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"History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914, Past and Present"
Chapter 16 - Courts and Legal Profession
Backgrounds of the County Judges
(-as transcribed from pages 272 - 300 )
(The following biographical data has been alphabetized for easier viewing. References have been added at the end of each bio.)
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Horace W. Barnes was born in the town of Colesville, Broome county, New York in 1818. His boyhood was spent in the family of an uncle who settled in a dense beech and maple forest in Medina county, Ohio, where he lived a life of constant toil, without one day's schooling until his majority, and Shakespeare's line would then forcibly apply to the youthful Buckeye:
"This boy is forest-born, and hath been tutored in the rudiments of many desperate studies.:
How many men famous in American history have laid the superstructure of their education and built up an honorable name for such rough materials as poverty and the adverse circumstances that pioneer life always impose! There seems to have been something inspiring in the grand old woods where the early days of many of our most distinguished men first saw the light; and in overcoming the many natural obstacles always encountered in new districts, high aspirations and a determination to achieve grander results take possession of the hardy backwoodsman and frequently leads to victory, honor and fortune.
These feelings inspired Mr. Barnes, and with indomitable energy he set himself to earn the means to education himself. By the most rigid economy and assiduous attention to his studies, he acquired a good English and mathematical education and considerable proficiency in the classics at Oberlin Institute, Ohio, acquisitions that he utilized in teaching and surveying until 1852, when he commenced the study and practice of law in which he soon won distinction as a sound legal adviser and laborious faithful advocate.
As a pleader, Mr. Barnes displayed qualities which, if not always insuring his own success, were well calculated to quench the ardor and paralyze the force of his adversary.
Carefully noting as the cause proceeded, the points which his antagonist intended to make, he would anticipate him and tell the court and jury precisely what his opponent would say, frequently using the exact language in which it would be clothed, and emasculating the argument of all points of power before it was uttered. He felt defeat intensely and seemed to suffer even more than his client the loss incurred by any want of skill or foresight in managing a suit, and hence in all civil suits was wary and cautious, always exacting a full, impartial statement of the case from his client before taking it, and not then unless the evidence, justice and a reasonable prospect of success justified it.
In serving the public, no matter in what capacity, his industry and perseverance were untiring, and he shares with Mr. Thorp the honor of exposing frauds in the accounts of the Eau Claire county treasurer and of restoring the credit of the county.
Mr. Barnes came to Eau Claire in 1858 and was elected district attorney the next year, 1859, and county judge in 1865; was a member of the legislature in 1861 and 1867. In politics, was a steadfast republican, and during the war zealous and active in carrying forward any and every measure for its prosecution.
In his friendship he utterly ignored position or caste, and wherever he found what he considered a true man, he was his friend, but scorned obsequious or patronizing airs, and was sometimes so impolite as to prefer blunt honesty to assumed gentility. In 1872 he removed to Oswego, Kans., with his family, where he now resides in the practice of his profession.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 285 - 286
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Col. Edward M. Bartlett came to Dead Lake Prairie, in Dunn county, later town of Frankfort, Pepin county, in 1855, and lived there two winters and in the southern part of the state one winter. In 1858 he settled Dunn county, residing in Dunnville and Menomonie until October, 1862. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Thirtieth Wisconsin Infantry in 1864, serving until the close of the war. He was born in the town of Victor, Cayuga county, New York, August 3, 1839, came to Wisconsin when sixteen years old, and while at East Troy studied law in the office of Henry Cousins, and was admitted to the bar in 1856, and settled at Eau Claire in 1866, practicing his profession for many years. He was for five years register of the United States land office, and at one time city attorney of Eau Claire. For several years he was municipal judge of the city of Eau Claire.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 272 - 273
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Milton D. Bartlett was born in the town of Victory, Cayuga county, New York, November 3, 1833, and lived in Auburn, N. Y., after he was twelve years of until the spring of 1852, when he came to Wisconsin, locating in East Troy, Walworth county. In October, 1852, he returned east, and in the spring of 1854 came to Delavan, remaining there one year. Was then for one year at East Troy, and in the spring of 1856 moved to Dunn county, where he lived until the spring of 1860, when he went to Durand, remaining there until the winter of 1865-66. He then went to Minneapolis, and in 1870 came to Eau Claire. He studied law in Auburn and Syracuse, New York, and practiced at Delavan, discontinuing it for a short time while he was engaged in farming. He resumed the practice in 1859, and at one time was county judge for Pepin county, resigning the position to go to the legislature, having been elected to the state senate in 1861.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 273
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William Pitt Bartlett, nestor of the bar of Eau Claire county, was born at Minot, Maine, September 13, 1829. His early educational opportunities were meager, but he obtained a teacher's certificate at the age of fifteen years. He paid his way through the academies at Farmington and Bloomfield and at the age of twenty years entered Waterville College and was graduated in 1853. He was elected principal of the Hallowell (Maine) Academy and served in that capacity until he resigned in 1855, having in the meantime begun to study law. Being of weak physique, it was deemed advisable to seek more favorable climatic influences, and he located at Watertown, Wis., where he taught school for six months and continued the study of law. He was admitted to practice in the spring of 1856, and the following year moved to Eau Claire, Wis., where he has since resided. He was the first lawyer to locate in Eau Claire county. He is the nestor of the school board of Eau Claire, has always taken great interest in educational matters, and for many years was a member of and president of the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin. He was elected district attorney in 1859, and during his term of office became a member of the legislature. In the spring of 1860 he was appointed judge of Eau Claire county by Governor Randall, and in 1861 and 1863 was again elected district attorney. In 1872 he was again elected a member of the legislature, in 1874 appointed register of the united States land office by President Grant, and re-appointed in 1878 by President Hayes. From 1857 to 1872 Mr. Bartlett practiced by himself, but in the latter year he formed a partnership with H. H. Hayden, which, under the firm name of Bartlett & Hayden, became one of the strongest law firms in Wisconsin. In 1884 this partnership was dissolved and since then Mr. Bartlett has practiced by himself.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 272
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George L. Blum, Judge of the County Court of Eau Claire county, was born October 6, 1869, at Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He received his education in the public schools of Eau Claire and at the University of Wisconsin, graduating from the law department in 1893, and was admitted to the bar the same year. In February, 1895, he formed a partnership in Eau Claire with John B. Fleming under the firm name of Fleming & Blum, which arrangement continued until January 1, 1908, since which time he has practiced alone. He was elected Judge of the County Court in April, 1901, and is now - 1914 - serving his fourth term of six years.
Judge Blum married Margaret D. McGillis, of Eau Claire, and they are the parents of three children: Genevieve F., Margaret G. and George L., Jr.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 299
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Ira B. Bradford, a member of the Eau Claire county bar, has practiced law at Augusta since 1873. He was born in the town of Fulton, Rock county, Wisconsin, June 24, 1851. He was educated in the academies and seminaries of New Hampshire, and in the fall of 1869 went to Edinboro, Pa., and entered upon the study of law. In the fall of 1871 he returned to New Hampshire and continued his studies at Newport until the summer of 1872, when he went again to Edinboro. In February, 1873, he reached Janesville, Wis., and entered the law office of Cassoday & Carpenter as a student. In March, 1873, he was admitted to the bar at Monroe and immediately went to Augusta.
Mr. Bradford was the first mayor of Augusta. In 1879 and 1881 he was a member of the assembly, and served as speaker during the latter year.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 278
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Charles T. Bundy, member of the well known law firm of Bundy & Wilcox, was born in Menomonie, Wis., March 2, 1862, son of the late Judge Egbert B. and Reubena (Macauley) Bundy. The father was born at Windsor, N. Y., the son of Dr. O. T. Bundy, of Deposit, that state. The mother was born in Glasgow, Scotland, a daughter of William and Margaret Macauley.
Charles T. grew to manhood in Menomonie and there resided until he came to Eau Claire in 1894. He was educated in the public schools of his home city and Madison, graduating from the law department of the State university and was admitted to practice in all courts of the state, both state and federal, the Supreme Court of the United States, courts of appeals in Chicago, St. Louis and San Francisco. He commenced his practice at West Superior in partnership with C. R. Fridley until he formed a partnership with T. F. Frawley and Roy P. Wilcox in 1897, under the name of Frawley, Bundy & Wilcox, which business arrangement continued until the death of Mr. Frawley in 1902. Since that time he has been associated with Mr. Wilcox under the firm name of Bundy & Wilcox. Mr. Bundy has been connected with much important litigation, among which may be mentioned the following cases: Harrigan vs. Gilchrist, United States vs. Barber Lumber Company et al., the Eau Claire National Bank vs. Jackman in the United States Supreme Court, and water power cases in Wisconsin, including the famous Dells case.
On October 22, 1890, Mr. Bundy married Miss May Kelley, daughter of John, Jr., and Cornelia (Drawley) Kelley, of Menomonie. To Mr. and Mrs. Bundy have been born four children, viz.: Nell R., Katherine M., Egbert B. and Lillian, the youngest of which died in 1910. Religiously Mr. Bundy affiliates with the Episcopal church, while fraternally and socially he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 297 - 298
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Rosiel D. Campbell was born in LaFayette, Onondaga county, New York, February 15, 1810. Came to Beloit, Wis., in 1838, resided there for some years, then went to Lee county, Illinois, where he resided for a time, then went to Boone county, Illinois, for two years, and in October, 1861 enlisted in Company I, Forty-sixth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After the battle of Ft. Donelson he was promoted to captain, receiving his commission just before the battle of Pittsburg Landing. In the fall of 1862 he resigned and came to Waterloo, Wis., where he resided until 1867, when he located in the town of Ludington, Eau Claire county, and in 1869 moved into Augusta. He served as president of the village and also held the office of court commissioner, and for several years was justice of the peace. Mr. Campbell was admitted to practice in the territory of Wisconsin in 1842, and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1843.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 279
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Hon. Henry Cousins (deceased). Among the names of the strong men who helped to make the Eau Claire bar famous stands that of Hon. Henry Cousins. From early boyhood to the day of his death his character was never tarnished by a blot. Although quiet and unassuming, he became widely known in legal, political and social circles as a man to be trusted in all relations of life. His demise called forth the most glowing tributes and eulogies that were ever bestowed on a deceased member of the Eau Claire bar by members of that association. He was born in Mayville, Chautauqua county, New York, on February 7, 1826, and with his parents, John and Mary Cousins, removed to Dover, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, in the spring of 1837, where, until the age of fifteen years, he had the advantage of such schools as the newly settled district afforded. For two years he was employed as a clerk in a dry goods store, but the confinement being somewhat irksome he sought a wider field of labor, and, as expressed in his own peculiar diction, he "went to work on his father's farm, where he had the reputation of taking more time to do less work than any other boy in the neighborhood." At this time a taste for study and general reading was developed which was stimulated and directed by a Baptist clergyman of Dover, who kindly placed his library and advice at his command. Thereafter commenced the study of law at Elyria, Ohio, in the office of J. D. Benedict, and in 1848, when twenty-two years old, was admitted to practice by the supreme court of that state. In 1848 he became interested in the anti-slavery discussion which convulsed the country, espoused the advance opinions on that subject, having the confidence of such men as Giddings and the Wades of that state, and was known as an abolitionist of the voting school, when the term implied more of approbrium than honor.
A letter from the Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, then in Congress relative to his candidacy for re-election was a greatly cherished memento of this beginning of Mr. Cousins' political activities.
In 1850 he came to Wisconsin and entered on the practice of his profession at East Troy, Walworth county; was elected clerk of the court in 1854 and held office for six consecutive years. While in East Troy a warm and confidential friendship sprang up between the young attorney and Judge John F. Potter - Bowie Knife Potter - and he attended to many legal matters for the judge during the period he was in Washington. When Judge Prior, of Virginia, challenged Judge Potter to a duel, the latter, before public announcement of the matter was made, returned to East Troy for the purpose of putting his affairs in order. To Mr. Cousins he made known his ideas as to how pending litigation was to be handled. Many matters of a confidential nature were entrusted to the younger man, and in explanation shortly before the judge's return to Washington, while the two men were occupying the same room as a sleeping apartment, the judge announce he had received a challenge just before his departure from Washington and that his trip was to prepare for what might happen. Mr. Cousins tried to dissuade him from accepting the challenge, but was met with the statement, "No, by God, I have accepted, and if I ever get Judge Prior on the field I will kill him is I can." But the outcome of this challenge is a matter of history.
On the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion he received a provisional commission authorizing him to recruit a company, which, on its acceptance by the United States, would entitle him to a captain's commission. The company was recruited, offered to the government, and every man on the rolls, with the exception of Captain Cousins, passed a physical examination. After his rejection by the army surgeons he devoted his labors, until the close of hostilities, to assisting and aiding others in recruiting and in fostering loyal sentiment among the people.
His father, John Cousins, as a boy of 14, served with Macdonough at Lake Champlain, and the grandfather, a sea captain previous to the Revolutionary War, was issued letters of marque by Congress and assisted in naval operations.
In 1866 he located in Eau Claire. In 1867 was elected district attorney and re-elected in 1869; was elected to the assembly in 1871 without opposition, and bore an honorable part in the Dells improvement struggle, and was thereafter alderman of the Third Ward in this city for two years. He was also a member of the county board of supervisors.
In consequence of failing health in 1881 he accepted the position of register of the United States land office in Arizona, but in 1883 returned to Eau Claire, having voluntarily resigned the office. In 1885 he was again elected district attorney for Eau Claire county, and in 1887 declined nomination, thus closing his official career. After several weeks of sickness he departed this life late in the afternoon of Thursday, October 25, 1888, at the age of sixty-five years, eight months and eighteen days. While taking no place in religious controversy, nor holding dogmatic theology in high esteem, he held as supremest truth the fact of a Creator, Ruler and Father of all mankind, and that at some period, somewhere in the time to come, would be accomplished the final exaltation of the race.
As a politician, while deeming principle above party, and while indulging in free criticism of its policies, he held to the last profound regard for the party he believed had wrought well for the people, and revered with all the force of his nature the steadfastness of those men who strove for the extinction of chattel slavery and the equality of all men before the law. As a lawyer he came to the profession believing the machinery of the law should be so used as to ameliorate conditions, protect society and uphold the right.
At the exercises of the Eau Claire Bar Association held in Circuit Court January 15, 1889, many tributes of respect were paid to his memory. The resolutions of the committee made special mention of the high esteem of his colleagues for "his ripe attainments through mastery of details, conscientious practice and large experience in his profession; for his uniform recognition of courtesies due to the bench and the bar, and for his great veneration for the law as an ample shield of protection for the citizens against encroachments of wrong." A special mention was made to the helping hand he was always ready to extend to the young practitioner.
Mr. Cousins had a keen appreciation of wit and a never failing stock of stories which illustrated his points, either in arguing before a jury or in making a political address. In the use of sarcasm he was an adept, but, as one fellow practitioner stated, "Henry's shafts, though telling and effective, are so tempered as not to sting and hurt." To this day some of his former associates repeat his stories.
