Cleveland Past and Present: Its Representative Men Part 29

Entering the office of Benjamin F. Wade, he applied himself with diligence to the study of the law, and after a clerkship of one year was admitted to the Bar. Soon afterward he entered into partnership with his preceptor. The firm of Wade & Ranney was a powerful one, and "ruled the circuit" of North Eastern Ohio. For several years it enjoyed an extensive practice. The firm was dissolved upon the removal of Judge Ranney to Warren, (1844,) and Mr. Wade was soon afterward chosen President Judge of the Third Judicial District, from which position he was transferred to the Senate of the United States.

In 1846, and again in 1848, Judge Ranney was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress. In the Trumbull district the Whig party was largely in the majority, and though Judge Ranney was defeated, he ran considerably ahead of the general ticket, reducing the Whig majority to hundreds, when before, that party had triumphed by thousands.

The people having determined that a convention be held to form a new const.i.tution, Judge Ranney was chosen to represent the counties of Trumbull and Geauga. The convention was held in 1850. It was composed of the first men of the State; both parties seem to have vied with each other in sending their ablest representatives. There were William Medill, its President, who afterwards became Governor of the State; the venerable Ex-Governor Vance; Henry Stanbery, late Attorney General of the United States; Peter Hitchc.o.c.k, for thirty years a judge of the Supreme Court; Benjamin Stanton, long a member of Congress; Judges Joseph E. Swan, Sherlock J. Andrews, Simeon Nash and William Kennon; Charles Reemelin, D. P. Leadbetter, William Sawyer, and others not less prominent in the Judicial and political annals of Ohio.

In that convention, Rufus P. Ranney greatly distinguished himself.

Although but thirty-six years of age he commanded the respect and admiration of all its members, and won for himself a high reputation as a sound lawyer and ready debater. No one was more looked to for advice, and none more generally correct in giving it. He was, in fact, a leader, whose council, in almost every instance, was acceded to by the convention. All the propositions which he introduced were for the welfare and benefit of the people. In the official report of the debates will be found his views upon nearly or quite all of the questions which agitated the convention.

He was the champion of the people against monopolies, and many of the most important provisions in the const.i.tution are the work of his hand.

The course which he pursued met the hearty approval of the people and made his name prominent throughout the State. In response to the wishes of the members of the legal profession, and the general desire of the public, he was, by the legislature of 1851, chosen one of the judges of the Supreme Court. When the new const.i.tution went into effect, he was elected to the same position by a large majority.

Judge Ranney occupied a place upon the Supreme Bench until 1856, when he resigned on account of ill health. That year he was a member of the Cincinnati National Convention, which nominated James Buchanan for President.

In March, 1857, Judge Ranney, unsolicited on his part, received from President Buchanan the appointment of United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. This position he held until July, when he resigned. He then removed to Cleveland, where he resumed the practice of his profession, as a member of the firm of Ranney, Backus & n.o.ble.

In 1859, Governor Chase tendered him the appointment of commissioner to examine and report upon the condition of the State Treasury, this being soon after the Gibson-Breslin defalcation, by which the State lost several hundred thousand dollars. Judge Ranney declined this appointment. The same year he was unanimously nominated by the Democratic State convention as the candidate of that party for Governor--his opponent on the Republican ticket being the Hon. William Dennison, of Franklin county, late Post-Master General of the United States. After a most gallant canva.s.s, Judge Ranney failed of an election, though he ran ahead of the other candidates on the ticket in all parts of the State.

In 1862, against his personal wishes, he was nominated by the Democracy for Judge of the Supreme Court. He consented to be a candidate only after the convention had _positively refused_ to accept his declination.

The Republican nominee was his law partner, the Hon. Franklin T. Backus, one of the most prominent members of the Cuyahoga Bar. The result was the election of Judge Ranney by a decided majority, and although party lines were closely drawn, he again ran ahead of his ticket several thousand votes.

He held the position of judge of the Supreme Court until 1864, when he resigned. Some months afterwards he resumed the practice of his profession in connection with his son-in-law, Mr. T. Kelley Bolton.

