150 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY years. On February 9, 1885, this court took the place of the former District Court. An eighth circuit was added in 1887 and in 1892 a sixth judge was added to the Supreme Court; his term as the judges thereafter chosen for full terms—to serve six years. The constitution of 1912 provided for a Court of Appeals to take the place of the old Circuit Court with final jurisdiction, except in a few matters, the Supreme Court to consist of a chief justice and six associates elected by the people. The giving of final jurisdiction to the Court of Appeals has lightened the labors of the Supreme Court materially. At the time of the organization of the Probate Court in 1852, the term of the probate judge was three years and remained that way until 1905, when by an amendment of the constitution the term of various county, district and state officers was adjusted so as to have those officers elected in the even years and the municipal and township officers elected in the odd years. By that amendment the terms of the Supreme Court and Circuit Court judges were fixed for six years, Common Pleas judges for six years and the Probate Court judges for four years. The judicial power of the state is vested in a Supreme Court, courts of appeals, courts of common pleas, courts of probate and such other inferior judicial bodies as may be established by law. The Supreme Court judges are elected for six years; under the 1851 constitution they were elected for five years. Terms of court are fixed by the judges. The law only provides the number to be held. The amendments adopted by the constitutional convention of 1912 almost entirely changed the judicial system of Ohio. Each county was given one or more Common Pleas judges, the Common Pleas districts heretofore existing being abolished. The Court of Appeals for Ross County (Fourth District) meets at Chillicothe in April and December of each year and the Court of Common Pleas in January, April and October. FIRST TERM OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS The first term of the Court of Common Pleas, under the state constitution, for the County of Ross, "in the second or middle district of the State," began on the 26th day of April, 1803. Reuben Abrams, William Patton and Felix Renick, esquires, produced their several commissions as associate judges from Governor Tiffin, took the oaths required by law, and ordered the opening of the court. On the next day, Wyllys Silliman, esquire, appeared, and, having produced his commission as president judge, took the oath and HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 151 entered upon his duties. Thomas Scott was clerk pro tempore, and Jeremiah McLene, Sheriff. On this second day of the term, the first grand jury was empaneled, sworn and charged, and retired to make inquiry of crimes and misdemeanors committed within the body of Ross County; "and, after some time," says the journal, "returned into court and made presentment of Stephen Warren for selling liquor without license; and were discharged." Stephen was afterward duly convicted, fined $20 and costs, and committed to jail until his fine and costs were paid. The next business of the judges was the choice of a clerk of the court. Levin Belt, Thomas Scott, William R. Dickenson and John McDougal were the candidates, and each produced a certificate of competency, etc., signed by Hon. William Spring and Samuel Huntington, judges of the Supreme Court of Ohio. John McDougal was the successful candidate, and was at once sworn into his official position. FIRST ATTORNEYS' LICENSES BY THE STATE The earliest licenses to practice law by the state courts in session at Chillicothe were issued as follows : To Richard Henry Yansey, in April, 1804; to Lewis Cass (then spelled "Louis"), in April, 1803; to William H. Irwin, in April, 1804 to Henry Brush, in December, 1803; to Abraham J. Williams, in June, 1804; to Wyllys Silliman (ex-president judge), in June, 1804; to James Scott (ex-associate judge), in June, 1804. Neither Yansey, Cass, Irwin or Silliman ever resided in Ross County. The first cause docketed in this first term was "Joseph Tiffin vs. James Wallace—debt. Judgment confessed; and execution stayed, by consent of plaintiff, for six months." SUITS FOR DEBT From the records of 1804, 1805 and 1806 it appears that Jere. miah McLene, first sheriff, and his sureties, are sued for large sums, by the auditor of Ross County for the use of the State of Ohio, being moneys collected by him as taxes and not paid over. But he must have made ultimate settlement, or he would hardly have been elected secretary of state as he subsequently was. Simon Kenton, the famous Indian fighter, figures as defendant in a suit for debt in 1805. Imprisonment for debt was very usual Indeed, most suits upon contract demands for money were commenced by the issue of capiases. Women were not exempt from this hardship. The journal for 1804 recites, for instance, that "Hetty McCann, a poor person imprisoned for debt in the jail of the county, is ordered to 152 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY be admitted to the benefit of the insolvent act, she having taken the oath prescribed by law," etc. And again, we notice that "Mary Mealhouse" was the subject of a similar order. The stocks and pillory erected in 1798 were not built in vain. Sentences, to be publicly whipped, were ordinarily only dealt out to negroes convicted of misdemeanors, and white people convicted of theft. The reader will notice the difference made in the matter of punishments between the two races. THE WHIPPING POST, BUSY INSTITUTION We give a single specimen of a "Sentence to the Post," as it was commonly called. One John Cummins had been duly convicted of horse-stealing at the November term, 1808. The sentence (by Judge Levin Belt) was "that said John Cummins receive fifty lashes well laid on his bare back, pay a fine of one hundred dollars to the State of Ohio, restore to Israel Jennings the property stolen, and also eighty dollars, the value thereof ; be confined in the common jail twenty-five days, and pay the costs of prosecution. And it was further ordered that said John Cummins stand committed until this order be fully carried out." "Black Betty, a negro woman," was also whipped to the extent of ten lashes, also to be " well laid on her bare back," on conviction for petty larceny ; and so far as we have noticed this is the only instance, in which the Common Pleas Court sentenced a woman to the post. But the reader must remember that justices of the peace had also power to sentence to the whipping post for petty offences, over which they had final jurisdiction, and no doubt many such penalties were imposed by them upon both males and females—if 'negroes. " BRANDED WITH RED-HOT IRON In many instances, when convicted criminals were unable to pay the fines and costs assessed against them, they were, by order of the court, "bound out to labor for not exceeding seven years," and the money bid for their labor was applied to the payment of such fines and costs—costs first, of course. Branding with red-hot irons, too, was occasionally resorted to. In 1804, one John Brandy was tried for murder, but the jury found him guilty of manslaughter only. He was sentenced "to be burned in the palm of the left hand, with a hot iron, so that the letters MS shall be plainly marked thereon, and pay the costs of prosecution." EXECUTIONS OF MURDERERS At a term of the Supreme Court, holden for this county on Monday, May 14, 1804, at which Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., chief HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 153 justice of the state, presided, and Samuel Huntington and William Spriggs, judges, were present, a grand jury was sworn and charged, and upon the same day returned into court with an indictment, which charged one, "Edward Stolcupp, laborer, of Pee Pee township" (now Pike County), with the murder of one Asa Mounts. The accused man had, on the 27th of December, 1803, in a fit of anger, born of jealousy, shot his victim dead, with a rifle. On the next day after finding the indictment, to-wit : Tuesday the 15th, the prisoner was put upon his trial, and upon the following day the jury found a verdict in these words : "We, the jury, find the criminal guilty. Isaac Brink, foreman." On Wednesday, the 23d of