Size: 1.46 linear feet; 4 oversize boxes of news clippings and 3 framed works of art
Span Dates: 1908-1974, 1995; undated Bulk Dates: 1922-1956
Accession Number: Not available
Donor: Salmon P. Chase College of Law
Custodial History: Charles H. Elston, 1891-1980 created this collection during the course of his professional practice. In 1993, his wife, Mrs. Charles H. Elston [Zelda], and daughter, Marilyn Elston Dietz, gave the Elston Legal Collection to Chase College of Law. In 1998, Mrs. Gloria Delroy, step-daughter of Charles Elston, gave a second donation of photographs to Chase College of Law. In October 2006, Chase College of Law donated the collection to Eva G. Farris Special Collections.
Summary: This collection includes correspondence, legal documents, court records, news clippings, and photographic materials pertaining to the legal and political career of Cincinnati attorney and Congressional Representative Charles H. Elston.
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research access.
Use Restrictions: Photographs in the Charles H. Elston Legal Collection are protected by United States Copyright law and cannot be copied or reproduced until Jan. 1, 2048.
Preferred Citation: [Box #, Folder #], MS-1 Charles H. Elston Legal Collection, Eva G. Farris Special Collections, W. Frank Steely Library, Northern Kentucky University.
Related Materials: Weidemann Brewery Blueprints, Eva G. Farris Special Collections, W. Frank Steely Library, Northern Kentucky University.
Other records pertaining to George Remus: Remus, George, Tax Case. Hamilton County, Clerk of Courts, Court of Common Pleas, ON-80-24, Archives and Rare Books Library, The University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
George Remus materials, Delhi Historical Society, 468 Anderson Ferry Road, Cincinnati OH 45238
George Remus materials, Price Hill Historical Society and Museum, 3640 Warsaw Avenue, Cincinnati OH 45205
Robert Worth Bingham Additional Papers, The Filson Historical Society, Louisville, KY.
Processing Information: processed by Anne Ryckbost, January-February, 2011. Preservation tasks and initial processing undertaken in 2006 by archives staff.
Subject(s):
Court records--Ohio--Hamilton County
Trials (Murder)--Ohio--Cincinnati
Insanity defense
Lawyer
Person(s):
Elston, Charles Henry, 1891-1980
Remus, George, 1876-1952
Taft, Charles P., II 1897-1983
Reynolds, Alice
Reynolds, Jack
Franklin, Marvin J. (Pete)
Tichenor, Roy
Rosenberg, Manuel 1897- ?
Corporate Body:
Westerhaus Company
Geographic Location(s):
United States--Ohio--Hamilton County--Cincinnati
United States--Ohio--Allen County--Lima
Court(s):
Ohio. Court of Appeals (Allen County)
Ohio. Court of Common Pleas (Hamilton County)
Ohio. Probate Court (Hamilton County)
United States. Tax Court
This collection includes correspondence, legal documents, court records, news clippings, and photographic materials pertaining to the legal and political career of Cincinnati attorney and Congressional Representative Charles H. Elston. The collection represents the prominent cases of his career: it is not comprehensive of Elston’s entire career. It includes only one item relating to his service as a congressman.
Series I, George Remus Trials, documents Elston’s work as a defense attorney for George Remus, when he was tried for the murder of his second wife, Imogene Remus, in 1927 in Cincinnati. It contains correspondence acknowledging Elston’s role in Remus’s defense and the national publicity the case received. Included in the correspondence are three miscellaneous mug shots that appear unrelated to the George Remus case. There is no correspondence from or to George Remus. The series also contains select court records including preliminary proceeding records and depositions from the trial of The State of Ohio vs. George Remus in the Court of Common Pleas, Hamilton County, Ohio and the appeal to the Supreme Court of Ohio. Clippings from local and national newspapers such as the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Chicago American, and the New York Times comprise the bulk of this series and document the widespread publicity that the case received. In addition, it includes three pieces of artwork (collages) created as a gift for Elston by Manuel Rosenberg, a cartoonist for the Cincinnati Post, depicting courtroom scenes from the trials and several photographs, possibly taken by Roy Tichenor, of the murder scene and courtroom scenes.
Series II, Other Legal Cases and Professional Service, primarily contains publicity about several other high profile cases that Elston worked on. It includes a scrapbook of newspaper clippings covering the murder trials of Alice and Jack Reynolds in 1934 and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings documenting the murder trial of Marvin J. (Pete) Franklin in 1935. It also contains two legal briefs for other court cases; one for the State of Ohio versus Herbert Doty (circa 1915-1916) and one for Westerhaus et al. versus Commissioner of Internal Revenue (circa 1956). The series includes a published 1952 Congressional Record noting Elston’s decision not to run again for Congress and thanking him for his service.
Charles H. Elston was born in Marietta, Ohio in 1891 and graduated from the Y.M.C.A. Law School in 1914. He was an assistant prosecuting attorney of Hamilton County, Ohio from 1915- 1922. In 1922 he went into private practice as a defense attorney and was retained by defendants for several high-profile cases. Elston was part of the defense team for George Remus during his trial for the murder of Imogene Remus in 1927. The following year, Elston continued on his team during Remus’s appeal to the Supreme Court of Ohio to secure release from the Lima State Hospital. Elston also served on the faculty of the Y.M.C.A. Law School from 1916-1936. He was elected to the United States Congress as a Republican from Ohio in 1939 and was re-elected until 1952, when he did not run. He returned to private law practice in Cincinnati and then resided in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he died on September 25, 1980 and is buried.
| Description | Date | Box | Folder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Correspondence and photographs | 1908-1928 | 1 | 1 |
| Murder Trial, Preliminary Proceedings no. 29,969 State of Ohio vs. George Remus |
1927 | 1 | 2-10 |
| Murder Trial, Depositions no. 29,969 State of Ohio vs. George Remus |
1927 | 1 | 11-18 |
| Appeal, Habeas Corpus Proceedings v. I no. 490 Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Ohio |
1928 | 1 2 |
19-20; 1-9 |
| Appeal, Habeas Corpus Proceedings v. II no. 490 Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Ohio |
1928 | 2 3 |
10-18; 1-3 |
| Appeal, Brief for Defendant in Error no. 21064 Supreme Court of Ohio |
May, 1928 | 3 | 4 |
| Photographs of murder trial | 1927 | 3 | 5 |
| News clippings about trials | 1925-1928, 1995, undated |
3; O/S Boxes 5-8 |
6-22 |
| Description | Date | Box | Folder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brief of Prosecuting Attorneys on Exceptions to the Decisions of the Trial Court no. 15211 State of Ohio vs. Herbert Doty |
circa 1915-1916 | 3 | 23 |
| News clippings State [of Ohio] vs. [Alice and Jack] Reynolds |
March 13- May 30,1934, undated | 3 | 24 |
| News clippings State [of Ohio] vs. [Marvin. J. (Pete)] Franklin |
March 11- May 15, 1935 |
3 | 25 |
| Brief for Petitioners, Westerhaus et al. vs. Commissioner of Internal Revenue |
circa 1956 | 3 | 26 |
| 82nd Congressional Record v. 28 no. 117 | July 1, 1952 | 4 | 1 |
