Richland County, Ohio - Chapter 37: A Chapter of Tragedies, 1880

Chapter 37: A Chapter of Tragedies

ICHLAND COUNTY has not been free \ from murders and crimes of every description, and though it is an unpleasant task to record these and equally unpleasant, perhaps; to read them, yet they are matters of record, and fall properly within the province of the historian. They will be hastily reviewed without regard to minutize, and are collected into a chapter, that those who care not to read of these things may pass on. In an early day, the frontier was infested (as it is to-day) with a class of "roughs" and criminals, who had perhaps escaped the clutches of the wilds of the West for greater safety. This fact, together with the fact that whisky was in general use in those days, rendered the border rather unsafe ; fighting was frequent and killing occasional. The taking of life in this way was not always, indeed seldom, considered as murder. A few only of the most prominent of these crimes are here considered. One of the earliest murders occurring in the county, caused by whisky, was that of Samuel Crispin, who killed a man named Lintholm in a drunken brawl in Millsborough, in Springfield Township. Crispin, who was a powerful man, struck Lintholm with his fist, killing him almost instantly. Crispin was cleared.

GRAVER Murprr - Kixrine or Mock spy Poot - Muroper or Mrs. Lunsrorp - A Boy Kiuts His BrotHer - Morpver or Wittram S. Finney - TuHe Kirniinc or Atrreo PAtm - How Mansrietp TreATED HER on the street, in the broad light of day, and stabbed him to death, though, to the immediate' friends of the parties, it was not, perhaps, unexpected. The trouble grew out of remarks continually made by Barker derogatory to the character of Bowland's wife. The two men were brothers-in-law, young, and full of the fire of life. It was a premeditated murder, for Bowland put a dagger in his pocket before leaving home, and started out in quest of his victim, while yet his brain was in a whirl of passion, and when in this condition the deed was done. He found Barker talking to a friend on the street, and stepping up to him he touched him on the shoulder to call his attention, and, without a word, plunged the fatal dagger into his heart.

He was found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced to be hanged, but the sentence was commuted to imprisonment for life, and, after a few years in the penitentiary, he was pardoned. He went West and there died.

In 1848, a murder was committed in front of the North American Hotel. The trouble originated with two colored employes of the hotel - cause, jealousy. A mulatto, named Broadwell, loved the wife of John Brown, not wisely but too well ; and, if the latter did not premeditate murder, he at least sought revenge. Broadwell was rather a stylish darkey, better look- jealousy of Mr. Brown. make his manly form symmetrical, wore a yery tight belt, which proved the cause of his death. The two met one day on the pavement, when.an explosion took place, and Brown struck Broadwell with a cane on the tight belt, causing the rupture of a blood-yessel. and death followed.

Brown was tried and sentenced to the penitentiary, but, after serving out part of his sentence, was pardoned, and disappeared from this vicinity.

In 1851 or 1852, John Welch was convicted of killing his wife. It was proved on the trial that he threw her into a well; the jury found a verdict of murder in the first degree and Welch was sentenced to be hanged. A motion for a new trial, however, prevailed, but the case was put off for some reason from year to year, meanwhile the -prisoner lying in jail. Before the case could again be brought to trial, the prisoner died in jail. The murder occurred in Jackson Township.

The name of one of its citizens, about and before the year 1850, was Return J. M. Ward. It is a well-remembered name by the older citizens. This Ward was a tailor by trade, but seems to have engaged in keeping a hotel called the Eagle House, in Planktown. Just when he came or where he came from has not been ascertained, and matters little. He was a liying personification of the ogres of the fairy tales - being a large, broad-shouldered man, bald, with a little ring of black, wiry hair around his head; thick neck, broad, high, forehead ; clean shaven, except a large goatee ; and |

Noah Hall was a resident of the town at the same time. He came in 1849, was a bachelor, boarded with Ward, and kept a store; carried a general stock, such as country stores were compelled to carry in those days. Hall went making sucha trip in March, 1851, when the little village was startled one morning by finding him dead in his storeroom. where he was in the habit of sleeping. He had been collecting money for some weeks, which he carried on his person ; but just what amount was not known. Two men, Myers and McGravy, brothers-in-law, ° Irishmen by birth, were suspected of being the murderers ; the grand jury found an indietment against them, and they were put on trial for the crime. The evidence was not sufficient and they were acquitted. The real murderer might have been suspected, but was never publicly charged with the crime, and continued to ply his avocation and live among the neighbors of the murdered man as if nothing had happened. Some "time after this, a peddler who had stopped at the Kagle House overnight, then kept by R. J. M. Ward and Thomas Griffith, disappeared suddenly and was never afterward heard from; but as he had no friends, and as Ward had said that he went away early in the morning, nothing was thought of the matter ; it was not investigated, and if anybody suspected the peddler had heen murdered, they kept their own counsel. Among those who suspected Ward of murdering the peddler, was his (Ward's) wife, who worried over the crime so much that she became insane, and was sent to the asylum. Ward became so 'odious in Planktown, that he finally rented the hotel and went away. In February, 1857, R. J. M. Ward was arrested and tried for the murder of his wife (he seems to have married again), at Sylvania, a little town west of Toledo. He was convicted of the murder and sentenced to be hanged. His Planktown murders were yet unknown to the public, but when he knew he must be hanged that there was no longer any hope of reprieve, he made a confession, of which the following is the substance : "Of the crime of murdering Noah Hall, I alone am guilty. On the night of the day of March, 1851, I entered his store secretly, by the door, while he was asleep, unseen by any human eye, and committed the deed. Knowing he was about starting for New York, to purchase goods, and that he had collected a considerable sum of money, [I laid my plans and resolved to take his life, as the only means of possessing myself of the coveted treasure. Before dark, on the previous day, I went to his store, and, in his absence, unfastened the back door, and left it in a condition to be opened easily. At midnight, I left my house, entered

