EDSON GOIT.

     Edson Goit was the first resident lawyer of Findlay.  He was a native of Oswego county, New York, and was born Oct. 18, 1808.  When he 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 Rudolphus 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 come here and cast his fortunes with the then hamlet.  Traveling on foot from Tiffin, he reached Findlay on the third day of his journey, and went to reside in the home of Dr. 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 June, 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 earning 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

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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 highway 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 two complex for judicious management, and his large land interests finally became an incumbrance and proved his financial downfall.  From January, 1858, to January, 1862, he again filled the office of prosecuting attorney, and this finished his official career.  Mr. Goit possessed unbounded energy, and though a fair lawyer, did not devote sufficient attention to his profession to keep up with the times.  He was a man of fine personal appearance and dignified carriage, and was regarded as a very strong jury lawyer.  Though he lost the fruits of a lifetime of persevering industry, he did not, however, “fail,” as that term is commonly understood, but paid his creditors to the last penny, no man losing a cent by him and his every promise being faithfully redeemed.  Such was his sterling honesty, that his principal solace at the hour of his death was the fact that he owed no man a dollar.  His first wife died in the spring of 1863, leaving a family of three sons and one daughter.  One of the sons was subsequently killed in the war of the rebellion.  Mr. Goit was afterward married to Mrs. Sarah A. McConnell, of Van Buren, and in the fall of 1867 removed to Bowling Green, where he died May 29, 1880.  Two daughters were born of the second marriage, both of whom are dead.  No man has ever lived in Findlay who is more kindly remembered than Edson Goit.  He was charitable to a fault, and every worthy public enterprise found in him a warm friend and generous supporter.  Mr. Goit built while living in Findlay what was then the largest block in Findlay.  The Karg Bros.’ meat market block is a portion of the building he erected, although the entire structure was remodeled during the boom.

ARNOLD F. MERRIAM.

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JOHN H. MORRISON.

JACOB BARND.

     Jacob Barnd was a bright promising, young lawyer, who died in 1845.  He was a native of Perry county, Ohio, and a son of Christian Barnd, a pioneer of 1831, in which year he removed with his parents to this county.  In 1832 the family moved from the farm into Findlay, where Jacob afterward studied law under Edson Goit.  He was admitted to the bar in 1837, and in October, 1838, was appointed prosecuting attorney, but served only until the end of the term of court, which was Oct. 9, 1838.  He filled the recorder’s office two terms, from October, 1838, to October, 1844, and it is probable that he did not practice much during that period.  He left two sons at his death.

JUDE HALL.

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HON. CHARLES W. O'NEAL.

ABEL F. PARKER.

EZRA BROWN.

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ELIJAH WILLIAMS.

     Elijah Williams was also a student in the office of Mr. Morrison, and was admitted with Ezra Brown in July, 1842.  He practiced in Findlay about eight years, when he removed to Portland, Oregon, where he died a few years ago.  He is remembered as a sharp, shrewd but diffident lawyer.

M. C. WHITELEY

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WILLIAM M. PATTERSON

     William M. Patterson was admitted to the bar at Tiffin July 4, 1843, on the same day as Mr. Whiteley.  He was born in Harrison county, Ohio, Mar. 24, 1812, and in the spring of 1834 came to Findlay with his parents, Major John and Elizabeth Patterson.  He read law with Charles W. O’Neal, and upon his admission began practice in Findlay.  In 1844 he was elected prosecuting attorney and served one term.  He was married in 1834 to Susan Amspoker, and resided in Findlay till 1854, when, with his wife and four children, he removed to Kansas and died in the spring of 1858 from the effects of an accident caused by a boiler explosion in the fall of 1855 in a saw mill which he was then operating

HON. JAMES M. COFFINBERRY

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CHARLES S. COFFINBERRY

AARON H. BIGELOW

     Aaron H. Bigelow was a native of Vermont, and a graduate of Middlebury college.  He there read law and was admitted to practice.  In July, 1841, he located in Findlay, and for a few years was engaged in mercantile pursuits.  He then began the practice of law, which he followed until 1856, when he gave up the profession, and subsequently removed to Indiana, where he died.  Mr. Bigelow possessed a good education and was a fair speaker, but never acquired much practice.

JOHN E. ROSETTE

HENRY BROWN

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WILLIAM GRIBBEN

     William Gribben was one. of the brightest and brainiest members of the Findlay bar and might have risen very high if he had devoted his talents to his profession.  He was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, Mar. 11, 1825, and the following autumn his parents removed to what is now Ashland county, Ohio, where Mr. Gribben grew to maturity and received a common school education.  He read law with Johnson and Sloan of Ashland and was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1850.  The same autumn he located in Findlay and formed a partnership with John H. Morrison, and subsequently with Judge Whiteley.  In 1853 he was elected prosecuting attorney and re-elected in 1855.  He served in the legislature from 1862 to 1864, and received the certificate of re-election, but lost the seat cn contest.  This was during the most exciting period in the political history of the State, when Democrats were publicly branded as rebels, and political passion ran high.  Mr. Gribben followed his profession until his death, which occurred Nov. 28, 1887.

