In the books' own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. The later printing (1910) is folded below the first. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
Born 1840, Waldo County
From Twentieth century history of Findlay and Hancock County and representative citizens (1910), A Centennial biographical history of Hancock County, Ohio : embellished with portraits of many well known people of Hancock County, who have been or are prominent in its history and development (1903)
GEORGE F. PENDLETON.
Whatever else may be said of the legal fraternity, it cannot be denied that members of the bar have been more prominent actors in public affairs than any other class of American people. This is but. the natural result of causes which are manifest and require no explanation. The ability and training which qualify one to practice law also qualify him in many respects for duties which lie outside the strict path of his profession, and which touch the general interest of society. The subject of this record is a man who has brought his keen discrimination and his thorough wisdom to bear, not alone in professional paths, but also for the benefit of his county and state.
Hon. George F. Pendleton, at present one of the leading attorneys of Findlay, Ohio, was born in Waldo, now Knox county, Maine, September 27, 1840, and the following year was brought by his parents to Hancock county, of which he has since been a resident. Mr. Pendleton is a son of Darius and Rachel Pendleton. His father was a farmer, builder and contractor, and lived out his life in Hancock county, where he died in September, 1876. He was born in South Fox Island, Maine, in 1816. At the breaking out of the Civil war he entered the service, becoming first lieutenant of Company G, One Hundred Eighteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served until April 19, 1863, when, not being able to stand the rigors of active campaigning on account of physical disability, he returned home and was appointed colonel of the Second Regiment of Home Guards of Hancock county, in which position he continued to serve as long as the" regiment preserved its organization. James Gilkay Pendleton, father of Darius, was born in 1783 on Long Island, Maine, located in Licking county, Ohio, and continued to reside there until his death, which occurred August 8, 1867. The father of the last mentioned was Gideon Pendleton, a large owner of real estate on Long Island, Maine, and also extensively engaged in the shipping industry, owning a number of vessels. The family is of English origin and traces its genealogy to the sixteenth century. The emigrant ancestor was Major Brian Pendleton, who came to America ten years after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock.
George F. Pendleton, heir to this long line of worthy forefathers, passed the period of his boyhood upon the farm, and received his education principally in schools at Stanley, "Putnam county, Ohio, and near McComb, Hancock county, Ohio. The father of our subject had in 1849 yielded to the gold excitement and in the spring of 1850 went to California. He returned in 185 1, and removed from his previous location in Union township to a tract of two hundred acres in Blanchard township, in Hancock county. Here at the immature age of fifteen our subject began work for himself, using that stepping stone in the lives of so many of our prominent men — the school room. He taught in the winter and worked on the farm in the summer until August, 1862, when he closed his school at Union Center and responded to the call of his country for assistance in preserving the Union. August 19, 1862, he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Eighteenth Rment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, of which his father, Darius Pendleton, was first lieutenant and his brother John a private. After a year's service as private in this company our subject was advanced to the position of corporal, in which he served in the company and on detached service tmtil he was mustered out on June 5, 1865, at Columbus, Ohio. Our subject, after remaining with his company for the first fifteen months, was detailed to act as chief clerk of the brigade commissary, and shortly afterward was advanced to the position of chief clerk of the post commissary, with headquarters at Kingston, Tennessee. After the war Mr. Pendleton returned to Nashville, Teimessee, where he assisted in closing the military accounts of different officers. In August, 1865, his health compelled him to resign, and he returned to his home in Hancock county, where he resumed his work of teaching. In 1867 he was appointed chief deputy in the office of C. B. Wilson, internal revenue collector for the seventh district of Ohio, with headquarters at Findlay, and in this office he passed the two following years. Having made up his mind to adopt the law as a profession, he at that time entered the office of Brown & Anderson in Findlay, and after doing the requisite amotmt of reading, passed the examination and was admitted by the supreme court of Ohio to the bar, at the December term in 1870. A partnership was at once formed with W. H. Anderson, who was the junior member of the above firm, the firm name being Anderson & Pendleton, which continued with a year's intermission, until 1876. At that time the partnership was dissolved, and our subject connected himself with Hon. Henry Brown, the senior member of the firm who had been his preceptors. This partnership continued for a period of two years, after which time Mr. Pendleton practiced alone until 1883. He had taken a very active interest in the campaigns of the party, and as a recognition of his services he was elected common pleas judge for the tenth district in October of that year. In this office he served for a period lOO CENTENNIAL of seven years, during which he established a reputation for the correct administration of justice, which but few have equalled. He left this office in Fd>- ruary, 1890, and again resumed the practice of law, in which he has been continuously engaged since that date. Mr. Pendleton has served in a number of public positions, all of which he has filled with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. About 1867 he was appointed county school examiner for Hancock county, in which position he served for a period of seven years, at the same time acting as examiner for the dty schools of Findlay. From April, 1870, to the same date in 1872, he officiated as mayor of the city of Findlay, and from January i, 1872, to January i, 1876, covering a period of two terms, he was prosecuting attorney of Hancock county.