Mr. Cousins was one of those who remain cool and collected when most people are in a state of great excitement. One gentleman described his entrance into Mr. Cousins' office, then in the old Music Hall Building, which was on fire. Mr. Cousins sat at his desk writing. The excited friend dashed in, crying out, "The building is on fire. What shall I do first?" Mr. Cousins finished, then calmly blotting it, he glanced up and replied, "Well, under the circumstances I would suggest you better get a pail of water." When provocation appeared to demand the use of emphatic language, Mr. Cousins was not found wanting, but as a friend says, "However emphatic his expressions are, they are nevertheless picturesque and artistic."
January 21, 1861, he married Louise, daughter of Otis and Julia (Corbin) Preston, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Ohio, but of French descent. Mrs. Cousins was born October 26, 1840, in White Pigeon, Mich. She is a cultivated, broadminded woman, and interested in social and educational progress. She has two children.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 281 - 285
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Judson C. Crawford was born in Ulysses, Tompkins county, New York, April 26, 1823; lived there until he came to Wisconsin in the fall of 1847. He taught school at Sheboygan and two years at Waupun, and one year at Ceresco. Afterward for many years he was engaged int he general missionary work, being a regularly ordained minister of the Universalist Church. In March, 1875, he settled in Augusta and engaged in the practice of law.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 279
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Joseph C. Culver was born in Eau Claire, July 26, 1880, the son of Joseph C. and Emma (Kern) Culver. He was educated in St. John's Military Academy, Delafield, Wisconsin, and at the Cornell University at Ithaca, New York. He was married November 8, 1905, to Miss Mary McDonough, of Eau Claire.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 299
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Abel Davis, who was one of the early settlers of Eau Claire, was born January 16, 1842, in the town of New Portland, Maine. He spent his early life on a farm, receiving a common school education, and in January, 1862, enlisted in the Fourth Maine Battery, serving until August 9, 1862, when he was wounded at the battle of Cedar Mountain, for which he received his honorable discharge. Returning home he resumed his former occupation, at which he worked until the spring of 1868, when he came to Eau Claire, Wis. and from that time until 1872 labored in the saw mills and woods. In the last named year he commenced the study of law in the office of J. F. Ellis and later entered the law department of the Wisconsin State University, from which he graduated in 1874. Returning to Eau Claire he engaged in practice with J. F. Ellis, remaining in that firm for five years, when, on account of ill health, he retired from active practice and returned to Main in 1888. He resumed the practice of law in Pittsfield, Maine, where he died on October 12, 1905.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 286 - 287
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Burt E. Deyo was born in Peru, Huron county, Ohio, son of Erastus and Salome (Mauley) Deyo. The father was born in New York state and descended from the Huguenots, while the mother was born in Ohio of English ancestry.
Burt E. was educated at Oberlin College and the law department of Harvard University; read law in the office of Bartlett & Hayden, was admitted to the bar in 1882, and to practice in the Supreme Court of the state in 1900.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 300
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Lelon Ansil Doolittle, a prominent attorney of Eau Claire, was born in Russell, St. Lawrence county, New York, July 22, 1853, a son of Ansil, Jr., and Jane Ann (Smith) Doolittle. His great grandfather, Abraham Doolittle, was one of five brothers who were representative farmers, merchants and mechanics of their day in the town of Cheshire, New Haven county, Connecticut. The grandfather, Ansil Doolittle, married Maria King, and they were the parents of three sons and three daughters. The eldest son, Ansil, Jr., father of Lelon Ansil, married Jane Ann Smith, and they were the parents of three sons and one daughter; the later married Edgar E. Davis. The eldest son, Marshall Erwin, is a practicing physician. The youngest son, Rollin Edson, is a lawyer, as is also our subject.
Lelon Ansil was reared on the farm, attended the district school, and at the age of seventeen secured a second grade teacher's certificate and made a success as a school teacher. At the age of twenty-two years he had completed a regular college course and was graduated from the St. Lawrence University with the class of 1875, paying his tuition by teaching as principal of graded schools, selling subscription books, and farm laborer. The practice of awarding honors at graduation had not then been adopted in this institution, but his good work and conduct were recognized by electing him to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. Through the influence of friends he came to Wisconsin in 1877 and settled at Neillsville, where during the summer of that year, he accepted the position as principal of the high school of that city. After serving one year, he resigned and entered the law department of the University of Wisconsin, finishing the two-year course in one year. After graduating with the class of 1879, he returned to Neillsville and was soon thereafter appointed county judge of Clark county. Up to that time no indexes had been made of the probate records; there was no court calendar, minute book nor court record in the office; all the papers except such as had been lost or destroyed were in a heterogeneous mass, but within six months every paper entitled to record was recorded, and all the records of the office were as complete and as perfect as it was possible to make them. Before his term of office as judge had expired he was elected county superintendent of schools, a position he filled with honor to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents until he moved to Eau Claire in January, 1885. While much of his time at Neillsville was taken up with his official duties, he built up and conducted a successful law business, and in 1879, in company with Hon. James O'Neill, founded the Neillsville Times, which they edited jointly until Judge Doolittle moved to Eau Claire, and which, under their management, became the leading weekly paper of the county.
Judge Doolittle came to Eau Claire to avoid newspaper work and politics, and after his arrival gave his sole attention to the practice of law, and has since been engaged in the general practice of his profession. He served as city attorney for three years, and for several terms as president of the Associated Charities. He has been one of the directors of the Eau Claire Public Library for many years, and for several terms has been president of the board. Since 1903, he has been largely interested in real estate in northern Wisconsin, being president of the Traders' Land Company, which is capitalized at $10,000.00, and also of the Guaranteed Investment Company, with a capital of $76,000.00, both of which were incorporated in 1904.
Judge Doolittle was married May 4, 1880, to Bessie Adams Weeks, daughter of Friend and Betsey Maria (French) Weeks, of Rutland, Vt., and they have one adopted son, Maxson Rusk Doolittle. The judge is a member of the First Congregational Church of Eau Claire.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 292 - 293
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William W. Downs, who ranks among the influential, successful progressive members of the bar of Eau Claire county, Wisconsin, was born in Menomonie, Dunn county, Wis., November 7, 1851. His parents, Burhee and Laura J. (Dunn) Downs, were natives of eastern Maine, and pioneers of Dunn county, having settled at Menomonie in 1849, where the father engaged in the lumber business as a member of the firm of Knapp, Stout & Company. He later was a member of the firm of Carson, Rend & Company, and then for a number of years was engaged in business alone. After a residence in Eau Claire of a decade or more, he died in about the year 1888 at the age of seventy-four.
William W. Downs came to Eau Claire in 1868, receiving his primary education in the public schools of the city. He afterwards entered the University of Wisconsin and was graduated from the law department in 1874. He commenced the practice of law the same year at Eau Claire, where he successfully continued until 1886, when he removed to Bayfield county, Wisconsin, and was there actively engaged in the practice of his profession until 1911, then returned to Eau Claire and resumed his practice there. Mr. Downs is a careful and conscientious student of the law, and in his practice employs the force of a clear, logical and judicial mind, thoroughly disciplined and trained by varied experiences of his forty years of study and practice.
In June, 1874, he was wedded to Alice Daniels, a native of Ohio. Mr. Downs is an attendant and supporter of the Lake Street Methodist church, is a member of the Bayfield Lodge Free and Accepted Masons, and a member of the Royal Arch Masons of Eau Claire. While a resident in Bayfield, he served one term as district attorney for Bayfield County.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 296 - 297
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Loren Edwards, formerly a prominent attorney of Eau Claire and now a resident of Oconomowoc, this state, was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, on September 7, 1843, the son of David and Margaret Edwards. His father was born in New Haven, Conn., and of the same family ancestors as Jonathan Edwards.
Loren Edwards received his early education in Erie county, Pennsylvania, where he resided until 1865. He attended the Waterford Academy there, supplementing that with a course in the Lawrence University, Wisconsin, and was graduated with the first class in the Law Department of the State University at Madison, after which he studied law for a time in the office of Gregory & Pinney in Madison. In 1871 he removed to Sacramento, Cal., and practiced law there for two years, then came to Eau Claire and practiced until 1878, thence to Milwaukee, where he continued until 1881, and from that date until 1886 he practiced in Allegany county, New York He went from there to Kansas, where he practiced for ten years and in the meantime served as County Judge of Barber county. In 1896 he moved to Oconomowoc where he has since resided, and enjoys a lucrative business. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme courts of Wisconsin, California, New York and Kansas, and to the United States Circuit courts in Wisconsin. With the exception of his partnership relations with Mr. Stillman, of Eau Claire, and with Mr. Westover, in Oconomowoc, he has practiced alone, and while in Eau Claire he held the office of District Attorney, and for some time was Municipal Judge of the Western District of Waukesha county, this state. He served in the United States Navy during the civil war, and is a bachelor, a Mason and a republican.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 287
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Arthur C. Ellis came to Eau Claire in 1861, and in May of that year enlisted in the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, serving until 1867, when he was mustered out. He was wounded at the battle of South Mountain in 1863 and transferred to the reserve corps. He was lieutenant of Company B, and was with Sheridan in Louisiana after the war. In the fall of 1867 he returned to Eau Claire and practiced law from 1870 to 1880. Was county judge for seven years prior to his resignation in the fall of 1880, when he became connected with the Northwestern Lumber Company. He was born in Licking, near Granville, Ohio, September 17, 1843, and moved to Aurora, Ill., in 1856., remaining there until he came to Eau Claire.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 273
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J. F. Ellis was born in Jerusalem, Yates county, New York, June 5, 1843. He came to Eau Claire in 1866 and studied law. He began his practice in 1870. Was county superintendent of schools for two years, and for six years a member of the school board.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 273
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John Bernard Fleming, mayor of Eau Claire, was born in the village of this name, June 27, 1866, to Michael and Catherine Fleming, and is of Irish descent. His father was born in Buffalo, New York, and his mother in Washington county, Wisconsin. They settled in Eau Claire in 1865.
Mayor Fleming was educated in the parochial and public schools, entered the law office of Levi M. Vilas in 1884, and was graduated from the law department of the Minnesota State University, and was admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of Minnesota in 1891. He became cashier of the Union Savings bank of Eau Claire, and secretary of the Union Mortgage & Loan Company in 1907, resigning when elected mayor in 1910 for a term of six years, and is the first mayor of Eau Claire and Wisconsin to serve under the new commission form of government. He was associated in practice with George L. Blum for ten years, was private secretary for Hon. William F. Vilas 1891 and 1892; register of the United States land office in Eau Claire 1895-1900. He is a member of the Elks, the Knights of Columbus and St. Patrick's church. He married Edith S. Robinson at Milwaukee, December 12, 1894, and has one daughter - Edith Marion.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 299
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Thomas F. Frawley was born near Troy, N. Y., March 6, 1851. His parents, Thomas and Honora (Hogan) Frawley, were natives of Ireland, and possessed such attainments of mind and heart as especially fitted them to mould the character of their children. The father was studious, thoughtful, industrious, independent and energetic, and the mother of kindly, cheerful and benevolent disposition, being a woman of deep religious convictions. The family consisted of seven sons and two daughters, all of whom were thoroughly educated. It is quite a remarkable fact that six of the sons graduated from the University of Wisconsin and that from 1870 to 1896 some member of the family was a student at that institution.
A short time after the birth of Thomas F. Frawley, the family moved to Wisconsin and settled upon a farm in the town of Vermont, Kane (correction - Dane) county, and there he resided until 1875. Until he was seventeen years of age the boy assisted in the cultivation of the farm, attending district school during the winter months. For two terms he was a student at the Albion Academy in Dane county, and in the spring of 1872 entered the University of Wisconsin. From October, 1873, until June, 1874, he taught school at Highland and Dodgeville, but during that period he continued his studies in the university and was graduated therefrom in 1875, having largely paid the expenses of his collegiate education with the money he earned as a teacher. As a university student he was an acknowledged leader in debate, being a participant in the joint oratorical contest of 1874.
For five years after his graduation Mr. Frawley served as principal of the high school in Eau Claire. During this period he commenced the study of his profession and formed the nucleus of his law library, which was considered one of the most complete private collections in the state. Upon his admission to the bar in 1880 he abandoned the educational field and earnestly assumed the duties of his new profession. During the first few years of his career he conducted the defense of many important criminal cases. Among those being best known may be mentioned that growing out of the lynching of Olson in Trempealeau in 1889 <http://trempealeau.wigenweb.org/histories/1917trempco/chapter10/29olsonlynching.htm>. In later years he gave most of his attention to civil cases, especially those involving important question of corporate law.
Mr. Frawley was a democrat of high standing. In 1888 he served as a delegate to the National Democratic Convention held in St. Louis. In 1892, upon the delivery of his telling speech before the state convention, the old ticket was nominated for re-election. For many years prior to 1896 Mr. Frawley was a member of the Democratic State Central Committee. In June of that year he was chosen both temporary and permanent chairman of the state convention, which convened in Milwaukee for the purpose of selecting delegates to the national convention called to meet in Chicago. Mr. Frawley was for ten years a member and several terms president of the Common Council of Eau Claire. Interested in educational matters, he was for many years a member of the Board of Education, and in that capacity did much to improve the school system of the city. He was financially and professionally interested in several corporations, being a stockholder and director of the Chippewa Valley Bank, and stockholder and attorney for the Eau Claire Light & Power Company, in addition to holding similar relations to other corporations.
On the sixth day of August, 1877, Mr. Frawley was married to Lydia A., daughter of Joseph Lawler, one of the early settlers of Eau Claire, and one of its most highly respected citizens. They had one son, Thomas F. Frawley, Jr., who is now practicing attorney in Eau Claire. During the many years that Mr. Frawley was a member of the legal profession he formed several connections. From 1881 to 1884 he was of the firm of Frawley, Hendrix & Brooks; from 1884 to 1888 he practiced alone; the following year his brother, W. H. Frawley, was his partner, and from August, 1889, to August, 1890, he was associated with H. H. Hayden as a member of the firm of Hayden & Frawley. From August, 1890, until September, 1897, Mr. Frawley had no partner, but at the latter date the firm of Frawley, Bundy & Wilcox was formed. The death of Mr. Frawley occurred in 1902.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 279 - 281
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Julius C. Gilbertson, a well-known lawyer of Eau Claire and member of the legal firm of Larson & Gilbertson, was born in the city of Eau Claire, June 28, 1875, and is a son of Tolof and Susan (Lamb) Gilbertson, both natives of Norway. The paternal grandfather of Julius C. - Gilbert Peterson - came to the United States in 1867 and settled in the state of Iowa, where he resided until his death. John Lamb, maternal grandfather of Mr. Gilbertson, emigrated to the United States and was among the pioneer farmers of Dunn county, Wisconsin, having located there in 1866, where he lived and died. Tolof Gilbertson, the father, who was a machinist by trade, came to Eau Claire in 1867. He was an industrious and hard working man and worked at his trade at the time of his death in 1911 at the age of sixty-three years. He was the father of ten children, eight of whom are now (1914) living, as follows: Mary is the wife of Charles Sullivan; Julius C., Tilla, now Mrs. Vigo Neilson; Adolph, Cora, Victor, Robert and Clarence.
Julius C., whose whole life has been spent in Eau Claire, acquired his elementary education in the public schools. In 1893 he matriculated with the University of Wisconsin, at Madison, where he spent four years, graduating from the College of Letters in the class of 1897. He was admitted to the bar of Wisconsin. In 1898 he was elected judge of the municipal court for a term of four years, and in 1902 was re-elected.
