was a native of a slave State, and his father was; a slaveholder, but as early as 1820 his position, on this great political question of the day, was not doubtful. His belief writ' that slavery was a great wrong. destructive of national character and happiness, and that its extension was fraught with fearful consequences. This belief he impressed upon the Ohio Legislature as early as 1819, and he waged the warfare of a relentless enemy. When John Quincy Adams maintained the right of petition against the united audacity of the South, and the gentle timidity of the North, Charles Hammond upheld tile hands of the old man eloquent, that they " were steady until the going down of the sun." Nothing caused him to abate a Jot or tittle of his determined aggressive action. The fact that it was dangerous so to do, (lid riot weigh with him a particle. He had put his hand to the plough, and there was no turning back in that war.

As early as 1823, his words on this subject, in the light of 1801 and 1803, are prophetic. "A coalition, cemented by a sameness of manners, and by a mutuality of interests, will be formed, and, when it, once can get the predominance, will overpower and trample under foot all opposition. We can not help making the inquiry whether such views are not opposed to the prosperity and peace of the United States ? And whether men, who wish the extension of slavery for political purposes, are not advocating measures which lead riot only to moral degradation and misery but to great ultimate national calamity. To urge the farther extension of involuntary servitude, appears not only morally wrong, but politically dangerous."

In 1836 James G. Birney established his newspaper in Cincinnati. Some of the most distinguished citizens of the place endeavored to dissuade him from his course of publishing, as it would drive away the "Southern trade." It was the general belief of that day that the " Southern trade" ought to be secured at any sacrifice of principle or manhood. Perhaps it was not pleasant to contemplate, that in the great West and Northwest fetters should still be forged for an unhappy race, and auction blocks erected for the sale of men, women and children ; but this was a sentiment merely. Southern trade was a fact. As Birney believed in the " freedom of the Press," he was mobbed, and the "freedom" which his ''Press'' enjoyed, was, to be smashed into smithereens. The Cincinnati Gazette, however, stood to its guns. Hammond was cool, but his nerve did not quail. Hired bullies threatened his life. Tar and feathers were displayed before him. A midnight raid upon his office was organized, but the splendid bravery of this single man so terrified the cowardly outlaws, they did not dare to face him. Since now it is that, nearly a generation has passed since the voice of a slave has been heard in the land, it would be well that the biography of Charles Hammond be written. A hold, daring'', brilliant man, who hurled confusion among the oligarchy with the pungent sentences from his daily pen. One of the very few who stood unmoved, amid the brutal terrors of popular violence ; who defied insolent power ; resisted the importunities of terrified friends, and the insulting threats of enemies. Who took his stand upon the Bible

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and the Constitution of the United States, and the gates of Hell could not prevail against him.

Nathaniel Wright was one of the old-time lawyers. having begun the practice of law in 1817, and retiring front the Bar about the year 1812. He was a native of New Hampshire, and his early life was passed upon his father's farm. The poorer sons of New England had not many privileges of education, and young Wright began his schooling by studying with his arithmetic in one hand, while the other guided a plough. The cornfield, however, has some advantages over the modern built schoolhouse, as this pupil by his early training built up a physical frame, capable of almost unlimited endurance. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1811, and set out to seek his fortune. He taught school in Portland, Maine. Here he made the acquaintance of a young man named Bellamy Storer, and they became fast friends. They afterward met in the Far Nest, in a flourishing village of about nine thousand inhabitants, by the name of Cincinnati. Here they cast their lots, the friendship of their early days was renewed, and there was no break in its chain during life. In his Portland school Mr. Wright was much attracted by a bright sunny-haired lad, of whom he was afterward accustomed often to speak. This little fellow had pleasing ways, and possessed a rare intelligence. His name was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, From Portland Mr. Wright went to Virginia, and taught school among the mountains of the Blue Ridge, within sight of the. locality afterward to become celebrated as the battlefield of Bull Run. The term of his engagement here completed, he set out for Ohio. His sojourn in Virginia had been a delightful one, as he enjoyed to the fullest extent the rare old Southern hospitality, and when he left them, he felt as though he was leaving home. He had formed strong, ties with those among he had been thrown, and as he set forth upon his solitary way to that distant country of which but little was known, his heart misgave him. As the winding road was lost among the mountains, he turned in his saddle for a last look upon the spot where he had spent, so many pleasant clays. No wonder, perhaps, that a momentary weakness overcame him, for it required a strong self reliance thus to take up the battle with the world. His earthly possessions he carried upon his person, and upon the beast he bestrode ; but he bore with him a stout heart, aid he was of the stuff of which the pioneers of the forest hind were made. After a long and wearisome journey, he reached Cincinnati at night, with a five-dollar gold piece and a Spanish quarter of a dollar in his pocket. By mistake he gave the drayman, who carried his belongings up to the hotel, the gold piece instead of the quarter, and that honest son of toil did not re-appear upon any subsequent occasion to rectify the mistake. His first experience of Cincinnati life was a long, severe fit of illness. But in his untried home he found true friends, whose kindness was always a subject of grateful remembrance As he began the practice of his profession, people soon began to discover his sterling qualities. His perfect integrity impressed every one with confidence. Whatever he said was implicitly trusted. Business risen soon found that their affairs, in his hands, were in such keeping that they need not give themselves further concern, nor worry lest inattention, or want of zeal, should be disastrous to them. Nor were there any who had more faith in him than the members of his own profession. It has been said of him, that no higher-toned lawyer ever practiced at this Bar. He was not what is called a quick or brilliant man, but he had the genius of unwearied industry, and indefatigable perseverance. He never let go anything until it was completely finished. His methods of thought were slow, but thoroughly careful. He examined a question deliberately, but clear through, upon all sides, in every possible view, considered every minute particular, and then decided correctly. His law was profound philosophy. When he applied his powers of discrimination to reported cases to discover their weight as authority, his manner of ascertaining the relation, and pointing out the bearing of, particular facts, to a given decision, was a marvel of light, thrown

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upon the apparently inconsistent. He retired front the active practice of the law about the year 1842, but the love of his chosen profession never waned, and it was always a delight to him to discuss the law, as it, was to hint one of the exact sciences. He lived to a ^"ripe old age, and died in 1875 in his eighty-seventh year.

John C. Wright was long an honored and honorable citizen of Cincinnati. He was judge of the Supreme Court of the State, and long an editor of the Cincinnati Gazette, one of the earliest and most influential public prints of the city, and which still lives under the shaded title of the Commercial Gazette. Judge Wright was elected a member of Congress from the Steubenville District in October, 1820, to serve for two years front March 4, 1821. The election was very close, in fact being disputed upon street corners, and other like places where affairs of national importance are settled, though no legal action was ever taken in the premises. Such, however, was the high sense of honor in this distinguished citizen, that he declined to accept a public position, upon a seemingly doubtful, or even disputed, title. Upon receiving his certificate of election froth the governor of the State, he returned his answer in the following letter

I consider it an incontrovertible principle in our Government, that the people are the only true source of political power. It this he correct no person eau possibly take upon himself the discharge of any public function or duty. without being called to its exercise by an universal expression of the public will in his favor. It is supposed the late election for a representative to Congress, from the Fourth District, does not furnish evidence off such unequivocal expression of the public will in favor of ally one. The canvass was very close, and. I am informed, serious doubts are entertained by some of the electors as to the result, The legal right to a seat is declared to be fit the by the executive authority, and your certificate would enable me to proceed to the exercises of the duties of a representative : yet I do not feel willing to occupy any office of trust or honor upon doubtful authority, nor could I do so without violating what 1 conceive to be sound principle. By restoring again to the people, from whom it emanated, the doubtful authority conferred upon me, a fair opportunity is afforded them of disposing of it, according to their wilt. Impressed with these considerations, I resign my seat as a representative of the State of Ohio, in Congress, and request you to accept this as the act of resignation, I feel less reluctance in calling on the people to proceed to a new election, as no reason is perceived for holding it before the next annual period for holding elections, on the second Tuesday in October. I am, sir, with great respect. Your obedient servant, J. C. Wright

Such a course, is so entirely novel, in political life, so completely foreign to all preconceived notions of the rights, duties and obligations, the individual elevated to distinguished place by the suffrage of his constituents, as those rights, duties and obligations are understood at the present day, that we contemplate, with amazement., the fact that a duly elected member of Congress should decline office merely because an antiquated cerise of honor, or some shallow notion of integrity, led him to question his own title.

Vachel Worthington, son of James Tolly Worthington and Margaret. S. Worthington, was born February 2, 1802, near Crab Orchard. Ky. After having studied at Centre College, Danville, Ky., he entered Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky., and was there graduated in July. 1822. After graduation he studied law in Lexington, Ky., under the tutorage of John Boyle, then chief justice of the Court, of Appeals of Kentucky. Having been admitted to the Bar, his first professional business was to attend to some affairs of his father at home, Ga. These being satisfactorily settled, he moved to Cincinnati in 1824, and established his office first on the north side of Fourth street west of Main. whence he removed, at the time the present church edifice of the First Presbyterian Church was erected, to an office in the second story of the building known as No. 21 West Third street. A few years later he moved his office to the ground floor of the sauna building; and this office he occupied for the remainder of his professional life.

On May 25, 1825, he married Mary Ann Burnet, daughter of Judge Jacob Burnet, then one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and one of the roost, emi-

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neat of the lawyers of that day. Of this marriage five children were born, four of whom died in infancy; the other, James Tolly Worthington, his second child and eldest son, is still living, and practicing law in New York City. This first wife died on October 25, 1834, and on January 10, 1839, Mr. Worthington married Julia Wiggins, daughter of Samuel Wiggins, of Cincinnati. Four children were horn of this marriage, of whom one died in childhood, and three---Edward, Julia (wife of Wm. P. Anderson) and William-still survive.

In the reported decisions of the Supreme Court of Ohio, Vachel Worthington's name appears first in connection with the case of Jacob Burnet v. the Corporation of Cincinnati, decided at December term, 1827 [3 Ohio, 73]; and last, in connection with the case of The State of Ohio, on relation of the City of Cincinnati v. Joseph B. Humphreys, auditor of Hamilton county [25 Ohio St., 520], decided November 9, 1875.

Soon after locating in Cincinnati, Mr. Worthington formed a partnership with Thomas Longworth, a brother of Nicholas Longworth. This connection lasted but a very short time, and thereafter, until 1851, Mr. Worthington practiced alone. In that year he associated with him his eldest son, James T. Worthington, and Stanley Matthews, afterward one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, under the firm style of Worthington & Matthews. In June, 1861, Mr. Matthews joined the army, and was not thereafter actively associated with this firm. The firm name remained the same until 1803, when it was changed to V. & J. T. Worthington. In 1865 James T. Worthington removed to New York, and at that time Vachel Worthington voluntarily withdrew from the active practice of his profession. In 1869, when his youngest son, William, was admitted to the Bar, he again put on the harness, that he might assist his son in the beginning of his career. He continued to practice until the latter part of 1876, when a fall down a flight of stairs at his residence so impaired his strength that thereafter professional work was impossible. He died on July 7, 187 7, from physical infirmities prematurely induced by this accident.

