EARLY COURTS.

     There is no record that any within the confines of our city or county lim-

-----
     *From a paper read by the editor at the Springfield Centennial, correct to date.

[Pg. 515]
 

COMMON PLEAS COURT

[Pg. 516]

COMMON PLEAS JUDGES

[Pg. 517]

[Pg. 518]

[BLANK]

[Pg. 519]

[BLANK]

[Pg. 520]

PHOTOES of :
 

FAIRBANKS BUILDING AND LAGONDA BANK, SPRINGFIELD

GOTWALD BUILDING, SPRINGFIELD

HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, SPRINGFIELD

JOHNSON BUILDING (WREN'S STORE), SPRINGFIELD

NEW ZIMMERMAN BUILDING, SPRINGFIELD

BUSHNELL BLOCK, SPRINGFIELD

[Pg. 521]

[Pg. 522]

PROBATE COURT JUDGES.

[Pg. 523]

[Pg. 524]

CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES.

POLICE COURT JUDGES.

     Until the year 1887, the mayor of the City of Springfield performed the duties of a police magistrate.  The Legislature of the previous year passed a law creating hte office of police judge.  The first occupant of this position was LUTHER F. YOUNG.  He was succeeded in 1891 by Charles E. Morris, now a resident of Columbus.  In 1893, O. B. Trout became judge of the Police Court, and in 1895 he was succeeded by William R. Horner who in turn was succeeded in 1899 by J. J. MILLER, the present incumbent.  All the occupants of the Police Court bench were members of our bar and are still such with the exception of Charles E. Morris.

     "Great men die and are forgotten;
     Wise men speak; their words of wisdom
     Perish in the ears that hear them."

EARLY LAWYERS.

     This, no doubt, has been the penalty of a large portion of the members of our bar.  The court records disclose the individual names of persons who had proceedings there.  But otherwise no record appears containing the names of the members of our bar, since the organization of our Common Pleas Court.  In order to enable future generations to know who have been so fortunate or unfortunate as to expend their eloquence in our courts, I would suggest that a register be kept by the clerk of our court, in which every person practicing there should be required to register.  The first attorney whose

[Pg. 525]
name appears upon our law record is that of Henry Bacon.  Other names closely following are those of George W. Jewett and I. Cooley.  In the Chancery Court, the first paper was filed by H. Flournoy, and soon thereafter the names of T. C. Flournoy and William Elseberry appear as attorneys.  I am not positive that any of these, with the exception of George W. Jewett, were residents of our city.  Jewett combined the newspaper business with his law business, and was editor of the "Pioneer."  The records of our court would not be an infallible guide to furnish a list of attorneys of our bar; for, in the earlier times, it was the custom of the lawyers to practice in various counties in the circuit.  Throwing their saddle-bags, with a few books on their horses, they would follow the judges from county to county, either to try causes in each county, or in the hope of being retained in some one.  Clark County being new, and the City of Springfield young, many distinguished counsel came from distant parts of the state.  From recollection, an early settler has given the names of the following lawyers who practiced law here prior to the adoption of the present constitution: George W. Jewett, Piatt, Higgins, Mott, A. G. Burnett, William A. Rogers, JAMES M. HUNT, William White, J. B. Underwood, Joseph B. Craig, Joseph Anthony, James L. Torbert, Robert W. Carroll, William Cushing, Samson Mason, Charles Antbony and Harvey Vinal.

MEMBERS IN 1852.

     In 1852, a directory of the City of Springfield gave the occupation of the following persons a attorneys-at-law: 
Charles Anthony, J. R. Coverdill, John Foos (the directory was mistaken; Mr. Foos read law, but was never admitted to the bar), George Frey, J. S. Goode, Samson Mason, Rodney Mason, R. R. McNemar, A. D. Rogers, Samuel Shellabarger, George Spence, J. L. Torbert, William White, and H. Blair Wilson.

     GENERAL SAMSON MASON AND GENERAL CHARLES ANTHONY

[Pg. 526]

     SAMUEL SHELLABARGER -

     GEORGE SPENCE -

[Pg. 527]

[BLANK]

[Pg. 528]

PHOTOS OF:

PRESENT STATION HOUSE, SPRINGFIELD

WATER WORKS PUMP HOUSE, SPRINGFIELD

POST OFFICE, SPRINGFIELD

CENTRAL ENGINE HOUSE, SPRINGFIELD

[Pg. 529]

     SAMUEL A. BOWMAN -

MEMBERS IN 1864.

