Julius C. Pomerene

As printed in 1909

JUDGE JULIUS C. PO:\IERENE.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

Family tradition has it that the founder of the family in America was a French youth, Julius Pomerene, who ran away from home, was secreted by LaFayette on one of his ves.sels and, after the arrival of the French troops in the new world, served with the American forces through the Revolutionary war, one account claiming that he held the rank of sergeant under General LaFayette. After the close of the war he became a resident of Lanca.ster county, Pennsylvania, and was there married to Magdalena Heller, a German lady.

Julius C. Pomerene, a son of Julius and Elizabeth (Piersol) Pomerene, was born in Salt Creek township, Holmes county, Ohio, June 27, 1835. His boyhood and youth were spent upon the farm where his father settled on removing from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1819. There the father of our subject lived until called to his final rest in 1863, his time and energies being devoted to general agricultural pursuits. His son and namesake. Judge Pomerene, was a pupil in the district schools until he reached the age of seventeen years, when he matriculated in Mount Union College, where he remained for two years. He did not have the means to pursue an uninterrupted course through college and he spent his summers and vacations at work on the farm, while in the fall and winter months he taught or attended school as necessity and opportunity pointed the way. He was for one year a student in the Hayesville Academy and altogether spent about three years in the acquirement of a higher education.

Ambitious to become a member of the bar. Judge Pomerene began reading law as a student in the office and under the direction of Hoagland & Reed, then the leading attorneys of Holmes county, with whom he continued for a year. At the expiration of that period he entered the State and LTnion Law College at Cleveland, Ohio, from which he was graduated in June, 1859. In November of the same year he located for practice at Coshocton and remained an active and prominent member of the bar until his election to the bench of the circuit court in 1892. He w-as first associated in partnership with Colonel Josiah Given, another one of the judges of the supreme court of Iowa, and this connection continued until the outbreak of the Civil war. Judge Pomerene afterward practiced alone for about eighteen months and was then associated with Benjamin S. Lee for six years. On the dissolution of that partnership he joined Etherington T. Spangler in a partnership that remained in effect for fifteen years. Judge Pomerene was then alone in practice until 1886, when on the admission of his son, William R., the firm of J. C. and W. R. Pomerene was formed. There was no interruption to this association until January 1, 1893, when Judge Pomerene withdrew to take his place upon the bench of the circuit court. In the meantime he had gained distinction as one of the foremost members of the bar of northern Ohio. One who knew him well said of him:

"There is not a man in Coshocton county who is more highly respected as a citizen than Judge Pomerene. He is a gentleman both by nature and education. He is uiiright in hi. intercourse with his fellow citizens and ha-i a thorough appreciation of the rights of others. He is a man of firm convictions, though not dogmatical in enforcing his views on others. He is open, frank and sincere in his manner and has the confidence and esteem of all those who come to know him well. As a lawyer he has long been one of the foremost at this bar. He is conscientious with his clients and is regarded as a safe counselor. He had a large practice before he went on the bench, which was of a general natttre. though he had more chancery practice, perhaps, than business in open court. He is recognized as one of the best read lawyers in this section of the-tate and is eminently qualified for the judicial ermine."

Such was Judge Pomerenc's position in the public regard that when he received the democratic nomination for one of the.judges of the fifth judicial district it was at once conceded that it was almost u.sales? to place an opponent in the field. His election was a foregone conclusion and the record which lie made on the bench is perhaps best told in the words of an eminent moTiber of the Ohio bar, who said:

"Judge Pomerene is an able jurist. He is adapted by nature and education for a judge. He has an equitable mind and is well grounded in the principles of law. He is clear and concise in his statements of questions of law and eminently just in his decisions. He is conservative and safe rather than brilliant, and his judgment has been sustained by the supreme court. The purity of his life, the honesty of his purpose and his close adherence to the practice of law, to the exclusion of everything else since he entered the profession, are other elements of his character that have raised him in the esteem of the members of the bar in the district. He has maintained himself well in the position of judge and fully met the expectations of those who placed him there."

Vs previously indicated. Judge Pomerene was a stalwart democrat, yet was without those qualities that are characteristic of the so-called politician. He was a believe in the principles of his party and recognized the obligations of citizenship but never countenanced in the slightest degree the employment of political methods which would not bear the closest investigation. On the bench he never allowed partisanship or personal prejudice to interfere with the faithful administration of justice and his decisions were not only strictly fair but were based also upon a comprehensive knowledge of the law. He was yet the incumbent in the office of circuit judge when death came to him suddenly December 23, 1897.

Judge Pomerene is still survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter, Mrs. Pomerene, who bore the maiden name of Irene Perky, was a daughter of John F. and Julia Perky, of Hancock county, Ohio. The sons are William R. and Frank E., associates in the practice of law under the firm name of Pomerene & Pomerene, while the daughter, Helen, is the wife of Lincoln C. Carson, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. She was born September 28, 1869, and was a student in the Coshocton public schools, in Granville Female College of Granville, Ohio, and a convent school at Nottingham, near Cleveland. She was married November 11, 1903, and has one daughter, Helen Pomerene Carson, born September 27, 1904.

Such in brief is the life history of Judge Pomerene. He wa.s a man respected and honored by young and old, rich and poor. He had many warm friends and those who came within the closer circle of his acquaintance found him a most genial companion, while all who knew him entertained for him the esteem which the world instinctively pays in recognition of genuine worth. During his practice his course was such as to reflect credit upon the bar of this district and state. He conducted important litigation in the state and federal courts with gratifying success, winning well earned fame and distinction. He convinced by his concise statements of law and facts rather than by word painting and his assertions in court were seldom questioned seriously, so high was the respect for his legal ability and integrity. He was an able, faithful and conscientious minister in the temple of justice and gave to his client the service of great talent, unwearied industry and rare learning.

Joseph L. McDowell, who at the age of fourteen was serving as page in the Ohio legislature, is now classed with the leading lawyers of Coshocton and is now serving as county prosecuting attorney. He was born in this city April 6, 1874, of the marriage of John and Catherine (Kelly) McDowell, both of whom were natives of Ireland. The father, coming to America in early manhood, spent a short time in Cooperstown, New York, and thence removed to Coshocton, Ohio, where he learned the blacksmith's trade. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted as a mechanic and worked at blacksmithing in the government service throughout the period of hostilities. When peace had been restored, he returned to Coshocton, where he again followed his trade, becoming known as an enterprising, progressive and successful mechanic. While never an aspirant for public office, he was a worker in the ranks of the democratic party and hls efforts in its behalf were far-reaching and beneficial. He died in 1900, at the age of sixty-three years.

Joseph L. McDowell, spending his boyhood days in his father's home, was sent to the public schools of Coshocton and while receiving theoretical training there, was also having the practical experiences which come to the boy who early learns the value of money by earning it. He worked as a newsboy and bootblack in his early youth and at the age of fourteen years was given the position of page in the state legislature, being the first democratic page to serve in a republican house. He continued there for eight years and then went with Senator Calvin Bryce to Washington. He remained at the national capital, however, for only two months, when he asked to be returned to the Ohio legislature, as the emoluments were greater there and living expenses less. While acting as page in Columbas he attended night school under Professor King and began reading law with Captain E. W. James, the pioneer attorney of Coshok'ton. as hi- ]ireceptor. A laudable

As printed in Centennial history of Coshocton County, Ohio (1909). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.