Leonard Case

The late Leonard Case was the second child and oldest son of Magdalene and

Mesech Case, of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. His mother, who was a

native of Winchester, Virginia, was of German extraction, her maiden name

being Extene. His father, believed to have been of English ancestry, was

born in Sussex county, New Jersey. For nearly forty years Mr. Mesech Case

suffered from asthma to the extent of making him a partial invalid, and

hence much of the management of his affairs devolved upon his wife, a

woman of superior character, educated beyond the average of those days,

energetic, having good executive ability, and blessed with robust health.

The family cultivated a small farm in Pennsylvania, which yielded but a

moderate support, so that when news came of the land of rich promise

beyond the mountains, where the soil yielded with an abundance marvellous

in the eyes of those who painfully cultivated and carefully gathered in

the older States, they collected their implements and stock, packed their

household effects, disposed of the farm, and, crossing the mountains,

settled down somewhere between the western foot of the Alleghanies and

Pittsburgh. This, however, was not the land of promise. The reports they

had heard in their Westmoreland home of the soil which produced crops

almost without care, and which embarrassed by their abundant yield, came

from still farther west, and again the Case household took up the line of

march, settling down finally upon a farm of two hundred acres near Warren,

Trumbull county, Ohio, in the year 1800.

There were then five children in the Case household, Leonard, the oldest

son, and the subject of this biographical sketch, being then sixteen years

old, having been born in Westmoreland county, Penn., July 20th, 1784. In

the invalid condition of his father, and being the oldest son of the

family, young Leonard was compelled to take a prominent part in the

management of the affairs of the farm. In the Spring succeeding the

removal to Trumbull, he started out in search of working oxen needed for

the Spring work. The task was a difficult one, and he traveled for some

time, becoming much heated with the walk and the anxiety. On his return he

had to cross a stream several times whilst he was in this heated

condition, the result being the contracting of a severe cold which settled

in his limbs and brought on an inflammation that confined him to his bed

for months.

It was late in the Fall of 1801, when he recovered sufficiently to arise

from his bed. But he arose as a cripple. The injury he had received from

his unfortunate journey was permanent, and he was unable for some time

after his rising from a sick bed to walk, or even to stand. Thus helpless

in body, whilst active in mind, he pondered over his future. As a farmer

he was no longer of any use, and unless some other mode of livelihood was

adopted he must remain a dependent on his relations. This was galling his

independent nature, and he determined to avoid it if possible.

[Illustration: I am Respectfully Leonard Case]

His hands were free if his feet gave promise of but little usefulness. He

concluded that the pen would be a fitter implement for his purposes than

the plow, and he took measures accordingly. Whilst lying in bed, unable to

rise, he had a board fastened before him in such a manner as to serve for

a desk. With this contrivance he worked diligently, whilst lying otherwise

helpless, to acquire the rudiments of knowledge. He learned to write and

cipher with moderate ease and correctness, and when he had matured the

contents of an arithmetical text book, which was the property of his

mother, he borrowed a few works on the higher branches of mathematics from

some surveyors in the neighborhood. From the knowledge in this way

acquired, he conceived the desire to be a surveyor and he set to work

energetically to perfect himself in that science so far as it could be

done by books. He was embarrassed by the want of even the most simple

instruments. A semi-circle for measuring angles was made by cutting a

groove the required shape on a piece of soft wood, and filling it by

melting and running in a pewter spoon, making an arc of metal on which the

graduated scale was etched. A pair of dividers was improvised from a piece

of hickory, by making the centre thin, bending it over, putting pins at

the points, and regulating its spread by twisting a cord.

But more education was needed, and if he expected to pursue the path he

had marked out in his mind, he must leave his home and venture out in the

world. To do this, money was needed, for to a cripple like him the first

struggle in the battle of life would be almost hopeless, if he entered on

it totally without resources. As seen, he had already manifested a strong

mechanical bent. He was domestic carpenter, making and repairing such

articles as were needed in the household. This ability he immediately

commenced to turn to account. A rude chair suitable to his needs was

mounted on wheels, and in this he was able to reach the edge of the woods

surrounding the house, where he cut twigs and made baskets, which were

purchased by the neighbors. Other jobs requiring mechanical skill were

done by him for the neighborhood, and in this way a small fund was

gradually accumulated with which to make his meditated start in life.

In 1806, he was able to set out from home and reach the village of

Warren, where he concluded that a better opportunity existed for

obtaining work with his pen. He found employment as clerk in the Land

Commissioner's office, where his industry, zeal, and strong desire to

improve both his knowledge and opportunities, soon brought him into

notice and gained for him many valuable friends. Chief among these was

Mr. John D. Edwards, a lawyer, holding the office of recorder of Trumbull

county, which then comprised all the Western Reserve. Mr. Edwards proved

a fast friend to Mr. Case, and his memory was ever held in respect by the

latter. He advised the young clerk to add a knowledge of law to his

other acquirements, and furnished him with books with which to prosecute

his studies, until he was at length admitted to the bar. In addition, he

gave him such writing as fell in his way to be given out, and thus aided

in enabling him to support himself.

The war of 1812 found Mr. Case at Warren, having, among his other duties,

that of the collection of non-resident taxes on the Western Reserve, for

which he had to furnish what was then considered heavy bail. Having to go

to Chillicothe to make his settlement, he prepared for the journey by

making a careful disposition of all his official matters, so that in case

of misfortune to him, there would be no difficulty in settling his

affairs, and no loss to his bail. The money belonging to the several

townships was parcelled out, enveloped, and marked in readiness to hand

over to the several trustees. The parcels were then deposited with his

friend, Mr. Edwards, with directions to pay over to the proper parties

should he not return in time. The journey was made without mishap, but on

his return Mr. Case found that his friend had set out to join the army on

the Maumee, and had died suddenly on the way. To the gratification of Mr.

Case, however, the money was found where he had left it, untouched.

In 1816, Mr. Case received the appointment of cashier of the Commercial

Bank of Lake Erie, just organized in Cleveland. He immediately removed to

Cleveland and entered on the discharge of his duties. These did not occupy

the whole of his time, so with the avocations of a banker he coupled the

practice of law and also the business of land agent. The bank, in common

with most of the similar institutions of the time, was compelled to

suspend operations, but was revived in after years with Mr. Case as

president. Of those who were connected as officers with the original

organization, Mr. Case gave the least promise of a long life, but yet he

outlived all his colleagues.

With the close of the bank he devoted himself more earnestly to the

practice of the law and the prosecution of his business as a land agent.

The active practice of the law was abandoned in 1834, but the land agency

was continued until a comparatively recent period, when his infirmities,

and the care of his own estate, grown into large proportions, rendered it

necessary for him to decline all business for others.

Mr. Case had a natural taste for the investigation of land titles and

studying the history of the earlier land owners. His business as a land

agent gave him scope for the gratification of this taste, and his

appointment as agent for the management of the Western Reserve school

lands, enabled him still further to prosecute his researches, whilst his

strong memory retained the facts acquired until he became complete

master of the whole history of the titles derived from the Connecticut

Land Company.

From his earliest connection with Cleveland, Mr. Case took a lively

interest in the affairs of the village, the improvement of the streets,

maintenance and enlargement of the schools, and the extension of religious

influences. For all these purposes he contributed liberally, and spent

much time and labor. To his thoughtfulness and public spirit are due the

commencement of the work of planting shade trees on the streets, which has

added so much to the beauty of the city, and has won for it the cognomen

of the Forest City. From 1821 to 1825, he was president of the village,

and was judicious and energetic in the management of its affairs. On the

erection of Cuyahoga county, he was its first auditor. He was subsequently

sent to the State Legislature, where he distinguished himself by his

persistent labors in behalf of the Ohio canals. He headed the subscription

to the stock of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad Company

with the sum of five thousand dollars, and became a director in the

Company. His good sense, a judgment that rarely erred, his extensive

knowledge of the village and surrounding country, and the cheerful

readiness with which he gave counsel, whenever requested in good faith,

caused him to be the confidential adviser of the county and municipal

officials, after he had ceased to take an active part in public affairs.

One of the rules from which he never deviated, was in no case to contract

a debt beyond his ability to pay within two years without depending on a

sale of property. In this way he was enabled to accumulate acre after acre

in what has since proved to be valuable portions of the city, and thus to

acquire a vast estate, which, in his later years, became steadily

remunerative.

Mr. Case was a man of uncommon industry, of high integrity, and strong

common sense. His manner to strangers, especially when interrupted in

business, was brusque, and gave an unfavorable impression to those

unacquainted with his real character, which was uniformly cheerful and

kind. As a seller of land, he was both just and generous, and from no one

ever came the complaint of oppressive or ungenerous treatment. Although

not a member of any church organization, he had strong religious

tendencies, of a liberal cast.

Mr. Case died December 7th, 1864, leaving one son, Leonard Case, the other

son, William, having died a short time earlier.

Reuben Wood.

Honorable Reuben Wood, an early settler of Cleveland, was born in Rutland

county, Vermont, in 1792. In early life he worked on a farm in Summer and

taught school in Winter. Resolving to achieve more than this, he went to

Canada and studied the classics under the tuition of an English clergyman,

and while there commenced the study of law with Hon. Barnabas Bidwell.

