Fairfield County, Ohio - Chapter 19: Great Lives and Noted Events, 1912

Chapter 19: Great Lives and Noted Events

Thomas Ewing, was born at West Liberty, Ohio county, West Va., December 28, 1789, and died at Lancaster, Ohio, October 26, 1 87 1. He was reared in Athens county, and was the first grachiate from the Ohio University at Athens, which was then die only institution of higher learning in the North-West Territory. He was reared amid the pri\alions of a frontier life, and secured an education by great effort and sacrifice.

He came to Lancaster in 1815, was admitted to the Ijar the following year antl quickly became successful in the practice of the law. For se\eral years he was prosecuting attorney of Fairfield Count}-, and in this position succeeded in stamping out the tratfic in counterfeit bank notes. Mr. Ewing soon rose to distinction in his profession, his prache served for six years. In the Senate he ranked with Clay and Webster, in profound statesmanship and great forensic ability, receiving from his colleagues the soubriquet of the "Logician of the West." Though opposed to the administration and in the minority, he, almost single handed, forced a reconstruction of the laws relating to the post oftice department and the public lands. He pre- ])ared and carried through Congress the bill settling the boundary dispute between Ohio and Michigan.

In 1 84 1 he was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by William Henry Harrison, but resigned some time after the succession of President Tyler. Upon the election of Presi- <lent Taylor, he was called by him, in 1849, to fill the office of Secretary of the Interior, then newly created, and this great and difficult department he organized and conducted until tice being confined almost entirel>- to the t^^ ^i^j^^i^ ^j- Taylor, a year later, when he rehigher courts. He took a keen interest in the signed, and was almost immediately after appolitical controversies of the 20's. and became pointed to the U. S. Senate to fill the unexthe leader of the Whig party in Ohio, and in pired term of Corwin. Upon its completion. 1830 was elected to the U. S. Senate, where he returned to the practice of the law.

During the war lie unreservedly supported the go\ernment. and liis judgment on matters of state was tre<]ucntly sought by Mr. Lincohi. When the capture of Mason and Slidell brought England and the United States to the \erge of hostilities, Ewing sent Mr. Lincoln the famous telegram that was decisive of the case. - "There can ht no contraband of war between neutral jjorts." He then hurried to Washington, and it was his advice that finally pre\ailed and saved the country from a fatal conflict with England. After the war he op- ]}osed the reconstruction methods of the Republican party and terminated all party affiliations.

Ewing ranked among the greatest lawyers of his day, some of his legal arguments in the State and National Supreme Courts having been accepted and (juoted by the bench and bar of that time, as authorities upon the questions involved. In habits, he was simple and austerely temperate ; in disposition, kind and considerate of others : in character, most honorable, lofty and patriotic. He was reared in no particular religious belief, but leaned towards Catholicity, into which faith he was received in his last days and lies buried in the Catholic cemetery at Lancaster.

Hugh Boyle Ewing, son of Hon. Thomas Ewing, was born at I^ncaster, Ohio, October 31, 1826. He was educated at the West Point Military Academy, went to California in 1849. returning east in 1855, was admitted to the bar, and in 1858 was married to Henrietta Young, of Maryland.

In 1861 he entered the army as major, .shortly after receiving a comnn'ssion as colonel anfl taking command of the 30th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. At the battle of South Mountain he commanded a brigade, and in that capacity he greatly distinguished himself at .\ntietani, near the Stone Bridge. saving, by a brilliant movement, the left Hank of the army from being driven in. Receiving the ajjpointment of brigadier-general, he led the assault at Vicksburg on the 22nd of May. displaying signal ])ravery and ability in that des])erate attack, and from that time until the surrender of the city, held an advance position of the army. Erom that time on until the close of the war, he commanded a division as major-general. As commander of the fourth division of the fifteenth army cor])S. he led the assault on Mission Ridge, gaining and holding the advance position in that engagement, although suffering a terrific loss. .\fterwards he ser\ed with efficiency and distinction as commander of the Department of Kentuck}-. until the close of the war, when he was brevetted major-general. As a soldier, he endeared himself to his men, for, although a severe disciplinarian, he always led them in their desperate charges, and his military ability ga\e them assurance against needless sacrifice of life.

General Ewing was ap])ointed by President Johnson, minister plenipotentiary of the United States to Holland, and di.scharged the duties of that position with credit until relieved by his successor under the next administration. Upon his return to the United States he engaged in the ])ractice of the law in Washington, D. C, until 1874. then removing to his boyhood home, I^ancaster, where he resided until his death, June 30. 1905. .\s a man and citizen he was esteemed for his honorable character, genial disposition and high literary attainments. He was the author of ".\ Ca.stle in the Air," "The Black List," and a number of shorter stories.

Gen. Thom.Vs Bwi.Nc. Jr

in Lancaster, Aug. 7, 1829. He attended private school in Lancaster, Greenfield Academy and Brown University. At the early age of nineteen he was private secretary to President Taylor. After this he attended Cincinnati law school and was graduated in 1855. Early in 1856 he was married to Ellen Ewing Cox, daughter of Rev. William Cox. For a brief time, Mr. Ewing practiced law in Cincinnati; afterwards, in 1857, moving to Leavenworth, Kan. He quickly rose to prominence as a lawyer and assisted in bringing about the admission of Kansas into the Union as a free state.

At the age of thirty-one he was elected Chjef Justice of the Supreme Court of the state of Kansas. In September, 1862, he resigned the chief justiceship and entered the Union Army as Colonel of the Eleventh Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry. For gallant conduct in the battle of Prairie Grove, in December, 1862, he was commissioned a Brigadier-General. From June, 1863, to February, 1864, he was in command in the District of the Border, comprising the State of Kansas and the western portion of Missouri. Later he was in command of southeast Missouri. In the fall of 1864 he fought the battle of Pilot Knob in which, with a single regiment, he held Fort Davidson and its approaches for several days against an army of 15,000 men commanded by Gen. Sterling Price and then escaped with almost his entire command. His operations saved the city of St. Louis from capture by General Price.

