Ohio History Journal

470      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

fortunate in view, and it was through his suggestion and influ-

ence that increased provisions were made for the insane; that the

graded system was introduced into the penitentiary, and that

many other prison reforms were instituted.

Among the most important acts of this humanitarian states-

man was the founding of the Reform School for Girls at Dela-

ware.

To him more than any one man in Ohio can be credited

the promotion and success of the Agricultural and Mechanical

College now the Ohio State University. He appointed the first

Board of Trustees of this institution and in its initial stages he

gave to it his wisest and best services. All his life, after he ceased

to be Governor, he watched with solicitous interest the welfare of

the University and no public duty was assumed with more en-

thusiasm than his entrance into the Board of Trustees.

He was always a student of history and a natural collector,

as the Treasures of this Memorial Building will show. It was

this instinct which prompted him to urge the purchase by the

State of the valuable St. Clair Papers; it was through his influ-

ence that they were preserved in the State Library and subse-

quently published.

In these few words I have referred to General Hayes' record

as Governor because others have given you his full length por-

trait as a national figure. But the people of his native State have

received from his life the heritage of service that comes close to

home to them. They can see the results of his life upon their

lives daily. He has indelibly impressed upon the history of Ohio

some of the most important acts and institutions of her existence.

These imprints were deeds of humanity and are helping every

day to uplift the humble and to comfort the unfortunate.

 

 

ADDRESS OF BASIL MEEK.

Basil Meek, representing the Sandusky County Bar associa-

tion, and chairman of the local committee of the Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society, offered the following

tribute :

Rutherford B. Hayes was, from 1845 to 1849, an active

member of what has been known as the Pioneer Bar of Sandusky

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Dedication of the Hayes Memorial.        471

 

County, so called because existing prior to the adoption of the

Ohio State Constitution of 1851, and was associated in practice

with the earlier men of that galaxy of able lawyers of this bar,

among whom may be mentioned Dickinson, Otis, Bartlett, Greene,

Watson, Pettibone, Everett, Haynes, Buckland, Glick and Fine-

frock. This Bar was composed of men prominent, not only in

the legal profession, but also in public official stations filled by

the members thereof. From its members were nine State Legis-

lators, five members of Congress, six Judges of Courts, two Gov-

ernors, one of Ohio, and the other of Kansas, two Generals in

the Union Army and a President of the United States.

Rutherford B. Hayes, after a thorough course at Kenyon

College, from which he graduated with honor, commenced the

study of law with Thomas Sparrow of Columbus, Ohio, and

afterwards entered Harvard Law School and in 1845 completed

the law course there, and having been admitted to the bar at

Marietta, March 10, 1845, commenced the practice of law in

Lower Sandusky (Fremont), where in April, 1846, he formed a

law partnership with Ralph P. Buckland, which continued until

1849, when Mr. Hayes located in Cincinnati, Ohio, where by his

marked ability, he soon attracted attention, as a lawyer taking

rank among the prominent members of the profession there.

among whom were such men as Salmon P. Chase, Caleb B.

Smith, Alphonso Taft, Bellamy Storer, George H. Pendleton

and George E. Pugh.

He was City Solicitor, an important legal position in a city

like Cincinnati, from  December, 1858, to April, 1861. The

salary was $3500.00 per year.

He was ambitious to excel in the profession, as we learn from

himself for, in 1859 while in active practice in Cincinnati, in his

Diary, which he habitually kept, he writes: "Let me awake to

my old ambition to excel as a lawyer-as an advocate." And

later he writes, "Without any extraordinary success, I have never-

theless found what I have sought, a respectable place," thus

modestly assuming that he had reached his desired goal.

It was this ambition, which prompted his location in Cin-

cinnati,-which city necessarily offered a wider arena for activity

and experience in the practice, and consequent enlargement of

his powers, than did Lower Sandusky in that day.