Judge Gilbertson is a man of ripe scholarship, well grounded in the fundamental principles of the law, with the ability to apply them in practice, and both as an office counselor and a practitioner in court has won most gratifying success. He is a republican in politics. He was a member of the state legislature in 1911. He is highly esteemed for his manly qualities, and by none more than those intimately associated with him who know him best. He is a member of the Eau Claire Lodge, No. 242, A. F. and A. M., the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Modern Woodmen of America, Knights of Pythias, I. S. W. A., and the Sons of Norway.
Judge Gilbertson married in 1903 Miss Jessie McGrath, daughter of John F. and Mary (Burns) McGrath, one of the old and highly respected families of Eau Claire. To Mr. and Mrs. Gilbertson have been born two children - Jocylyn M. and Julius C. Gilbertson Jr.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 290 - 291
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John C. Gores. Born March 26, 1857, at Oshkosh, Wis., When thirteen years old left school to earn his living. Admitted to the bar in his native city June 26, 1884, and thereupon removed to Eau Claire, where he has resided ever since. For several years a member of the legal firm of Gores & Miner, afterwards Gores, Frawley & Miner. In 1889 chosen by the Common Council alderman of the Eighth Ward to fill a vacancy, which choice was unanimously ratified by the people at the following election. Twice thereafter elected alderman, the last time without opposition. Served on the School Board and County Board.
Since 1890 practiced law alone, specializing in office work. In 1897 acted as referee to try the case of Laycock vs Parker, which, up to that time, was the most lengthy case tried in Eau Claire county. On appeal to the supreme court, the case was affirmed and the court in the opinion expressed its special approbation of the manner in which the trial was conducted by the referee. In 1897 appointed as city attorney, to which office thereafter two different proffered appointments were declined.
In civic affairs and in politics has always taken a proper degree of interest. At all times a thorough-going, independent and progressive, though not an extremist. Believes that the spoils system tends to draw the worst instead of the better men into politics. During the time of the greenback and free silver agitation in 1877 and 1878, contributed newspaper article in favor of the resumption of specie payment and against free silver. In the last battle for free silver in 1896 wrote a pamphlet entitled "Honest Money -- An Essential in the Prosperity of the Republic." Was the first in the city to advocate publicly the adoption of the commission form of government for cities. Thereafter visited Galveston, Tex., where the plan was first tried, to observe its practical workings. In 1905, when it was proposed by the governor in his message to Wisconsin legislature to re-establish the former method of taxing mortgages, Mr. Gores opposed the proposition in an exhaustive printed argument entitled "The Taxation of Mortgages with Reference to Northern Wisconsin." which was submitted to the legislature. The law was left unchanged notwithstanding a governor's attitude.
Throughout life has been a strong book lover, and acquired a reading knowledge of several foreign languages. June 18, 1890, was married to Kate Schultze, who has resided in the city since her birth.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 289 - 290
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Michael Griffin was born in county Claire, Ireland, September 9, 1842. In 1847 his parents emigrated to America, and after as short time spent in Canada in 1851, they moved to Hudson, Summit county, Ohio, where the boy attended the common schools. In 1856 the family moved to Wisconsin, locating in Newport, Sauk county, where he continued his studies in the district school. He enlisted at the age of nineteen, September 11, 1861, in what became Company E of the Twelfth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He was with the rest of the company mustered into the United States service November 5, 1861, and was appointed sergeant the same day. January 11, 1862, the regiment left Wisconsin, being ordered to Fort Leavenworth. the Regiment finally joined Grant in the south and participated in many engagements. At the battle of Bald Hill, Atlanta, Ga., July 21, 1864, Mr. Griffin was wounded in a charge on the enemy. He was ordered to the hospital, and though suffering severe pain, assisted the surgeons in tending to the more seriously wounded. He was commissioned second lieutenant February 11, 1865, and mustered as such on March 30 following. He was commissioned first lieutenant July 5, 1865. He was mustered out of the service July 16, 1865, on account of the close of the war. He then returned to Newport, and during the following fall began reading law in the office of Jonathan Bowman, at Kilbourn City, Wis. He was admitted to the bar of the circuit court at Portage City, May 19, 1868, and entered on the practice of his profession at Kilbourn City, where he resided until 1876. In addition to his professional duties, from 1871 to 1876 he acted as cashier of the bank of Kilbourn. In 1875 he was elected to the assembly from the first district of Columbia county. At the close of the session of 1876 he moved to Eau Claire, where he became actively engaged in the practice of law. He was appointed city attorney in 1878, and reappointed in 1879 and in 1880. In 1879 he was elected state senator from the thirteenth senatorial district, comprising the counties of Dunn, Eau Claire and Pierce.
In 1889 he was appointed by Governor W. D. Hoard quartermaster general of the state. During the two years he occupied that position the Wisconsin rifle range for the militia was established at Camp Douglas, and out of the first appropriation made by the state he purchased the land and directed the construction of suitable buildings for that purpose.
General Griffin was an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic and occupied many positions of trust in that body. He served several ties as post commander, and two years served as judge advocate of the department of Wisconsin. In February, 1887, he was elected department commander, and served one year. He was a member of the Wisconsin Commandery, Milwaukee Order of the Loyal Legion, also of the commandery, chapter and blue lodge of the Masonic fraternity, Knights of Pythias and Royal Arcanum.
In the early fall of 1894 the death of George B. Shaw left his congressional district without a representative. General Griffin yielded to the request of his friends and agreed to accept the nomination. His name was brought before the convention held at Eau Claire on October 3, 1894, and on the first ballot he was chosen to lead the party to victory; was re-nominated in 1896 and served on committee on military affairs in 54th and 55th congresses. As a man of business Mr. Griffin displayed the same ability as he did in his profession, and was successful. He was interested in the Lea Ingram Lumber Company, of Iron River; the Eau Claire Grocery Company, and the Eau Claire National Bank.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 273 - 275
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Henry H. Hayden. Among the successful and prominent lawyers of Wisconsin for many years was H. H. Hayden. He was born in Schenectady, N. Y., May 3, 1841. His father, Edwin S. Hayden, a Connecticut Yankee, was a mechanic and farmer; his mother, Matilda Hayden, nee Joyce, was of Dutch ancestry and a daughter of a survivor of the Mohawk massacre. Raised on a farm, his boyhood was uneventful. After obtaining a good common school education at Crystal Lake, Ill., he became a student in the law office of M. L. Joslyn, at Woodstock, Ill. His legal studies were continued in Oshkosh, Wis., in the office of Jackson & Halsey and of Felker & Weisbrod. He was admitted to the bar in September, 1871, and on January 1, 1872, located in Eau Claire, where he became associated with William Pitt Bartlett under the firm name of Bartlett & Hayden. Mr. Hayden soon demonstrated his ability in his profession, and in a short time, through close application and indefatigable energy, he became one of the leaders of the bar in the state. After the partnership of Bartlett & Hayden had continued for fourteen years it was dissolved, and Mr. Hayden shortly thereafter formed an association with T. F. Frawley, which continued for three years. He next admitted R. H. Start into his business, forming the firm of Hayden & Start. This partnership continued two years, and from that time Mr. Hayden practiced alone. He was engaged in many cases of more than local importance, and probably argued as many cases before the higher courts as any member of the bar in the state, outside of a few members of the Milwaukee bar. His knowledge of the law, his energy and industry, his tact and force before judge and jury, earned him a position in the front rank of a small body of men who, collectively, were the ablest lawyers in the state. His success was largely attributed to the care with which he prepared his cases before trial and to the conscientious manner in which he treated his clients, always endeavoring to avoid litigation when just settlement could be obtained out of court.
Although his time was almost entirely absorbed by his profession, Mr. Hayden became largely interested in manufacturing enterprises and financial institutions, and was the vice president of the bank of Eau Claire. He served in the war of the rebellion as sergeant in Company H, Thirty-Sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
Mr. Hayden was twice married. His first wife was Florence Slocum, by whom he had two daughters, Avis and Georgie. On March 18, 1885, he was again married to Alice W. Ellis. In the death of Mr. Hayden, which occurred January 4, 1903, the bar lost one of its brightest legal minds, and the city, one of its most influential and highly respected citizens.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 275 - 276
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Martin B. Hubbard, ex-judge of the county court, was born near London, Ontario, Canada, August 11, 1849. His parents, Alfred and Mary A. (Dighton) Hubbard, who were natives of Jefferson county, New York, emigrated to Eau Claire county, Wisconsin, in 1865, settling on a farm in Bridge Creek township, and were among the early pioneers and most progressive and influential citizens of that town. The father retired from active farm duties at the age of sixty-five years and moved to the city of Eau Claire, where he died on May 6, 1908, at the age of eighty-two years. His wife, mother of our subject, passed away March 31, 1910, aged eighty-four years. They were both devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and were held in the highest esteem by all who knew them.
The original Hubbard family emigrated from England to America and were among the early settlers in Connecticut. Martin Hubbard, grandfather of Judge Hubbard, who was a successful lumberman and manufacturer in Canada during the early forties, died in 1855 at the age of fifty-five years. His wife, Maria Putnam, died in 1866. Benjamin Dighton, maternal grandfather of our subject, also a native of Jefferson county, New York, whose wife was Amanda Cole, was a prominent Methodist clergyman in Canada.
Martin Hubbard is the eldest of a family of four children, the others being Amanda, wife of N. E. Pride, of Otter Creek township, Eldred, also of Otter Creek, and Elva, wife of J. H. Tifft of Eau Claire. Judge Hubbard received his education in the public schools of Canada and Augusta, Wis. He early served as town clerk of Bridge Creek township, resigning that office in 1876 to enter the office of the clerk of court, and while thus engaged commenced the study of law. In 1883 he entered the office of L. R. Larson, as clerk, and while in that position performed the duties of municipal judge under Larson. He was admitted to the bar of Eau Claire county in 1883, continuing in Mr. Larson's office until 1885, when he entered upon the practice of his profession, in which he has since continued. He was elected judge of the county court in 1896 and served one term of four years. A republican in politics, he has been a member of the republican central committee for ten years, and for eight years served as its chairman. He has been a member of the board of education eight years, and president of the same for two years. Judge Hubbard is prominently identified with the commercial and financial interests of Eau Claire, being secretary of the H. T. Lange Company, secretary of the Dells Lumber Company, secretary of the Reedsburg Canning Company and a member of the board of directors of the Eau Claire National Bank and of the Eau Claire Savings Bank. He stands high in Masonic circles, is a member of the Blue Lodge, chapter and commandery.
In 1889 Judge Hubbard was married at Augusta, Wis., to Miss Elizabeth Reed, daughter of William and Elizabeth Reed.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 295 - 296
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Lewis R. Larson was born near Bergen, Norway, September 1, 1849, and came with his parents to Columbus in the spring of 1850. He was educated in the public schools of Columbus and at the Wisconsin University at Madison, graduating from the latter institution in the class of 1872. He read law in the office of A. G. Cook, of Columbus, and was admitted to the bar May 20, 1874, at Portage, and May 28, 1880, to practice in the supreme court. He remained int he office of A. G. cook until June 14, 1875, when he came to Eau Claire and began practice alone. He was city attorney from April, 1877, to April 1878, when he was elected municipal judge for a term of four years. He subsequently moved to Minneapolis, practicing his profession there. He died there in August, 1914.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 276
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Levi E. Latimer was born in the town of Bloomfield, near Hartford, Conn., April 12, 1838, and lived there until 1858, when he went to La Porte, Ind., and studied law. He came to Eau Claire June, 1860, and engaged in the practice of law until 1872, when he became municipal judge, which office he held for six years. He also held various town offices, and in 1878 engaged in the real estate business. He subsequently moved to Chicago, where he died in 1909 or 1910.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 276
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George J. Losby, who is one of the promising young lawyers of Eau Claire, was born in that city June 30, 1873. His parents, John and Christian Losby, were born in Norway and emigrated to the United States in the late sixties. They settled in Eau Claire, where the father was variously employed by different lumber companies up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1901. George J., the only son in the family, grew to manhood in this city, obtaining his education in the public schools and in the Eau Claire Business College, and for six years held a position as law stenographer. He began the study of law in 1894 in the offices of Judge William F. Bailey and L. A. Doolittle. He was admitted to the bar in 1897 and in 1901 was elected clerk of the court, serving in that capacity five consecutive terms or a period of ten years, and since 1910 has been in the active practice of his profession. He married in 1901 Miss Josephine Hansen, of Eau Claire, and two children have been born: Alden and Idele Losby.
Mr. Losby is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church and the I.S.W.A. Before the Eau Claire city government went on the commission form basis he represented the Eighth ward in the city council four years.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 297
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Henry McBain, attorney-at-law and judge of the Municipal Court of Eau Claire, was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, September 3, 1857, the son of John and Mary (Fisher) McBain, and is of Scotch descent. He acquired an academic education at Canton, New York, and came to Eau Claire county in 1871, locating at Augusta, where for several years he was clerk in the postoffice. Associated with others he was for three years engaged in merchandising at Augusta. He was elected clerk of the Circuit Court and came to Eau Claire in 1885. For sixteen years he served as clerk of the court, during which time he studied law and was admitted to the bar September 3, 1898, and since 1910 has served as municipal judge. He married Emma B. Crawford, of Augusta, and has two children - Gladys and Mabel.. Judge McBain is a member of the A. F. and A. M., the R. A. M. and Knights Templar.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 299 - 300
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Samuel W. McCaslin was born at Neillsburg, Pa., November 3, 1844, and lived there until 1865, when he went to Painesville, Ohio. He read law, was admitted to the bar and began practicing in September, 1866. In 1868 he removed to St. Charles, Winona county, Minnesota, where he remained until he came to Eau Claire in 1872.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 276
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Alexander Meggett was born in Glasgow, Scotland, March 26, 1824, and came to America with his parents when a little over three years old. They settled at Uxbridge, Mass., living there until 1836 or 1837, when they removed to Chicopee Falls, town of Springfield, Mass., where they resided until 1841, in which year they located at Slaterville, R. I. Mr. Meggett worked in cotton manufactories until he was nineteen, when he commenced to educate himself. At Wilbraham Acadamy, Wilbraham, Mass., and at Washington, Conn., he prepared himself for the Middleton University. He spent three years in that institution in the sciences, two years in belle letters and one year in mathematics. In the winter of 1847-48 he removed to Pawtucket, Mass., and taught in the public schools for five years. He studied law in 1851-52 while engaged in teaching with Hon. C. B. Farnesworth, of Pawtucket, and completed his legal studies the year following with Hon. Thomas A. Jenckes, of the city of Providence, and was admitted to the bar in March, 1853, and commenced practice at Pawtucket, R. I., and practiced at Providence one year prior to coming west in May, 1857. In June, 1857, he visited Eau Claire and permanently located here in July following, when he commenced the practice of his profession. During the winter of 1857-58 he was editor of the Eau Claire Times. He was the second lawyer to settle in Eau Claire county. He held the offices of town superintendent of schools and city attorney, and was also at one time candidate for judge of the district.
