At the organization of the
county, in 1824, there was scarcely what could be
called a bar.
The history of the bar of Lorain county begins properly
with the organization of the county, in the year
1824. It is worthy of mention, however, that
there had resided in the county, prior to that time,
a lawyer who subsequently rose to great eminence in
the profession in Ohio. We refer to
EBENEZER LANE, who came to Elyria not
long after the original settlement in
1817, and while that part of the present Lorain
county, which lies west of the East Branch of Black
river constituted a part of Huron county. He
was elected prosecuting attorney of Huron county in
the spring of 1819, but continued to reside in
Elyria until October 10, of the same year, when he
removed to Norwalk for the more convenient discharge
of his official duties. He rose rapidly in his
profession, and in 1831 occupied a seat upon the
supreme bench, which he continued to hold until
1845. His decisions are reported in volumes
five to thirteen, inclusive, of the Ohio reports.
At the organization of the court of common pleas of
Lorain county, May 24, 1824, four gentlemen competed
for the appointment of presenting attorney from the
court. These were
WOOLSEY WELLS, ELIJAH
PARKER, EBENEZER ANDREWS and
REUBEN MUSSEY.
Mr. Welles was the successful candidate.
"Not," says Mr. Welles, in a recent letter,
"because I was the best lawyer, but because I had
more influential friends to recommend me to the
court."
Mr. ANDREWS must have left the
county about that time, as there is nothing in the
records of the court to show that he was practising here at any
subsequent time. His name appears in only a
single case, and that in 1829.
The other three gentlemen above named, with
Frederick Whittlesey, who came shortly
afterwards, seem to have constituted the resident
bar of this county until about 1831.
Mr.
PARKER, the eldest of these,
was born June 22, 1779. He came to Ohio from
Vermont at a very early day. The date of his
arrival we have been unable to a certain; but he was
in Elyria as early as 1823. He remained in
Elyria until his death, Apr. 2, 1859. His
health in later years was poor, and he would seem,
from the records, not to have practiced any after
about 1854. He held the office of justice of
the peace several times, and that of prosecuting
attorney of the county during the years 1836 and
1837.
REUBEN MUSSEY, the father of Henry E. Mussey,
who is still a resident of Elyria, was born in
Dover, N. H., Oct. 14, 1785. He was admitted
to practice as an attorney-at-law at Albany, N. Y.,
Jan. 17, 1818, and as a counsellor Jan. 12, 1821.
Prior to his removal to Ohio he resided at Sandy
Hill, Washington county, N. Y., where he was a
partner with Judge Skinner in the practice of
the law. During this period Silas Wright
was a student in their office. Mr. Mussey
settled at Elyria in the spring of 1825, having
previously located temporarily in Elyria, Norwalk
and Cleveland, and continued to reside there
(Elyria) until the all of 1837, devoting himself
during the time exclusively to the practice of his
profession, and to the duties of the office of
justice of the peace, which he held two or three
terms within that
[Page 46]
period. During his residence in Elyria, Mr.
Mussey did a large business, comparatively,
through, of course the whole business was small
compared with that of later years. He was a
well-educated, thorough lawyer, and a genial,
kind-hearted man. On leaving Elyria, in the
autumn of 1837, he went to Logansport, Indiana,
where he remained about a year and a half, when he
removed to Kishwaukee, Ill., where he was joined by
his family, which, up to that time, had continued to
reside to Elyria. His death occurred at
Kishwaukee, Oct. 14, 1843.
WOOLSEY WELLES,
the first prosecuting attorney of Lorain county, was
born in Lanesboro, Berkshire county, Mass., May 26,
1802. He received an academic education at
Lewisville, Lewis county, n. Y., and Utica, Oneida
county, N. Y., and removed to Cleveland, Ohio, in
September, 1918. He immediately commenced
reading law in the office of Kelly and Cowles,
in that city, and was admitted to the bar in 1823.
In the fall of the same year he removed to Elyria
and entered upon the practice of his profession.
He remained in Elyria about two years (receiving, as
he says, sixty dollars per year, and then resigned
it because he was required to attend to its duties
on the Sabbath. He was also appointed
postmaster at Akron by President John Q. Adams,
and held that position until the second term of
President Jackson, in the latter part of which
he resigned. He also held the office of
justice of the peace in Akron about four and a half
years, and resigned it in 1834, at which time he
commencing traveling over the State as agent of the
Ohio State Temperance Society, of which Governor
Lucas was president. He continued this
about a year, when he returned to Elyria and
re-entered the practice of the law in partnership
with Heman Birch, Esq. In the
fall of 1837 he removed to Cleveland, where he spent
three years in the practice, at the end of which he
returned to Elyria and again opened a law office.
He remained at Elyria this time some eight or ten
years. During this time he took part as an
anti-slavery man in the agitations of the question
of slavery; but his success at the practice of law
was meager, partly, no doubt, on account of the
prejudice excited against him by his anti-slavery
sentiments. At the end of this time, through
the agency of Dr. N. S. Townshend, whom the
Freesoilers had succeeded in electing to the
legislature, he received the appointment of agent of
the State for the sale of Western Reserve school
lands, and removed to Defiance, where he continued
to reside about nine years, after which he was
appointed to an Iowa land agency and removed to Fort
Dodge, in that State, where he still resides at the
ripe age of seventy-seven years.
FREDERICK
WHITTLESEY was born at
Southington, Conn., Dec. 22, 1801. From the
court records, he would seem to have come to Elyria
about 1827, and continued to reside there, holding a
prominent position at the bar until 1835. He
held the office of prosecuting attorney several
years during that time, and twice represented Lorain
county in the Legislature. He continued to
reside in Cleveland until his death, which occurred
Nov. 13, 1854. During his residence there, he
held the office of clerk of the courts of Cuyahoga
county, and afterward of associate judge of that
court of common pleas. He also represented
Cuyahoga county in the State Senate. Mr.
Whittlesey was a well-educated, thorough lawyer,
and always acquitted himself creditably both at the
bar and on the bench. He gave great
satisfaction to the bar of Cuyahoga county while
acting as associate judge, an office not generally
filled by lawyers; and his opinions were received
with quite as much respect as those of the presiding
judge. While in Elyria, Mr. Whittlesey,
for a short time, added to his professional labors
those of an editor, having charge of the Lorain
Gazette, the first newspaper published in Lorain
county, which was established in 1829. Mr.
Whitlesey's example in this respect was followed
by quite a large number of his successors in the
practice of the law at Elyria. Of their career
as journalists, however, very little or nothing will
be said in this connection, but the reader is
referred to the chapter upon the press of the
county, where it will be set out in full.