Mr. Worthington had no political aspirations or ambition, his life being devoted wholly to his profession, in which, early in his career, he gained a place in the front rank, and maintained it to the close. To do this he had to contend with an array of brilliant intellect, mental force and professional ability which made the Cincinnati Bar of those days phenomenal, including in its roll, among others of acknowledged ability, the, names of Lytle, Benham, Wright (Nathaniel and John C.), Storer, Fox, Este, Chase, Henry Stanbury, and Thomas Ewing.

Among those who studied law in his office, and under his instruction, were William S. Groesbeck, Stanley Matthews and Samuel S. Cox. He was the attorney in Cincinnati, of the united States Bank during its existence, and was the general solicitor of The Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company from an early date in its history to its fall, and under his direction and supervision its immense investments in real-estate mortgage securities, extending over the western States, were made.

In politics he was a Whig during the existence of that party, and after its disintegration his political sympathies were with the Democratic party; but he reserved and freely exercised his own independent judgment as to men and measures, and voted accordingly. Early in the "sixties" he was earnestly urged to accept a tendered nomination to the Bench, but could not be induced to give it any serious consideration. Except as hereinafter noted he took no prominent part in political movements but once, and that was when he was called to preside at a large and enthusiastic mass-meeting held in Market space on Fifth street between plain and Walnut, for the purpose of suggesting to and urging upon the National Convention, then soon to assemble, the nomination of Gen. Zachary Taylor for the Presidency.

He held public office but once. In the fall of 1873 he accepted the nomination on the Democratic ticket for the State Senate, and was elected. He gave to his leg-

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islative duties the same thorough and conscientious care and study that be had always given to his profession, From the days the regular and adjourned sessions of the Sixty-first General Assembly opened, until they respectively closed, he was constantly at Columbus; in the intervening recesses of the Legislature, during which others sought rest and relaxation in visiting their families, he was at work at the seat of Government, familiarizing himself with pending hills, and fitting himself for what, he considered a proper performance of his legislative duties. His zeal and devotion so impressed itself on his associates that at the adjourned session a new "committee on statutes" was established, of which he was made chairman, and which had no light task in the remaining, work of that General Assembly.

Probably the most noteworthy feature of his legislative career was the change then accomplished in the methods of municipal administration in Ohio. Prior to that time the city of Cincinnati had been constantly going beyond its means; float log debts were incurred, and frequent applications were made for the issue of bonds to pay off such liabilities. Such an appeal was made to the Sixty-first General Assembly. Mr. Worthington urged that relief be granted only upon condition that the outstanding claims be scrutinized and audited by a special commission appointed for that purpose; that bonds he issued only to pay claims allowed by that commission; and that the law be so amended that thereafter no order for the expenditure of money should have legal validity until there was money in the city treasury set apart to meet it. His views prevailed, and were embodied in the act of April 16, 1874 [71 Ohio Laws 80], commonly known as the " Worthington Law."

This system of " pay as you go " met with such public favor that in the following Legislature, the act of April 8, .1876 [73 Ohio Laws 125], known as the "Burns Law," in amending Sec. 663 of the then municipal code, extended its principles to all municipal corporations; and these provisions can now be found in Sec. 2699 and 2702 of the Revised Statutes.

Salmon P. Chase.-Those, whose years of intelligence embrace the ante-bellum period, can now scarcely believe, those, who have been born since the Rebellion, will never be able to comprehend, the condition of politics prior to 1861. There was then but one power, one interest, in the whole broad realm of the United Stales. All other rights, all other questions, sank into utter insignificance before it. Good men took the Bible, and expounded so that it was clearly proven that. the Deity cr gated the earth for the express purpose of having slavery exist upon it. Great men took the Constitution of the United States, and expounded, so that the wayfaring man could run and read, that there was nothing in particular which that sacred instrument guaranteed and protected, except, slavery. Undeniable, that that venerated document was ordained by " We the People of the United States," among other things " to secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity;" but the expounders, good and great, assumed that a certain portion of the "People," who had woolly heads and complexions a shade darker than that of the late Thomas Corwin, were neither " Ourselves " nor " Posterity," and therefore not entitled to secure any of the " blessings " of the said " Liberty."

Those who held to the contrary of these views were regarded as dangerous members of society. It is not nearly so wicked to be an Anarchist in these days, as it was to be an Abolitionist in those. Singular race of men! Hunted, outraged, abused, persecuted, but they did their perfect work. Few in number, feeble in power, Pariahs in politics, they have long since become extinct as a class, but their footprints may now be found in petrified outline upon the solid rock of the National Constitution.

Mr. Chase was in no sense an Abolitionist. He was too sound a Constitutional lawyer not to know that Abolition could only come, as it did, through war. But he was an earnest opponent of the further extension of this pernicious system. He did believe that, restricting it to those limits within which it could only legally exist, its

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ultimate extinction would inevitably follow. This was enough to stamp him as an Abolitionist, and at that time Cincinnati was a mere "suburb of the South." He was, consequently, at one time the best hated man in the community in which he lived. He had no certainty of personal safety, in his daily life. His public utterances were greeted with hisses and hootings, and other evidences of public disapprobation, violent in expression, and disgusting to the senses. Although incurring all this personal hatred. conscious that the principles he espoused could not fail to ensure unpopularity to the last degree, no thought of consequences to himself for a moment chilled his righteous ardor, or caused him to waver in this steadfast faith. Ambitious of political preferment he undoubtedly was; but when it was to be won at the expense of rectitude and integrity of purpose, his upright soul disdained to consider such a bargain.

Pursuing forever the light of that single star that directed his footsteps while the darkness was over and about him, through whatever thorny ways, over whatever rough paths it led him, he held his course directly on, until his eyes saw the light of clay that proclaimed the emancipation of a race, and liberty throughout his native land. It was unpopular, it made the lawyer odious, to defend the rights of the runaway negro. But, Apostle of Freedom! he was the friend of the fugitive not only with all the fervor of his intellect, but with all the gentleness of a kindly heart. Upon the occasion of the removal of the remains of the chief justice to Spring Grove Cemetery, Governor Hoadly in an address, the chaste beauty of which is a touching tribute of "loving disciple" to "preceptor, master, partner, friend," speaks thus: " His legal services were freely bestowed in the protection of every fugitive slave, and the defense of his friends. He was a walking arsenal of the law of liberty. What he could not do with the writ of habeas corpus, no man might accomplish. His weapons were ever ready for instant service. They required no burnishing, no loading, and with or without preparation they were always at hand for use. This office he never refused. This duty he never neglected."

There is probably no marl living or dead, who, upon this subject at least, has had more influence in leading to just views the public wind, which tradition had so perversely bent.. Doubtless he was never himself aware how he had unconsciously brought the rising generation of that day into sympathy with his own views. No thoughtful mind came in contact with his, that was not impressed with the sincerity of his convictions, and did not recognize the force with which they were presented. The seed, unwittingly scattered, like that which floats upon the breeze, going whither the wind listeth, fell in many quiet places, and bore its useful fruit. When the disciples of free soil first undertook to promulgate their faith in Hamilton county, it was an undertaking full of danger. In 1818 Mr. Chase spoke upon this subject in Fifth street Market space. A majority of that vast crowd which had assembled, not so much to hear, as to suppress him, were honestly of the belief that. such flagitious sentiments should not be allowed utterance, in a law abiding, order loving community. Staid and excellent citizens swelled with indignation that a man should be heard who would give such serious offense to our good friends who lived just over the Ohio river. Very stringent precautions had been taken that he should not be heard at all. Cannon had been provided. A large number of that rough element of society, whose predilections are always in favor of riot and turmoil, were active in the confusion created. As his tall commanding figure arose, and stood beneath the starry flag, there were many who expected, and more who hoped, to see the glorious ensign of the Republic fall and crush him beneath its folds. And yet it did not. He began to address that vast assembly, and far flashed the red artillery. But this did not disturb the serenity of his feelings, nor the magnanimity of his nature. Upon a distinctly higher plane, than the dwarfed intellects of those who sought to annoy him, he was sorrowful, rather, in the belief that " they know not what they do." His personal dignity was impressive yet winning. He

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made no effort at declamation, or rhetorical display. His manner was that of calm, persuasive, courageous statement, for he did not shrink from the results of his logic. So simple, so earnest, so truthful, that the listener felt that the man before him was guide, philosopher, and friend.

To this single idea of Human Liberty he devoted his life, until the full fruition of his most sanguine hopes, and through all that era of trial, of distress, of war, he was one of those who stood, with unfaltering trust, around the President, and "felt his own great arm lean on them for support. " His work as secretary and chief justice are part of the treasures of the nation and of its history. Whatever may be said of his financial ability, he came to the relief of the national credit when it was most sorely tried, and the theories which be carried into effect established a currency Of which it may be safely said, that none other has ever so completely earned the unwavering confidence of the people. In the tribunal of last resort, he was instrumental in the solution of questions, the like of which had never been presented to Courts of Justice, upon the wise disposition of which depended the peace and happiness of States; and in communities which had spent four years in the overturning and confusion of all law, the ancient landmarks were restored, order once more existed, and the reign of night and chaos came to an end.

The closing years of his life were passed in Washington, where the duties of his high office were faithfully discharged for the remainder of his days. The fitness of things well ordered that, his mortal remains should finally rest in the State of his adoption, and within this county, so long his home, where were the struggles of his early life, where he first put forth those powers which made manifest the certainty of his future fame, and where he endured so much obloquy and achieved so much honor, for upon the still lengthening record, which preserves to posterity the memory of virtue, of patriotism, and of intellectual grandeur in America's illustrious sons, stands emblazoned, in letters of living light, the name of Salmon Portland Chase.

SUPERIOR COURT.

The State of Ohio has known no other such Bench as was the Superior Court of Cincinnati when organized under the new Constitution; Spencer, Gholson, and Storer being judges. Many Courts can boast of one or two strong lawyers, but when the entire Bench is one of distinctive ability, the practice of the law comes to be a fine art.

As the Court of Common Pleas at that time had but three judges, business began to fall behind, and the Bar saw the necessity of additional judicial force. Several meetings of the fraternity were held, and among the most active promoters of the scheme were George E. Pugh and A. E. Gwynne. At these meetings the question of judicial salaries was largely discussed. The pay of former judges had varied from $800 per year to $1,000, $1,200, and $1,500. sometimes up and sometimes down, as the liberality of legislators seemed to fancy. It was at all times difficult to satisfy the law-making power that there was anything in the judicial position that required a respectable pecuniary support for the judge. As the General Assembly was largely composed of members from. the rural districts, they could not understand that a judge should be paid more that) a dollar a day, when that sum would secure the services of a capital farm hand, who could snow ten hours a day, or split wood with equal facility. It was also argued that plenty of lawyers were willing to serve with little or no salary, which was true, although it, seemed to be thought of small importance that they served with little or no knowledge of law. The salary provided for in the bill creating the Court, was $3,500, $1,500 to be paid from the State treasury, and $2,000 by the city.

