Part 20

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.