AARON BLACKFORD

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WILLIAM MUNGEN

     Honorable William Mungen was a native of Baltimore, Maryland, born May 12, 1821, and died Sept. 9, 1887.  He removed with his family to Carroll county, Ohio, in 1830, where he received a common school education, and

WILLIAM MUNGEN.

subsequently studied Latin, German and the physical sciences.  He came to Findlay in October, 1842; in February, 1845, he took possession of the old Hancock Farmer and changed the name to the Hancock Democrat, and on the first 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 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 renomination, 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

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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.  Colonel Mungen served as a Democrat two terms in congress from 1867 to 1871.  He is the only congressman Hancock county ever had.  Mrs. Jacob H. Boger and Miss Effie Mungen, of this city, are his daughters.  Mr. Mungen was a true patriot, a noble citizen, a great lawyer and a brave soldier, serving in any capacity in which his country’s cause was the prime motive.

ANDREW "COUNT" COFFINBERRY

     Andrew 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, Berkeley county, Virginia, Aug. 20, 1788. In the spring of 1836 he removed with his family to Perrysburg, Wood county, where he resided until 1849-50.  From Perrysburg he removed to Sidney, Shelby county; 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, was one of his productions.  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 through life, and thousands of those who knew him long and well never learned that it was not his real name.

JOHN F. CAPLES

     John F. Caples came to Findlay from Fostoria in the fall of 1854, and practiced law here till the spring of 1858, when he removed to Warsaw, Indiana.  He subsequently went to Portland, Oregon, and entered into the practice of his profession.  “John F. Caples,” said Judge Coffinberry, “is one of the best lawyers of his adopted state.”  During his life in Findlay he was recognized as a good speaker and a promising young lawyer.

DANIEL B. BEARDSLEY

     Daniel B. Beardsley, one of the pioneers of Hancock county, and a lawyer for many years in Findlay, was born in Licking county, Ohio, May 12, 1832, and was brought by his parents to Hancock county in 1834, where he resided until his death, Sept. 29, 1894.  Mr. Beardsley was educated in the public schools of this county and taught school for a number of years.  He read law with Walker & West, of Bellefontaine, and was there admitted to the bar in August, 1856.  In March, 1857, he located in practice in Findlay, and for thirty-seven eyars was a member of the local bar.  In 1858 he was elected a justice of the peace of Findlay township, and re-elected eight times, serving continuously from the spring of 1858 to the spring of 1885, a period of twenty-seven years.  Mr. Beardsley was prominent in the organization of "The Hancock County Pioneer and Historical Association," and an active member    during its existence.  His connection with the socity prompted him to write a history of Hancock county, which he published in 1881.  Mr. Beardsley was also secretary of the Hancock County Agricultural Society for many years, and he was a good one - and untiring worker and a genial, courteous gentleman, with many in every nook and corner of that county.

Jacob F. Burket

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WILLIAM C. BUNTS.

     William C. Bunts located in Findlay in the spring of 1858, whither he removed from Youngstown, Ohio.  He graduated in 1854 from Allegheny college at Meadville, Pennsylvania, read law with Ridgeley Powers, of Youngstown, and upon admission began practice with his preceptor.  Mr. Bunts practiced law in Findlay till 1860, and then  returned to Youngstown and resumed partnership with Mr. Powers.  He afterwards served in the Civil War, on the staff of General Rosecrans; located at Nashville, Tennessee; returned to Youngstown; thence to Cleveland, where he filled the position of assistant United States district attorney and city solicitor, dying Jan. 16, 1874, while holding the latter office.

HON. JOHN M. PALMER

     Honorable John M. Palmer was born in Clinton county, New York, July 5, 1814, learned the cabinet makers' trade in Portland, Vermont, and worked at his trade in that state.  In 1837 he came to Ohio and attended Granville Seminary.  He studied law with Honorable Henry Strausberry, of Cincinnati, and was there admitted to practice in 1841.  In 1843 he was married at Lancaster, Ohio, to Miss Ellen Weaver and located in practice at Somerset, Perry county.  In 1846 he removed to Defiance, where he followed his profession until 1852, when he was elected judge of the court of common pleas.  While still on the bench Judge Palmer removed to Putnam county, in which county he had considerable land interests, and a township of which was named in his honor.  In June, 1858, he settled in Findlay and resumed the practice of law in partnership with John Maston.  From 1861 to 1863 he was a commissary in the army, with the rank of captain, but, resigning the office, remained in the south for some time.  Returning to Findlay he again took up his practice and followed the profession up to the illness which resulted in his death, Nov. 29, 1876.