Judge Spencer did not like the drudgery of the profession, but it was a delight to him to examine and reason out Mire legal questions, To settle a bill of excep-

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tions between two pertinacious, pugnacious lawyers, both of whom were insisting on multitudinous matters which were of no imaginable consequence, was a weariness to the flesh. The following tribute to his eminent, ability and great legal acquirements will be recognized as from the pen of one who wrote the English language with an elegance and force that was perhaps the least of his many and varied accomplishments as a lawyer and judge: "He loved the law as a science, and profoundly felt its responsibilities. His mind clearly perceived his duty, and his heart tempered justice with the purest equity. Never impulsive or demonstrative, he yet possessed large sympathies which ever controlled his opinions, and gave the assurance to his brethren, that he felt, as well as thought.. His perceptions of right were intuitive; and in all his deliberations with his colleagues, he sought to reach a result his conscience could approve. 11fere expediency, nor the power of precedent, never controlled his decisions, nor yet the approbation nor censure of his profession, when stern duty claimed his bold utterance for the truth. The loss of such a man can not be properly estimated, yet the example of judicial integrity, impartiality, and gentle courtesy he so beautifully exhibited in his life, is still fresh in the remembrance of his legal friends. One of his colleagues who is still permitted to hold a seat on the Bench, and who knew him in his youth, in his manhood and more mature years, who knew him but to love him, who was with him in the hour of his departure, and felt the last earthly pressure of his hands, indulges in the abiding hope that he is now in the presence of that just Judge whose will, in the administration of human law, our departed friend strove so conscientiously to obey."

William Y. Gholson.-Judge Gholson was a thoroughly complete lawyer. He was the embodiment of clear legal logic, and his judgments were the transparent, dispassionate, frigid announcements of conclusions. Whatever his reasonings led up to, that was the result, and there was no reductio ad absurdum that could appall him. It is not meant that his opinions were open to any such criticism. In the trial of a case, or the argument of a proposition, he could not be imposed upon by false premises. His mind was acute, and if anything was asserted that, was irrelevant to the issue, he saw it in an instant, Completely ignored its existence, and waited until he saw what was the true gist of the controversy. This he seized upon. With this before him his syllogism was faultless. He was not at all oppressed with the gravity of matters before him. He was quite equal to the occasion, no matter how vast was the importance of the case he was deciding, and he preserved the same direct course whether it was a dollar involved or a million. When the Ohio Life Insurance & Trust, Company failed, in 1857, an attachment was issued against, itt on the ground that it had fraudulently incurred the obligation for which the suit was brought; the allegations being that the Trust Company had fraudulently hypothecated commercial paper left with it by plaintiff for collection. The public interest in the case was intense. The Trust Company had long been regarded as the one solid, impre gnable financial institution of the West, if not of the United States. Its wealth was supposed to be without end, and its managers the most prudent, intelligent, conservative men to be found in any community. When it closed its doors, the shock was fearful, even in a country where bank failures are perennial, and whence bank cashiers constantly emigrate. The amount involved was very large; but it was not this so much, as the idea that such an institution should be amenable to such a charge. Everybody felt as though their own personal integrity had been attacked. A motion to dissolve was made. Judge Gholson heard and decided it, with the same calm utter indifference to all adventitious circumstances, as if he had never heard of the parties before.

This decision is one of the best specimens of Judge Gholson's ablest work. It is difficult to speak of it, as it is impossible to describe it. It might he called a ruasterpieee of reasoning, or any of those other names ordinarily used, in such a connection. But these are mere platitudes which can be employed for any purpose, or

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upon any occasion, and which are quite as likely to convey a wrong or exaggerated idea, if they convey any. The weight. however, of a decision is determined by the deference the Bar gives to it, and this has been considered the law of Ohio for over thirty years. It is quite true that the Supreme Court of the State has thought it safe to run counter to the doctrines of this case. But it has been in the announcements of conclusions without opinions. Opinions require reason for their support, and the authority of Judge Gholson has not yet been shaken.

The case of Masury vs. Southworth is an illustration of his method of arguing wise questions of the law. The subject is about as dry and technical as can be found in the books. But the way in which he discusses it, in this opinion, makes the reading fascinating, if such a term way be applied to anything so utterly devoid of interest to any but the profession. The critical examination he makes of Spencer's case, and the manner in which he elucidates and reconciles the inconsistencies in the resolutions laid down, and which have always been a stumbling block to lawyers, shows a power and accuracy of analysis only to be found in a trained, well-ordered legal brain. It is a popularly received notion that the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, upon the construction of the Constitution and laws of the United States, is conclusive upon everybody in all cases.

In Skelly and Jefferson Bank, he explodes this notion, declining to follow a decision of the national tribunal, on the mooted question of bank taxation. With all his great ability, with all his great learning, he was neither too great nor too learned to be the most gentle of gentlemen. The stereotyped joke about the judge, who observed to the novice, perhaps needlessly diffuse, or too thorough from the foundation up, that " The Court is supposed to know some law," was not wit, but brutality merely. The patient endurance with which Judge Gholson would listen for hours to some young lawyer laying clown and elaborating the simplest principles of law, citing authorities from the year books to the 115th Texas, " saying an undisputed thing, in such a solemn way," was the highest example of Christian fortitude. Rather than hurt the feelings of anyone he would suffer these afflictions in silence, martyrdom as it must have been to such an accomplished lawyer. Under such trying circumstances, and when wearied nature was hardly further adequate, his gravest reproach would be "I think Mr. So and So, I may safely say the Court is with you upon that proposition." If this did not bring surcease of sorrow, be resigned himself to his fate.

Bellamy Storer was one of the early lawyers of the Hamilton County Bar, He came to this country in 1817. He was one of those self-reliant sons of New England that followed the course of Empire. Cincinnati then had a population of about nine thousand, and he lived to see it one of the great cities of the West. He had long been one of our leading lawyers, and when he was elected judge of the Superior Court brought to this Bench a wide legal experience. There are few who had such devotion to, such love for, the profession. It was the theme of his life. He never ceased the study of the law, keeping apace with its literature throughout his entire career, and his acquaintance with the books was marvelous. A long and active practice, with his habits of industrious research, had so imbued him with knowledge that, when he assumed it, he was ripe for the judicial position he so long adorned. The operations of his mind were quick, and his restless energy made the courtroom where he presided a scene of lively activity. His nature was sprightly and vivacious, so that he did not conduct the affairs of daily business with that ponderous solemnity that is so frequently awful in Courts of Justice, where mere gravity of manners is assumed to be profundity, and asperity and boorishness are believed to be the qualities of a great judge.

Judge Storer was an elegant writer. In the expression of ideas he was forcible, and what he wrote could be plainly understood. He was not redundant until obscurity made darkness visible. The first choice of words was natural to him, and there

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was a finish to all he did, that could not have been any acquired talent, Besides his high position to the Bar and upon the Bench, he was a public-spirited citizen. There have been times in the history of Cincinnati when it has experienced great calamities. Ohio river floods have occasioned great distress, especially among the poorer classes. Pestilence has been in our midst, until the plague-beleagured city became a charnel house, and the grim monster strode through the streets, the swathes from his scythe impeding the highways. Panic prevailed, and citizens fled from their houses in town as though they could escape the appointed hour, by trying to run away from it. Time has perhaps effaced the memory of these calamities, but they were not the less fearful because they are forgotten. When relief societies were organized for the benefit of suffering humanity, he was always foremost in the work, as he was always foremost when good was to be done. His zeal, his untiring energy, was the soul of public action, his great administrative ability wisely directed united effort; his fearless, cheery good nature was infectious and inspired hope when hope was the best tonic that pharmacy could afford. Labors such as those do not perhaps bring distinguished renown. The warrior, who slays a thousand men, achieves greater fame than he who unostentatiously saves the life of one; but such is the course of human affairs.

He was intensely American in his feelings. In 1862 the siege of Cincinnati created the wildest excitement. Our Confederate brethren had swarmed into Kentucky principally, stealing horses and converting to their own use such portable property, belonging to others, as they could lay hands on easily and carry off safely.

The war cloud was fast gathering on our borders, and the hue was butternut. The hostile clans approached in force, until they were upon the confines of the city, and the startling announcement was made:

The rebel foot is on thy shore,

His torch is at thy temple door,

and Cincinnati was peremptorily informed that she must

Rise and be the battle queen of yore.

Governor Tod issued a proclamation, Gen. Wallace issued a proclamation, everybody in authority or out, of authority issued a proclamation. The governor called upon all the armed men in the State to come to Cincinnati, and be quick about it. They came galloping-some in rags and sonic in jags; but all had guns. In three days Gov. Tod had sent twenty regiments and twenty-one more were on the way. All the citizens of Cincinnati armed themselves, and moved over to the ,Kentucky hills. They dug trenches during the day, and laid in the mud at night,. The panic lasted for nearly a week, when our misguided brethren " folded their tents like the Arab, and as silently stole away." When our gallant citizen soldiery returned from the tented field, it was a gala day. The streets were crowded with mothers, wives and sweethearts, flags were flying, drums beating and bells ringing. Regiment after regiment swarmed along Fourth street, until people exclaimed in utter amazement, " Where did they all come from?" In that patriotic host, with clothes soiled and ragged, a hat the appearance of which indicated a familiar acquaintance with, but utter indifference to, the storms of the universe; his shoes travel-worn and dusty with scarcely a vestige of judicial dignity in his entire make-up, but with a face beaming with delighted enthusiasm, a private in the ranks, a musket on his shoulder, keeping step to the music of the Union, marched Judge Bellamy Storer, presiding justice of the Superior court of Cincinnati.

At one time in the trial of a case before him, a distinguished southern lawyer was addressing the jury. In the course of his remarks, he had occasion to refer to publie affairs, and spoke of " the death of Mr. Lincoln." Judge Storer rapped with his pencil upon the bench in front of him, and when the lawyer paused in his argu-

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ment. and stillness prevailed, the judge said: "Here, we call it the murder of Mr. Lincoln." The emphasis on the noun substantive was such that the rebuke was as pointed in its utterance, as it was keenly felt.

He was always very popular, for his manners were so pleasant, his nature was so genial, that none could fail to be attracted to him. He was fond of young men, and enjoyed their society. It is the young men of that day-they are mostly old now that will recall most vividly the many kind things he has said and dope; how he was partaker of and enjoyed their mirth. and how often in times of perplexity or trouble, he would put his arm around your neck, and say some word that was grateful to hear Lawyers who have practiced before him, in the first disappointment of defeat, doubtless have felt aggrieved, for humanity is not always the perfection of philosophy. But now that the asperities of strife are things of the past, and the sun has set on wrath, who, that has known him, during the many years of his judicial life, that has seen him, day after day, in the warmth of litigation and the amenities of social life, can recur to the retrospect, without sentiments of admiration for the distinguished jurist, and feelings of affectionate remembrance for the venerable man?

