Manitowoc County, Wisconsin - Chapter 15: The Professions, 1904

Chapter 15: The Professions

Manitowoc County lias had in its existence many men in professional life, who have g-ained distinction and an honorable place among- their fellows. Some of them have been soug-ht out for public service and broader fields of usefulness, while others have led a quieter but no less honorable existence in the sphere of their choice, many being- laid to rest after lives of service to the community amidst g-eneral regret and deep sorrow.

Bench And Bar

Such is the case particularly with the men who have represented the leg^al profession. And not only has the bar been a strong- one in the past but the courts have maintained a standard of dig-nity and impartiality, that has been most creditable. In the earliest c'ays there was little or no litig-ation and as a result the county wasjudiciall}' a part of Brown County until 1848, when upon Wisconsin's arrival at statehood Manitowoc was g-iven complete autonomy. On September 10th Circuit Judg-e Alexander Stow opened the first term of court at Manitowoc Rapids. Little leg-al proceeding-s eng-ag-ed his attention except the admission to the bar of E. H. Ellis, J. L. Kyle and J. H. W. Colby, Manitowoc's first attorneys. Mr. Colby was immediately elected county judg-e, receiving- 163 votes, while E. M. Soper received 113, and E.

H Ellis was chosen district attorney of the county. This marked the first judicial organization, althoug-h of course even before this time there had been justice courts, some of the early justices, appointed by the g-overnor, being- B. Jones, P. Pierce, Peter Johnston, Frederick Borcherdt, D. S. Mung-- er and S. W. Sherwood.

Mr. Ellis, the first district attorney was a son of A. G. Ellis, the editor of the Green Bay Advocate, the first paper published west of Lake Michig-an. He remained in practice at Manitowoc for some years, being- succeeded in hisofi&ce by Mr. Colby, who was unanimously chosen in the fall of 1850, dying- three years later. The fourth of the early lawyers was Ezekiel Ricker, who had been the first clerk of court and he succeeded Mr. Colby as county judg-e, defeating- the latter by 177 majority in the fall of 1849. He died at the time of the second cholera scourg-e in 1854, as did also James L. Kyle, who had been chosen district attorney after Mr. Colby's death. Judg-e Ricker was of Maine birth and was only thirtythree years of age at the time of his death. He had studied law in Lebanon, Maine with Attorney General Clifford of that state and came to Manitowoc in 1846, serving- in the assembly for two years after his term as county judg-e expired. Mr. Kyle was five years his junior, having- been born in 1826 and had also served in the leg-islature. Said the Madison Arg-us of him: "He was a noble hearted man, incapable of dishonesty, of fine and portly proportions and nobility of intellect." Kyle was succeeded as district attorney b}^ N. Wollmer, who had been in the county since 1847 and remained there until his enlistment in the service of his country, losinghis life before Atlanta in Aug-ust 1864. It was in the incumbency of his successor, C. H. Walker, who was admitted to the bar at about this time, that the first murder trial took place in the county. Judg-e Gorsline of Sheboyg-an presided over the circuit court at this period, he having- succeeded Timothy Howe, who was the first reg-ular judg-e of the district. The defendant in the case was an immig-rant and he was charg-ed with the murder of the barkeeper of the Franklin Hotel, it appearing- that there had been an altercation be- tween them. The defense was in the hands of N. Wollmer, assisted by K. Fox Cooke, of Sheboyg-an, while the district attorney was aided by J. M. Shafter of the same city. After lasting- some days the trial resulted in an acquittal.