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Dedication of the Hayes Memorial.        473

 

In the midst of his growing and successful practice in Cin-

cinnati, the War for the Union broke out. He immediately re-

sponded to his country's call and joined the army for the Union,

which necessarily caused an abandonment of his practice and

subsequent events in his public career made the abandonment

permanent; and, though not having resumed the practice, since

giving it up to enter the service of his country as a soldier, fol-

lowed by his public official duties, as Congressman, Governor and

President, he was, nevertheless ever a lover of the theory of

the law in which he was profoundly versed, and would meet

with our Bar Association after his final return to Fremont

and occasionally would be seen in the court room, when court

would be in session, thereby manifesting a lingering fondness for

the scene of his early forensic contests in the courts of Sandusky

County; and when his early friend, college mate and army com-

rade, Stanley Matthews, died at Cincinnati, in 1889, at his re-

quest a meeting of this Bar was called to pay tribute to the

memory of the deceased, who in 1845, was on the recommenda-

tion of Mr. Hayes as chairman of the examining committee on

Mr. Matthews' application for admission, admitted to The San-

dusky County Bar, and who had always been regarded by this

Bar as an honorary member.

It is an interesting fact that after the lapse of a third of a

century, from the admission to the Bar of Mr. Matthews on the

recommendation of Mr. Hayes it was the pleasure of the latter,

as president of the United States to nominate the former to the

Senate of the United States for confirmation as a Justice of the

United States Supreme Court.

Harvard Law School, had among its faculty, while Mr.

Hayes was a student there, those eminent professors, Joseph

Story and Simon Greenleaf, whose names as authors of legal

text books, are household words among lawyers.  Their high

ideals of the dignity of the legal profession and the principles

which should govern lawyers in its practice, as expressed by

them to their students, evidently appealed to him, and found in

his own characteristic high sense of justice and right moral

action, a ready response, for, in his Diary referred to, he makes

frequent entries, quoting from their words-among which is

the following from Greenleaf: "A lawyer is engaged in the high-

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474      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

est of all human pursuits-the application of the soundest rea-

son and purest morality to the ordinary affairs of life. He

should have a clear head and a true heart". Mr. Hayes pos-

sessed both of these essential qualifications, a clear head and a

true heart in high degrees, and adhering in practice to the ideals

held by his distinguished professors and believed in himself, he

won the admiration and high esteem of his brethren of the bar,

both of the County of Sandusky and City of Cincinnati and in-

deed of the legal profession throughout the State and Nation.

The Rev. E. M. O'Hare, Rector of St. Ann's church closed

the program by delivering the following prayer:

O Lord God of nations, bless our country and its people,

so that by due respect for virtue and religion, by prompt obedi-

ence to laws, by a proper regard for justice and mercy, they

tend to the promotion of peace and national happiness; that in-

creasing in industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge they may

secure to themselves blessing of equal liberty. O Almighty Lord

from whom all authority is derived we humbly beseech Thee to

bless our Chief Executive, the President of these United States

and the officers associated with him, confirming them in the

right understanding of their weighty office, as also in courage

and prudence for the execution thereof, that they may secure

us in honorable peace and plenty.

Look down, O Lord, in kindly care, upon those, who, com-

posing our Army and Navy, are engaged in upholding the honor

and safety of their fellow citizens. Extend Thy benevolence to

these old warriors who have so nobly defended their country

and are now awaiting the last bugle call. We pray Thee to bless

his Excellency, the Governor of this State and all State and

Municipal officers, who assist him to guard our political welfare,

that they may be able to discharge the duties of their respective

offices with honesty and ability.

A benediction upon the memory of the gentle President,

whose remains rest in these historic grounds, as well as upon the

noble Christian woman, his faithful spouse.

Finally O God, may Thy benediction rest upon all here,

and especially upon those who are preserving to future genera-

tions the memorials of past achievements, as a heritage of honor,

patriotism and virtue. Amen.

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