James R. Garfield to Charles W. Chesnutt, 21 March 1911
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JAMES R. GARFIELD
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW
931 GARFIELD BUILDING
CLEVELAND March 21, 1911
Dear Sir:-
I enclose check for $6.50 in the case of Bell vs. The Union Central Life Insurance Company as per accompanying bill.1
Very truly yours, James R. Garfield Mr. Chas. W. Chesnutt, #1105 Williamson Bldg., CityCorrespondent: James Rudolph Garfield (1865–1950) was a lawyer and politician. He was born in Ohio as one of President James A. Garfield's sons. After establishing himself in Cleveland as a lawyer in 1888 with his brother Harry, he served in the Ohio state senate (1896–1899) and held several political offices under President Theodore Roosevelt, eventually serving as Secretary of the Interior (1907–1909). After 1909, he practiced law in Cleveland for the remainder of his career and was senior partner of the prestigious law firm Garfield, MacGregor and Baldwin .
1. The Ohio court case of James G. Bell v. Union Central Life Insurance Company challenged the legitimacy of using surplus funds to distribute a stock dividend to the company's stockholders in 1908, possibly to the disadvantage of policyholders like Bell. James Garfield (1865–1950) was on the team of laywers that defended the life insurance company and likely employed Chesnutt's services as a court stenographer when the Circuit Court of Cuyahoga County heard the case in 1911. [back]
