Lorain City (part 3 of 77)

The UKin of our ol<l civilization is astonished ;it the enumenition of his wants, and perhaps still more at the small nnndjcr absolutely essential to the comfortable maintenance of human life, with all of its real enjoyments. A renujval into the dejiths of the Ohio woods, where a man was directly placed face to face with primitive conditions, brought him at once to the practical contemj)lation of the problem, and the solution was in his own hands: Food, shelter, raiment. Here was the earth, whose soil was to furnish bread and clothing, but it was covered with a thick growth of great trees to be removed ere it could be planted. Their trunks and barks must be converted into houses. The last was the first to be extemporized. A temporary supply of food, was carried by the immigrant with him. On making his way to his purchase he pursued the trail that led nearest to it, and, with his axe, opened the rest of the way. The iroint gained, the same implement with which a savage continent has been hewn into the rough forms of civilization, cuts down and prepares the tree trunks for the first cabin, which the hands of the whole party, Avomeu and children as well, help to place in the low, rude walls of the primitive structure, while the bark of the baswood and elm make the cover. Doorless, floorless. windowless, chimneyless, the pioneer, eagerly takes possession of his cheerless cabin. Thousands of them within these seventy years were built and occupied in the Lorain woods. Men and women lived in them; children - all the elders of the new generation - were born in them. Death came to them there; and there young women became brides and dwelt there - the hajipy wives of happy husbands. Of all these dwellings in the woods, scarcely the site of one can now be identified. The forest was at once the great foe and lienefactor of the new dwellers in its midst. A war of extermination began on the trees. The axe and fire were the agents of their swift destruction, and rapidly the small ring of trees about the cabin enlarged, and the growing, stumpy fields, marked the progress of the struggle. Next to the erection of their own cabin, the most important event was the arrival of another family in the woods, and the erection of their dwelling received the joyous help of every male within ten miles of it. No one born of later years can comprehend the strength and warmth of the bands of sympathy and fellowship which united the first dwellers in the woods in wide neighborhood! What an event was the erection of the first sawmill! The first grist mill! The setting up of the first lilacksmith's forge! The advent of the first shoemaker! The purchase of the first cows and sheep! The acquisition of the first cat, dog and hens! The coming of a spinning-wheel in a family and the setting up of a hand lo<im in a neighborhood were events. The raw material for all fabrics were won from the earth. Men raised flax, rotted, broke and swingled it. Women hatcheled, spun, wove and made it into i garments. Wool, shorn from the sheep, was turned into cloth, dyed with Ijark, and the first fretting mill was a benefaction. Then came carding machines. I Many men became apt and skillful hunters, and the pelts of elk and deer were changed by domestic tanners to material for clothing. A great drawback was the scarcity of necessary implements for the household.

and for tlio outsido war on the savagery of nature - rudely extempoi'ized chairs, stools and hoxes, gourds, shells, sap-troughs, wooden trays and trenchers; poor axes, rude hoes, imperfect scythes, sickles, hand flails, and fans, and wooden ])lows. Money there was none, and vet money had to he iiaid for taxes, for leather, and usuallv for salt. Hut one product could he exchanged for money. The Held and house ashes were carefully saved, rude hoiling asheries extemporized, and crude, hiack salts manufactured which in remote rittsl)urgh conunanded money.

Not tlie least of the enemies eiu'ountered hy the pioneers, were the predaceous wild animals. The hears made war on the swine, considerahle flocks of sJieep were often devoured hy wolves, and the good wives' poultry found many enemies, while the ripening crops were the spoil of animals and hirds of all sorts.

The ill condition of their dwellings, the scanty supply of warm clothing, the sometimes lack of food, the general iuxrdship and exposure of their mode of life and labor, the endlessness of that toil, with the constant care and anxiety of the elders of the family, amid the unknown perils of the climate, and diseases iiu-identto pioneer life, rendered the settlers liahlc to hccome the victims of sicrkuess, often fatal. More than one epidemic, moi'e malignant than any known to later times, visited the pioneers, and which, in the .absence of skilled medical assistance, was left to work its fatal wi'l, often aggravated by the attendance of ipiacks, who find sludter and victims on the skirts of civilization.

The presence with us, or the memory, of the few ]iioneers who have reached remarkable age, should luit be taken as conclusive that such life is conducive to great length of years. Whoever will consult the tombstones of the pioneers, - men, women and chilreu, - will, I think, be struck hy the average shortness of their lives.

Living on the bordeis of older .States and communities, their lives were marked by sharp vicissitudes and well defined and peculiar features. Often the victims of the common human vices and weaknesses, the nobler humane and social virtues were developed among them in a degree never found in well established states of human association. If there was less of what is now called culture, and conventional polish', and relinenient, there was an hundred fold more warmth, spontaneous charity, abounding and widely extended sympathy, friendliness, and good neighborhood. Men and women were then spontaneously cajjable of self devoted, heroic and even great actions.

In the nature of things, pioneer life in the northern Ohio woods, with its habits, manners and customs, was necessarily transitory. The sons and daughters of advanced civilization, hearing all its most precious elements, seeds and principles with them, rushed into the forest, and planted them in the stimulating soil of the west, resolved themselves into the primitive constitutions of human societv. onlv to guard and cherish the new growths the more certainly. And now, in seventy years, their descendants are in advance of the kindred who remain in the old seats from which they all sprung, retaining something of the warmth, much of the elevation of character, many features of the In-oader and freer natures and lives, developed in their ])ioneer fathers and mothers, by their sojourn in the wilderness. These are clear gains to the race of man, above and beyond the natural wealth wrought out and transmitted by their hands. They gave us a broader, deeper and wider system of education, freer .and more catholic christian institutions, lived their hard, ])aticnt, toilsome lives of fidelity and devotion, and dropped by the wayside, many of them, early, unmeutioned, with their worn, patient, unwearied wives, and were buried in the shadow of the near woods; while many more favored, or hardy, endured to near our day, honored and cherished.

Their fun-ows oft' the stubhoni glebe has broke, How jocund did they drive their teams afield, How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke."

Chatter Civil Oeganization

On the 9th of July, 1788, Governor St. Clair, the newly appointed governoi', arrived at Marietta, and, with the help of the judges .lud secretary, proceeded to organize the northwestern territory. Congress had appointed Winthrop Sargent, secretary, and Samuel Holden Parsons and John Cleves Symnies as judges. The district embraced was a vast one, including all the country lying northwest of the Ohio as far west ,as the Mississippi. The laws adopted for the governmental needs of the territory were those provided in the celebrated ordinance of 1V87, which has been fitly described as having been "a pillar of cloud by daj', and of fire by night," in the settlement .and government of the northwestern States.

In 17S8 the county of Washington was organized by proclamation of the governor and judges. It included that part of the Western Reserve east of the Cuyahoga river, the old Portage path, and tlie Tuscarawas river. In the year 17!I5. Wayne county was established, including, with other territory of vast extent, the remainder of the Reserve not embraced in Washington county. In 17il7, .Tetferson county was organized, and its boundaries were such as to include all of the Western Reserve east of the Cnyahog.a.

Notwithstanding the inclusion of the soil of the Reserve, by act of the territorial government, within the limits of these several counties, civil government was not of binding force upon the inhabitants of New Co7inooticnt until tlio year 1800. Prior to this date, Connecticut and the Connecticut Land Conqjany denied to the United States the right of jurisdiction over the soil of the Reserve, and refused obedience to the laws of the territorial government. (The reasons for this course are given in a former chapter of this work. ) Thus it hapi)ened that, from 1700-9?. the tinu' the first settlers arrived, until May 30, 1800, the pioneers of the Reserve were without municipal laws. Their conduct was regulated and restrained, and their duties were prescribed, solely by their New England sense of justice and right. There was no law governing the descent and conveyance of real property, or of the transfer of personal goods; there wore no regulations for the redress of wrongs or for the protection of private rights. They were literally a law unto themselves. Happily but few cases of misdemeanor ai'ose; but if a settler was guilty of theft, or if he misused his wife, his neighbors constituted a court of justice. and decided what punishment should \)0 inflicted. The offender's back generally furnished the only record of these judicial proceedings.

On the 10th day of July, 1800, the general governmeiit having ceded to Connecticut her claim to the soil of the Reserve, and Connecticut on her part having transferred to the general government all right of jurisdiction within the limits of New Connecticut, the Western Reserve was erected into a single county and called Trumbull, in honor of Jonathan 'J'rundmll, tJion governor of Connecticut. This was effected by proclamation of the governor and judges of the northwestern territory. The county-seat was at Warren. Now had the people of the Reserve a government to which they gladly acknowledged allegiance. The first court of this large county convened in Warren on Monday, August 2.5. 1800. The following were Ibc first officers of Truird)ull county:

John Leavitt, justice of tlie peace and judge of probate: Solomon Griswold, Martin Sinitli, John SIrutbers, Calel) lialdwin, f'alvin Austin, Edward Brocli way, John Kinsman, Benjamin Davison, Epliraiin Quinby, Ebenezer Sheldon, David Hudson, Aaron Wheeler, Amos Si)an'ord, Moses Park, and John Miner, justices of the peace.

"Monday, aMi. - Went to Warren; took dinner at Adg,ate'fs and went toQuinby's; met the judge .and ju.stices of the connt.y. when tliey all took the oath of office, and proceeded to open the court of quarter sessions and court of common pleas, agreeably to the order of the governor. They proceeded to divide the county into eight townships, and appointed constables in each, A veiiiri: was issued to summon eighteen ijersons as grand jurors."

The.se eight townships were as follows: Riehlield, Middlefield, Vernon, Youiigstown, Warren, Hudson, Painesville and Cleveland. The township of Cleveland, in addition to a large extent of territory east of the Cuyahoga, embraced all of the Reserve lying west of that river. Judge Boynton says:

Geauga, Lake and tJuyahoga. On the 10th da.r of February, 1807, there was a more general division into counties. That part of the Western Reserve lying west of the Cuyahoga and north of towniship No, 4, was attached to Geauga, to be a part thereof, until Cuyahoga should be organized. .\11 of the present county of Lorain, north of (iraftou, La- Grange, Pittsfield and Camden, belonged to, and was a part of, the county of Geauga, from Febniary 10, 1807, until .Tnnuary Ifi, 1810. At that date, 1807, Ashtabula was erected outof Trumbull and Geauga, to be organized whenever its population would warrant it. Also, all that part of Tnimbull which lay west of the fifth range of townships, was erected into a county by the name of Portage, and all of the Western Reserve, west of the Cu.yahoga, and south of township No. :>, was annexed to, and declared to be a part of Portage. So that all of the present comity of Lorain, south of Eaton, Carlisle, Russia and Henrietta belonged to, and was a part of. Portage, and remained a part of it until January 'ii, 1811. On the lOth day of February, ]8()7, the county of Cuyahoga was carved out of Geauga, to be organized whenever its population should be sufficient to require it. On the 16th of .lanuary, 1810. the population having become sufficient, the connt.y was declared organized. On Febru.ary S, 18il!t, Htrron was erected into a county covering the Fire Lands, but to remain attached to Geauga and Poitage, for the time being, for purposes of government.