When war was declared in 1812, young Wood, with all other resident

Americans were required to leave Canada. He then went to Middletown, Vt.,

where he completed his legal studies in the office of Gen. Jonas Clark, an

eminent lawyer of that place.

In 1818, he married, and emigrated to Cleveland, where he arrived

September of that year, a stranger, and without money. He at once

entered upon a successful practice, and soon became distinguished as a

lawyer and advocate.

In 1825, he was elected a member of the State Senate, and was twice

re-elected to the same position.

In 1830, he was elected President Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit.

In 1833, he was elected a Judge of the Supreme Court, and at the close of

his term was re-elected. For the last three years of his second term he

was Chief Justice. As a Judge he was noted for sound logic, and the

clearness of his decisions.

In 1850, Judge Wood was elected by the Democratic party Governor of the

State by eleven thousand majority, and was re-elected Governor in 1851,

under the new constitution, by a majority of twenty-six thousand.

In 1853, he was appointed, by the Government, Consul to Valparaiso, South

America. While there, he, for some months, at the request of the

Government, discharged the duties of a Minister Plenipotentiary to Chili.

On his return from Chili, he returned to his farm in Rockport, near

Cleveland, where he died, October 2, 1864, generally esteemed, and highly

respected by all who knew him.

John W. Willey.

John W. Willey was a native of New Hampshire, being born in 1797. He

pursued a regular course of study at Dartmouth College, under the

encouragement of the distinguished President Wheelock, after whom he had

been named. He studied law in New York.

In 1822, being then twenty-five years of age, he came West and settled in

Cleveland. At that time it had but one tavern, no church, no railroads, no

canal, an occasional steamboat only, three or four stores and a few

hundred inhabitants; such was the then picture of a settlement now

approaching to a city of a hundred thousand people. Small as Cleveland

then was, professionally, Mr. Willey had been preceded by men of decided

ability. Alfred Kelley, Leonard Case, and the late Gov. Wood, had taken

possession of the field four, six and twelve years before him, and were

men of far more than ordinary ability. Mr. Willey was peculiarly adapted

to such circumstances as these. Thoroughly versed in legal principles, of

a keen and penetrating mind, a logician by nature, fertile and ready of

expedient, with a persuasive eloquence, enlivened with wit and humor, he

at once rose to prominence at the bar of Northern Ohio. The Cuyahoga bar

was for many years considered the strongest in the State, but amongst all

of its talented members, each with his own peculiar forte, for the faculty

of close and long-continued reasoning, clearness of statement, nice

discrimination, and never ending ingenuity, he had no superior.

In 1827, Mr. Willey was partially withdrawn from practice, by being

elected to the Legislature, where he served three years as Representative

and three as Senator, until 1832.

He was the first Mayor of Cleveland, being elected in 1836, and re-elected

in 1837, by large majorities, and prepared the original laws and

ordinances for the government of the city.

He was amongst the earliest projectors, prior to the reverses of 1836 and

1837, of the railroads to Columbus and Cincinnati, and to Pittsburgh.

In 1840, he was appointed to the bench, thus restoring him to those

studies and subjects of thought from which years of public and of

business life had diverted him. No sooner had he assumed this new position

than by common consent it was recognized as the one above all others he

was best fitted to adorn. Possessing the power which so few men have, of

close, concentrated, continuous thought, he was at the same time prompt in

his decisions. His instructions to juries, and his legal judgments,

usually pronounced at considerable length, were marked by that precision

of statement, clearness of analysis, and felicity of language, which made

them seem like the flowing of a silver stream.

Judge Willey, at the time of his death, which occurred in June, 1841, was

President Judge of the Fourteenth Judicial District. He died deeply

regretted by a large circle of professional and other friends, who had

become much attached to him for his many virtues, uniform and dignified,

yet unostentatious life.

In the Western Law Journal for 1852, we find a judicial anecdote related

of Mr. Willey, in illustration of his wit, and immovable self-possession.

The writer says: "At his last term in Cleveland we happened in while he

was pronouncing sentence upon a number of criminals who had been

convicted during the week, of penitentiary offenses. One of them, a

stubborn looking fellow, who, to the usual preliminary question of

whether he had anything to offer why the sentence of the law should not

be pronounced upon him, had replied somewhat truculently, that he had

'nothing to say,' but who when the judge was proceeding in a few

prefatory remarks to explain to the man how fairly he had been tried,

etc., broke in upon the court by exclaiming that 'he did'nt care if the

court had convicted him, he wasn't guilty _any_ how.' 'That will be a

consolation to you,' rejoined the judge, with unusual benignity, and with

a voice full of sympathy and compassion, 'That will be a consolation to

you, in the hour of your confinement, for we read in the good Book that

it is better to _suffer_ wrong, than _do_ wrong.' In the irrepressible

burst of laughter which followed this unexpected response, all joined

except the judge and the culprit."

[Illustration: Truly Yours, S. Andrews]

Sherlock J. Andrews.

Judge Andrews was born November, 1801, in the quiet New England village

of Wallingford, Connecticut. His father was a prominent physician at

that place, where he spent a long and useful life in the practice of

his profession. He lived to a good old age, a Christian gentleman of

the old school.

Although Wallingford is but a short day's travel from Yale, even under the

old System of horse and shay, or horse and saddle, young Andrews was sent

out of New England to Union College, at Schenectady, New York, where he

graduated about the year 1821.

Soon after this time the elder Silliman was at Wallingford, and being in

need of an assistant in Chemistry and a private secretary, he offered the

position to Mr. Andrews, which was accepted. It seems to have been

mutually a happy relation. In his diary, Prof. Silliman says, "he was a

young man of a vigorous and active mind, energetic and quick in his

decisions and movements, with a warm heart and a genial temper, of the

best moral and social habits, a quiet and skillful penman, an agreeable

inmate of my family, in which we made him quite at home. We found we had

acquired an interesting and valuable friend as well as a good professional

assistant. It is true he had, when he came, no experience in practical

Chemistry. He had everything to learn, but learned rapidly, as he had real

industry and love of knowledge. Before the end of the first term he proved

that we had made a happy choice. He continued about four years serving

with ability, and the zeal of an affectionate son, without whom I could

scarce have retained my place in the College." During this experience in

the field of sciences, Mr. Andrews had pursued the study of the law at the

Law School of New Haven, with the same ardor, and in 1825, removed to

Cleveland, and established himself as an attorney.

In 1828, he married Miss Ursula Allen, of Litchfield, Connecticut,

daughter of the late John Allen, a member of Congress from that State, who

was also the father of Hon. John W. Allen, of this city. The late Samuel

Cowles had preceded Mr. Andrews here in the profession and offered him a

partnership. Their competitors were the late Governor Wood and Judge John

W. Willey, who were partners, and Judge Starkweather, who still survives.

Considering the limited business of the place, which scarcely numbered

five hundred inhabitants, the profession was evidently overstocked then,

as it has been ever since. Briefless lawyers had, however, a wide field to

cultivate outside this county, embracing at least all the counties of the

Reserve; with horse and saddle-bags, they followed the Court in its

travels, judges and attorneys splashing through the mud on terms of

democratic equality.

Judge Andrews gave immediate promise of celebrity as an advocate. With a

sensitive and nervous temperament, he entered sympathetically into the

case of his client, making it his own. He possessed a brilliant readiness

of manner, full of skillful thrusts, hits, and witticisms. His correct New

England morals were not deteriorated by contact with the more loose codes

of a new western town. In his clear and earnest voice there was that

magnetic influence, which is necessary to complete the style of any

orator, and which is a gift solely of nature. As a technical pleader,

though he stood high, there were others upon the circuit equally gifted.

But in a cause where his convictions of justice and of legal right were

fixed, there was not among his contemporaries, in the courts of this

State, an advocate, whose efforts were so nearly irresistible before a

jury. He has command of sarcasm and invective, without coarseness. He

attacks oppression, meanness and fraud as if they were offences not only

against the public, but against himself. He has never strayed from the

profession to engage in any speculations or occupations to divert his

thoughts from pure law, except for two years from 1840, while he held a

seat in Congress. In 1848, the Legislature elected him judge of the

Superior Court of Cuyahoga county, a place he continued to hold till the

Court was abolished. As a judge he was eminently successful, his decisions

having been overruled by higher courts only in a single instance, and that

owing to a clerical mistake. In politics he was evidently not at home.

After leaving the bench, Judge Andrews returned to the practice, but has

been chiefly employed as associate counsel, occasionally addressing juries

on important cases.

As an advocate, Judge Andrews, during his whole professional career, has

been in the very foremost rank, with a reputation confined neither to

county, or even State lines. Distinguished for clear conceptions of legal

principles, and their varied relations to practical life, he has also

shown rare ability in judging of mixed questions of law and fact. His

legal opinions, therefore, have ever been held in the highest esteem.

