JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF OHIO, For the time commencing March 1, 1887, and ending June 19, 1888. IN MEMORIAM SUPREME COURT ROOM. GEORGE W. McILVAINE, for fifteen years a member of this court, having departed this life December 23, 1887, the court appointed W. W. Boynton, R. P. Ranney, R. A. Harrison, W. J. Gilmore and A. W. Patrick, members of the bar of this court, a committee to prepare and submit a memorial of his life and public services. The committee made the following report, which was approved by the court, and ordered to be inserted in Volume 45 Ohio State Reports, as a tribute to the memory of Judge McIlvaine : "GEORGE W. McILVAINE was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on the 14th day of July, 1822. His early days were spent on a farm; devoting, however, so much time to school and study as enabled him to acquire more than an ordinary education. On attaining his majority he entered upon the study of law in the law office of Seth T. Hurd, Esq., in his native county, and was admitted to the bar in 1845, at the age of twentythree. A year later he removed to New Philadelphia, Ohio, where he commenced the practice of his profession, and where he retained his residence to the day of his death. Although entering upon the practice of law in a new community where he had but few acquaintances, he soon gave evidence that he had not mischosen his profession, and by an exhibition of rare legal talents he at once took a commanding place at the bar, which he easily maintained until 1861, when he was elected one of the judges of the court of common pleas for the eighth judicial district. So eminently satisfactory was the performance of his judicial duties, that at the expiration of his first judicial term he was re-nominated and re-elected without opposition. At the fall election of 1870, he was elected a judge of the supreme court, and took his seat on the 9th day of February, 1871. "He was re-elected to the same seat in 1875, and again in 1880; serving with signal and distinguished ability until 1885, when he was re-nominated for a fourth term, but which re-nomination he was compelled, on account of failing health, to decline. "Thus, it is seen, the services of Judge McILVAINE upon the bench covered the continuous period of twenty-five years; ten upon the common pleas and fifteen upon the supreme court. "Such continuous service shows that his rare ability and eminent fitness for the duties assumed were not without public appreciation. To say of him that he was a just and vigorous thinker, a clear and forcible reasoner, and an able and profound lawyer, is only to assert what all who had an intimate acquaintance with him well knew, and often said, and what his opinions, while a judge of the supreme court, conclusively show. He had the faculty of grasping the salient and controlling points of a case upon the mere statement of its facts; and so accurate were his conclusions as to the law governing the case when the facts were clearly understood, that he was not often much enlightened by argument, unless the case was so exceptional in character and in its features, as to require the application of novel principles. The mind of Judge MCILVAINE had a wide and vigorous grasp, and great breadth and largeness of view. His will was firm and tenacious, but not blindly stubborn; he was never disturbed by mere technicalities, nor in the least affected by any claim or contention not founded on substantial merit. He was not so much a student of cases as of principles. He seldom cited cases in his opinions. The law, to him, was a science to be practically applied in its administration. He was thoroughly imbued with the conviction that its object and aim were to promote the public welfare, secure the ends of justice, and subserve its claims. He did not, and could not, consent to any interpretation of it which, in its practical workings and operation, did not carry that object and aim into effect. But he did not allow his desire to do natural equity to subvert the settled law. 'Judge McILVAINE not only brought to the consideration of every case a thorough knowledge of the law, a penetrating intellect, and sound judgment, but he possessed a power of analysis and a discrimination rarely equalled. He was a master in logical reasoning. A fallacy in argument, however specious, seldom escaped his detection. His judicial opinions were expressed in clear, strong, pure English, and in their arrangement were always logical. They rarely contained dicta. "He was, withal, a patient and attentive listener, and was quite observant of Lord Bacon's direction to a judge, not to indulge in 'too much speaking.' "Judge McILVAINE was especially kind to the younger members of the profession, and often from the bench gave such encouragement to rejected applicants for admission to the bar, by his kind words and advice to them, as to greatly lessen the feeling of mortification resulting from their failure to pass the requisite examination for admission. The qualities that enter into and form the character of an able and upright judge, Judge MCILVAINE possessed in an eminent degree. His integrity was of the first order; his habits of life plain and simple; and his sympathies broad and catholic. "He was as unassuming as a child, never seeming to be what he was not. "In his domestic relations, he was a kind and devoted husband, a tender and loving father. "On retiring from the bench he returned to his home, where, after an illness somewhat protracted, surrounded by a loving family and sympathetic friends, he passed from earth into the life to come. He left behind him the rich treasure of a life filled with a great work, entirely devoted to the public good. The reports of the decisions of the Supreme Court of Ohio will for all time bear witness to his fidelity to duty, to his great learning and ability, and to his invaluable public services. 66 'W. W. BOYNTON, "R. P. RANNEY, "R. A. HARRISON, IN MEMORIAM. SUPREME COURT ROOM. GIBSON ATHERTON, formerly a member of this court, having departed this life at his home at Newark, on November 10, 1887, the court appointed Martin D. Follett, George B. Okey, Jerome Buckingham and Charles H. Kibler, members of the bar of this court, a committee to prepare and submit a memorial of his life and services. The following is the report of the committee, which was approved by the court and ordered to be inserted in Volume 45 Ohio State Reports, as a just tribute to the memory of the deceased: "GIBSON ATHERTON was born in Newark township, Licking county, Ohio, January 19, 1831. After passing his boyhood on a farm he attended the Denison University, at Granville, Ohio, from 1849 to 1851. He then went to Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, where he graduated in 1853. Immediately thereafter, however, in September, 1853, he went to Osceola, Missouri, to take charge of an academy, which he conducted one year. In 1854 he returned to Newark, where he continued his course of studies of the law with Hon. Lucius Case, and was admitted to the bar by the supreme court in 1855. He at once entered upon the active practice of the law, and so continued, with the exception of the interruptions incident to official life, to the time of his death. "In 1857 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Licking county, and filled the office three successive terms, having been re-elected in 1859 and 1861. He was twice elected mayor of the city of Newark, being called to that office in 1860 and re-elected in 1862. He was the nominee of the Demcratic party in 1863 for state senator in the sixteenth senatorial district, composed of the counties of Licking and Delaware, but was defeated. In 1866 he was nominated by his party in the judicial subdivision composed of the counties of Licking, Knox and Delaware, for common pleas judge, but was again defeated. In 1878 he was nominated and elected to congress from the fourteenth congressional district, consisting of the counties of Licking, Muskingum, Perry and Guernsey. In 1880 he was re-nominated and elected to the same office from the thirteenth congressional district, composed of the counties of Licking, Muskingum, Coshocton and Tuscarawas. On August 20, 1885, he was nominated as a candidate for the vacancy upon the bench of the supreme court occasioned by the death of Judge Okey, and, upon the same day, was appointed by Governor Hoadly to fill the vacancy pending the election. He failed of election and hence his term of service upon the bench was limited, being from August 20, 1885, to December 16, 1885, after which he at once resumed the practice of the law. "Judge ATHERTON was married November 18, 1856, to Miss Margaret A. E. Kumler, of Butler county, Ohio. They were the parents of four children— one son and three daughters. "He was stricken with paralysis, whilst in the midst of an argument in an important trial, from the effects of which he never fully recovered, and which finally completely prostrated him and resulted in his death, November 10, 1887. "Judge ATHERTON, in very many respects, was an extraordinary man. He was essentially an advocate. Possessed of great mental vigor and acumen, backed by a physical organization of great strength and energy, combined with an accurate knowledge of the law, with the ability instantly to apply his knowledge, he was a formidable adversary in the trials of causes. "He fulfilled his many public trusts with honor and distinction. He was ever punctilliously faithful to his engagements and agreements. "The results of his brief service upon the bench of the supreme court were somewhat of a surprise as well as a source of pleasure to his friends His training had been the reverse of that usually supposed to best fit the practitioner for the bench, but he fitted easily and naturally into the place, exhibiting at once a mental grasp and knowledge of the law as applied to the facts, worthy of a judge of long experience. His opinions, necessarily few on account of his limited term, appear in Volume 43 Ohio State Reports, and are strong, clear and vigorous expositions of the law upon the subjects upon which they treat. "M. D. FOLLETT, "J. BUCKINGHAM, |