The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio - 225 memory, facility of illustration and that insight into human nature which enabled him to adapt his reasoning to the understanding of a jury in such a way as to secure their sympathy. In forensic discussion he was an especially distinguished member of the very able mid-century bar of Cleveland, unsurpassed in the West then or since that time. He was dearly beloved by his brethren in the profession and by the community in which he lived so long and so usefully. His death took place February 11, 1880. HENRY C. WHITE, OF THE CLEVELAND BAR. Henry Clay White was a native of Cuyahoga county, born just outside the limits of the City of Cleveland, February 23, 1839. His parents were natives of Massachusetts and of Berkshire county in that state, where they were reared, educated and married. The ancestors of both were among the early settlers of the Connecticut colony. His mother, Sabina Williams, was of Welsh descent. In her childhood days she was a schoolmate of the Fields, who have since achieved such remarkable distinction at the bar, on the bench and in commercial affairs. His father, Wileman W. White, emigrated from his native town of Lenox in 1815 to seek a home in the new commonwealth of Ohio, leaving his young wife in her girlhood home at Stockbridge until he should find the conditions desired for a location in the West. The vicinity of Cleveland offered many natural advantages and inducements to industry and enterprise, and here the family tree was planted—possibly it is more accurate to say the forest tree was removed to make room for the family cabin of the settler. Judge White was little more than three years of age when his father died, but he was fortunately possessed by heredity of those moral and intellectual traits and tendencies which need little repression and only gentle guidance to make the strong, capable, successful man. His education received careful supervision. Arrived at the age of eleven his guardian placed him in the school at Hiram, out of which was subsequently evolved Hiram College. He remained in the school only a term and a half on his first entrance, but returned to it in 1856 and remained four years. James A. Garfield, a graduate fresh from Williams College, was then principal of the school at Hiram and stood in the relation of teacher to young White for a period of four years. It was the deliberate opinion of Judge White, founded upon personal observation and study of the man in all of his relations, that Garfield achieved his greatest success in life as a teacher of young men and boys. The high positions afterwards won and held with popular approval never obscured that success, in the judgment and the memory of such as received his instruction at Hiram. After completing his course at college Mr. White entered the Law Department of the University of Michigan, where he enjoyed the benefit of instruction and lectures by Judge Thomas M. Cooley, James V. Campbell and Charles I. Walker, who composed the first faculty of that school, and were among the greatest lawyers of the West, even then. He was graduated as an LL. B. in 1862 and was admitted to the bar at Cleveland. The War of the Rebellion had so depleted the population by calling men to the front, and the interests dependent upon the issue were so completely absorbing the attention of the remnant that a young lawyer found it difficult to secure business enough for a livelihood. There was, indeed, comparatively little practice for the old lawyers. So young White took employment in the office of the county clerk, where he was enabled to earn a salary and at the same time keep in touch with the courts and lawyers. He held the position for ten years and then resumed the general practice of the law, which was continued without interruption until 1887. During all this time he formed but one business and professional partnership and that was with William Robison, now deceased. He won and maintained a high standing at the bar, by his acquirements and accomplishments in the law, and his regard for the character and dignity of the profession. In 1887 he was elected as candidate of the Republican party to the office of Probate Judge of Cuyahoga county. He 226 - The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio succeeded Daniel R. Tilden, a relative of the great Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, who had held the office thirty-three years. Judge White served as probate judge many years with great distinction and credit. HORACE FOOTE, OF THE CLEVELAND BAR. Judge Horace Foote, deceased, was born March 21, 1799, in the southern part of Hartford county, Connecticut. His father, Roger Foote, was a farmer, who was also born in Connecticut. The family was of English extraction. He was the fourth son in a family of ten children. His early life was spent upon his father's farm, and during the winters he was sent to the country district schools. His brilliancy and acuteness of mind were manifested at an early age, and at fifteen he had gone beyond his classmates and was sent to an academy at Cheshire, Connecticut. Here he began the study of the classics, and in the course of a year or so he had made such progress that he felt he could stand an examination for admission to the freshman class in Yale College. One of his classmates, Seth Paddock ,afterwards a Bishop of the Episcopal Church, was also anxious to obtain a college education; so the two quietly left the academy without the knowledge of any one and walked all the way to New Haven. Having no acquaintance with any person connected with the college, and seeking no outside influence, they asked for an examination. The request was granted; both were admitted upon disclosing their identity, and upon the merit of their scholarship alone they were entered, not in the freshman, but in the third term of the sophomore year. This was in 1818. Young oote remained at Yale two years, when he was graduated with high standing. In 1836 he removed to Cleveland, residing in what was then called the City of Ohio, now the West Side, where he opened an office and began the practice of law. He soon came to be regarded as a strong lawyer, although not yet a great jury advocate. He knew and remembered about all there was in the text-books and was an excellent pleader. The law business of this bar then was not large, but he had to contend with Sherlock J. Andrews, who was the greatest jury advocate in this section of the state; Henry B. Payne, Bolton, Kelly, Bishop, Backus and others. He was judicial in his methods, and strong and clear in his ideas and enunciation. He, of all of them, was regarded as the best lawyer, although perhaps not the most brilliant. In 1854 he was elected judge of the Common Pleas Court, which position he held for twenty years consecutively. During this period he was looked upon by the people as an oracle of the law and when he had carefully considered a case and given his opinion it was regarded as settled as the Supreme Court would decide. His decisions were rarely if ever reversed by that tribunal. When too old to longer endure the fatigue and labors of the bench, he retired from active life, leaving a judicial record of which any man might be justly proud. Judge Foote died November 16, 1884, at the ripe age of 86. JAMES H. HOYT, OF THE CLEVELAND BAR. Mr. Hoyt was born in the City of Cleveland on the 10th day of November, 1852. His father, James M. Hoyt, was a native of the State of New York, but resided in Cleveland from 1836 until his death in 1895. He was a lawyer in the front rank of his profession, of liberal culture, prominent in business affairs, public-spirited, and most active and influential in promoting the cause of religion and benevolent enterprise. The mother of James H. Hoyt was Mary Ella Beebe, a native of New York City. She was a woman richly endowed with graces and accomplishments —with traits of mind and character that rendered her singularly attractive to all who knew her. James H. Hoyt received his early education in the public schools of Cleveland and the .preparatory department of the Western Reserve University, at that time located at Hudson, Ohio, but now at Cleveland. He afterward entered Brown University, and graduated in 1874 with the The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio - 227 honor of class orator. His career at the university was one of marked success, and gave an earnest of his future distinction. Returning to Cleveland he commenced the study of law in the office of Spalding & Dickman, where he remained one year, when he entered the Harvard Law School, taking the degree of LL. B. in 187.7. In the study of his profession he was indefatigable, and laid up a store of elementary principles by which he was enabled to solve with great readiness difficult and complicated questions as they have arisen in an extensive practice, and in solving which he could get but feeble light from adjudicated cases. The writer of this once heard Judge Spalding remark, that while in his office he on one occasion heard Mr. Hoyt analyze a legal proposition in a way that reminded him of the old-school lawyers in Connecticut, who had been trained in the Litchfield Law School under Chief Justice Swift, to seek for the philosophy of the law, and to go up to the fountains rather than follow the rivulets. Upon being admitted to the bar he at once commenced the practice of his profession with Henry S. Sherman, under the name of Sherman & Hoyt. Afterward the partnership of Willey, Sherman & Hoyt was formed, which continued in successful practice for several years. Later Mr. Willey retired, and the firm of Sherman & Hoyt continued until 1884, when it was succeeded by that of Sherman, Hoyt & Dustin. In 1893, upon the death of Mr. Sherman, the firm became Hoyt & Dustin for one year, when Mr. Kelley became a member of the partnership of Hoyt, Dustin & Kelley. Subsequently the firm was changed to Hoyt, Dustin, Kelley, McKeehan & Andrews. This firm was one of the best known in Ohio, and its practice was largely in the line of corporation, commercial, admiralty and latent causes. Mr. Hoyt was well known as a lawyer of eminent ability. He was a cautious, safe and wise counsellor, and was vigilant and sagacious in watching the important interests intrusted to his charge. He was frequently engaged in cases before the Supreme Court of Ohio, and always commanded the respect and close attention of that tribunal. As an orator he had few if any superiors in his state. While he never failed to address himself to the reason and judgment, he had the faculty of imparting interest to the dryest details. With ample stores of knowledge, derived from reading and observation, with an affluence of speech, written and spoken, with a fund of ready wit and humor, with an imagination and fancy curbed with a skillful hand, with a clearness and precision of statement, he could not fail to be in general requisition when popular assemblies were to be addressed. In politics Mr. Hoyt was a Republican, always taking an active interest in political affairs, and known throughout the state as having rendered yeoman service for his party. While he never held office, he had been a candidate for the nomination for governor of his state. The City of Cleveland and the County of Cuyahoga, in which he resided, were enthusiastic for his nomination as governor; and there was a general feeling throughout northern Ohio that if nominated and elected he would be the right man in the right place. JAMES LAWRENCE, OF THE CLEVELAND BAR. James Lawrence was born in Guernsey county, Ohio. His father in his younger days was a merchant, but always took a great interest in affairs relating to the public good. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1871, once a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, three times a member of the Ohio Senate. He was of Scotch-Irish descent. The early education of Judge Lawrence was in the public schools and afterwards at the academy. He entered Kenyon College in 1868, in the sophomore class, taking his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1871. Having, when quite a boy, determined upon the law as his profession, he immediately took up the study of law with the Honorable J. W. White, at Cambridge, Ohio, remaining with him for three years, and in 1874 was admitted to the bar. He immediately removed to Cleveland and entered the office of G. H. Foster. After a 228 - The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio time he became a partner of Mr. Foster, remaining with him until 1893, when the partnership was dissolved. Then he became head of the firm of Lawrence & Estep. During the administration of Honorable George Hoadley as governor of Ohio, for the years 1884 and 1885, Mr. Lawrence was the attorney-general of the state. He was corporation counsel for the City of Cleveland from 1893 to 1895. Subsequently he was elected Common Pleas Judge, a position he filled with great distinction. In 1888 he married Jennie Gardner Porter, and by this union three children were born. ALFRED KELLEY, OF THE CUYAHOGA COUNTY BAR. The history of the State of Ohio, and particularly the Western Reserve, presents few equals and no superiors to Alfred Kelley, Esq, in strength and integrity of character and versatility of achievement. His great-great-grandfather, Joseph Kelley, was one of the first settlers of Norwich, Connecticut, whence his great-grandfather, Joseph Kelley, II., removed to Vermont at an advanced age, and died in 1814. Daniel Kelley, the grandfather of Alfred, was born and brought up in Norwich, where Daniel Kelley, II., Alfred's father, was born, November 27, 1755. Daniel Kelley II. was married January 28, 1787, to Jemima Stow, a daughter of Elihu Stow, and a sister of two prominent judges, Joshua and Silas Stow, of Lowville, New York. Alfred was one of a family of six sons, and was born in Middletown, Connecticut, November 7, 1789. Alfred Kelley received his education in the academy at Fairfield, New York, and read law at Whitesborough with Jonas Platt, one of the judges of the Supreme Court. In the spring of 1810, with Joshua Stow, his uncle, and some others, he made the journey to Cleveland on horseback. His arrival was most fortunate for him as well as for Cuyahoga county, whose courts had just been organized. Although there was one lawyer in Cleveland at that time, he had never entered upon active practice, so it may be claimed Mr. Kelley was the first lawyer of the village. On the 7th of the following November, the twenty-first anniversary of his birth, he was admitted to practice on motion of Peter Hitchcock, of Geauga county, prosecuting attorney, whom he was immediately appointed to succeed. He held this office until 1821, when he declined further appointment. The first Monday of June, 1815, Mr. Kelley was unanimously elected the first president of "Cleveland's first village official staff," a position from which he resigned, being succeeded by his father, within a year. As prosecuting attorney he brought to trial and convicted John O'Mic, an Indian, the first person tried for murder and executed in Cuyahoga county. The Indian was ably defended by Peter Hitchcock. In August, 1816, Mr. Kelley was elected president of the Commercial Bank of Laka Erie, the first bank established in Cleveland. In 1814 he was elected representative in the State Legislature, and was the youngest member of that body. He continued to represent Cuyahoga county at intervals until 1822, when he was appointed one of the canal commissioners. As early as 1820 there was some legislation in Ohio on the subject of joining Lake Erie and the Ohio river by a canal, an on the 31st day of January, 1822, an act was passed authorizing the appointment of a commission to examine into the feasibility of the project. The act named the commissioners. Alfred Kelley was supervising commissioner during its construction, performing his duty with such fidelity and economy that the actual cost did not exceed the estimate. Mr Kelley was elected to the State Senate in 1844. While senator he drafted the bill to organize the State Bank of Ohio, and other banking companies, which was almost universally conceded to be the best banking law then known in American legislation. While in the House, in 1818, Mr. Kelley was the author of the first bill to abolish imprisonment for debt ever presented to a legislative body. JOHN McSWEENEY, OF THE WOOSTER COUNTY BAR. John McSweeney was long recognized as one of the greatest criminal lawyers who ever practiced at the bar of Ohio. He was of Irish descent, The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio - 229 parents having both been born in Ireland. He was born at Black Rock, near Rochester, New York, August 30, 1824, and was brought as an infant by his parents to Stark county, Ohio. They were in very moderate circumstances, having learned in the school of poverty to appreciate the modest comforts of life which their own labor secured. His father was a shoemaker, honest, industrious, intelligent; he was also a large man, physically, of commanding mien and impressive personality. Both parents died while their son John was in his early childhood and he was left to the care of a guardian appointed by law. The guardian, John Harris, a lawyer, of Canton, appreciated his responsibility, took an interest in his ward and placed him in the care of Mrs. Grimes, of Canton, a pious and estimable woman, member of the Catholic Church, who reared him. The small sum of money left by his father was honestly and judiciously applied by his guardian to the best possible advantage in his support and training. Young McSweeney's education was procured at the Western Reserve College and in Cincinnati. His scholarship was not only liberal and broad, but he was especially proficient in the Latin classics. He took up the study of law with his guardian, John Harris, of Canton, and removed thence to Wooster in 1845. He there entered the office of Judge Ezra Dean, who was at the time one of the leading lawyers of Wayne county. At different periods subsequently he engaged in practice in partnership with Olin F. Jones, Judge William Given, Honorable George Bliss ,and Honorable C. C. Parsons, Sr. So great was his aptitude for the law, so broad and deep his learning, that he rose almost immediately to the first rank of lawyers at the Wayne county Bar. This position he retained almost without a rival to the end of his life . In his practice Mr. McSweeney was brought into contact and competition with Judges Dean, Avery, Given and Cox; Honorable John P. Jeffries, Honorable Lyman Critchfield, Samuel Hemphill; Judges Rufus P. Ranney and Rufus P. Spalding; Honorable Thomas Bartley. Honorable Thomas Corwin, Honorable D. K. Carter, and Senator John Sherman. At the end of twenty years of practice the reputation of Mr. McSweeney, both as a civil and criminal lawyer, had not only become firmly established in Wayne county, but had extended to neighboring counties; and still later it spread throughout the state and became national. He was retained in nearly all of the important criminal cases tried in northern Ohio, and generally by the defense. His influence with a jury was great; his stature, massive, yet graceful proportions, and his resonant, power- ful voice fitted him physically for most effective oratory. His earnestness of manner, his masterful use of a choice and extensive vocabulary, his pathos in appeal, his terrific invective, his pleasing humor, his sparkling wit, his keen repartee, his fairness toward an opponent, his lively and opulent imagination, his magnetic manner, his sound reasoning and his luxuriant discourse, all combined to give him almost matchless influence in a jury trial. Nor was his power confined to his argument before the jury. He was watchful and careful during the trial to keep out of the record anything which might be detrimental to his cause, and equally careful to avail himself of every expedient known to the law, and every rule or decision that could benefit his cause. He was a close and keen examiner of witnesses, possessing not only fine discriminating quality of mind as to what was relevant or irrelevant, but also to the extent to which the examination should be pursued in any direction. He knew when to stop. Mr. McSweeney was engaged with Colonel Robert Ingersoll for the defense of Stephen W. Dorsey and others in the famous Star Route trials at Washington, which not only attracted attention throughout the country, but also extended his own high reputation as a criminal lawyer. Mr. McSweeney heartily accepted the presumption of law that a defendant is innocent until his guilt is proven. He was so frequently employed in the defense of persons' charged with crime that his sympathy was quick and active, and his belief in the common honesty of human nature was firm and sincere. He was heartily devoted to the interests of a client and never lost sight of a fact, or a circumstance, or a point of law that could be construed in his favor. His study was so thorough and his familiarity with books so great that his word could be accepted as the law in regard to any criminal case. He was not a narrow man in the sense of devoting himself wholly to professional reading and study. His 230 - The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio general information was large regarding history, ancient, mediaeval and modern. His accumulation of learning was one of the immeasurable advantages possessed by him in framing an argument for the court or in a public address to the jury. He could draw from it almost without limit in the adornment of his speech. He was a man of generous impulses and strong sense of justice in his dealings with his fellow men. He often invoked the attribute of mercy for the tempering of justice in his appeal for a client charged with crime. He believed in giving every man the best possible chance in the race of life. He had compassion for the unfortunate' and excuses for the unwary. It may be claimed for him that he was an orator by nature and training, and he belonged to the race that has produced some of the greatest orators in the history of the world. His mother was a sister of Daniel O'Connell. Mr. McSweeney was, in 1851, joined in marriage with Miss Catherine Rex, a sister of Honorable George Rex, of Wooster, one time judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio. She was a woman of strong mental endowment, and excellent moral character. John McSweeney, Jr., born August 31, 1854, was the fruit of this union. The marriage tie was dissolved June 11, 1884, by the death of Mrs. McSweeney. Mr. McSweeney, the subject of this biography, died January 22, 1890. BENJAMIN F. WADE, OF THE CLEVELAND BAR. History some time ago assigned Benjamin Franklin Wade to the immortality of fame. As a man, a jurist and a statesman his life and deeds merit commemoration. His birth was almost contemporaneous with the opening of the nineteenth century, at least during the first year in the State of Massachusetts. He was tenth in a family of eleven children and his mother was a woman of culture and morality. The Wades, who were of English descent, took root in America from Major Jonathan Wade, who planted himself at Medford, Massachusetts, in 1634, after emigrating from Norfolk, England, and married a daughter of Governor Bradstreet. In youth Benjamin Wade struggled with poverty, and in gaining the victory over it he gained the independence and self-reliance which characterized his subsequent life. He was mainly self-educated and his early requirements embraced a broad knowledge of history and general literature, as well as science and mathematics. He taught school for a time and settled in the Western Reserve, Ashtabula county, a few days before attaining his majority. He was favored with a rugged constitution and well fitted for the life of a backwoodsman, as a stepping stone to something better. He had the physical strength to clear the forest and the intellectual strength to qualify himself for great success in a profession and the foremost rank of statesmanship. He drove cattle across the Alleghenies to Philadelphia as a hired man and worked with pick and shovel on the New York & Erie Canal. He had the disposition to work hard at any employment to which he devoted himself whilst he fostered an ambition to enter a profession in which brains count for more than muscle and sinew. He studied law with Joshua Whittlesey and was admitted to the Bar, beginning his practice at Jefferson. He was the partner of Joshua R. Giddings for the first ten years of his practice, and at the very threshold of his career in the law served as prosecuting attorney of Ashtabula county. While engaged in practice with Mr. Giddings, the late Judge Rufus P. Ranney was a student of law in their office, and upon the dissolution of the firm of Giddings & Wade, that of Wade & Ranney was organized. This was in 1839. Mr. Wade had then overcome the diffidence which served as an impediment in his early practice. To the student of his public life only, the statement that he was bashful, timid and hesitating, and made frequent failures in essaying public addresses, is quite incredible; for at the meridian of life he was a most effective speaker—clear, earnest, intelligent and powerful. Mr. Wade was elected presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the third circuit, by the legislature, in 1847. Thoroughly equipped by natural ability, learning and temper, and by twenty years of successful practice, he assumed judicial duties. His service was in the highest degree hon- The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio - 231 orable and in all respects able. It is only because of the overshadowing greatness of his subsequent career in politics and statesmanship, and because of the more conspicuous public characters of his record in the Senate of the United States during the period of greatest peril to the nation—the time of rebellion and reconstruction—that the history of his four years on the bench is so little known. Whilst serving on the Bench, in 1851, he was elected United States senator by the legislature, although he was not a candidate and had no information that his name was used in that connection until the telegram announcing his election was received. He was not without experience in political strife and training in the work of