After the war he practiced law in Washington, D. C. Several years afterwards. Gen. Ewing moved to Lancaster and was elected a member of the constitutional convention of Ohio in 1873-74; a representative to Congress from 1877 to 1 88 1, and was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio in 1879. In Congress he was the leader in the successful fight to amend the resumption scheme, so as to provide that the greenbacks should be reissued instead of destroyed when once presented for redemption.

In 1 88 1 General Ewing retired from Congress and politics. He settled in Yonkers, New York, where his two sons, William C. Ewing and Thomas Ewing, Jr., are liying at the present time. He practiced law in New York City until his death which occurred on the 27st day of January, 1896. In alighting from a street car he was struck by a car coming in the opposite direction and sustained injuries from which he died. He was one of the founders of the Ohio Society of New York in 1886, and its president until 1889.

"In his everyday life he was pure and unselfish. Though full of high ambition, he was hopeful and cheerful under adversity and disappointment. In manner he was dignified and simple ; in conversation, ready and interesting, full of humor and amiability. Always generous and approachable, he had hosts of friends. No one appealed to him in vain. His hand gave help ; his heart compassion. He was an affectionate son and brother, a loving father, a devoted husband."

"Though Gen. Thomas Ewing removed to New York about fifteen years ago, he resided still in the warm afTections of the people of Ohio. His death will be mourned in every community in which he ever lived. Thomas Ewing was an ideal gentleman. Handsome in person, easy and gracious in manner, and lofty in his ideas, he made a deep impression on everybody he met. He was a gallant and effective soldier, an able lawyer, a sincere statesman, and a politician who set a high moral example in the practice of politics. He was worthy to be the son of the eminent Thomas Ewing of old, whose name is inseparably woven in the history of Ohio and the administration of national affairs."

Charles Robert Sherman

Charles Robert Sherman, the father ol John and William Tecumseh, was born in Norwalk, Ct., Sept. 17, 1788, of the best of New England parentage. He received a good education, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1810. The same year he was married to Mary Hoyt of Norwalk, who had received education at the Poughkeepsie Female Seminary, one of the best of the early schools. This young couple started out in life equipped well - were of fine parentage both of them - had a good education, and, as was shown by their after lives, a firm determination to make their mark in the world. Without a doubt these splendid characteristics of these pioneer parents were evidenced in the lives and careers of their most unusual children. In 1810 Charles R. Sherman made the long trip to Ohio from Connecticut to look up a location. He came to Lancaster, decided to locate there, and returned east for his wife. In the summer of 181 1 Mr. Sherman and his wife took their infant son, Charles Taylor, and started on that long and perilous journey. They traveled all of the way on horseback, alternately carrying the baby on a pillow before them.

Established in Lancaster in the prosecution of his profession, Mr. Sherman rose rapidly to prominence. In two years after locating here he was appointed by President Madison collector in internal revenue, and this position he held four years. But it was in the law that Charles Sherman made his reputation. His was a brilliant mind, enriched w ith the choicest gems from the classics. He made himself familiar not only with law but with whatever was worthy of reading outside the law.

During the pioneer years of Ohio, its lawyers were obliged to travel extensive circuits to practice their profession. They accompanied the courts from county to county and thus, as they traveled together and endured the same hardships and privations, the warmest personal friendships grew up between them. It is told that at one time Gen. Philamon Beecher, Judge William Irvin, Sherman and Ewing, were traveling to a southern county, when, because of swollen streams, they were delayed. Saturday night found them twenty miles from their destination. At the home of a kind host they enquired for public service on Sunday, not even thinking to pursue their journey on the Sabbath day. When told that there was no service on that day, it was agreed that Sherman should preach. Word was quickly sent about to the settlers that a lawyer would preach that Sunday and the little church was filled with an audience who heard a fine sermon from one of God's heroes.

In 1823 Sherman was elected by the legislatiue judge of the Supreme Court, and perhaps the only man in Ohio who doubted his ability to fill the honored position was Charles R. Sherman himself. His official associates were Calvin Pease, Jacon Burnet and Peter Hitchcock - names of renown in the judicial history of Ohio.

Judge Sherman was an able and conscientious judge. His written opinions show a mind of choicest legal capabilities. They are clear and comprehensive and are respected by this and other states as judicial dicta of the highest authority. He won the affection and confidence of his associates on the

In those early days it was required that the Supreme Court hold an annual term in each county of the state, two judges officiating. Everywhere that Judge Sherman held court he made friends, while the younger members of the bar idolized him. He had entered the sixth year of his official term, was in the meridian of his life - only 41 years old - when about to open a session of court at Lebanon, Warren county, and when apparently enjoying robust health, he was attacked by a fatal malady and died before his devoted wife could reach his bedside. It was in Lancaster among his friends and neighbors that the grief at his death was inexpressible. It is said that men wept in the street. One who knows says that he had not a personal enemy in the world.

The subject of our sketch filled a high place, but what shall we say of that mother who was left with the care of eleven children, no one of whom had reached his majority, and with limited means for their support? No wonder John Sherman, in his autobiography, says of her, "Of my mother I can scarcely write without emotion, though she died more than forty years ago."

The friends of John Sherman came to her support in caring for her children. Mr. Ewing was perhaps the closest friend in Lancaster and he came to the help of the widow and adopted William Tecumseh into his own family, rearing and educating him with his own children, and when a suitable age procuring for him a cadetship at West Point. John Sherman went at the age of eight to make his home with a cousin of the same name at Mt. Vernon and here he remained four years, returning to his mother at Lancaster at the age of twelve. The eldest son, Charles T., was for many years district judge of the northern district of Ohio.

In 1844 Mrs. Sherman removed to Mansfield, where John Sherman and the two youngest daughters made up the family. The children soon married and the mother kept house till her death in 1852. The eleven orphan children of Charles R. Sherman form an illustrious family. The daughters were all married to men who made their mark in the communities in which they lived. The sons were all prosperous in business or professions. Elizabeth married William J. Reese; Amelia, Robert McComb, of Mansfield; Julia, John G. Willock of Lancaster; Susan, Thomas W. Bartley of Mansfield, who became Governor of Ohio and judge of the Supreme Court, and Fannie married C. W. Moulton of Cincinnati. One granddaughter became the wife of Senator Don Cameron of Pennsylvania, another was the wife of Gen. Nelson A. Miles, U. S. A., another married Judge Samuel Reber of St. Louis, and a fourth is Mrs. Judge Granger of Zanesville.

