Lorain City (part 50 of 77)

"The suh-slalion at Elyi-ia is located on Huron street near the 15. & O. I'ailroad station. This sub-station is somewhat larger and moi-e elaboi-ate than the other stations because of the fact that tin; company is I'etailing electric .service in lOlyria and all of the lighting and i)ower circuits as W(;ll as the street lighting system are controlled from this l)oiiit. This snb-station lias a opacity of 2,100 KW at tlio prosont time and provisions liavt; Ix'cn inailc for doiihlinK its capacity. The ciiiTcnt coininj,' Iruiii Loi'aiii is stepped down to 2,200 volts and divitjed into vai'ious cifcnils i'or ligiitint,' and power. 'J'hc city is divith'd into diti't'i'ciit districts, cacii district liavinfj its own separate circuit. This is done so that in case of trouble caused by a tree blowing,' down or any similar ca.se oidy that district will be all'ectcd instead of the whole city. This system also makes it very much easier to locate and i-emedy such troulile ill mucii sliorter time as the men know just where to go to look i'or the cause. The power circuits are kept entirely separate from the lighting circuits so that the power customers are assured uninterrupted service. The company has spent large sums during tlie pa.st year in replacing old poles, cross arms, wire, etc., on the distributing system antl in fact is doing everything in its power to make this system a model one. How well they are succeeding is shown by the fact that since the new power plant and transmission lines have been in operation there has been bnt one interruption of service of more than one minute's duration.

"Particular care has been given to the construction of the 22,000 volt transmission lines. The type of construction used is far from being the cheapest but it is the best for central statioji systems of this kind. By referring to the cut it will be noticed that each pole carries two cross arms, tiie toj:) arm carrying one phase of the three pha.se line and the l)ottom arm the other two i)]iases. Paralleling the wire on the toj) arm is a gi'ound wire wliich is grounded at every second pole. A second ground wire is i)laeed below the bottom a)'m. These two wires give a perfect path to the ground for lightning, thus absolutely protecting the transmission line from disturbances by ligiitning. The sliort two pin arm shown just below this second ground wire carries the company's private telephone line which connects the various suli-stations and plants with the main office in El^-ria.

"As a further insurance against interruption of service ai'rangements have been made to keep the dam of the Elyria I\Iilling & Power Co., filled with water after the completion of the Washington avenue bridge. This jilant has a capacity of 500 KW and will be almost instantly available in case of necessity. The old plant of the Citizens Cas & Electric Co., on LFaple street, Elyria, has also been put in shape so that in case it was ever required it can be put into service as soon as steam can be geiu'i'ated in the boilers.

" l^'rom the aljove description of this .system it will be .seen tiiat no skill or expense has been spared to make it one of th(! best of its kind in the country. That these efforts are appreciated by the public is shown by the way the load is growing. The management are now con(emi)lating

".Mr. Henry L. ])olierty, the head of tlic Company operating this central station, was tiie first man in this industry to realize the necessity of a sales organization for a- central station and he was the tirst one to organize such a department. ]\Ir. Dolierty did uot believe in waiting for business to come to him and then acting as if a favor were being done the customer by giving him service. He believed that the central station was like any other manufacturing business and to be successful should push the sale of its product. This policy has been carried out in all the plants with which he is connected. Realizing that the central station must depend upon the public for its patronage the idea always kept prominently in mind by all of the employes of the Doherty organization is that their first duty is to the public and that good service, courteous treatment and a square deal nuist be given to all customers. The local company is striving to follow out this policy.

"In order that everyone in Elyria within reach of its lines may enjoy the benefits of electric service without unreasonable expense, the company has in.stituted a .system of house wiring whereby a si.K room house may l)e coiui)ietely o(iuipj)ed for about $45 including lamps and fixtures. As the prices for more elaborate installations are in proportion and the custoiiier is given the oi)tion of paying in small montlily installments if desired, llus system is proving very po|)ular and houses are being wired at the rate of forty per month. A similar campaign for electric sign and show window advertising is now in pi-ogress and it is safe to iiredict that in the very near future Elyria will be one of the best lighted cities ill this part of the country."

The Bench And Bar

Grand Opening op First Territorial Court - Harrison, Later-Day Big Buckeye - First Court in Lorain County - Grand Jury Purely Honorary - Early Judges and Associates - Associates Abolished - Old Bench ]\Iore Democratic - Philemon Bliss - First Probate Judge - Josiah Harris - Two Noted President Judges - WooLSEY Welles - Delegates to the 1851 Convention - Present- Day Courts - Common Pleas Judges, 1852-80 - Stevenson Burke - Washington W. Boynton - John C. Hale - Early Probate Judges - AVilliam F. Lockwood - Lionel A. Sheldon - Charles H. DooLiTTLE - John W. Steele - Laertes B. Smith - Prosecuting Attorneys Previous to 1880 - Joel Tiffany - John M. Vincent - Joseph II. Dickson - Other Early Prosecuting Attorneys - Pioneer Lawyers, Pure and Simple - Horace D. Clark - Other Fellow Practitioners - A. A. Bliss - Judson D. Benedict - ]\Iyron R. Keith - Joshua Myers - John V. Coon - "Foreign" Practitioners - Accessions from 1845 to 1860 - Sylvester Bagg - Attained Prominence Abroad - Oberlin Lawyers - John 'M. Langstox - The Oberun-Wellington Rescue Case - Came in the '60s and '70s - J. C. HiLi. - Roswell G. Horr - Retrospect of the Earlier Bar - I'.ENCH AND Bar Since 1880 - Comjion Pleas and Probate Judges - Hon. David J. Nye, Veteran Active Practitioner - Hon. Clarence G. Washburn - Leading ^Members of the Bar - The Bar Association - Notable Cases Within Forty Years.

that occasion that the iiaine Buckeye first sprung to tlie front as a characteristic word, althouf^h not tiien applied to any region, we condense one of llildretli's accounts of the matter.

Upon tiie opening of the first court in the Northwest Territoiy, on the 2d of September, 1788, a procession was formed at the point where most of the settlers at ]\Iarietta resided, and marched up a path that had been cut and cleared through the forest to Campus Martins Hall, in the following order:

There the whole countermarched and the judges, Putnam and Tupper, took their seats. The clergyman, Rev. Dr. Cutler, invoked the divine blessing, and the sheriff. Col. Kbene/.er Sproat, proclaimed with his solemn "0 yes!" that "a court is opened for the administration of even-handed justice, to the poor as well as to the rich, to the guilty and the innocent, without respect of persons, none to be punished without a trial by their peers and then in pursuance of law." Although this scene was exhibited thus early in the settlement of the state, few ever equaled it in the dignity and exalted character of the actors. Among the spectators who witnessed the ceremony and were deeply impi'essed by its solemnity and seeming signiticanee, was a large body of Indians collected from some of the most powerful tribes of the Northwest for the purpose of making a treaty with the whites. Always fond of ceremony themselves, they witnessed the parade, of which they little suspected the import, witii the greatest interest, and were especially impressed with the high sheriff who led the procession with drawn sword, lie was, over six fei't in height, of fine jjhysical proportions and com- Mumding presence and, amid muririiii\s of admiration, fhe awe-sti'uck Indians named him, on llie spot, lleluek, or liig l?U(^key(!. It was given the colonel as an expression of their gi-eatcst admiration, l)ut was aflerwai'd jocosely applied to Colonel Spi'oat by his white friemis as II sort of nickname.

Tliat was certainly the first known applioation of Buckeye to an individual, but there is no evidence that the name, at that period, beeaiiie so eurn-nt as to be attached to tlie state. But during the many years that pioneer migration spread westward through the state the horse chestnuts, known as buckeye, were gathered by travelers in the rich valleys of Ohio and brought back as curiosities to the East. Their medicinal properties were also di.scovered and added to their fame as a characteristic product of the state. But the name never became fully crystallized until during the Harrison campaign of 1840. Early in the political fight an opposition paper spoke of the General as one "better fitted to sit in a log-cabin and drink hard cider than rule in the White House." The remark was at once taken np by Harrison's friends,, and from that time until his election he was generally pictured as sitting by the door of a rude log cabin, through which could be seen a barrel of hard cider, with the walls luing with coon skins and strings of buckeyes. Tn all the processions appeared log cabins built of buckeye logs, and the campaign songs were replete with such expressions as "buckeye cabin," "bonnie Buckeye State," "jolly Buckeye boys," and "the Buckeye," referring especially to General Harrison. The swing and fame of that campaign fixed the name on Oiiio. The President had become the more famous successor of the original Hetuck, or Big Buckeye, who had opened the first Court of Connnon Pleas for the Nortliwest Territory nearly half a century before.

When the first Common Pleas Court in Lorain County was organized in 1824, it was, of course, created under the constitution of 1802. The details of its first sitting are matters of record, the impressive prelude being as follows: "Be it remi'ml)ere("l that on the 24th day of May, A. D. 1824, at Elyria, in the county of Lorain, in pursuance of a statute law of the State of Ohio passed on the 10th of February in the year aforesaid, entitled an 'Act regulating the time of holding judicial court,' the first Court of Common Pleas, in and for said county of Lorain, was opened in due form l)y the sheriff tiiereof, Josiali Harris: liolding said coui't, Cicorge Tod, ])i-csiden1 of tlie Court of f!ommoii IMeas for the Third circiiif in Ibis slalc, iu wliidi cir'cuil is tlie said county of Tjoi'aiu, and liis associalcs, l\Iost's I'jhlrcd, Hcni'y Brown and I'^'cih'i'ick Hamlin, before which Court tiie foHowiug proceedings wc'i'i' had, to-wit : Woolsey Welles, an attorney of n'coi'd in the ('ourt, was appointed the attorney to prosecute the pleas of the state for this county during the pleasure of the Court." Mr. Welles was also appointed temporary clerk.

The first official act of the court was the appointment of Lueinda Holcomb, widow of Almond Iloleomb, and Edward Durand, as administrators of the Holcomb estate. The first suit, Simon Nichols vs. Thomas G, Bronson, was for the recovei'y of $1,427.27, and was won by the plaintifi". Ebenezer Whiton was appointed permanent clerk of the court on the second day of the session.

