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Note: The position of Attorney General was created by the Ohio General Assembly on February 16, 1846 as a position elected by the General Assembly and commissioned by the Governor for a five-year term. He had to be Franklin County resident,maintain his office in Columbus, take an oath to support the Constitution, and post a $5,000 bond. He was paid a salary of $750 annually, plus three and one half percent of all monies he collected, up to a total maximum of $1300 a year. The 1846 act spelled out the Attorney General's responsibilities as follows: He was the legal advisor to the state government; he was to represent the interests of the State, provide legal opinions to state officials, prepare all state contracts, maintain records and prepare an annual report to the General Assembly. He represented the State in all civil or criminal matters before the Ohio Supreme Court and in any court at the request of the Governor or either house of the General Assembly. He was authorized to consult with and advise county prosecuting attorneys and was directed to compile crime statistics as reported to him by the county prosecutors. Whig attorney Henry Stanbery was the first appointed Ohio Attorney General, and he opened his office in Columbus on April 6, 1846. No record has been found to indicate its location. Much of his first year was spent organizing the new office -- creating a case-tracking system and a uniform crime report format for the county prosecutors -- but in his first report to the General Assembly delivered December 20, 1847, Stanbery reported that he had collected $3,051.07 owed to the State, and had judgments for another $2,849.32. He also noted that providing legal opinions to state officials and county prosecutors took more time than any other of his responsibilities. Stanbery also noted that compiling crime statistics was difficult, as county prosecutors were less than diligent in providing him crime reports, and he had no authority to enforce their compliance. In 1848 the General Assembly authorized the Attorney General (with assent from the state Auditor) to negotiate with debtors against whom the State had judgments that were two years old. Extensive infrastructure expenditures by the state in the previous 20 years, such as canals, roads, and railroads, had helped Ohio rapidly develop as a state, but also squeezed the state government financially. Ohio was $18 million in debt. Unfortunately, several incidents of embezzlement of state funds accentuated the state's financial pressure. The ability to negotiate with debtors gave the Attorney General the flexibility to collect money the state needed to operate. In 1849, about mid-way through Stanbery's five-year term, the General Assembly changed the Attorney General to a statewide elective office, effective at the conclusion of Stanbery's term at Attorney General. Since Stanbery's term expired in April of 1851, and the general election was not until November of that year, the Democratic majority in the General Assembly appointed Democrat Joseph McCormick to act as Attorney General from May until the fall election. http://www.ag.ohio.gov/history.htm
http://www.kypost.com/opinion/pieces021698.html
Civil War, Lincoln's death made Johnson marked man
In Campbell County, one of the first displays of grief was a public meeting set for 2 p.m. April 19 on the courthouse grounds in Newport. T. Buchanan Read would read a poem in Lincoln's honor and speeches were planned by Col. John P. Jackson, Judge Dickson, George P. Webster, Ira Root, O. W. Root, M. V. Daly and Henry Stanbery. Stanbery, who at the time lived in what is now Ft. Thomas, later became U.S. attorney general under the new president, Andrew Johnson.
Stanbery led defense at impeachment trial
The man President Andrew Johnson selected as U.S. attorney general was Henry Stanbery, a longtime resident of CampbellCounty. Stanbery was born in New York City on Feb. 20, 1803. The family moved to Zanesville, Ohio, when Stanbery was 11. He lived there only about a year before leaving to attend Washington College in Pennsylvania, while only 12 years old. After graduation he returned to Zanesville, where he studied law and began practicing in 1824. Stanbery became Ohio state attorney general in 1846 and later moved to Cincinnati and then to Campbell County about 1857. He later helped draft the creation of the District of the Highlands, which now is the city of Ft. Thomas. Stanbery served as U.S. attorney general until March 12, 1868, when he resigned so he could lead President Johnson's defense team in Johnson's impeachment trial. Although ill, Stanbery is said to have made a brilliant final appeal to the U.S. Senate. It would have taken 36 votes to convict. The final tally was 35 to 19. Stanbery returned to Northern Kentucky and in 1880 was listed as having the highest real estate tax valuation of anyone inCampbell County. He died in New York City on June 26, 1881. The Covington-based Daily Commonwealth newspaper attributed the cause of death as acute bronchitis. Accounts said he had undergone an unsuccessful eye operation the previous October, which left him blind in his final months. He is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati.
