Urbanus Stout Saunders (1884-1955)

From the Rittman Press, October 29, 1936.

  Certainly one of the more unusually named jurists to be featured here this year, Urbanus Stout Saunders was a Wayne County, Ohio-based attorney who served two decades as Wayne County Judge of Probate. In addition to that office, Saunders had held local office in his hometown of Shreve, where he was mayor and city solicitor. A lifelong Ohioan, "U.S." Saunders was born near Shreve on November 18, 1884, the son of Moses (1859-1929) and Elsana (Stout) Saunders (1865-1956).

  A student in the Hazel Dell School in Franklin Township, Saunders graduated from the Shreve High School in 1904. He followed a teaching career early in his life, and in the 1900s turned his attention to law studies. He studied at the Ohio State University at Columbus from 1909-10, and later attended Ohio Northern University at Ada, graduating in 1911. Saunders was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1912, and established his practice in Shreve. In the year following he took office as mayor of Shreve, and served one term, 1913-1915. Saunders married during his term on April 30, 1914, to L. Pearl Ditmars (1885-1963), to who he was wed until his death. The couple had one daughter, Helen Saunders Wachtel (1915-2012).

  Following his term as mayor Urbanus Saunders was elected as city solicitor for Shreve, serving until his election as county probate judge in 1928. His time as solicitor saw Saunders come out against the projected raising of telephone rates in Shreve by the Ohio Telephone Company in 1928, and in the late 1920s is recorded as the manager of a minor league indoor baseball team, the Shreve East Enders. Newspaper reports of the time also denote Saunders as being a croquet aficionado, and in 1933 was the captain of a victorious "Shreve croquet team" that defeated their opponents in the neighboring town of Sterling.

   In 1928 U.S. Saunders announced his candidacy for Wayne County Judge of Probate, and in the November general election was elected. Remarked as the only Democratic candidate elected in Wayne County that year, Saunders was given a reception from his supporters, playfully being "kidnapped" by friends and placed in a mule-driven wagon, emblazoned with the sign "The Only Living Democrat in Captivity." In December he resigned as city solicitor and took his seat on the bench in January 1929.

From the Shreve News, November 14, 1928.

From the Akron Beacon Journal, January 8, 1939.

  Following his first term, U.S. Saunders proved popular with the Wayne County electorate and would be reelected to several further terms as judge. Following his third term victory in 1938, he was profiled in the "Camera Caravan Visits Wooster" section of the January 8, 1939 edition of the Akron Beacon Journal. Remarked as "brisk, homespun, and efficient", the Journal noted that he "doesn't want any truck with politics", and also revealed his full name.

  After two decades as judge Saunders was defeated for reelection in November 1948 by Republican Myron Brenneman. He left office in early 1949 and a short time later returned to private practice. In February 1952 he partnered with Harold K. Hitchcock in the firm of Saunders and Hitchcock, with offices in both Shreve and Wooster, Ohio. Their firm continued until Saunders's death at the Wooster Community Hospital on December 6, 1955, just hours after being admitted due to a heart ailment. He was survived by his wife, daughter, and 91-year old mother Elsana, and was interred at the Shreve Cemetery.

From the Mansfield News Journal, December 7, 1955.