The first grand jury, which was sworn and charged by Judge Tod, and which failed to find any business provided for it, was composed of the following citizens: Ileman Ely (foreman), Benjan\in Brown, Eliphalet Redington, Phineas Johnson, j\Iahel Osburn, Edward Durand, Harry Reddington, Gardner Howe, Erastus Ilauiliu, Simon Nichols, Silas Wilmot, Thomas G. Bronson, James J. Sexton and Abraham Moon.

At the ]\Iarch term, 1830,. Hon. Reuben Wood took his seat as presiding judge, with the same associates as before given. Heman Ely becajne associate judge in the fall of 1830, and in April, 1831, Josiah Harris and E. W. Hubbard commenced their terms as Judge Wood's associates.

In the spring of 1834 Hon. Ezra Dean ascended the bench as president judge; Heman Ely, Josiah Harris and Franklin Wells, associates. Ozias Long was appointed associate judge in the spring of 1835 and Daniel J. Johns in 1837.

In 1840 Hon. John W. Willey became presiding judge and died in office, July 9, 1841. Hon. Reuben Hitchcock filled the vacancy until January, 1842, when he was succeeded by Hon. Benjamin Bissell, with Franklin AVells, Daniel J. Johns and Jo.seph L. Whiton as associates.

A new constitution was adopted by the convention at Cincinnati on Mareli 10, 1851, but as it did not go fully into effect until the following year, it is generally known as the constitution of 1852. Under that instrument tlie office of associate judge was abolished and that of judge of, the Court of Common Pleas made elective for a term of five years.

The Common Pleas bench, especially under the provisions of the first constitution, drew to itself much ability. Its old composition, with its two or three associates dra\\Ti from citizen ranks, brought the presiding judges in close touch with the people and enabled them more effectually to advance their public ambitions, if their aims were in that direction, than under the present constitution by which they are elected and have no intermediaries. Those who first served Lorain County as heads of the court were such non-residents as George Tod, of Trumbull County, who had been on the State Supreme bench before he presided over the Common Pleas Court; Reuben Wood, of Cuyahoga County, afterward chief justice of the State Supreme Court and governor of the commonwealth ; John AV. Willey, first mayor of Cleveland before he came into Lorain County to preside for his short term (cut oft' by death), and Reuben Hitchcock, of Painesville, so prominent in the educational matters of that section.

Hon. Philemon Bliss, who was the last presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas under the old constitution, had been a member of the Elyria bar for a number of years previous, and for thirty years thereafter his record, both at home and abroad, was one worthy of individual and county pride. Although of Connecticut nativity, his parents moved to New York when be was a boy, and later he was educated at Oneida Institute, AYliitesboro, that state, and at Hamilton College. He was loo poor to graduate and' in 1833, when he left college, he entered a law office at Whitesboro, where he studied a year, and then went to Florida 1o regain his health. Althougii his stay there did not materially benefit him, he decided to join his older brother in Elyria.

lature, and in 1841 himself entered practice in Elyria. Tlie two brothel's formed a j)artnersliip which was iiuitually profitable, and in the winter of 1848-!) Philemon was elected hy tlie (leneral Assembly I)residing judge of the Fourteenth Judicial District, which endjraced the counties of Lorain, Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga. The new constitution created the office of probate judge, and in October, 1851, he was elected to the new judgesliip. lie was connuissioned bj^ Governor Reuben Wood in January, 1852, and entered upon his duties in the following March.

Judge Rli.ss' first official act as the first incuiid)ent of tlie Probate bench for Lorain County bears date iMarch 5, 1852, and was the granting of a license to Rev. William O'Connor, a Catholic priest, authorizing him to solemnize marriages. Judge Bliss was succeeded by William F. Lock wood in November, 1854, as he had been elected a member of the Tliirty-fourth Congress, and in 185G he was lionored with a re-election. In the national halls of legislation, as in the courtroom and on the bench, he was quiet, industrious, straightforward, thorougli and ai)le, and gained the confidence of his fellow members both south and north during that period of gathering conflict. lie is said to have made several arguments upon the legal aspects of slavery in its relations to the Federal Government, which Charles Sumner and other leading iiKMnbers of the Senate pronounced the most conclusive which had l)een delivered in the House of Representatives.

In 1861, President Lincoln appointed Judge Bliss chief justice of Dakota Territory, ])ut after organizing the courts the appointee resigned, in 1864, and moved to St. Joseph, ^ILssouri, where he engaged in newspaper work and proved a strong force in holding the state in the line of free states and as a supporter of the Union. In the fall of 1868 Philemon Bliss was elected judge of the Supreme Court of ^Missouri and served his term of four years. In 1872 he was elected ])rofe.ssor of law in the ]\Iissouri State University and dean of the law faculty; in fact, he opened that department of the Slate University. Judge Bliss iiuule a fine record on the bench and as an able litei-ary expounder of tile law, wliili' a i-csidcnt of the State of iMissouri, and his oldest son, William, also bci'aiin' one of its leading la\v\crs and rcpiiljlicans.

History Of Lokaincoijnty 203

]){'. r('i)i-fsciilutiv('.s of llio coiuily and not i'('(|uir('(l to have other qualifications than j)lain eoniinoii sense and {^ood nioi'al standing in tlie coiniiuinit y. As a rule, despite tin^ir la(tk of l(;t;al traininj^, tiiey were worthy representatives of the people and useful assistants to the presiding judg(!. Of these early associate judges none measured up to a higher standard than Josiali Harris, of Ainiierst. lie was a Massaehusetts man and one of the founders of the town, upon the site of wiiieh he first encamped in 1818. In the following year the first election in Black River Township was held in his log liouse, and in 1821 he was chosen justice of the peace for a territory which embraced what are now Black River, Amherst, Russia, Brownhelm and Henrietta townships. During the three years of his .service, it is said that only five appeals were taken from his docket and only one of these ever came to trial in the Court of Common Pleas. He was the first sherilf of Lorain County and served two terms, tiie limit of the old constitution.

'Sijuire Harris was appointed associate judge in 1829 and served seven years in that capacity. During that period Hon. George Tod, father of Governor Tod, and Hon. Reul)en Wood, who afterward became chief justice of the State Supreme Court and governor of the state, were the president judges of the court.

In 1827 Jutlge Harris represented Cuyahoga County in the state House of Representatives. Such was tlie condition of the roads and conveyances at that time that Judge Harris rode his hor.se to Columbus, wintered him there, and returned on hoi'seI)ack in the si)ring. After representing Lorain and IMcdiiui in the IIou.se two terms, he was elected seiuitor from the .same district and served for two yeai's. , Although a member of the dominant party in the Legislature, he successfully resisted its attempt to repeal the ciiarter of Oberlin College, then obnoxious to many on account of its al)olition tendencies. At the time of his death in Amherst Village, ]\Iareh 26, 1868, at the age of eighty-four, Judge Harris was one of the oldest postmasters in the United States, having held office for more than forty years. He was first appointed by Postmaster General Return J. Meigs, whose terms expired in 1823 as a niend)er of the i\Ionroe cabinet.

George Tod, of TiMurdndl County, was about concluding his .service of fouitccii ycai's as judge of the (.ourl of Common I'leas when Mr. I!ai'- I'is comiiKMHtcd his cai'cer' as an associate. Wv had already served sevei'al leiiiis as slide si'uatoi- and had been a member of the State Supreme

R<iiiben "Wood was a Vermonter and an able la\vyer. After his long service on the State Supreme bench, in 1850, he was elected governor on the democratic ticket, but resigned to enter the diplomatic service in the Chilean field. The climate undermined his health, and he returned to his farm near Rockport, Cuyahoga County; there (known as "Evergreen Place") he died in 1864.

Woolsey Welles, the first prosecuting attorney of Lorain County, and long a prominent lawyer and a leader of public opinion at Elyria, was of ^lassachusetts birth and New York education, and soon after attaining his majority and his admission to the bar, in the fall of 1823, became a resident of the county seat. As public prosecutor of the county, for two years, he received $120, when he moved to Akron to assume the duties of his position as collector of canal tolls at that point. He held that office for about a year, wlien, on account of his religious scruples, he resigned to avoid Sabbath laboi-s. j\[r. AVelles also held the postmaster.ship at Akron under presidents John Quincy Adams and Jackson, and was justice of tlie peace for nearly five years. He resigned the last-named office in 1834 in order to give all his time to his duties as traveling agent of the Ohio State Temperance Society, of which Governor Lucas was president. After being thus employed for about a year, lie returned to Elyria and re-entered the practice of the law in partnership with Ileman Birch.

In the fall of 1837 Mr. Welles moved to Cleveland, Avhere he .spent three years in practice, at the end of which he again located at Elyria, where he remained for nearly a decade. During that period he became more prominent as an anti-.slavery agitator than as a lawyer, and, through the agency of Dr. N. S. Townshend, whom the Freesoilers had elected to the Legislature, received the appointment of state agent for the sale of Western Reserve school lands. This necessitated his residence in Defiance, Williams County, where he resided .some nine years. He was then appointed to an Iowa land agency and settled at Fort Dodge, that state, where he spent the later years of his life.

Horace L). Clarlc, tlie second delegate from Loraiu County to the constitutional convention of 1851, was one of tlie oldest and Lest known lawyers in Nortliern Oliio." At that time he had been practicing seventeen years in Elyria, and naturally a more extended account of his professional career will be given in the section devoted to prominent members of the bar who have held no judgeships. In fact, as far as ]Mr. Chirk was concerned, during his thirty years of practice at Elyria lie lield no official position other than as delegate to the constitutional convention of 1851.

As finally adopted, the coiistitution i)rovided for five judges of the State Supreme Court. From that time to this only one member of that body has been selected from Lorain Countv - W. W. Ijoynton of Elyria.

The judicial power of the state is vested in a supreme court, courts of appeals, courts of common pleas, courts of proltate and such othfi- inferior judicial bodies as may be established by law. The Supreme Court judges are elected for six years; under the 1851 constitution they were elected for five years. The tenn is the same for common pleas judges, and the office is also elective. The probate judges are elected for four years. The amendments adopted by the constitutional convention of 1912 almost entirely changed the judicial system of Ohio. Each county was given one or more common pleas judges, the common pleas districts heretofoi-c exi.sting being abolished.

Till' Federal courts have only one representative from Lorain County, Hon. Tiiomas A. Conway, of Elyria, a referee in bankruptcy for the Eastern Division of Ohio, who.se jurisdiction also covers ^Medina County. He was a former probate judge and succeeded James II. Leonard in IMay, rJ15. As to the courts of appeals, Lorain County is in the Eighth District of the state, but has no resident judge on the bench.

The judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Lorain County is Hon. Horiice (i. Redington. Teclinically, it is included in the Fourth Disti-ict, Second Sididivision, of llie state. In Septeml)er, 1014, was a])- pointed to succeed Hon. I.ee Stroiip, ol" Lorain, to hold the office until liis successor was elected and (|iiali(ied. In tbe fall of li»U Judge Redington and ^^'. P. Tliom]is()n were candidates for election to fill tliat position. The election I'csidted in a tie, no one being elected. Jiulge

Redington continiu'd to hold tho office and is still holding it. There was ;i contest and llie voles wen; recounted by tlie ('onrt of A|)|)eals. The ("oiirl. of Appeals found that, tlicrc was a tic 'IMk; ease tiii'U went to tlie Supi'ciiic (,'ouit and tlie decision of thi; (Joiirt of Appeals was aflinued by tlie »Supreiiie Court leaving Judge Jtedington upon tiie Ifciich as his successor had not been elected.

At the last se.ssion of the Legislature the office of another conunon pleas judge for Lorain County was created and W. B. Thompson was appointed to fill the new position. We, therefore, have both Judge Redington and Judge Thompson upon the bench, .serving under appointments of the governor.

The times for holding of courts are fixed each year by the judges. The Court of Appeals holds two terms in the county and the Common Pleas Court three terms.

lion. Samuel Ilumphreyville was the first incumbent of the Common Pleas Court, nnder the present constitution, commencing his services in 1852; was succeeded l)y James B. Carpenter in 1857; Thomas Bolton, 1858; AVilliam n. Canfield, 1859; John S. Green, 18G1 ; Stevenson Burke, 18G2-!); W. W. Boynton, 18Gf); John C. Hale, 1877-83.

Among the most prominent occupants of the Common Pleas bench in Loi'ain County under the new constitutional era were Stevenson- Burke and Washington W. Boynton, whose experiences are somewhat similar, both having made their broadest reputation as lawyers in Cleveland after their retirement from the bench; but while Judge liurke departed permanently from the scene of iiis first jn'ofessional work (I]lyria) Judge Boynton, after gravitating l)etween his home town, Columbus and Cleveland, for a long series of years, finally returned to his first love, and is now living in honored retii'ement at his beautiful home in the county seat.

Judge l^urke is a New York man, l)orn in St. Lawrence County on the 2Gth of November, 182G, and is therefore nearing his eightieth year. In .March, 1S;M, his father moved from New York to Ohio, and settled with the family in Ridgeville, Loi'ain County, where he resided unlii his (h^alb in August, 1875. Up to tln' age of si.xteeii, Steveiisoti's sclmoling came in vei'y small and irregular instalments. For some time afterward he enjoyed more regular iiisti'uction in .sele(^(. schools at

Rid;^L'ville Center and Elyria, and still later at Delaware University, located in flic town by that name in the eeiitrai ])art of tin; state. There, in \H\{') JK' also Ihc study of law iiiidri- Messrs. I'oweli and Jiuek.

In the spring of 1848 ]\Ir. Hiirke eoni])leted his i)rofessional studies at Elyriti under Horace D. Clark; was admitted to jjraetice by the .State Suinx'ine Court on August 11 th of that year, and became a resident lawyer at the county seat. In April of the following year his preceptor admitted him into a copartnership, which continued until May, 1852. The succeeding decade was one of industry, ceaseless labor, continual progress and impairing health. As a judicial position was less wearing, his friends secured his election to a judgeship of the Court of ConuMon J'leas of the Kourth Judicial District of Ohio, which he held from Februarj', 18(i2, to January, 18()'J. At that time he had served two years of a second term and was succeeded by Judge Boynton.

Judge Burke relinquished his judicial duties to resume the practice of the law, having formed a partnership in Cleveland with Hon. F. T. Backus and E. J. Estep. The association was dissolved hy the death of I\lr. Backus in IMay, 1870, hut was continued with ]\Ir. Estep until 1875, after which Mr. Burke practiced alone. From the first he took a high standing among the leading lawyers of Northern Ohio, carrying much important litigation Ijcfore the supreme courts of Ohio and adjoining states and the Supren\e Court of the United States. From 1872 to 1880 he .served as general counsel and director of the Cleveland & ^lahoning Valley Railway Company, and during a portion of that i)eriod as its president. From 1875 to 1881 he was general counsel and director of the Cleveland, ColumI)us, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway, and heeanie its president in 1S86. From 1881 to 188(j he was also president of the Colum])us, Hocking Valley & Toledo Railway Company, and during most of that period vice president of the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railway Company; after 1886 president of the Toledo & Ohio Central and Kanawha & ^Michigan, and after 1894, until his death in 1905, he was jn-esident of the Central Ontario Railway Company, besides being at the head of .such large corporations as the Repuhlic Coal Company and on the directorate of the Canadian Copper Company, the Anglo-American Iron Company, etc. In fact, at the time of his death, ten years ago, there was no man in Oliio mort; prominent as a corporation lawyer or executive than Judge I'.urke.

tice in his home town nearly sixty years ago. lie was born in Russia Township, Lorain County, January 27, 1833, and is a son of Gen. Lewis I), and Jlulli (Wcllman) iJoyntoii, both natives of .Maine and representatives of ohl New 10nj,'land families. The founders of i)olli the Loynton and Wellman families in Lorain County wore among the first score of settlers in the northern part of Russia Township, which was settled several years before Oberlin, in the southern part, was founded. The mother died on tlie old homestead in January, 1840, still in her early '30s; the father, who reached his seventieth year, died in 1871. General Boynton was a leading farmer and citizen of the county and attained such leadersliip in the old state militia that he was appointed brigadier general.

The future judge, who was christened Washington Wallace Boyuton was early trained for solidity, both physical and mental. II(! early showed intellectual aptitude and accomplishments and, like otliers in his position and of his temperament, taught in the district sciiool as a young man, and later conducted a select institute in Amherst Township. He was also a school examiner for a time. During this period he commenced his law studies under his uncle, Elbridge (J. Boynton, then one of the repi*esentative lawyers of Elyria.

Mr. Boynton was admitted to the bar in 1856, established his residence in Elyria in 1857 and not long afterward formed a partnership with Gen. L. A. Sheldon, with whom he practiced until 1861. In that year his partner entered the Ihiion army as lieutenant colonel of the Forty-second Ohio Volunteers and distinguished him.self in tiie Union service. From the spring of 1859 until the autumn of 1863 Mr. Boynton served as prosecuting attorney of Lorain County. During that period he formed a partnership with John C. Ilale, but his health had become so seriously impaired in 1863 that he relinquished his practice and sought rest and recuperation in the Nortliwest.

Somewhat benefitted by the eliange of climate aiul surroundings. Judge Boynton returned to Elyria and was in partnersiiip witii Laertes B. Smith until February, 1869, when Governor Hayes appointed him judge of the Court of Common Pleas to succeed Judge Burke, resigned. Thereupon Judge Boynton retired from the linn of Boynton and Smith. At the ensuing fall election he was elected to fill Die vacancy, and two years thereafter was chosen for the full term. In Octolx-r, 1876, h(! was elected judge of tlie State S\ij)reme Couii, and took his seat on lliat bench as one of tiie associate justices in I'V'bruary, 1877. Ill health again comix'llcd him to resign in Novendier, 1881.

succccdt'd him on the Coiuinon Pleas beach, in 1883, again joined him in tlie i)nicliL'e of iheii- prol'i'ssion. During the succeeding lifteen years, tlie liniis or JJoynton and Hale and Jioynlon, Hale and Ilorr, of which lie was u senior partner, hecaiiie widely known throughout the state. In 1888 Norton T. Ilorr had been admitted to the old partnership and in 1892 Judge Hale had been elected to the Circuit bench and retired from practice. For the succeeding five years Boynton and Horr continued a large professional business, and on January 1, 1897, Judge Boynton retired from the firm. For several years thereafter he devoted himself to the trial of special cases, became largely a consulting attorney, and finally retired from all active practice. At first he erected at North Ividgeville, on the site of the birthplace and girlhood home of his wife (formerly Betsey A. Terrell), a large and attractive residence. There they maintained their home until 1906, when they removed to Elyria and occupied their pi-esent spacious, elegant and homelike estate.

Jndge Boynton has made a broad, stable and unusual record both as a judge and a public legislator, although in the latter capacity his career covers but three years; but they fell within the early and portentious period of Reconstruction, in which he had the honor of playing a leading part. From 1865 to 1867, inclusive, he represented Lorain County in the State Legislature, and first offered the resolution eliminating the color line from the Constitution. On the first vote the resolution was defeated in the House, but i)assed in the Senate. The measure was then returned to the lower house, where it was adoptctl after a bitter contest and, in the ensuing state election, defeated by popular vote. Judge Boynton was a vigorous champion of the measure which lie introduced, and not long afterward had the satisfaction of seeing it, in all its essentials, become incorporated into the Constitution of the United States. By the present state constitution, it is provided that "every white male citizen of the United States" shall be entitled to vote. An amendment was proposed by the Fourth Constitutional Convention of 1912 to omit the word "white," but it was voted down by the people, probably because they did not understand what it meant. Colored people vote in Ohio now, but on account of the Constitution of the United States which accords them that privilege.

John C. TLile, Judge Boynton 's old law partner, who also succeeded him as Common Pleas judge in 1877, had no superior in Lorain County as u strong and honorable member of the profession, whetlitir on the bench or at the bar. lie was a New Ilampsliire fanner boy, but fitted liiiiisc'lf for Dartmouth College and graduated therefrom in 1857 when t\V(;Mty-six years of ag{\ To o})tain his education In; had burdened himself with a $1,000 debt - wiiich he paid, with interest. Immediately after his graduation from- Dartmouth (Jollege, he settled in Cleveland, and during the succeeding three years taught in its public schools and studietl law.

