Justices 1803 to Present
As a joint research project of the Supreme Court of Ohio and the Ohio History Connection (formerly the Ohio Historical Society), biographies of Ohio's Supreme Court justices are not intended to be comprehensive histories of their life and times. The entries offer brief biographical sketches that focus mainly on their judicial, legal and public service. Readers who find omissions or errors are encouraged to contact the Office of Public Information at PublicInformation@sc.ohio.gov.
* Served as Chief Justice.
** Did not attend law school. As was common at the time, he studied law with a prominent local attorney or judge.
No. | Bio | Name | Term | County of Residence | Law School |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bio | Return Jonathan Meigs Jr. | 1803-1804; 1808-1809 | Washington | ** |
10 | Bio | Jessup Nash Couch | 1815-1821 | Ross | ** |
100 | Bio | Roy Hughes Williams | 1934-1946 | Erie | University of Michigan |
101 | Bio | Arthur H. Day | 1935-1940 | Cuyahoga | Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
102 | Bio | George S. Myers | 1937-1940 | Cuyahoga | Western Reserve University |
103 | Bio | Robert Nestor Gorman | 1937-1938 | Hamilton | Harvard University |
104 | Bio | William Cornelius Dixon | 1938-1939 | Cuyahoga | University of Michigan |
105 | Bio | Edward Crawford Turner | 1940-1950 | Franklin | Ohio State University |
106 | Bio | Gilbert Bettman | 1941-1942 | Hamilton | Harvard University |
107 | Bio | Charles Steele Bell | 1942-1947 | Hamilton | Cincinnati YMCA Evening Law School |
108 | Bio | Robert Mason Sohngen | 1947-1948 | Butler | Cornell University |
109 | Bio | James Garfield Stewart | 1947-1959 | Hamilton | University of Cincinnati |
11 | Bio | John McLean | 1816-1822 | Warren | ** |
110 | Bio | Kingsley Arter Taft | 1949-1962; *1963-1970 | Cuyahoga | Harvard University |
111 | Bio | Howard Elliott Faught | 1950 | Guernsey | Ohio State University |
112 | Bio | Henry Arthur Middleton | 1950-1954 | Lucas | Ohio State University |
113 | Bio | John Howard Lamneck | 1953-1954 | Tuscarawas | ** |
114 | Bio | John Marshall Matthias | 1954-1970 | Franklin | Ohio State University |
115 | Bio | James Finley Bell | 1955-1962 | Madison | Ohio State University |
116 | Bio | Thomas John Herbert | 1957-1962 | Cuyahoga | Western Reserve University |
117 | Bio | John Weld Peck | 1959-1960 | Hamilton | University of Cincinnati |
118 | Bio | C. William O'Neill | 1960-1970; *1970-1978 | Washington | Ohio State University |
119 | Bio | Lynn Bart Griffith | 1962-1964 | Trumbull | Western Reserve University |
12 | Bio | Calvin Pease | 1816-1830 | Trumbull | ** |
120 | Bio | Rankin MacDougal Gibson | 1963-1964 | Franklin | University of Missouri |
121 | Bio | Paul Morgan Herbert | 1963-1968 | Franklin | Ohio State University |
122 | Bio | Louis Jacob Schneider Jr. | 1964-1972 | Hamilton | University of Cincinnati |
123 | Bio | Paul Wesley Brown | 1964-1968; 1973-1981 | Franklin | Ohio State University |
124 | Bio | Robert Morton Duncan | 1969-1971 | Franklin | Ohio State University |
125 | Bio | Thomas Morgan Herbert | 1969-1980 | Franklin | Ohio State University |