     In 1864, the names of the following persons are given as practicing law at our bar:
Aaron Cochran, A. P. Linn Cochran, David M. Cochran, John B. Haban, D. A. Harrison, Saul S. Hinkle, Samson, Mason, Samuel Bowman, T. J. Pringle, J. K. Mower, George C. Richardson, Joshua D. Sharon, Samuel Shellabarger, J. S. Goode, George Spence, John McGaffey and H. Vinal.  David M. Cochran, a brother of A. P. Linn Cochran died the latter part of the sixties.  He was a very brilliant lawyer, possessed of many excellent traits.

[Pg. 530]

MEMBERS IN 1881.

     In 1881, the following were enrolled as members of our bar:  George Arthur, S. A. Bowman, A. T. Byers, M. T. Burnham, W. F. Bevitt, A. G. Burnett, A. P. L. Cochran, C. W. Constantine, Milton Cole, B. Chinn, E. G. Dial, W. H. Dugdale, Charles Dunlap, Graham Deuwell, A. H. Gillett, Frank C. Goode, F. M. Hagan, E. O. Hagan, W. R. Horner, James Johnson, Jr., O. B. JOHNSON, J. Warren Keifer, C. C. Kirkpatrick, John H. Littler, J. K. Mower, Oscar T. Martin, P. B. Martin, B. F. Martz, J. F. McGrew, J. J. MILLER, Percy Norton, W. S. Newberry, James H. Piles, Thomas J. Pringle, George C. Rawlins, J. H. Rabbitts, R. C. Rodgers, W. M. Rockel, C. B. Rockhill, D. S. Runyan, George Spence, W. A. Scott, Frank Showers, Joseph Tritt, E. S. Wallace, F. W. Willis, W. H. Willis, Charles R. White, Fletcher White, Amos Wolf, Walter L. Weaver, C. F. Yakey.

SOME TIME MEMBERS.

     There are other members of our late whose names do not appear in this list above given, who died in early age or removed to other scenes of action.  James Willis came within forty votes of being elected mayor, and died suddenly about the year 1870.  He was a young lawyer of brilliant parts and promising future.  Milton Cole, a member of this bar, was born in 1848, elected Mayor of the city in 1875, and again in 1877; was a man of quiet demeanor, with considerable legal ability.  For a number of years before his death he suffered from a paralytic stroke, which incapacitated him.  He died in 1894.  J. J. Hanna, a member of this bar and mayor of the city in 1870, removed from the city, and shortly thereafter died.  J. F. Oglevee was a former member of this bar and partner of General Keifer, served a County Auditor from 1871 to 1874; thereafter represented this county two terms in the Legislature, and was state auditor for a number of years, and is now a resident of Columbus, engaged in manufacturing.

     Frank C. Goode, son of Judge James S. Goode, was born in this city in 1853, admitted to the bar in 1875, and died in 1887.  He was a young man having many of the striking characteristics of his distinguished father, and, had not death called him so soon, would no doubt have had a very distinguished legal career.  Willis S. Walker, son of General Moses Walker, of Kenton, was for a short time a member of our bar.  Afterward he was chief clerk in the secretary of state's office under General Robinson.  From there he went West, and died in the prime of young manhood.  He was of studious habits, and, for his age, a very good lawyer.

     John D. Burnett, who died in January, 1899, was a member of our bar, but for many years was not actively engaged in the profession.  He is remembered as a kindly old gentleman who painstakingly and carefully looked after the interests entrusted to his care.  John H. Thomas was admitted to the bar in 1851, but soon thereafter went into the manufacturing business, in which he acquired great wealth.  In later years he mingled some in state politics, but held no important positions.  Percy Norton, James Homan and Randolph Coleman, one time mem-