In the meantime J\Ir. Hale had married a good Cleveland girl ; was admitted to the bar in July, 1861, and in the following October located at Elyria for practice. Two years afterward, lie had so proved his worth that he was elected prosecuting attorney, succeeding AV. W. Boynton, with whom he had been in partnership, and held the oftice for three terms, of two years each. During that busy period he also held the office of register of bankruptcy, continuing thus until the position was abolishe/1 by the consolidation of districts. lie was an active and influential delegate to tiie Constitutional Convention of 1873 and served as judge of the Coui't of Couunon i^leas from 1877 until 1883, when he returned to Cleveland to become again associated with Judge Boynton, who had located in tliat city for practice after his retii'ement from the bench of tlie State Supreme Court. In 1892 the partnership of Boynton, Hale and Ilorr (Norton T.) was dissolved, because of Mr. Hale's election to the circuit judgeship.

At the time of the organization of the Probate Court in 1852, the term of the probate judge was thi'ee years and remained that way until 1905, when l)y an amendment of the Constitution the terms of various county, district and state officers was adjusted so as to have those officers elected in the even years and the municipal and township officers elected in the odd years. By that amendment the terms of the Supreme Court and Circuit Court judges were fi.xed for six years, Common Pleas judges for six years and the Probate Court judges for four years. Since that time tjie tei'iii of the i)robate judge has been four years.

William V. Loekwood, wlio succeeded Phileiiu)n Bliss as judge of the Pro])ate Court in 1854, was one of the ablest lawyers and judges ever coiuiected with the profession in Lorain County. TL; was a native of (!oiinecticu1, spent his youth in New Yoi'k ami in 1841, when just approiK-iiing mnnlnxxi, sellled in I'llyria luid became a law sludent in

After serving as prohate judge from 1854 to 1856, Mr. Loekwood moved to Omaha, Nehraska, where he residetl two years; then located in Dakota City, Nehraska Territory. He served as one of the Federal judges from April, 1861, until Nehraska was admitted to statehood in 1867. lie was then nominated hy President Johnson as United States district judge for tiie State of Nehraska, hut was not confirmed hy tiie Senate. Juilge Loekwood then heeame a resident of Toledo, hecame (luite prominent as a democrat and was elected judge of the Connnon Pleas Court in 1878.

As to otiier early prohate judges, Lionel A. Sheldon was appointed to that l)ench when Judge Loekwood resigned in 1856, and he was in ofticefrom Novendjer 25th of that year until Fehruary 8, 1858, when Charles II. Doolittle was commi.ssioned hy Governor Chase to succeed him. Then came John AV. Steele in Decem])er, 1867. lie served until his resignation in June, 1871, when Laertes B. Smith hecame prohate judge.

Judge Sheldon came of a New York family, his parents ])ringing him to La Grange, Lorain County, when he was ahout three years old. lie ohtained his legal education in the office of Clark and Burke, Elyria, and at the Poughkeepsie (New York) Law School, heing admitted to practice hefore the State Supreme Court in July, 1S51. He commenced practice at Elyria as a partner of John M. Vincent, and was afterward associated, at different times, with George B. Lake, L. B. Smith and W. AV. Boynton. After retiring from the pro])ate judgesliip, wiiich he held in 1856-8, he returned to private practice and remained in P^lyria until the opening period of the Civil war.

In August, 1861, Judge Sheldon went to the Union front as captain in the Second Ohio Cavalry, and was sul)se(]uently a major in the same regiment. At the organization of the Forty-second Oiiio Volunteer Infantry he was commissioned its lieutenaid colonel and on tiie ])romolioM of its colonel, James A. Gai'lield, hecame colonel oT llie regiment. After serving thus until neai' the close of tiie war, lie was advanced to the rank of lii'cvet lirigadier general.

At the close of the AVar of the Rehellion General Siieldon settled in New Orleans. He hecame interested in ])olitics; was elected to Congress in 38G8, 1870 and 1872, uiul in 187G wjis one of the i)rcsi(lc'ntial doctors from Louisiana in the famous Ilayus-Tilden controversy. While residing in New Orleans permanently, he spent liis siniim(;rs on his larye farm in i^a Orange, wliieh had been the family homestead for so many years. After leaving? New Orleans he was appointed receiver of one of the great western railroads, served as governor of New Mexico under appointment by President Garfield and afterward nioved to California.

Charles IL Doolittle was born in IMiddlebury, Vermont, October 20, 1814, son of Judge Joel Doolittle of the Supreme Court of Vermont. He was educated at IMiddlebury College, lie came to Ohio in 1840 and practiced law in Huron. In 1842 he formed a law partnership with Russell & Case of Unionville, Ohio, where he married, December 25, 1842, Elizabeth Kemp. In December, 1850, he came to Elyria where, with tile exception of a few months, tiie remainder of his life was spent. In 1851 he was elected justice of the peace. About 1858 he took the office of probate judge to which he had been elected, which office he held until 1867. Then after this he had a severe illness which made him an invalid for a couple of years, and his first activity was an outof-door business, which took him from Elyria for several months. With better health he resumed his former business, and in 1873 was established in a law ofifiee in Elyria. In 1874 he was again elected nuigistrate which ofifiee he held until his death, January 10, 1890.

John W. Steele was admitted to the bar ju.st before the opening of the Civil war, served throughout that period and was probate judge for about 3i/j years, from 1867 to 1871. He moved to Oberlin in 1877 and practiced there.

Laertes B. Smith was admitted to the bar in Elyria, during September, 1858. He practiced and held the office of justice of peace until June, 1871, wiieu he was appointed probate judge to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John W. Steele. He was elected to that office the same year for the unexpired terra and held the judgeship, by successive re-elections, until February 9, 1882.

The office of jirosecuting attorney of a county always draws some of its best, lej^nil Inlfiil, of I he younger class, and is generally considered a stcijpiiig-stoiie to a judgeship. Such expectations have a basis of I'act in tile list of tliese officials wlio served the county in the early period of its corporate life.

Woolsey Welles, the first prosecuting attorney of Lorain County, served from the organization of the county in ]\Iay, 1824, for about two years, when he was succeeded by Frederick Whittlesey, a young man from Connecticut who had just opened an office in town. With the exception of a short break, when J. W. Willey, was prosecutor, "Sir. Wiiittlesey held the office until 1835, when he departed for a broader field in Cleveland; during his stay in Elyria he also served two terms in the Legislature. In Cleveland, where he resided until hi.s death in 1854, he held the oflice of clerk of the courts of Cuyahoga County ; was also an associate judge of tiie Court of Common Pleas and represented Cuyahoga County in the State Senate.

For a short time, while in Elyria, Mr. Whittlesey edited the Lorain Gazette, the first newspaper published in the county and which was established in 1829. His example in this respect was followed by quite a number of the young lawyers who early commenced practice at the county seat, as they were able thereby not only to add somewhat to a precarious pi'ofcssional income but to forward any public ambitions wlii<'li liiey miglit harbor.

iMJward S. Hamlin, a i)artner of ]Mr. Whittlesey, succeeded his associate as prosecuting attorney in 1835. lie held the office for about a year and in 1837 moved to Cleveland, but soon returned to Elyria, where from 1840 to 1845 ho was in partnership with Albert A. Bliss. During the later two years of that period he served an unexpired term in Congress, having just completed a second term as prosecuting attorney. Sul).se(juently, William F. Lockwood was associated with him and the connection continued until Mr. Hamlin left Elyria in 1849. For some years he practiced his profession in Cincinnati.

Elijah Parker, who was one of Woolsey Welles' competitors when the county was organized, siiceeeded IMr. Hamlin as prosecuting attorney in 1836. He served for a year. ]\Ir. Parker was a Vermonter, was in rather i)oor lieaUii and was not in active practice after 1854, although he continued to reside in Elyria until his death in April, 1859. He was justice of the peace for several terms, as well as prosecuting attorney in 1836-7.

Joel Tiffany, 'Mr. Parker's successor, was one of the most lirilliant men who ever practiced in Elyria. He was a native of Connecticut, apjieai's to liave (irst practiced in Medfna, and to have come into view at Klyriii in IH'A'). As tlit- court records indicate, he made tlie county scat his lieadfjuarters until 3848, iluriii^- uiiich period he served as prosecuting attorney for the tlirce terms commencing ]8!j7, 1841 and 1845. .Mr. Tiffany was associated witii L. G. Byingtou for a short time and with E. II. Leonard for about two years. His professional reputation rests both on his record as prosecuting attorney of Lorain County and his works as an autiior and couipiler. Upon leaving lillyria he went to I'ainesville and sul)sequently to New York City. From 186;j to 180!) he resided in Albany, where he was reporter of the Court of Appeals of New York, publishing during that period twelve volumes of reports and issuing, either alone or in collaboration, such standard works as "Tiffany and Smith's New York Practice," "The Law of Trusts and Trustees, as Administered in England and America," "Forms Adapted to tlie Practice and Special Pleadings in New York Courts of Kecord," and "A Treatise on Government and Constitutional Law, According to th^ American Theory." From Albany ]Mr. Tiffany moved to Chicago.

]\Ir. Tiffany had many friends and admirers in Lorain County, notwitlistanding his erratic ways. One of them thus touches on iiis local career: "]Mr. Tiffany approached nearer to l)eing a genius, as liiat word is oi'dinarily understood, than any otJier practitioner of the l^orain bar. Willi acute and accurate perceptions, great mental powers of acquisition and assimilation, a pi"odigious memory and, withal, an eloquence seldom equalled, he was extremely well equipped for all foi'cnsic encounters. In the locally-celebrated counterfeit cases, i\]r. Tiffany exerted his great powers to their utmost and made for himself a reputation that will long endure in Lorain County. These were tried in 1838-9, when he was prosecuting, and no fewer tlian fourteen per.sous were sent to the penitentiary for being imi)licated in the making and issuing of counterfeit money.

"The great qualities we have mentioned were, however, handicapped by an nnsteadiness of purpose and lack of application to his profession, wliich rendered tliem of comiiaratively little value to their possessor. He engaged in a variety of enterprises outside of his profession, while in Elyria, none of wliich proved profitable, while they pi'evented him from I'eacJiing tliat success in his [)rofession wliicji he miglit otherwise have allaincil."

