Coshocton County, Ohio - Chapter 32: Bench and Bae, 1881

THE building in wfiich the first court of common pleas for Coshocton county was held is still standing. It is the desolate and dilapidated two-story frame structure near the northeast corner of Water and Chestnut streets. Joining this building on the south was the log cabin, where Adam Johnson tended the store started by Hedge & Hammord. Another log cabin touched it on the north, and in it was Colonel Williams' tavern -within easy access of the court. The family of Mr. Williams occupied the lower floor of the frame building, and an apartment on the upper floor, reached by an outdoor stairway, was the scene of the first forensic display in the county. This cluster of buildings was for years the most important place in the county, forming as it did a private dwelling, public house, store room, court house, meeting house, jail, fort, school house and ball room.

By the legislature the county was placed in the judicial district over which Hon. William Wilson of Licking county was president judge. Wil- Uam Mitchell, Peter Casey and Isaac Evans, threesubstantial citizens of the county, had been appointed associate judges. The first term of courtconvened April 1, 1811. " Some choice hickory wood had been cut for the occasion, and 'mine host' was doubtless in his best humor, feeling the importance of the occasion and his own importance as one of the head men in the new county and the host of the court. It is said new hunting-shirts were plenty in town that day. It must^ however, have somewhat diminished the glory of the occasion that the president judge did not put in an appearance. The three associate judges were on hand and the court ' sat ' with becoming dignity." The term was of the briefest possible duration, as there was little or no court business to transact. The associate judges produced their commissions and legal qualifications and took their seats. Adam Johnson was appointed clerk pro tern, and recorder for a term of seven years, the election of a justice of the peace in each of thetownships of Tuscarawas, Washington and New Castle and of two in Franklin township was ordered, and the court adjourned sine die.

The second term was opened September 2, 1811, with a full court present. Thomas L. Hue was appointed clerk pro tern. The first grand jury was impaneled at this term of court, and consisted of the following members: James Tanner, foreman, James Craig, Benjamin Fry, Samuel Clark, Sainuel Hardesty, John Hanson, Isaac Workman, Charles Miller, Michael Miller, Philip Wagoner, Windle Miller, Francis McGuire, Henry Miller, and John Mills. The jury reported " no business." The docket shows three cases. Two of these were. dismissed and the third continued. William Lockard was appointed county surveyor, and the court adjourned.

At the third term, in December, the judges were again all present, and business began to increase. One jury case was tried at this term. The jury, the first petit jury in the county consisted of John D. Moore, Frederiek Woolford^ William Beard, John Planson, John G. Pigman^ Huch Ballentine, Philip Wolfe, George Smith, John Bantham, Windle Miller, John McKearn and Elijah Moore. The case was that of Charles Williams against Adam Markley, an appeal from thejudgment of William Whitten, justice of the peace. The suit was to recover nine dollars and fifty-six cents, alleged to be due plaintiff. The verdict was for the plaintfif. Lewis Cass was his attorney. Wright Warner was appointed prosecuting attorney, and his compensation fixed at twenty-five dollars per term of court. Letters of administration were granted to Jesse and John Fulton on the estate of William Fulton, deceased. The grand jury returned one bill at this term, against George Arnold, for assault and battery committed upon the body of one - Thomas Beckworth. The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined by the court four dollars and costs. Arnold terminated his career in this county five years later, by fatally stabbing John Markley, on election day, and escaping to parts unknown.

The legislature had provided that no term of the court should extend beyond five " working days." For the first few years only from one to five days were required to complete the business. The cases were largely criminal, and the charges most prevalent on the docket were for assault and battery, slander and "fighting at fisticuffs,'' or "by agreement." A mode of punishment not very common, even in those days, was that to which one Zeba French was subjected. He had been convicted at the December term of 1814 of "uttering and putting off" counterfeit money, and the sentence passed upon him was that he should be taken to the public whipping-post of the county and receive upon his naked back thirty-nine lashes. He was also fined twenty dollars and costs - a heavy fine at that time - and imprisoned in the county jail thirty days. The sentence was duly executed. Several other countefeiters, equally guilty, had been arrested and incarcerated with Fl-ench, but had made good their escape from the county before they were called upon to expiate their much detested crime. Counterfeiting and horse stealing, in the minds of the early settlers, were two most abominable crimes and were rarely allowed to go unpunished to the full extent of the law.