126 | Bio | James Joseph Patrick (J.J.P.) Corrigan | 1969-1976 | Cuyahoga | Georgetown University |
127 | Bio | Leonard J. Stern | 1970-1977 | Franklin | Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
128 | Bio | Robert E. Leach | 1970-1972; *1978 | Franklin | Ohio State University |
129 | Bio | Lloyd Odom Brown | 1971-1973 | Cuyahoga | Ohio State University |
13 | Bio | Peter Marshall Hitchcock | 1819-1833; 1835-1842; 1845-1852 | Geauga | ** |
130 | Bio | Frank Daniel Celebrezze | 1972-1978; *1978-1986 | Cuyahoga | Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
131 | Bio | William Burbridge Brown | 1973-1984 | Ross | Harvard University |
132 | Bio | Asher William Sweeney | 1977-1994 | Hamilton | Duke University |
133 | Bio | Ralph Sidney Locher | 1977-1989 | Cuyahoga | Case Western Reserve University |
134 | Bio | Robert Edward Holmes | 1978-1992 | Franklin | Ohio State University |
135 | Bio | David Dudley Dowd Jr. | 1980-1981 | Franklin | University of Michigan |
136 | Bio | Clifford Francis Brown | 1981-1987 | Huron | University of Notre Dame |
137 | Bio | Blanche Ethel Krupansky | 1981-1983 | Franklin | Case Western Reserve University |
138 | Bio | James Patrick Celebrezze | 1983-1985 | Cuyahoga | Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
139 | Bio | Andrew (Andy) Grant Douglas | 1985-2002 | Lucas | University of Toledo |
14 | Bio | Jacob Burnet | 1821-1828 | Hamilton | ** |
140 | Bio | J. Craig Wright | 1985-1996 | Franklin | Yale University |
141 | Bio | Thomas Joseph Moyer | *1987-2010 | Franklin | Ohio State University |
142 | Bio | Herbert Russell Brown | 1987-1993 | Franklin | University of Michigan |
143 | Bio | Alice Robie Resnick | 1989-2007 | Lucas | University of Detroit |
144 | Bio | Francis Edward Sweeney Sr. | 1993-2004 | Cuyahoga | Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
145 | Bio | Paul E. Pfeifer | 1993-2017 | Crawford | Ohio State University |
146 | Bio | Deborah Louise Cook | 1995-2003 | Summit | University of Akron |
147 | Bio | Evelyn Lundberg Stratton | 1996-2013 | Franklin | Ohio State University |
148 | Bio | Maureen O'Connor | 2003-2010 *2011-2022 | Cuyahoga | Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
149 | Bio | Terrence O'Donnell | 2003-2018 | Cuyahoga | Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
15 | Bio | Charles Robert Sherman | 1823-1829 | Fairfield | ** |
150 | Bio | Judith Ann Lanzinger | 2005-2016 | Lucas | University of Toledo |
151 | Bio | Robert R. Cupp | 2007-2013 | Allen | Ohio Northern University |
152 | Bio | Eric Brown | *2010 | Franklin | Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
153 | Bio | Yvette McGee Brown | 2011-2012 | Franklin | Ohio State University |
154 | Bio | Sharon L. Kennedy | 2012- | Butler | University of Cincinnati |
155 | Bio | Judith L. French | 2013-2021 | Franklin | Ohio State University |
156 | Bio | William M. O'Neill | 2013-2018 | Cuyahoga | Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
157 | Bio | Patrick F. Fischer | 2017- | Hamilton | Harvard University |
158 | Bio | R. Patrick DeWine | 2017- | Hamilton | University of Michigan |
159 | Bio | Mary DeGenaro | 2018-2019 | Mahoning | Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
