Arthur Isaiah Vorys

Legacy Card for Arthur Isaiah Vorys.

BIRTH

Tuesday

25 NOV 1856


Lancaster,
Fairfield County, Ohio, USA

DEATH

Thursday

26 JAN 1933


Columbus,
Franklin County, Ohio, USA

Attorney

YEARS
0
MONTHS
0
DAY
0

Joe McFarland

The Far-Land Legacy
The Publishing Legacy Company

Friday, March 15, 2024

BIOGRAPHY

LANCASTER – Prominent attorney, Arthur Isaiah Vorys came into the world on Tuesday, November 25, 1856. Born to carpenter, Isaiah Vorys II and his wife, Emily B. (Webb), Arthur grew up in Lancaster, attending the local public schools. After he graduated from Lancaster High School in 1874 he set out to further his studies in law under the guidance of The Ohio State University where he only spent one year before being admitted to the Lancaster Bar Association in 1879. At that point he further studied law under the direction of Hon. John S. Brasee at his local law office. Arthur also worked with his friend, Hon. George E. Martin, who later served as Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. Although they did not practice law together, they occupied the same building. Arthur also served two terms as City Solicitor in Lancaster during 1884 until 1888.

Arthur married Jeanny B. McNeill three years later on Thursday, February 5, 1891, in Fairfield County, Ohio. Soon after, they began to start their life together and had four boys: Webb Isaiah, John Martin, Arthur McNeill, and Herman. While Jeanny was pregnant with their third son, Arthur, they began the process to purchase the Daniel Sifford home on top of the hill of downtown East Main Street. On Wednesday, May 4, 1898, it finally materialized as Arthur presented the largest bid when the property went up for public auction at 154 East Main Street. Sheriff J. W. Stewart commenced the sale of the property from the plaintiff, Daniel Sifford. Arthur purchased the property for $4,666.67 ($174,480.61 in 2024 dollars). It was the highest bid when the property went up for public auction.

 

Living in downtown Lancaster, practicing law, and raising a family alongside Jeanny, Arthur further gained an appointment from Ohio Governor, George Kilbon Nash, who served as governor from January 8, 1900 – October 28, 1904. Governor Nash appointed Arthur to Ohio Insurance Commissioner in 1900, shortly after he became governor. Governor Myron Timothy Herrick further extended Arthur’s appointed position in 1905, after he became governor. He also served as the director of the insurance companies: Western and Southern Life Insurance Co., Ohio Farmers Insurance Co., and the Credit Life Insurance Co. During this time Arthur put his professional skills to work and through his ambitious attitude he developed the Insurance Department of Ohio from a mere department into a nationally known institution. Through his work the Model Insurance Code of Ohio became about putting him on the map nationally as an insurance lawyer. In high demand, he was well received and requested all across the country to speak on various phases of insurance law at many insurance conventions.

 

By 1907, Arthur resigned from his seven-year position as the Superintendent of Insurance of Ohio to shift his primary focus on William Howard Taft’s presidential campaign, and in 1908 served as Taft’s campaign manager. Arthur was a strong republican securing appointments by two consecutive republican governors and then focused on Taft’s republican politics, serving as a member of the Republican National Commission until 1912. During President Taft’s term, Arthur, along with Congressman Albert Douglas, recommended his brother-in-law, Henry Clay Drinkle, who married his sister, Kate, to postmaster of the city of Lancaster. Taft agreed and appointed Henry to postmaster on September 1, 1910, as he transitioned away from his law practice.

 

During this time Arthur built a strong partnership with three other attorneys: Lowry Frances Sater, Augustus Theodore Seymour I, and Edward Livingston Pease. The four founded and established the law firm, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, LLP in April 1909, located in downtown Columbus. “Arthur devoted himself to law and inhabited a keen legal mind. He appreciated and upheld the integrity and ethics of the law profession with unswerving honesty and integrity.” The still prominent law firm continues to practice law under his name at 52 East Gay Street since 1911. He led the company until his death.

 

He also gained the position as chairman of the World’s Insurance Congress in San Francisco, California, in 1915.

 

Arthur Vorys gained a great deal of respect among his fellow colleagues and peers, with the courts, associates at the Bar, and the citizens of both Lancaster and Columbus. A lifelong Republican, a political citizen, and a firm believer in the Constitution of the United States and Government established the forefathers set Vorys high with integrity and prominence. He never actively sought public office, but always managed to assist friends and associates in their pursuits. He would also always seek another other enterprise that would continue to bring success to both Lancaster and Columbus.