May, he was sentenced, by Judge Meigs, to be hung by the neck until dead, on Friday, the 3d day of August, 1804, between the hours of 9 o'clock in the morning and 12 at noon—and he was executed accordingly. Traditions differ, somewhat, in regard to the spot where the gallows were erected. Doctor McAdow, generally most reliable authority in matters of local history, asserts that he was hung to the sign-post of a tavern on Main Street. it is hardly probable that a sheriff would execute the death penalty of the law in that manner. The late venerable Mrs. Nancy Waddle often told of having seen people looking at the execution from the windows of General Finley's house, which stood at the southeastern corner of Second and Paint streets. The execution would, most probably, be upon the public grounds around the courthouse, and in that day there was nothing to obstruct the view of all the front of those grounds from the Finley mansion. Upon the margin of the Supreme Court record of the trial, there is a memorandum in the handwriting of the late Louis Fullerton, made many years ago, in these words: "He was hung close to the old pump—so says Richard Snyder." Snyder was a young man at the time of the hanging, and one who would have been sure to see such a spectacle. There was an old pump just north of the old stone courthouse, and the north wall of the present courthouse is directly over the well-hole. Probably that was the locality where Stolcupp was hanged. Levin Belt prosecuted the case for the state, and Michael Baldwin and William Creighton, Jr., defended the prisoner. After the conviction, Baldwin made an earnest, but ineffectual appeal to Governor Tiffin for commutation of punishment, and after the execution he caused the dead body to be buried on a lot directly in the rear of the governor's residence, swearing he would keep Tiffin in mind of Stolcupp, anyhow. On the night of November 19, 1844, Frederick Edwards—an old, well known, and much liked merchant of this county—was murdered in a storeroom, in the village of Bourneville, by burglars, 154 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY after an evidently desperate struggle for self-preservation. His body exhibited no less than nineteen stabs, and of these wounds, twelve were of such character that, in the opinion of surgeons who examined them, either one would have been, of itself, mortal. Soon afterwards Leroy J. Maxon was arrested at McConnellsville, Ohio, and Henry Thomas (alias Thomas Dean), at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and committed for the crime. At the April term, 1845, they were indicted for murder in the first degree, and elected—under the law as it then was—to be tried by the Supreme Court. In the following May, Maxon succeeded in escaping from the jail; and, although many reports of his having been seen at different places were circulated at intervals, no reliable information was ever obtained in regard to him afterwards. On the 24th day of December, 1845, the Supreme Court began a term for Ross County, with Nathaniel Reed and Peter Hitchcock, judges, presiding; and the trial of Thomas was the first business of the term. The prosecuting attorney, Joseph Miller, was assisted by Hon. Thomas Ewing and John L. Green, and the defense was conducted by Henry Stanberry and Hocking H. Hunter. The trial of the case occupied two days. The evidence was conclusive against the prisoner, and the jury promptly returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree. On the 28th, Judge Reed sentenced Henry Thomas to death, by hanging, and designated Friday, the 6th of March, 1846, as the day upon which the execution should take place. A few days before the time so fixed for the execution, Thomas endeavored to commit suicide by cutting his throat with a pen-knife, which he had contrived to obtain, or conceal. The sentence of the law was duly carried out, at the proper time, by Charles Martin, the sheriff. The gallows were erected in front of the old stone courthouse, at a spot that is very nearly under the inner door of the present hallway of the courthouse. We have ascertained that his real name was Goodhue Marvin. The next and last execution upon the gallows in Ross County, was that of Perry Bowsher, in June, 1878. On the night of Friday, October 26, 1877, Bowsher, with some accomplice, whose name never was discovered, burglarized and robbed the toll-gate house, on the Columbus Turnpike road, about six miles north of Chillicothe. The resident gate-keepers were Edmund McVey and Ann, his wife, a venerable couple, who had lived in this city and vicinity for more than fifty years, and were well and favorably known to almost the entire community. It appeared, upon the trial, that Bowsher alone had entered the house through a kitchen door, passed through the bedroom of the sleeping couple, and was searching for money in the room which fronted on the turnpike road (which was also a grocery store, in a small way), when the noise made in pry- HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 155 ing open a desk aroused Mr. McVey, who, being a fearless old man, rushed at once upon the robber. Bowsher instantly fired at him with a thirty-two caliber revolver, and the first shot killed him. The wife then ran into the front room, begging for mercy. Bowsher replied, "it is too late now !" and fired the second and third bullets into her body, and she sank lifeless into a large armchair. A young girl, by the name of Alice Dean, was at the time in bed in a room adjoining the sleeping apartments of the McVeys. Aroused and frightened beyond measure by the exclamations and pistol reports, Alice hastily crept under her bed, and remained there unobserved, while Bowsher searched the drawers of the bureau in her room. The murderer coolly completed the search of the house, after committing these murders, and obtained four United States bonds, aggregating $800, and some $30 in money, but failing to find about $300, which was hidden in various places about the premises. After all this, Bowsher was deliberate enough to go into the kitchen with a lighted candle, and eat a hearty lunch of such food as he could find there. While he was so engaged, Alice Dean escaped through the window of her bedroom and ran to the nearest neighbors to give the alarm. Meanwhile, Bowsher, having finished eating, returned into the sleeping apartments and set fire to the bedding and some clothing, which was hanging on an open door, and left the premises without having been seen by anybody who could identify him as the author of these terrible crimes. The fire he had started was extinguished by the neighbors, who soon arrived, without having made much progress. From the scene we have described, Bowsher went, unobserved in the darkness by anyone, to his old haunts in Hocking County. There, having exhibited the stolen bonds to a half-brother and a woman of his acquaintance, he was suspected, arrested and brought to jail. He was indicted on the 21st of December for murder in the first degree in each case, and on the 19th of February, 1878, was put upon his trial for the murder of Ann McVey. Judge Thaddeus A. Minshall was upon the bench. The prosecutor, Albert Douglas, Jr., was assisted by Judge W. H. Safford and Archibald Mayo, and Col. William E. Gilmore, under appointment by the court, defended the accused man. The trial lasted two weeks and excited the greatest interest. The prosecuting attorney had a strong array of direct evidence against Bowsher, and the counsel for the prisoner therefore bent his energies toward upholding the defense of insanity. But, although public opinion was much divided, the jury were unanimous in the belief that Bowsher was sane enough to distinguish between right and wrong at the time the murder was committed. He was therefore convicted of murder in the first degree and Judge Minshall 156 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY sentenced him to be hung on the 21st day of June, 1878. At 10.30 A.M., of that day, he was accordingly executed by Sheriff Thomas L. Mackey, in the space between the new jail and the courthouse. PROBATE JUDGES As stated, the constitution of 1851 created the Probate Court, and the first incumbent of that bench in Ross County was Samuel F. McCoy, who served until 1860. He was succeeded by Samuel H. Hurst, who resigned in January, 1862, to enter the army, and gained fame