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seat of Wood County, to which Hancock was attached until Mar. 1, 1828.  Hon. Ebenezer Lane was then the president judge of this circuit, and the same Legislature that passed the act organizing this county also elected Abraham Huff, Robert McKinnis and Ebenezer Wilson, associate judges of said county.  The first meeting of the court of common pleas of Hancock County was held, Mar. 14, 1828, in the old log schoolhouse erected the previous year, near the site of the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad depot.  The three associates were present and composed the court, its only business being the appointment of Wilson Vance as clerk pro tem, of said court.
    

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H. Godman, of Marion; Curtis Bates, of Maumee City and Defiance; Able Rawson, of Tiffin; and John M. May, of Mansfield and Maumee City.  Most of the attorneys attended court at Findlay before the village possessed a single memmber of the profession, and for years afterward some of them were retained in nearly every important case.  Those early practitioners were generally men of marked ability in their profession, and belonged to that sound and thorough class of thinkers who have done so much to build up the jurisprudence of the State, and who, by reason of the limited facilities afforded by reports and precedents, were compelled to search out by their own thinking and investigation the true principles of the law.   In the course of time, as the county advanced in population and wealth, the local practice of these itinerants fell into the possession of the few resident attorneys who had located in Findlay, and the visits of the circuit-riding lawyers became less frequent, as they only appeared occasionally in some important lawsuit.
     As the race of hardy, adventurous, circuit-riding lawyers who organized the courts of Northwestern Ohio have passed away forever, it may be interesting to the younger members of the bar to contrast the hardships and perils of the past with the ease and secimty of the present.  Fifty-five years ago Judge David Higgins held his first term of court in Findlay.  Rain fell in torrents for several successive days.  The bridgeless streams swelled over their banks, and it became impossible to proceed overland to Defiance to hold court at the appointed time.  But the indomitable Judge Higgins, and the hard-headed old stagers who traveled his judicial district, were equal to the occasion.  They hired a man to take their horses through the Black Swamp to Perrysburg, purchased a pirogue, which they appropriately named the ''Jurisprudence,'' freighted it with their saddles, bridles and baggage, and floated down the Blanchard and Auglaize Rivers to Defiance, where they held the term, then re-embarked and floated down the Maumee to  Perrysburg.  From an account of the trip written by Judge Higgins in 1872, for Knapp's "History of the Maumee Valley," we take the following extract: "Our company consisted of Rodolphus Dickinson, John C. Spink, Count Coffinberry, myself and a countryman whose name I forget.  The voyage was a dismal one to Defiance, through an unsettled wilderness of some sixty miles. Its loneliness was only broken by the intervening Indian settlement at Ottawa village, where we were hailed and cheered lustily by the Tawa Indians, as would be a foreign warship in the port of New York.  From Defiance we descended the Maumee to Perrysburg, where we found all well.  In descending the Maumee, we came near running into the rapids, where we should probably have been swamped had we not been hailed from the shore and warned of our danger.
     In a letter to the writer, Hon. James M. Coffinberry, of Cleveland, gives the following reminiscences of pioneer law practice in Northwestern Ohio: "In May, 1840," says Judge Coffinberry, "Judge Potter held his first term for Putnam County.  The Judge, with two or three lawyers, came into Kalida, the then county seat, from Defiance, where he had been holding court.  One or two lawyers came over from Lima and two from Findlay.  One of the Findlay attorneys, John H. Morrisson, a slender, one-armed man, combining the physical strength of a girl with the energy of a buzz-saw, was mounted on an unbroken three-year-old colt, having left his own horse disabled by the way.  The other, Edson Goit, put in an ap-

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pearance on foot, carrying his saddle on his shoulders, his horse having broken a leg in a floating corduroy bridge near the village.   Every man had been compelled to swim one or more streams to reach the county seat, and all were thoroughly saturated with water and covered with mud.  The only hotel - a good one for the time and place - was adequate for the accommodation of all who came.  His honor, with three of the brethren of his choice, had one little room to themselves.  The rest of us lawyers, grand and petit jurors, suitors, witnesses and spectators, slept well on the rude beds which covered the floors.  The table groaned with its weight of wild turkey, venison, mutton, fish, wild honey and butter.  Everybody washed in what was called 'the county wash-bowl,' and dried on the 'county towel.  'A barrel of new corn whisky on tap stood invitingly in one corner of the dining-room, with a tin cup under the faucet, so that whosoever would could drink without money and without price.  And yet complaints were made of the exorbitant charge of $1 per day for all this luxury, the care and feed of our horses included."

     EDSON GOIT was the first resident lawyer of Findlay.  He was a native of Oswego Co., N. Y., born Oct. 17, 1808.  When Edson was quite small his father died, but, through improving every opportunity during his boyhood years, he managed to obtain a fair education, and taught school ere reaching his majority.  In 1827 he left his early home and traveled across Ohio until arriving at the village of Fremont.  Here he halted, and subsequently taught school in Fremont and Tiffin.  During this period Mr. Goit read law under Rodolphus Dickinson, of Fremont, and Abel Rawson,of Tiffin, and July 12, 1832, was admitted to practice.  Learning that Findlay, the then new county seat of Hancock County, had no lawyer, he at once concluded to cast his fortunes with that village.  Traveling on foot from Tiffin, he reached Findlay on the third day of his journey, and went to reside in the home of Dr. L. Q. Rawson, a practicing physician of the village.  This was in August, 1832, and in September he was appointed prosecuting attorney, which position he held until May, 1836.  The office of prosecutor, however, paid a very small salary during this period of the county's history, and for several months after settling in Findlay, Mr. Goit patiently waited for clients that never came.  Discouraged at the poor outlook he at last made up his mind to leave the town, but ere carrying out his intention the tide turned, he was engaged to teach a school, and was thus guaranteed sufficient to pay his board.  Clients soon began to consult him, hope took the place of despondency, and he gave up the idea of leaving Findlay.  While boarding at the tavern of William Taylor, in 1835, he married Miss Jane Patterson, a sister of Mrs. Taylor, with whom she was living.  In May, 1836, Mr. Goit was appointed auditor, vice John C. Shannon, deceased, and served till March, 1837.  In April, 1837, he was again appointed prosecuting attorney, but resigned the office in October, 1838.  The same month he was elected treasurer, and filled that office two successive terms.  He was now on the high road to prosperity, and besides attending to the duties of his profession launched out boldly into other pursuits.  He accumulated a large amount of land, and engaged extensively in mercantile business in Hancock, Allen and Putnam Counties.  He, however, got "too many irons in the fire;" his business was too complex for judicious management, and his large landed interests finally became an incumbrance and proved his financial downfall.   From January, 1858, to January, 1862,

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J. M. COFFINBERRY

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     ARNOLD F. MERRIAM

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his marked peculiarities.  Judge M. C. Whiteley says that during a certain term of court held by Judge Goode, at Findlay, Mr. Morrison had a case in which he manifested much interest, and after the evidence had closed he felt that the cause of his client was lost.  Feeling somewhat irritated, he began his address to the court and jury in the following blunt manner:  "May it please the court; by the perjury of witnesses, the ignorance of the jury and the corruption of the court, I expect to be beaten in this case."  The Judge, very much surprised, turned to the counsel and sharply inquired:  "What is that you say, Mr. Morrison?"  Then the latter promptly replied, "That's all I have to say on that point," and went on with his address.  At another time, says the same authority, one of the clients made application to the court for a license, and Judge Goode announced that the application was refused.  Considerably excited Mr. Morrison arose and addressed the associates as follows:  "Judge Ewing, is that your decision?"  "Yes," "Judge Roller, do you concur in that decision?"  "Yes."  He was about putting the same question to Judge Hammond, when Judge Goode, very much surprised at the proceeding said, "Mr. Morrison, what are you about?  What are you doing?"  "Why, I'm polling the court, your honor."  Mr. Morrison was married in Perry County, Ohio to a Miss Henthorn who died in Bucyrus without issue.  He after married Miss Nancy Williams, who reared a family of five children, four of whom with the mother are residents of Findlay.  He died April 19, 1854, but he is as vividly remembered by the old members of the profession as if his death occurred only a year ago instead of thirty-two.

