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CHAPTER XVII.
PICKAWAY
COUNTY BAR*
pg. 97
WITH the organization of the county of
Pickaway came also the attorneys - a necessary appendant to the
administration of justice. First among the earlier members of
the bar of this county, we find the names of Richard Douglas
and Ralph Osborn. Mr. Douglas was a native of
Connecticut. He read law with Judge Henry Brush, of
Chillicothe, and settled, as an attorney, first at Jefferson,
removing to Circleville soon after the county seat had been located
there. Thence, about 1815, he removed to Chillicothe, where he
died in the year 1852, aged sixty-seven years. Mr. Douglas
was prosecuting attorney of this county, a member of the Ohio
legislature, and first lieutenant of the company commanded by
Captain Bartholomew Tryatt, in the war of 1812. He was a
lawyer of more than ordinary ability, and his abounding humor and
fund of anecdotes made him the most agreeable company to the members
of the bar while circuiting. Messrs. Albert Douglas, sr.,
and Abert Douglas, jr., now of Chillicothe, are,
respectively, his son and grandson.
RALPH OSBORN, a native of Waterbury,
Connecticut, came to the county soon after its organization, and
opened an attorney's office in Circleville. About 1812 he was
married to Catharine Renick, daughter of John Renick,
then living on Darby creek. After the death of his wife,
Catharine, he was married, in 1831, to Jane, the widow of
Dr. Daniel Turney, the said Jane being the oldest
daughter of Col. James Denny, the first clerk of the county.
Mr. Osborn was elected clerk of the legislature of Ohio at
the time the seat of government was located at Zanesville, in 1810,
which place he held five consecutive sessions, until he was elected
in 1815, auditor of the State, to which office he was re-elected
until about the year 1833 - eighteen consecutive years, a period
longer than any one since. Upon the location of the seat of
government at Columbus, Ohio, he removed there, where he had his
residence at the time of his
[Pg. 98]
death, Dec. 30, 1835. He died at the age of fifty-two years.
After the termination of his auditorship, in 1833, he represented
the counties of Franklin and Pickaway as State senator. After
his election as auditor of State, he was not in practice as an
attorney.
Mr. Osborn was, in manners, courteous,
discharging his several trusts with care and integrity. The
Hon. J. R. Osborn, of Toledo, Ohio, is one of Mr. Osborn's
sons, and Mrs. Josiah Renick, Mrs. P. C. Smith, and Mrs.
S. H. Ruggles, are his daughters. Mr. James Osborn,
another son, was a leading merchant in Columbus, and died, leaving
sons who still carry on his old firm business and am leading men in
the city.
JOSHUA FOLSOM was born at Henniker, New
Hampshire, in the year 1783. His parents were Quakers, and his
ancestors came from the north part of England, and settled at
Hingham, Massachusetts, in the year 1638. His grandfather, was
known as "Quaker Joshua," and was extensively known
and respected as a man of strong sense and integrity.
Joshua Folsom, the subject of this sketch, studied at
Dartmouth college, but did not graduate. After leaving
college, he read law two years, at Baltimore, in the office of
Robert Goodloe Harper, who was a very
distinguished lawyer and orator, and member of the United States
senate. Mr. Folsom began the practice of law at
Circleville, Ohio, about the year 1810, and practiced, also, in many
other counties of the State, as most lawyers of that day did, on
account of the paucity of cases at home. About the year 1824,
at the time Gustavus Swan was appointed judge, he went to
Columbus to practice, being requested by Judge Swan to come
there to take charge of his business. After remaining at
Columbus two or three years, he returned to Circleville. In
1830, having accumulated a moderate fortune, for that day, and not
being in good health, he retired from practice, and settled on a
large tract of land, which he owned in Logan county, Ohio.
Mr. Folsom was a man of very extensive information, having,
also, a respectable knowledge of Latin, Greek and French, and being
well read in history and general literature. We have, also,
the authority of Hocking Hunter for saying he was "a
very good lawyer." Some of his arguments at the bar are yet
remembered as very fine. He never held any office, except that
of prosecuting attorney of Pickaway county. H. F. Page,
his son, is now in practice of Circleville, (having taken the name
of his father's family, in the female branch.)