as commander of the fighting Seventy-third in the Civil war. PERSONNEL OF THE BENCH AND BAR There are few counties in Ohio which have better claims to eminence in the personnel of their bench and bar than Ross; there are none whose representatives were more remarkable or gained broader fame in the practice of their profession, in the judicial administration of the law, in politics, and statesmanship. As proof of the statement need only be mentioned such names as Allen G. Thurman, William Allen, Thomas Scott, Jessup M. Couch, William Creighton, Jr., and William K. Bond, and such eloquent, eccentric and dissipated members of the bar as Michael Baldwin, B. G. Leonard, W. S. Murphy and J. F. Woodside. Then there were, as faithful judicial examples to offset these brilliant rollickers, such as Frederick Grimke, the old bachelor scholar, who served both on the Common Pleas bench and that of the State Supreme Court; John H. Keith, fourteen years presiding judge of the Common Pleas Court, and James McClintick, a high-minded merchant and banker, who, for twenty-one years was an associate member of that bench. These are but a few of the members of the bench and bar of Ross County whose strong, unique personalities gave the profession a stamp of its own. This chapter therefore concludes with an attempted delineation of those lawyers and judges, whose personal records constitute so large a part of the early history of the bench and bar of Ross. ALLEN G. THURMAN Allen G. Thurman was the greatest man who ever practiced at the county bar, his activities as a lawyer covering the period from his admission to the bar in 1835 to his election as a judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio in 1851. At this time he became a national character, and his work was in the Congress and Senate of the HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 157 United States and the diplomatic courts of Europe. Until his death in 1895, he was admitted to be one of the ablest judges and lawyers, and one of the most rugged and honorable of American statesmen. Judge Thurman was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, November 13, 1813. While he was still a young boy, his parents moved to Chillicothe. His father was an itinerant Methodist preacher who, on account of ill health, was obliged to leave the ministry, and many heavy burdens were thus thrown upon the wife and mother. In 1825 Mr. Thurman built the house on the north side of Main Street, which stood so many years and in which Allen spent his younger days. Judge Thurman's mother was a remarkable woman, with many fine qualities of both intellect and heart. Upon her devolved the training of two of Ohio's statesmen, her brother, Governor William Allen, and her son, Allen G. She had received a liberal education, was of studious habits and well fitted to perform the task which fell to her lot. It is said that her son resembled her in personal appearance and qualities; he has borne testimony to the value of her instructions in saying that "I owe more to my mother than to any other instructor in the world." Judge Alfred Yaple has given the following instructive account of Judge Thurman's youth : "He was then a small boy with what poets in pantaloons would denominate flaxen hair, and versifiers in crinoline golden locks, but what Governor Allen and common people call a towhead. His mother was drilling him in his French lessons. She continued to superintend his education, directing his reading of authors even after he left the old Chillicothe Academy, a private institution, and the highest and only one he ever attended until his admission to the bar. While attending this academy Thurman's classmates and intimates were sent away to college. He could not go, for not only did his parents find themselves without the means to send him, but even required his exertions for their own support and the support of his sisters, a duty which he cheerfully and efficiently rendered, remaining single and at home for more than nine years after his admission to the bar, giving a large part of his earnings toward the support of his parents and sisters. "The day his school companions mounted the stage and went away to college he was seized with temporary despair. Sick at heart, he sought the old Presbyterian burying-ground, and lay down upon a flat tomb and wept. The thought that his tears were vain and idle came to him with force. He told his sorrows to a friend who chanced to be wandering among the graves, and closed his recital with the significant remark, 'If my school-fellows come 158 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY home and have learned more than I have, they must work for it.' " Old citizens still remember that a light, during this time, was often seen in young Thurman's room until 4 o'clock in the morning. He would never quit anything until he had mastered it and made it his own. In the acquisition of solid learning his academy fellows never got in advance of him, and he kept studying long after they had graduated. He taught school, studied and practised surveying. "At the proper age Thurman entered upon the study of law in the office of his uncle, William Allen, and in 1835 was admitted to the bar, and became the partner of his preceptor. As Allen was making politics the first object of his interest, and political office the objective point of his desires and ambitions, Thurman very soon took the lead and precedence of him as a. lawyer. Of course he acquired the lion's share of the practice in this county, and on the circuit, then attended by this bar. When Leonard's health failed, Thurman was the acknowledged leader of the profession here, and continued such until his elevation to the Supreme Bench, in 1852, and his removal to Columbus in 1853. He was elected to Congress from this district in 1843, and did not seek a renomination after serving one term. Nor did he attract any attention to himself while in the house of representatives—then he was a lawyer only." WILLIAM ALLEN, GOVERNOR William Allen, Judge Thurman's uncle, preceptor and partner, served as the twenty-fifth governor of Ohio, being elected in the fall of 1873. Born at Edenton, North Carolina, in 1807, in infancy he was left an orphan by the death of his parents within a few months of each other. The care of his childhood then devolved on his only sister, who had married and moved to Lynchburgh, Vir- ginia. To that trust Mrs. Thurman was faithful. As stated, she was a woman of thorough education herself and was a wise manager, having already had thorough practical training as the wife of a Methodist circuit rider. Fortunately, the brother had inherited a small estate from the parents, and she managed this to such advantage that the means were provided to give him the advantages of the best schools. In 1821, Mrs. Thurman, with her husband and family, moved to Chillicothe, leaving her brother to attend a private school in Lynchburgh. The excellence of the Chillicothe Academy, so widely recognized even at that early period, induced a relinquishment of his intention to complete his studies in Virginia, and two years later he joined his sister in Chillicothe, and continued his studies HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 159 at the "old academy." Having completed his preparatory studies, William Allen entered the law office of Edward King, the gifted son of Rufus King, of New York, of Revolutionary fame. There, while making rapid progress in the acquisition of legal lore, he was assiduously cultivating a naturally effective forensic power, to which, more than to any other endowment, he was indebted for his rapid rise in popular favor and his early elevation to public places usually considered the reward of long service and matured experience. In this connection, it may be interesting to Chillicothe to remember that one of the lower rooms of the old State House is accredited as the first arena of young Allen's oratorical ability, where, in the performance of his duties as a member of a debating club, he made his first speech. Admitted to practice in 1826, and to a partnership with Edward King, his preceptor, he soon distinguished himself by his peculiar facility in addressing a jury, a power which, though not necessarily associated with that strictly legal habit of thought and logical arrangement of matter most certain to influence the