MANSFIELD

mansfield, a city and the county-seat of richland county, ohio, u.s.a., about 65 m. s.w. of cleveland. pop. (1890), 13,473; (1900), 17,640, of whom 1781 were foreign-born; (1910 census), 20,768. it is served by the pennsylvania (pittsburg, ft wayne & chicago division), the erie, and the baltimore & ohio railways. it is built on an eminence (1150 ft.), and has two public parks, a substantial court-house, a soldiers' and sailors' memorial building, a public library, a hospital and many fine residences. it is the seat of the ohio state reformatory. mansfield has an extensive trade with the surrounding agricultural country, but its largest interests are in manufactures. the total factory product in 1905 was valued at $7,353,578. there are natural gas wells in the vicinity. the waterworks and the sewage disposal plant are owned and operated by the municipality. mansfield was laid out in 1808, and was named in honour of lieut.-colonel jared mansfield (1759-1830), united states surveyor of ohio and the north-west territory in 1803-1812, and professor of natural and experimental philosophy at west point from 1812 to 1828. mansfield was incorporated as a village in 1828 and was first chartered as a city in 1857. it was the home of john sherman from 1840 until his death. mansion (through o. fr. _mansion_, mod. _maison_, from lat. _mansio_, dwelling-place, stage on a journey; _manere_, to remain), a term applied in early english use to the principal house of the lord of a manor. by the settled land act 1890, § 10, subsec. 2, repealing § 15 of the act of 1882, "the principal mansion house ... on any settled land shall not be sold or exchanged or leased by the tenant for life without the consent of the trustees of the settlement or an order of the court." the principles guiding an english court of law for making or refusing such an order are laid down in _in re the marquess of ailesbury's settled estate_ (1892), 1 ch. 506, 546; a.c. 356. in general usage, the term "mansion" is given to any large and important house in town or country; and "mansion house" to the official residence, when provided, of the mayor of a borough, particularly to that of the lord mayors of london and dublin. from the general meaning of a conspicuously large dwelling-place comes the modern employment of the term "mansions," in london and elsewhere, for large buildings composed of "flats." manslaughter (o. eng., _mannslaeht_, from _mann_, man, and _slaeht_, act of slaying, _slean_, to slay, properly to smite; cf. ger. _schlagen_, _schlacht_, battle), a term in english law signifying "unlawful homicide without malice aforethought" (stephen, _digest of the criminal law_, art. 223). the distinction between manslaughter and murder and other forms of homicide is treated under homicide.