a legislative body. In 1837 he had been elected -to the Ohio Senate as a Whig and had been the leader of the forlorn hope in the Senate, against the odious "black laws" enacted by a majority during the first session which he attended as a member. The antislavery spirit was born and bred in him and the cruel legislation offended his sense of justice. He held firmly to a political creed promulgated in the Declaration of Independence, and among his profoundest convictions was the belief that the maintenance of human slavery in the United States was repugnant to that Declaration. He believed that the inalienable rights with which men are endowed by the Creator should not be contravened by restrictive legislation; that the right to liberty was not less a birth-right than the right of life. Ohio was in 1838 strongly pervaded by a Kentucky sentiment on the question of slavery, so that defeat awaited Mr. Wade in 1839. A year later, however, the leaven of his speeches and those of his coadjutors had so permeated the masses that he was again elected in 1841 by the largest majority ever accorded a candidate in that district. He was a leader of the Harrison campaign in the Western Reserve, and before it closed his reputation was national. In all of the succeeding Presidential campaigns, to the end of his life, he was a conspicuous advocate and champion of the Whig and Republican parties. Upon entering the United States Senate, as the colleague of Salmon P. Chase, he naturally took his place among the great leaders. He was in the forefront of the battle to resist the aggressions of the slave power just before the war, and exhibited a courage which was a revelation to the Toombses and Wigfalls and Davises of the Cotton States. Accustomed as a backwoodsman to the use of his rifle, he carried that weapon with him to Washington; but fortunately for his adversary, none challenged him to mortal combat. His bluff manner contained no element of bravado, but the genuineness of his courage won the admiration of his bitterest antagonist. The evident sincerity with which his convictions were formed and the unfaltering frankness with which they were uttered made him one of the most formidable debaters of that fearless body of statesmen to whom the issue of life or death for the nation was committed. From 1861 to the close of the Rebellion he was chairman of the joint committee for the conduct of the war, and one of his bravest colleagues on that committee was Senator Zach Chandler, of Michigan. Mr. Wade was very near the Presidency of the United States in 1867. As president of the Senate he would have succeeded Andrew Johnson if the articles of impeachment had received the votes of only two more senators. During the proceedings of that high court he bore himself with the utmost dignity and decorum. At the close of his third term in the Senate, March 4, 1869, Mr. Wade resumed the practice of his profession and accepted the position of general counsel for the Northern Pacific Railroad. His wife was Caroline Rosecranz, of Middletown, Connecticut, a relative of the distinguished general. CHARLES H. SCRIBNER, OF THE TOLEDO BAR. Judge Scribner was of English descent, although his ancestors became residents of New England nearly two and a half centuries ago. Charles H. Scribner was born at Norwalk, Connecticut, October 20, 1826, the son of Asa Scribner and Esther Jelliff. His mother's family had lived in the same neighborhood for several generations. His maternal grandfather served with Washington in the Revolution. His paternal grandfather was a minute-man in the War of 1812, and served on Long Island Sound, in Connecticut. While 232 - The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio he was yet a child his father's family removed to Newark, New Jersey, and remained there eight years. In 1838 he came to Ohio in advance of his parents, and lived with his grandfather, who had come west and settled in the state three years before. (During the autumn of 1838 his parents followed and settled in the village of Homer, Licking county. After spending two years in Ohio at farm work and in the district schools, young Scribner returned to New Jersey, where he remained until 1842. He was sixteen years of age when he finally settled down to become a permanent resident of Ohio. He was diligent in the prosecution of studies in the winter schools and by the fireside at home in the winter evenings, at the same time continuing his work on the farm in season. In accordance with an established custom of the times, a custom to which is attributed much of the independence and manly self-reliance of influential men of the present generation, he became an apprentice in order to learn a useful trade. He was indentured at eighteen to a saddler and harness maker and while perfecting himself in the mechanical art he was acquiring a knowledge of the law. He aspired to occupy a kind of bench different from that on which he learned to cover a saddle-tree, and fashion the plain, substantial harness for horses drawing the plow or the road wagon. His study of the law was under the tuition of Edmund Connelly, a member of the Licking county Bar, and he was obliged to walk four miles to recite his weekly lessons. His progress was so satisfactory that he was admitted to the Bar by the Supreme Court in October, 1848. Attracted by its superior advantages, he located at Mount Vernon to begin practice, where he enjoyed the benefit of association with the members of a very able Bar, some of whom afterwards became distinguished in public office as well as in the profession. Honorable Columbus Delano, secretary of the interior; Judge R. C. Hurd, author of a treatise on the Law of Habeas Corpus; Hosmer Curtis and Honorable Henry B. Curtis; Honorable Walter H. Smith, assistant attorney-general under President Grant; William Windom, subsequently a senator of the United States from Minnesota and secretary of the treasury in two cabinets; and Daniel B. Norton, also a United States senator from Minnesota—all were practicing lawyers at Mount Vernon when Judge Scribner became a member of the same Bar at the age of twenty-two. He was studious and ambitious, and therefore required little time to demonstrate his capacity and maintain himself in such company. In November, 1860, he formed a partnership with Honorable Henry B. Curtis, and the association was broken only by his change of residence after the expiration of about nineteen years. Within that period Mr. Scribner won. an honorable position and enviable reputation in his profession. He participated actively in politics during the earlier years, and was the Democratic candidate for judge of the Common Pleas Court in 1861, in the subdivision composed of Knox, Licking and Delaware counties. While defeated by the Union movement, which increased the support of Republican candidates in that election, he carried Knox county, in spite of its majority of one thousand for the opposition ticket, and also carried Licking; but was overborne by the immense majority of the opposition in Delaware county. In 1861 Mr. Scribner commenced his celebrated work on dower, which was completed in January, 1864. This work today is a standard authority on dower, both in the United States and England. In 1867 he was elected a member of the State Senate for the district comprising the counties of Knox, Morrow, Holmes and Wayne, and rendered efficient service as chairman of the judiciary committee. During the first session a special commission of three members was appointed to revise and codify the general laws relating to municipalities of the state. Mr. Scribner was appointed a member of this commission and was selected for its chairman. The duties of the committee were arduous and the labor imposed upon the chairman was particularly severe during the session of the legislature, occupying his time late into the night for several months. The labor was performed faithfully and thoroughly, however, and the codification bill reported embraced seven hundred and thirty-two sections. It was enacted into law by the legislature substantially as reported. Thereupon a bill containing about two hundred and fifty sections, which had been prepared by Honorable Frank Hurd at the preceding session, was introduced by Senator Scribner, providing for a code of "Criminal Procedure" for the state. This, also, was The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio - 233 finally adopted after a very earnest contest by its sponsor and friends. In January, 1869, Mr. Scribner removed to Toledo and entered into partnership with the late Frank Hurd, with whom as a member of the Knox county Bar, he had long been on terms of intimate friendship. His law practice was large and remunerative, and the duties of his profession continued to secure his undivided attention down to his demise. In 1873 he was elected one of the representatives of Lucas county in the convention held to revise the Constitution of the state, a position for which his broad knowlege of the law and the defects in the Constitution qualified him peculiarly. His associate from Toledo in that convention was Judge Morrison R. Waite, who afterwards became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The firm of Scribner & Hurd, and later the firm of Scribner, Hurd & Scribner, naturally had a clientage representative of the best men and largest interests in the city and the locality. They were counsellors of profound ability and trial lawyers of eminent standing in the profession. The partnership relations were maintained until 1887, when Charles H. Scribner was elected circuit judge. The first term of five years demonstrated so clearly his high qualifications for the Bench that he was re-elected in 1892 for a second term. In 1883 he spent several months in Scotland and England. Two years later he suffered from nervous prostration which presented attention to professional business and rendered desirable a change of climate with complete rest. After visiting Florida and other places in the South without relief, he made another voyage and spent some time on the shores of the Mediterranean at Cannes, France. While abroad he also visited England, Belgium and other European countries. With health restored he returned home in 1887 and was elected judge of the circuit. He was married October 20, 1847, to Miss Mary E. Morehouse, a native of Newark, New Jersey, whose parents were Ezra B. and Susan (Baldwin) Morehouse. WILLIAM BAKER, OF THE TOLEDO BAR. For half a century William Baker lived and practiced law in Toledo. Locating there in 1844 in the vigor of robust young manhood, with a character strong in its integrity, and a love of the profession which he had chosen, he entered the lists in company with some who had already won fame or distinction at the Bar. His success was no less remarkable for its instantaneous achievement than for its constant growth and permanence. The story of his unpretentious life is interesting. Born in the state of Ohio at Norwalk, February 5, 1822, his home always was in the state. His seventy-two years were honorably and usefully employed. William Baker was prepared for college at the Norwalk Academy, and was graduated with honors from Granville College, which subsequently became Denison University. This was in 1841, when he was nineteen years of age. For a year thereafter he studied law in Zanesville with Goddard & Converse, and then attended the Law School of Harvard University. It was in the red-letter days of that school when Joseph Story, the great interpreter of the Constitution, and Simon Greenleaf, the voluminous author of law text-booksqualified by the learning of the books, the wisdom of experience and the ripeness of age—expounded the law to young, ambitious students. He was fortunate indeed to sit at the feet of such teachers, and the opportunity was wisely improved. He was graduated from Harvard in 1844 and settled in Toledo the same year, to assume the responsibilities for which the universities had declared him competent and the Supreme Court of Ohio had granted him a certificate. Very soon he acquired a large practice and a lucrative business. He early displayed remarkable ability in the management and disposition of the cases that came to him. For the first three years he practiced alone, and then formed a partnership with Myron H. Tilden. The latter had been president judge of the Common Pleas Court of his district, and resigned in order to re-enter the practice. This partnership was dissolved after an existence of three years, on account of the removal of Judge Tilden to Cincinnati. He continued alone until 1857, when he be- 234 - The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio came associated with William A. Collins. This association was maintained for thirteen years, until the elevation of Judge Collins to the Bench. For the next ten years Mr. Baker practiced alone, when his son, Rufus H., who was a graduate of the Columbia College Law School, of New York, was -received into a partnership. A year later Barton Smith was admitted to the firm, which was thereafter Baker, Smith & Baker, until the death of the senior partner in 1894. This firm had a very large and very valuable practice. Mr. Baker was a lawyer of marked ability and unusual resources. The methodical habits which he had formed enabled him to give effective and practical expression to his knowledge of the law. Strong common sense and sound judgment completed and rounded out his superior qualifications. He was especially capable in real estate and commercial law and equity practice. Politically he was a Whig until the dissolution of that party, when he became a Republican. He was earnest in promoting the party policies, but never a candidate for political office. He was in no wise a self-seeker. He was married August 28, 1849, to Frances C., daughter of Peter Latimer, of Norwalk. Four sons and one daughter were born of this marriage. In 1882, accompanied by his wife, he made a tour of the entire continent of Europe, except Russia, and his mind was enriched by the treasures of history obtained by observation, and contact with historic places. He died in 1894, and left a spotless name as a heritage for his children. IRWIN I. MILLARD, OF THE TOLEDO BAR. Judge Millard was born near Tyro, Richland county, Ohio, December 9, 1838. His ancestors on his father's side, originally English and Welsh, lived in Pennsylvania for several generations. Rev. Thomas Millard, grandfather of the judge, was a Methodist preacher, who came to Ohio from Pennsylvania with his family, by the wagon route, in 1831, and settled on land which was then in Richland but subsequently became a part of Crawford county. He founded a Methodist church in the neighborhood and proclaimed the gospel there. Judge Millard's parents, Joseph Millard and Mollie Immel, were natives of Pennsylvania, the former of Chester county and the latter of Pottsville. His father was a mill owner and engaged in the milling business throughout his adult life, having located the site and built the first flour mill in that section of Ohio in which the family settled. It was run by water power, and many of the judge's tender recollections bind him to the locality and the old mill. Not long ago he found recreation in visiting the place, tracing the dimly outlined banks of the tail-race and other remains of a praiseworthy enterprise of the long ago, accredited to his father. His early education was received in the public schools of Greenfield, to which the family removed in his youth. When seventeen years of age he entered Fredericksburg Academy, attending a portion of each year and teaching school in winter, for a period of three years. The war to preserve the Union appealed successfully to his patriotism. August 11, 1861, he enlisted in Company I, Fifteenth Ohio Infantry, and proceeded to the front directly with his command. For a short time the regiment was on duty near Bowling Green, Kentucky. In November, only three months after his enlistment, he became seriously ill from exposure and was sent to the general hospital at Louisville, where he remained until the following spring. His recovery was despaired of by the surgeons, and upon a certificate of disability he was discharged from the service and sent home from the hospital. Contrary to expectation, he did recover from that attack, after a confinement at home for more than a year; but as a result of the exposure in camp and field he has been subject to similar attacks at intervals during the last thirty-five years. Upon his first recovery he located in Toledo and served as deputy recorder of Lucas county one year. He was then employed for a year in the office of the Erie Railroad, and in the spring of 1865 he took up the study of law in the office of Bissell & Gorrill, where he spent two years in preparation for admission to the Bar. He was admitted in the spring of 1867 and immediately became a member of the firm with which he had studied. This connection was maintained for twenty-three The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio - 235 years, until the fall of 1890. The firm name Bissell & Gorrill was preserved throughout that long period, notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Gorrill had died in California. It was dissolved finally upon the death of Mr. Bissell, the senior member, in December, 1894. It was one of the strongest and most successful law firms in northwestern Ohio. All its members were strong, capable men, well versed in the law and well known in the courts. In the fall of 1890 Mr. Millard was elected Probate Judge. He retired from the firm upon his assuming his judicial duties in the spring of 1891. Before the expiration of his first term of three years he was re-elected for a second, and in the fall of 1896 was again elected for a third term by a large majority and in the face of the fact that his party had always theretofore refused to nominate any man for a third term. He was peculiarly adapted to the business and responsibilities imposed upon a probate judge by his official oath. Learned in the law, courteous and urbane in his business intercourse, observant always of secrecy in the delicate and confidential relations. incident to the settlement of estates, entirely trustworthy in the management of large financial interests—he was a model judge. His judicial record is his best eulogy. GEORGE E. SENEY, OF THE TIFFIN BAR. Judge Seney was the fifth generation in lineal descent from Solomon Seney, who emigrated from England and settled on the eastern shore of Maryland about 1710. For more than a century succeeding that time the descendants of this first emigrant were prominent in public affairs in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York. Judge George Ebbert Seney was the third child and eldest son of Joshua Seney and Ann Ebbert. He was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, May 29, 1832, and brought to Ohio by his parents the same year. His father and mother were educated and cultured and he was thus favored with unusual advantages at home. Tiffin was only a village, but the schools were as good as any on the frontier. In these he was prepared for the academic studies which he pursued in the seminary at Norwalk. He spent four years in this seminary when it was enjoying a season of great prosperity and its highest reputation under the presidency of Dr. Edward Thompson, who was afterwards a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was thus matured under most beneficial influences of the family and the schools. For a brief period he tried merchandising as the partner of his uncle, George. Ebbert, in a book store, and then made arrangements to go into a wholesale dry goods house in St. Louis. It seemed for a time there was more Ebbert than Seney in the assemblage and association of his faculties. His parents were united, however, in the desire that he should be a lawyer, and yielding to their persuasion, he changed his plans and began the study of law in the office of Luther A. Hall, of Tiffin. He entered the office on probation, for the term of three months, at the end of which he was to have the option of continuing in the law or resuming mercantile pursuits. Fortunately he became enamored of the books the first day and his purpose was formed. From that time to the present his love of the profession has kept his purpose' fixed and irrevocable. Assiduous study for two years qualified him for admission to the Bar and he was admitted in 1853. After a partnership of two years with Mr. Hall he established himself alone, and was soon able to meet and cope with the best practitioners in that section of the state. A large clientage and profitable business resulted. He was not long in establishing a reputation as a good lawyer—careful and strong in his pleadings; painstaking in his examination of the law; capable and shrewd in the trial of a cause; able, eloquent and forceful in argument before a jury. At the age of twenty-six he was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas and served on the Bench a term of five years with satisfaction to litigants and lawyers, and honor to himself. He worked hard and conscientiously. He possessed the qualities which commend a judge—patience and gravity, dignity and courtesy, urbanity in demeanor, a high sense of justice, a desire to be right and the application required for careful research and investigation to ascertain the law applicable to a case. It is an incident worth recording that Judge 236 - The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio Morrison R Waite, of Toledo, afterwards Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, was the first lawyer to argue a case before him. While on the Bench he grew in popular esteem as a lawyer, and after leaving it his field of practice was much enlarged. He prepared and published Seney's Ohio Code, a work involving large labor as well as much lawyer-like ability and facility of expression in writing. This publication is regarded a valuable aid to lawyers who practice in the state courts. Judge Seney's military record deserves brief mention. We was a War Democrat, uncompromising in his opposition to secession, unswerving in his devotion to the Union. On the expiration of his term as judge he enlisted in the One Hundred and First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was commissioned first lieutenant and with the assistance of three others recruited a thousand men in thirty-eight days. He was appointed quartermaster and served two and a half years in the field—under Commanders Buell, Rosecranz, Thomas and Sherman. He was in the engagements at Perryville, Lancaster, Nashville and Knob Gap, and heard the guns at Stone River. He was with the regiment in the line of his duty at Chickamauga and Chattanooga and Franklin; and with Sherman in his triumphal march from Mission Ridge to Atlanta. He resigned in December, 1864, and resumed the practice of law. Never an office-seeker, he did not refuse to speak for his party in a political campaign or attend its conventions for the nomination of candidates. In 1856 he was a candidate for Presidential elector on the Democratic ticket, and later declined the appointment as United States district attorney for the northern district of Ohio, tendered him by President Buchanan. In 1874, in spite of his protest, he was unanimously nominated by his party as a candidate for Congress, but declining to enter the canvass actively, was defeated by a meager plurality of 139 votes. In 1876 he was a delegate to the convention which nominated Samuel J. Tilden for President. He was president of the Democratic State Convention assembled at Cleveland, in July, 1887. In 1882 he accepted a nomination for Congress and was elected by a large majority. He was re-elected by increased majorities in 1884, 1886 and 1888, serving from March, 1883, to March, 1891, and declined to be a candidate for a fifth term. His reputation as a lawyer and jurist gave him standing in the Congress at the opening of his service. He was appointed to membership on the judiciary committee—a marked honor for a new member—and devoted himself to the public interests with the same fidelity which had characterized his devotion to clients or the prosecution of his own business. He performed his duty in committee and on the floor with becoming modesty and dignity. Soon after the close of his fourth and last term in Congress he was one of three commissioners appointed by the secretary of the treasury to represent the government in the location of the public building at Kansas City, Missouri; and later he was appointed by the governor of Ohio a delegate from Ohio to the conference held in Chicago to consider the subject of unlawful trusts. As a citizen Judge Seney promoted the interests of his town in various ways. Always liberal and public-spirited, his activities found expression in support of enterprises which advance the material interests. Though not a member of any church, he aided with his purse in the building of many and contributed unsparingly to the support of public worship. He organized the Tiffin Savings Bank in 1890 and was its president for many years. STEPHEN R. HARRIS, OF THE CRAWFORD COUNTY BAR. Honorable Stephen R. Harris, who was born on his father's farm seven miles west of Massillon, Ohio, May 22, 1824, sprang from patriotic stock. His grandfather was John Harris and his paternal grandmother Mary Hamilton. The former was a soldier in the army of Washington and distinguished himself at the battle of Monmouth, where his brother-in-law, John Hamilton, was killed beside him. The subject of this biography worked on the farm and attended district school until fourteen years of age, when he started out for himself. He was employed as a clerk in a store at Canal Fulton, Stark county, about four years, attended a select school at Dalton, taught The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio - 237 by John W. Rankin (afterwards a distinguished lawyer and a partner at. Keokuk, Iowa, of the late Justice Miller, of the United States Supreme Court). In 1842 he was a student in the preparatory department of Washington College, Pennsylvania, which institution recently conferred upon him the honorary degree of A. M. In 1843 and 1844 he studied in Norwalk Seminary, under the late Edward Thompson, bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. For the next two