450 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY of the Drummond Block, immediately in the rear of the law office of Kent, Newton & Pugsley. The law offices of M. R. & R. Waite were in the southwest corner of this building. When these gentlemen removed to the Chamber of Commerce, Scribner & Hurd took possession of their old quarters and remained there until the firm was finally dissolved, Jan. 1, 1894. In the early '70's, Desault B. Kirk became a member of the firm, but in a short time retired, abandoned the law, and entered a commercial business at Mt. Vernon, Ohio. In 1872, Harvey Scribner was taken into the firm and the name was changed to Scribner, Hurd & Scribner, under which it continued until the election of Charles H. Scribner to the Circuit bench, from which time Mr. Hurd and Harvey Scribner continued the practice, under the name of Scribner & Hurd, until Jan. 1, 1894, when this firm dissolved and Mr. Hurd, Orville S. Brumback, and Charles A. Thatcher organized a law firm under the name of Hurd, Brumback & Thatcher. The new firm opened offices in the Gardner Block, at which place they continued in the practice of law down to the time of Mr. Hurd's death, July Jo, 1896. "Mr. Hurd was elected city solicitor of the city of Toledo in 1871, was re-elected in 1873. and was elected to Congress in 1874, in 1878 and in 1882. In his first term he secured an appropriation, for the channel of the Maumee river, of $75,o00, the largest appropriation up to that time that had been made for that purpose. "During the campaign of 1874, in a speech from the steps of the old postoffice, he pledged himself, if elected, to secure a new government building for Toledo, to cost not less than $500,000. He was elected, and the new building stands there as a monument to, his untiring industry and fidelity to the interests of his constituents. He secured a separation of the Northern District of Ohio into two divisions and a separate United States Court for Toledo. "During his last term he secured an appropriation for the con- struction ofa straight channel from the mouth of the Maumee river into Lake Erie. This improvement, the cost of which will run into the millions, is of incalculable benefit to the city of Toledo and the commerce of the Great Lakes. He served with distinguished ability on the Committee of Ways and Means and the Judiciary Committee, and was the recognized peer of the eminent lawyers who constituted the latter. "During his first term in Congress, he revised and republished his father's work on Habeas Corpus, a standard authority on that subject in America and England. "In 1876, what is known as the 'Greenback craze' swept over the country. While some of the ablest men in his party weakened -and surrendered to this delusion, Mr. Hurd never for a moment wavered in his advocacy of an American dollar that should be equal to the best dollar in the world. His fidelity to this principle cost him an election to Congress that year. "In the face of a strong public sentiment favorable to the protective tariff, he advocated taking all restrictions from trade, excepting a tariff for revenue, and the freest possible commercial relations between BENCH AND BAR - 451 the United States and all other countries in the world. He was the pioneer in the work of establishing this principle in American politics. As an advocate of that doctrine his fame will be illustrious in all time, equally with that of its greatest apostles in the Old and the New World. "From the time he retired from Congress, in 1885, down to the time of his death, he devoted himself actively and exclusively to the practice of his profession. He did his work thoroughly and conscientiously. For days and nights before the time set for the trial of his cases he worked with a feverish activity, overhauling the books in his own library and in the library of the Law Association, until he had run down every authority that could have any possible bearing on any question that could be raised on either side of the case ; and when the time for trial arrived he was often elaborately equipped on questions that his opponents had overlooked and that were never raised. His resources were almost inexhaustible. The situation never became so dangerous or the case so desperate but he would discover some authority or devise some plan that would enable himself and his associate to escape the impending disaster. His suggestions in such emergencies were often in the nature of an inspiration, astonishing and dazzling both friends and foes. He enjoyed the preparation of his cases and delighted in the excitement and conflict of the trial. "His power to sway a jury or public audience was of the very highest order. His personal presence on such occasions was dignified, commanding, animated and fascinating. His arguments to the jury were short, not usually occupying more than a half or three-quarters of an hour, and were models of orderly sequence, linguistic purity and logical reasoning. His audience felt his magnetic qualities the moment he opened his lips. “He commenced a speech or argument quietly and in tones that were musical and exquisitely modulated. As he proceeded his voice swelled to a diapason that thrilled and electrified his auditors, his sentences flowing in a torrent of reasoning and vivid imagery that was simply irresistible. His adversaries paid the highest possible compliment to his oratory when, for the purpose of avoiding its disastrous effect, they permitted their cases to go to the jury without answering the opening argument. "He never under any circumstances indulged in personalities, and he treated his opponents with a uniform courtesy and consideration that won from them their warmest regard and respect. He lost sight of everything but the great questions involved in his case, and addressed himself to crystallizing and presenting them in the strongest and most favorable light for his client. From the time he entered his father's office to the day of his death, he was a close and continuous student of the law. Nature gave him great talent, and even genius, and these he trained and disciplined to the highest point to which they were susceptible in the study of the law and its scientific and literary accessories. ''The money he earned he lavished prodigally on his friends and distributed to objects of charity. It gave him pain to see suffering 452 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY and not be able to relieve it. In his case it was truly a greater pleasure to give than to receive. "He was a true child of nature, and sympathized with the lowliest and humblest of her children. In politics and the law he championed the cause of the unfortunate and oppressed. Of his great earnings he retained for himself only sufficient for his personal expenses ; the rest he gave freely and gladly to his fellows. "In all his relations in life he was the soul of honor, incapable of descending to anything that was petty or mean. His disposition was kind and affectionate, gentle and winning, attaching the lifelong friendship of those who came closely in contact with him. He had the highest sense of the honor of our profession and was scrupulously careful to observe all the rules laid down in its ethics. "From the commencement of his career to the end he was an enthusiastic worker. He had been confined to his room but a week before he died. On the day after his death, friends who visited his office found books scattered upon the floor and lying open with places marked upon his table and memoranda in his handwriting on his desk, just as he had left it the day he was taken sick. "We can very well say of him what in his life he ardently wished should be said 'That he died in the harness.' "The committee respectfully request that the foregoing memorial be spread on the records of the court." Signed by Harvey Scribner, John H. Doyle, and Orville S. Brumback, committee. In addition to the above, the following remarks were made by Harvey Scribner : "In submitting this report, I consider it a privilege to add a tribute to the memory of one who was as near and dear and close to me as a brother. "I remember well the first time I ever heard him deliver a public speech. It was in the town of Mt. Vernon, in 1861, in the evening. He was a slight, slender boy, as yet unknown to fame. He stood on a platform in an open-air meeting. The light of the torches reflected an animated, classic face, dark hair, and eyes that blazed with the excitement of genius conscious of uttering eternal truths. He possessed then to the fullest extent that magnetism that was a distinguishing feature of his oratory to the last. His auditors listened breathlessly, charmed by the voice, language and manner of the speaker. "At this distance of time I remember distinctly an illustration he used to impress on his hearers the priceless value of liberty. He described a band of Polanders meeting secretly in the night, among the rocks and cliffs, in the recesses of their native mountains, and there. beneath the stars and the blue midnight, swearing that Poland yet should be free. I was a boy, but ten years of age at the time, but the whole scene—the farmers, mechanics, business men, clustered about the stand with uplifted faces in wrapped attention, and the young orator bending forward, expressing with voice, gesture, look and animation his absolute, unswerving confidence in the truth of the claims he was making—is as clear to me as this court room at the present moment. BENCH AND BAR - 453 "I have heard him a great many times since ; on the platform with George H. Pendleton and Clement L. Vallandigham, with