Mr. Meggett was doubtless engaged in more important criminal cases than any other lawyer in this section of the state, having been either sole or leading counsel in the following cases: State vs. Nethers, Fritz, Noble, Murray, Moseby, Mrs. Wheeler and Carter, Davy, Jump and Muzzy, besides many cases of homicide in various degrees and other important cases, both criminal and civil. His untiring zeal for his client's cause, his professional learning and ability, and his peculiar forcibleness and success in jury trials, both criminal and civil, justly merited him that prominence which was so generously accorded him by members of his own profession as well as by others.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 276 - 277
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James F. Salisbury came to Wisconsin, locating at Hudson in 1876, remaining there one year. He came to Eau Claire and was associated with Joseph F. Ellis in the practice of law. He was born in Brockport, Monroe county, New York, November 7, 1849. J. F. Salisbury was educated at St. Paul, Minn., and at the Michigan State University, graduating from the latter institution in 1871. He was admitted to the bar in 1871 and commenced practice at St. Paul.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 278
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Joseph W. Singleton, a prominent member of the Eau Claire county bar, was born in Louisville, St. Lawrence county, New York, September 8, 1861, son of Peter and Ellen (McCarthy) Singleton, both natives of St. Lawrence county. Thomas Singleton, paternal grandfather of Joseph W., was a native of England and followed the trade of ship carpenter prior to coming to the United States, and was a soldier in the Napoleonic War. Emigrating to America, he became one of the pioneers of St. Lawrence county, New York, where he engaged in farming and lived there until his death.
The maternal grandfather, Dennis McCarthy, was a native of County Mayo, Ireland, and was also a pioneer of St. Lawrence county, settling on the Long Sault Island, where he resided until his death by drowning in Sault rapids. Peter Singleton, father of Joseph, was a farmer by occupation, and spent his whole life in the county where he was born, and died at the age of seventy-two years.
Joseph W. was educated in the common schools of St. Lawrence county, the Jesuit College, and the Georgetown University of Washington, where he was graduated with the degree of bachelor of philosophy and bachelor of laws in 1888. He also afterward taught school for one year in the St. Joseph College, at Burlington, Vt. and in October, 1889, was admitted to the bar of that state and practiced his profession in Burlington three years. He came west, and on January 4, 1892, located in Eau Claire, where he has since carried on a successful practice of law. The first two years after coming to Eau Claire he was connected with the office of the late Thomas F. Frawley, and on February 1, 1894, became the first tenant in the Ingram Block where he has since had his office.
Mr. Singleton was married to Miss Ellen Francis, daughter of Patrick and Bridget (O'Brien) Gleason, of Cylon, St. Croix county, Wisconsin, and four children had been born to them, viz.: Joseph W., Jr., and Ellen Geraldine, twins; Lydia F. and Paul G. Mr. Singleton is a prominent member of St. Patrick's Church, the Catholic Knights of Columbus. He served as city attorney of Eau Claire from 1895 to 1897 and represented the Sixth Ward as alderman in the Common Council for six years, and was municipal judge for four years, and in politics is a democrat.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 291 - 292
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John E. Stillman settled in Eau Claire in its earliest days. He was the first teacher in the first public school. The building was erected in the village of Eau Claire in the winter of 1856-57. It was of green, rough boards, located on what is now Barstow street, near Grand avenue, East, and in dimension was 16 by 24 feet. As schoolmaster Mr. Stillman was succeeded the following summer by Miss Mary Arnold. At that time there were fifteen pupils. Later Mr. Stillman engaged in the practice of law. Served as county judge from 1863 to 1865.
In 1860 he married Miss Mary Lashier, of Fall River, Wis., to whom there were born three sons and two daughters. In 1872 he was practicing law under the firm name of Stillman & Edwards. In 1873, on account of ill health, he removed to Florida where, with other Eau Claire men, he helped establish the town of Orange City. In 1882 Mr. Stillman moved to Washington, D. C., where he resided for one year, then returning to Orange City. He died in 1883.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 285
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LaFayette M. Sturdevant, attorney-at-law, Eau Claire, Wis., was born in Warren county, Pennsylvania, September 17, 1856. His parents, Hiram N. and Sarah A. (Reed) Sturdevant, were both natives of the Keystone state and of Holland Dutch descent. In 1865 they came to Wisconsin and settled in Clark county, where the father purchased a 120-acre tract of land, to which he subsequently added 80 more acres, all of which he cleared and improved with substantial buildings and the land brought to a good state of cultivation. Here he made his home until his death in 1888 at the age of sixty-seven years. He reared a family of six children as follows: LaFayette M., Mary, wife of Amenzo Verbeck; James E., Arthur H., Fred F., and Almeda.
LaFayette M. was reared on the farm from the age of nine years, and grew to manhood in Clark county, receiving his education in the public schools, and taught school five terms in that county. At the age of 20, in 1876, he began the study of law in the office of his cousin, J. R. Sturdevant, at Neillsville, Wis., and was admitted to the bar in 1878, when he at once began the practice of his profession with L. A. Doolittle under the firm name of Doolittle & Sturdevant. At the end of two years, in 1880, he severed his connection with Mr. Doolittle and entered into partnership with J. R. Sturdevant, forming the well-known firm of Sturdevant & Sturdevant, which arrangement continued for eight years, when the partnership was dissolved, and from 1888 to 1903 Mr. Sturdevant practiced alone in Neillsville. In the latter year he was elected attorney general of the state, and re-elected in 1905. Finishing his second term in 1908, he became attorney for Governor Davidson, at Madison, holding that position until August, 1910, when he located at Eau Claire, where he has since been in active and successful practice of his profession as a member of the firm of Sturdevant & Farr.
Mr. Sturdevant has been twice married; his first wife was Minetta, daughter of Orson and Euretta (Hastings) Bacon, of Neillsville, Wis., by whom he had three children, viz.: Clarence L., Hugh H., and Viola E. The present Mrs. Sturdevant was Mary E. Williams, daughter of Peter Williams, of Camp Point, Ill.
In politics Mr. Sturdevant is a republican, and as such represented Clark county in the legislature for two terms and served the same county two terms as district attorney. He is a member of the Unitarian Church, Modern Woodsmen of America and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 288 - 289
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Andrew Judson Sutherland, one of the well known lawyers of Eau Claire, is a native son of Wisconsin, having been born in London, Dane county, this state, April 28, 1856. His parents, Andrew and Catherine (McVicar) Sutherland, who were natives of New Brunswick, Canada, settled in Eau Claire county in 1856, the same year our subject was born, and located in the town of Union, where the father purchased 240 acres of wild land, which he cleared and improved, making one of the banner farms of the township. He lived to the ripe age of 87 years, and died in 1909. His widow, mother of our subject, is now (1914) still living at the age of 90 years. They reared a family of nine children as follows: Christinia, married Angus McVicar; Peter, George, Charles, John, Andrew J., Flora M. (became the wife of Austin H. Langdell), Margaret and Neal Sutherland.
Mr. Sutherland was reared on the homestead farm, spending his boyhood days in much the same way as do most farmer boys, attending the district school and assisting in the farm work. Deciding to enter upon the career of a lawyer, he entered the law department of the State University, at Madison, and was graduated with the class of 1884. Soon after his graduation he opened an office in Eau Claire for the practice of his profession, in which he has since successfully continued.
On November 30, 1884, Mr. Sutherland married Mary Brown, daughter of Henry and ? (Baker) Brown, of Cambia county, Pennsylvania, and has four children, Mary Elsie, wife of Rollen Alcott; Laura Edith, Bessie Irene and Judson Clair. Mr. Sutherland is a member of the First Baptist Church, of which his mother is the only survivor of the original members. Politically Mr. Sutherland is a democrat. He was a candidate for Congress on the democratic ticket in 1914 for the tenth district.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 287 - 288
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George Clinton Teall was born in Seneca county, New York, May 20, 1840, and at the age of twelve removed with his parents to Geneva, N. Y., where he was principally educated. At the age of eighteen he entered Hobart College, in which he was a member of the class of 1862. His father, G. C. P. Teall, was a son of Nathan Teall, whose father was one of three political fugitives from the oppression of Switzerland, who settled in Connecticut about 1730. His grandfather, Nathan Teall, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War under General Knox. In 1792 this grandfather settled in Newtown, N. Y., which was afterward named Elmira. On the side of his father's mother the ancestors were among the Pilgrim Fathers who landed from the "Mayflower" at Plymouth in 1620, and her father was a colonel in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Teall studied law at Rochester, N. Y., in 1862-3-4 in the office of Hon. Theron R. Strong and Hon. Alfred G. Mudge, and also attended a course of lectures in the winter of 1863-4 at Rochester. In February, 1866, he came to Eau Claire with his family, and in April, 1867, was elected justice of the peace, and in January, 1868, was appointed county judge by Governor Fairchild. In the spring of 1869 he was elected his own successor and administered that office until January, 1874. He was from 1866 for several years interested in the mercantile firm of George C. Teall & Co., and from 1868 to 1873 was one of the firm of William A. Teall & Co., general insurance agents. He was admitted to the bar in Wisconsin at Milwaukee in January, 1872, and soon afterward to the supreme court and the United States courts at Madison. In 1873 he formed a partnership with Alexander Meggett and was a member of that law firm until the spring of 1881, when the firm was dissolved. In December, 1880, he was again appointed county judge by Governor Smith, and in 1881 was re-elected without opposition for the term ending January, 1886.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 281
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Levi M. Vilas, formerly of the Eau Claire bar, and at the time of his death judge of the district court of Ramsey county, Minnesota, was born February 17, 1844, at Chelsea, Orange county, Vermont. He completed his general education in the University of Wisconsin, from which he was graduated in 1863. His graduation from the Albany law school occurred in 1864, in which year he was admitted to the bar in New York. Returning to Madison, he engaged with his brother, William F., in the practice of the law for about one year, after which he went into the quartermaster's department of the army as chief clerk, remaining in that position two years. In 1868 he removed to Eau Claire, Wis., where he built up and maintained a large practice. He was elected to the office of city attorney in 1872, and mayor in 1876; district attorney in 1877 and 1879. Mr. Vilas removed from Eau Claire to St. Paul, Minn., in June, 1877. In less than two years after becoming a resident of St. Paul he was selected by the governor for judge of the district court of Ramsey county, which appointment was accepted and the duties of the office entered upon. But the worthy recipient of that honor was not long permitted to hold the scales of justice; disease even at the time he left Wisconsin had laid hold of him, and on August 25, 1889, he passed away at the family home at Madison.
Levi M. Vilas was an excellent lawyer. His standing in the profession was such as any member of the bar might envy; such as cannot be reached otherwise than by diligent application of a trained and strong mind. His manner of expression was marked; his style was his own - clear, terse and strong. His voice was strong, but musical. His appearance was prepossessing and indicated great strength.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 277 - 278
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Robert D. Whitford, attorney-at-law, was born in Jefferson county, New York, July 2, 1851, son of Edward W. and Clarinda (Odell) Whitford. Edward Whitford, paternal grandfather of Robert D., was for many years a resident of Rensselaer county, New York, and one of the pioneer farmers of Jefferson county, this state, where he settled in 1833 and died in 1862, aged 84 years. Robert S. Odell, the maternal grandfather, was a farmer of Rensselaer county, New York, where he died. The father of Mr. Whitford farmed for several years in Jefferson county, and later in Fayette county, Illinois, where he died in 1892.
Mr. Whitford was reared in his native county, coming to Wisconsin in 1869. He located at Milton. He took a classical course in Milton college, read law in the office of Bennett & Sale, at Janesville, and was admitted to the bar in November 1878, after which he located at Menomonie January 1, 1880. He practiced there until 1893, when he went to Superior, and on September 1, 1899, located at Eau Claire. He married September 4, 1882, Miss Anna Shaw West, a niece of the late Daniel Shaw, and they have two children.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 298
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Roy P. Wilcox has made an indelible impression on the public life of Eau Claire, and, as a lawyer, stands preeminently high. Through his seventeen years as an active attorney he has come to be recognized as one of the able practitioners of the bar of Wisconsin.
Roy P. Wilcox was born in the city of Eau Claire, June 30, 1873, and is the son of Nelson C. and Angeline (Tewkesbury) Wilcox. He is of English and Irish lineage and comes of one of the oldest families in America, the Wilcox ancestry dating back to early colonial days. He received his early education in the public schools of Eau Claire and then took a course in the law department of Cornell University, at Ithaca, N. Y., graduating in the class of 1897. One year previous to his graduation he had been admitted to the bar of Wisconsin, and immediately after leaving Cornell he began the practice of his profession in his native city. On September 1, 1897, he became a member of the law firm of Frawley, Bundy & Wilcox; since the death of the senior partner, July 1, 1902, the firm has been Bundy & Wilcox.
Mr. Wilcox has achieved success at a time in life when most men are fortunate if they have laid the foundation for success; and this has been accomplished by his own ability and energy, for he left college not only with exhausted resources, but with debts to pay. While his success has been due mainly to his legal abilities, he has shown a capacity for business that, of itself, would have made him a success in commercial affairs, and has been connected with some large projects that have been managed most admirably, notably the water power and utility properties formerly owned by the Chippewa Valley Railway, Light and Power Company, the values of which were greatly enhanced under the management of this company, of which he was one of the organizers.
On occasions Mr. Wilcox has been active in public affairs, but never as an official, nor obtrusively. For instance, Eau Claire was the first city in Wisconsin to adopt the commission form of government, and Mr. Wilcox was very distinctly connected with the movement that culminated in that result. He assisted in drafting the bill providing for government by commission in the cities of Wisconsin, and when the bill was introduced in the legislature he went to Madison and worked for its passage. Then, when the bill became law, he took the platform in Eau Claire to advocate the adoption of this form of government in his home city, and to his efforts is due, in no small degree, the fact that Eau Claire has its present satisfactory form of city government.
After this he was invited to other places to address the citizens on the new plan of managing civic affairs, with the result that the commission form of government was adopted in every city he visited, with two exceptions.
As a lawyer, Mr. Wilcox is both a wise counselor and an exceedingly able advocate, and his record as a trial lawyer has seldom been equaled. He has acted as attorney for railroads and other corporations for years, defending them against damage claims for injuries, losses, etc., and his success has been startling, considering that he has had to appear before juries on the unpopular side of every such case. He is a forcible, logical, impressive speaker, possessing forensic qualities of a high order, and a manifest honesty of purpose glowing in all his efforts makes him formidable as a pleader in any cause. During the last fifteen years his firm has appeared on one side or the other of most of the big legal cases in and around Eau Claire.
On June 17, 1903, Mr. Wilcox married Maria Louisa, daughter of Manuel and Clementina (Santander) de Freyre, of Lima, Peru, South America. They have two children, Louisa M. and Francis J.
Mr. Wilcox is prominently connected with St. Patrick's Catholic Church, of Eau Claire, the Knights of Columbus, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the American Bar Association and the Wisconsin Bar Association, of which he is a member of the committee on legal education.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 293 - 295
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The foregoing list is not complete. We have endeavored to make it complete, but many who are now living at Eau Claire have neglected to furnish the proper data from which personal mention could be made, while some others have died, and still many others have moved away, and we have not been able with reasonable effort to reach them.
Among those omitted may be mentioned Texas Angel, Abel W. H. Frawley, Frank R. Farr, De Alton Thomas, A. C. Larson, A. H. Shoemaker, E. M. Bradford, Heman Day, T. F. Frawley Jr., V. W. James.
