Arthur Phinney, Educator and Lawyer

Arthur Phinney was born in Gorham, Maine on March 28, 1837 to James and Cynthia (Mosher) Phinney. He was educated at Dartmouth and Yale, graduating from Yale in 1864. His first job after graduation was with the statistical division of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. From 1867 to 1870, Mr. Phinney was the principal of Sandusky High School. It was while he was at Sandusky High School as principal that the original high school building (later Adams Junior High School) was constructed. This building served as the main high school building for Sandusky City Schools until 1957.

In Sandusky, Mr. Phinney studied law in the office of Homer Goodwin, later entering the law department of the University of Michigan. In December of 1872, he was admitted to the Ohio Bar. During his long career as a lawyer in Sandusky, Mr. Phinney was associated with several different law partners, including Judge S.F. Taylor, Judge E.B. King, U.T. Curran, and Judge A.E. Merrill.

On July 15, 1868, he married Sara E. Bell. Mr. and Mrs. Phinney had three daughters. Mrs. Sara Bell Phinney died on January 7, 1898. After the death of his wife, his health failed, and he passed away on May 21, 1899. Lengthy obituaries were carried in the Sandusky Register on May 22 and May 25, 1899. Several members of the Erie County Bar Association gave eulogies at the May 23, 1899 meeting of the Erie County Bar. Judge Linn Hull said about Mr. Phinney, “He was a man of the highest character. No one can say that Arthur Phinney ever did a dishonorable act as a man or as a lawyer. He was honorable to his brethren of the profession and always honest and sincere with the court. And what higher tribute can be paid to him than to say that in the evening of a life of 62 years – as a New England boy, as a college student, a college graduate, a teacher, a citizen and a lawyer – there is not a spot upon his character and the reputation that he has left behind.” John F. McCrystal also spoke highly of Mr. Phinney. He said in part, “Whatever he undertook her performed with all his might. He put his whole soul into whatever it was.” Arthur Phinney’s funeral took place at the family residence on May 23, 1899. He was buried at Oakland Cemetery next to his beloved wife.