"On .January 22, 1811, the bomidary line of Huron was extended east, on the line now dividing Camden and Henrietta, Pittsfleld and Russia, Carlisle ami I^aGrange, to the southwest corner of Eat(»n; atid from there, north on the line dividing Carlisle and Eaton, and Elyria and Ridgeville, to the northwest corner of Ridgeville; thence west to Black river, and down the same to the lake. On the day that these lines were so altered and extended, the legislature e.Ktended the south line of Cuyahoga county, from the southwest corner of Strongsville, west to the southwest corner of Eaton; thence north, between Eaton and Carlisle, to the northwest corner of Eaton ; and from that point, west between Elyria .and C'arlisle, to tiie east branch of Black river, and down the same to the lake. Here was a contlict in boundaries. The boundary of Huron county included all of El,vria. extending east to Ridgeville; and the boundary of Cu,vahoga included within its limits that part of Elyria lying east of the east branch of the river. The river was the dividing line between the two cotinties, in the one act; and the line between Elyiia and Ridgeville was the dividing line in the other. This conflict was removed at the next session of the legislature, by adopting the township line, instead of the river, ,as the boundarj" line between the two counties, at this point. This adjustntent of boundaries gave to Huron county the townships now kttowu as Elyria, Carlisle. Russia, Henrietta, Brownbelin. Amherst, and all of Black River, and Sheffield l.ying west of the river; and to Ou.yahoga couut.v, Eaton, Columbia, Ridgeville, Avon, and all of the townships of Black River and SbelTleld tying east of the river. At that date, 181 1. the territory now comprising the coimt.v of Lorain, belonged to the counties of Huron, C'uyahoga, ami Portage.

"Thecotmty of Huron, altbongh established in 180!), and extended east of Black River in 1811, was annexed to Cuyahoga in 1810, for judicial and other purposes, and renuiined so annexed until January, 1815, when it was organized, and assumed control of its own affairs,

"On tile IStli day of February, 1812, Medin.a was formed, and comjirised all of the territor.y between the eleventh range of townships and Huron county, and south of townships No. ^. It therefore included all of the present county of Lorain, soutli of Eaton, Carlisle, Russia and Henrietta. On the 14tli y\&y of .Januar.y, 1818, that county was organized, and its local government put into operation, it remaining in the interim, from the date of its formation to the date of its organization, attached to the county of Portage, for countj' purposes. On the 2r)th of December, 1822, Lorain county was established. It took from the county of Huron the territory embraced in the townships of Brownbelin, Henrietta, Amherst, Russia, Elyria, and C'arlisle; and those parts of the townships of Black River .and .Sheffield dhat lie on the west of Black River, and from the county of Cu.vahciga the townships of Tro.v, (now Avon), Ridgeville, the west half of Olmsted, (then called Lenox), Eaton, Columbia, and those jiarts of Black River and Sheffield lying east of tinriver; and from the county of Medina, C)amden, Brigliton, Pittsfleld. LaGrange. and Wellington. The count.y. as originally formed, embraced seventeen and one-half townships, which, until the county was oi-gauized, were to rein.ain attached to the counties of Medina, Hui-ou, and Cuyahoga, as formerl.y. It was, however, organized imiependentl.v, and went into oper.atiou on the 21st day of January, 1821, In the organization of the couiitv, it waspr<tvided th.attbe first officers should be elected in .\]iril, 1821; and at that election, that part of Lenox th.af was brought into Lorain, should vote at Ridgeville, and that part nf Brighton, lying prcviousl.v in Medina, should vote io the adjoiniuL; township of Wellington.

"On .January 20, 1827, the boundary lines were changed. The towniships of Grafton, Penfield, Spencer, Homer, Huntington, Sullivan, Roi-licsfer, and Tro.v - some of them organized and some not - were detached from Medina, and annexed to, and became a part of. Lorain; and the half of Lenox, belonging to Lorain, was set otT to Cu.vahog.a, to be a ]iart of Middlebury, until otherwise provided. Upon the formation of Summit, in 1840, the townships of Spencer and Homer w*ere reattached to Medina: and upon the formation of Ashland county, in Febniary, 1840, Sullivan niid Tro.v were detached fi^m Lor.ain. .and made a part of tli.at count.V-

Prior to this, and on the 39th of January, 1837, an act was passed, ftsiug the uortheni boundary of the county. The mode of forming and organizing thf cuuiities had been such as tu leave unsettled the northern limit of the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga, Cuyahoga and Lorain. And in matters inv<ilving tlie exercise of criminal jurisdiction of offences commjtffd on the lake, in the vicinity of tlie store, the question was of too much practical importance to be left iji doubt. The treaty between the United States and Great Britain fixed tlie line running through the middle of the lakes, as the dividing Hne between the two countries. Connecticut had reserved the land between the. 41- north latitude, and 42° and 2'. The course and shai)e of Lake P^rie were such that the parallel of 43'^ and 2' would cross the middle line of the lake; and adjoining Ashtabula, that degree of latitude would be south of, and adjoining Lorain, north of the boundary line between Canada aud the United States. Tliis carried the northern boundary of Lorain to the miiUIIe of Lake Erie, without regard to tlie nortliern limit of the Western Reserve."

Chapter Xi Civil List

On the 2-1-tli iliiy of M;iy following the organization of the county, the following record was made in the Court Journal on page one of volume one:

"Be it remembered, that, on the :i4th day of May, A. 0. 18^, at Efyria, in the county of Lorain, in pursuance of a statute law of the State of Ohio, passed on the 10th day of February in the year aforesaid, entitled an 'Act regulating the time of Iiolding Judicial Court,' the first Court of Common Pleas, in ant! for said county of Lorain, was opened ill due form by the Sheriff thereof, .Tosiah Harris : holding said Court, George Tod, President of the Coui-t of Common Pleas for the third circuit in said State, in which circuit is the said county of Lorain, and his associates, Moses Eldred, Henry Brown and Fredei'ick Handin. before which Court the following proceedings were bad, to wit: Wtiolsey Welles, an Attorney of Kecord in the Court, was appointed the attorney to prosecute the pleas of the State for this county during the pleasure of the Court."

The first official act of this court was the apjiointiiient of administrators ui)on the estate of Almond Holcomb, deceased. Lucinda Holcouib, widow of the deceased, and Edward Durand, were appointed.

Before the court j)roceeded to the general business of tlie session Woolsey Welles was appointed clerk, during the pleasure of tlie court. The first snit was for the recovery of fourteen hundred and twentyseven dollars and twenty-seven cents. Simon Nichols, lilaintilf, and Thomas G. Bronsou, defendant. Judgment was rendered for tlie plaiutilf. The second day of the session Ebenczer Whiton was appointed clerk of the court of common pleas, and Woolsey Welles was discharged from further attendance as clerk.

Grand Jury

At the March term, 1830, Hon. Reuben Wood took his seat as presiding judge, with the same associates as before given. Heman Ely became associate judge the fall of 18.30. April, 1831, Josiah Harris and E. W. Hubbard, associate judges. Fall of IHTJ, Hon. Matthew Burclmrd was presiding judge. Spring of 1834, Hon. Ezra Dean was presiding judge; Heman Ely, Josiah Harris and Franklin Wells associate judges. Spring of 183.j, Ozias Long was associate judge. Daniel J. Johns was associate judge in 1837, and from this time until the spring of is;i'.) the record is missing. In 1840, Hon. John W. Willey became iiresiduig judge. Judge Willey died in office July 9, IKll, and the Hon. Reuben Hitchcock was appointed to fill the vacancy until the next spring term, when we find, January 23, 1H42, Hon. Benjamin Bissell presiding judge, with Franklin Wells, Daniel J. Johns and Josejib L. Whiton associates. In the May term, 1&45, Ebjah De Witt and Daniel T. Baldwin became associate judges. In the April term, 1848, Benjamin C. Perkius was an associate judge. In the May t«rui, 181tt, Hon. Philemon Bliss was presiding judge, and William Day, associate.

In 1852, upon the adoption of the new Constitution, the office of associate judge was abolished, and that of .Judge made elective. The following is a complete list of the gentlemen who have presided as judge, from the above year until the j)resent, with dates of their election:

1852, Hon. Samuel Humphrey ville; 1857, Hon. James B. Carpenter; 18.58, Hon. Thomas Bolton; 1859, Hon. WiUiam H. Canfleld ; 1802, Rons. John S. Green and Stevens<.in Burke. The last named resigned in l.St}9, and Hon. Washington W. Boy n ton was appointed to fill vacancy, who served, it appears by the journal, until 1877, when John C. Hale, the pi'esent incumbent, was elected, and Mr. Boynton was elevated to the Ohio supreme bench.

State Representatives

This office was created by the new constitution, and agreeably to its provisions an election was held in October, 1851, at which time Philemon Bliss was cliosen to (ill it for Lorain County. He was commissioned by Governor Reuben Wood January 17, 1852, and entered upon the dutie-^of the office March .'J, 18.52. His lirst official act bears date March 5, 18>2,and was the granting of a license to the Reverend William O'Conner, a priest (»f the Catholic faith, authorizing him to solemnize marriage contracts. Judge Bliss was succeeded by William F. Loekwood, whose commission was signed by Governor William Medill, and bears date November 11. 1851. Judge Loekwood resigned, aui.1 Lionel A. Sheldon was appointed. His commission. which was signed by Governor Salmon P. Chase, bears date November 20, 18.5(>. Judge Sheldon was succeeded by Charles H. Doolittle, who was commissioned October 26, 1857. His commission was also signed by Governor Chase. Judge Doolittle was followed by John W. Steele, who was commissioned December 12, 18ti7, his commission being signed by Jacob D. Cox, as governor. Judge Steele resigned, and the present incumbent, Laertes B. Smith, succeeded him. Judge Smith was commissioned by/Governor Rutherford B. Hayes, May 26, 1871, and assumed the duties of the office June first of that year.

County Clerks

As previously mentioned, Ebenezer L. Whiton was really the first gentleman who filled the position of clerk of the court of common pleas for Lorain county. He served until 18:w, when E. H. Leonard succeeded him, and continued to occupy the office until 18-14, when George H. Benham was elected to the position. Mr. Benham was succeeded in 1817 by Myron R. Keith, who, in 1852, was followed by Laudon Rood. In 1858 Roswell G. Horr assumed the duties of the office, and continuing until isiit, when WUliam A. Briggs was elected and the fact of his having held the office continuously until the fall of 1S7S is conclusive evidence of his fitness for the place. To him and also to his worthy companion who has ably assisted in the duties of the office, we wish to express our thanks for material aid in the preparation of the official roster. Henry J. Lewis is the clerk elect and will succeed Dr. Briggs.

Prosecuting Attukn'Ey

We liave seeu that Woolsey Welles was appointed to this position in 182^1. He served two years and re-signed. Frederick Whittlesey succeeded him. In 18:J3, J. W. Willey was appointed. In IS^iJi, Frederick Whittlesey, came in; served two years; was followed in in 1835 by E. S. Hamlin; and he, in 1H36, by Elijah Parker, for one year. He was succeeded by Joel Tiffany; and his successors are as follows: IStO, E. H. Leonard; 1841, Joe! Tiffany; 1.^2, E. S. Hamlin; 1814, Horace A. Teuny; 18-15, Joel Tiffany; 1846, William F. Loekwood; 1850, John M. Vincent; 1854, Joseph H. Dickson; 1856, John M. Vincent; 1858, (ieorge Ohnsted, who resigned; and W. W. Boynton was appointed to fill vacancy. Mr. Boynton was elfictcd the fall of IS.50. He was succeeded by John C. Hale, in 185:J. Charles W. Johnston was elected in ISfl'.); and his successor, who was elected in IHTa, is George C. Metcalf, the present incumbent, a man every way capable and worthy.

ContemiM»raneous with the birth of the county of Lorain, Sherman Minott assumed the dnl,ies and responsdiilities of auditor. He retained the position until Henry C. Minott was appointed, and afterward elected, lie was succeeded in I8"i5 by Edward Duraud. lu 18:i6, Luther D. Griswold was elected; and in 18'J8, Edward Durand again became the incumbent, ami served until 1842, when we find John Sherman occupying the office. The following were his sue cessors: In 1844, Lamlon Rood; in 1851, Geoi^e Clifton; in 1855, William H. Root; in 1861, Richard Day; in 1863, Mozart Gallup; in 186!», E. G. Johnson; and in 1877, Orville Root, who still retains the office. '

Ebenezer Whiton was first recorder of Lorain county, and his first official act was to record a deed from Benjamin Pritchard to Anna Merrills, conveying a parcel of land containing thirty and threefourths acres, situated in township number six, range eighteen, in the county of Huron, and being part of lot number thii*ty-oue. This instrument was acknowledged on May 10, lS2-i. before Isaac Mdls, J. P.; was witnesseil by I. Mdls and Mary Mdls, and endorsed "Received April 13, 1S21, and recorded May 11, 1S2I, <m page one, book 'A,' Lorain county record of deeds." Mr. Whiton deceased in 1834. and Eliphalet H. Leonard was appointed to fill vacancy; 18.37, E. O. Foot; 1840, H. B. Kelsey; l>ai, Elah Park; 1843, Cyrus E. Bassett; 1849, John B. Northrop; 1852, Hem-y S. Rockwood; 1861, Henry B. West; 1H64, William H. Tucker, and, in 1S73, the present incum bent, John Bhuiehard, was elected. Mr. Blanchard was one of the noble army who went out to do battle for the fiag, and lost his right forearm in its support on the bloodv field of Stone river, pecember 26, 1862.

The first record we are able to proc re is in the year 1827. James J. Sexton then filled the office. The following is a complete list: 1830, Edwin Byington; 1S;W, William N. Race; 183-1, Justin Williams; 18:J6, Orson J. Humphrey; 18^58, Otis Briggs; l84:i, IJiinsoni Gibbs; 1844, Philip L. Goss; 1846, Hezekiah Brooks; 181J), John S. Stranahan; 1852, William S. Hopkins; 18.5:3, llerrick Parker; 1857, Clark Eldred; 1863. Nahum B. Gates; 1865, Otis Briggs; 1870, Jolm H. Faxou; 1872, Hiram Patterson, who is the present incunxbent.

The name of Josiali Hai'ris, who was first sheritl", occurs the last time 10, I8:i3. William N. Race, coroner, acted as shei-ifl' until November, 18:i4, when the name of E. Griffith ajipears as sheriff. Mr. Griffith was succeeded by Edwin Byingtou in 18;i6. Natum H. Gates was sheriff in 18'i8; E. Byington iu 1812; Jolm H. Faxou in 1844; AVilllam Patterson in 1848; John H. Boynton in 1S50; Ashbei Culver in 1854; S. W. Lincoln iu ISoti; H. E. Burr in 1H5'.): Mil.* Harris in 1863; resigned, and W. W. Dyer, coroner, filled the vacaucy imtil 1865, when Mark Hitchcock was elected. He was succeeded by X. Peck, in 1H61>; and he by R. E. Braman, in 1870; and he again by Charles Stone, in 1877, who is the present incumbent. H. E. Corning, sherilT elect, succeeds Mr. Stone January 1, 1870.

The first meeting of the commissioners of Lorain county was held at Elyria, on the 24th day of May, 1824. Present: John S. Reid, Ashabel (Jsboi'ue, and Benjamin Bacon. Their first official act was the appointment of. Edmund West as county treasurer, who gave bond in the sum of three thousand dollars, for the faithful discharge of his duties. At the following June session, we find the record of the estalilishment of a road, as follows: "Beginning in the highway, a little easterly of the dwelling house of Walter Crocker, in Black River township, thence running in the !UOst convenient route near the dwellings of Fi-ederiek and Daniel Onstine, thence across Beaver creek, near the house of Mr. Rice, thence to intersect the North Ridge road, so called, a little eastwardly of the dwelling house of Mr. Ormsby." 1S27, Judson Wadsworth succeeded <.»sborne, as commissionei-. The entire succession of incumbents to this office is given in the following list: 18:iO, Bacon, Wadsworth, and Milton Garfield; 1831, Wadsworth , Garfield, and Samuel Crocker; "1832, Wadsworth, Crocker, and George Bacon, Jr. ; 18:54, Crocker, Bacon, and John Laborie; 18:S5, Bacon, Laborie and Jonathan Rawson; 1836, Laborie, Rawson and Conrad Reid ; 1837, Rawson, Reid and Leonard

H. Loveland; 1838, Reid, Loveland, and Ashley S. Root; 1830, Loveland, George Sililey, and Wdliani Day; IHIO, Sibley, Day, and Reliisa Close; 1^*41, Day, Close, and Sinioti Nichols; ISK, Close, Nichols, and James M. Clark; 1K44, Clark, C. Onnsliy, and Uriah Thompson; IfUS, Clark, Thompson, and Eliphalet Reilinjiton; ISIIl, Thiimpsnn, Redington, and .lohii Coiuint; ISIT. Ucdingtim, Conant, and Hany Ten-ell; IfMS, Conant.. Terrell, and Ueorge Bacon; IHW, Tei-rell, Bacon, anil Samuel Knapp; ls.")0, Baccin, Knapp and (t. J. Humphrey; 1S.)1, Kniipp, Humphrey, and ,Iohn B. Rohertson; IKfi, Humphrey, M. B. Beldeu, and Asa Hamilton; IMVi, Belden Hamilton and dtis Briggs; l>i5l, HamiltoD, Briggs, ami ,). H. Dudley; 183,5, Briggs, Dudley and C. O. Cole; l.'ffili, Briggs, Cole, and J. H. Dudley; IUST, Briggs. Cole, and Darwin D.ver; 18.")S, Briggs, Dyer, and A. Luniui; 18.5!), Dyer, Luruui, \Vi liam rattersou; IStiO, Dyer, Patterson, .and Charles S. Aiken; IHOl, Dyer, Patterson, and Tabor Wood; IMIi'-, Dyer, Wiiud, and Thomas CImrehward; 18li8, W.j.id. Churidinard, and Darwin Dyer; 18(il, Wood, Dyer, and (Jeorjre Clifton; IHi}."., Wootl, Clifton, and Reuben Eddy; 18li(i, same; IsiiT, Clifton, Eddy, and B. S. Corning; istis. Eddy, Corning, and William A. Braman; ISOO, Corning, Laurel Beebe, and L. W. Bates; 1R"0, same; 1871, Corning, Bates, and Lucius Herrick; 1873. .same; 18;;^, Corning, Herrick, and James Lees; 1874, Corning, Herrick, and William H. Root; 187'5, Corning. Herrick, and Charles S. Mills; 1.87IJ, Herrick, Mills, and S. B. Dudley; 1877, Mills, Dudley .and A. D. Perkins.

Coin'Tv Iniiumakv

Oil Miircli 17, ISiiti, Tabor Wotid, (ic'i)rj;e Clifton :iiul Reuben Kddy, county eoniiiii.ssioiiL'r.s, purchased of Jose[)h Swift, Jr., one hundred and sixty-one acres of land in (_!;irlisk'. township, for an iiilirniary farm, |i:iyiiig therefor ten thoiis;inil live liiindreil dollars. On .laiuniry 8, 1807, the contract for the erection of a suitable building for the use of the poor of Ijorain county, was awardeil to Joiin Childs, of Elyria. and Samuel C. Brooks, of Cleveliinil, for the sum of thirtyseven thou.saiid Ove iiundred dollars, and on Septein- I)er It), 1S6S, the building was completed and accepted liy the commissioners. The 'contractors, however, having done e.xtra work, were paid thirty eight thous- ;ind five Iiundred dollars. The main building is one hundred and twenty-three by forty-six feet, three stories in height. In the center and rear of the main building is a wing thirty-two by seventy-tive feet and two stories high, - the whole containing one hundred and twenty rooms.

Infirm A Uy Directors

The commissioners appointed in 1808, Isaac S. Metcalf, Samuel Plumb, autl Lucius Herrick, directors; 18(il), Metcalf. Herrick, and Joseph Swift, Jr., were elected; 187(1, Metc;df, Swift, and J. H. Huiibert 1H71, same; l.S7ti, satne; 187^1, Swift resigned and John Cliamberlain was elected to fill the vacancy - the others were Metcalf and Joseph B. Clark; 1874, sam-; 187.'), Clark, S. D. Bacon and Isaac S. Straw. These geutlemeQ still occupy the position.

