SKETCH OF JUDGE SPALDING.

BY F. T. WALLACE, ESQ.

Every human being who has lived out the ancient allotted time of three-score years and ten, however humble, has embraced within his experiences a volume of history more or less important and interesting. How much more interesting and important, therefore, is the life of that individual, from the cradle to the grave, which embraced a period of more than four-score years of our national existence, who was endowed by nature with great intellectual force, whose mind was graced by the schools of learning, and who from early manhood to the day of his death participated, pre-eminently, not only in social, legal and judicial life, but also in affairs of state.

It would be an unhappy neglect of this venerable society, when reviewing its necrology for the year, should it fail to recur, though briefly, to one who so recently and for so many years stood in the presence of the early settlers in all the dignity of his person, the grandeur of his head and countenance, with all the enthusiasm of his early manhood, and enlivened the occasion with wit, wisdom and memories of the past.

Probably but few of the intimate associates of Rufus P. Spalding knew that he was a child of the Atlantic, born on the island of Martha's Vineyard in 1798, or reflected that John Adams was President, that George III. was still king of England, that France was under the Directory, and that he was but two months old and in his cradle when Napoleon defeated the army of Egypt under the shadow of the Great Pyramid.

The subject of these remarks inherited too much of the colonial spirit to pride himself, as many do, upon a mythical long line of distinguished English ancestry. He despised the baubles of heraldry and coats of arms. It was enough for him to know that his remote ancestors were pure Anglo-Saxons, unmixed with a drop of Norman blood. Possibly he knew historically that his ancestors had been despoiled, and their estates confiscated and transferred to the favorites of the Norman conqueror, 800 years ago. However, one of his kindred and name, Joseph Spalding, not only fired the first gun at

Bunker Hill, but claimed the honor of "drawing a fine sight " upon Major Pitcairn, when that British officer was seen to fall.

Edward Spalding, who came from England in 1640, became a citizen of Braintree, Massachusetts, the ancestral town of the Adams family. From thence he moved to Chelmsford, where he died in 1670, leaving three sons, one of whom, Benjamin, bought a farm in Canterbury, Connecticut, and became the immediate progenitor of all who bear his name in that state. The father of our subject was Doctor Rufus Spalding, third son of Ebenezer, who was the grandson of Benjamin, and inherited the Canterbury farm, and transmitted the same on his death to the oldest of his four sons, who were named Ebenezer, Asa, Rufus and Luther. Of these, Ebenezer lived and died upon the patrimonial estate. Asa became a distinguished lawyer and accumulated great wealth in Norwich, Connecticut. Luther was also a lawyer, and at one time occupied a seat upon the bench of the court of coinmon pleas for the county of New London. Doctor Rufus Spalding married Lydia Paine, daughter of David Paine of Canterbury, whose great-grandfather came from England and settled in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1637. The offspring of this marriage were eight daughters and two sons. The subject of this paper, although the eldest son, was preceded in his birth by seven sisters, six of whom, together with one younger than himself, lived to become heads of families, and exemplified in their lives all the social and domestic virtues requisite to adorn the conjugal and maternal relations.

Luther Spalding was conspicuous only for his uncommon honesty and unsullied integrity. He lived in Connecticut, where he died several years since. Thirteen years of the boyhood of Judge Spalding was spent on Martha's Vineyard, where, he once himself said, he was kept as constantly at school as his extreme fondness for sail boats and salt water would permit. And herein possibly lies the secret of his splendid physique, and that wonderful constitution that served and sustained him so long and so well. In 1811 he was sent to an academy at Plainfield, Connecticut, and two years later he received instruction at Bacon Academy, in Colchester. He then entered Yale College, from which institution he graduated in 1817.

Immediately upon leaving college young Spalding was received into the family of Hon. Zephaniah Swift, then the chief-justice of the state of Connecticut, who resided at Windham. Here he possessed every desirable facility for acquiring a knowledge of the law. His instructor was a perfect amateur of that science, extensively learned himself, and fond of communicating information to others. But unfortunately for his advancement in legal lore, yet most fortunate for his subsequent domestic happiness, as Judge Spalding was himself wont to relate in delightful social intercourse, he was more strongly attached to the charms of Judge Swift's eldest daughter than to the pages of Coke and Blackstone.