 

When Arthur and Jeanny relocated to Columbus, they moved their family to 682 East Broad Street where they lodged until they could find a proper residence as the 1910 U.S. Census recorded. It was then sometime between then and 1920 they moved into their permanent residence at 441 East Town Street. By 1920 there was no mortgage out on the property.

 

His two sons, Webb and John, practiced law at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease. Arthur also was a member of the American Bar Association, Ohio Bar Association, and member of World’s Insurance Congress and Methodist Club.

 

The prominent politician and accomplished attorney of Columbus, Ohio, Arthur Isaiah Vorys, passed away on Thursday, January 26, 1933, at 1 p.m. at his residence located at 441 East Town Street in Columbus, Ohio. He battled with illness for one year prior to his passing.

 

After Arthur’s death, the citizens of Lancaster took it upon themselves to express their appreciation and respect for his long and successful life and legal career when he started as a member of the Lancaster Bar Association. It was remembered that “no one who knew him well will ever forget the smile, the friendly greeting, that came to him when he returned to Lancaster and especially his annual visit to the Lancaster Fair, which institution he was associated with for many years as an officer, and he never seemed to lose interest in its welfare. By his passing the State of Ohio lost one of its leading citizens the Bar of Ohio, one of its able lawyers, his family an ideal father, and his friends that are uncounted, the influence of a real man.” The words were led by the respectful citizens, Brooks E. Shell, C. A. Radcliffe, and L. G. Silbaugh.

Photo of young Arthur Isaiah Vorys.
Photo of Arthur Isaiah Vorys in his younger years. Courtesy of Ancestry.com.
Photo of Attorney Arthur Isaiah Vorys.
Photo of Attorney, Arthur Isaiah Vorys, prominent lawyer in Columbus, Ohio. Photo courtesy of Find A Grave.
Prominent Attorney. Arthur Isaiah Vorys.
Photo of Arthur Isaiah Vorys, prominent attorney of Columbus, Ohio. Pawcett, Waldon. Mr. Arthur I. Vorys, Of Ohio. 1908. Digital. Find A Grave.com (see reference below).
Marriage Record for Arthur Vorys and Jeanny McNeil.
The marriage record for Arthur Vorys and Jeanny McNeill. Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.
Photo of Arthur and Jeanny Vorys with Grandchildren. Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com.

VORYS, SATER, SEYMOUR & PEASE

THE

VORYS

FAMILY TREE

PARENTS

Isaiah
Vorys II

Emily B.
Webb

SIBLINGS

Arthur Isaiah
Vorys

Kate
Vorys

Martha M.
Vorys

Alice S.
Vorys

Mary Webb
Vorys

SPOUSE

Arthur Isaiah
Vorys

MARRIAGE

THURSDAY

05 FEB 1891

LANCASTER,
FAIRFIELD COUNTY,
OHIO

JEANNY B.
McNEILL

CHILDREN

Webb Isaiah
Vorys

John Martin
Vorys

Arthur McNeill
Vorys

Herman
Vorys

BURIAL

GREEN LAWN CEMETERY – Attorney, Arthur Isaiah Vorys lies buried in the Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio. His tombstone may be located, per Find A Grave, in Section 85, Lot 22. Photos courtesy of Find A Grave except for the Ohio Historical Marker; photo taken by Joe McFarland.

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THE REFERENCES

“A. I. Vorys Dies In Columbus,” Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, Thursday, January 26, 1933, 1.

“Arthur Isaiah Vorys,” Find A Grave, last modified July 9, 2006, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14869497/arthur-isaiah-vorys.

Charles C. Miller, Ph.D. History of Fairfield County, Ohio and Representative Citizens. (Chicago: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1912), 115, 295, 297, 299, 695.

Charles Milton Lewis Wiseman. Centennial History of Lancaster, Ohio, And Lancaster People. (Lancaster: C.M.L. Wiseman Publisher, 1898), 333.

“Lancaster Bar Adopts Memorial On Death Of Atty Arthur Vorys,” Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, Tuesday, May 22, 1934, 8.

Vorys, “Our Story.” About Us. https://www.vorys.com/about-our-story.

PHOTOS

All Legacy Cards designed by Joe McFarland. All photos taken by Joe McFarland unless otherwise noted.

BACKGROUND PHOTO

Bolovtsova, Katrin. Lady Justice and a Gavel. 2020. Digital. Pexel.com, https://www.pexels.com/photo/lady-justice-and-a-gavel-6077123/.

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