-luliii M. Vincent .succeeded Mr. Ijoekwnod in 1H.^)(), Hcrved Ivvo (ton- Kceiilivc lei-nis, ami eoinnienecd lii.s tiiird Icnii in \HM. lie was an able and i)Oi)ular.la\vyer, haudieai)i)L'd hy a frail eonslitution. While a youth he eanie from Mas.sachusetts to Ohio; began his collegiate course at Oberlin, but completed it at Union College, Schenectady, New York, from which he graduated in 1846. Returning to Elyria he entered the office of II. D. Clark as a law student, and was admitted to the bar at the State Supreme Court in the county seat, August 11, 1848. About a year afterward he was elected to liis first term as prosecuting attorney. In the autumn of 1859, after several years of practice, somewhat interrupted by failing health, he was elected to the lower hou.se of the State Legislature and served in that l)ody during the se.ssion of 1860-1. In the summer of 1863 lie went to Minnesota, hoping to l)e physically strengthened by a cluxnge of clinuite, but died in Milwaukee, while journeying toward his Elyria home.

Jcseph II. Dickson, who followed jNIr. Vincent as prosecuting attorney of tlie county in January, 1858, was a young lawyer who had been admitted to the bar at Elyria in 1852 and several years afterward located at Wellington. AVhile residing in Elyria he was in partnership with :Mr. Vincent. At the conclusion of his two-year term as prosecuting attorney, on the last day of December, 1855, he moved to AYellington, whei-e, for years he continued in practice and became a pul)lic character of consideral)le prominence. He represented Lorain County in the Eifty-eiglith and Fifty-ninth general assemblies, which covered the period from January, 1868, to ]\Iay, 1871. During that period he voted with the great majority for Ohio's adoption of the joint resolution ratifying the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Ceorge Olmsted, who had come from New York as a practicing attorney and located in Elyria in 1853, followed Mr. Vincent at the conclusion of his second term, iiis own service connnencing in January, 1858. After liolding oftice a little over a year, in March, 185!), he resigned ami moved to Indianapolis. After a year spent in that city he returned to i'llyria, wl:en' lie prai'ticed until 1862; then four years of absence

Wlien i\Ir. Olmsted resi<jned as prosecuting attorney in ]\Iarcii, 185!), W. W. Boyntou was appointed to till tlie vacancy and was regularly elected in the fall, serving, through two successive re-elections, until his resignation in the fall of 1863. John C. Hale, his law partner, succeeded him, and held the office for six years. The fine judicial record of these two friends and a.ssociates in the law has already been presented.

Charles W. Johnston, Judge Hale's successor as prosecuting attorney, held the position for two terms, being elected in 1869 and 1871. He formerly practiced medicine in La Grange, Lorain Count}', but linally preferred law and entered the ranks of that profession in 185!). In that year he located at Elyria and formed a partnership with Philemon liliss under the name of Bliss and Jolmston, which continued until Judge Bliss moved to Dakota in 1861. ]\Ir. Johnston resided in Elyria for many years afterward, engaged in active practice.

George P. ]\retcalf, who succeeded Mr. Johnston, was admitted to tlie bar in 1869. He was elected pro.secuting attorney in 1873, 1875 and 1877.

After the names of those early members of the Lorain County bar who became prosecuting attorneys and judges have been eliminated, as in the foregoing pages, the list is reduced to rather small proportions.

The most noteworthy case of really able and popular lawyers who steadfa.stly refused official or judicial honors, was the veteran attorney Horace D. Clark. As previously stated, the only position ever held by him which could approach the official class was that of delegate to the constitutional convention of (adopted by that body in) 1851. His was such a rare case and his personality became so dear to the members of the bar, many of whom came to owe their start and advancement to his interest and kindness, that the following sketch is (juoted from the ])en of one who wi'otc; wliile lie was still living in Moutri'al, Caiiiida, in his seventy-fifth year, the abandonment of his pra(;tice and his (le|)arture lliither dating Fi'om 1865: "Il<)ra(!e 1). (Jhirk, one of tiu; lawyers who had tlui largest continuous practice in Lorain county, was born ^lay 22, 1805, at Granby, Conneclicut, whei'e his niollu'i- slili resides at the age of ninety-four years. lie went to district school suininers until he was eij^Mit years of af^'c and in the winter until he was sixteen, when he was jiiaccd in a country slon-, serving; his ai)i)renticcsliii) and afterward heiiif,' received as a jjartncr. in this husiness he continued four years, at tile enil of which he says, in a recent letter, '1 found we had lost so much by bad debts and the stealings of clerks that there was l)Ut little left, and 1 quit the business in disgust.' lie studied law one year in Connecticut and in November 17, 1832, started for Ohio, reaching Hudson, that state, in December. He at once entered the law school of Judge Van R. Humphrey and a year later was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court at Columbus.

"On the Fourth of July, 1834, ]\Ir. Clark opened a law otKce in the soutiieast corner room of the Court House in Klyria. He continued to practice in Elyria from that time for about thirty years, having during a large portion of tiiat time the most extensive practice in the county - a practice never approached in magnitude by more than one rival at a time. A. A. BYias, Ilandin and Bliss, Joel Tiffany, Benedict and ijeonard, Hamlin and Lockwooil, and AV. V. Lockwood alone, were at different times, his nearest comjietitors ; but IMr. ('lark steadily maintained llie leading position lie had gained until after he ceased to reside in Klyria; for, although he continued to practice there until 186-1 lie moved witii his family to Cleveland in 1851.

"In 1845 ^Ir. Clark took as a partner Cyrus Olney, who came from Iowa where he had been in practice. 'He was about twenty-eight,' says ^Ir. ('lark, 'and the best si)ecial pleader of his age I ever saw.' In ]Mar(h, 1849, he formed a partnership with Stevenson Burke, who had been admitted to the bar the August i)revious, having been a student in iMr. Clark's office. His partnershii) continued until about June, 1852. John M. Vincent and John V. Coon were also students with ]Mr. Clark during his practice in Elyria. He was an excellent lawyer, although not especially an elofjuent advocate."

Reuben Mussey, the father of Henry E. jMussey, practiced iu Elyria from 1825 to 1837, subsequently residing for .siiveral years at Kishwaukee, Illinois, where he died in 184;i.

S. J. Andrews was one of the accomplished lawyers from Cleveland who, in the late '2()s, practiced in the courts at Elyria. For a short time he was judge of the old Superior Court in that city, and was also a iiieiiiber from (Juvahoga (!ouiily of the constitutional conventions of

'rill- pciiod from \H:',\ 1o IHlf), willi lar^(! increase in husiiicss and population in the county, witnessed tiie advent of about a score of new lawyers to tlie Elyria bar. Among these were Edward S. Ilaniliu, Horace D. Clark, Joel Tiffany, Albert A. Bliss, Philemon Bliss, Judsou J). Benedict, Robert .McEachron and William F. Lockwood.

Among the ablest on that list, and who has lieretofore been merely mentioned, was A. A. Bliss, brother of Judge Piulemon Bliss. Before he was twenty Albert had mastered a trade and secured a fair education. He then attended the Oneida Institute, at \Viiitestown, New York, which had recently l)een organized on the manual training plan. In tlie spring of 18U3, having recently attained his twenty-second year, A. A. Bliss commenced tlie .study of law at I^lyria in the office of Whittlesey and Ilandin, and also engaged in newspaper work. He was admitted to the l)ar in Cleveland during September, lS;5o, and in tlie following spring moved to that city, where, through the i)olitical campaign of that year he eiUtcd tiie Daily (Jazctte.

.Mr. Bliss returned to lOlyria in KS:57 and practiced his profession there for ten years. From 1840 to 1845 he was in i)artnership with E. S. Hamlin, and the lirm prosperctl. Tlie steady increase of his law business and his reputation as a lawyer were much retarded Iiy growing interest and prominence in politics. In 18:5!), 1840 and 1841 lie was elected to the State Legislature and spent much time in the editing and management of i)olitical newspapers. In the winter of 1846-7 he was elected state treasurer, holding that office until January, 1852. Although he moved to Columbus, in the spring of 1847, he kept in touch with his Elyria practice through his partnership with Sylvester Bagg, which continued from 1846 to 1849. ]\Ir. Bliss returned to p]lyria late in 1852, where he remained until the spring of 1863. From that time until 1874 he engaged in l)usiness as a resident of Jackson, Michigan, but returned to iiis law practice in tiiat city, and became prominent in various pul)lic matters connected with municii)al and state institutions.

History Of Lokain Couxty 219

In October, 18:52, .Alyron ]{. Keith, as a boy, was Itrouj^ht from New York l)y liis father, Col. Ansel Keith, and settled in Elyria. A year after his admission to tiie bar (1841) he moved to Cleveland, where he continued in practice for four years. In January, 1846, he returned to lOlyria, and was appointed clerk of the courts for Lorain County, liius olTiciatinj? until llie sjn'in^^ of ]8r)2. In August of that year lie returned to Cleveland, where, for many sul)se(iuent years be was register in bankruptcy ami an active memlier of tlie l>ar.

i'rioi- to 1880 Josluui Myci's lield llie I'ecord foi' eonliiiuous lengtii of pi'actiee in Lorain County. Although lie was an active member of tiie liar two years longer than II. I). Chirk, he never attained nuich i)i'()minence or establisiied a large i)raetiee. Mr. Myers eanu- to the l)ar a))OUt 1844 and remained in Elyria until his death in 1877. lie was iirst associated witli Judson 1). ISt'nedict and tiien with liobert .McEaehron. From 18r)0 to 1854 his partner was Judge I5i.sseil, of I'ainesvilie, in tlie linn of Bissell and IMyers. That was the i)eriod of ins greatest professional prosperity. Wiien alone, bis practice was never large. During the later years of INIr. Myers' life, he lield the office of justice of the peace for a term, securing his election luirlly tlirougli the antitemperance excitement, or opposition to tlie Crusade, in 1874.

Jolin V. Coon, although he never nuule a distinguished place for liimself at the liar, was one of its l)est known veterans. He was admitted to tlie l)ar at Elyi'ia in 1846 and i)racticed for many years. He did not, however, devote himself exclusively to his profession, Imt engaged in farming, dealing in real estate and investing in various maiiufacturing As a lawyer, be was liest known in the field of real estate traiisaclions. Some time in tlic early '8()s lie iviiiovcd from lOlyi'ia to I'.iiif b'apiils, Kansas, where he had iiiv<'slments in real estate and water p(i\\ei\ and aflerwards died liieiv. Mr. CodU was pari ieiilarly known in

It is said that up to ahout 1845 few of the praetieing lawyers of the Lorain bar were able to make a living by confining them.selves strictly witliin pi'ofessioual limits, nearly all engaging in newspaper or business enterprises. AlthougJi the relative amount of law liusiness transacted by foreign attorneys after the '80s was much less than during tlie earlier period, a large number of attorneys from Ch'veland and otlier outside points practiced oceasionally in Lorain County. Besides 8. J. Andrews, of that city, may be mentioned in that class W. Sillimau, of Wooster, and C. L. Lattimer, of Norwalk.