I was armed with a heavy iron poker, square and large at one end, and tapering to a rounded point at the other. Having carefully ascertained his position, I struck the point through his skull, on the left side, above the ear, and then gave him a violent blow with the heavy end of the poker, on top of the head. He then began to struggle, and I seized his. pillow and held it tight over his mouth, to prevent any sound from escaping, and, with the other hand, grasped his windpipe strongly, and held him thus till he ceased to struggle and life was evidently extinct, It was a fearful struggle, and I felt a sad relief when it was over. There was no great flow of blood from the wound, and no stain on my clothes.

"When I was satisfied that he was dead, I dragged the body to the back part of the store and commenced my search for the expected treasure. On going to the money drawer, I found only a little change, and began to think my crime was to be without reward; but, on searching the hammock where he slept, under the bolster, I discovered his pocket-book, which I found contained over $800 in bank bills. I immediately left the store and buried the pocket-book and contents in the back end of my lot, and they remained there, untouched, during the next six months.

" Before leaving the store the night of the murder, I locked the back door and left by the front door, which I locked after me, and buried the key, so as to create the impression that the business was done by regular burglars. I was among the foremost to charge the crime on Myers and McGravy. :

"T used an old tin lantern, which I, covered up with a towel, to prevent the light being seen. With the aid of this light, which I placed at the head of the sleeping man, I accomplished my purpose."

"While Thomas Griffith and I were pedhiag tavern at Richland, an event took place which is vivid in my recollection, but which I wish I ° could forget. Griffith was away for the night, and was not expected home for several days. Toward evening, a peddler - I think his name tin trunks full of goods; said he wanted his supper, breakfast and bed for the night, if I would take the amount out in trade. I looked over his goods, and, finding he had such articles as I could use in my family, I made a bargain with him, had his boxes taken care of and gave him his supper. After supper, he walked out for awhile, and when he returned, took a seat in the bar-room with me and we talked for a couple of hours. He complained of being very tired and much in need of sleep, as he'had been walking all day. When ready to retire, | went with him to his room, which was-on the second floor, in the corner of the house. At this time, I had no idea of injuring him, and went to bed wholly innocent of any - intention of disturbing him.

I awoke about .midnight, and the thought struck me that the peddler might have money about him, and there was a good opportunity of getting possession of it. I knew there was no lock on the door, and it appeared to me I must, at any rate, go and see if he had thought to stick his knife over the latch so as to keep me out. Accordingly, I sprang from the bed, and, on going to the door, found it was not fastened, and I could open it without noise. So I opened it, went softly to the side of the bed, and, as I expected, found him fastasleep. The room was almost as light as day; the moon was shining. and the windows had no curtains. Everything was so favorable, that the temptation seemed irresistible, and, leaving the door open, I went down into the bar-room and got an old ax that I knew was kept there, and went back | to the peddler's room. He was still sound asleep. and lying in a favorable position; so I took hold of the ax with both hands, and dealt him a tremendous blow on the top of the head. I struck him only once ; he scarcely struggled, and in a few minutes he was dead. The blow caused but little flow of blood, which was mostly at the nose and mouth, and with a little care on my part, the bed was scarcely stained. He made no noise whatever, and all I had to do ' was to dispose of the body. This I had not sufficiently considered beforehand, and it presented serious difficulties, but they were soon surmounted. I went down-stairs and got a drygoods box, and, as the body could not be stowed in it whole, I unjointed the legs at the thighs and knees, and, after wrapping the various parts' that were bloody in sheets and blankets, so as to prevent the blood from oozing out, I packed it all safely in the box, put on the cover, and took the box to my bedroom, where it remained that night, through the following day and the mext night. Having disposed of the body, I commenced a search for the money, but found only about fifty dollars. I took such goods out of the trunks as would not be likely to expose me, left the rest in, and and put them also under my bed, covering them up with an old quilt, and left the bedroom, where the