Aaron F. Perry.-In a paper read before the State Bar Association, Hon. Judson Harmon has treated the character of Mr. Perry with a justness and felicity that leaves nothing to be added. It is impossible to condense this paper without marring it, and such extracts as may be allowed can give but an imperfect idea of the whole.

Mr. Perry was a native of Vermont, of Puritan stock. "Ho had the inheritance, which such descent implies, of healthy vigor of mind and body, the love of justice, and a spirit inclined upward." He had not much of the advantages of early education through the medium of schools, though he was a rare instance of self-improvement. The love of knowledge inherent in him was such that he became a man of wide and varied learning.

His "position and reputation were due to distinction at the Bar alone. He was plain Mr. Perry to the end." The cases, in which he was chiefly engaged, were of great importance, some of them involving questions, the result of the Civil war. "He probably made a wider reputation as chief counsel of Gen. Burn. side, on the application of Mr. Vallandigham for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States Court at Cincinnati. It took a strong man to maintain debate with George E. Pugh, who was counsel for Mr. Vallandigham. It required a wise, safe, cautious and learned man, with ingenuity tempered with broad sagacity, to sustain Mr. Lincoln in the arrest of this distinguished prisoner, without rudely pulling down the pillars of the temple of Liberty. Without passing judgment upon the merits of the case, it may justly be said that Mr. Perry's argument, which is reported in full, gives a good display of the extent of his learning, the clearness and versatility of his thought, his logical faculty, the force and nicety of his doctrine, his power of analysis, the play of his fancy, and his humor, which gave spice, without bitterness, to his discourse. "

It might also be said of this argument, that, as a philosophical disquisition, it is successful in showing how thc rendering of moral aid to any cause is just as important and far reaching in results, as the rendering of physical aid. The word, fitly spoken, may revive drooping energies or stimulate the fainting soul to heroic action.

Mr. Perry's sense of humor was exquisite. To meet him on the street, there was a sparkle in the eye that foretold something good was coming. A lawyer's brief ordinarily is not the place to look for levity. They are generally full of ponderous solemnity. But if anyone wishes to read a paper that is full of fun, let him peruse Mr. Perry's brief in Doolittle vs. Burgess.

" To his great talents he added a high character, and crowned a successful professional career with a pure and unselfish life. And to talents and character he joined the manners of a kind and courteous gentleman, who never knowingly gave offense,

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and was slow to take it; who respected tile. dignity of others, and seldom had occasion to defend his own. He had what might be called the soaring sense of humor. He had also a keen and lively wit, but delighted in its wings, rather than its sting."

Rufus King.- The one remarkable circumstance of Mr. King's life was that it was chiefly spent in laboring for the good of others. He held very many public positions which were positions of hard work without any compensation. Ho filled them with the full measure of his best zeal, and his sole reward was the consciousness of good accomplished. So universally is selfishness the mainspring of action, it is difficult to understand how a man can spend year after year of a busy life, giving the best portion of his time, skill and ability, for the mere advancement, of the public good. A mere statement of the work in which he was during a long; life usefully engaged is the best tribute which can be paid to his memory. He began his professional life in Cincinnati in 1840. In 1846 he was a member of the convention to form the city charter. Than this there could be no more important public trust. Thereafter he was a member of the city council, and such was his high character that he could hold a municipal office without reproach. The public schools then became the object of his choicest regard, and for fourteen years he was engaged in this service, not, in any perfunctory manner, but he devoted himself to it with vigor and enthusiasm. From 1852 until 1867 he was president of the board. No than would have been better qualified to superintend the public education (ban he himself; a scholar, of broad ideas, accomplished in all the liberal arts, it was under his supervision that our public schools have justly become our proudest boast. In 1869 the use of the Bible in the public schools agitated the community to a degree of excitement not often known in society where the peace is still preserved. Mr. King at that time had severed his connection with the Board of Education, but his interest in the case had not abated, and when the battle was on he was among the ablest defenders of the faith. Limits preclude the possibility of any description of that famous controversy. The first lawyers of the State took part in it. Men on the streets, in the marts of business, wherever intelligence met intelligence, waged the warfare without cessation. There were those who honestly thought that the pillars of the Commonwealth were being rudely shaken; that destruction was inevitable. But the schools survived. When the Woodward and Hughes High Schools were consolidated, in 1851, Mr. King was elected president of the board of managers, which position he held until the close of his life. In 1859 he was elected by the city council director of the McMicken University, and was made president of the board. acting as such until 1870, when the name was changed to the University of Cincinnati, He was president of the board until 1877. Mr. King was the author of the law founding the Public Library of Cincinnati; in 1867 was a member of the board of directors, and in 1870 became president. In 18--1 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention, and when its president, Morrison R. Waite, was made chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Mr. King was made president of the convention. He was connected with the Cincinnati Law School as dean, and professor from 1875 until his death.

Lawyers owe him a special debt of gratitude for the part he took in the organization of the Cincinnati Law Library, and for the support he had always given it. He was elected president in 1855, and filled that office for thirty-six years. Besides his daily interest. in the affairs of the Library, when it was destroyed in 1884, Mr. King paid the debt of the association, amounting to nearly four thousand dollars, and by his will he remembered it in a bequest of twenty thousand dollars. Ho was a member of the board of tax commissioners organized in '1883 to prevent public plunder. serving until 1891. He was a member of the Committee of One Hundred. 'Of late years, under our system of registration, our community have had honest elections; Mr. King prepared the law which secured this result. He was an active supporter of the College of Music and Art Museum. In considering this list of

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public offices it will he seen that the emoluments attached to these various positions could not have been an attraction. The principal use he seemed to have for money was to give it away; the desire of accumulating it does not seem to have been all element of his character.

Busy, active as be always was, from his entrance upon, to the end of, his life, he has left behind him a stainless record of useful, unselfish work.

Chas. Linnceus Telford, a native of Ohio, and a graduate of the Miami University, came to Cincinnati in the year 1836 to accept the chair of rhetoric and belleslettres in the Cincinnati College, which had recently re-organized by the efforts of Dr. Daniel Drake.

He was the youngest member of the Faculty, being then only about twenty years of age; and although his associates in the college were men of learning, distinction and talent, young Telford at once took high rank among them, and made his department one of the most popular and effective in the institution. But his tastes were not so much in the line of academic studies as to lead him to remain long in the chair to which he had been called. Indeed, we have the testimony of one who knew him intimately in his boyhood, that very early in life he expressed a strong desire to become a member of the legal profession, and ultimately to enter public life.

He therefore soon resigned his college professorship, entered eagerly upon the study of the law, and was in doe time admitted to the Bar, and became, at once, the partner of Samuel F. Cary, who at that time enjoyed a fine reputation as all orator, and had every prospect of a distinguished career. But this partnership did not long continue, Mr. Telford leaving Mr. Cary to associate himself with William S. Groesbeck, in a partnership which continued up to the time of Mr. Telford's death, and during this period both Mr. Groesbeck and Mr. Telford held professorships in the Law School of the Cincinnati College.

Mr. Telford's rise to distinction at the Bar was phenomenally rapid; but to those who knew his power, his industry and his conscientiousness, it was not surprising. To a mind of uncommon vigor and analytical power he added an exquisite literary taste, and an industry which would have insured success to the merest plodder. Fully conscious of his great natural gifts, he never presumed on them, but brought to every task which he undertook the most untiring industry and the supremest purpose to do his very best; and it may fairly be doubted whether in the course of his whole life, in college, in the professor's chair, or at the Bar, he ever entered upon the performance of any public duty without first making faithful and exhaustive preparation.

His personal appearance was striking. Tall, erect and dignified, with a piercing eye, a fine Roman nose, a mouth expressive at once of sweetness and firmness, and a chin which indicated an indomitable character, he commanded attention wherever he appeared.

His diction was chaste and yet copious, his voice clear and manly, his manner fervent, and vet persuasive, his bearing lofty, and his gestures graceful, yet impressive. Indeed. he was every inch an orator. His professional standard was of the highest, and the purity of his life gave an illustrious example of all that was manly in character and irreproachable in conduct. One who knew hint intimately in boyhood, as well as in his maturer years, has said of him that during all this time and in all the varying temptations, irritations and antagonisms which must always mark the life of a man of strong character, he never heard young Telford utter a word or express a sentiment which might not have been uttered or expressed without offense, in the presence of his mother : "Nullum verbum, quod revocare vellet, emisit."

Nor can this sketch be complete without reference to Mr. Telford's character as a Christian. Before his admission to the Bar he connected himself with the Second Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati, of which Rev. Lyman Beecher, D. D., was then

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pastor, and during his whole after life he exemplified the sincerity of his convictions and the steadfastness of his faith.

A severe cold, contracted by exposure while on a journey, resulted in pulmonary consumption, which ended at an early age a career which, if life had been spared, could not have failed to be illustrious. "Actin, non. segnibus annis, aevum implevit. "

William Haines Lytle was a Cincinnatian by birth. His grandfather, Gen.William Lytle, was one of the pioneers of the West. His father, Robert T. Lytle, was among the brilliant men of his day. Tradition speaks of his powers of oratory, although the fame of forensic eloquence is but ephemeral. The mantle fell upon his son, and even in his schoolboy days he was an elegant and effective public speaker. The older citizens of Cincinnati will remember the days when the academic department of Cincinnati College was in the full tide of success. Lytle was a prominent member of one of the literary societies of the institution. At a college exhibition when but sixteen years old he delivered an address upon " Law and the Legal Profession." One who heard it, after a lapse of fifty years, speaks of it with admiration, as a production singularly mature in its train of thought, delivered with an ease, elegance and impressiveness that was astonishing in a mere boy. Even at this time of life his nervous force and impetuous disposition made him a leader among his schoolmates. There was a high tone and chivalrous bearing about him that was fascinating, not only in those early days, but it was a marked feature of his character, through all his life. Although he entered upon the practice of law, its drudgery was not suited to his tastes, which were more toward belles-lettres. He had a predilection for military life, and served during the Mexican war. He was a lieutenant of the Montgomery Guards, a local company, whose captain died on the route from Vern Cruz to the capital, and Lytle was promoted to the command. In 1850, after the close of the war, he was a member of the State Legislature. He was a major-general of the State military, and when the Rebellion broke out he was chosen colonel of the Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was wounded at Carnifex Ferry. This was one of the earliest affairs of the war, arid, in view of the many bloody battles that followed in the next four years, it was not upon any large scale. Perhaps it would have been, but the rebel general, Floyd, ex-Secretary of War of the United States, did not stay long enough to make it interesting. He went away, as was the case subsequently at Fort Donelson; when the hard fighting began Floyd had important business elsewhere. The regiment that Lytle commanded was leading the column, when he unexpectedly came upon the enemy's works. The first greeting was a shower of grape and canister from a battery of twelve guns which swept the road. He ordered his colors to the front to assault the battery. The color bearers were shot down. At the head of a portion of three companies he led the way. He was struck from his horse, which. with a fatal wound, cleared the parapet, falling dead within the rebel lines. Lytle was carried to a log hut, where he was laid upon the ground, while shot and shell crashed through the frail tenement over him. With that modesty which characterizes true and chivalrous bravery, he says of his own part in the battle: "About this time I received a wound in the leg, the ball passing through and killing my horse." This is what the enemy said of him : " At the first crack of our rifles the gallant colonel, who led in front of his men on a splendid black charger, fell to the earth, while the head of his column recoiled in utter confusion. The colonel's horse, as if uuconscious of the fall of his rider, dashed up to our embankment and into our camp, and from the inscriptions on the mountings of his pistols proved to be Col. William H. Lytle of Cincinnati. I saw the daring young officer fall from his horse, and he was certainly one of the bravest of the brave."

