Isaiah Pillars

Isaiah Pillars (March 17, 1833 – September 13, 1895) was a lawyer in the U.S. state of Ohio who served in the Ohio House of Representatives and was Ohio Attorney General 1878-1880.

Biography

Isaiah Pillars was born March 17, 1833, in Jefferson County, Ohio, and spent part of his youth in Carroll County before being moved to Risden (now Fostoria) in Seneca County, where his mother died when he was eight years old. At age sixteen, he began teaching school, and attended the Seneca County Academy and Heidelberg College in Tiffin. He read law in the office of his brother James Pillars. He was admitted to the bar at age 21 and commenced practice at Lima, Ohio, in 1855. In 1862 he was made commandant of Camp Lima by Governor Tod with rank Colonel, and organized the 99th, 118th and 81st Ohio Infantry regiments. He vigorously opposed a tax to support railroad construction, and was vindicated when the Ohio Supreme Court found the tax unconstitutional. He also authored a minority report in favor of abolishing capital punishment, with a summary of arguments:

Publications