"The next morning I arose as usual and took breakfast with the family. Some inquiries were made after the peddler at the table, and I said he was up and off by daylight, not choosing to wait for his breakfast, because he had a long way to travel. During the day I made up my mind how I would dispose of the body. I gave out that I was in need of some money, and that I would go to my father's, at Milan, and see if I could not get it of him, and that I believed I would take the wagon and start early on the following morning. So, before daybreak, I got up and harnessed the horse. No one was stirring about the house and I had ample time and opportunity to load the box and other things into the wagon without being observed. I traveled through the whole day, directing my course toward the residence of my father, and in the night, about 10 o'clock, reached the neighborhood of Huron River." When within about half a mile of the river, I turned off and went through a lot to the river, so that I might not be seen while unloading. I | had previously filled the box with various irons in order to secure its sinking, and finally tumbled it into the river, about a mile and a half above Abbott's bridge. It sunk to the bottom, and, getting into the wagon, I returned homeward as rapidly as possible. I never heard that the box was found. I should have mentioned, that, on the night I killed the peddler, there were but few persons. about my house, and no one in that part of the house, where he slept. The whole proceeding was conducted very quietly, and there was no noise sufficient to awaken those who slept in the house, even if they had been much nearer to his room. The blow sank into his head with no reverberation of sound, and, as I had taken the precaution to shut the door, it could scarcely have been heard Indeed, I was surprised

July 4, 1851, a most foul murder was committed by Charles Steingraver, in Ashland County. The victim was Clarinda Vantilburg, a blind girl, aged ten years, who had been left at home while her parents went to a Sundayschool celebration at Perrysburg. Steingraver, who had been in the employ of the Vantilburgs, was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to be hanged. A motion for a new trial was heard but overruled, and the sentence ordered to be carried into execution January 30, 1852. A large crowd of people collected on that day to see the hanging, it being the first case of hanging in Ashland, which, until 1846, belonged to Richland County. Steingraver appeared to be a hardened criminal, and marched to the scaffold with a firm step and little apparent regard for his fate. When all was ready, and a moment before the trap was sprung, the Sheriff asked him the question. "Steingraver, are you innocent of the crime of murder as charged against you?" With apparent earnestness he replied, " Sheriff, I am innocent." In another moment, his guilty or guiltless soul was launched into another world.

The second murder in this (Ashland) county occurred December 17, 1853. The tragedy had its origin in a matter of 7 cents that had been used at a "raffle'' The money belonged to one Noah Mock. but had been appropriated by Thornton Pool, and, in the controversy growing out of this trifling affair, Pool stabbed and killed Mock. The case was tried at the March term, 1854, Pool found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to the Ohio Penitentiary for ten years. | Qn the morning of March 12, 1870, Mansfield was startled and shocked by the news of the horrible murder committed the night before on Oliver street, in rear of the Atlantic Hotel.

The victim was Mrs. Mary J. Lunsford, a woman about twenty-eight years of age, who occupied the west part of a story-and-a-half wooden building, the east part of the building being occupied by a negro family named Harris. Each part of this house contained two rooms, one above and one below. The murder was committed in the west room up-stairs. The woman's character was not good, it appearing that she was the mistress of Ansel L. Robinson, a foreman in the Blymyer, Day & Co.'s works.

It appears that Charity Harris, living in one part of the house, heard, about 1 o'clock at night, smothered screams and groans issuing from the apartment of Mrs. Lunsford. Her husband went out to ascertain the cause, rapped at Mrs. Lunsford's door and called several times, but, as all was quiet, he returned to bed. The same noise was also heard by the watchman at the Aultman & Taylor works, who came over zeturned. In the morning, there being no signs of life about Mrs. Lunsford's room, an entrance was effected, and she was found lying diagonally across the bed in her night-clothes, with her throat cut, and other cuts and bruises on different parts of her body. Her arth was also bitten in several places, the prints of the teeth being plainly visible, The condition of the bed gave evidence of a terrible struggle, and there was a pool of blood on the floor under her head, which hung down through the head of the bed (the slats having given way) to within six inches of the floor.

Naturally the excitement was intense, and under this stimulus Ansel L. Robinson was arrested for the crime, though it does not appear that there was at that time, nor at any subsequent time, sufficient evidence to cause his arrest. Robinson was from Cincinnati, where been a leader in the workingmen's movement, which resulted in the election of Samuel F. Cary to Congress. During the Grant campaign, | he was prominent in Mansfield and commanded | a company of Grant Guards in the city. had a good deal of influence among a large class of workmen here. It appears from letters that he became acquainted with Mrs. Lunsford in Cincinnati, and, after he secured his position here with Blymyer, Day & Co., induced her to come and reside in Mansfield. Robinson was tried and acquitted, after which he left Mansfield and has not since been heard of in this vicinity.

Several other parties were arrested and acquitted, and to this day the motive of the murder and the whereabouts of the murderer remains a mystery. There are opinions concerning this matter among the Mansfield people, which have assumed the importance of wellgrounded belief. This belief has heen strengthened since the trial and execution of Webb for the murder of Mr. Finney. It is known that living in the same house with Mrs. Lunsford ; that he knew of the murdered woman ; and, considering the brutality of the murder and the well-known brutality of Webb, it is believed that he was the murderer, though he refused to confess the same before he was hanged for the Finney murder.