These were the pioneers of the Lorain bar, men of
learning, ability and integrity; and in proportion
to the amount of business to be done, the bar would
seem to have been as large then as in the past ten
years. The court of common pleas then, and for
many years after, held only two sessions a year of a
a week each, and the supreme court only one session
of a single day. The first journal of the
court of common pleas, which extends to the spring
of 1832, and includes all the probate business,
contains about the same amount of matter as the
present journal of the same court for a single year,
and the probate business is now all removed to the
probate court. Over against this, however, is
to be set the undoubted fact, that a greater
proportion of the litigation was then disposed
of finally before justices of the peace. Small
as the business was, however, the Lorain bar by no
means had the monopoly of it. Lawyers from
adjacent, and even from remote counties, were at
Elyria attending court, and did no inconsiderable
part of the business. Prominent among these
were:
REUBEN WOOD,
(afterwards common pleas and supreme judge,) and
JOHN W. WILLEY, of Cleveland, afterward presiding
judge of the court of common pleas. SAMUEL
COWLES, of the same city, also did a
considerable practice. WHTTLESEY & NEWTON,
both eminent lawyers, of Warren, Trumbull county,
and THOMAS D. WEBB, of the same place, also
appear frequently upon the records of the courts of
Lorain during its early years. During this
period, also, there commenced a practice which
continued consecutively for about twenty yeas, and
at intervals ever since. We refer to that of
S. J.
ANDREWS, of Cleveland.
He was never a
Page 48 -
resident of Lorain county, and hence no extended
notice of him will be attempted here, but a history
of the bar of Lorain which omitted to mention him
would be incomplete. Admitted to the bar in
Cleveland in 1828, he immediately commenced
attending the courts at Elyria, and rapidly acquired
a practice. A thorough and accomplished
lawyer, a fiery and eloquent advocate, quick and
incisive at repartee, full of the spirit of genuine
and healthy mirthfulness, and withal a perfect
gentleman. Mr. Andrews will long
continue a prominent figure in the memory of the
earlier inhabitant of Lorain county. He was
for a short time judge of the old superior court of
Cleveland, and also a member from that county of the
Ohio constitutional conventions of 1850 and 1873.
He still resides in Cleveland, at the ripe age of
seventy-seven years, in full possession of his
mental faculties, and remarkably well preserved
physically, in the regular practice of his
profession - the honored Nestor of the
Cuyahoga bar.
The period from 1831 to 1845 with large increase of
population and business in the county witnessed the
advent of no fewer than twenty new lawyers to
Elyria, the county seat. Prominent among these
were Edward S. Hamlin, Horace D. Clark, Joel
Tiffany, Albert A. Bliss, Philemon Bliss, Judson D.
Benedict, Robert McEachron and William F.
Lockwood.
The
earliest of these to begin practice at Elyria was
EDWARD S. HAMLIN
who held a prominent position at the bar and had
a large practice for a period of about eighteen
years. He commenced, as the records indicate,
about 1831, and soon after entered into partnership
with Frederick Whittlesey, which partnership
with Frederick Whittlesey left Elyria in
1835. In 1833-4-5, he held the office of
prosecuting attorney of Lorain county. In 1837
he removed to Cleveland, but returned in a little
over a year. In 1838 or 1839, he formed a
partnership with Albert A. Bliss, (of whom
ore hereafter) which arrangement continued until
1843, when Mr. Hamlin was elected to Congress
for an unexpired term. About the time of its
dissolution William E. Lockwood became his
partner, and seems to have contianed so until
Mr. Hamlin was known as a close, thorough and
industrious lawyer, and though not as eloquent an
advocate as some of his cotemporaries, an eminently
"safe" man to have the charge of litigation.
He is still living and practicing his profession,
and he last heard from by the writer was at
Cincinnati.
HORACE D. CLARK,
one of the lawyers who had the largest continuous
practice in Lorain county, was born May 22, 1805, at
Granby, Connecticut, where his mother still resides
at the advanced age of ninety-four years. He
went to district school summers till he was eight
years of age, and in the winter till he was sixteen,
when he was taken from school and placed in a
country store, where he served his apprenticeship
and was taken in as a partner. In this
business he continued some four years, at the end of
which time, says he in a recent letter, "I found we
had lost so much by bad debts and the stealings of
clerks that there was but little left, and I quit
the business in disgust." He studied law one
year in Connecticut, and in Nov. 17, 1832, started
for Ohio, and reached Hudson in this state, in
December of the same year. On the eighth of
that month he entered the law school of Judge Van
R. Humphrey, and a year later was admitted to
the bar by the supreme court in bank at Columbus.
On the fourth of the following July (1834) Mr. Clark
opened a law office in the southeast corner room
in the court house in Elyria. He continued to
practice law in Elyria from that time for about
thirty years, having during a large portion of that
time the largest practice in the county - a practice
never approached in magnitude by more than one rival
at a time. A. A. Bliss, Hamlin and Bliss,
Joel Tiffany, Benedict and Leonard, Hamlin and
Lockwood, and W. F. Lockwood alone, were at
different times, his nearest competitors, but Mr.
Clark steadily maintained the leading position
he had gained, until after he ceased to reside in
Elyria; for though he continued to practice there
till 1864, he removed with his family to Cleveland
in 1851.
In 1845 Mr. Clark took in as a partner Cyrus
Olney, who came from Iowa, where he had been in
practice. He stayed about a year and returned
to Iowa, where he was soon after elected a judge.
"He was about twenty-eight," says Mr. Clark,
"and the best special pleader of his age I ever
saw."
In March, 1849, Mr. Clark formed a partnership
with Stevenson Burke, who had been admitted
to the bar the August previous, having been a
student in Mr. Clark's office. His
partnership continued till about June, 1852.
John M. Vincent and John V. Coon were
also students with Mr. Clark during his
practice in Elyria. In 1850 Mr. Clark
was elected a member of the constitutional
convention of Ohio, and served in that body, which
completed its labors Mar. 10, 1851. This is
the only official position held by Mr. Clark.
He was an excellent
lawyer, though not especially an eloquent advocate.
He abandoned the practice of law in 1854 and removed
to Montreal, Canada, where he now resides.
JOEL TIFFANY,
one of the most remarkable men
who ever lived in Elyria, was a native of
Barkhamstead, Connecticut. He removed to
Elyria from Medina, in 1835, and remained in Elyria,
as the court records indicate, until 1848.
In 1840, he seems to have been associated with
Mr. Silliman, of Wooster. Mr. Silliman
was an able lawyer, and practiced in Elyria for a
number of years, though never a resident there.