At Carnifex Ferry, for the first time under fire, were Col. William H. Lytle, Col. Robert L. McCook and Maj. Rutherford B. Hayes, all of the Hamilton County Bar.

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When, in the thickest of the fight, Col. Lytle was again wounded at Perryville, he thought it was fatal. One of his sergeants lifted hue in his areas to bear him from the field. With thoughts of higher duties than self, he said: "You may do some good work yet., I can do no more; let me die here." he was left there, and fell into the hands of the enemy; but he wits subsequently paroled and sent to Cincinnati, to restore health. To one at the side of his sick bed, he was recounting the incidents of the fight; as he laid upon that bloody field with the roar of battle around him, and the missiles of death hurtling over him, he thought his last. hour had come. He said: "It was a glorious day, and I turned to see the last, sun go down in his magnificent setting. I felt that I had done my duty, and that I could put my armor off, as one lying down to pleasant dreams."

Nearly thirty years after the battle of Chickamauga, Gen. RoSecrans and a number of Union and Confederate officers met upon the battlefield, to locate the positions of that dreadful contest, in furtherance of the object of establishing a National Park. There were many who had not seen each other since they stood in arms together upon those two fatal days. They were mostly old men, and gray Mints had given place to the vigorous youth of a quarter of a century ago. The scene, its surroundings, the personnel, led to reminiscences of events that happened during the Civil war. An aid of Glen. Lytle's was present and related an incident showing his courage and determination. His troops were to make a hard march, toward Huntsville, Alabama, and to relieve their wagons they were ordered to carry their knapsacks. Company A. of the Tenth Ohio, refused to obey. The captain reported to the Lieutenant Colonel, who dispatched a messenger for Col. Lytle. He mounted his horse, and, accompanied by his staff, rode upon the ground. He explained to his soldiers the necessity for his order. They stood, sullen and silent. He waited a few minutes. The trial had come. It was game against physical strength. He drew out his watch with one hand, his revolver with the other. He cocked his weapon, laid its muzzle upon the face of tAte dial: " I will give you five minutes to obey orders." The count began: " One! two! ! three! ! !; " the line wavered and shook. " Four! The count was never finished. The men slung their knapsacks.

In the course of his examination of this, his most distinguished battlefield, (Gen. Rosecrans stopped at a certain spot, and as the company gathered round, he said: " I was standing here with my staff, when Lytle came rap at the head of his brigade. He saluted, as he rode by, and in less than fifteen minutes his horse carrie galloping back without a rider." The spot, where he fell was found. Longstreet's veterans had struck his moving column. Lytle brought it into line of battle, but before effectual resistance could be made he received his death wound. He was borne to the foot of a tree, and laid upon the ground. He gave his sword to an orderly, and motioned him to the rear.

In that inspiration of genius, "Anthony and Cleopatra," he had written,

Ebbs the crimson life tide fast

And the dark Plutonian Shadows

Gather on the evening blast.

Even in that supreme moment, the Spirit of Chivalry shone forth, in the flickering light that was so swiftly fading. Excalibar should not become a trophy of the foe!

Beyond power of speech; he again Motioned those about him, to leave him.

Ah, no more amid the battle,

Shall my heart exulting swell.

For him, indeed, nothing more of earth remained, but it was still possible for theirs to save themselves. And so, brave, generous, chivalrous in his life, illustrious in the opportunity of his death, he gave to his country all that the soldier could

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give. Under the open sky, the fierce din of the conflict ringing in his ears, he illustrated, in his own fate, the words of his song written years before:

On some lone spot, when far from home and friends

The wayworn pilgrim on the turf reclining,

His life and much of grief together ends.

No nobler offering has the Republic made to the Moloch of War. After his wound at Carnifex Ferry, his impatience to return to duty was so great that when he reported to the proper authorities, it was apparent that he was not fit to go to the front, and he was placed in command of the camp at Bardstown, Ky., where he wrote the following lines which bear the date of February, 1862.

I gazed forth from my wintry tent

Upon the star gemmed firmament,

I heard the far off sentry's tramp

Around our mountain-girdled camp,

And saw the ghostly tents uprise

Like spectres 'neath the jeweled skies;

And thus upon the snow-clad scene

So pure, and spotless and serene,

Where locked in sleep ten thousand lay

Awaiting morn's returning ray----

I gazed, till to the sun--the drums

Rolled at the dawn-- "He comes! He comes! "

It is the poet's idea of reveille: the greeting of the drums to the coming morning.

Upon the occasion of his visit to Canada, Mr. Webster was present at the morning parade of the British garrison, in Quebec. The roll of the drums suggested to him, as illustrative of the power of England, the idea which he subsequently made famous in the Senate of the United States. "A power which has dotted over the surface of the whole globe with her possessions and military posts, whose morning drum-beat, following the sun and keeping company with the hours, circles the earth with one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England."

Among Lytle's old papers, apparently cast aside as trifling waifs, were found many scraps of poetry. Many beautiful selections, which like the foregoing have never seen the light of print, might be made, but we only give the following:

FADED FLOWERS.

Woven of fire,

And light, these flowers be emblems of the soul,

Whose wing plys ceaselessly to win its goal

Till time expire.

Beauty at dawn

Was theirs, drunk with rich odors, thieves of hues,

Stolen from Iris, reeling with draughts of dews---

At eve, how wan!

Frail flowers! poor heart!

Dew, beauty, fragrance, linger till the noon,

At eve, conspire to flee your presence soon,

At night, depart.

So reads the sign-

May thy day linger long, whose morn has spoken

Hope to the heart, and peace yet unbroken

Longer than mine.

William Marlin Dickson, lawyer and jurist, was born in Scott county, Indiana, September 19, 1827, of Scotch-Irish Presbyterian stock. His grandfather presided over one parish near Dumfries, Scotland, for over fifty years. He was united

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on his mother's side with the oldest families of Virginia, descendants of the North of Ireland, among whom being the Campbells, Ochiltrees and Lowrys.

He was a lineal descendant of Sir Charles Richardson, the African explorer. His father, a second son, having visited the English Colonies in an official position, drifted to America, met and married Rachel Lowry, near Madison, Ind., and settled in Scott comity. Two boys were the issue of this union. In 1837 his father died, leaving a widow, John J., aged thirteen years, and William M., aged eleven, who moved to Hanover, Ind., where there was at that time a good school. The death of the father and the panic at that, time haul reduced this family to want. The elder brother volunteered to learn a trade so that his brother, William, the weaker and younger, could attend school. William first attended college at Hanover, which being moved to Madison compelled him to leave home. For the first two years he walked to Madison each Monday morning, carrying on his hack the food for the week. By working during vacation, and tutoring, he managed to get, enough money to attend college at Miami University. at Oxford, Ohio. Here, by also teaching and tutoring in the summer time, he managed to make enough money to graduate from Old Miami in 1846.

While teaching school in vacation, in Kentucky, he studied law; was admitted to practice at Lexington. In 1848 he attended law school at Harvard College. While there, Chief Justice Parker, of Now Hampshire, at that time one of the instructors at Harvard, was his preceptor. Justice Parker selected him from a large number of students as an unusually bright, honest young man, and made him one of his own household; treated him as one of his own children. He graduated at Harvard in 1850.

Afterward, without money, without a friend, alone, with only a letter of introduction from Justice Parker to the late Nathaniel Wright, Dickson came to Cincinnati. Judge Dickson presented this letter to Mrs. Wright who immediately invited him, on account of his past friendship to Judge D. Thew Wright, at Cambridge, to come and live at her house. By tutoring in Judge Wright's family, teaching elsewhere, and by reporting as a space reporter on the old Cincinnati Times, he made a living. While teaching in Kentucky, he had met Annie 'Maria Parker, and had fallen in love with her;' but poverty and the struggle for life had prevented him from asking her to marry him. About this time, Dr. Parker with this daughter, Annie Maria, visited Cincinnati to hear Jenny Lind. Mr. Dickson had bought five tickets on speculation, had sold two for enough to pay for the five, and invited Dr. Parker with his daughter to join him. This daughter, Annie, was a great granddaughter of Gen. Benjamin Logan, of pioneer memory; granddaughter of Col. John Allen, who fell in command of the Kentuckians at River Raisin in 1512; was the own cousin of Mary Todd, the wife of Abraham Lincoln. and cousin of Governor Porter, of Pennsylvania, Justice Marshall, of Pennsylvania, Governor Crittenden, of Missouri, Governor Murray, of Utah, and Logan Murray, of New York.

In 1852 Judge Dickson was married to Annie Maria Parker, and they immediately carne to Cincinnati, both almost strangers at this time, and he ran on the Independent ticket for prosecuting attorney of the Police Court. To the surprise of all he was elected. He was the first prosecuting attorney of this Court, which during its infancy had many struggles to maintain its jurisdiction. It was Dickson who made this Court its success to-day. During his term of office occurred the famous Bedini riots, and the cry of " Down with the Dutch." Snelbaker was mayor. Dickson, with Frederick Hassaurek and Judge Stallo as advisers, brought about harmony, and, by his uniform just conduct toward the unfortunate Germans, endeared himself to them. After leaving the Police Court, he rapidly rose to the foremost rank among our lawyers. His arguments under the Fugitive Slave Law, and in the celebrated Blind Tom case, were well known.

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In 1859, he was appointed by Governor Salmon P. Chase as judge of the Common Pleas Court of Hamilton county, and on February 12 he was sworn into office, succeeding Judge Oliver who had resigned. He was judge of this Court until November 7, 1859, being succeeded by Judge Collins. On account of his extreme youth and younger looks, his appointment, as judge was objected to by the older lawyers; but by hard work, uniform just treatment to all, just and fearless decisions, he left the Bench to renew the practice, beloved and respected by all who had come in contact with him.

During the war, his sympathetic nature made him espouse the cause of the colored man, he took the stump for universal amnesty, liberty and the Union. He partook in his love for the Union of the spirit of Webster, in his love for Abolition, the uncompromising spirit, of Sumner. In 1860, he was elected presidential elector for Abraham Lincoln, He refused the position of assistant judge advocate general, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel on the staff of Gen. George B. McClellan, He organized the first colored regiment during the war, holding that the colored man was a fit subject to fight for the Union and his own liberty, During the war he was the confidential friend of Lincoln, Stanton and Chase; spent much of his time at Washington, and had much to do in framing the Emancipation Proclamation at the close of the war. His ready pen and active brain were ever employed in the service of his party and his country. His contributions to the Press, and his pamphlets at. this time, attracted universal attention. He first secured by law, to the negro, the right to ride in the Cincinnati street cars.

