Part 29 (1/2)

Entering the office of Benjamin F. Wade, he applied himself with diligence to the study of the law, and after a clerks.h.i.+p of one year was admitted to the Bar. Soon afterward he entered into partners.h.i.+p 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.