Mr. Tiffany seems also to have been associated
with L. G. Byington, for a short time, and
with Mr. E. H. Leonard, for about two
years. He was prosecuting attorney in 1838 and
1839. Upon leaving Elyria, he went to
Painesville, and subsequently to New York City.
From 1863 to 1869, he resided in
Page 48 -
Albany, where he was reporter of the court of
appeals of New York, and published volumes
twenty-eight to thirty-nine, inclusive, of the New
York reports. From there he removed to
Chicago, where he still resides.
Mr. Tiffany approached nearer to being a "genius,"
as that word is ordinarily understood, than any
other practitioner of the Lorain bar. With acute and
accurate perceptions, great mental powers of
acquisition and assimilation, a prodigious memory,
and, withal, an eloquence seldom equalled, he was
extremely well equipped for all forensic encounters.
In the locally celebrated "counterfeit cases,"
Mr. 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
than fourteen persons were sent to penitentiary for
being implicated in the making and issuing of
counterfeit money.
The great qualities we have mentioned were, however,
handicapped by an unsteadiness of purpose, and lack
of application to his profession, which rendered
them of comparatively little value to their
possessor. He engaged in variety of
enterprises, outside of his profession, while in
Elyria, none of which proved profitable, while they
prevented his reaching that success in his
profession which he might otherwise have attained.
During his residence in Albany, in 1864, Mr. Tiffany,
in connection with Mr. Henry Smith, published
a work upon practice under the New York code, under
the title of "Tiffany & Smith's New York Practice."
It is highly spoken of by the law reviewers. A
second edition has just been published, edited by
H. G. Woods.
In 1862,
in connection with E. F. Bullard, Mr. Tiffany
published a work, under the title of "The Law of
Trust and Trustees, as administered in England and
America." Professor Theodore W. Dwight,
reviewing this work in the American Law Register
of July, 1863, says "This appears to be an excellent
work. The arrangement of topics is simple and
logical, and the discussion lucid and satisfactory."
In 1865, Tiffany & Smith published a book of
"forms adapted to the practice and special pleadings
in New York courts of Record."
Mr. Tiffany also published, in 1867, "A Treatise
on Government and Constitutional Law, being an
inquiry into the source and limitation of
governmental authority, according to the American
Theory."
ALBERT
A. BLISS was born Mar. 23,
1811, in Canton, Connecticut. In 1821, his
father's family removed to Whitestown, Oneida
county, New York. In 1825, he left home, to
learn a trade, and served until 1830. He then
attended school for a couple of yeas at the Oneida
Institute, at Whitestown, and excellent institution,
on the manual labor plan, then recently organized.
In the spring of 1833, Mr. Bliss came to
Elyria, and commenced studying law, in the office of
Whittlesey & Hamlin. During the period
of his studying he engaged also in newspaper work.
He was admitted to the bar in Cleveland, September,
1835, and the following spring moved to that city,
and engaged in editing a newspaper, the Daily
Gazette, during the political campaign of that
year; after which he returned to Elyria, and engaged
in the practice of his profession until 1847.
In 1840, he entered into partnership with E. S.
Hamlin, and the firm did a large business until
sometime in 1845, when it was dissolved.
Previous to 1845, Mr. Bliss had, for a short
time, been in partnership with his brother,
Philemon Bliss.
A deep interest in
politics, however interrupted the continuity of
Mr. Bliss' application to the practice of his
profession. He was three times elected to the
legislature - in 1839, 1840 and 1811, and was
occupied at different times in the editing of
political newspapers. In the winter of 1846-7,
he was elected treasurer of state by the
legislature, and held that office until January,
1852. He removed to Columbus in the spring of
1847, but seems to have kept up, somewhat, his law
practice at Elyria, as a member of the firm of
Bliss & Bragg, until 1849. He returned to
Elyria late in 1852, and remained until the spring
of 1863, when he removed to Jackson, Michigan, and
engaged in mercantile business until 1874, when,
finding the business becoming unprofitable, he sold
it out and re-engaged in the practice of the law.
He still resides at Jackson, where he is, as he
always had been wherever he has lived, a highly
respected citizen.
He is a member and the treasurer of the city school
board, and one of the inspectors of the Michigan
penitentiary, which is located at that place.
JUDSON
D. BENEDICT came to Elyria
from Medina in 1838, and engaged in the practice of
the law for about ten years from that time. In
1840 or thereabouts, he formed a partnership with
E. H. Leonard, who had then recently finished a
long as clerk of the courts, and been admitted to
the bar. This partnership continued some two
yeas, the firm doing a large business during the
time. After the dissolution of his connection
with Benedict. Mr. Leonard soon
formed a partnership with Mr. Tiffany, which
lasted till about 1845, after which time his name
does not appear upon the records of this court.
After the dissolution of the firm of Benedict and
Leonard, Mr. Benedict associated with himself
Robert McEachron, under the firm of Benedict
& McEachron, which firm continued some three
years, after which Joshua Myers was partner
with Mr. Benedict for about two years more.
About 1848, Mr. Benedict abandoned the
practice of law, and became a preacher of the
denomination known as Disciples or Campbellites, and
left Elyria. He removed to the vicinity of
Buffalo, New York, where he resided most of the
remainder of his life. He died in Canada three
or four years ago.
Mr. Benedict did a
very considerable business during all his residence
at Elyria, but was not considered a strong lawyer;
as a pleader, he was especially weak.
[Page 49]
PHILEMON
BLISS, a brother of A. A. Bliss, was admitted
to the bar in Elyria in 1838. He commenced
practice at once in Elyria in 1838. He
commenced practice at once in Elyria in partnership
with his brother, A. A. Bliss, but soon
after, by reason of ill-health, was forced to
abandon business, and went west. Regaining his
health, he re-commenced his practice in Cuyahoga
Falls, Summit county, Ohio, in 1842, but returned to
Elyria in the winter of 1846-7, and remained in
practice there, except when interrupted by office
holding, until the spring of 1861. During that
period, he was elected probate judge, being the
first probate judge of Lorain county, also common
pleas judge in the winter of 1848-9, and to Congress
in 1854 and 1856.
In 1861, he was appointed chief justice of Dakota
territory, which office he held until the fall of
1864, when he removed to St. Joseph, Missouri, where
he resided until 1872. During this period, he
was elected probate judge, and, in 1868, supreme
judge of Missouri, which office he filled to the end
of the term with credit to himself and benefit to
the jurisprudence of that state. In 1872, he
was elected resident professor of law at the
university of Missouri, and dean of the law faculty,
and removed to Columbia, where he still resides.
