Morris Lyon Buchwalter
Encyclopedia
Morris Lyon Buchwalter (September 8, 1846 – March 12, 1924) was a radical Ohio
Republican
jurist of the post-Civil War
era whose jurisprudence set a progressive standard following the failure of Reconstruction and during the rise in management/labor tensions in the Gilded Age
.
, Ross County, Ohio
. He was the son of Levi and Margeret (née Lyon) Buchwalter, and the younger brother of Capt. Luther Morris Buchwalter and Capt. Edward Lyon Buchwalter
, both Union Army
officers of the American Civil War
. Captain Luther Morris Buchwalter, an officer with the Ohio Volunteers, fell at the moonlit Wauhatchie
skirmish during the third battle of Chickamauga
. Capt. Edward L.Buchwalter (1841–1933) was an officer of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry
and the 53rd Mississippi Colored Volunteers. A veteran of the Gettysburg campaign
, his brother Capt. Luther Morris Buchwalter was the impetus for the future Judge Buchwalter joining the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity at Ohio Wesleyan University
in 1864. Buchwalter received his early education in the district schools of Ross county, then became a student of the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio
, and later changed his allegiance to Cornell University
at Ithaca, New York
, from which he received the degree of A.B.
in 1869, being a member of the first class graduated from that institution.
and roommate on Ithaca’s Court Street with future Ohio Senator, Joseph Benson Foraker, who served with Morris’s brother in the Tennessee campaign, which took the latter’s life. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa Society
, through the Cornell chapter. Immediately after receiving his diploma, he moved to Cincinnati and entered the Cincinnati Law School
, from which he graduated in 1870 with the degree of LL.B.
He began general practice in the city and gained recognition as an energetic, reliable and progressive young lawyer who shirked no responsibility and spared no time or effort in sustaining any cause in which he was engaged. His lifelong support for higher education peaked when he served as trustee for the University of Cincinnati
, an institution for which he served in the same manner as his friends John Andrew Rea
(as regent for the University of Washington), and Joseph B. Foraker
(as trustee of Cornell University). Morris was also the first President, Cornell Alumni Association and Class Secretary, Class of 1869, for many years.
The City of Cincinnati would eventually number Judge Buchwalter among its esteemed citizens, a man who possessed a high degree of confidence from the people of the city. As the years passed, he gained a prominent position at the bar. On November 4, 1881, he was appointed by Governor Charles Foster, judge of the common-pleas court
of the first judicial district of Ohio to fill a vacancy caused by the election of Judge Nicholas Longworth
to the Supreme Court of Ohio
. He, having been regularly elected for the full term in that court and subsequently reelected for a second and third term, and having also been endorsed by the vote of the bar of Hamilton county during three judicial elections, his judicial service ended February, 1897. Judge Buchwalter was thought to be a highly impartial jurist, and his decisions ranked among the clearest expositions of law enunciated from the common pleas bench in the 19th century.
In 1885, the Judge heard a case involving the menace of roller coasters:
But it was in the area of civil liberties that Buchwalter stepped out in front of his peers. In the extradition proceeding regarding the Reverend A. Hampton, an African-American accused of murder, Buchwalter refused extradition to authorities from the Commonwealth of Kentucky until he had assurances from Governor Brown and the Sheriff of Green County, Kentucky, that Hampton would be protected from mob violence. Vigilantes had recently lynched
a black man and a black boy in Green County. Buchwalter had also extradited two men, one to George and the other to Kentucky, only to receive reports that mobs killed both. This was not solely due to Southern intolerance for African-Americans. The Kentucky case involved an Italian-American. Buchwalter’s order from the bench included an admonishment against vigilante justice on the other side of the Ohio river: "I determined then I would never send another prisoner South unless I had assurance he would be protected from a mob and given a fair trial." It was thought for a while in 1895 that the position of Buchwalter would lead to an intrastate solution to the growing problem of lynching, forcing violent States such as Kentucky to use the good offices of States known for order and pacificity, such as Illinois and Pennsylvania. The trend did not abate, and the matter was taken up by the Federal government only in the 1960s. The reaction in Cincinnati was more direct. A chapter of the Anti-Lynching League of the United States was formed in the Queen City in response to Buchwalter’s opinion.
. Mrs. Buchwalter died in 1902, leaving six children, namely: Luther L., who engaged in the manufacturing business at Springfield, Ohio; Robert Z., an attorney of Cincinnati; Margaret L., the wife of Dr. H. B. Martin, of Springfield
; Helen E., the wife of John Van Nortwick, of Batavia, Illinois
; Morris, who resided at Hallsville, Ohio
; and Louise, who married H. Cameron Forster, of Middletown, Ohio
. On the 22d of July, 1909, the Judge married a second time, to Mary F. Knox, of Lakewood, New Jersey, formerly registrar of Smith College
, a daughter of Rev. Charles E. Knox, deceased, formerly president of the German Theological Seminary
, of Newark, New Jersey
.
Politically, Buchwalter identified with the Republican Party, being a bridge figure between the abolition movement
and the Progressive era
. He wrote an extensive study of Free Masonry
and belonged to the Scottish Rite
, being a thirty-third degree member of the order having been elected as such in 1894. He held membership in the Loyal Legion of Ohio, on account of his brother, Luther M., who was a captain in Company A, Seventy-Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and gave up his life for the Union at the midnight battle of Lookout Valley (Wauhatchie). When he died, Morris was interred at Cincinnati’s Spring Grove Cemetery, 69 paces from the grave of his fraternity brother, Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, both of whom graduated with Cornell University’s first Class in 1869.
Morris Lyon Buchwalter departed his life on March 12, 1924 at the age of 78.
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
jurist of the post-Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
era whose jurisprudence set a progressive standard following the failure of Reconstruction and during the rise in management/labor tensions in the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
.
Early life
Hon. Morris Lyon Buchwalter was born on September 8, 1846 and raised on the Buchwalter farmstead in HallsvilleHallsville, Ohio
Hallsville is an unincorporated community in northeastern Colerain Township, Ross County, Ohio, United States. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 45633. It is located along State Route 180.-References:...
, Ross County, Ohio
Ross County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 73,345 people, 27,136 households, and 19,185 families residing in the county. The population density was 106 people per square mile . There were 29,461 housing units at an average density of 43 per square mile...
. He was the son of Levi and Margeret (née Lyon) Buchwalter, and the younger brother of Capt. Luther Morris Buchwalter and Capt. Edward Lyon Buchwalter
Edward Lyon Buchwalter
Capt. Edward Lyon Buchwalter was a Union Captain in the American Civil War, farmer, corporate figure and banker. He served in the 114th Ohio Infantry as lieutenant, later Captain of the 53rd Mississippi Colored Volunteers Infantry under General Sherman and General Grant...
, both Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
officers of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Captain Luther Morris Buchwalter, an officer with the Ohio Volunteers, fell at the moonlit Wauhatchie
Battle of Wauhatchie
-References:* Boatner, Mark Mayo, III. The Civil War Dictionary. New York: McKay, 1988. ISBN 0-8129-1726-X. First published 1959 by McKay.* Cozzens, Peter. The Shipwreck of Their Hopes: The Battles for Chattanooga. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994. ISBN 0-252-01922-9.* Korn, Jerry, and...
skirmish during the third battle of Chickamauga
Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...
. Capt. Edward L.Buchwalter (1841–1933) was an officer of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry
Ohio Army National Guard
The Ohio Army National Guard is a part of the United States National Guard and a reserve component of the United States Army. It is also a component of the organized militia of the state of Ohio, which also includes the Ohio Naval Militia, the Ohio Military Reserve and the Ohio Air National Guard...
and the 53rd Mississippi Colored Volunteers. A veteran of the Gettysburg campaign
Gettysburg Campaign
The Gettysburg Campaign was a series of battles fought in June and July 1863, during the American Civil War. After his victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia moved north for offensive operations in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The...
, his brother Capt. Luther Morris Buchwalter was the impetus for the future Judge Buchwalter joining the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity at Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...
in 1864. Buchwalter received his early education in the district schools of Ross county, then became a student of the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio
Delaware, Ohio
The City of Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County in the United States state of Ohio. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the center of Ohio, is about north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Area...
, and later changed his allegiance to Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
at Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
, from which he received the degree of A.B.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1869, being a member of the first class graduated from that institution.