Sunset Cox and Carl Schurz. I haye had an opportunity to compare him with the greater orators in the country. It may be due to my partiality, but to me he had a charm and fascination that was beyond and above that of all of them. "When he commenced a speech he spoke in tones so low that his auditors strained their ears to catch his words ; in that way he secured absolute silence. As he proceeded his audience moved along with him, his voice increased in volume, and with it the interest and delight of his hearers, until those trumpet tones were reached that had the effect of martial music. "He was earnest and intense in his belief in the doctrines he was trying to inculcate. These doctrines he crystallized in sentences, limpid and clear as a brook, that moved along to the climax, stately and certain as the bars of the Marsellaise Hymn. "He infused his own enthusiasm into his audience, and as he proceeded his voice rose to a tenor, his short sentences, the logical conclusion of his premises, followed one after another like the notes of a bugle, striking conyiction into the mind of his audience and completely carrying it away. "The effect of his oratory on a jury was equally effective, although on a smaller scale. He could touch upon the domestic relations, the interest of the mother in the future of her boy, and of the father that the steps of his daughter should not go astray, in a manner that never failed to reach and affect his hearers. His closing appeal in the Shannon case was one of his greatest efforts. Shannon was unable to be present at the trial, and was stretched on a bed of suffering at his home. In his deposition, which was read, he had said that he looked forward with pleasant anticipation to the time when he could sit in a rocking-chair and watch the carriages drive by. Mr. Hurd alluded to this and inquired of the jury, 'What kind of a future was that, the brightest side of which promised a man the privilege of sitting in a rocking-chair in his room and looking at the carriages drive by?' The court, jury and spectators were alike melted to tears by the delicacy and pathos with which he developed the tremendous meaning of this little remark, unwittingly let fall by the plaintiff in his testimony. "Mr. Hurd had great ability as an organizer and possessed in a high degree the qualities of a general. He always arose to the emergency. I remember on one occasion, when a political contest was going forward between him and one of his rivals for the Congressional nomination in this district, it was of vital importance that he should have a majority of the Lucas delegation. In the evening after the caucuses. his lieutenants from the several wards met in his room at the Booth House to canvass with him the situation. The result showed that a majority of the delegates from the wards were against him. As the great bulk of the vote came from the city, the outlook was pretty dark. The convention would meet next morning at 10:30. It was then 9 in the evening. Many a leader would have abandoned 454 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY the contest then and there. Not so with Mr. Hurd. Making a rapid calculation, he said: 'If we can capture the country we can overcome the majority in the city.' He inquired of his friends if they were willing to visit the townships that night, ascertain the situation, and do what they could to secure the country delegates. This his friends were only too willing to do. He detailed his several lieutenants to the different townships and requested them, when their mission was completed, to meet him at Maumee. Between 12 and 3 o'clock the next morning the old guard came straggling into a tavern in Maumee and reported to their chief the complete success of their efforts, and their claim was verified by the vote in the convention on the following day, which was in his favor by a small majority. This may not be an interesting reminiscence to the general public, but I know that it is a very pleasant recollection to as devoted a band as ever followed a political or military chief. "Mr. Hurd's charity is a matter of common knowledge. Widows and cripples, whose distressful condition was known to him by reason of their position as clients, were boarded and lodged and clothed by him, pending the litigation that was to decide their claims. Time and again I have known him to send a one-legged or one-armed young man to a clothing store with an order for a complete outfit of underclothes, suit of clothes, overcoat and hat. He seemed to take especial pleasure in charities of this kind, in the winter time, when the distress of the unfortunate appeals so strongly. Many and many a young man can thank him for his education and the start in life that afterward led on to success. "The value of money was something that was entirely beyond his comprehension. He received or paid out $io or $100 with about the same sensation. As long as his bank account supplied his immediate necessities he was as contented as a millionaire, and expended what he had and what he expected to have as cheerfully as though he possessed a magic purse. This disposition sometimes caused him embarrassment, especially during his campaigns ; but a temporary period of economy, coupled with extra efforts and what he called falling back on his financial resources, served to straighten out his affairs, and when he died, like the 'Village Blacksmith' of Longfellow, 'He could look the whole world in the face, for he owed not any man.' "Mr. Hurd possessed unmistakable genius, and he had all the characteristics of genius. In the courts, at great public meetings, in conventions and the halls of Congress, he easily arose to the heights of any occasion, impressing the high and low alike with his intellectual strength and greatness. At his home and among his friends he displayed the affection, the simplicity and guilelessness of a child. He retained all through his life, in perennial freshness, the ardent friendships, the unquestioning confidence, the happy, sanguine, hopeful disposition that belongs to boyhood. He was a boy to the last. "I was one of several guests at the old home of Mr. Hurd on the occasion of his funeral. His sister showed me the room he usually occupied when he came home for a visit ; it was the same room he had slept in in his boyhood. She said that the last time he had slept in it BENCH AND BAR - 455 was on the occasion of a visit, some four or five weeks before he died that one morning before he had risen, and while he was still sleeping, her little boy gave one of the peculiar whistles or calls that has belonged to boyhood from time immemorial in a moment the blinds were thrown open and Frank's face appeared, beaming with expectation. He smiled and threw his head back, saying: I dreamed I was a boy again and thought my old friend, Henry Curtis, was calling me.' His sister told him he had heard the call all right, but it was from a later generation. He has stepped through the gates where, as Christ teaches us, life is an eternal youth. He has passed with the procession to the other side, where there are nearly as many members of the bar and those whom he knew quite as well as they whom he has left behind. Kent and McIntosh, French and Rouse. Lee and Dodge, the Hills, the Waites, Bissell, Baker and Scott, Judge Potter, and a host of others have welcomed him into that mysterious world, as he and they hereafter will welcome each and every one of us. "In the meantime, God bless and keep green their memories." TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF CHARLES H. SCRIBNER. (Taken from a volume of the Circuit Court Reports.) Charles Harvey Scribner was born Oct. 20, 1826, near Norwalk, Conn., and is of English descent. During his early childhood his parents moved to Newark, N. J., and in that city he received the rudiments of his education. In 1838 the family removed to the village of Homer, in Licking county, Ohio, where, like most farmers' boys, he spent his time working on the farm in summer and going to school in winter. For a short time he worked on a newspaper for pay so small that a well-regulated boy of this generation would scorn to take it. When eighteen years of age he was apprenticed to learning the trade of saddler and harness maker, but while he worked at learning his trade during the day, earning three dollars a week, at night he put in his time studying law, and in October, 1848, he was admitted to the bar at Mt. Vernon. In 1850 he entered into a professional partnership with H. B. Curtis, of Mt. Vernon, which continued for nineteen years, when Mr. Scribner removed to Toledo and became associated with the late Frank H. Hurd. Prior to this Mr. Scribner had been elected a member of the Ohio Senate from the district comprising Holmes, Wayne, Knox and Morrow counties. and while there he was chairman of the Judiciary Committee. In the Senate he introduced the Criminal Code prepared by Frank H. Hurd, his predecessor in the Senate, and himself prepared the Municipal Code of the State. In the spring of 1873 he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention. In the same year he was nominated for Supreme Judge on the Democratic ticket, but was defeated by a small majority. In November, 1887, Mr. Scribner was elected one of the judges for the Sixth Circuit, in which position he continued until the time of his death, Feb. 23, 1897. 