USA > Indiana > Courts and lawyers of Indiana, Volume III > Part 47
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BENJAMIN F. CARR.
Benjamin F. Carr was born on a farm near the village of Chalmers, in White county, Indiana, January 16, 1874, son of Martin L. and Olive J. (Laylin) Carr, natives of Ohio, the former born in Fayette county and the latter in Huron county. He was seventeen years old when his father died, after which he made his home at Monticello, where he ever since has lived. When nineteen years old he was graduated from the law de- partment of the Indiana State University, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. and upon attaining his majority was admitted to the bar in 1895, entering into practice in association with his brother, R. R. Carr, at Mon- ticello, which connection continued for two years, at the end of which time he began practicing alone and was thus engaged for seven or eight years, or until the time be became a partner of Judge Truman F. Palmer, under the firm name of Palmer & Carr, which connection still exists. Mr. Carr is a Republican and in 1913 was elected mayor of Monticello. He is a York Rite Mason and a Knight Templar. On December 2, 1897, Benja- min F. Carr was united in marriage to Luella Crowell and to this union two children have been born, Amy Louise and Martha Helen.
WILLIAM WALLACE LEATHERS.
William Wallace Leathers was born in Morgan county, Indiana. Sep- tember 17, 1836, and died at Indianapolis, December 17, 1875. He was a son of James M. and Martha (MacDonald) Leathers. He grew to man- hood on a farm in Morgan county and after a course in the common schools became a teacher in the schools of that county. Later he entered Northwestern Christian University (now Butler College) at Indianapolis, where he graduated in 1860, both in the literary course and in the law. He began practicing law in Indianapolis and in 1861 was elected prosecut- ing attorney for the Circuit court, serving in that capacity until December 27. 1865. He was elected prosecuting attorney for both the Criminal and the Circuit courts taking office in December, 1865, and serving until No-
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vember 25, 1867. He then resumed the practice of law, giving special attention to criminal law. He was at one time chairman of the Repub- lican committee of Marion county. In 1860 he married Mary Wallace, a daughter of David Wallace, who was governor of Indiana from 1837 to 1840. The following children were born of this marriage: Judge James M. Leathers, Wallace Leathers, Mrs. Zerelda Wallace Grover and Mrs. Mary Clevenger.
JOHN T. STRANGE.
John T. Strange was born on a farm in Monroe township, Grant county, Indiana, April 7, 1850. He is a son of George and Lydia (Duck- wall) Strange. He received his primary education in the rural schools. He began teaching at eighteen and entered Wabash in 1872, graduating in 1877. He at once took up the study of the law and was admitted to the bar in 1877, in Marion, where he has since practiced. Until 1900, he was a Democrat, serving in 1896 as a national delegate to the Chicago convention. From 1906 to 1914, he represented his county in the state Senate. On July 3, 1879, he married Emma Bobbs. They have two chil- dren, Esther and John, the latter deceased, the former the wife of Dr. G. G. Eckhard.
ROSCOE O. HAWKINS.
Roscoe O. Hawkins was born in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, February 21, 1848. His father, Gaylord B. Hawkins, a Methodist minister, of New England descent, lost his life in service during the Civil War. He had been president of an educational institution in Poland, Ohio, the home of William McKinley, who was one of his pupils.
Roscoe O. Hawkins received his early education in local schools and began his legal studies in the office of John M. Stull, of Warren, Ohio. In February, 1870, he came to Indianapolis and was admitted to the bar, March 11 of that year. From this date until the fall of 1872, he was associated with Edward H. Lamme; from 1872 until June 15, 1$77, he was a partner with Charles W. Smith. He next formed a partnership with Pierce Norton, which lasted until the later was elected Judge of the County Criminal court ; a partnership was then established with Horace E. Smith, which continued until the death of Mr. Smith, after which time Mr. Hawkins practiced with his son, Gaylord R., under the firm name of Hawkins & Hawkins. The total length of his legal service was forty-five years, all of which was spent in active practice in the Indiana courts. He was a member of the Indianapolis Bar Association and president of the same in 1894. As a member of that body he gained the highest honor and confidence of those with whom he was associated. Mr. Hawkins was always interested and active in political work, although never an office seeker. He was city attorney for three years; state senator from 1897 until 1901; a delegate to the Republican national convention of 1SSO, at the early age of thirty-two. Fraternally, he was a Mason and was ad-
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vanced to the highest office in its gift, when, in September, 1911, at the meeting held in Saratoga, New York, he was elected active member of the Supreme council. He was an inheritance member of the Indiana Com- mandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. He was also identi- fied with the municipal affairs of the city, was elected vice-president of the Indianapolis Board of Trade, June, 1911, and president in 1912. He was president of the Columbia Club and was associated with similar organizations. He was known as a genial man, a sincere friend, and an honorable and loyal citizen.
