Source:  The County of Ross: a history of Ross County, Ohio by Henry Holcomb Bennett - Published by S. A. Brant, Madison, Wis., 1902 - Page 707

Source:  The County of Ross: a history of Ross County, Ohio by Henry Holcomb Bennett - Published by S. A. Brant, Madison, Wis., 1902 - Page 708

Source:  The County of Ross: a history of Ross County, Ohio by Henry Holcomb Bennett - Published by S. A. Brant, Madison, Wis., 1902 - Page 710

In the long list of illustrious names, claimed by the commonwealth of Ohio, may be enrolled that of Allen Granbery Thurman.  Born at Lynchurg, Virginia, on the 13th of November, 1813, he was, when but six years old, brought by his parents to Ohio, and from that time until the day of his death, was numbered among her most loyal and devoted sons.  As has been said of him, he was "the product of our sturdy pioneer days and our American civilization."  On both sides of his house flowed the blood that caused him to become famous, above all things, for his sterling honesty and integrity.  His father, Pleasant Thurman, was a Methodist minister.  His mother, Mary Allen Thurman, was one of the daughters of Nathaniel Allen, a nephew of Joseph Hewes, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
     On moving to Ohio, his parents settled in Chillicothe, at that time the most flourishing town in the State.  There, his boyhood days were spent, there, was laid the foundation of those habits of industry and of study, that were always among his most marked characteristics.  His parents, intellectual and cultured, devoted their time and attention to his education, and so particular was his mother in this regard, that long after her death, and when he had become the recipient of many honors at the hands of his fellow citizens, he was herd to say:  "I owe more to my mother than to any other preceptor I ever had."  He attended the public school in Chillicothe, and afterwards, what was known as the Academy, a preparatory school for colleges.  It is related that after graduating from the Academy, other members of his class departed for the East to attend college, while, he, owning to the financial inability of his parents to assume the burden, was compelled to remain at home; that he bade them good bye with a brave heart and cheerful countenance, but after the state had departed he sought the solitude of the graveyard, and there gave vent to his bitter disappointment in a flood of tears.  But that indomitable courage and unconquerable will that ever characterized his life, and made him the great student that he was, soon asserted itself, the disappointment was forgotten in the determination to study by and for himself.  In order to acquire the facilities and means for obtaining larger educational advantages, he taught at a country school, and during the vacations devoted his time to surveying.  His liking for mathematics was most marked, and in after years, when he had grown old and gray, his grandchildren would take their puzzling problems to him, sure of a kindly reception, the correct answer, and the reasons therefor.
     He early developed a fondness for the study of law, and as soon as his circumstances would allow, began the study in the office of his uncle, William Allen, and there devoted himself so thoroughly and so conscientiously to his work as to make almost certain the great success that afterwards attended him in his profession.
     At this time, he also became active in politics, espousing the cause of the Democratic party, and soon thereafter received his first political honor, being appointed by Gov. Lucas as his private secretary.  He continued his study under the tutelage of Judge Noah Swayne, afterwards a member of the Supreme Court of the United States, and, in 1835, was admitted to the bar in Ohio, at that time famous for its for its learning and ability.  Forming a partnership with his uncle, William Allen, in Chillicothe, his success was most marked, and until he became a member of the Supreme Court of Ohio, he was employed in practically all of the important litigation in that part of the State.
     On the 14th day of November, 1844, he married Mary Allen Tompkins, a daughter of John Dun, a prominent Kentuckian.  Sharing equally the sorrows, the disappointments and the honors, they were in old age as in youth, "lovers whose affection broadened and strengthened as the years rolled on."  Her influence, like that of his mother, strengthened the noble traits of his character and made all the more certain his great success.  Of this union there were born three daughters and one son.  Mrs. Thurman died in 1891, but a few years before her husband.