years he was a student in the classical department of Western Reserve College at Hudson. In the winter of 1846-7 he taught school at Canal Fulton. Having by this time acquired a liberal education through his own unaided and persistent efforts, he entered upon the study of law in the office of his uncle, John Harris, a pioneer lawyer of ability, at Canton. After reading under instruction for two years he was admitted to the Bar in the spring of 1849, and on the 14th day of June in that year opened an office for practice at Bucyrus. He became the law partner of the late Judge Josiah Scott in 1850, and the partnership was continuous until the death of the latter in 1879, except for the period of Judge Scott's service on the state supreme bench. Mr. Harris served as deputy United States marshal and member of the county military committee during the war. He was elected in 1894 to represent his district, which had been strongly Democratic, in the Fifty-fourth Congress of the United States, and was the candidate of his party for re-election in 1896; but the free silver sentiment and fusion of the Populists were sufficiently strong to defeat the ticket. Mr. Harris was a staunch Republican. For years he stood in the forefront of practitioners in Crawford county. M. B. JOHNSON, OF THE CUYAHOGA COUNTY BAR. The bar of Cuyahoga county suffered a distinct loss when M. B. Johnson, a member of the firm of M. B. & H. H. Johnson, passed away at 8:30 a. m., Saturday, October 9, 1920. Mr. Johnson was a lawyer of international repute, and was one of the most distinguished and learned members of the Bar of Ohio. His whole career was spent in the practice of law, although many important corporations claimed his valued service and counsel in business affairs. Mr. Johnson was born in Elyria on December 16, 1862. He attended the public schools at Elyria and was graduated from Oberlin College. At twenty-one he was admitted to the Bar and he practiced his profession for two years at Elyria. In 1886 he went to Cleveland and took a place with the White Sewing Machine Company, and he maintained a connection with that organization until his demise. In 1888 he organized the law firm of M. B. & H. H. Johnson, which grew to take a commanding place at the bars of Cuyahoga county and the state of Ohio. Mr. Johnson became a director of the White Sewing Machine Company and affiliated organizations, and when those interests consolidated and the White company came into existence, he was made chairman of the board of directors. In 1896 Mr. Johnson took an active part in organizing the American Trust Company. This was merged with the Citizens Savings & Trust Company, in which Mr. Johnson became a director and member of the executive committee. He was retained by the General Electric Company for the performance of important duties in this country and abroad. He also was interested in several General Electric subsidiaries, being a director in the Electric Bond & Share Company, and the Electric Securities Company. As a representative of these concerns he was brought into intimate touch with the banking and industrial interests of the east in this country and in Europe. In his home city he took a broad interest in public as well as industrial affairs. He was a director of the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company, the McKinney Steel Company, the Chisholm-Moore Manufacturing Company and other firms. During the war Mr. Johnson was active in patriotic work, especially in the campaigns of the Red Cross, being a member of the general committee of that organization. He helped to make a success of the appeals of the Red Cross Society for funds. 238 - The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio CLIFFORD ALFRED NEFF, OF THE CLEVELAND BAR. Clifford Alfred Neff was born at Savannah, Georgia, May 5, 1867, his parents being E. W. S. Neff and Estelle Fechet. He studied in Summerville Academy in Georgia and at Harcourt Place School, Gambier, Ohio. He graduated from Kenyon College in 1888, studied law with Sherman, Hoyt & Dustin, and was admitted to the Bar in 1890. From that time he practiced law in the city of Cleveland, at first alone, and then, in July, 1913, becoming a member of the firm of White, Johnson, Cannon & Neff, of which firm he was a member until his death. Soon after his graduation he married Miss Kathryn Young, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, whom he left a widow. He organized and became clerk of Bratenahl Village in 1904 and continued in that position until his death. He organized the first Board of Deputy State Supervisors of Elections in 1898 and was secretary of that board until 1903. From 1900 to 1902 he was a member of the Ohio Supreme Court Committee on Admission to the Bar. He was professor in the Cleveland Law School from 1897 until after he became a member of the firm of White, Johnson, Cannon & Neff, lecturing on the subjects of Wills, Agency and Sales. He very early took a prominent place at the Bar. His mind was distinguished by the clearness and accuracy of its reasoning, and the expression of his thoughts was, therefore, logical and convincing. He never sought for technical advantage, but insisted upon obtaining all of his client's rights. He was always ready, however, to consider the rights of his adversary. He was fair, candid and upright, not merely in the practice of law, but in every department of life. Mr. Neff died August 25, 1919. THOMAS MORRISON SLOANE, OF THE SANDUSKY BAR. Born July 25, 1854—Died March 22, 1920. Thomas Morrison Sloane, of Sandusky, judge of the Probate Court of Erie county, was born in Sandusky, July 25, 1854, son of Hon. Rush R. Sloane, and his wife, Sarah E. Morrison. Judge Sloane's grandfather, Colonel John N. Sloane, was a native of New York State, and in 1815 came to Sandusky, where he was a lawyer of repute. Judge Sloane was educated in the public schools of Sandusky, the Cheshire Academy, the Phillips Exeter Academy at Exeter, New Hampshire, and Harvard University, being graduated from the latter institution as a Bachelor of Arts in 1877. After studying law for a year in the office of H. & L. H. Goodwin, of Sandusky, he entered the law school of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the degree of LL. B in 1880, and in May of the same year he was admitted to the Bar of Ohio. Engaging in his profession he was for some time associated with Judge E. B. King. In 1905 he was elected to the office of Probate Judge of Erie county and was twice re-elected, retiring from this office in 1917. His judicial career was characterized by conscientious service, and as a public official he was highly esteemed and held the confidence of the community to an exceptional degree. JAMES H. DEMPSEY, OF THE CLEVELAND BAR. One of the distinguished members of the Cuyahoga County Bar, James H. Dempsey, for years a member of the firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, passed away within the last year. On addressing the members of the Cuyahoga County Bar at a memorial meeting, Hon. Andrew Squire spoke with reference to the death of Mr. Dempsey as follows: The Dempsey family consisted of James H. Dempsey, an only son, and three daughters. In accordance with his own desire and the wish of his father, Mr. Dempsey prepared for college and in due time entered Kenyon The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio - 239. College, from which he graduated in 1882. His college career was one of great thoroughness. He loved his work and his professors, and the associations formed during those days continued dear to him in after life. The loyalty and affection shown to all of them, as well as to many friends and acquaintances of later years, were marked characteristics of his life. Kenyon was always revered and loved by him, and Mr. Dempsey was one of the most earnest and enthusiastic workers for the betterment and development of the institution, and at the time of his death was one of the very influential members of the board of trustees. After graduation, Mr. Dempsey had an ambition to become a lawyer, and, by way of preparation, during the session beginning in the fall of 1882 and ending in the spring of 1883, he attended Columbia Law School. Shortly before the close of the first year in Columbia, Moses R. Dickey, a warm friend of Mr. Dempsey's father and a lawyer of marked ability, a veteran of the Mexican and Civil War, and later a distinguished judge, had become a member of the firm of Estep, Dickey & Squire. Mr. Dempsey, desiring to waste no time in making thorough preparation for the law, and through the friendship of Judge Dickey for his father, planned to spend the summer vacation of 1883 in the law office of the firm just mentioned. From the very first he displayed so much business ability and at once became so useful, that Mr. Estep, the senior member of the firm, joined with the others in requesting him to stay right with the firm, Mr. Estep undertaking during certain evenings of the week to assist Mr. Dempsey in his law studies to enable him to take the examination for admission to the Bar in the following year; so that from the midsummer of 1883, Mr. Dempsey became an active worker at the law, and in March, 1884, was duly admitted. He continued with the firm of Estep, Dickey & Squire, and in a short time became a member of the firm. No decade in my memory saw such changes in the practice of law as that from 1880 to 1890. The transaction of business through the means of corporations received great impetus during that period. Many old and well-known business firms changed to corporations. Trial work, while always important and demanding the greater part of the lawyer's time and attention up to that time, had to take its place as one of the departments of his practice, for much time and attention were demanded in the organizing of corporations, in directing them, and in advising as to various phases of their operation. Mr. Dempsey was pre-eminently qualified in this direction. He looked after the business of the firm and very soon came to be thoroughly trusted and relied upon by the firm's clientele. Mr. Estep was one of the older practicing lawyers of the Cuyahoga County Bar, Judge Dickey being but a few years his junior. Mr. Dempsey and the writer were much younger, belonging almost to another generation and we thought it best to retire. Joining with Judge Sanders, who at that time retired from the Common Pleas bench, the firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey was organized on January 1, 1890. Through Mr. Dempsey's efforts, Mr. Carr and Mr. Goff (constituting at that time the firm of Carr & Goff) took our places with Messrs. Estep and Dickey, making that the firm of Estep, Dickey, Carr & Goff. Of the firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey he was an active member at the time of his decease, the firm having, on the first of January last, reached its thirtieth anniversary—a long time of association in the life of legal firms. Mr. Dempsey was first married on September 24, 1885, to Miss Emma Bourne. A few years later he and his wife lost their first child, Olivia. The wife died on March 14, 1893, after a short and severe illness, leaving Mr. Dempsey with his two sons, John Bourne Dempsey and Ernest Cook Dempsey, who are now associated with the firm which bears their father's name. In 1915 Mr. Dempsey married Miss Ada Hunt, whom he left at his decease as his widow with their two children. It is difficult for me to speak of my personal relations with Mr. Dempsey. Our rooms in the office were side by side for almost thirty-seven years. No business association was probably ever closer than ours. It was much more than the ordinary association of partners. While I was approximately eight years Mr. Dempsey's senior, we were constant friends and our interests of every character largely co-mingled. We were always sure of each 240 - The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio other's confidence, affection and love. We shared in one another's sorrows and in each other's successes. The firm of Estep, Dickey & Squire owed much to Mr. Dempsey's efforts as a young man just entering the profession, and the firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey was and is indebted to a large extent to Mr. Dempsey's constant thought and effort in attaining for it a high professional standing. His first ambition was ever for the advancement of the interests of his family, his firm, his clients, and of the various organizations with which he was connected, never taking into consideration his own personal advancement. Loyalty to his family always stood first; loyalty to his profession and to his firm next. He knew nothing of hours of labor. Obstacles to him were simply something that must be overcome if they were in the way of securing justice to the cause of his client. His nature was most intense, and anything that to him seemed not right, wore upon him. His devotion to what he considered his duty to the profession and to his firm was so incessant that in 1911 he suffered a serious breakdown in his nealth, which compelled him reluctantly to cease work for a time. Within two years he recovered sufficiently to again take