Mr. Hawkins was married, February 19, 1873, to Miss Martha L. Harmon, of Warren, Ohio. He died at his home in Indianapolis, Septem- ber 2, 1915, survived by his wife, their son, Gaylord Roscoe, and daughter, Mrs. Clara H. Brubaker.
WILLIAM ESLI PINNEY.
William Esli Pinney is a native of Laporte county, Indiana. He at- tended the district schools, the Valparaiso Male and Female College, the old Chicago University for a short time, and was a student for a short time in the law department of the Indiana University. He was admitted to the bar of Laporte county in 1872, located in Valparaiso in the spring of 1874, and has been there continuously ever since in the practice of his profession, being now general counsel of the State Bank of Valparaiso and the Thrift Trust Company. His father was born in southern Ohio, and his mother in the northwesterly part of Virginia (now West Virginia). The old family home is in Clinton township, in Laporte county ; part of the farm being in Laporte county and part of it in Porter county. This farm, made somewhat larger by purchase, has been set apart as a founda- tion for educational work in forestry, horticulture, breeding of domestic live stock, general farming, better farm life, etc. It is intended that this foundation, a well-equipped farm of four hundred acres, is to be perpetual, from general to generation. The management is now in charge of the Valparaiso University. The farm is of the value of fifty thousand dollars, and is the gift of Mr. Pinney and his daughter, Myra Finette, his only child. Mr. Pinney has been a widower since May, 1903. Mr. Pinney's life has been a busy one, and he has satisfaction in considering that a life given conscientiously to industrial and professional pursuits is most beneficial to mankind.
EDWARD E. MURPHY.
Edward E. Murphy, attorney-at-law at Rochester and former clerk of Fulton county, was born in Rochester and has lived there all his life. He was born on February 26, 1878 son and only child of John and Saman- tha (True) Murphy, natives of Ohio. Following his graduation from the Rochester high school in 1895, he attended 'Normal school, in the mean- time reading law in the office of P. M. Buchanan at Rochester, and was admitted to the bar in 1899, he then being but twenty-one years of age. For two years he served the city of Rochester as city clerk and for eight years was county clerk, being elected on the Republican ticket. Mr. Mur-
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phy has long taken an active part in local politics and is now chairman of the Thirteenth congressional Republican committee. He is a member of the County Bar Association, a member of the Columbia Club at Indian- apolis and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and with the Improved Order of Red Men. Mr. Murphy married Clara Montgomery, who died on October 26, 1908, leaving two children, Robert E. and Hugh M.
JAMES MADISON LEATHERS.
James M. Leathers, the son of William W. and Mary (Wallace) Leathers, was born in Indianapolis, August 31, 1861. His parents were both natives of this state. His father, who was a public official and a lawyer, is mentioned on another page, and his mother was the daughter of David Wallace, governor of the state from 1837 to 1840. Judge Leath- ers has lived all his life in Indianapolis. Owing to the fact that his mother died when he was only nine years of age and his father when he was fourteen, he spent most of his boyhood with his maternal grand- mother, Zerelda G. Wallace.
He received his elementary education in the common and high schools of Indianapolis and, when only sixteen years of age, he entered Butler College, from which he graduated in 1SS1 at the age of nineteen. Having decided to make the legal profession his life work, he at once entered the law office of William Wallace, later studying in turn with William A. Ketcham and Addison C. Harris. He completed his legal training in the Central Law School in the spring of 1883. His first partnership was with John W. Holtzman, with whom he practiced from 1885 until 1898. In the fall of the latter year he was elected judge of the Marion Superior court, Room 2, and continued on the bench by successive elections until November 18, 1910. Since retiring from the bench he has practiced alone, at the present time maintaining his offices in the Fletcher Trust building.
He is a member of the All Souls Unitarian church. In politics, he is a Republican. He belongs to the following clubs and organizations: the Columbia Club, Marion Club, German House, Dramatic Club and the Knights of Pythias.
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FRANK HAMILTON.
