Williams County, Ohio - Chapter 11: Bench and Bar, 1905

Chapter 11: Bench and Bar

THE establishment of courts of justice and the installation of the necessary officials was naturally the first work attending the organization of Williams county. Under the old constitution of 1802, which was in vogue at the time of the organization, the Supreme Court had jurisdiction, both original and appellate, and, auxiliary to it, was the court of common pleas. On the adoption of the present constitution, March 10, 1851, the district, common pleas and county probate courts assumed jurisdiction.

During the period of the old constitution, the plan of having three citizens act as associate judges - theoretically supporting the legal subtleties of the president judge with their native shrewdness and knowledge of human nature - was continuously in operation. The associate judges in the Williams county common pleas coutt under the old regime were: Pierce Evans, 1824 to 1828; John Perkins,

Pierce Evans, one of the first associate judges, was of Kentucky birth, and removed to the head of the rapids of the Maumee and resided there during the years 1822 and 1823, and then removed to a farm below Defiance, where he lived the remainder of his lfe.

John Perkins seems to have been a leading spirit among Williams county pioneers, and he was one of the earliest settlers of the Maumee valley, having removed from Ross county to Prairie du Masque, on the Maumee river, in 1816 or 1817, and from there to Brunersburg in 1819. He held the position of associate judge for four years, and, about October 1, 1833, removed from Brunersburg to where the village of Pulaski now stands.

Dr. Jonas Colby was a graduate of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, and removed to Defiance in 1832, where he continued to practice his profession for over forty years. Although he filled the judicial capacity for some time, his chief renown was as a physical^ and the incidents of his early adventures in swimming over the swollen streams of the country to reach his patients would doubtless form a chapter of courage and peril that physicians of the present day are not under the necessity of encountering.

Dr. Thomas Kent was horn in Loudoun county, Va., March 30, 1806, and was reared in Virginia until seventeen years of age, when he migrated to Ohio and engaged in carding and fulling in Columbiana county. In 1835 he began the study of medicine, in which he gradiiated in 1838. In 1839 he began practice in Lafayette (Pulaski) and there remained till Bryan was located in 1841, in the midst of the woods, when he located there and with the exception of a few years had his residence there until his death.

Abner Ayres was a cooper by trade and followed that occupation in Richland county until the fall of 1835, when he entered 160 acres of land in Brady township, this county, upon which he located and cleared it up, undergoing all the hardships of frontier life. In 1858 he went to West Unity, where he engaged for a time in the dry goods trade, and later in the hoot and shoe business. During the later years of his life he lived in retirement at West Unity.

William M. Stubbs was one of the pioneers of Williams county, and was born, June 22, 1810, in Tompkins county, N. Y. He received the benefits of a common school education and assisted on the home farm until he became of age, coming to Williams county in 1836. He purchased 220 acres of unimproved land in Brady township, built a cabin and began the work of making a new home in what was then considered the wilderness of the west. He moved to Stryker in 1873 and spent the remainder of his life there, associated in the drug business with his son.

Under the constitution of 1802 the state was divided into three circuits, for each of which the legislature elected a president judge, and the associate judges, sitting with him, constituted the court of common pleas. The districts were changed from year to year and increased in number; and when Williams county was organized, in 1824, it became a part of the second circuit, which at that time included about one-fifth of the territory in Ohio. Having given a list of names of those who served as associate judges for Williams county under the old constitution, it may here be mentioned that the first circuit judge who presided after the organization of counties in Northwestern Ohio, was George Tod, father of the late governor. David Tod. and the second was Ebenezer Lane, who was subsequently elected supreme judge. Judge Tod's term of office had expired, however, before courts were held in Wiliams county, and therefore Judge Lane was the first president judge to officiate in the Williams county court of common pleas. The difficulties of riding such a large circuit 011 horseback may be imagined, and this may account for the fact that, although the first term of court was held at Defiance in May, 1824, and the second in October of the same year. Judge Lane did not put in an appearance until the May term of 1825. The associate justices for the county were Robert Shirley, John Perkins and Pierce Evans, and on May 5, 1824, these gentlemen met, produced their commissions and ordered the opening of the court. John Evans was clerk protempore, and William Preston sheriff.