Judge Wilson continued to jse president judge until 1822, when he was succeeded by Alexander Harper of Zanesville. Judge Harper had frequently visited Coshocton as a lawyer, and for several years had acted as prosecuting attorney for Coshocton county, though a non resident. He was exceedingly popular with the bar and alsowith the citizens. He served two terms and was succeeded in April, 1836, by Corrington W.. Searle, also of Zanesville. He served one term only and in 1843, Richard Stilwell, also of Zanesville, came into the ofHce. About the close of his official term Coshocton county was placed in another district and James Stewart, of Mansfield, became president judge. He presided at only a few terms of court before the change in the Statejudiciary, wrought by the new constitution, came into effect.

Under the old constitution, three citizens of the county were commissioned by the governor of the State to occupy the bench as associatejudges. The names of the first judges have been, mentioned. Of these, Peter Casey lived beyond Millersburg, in what is now Holmes county ; Isaac Evaiis lived at Evansburg, Oxford township, and William Mitchell, close to Coshocton. The term of office was seven years and the following is a complete list of those who filled this position, together with their several terms of service: William Mitchell, 1811-13; Isaac Evans, 1811-16; Peter Casey, 1811-24; Lewis Vail, 1813-15; Benjamin Robinson, 1815-21; David T. Finney, 1816-17; Joseph W. Pigman, 1817-19; Mordecai Chalfant, 1819-33; Thomas Johnson, 1821-41; Henry Grim, 1824-31; James Robinson, 1831-35; John Crawford, 1833-47; James Le Retilley, 1835-42; Robert Crawford, 1841-46; Benjamin R. Shaw, 1842-51; Saniuel Elliott, 1846-52; James LeRetilley,lS47-50; Josiah Harris, 1850-62; James M. Burt, 1851-52. As will be seen, these are the names of citizens who, in their day, were well known for their enterprise and public spirit. " There was little claim by or for these associate judges of any special knowledge of the law, and the system under which they served came in time to be regarded much the same as would be a wagon with five wheels ; a third esfate between the judge proper and the jury, and not demanded in settling either the law or the facts. One of the commonest jokes of their day was the declaration of a culprit, who thought it hard to be brought before a court of a thousand men - the president judge being one (1) and the three associates, the three ciphers (000)." However, "it has been insisted by some of the ablest lawyers that the associate judge courts oftentimes correctly accomplished an amount of business not always attained under the present sytem."

The first judge to sit at Coshocton under the present constitution, was Martin Welker, then of "Wayne county, now Judge of the United States District Court for the northern district of Ohio. He was succeeded at the expiration of one term in 1857, by William Sample of Coshocton. He served two terms and was succeeded in 1867 by William Reed of Holmes county, who also remained on the bench for two terms. Charles C. Parsons of Wooster was elected his successor, entering upon his judicial duties in 1877. Owing to an accumulation of business, the election of an additional judge was ordered by the legislature, and C. F. Vorhees was elected in 1877, entering upon his duties the following year, Coshocton county is a part of the third subdivision of the sixth judicial district of Ohio, comprising Coshocton, Holmes and Wayne counties.

As will be seen, William Sample has been the only common pleas judge from this county. He was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, February 24, 1811. When he was but two years old his father died, and soon after the family removed to a farm in Jefferson county, Ohio. While still a lad, the charge of the farm and the care of the family devolved entirely upon him. During the winters he taught school, and worked on the farm in summer. His educational advantages were only such as rural districts, remote from towns, afforded in that early day, and the the mastery of the education he acquired was the result of his own persevering efforts. He studied law at Steubenville with Oliver C. Gray, - and was admitted to the bar in 1843. In November, 1845, he came to Coshocton and engaged actively in the practice of his profession. He served one term as prosecuting attorney. His labors upon the bench were performed to the entire satisfaction of the people and won golden opinions from the members of the bar. At the expiration of his career as judge, he removed to Wooster and resumed practice in partnership with J. P. Jeffries. In 1868 he changed his residence to Newark, and was engaged in practice four and one-half years with Hon. Gibson Atherton. Then in 1873 he returned to Coshooton and continued his professional labors until his death, which occurred July 22, 1877. His last public service was a delegate to the State consti-, tutional convention in 1873. In personal appearance he was tall, towering head and shoulders above his fellow men. In character he was positive and determined. His faculties remained active and vigorous to the end. He possessed a logical, judicial mind, and was known as an honest, virtuous and religious man.

The early history of the bar in Coshocton may be summed up in a few sentences. Times then in court matters, as in all other affairs and relations, were essentially different from what they are now. The courts then were " on -v^heels," the judges traveling from county to county, remaining only a few days in a place and passing on to the next seat of justice in his large district. The lawyers would accompany the judge in his route and attend to the business that was found necessary to transact. The " foreign " lawyers, who attended to the Coshocton county legal affairs, were principally from Zanesville, and among those whose names recur with frequency upon the early court dockets as attorneys, may be noted Lewis Cass, Alexander Harper, Wyllys Silliman, E. B. Monroe, Ebenezer Granger, Charles B. Goddard and S. W. Culbertson.

Wright Warner was the first resident lawyer in Coshocton, comhig in the spring of 1811. At the September term- of the court in that year he was was appointed prosecuting attorney for the county but retained it only a few years. He became involved in a quarrel with Colonel Williams, which resulted in several lawsuits for assault and battery, slander, etc. He did not follow the practice at the bar exclusively, but was one of the early tavern keepers of Coshocton and continued in this occupation after he removed to Steubenville, in 1814 or 1815.

Aaron M. Church located at Coshocton in the fall of 1811. He has been mentioned among the early settlers of Coshocton. His education, both legal and general, had been carefully attended to and his talents fitted him for a high rank in the legal profession. He opened his office here under the most favorable circumstances, but dissipation

The office of prosecuting attorney was then obliged to go begging and for a number of years was filled by non-resident lawyers, there being none at all in Coshocton. One lawyer, whose name is unknown, is said to have "hung out a shingle " in 1819, but, not meeting with any great success, soon removed to other parts. The next resident lawyer seems to have been William G. Carhart, who began to practice about 1821. He did not devote his entire time to the profession, and soon relinquished it for other and more congenial employment. About 1825 Samuel Bea began practice. His business was chiefly office work, having few if any cases in court.

Probably the first lawyer of well-marked ability, that won and kept a practice here, was Noah Swayne, who has recently resigned a seat in the highest tribunal of this nation. He came to Coshocton in 1827 from Belmont county, was prosecuting attorney for several years and in 1832 removed to Columbus in consequence of having been appointed United States district attorney for Ohio.

James Matthews, who was born in Columbiana county and read law with Hon. H. H. Leavitt, of Steubenville, came to Coshocton in 1829. He was twice a member of the. State legislature from this county and served two terms in congress. In 1855 he removed to Knoxville, Iowa. He iivas a good lawyer, and possessed considerable force of character. In stature he was quite tall, thinvisaged and eagle-nosed, and popular with the masses. Deeply interested in politics he never failed to be elected to a position for which he was a candidate.

George Wyllys Silliman came to Coshocton about 1830. He was a native of Muskingum county, the son of Wyllys Silliman, a lawyer of. Zanesville, and nephew of Lewis Cass. His education was received at Ohio University and afterwards at the military academy at West Point. He read law with his father in Zanesville, and soon after he settled in Coshocton was sent as bearer of dispatches to C. P. Van Ness, United States Minister to Spain. He returned to Coshocton in 1833, and was soon after elected prosecuting attorney, and by re-election continued the office ten years. In 1843 he went on a voyage to Europe for his health, but was not greatly benefited, and on his return voyage grew rapidly worse, and died at sea. His remains were brought to New York and interred in Greenwood Cemetery. In 1834 he married Miss Ann Johnson, who survived him many years, dying in 1862. There was one child, Wyllys Cass Silliman, who survived his father only about two years. Mr. Silliman's reputation is that of a genial, scholarly gentleman.

