USA > Kansas > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Kansas > Part 28
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While serving as private secretary to Mr. Funston, he began read- ing law, during his leisure hours, and afterward took a course in the law department of the Columbia University at Washington, from which he was graduated, and then, in 1885, admitted to practice in the courts of record in that city and afterward to the Supreme Court of the United Staes.
PHILIP L. SWATZELL was born in Crittenden county, Kentucky. on May 4th. 1865. After coming to Kansas he settled at Elk City, in this county, where he worked at the carpenter's trade until he accumulated sufficient funds to enable him to take a course at the State University of Kansas. After having graduated from the law department of that institution he was, on the 10th day of June, 1892, admitted to the bar of Douglas county, Kansas, and at once entered upon, and has sinee con-
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tinued, the practice of his profession at Elk City. He was mayor of Elk City one year, ending April 10th, 1893, assistant postmaster at the same place for four years, ending October 20th, 1894, United States Census Enumerator for Louisburg township and assistant to the chief elerk of the Legislatures of 1901 and 1903.
W. O. SYLVESTER was admitted to practice in the District Court of Montgomery county in April, 1872. and practiced here for a few years, a portion of which time in partnership with Mr. S. A. Hall, under the firm name of ITall & Sylvester.
JUDGE MARTIN BRADFORD SOULE, the present Probate Judge of the county, is extensively mentioned in the department of this volume devoted to biographies of our citizens.
M. C. SHEWALTER located at Cherryvale in the practice of law in the 80's, having gone to that place from the State of Missouri. He was admitted to the bar of Mnotgomery county December 16th, 1887, and practiced law here for several years and then returned to Missouri. Mr. Shewalter was a talented man and a well versed lawyer, and was pre- vented from doing a larger professional business by his frail physical health. During the time he was at our bar his ability as a lawyer was well known by his professional brothers, all of whom held him in the highest esteem.
WILBUR F. TAYLOR was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county about 1880 and located and parcticed at Independence about two years, and then went west. He came here from Lafayette, Indiana.
J. M. THOMPSON was admitted to the bar of the county about 1882 and practiced here a few months and then went to MeCune, Kansas, and shortly afterward moved to Iowa, from where he soon afterward went to Oregon, where he now resides.
CALVIN C. THOMPSON was born in Madison county, Indiana, on January 19th, 1855, and lived there and in LaSalle county. Illinois, until September 23rd, 1880, when he was admitted to practice law at Ottawa, Illinois, and on December 23rd of the same year became a member of the Montgomery county bar. After his admission here he devoted about fifteen years to the practice of his profession and then engaged in the in- surance and real estate business, which he has since pursued at Cherry- vale, Kansas. During his residence at Cherryvale he has served on the school board of the city and was president of the board one year.
MAYO THOMAS was born in Tipton county, Indiana, on January 29th. 1869, and is of Scotch Irish descent. When eight years of age he moved with his parents to Reno county, Kansas, where they lived five years, and thence to Elk county, where he lived 'till about 1897, when he located in the practice of law at Independence. He was admitted to the bar of Elk county at Howard. on February 5th, 1897, and to the Montgomery county bar in May of the same year, and has, since the date
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of his admission here, devoted his time exclusively to the practice at In- dependence, where he now resides.
In 1887 Mi. Thomas entered, as a student, the Ottawa University, where he found employment to sustain him through a four years' course, by doing chores and janitor work. While at the university, by the ex- cellence of his work, he won the Nash prize, which had been offered to the student, of the Freshman or Sophomore class, passing the best exami- nation in Natural History. After leaving this institution he taught school. and then, in 1893. entered the law department of the University of Kansas. At the Eleventh Annual State University Oratorieal Contest on January 26th, 1894. he was awarded the third prize and at the spring oratorical contest, at the same institution, he was on April 27th. 1894. awarded the second prize.
He served as clerk of the District Court of Howard county during 1895 and 1896. and in 1897 was appointed by Governor Leedy, on the State Board of Pardons, where he served 'till 1899, when he resigned.
At the general election in November, 1902, he was elected county at- torney -- he being the only candidate elected on the Democratie ticket- and he is now performing the duties of that office.
W. H. TIBBILS became a member of our bar April 17th, 1874, and located in the practice at Coffeyville, Kansas, where he pursued his pro- fession for a number of years. He then moved to Sedan, Kansas, where he practiced several years and then returned to Coffeyville about 1890, and after practicing there some time, located at Vinita, Indian Territory, and pursued his profession there 'till about 1900, when he died. At the time of his death. he was United States Probate Commissioner and per- forming duties similar to those imposed upon our probate court.