In 1866, at the early age of thirty-nine, his health failed him, and travel abroad brought no relief. Notwithstanding his physical suffering, the last twenty-five years of his life were spent in study and writing on public topics. He was a hard student, and particularly loved biography and history. He was a constant writer during these twenty-five years for the magazines of the country, for the daily Press of this and other States, always upon political and social subjects, and always under the initials " W. M. D." His style of writing was peculiarly concise, terse and perspicuous. In all of his writings, that which most impresses one is that he could say more in the fewest words of almost any other writer. In his attacks on monopolies, jobbery and public trickery, public dishonesty, office seeking for the mere office, he wits never misunderstood. Public dishonesty he could not brook, but, for private misfortunes or private wrong, he always had the kindly word, "forgive." Among his correspondents were John and George Carlisle of Scotland, John Bright, Max Miller, Gladstone, John Stuart Mills, Disraeli, William Curtis, Seth Lowe, etc. He was for some years before his death president of the trustees of the Ohio Medical College. His greatest public love was the formation and success of the Republican party.

George William Curtis, in Harper's Weekly of November 2, 1889, among other things, says this of Judge Dickson: " Judge Dickson was a man of that union of deep convictions, cultivated intelligence and intellectual ability, upright character, political courage and independence, which is peculiarly American. His sudden and lamentable death is a distinct loss to the force of the best American citizenship. His name will not pass into our history, but it is such qualities as his that make it."

Mrs. Dickson died March 6, 1885. Judge Dickson was killed October 15, 1889, by an accident on the Mount Auburn Inclined Plane railway, leaving surviving him three children: Parker, William L. (both lawyers of Cincinnati), and one daughter, Jennie,

Jacob Wykof Piatt was born in Boone county, Ky., in 1801, and died in 1857. He was of French descent. Mr. Piatt received a liberal education, as such matters were measured at that time in the West. He studied law, and began the practice in Cincinnati. As a lawyer he was able and aggressive, his clients never losing anything by reason of his lack of zeal and industry, and as a speaker he was fluent,

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forcible and witty. He was the embodiment of industry, pursuing his practice and his other business in an indefatigable manner, which necessarily brought success and prosperity in the accumulation of property. As a lawyer and politician he was particularly popular with his Irish fellow citizens. His sharp style of trying a case, his fluent tongue and his biting sarcasm had an especial charm for the impulsive people of that nationality. This particular following, added to his ability as a speaker, gave Mr. Piatt very considerable influence in the politics of the State. He was an ardent Democrat, fighting for his party with the same zeal he displayed in behalf of his clients. This peculiar intensity of purpose and action he carried into religious matters. He became a Roman Catholic, and for years fought the battles of that Church, when to do so was to incur obloquy.

Mr. Piatt was for several years clerk of the Court of Common Pleas; and also a member of the city council. In the council he was celebrated for his attention to the finances of the city, and for his early and persistent advocacy of a paid fire department. The old volunteer firemen were a political contingent of marked influence, and of rowdy tendency. When Mr. Piatt attacked their organization, he became the object of their dislike, and narrowly escaped their violence. His house was mobbed, and his effigy burned; but his Irish admirers rallied to his defense and dispersed the crowd. The only member of the council who at first had the pluck to stand by Mr. Piatt was Judge Timothy Walker; but in time the new plan was adopted. At the first tire, after the organization of the paid department, the toughs of the old organization appeared in force, to destroy the machine; but Mr. Piatt was on hand with his following of the gentlemen from Cork, amt a vigorous application of the shillalah soon settled the conflict for all time. From that day to this there has not been a riot among the firemen, and Cincinnati now has an organization which is the admiration of the world. She owes this necessarily to the ability and pluck of Wykoff Piatt. In this connection, a pen picture by the late Judge Dickson. in 1885, in the Commercial Gazette, well describes the man and his services to the City.

'' Thirty-two years ago, than a very young man. I was prosecuting attorney of the Police Court, and, in connection with my official duties, had often to attend the meetings of council. The figure that arises before me as I recall those meetings is that of a rather tall, slim, erect man, high forehead, long gray hair, gracefully falling on either side, perfectly regular features, handsome mouth, chin and nose. with an alert, keen, penetrating eye, a twinkle in it when lit up by a sarcasm, altogether an imposing, dignified figure- Wykoff Piatt. There he stood with unquailing courage, the censor of the body, his extended arm, with index finger upon his victim, whom his clear, ringing, military voice was cutting as with a Damascus blade. That victim was always some fraud. His field was the dissection of appropriation bills. Nothing here was too small for his attention, nor did the larger steals intimidate him. Yet his service was not so much in exposing actual steals, as his presence forbade their attempt."

Mr. Piatt was for years the victim of disease, and his almost constant suffering had much to do with that irritability of temper, and often harshness of expression, which provoked enmity. Whilst quick to anger, he was equally ready to forgive and be forgiven. The sunny side of his nature was turned toward his family, in which he was a devoted son, a protecting brother and a most affectionate and tender husband and father.

William Johnston was born at Shippensburgh, Pennsylvania, April 1, 1804. His parents were Scotch-Irish. They came to Ohio in 1808, and settled on Yellow creels, Jefferson county, where their son was reared to manhood amid the toils, privations and dangers of the backwoods. There were practically no facilities for education; but a far-reaching intellect and an honorable ambition would not permit the pioneer boy to be content with the condition of his surrouudings. By the blazing-

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fire or the dim tallow dip, he persistently sought knowledge in such books as his limited means enabled him to purchase. Extra work earned him a few dollars each year, which he walked sixteen miles to Steubenville to invest, returning laden with such books as he was able to buy. The Bible, Shakespeare, and other British classics stored his mind, and eminently fitted him for his future career.

He read law at Steubenville, and, when admitted to the Bar, settled at Carrollton, Carroll county, where he soon came to be retained on one side or the other of all important litigation. He was elected prosecuting attorney, and, in 1836, to the State House of Representatives. He took a prominent part in the Legislature, and was specially effective in advocacy of a common-school law, and of the abolition of imprisonment, for debt. In 1831 he removed to Cincinnati, and during nearly the whole of 1840 was on the stump for Gen. Harrison, making a reputation as an orator scarcely equaled by that of any of the celebrated speakers of that wonderful campaign.

In 1811 be was appointed United States Surveyor-General, and held the position until 1845. Soon after he was elected judge of the old Superior Court of Cincinnati, which office he filled with marked ability and growing reputation, until be was nominated as the Whig candidate for governor in 1850. His campaign was brilliant but unsuccessful. In the fall of 1850 Judge Johnston resumed the practice, and for ten years thereafter became widely celebrated as a sound lawyer and as an advocate of unsurpassed ability. He had that peculiar power which enabled him to impress himself upon an audience. No person could listen to him and ever forget his clearness of logic, his simplicity, and force of style, his vivid flashes of wit, his mirth-provoking humor, his moving elocution. Physically tall and powerful, he possessed a musical and far-reaching voice, a bright blue eye, responding to every motion, and a mobile and expressive face. His chief effort was to convince the intellects of his auditors, but he, at the same time, interested and amused them. He abounded in pertinent anecdote, which he used not only to enliven debate but to illustrate arguments. His occasional sarcasm was scorching, whilst his ready wit scintillated throughout his speeches. Though a very large and generally a slow-moving man, with a deliberate manner, he yet was ever on the alert, and never failed to find and reach the weaker point in his opponent's armor. His blows were with broadswords, but his thrusts were with a sharp rapier, and both were equally hard to parry.

Judge Johnston was a man who paid but little regard to dress or personal appearance, and was usually considered somewhat eccentric. He certainly was not common-place, but was eminently original in style, in appearance, in method of treating a subject, and in delivery. He had a marked personality---so much so that there was an element of the picturesque in his appearance and in his oratory so pronounced as to attract attention and excite remark. But when he addressed an audience, he soon made them forget his peculiarities, and accept his arguments.

In the preparation and trial of cases Judge Johnston was remarkably painstaking, not trusting to genius but depending on labor for success. His style was simple, and his English such as the most ignorant could understand. He was never obscure, always forcible and often strikingly brilliant.

In 1861 he removed to Washington, where he practiced in the Court of Claims and the Supreme Court. He was appointed by President Lincoln on the commission to revise the statutes of the United States, where he served with ability, during a term of three years. This was his last public employment. He retired with a modest competence at seventy, and lived the life of a student until he was nearly eighty-eight years of age, bright of intellect until the last.

Alphonso Taft was born November 5, 1810, in the town of Townshend, Windham Co., Vt., the only son of Peter Rawson and Sylvia Howard Taft. The parents both of his father and of his mother had come to Vermont from the town of

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[Uxbridge, Worcester Co., Mass. Rhoda Rawson, the mother of Peter Rawson Taft, was a descendant of Edward Rawson, who came from England to New England in 1636, and was for thirty-five years secretary of the Colony of Massachusetts. Aaron Taft, the father of Peter Rawson Taft, was educated at Princeton College. Meeting with severe losses in Massachusetts, he took his family to Vermont. Peter Rawson Taft was reared a farmer with but a common-school education. He was a man of intellectual tastes and capacity, and educated himself after leaving school, so that he subsequently was admitted to Bar, and practiced law. He served many years in the Vermont Legislature. and was judge of the Probate and County Courts of Windham county, in that. State.

Alphonso Taft was also brought up on a farm, and until his sixteenth year attended the neighboring county schools. He then went to Amherst Academy at Amherst, Mass., paying the expenses of his tuition by teaching school at his home in Vermont during the winter. His experience at Amherst Academy made him ambitious for an education at a larger institution, and in his nineteenth year he entered Yale College. His summer vacations he spent in working upon the farm of his father. To save traveling expenses he, walked from New Haven to Townshend and back. By close economy he was able to support himself through college, and was graduated with high honor among the first half dozen of his class in 1833. Prof. James Dana, the great geologist, was a member of his class, and he arid Mr. Taft remained warm friends through life. For two years after graduation Mr. Taft taught in the high school at Ellington, Conn. While there he became interested in St. John Eldridge, one of his pupils. Eldridge's father had been in easy circumstances, but, while his son was at Ellington, suddenly lost his entire fortune. Mr. Taft's affection and admiration for Eldridge, as a manly boy and scholar, led him to pay Eldridge's expenses through Yale College, where Eldridge was graduated as the first scholar of his class. It was Mr. Taft's purpose to associate Eldridge with him in the practice of the law, but Eldridge e died very shortly after his graduation from Yale. Mr. Taft served as a tutor at Yale for two years after leaving Ellington, and at. the same time attended the Yale Law School, was graduated there and was admitted to the Bar of Connecticut in 1838. After visiting several of the cities of the West, Mr. Taft finally settled in Cincinnati in 1839. He had been, earlier in the same year, admitted to the Bar of Ohio, at Zanesville. His diligence, earnestness, education, and ability soon brought hirer a lucrative practice. He had associated with him as partners at different tinges in his career of thirtyfour years at the Bar, Thomas M. Key, William M. Dickson. Patrick Mallon, Aaron F. Perry, George R. Sage, his sons Charles P. and Peter R. Taft, and H. P. Lloyd. Mr. Key first entered Mr. Taft's office as a law student in 1842 ; Mr. Perry had been his class-mate in the Yale Law School. The partnership with Maj. H. P. Lloyd began in 1877, after Mr. Taft returned from Washington, and continued until April, 1882, when he went abroad. During a practice of over thirty-five years Judge Taft was engaged in many important cases. He was retained by the executors udder the will of Charles McMicken, to defend the validity of the devise by Mr. McMicken of more than a half million of dollars to the city of Cincinnati, to found a university for the free education of the youth of the city. The case was argued before Mr. Justice McLean in the Circuit Court, and the devise was sustained. The case was then carried on appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States where Thomas Ewing appeared in behalf of the contestants. The case was not unlike in some respects the famous Girard College will case, in which Mr. Binney and Mr. Webster had appeared. The learning and ability, displayed by Mr. Taft in the preparation of the brief and the argument in this case, which involved a laborious examination of the subject of religious and eleemosynary trusts under the statute of the 43d Elizabeth, called forth from the Bench expressions of high appreciation. The opinion of the Court sustained the validity of the gift of

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Mr. McMicken. Another important. Case in which Mr. Taft appeared as counsel, in the later years of his practice, was the suit brought to test the constitutionality of the bill authorizing the issuance by the city of Cincinnati of two million dollars of bonds for the completion of the Cincinnati Southern railroad. Mr. Taft was retained by the trustees of the Southern road to test the constitutionality of the bill. The case was heard first in the general term of the Superior Court of Cincinnati, where the constitutionality of the act was sustained, and this judgment was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Ohio.

In 1864 Judge Taft was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Superior Court of Cincinnati, and declined the appointment. In 1865 Judge George Hoadly resigned from the Superior Court, and Mr. Taft was again invited by Governor Cox to a seat upon the Bench. This appointment he accepted. At the next spring election he was elected to serve until 1869, when he was re-elected, having the honor, at that time rare, of receiving the unanimous vote of both political parties. In 1873 Judge Taft resigned, and entered the practice with his two sons, Charles and Peter. Many important cases were decided by him while on the Bench. He brought to the discharge of his duties the most unwearied industry and the greatest care. He announced the decision at the general term of the Superior Court in the case involving the constitutionality of the original Southern Railroad bill tinder which ten million dollars of bonds were issued to construct the road which has done so much to develop the trade and increase the business growth of Cincinnati. Another, and perhaps the best known of the causes which came before the Superior Court while Judge Taft was on the Bench, was what was called the Bible case. It was a suit brought to enjoin the School Board of Cincinnati from amending the rules which governed the public schools by striking out the clause providing that the Bible should be read at the opening exercises of each school. The Superior Court in general term then consisted of Judge Bellamy Storer, Judge Taft and Judge Hagans. The majority of the court, Judges Storer and Hagans, held that the school board had no power to amend the rules as proposed, and granted the injunction. Judge Taft delivered a dissenting opinion in which he decided:--First, that the school board had the power to amend the rules and strike out the clause proposed; and, Second, that the constitution of the State did not recognize the Christian religion any more than it recognized the religion of any of the other citizens of the State, not Christians; that it. was proper that the clause proposed should be stricken out because the King James version of the Bible was not accepted by the large Roman Catholic population as the trite Bible, and because the New Testament taught doctrines not believed in by the Jewish part of the population. The Supreme Court of Ohio unanimously reversed the decree of the court below, and sustained Judge Taft in his dissenting opinion by following substantially his course of reasoning therein.

Mr. Taft was long interested in politics, having been an earnest member of the Whig party from the time of the campaign of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," in 1840. He was a strong friend, great admirer and frequent correspondent of Mr. Webster, and voted for Mr. Webster as candidate for the Presidency in the National Convention of the Whig party. In 1856 he was a member of the National Convention which nominated John C. Fremont for President, and thus was present at the birth of the Republican party. In the same year he became a candidate for Congress on the Republican ticket in the First Ohio District against George H. Pendleton, by whom he was defeated. In 1875 Judge Taft was a candidate before the Ohio Republican Convention for governor of Ohio. He was defeated in the contest by Hon. Rutherford B. Hayes, who subsequently became President. In 1879 Judge Taft was again a candidate for the governorship against Hon. Charles Foster, and was defeated by seven votes. In each of these contests, the position of Judge Taft upon the question of the reading of the Bible in the public schools was the chief argument against his nomination. It was said by his opponents that though the

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decision had been confirmed unanimously by the Supreme Court, it would never the less cost the Republican party many votes to nominate him. On the 7th of March, 1876, Judge Taft was appointed, by President Grant, Secretary of War. He remained in the War office until May of the same year, when he was appointed Attorney-General to succeed Judge Edwards Pierpont. He remained in the latter position (one much more suited to his tastes than that of Secretary of War) until the close of President Grant's administration. In April. 1882, Judge Taft was appointed. by President Arthur, Minister of the United States to Austria. He resided at Vienna until the sumner of 1881, when he was tendered the appointment as minister to Russia, which appointment he accepted. He remained in Russia until the fall of 1885, and then returned to Cincinnati.

Judge Taft was a titan of the greatest public spirit, and throughout his life was constantly engaged in helping works of public benefit. He and his first wife were very active in the founding and construction of the House of Refuge of Cincinnati, and he delivered the opening address upon the opening of that institution which has since saved so many waifs from sin and misery for useful lives.

Very early in his Cincinnati life, he served as a member of the city council. He was the champion of the annexation party, so-called, which advocated the extension of the city limits north of Liberty street one mile to what is now known as McMillan street. The proposition was defeated in one council of which he ryas a member, and the Whig party refused to nominate him to succeed himself. He thereupon ran on an independent ticket, and was elected, and in the succeeding council the annexation ordinance was passed. He was, while in council, very active in advancing the interests of the city by the building of railroads. He was for many years a director in the Little Miami railroad, representing, as such, the interests of the city, which was a stockholder in the road. In 1850 he delivered to the Mercantile Library Association a lecture entitled " Cincinnati and her railroads," in which he demonstrated the great importance to the city of having as many railroads as possible radiating from it as a center in every direction. The prophecies of that lecture have all been fulfilled. He was one of the prominent incorporators of the Ohio & Mississippi railroad, and acted as its counsel for many years. He was a member of the first Board of Directors of the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad, and spent much time and labor in carrying through that enterprise in spite of many obstructions.

Judge Taft. was also an earnest supporter of the proposition that the city should build the Cincinnati Southern railway. He took part as a member of the Superior Court of Cincinnati in the appointment of the first board of trustees of the Southern road, and upon his retirement from the Bench he was himself appointed a trustee of the road in 1875, a position which he resigned when called into the cabinet of President Grant. He was one of the projectors and the first. president of the Mt. Auburn Street railroad, the first street railroad to connect the beautiful hill suburbs with the city of Cincinnati itself. This was the railroad from which sprung the incline plane system, and the extensive net, work of suburban street railways which is such a prominent feature of the city's life to-day.

Any sketch of Judge Taft's long and useful life would be quite defective which did not contain an allusion to his interest in, and devotion to, the cause of education in the city of his adoption and the country at large. He was one of the trustees of the original Woodward fund, and was for more than twenty years an active and useful member of the Union Board of High Schools of the city of Cincinnati. As already stated, as counsel he defended the McMicken bequest to found the University of Cincinnati, and he was thereafter appointed a trustee of the university by the city council; participated in the organization of the institution, and was for several years the president of the board. As already stated, he was a graduate at Yale of 1833, and of the Yale Law School. His five sons were graduated from the same university--the eldest in 1801 and the youngest in 1883. Judge Taft himself

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receive, the degree of LL. D. from Yale in 1867. In the year 1873, when by the law of Connecticut it was provided that six members of the corporation of Yale College should be chosen from the Alumni of the college by vote, Judge Taft was elected to a seat in the corporation which he held for three years, and was then re-elected for a subsequent term of six years. He declined the second re-election because he was then going abroad.

While in Russia Judge Taft contracted the disease of typhoid pneumonia, and for weeks his life was despaired of. His strong constitution, however, enabled him to partially recover his strength. In 1886 he returned to his home considerably shattered in health. He remained in Cincinnati until 1890, enjoying his leisure tune in classical and other studies. In the winter of 1889-90 his health became so poor that upon the advice of his physician he went to San Diego, Cal. There be was able to live for about two years longer. He died May 30, 1891, in the eighty-first year of his age.

Judge Taft was a member of the First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati. In the schism which occurred in that church during the ministry of Rev. Moncure D. Conway, Judge Taft was of those who supported Mr. Conway. A man of studious habits and wide reading, he retained his familiarity with the classics throughout his busy career. he was a man of singularly sweet and gentle nature, but he united with this a firmness of purpose and a courage of his convictions which, with his ability, learning, anti power of application, made him one of the foremost men in the State and country.

Judge :Taft married his first wife, Miss Fannie Phelps, of Townshend, Vt., in 1841 ; she died in 1852 leaving two sons, Charles Phelps and Peter Rawson. In 1854 he married Miss Louise M. Torrey, of Millbury, Mass., who survives him. By her be had four children: William Ii., Henry W., Horace D. and Fannie Louise. Charles Phelps Taft was admitted to the Bar, and practiced with his father, but subsequently became and is now the managing editor and proprietor of the Cincinnati Times Star. Peter Rawson Taft, the second son, was a member of the Bar for a number of years, and died in June, 1889. The third son, William H., also became a member of the Bar, and is now one of the United States circuit judges for the Sixth Circuit. The fourth son, Henry W. Taft, is a practicing lawyer in the city of Now York. Horace D. Taft, the fifth and youngest son, studied law and was admitted to the Bar, but subsequently became a tutor in Yale College, and is now proprietor and bend of a preparatory school for boys at Watertown, Conn. Fannie Louise, the only daughter, was married, during Judge Taft's residence in San Diego, to Dr. William A. Edwards. of that city, where she now resides.

Stanley Matthews was born July 21, 1821, in Cincinnati. His parents were Thomas J. Matthews (a native of Leesburg, Va., who carne to Cincinnati in 1818) and Isabella Matthews, the daughter of Col. William Brown, a pioneer who came from Connecticut and settled in Columbia in 1788. His early boyhood was passed in Lexington, Ky., where his father was professor of mathematics in Transylvania University. In 1832, however, his parents took up their residence again in Cincinnati, and from that time until 1839 he attended Woodward High School, of which his father was president. At the latter date he entered Kenyon College, from which institution he was graduated with honors in 1840. He especially excelled in classics. To his study of these he largely owed the power of clear and terse expression for which he became noted at the Bar and upon the Bench. For two years after graduation front college he prosecuted his legal studies in Cincinnati. From 1842 to 1844 he resided in Maury County, Tenn., teaching school. During his residence there he married the daughter of James Black, Esq., of that county, and commenced the practice of the law. He also edited while there a weekly newspaper called the Tennessee Democrat.

