Husband Samuel Calvin Tait Dodd 1 2 3
AKA: Samuel Calvin Tate Dodd 4
Born: 20 Feb 1836 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 2 5
Christened:
Died: 30 Jan 1907 - Pinehurst, NC 6
Buried: 3 Feb 1907 - Franklin Cemetery, Franklin, Venango Co, PA 7
Father: Levi L. Dodd (1799-1881) 4 8 9
Mother: Julia Ann Parker ( -1857) 9 10
Marriage: 8 Mar 1877 - Cambridge, Crawford Co, PA 11 12
Other Spouse: Mary E. Geer ( - ) 11 - 12 Jul 1862 - Waterford, Erie Co, PA 11
• Biographical Sketch: from Proceedings of the Celebration of the First Centennial of Venango County, Pennsylvania (Franklin, PA: The Venango County Bar Association, 1905).
To read this brief biographical sketch of his life and career, click here.
Wife Melvina Eliza Smith 11 13
Born: - Erie, Erie Co, PA
Christened:
Died: 1906 11
Buried:
Father: John W. Smith (Abt 1809-1877) 14 15
Mother: Parmelia M. Fuller ( -1873) 15 16
Children
1 M Lee Wilson Dodd 17 18
Born: 11 Jul 1879 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 11
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Marion Roberts Canby (1882- ) 11
Marr: 11 Jan 1907 - Wilmington, New Castle Co, DE 11
2 F Marjorie Dodd 18
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
General Notes: Husband - Samuel Calvin Tait Dodd
He learned the printing trade, graduated at Jefferson College in 1857, studied law with James K. Kerr, of Franklin, Pennsylvania, and was admitted to the bar August 31, 1859. In his practice of nearly twenty-two years in the courts of the district and adjoining counties he stood in the front rank of his profession. Possessing extensive literary acquirements, a fine analytical mind, and a well grounded knowledge of the most important branches of legal science, he soon won a conspicuous position among the successful jurists of western Pennsylvania. His selection by the Standard Oil Trust as its general solicitor was a marked recognition of his superior abilities as a lawyer. Mr. Dodd was selected in 1872 as one of the Democratic members at large to serve in the constitutional convention, and took quite a prominent part in the deliberations and work of that body. During his residence in Franklin he built up an extensive legal business, and enjoyed in a large degree the esteem and confidence of his professional brethren, as well as of the whole community. Politically he is a Democrat, and has always taken an active interest in the political battles of the state and nation. He removed to New York in January, 1881, and has since filled the prominent and lucrative position of general solicitor of the Standard Oil Trust. [HVC 1890, 187]
He was admitted to the Venango bar at August term, 1859. During the first ten years of his practice he made but slow progress, and the modest and unassuming manner which was his lifelong characteristic caused many people to regard him, in his youth, as unambitious and even indolent. But the great lawyer was only incubating and developing the gifts which were destined to receive recognition in the fullness of time. He first attracted attention by a series of articles appearing in a local newspaper about the time of the passage of the Act of April 11, 1872, providing for a convention to revise or amend the constitution of Pennsylvania. In these writings he took strong ground in favor of such revision of the organic law as should forever prohibit discrimination by carrying corporations in favor of or against any person or place. In consequence of the publication of these articles Mr. Dodd was elected as a delegate to the authorized convention, but when that body assembled he found that while a majority of its members were in favor of abolishing the evil of discrimination, they were completely at sea as to the remedy that ought to be provided. Added to the ordinary difficulties of such a situation was the presence of certain very able men who were members of the convention in the railway interests, and who, with other arguments, held up that palladium of "vested rights," the Dartmouth College case, so effectively that the forces of constitutional reform began to melt away. It was then that the obscure lawyer from Venango manifested the wonderful acumen that was his, by quietly introducing the provisions that are now found in Article XVII of the present constitution, making salutary regulations for the government of common carriers, forbidding discrimination, and limiting their powers, but all without reference to the untouchable "vested rights." The sting for them, however, lay in Section 10, which runs thus:
No railroad, canal, or other transportation company, in existence at the time of the adoption of this article, shall have the benefit of any future legislation, by general or special laws, except on condition of complete acceptance of all the provisions of this article.
That his foresight was correct has been long amply demonstrated, for since the adoption of the above by the convention and the people, the large carrying companies of the Commonwealth which theretofore in many respects were not subject to legislative control have been compelled by the demands of their increased traffic and business to seek further legislative aid, and, as a requisite, to accept the provisions of Article XVII, thereby placing themselves under the general law and becoming subject to its control.
In 1873 an incident of his practice brought him into contact with the agents of the Standard Oil Company, which led to his employment in the business of that corporation in western Pennsylvania. His ability soon became so manifest to the officials that he was offered and accepted the post of general counsel to the Standard Oil Company, which required his removal in 1881 to New York. That city was his abiding place for many years, during which his growth as a lawyer was very marked, he directing the legal affairs of the great corporation not only in the United States but in foreign countries as well. But little of this was known to the general public, which, for the most part, was only aware of Mr. Dodd as the author of the famous "Trust Agreement," a remarkable document that was the model of the many similar ones that followed in various lines of business. [HVC 1919, 110]