In this connection and in the light of today, it is interesting to read the following, printed in the Cincinnati Commercial in April, 1870 - the month following the murder. It is from the pen of Don Piatt, then Washington | correspondent of that paper: "I read the account of this mysterious crime to one of the most remarkable lawyers in the United States. and he said: and so escape consideration. Thus when Dr. Burdell was murdered, the fact of Mrs. Burdell being in the house over-rid the other facts, that Burdell, a strong man, had made a vigorous fight for his life - so vigorous that an ordinary woman could not possibly have conquered him - and the bloody track of a stranger feeling his way out of the house. When a woman premeditates killing, poison is her ordinary weapon; if not premeditated, it was simply | impossible.

"<Tn this case, the struggle indicates something more than murder. Had Robinson or any other man set about the killing for that purpose and none other, we would not have the struggle that broke down the bed, nor the bites in the arm so much relied on. These indicate something more, and more probably that some one, perhaps a negro, knowing the woman to be a loose character, entered the window by which he escaped. Infuriated at the resistance, he first bit and fought, then, probably fearing detection, committed the murder.

"When a man premeditates a killing, .the caution attending it grows with the intelligence of the criminal, and, in nine cases out' of ten, the crime is tracked by the very means used to conceal it. A vicious, stupid brute may strike down and cut to pieces his victim in a moment of blind frenzy, regardless of consequences, and not unfrequently with a successful escape. This seems to be the case here."

The above reasoning is so clear that it seems like a prophecy ; and there is good reason to believe that it is a simple statement of the facts of this murder, though uttered years before Webb was known.

In the following September of the same year. (1870), young Edward McCulloch was killed by Charles Hall, son of H. Hall, who owns a farm, on which he resides, a short distance north of Mansfield. This was not a coldblooded or brutal murder, like the one just related, but was caused by liquor. A party, among whom were Hall and McCulloch, came to Mansfield in the evening to attend a circus, leaving their conveyance at a livery stable.

Before they were ready to go home, Charles Hall was partially intoxicated, having separated himself from the remainder of the party. When ready to go home, they could not find Hall, and drove away without him. Enraged at being left behind, he hired a livery team and drove after them, passing them on the road. At home, he accused Edward Townsend, one of the party, of leaving him on purpose. Some words passed, when Hall drew a pistol and fired at Townsend, the ball passing through his wrist. Edward McCulloch, a hired man living with the family, now interfered, and, in the melee, was shot by Hall, the ball entering the left face and penetrating the brain.

August 5, 1870, a sad affair occurred near Newville, by which a boy lost his life at the hands of his brother. Two sons of Mr. William Norris, an old and respected farmer of Worthington Township, became engaged in an altercation while driving some cows home from pasture, and John, the older brother, got the better of William, threw him down and punished him severely. After he let him up, William seized a billet of wood and struck John a tremendous blow on the temple, knocking him insensible. The boy lived but a day or two.

The surviving brother was overwhelmed with grief and remorse for the unlucky blow, struck while in a passion. He gave himself up and was admitted to bail in the sum of $5,000, his father going on his bond. He was tried at the September term of court, the same year, and the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

on his farm, three miles southwest of Mansfield, occurred December 6, 1877, and in brutality was similar to that of Mrs. Lunsford. The supposed motive for this murder was for the possession of a small sum of money Mr. Finney was supposed to have in his house. The murderer entered the house in the night, when the family were sleeping, and commenced his search for the money. It does not seem to have been his intention to commit murder, but when. Mr. Finney was aroused by the noise, the stranger, probably fearing opposition and detection, committed the murder. The weapon used was an old musket, known to be the property of Ed- © ward Webb, a negro, living on Pine street, in Mansfield. Mr. Finney was killed with this weapon, used as a club, and his aged wife also received severe injuries. Other members of the family were aroused by the noise, and the thoroughly aroused negro, who seems to have become a devil incarnate, attacked them also, seemingly bent upon murdering all who opposed 'him. Several members of the family were injured by his desperate and terrible blows, before they'could realize the situation, make united resistance, or give the alarm. Before he could accomplish his terrible object, the house was thoroughly aroused ; some of those ' occupying the upper parts of the house raising: the window and crying, Murder! Finding he had a larger contract on hand than he gould carry out, the desperate villain retreated through the window, and, strange as it may appear, ran across the fields directly to his own home in Mansfield, leaving a very plain trail behind him, in the light snow. On the following morning, Marshal Lemon followed this track, without any difficulty, to the house of Edward Webb, arrested that individual, who was quietly eating his breakfast, and who, as clearly proved in the trial, was the murderer. Webb bore himself, all through his trial and the subsequent period in jail, in a manner that showed he did not realize his situation, or the enormity of his crime. He would alternately sing, pray, swear, and use the most obscene language ; was always ready to laugh, talk, joke, and seemed to be under an impression he had created an immense sensation, and was the hero of the hour. He was a great gormandizer and grew fat, while waiting to be hanged; seemed on the whole to be much more of a beast than ahuman being. The day of execution was Friday, May 31,1878. <A great crowd appeared at the place of execution, in the old jail-yard, on Third street. The execution was to be private, and a high broad fence inclosed the scaffold. As the time for the execution approached, the crowd grew boisterous, and developed into a mob, determined to "see the nigger hung." The company of militia, on duty as guard, was brushed aside with little ceremony, and the inclosure about the scaffold demolished in a few moments. A characteristic smile played about mouth of the murderer, as he walked toward the scaffold, and knew that all this fuss was made on his account. He seemed, to the last,