Supeiuntendent Of Infirmary

September 11, 1808, Tabor Vincent was elected, and he confined as such until March, 187U, when he died, and was succeeded by the nresen superintendent, Hiram Patterson,

Chapter Xii

Tiie history of the bar of Lrirain county begins proi)erly with the organization of the county, in the year 1834. It is worthy of mention, however, that there had resided in the county, prior to that time, a lawyer who suljse((uently rose to great eininence in the profession in Ohio. We refer to KiiENiozEii IjANE, wild came to Klyria nol long after tiie original settlemenl, in 1817, and while that pitrt of Ihe present Lorain c<ninty, which lies west of llu' East IJrancli of ]>lack river constituted ;i p;irt of Huron eounty. He was elected iiroseculing attorney of Huron eounty in the sj)ring of ISl'.t, but continued to reside in Elyria until October 10, of the same year, when he removed to Norwalk for the more convenient discharge of his oilicial duties. He rose rapidly in iiis profession; and in 1831 occupied a seat upon the supreme bench, which he continued U> hold until 1845. His decisions are reported in volumes five to thirteen, inclusive, of the Ohio reports.

At the organization of the court of common jileas of Lorain county, May 24, 18-.J4, four gentlemen comiteted for the appointment of prosecuting attorney from the court. These were Woolsey Wells, Elijah Parker, Ebenezer An'dhews and Reuben MrssEY. Mr. Welles was the successful candidate. " Not," says Mr. Welles, in a recent letter, " because I was the best lawyer, but because I had more influential friends to recommend me to the court."'

]\Ir. Andrews must have left the county about tliat time, as there is nothing in the records of the court to show that he was practising here at any subse(pieut time. His name a])pears in only a single case, and th;it in 183!l.

The other three gentlemen above named, with Frederick Whittlesey, who came shortly afterwards, seem to have constituted the resident bar of this county until about ISol.

Mr. Parker, the eldest of these, was born .lune 22, 177'.l. He came to Ohio from N'erinont at a very early day. The date of his arrival we have been unable to a: certain; but he was in Elyria as early as 1823. He remained in Elyria until his death, A[iril 3, 1859. His health in later years was poor, and he would seem, from the records, not to have practiced any after about 1854. He held the ollice of justice of the peace several times, and that of prosecuting attorney of the county during the years 1830 and 1837.

Reuben Mussey, the father of Henry E. Musscy, who is still a resident of Elyria, was born in Hover, N. II., October 14, 1785. He was admitted to practice as an attorney-at-law at Albany, N. Y., .January 17, 1818, and as a counsellor January 13, 1831. Prior to his removal to Ohio he resided at Sandy Hill, Washington county, N. Y., where he was a partner with Judge Skinner in the practice of the law. During this period Silas Wright was a student in their otliee. Mr.' Mussey settled at Elyria in the spring of 1835, having previously located temporarily in Elyria, Norwalk and Cleveland, and continued to reside there (Elyria) until the fall of 1837, devoting himself during the time exclusively to the practice of his profession, and to the duties of the office of justice of the peace, which ho held two or three terms within that period. During his residence in Elyria, Mr. Mussey dill a iarur business, coniparativoly, tliongli, of course llie whole Inisiiiess was small compared with that of hiter years. I le was a well-ediu-ated, thorough lawyer, anil a gmial, kind-hearled man. On leaving Klyria, in llic aiituMHi of IS.'JT, he wt'ut to Logansjiort, Indiana, where he remained about a year and a half, when he removed to Kishwaukee, HI., where he was joined liy his family, which, up Id that time, had continued to ri'side in Elyria. His death occurred at Kishwaukee, Oetolii'r 14, 1S43.

WoohSEV \Vei>j.es, the first prosecuting attorney of Loi'ain counlv, was horn in Laneshoro, Berkshire eounly, !\[ass.. May 20, 18t)'>. He received an academic education at Lewisville, Ijewis county, N. Y., and IJtica, Onciila county, N. V., and removed to Cleveland, Ohio, in Septemlier, 181'.). Ho immediately connncnccd reading law in the othce of Kelly anil Cowles, in that city, and was ailmitted to the l)ar in 182;$. In the fall of the same year he removed to Elvria and entered u|H)n the practice of his profession. He remained in Elyria about two years (receiving, as he says, sixty dollars per year for prosecuting the j)leas of the State), when he reniovi'd to Akron, where he ha<l been appointed collector of canal tolls. 'J'liis oHlce he held about a. year, and then resigned it hecause he was i'ei|uired to attend to its duties on the Sabbath. He was also ap])ointed postmaster at Akron liy l'resi<lcnt John (),. Adains, and held that jiosition until the second term (jf President Jackson, in the lald'rpart of which he resigned. He also hekl the otlice of justice of the peace in Akron about four and a half years and res'gned it in 1834, at which time he commenced traveling over the State as agent of the Ohio State 'remperance Society, of which (Jovernor lau-as was [)rcsident. He continued this al>out a year, when he returned to Elyria and re-entered the practice of the law in partnership with Heman Birch, Esi|. In the fall of 1837 he remoxed to Cleveland, where he spent three years in the practice, at the end of whiidi he returned to Elyria and again opened a law otlice. He remained at Klyria this time some eight- or ten years. During this time he took part as an anti-slavery man in the agitations of the (piestion of slavery; but his success at the practice of law was meager, partly, no doid)t, on account of the pivjudice excited against him by his anti-slavery sentiments. At the end of this time, through the agency of Dr. N. S. 'rownshend. whom the Ereesoilers had succee<lc<l in electing to the legislature, he received the appointment of agent of the State for the sale of Western Reserve school lands, and removed to Defiauce, where he cout inui'd to reside about nine years, after which he was appointed to an Iowa land agency and removed to Fort Dodge, in that State, where ho still resides at the ripe age of seventy-seven years.

Fkedkriok Whittlesey was born at Southington, Conn., Docendjer 33, 1801. From the court records, he would seem to have come to Elyria about 1837, and continued to reside there, holding a ])rominent position at the bar until 1835. He held the otHce of prosecuting attorney several years during that time, and twice represented Lorain county in the Legislature. Ho continued to reside in Cleveland until his death, which <jceui-red November 13, 18.54. During his residence there, he held the otlice of clerk of the courts of Cuyahoga county, and afterward of associate judge of the court of common pleas. He also rejiresented Cuyahoga county in the State senate. Mr. Whittlesey was a well-educated, thorough lawyer, and always aci|uitted himself credit-ably both at the bar and on the bench. He gave great satisfaction to the bar of Cuyahoga county while acting as associate judge, an office not generaf ly filled by lawyers; and his opinions were received with <[uite as much respect as those of the presiding jmlge. While in Elyria, Mr. Whittlesey, f(u- a short time, added to his professiomd labors those of an editor, having charge of the Lorniii, (hc.iilc, the first uowsi)aper puljlished in Lorain county, which was established in 1831). Mr. Whitlesey's exani|ilo in this respect was followed by <|uite a large nundjcr of his successors in the practice of the law at Elyria. Of their career as journalists, liowever, very little or nothing will be said in this connection, but the reader is referred to the chapter upon the press of the county, where it will he set out in full.

These were the jtioneers of the Lorain bar, men of learning, ability and integrity; ;ind in proportion to the amount of business to be done, the bar would seeii! to have been as large then as in the past ten years. The court of common pleas then, and for many years after, held only two sessions a year of aa week each, and the sui)reino court only one session of a single day. The first journal of the court of common pleas, which extends to the spring of 1833, and iueludes all the probate business, cijiitains about the same amount of matter as the present journal of the same court for a single year, and the probate business is now all removed to the probate court. Over against this, however, is to be set the undoubted fact, that a greater proportion of the litigation was tlien disposed of finally before justices of the peace. Small as the business was, however, the Lorain bar by no means had the monopoly of it. Lawyers from adjacent, and even from remote counties, were at Elyria attending court, and did no inconsiderable part of the business. Promindt among these were:

Rei'isen Wood, (afterwards common pleas and sui)reme judge,) and John W. Willey, of Cleveland, afterward presiding judge of the court of common pleas. Samuel Cowles, of the same city, also did aconsiderable practice. Whittlesey & Newton, both eminent lawyers, of Warren, TrumliuU county, and Thomas D. Weub, of the same place, also ap[iear freipieutly n\wa the records of the courts of Lorain during its early years. During this period, also, there commenced a practice which continued consecutively for about twenty years, and at intervals ever since. We refer to that of resideut of Lorain county, and hence no extended notice of liim will be attempted hero, but a history of the bar of Lorain which omitted to mention him wiHild 1)0 incomjilete. Admitted to tlio l)ar in Clcveland in 1828, he immediately commenced attending the courts at Elyria, and rapidly acquired a practice. A thorough and accomplished lawyer, a fiery and fl(i(picnt advocate, quick and incisive at re|)artec, full ol" the spirit of gcnnineand licalthy mirthfuluess, and witiial a perfect gentleman, Mr. Andrews will long continue a ])rominont figure in the memory of the earliei' inlialiitaiit of Lorain county. He was for a slioi't time judge of the old sujicrior court of Cleveland, and also a memher from tiiat county of tiieOhio constitutional conventions of 1850 and 187:5. lie still resides in Cleveland, at tiie ripe age of seventy-seven years, in full possession of his mental fa(niltics, and remarkably well preserved physically, in the regular jiractice of his profession - the honored Nestor of tfie Cuyahoga bar.

The period from 18:11 to 184.'") with large increase of |iopiilation and business in the county witnessed the advent of no fewer than twenty new lawyers to Elyria, the county seat. Prominent among these were Edward S. Hamlin, Horace D. Clark, Joel Tiffany, Albert A. Bliss, Phili'm<ui Bliss, .Tndson I). Benedict, Bobert McEachron and Williain K. Lockwood.

The earliest of these to begin jiractice at Elyria was Enw.vui) S. Hamlix who held a prominent position at the bar and had a large practice for a period of about eighteen ^'cars. He commenced, as the records indicate, about 1X31, and soon after entered into |iMi'tncrsbip witii Frederick Whittlesey, which ])artnersliip continued until Mr. Whittlesey left Elyria in 18;!.'). In 18;):)-4-."), he held the otiico of prosecuting attorney of Lorairi county. In 1837 he removed to Clevel;ind. but returned in a little over a year. In 1838 or 1S39. he formed a partnership with Albert A. Bliss, (of whom more hereafter) which arrangement continued until 1843, when Mr. Hamlin was elected to Congress for an unexpired term. About the time of its dissolution William F. Loe^kwood became his jiartner, and seems to have continued so until Mr. Hamlin left Elyria in about 1840. Mr. Hamlin was known as a close, thorough and indnstrious lawyer, and tiiough not as ebxpient an advocate as some of bis cotemporaries, an eminently ''safe" man to have the charge of litigation. He is still living and pi'actieiughis profession, and when last heard from by the writer was at Cincinnati.