http://sunsite.utk.edu/utpress/y_fw98/bergert.htm
Henry Stanbery, who had resigned his Attorney General post in order to serve on Johnson's counsel, unfortunately had a bout of illness that kept him away from the proceedings for several weeks. But he rallied in time to submit a closing statement that added to the very able ones offered by Thomas A.R. Nelson, William M. Evarts and Groesbeck. Although his lawyers attempted to muzzle Johnson for the duration of the trial, he had conversations with reporters from at least three different newspapers. Interestingly, one of them, Jerome Stillson of the New York World, reviewed a list of Senators with Johnson to ascertain his views about their prospective votes on conviction. Johnson immediately nominated Stanbery to resume the post of Attorney General; but the Senate, still smarting from the impeachment setback, refused to approve the appointment. The President then turned to Benjamin Curtis, who, although grateful for the recognition, declined. Seward therefore contacted Evarts, another one of Johnson's lawyers, about the Attorney Generalship and reported that Evarts had the matter under consideration. Finally, on June 20 Evarts, although making "some sacrifice of personal conscience and interest," notified Johnson that he would accept. But the Senate's hesitation to confirm perplexed Stanbery, who avowed that Evarts "has given no opinions contrary to their [the Senate's] reconstruction acts." Eventually some degree of sanity prevailed as the Senate consented to the appointment of Evarts on July 15, thereby bringing to a close the immediate aftermath of the impeachment trial. In mid-July Chief Justice Chase sought a claims court judgeship for a friend, but Johnson had already decided to nominate his longtime friend, Sam Milligan, to that post. A few days later Chase, claiming that letters from him could no longer "be construed as prompted in any degree by political wishes," urged the appointment of Frederick Stanton as Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Meanwhile, Henry Stanbery recommended two friends for different positions. Later that same month he requested that his nephew be appointed a cadet to West Point, a plea that Johnson seems to have ignored. Suffice it to say, these persons believed that they had a special claim upon the President's patronage.
http://epn.org/psq/benedict.html Of course, Johnson had perpetrated these "offenses" (in the eyes of the radicals) before Congress had clearly manifested its hostility to his lenient Reconstruction policy. Congress overrode his program with the Reconstruction act of March, 1867, which, while not dispersing outright the governments created under Johnson's authority, made these governments provisional only. That law placed them under the ultimate control of five military commanders until each state framed a constitution guaranteeing equal legal and political rights to its citizens. Throughout 1867, Johnson used his discretionary powers as chief executive and commander-in-chief of the armed forces in a systematic effort to defeat the Republican legislative pro-gram. Within four months of the passage of the Reconstruction act and the first supplement to it, Johnson's attorney general, Henry Stanbery, appeared with a formal opinion which virtually emasculated Congress's program, forcing Republicans to return to Washington to patch the torn netting of the law. Stanbery's interpretation minimized the power of the military authorities to which Congress had entrusted administration of the unreconstructed states. According to the attorney general, the military could not remove recalcitrant officials of the Johnsonian provisional governments, enforce national laws in military courts, take cognizance of crimes committed before Congress passed the Reconstruction act, or prohibit activities not in violation of state or national statute law. His interpretation also provided that registration boards authorized under the Reconstruction law had to accept Southerners' oaths that they were not disqualified from voting and denied the boards power to investigate whether the oath-taker had perjured himself. 104. Benedict on the Johnson Impeachment Copyright 1998 by Political Science Quarterly. Readers may redistribute this article to other individuals for noncommercial use, provided that the text, all html codes, and this notice remain intact and unaltered
http://www.nidlink.com/~bobhard/constit4.html
The first session of the first Congress (Sept. 24, I 789) provided for a Supreme Court with "a chief justice and five associate justices", four of whom should constitute a quorum. In February, 1801, the number of associates was reduced to four. On April 29, 1802, the Court was enlarged to six associate justices, The number of associates was increased to eight on March 3, 1837. On March 3, 1861, Congress increased the Court by making it consist of a chief justice and nine associates, and Stephen J. Field of California was appointed by President Lincoln to the new associate justiceship. To prevent President Johnson from appointing Attorney-General Stanbery to fill a vacancy on the bench, Congress reduced the number of associates to six on July 23, 1866. The number of associates was increased to eight, six of whom are a quorum, by an act of April 10, 1869, about a month after Johnson's term expired. One of the appointees of President Grant to the two new places was rejected by the Senate, and the other, Edwin M. Stanton, died before he could take his seat. Thus a court of seven decided the first Legal Tender Case on February 7, 1870, holding that paper money ("Greenbacks", so called) could not under the Constitution [Note 44], be made a legal tender in place of coin in payment of debts. On the same day President Grant appointed William Strong of Pennsylvania, and Joseph P. Bradley of New Jersey, and in May, 1871, another Legal Tender Case coming up, the first decision was overruled. At present (1940) the Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and eight associates.