court, seldom fails to give its possessor great influence in popular assemblies. Possessed of a tall, commanding figure, with a voice of marvelous magnitude and excellence, his appearance in public discussions attracted favorable comment, even when his argument failed to carry conviction. Before he had arrived at what is regarded as the congressional age, the young man was put in nomination as a candidate for a seat in the National Legislature, and, though in a whig district, he was elected as the democratic nominee by a majority of one vote. Taking his seat in the Twenty-third Congress, he bore a leading part in all important discussions, though in point of years he was the youngest man in it. In January, 1837, at a supper in Columbus, at which were present the candidates for the United States Senate, he made a talk which electrified his audience, and to the surprise of those who did not hear him, was in that month nominated and elected to the seat of Hon. Thomas Ewing. Before the close of the first term he was reelected, and remained in the Senate until the 4th of March, 1849. During these twelve eventful years, he had attained the meridian of his powers. As evidence of the position he held in that body, it is well to state that for much of the time he was chairman of the committee on foreign relations, a position from which he voluntarily retired ; and that, while occupying it, his vote and voice ever supported the advanced views of his constituents. In 1845 Mr. Allen married Mrs. Effie McArthur Coons, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of Gen. Duncan McArthur, who, in 1830, had been elected governor of Ohio. Mrs. Allen in- 160 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY herited the old homestead and large landed property of Governor McArthur, upon which Governor Allen spent the declining years of his life with his daughter, Mrs. Scott, her husband and children. Soon after the birth of their daughter,. afterward Mrs. Scott, Mrs. Allen died in Washington City, and her husband rode on horseback beside her remains the whole distance to Chillicothe. Governor Allen was a man of sterling integrity and most polished manners, and, during his long career, never stooped to those doubtful expedients which have too often distinguished men in public life. In August, 1873, he was nominated for governor of Ohio, and was the only successful candidate on his ticket. True to his earnest regard for public integrity, he recommended the reduction of taxation, and the most rigid economy in all matters of state expenditure ; and in this he did not mean, to use his own language, vague and merely verbal economy which public men are so ready to favor, but rather that earnest and inexorable economy which proclaims its existence by accomplished facts. Though the first democratic governor elected in many years, his administration gave general satisfaction. After a life of unusual success, he closed his earthly career at his beautiful homestead of Fruit Hill in 1879. THE FLATTERING BOOK AGENT An interesting anecdote is told of Governor Allen by Mr. F. B. Loomis in the Cincinnati Commercial-Gazette : "An old friend of Governor Allen has just told me an anecdote which is worth repeating. The governor was very fond of his residence, 'Fruit Hill,' and had caused a very spacious covered veranda to be built around it in order that he might have a sheltered place for walking when he chose to take it in that way. This veranda was uncommonly wide and often attracted attention by reason of its great dimensions. One morning a Yankee book agent trudged out to Fruit Hill to sell a copy of some subscription book of little value to the old governor. The agent was not greeted very cordially, as Mr. Allen was not in the best of spirits, and as he turned to depart without having made a sale, he remarked : ' Governor, it appears to me you've got a mighty sight of shed-room around this house.' The allusion to the porches touched the old man's fancy, and he called the dejected agent back, purchased a book and invited him to dine, with him." THOMAS SCOTT Thomas Scott has a record as lawyer, judge, all-around official, husband, father and good citizen, which is certainly eventful, clean HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 161 and laudable. He was a Virginian by birth and of good Scotch-Irish stock from Western Pennsylvania. In May, 1796, when twenty-four years of age, he married Catharine, daughter of Robert and Catharine Dorsey Wood. He was early connected himself with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and remained steadily and devoutly a zealous Methodist throughout his long life. He was licensed a preacher when only seventeen years old, by Bishop Asbury, and was ordained at eighteen. At this period of his life, Mr. Scott fully intended to devote himself to the ministry, but he prudently learned the tailoring trade so as to be sure of the necessaries of life, while in charge of the then very poor and scattered flocks of the Methodist Church. In 1793 he was placed in charge of the Ohio circuit, and in 1794 was sent as delegate to a conference held in Lexington, Kentucky. By this time Mr. Scott had resolved to study law, and he began reading under the auspices of James Brown, of Lexington. But he was so poor that he was compelled to labor at tailoring much the greater portion of the time. In this strait, his wife sat beside his work bench and read to him "Blackstone," "Coke upon Littleton," and the other law books usually put into the hands of law students in those days. Whether licensed to practice or not—and it does not appear that he was—he certainly appeared as a lawyer in the courts of Flemingsburgh, Kentucky, and even prosecuted for the state in 1799 and 1800. Early in 1801, Mr. Scott came to Chillicothe, and was licensed there to practice law, in June, 1801. In the following winter he was clerk of the Territorial Legislature. In November, 1802, he served as secretary of the Constitutional Convention. In January, 1803, he was commissioned prothonotary of Common Pleas, which he held until the reorganization of the courts, in April of that year; and in April was the clerk of Common Pleas, pro tempore, and candidate for the permanent clerkship, but was defeated for 'that position by John McDougal. He was then commissioned the first justice of the peace in the county, and continued in that position for three or four years, although, meanwhile he practiced in Common Pleas, and was also prosecuting attorney in 1804 and 1805. In the fall of 1805 he was chosen clerk of the Ohio Senate, and continued such, by successive annual elections, until 1809, when he was elected to the Supreme Bench of the state, upon which .he remained,. with good credit, until 1815. He was then register of public lands, from 1829 to 1845. When, after the "era of good feeling," which existed during Monroe's administration, men began to divide again upon political questions, Judge Scott took his place with the republican party. But President Adams having made him the promise to appoint Vol. I-11. 162 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY him district judge of the United States, for Ohio, and this having been prevented by the interference of Henry Clay who obtained the place for another, Judge Scott immediately became a zealous and active Jackson democrat. He continued his affiliation with the democracy until 1840, when he went over again to his old partisan friends, then called whigs, and supported General Harrison's candidacy. He remained a whig during the remainder of his life but strongly sympathized with the anti-slavery movement, which gave birth to the present republican party. In all the vicissitudes of his long and busy life, Judge Scott continued to fill the pulpit of the Methodist Church whenever called to supply it as "local preacher." He died February 13, 1856, at the age of eighty-three, and at that time had been longer in the active practice of law than any other person in Ohio, and, probably, longer a preacher of the gospel than any minister in the United States. His excellent wife survived him about two years. As a lawyer, Judge Scott was painstaking, laborious and precise to a remarkable degree. Some of his briefs are marvels of patient research and also of prolixity. He had wide reputation for learning, in the laws of realty, especially, and was employed