Ohio History Journal

Emilius Oviatt Randall.              85

 

It is fitting that Mr. Hooper should speak for the Club on

this occasion. Mr. Hooper is a charter member of the Club, was

its first President, and has been for many years its Secretary and

active Executive. I have the privilege of presenting Mr. Osman

C. Hooper.

 

RANDALL, OUR PRESIDENT.

 

BY OSMAN C. HOOPER.

Secretary of the Kit-Kat Club.

The Kit-Kat Club meets today in sorrow. Death has entered

our circle and taken our President, Emilius Oviatt Randall who,

whether the mood was of laughter or tears, was our friend of

unfailing sympathy; a leader of our thought, and a promoter of

our companionship. His coming to the Club presidency -an

office given unanimously and joyously because there was none

other whom it fitted so well- had been the assurance to us all

of a pleasant and profitable year. He had planned the year's

schedule with care and had begun a service that promised the

fulfillment of every wish for a flawless fellowship in the consid-

eration of themes worthy of us and in full keeping with our pur-

poses as a Club. He presided at the first meeting in October,

bravely and uncomplainingly enduring, as he did so, the first

suffering of a fatal disease. When he left that gathering, it was

to return no more to our circle and never to resume the active

work of his profession. Save for a few occasions when he was

permitted to ride out, he was for weeks confined to his home or

the hospital. But his thoughts were with us as ours were with

him. Out of his weakness and pain, he gave counsel in the con-

duct of Club affairs, and did not rest till he was assured that all

was done for another successful meeting. In those days of

anxiety, members were privileged to call at his home and join

personally in the formally expressed hope of the Club that he

would soon be in his accustomed place at the head of the table.

But on the morning of December 18, death came, dissipating our

hopes and saddening our hearts by taking him from our earthly

fellowship forever.

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86       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Mr. Randall was born at Richfield, Ohio, October 28, 1850.

His mother was a woman of culture and a lover of the best and

most beautiful things in life. His father, whom in his later

years I was privileged to know, combined in his person qualities

that were many and varied. Besides being a leading book-dealer

of Columbus, he was an eloquent divine, a devoted and influential

churchman, a profound Biblical scholar and an author of books

which in many Ohio homes ranked next to the Bible because they

were an exposition of its themes. There was dignity in his walk,

serenity in his face and authority in his speech. To the son were

transmitted the characteristics of both parents - an exceptional

heritage of birth, glorified by an Americanism which antedated

the Revolution and shared in the struggle for independence. His

wise father directed his training in the schools and, before his

college days, broadened his learning by taking him on a trip to

Europe when royalty was aflame. It was a rare comradeship -

that of father and son -and the latter often referred to it with

the tenderest feeling.

Graduating at Cornell in 1874, Mr. Randall first turned his

attention to editorial work and then, partly through force of cir-

cumstances, to business. Later he studied law at the Ohio State

University, where he took both the bachelor's and master's degree

in law, and for six years was professor of law. In the meantime,

he had made friends and had been honored in every circle he

entered, whether of literature, business or law. In 1894 he be-

came secretary of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society,

and in the following year was elected Reporter of the Ohio

Supreme Court. Thus he came to two important tasks that were

congenial and suited to his diverse talents. In them he continued

to the end, performing a great volume of work as reporter of

Supreme Court decisions, as editor of the Archaeological and

Historical QUARTERLY, as author of numerous historical books

and as speaker on historical and literary themes, at the invitation

of people both within and beyond the limits of the state. These

were years of earnest, joyous service of others - a service that

will never be forgotten by those for whom it was so freely ren-

dered. Some recognition of it was made last year when Ohio

University conferred upon him the degree of doctor of laws.

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Emilius Oviatt Randall.              87

 

But a recognition, wider and even more highly prized, was

that written in the hearts of those who knew and loved him.

During his college days at Ithaca, Mr. Randall met Miss

Mary A. Coy, the lady who later became his wife. To her and

their two sons and daughter, we of the Kit-Kat Club offer our

sympathy. We, too, have suffered a grievous loss. We knew

his genial companionship, his ready helpfulness and his contin-

uing friendship. His sterling scholarship, his vivacious eloquence

and his industrious pen won for him a wide admiration, while

his historical research offers to this and succeeding generations a

legacy of inestimable value.

We are proud to have known him and to have walked with

him through the years; and here, in this solemn hour, we write

down among our most treasured memories his qualities as man

and citizen, companion and friend.

Mr. Williams then said:

Mr. Randall was Reporter of the Supreme Court of Ohio

from 1895 until his death. Since the adoption of our present

Constitution in 1851, until the present time, ninety-nine volumes

of reports have been issued, with one in preparation. Of these

one hundred volumes, forty-eight, almost one-half, will bear the

name of "Randall" as the compiler. This gives us something

of the measure of his service as an official of our highest court.

But it is only a superficial gauge. None of us, outside of the

court, can know fully how much he contributed to the preparation

of the reports, but we can rest confident that his breadth of

knowledge, his gift of expression, and his wide reading, both in

law and in literature, were freely at the command of the judges,

with all of whom his relations were of the most intimate and

cordial character. Mr. Chief Justice Nichols will speak:

 

RANDALL AND THE OHIO SUPREME COURT.

 

BY HON. HUGH L. NICHOLS,

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio.

That fascinating orator, Senator Conkling, in his classic

nominating speech, at the Republican National Convention, in

1880, presenting the name of General Grant as a candidate for

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