     Though most active in politics, it was not until 1844 that he allowed himself to become a candidate for any political office.  In the Polk-Clay campaign of that year, he was the Democratic nominee for Congress from the Chillicothe District, and after a most spirited campaign was elected by a handsome majority.  At this time the United States was engaged in the war with Mexico, and Mr. Thurman was found among the most ardent supporters of the Administration in the conduct of that war.  The great dispute between the North and the South was then becoming more heated, and though allied with the Democratic party and opposing any change or interference with the Missouri Compromise, Mr. Thurman, with nearly all of the other Democratic members of the House from the North, voted for the Wilmot Proviso.  For this action they were severely criticised by the Southern members, and in reply to those criticisms, he delivered a speech, in 1874, in which, and especially in the closing paragraphs thereof, he set forth with remarkable power, clearness and force, the reasons for the position taken by himself and his Northern colleagues.  As he said "Why, then, does the North insist upon opposing the extension of slave territory?  I answer, because, first, as the municipal legislature of the territories, it is the duty of Congress to promote their interests.  The people of the free States think, whether erroneously or not, that is for the interest of any country that slavery be prohibited, and thinking so, we as the legislative power over the territories, deem it our duty, where it can be done without too great a sacrifice, to exclude slavery from them.  Another reason: That Congress is the National legislature, and therefore, must look to the National interest; and as the strength and prosperity of the Nation is composed of the strength and prosperity of its parts, it is the duty of Congress, no insuperable object standing in the way, to pursue such a course of policy as shall strengthen, in the greatest degree, the United States; and believing that free territory would be more populous, wealthy, abundant in resources, and in every thing that makes a great nation, it is for the National interests to have as much free territory as possible, compatible with the existence of the Union.  The third reason is, that in the opinion of the North, it is inconsistent with the genius of our institutions, and injurious to the character of the United States, to extend slavery.  Where it exists, let it exist, says the North, but do not extend it by the action of the general Government, and convert what is now free, into slave territory."
     Notwithstanding this position, he was, during the war of the succession, severely criticised and was accused of being in sympathy with the Southern cause.  All such criticisms, and such accusations were without foundation.  As he afterwards said "I did all I could to help preserve the Union without a war, but after it began I thought there was but one thing to do, and that was to fight it out.  I, therefore, sustained all constitutional measures that tended, in my judgment, to put down the Rebellion.  I never believed in the doctrine of Sucession."
      At the close of his Congressional term he declined a renomination, and resumed the practice of law in Chillicothe.  In 1851, the new Constitution of Ohio went into effect, and Mr. Thurman was elected one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, as reorganized.  Here is great powers of logic, concentration and analysis soon brought him into the greatest prominence.  The decisions rendered by him are looked to as full of wisdom and of learning, and among the most able and valuable that have ever been rendered from any Bench.  Had his career closed with his retirement from the Supreme Court, his fame would still, by reason of these decisions, have been none the less great.  His term ended in 1856, and he once more resumed the practice of the law, this time in Columbus.  He did not again enter actively into politics until 1867, when he became the Democratic nominee for Governor of Ohio.  The previous campaign had been won by the Republican party by a majority of over 40,000 but, notwithstanding this fact.  Mr. Thurman conducted his canvass most vigorously and succeeded in bringing about a drawn battle, for though he himself was defeated by less than 3,000, the Democratic party succeeded in carrying the legislature.  It was the duty of that body to elect the successor of Senator Wade to the United States Senate, and Mr. Thurman was chosen as that successor.  His services in the Senate of the United States covered a period of twelve years, being succeeded in 1880 by John Sherman.  During all of that time he was a member of the Judiciary Committee, and his services, there rendered, were important and valuable.  To Describe the high position taken by him in the Senate, and the esteem in which he was held by his colleagues,  I quote from Senator James G. Blaine in his "Twenty Years in Congress."  There he says "Mr. Thurman's rank in the Senate was established from the day he took his seat, and was never lowered during the period of his service.  He was an admirably disciplined debater, fair in the method of his statement, logical in his argument, honest in his conclusions.  