WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. - 69 CHAPTER XIV. BENCH AND BAR-COURTS HELD AT MAUMEE, PERRYSBURG AND BOWLING GREEN-EARLY TRIALS, JUDGES AND JURORS- COURT INCIDENTS AND NOTORIOUS TRIALS-CHANGES OF OFFICERS JUDICIAL DISTRICTS-JUDGES OF COMMON PLEAS-PROBATE JUDGES-PROSECUTORS-TRANSACTIONS OF SUPREME COURT- UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT-JUSTICES' COURTS- MEMBERS OF OLD AND NEW BARS. THE story of the courts and lawyers of this county presents a number of important civil cases, but only a few great criminal ones. From that time, in May, 1820, when the lower Maumee was visited by judge Tod and his band of intellectual advocates, Wood county has been subjected to great physical and social changes. The Bench and Bar are no longer looked upon as traveling talkers, in search of frolic and of clients-scolding, wrangling and fighting for their friendly clients in court, forgetting their fierce looks and gestures in a moment after adjournment, and meeting as old friends and boon companions in the neighboring tavern. The members of the modern law circle vary from the atoms of the pioneer Bar in methods and manners, making their profession a science and an art at once, and exercising a most beneficent influence on municipal, county and State affairs. The pleasant, genial Bohemianism of the Old Bar has disappeared, and, in its place, a profession-at once business-like, permanent and useful in all its characteristics-has grown up. And so, in philosophic vein, I say as I began, Although the man of law loves peace and is a peaceful man, If dogs delight to bark and bite and doctors disagree, It were not well that all mankind should live in unity. If with consummate peacefulness the Christian world were blest Some occupations would be gone and the lawyer's with the rest' The first term of Common Pleas was opened at Maumee, May 3, 1820, as already related in Chapter XI. The first official act of Prosecutor McCurdy was to challenge the whole fifteen men summoned as grand jurors, and the court, sustaining him, ordered the sheriff to summon a full jury from the by-standers. The persons so summoned were William H. Bostwick (foreman), Aaron Granger, John T. Baldwin, Parris M. Plum, Aurora Spafford, Jeremiah Johnston, William Pratt, Richard Gunn, Collister Haskins, Ephraim H. Learning, Josephus Tyler, Daniel Murray, John Hollister, Norman L. Freeman and John J. Lovett. On the day following, the jurors returned true bills against the following named citizens: George Jones, who assaulted Ezra Crosby, and Thomas Gainor, who assaulted Joseph Willey. These indictments, with the appointment of Horatio Conant to administer the estate of George D. Roberts, deceased, the trial of Thomas Gainor, who was sentenced to pay $5 and costs; that of George Jones, who was ordered to pay $110 and costs, the indictment of Isaac Richardson for resisting the sheriff, and the granting of licenses, completed the day's work. The petit jurors ready in the Gainor case were saved further trouble by the defendant's plea of ''guilty," but were not so fortunate in the Jones case. According to the indictment, this Jones, on April 3, 182o, at Maumee, "did make upon the body of Ezra Crosby and him, the said Crosby, then and there beat, bruise and wound, and his under lip did then and there bite off, and other enormities commit against the peace of God and of the good people of the State of Ohio, and contrary to the statute in such cases made and provided." The jury in the case included Benjamin Farnsworth, Thomas Gainor, Elijah Gunn, Jr., James Wilkinson, William Hunter, Edmund Palmer, Levi Osman, Samuel J. Varney, James C. Adams, Hiram P. Barlow, Darius C. Henderson and James Carlin. The trial of Isaac Richardson, for resisting, beating and abusing Constable George Campbell, was hastily finished, and for this trivial offense he had to pay $110 and costs, or just the same as Jones had to pay for his terrible assault and cannibalistic appetite. The charge of resisting Deputy-Sheriff George Patterson was withdrawn, and thus Isaac escaped with Pelion upon him, rather than Pelion and Parnassus, as full justice would have it. The court also heard, and granted, an application for leave to elect three additional justices 70- WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. for Waynesfield township. This township, it will be remembered, had vast territorial jurisdiction at that time, and Wilson Vance (brother of Gov. Vance) was appointed surveyor for the county. In October, 1820, the same judges present, Thomas W. Powell produced his certificate of admission to the bar, and was appointed prosecuting attorney. Following the example of McCurdy, he challenged the whole grand jury, and had a jury summoned from the audience, among whom were Seneca Allen, Jacob Wilkinson, David W. Hawley, Artemus Underwood, Wilson Vance, John E. Hunt, Thomas Mcllrath, David Buckland, Samuel Spafford, Dexter C. Gunn, James Hunter, Hiram P. Barlow, Thomas Learning and John J. Lovett. The attorneys formerly admitted were Thomas W. Powell, Eleutherus Cook, Ebenezer Lane and Philip R. Hopkins, all of whom were interested in the trial of Joseph Kinjo for assault and battery, and all of whom were surprised when judge Tod imposed upon him a fine of one dollar. New indictments were returned against George Jones and Thomas Gainor, old offenders, as well as against Thomas Carr, Isaac Richardson and William Griffith, for assault; against Neil Thompson, who "unlawfully, with force and arms, did sell the quantity of one pint of spirituous liquor of intoxicating quality, for the price of twenty-five cents, to certain Indians, " and against Thomson et al., for attempting to abduct a negro, as related in the history of Perrysburg. The principal business of the court, during 1821, was transacted by the associate judges, Judge Tod giving his attention to the criminal calendar. In May, 1822, Daniel Hubbell qualified as associate judge, under his commission of February 4, that year. At this session the report of county-seat commissioners-Messrs. King, Payne and Sherman-was received and entered on the record. Many indictments for selling spirituous liquors in a less quantity than a quart, and, in some cases, without license, were returned in 1821 and 1822. The report of the coroner, Francis Charter, in May, 1822, on the inquest over the body of Samuel Ewing (who was murdered by one Lewis, at Roche-de-boeuf, March 9, 1822), was ignored on motion of Thomas W. Powell, and an indictment for manslaughter against John Lewis was substituted. Charles L. Lanman was assigned for the defence. French was found guilty of passing counterfeit bank notes, and was sentenced to a three-years' term in the Ohio penitentiary; while Lewis, found guilty of manslaughter, received precisely the same punishment: He escaped from jail, and was never again heard from. Judge Tod was present in September of this year, with Horatio Conant, Daniel Hubbell and William Pratt, associate judges-the last named being commissioned July 30, that year. Moses B. Corwin and Oliver Overton were permitted to practice here; Hiram P. Barlow was appointed administrator of the James Carlin estate, and a good deal of probate as well as county business was transacted, such as the will of Olive Spafford, the appointment of guardians and administrators, and the issue of mercantile, tavern and ferry licenses. The last session of Common Pleas, held at Maumee, was that of February 12, 1823, when Walter Colton, William Pratt and John Hollister, associate judges, presided, under their commissions dated January 24, 1823. The first session at Perrysburg, was held, March 27, that year, the same associate judges present. In May, Judge Tod came to Perrysburg, but finding no suitable place to hold court, adjourned to John Hollister's house at the town of Orleans, and finished the term there. Mr. Evers, in one of his historical papers, tells the story of this first term of court, as follows: This term only lasted three days. There were only about thirty cases docketed; the largest judgment taken was for $780.50 in favor of James Boyd vs. Peter Lumbar. The grand jury, composed of the following named men, William Hunter, Daniel Hubbell, E. H. Learning, Elijah Gunn, Jr., H. P. Barlow, William Gunn, Arthur Burrows, Thomas Mcllrath, Moses Rice, James Shirley. Anthony La Point, David Hull, Guy Nearing, John Webb and Timothy S. Smith, were sworn and only found one indictment, which finding charged a Frenchman named Rebideau with larceny; the Frenchman's lawyer picked a fatal flaw in the indictment, and Rebideau went free. That ended the State business that term. One civil case only, Thomas Smith vs. Israel Smith and John and William Hollister, was tried to a jury. The jurymen were Jonathan H. Jerome, Olean Dagget, Pierce Evans, Elisha Gunn, Neal Thompson, James H. Slawson, Antoine Peltier, Joseph Woolcut, Pain C. Parker, John Pray, Isaac Richardson and Aurora Spafford. At this term no less than twelve administrators and guardians were appointed, and four others removed for cause. As noticed in a previous chapter, the unusual number of deaths in this way disclosed, in that small community, was something frightful. Among those probate proceedings we note a few: James Carlin, the blacksmith, had died, and J. H. Forsyth was appointed guardian for Parlee, his sixteen-year-old son, who, in after years with his brother, 'Squire Carlin, became leading citizens of Findlay, Ohio, and have numerous descendants in Wood and Hancock counties; John Webb was guardian for Olive Ewing, afterward Mrs. Rolla H. Chubb, who has numerous descendants living in Wood. Angelina Ewing had for her guardian Thomas R. McKnight, and Samuel Spafford acted for the other sister, Minerva Ewing. These three sisters, the eldest of whom was thirteen years of age, were the daughters of one of Wood county's first commissioners, Samuel H. Ewing, and sisters of William Ewing, in later years a probate judge of the county. Their father and mother had both fallen victims to the Maumee fever. Charley Robey's widow was appointed WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. - 71 administratrix on the estate of her husband, who was the father of the boy, Curtis