456 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY While still practicing at Mt. Vernon, Judge Scribner found time to write a two-volume work on The Law of Dower, which has taken a high rank among the legal text books. Judge Scribner was married Oct. 20, 1847, to Miss Mary E. Morehouse, of Homer, Ohio, and was the father of four daughters and four sons, the eldest of whom became his business partner, in 1871, and is still a well known member of the Toledo bar. It is fitting that Judge Scribner's associates and successors at the bar should testify to the high character he displayed in his intercourse with them and acknowledge the value of the tradition which he leaves behind. The innate gentleness of the man, combined with the impress he received from the unusually able and distinguished lawyers with whom he practiced in the little city of Mt. Vernon, rendered Judge Scribner's manners as a practitioner well nigh ideal. He has been known to say to a young lawyer : "The bar is composed of the best fellows in the world—strain a point to keep their friendship." In the trial of cases he was not only fair and courteous to rival attorneys, but his manners to witnesses were so far removed as possible from the insulting, intimidating style which, happily, we may now describe as a remnant of a past age. It was in consequence of this that one of the Common Pleas judges was able to say that he did not recollect, during all his career at the bar, hearing a single word against Judge Scribner. The ethics of the profession he held in high esteem. He felt that their observance gave dignity and self-respect to the profession. He once lost an important case by refusing to permit a client to pay a man to tell the truth. In professional work he was extremely painstaking and laborious. The letter-press books of his office tell in this respect a surprising and pathetic story. In 1885 the Common Pleas made a vigorous attempt to dispose of an accumulation of cases, and as a result Judge Scribner, then attorney for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, was kept in court for several months at a time, trying one case after another. Yet the letter-press reveals the fact that even during this extreme strain Judge Scribner actively oversaw other cases in which his firm was interested, conducted a large correspondence with his own hand, and personally copied his letters—the mute witnesses of his indomitable industry. The lamentable result of all this was a nervous collapse from which he never fully recovered. Judge Scribner, like his illustrious predecessor, Chief Justice Waite, has left the bar a tradition and an influence for courtesy, for honor and for industry whose extent we easily overlook, because we are accustomed to it. The character which Judge Scribner displayed at the bar shone with equal luster on the bench. A former circuit judge, who once sat with Judge Scribner in another circuit, has described the temper in which Judge Scribner performed his duties. When they took up a batch of cases for decision he said he did not feel well, and asked the presiding judge to give him something easy. "Well," said the presiding judge, "here is the case of ______ vs ______. I guess we will all agree on that ; the plaintiff's interpretation of the statute will not hold for a moment. Suppose you give the decision in that case." Judge Scribner assented and disappeared. An hour afterward he was BENCH AND BAR - 457 found in the midst of a heap of books, laboriously tracing the origin and modifications of a statute through successive legislatures. "Why, Judge," said the president, "I thought you wanted something easy. What are you doing?" Judged Scribner smiled and said, "Well, I felt as if I would like to convince the man that we have got to beat that he was wrong." Regretting, no doubt, that he had to decide against anybody, he was anxious to reconcile the defeated to the result by convincing him of his error. Judge Scribner's political ideas lent a romantic tinge to his personality. While very little of a partisan in the sense of being always for everybody on his party ticket, his democratic principles were so deep-seated, so ingrained, so much a part of him that it is impossible to overlook this side of his character. Liberal in all things else, on principle he was as firm as a rock. His political convictions gave his life that coloring of sentiment, that impersonal ideal, without which our lives are incomplete. It is pleasing to know that the life of a man so immersed in work, so self-restrained, and to whom so few relaxations came, was exceptionally happy in its domestic relations. Many of us have been witnesses of the extraordinary devotion of which he was at once the recipient and giver. Thus, if our friend's life, on the retrospect, seems a hard and grinding one, we may feel glad that he had the greatest of life's consolation. After a life of intense and highly intelligent labor Judge Scribner died comparatively poor. He never held high political position, and his fame was circumscribed within comparatively narrow limits, both in time and space. He attained no conspicuous eminence in wealth, fame, or position. Yet must we not feel that his life will leave a larger inheritance than many who reach the highest rounds on the ladder of ambition? Must we not feel that his gentleness, his charity, his character, leave behind a larger immortality than most of the most distinguished careers ? We feel, we know that he has attained the poet's aspiration—an immortality not made up of earthly renown, but living in the lives of other men : "May I reach That purest heaven, be to other souls The cup of strength in some great agony, Enkindle generous ardor, feel pure love, Beget the smiles that have no cruelty, Be the sweet presence of a good diffused And in diffusion ever more intense." MEMORIAL TO JOHN R. OSBORN. On Sept. 20, 1897, the following memorial, relative to the death of John R. Osborn was unanimously adopted: "John R. Osborn was born in Circleville, in Pickaway county, Ohio, April 1, 1813. His ancestry, early education and active life well illustrate the forces that were at work moulding the character of the life of this great Commonwealth, both prior to its admission to the 458 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY Union and during the early part of its existence as an independent State. "His paternal grandfather, Lot Osborn, was a native of Ridgefield, Conn. His father, Ralph Osborn, was born in the town of Waterbury, Conn. The grandfather, at an early day, removed to Broome county, New York, being one of the earliest settlers in that vicinity. The father, Ralph Osborn, having studied law, drifted further west and, in 18o6, located at Franklinton, on the west side of the Scioto river, just opposite where the city of Columbus now stands, and afterward settled in Cireleville, in Pickaway county, practicing his profession in Pickaway, Franklin, Delaware, and probably other counties of the State. "Being of New England parentage on his father's side, Mr. Osborn, on his mother's side, came from an old Virginia family. His mother was Catherine Renick, a daughter of John Renick, a native of Virginia, from Hardy county in that State, who, with his family, had emigrated into Ohio shortly before or about the time of the admission of Ohio to statehood, and settled in Pickaway county, where he built, as we are told, the first shingle-roofed house the Indians in the vicinity had ever seen. Mr. Osborn was the eldest of a large family of children, sons and daughters, in whose veins flowed, as we have seen, the blood of Connecticut and Virginia, the two States which have contributed more than all the others, perhaps, to Ohio's greatness. "It is worth passing mention that his father, Ralph Osborn, held the office of Auditor of the State of Ohio for the period of eighteen years, from 1814 until 1833, a longer period, we believe, than any other incumbent of that office, and was also a member of the State senate in the session of 1834. "Mr. Osborn has several times said to the writer of this sketch that among his earliest: recollections is that of the long and tedious journey on wagons, through the dense woods, from Chillicothe to Columbus, in the year 1817, on the occasion when the State officers were removed from the former to the latter place. "After attending school. for several years at various academies, as they were called in -Circleville and Columbus, he entered the Ohio University, at Athens, in the fall of the year 182-7, in which he graduated in 1831. He entered upon the study of law in an office in Columbus, his text books being, as he tells us, Coke on Littleton, the inevitable Blackstone, Chitty on Pleadings, and Starkie on Evidence. But, in 1832, he procured a horse, a pair of saddlebags and a suitable outfit, and started to Lexington, Ky., where there was .a law school organized as a department of Transylvania University. He carried with him a letter of introduction from his father to Henry Clay, of whom his father was a friend and enthusiastic supporter, and from Mr. Clay, Mr. Osborn received many courtesies during his stay in Lexington., In an autobiography not intended for publication, Mr. Osborn notes the fact that, during a portion of his stay in Lexington, he boarded with a Mrs. Todd, who had two daughters, one of whom BENCH AND BAR - 459 married Ninian W. Edwards, of Illinois—a roommate of Mr. Osborn—and the other, a friend of Mr. Edwards named Abraham Lincoln. "After spending a year at Lexington, Mr. Osborn, in 1833, returned to Columbus. A law school was organized that year in Cincinnati, under the auspices of Judge John C. Wright, Edward King and Timothy Walker, and, in November of that year, Mr. Osborn went there and studied under their instruction until the following March. On his way home to Columbus, from Cincinnati, he