"History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914, Past and Present"
Chapter 16 - Courts and Legal Profession
Backgrounds of the County Judges
(-as transcribed from pages 272 - 300 )
(The following biographical data has been alphabetized for easier viewing. References have been added at the end of each bio.)
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Horace W. Barnes was born in the town of Colesville, Broome county, New York in 1818. His boyhood was spent in the family of an uncle who settled in a dense beech and maple forest in Medina county, Ohio, where he lived a life of constant toil, without one day's schooling until his majority, and Shakespeare's line would then forcibly apply to the youthful Buckeye:
"This boy is forest-born, and hath been tutored in the rudiments of many desperate studies.:
How many men famous in American history have laid the superstructure of their education and built up an honorable name for such rough materials as poverty and the adverse circumstances that pioneer life always impose! There seems to have been something inspiring in the grand old woods where the early days of many of our most distinguished men first saw the light; and in overcoming the many natural obstacles always encountered in new districts, high aspirations and a determination to achieve grander results take possession of the hardy backwoodsman and frequently leads to victory, honor and fortune.
These feelings inspired Mr. Barnes, and with indomitable energy he set himself to earn the means to education himself. By the most rigid economy and assiduous attention to his studies, he acquired a good English and mathematical education and considerable proficiency in the classics at Oberlin Institute, Ohio, acquisitions that he utilized in teaching and surveying until 1852, when he commenced the study and practice of law in which he soon won distinction as a sound legal adviser and laborious faithful advocate.
As a pleader, Mr. Barnes displayed qualities which, if not always insuring his own success, were well calculated to quench the ardor and paralyze the force of his adversary.
Carefully noting as the cause proceeded, the points which his antagonist intended to make, he would anticipate him and tell the court and jury precisely what his opponent would say, frequently using the exact language in which it would be clothed, and emasculating the argument of all points of power before it was uttered. He felt defeat intensely and seemed to suffer even more than his client the loss incurred by any want of skill or foresight in managing a suit, and hence in all civil suits was wary and cautious, always exacting a full, impartial statement of the case from his client before taking it, and not then unless the evidence, justice and a reasonable prospect of success justified it.
In serving the public, no matter in what capacity, his industry and perseverance were untiring, and he shares with Mr. Thorp the honor of exposing frauds in the accounts of the Eau Claire county treasurer and of restoring the credit of the county.
Mr. Barnes came to Eau Claire in 1858 and was elected district attorney the next year, 1859, and county judge in 1865; was a member of the legislature in 1861 and 1867. In politics, was a steadfast republican, and during the war zealous and active in carrying forward any and every measure for its prosecution.
In his friendship he utterly ignored position or caste, and wherever he found what he considered a true man, he was his friend, but scorned obsequious or patronizing airs, and was sometimes so impolite as to prefer blunt honesty to assumed gentility. In 1872 he removed to Oswego, Kans., with his family, where he now resides in the practice of his profession.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 285 - 286
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Col. Edward M. Bartlett came to Dead Lake Prairie, in Dunn county, later town of Frankfort, Pepin county, in 1855, and lived there two winters and in the southern part of the state one winter. In 1858 he settled Dunn county, residing in Dunnville and Menomonie until October, 1862. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Thirtieth Wisconsin Infantry in 1864, serving until the close of the war. He was born in the town of Victor, Cayuga county, New York, August 3, 1839, came to Wisconsin when sixteen years old, and while at East Troy studied law in the office of Henry Cousins, and was admitted to the bar in 1856, and settled at Eau Claire in 1866, practicing his profession for many years. He was for five years register of the United States land office, and at one time city attorney of Eau Claire. For several years he was municipal judge of the city of Eau Claire.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 272 - 273
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Milton D. Bartlett was born in the town of Victory, Cayuga county, New York, November 3, 1833, and lived in Auburn, N. Y., after he was twelve years of until the spring of 1852, when he came to Wisconsin, locating in East Troy, Walworth county. In October, 1852, he returned east, and in the spring of 1854 came to Delavan, remaining there one year. Was then for one year at East Troy, and in the spring of 1856 moved to Dunn county, where he lived until the spring of 1860, when he went to Durand, remaining there until the winter of 1865-66. He then went to Minneapolis, and in 1870 came to Eau Claire. He studied law in Auburn and Syracuse, New York, and practiced at Delavan, discontinuing it for a short time while he was engaged in farming. He resumed the practice in 1859, and at one time was county judge for Pepin county, resigning the position to go to the legislature, having been elected to the state senate in 1861.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 273
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William Pitt Bartlett, nestor of the bar of Eau Claire county, was born at Minot, Maine, September 13, 1829. His early educational opportunities were meager, but he obtained a teacher's certificate at the age of fifteen years. He paid his way through the academies at Farmington and Bloomfield and at the age of twenty years entered Waterville College and was graduated in 1853. He was elected principal of the Hallowell (Maine) Academy and served in that capacity until he resigned in 1855, having in the meantime begun to study law. Being of weak physique, it was deemed advisable to seek more favorable climatic influences, and he located at Watertown, Wis., where he taught school for six months and continued the study of law. He was admitted to practice in the spring of 1856, and the following year moved to Eau Claire, Wis., where he has since resided. He was the first lawyer to locate in Eau Claire county. He is the nestor of the school board of Eau Claire, has always taken great interest in educational matters, and for many years was a member of and president of the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin. He was elected district attorney in 1859, and during his term of office became a member of the legislature. In the spring of 1860 he was appointed judge of Eau Claire county by Governor Randall, and in 1861 and 1863 was again elected district attorney. In 1872 he was again elected a member of the legislature, in 1874 appointed register of the united States land office by President Grant, and re-appointed in 1878 by President Hayes. From 1857 to 1872 Mr. Bartlett practiced by himself, but in the latter year he formed a partnership with H. H. Hayden, which, under the firm name of Bartlett & Hayden, became one of the strongest law firms in Wisconsin. In 1884 this partnership was dissolved and since then Mr. Bartlett has practiced by himself.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 272
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George L. Blum, Judge of the County Court of Eau Claire county, was born October 6, 1869, at Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He received his education in the public schools of Eau Claire and at the University of Wisconsin, graduating from the law department in 1893, and was admitted to the bar the same year. In February, 1895, he formed a partnership in Eau Claire with John B. Fleming under the firm name of Fleming & Blum, which arrangement continued until January 1, 1908, since which time he has practiced alone. He was elected Judge of the County Court in April, 1901, and is now - 1914 - serving his fourth term of six years.
Judge Blum married Margaret D. McGillis, of Eau Claire, and they are the parents of three children: Genevieve F., Margaret G. and George L., Jr.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 299
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Ira B. Bradford, a member of the Eau Claire county bar, has practiced law at Augusta since 1873. He was born in the town of Fulton, Rock county, Wisconsin, June 24, 1851. He was educated in the academies and seminaries of New Hampshire, and in the fall of 1869 went to Edinboro, Pa., and entered upon the study of law. In the fall of 1871 he returned to New Hampshire and continued his studies at Newport until the summer of 1872, when he went again to Edinboro. In February, 1873, he reached Janesville, Wis., and entered the law office of Cassoday & Carpenter as a student. In March, 1873, he was admitted to the bar at Monroe and immediately went to Augusta.
Mr. Bradford was the first mayor of Augusta. In 1879 and 1881 he was a member of the assembly, and served as speaker during the latter year.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 278
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Charles T. Bundy, member of the well known law firm of Bundy & Wilcox, was born in Menomonie, Wis., March 2, 1862, son of the late Judge Egbert B. and Reubena (Macauley) Bundy. The father was born at Windsor, N. Y., the son of Dr. O. T. Bundy, of Deposit, that state. The mother was born in Glasgow, Scotland, a daughter of William and Margaret Macauley.
Charles T. grew to manhood in Menomonie and there resided until he came to Eau Claire in 1894. He was educated in the public schools of his home city and Madison, graduating from the law department of the State university and was admitted to practice in all courts of the state, both state and federal, the Supreme Court of the United States, courts of appeals in Chicago, St. Louis and San Francisco. He commenced his practice at West Superior in partnership with C. R. Fridley until he formed a partnership with T. F. Frawley and Roy P. Wilcox in 1897, under the name of Frawley, Bundy & Wilcox, which business arrangement continued until the death of Mr. Frawley in 1902. Since that time he has been associated with Mr. Wilcox under the firm name of Bundy & Wilcox. Mr. Bundy has been connected with much important litigation, among which may be mentioned the following cases: Harrigan vs. Gilchrist, United States vs. Barber Lumber Company et al., the Eau Claire National Bank vs. Jackman in the United States Supreme Court, and water power cases in Wisconsin, including the famous Dells case.
On October 22, 1890, Mr. Bundy married Miss May Kelley, daughter of John, Jr., and Cornelia (Drawley) Kelley, of Menomonie. To Mr. and Mrs. Bundy have been born four children, viz.: Nell R., Katherine M., Egbert B. and Lillian, the youngest of which died in 1910. Religiously Mr. Bundy affiliates with the Episcopal church, while fraternally and socially he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 297 - 298
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Rosiel D. Campbell was born in LaFayette, Onondaga county, New York, February 15, 1810. Came to Beloit, Wis., in 1838, resided there for some years, then went to Lee county, Illinois, where he resided for a time, then went to Boone county, Illinois, for two years, and in October, 1861 enlisted in Company I, Forty-sixth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After the battle of Ft. Donelson he was promoted to captain, receiving his commission just before the battle of Pittsburg Landing. In the fall of 1862 he resigned and came to Waterloo, Wis., where he resided until 1867, when he located in the town of Ludington, Eau Claire county, and in 1869 moved into Augusta. He served as president of the village and also held the office of court commissioner, and for several years was justice of the peace. Mr. Campbell was admitted to practice in the territory of Wisconsin in 1842, and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1843.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 279
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Hon. Henry Cousins (deceased). Among the names of the strong men who helped to make the Eau Claire bar famous stands that of Hon. Henry Cousins. From early boyhood to the day of his death his character was never tarnished by a blot. Although quiet and unassuming, he became widely known in legal, political and social circles as a man to be trusted in all relations of life. His demise called forth the most glowing tributes and eulogies that were ever bestowed on a deceased member of the Eau Claire bar by members of that association. He was born in Mayville, Chautauqua county, New York, on February 7, 1826, and with his parents, John and Mary Cousins, removed to Dover, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, in the spring of 1837, where, until the age of fifteen years, he had the advantage of such schools as the newly settled district afforded. For two years he was employed as a clerk in a dry goods store, but the confinement being somewhat irksome he sought a wider field of labor, and, as expressed in his own peculiar diction, he "went to work on his father's farm, where he had the reputation of taking more time to do less work than any other boy in the neighborhood." At this time a taste for study and general reading was developed which was stimulated and directed by a Baptist clergyman of Dover, who kindly placed his library and advice at his command. Thereafter commenced the study of law at Elyria, Ohio, in the office of J. D. Benedict, and in 1848, when twenty-two years old, was admitted to practice by the supreme court of that state. In 1848 he became interested in the anti-slavery discussion which convulsed the country, espoused the advance opinions on that subject, having the confidence of such men as Giddings and the Wades of that state, and was known as an abolitionist of the voting school, when the term implied more of approbrium than honor.
A letter from the Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, then in Congress relative to his candidacy for re-election was a greatly cherished memento of this beginning of Mr. Cousins' political activities.
In 1850 he came to Wisconsin and entered on the practice of his profession at East Troy, Walworth county; was elected clerk of the court in 1854 and held office for six consecutive years. While in East Troy a warm and confidential friendship sprang up between the young attorney and Judge John F. Potter - Bowie Knife Potter - and he attended to many legal matters for the judge during the period he was in Washington. When Judge Prior, of Virginia, challenged Judge Potter to a duel, the latter, before public announcement of the matter was made, returned to East Troy for the purpose of putting his affairs in order. To Mr. Cousins he made known his ideas as to how pending litigation was to be handled. Many matters of a confidential nature were entrusted to the younger man, and in explanation shortly before the judge's return to Washington, while the two men were occupying the same room as a sleeping apartment, the judge announce he had received a challenge just before his departure from Washington and that his trip was to prepare for what might happen. Mr. Cousins tried to dissuade him from accepting the challenge, but was met with the statement, "No, by God, I have accepted, and if I ever get Judge Prior on the field I will kill him is I can." But the outcome of this challenge is a matter of history.
On the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion he received a provisional commission authorizing him to recruit a company, which, on its acceptance by the United States, would entitle him to a captain's commission. The company was recruited, offered to the government, and every man on the rolls, with the exception of Captain Cousins, passed a physical examination. After his rejection by the army surgeons he devoted his labors, until the close of hostilities, to assisting and aiding others in recruiting and in fostering loyal sentiment among the people.
His father, John Cousins, as a boy of 14, served with Macdonough at Lake Champlain, and the grandfather, a sea captain previous to the Revolutionary War, was issued letters of marque by Congress and assisted in naval operations.
In 1866 he located in Eau Claire. In 1867 was elected district attorney and re-elected in 1869; was elected to the assembly in 1871 without opposition, and bore an honorable part in the Dells improvement struggle, and was thereafter alderman of the Third Ward in this city for two years. He was also a member of the county board of supervisors.
In consequence of failing health in 1881 he accepted the position of register of the United States land office in Arizona, but in 1883 returned to Eau Claire, having voluntarily resigned the office. In 1885 he was again elected district attorney for Eau Claire county, and in 1887 declined nomination, thus closing his official career. After several weeks of sickness he departed this life late in the afternoon of Thursday, October 25, 1888, at the age of sixty-five years, eight months and eighteen days. While taking no place in religious controversy, nor holding dogmatic theology in high esteem, he held as supremest truth the fact of a Creator, Ruler and Father of all mankind, and that at some period, somewhere in the time to come, would be accomplished the final exaltation of the race.
As a politician, while deeming principle above party, and while indulging in free criticism of its policies, he held to the last profound regard for the party he believed had wrought well for the people, and revered with all the force of his nature the steadfastness of those men who strove for the extinction of chattel slavery and the equality of all men before the law. As a lawyer he came to the profession believing the machinery of the law should be so used as to ameliorate conditions, protect society and uphold the right.
At the exercises of the Eau Claire Bar Association held in Circuit Court January 15, 1889, many tributes of respect were paid to his memory. The resolutions of the committee made special mention of the high esteem of his colleagues for "his ripe attainments through mastery of details, conscientious practice and large experience in his profession; for his uniform recognition of courtesies due to the bench and the bar, and for his great veneration for the law as an ample shield of protection for the citizens against encroachments of wrong." A special mention was made to the helping hand he was always ready to extend to the young practitioner.
Mr. Cousins had a keen appreciation of wit and a never failing stock of stories which illustrated his points, either in arguing before a jury or in making a political address. In the use of sarcasm he was an adept, but, as one fellow practitioner stated, "Henry's shafts, though telling and effective, are so tempered as not to sting and hurt." To this day some of his former associates repeat his stories.
Mr. Cousins was one of those who remain cool and collected when most people are in a state of great excitement. One gentleman described his entrance into Mr. Cousins' office, then in the old Music Hall Building, which was on fire. Mr. Cousins sat at his desk writing. The excited friend dashed in, crying out, "The building is on fire. What shall I do first?" Mr. Cousins finished, then calmly blotting it, he glanced up and replied, "Well, under the circumstances I would suggest you better get a pail of water." When provocation appeared to demand the use of emphatic language, Mr. Cousins was not found wanting, but as a friend says, "However emphatic his expressions are, they are nevertheless picturesque and artistic."
