170 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO
CHAPTER XII
THE LEGAL PROFESSION.
FIRST TERM OF COMMON PLEAS COURT IN NOBLE COUNTY - HELD AT OLIVE IN APRIL, 1851 THE BUSINESS ACCOMPLISHED- OTHER EARLY TERMS OF COURT - ASSOCIATE JUDGES - COURTS AT SARAHSVILLE AND CALDWELL - NOBLE COUNTY BAR - THE LAWYERS PRIOR TO 1851 - LAWYERS OF LATER YEARS - HON. ISAAC PARRISH - JABEZ BELFORD - EDWARD A. BRATTON AND OTHER SARAHVILLE LAWYERS - WILLIAM PRIESTLY - IRWIN G. DUDLEY - HON. WILLIAM H. FBAZIER - WILLIAM C. OKEY - BIOGRAPHIES AND SKETCHES- BENJAMIN F. Sr MOOS - D. S. SPRIGGS - JAMES S. FOREMAN-JUDGE D. S. GIBBS - HON. J. M. DALZELL WILLIAM CHAMBERS -JOHN M. AMOS - MCGINNIS & WEEMS - C. M. WATSON-YOUNG LAWYERS.
THE first courts of the county were held at Olive, while the question as to the future location of the seat of justice was still unsettled. The earliest existing journal of the court of common pleas opens as follows :
" Minutes of a court of common pleas held at the office of Robert McKee in the town of Olive, in the County of Noble, in the -State of Ohio.
" The State of Ohio, Noble County, ss :
Be it remembered that on the first day of April, A. D. 1851, William Smith, Gilman Dudley and Patrick Finley, Esquires, produced commissions from his excellency, Reuben Wood, governor of Ohio, appointing each of them associate judges of the court of common pleas of Noble County ; also certificates on their several commissions that they and each of them had taken the oath of allegiance and office. Whereupon a court of common pleas was holden for the County of Noble on the 1st of April 1851, at the office of Robert McKee, in the Town of Olive in the said County of Noble : present, the Hon. William Smith, Gilman Dudley and Patrick Finley, associate judges of said county.
"Appointment of Clerk.— It is ordered by the court that Isaac Q Morris be appointed clerk of this court until the next term thereof. Thereupon the said Isaac Q. Morris appeared and gave bond according to law, and gave the necessary oath of office.
" Ordered that the court of common pleas and the supreme court in and for the County of Noble be held at the Methodist meeting house at Olive in Noble County until the permanent seat of justice of Noble County be fixed according to law.
"Whereupon the court adjourned sine die.
"WILLIAM SMITH,
" Presiding Associate Judge." Thus ended the first term of court. The associate judges above mentioned were soon relieved of their
PICTURE OF JABEZ BELFORD
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ties, the office being abolished with the adoption of the constitution of 1851-2. At the second term of court in Noble County, which began id Olive on the 19th of June, 1851, lion. Archibald G. Brown, a judge of the eighth judicial district presided. There were also present the
associate judges Smith, Dudley and Finley; the clerk, Isaac Q. Morris, and the sheriff, Joseph C. Schofield. No grand jury was impaneled at his term. The court of common bas, prior to the establishment of he probate court in 1852, held jurisdiction in probate matters, and during this session a large amount of probate business was transacted. Elections for justices of the peace were ordered in several of the townships of the county. William Reed, Benjamin L Mott and Benjamin S. Spriggs were appointed school examiners for the term of three years ; Jabez Belford's bond as prosecuting attorney was accepted, and " thereupon appeared in open court,’ the said Jabez Belford, and took the requisite oath of office." David Green was appointed administrator of the estate of Clark Green, deceased; James Best, hitherto a subject of Queen Victoria, came forward and declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the United States; Luke S. Dilley, of Sarahsville, and James McCune, of Olive were appointed county auctioneers ; two appealed cases were now suited, the plaintiffs being non-residents of the county. The report of the commission locating the county seat was ordered placed on the minutes of the court, and the protests against the action of the commission were filed. These matters, with some probate business occupied the attention of the court during the first day. Court adjourned on Saturday, the 21st of June, after a brief, but busy session. The prosecuting attorney was allowed $25 for his services during the term, and ';50 for the next, or November term.
Three cases were disposed of : William S. Burt vs. Levi Rahus — an action of assumpsit to recover $85.90 on a promissory note. The defendant confessed judgment, $87.61 and costs.
John Liming vs. Absalom Willey ; action on an appeal from the Morgan County common pleas court, September term, 1850 ; for fraudulence in a horse trade. On this case a special jury, the first in Noble County, was impaneled, who found Willey guilty and awarded the plaintiff $13.33 — the costs to be recovered of the defendant. The jury was composed of Benjamin Tilton, Simeon Blake, Samuel Marquis, Jacob Crow, John Mitchell, William Tracy, William J. Young, David McGarry, John McGarry, Dr. David McGarry, W. F. McIntyre, and Jacob Fogle.
George Willey vs. James Hellyer and Benjamin Lyons. This was also an appealed case from the Morgan County common pleas court. The action was for trespass, in cutting wheat on the plaintiff's land. The defendants were ad judged not guilty.
On the 20th of .1 tine at this term of court a certificate of naturalization was granted to John Miller, ler, 'formerly
172 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO
a subject of the government of Besse Cassel. Several others filed their in tentions to become citizens. A number of tavern licenses were granted at $2 each.
