Montgomery County OGS - Everts Bios
Montgomery County Chapter
Ohio Genealogical Society

Personal Sketch




Col. M. P. Nolan

Col. M. P. Nolan, Attorney at Law, was born in Dublin, Ireland, June 18, A.D. 1828. His parents came to this country in April, A.D. 1824; settled near Lancaster, Pa.; moved to this city in 1838, where he has resided ever since. The Colonel is truly a self-made man, having had little or no advantages of early education. Being a mechanic (carriage-maker) in his early manhood, he labored at his trade by day, and studied law at night; was admitted to the bar in Dayton at the age of twenty-eight. The property on which he now resides he purchased and paid for by his personal industry; acquired a profession, and had a paying practice before he attained the age of thirty.

The Colonel was married in Miamisburg, this County, December 30, 1847, to Miss Ann S. Clark; eight children resulting from the marriage, who are now living.

At the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, at the first call for troops, he organized Company G, of the 11th Regiment of Ohio Volunteers; was then appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the 50th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and subsequently Colonel of the 109th Regiment of Ohio Volunteers.

A life-long Abolitionist, and bitter denouncer of slavery in any form, his patriotism and firm devotion to the Union shone brightest in the darkest days of our civil war. He was an earnest and active member of the Union League, and was a delegate to the National Convention at Baltimore which renominated Abraham Lincoln in 1864. After the close of the war, Colonel Nolan served as United States Commissioner.

He is in many respects the most remarkable man at this bar. As an advocate, he is regarded as powerful and convincing; his speeches are full on interest. His sparkling wit and pathetic appeals amuse and impress his hearers by turns. A reader of the standard authors, a close student of Burke, a ripe Shakesperian scholar, his forensic efforts are redolent of the choicest gems of all, and never fail to amuse, interest, and instruct his hearers. Whether the skillful handling of his case demands appeal to sympathy, withering sarcasm, or embarrassing ridicule, he wields the weapons of each with the practiced skill of a veteran. A writer in one of the local journals says of him, --

"When he rises to speak, every one in the court-room is delighted, except the opposing counsel, who frequently wince under his lash. At times he is truly eloquent, and from any speech of his of an hour's duration, passages may be culled which, for beauty of arrangement and effectiveness of delivery, will compare favorably with the studied efforts of the best speakers of the day."

End of Biography