Attorney General of the United States , July 23, 1866 to March 13, 1868; under President Andrew Johnson. Henry became a resident of Cincinnati in 1853.
Died while on a visit to New York, buried Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio. At the solicitation of Thomas Ewing, he settled in Lancaster and with him formed a partnership. They traveled the circuit together for a few years, when they dissolved partnership and became friendly rivals upon all cases of great importance upon the circuit. From 1825 to 1830 Ewing and Stanbery were the most prominent young attorneys in the State in active practice. And from 1830 to the close of their professional careers they were the foremost lawyers of the State of Ohio. Mr. Stanbery's reputation rests upon his ability as a lawyer. He took no part in politics. In the year 1846 Henry Stanbery was elected Attorney-General by the Legislature of the State of Ohio; in which capacity he served the State ably for five years. In the meantime he became a resident of Columbus, Ohio. In the year 1850 he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention for Franklin County, being one of the ablest members of that body and conspicuous in debate. From Columbus he moved to Cincinnati, where he practiced his profession until called to fill the position of Attorney-General of the United States by President Johnson in the year 1866. During the impeachment trial of President Johnson, he resigned this office to become his counsel. He returned to Cincinnati, where he spent the declining years of his life. He died while on a visit to New York City in 1883, aged eighty years. Henry Stanbery was a man over six feet in height, stra ight as an arrow, of commanding presence, courtly manners, and was the most polite and affable member of the Ohio Bar. He was the soul of honor and scorned to do a mean act. He neither misled court or jury, or took a mean advantage of his opponent. He wa s one of the great lawyers of our time and a model gentleman in every relation in life. His first wife was a daughter of General Philemon Beecher. She died early, in the year 1840, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery by the side of her father and mother. His second wife was a daughter of Colonel Bond, ofChillicothe. The body of Henry Stanbery was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery at Cincinnati. His son, Judge Philemon Beecher Stanbery, lives in Pomeroy, Ohio. Thomas Ewing began the study of law with General Beecher in 1815 and was a rising young lawyer long before the year 1830. He soon rose to great prominence as an attorney, became U. S. Senator in 1831; made a national reputation, both as an attorney and statesman, and has long been classed the ablest man that Ohio has produced. Henry Stanbery came to Lancaster as an attorney in 1824; devoted his entire time to his profession and became one of the most celebrated lawyers of the West. No stronger team everentered a court room in the State of Ohio, than when Thomas Ewing and Henry Stanbery appeared for the same client. Generally, however, they were pitted against each other. Henry Stanbery was the son of a physician. He was born in New York City in the year 1803. When but eleven years of age, in the year 1814, he came with his father to Zanesville, Ohio. He was educated at Washington College, Pa., and studied law in Zanesville. In May, 1824, he was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court at Gallipolis, Ohio. In the month of June following, he made his first speech to a jury in the Court House at Athens, Ohio. It was a case of bastardy and he appeared for the fair plaintiff. Among other good points he made, he said to the jury that there were three witnesses in this case in behalf of the plaintiff, the mother and her twin babies, silent though they were. His opponent saw the force of Stanbery's speech and did his best to c ounteract it. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff. About Thomas Ewing; Good judges pronounced his argument a wonderful production. In the Martha Washington case tried in the United States Court at Columbus, Stanbery appeared for the prosecution, and Ewing for the defense. Mr. Ewing submitted the case without argument much to the surprise of Stanbery who had a carefully prepared speech, and the jury brought in a verdict for defendants. During the trying times of the rebellion, when his boys and son-in-law were at the front, he was in constant communication with the authorities at Washington. His advice was often sought by the Administration and freely given. It was mainly, (as his friends claim) upon his advice that Mason and Slidell were surrendered and a war with England averted. He left a sick-bed and made his way to Wa shington to advise with President Lincoln on this occasion. He lived to see peace and a reunited country. Mr. Ewing was a man of splendid form, strong and active, and many good stories are told of his strength and agility. In a purely legal argument he was without a rival at the Ohio bar. In the courts of Ohio, Henry Stanbery was his most formidable competitor. They were opposed to each other on all great cases. In the great case of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Mr. Ewing represented the North, Stanbery the South. As all the world knows, Mr. Ewing won the case. Mr. Ewing reared a large family, and for the last fifteen years of his life owned and resided in the Stanbery house on High Street, Lancaster. Henry Stanbery made inve stments that brought his family a fortune after his death. When he was attorney-general he purchased a lot on High Street, Columbus, for three thousand dollars, which recently sold for seventy thousand dollars.
The opening of this bank was preceded by a grand party given by Ritchie as a sort of opening. The bank did not have a long life; they had no capital and depositors were not numerous. This was a case of want of confidence. Mr. Ritchie was charged by eastern parties with some irregularity, and they came to Lancaster in a carriage and kidnapped him; he was politely invited to take a ride, which invitation he accepted, and the ride was continued to New York City. Henry Stanbery w ent to New York and secured his release. The first three brick buildings erected in Lancaster have been mentioned. Thomas Ewing built the first commodious brick residence about the year 1824. Gen. Samuel F. Maccracken built the first really fine pretentious house in the town in 1833. It is still in a state of fine preservation, and is now owned and occupied by John G. Reeves. General W. J. Reese built the next fine house and was soon followed by Henry Stanbery. Builders say that Michael Garaghty's house, built about the same time, though not so pretentious, was one of the best built houses in Lancaster; it is now owned and occupied by Mrs. John R. Mumaugh. H. H. Hunter's dwelling, once in the suburbs, and built in 1844 by Henry Orman, was a fine residence. Col. Van Trump and D. Tallmadge buil t stately homes west of town. There are many modern dwellings in the city, but none to compare in splendor and in capacity for entertainment to the grand old mansions mentioned. St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church was organized in the year 1835. The Rev. Sherlock J. Andrews was the first pastor. Henry Stanbery, Wm. J. Reese, Mrs. Judge Sherman, Mrs. John Reber, Mrs. D. Kutz, Mrs. W. J. Reese, and Mrs. Judge Van Trump were among the early members. The society leaders of the period of 1840 were the families of Thomas Ewing, Hocking H. Hunter, Henry Stanbery, P. Van Trump, General S. F. Maccracken, General William J. Reese, the Creeds, Dr. M. Z. Kreider, Samuel Effinger, John Reber, Daniel Kutz, Thomas Reed, Robt. H. Caffee, Jesse B. Hart, John H. Tennant, John G. Willock, Dr. Jas. White, Dr. Boerstler, Dr. Edwards, Mrs. Colonel Sumner, John T. Brasee, Michael Garaghty, and William Medill. Senator Ewing in 1833 gave a grand party in honor of his distinguished visitor, Hon. Daniel Webster, which was attended by the elite of Lancaster. Of those who attended that great function, there is but one survivor, Mrs. General Reese.
