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.
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 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 guiltyanyhow.' '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 tosufferwrong, thandowrong.' In the irrepressible burst of laughter which followed this unexpected response, all joined except the judge and the culprit."
[Illustration: Truly Yours, S. 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.
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.
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. Wickvs.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 Hoagvsthe 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 proceedingin remto 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 istreason, 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.
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 finebelle lettresscholar, 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]
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.