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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 421
and Judge Cooper K. Watson followed Judge Lane. Since that time the
common pleas judgeship has be,en held by the following Erie County
lawyers: John Mackey, J. Lloyd DeWitt, Grayson Mills, Malcolm Kelly,
Linn W. Hull, Charles S. Reed, Roy H. Williams.
Judge Walter F. Stone Avas judge in the days when the court journal.
was read by the court every day, and he Avas a great stickler for the
proposition that the journal should be an actual record of the exact daily
Avork of the court. On one occasion a perpetual litigant, at the conclusion
of a ease after an adverse verdict had been rendered against him, smote
the table Avith his fist and cried out, "Hell, peel her up by G—!"
A laAA'yer at the bar procured one of the ordinary printed forms of a
journal entry on a verdict and proceeded to fill it in: " This day came
the parties, and thereupon came the folloAving jurors, to-wit (leaving a
blank for their names) and being duly sAvorn and having heard the evidence,
arguments and the charge of the court, retired for deliberation,
and after due deliberation, returned the folloAving verdict: 'We, the jury
being duly SAvorn, find the issues of this case in favor of the plaintiff,
and assess the amount due from the defendant to the plaintiff at the
sum of $ .' And thereupon the defendant in open court smote the
table Avith his fist and cried in a loud voice, "Hell, peel her up, by G—!"
This entry, so prepared, Avas presented to Judge Stone for his approval,
Avhich Avas refused.
Judge Cooper K. Watson was one of characters of the bench ofe
Northern Ohio in the late '70s. He Avas a man of considerabfe legal
knoAvledge, but addicted to the use of liquor, and of strong prejudices.
lie AA'JIS a terror to criminals, so much so that in the last part of his service
juries Avould not convict except in a clear case. On one occasion a jury
tried the experiment of convicting a prisoner and recommending him to
the mercy of the court. On receiving the recommendation, it is said that
Judge Watson fairly glared. In his high, shrill voice he said: "Mercy!
They have brought you to the right shop for mercy. Ten years in the
penitentiary in solitary confinement at hard labor, and I AA'ish to God I
could give you more."
The story is told that he AA ; as once sitting, somevA'hat intoxicated, in
a croAvd Avhich Avas discussing the subject of Avater. When Judge Watson
grasped the idea, he said: "Water! Who in hell Avants Avater? The voice
of history is against it. The A'oice of nature is against it. Even the
Avord of God is against it. There is not but one man in all the Bible
that Avanted Avater, and he Avas in hell, AA'here he ought to be."
The Register of November 24, 1874, contains the folloAving item:
"The bell of the old court house is to he taken doAvn and placed over
the common pleas court room in the neAV building. The old bell has
hung in the court house for 30 years and has done excellent service. It
has for years been the only recognized fire alarm in the city and at every
conflagration for the past three decades it has rung out Avarning notes."
After the erection of the Avater Avorks the Avhistle of the Avater works
became the recognized fire alarm, and the bell has since passed into
innocuous desuetude.