Frank Hamilton, junior member of the law firm of Osborn & Hamilton 1883, at Greensburg and former county attorney of Decatur county, is a native of Indiana, born on a farm near Kingston, Decatur county, April 2, 1883, son of Everett and Mary (Hopkins) Hamilton, both natives of this state. He was graduated from the Clarksburg high school in 1900; studied at Butler College, 1900-01; Indiana University, 1901-04, and was graduated from the Indiana Law School at Indianapolis in 1905, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In June of that year he was admitted to practice, gave further study to the law in the office of Tackett & Wilson at Greensburg and on January 1, 1906, formed a partnership with Judge James K. Ewing. which continued until January 1, 1912, when he formed
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the firm name of McCabe & Bingham. In 1890 he was elected prose- cuting attorney for the Twenty-first judicial circuit and served two years. The firm of McCabe & Bingham was dissolved in 1894, and Bingham lo- cated at Muncie, Indiana, where he practiced law with A. M. Wagner and some time later Jesse R. Long was taken into the firm. In 1899 Wagner left Muncie and Bingham & Long continued to practice until 1906. In November 1906, Bingham was elected attorney-general on the Republican ticket and he was re-elected in 1908, serving in this capacity until January 1, 1911. The law firm of Bingham, White & Haymond was established in 1906, but in 1909 Bingham withdrew from the firm. At the expiration of his second term as attorney-general he formed a part- nership with his son, Remster A. Bingham, and the firm of Bingham & Bingham is now located at Indianapolis. On December 27, 1885, he mar- ried Elizabeth Remster, sister of Judge Charles Remster, and they have two children, Remster A. and Charles.
LEANDER J. MONKS.
Leander J. Monks, editor of this work, a native of Randolph county, Indiana, was born at Winchester, the son of George W. and Mary A. (Ir- vin) Monks. George W. Monks served as one of the early clerks of the Ran- dolph Circuit court, having been elected as a Whig for one term in the Legislature and was engaged in the practice of law with Carey S. Goodrich and later with Judge James Brown.
After completing a course in the Winchester public schools, Leander J. Monks entered Indiana University at Bloomington in 1861, where he re- mained for three years. In 1865, he was admitted to the Randolph county bar. He practiced his profession at Winchester for the next few years, :serving as Republican county chairman during the campaigns of 1870 and 1872. In the campaigns of 1874 and 1876, he was Republican district chair- man and during the latter year a member of the state executive committee. In 1878 he was nominated by the Republicans as judge of the Twenty-fifth judicial circuit, comprising Randolph and Delaware counties, and was elected without opposition. He was re-elected in 1883 and again in 1889, but only Randolph county remained in the circuit. Judge Monks acquired a wide reputation for expediting the business of the court and his splendid record resulted in his nomination and election in 1894 as a judge of the Supreme Court of Indiana to represent the Fourth judicial district. He was re-elected in 1900 and again in 1906, serving altogether eighteen years on the Supreme Bench. His last term expired on January 7, 1913.
From 1865 until 1871, Judge Monks was associated in the practice of law at Winchester, most of the time, with Col. M. B. Miller; from 1871 to 1875, he was in partnership with the late Enos L. Watson, and from 1875 until his election to the bench in 1878, was engaged in the practice with W. A. Thompson, now of Muncie, Indiana. Since his retirement from the bench, he was for a time associated with John F. Robbins, Henry C. Starr and James P. Goodrich, in the practice at Indianapolis, but is now alone.
Judge Monks was married on August 2, 1865, to Lizzie W., daughter of
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Alexander and Margaret B. (Smith) White, of Randolph county. Mrs. Monks died on April 18, 190S. Judge and Mrs. Monks were the parents of four children : Margaret, who married Thomas J. Kizer, of Indianapolls; Mary D., who married Dr. Milo V. Smith, of Winchester ; Allce and Agnes, twins, the former of whom married George I. Davis, of Kokomo, and the latter becoming the wife of William R. Hunter, of Indianapolis.
Judge Monks is a member of the Methodist church. He is a Repub- lican, a member of the Columbia and Marion Clubs, of Indianapolis; the Sigma Chi fraternity, a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
GUSTAVE S. WIDHOLM.
Gustavus S. Widholm, assistant city attorney, of Gary, was born in Sweden, October 1S, 1881. He came with his parents, Gustave A. and All- gustus (Ilson) Widholm, to America in 1885 and located in Gary in 1907. He graduated from Valparaiso University in 1907, was at once admitted to the bar and has practiced in Gary since that year. He was appointed as- sistant city attorney in 1915.
Mr. Widholm married Ruth Wallingery and they have one child, Carroll. He is a member of the Lake county and Gary Bar Associations, a Mason and a Republican in politics.