By 1855 the number of lawyers had increased considerably and many of those, whose names were later prominent, were admitted to the bar. Georg-e Reed had located in the villag-e at an early date and in 1853 became county judg-e, succeeded later by Georg^e C. Lee, who in November 1856 resigned, Isaac C. Parrish being- chosen to fill the vacancy. All of these men were lawyers and led long- and honorable careers. S. A. Wo )d and W. D. Hamilton were also admitted to the bar at about this time. Hamilton defeated Lee for the position of district attorney in 1856 and C. H. Walker succeeded Parrish as county judg-e two years later. J. D. Markham, who had been admitted to the bar shortly before, settled in Manitowoc in 1856 and began his long- years of successful practice. Among- the other lawyers of the time were W. H. Hammond, W. M. Nichols, Rice and Sweet, L. T. Warren, John A. Daniells, Parrish and Essling^er, of Manitowoc and Conrad Bates, D. W. Duncombe and William Aldrich of Two Rivers. Some remained in the county but a short time but a majority of them were permanent residents. As district attorney George Lee succeeded W. H. Hamilton, but after two years in office gave way to J. D. Markham, who served two terms or until 1863, when W. M. Nichols, the Democratic candidate defeated him. The fig-ht for the position of county judge in 1861 was a three cornered one, B. R. Anderson and S. A. Wood of Manitowoc and H. S. Pierpont of Two Rivers being- the candidates. Anderson and Pierpont were then newcomers to the county and for many years were prominent at the bar and in all political controversies. Judg-e Pierpont was successful and held the office until his resig-nation in December 1864. Up to the time of the draft cases of 1863, in which the entire leg-al talent of the county was eng-agfed and of which mention is made elsewhere in these pag-es, no very important litigation arose in the county. There had been, however, several murder cases, including- the Burkhart-John trial in 1856, the Peg-low-Fraiitz and the Hig-g-ins-Gattiliiel trials in 1857, the Erling-er-Zioler and Gag-e-Packard trials in 1860 and the Smoke-Shreve case in 1864, the last being- a particularly prominent trial, J. D. Markham and G. Woodin acting- as prosecutors anJ Georg-e Reed and Charles White defending- the accused. Mr. White had opened an office in the village the year before. Many of the attorneys left the county during- the war to lig-ht for their country, among- them N. Wollmer, C. H. Walker and Charles White and many, who later became attorneys, served in the g-reat conflict. G. N. Woodin, who had been admitted to the bar but shortly before was elected district attorney by the Democrats in 1864 and served two terras, while Georg-e W. Barker succeeded H. S. Pierpont as county judge in the same year, holding- the office six years. Among those admitted to the Manitowoc County bar in the sixties, - most of them immediately after the war - were W. E. Hoye, C. A. Boynton, H. Sibree, C. W. Morse, W. M. Ross, E. B. Treat, T. G. Olmstead, T. C. Shove, D. E. Markham, W. F. Eldridg-e, Arthur Wood, W. A. Place, R. P. Eaton, R. P. Cook and W. Bird. Hamilton, Treat and Nichols, Lee and Walker and later Lee and White associated themselves together in co-partnerships. In 1868 E. B. Treat was elected district attorney on the Democratic ticket, defeating C. W. White, and W. W.Waldo the following- spring- was elected county judge over H. Sibree, being- succeeded by T. G. Olmstead, another Democrat, four years later.

Among- the new men to enter the leg-al field in the seventies were Michael Kirwan, J. S. Anderson, L. J- Nash, O. F. A. Greene, W. A. Walker, C. E. Estabrook, W. J. and H. G. Turner, G. A. Forrest, W. H. Hempschemeyer, ,W. Glover, W. Bach, A. J. Schmitz, D. A. Shove, W. G. Lueps, G. Byron and H. F. Belitz, the last named being- a resident of Kiel. Of these Messrs. Estabrook, Walker, Turner and Schmitz in later years transferred their residence to Milwaukee, Mr. Estabrook becoming- attorney general of the state. On the other hand Messrs. Anderson, Nash and Forrest have remained' for man}^ years among the leaders of the local bar. After remaining- in the city a brief space of time in company with L. J. Nash, O. F. A. Greene removed to Boulder, Col., where he died in 1899. Throug-h death the county lost several able law^'ers in the decade under consideration. C. H. Walker died on Dec. 14 1877 after a life full of usefulness, during- which he had served as a soldier, a legislator and judg-e. In the same year George Woodin and D. K. Markham passed away and in that succeeding Col. T. G. Olmstead, who had served as county judge until 1877, when Michael Kirvean was unanimously elected to that position. Col. H. F. Belitz, of Kiel, who had also been admitted to the bar but seldom practiced, died at about the same time, while the death of K. B. Treat occurred some two years later. His record also as a teacher, soldier and attorney was of the highest order and his demise was greatly regretted. He had been succeeded as district attorney in 1873 by W. J. Turner, who had defeated his Republican opponent, J. S. Anderson, by a narrow majority. H. Sibree, who was the next incumbent of the oflfice was also a Democrat, defeating C. E. Estabrook in 1874. Two years later another Democrat, A. J. Schmitz, then recently admitted to the bar, was successful over J. D. Markham and was reelected in 1878, defeating J. S. Anderson. Since 1868 Campbell McLean had been circuit judge of the district, comprising Manitowoc, having succeeded Judge David Taylor. His successor, Norman S. Gilson, of Fond du Lac, chosen in 1880, filled his position with great dignity and impartiality, securing the respect alike of the bar and the public.