The good mother lived to see her children well established in the world, and her two favorite sons just entering upon careers as wonderful and as honorable as any of the century.

General Sherman

The Shermans came from a long line of distinguished ancestry. They were of English blood, descended from Edmond Sherman, of Dedham, Essex County, England, who came with his family to Boston in 1635. The noted Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Senator Hoar, and William M. Evarts were all kindred. Many of these relatives were lawyers and judges, among them being Taylor Sherman (1758 to 1H15), a grandson - three generations removed - of Edmond Sherman, who received a land grant in Ohio, and was a prominent lawyer and judge in Norwalk, Connecticut.

His son Charles Robert was admitted to the bar in Norwalk, Conn. In that city he married Mary Hoyt, and in 181 1 they came to Ohio and settled in Lancaster. (See sket;ch of Judge Charles R. Sherman.) He was the father of the subject of this sketch and of U. S. Senator, John Sherman.

General Sherman was, by the death of his father in 1829, left an orphan, and Hon. Thomas Ewing, from the high regard in which he held the memory of Judge Sherman ofifered to adopt- the lad, then only nine years old. Thus it was that William, or "Cump," as he was most familiarly known, came to live with the elder Ewing, and remained there until he was sixteen, at which time he entered West Point as a student of military science. In 1850 he married the eldest daughter of his benefactor, Hon. Thomas Ewing. The association with Mr. Ewing and his noted family was, all through life, a wonderful benefit to General Sherman, for after Webster's death Thomas Ewing was the leader of the American bar. James G. Blaine, who knew him well, and was often a guest at his home in Lancaster, says of Mr. Ewing: "He was a grand and massive man, almost without peers. With no little familiarity and acquaintance with the leading men of the day, I can truly say I never met one who impressed me so profoundly." Thus it is readily seen that young Sherman had about him great men. for the Lancaster bar at that time had a long list of men of national repute, and

His early education was obtained in Lancaster schools. While on the playground among his playmates the tendency to command was seen, for he would marshal his l)oys on his side of the game, and by encouragement and direction win in their youthful sports. It is related that a Norman lad conquered, by grit and determination, a huge wolf hound. The royal father of the lad looked on in amazentent at the contest, but felt that it was an indication of future triumph. It was, for history now calls that lad William the Concjueror, the hero of the Battle of Hastings. So can we see, in the early life of the Sherman lad, on the school ground, something of the (lualities that led tlie Union forces to grand and lasting victory at Shiloh. at Vicksburg and Chattanooga, and that led them in irresistible sweep "From .Atlanta to the Sea."

He graduated from West Point sixth in his class, 1840, and he rose rapidly from the rank of Second Lieutenant to Captain; then, in the Civil War to Brigadier-General of Volunteers; Lieutenant-General in 1866, and Commander-in-chief in 1869.

Perhaps his most noted military achievement was the famous "March to the Sea." This was accomplished in the face of bitter opposition by the military experts who called the "March" the work of insanity, and said the army was destined to disaster.

In this expedition he took great risk, for he was in the enemy's country with no base of supply, and without surplus provisions. Yet he pressed boldly "On to the Sea," and on Christmas, 1864. sent this laconic message to President Lincoln : "I beg to present to you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah with 150 guns, plenty of ammunition and

25,000 bales of cotton." General Grant pronounced him "the best field officer the war had produced." Sherman had originality of design, such fertility of resource, and brilliant strategy that the world commended his genius. When his father, Charles Robert Sherman, was mildly criticized for giving his infant son the name of a "cruel, blood-thirsty Indian," he quietly replied: "Tecumseh was a great warrior and the greatest Indian of his race."

General Sherman was a plain, direct and forceful speaker. One of the most widely quoted expressions of any public man was that uttered by him in an address delivered at the old State Fair Grounds, now Franklin Park, Columbus, Ohio, on the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 11, 1880, before the Reunion of Civil War Veterans and ex-prisoners of war, in which he said : "There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, war is all hell."

From one who had seen war as he had seen it, this expression of a great truth caused profound discussion of the question, "Is war ever justifiable?" General Sherman died in February, 1891, in his home in New York City at the age of seventy-one. He was buried, at his own request, by the side of his wife and son William, in a cemetery in St. Louis, and he sleeps there today beneath a modest stone designed by himself.

General Sherman has honored Lancaster, where he was born and reared, and his name will never cease to be spoken with pride by every citizen of Lancaster and Fairfield County.

This sketch can be closed in no more forceful manner, than in the words of his biographer and friend. General Manning F. Force : "General Sherman was the most picturesque figure of the Civil War. His character was absolutely pure and spotless."

Hon. John Sherman

Of the many famous men born in Lancaster, Ohio, perhaps John and William Tecumseh Sherman are the two who are world wide in their fame. John Sherman was born at Lancaster, May 10, 1823. In early life, he struggled as other fatherless boys have done. He lived four years, from eight to twelve (1831-35) with a cousin of his father's at Mt. Vernon, Ohio. On his return to Lancaster he attended Howe's Academy for about two years, then we find him as rodman for Colonel Curtis, an engineer. His leisure moments were all spent in improving his mind, else how could he, at the age of twenty-one, after studying law with his brother, Charles T., at Mansfield, be admitted to the bar in 1S44, by the Supreme Court of Ohio. He began the practice of law with his brother, Charles, at Mansfield and it was soon evident that he would rise to eminence. In 1852, at a Whig Convention in Columbus as a delegate, he made a brief, though brilliant speech, and from that moment his political success was assured. In 1854 he was elected to Congress and as Congressman, U. S. Senator and member of the President's Cabinet, he was successively in office for 42 years. Senator Sherman was a true statesman and perhaps did more for his country in the lower House of Congress, and in the Senate, than any other one man. The "Philadelphia Ledger" in 1892 said of him, "In a conspicuous degree Senator Sherman of Ohio represents the noblest principles and traditions of the Republican party. He is an astute politician ; but much better than that, he is a wise, public-spirited, broad-minded statesman."

home for so many years. Like liis brother VVilham Tecumseli, he was modest and unassuming. He had great power as a speaker, but greater as a quiet reasoner and thinker. While he did not attain to the high rank of president, his work as a pubhc servant will stand the test of time. In all his success he never forgot the debt he owed to his mother, whose good sense, strong will, and tender love reared a large family almost unaided and alone. In his autobiography he pays her the tribute of a devoted son : "Of my mother I can scarcely write without emotion, though she died more than forty years ago."