Education to the Bar
In 1869, Morris L. Buchwalter transferred to the new Cornell University, where he became a founder of the New York Alpha chapter of Phi Kappa Psi. He was also the second President of the Irving Literary SocietyThe Irving Literary Society (Cornell University)
Cornell literary societies were a group of 19th century student organizations at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, formed for the purpose of promoting language skills and oratory. The U.S...
and roommate on Ithaca’s Court Street with future Ohio Senator, Joseph Benson Foraker, who served with Morris’s brother in the Tennessee campaign, which took the latter’s life. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa Society
Phi Beta Kappa Society
The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society. Its mission is to "celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences"; and induct "the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities." Founded at The College of William and...
, through the Cornell chapter. Immediately after receiving his diploma, he moved to Cincinnati and entered the Cincinnati Law School
University of Cincinnati College of Law
The University of Cincinnati College of Law is the fourth oldest continually running law school in the United States and a founding member of the Association of American Law Schools. It was started in 1833 as the Cincinnati Law School...
, from which he graduated in 1870 with the degree of LL.B.
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
He began general practice in the city and gained recognition as an energetic, reliable and progressive young lawyer who shirked no responsibility and spared no time or effort in sustaining any cause in which he was engaged. His lifelong support for higher education peaked when he served as trustee for the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
, an institution for which he served in the same manner as his friends John Andrew Rea
John Andrew Rea
John Andrew Rea was an American journalist and politician. A native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, he was one of the eight members of Cornell University's first graduating class...
(as regent for the University of Washington), and Joseph B. Foraker
Joseph B. Foraker
Joseph Benson Foraker was a Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the 37th Governor of Ohio from 1886 to 1890.-Early life:...
(as trustee of Cornell University). Morris was also the first President, Cornell Alumni Association and Class Secretary, Class of 1869, for many years.
The City of Cincinnati would eventually number Judge Buchwalter among its esteemed citizens, a man who possessed a high degree of confidence from the people of the city. As the years passed, he gained a prominent position at the bar. On November 4, 1881, he was appointed by Governor Charles Foster, judge of the common-pleas court
Ohio Courts of Common Pleas
The Ohio Courts of Common Pleas are the trial courts of the state court system of Ohio.The courts of common pleas are the trial courts of general jurisdiction in the state. They are the only trial courts created by the Ohio Constitution . The duties of the courts are outlined in Article IV, Section...
of the first judicial district of Ohio to fill a vacancy caused by the election of Judge Nicholas Longworth
Nicholas Longworth
Nicholas Longworth IV was a prominent American politician in the Republican Party during the first few decades of the 20th century...
to the Supreme Court of Ohio
Supreme Court of Ohio
The Supreme Court of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, each serving six-year terms...
. He, having been regularly elected for the full term in that court and subsequently reelected for a second and third term, and having also been endorsed by the vote of the bar of Hamilton county during three judicial elections, his judicial service ended February, 1897. Judge Buchwalter was thought to be a highly impartial jurist, and his decisions ranked among the clearest expositions of law enunciated from the common pleas bench in the 19th century.
This section incorporates text from the entry "Morris Lyon Buchwalter" in Cincinnati, the Queen City, 1788-1912, Volume 4, (S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912) a publication now in the public domain.
Jurisprudence
An example of Buchwalter's labour jurisprudence is N. & C.G. Parker v. Bricklayers' Union No. 1. The action was brought by members of a contractors' union against a bricklayers' union and its various members and officers active in the controversy. The issue at hand was the lawfulness of 'boycotting'. Judge Buchwalter charged the jury that contractors:may combine for the honest purpose of benefitting their order by encouraging favorable terms to their employers in the purchase of material, and to procure contracts for such contractors as employ members of their union; but they become engaged in illegal enterprise whenever they agree to accomplish their purpose by threats, intimidation, violence or like molestation, either toward the apprentice, the expelled member, the non-union workman, the contractor and the employer, the material man or the owner who proposes to make a contract."
In 1885, the Judge heard a case involving the menace of roller coasters:
Now that a "roller coaster" is ready to be launched upon the local public at Savin Rock, it is interesting to learn from the Boston Herald that Judge Buchwalter of Cincinnati, has been occupied an entire day with the hearing of testimony in a complaint case against one of them. Henry A. Morill and a number of other property owners and residents in the vicinity of the Bellevue house, in Cincinnati, are the plaintiffs, and David Billigheimer the defendant. The plaintiffs allege that the "roller coaster" or circular gravity railway, recently constructed on the Bellevue house grounds, is a nuisance to the neighborhood, on account of the noise it produces; that it prevents sleep, tortures invalids and nervous people, interrupts conversations, and will depreciate the value of property in that vicinity unless its further operation is enjoined, which the plaintiffs pray the court may be done by a perpetual injunction.