found that the Supreme Court of Ohio was holding a session at Jackson Court House, in Jackson county, where he was examined and admitted to the bar of the State, in the year 1834. “He at first determined to practice in Circleville, and opened an office there. The outlook did not seem very promising, however. Foreign lawyers of eminence, among whom Mr. Osborn names Swan, Hunter, Ewing, Stanberry and Brazee, absorbed the practice, and Mr. Osborn was induced to strike out to a newer country. Those who knew Mr. Osborn well will be interested and possibly amused to know that, in the year 1834, he was commissioned by Governor Lucas as a major in a rifle regiment and that when, in 1835, the 'Toledo War,' so called, broke out between Ohio and Michigan, he tendered to Governor Lucas the services of his regiment. He tells us that he made a patriotic speech on this occasion, recounting the insults and grievances which Ohio had suffered or was threatened with in this matter. "In the fall of 1835, he set out by stage for Sandusky and thence, by way of Huron, he went to Norwalk, in Huron county, where he had determined to settle. Here Ile formed the partnership with Orris Parish, under the name of Parish & Osborn, He stayed at Norwalk about two years when, the surging tide of western emigration having given rise to the most alluring expectations of future greatness of the city located near the mouth of the Maumee river, he was induced, in company with a young man about his own age—Myron H. Tilden (afterward well known as Judge Tilden)—to come to Toledo to prospect. "They took in Toledo, Perrysburg (where the hotel accommodations seem to have been superior) and Maumee, and met a large number of promoters and land speculators. They finally determined to open an office in Toledo, which they did under the name of Tilden & Osb--- Their office was a small frame structure, belonging to Edward Bissell, on the south side of Summit street, a little north of Cherry. Mr. Osborn did not remain long in Toledo at this early day, however, but returned to Norwalk in the year 1839, and there he settled down to the practice of his profession and was for many years one of the leading lawyers of Huron and adjoining counties. He performed his share of civic duties. He served successively as engrossing clerk in the senate of Ohio and prosecuting attorney of Huron and Erie counties. The last office he held for two terms, during the years 1845 and 1847, inclusive. In 1853, the Toledo & Illinois Railroad Company (the parent of what has since been known as the 'Wabash) was projected, running southwest from Toledo, and Mr. Osborn was one of its earliest pro- 460 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY moters. He himself purchased for the company the necessary Toledo property and right of way through Ohio, and became one of the officers of the company. This business brought him so much to Toledo that he determined, in 1858, to bring his family to this city, in which he thereafter made his home up to the time of his death. Mr. Osborn was the attorney for the Wabash railroad through its manifold foreclosures, reorganizations and consolidations, from the time he finally came to Toledo until his retirement from practice, in 1891. Shortly after the war, Mr. Osborn formed a partnership with Gen. Wager Swayne (son of Justice Swayne of the Supreme Court of the United States), which continued until 1879, under the firm name of Osborn & Swayne. The firm was enlarged, in 1876, by the admission of Noah H. Swayne and Francis B. Swayne. General Swayne removed to New York, in 1879, and thereafter, until 1883, Mr. Osborn was alone in the practice. In 1883, he formed a partnership with his nephew, Alexander L. Smith, under .the name of Osborn & Smith, which continued until the year 1891. In February of the latter year, he was attacked by a paralysis which seriously impaired his physical and mental vigor, and from that time he gradually failed until he quietly passed away July 5, 1897, thus closing a life of which fifty-seven years had been spent in the active practice of his chosen profession. "Mr. Osborn was married, in 1839, to Elizabeth P. Hartwell, then of Circleville, Ohio. They had a family of four sons and four daughters, who grew to maturity, and of whom two sons and all of the daughters are now living. "Mr. Osborn was public spirited in all that the word implies, and was never too busy to serve the material interests of the city. He was intensely loyal and, during the Civil war gave freely of his money, time and energy to relieve the wants of families whose husbands and fathers had entered the army. Mr. Osborn sent two of his own sons into the Union army and they served with honor during the war. In 1879, a movement was started looking to the erection of a Memorial building in this city, and the first meeting of citizens for the purpose of organization was held at the office of Mr. Osborn, July 23, 1879 ; as a result of the meeting an organization was perfected, and Mr. Osborn was elected one of the trustees, and was also elected president ; and served several years as president and trustee until the time of his death. Mr. Osborn was untiring in his efforts to secure necessary funds with which to commence the work upon the foundation of the Memorial Building, and it was largely due to his efforts that the necessary legislation was had by the City Council of the City of Toledo, whereby bonds were issued for the purpose of raising money to complete the Memorial Building, which stands today in the vicinity of our new court house, a beautiful and fitting monument, to commemorate the services of the soldiers and sailors of Lucas county, Ohio, who gave their lives for the preservation of the Union. The Memorial Building was dedicated on Feb. 22, 1886, Mr. Osborn delivering the dedicatory address, and it was the crowning and best effort of his life. "At the time of his death, Mr. Osborn was the senior of this bar BENCH AND BAR - 461 in years and in practice. The shortness of human life seldom permits, as with him, the service of nearly sixty years at the bar. With a fair and liberal education, by wide reading and close and persistent study, by a keen and well disciplined mind, by a broad and comprehensive knowledge of human affairs, and by a high integrity of character, he was well fitted and equipped for a successful career in his chosen profession. He realized that the science of jurisprudence is never finished ; that however much a man may know of law there is yet more to be acquired and applied, to the ever changing conditions of human affairs. "He kept himself fully abreast with the growth and development of the law and its application to these new conditions, and he was as close and persistent a student of legal principles, and as careful a reader of cases, at the close as at the beginning of his career at the bar. He had a large and varied practice, not only in this county, but in nearly all the counties in Northwestern Ohio, as well as in the Supreme and Federal Courts, covering and embracing nearly every field and department of the law ; and so general and comprehensive was his knowledge and attainments, that all branches and departments of the practice seemed to be equally familiar to him. "It is a pretty fair test of the ability and success of a lawyer, at least in the public estimation, that he is able to retain the same clients and their business through life. Mr. Osborn had this faculty in a marked degree. His clients never deserted him. He retained their good will, with their business and their confidence, to the last, and he retained the good will and confidence of the bench and bar. Always earnest, always fair. always courteous, always able, he impressed judges and juries with a confidence in his sincerity and a conviction that any position assumed by him was at least honestly entertained, and carried with it corresponding weight as being worthy of consideration. "With all the exactions of his large practice upon his time and thought, he never neglected his duty as a citizen. and he always found time to bestow a large share of attention upon public affairs. He was a leader in every good work. In schools and in churches, in charities, in social and moral reforms, in all political and patriotic duties, he was in the vanguard of earnest workers, and zealous in every cause which had for its object the improvement of our city or the betterment of his fellowmen. "As a lawyer he stood deservedly high. In the trial of causes he was cautious, prudent and sagacious, yet open, frank and fair with his opponent. He bore his success at the bar without pride and his defeats with composure. He was a wise counsellor, a careful pleader, an able advocate, with a high conception of the ethics of the law and of the dignity and the nobility of the profession. He was ever true to the interests of his clients, faithful to every trust. and fearless in the discharge of every duty. With him law was indeed a profession and not a mere avocation or business pursuit. "As a man, his life was pure and spotless, and of a most loving and lovable disposition. As a companion, he was genial, affable and .urbane. 462 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY As a friend, he was warm and sincere in his attachments, kind, loyal and faithful, and lenient and charitable to the faults and failings of others. "In remembrance of his many virtues, we ask to place on record this tribute to his memory as a lasting memorial to his character and worth, and that the clerk of this court be directed to transmit a copy of this memorial, under the seal of the Court, to the family of our departed brother." Signed by J. M. Ritchie, L. H. Pike. N. H. Swayne, Alexander L. Smith, Richard Waite, H. S. Bunker and J. K. Hamilton, committee. MEMORIAL TO H. S. BUNKER. On April 16, 1900, the following memorial, relative to the death of Col. H. S. Bunker, was read and unanimously adopted : "Death has again prevailed and the bar of Toledo has to mourn the loss of another well-favored and highly-honored member. "Henry S. Bunker was born at Cardington, Morrow county, Ohio, Aug. 21, 1842, and died March 21, 1900, aged fifty-seven years and seven months. "Colonel Bunker came to Toledo, in 1867, and was for some time with the firm of Shaw & Baldwin, afterward conducting a drygoods business in his own name until 1878, when, on Aug. 14, he was admitted to the bat by the District Court in session at Bowling Green. Ohio, and the next day he commenced the practice of law at Toledo, Ohio, being associated with William H. Harris, of the Lucas County Bar, under the firm name of Bunker & Harris. Shortly afterward this firm was dissolved, and down to the time of his death he continued the practice of law by himself. "Always generous, genial and courteous, he endeared himself to his associates at the bar, and their loss is most keenly felt. "When only twenty years of age, Colonel Bunker enlisted in the Ninety-sixth Ohio infantry, and served .during the entire war with distinction. "He participated in the Yazoo river expedition, the attack upon Vicksburg, Miss., the capture of Arkansas Post, the siege of Vicksburg, and the surrender of that city. He took part in the battles of Grand Coteau, La., the Red river expedition under General Banks, the battle of Pleasant Hill, Monetis Bluffs, and the siege and capture of Forts Gaines and Morgan, Ala. He also took part in the siege and capture of Spanish Fort, Ala., Fort Blakely, Ala., and Mobile, and also the battle of Whistler's Station. "He was wounded at Vicksburg and again at Jackson, Miss., and was honorably discharged from the service, July 29, 1865. After serving through four years of weary campaigning, enduring privation and long and weary marches, in both victory and defeat, his whole being seemed to become saturated with a love for the military profession and his whole life was influenced by the experience of these early days. There he learned his devotion to his comrades and his BENCH AND BAR - 463 love of his nation's glory. From the day of his first enlistment until he was found calmly asleep in his office chair, he was a soldier. "A close student of all military matters, his thoughts were always with his country's troops. Probably to no one man is more credit due than to Colonel Bunker for the present and past efficiency of our citizen soldiery, the Ohio National Guard, of which organization he became a member when, on May 1, 1878, he enlisted as a private in Company A, Sixteenth Regiment, Ohio National Guard. "His earnestness and thorough ability soon won for him promotion, and on May 1o, of the same year, he was made first lieutenant and adjutant. On May 19, 1881, he was commissioned a major, which position he held until July 5, 1887, when he was made lieutenant-colonel. and later. on June 25, 1892, he was commissioned colonel of his regiment. The Sixteenth was proud of her colonel and the colonel was proud of his regiment, and this mutual respect and admiration existing between officer and men led to the splendid efficiency of the command, so that at times, when the peace and dignity of our State seemed about to be overthrown, there were usually seen Colonel Bunker and his regiment. "He was sent by the governor of Ohio to Bowling Green, in October, 1883, in command of Company C, Sixteenth regiment, and the Toledo Cadets, to preserve order at the execution of Boch, a condemned murderer. "He was with his regiment at Cincinnati, Ohio, from March 20 to April 4, 1884, and was by order of the governor sent to Paulding county, Ohio, April 26, 1887, in command of companies A, C and H, Sixteenth regiment, and a section of Battery D, First regiment, Ohio light artillery, to restore order at the reservoir and to protect State property, remaining until May 5, 1887, when his command was relieved and sent home. "He was in command of his regiment at Wheeling Creek and Sherodsville, in June, 1894. aiding the civil authorities to protect property during the labor. troubles, and in October, 1895, was ordered with a portion of his regiment to Tiffin for the purpose of preserving the peace. "It was during the troublesome times at Wheeling Creek, in 1894, that Governor—now President—McKinley remarked that he would be the most uneasy and distressed man in the world but for the fact that he knew that Colonel Bunker was in command of the forces at Wheeling Creek, and that he was a man of sound judgment and discretion ; that Colonel Bunker had his fullest confidence, and that he relied perfectly on his good sense and judgment. "The colonel's interest in the Sixteenth Ohio regiment did not cease when he gaye up its colonelcy. When the regiment went to the Spanish war, Colonel Bunker was the mainstay of the loved ones left behind. His time. his efforts and his means were poured out without stint in their behalf. This same spirit of unreseryed generosity has always characterized the man. "His comrades found him a devoted friend. They never appealed 464 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY to him in vain, and he was ever ready with friendly counsel, and aided all in distress to the full extent of his means. "The colonel was twice married, having one daughter by his first wife. "A son was born to him by his second wife and, with the widow, these remain to mourn his loss. To these loved ones the community at large extends its heartfelt sympathy, sharing with them their grief at the loss of this public-spirited, high-minded man, whose presence always graced public gatherings, and who, for many years, devoted his time, his services and placed his life at the disposal of his State, without hope of reward other than the sense of a duty well done. "With so many calls upon him he still found time to successfully follow his profession. No man stood higher in the estimation of the bar and of the community. "He possessed coolness and courage to a marked degree. Faithful to all his military trusts and duties, courteous and kindly in his intercourse, professionally and socially, he leayes a memory that will always linger with those who knew him. Of manly and frank bearing, generous in his impulses, honest in his convictions and courteous in their expression, his character has left an impress upon the minds of all with whom he came in contact. "His death, so sudden and untimely, and in the midst of a life so full of usefulness, is a crushing blow to his family, his intimate friends, the members of the bar, and the public generally. It is pitiful and strange that this brave, splendid. knightly. high-souled man should be swept away by the cruel hand of fate. To have gone thus, when life was fullest of its blessings, seems sad indeed, and we turn again from the impenetrable veil of the hereafter with the mystery of death unsolved, with the question which humanity in all ages has sought to know, unanswered. "And thus we must leave him 'In that low green tent, whose curtain never outward swings.' " Signed by John F. Kumler, Clayton W. Eyerett, Isaac P. Pugsley, Clarence Brown, and Henry DeH. Waite, committee. MEMORIAL TO CHARLES PRATT. On April 16, Iwo, the following memorial, relative to the death of Judge Charles Pratt. was read and unanimously adopted : "The bar of Lucas county has lost one of its ablest and most honored members and, with feelings of profound regret and sorrow, meets to present to the court over which he has so ably presided, the sad information that this pioneer of the bar, this Christian gentleman, this distinguished lawyer and upright judge, has been called to his final rest, and will be seen of our mortal eyes no more. "Judge Pratt was a descendant of Puritan ancestors. His father, Alpheus Pratt, moved from Massachusetts. in 1819. to the State of New York, where Judge Pratt was born, near the city of Rochester, Jan. 15, 1828. The family moved from there. in 1833. to the region in Michigan then known as 'Bean Creek Country.' in the vicinity of what is now known as Hudson. His father died there in 1884, at the BENCH AND BAR - 465 ripe age of ninety-one years, and his mother exceeded that age before her death, at the home of her son in Toledo, a few years ago. "Judge Pratt's early life was passed in the rough and rugged pioneer country of the West, in a neighborhood in which white people were scarce and the main population was a tribe of Pottawattamie Indians. whose camp adjoined his father's farm. Until he was twelve years of age his education was entirely procured at home and from his parents. "From twelve to sixteen years of age, he attended the first school built in his neighborhood and received such educational advantages as that crude and primitive temple afforded. He then entered a select school at Adrian. and afterward the seminary at Albion., Mich., spending a part of each year in teaching, and thus earned the means of continuing his own education. "He commenced reading law, in 1850, at Adrian, and soon afterward entered the law office of Hill & Perigo, of this city. as a student. "After his admission to the bar he succeeded Mr. Perigo in the firm, which became Hill & Pratt, and thus continued until about 187o, although, after 1861. when General Hill entered the army, the latter's connection with the firm was but nominal. Mr. Pratt then entered into partnership with Charles E. Starr, which continued until July, 1872. "In 1872 the firm became Pratt & Wilson. Charles G. Wilson, now a member of this bar and one of our committee, being the partner of Judge Pratt, and he continued in such relation until Judge Pratt's elevation to the bench. in 1893. From T877 to 1879, the name of the firm was Pratt, Wilson & Potter. Erskine H. Potter, of this bar, being the junior member. In the latter year the firm consisted of Pratt, Wilson & Pratt. a son of Judge Pratt—Henry S. Pratt—becoming a junior member. He retired from the firm in 1885, and the firm became Pratt & Wilson again. and that continued until 1895. when the subject of our sketch assumed his position as judge of this court. "Judge Pratt was elected as a judge of this court in 1894, and served the full term of five years. He declined a renomination and resumed the practice but a few months before his death. "He was married, in 1857, to Catharine Sherring, who, with the seven children which blessed the marriage, survive him and mourn their irreparable loss. "Judge Pratt was a member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in this city, and since its organization was one of its trustees. He was at one time president of the Young Men's Christian Association of this city, and during his entire mature life was an active Christian worker. "We ask your Honors to preserve this brief historical sketch by spreading it upon your records. Meager as it is, it can be amplified by those who knew Judge Pratt and his great success as a lawyer and a man. It furnishes another striking example of the possibilities of life in this ideal age and ideal government. "Commencing life on the outposts of civilization, without wealth, without favor and without help, self-educated, self-sustained, he had 466 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY only the honest precepts of a God-fearing and loving father and mother and the open field of American inducement to enterprise ; and upon these he builded the structure of the successful and enviable life which has just closed. "Judge Pratt was an able and learned lawyer. His mind was peculiarly keen and receptive upon all of the principles of the law. During an active and extensive practice for forty years at the bar, he had mastered the fundamental elements and principles of the law, and had so systematized and stored them in his mind that he was always ready for any emergency in his practice. "While not brilliant as an orator, in the sense that with rounded phrases and eloquent peroration he could sway men's feelings and passions, he was clear and forcible in debate, and on legal questions to a court or questions of fact to a jury, always a candid and able aid to either in the questions to be decided. He would not resort to any unprofessional or improper practice. "He abhorred the pettifogger and trickster. The honor of the profession was very dear to him. This naturally led him to be active in the bar associations of the county, State and Nation, and his brethren honored him with the presidency of our county and State associations, where his addresses have added much to the literature of the profession. "His life was a conscientious one. "He believed in the religion of Christianity, and thus believing,. he humbly followed in the footsteps of the Master. "His home life was an ideal one. His family was his great and satisfying happiness. He lived for them and of them. A loving husband, a kind and generous father, he was to his wife and children their ideal of a perfect life. He was their tutor and he taught them by example. He was their head and he ruled by love. He was their support, and generosity and unselfishness guided his hand. "He was a public-spirited citizen who loved his country, and loved his State and city. He had strong convictions on all public questions, and was always ready to express them and to take part in their discussion. "On political questions he believed in his party and was loyal to its doctrines, although charitable to its opponents. He was not a party man for sake of office. He never sought political office, and except as member of the city council, never held a purely political position. "In whatever position he was, he bravely, faithfully and conscientiously performed his duty as he saw it and understood it, and we believe that his memory will be revered by his brethren of the bar and his fellow citizens, who knew him as one whose life was well lived, and whose example may well be followed. "We ask your Honors to spread this poor tribute of his brethren of the bar to his deserving memory upon the records of the court." Signed by John H. Doyle, Richard Waite, J. K. Hamilton, James M. Brown, C. W. Everett, L. H. Pike, J. M. Ritchie, and Charles G. Wilson. BENCH AND BAR - 467 MEMORIAL TO WILLIAM F. LOCKWOOD. On March 18, 1901, the following memorial, relative to the death of Hon. William F. Lockwood, was read and unanimously adopted: "William F. Lockwood, an ex-judge of this court, and a recent member of this bar, died at the West House, in the city of Sandusky, on Saturday evening, Feb. 9, 1901. He was born at Norwalk, Conn., April 1, 1822. His parents were of sturdy New England stock, and they traced their lineage back to the Puritan Fathers. His early education was limited to the schools of his native town, and at the age of eighteen he removed to Ohio, and resided for two years with an uncle on a farm in Brownhelm, Lorain county. The death of his uncle cast him upon his own resources, and, choosing the law as his life's profession, at the age of twenty he enlisted as law student in the office of Bliss & Hamlin, at Elyria, Ohio. It was fortunate that his preparatory legal education was entrusted to such a cultured gentleman as Judge Philemon Bliss, the eminent jurist and author of 'Code Pleading.' "Judge Lockwood was admitted to the bar in 1845, and entered at once into the practice of his profession, at Elyria, with an industry and zeal which promised more than ordinary success. In 1856 he was seized with the Western fever, and removed to Omaha, Neb., then a small town on the western border of civilization. Here, for a year or two, he conducted and published the Omaha Nebraska" the first paper published in that town, and pursued at the same time the practice of law in the courts of the Territory. A few years later, he removed to Dakota City, Neb., where he resided until his return to Ohio, in 1868. "In 1861, he was appointed, by President Lincoln, one of the Territorial judges of the Territory of Nebraska, which position he filled until the Territory was admitted to statehood, when President Johnson appointed him a district judge for the district comprising the State of Nebraska. In this position he served for some time, but, failing to be confirmed by the Senate, because of the strong antagonism at that time existing between the President and the Senate, he retired from the Federal bench and returned to Ohio, locating in Toledo, where he retained his residence substantially until his death, though of late years his summers were mostly spent at his island home on Put-in-Bay. "In February of 1871, he formed a law partnership with Clayton W. Everett, under the firm name of Lockwood & Everett, which continued for seven years or more, until Judge Lockwood entered upon his duties as judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Lucas county, to which position he was elected, in 1878, and served therein the full term of five years. "On Dec. 25, 1848, at Elyria, he was married to Mary A. Nichols, of that village. Three daughters were born of this union : Mrs. Francis L. Davis, of Sandusky ; Mrs. Major D. W. Lockwood, U. S. A., stationed at St. Paul ; and Mrs. Clara Pomeroy, of Cleveland. The widow and daughters survive him. 468 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY "Fifty years of active service at the bar and on the bench afford opportunities of gauging the qualities of the man as well as his qualifications. In the legal profession, no man can hide himself for any considerable length of time behind an assumption of knowledge which he does not possess. 'His infirmities will find him out.' The disguise, if attempted, is soon detected, and the unfailing judgment of his fellows soon measures him at his true worth. "For more than fifty years, Judge Lockwood had been more or less prominently under the public gaze, and in no position or relation in life did he fail to meet the requirements of the place and the expectations of his friends. As a citizen, his life was without blemish, and he endeared himself to all by his social qualities, by his faculty to make and hold friends, by his earnest interest in the public good, by his helpful kindness, and by his tender sympathy for his fellow men. "As a lawyer, he was careful, conscientious and faithful to the interests entrusted to his charge. As an advocate, he was keen, logical, incisive—sometimes bitter in his invective, when bitterness seemed to be demandhayingong in a just cause, but having little of that dubious power which is sometimes employed to 'garnish evil deeds and sanctify a crime.' "As a judge, he was affable, courteous and indulgent, patient and attentive to argument, thorough in the scrutiny of testimony, and careful in the analysis of fact, cautious and guarded in his conclusions. but firm and inflexible when his conclusions were reached. Above all, as a judge, he sought to be just. He had little regard for the abstruse refinements and technicalities of the law, filtered through hoary precedents, if in their application to the cause on trial they would result in inequity or injustice. With him, the sophistry of argument, however adroitly or artfully enforced, had but little weight against the invincible logic of truth and right. "His kindly nature and tenderness of heart were manifest upon the bench. One of his most painful duties as a judge was to pronounce the sentence of the law upon a convicted criminal, and the performance of that duty was seemingly more trying to the judge than to the convict. "Essentially a self-made and self-educated man, he was equal to his opportunities, and rose superior to his early environments. Ripe in years, he was ripe in the experiences and the fruitions in life. "In his later years, he was not free from the infirmities of age, but these he bore with fortitude and resignation, and the evening of his life was as peaceful as the morning. "On behalf of his late associates of the bench and bar of Lucas county, we ask to place on record this brief tribute to his memory." Signed by J. M. Ritchie, Richard Waite, and Clayton W. Everett, committee. MEMORIAL TO JOSHUA R. SENEY. On April 8. Igor, the following memorial, relative to the death of Hon. Joshua R. Seney, was read and unanimously adopted : "Your memorialists present to your Honors a motion to make a BENCH AND BAR - 469 record of the life and loss to us of our late departed friend, Judge Joshua R. Seney. Our younger brethren have, during the last eleven years, while Judge Seney was a terrible sufferer, probably but little known of his ability or his early life ; and we, therefore, take occasion to present to your Honors this statement of his life and career. "Judge Seney was born in the State of Ohio, to which State his father had moved, in the early part of the last century, from the State of Maryland. The entire family of the Seneys were noted for legal attainments. His father's grandfather was a lawyer, held a commission during the Revolutionary war, and later was a member of the legislature of Maryland. His grandfather, Joshua Seney, was a member of the First Congress and a Chief Justice of Maryland. Judge. Seney's father was an aide-de-camp in the navy, during the War of 1812, and also private secretary to Albert Gallatin, when he presided over the Treasury, under Jefferson. "The writer of this memorial remembers well the bright student of fifteen years whom he met, in 1854, on the campus of Heidelberg College, in Tiffin, where his parents were living, and from which place, after active and successful studies, Joshua passed on to Antioch College, completing his scientific and classical studies at Union College, Schenetady, N. Y., with the degree of Master of Arts, one of the foremost among 150 students. Upon graduation, Joshua Seney was offered an assistant professorship in the classical department, but refused to accept, and decided to practice law. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity. "After studying law under Judge Pillars of Tiffin, Joshua Seney was admitted to the bar and came to Toledo to practice, in the year 1864. He married Miss Julia Rice, of Ottawa, Ohio, his guardian angel during the remaining years of his life. She is the sister of herioc Gen. A. V. Rice. "Judge Seney had been but a few years in Toledo when his ability was recognized by the members of the bar then here, and there being a vacancy on the Common Pleas bench of this subdivision, the Republican members of the bar solicited the Democratic friends of Brother Seney to nominate him ; and they, the Republicans, honorably supported him, and Judge Senev was elected, by a very large majority, judge of this sub-division. He remained on the bench about three years and then resigned, preferring the active practice, and the study of languages and sciences ; but it was but a few years before disease struck him down, and, from 1890 until 1901, he was a sufferer from disease, which began from a severe attack of grip. The writer of this memorial, being an early acquaintance of Judge Seney, often visited him during his years of sickness whenever he was at home with his family, and there learned to admire his remarkable talents, ability and memory. He could, for weeks and months after a lengthy conversation, remember the identical language that was used between the two friends, and he often pleased his friends by a recitation of a whole portion of Shakespeare, The Odyssey, and other classical works. His books were never a mere ornament to his house, but they were, to 470 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY the end of his life, the working tools of his active mind whenever he was in a physical condition to enjoy their use. "Judge Seney, during the short time that he was on the bench, proved that his was a progressive mind, and delivered two opinions which stamped him as an able man. He decided, while Judge of the court of Common Pleas, that a woman was as much entitled to a clerkship as a man, as such clerkship was not an office within the meaning of the Constitution, and that a woman was therefore eligible to a county clerkship. "He was the first judge of this county that allowed a colored man to sit upon a jury in Lucas county. "Those who were familiar with him before disease struck him down were well aware of his legal ability and that he was a student of classics, being a master of seven languages. "His devoted wife and only son, George Seney, as well as two of his sisters—Mrs. Harvey Reddick and Mrs. Frances Crum—both of them residing here, as well as two of his brothers, both well known jurists—the Hon. George Seney of Tiffin, and our brother, Hon. Henry W. Seney—were his survivors. He died on the night of March 22, 19o1, rather unexpectedly to his anxious, suffering wife, and the funeral was held on Sunday, the 24th, at 3 o'clock, p. m., from the family residence at 617 Elm street, Toledo. attended by nearly all the members of the bar who knew him. Those who knew him in early years, after he located in Toledo, have not forgotten him, and will not soon forget him, while our younger brethren who have located here within the last eleven years, while he was a great sufferer, learn now that he was a man of ability and a favorite among those who knew him. "We therefore ask your Honors to make an order that this memorial be placed on the records of this court, that he may be remembered by those who here administered justice hereafter." Signed by L. H. Pike, David R. Austin, John H. Doyle, E. D. Potter, and Harvey Scribner. MEMORIAL TO REUBEN C. LEMMON. On Oct. 2, 1905, the following memorial, relative to the death of Reuben Compton Lemmon, was read and unanimously adopted : "Reuben Compton Lemmon was born in Varick, Seneca county, New York, May 12, 1825. In 1837, he removed with his father's family to Seneca county, Ohio, where he passed the early years of his life. At the age of twenty years, he attended the seminary at Norwalk for one year and, the following year, took a course at Granville Academy. He first began the study of medicine under Dr. Freeman, a brother-in-law, but, during a business trip to the vicinity of his early home in New York, he became interested in some litigation and began a study of the legal questions involved. This was a turning point in his life, for he abandoned the further study of medicine and ever after devoted himself to the study and practice of BENCH AND BAR - 471 the law. In 1847, he studied law in Tyrone. Steuben county, New York, for one year. Returning to Ohio, he continued his studies at Tiffin, was admitted to the bar in 1850, and in the fall of that year married Amelia M. Armstrong. She died, in 1857, leaving one son, Charles H. Lemmon, now a practicing attorney of this bar. He opened an office in Fulton county and practiced law there until 1852, when he formed a partnership with the late Gen. H. S. Commager and removed to Maumee City, then the county-seat of Lucas county. "In March, 1853, he removed to Toledo and became, at once, and remained to the day of his death, one of her leading and examplary citizens. In 1859, he was married to Miss Theresa Rachel Tibbs, who suryives him. "In 1861, he was elected prosecuting attorney of Lucas county. He administered this office with diligence and ability and rapidly advanced to the front of the bar. "In 1874, he was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, which position he held continuously for twenty years, the longest term ever served by a Lucas county judge. He was thoroughly educated in the Common Law, and was a loving student of literature and the sciences. He was uniformly courteous to the members of the bar, parties to suits and witnesses, and all who came before him, and won the respect of all of them. He was considerate and kind to the young members of the bar—took their hands and guided their footsteps in the early years of their practice. When the older members of the bar attempted to take advantage of the inexperience of their younger brothers, Judge Lemmon was prompt to come to the rescue. His judgment was sound, his decisions tempered with mercy, and his judicial career marks one of the brightest epochs in the judicial history of Lucas county. He retired from the bench, in 1895, and gave himself up to the study of literature and the sciences and that rest he had so well earned. "He died on the morning of Sept. 6, 1905, at 3 o'clock, and closed an active, honest and exemplary career. His character is a model for the younger members of the bar. "May we all emulate his example and keep fresh and green his memory." Signed by J. M. Ritchie, J. K. Hamilton, Chas. G. Wilson, I. P. Pugsley, J. H. Southard, and Harvey