January 21, 1861, he married Louise, daughter of Otis and Julia (Corbin) Preston, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Ohio, but of French descent. Mrs. Cousins was born October 26, 1840, in White Pigeon, Mich. She is a cultivated, broadminded woman, and interested in social and educational progress. She has two children.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 281 - 285
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Judson C. Crawford was born in Ulysses, Tompkins county, New York, April 26, 1823; lived there until he came to Wisconsin in the fall of 1847. He taught school at Sheboygan and two years at Waupun, and one year at Ceresco. Afterward for many years he was engaged int he general missionary work, being a regularly ordained minister of the Universalist Church. In March, 1875, he settled in Augusta and engaged in the practice of law.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 279
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Joseph C. Culver was born in Eau Claire, July 26, 1880, the son of Joseph C. and Emma (Kern) Culver. He was educated in St. John's Military Academy, Delafield, Wisconsin, and at the Cornell University at Ithaca, New York. He was married November 8, 1905, to Miss Mary McDonough, of Eau Claire.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 299
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Abel Davis, who was one of the early settlers of Eau Claire, was born January 16, 1842, in the town of New Portland, Maine. He spent his early life on a farm, receiving a common school education, and in January, 1862, enlisted in the Fourth Maine Battery, serving until August 9, 1862, when he was wounded at the battle of Cedar Mountain, for which he received his honorable discharge. Returning home he resumed his former occupation, at which he worked until the spring of 1868, when he came to Eau Claire, Wis. and from that time until 1872 labored in the saw mills and woods. In the last named year he commenced the study of law in the office of J. F. Ellis and later entered the law department of the Wisconsin State University, from which he graduated in 1874. Returning to Eau Claire he engaged in practice with J. F. Ellis, remaining in that firm for five years, when, on account of ill health, he retired from active practice and returned to Main in 1888. He resumed the practice of law in Pittsfield, Maine, where he died on October 12, 1905.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 286 - 287
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Burt E. Deyo was born in Peru, Huron county, Ohio, son of Erastus and Salome (Mauley) Deyo. The father was born in New York state and descended from the Huguenots, while the mother was born in Ohio of English ancestry.
Burt E. was educated at Oberlin College and the law department of Harvard University; read law in the office of Bartlett & Hayden, was admitted to the bar in 1882, and to practice in the Supreme Court of the state in 1900.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 300
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Lelon Ansil Doolittle, a prominent attorney of Eau Claire, was born in Russell, St. Lawrence county, New York, July 22, 1853, a son of Ansil, Jr., and Jane Ann (Smith) Doolittle. His great grandfather, Abraham Doolittle, was one of five brothers who were representative farmers, merchants and mechanics of their day in the town of Cheshire, New Haven county, Connecticut. The grandfather, Ansil Doolittle, married Maria King, and they were the parents of three sons and three daughters. The eldest son, Ansil, Jr., father of Lelon Ansil, married Jane Ann Smith, and they were the parents of three sons and one daughter; the later married Edgar E. Davis. The eldest son, Marshall Erwin, is a practicing physician. The youngest son, Rollin Edson, is a lawyer, as is also our subject.
Lelon Ansil was reared on the farm, attended the district school, and at the age of seventeen secured a second grade teacher's certificate and made a success as a school teacher. At the age of twenty-two years he had completed a regular college course and was graduated from the St. Lawrence University with the class of 1875, paying his tuition by teaching as principal of graded schools, selling subscription books, and farm laborer. The practice of awarding honors at graduation had not then been adopted in this institution, but his good work and conduct were recognized by electing him to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. Through the influence of friends he came to Wisconsin in 1877 and settled at Neillsville, where during the summer of that year, he accepted the position as principal of the high school of that city. After serving one year, he resigned and entered the law department of the University of Wisconsin, finishing the two-year course in one year. After graduating with the class of 1879, he returned to Neillsville and was soon thereafter appointed county judge of Clark county. Up to that time no indexes had been made of the probate records; there was no court calendar, minute book nor court record in the office; all the papers except such as had been lost or destroyed were in a heterogeneous mass, but within six months every paper entitled to record was recorded, and all the records of the office were as complete and as perfect as it was possible to make them. Before his term of office as judge had expired he was elected county superintendent of schools, a position he filled with honor to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents until he moved to Eau Claire in January, 1885. While much of his time at Neillsville was taken up with his official duties, he built up and conducted a successful law business, and in 1879, in company with Hon. James O'Neill, founded the Neillsville Times, which they edited jointly until Judge Doolittle moved to Eau Claire, and which, under their management, became the leading weekly paper of the county.
Judge Doolittle came to Eau Claire to avoid newspaper work and politics, and after his arrival gave his sole attention to the practice of law, and has since been engaged in the general practice of his profession. He served as city attorney for three years, and for several terms as president of the Associated Charities. He has been one of the directors of the Eau Claire Public Library for many years, and for several terms has been president of the board. Since 1903, he has been largely interested in real estate in northern Wisconsin, being president of the Traders' Land Company, which is capitalized at $10,000.00, and also of the Guaranteed Investment Company, with a capital of $76,000.00, both of which were incorporated in 1904.
Judge Doolittle was married May 4, 1880, to Bessie Adams Weeks, daughter of Friend and Betsey Maria (French) Weeks, of Rutland, Vt., and they have one adopted son, Maxson Rusk Doolittle. The judge is a member of the First Congregational Church of Eau Claire.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 292 - 293
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William W. Downs, who ranks among the influential, successful progressive members of the bar of Eau Claire county, Wisconsin, was born in Menomonie, Dunn county, Wis., November 7, 1851. His parents, Burhee and Laura J. (Dunn) Downs, were natives of eastern Maine, and pioneers of Dunn county, having settled at Menomonie in 1849, where the father engaged in the lumber business as a member of the firm of Knapp, Stout & Company. He later was a member of the firm of Carson, Rend & Company, and then for a number of years was engaged in business alone. After a residence in Eau Claire of a decade or more, he died in about the year 1888 at the age of seventy-four.
William W. Downs came to Eau Claire in 1868, receiving his primary education in the public schools of the city. He afterwards entered the University of Wisconsin and was graduated from the law department in 1874. He commenced the practice of law the same year at Eau Claire, where he successfully continued until 1886, when he removed to Bayfield county, Wisconsin, and was there actively engaged in the practice of his profession until 1911, then returned to Eau Claire and resumed his practice there. Mr. Downs is a careful and conscientious student of the law, and in his practice employs the force of a clear, logical and judicial mind, thoroughly disciplined and trained by varied experiences of his forty years of study and practice.
In June, 1874, he was wedded to Alice Daniels, a native of Ohio. Mr. Downs is an attendant and supporter of the Lake Street Methodist church, is a member of the Bayfield Lodge Free and Accepted Masons, and a member of the Royal Arch Masons of Eau Claire. While a resident in Bayfield, he served one term as district attorney for Bayfield County.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 296 - 297
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Loren Edwards, formerly a prominent attorney of Eau Claire and now a resident of Oconomowoc, this state, was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, on September 7, 1843, the son of David and Margaret Edwards. His father was born in New Haven, Conn., and of the same family ancestors as Jonathan Edwards.
Loren Edwards received his early education in Erie county, Pennsylvania, where he resided until 1865. He attended the Waterford Academy there, supplementing that with a course in the Lawrence University, Wisconsin, and was graduated with the first class in the Law Department of the State University at Madison, after which he studied law for a time in the office of Gregory & Pinney in Madison. In 1871 he removed to Sacramento, Cal., and practiced law there for two years, then came to Eau Claire and practiced until 1878, thence to Milwaukee, where he continued until 1881, and from that date until 1886 he practiced in Allegany county, New York He went from there to Kansas, where he practiced for ten years and in the meantime served as County Judge of Barber county. In 1896 he moved to Oconomowoc where he has since resided, and enjoys a lucrative business. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme courts of Wisconsin, California, New York and Kansas, and to the United States Circuit courts in Wisconsin. With the exception of his partnership relations with Mr. Stillman, of Eau Claire, and with Mr. Westover, in Oconomowoc, he has practiced alone, and while in Eau Claire he held the office of District Attorney, and for some time was Municipal Judge of the Western District of Waukesha county, this state. He served in the United States Navy during the civil war, and is a bachelor, a Mason and a republican.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 287
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Arthur C. Ellis came to Eau Claire in 1861, and in May of that year enlisted in the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, serving until 1867, when he was mustered out. He was wounded at the battle of South Mountain in 1863 and transferred to the reserve corps. He was lieutenant of Company B, and was with Sheridan in Louisiana after the war. In the fall of 1867 he returned to Eau Claire and practiced law from 1870 to 1880. Was county judge for seven years prior to his resignation in the fall of 1880, when he became connected with the Northwestern Lumber Company. He was born in Licking, near Granville, Ohio, September 17, 1843, and moved to Aurora, Ill., in 1856., remaining there until he came to Eau Claire.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 273
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J. F. Ellis was born in Jerusalem, Yates county, New York, June 5, 1843. He came to Eau Claire in 1866 and studied law. He began his practice in 1870. Was county superintendent of schools for two years, and for six years a member of the school board.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 273
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John Bernard Fleming, mayor of Eau Claire, was born in the village of this name, June 27, 1866, to Michael and Catherine Fleming, and is of Irish descent. His father was born in Buffalo, New York, and his mother in Washington county, Wisconsin. They settled in Eau Claire in 1865.
Mayor Fleming was educated in the parochial and public schools, entered the law office of Levi M. Vilas in 1884, and was graduated from the law department of the Minnesota State University, and was admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of Minnesota in 1891. He became cashier of the Union Savings bank of Eau Claire, and secretary of the Union Mortgage & Loan Company in 1907, resigning when elected mayor in 1910 for a term of six years, and is the first mayor of Eau Claire and Wisconsin to serve under the new commission form of government. He was associated in practice with George L. Blum for ten years, was private secretary for Hon. William F. Vilas 1891 and 1892; register of the United States land office in Eau Claire 1895-1900. He is a member of the Elks, the Knights of Columbus and St. Patrick's church. He married Edith S. Robinson at Milwaukee, December 12, 1894, and has one daughter - Edith Marion.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 299
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Thomas F. Frawley was born near Troy, N. Y., March 6, 1851. His parents, Thomas and Honora (Hogan) Frawley, were natives of Ireland, and possessed such attainments of mind and heart as especially fitted them to mould the character of their children. The father was studious, thoughtful, industrious, independent and energetic, and the mother of kindly, cheerful and benevolent disposition, being a woman of deep religious convictions. The family consisted of seven sons and two daughters, all of whom were thoroughly educated. It is quite a remarkable fact that six of the sons graduated from the University of Wisconsin and that from 1870 to 1896 some member of the family was a student at that institution.
A short time after the birth of Thomas F. Frawley, the family moved to Wisconsin and settled upon a farm in the town of Vermont, Kane (correction - Dane) county, and there he resided until 1875. Until he was seventeen years of age the boy assisted in the cultivation of the farm, attending district school during the winter months. For two terms he was a student at the Albion Academy in Dane county, and in the spring of 1872 entered the University of Wisconsin. From October, 1873, until June, 1874, he taught school at Highland and Dodgeville, but during that period he continued his studies in the university and was graduated therefrom in 1875, having largely paid the expenses of his collegiate education with the money he earned as a teacher. As a university student he was an acknowledged leader in debate, being a participant in the joint oratorical contest of 1874.
For five years after his graduation Mr. Frawley served as principal of the high school in Eau Claire. During this period he commenced the study of his profession and formed the nucleus of his law library, which was considered one of the most complete private collections in the state. Upon his admission to the bar in 1880 he abandoned the educational field and earnestly assumed the duties of his new profession. During the first few years of his career he conducted the defense of many important criminal cases. Among those being best known may be mentioned that growing out of the lynching of Olson in Trempealeau in 1889 <http://trempealeau.wigenweb.org/histories/1917trempco/chapter10/29olsonlynching.htm>. In later years he gave most of his attention to civil cases, especially those involving important question of corporate law.
Mr. Frawley was a democrat of high standing. In 1888 he served as a delegate to the National Democratic Convention held in St. Louis. In 1892, upon the delivery of his telling speech before the state convention, the old ticket was nominated for re-election. For many years prior to 1896 Mr. Frawley was a member of the Democratic State Central Committee. In June of that year he was chosen both temporary and permanent chairman of the state convention, which convened in Milwaukee for the purpose of selecting delegates to the national convention called to meet in Chicago. Mr. Frawley was for ten years a member and several terms president of the Common Council of Eau Claire. Interested in educational matters, he was for many years a member of the Board of Education, and in that capacity did much to improve the school system of the city. He was financially and professionally interested in several corporations, being a stockholder and director of the Chippewa Valley Bank, and stockholder and attorney for the Eau Claire Light & Power Company, in addition to holding similar relations to other corporations.
On the sixth day of August, 1877, Mr. Frawley was married to Lydia A., daughter of Joseph Lawler, one of the early settlers of Eau Claire, and one of its most highly respected citizens. They had one son, Thomas F. Frawley, Jr., who is now practicing attorney in Eau Claire. During the many years that Mr. Frawley was a member of the legal profession he formed several connections. From 1881 to 1884 he was of the firm of Frawley, Hendrix & Brooks; from 1884 to 1888 he practiced alone; the following year his brother, W. H. Frawley, was his partner, and from August, 1889, to August, 1890, he was associated with H. H. Hayden as a member of the firm of Hayden & Frawley. From August, 1890, until September, 1897, Mr. Frawley had no partner, but at the latter date the firm of Frawley, Bundy & Wilcox was formed. The death of Mr. Frawley occurred in 1902.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 279 - 281
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Julius C. Gilbertson, a well-known lawyer of Eau Claire and member of the legal firm of Larson & Gilbertson, was born in the city of Eau Claire, June 28, 1875, and is a son of Tolof and Susan (Lamb) Gilbertson, both natives of Norway. The paternal grandfather of Julius C. - Gilbert Peterson - came to the United States in 1867 and settled in the state of Iowa, where he resided until his death. John Lamb, maternal grandfather of Mr. Gilbertson, emigrated to the United States and was among the pioneer farmers of Dunn county, Wisconsin, having located there in 1866, where he lived and died. Tolof Gilbertson, the father, who was a machinist by trade, came to Eau Claire in 1867. He was an industrious and hard working man and worked at his trade at the time of his death in 1911 at the age of sixty-three years. He was the father of ten children, eight of whom are now (1914) living, as follows: Mary is the wife of Charles Sullivan; Julius C., Tilla, now Mrs. Vigo Neilson; Adolph, Cora, Victor, Robert and Clarence.
Julius C., whose whole life has been spent in Eau Claire, acquired his elementary education in the public schools. In 1893 he matriculated with the University of Wisconsin, at Madison, where he spent four years, graduating from the College of Letters in the class of 1897. He was admitted to the bar of Wisconsin. In 1898 he was elected judge of the municipal court for a term of four years, and in 1902 was re-elected.