In April, 1878, the people of Independence were thrown into a state of excitement by a murder in their midst. A man named Samuel P. Bowersox kept a saloon in the place, to the great annoyance of the Independence people, who are generally strongly inclined to temperance. Bowersox was consequently considerably annoyed one way and another in his business. One night, a party of young men yisited the saloon, and, after drinking more than they should, went out and created some disturbance on the street near the saloon, by hallooing, throwing stones, etc., which so enraged Bowersox that he took down a revolver, and, opening the door, thrust his hand out and fired into the crowd, instantly killing Alfred 1 Palm. He was brought to Mansfield, tried, a

Soon after the war, Mansfield was infested with thieves, blacklegs and confidence men. For a year or two, their presence was borne with patience,' in the hope the law and law officers would deal with them as they deserved. These men came to be well known to the officers of the law and citizens generally, but_such was the dexterity they exhibited in their calling, they could not be caught, or if caught, no crime could be proven against them. Their outrages were committed almost nightly. Private houses and stores were burglarized ; citizens were knocked down on the street and robbed, sometimes in broad daylight. It became dangerous to walk the streets alone after dark; and even in daylight, especially in the vicinity of the railroad depots, men were not safe from robbery and outrage. So great had this insecurity become by 1867, that, finding the law could not reach these miscreants, the citizens determined to take the matter in their own hands. A company of regulators was formed, and, in March of that year, the following proclamation appeared :

To thieves, blacklegs, confidence men, etc.: Our city has been infested by, and our citizens suffered as long as they will bear, your depredations on person and property. You are all known to our Regulators. We therefore warn you to leave our city instantly and forever, for we will not tolerate you longer. You are watched and cannot escape. A short shift will be your doom if caught at your wicked business hereafter.

Resolved, That the city is in need only of honest men. Swindlers and confidence men are notified to leave or suffer the consequences. Our Regulators are authorized to enforce this resolution. All persons are

On the afternoon of March 12, a meeting of citizens was held at Miller's Hall to consider what was best to be done with these men. The hall was packed. The parties who had been arrested, and whose photographs had meanwhile been taken, were brought before this meeting, and the sense of the audience taken few were for hanging, but, after much discussion, it was decided to escort them to the depot and place them aboard the first train. This happened to be a north-bound train on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. They were threat-. ened with hanging if they returned. However reprehensible this plan may have been, it was effectual. Quiet and order were restored, and Mansfield has been comparatively free from

Chapter The Mansfield Bar

| THe First Courts or tHE Counry - Tue First Granp Jury - THEe Earty Lawyers or MANSFIELD - THE Visimine Lawyers - THE PRESIDENT JupGEsS - GeEN. McLavaHtin - Gen. Ropert Bentrtey - Tuomas H. Forp Morpecal BarrLtey - Jup@r BrinkeRHorr - L. B. Marson - Miutton W. Worven - Gen. BrinKEBHOFF'S

PON the organization of Richland County in 1813, the Associate Judges were Thomas Coulter, William Gass and Peter Kinney. They held a special session in June of that year, the only business coming before them being the appointment of Jonathan Coulter and Rebecca Byrd as administrators of the estate of Levi Jones, who had been killed by the Indians. Winn Winship, George Coffinberry and Rolin Weldon were appointed appraisers of Jones' property.

On the 9th of September: of the same year, these Judges again organized a court, and remained in session two days. The last will and testament of Jacob Newman, deceased, was presented, proved and ordered to be recorded. Andrew Coffinberry and James McCluer were appointed and qualified executors, giving bond in the sum of $10,000.

The next day, September 10, the court ordered the Treasurer to pay Samuel McCluer $12.25 for seven days' service as Commissioner and Melzar Tannehill $9.25 for five days' service as Commissioner; also, Samuel Watson, $14, for eight days' work in the same oflice. The court also appointed Winn Winship, Clerk ; Andrew Coffinberry, Recorder, and William Biddle, Surveyor.

President Judge and two Associates. The President Judge must needs be a lawyer, but the others were not necessarily such, and generally werenot. The Associates sat on the bench with the President, but were not expected to know much of law. They discharged the duties of the present Probate Judge, and in all other respects were ornamental rather than useful.

