Franklin Thomas Backus (May 6, 1813 – May 14, 1870) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a defense attorney in the Oberlin–Wellington Rescue case and the

Case Western Reserve University School of Law Case Western Reserve University School of Law is the law school of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the first schools accredited by the American Bar Association. It is a member of the Association of American Law Sc ...

was once named for him.

Life

Backus was born in

Lee, Massachusetts Lee is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, metropolitan statistical area. The population was 5,788 at the 2020 census. Lee, which includes the villages of South and East Lee, is ...

on May 6, 1813, the fourth son of Thomas and Rebecca Backus. While he was very young the family moved to

Lansing, New York Lansing is a town in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 11,565 at the 2020 census. The Town of Lansing has within it a village named Lansing. The town is located on the northern border of Tompkins County and is locate ...

He prepared himself for college while assistant teacher in an academy in Delaware kept by an older brother, and entered

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

as a Junior in 1834. On leaving college in 1836, he established a classical school in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, and at the same time began the study of law. Several notable younger Clevelanders attended his school, including Leonard Case, Jr.,

William Case William Case (August 10, 1818 – April 19, 1862) was an American politician of the Whig Party and served as the 12th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 1850 and 1851. He was the first Cleveland-born citizen to become mayor. In his early career, ...

George Hoadly George Hoadly (July 31, 1826August 26, 1902) was a Democratic politician. He served as the 36th governor of Ohio. Biography Hoadly was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on July 31, 1826. As the son of George Hoadley and Mary Ann Woolsey Hoadley ...

, and

Horace Kelley Horace A. Kelley (July 18, 1819 – December 4, 1890) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Kelley was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised on Kelleys Island after the death of his father in 1823. Inheriting a fortune of real estate as ...

. In 1839, he was admitted to the bar. In January 1842, he married Lucy Mygatt, who survived him. In 1861, he was a member of the Peace Convention which met in Washington, with the hope of averting the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The later years of his life were devoted to the duties of his profession, in which he had become eminent. His services were especially sought for by railroad corporations, and it is to the excessive and exhausting labor thus brought upon him that his death, from a disease of the heart, is to be attributed.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Backus, Franklin Thomas 1813 births 1870 deaths People from Lee, Massachusetts Yale College alumni Ohio state senators Members of the Ohio House of Representatives Lawyers from Cleveland Ohio Whigs 19th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly Ohio Republicans Ohio Democrats County district attorneys in Ohio Burials at Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland 19th-century American lawyers