David Linton (politician)



David Linton (January 30, 1815 – August 10, 1889) was an American politician, attorney, and probate judge. He served in the Ohio Senate and was active in the Whig, Republican, and Greenback political parties in Ohio. He was one of the founders of Beta Theta Pi, a college fraternity founded at Miami University in 1839.

Early life
Lindon was born January 30, 1815, on a farm three miles west of in Wilmington in Clinton County, Ohio. His parents were Nathaniel Matthew Linton and Elizabeth Rachel Smith. He was their fifth child. His parents were early settlers in Ohio, moving there from Pennsylvania in 1800. Lindon lived on the family farm until he was 21 years old, leaving at that time for Oxford, Ohio to attend Miami University.

Lindon received an A.B. degree from Miami University in 1839. While at Miami, he was one of eight founders of Beta Theta Pi fraternity in 1839. He revieced an LL.B. from the Cincinnati Law School in 1840.

Law
Linton passed the bar and opened a law practice in Wilmington, Ohio. He was elected to the position of prosecuting attorney for Clinton County, serving two terms from 1845 to 1847. Over 25 years, he practiced law in state and federal courts in Ohio and adjacent states. He formed a partnership with Senator Joseph Foos for a number of years. His other partners included Tom Carwin, Allen G. Thurman, and Benjamin Wade.

In 1864, he retired to Kansas because of his declining health. He elected was a probate judge in Linn County, Kansas, serving one term from 1869 to 1871.

Politics
In 1840, Linton campaigned in his district for William Henry Harrison, a Whig who successfully ran for president. He worked to organize the Rebublican Party in 1850 and canvassed in his district for Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

Linton served in the Ohio Senate from 1853 to 1855. Later, he was a member of the Greenback Party. He was active with the party at the county level. He received a nomination to the State Senate as the Greenback candidate in 1876.

Business
Linton was a director of the Cincinnati, Wilmington & Zanesville Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Personal life
Linton married Anna Thomas of Hamilton, Ohio on July 27, 1841. She met Linton when they were both students at Miami University. The couple had seven children.

Linton was ill with lung fever while in law school; the illness returned in 1848, resulting in ongoing health problems. Although he supported President Abraham Lincoln, Linton could not fight in the Civil War because of his poor health. He was also a member of the Society of Friends. Instead, he helped recruit several companies and made donations to care for sick and wounded soldiers.

In 1865, the family moved to a farm in Linn County, Kansas. Linton left his law practice in Ohio because of his health. Within a year of living in Kansas, his sons Frank and Arthur both died.

Linton had a second stroke in the fall of 1883 that paralyzed his left side and left him an invalid. No longer able to farm, he moved to Pleasanton, Kansas. He died on August 10, 1889, in his home in Pleasanton.

Honors
There is a historical marker about Linton in Wilmington, Ohio.