JUDGE WM. F. TURNER was, at a very early day, a prominent member of the bar of Montgomery county. He was born in Milton, Penn- sylvania. in 1816, and spent his boyhood in that state, Mississippi and Louisiana. His father, Dr. James P. Turner, was appointed General Land Commissioner for the States of Mississippi and Louisiana in 1826, through the influence of Henry Clay, then Secretary of State. His office was at Bayou Sara, Louisiana, where young Turner served under his father for six years. After Dr. Turner's removal by the General Jack- son administration -- two years of his term being under "Old Hickory" -- he moved to Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and William entered Gambier College, at Gambier, Ohio, from which he was graduated in the class of about 1835. along with ex-President Rutherford B. Hayes and ex-Justice Stan- ley Matthews. After graduating, he read law at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in that city, about 1838, where he practiced as a member of the firm of Butler. Miller & Turner until 1854, when he moved to Keokuk. Iowa, and entered the practice at that place in part- nership with Hon. John A. Kasson, who afterward served twenty years
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in Congress and then became somewhat famous as a diplomat in state affairs.
In 1863 Judge Turner was appointed by President Lincoln, Chief Justice of the Territory of Arizona, which position he filled nearly seven years. He then, about 1870, located in the practice at Independence, Kansas, as a member of the law firm of Turner & Ralstin-after having lived a short time at Coffeyville. After pursuing his profession about ten years he retired from it and engaged in banking business at Indepen- dence in partnership with Wm. E. Otis, under the firm name of Turner & Otis. This new venture was at first very prosperous, but after a few years resulted in financial disaster, and a few years later Judge Turner and his estimable wife returned to their former home in Ohio, where she died, and he then moved to Indianapolis, where three years later, on December 24th, 1900. he died at the age of eighty-four years, of senile decay.
THOMAS E. WAGSTAFF was born at Galesburg, Illinois, July 23rd, 1875, and at the age of two years moved to Kansas City, Mo., where he lived until April 10th, 1879, when he went to Lawrence. Kansas, where he resided until 1897. While at Lawrence he attended the University of the state, from which he was graduated just before he was admitted to the bar of Douglas county, on June Sth. 1897. He afterward, at the New York University, in 1898, took a post graduate course in the law depart- ment of that institution, and since then has been in the active practice of his profession.
He located at Coffeyville in 1899, and was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county on the 12th day of August in that year, and has since resided in that city. Mr. Wagstaff was graduated from the Kansas University on June Sth, 1897, with the degree of L. L. B., and from the University of New York on June 21st, 1898, with the degree of L. L. M. While at the University at Lawrence, he was a member of the Honorary Law Fraternity, the Phi Delta Phi, Green Chapter, which was installed at the University of Kansas April 10th. 1897. Ile also belonged to the Sigina Chi Fraternity while in college and is a Mason and an Elk.
Since Mr. Wagstaff took up his residence at Coffeyville, he has served one year as attorney for that city, from April 3rd, 1900, to April 3rd, 1901, was judge of the court of Coffeyville from October 1st, 1901, to February 7th, 1902, and was, during the last half of 1902, assistant county attorney.
He was recently wedded to Miss Jennie Wilson, an estimable young lady, who was born and reared in Independence, and was a danghter of E. E. Wilson, who, for years before his death, was one of the most promi- nent citizens of Independence.
RICHARD A. WADE came to Independence from Western Missouri and joined the bar of Montgomery county, September 4th, 1879. After
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practicing law here for a few years. he moved to Chicago and entered the practice in that city, where he now resides.
L. C. WATERS was an active practitioner at the bar of Montgom- ery county for nearly twenty years. He was afflicted with a frail con- stitution and for years made a heroic struggle with a pulmonary disease that carried him away, less than a year ago.
MARSHALL O. WAGNER was one of the pioneer lawyers at the bar here. He came from Cleveland, Ohio, and entered the practice with a very fine library for those days in this country.
While here he became the owner of a very sightly and valuable traet of land about a mile west of Independence. which was long after he left the country known as the "Wagner Tract," and was purchased by J. H. Pugh, and is now owned by some of the heirs to his estate. Mr. Wagner returned to Cleveland ahout 1872 and has since lived there.