In 1832, David Spangler became a resident lawyer at Coshocton. He was born at Sharpsburg, Maryland, December 24, 1796, the eldest son of Christian and Ann Spangler. In 1802, the family moved to Zanesville, where the father established himself in trade as a blacksm.ith. The youth of David was spent in his father's shop at the forge and anvil. Subsequently the father engaged in mercantile business, and here, too, David proved his chief assistant. Study, however, was not neglected, and David profited by the limited educational opportunities open to him. At the age of twenty-five he commenced the study of law with Alexander Harper, and in 1825 was admitted to practice in the supreme court of Ohio, in Cleveland. He commenced practice in Zanesville. In 1830, he was nominated by the Whig party as State representative for Muskingum county, and polled far more than his party vote, though not enough to elect hirh. He was induced to remove to Coshocton in 1832, in consequence of the removal of Noah H. Swayne from Coshocton to Columbus. This change of residence was well-timed and never regretted. Professional business poured in from the start, and he was called upon to take a leading position in the political arena. In the fall of 1832 he was placed in nomination as the Whig candidate for national representative in the Thirteenth Congressional District, then comprising Coshocton, Holmes, Knox and Tuscarawas counties, and, owing to the fact that there were two candidates of the opposite party in the field, although the Whigs were in the minority, their candidate was elected by a good majority. He was re-elected in 1834 by a still more decisive vote. Mr. Spangler was satisfied with the political experience thus- obtained, and proclaimed his determination to give his undivided attention thereafter to professional practice. In 1844 he was nominated for Governor by this party, then in the ascendancy in the State, but he firmly declined the nomination, insisting upon his tastes for private life, the pressure of professional business and the claims of his family, especially those of his two sons, then in course of education. While at Washington, in January, 1834, he was admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, and orally and successfully argued a case, carried up from Ohio, before that court, over which the venerable Chief Justice Marshall yet presided. Mr. Spangler died October 18, 1856. His parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he was carefully nurtured in its teachings, and ever cherished an ardent attachment for it, though never identified with it as a member. He always gave active aid in the Sabbath-school, and in the musical department of the church. He became a member of the Masonic fraternity when a young man, and held the position of Worshipful Master and representative to the Grand Lodge, of which he was S. G. Deacon. Grand Orator and Deputy Grand Master.

He received no college education, but^ by his own self-directed effort became a good belleslettres scholar, a profound lawyer and an eloquent advocate. By nature he possessed both talent and genius, a vigorous mind, and a physical constitution capable of sustaining him throughout the most arduous preparation of a cause, and the most exhausting forensic effort in the trial of it Unbending from these in his hours of social converse, his friends were enlivened by his humor and delighted by his wit. His sympathy and readiness to associate freely with the masses, his great industry and energy, and his keen insight of human nature and ready wit, were qualities giving him his place and power in pubhc life. He used to joke with his friends about his growth in popularity when a candidate, stating that in one township he doubled his vote ; the fact subsequently coming from him that the first time he ran he got in that township - a Democratic stronghold - one vote, and the second time two.

From about 1835, the number of attorneys in Coshocton has steadily increased. For many years after that date lawyers from Zanesville continued to transact much of the legal business in this county, but the amount gradually diminished with the growth of the Coshocton bar, and has long since become unnoticable. At this writing, April, 1881, the following attorneys are actively engaged in practice in Coshocton: Thomas Campbell, E. T. Spangler, J. C. Poinerene, R. M. Voorhees, James Irvine, J. T. Simmons, John D. Nicholas, E. W. James, G. H. Barger, J. M. Compton, A. H. Stilwell, W. E. Gault, J. P. Forbes, E. J. Stickle, and J. M. WiUiams.