16 | Bio | Joshua Collett | 1829-1836 | Warren | ** |
160 | Bio | Michael P. Donnelly | 2019- | Cuyahoga | Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
161 | Bio | Melody J. Stewart | 2019- | Cuyahoga | Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
162 | Bio | Jennifer Brunner | 2021 - | Columbiana | Capital University Law School |
163 | Bio | Joseph T. Deters | 2023- | ** | |
17 | Bio | Elijah Hayward | 1830 | Hamilton | ** |
18 | Bio | John Milton Goodenow | 1830 | Jefferson | ** |
19 | Bio | Henry Brush | 1830 | Ross | ** |
2 | Bio | William Sprigg | 1803-1806; 1808-1810 | Jefferson | ** |
20 | Bio | Gustave Swan | 1830 | Franklin | ** |
21 | Bio | Ebenezer Lane | 1830-1845 | Huron | ** |
22 | Bio | John Crafts Wright | 1831-1835 | Jefferson | ** |
23 | Bio | Reuben Wood | 1833-1847 | Cuyahoga | ** |
24 | Bio | Frederick Grimke | 1836-1842 | Ross | ** |
25 | Bio | Matthew Birchard | 1842-1849 | Trumbull | ** |
26 | Bio | Nathaniel Clark Reed | 1842-1849 | Hamilton | ** |
27 | Bio | Edward Avery | 1847-1851 | Wayne | ** |
28 | Bio | Rufus Paine Spaulding | 1849-1852 | Summit | ** |
29 | Bio | William B. Caldwell | 1849-1852 | Hamilton | ** |
3 | Bio | Samuel Huntington | 1803-1808 | Trumbull | ** |
30 | Bio | Rufus Percival Ranney | 1851-1856; 1864-1865 | Trumbull | ** |
31 | Bio | Thomas Welles Bartley | 1852-1859 | Richland | ** |
32 | Bio | John A. Corwin | 1852-1854 | Champaign | ** |
33 | Bio | Allen Granberry Thurman | 1852-1856 | Ross | ** |
34 | Bio | Robert Bruce Warden | 1854-1855 | Franklin | ** |
35 | Bio | William Kennon | 1854-1856 | Belmont | ** |
36 | Bio | Joseph Rockwell Swan | 1855-1859 | Franklin | ** |
37 | Bio | Charles Cleveland Convers | 1856 | Muskingum | Harvard University |
38 | Bio | Jacob Brinkerhoff | 1856-1871 | Richland | ** |
39 | Bio | Ozias Bowen | 1856-1858 | Marion | ** |
4 | Bio | Daniel Symmes | 1805-1808 | Hamilton | ** |
40 | Bio | Josiah Scott | 1857-1872 | Butler | ** |
41 | Bio | Milton Sutliff | 1858-1863 | Trumbull | ** |
42 | Bio | William Virgil Peck | 1859-1864 | Scioto | Litchfield Law School |
43 | Bio | William Yates Gholson | 1859-1863 | Hamilton | ** |
44 | Bio | Horace Wilder | 1863-1865 | Ashtabula | ** |
45 | Bio | Hocking H. Hunter | 1864 | Fairfield | ** |
46 | Bio | William White | 1864-1883 | Clark | ** |
47 | Bio | Luther Day | 1866-1875 | Portage | ** |
48 | Bio | John Welch | 1865-1878 | Athens | ** |
49 | Bio | George W. McIlvaine | 1871-1886 | Tuscarawas | ** |
5 | Bio | George Tod | 1806-1810 | Trumbull | Litchfield Law School |
50 | Bio | William Henry West | 1872-1873 | Logan | ** |
51 | Bio | Walter Freeman Stone | 1873-1874 | Erie | ** |
52 | Bio | George Rex | 1874-1877 | Wayne | ** |
53 | Bio | William James Gilmore | 1875-1880 | Preble | ** |
54 | Bio | Washington Wallace Boynton | 1877-1881 | Lorain | ** |
55 | Bio | John Waterman Okey | 1878-1885 | Hamilton | ** |
56 | Bio | William Wartenbee Johnson | 1880-1886 | Lawrence | ** |
57 | Bio | Nicholas Longworth | 1881-1883 | Hamilton | ** |
58 | Bio | William Hanford Upson | 1883 | Summit | ** |
59 | Bio | John Hardy Doyle | 1883 | Lucas | ** |
6 | Bio | Thomas Scott | 1809-1816 | Ross | ** |