GEORGE W. WARNER was. at the May, 1871, term of the Distriet Court of Montgomery county, admitted to the bar. He never after en- tered the practice here.
JUDGE W. H. WATKINS became a member of the bar of Mont- gomery county in its infancy, but never engaged here in the praetiee of the profession, for which his natural talents and learning well fitted him. He was the first probate judge elected in the county, and served in that office one term, ending in January, 1873, with marked ability.
He founded the "Kansan" at Independence in the fall of 1873, and ably edited and published the same for five or six years when he sold it and moved to California.
SAMUEL WESTON was born at Bangor, Penobseot county, Maine, in 1857. 1Le resided there and at Newton and Boston, Massachusetts, until he moved to Chicago and studied law in the office of his cousin, Hon. Melvin Weston Fuller, now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
He afterward located at Elk City, in the Spring of 1879, and in the same year, after having passed a very searching examination in open court, was admitted to the bar by the District Court of Montgomery county. After his admission he at once entered the practice of his pro- fession at Elk City, Kansas, which he successfully pursued 'till 1893, when he moved to Pond Creek, Oklahoma, where he continued in the same business. While residing in Oklahoma he filled, for one term of two years, the office of county attorney of Grant county.
A few years ago, on account of poor health, Mr. Weston retired from the practice and went to Meade, Kansas, where he engaged in the lumber business.
S. T. WIGGINS was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county about 1897 and pursued the practice a few months at Coffeyville, when he
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moved to the Indian Territory where he was afterward joined in the practice by his former law partner, G. W. Fitzpatrick.
A. D. WILLIS became a member of the bar of Montgomery county August, 1871, but did not enter the practice here.
GREENBURY WRIGHT was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county in August, 1871, on the certficate of his admission to practice in Illinois. He did not afterward engage in the practice in this county.
ALBERT L. WILSON was born in Anderson county, Kansas, on November 12, 1860, and resided there on a farm until he was seventeen years of age, when he commenced teaching school and reading law. He was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county September 9, 1882, after having studied some time in the office of Hon. John D. Hinkle at Cherry- vale. At the date of his admission he was under twenty-two years of age, and in the thorough examination by a committee in open court, he evine- ed a full comprehension of the basic principles of the science of law. After his examination he at once located and entered the practice at Cherryvale, Kansas, where he soon built up a remunerative business, which he well maintained till he moved, a few months ago, to Kansas City, Missouri, where he now resides, and is pursuing his profession. During Mr. Wilson's professional career here he was one of the leading lawyers of the county and a successful practitioner at the bar. In the trial of causes, he was cool, deliberate and thoroughly self possessed and his cases were very generally well prepared and ably handled.
CORNELIT'S WYCKOFF was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county on May 9, 1870, on the certificate of his admission to practice in Illinois, but never engaged in the practice of his profession in the county.
COL. ALEXANDER M. YORK was at one time a leading member of the bar of Montgomery county, to which he was admitted in August, 1871.
He was born at Byron, Illinois, July 7, 1838, and admitted to prac- tice in Carroll county, in that State, on December 31, 1861. and at once en- tered the practice at Lanark, Illinois. On September 4, 1863, he enlisted in the Ninety-second Illinois Volunteers and remained in the army till the close of the war, and was mustered out of the service in April, 1866. He entered the army as a private soldier and was then commissioned as second lieutenant of Company "1" of his regiment and, in 1863, promoted to the First Lientenancy of the same company. In 1864 he was commis- sioned as Captain of Company "G." Fifteenth Colored Infantry, and af- terward, in the same year, raised to the rank of colonel of that regiment.
After leaving the army Col. York began the practice of his profes- sion at Shelbina, Missouri, in partnership with Col. J. W. Shaur, and afterward, in March, 1871, located at Independence, Kansas, where he, in company with Governor L. U. Humphrey and W. T. Yoe, established
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and conducted The South Kansas Tribune. A little more than a year later the Colonel and the Governor. having sold their interests in thenews- paper. formed a partnership to practice law, under the firm name of York & Humphrey. This firm at once established a profitable practice which it firmly held and increased for about tive years, when the Gover- nor began his political career in which he became distinguished, and the Colonel went to Louisiana and remained there two years, where he was interested in mail contracts in that State and in Texas. He then went to Fort Scott. Kansas, and became interested in the "York Nursery." in which business he continued five or six years. Since then he has been en- gaged in the real estate business at various places and is now located at Denver, Colorado, in that pursnit.