During the same year, (1864) he was chosen one of the delegates at large to the Democratic National Convention, which nominated George B.

McClellan for President, and was selected by the Ohio delegation as the member from Ohio of the Democratic National Committee, holding that position until 1868. In the late Presidential campaign, his name headed the Democratic electoral ticket. This closes his public record. It is an interesting one, and though briefly given, exhibits this fact, viz.: the confidence and regard in which he has ever been held by the Democracy of Ohio. Year after year his voice has been heard throughout the State in defence of the Const.i.tution and laws, and the honors which his party have bestowed upon him, are but a merited tribute to his energy, ability, and integrity of character.

As a lawyer, Judge Ranney has ever held the front rank in his profession. His practice has been extensive and important; probably no attorney in the State has, during the past ten years, been retained in as many cases. Possessed of a strong, discriminating mind, capable of enduring long continued mental labor, he unites with activity and energy a determined spirit, which enables him to overcome obstacles which would appal most men.

Judge Ranney is as logical as eloquent, and when his great reasoning powers are brought into full sway, formidable must be the opponent to overcome him. His arguments in court are peculiarly appropriate, clear, calm, and strong; without wordy declamation, vehement gesture, or pa.s.sionate appeal; he seldom fails to carry his point, even when the odds seem overwhelmingly against him.

Judge Ranney has a mind richly stored with not only the treasures of his profession, but of ancient and modern cla.s.sics, and the best literature of the day. He is a great reader, and though he writes but little, whatever proceeds from his pen is marked by elegance and culture.

As a Judge, he was courteous, affable and indulgent. His decisions are his best _monuments_. They exhibit profound learning, sound judgment and extensive research. No judge was more popular upon the Bench. Dignified and benevolent, he enjoyed in an eminent degree the confidence of the Bar and the public. He had the constant respect of those who differed from him in opinion, and when he resigned his seat upon the Bench, the best men of all parties expressed regret at his retirement from a position which he had so much adorned. Pre-eminent in legal knowledge, Rufus P. Ranney has reflected honor upon the judiciary of our country, and is one of the ablest of the many learned men who have graced the Supreme Bench of our State with their presence.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Yours Truly, C. T. Sherman]

Charles Taylor Sherman.

The Sherman family was among the earliest settlers in Ma.s.sachusetts and Connecticut. They and their descendants were men of note in their respective Colonies, of strong, practical minds, pure and lofty in moral tone and character.

They were early actors in the settlement and development of Ohio. Taylor Sherman, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a judge of one of the Superior Courts of Connecticut, and was one of the trustees of the Fire Land Company, to whom was granted, by the State of Connecticut, the lands now comprised by the counties of Huron and Erie, in Ohio. As early as 1800, he was in Ohio, and also in subsequent years, attending to the surveying and allotting the lands to the owners, who suffered from fire in the excursions of Arnold and Tryon, in Connecticut, in the Revolutionary war.

His son, Charles R. Sherman, and father of Charles T. Sherman, emigrated to Ohio in 1810, and settled in Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio. He early became distinguished at the Bar, among the strong and able lawyers then practicing in Central Ohio. In 1824, he was elected one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and died in 1830, whilst in the performance of his duties.

Charles T. Sherman, of whose life these notes are made, was born in Lancaster, February 3, 1813, and is Ohio born and reared. He was educated and graduated at the Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio, in 1832, and admitted to the Bar in 1835. He settled in Mansfield, Richland county, and continued in the practice of his profession until he was appointed judge of the United States Court for the Northern District of Ohio, in Mardi, 1867.

He never sought to obtain any public office, but rather carefully avoided it. He always esteemed it fortunate that he resided in a county and section in which the majority was opposed to him in political sentiments.

He however took a leading part in developing and forwarding public improvements in his county. He contributed liberally by his labors and influence in locating and constructing through his county the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and the Mansfield & Sandusky Railroad. For many years he was a director in both roads, and general soliciter of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and a leading spirit in its management.

He was also appointed by Mr. Lincoln to serve four years as one of the Government Directors of the Pacific Railroad, and largely contributed to its success in its early days.