In 1845, having returned to Cincinnati, be was admitted to the practice of the

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law here. His first employment at. the Bar was as assistant prosecuting attorney of Hamilton county. In November 1846, he became the principal editor of the Cincinnati Morning Herald, a newspaper devoted to the peaceful and constitutional extinction of slavery. He continued to edit this paper for about a year and until its publication was suspended. He was elected clerk of the Ohio House of Representatives at the session of 1848-49, during which Salmon P. Chase was elected United States Senator. In 1850 he resumed the practice of the law at Cincinnati, and in 1851 was elected one of the three common pleas judges of this county. He remained upon the Bench until January 1, 1853, when he resigned, and for seven or eight years practiced law as the junior member of the firm of Worthington & Matthews. In 1855, he was elected to the Senate of Ohio from this county, and served one term. From 1858 until 1801 he served as United States district attorney, by appointment of President Buchanan. Upon the breaking out of the Civil war he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-third Regiment, O. V. I. In October, 1801, he became colonel of the Fifty-first Regiment O. V. I., and served with his regiment as a part of the army of the Cumberland in Kentucky and Tennessee. In April, 1803, while in camp, he was elected judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati. This judicial office he filled until July. 1805, when he resigned to resume the practice of the law. It is perhaps unnecessary to say that he at once took a leading position at the Bar. He represented many of the most important corporations in the county. In 1872 he was a member of the Liberal Republican Convention, a body of men who, actuated by the purest and most patriotic motives, succeeded in making themselves absolutely ridiculous, when they nominated, for President, Horace Greeley, upon a free-trade platform. There can be no doubt but that that galling iniquity hurried the philosopher of the New York Tribune to his untimely grave.

Judge Matthews was temporary chairman of that wonderful convention, a convention that contained more incongruous elements than were ever assembled since the Tower of Babel. The noise, confusion, and disorder that prevailed, was such as might have been expected from a collection of several hundred politicians, all of whom prided themselves upon the fact that they were men of independent thought and action, and no two of whom could agree upon any proposition under the sun. The temporary chairman was driven almost to distraction by the universal and belligerent uproar of the occasion, Mr. Lyman Trumbull, of the Illinois delegation, was making a speech upon one side of the House, and upon the other Col. Alexander McClure, of the Pennsylvania delegation, arose and frantically exclaimed: " Mr. President, we can't hear a word the gentleman is saying." In stentorian tones the temporary chairman shouted back: "It is not important that you should." The laugh that. followed quelled the disorder. Judge Matthews did not support Mr. Greeley in the ensuing canvass, but threw his great influence in favor of Gen. Grant. Judge Matthews, before the Electoral Commission, was counsel for Gen. Hayes. Thereafter he was senator from Ohio, as successor to John Sherman. In May, 1881, President Garfield nominated him to the position of associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, a position which he held until his death, March 22, 1889.

The Bar of Hamilton county has, without doubt, produced many, very many, distinguished men. Judge Timothy Walker was one. He was a man plain of speech, and his statement of a case was so simple that one was unconsciously led to accept his conclusions. He was effective as a speaker because he made no display of language, or of rhetoric. He was, by appointment, a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, where his term of service gave him increased reputation. His book on " American Law" should be read by every student; as an introductory work, there is no other like it.

Bryant Walker was for a short time judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati.

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He was a young man of brilliant qualities. He inherited his father's clear, powerful intellect. Like all men of genius, ability or intelligence, he participated in the war of the Rebellion. Upon July 22, 1864, he was wounded, desperately wounded, in front of Atlanta. He was at one time city solicitor, and was one of those of whom it may be said, he held an important municipal position without reproach. He was able in the trial of a case, and could try it with all the power there was in him, and yet not derogate from the character of a gentleman.

Henry Stanberry was a lawyer of eminent ability. He was from the celebrated. Lancaster Bar, which numbered among its members such men as Thomas Ewing, Hocking H. Hunter, Philadelphia Van Trump, Samuel F. Vinton, John L. Brazes, and others who were distinguished in the profession. Mr. Stanberry was a member of the Constitutional convention that formed the Constitution of 1851. He was Attorney-General under Andrew Johnson, and was the main-stay of the defense in the impeachment of the President. He was not an actor in political life, but devoted himself almost exclusively to his profession.

Charles For was at one time a judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati. He was originally a carpenter by trade, and came to this city about 1820. He probably practiced law for a longer period of time than any man who has been a member of this Bar, and at one time did an immense business. His name appeared upon the docket, upon one side or the other, of most of the cases that were tried in court.

As an astute jury lawyer, and for success in the trial of cases, few men have equaled Isaac M. Jordan. Bold, ready, with a quickness of perception that saw everything in a flash, a poise that was never thrown off its balance, he was a terrible adversary. He and his brother, Jackson AT. Jordan, were a leading firm at the Bar.

Piatt was always a celebrated name in Hamilton county. The brothers John H. and Ben. M. Piatt were early settlers in the West, and identified with its history in every stage of progress. Dunn Piatt was one of the early judges of the Court of Common Pleas under the new constitution. The practice of law, however, was not congenial to his tastes. He first distinguished himself as a journalist. He was a correspondent of leading newspapers, and his pen became famous. Wit, humor, sarcasm, invective, there was no phase of style that was not his own. He. was secretary of legation at Paris, and spent some time abroad. During the war he was Gen. Schenck's chief of staff. Those who were familiar with Donn Piatt's. keen sense of a joke will easily understand whence originated the idea which. prompted Gen. Schenck's brilliant stroke of strategy in Baltimore. Butler had made himself famous by his woman's order, in New Orleans; Gen. Schenck encountered the same difficulty, when in command at Baltimore, but he treated it in a different way. In Baltimore as in New Orleans the soldiers could resent insults from the men, but with the women rebels it was different. To knock them down was hardly in accord with the highest notions of etiquette, and so the gentler sex flashed their secession flags, and spit in the officers' faces to such an extent that it verged upon the unpleasant. At last they got to wearing rebel colors, and promenading the streets in costume. Gen. Schenck employed a number of the most noted women of the town, hiring them to array themselves with elegance, and to parade the streets, with the rebel colors conspicuously displayed. Whenever they met with one of the ladies of Baltimore wearing similar badges, they saluted her effusively, embracing her with emotion as a "Sister in the Holy Cause." The women of Baltimore were effectually suppressed.

Nicholas Longworth was judge of the Court of Common Pleas of this county from 1876 until 1881, when he was elected judge of the Supreme Court. He graduated at Harvard in 1866 with high honors, and was admitted to the Cincinnati Bar in 1869. He retired from the Supreme Bench in 1883. He was a man of brilliant abilities and accomplished in many directions. He was a classical scholar. and his translation of Electra, while it preserves the pith of the original, makes

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Greek poetry readable, even in the English language. His love of poetry was a passion, and the standard authors he seemed to known by heart. He was a skilled mechanic, had cultivated music with success. At the Bar, besides being a well equipped lawyer, he had that aggressive audacity that made him a formidable antagonist, even as against older and more experienced men. In social life he was a charming companion, always generous to a fault. He died in 1890 at the early ago of forty-six.

The Hamilton County Bar, during the trying times of the Civil war, were true to their duties as American citizens. The lawyers did not hesitate to answer the call that summoned them to the field. Of these were Col. N. C. McLean, of the Ninety-fifth O. V. I.; E. Basset Langdon, lieutenant-colonel of the First O. V. I.; Col. Donn Piatt; Theophlus Gaines, Fifth O. V. I. ; Col. F. W. Moore, now ;judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati; Capt. John F. Hoy; Lieut. Edgar M. Johnson, and Everett S. Thomas. Charles Loomis and Channing Richards were members of the Sixth Ohio. Richards was afterward captain of the Twenty-second Ohio, of which C. J. Wright was colonel.

Col. Fred L. Jones was first appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Thirty-first O. V. I., and subsequently was transferred to the Twenty-fourth. He was in Buell's advance upon the fateful field of Shiloh. They were ferried over the river under the lead of the impetuous Nelson as the first day's light was nearing its disastrous close, and stayed the rush of the exultant Rebels. Col. Jones was soon after promoted for gallantry on the field. At the battle of Stone River, in a charge upon the enemy, he was fatally shot, and died December 31, 1862. Those who knew him well remember what a bright, gallant, dashing young fellow he was.

James Warnock was captain in the Second Ohio. He entered the service in Cincinnati, was promoted, and followed the fortunes of Buell's army. He was wounded in Chattanooga, in Hooker's battle above the clouds. He was in the service until October, 1864, when he was mustered out.

Henry B. Banning entered the service April 20, 1861, as captain in the Fourth Ohio, three-months' men. On June 6 he became captain for three years, and June 25, 1862, was appointed colonel of the Eighty-first Ohio. Afterward he was made lieutenant-colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Regiment, and transferred to the One Hundred and Twenty-first., as colonel. He was made brevet brigadier general for gallant services during the Atlanta campaign. After the war he was a member of the State Legislature, and then member of Congress from this county.

Robert L. McCook went into the war as colonel of the Ninth Ohio, a German regiment from Cincinnati. He was with Buell in Kentucky; at Pittsburgh Landing, Corinth, and throughout Tennessee. He rose to the rank of brigadier-general. The tragedy of his death in August, 1862, is familiar. His energy and ability were such that, had he lived through the war, he would doubtless have added lustre to a family name already distinguished for zeal in the Nation's cause.

Stephen J. McGroarty and William M. Ward were members of the Tenth, or Lytle, Regiment. McGroarty was afterward colonel of the Sixty-first. Elthan Courtland Williams enlisted in the gunboat service upon the Western waters, while still a minor, but served during the war. John Coffee and John W. Warrington were privates. Irwin B. Wright was captain. Col. James F. Moline had retired from active practice before the war broke out. He served during the war as aid to to Major-Gen, John Pope. Was in the Western campaigns of that distinguished officer, and at the battle of Second Bull Run.

Rutherford B. Hayes entered the service as major of the Twenty-third Ohio. It can not be necessary to speak here in detail of the life of a President of the United States. There is no American who is not familiar with it. There were also Oliver P. Brown, captain in the Thirty-ninth; Peter J. Sullivan, colonel of the Forty-eighth; William H. Baldwin, lieutenant-colonel of the Eighty-third; Benton Hal-

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stead, colonel of the One Hundred and Ninety-seventh; Samuel S. Fisher, colonel of the One Hundred and Thirty-eighth.

Joseph B. Foraker, Thomas T. Heath, William Disney, L. H. Pummill, Gustavus Tafel and Thomas L. Young, Gen. Henry M. Cist, Col. Nathan Lord, Sixth Vermont, all members of the Cincinnati Bar, were in the Service, in various capacities, and it has never been said that the legal fraternity failed in the dories they were called upon to perform. It is quite possible that the names of all those who were in the army have not been here preserved, but such records as were available have been examined with the purpose of making the list complete, and if omissions have occurred, it is not because labor has been spared.