Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/730

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���Alleghany Mountains to Pittsburgh on foot, arriving at Marietta, Ohio, by boat. In the fall of that year, he commenced the study of law in the office of Philemon Beecher, in Lancaster, Ohio, having for fellow-students for a time Hon. Thomas Ewing and the late Judge Jacob Parker, of this city ; during his novitiate in the law, he supported himself by teaching in the winter-time ; Hocking H. Hunter was one of his pupils ; he was ad- mitted to the bar .July 26, 1815, and in the autumn of the same year, settled in Manstield, where he resided until his death, which occurred Dec. 12, 1869; he was the first resident lawyer in Mansfield, and practiced in his profession until two years previous to his death. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney for this circuit in 1816, but resigned the office in 1817, because the de- fenses to prosecutions offered him better compensation ; for many years, he rode the circuit of the northern and western County Courts, and had a large and successful practice. In 1825, he married Miss Artemisia Wolfe, from one of the pioneer families of the county, by whom he had one son, now the Hon. Manuel May, of this city, and one daughter. Miss Lizzie E. May, who died in 1866. In politics, Mr. May wa.s unambitious ; in his profession, he was a fine advocate, as well as an able chancery lawyer, and, during his long life, always maintained a high character as a good citizen and an honest man ; in his latter years, among his associate lawyers, he was styled the " Nestor of the bar," and known as " Father May," and to the day of his death maintained the good will, respect and confidence of all. He was confined to his house about a month before his demise, but was not bed-fast ; he passed peacefully away while sitting in his chair.

MAY, MANUEL, attorney. Mr. May was born in Mansfield, where he has resided continuously since ; he is of pioneer parentage. The biography of his father, John M. May, has been outlined in this book. His mother, in the year 1807, then Artemisia Wolfe, aged 6 years, emigrated with her brothers, sisters and widowed mother from the Wyoming Valley, Luzerne Co., Penn., to Fredericktown, Knox Co., Ohio, then containing the territory of this county ; she, with the Wolfe family, removed thence and settled in Mansfield in 1812, and was married in 1825; one of the issue of the marriage was Manuel May. Among the educators of his boyhood were Rev. James Rowland, Louis An- drews and William .Johnson. He graduated at Kenyon College, studied law with his father, John M. May, and graduated at the Cincinnati Law School ; in 1858, he received the honorary degree of A. M. at Kenyon Col- lege ; on leaving law school, he practiced law with his father, under the firm name of J. M. &. M. May ; his subsequent law partners were Thomas McBride, John K. Cowen and S. L. Geddes. At present, he is alone in the law business with the aid of his large library and the office help of his students ; he was elected and re-elected Prosecuting Attorney of Rich- land Co., serving in that capacity from 1858 to 1862; he represented the Fourth Ward as a member of the City Council of Mansfield for four years, part of which time he was presiding officer ; he was elected and re- elected to the Ohio Senate and represented Richland and Ashland Cos. in that body from 1866 to 1870, and, during his second term, was a member of the Judiciary

��Committee ; as a County School Examiner, Mr. May has for years been connected with the educational in- terests of the county. He is a bachelor, has always voted the Democratic ticket and is active in politics as well as business.

MITCHELL, DR. GEORGE F. (deceased). He was born in Washington Co., Penn, May 8, 1808; he was the youngest son in a large family of children ; his brothers were mostly farmers, who remained in their native county; his tastes and inclinations were in a different course, and, in his early boyhood, as well as in his later life, he was a constant student ; his re- searches were not alone confined to the profession in which he became eminent, but the sciences and litera- ture were not neglected ; in 1827, he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Church, of Pittsburgh, Penn., a noted practitioner of that city ; with him he remained three years, when, after practicing a short time in an adjoining county, he removed to Ohio in 1832, and practiced medicine in Olivesburg, this county, until 1846, at which time he came to Mansfield ; he was a graduate of the Miami Medical College, of Cin- cinnati, and in after years the honorary degree was again conferred on him by the Medical College of Keokuk, Iowa; for a number of years he was elected a Censor of the Medical College at Cleveland, and was an active member of the State and American Medical Associations, in both of which he held positions of honor, and was selected as a delegate to the latter body by the State society ; at home he was interested in all educational and benevolent enterprises, and was one of the originators and Trustees of the Mansfield Female College, while under the control of the Methodist denomination. For forty years, he was actively en- gaged in the practice of medicine, during which time the rich and the poor without distinction received the benefit of his skill. He was married in May, 1831, in Fayette Co., Penn., to Miss Nancy DeVatte ; eight children were given them, two of whom died in infancy, two in early and promising manhood, one daughter just as she was blooming into womanhood, and three chil- dren still live. He died in this city March 31, 1869.

MITCHELL, GEORGE, physician and surgeon. Dr. George Mitchell was born July 19, 1837, in Olivesburg, Richland Co., Ohio, and is a son of Dr. G. F. and Nancy DeVatte Mitchell ; his father was a native of Pennsyl- vania, but practiced for forty years in Richland Co., with great success; Dr. George Mitchell received his elementary education in Mansfield, and in due course of time entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, and pursued the full course of four years' study, graduating from that institution in 1858, with the degree of A. B.; in 1860, he matriculated at the Western Reserve Medical College, where he attended one course of lect- ures, and during the following winter, entered the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, where he gradu- ated as Doctor of Medicine in 1862 ; immediately after receiving his degree, heentered the United States service as Assistant Surgeon of the 102d 0. V. I.; he continued in active service in different campaigns until the close of the war, being twice promoted for valuable services rendered; in 1865, he retired from the army and located in Mansfield, where he has since resided and engaged in the practice of his profession ; he is one of

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