abroad in some very important cases, and for his services received a. few large fees. It will be noticed in the foregoing sketch of his life, that, true to the instincts of a Virginian, Judge Scott loved official distinction. No position was too high for his solicitation, and none too humble for his acceptance. As a husband, and a father, never was one more gentle, affectionate and provident. WILLIAM CREIGHTON, JR. William Creighton always wrote "Jr." after his name, as he had an elder cousin of the same name who resided at Chillicothe. He was a Virginian who came to that place in 1799 and was admitted to practice the same year. He was industrious in business and conscientious, but never a deep student of the law, and, although obtaining a large practice, failed to realize much of a fortune, as he never invested his earnings in real estate or lands which brought a competency to so many professional men. At different times he associated himself with William K. Bond and John L. Green. Mr. Creighton was an easy, but not an especially forcible talker, and was very jovial and sociable. He always took a deep interest in political affairs, and was an ardent whig after that party was organized, and was especially devoted to the fortunes of Henry Clay. He was elected to Congress, and represented this portion of Ohio from 1815 to 1817, and from 1827 to 1833. Tn HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 163 the year last named he resigned his position as representative for the purpose of accepting the office of district judge of the United States Court, to which he was nominated by the President, and was disappointed by reason of the Senate having refused to confirm the appointment. In person Mr. Creighton was a large man, nearly, or quite, six feet in height, large-boned but not fleshy, and weighed, perhaps, 180 pounds. His hair was dark brown, and never became very gray ; he had gray eyes, rather deep set and overshaded. by heavy brows. He habitually carried his head advanced, which made him appear somewhat round-shouldered. His expression of face was always gravely good-humored. He was fond of entertaining his friends and distinguished strangers, and was a generous and genial host. Henry Clay, DeWitt Clinton, and many more historic men have sat at his table. He died at Chillicothe, in September, 1851. JESSUP M. COUCH Jessup M. Couch came to Chillicothe from Connecticut, in 1808 or 1809. He attained to a fairly large practice ; and, in 1815, became one of the supreme judges of Ohio, and continued in that high official position until his death, by consumption, in 1821. He was a small, slender man ; courteous, gentle in manner, and dressy even to foppishness. Although fond of the society of ladies, and gallant in his attentions to them, he never married. WILLIAM K. BOND William K. Bond, who represented his district in Congress for three successive terms in the '30s, was a cultured and able Chillicothe lawyer, albeit spirited, as became a son of Maryland. Although born in St. Mary's County, that state, he received both his general and professional education at Litchfield, Connecticut, and located at Chillicothe in 1812. As Mr. Bond then lacked a year of his majority, and the law required one year's residence in Ohio before he could be admitted to practice, he employed a portion of that time in taking a fleet of flat-boats belonging to John Waddle to New Orleans. Mr. Bond acted as "supercargo" in charge of the venture ; sold the freight and boats to the full satisfaction of Waddle (the provisions, of which the cargoes principally consisted, being taken by General Jackson for the use of his army, and payment for it being afterwards made by the United States Government), and soon after his return was admitted and commenced the practice of his profession, which he continued here until 1841, when he moved to Cincinnati. For about twenty-five years of this period he was in partnership with William Creighton, Jr. 164 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Mr. Bond possessed excellent natural abilities, and they were well cultured by industrious reading and studies, both general and professional. He was thoroughly a "business man," and as successful as the limited possibilities of this legal field allowed any one to be in those days. With a high and delicate sense of honor, he united a refined courteousness of manners, and was, in the best sense of the word, a pious, Christian gentleman. The only attempt to detract aught from his standing and influence, consisted in calling him an aristocrat, and swearing that he wore silk stockings. Yet, with all suavity, Mr. Bond could, and would, resent insult with promptitude and spirit. Colonel Brush was engaged adversely to Bond in the trial of a cause, and repeatedly interrupted the latter's argument, although repeatedly requested to desist. Finally, a further interruption, accompanied by some offensive innuendo, overcame Bond's self-control and respect for the court. He rushed across the room, seized with his thumb and forefinger the very prominent nose of the offender and wrung it until blood flowed, then spat in Brush's farce. Having inflicted this punishment upon the insulter, Bond walked back to his place and resumed his argument. He was not further interrupted. But, after the conclusion of the case, he was fined $15 for contempt of the court, and no more serious result followed, although some anticipated a bloody resentment from Brush. Colonel Bond (for he, too, held that rank in the militia) was an active partisan in politics, upon the whig side. In those days there was a "Virginia ring," but then the Virginians and immediate descendants of Virginians were nearly all whigs, and it was only when the issues growing out of slavery caused the dissolution of the whig party, and the organization of the republican, that that numerous and influential class of the people went over to the democracy and the "ring" was transferred. Bond was the favorite of that ring, and it was because neither he nor they would tolerate the election of a born Yankee to Congress, that the nomination of Richard Douglas for that office was nullified in 1831. In 1833 Colonel Bond was elected to Congress; was reelected in 1835 and 1837, and throughout these three terms he bore a prominent part in the debates and business of the House of Representatives. "Bond's eight-day speech"—so styled because its delivery occupied one hour of eight consecutive days—was much commented upon by the political papers of forty years ago. After his removal to Cincinnati, in 1841, Colonel Bond was appointed surveyor of that port by President Fillmore, which office he held for several years. About 1844 he was severely, almost fatally, hurt, by being struck when going aboard of a steamboat, by a timber of a hoisting derrick employed in loading the vessel. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 165 This injury, perhaps, and the death of his wife afterwards, certainly hastened his dissolution. He died greatly respected, as it was proper such a man should be, February 17, 1864. MICHAEL BALDWIN Michael Baldwin was one of the most brilliant and unbalanced lawyers of the early period. Although of a noted and most reputable Connecticut family, lie made no effort to uphold the ancestral dignity. He was admitted to practice in 1799, at Chillicothe, and soon forced recognition of his energy, learning and sparkling intellectual gifts; and almost as speedily developed his uncontrollable love of liquor, fun and frolic. He soon distanced all competitors for legal business save William Creighton, Jr., whose patient industry still retained him the larger and by far more lucrative practice. As between the two, it was the race between the hare and the tortoise over again, and with the same inevitable result. One of the malicious stories of that day was, that certain other lawyers became so jealous of Baldwin's popularity and business success, they encouraged the latter's passion for drink, so that his career might be shortened as much as possible. During the years 1803-6, Baldwin, notwithstanding his dissipation, did a large amount of professional work. But from the latter date, there is a rapid decadence of his practice apparent in the records of the court, and by 1808 his name but rarely appears, save only as defendant in suits for tavern bills, borrowed money, and applications