But as jury lawyer, Judge Andrews has achieved successes so remarkable as

to have secured a permanent place in the traditions of the bar, and the

history of judicial proceedings in Northern Ohio. The older lawyers have

vivid recollections of a multitude of cases when he was in full practice,

and in his prime, in which his ready insight into character--his power to

sift testimony and bring into clear relief the lines of truth involved in

complicated causes--his ability to state the legal principles so that the

jury could intelligently apply them to the facts--his humor--his pure

wit--his pathos, at times bringing unfeigned tears to the eyes of both

judge and jurors--his burning scorn of fraud--and his appeal on behalf of

what he believed to be right, so impetuous with enthusiasm, so condensed

and incisive in expression, and so felicitous in illustration, as to be

well nigh irresistible.

Yet, highly as Judge Andrews has adorned his profession, it is simply

justice to say in conclusion, that his unblemished character in every

relation has adorned his manhood. He has been far more than a mere lawyer.

With a keen relish for historical and philosophical inquiry--a wide

acquaintance with literature, and an earnest sympathy with the advanced

lines of thought in the present age, his life has also been practically

subordinated to the faultless morality of Christianity. A community is

truly enriched, when it possesses, and can present to its younger members,

such shining instances of success in honorable endeavor, and sterling

excellence in character and example.

John W. Allen.

Mr. Allen, though not among the first attorneys who settled in Cleveland,

was upon the ground early among the second generation. Samuel Huntington

was the first lawyer of the place, becoming a resident here in the year

1801. Alfred Kelley was his successor, commencing his legal career as soon

as the county courts were organized in 1810. In 1816, Leonard Case was

added to the profession and in 1818 the late Governor Wood and Samuel

Cowles, and about 1822, John W. Willey About the year 1826, soon after the

construction of the Ohio canal was commenced, a troop of young lawyers

took possession of the field, some of whom still survive, Sherlock J.

Andrews, Samuel Starkweather and John W. Allen. They were all from Yankee

land, in pursuit of fame and fortune. Mr. Allen originated in Litchfield

county, Connecticut, a place prolific in prominent characters. His father,

John Allen, was a member of Congress from that State.

From 1831 to 1835, inclusive, he was elected annually to be president of

the village corporation of Cleveland, and mayor of the city corporation

of Cleveland 1841. In 1835-7, Mr. Allen represented the district of

which Cuyahoga county was a part, in the Ohio Senate, and in 1836 was

elected to the Congress of the United States, commencing with the famous

extra session of September, 1837, as an old line Clay Whig, and was

re-elected in 1838.

As soon as Cleveland assumed the position of a city in 1836, the subject

of railways became one of the prominent public questions. A portion of the

citizens were of the opinion that they had yielded enough to the spirit of

modern innovation when the Ohio canal was suffered to enter Cleveland.

This had banished the Dutch wagons entirely, and railroads might complete

our ruin entirely, by banishing canal boats. Mr. Allen, and the new comers

generally, took the opposite side. While he was rising to a leading public

position he labored zealously in the cause of railways in harmony with his

political opponents John W. Willey, Richard Hilliard, James S. Clark and

others, most of whom are dead. But for his zeal and perseverence the

Cleveland & Columbus Railroad Company would not have been organized

probably for years after it was and then it was done almost in spite of

many of the large property holders of that day, who looked upon the

enterprise as chimerical.

Mr. Allen's free and generous manner not only rendered him popular among

his political friends, but prevented bitterness and personality on the

part of his opponents. During those years of prosperity he led a

thoroughly active life, not only as an attorney with a large practice,

but as an indefatigable public servant. In fact, through life he has

given to the public the first and best of his efforts. He never became a

finished advocate and speaker, but his enterprise and integrity secured

him a large business, most of which was litigated in the counties of the

Western Reserve.

Not long after Mr. Allen commenced practice in Ohio he married Miss Ann

Maria Perkins of Warren, Trumbull county, an auspicious connection which

was soon terminated by her death. His second wife was Miss Harriet Mather,

of New London county, Connecticut, who is now living, and was the mother

of two sons and two daughters, one son and one daughter now surviving.

[Illustration: J. W. Allen]

The financial storm of 1837-8 did so much damage to Mr. Allen's fortune,

as well as some unsuccessful efforts in the construction of local rail

roads ahead of time, that its effects are not yet gone. Being young and

energetic, with a large property, with few debts of his own, it would have

affected him but little, had he not been too generous towards his friends

in the way of endorsements.

In the winter of 1849-50, he was appointed under a resolution of the

Legislature the Agent of the State to examine into the claims of the State

on the General Government growing out of the grants of land in aid of the

canals and which had been twice settled and receipted for in full, which

occupied him five years at Washington. In this he was eminently successful

and did the State great service, and had the State performed its part of

the bargain as well as Mr. Allen did his, the result would have been a

rich compensation for his labors. His was the only case of repudiation

ever perpetrated by Ohio and he may well charge the State with punic faith

toward him.

When the State Bank of Ohio, consisting of branches scattered throughout

the State under the general management of a board of control, was

authorized by an act of the Legislature about the year 1846, and which was

the soundest system ever devised by any State Government, Mr. Allen was

one of the five Commissioners charged with the duty of putting the

machinery in operation.

Very few of the present generation realize the obligation of this city to

him, and his public spirited coadjutors of thirty years since, for the

solid prosperity it now enjoys.

Hiram V. Willson.

The first judge of the United States District Court for the Northern

District of Ohio, will long be remembered by the bar and public of that

District, for the ability, dignity, and purity with which, for over eleven

years, he administered justice. When at last he lay down to his final

rest, there was no voice raised in censure of any one of his acts, and

tributes of heartfelt praise of his life, and sorrow for his loss, were

laid on his grave by men of all parties and shades of opinion. As lawyer,

judge, citizen, and man, Judge Willson won the respect and confidence of

all with whom he was brought into social or official contact.

Hiram V. Willson was born in April, 1808, in Madison county, New York.

Graduating at Hamilton College in 1832, he commenced the study of law in

the office of the Hon. Jared Willson, of Canandaigua, New York.

Subsequently he visited Virginia, read law in the office of Francis S.

Key, of Washington, and for a time aided his slender pecuniary means by

teaching in a classical school in the Shenandoah Valley. During his early

legal studies he laid the foundations of that legal knowledge for which he

was afterwards distinguished, and acquired that familiarity with the

text-books and reports which made him a safe, prompt, and prudent

counsellor. At school, college, and in the Shenandoah Valley, he

maintained a close intimacy with the Hon. Henry B. Payne, then a young man

of about his own age. In 1833, he removed to Painesville, but soon changed

his residence to Cleveland, where he and his intimate friend, H. B. Payne,

formed a law partnership.

Long after, when at a banquet tendered by the bar of Cleveland in honor of

the organization of the United States Court for the Northern District of

Ohio, Judge Willson referred to the auspices under which the young firm

commenced business. The following toast had been offered:

The First Judge of the Northern District of Ohio: In the history and

eminent success of a twenty years' practice at the Bar, we have the

fullest assurance that whatever industry, talent, and integrity can

achieve for the character of this long sought for court, will be

accomplished by the gentleman who has been appointed to preside over its

deliberations.

In responding to the toast, Judge Willson spoke highly of the character

of the profession, and then made a warm appeal to the young lawyers. He

said that all there had been young lawyers and knew the struggles and

difficulties that hang around the lawyer's early path, and which cloud to

him his future, and nothing is so welcome, so genial to a young lawyer's

heart as to be taken in hand by an older legal brother. He said he could

talk with feeling on the subject, for the memory was yet green of the days

when two penniless young men came to Ohio to take life's start, and when

as discouragements, and almost despair, seemed to lie in wait for them,

there was an older lawyer who held out a friendly hand to aid them, and

who bid them take courage and persevere. Who that friend was he signified

by offering, with much feeling, a toast to the memory of Judge Willey.

But the young firm did not long need friendly counsel to cheer them in the

midst of discouragements. Although they were but young men, and Willey,

Congar, and Andrews were eminent lawyers in full practice, they soon took

place in the front rank of the profession. Business flowed in upon them,

and from 1837 to 1840, the number of suits brought by them in the Court of

Common Pleas averaged two hundred and fifty per year; whilst during the

same time they appeared for the defence in twice that number of cases

annually. Briefs in all those cases were, to a great extent, prepared by

Judge Willson. Upon Mr. Payne's retirement, a partnership was formed with

Hon. Edward Wade and Reuben Hitchcock, and after a while the firm was

changed to Willson, Wade & Wade. Under these partnerships the extensive

business and high reputation of the old firm were preserved and increased.

In 1852, Judge Willson ran for Congress on the Democratic ticket, against

William Case on the Whig and Edward Wade on the Free Soil tickets. Mr.

Wade was elected, but Judge Willson received a very handsome vote.

In the Winter of 1854, a bill was introduced to divide the State of Ohio,

for United States judicial purposes, into two districts. The members of

the Cleveland Bar pressed the matter vigorously, and after a sharp

struggle in Congress, the bill creating the United States Court for the

Northern District of Ohio was passed. During the pendency of the measure,

and when the prospects were unfavorable for its passage, Judge Willson was

chosen by the Cleveland Bar to proceed to Washington and labor in the

interest of the bill. This was done, and the final triumph of the bill was

doubtless owing in great measure to his unwearied industry in its behalf.

In March, 1855, President Pierce appointed Mr. Willson judge of the

District Court just authorized.

The formation of the court and the appointment of Judge Willson as its

presiding officer, gave general satisfaction. A banquet was held by the

lawyers to celebrate the event, and although Judge Willson was a strong

political partizan, the leading lawyers of all parties vied with each

other in testifying their entire confidence in the ability and

impartiality of the new judge. Nor was their confidence misplaced. In

becoming a judge he ceased to be a politician, and no purely political, or

personal, motives swayed his decisions. He was admitted by all to have

been an upright judge.

The new court found plenty to do. In addition to the ordinary criminal

and civil business, the location of the court on the lake border brought

to it a large amount of admiralty cases. In such cases, the extensive

knowledge and critical acumen of Judge Willson were favorably displayed.

Many of his decisions were models of deep research and lucid statement.

One of his earliest decisions of this character was in relation to

maritime liens. The steamboat America had been abandoned and sunk, and

only a part of her tackle and rigging saved. These were attached for debt

for materials, and the question arose on the legality of the claim

against articles no longer a part of the vessel. Judge Willson held that

the maritime lien of men for wages, and material men for supplies, is a

proprietary interest in the vessel itself, and can not be diverted by the

acts of the owner or by any casualty, until the claim is paid, and that

such lien inheres to the ship and all her parts wherever found and

whoever may be the owner. In the case of L. Wick _vs._ the schooner

Samuel Strong, in 1855, Judge Willson reviewed the history and intent of

the common carrier act of Ohio, in an opinion of much interest. A case,

not in admiralty, but in the criminal business of the court, gave the

judge another opportunity for falling back on his inexhaustible stores of

legal and historical knowledge. The question was on the point whether the

action of a grand jury was legal in returning a bill of indictment found

only by fourteen members, the fifteenth member being absent and taking no

part in the proceedings. Judge Willson reviewed the matter at length,

citing precedents of the English and American courts for several

centuries to show that the action was legal.

A very noticeable case was what is known in the legal history of

Cleveland as "The Bridge Case," in which Charles Avery sued the city of

Cleveland, to prevent the construction of a bridge across the Cuyahoga,

at the foot of Lighthouse street. The questions arising were: the

legislative authority of the city to bridge the river, and whether the

bridge would be a nuisance, damaging the complainant's private property.

The decision of Judge Willson, granting a preliminary injunction until

further evidence could be taken, was a thorough review of the law

relating to water highways and their obstructions. In the opinion on the

Parker water-wheel case, he exhibited a clear knowledge of mechanics, and

gave an exhaustive exposition of the law of patents. In the case of Hoag

_vs_ the propeller Cataract, the law of collision was set forth and

numerous precedents cited. In 1860, important decisions were given in

respect to the extent of United States jurisdiction on the Western lakes

and rivers. It was decided, and the decisions supported by voluminous

precedents, that the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction possessed by the

District Courts of the United States, on the Western lakes and rivers,

under the Constitution and Act of 1789, was independent of the Act of

1845, and unaffected thereby; and also that the District Courts of the

United States, having under the Constitution and Acts of Congress,

exclusive original cognizance of all civil causes of admiralty and

maritime jurisdiction, the Courts of Common Law are precluded from

proceeding _in rem_ to enforce such maritime claims.

These are but a very few of the many important cases coming before Judge

Willson's court and decided by him in a manner that made his decisions

important precedents.

The judicial administration of Judge Willson was noticeable also for its

connection with events of national importance. And here it should be again

repeated, that in all his conduct on the bench he divested himself of

personal or party predilections and prejudices. To him it was of no

consequence who were parties to the case, or what the political effect of

a decision would be; he inquired only what were the facts in the matter

and what the law bearing upon them. The keynote of his character in this

respect may be known from an extract taken from his charge to the grand

jury in the Winter term of 1856, in which it was expected a case would

come before that body of alleged impropriety or crime by a Government

officer, growing out of party zeal during a very heated political canvass.

The passions of men were intensely excited at the time of the delivery of

the charge, and that address had the effect of suddenly cooling down the

popular mind, in the city and vicinity at least, and of bringing about a

better state of feeling. After referring impressively to the language of

the oath taken by the grand jury, to present none through malice, and

except none through favouritism, Judge Willson said:

It was but yesterday our ears were deafened by the turmoil and clamour

of political strife, shaking the great national fabric to its centre,

and threatening the stability of the Government itself. In that fearful

conflict for the control of the Executive and Legislative Departments of

the Federal Government, all the evil passions of men seem to have been

aroused. Vituperation and scandal, malice, hatred and ill-will had

blotted out from the land all brotherly love, and swept away those

characteristics which should distinguish us as a nation of Christians.

How important, then, it is for us, coming up here to perform the duties

incident to the courts, to come with minds free from prejudice, free

from passions, and free from the influence of the angry elements around

us. To come with a fixed purpose of administering justice with truth,

according to the laws of the land. A dangerous political contagion has

become rampant in our country, invading the holy sanctuaries of the

"Prince of Peace" and polluting the very fountains of Eternal Truth.

God forbid the time may ever come when the temples of justice in our

land shall be desecrated by this unhallowed and contaminating influence,

or by wanton disregard of the Constitution, or by a perfidious

delinquency on the part of the ministers of the law. Here let passion

and prejudice find no abiding place. Here let equal and exact justice be

meted out to all men--to rich and to the poor--to the high and the low,

and above all things, with you, gentlemen, here preserve with scrupulons

fidelity the sanctity of your oaths, and discharge your whole duty

without fear and without favour. Put justice to the line and truth to

the plummet, and act up fully to the obligations of that oath, and you

will ever enjoy those rich consolations which always flow from a

conscientious discharge of a sworn duty.

To men of your intelligence and probity, these admonitions are, perhaps,

unnecessary. Knowing, however, the reluctance and pain with which the

misconduct of men in office is inquired into, by those who cherish the

same political sentiments, I am confident, gentlemen, that in times like

these, you can not exercise too great caution in excluding from your

minds all considerations, as to whether the party charged before you is

the appointee of this or of that administration, or whether he belongs

to this or that political organization or party.

In 1858, came before the court the historic case of the Oberlin-Wellington

Rescue. The facts of the case were, briefly, that on the first of March,

1857, a negro slave named John, the property of John G. Bacon, of

Kentucky, escaped across the river into Ohio. In October, 1858, the negro

was traced out and arrested within the Northern District of Ohio, by one

Anderson Jennings, holding a power of attorney from Bacon. In company with

an assistant named Love, Jennings took the negro to Wellington, Lorain

county, with the purpose of taking the cars for Cincinnati, and thence

returning the negro to Kentucky and remitting him to slavery. A number of

residents of Oberlin concerted a plan of rescue marched to Wellington,

entered the hotel where John was kept, took him from his captors, placed

him in a buggy, and carried him off. Indictments were found against the

leading rescuers, who comprised among others some of the leading men of

the college and village of Oberlin, and they were brought to trial, fined,

and imprisoned. The trial created great excitement, and, whilst it was

pending, a monster demonstration against the Fugitive Slave Law was held

on the Public Square, midway between the building where the court held its

sessions and the jail in which the accused were confined. At one time

fears were entertained of violence, threats being freely uttered by some

of the more headstrong that the law should be defied and the prisoners

released by force. Cooler counsels prevailed, and the law, odious as it

was felt to be, was allowed to take its course. In this exciting time the

charges and judgments of Judge Willson were calm and dispassionate, wholly

divested of partisanship, and merely pointing out the provisions of the

law and the necessity of obedience to it, however irksome such obedience

might be, until it was repealed.

[Illustration: H. V. Willson]

In the November term of 1859, when the public mind was still agitated by

the John Brown raid and by the tragic affairs succeeding it, and when the

excitement of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue had not wholly subsided, the

attention of Judge Willson was called to these matters by the District

Attorney, and in his charge to the grand jury he took occasion to define

the law of treason, with especial bearing on those events. It was a clear,

logical exposition of the law, pointing out the line of distinction

between a meeting for the expression of opinions hostile to the Government

and a gathering for the purpose of violently opposing or overturning the

Government.

In 1861, when the rebellion had broken out, and it was supposed

sympathizers with it were in Ohio plotting aid to the rebels, Judge

Willson delivered a charge to the grand jury, again defining the law in

regard to conspiracy and treason, and in the course of his address

took occasion to unreservedly condemn the motives and actions of the

rebels. He said:

The loyal people of this great nation have enjoyed the blessings of our

excellent Constitution too long and too well, to be insensible of its

value or to permit its destruction. They have not yet been schooled to

the heresy, that this noble Government is a mere myth, or that it is

destitute of the inherent power of perpetuating its own existence. On

the contrary, next to their religion, they love and cherish it above all

things on earth, not only because it is the rich and sacred legacy of a

revered and patriotic ancestry, but because it is a Government of law,

possessing the authority to maintain social and civil order, giving to

its citizens security of property, of person and of life.

