Eastman & Smith Ltd.

"The story of Eastman & Smith Ltd. began in 1844. The City of Toledo was just seven years old, with a population of fewer than 3,000 people. The Lucas County Courthouse was located in Maumee. Jesup W. Scott was Editor of The Blade. John Tyler was President of the United States, a growing nation of only twenty-six states. There was no federal income tax.

In that year of 1844, William Baker came to Toledo to practice law. Mr. Baker was one of 99 graduates of the Harvard Law Class of 1844, and finished his schooling at a time when most lawyers and judges did not even attend law school. He opened his first office in the Mott Block on Summit Street near Fort Industry Square, beginning a practice that has evolved through the intervening 160+ years into Eastman & Smith Ltd., Toledo's oldest law firm and one of its largest.

Barton Smith joined William and his son Rufus H. Baker in 1881 and the Firm became known as Baker, Smith and Baker. Smith, described as a man of spotless character who was unfailingly courteous toward opposing counsel, represented some of the most important Toledo business interests of the time, including Connecticut Mutual Insurance Company, The Milburn Wagon Company, Sun Oil Company and The Toledo Blade Company. He became President of The Blade in 1920. "

Explore Related Categories