George Washington Geddes

George Washington Geddes (July 16, 1824 – November 9, 1892) was an American lawyer, jurist, and Democratic politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Ohio for four consecutive terms from 1879 to 1887. Over the course of a long legal and public career, he held judicial office at the state level, participated in national legislative affairs during a significant period in American history, and remained active in educational and religious life in Ohio.

Geddes was born on July 16, 1824, in Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio. He attended the common schools of his native community, receiving the basic education typical of mid-nineteenth-century Ohio. Raised in a region that was rapidly developing both economically and politically, he came of age in an environment that encouraged civic engagement and professional advancement.

Pursuing a career in law, Geddes studied under Columbus Delano, a prominent Ohio lawyer who later served in the U.S. House of Representatives and as U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Under Delano’s tutelage, Geddes read law in the traditional manner of the period and was admitted to the bar in July 1845. He began the practice of law in Ohio, establishing himself as a practitioner whose abilities would soon lead to judicial responsibilities.

Geddes entered the judiciary as judge of the court of common pleas of the sixth judicial district of Ohio in 1856. He was reelected to that position in 1861, reflecting the confidence of the electorate in his judicial service. After a brief interval out of office, he was again elected to the same judgeship in 1868 and served until 1873. During these years he presided over a wide range of civil and criminal matters at a time when Ohio’s courts were addressing issues arising from the Civil War and the state’s postwar growth. While still engaged in judicial and legal work, he became an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio in 1871, after which he resumed the practice of law, ultimately basing his professional activities in Mansfield, Ohio.

Geddes’s national political career began with his election as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth Congress, followed by reelection to the Forty-seventh, Forty-eighth, and Forty-ninth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1879, to March 3, 1887. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio, he represented the interests of his constituents during a significant period in American history marked by the aftermath of Reconstruction, industrial expansion, and evolving federal responsibilities. During his tenure, he served as chairman of the Committee on War Claims in both the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses, overseeing the consideration of claims arising from the Civil War and related conflicts. After four terms in office, he declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1886 to the Fiftieth Congress, thereby concluding his congressional service and returning to private life.

Following his departure from Congress, Geddes resumed the practice of his profession as an attorney in Mansfield. In addition to his legal and political work, he was active in educational and religious affairs. He served as a trustee of Ohio Wesleyan University and Mount Union College, reflecting a commitment to higher education and the intellectual development of the state’s youth. A member of the Methodist Church, he was identified with the religious life of his community as well as its civic and professional institutions.

In his personal life, Geddes married Nancy Lennon of Ashland County, Ohio, in 1848. The couple had three sons: Samuel, James, and George. After Nancy’s death in 1878, Geddes remarried, taking Amelia Gass as his wife in December 1880. He continued to reside in Mansfield during his later years, maintaining his legal practice and public engagements until his health and age curtailed his activities.

George Washington Geddes died in Mansfield, Ohio, on November 9, 1892. He was interred in Mansfield Cemetery. His career as a lawyer, judge, and legislator, together with his service as a trustee of Ohio educational institutions and his longstanding Methodist affiliation, marked him as a significant figure in nineteenth-century Ohio public life.