It is not surprising, therefore, that this bold and mad rebellion in the

Southern States, has excited, in all patriotic hearts, a spontaneous and

indignant feeling against treason and traitors, wherever they may be

found in our land. It is a rebellion without cause and without

justification. It had its conception in the wicked hearts of ambitious

men. Possibly, some of the chief conspirators may be actuated by the

spirit of the sacrilegious incendiary who fired the Ephesian temple to

immortalize his name by the infamy of the act.

Let the motives of the conspirators be what they may, this open,

organized and armed resistance to the Government of the United States is

_treason_, and those engaged in it justly merit the penalty denounced

against traitors.

Nor should we be misled by false notions of the reserved right of the

States to secede from the Union. This assumed right, claimed by the

States in rebellion, is false in theory; it is of the highest criminalty

in practice, and without the semblance of authority in the Constitution.

The right of secession, (said the lamented Webster,) "as a practical

right, existing under the Constitution, is simply an absurdity; for it

supposes resistance to Government under the authority of the Government

itself--it supposes dismemberment without violating the principles of

Union--it supposes opposition to law without crime--it sanctions the

violation of oaths without responsibility, and the total overthrow of

the Government without revolution."

The history of this wicked rebellion already shows that many of those

who have shared the largest in the offices and emoluments, as well as in

the blessings of the National Government, have fallen the lowest in

infamy in attempting its overthrow.

If this Union is to be perpetuated, and the Government itself is to

exist as a power among the nations, its laws must be enforced at all

hazards and at any cost. And especially should courts and juries do

their whole duty, without respect to persons, when crimes are committed,

tending to the subversion of the Government and the destruction of our

cherished institutions.

At the January term, 1864, he delivered another admirable charge, in which

he discussed the questions arising under the then recent act of Congress

authorizing a draft under the direction of the President without the

intervention of the State authorities, and by a very logical and

conclusive argument established the constitutional validity of the act in

question. The crime of resisting the draft, obstructing its execution by

the officers appointed for that purpose, and enticing soldiers to desert,

were defined with great clearness, resisting the enrolling officer being

held to be within the offences embraced in the act. These were but a few

of the topics treated by the Judge. The entire charge was able, well-timed

and patriotic, and was admirably calculated to conciliate and unite public

opinion in support of the law and the measures of the Government to

enforce it.

In 1865, the health of Judge Willson began to give way and symptoms of

consumption appeared. He was strongly urged by his friends to leave his

business for a time and seek the restoration of his health in a milder

climate. As Winter approached he yielded to their persuasions and visited

New Orleans and the West Indies. Unhappily the weather was unusually

severe for those latitudes, and he derived no benefit from his trip. He

was glad to reach the quiet and comfort of home once more. His sense of

duty was so strong that, though unfit to leave his home, he came down to

the city, opened court, so as to set the machinery in order, but found

himself unable to preside and was compelled to return home, where he

awaited in patience the coming of the destroyer.

On the evening of November 11th, 1866, he died. A few hours before his

death he suffered much, his breathing being labored and painful. As his

end approached, however, he became easier, and his life went out without a

struggle. Some months earlier, the Judge, who had for years been an

attendant of the services in the First Presbyterian church, and an active

supporter of that congregation, made a profession of religion and received

the rite of baptism. He was perfectly conscious to the close of his life,

and although hopeful of recovery, as is usual with the victims of

consumption, had been fully aware of his precarious situation, and had

thoughtfully contemplated his approaching end. He left a widow and a

daughter, Mrs. Chamberlin, well provided for.

On the announcement of his death the members of the Cleveland Bar

immediately assembled, and young or old, of all shades of opinion in the

profession, vied with each other in bearing testimony to the uprightness,

ability, and moral worth of the deceased. His death occasioned unaffected

sorrow among those who had known him, and among the large number of his

legal brethren who had greater or less opportunities of official

intercourse with him he did not leave a single enemy. The Bar meeting

unanimously adopted the following resolutions of respect:

We, the members of the Bar of the Northern District of Ohio having

learned that our brother, the Hon. Hiram V. Willson, departed this life

yesterday evening, (Nov. 11,) at his residence, and desiring to pay a

tribute of affection and respect to one who was our beloved associate at

this Bar for twenty-one years, and anxious also to acknowledge our

obligation to him, by whose influence and labors the Courts of the

United States were established in our midst, and who has so ably and

uprightly presided over those Courts for a period of more than eleven

years, do hereby

_Resolve,_ 1st. That in the death of Judge Willson the Bench has lost a

learned, upright and fearless Judge, ever doing right and equity among

the suitors of his Court, fearing only the errors and mistakes to which

a fallible human judgment is ever liable. Urbanity and courtesy to the

older members of the Bar, protecting and loving kindness to its younger

members, and deep and abiding interest in the reputation of all, were

among his distinguishing characteristics.

2d. That in him we have lost a near and dear friend, disliked,

disrelished by none, but esteemed and loved by all.

3d. That we wear the usual mourning and attend his funeral in a body, on

Wednesday next.

4th. That the Chairman of this Committee present this report to our

Court of Common Pleas, and request the same to be entered on the record

of said Court.

5th. That the United States District Attorney for Northern Ohio be

requested to present this report to the Circuit and District Courts of

said District at their next term and request that the same be entered

and recorded in said Courts.

6th. That the officers of this meeting be directed to send a copy of its

proceedings to the family of the deceased.

At the opening of the next term of the United States District Court under

Judge Sherman, the successor to Judge Willson, these resolutions were

read, and warm eulogies on the deceased were made by U. S. District

Attorney, F. J. Dickman, U. S. Commissioner Bushnell White, George W.

Willey Esq., Hon. K. P. Spalding and Judge Sherman.

The funeral services over the remains of Judge Willson were held in the

First Presbyterian church, conducted by Rev. Dr. Atterburry, assisted by

Rev. Dr. Aiken. The Supreme Court of Ohio, United States Courts of

Pennsylvania and Michigan, the Cleveland Bench and Bar, and the City

Government were fully represented at the ceremonies, which were also

participated in by a very large concourse of citizens.

Samuel Starkweather.

As a member of the legal profession, both on the Bench and at the Bar, as

the chief magistrate of the city, and as an United States revenue officer,

and as a citizen of Cleveland, Samuel Starkweather has held honorable

prominence for forty years.

He was born in the village of Pawtucket, Massachusetts, on the border of

Rhode Island, a village celebrated as the seat of the first cotton

manufactures in the United States. He was the son of the Honorable Oliver

Starkweather, an extensive and successful manufacturer, and grandson of

the Honorable Ephraim Starkweather, who was prominent among the patriots

of the Revolution.

The subject of this sketch worked on a farm until nearly seventeen years

of age, when he began to fit himself for college, after which he entered

Brown University, Rhode Island, where he graduated with the second honors

of his class, in the year 1822, and was soon afterward elected a tutor in

that institution, which position he held until the year 1824, when he

resigned, to commence the study of the law, which he pursued in the office

of Judge Swift, in Windham, Connecticut, and afterwards in attendance upon

the lectures of Chancellor Kent, of New York. He was admitted to the Bar

of Ohio at Columbus, in the Winter of 1826-7, and soon after settled in

Cleveland, then a village of a few hundred inhabitants, and was recognized

as a lawyer of learning and ability in this and the adjoining counties.

Mr. Starkweather was prominent among the leaders of the Democratic party

of this State, when its principles were well defined, and was a strong

adherent to the administrations of Presidents Jackson and Van Buren, but

his being always in the political minority in the part of the State in

which he lived, prevented those high political preferments which otherwise

would have been conferred upon him. In this connection it is proper to

say, that for Mr. Starkweather to have attained the highest eminence in

the legal profession, it was only necessary that he should have made it

his specialty.

Under the administrations of Presidents Jackson and Van Buren, Mr.

Starkweather held the office of Collector of Customs of this District, and

Superintendent of Light-Houses, and under his supervision most of the

sites were purchased, and the light-houses erected on the Southern shore

of Lake Erie. He continued to hold these offices in connection with his

practice of the law, until 1840.

In 1844, Mr. Starkweather was elected Mayor of the city of Cleveland,

having previously taken a leading part in the City Councils. He was

re-elected in 1845, and was again elected Mayor in 1857, for two years,

and in these positions was active in promoting those improvements in the

city which have tended to its prosperity and beauty. To Mr. Starkweather

the public schools of the city are much indebted for the interest which he

has always taken in their behalf; and to his advocacy and efforts, with

those of Mr. Charles Bradburn, the High School of the city owes its first

establishment.

In the early struggles for advancing the schemes of railroads, the

accomplishment of which has made Cleveland the great city of commerce and

manufactures, no one was more active than Mr. Starkweather. When the

project of building the Cleveland & Columbus road was at a stand-still,

and was on the point of being, for the time, abandoned, as a final effort

a meeting of the business men of Cleveland was called. The speech of Mr.

Starkweather on that occasion, parts of which are quoted to this day, had

the effect to breathe into that enterprise the breath of life, and from

that meeting it went immediately onward to its final completion. So well

were the services of Mr. Starkweather in behalf of that road appreciated

at the time, that one of the Directors proposed that he should have a

pass upon it for life.

