The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1894-11-17
THE "oLD ROMAN HoNORED.
HIS BIRTHDAY CELEBRATED IN A
FITTING MANNER.

Fitting, indeed, was the informal
celebration Tuesday evening In
honor of the venerable Judge Thur
man at his beautiful home on East
Rich street. The Thurman Club
met at their club rooms and after
partaking of an inviting lunch,
marched in body to the Thurman
home, arriving about $3.50. They
wero pleasantly received by Mr..
Allen w. Thurman and with few
other prominent men became the
guests of the hour.
Judge Thurman was in very good
health and his brain was remark
ably active for one so old. He was
suffering so badly from rheumatism
however, that he could not walk
unassisted. Seated ina large easy
chair, he received each of his guests
with handshake. Many were the
bright and amusing remarks he
made durin g this ceremony. The
Judge was evidently highly pleas
ed with the ovation rendered him
and expressed desire to say a few
words to the assembled guests.
Seated in his chair he spoke in q
clear, resonant voice, in part, as
follows:
"MY FRIENDs-If have enough
memory left to tell how old I am, 1
would say that 1 am 81 years old
this day. 1t is a matter of great
satisfaction to me to greet you. I
was born long before any of you. I
will be gone long before you are,
and while you are yet active.
There is not to-day lawyer, or a
doctor, or preacher, on the face of
the earth, who was engaged in his
profession when came here. sit
here almost q wreck of what was
once strong man, ready to engage
in any task however arduous, either
physical or mental. I have lived a
long time, and perhaps the Lord
has permitted me to live much
longer than 1 deserve.
You fellows would not believe
yet but that I am stout old man
earning a So fee in magistrates
court. came here after having
studied law with my uncle, Cover
nor Allen, and Noah Swayne. 1
was admitted to practice in the cir
cult at Washington G. H. After 1
was admitted I settled down in
Chillicothe, made some money and
practiced in the courts there until
they sent me to Congress. Finally
after number of years, the party
ran me for Governor and I came
nearly being elected, too, having
been beaten by about 2,700 votes,
while the year before we were
whipped by the Republicans by
about $4,000 majority. When l
settled here I found lots of good
Democrats. They were polite fell
lows and treated me we'll. I found
good docket fees and got to max
ing a good deal of money. After
awhile they took notion to send
me to the Senate at Washington,
where I spent twelve long years. I
never could see just exactly why
they did that, but anyhow that's
what happened. Some fellows do
pretty well down there and some
don't. After awhile there came
one of those earthquakes, some
thing like we had week ago Tues
day, and was laid out. I came
back again and practiced law and
got about as much as I could do. /
found Columbus pretty good
place to stay in, and hope I'll never
land in any worse"
Judge Thurman then touched on
some political questions and refer
red to the recent landslide. He
told the boys that it was an over
whelming defeat, but he had seen
the Democratic party come out vic
torious after worse defeats. He
urged Democrats not to be disheart-
ened, and closed with these encour.
aging words:
"We may beat the Republicans
soon again. We can't tell how soon,
but we are bound to beat them, be-
cause the Democratic party is nat
urally the party of free institutions.
When party is founded on the
fundamental principles of the Gov
ernment it is bound to be success
full. Again, am glad have met
you to-night-glad to- have taken
you by the hand and given you my
blessing, and may God be with you
all"
While the Judge was in the midst
of his remarks, his son, Allen W.,
reminded him that he was making