JOHN RALPH CARNEY.
John Ralph Carney, the only lawyer at Vernon, the county seat of Jennings county, former clerk of that county and for many years active in the educational life of that part of the state, was born in Jennings county and has lived there practically all his life. He was born on December 8. 1875, son of John and Parie S. (Newby) Carney, both natives of Jen- nings county, the former of whom also was a lawyer and had served as county superintendent and county auditor, in which latter capacity he was serving at the time of his death in 1880. Following his graduation from the Vernon high school in 1893, John R. Carney entered, in that same year. Indiana University, but did not complete his studies there until 1903, in which year he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the meantime he had been teaching school and studying law; for five years taught in the district schools of Jennings county ; 1890-1900, superin- tendent of the schools at Paris Crossing; 1900.01 superintendent of the schools at Zenas: 1901-05, superintendent of the schools at Butlerville; 1903-05, superintendent of the schools at Scipio; 1905-06. principal of the high school at Loogootee; and in 1906 was instructor of history in the high school at Vincennes, succeeded by Dr. Logan Esarey, which position he resigned to accept the Republican nomination for clerk of Jennings county. to which office he was elected and in which he served one term. In the meantime. Mr. Carney had been studying law at Indiana Univer- sity and in the office of Frank E. Little, at North Vernon, and in 1905 was admitted to the bar, though he did not begin active practice until
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1911. In 1910 he was the nominee of the Republicans for the office of prosecuting attorney for Jennings and Ripley counties, but, with the rest of the ticket, failed of election. Mr. Carney has held a life state teacher's license since 1905; was at one time president of the Jennings County Teachers Association and on numerous occasions served as presi- dent of township teachers institutes. In 1907 he was vice-president of the Indiana State Teachers Association and for three years, 1911-14, was a member of the Vernon school board, being president of the same for two years. Mr. Carney is a Republican, a Presbyterian, a Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias and a Red Man.
EMERSON E. McGRIFF.
Emerson E. McGriff, of the law firm of LaFollette & McGriff at Port- land, nominee of his party for Judge of the Jay Circuit court, former prosecuting attorney for the Twenty-fifth judicial circuit, formerly in practice at Winchester, but since 1887 at Portland, is a native of Ohio, born in Darke county, September 15, 1857, son of Richard and Mary A. (St. Clair) McGriff, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania. He was a student at Ridgeville College, 1875-77, and Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso in 1879. For seven years he taught school in Randolph county, Indiana, meanwhile studying law at Winchester in the office of Col. M. B. Miller and J. E. Neff, the latter of whom was one time secretary of state of Indiana. In 1885 Mr. McGriff was appointed prosecuting attorney for the Twenty-fifth judicial circuit and served until the ensuing general election; in 1885-87 was associated with Colonel Miller in practice at Winchester and in 1887-89 with Bayard Gray, son of Gov. Isaac P. Gray, at Portland. In 1887 Mr. McGriff moved to Portland and in 1902-04 was in partnership there with George W. Bergman. In 1910 he formed his present partnership with Hon. John F. LaFollette. Mr. McGriff is a Democrat and in 1892 was a delegate to the national convention of that party. In the primaries of 1916 he was made his party's nominee for Judge of the Jay Circuit court. Mr. McGriff is a director of the First National Bank of Portland and of the Home Telephone Company in that city. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and an Odd Fellow and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. On December 14, 1886, Mr. McGriff married Grace Carver, daughter of Dr. J. M. Carver, of Winchester.
DANIEL J. MORAN.
Daniel J. Moran, of Hammond, Indiana, was born on October 23, 1871, the son of Daniel and Johanna ( Meagher) Moran, and is one of a family of five children. His father was a railroad employee. Daniel Moran re- ceived his early education in the St. Mary's Parochial School and Terre Haute public schools. He graduated from State Normal school in 1892 and from Indiana University in 1897, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He is also a graduate of the Indiana University School of Law, from which he received a degree in 1898. He was admitted to the bar in June
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of the same year, and began the practice in Hammond, Indiana, in No- vember, 1898, where he has since continued. He is a member of the Lake County Bar Association, of which he served as president for two years, and a member of the American Bar Association. He is a member of the Elks, Knights of Columbus and Catholic Order of Foresters.
Mr. Moran married Mary Estelle Tufts, the daughter of Frank H. Tufts, and to this union six children have been born. Mr. Moran and his children are members of the Catholic church.
VINCENT GREGG CLIFFORD.