Mr. Bliss is a man of great mental ability.
A more extended sketch of his life will be found in
that part of this volume devoted to Elyria. He
is the author of a work on pleading, which is just
published.
WM. F.
LOCKWOOD, one of the latest lawyers to settle in
Elyria during the period of which we are now
speaking, was born Apr. 1, 1822, in Norwalk,
Fairfield county, Connecticut, and there received a
common school education. In 1837, he went to
New York, and became a clerk in a wholesale grocery
store. In 1840, he came to Ohio, and, in 1841,
settled in Elyria, where he became a law student in
the office of Hamlin & Bliss. He
was a candidate on the whig ticket, the same year,
from the office of prosecuting attorney, but was
defeated by H. A. Tenney, the democratic
candidate. He was elected to that office,
however, in 1844, and held it for four years, being
re-elected in 1846. In 1852, he was a delegate
from his congressional district to the whig national
convention which met at Baltimore and nominated
Winfield Scott as a candidate for the
presidency. The same year he was the candidate
of his party for congress, but was defeated.
Harvey Johnson of Ashland county, the
democratic candidate, being elected.
In 1854, he was elected probate judge of Lorain county,
succeeding Philemon Bliss. In 1856, he
was a candidate before the Republican convention for
the nomination for common pleas judge, but Judge
Carpenter, of Akron, was a nominee.
By reason of impaired health, he resigned his office,
and in the spring of 1857 removed with his family to
Nebraska and settled at Omaha, where he resided some
two years, when he removed to Dakota City, which
continued to be his home till he returned to Ohio in
1867.
He was one of the federal judges for the territory of
Nebraska, from April, 1861, until the admission of
Nebraska as a State in 1867, when he was nominated
by President Johnson as United States
district judge for the district of Nebraska, but was
not confirmed by the Senate. He then returned
to Toledo in this State, where he still resides.
He was the democratic candidate for congress in the
Toledo district, in 1870, but was unsuccessful, the
district being republican.
In 1878, he was recommended by the bar of Lucas county
for the office of common pleas judge, which
recommendation was ratified by both the republican
and democratic conventions, and he was elected to
that office.
Mr. Lockwood had a large practice when at the
bar in Elyria, and is a man of fine abilities, as
the large number of important positions he has held
with credit to himself well attests.
Other lawyers who resided in Elyria during the period
of which we are now speaking were:
THOMAS
TYRRELL, from 1834 to 1838. During a part
or all of this time, he was a partner with E. S.
Hamlin. He engaged also in the newspaper
business.
A. C. PENFIELD, from about 1833 to 1854.
He did a moderate business for a number of years.
He died in Elyria.
C. WHITTLESEY, 1835.
HEMAN BIRCH,
1835 TO 1847. LE GRAND BYINGTON, 1837
to 1839. A. H. CURTISS, 1838.
L. F. HAMLIN, 1838 to 1855.
He was considered a good equity lawyer, but his
practice was limited. He was for a time a
partner with
Mr. Lockwood. He died in Elyria.
ROBERT McEACHRON,
1842 to 1850. He came from Richland county,
was a partner with Mr. Benedict from 1842 to
1845, and with Joshua Myers under the name of
McEachron & Myers from 1847 to 1849, and did
a very considerable business. His health
failed while in Elyria, and he died soon after
leaving there.
JOSHUA
MYERS came to the bar about 1844, and
remained in Elyria until his death, in 1877. He
was first associated with Mr. Benedict, then
with Mr. McEachron, as already stated.
From about 1850 to 1854, he was associated with
Judge Bissell of Painesville, in the firm of
Bissell & Myers which did a considerable
business. His practice when alone was never
large. During his later years, he held the
office of justice of the peace for a single term,
securing his election partly by means of the
anti-temperance excitement, which grew up in
opposition to the "Crusade," in 1874.
FORDYCE M. KEYTH
was admitted to the bar in 1839, and commenced
practice in Elyria, but removed to Stark county in
1840, and subsequently to Jackson
[Page 50]
county, Ohio. He served with distinction in
the late war as major of infantry, and major and
lieutenant colonel of artillery, and in 1865 removed
to White Cloud, Kansas, where he now resides,
engaged in the practice of law, and farming.
MYRON R. KEITH, was born in Wingfield, Herkimer county, N. Y., Mar. 3, 1819;
came to Elyria with his father, Colonel Ansel
Keith in October, 1832; and was admitted as an
attorney in 1841. He commenced the practice of
law in Elyria in 1841, and in 1842 removed to
Cleveland and practiced with Harvey Rice,
in the firm of Rice & Keith, until 1846.
In January, 1846, he returned to Elyria and was
appointed clerk of the courts of Lorain county, and
officiated in that capacity until the spring of
1852. In August, 1852, he removed to
Cleveland, and since that time he has been and still
is engaged in the practice of the law there.
In June, 1867, he was appointed register in
bankruptcy, and is still acting in that capacity.
H. A. TENNEY
came to the bar in 1842, and was elected prosecuting
attorney that year. He remained in Elyria a
few years engaged in the law practice and newspaper
work, and then removed to Wisconsin.
JOHN B. GREEN was admitted to
the bar in Elyria in 1842, and, after remaining a
year or two, removed to Newark, Ohio, where he died
in 1845.
ELEAZER WAKELY was
admitted to the bar in Elyria in 1844, and remained
there about two years, when he removed to
Wisconsin, and, subsequently, to Nebraska, where he
held the office of federal territorial judge, in
which he was succeeded by Judge Wm. F. Lockwood
in 1861. He still resides in Omaha eminent in
his profession.
During this period, 1831 to 1845, the law business of
the county had increased, so that, in 1844, it was
something more than half its present amount as
indicated by the journal of the court of common
pleas. Still, up to this time, very few, if
any, of the lawyers had devoted themselves
exclusively to the practice of the law, almost all
engaging in newspaper publication and some in other
enterprises. The relative amount of business
done by foreign attorneys was much less than in the
earliest period, but still a large number of
attorneys from Cleveland and other points practiced
occasionally in Lorain. Prominent among these
were W. Silliman of Wooster, and C. L.
Lattimer, of Norwalk.
The period from 1845 to 1860 witnessed an almost
complete change in the personnel of the
Lorain bar. About thirty new men came to the
bar during that period, and, at its close,
Philemon Bliss remained the only resident
attorney who had began practice prior to 1845,
although Mr. Clark, then residing in
Cleveland, still practiced at the Lorain bar.