The November term of court, 1851, began at Sarahsville on Monday, the 10th, lasted until Saturday. The presiding judge, Hon. A. G. Brown was present only during the first day, the record for the remainder of the week being signed by William Smith, presiding associate judge. At this term the following grand jury was impaneled and sworn : William Parrish, foreman; Timothy Smith, Henry Enochs, George Gibson, Frederick Spencer, John A. Stevens, James Archer (of Joseph), John Buckley, William Kirkpatrick, David Delong, Elijah Fesler, John Onille, John Morrison, Julius Rueker, Amos Hughes. The grand jury was discharged on Tuesday, having returned five indictments— two for illegal voting, two for retailing spirituous liquors, and one for assault and battery.
The following reminiscence of the November term of court, 18451, was related to the writer by a prominent legal gentleman :
The associate judges, in the absence of the presiding judge, found themselves, at times, considerably embarrassed, owing to their meager knowledge of the law. A "mill dam case " (that is, a case for damages to land caused by back-water from a mill-dam) was on trial. The lawyers got into a wrangle over the admissability of certain testimony, and the dispute waxed warm for several hours. Finally Patrick Finley, one of the judges, became impatient; and, on an appeal being made to the bench, turned to the speaker and shouted, in his rich, Irish brogue: " Lawyers! whoy don't ye settle the law among torsi] ves ? Yee's know a dale more about it than we do!" This term of court was held in the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Sarahsville.
Another session, lasting one days was held during the year 1851, On the 27th of December, before the associate judges, whose official life ended shortly after. lion. Richard Stillwell presided at the term which began April 20, 1852.
Sarahsville continued to entertain the court and lawyers until 1858. On the 8th of June or that year the first term of the common pleas court began at Caldwell ; presents Hon. L. P. Marsh, judge ; William C. Okey, clerk, and Samuel Danford, sheriff.
Noble is the youngest county in the State. It is small, both in territory and in population ; the people are mainly farmers of a peaceful disposition and averse to litigation, consequently there has never been a large amount of legal business. Yet the county has had, and still has, a bar of more than average ability. Several Noble County lawyers have distinguished themselves as legislators, jurists and military officers. In this chapter the writer has sought to include the name of every lawyer of prominence that ever resided in the county, giving biographical sketches wherever such were obtainablee,
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Prior to the formation of the may few representatives of the legal profession had settled within its limits. The legal business went to the parent Counties of Morgan, Guernsey, Monroe and Washington and was attended to chiefly by lawyers located at the respective county seats. Samuel McGarry and .Daniel Pettay, of Sarahsville, and Jabez Belford, William M. Kain and Isaac Parrish of Sharon were the only members of the bar resident in the county prior to its organization.
From 1851 until after the war a large part of the legal business of the county was attended to by nonresident lawyers. Prominent among these were Hon. John E. Hanna, Non. E. E. Eyans, Hon. C. B. Tompkins and lion. F. W. Wood of McConnelsville ; Ewart Clarke (lion. Thomas NC. Ewart and Col. Melvin Clarke), of Marietta ; the ;Messrs. Hollister, E: A. Archibald and others of Woodsfield ; Judge Nathan Evans, Gen. John Ferguson and other prominent attorneys, of Cambridge.
The organization of the county in 1851 had the effect of inducing a number of young lawyers to come hither to try their fortunes. The local papers of that date reveal the names of the following resident lawyers : Edward A. Bratton, John McIntosh, Samuel W. P. Cochran (in partnership with McIntosh), Sarahsville; Jabez Belford, William M. Kahl, Sharon ; R. II. Taneyhill, Olive; P. M. Merrill, Sumnmerfield. During the next two years, some of the others having in the meantime removed, the bar of the county received the following additions : William Priestly, William C. Okey, Henry Frazier, William II. Frazier, James K. Casey, J. H. Rothrock, B. F. Spriggs, M. H. Taneyhill.
HON. ISAAC PARRISH,
son of Edward Parrish, who settled in Sharon Township in 1819, was not only the first lawyer who resided within the territory now forming Noble County, but he was also the first and only resident of the county who ever held a seat m Congress. Ile was a man of more than ordinary ability, and was a shrewd politician. He was considered a good speaker, and during his public life delivered many public addresses in this and neighboring counties. He was enterprising and ambitious, somewhat visionary, and often impractical, but always thoroughly in earnest in whatever he undertook. He was an early merchant in the village of Sharon and afterwards was engaged in milling business at the same place. He projected a railroad which ultimately merged into the old "Calico" railroad scheme, by which he and others were heavy losers. Ile did not devote himself closely to law practice for any long period, but bore a good reputation in his profession throughout southeastern Ohio.
Isaac, Parrish was born in Belmont County in March, 1804. He was mainly self-educated. He read law in St. Clairsyille and was probably admitted to the bar there. He practiced in Guernsey, Belmont and Morgan Counties; was elected prosecut-
174 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
ing attorney at Cambridge and rose to prominence. In 1838 he was elected to Congress from the Eleventh district, Guernsey County. He was a candidate for re-election but was defeated by Hon. Benjamin S. Cowen, of Belmont. He then removed to Morgan County and in 1844 was elected to Congress over Dr. Perley B. Johnson, the Whig nominee, after a close and exciting contest. He was active in organizing Noble County, hoping Sharon might secure the county seat. After his second term in Congress, he devoted himself mainly to milling business in Morgan and Noble Counties. In 1854 he removed to Des Moines, Iowa, where he practiced law for a time. He then went to Harrison County, Iowa, where he died in 1860. He was a Democrat, an earnest partisan and very popular with his party. He was genial and agreeable and readily made friends among all classes.. He was married in Belmont County to Rachel Haines, and had a family of four sons and two daughters that grew to maturity.