Scribner. In addition to the above memorial, Harvey Scribner made the following remarks : "I first became acquainted with Judge Lemmon in the fall of 1869. He and Judge Joshua R. Seney had an office in the Anderson Block. The law offices in those days were barren affairs—no carpets, no pictures and limited libraries. But the lawyers made up in their knowledge of the law what they lacked in books. I remember listening with interest to a discussion between Judge Lemmon and Judge Seney, of the merits of Chancellor Kent. It did not occur to me then, but it has since, that that discussion was carried on entirely for the benefit of Dayid H. Commager and Charles H. Leminon, who 472 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY were students in their offices, and of myself, who was also a student of the law. "I practiced before Judge Lemmon during his entire career of twenty years and became deeply attached to him. "I sometimes bewailed his decisions, but never for one moment doubted the integrity of their author. I had the same reverence for him that the young lawyer of those days had for the fathers of the bar—Judge Potter, M. R. Waite, my father, Charles Kent, Edward Bissel, Judge French, and many more that I could name. They belong to a past age, those courtly gentlemen of the Old School. "Judge Lemmon was thoroughly grounded in Blackstone and Kent, Washburn and Story, and in English History. He was familiar with the causes leading up to Magna Charta, had a reverence for the writ of Habeas Corpus and the right of trial by jury, and recognized them as landmarks in the progress of liberty. "He very rarely took a case from the jury, and then only when the facts clearly demanded the judgment of the court. His reverence for this sacred right was such that he submitted doubtful cases to the jury, trusting to its sound sense and sturdy judgment to render a just verdict. "If the preponderance of the evidence was against one or the other parties in his judgment, he would still submit the case to the jury, get its judgment and then, afer mature consideration, decide whether or not he would affirm it. He had the courage of his convictions, and never for a moment stopped to consider what the appellate court might or might not do. "If he could have looked into the future and learned what the higher courts would do, he would still have decided the case according to what he believed justice demanded. If he was reversed, he would have the consciousness that, after all, his decision might be -the law and in the course of the rolling years his judgment might be affirmed. "He arose to the height of the great judges of the past and decided his cases as though he were the Supreme Court and his decisions final and irrevocable. "The poor and oppressed found in him a ready sympathy and brave protector against their aggressors. "When he ascended the bench and the ermine fell upon his shoulders it rested on nothing not whiter than itself. "Venerable and illustrious, his benevolent face, calm and dignified manner, and firm administration of the law, attracted the love, trust and effectionate admiration of the people. " 'He delivered the poor that cried, the fatherless and him that had none to help him. " 'He received the blessings of him that was ready to perish and caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. " 'He put on righteousness and it clothed him. " 'His judgment was as a robe and diadem. He was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.' " BENCH AND BAR - 473 MEMORIAL TO LOUIS H. PIKE. On March 5, 1906, the following memorial, relative to the death of Hon. Louis H. Pike, was read and adopted : "Louis H. Pike, a member of this Bar and an ex-judge of this court, died at his home in this city on Friday morning, Feb. 9, 1906, in the eightieth year of his age. It is fitting that this bar and this court should take note of his death and place on record some appreciation of his life. "He was born in Neustadt, Province of Silesia, in the Kingdom of Prussia, on June 12, 1826. His early training was with a view to mercantile and commercial pursuits. At the age of sixteen years, he entered as a clerk a store in Berlin, and continued in that employment at various places in Germany and Austria for the succeeding six years. At the end of that time, the political upheaval, of 1848, in Germany, which induced so many patriotic young Germans to flee from their native land, made it a measure of safety for him to adopt America as his future home, and he landed in the city of New York, in October, 1849, where he remained until December, 1851, when he removed to Monroeville, Huron county, Ohio, and embarked in the business of manufacturing cigars. While conducting this business, he applied himself also to the study of the law, and was admitted to the bar in the District Court at Cleveland, in October, 1854. He was thus a self-taught, home-made lawyer, with no other facilities for acquiring legal knowledge than the reading of law books at his work shop and his home, with a weekly review and examination by some friendly attorney, who was willing to assist him in his studies. "Upon his admission to the bar, he located at Tiffin and continued to practice there until 1857. when he removed to Toledo, and here he resided until the time of his death. So, for almost fifty years. he was a familiar figure in this community, constant in his attendance upon the courts, and at all gatherings of the bar, until stricken by his last illness ; and it is no figure of speech to say that he died in the field of service with his armour upon him. In 1883, he was a candidate for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of this judicial district. Upon canvassing the vote, on the face of the returns, the certificate of election and commission were issued to his competitor ; but upon a contest in the State Senate he was declared elected, duly installed and commissioned as judge, and filled the office for the remainder of the term—a period of about four years. At the conclusion of his term of office as judge, he returned to the bar and resumed the active practice of the law. "He was attached to the profession and took a deep interest in all that pertained to the interest of the Bar. He did much in building up and maintaining our local Bar Association. He was its president for two terms, and its treasurer and fiscal manager for many years. He was also a charter member of the Ohio State Bar Association, and was elected and re-elected treasurer of that association for many continuous years : and in this way he became generally acquainted 474 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY with the lawyers of the State, and was, perhaps, as widely known among them as any member of our Bar. "He was faithful to the interests of his clients and tenacious in maintaining their rights to the last extremity. "On the bench he was urgent for the dispatch of business and had little patience with those at the bar who seemed chiefly desirous for the dispatch of time. "He was a man of kindly and generous impulses, tender and sympathetic, and charitable to those in need, and ever ready to do a kindness or confer a favor. Of a warm and impulsive nature, he was a man of variable moods ; so that he sometimes seemed a contradiction of himself, as if extremes had met and qualities of an opposite nature seemed struggling for ascendency. He was strong in his likes and his dislikes, warmly attached to his friends and as warmly detached from those he regarded otherwise, and no one was left in doubt as to how he was classified. Like all impulsive men, he was hasty of speech and sometimes needlessly aggressive and belligerent, inviting opposition and hostility by a severity and bitterness of language and manner that verged on harshness, and from any one else would have provoked exasperation. If a soft answer turneth away wrath, Judge Pike never adopted that mode of defense. But, withal, no one ever questioned his purity of heart, nor his integrity of character ; and no one took umbrage at his chidings and upbraidings, whether from the bench or at the bar, for they knew that his hasty, petulant words did not accord with his true character, and they knew that worldly cares, financial distress, broken health and shattered nerves are not conducive to cheerfulness and equanimity of temper. How much of his seeming acidity of disposition may have been due to these causes we shall never know. We would be just to his memory, but we could not be just without some allusion to these noticeable surface blemishes, for they characterized the man, and without them the picture would be incomplete. "When we who survive him, his late associates, who knew his. weaknesses and his strength—his limitations and his sterling qualities —shall have done with the things of life, may we be remembered as kindly and tenderly by those who shall survive us, and may they find in our lives as much to commend and as little to condemn as we have found in his. Peace to his ashes." Signed by J. M. Ritchie, James M. Brown, Richard M. McKee, and Curtis T. Johnson, Committee. MEMORIAL TO RICHARD WAITE. On Nov. 4, 1907. the following memorial, relative to the death of the Hon. Richard Waite, was read and unanimously adopted : "Richard Waite was born at Lyme, Conn. Sept. 26, 1831, and died at his home in Toledo, July 12, 1907. He came of good, old New England stock, and of a distinguished ancestry. His father was the Hon. Henry M. Waite. one of the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut. His youth, till manhood, was passed amid his boyhood scenes and in his native State.