     JACOB BARND

     JUDE HALL

     HON. CHARLES W. O'NEAL

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     ABEL F. PARKER

     EZRA BROWN

     ELIJAH WILLIAMS

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     HON. MACHIAS C. WHITELEY

     WILLIAM M. PATTERSON

     HON. JAMES M. COFFINBERRY

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     CHARLES S. COFFINBERRY

     AARON H. BIGELOW

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     JOHN E. ROSETTE

     HENRY BROWN

     WILLIAM GRIBBEN

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     In 1851, PHILIP G. GALPIN came to

     AARON BLACKFORD is one of the oldest and most prominent members of the Hancock County bar, to which he has beloned for about thirty-four years.  He was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, Feb. 8, 1827, and removed to Findlay with his parents, Price and Abigail Blackford, in October, 1834.  He received his education in the public schools of Findlay and at Delaware College, Delaware, Ohio.  He road law with Henry Brown, of Findlay, attended the Cincinnati Law School, and was admitted to the bar in May, 1852. In January, 1851, he became associated with Henry Brown in the publication of the Hancock Courier, which they jointly edited till January, 1854, when Mr. Blackford became sole editor.  He conducted the paper about one year, and then disposed of his interest to his former partner.  During this period Mr. Blackford also practiced law, and with the passing years has attained considerable local eminence in his profession.  He is well known throughout this portion of the State, and his practice has kept pace with the growth in wealth and population of his adopted county.
     Andrew, familiarly known as "Count" Coffinberry, was conspicuous among the old time lawyers of the Maumee Valley, and though not a resident of Findlay until a few years prior to his death, he practiced at this bar before the county possessed a single attorney.  He was born at Martinsburg, Berkley Co., Va., Aug. 20, 1788, where his grandparents had emigrated from Germany in 1750.   In 1794 his father, George L. Coffinberry, a Revolutionary patriot, removed with his family to Ohio County, Va., and in 1796 to Chillicothe, Ohio.  In 1807 the family settled at Lancaster, Ohio, where the father established a newspaper - the first published in that town.  Andrew worked in the office, and subsequently, in partnership with John C. and James M. Gilkinson, succeeded his father in its publication, first at Lancaster and afterward at St. Clairsville.  Finding the business not very remunerative, Andrew went to Philadelphia and worked in a newspaper office and on a press formerly owned and conducted by Benjamin Franklin.  From there he shipped on the United States frigate "Constitution," commanded by Capt. Isaac Hull.  After a naval service of two years he joined his parents, who had removed to the then embryo village of Mansfield, Ohio.

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It is said he used to read the one weekly paper which came to Mansfield as early as 1811, from a big log on the public square to the assembled citizens of the village.  He read law in the office of John M. May, of Mansfield, and was admitted to practice in 1813.  Mr. Coffinberry was the first law student, the first justice of the peace and the second lawyer in Mansfield, and one of the earliest, if not the first, common pleas clerk of Richland County.  Though residing at Mansfield his practice extended to the western boundary of the State.  We find him in Findlay as early as 1831, and he may have been here prior to that date.  In the spring of 1836 he removed with his family to Perrysburg, Wood County, where he resided till 1849-50.  From Perrysburg he removed to Sidney, Shelby co., Ohio; there he left his family and went to California.  Upon the death of his wife, which occurred during his absence, his son James M. brought the family to Findlay, where their father joined them on his return from California.  Here he continued in practice until his death,  May 11, 1856.  Count Coffinberry was not only a lawyer of ability, but possessed considerable literary talent and gave some attention to the Muses.  "The Forest Rangers," a descriptive poem on the battle of Fallen Timbers, is yet well remembered as one of his productions.  "He was," says a recent biographer, "a man of rare endowments and marked characteristics, widely known and greatly esteemed for his pure and upright life, while his quaint wit and genial manners gave him ready access to the hearts of all classes.  He was called the 'Good Count Coffinberry' by the younger members of the profession (all of whom if living are now past middle life), in grateful recognition of services rendered and courtesies shown them when they most needed direction and encouragement from such veterans of the bar.  His sobriquet of 'Count' was first playfully given him by his professional associates, from some real or supposed resemblance to the illustrious German jurist and publicist Count Puffendorf.  The title was recognized as being so appropriate to the man that it stuck to him for life, and thousands of those who knew him long and well never learned that it was not his real name.