Mr. Starkweather, in 1852, was the first Judge elected to the Court of

Common Pleas for Cuyahoga county, under the new constitution of the State,

in which position he served for five years with ability and satisfaction

to the members of the Bar and the public generally. For a considerable

portion of his term, the entire docket of both civil and criminal business

devolved on Mm, when an additional Judge was allowed the county. He

presided at some very important State trials, in which, as in the

disposition of a very large amount of civil business, he exhibited

abundant legal learning and judicial discrimination.

Since he retired from the Bench he has been known as a citizen of wealth,

of retired habits, but of influence in public affairs, and retaining to

the full the conversational gifts which have made him the life and charm

of social and professional circles. Indeed it may be said that either at

the Bar, in well remembered efforts of marked brilliancy as an advocate,

or on the Bench, occasionally illuminating the soberness of judicial

proceedings, or in assemblies on prominent public occasions occurring all

through his life, eloquence, wit and humor seemed ready to his use. A fine

_belle lettres_ scholar, classical, historical and biographical adornments

and incidents seemed always naturally to flow in to enrich his discourse,

whether in private or public. He has often been spoken of as of the Corwin

cast, perhaps a slight personal resemblance aiding the suggestion. He

certainly has the like gifts of the charming conversationalist and the

popular orator, in which last capacity, for many years, he was the prompt

choice of the public on leading occasions, such as at the grand reception

given to Van Buren after his defeat in 1840; the magnificent reception

tendered by the city to Kossuth; at the completion of the Cleveland &

Columbus Railway on the 22nd of February, 1852; at the dedication of

Woodland Cemetery, and at many other times when the public were most

anxious to put a gifted man forward.

[Illustration: Truly Yours, Moses Kelly]

Moses Kelly.

The subject of this sketch was born January 21st, 1809, in the township of

Groveland, now county of Livingston, then county of Ontario, State of New

York. He was the oldest son of Daniel Kelly, who emigrated from the State

of Pennsylvania to Western New York in the year 1797. He is of

Scotch-Irish descent in the paternal line, and of German descent on the

side of his mother. His great grandfather, on his father's side, emigrated

from the North of Ireland to America, early in the eighteenth century, and

settled in the State of Pennsylvania, within a few miles of the city of

Philadelphia; his grandfather, born there, was a Revolutionary soldier.

Mr. Kelly lived with his father, on a farm in Groveland, until he was

eighteen years old, having the usual advantages, and following the

ordinary pursuits of a farmer's son.

At the age of eighteen he entered the High School on Temple Hill, in the

village of Genesee, Livingston county, New York, and commenced preparing

for college, under the tuition of that eminent scholar and accomplished

educator, the late Cornelius C. Felton, who subsequently became President

of Harvard University. Mr. Kelly entered the Freshman class at Harvard in

1829, and graduated with his class in the year 1833. He immediately

commenced the study of the law, with the late Orlando Hastings, Esq., of

Rochester, N. Y., and read three years in his office and under his

direction, when he was admitted to practice. He came to Cleveland in the

year 1836, and formed a law copartnership with his old friend, college

classmate and chum, the Hon. Thomas Bolton; the firm name was Bolton &

Kelly. This partnership continued until the year 1851, when S. O. Griswold

Esq., who had been their law student, was taken into the firm; the firm

name thereafter being Bolton, Kelly & Griswold. This connection continued

until the close of the year 1856, when Mr. Bolton was elected Judge of the

Court of Common Pleas. Since Judge Bolton retired from the firm Messrs.

Kelly & Griswold have continued the practice of law under that firm name,

and are still engaged in the practice.

Mr. Kelly has made commercial law and equity jurisprudence his special

studies, and in these branches of the law his great skill and learning are

acknowledged by all his brethren. Indeed, as an equity lawyer he stands at

the head of the profession.

It will be seen from the year 1836 until the present time, Mr. Kelly has

devoted himself closely to the practice of the law; the only interruption

to this was a two years service as State senator in the legislature of

Ohio during the years 1844 and 1845. He was elected to the senate by the

Whig party of the counties of Cuyahoga and Geauga, these two counties then

composing one senatorial district. During the first session of the General

Assembly, of which he was a member, the Democrats had a majority in the

Senate while the Whigs had the control of the lower house. As is usual

when a legislature is thus politically divided, no measures of general

interest were adopted. But there happened during that session to arise a

question which showed Mr. Kelly's independence, and true character. The

Democracy had made complaint of the Whig extravagance and laid great claim

on their own part to retrenchment and economy in the State administration.

The Whigs to make political capital, proposed a bill reducing the salaries

of all State officers; the salary of the Judges was put at $750 per year

and the pay of all other State officials in the same ratio. The measure

was adopted by the party caucus, and was carried through the lower house.

It was hoped by many that the Senate, being Democratic, would defeat the

bill, and thus the Whigs would have credit for great economy at the

expense of the Democrats. But when it came to that body, the Democracy,

not to be out done by their opponents, favored the bill.

Mr. Kelly, singly and alone of all his party, opposed the measure, and

spoke and voted against it. The bill was finally carried but was repealed

in the course of a year or two afterwards.

The most prominent subject before the legislature at the second session

was the establishment of a suitable banking system for the State. The

business men of Cleveland were in favor of free banks, but the great body

of the Whig party were strongly in favor of a State Bank and branches, and

having a majority in both houses in the session of 1845 were determined to

establish that system. Mr. Kelly succeeded in engrafting upon the State

Bank scheme the Independent Bank system, with State stocks pledged to

secure the circulation, and also in adding additional checks and

safeguards to the State Bank. His efforts in this direction were duly

appreciated by his constituents, and at a public meeting, called by the

principal business men of the city, irrespective of party, his action on

the Bank bill was specially approved.

It is to be observed also that the present National Bank system is modeled

after the plan of free banking advocated by Mr. Kelly at that time.

During the same session a question arose in which Mr. Kelly took an

active part, in opposition to the great body of his party, the event of

which vindicated his sagacity and practical statesmanship. The question

was upon a bill to grant to the Ohio Life and Trust Company authority to

issue bills to circulate as currency, to the extent of half a million of

dollars. At the time this bill was introduced no banking System had been

adopted by the legislature; most of the charters of the old banks had

expired prior to that time, and the State was without an adequate bank

circulation of its own. The chief stockholders and managers of that

corporation were men of high character and great wealth. The company had

been successfully managed, and its credit was then deservedly high. Also

the principal men of the company were leading Whigs, among these were

Judges Jacob Burnett and John E. Wright of Cincinnati, Nathaniel Wright

of Cincinnati and Alfred Kelley Esq., who was also at the same time a

member of the senate from the Franklin district, and this application on

the part of the company was backed by the presence and Personal influence

of these gentlemen. The plea made by this company for this additional

banking privilege was exceedingly plausible, and the measure was approved

in a caucus of the Whig members almost without inquiry. The bill was

introduced into the Senate by the Hon. Alfred Kelley, and its success was

considered certain. Mr. Moses Kelly, alone of his party, expressed his

opposition to the bill. Urged as the measure was by so many leading men,'

and introduced by the acknowledged leader of the party, it seemed that

such opposition must be fruitless. But on the third reading of the bill

Mr. Kelly attacked it in a speech of great vigor, and strength of

argument. He opposed it as unjust towards any banking system that might

be established and as unwise in giving additional privileges to an

already powerful corporation. Bat he opposed it chiefly because it gave

to the corporation power to issue bills as money simply on individual

security. He contended that whenever the State permitted any corporation

or organization to issue bills to pass as money the faith of the State

should be pledged to their ultimate redemption. While paying a high

compliment to the ability and integrity of the managers of the Ohio Life

and Trust Company, he declared there was no security but what in the

future it might pass into the control of Wall street shavers and brokers,

and from thence to ruin, and the people of the State left remediless with

a worthless circulation in their hands. His vigorous opposition, and the

strength of his argument awakened the attention of the party to the evils

of the measure, and notwithstanding its powerful backing, the bill was

effectually killed by Mr. Kelly's speech.

Mr. Alfred Kelley was greatly grieved at the failure of this measure. He

however lived to see his error, and the ruinous failure of that company

through the recklessness of the Wall street management into whose hands,

as had been predicted, that company finally fell. Judge John C. Wright,

now in Columbus, advocated the aforesaid measure. He was then the senior

editor of the Cincinnati Gazette, and the influence of his paper was given

to the bill. Although old, he was in the full enjoyment of his powers of

intellect, and at that time wielded a great influence in the political

affairs of the State. It happened that he was present in the senate

chamber when Mr. Kelly made his speech against the bill; although

chagrined at the defeat of the measure in which he had such personal

interest, so struck was he with the originality and force of the argument

of Mr. Kelly, and with his independence of character, and ability to rise

above mere party considerations in his legislative career, that he sought

Mr. Kelly's personal acquaintance, and during the remainder of his life

there existed a warm personal friendship between them.

At the expiration of his term of service Mr. Kelly returned to the

practice and ever since has devoted his energies to his profession. The

office of Bolton & Kelly has been the school of many prominent lawyers.

Among the members of the Cleveland Bar who studied under them are Messrs.

F. T. Backus, George Willey, John E. Cary and his present partner, Mr.

Griswold. Mr. Kelly was City Attorney in the year 1839, and a member of

the City Council in 1841. While he was in the Council he was active in

support of the Lake Shore improvement, which stopped the rapid

encroachment of the Lake upon the shore in front of Lake street.

In 1849, Mr. Kelly was appointed by the legislature one of the

Commissioners of the city of Cleveland to subscribe on behalf of the city

to the capital stock of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad Company. He

accepted the trust, and for a number of successive years thereafter, until

the stock of the city in that road was disposed of, was chosen a Director

of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad Company, to represent the

interests of this city in the capital stock of that company.

In September, 1866, he was appointed by President Johnson District

Attorney of the United States for the Northern District of Ohio, and held

the office until the next March, not having been confirmed by the Radical

senate for the reason that he had been a member of the Philadelphia

Convention of the previous summer.

On the organization of the City Bank of Cleveland under the law of 1845,

Mr. Kelly became a stockholder therein and was a director, and its

attorney, during its existence, and has continued in the same connection

with the National City Bank which succeeded the former. He also for a

number of years has been a director and attorney of the Cuyahoga Steam

Furnace Company.

Mr. Kelly was one of the organizers of St. Paul's Episcopal church, and

has always remained a liberal supporter of the same.

He was married in the year 1839 to Jane, the daughter of Gen. Hezekiah

Howe, of New Haven, Conn.

In 1850, Mr. Kelly purchased a tract of about thirty acres, being a part

of what was then known as the "Giddings farm," fronting on Euclid avenue,

a short distance East of Willson avenue. Here he soon after erected a

tasteful dwelling, where he has since resided, and where in the leisure

snatched from professional avocations he has gratified his taste for

horticultural and agricultural pursuits.

In person Mr. Kelly is tall and spare, and dignified in demeanor, and

although he has reached three score, he is still active and in good

health. His character for integrity is unblemished and in his long

professional career has never been known to uphold or defend a

dishonorable cause. His rule has been to decline advocating causes which,

in his judgment, have neither merits nor justice. In social intercourse he

is affable and genial, and in public, private and professional life, has

always commanded the respect, esteem and confidence of his fellow men.

Firm in his convictions of duty, and resolute in doing it, yet so

respectful and courteous to opponents is he that he may be said to be a

man without an enemy.

The great rise in real estate and his professional earnings have rendered

Mr. Kelly, if not what in these days would be called wealthy,

comparatively rich, and surrounded, as he is, by an affectionate family

and kind friends and possessed of all the enjoyments which culture and a

successful life brings, we trust he may long continue amongst us.

Thomas Bolton.

It has been said of history, that it should never venture to deal

except with periods comparatively remote. And this was doubtless true

when literature was venal, or in any way subservient to royal or to

party power.

It has been alike suggested of biography, that it cannot be securely

trusted in the portrayal of the living. And this is no doubt true where

political or partisan objects are sought to be subserved. But with this

exception the most faithful portraits may naturally be expected where

the subjects of them are before us, and familiarly known to us. And so

that the hand refrains from those warmer tints which personal friendship

might inspire, and simply aims at sketches which the general judgment

may recognize and approve, the task, however difficult, cannot be said

to be unsafe.

Thomas Bolton was born in Scipio, Cayuga county, New York, November 29th,

1809. His father was an extensive farmer in that section of western New

York, where rich fields, and flowing streams, and beautiful scenery, are

happily combined.

At seventeen he entered the High School on Temple Hill, in Geneseo, where

he fitted for college; and in the Fall of 1829, he entered Harvard

University, where he graduated in 1833, the first in his class in

mathematics. In this connection, it is pleasant to advert to the fact

that his most intimate schoolmate, classmate and fellow graduate, was

Hon. Moses Kelly, who was afterwards his partner in the law for many

years at Cleveland, and that between the two from boyhood down to the

present day, there has been a steadfast and unbroken life-friendship

almost fraternal, both now in affluence, but still living side by side.

Such life-long friendships are unusual, but whenever they do exist, they

imply the presence in both parties of true and trusty qualities which

preserve their character as pure cement, exposed to any atmosphere, or

tried in any furnace.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, Thomas Bolton]

After graduating, Mr. Bolton entered upon the study of law at

Canandaigua, in the office of John G. Spencer, now deceased, but then a

strong and distinguished name in the profession. At the end of a year he

came west, to seek a permanent location to further pursue his studies and

enter upon the practice, first stopping at Cleveland, on finding that any

further west was hardly within the pale of civilization. Cleveland itself

was then, September, 1834, but a mere village, of about twenty-five

hundred inhabitants. Superior street had not been graded, and at its

western terminus was higher than the first story of the Atwater Block, and

the bank of the lake extended fifteen rods out beyond the present Union

Depot. The village did not become a city till 1836, when at a public

meeting to determine upon the corporate limits, Mr. Bolton was appointed

on a committee to draft the charter, and urged that both sides of the

river should be embraced, but was overruled, and Ohio City was established

on the other side of the river as a sort of rival, but since consolidated

with Cleveland. His connection with city affairs was renewed as

Councilman in 1839, and as Alderman in 1841.

But to go back to his professional life. Having studied law in the office

of James L. Conger, at Cleveland, for a year, he was admitted to the Bar

in September, 1835, by the Supreme Court of Ohio, on the Circuit, Chief

Justice Peter Hitchcock, that Nestor among judges, then presiding. He was

in partnership with Mr. Conger for a year, when he bought him out and sent

for his old college friend, Mr. Kelly, with whom he formed a partnership,

which continued until the Fall of 1856, a period of twenty years, when he

was elected to the Bench.

As bearing upon his political career, it may be narrated, that in the Fall

of 1839, he was elected prosecuting attorney of the county, at which time

the Whig party was largely in the ascendancy, commanding from 1,500 to

2,000 majority, though he was a Democrat and nominated by the Democrats

for the office. Two years later, at the expiration of his term, he was

strongly solicited by both parties to take the office another term, but

declined in consequence of the inadequacy of the salary.

An incident occurred during his term as prosecuting attorney which had a

marked effect upon the politics of Cleveland and its vicinity. Up to 1841,

slave-owners were in the habit of sending their agents to Cleveland and

causing their runaway slaves to be arrested and taken before a magistrate,

when a warrant would be obtained to return the slave, and he would be

carried back into slavery. All this was done openly and publicly, creating

little or no excitement, and Mr. Bolton, in the practice of his

profession, was more frequently employed for this purpose than any other

attorney in the city. In the Spring of 1841, three negroes, who were

claimed as slaves, had run away from New Orleans and were in Buffalo. The

agent of their master applied to a law firm in Cleveland for assistance.

At that time, slaves arrested in Buffalo were in the habit of claiming a

trial by jury, which was granted. To avoid a jury, with its sympathies, it

was thought advisable to get the negroes into Ohio, and, accordingly, one

of the attorneys, the agent and a negro of Cleveland, repaired to Buffalo.

On their return the three negroes came with them, and it was said they had

been kidnapped. On their arrival at Cleveland, the negroes were arrested

under the law of Congress as fugitives from service, and lodged in the

county jail. This information coming to the ears of the few Abolitionists

then in the city, among others the late Hon. Edward Wade and Hon. John A.

Foot, lawyers at the time in full practice, they applied to the jailor for

admission to consult with the negroes. But public opinion was so strongly

prejudiced against the Abolitionists that neither the jailor nor the

sheriff would permit any of them to communicate with the prisoners.

Accidentally, a colored man inquired of Mr. Bolton if he would take up

their defence. He readily assented, and being prosecuting attorney of the

county, and it being well understood that he was not an Abolitionist, the

doors of the jail were readily opened to him, and he immediately made

preparations for a vigorous defence of the prisoners. A writ of _habeas

corpus_ was immediately applied for to Judge Barber, one of the associate

judges at the time; the negroes were brought before him, and their case

continued for ninety days, to prepare for a defence.

When it was known about town that Mr. Bolton had undertaken the defence of

the negroes, great indignation was excited, and many threatened to tear

down his office, and to use violence toward his person. This only aroused

him to greater energy and effort in behalf of the prisoners. In the

meantime indictments were procured in Buffalo against the alleged

kidnappers, and the excitement in the city greatly increased, so that on

the day of the trial the court-house was packed with people. After an

investigation, which lasted two days, the court discharged the defendants

and they went acquit.

From the iniquitous proceeding in the case, and the manner in which it

was prosecuted, and the excitement it produced, the community was led to

reflect upon the iniquity of the system and the oppression of the law;

and from that day till the slave-girl Lucy was sent back into Virginia

slavery, in 1862, (to appease, it is said, the wrath of the rebels,) not

a negro was sent back into slavery from the city of Cleveland, or county

of Cuyahoga.

Mr. Bolton left the Democratic party in 1848, or, as he claims, it left

him when it adopted its national platform of that year. He then joined the

Free Soil party, and was a delegate to the Buffalo Convention, and one of

its secretaries. In February, 1856, he assisted in organizing the

Republican party at the Pittsburgh Convention, and in the Summer of the

same year was a delegate from this Congressional District in the

Philadelphia Convention, which nominated Fremont and Dayton.