Robey, who became noted as an Indian interpreter, and also Charles, who commanded the ill-fated " Griffith," a steamer, whose destruction by fire on Lake Erie in 1851 was attended by such great loss of life, including Robey himself and his wife. Collister Haskins was appointed guardian for Martha Russ; Isaac Cook was appointed administrator of Horace Cook's estate; H. P. Barlow was appointed guardian for Anthony, also Henry Ewing (later known as Uncle Hank Ewing), then boys of fourteen and twelve years of age, respectively. They were the sons of Samuel Ewing, killed at Roche-de-boeuf, as were Samuel and John, younger children, whose guardian was Pain C. Parker. These details are given to bring out the names of the heroic band of pioneers who were grouped about the parent settlement of the county at that early day, struggling amidst most disheartening trials and exposure, to gain a foothold and make a beginning. The court at this session supplemented the work just done by the commissioners in forming new townships, by ordering that each township should be allowed two justices of the peace, and that the number of justices in the hitherto colossal township of Waynesfield be reduced to two. The elections for such justices which were the first in each of the three counties were ordered as follows: Perrysburg, June 19, at the house of Samuel Spafford; Findlay, July 1, at the house of Wilson Vance; Damascus, June 19, at the house of Neil Thompson. At the same term, Doctor H. Conant, at Maumee, and Daniel Hubbell, at Miami, were each licensed to operate a ferry one year; tax $5 each. The charges for foot passengers were 6 / cents each; teams, 37 1/2 cents. Robert Forsyth and John E. Hunt got a permit to sell merchandise at Maumee, and John Hollister at Orleans, for $15 each, and Anthony La Point at Presque Isle Hill, the same privilege for $10, and Samuel Vance at Prairie Damasque (Damascus, Henry county), to keep tavern, paid $6. This ended the proceedings of the first regular term of Common Pleas Court in what is now Wood county. The business of the session was doubtless curtailed by the inconvenience experienced in being compelled to hold court at a private house, a thing which has never occurred since. "With a full complement of county officers and courts, we may consider that Wood county was fully started on her career. To use a figure of speech, the ship was launched safely and her destiny now rested with the crew. The character and make-up of the population centered about the seat of the new county, at that time, was fully up to the average in enterprise and intelligence. They were from New England, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, with a fair sprinkling of French and English traders and half-breeds from the Detroit country, who left as the county increased its settlements." At the October term of 1823, Barbara Ewing, a widow, appeared in court to offer herself as bondswoman for Matthias Disman, in the sum of $500. In May, 1824, Robert A. Forsyth succeeded William Pratt as associate judge, and, with his fellow judges, held a Probate Court in the clerk's office at Perrysburg. In May following, the court house was ready, but, as judge Tod did not appear, the probate and common debt cases were only considered. In October the associate judges expected to deal with a criminal case without the aid of their president; but Peter Dalson, who was indicted for assaulting David Emick, pleaded not guilty, and the case against him was continued. In October, 1824, they did, however, dispose of the case by discharging Dalson, the prisoner's counsel showing that one of the grand jurors, who voted for his indictment, was not a resident of the county. Judge Ebenezer Lane was here in May, 1825, being the first president judge who took part in legal transactions here from 1823 to the latter date. Numerous indictments were returned for infractions of the license laws, and a new one against Peter Dalson, who was charged with "maiming." In October, 1825, Judge Lane, with Walter Colton, Robert A. Forsyth and John Hollister, presided. John B. Pennet-shaw was tried for taking 500 muskrat skins, value for $225, and 200 raccoon skins, value for $75, from William and John Hollister. He was found guilty of burglary, and sentenced to a five-years' term in the penitentiary. The same judges were present in 1826, 1827 and 1828. Among the court incidents of that day, told by Thomas W. Powell, and preserved by Mr. Evers, is that known as " The Huntington Robbery," which is given verbatim et literatim, as follows: In the spring of 1826, there transpired at Perrysburg a case of more than ordinary interest and excitement. Elijah Huntington, of Perrysburg, had about that time been collecting his money with. a view to be prepared to purchase some lands on the river that were soon to be resold by the United States, and which had become forfeited for non-payment by the former purchasers. Huntington had in his house some four hundred dollars, which he kept by him, waiting the sale of these lands. Early one morning Mr. H. came to my house greatly excited, with a club in his hands, saying that, in the night previous, some persons had entered his house, broken open his drawers, taken his money, and left in the room that club. Mr. H. thought himself ruined; for at that time four hundred dollars, with a view to the approaching sales, was an important sum of money. But who had committed the crime could not even be guessed at. It for a while baffled all conjecture, and became quite a mystery. A week or two previous a pocket-book and a small amount of money had been missed from the house of Charles O'Neil, of Perrysburg, and suspicions after a while began to be placed upon one Stockwell and his wife, who had not long before settled there. The citizens of Perrysburg became greatly excited upon the subject of this robbery; and for a time it seemed to elude all endeavors to detect the perpetrators. Suspicions having been placed upon Stockwell and his wife in regard to the O'Neil affair (though as yet there was no evidence against them), public attention was directed immediately to Stockwell as a person who might be in some way connected with the robbery of Mr. Huntington. The club that was found in Huntington's house, after the burglary, was for awhile handed around as a curiosity. When tired of its exhibition, Mrs. H. threw it upon the fire for the purpose of making a final disposition of it. Just then, as luck would have it, judge Ambrose Rice, an old citizen of Maumee, a remarkably shrewd man and close observer, came into the house and immediately snatched the club from the fire, with the observation that it should be preserved, as it might yet he evidence against the perpetrators of the act. The club was a hickory stick, considerably reduced at one end by long chips taken from it with a knife. Judge Rice thought that possibly the chips might be somewhere found 72 - WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. and identified with the club, so as to implicate some one with the burglary. Strenuous investigations were made for some days without result. At length a number of the citizens of Perrysburg determined to make a search of Stockwell's house, and take him and his wife, for awhile at least, into custody. For this purpose they went in the night time, when they would be sure to find them at home, took possession of the house, and them into custody, and made diligent search of the house without finding any evidence against them. Stockwell and wife asserted entire ignorance of the whole matter in question. The next morning judge Rice went to the house with the club, and examined to see if some of the chips taken from the club could not be found there. After some diligent search he found some fresh chips scattered under the floor of the house. These chips upon examination would correspond exactly with the marks of the club so completely that there could be no question of their identity. This was a crushing answer to Stockwell's assertion of his innocence in the matter. But as yet no further evidence was discovered against them. But becoming alarmed in consequence of the identity of the chips found at his house with the club, and finding that his associates had played a trick upon him in keeping him ignorant of the amount of money that had been taken, and applying the whole of it to their own use, he became indignant toward them, and determined to disclose the whole. For this purpose he sent for me as the prosecuting attorney, and disclosed to me the whole transaction as far as he knew it. He told me that he. and his wife had the O'Neil money, and informed me where I could find it; but as to the Huntington money, he knew nothing beyond eight or ten dollars of it. He said that a night or two before Huntington's house was robbed, two men by the name of Keiser, old cronies of his in crime, came to his house and inquired of them if there were not some plunder to be had in Perrysburg. Stockwell informed them that his wife had discovered that Mr. Huntington had a quantity of money on hand in his house. This they soon formed a resolution to take. They kept secreted at his house a day or two making observations and planning how to take the money. On the night that the money was taken, they all three sallied forth and went to Huntington's house, found them all asleep, and one of the Keisers made his way into the house and soon returned, saying he had got Huntington's pocket-book, but he feared it was a "water-haul." The club he had taken into the house with him, he had accidentally left there, which gave them some concern, and some time debated upon the subject of returning for it. They did not, however, and proceeded to Stockwell's house to examine the pocketbook and divide the spoils. Keiser presented the pocketbook as all that he had taken. Upon examination it was found that it contained only fifteen or twenty dollars, and the Keisers gave Stockwell eight or ten dollars as his share of it. - Stockwell was dissatisfied, and suspected fraud; and so questioned Keiser about it. Keiser declared upon his honor " that that was all he had taken it was, he said, only a water-haul; and proposed to Stockwell that he might search