Walter Olds

Walter Olds (August 11, 1846 – July 30, 1925) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge who served in the Indiana Senate and as a justice of the Indiana Supreme Court from January 7, 1889, to June 15, 1893.

Biography Early life, education, and military service Olds was born in Westfield Township, Morrow County, Ohio to Benjamin Olds (originally from Pennsylvania, a Methodist minister and a veteran of the War of 1812, died 1862) and Abigail Olds (née Washburne, originally from New York). Walter Olds was educated in the public and union schools of Mount Gilead, Ohio.

In 1864, during the Civil War, Olds joined the Union Army, enlisting in Company A of the 174th Ohio Infantry Regiment, which fought primarily in Tennessee and North Carolina. Olds never advanced beyond the rank of private. Olds served until the war's end.

After the war, Olds returned to Ohio and went to Columbus to attend college. Sources disagree on whether Olds went to Ohio State University or Capital University. There is also a chance he attended both schools. Regardless, Olds got his degree and, in 1867, he returned to Mount Gilead to read law at the law office of Olds & Dickey, studying under one of the firm's co-owners and Walter's brother, Major James Olds.

In 1869, Olds was admitted to the Indiana bar. He moved to Columbia City, Indiana and began a private practice in partnership with a local lawyer and state senator named A.Y. Hooper. In 1873, a recent graduate of Wabash College named Thomas R. Marshall read law under Olds's guidance and tutelage at his Columbia City office. Marshall later was elected Governor of Indiana and then U.S. Vice President during the administration of Woodrow Wilson.

Political and judicial career A member of the Republican Party, Olds served in the Indiana Senate from 1877 to 1879, representing Whitley and Kosciusko counties. He also served as judge of the state's 33rd Circuit Court from 1885 to 1888.

During his time working with Griffin in Hammond, Olds represented a number of railroad companies and other large corporations. In 1901, he moved to Fort Wayne to set up a new private practice. In 1915, Olds ran for the Republican nomination for election to the U.S. Senate, but withdrew before the party convention.

Personal life and death In 1873, while still residing in Mount Gilead, Olds married Marie J. Merritt (another Morrow County native). They had one child, a son named Lee M. Olds, who moved to San Francisco, California and served in the Spanish-American War as Major of the 161st Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

Olds died in Fort Wayne in 1925.