JABEZ BELFORD, an early and prominent lawyer of Noble County, was born in Malaga, Monroe County, O., in 1820. He was brought up to hard work and had but limited opportunities for obtaining an education. His youth was spent in Hoskinsville and vicinity. He learned the blacksmith's trade when young, but not being satisfied with it he sought to improve his mind by reading and study, and finally began the study of law in the office of Virtulon Rich, of McConnelsville, and was admitted to the bar in 1851. He first began practice in Sharon, but removed to Sarahsville a few years after the organization of the county. He served as the first prosecuting attorney of Noble County, and in that position achieved such success that he at once rose to prominence as a lawyer. He was afterwards elected to the same position. For several years he was the law partner of Hon. Isaac Parrish, and afterward he sustained the same relation to William C. Okey, Esq. He was a skillful and eloquent advocate, a successful lawyer and a good citizen. He removed from Sarahsville to Caldwell, where he served as the first postmaster of the village. During the war he was elected as draft commissioner of the county. He was a Democrat and a partisan, but he never permitted politics to estrange friendship. He (lied in Caldwell, October 22, 1882,
One of the local papers in an obituary, said : " * * * Without the advantage of a classical education in youth, he has long been recognized by those who knew hint best, as a gentleman not only learned in the law, but possessed of a vast fund of accurate knowledge of science, history, and general literature, He was especially fond of biological research and natural history. Seen in the court-room he appeared cold, practical and severe, but his heart was full of generous warmth and noble impulses." At a meeting of the Noble County bar, highly eulogistic resolutions were passed, at which time Hon. W. H. Frazier said;
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" He was one who always did what he believed to be right, without prejudice or favor." W. C. Okey, who perhaps knew him more intimately Chan anyone else, said : "I saw him inure and knew him better than others, As a lawyer he was greatly above the average. Often when in consultation respecting the merits of a case, Is this right as between men, let this test settle the question,' as soon as thus satisfied, he became invincible in his convictions. During his last years his life seemed to he growing more symmetrical with his extensive reading and reflection." In 1843 he was married to Miss Clarrissa (laughter of Lebbens Fordyce. She was to him a valuable aid in his early struggles with poverty; while he was engaged in his law studies she supported the family through her own efforts. Ten children were born to them, six of whom are living. Cyrus, the eldest son, is a farmer ; Irwin is an attorney, residing in Toledo, 0. ; ichelieu follows the trade of his father ; Ethan A. is a physician in Nevada ; Dora married Reuben McGlashen; Lebbens, the youngest, is a dentist.
SAMUEL MCGARRY afterwards probate judge, was a member of one of the early families in the county. He studied law in McConnelsville and practiced there for a time. He located at Sarahsville, and after the establishment of the county, was connected with the editorial management of several of the early newspapers. He never had any great amount of law practice. Ile was the first treasurer of Noble County, and from 1857 to 1864 held the office of probate judge. lIe removed fo the West and died there.
DANIEL PETTAY, who had been a Methodist preacher, was elected justice of the peace, and after sonic years in that office, was admitted to the bar. He had but little legal business. He was a man of good sense and fair ability.
WILLIAM MARCUS KAIN was one of the early lawyers and editors of the county. lie read law under Jabez Belford, and practiced in Sharon from about 1848 until 1854. Soon after this date we find him at Sarahsville, editing a Democratic paper. Ile was self educated and of good ability. He is now a Presbyterian minister, residing somewhere in Pennsylyania.
EDWARD A. BRATTON was perhaps the leader among the resident lawyers of Sarahsville in 1851 and 1852. He came from Cambridge, where he had previously practiced several years. He removed to McArthur, Vinton County in 1853.
SAMUEL W. P. COCHRAN, from Zanesville, where he had previously been in the tobacco business, after being admitted to the bar, came to Sarahsville in 1851. lie held the office of prosecuting attorney about two years, resigning in 1853, when E. A. Bratton was appointed in his stead. John McIntosh, from the northern part of the State, was his law partner. Neither remained long.
WILLIAM PRIESTLY read law in Sarahsville in the office of E. A. Bratton and began practice in that
176 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO
town. He removed to Caldwell after the latter became the county seat, and remained until 1862, when he entered the Ninety-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a first lieutenant. He served through the war and in 1864 was offered a captaincy, but declined the commission. He did not return to Caldwell to practice law after the war. Mr. Priestly was a sound, well-posted man—a good office lawyer, but not a fluent speaker.
HENRY FRAZIER, a brother of Hon. W. H. Frazier, was born in Trumbull County, 0., Sept. 9, 1824. He received a collegiate education ; read law with Evans Scott, Cambridge, 0., was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1851, and began practice at Sarahsville. He died in August of the following year. Tie was a young than possessed of a high order of talent, and had he lived would doubtless have made his mark in his profession. The local paper spoke of him in the highest terms, and the bar passed eulogistic resolutions after his death.