Judge Gilbertson is a man of ripe scholarship, well grounded in the fundamental principles of the law, with the ability to apply them in practice, and both as an office counselor and a practitioner in court has won most gratifying success. He is a republican in politics. He was a member of the state legislature in 1911. He is highly esteemed for his manly qualities, and by none more than those intimately associated with him who know him best. He is a member of the Eau Claire Lodge, No. 242, A. F. and A. M., the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Modern Woodmen of America, Knights of Pythias, I. S. W. A., and the Sons of Norway.
Judge Gilbertson married in 1903 Miss Jessie McGrath, daughter of John F. and Mary (Burns) McGrath, one of the old and highly respected families of Eau Claire. To Mr. and Mrs. Gilbertson have been born two children - Jocylyn M. and Julius C. Gilbertson Jr.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 290 - 291
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John C. Gores. Born March 26, 1857, at Oshkosh, Wis., When thirteen years old left school to earn his living. Admitted to the bar in his native city June 26, 1884, and thereupon removed to Eau Claire, where he has resided ever since. For several years a member of the legal firm of Gores & Miner, afterwards Gores, Frawley & Miner. In 1889 chosen by the Common Council alderman of the Eighth Ward to fill a vacancy, which choice was unanimously ratified by the people at the following election. Twice thereafter elected alderman, the last time without opposition. Served on the School Board and County Board.
Since 1890 practiced law alone, specializing in office work. In 1897 acted as referee to try the case of Laycock vs Parker, which, up to that time, was the most lengthy case tried in Eau Claire county. On appeal to the supreme court, the case was affirmed and the court in the opinion expressed its special approbation of the manner in which the trial was conducted by the referee. In 1897 appointed as city attorney, to which office thereafter two different proffered appointments were declined.
In civic affairs and in politics has always taken a proper degree of interest. At all times a thorough-going, independent and progressive, though not an extremist. Believes that the spoils system tends to draw the worst instead of the better men into politics. During the time of the greenback and free silver agitation in 1877 and 1878, contributed newspaper article in favor of the resumption of specie payment and against free silver. In the last battle for free silver in 1896 wrote a pamphlet entitled "Honest Money -- An Essential in the Prosperity of the Republic." Was the first in the city to advocate publicly the adoption of the commission form of government for cities. Thereafter visited Galveston, Tex., where the plan was first tried, to observe its practical workings. In 1905, when it was proposed by the governor in his message to Wisconsin legislature to re-establish the former method of taxing mortgages, Mr. Gores opposed the proposition in an exhaustive printed argument entitled "The Taxation of Mortgages with Reference to Northern Wisconsin." which was submitted to the legislature. The law was left unchanged notwithstanding a governor's attitude.
Throughout life has been a strong book lover, and acquired a reading knowledge of several foreign languages. June 18, 1890, was married to Kate Schultze, who has resided in the city since her birth.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 289 - 290
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Michael Griffin was born in county Claire, Ireland, September 9, 1842. In 1847 his parents emigrated to America, and after as short time spent in Canada in 1851, they moved to Hudson, Summit county, Ohio, where the boy attended the common schools. In 1856 the family moved to Wisconsin, locating in Newport, Sauk county, where he continued his studies in the district school. He enlisted at the age of nineteen, September 11, 1861, in what became Company E of the Twelfth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He was with the rest of the company mustered into the United States service November 5, 1861, and was appointed sergeant the same day. January 11, 1862, the regiment left Wisconsin, being ordered to Fort Leavenworth. the Regiment finally joined Grant in the south and participated in many engagements. At the battle of Bald Hill, Atlanta, Ga., July 21, 1864, Mr. Griffin was wounded in a charge on the enemy. He was ordered to the hospital, and though suffering severe pain, assisted the surgeons in tending to the more seriously wounded. He was commissioned second lieutenant February 11, 1865, and mustered as such on March 30 following. He was commissioned first lieutenant July 5, 1865. He was mustered out of the service July 16, 1865, on account of the close of the war. He then returned to Newport, and during the following fall began reading law in the office of Jonathan Bowman, at Kilbourn City, Wis. He was admitted to the bar of the circuit court at Portage City, May 19, 1868, and entered on the practice of his profession at Kilbourn City, where he resided until 1876. In addition to his professional duties, from 1871 to 1876 he acted as cashier of the bank of Kilbourn. In 1875 he was elected to the assembly from the first district of Columbia county. At the close of the session of 1876 he moved to Eau Claire, where he became actively engaged in the practice of law. He was appointed city attorney in 1878, and reappointed in 1879 and in 1880. In 1879 he was elected state senator from the thirteenth senatorial district, comprising the counties of Dunn, Eau Claire and Pierce.
In 1889 he was appointed by Governor W. D. Hoard quartermaster general of the state. During the two years he occupied that position the Wisconsin rifle range for the militia was established at Camp Douglas, and out of the first appropriation made by the state he purchased the land and directed the construction of suitable buildings for that purpose.
General Griffin was an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic and occupied many positions of trust in that body. He served several ties as post commander, and two years served as judge advocate of the department of Wisconsin. In February, 1887, he was elected department commander, and served one year. He was a member of the Wisconsin Commandery, Milwaukee Order of the Loyal Legion, also of the commandery, chapter and blue lodge of the Masonic fraternity, Knights of Pythias and Royal Arcanum.
In the early fall of 1894 the death of George B. Shaw left his congressional district without a representative. General Griffin yielded to the request of his friends and agreed to accept the nomination. His name was brought before the convention held at Eau Claire on October 3, 1894, and on the first ballot he was chosen to lead the party to victory; was re-nominated in 1896 and served on committee on military affairs in 54th and 55th congresses. As a man of business Mr. Griffin displayed the same ability as he did in his profession, and was successful. He was interested in the Lea Ingram Lumber Company, of Iron River; the Eau Claire Grocery Company, and the Eau Claire National Bank.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 273 - 275
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Henry H. Hayden. Among the successful and prominent lawyers of Wisconsin for many years was H. H. Hayden. He was born in Schenectady, N. Y., May 3, 1841. His father, Edwin S. Hayden, a Connecticut Yankee, was a mechanic and farmer; his mother, Matilda Hayden, nee Joyce, was of Dutch ancestry and a daughter of a survivor of the Mohawk massacre. Raised on a farm, his boyhood was uneventful. After obtaining a good common school education at Crystal Lake, Ill., he became a student in the law office of M. L. Joslyn, at Woodstock, Ill. His legal studies were continued in Oshkosh, Wis., in the office of Jackson & Halsey and of Felker & Weisbrod. He was admitted to the bar in September, 1871, and on January 1, 1872, located in Eau Claire, where he became associated with William Pitt Bartlett under the firm name of Bartlett & Hayden. Mr. Hayden soon demonstrated his ability in his profession, and in a short time, through close application and indefatigable energy, he became one of the leaders of the bar in the state. After the partnership of Bartlett & Hayden had continued for fourteen years it was dissolved, and Mr. Hayden shortly thereafter formed an association with T. F. Frawley, which continued for three years. He next admitted R. H. Start into his business, forming the firm of Hayden & Start. This partnership continued two years, and from that time Mr. Hayden practiced alone. He was engaged in many cases of more than local importance, and probably argued as many cases before the higher courts as any member of the bar in the state, outside of a few members of the Milwaukee bar. His knowledge of the law, his energy and industry, his tact and force before judge and jury, earned him a position in the front rank of a small body of men who, collectively, were the ablest lawyers in the state. His success was largely attributed to the care with which he prepared his cases before trial and to the conscientious manner in which he treated his clients, always endeavoring to avoid litigation when just settlement could be obtained out of court.
Although his time was almost entirely absorbed by his profession, Mr. Hayden became largely interested in manufacturing enterprises and financial institutions, and was the vice president of the bank of Eau Claire. He served in the war of the rebellion as sergeant in Company H, Thirty-Sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
Mr. Hayden was twice married. His first wife was Florence Slocum, by whom he had two daughters, Avis and Georgie. On March 18, 1885, he was again married to Alice W. Ellis. In the death of Mr. Hayden, which occurred January 4, 1903, the bar lost one of its brightest legal minds, and the city, one of its most influential and highly respected citizens.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 275 - 276
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Martin B. Hubbard, ex-judge of the county court, was born near London, Ontario, Canada, August 11, 1849. His parents, Alfred and Mary A. (Dighton) Hubbard, who were natives of Jefferson county, New York, emigrated to Eau Claire county, Wisconsin, in 1865, settling on a farm in Bridge Creek township, and were among the early pioneers and most progressive and influential citizens of that town. The father retired from active farm duties at the age of sixty-five years and moved to the city of Eau Claire, where he died on May 6, 1908, at the age of eighty-two years. His wife, mother of our subject, passed away March 31, 1910, aged eighty-four years. They were both devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and were held in the highest esteem by all who knew them.
The original Hubbard family emigrated from England to America and were among the early settlers in Connecticut. Martin Hubbard, grandfather of Judge Hubbard, who was a successful lumberman and manufacturer in Canada during the early forties, died in 1855 at the age of fifty-five years. His wife, Maria Putnam, died in 1866. Benjamin Dighton, maternal grandfather of our subject, also a native of Jefferson county, New York, whose wife was Amanda Cole, was a prominent Methodist clergyman in Canada.
Martin Hubbard is the eldest of a family of four children, the others being Amanda, wife of N. E. Pride, of Otter Creek township, Eldred, also of Otter Creek, and Elva, wife of J. H. Tifft of Eau Claire. Judge Hubbard received his education in the public schools of Canada and Augusta, Wis. He early served as town clerk of Bridge Creek township, resigning that office in 1876 to enter the office of the clerk of court, and while thus engaged commenced the study of law. In 1883 he entered the office of L. R. Larson, as clerk, and while in that position performed the duties of municipal judge under Larson. He was admitted to the bar of Eau Claire county in 1883, continuing in Mr. Larson's office until 1885, when he entered upon the practice of his profession, in which he has since continued. He was elected judge of the county court in 1896 and served one term of four years. A republican in politics, he has been a member of the republican central committee for ten years, and for eight years served as its chairman. He has been a member of the board of education eight years, and president of the same for two years. Judge Hubbard is prominently identified with the commercial and financial interests of Eau Claire, being secretary of the H. T. Lange Company, secretary of the Dells Lumber Company, secretary of the Reedsburg Canning Company and a member of the board of directors of the Eau Claire National Bank and of the Eau Claire Savings Bank. He stands high in Masonic circles, is a member of the Blue Lodge, chapter and commandery.
In 1889 Judge Hubbard was married at Augusta, Wis., to Miss Elizabeth Reed, daughter of William and Elizabeth Reed.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 295 - 296
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Lewis R. Larson was born near Bergen, Norway, September 1, 1849, and came with his parents to Columbus in the spring of 1850. He was educated in the public schools of Columbus and at the Wisconsin University at Madison, graduating from the latter institution in the class of 1872. He read law in the office of A. G. Cook, of Columbus, and was admitted to the bar May 20, 1874, at Portage, and May 28, 1880, to practice in the supreme court. He remained int he office of A. G. cook until June 14, 1875, when he came to Eau Claire and began practice alone. He was city attorney from April, 1877, to April 1878, when he was elected municipal judge for a term of four years. He subsequently moved to Minneapolis, practicing his profession there. He died there in August, 1914.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 276
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Levi E. Latimer was born in the town of Bloomfield, near Hartford, Conn., April 12, 1838, and lived there until 1858, when he went to La Porte, Ind., and studied law. He came to Eau Claire June, 1860, and engaged in the practice of law until 1872, when he became municipal judge, which office he held for six years. He also held various town offices, and in 1878 engaged in the real estate business. He subsequently moved to Chicago, where he died in 1909 or 1910.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 276
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George J. Losby, who is one of the promising young lawyers of Eau Claire, was born in that city June 30, 1873. His parents, John and Christian Losby, were born in Norway and emigrated to the United States in the late sixties. They settled in Eau Claire, where the father was variously employed by different lumber companies up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1901. George J., the only son in the family, grew to manhood in this city, obtaining his education in the public schools and in the Eau Claire Business College, and for six years held a position as law stenographer. He began the study of law in 1894 in the offices of Judge William F. Bailey and L. A. Doolittle. He was admitted to the bar in 1897 and in 1901 was elected clerk of the court, serving in that capacity five consecutive terms or a period of ten years, and since 1910 has been in the active practice of his profession. He married in 1901 Miss Josephine Hansen, of Eau Claire, and two children have been born: Alden and Idele Losby.
Mr. Losby is a member of the Norwegian Lutheran church and the I.S.W.A. Before the Eau Claire city government went on the commission form basis he represented the Eighth ward in the city council four years.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 297
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Henry McBain, attorney-at-law and judge of the Municipal Court of Eau Claire, was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, September 3, 1857, the son of John and Mary (Fisher) McBain, and is of Scotch descent. He acquired an academic education at Canton, New York, and came to Eau Claire county in 1871, locating at Augusta, where for several years he was clerk in the postoffice. Associated with others he was for three years engaged in merchandising at Augusta. He was elected clerk of the Circuit Court and came to Eau Claire in 1885. For sixteen years he served as clerk of the court, during which time he studied law and was admitted to the bar September 3, 1898, and since 1910 has served as municipal judge. He married Emma B. Crawford, of Augusta, and has two children - Gladys and Mabel.. Judge McBain is a member of the A. F. and A. M., the R. A. M. and Knights Templar.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 299 - 300
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Samuel W. McCaslin was born at Neillsburg, Pa., November 3, 1844, and lived there until 1865, when he went to Painesville, Ohio. He read law, was admitted to the bar and began practicing in September, 1866. In 1868 he removed to St. Charles, Winona county, Minnesota, where he remained until he came to Eau Claire in 1872.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 276
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Alexander Meggett was born in Glasgow, Scotland, March 26, 1824, and came to America with his parents when a little over three years old. They settled at Uxbridge, Mass., living there until 1836 or 1837, when they removed to Chicopee Falls, town of Springfield, Mass., where they resided until 1841, in which year they located at Slaterville, R. I. Mr. Meggett worked in cotton manufactories until he was nineteen, when he commenced to educate himself. At Wilbraham Acadamy, Wilbraham, Mass., and at Washington, Conn., he prepared himself for the Middleton University. He spent three years in that institution in the sciences, two years in belle letters and one year in mathematics. In the winter of 1847-48 he removed to Pawtucket, Mass., and taught in the public schools for five years. He studied law in 1851-52 while engaged in teaching with Hon. C. B. Farnesworth, of Pawtucket, and completed his legal studies the year following with Hon. Thomas A. Jenckes, of the city of Providence, and was admitted to the bar in March, 1853, and commenced practice at Pawtucket, R. I., and practiced at Providence one year prior to coming west in May, 1857. In June, 1857, he visited Eau Claire and permanently located here in July following, when he commenced the practice of his profession. During the winter of 1857-58 he was editor of the Eau Claire Times. He was the second lawyer to settle in Eau Claire county. He held the offices of town superintendent of schools and city attorney, and was also at one time candidate for judge of the district.
