Biographies
Source:
Biographical History of Northeastern Ohio
Embracing the Counties of
Ashtabula, Trumbull and Mahoning
Containing Portraits of all the Presidents of the United States, with a
Biography of each,
together with Portraits and Biographies of Joshua R. Giddings, Benjamin
F. Wade,
and a large number of the Early Settlers and
Representative Families of to-day.
"Biography is the only true history." - Emerson
CHICAGO:
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1893
Transcribed by Sharon Wick
<
CLICK HERE TO RETURN to
1893
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX >
< CLICK HERE TO RETURN to
LIST of BIOGRAPHIES >
| |
I. A. JUSTICE,
the able and popular City Solicitor for Youngstown, Ohio, was born
in Mahoning county, this State, Mar. 16, 1837. His parents,
John and Nancy (Sexton) Justice, were pioneer settlers of Ohio,
and active participators in its early development. His mother
was a relative of Mr. Sexton, the great Irish lawyer of
to-day. Her father, Stephen Sexton, was a native of
Pennsylvania, of pure Irish parentage, and a farmer by occupation.
In 1818, he joined the western tide of emigration, removing to
Mahoning county, Ohio, where he settled on new land in the woods,
which he transformed by industrious cultivation and valuable
improvements into one of the best farms in the county. He was
of the Protestant faith in religion, and he and his worthy wife died
in their Ohio home, he at the age of ninety-six years, and both
followed by the regret of many friends. John Justice,
father of the subject of this sketch, a man of upright character and
kindly disposition, was a tanner and currier by trade, which he
learned in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He operated a tannery in
Mount Jackson, Pennsylvania, for six or eight years, when, about
1823, he removed to Austintown, then in Trumbull, but now in
Mahoning county, Ohio, where he resided until his death, in 1883, at
the age of eight-nine years. He was an Elder in the
Presbyterian Church for more than forty years and Treasurer of the
same for more than twenty-five years. He was a modest,
unassuming man and worthy citizen, not aspiring to public office and
declining to hold a position of trust except in the church, in which
he was a devout and earnest worker. His genial, kindly spirit
drew friends from far and near, for all of whom he had a warm band
and generous heart. He and his worthy wife lived happily
together for more than sixty-four years and celebrated their golden
wedding. The devoted wife and mother died ninety days before
her husband, the latter of whom so shortly followed as if unable to
endure a separation after so many years of close companionship.
She was a generous, noble, Christian woman, a consistent member of
the Presbyterian Church, in which she was an active worker.
The influence of her quiet, earnest life, and thoughtful care for
others, still lingers to bless those of her household and the
community where she led a long and useful life. Eight out of
thirteen children reached maturity and four survived the death of
the parents: Morrison, a prosperous farmer of Goshen
Township, Mahoning county, Ohio; Sarah Jane, wife of A. P.
Taylor, a prominent citizen of Denver, Colorado; the gentleman
whose name heads this sketch; and Eliza, since deceased, who
was the wife of John Thompson, a well-known resident of
Austintown, Ohio.
Mr. Justice, of this notice, enjoyed
the advantages of a common-school education until he reached the age
of nineteen, and learned his father's trade of tanning, which work,
however, he abandoned on account of ill health. He then
entered a Presbyterian Academy at Poland, Ohio, remaining there two
terms, after which he attended Mahoning Academy, in Canfield, this
State, without, however, completing any specified course. He
then taught school five winters, attending the academy during the
summer, and is essentially self-made, the only assistance toward
attaining a higher education which he received having been three
months' board. He enjoyed teaching, but his ambition led him
to abandon that occupation for the more lucrative one of law.
He commenced reading law by himself at night while teaching and
engaged in other pursuits, and then spent six months in the law
office of Hon. S. W. Gilson, of Canfield, being admitted to
the bar in the fall of 1867. In the spring of 1868, Mr.
Justice entered into partnership with his preceptor, Mr.
Gilson, under the firm name of Gilson & Justice, with
whom he continued to practice for three years. At the end of
this time, the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Justice
remaining in Canfield. The first suit which he tried alone was
a land cause, in which his former partner was the case, of which
victory he was justly proud.