In 1880 a valuable addition to the Manitowoc bar was made by the removal from Kewaunee of G. G. Sedgwick to the former city. E. G. Nash, another prominent local lawyer commenced practice with his brother a year later. Otheis, who during the eighties were admitted to practice, were H. L. Markham and R. H. Markham, sons of J. D. Markham, Byron Oakley, who di2d soon after, C. A. Blesch, Emil Baensch and R. D. Smart. Judge Reed, who had long- been the Nestor of the county bar lost his life in the terrible Newhall House disaster in Milwaukee on January 10 1883. He had always been prominent in local and state affairs and his death was a heavy loss to the community. Henry Sibree, another legal luminary, passed from earthly scenes in April of the same year after thirty years spent in practice at Manitowoc. In the death of H. S. Pierpont, which occurred May 6 1890 Two Rivers lost her leading- lawyer. Judg-e Pierpont was of New York birth and was admitted to the bar of that state, afterwards practicing" in Illinois. Coming- to Two Rivers at an early day he eng-ag-ed first in , mercantile pursuits but later turned his attention to politics, being- a candidate for attorney g-eneral and bank examiner on the Democratic state ticket. As a county judge he was considered very able and later as the founder of the Two Rivers Chronicle g-ained a wide reputation as a writer. R. D. Smart, who had been elected county judg-e in 1881 over J. P. Wickert, also passed away in 1890. He was a man of very attractive personality, a fact attested by his repeated election to office, althoug-h a Republican, in a strong-ly Democratic district. His successor as county judg-e was C. H. Schmidt, who althoug-h he was not a lawyer, was a very able g-entleman, having- for years been editor of the Nordwesten. He died in 1888 and was succeeded by Emil Baensch, then a young- lawyer of risingreputation. All during- the eig-hties A. J. Schmitz and W. A. Walker held the district attorneyship, defeating- successively G. G. Scdg-wick, K. G. Nash, H. L. Markham and G. A. Forrest, their Republican oppouents. Mr. Walker was chosen United States district attorney in 1887, removing- to Milwaukee to enter upon his duties.

Judg-e Baensch's successor as county judg-e was F. E. Manseau, who with Isaac Craite had established himself as an attorney in Two Rivers in the early nineties. The former was oblig-ed to resig-n, however, on account of ill health in Aug-ust 1895 and J. S. Anderson was appointed his successor, serving- continuously until 1902, when John Chloupek was elected to fill the position. The latter had been admitted to practice ten years earlier and had become district attorney upon the expiration of the term of A. J. Schmitz. The Republican landslide of 1896 put A. P. Schenian into the office, an able attorney, who had recently set up in practice in Manitowoc, althoug-h theretofore he had been an attorney in the west for several years. He in turn g-ave way to E. S. Schmitz, a brother of A. J. Schmitz, and in 1900 after some leg-al difficulty over the returns another young- lawyer, Albert Houg-en, was elected to the office by a small majority. A municipal court for the county was created in 1895, beingfirst presided over by Isaac Craite, but he was succeeded in the spring of 1901 by A. P. Schenian, a Republican. Among the lawyers, who were admitted to the Manitowoc County bar in the nineties were E. S. Schmitz, A. L. Houg-en, E. J. Onstad, C. H. Sedgwick, A. H. Schmidt, Adelbert Schmidt, E. L. Kelleyi A. L. Nash, C. D. Fahrney, R. C. Burke, W. H. Joyce, Victor Pierrelee, Arnold Alexander and J. Healy, of Manitowoc; F. W. Dicke of Two Rivers and A. J. Chloupek of Melnik. In the same period Manitowoc attorneys, who passed away were W. Bach, W. H. Hempschemeyer, C. Esslinger, A. Manseau and H. G- Turner, the last named having for some time been a resident of Milwaukee. In 1898 Michael H. Kirwan was honored with an election to the circuit bench of the district, including Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Kewaunee and Fond du Lac Counties, being the first of the Manitowoc bar to gain that distinction.

In the last twenty years of the century there was a large number of important cases in the county, which g-ave an opportunity to bring out the legal talent of the bar. Among the litigations of importance have been the various criminal and civil trials growing out of bank failures, the Quay street railway damage cases and several lengthy murder trials. A Manitowoc County Bar Association has been formed, being a means of mutual helpfulness among the lawyers of the county. Several of the attorneys in the county have in the past written on legal subjects, notably L. J. Nash, who has on several occasions addressed the State Bar Association. He has also held the position of state bar examiner.