HON. WILLIAM H. FRAZIER is so well and favorably known to all the citizens of Noble County, that an extended sketch of his life and public services is unnecessary in this chapter. Suffice it to say that no abler lawyer or more honored citizen has ever lived in the county ; that his talents entitle his name to a prominent place among the distinguished representatives of the legal profession in Ohio; and that his eminent merits as a jurist have received popular recognition in his election to the honorable position which he now so ably
WILLIAM HUGH FRAZIER, the fourth son and seventh child of George and
Bethiah (Randall) Frazier, was born in Hubbard, Trumbull County, Ohio, March 11, 1826. His father was a native of Kent County, Maryland ; came to Ohio with his parents in 1802 ; married a native of Washington County, Pa., and reared eight children. Hannah (ipley), Henry, William H., Sarah R. (Watt), George, Israel, Andrew, Asa, of whom four are still living; Sarah, George, William H. and Andrew. The father died in Guernsey County in 1852. He was a man of great natural ability and force of character. While in Trumbull County he served as a magistrate, and was regarded by his neighbors as a man of sound sense and good judgment.
The subject of this notice was reared on a farm and attended school in his native town until twelve years of age, when he accompanied his parents to Guernsey County. here he continued attending the common schools in winter and working on the farm in summer, until he became of age. He then entered Madison. College at Antrim, Guernsey County, spending his vacations at home in farm-work and study; but finding his health impaired, and believing that he would not be able to continue his labors as a farmer, he decided to begin the study of the law. At this time an older brother, Henry, was pursuing a course of study 14 that profession, and William placed himself under his tutelage, continuing until twenty-six years of when lie was admitted to the bar at
PICTURE OF W. H. FRAZIER
THE LEGAL PROFESSION - 177
Coshocton, May 17, 1852. Immediately after his admission he began the practice of his profession with his brother Henry at Sarahsville, then the county-seat of Noble County. In the following August his brother died. William II. continued in practice at Sarahsville until 1858, when he removed to Caldwell, the new county seat. In March, 1865, lie formed a partnership with James S. Foreman, which continued one year, after which he practiced alone. In 1855 he was elected prosecuting attorney for the county, and by successive re-elections was continued in the office for ten years. He was twice chosen to this office without opposition. In October, 1871, he was appointed by Governor Hayes to fill the unexpired term of Hon. Moses M. Granger as judge of the court of common pleas, and at the annual election held the same month he was elected to the same office for the term of five years. Subsequently he was twice re-elected as judge of the court of common pleas in the eighth judicial district, no other candidate heing put in nomination against him. September 8, 1884, after having been nominated for circuit judge, he tendered his resignation as common pleas judge, having served. in that office thirteen years lacking one month. At the annual election. in October, 1884, he was elected one of the judges of the circuit court* for seventh circuit, and
*The circuit court was organized uUder an amendment to the constitution adopted in 1883, and in accordance with the provisions of certain legislative acts.
in the allotment of terms he was allotted the term of four years.
Possessed of a keen, analytical mind, discriminating, careful and thoughtful ; honest of purpose and sound in judgment ; of extensive general information and thorough knowledge of the law, aided by a ready and retentive memory, in his long and unbroken service upon the bench, Judge Frazier has been distinguished for his love of justice, his fidelity to_ the law, and the equity and candor of his decisions. His unassuming manners and agreeable social qualities render him deservedly popular with men of every party and every condition in life. Ile is a Republican, both in the political and in the literal signification of the word, and has risen to his present position solely through his own merits, his perseverance, energy and industry. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years.
As a citizen of Noble County, Judge Frazier has been prominent in every movement calculated to advance the interests of his town and county. With others lie founded the first bank in the county, became its first president and still retains that position ; he was also one of the incorporators and first directors of the Cleveland and Marietta Railway, and gave largely—of his time and money to promote the building of the road.
Judge Frazier was married November 30, 1854, to Minerva E. Staats, of Noble County, who is still living. They have three sons and
178 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
four daughters, Jennie (Lloyd), Anna (Neuhart), William A., George E., Mary E., Louis R. and Minnie M. The married daughters reside in Los Angeles, Cal.
WlLLIAM C. OKEY, familiarly known as Judge Okey, is entitled to a place in the first rank of the present lawyers of Noble County, not only by reason of seniority, but also because his achievements have won for him that position. Mr. Okey was horn in Woodsfield, Monroe County, Ohio, August 24, 1828. Ills father, James ()key, was among the prominent citizens of that county, holding the office of magistrate for twenty-one years, and representing the county in the State legislature for two terms. The subject of this notice spent Ins boyhood on a farm. After receiving a common school and academic education, he engaged in teaching school during the winter months, devoting his spare time to the study of the law. In 1849, he entered the law office of Nathan Hollister, and two years later he was admitted to the bar. In 1852 he opened an office in Sarahsville, then the county seat of the newly-formed County of Noble, as a member of the firm Hollister, Okey Hollister, where he soon \rose to prominence in his profession. In 1855 he was appointed clerk of of courts and in the following year was elected to that office. He followed the county seat to Caldwell, thus becoming one of the first settlers of the .village in which he has since resided. At the expiration of his term as clerk he resumed time practice of law-, continuing until 1862 when he entered the seryice or his country in Company E, Ninety-second Ohio
Volunteer Infantry. Resigning In 1863 by reason of disability, he again took up his practice which he has followed assiduously ever since. In 1866 he formed a copartnership with Jabez Belfords one of the most prominent attorneys of Noble County, which lasted until the decease of Mr. Belford in 1882.
