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.

Justices by Term Since 1913

* 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 Jonanthan Meigs Jr.	1803-1804; 1808-1809	Washington	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
10	Bio	Jessup Nash Couch	1815-1821	Ross	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
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	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
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	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
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	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
19	Bio	Henry Brush	1830	Ross	**
2	Bio	William Sprigg	1803-1806; 1808-1810	Jefferson	**
20	Bio	Gustave Swan	1830	Franklin	**
21	Bio	Ebenezer Lane	1830-1845	Huron	**
22	Bio	John Crafts Wright	1831-1835	Jefferson	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
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	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
27	Bio	Edward Avery	1847-1851	Wayne	**
28	Bio	Rufus Paine Spaulding	1849-1852	Summit	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
29	Bio	William B. Caldwell	1849-1852	Hamilton	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
3	Bio	Samuel Huntington	1803-1808	Trumbull	**
30	Bio	Rufus Percival Ranney	1851-1856; 1864-1865	Trumbull	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
31	Bio	Thomas Welles Bartley	1852-1859	Richland	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
32	Bio	John A. Corwin	1852-1854	Champaign	**
33	Bio	Allen Granberry Thurman	1852-1856	Ross	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
34	Bio	Robert Bruce Warden	1854-1855	Franklin	**
35	Bio	William Kennon	1854-1856	Belmont	**
36	Bio	Joseph Rockwell Swan	1855-1859	Franklin	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
37	Bio	Charles Cleveland Convers	1856	Muskingum	Harvard University
38	Bio	Jacob Brinkerhoff	1856-1871	Richland	**
39	Bio	Ozias Bowen	1856-1858	Marion	**
4	Bio	Daniel Symmes	1805-1808	Hamilton	**
40	Bio	Josiah Scott	1857-1872	Butler	**
41	Bio	Milton Sutliff	1858-1863	Trumbull	**
42	Bio	William Virgil Peck	1859-1864	Scioto	Litchfield Law School
43	Bio	William Yates Gholson	1859-1863	Hamilton	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
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	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
5	Bio	George Tod	1806-1810	Trumbull	Litchfield Law School
50	Bio	William Henry West	1872-1873	Logan	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
51	Bio	Walter Freeman Stone	1873-1874	Erie	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
52	Bio	George Rex	1874-1877	Wayne	**
53	Bio	William James Gilmore	1875-1880	Preble	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
54	Bio	Washington Wallace Boynton	1877-1881	Lorain	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
55	Bio	John Waterman Okey	1878-1885	Hamilton	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
56	Bio	William Wartenbee Johnson	1880-1886	Lawrence	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
57	Bio	Nicholas Longworth	1881-1883	Hamilton	**
58	Bio	William Hanford Upson	1883	Summit	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
59	Bio	John Hardy Doyle	1883	Lucas	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
6	Bio	Thomas Scott	1809-1816	Ross	**
60	Bio	Martin Dewey Follett	1883-1887	Washington	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
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	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
64	Bio	Thaddeus Armstrong Minshall	1886-1902	Ross	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
65	Bio	Franklin Joseph Dickman	1886-1895	Cuyahoga	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
66	Bio	Marshall Jay Williams	1887-1902	Fayette	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
67	Bio	Joseph Perry Bradbury	1889-1900	Gallia	**
68	Bio	Jacob F. Burket	1893-1904	Hancock	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
69	Bio	John Allen Shauck	1895-1915	Montgomery	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
7	Bio	Thomas Morris	1809	Clermont	**
70	Bio	William Zephaniah Davis	1900-1913	Marion	**
71	Bio	James Latimer Price	1902-1912	Allen	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
72	Bio	William Binford Crew	1902-1911	Morgan	**
73	Bio	Augustus Neander Summers	1904-1911	Clark	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
74	Bio	James Granville Johnson	1911-1922	Clark	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
75	Bio	Maurice Herbert Donahue	1911-1919	Perry	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
76	Bio	Joseph William O'Hara	1912-1913	Hamilton	University of Cincinnati
77	Bio	James Foster Wilkin	1912-1914	Tuscarawas	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
78	Bio	Reuben Melville (R.M.) Wanamaker	1913-1924	Summit	Ohio Northern University
79	Bio	Oscar W. Newman	1913-1919	Scioto	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
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	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
82	Bio	Edward Shiloh Matthias	1915-1953	Van Wert	Ohio Northern University
83	Bio	James Edgar Robinson	1919-1932	Union	Ohio State University
84	Bio	Stanley W. Merrell	1919-1920	Hamilton	Harvard University
85	Bio	Coleman W. Avery	1920	Hamilton	University of Cincinnati
86	Bio	Benson Walker Hough	1920-1922	Delaware	Ohio State University
87	Bio	Carrington Tanner Marshall	*1921-1932	Muskingum	University of Cincinnati
88	Bio	George H. Clark	1922	Stark	University of Cincinnati
89	Bio	Robert Henry Day	1923-1933	Stark	University of Cincinnati
9	Bio	Ethan Allen Brown	1810-1818	Hamilton	**
90	Bio	Florence Ellinwood Allen	1923-1934	Cuyahoga	New York University
91	Bio	Harry Luther Conn	6/24/1924	Van Wert	**
92	Bio	Reynolds Robert Kinkade	1925-1933	Lucas	Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in C:\Sites\www2.supremecourt.ohio.gov\content\assets\views\justices-1803-present\list.php on line 29 **
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

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