The practice of medicine, one of the highest callings, which men have taken up, has had some able representatives in the county, many of whom have reached eminence in their profession. Dr. A. W. Preston was the first reg-ular physi cian to take up his residence in Manitowoc, arriving^ in 1847. He was a man of considerable ability and his services in the cholera epidemic of 1854, when he was the only physician in the county,, are worthy of much admiration. When the war broke out he enlisted as a surg-eon in the Sixth Wisconsin and after serving- three years secured a furlough to visit friends in New Hampshire, where he died in December 1864. His was a life worthy of emulation, full of sacrifice and service for others. Another of the earliest ph3'sicians was Dr. Ransche, who in the later forties, established himself for some time at the Rapids. Soon after 1850 Dr. H. E. Zeilley arrived at Manitowoc, while Dr. John Oswald settled at Two Rivers, where he led a long- and honorable career. He was born in Germany, was educated at Goetting-en and Berlin, settled first in Penns^'lvania, then in Ohio, then in 1852 came to Two Rivers, where he died in 1878. He was many times chosen villag-e president and was elected county coroner in 1868 and again in 1874. Dr. Zeilley was asurgfeon in the Fourteenth Reg-iment in the war and later removed to Chilton. Other physicians, who commenced practice in ante-bellum days, were A. C. Gibson. R. H. Colbourn, C. Mueller, J. C. Saltzmann, D. J. Easton, C. Schenk and H. S. Balcom. The last three named served as surgeons during- the war but of all only Drs. Balcom and Easton remained in the county for any length of time. Dr. Easton lived in the city until his death, which occurred in 1880 and 'was always prominent. A graduate of the Albany Medical and Philadelphia Homeopathic Colleges, at his settlement in Manitowoc he was the first physician of that school of medicine in the vicinity. Among his contemporaries in the county wereDr. H. W.Tucker of Clarks Mills, who although somewhat older came to the county the same year as did Dr. Easton, Dr. C. Creutzberg-, of Rapids, Dr. Kellog-g-, of Branch and Drs. F. Simon, J. Steg-er, and B. F. White of Two Rivers, of whom only Dr. Simon was a permanent resident of the county. .He removed to Manitowoc later and served six terms as a coroner. Dr. Tucker passed away in 1878 at a ripe old ag-e, while

At the conclusion of the war the medical fraternity received several accessions. In 1865 Dr. J. A. Brown settled in the villag-e of Manitowoc. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, in June 1816 he graduated at an early ag-e from the Scientific School at Lima, N. Y., matriculating- later at the University of Michig-an. After" ten years practice in Illinois he removed to Manitowoc where he spent the remaining- years of his life, dying- November 25 1893. Another newcomer was Dr. Schallern. He was a Bavarian by birth but fled from the Fatherland after the revolution of 1848, becoming- a surg-eon at Ward's Island, N. Y. Later he served in the 51st Ohio during- the war, after which he located at Manitowoc. Returning- to Mount Vernon, N. Y. he died in 1878. Drs. Balcom, Simon and Kaston continued in practice after the war, each finding- an extended field of usefulness, while Dr. C. C. Crocker established himself at Two Rivers, where he continued to practice for many years. Dr. Coakley, a g-raduate of the Chicag-o Medical Colleg-e, in 1872 also decided to locate in the county. He was killed nine years later by an unfortunate fall from his carriag-e, while enroute to visit a patient. Dr. Balcom had also passed away some years preceding-. Dr. R. K. Paine opened an office at Manitowoc in 1874, being- then a recent g-raduate of the Hahnemann Homeopathic School at Chicag-o. He was born in Fond du Lac, was educated at Wayland Academy and served in the Twenty-First Wisconsin. In a few years he had built up a very lucrative practice and has been honored by an election to the presidency of the Wisconsin Homeopathic Society. Dr. J. F. Pritchard also came to Manitowoc in the seventies and soon proved himself an able practitioner, being- appointed later a division surg-eon by the Chicag-o & Northwestern Railway Company and beinghonored in 1891 by the vice presidency of the State Medical Association. Another physician, who practiced at Manitowoc at the time, was J. C, Oviatt.