Mr. ()key has never been a politician in the ordinary acceptation the word, yet he has taken a deep interest in all matters affecting the general welfare of the country. He is a firm supporter of the Democratic party. In 1870 he was nominated for judge of the court of common pleas in opposition to lion. I'. W. Wood, of McConnelsville. The district was largely Republican, yet Mr. Okey was defeated by only a snot! majority, running ahead of his ticket in most of the district, and carrying his own county by 350 majority.
He is the oldest lawyer in Noble County and for many years has laid an extensive practice. He is diligent and industrious and conscientiously faithful to the interests of his clients. As a lawyer he hears an unspotted reputation. Ile is a man of decided views ; a careful, cautious counselor and a good judge of the law. A gentleman who has knon him intimately for twenty eight years, says of him : " He is a gentleman, a good lawyer and an honest, straightforward and reputable citizen." In him the younger attorneys of the county
PICTURE OF WILLIAM C. OKEY
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have a faithful friend, always willing to aid the deserving in securing a start in their profession.
Mr. Okey married for his first wife Miss Julia Ring. his present wife was Miss Ruth Caldwell, daughter of the venerable Joseph Caldwell, elsewhere mentioned.
ERWIN G. DUDLEY, son of Judge Gilman Dudley, was born in Olive Township in 1832. He read law in Sarahsville and was admitted to the bar about 1853. He practiced in Sarahsville and Caldwell until the summer of 1862, when he entered the service as a captain in the Ninety-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He had a good legal mind and was a successful lawyer. For several years he was the resident partner in Noble County of Hon. John E. Hanna, of McConnelsville. After the war he went to Omaha, where he was elected State senator and afterwards police judge. He next went to the 'flack Hills and engaged in mining. He is now in Dakota, the proprietor of a sulphur springs resort.
JAMES K. CASEY came to Sarahsville from Cumberland about 1853 and practiced in that place for about three years. He removed to Cambridge and thence to Mt. Vernon, Ohio. He died in the West recently. He was a good lawyer and a gifted speaker.
RICHARD H. TANEYHILL located at Olive in 1851, and practiced law and edited a newspaper there for a time. He afterward practiced his profession in Batesville for a number of years. He removed to Barnesville, where he at present resides. He is now largely engaged in the culture of strawberries. Mr. Taneyhill was an able and forcible editorial writer and possessed legal ability of a high order. His brother, Mordecai H. Taneyhill, also a lawyer, was located at Sarahsville a few years prior to the removal of the county seat to ()aid well.
JAMES H. ROTHROCK, as is shown by a card in a local paper, had a law office in Olive in 1853. He came from West Union and was a young man of ability. He remained a short time in the county waiting for the controversy over the county seat to be settled. Then tiring of this he removed to Iowa. He has since been one of the judges of the supreme court in that State.
HON. BENJAMIN F. SPRIGGS, for many years a promment lawyer of Noble County, died at his residence in Sarahsville, January 17, 1879. He was born in Washington County, Pa., in 1828, and in 1844 came with his parents to Guernsey County. At the formation of Noble County in 1851, he lived in that part of Guernsey which Was annexed to the new county. Mr. Spriggs taught school in early life, studying law in his spare time. In 1851 he served as deputy clerk of courts in Noble County. He was also one of the school examiners. He was admitted to the bar in 1851, and soon rose to prominence in his profession. Starting as an old-school Democrat, he soon become a leader in the then Democratic party in the county. For some years he was editor of the Democratic Courier, published at Sarahsville. In 1858 he was nominated
180 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
for Congress, and was defeated by only a few votes. In 1871, he was nominated for representatiye to the legislature, David McGarry being his opponent. A yery spirited campaign ensued, resulting in a tie vote. A new election being ordered, Mr. Spriggs was elected by a considerable majority. He took an active part in local and national politics, and was one of the most effective and earnest workers for his party in the county. In 1876 lie was a delegate to the St. Louis convention, which nominated Samuel J. Tilden for the presidency. During the war he was a member of the -military committee of the county. He was a good lawyer, quick in debate, and a fluent talker. He was warm in his friendship, and, though always an earnest partisan, he retained the respect and good will of his political adversaries, and was esteemed as a citizen.
DAVID S. SPRIGGS, one of the leading lawyers and prominent citizens of Noble County, was born in Centerville, Belmont County, Ohio, January 10, 1835. He passed his boyhood on a farm, receiving only a good common school education, which he made useful to himself and others by engaging in the work of a teacher. He also studied surveying. While teaching he pursued the study of law in his spare time, and at the age of twenty-one entered the law office of his brother, Hon. B. F. Spriggs, of Sarahsville. He was admitted to the bar in 1859, and from that time until 1866 he was alternately engaged in teaching and the practice of law, meantime serving three years as school examiner. In 1866 he removed to Caldwell, where he has since had an extensive law practice, ranking among the leading representatives of time profession in this locality. He served as prosecuting attorney from 1872 to 1876. In 1875 he was a candidate for representative to the legislature from Noble County. James M. Dalzell, the Republican nominee, was elected by a majority of five votes. Mr, Spriggs has at various times been nominated for other responsihle offices, but has been defeated, his party being greatly in time minority. Since 1863 he has taken an active interest in politics, and has been a prominent worker- on the Democratic side in political campaigns. In 1885 he was appointed/ postmaster at Caldwell, which position he still holds. In 1857 he married Nancy Windom, a cousin of Senator Windom, of Minnesota. She is a native of Belmont County. Mr. and Mrs. Spriggs have two sons and one daughter.