John Trafford Brasee

John Trafford Brasee, in former years a leading light of the Fairfield County Bar, and one of the county's most eminent citizens, as well as one of the state's most eminent jurists, was born near Hillsdale, Columbia County, N. Y., December 24, 1800, a son of William and Magdalen (Trafford) Brasee. His paternal grandfather, Andreas Brasee, served in the Revolutionary War, as a member of the Tenth Regiment, Albany Company (Land Bounty Rights).

During the winter of 1817-18 he went to school to Arnold Truesdell, a young man but a very competent teacher. He spent this time in improving his penmanship and in completing his knowledge of arithmetic, ^\'hile attending this school lie wrote into a book provided for the purpose the entire contents of Dabell's arithmetic and worked out every sum therein and copied the work into that book. Thus the whole subject became very familiar to him and he never afterward had an}' difficulty in solving the most abstruse problems.

He came to Ohio in the summer of 1818. Knowing his education to be defective, Mr. Brasee made inquiry for the best school in Ohio and was directed to the Ohio LTniversity at Athens, Ohio. He proceeded to Athens, reaching there shortly after the Fourth of July, 1819 and went to board with Gen. John Brown, with whom he boarded almost continually for seven years. He immediately entered the grammar school of the college, having about $100 of J. H. Piatt's money, which was the principal currency at that day in that part of Ohio. He gave it as payment on his board to General Brown.

He had not been in Athens long before he made the acquaintance of Henry Bartlett, the clerk of the court, and was employed by him to assist him whene\er he had leisure time. After being there for a couple of years he taught a village school for one quarter. In January, 1824, Mr. Thomas Ewing was desirous of employing a competent teacher to take charge of the Academy at Lancaster and Mr. Brasee was employed at $200.00 for six months, he first having obtained leave of absence from the faculty of his college.

Coming to Lancaster with Mr. Ewing, he stopped at John Noble's hotel. That evening, in the parlor of that hotel he met the trustees of the Academy. These included Mr. Ewing, Judge Scofield, John Noble, Samuel F. Mac- Cracken, David Reese and others. After informing him about their academy, the meeting adjourned with the understanding that he was to be the teacher.

He remained here without intermission for six months, which brought him to August, 1824 - the time when the commencement at Athens took place. He returned to Athens, graduated with his class and declined a reappointment as instructor in the Academy.

Soon after his return to .Athens, Mr. Bartlett, being an aged man, gave him charge of all his clerical work - dividing fees equally - and the possession of a room near his office where he could read law. He began the study of law with Joseph Dana, the professor of languages in the college, who came every Saturday night to examine him in his studies. In the spring of 1826 - his two years of the study of law had expired - he having entered himself as a law student before his graduation. At that time he was well qualified for admission to the bar. When the Supreme Court met at Burlington in Lawrence County, he was examined by Judges Peter Hitchcock and Jacob Burnett and was admitted to the bar. He selected Gallipolis as a good place to open his law office. Thomas Irvin, who lived there had the winter previous been elected President Judge, and Samuel F. Vinton was then and for several years afterward a member of congress. He provided himself with a fine horse and other necessary things and began to attend the courts regularly in the counties of Gallia. Lawrence, Scioto, Pike. Jackson. Athens, Washington and Meigs, and at Point Pleasant, Va.

His practice grew far exceeding his expectations, and by the fall term of 1829 he purchased a fine lot, paid for it and commenced the building of a two-story dwelling. In November of that year - 1829 - he was married to Mary Jane Scofield, daughter of Judge Elnathan Scofield of Lancaster, 0. That winter they boarded with the widow of Edward W. Tupper and in the spring following moved into their new home, which was just completed.

Mr. Brasee's law practice became very extensive, covering not only this state but extending into numerous other states and into the United States Courts. Mr. Brasee first appears in the Ohio reports in the case of Smith vs. Bing, 3, O., 33, which was decided in 1827. the year after his admission. The Ohio bar. during Mr. Brasee's active career, contained many able men, of great ability and legal learning. He stood as a peer among them and was not only an able advocate and profound lawyer, but a highly cultured and agreeable gentleman. He was noted on the circuit for his apt and (juaint anecdotes. He was a brilliant speaker and was very successful before juries. His arguments on the facts of a case were remarkable for their completeness in presenting the whole case, showing the mastery of the facts and an appreciation of the strong and weak points on each side, and ability to sift evidence, and apply it to build up his theory as to the truth of the matter. His leading characteristic was his knowledge of the law in its most elementar)' principles. In special pleading and in equity pleading he was a master and he was ready and proficient in all matters of evidence and practice, which made him formidable in the trial of cases. His forte was in arguments to the court. His mind was at once acute and logfcal and his industry was such that he was always found fully armed and ready for the fray, whoever might be the champion of the other side.

JOHN SCOFIELD BRASEE, one of the leading lawyers of his generation at the Fairfield Co. bar, was one of Nature's great men. He was born in Gallipolis, Ohio, August 19, 1832, his parents being John Trafford Brasee and Mary Jane (Scofield) Brasee.

In 1833 the parents of the subject of this sketch, John T. Brasee and Mary Jane (Scofield) Brasee, removed with their two children - Ellen (later Mrs. T. W. Tallmadge) and John S. Brasee - to Lancaster, Ohio, where the latter continued to reside imtil his death, which occurred February 2^, 1905. His early education was obtained in the public and such private schools as were available. At the age of thirteen he entered the Greenfield Academy, re- maining there two years, under the tutorage of the distinguished educator Dr. John Williams, after which time he spent one year at Milnor Hall, Gambier, Ohio, under the Rev. Norman Badger. He then entered Kenyon College, became a member of the Philomathesian Literary Society, and at the completion of the entire scientific and classical courses, ranked first in his classes in scholarship and deportment.

