Cleveland Past and Present: Its Representative Men: Comprising Biographical Sketches of Pioneer Settlers and Prominent Citizens
History
Cleveland Past and Present: Its Representative Men: Comprising Biographical Sketches of Pioneer Settlers and Prominent Citizens
Cleveland (Ohio) -- Biography; Cleveland (Ohio) -- History
O'er billowy seas with fresh'ning breeze,
'Tis glorious oft to roam;
And joy to mark a graceful bark,
Divide the salt sea foam:
And joy to wake at morning break,
When huntsman's bugle sounds,
And gaily lead on fiery steed,
In chase of deer and hounds.
But moonlight sail with fresh'ning gale,
Or merry chase afar,
Can ne'er compare with flight through air,
In our Aerial Car.
Early in 1853, Mr. Gray, who was also then postmaster, offered him a
position in the Cleveland post-office, which he accepted, and entered upon
its duties; but at the end of two months, being dissatisfied with the dull
routine and monotony of such an occupation, he threw up his position; and
having, on the very day he left the post-office, decided to adopt the
legal profession, before night he had secured a position in the law office
of Charles Stetson, Esq., then in large and active practice, and had
entered upon the study of the law, where he continued for over a year and
a half, pursuing his studies with assiduity and success. He then entered
the law office of Hon. William Collins and pursued his studies with him
until June, 1855, when he was admitted to the Bar by the District Court in
Delaware, Delaware county, Ohio.
[Illustration: Yours Very Truly, James M. Jones.]
Shortly after his admission to the Bar, he was retained as leading
counsel for the defence in the famous "Townsend McHenry" extradition case,
a proceeding pending before U. S. Commissioner Grannis, on the charge that
the prisoner, who claimed to be Robert McHenry, was no other than the
notorious William Townsend, a well known, desperate Canadian highway
robber and murderer; and in this Mr. Jones attracted attention by the
skill with which he managed it. Indeed, it became necessary to send to
Canada for several successive lots of witnesses, before they could make a
case. The prisoner was, however, taken to Canada and put upon his trial
for murder as William Townsend, the sole question on the trial being one
of identity; and a more extraordinary trial in that respect cannot be
found in history. And although on the trial about one hundred witnesses
testified to his being the veritable William Townsend, he was,
nevertheless, able to produce a still larger number of equally credible
witnesses to testify that they knew Townsend, and this was not the man,
and also such an array of circumstances as satisfied the jury he was not
the man, and he was acquitted!
Mr. Jones was nominated by the Republican party of Cleveland as judge of
the City Court, in 1857, but in common with the entire ticket, was
defeated. He was an early adherent of the old Liberty party, and a warm
advocate on the stump and elsewhere, of the election of John C. Fremont to
the Presidency, and a firm supporter of Lincoln's administration.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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