Mr. Meggett was doubtless engaged in more important criminal cases than any other lawyer in this section of the state, having been either sole or leading counsel in the following cases: State vs. Nethers, Fritz, Noble, Murray, Moseby, Mrs. Wheeler and Carter, Davy, Jump and Muzzy, besides many cases of homicide in various degrees and other important cases, both criminal and civil. His untiring zeal for his client's cause, his professional learning and ability, and his peculiar forcibleness and success in jury trials, both criminal and civil, justly merited him that prominence which was so generously accorded him by members of his own profession as well as by others.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 276 - 277
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James F. Salisbury came to Wisconsin, locating at Hudson in 1876, remaining there one year. He came to Eau Claire and was associated with Joseph F. Ellis in the practice of law. He was born in Brockport, Monroe county, New York, November 7, 1849. J. F. Salisbury was educated at St. Paul, Minn., and at the Michigan State University, graduating from the latter institution in 1871. He was admitted to the bar in 1871 and commenced practice at St. Paul.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 278
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Joseph W. Singleton, a prominent member of the Eau Claire county bar, was born in Louisville, St. Lawrence county, New York, September 8, 1861, son of Peter and Ellen (McCarthy) Singleton, both natives of St. Lawrence county. Thomas Singleton, paternal grandfather of Joseph W., was a native of England and followed the trade of ship carpenter prior to coming to the United States, and was a soldier in the Napoleonic War. Emigrating to America, he became one of the pioneers of St. Lawrence county, New York, where he engaged in farming and lived there until his death.
The maternal grandfather, Dennis McCarthy, was a native of County Mayo, Ireland, and was also a pioneer of St. Lawrence county, settling on the Long Sault Island, where he resided until his death by drowning in Sault rapids. Peter Singleton, father of Joseph, was a farmer by occupation, and spent his whole life in the county where he was born, and died at the age of seventy-two years.
Joseph W. was educated in the common schools of St. Lawrence county, the Jesuit College, and the Georgetown University of Washington, where he was graduated with the degree of bachelor of philosophy and bachelor of laws in 1888. He also afterward taught school for one year in the St. Joseph College, at Burlington, Vt. and in October, 1889, was admitted to the bar of that state and practiced his profession in Burlington three years. He came west, and on January 4, 1892, located in Eau Claire, where he has since carried on a successful practice of law. The first two years after coming to Eau Claire he was connected with the office of the late Thomas F. Frawley, and on February 1, 1894, became the first tenant in the Ingram Block where he has since had his office.
Mr. Singleton was married to Miss Ellen Francis, daughter of Patrick and Bridget (O'Brien) Gleason, of Cylon, St. Croix county, Wisconsin, and four children had been born to them, viz.: Joseph W., Jr., and Ellen Geraldine, twins; Lydia F. and Paul G. Mr. Singleton is a prominent member of St. Patrick's Church, the Catholic Knights of Columbus. He served as city attorney of Eau Claire from 1895 to 1897 and represented the Sixth Ward as alderman in the Common Council for six years, and was municipal judge for four years, and in politics is a democrat.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 291 - 292
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John E. Stillman settled in Eau Claire in its earliest days. He was the first teacher in the first public school. The building was erected in the village of Eau Claire in the winter of 1856-57. It was of green, rough boards, located on what is now Barstow street, near Grand avenue, East, and in dimension was 16 by 24 feet. As schoolmaster Mr. Stillman was succeeded the following summer by Miss Mary Arnold. At that time there were fifteen pupils. Later Mr. Stillman engaged in the practice of law. Served as county judge from 1863 to 1865.
In 1860 he married Miss Mary Lashier, of Fall River, Wis., to whom there were born three sons and two daughters. In 1872 he was practicing law under the firm name of Stillman & Edwards. In 1873, on account of ill health, he removed to Florida where, with other Eau Claire men, he helped establish the town of Orange City. In 1882 Mr. Stillman moved to Washington, D. C., where he resided for one year, then returning to Orange City. He died in 1883.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 285
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LaFayette M. Sturdevant, attorney-at-law, Eau Claire, Wis., was born in Warren county, Pennsylvania, September 17, 1856. His parents, Hiram N. and Sarah A. (Reed) Sturdevant, were both natives of the Keystone state and of Holland Dutch descent. In 1865 they came to Wisconsin and settled in Clark county, where the father purchased a 120-acre tract of land, to which he subsequently added 80 more acres, all of which he cleared and improved with substantial buildings and the land brought to a good state of cultivation. Here he made his home until his death in 1888 at the age of sixty-seven years. He reared a family of six children as follows: LaFayette M., Mary, wife of Amenzo Verbeck; James E., Arthur H., Fred F., and Almeda.
LaFayette M. was reared on the farm from the age of nine years, and grew to manhood in Clark county, receiving his education in the public schools, and taught school five terms in that county. At the age of 20, in 1876, he began the study of law in the office of his cousin, J. R. Sturdevant, at Neillsville, Wis., and was admitted to the bar in 1878, when he at once began the practice of his profession with L. A. Doolittle under the firm name of Doolittle & Sturdevant. At the end of two years, in 1880, he severed his connection with Mr. Doolittle and entered into partnership with J. R. Sturdevant, forming the well-known firm of Sturdevant & Sturdevant, which arrangement continued for eight years, when the partnership was dissolved, and from 1888 to 1903 Mr. Sturdevant practiced alone in Neillsville. In the latter year he was elected attorney general of the state, and re-elected in 1905. Finishing his second term in 1908, he became attorney for Governor Davidson, at Madison, holding that position until August, 1910, when he located at Eau Claire, where he has since been in active and successful practice of his profession as a member of the firm of Sturdevant & Farr.
Mr. Sturdevant has been twice married; his first wife was Minetta, daughter of Orson and Euretta (Hastings) Bacon, of Neillsville, Wis., by whom he had three children, viz.: Clarence L., Hugh H., and Viola E. The present Mrs. Sturdevant was Mary E. Williams, daughter of Peter Williams, of Camp Point, Ill.
In politics Mr. Sturdevant is a republican, and as such represented Clark county in the legislature for two terms and served the same county two terms as district attorney. He is a member of the Unitarian Church, Modern Woodsmen of America and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 288 - 289
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Andrew Judson Sutherland, one of the well known lawyers of Eau Claire, is a native son of Wisconsin, having been born in London, Dane county, this state, April 28, 1856. His parents, Andrew and Catherine (McVicar) Sutherland, who were natives of New Brunswick, Canada, settled in Eau Claire county in 1856, the same year our subject was born, and located in the town of Union, where the father purchased 240 acres of wild land, which he cleared and improved, making one of the banner farms of the township. He lived to the ripe age of 87 years, and died in 1909. His widow, mother of our subject, is now (1914) still living at the age of 90 years. They reared a family of nine children as follows: Christinia, married Angus McVicar; Peter, George, Charles, John, Andrew J., Flora M. (became the wife of Austin H. Langdell), Margaret and Neal Sutherland.
Mr. Sutherland was reared on the homestead farm, spending his boyhood days in much the same way as do most farmer boys, attending the district school and assisting in the farm work. Deciding to enter upon the career of a lawyer, he entered the law department of the State University, at Madison, and was graduated with the class of 1884. Soon after his graduation he opened an office in Eau Claire for the practice of his profession, in which he has since successfully continued.
On November 30, 1884, Mr. Sutherland married Mary Brown, daughter of Henry and ? (Baker) Brown, of Cambia county, Pennsylvania, and has four children, Mary Elsie, wife of Rollen Alcott; Laura Edith, Bessie Irene and Judson Clair. Mr. Sutherland is a member of the First Baptist Church, of which his mother is the only survivor of the original members. Politically Mr. Sutherland is a democrat. He was a candidate for Congress on the democratic ticket in 1914 for the tenth district.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 287 - 288
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George Clinton Teall was born in Seneca county, New York, May 20, 1840, and at the age of twelve removed with his parents to Geneva, N. Y., where he was principally educated. At the age of eighteen he entered Hobart College, in which he was a member of the class of 1862. His father, G. C. P. Teall, was a son of Nathan Teall, whose father was one of three political fugitives from the oppression of Switzerland, who settled in Connecticut about 1730. His grandfather, Nathan Teall, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War under General Knox. In 1792 this grandfather settled in Newtown, N. Y., which was afterward named Elmira. On the side of his father's mother the ancestors were among the Pilgrim Fathers who landed from the "Mayflower" at Plymouth in 1620, and her father was a colonel in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Teall studied law at Rochester, N. Y., in 1862-3-4 in the office of Hon. Theron R. Strong and Hon. Alfred G. Mudge, and also attended a course of lectures in the winter of 1863-4 at Rochester. In February, 1866, he came to Eau Claire with his family, and in April, 1867, was elected justice of the peace, and in January, 1868, was appointed county judge by Governor Fairchild. In the spring of 1869 he was elected his own successor and administered that office until January, 1874. He was from 1866 for several years interested in the mercantile firm of George C. Teall & Co., and from 1868 to 1873 was one of the firm of William A. Teall & Co., general insurance agents. He was admitted to the bar in Wisconsin at Milwaukee in January, 1872, and soon afterward to the supreme court and the United States courts at Madison. In 1873 he formed a partnership with Alexander Meggett and was a member of that law firm until the spring of 1881, when the firm was dissolved. In December, 1880, he was again appointed county judge by Governor Smith, and in 1881 was re-elected without opposition for the term ending January, 1886.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 281
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Levi M. Vilas, formerly of the Eau Claire bar, and at the time of his death judge of the district court of Ramsey county, Minnesota, was born February 17, 1844, at Chelsea, Orange county, Vermont. He completed his general education in the University of Wisconsin, from which he was graduated in 1863. His graduation from the Albany law school occurred in 1864, in which year he was admitted to the bar in New York. Returning to Madison, he engaged with his brother, William F., in the practice of the law for about one year, after which he went into the quartermaster's department of the army as chief clerk, remaining in that position two years. In 1868 he removed to Eau Claire, Wis., where he built up and maintained a large practice. He was elected to the office of city attorney in 1872, and mayor in 1876; district attorney in 1877 and 1879. Mr. Vilas removed from Eau Claire to St. Paul, Minn., in June, 1877. In less than two years after becoming a resident of St. Paul he was selected by the governor for judge of the district court of Ramsey county, which appointment was accepted and the duties of the office entered upon. But the worthy recipient of that honor was not long permitted to hold the scales of justice; disease even at the time he left Wisconsin had laid hold of him, and on August 25, 1889, he passed away at the family home at Madison.
Levi M. Vilas was an excellent lawyer. His standing in the profession was such as any member of the bar might envy; such as cannot be reached otherwise than by diligent application of a trained and strong mind. His manner of expression was marked; his style was his own - clear, terse and strong. His voice was strong, but musical. His appearance was prepossessing and indicated great strength.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 277 - 278
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Robert D. Whitford, attorney-at-law, was born in Jefferson county, New York, July 2, 1851, son of Edward W. and Clarinda (Odell) Whitford. Edward Whitford, paternal grandfather of Robert D., was for many years a resident of Rensselaer county, New York, and one of the pioneer farmers of Jefferson county, this state, where he settled in 1833 and died in 1862, aged 84 years. Robert S. Odell, the maternal grandfather, was a farmer of Rensselaer county, New York, where he died. The father of Mr. Whitford farmed for several years in Jefferson county, and later in Fayette county, Illinois, where he died in 1892.
Mr. Whitford was reared in his native county, coming to Wisconsin in 1869. He located at Milton. He took a classical course in Milton college, read law in the office of Bennett & Sale, at Janesville, and was admitted to the bar in November 1878, after which he located at Menomonie January 1, 1880. He practiced there until 1893, when he went to Superior, and on September 1, 1899, located at Eau Claire. He married September 4, 1882, Miss Anna Shaw West, a niece of the late Daniel Shaw, and they have two children.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," page 298
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Roy P. Wilcox has made an indelible impression on the public life of Eau Claire, and, as a lawyer, stands preeminently high. Through his seventeen years as an active attorney he has come to be recognized as one of the able practitioners of the bar of Wisconsin.
Roy P. Wilcox was born in the city of Eau Claire, June 30, 1873, and is the son of Nelson C. and Angeline (Tewkesbury) Wilcox. He is of English and Irish lineage and comes of one of the oldest families in America, the Wilcox ancestry dating back to early colonial days. He received his early education in the public schools of Eau Claire and then took a course in the law department of Cornell University, at Ithaca, N. Y., graduating in the class of 1897. One year previous to his graduation he had been admitted to the bar of Wisconsin, and immediately after leaving Cornell he began the practice of his profession in his native city. On September 1, 1897, he became a member of the law firm of Frawley, Bundy & Wilcox; since the death of the senior partner, July 1, 1902, the firm has been Bundy & Wilcox.
Mr. Wilcox has achieved success at a time in life when most men are fortunate if they have laid the foundation for success; and this has been accomplished by his own ability and energy, for he left college not only with exhausted resources, but with debts to pay. While his success has been due mainly to his legal abilities, he has shown a capacity for business that, of itself, would have made him a success in commercial affairs, and has been connected with some large projects that have been managed most admirably, notably the water power and utility properties formerly owned by the Chippewa Valley Railway, Light and Power Company, the values of which were greatly enhanced under the management of this company, of which he was one of the organizers.
On occasions Mr. Wilcox has been active in public affairs, but never as an official, nor obtrusively. For instance, Eau Claire was the first city in Wisconsin to adopt the commission form of government, and Mr. Wilcox was very distinctly connected with the movement that culminated in that result. He assisted in drafting the bill providing for government by commission in the cities of Wisconsin, and when the bill was introduced in the legislature he went to Madison and worked for its passage. Then, when the bill became law, he took the platform in Eau Claire to advocate the adoption of this form of government in his home city, and to his efforts is due, in no small degree, the fact that Eau Claire has its present satisfactory form of city government.
After this he was invited to other places to address the citizens on the new plan of managing civic affairs, with the result that the commission form of government was adopted in every city he visited, with two exceptions.
As a lawyer, Mr. Wilcox is both a wise counselor and an exceedingly able advocate, and his record as a trial lawyer has seldom been equaled. He has acted as attorney for railroads and other corporations for years, defending them against damage claims for injuries, losses, etc., and his success has been startling, considering that he has had to appear before juries on the unpopular side of every such case. He is a forcible, logical, impressive speaker, possessing forensic qualities of a high order, and a manifest honesty of purpose glowing in all his efforts makes him formidable as a pleader in any cause. During the last fifteen years his firm has appeared on one side or the other of most of the big legal cases in and around Eau Claire.
On June 17, 1903, Mr. Wilcox married Maria Louisa, daughter of Manuel and Clementina (Santander) de Freyre, of Lima, Peru, South America. They have two children, Louisa M. and Francis J.
Mr. Wilcox is prominently connected with St. Patrick's Catholic Church, of Eau Claire, the Knights of Columbus, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the American Bar Association and the Wisconsin Bar Association, of which he is a member of the committee on legal education.
-Transcribed from the "History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914," pages 293 - 295
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The foregoing list is not complete. We have endeavored to make it complete, but many who are now living at Eau Claire have neglected to furnish the proper data from which personal mention could be made, while some others have died, and still many others have moved away, and we have not been able with reasonable effort to reach them.
Among those omitted may be mentioned Texas Angel, Abel W. H. Frawley, Frank R. Farr, De Alton Thomas, A. C. Larson, A. H. Shoemaker, E. M. Bradford, Heman Day, T. F. Frawley Jr., V. W. James.