May 2, 1 87 1, Mr. Pendleton was married in Hancock county, to Emma F., the daughter of George W. Galloway, who died in 1874, leaving no issue. The second marriage of Mr. Pendleton occurred in Middletown, Ohio, December 14, 1877, when he led to the altar Mary B., daughter of Joseph Sutphin. The Sutphin family came from New Jersey to Ohio. John Sutphin, the grandfather of Mrs. Pendleton, who was a large landowner of Warren and Butler counties, Ohio, died in Middletown, Ohio, at an advanced age. Joseph Sutphin, the father of Mrs. Pendleton, was a prominent flour and paper manufacturer of Middletown, Ohio, and died there at about seventy-five years of age. The mother of Mrs. Pendleton was Miss Caroline Johnston, a native of Ohio, who died in Cincinnati at more than seventy years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Pendleton have four children: Charles S., who graduated at Oberlin College, in 1901, and who is now professor of English at that institution; Emma G.; George F., Jr.; and Chester. Mr. Pendleton is a prominent and worthy member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and, of Stoker Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He and his family are members of the Presbyterian church.
As printed in A Centennial biographical history of Hancock County, Ohio : embellished with portraits of many well known people of Hancock County, who have been or are prominent in its history and development (1903). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
HON. GEORGE F. PENDLETON, formerly mayor of the city of Findlay, O., prosecuting attorney of Hancock County and judge of the Court of Common Pleas, for years has been a prominent and useful citizen of Western Ohio, and is one of the leaders of the Findlay bar. He was born September 27, 1840, in Waldo County, now known as Knox County, Me., a son of Darius Pendleton, who brought his family to Hancock County, O., in 1841.
George F. Pendleton’s boyhood was spent on his father’s farm and he gained his education in the country schools and early began to teach, spending his winters in the school-room and his summers in agricultural labor. This continued up to the second year of the Civil War. His father and a younger brother, John Pendleton, having become soldiers, he had remained on the farm during the first year of the great struggle, but in 1862 he also entered the army, becoming a member of Co. G, 118th O. Vol. Inf., of which his father was first lieutenant. In this same regiment, but on detached service at times, he remained until June 5, 1865, when he was mustered out at Columbus. Entering as a private, he was soon advanced in rank to corporal and later was made chief clerk of the post commissary, with headquarters at Kingston, Tenn. After the war was over much remained to be done in every department and Mr. Pendleton’s business qualifications were recognized by those in charge of closing the military accounts of different officers, they inviting him to give them assistance in this arduous clerical work. He accepted, but his health had been already impaired and in the succeeding August he felt it necessary to resign from this commission and afterward returned to Hancock County.
After a period of recuperation, Mr. Pendleton re-entered the educational field, where his previous record had been most creditable, and he continued to teach until 1867, when he was appointed chief deputy to the Collector of Internal Revenue for the old Fifth District of Ohio, an office he filled for two years, making his headquarters at Findlay. While in the South he had studied law and completed his course with the firm of Brown & Anderson, at Findlay. He was admitted to the bar in December, 1870, immediately entering into a law partnership with W. H. Anderson. The firm of Anderson & Pendleton was dissolved in 1876, at which time Mr. Pendleton became associated with his former preceptor, Henry Brown, with whom he continued for two years. Mr. Pendleton then practiced alone until 1883, in the fall of that year being elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas, for the Tenth District. For seven years Judge Pendleton filled that office with the dignity and efficiency of a thoroughly qualified man, and since retiring from the Bench has continued in private practice and has been connected with a large part of the important litigation in the courts of this section.
Judge Pendleton has ever been an active citizen and his worth has many times been publicly recognized. He has been called upon to serve on many boards and commissions designed to assist in the advancement of the general welfare. In April, 1870, he was elected mayor of Findlay, in which honorable office he served usefully for two years, leaving the municipal chair in order to assume the duties of county prosecuting attorney. From January 1, 1872, until January 1, 1876, he proved himself an able, forceful and courageous public official in that difficult office. From 1867 to 1875 he was county school examiner and also city school examiner for a number of years. Judge Pendleton’s interest in educational work has never lessened and even when suffering from the stress and strain of great responsibilities, he has continued to assume the cares of offices by which he has been able to add to the efficiency of the public school system in county and city.
As printed in Twentieth century history of Findlay and Hancock County and representative citizens (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
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