The first court of this character, regularly organized for business, convened January 14, 1814; President Judge, William Wilson; Associates, Peter Kinney, Thomas Coulter and James McCluer. The grand jury at this time, and the firstione in the county, was composed of Isaac Pearce, foreman ; George Coffinberry, Chusthy Brubaker, Thomas Lofland, Samuel Hill, Amariah Watson, George Crawford, Hugh Cunningham, Melzar Tannehill, Ebenezer Rice, © William Slater, William Biddle, Solomon Lee and Rolin Weldon. -

Powers, to retail merchandise; to James McCluer, to keep a house of public entertainment; to Asa Murphy, to keep a tavern at his dwelling (site of the Wiler House); to Johnson McCarty, for four months, to retail merchandise, and to George Coffinberry, to keep a public house.

first lawyer, took up his residence in Mansfield. From that time forward, the place never wanted for lawyers, and many of them have been men of more than ordinary ability, and have been honored with high positions in the State and nation.

In 1816, Col. William W. Cotgrave and Wilson Elliott came, and these were followed in a few years by James Purdy, Jacob Parker and James Stewart. Of these first lawyers, James Purdy is yet living in Mansfield. Although eighty-six, he occasionally appears upon the street, and his step is slow and apparently painful, on account of a sciatic affliction of long standing ; yet his eye is bright, and his manner and conversation give evidence that his heart is yet young.

Most people in Mansfield can yet remember John M. May - Father May," as he was familiarly known among his intimate friends. He walked across the Alleghany Mountains, seeking his fortune in the "Far West,' stumbled upon this little frontier town in the woods, and remained here fifty-four years. He was a good citizen and an honest man. What more need be said of any man? How short that sentence is; yet what years of struggle must precede it, if it be truthfully uttered.

Beecher, at Lancaster, Ohio. Parker was a good man, a sound lawyer and a conscientious Judge. Judge Brinkerhoff says of him: "He was one of the best 'case lawyers' I ever knew. The reading of adjudged cases was one of the luxuries of his life, and his memory of cases or points ruled by or discussed in them was wonderful. But he was not.a reader of law reports only. Like James Stewart, who succeeded to the Common Pleas bench, under the Constitution of 1851, he was an omnivorous reader. Both of these gentlemen aspired to and attained a liberal general scholarship, and would have been ashamed to be thought lawyers simply, and nothing more."

Parker had graduated at the Ohio University, at Athens, he and Thomas Ewing being the first to receive the degree of Bachelor of. Arts from an Ohio college. He was not made | a Judge until 1840, and then brought to his duties a mind well matured and stored, not only with law but with general literature. As a Judge, he was peculiarly successful, and would have done honor to the highest judicial position.

James Stewart studied law in the office of Judge Parker, and was admitted to the bar about the year 1828. Stewart was a Scotch- Trish boy, from Western Pennsylvania, and came West to grow up with the country. Like many another famous lawyer and man, he taught school while getting his legal learning, and was among the first and best teachers in Mansfield.

When Judge Parker's term on the bench expired, in 1850, Stewart, by unanimous recommendation of his associates, was elevated to his place. Physically and mentally, he was a very strong man.

A few words spoken by Judge George W. Geddes, who was presiding at the time Mr. Stewart's death was announced, deserve preservation. He says: "In years, he fell far short of man's appointed time ; but reckoning time

'«« We live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts, not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives, Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.'"'

The first law student in Mansfield was Andrew Coffinberry, who studied. with Mr. May. He was quite an important young man in the young city, making acquaintances easily and rapidly, and becoming rather popular among the backwoodsmen of that day. He was also one of the first school teachers, and generally went by the name of Count Coffinberry. When he became a full-fledged lawyer, he was, one day, for some eccentricity, called by Judge Osborne, " Count Puffendorf," which name afterward clung to him for some years.

Among the lawyers who traveled with the court in those days, and visited Mansfield frequently, were William Stanberry, of Newark, who died in January, 1873, at the ripe age of eighty-five ; Hosmer Curtis and Samuel Mott, of Mount Vernon; Alexander Harper and Elijah Mirwine, of Zanesville, and Charles T. Sherman, of Lancaster. Hosmer Curtis was the first Prosecuting Attorney, and was succeeded by Mr. May in 1816. Mr. May was succeeded by William B. Raymond, of Wooster.

The Judges then held their office seven years, and the successive President Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, up to the formation of the constitution in 1851, were William Wilson, of Licking; George Tod (father of the Jate Gov. Tod), of Trumbull; Harper, of Muskingum; Lane and Higgins, of Huron, and Ezra Dean, of Wayne, the last of whom had been a lieutenant in the United States army, and had fought at Chippewa and Lundy's Lane.

Irishman, who came about the year 1827, from Canton. He is well remembered as a soldier and a patriot. He was generous and brave to a fault; a man of great energy and activity ; making hosts of friends, laying down his life finally for his flag, in the war of the rebellion.

When McLaughlin first arrived in Mansfield, hunting was quite an occupation among many of the pioneers, and, having a good deal of confidence. in his powers, in whatever way he chose to exercise them, he desired to have it | generally understood that he was a great hunter, though it does not appear that his exploits in that direction were marvelous. One day, after a tramp in the woods, he walked proudly into the village, with what he supposed was a wild turkey slung over his sheulder. Thomas B. Andrews was working-on the i00f of the first brick court house at the. time, and he says McLaughlin swung his hat and cheered, holding up to view the trophy of his prowess as a hunter. Upon examination, however, the turkey turned out to be a turkey buzzard. The Geheral was, at first, somewhat © indignant at this verdict by his friends, pro- 4, testing that it was a wild turkey, that his friends were blockheads, who did not know a turkey from a buzzard, and that he proposed having roast turkey for dinner.

Finally becoming convinced of his error, he laughed as heartily as any, and concluded the cheapest way out of the scrape was to "set up the camphene" for the crowd.

He raised a company and served honorably through the Mexican war; and when the war of the rebellion broke out, he offered the first full company to the Governor of the State for three months' service. He afterward went into the three-years service, but being somewhat advanced'in years, could not withstand the fatigues and exposures of a soldier's life. Dying in camp "with the harness on," he was brought home and buried with the honors of

'Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er, Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking ! Dream of battle-fields no more, Days of danger, nights of waking."

Among the early Associate Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, no one, perhaps, was better known or more highly appreciated than Gen. Robert Bentley. He came to Richland and was appointed Judge in 1821. At the expiration of his term of office, in 1828, he was elected to the State Senate. He was a man of military tastes, also; was in the war of 1812, and subsequently filled every position in the Ohio militia, from Ensign up to Major General.

large-brained "Tom" Ford? He, too, was a veteran soldier, serving in two wars. Gen. Brinkerhoff thus writes of him: "Gov. Ford was a man cast in nature's largest mold; a man of imposing personal presence, and possessed of great natural gifts as a orator. Some of his efforts upon the stump have rarely, if

| occasion that called out, fully, his peculiar powers. None knew him intimately who did not become attached to him. He had faults, but they were faults of the head and not of the heart."

Mordecai Bartley occupies a prominent place in the history of Mansfield, as a citizen, a lawyer, and aman. He was a Captain in the war of 1812; was elected to the State Senate in 1817, and was afterward Register of the Virginia military school lands. He was sent to Congress in 1823, serving in that body four terms, and declining a re-election. In 1844, he engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits, and was elected Governor of the State on the Whig ticket. Declining a re-nomination for Governor, he spent the evening of his days in the labors of his profession and his farm:

In later years, Judge Jacob Brinkerhoff and John Sherman, members of the Mansfield bar, became prominent in the State and nation. The former was, for many years, one of Ohio's Supreme Judges. He was elected to Congress by the Democratic party, in 1843, and rendered himself famous as the author of the Wilmot Proviso. The Judge is yet living, though in very feeble health. .

Later still, L. B. Matson and Milton W. Worden came upon the stage of action, performing well their parts, and passing away, while yet in the prime of life. Matson, at the time of his death, as a trial lawyer, stood at the head of his profession, and had the largest practice of any lawyer in the city. Perhaps nothing could better indicate the public estimate of Judge Worden than the following extract from the remarks of Henry C. Hedges, in his announcement of Judge Worden's death to the court, Judge Osborne presiding: " By the voice of. my brethern at the bar, a sad, solemn duty is mine. Since the last adjournment of this court, death has been with us, and a member of this bar, one well known, highly respected and much loved by us all, has been summoned from the labors of time to the realities of eternity. Death, during the years I have been at the bar, has been no infrequent visitor. A Mitchell, young in years, to whom the doors of the temple of justice were only opened, not having been permitted to cross its threshold ; a Parker, far adyanced in age, with a mind well stored with all the learning of the law ; a Stewart, of most majestic face and form, while in the perfected fullness of his intellectual powers ; a McLaughlin, with head all silvered with age, but with a heart all ablaze with patriotic fire, unmindful of ease, giving his last days, as he did the earlier years of his life, to his country and her flag ; a Johnston, in middle life, scholarly, eloquent, with an Irishman's keen wit, but an Irishman's warm heart; and a' Ford, of grand stature, of great physical strength, with intellectual endowments, if aroused, equal to any emergency, but for the most time inactive and useless, because not used. All these we have known; we have for a time gone in and out with them, and then they were not; and now, again, has this bar been convened to pay the last sad tribute of love and respect to one of its members - Milton W. Worden." Judge Worden was but twenty-nine years of age, but a man of brilliant promise, though undeveloped as a lawyer. He went into the army, and lost a leg at Harper's Ferry. Returning home, he was elected Probate Judge, and was subsequently appointed Internal Revyenue Assessor, which office he held at the time of his death. He was followed-to the grave by the Odd Fellows' societies and Young Men's Christian Association, of which he was a member, and a large concourse of citizens.

bar, nothing could be better, perhaps, than the following from the pen of Gen. Brinkerhoff, who knew all these men in their prime : "When I was a student at law, in 1850 and 1851, the giants of the Mansfield bar were Jacob Parker, James Stewart, Thomas W. Bartley, Jacob Brinkerhoff and Samuel J. Kirkwood. Gen. McLaughlin and John M.