CALEB ATWATER located in
Circleville about the close of the war of 1812, as an
attorney-at-law. For several years he was postmaster, and a
member of the Ohio legislature for one term. About the year
1827, or 1828, he was appointed, by President Jackson, as one
of the commissioners to treat with the Indians for the purchase of
their lands at Prairie-du-Chien. Mr. Atwater's
information was extensive, but he is better known as an antiquarian
and historian, upon which subjects he he has written several works.
He died in Circleville, on the third day of March, 1867, nearly
ninety years old; he was a native of North Adams, Massachusetts.
George Atwater, his son, at one time a
lawyer of this county, who died in Nevada, previous to the death of
his father, was a young man of much learning and a keen and
discriminating mind. Thus endowed, he could have distinguished
himself in almost any purpose of life he chose.
G. W. DOANE was a native
of New Milford, Connecticut; graduated at Union college, New York,
and attended the law school at Litchfield, Connecticut; located in
Circleville, in the year 1816, and as an attorney-at-law; was one of
the editors of the Ohio Branch, a weekly newspaper of
Circleville, now continued and published by S. Mansfield, jr.,
as the Union Herald. Mr. Doan was a man of
liberal education and a most exemplary citizen. Or the fourth
day of February, 1862, he died, aged seventy-six years. For
many years previous to his death he had entirely lost his sight,
and, consequently, was disqualified for business. He was a
brother-in-law of the late Judge William B. Thrall, for a
long period publisher of the paper above referred to. A son of
his, George W. Doane, is now in practice, as an attorney, in
Omaha, Nebraska. Mr. Doane, for one term, represented
the county of Pickaway in the lower branch of the legislature.
As late as the year 1819 Joshua Folson, G. W. Doane, Caleb
Atwater and Neil McGaffey were the only resident
attorneys of Circleville. Mr. McGaffey, within a short
time, went west. He was a son-in-law of John McNeil,
one of the early inhabitants of the county.
JOSEPH OLDS, a native of Brattleborough, Vermont,
came into this county in 1819, and studied law here; he was admitted
to practice in 1820 or 1821, opened an office in Circleville, and
was eminently successful for a period of over twenty years; he was
frequently a representative in the legislature, was the president of
the political and financial transactions of his day; he acquired a
considerable fortune, which, he having no children, went to his
brothers and sister. Dr. E. B. Olds, extensively
known as a member of Congress, was a brother, as was also the
Hon. C. N. Olds, now attorney-at-law, located at Columbus, Ohio.
Mr. Olds died in April, 1847, at the age of fifty-three
years.
M. C. CANFIELD was located in this county about
the year 1840, as an attorney-at-lay; he removed from this place,
after a residence of a few years. While here he was elect4ed
prosecuting attorney for the county, and discharged the duties of
that office for two years.
HENRY F. PAGE located in this county, as an
attorney, in the year 1845, and, from that time forward, has been in
successful practice; he is a graduate of Oxford college, Ohio, and
attended the law lectures at Harvard, Massachusetts; he was a member
of the late constitutional convention, of Ohio; he is a native of
Circleville, Ohio; he is now in full practice, vigorous, and in the
prime of his mental powers. Mr. Page has formed a
partnership with J. N. Abernathy, esq., under the firm name
of Page & Abernathy.
JAMES D. CALDWELL located in Circleville, as an
attorney, previous to the year 1830, and after practicing there for
twelve or fifteen years, he migrated to Chillicothe, Ohio, where he
died. Mr. Caldwell was unmarried. While in
Circleville, he was associated with Judge
[Pg. 99]
William Irvin, of Lancaster, Ohio, under the firm name of
Irvin & Caldwell. He had the respect and warm
regard of his intimate friends and acquaintances.
JOHN L. GREEN located, about 1830, in
Circleville, as an attorney, and was a successful practitioner.
He was elected to the senate of Ohio, from Pickaway county; removed
from Circle to Chillicothe, and was there elected judge of the
common pleas court. After removing to Columbus, he was
elected, and re-elected, judge of the court of common pleas, which
position he now holds. Mr. Green is a native of
Virginia.