[Pg. 531]
bers of our bar, are now also engaged in the more lucrative calling of manufacturing.  George Prey, who was a member of the bar in 1852, and is yet alive and with us, was but a short time if ever an active practitioner.  The venerable Thomas F. McGrew was for nine years an active member of the Steubenville bar, but never practiced here.
     William D. Hill, later a Congressman in Northern Ohio, was at one time a member of our bar and mayor of the city in the early sixties.  CHARLES EVANS, who was afterward a Common Pleas judge in Cincinnati, and now a practicing member of that bar, was a member of our bar during the latter part of the sixties.  There was also about the same time an attorney by the name of Jacob R. McGarry, a member of our bar, who afterward went to Cincinnati.
     From the time of his admission, in 1868, until 1893, when he left for New York City, no one was better known at our bar than EDWARD S. WALLACE, who was born in Kentucky in 1846 and came to Springfield in 1855.  Mr. Wallace was a man of commanding presence, versatile in thought and action, popular in manner and demeanor.  His greatest force was in the criminal practice, where his fine appearance and great oratorical powers gave him more than ordinary success.  He was a brilliant conversationalist, but not as careful and cautious in his habits as he might have been.  He was at one time a Democratic candidate for attorney general, afterward elected as an independent candidate for mayor, and still later chosen by the Republicans of Clark County as their candidate for Congress.

     GENERAL KEIFER - Of the present members of our bar in active practice, General Keifer is the oldest as well as the most distinguished.  He is strictly a product of Clark County, born in Bethel Township, Jan. 30, 1836.  Admitted to the bar in January, 1858; entering the Civil War in 1861, he rose to the rank of brevet major general of volunteers in 1865.  In 1876 he was elected to Congress And thereafter re-elected three tunes.  In 1881 he was elected speaker of the House of Representatives.  In 1898 he was appointed a major general of volunteers in the Spanish War.  While not engaged on the field of war or in the halls of Congress, General Keifer was an active, energetic member of our bar, and still continues to be such.  He never in his life knew what it was to be idle or take a vacation.  A few years ago there was issued from the press a very creditable work of which he was the author, entitled, "Slavery and Four Years of War."  He was an excellent soldier, an energetic legislator, a good lawyer, and in all respects ever was and still is a good citizen of our community.  It is the wish of all that he may long continue to remain with us.  On Jan. 11, 1908, the bar gave a complimentary banquet to him on the fiftieth anniversary of his admission to the bar.

     A. P. LINN COCHRAN - Among the older members of the bar, perhaps it would be not unjust to mention the name of A. P. Linn Cochran.  Mr. Cochran was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1836, came to our bar in 1859 and continued thereat until 1907, a space of forty-eight years.  Exceedingly courteous and gentlemanly in all his conduct with the court and the public generally, it could be said that no one stood higher in public

[Pg. 532]
estimation; and when it was rumored that his dealings with his clients with respect to some estates that he represented had not been strictly according to legal ethics everyone who knew him was shocked. However, charges were made and presented to the court, Judge Allread of Greenville hearing the same, and finally Mr. Cochran was suspended from practice for two years. Soon thereafter he removed to Cincinnati, where he is now located. No one has ever been able to explain satisfactorily why one of such high standing should have allowed himself to get into such a position.

     T. J. PRINGLE

     GEORGE C. RAWLINS,

     FRANK W. GEIGER

     JAMES JOHNSON, JR.,

     It is no fault of John L. Zimmerman's that he has not occupied public positions.  He expects to be governor some day, and all join in wishing him success

[Pg. 533]

     There are other members of our bar who, by their merit, are entitled to distinct mention in this paper, and some of whom no doubt have occupied positions of trust and honor.  But these matters are common to the knowledge of all, and the limits of my paper will not permit them to be individualized.

BAR ASSOCIATION.

LIBRARY.

