Judge Elisha M. Colver

In Judge Colver’s obituary in the Sandusky Register of September 25, 1895, the headline read “Death of a Patriot, Soldier, Jurist and Orator.”  Elisha M. Colver was born in Hudson, New York in 1832, but received his early education in Monroeville, Ohio. He graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1859, with the highest honors of his class. After leaving college, he moved to Perrysburg, Ohio. While in Perrysburg, he enlisted in the Third Ohio Cavalry, first serving as first lieutenant of Company B; later he was promoted to Captain. 

In 1864, Elisha M. Colver came to Sandusky, Ohio to aid in the recruiting of a cavalry regiment. Having concluded his military service, he opened up a law office in Sandusky. He was elected as Sandusky’s City Solicitor in 1868, and served as Probate Judge of Erie County from 1869 through 1878. Judge Colver's first wife was Clara Prout. After her death, he married Miss Caroline T. Wood. 

Judge Colver was a charter member of the McMeens Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was very active in local Masonic organizations as well. He was known to be an excellent speaker, with his speaking services in great demand, and “his energy would put to shame many a younger man. He was in every sense of the word an American citizen and his enthusiasm in the support of American institutions was unbounded.”  Judge Colver had delivered the eulogy for John Brown, Jr. at Put in Bay, just a few months before his own death. Judge Colver was buried in Oakland Cemetery in the family plot. 

To learn more about Judge Elisha M. Colver, see Elected to Serve, by Patty Pascoe at the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library. Also, a lengthy tribute to Judge Colver appeared in the September 27, 1895 issue of the Sandusky Register.

The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has in its collections a scrapbook containing letters and telegrams of condolence sent to the family of Judge Colver following his death. The telegram below was sent by Judge Malcolm Kelley.