After perfecting its organization the court adjourned for three days, and on Mav 8, reassembled and proceeded to dispatch business, concerning which we give the following record taken from the old journal, which is still preserved in the clerk of courts' office at Bryan :

6%; man and horse, 18^4; loaded wagon and team, 1.00; a fourwheeled carriage, or empty wagon and team, 75; loaded cart and team, 50; for an empty cart and team, sled or sleigh and team, 3 y/2 ; for every horse, mare, mule or ass, one year old or upwards, 6)4 I for every head of meat cattle, 4; hogs and sheep per head, 2.

"The court grant a license to Benjamin Leavel to Keep a ferry across the Maumee and Auglaize at Defiance, upon his paying into the county treasury the sum of one dollar and fifty cents, for the term of one year.

"The Court grant Benjamin Leavel a license to vend merchandise at his residence in the town of Defiance for the term of one year upon paying into the county treasury ten dollars.

"The Court order that there shall be an election held according to law for two justices of the peace in each of the townships petitioned for, when granted, and that the clerk shall advertise said elections.

"The Court order that minutes be made that John Cannon this day declared upon his oath his intention to become a citizen of the United States.

"The Court grant a license to George Lantz to keep a ferry across the Maumee river at the crossing of the State road at Defiance for the term of one year, upon his paying into the county treasury one dollar.

"John Evans, having been appointed Recorder for the county of Williams by the court of common pleas for said Williams county, the said John Evans this day gave bond in the sum of one thousand dollars, with Foreman Evans and Pierce Evans his sureties, approved of by the court and took the oath of office and the oath to support the constitution of the State of Ohio a'ld that of the United States.

The next term of court was begun and held "on Monday, the 25th day of October, A. D., 1824, at the court house in the town of Defiance (the temporary seat of Justice) in and for said county." A portion of the record of that term is here given :

''The sheriff returned the venire heretofore issued by the clerk of this court for a grand jury, who being called answered to their respective names, and thereupon the prosecuting attorney challenged the whole array, which challenge, upon consideration, is sustained by the court, and the whole array was sot aside. And thereupon the court ordered a new venire to issue to the sheriff, commanding him to summon fifteen good and lawful men of the county having the qualifications of electors, forthwith to appear before the court to serve as grand jurors; which venire being returned by the said sheriff, that he as commanded had summoned the following persons, who being called answered to their names."

William Hunter, George Lantz, John Hilton, Foreman Evans, Montgomery Evans, Thomas Driver, Benjamin Mulican, James Shirley, Jonathan Merrithew, Timothy S. Smith, Arthur Burrows, Thomas Warren, Theophilus Hilton, Hugh Evans, Daniel Brainard. Timothy S. Smith was chosen as foreman and they retired to the room assigned them. In due course of time the grand jury returned into court and presented bills of indictment against Enoch Buck, for keeping a ferry on the Maumee river without a license, and Benjamin Lea veil for keeping a ferry across the Auglaize without a license. Leavell pleaded guilty and was fined one dollar and costs, but the indictment against Buck was quashed.

The first cases of record appear in the proceedings of this October term of court - Timothy S. Smith in certiorari vs. Montgomery Evans; Hiram P. Barlow, adminstrator of James Carlin, deceased, vs. James Shirley, appeal ; and Timothy S. Smith, county auditor vs. Elias Shirley, lister. The first case was dismissed because the writ was issued without an order from one of the judges; the second was continued, and the third was discontinued and judgment rendered against plaintiff for costs.

At this term of court, Thomas W. Powell, father of Thomas E. Powell - Democratic candidate for governor of Ohio, in 1887 - produced his certificate of admission to the bar and was enrolled as an attorney and counsellor of the court. Charles W. Ewing was remembered by being allowed ten dollars for services as prosecuting attorney.

At the May term of court, 1825, Hon. Ebenezer Lane, president judge, made his first appearance on the bench in Williams county, and the first petit jury was also empanelled, composed of the following citizens: James Hunter, Jacob Platter, John Cannon, Arthur Burrows, John Butler, Abraham Landis, Silas McClish, Thomas B. Quick, Batset Bellair, George Lantz, Robert Wasson and Isaac Woodcock. The cause - which was the first one given to a jury for decision in common pleas court of Wiliams county - was entitled, Hiram P. Barlow, administrator of James Carlin, deceased, vs. James Shirley; and the result is given in the record as follows: "Who [the jury] being duly returned, tried, empannelled and sworn well and truly to try the issue joined between the parties, after hearing the proofs and allegations of the parties on their oaths aforesaid, do say that the said defendant is guilty in the manner and form as the said plaintiff has thereof charged him in his declaration, and assess the damages of the said plaintiff at eighteen dollars."

As an index to the salaries paid in those days to the gentlemen who enjoyed the emoluments of office, it is recorded in the court journal that at this May term of court (1825) it was ordered that the prosecuting attorney be paid a yearly salary of fifty dollars, the clerk, twenty dollars for the same length of time, and the sheriff fifteen dollars. The incumbents of those positions were not "gourmandizers of the pap" to any great extent.

From 1824 to 1830 the president judge of the second circuit, including Williams county, as has been stated, was Ebenezer Lane of Huron county. Judge Lane was succeeded by Judge David Higgins, who was one of the noted attorneys of Northwestern Ohio. He presided until 1838, and by the legislature of 1837-38, Ozias Bowen was elected as his successor. At the session of the general assembly, in 1838-39, an act was passed creating the Thirteenth Judicial circuit, and the following counties were embraced therein: Lucas, Wood, Henry, Williams, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert, Allen, Hardin and Hancock. Under the act creating this circuit, Emery D. Potter was elected, in February, 1839, presiding judge, and held the office until the winter of 1844, when he resigned and took the seat in congress, to which he had been elected in October of the preceding year. He was succeeded on the bench by Hon. Myron H. Tilden. who continued in office about eighteen months, when he also resigned. On the 19th of February, 1845, the Sixteenth judicial circuit, embracing the counties of Shelby, Mercer, Allen, Hardin, Hancock, Putnam. Paulding, Van Wert, and Williams, was erected, and Patrick G. Goode, of Sidney, was elected presiding judge. In 1849, George B. Way was elected judge, in which position he served until the adoption of the new constitution in 1851.

Patrick G. Goode was of Irish descent and was one of the early settlers in Northwestern Ohio, where he reached prominence as a legislator, lawyer and jurist. He was elected to the Thirty-second general assembly in 1833, to represent the district of which Williams county was a part, and was re-elected to the same position in 1834. In 1836 he was elected to the Twenty-fifth congress from the Third district, embracing, among others, Williams county. In 1838 he was elected to the Twenty-sixth, and in 1840 to the Twenty-seventh congress from the same district. He was a Democrat in politics and an able advocate of the policy of that party, both in and out of congress. He was born in Prince Edward county, Virginia, May 10,

The Supreme Court had its origin in the constitution of 1802, which provided for three members, with permission to the legislature to add another. This court was required to meet once a year in each county, a regulation that would be preposterous in 1905; but in 1802 with a few widely scattered counties, that was obviously the most convenient way of serving the people and the ends of justice. Until 1851, this custom of an annual session of the supreme court continued, and consequently some great lawyers of Ohio have presided in Williams county. The supreme court had both original and appellate jurisdiction and important criminal cases were usually tried before it. Thus until 1851, the supreme judges were peripatetic, holding court in all the counties. Perhaps the most important session of the supreme court that was ever held in Williams county, was the one incident to the arraignment, trial and conviction of Andrew F. Tyler, for the murder of the little boy, David Schamp, in Jefferson township. Tyler elected to be tried in the Supreme court. Peter Hitchcock presided at the trial, and the prosecuting attorney, Joshua Dobbs, was assisted by Charles Case, the defense being conducted by Schuyler E. Blakeslee. The evidence was conclusive and the jury promptly returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree. Judge Hitchcock sentenced Tyler to death, by hanging, and designated Friday, the twenty-sixth day of January, 1849, as the day upon which the execution should take place. The sentence of the law was duly carried out at the proper time by Daniel Langel, the sheriff. Heckerthorn, who was also charged with the same crime, was tried at the November term of the common pleas court in 1849, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, but the Governor of Ohio commuted the sentence to life imprisonment.

The constitution adopted in 1851 provided for a supreme court, such as the people are now familiar with, its duties confined to hearing appeals from lower courts. The state was divided into nine common pleas districts, and associate judges were abolished. Each district was subdivided into three parts, in each of which the people should elect a judge of the court of common pleas. Thus there were at least three common pleas judges to each of the nine districts. One or more of the judges held a common pleas court in each county, and the three judges of the district together constituted a district court that succeeded to the functions of the old supreme court in their respective counties and the new common pleas court, except in probate jurisdiction, for which probate judges were provided, to be elected, one in each county. Under this new system Williams county was a part of the second subdivision of the Third circuit, and it has continued in that classification. But the subdivision, at first composed of Mercer, Van Wert, Putnam, Paulding, Defiance, Williams, Henry and Fulton, now includes Defiance, Fulton Paulding, Van Wert and Williams.

The first three judges of the Third district, beginning in February, 1852, were Lawrence Hall, Benjamin F. Metcalf and John M. Palmer. Judge Palmer was succeeded in 1857 by Alexander S. Latty, of Defiance. The latter was re-elected in 1861, and again in 1866 and 1871, the subdivision at this time, under the act of 1868, being composed of the counties of Paulding, Defiance, Williams, Fulton and Henry. Judge Latty retired from the bench in 1877, after a career, which in length of service has no equal in Northwestern Ohio. He was succeeded by Selwyn N. Owen, of Bryan.

Judge Selwyn N. Owen was the first resident of Williams county to be elevated to the position of common pleas judge and the only one as yet that has been elected a member of the supreme court of the State of Ohio. He is a native of Steuben county, New York, his birth occurring, July 5, 1836. He was reared to manhood in Huron and Seneca counties, Ohio, and received a good common school and academic education. For four years he was a student at the Norwalk Institute, paying for his tuition and books by acting as janitor. He finished his literary education by an elective course at Antioch college. The winter of 1856-57, he was principal of a seminary in Clark county, Ky., succeeding which he came to Norwalk and began the study of law with Kennan & Stewart, attorneys of that place. He attended the Cincinnati Law School, beginning in 1861, and graduated in 1862. Mr. Owen began his career as an attorney at Fremont, Ohio, but remained there only until November, 1863, when he came to Bryan and engaged actively in law pursuits. He is a Democrat in politics, and, in 1876, was elected without opposition judge of the Common Pleas Court for the second subdivision of the Third Judicial district. He served his first term of five years, and during that time a rearrangement of the subdivisions was made. But in 1881, he was re-elected in the new sub-divison, comprising Paulding, Defiance and Williams counties. In 1883 he was nominated by the Democratic state convention for member of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and was chosen by a good majority at the ensuing election. He served a full term of six years on the Supreme Bench, the last year as Chief Justice, ex-officio, but he declined a renomination, and at the end of his term located in Columbus, where he has since pursued the practice of law.

Judge Owen was succeeded as judge of the Court of Common Pleas by Charles A. Bowersox, of Bryan, who served from November, 1883, to November, 1884. Judge Bowersox was born in St. Joseph township, Williams county, October 16, 1846, and was graduated at Otterbein University in 1874. He served three years as Probate Judge, by election in 1875, during which time he engaged in the study of law. He was elected to the State Legislature in the fall of 1881, and served one term. Upon Judge Owen's election to the supreme bench he was appointed by Governor Foster to fill the vacancy.

was re-elected for the full term in 1886. In 1891, he was again a candidate for the position, and upon the face of the returns was elected; but upon a contest tried before the Ohio State Senate, he was deprived of the position and the certificate of election was given to his competitor, Wilson H. Snook, of Paulding. In 1896, Mr. Snook was again a candidate for election, but was defeated by William H. Hubbard, of Defiance, who was re-elected, in 1901, and is the present incumbent. The legislature of 1904 changed the sub-divisions of this judicial district, adding the counties of Fulton and Van Wert to Defiance, Paulding and Williams, and also increased the number of judges to three in this subdivision. At the election of 1904, Edward S. Matthias, of Van Wert, and John M. Killits, of Bryan, were the successful candidates for the newly created judgeships.

John Milton Killits, Williams county's representative on the Common Pleas Bench, is the son of Andrew W. Killits, long a prominent citizen of Williams county. Judge Killits was born at Lithopolis, Ohio, October 7, 1858, and was educated in the schools of Bryan and at Williams college, in Massachusetts. After graduating at the Columbia Law School, Washington, D. C., in 1886, he practiced in Bryan until his elevation to the Common Pleas bench in February, 1905. In 1892 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Williams county and served two terms.

In 1852, an act of the legislature divided the state into five circuits for the district court, and a judge of the Supreme Court was required to preside, and the District Court was made a Court of Appeals from the Common Pleas Court. This practice continued until the Supreme Judges were relieved of this duty, in 1865, after which the Common Pleas Judges of the district, sitting as a District Court, were authorized to consider appeals from their own judgments. This undesirable condition of things was removed in 1883, by the adoption of an amendment to the constitution, authorizing the creation of a Circuit Court and abolishing the District Court, but leaving the Common Pleas Judges and courts undisturbed. Three Circuit Judges were chosen at the next election in each circuit, and for the Sixth circuit, which includes Williams county, Charles S. Bentley was one of those elected in the fall of 1887. Judge Bentley is a native of Ohio. He was educated in the common schools, Hiram college, and Hillsdale, Mich., college, and in early manhood engaged in the wholesale lumber business at Allegan, Mich. He employed his spare time in the study of law, and then read for a time in the office of Hon. D. Cadwell, of Cleveland. He was admitted to the bar in 1872, came to Bryan in February, 1873, and was elected prosecuting attorney by the Republicans in 1875. He became prominent as a trial lawyer and took an important part in several noted cases. His service as judge of the circuit court extended from February 9, 1888, to February 8, 1895. He is now practicing law in Cleveland.

Prosec Uti Xc, Attorneys

Attorneys were appointed by the court to prosecute actions in behalf of the state in the early days, until 1835 J since then they have been elected. Following- is a list of those who have held this office, which is often the beginning of a distinguished career in the law: 1824, Charles YY. Ewing; 1825, Rodolphus Dickinson; 1826, James L. Gage; 1828, Henry Cooper and Josiah Robinson; 1829, Josiah Robin, son and Henry Cooper; 1830, Rodolphus Dickinson; 1831, Amos Evans; 1836, Curtis Bates; 1837, Amos Evans; 1839, William C. Holgate; 1842, Erastus H. Leland; 1844, Peter Snook; 1845, Erastus H. Leland; 1846, Joshua Dobbs; 1848, Sanders M. Huyck; 1850, Joshua Dobbs; 1852, John A. Simon; 1854, Meredith R. Willett; 1857, William Letcher; 1858, Cunningham R. Scott; i860, John S. Cannon : 1864, Charles W. Mykrantz ; 1868, William O. Johnston; 1872, Philetus Smith; 1874, Schuyler E. Blakeslee ; 1876, Charles S. Bentley; 1878, Robert A. Scott; 1880, Charles W. Pitcairn; 1881, George Strayer; 1885, Robert A. Scott; 1886, Thomas Emery; 1892, John M. Killits; 1898, E. C. Peck (appointed) ; 1899, James D. Hill; 1902, Edward Gaudern.

Some of these names have already been mentioned biographically on pages that precede this chapter. Charles W. Ewing was a son of Col. Alexander Ewing, one of the pioneers of the Maumee valley; was born at Big Tree, Monroe county, now in the state of Michigan; practiced law at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and became president judge of the Eighth judicial circuit of that state.

Rodolphus Dickinson was one of the prominent citizens of Northwestern Ohio for many years, and was largely interested in the construction of the canal system of the state and the management of the board of public works. He was born in Massachusetts, in 1789; was elected to the Thirtieth Congress as a Democrat in 1846, from the Sixth Ohio district, and was re-elected in 1848. He died the year following his second election.

Johann Adam Simon was born in Kindenheim, Rhein Bavaria, Germany, May 20, 1819. He removed with his parents, in 1835, to Einselthum, a few miles from his birth place, where he resided until April, 1841, when he bade farewell to friends and his home in the beautiful valley of the Rhine and started for America. Landing in New York, he came to Putnam county, Ohio, and remained there until 1843. He then settled in Florence township, Williams county, and engaged in clearing up and tilling a farm in the woods, suffering all the privations and hardships incident to pioneer life, until 1852, when he removed to Bryan. Between the ages of six and fourteen years he received that thorough mental training which the educational system of Germany afforded for all, and being fitted with a retentive memory and an aptness for acquiring knowledge, he was always classed with those older than himself, and at the age of twelve years was selected by his teacher as the pupil most competent to assist in hearing recitations. The study of law was pursued with that persistent energy that characterized all his undertakings through life. While the general farm work occupied the hours of the day, those of the evening and far into the night were devoted to the study, until 1849, when he was admitted to the bar at Napoleon, Ohio, and commenced the practice of his profession, which he continued until within a few years of his death. Two years later he was elected prosecuting attorney of Williams county. He died February 22, 1885.

Philetus Smith is a native of Cuyahoga county, Ohio, his birth occurring December 25, 1842. His branch of the Smith family is of English descent, and his genealogy is traced back to 1685, when his first American ancestor, with the religious sect known as Quakers, emigrated with William Penn to America. The descendants in this country have been leading citizens, and former United States Senator Oliver H. Smith, of Indiana, was a brother of Philetus Smith's father. Philetus Smith was reared, until thirteen years old, in Cuyahoga county, and then moved to Michigan with his parents. He received a common school education and for six years taught public school. He began the study of law in 1863, but did not make it a specialty until three years later. He came to Williams county in 1868, and in 1869, was admitted to the bar. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1871, and served one term of two years. He also filled the position of mayor of Bryan for some time. In 1890 he removed to Chicago and has since been engaged in law practice there.

Robert A. Scott was bom in Fulton county, Ohio, August 7, 1854. When he was about one year old his parents came to Bryan, and about 1857 moved to Center township, where he was reared on a farm and educated. During the winters of 1871-72 and 1872-73, he taught school in this county, and in 1874 began the study of law in the office of Pratt & Bentley; during the sessions of 1874-75, he also attended the law department of the Universfty of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and received his degree of L.L.D. in the spring of 1876. He remained in the office of Pratt & Bentley that fall, and in November of the same year formed a partnership with Judge Leidigh. In 1877 was elected by the Democracy to the office of prosecuting attorney, his competitor being Charles S. Bentley, his former preceptor. He served two years to the entire satisfaction of his constituents and was again nominated for the office, but was defeated, although running ahead of his ticket, by a Republican county majority. In 1884, he was again nominated for the same office and was elected by a large majority, but before the expiration of his term he was stricken with illness and died in Bryan, September 7. 1886.

Charles W. Pitcairn is a native of New Lisbon, Columbiana county, Ohio, and was born March 23, 1849. He was reared in his native county and received a fair education. When in his sixteenth year he enlisted as a member of Company H, One Hundred and Ninetv-fifth Ohio Volunteer infantrv. and served 011c vear in the army in the Shenandoah valley. After his discharge he returned home and engaged in clerking. In 1870 he began the study of law and attended the law department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, the winter of 1872-73, being admitted to the bar on April I, 1.874- In December, 1874, he came to Bryan and began practicing his profession, which he followed until August, 1881, when he discontinued practicing and accepted the secretaryship and treasurership of the Morrison & Fay Manufacturing Company, of which he was a stock owner. A Republican in politics, he served two years as mayor of Bryan, by election in 1878. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1879, but resigned in the fall of 1881, to fill the position mentioned above. In October, 1882, he removed to Iowa and has since resided there. ? .

George Strayer was born, February 15, 1853, in Superior township. He was reared there, received a fair education and for five years traveled through Michigan engaged in various pursuits. He taught two terms of public school in the winters of 1877-78 and 1878-79, and began reading law in August, 1878, under Hon. S. E. Blakeslee, of Bryan. In October, 1879, he attended the law school of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and continued there six months. On March 17, 1880, he passed an examination at Columbus, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar, immediately afterward opening an office in Montpelier. In August of the same year, he formed a partnership with William O. Johnston, which continued until September, 1881. In May, 1881, he received the Republican nomination for prosecuting attorney of Williams county, and, in October of the same year, was elected. Owing to the resignation of the man he was to succeed, he received the appointment and immediately entered upon the discharge of the duties of the office, forming a partnership with Philetus Smith. He was not nominated for a second term, and, in the autumn of 1884, he purchased the Montpelier Enterprise, which he conducted until January. 1889. He then managed a stave factory and was connected with other enterprises at Montpelier until 1892, when he removed to Ashley, Indiana, and began the publication of the Ashley Times, which he conducted until his death in the fall of 1903.

This court was created by the constitution of 1851, with the provision that one judge of the same should be elected in each county. It is an office peculiarly local and intimately associated with the affairs of all the people, and has been filled by some of our best citizens. Joshua Dobbs, the first judge elected, was one of the early settlers of Williams county. He probably came here in 1843-44 and opened a law office, for his name first appeared on the common pleas bar docket in 1844. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1845 anc^ again in 1849, serving two terms. During his service as such Daniel Heckerthorn and Andrew Tyler were tried for murder of the lad, David Schamp. Mr. Dobbs was elected probate judge in 1851 and re-elected in 1854. In those days he was an active politician and to promote the success of his party he started, in 1852, a Democratic paper at Montpelier, with Van B. Shouf as printer and manager. Its career was a brief one, as was also the life of the Fountain City News, which he started at Bryan January 12, 1855. After the expiration of his second term as probate judge he retired from public life and measurably from politics, and soon afterward engaged in mercantile pursuits, which he continued until about 1865, when he sold his interests in Bryan and removed to Edgerton, and subsequently to Montgomery, Michigan. He died at the latter place in April, 1891.

Meredith R. Willett was elected in 1857. His successor, Isaac R. Sherwood, resigned to enlist in the Union Army, where he earned the brevet of brigadier-general. After the resignation of General Sherwood, William A. Hunter filled the vacancy until the fall election of 1862, when William H. Ogden was elected for the unexpired term. At the fall election of 1863, Alexander Bodel was elected, but resigned before the expiration of his term. He was one of the early pioneers of Williams county, having removed here with his father in 1837. At that time the county was almost an unbroken wilderness. The following year his father died, leaving him a mere boy to support his mother and two sisters, younger than himself, with nothing but his own hands and persevering will, in the midst of a dense forest. This task he performed with credit to himself and satisfaction to his family, laboring constantly during the day and studying his books generally until midnight by the light of the fire. By steady perseverence in this way he cleared up his farm and obtained a good education without even the advantages of a common school. This continued labor and exposure brought on disease, and before he reached middle life his constitution was gone. In 1863 he was elected probate judge of Williams county, discharging the duties of that office with honor and ability until his fast declining health compelled him to resign his office in the following year. His health continued to fail under the influence of that slow but sure disease of the lungs until his death, October 18, 1872.

Mr. Bodel was succeeded, August 26, 1864, by George E. Long, a native of Donegal county, Ireland, son of William Long, a pioneer of 1849, and brother of Dr. J. W. Long, of Bryan. Judge Long was a graduate of the Eclectic Medical Institute, of Cincinnati, and began the practice of his profession in 1855. He held the office of probate judge until 1870, two terms.

The judge of probate in 1870-76 was John W. Leidigh, who was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1840, son of David Leidigh, of German descent. In the Civil war he made a good record and had the rank of second lieutenant. Pie was elected judge in 1869, and held the office for six years. T11 the spring of

Charles A. Bowersox, born in St. Joseph township in 1846, served as judge during the next term of three years, 1876-79, and was succeeded by Martin Perky, who was also a native of the Keystone state. He was elected probate judge in 1878, 1881 and 1884. He held the judgeship for three terms, and after him George Rings served two terms, 1888-94. Judge Rings was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1834, son of John Rings, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Williams county in 1835. Judge Rings was succeeded in office by W. C. Coslet, 1894-97, and he in turn by Charles M. Miller, who served from 1897 to 1900, and the present incumbent, John H. Schrider, entered upon the duties of the office in February, 1900. At the election of 1905, Francis M. Frazier was elected probate judge and will assume the duties of the position in February, 1906.

Clerks Of Tiie Courts

John Evans, as noted previously, was the first clerk of the court of common pleas in 1824, and continued in the office until November, 1837, when George T. Hickcox succeeded him, but held office less than one year, when he died, and William C. Holgate was chosen by the common pleas court, and began a term that continued only until April, 1839. William C. Holgate was a very prominent man in the early days of Williams county, but his field was mainly confined to the law. He was born at Burlington, Vermont, November 23, 1814, and when twenty years old came into the Maumee valley, settling at Defiance a couple of years later. The successors of Evans, Hickcox and Holgate, have been the following, all men of ability and prominence: 1839, Edwin Phelps; 1845, Levi Colby; 1846, John Paul; 1852, Walter Caldwell; 1855, William A. Stevens; 1858, Jacob Youse; 1864, Milton B. Plummer; 1867, Lewis E. Brewster; 1876, Ezra E. Bechtol; 1879, William H. Chilcote; 1882, Ezra E. Bechtol; 1885, William W. Darby; 1891, Hugh G. Monen; 1894, Justus E. Alvord ; 1897, John Gearhart; 1900, Abraham L. Brace; 1906, William E. Stough.

The first executive officer of the courts of Williams county was William Preston, one of the prominent men of the Maumee valley in the early days. He settled at Defiance, before the organization of Williams county, and after serving as the first sheriff and in other positions of trust, he was elected, in 1829, associate justice of the common pleas court and then was elected sheriff again. He died in 1838. The successors to Preston, with the years of their accession to office, areas follows: 1829, Isaac Hull; 1830, William Preston;

During Langel's term as sheriff he executed the sentence of the law on Andrew Tyler, whose crime is told of elsewhere. Daniel Langel was one of the pioneers, having immigrated to the county in 1841, when it was a vast wilderness, and he encountered the rough toil and trials incident to a new country. He died on April 7, 1865.

Members Of The Bar

Horace Sessions was the first lawyer who permanently established himself in the practice in Williams county. He located at Defiance, in 1833, and prior to that date the legal business of the county had been attended to by visiting attorneys who "rode the circuit" with the presiding judge. By 1837, however, Mr. Sessions had two associates in the persons of William Seemans and Curtis Bates, and by 1838 Amos Evans had been added to the list. It is useless to attempt a complete roster of those who have at different times "swung their signs to the breezes" as resident attorneys in Williams county, but the following is thought to contain the names of the more prominent ones, and the years given represent about the dates of their first appearance: 1840, John B. Seemans, Edwin Phelps, W. C. Holgate; 1841, E. H. Leland; 1842, William Carter, George B. Evans, George L. Higgins ; 1844, Schuyler E. Blakeslee, Charles Case, Edward Foster, Joshua Dobbs, S. M. Huyck and James Welsh; 1846, John Paul, J. A. Simon, G. H. Wilson, John K. Morrow, S. A. Treat, Albert M. Pratt and Daniel McKinley; 1849, Abijah Miller and Jared C. Parker.

The foregoing names represent the larger number of the earlier Williams county lawyers. At a later date, however, there have been Charles S. Bentley, John W. Leidigh, Robert A. Scott, Charles A. Bowersox, Thomas Emery, Melvin M. Boothman, Philetus Smith, George Strayer, James H. Serrels, William O. Johnston, Meredith

R. Willett, H. Preusser, B. E. Sheldon, Solomon Johnson, Charles W. Pitcairn, Oscar C. Beechler, A. D. Austin, Peter Friend, George E. Coy, Hiram H. Calvin, John M. Caulkins, C. P. Winbigler and Charles B. Jones. These have not all engaged actively in the practice but the majority of them have. In 1905, the following resident attorneys have their names printed in the bar docket of the court of common pleas :

S. A. Justice, E. H. Lanphere, J. V. Maier, C. L. Newcomer, Isaiah W. Pressler, Elwin C. Peck, George C. Rings, Carleton S. Roe, Reuben L. Starr, Chas. E. Scott. D. A. Webster and John B. White.