[Pg. 534]
of the bar, whom he presumed had contributed the fund, would be secured, he would gladly turn it over for that purpose.  The consent of such members of the bar having been obtained, and the fund turned over to the writer, it was by him invested in the West System of Reporters.  The bound volumes were placed in the library and the advanced sheets were kept at the writer's office until a librarian was appointed.  The fund amounted to $306.  Afterward, upon the organization of a Bar Association, a Board of Trustees was appointed for the library.  This first board was composed of Judge C. R. White, Oscar T. Martin and W. M. Rockel.  Afterward A. S. Rogers, Albert H. Kunkle, F. M Hagan, with Rockel and White, constituted the board.  By this time it was ascertained that the library
of George Spence could be purchased for a very reasonable sum.  A contribution was taken up among the members of the bar, and the library purchased.  This was the first substantial addition to the previous purchase of the West Reporters.  Judge Mower has been an active member of the Board of Trustees for the library for the past ten years.  The Legislature having in the meantime passed a law permitting the court to appoint a librarian, MR. OLIVER H. MILLER, a member of the bar, accepted the position for a number of years and turned the salary over to be applied in the purchase of books.  Funds were also received from certain Police Court fines.  In order to increase the usefulness of the library and secure the purchase of more books, in 1892 the Clark County Bar Association was incorporated and shares of stock of fifty dollars each were issued.  In these various ways, and from time to time, funds were secured, with which the excellent library now in the Court House was procured.  A complete set of the reports of all the important states of the Union are now on its shelves, together with modern digests and encyclopedias.  A subscription has just been made for the English Reports.  W. F. Bevitt and Charlotte Cross have been the accommodating librarian and assistant librarian for some time.  The present trustees are: Judge A. H. Kunkle, Judge A. N. Summers, Judge F. M. Hagan, Oscar T. Martin, J. E. Bowman, J. F. McGrew and W. W. Keifer.

MEMBERS IN 1908.

     The following is given by our Court Docket as a list of the present practicing members of our bar:
     J. FRED ANDERSON, Edwin L. Arthur, George Arthur, CHARLES E. BALLARD, GEORGE A. BEARD, CAREY BOGGESS, BORDER BOWMAN, E. O. BOWMAN, J. E. BOWMAN, HARRY A. BRENNER, M. T. BURNHAM, ALBERT F. BUSCH, Wm. G. Campbell, CLEMENT V. COLLINS, JOHN M. COLE, GEORGE S. DIAL, WALTER N. ELDER, FRANK W. GEIGER, JAS. P. GOODWIN, CLIFTON P. GRANT, HARRY G. R. GRAM, WILLIAM H. GRIFFITH, EDWARD O. HAGEN, Francis M. Hagan, FRANCIS M. HAGAN, JR., JACOB M. HARNER, PATRICK J. HIGGINS, WILLIAM R. HORNER, EDWIN S. HOUCK, James Johnson Jr., SULLY JAYNES, FLOYD A. JOHNSTON, Horace C. Keifer, J. Warren Keifer, WILLIAM W. KEIFER, J. FOREST KITCHEN, Frank M. Krapp, ALBERT H. KUNKLE, A. C. LINK, LAWRENCE, LAYBOURNE, JULIUS F. W. LORENZ, EDWARD J. LYNCH, Thomas J. McCormick, J. F. McGrew, John B. McGrew, HOWARD McGREGOR, ELZA F. McKEE, WILLIAM Y. MAHAR,

[Pg. 535]
James B. Malone, Oscar T. Martin, SEBA H. MILLER, Percy Norton, C. S. Olinger, John L. Plummer, George C. Rawlins, Walter E. Robinson, William M. Rockel, Robert C. Rodgers, Stewart L. Tatum, George W. Tehan, Arthur J. Todd, H. A. Toulmin, O. B. Trout, ROGER V. SMITH, Horace W. Stafford, Paul A. Staley, Chase Stewart, EARLE STEWART, JAMES G. STEWART, Harry F. Summers, Walter L. Weaver, J. Jerome Welty, W. W. Witmeyer, L. F. YOUNG, John L. Zimmerman, Albert I. Zimmerman.
     There have been few "Uriah Heeps" * and "Oily Gammons" at our bar.  It can be truthfully said that there is no class of persons in the community that stand higher than the members of the bar.  In the last one hundred years but one member was disbarred from practice.  Generally, in all matters that pertain to the welfare of our city and county, they are found ever contending for that which will bring prosperity and honor to our city and its people.  If the next hundred years can show as bright a history as the past one hundred, the bar of the City of Springfield can indeed well be proud of its record.

-----
    * SHARON WICK'S NOTE:  "Uriah Heep" is a fictional character created by Charles Dickens in his novel David Copperfield.. Oxford English Dictionary.

- END OF CHAPTER XX -