A pleasing incident occurred in 1882. when John Trafford Brasee Jr., son of John S. Brasee. was receiving his A. B. degree from this same institution. Without soUcitation, or any knowledge of the faculty's intention on his part. President Bodine, with an eloquent tribute to the achievements of John S. Brasee, conferred upon him the M. A. degree.

On the completion of his college course, John S. Brasee immediately entered upon the study of law with his distinguished father John Trafiford Brasee, and was admitted to the bar in 1854. In partnership with his father he began the practice of his profession and continued with him until the latter's retirement in i860.

John S. Brasee was endowed by Nature with a master mind, and by the opinions of his elder compeers, among whom were Thomas Ewing, Sr., Henry Stanbery, John TrafYord Brasee, Hocking H. Hunter, and many others, he rapidly rose to great distinction as a lawyer of thorough and complete education, great genius and power at the bar, both as a profound jurist and brilliant advocate, and as a student and leader of thought and argument on great legal questions. One by one these legal lights went out and he remained the oracle of the Lancaster bar as long as he lived.

He was now at the zenith of his intellectual vigor and professional greatness, and as counsel in more than two hundred cases pending at one time upon his home docket, and a practice extending over the State of Ohio and into various other states, and into all the courts, State and Federal, he was for many years the busiest man in h'airfield County. His friends and c(jntemporaries throughout the State, conceded that, as lawyer and advocate, his talents and achievements were second to none in the judicial history of this County.

Gen'l. Chas. H. Grosvenor in writing of Judge Brasee says: - "It is seldom that there has appeared in Ohio a man who reached such distinction as a lawyer and yet took so great and constant an interest in public affairs of every character. . . . He was able, eloquent and accurate, he never boasted. . . . He held the profession of law in such esteem and placed its attributes and requirements at such high valuation, that he could not do any act in connection with his profession that did not honor his life and adorn his character. . . . In social life John S. Brasee was one of the pleasantest of men. His wit and repartee were of the highest character and an hour with him in social conference was a pleasure and a joy to his friends among whom I might mention, Gen'l Sherman, John Sherman, Gen'l Lew Wallace, Gen'l Thomas, Gen'l Custer, Gen'l Scofield, Rutherford B. Hayes, James G. Blaine. Gen'l Phil Sheridan and Chief Justice Waite. He left behind him a record of a great lawyer. He was a faithful friend and a citizen the memory of whom the state of Ohio may well be proud."

Mr. Brasee was a general practitioner, excelling in all departments of the law and was an expert in railroad corporation law. He lived in an age of great development of railroads and always manifested an active interest in the same. He was the efficient power in tlie organization of the Ohio and West Virginia Railroad, now a part of the Hocking Valley, and was its first president. As a boy he assisted in the survey of the Cincinnati & Muskingum Valley Railroad, now a part of the Pennsyhania system, and during his entire professional career of nearly fifty years, was employed by them in some legal capacity, and as general solicitor for about forty years prior to his death. He was tendered the position of general counsel for the Pennsylvania lines west of Pittsburg magnates to locate in New York City and and was sought by the Nickel Plate Railroad there engage exclusively in this department of law, both of which offers he declined, not wishing to remove from his native state.

The Bar of Fairfield County has included, among others, such giants as the elder Ewing and Henry Stanberry ; and a greater compliment cannot be paid to it than to refer to the fact that in later days it numbered among its members. Chas. D. Martin and John S. Brasee; the peers of any lawyer that Ohio has yet produced.

Hon. Chas. D. Martin

Hon. Charles D. Martin, whose services on the bench and at the bar and in offices of great public responsibility have justly made his name a distinguished one in Ohio, was still in active practice when he had reached his eighty-first year, an age when the ordinary man seeks his "slippered ease." Judge Martin was born August 5, 1829, at Mount Vernon, O., and was a son of Joseph and Susan (Thomas) Martin. His ancestry is traceable to both England and Ireland. In 1806 his grandfather became an early settler in Knox County, Ohio.

Charles D. Martin prepared for a higher educational institution in the local schools and later became a satisfactory student in Kenyon College, at Gambler, and following this studied law for several years with the law firm of Martin & Effinger, in Fairfield County, and in 1850, was admitted to the bar. He almost immediately located at Lancaster antl with her bar he has been almost continuously identified ever smce, his intervals of absence being when performing high official duties at other points, for which his exceptional talents made him eligible. In 1858 he was elected to Congress on the Democratic ticket and served usefully and honorably through his term, which expired in March, 1 86 1. In the troubled days that followed he had no desire to continue in political life, and for many years thereafter confined his attention to the practice of law and to the duties of good citizenship in the place of his residence, accepting many responsibilities which naturally fell upon him as a leader in civic matters.

From his comparative seclusion, Mr. Martin was called in 1883, by Gov. Charles Foster, to become a member of the Supreme Court commission to assist the Supreme Bench in clearing a docket which was many years in arrears. With the assistance of Judge Martin, the work of this commission was completed in two years. This appointment as judge of the Supreme Court was particularly acceptable as it was a personal tribute to his qualifications as a lawyer, and was entirely removed from political preference. In 1885 and again in 1886, his party brought him forward as a candidate for supreme judge, but since that time he never permitted the use of his name in connection with public office. Judge Martin was one of

General Georue Sanderson

In 1873, Judge Martin was married to Miss Anna Mithoff, daughter of G. A. Alithoff, formerly of Lancaster, O., and three of their children survive.

Governor Medill

Gov. William Medill. The name of W'illiam Medill must be added to the long list of Lancaster's famous men. He was not a native of Ohio but was born in 1802 in the state of Delaware. He received a liberal education for those early days, was admitted to the bar, but did not gain as great eminence in his profession as he did in politics. In 1835, 1836 and 1837 he was a member of the Ohio Legislature from Fairfield County from 1839 to 1843 he served two terms in Congress. Under President Polk, he was First Assistant Postmaster General, and afterwards commissioner of Indian affairs. In 1850 he was a member of the Ohio Constitutional Convention, in 185 1 was elected lieutenant-governor and in the year 1854 was elected governor. President Buchanan appointed Gov. Medill Comptroller of the Treasury which position he filled with credit. At the close of Buchanan's term he retired to Lancaster where he died in 1865. Gov. Medill was never married. At his death, he left his fine estate to his nephew and namesake, William Medill. of Lancaster.