Src. Centennial Lancaster
Ebenezer Granger was an able, well-equipped lawyer, and soon became influential in the growing community. He married Eliza Seaman 31 July, 1815. She was a sister of the half blood to that Henry Stanbery who for many years was one of Ohio's foremost lawyers and closed a career of notable public service as attorneygeneral of the United States during President Johnson's administration. Src. Geonealogy of Launcelot Granger
One of the most elegantly courtly men known to the legal profession in Ohio was Henry Stanbery. He was in stature about six feet, errect, with dignified bearing and a very pleasnt face. His features were large and strongly marked, and when suffused with the light of his genial spirt nothing could be more captivating. Indeed he was grace itself and seemed as a prince among men. The memory of his fine prescence is to many living a valued lifetime possesion. And he was deserving of the regard which his prescence inspired, for he was the soul of honor and integrity; scorned to mislead a court or jury, or to deceive an opponent by any misstatement of law or fact. He was kindness itself, never lost his control nor indulged in petulance nor passion. He was one of the first lawyers in the United States entitled to the highest veneration and regard. He was a member of the Episcopal communication and in all his deportment and career showed his love for justice, truth and beauty. Henry Stanbery was born in New York city, and in 1814, when a lad of eleven years, came with his father, a physician, to Zanesville. He was educated at Washington College, Pennsylvania, studied law at Zanesville, and was admitted to the bar in 1821, when he was invited by Hon. Thomas Ewing to begin practice at Lancaster and ride the circuit with him, which offer he accepted and for many years resided there. When in 1846, the office of attorney-general of Ohio was created he was elected by the General Assembly to be its first occupant. He then removed to Columbus, where he resided during his entire term of five years. In 1850 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention from Franklin county, and was conspicuous in its debates. On leaving Columbus he for several years pratised law in Cincinnati. In 1866 he was appointed Attorney-General of the United States by President Johnson, which office he accepted from a desire to assist in carrying the government safely through the perilous times following the war. He resigned this office to become one of the counsel of the President upon his impeachment. His health at that time was so delicate that most of his arguments on that trial wre submitted on paper. He died in New York in 1883, aged 80 years. Hon. Henry C. Noble, now of Columbus, who in his boy-days knew him at Lancaster, Noble's birthplace, and later was his pupil in the law, gave a personal sketch this synopsis of his professional qualities; "He was from the first a most accurate lawyer, fond of the technicalities and ready in applying every refinement of pleading and all the nice rules of evidence and practice. It was, however, in the discussion of the general principles of the law which arose in his cases in which he generally delighted. Upon all young men who studied the law he would urge the essential importance of mastering general priciples in order to attain the highest sucess. He was especially fond of the Latin maxiums, which he regarded as the very embodiment of terse wisdom. In his manner oa a practitioner Mr. Stanbery was a model. Always courteous and dignified, he was nevertheless as alert and as ready as soldier on guard. He was quick to perceive the slightest weakness of an opponent's cause, and on it dealt his blow with overwhelming suddenness. His manner in the examinationn of witnesses was admirable. He never bullied nor attempted to mislead them, but with sincere frankness and winning address would secure from the reluctant or the unfair witness often full and true answers to his questions. His language was of the purest English and his style free from all the glitter of mere words. To court and jury alike his speeches were clear. His arguments on the law were models of orderly arrangement and logical force, often eloquent from these very qualities. His addresses to the jury were masterly discussions of the facts, ingeniously mustered to sustain his views, and were exceedingly attractive. In writing, he was a marvel of accuracy. Often his manuscripts were printed from teh original draft, with scarcely a correction. He was systematic and thorough as a worker, never putting off anything for a more convenient season, but at the earliest moment analyzing his case and settling the law and facts which would control it".
Find a grave has conflicting death data
Birth: Feb. 20, 1803 New York New York County New York, USA Death: Jun. 25, 1881 New York New York County New York, USA
Presidential Cabinet Member, Attorney General of Ohio. Born in New York City, he moved to Zanesville, Ohio in 1814 with his family when he was a child and graduated from Washington College in Pennsylvania in 1819. Stanbery studied law and was admitted to the bar when he came of age in 1824. He then moved to Lancaster, Ohio and entered into the law firm of Thomas Ewing as a partner and remained as such for over twenty years until 1846. A member of the Whig Party, he was elected as the Attorney General of Ohio, moved to Columbus, Ohio, and served from 1846 to 1851. He was also a delegate to the Ohio State Constitutional Convention in 1850. In 1853, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and resumed his law practice. In 1857, he moved across the river to Fort Thomas, Kentucky in Campbell County and continued his legal profession in Newport, Kentucky. Stanbery became a member of the Republican Party and was appointed by President Andrew Johnson as the United States Attorney General in July of 1866. He agreed with Johnson's conservative approach on Reconstruction and was brought into the controversy regarding how to deal it. When Johnson was impeached, Stanbery resigned on March 12, 1868 in order to serve as Chief Counsel for the President. Johnson was acquitted by the United States Senate and re-nominated Stanbery to his previous position as a member of the Presidential Cabinet, but the appointment was not approved by the Senate. Stanbery remained in Washington D.C. and resumed his legal career participating in several high profile cases. He returned to Cincinnati in 1870 and became president of the Cincinnati Bar Association. Deteriorating health conditions claimed his sight in 1880 and he died in New York City while waiting to undergo an operation to restore his sight. Henry Stanbery: Sir, you will be remembered as 28th United States Attorney General and the man who defend Andrew Johnson during his impeachment trial. may you rest in peace! Buried Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio Section 36, Lot 65
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