But it was in the area of civil liberties that Buchwalter stepped out in front of his peers. In the extradition proceeding regarding the Reverend A. Hampton, an African-American accused of murder, Buchwalter refused extradition to authorities from the Commonwealth of Kentucky until he had assurances from Governor Brown and the Sheriff of Green County, Kentucky, that Hampton would be protected from mob violence. Vigilantes had recently lynched
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
a black man and a black boy in Green County. Buchwalter had also extradited two men, one to George and the other to Kentucky, only to receive reports that mobs killed both. This was not solely due to Southern intolerance for African-Americans. The Kentucky case involved an Italian-American. Buchwalter’s order from the bench included an admonishment against vigilante justice on the other side of the Ohio river: "I determined then I would never send another prisoner South unless I had assurance he would be protected from a mob and given a fair trial." It was thought for a while in 1895 that the position of Buchwalter would lead to an intrastate solution to the growing problem of lynching, forcing violent States such as Kentucky to use the good offices of States known for order and pacificity, such as Illinois and Pennsylvania. The trend did not abate, and the matter was taken up by the Federal government only in the 1960s. The reaction in Cincinnati was more direct. A chapter of the Anti-Lynching League of the United States was formed in the Queen City in response to Buchwalter’s opinion.
Personal life
On May 14, 1873, Buchwalter married Miss Louise Zimmerman, a daughter of the Honorable John Zimmerman, of Wooster, OhioWooster, Ohio
Wooster is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Wayne County. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio approximately SSW of Cleveland and SW of Akron. Wooster is noted as the location of The College of Wooster...
. Mrs. Buchwalter died in 1902, leaving six children, namely: Luther L., who engaged in the manufacturing business at Springfield, Ohio; Robert Z., an attorney of Cincinnati; Margaret L., the wife of Dr. H. B. Martin, of Springfield
Springfield, Ohio
Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek and Beaver Creek, approximately west of Columbus and northeast of Dayton. Springfield is home to Wittenberg...
; Helen E., the wife of John Van Nortwick, of Batavia, Illinois
Batavia, Illinois
Batavia was founded in 1833, and is the oldest city in Kane County, Illinois, with a small portion in DuPage County. During the Industrial Revolution, Batavia became known as ‘The Windmill City’ for being the largest windmill producer of the time...
; Morris, who resided at Hallsville, Ohio
Hallsville, Ohio
Hallsville is an unincorporated community in northeastern Colerain Township, Ross County, Ohio, United States. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 45633. It is located along State Route 180.-References:...
; and Louise, who married H. Cameron Forster, of Middletown, Ohio
Middletown, Ohio
Middletown is an All-America City located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Formerly in Lemon, Turtlecreek, and Franklin townships, Middletown was incorporated by the Ohio General Assembly on February 11, 1833, and became a city in 1886...
. On the 22d of July, 1909, the Judge married a second time, to Mary F. Knox, of Lakewood, New Jersey, formerly registrar of Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
, a daughter of Rev. Charles E. Knox, deceased, formerly president of the German Theological Seminary
Bloomfield College
Bloomfield College is a four-year private liberal arts college located in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Bloomfield College is chartered by the State of New Jersey and accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools...
, of Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
.
Politically, Buchwalter identified with the Republican Party, being a bridge figure between the abolition movement
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
and the Progressive era
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
. He wrote an extensive study of Free Masonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
and belonged to the Scottish Rite
Scottish Rite
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry , commonly known as simply the Scottish Rite, is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry...
, being a thirty-third degree member of the order having been elected as such in 1894. He held membership in the Loyal Legion of Ohio, on account of his brother, Luther M., who was a captain in Company A, Seventy-Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and gave up his life for the Union at the midnight battle of Lookout Valley (Wauhatchie). When he died, Morris was interred at Cincinnati’s Spring Grove Cemetery, 69 paces from the grave of his fraternity brother, Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, both of whom graduated with Cornell University’s first Class in 1869.
Morris Lyon Buchwalter departed his life on March 12, 1924 at the age of 78.