Group Ii The Sanderson Family

Editor's Note. In every community there is some one person who stands out prominently among the other inhabitants. In the early history of Lancaster and Fairfield County and of the entire Hocking Valley that person was Gen. George Sanderson.

Fairfield County is still honored by a nephew of Gen. George Sanderson. Mr. William Sanderson, a successful farmer residing three and a half miles east of Bremen. Modest in his tastes, but of the same sturdy stock, he reminds you at once of his uncle, the noted general.

It will be noted that frequent reference in these pages is made to the historic address of Gen. George Sanderson, delivered in 1844 before the Lancaster Literary Society. For this and other reasons it is deemed proper to give herewith a sketch of the Sanderson family, the facts for which were kindly furnished by Mr. William Sanderson, compiled by Rev. R. J. Black of Bremen and published in the "Lancaster Gazette" in 1899.

Your reference in the "Gazette" recently to the late General George Sanderson, for many years one of the leading citizens of Lancaster in the olden time, has interested not a few of your readers, especially those who were acquainted with him or with other members of the family. They were originally from Scotland though they came to this country from the North of Ireland - Scotch- Irish as the term goes. Many of the Scotch were compelled to flee from their native land in the days of persecution - now most happily driven away by the light which has shined'out of "The Written Word."

The family came to Ohio from Pennsylvania, making a short stop on the way in Kentucky and after a brief stay in Chillicothe. they located in Fairfield County. It it not certainly known from what part in Pennsylvania they came but most probably from Mifilin County, as quite a number of the leading families in Eastern Fairfield - the Larimers, the Works, the Hustons, the Blacks, the McCulloughs, the Everitts, the McCandlishes. etc. - were from Miiflin County.

The parents of the family were Alexander Sanderson and Elizabeth Robertson. They were married in Pennsylvania Jan. 22, 1788, a hundred and eleven years ago. Their children were George, born Jan. 10, 1789: Alargaret. born March 11, 1791; Robert, born July 23, 1793: William A., born June 16, 1796; Alexander, born July 14, 1799; Elizabeth, born May 7, 1802.

George Sanderson was married to Nancy Abrams. He died in 1871. Their children were George, Saint Clair, Alexander, Maria (Mrs. Crim) and Emma (Mrs. Julian), all deceased but George, now a resident of Lancaster but who has traveled extensively having been in the Sandwich Islands and other distant countries.

Robert married Hannah Kerr ; both are deceased, leaving no heirs. Margaret was married to Judge Heck near Somerset, and the only one of their family now living is the widow of their son, formerly Rachel Shaffer, now at the advanced age of 86.

William A. Sanderson married Hannah Kerr. His death in the prime of life, over fifty years ago, was greatly regretted, but his widow took good care of the young children and raised them well. There were five sons and three daughters. One daughter Margaret (Mrs. Johnston) and two sons, Robert and George, and their mother died a number of years ago. The survivors are Elizabeth, Mary (Mrs. Funk), Alexander, John and William.

The family were all valuable citizens - Whigs in politics in the olden time. "The Lancaster Gazette" has been taken regularly by William A. Sanderson and his family ever since its establishment in 1826.

Three of the brothers, George, Robert and William A., served their country in the war of 1812; and among other experiences were part of the forces surrendered by Gen. Hull at Detroit. The Hull surrender was so generally considered unnecessary and disgraceful that they did not observe the terms of their parole, but went to work and raised another company, which they took to the front: and George became a Major General.

In his 3-outhful days, George carried the mail on horseback along a portion of "Zanes trace" (as it was called) from Chillicothe through Lancaster, Rushville and Somerset to Zanesville once a week and return.

In after life George Sanderson was for many years justice of the peace in Lancaster, and it was no uncommon thing for persons in distant parts of the county who had some special case to take it to Squire San- <lerson. One such occurrence is recalled when the procession of persons from New .Salem to Lancaster in vehicles and on horseback extended for one-fourth of a mile. Robert Sanderson was Justice of the Peace for a number of years in Rush Creek Township.

In those old days persons were known in order to benefit their own lands changed public roads, and made them worse; something which would not be allowed now. But the public spirit of William A. Sanderson was shown by his changing a road on his farm from a verj' bad place to some of his best land; all at his own instance and without remuneration.

A much worn copy of "The Lancaster Gazette" for March 22, 1844 ("Gazette and Express" then), now on the desk, contains an interesting address dehvered by Gen. Sanderson concerning old times in the West and in Lancaster, the request for its publication being signed by William Medill (afterward Governor of Ohio), Joshua Clarke, M. A. Daugherty, John C. Pearce and Geo. T. McDonald.

After his patriotism the distinguishing trait in Gen. Sanderson's character was his fairness and exact justice to all with whom he became acquainted in any way. His business qualifications were very good and his intellectual attainments without any benefit from advanced schools were altogether in advance of his time.

The eldest daughter of Charles R. Sherman was Mary Elizabeth, bom April 12. 181 2. She lived 78 years in Lancaster - all of her life, except ten years in Philadelphia. She enjoyed a wide acquaintance, was a cultured and refined woman - an extremely interesting woman - the center of social life of Lancaster for three-f|uarters of a century. .\t the age of seventeen years she was married to William J. Reese, a Philadelphia lawyer who had located in Lancaster and together they spent more than fifty years of married life in Lancaster. Mrs. Reese spent the last days of her life in her historic old home with her son. Col. Henry B. Reese, who on July 3, 1888, retired to Lancaster after 27 years' service in the United States army. The children of General and Mrs. Reese are Col. Henry B. Reese, Mrs. Margaret Reber, whose husband was Judge Samuel Reber. of St.

Louis, Mrs. Granger, wife of Judge M. W. Granger of Zanesville, Mrs. .Alfred M. Hoyt of New York City, and Miss Julia Leah Reese of Lancaster. In 1900 Mrs. Reese passed away in Lancaster. Tiie local chapter Daughters of .American Revcjlution, is named in her honor the Elizabeth Sherman Reese Chapter.

Augustus Ruffner Keller was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, July i, 1838, and died at his home in Lancaster, Ohio, May II, 1896, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. He was the youngest son of Daniel and Susannah Ruffner Keller, who were among the earliest, most widely known and most highly respected of the pioneer families of Fairfield County.

A. R. Keller was a citizen of Fairfield County, comparatively all his life. Born and reared an unpretentious farmer boy, he received his early education in the local schools of the county, and later he attended college at Otterbein University at Westerville, and also at Ohio University at Athens. Intellectually, he was of a bright spirited nature; his fund of information was unlimited, and consecpiently he was a keen conversationalist, delighting all with whom he conversed. His patriotic sympathies early made him a student of the times which preceded the rising of the secession war cloud of 1 861, and when its dark shadow enveloped our country in its threatening folds, he unhesitatingly took the step which gave the best years of his young manhood to the cause of Union and Freedom. No braver or truer soldier ever served his country and he was a great friend to all who wore the blue.

was made first lieutenant; transferred to Co. B in July, 1863; appointed captain and A. Q. M. in August, 1864; and subsequently quartermaster of civil engineers on Gen. Steedman's stafif, stationed at Chattanooga, Dept. of Gen. Thomas' Army of the Cumberland.

At the close of the war, on April 20, 1865, he was married to Miss Margaret McFarland, the youngest daughter of the venerable pioneer of Greenfield Township, Mr. Walter McFarland. To this union were born four children: Helen J., of Lancaster and Dan M., of Chicago, while the two youngest, Edith and Henry Wilson, had preceded the father to the spirit land.

In addition to his very creditable military career, Capt. Keller served the public in various positions of trust and responsibility in civil life. He was always active in all educational matters and served various terms on the county boards of education, where his name bears a living influence. He also served a number of years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Ohio Penitentiary. He was a presidential elector in the campaign of 1876, which resulted in the election of R. B. Hayes as president, under whom he was appointed as Indian Agent for the Crow Reservation, which place he creditably filled from 1878 to 1883.

Capt. Keller was a member of the Ohio Commandery of Loyal Legion and of the Ezra Rickets Post, G. A. R., of Carroll. He was an uncompromising Republican, devoted and loyal to his party. As a publicspeaker he was eloquent and much in demand. As a journalist he was keen, intelligent and forceful. As a friend, he was true as steel, with a great big heart ever attuned to the calls of suffering humanity.

the funeral and paid a most worthy and eloquent tribute to a worthy man. Then wrapped in the flag that he had loved so well, the body was carried to its last resting place by the following, all of whom were intimate friends: Captains O. B. Brandt, H. O. Harden, Jacob Orman, G. W. Welsh and John Strentz. A military salute was fired, the trumpet sounded "taps" and the funeral rites were over.

Mr. Henry J. Booth was born at Lancaster, Ohio, March 14, 1849. a son of Henry Madison Booth, a descendant of a collateral branch of the James Madison family, and Ann A. (Jones) Booth, of Welsh, English and Scotch descent : educated in the public schools of Licking County - later at Dennison University - and Amherst College, from which Mr. Booth received the degree of A. B. in 1873. He was admitted to the bar in 1874 and has practiced continually in Columbus since that time. He is now (1912) the senior member of the firm of Booth, Keating, Peters and Pomerene.

In politics Mr. Booth is an ardent democrat and served his state as member of the General Assembly 1878-79. He has been a Trustee of the Ohio State University, Starling Medical College, Columbus Medical College and a lecturer on medico-legal jurisprudence in the Columbus Medical College, and is now a trustee of Starling-Ohio Medical College. He is the author of "Law of Street Railways" the pioneer and the standard text-book on that subject.

A member of the bar thus speaks of Henry J. Booth : "It may be safely said that in medico-legal cases he has no equal in Central Ohio, and that he has been employed in nearly every important will case that has been tried in the courts of Franklin County for a quarter of a century. He is an all round lawyer, as safe and conservative as a counselor as he is efficient in the court room. His oratorical powers are of a high order and his arguments, whether oral or written, are logical and forceful, and statements of fact are re-inforced by pertinent citations of authority. Scholarly attainments; a modest, dignified, gentlemanly bearing; a respectful consideration of his professional associates and of the courts : a loyal devotion to clients and friends ; a high moral sense ; high ideals of civic duty - these are the qualities which have made Mr. Booth a leader in his community, not only as a lawyer, but as a citizen."

In July 1876 Mr. Booth was married to Miss Madge I. Coney. They have four children - Florence (Mrs. Charles D. Young), George H. Booth, admitted to the bar in 1906; Marjorie, and Herbert Barton.

Dr. Henry C. Eyman

Dr. Henry C. Eyman, superintendent of the Massillon State Hospital, at Massillon, Ohio, was born in Fairfield County, Ohio. April 13th, 1856. His early education was obtained at Fairfield Union Academy. After completing the course at that institution he taught school for several years, and then entered the Columbus Medical College, where he graduated with the class of 1880. Since then he has made mental and nervous diseases his great specialty.

His first location was at Tarlton, Pickaway County, Ohio, where failing health, due to the severe exposures of country practice, forced him out of the active work for a short time. He and his brother, Lou Eyman, purchased a drug store in Lancaster. In 1884 he was appointed assistant physician at tlie .\thens

Asylum. In July, 1887, he was appointed assistant superintendent of the new asylum at Toledo. His success in the treatment of those mentally ill brought him deserved recognition, and his ability was so thoroughly demonstrated that he was made superintendent of the asylum at Newburg, Cleveland, on August 6, 1891. He remained at the head of this institution until November i, 1899, when he was unanimously called to the superintendency of the Massillon State Hospital, to succeed the renowned Richardson, who had been elected to preside over the Government Hospital at Washington.

Under Dr. Eyman's superintendency at Cleveland the last of the mechanical means of restraint were abolished. Under the old regime dozens of patients were kept in solitary confinement, tied to benches and chairs, slept in cribs, were daily subjected to the muff and straight jacket. Dr. Eyman had been educated in the school of non-restraint under the accomplished Richardson, and the great, lovable Tobey; consequently these almost mediaeval means of controlling the insane were quickly abandoned and diversion, occupation and recreation were substituted. The doctor was for twelve years Professor of Mental and Nervous Diseases in the Cleveland College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the Ohio State Medical and the .\nierican Medico-psychological Associations.

