ROBERT F. PAINE, Cleveland. The parents of Robert Findley Paine were from Connecticut, whence they removed to Madison county, New York, where Robert was born the 10th day of May,-1810. He was the second son of Solomon J. and Lucretia Bierce Paine, who were both natives of Cornwall, Connecticut. His father was the son of Rufus Paine, and his mother the daughter of William Bierce, both of whom served in the American army during the entire War of the Revolution, and both lived to be over eighty years of age. On his father's side his ancestors could be traced to Robert Treat Paine, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. This would indicate that on his paternal side he is of English descent and that the Paine family came to Connecticut from Massachusetts. In March, 1850, Solomon Paine came West with his family and settled at Nelson, Portage county, Ohio, where they continued to live until his death in 1828. Young Robert had but little opportunity to obtain an education. He daily walked a mile and a half to the log school house, and after he was nine years of age was obliged to work on the farm during all but the winter months. At the time of his father's death young Paine was eighteen, but even then manifested the pluck and steadfastness which were the prominent features of hischaracter and the great sources of his success in after years. He took entire charge of his father's family, and continued to provide for them until the children were able to take care of themselves. He was obliged to educate himself. This hard fact he appreciated, made the best of circumstances and did get a good education. Judge Paine began the study of law in 1837, while a clerk in a crossroads store. With but few books and without an instructor he devoted his leisure hours to hard study. Not having had a single previous recitation, he was examined at the September term of the Supreme Court, then sitting at Ravenna, in 1839, and was admitted to practice. He got his legal education as he got everything else in early life, by unremitting toil; by his own exertion alone. The following quotation from J. H. Kennedy's History of Cleveland gives an idea of his condition: "Judge Robert F. Paine, of Cleveland, once used these words in describing the home accommodations of his boyhood in Portage county: 'We possessed few dishes of any kind. There was a man in Trumbull county who made them of wood, and his advent into a neighborhood would cause more excitement than the establishment of another national bank in Cleveland to-day. We ate at what we called trenchers, a modern affair in shape something like a plate. Our neighbors were in the same condition as we, using modern plates, modern bowls, modern everything, and it was years before we could secure dishes harder than wood, and when we did they were made of yellow clay.'" As soon as Judge Paine was admitted to the Bar he opened«an office at Garrettsville and entered upon what for those days was a good practice. In 1844 he was elected to the State legislature, being obliged to go to Columbus, adistance of one hundred and forty miles, on horseback. Judge Paine took an important position among his colleagues and succeeded through much opposition in securing the passage of the first law in Ohio granting to women the rights of property. So satisfactorily did he represent his constituents that he was offered a renomination, but declined the honor. He was, however, elected prosecuting attorney for Portage county, which led to his removing to Ravenna. While practicing law at Garrettsville Judge Paine became the intimate friend of the Honorable Daniel R. Tilden, who, like himself, was deeply interested in the slavery question. These two young men enthusiastically working among their neighbors created a strong and aggressive feeling in favor of the freedom of the negro in the United States, and together they organized the first antislavery organization in Portage county, at Garrettsville. On the expiration of his term as prosecuting attorney Judge Paine removed to Cleveland and opened an office in May, 184S. After a short time he became the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, a position he retained until 1852, when he returned to the practice of the law. ^. bout this time Honorable Daniel R. Tilden removed from Portage county to Cleveland, and formed a partnership with his friend, under the firm name of Tilden & Paine. The partnership was dissolved when Mr. Tilden was elected probate judge of Cuyahoga county, in 1854. In 1855 Judge Paine entered into partnership with James Wade, which continued until the former's election to the Common Pleas Bench of Cuyahoga county. In 1861 Judge Paine was appointed United States district attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, assuming the duties of the office in May of that year, with Mr. Wade as his assistant. When his term expired he resumed his law practice with Mr. Wade. He was elected to the Common Pleas Bench in 1866, where he remained as his own successor until 1874, when he again entered upon the practice. While on the Bench Judge Paine was called upon to try one of the most noted cases ever tried in the State, made celebrated through his remarkable instructions to the jury. The case was the State vs. Dr. Jay T. Galentine. The defendant was indicted for murder in the first degree, with counts for murder in the second degree and manslaughter. The defense was emotional or temporary insanity, which was ineffectually set up, the verdict being guilty of manslaughter. In his charge to the jury the judge dealt in a remarkably original as well as remarkably clear and able manner with this class of defenses. The press throughout the country commented editorially upon the charge, strongly endorsing its good sense, its sound reasoningand its unmistakable clearness. Not the least interesting incident in connection with the case was a letter written by James A. Garfield, then in Congress, to Judge Paine congratulating him, little dreaming that ten years later he as President would fall by the hand of an assassin presenting the same plea for his act. Following is the letter:

"Washington, D. C, February 6, 1871. "Dear Judge*:—Allow me to congratulate you on your splendid charge to the jury at the close of the Galentine case. The whole country owes you a debt of gratitude for brushing away the wicked absurdity which has lately been palmed off on the country as law, on the subject of insanity. If the thing had gone much farther all that a man would need to secure immunity from murder would be to tear his hair and rave a little and then kill his man. I hope you will print your opinion in pamphlet form and send it broadcast to all the judges in the land. Very truly yours, J. A. Garfield."

The portions of the charge which created the most comment are as follows: "If you should find that the defendant was overwhelmed by any real or supposed provocation which for the moment deprived him of all power to control his action and incapable of reasoning or deliberation, then inquire, did the defendant by indulging passion, by meditating revenge and cultivating malice toward the deceased for real or fancied provocation, voluntarily produce the inability to reason, reflect, deliberate and control his will, or was he rendered powerless in these respects by the circumstances surrounding him, and for which he was not responsible?" The judge continuing says he does suppose one with malice in his heart to commit crime can voluntarily become intoxicated to a point beyond self-control and -then commit crime with impunity. "Nor do I suppose one * * * * can make fancied or real provocation, however great the occasion, for voluntarily entertaining malice and revenge, and thus cultivating a disposition to execute vengeance, until his passions have become too forceful to be controlled by his will and judgment and in this condition take the life of the subject of his hatred with impunity. To my mind to hold thus would be to offer a premium on depravity and encourage the cultivation of the worst elements of our nature."

The broadest form of the proposition laid down by Judge Paine is this, that a person cannot for any cause voluntarily through mental or other process permit himself to lose his self-control and commit acts for which at the moment he is irresponsible and not be held responsible in law. In politics—a subject which always demanded of Judge Paine the greatest interest—he was originally a Whig, becoming an ardent supporter of the Free-soil party in 1848. He was a Republican almost from the inception of the party, and was one of the delegates to the National convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for President in 1860. In the Grant-Greeley Campaign of 1872 he supported the latter for the Presidency and afterwards his affiliations were with the Democratic party. Judge Paine was a man of forceful character, incapable of half-way measures. He was strong, energetic, full of resources and never awed into hesitancy by any obstacle. Nothing was too much for him to undertake, and nothing he undertook was a failure. With a very intense nature he was at times severe, but never unjust. As a judge he was fearless and impartial, with a mind masterful in seizing upon the point presented and quick in decision. As a lawyer in court he was aggressive and strong and lost his cases, when he did lose, as a good soldier may lose a battle. As a counsellor he was wise and cautious. He was a ready speaker, a good debater, logical in argument and blessed with a keen sense of humor with which he could easily "point a moral or adorn a tale." He was first married to Miranda Hazen, of Garrettsville, in August, 1846, by whom he had one child, a daughter, Miranda H., who is now Mrs. Oliver P. Demuth, of Cleveland. Mrs. Paine died in August, 1848, and in 1853 he married Mrs. Cornelia H. Harris (nee Gridley) of Cazenovia, New York, who bore him three sons: Robert F., Jr., now editor-in-chief of the Cleveland Press; James W., of Cleveland, and Findley W., of Syracuse, New York. Judge Paine's second wife died in 1870, and in May, 1872, he married Delia Humphrey, of Summit county, Ohio, who still survives. He died September 23, 1888, after a lingering and painful illness.