him. Stockwell was silenced by the brass and impudence of the Keisers, who immediately left Perrysburg; and no one except Stockwell and wife knew anything of their having been there, or within a hundred miles. Now, if the club had not been saved by judge Rice, and identified with the chips found in Stockwell's house, and was likely to throw upon him the guilt of the whole transaction, and the conviction on his part that the Keisers had perpetrated upon him what he considered to be a dishonorable and knavish trick, in secreting from him almost the whole of the spoils they had taken, it is not probable that this most wicked transaction could have been ferreted out. But the ways of Providence are mysterious, and the ways of the wicked are hard, and in the best-laid schemes of 'the criminal is found the train of circumstances that leads to his inevitable detection. Stockwell, smarting under the conviction that an infamous trick had been played off on him, finding by sad experience that there was no "honor among thieves," and finding that the evidence against him was likely to make him a victim of the knaves who had appropriated, by means of a dishonorable trick, the whole spoils to their own use, was now ready to make a frank and open disclosure of the whole transactions as far as he knew them. He informed us that the Keisers were to be found in a strip of woods on the north cape of Maumee Bay. A committee of the citizens was immediately dispatched for them, and within a few days the Keisers were in custody of the committee in Perrysburg. They held out for some time before they could be induced to disclose where the money was. But after being put through a pretty severe course of discipline, they, in the course of about a week, revealed where the money was to be found. It was buried at the foot of a tree on the north cape of the bay. Two women, the mother of the Keisers, and the wife of one of them, who were then at Perrysburg, were to show where the money was to be found. These women, Mr. Huntington, myself, and a few men to man a boat, went down there to receive the money. When we arrived at the ca e, we found a most desolate place-a mere sand-bar with a few trees and shrubbery, where we found a miserable log-house-the home of the Keisers. The women took us to the tree where the money was buried. After a little search, it was found; and, being principally in paper money, which had lain there some ten days, it had become so very damp that it was very near being worthless. Through the means of these various proceedings, Mr. Huntington recovered nearly all of his lost money. Stockwell and the Keisers remained in jail several months after that, waiting their trial. But just before court, they broke jail and made their escape to Canada. In 1828 Ambrose Rice took Colton's place, and in 1829 James Colton qualified. In November, 1829, Ambrose Rice was appointed county surveyor. On January 19, 1830, James W. Robinson was appointed clerk vice Thomas R. McKnight, deceased, by Aurora Spafford, James Wolcott and Robert A. Forsyth, the associate judges. In May, 1831, William Bigger took the place of judge Forsyth, and, with his two associates and judge David Higgns, was present during the term. John Webb resigned the office of sheriff and was appointed clerk. In 1835, the same judges were on-the Bench, while Jonas Pratt was sheriff and John Webb, clerk; but, in October of that year, William Fowler, William Bigger and Aurora Spafford, were the associate judges-Judge Bigger holding office since April, 1831-and all being associate judges when journal No. 3 closed, April 6, 1837. In 1835, a number of indictments for assault, etc., growing out of the Toledo war, were presented. In 1834, Jonathan Wood was appointed an auctioneer; in April, 1835, Daniel H. Wheeler; in October, 1835, Joshua Chappel, and in April, 1837, W W. Irwin, all having been professional auction men. At this last term, the court appointed James Matthew, inspector of pork, flour and liquors. Thomas W. Powell resigned the office of prosecuting attorney in May, 1831, when J. C. Spink was appointed. Jessup W. Scott was the prosecutor in 1834, with Sidney Smith assistant, in the case against Joseph I. Applegate. In April, Hiram K. Steele was appointed surveyor. Willard V. Way succeeded Scott as prosecutor, in October, 1834; while Isaac Stetson was ap- WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. - 73 pointed in July, 1835. In 1837, Andrew Coffinberry was his assistant. In April, 1835, Addison Smith resigned the office of county surveyor. In July, 1837, Prosecutor Henry Reed resigned and James Purdy was appointed. From November, 1828, to April, 1837, there were sixty-three distinct estates settled by the court, and 179 cases, in which the Commonwealth was plaintiff, were tried. From October, 1825, to the close of the May term of 1831, there were 131 cases tried. In April, 1838, Ozias Bowen, with William Fowler, Aurora Spafford and David Ladd, associate judges, presided. Isaac Stetson was granted $135, salary as prosecuting attorney for the ensuing year. After his death, in September, 18 J. C. Spink succeeded Stetson. In March of that year, Emery D. Potter, with the associates named as serving in 1838, was present. Hezekiah L. Hosmer, in his reminiscences, speaks of a notorious case tried at that time, as follows: John Knowles, an old citizen of Perrysburg, died from poison in 1839, under circumstances creating strong suspicions that he had been murdered by his wife. Knowles was considerably advanced in years, and the possessor of a comfortable estate-the fruit of hard labor and economical habits. A year or two prior to his death he married a young, buxom-looking girl, who had been for some time a housemaid in several families in the town. Very soon after their union, his life was rendered miserable by her violent temper .and extravagant habits. Anxious to sever the tie which caused his misery, he, on several occasions, came to our office for legal advice; but divorces were not so easily obtained then as now, and we could offer him no better consolation than to advise kindness and indulgence. His health was failing, and he was frequently attacked with severe spasms. On one occasion he intimated that he believed he had been poisoned. In one of these attacks he died, and a post mortem examination confirmed his suspicions. Arsenic, in considerable quantity, was found in the stomach. The wife was arrested, indicted and tried for murder, upon evidence which would have been ample to convict a man. Her ,sex saved her. The trial was very interesting the Count and Spink conducting the prosecution, against Willis Silliman and Stowell. I thought, at the time, that the argument ,of the Count to the jury was irresistible, and fastened the guilt so strongly upon the defendant that escape would be impossible. Silliman, who enjoyed a good reputation as an advocate, was adroit and eloquent, and received credit for a successful defense; but, really, nothing but the fact that Mrs. Knowles was a young and rather good-looking woman saved her. [When the new Constitution was adopted in 1851, the judicial system was changed to its present form, in which the Probate is a separate court.-Ed. ] Myron H. Tilden presided over the court in the spring term of 1844. John Webb was then sheriff, and Joseph Utley, clerk. The work of the court was characterized by a number of naturalization papers issued to natives of Ireland and Germany. In March, Hiram Davis, was appointed county surveyor to succeed Morris Brown. In 1845, Benjamin Olney took the place of Judge Ladd - the only change made in the court officers. In 1847, Ebenezer B. Sadler appeared as president judge, with judges Spafford and Olney, Nathaniel D. Blinn (chosen as the successor of Francis Carothers, deceased ) not being present. In April, 1850, Aurora Spafford was succeeded by Jairus Curtis, who, with N. D. Blinn and Benjamin Olney, was present during the session with judge Sadler. In March, 1851, Gilbert Beach succeeded Curtis, and, in November, Peleg G. Thomas qualified as sheriff. In March, 1852, Lawrence W. Hall presided in Common Pleas. On April 23, that year, Asher Cook, judge of probate, established his court at Perrysburg, inaugurating the business by ordering the release of the old surveyor, Sylvanus Jefferson, who was arrested under "a warrant to keep the peace." L. O. Simmons was clerk, and Coroner Thomas L. Webb was acting sheriff, with Jairus F. Curtis, deputy, in September, 1852. A large number of Irish and German settlers and two Englishmen were naturalized. In October, 1854, Coroner John Elder was acting sheriff, and in 1855 John Webb was clerk. On October 5 of the latter year, no less than 444 men asked the court to be admitted as citizens of the United States. In February, 1856, William L. Cook was sheriff. In February, 1857, judge M. C. Whiteley presided. From September 20, 1852, to March 5, 1857, there were 502 settlers admitted to citizenship, the great majority registering before the fall elections. In June, 1857, C. W. Norton was present as sheriff. The judges of the Tenth District in December,1858, were M. C. Whiteley, George E. Seney and Josiah S. Plants; while in February, 1859, M. C. Whiteley, William Lawrence, A. Sankey Latty and George E. Seney signed the rules then adopted for the Third Judicial District. In February, 1861, judge Whiteley, with Gabriel E. Guyer, sheriff, and William H. Jones, clerk, were present, and again during the summer and fall terms-the records, like the Commissioners' Journal, containing not one reference to the Civil war. The conviction of Walters for murder in the second degree, in February, 1862, and of Rachel Ann Nicely for manslaughter, in March, 1862, were part of the excitements and troubles of war times. On September 1, 1862, Mrs. Moore, of Tontogany, was killed, and a Mrs. Thomas wounded, by the irritated husband of the first named and the father of Mrs. Thomas. He was sentenced to the penitentiary, and died there. In October of that year, John McGowan was appointed county prosecuting attorney. In March, 1863, judge A. S. Latty presided. One year later, James W. Knaggs appeared as clerk, who appointed Thomas J. Webb and W. S. Eberly his deputies. 