The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-06-04

rhe Late BENJAMIN Stanton.
,,,.,.. If Ills Life and Public
a S"'' services.

s,.,.h of His Life and PuO'l'
A sEe''" services.
=, III. BelIrontaIne, (ohio) Pres, o.
u, AZ "A, 1872, published at the lorme .,
s n"SI Of the late BENJAMIN STANTON, o.
nv. HJa' city we find the following interesting
. .hs SS II Ii, life, his personal character
i,tlcs and public services, 1t IS one ~ ~.
'sres Of "reminiscences Of the Local Da,
.n5 +, from the pen of Judge LAWRENCE V1I
n Belllontaine. 1t appears tha! MI
" Stanton was a native OF Mount Pleasant,
ohio, and that several years Of bis early
life were spent in this city Judge Law AZ v,
RrScE has not only furnished a de'alleu
s SnSy readable dnl I' account of Mr.. srAN7oN's
h(a down to the time of his removal 10
tbi, civ, but he pays a warm and Just IS
,rIbu,o 70 bis admirable and manly quail
,ies Of head and heart, which were recog'
pj,cd and appreciated by oil who knew
him here:
now come to give q little more in de-
rail though by no means fully the history
Of a man who for more than twenty-five
VI stood at the head Of the Bar In Lo:
IAN county, and who, during portion Of
,Sot lima was the leading lawyer in some
Of he adjacent counties-the Hon. Benz
Stanton. l knew him longer and have
lad better opportunities to know more Of
him than Of any other lawyer Of the
county. d..
BENJAMIN Stanton was born on Short
creek, near Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson coun'
y,O6io, June 4, 1909. lie was the only
Sou and child OF Elias Stanton and Martha,
bls wife, whose maiden name was Wilson.
Hls parents were members Of the Society
OfFfiends, and possessed the qualities OF
strict integrity, of thrift, hospitality and
good citizenship, which have always dis
tinguished the people of that religious
faith. ,.
The parents died when their son was
about two years Of age, and he in cOnse.
oueDce was raised until about fifteen
wears Of age by o paternal grandmother,
who resided near Mt. Pleasant.
Al this age he went to reside with
AmSsa LipPy, his uncle by marriage to
bis mothers sister, residing about one
mile from Mt. Pleasant on a farm adjoin-
Ipp the old Short Creek Meeting House.
Here in this Quaker family he found the
saneSterling qualities which had made
bis home 10 Infancy and his residence
with bis paternal grandmother, all alike
sschoOl Of industry and good morals.
The early training and example Of those
who so fortunately had the guardian care
Of the orphan boy doubtless left their i'm
press on bis mind and character in all the
years Of his after life.
Soon after he went TO reside with his
uncle an injury 10 his right heel occurred,
which finally left him with stiff ANGLE for
lie, andso disabled him in his capacity for
speedy lOcomotion, though in oil other
respects having great physical capacity,
that he was not considered able to farm.
liz was, when q little over seventeen
years Of age, apprenticed to tailor to
learn that respectable and useful calling.
Al this he served two years, but, unaccus.
toned 10 the restraints which this bust
ness required, and the close application to
its duties everywhere then exacted, much
more than at this day, and not finding the
new field of usefulness on which he had
entered all In accord with his inclina.
tons, be retired in good order" before his
time was out. 1t can not be said that in
this business he ever became success.
lie inherited from his father some proper
~, including farm on Short Creek, near
Mt Pleasant, and his means, though not
large had been carefully husbanded by
unselfsh relatives, who cared more to
prove their faith by works and labors OF
lore, than to make professions unsupport
edby either. But at q time like that, and
10 community where idleness did not
make q gentleman, and where Incidence
shut out all from the pale OF respectable
society, Mr.. Stanton did not lall back in
ingloriOus ease to squander the moderate
means he had, but, in the winter OF
l%S-99, in the city OF Wheeling; he pur-
sued industriously the vocation which he
had learned.
In January, 1880, he was married to
Nancy Davis, the daughter Of q highly
respectable farmer near Mt. Pleasant.
Dir: Davis was prominent member oil
and class leader in the Methodist Episco.
pal Church, and the members Of his,fam.
lIyWere brought up in that faith. -
AS Mr. Stanton did not marry in the
society OF Friends he ceased to have a
SlFth'Iight membership, though in iact
might.
lie was fortunate in the selectionIofa
most estimablc lady for q vile, and
through all the years since intervening,
she has given 10 his home the endear.
mems which only good and Christian
Wlle can give. She is one Of those whe
knew all her duties and did them fully
dwell. Neither prosperity nor the
lonoFs Of office to which her husband
humble. "' " 'He
asa wife, mother, neighbor and mem.
o. society she is and always was in every
position and relation worthy of all com.
@eausIlon. But this is a brief depression
n nom The main object OF this limited
' 1hs'Cty. 1t is necessary TO do Justice to
' sae sKetGh now attempted, and especially
SsSOod wife performs a large part in
securing Tor any husband all that he is
Iofelurn then to the narrative. Atthe
Mlne Of bis marriage Mr.. Stanton was in
tae pursuit of his vocation, which he con.
GucIed some time thereafter, in part by
, Is own IaOor, but dOvoting much Of his
Sle 10 The study Of the law, which he
s SaI entered upon, originally as the law
suuent o. Samuel Stokely and Bowel
msssa, Of Steubenville, Ohio, then part.
i Hsas III inc law practice, and two OF the
"a tSSulng lawyers in that part Of the State,
Tug partnership was soon after dissolved
M 1Iu ar Stanton finished his studies with
~ Slarsh, and was admitted to practice
SW oy the Supreme Court at Steuben
'lIIe In October, 1888.
During his boyhood he had the adyan
%sso OF the good private schools, at tina
NTHnn