HoRAf'K D. Clark, one of the lawyers who bad the birgest continu(nis practice in Lorain county, was born May 23, 1805, at Graiiby, Connecticut, where his mother still resides at the advanced age of ninety-four years. He went to district school summers till he was eight years of age, and in the winter till he was sixteen, when he was taken from' school and placed in a country store, where he served his apprenticeship a7id was taken in as a partner. In this business be continued some four years, at the end of which time.

says he in a recent letter, " I found we had lost so much by bad debts and the stealings of clerks that there was but little left, and I quit the Inisiness in disgust.'' He studied law one year in Connecticut, and in November 17, 1832, started for Ohio, and reached Hndson in this state, in nccember of the same year. On the eighth of th:il month he entered the biw school of .Judge Van K. Humphrey, and a year later was admitted to the bar by the snpreme court in b;i,nk at Columbus.

On the fourth of the following -luly (1834) Mr. Clark opened a law office in tlie southeast corner room in the court house in Elyria. He continued Id jiractict^ law in Elyria from that time for about tbirl\- years, having during a large portion of that time the birgest practice in the county - a practice never ;ipproa.elied in magnitude by more than one rival at a time. A. A. Bliss, Hamlin and P>liss, .loel Tiffany, Benedict and Leonard, Hamlin and Lockwood, and W. F. Lockwood alone, were at different times, his nearest competitors, but Mr. Clark steadily maintained the leading position be had gained, until after he ceased to reside in Elyria.; for though he continued to practice there till 18C4. he i-emoved with his family to Cleveland in 1S51.

In 184."> Jlr. Clark took in as a i)ai'tuer Cyiais Olney, who came from Iowa, where he had been in practice. He stayed about a year and returned to Iowa, where he was soon after elected a judge. ''He was about twenty-eight," says Mr. I'lark, "and the best special pleader of his age I ever saw.''

In jMareh, 1849. Mr. Clark fornu'd a ]i;nt ucrsbip with .Stevenson Burke, who Imd been admitted to the bar the August previous, having been astudent in Mr. Clark's office. His partnership continued til! about June, 18.52. John M. Vincent and John A'. Coon were also students with Mi-. Clark during bis practice in Elyria. In 18.50 Mr. Clark was elected a member of the constitutional convention of Ohio, and served in that body, which completed its labors March 10, 18.51. This is the only otficiid position held l)y Mr. Clark.

He was an excellent lawyci-, though not es]iccially an eloquent advocate. He abandoned (be practice of law in 180.5 and removed to IMoiilival, Canada, where he now resides.

.loEL Tiffany, one of the the most remarkable men who ever lived in Elyi'ia, was a native of Barkhamstead, Connecticui. He removed to Elyria fi'om Medina, in 183.5. and remained in Elyria, as the court records indicate, until 184S. hi 1840, beseems to have been associated with Mr. Silliman, of Wooster. Mr. Silliman was an able lawyer, and ]iracliccd in Elyria for a number of years; though never a resident there. Mr. Tiffany .seems also to have been associated with L. G. Byington. for a short time, and with Mr. E. II. Leonard, for about two years. He was prosecuting attorney in 1838 and 1839. Upon leaving Elyria, he went to Painesville, and subsequentl}- to New York Citv. From lSfi3 to lSfi9. he resided in

Alhiiny, where be was reporter of the court of ai)i)e;ils of New Yoi'k, and pnhlished vohiines f wenty-eiiiht to tliirty-iiiiH', inclusive, of (lie N'ew York rojiorls. From there lie removed to Chicairo, where lie .still resides.

Mr. Tiffany a|i])roaclied lu^arer to lieint^^a "genius," as tliat word is oi'dinarily understciod, than any other jiractitiiincr of the Lorain bar. Wit h acute and accni'at<e jierceptions. great mental powers of acipiisitioii and assimilation, a [)rodigious memory, and, withal, an elo(|uencc seldom equalled, he was extremely well ei|uipi)ed for all forensic encounters. In the locally c(debra(cd " counterfeit cases," Mv. Tiffany exerted his great powers to their utmost, and made f<ii- liimself a reputation that will long endure in Lorain county. These were trit'(l in LSitS-O, when he was prosecuting, and no fewer tluin fourteen persons were sent to penitentiary for being implicated in the making and issuing of counterfeit money.

'i'he great ipialities we have mentioned were, liowcver. handicaiiiied by an unsteadiness of purpose, and lack i)t applicatiim to his profession, which rendeivd tln'in of comparatively little value to their possessor. He engaged in a- variety of entei'prises, outside of his profession, while in Elyria, none of which pro\cd j)ro(itable, while they j)revented his reaching that success in his j)i'ofcssion which he might otherwise Jiavc attained.

During liis residence in Albany, in 18G4, Air. Tiffany, in connection with Mr. Henry Smith, published a work uj)iin ]iractice under the New York code, under the title of "Tiffany & Smith's New York Practice." It is highly spoken of by the law reviewers. A second edit ion has just been ])ublishcd. edited by IL (J. Woods.

In 18(i2. in connection with E. !-'. llullard, Mr. Tiffany published awork, under the titki of "The Law of Trust and Trustees, as administered in England and America." I'rofessoi' Theodore W. Dwight, reviewing this work, in the Ami-ricd)). Lnir Eegistcy of .hily. ISi;;}, says: " 'i'h is appears to be an excellent wiirk. The ari-angcnieiil iif topics is simiile and logical, and tlie discussion lucid and satisfactorv."

Mr. 'i'ill'any also intblishe(l, in 18C7, "A 'I'reatise on (iovernmeiil, an<l Const it lit ional Law. being mii inquiry into the source and limitation of governmental authority, according to the American Tlieorv."

ALUKiiT A. Bliss was boni March '2:!, ISll, in C'antiiii, (Ninnecticiit. in IS-il. his father's family reinoNcd to W hitestnwn. Oneida, count v. New "^'ork. Li LS-.'."(, he left hoiii..', to leirn a trade, and served until ISIio. He then attended school for a couide of years at the Oneida [nstitute. at Whitestown, an excellent institution, on the manual labor ])lan, then recently organized, in the spring of IS:).'^, iM r. Uliss came to Elyria. and commenced studying law. in the office of Whittlesey & Hamlin. During the jieriod of his studying he engaged also in newspaper work. lie was admitted to the bar in C'leveland. Sejitember, 1S;S.5, and the following sj>ring moved to that city, and engaged in editing a ncwsi)aper, the Daily Gazi'lle. during the political campaign of that year; after which he returned to Elyria, and engaged in the ])ractice of his profession until 1847. In 1840, he cut red info |)arliierslii[i wilh E. S. Hamlin, and the linn did a large business until sometime in 1845, when it was dissolved. Previous to 184."), Mr. Bliss had, for a short time, been in paiinership with his brother, I'hilemon Bliss.

A deep interest in politics, however intemipftHl the continuity of Mr. liliss' application to the practice of his profession. He was three times elected to the legislature - in IS.'iO, 1840 and 1841, and was occuj)ied at different times in tlie editing of poliUcal newspapers. In the winter of 1S4G-7, he was elected treasurer of state by the legislature, and held that oHice until .January, I8.5'i. He removed to Columbus in the sjiring of 1847, but sc^ems to have kept up, somewhat, his hiw ])ractice at Elyria, as a member of the firm of Bliss & Bagg, until 1840. He returned to Elyria late in 18.'S'-J, and remained until the spring of 18')o, when he removed to .Jackson, Michigan, and engaged in mercantile business until 1874, wlien, finding the business liceoming unprofita'de. he sold it out and re-engaged in the practice of the law. He still resides at Jackson, where he is, as he always has been wherever he has lived, a highly respected citizen.

He isa n. ember ar.d the treasurer of the city school lioard, and one of the inspectors of the Michigan penitentiary, which is located at that place.

.Ii'D.soN I). Benedict came to Elyria fi'om Medina in 18o8. and engaged in the practice of the law for about ten years from that time. In 1840 or thereabouts, he formed a partnership with E. H. Leonard, who had then recently finished a long term as clerk of the courts, and been admitted to the liar. This partnership continued some two years, the firm doing a large business during the time. xVfter the dissolution of his connection with Bi'iiedict, Mr. Leonard soon formed a. iiartnershi]) with Mr. Tiffany, which lasted till al)out 184."), after which time his name does not appear upon the records of (his court.

After the dissolution of the firm of Benedict and fjconard, Mr. Bene(lict associated with himself Robert .\rclvic broil, under the firm of lienediet & McEaciii'oii. which linn continued some three years, after which .Joshua Mvers was partner with AH-. Benedict for about two years more. About 1848, Mr. Benedict a.iiandoned the jiractice of law, and liecaine a preacher id" the denomination known as Disciples or ('ampliellites, and left Elyria. He removed to the vicMiiity of Buffalo. New York, where he resided most of the remainder of his life. He died in Canada tliree or four years ago.

Mr. Benedict did a very consideralile business during all his residence at J<]lyria, but was no( considered a strong lawyer; as a pleader, he was especially weak.

Philemon Bliss, a brother of A. A. Bliss, was admitted to the bar in Elyria in 1838. He commenced practice at once in Elyria in partnership with his brother, A. A. Bliss, but soon after, by reason of ill-liealth, was forced to abandon business, and went west. Regaining his health, he re-commenced his practice in Cuyahoga Falls, Summit county, Ohio, in 1843, but returned to Elyria in the winter of 18-H5-7, and remained in practice there, except when interrupted by office holding, until tlic spring of 1861. During that period, he was elected probate judge, being the first prol)atc judge of Lorain couiit}^, also common pleas judge in the winter of 1848-9, and to Congress in 1854 and 1856.

In 1801, he was appointed chief justice of Dakota territory, which office he held until the fall of 1864, when he removed to St. Joseph, Missouri, where he resided until 1873. During this period, he was elected probate judge, and, in 1868, supreme judge of Missouri, which office lie filled to the end of the term with credit to himself and benefit to the jurisprudence of that state. In 1873, he was elected resident professor of law at the university of Missouri, and dean of tlie law faculty, and removed to Columbia, where lie still resides. Mr. Bliss is a man of great mental ability. A more extended sketch of his life will be found in that part of this volume devoted to Elyria. He is the autJior of a work on jileading, which is just published.