74 - WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. In 1865 Charles W. Evers succeeded C. C. Baird, who was acting sheriff, vice Guyer, resigned. In 1866, George Weddell signed the record as clerk. One of the features of the March term of 1867, was the memorial resolution, presented by Asher Cook, on the death of Lieut. George N. Parsons (formerly auditor of this county). It was signed by the members of the Bar, then present, namely: Henry H. Dodge, J. F. Price, Asher Cook, James R. Tyler, J. M. Hord, John A. Shannon, S. B. Price, John H. Reid, George Strain, P. S. Slevin, E. Tuller, D. K. Hollenbeck, F. Hollenbeck and Willard V. Way. About this time, the returns of the election of 1866, for and against the removal of the county seat, were presented to the court and spread on the record. In 1868, judge James Pillars took his seat, and, in June following, Judge Mott was called upon to give judgment in the matter of the removal of the county seat. In 1870, judge Pillars was here with George Weddell, clerk, and John W. Brownsberger, sheriff. In 1872, Andrew D. Stewart was clerk, and in 1874 Charles C. Baird was sheriff. In December, 1875, the contested election of William A. Benschoter, as prosecutor, was tried. The election returns of October, 1875, showed 5,217 votes for Jasher Pillars, the contestor, and 4,068 for Benschoter, and on these figures Pillars was adjudged the legal holder of the office. Judges Pillars, Latty and Beer were present in March, 1876, in District Court. Orrin Henry appeared as sheriff in January, 1877; in March, 1878, Selwyn N. Owen, and Pillars and Latty were here as District Court judges, and W. S. Eberly as clerk. On May 6, 1878, judge Henry H. Dodge succeeded judge Pillars, and the procedure and usages, which now obtain, were fully introduced. The cases presented to Common Pleas, since 1878, compass many important civil ones, and not a few heavy criminal ones, such as those which led Bach and Grove to execution. The trials growing out of the death of Mrs. Peany, 1894, brought forth the best efforts of prosecution and defense. The opening of the gas and oil fields of Wood county, the extraordinary stampedes, town-building and general activities of the last ten years, introduced new men, new manners, new criminal and civil causes, and changed, in a measure, the local notions of former times. Of course, invincible ignorance still exists in very vicious forms; but its influence is bounded by the ever-growing intelligence of the people who naturally incline toward justice. The Common Pleas journals, numbering from 1 to 36 (the last being opened in February, 1895), contain the minutia of transactions for seventy-five years. The first thirteen volumes cover the business of the Common Pleas for almost fifty-five years, while twenty-three books and many supplementary records have been required for the last twenty years, exclusive of the voluminous records of the Probate Court since 1852. Judicial Districts.-The old district, under the Constitution of 1802, embraced all northwestern Ohio down to 1830, when this judicial Circuit included Wood, Huron, Richland, Delaware, Sandusky, Seneca, Crawford, Marion, Hancock, Henry, Williams, Putnam, Paulding and Van Wert counties. The Assembly of 1838-39 established the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, embracing the counties of Wood,. Seneca, Henry, Williams, Paulding, Putnam, Allen, Hardin, Hancock and Van Wert. On February 19, 1845, the judicial Circuits were reconstructed. The Constitution of 1851 abolished the office of president judge, and created five great circuits, or one for each of the Supreme Court justices, who were excused from attending in 1863 or 1864. That Constitution of 1851 abolished the office of associate judge, and provided for the establishment of a Probate Court. Under the Constitution of 1802, the Court of Common Pleas, represented by the president or any one of the associate judges, considered all probate cases; but the New Constitution blotted out the associate judges, and removed such cases to the newly established Probate Court. District Courts were held here from 1852 to 1884, one of the Supreme Court judges, with two district judges, being generally present. It was really the successor of the county sessions of the Supreme Court. In 1853, Wood, Seneca, Wyandot, Hancock and Crawford were placed in the Third Sub-District of the Third Judicial District. In April, 1857, the Legislature authorized the election of an additional judge for this Sub-District. In April, 1858, this territory was made a Sub-Division of the Tenth Judicial District, but on May 1, 1862, the Tenth was disestablished and the Third reorganized. The Act of 1868 provided for an additional judge, and, though that Act was repealed in 1879, the office exists under the Act of 1879. In 1879 the First Sub-Division of the, Tenth District was recreated to embrace Wood, Seneca, Hancock and Hardin, and Judge John McCauley was elected in April of that year as additional judge for this First Sub-Division. The judges of the circuit, at the close of 1894, were elected, one under the Act of 1879, and two un- WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. - 75 der that part of the Act of 1868 which was countenanced in the Act of 1879. The Circuit Court was re-established in 1884, and the judges ordered to be elected for six-year terms. Judges of Common Pleas.-In the following list the president judge holds first place, and the names of the three associate judges follow the date: George Tod, 1820, Horatio Conant, Samuel Vance and Peter G. Oliver. George Tod, 1822, Horatio Conant, William Pratt and Daniel Hubbell. George Tod, 1823, John Hollister, William Pratt and Walter Colton. George Tod, 1824, 25, John Hollister, Robert A. Forsyth and Walter Colton. Ebenezer Lane, 1825-28, John Hollister, Robert A. Forsyth and Walter Colton. Ebenezer Lane, 1828-30, James Wolcott, Ambrose Rice and Robert A. Forsyth. Ebenezer Lane, 1830-31, Aurora Spafford, James Wolcott and Robert A. Forsyth. David Higgins, 1831-35, William Bigger, Aurora Spafford and James Wolcott. David Higgins, 1835-38, William Fowler, William Bigger and Aurora Spafford. Ozias Bowen, 1838, David Ladd, William Fowler and Aurora Spafford. Emery D. Potter, 1839, William Fowler (resigned), Aurora Spafford and David Ladd. Emery D. Potter, 1842, Benjamin Olney, David Ladd and Aurora Spafford. Emery D. Potter, 1843-44, Francis Carothers, David Ladd and Aurora Spafford. Myron H. Tilden, 1844, Francis Carothers, Benjamin Olney and Aurora Spafford. Ebenezer B. Sadler, 1845, Nathaniel D. Blinn, Benjamin Olney and Aurora Spafford. Myron H. Tilden, 1850, Jairus Curtis, Benjamin Olney and N. D. Blinn. Myron H. Tilden, 1851, Gilbert Beach, Benjamin Thomas and N. D. Blinn. Under the Constitution of 1851, and the several Legislative Acts reconstructing judicial districts, the following named judges were elected and presided over the Common Pleas Court of Wood county: Lawrence W. Hall, 1852; M. C. Whiteley, 1857; A. Sankey Latty, 1863; Chester R. Mott, 1866; James Pillars, 1868-78; Henry H. Dodge, 1878-83; John McCauley, 1879-84; Henry H. Dodge, 1883-88; George F. Pendleton, 1884-89; John H. Ridgeley, who was elected (under the Act of 1868), served as additional judge from 1888 to February, 1893; Artemus B. Johnson, from February, 1889, to February, 1895, (under the Act of 1879); J. W. Schaufelberger (under the same Act), from February, 1893, to the present time, his term not expiring until February, 1898; and Charles M. Melhorn from February, 1895, to the present time, his term not expiring until February, 1900. Circuit Judges.-The judges of the Circuit Court, re-establshed in 1884, were Henry W. Seney, Thomas- Beer and John J. Moore. So far as the Sixth Judicial Circuit is concerned, they are Charles H. Scribner, elected in 1886 and re-elected in 1892; Charles S. Bentley, elected in 1888, and E. B. King, elected to succeed judge Charles S. Bentley, who was elected in 1884 to serve two years, and was re-elected at the end of his term for six years. George R. Haynes was elected in November. 1896. Probate judges.-The judges of the Probate Court, since its establishment, are named as follows: Asher Cook, 1852; John A. Kelley, 1855; J. F. Price, 1857; William Ewing, 1858; Daniel W. Poe, 1861; Edwin Tuller was appointed in 1863, vice judge Poe, resigned; was elected in 1863, and re-elected in 1866, but resigned in 1869, when John A. Bonnell was appointed; George C. Phelps qualified in 1869; John Reed, 1879; Frank M. Young, 1885; Guy C. Nearing, in 1891, and Stephen A. Angus, in November, 1896. Prosecutors. The prosecuting attorneys for Wood county, from 1820 to the present time, are named as follows: C. J. McCurdy, May 3, 1820; Thomas W. Powell, October, 1820; John C. Spink, 1831; Jessup W. Scott, 1834; Willard V. Way, 1834; Isaac Stetson, 1835; Henry Reed, 1836; Count Andrew Coffinberry, 1837; Isaac Stetson, 1838; John C. Spink, 1839; Henry Darling, 1841; Willard V. Way, 1842-46; William H. Hopkins, 1846; Sylvanus Jefferson (also a surveyor), 1852; Josiah F. Price, 1858; J. E. McGowan, 1862 (now of Chattanooga, Tenn.); James R. Tyler, 1862; George Strain, 1864; Alexander Brown, 1866; John W. Canary, 1869; John A. Shannon, 1871; Jasher Pillars, 1873; Frank A. Baldwin, 1877; James O. Troup, 1879; R. S. Parker, 1884; Andrew J. Mears, 1890; A. B. Murphy, November, 1893, and Frank A. Baldwin, February, 1895, to act during the illness of the prosecutor; Arthur B. Murphy, reelected in November, 1896. Transactions of Supreme Court.-A Supreme Court record, now in possession of Clerk Baird, shows that judges Jacob Burnet and Charles R. Sherman presided at Perrysburg, August 1, 1825, and heard eight cases. At that time Silas Lee was admitted to the Bar. In July, 1826, the same judges being present, Wolcott Lawrence was admitted to practice. At the August session of 1827, judges Peter Hitchcock and Charles R. Sherman presiding; James A. Scranton was admitted to the Bar. In 1828, judges Calvin Peas and Sherman were present, and, in 1830, judges Peter Hitchcock and Henry Brush. The trial of George Porter (an employe of E. Foote), for the murder of Isaac Richardson at Roche-de-Bceuf, July 22, 1830, was heard at this term, the court 76 - WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. appointing Orish Parrish and David Higgins to defend the prisoner, while Thomas W. Powell prosecuted. The jury in the case comprised Robert Shaw, Palmer Kellogg, John M. Jaques, Aurora Spafford, Elijah Huntington, Sewell Gunn, Thomas Learning, Nathaniel K. Decker, Knowlton Young, Nathaniel Blinn, Reuben Freshwater and Andrew Hoover. This jury found Porter guilty of murder in the first degree when he was sentenced to be hanged at Perrysburg November 5, 1830, on which day he was executed by John Webb. Thousands witnessed the execution. At that session, also, James W. Robinson was admitted an attorney of the Ohio Bar. In 1831, judges Joshua Collett and John C. Wright were present; Elijah Huntington was appointed master commissioner of the court. Judges Collett and Reuben Wood presided here in July, 1833, when Jessup W. Scott was admitted to the Bar, and a number of civil cases disposed of. In 1834 Judge Ebenezer Lane was present with Judge Collett; but in 1835, when Frederick Lord, .John C. Champlin and Henry Reed were admitted to the Bar, Judges Wood and Collett were here. In 1836, Francis H. Gillet, Samuel M. Young, and Emery D. Potter were admitted before judges Lane and Wood, and at that time the celebrated trespass case of David Hedges vs. Isaac VanTassel was disposed of. In 1837, before the same judges, Henry Darling, Samuel B. Campbell, Daniel F. Cook and Henry Bennett were admitted to practice. The judges who presided in 1839 were Ebenezer Lane and Frederick Grimpke. David Allen and Joseph Utley were admitted attorneys. In 1839, judge Wood was present with judge Lane. Josiah G. Abbott and Joshua B. Davis were admitted to the Bar, while in July, 1840, the last term recorded in the old book, judges Hitchcock and Wood presided. James Coffinberry was admitted to the Bar and a number of assumpsit and chancery cases heard. In 1841, the same judges were present, the cause celebre being the Utley divorce suit, which resulted in a decree giving Mrs. Mary Ann Utley $2,000 alimony and costs. The same judges presided in 1842; but, in 1843, judge Matthew Birchard appeared with judge Wood, who were also present in 1844 and again in 1845, when Joseph Utley was appointed clerk of the court for the constitutional term of seven years. In 1846, the same judges were present; but, in 1847 and 1848, Matthew Birchard and Edward Avery were on the Bench. The July term of 1849 was presided over byJudges Hitchcock and William B. Caldwell, and in 185o by Rufus P. Spalding. With the exception of the admission of Asher Cook to the Bar in 1848, there is no record of admissions for the three years ending in 1851. In September, 1852, John A. Corwin, John M. Palmer and L. W. Hall appear as judges of the District Court, with Thomas L. Webb, coroner, acting sheriff and L. O. Simmons, clerk, and the records of the Supreme Court sessions in Wood county cease. Under the Constitution of 1851, the District Court, composed of a judge of the Supreme Court and two district judges, was established, and held regular sessions until 1884, when the Circuit Court was established under an amendment to the Constitution. United States District Court.-From 1855 to 1870, Wood county was in the Cleveland division of the United States District Court. In July, 1870, it was ordered that two terms of this court should be held at Toledo by Judge Charles T. Sherman, who was succeeded in 1873 by Judge Martin Welker, who preceded judge Ricks. In June, 1878, Wood county was placed in the western subdivision of the Northern District, with Toledo the seat of justice. The United States Circuit Court subsequently held terms here, judge John Baxter, of Tennessee, presiding until his death in 1886, when judge Howell E. Jackson, of Tennessee, succeeded him, and he in turn was succeeded by W. H. Taft, the present circuit judge. Justices' Courts. -Many volumes might be filled with the seriocomic administration of justice by the justices of the peace of Wood county, since the days when it was a part of Waynesfield township, of Logan county, or, as our brothers of Michigan would call it, 'Maumee township of Erie county, Erie District of the Territory of Michigan. "It would not be practicable to treat the subject extensively, but a little may be written to show the idiosyncrasies of the pioneer justices and, incidentally, of their unofficial neighbors. In the reminiscences of the late Willard V. Way, the story of Joshua Chappel, who settled at Perrysburg in 1817, and who was a constable of Logan county in 1819, is related. At that time Logan county appears to have been attached to Champaign for judicial purposes, and in the jail at Urbana prisoners from Wood county found a temporary home. It appears that, in 1819, Jacob Wilkinson sued a fisherman for $9, which the fellow refused to pay. The debtor also was impudent enough to say to his creditor that, if he wanted fish for his pay, he must turn out and catch them himself. The reply was an irritating one. The creditor sent the debtor to Urbana WOOD COUNTY, OHIO - 77 in charge of Constable Chappel, to be held there until the $9 and costs would be paid. After traveling 150 miles, Chappel offered his .prisoner to the sheriff, but that official would not receive him until his board bill was guaranteed. This Chappel could not do, and the only alternative was to return with the debtor to Perrysburg. The expenses of the trip and law proceedings exceeded $150, for which a bill was presented to Wilkinson. This was one of the incidents which urged the people to ask for the organization of Wood county. Elijah Huntington, who succeeded justice Powell in 1830, had advantages which were not offered to the lawyer while in office. He did not stop to consider technical points of law, but entered at once into the equity of a case, and decided it quickly. Hezekiah L. Hosmer tells of one of the first cases tried by him: The "Old Squire" (Huntington) was a local institution. His knowledge of politics was encyclopaedic. He read " Nile's Register " through regularly, and knew it by heart. In all matters of local interest he was always prominent, politics and schools receiving his special attention. No man ever discharged the duties of a magistrate or legislator more conscientiously, or generally with better judgment; but his court was often the scene of a funny incident. On one occasion a lawless character, known by the sobriquet of '' Catfish Smith, " a sort of land pirate, who had a shanty below the town, was arrested and brought before him on the charge of stealing Doctor Wood's pigs. The evidence disclosed the facts that the Doctor, on missing his property and suspecting Catfish, went to his premises and found the pigs penned up. Summoning Catfish, he charged him with the crime: "And here," said he, pointing to the pigs, are the very pigs themselves." "Which are yours?" inquired Catfish; "I should like to know." "That one, and that one, and that one," replied the Doctor, pointing to several. "Them's all mine, every one on 'em. I raised 'em. " "Is that speckled one yours, that yellow one and that little hump-backed one ?" "Every one on 'em. I raised 'em. They ain't one on 'em as belongs to you." The Doctor was a pepper-pod. The effrontery of Catfish made him very angry. "It's a lie and you know it!" he exclaimed. "They're all my pigs," reiterated Catfish, "and you can't have 'em, Doctor Wood ! " "Well, take 'em," roared the Doctor, in a tempest of anger. "Take 'em all and go to the devil with 'em," and turned and left. Convinced, however, that the pigs belonged to him, he made complaint and Catfish was arrested. Catfish was in the last stages of whiskey disease; bloated, blotched, a most pitiable object. He employed Count Coffinberry to defend him. Wood's attorney claimed that the case was clear, and asked that the defendant be punished. The Count in reply urged a justification. " Admitting, may it please your honor," said he, "that the pigs were originally the property of Doctor Wood, the evidence shows that Wood. gave them to the defendant. He told him to 'take them,' and the prisoner did so, and of course for this he is not liable to punishment. He told him furthermore to ' take them and go to the devil with them;' and any one, the most common observer, may it please your honor, can readily perceive, from the appearance of the man, that he had done no more than comply with this request. He had taken the pigs, that was undeniable, and, may it please your honor, he is going to the devil as fast as any man in the country. Pig cases are not confined to that of Catfish. and Dr. Woods. Wild hogs offered sport for hunters in early days, and men, armed with rifles and possessed of elastic consciences, did not always stop to learn whether they killed tame or wild swine. This haste led some of the sportsmen into the criminal court on charges of theft or robbery, and many men barely escaped the penalty attached to such crimes. To show how the law was administered in Perrysburg in olden days, let the following copy of a page of Thomas W. Powell's justice docket be given State of Ohio vs. John Harris: September 4, 1830, Elijah Huntington personally appeared before me and made complaint in writing and under oath that John Harris, of Auglaize, did, on the third day of the present month, run a horse within the limits of the town of Perrysburg, at Perrysburg township aforesaid. And thereupon a warrant was issued which was forthwith returned by Jonas Pratt, constable, with defendant in custody. Proceeded to trial, and upon hearing the proof and "allegations" of the parties, it is considered by the court the said John Harris pay a fine of two dollars and fifty cents, and 50 cents the cost of the prosecution. This extraordinary docket of justice Powell gives the history of 224 cases tried by him from 1823 to November 16, 1830, when he transferred the record book to Elijah Huntington. While the greater number of entries concern debtor and creditor, a large minority deal with social evils, showing, after all, that, in the quiet, pastoral days of this county, prior to the close of 1830, the people were not, morally, very far above. 78 - WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. what the inhabitants of the busy, ambitious county of today are. Justice Hezekiah Hosmer's docket is also to be found in the archives of the county, and, like that of justice Powell, is filled with accounts of big and little crimes, petty wrangles and numerous suits for debt. Beyond such trifling infractions of the law as that given in the Harris case, the writer of history may not go-the old books should be bound and made a part of the records of Wood county. Members of Old and New Bars.-The first attorney named in the Court of Common Pleas record was C. J. McCurdy, the prosecuting attorney, whose permit to practice is not a part of the record. The admissions to the Bar of Wood county from the fall term of that court in 1820 to the fall term of 184o are noticed as follows: Thomas W. Powell, Maumee, Eleutherus Cook, Huron county, Ebenezer Lane and Phillip R. Hopkins, in October, 1820; Charles L. Lanman, of Michigan, Moses B. Corwin and Oliver Overton, in 1822; John C. Spink, 1831; Jessup W. Scott, 1833; Sidney Smith and Willard V. Way, 1834; (Mr. Kinney, 1835, semi-lawyer); Isaac Stetson, 1835; Andrew Coffinberry, Henry Reed, James Purdy, Albion N. Olney and Henry C. Stowell, in 1837. From 1826 to 1840, the Supreme Court, in session at Perrysburg, admitted the following named attorneys to its Bar: Silas Lee and Wolcott Lawrence, 1826; James A. Scranton, 1827; Orris Parrish and David Higgins, 1829; Frederick Lord and John C. Champlin, 1835; Francis H. Gillett, Samuel M. Young and Emery D. Potter, 1836; Henry Darling, Samuel B. Campbell, Daniel F. Cook and Henry Bennett, 1837; David Allen, Joseph Utley, Josiah G. Abbott and Joshua B. Davis, 1839; and James M. Coffinberry, 1840. In many cases the admissions were mere formal permits to practice in the courts of Wood county, and even this formality was not observed in all cases. In the "twenties" and early ''thirties," such lawyers as William Dougherty, Rodolphus Dickinson, Charles Ewing, Henry Cooper (of Fort Wayne), Charles Robey, James Lee Gage, Jonathan E. Champlin, George W. Ewing, David A. Colerick (of Fort Wayne) and Cyrus Lee Gage practiced here without a permit, so far as the records tell. Later in the "thirties," John M. May, James G. Haley, David Allen, Horace Sessions, Willis Silliman, Hezekiah L. Hosmer, Nathan Rathburn, Horace F. Waite, Henry S. Commager, Morrison R. Waite, Caleb F. Abbott, Richard Cook, George B. Way, D. O. Morton and Patrick G. Goode practiced in the courts of Wood county; but there is nothing of record to point out the date of their formal admission to the Bar of this county. Hezekiah L. Hosmer, the old justice of the peace, and later chief justice of Montana Territory, in his reminiscences of Perrysburg (written in 1862), speaks as follows of the lawyers whom he found at Perrysburg, when he settled there: "There is no portion of the twenty-five years that I passed in the Maumee Valley filled with more agreeable associations than the ten-years' residence at Perrysburg. My partner, the late John C. Spink, was the oldest resident practitioner on the river a good lawyer, of abundant resources as an advocate; a cute, sharp intellect; and aside from his professional accomplishments, one of the most genial, kind-hearted gentlemen I ever knew. His generosity to all knew no limit, save that of his contracted means, and always kept him poor. Indeed, his very ' failings leaned to virtue's side.' These characteristics surrounded him with friends, but failed to increase his store; and he, though ambitious of his professional reputation, and of political preferment, cared little for the accumulation of wealth. He was fond of conviviality and mirth, and always contributed his share of humor to enliven the leisure hours of our varied circuit experience. We were sure of a jovial evening when Spink was with us. He was full of anecdote and fun, and possessed a fine vein of quaint humor, which was ever at his command, and made him a very enjoyable companion. He was the soul of honor, and scorned a mean action with all the bitterness of an intense nature. A western man in birth and breeding, he exemplified in his intercourse with his fellows those hearty, hospitable and disinterested qualities of character common among the early settlers of the western States. His practice-a good one for the time was in the courts of Wood, Lucas, Sandusky and Williams counties, and, after Lucas and Williams were divided, in Fulton and Defiance. The other resident lawyers in Perrysburg, when I went there, were Bennett & Campbell, Isaac Stetson, Henry C. Stowell, and Willard V. Way. Joseph Utley and Albion N. Olney, also residents, had been admitted but were not in practice. I formed a pleasant professional acquaintance with all of these gentlemen, and with some of them that acquaintance, as I am happy to believe, ripened into life-long friendship. Bennett & Campbell and Henry C. Stowell are the sole survivors of the number." Samuel M. Young is now a resident of Tole- WOOD COUNTY, OHIO - 79 do; Emery D. Potter died there February 12, 1896, in his ninety-second year. James M. Coffinberry died at Cleveland in recent years, and Henry Bennett died at Toledo in 1887; so that only the one member of the Old Bar remains. Judge Potter had been postmaster, collector of customs, common pleas judge, served in both branches of the State Legislature, and was a representative in Congress in 1851, where he led the fight for a reduction of postage to three cents instead of from five to twenty-five cents, according to distance. Objection being made in the House to the reduction to three cents because of the difficulty of making change he inserted in the bill a section authorizing the coinage of the silver three-cent piece, which remained until repealed by the coinage law of 1873. Asher Cook, the first judge of probate, was admitted as an attorney in 1849, and about the same time, William H. Hall, James Mefford, the inventor, and William H. Hopkins, practiced here. D. M. McKinley, of Grand Rapids, and John Mastin, were here in 1855-58. James Murray, who was Ohio's attorney general in 1861 and 1862, maybe named among the lawyers of the middle period, with Henry H. Dodge, judge of common pleas for ten years; John E. McGowen, who resigned the office of prosecutor to become a soldier in 1862; Edwin Tuller, of Tontogany; B. W. Johnson, E. M. Colver, J. B. Spafford, George N. Parsons, who died in 1867; John A. Shannon (who died at Mason, Mich.), Josiah F. Price, Samuel B. Price, J. M. Hord, George Strain, M. B. Doyle, L. Fuller, Patrick S. Slevin (who died in 1895), Francis Hollenbeck, and John H. Reid, deceased; W. R. Bryant of Prairie Depot (1863); James R. Tyler, who died at Perrysburg; William H. Gorrill (who graduated with the Michigan University law class of 1862, and died in California in 1874); Peter Bell and D. K. Hollenbeck, of Perrysburg, were lawyers in the Wood county courts between the close of the pioneer period and March, 1867, when many of them signed the resolutions on the death of George N. Parsons. Willard V. Way was a native of. Springfield, N. Y., born in 1807, and his early life was passed on a farm. He was graduated from Union College, and then began the study of law in the office of Bangs & Haskell, at Le Roy, N. Y., and completed his study under Payne & Wilson, in Paynesville, Ohio. He was admitted to practice in the latter State in 1832, and from this date he soon became and was widely known as an honored member of that profession. He settled in the practice of law at Perrysburg in 1834. His death occurred August 25, 1875. His attachment for the village of his adoption was great and he proved one of its greatest benefactors, bequeathing to it upward of $15,000 for the establishing and maintaining of a. Public Library. In his younger life he took an active part in politics, and served as the prosecuting attorney for the county. Judge Asher Cook was born in Pennsylvania, but in early childhood came to Ohio with his parents, who located for a time in Richland county, then settled at Perrysburg. He learned the trades of a stone mason and plasterer, and for a short time followed them. He also served for a time as a common sailor on the lakes. His ambition and thirst for knowledge, however, soon led him into a higher and broader sphere of usefulness. Without means, other than the earnings of his daily labor, he acquired a thorough knowledge of the common branches of learning, as well as several of the higher, and he had a special liking for the study of languages. Without the benefit of a college training, he was able to read, with ease, Latin, French, German and Spanish. He was admitted to the Bar in 1849. In the practice he was associated with and pitted against the ablest lawyers in northwestern Ohio, and was second to none of them in ability and knowledge of the law. The late Chief Justice Waite once said of him: " In knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of law, Asher Cook has no equal in the Maumee Valley." Immediately on his admission to the Bar our subject was elected prosecuting attorney for his county, and, in 1852, was elected probate judge. From 1862 to 1864 he represented Wood and Ottawa counties in the Fifty-fifth General Assembly of Ohio. He was a delegate to the convention which nominated Gen. Grant for the Presidency in 1868. In 1873, he was elected to the convention to revise the State Constitution, and was made chairman of its committee on education. He showed marked ability in the deliberations and debates of the convention, and was recognized as among the best constitutional lawyers in that body of able men. Throughout his professional and political career judge Cook's great ability, his unquestionable integrity, his genial courtesy and fairness, won for him the profound respect and esteem of his associates and competitors. Judge Henry H. Dodge is a native of the State of New York, born in 1830; was graduated from St. John College, New York City, in 1849, and two years later began the study of law with Victory Birdseye, of Pompey, N. Y. In the fall of 1852 he came to Perrysburg, and finished his 80 - WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. preparation for the Bar in the office of Spink & Murray, and was admitted in 1855. After 'his admission he went into partnership with James Murray, Mr. Spink having died, and continued in practice with him until Mr. Murray was elected attorney general of Ohio. Mr. Dodge then formed a partnership with James R. Tyler, which lasted until 1869. Subsequently, he was for a short time a partner with Edson Goit, of Bowling Green, now deceased, and later was associated in practice with Jasher Pillars. In 1887 he was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and was on the Bench for ten years, making an enviable record for judicial ability. On his retirement in 1888, he resumed his law practice, forming a partnership with John W. Canary, and is the oldest practicing member on the Wood county roll. John H. Reid was a native of the State of Pennsylvania, born in Pittsburg, in 1823. He was a carpenter by trade, but not content with this vocation, and with a limited education, he, by his own efforts, worked his way through college, graduating at Oberlin, Ohio. He then read law at Findlay, Ohio, and on being admitted to the Bar located in the practice at Delta, Fulton county, this State, and, in 1851, was elected prosecuting attorney for the county. He remained there until in 1853, when he located at Perrysburg. He served the people of the latter place as postmaster, and during the war organized and was made captain of Co. D, 86th O. V. I., and later was quartermaster of the 144th Regiment, O. V. I. At the close of the war Capt. Reid resumed his practice at Perrysburg, and at the time of the contest over the county seat, he was retained on the side of Bowling Green, whose interests he heartily espoused and earnestly defended. Later he removed to Bowling Green. His death occurred November 1, 1885. Francis Hollenbeck, deceased, was a native of the State of New York, born in 18o9. In 1847 he located at Perrysburg, this county, and here lived until his death which occurred in 1894. In his early life he was a newspaper writer, and for a time was managing editor of the Toledo Blade. He was one of the founders of the Perrysburg school in 1848. In 1856 he was admitted to the bar, and for upward of a quarter of a century was a prominent member of the Wood County Bar. Judge Edwin Tuller was a native of Delaware county, Ohio, born in 1821. He was a merchant and business man before he became a lawyer. He began to read law in the office of James Coffinberry, of Maumee, and in 1865 was admitted to the Bar. He was appointed probate judge in 1863, and was twice elected to that office. Subsequently he was associated in the practice of law with James R. Tyler. He was active in politics, and for thirteen terms served as a justice of the peace. He was postmaster at Otsego for several years. His death occurred at Tontogany, August 29, 1896. From 1868 to 1878 the majority of the senior members of the present Bar settled in the county. S. W. Clay, who died about ten years ago, and E. H. Hull, who moved to Bryan, Texas, selected Bowling Green as a place of residence in 1867. In 1868, John W. Canary and Henry S. Siple came, and W. A. Benschoter was admitted that year. Seth H. Fairchild and Henry A. Lease were admitted in 1869. Early in the "seventies" the names of Simon P. Harrison, James O. Troup, Frank A. Reid, J. R. Swigert, Jasher Pillars, J. M. Hord, Robert Dunn and Robert S. Parker were enrolled as members of the Bar. Edson Goit had moved to Bowling Green, where he died in 188o. Elam Day was at Weston or Grand Rapids; R. I. Campbell located here in 1876; Guy C. Nearing began practice at Bowling Green the same year; H. E. Averill came in 1877; Frank A. Baldwin located at Weston in 1877; Benjamin L. Abbott, George Smith, Andrew D. Stewart (now of Toledo), Geo. R. Miller, Henry S. Bunker, William H. Harris and Albion E. Lang were admitted here in 1878; J. C. Elder (now of Deshler) in 1879; while William B. McCarty, D. W. H. Day, Thomas Meehan, A. M. Treadwell, G. P. Thompson and L. K. Parks, were resident attorneys of Wood county prior to 188o. Judge Dodge, Canary, Fairchild, Troup, Reid, Dunn, Parker, Baldwin, Nearing, Abbott, Parks, McCarty, Harrison, Bierly and Thompson belong to the Bar of the present time. N. R. Harrington, Benjamin F. James, Rufus B. Moore, Andrew J. Mears, Ira C. Taber, A. R. Campbell, Edward Beverstock, Leander C. Cole, Perry J. Chase, W. S. Haskell, C. R. Painter, Thomas F. Conley, Joe Baird, Datus R. Jones, E. G. McClelland, E. M. Fries and A. B. Murphy, who located here within the last fifteen years, are known as residents of Bowling Green; Thomas N. Bierly (also of Toledo), and J; P. Hoyman, of Pemberville; D. K. Hollenbeck and M. Bowers, of Perrysburg; Christopher C. Layman, of Woodville; Simon P. Harrison, E. R. Dean, E. H. Westenhaver, William Anderson, Frank Taylor and W. H. McMillan, of North Baltimore; Daniel C. Bemis, of Haskins; G. P. WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. - 81 Thompson, of Weston; George Fries, of Jerry City; Lewis C. Edgar, of Prairie Depot; G. C. Scheffler, of Risingsun, and Jesse Stephens, of Fostoria, are well known members of the Bar. Edson Goit was born in the State of New York in 1808, and before he was of age came to Ohio, and at Tiffin read law under the direction of Abel T. Rawson, and, after admission to the Bar, located in the practice at Findlay, where, in the course of time, he became extensively engaged in mercantile pursuits in connection with his profession. Later in life Mr. Goit located in Wood county, and for, many years was a prominent and successful member of the Wood County Bar. His father died when he was but an infant, and he had few opportunities to improve his mind by the aid of books; but such chances as presented themselves he availed himself of, and by the time he was twenty years old he was capable of teaching. He was a man of great force and strength of character, and of great energy, and made a success of life. It is said of him by all his clients, that he would not, for the sake of money, encourage litigation. In his professional capacity he was a peace-maker among men, always counseling the settlement of difficulties without going into court if it was consistent with the honor of both parties. He was a sincere friend, and in his most prosperous days never forgot those who were his friends at the beginning when he was poor. His death occurred in 1880. H. A. Lease is a native of Ohio; was admitted to the Bar in the Supreme Court of California in 1861; served by appointment, as district attorney for Colusa county, Cal., for one term, returned to Ohio in 1866, and in 1867 was admitted to the Bar in Ohio, and, in 1869, located at Bowling Green. He was enrolling clerk of the Ohio Senate for the sessions of 1872-3. S. P. Harrison is a native of this State, born in 1849; read law in the office of Watson & Strong, of Norwalk, Ohio, and later entered the law department of Michigan University, from which he was graduated in 1872, and located in the practice at Bowling Green. He remained here, for some twelve years, and after an absence of several years from the State, returned and located at North Baltimore, of which he became the first city solicitor, elected in 1890. He had served as mayor of Portage in 1870 and '71, and as a justice of the peace in Bowling Green in 1874, '75 and '76. James O. Troup is a native of Scotland, born in Aberdeen; studied law in the office of Hon. Asher Cook, in Perrysburg, and was admitted to the Bar in this county in April, 1873. He resided in Perrysburg in the practice of the law until 188o, since which time he has lived in Bowling Green, and followed his profession, in which he is at the present time actively engaged, Judge Guy C. Nearing was born in Ohio, and raised on a farm in this his native county. He began the study of the law in 1873 with Col.. John A. Shannon, in Bowling Green, and was admitted to the Bar in 1876, and then located in the practice at Bowling Green. He has served this city as city solicitor, and is now serving his second term as probate judge of Wood county. Robert S. Parker is a native of Ohio. He attended the pubic schools at Findlay until twelve years of age. In early youth he learned the cigar-makers trade, which he followed seven years, during part of which time he also attended school. He began reading law at Findlay, Ohio, with Shaffer Bros., then under the direction of his father. He was admitted to the Bar in April, 1876, and at once began practice at North Baltimore in partnership with William H. Anderson, and in September of the same year located in Bowling Green. The first year he practiced alone, and then became associated with Col. John A. Shannon under the firm name of Shannon & Parker, which firm continued about two years. In 1890 Mr. Parker became associated with R. B. Moore, and the partnership lasted some five years, since which time he has practiced with E. M. Fries. During the twenty years of his active professional life, he has never missed a term of court in Wood county. He erved as prosecuting attorney of the county two terms, and he was nominated by the Republican parly for judge of the Court of Common Pleas, but failed of election. In the fall of 1894 he was endorsed by the Wood county delegation for representative in Congress, but was defeated in the convention. Frank A. Reid is a native of the State of Ohio, a son of John H. Reid, whose sketch appears above. He was graduated from the law school at Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1877, and located in the practice in this county, becoming associated with his father. Frank A. Baldwin was born in the State of New York, attended for a time the high school at Toledo, Ohio, and Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Later he was prepared for the Bar under the direction of J. R. Tyler, of Perrysburg, and McCauley & Pennington, of Tiffin, and was admitted in April, 1877. In June of the same year he began practice at 82 - WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. Weston. A few months later he was elected prosecuting attorney of Wood county. Thomas N. Bierly is a native of Center county, Penn. He grew to manhood in Wood county, this State, and read law at Perrysburg, under James R. Tyler. He was