In 1870, Mr. Justice was elected Justice of the
Peace of Canfield and Clark of the Union School Board, and through
his efforts and those J. W. Canfield, still living, a new and
large union school building was erected. This action was taken
because Mr. Justice had learned that the administrators of
Simeon Jennings, a millionaire, who had just died, had in their
possession several hundred thousand dollars, which could be used for
that purpose, and in this manner procured a first-class school
building at small cost to the remaining tax payers. In 1872,
Mr. Justice removed to Youngstown, where he continued to
practice his profession, and took an active part in securing the
removal of the county seat from Canfield to Youngstown in 1876.
In the fall of 1873, county officers were nominated
irrespective of politics, on what was known as the "removal ticket,"
and Mr. Justice was nominated for Prosecuting Attorney,
against William Osborn, the former Mayor of Youngstown, by a
vote of 125 for fifteen, and was elected by a majority of more than
2,500. While Mr. Justice was Prosecutor, he sent
for a young man in Indiana, who became his partner, and is now
ex-Civil Service Commissioner and practices law in Chicago, his name
being Hon. L. D. Thoman. In March, 1888, Mr. Justice
formed a law partnership with M. W. Johnston, a personal
friend, with which gentleman Mr. Justice had tried many cases
at the Mahoning county bar, and when engaged on the same side they
were never beaten but twice. Mr. Justice's present
partner is Thomas McNamara, Jr., a capable lawyer, a graduate
of the Law College in Cincinnati, Ohio. In the spring of 1892,
Mr. Justice was nominated for City Solicitor by the Democrats
and elected, notwithstanding the fact that the city was 600 majority
for the Republicans, and he still holds that office.
Mr. Justice has given much attention to
fraternal beneficiary societies, in the affairs of which he has
taken a prominent part. He has been Representative three times
to the Grand Lodge of Knights of Pythias, also Past Grand Master of
the A. O. U. W. He has been Representative four times to the
Supreme Lodge of A. O. U. W., and has just been elected Supreme
Representative to that supreme body, which meets in San Francisco,
California, next June. He is also now Chairman of the Supreme
Committee on Laws and Appeals for the Heptasophs. He is a
member of the People's Five Year Benefit Order of Solon, the
International Progressive Association, the International Fraternal
Organization, and the Royal Templars of Temperance.
He has been prominently identified with local musical
matters for many years, having served as choir leader in the
Presbyterian Churches of Canfield and Youngstown for twelve years,
and was once offered the position of teacher of vocal music in the
Youngstown public schools.
Mr. Justice was first married to Dorcas
Hitchcock, and estimable lady of Canfield, an old class-mate of
his and they had two daughters: Flora, wife of J. W.
Mansell, a successful carpenter of Youngstown; and Lilla,
wife of George Morrison, a prosperous farmer of South Dakota.
Mr. Justice was called upon to mourn the death of his devoted
wife in 1872, in which sorrow he had the sympathy of numerous
friends, who knew and appreciated her Christian virtues. She
was a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church and prominent in all
good works. In 1874, Mr. Justice was married to Miss
Helen Warner, also an academic classmate of his and for many
years a successful teacher. They had four children: Charles
W., a stenographer, now in Mr. Justice's office; Clara,
a student of stenography; Frank and Nettie, at school.
In March, 1883, Mrs. Justice died, leaving an infant four
weeks old. She was a woman of superior ability and rare worth
of character, an active member of the Presbyterian Church, and a
devoted wife and mother. In 1885, Mr. Justice was
married to his second wife's sister, Miss Rose Warner, an
educated and refined lady, of Lorain county, Ohio. Both Mr.
and Mrs. Justice are prominent and useful members of the Trinity
Methodist Episcopal Church of Youngstown.
In politics, Mr. Justice is a Douglas Democrat,
deeply interested in public affairs and the good of his country.
He is genial, courteous, enterprising and progressive, of
commendable public spirit and the highest integrity and morality,
and reflects credit on his community, which has often sought to
honor him.
Source:
Biographical History of Northeastern Ohio
Embracing the Counties of
Ashtabula, Trumbull and Mahoning - Publ. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing
Company, 1893 - Page 509 |
|
