Judge Russell L. Donley, serving for the second term as probate judge of Coshocton county, is a citizen whose life record stand in contradistinction to the old adage that a prophet is never without honor save in his own country, for in this locality, where he was born and reared, Judge Donley has made for himself a most honorable place in public regard and is numbered among the leading representatives of the legal fraternity.

He was born in Bedford township on the 16^th of November, 1876, a son of Thomas and Mary E. (Gelsthorpe) Donley. The father was also a native of Bedford township and a son of Joseph Donley, who was one of the first settlers of that locality, coming to this county from Pennsylvania, the place of his nativity. He married a Pennsylvania Dutch woman, and later they removed to Coshocton county, Ohio. Upon the old homestead farm here Thomas Donley was reared and the occupation with which he gave his time and energies in his later years. He has continued to reside in the same school district since the land on which the Donley schoolhouse stands was given by his father to the district for the purposes for which it is still used. His farm comprises one hundred and thirty acres, which he has bought under a good state of cultivation and which now returns to him a substantial income annually. In early man hood he wedded Mary E. Gelsthorpe, a native of Wellsburg, West Virginia, and a daughter of William Gelsthorpe, who was born at Kent on the Thames in England.

The boyhood experiences of Judge Donley were such as usually fall to the lot of the farmer lad. Spending his youth under the parental roof he mastered the elementary branches of English learning in the public schools and afterwards attended the West Bedford high school. Determining to direct his efforts into those channels which demand strong intelligence and close application he took up the reading of law under the direction of J. C. Adams, of Coshocton, in 1896, while later he was a student in the law office of Pomerence & Pomerence, of this city. Eagerly availing himself of every opportunity of advancement in the fall of 1898 he matriculated in the law department of the Ohio State University and was graduated therefrom with the class of 1900. In June of that year he entered upon the active practice of his profession in Coshocton. He had practically made his own way through college, and the inherent force of character which he thus manifested has since been displayed in the ability and determination with which he has worked his way upward. After his graduation he found it necessary to borrow five dollars with which to pay his fare home but, though there was no brilliant outlook before him, he possessed the courage and resolution necessary to face the situation and gradually he gave to the public proof of his ability in the practice of law. For one year he practiced independently and in 1902 entered into a partnership with E. F. Stockum under the firm name of Stockum & Donley.

In the preparation of his cases he was very thorough and painstaking, and his presentation of the cause before the courts showed that he had mastered the subject in dispute and was ready to meet every attack of the adversary. He was called from private practice to the bench of the probate court, being elected in November, 1902, on the democratic ticket for a term of three years. So acceptable was his service during the first term that in November, 1905, he was reelected and will continue as the incumbent of the office until February, 1909. He has been diligent in his study, thereby preparing himself still more thoroughly for the duties of the office. The recent act of the legislature makes him also the judge of the juvenile court, and in this capacity he has done a noble work in bringing delinquents under proper restraint, finding homes for many children, where they are being trained for good citizenship, and sending the more incorrigible to the reform institutions of the state. He is in thorough sympathy with the humanitarian spirit which constitutes the foundation of the juvenile courts, believing that with proper environment and training the great majority of the youthful offenders may be redeemed for lives of usefulness.

On the 21 of December, 190, Judge Donley was married to Miss Shirley Rose Thompson, who for several years prior to her marriage was the efficient principal of one of the ward schools of Coshocton. They now have a little daughter, Sarah Esther.

Judge Donley belongs to Fidelity Lodge, No 135, K. P., and is an active and helpful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is now serving on the official board. He is a young man of marked force of character and individuality, who realizes the possibilities of life and has so unutilized his opportunities that each step in his career has been a forward one, bringing him nearer the goal toward which a laudable ambition urges him. It is his purpose, on the expiration of his present term, to resume the practice of law in Coshocton and an analytical mind, untiring energy and strong purpose will gain for him success in practice equal to that which he has won on the bench.