May had passed their zenith, James Purdy had become a banker. Charles T. Sherman was at his best. He did a collecting business, but rarely appeared in the courts as a trial lawyer. John Sherman had promise, but no large fulfillment as yet. So, also, Col. Burns and Col. Isaac Gass.

"Thomas H. Ford was at his best, and was a man of great natural powers, but was indolent - and careless and. did not make the mark he might have made at the bar. Judge Geddes was the partner of Judge Brinkerhoff, and was a young man of ability, which rapidly developed and subsequently made him an able lawyer and one of the best-balanced common-pleas judges in the State.

"Henry P. Davis, Manuel May, Robert C. Smith and several others had their shingles out, but were not famous as yet. I knew them all very well.

" Parker, Stewart and Bartley were specially friendly to me, and I appreciated it. I have always retained a warm rémembrance of all of them. I was a student with Brinkerhoff & Geddes.

"Judge Stewart was the reverse of Judge Parker in his mental make-up. The latter was | pre-eminently a book lawyer, and could give from memory volume and page for every decision of any special consequence in the Ohio Reports, and, probably, could refer off-hand to more legal precedents than any man in the State. He read the dryest law reports with all the zest of a school-girl with her' first novel. Tt was all meat and drink to him.

"Judge Stewart, on the contrary, cared but little for the Reports, and consulted them to fortify his own judgment rather than to guide it. He was a born jurist, and his instincts: of right and wrong were so keenly accurate that he rarely went astray. His decisions were very rarely questioned, and still more rarely set aside by a superior court; in short, he was by common consent the model Judge of his time,

" Off the bench, in the practice of the profession, Judge Parker and Judge Stewart were still more opposite in their characteristics. Parker was essentially an office lawyer, and a very superior one, but had no special ability before a jury. and had none of the gifts of oratory.

"Judge Stewart, on the other hand, was a mighty man before a jury. power of his eloquence was overwhelming, and carried everything before it. His large, portly and commanding presence was of itself sufficient to hold the attention of the jury, but, in addition, he had all the best qualities of a great jury lawyer.

"His physical endurance seemed inexhaustible, and he was apparently as fresh at the end of a trial as at the beginning. As a jury lawyer, Judge Stewart has never been surpassed at the Mansfield bar.

"Next to Parker*and Stewart in age, and fully their peers in mental ability, came Thomas W. Bartley and Jacob Brinkerhoff. They were rivals, and always pitted against each other. Bartley was the most persistent man among them. He was not as fine an orator as either Stewart or Brinkerhoff, nor as well read as Parker, but he had the tenacity of a bull-dog, and an industry that was endless and _ tireless. These qualities made him a very dangerous antagonist. He deservedly stood in the front rank of Ohio lawyers.

" Judge Brinkerhoff, Bartley's most frequent antagonist, was the most brilliant man of this whole legal galaxy, and the most attractive speaker.

and bright as lightning, but he lacked the tenacity of Bartley and the ponderous weight of | Juries were delighted with Brinkerhoff and detested Bartley ; the former was brief, brilliant and beautiful; the latter, dry, tedious and harsh. Brinkerhoff rarely spoke over an hour; Bartley rarely spoke less than three hours, and sometimes, as in the Welch murder trial, he held on three days. The result was they were very evenly matched. If either predominated in the crucible of success it was Bartley's pertinacity. In fact, Bartley could never be considered vanquished until the verdict was returned, judgment entered, execution issued and returned satisfied.

" Brinkerhoff was a man of more general culture, perhaps, than any of his competitors, as he read everything and remembered everything. Perhaps it does not become me as his kinsman to say it, yet I think the general judgment of his cotemporaries will bear me out in saying that he was, in all respects, a model lawyer and a model man. He was brilliant, scholarly and thoroughly honest.

" A little incident I remember is a fair index of his whole life. When I was a student in his office, he was politically under a cloud. He was a Free-Soil Democrat, and for this was tabooed by his party and despised by the Whigs. I was riding with him one day, and suggested the propriety of supporting his party in all that was good, leaving the slavery question for a more propitious period in the future.

| His reply was, 'I cannot play Hamlet with Hamlet left out. Jama Democrat, but it seems to me that opposition to slavery is the heart of Democracy. I know I am down politically, and probably I shall always remain down, but the time will come when my children, or my grandchildren, will remember me with more honor on that account than for anything else in my history.'

"Samuel J. Kirkwood was just coming into prominence, and gave great promise; but he took a notion to go to Iowa in 1855, and did not, therefore, rise to his true eminence at the Mansfield bar. The fact that he has since been | twice Governor, and is now in the United' | States Senate, is a sufficient indication of the

"The decade from 1845 to 1855 was the golden age of the Mansfield bar, and a more brilliant galaxy of lawyers, probably, was never congregated in a single city in Ohio. We of.a

"Such lawyers as Thomas Ewing, Sr., old Peter Hitchcock and Edwin M. Stanton were the products of pioneer soil, and such men do not seem to grow in this day and generation."