60 | Bio | Martin Dewey Follett | 1883-1887 | Washington | ** |
61 | Bio | Selwyn N. Owen | 1883-1889 | Williams | University of Cincinnati |
62 | Bio | Gibson Atherton | 1885 | Licking | ** |
63 | Bio | William Thomas Spear | 1885-1912 | Trumbull | ** |
64 | Bio | Thaddeus Armstrong Minshall | 1886-1902 | Ross | ** |
65 | Bio | Franklin Joseph Dickman | 1886-1895 | Cuyahoga | ** |
66 | Bio | Marshall Jay Williams | 1887-1902 | Fayette | ** |
67 | Bio | Joseph Perry Bradbury | 1889-1900 | Gallia | ** |
68 | Bio | Jacob F. Burket | 1893-1904 | Hancock | ** |
69 | Bio | John Allen Shauck | 1895-1915 | Montgomery | ** |
7 | Bio | Thomas Morris | 1809 | Clermont | ** |
70 | Bio | William Zephaniah Davis | 1900-1913 | Marion | ** |
71 | Bio | James Latimer Price | 1902-1912 | Allen | ** |
72 | Bio | William Binford Crew | 1902-1911 | Morgan | ** |
73 | Bio | Augustus Neander Summers | 1904-1911 | Clark | ** |
74 | Bio | James Granville Johnson | 1911-1922 | Clark | ** |
75 | Bio | Maurice Herbert Donahue | 1911-1919 | Perry | ** |
76 | Bio | Joseph William O'Hara | 1912-1913 | Hamilton | University of Cincinnati |
77 | Bio | James Foster Wilkin | 1912-1914 | Tuscarawas | ** |
78 | Bio | Reuben Melville (R.M.) Wanamaker | 1913-1924 | Summit | Ohio Northern University |
79 | Bio | Oscar W. Newman | 1913-1919 | Scioto | ** |
8 | Bio | William W. Irvin | 1810-1816 | Fairfield | ** |
80 | Bio | Hugh L. Nichols | *1913-1920 | Clermont | University of Cincinnati |
81 | Bio | Thomas Alfred Jones | 1915-1937 | Jackson | ** |
82 | Bio | Edward Shiloh Matthias | 1915-1953 | Van Wert | Ohio Northern University |
83 | Bio | James Edgar Robinson | 1919-1932 | Union | Ohio State University |
84 | Bio | Stanley W. Merrell | 1919-1920 | Hamilton | Harvard University |
85 | Bio | Coleman W. Avery | 1920 | Hamilton | University of Cincinnati |
86 | Bio | Benson Walker Hough | 1920-1922 | Delaware | Ohio State University |
87 | Bio | Carrington Tanner Marshall | *1921-1932 | Muskingum | University of Cincinnati |
88 | Bio | George H. Clark | 1922 | Stark | University of Cincinnati |
89 | Bio | Robert Henry Day | 1923-1933 | Stark | University of Cincinnati |
9 | Bio | Ethan Allen Brown | 1810-1818 | Hamilton | ** |
90 | Bio | Florence Ellinwood Allen | 1923-1934 | Cuyahoga | New York University |
91 | Bio | Harry Luther Conn | 6/24/1924 | Van Wert | ** |
92 | Bio | Reynolds Robert Kinkade | 1925-1933 | Lucas | ** |
93 | Bio | Will Prettyman Stephenson | 1932-1936 | Adams | University of Cincinnati |
94 | Bio | Carl Victor Weygandt | *1933-1962 | Cuyahoga | Western Reserve University |
95 | Bio | Howard Landis Bevis | 1933-1934 | Hamilton | University of Cincinnati |
96 | Bio | Charles Ballard Zimmerman | 1933-1969 | Clark | Harvard University |
97 | Bio | Robert Nugen Wilkin | 1934 | Tuscarawas | University of Virginia |
98 | Bio | William Lincoln Hart | 1934; 1939-1957 | Stark | University of Michigan |
99 | Bio | William Frederic (W.F.) Garver | 1934 | Holmes | Ohio State University |
Word files may be viewed for free with Office Online.
PDF Files may be viewed, printed, and searched using the Free Acrobat® Reader. Acrobat Reader is a trademark of Adobe Inc.