The Bar of Richland county always ranked among the first in Northern Ohio.

Among the oldest members who were in full practice when Judge Sherman went there, were Jacob Parker, afterwards Judge of the Common Pleas, Andrew Coffinberry, one of the most genial and kind hearted men, and, withal, an excellent lawyer, John M. May, who commenced the practice of the law in 1815, and is still living, and James Purdy, Orris Parrish of Columbus, William Stanbery, of Newark, Hosmer and Henry B. Curtis, of Mt. Vernon, and Edward Avery, of Wooster, afterwards Judge of the Supreme Court, all practiced in that county. In later days and cotemporaneous with Judge Sherman, were Thomas W. Bartley, Jacob Brinkerhoof, and Josiah Scott, all of whom occupied the Bench of the Supreme Court of Ohio, James Stewart, Judge of the Common Pleas, S. J. Kirkwood, afterwards Governor of Iowa, and U. S. Senator from that State, together with R. G. Hurd and Columbus Delano, of Mt. Vernon, and C. L. Boalt and J. M. Root, of Norwalk.

Judge Sherman ranked with those later and younger members of the Bar, and enjoyed a practice equal to any, and more lucrative probably, than any of them. He was quiet and unostentatious in his profession, and, seemingly, only sought to do his whole duty to his clients and obtain the good will of his fellow citizens.

A short time after the breaking out of the rebellion, he was appointed Provost Marshal of some twenty counties in Northern Ohio, by the War Department, and organized four regiments that went into the service, and subsequently served on a commission to settle and adjust claims on the Government arising in the West.

Upon his appointment to the Bench he resigned his position on the Railroads, with the intention of devoting his whole time to the duties of his judicial office. For more than two years he has presided with entire satisfaction to the public and the members of the Cleveland Bar, proving himself to be a strong, capable, common-sense, business judge; and by his habitual courteous demeanor has made a host of legal and other friends during his short residence in this city.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Very Respectfully, R. P. Spalding]

Rufus P. Spalding.

In a work professing to deal with the "representative men" of Cleveland, it is eminently proper that he who has represented the interests of Cleveland in Congress for six years with a fidelity unsurpa.s.sed by any of his predecessors in the national councils, and who won for the district he represented a prominence hitherto not accorded to it, should find a conspicuous place. The six years' service of Judge Spalding in Congress as the Representative from the Eighteenth Ohio District forms a period in the history of the city of which the citizens, irrespective of party predilections, have reason to be proud.

Rufus Paine Spalding is a native of Ma.s.sachusetts, having been born on the 3rd of May, 1798, at West Tisbury, on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The remote ancestor of the Spaldings was Edward Spalding, who is recorded as having been "made a Freeman" at Braintree, Ma.s.sachusetts, in 1640. Edward Spalding's son Benjamin emigrated from Ma.s.sachusetts to Connecticut about fifteen years after that date, and settled in Plainfield, Windham county.

The great grandson of Benjamin Spalding, and the father of Rufus Paine Spalding, Dr. Rufus Spalding, had in 1798, been for some time a resident of West Tisbury, where he practiced medicine.

When his son was fourteen years old Dr. Spalding removed to Connecticut and resided in Norwich. Rufus P. Spalding, having been prepared for college, entered Yale at the proper time, and graduated in 1817, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The cla.s.s in which he graduated contained names that afterwards acquired l.u.s.tre in judicial, legislative, and ecclesiastical circles.