JOSEPH OLDS, now of the firm of Harrison &
Olds, commenced practice in this county about 18__. While
in practice he was one of the leading attorneys, and was elected
judge of the court of common pleas. After holding the place
for one term, he returned to practice. Mr. Olds
graduated at Yale college. He is a native of Pickaway county,
Ohio.
 H. N. HEDGES, SR., commenced the practice of law
in Circleville in the year 1835, and was elected prosecuting
attorney of the county for three terms. About 1854, he formed a
co-partnership with John Cradlebaugh, which, under the name
of Hedges & Cradlebaugh, continued for four years. From
the time of the dissolution of the partnership, he was not in active
practice. In the year 1865, he was elected to the office of
probate judge, to which office he was re-elected in 1868. He
is the Nestor of the Pickaway county bar, Judge Green, of
Columbus, only having been longer in practice than he. He is a
native of Pickaway county, and read law in the office of Joseph
Olds, after which he attended the law school of Cincinnati.
COL. JOHN CRADLEBAUGH
entered upon the practice of the law, about 1840, in the county of
Pickaway; he completed his law studies with H. H. Hedges, sr.,
with whom he entered into partnership, in the year 1854.
Before this time, Mr. Cradlebaugh had represented this, and
Franklin county, in the senate of Ohio. About the period of
the close of his partnership with Mr. Hedges, he was
appointed, by President Buchanan, federal judge of Utah; was
elected a delegate, in congress, from the territory of Nevada; was
the colonel of the One Hundred and Fourteenth regiment, in the war
of 1861. Mr. Cradlebaugh died on the seventeenth day of
February, 1872, in Nevada. Few men had warmer friends,
and few were more worthy of warm friendship.
JEREMIAH HALL located in Circleville, as an
attorney, in the year 1857; he read law with the Hon. John Welch,
at Athens, Ohio. Mr. Hall has made the Virginia
military land laws his specialty; he is now in partnership with
Captain Bostwick, his son-in-law, under the firm name of Hall
& Bostwick.
I. H. BOND commenced the practice of the law in
Circleville, about the year 1858; he was elected prosecutor, for
Pickaway county, and served one term, of two years. Mr.
Bond left this county, and located at Cincinnati, and was
assistant district attorney of the United states, for the southern
district of Ohio, and is now in practice in Cincinnati.
PALMER C. SMITH located in this county, as an
attorney, in 1847, and, after two years residence, entered into a
partnership with the Hon. T. C. Jones, which continued until
the fall of 1856, Mr. Jones having removed to Delaware, Ohio;
he was elected prosecutor of the county, over Col. Jon
Cradlebaugh. Mr. Smith has been, and is now, in full and
profitable practice.
JOHN A. LUTZ a native of this county, was born the
twenty-ninth day of December, 1824. In 1853, he graduated from
Wittenberg college; read law under the Hon. C. N. Olds, and
commenced the practice in December, 1855, from which time he has
been in full and profitable practice.
ANSEL T. WALLING was
born in Otsego county, New York, Jan. 10, 1824; removed, at the age
of nine years, with an elder brother, to Erie county, Pennsylvania;
received a common school and an academic education; learned the
printing trade in the Erie Observer office; came to Ohio in
1843; was editor and publisher of the Mahoning Index in 1848,
and of the Coshocton Democrat in 1850-54; was assistant
clerk in Ohio house of representatives in 1851-52; was admitted to
the bar in 1852; removed to Iowa, and was editor and publisher of
the Keokuk Daily Times in 1855-58; returned to Ohio in 1851,
and, in 1863, resumed the practice of law at Circleville, was
elected to State senate for Franklin and Pickaway counties in 1854,
and in 1867 was chosen representative from Pickaway, serving as
speaker pro tem, the second session; in 1874, was elected to
the Forty-fourth congress from the Twelfth Ohio district.
BURR
H. BOSTWICK is a native of Ohio; his age is
forty-two years. In 1868 he commenced the practice of the law
in Circleville, in partnership with Jeremiah Hall (his
father-in-law), with the name of Hall & Bostwick Mr.
Bostwick was, for nearly four years, a member of the Kansas
cavalry, in the war of 1861, in which he, at the close of his
service, held the rank of captain.