Vincent Gregg Clifford, of Indianapolis, the son of John and Naney (Hall) Clifford, was born at Glenwood, Indiana, May 14, 1857. His father was born at St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in 1800, and his mother in Brown county, Ohio, in 1815. Both parents died in 18S6.
Judge Clifford received his elementary education in the country schools and then entered Shortridge high school, Indianapolis, from which he graduated. He received the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy from Butler College in 1879 and later graduated from the Central Law School of In- dianapolis. He was admitted to the bar in 1883 and practiced in Indian- apolis from that date until he became judge of the Marion Superior court in December, 1914. He was eensus supervisor of the Seventh Indiana district in 1900, a member of the lower house of the General Assembly in 1905, and has been judge of Superior court, room 4, Marion county, since December 1, 1914. Judge Clifford was a member of the Indianapolis Light Infantry in the eighties. While in college he was a member of the Greek letter fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, and has always taken an active interest in his fraternity since leaving college. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Oriental lodge, and a past master of the lodge. He is a mem- ber of the Christian church.
Judge Clifford was married October 16, 1895, to Augusta Glidden Aus- tin, a daughter of Algernon S. and Catherine (Watson) Austin. Mrs. Clifford was born in Loda, Illinois, in 1871. her parents being natives of Maine and Michigan, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Clifford have two chil- dren, Vincent Austin and Catherine Watson, both of whom are students in Butler College.
JAMES A. PATTERSON.
James A. Patterson, prosecuting attorney for the Thirty-first judicial circuit of Indiana, with office in the Superior court building at Hammond and residence at Gary, is a native of the state of Pennsylvania, born on August 31, 186S. son of William C. and Mary (MeAlpin) Patterson. the former of whom, a miner, died in 1886. Upon completing the high school course. James A. Patterson entered Valparaiso University and later en- tered the Chicago Law School, from which latter institution he was grad- uated in 189S. He was admitted to the bar at South Bend, this state, in the fall of that same year and shortly afterward began practice in
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Lake county, locating first at Hobart, and in 1902 removing to Indiana Har- bor, where he resided until May, 1916. He then established his home at Gary. In 1912 he was elected prosecutor for the Thirty-first judicial cir- cuit and has since been serving in that capacity. Mr. Patterson has al- ways been a staunch Republican. He is a member of the Lake County Bar Association; is affiliated with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America, and is a member of the Hamilton Club of Chicago and of the Harrison Club of Gary. Mrs. Patterson, before her marriage, was Mary A. Wiles.
CHARLES W. MILLER.
Charles W. Miller, of Indianapolis, was born at Galena, Indiana, February 4, 1863, being one of eight children born to Jacob and Isabelle (Smith) Miller. He grew up on a farm, taught school, attended the pri- vate school of William Pinkham, also the Central Normal at Ladoga, Indiana, afterward attending Michigan University, from which he grad- uated in 1884. The same year he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of the law at Greenfield, Indiana. He moved to Goshen, Indiana, in January, 1885, and formed a partnership with William II. Vesey and Joseph H. Defrees. Mr. Defrees later went to Chicago, Illi- nois, and the firm of Vesey & Miller was continued until April, 1892. His next partnership was with Hon. Francis E. Baker, now Judge of the Circuit Court of Appeals, with whom he practiced until Judge Baker was elected to the Supreme bench of Indiana in 1908. In 1902 and again in 1904 he was elected attorney-general of Indiana on the Republican ticket. When his term expired in January, 1907, he returned to Goshen, Indiana, and continued the practice of the law as a member of the firm of Miller, Drake & Hubbell. In 1908, Mr. Miller was a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor of Indiana, but was defeated. This was one of the hottest political fights in the history of the state. James E. Watson, who received the nomination, was defeated in the fall election by Vice-President Thomas R. Marshall. In April, 1909, he was appointed United States attorney for the district of Indiana, and successfully con- ducted the prosecution of the famous dynamite conspirators. No case in the entire criminal history of this country has ever attracted more wide- spread attention than this, not only because of the prominence of the de- fendants, who were leading officials of the Bridge and Iron Workers' Inter- national Union, but also because of the number of men accused. The arrest of the conspirators grew out of the dynamiting of the Los Angeles (California) Times plant, but the conspiracy trial was held here because Indianapolis was proven to be the headquarters of the conspirators. The able management of the government's case, which was wholly in Mr. Miller's hands, gave him a nation-wide reputation as a lawyer. Forty-two men were placed on trial in the Federal court at Indianapolis. Two pleaded guilty, thirty-eight were convicted and two acquitted. Mr. Miller
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