From the first Mr. Spalding's tendency was towards the legal profession, and immediately on leaving college he prepared himself by study for the practice of the law. He was fortunate in the choice of an instructor, having entered the office of the Hon. Zephaniah Swift, Chief Justice of Connecticut, who is known to the profession as the learned author of the "Digest." He profited so well by the instructions he received, that, on his leaving the office, Judge Swift complimented him highly on his proficiency, and predicted for the young lawyer a successful career, if he remained true to his profession. On completing his term of reading law, and being admitted to the Bar, he left New England to push his fortune in the West, and in December, 1819, reached the old "Post of Arkansas,"

removing soon after to Little Rock, where he put out his shingle as a lawyer, in partnership with Samuel Dinsman, who has since reached the gubernatorial chair of New Hampshire. Here he remained about a year and a half, when he turned his face eastward, and in pa.s.sing through Ohio, stopped at Warren, the county town of Trumbull county. Here he was induced to remain, the chances of practice being represented as good, and his profound knowledge of law, ability in making that knowledge serviceable, and unwearied industry, enabled him to soon build up an extensive legal connection, which he retained and increased during his sixteen years stay in Warren.

From Warren he removed to Ravenna, in the adjoining county of Portage. He had not long been in the county before the people recognized the abilities and power of Mr. Spalding, and he was chosen to represent that county in the State Legislature. The contest for the position was sharp, for Mr.

Spalding was a new man in the county, and it was considered by many proper that older residents should represent so important a const.i.tuency. But the recognized ability of Mr. Spalding outweighed all objections on the ground of recent residency, and he was elected by a majority of one.

During his term in the Legislature, and mainly through his efforts, the county of Summit was erected, and Mr. Spalding at once became a resident of the new county by removing his place of residence to Akron. At the next election he offered himself as a representative of Summit in the legislature, and was accepted. On the organization of the House of Representatives he was chosen speaker, and won the approbation of the whole body by the ability and impartiality with which he presided over the proceedings. During this term of office the question of repudiating the State debt was broached. Mr. Spalding took strong ground against such a course, holding it not only disgraceful but suicidal. In this he was supported by the late John Brough, then Auditor of State, and largely through the bold and persistent opposition of these gentlemen the scheme was dropped.

In the Legislative session of 1848-9, the two houses of the General a.s.sembly united in electing Mr. Spalding a judge of the Supreme Court of the State for the const.i.tutional term of seven years. But when four years of the term remained unexpired, the operation of the new const.i.tution ended the pending terms of all offices, and devolved the election of Supreme Court judges upon the people instead of on the General a.s.sembly.

Judge Spalding declined being a candidate for the office in a popular canva.s.s, and so the advantages of his ripe legal and judicial knowledge was lost to the Bench of the State. Concurrent testimony shows that no decisions were held in greater respect by the lawyers and the public, for their uprightness and justice, whilst to the legal fraternity in particular, they commended themselves by their logical force, and terse, clear, emphatic style and precision of expression that rendered them models of judicial literature. His judicial opinions are contained in volumes 18, 19 and 20 of the Ohio Reports.

On his retirement from the Bench of the State, Judge Spalding returned to the practice of the law with renewed ardor. Cleveland, presenting a wider field for the exercise of his abilities, he removed to that city and at once took front rank among the many able members of the profession. His profound knowledge of the law, power as a debater, and his ability of creating a strong impression on both courts and juries, built up for him an extensive and lucrative practice. When he spoke he carried conviction, it being all but impossible to resist the solid array of arguments and terse, incisive style. The same characteristics that made him afterwards so powerful in Congress had great effect on the most intelligent juries, and exercised a marked influence on the judges engaged in trying the causes in which he was interested as advocate.

Although the law claimed his first attention, and was his choice, Judge Spalding was no indifferent spectator of the course of politics. He had been trained a Democrat, and was a powerful worker in that party. But all his convictions were on the side of justice and freedom, and when, in 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law wedded Democracy to slavery, Judge Spalding, in common with thousands of others, broke through the party traces, and joined the "Free Soil" party, opposed to the extention of slavery. At the Free Soil convention of 1852, he was an active and prominent delegate, and on his nomination, John P. Hale was made the candidate for the Presidency.

On the formation of the Republican party, pledged to the restriction of the slave power, Judge Spalding took an active part in carrying out the principles of that organization. He was a member of the Pittsburgh Convention of 1856, at which the party was organized, and was a delegate at large for the State of Ohio at the Philadelphia Convention that nominated John C. Fremont. From that time he labored earnestly for the success of Republican principles, and the good effect of his efforts were frequently acknowledged by the party.