     Hon. WILLIAM MUNGEN is a native of Baltimore, Md., born May 12, 1821, and removed to Carroll County, Ohio, in 1830.  Here he received a common school education and subsequently studied Latin, German and the physical sciences.  He came to Findlay in October, 1842; in February 1845, took possession of the old Hancock Farmer and changed the name to the Hancock Democrat, and on the 1st of July, 1845, became the editor and proprietor of the Hancock Courier, consolidating the two papers.  Excepting one year that the office was rented to William M. Case and a short period to B. F. Rosenberg, Mr. Mungen published the Courier until January, 1851, when he sold the establishment to Henry Brown and Aaron Blackford, two leading members of the present bar.  In 1846 Mr. Mungen was elected auditor of Hancock County and re-elected in 1848.   In 1851 he was chosen to represent this district in the State Senate and declined a re-nomination, which was then equal to election.  In the meantime he had been reading law during his spare moments, and in 1852 was admitted to the bar and began practice.  When the Rebellion broke out in 1861, Mr. Mungen was foremost in recruiting the Fifty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned colonel of that gallant regiment, which he commanded until April, 1863, when he resigned his commission.  Col. Mungen served as a Democrat two terms in Congress, from 1867 to 1871, and in recognition of

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A. HURD, M. D.

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his services in the army is now receiving a pension.  During the active period of his career Col Mungen was recognized as a clear, forcible and logical writer, a fair lawyer and a shrewd politician.  When not engaged in the duties of the several public offices he has filled, Col. Mungen devoted his attention to his profession, in which he was quite successful.

     JOHN F. CAPLES

     DANIEL B. BEARDSLEY

     WILLIAM C. BUNTS

     Hon. JOHN M. PALMER

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     COL. JAMES A. BOPE,

     A few other lawyers, besides those mentioned, practiced for a brief period in Findlay prior to 1860.  Alonzo Monroe was here as early as 1847, and after a few years' limited practice left the county.  Jacob Carr was admitted to the bar in 1848, but after a couple of years' trial abandoned the profession and has since practiced dentistry.  Charles C. Pomroy was practicing here in the spring of 1857, and in 1858 was elected mayor of Findlay, but he soon after removed from the town.  S. F. Hull's name appears among the attorneys of this bar in June, 1856, but he remained only a couple of years.  John Maston was a partner of Judge Palmer, in June, 1858, and he, too, soon left the county. Philip Ford, who came in October, 1859, and a few other names might be added to these, though none of them staid sufficiently long to acquire much practice, or to become fully identified with the interests of the Hancock County bar.
     Brief biographies of the principal resident attorneys of the county who practiced at this bar prior to 1860 having now been given, it only remains to add the following alphabetical list of hte present bar:  William H. Anderson, Oren A. Ballard, Frank Ballard, Daniel B. Beardsley, Jesse C. Bitler, Aaron Blackford, Jason Blackford, James A. Bope, Ezra Brown, Hemy Brown, Jacob F. Burket, William L. Carlin, Ira B. Conine, Elijah T. Dunn, Alfred Graber, William Gribben, John M. Hamlin, John H. Johnston, Samuel A. Kagy, Robert Morris, William Mungen, George F. Pendleton, James M. Platt, John Poe, Aaron B. Shafer, Morgan D. Shafer, John Sheridan, Theodore Totten, Machias C. Whiteley, Willis H. Whiteley and Albert Zugschwert.