Wm. F. Lockwood, one of the latest lawyers to settle in Elyria during the period of which we arc now speaking, was born April 1, 1823, in Norwalk, Fairfield county, Connecticut, aud there received a common school education. In 1837, he went to New York, and became a clerk in a wholesale grocery store. In 1840, lie came to Ohio, and, in 1841, settled in Elyria, where he became a law student in the office of Hamlin & Bliss. In 1843, he was admitted to the l)ar at Medina. He was a candidate on the wliig ticket, the same year, for the office of lirosccuting attorney, but was defeated by H. A. Tenney, the democratic candidate. He was elected to that office, however, in 1844, and held it for four years, being re-elected in 1846. In 1853, he was a delegate from his congressional district to the wliig national convention, whicli met at Baltimore and nominated Winfield Seott as a candidate for the presidency. The same year he was the candidate of his party for congress, but was defeated, Harvey Johnson, of Ashland county, the democratic candidate, being elected.

In 1854, he was elected probate judge of Lorain county, succeeding Philemon Bliss. In 1856, he was a candidate before the Republican convention for the nomination for common pleas judge, but Judge Carpenter, of Akron, was the nominee.

By reason of impaired health, he resigned his office, and in the spring of 1857 removed with his family to Nebraska and settled at Omaha, wliere he resided some two years, when he removed to Dakota City,

He was one of the federal judges for the territory of Nebraska, from April, 1861, until the admission of Nebraska as a State in 1867, when he was nominated by President Johnson as United States district judge for the district of Nebraska, but was not confirmed by tlie Senate. He then returned to Toledo, in this State, where he still resides.

In 1878, he was recommended by the bar of Lucas county for the office of common pleas judge, which recommendation was ratified by both the republican and democratic conventions, and he was elected to that office.

Mr. Lockwood had a large practice when at the bar in Elyria, and is a man of fine abilities, as the large number of important positions he has held with credit to himself well attests.

Thomas Tyrrell, from 1834 to 1838. During a part or all of this time, he was a partner with E. S. Hamlin. He engaged also in the newspaper business.

L. F. Hamlin, 1838 to 1855. He was considered a good equity lawyer, but his practice was limited. He was for a time a partner with Mr. Lockwood. He died in Elyria.

Robert McEachron, 1842 to 1850. He came from Richland county, was a partner with Mr. Benedict from 1842 to 1845, and with Joshua Myers under the name of McEachron & Myers from 1847 to 1849, and did a very considerable business. His health failed while in Elyria, and be died soon after leaving there.

Joshua Myers came to the bar about 1844, and remained in Elyria until his death, in 1877. He was first associated with Mr. Benedict, then with Mr. McEachron, as already stated. From about 1850 to 1854, he was associated with Judge Bissell, of Painesville, in the firm of Bissell & Myers, whicli did a considerable business. His practice when alone was never large. During his later years, he held the office of justice of the peace for a single term, securing his election partly by means of the anti-temperance excitement, which grew up in oiii^ositiou to the "crusade," in 1874.

FORDTCE M. Key^th was admitted to the bar in 1839, and commenced practice in Elyria, but removed to Stark county in 1840, and subsequently to Jackson county, Ohio. He served with distinction in tlie late war as major of infantry, and wajor and lieutenantcolonel of artillery, and in 18G5 removed to White Cloud, Kansas, where he now resides, engaged in the practice of law, and farming.

Myron R. Keith was born in Wingfield, Herkimer county, N. Y., March 3, 1819; came to Elyria with his father, Colonel Ansel Keith in Octolier, 1832; and was admitted as an attorney in 1841. He commenced the jiracticc of law in Elyria in 1841, and in 181:2 removed to Cleveland and practiced with Harvey Rice, in the firm of Rice & Keith, until 184G. In January, 1840, he returned to Elyria and was appointed clerk of the courts for Lorain county, and officiated in that cajiacity until the spring of 1852. In August, 1852, he removed to Cleveland, and since that time he has been and still is engaged in the i)ractice of the law there. In June, 1807, he was appointed register in bankruptcy, and is still acting in that capacity.

H. A. Tenney came to the bar in 1842, ami was elected prosecuting attorney that year. He remained in Elyria a few years engaged in the law pi-actice and newspaper work, and then removed to Wisconsin.

John B. Green was admitted to the bar in Elyria in 1843, and, after remaining a year or two, removed to Newark, Ohio, where he died in 1845.

Eleazer Wakely was admitted to tlie bar in Elyria in 1844, and remained there about two years, when he removed to Wisconsin, and, subse(iueutly, to Nebraska, where he held the office of federal territorial Judge, in which he was succeeded by Judge Wni. F. Lockwood in 1801. He still resides in Omaha eminent in his profession.

During this period, 1831 to 1845, the law business of the county had increased, so that, in 1844, it was something more than half its i)resent amount as indicated ])y the jciurnal of the court of common pleas. Still, u}) to this time, very few, if any, of the lawyers had devoted themselves exclusively to the practice of the law, almost all engaging in newspaper publication and sonui in other enterprises. The relative amount of l)usiiiess done by foreign attorneys was much less than in the earliest period, but still a large number of attorneys from Cleveland and other points practiced occasionally in Lorain. Prominent anuing these were W. Silliui;in, of Woost(U', and C. L. Lattimer, of Norwalk.

Tlie jieriod from 1845 to 1800 witnessed an almost complete change in the personnel of the Lorain bar. About thirty new men came to the bar during tiuit period, and, at its close, Philemon Bliss remained tlie only resident attorney who had begun practice prior to 1845, although Mr. Clark, then residing in Cleveland, still practiced at the Lorain bar. Of some seven or eight of those who came to the practice within this period it is proper to make somewhat extended mention.

August 0, 1823, at Lanesborough, Berkshire county, Mass. He removed to Elyria in May, 1845, and, in 1840, entered the office of A. A. Bliss as a partner, and continued in the practice until December, 1850, when he removed from Elyria. During his residence in Elyria he was also associated with Mr. Edmund A. West, now of Chicago, in the firm of Bagg & West, and later with Mr. George Olmsted, now of Elyria, as Bagg & Olmsted. He also engaged at times in the drug and insurance business while in Elyria. After remaining a few mouths in Ciiicago, he removed to Iowa in March, 1857, and settled at Waterloo, where he now resides. He was commissioned in the army as A. Q. M. with the rank of captain, October 22, 1862, and served until November 20, 1805, being discharged with tlie bi'evet of major. He was elected circuit judge in 1808, and re-elected in 1S72 and 1876, and elected district judge in 1878, which office he now holds.

Stevenson Burke was bom in St. Lawrence county. New York, November 20, 1826. He commenced studying law in the office of Powell & Buck, at Delaware, Ohio, and afterwards went into the office of U. D. Clark at Elyria, where he continued till his admission to the bar, August 11, 1848. In the following March he entered into partnership witli Mr. Clark, which partnership continued until May or June, 1852. He continued to reside at Elyria with a rapidly increasing practice until 1801, when he was elected judge of the court of common pleas for the counties of Lorain, Medina and Summit. Prior to his elevation to the liench he was associated for a short time with Mr. Lake and Mr. Sheldon, under the firm name of Burke, Lake & Sheldon. This firm, however, lasted but a short time. In 1857 he was associated with E. F. Poppleton, and, in 1800, with H. II. Poppleton.

Mr. Burke was a sound and thorougli lawyer antl ;i. man of remarkable industry, being, no doubt, the hardest working lawyer who ever practiced at the Lorain bar. He was elected to the common pleas bench October, 1861, and took his seat the February following, and continued to hold the office until February, 1809, having been re-elected in 1860. He resigned his office January 1, 1809, his resignation taking effect at the end of the judicial year the 9th of the following February. Immediately upon his resignation he became a member of the firm of Backus, Estep & Bnrke in Cleveland, Messrs. Backus and Estep having previously been partners in the practice in that city. Judge Bnrke also kept for a time an office in Elyria, where he still resided, in connection with Mr. II. H. Poppleton. This was soon discontinued, however. Not long after Mr. Burke went to Cleveland tlie partnership of which he was a member was broken up by the death of Mr. Backus. After a short time more Messrs. Estep & Burke dissolved their connection, since which Judge Burke has been practicing alone in Cleveland, and doing a large and higlilv lucrative business. He has become interested in several railroad and other corporations, and is at )>resent a director and chairman of tlie finance committee of the C, 0., C. & I. R'y Co., and general counsel of the company, and occupies the same position witli reference to the Cleveland and Mahoning \'alley R. R. Co., and holds prominent positions in a number of other railroad, mining and manufacturing corjiorations.

JouN M. Vincent was bcjrn at Mount Washington, Berkshire county, Mass., October 14, 1830. He came to Ohio in 1834. His collegiate course was begun at Oberliii, but concluded at Union College, Schenectady, Now York, where he graduated in 1846. Returning to Elyria, he entered the office of H. D. Clark as a law student^ and was admitted to the bar at the supreme court in Elyria August 11, 1848. Entering at once npon the practice of his profession, he was elected in the fall of tlie following year to the office of prosecuting attorney of Lorain county, which he held two consecutive terms, being re-elected in 18.51. He was elected to the same office again in 1855 and served one more term. Mr. Vincent was a man of quick and accurate perceptions, a thorough lawyer, a ready and effective debater, and withal a genial, kind-hearted gentleman. With such qualifications he could not but occupy, as he did, a prominent position at the bar as long as his health permitted him to continue in the practice. He was elected to the lower house of the State legislature in tlie autumn of 1859, and served in that body during tlie session of 18C0 and 1861. This legislative work was substantially the last of his life. Failing healtji forljade his continuing in the jiractice of his profession, and, in the summer of 1863, he went to Minnesota in hope of improving liis health by change of climate; but, finding himself growing rapidly worse, he started to return home, but was compelled to leave tiie cars at Milwaukee, where he died Sejitember 23. 1863, mourned by a large circle of friends and acijuaintances. His wife and son still reside at Elyria.

LioNKL A. Sheldon was born August 30, 1831, at Worcester, Otsego county, New York, and removed with his parents to LaGrange, Lorain county, in 1834. He studied law in the office of Clark & Burke, in- Elyria, and also attended law school at Poughkeepsie, New York, and was admitted to the bar at the supreme court at Elyria, in July, 1851.

In September, 1853, he commenced practice in connection with Mr. Vincent, which partnership lasted some two years. He was subse(iuently associated, at different times, with George 15. Lake, L. B. Smith, and W. W. Boynton. He remained in Elyria, in the practice of his profession, until the breaking out of the war of the rebellion, in 1861. He held the office of probate judge, from November 35, 1856, to February 8, 1858, filling out the unexpired term of William F. Lockwood.