Of some seven or eight of those who came to the
practice within this period it is proper to make
somewhat extended mention.
SYLVESTER BAGG, who has
since served a number of years on the bench in a
sister state, was born Aug. 6, 1823, at Lanesborough,
Berkshire county, Mass. He removed to Elyria
in May, 1845, and, in 1846, entered the office of
A. A. Bliss as a partner, and continued in the
practice until December, 1856, when he removed from
Elyria. During his residence in Elyria he was
also associated with Mr. Edmund A. West, now
of Chicago, in the firm of Bagg & West, and
later with Mr. George Olmsted, now of Elyria,
as Bagg & Olmsted. He
also engaged at times in the drug and insurance
business while in Elyria. After remaining a
few mouths in Chicago, he removed to Iowa in March,
1857, and settled at Waterloo, where he now resides.
He was commissioned in the army as A. Q. M. with the
rank of captain, Oct. 22, 1862, and served until
Nov. 26, 1865, being discharged with the brevet of
major. He was elected circuit judge in 1868,
and re-elected in 1872 and 1876, and elected
district judge in 1878, which office he now holds.
STEVENSON BURKE
was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, Nov. 26,
1826. He commenced studying law in the office
of Powell & Buck, at Delaware, Ohio,
and afterwards went into the office of H. D.
Clark at Elyria, where he continued till his
admission to the bar, Aug. 11, 1848. In the
following March he entered into partnership with
Mr. Clark, which partnership continued until May
or June, 1852. He continued to reside at
Elyria with a rapidly increasing practice until
1861, when he was elected judge of the court of
common pleas for the counties of Lorain, Medina and
Summit. Prior to his elevation the bench,
he was associated for a short time with Mr. Lake
and Mr. Sheldon, under the firm name of
Burke, Lake & Sheldon. This firm,
however, lasted but a short time. In 1857 he
was associated with E. F. Poppleton, and, in
1860, with H. H. Poppleton.
Mr. Burke was a sound and thorough lawyer and a
man of remarkable industry, being, no doubt, the
hardest working lawyer who ever practiced at the
Lorain bar. He was elected to the common pleas
bench October, 1861, and took hi seat the February
following, and continued to hold the office until
February, 1869, having been re-elected in 1866.
He resigned his office Jan. 1, 1869, his resignation
taking effect at the end of the judicial year the
9th of the following February. Immediately
upon his resignation he became a member of the firm
of Backus, Estep & Burke in
Cleveland. Messrs. Backus and Estep
having previously been partners in the practice in
that city. Judge Burke also kept for a
time an office in Elyria, where he still resided, in
connection with Mr. H. H. Poppleton.
This was soon discontinued, however Not long
after Mr. Burke went to Cleveland the
partnership of which he was a member was broken up
by the death of Mr. Backus. After a
short time more Messrs. Estep & Burke
dissolved their connection, since which Judge
Burke has been practicing alone in Cleveland,
and doing a large and highly lucrative business.
He has become interested
[Page 51]
in several railroad and other corporations, and is
at present a director and chairman of the finance
committee of the C., C., C. & I. r'y Co., and
general counsel of the company, and occupies the
same position with reference to the Cleveland and
Mahoning Valley R. R. co., and holds prominent
positions in a number of other railroad, mining and
manufacturing corporations.
JOHN
M. VINCENT was born at Mount
Washington, Berkshire county, Mass., Oct. 14, 1820.
He came to Ohio in 1834. His collegiate course
was begun at Oberlin, but concluded at Union
College, Schenectady, New York, where he graduated
in 1846. Returning to Elyria, he entered the
office of H. D. Clark as a law student, and
was admitted to the bar at the supreme court in
Elyria Aug. 11, 1848. Entering at once upon
the practice of his profession, he was elected in
the fall of the following year to the office of
prosecuting attorney of Lorain county, which he held
two consecutive terms, being re-elected in 1851.
He was elected to the same office again in 1855 and
served one more term. Mr. Vincent was a
man of quick and accurate perceptions, a thorough
lawyer, a ready and effective debater, and withal a
genial, kind-hearted gentleman. With such
qualifications he could not but occupy, as he did, a
prominent position at the bar as long as his health
permitted him to continue in the practice. He
was elected to the lower house of the State
legislature in the autumn of 1859, and served in
that body during the session of 1860 and 1861.
This legislative work was substantially the last of
his life. Failing health forbade his
continuing in the practice of his profession, and,
in the summer of 1863, he went to Minnesota in hope
of improving his health by change of climate; but,
finding himself growing rapidly worse, he started to
return home, but was compelled to leave the cars at
Milwaukee, where he died Sept. 23, 1863, mourned by
a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
His wife and son still reside at Elyria.
LIONEL
A. SHELDON was born Aug. 30,
1831, at Worcester, Otsego county, New York, and
removed with his parents to LaGrange, Lorain county,
in 1834. He studied law in the office of
Clark & Burke, in Elyria, and also attended law
school at Poughkeepsie, New York, and was admitted
to the bar at the supreme court at Elyria, in July,
1851.
In September, 1853, he commenced practice in connection
with Mr. Vincent, which partnership lasted
some two years. He was subsequently
associated, at different times, with George B.
Lake, L. B. Smith and W. W. Boynton.
He remained in Elyria, in the practice of his
profession, until the breaking out of the war of the
rebellion, in 1861. He held the office of
probate judge, from Nov. 25, 1856, to Feb. 8, 1858,
filling out the unexpired term of William F.
Lockwood.
In August, 1861, he entered the army as captain in
the 2d Ohio cavalry, and was subsequently a major in
the same regiment. At the organization of the
42d Ohio volunteer infantry, he was commissioned its
lieutenant-colonel, and on the promotion of its
colonel, James A. Garfield, he became colonel
of the regiment, and served with distinction
throughout the war, receiving toward the close
of the war, the rank of brevet brigadier general.
After the close of the conflict, he settled in New
Orleans, and resumed the practice of his profession,
and also became interested in politics. He was
elected to congress in 1868, 1870, and 1872, and
served with credit in those three congresses.
In 1876, he was one of this presidential electors of
the state of Louisiana. He still resides in
New Orleans; spending his summers, however, on his
large farm in LaGrange, Lorain county, the home of
his boyhood.
GEORGE
B. LAKE was admitted to the
bar at Elyria, July, 1851, and practiced in Elyria,
with credit, until about 1857, when he removed to
Omaha, where he still resides. He has attained
there a marked eminence in his profession, and now
occupies a seat upon the bench of the supreme court
of Nebraska.