COLONEL JAMES A. BOPE

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JACOB F. BURKET

See Photo

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ELIJAH T. DUNN

     Elijah T. Dunn was born in Knox county, Ohio, June 20, 1840.  His father was a farmer and tobacco grower.  In 1844 he removed with his people to Wood county, Ohio, in what was then known as the “Black Swamp,” where around a hickory bark fire, and three terms of winter school, his early education was finished.  At the age of thirteen he entered the office of the Herald of Freedom, at Wilmington, and became an expert printer. He taught several terms of school in Clarke and Hancock counties, pursuing in the meantime the study of law.  On the breaking out of the Rebellion he united with the Union party, while yet a minor, and did service for a short time as a member of the Twenty-first regiment, Ohio volunteers. Becoming unable to perform duty as a soldier, he continued for a while in a clerkship in the quartermaster’s department at Nashville, Tennessee.  Returning to Findlay, he completed his law course, and on the 2d of August, 1862, was admitted to the bar.  He was then twenty-two years of age.  He then settled down in Findlay, and has ever since been creditably identified with the legal profession.

GEORGE F. PENDLETON

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HANCOCK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

     Pursuant to a call which was circulated among the attorneys of Findlay, upwards of thirty members of the legal fraternity met at 4 o’clock Saturday afternoon, Mar. 11, 1899, in the circuit court room.  On motion Mr. Aaron Blackford was chosen chairman and Silas E. Hurin secretary.

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   Mr. E. T. Dunn offered a motion to the effect that it was the sense of those present that, a bar association should be formed.  After remarks by several of the attorneys, Mr. Dunn’s motion was adopted.

     Mr. George W. Ross then moved that the chair appoint a committee of five to formulate a constitution and by-laws.  This carried, and Messrs. George W. Ross, J. A. Bope, E. T. Dunn, Jason Blackford and Harlan F. Burket were named as that committee.

     The association held meetings from time to time, adopted a constitution and by-laws, and at the present time, under the able officers, Aaron Blackford president, and Silas E. Hurin secretary, bid fair to equal any association of its kind, in the matter of qualifications, clear-mindedness and capability, that can be produced any where in this state.

     The constitution has been signed by the following named attorneys: A. Blackford, J. A. Bope, E. T. Dunn, Jason Blackford, George W. Ross, W. H. Kinder, John N. Doty, A. G. Fuller, S. E. Hurin, N. W. Bright, T. H. McConica, A. E. Kerns, M. C. Shafer, R. A. Blackford (deceased), Chas. A. Blackford, John E. Todd (Columbus) H. F. Burket, W. F. Duncan, F. P. Blackford, J. W. Grimm, John E. Betts, W. W. Chapman, E. V. Bope, C. B. Dwiggins, W. L. David, J. Frank Axline, G. G. Banker, Reed Metzler, George F. Pendleton, J. J. Cole, George H. Phelps, Theodore Totten, B. E. Dunn, W. V. Coons, H. (Walter Doty, A. P. Byal, W. H. McElwaine (removed). This, however, represents only a portion of our legal talent in this city and county, and below endeavor to give the names of those, some of whom have become members of the bar association, but failed to sign the constitution, and others who as yet have not connected their name with said association: O. A. Ballard, C. V. Bish, J. C. Bitler, Chas. O. Burket, R. Clint Cole, Honorable Ralph D. Cole, R. K. Carlin, D. H. S. Davis, John E. Priddy, Marion G. Foster, Franklin Franks, J. W. Franks, Alfred Graber, John M. Hamlin, J. M. Harrison, L. Howard Jones, Charles E. Jordan, Samuel A. Kagy, R. J. Kibler, R. C. Lovering, Thomas Meehan, Robert Morris, E. L. E. Mumma, J. M. Platt, John Poe, Merle N. Poe, John F. Rankin, John Sheridan, J. D. Snyder, Beecher W. Waltermire, Ross J. Wetherald, F. P. Whiteley, Willis H. Whiteley, William F. Yost and Albert Zugschwert, all of Findlay; W. F. Brickman and W. E. Cooper of McComb, Jacob Line and Jacob Slike of Mt. Blanchard, and W. S. Snook of Vanlue - 74 in number.  Surely from this outlay of legal talent, no one in Hancock county ought to go forward into the dark caverns of unlighted knowledge, especially from lack of persons able to throw legal light upon almost any subect which the human mind might possess.