When he was admitted to the Bar, the Court of Common Pleas, under the old

Constitution, consisted of four members, a president judge and three

associates, elected by the Legislature, and the Supreme Court of the State

consisted of four judges, also chosen by the Legislature. A session of the

Supreme Court was held by two of its members once a year in each county,

and three sessions a year were held by the Court of Common Pleas in this

and the adjoining counties. In 1835, Hon. Matthew Birchard, of Warren, was

president judge. He was succeeded by Hon. Van R. Humphrey, of Hudson, and

he by Hon. John W. Willey, of Cleveland, who died during his term. Hon.

Reuben Hitchcock was appointed by the Governor to fill the vacancy, and

Hon. Benjamin Bissel, of Painesville, was elected by the Legislature during

the next session. Hon. Philemon Bliss, then of Elyria, and now Supreme

Judge of Missouri, was afterward elected, and his term was cut short in

1851, by the adoption of the new Constitution, under which the judges were

elected by the people for the term of five years. Hon. Samuel Starkweather

was the first judge elected under the new system, and in 1856. Mr. Bolton

was chosen his successor. In 1861, he was unanimounanimouslynated and

elected without opposition, and in 1866, at the expiration of his second

term, he retired from the Bench and the Bar.

We thus complete our outline sketch of the professional, judicial, and

political career of one of our most prominent and respected citizens.

He came to the Bar of Cleveland before Cleveland was a city, and entered

upon practice with that force and earnestness which were the ruling

elements of his nature. He had able competitors, but he was a strong man

amongst them. His promptness in the courts was proverbial. He was always

ready, and if he granted indulgences he never asked for any. He was less

given to books than his partner, Mr. Kelly, who was the student and

chancery member of the firm, but in the ordinary departments of the common

law and in criminal practice, he was always at home. He prepared his

causes with the most thorough premeditation of the line of his own

evidence, and of all the opposing evidence that could possibly be

anticipated. Hence he moved with rapidity and precision, and was never

taken by surprise. His arguments were not elaborate, or studied in point

of finish, but they were strong, downright practical, and to the point. In

this sense he was a fine and effective speaker to courts and juries.

These same characteristics he exhibited upon the Bench. Hardy and vigorous

in his perceptions and understanding--thoroughly versed and ready in the

law of pleadings and evidence--bringing to bear on the civil code, the

logical training of the common law system--his ten years of service as a

judge were honorable to himself and valuable to the public. In all the

phases of his career and life he has been thoroughly upright.

Retired upon an ample fortune, amassed by forecast and business

energy--fond of his home, and devoted with entire liberality to the

education of his children--independent of office and in all other

ways--strong and robust as ever in person and in mind--he is still a power

in any direction wherever he chooses so to be. His broad, projecting

brow, his direct and forcible speech and bearing, symbolize his character.

They assure you of vital energy, strong, practical comprehension,

directness and will. He may have more of the "_fortiter in re_" than of

the "_suaviter in modo_" but all who know him have faith in his truth,

implicit reliance upon the hearty fidelity of his friendships, and

assurance, that he is always loyal to his convictions, both in public and

in private life.

James M. Hoyt.

Several years since, the writer of this was in conversation with a poor

man who had a hard struggle with misfortune and sickness in his attempt to

rear a large family, and secure them a humble homestead. In the course of

conversation the name of James M. Hoyt was mentioned, and the poor man was

inquired of who that gentleman was. "Lawyer Hoyt?" he replied, "why he's

the _honest lawyer_, God bless him!" He who could acquire this title among

the poor must be no ordinary man.

[Illustration: James M. Hoyt]

James M. Hoyt was born in Utica, New York, January 16, 1815. The

circumstances of his parents were such that he was enabled to acquire a

good education, and graduated at Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, in

1834. On leaving College he commenced the study of law in Utica, but soon

removed to Cleveland, where, in February, 1836, he read law in the office

of Andrews & Foot. He remained with them in that capacity for one year,

when a partnership was formed under the name of Andrews, Foot & Hoyt,

which lasted about twelve years, and was dissolved only by the appointment

of Judge Andrews to the bench of the Superior Court of Cuyahoga county.

The firm of Foot & Hoyt continued four years longer, until in 1853, Mr.

Hoyt withdrew from the practice of law and turned his attention wholly to

the business of real estate, not as a broker, but as an operator on his

own account, or in company with others, nearly all his operations being

adjacent to the city. For the last twenty years his transactions have been

very heavy, having made of land belonging to him wholly, or in part, in

the city of Cleveland and its environs, thirty-one recorded sub-divisions,

covering an area of five hundred acres, on which he has personally, or in

connection with others interested with him, opened and named no less than

seventy-six streets, including the well-known Croton, Laurel, Greenwood,

Humbolt, Mahoning, Kelly, Lynden, Maple, Mayflower and Siegel streets, and

Longwood avenue. He was also largely instrumental in opening Prospect

beyond Hudson, and sold nearly half of the land on Kinsman street, besides

selling a large amount of land on Superior and St. Clair streets; also on

the West Side, Madison avenue, Long street, Colgate street and Waverly

avenue. He has sold in all 3000 lots in Cleveland.

Mr. Hoyt united with the Baptist church in Utica in 1835. Soon after

coming to Cleveland he became connected with the First Baptist church

Sunday school, and was its superintendent twenty-six years, when he

resigned, and became teacher of a congregational Bible class, which labor

of love he has performed for about three years, and still continues.

In 1854, he was licensed to preach the Gospel, by the church with which he

was connected. He was never ordained, and never contemplated being, but

simply desired to testify to Christian truth as a business man on the

principle of "He that heareth, let him say come." For the past fifteen

years he has labored in that capacity more or less in nearly all the

Protestant denominations in the city and elsewhere.

In 1854, he was elected President of the Ohio Baptist State Convention,

and has been re-elected annually ever since, and has held anniversaries

in nearly every city of the State. In 1866, he was elected president of

the American Baptist Home Mission Society, being the national

organization for missions for North America, has been re-elected

annually, and still holds the office. Through all this time Mr. Hoyt has

made many public addresses, and given lectures on both secular and

religious subjects, in addition to publishing a number of articles,

reviews and other literary work.

He was married in 1836 to Miss Mary Ella Beebe, in the city of New York.

Of this marriage have been born six children, five of whom are living. The

oldest daughter, Mary Ella, died in 1854, aged fourteen. The oldest son,

Wayland, is in the Baptist ministry, and is now pastor of the Strong Place

Baptist church, Brooklyn, N. Y. The second son, Colgate, is now clerk and

assistant in his father's business. The daughter, Lydia, is the wife of

Mr. E. J. Farmer, banker of this city.

We do not think it is exaggeration to say, that not a man in the city has

more entwined himself with the affection of the people than Mr. Hoyt. For

many years he has had the power to do untold evil to the poor, and to do

it with a show of justice and legality, but this power was never

exercised. Of the thousands of lots sold by him, a very large proportion

have been for homesteads for the poor, hundreds of whom became involved

through sickness, or other misfortunes, and were not able to make payments

when due; many men died and left encumbered homes for widows to struggle

on with, but they never lacked a friend in James M. Hoyt. Other creditors

would sometimes crowd such persons, but to the extent of his ability he

always kept them at bay, and if the load was in any case too heavy, would

sell for the embarrassed owners, and give them the benefit of the rise in

property. Time and again have we heard such things from the grateful poor.

He is liberal with his means, contributing freely for religious and

charitable purposes. In politics he has ever sided with the party of

progress, and, although not a politician, has added his means and

exertions to the cause whenever necessary. During the war against the

rebellion he was an energetic supporter of the Government, and rendered

valuable aid to the cause of loyalty by his money and influence.

Mr. Hoyt, since his retirement from the legal profession, has devoted much

time to those liberal studies which are too apt to be neglected amid the

engrossing engagements of the Bar. He is a ripe scholar in English

history, and especially in the period between the Revolution of 1688 and

the accession of the House of Hanover. With an eminently practical turn of

mind, he is not disinclined to meta-physical investigations, and we well

remember the enthusiasm and keen zest with which he passed many winter

evenings at the house of a friend in reading, analyzing, and applying the

canons of criticism to Burke's Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful. His

article on Miracles, published in the October number, 1863, of the

Christian Review, contains one of the most searching examinations of

Hume's doctrines extant. It presents a vexed subject in a new and striking

light, and offers an unanswerable argument to the sophistries of the great

skeptic. The article has been widely circulated and much admired for its

logical acumen, and its striking simplification of an apparently complex

subject. With the faculty, in a large degree, of presenting abstract truth

in a form plain, attractive and intelligible to the common understanding,

it is to be hoped that Mr. Hoyt will continue to contribute to the higher

departments of our periodical literature, and thus by his studies and his

pen add to his present usefulness in his daily avocation, for we seldom

find one blessed with such a versatility of talent. He is methodical in

everything, and thorough in everything. In short, he is a good lawyer, a

good preacher, a good citizen, a good business man, a good father, a good

neighbor, and a true friend. He is now only fifty-four years of age, both

mentally and physically vigorous, and we sincerely hope his life of

usefulness may be extended many years.

Franklin T. Backus.