'In Search of … Holmes County’s Probate and Juvenile Judges'
Since 1852 Holmes County Probate and Juvenile judges have played a key role in the development of the county. Now county bailiff Brad Conn is trying to track down photos of all 16 judges who have donned their robes in Holmes County Probate and Juvenile Court.
Back in the early 1980s there was a television show titled, “In Search of … ,” which was hosted by Leonard Nimoy. The weekly television show was dedicated to finding answers to mysterious phenomena such as Big Foot, Lock Ness Monster, and what happened to Amelia Earhart, Jimmy Hoffa or UFOs.
In a sense Brad Conn is bringing back the show’s concept as he goes “In Search of … Holmes County Probate and Juvenile Judges.”
The Holmes County Courthouse is currently getting a fresh, new look inside with the ongoing process of painting the walls.
However, Holmes County Probate and Juvenile Court bailiff Brad Conn wants to adorn the walls with more than just new paint. He would love to see the courthouse walls adorned with Holmes County’s long history of the courts.
Recently the courthouse installed the old tower clock that kept time in Millersburg for a century on the second floor of the courthouse as a way of preserving that piece of history.
Conn is now in the process of adding another historically dedicated piece of Holmes County to the courthouse walls.
Conn has meticulously gone to great lengths to find photographs of each of the 16 Holmes County Probate and Juvenile Court judges who have served since 1852.
Before that time all court matters were handled by the Common Pleas Court, so there was no need for probate judges.
But on March 5, 1852, Judge Calvin Brumbaugh transacted the first official business by a probate court judge, and since that time 15 other probate and juvenile judges have followed on the bench.
The hope is to find photographs of each of the 16 judges and have them framed and placed as a tribute on the second-floor wall of the courthouse.
The list of judges includes Calvin Brumbaugh, 1852-56; John Huston, 1856, January to November; Henry G. Saunders, 1856-64; James A. Estill, 1864-70; Thomas Armour, 1870-76; William C. McDowell, 1876-82; Richard W. Tannyhill, 1882-1913; Charles A. Estill, 1913-33; Frank W. Fankhauser, 1933-49; Hoy L. Russell, 1949-61; Elmo M. Estill, 1961-65; Macin E. Estill, 1965-73; W.C. Pyers, 1973-80; John W. Schuler, 1980-85; Robert Hines, 1985-99; and Thomas C. Lee, 1999 to present.
The Estill family has served a total of 52 years on the bench. Current Holmes County probation officer Roger Estill’s lineage on the probation judge bench is lengthy. James A. Estill was his great-grandfather, Charles A. Estill was his grandfather, Macin E. Estill was his father and Elmo Estill was his uncle.
Conn has had some success tracking down photographs of the judges, having found some at the courthouse, others through doing some research and others having come in courtesy of family members of some of the judges.
“Eventually I would love to display all of the Holmes County Juvenile and Probate judges,” Conn said. “It has been quite an undertaking, and so far I have been able to find photos of 11 of the 16 judges, although some of the pictures aren’t of the best quality.”
Conn said he has actually learned a great deal through the process of tracking down the photos. He said Judge Tannyhill was especially interesting because he was the first judge in the Holmes County courthouse.
“I became fascinated with these men, especially with what they looked like,” Conn said. “All of these men made an impact on Holmes County. They were elected officials who had important decision-making within the county for people’s lives, and the more I pursued finding photographs of them, the more they became very intriguing to me.”
Conn found several pictures in the courthouse, and Holmes County Historical Society director Mark Boley sent him a few more.
Conn is still in need of quality photographs of Brumbaugh, Saunders, McDowell, Charles Estill and Fankhauser. Although if someone would have a quality photo of any of the other judges, he would love to see if it is an improvement over what he has on hand. Oddly enough he doesn’t yet have a photograph of Judge Lee, although he is fairly certain he can wrangle one up.
Having exhausted a number of avenues to find photos of the missing judges, he is now turning to the public in hopes of securing pictures of the remaining five judges.
“It’s been a challenge, especially with some of the earlier judges, but my hope is that someone reads this and thinks, ‘I think I might have photos’ or ‘I know someone who might have some photos of one of these judges,’” Conn said, “or even if they simply want to call me up with some ideas as to someone who might have a picture of one of them. I have kind of exhausted my avenues, and I am hoping that someone somewhere can help us fill in the holes.”
One hole was filled in by sheer coincidence when a woman visiting the courthouse happened to hold a key connection to one of the former judges.
That woman was Jean Whittington, the great-granddaughter of Judge Tannyhill.
“Jean just happened to be walking through the courthouse one day when I was off and spoke to the law librarian about her great-grandfather,” Conn said. “Word was relayed to me about this connection, and I followed up with Jean, who eventually mailed photos of her great grandfather. You talk about a total coincidence, but it shows that the more people you talk to, the better the chance that we are going to have an opportunity to find the right person that can make a contact to find a photo.”
Conn said while this project is a top priority for him, he hopes this begins a trend of placing other historical memorabilia around the courthouse walls.
“We all think it is important to share our county’s history in the courts, and we have plenty of room on our courthouse walls to tell a lot of stories,” Conn said. “At some point I think we will put our heads together to see what kinds of memorabilia we can come up with to add some historical perspective to the courthouse walls. It would be nice to fill up our walls with pieces of Holmes County that would be interesting for people to see and read.”
For now that effort will be to hopefully find the remaining missing judges’ photographs. Anyone who might have some information on tracking down photos can call Conn at 330-674-5841 or email him at bconn@co.holmes.oh.us.