Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/391

 HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

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��CHAPTER XXXVIIL

THE MANSFIELD BAR.

Thk First Courts of the County — The First Grand Jury — The Early Lawyers of Mansfield — The Vis- iting LAWYERS — The President Judges — Gen. McLaughlin — Gen. Robert Bentley — Thomas H. Ford MoRDECAi Bartley — JuDGE Brinkerhoff — L. B. Matson — Milton W. Worden — Gen. Brinkebhoff's Review of the Mansfield Bar.

��T"TPON the organization of Richland County v_J in 1813, the Associate Judges were Thomas Coulter, William Cass and Peter Kin- ney. They held a special session in June of that year, the onlj^ business coming before them being the appointment of Jonathan Coulter and Rebecca Byrd as administrators of the estate of Levi Jones, who had been killed by the Indians. Winn Winship, Ceorge Cofflnberry and Roliu Weldon were appointed appraisers of Jones' property.

On the 9th of September of the same year, these Judges again organized a court, and re- inained in session two days. The last will and testament of Jacob Newman, deceased, was presented, proved and ordered to be recorded. Andrew Cofflnberry and James McCluer were appointed and qualified executors, giving bond in the sum of $10,000.

Ruth and Abraham Trucks, wife and son of Nicholas Trucks, deceased, were appointed ad- ministrators.

The next da}-, September 10, the court or- dered the Treasurer to pay Samuel McCluer $12.25 for seven days' service as Commissioner and Melzar Tannehill $9.25 for five days' ser- vice as Commissioner ; also, Samuel Watson, $1-4, for eight da3's' work in the same office. The court also appointed Winn Winship, Clerk ; Andrew Cofflnberry, Recorder, and William Riddle, Surveyor.

The Court of Common Pleas, prior to the Constitution of 1851, was composed of one

��President Judge and two Associates. The President Judge must needs be a lawyer, but the others were not necessarily such, and gener- ally were not. The Associates sat on the bench with the President, but were not expected to know much of law. Thej' discharged the duties of the present Probate Judge, and in all other respects were ornamental rather than useful.

The first court of this character, regularly organized for business, convened January 14, 1814 ; President Judge, William Wilson ; As- sociates, Peter Kinne}', Thomas Coulter and James McCluer. The grand jur^' at this time, and the first lone in the count}', was composed of Isaac Pearce, foreman ; Ceorge Cofflnberr}-, Chusthy Brubaker, Thomas Lofland, Samuel Hill, Amariah Watson, George Crawford, Hugh Cunningham, Melzar Tannehill, Ebenezer Rice, William Slater, William Riddle, Solomon Lee and Rolin Weldon.

The first daj's proceedings of this court in- cluded the granting of licenses to Ro^'al N. Powers, to retail merchandise ; to James McCluer, to keep a house of public entertain- ment ; to Asa Murph}-, to keep a tavern at his dwelling (site of the Wiler House) ; to Johnson McCarty, for four months, to retail merchan- dise, and to George Cofflnberry, to keep a pub- lic house.

Rules were adopted for the government of the court, and on the 14th it adjourned.

Thus was put in motion the first legal ma- chinery in Richland County, and that machinerj^,

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