HOUSTON H. POPPLETON
was born at Bellville, Richland county, Ohio, Mar.
19, 1836. He removed with his father to
Delaware, Ohio, in March, 1853, and entered the Ohio
Wesleyan university, at that place, the same year,
from which institution he graduated June 28, 1858.
He commenced studying law with Mr. Burke, in
Elyria, Sept. 9, 1858, and continued with him till
he entered the Cincinnati law college, Oct. 15,
1859, and was admitted to the bar at Cincinnati Apr.
16, 1860. He commenced the practice of law at
Elyria, May 2, 1860, having formed a partnership
with Judge Burke; and continued in the
general practice until Dec. 1, 1873, when he was
appointed general attorney of the Cleveland,
Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway Company,
with headquarters at Cleveland, and at once took
charge of the entire legal department of that
company, which position he still holds, and fills
with marked ability.
WASHINGTON W. BOYNTON
was born in Russia, Lorain County, Jan. 27, 1833.
He was educated in the common schools, studied law,
and was admitted to the bar by the district court of
Lorain county, at its September term, 1856, and
immediately commenced practice. In March,
1859, upon the resignation, by Mr. George Olmsted,
of the office of prosecuting attorney, he was
appointed by the court to fill the vacancy for the
unexpired term, which ended the first Monday of the
following January.
In October, of the same year, (1859), he was elected to
the same office, and continued to discharge its
duties with credit to himself, and satisfaction to
the public, until January, 1864, having been
re-elected in the fall of 1861. Mr. Boynton
continued in the practice of the law, at Elyria,
with the exception of a short residence in
Minnesota, whither he went on account of his health,
until February, 1869, when he
[Page 52]
was appointed by the governor to the office of
common pleas judge, left vacant by the resignation
of Hon. Stevenson Burke. In October, of
the same year, he was elected to that office, for
the
remainder of Judge Burke's term, which
expired February, 1872. In the fall of 1871,
he was re-elected for a full term, which expired
February, 1877, at which time he entered upon the
discharge of the duties of a judge of the supreme
court, having been elected to that office in
October, 1876. He is still a member of the
supreme court.
A considerable number of lawyers commenced practice in
Lorain county during this time, and remained for
longer or shorter periods, including some who are
still at the bar, who will be mentioned hereafter.
These
were GEORGE T. SMITH 1845 TO 1854.
EDMUND A. WEST, 1846
to 1852. He was the son of Edmund West,
one of the original settlers of Elyria. On
leaving Elyria he went to Chicago where he is still
practicing law, making a specialty of patent
business.
ELBRIDGE B. BOYTON, admitted to the bar
September, 1845, died in Elyria in 1857.
JOHN CURTIS,
1847 to 1851.
JOHN G. IRVING, admitted Aug. 20, 1847
BIRD B. CHAPMAN, admitted to Elyria in 1843,
practiced there for a time, about 1849 to 1852.
GEORGE G. WASHBURN, practiced law from 1849 to
1853. He then abandoned the law and devoted
himself to journalism, and still resides in Elyria,
the editor and publisher of the Elyria
Republican.
JOHN SHERMAN,
1851.
E. C. K. GARVEY, 1851-3
SCHUYLER PUTNAM
was admitted to the bar in 1852,
at the first term of the district court under the
constitution of 1851. He was a
great-grandson of General Israel Putnam of
revolutionary war fame. Says Mr. H. D.
Clark in a recent letter, speaking of Mr.
Putnam: " He came to the bar at an advance age,
ripe in judgment and experience. He had a good
legal mind, and in a long number of years as a
justice of the peace, never gave an opinion that was
reversed by a higher court. He was a moral,
conscientious, upright man."
C. G. FINNEY, Oberlin, 1854. He was a son of the
celebrated divine, Reverend C. G. Finney, for
many yeas president of Oberlin college. He
returned to Oberlin a few years ago and entered into
partnership with I. A. Webster, but his
health permitted him to remain only a short time.
JOHN M. LANGSTON, Oberlin, was admitted to the bar in
Elyria in 1855, and practiced at Oberlin until about
1867. He now resides in Washington, D. C.,
where he is a law lecturer in Howard University.
From 1857 to 1859
SAMUEL AND RALPH PLUMB practiced law in Oberlin under the name of Plumb
and Plumb, and Ralph seems by the court
record to have continued until 1851. Samuel
Plumb organized a bank in Oberlin under the name
of "S. Plumb's Bank," which, on the passage
of the National banking act was converted into the
"First National Bank of Oberlin," of which Mr.
Plumb was president as long as he resided in
Oberlin. Both gentlemen now reside in
Streator, Illinois.
CYRUS B. BALDWIN resided at Oberlin and did a
small law business between 1858 and 1865.
LAERTES B. SMITH was admitted to the bar in
Elyria, in September, 1858, and practice in Elyria,
holding the office of justice of the peace for
several terms. Until June 1, 1871, when he was
appointed probate judge, to fill the vacancy
occasioned by the resignation of John W. Steele.
He was elected to that office the same year for the
unexpired term and still holds the office, having
been re-elected in 1872, 1875, and 1878.
EDWARD D. HOLBROOK,
son of Dexter Holbrook who still resides in
Elyria, was born in Elyria Oct. 10, 1835, studied
law with Johnson and Rex in Wooster,
and was admitted at that place in May, 1857.
He commenced practice in Elyria in 1858, and
remained until the spring of 1861, when he removed
to California, where he remained studying the mining
laws until May 17, 1862, when he removed to Idaho
territory, where he rapidly rose to prominence and
acquired an extensive practice. He represented
that territory as delegate in the Thirty-ninth and
fortieth congresses. He continued to reside in
Idaho, attending to his increasing professional
duties until his death. He was murdered by
Charles H. Douglas, at Idaho City, June 19,
1870.
THEODORE H. ROBERTSON
was admitted to the bar in Elyria in August, 1848,
and remained in Elyria in the practice some five or
six years.
WASHBURN SAFFORD
practiced in Elyria for two or three years,
beginning in 1855, in partnership with Judge
Philemon Bliss, under the name of Bliss
and Safford. During a portion of this
time R. H. Allen, who practiced in Oberlin,
was also a member of the firm, the title at the
Oberlin office being Bliss, Allen and
Safford. Mr. Allen remained in
Oberlin a year or so after the dissolution of this
firm.
H. C. SAFFORD also practiced
law a few years in Oberlin, about the same time.
ANSON P. DAYTON opened a law
office in Oberlin in the summer of 1856, and
remained there about two years.