The period from 1845 to 1860 witnessed an almost complete change in the personnel of the bar. About thirty new members joined it during lliat period, and at its close riiilemon Hliss remained the only resident lawyer who had begun practice jirior to 1845, althougli Mr. Clai'k, then residing in Cleveland, si ill practiei-d in the courts at Fiyria. Some of the ablest members of the bar were arrivals of those years. Of the number were Stevenson Burke, John I\I. Vincent, Sylvester Hagg, Lionel A. Siieldon, George H. Lake, Washington W. Hoyntou. Laertes B. Smith, Edward ]). Ilolbrook, John ]\L Langston, John V. Coon, Charles H. Doolittle and Jose])h IL Dickson.

Of those not particularly mentioned, Sylvester Bagg attained much prominence after leaving P^lyria. lie commenced practice in Elyria in 1845, having come from .Massachusetts a short time before. lie had not tiien reached his twenty-second year. Mi*. Bagg remained at the coiuity seat for ten years, practicing alone or in i)artnershi|i witli A. A. Bliss, 10<lmiiM(l A. West or (ieorgc Ohiisted. 'I'o maki' Ixitli ends meet etpially, he engaged at limes in the drug and insurance business. In 1S57 lie located at Watei'ioo, Iowa, made a good Union iTcoi-d in tlu; Civil war; served as circuit .iudge from 1868 to 1878 and, for a iiuniber of years tlicreaflei', as distriel judge.

Houston II. Poppleton, who first studied law with Judge Burke at Elyria in 1858-9, commenced practice in 1860, formed a i)artner.ship with liis preceptor and in 187:} became general attorney of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway Company, of which Judge Burke was the executive head.

p]dward D. Ilolbrook is another of the Elyria lawyers of that period who attained his greatest prominence in tlie far West. He commenced practice at Elyria in 1858, the year after his admission to the bar, and renuiined thus engaged until the spring of 1861. He then went to California, where he remained studying carefully the mining laws until May, 1862; at that time he moved to Idaho Territory, where he rapidly acquired a large practice and rose to public prominence. From 1865 to 1869 he represented the territory as a delegate to the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth congresses. In June, 1870, he was murdered at Idaho City by Cliarles H. Douglas.

Elyria, as the county seat, M-as the logical headquarters of the litigation brought to the courts of the county, but as there was considerable local business at such population centers as Oberlin, Lorain and AVelliugton, several of the enterprising firms established outside branches. Philemon Bliss and Washburn Saft'ord formed a partnership of that nature in 1855, its third mend^er, the Oberlin representative, being R. H. Allen.

J. AV. Steele, who served as probate judge of Lorain County in 1867- 71, located at Oberlin in 1877, and practiced there for some time thereafter.

But perhaps the ablest member of the bar who ever practiced at Oberlin, and really a high credit to the profession irrespective of color lines, was .lohii ^I. Langston, a re[)resentative of tiu; colored race. For twelve years he enjoyed a large business, chiefly among his own peoi)le, was honored by the entire comuuinily in various pul)lie ways, and iinally achieved a .substantial reputation in several lines of the national service, as will more fully appear I'l-Dm Ihe biogi'aphit; facts which follow.

John ]\[ereer Laiigstoii was born in Louisa County, Vir^nia, on the ]4th of Dcceniljci-, 182!), and at tlie age of six was einani'ii)att'd from shivery. In 184!), wlien hut twenty, lie graduated from 01)ei'lin College in the regular literary course, ami in IH'y.i from tlic tiieologieal department. He reeeived the following degrees: A. M., Oherlin, ]852; LL. I)., Howard University. Having studied law, he was admitted to the bar of -Ohio in 1854, and praetieed his profession at Oherlin until 18G9. During that period he was clerk of several townships in Ohio, being tlie lirst colored nuui elected to any olliee by popular vote. He was also a member of the Board of Education of Oherlin.

In 1869 ^Ir. Langston was called to a profes.sorshii) of law in Howard University, Washington, which had been organized two years previous, under the auspices of the National Govermnent, for the benetit of his race and which had been founded along the same lines which had given Oherlin so wide a fame. Professor Langston became dean of the faculty of law, of which he was one of the organizers, and remained at its head for seven years. President Grant then appointed him a member of the Board of Health of the District of Columbia, of which he was elected secretary in 1875. hi 1877-85 he was United States minister and consul general to Hayti, ami on liis return to this country was ai)pointed pi'esident of the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, at Petersl)urg.

In addition to various addresses and pa])ers on j)olitieal, biographical, literaiy and scientific subjects, Professor Langston was the author of a vohime of select addresses entitled "Freedom and Citizenship," i)ublished in Washington, 1883. He died at Wasliington, District of Columijia, Novemljer 15, 18!)7.

One of the most famous cases in which either I\Ir. Langston or any other lawyer in Lorain County was identified was that known to history as the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Case, and the al)]e and learned colored attorney ])articipated in it not only as an advocate ])ut as one of the derendanls convicted of the conspiracy to rescue a negro fugitive from the hands of his captors (including United States officials) while en route to ills southern master. It all hapixiied in the spi-ing of 185S and constituted tlie last attempt to recover a slave in Nortiiei'n Ohio under llie law of 1850. The i'aels were lliese: .Idhii I'riec, a riigilive slave from Kentucky, had been some lime in Oberliii, when liy » rwm: he was s<'ize(I by the United States marshal and bis deputy, accompanied by two K'erit iiekiaiis wlio represented his master. The slave was di'iven oveito Wellington, eight miles iiway, where he was made a |)risoner at Wads-

It ha|)|)('n('(l at tliis eiilieal time there was a lart^e crowd at Wcliingtoii, attracted by a iii'e, and as soon as they received word of the state of afifairs at tiie liotei, with re-enforcements from Oberlin tiiey surrounded the temporary prison and rescued llie fugitive. Tiie grand jury of tlie United States District Court tiiereupon indicted thirteen persons in Wellington and twenty-four in Oljerlin - all leading citizens - for aiding in tlie rescue, tlieir cases being called at Cleveland on April 5th. The AVellington defendants, who were considered more as assistants than principals in the rescue of the slave, were each fined $20 and costs and sent to jail for twenty-four hours. Simon Bushnell, of Oberlin, and j\lr. Langston, who made a strong sjjeeeli defemling his course, were eonvicteil and sentenced-; - tlie former to sixty days in prison and a fine of $600, and the latter to a $100 fine and twenty days' sentence. Twelve of the Oberlin men remained in jail at Cleveland, but all of the prisoners, it is said, had a rather enjoyaljle time.

The result of these convictions was to arou.se tlie people throughout Xorthei'ii Oliio who were oj)posed to slavery, and on the 24th of ^lay an immense mass meeting was held at Cleveland to give expression to the prevailing .sentiment. Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, Governor (Jiiase and others addres.sed the meeting and the feelings of the community were aroused to a high pitch of excitement. Visitors came in throngs from all parts of the city to .see the prisoners, syin])atiiize wilh them and make their imprisonment comfortable. One of tlie most remarkable demonstrations was in favor of ]\Ir. Fitch, of Olierlin, who had been superintendent of the Congregational Sunday school there for sixteen years. The children, numliering 400, came to Cleveland in a body, filling the jail and the corridors during tiieir visit to their beloved superintendent.

President James H. Fairchild, of Oberlin College, thus descriljos an attempt to get two of the prisoners from the jurisdiction of the Federal Court through the agency of the State Supreme Court: "A writ of habeas corpus was granted by one of the judges of the Supreme Court, commanding the sheriff to bring Busimell and Langston before that court tliat tlie reason for their imiirisonmeiit might be considered. The case was ably argued at C'olumbiis for a week, but the court, tiiree to two, declined 1() grant a release. This was a severe blow In the men in jail. They had coiinled wilh iim(!li eonlidenee upon relief from that, (liiarler. It is idle 1o speculale upon the possible resiills if a singh; judge had held a different opinion. Salmon P. Chase was governor at the lime, and it was well understood that lie would sustain a decision reU-asing llie prisoners by all tlie powers at his command; and the United Status CJovernment was as I'uUy committed to the execution ol" the Fugitive Slave Law. This would have placed Ohio in conflict with tli(! (iciicral (Jovenimeiit in defense of State Rif^hts, and if the l)arty of frcciloiii tiiroiioiioiil tlu; Norlli liad rallied, as seiJined possible, the war migiil iiave come in 1858 instead of 18G1, with a secession of the northern instead of the southern states. A single vote apparently turned the scale, and after a little delay the party of freedom took possession of the government and the party of slavery became the seceders."

But as no sufficient proof of title to the slave, John Price, had been presented by the claimant who had issued his power of attorney to the Keiituckians, on the Gtli of July, 1858, the prisoners were all released. Tile four men who had seized him and had been indicted on the charge of kidnai)iug in Lorain County, I)eeame alarmeil. So, by mutual consent, all further proceedings were dropped.

On their arrival at their home town, on the same day, the Oberlin men were escorted to the First Congregational Church where, until midnight, the people of the village gave way to their enthusiasm in the form of song and prayer.

Of a later generation of lawyers than tliose mentioned was Elizur 0. Johnson, who was admitted to the bar in 1861 and resided in La Grange until he was elected county auditor in 1869. At the conclusion of his term in 1876 he commenced practice at the county seat. Other lawyers who commenced practice at the Lorain County bar in the '60s include Iral L. Webster, whose headquarters were at Oberlin ; Norman L. Johnson, Charles Downing and P. II. Boynton. Those of the '70s embrace such as J. M. Ilord, Winslow L. Fay, E. II. Ilinman (North Amherst), David J. Nye, Walter F. Ilerrick, who had previously been a colonel in the Union army and a member of the State Legislature for several terms; John II. Faxon, who had .served two terms as sheriit" in the '-lOs and two terms in the Legislature in the '70s just before commencing practice in Elyria; G. C. Jeffries, E. C. jManter and J. C. Hill; Fred Webster, who also had an Oberlin office; and Roswell G. Ilorr, formerly county clerk.