his place, and while he had to be much more careful, and restrain in some measure his activities, still, until the very day before his decease, his whole thought and effort were centered on the interests of the firm and of its clients. Those most closely associated with him; whether in our office or in business, always had for him the highest respect. He might be wrong; at times he might be impatient; but if ever in error no one was more ready to make the necessary correction. No one was more generous, and none quicker to right a wrong if he felt he had committed one. Mr. Dempsey made an enviable position for himself, not only in his profession, but in every walk of life into which he entered. As a trustee of Kenyon College he was held in the highest esteem. For many years he was one of the executive committee and a trustee of Lake View Cemetery Association, to which he gave much energy and work in aiding to bring the cemetery to the condition in which it now is. He was also a loyal trustee of University School, giving it much thought and studious attention. Never, however, did any of these outside activities interfere with his devotion to the interests of his firm and its clientele. In his association with people he was sometimes reticent and careful, but in a marked degree he had the faculty of reaching their hearts and of attaching them to him with an intense loyalty, a loyalty which he in turn gave to them. All over the country are warm personal and admiring friends of James H. Dempsey. Never was there any doubt about where he stood on any question that came before him for investigation. His own mentality might at times be deceived, but his honesty of purpose and integrity were never questioned. He knew little of the methods of relaxation. His love of animals, especially horses, led him to take delight in having favorite horses for riding. He knew his animals and loved them, and they in turn reciprocated his affection. Outside of such exercise, he devoted his entire time to his family, his profession and to his friends. There have been few lawyers in the city of Cleveland who have so thoroughly attached themselves to the members of the profession with whom they associated as Mr. Dempsey. His whole disposition and temperament were intense. His thirty-seven years of work in this city was always along constructive lines—always with the purpose of being helpful. If one were to name the predominant quality possessed by Mr. Dempsey, it would be loyalty—loyalty to family, to profession, to friends, to his alma mater, to his city and country. No sacrifice was too great for him to make for any of them. Rare indeed are characters such as that of James H. Dempsey, and no city and no country can have too many such men, and the profession of the law and the Cleveland Bar will always be proud to include the name of James H. Dempsey among its honored members. The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio - 241 HON. CHARLES ALEXANDER BOWERSOX OF THE WILLIAMS COUNTY BAR. Nature was lavish in her charm when she moulded Charles Alexander Bowersox. He was a polished scholar, a natural-born orator, an accomplished statesman, a noble, honest, upright man. He was deeply learned in the law—great lawyer, and a just and peerless jurist. In stature, a plumed knight—in intellect, a giant. He loved his home, his wife, his children, and his friends with a divine, a burning and consuming love. Judge Bowersox was endowed by nature with a natural legal mind. He was a great lawyer, of the "Old School;" as an advocate before a jury, he was invincible. As a jurist he scarcely had any equal. His long experience as lawyer and judge; his boundless erudition, his deep learning and big, manly heart and sympathetic nature, seemed to qualify him, above all others, for his high position in the legal profession. As a judge, he was just, impartial and absolutely honest. He had compassion for the weak and the oppressed; many times have I witnessed scenes in his court, that touched my heart. Some poor wretch begging for mercy, and the appeal in that behalf never failed to touch his heart. I have listened to the words of love and benediction as they fell from his lips on many occasions.: GEORGE REICHARD WOOLF, OF THE MAHONING COUNTY BAR. Mr. Woolf was born in Berlin township, Mahoning county, Ohio, April 1, 1857. Being a son of Jacob and Christena Woolf, who were farmers and lived in the western part of Mahoning county. He died on September 22, 1905, and was buried in North Berlin Cemetery in the town where he was born. He was married twice, first to Oda Beardsley, second to Cora Dowdes. One child, George R. Woolf, Jr., was born of his last marriage. He partially worked his way through college by teaching school. He was graduated from Mt. Union College in 1878 and was admitted to the bar in 1891. Mr. Woolf practiced law up to the time of his death in the City of Cleveland. Mr. Woolf, before his admission to the bar, was a professor in the Canfield Normal School, of Mahoning county for a time, giving up his seat for the practice of law. In his admission to the bar, he distinguished himself by a perfect examination paper and was accorded 100 per cent by the judges. In Cleveland, he frequently acted as Police Judge. He was an honored member of the Elks in Cleveland, of which lodge he was a Past Exalted Ruler. He was a fluent speaker and gifted composer. As a lawyer, he enjoyed a wide reputation as an attorney of great ability. VIRGIL P. KLINE, OF THE CLEVELAND BAR. After a day spent in the office transacting duties of the profession that he loved and honored, Virgil P. Kline, for years one of the leaders of the Ohio and Cuyahoga County Bar, died on January 17, 1917. He retired the evening of his demise, apparently in robust health, and in the morning, without a note of alarm coming to his family through the evening, he was found in his bed, dead. For a period of almost 50 years Mr. Kline was a familiar and commanding figure in legal circles of his state and of Cleveland. He was known throughout the nation as a lawyer of great ability, and his services were in great demand. He was born in 1844, was a lawyer at twenty-six and dead at seventy- two. He began his study in the common school.    At the age of sixteen, in association with a school companion, he was the publisher of a 9x11 242 - The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio sheet known as the Young American. It was devoted to the reproduction of current prose and poetry and contemporary news. The Academy at Hiram, Ohio, being not remote from his home, provided him with an opportunity for a test of his aptness for higher education and opened the way for the riper work done by him at Williams College, from which institution he was graduated at the age of twenty-two. While at this college he determined to become a lawyer. Upon returning to Cleveland he commenced the study of law in the office of Albert T. Slade, with whom he afterwards was associated., Before being admitted to the bar his health broke and he was forced to go away and live in the open. After a few months he returned, and resumed his study. In the meantime the small fund, upon which he relied to carry him on to the time when he should be able to practice in the profession which he had chosen for a life career, became exhausted, and two years were spent by Mr. Kline as superintendent of the high school at Cuyahoga Falls. During this time, however, he completed his law studies, and upon being admitted to the bar he went to Cleveland and started the practice. In time it became known among the older lawyers of the city that a young fellow by the name of Kline, who was a newcomer had a most effective way of reaching the justices of the peace. In time it became known that the success of the young lawyer was not due to any extraordinary condition, but resulted from work of preparation, not only of the law, but of the evidence. A higher tone of argument than was customary in such courts, which were the training ground for the young lawyer, was another weapon that Mr. Kline used with good effect. The connection with Mr. Slade continued four years, during which period Mr. Kline had opportunities for participating in the trial of cases in common pleas court. Upon the death of Mr. Slade in 1876, Mr. Kline became associated with J. M. Henderson, and this relation continued for approximately seventeen years. He was always careful and painstaking in his work and a man never lived who was more industrious than he. He made it a practice to read the statements of facts in reported cases, and then without looking at the syllabus, he would announce his decision. Then if it failed to agree with his own, he would study the case carefully to ascertain wherein he had erred. About the year 1881 a suit was begun on behalf of Scofield and others against the Lake Shore Railway Co. for a mandatory injunction requiring it to render to the plaintiffs like service for a like compensation to that allowed some of the larger shippers. Then there was no Sherman law and no Valentine anti-trust law. The defendant boldly made the claim that it had the right to grant a lower rate to the large shipper because of his larger shipments. The district court, -which was then the appellate court from the common pleas, reserved the suit for the Supreme Court, where a judgement was rendered fixing the law substantially as we know it today. In the bringing, preparation and trial of this case, Mr. Kline exercised great diligence in preparing and keenness in trial, with the result that he attracted the attention of men of big affairs. A short time afterward he was retained as attorney for the Standard Oil Co., of Ohio, and from that time on he gave much of his time to the affairs of that corporation. His general reputation as a trial lawyer had grown to such an extent that he was frequently asked to act with other attorneys in the trials of their cases. Later on Mr. S. H. Tolles became associated with Messrs. Henderson and Kline, and then in the year 1894 that partnership was dissolved. Fred H. Goff, now president of The Cleveland Trust Co., and Mr. Carr, now deceased, became associated with Mr. Kline and Mr. Tones. This firm was one of the largest, from standpoint of clientele, in the State of Ohio, and it likewise was one of the most successful and prosperous. Mr. Kline was a Democrat and was for years active in party counsels. With great reluctance he permitted his name to go before the state convention at Dayton in 1885, as a candidate for the nomination for governor. He was beaten, however, by James E. Campbell, of Butler county, who was elected in the fall of that year. In 1896, when William Jennings Bryan was nominated for President The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio - 243 by the Democratic party, Mr. Kline was one of the leaders in the movement, which brought about the so-called Hard Money Convention in Indianapolis. He was a member of the Committee on Resolutions and took a leading part in the formation of the platform. GENERAL THOMAS W. SANDERSON, OF THE MAHONING COUNTY BAR. General Thomas W. Sanderson, whose death occurred in his home city, Youngstown, on the 26th day of January, 1908, was born in Indiana, Pennsylvania, in October, 1828. In 1834 his father removed to the vicinity of Youngstown, where Thomas grew to manhood on the farm. He obtained an education in the public schools, read law and was admitted to the bar. He commenced to practice immediately and was successful. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Sanderson, prompted by patriotic impulses, enlisted, and he was commissioned a lieutenant. At once he became noted as one of the most efficient and daring officers in the volunteer forces, and he was promoted from position to position until he was finally commissioned a brigadier general. As an organizer, tactician and strategist he had few superiors. He was recognized by his comrades and superior officers as a man of undaunted courage and unusual capacity as a soldier. At the close of the Civil War he resumed the practice of law in Youngstown and from that time to his death he devoted his time wholeheartedly to the practice of his profession, and he was eminently successful. He served one term as prosecuting attorney of Mahoning county, and for several years he was solicitor of the city, but official life had no allurements for him. His career as a lawyer was remarkable. For more than half a century he was engaged diligently upon one side of almost all the important litigation that went through the courts of Mahoning and adjoining counties. He was a lawyer of the "old school," and by that is meant one who engaged in the general practice, taking all manner of cases that were brought to him, studying constantly developments in all phases of the law and broadening thereby his legal view and attainments. In the preparation of his cases he was painstaking, industrious and systematic. His pleadings were models of elegance, not only in appearance, but in diction. In the trial of cases he was always kind and courteous, particularly so if his antagonist was a young member of the bar; but no matter how thoroughly prepared his opponent might be, or how well equipped intellectually, he always found in General Sanderson a "foeman worthy of his steel." The impress of his legal attainments and capabilities upon the records of the courts in Mahoning and adjoining counties will always stand as an enduring monument to the man. J. FOSTER WILKIN, OF THE TUSCARAWAS COUNTY BAR. A memorial on the life, character and public service of Hon. J. Foster Wilkin, late a member of the Ohio Supreme Court, was read before the justices of the Supreme Court in open session by Judson Harmon, Esq., a member of a special committee appointed to prepare the paper. J. Foster Wilkin died December 4, 1914, after a brief illness, while he was one of the judges of the Supreme Court. The funeral services were held at the Presbyterian Church, New Philadelphia, December 7th. The presence and participation of all his associates in the Supreme Court, and the large attendance of citizens attested the high place he held in the general esteem, and the widespread grief awakened by his sudden and untimely death. J. Foster Wilkin was born at Holliday's Cove, in what is now the State of West Virginia, February 26, 1853. His parents were Andrew J. and Maxima Wilkin. They afterward removed to Newcomerstown, Ohio, where the son became a pupil of Rev. U. Jesse Knisely, a gifted and dis- 244 - The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio tinguished educator, with whom he made rapid progress in his studies. After passing through the schools of the village, he received a collegiate education at Washington and Jefferson College and at Wooster University. The foundation of his legal education was laid at Michigan University. After he came to the bar and his position in the community had been established, he felt the need of a more thorough education, and at that time left for the University of Virginia, and took a post-graduate course there. Mr. Wilkin began the practice of law at New Philadelphia, Ohio, and he soon became prominent in his profession. His success as a young lawyer led to his election and re-election to the office of prosecuting attorney, which he filled with credit and to the satisfaction of the people. In June, 1876, he was united in marriage with Miss Virginia Smith, daughter of the Honorable G. B. Smith, of Newcomerstown. She had been his playmate in boyhood. Six boys and two girls were born to them. The married life of Judge Wilkin was happy and beautiful. Husband and wife shared faithfully the labors and responsibilities of rearing a large family. Judge Wilkin practiced his profession for more than a third of a century in Tuscarawas county and he won an honorable rank in it. His mind had a keen and vigorous grasp, with breadth and largeness of view. He was not so much a student of cases as of principles. The law to him was a science to be practically applied for the promotion of right. His mind had a logical cast. He was a lover of justice and could not consent to any interpretation of the law, which, in its practical operation, did not reach just conclusions. He likes to trace the law back to its source, and he has been diligent student of Roman jurisprudence. But the law did not wholly monopolize his attention; he was a student in several departments of knowledge; he was a lover of good literature, and was never alone among good books. They were an incentive and an inspiration to him. Judge Wilkin was a son of pleasing presence and manners, and apparently of sound and vigorous physique. His sudden call to rest, in the midst of his useful labors, is one of the mysteries which we cannot fathom. But it is a comfort to his family and friends that the years of his life, cut short though they were, served to make for him and them and for his community and the state, a career of varied usefulness. The results of his service on the Supreme Bench were pleasing to all his friends. He fitted naturally and easily into the place, exhibiting at once a mental grasp and knowledge of the law, with facility in applying it, worthy of a judge of much longer experience. WILLIAM T. SPEAR, OF THE TRUMBULL COUNTY BAR. On the third day of June, 1834, William T. Spear was born, in the then village of Warren. He was descended from a sturdy race of New England people and he received his early education in the public schools of Warren, which was in that early day one of the principal educational centers in the Western Reserve. In the early years of his manhood he went to New York City and there served as a compositor on the staff of the New York Herald, and later as a proof reader for the publishing house of the Appletons. Upon his return to Warren he was appointed deputy clerk in the Probate Office, and on March 5, 1858, by order of the Common Pleas Court, he was appointed deputy clerk of that court. While acting in the latter capacity he commenced the study of law under the instruction of the Hon. Jacob Cox. who afterward was elected Governor of Ohio. At a term of the old District Court, he was admitted to the Bar—that was in January, 1858. The next year he entered the Harvard Law School and was graduated therefrom. On September 28, 1864, he married Miss. Frances E. York, of Geneva, New York, and to them were born four sons. He served two terms as the city solicitor of Warren and he was twice elected prosecuting attorney of Trumbull county, serving two full terms The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio - 245 in that office. For a period of about eighteen years, from 1860 to 1878, he was busily engaged in the practice of law. At the general election in 1878 he was chosen a judge of the Common Pleas Court and again in 1883 he was elected to the same office. While he was serving in that capacity he was elevated to the Supreme Court of Ohio at the general election in 1885. By repeated elections he continued on that bench until the 31st day of December, 1912, when he took off his robe of office and retired to the bar. On the 8th day of December, 1913, he passed away at his home in Columbus. His entire judicial career covered a period of thirty-four years. When Judge Spear laid aside the judicial ermine and retired to the bar, his robes of office were pure and spotless. In the seventy-ninth year of his age, and after having faithfully kept his sacred trust for thirty-four years, he evidently felt the need of adding something to his income by his professional labors at the bar. Judge Spear came to be regarded as one of the strong men of the Supreme Court. He was a great judge and a good lawyer. In social as well as in official intercourse he was, under all circumstances, a gentleman. He was a good visitor and splendid entertainer. He was ever pleased to meet and have his friends about him. WALTER B. RICHIE, OF THE LIMA BAR. Walter Buckingham Richie was born January 24, 1851, in Van Wert county, Ohio. He was reared upon a farm, educated in the public schools and for a time he taught in a public school. He read law with the firm, of Ballard & Richie, at Lima, and he was admitted to the bar April 2, 1875. Shortly after his admission to the bar he moved to Bucyrus, and after practicing there a short time he removed to Lima, where he was in the practice until his death, April 2, 1918. Although his early educational advantages were limited, yet no man was better educated than Mr. Richie. He was a prolific reader, not only of the law, but of literature and history. He was a polished speaker and he was in great demand for public addresses. Of pleasing personality and a keen student, it was natural that Mr. Richie should win success at the bar. He was for years the recognized leader of the bar of northwestern Ohio. He was a public spirited man, and no worthy civic enterprise ever called him for help without avail. He was always genial in manner and devoted in his friendships. He was charitable to a large degree. He never sought political preferment, believing rather that the private station was the post of honor. For more than forty years he practiced law in Allen county. He participated in the more important litigation in the later years of his career, and he won a reputation as lawyer that was state-wide. Careful study and preparation developed his natural qualifications. His alertness was such that he seemed almost to divine the course of his adversary before he had spoken. His replies were always courteous, so that his advocacy was always appropriate, forceful and effective. ALBERT JACOB WOOLF, OF THE MAHONING COUNTY BAR. Mr. Woolf was born in Berlin Township, Mahoning County, Ohio, April 26, 1852, being a son of Jacob and Christena Woolf, who were farmers and lived in the western part of Mahoning County. He died January 29, 1906, and was buried in Belmont Park Cemetery, Youngstown, Ohio. He was married twice, first to Cordie Ewing, then to Inez A. Wolf. One child was born of his first marriage; died at the age of six years. He practically worked his way through college by teaching school and was graduated from Mount Union College in 1876. He was admitted to the bar June 4, 1878, and practiced law up to the time of his death, in Youngstown. During a part of his professional life he was associated with Judge W. S. Anderson and later a short period of time with E. H. Moore. For a number of years he took an active part in politics, being a Democrat. The only office he ever held was an appointive one, being a member 246 - The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio. of the Mahoning County Board of Examiners for School Teachers. He was a member of the following lodges : Masonic, Elks and Knights of Pythias. His position among his fellow members of the bar is truthfully, given by Judge J. R. Johnston in an address at his funeral. "I knew Brother Woolf well for many, many years. I know and I believe that the bar generally recognized the fact that his was one of the keenest intellects that this bar has been blessed with for many years, and the man who sat at the trial table with him, no matter from whence he came, always found in his a foeman worthy of his steel. "Frank, open hearted and generous himself, firm in his convictions upon all questions, always with the courage to voice his convictions on any subject, he despised the man who was wavering or shirking or who was hypocritical in his pretensions upon any subject whatever. DAVID FORDING, OF THE STARK COUNTY BAR. Honorable David Fording, one of the successful and best known lawyers of northeastern Ohio, died suddenly at his home in Alliance, Ohio, Thursday evening, November 13, 1919. He was born at Salem, Ohio, in 1842, and was therefore past seventy-seven years of age. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1870, since which time he has been continuously engaged in the practice of the law in Alliance, Ohio, up to and including the date of his death. He possessed a strong physique, a vigorous mental grasp and a striking personality. He was a great student of politics, government, history and economics and on this account was a great intellect as well as social favorite in any company of educated persons. Mr. Fording always took a great interest in his profession, to which he devoted himself exclusively. He was a member of the Ohio State and American Bar Associations. For twenty-nine years he has been an active and useful member of the Board of Trustees of Mount Union College and was deeply devoted to the moral and uplift movements of his community. HARRY EDWARDS HAMMAR, OF THE LAKE COUNTY BAR. Harry Edwards Hammar was born in Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, in November, 1869, and died in Cleveland, March 28, 1920. Attending the schools of his native town, and putting in all his spare time in study and labor, he was, at the age of eighteen, the possessor of a teacher's certificate, and a working knowledge of shorthand and typewriting. Going to Painesville, when about twenty years of age, he secured a position as stenographer and maintained himself by that profession while he pursued the study of law, both in the office of Tuttle & Tuttle, of Painesville, and in the Law School of Western Reserve University. Admitted to the bar in 1894, he opened an office in Painesville, and soon had a living practice. He shortly formed a partnership with Prosecuting Attorney Bosworth, and the firm was very successful. Dissolving partnership with Mr. Bosworth about fifteen years ago, he practiced alone until the time of his death. HENRY NEWBEGIN, OF THE DEFIANCE COUNTY BAR. Henry Newbegin was born near Pownal, Cumberland County, Maine, May 2, ;833. His father was a farmer and he grew up on the farm, attending district school in the winter until he was old enough to teach. By that means he earned enough to pay his way through Yarmouth Institute and Bowdoin College, where he graduated in 1857 with the degree of A. B.; in 1860 he received the degree of A. M. He was a member of Theta Delta Chi and of Phi Beta Kappa. He was also a Mason and a Knight Templar and a member of the American Bar Association. He kept in close touch with his college and for many years, until his death, was a member of its Board of Overseers. After graduation Mr. Newbegin continued teaching school, locating for a The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio - 247 time in Fairfield, Iowa, reading law evenings. Later he organized the union schools at Bryan, Ohio, and continued reading law evenings in the office of Foster & Pratt. He also taught the Defiance High School and was there Superintendent of Schools. In the Fall of 1862 he attended the Albany Law School. He was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Ohio, December 1, 1862, and he began practice at Defiance immediately afterward. He was soon admitted to the Federal Courts and became an adept in their practice. His first case in the United States Supreme Court, Hess vs. Reynolds, is still much cited. He continued in the practice of the law at Defiance until his death. Mr. Newbegin had a very strong and forceful personality, prodigious energy and an unusually retentive memory. He was widely known as an eminent lawyer, particularly in railroad and corporation practice, for his work in the Federal Courts, and for his skill in matters of practice and procedure. These qualifications brought him many clients to whose interests he was loyally devoted. In 1880 he formed a partnership with B. B. Kingsbury, a former college class mate, under the name of. Newbegin & Kingsbury. This lasted for several years. Later, for a short time, his son, Edward H. Newbegin, was associated with him under the firm name of Henry & Edward H. Newbegin, until the latter left the law to enter the Episcopal ministry. In 1898 he took his youngest son, Robert Newbegin, into partnership under the firm name of H. & R. Newbegin, which continued till his death. Mr. Newbegin became a Democrat in the reconstruction days after the Civil War and remained such all his life. Although active in politics he never sought political office for himself. He was first married in 1859 to Mrs. Priscilla Alexander, of Richmond, Maine, who died in 1864. In 1867 he married Miss Ellen T. Sturdivant, daughter of Ephraim Sturdivant. of Cumberland, Maine. She died in 1905. They had three children, Parker C. Newbegin, of Houlton, Maine; Rev. Edward H. New-begin, Rector of St. John's Episcopal Church, Bangor, Maine, who died in 1906, and Robert Newbegin, of Toledo, Ohio. Mr. Newbegin died at the age of 84, January 7, 1917, after only a week's illness of pneumonia. He was in active practice up to the time of his death and was in court the week before he died. DUANE H. TILDEN, OF THE CUYAHOGA COUNTY BAR. Duane H. Tilden, of the Cuyahoga County Bar, was for years one of the best and most favorably known members of the Bar of the Forest City. Judge Tilden had a large circle of friends and acquaintances that were attracted to him by his congeniality, his kindly spirit and the fraternal feeling that he possessed for all mankind. It was a pleasure to meet Judge Tilden, and those who were associated with him in the practice of the law speak in only the kindliest manner of the man. Judge Tilden passed away on February 23, 1921, after a long and honorable career at the bar. He resided at the time of his demise at 1830 East 97th street, Cleveland, Ohio. His law office was located at 725 Society for Savings building. He was born in Portage County, Ohio, May 15, 1861, the son of Henry C. and Lucinda (Hopkins) Tilden. He was married to Mary A. Moffett, June 9, 1889. He attended the common schools of Nelson, Ohio, and finished his education at Hiram College, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of Ph. D., in the year 1884. Judge Tilden was admitted to the Bar In Ohio in 1887 and subsequently he was admitted to the practice of law in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He practiced law in Cleveland as a member of the firms of Lee & Tilden, 1890-96 ; Solders & Tilden, 1896-1903 ; Ford, Snyder & Tilden, 1906-18. He was a member of the Union Club and the Shaker Heights Club, both of Cleveland. In the year 1903 Mr. Tilden was elevated to the Common Pleas Court of Cuyahoga County, and he retired from the bench in 1906. His service in that capacity was entirely satisfactory to his constituency, and lawyers who came before him in important cases were greatly impressed with his legal attainments, his good sense and the courteous treatment they received in his court room. 248 - The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio The judge was essentially a gentleman ; kindly, considerate and liberal in dealing with the faults of his fellow-men, although he was always stern when such policy was necessary. The judge lent dignity and standing to the members of the judiciary of Cuyahoga County while he was on the bench, and there was genuine regret felt by the average members of the bar when he retired to resume the practice of law after three short but eventful years as a jurist. Judge Tilden was successful in the practice. His manner was such that clients could talk to him freely and ask questions without being reprimanded, although the interrogatories were upon subjects that every adult should be familiar with. He never was impatient or arbitrary with clients—faults that retard the progress of some of the brainiest men that were admitted to the bar. Judge Tilden was retained in much important litigation during his career as a lawyer at the Cuyahoga County Bar. He was a vigorous and forceful fighter and struck hard and frequently when engaged in the trial of a lawsuit for a client, but he never fought unfairly. He always was honorable in his dealings with his fellow-members of the bar ; his word was as his bond and was so accepted by lawyers; he was zealous for his client's interest, but his interest never led him into a position that was unfavorable to himself ; he was a clean, upstanding, pleasant and manly gentleman ; a credit to himself and to his profession. CLARENCE BROWN, OF THE TOLEDO BAR. Clarence Brown was born at Massillon, Ohio, February 17, 1852, where he was graduated from the High School, and for a time thereafter assisted his father, who was postmaster at Massillon. In 1872 he came to Toledo and began the study of law in the office of Scribner & Hurd, being admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of Ohio two years later. He held the office of Clerk to the Mayor and Solicitor in 1877, was Clerk to Mayor Jacob Romeis for the years 1879 and 1880, and was appointed Deputy Clerk of the United States Courts, in charge of the office at Toledo, in 1879. He was elected City Solicitor of the City of Toledo and served for the years 1881 and 1882. In 1879 he married Miss Carrie Luce, daughter of the late Hon. Charles L. Luce, of Toledo, with whom he lived happily until his death. In 1882 he and Frederick L. Geddes formed a partnership for the practice of law, which, with the addition of various members, continued throughout the remainder of his life. At the time of his death the partnership was composed of Clarence Brown, Frederick L. Geddes, Charles A. Schmettau, Lloyd T. Williams, Walter A. Eversman and Harry W. Isenberg, practicing under the firm name of Brown, Geddes, Schmettau & Williams. In 1885 the property of the Toledo, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad Company, which forms the present property of Toledo, St. Louis & Western Railroad Company, was in process of foreclosure. It was purchased at foreclosure sale by Sylvester H. Kneeland, who retained Mr. Brown as counsel for a committee of bondholders for whom he had purchased the road and who were interested in its reorganization. They caused the formation of Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad Company, which took over the property from the bondholders' committee and elected Mr. Brown General Solicitor of the company. This position he held with that company, with the several Receivers who for a time operated its property, with Toledo, St. Louis & Western Railroad Company, which purchased the property at foreclosure sale, and with the Receiver of the latter company. He took a special pride in the fact that, in length of service he was the oldest man on the road. For many years he was also a director of Toledo, St. Louis & Western Railroad Company, and in his later years was also a director of The Hocking Valley Railway Company. In connection with Mr. Geddes, he was closely associated, from their small beginnings to their later great success, with the several companies which were formed to develop the inventions of Michael J. Owens and others in the manufacture of glass. He was one of the incorporators and, at the time of his death, Vice-President and a Director of The Toledo Glass Company, which was organized in 1895 to develop the bottle-blowing machine invented by Mr. Owens. He was also one of the incorporators and, at the time of his death, President and a Director of The Owens Bottle-Machine Company, and one of the incor- The Bench and Bar of Northern Ohio - 249 porators, a Director and Vice-President of The Owens European Bottle-Machine Company. In 1907 he went to Europe and materially aided in the negotiations which resulted in the sale of the rights to use the Owens bottle-machine in European and other foreign countries. He was also one of the incorporators, a Director and Vice-President of The Libbey-Owens Sheet Glass Company which was organized to purchase the patents developed by Irving W. Colburn and later by The Toledo Glass Company and Mr. Owens for the manufacture of sheet glass. His associates in these various enterprises give to him a large share of the credit for their development and ultimate great success. He was a forceful and successful trial lawyer and was engaged in many of the legal battles that attracted public attention in Toledo Courts. Perhaps the best known of them were the cases arising out of the construction of the Manufacturers Railroad on Water Street, the construction of the Terminal Railroad around the city and the fight between the Arbuckle interests and the Havemeyer interests over the sale of Arbuckle coffee in Ohio. His activities took a wide range. From 1887 to 1889 he was a member of the Board of Natural Gas Trustees of Toledo and took a large part in the organization and activities of that board. For several years he was lecturer on medical jurisprudence in the Northwestern Ohio Medical College. He was for many years in his leisure hours actively interested in the game of whist and was at various times President of the Toledo Whist Club, and at one time President of the National Association of Whist Clubs. Always an active member of the Republican party, he was one of the first Presidents of the Republican League of Ohio, and was a delegate to the National Republican Convention in 1888. In the local political field he is most widely remembered for his services in the first independent campaign of Samuel M. Jones for the office of Mayor of Toledo, when the Republican Convention refused him a re-nomination as the Republican candidate. He was a member of the Toledo Club, the Country Club, the Toledo Commerce Club, the Toledo Yacht Club and the Castalia Trout Club. For some years he was a member of the Advisory Board of the Toledo Hospital, gave it a great deal of time, and was always very greatly interested in its success. He was also a large, though often an anonymous contributor, to public and private charities. He died on the 30th day of July, 1918. His quickness was really marvelous. One of his partners tells of having walked over from their office to the Court House with him, telling him about a case which was coming on for trial of which he had had no previous knowledge, but was expected to try, and how by the time they arrived he had the case all arranged and was ready for action. Not that he prepared cases in this fashion habitually, for with all his quickness he was a tireless worker. He was an ideal associate in an important case. It was a pleasure to have him with you. One could sit back with a comfortable feeling of relief from a burden of responsibility, assured that no point in the case would be overlooked and each one presented in a most telling way. Always courageous and confident himself, he imparted the same feeling to you. His cheerfulness, always so bright and sparkling, was contagious. His opponents on the other hand were discouraged to see him looking so happy. He must have something up his sleeve. And so indeed he usually had. But if he had not, it would never have been known. If he was skillful in marshalling and presenting the strong points of his own case, he was even more so in detecting the flaws in the opponent's case. How he would delight in exposing a fallacy and holding it up to ridicule. All courts in which he practiced learned that they could rely upon his statement of what had been held in any case cited by him. It was not his habit to read his authorities to the Court. He would state the issue, take the volume in his hand and tell what had been decided with absolute accuracy. And judges knew his statements were correct. HON. DAVID H. COMMAGER, OF THE TOLEDO BAR. While he was a mere boy, the Civil War called to the banners of the Union the manhood of the north, and David H. Commager enrolled himself in the legion of those who defended the indivisibility of the nation, served throughout the war with such ability and courage as to entitle him to a commission in the