He had no trick in discussion, no catch phrases to secure attention, but was always direct and manly.  His retirement from the Senate was a severe loss to his party, a loss indeed to the body."  There he met Edmund, Evarts, Saulsbury, Bayard, Chandler, Carpenter, Schurz, Cameron, Conkling and the others of those great men whose task was the safe guilding of the Government through the stormy days of the Reconstruction.  There it was that was paid him, by Senator Conkling of New York, the famous, and probably, the most graceful compliment ever paid by one public man to another.  During a legal argument, he repeatedly turned towards Senator Thurman, as if addressing him.  Finally the latter asked "Does the Senator from New York expect me to answer him every time he turns to me?"  Conkling, after a moment's hesitation, replied, "When I speak of the law, I turn to the Senator from Ohio, as the Mussulman turns toward Mecca.  I turn to him as I do to the English common law as the world's most copious fountain of human jurisprudence."
     Mr. Thurman was chosen as one of the Electoral Commission for the settling of the controversy arising out of the Hayes-Tilden campaign, in 1876, and as a member of the Commission earnestly and steadfastly supported the claims of Mr. Tilden.
     But among the many great services rendered by him while in the United States Senate, probably the greatest was that in connection with the Government's claims against the Pacific Railroads.  These corporation had received from the Government many and valuable franchises and rights upon certain terms and conditions, which they afterwards refused to comply with.  Mr. Thurman introduced a bill in the Senate, the purpose of which was to compel the Pacific corporations to fulfill their obligations to the Government.  He succeeded in effecting the passage of this bill, since known as the "Thurman Act," against a combined and powerful opposition, with the result that the corporations were compelled to comply with the conditions under which their franchises and rights were given, and saving the Federal Treasury many millions of dollars.
     He was a candidate for the nomination for the Presidency in the National Democratic Conventions of 1876, 1880 and 1884.
     After his retirement from the Senate, and during the administration of President Garfield, Mr. Thurman was appointed a member of the Paris Monetary Conference.
     Several years later he was employed by the Government as counsel in the famous Bell Telephone litigation, and in that capacity rendered most able and valuable services.
     In 1888, he was named for the Vice Presidency, and though old in years, entered vigorously into the campaign, making a number of speeches in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.  At the ensuing election the party was defeated, and this defeat marked the end of his political career.
     In the Spring of 1888, he was appointed by the Court to assist in the prosecution of parties charged with having altered the election tally sheets in Franklin County, Ohio.  The accused were all of the Democratic party but this did not cause him to hesitate in accepting the appointment.  The closing words of his argument in that case show how well he loved the party that had so honored him, how devoted he was to its principles, how anxious he was to see it succeed, but only to succeed through justice and right.  These were his words:
     "But I do want this party, to which I have belonged for more than sixty years, for I began when I was a child; this party which has done so much for me, and which I have conscientiously believed in; which has its faults, as all parties, have had their faults; which has been wrong sometimes, as all parties have been wrong; but in which I have believed, to which has been wrong sometimes, as all parties have been wrong; but in which I have believed, to which my faith has been pledged and has been kept - I do want that party, in the going down of the sum of my life, when I shall look for the last time abroad on earth, I do want to see that party still standing, still respected, still honored and still deserving the good will and kindness and support of all my fellow beings."
     This was his last public appearance, and at its close he retired to the privacy of his home, spending the remaining days with his family and among his books.
     He died on the 12th day of December, 1895, after a short illness, honored, respected and loved by all.
Source:  The County of Ross: a history of Ross County, Ohio by Henry Holcomb Bennett - Published by S. A. Brant, Madison, Wis., 1902 - Page

Source:  The County of Ross: a history of Ross County, Ohio by Henry Holcomb Bennett - Published by S. A. Brant, Madison, Wis., 1902 - Page 712

Source:  The County of Ross: a history of Ross County, Ohio by Henry Holcomb Bennett - Published by S. A. Brant, Madison, Wis., 1902 - Page 712