admitted to the Bar in 1877, and opened an office for the practice of his profession at Pemberville. Mr. Bierly served as mayor of the latter village several terms, and was once a candidate for prosecuting attorney for the county, but was defeated at the election. In 1895 he located in Toledo, where he opened an office. B. L. Abbott, of Bowling Green, was born in this State, though his early life was passed in Michigan. He began the study of law at Bowling Green with an uncle, Philander Abbott, and some years later, in August, 1878, was admitted to the Bar. He began practice with Edwin Goit, a former preceptor, which partnership lasted until the latter's death. Mr. Abbott was elected mayor of Bowling Green, in 1886, and for more than thirteen consecutive years has been a justice of the peace. Abel Comstock is a native of the State of Pennsylvania, but grew up near Bowling Green, to which place the family removed in his youth. He was prepared for the Bar by. Col. J. A. Shannon, with whom he afterward formed a partnership, which continued until in 1886. He began his law studies in 1879, and has given especial attention to pension claims. He has been a justice of the peace in Bowling Green since 1890. William S. Haskell, recently mayor of Bowling Green, and of the law firm of Mears & Haskell, is a native of Michigan; received a liberal education, having been graduated in a classical course from the University of Michigan in 1872, and in August, 1877, came to Bowling Green. From 1877 to 1883 Mr. Haskell was the superintendent of the public schools of the latter city. He afterward read law with Cook & Troup, and in 1885 was admitted to the Bar, and since 1894 has been associated in the practice with Mr. Mears. Lewis C. Edgar, of Prairie Depot, is a native of Ohio, and before coming to the Bar was for many years a school teacher. He read law at Toledo and at Fostoria, Ohio, and was admitted to the Bar in 1882, and located in the practice at Bowling Green, Ohio, and there remained until 1887, when he removed to Prairie Depot. Ira C. Taber is a native of Wood county, this State. He was graduated in 1882 from the public schools of Bowling Green, and at once began the study of law in the office of Frank A. Baldwin of that city. Subsequently he entered the Cincinnati Law School, from which he was graduated in 1885. He at once began practice at Bowling Green, and is now the senior member of the law firm of Taber & Painter, of the latter city. Frank Taylor, of North Baltimore, is a native of Maryland. He came to Ohio with his father in his youth, and was here educated. For a time he attended Heidelberg College at Tiffin, and the College at Oberlin. Later he was occupied as a school teacher in his native State, and in 1878 took charge of the public schools at North Baltimore. He was admitted to the Bar in 1886, and has since followed the legal profession at that place. Benjamin F. James was born near Mt. Gilead, Ohio, and, until fifteen years of age, was employed on his father's farm. He was a student at the Ohio Wesleyan University, Dennison University and the Chicago University, at which latter he was graduated in 1884 at the age of twentyone, with the degree of A. B. He took a post-graduate course and law studies at Yale College, receiving the degree in 1887 of LL. B. In October of that year he began the practice of law in partnership with judge Nearing, of Bowling Green, and later became associated in the practice with his present partner, Edward Beverstock, the firm being styled James & Beverstock, and has offices both in Bowling Green and in Toledo, Ohio, the Toledo location being in the Spitzer Building. In 1890, Mr. James was chosen vice president of the Ohio Republican League, and a year later a vice-president of the National League. In 1890 he was elected city solicitor, and in 1891 he was elected to the General Assembly of Ohio. Edward Beverstock, the junior member of the law firm of James & Beverstock, is a native of Ohio, born in Wood county. He was reared on a farm, and in 1889 completed a classical course, and was graduated from Oberlin College with the degree of A. B. He was subsequently graduated from the Cincinnati Law School, receiving the degree of LL. B. in 1891, and in June of that year was admitted to the Bar. A. B. Murphy, prosecuting attorney of Wood county, is a native of this State. He was graduated in the scientific course from the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware in 1885, with the degree of A. B. In 1884, he won the college prize for oratory, and in February, 1885, took the second place among eight contestants in the State oratorical contest in Oberlin. He began the study of law with John S. Jones, of Delaware, Ohio, and, in 1886, entered the senior class of WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. - 83 the Cincinnati Law School, and graduated the following year. In the fall of 1887, he located at Bowling Green and began practice. In November, 1890, he was appointed mayor to succeed Andrew Mears, and the following April was elected to that office. He was re-elected in 1892, but resigned to take the office of prosecuting attorney January 1, 1894. L. C. Cole is a native of Ohio, and grew to manhood on a farm in Jefferson county. He attended college at Mount Union and Richmond, and afterward read law, with judge Robert Martin, of Steubenville, Ohio. He was admitted to the Bar in 1872, at Newark, Ohio, and began the practice of the law at Massillon, Ohio, where he was engaged in the profession until in April, 1887, when he came to Bowling Green. For a number of years he served as city solicitor of Massillon, and, in 1884, he was elected to the State Legislature in Stark county, in which he served two terms. Mr. Cole is connected with a number of business *enterprises. He was a member of the State Central Committee for a number of years; also one of the executive committee for several years. In 1894, he was defeated for probate judge of this county. N. R. Harrington is a native of Pickaway county, this State; was educated in the public schools of Warren, Ohio, and began a business career as bookkeeper for the Lima Paper Mills of Lima, Ohio. He later became secretary and superintendent of the mills. He resigned in 1884, to study law, which he did in the office of his uncle, C. A. Harrington, of Warren, Ohio. While pursuing his law studies he served as deputy clerk of the court. He was admitted to the Bar in March, 1887, at Columbus, Ohio, and in the following May began the practice of law at Bowling Green. In 1888 he was elected city solicitor on the Republican ticket. Rufus B. Moore is a native of Ohio; was graduated from the high school at Galion, Ohio, in 1878, with the highest honors of his class, and also with the same grade from Otterbein University in 1883, where he took a classical course. After graduation he taught one year in the grammar school at Bowling Green. He then went to Kansas, and was superintendent of schools and high-school teacher at Burden for two years. He returned to Bowling Green in 1886, and studied law with R. S. Parker, and was admitted to the Bar in June, 1888, and immediately after formed a partnership with that gentleman, which continued until January I, 1895. Mr. Moore was elected city solicitor of Bowling Green in the spring of 1892, and is now serving his third term in that office. Thomas F. Conley, of Bowling Green, was born in the city of Baltimore, Md., and there grew to manhood, where he attended the public schools and business college. He began life as a messenger boy in the freight office of the B. & O. railroad, from which position he rose step by step, until he became private secretary to the general manager of the road. In 189o he became the official stenographer for the Court of Common Pleas at Bowling Green. He studied law for two years with Messrs. Cook & Troup, and afterward attended the Law School of the Cincinnati College, from which he was graduated with the degree of LL. B. E. M. Fries is a native of this county. After having attended the district schools at home, he spent two years in the academy at Fostoria, and the same length of time in the Ohio Normal University at Ada. He fitted himself for a civil engineer, and after having taught one year he entered the employ of the L. E. & W. R. R. as civil engineer. He passed upward of a year at Seattle, Washington, as a civil engineer for a land company. Subsequently he returned to Ohio and took a course of law in the Cincinnati Law School, from which he was graduated in 1893 with the degree of LL. B., and located at Bowling Green. John S. Hoyman read law with Thomas W. Bierly, graduated from the Cincinnati Law OF School in 1894, which admitted him to practice in all the courts of Ohio. On his admission he formed a partnership with his former preceptor which lasted until August 1, 1896, since which time he has been in the practice alone. J. R. Tyler, who made a reputation as a successful criminal lawyer, passed away only a few years ago. Col. Shannon moved to Mason, Michigan, where he died only recently; C. F. Lewis was at Weston in the eighties. " A. C. Houston, of Risingsun, moved to the Indian Territory; Jasher Pillars returned to Tiffin; C. W. Everett, who resided near Millgrove, resides at Toledo; Jason Barbour established an office at Toledo, and is prosecuting attorney of Lucas county; Thomas H. Tracy, of Millbury, is now an attorney of Toledo; Thomas Meehan, who was here in the " seventies," was mayor of Findlay, Ohio, in 1894; W. S. Thurstin is a member of the Lucas County Bar; C. F. Lewis was here' in 1884; R. C. Wilson came in 1885, removed to the new State of Washington in 1888 or 1889 and is now in the Senate of that Commonwealth; 84 - WOOD COUNTY, OHIO. Fred Hollenbeck was admitted here, but moved to the State of Washington; R. F. Beausey, superintendent of the Pemberville schools, was admitted in March, 1895; George H. Withey, now of Grand Rapids, Mich., began practice in this county, and L. D. Heller, another school teacher, now a lawyer of Columbus, Ohio, was admitted here; Clyde R. Painter, who studied in Ira C. Taber's office, is one of the most recent additions to the law circle. RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE