FRANKLIN COUNTY OHIO - BIOS: STANBERY, Henry (published 1880) *************************************************************************** OHGENWEB NOTICE: All distribution rights to this electronic data are reserved by the submitter. Reproduction or re-presentation of copyrighted material will require the permission of the copyright owner. *************************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by LeaAnn leaann1@bellsouth.net February 7, 1999 *************************************************************************** From the "Historical Collections of Ohio, Franklin County" By Henry Howe, LL.D. HENRY STANBERY One of the most elegantly courtly men known to the legal profession in Ohio was Henry Stanbery. He was in stature about six feet, erect, with dignified bearing and a very pleasant face. His features were large and strongly marked, and when suffused with the light of his genial spirit nothing could be more captivating. Indeed he was grace itself and seemed as a prince among men. The memory of his fine presence is to many living a valued lifetime possession. And he was deserving of the regard of which his presence inspired, for he was the soul of honor and integrity; scorned to mislead a court or jury, or to deceive an opponent by any misstatement of law or fact. He was kindness itself, never lost his control nor indulged in petulance nor passion. He was on of the first lawyers in the United States and entitled to the highest veneration and regard. He was a member of the Episcopal communion and in all his deportment and career showed his love for justice, truth and beauty. Henry Stanbery was born in New York city, and in 1814, when a lad of eleven years, came with his father, a physician, to Zanesville. He was educated at Washington college, Pennsylvania, studied law at Zanesville, and was admitted to the bar in 1821, when he was invited by Hon. Thomas Ewing to begin the practice at Lancaster and ride the circuit with him, which offer he accepted and for many years resided there. When, in 1846, the office of attorney-general of Ohio was created he was elected by the General Assembly to be its first occupant. He then removed to Columbus, where he resided his entire term of five years. In 1850 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention from Franklin County, and was conspicuous in its debates. On leaving Columbus he for several years practiced law in Cincinnati. In 1866 he was appointed Attorney-General of the United States by President Johnson, which office he accepted from a desire to assist in carrying the government safely through the perilous times following the war. He resigned this office to become one of the counsel of the President upon his impeachment. His health at that time was so delicate that most of his arguments on that trial were submitted on paper. He died in New York in 1883, aged 80 years. Hon. Henry C. Noble, now of Columbus, who in his boy-days knew him at Lancaster, Noble's birthplace, and later was his pupil in the law, gave in a personal sketch this synopsis of his professional qualities: "He was from the first a most accurate lawyer, fond of technicalities and ready in applying every refinement of pleading all the nice rules of evidence and practice. It was, however, in the discussion of the general principles of the law which arose in his cases in which he generally delighted. Upon all young men who studied the law he would urge the essential importance of mastering general principles in order to attain the highest success. He was especially fond of the Latin maxims, which he regarded as the very embodiment of terse wisdom. In his manner as a practitioner Mr. Stanbery was a model. Always courteous and dignified, he was nevertheless as alert and ready as a soldier on guard. He was quick to perceive the slightest weakness of an opponent's cause, and on it dealt his blow with overwhelming suddenness. His manner in the examination of witnesses was admirable. He never bullied nor attempted to mislead them, but with sincere frankness and winning address would secure from the reluctant or the unfair witness often full and true answers to his questions. His language was of the purest English and his style free from all the glitter of mere words. To court and jury alike his speeches were clear. His arguments on the law were models of orderly arrangement and logical force, often eloquent from these very qualities. His addresses to the jury were masterly discussions of the facts, ingeniously mustered to sustain his views, and were exceedingly attractive. In writing he was a marvel of accuracy. Often his manuscripts were printed from the original draft, with scarcely a correction. He was systematic and thorough as a worker, never putting off anything for a more convenient season, but at the earliest moment analyzing his case and settling the law and the facts which would control it." -- ==== OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List ====