Mr. Hill was admitted to the bar about 1862, came to Elyria with Hon. John C. Hale. After practicing a short time he went into the cattle business, afterwards into the nursery business, and in 1872 helped to organize the predecessor of the Savings Deposit Bank & Trust Com- pany and has coutinued as cashier and president of that bank up to the present time. He lias now retired as president, but is chairman of the hoard of direetors, an honorary j^osition. While lie has not been in active practice of the hiw, lie has done most of the legal business of the bank.

Roswell G. Iiohr

Roswcll G. Ilorr was clerk of the Common Pleas Court of Lorain County from 1S5S to 1864, and at the expiration of his term was admitted to practice. lie formed a partnership with John C. Hale, but after two years of practice moved to Missouri and subsequently to East Saginaw, Michigan. He became prominent in the polities of the latter state and served creditably in Congress, being elected the fii'st time in November, 1878.

Al)out 1880, the following suggestive and interesting review was made of the Lorain County bar: "Ten of its meml)ers have been elevated to the bench (aside from probate judges) and held iifteen different judicial positions, viz. : Frederick Whittlesey, common pleas judge in Oliio; 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; Cyrus Gluey, judge in Iowa; S. Bagg, circuit and district judge in Iowa; S. Burke, common pleas judge in Ohio; George B. Lake, supreme judge of Nebraska; W. W. Boynton, common pleas and supreme judge in Ohio, and John C. Hale, common pleas and circuit judge in Ohio.

"The bar furnished one of the delegates, Mv. Clark, to the constitutional convention of 1851, and tlie single rejjresentative, j\Ir. Hale, to that of 187;}. Two former Lorain lawyers are lecturers in law schools - (Judge Bliss antl Mr. Langstoii - and two, Judge Bliss and .Mr. TiiVany, are authors of legal treatises.

"So I'ar as llie writer lias been able to learn, Philemon Bliss seems to have held the lai'gcst number of important ollieial positions; two tefiiis in ("(ingress and (including probate ju<lgeships) liv(; dinVrent judicial positions. To ]\lr. i\lyers belongs the distinction of having been Ihe longest at the bar, from 1811 to 1877. The next longest, and

For the past forty years, or more, there have been many changes in the personnel of the bench and bar of J^orain County, both in the natural order of nature and because of the great industrial development and marked ijierease of wealth and general culture outside of Elyria. The bar of Lorain, for instance, has had marked accessions to its membership and strength even since the early '9Us, and corporation practice, especially, which forty years ago was virtually unknown to the county bar, is Jiow a large and profitable field. In the earlier times, when an Elyria, Lorain, Oberlin, Amherst or AVellington lawyer became ambitious to enter a broader practice than he could establish at home, he considered that his only hope to localize larger things was to move to Cleveland. That has not been the case for the past twenty or twenty-five years; members of the Lox'ain bar have not been forced from the home field to obtain business commensurate with the best talent and the highest professional ambition.

Judge David J. Nye is, since the retirement of Judge Boynton, the veteran of the Lorain bench and bar, and he has been far longer in continuous service both as a lawyer and .judge in Lorain County than any member of his profession. His home record dates from April, 1873, one year after his admission to the bar and his return from Kansas, where his professional career commenced. Judge Nye is a native of New York, of old Vermont .stock, his parents spending most of their years in the rugged farming district of AVestern New York. His first ta.ste of education outside the district schools was at Randolph Academy, and from 1863 to 186(3 he taught both in New York and Northern Ohio. Cuyahoga, Sunnnit and Erie counties were the western fields of his lal)ors in that line. In 1867 he entered Oberlin College and during the succeeding four years was both teacher and student. During his senior year he served as supei-intendent of schools at j\Iilan, Eric County, and at the same time prosecuted his law studies.

Judge Nye graduated from Obcrliu College in 1871, I'elui-ned to i\Iilau to i-esume his woi'k as supei'iiiteiident of schools, and in August, 1S72, was admitted to tlie bar at El^'ria. After a brief residence at Emporia, Kansas, where he coiinnenced practice, in IMarch, 1873, he relunicil to the counfy scat and cDiitiiiUcd his studies in tlic ol'lice of

Jiistojjy Of J.Okain Countv 227

In .July, ISDl, llu; iv])ublican iiiciiibcfs of the bar si'biclcd .Imi'^r. Nyo as Uk; itaity candidate lor tlio coininon pleas bench; lie was eleeled in the iollowing November and took his seat in iA'Jjruary, 1892, and liis service in that capacity dnring the succeeding decade is well indicated by the fact that only one criminal case whicli came before him was reversed by tlu; liiyher courts. One important case tried before him involved the right to have debts deducted from national bank stock for taxation. Judge Nye held such deductions were inadmissible under the laws of Ohio. This decision was suliseciuently arfirmed by the State .Sui)reme (Joiirt and by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Since retiring from the bench, Judge Nye has devoted himseir to his e-\tensive private practice and varied business interests. In 1912 he served as a member of tlie fourth constitutional convention, lie is one of the most prominent IMasons iii the country. Other details than those given in this sketch, which has been virtually confined to liis career as a lawyer and a judge, will be found elsewhere.

Clarence G. Washburn, who served by appointment and election as judge of the Court of Couunon Pleas from 1904 to 191;i, represents the younger generation of his profession, as he is now in his forty-ninth year. A native of Huron County, Ohio, his parents were New Yorkers who came to the Buckeye State from their farm near Syracuse.

Judge Washburn spent his years until he reached young manhood in the Village of Greenwich, Huron County, and in the State of Kansas, lie pursued his law studies under ])rivate instruction and at the University of Michigan, being graduated from the latter in June, 1892. lie commenced practice at Lorain, where he also served as village solicitor, and in 1896 was elected clerk of the courts. In the following year he moved to Elyria to assume his official duties, and was re-elected to that position in 1899. lie returned to practice in the fall of 1903, 1)ut in 1904 was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas and, by successive elections, served until Kebi-uary, 19i;{. TIk^ foregoing simple record is snllicient, without comment. Judge Washburn's wife, wild, before her marriage had been a (le|)iily in the probate oniee of Huron C'ounly, and who afterward assisted her husband when be was serving as clei'k of the Loi-ain County coiii'ls, was ailmitted to the bar herself in 1890, )iut never engaged in active ])i-ac1ice.

Distinguished Characters

Dk. Norton S. Townsiiend - John Henry Barrows - Dr. Barrows' Mother - His Ante-Oberlin Career - Through tih: Eyes of Daughter and Father - Colonel Charles Whittlesey - Jui>ge Charles Canuee Baldwin - Lucy Stone and Antoinette Brown - General Quincy Adams Gii-lmore - A IMoral as Well as Patriotic HERO - Hon. ]\Iyron T. Herkick - Frank II. Hitchcock.

Although a majority of those who achieve distinction in ])olitical or public life liave a legal training and have therefore largely figured iii the preceding chapter, Lorain County presents several notable exceptions. Some of its distinguished characters are natives; others have resided within its bounds only a few years at different periods of their lives; some have laid tlie basis of a hardy constitution on its farms and in its rural communities; others have obtained their first intellectual stimulus from its scliools of higher learning; both white and black, men and women, have gone out into the world from Lorain County and made tine records for themselves and the towns, cities or institutions which have touched their lives.

For more tlian a qiun'ter of a century, the late Dr. Norton S. Townsiiend was one of the most prominent citizens of Northern Ohio and, altliough he was a successful and skillful physician and sui'geon, his public services iiuich overshadowed his professional career. Dr. Townsiiend was of English parentage, and wlien the boy was fourteen yeai's of age tlie family settled on a beautiful farm in Avon Township. In his early youth he evinced an aejive intellect and a i)ronounee(l litci'ary talent, but, when twenty-one years of age, in IHliT, entered tiie ofliee of Dr. U. \j. Howard, of lOlyria, as a student of medicine.

In the fall and winter of lS;i7 Dr. Townsiiend attended a course of medical lectures in Cincinnati, returned to Elyria to continue his private studies, and in tlie fall of 1839 coininonced liis final course at the College of I'liysieiiiiis and Siirj^eons, New Yoi'k. Soon after ^ri-iduatinrr tlien;- frotii, in the spi'iiij^ of IM-IO, he saih'd i'or lOiiroiie and spent the siieeeediiif,' year and a half attending the liospilals and elinies of Paris, London, Edinhurgli and Dultlin. He then returned to Ohio and, for a short time, practiced in Avon, but in 1843, soon after his marriage to ]\Iiss Harriet Wood, located at Elyria. His I)road education and professional skill at once brought him practice, and while thus actively engaged he performed a number of such capital surgical operations as litiiotomy and amputations of the thigli and shoulder.

But Dr. Townshend's mind was too active and his ambitions too broad for him to confine himself to the labors and honors of the profession. Locally, Ins influence was (juiekly felt. For example, he was prominent in organizing the Elyria Natural History Society, and delivered numerous and able lectures before it. Whenever a speaker faiK'd to appear, the doctor was sub.stituted and was always ready to deliver a most interesting and instructive address.

In 18-18 the Free Soil party elected Dr. Townshend to the lower house of the State Legislature. He and John F. ]Morse, of Lake County, were the only mend)ers of tliat party elected to tlie body named, and also held the balance of power between the whigs and democrats. Jlessrs. Townshend and .Morse were tiierefore able to wield considerable political power and, with the aid of the democracy, secured the repeal of the notorious lilack Laws. They also threw the senatorial election in favor of Salmon P. Chase and launched him on his career as a famous American, as well as brought about the appointment of several anti-slavery men to prominent positions in the State of Ohio.