He has written numerous monographs, and his contributions to the literature of his specialty liave attracted much attention. He was appointed a member of the building board of the Massillon State Hospital, then the Eastern .\sylum for the Insane, by Governor McKinley, and consecpiently has been associated with the work at this institution since its inception.

The founder of the Eyman family in Ohio was the Doctor's great grandfather. Henry Eyman, who, a farmer, settled in Fairfield County, Ohio, soon after the Revolutionary War, in which he had fought under General Washington. Henry Eyman, the first, settled in Virginia over 200 years ago. Henry B. Eyman, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a school teacher and farmer, and for the last ten years of his life was mayor of New Salem, Ohio. He had eight children, namely D. S., late a resident of Rushville, Fairfield County. Samantha Henderson, late a resident of New Salem, Maggie Spitler, now a resident of Pleasantville, Ohio: C. B.. Lou E. and Homer E., residents of Lancaster; Frank I'., assistant traffic manager Chicago and Northwestern Railway, and Henry C, our subject.

Dr. Eyman was married September u. 1880, in Fairfield County, to Miss Lestia, a daughter of Warren Dern, a stock dealer of New Salem, Ohio. Mrs. Eyman died October 21. 1908, at Massillon. Ohio. Two daughters, Ethel and Gladys, live with their father at the Superintendent's residence, Massillon State Hospital.

Mrs. Nettie Kagay Gravett - Among the sons and daughters of Ohio who have taken up their residence in the far West is Mrs. Nettie Kagay Gravett. State Librarian of Colorado. Mrs. Gravett was born at Bremen, Fairfield County. Ohio, during the throes of the Civil War. She is the only daughter of Rudolph and Anne Taylor Kagay, and on both sides of the family is descended from distinguished Revolutionary ancestry. On the paternal side she has as her fifth removed grandfather, James Patterson, who was the leader of William Penn in the Cresap Rebellion.

Mrs. Gravett received her education in the common schools of Fairfield County, at Fairfield Union Academy and at Oxford College, Oxford, O., graduating from the last named institution in the last class under Dr. Robert Desha Morris, who was for forty years president of that school and one of the greatest educators of his time.

In 1888 she was married to John Gravett. the oldest son of Mr. and Mrs. John Gravett, prominent citizens of Lancaster, O., and went to Little Rock, Ark., where her husband was engaged in business. They lived there but a short time and then removed to Denver in 1889. At that time the Woman's Club movement was in its beginning and Mrs. Gravett became identified with it and took active part in organizing and establishing clubs in different parts of the state where she lived from time to time. She served the Colorado State Federation of Women's Clubs, an organization of 10,000 women, as chairman of the Art Committee, first vice president, and is at the present time the General Federation State Secretary.

Mrs. Gravett has also been an active worker in the Daughters of the American Revolution and at present is State Conference Registrar, D. A. R. Through the genealogical department in the State Library she is arousing much interest in genealogy and building up the patriotic societies in the West.

Ever since women were given the right of suffrage in Colorado Mrs. Gravett has exercised her rights of citizenship and has taken a deep interest in the political welfare of her state, at all times loyal to the cause of women and serving her party faithfully whenever and wherever needed. When her husband died five years ago, her friends in Ohio urged her to return East, but she said, "No I would never live in a state where I could not have the rights of citizenship. A woman's chance for happiness in her home and success in business is infinitely greater in a suffrage state and I will cast my lot in Colorado."

At this time Mrs. Gravett turned to library work. She took the training in Library Science and was appointed librarian of the new Carnegie Library at Salida, Colorado. She opened and organized this library, which is considered one of the finest in the state. In January, igii, Mrs. Gravett was appointed to the ofifice of State Librarian by Mrs. Helen M. Wixson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Here she is working with her characteristic zeal and enthusiasm. She has undertaken the work of cataloguing the library and is trying to widen its scope of usefulness, to raise its standard. She is putting forth her best efforts to eliminate politics from library management, and to better library conditions in Colorado.

Hon. John G. Reeves

Mount Pleasant, which is the highest solitary mountain in Ohio, is situated one mile due north of the crossing of Main and Broa J streets, Lancaster. It rears its head 250 feet above the surrounding plain. It has a base, one and one-half miles in circumference, and its top is not more than two acres in extent, so that the whole resembles a hugh pyramid. As to the texture. Prof. Hyde says "Mt. Pleasant, at Lancaster, is composed wholly of sandstones, which are Cuyahoga in age, and it requires considerable elasticity of imagination to believe that the massive, coarse, pebbly sandstones found here were deposited simultaneously with the shales on Salt Creek. Such is, however, the case."

It is said also by geologists that an inland sea once spread over Central Ohio, and that from out of this vast expanse of water, "Standing Stone," as it was called by the Indians, raised its head, a solitary island. The main approach is by a gradual ascent from the east. Three of its sides are seamed by deep ravines and gullies, while the fourth or western slope is abrupt and sheer. 325 feet above the level of the Hocking river. Mount Pleasant is a place of unusual interest to all strangers because of the beautiful view which its summit affords of the surrounding country. The valley of the Hocking river is seen many miles in both directions and the Reform i'arm can be seen six miles to the southwest. The Uuke of Saxony visited it in 1828 and carved his name in the yielding sandstone where it is still visible. This mountain has been the scene of a number of tragic deaths - people have fallen from its summit over the perpendicular side, and death has relieved their suffering before they reached the base. The well known "Summer House." a natural recess carved by the ages from the western side, was almost inaccessible until in recent years. an artificial ladder was placetl there. This latter device has removed much of the hazard in reaching the "Summer House." Before the ladder was put in place, many men and women, each year, risked their lives in gaining this chamber.

Emerson Bennett, has added lustre to the ond Mt. Pleasant, and lastly "Rising Park'" age-old story of the rock. Three names from the fact that Mr. Philip Rising purhave, in as many periods of time, designated chased the mountain, and graciously prethis grand old pile of Nature's handiwork, sented it to the city of Lancaster as a public First the Indian name, Standing Stone, sec- park.