Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin - Chapter 10: The Bench and Bar, 1912

Chapter 10: The Bench and Bar

In establishing the territorial government of Wisconsin, congress provided for the division of the territory into three judicial districts, and for the holding of a district court by one of the justices of the supreme court in each district, two terms each year in each organized county in the district. The three judges were Charles Dunn, David Irvin and William C. Frazer. By an act of the terri¬ torial legislature, approved November 15, 1836, the counties of Brown and Mil¬ waukee, the territory now comprising Fond du Lac, being in the former, con¬ stituted the third district, which was assigned to Justice Frazer. By the Wis¬ consin territorial statutes of 1839, the counties of Brown, to which Fond du Lac was attached, Milwaukee and Racine, were placed in the third district, which was assigned to Justice Andrew G. Miller, who succeeded Judge Frazer upon the latter's death. As to all judicial matters, Fond du Lac county was detached from Brown county in 1844, but remained in the third district until the adoption of the state constitution in 1848. The first court therefore held within its limits was a territorial district court and the district courts were continued until super¬ seded by the state circuit courts, upon the admission of Wisconsin into the Union.

The first territorial district court for Fond du Lac county was held at the schoolhouse in Fond du Lac, June 5, 1844, with Judge Andrew G. Miller on the bench. Other officials of the court were Isaac Brown, clerk; George McWilliams and R. Aiken, LTnited States deputy marshals; John J. Driggs, sheriff ; Alonzo Raymond, bailiff; Thomas W. Sutherland, district attorney; and M. C. Darling, foreman of the grand jury.

The state constitution which was adopted in May, 1848, provided for five circuit courts and as many districts, and in the fourth district were placed the counties of Brown, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Winnebago and Calu¬ met. The first judge was Alexander P. Stow, who became the first chief justice of the state supreme court. In 1905, the eighteenth district was created and Chester A. Fowler was elected as the resident judge from Fond du Lac. The counties comprising the circuit are Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Marquette, Co¬ lumbia and Adams. The terms of court for Fond du Lac begin on the first Monday in February, first Monday in May, second Monday in September, and second Monday in November.

T 1 1 E Bench

Fhe fourth judicial circuit had for its hrst judge after the organization of the state, Alexander, W. Stow, of whom Morgan L. Martin, his life long and honored friend, wrote as follows: "Alexander W. Stow was born at Lowville, New York, February 5, 1805. His father, Silas Stow, was a prominent federal¬ ist in the early political struggles of that state, was chief justice of the county court, which made him the associate of the supreme judge at nisi prius, and for one term represented the district in congress. Fie was a man of superior ability and culture and possessed a fund of general knowledge which placed him in the front rank of the public men of his day. The son inherited much of the talent of the father. Judge Stow wras never a close student, but under the tute¬ lage of his father and the eminent men with whom he was brought into asso¬ ciation in early life he became, almost by tuition, an accomplished scholar.

''At the age of sixteen he was placed at the military academy, where he re¬ mained only a single year, and returned to enter his law office in his native vil¬ lage. In due time he was admitted to practice and formed a partnership with Hon. Justin Butterfield, late commissioner of the general land office, then resid¬ ing at Sacketts Harbor. That the superior ability of young Stow was fully ap¬ preciated by him may be inferred from a remark of his in 1826, that he 'had never known a man of superior constitutional powers.' A few years of routine practice, during a short respite from which he spent a few months in European travel, bring him to the time of his election as chief justice of our state.

"His eccentricities were many and peculiar. There were some by which his general character was judged of harshly and unfavorably by those little ac¬ quainted with him; there were many which should go far to redeem it from re¬ proach. He was peculiarly jealous of the independence of the judiciary, and would only accept a- position on the bench under a pledge not to serve a second term. It must be unincumbered by obligations of any character save such as appropriately attached to the office to maintain its dignity and to preserve its purity. If any attempt was made, by solicitation or otherwise, to influence him in the discharge of its duties, the act was indignantly rebuked or summarily punished. He was particularly cautious to avoid any influence of favoritism on the one hand, and equally so that his rulings upon the bench should be free from a taint of prejudice on the other.

"As presiding officer of the supreme court, his highest eulogium may be found in the opinions he pronounced during his short official term. They exhibit great comprehensiveness of thought ; are terse, excisive and pungent in diction, and furnish models of judicial composition. The common law is well defined as the common sense of mankind, and he imitated the virtues of the most eminent jurists by making it the broad foundation upon which his decisions were uni¬ formly based."

The late Chief Justice Ryan held a more favorable view of Judge Stow's ability than did Mr. Martin. He says that he did not know him before they met in Wisconsin. Thence till the Judge's death, the writer is proud to sav that they were intimate and fast friends. Knowing the Judge then, in the prime of his professional life, the writer finds it difficult to believe that the late chief justice had not been at some time a close and extensive student. His acquaintance with books, in and out of the line of professional reading, was varied and extensive. He might have been called almost a scholar in general literature and he most surely was one in professional learning. He was one of the best, if not the very best, common lawyer whom the writer has ever met. He was not one of those to whom the common law was a fragmentary confusion of disjointed rules. He had mastered not only its details but the history out of which it grew. And his vigorous and broad mind grasped it as a system in its full spirit and comprehended the mutual relations and symmetry of all its parts. He well understood that it is not a mere system of municipal law, but that it is, with all its blemishes, the noblest code of personal rights which the world has ever known ; which educates men in free and self-reliant manhood, and which has done more than all written systems or constitutions for the freedom of the nations who are blessed in its possession. Judge Stow was certainly an accomplished common lawyer.

In the learning of modern decisions, the multitudinous reports of the last quarter of a century or more, which perplex too many of us with bewildering variety of rule, Judge Stow could not be said to be a scholar. He was not a case lawyer ; but he was a better lawyer than mere case learning can make. The fundamental principles which underlie all sound judicial decisions were familiar to him and mainly guided his judgments. The common law was his judicial creed. And there is a soundness of judgment, a strength of sense, a massive¬ ness of reasoning, and a manliness of language in his opinions, which are not at¬ tained in the study of modern reports ; which none of his successors have ex¬ celled, if, indeed, any of them have equaled. He held the scales of justice with a strong but nice hand. His opinions are very generally sound in matter and really admirable in manner. He owed this partly to his common law, partly to the strength of his character, and the energy, accuracy and justice of his intel¬ lect.

For his character was singularly solid and firm, and his faculties were of high order. There were indeed occasional eccentricities in his thinking as well as in his acting. Making some allowance for these, he was surely a great man in¬ tellectually. The writer doubts if he ever knew an abler. His views were always vigorous, often profound, and generally discriminating and just. He was in¬ deed a man of strong prejudices, but these rarely, if ever, influenced him on the bench ; never consciously. He loved truth for truth's sake, with intense love. He loved justice for itself, with natural and professional devotion. Many dis¬ liked the man, but none ever doubted the judge. He revered the judicial office ; and while he held it, he made all men respect it. He had a high sense of judicial dignity and authority; and there was no trifling with the court in which he presided. On the bench he looked what he was, a great judge.

He was strongly opposed, on principle, to elective judiciary. He believed that the system had a tendency to make judges representatives of the popular will. He feared that it had a tendency to make judges court favor on the bench. This led him. when solicited to be a candidate at the first judicial election, to declare that, if elected once, he would not suffer himself to be reelected. He chose to place the judicial office in his keeping above suspicion. The system was then untried; and he failed to give due consideration to the self-respect and pro¬ fessional pride which raise all ht for office above the mean ambition of keeping it by sinking into unfitness for it. He would have been reelected after his brief term, but for his own truth to his own promise to himself. That honorable but mistaken pledge cost the state a great judge; how great his short judicial service can only indicate. He is now comparatively unknown and unappreciated.

A longer judicial career would undoubtedly have placed him in the front rank of American judges. With all our boast of the present, judicial eminence is not what it was. And thoughts of him and of those who preceded and followed him in his place in this court, and who honored it as he did, Dunn, Whiton and Dixon, make the present writer feel of himself,

Judge Stow left the bench after some two and a half years' service; and lived in private some five or six years, never again resuming his profession. He died with the deep respect of the profession throughout the state.-

He was not a man of many attachments, but all his affections were faithful and lasting. Those only who knew him well, knew that beneath an outside rarely gentle and often harsh, he had a generous and noble nature and led a life of genuine kindness and consideration for all whom he honored with his intimacy. He was perhaps deficient in some of the gentler qualities of our nature. But none of his peculiarities arose from mean or false qualities. There was nothing small in his nature. All his eccentricities were excesses of strength. A high integrity pervaded his whole character. He bore to his grave the profound regard of all who were happy enough to know him as he really was. And the present writer gives feeble expression to his sense of Judge Stow's excellence by this crude and hasty reminiscence of a good man and just judge.

Mr. Bryant has collected some anecdotes of Judge Stow which were pub¬ lished in his contribution to the Green Bag. The Judge was long remembered in Madison, where he presided as chief justice, by his tastes, so strange to the western people. He had acquired in foreign travel the taste for game well "ripened." It was told with disgust that the chief justice required his prairie chickens to hang out of his bedroom window till the legs and bills were green, and the feathers rubbed off by a stroke of the hand, and the odor told of decay before he would allow them to be cooked. He was a proud man and stood upon his dignity. It is told that he had a client, one Captain B., who had been an officer in the British service, and being a man of wealth, had settled in Wiscon¬ sin. He was a little peremptory in his bearing, yet he and Stow were warm friends, and the latter was his trusted counsel. One day Captain B. rode up to * the door of Stow's office and, not wishing to dismount, which was something of a task to a man of his bulk and years, he called to Stow through the open door : "Judge Stow, come out here a moment." The lawyer, offended by the brusque¬ ness of manner and dominating air, which had often nettled him before, sung

Another anecdote is told of this jurist. One of his cases decided at the cir¬ cuit had been reversed by the supreme court, of which he was chief justice. The remittitur confronted him at the circuit, and he was reminded that his decision was reversed. "Then," said he, "I have only one other decision to make, and that is, that the supreme court are consummate blockheads."

Judge Stow came to Wisconsin from Rochester, New York, in 1845, and settled at Fond du Lac, purchasing a farm at or near Taycheedah. He main¬ tained a law office at Milwaukee. He was never married and died in Milwaukee, September 14, 1854.

Timothy Otis Howe

The basis of the enviable fame connected with the name and memory of Timothy O. Howe is political rather than judicial. For long years he stood the idol of his party in Wisconsin and the object of the respect of all the people of the state. Indeed, his fame was national. His ability as a lawyer and judge has been obscured by the lasting success won by him in the political world.

Mr. Howe was born in Livermore, Maine, February 24, 1816. His father practiced medicine in a rural district. Besides such advantages as the common schools afforded, he spent some time at a grammar school ; at eighteen he at¬ tended the Maine Wesleyan Seminary and at twenty was prepared for college His hope for a collegiate education was not realized. Instead of going to col¬ lege he began to read law, and at the age of twenty-three located at Readfield, Vermont, for the purpose of practicing his profession. Among those then there and practicing law was Lot M. Morrill, afterward Mr. Howe's compeer in the senate. Presumably his experience as a young lawyer was much the same as that of those who enter the profession in these days. In 1842 he was an unsuc¬ cessful candidate for the nomination for the office of clerk of the court ,of the county of his residence, and in 1843, though nominated for that office, was unsuccessful. In 1845 was elected a member of the popular branch of the legislature as a whig. It is said that he there "took a prominent part as a de¬ bater beside the late William Pitt Fessenden, the recognized leader of the house."

In 1845 he came to Wisconsin, settling at Green Bay, where he opened a law office and ever after resided. In 1848 he was the whig candidate for congress, but failed of election. In 1850 he was elected judge of the fourth circuit, and in January, 1851, took his seat as a justice of the supreme court and acted in that capacity until 1853. He resigned his seat on the circuit bench in 1855 and resumed the practice of the law, which he continued till 1861, when he was chosen United States senator. In 1855 he made an excellent reputation as a "stump speaker" for the newly organized republican party, and in 1856 added largely to his reputation as a lawyer by his argument in the case involving the right of the respective contestants before the people to the office of governor. The fact that he was retained in that case, which called forth the best efforts of J. E. Arnold, H. S. Orton, M. H. Carpenter, J. H. Knowlton and E. G. Ryan, closes the door to any question of his professional standing. Mr. Howe might have been elected to the senate of the United States in 1857 but for the fact that he had taken strong ground in opposition to the states' rights views which were then predominant in the republican party, but he preferred defeat to any modifi¬ cation of his opinions and saw himself fully vindicated by the acceptance of his Views a little later. He was reelected to the senate in 1867 and again in 1873, each time without the formality of a caucus. At the end of eighteen years of service in that body lie was defeated by Matthew H. Carpenter in 1879. Mr. I lowe's other public service included a commissionership for the purchase of t he Black Hills territory from the Indians, membership in the international monetary conference held in Paris in 1881, and a seat in the cabinet of Presi¬ dent Arthur, as postmaster general which he took in January, 1882. His death occurred March 25, 1883. It was generally understood that during the second presidential term of General Grant, Judge Howe was tendered the appointment of chief justice of the supreme court of the United States, that he put aside the honor because the legislature of his state was democratic, and his successor would therefore be of that faith.

William R. C.Orsline

William R. Gorsline was judge of the fourth circuit from 1855 until July 1, 1858, succeeding Timothy O. Howe. He was born in Manlius, Onondaga county, New York, June 28, 1823. In early childhood he was left an orphan, but re^ ceived, through the care of an uncle, an academic education in his native town. His study of the law was also begun there. In 1844 he removed to Milwaukee and completed his legal studies in the office of Francis Randall. The following year he opened a law office in Sheboygan, and during that year and 1846 was register of deeds of Sheboygan county. In 1850 and 1851 he was county judge. April 3, 1855, he was elected to the circuit bench to fill the unexpired term of Judge Howe, and in 1856 he was reelected for a full term, but served only until July, 1858, when he resigned for the purpose of going to Colorado.

Reaching Colorado, he began the practice of the law and continued therein until i860, when President Buchanan appointed him one of the district judges, a position to which President Johnson reappointed him. During 1867, 1868 and 1869 he was a justice of the supreme court of Colorado territory. The opinions filed by him are contained in the first volume Colorado reports. On the admis¬ sion of that territory into the Union he resumed the practice of his profession in Denver, where he died March 3, 1879. Judge Gorsline was succeeded by David Taylor, whose term of service covered .the years 1858 to 1869.

David Taylor

David Taylor was born at Carlisle, Schoharie county, New York March 11, 1818. On his father's side he was of Irish ancestry; on his mother's of Dutch descent. He was graduated from Union College in 1841, and admitted to the bar at Cobbleskill, New York, in 1844, where he practiced law two years. In February, 1846, he arrived in the territory of Wisconsin, and after looking over Milwaukee and Green Bay, determined to settle at Sheboygan. He became a member of the firm of Taylor & Hiller in July, 1846. He faithfully and ac¬ ceptably discharged the duties connected with local offices and served one term as district attorney of Sheboygan county. In 1853 he was elected to the popular branch of the legislature and in 1854 was chosen a state senator, serving in the sessions of 1855 and 1856, and was again elected to the senate after ten years' service as circuit judge, sitting in that body in 1869 and 1870. His second election as senator occurred in November, 1868, when he was circuit judge, his term as such not expiring until December 31, and his term as senator beginning on the next day. Under this state of facts and the provision of section 10, article 7, of the constitution that ''Each of the judges of the supreme and cir¬ cuit courts shall receive a salary, payable quarterly, of not less than one thou¬ sand five hundred dollars annually ; they shall receive no fees of office or other compensation than their salaries ; they shall hold no office of public trust, ex¬ cept a judicial office, during the time for which they are respectively elected, and all votes for either of them for any office except a judicial office, given by the legislature or the people, shall be void," it was contended by Judge Taylor's op¬ ponent that he was ineligible and his right to a seat in the senate was contested. The question was referred to the judiciary committee, a majority of which re¬ ported that they were of the opinion that the last clause of the section quoted "was only intended to give force to the prohibition contained in the first clause, and not to add a new or further prohibition, and that its effect is the same as though it read 'and all votes given for either of them for any office to be held during the term of his judicial office shall be void.' " This view was sustained by a vote of eighteen against eight.

A. M. Blair has said of Judge Taylor as a legislator that "he was quiet, care¬ ful and attentive, looking up all questions thoroughly ; never aggressive, never in search of new ways to pay old debts, but looking after defects in the old law and devising a new way to make the old better, instead of taking a new way to accomplish the same thing. He endeavored to understand everything, and to favor nothing he did not understand. He was not a brilliant member of either house. - In his first session his merits were not appreciated or perhaps not per¬ ceived. The first and third sessions of the legislature in which he served were active and stirring ones. In the first a trial by impeachment of Judge Hubbell was held, and in the third there was during its session a trial to ascertain who was the legal governor. The deceased took no special part in either."

Judge Taylor's judicial career began in 1857 on his appointment by Governor Bashford to the judgeship of the fourth circuit to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge William R. Gorsline. He was elected to fill the unex¬ pired portion of the term, and upon its expiration was chosen for a full term, thus extending his service as circuit judge until January 1, 1869, having failed of reelection the previous April. Campbell McLean was his successor. The mem¬ orial of the bar of the supreme court, prepared by W. H. Seaman, S. U. Pinney, W. C. Silverthorn, F. C. Winkler and Elihu Colman, expressed that during his service on the circuit bench Judge Taylor earned wide reputation for judicial ability.

On his retirement from the bench Judge Taylor resumed the practice of the law at Sheboygan, remaining there until 1872, when he removed to Fond du Lac and entered into partnership with J. M. Gillet and subsequently with George E. Sutherland. His practice was large and increased up to the time of his election as associate justice of the supreme court.

In 1857 the legislature provided for the appointment of commissioners "to collect, compile and digest the general laws of the state" for publication. The governor appointed David Taylor, Samuel J. Todd and F. S. Lovell to perform that work. The result was the revised statutes of 1858. By 1871 Judge Taylor had prepared and there was published "The revised statutes of the state of Wis- consin, as altered and amended by subsequent legislation ; together with the unrepealed statutes of a general nature passed from the time of the revision of 1858 to the close of the legislature of 1871, arranged in the same manner as the statutes of 1858; with references showing the time of the enactment of each sec¬ tion, and also references to judicial decisions in relation to and explanatory of the statutes." The preparation of this work (there being two volumes, aggregat¬ ing more than two thousand two hundred pages) was a great undertaking, re¬ quiring patient industry and the closest application. These statutes came into general use and were known as "Taylor's Statutes.'' They were so satisfactory to the bench and bar that when, in 1875, the legislature provided for a new re¬ vision of the statutes Judge Taylor, with William F. Vilas and j. P. C. Cottrill, was designated by the justices of the supreme court to prepare a bill for that purpose. The result of the labors of these gentlemen and Messrs. Harlow S. Orton and J. FI. Carpenter, who, two years later, were selected to assist them, was the revised statutes of 1878. Judge Taylor served as the president of this commission.

In 1877 an amendment to the constitution was adopted increasing the num¬ ber of justices of the supreme court from three to five. By an understanding reached between the republican and democratic members of the legislature the additional members of the court thus provided for were to be taken one from each of these parties ; and a caucus of each party was held by members of the legislature for the purpose of selecting the candidates of each. The republican caucus, by a very close vote, chose Judge Taylor as its candidate, the leading candidate in opposition to him being William E. Carter, then of the Grant county bar, now a practitioner in Milwaukee. In April, 1878, Judge Taylor was elected without opposition as an associate justice of the supreme court and drew the short term of eight years, Harlow S. Orton drawing the ten-year term. Both sat on the bench of the supreme court for the first time, April 18, 1878. At the expiration of his term Judge Taylor was reelected without opposition for the ten years ending in January, 1896. His first written opinion is reported on page 49 of the 44th volume Wisconsin reports, and his last in volume 79, page 471 ; so that his labors in the supreme court are represented by thirty-six volumes of its reports. He prosecuted his labors almost without interruption up to the 3d of April, 1891, without any diminution of his powers, and in the after¬ noon of that day, after working as was his wont, went to his home and within an hour or so was dead.

On the 3d of June, 1891, formal proceedings were had in the supreme court in commemoration of the life of Judge Taylor. Addresses were made bv W. H. Seaman, who presented the memorial of the bar of that court. William F. Vilas, A. M. Blair and Charles E. Estabrook.

Campbell McLean, who succeeded David Taylor on the bench, was a native of Washington county, New York. In his childhood his family removed to Clinton county, New York, where he received an academic education. His legal education was obtained in the office of George A. Simmons, at Keeseville, in his native state, where he was admitted to the bar. In 1-856 he came to V isconsin and in October of that year located at Fond du Lac. In 1862 he was a member of the assembly. In April, 1868, he was elected judge of the fourth circuit and six years later was reelected, serving in that office until January 1, 1881. In the spring of 1882 he removed to Plattsburgh, Clinton county, New York.

Norman S. Gilson

Judge Norman S. Gilson, who in 1898 declined to be a candidate for reelec¬ tion to the judgeship of the fourth judicial circuit for the fourth term, is one of the well known jurists in the state. He was born on the Western Reserve in Ohio in 1839. He taught school in his native state in 1859-60, and early in 1861 entered the law office of his uncle, the late Leander F. Frisby, of West Bend. The breaking out of the Civil war interrupted his law studies, and in September, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company D, Twelfth Wisconsin Infantry, and was soon promoted to sergeant major of the regiment, the Twelfth at that time doing service in Missouri and Kansas. The regiment was soon after transferred to the army of the Tennessee, and for a time he was on detached duty with the staff of General Robert B. Mitchell. He remained with the army until the cap¬ ture of Jackson, Mississippi, in July, 1863. In the following August he was commissioned first lieutenant of Company H, Fifty-eighth Regiment United States Colored Infantry. He was rapidly promoted to the position of adjutant and finally became lieutenant colonel of the regiment. He took part in the seige of Vicksburg and in the battles of Jackson and Perryville and several other prominent engagements.

Colonel Gilson served on the staff of Major General Davidson, and was as¬ signed to duty as judge advocate of the Natchez district. In 1865-66 he was judge advocate of the department of the Mississippi, serving at the time on the staffs of Major General Osterhaus and Major General Thomas J. Wood. Al¬ though his regiment was mustered out of service in 1865, Colonel Gilson was retained on duty for more than a year afterwards by the direction of the sec¬ retary of war on account of being judge advocate of the court martial convened for the trial of Captain Speed for criminal carelessness in overloading the steamer Sultana, whereby the lives of eleven hundred paroled prisoners of war were lost. Colonel Gilson had the honor of thus appearing for the government in the most important military trial held on the Mississippi during the war. He was mustered out of service June 12, 1866, at Vicksburg, and was brevetted colonel of United States volunteers by President Johnson for the efficiency and faithfulness with which he discharged all the duties devolving upon him, thus retiring from the army at the end of nearly five years of constant service with a record creditable alike to his ability, his valor and his patriotism.

Colonel Gilson returned to Wisconsin to reengage in his law studies, which included a full course at the Albany school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1867. At the same time he was admitted to the supreme court of New York. He then opened an office in Fond du Lac, and at once was recognized as a conscientious and well read lawyer, which soon brought him popularity and a large practice. In 1874 he was elected city attorney of Fond du Lac, and after one year of service was elected district attorney. Occupying a conspicuous position at the bar, he was an easy candidate for the judgeship of the fourth judicial circuit, and received the democratic nomination in March, 1880, and was elected by over 8,000 majority. He was reelected without opposition in 1886 and again in 1892. Among the notable murder cases tried in Manitowoc county were Anna Straka for the death of Miss Hayward; George Ratksack for killing his wife with an ax; and Louisa Schroeder for poisoning her husband; in She¬ boygan county, that of William Gaedeke for shooting his brother; Peter Deegen for shooting a tenant on his farm in Ozaukee county. William Morris, charged with shooting a young lady in Manitowoc county, was one of widespread inter¬ est, and was tried by counsel of great zeal and ability ; the evidence was all cir¬ cumstantial and Morris was acquitted. In Fond du Lac county the following persons were tried for murder: John P. Hoffman, George Seayer and Herman Sass, a hired man, for killing his employer; besides many other cases of homi¬ cide.

In 1881 Robert A. Baker, a banker of Fond du Lac county, failed. He was charged with receiving deposits, knowing that he was insolvent. General Bragg aDDlied for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that the statute was invalid. Judge Gilson refused to discharge Baker, and on an appeal to the supreme court the act was held valid, which was the first decision on that point in the state.

In 1887 John Jacob Hoffmann, pastor of St. Peter's Lutheran Unity church of Sheboygan, with his wife and children, were forcibly ejected from the par¬ sonage by members of the church. Innumerable suits of every nature followed. For several terms Hoffmann's troubles occupied a large share of the time. He hired and discharged one lawyer after another until he was without an attorney and compelled to manage his own affairs. He was present every morning at the opening of court with some sort of a motion, and if permitted would talk indefinitely.

He filed charges or brought actions against every one who came within the range of the church difficulties. In his opinion one or two of the attorneys ought to have been disbarred, and, because Judge Gilson did not agree with him, he brought action against the Judge for damages, which was dismissed by Judge Sloan, after a trial. The bell of the church was cast out of a cannon contributed by Count Yon Moltke. Since the church war subsided the church has burned and the bell has gone to the junk shop.

During Judge Gilson's term a great number of civil suits were tried, many of them involving large and important interests, and requiring decisions in every branch of the law.

Michael Icirwan

Michael Kirwan was born in Ireland in 1847, but came to Wisconsin in 1849 and located in Manitowoc county in 1855. He was brought up on a farm, edu¬ cated in the public schools and taught therein for several years. He served as county superintendent of schools for Manitowoc county from 1870 to 1875, and for the third term was nominated by both political parties and elected without opposition. In 1874 he became a member of the state board of examiners for teachers' certificates and in 1876 was elected secretary of the state teachers' asso¬ ciation. He decided to enter the practice of law and was admitted to the bar in 1878. In that year he was nominated by both political parties for the office of county judge of Manitowoc county, was elected without opposition and held that office until 1882. From 1890 to 1896 he was a member of the board of regents of normal schools of Wisconsin. He was elected in April, 1898, as a non¬ partisan candidate to the office of circuit judge of the fourth judicial circuit of Wisconsin, receiving 13,228 votes against 8,280 votes for A. C. Prescott, also a non-partisan candidate.

Edward S. Bragg

Edward S. Bragg was born in Unadilla, Otsego county, New York, on the 20th day of February, 1827. His father's name was Joel Bragg. He was born in the town of Paulett, Rutland county, Vermont, February 26, 1784, and was of English descent and Revolutionary stock.

Joel Bragg's father died when he was twelve years old and the young boy went into the then wilderness of the state of New York to seek his fortune. He found a habitation after a good deal of wandering about, in the upper part of the Chenango valley in that state, where he commenced his life, having for com¬ panions Indians and early settlers. From this start he grew to be a man re¬ spected by all who knew him for his sound judgment, his probity and integrity, inflexible determination, energy and untiring industry. He was wholly selfmade, without the benefit of any education except such as he taught himself. He was a clear, sound thinker, and possessed an acute and incisive intellect, which made him a natural lawyer, but he never essayed to practice, but followed farming, milling and lumbering for his calling in life. He died at his home in Unadilla, on the 10th day of January, 1870 - not from disease, but because his mortal machinery was worn out.

Margaretha Kohl, a German by birth, was Joel Bragg's wife, and mother of Edward S. Bragg. She was born in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1787, and was given a good, practical education by her parents. She was married to Joel Bragg, in the city of Baltimore, at St. Paul's church, October 16, 1822. She was a good wife and an afifectionate, devoted and indulgent mother, generous and hospitable and with energy and industry, which carried her fully abreast with her husband in the accomplishment of the purposes which he under¬ took. She died at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, February 23, 1871.

There were born as the fruits of this marriage five children - four sons and one daughter. All of the boys, except Edward S. died without issue, and with his decease the family name of this branch of the family has become extinct.

Edward S. Bragg, the subject of this memoir, at the early age of twelve years selected the law as the profession which he intended to follow, and was educated with express reference thereto. His early education, covering the rudiments of a practical education, were received at the district school, and closed in his twelfth year. From that time he was taught, preparatory for a college course, in four of the most celebrated academies of that day in that section of New York - at Oxford, Chenango county: at Delhi, Delaware county; at Franklin, in Delaware county ; and at Gilbertsville, in Otsego county. In 1844 he was ad¬ mitted to the freshman class in Geneva (now Hobart) college, New York, which institution conferred upon him, June 22, 1898, the degree of LL. D. He remained there, following the course of study in the curriculum until the summer of 1847, when he closed his college career and entered the law office of Judge Charles C. Noble, at Unadilla, in the state of New York, from whom he had secured the right to a chair in his office at the early age of twelve years, by personal negotia¬ tion.

In 1848 lie was admitted to the bar of the state of New York, upon an open court examination. He came to Wisconsin in 1850 and opened a law office at Fond du Lac, where he remained until his death. On the 2d day of January, 1854, he married Cornelia Colman, a granddaughter of Colonel Nathaniel Roch¬ ester, one of the founders of the city of Rochester, New York, which was named for him.

Six children were born of this marriage - three sons and three daughters. Two of the sons, Harry Sweet and Rochester, died in childhood ; William Kohl died at the age of twenty-one after graduation with honor at the Pennsylvania military academy. The eldest daughter, Kate Colman, married Clarence W. Henry, and died October 18, 1895, at the age of forty-one. The second daughter, Margaret, married Frank H. Sherman, a lieutenant in the United States navy; both are still living and they have two children, Edward Bragg Sherman and Helen Leslie Sherman. The third daughter, Bertha, married George Percival Scriver, now a major in the United States army, both of whom are living, and have two children, Elizabeth and Catharine.

The subject of this memoir occupied in civil and political life the following positions: District attorney of Fond du Lac county in 1854; delegate to the national democratic convention at Charleston in i860; delegate to the union na¬ tional convention at Philadelphia in 1866; delegate to the union sailors' national convention, New York, in 1868; senator from Fond du Lac district, 1867- 69; and was appointed seriatim, assessor of internal revenue and postmaster at Fond du Lac, by President Johnson, in 1867, each of which appointments the senate of the United States refused to confirm because of the belief in and ad¬ herence to the democratic faith for which the appointee was noted. He was elected four times a member of congress from the district in which he lived, as a democrat. His service in that body covered the forty-fifth, forty-sixth, fortyseventh and forty-ninth congresses. In February, 1888, he was appointed min¬ ister to Mexico by President Cleveland, and served in that capacity until the ad¬ ministration was changed.

General Bragg was always a democrat of the old school. He was a delegate to the democratic national convention at Baltimore in 1872 ; chairman of the Wis¬ consin delegation in the democratic convention at Chicago in 1884, and again in 1896; and a delegate to the democratic national convention at Chicago in 1892.

General Bragg never made the acquaintance of Mr. Fear; indeed, he knew of his existence only because of his observation, not from personal experience. He was plain spoken and called things by their right names. No party label was ' ever strong enough to hold him in party line when he believed that the best inter¬ ests of his state and nation were hostile to the proposed action. A late and con¬ vincing proof of this was afforded by his action in the last presidential election, when he actively opposed the nominees of the national convention of the dem¬ ocratic partv.

The editor acknowledges his obligations to Messrs. William P. Lyon and Charles E. Dyer for their estimates of General Bragg as a lawyer, and fully

"Prominent in the list of names of those lawyers of Wisconsin who have honored the state by their ability, brilliancy and fidelity to professional obliga¬ tions, will be found the name of Edward S. Bragg, who for nearly half a cen¬ tury, has been a central figure in the state and federal courts.

"Before General Bragg commenced practice he had acquired an unusually thorough knowledge of the elementary principles of the law, and on that solid foundation, by continued and well-directed study and thought, inspired by pro¬ found love of his profession and appreciation of its true dignity, he has become one of the great lawyers of the country. Although he has served with conspicu¬ ous ability in the halls of congress, and with equally conspicuous gallantry and patriotism as a soldier during the late war of the rebellion, and although he has given his service freely to promote the success of the political party with which he is identified, and in the councils of which he exerts a commanding influence, he has never ceased to make knowledge and successful pursuit of his profession the paramount business of his life. Comparatively few have such a record for professional fidelity, and fewer still for professional success.

''General Bragg has not only a strong, clear, analytical mind, which enables him readily to grasp and retain legal principles, but he also possesses the much rarer ability - indispensable to greatness whether as a lawyer or judge - to cor¬ rectly apply those principles to the facts of each case as they may be established by the evidence. He also excels in the ability, so essential to a lawyer's success, to make a clear and logical statement of such facts to the court or jury. Many a meritorious case has been lost because of an imperfect or bungling statement of facts, but it would be a surprise to the bench and bar of Wisconsin to learn that General Bragg had lost one for such a reason.

"In the speeches and writings of General Bragg little mere rhetorical orna¬ mentation is found, and no straining for effects. As a speaker, he is pleasing, calm and convincing, and always commands marked attention. His style is terse and vigorous, and he excels in logical power. Indeed, his premises granted, it is difficult, usually impossible, to escape his conclusions. It is not easy to deter¬ mine in which forum - the trial or appellate court - he is strongest, but whether in one or the other his arguments are always learned and sincere, and hence are valuable aids to the formation of correct judgment. This is the true func¬ tion of argument.

"It may be properly said in conclusion that General Bragg is a most consistent and faithful exponent and practitioner of true legal ethics. This is the rock upon which his reputation and all enduring professional reputations are builded. When the next generation shall make up the roll of great lawyers who lived and flourished in Wisconsin during the first half century of its existence as a state, it is confidently believed that the name of General Bragg will have thereon a prominent and honorable place."

"To General E. S. Bragg has long been deservedly accorded a position of leadership in the ranks of the legal profession. His prominent identification with the bar of the state began at an early period and has continued without interruption, whether actively connected with professional work at home or en- gaged in the public service of his country as soldier, legislator, or national rep¬ resentative abroad. No more brilliant galaxy of lawyers ever adorned the pro¬ fessional annals of a state than that in which he may justly claim equal mem¬ bership in high and meritorious service. Surviving many eminent contempo¬ raries, he continues to maintain a rank and reputation in the profession which no rivalship in the past or present has been adequate to abate. Nature endowed him with the qualities of a great lawyer. Born and bred to the law as the bird to the air, his equipment for the profession is as natural as it is efficient and complete. Instant in discernment, vigorous in thought and apt in expres¬ sion, forensic discussion becomes with him playful enjoyment in comparison with the labored efforts of those not possessed of aptitude for debate. Grounded thoroughly in fundamental principles and in the best learning of the law, he naturally and instantly distinguishes what is superficial from what is sound, and repudiating the former, takes his stand on the solid ground of elementary principle and logical reasoning, rather than on the dictum of some chance au¬ thority easily invoked, in support of fallacious argument. To such a lawyer, Richard Tidd is better authority than shelves of modern books of Practice and Pleading.

"By genuine right of natural possession must be accorded to General Bragg the qualities of the true, competent and accomplished lawyer. When he pro¬ mulgates a legal principle, whether of application or construction, he gives no false or uncertain sound. Sharp, clear, concise, apt in statement, his conclu¬ sions always follow his premises in good marching order. He fights in a trial at nisi prius as he fought on the battlefield, with courage, sincerity, singleness of purpose and tenacity. Nothing escapes or eludes him. If struck, he strikes back with ease and celerity, and never loses his self-command. Pertinent in illustration, quick in repartee, clear and cogent in argument, he never loses sight of the controlling question or the main point in the case. He never shoots at random, but always at the mark. That is one of his distinguishing character¬ istics. His fire is never scattering, but always concentrated.

"Broad in his knowledge of general literature as in that of the law, and rich in abundant accumulations, carefully stored in a faithful memory, but kept ready for instant use as occasion requires, he is as delightful in conversation and com¬ panionship as he is dexterous, able and accomplished at the bar. His reputation is national. Wisconsin takes just pride in his career as lawyer, legislator, soldier and civilian. His name is associated with deeds of valor. His fellows say of him, he could not be Bragg if he were not brave. Yet his tenderness of heart was most touchingly illustrated when, during a visit at one of the charitable in¬ stitutions of the state, a lady asked him to tell a war story to an audience of orphan children, and he replied : T can face a cannon, but truly, have not the courage and cannot trust myself to speak to these orphan children.' "

General Bragg's military career has been sketched by colonel Rufus R. Dawes, brevet brigadier general, of Marietta, Ohio, who was next in rank to him in the same command during their four years of service :

"Immediately after the firing upon Fort Sumter Edward S. Bragg began the enlistment of a military company at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Plis commis¬ sion as captain bears the date of May 5, 1861, and his company was assigned to the Sixth Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. The company was des- ignated in the line of battle as Company E. The regiment joined the army of the Potomac in July, 1861. Captain Bragg was promoted to fill the first vacancy among the field officers of the regiment and his commission as major is dated September 17, 1861. He was again promoted to be lieutenant colonel on June 21, 1862. Up to this time the regiment had not been engaged in battle. This year of preparation in camp and on the march had brought the command to a high standard of efficiency, and the men fretted with an impatient zeal for the experience of an actual battle service. General Irwin McDowell, himself an accomplished, exacting soldier, then commanding the army corps, said of the Wisconsin troops : 'Many times I have shown them to foreign officers of distinction as specimens of American volunteer soldiers, and asked them if they had ever anywhere seen, even among the picked soldiers of the royal and imperial guards, a more splendid body of men ? and I have never heard an affirmative answer.'

"The first actual contact with the enemy is known as the Fredericks Hall Raid, an expedition sent out to cut the Virginia Central railroad and obstruct the passage of ammunition and supplies to General Lee's army, then advancing against General Pope. Colonel Bragg was second in command, and the leading spirit in the accomplishment of a complete success of this expedition.

"From August 20th to 27th, 1862, the regiment was engaged in skirmishing and supporting artillery. Colonel Bragg was at his post and received his bap¬ tism of fire, but on the evening of August 28th began our real experience in battle in the bloody engagement known as the battle of Gainesville.

Here our brigade lost one thousand men killed and wounded. In the midst of action our colonel, Lysander Cutler, was shot and severely wounded, and Lieutenant Colonel Bragg succeeded to the command of the regiment and gal¬ lantly led it throughout the struggle. Immediately afterward occurred the battle of Bull Run the Second. During the two days of engagement with the enemy Colonel Bragg commanded the regiment. After this weary and depressing week of hardship and defeat, while we rested for a day in camp, Colonel Bragg was invited by his fellow citizens to come home and run for congress on the union ticket. His answer was, 'I will run for congress on the union ticket, but I can¬ not leave my regiment in times like these.'

"The next engagement with the enemy was in the battle of South Mountain, September 14, 1862. In the ascent of the steep and snowy slope Colonel Bragg commanded and led the regiment. His ability as a leader of men in battle was nowhere better illustrated than upon this field. The action was under the eye of the commander of our army, George B. McClellan, and in describing the con¬ duct of the Wisconsin regiments he used this language : 'I have seen them under fire acting in a manner that reflects the highest possible credit and honor upon themselves and their state. They are equal to the best troops in any army in the world.' On the 17th of September, while leading his men in an early morn¬ ing attack by General Hooker's corps in the battle of Antietam, Colonel Bragg was shot and severely wounded. He mastered his weakness and charged to the front of the right wing of the regiment to save the men from the destructive fire of the enemy. This accomplished, he fell unconscious upon the ground. He was speedily taken up and carried in a shelter tent taken from the shoulders of one of the soldiers to a place of safety. We feared that his wound had dis- abled him, but later in the clay the men of the regiment were astonished to see their commander, whose wound had been attended to, coming out to again take his place in the line of battle.

"At Fredericksburg, Colonel Bragg commanded the regiment. On March 24. 1863, he was promoted to be colonel of the regiment. On April 29th, pre¬ liminary to the campaign of Chancellorsville, the Sixth Wisconsin and Twentyfourth Michigan were selected to cross the Rappahannock river in pontoon boats in face of the fire of the enemy, and established a lodging 011 the southern shore. There were not boats enough launched to carry the men of the two regiments. With his accustomed quickness of apprehension, Colonel Bragg ordered his regi¬ ment to move on the run by the right of companies to the front, and directed each company to seize a boat. The Twenty-fourth Michigan moved by the flank in a column of four ranks, but the Sixth, having a shorter distance and being in better form, filled nearly all the boats, and under the leadership of their gallant little colonel, clambered up the banks on the southern shore and captured the rifle pits of the enemy, taking ninety prisoners. Throughout the trying campaign of Chancellorsville Colonel Bragg commanded his regiment. The hardships of that defeat, enhanced by cold and storm, were trying upon the morale of the officers and men. The cheerful spirit and courageous endurance of Colonel Bragg were most conspicuous and went far to keep up the nerve and courage of his men. Soon after this campaign he was severely injured by a kick from a horse and was obliged to go to the hospital for treatment.

"The next campaign in which he was engaged was Mine Run. It was an undertaking of hardship rather than of bloodshed. The weather was intensely cold. The regiment was engaged in a short skirmish with the enemys cavalry, which had raided upon our ammunition train, and this was our most active service; but Colonel Bragg showed the moral courage here which distinguished his service as much as his conduct upon the field of battle. In the council of war to decide whether the enemy's entrenchments should be attacked Colonel Bragg voted 'no.' After a careful personal examination he was satisfied that we could not succeed.

"On May 5th and 6th, 1864, was' fought the great battle of the Wilderness. Through the bloody struggle in the tangled chapperal of that remarkable field, Colonel Bragg bravely and skillfully led his men. On the morning of May 5th he was placed in command of a brigade of Pennsylvania troops, known as the Junior Bucktails. This was a gallant body of soldiers who had achieved distinc¬ tion by heroic service in the battle of Gettysburg. That a Wisconsin colonel should have been selected to command a Pennsylvania brigade and welcomed to the service by them, is sufficient evidence of the standing Colonel Bragg had gained as a brave and exceptionally capable leader of men in battle. He commanded this brigade in the battles of Spottsylvania, Laurel Hill, Jericho Ford, The North Anna, Tolopotamy and Cold Harbor. On the 5th of June the brigade was removed from our division and Colonel Bragg returned to the command of his regiment, but on the 8th of June he was assigned to the command of the Iron Brigade, which he led in the assault on Petersburg, June 18, and he commanded it during the long and weary siege which followed.

"In June, 1864, his nomination as brigadier general, made by President Abraham Lincoln, was confirmed by the senate. On July 30th he commanded the Iron Brigade during the engagement known as the Mine Explosion, and he was also its commander in the bloody battle known as the Weldon Road, which took place on August 19th. General Bragg, when in battle, always maintained a perfect self-possession. He was quick to see, prompt to act and his manner and bearing was always an inspiration to his men. As a commander in camp he was exceedingly solicitous for the comfort of his men. He knew every man in his regiment by name and he possessed their personal friendship as well as their confidence and admiration. He endeavored always to stimulate the esprit de corps and to arouse the pride of his men in the achievements of the regiment in battle.

"It was always for the glory of the Old Sixth as much as for the justice of the cause that he appealed to them in battle. For the rights and for justice to those who were under his command he stood against the world, the flesh, the devil, and the war department. When another regiment took possession of our winter quarters after a terrible march, he was about to drive them out at the point of the bayonet. Seeing our forlorn condition, they generously offered to go, when he invited them to share the cabins with us. When the war depart¬ ment issued an order that practically coerced the officers of the veteran regi¬ ment to a service they had never volunteered, General Bragg made up their case so clearly and strongly that the war department recognized the justice of his position and modified their order.

" 'Sir - On behalf of the regiment I have the honor to command, I return to the state of Wisconsin the regimental color presented this regiment in the sum¬ mer of 1861.

" 'We part with it reluctantly, but its condition renders it unserviceable for the field service. When we received it, its folds, like our ranks, were ample and full; still emblematical of our condition, we return it, tattered and torn in the shock of battle. Many who have defended it "sleep the sleep that knows no waking they have met a soldier's death ; may they live in the country's memory.

" 'History will tell how Wisconsin honor has been vindicated by her soldiery, and what lessons in northern courage they have given southern chivalry.

"In giving this inadequate summary of the wonderful battle experiences of General Bragg I have not used figures which, after all, best disclose the character of battle service. According to Colonel Fox the brigade in which his service was rendered had the greatest number of men actually killed in battle of any brigade in the army of the Union, and of the two thousand regiments which lost men in actual battle, tbe Sixth Wisconsin Regiment is number ten upon the list.

"General Bragg was advanced to the command of his division and became an acting major general. He had entered the service as a captain, hampered by an entire lack of military experience, and had literally fought his way to this high position. The brevet of a major general was at his command, but he never asked for it. His soldierly qualities, trained in so many battles, had shown him to be of the highest type as a commander of men ; but, his duty performed, like a true American volunteer, he returned to achieve his career in civil life."

President Cleveland, during his first term, appointed General Bragg minister to Mexico, and President Roosevelt appointed as minister to Cuba and consul general to China. Fie also served several terms in Congress. Early in the spring of 1912, President Taft called upon him while visiting Fond du Lac and in a few weeks thereafter the commander of the Iron Brigade passed to his reward.

David Babcock

David Babcock was born in Utica, New York, in 1835. He received a com¬ mon-school education, served in the Civil war as a private in Company I, First Regiment Wisconsin Infantry, returned to Fond du Lac, read law in the office of J. M. Gillet, and was admitted to the bar in 1864. For ten years he was asso¬ ciated in practice with George P. Knowles. He served as clerk of the circuit court two terms. Mr. Babcock married Sarah L. Strong in 1864, and his only daughter became the wife of Dr. Wiley.

Samuel Wotton Beall

Samuel Wotton Beall was born in Maryland in 1807, was educated at Union College, Schenectady, New York, and studied law at Litchfield, Connecticut. He was admitted to the bar in 1829. He came to Wisconsin in 1840 the second time, locating at Green Bay, his former choice as a place of residence, having been assigned there as receiver for the sale of public lands. In 1846 he was a delegate to the first constitutional convention of Michigan and a short time there¬ after became a resident of Taycheedah, this county. He was lieutenant governor of the state in 1850 and 1851 and removed to Denver, Colorado, in 1859, return¬ ing to Wisconsin, however, in 1861. He served honorably as lieutenant colonel of the Eighteenth Wisconsin in the Civil war and was severely wounded at the battle of Shiloh. He subsequently located at Helena, Montana, where he met an untimely death by being shot in an altercation with George M. Pinney.

Eli Hu Colman

Elihu Colman was a native of Brown county, Wisconsin. His father, Rev. H. R. Colman, a clergyman, located at Fond du Lac in 1847. Elihu Colman attended the public schools and Lawrence University, at Appleton, graduating from the latter institution in June, 1865, after which he took up the study of law in the office of Blair & Colman in Fond du Lac, and was admitted to the bar in 1866. At various times he was a member of the following firms : Houser & Colman, Colman, Carter & Kent, Colman & Kent, Colman & Sutherland, and Colman & Parkinson. In 1890 he was appointed United States district attorney for the east¬ ern district of Wisconsin. Later he devoted his time principally to corporation law. He was a veteran of the Civil war. In 1867 he was appointed register in bankruptcy, and in 1872 took his seat in the Wisconsin general assembly.

Charles A. Eldrtdge

Charles A. Eldridge was a native of Vermont, born in 1821. He secured his preliminary education in New York, where the family had moved, and was ad¬ mitted to the bar. He came to Wisconsin in 1848, settling in Fond du Lac. He was state senator in 1854 and represented his district in congress in 1863 and before retiring therefrom had served twelve years. He became prominent as a politician and as a member of congress secured a wide reputation. During a con¬ siderable part of his congressional career he was a member of the judiciary com¬ mittee. He died at Fond du Lac, October 26, 1896.

Nathan C. G1Ffin

Nathan C. Giffin became one of the prominent lawyers not only of Fond du Lac, but of this section of the state. He was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, October 10, 1833. He entered Wesleyan Seminary at Gouveneur, New York, at the age of fifteen, where he prepared for Union College, at Schenectady, from which institution he was graduated in 1859. Soon thereafter he entered the law office of Isaiah T. Williams, a leader of the New York city bar, and in i860 was admitted to the practice. In the fall of 1863 Mr. Giffin moved to Fond du Lac and for a half century practiced a profession which he honored in all his dealings. For a few years he was associated with O. T. Williams, after which the legal firm of Giffin & Sutherland was organized and continued for a num¬ ber of years and became very prominent in practice. -Mr. Giffin served as city attorney from 1865 to 1870; he was alderman from his ward for some time, and president of the city council. He served on the village board and held the position of county judge for a term of four and a half years. His sympathies were always with the things that tended toward the advancement of the com¬ munity, and for many years he was connected with the public library, of which he was president for three years. He was also a trustee of Lawrence Univer¬ sity, at Appleton, for nine years and was a trustee of Rienzi cemetery. He was one of the best known Masons of the state and was for many years grand lecturer of the grand lodge. Many complimentary things might be said of Judge Giffin. He died in 1911, regretted by all who knew him.

Maurice Mckenna

Maurice McKenna, who is now and has been for ten years president of the Fond du Lac County Bar Association of Wisconsin, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, May 31, 1846. He was the son of Maurice and Mary (Mullane)

McKenna, both of whom were natives of County Kerry, Ireland, and came to the United States in the spring of 1832, settling first in Boston. Later they removed to Springfield, Massachusetts, and afterwards to Niagara county, New York, locating near the city of Lockport, where the father was engaged in farming. I11 1854 they came from Buffalo by way of the Great Lakes to Wisconsin, where they settled on a farm in the township of Eldorado, Fond du Lac county, arriv¬ ing there October 10th of that year. The land at that time was all in timber, and, clearing away a small tract, they erected from the trees that were cut down, a small cabin. On this farm they reared their family and spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying in 1866, at the age of fifty-seven, and the mother in 1886, at the age of seventy-three. They were the parents of six children: Mary, who became the wife of James McGowan, and is now deceased; Maurice, the supervising editor of this volume ; Daniel, an attorney at Charles City, Iowa ; Honora, who died in 1865, at the age of seventeen; Dennis W., an attorney, residing at Aurora, Illinois; and Thomas, who was graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan, and died soon after his graduation.

Maurice McKenna grew to manhood on his father's farm and attended school in an old fashioned log schoolhouse, later becoming a student in the high school at Fond du Lac. On May 21, 1864, when he was eighteen years of age, he enlisted in the Civil war, joining Company I, Thirty-ninth Wisconsin Infantry, and served as a private until his term expired, which was in 1865, just before the close of the war. He then reenlisted and was dressed in uniform, ready to go back to the field, when the news came that peace had been declared. After the close of the war, he taught school for several years, having earned the money that paid his way through school by working on a farm. Subsequently he took up the study of law with the firm of Colman & Blair, and in June, 1876, was admitted to the bar and has practiced in Fond du Lac county continuously since that date, with the exception of one year spent in Iowa. His work has extended to many important cases in the supreme court of the state, in which court he was admitted to practice in 1886, as well as in the other courts of other states. Mr. McKenna was connected with the Fond du Lac Company for twenty-five years and was its secretary, treasurer and manager for over fifteen years. When the city of Fond du Lac took over the property of the Fond du Lac Water¬ works, it elected a commission of three citizens outside of the public officials, of whom Mr. McKenna was one, and he is still serving on that commission. He is a stockholder in the Fond du Lac National Bank and also in the Commercial National Bank.

On the 19th of August, 1874, Mr. McKenna married Miss Nellie Fagan, a* daughter of John and Mary (Cody) Fagan. To Mr. and Mrs. McKenna have been born two daughters : Minnie V., the wife of Dr. T. A. Hardgrove, and Nora E., the wife of Dr. F. M. McGauley, of Fond du Lac. Mr. McKenna and his family are members of St. Joseph's Catholic church. In politics he is a republican and he was a member of the Fond du Lac county board of supervisors for about twenty years and chairman of the board for about twelve years, receiv¬ ing the votes of the board regardless of politics. He was clerk of the courts from the first Monday in January, 1871, to the first Monday in January, 1877. The prominence Mr. McKenna has won in the legal profession is indicated by the position to which he has been elected on the county and state bar associations.

His readiness to respond to the call for service in the Civil war is typical of the interest he has always taken in the public welfare. He has given much attention to school work and has been a member of the board of education of Fond du Lac for two years. He is the author of a volume entitled "Elva Lee and Other Poems;" and a second volume, which was published in 1890, entitled, "Poems, Rhymes and Verses." His productions were given a place in "Poets of America" and have appeared in other standard works. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Columbus, with the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin, and with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, being one of the directors that erected the Elks building in Fond du Lac. He is also a member of E. A. Brown Post, No. 130, G. A. R., Department of Wisconsin. He is a member of the Academy of Science, Arts and Letters of the State of Wisconsin and also of the State Historical Society.

Edson C. Prescott

Edson C. Prescott was born in Fond du Lac county in the year 1852. He was educated in the public schools and the University of Wisconsin, and in 1879 was admitted to the bar. He then entered the practice in connection with Alexander Craven, at Sheboygan.

August E. Richter

August E. Richter, who has been county judge for the past quarter of a cen¬ tury, is a native of Saxony, Germany. He came to Fond du Lac with his par¬ ents in 1865, where he received a liberal education and then entered the drug business. On the expiration of ten years he received the republican nomination for clerk of the circuit court and notwithstanding the county was democratic he was elected by a liberal majority. While looking after the duties of his office he became a student of law and in January, 1885, was admitted to the bar. In 1889 the republicans elected him county judge and in the duties of the office he has continued satisfactorily and well to the present time.

Nathan P. Tallmadge

The greater portion of the career of Nathan P. Tallmadge was lived before he became a resident of Wisconsin. He was born at Chatham, Columbia county, New York, February 8, 1795. He was graduated from Union College and ad¬ mitted to the bar in 1818. He was elected to the legislature of New York in 1828; served in the state senate from 1830 to 1833; in the United States senate for two terms; appointed governor of Wisconsin Territory, June 21, 1844, by President Tyler; served in that capacity from November 16, 1844, to May 13, 1845. Upon retiring from office he became a resident of Fond du Lac and entered upon the practice of his profession. He died at Battle Creek, Michigan, November 2, [864.

liam 11. Ebbetts, E. L. Browne, John C. Truesdell and William Dodge were known near and far as lawyers of great ability and in their time many causes were tried by them of an exciting character and vast importance.

The two lawyers who first became identified with the bar, were John A. East¬ man, son-in-law of Dr. M. C. Darling, and S. S. N. Fuller. They lived at Fond du Lac. Soon after their arrival John Horner located at Ripon and hung out his shingle there. Eli Hooker located at Waupun and was the pioneer lawyer of that place. A. T. Glaze, in his history of Fond du Lac county written in 1905, gives the following list of attorneys practicing at this bar in 1850 and living in Fond du Lac : Edward S. Bragg, E. H. Bissell, Samuel W. Beall, Edward L. Brown, Edwain A. Brown, Jerod Chapel, James Coleman, Alexander B. Davis, William C. Dodge, Erastus W. Drury, John A. Eastman, Myron C. Eaton, Wil¬ liam H. Ebbetts, Charles A. Eldredge, Judge Robert Flint, S. S. N. Fuller, J.