Doctor Townshend's record in the State House of Representatives gave iiim so much prominence that he liecame a mem])er of the constitutional convention of 1851, having already connnenced his term as a reprc;- sentative of the Thirty-second Congress. In both bodies he added to his standing as a leader of state ami national sentiment. As he was only thirty-five wiien he was sent to (Jongress, he was considered rather as an inexperienced upstart, especially by the dignified and elderly members from tlie South who virtually controlled the lower house. Px'inu' a rabid abolitionist, the young ddctor was truly a i)opular target for the representatives of slavery, but their shafts rebounded. Among others, K'epn'seiitative Stanley of North Carolina attacked him in a bitter speech, to which the doctor rei)lied with such etfect that the southern gentleman named was usually referred to thereafter as "IIk; late Air. Stanley."

the session lie introdueed a l)ill to estaldisli an asylum for imhecile eliil- (Ifcii and yoiilli. It. pjissed at the next si'.ssioii, and he was appointed u iiieiiih(i-.s of Ihe hoar'd oi' Inistees, hohlin^^ llie position by reappointment until 1H78. In \Hf)H, whik; livin<f on his farm in Avon (the family homestead), he was eleeted a menil^er of the State J5oard of Agrieulture. He eontinued in that offiee for eight years, heing elected twice as president of the hoard. In ]86;5-5 he sen'ed as medical inspector in the Union Army, with rank of colonel of cavalry. The year 1867, when he accepted a professorship in the Iowa Agricultural College, marks the end of his continuous residence of more than twenty years in Elyria, for even when engaged in army service he considered that city as his home. But he onl}- remained ahout two years in Iowa, and in 187U secured the passage of the law to estahlisii an agricullural and mechanical coUege for Oliio. lie was ai)pointed a trustee of tiie institution, and acceptetl a professorship therein when the collfgc was opened in 187.'1 He then moved with ins family to Columl)us.

Tu'V. John Henry Uarrows assumed tiie presidciiey in Noveiid)er, 1898, and contiiuu'd at the head of Oherlin College affairs until his death, .lune ){, li>()2. He was the first president of that institution to die in office, his decease occurring al)out two months after the passing away of his predecessor, President Fairchild. It is i)roI)ahle that no l)resident of Oherlin College enjoyed so cosmopolitan a reputation as Doctor Barrows, his name heing honored hy scholars and religionists of two hemi.spheres. He fii'st came into world-notice as president of the great Congress of Religions at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, and afterwards extended his fame hy the profound lectures in the promotion of religion which he delivered from Calcutta, India, to San Francisco, California. As a preacher, orator, scholar and college executive he had few ecjuals in the United States.

In 1904 Doctor Barrows' daughter, Mary Eleanor Barrows, puhlishiMJ a memorial vohnue of lier father, a loving, simple and complete tribute to his intellectiud and spiritual greatness - greatness spiritually, in the scnsi' of lieiglit and dcjitli of iiring. Tli;d book, to which all are refeii'cd who wi.sh to truly know the broad president of Olfcrlin College, traces many of his remarkable gifts to tiie father, John IManning Barrows, who received his early and liberal education at the l{ens.selaer l*olytechni(! institute, at Troy, New York, and Oherlin (College, and from Catherine Moore (Barrows), a learned, wise and tender mother, also drawn from the East to that uniqne home of physical, intellectual and moral ecjuality in what was tlien the West. Tlicy met at Oherlin as students, when the institute was sending,' forth its tirst {graduates, and as man and wife, father and mother, l'oujj;lit slavery togetlier for many years, and preached and taught various communities in New York, Ohio and ^lichigan.

Doctor Barrows himself once wrote of liis mother thus: "She was born in Saratoga County, New York, and taught a district school before she had reached tlie age of fifteen. She was converted in Troy by the personal ministry of Reverend Fayette Shipherd, a brotlier of the founder of Oherlin. Being hungry for a college education, she went to her father and said, 'Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me that I may go West, where Professor Cliarles G. Finney is;' and she went. It was a journey of four hundred miles or more that she made in a stage coach to reach the forests of the Western Reserve, there to undergo the trials, the sickness, and the hardship and to gain the inspiration of student life in those .stirring early days of Oherlin. It was a time when bean soup was deemed dainty fare, when a slab hoarding house was a palace of ea.se, and when ornaments of all kinds on tiie pei'son of a young lady were indications of a carnal heart. iMy mother ac(piired some; linguistic learning which nearly all vanished in later pioneer hardships. She read the New Testament through in Greek. Besides studying Latin and attaining a good knowledge of French, she read thirty chapters of the book of Genesis in Hebrew, and I think used to hush her children to sleep by repeating the deep-toned, full voweled opening words of the old Bible. But better than the language taught was the earnest spirit breatiied from the brave lives of those pioneer teachers who helped to nudte Oherlin perhaps the greatest single factor in the evangelization of the West. Their theolog}' did not square altogether with the Westminster Confession, l)ut it made revivalists, reformers, and public spirited citizens. The iimbition of the early Oherlin students, exemplified by my mother as completely as Ity any other ])ei'S()n r ever k'new, was to be noiily usei'ul, to sell their lives for tlie greatest i)Ossible good."

Henry Barrows, the son, was born in a log cabin about five miles from ^Medina, Lenawee County, ^lichigan, the fourth of five children, all but one of whom were boys. Tlie career of that son as student, teaelier and minister, in tlie JOast and the West, during wliich a broad and Ijrotherly outlook was being evolved in his personality, cannot be traced in detail. The fifteen years of his life in Chicago constituted a period, of continuous advancement and expansion, and culminated in his elevation to the chairmanship of the Parliament of Religions, held as an auxiliary of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and his appointment soon afterward to the Haskell and Barrows lectureship of the Ujiiversity of Chicago. Then followed his pilgrimage to India and Japan in the interest of a world bi'otherhood of religious beliefs. Tlie last three years of his life, which was one of the highest historic examples of tnie culture, are those which are saci-ed to Olierlin College and so closely concern tliis history of Lorain County.

Fortunately Doctor Barrows' daughter has accorded generous space to her fatlier's connection with the institution which gave both of his parents such an intellectual and moral impetus when they were entering the mysteries and responsibilities of parenthood. We tiierefore extract from her "Memoir" the following pertinent paragraplis:

"In November, 1S9S, he received a unanimous and pressing call to the presidency of 01)erlin College. This was accompanied by the promise of the trustees to cooperate with him in raising the standard of scholarship, in putting the college on a firmer financial basis, in broadening its ideals, and in giving it a more commanding place among educational institutions. Those of his friends that were not Congregationalists advised him to decline this invitation. They believed the college to be so provincial in its ideas and so conservative in its policy as to make sure and rapid progress doul)tful. It was true that Oberlin had lieen long without a president, had lost some of its earlier prestige, had cut ih)wn its courses, had a large annual deficit, many dissatisfied alumni, and was falling oif in the number of its students. To accept this call meant that he nuist leave the city that he loved, relinquish his freedom and the large income that his lectures brought him, and assume grave r('Si)onsibilities and some uncongenial duties. He had no friends among Obeiliu's trustees and but two accpiaintances on its faculty. It was periiaps tlu' oidy large college in the; country that he had never addressed. But he was very familiar with Oiu'rlin's emphasis upon justice and soi-ial sei'vi<-e, and with llie signal devotion and sacrilice tliat liatl made its history sacred; to ([iioto liis own words: 'AVitli very liiiiilcd means il lias done an almost iiiilimilcd work. More than thirty thousand men and womi'ii have coiin; as studi'uts under Oherlin ti'aininf^, and these [jeojjle, seattei'i'il as teachers and citizens through almost eveiy villa<,'e ami city of Ohio and the ]\]iddle West, and even the Far "West, liave done an incalenlalile service for tlie hifj^her life of the conntry. Oberlin was the tirst college to admit women to ef|nal and couunon privileg-es with men in tlie chi.ssical collegiate education. It opened its doors to students, irrespective of race, and was foremost in the Antislavery agitation which led up to the Civil AVar and the act of Emaneijiation. It may .justly he deemetl tiie historic college of the West, standing at the center of the moral and s|)iritual forces whieh liave shaped our newer civilization. It is intimately linked with the lifework of President Finney, that epoch-making force in juodern Christendom. Three presidents of the United States - Hayes, Garfield and ^IcKinley - have spoken in emphatic eulogy of what this college has wrought for the higher life of the country. The late General Jacob D. Cox has shown that it was the mighty and incessant work of the Oherlin reformers and the thousands of Oberlin students who went forth as teacliers, lecturers, and missionaries that turned tlie scales in the Antislavery contest, led to the election of Abraham Lincoln and the gigantii! results which followed, making for Union and Freedom. America owes a great debt, not yet paid, to this liistoric college. Oberlin students have been active doers in all the held of the world's work, not oidy as preachers and teachers iu the North, but in foreign luis.sion lands, among the Indians, and among the African race in the Southern States and in the AVest Indies. AVhat Edward Everett Hale has called "the most democratic and cosmopolitan college in the country " posses.ses such strong traditions and stands for such an earnest type of character that its moral endowment is already large.'

"Unfortunately for the success of his friends' persuasions, he went with my mother to Oberlin, to survey the held and lecture to the college. And it came to pass when he looked into the faces of a thousand students while the foot ball captain led the cheering in his honor, that boyhood memories rushed back upon him, the op])ortunity seemed large, and one of those decisive spiritual experiences connnon to him in crises of his life marked this college presidency as the dut}' to which God now called him. He took up his new work on the hrst of January, 1891), and his own words spoken at dilferent times tell of the college's attractions for him, his hope for its future, and his sympathy with its ideals.

liis fine and stiiniilatiiig siisgcstious, and sliow the later and higher evoliilion of man in recorded iiistory!" so, as I have reviewed wlial has already h(H;ii aeeorriplislied in 01)('rlin, and now bcliohl lliis hiiiigiy, aspiring, nndnished eollege world, the strong appeal eoines to nie lo tal<e up and carry on this work and place it upon some loftier anil more radiant tableland.

" 'Tlie founders of Oherlin dared, for man's sake and i'or Christ's sake, to he peculiar. Surely this has been the distinctive mark of the leaders of our race, for nothing except sin reduces the grandeur of human life like inert gregariousness, the making of one's self like everyone else. The world needs more men and women in the couHiets of this generation who bravelj' listen to God, who are not cheated out of their better selves either by tlie subtle temptations of sin, or by "tlie dull fool's palsying sneer, " and who have not been smootlied down into wellshaven formalists.

" 'In going to Oberlin I feel, in one sense, that I am going home. It was at Oberlin that my father and mother first came to know and love eaeh other, and from Oberlin have come the chief forces that have shaped my life.

" 'Oberlin possesses, in a large measure, tlie ideals which I have always preached, tiie ideals of true brotherhood, i-eal democracy, freedom from artificial temptations, zeal for service, devotion to higher education, intellectual liberty, independent and intelligent patriotism, and consecration to the expansion of the divine kingdom among men, ideals which are supported by the fresh young life of the students and by the beautiful spirit of the community. All good things seem po.ssible in a eollege with such a history.'