MICHAEL DANFORD KING was a young lawyer in Cold well in 1859. He removed to Barnesville, went into the army, and was killed in the service.
JOHN W. BELL was in Caldwell before the war, and attempted to practice law for a time. He was afterward in the newspaper business, and succeeded admirably.
JAMES S. FOREMAN, son of Hiram and Margaret Foreman, was born near Senecaville, Guernsey County; Ohio, October 2, 1835. Ile received a common school education, and in
PICTURE OF DAVID S. SPRIGGS
181 - THE LEGAL PROFESSION.
early life taught school. He read law under the preceptorship of Judge Evans, of Cambridge, and was admitted to the bar September 8, 1863 October 6, 1874, he was admitted to practice in the United States Circuit Court. He removed to Caldwell in the fall of 1864, and practiced here until his decease. He died of paralysis, March 22, 1880. He first practiced in partnership with Hon. W. H. Frazier, and, after the latter was elected judge, formed a partnership with D. S. Spriggs, which continued until his death. Mr. Foreman was considered one of the best lawyers in the county. He served two terms as prosecuting attorney, but never held any other office of prominence. He took an active part in politics, and was a good stump-speaker. He married Anna M. Slimmers, of Noble County, in 1859, and was the father of six children, who are living.
JUDGE DENNIS S. GIBBS is a prominent lawyer and an old resident of Noble County. He is the son of Dennis Gibbs, one of the early New England settlers of Olive Township, and was born in that township, Dec. 25, 1825. He was reared . on his father's farm and shared the rough experiences of pioneer life. He received such schooling as the inferior subscription schools of the early days afforded. He was editorially connected with two of the early newspapers of Noble County. He began the study of law in the office of Hon. Isaac Parrish and finished in the office of Hon. W. H. Frazier. He was admitted to the bar in 1868, but did not enter upon the practice of the law until 1875 His early political teachings were such that he became a " free-soiler " and cast his first vote for the nominees of that party. On the formation of the Republican party he became an adherent to its principles and still remains constant to them. He has taken an active part in politics for many years and is a sound and effective public speaker. In 1863 Mr. Gibbs was elected to the office of probate judge and for two terms fulfilled the duties of that position. In 1870 he went to Kansas where he embarked largely in the real estate business until 1873 when the panic brought financial disaster to him. In 1875 he returned to Noble County and in partnership with William Chambers engaged in the practice of law.. He has since had a large practice and is a very successful lawyer. Judge Gibbs has been twice married — first, in 1853 tc Rhoda Chamberlain, of Beverly, 0., who died in 1859 ; and, second, in 1864 to Ada M. Tuttle. By the first marriage there .was one child who died young. Three children have been borne of the second union - Mattie L., Dennis C. and Ada M. In religious belief, Judge Gibbs is a Universalist."
HON JAMES M. DALZELL, now an attorney-at-law in Caldwell, was born in Allegheny City (opposite Pittsburgh), Penn., September 3, 1838.
He attended school in Allegheny, and was quite proficient in the rudiments of a common English education before he was nine years old Then his father, Robert Dalzell, re-
182 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
moved to Brookfield Tonship, and there commenced farming. His youth was spent like that of other boys of that day in the country, working on the farm in summer, and attending school in winter three months in the year. At sixteen he had completed the limited curriculum of that period, and having obtained a certificate set out on foot for Vinton County in the winter of 1854, and there taught his first school at $22 per month. With the proceeds he maintained himself at the Ohio University at Athens for a term, and when his money was exhausted, again resorted to " the birch;" and so alternately teaching and attending college as he could ; sometimes at Sharon college, again at Oberlin, at Athens, and Washington, Pa The years flew by, and with such difficulties to encounter and overcome, in making his own way at college. When the war broke out it .found him a junior at Washington College, Pennsylvania. He had also graduated from Duff's College, Pittsburgh, but the dream of his life was . to finish a full classical course in old Washington ; but the cherished ambition of his youth was frustrated by his enlistment as a common soldier in Company H, One hundred and Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Here he served three years without discredit, and was promoted " Sergeant Major, for gallant and distinguished service," as his commission reads. At the close of the war returning home to Noble County, he was chosen deputy clerk of the court of common pleas, and acted in that
capacity until July, 1866, when he was appointed to a clerkship in the United States Treasury at Washington City, which . he held for two years, until he had graduated in Columbia College and was admitted to the bar as attorney at law in June, 1868. This he achieved by night study alone, for his days were devoted to the business of his office. Nov. 29, 1867, he married Miss Hettie M. Kelley, an estimable, young lady residing then at her home in Muskingum County. Together they spent a pleasant and profitable year at the Capital. But in the fall. of 1868 they removed to Caldwell, Ohio, and there have resided ever since. Their union has been one of the happiest and blessed with six children, all of whom survive except James Monroe, the eldest son, a very promising youth, whose sudden death at the age of fifteen has cast a deep gloom over the household that mourns his departure.
Mr. Dalzell has always contributed to the daily newspaper press, and it is probably not going too far for us to say that no name is better known than his among newspaper writer’s. His business for eighteen -years has been that of a lawyer, in which he has been fairly successful. In 1869 he was elected prosecuting attorney and seryed two years ; and so yigorous was his prosecution of liquor sellers that at the end of his term there was not an open saloon in his county. In 1875 he was elected to the General Assembly of Ohio,- and represented Noble County so \vile
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that in 1877 he was re elected for two years more. During his entire four years in the legislature he was a member of the judiciary committee, the most influential and important of all the committees, and the one to which lawyers only are eligible.
