William Thomas Spear (June 3, 1834 – December 8, 1913) was a Republican politician in the U.S. State of Ohio who was a judge on the Ohio Supreme Court 1885–1912.

Biography

William T. Spear was born at

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...

Trumbull County, Ohio Trumbull County is a county in the far northeast portion of U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 201,977. Its county seat is Warren, which developed industry along the Mahoning River. Trumbull County is part of the You ...

, attended public schools and learned the printing trade, apprenticing at the ''Trumbull Whig and Transcript'', published at Warren. He was a compositor at the

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

, and then a proofreader at Appletons. Neff 1921 : 244–245 He returned to Warren. He was a deputy Probate Judge and deputy County Clerk while studying law under

Jacob Dolson Cox Jacob Dolson Cox, Jr. (October 27, 1828August 4, 1900), was a statesman, lawyer, Union Army general during the American Civil War, Republican politician from Ohio, Liberal Republican Party founder, educator, author, and recognized microbiologist ...

. Gilkey 1901 : 461 He finished his education and graduated from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Law School in 1859. Smith 1898 : 514–515 Spear returned to Warren and was admitted to the bar in 1859. He was associated first with Cox and Robert Ratliff, and later with John C. Hutchins and C. A. Harrington. He spent three years in Louisiana associated with a cotton plantation. Upton 1910 : 195 He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Trumbull County in 1871 and 1873, and City Solicitor of Warren in 1873 and 1875, all the while in practice with C. A. Harrington. In 1878 he was elected to the Court of Common Pleas, and re-elected in 1884. In 1885, Spear was nominated by the Republicans to fill the un-expired term on the Ohio Supreme Court of John W. Okey, and defeated Democrat Gibson Atherton, who had been appointed to fill the seat for a few months. Smith 1898 : 511 Atherton resigned in December that year, and Spear was appointed to fill the seat in the Interim. He won a full five-year term in 1887, and several more, serving until the December 31, 1912. Judge Spear was married September 28, 1864 to Frances E. York of Geneva, New York, or perhaps Lima, New York. She taught at the Warren High School, and had four sons. Spear died less than a year after retiring at his home in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

on December 8, 1913. He was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Warren.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spear, William T. Ohio lawyers Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court Ohio Republicans Politicians from Warren, Ohio Harvard Law School alumni 1834 births 1913 deaths 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers