The herald., 1895-12-01

he was q power in the nation as well as
the idol of great political party. He
attained q high place in his chosen pro-
fassion, the law, served with distinction
in the senate, and finally retired to the
peaceful enjoyment of home-life that
was made beautiful by fond wife and
loving family.
Although distinctly q man of the peo-
pie Allen g. Thurman came of proud
old Virginia family. He became rich
man too, but he never showed trace or
trait of the aristocracy of birth or purse.
He was born November -, 1913. in
Lynchburg Virginia, his father being
minister of the Methodist church and
his mother the only daughter of Colonel
Nathaniel Allen. His parents moved to
Ohio when he was boy and with the
Buckeye state he has since been identified.
The story of his life as a young man NAV
be briefly stated. He was admitted to
the bar in Chillicothe in 1885, and for ten
years thereafter fought his way TO sue
cess. Then he took his first step IN poll
tics and entered the twenty-rinth con-
gress IN 1915 as its youngest member. 1t
was when his maternal uncle, Senator
William Allen, retired, that he was first
called the sod Roman" The sobriquet
had long been applied to Senator Allen,
and it naturally fell upon Judge Thur
man whose career had been in many
ways SIMILAR to that of the original bearer
of the title. In 1851 be Was elected to the
supreme bench of the state of Ohio, and
served until 1856. During this time he
wrote those five volumes of standard legal
works which are 10 be found in the Ohio
reports.
statement and logical adherence to ele-
mentary law. In no other department is
his greatness SO generally Iecognizsd as
this. The senator, the politician, may
have been criticised, but Judge Thurman
always commanded respect.
Senator Roscoe Conkling was once adj
dressing the senate in an impassioned
manner and seemed to direct his remarks
ter got irritated.
Does the senator from New York"
he roared 'eXIect me to answer him
every time he turns to me?''
For a moment Mr.. Conkling hesit ated,
and every body expected terrific explo-
sion. Then. with an air OF exquisite
courtesy, he replied:
when speak of the law I turn to the
senator from Ohio as the Mussulman
turns toward Mecca. l turn to him as |
do to the English common law, as the
worlds most copious fountain Of human
juris prudence"
Then the usually decorous senate broke
into a storm of applause. and then the
Thurman eyes moistened little. 1t is
ever a pleasure to be complimented, but
to be com plimented as lawyer by Ros-
coe Conkling-tbat was praise, Indeed.
The statesmen we're the hest of friends
and greatly enjoyed each others society
when "off duty"
After his hard work as lawyer he
fully appreciated the comparative rest
which he found on the bench, and he
grew iAto rugged. genial. middle-aged
gentleman of the finest 'old Virginia"
type. His domestic life was singularly
happy. His son Allen fulfilled the faith
er's fondest hopes, and in later years his
family lived IN residence joining that
of his father, so that the two families
were as one. Judge Thurman and his
wife remained lovers through all their
days of wediock and in 1860 no man
seemed to have fairer prospect of peace
and content. The war was rude awaken
ing and brought TO Judge Thurman a
great load of grief.
He was by family tradition opposed to
slavery III itself, yet held, in common
with Webster, Benton and Clay, that it
was thing for the states them selves to
deal with. He denied the right of any
state to secede, but INDUCED the hope
that some milder method than war might
he adopted to restore the Union. His
position was thus stated by himself at
later date:
II did all I could to help preserve the
Union without war, but after 1t begun |
thought there was but one thing to do,
and That was to fight it out, l therefore
sustained all constitutional measures that
tended in my judgment to put down
the rebellion. | nevei believed in the
doctrine of secession"
While the storm ragged such men as
Judge Thurman were reserved. When the
era of rebuilding came and judicial
minds were needed, they came again to
the front. In 1867 Judge Thurman was
nominated by the Democrats of Ohio for
governor against the popular general and
ex.congressm Rutherford b. Hayes.
The result was simply astounding. The
Republican ma ority for some years pre-
vious bad been over 40, 900 yet after a
superheated campaign the vote in an
off year was much larger than ever
before. General Hayes majority was
less than 5000 and the Legislature elected
was Democratic on Joint ballot.
His political career shows as many
defeats as successes. in 1865 he was
elected senator and served two Terms.
His record in the senate was u most
brilliant one. lie was the leader of his
party i'll that body and carride through
many a long, uphill fight.
One, of his greatest victories was over
the Pacific railroad corporations. Thur
man, who was on the judiciary commit
tee. was determined that the railroads
should fulfill their obligations to the peo-
pie. Jay Gould, with his millions, was
against him. When the decisive day
came the managers of tha railroad lobby
were rash enough to announce that they
had forty votes secured in the senate and
could defeat .he bill to certainty. Sena-
tor Thurman knew that the bill must
pass by midnight or not at all. The hours
were rapidly passing and the hlibustsring
of the opponents of the bill promised to
defeat it, when Thurman arose with a
roll call OF the senate in his hand and
said:
''Mr. President, l understand that the
opponents OF this bill are confident of
victory. They claim they have enough
votes pledged to defeat tho bill, and |
have b are a roll call of the senate with
the names checked upon it of the sena-
tors who, we are well advised, are relied
upon by the agents of this powerful
lobby to vote against it,.
He then said in substance that he
would watch the voting upon the bill
with great interest, and he would like to
see how well the vote would tally with
the list with which he had been furnish
ed. Somehow the forty votes were not
forthcoming.
After retiring from the senate Thurman
settled down in his comfortable home
With the full intention Of passing the