for the benefit of the insolvent laws. We learn from Stafford's "Life of Harman Blennerhasset," that Baldwin had been the United States marshal for the State of Ohio, and that he was much embittered against President Jefferson for depriving him of that office. Aaron Burr advised Blennerhasset to retain Judge Jacob Burnett, of Cincinnati, and Baldwin, for the defense of both of themselves in the trials for high treason which they expected to undergo before the courts of Ohio ; but which trials never took place. In a letter written to his wife, under date of December 17, 1807, Blennerhasset says: "I have retained Burnett and Baldwin. The former will be a host with the decent part of the citizens of Ohio; and the latter a giant of influence with the rabble, whom he properly styles his 'blood hounds.' " It is very suggestive of the character of Baldwin, that at almost every term of his practice this entry is made upon the journal: "Ordered, that Michael Baldwin, one of the attorneys of this court, be fined ten dollars, for contempt of court, and be committed to jail until the fine be paid." By reason of commitments for contempt and capiases for debt, he became familiar, indeed, with the 166 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY inside of the old jail which stood at the northwest corner of Second and Walnut streets. Baldwin was a member of the Constitutional Convention and tradition asserts that he wrote almost in entirety the first constitution of Ohio in the bar-room of William Keys' tavern, using a wine keg for his seat, and the head of a barrel of whisky for his desk. He was speaker of the House of Representatives in 1803, 1804 and 1805. Fond of gambling, of course—for he seems to have had all the modern accomplishments—it is told that he opened a game of "vingt et un" for the benefit of such members as craved excitement. Baldwin, being banker and dealer, of course, won all their money and most of their watches. The party broke up, and went to their several rooms. He, used to such life, was in the speaker's chair on time next morning, rapped the House to order, and proceeded with business. A call of the House was soon demanded, and the fact made officially apparent that there was no quorum present. The speaker sent out the sergeant-at-arms for absentees, and that officer, in the course of an hour or two, filed into the hall and in front of the speaker's chair, some dozen or more of the half-asleep, and only partially sobered, gamesters of the night before. Thereupon Baldwin rose, and, with dignified severity of manner, began to reprimand them for their neglect of the trusts reposed in them by their constituents, and remind them of the great cost per diem to the infant state of the sessions of the General Assembly, etc., until one of the party of culprits broke abruptly in upon the harangue, with the exclamation, "Hold on now, Mr. Speaker ! How can we know what time it is, when you have got all our watches!" At the June term, 1804, the tavern-keeper, William Keys, sued Baldwin upon an account which aggregated £25, 13s, 10d, a copy of which account is filed. Every item in it, save three, was for drinks in one form or another—brandy, spirits raw, bowls of toddy, punch, treats to the club, etc. The three exceptional items were suppers for himself, for which he was charged is and 6d for each. But with each supper there appears a charge of 3s for a pint and a half of brandy—a proportion of drink to meat which strongly reminds one of the bill rendered by Dame Quickley to Sir John Falstaff. "Drinks for the club" were undoubtedly his treats to the "Blood Hounds"—an organization of the roughs and fighting men of that day, which Baldwin had gotten up and which he controlled. The "Blood Hounds" did his electioneering and fighting for him ; and more than once delivered him from the jail by breaking in the door, or tearing out an end of that structure. His brothers twice attempted to relieve him from the embarrassments HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 167 of his debts, and for that purpose sent him bags of coin amounting to a considerable sum. On these occasions it is said he hired a negro for porter of the money, and went around to his creditors seriatim, allowing each one, irrespective of the amount of his account, to have one grab in the open mouthed bag until all was gone. His name appears in the records of the court for the last time, in the early part of 1811, and he undoubtedly died soon thereafter. Baldwin's widow survived him for many years, and when not less than seventy years old contracted a second marriage with Adam Stewart, of Ross County. An old citizen speaking of "Kitty" Baldwin in her prime, remarked : "I tell you! she was the proudest widow that ever walked the streets of Chillicothe." BENJAMIN G. LEONARD As was truly said by one of his friends : "Among the notable men who have practiced law at this bar, Benjamin G. Leonard was the most remarkable for activity of intellect, accumulated learning—not only in the law, but in many of the ancient and modern languages, and exact sciences—irregularities of habits, eccentricity, and finally in the melancholy end of his life." From the first Mr. Leonard was an intense and absorbed student of law and the sciences. He habitually remained locked in his office—which, by the by, was always located as far as possible from the business center of the city—and would scarcely ever admit clients when they called to see him, but would, if the knocking was persistent enough to get any response from him at all, open the door sufficiently to see who it was, begin with a volley of curses, and end by making an appointment with him at the Madeira Hotel or one of the public offices of the county, when he would consult and advise. He seemed to avoid, rather than to seek, practice ; and yet he loved money, at least in his later days—charged large fees and hoarded all he could of his money. For years he was the acknowledged leader of the Ross County bar and he lorded it over his brethren with rough and careless manners. He used opium in the form of the camphorated tincture, or paregoric, habitually, but not to very great excess. He also, at intervals, indulged to excess in spirituous liquors, which, as he grew older, became more frequent. In 1840 Mr. Leonard went to Washington City to try an important case before the Supreme Court of the United States, and in doing so he displayed such wealth of learning and ability that it attracted marked attention to him from the bench, bar and the statesmen. of that day, and especially elicited from Chief Justice 168 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Marshall the very highest compliments. Upon his return from Washington he manifested a degree of elation of spirits altogether unusual with him, and very soon symptoms of insanity became apparent. In a little while confinement became imperative, and with great difficulty he was taken to Columbus and placed under the treatment of the celebrated Doctor Awl, then medical superintendent of the insane asylum at the capital. The violence of his mania later modified somewhat, but the malady continued, and he' died in the asylum in January, 1845. So large a stock of intellectual force has rarely gone to the grave leaving so little of value to the world as in this instance. Leonard was of medium height, about five feet eight inches tall, slender, bony and angular. He had a dark complexion and dark hazel eyes; was very near-sighted and always wore gold-rimmed, concave spectacles. His hair was black. He was eager, restless, impatient and nervous in appearance. His voice was shrill, and when speaking excitedly, rose almost to a scream. A good old Methodist, describing him, added : "And Mr. Leonard swore just awful!" WILLIAM S. MURPHY William Sumter Murphy was born in South Carolina about the year 1796, and came to Chillicothe in 1818. In 1821 he married Lucinda, daughter of William Sterret. He entered upon the practice of the law immediately after his arrival here, and pursued it continuously until 1843, although during all that time his interest in political affairs was such that he always postponed his legal business to political campaigning during the annual struggles of the two parties, into which the people were then divided. He never attained high repute for legal learning, but was in that regard respectable only. His eloquence as an advocate, however, and his power to move juries, caused him to be much employed, and more especially for defense in criminal cases. Politically Mr. Murphy was, at first, identified with the democratic party ; but having been defeated in 1832 by William Allen for the nomination for Congress he became soured toward his party, and in 1836 he supported General Harrison for the presidency with all his energies and powers. He again supported Harrison in 1840; but, after the death of that President and the succession of John Tyler, adhered to the political fortunes of the latter in the quarrel and separation which soon took place between Tyler and the whig party. Murphy, in common with Brush, Allen, Woodside, John L. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 169 Taylor, and other members of this bar, had a strong passion for military affairs and display. He held the militia rank of brigadier general, and thenceforth was always called General Murphy. At the time of the controversy between Ohio and Michigan in regard to the boundary line between those states, Murphy, with Sheriff John Tarleton and some few others of the citizens of this county, was immensely excited and eager for war. After the adjustment of the quarrel by the mediation of Congress, General Murphy, by appointment of the Governor of Ohio, was one of the joint commission to run the compromise lines. In 1843, having won the presidential heart, by reason of his eloquent defenses of the policy and administration of Tyler, he was recompensed with a double commission, which constituted him Minister Extraordinary to Central America, and also Charge d'Affaires to the Republic of Texas. In this mission he succeeded the celebrated traveler and explorer, Stephens, whose charming volumes of travel in Central America and Asia Minor are well known to the reading public. He went first to the Musquito coast, Honduras, where he remained but a few months, and thence went to Texas, where he engaged in secret preparations for the annexation of Texas to the United States ; an object which Tyler desired greatly to achieve during his administration. A treaty was made for the designated purpose, but it was rejected by the United States Senate, and so, for the time being, the project failed. On the 28th of May, 1844, the Senate refused to confirm the appointment of Murphy and he was thereby recalled ; but before he could leave the country he became a victim of the yellow fever. He died at Galveston, Texas, on the 13th of July, 1844, and his body was afterward brought home and interred in the old burial ground now occupied by the Norfolk and Western Railway depot. In person General Murphy was above medium stature, and would have weighed, perhaps, 170 pounds. His eyes were grayish blue in color, and were full and prominent, with strongly lined crow-feet at the external corners. His forehead was full and finely arched upward, but not broad. His hair was of a dark chestnut color, with a slight inclination to curl. His complexion was colorless and parchment-like. On the streets his manner was slouchy and unobservant, and he was rather careless of dress. In beginning a speech he was, for a few minutes, apparently dull and emotionless, and being somewhat deaf, was often unintelligible to auditors a little distant. But, shortly, the inspiration came ; his voice rose and became wonderfully full, resonant and flexible ; his face lighted up ; his figure grew erect and grand in its pose and action, and he won sympathy, rapport and assent to all he said, from 170 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY audiences which had just been determined to differ with his conclusions and to defy his influence. FREDERICK GRIMKE Frederick Grimke was born and reared in South Carolina and came to Chillicothe about 1820. He was an exceedingly quiet, reticent and studious man ; and somewhat slowly grew into an ultimately good practice, which he retained and constantly increased until he was elected by the General Assembly President Judge of the Common Pleas of this Judicial District, in 1829. In 1836 he was promoted to the supreme bench of the state, and served in that capacity until 1842, when he resigned his position, having throughout his term shown himself to be a painstaking and very competent judge. In 1848 he published a volume of some 550 pages on " The Nature and Tendency of Free Institutions," a work which, although somewhat dry and monotonous in style, is full of learning and good sound sense, and may be read with profit by any student of political science. Judge Grimke lived and died a bachelor, and he never mixed with general society. His reserve and seclusion caused him to be regarded by the vulgar as a "woman hater." He was of medium height, rather meagre and angular, but of excellent health, strong and elastic of gait. His complexion was quite dark, his eyes black and overhung with heavy gray and black brows. His hair, originally dark, and always worn short, had become quite gray in his later years. His nose was thin and aquiline. In a quiet way he was very charitable to the poor. For years he was in the habit of taking long and rapid walks, or rides upon horseback, and he was almost ludicrously awkward in the saddle. Judge Grimke boarded for many years (and until it was burned in the great fire of April, 1852), in the excellent hotel kept by Col. John Madeira. From 1852 until his death on January 8, 1863, he boarded at the Valley (Emmitt) House. With all his exclusiveness and seclusion, it is said by the few who were upon familiar terms with him, that the old bachelor judge kept himself wonderfully well posted in all the gossip and scandal of the town. This he accomplished through the fulness of the knowledge of such matters of old Harvey Hawes, the barber, who spent an hour each morning in shaving and posting the judge. The story is told by one who ministered to his last wants that but a little while before he ceased to breathe, he indicated to his attendant a certain black cloth suit of clothes, and desired that he should be buried in them, "and," said the dying man, "I want you to see to it that they are well aired before you put me in them." HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 171 JOHN H. KEITH John H. Keith was born in the State of Delaware in 1804, and was brought to Zanesville, Ohio, when but a child. He was fitted for college in the schools of Zanesville, and afterward graduated at Ohio University in Athens. After graduating, he studied the law in the office of Judge Stillwell in Zanesville, and, in due course, was admitted to practice. He first visited Chillicothe in 1830 to become acquainted and seek a portion of the legal business of its courts. His next appearance here was as Judge of the Common Pleas Court to which he was elected by the General Assembly in 1834 ; and he continued to preside as such until 1848 ; in the meantime, making his permanent residence at Chillicothe. While yet a resident of Zanesville, he was elected representative of Muskingum County in the Ohio Legislature, and was chosen Speaker of the House in 1832. After leaving the bench he resumed practice, which he continued up to his death, which took place May 4, 1875. Judge Keith was of most genial nature. He knew everybody, was friendly with everybody, and, consequently was liked by everybody. No man of his community was so constantly the center of a group of sidewalk talkers as he ; and, although his love of society and outdoor life had, at least for many years, drawn him away from close reading and study, there was scarcely any subject upon which he did not talk entertainingly and well. He literally "Sir Oracle" to Huntington Township and Harrison Township people. His remarkable vitality and freshness of feeling—retained to the last—made him an enthusiast in all things. A CITIZEN JUDGE Judge James McClintick was never admitted to the bar, although he served as an associate judge of the Court of Common Pleas for over twenty years; and fortunate for the cause of local justice it was, that he was constitutionally within his rights in thus occupying the bench, for his long service in that capacity was always considered a public benefaction. Mr. McClintick was a Pennsylvanian of Scotch-Irish blood, and before he was of age located in the hamlet of Chillicothe as the support of his widowed mother and a