at Mishicot but his usefulness was cut short by death two years later. Dr. H. M. Hittner was his successor at that villag-e and after twelve years of practice he too passed away. Dr. J. R. Currens came to Two Rivers in the later seventies and built up a large practice, which he has since maintained. As a member of the State Board of Medical Examiners he has g-ained considerable prominence. Dr. F. S. Luhmann, a successful Manitowoc physician, established himself in that city in 1880 and Dr. W. G. Kemper, another of the allopathic school began work soon after. Dr. Luhmann was elected coroner for seven successive terms, beginning in 1S82, defeating among others Drs. O'Conncll, A. C. Fraser and J. F. Pritchard and was again chosen to the position in 189« by 268 majority over A. C. Fraser. Dr. Fraser, a graduate of Mc- Gill University, Montreal, came to Manitowoc in 1881 and soon gained an extensive clientage. He served as coroner in 1897 and 1898 and was chosen as attending physician of the marine hospital in 1900. Others, who established themselves in the county at about the same time were Drs. S. C. Blake, P. K. Nagle, A. V. Smith, A. J. Schweichler and H. Menson of Manitowoc, all of whom have removed to other fields, the first named being a physician of wide repute in Chicago, C. Bodenstab of Reedsville, R. S. O'Connell of Cato, C. W. Stoelting of Kiel and C. H. Oswald and Calvin Barnes of Two Rivers. Both Oswald and Barnes died early in their careers, the former in 1884 and the latter in 1887. In October 1882 a county medical society was formed, ten physicians being present at the first meeting. Dr. J. F. Pritchard was chosen president. Dr. J. A. Brown vice president and Dr. W. G. Kemper secretary. Meetings were held every three months and the organization has since proved very helpful. In the later eighties and early nineties an unusually large number of physicians located at various points in the county. Among them were Drs. W. E. Buschmann. J. Rehrauer, E. Tillson and J. D. Moraux of Two Rivers, the last three named not remaining permanently however, Oliver Hebert and R. Wittmannof St. Wendel, the latter removing to Kiel, J. P. Hayes and P. J. Taugher of St. Nazians, C. Bossard of Kiel, Loui^

Falg-e and P. G. Kuensel of Reedsville, W. H. Vosburg- of Cooperstowu and H. C. Thiehle and Gilbert Karnofsky of Manitowoc. Dr. Thiele died in 1888 after eig-ht years of successful practice. Still later Manitowoc was selected as a field by several other physicians, among- them C. Jacobs, who became city physician, J. F. Mulholland, a throat, nose and ear specialist, J. A. Roberts, who moved to the city from Kewaunee, J. E. Meany, who was elected coroner in 1900, H. E. Bahr, an osteopath, Walton C. Hubbard, C. Gleason, H. Thurtell, G. W.Patchen, J. E. Barnstein, Max Staehle, C. F. Fuhrmann and A. N. Kittelson. The last two named, however, remained but a short space of time. In the county the following- also established themselves: - J. B. Rick at Larrabee, J. Hoyer at Tisch Mills, A. F. Hahn and G. L. Karnopp at Mishicot, Jacob Marti and H. Schaper at Kiel, Charles Schaper, who died at Franklin in December 1901, James Burke at Hika, C. W. Schmitz and T. O'Brein at St. Nazians and E. C. Christianson, H. Farrell, F. A. Greiner and A. Jekelfalusy at Two Rivers.

The first member of the dental profession to establish himself at Manitowoc was Dr. E. M. Thorpe, who arrived in February 1857. He remained in practice until the war broke out. In 1862 Dr. A. J. Patchen moved to the city and commenced a practice, which he continued for many years. Born in Hadley, Vermont in 1830, Mr. Patchen came to Fonddu Lac in 1849 and served during- the war in the Fifth Wisconsin, later being- captain of Company G of the Thirty -Ninth. As a dentist he remained in practice until 1887, when he was succeeded by Dr. H. L. Banzhaf. He died ten years later. Another dentist of the early days was Henry Van Winkle. Not till the eig-hties did others enter the field permanently, the first being- Drs. Charles and Ernst Seeg-er, who soon gfained a lucrative practice and later associated with themselves Dr. Joseph Miller, formerly of Kaukauna. E. H. Watrous also located in Manitowoc for some years at about this \im.e. Dr. Banzhaf took into partnership Drs. Martin ^nd

Hoover but neither remained permanently. Dr. Louis F. Seeg-er opened an office at Manitowoc in 1890 and was soon joined by Dr. G. E. Henry, but the former died in a few months, leaving- the latter to conduct the business until 1897 when he removed to Port Washing-ton, being succeeded by C. J. Reinfried. Another dentist, who in the nineties started in the practice of his profession in Manitowoc was Dr. C. E. White, but he too removed from the city in 1900. Others who have started offices in Manitowoc of recent years are Drs. E. M. Kapitan, E. J. Eisen, Frank Gehbe, E. M. Bluraenthal, J. McMillan, H. A. Simon, M. L. Bast, J. Huwatschek, C. W. Seehaase, C. C. Wernecke, Albert Vits and N. T. Ziglinski. In 1900 Dr. Banzhaf was honored by being- chosen as a member of the state board of dental examiners and in 1902 moved to Milwaukee to take charg-e of a dental school. In Two RiversE. J. Soik and Egg-ers Bros, opened dental parlors at about the same time, while in Kiel L. E. Wiesler commenced the practice of his profession.