Leonidas Jewett letter to John T. Brasee, 1856 March 27

The following notes are from a letter from Clark E. Williams, University Archivist to Ohio University President Vernon Alden when the letter was given to the Libraries in 1967.

Leonidas Jewett was a long-time Athens resident, living on the site of the present Lindley Hall. He was auditor of Athens County, 1839-1843, and a successful Athens lawyer. His father, Dr. Leonard Jewett, a pioneer Athens physician, was a trustee of Ohio University, 1808-1813, and Leonidas' son, Leonidas, Jr., was a prominent Athens lawyer and an Ohio University trustee, 1886-1906.

John Trafford Brasee, to whom the letter was written, graduated from Ohio University in 1824 and was an outstanding lawyer in Lancaster for the greater part of his life. He was a protege of Thomas Ewing and was said to have had contacts with many of the nation's leading attorneys.

The 'Mr. Van Vorhes of the House' who had informed Leonidas Jewett that 'the House had passed the bill in relation to the Ohio University,' was Nelson H. Van Vorhes who associated with his father in publication of the Western Spectator, a pioneer Athens newspaper and forerunner to the Athens Messenger. He was a member and Speaker of the House in the Ohio Legislature. He was a candidate for Congress in 1858, but was not elected.