The entire body of Ohio statutory law passed through the hands of this committee for the laws were then being codified and. re-enacted. In 1882 he was strongly supported in the Congressional convention at St. Clairsville for the nomination to Congress, and was balloted for unsuccessfully nearly three hundred times in the most exciting contest for Congress ever witnessed in Ohio The convention broke up in confusion, without nominating any one, and then and there Mr. Dalzell retired from politics and resumed the practice of law more assiduously than ever. For many years he was on the "stump" in various States, and in 1879 was called to Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and in 1880 to Indiana: He was in demand every where and was regarded one of the best stumpers in the United States. He was always a Republican. He advocated the election of every Republican candidate, both with voice and pen, from Fremont to Garfield. The confidential friend of Sumner, Frederick Douglass, James A. Garfield, Rutherford B. Haves, Gen. W. T. Sherman, Henry Wilson, John Sherman, O. P. Morton, Thaddeus Stevens, Schuyler Colfax and a host of their great contemporaries. Mr. Dalzell confesses to not a little pride in their letters testifying their high regard for him. As is elsewhere fully detailed in this work, Mr. Dalzell was the originator and author of the popular soldiers' reunions now held annually in all parts of the country. It is doubtful if there is a soldier in the United States who does not know " Private Dalzell" (as he is familiarly called). at least by reputation, for at the first, and other reunions since established he has addressed most of them in his patriotic speeches. Besides, he has always taken a pride in all matters relating to soldiers ever since the war, and devoted a large portion of his time and means to the furtherance of their interests not only in this but in almost every other State.
But since he quit politics and resumed the practice of the law, he has passed his time very quietly. When not engaged in the courts or at professional business elsewhere, he devotes himself to his books. He is regarded as one of the first forensic orators in Ohio, and on all public occasions he is in demand. To these calls, however, he seldom responds, for he finds more pleasure and profit in the plain, plodding practice pf the law and the presence of his family to whom he is doubly devoted.
ALLEN MILLER came from Zanesville about the close of the war and. opened a law-office M Caldwell. Ile was a young man and only a brief resident. He has since gained an enviable reputation as a lawyer in Zanesville, Columbus, and elsewhere.
GEO. JENNINGS, now of Woodsfield, studied law with D. S. Spriggs,
184 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
and practiced in Caldwell a year or more.
COLONEL WILBERT B. TETERS served as clerk of courts in Noble County. He was the only soldier that went from the county who attained, to the rank of Colonel. Hey was in the One Hundred and Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was admitted to the bar about 1868, but never practiced. He is now a resident of Bowlder, Colorado, and is marshal of that city.
WILLIAM CHAMBERS, a leading lawyer, was born in Calvert County, Maryland, in 1842. His father, William Chambers, was a sea-faring man in his early life, but afterwards became a farmer. The subject of this notice was reared on a farm. In 1853 he came to Ohio with his parents. His father settled on a farm in Monroe County Where he died in 1866 at the age of seventy years. William lived on the farm and followed school teaching a portion of the time until 1867, when he entered upon the study of the law. In 1869 he was admitted to the bar and in 1871 began the practice of his profession in Caldwell. In 1872, on the incorporation of the village, he became its first mayor, holding the office four years. In 1875 he was elected prosecuting attorney. He served one term in that office. Mr. chambers is a Republican and has been an active worker for his party. Tie is a man of extensive and varied information and is thoroughly versed in the law. Ile was married in 1870 to Martha A., daughter of Rev. Jeremiah Phillips, of the Pittsburgh
M. E. Conference. They have four children.
JOHN M. AMOS, now editor of the Cambridge Jeffersonian, was reared and educated m Noble County. He taught school in early life, studied law under Spriggs & Foreman and was admitted to the bar. After practicing law for a time he engaged in the newspaper business, building up the Democratic organ of the county and making it, for almost the first time in its history, a paying newspaper property. At the same time he practiced law and took a leading part in politics. He sold out his newspaper in 1884 and removed to Cambridge. Mr. Amos was a 'Republican until 1871 but has since acted with the Democrats.
FRED W. MOORE was born in 1845, and died in April, 1874. He attended college at Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1865-6, and afterward studied law in the office of Hon. F. W. Wood, in McConnelsville. He was admitted to the bar at Pomeroy, Ohio, in 1871, and soon after began practice in Caldwell, in partnership with J. F. Young, Esq. In July, 1873, he became associated with John M. Amos, Esq., in the publication of the Citizen's Press, but the state of his health soon compelled him to retire from active labor,
JOHN F. YOUNG, from St. Clairsville a graduate of. the college at Washington, Pennsylvania, located in Caldwell, in 1871, and practiced until 1874; a part of the time in partnership with Fred W. Moore. He went to Bellaire where he practiced law several years.