In August, 1861, he entered the army as captain in the 3d Ohio cavalry, and was snbseipiently a major in the same regiment. At the organization of the

43d Ohio volunteer infantry, he was commissioned its lieutenant-colonel, and on the promotion of its colonel, James A. Garfield, he became colonel of the regiment, and served with distinction throughout the war, receiving toward the close of the war, the rank of brevet brigadier general.

After the close of the conflict, he settled in New Orleans, and resumed the practice of his profession, and also became interested in politics. Ho was elected to congress in 1868, 1870, and 1873, and served with credit in those three congresses. In 1876, he was one of the presidential electors of the state of Louisiana. He still resides in New Orleans; spending his summers, however, on liis large farm in LaGrange, Lorain county, the home of his boyhood.

George B. Lake was admitted to the bar at Elyria, July, 1851, and practiced in Elyria, with credit, until about 1857, when he removed to Omaha, where he still resides. He has attained tliere a marked eminence in his profession, and now occupies a seat ujion the bench of the sujjreme court of Nebraska.

Houston H. Popplbton was born at Bellville, Richland county, Ohio, March 10, 1836. He removed with his father to Delaware, Ohio, in March, 1853, and entered the Ohio Wesleyan university, at that place, the same year, from which institution he graduated June 38, 1858.

lie commenced studying law with Mr. Burke, in Elyria, September 9, 1858, and continued with him till he entered the Cincinnati law college, October 15, 1859, and was admitted to the bar at Cincinnati April 16, 1860. He commenced the jiractice of law at Elyria, May 3, 1860, having formed a jiartnership with Judge Burke; and continued in the general practice until December 1, 1873, when he was appointed general attorney of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway Conijiany, with headquarters at Cleveland, and at once took charge of the entire legal department of that comj^any, which position he still holds, and fills with marked ability.

Washington W. Boynton was born iu Russia, Lorain county, January 37, 1833. He was educated in the common schools, studied law, and was admitted to the bar by the district court of Lorain county, at its September term, 1856, and immediately commenced practice. In March, 1859, upon the resignation, by Mr, George Olmsted, of the office of prosecuting attorney, he was appointed by the court to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term, which ended the first Monday of the following January.

In October, of the same year, (1859), he was elected to the same office, and continued to discharge its duties with credit to himself, and satisfaction to the public, until January, 1864, having been re-elected in the fall of 1861. Mr. Boynton continued in the practice of the law, at Elyria, with the exception of a short residence in Minnesota, whither he went on account of his health, until February, 1869, when he was appointed by tlio governor to tlie office of common jileas Judge, left vacant by tlie resignation of llou. Stevenson Burke. In October, of the same year, he was elected to that office, for the remainder of .Tudgc Burke's term, which expired February, 1873. In liie fall of 1S71, lie was re-ek'cted for a full term, which expired February, 1877, at wliich time he entered upon the discharge of the duties of a judge of the supremo court, having been elected to that office in October, 187G. He is still a member of the supreme court.

A considerable number of lawyers commenced i)raetiee m Lorain county during this time, and remained for longer or shorter periods, including some who are still at the bar, who will be mentioned hereafter.

Edmund A. West, 184G to 1853. He was tlie son of Edmund West, one of the original settlers of Elyria. On leaving Elyria he went to Chicago where he is still practicing law, making a .specialty of patent business.

George G. Washburn practiced law from 1849 to 1853. He then al)andonod the law and devoted himself to journalism, and still resides in Elyria, the editor and publisher of the Elyria Rejniblican.

Schuyler Putnam was admitted to the bar in 1852, at the first term of the district court under the constitution of 1851. He was a great-grandson of General Israel Putnam of revolutionary war fame. Says Mr. H. D. Clark in a recent letter, speaking of Mr. Putnam: ''He came to the bar at an advanced age, ripe in judgment and experience. He had a good legal mind, and in a long number of years as a justice of the peace, never gave an opinion that was reversed by a higher court. He was a moral, conscientious, upright man."

C. G. Finney, Oberlin, 1854. He was a son of the celebrated divine. Reverend C. G. Finney, for many years president of Oberlin college. He returned to Oberlin a few years ago and entered into partnership with I. A. Webster, but his health permitted him to remain only a short time.

John M. Langston, Oberlin, was admitted to the bar in Elyria in 1855, and practiced at Oberlin until ;ii)out 18G7. He now resides in Washington, D. C, wliere he is a law lecturer in Howard University.

From 1857 to 1859 Samuel and Ralph Plumb practiced law in Oberlin under the name of Plumb and Plumb, and Ralph seems by the court record to have continued until 1861. Samuel Plumb organized a bank in Oberlin under the name of "S. Plumb's Bank," whicli, on the jiassage of the National liankinu; act was converted into the " First National Bank

Laertes B. Smith was admitted to the bar in Elyria, in September, 1858, and practiced in Elyria, holding the office of justice of the peace for several terms, until June 1, 1871, when he was appointed probate judge, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of John W. Steele. He was elected to that office tlie same year for the unexi)ired term and still holds the office, having been re-elected in 1873, 1875 and 1878.

Edward D. Holbrook, son of Dexter Holbiuok who still resides in Elyria, was born in Elyria October 10, 1835, studied law with Johnson and Rex in Wooster, and was admitted at that place in May, 1857. He commenced practice in Elyria in 1858, and remained until the spring of 1861 when he removed to California, where he remained studying the mining laws until May 17, 1863, when he removed to Idaho territory, where he rapidly rose to prominence and acquired an extensive practice. He represented that territory as delegate in the thirty-ninth and f.irtieth congresses. He continued to reside in Idaho, attending to his increasing professional duties until his death. He was murdered by Charles H. Douglas, at Idaho City, June 19, 1870.

Washburn Safford practiced in Elyria for two or three years, beginning in 1855, in partnership with .Judge Pliilemon Bliss, under the name of Bliss and Safford. Daring a portion of this time R. H. Allen, who practiced in Oberlin, was also a member of the firm, the title at the Oberlin office being Bliss, Allen and Safford. Mr. Allen remained in Oberlin a year or so after the dissolution of this firm.

The period from 1800 to the present time can scarcely be called historical, and must be passed over rapidly. It has witnessed the advent of many more lawyers than any other period of e(pial length; but a majority of them are still young men, and the time has not yet arrived for them to have reached the eminence and distinction to which many of the older members of the Lorain bar have attained.

The most conspicuous figure among the men who have come to the Lorain bar within this period is Hon. John C. Hale, one of the jiresent judges of the court of common pleas. He was born March 3, 1831, at Orford. New Hampshire, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1857. He was admitted to the bar in Cleveland in the spring of 1861, and immediately

We shall now pass rapidly over the gentlemen who have been members of the Lorain bar since 1860 and who are not now in the practice there, and close this sketch with a mention of the attorneys now resident in the county.

Lewis Breckeneidge was admitted to the bar in 18.39, commenced practice in Elyria in 1861 and I'cmained until 1873 when he removed to Cleveland where he now resides and practices.

J. C Hill came to Elyria as an attorney in 1801, as already mentioned, as a partner with J. C. Hale. He remained in the practice until 186-1, when he abandoned it and engaged in other business. He is now a resident of Elyria and cashier of the Savings l)eix>sit Bank.

James B. Huiii-nREY was admitted to the bar in Elyria in 1803, and practiced there until 1867 or 1868, when he removed to Allegan, Michigan, where he still resides. He is, or recently was, probate judge of Allegan county, and occupies a prominent position at the bar there.

KoswELL G. HoRR was admitted to the bar at the exjjiration of his term as clerk of the court in 1804, and entered into partnership with J. C. Hale. He continued in the practice about two years, when he removed to Missouri. He subse(juently removed to East vSaginaw, Michigan, where he still resides. He was elected to Congress from that district at the election in November, 1878.

Herbert L. Terrell was admitted to the bar in Pllyria in September, 1804, aiul entered into partnership with W. W. Boynton, remaining about a year. He then removed to Tennessee, but subsequently returned to Ohio and settled in Cleveland, where he is now practicing.

I). L. ]?RECKINRII)(IE was admitted to the bar in 1806, but continued to reside on his farm in (irafton till his death, in 1878, never devoting himself e.xclusively to the law.

A. C. HouiiHTON went into partnershi]i with J. II. Dickson, at Wellington, in 1808, and ivmained in tiie l)ractice there until about 1873, when he removed to Toledo.

M. W. I'oND, Jr., in partnership with C. H. ! toolittle, practiced in Elyria in 1869. Ho removed to Pennsylvania., but subse<iuently i-eturned to Cleveland, where he now resides, engaged in the practice of the law.

(jL'stavus V. Bayley was admitted to the bar in 1873, and in the fall of 1873 settled at Black River (now Lorain), and engaged also in the lumber business. He continued to reside there until 1877, when he removed to St. Louis. His law pi-actice was very nu'ager.

.Joseph C. Colllster studied law with Hon. J. II. Dickson, at "Wellington, and was admitted to the bar in 1874. He entei-ed into pa^rtnership with his preceptor, and remained one year, when he left the County.

C. A. Brintnall came to Elyiia, from Medina, in the summer of 1870, with A. R. Webber, who still remains there. They remained in partnership a few months, when they dissolved partnership, and Mr. Brintnall left the county.

Warren W. Sampsel, son of Dr. P. W. Sampsel, of Elyria, was admitted to the bar in Norwalk in the si)ring of 1878, and entered into partnership with N. L. Johnson, of Elyria, but after remaining a few nu)nths he removed to Toledo, where he still resides.

Judge Benjamin Bissell and Mr. Tinker, both of Paiuesville, had an office in Elyria in 1873, in connection with Mr. J. V. Coon, niuler the luiine of Bissell, Coon and Tinker. Judge Bissell died recently in Iowa. Mr. Tinker still resides in Painesville.

The present bar of Lorain county consists of twentynine members, residing in all parts of the county, but principally of course at the county seat.

John V. Coon, the one of these who has been longest at the bar, was admitted at Elyria in August, 1840, and has continued to reside in Elyria or its mimediate vicinity ever since, and has kept a more or less intimate connection with the practice during all that time. He has not, however, devoted himself exclusively to the law, having been engaged in farming and manufacturing enterprises, and real-estate siJceulations in Ohio and other States, during a very considerable portion of that time. He is now engaged

Charles H. Doolitte came to theljar in Elyria in 1S")1. lie was soon after elected justice of tlie jieaee, wliicli (iMice lie lielil aliout six years. In the fail of 1857, lie was elected iirol)ate juilyc ami held that office for nine years from the following February, being re-elected in 1860 and 18G3. After the expiration of his term of office as probate judge, he removed for a siiort time to Gainesville, but soon returned to Elyria, where he still resides. For several years past he has held the office of justice of the peace.