C. F. KRIMMELL
was admitted to practice about 1871, and entered in partnership with
Samuel W. Courtright, under the name of Courtright &
Kimmel, about 1874, which continued until Courtright was
elected judge of the common pleas court. Mr. Kimmel, in
1874, was elected to the lower branch of the legislature, and in
1877 was elected to the senate. He graduated at Oberlin, and
is about thirty-five years of age.
ISAAC A. ABERNATHY
commenced the practice of the law in Circleville, in 1869; he is a
native of Ohio, and graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan university;
read law under Judge Zaple, first, and afterwards with
Hon. R. A. Harrison. For four years he has been
prosecuting attorney for the county, and is now associated with
H. F. Page, under the first name of Page & Abernathy.
A. R. BOHN, a native of
Pickaway county, commenced the practice of law in 1873. He is
a graduate of Miami university; read law in the office of H. F.
Page, and attended the law school at Cincinnati.
Stephen L. Grigsby is now associated in practice with him, under
the firm name of Bolin & Grigsby.
SAMUEL W. COURTRIGHT commenced the practice of the
law in 1863, and has been prosecuting attorney of
[Pg. 100]
Pickaway county for two terms; read law with D. M. Jones, of
Circleville (now deceased), and with Hon. Belamy Storer,
of Cincinnati (now deceased). He graduated from the Cincinnati
law school. After twelve years' practice he was elected judge
of the court of common pleas, for the counties of Pickaway and
Madison, which office he now holds. He was associated,
for over a year, with C. F. Krimmel. He is a native of
Pickaway county, Ohio, and is thirty-six years old.
JONATHAN RENICK
was a native of Pickaway; commenced the practice of the law about
1840; was a graduate of Cannonsburgh college, Pennsylvania; read law
in Dayton, Ohio, with Adlin & Schenck, and served as
prosecutor for the county of Pickaway. He died in 1862.
His prospects for legal and political distinction were above those
of any other citizen of this county. He was naturally a leader
of men.
I. P. WINSTEAD commenced the
practice of the law in 1873. He read law under the instruction
of Judge Samuel W. Courtright, is a graduate of Miami
university, and is the present candidate for the office of
prosecuting attorney of the county of Pickaway, on the Democratic
ticket.
THOMAS C. JONES, now
of Delaware county, located in this county about 1843, and remained
here for a period of about fifteen years. During his residence
here he acquired a good practice and an enviable reputaton for
character and ability. Leaving here, he moved to Delaware,
Ohio, from which county he was elected a State senator, and soon
after was elected a judge of the court of common pleas.
CHARLES E. DELEPLANE, W. F. HURST,
and FESTUS WALTERS, have been in practice for about the same
length of time in this county. Mr. Delaplane is just
closing his second term as prosecutor of the county. They are
in fair practice.
Among the younger members of the bar in
practice in this county, we have Perry G. Bostwick, brother
of Burr H. Bostwick, Stephen Grigsby, Milton Morris,
Charles E. Morris, William H. Ucker, Clarence Curtain, Stuart
Walling, son of Hon. A. T. Walling, and J. Wheeler
Lowe.
Among the attorneys once settled here, and removed
to other locations, are General Joseph Geiger, D. Lord Smith,
Joseph Knox, George W. Doane, James Green, William H. Hall, Samuel
P. Brainard, Gustavus Scott, Joash Miller and Thomas Walker.
Several are known to have died.
Names of the first petit jury for Pickaway county, A.
D., 1810:
Asahel Heath, Jr.
William Florence
Rarewed Maddin,
John McCourt,
Thomas Whiting,
Vichel Howard, |
George Reed,
George Gibson,
David Denny,
William Moore,
Ebenezer Petty,
John G. McConnel. |
John Thompson, presiding judge.
William Seymour, Thomas Barr and Jacob
Shoemaker, associate judges.
Names of the first grand jury for Pickaway
county, A. D., 1810:
Edward Williams,
Charles Cade,
Isaac Williams,
William Marquis,
David Shelby,
Thomas Renick,
Elisha Litler, |
Ezekiel Morris,
George Ater,
Johnson Timmons,
James Martin,
John Bennett,
Benjamin Kepner,
William Renick, |
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