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NATHAN B. WHARTON, was born in what is now Marion Township, May 10, 1844. He received such advantages for education as were offered by the district schools of that day. At the age of eight- teen he enlisted in Company D. Ninety-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was a member of that command until March, 1863, when he was discharged at Carthage, Tennessee, by reason of disability contracted in the service. May 2, 1864, he again entered the service, this time as a member of Company C., One Hundred and Sixty-first Ohio National Guards. He served in this company until it was discharged from the service, at Camp Chase, September 6, 1864. On his re- tun to his home he began the study of the law in the office of Hon, J. M. Dalzell, and was admitted to practice by the district court of Columbia County, April 26, 1871, At the October election of 1881, he was elected prosecuting attorney of Noble County, which position he filled creditably for three years. In July 1885, he was appointed special agent for the General Land Office -with headquarters at St. Cloud, Minnesota. He married Miss Amelia A., daughter of Kinsey and Louisa John, April 27, 1865, and has a family of ten children.
JOHN F. YOUNG, from St. Clairsville, a graduate of the- college at Washington, Pa., located in Caldwell in 1871 and practiced until 1874, a part of the time in partnership with Fred W. Moore. He went to Bellaire where he practiced law several years.
JAMES W. BARNES was reared at Summerfield, in this county studied law under Hon. J. M. Dalzell, and was admitted to the bar about 1872. After his admission he practiced in partnership with his preceptor for a short time. He is now in the government printing office at Washington, D. C.
JAMES M. MCGINNIS is a well-informed and prominent lawyer. He was born in Tuscarawas County in 1847, and came to Summerfield when young. He secured an education through his own exertions, attending the common schools and Mount Union college. For several years he was a successful teacher, adopting this profession to obtain means with which to pursue his studies. In February, 1865, he became a member of Company D, One Hundred and Eighty-fifth Oh o Volun leer Infantry, and served until mustered out the following September. From 1873 to 1878 he was principal of the Summerfield schools. He read law in the office of Spriggs & Foreman in the meantime, and was admitted to the bar. He was elected prosecuting .attorney in 1877, removed to Caldwell in 1878 to assume the duties of his office, and has since been in successful practice here. In 1879 he was . re-elected prosecuting attorney, and held the office during another term. He was in partnership with Hon. J. M. Dalzell for five years, and is now a member of the law firm of McGinnis & Weems. Mr. McGinnis is an earnest 'Republican. He was married in 1879 to Miss Emma, daughter of William Peregoy.
186 - HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
CAPELL L. WEEMS is an able young lawyer, who is fast earning for himself an honored place in the ranks of the profession. He was born at Whigville, Marion Township, July 7, 1860. He attended the common and normal schools until the age of sixteen, when he began teaching school, and taught with occasional interruptions until he began the practice of law. He studied law under the tuition of Dalzell & McGinnis, beginning at the age of nineteen, and was admitted to the bar in October, 1881 He then took a position as superintendent of schools at Senecaville, Guernsey County, where he remained until 1883. In the spring of that year he settled in Caldwell, and entered upon the practice in partnership with James M. McGinnis, Esq. Mr. Weems was elected prosecuting attorney in 1884, and has ably discharged the duties of that position. In November, 1883, he was married to Mary B. Nay.
CLARK M. WATSON, was born in. Seneca Township, Noble County, June 15, 1847. The Watson family were among the early settlers of that township. He was educated in the normal schools and at the Ohio Wesleyan University, graduating from the classical department of that institution in 1874. For the three years succeeding his graduation he served as superintendent of schools in Chesterville, Morrow County, Seville, Medina County,. and Fredericktown, Knox County, meantime reading law in his spare moments. He next entered the law office of I Hon. L R. Critchfieid, ex-attorney-general of Ohio, at Cleveland, and in the spring of 1878 was admitted to the bar in that city. In the fall of the same year he removed to Caldwell, where he still practices his profession. Mr. Watson is a Republican and a Methodist. He was married in 1874 to Miss Lettie A. Brown, a native of Cuyhoga County, and is the father of one child.
E. H. ARCHER, now a clerk in the adjutant-general's office at Columbus, was reared and educated in Noble County. He read law with lion, J, M. Dalzell, was admitted to the bar about 1877, practiced in Caldwell with success until 1885, when he went to Columbus to assume the duties of his present position.
ADAM J. SMITH, from Muskingum County, studied law in Caldwell, and was admitted to the bar about 1877. He practiced here for a short time. Hie then removed to Kansas, where he now holds the position of prosecuting attorney.
RUSSELL W. SUMMERS,. son of Dr. R. P. Summers, was born near Summerfield in 1854. After receiving an academical education he began the study of law in the office of Belford & Okey, and in September, 1878, was admitted to the bar. He began to practice, in Caldwell, in 1879. He married Miss Lillie Moore, of Renrock, Noble County.
IRVIN BELFORD, son of Jabez Belford, served as clerk of courts from 1872 to 1878, and about the close of his second term as clerk was admitted to the bar. After a few years he removed to Toledo, where he is at present assistant prosecuting attorney.
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CHARLES T. LEWIS, who served for a time as cashier of the Noble County Bank, began his legal studies in Marietta and finished them in Caldwell, where he was admitted to the bar about 1878. Forming a partnership with Irvin Belford, he practiced with him in Caldwell until 1882, when both removed to Toledo.
D. A. JENNINGS, editor of the Press, is among the younger representatives of the legal profession in Caldwell. See Chapter XIV.
CHARLES A. LELAND was born in Sharon, Noble County, in 1860. He is the son of B. M. Leland, a prominent citizen of this county. He received a common-school education, read law in the office of Dalzell Sr McGinnis, and was admitted to the bar in 1881. Mr. Leland has been a teacher since he was sixteen years old, and is at present (January, 1887) the teacher of the Caldwell grammar school.