Hon. Joseph H. Dickson was admitted to the bar in August, 1853, at Elyria, and at once entered ui)on the practice of his profession there, forming a partnership with John M. Vincent. In the fall of 1853 he was elected prosecuting attorney, for two years from the succeeding January. In December, 1855, he dissolved his connection with Mr. Vincent, and removed to Wellington, where he has continued to reside up to the present time. He was elected to the lower house of the state legislature in 18l!7 and 1869. He still occupies a leading position at the Lorain bar.

GBOR<iE Olmsted came from New York, and entered into practice in Elyria in 1853, entering into partnership with S. Bagg, as Bagg and Olmsted. He was elected prosecuting attorney in October, 1857, and entered upon the duties of that office in the following January. He resigned the office, however, in March, 1859, afcer having served a little over one year. He then removed to Indianapolis, where he staid about a year, when he returned, and continued to reside in Elyria, and practice law, until 1862, from which time he was absent from Elyria about four years. He returned to Elyria, however, in 1866, where he has since resided. He was elected justice of the peace in 1871, and held that oftice for three years, being succeeded l)y Joshua Myers.

Charles W. Jouxston came to Elyria from La- Grange, where he had formerly practiced medicine, and entered upon the practice of the law in A]>ril, 1859. He formed a partnership with Hon. P. Bliss, the next Septendjer, under the name of Bliss and Johnston, which continued until Judge Bliss removed to Dakota, in 1861. Mr. Johnston continued to devote himself exclusively to the practice, and still resides in Elyria, where he has an extensive business. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1869 and 1871.

Elizuk G. Johnson" was admitted to the bar in 1861, but continued to reside in LaGrange, where he held the office of justice of tlie peace until March, 1869, when he came to Elyria to assume the office of county auditor, to which he had been elected the previous October. He continued to hold that office until November, 1877. In the autumn of 1876, however, he opened a law office in Elyria, and is still engaged in the practice.

Norman L. Johnson came to Elyna from Massachusetts in 1863 and entered upon the practice of the law, to which he hiis devoted himself ever since, and at which he is now doing a very considerable business.

Iral a. Webster was admitted to the bar at Elyria in September, 1867, and soon after opened an office in Oberlin, where he still resides. In 1877 he also opened an office in Elyria.

Charles Downinu was admitted to the bar in 1867 in Elyria, where he still resides. He has devoted his attention mainly, however, to the business of insurance.

David J. Ny'e was admitted to the bar in 1873 and removed to Kansas. He returned in 1873, and, in April, 1874, opened an office in Elyria, where he still resides.

Walter F. Herrick commenced practicing law in Wellington in 187-1, and is still there. He served in the Ohio legislature in 1860 and 1861, and was a colonel in the army during the war of the rebellion.

Lkster i\[(;LEAN was admitted to the bar at Warren in the spring of 1875, and immediately removed to Elyria, where he is still engaged iu the practice, - now in partnership with E. G. Johnson.

J. W. Steele was admitted to the bar just before tlie lireaking out of the war. He entered the army and served through the war. He was elected probate judge of Lorain county in 1867, and held that office till June 1, 1871, when he resigned. He commenced practice in Oberlin in 1877, and is still there.

John H. Faxon, of Elyria, was admitted to the bar at Columbus in 1876. Mr. Faxon is an old resident of Lorain county. He was elected sheriff in 1844 and 1846, and to the legislature in 1873 and 1875. He has also held the office of justice of the peace for a considerable number of years.

In 1877, C. G. Jeffries, an attorney of several years standing, moved to Elyria from Akron and ojiened a law office, and is still in tlic practice.

This completes the list of the members of the bar of Lorain county. This bar, throughout its history, lias Ijeen characterized by a high degree of morality and integrity, as well as ability and learning on the part of the members, and has been singularly free from that which has been the bane of so many of the greatest and most brilliant lawyers of the country, the addiction to the use of intoxicating li(:[uors.

Ten of its members have been elevated to the bench (aside from probate judges) and held fifteen different judicial positions, viz: Frederick Whittlesey, common ])leas judge in Ohio; Philemon Bliss, common pleas judge in Ohio, territorial chief justice of Dakota, and supreme judge of Missouri; William F. Lockwood, territorial judge of Nebraska, and common pleas judge in Ohio; Eleazer Wakeley, territorial judge of Nebraska; Gyrus Olney, judge in Iowa; S. Bagg, circuit and district judge in Iowa; S. Burke, common pleas judge in Ohio; George B. Lake, su- ]ii-eme judge of Nebraska; W. W. Boynton, common pleas andsuprome judge in Ohio; and .John C. Hale, common pleas judge in Ohio.

The bar furnished one of the delegates, Mr. Clark, to the constitutional convention of 18.50, and the single one, Mr. Hale, to that of 1873. Two former Lorain lawyers are lecturers in law schools: .Judge Bliss and Mr. Langston; and two. Judge Bliss and Mr. Tiffany, are the authors of legal treatises.

So far as the writer has been able to learn Philemon Bliss seems to have held the largest number of important official positions: two terms in congress, and (including probate judgeships) five different judicial positions.

To Mr. Slyers belongs the distinction of having been the longest at the bar, from 1844 to 1877. The next longest, and by far the longest practice of the leading lawyers of the bar, was that of Mr. H. D. Clark, from 1834 to 1865.

With this we take our leave of the bar. It is sufficient to say of it in closing, that it has stood high compared with those of similar counties, for learning, industry, integrity and eloquence.

Chapter Xiii

Newspapers are both "annals" and "history." Not only do their columns contain a record of events in chronological order, but the causes and effects of such events are also considered. Newspapers also contain a perfect record of their own history; but, like any other record, it is of no use to mankind unless it is carefully preserved. In the early days of a new settlement, the pioneers have enough burdens to bear, enough present wants to supply, to engross all their time, without giving thought to what their children, in after years, may desire to know of the details of their pioneer life; hence the rarity of the record of those events, and the difficulty of obtaining, in many cases, any correct data concernins them. It is doubtless for the same reason that publishers of newspapers took so little pains in pioneer times to preserve tlieir files. With the exception of two volumes, no files have been preserved of any newspapers published in this county prior to 1850. Wlieu it is known that there were almost yearly changes in the ownership and editorial management of these early publicatiDUS, and that only straggling copies can now be found, the difficulty in giving an accurate history of the preps in this county will be apparent; but through the interest taken in this labor by many who were formerly connected therewitli, and the kindness of others who have forwarded occasional copies of the early publications, these obstacles have been chietiy overcome, and, with the conviction that the labor of rescuing these interesting details from oblivion was undertaken none to soon, the reader may rest assuied that tlie liistory of the nearly three dozen newspapers and otlier periodicals tliat have been ])uhlislicd ill this county will be found substantially correct. The history of each publication will be given in the order of its date, commencing in Elyria; and, as a matter of equal public interest, a brief notice of those who were prominently connected with them is appended.

The Lorain Gazette

The first newspaper printed in Lorain county was called The Lorain Gazette, published in Elyria by Archibald S. Park, who in the spring of 18-^9 was conducting a newspaper in Ashtabula, Ohio, called The Western Journal. Desiring to change his location, he came to Elyria, and made arrangements with Mr. Heman Ely to purchase the necessary material for a newspaper and job office. On his return, he sent him a bill in detail of the articles needed, which Mr. Ely forwarded to New York The material was shii)i)ed on the 6th of May, by way of the Hudson river and canal to Buffalo, thence by steamer to Cleveland, and thence to Elyria in wagons. The following is a copy of the bill and accompanying letter, found among the papers of the late Heiniiii Ely. It shows th;it at that day it required but a small sum to purchase what was then considered a sufficient outlit for a newspaper and job office:

" Dear Sir: - Herewitli you have a bill of articles shipped you tliis day. I think it to be judiciously arranged for a country office. Not finding any second-hand type that I judged would please you, and as I have reduced the pi-ice oi my small pica 6 per cent., and my bourgoise S per cent, per pound, and the price of other sizes about in the same proportion. I concluded it l>est to send you new type. Should you find anything wanting, name it, and it shall lie sent. The press, boxing and cartage I have charged only at what I had to pay, which is $10 less than you could have got it at had you applied in person. I purchase largely of the man, and my custom is an object to him. It my bill is to be charged to you as a cash sale^ you will be entitled to a disct. of 714 per cent, on all but the press, b<)xes and cartage, viz: on $202.5.5, which disct. I shall have to credit you in account.

Mr. Park sold his pa]ier in Aslitahula, and removed to Elyria with his family, arriving June 18, 1829. The press, known as tlie "two-pull Ramage," constructed almost entirely of wood, was put up in the small one-story building, two dooi-s cast of East avenue, on the south side of ]5road street, (now No. 22,) where the first number of the Lorain Gazette was issued July 24. 1829. The first stickful of type set iu this county was by Calvin Hall, then si.xteen years old, who accompanied Mr. Park from Ashtabula as an apprentice. It is made a part of this record, not only as a matter of general interest, but because it is doubtful if the same number of high-sounding words have since been compressed into a single stickful. It was as follows:

[from the literary chronicle.] "THE RENEGADE." "The sack of the city had commenced. The fire darted from a hundred roofs; the crash of broken bars and bolts rang through the bloodstained streets of the long ])eaceful Mother of the Arts. Barbarians of gigantic stature, their hair flowing wildly on their shoulders, and wielding spears of prodigious length, with fierce gestures and dissonant cries, trampled the venerable halls of the Areoimgus, and violated the holy stillness of the Parthenon."

The Gazette was a five column folio, sent by mail for two dollars, and delivered in the village for two dollars and fifty cents a year. In politics, it supported the whig party. A copy of the first number, now in the Elyria library, contains the name of "A S. Park, printer, publisher, and proi^rietor. " Frederick Whittlesey was editor of the paper, for the first six months, after which its publisher assumed entire charge, and its columns were chiefly filletl with selected miscellany and news items. In the fall of 1830, Mr. Abraham Burrell, also a practical printer, became a partner in the paper, and its publication was continuetl by Park & 15urrcll, until the spring of 1832, when it passed into the hands of James F. Manter, who changed its name to The Elyria Times. Only an occasional copy of the Gazette is now extant.

Archibald 8. Park served his apprenticeship iu the office of Ileacock & Bowen, publishers of the Ashtabula liecorder. He was sul>se<piently connected with two more journals in Elyria, and not finding the busmess sufficiently lucrative, abandoned the case in 1834, and engaged iu other business. He still lives in Elyria, hale and hearty, at the age of seventy-four years, where he has ever sustained the character of an honest and ujiright citizen.