number of brothers and sisters. Forming a business partnership with Dr. William McDowell, his brother-in-law, he commenced a mercantile career which made him a prosperous citizen in the course of two or three decades. He married a sister of Major David Trimble, of a prominent Kentucky family, and the major was, in after years, a leading member of Congress. Besides being a prominent merchant and serving for many years as a director 172 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY of the old Bank of Chillicothe, the judge was a citizen of public spirit, and a leading Methodist. His life was marked not only by delicacy of thought and act, but beneath his reserve there was a rare spirit of sympathy, gentleness and charity. His high standing as a successful man of affairs, his unaffected religious character, and a combination of personal traits which inspired both respect and affection, made his occupancy of the popular branch of the Common Pleas Court, from 1824 to 1845, of great individual and public value. Judge McClintick died at his pleasant home in Chillicothe on the 11th of May, 1862, in his seventy-seventh year. EDWARD KING Edward King, fourth son of Hon. Rufus King of New York, who long and ably represented this government as minister at the Court of St. James, was born in Albany, New York, March 13, 1795. He spent his early childhood with his father in London, and upon his return to this country, after proper preparation in a grammar school, was admitted and later graduated from Columbus College. He finished his professional studies in the Law School of Litchfield, Connecticut. In 1815 Mr. King came to Ohio and established himself at Chillicothe, where, in 1816, he was admitted to practice, and in the same year married Sarah, the second daughter of Gov. Thomas Worthington. He soon acquired business and very great personal popularity with all classes. "Ned" King is yet spoken of by the few who are old enough to have known him personally, with positive affection. In 1831 he moved to Cincinnati where he resided until his death. He acquired a good practice in his new location very quickly and retained it as long as his health permitted him to attend to professional labor. In 1833, in connection with three other gentlemen of Cincinnati, he was efficient in organizing a law school and was one of the lecturers in it the following winter ; and upon the establishment of the Cincinnati College, in 1835, he was appointed by the trustees to a chair in the law department. But ill health prevented him from assuming this position. As early as October, 1834, symptoms of a dropsical disease appeared. In the following winter he went to the South in hope that the change would benefit him, but did not realize any advantage from the journey. He returned greatly depressed and thenceforward grew feebler until his death, which occurred on the 6th of February, 1836. Mr. King while a resident of Ross County was four times elected to the House of Representatives of Ohio, and served two terms as speaker of .that body. He served two terms as prosecuting attorney, HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 173 one in 1819 and the other in 1825. There was much to admire in Edward King's abilities, and a great deal to love in his character. He was quick and acute in perception, of active and vivid imagination, abounded in good-natured wit, was fluent and pleasant in speech, with graceful and often forcible declamation, and always gentle and polished in manners. He was "generous to a fault," if that be possible ; cheerful, frank, cordial to all acquaintances, high or low, learned or ignorant, rich or poor. No wonder then, "that his praise was in all men's mouths." RICHARD DOUGLAS Richard Douglas was born at New London, Connecticut, in September, 1785, and came to Ohio in the winter of 1808-9, on an intended voyage to New Orleans. Arriving at Chillicothe he decided to remain there ; and he finished his course of law reading—which he had begun in Connecticut—in the office of Col. Henry Brush. He was licensed to practice in 1809, and immediately published his professional card in the Scioto Gazette of December 23, 1809, as follows : DOUGLAS— Intends practicing law in Chillicothe, if he can get anything to do. He intends to be honest, likewise. He got something to do. In fact, he did a great deal before he ceased to practice law ! Mr. Douglas adhered closely to his professional work. There were only two or three episodes in his life, by which his practice was in any degree interrupted. His term as prosecuting attorney commenced in 1811. In 1812 he went for a few months into the military service under General (then Colonel) McArthur, and held the rank of lieutenant, performing the duties of quartermaster and chaplain of the First Regiment of Ohio Volunteers. He was also, at one time, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. In 1831 he was nominated by the whigs for Congress, but William Key Bond and his personal friends claimed that Douglas' nomination was unfairly and irregularly made, and Bond announced himself as a candidate also. As this state of things, if continued, must have resulted in certain defeat to both, a compromise was effected by the terms of which both Bond and Douglas withdrew, and Governor McArthur was adopted as the whig candidate, and was afterwards defeated by William Allen by one vote. It is doubtful whether Mr. Douglas ever had a thorough academic education. But he possessed such an extraordinary gift of 174 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY seeming to know anything and everything, that no man was able to gauge his real attainments. It is certain, however, that he was well read in polite literature, and had good acquaintance with the old text books of the law, which he much more frequently quoted in his briefs than he did the reports. In his oral arguments and speeches, his range of quotation and illustration covered pretty nearly everything in the English language, and his memory was wonderfully retentive. When his stock of memorized material failed to furnish exactly what he wanted to use, he readily extemporized original matter, either prose or verse, and passed it upon his audience as quotation, very frequently inventing, at the same time, author and work presumed to be quoted from. Save only in the artistic finish, melody and poetic elevation of his impromptus, Theodore Hook was not a more wonderful improvisator than was Richard Douglas ; and Hook had not half the rollicking humor Douglas possessed. His "poetry," original and quoted, in the Gallia County witchcraft case, Benny Kern's jackass warranty case, and the slander suit of Jane Fardin vs. Daniel Hearne, will only be forgotten when the last man that heard his speeches, or even heard faithful report of them, has passed from earth. Douglas also possessed another singular faculty. Knowing almost nothing of the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, German or Spanish languages, he could nevertheless imitate wonderfully well the general sounds, inflections and terminations of each and all of them. When the attorney on the other side became troublesome to him by reason of learned quotations from the civil law, legal maxims or the classics, Douglas would retort with a perfect avalanche of seeming quotations, of point-blank authorities, in polyglot so apparently correct as to create amazement at the extent of his learning; and, of course, silence the foreign guns of the enemy, at least. The reader will at once understand why it is nearly impossible to give instances of this peculiar power—one cannot easily remember and repeat in words the rattle of a cart on the streets, the murmur of running water, or Douglas (articulation of what only seemed to be words). But a quick ear and a good memory preserved one example. In a suit for damages for malicious arrest and prosecution, Gustavus Scott, for the defendant, had quoted in Latin, the maxim that "no man shall be held responsible in damages for the use of the king's writ." Douglas replied "Very true, Brother Scott, that such was the very ancient maxim. But you ought to know, sir, that the great Lord Mansfield, seeing the injustice of such rule of law, reversed it two hundred years ago, and from his day to the present the maxim stands 'Canis Kinkaidius cum ambos aerus assoribus,' or freely translated 'No man shall