The period from 1860 to the present time can scarcely
be called historical, and must be passed over
rapidly. It has witnessed the advent of many
more lawyers than any other period of equal length;
but a majority of them are still young men, and the
time has not yet arrived for them to have reached the
eminence and distinction to which many of the older
members of the Lorain bar have attained.
The most conspicuous figure
among the men who have come to the Lorain bar within
this period is Hon. JOHN C. HALE, one of the present
judges of the court of common pleas. He was
born Mar. 3, 1831, at Orford, New Hampshire, and
graduated at Dartmouth College in 1857. He was
admitted to the bar in Cleveland in the spring of
1861, and immediately
[Page 53]
removed to Elyria in company with J. C.
Hill, with whom he had formed a partnership,
under the name of Hale & Hill, and they
opened a law office in the room occupied by John
M. Vincent This partnership continued one
year, when Mr. Hale went into partnership
with W. W. Boynton. He rose rapidly in
his profession, and in 1863 was elected to the
office of prosecuting attorney, which he held six
yeas consecutively, being re-elected in 1865 and
1867. He represented Lorain county in the
constitutional convention of 1873-4, and in 1876 was
elected common pleas judge, succeeding Judge
Boynton. He is still on the common please
bench.
We shall not pass rapidly over the gentlemen who have
been members of the Lorain bar since 1860 and who
are not now in the practice there, and close this
sketch with a mention of the attorneys now resident
in the county.
CHARLES A. WRIGHT commenced practice in Elyria
in 1860 and remained there a year or two.
LEWIS BRECKENRIDGE was admitted to the bar in
1859, commenced practice in Elyria in 1861, and
remained until 1872 when he removed to Cleveland
where he now resides and practices.
J. C. HILL
came to Elyria as an attorney in
1861, as already mentioned, as a partner with J.
C. Hale. He remained in the practice until
1864, when he abandoned it and engaged in other
business. He is now a resident of Elyria and
cashier in the Savings Deposit Bank.
ANDREW MOREHOUSE appears as an attorney on the
records in 1862.
JAMES B. HUMPHREY
was admitted to the bar in Elyria in 1862, and
practiced thee until 1867 or 1868, when he removed
to Allegan, Michigan, where he still resides.
He is, or recently was, probate judge of Allegan
county, and occupies a prominent position at the bar
there.
OMAR BAILEY, JR., practiced law in Oberlin from
1863 to 1867, when he removed to Norwalk, Huron
county, where he still resides.
ROSWELL G. HORR was
admitted to the bar at the expiration of his term as
clerk of the court in 1864, and entered into
partnership with J. C. Hale. He
continued in the practice about two years, when he
removed to Missouri. where he still resides.
He was elected to Congress from that district at the
election in November, 1878.
H. M. LILLIE had a law office in Elyria a few
months in 1864, but did little or no business.
A. R. HILLYER opened a law office in Oberlin in
1865, and remained there a year or two, when he
removed to Grinnell, Iowa.
HERBERT L. TERRELL was admitted to the bar in
Elyria in September, 1864, and entered into
partnership with W. W. Boynton, remaining
about a year. He then removed to Tennessee,
but subsequently returned to Ohio and settled in
Cleveland, where he is now practicing.
D. L. BRECKINRIDGE was admitted to the bar in
1866, but continued to reside on his farm in Grafton
till his death, in 1878, never devoting himself
exclusively to the law.
A. C. HOUGHTON went into partnership with J. H.
Dickson, at Wellington, in 1868, and remained in
the practice thee until about 1872, when he removed
to Toledo.
M. W. POND, JR., in partnership
with C. H. Doolittle, practiced in Elyria in
1869. He removed to Pennsylvania, but
subsequently returned to Cleveland, where he now
resides, engaged in the practice of the law.
GUSTAVUS V. BAYLEY was admitted to the bar in
1872, and in the fall of 1873 settled at Black River
(now Lorain), and engaged also in the lumber
business. He continued to reside there until
1733, when he removed to St. Louis. His law
practice was very meager.
MERIC J. SLOAN was admitted to the bar at Elyria
in September, 1872, and had an office for a short
time in Oberlin.
P. L. CHANDLER removed from Wisconsin to Oberlin
in 1875, and opened a law office there. He
remained there about a year.
JOSEPH C. COLLISTER studied law with Hon. J.
H. Dickson, at Wellington, and was admitted to
the bar in 1874. He entered into partnership
with his preceptor, and remained one year, when he
left the county.
D. C. BRUCE from Pennsylvania, opened a law office
in Elyria in 1875, and remained about a year.
C. A. BRINTNALL came
to Elyria, from Medina, in the summer of 1876, with
A. R. Webber, who still remains there.
They remained in partnership a few months, when they
dissolved partnership, and Mr. Brintnall left
the county.
WARREN W. SAMPSEL, son of Dr. P. W. Sampsel,
of Elyria, was admitted to the bar in Norwalk in the
spring of 1878, and entered into partnership with
N. L. Johnson, of Elyria, but after remaining a
few months he removed to Toledo, where he still
resides.
Judge BENJAMIN BISSELL and Mr. TINKER
both of Painesville, had an office in Elyria in
1872, in connection with Mr. J. V. Coon,
under the name of Bissell, Coon and
Tinker. Judge Bissell died recently in
Iowa. Mr. Tinker still resides in
Painesville.
JOHN V. COON, one of
these who has been longest at the bar, was admitted
at Elyria in August, 1846, and has continued to
reside in Elyria or its immediate vicinity ever
since, and has kept a more or less intimate
connection with the practice during all that time.
He has not, however, devoted himself exclusively to
the law, having been engaged in farming and
manufacturing enterprises, and real-estate
speculations in Ohio and other States, during a very
considerable portion of that time. He is now
engaged
[Page 54]
in practice, and has a very considerable reputation
as a real estate lawyer.
CHARLES H. DOOLITTLE
came to the bar in Elyria in 1851. He was soon
after elected justice of the peace, which office he
held about six years. In the fall of 1857, he
was elected probate judge, and held that office for
nine years from the following February, being
re-elected in 1860 and 1863. After the
expiration of his term of office as probate judge,
he removed for a short time to Painesville, but soon
returned to Elyria, where he still resides.
For several years past he has held the office of
justice of the peace.
Hon.
JOSEPH H. DICKSON,
was admitted to the bar in August, 1852, at Elyria,
and at once entered upon the practice of his
profession there, forming a partnership with John
M. Vincent. In the fall of 1853 he was
elected prosecuting attorney, for two years from the
succeeding January. In December, 1855, he
dissolved his connection with Mr. Vincent and
removed to Wellington, where he has continued to
reside up to the present time. He was elected
to the lower house of the state legislation in
186t7, and 1869. He still occupies a leading
position at the Lorain bar.