Fired with the spirit of enterprise which then pervaded the minds of men in Connecticut, he left his eminent teacher in the autumn of 1818, carrying with him a certificate that he was qualified for admission to the bar in any state of the Union, determined to try his fortune in the West. He repaired to Cincinnati, and for a brief season was in the office of Nathaniel Wright. From Cincinnati he accompanied, in a "keel boat," sundry young gentlemen, in the suite of General James Miller, to the port of Arkansas, in the winter of 181920, where he was admitted to practice, under a special enactment of the territorial legislature made for his benefit. Here at Little Rock he formed a partnership with one of his companions of the voyage, Samuel Dinsmore, then an adventurer like himself, but afterwards, from 1831 to 1834, governor of New Hampshire. His first retainer was "a corner lot" at Little Rock, for defending the title of one William O'Hara to the quarter section of land upon which the capitol of the state of Arkansas now stands.

In 1839, Mr. Spalding was elected by a majority of one vote to represent Portage in the general assembly of the state, and was largely instrumental in securing the passage of the bill for the erection of the new county, a measure which for ten years had been sought in vain. In 1841 he was elected representative from the new county of Summit, and was made speaker of the house of representatives, presiding with dignity and impartiality. In January, 1847, by request of the speakers of the two houses, he pronounced before the general assembly of Ohio a highly finished and classical eulogy on

the life and character of General Thomas L. Hamer, who died while attached to the army in Mexico. He was elected by the general assembly a judge of the supreme court for the term of seven years, and he consented to serve until he should be relieved by the new constitution then contemplated. He declined to be a candidate in 1851, and immediately after the adjournment of the supreme court in bank in January, 1852, opened an office in Cleveland.

Judge Spalding was cast in no ordinary mold, and his marked individuality would have given him prominence in any community. He had a long and honored career, and the history of the Ohio bar, of the judiciary, legislation and politics of our state could not be faithfully written without assigning to his name a conspicuous place.

On whatever arena of action he entered, he was sure to act a prominent part. In the contests of the forum he was a leading champion, always fearless, and, always armed and equipped. On the bench he left the impress of a laborious, upright, learned and profound judge and jurist. In the legislature of Ohio his name was identified with many of the most important measures, and many of the most stirring scenes that have marked that legislative assembly. And in our National congress, during the most eventful period of our history, he was distinguished as one of the intellectually strong men and an accomplished and forcible debater, as a prudent and sagacious statesman of broad views and wide range of knowledge in public affairs.

There was loud applause when Mr. Wallace had finished.

ANECDOTES OF EARLY SETTLERS.

BY H. M. ADDISON.

One of the very early settlers of Cuyahoga county was Ansel Young, the publisher of the Western Reserve Almanac, first published in 1825. He was a deep thinker, whose ruling thought seemed to be to do good to every one at every opportunity. I

distinctly recollect a remark he made to me when I was a small boy, that I have ever since tried to profit by. For some reason I was in a bad humor, and, as small boys often do, made that fact distinctly understood. He called me to him and said, pleasantly, "Hiram, you should always remember that a pint of molasses will catch more flies than a barrel of vinegar." His wife, frequently called "Aunt Sarah," used to tell an amusing anecdote of him, or rather of some of her friends who were much opposed to her marrying him, as his plain and quiet manner did not suit them. In an earnest effort to talk her out of her plan, one of them said, "He don't know enough to come into the house when it rains." Aunt Sarah replied, "Well,

I can call him."

I have a good illustration of his character, in a paper in his own handwriting, that he gave to one of our deceased members, Ransom O'Connor. It is not dated, nor does his widow know when it was written. It is headed: "Short Sermon from Ansel Young to Ransom O'Connor," and is as follows: "Foxes have holes." This is from the Bible, and put by the writer at the head of this paper, and is a good quotation. We will take another passage from the same blessed book: "Gather up the fragments, that nothing be lost," and if we take this mandate from heaven, what would be the result? Franklin obeyed it, and gathered up the fragments of time and property, and behold the result. He went into Philadelphia with fourteen coppers, equal to ten cents of our money; these he gave to a destitute sailor, and he had one silver dollar besides and no more. He broke his dollar in buying three loaves of bread; ate one himself and gave two to a destitute mother and two children; and Franklin died worth half a million. Stephen Girard began with nothing and left millions. "Billy Gray" began in the same penniless way, and finally owned a hundred ships. Noah Webster began the world with one dollar, and he gathered up the fragments of time so as to learn twenty-eight languages, and became the standard dictionary maker of the English language. Thomas L. Hamer started in life. with only eighteen pence, and by saving fragments he turned the current of prosperity into his pocket to the amount of $3,000 a