GEORGE OLMSTED came
from New York, and entered into practice in Elyria
in 1853, entering into partnership with S. Bagg,
as Bagg and Olmsted. He was
elected prosecuting attorney in October, 1857, and
entered upon the duties of that office in the
following January. He resigned the office,
however, in March, 1859, after having served a
little over one year. He then removed to
Indianapolis, where he staid about a year, when he
returned, and continued to reside in Elyria, and
practice law, until 1862, from which time he was
absent from Elyria about four years, He
returned to Elyria, however, in 1866, where he has
since resided. He was elected justice of the
peace in 1871, and held that office for three years,
being succeeded by Joshua Myers.
CHARLES W. JOHNSTON
came to Elyria from LaGrange, where he had formerly
practiced medicine, and entered upon the practice of
the law in April, 1859. He farmed a
partnership with Hon. P. Bliss, the next
September, under the name of Bliss and
Johnston, which continued until Judge Bliss
removed to Dakota, in 1861. Mr. Johnston
continued to devote himself exclusively to the
practice, and still resides in Elyria, where he has
an extensive business. He was elected
prosecuting attorney in 1869 and 1871.
ELIZUR G. JOHNSON
was admitted to the bar in 1861, but continued to
reside in LaGrange, where he held the office of
justice of the peace until March, 1869, when he came
to Elyria to assume the office of county auditor, to
which he had been elected the previous October.
He continued to hold that office until November,
1877. In the autumn of 1876, however, he
opened a law office in Elyria, and is still engaged
in the practice.
NORMAN L. JOHNSON
came to Elyria from Massachusetts in 1863 and
entered upon the practice of the law, to which he
has devoted himself ever since, and at which he is
new doing a very considerable business.
IRAL A. WEBSTER was admitted to the bar at Elyria
in September, 1867, and soon after opened an office
in Oberlin, where he still resides. In 1877 he
also opened an office in Elyria.
CHARLES DOWNING was admitted to the bar in 1867 in
Elyria, where he still resides. He has devoted
his attention mainly, however, to the business of
insurance.
P. H. BOYNTON was admitted to the bar in 1869 and
is still practicing in Elyria.
GEORGE P. METCALF was admitted in 1869. He
was elected prosecuting attorney in 1873, 1875 and
1877, and still holds that office.
J. M. HORD removed to Elyria from Wood county in
1872, and is still in practice.
WINSLOW L. FAY, admitted 1870, still in
practice.
E. H. HINMAN opened an office in 1873 in North
Amherst, where he is still practicing.
AMOS COE, who formerly practice law in
Cleveland, settled on a farm near Elyria about 1870.
He appears in court occasionally.
DAVID J. NYE was admitted to
the bar in 1872 and
removed to Kansas. He returned in 1873, and,
in April, 1874, opened an office in Elyria, where he
still resides.
WALTER F. HERRICK
commenced practicing law in Wellington in 1874, and
is still there. He served in the Ohio
legislature in 1860 and 1861, and was a colonel in
the army during the war of the rebellion.
J. H. LANG has been practicing law in Oberlin since
1874. He engages also in other business.
LESTER McLEAN
was admitted to the bar at Warren in the spring of
1875, and immediately removed to Elyria, where he is
still engaged in the practice, - now in partnership
with E. G. Johnson.
A. R. WEBBER came to Elyria from Medina in 1876,
and is still engaged in practice as partner with
C. W. Johnston.
CHAS A. METCALF was admitted in 1877, and entered
into partnership with his brother, Geo. P.
Metcalf, and is still in practice.
J. W. STEELE was admitted to the bar just before
the breaking out of the war. He entered the
army and served through the war. He was
elected probate judge of Lorain county in 1867, and
held that office till June 1, 1871, when he
resigned. He commenced practice at
Oberlin in 1877, and is still there.
WM. H. TUCKER was admitted to the bar in
Cleveland in the fall of 1877. He engages also
in other business.
JOHN H. FAXON, of Elyria, was admitted to the
bar at Columbus in 1876. Mr. Faxon is
an old resident of Lorain county. He was
elected sheriff in 1844 and 1846, and to the
legislature in 1873 and 1875. He has also held
the office of justice of the peace for a
considerable number of years.
[Page 55]
In 1877,
C. G.
JEFFRIES, an attorney of several years standing,
moved to Elyria from Akron and opened a law office,
and is still in the practice.
ED C. MANTER was
admitted to the bar in April, 1878, and at once
commenced practice in Elyria.
FRED A. BECKWITH came to Elyria in the summer of
1878, and entered into practice in the office of I.
A. Webster.
FRED. WEBSTER was
admitted to the bar at Norwalk in the spring of
1878, and now has an office at Oberlin.
ALEX H. PERRY, of Brownhelm, was admitted to the bar in 1863, but
still resides in that township, not engaging in
active practice. This
completes the list of the members of the bar of
Lorain county. This bar, throughout its
history, has been characterized by a high degree of
morality and integrity, as well as ability and
learning on the part of the members, and has been
singularly free from that which has been the bane of
so many of the greatest and most brilliant lawyers
of the country, and addiction to the use of
intoxicating liquors.
Ten of its members have been elevated to the bench
(aside from probate judges) and held fifteen
different judicial positions, viz.: Frederick
Whittlesey, common pleas judge in Ohio;
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 Olney 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 judge in Ohio.
Four Lorain lawyers have been lawyers of congress,
holding in all eight terms: E. S. Hamlin one
term; Philemon Bliss two terms; Lionel A.
Sheldon three terms and E. D. Holbrook,
(delegate) two terms.
The bar furnished one
of the delegates, Mr. Clark, to the
constitutional convention of 1850, and the single
one, Mr. Hale to that if 1873. Two
former Lorain lawyers are lecturers in law schools;
Judge Bliss and Mr. Langston; and two,
Judge Bliss and Mr. Tiffany, are the
authors of legal treatises.
So far as the writer has been able to learn Philemon
Bliss seems to have held the largest number
of important official positions; two terms in
congress, and (including probate judgeships) five
different judicial positions.
To Mr. Myers belongs the distinction of
having been the longest at the bar, from 1844 to
1877. The next longest, and by far the longest
practices of the leading lawyers of the bar, was
that of Mr. H. D. Clark, from 1834 to 1865.
With this we take our leave of the bar. It is
sufficient to say of it in closing, that it has
stood high compared with those of similar counties,
for learning, industry, integrity and eloquence. |