While Colonel York was a man of fine native ability, and possessed a well trained mind, and was learned in the law, he lacked some of the necessary attributes to a successful life in the most learned of all profes- sions. He could never have been the plodding, methodical and tireless stu- dent, that closely analyzes and rises to eminence in the law. He was too active, zealous and enthusiastic for that ; he could not "sit down and con- toutedly wait" for anything. He was a remarkably ihnent and forceful public speaker, either at the bar or on the rostrum. Indeed on one oeca- sion his oratory was superb and the student of Kansas history will, long after he is dead, read with pleasure and astonishment, his extraordinary ex tempore speech made in 1873 to the joint convention of the two Houses of the Kansas Legislature, in exposing the attempted bribery by U. S. Sen- ator Pomeroy, of members of the Kansas Legislature. Col. York was then representing Montgomery county in the State Senate and elosed his won- derfui effort in these words: "I stand in the presence of this august and honorable body of representatives of the sovereign people; and before the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, I solemnly declare and affirm that every word I have spoken is God's truth and nothing but the truth."
JUDGE WILLIAM EDWARD ZIEGLER was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1859, and was reared near Mechanicsburg, in that State, teaching school and farming till he was about nineteen years of age, when he moved to Independence and began the study of law in the office of his brother. Hon. J. B. Ziegler. After pursuing his stud- ies till March, 1880, he. then scarcely twenty-one years of age, made ap- plication to the District Court of this county for admission to practice. and after a searching examination by a committee in open court, was admitted without hesitaney, as he evinced a clear conception of the rudi- ments of the science, and plainly showed that he was a thoroughly trained student of Blackstone's Commentaries and other necessary text books.
After his admission, he at once entered the practice at Independence and has since devoted his time exclusively to his chosen profession. Af-
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ter being in the practice at Independence for about eight years, he was chosen city attorney, which office he then filled for five and one-half years, ending in 1893. At the general election in November, 1892, he was elected county attorney, and at the end of his term re-elected and served two terms in that public calling, ending in January, 1897. After the end of his second term as county attorney, Mr. Ziegler moved to and located at Coffeyville, where he at once established for himself a profit- able business in his profession, and is now residing there, pursuing the practice.
During the time Judge Ziegler has lived at Coffeyville he filled for nearly two years, from March, 1899, to October, 1901, the important of- fice of Judge of the court of Coffeyville, which is a tribunal of extensive jurisdiction extending over the county.
WINFIELD S. ZENOR joined our bar about 1880 and in partner- ship with B. S. Henderson, under the firm name of Henderson & Zenor, practiced law here several years. Ile then returned to his former home in Indiana and subsequently moved to Missouri, where he now resides. devoting a portion of his time to teaching.
JOSEPH B. ZIEGLER was born in Cumberland county, Pennsyl- vania, on the 19th day of May, 1843, and lived on a farm, in that county, until he was seventeen years of age. when he entered Diekinson College. at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1864, after a classical course of four years. He then enlisted as a private sol- dier in Company "A." One Hundred and First Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry, and served till the close of the Civil War and was mustered out the last of June, 1865.
He, after leaving the army, took up the study of law and was admit- ted to the bar at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1867. and the next year moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he was admitted, in 1868, and en- tered and continued the practice there till the spring of 1870, when he located at Oswego, Kansas.
A year later he joined the bar of Montgomery county. and since then has, for over thirty-two years, devoted all his time and energies to his chosen profession at Independence.
He first entered the practice at Independence as a partner in the then well-known law firm of MeQue & Ziegler, and after the dissolution of that firm, about a year later, continued the practice alone until about 1885, when the law firm of J. B. & W. E. Ziegler was formed, and he has since pursued his profession, as the senior member of this copartner- ship, which has an office under his charge at Independence, and another at Coffeyville under the control of his partner.
In the practice, Mr. Ziegler made a specialty of commercial law, and in the early 70's established an extensive business in that branch, which extended over a number of counties in Southeastern Kansas and
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far south into the Indian Territory. This business was very profitable and was maintained and increased from year to year until Congress, in 1898, passed a bankrupt law, which, in a great measure, had the effect of greatly lessening the value of the services of the alert and proficient col- lection attorney. This resulted from the fact that under the provisions of that law the creditor "coming in at the eleventh hour" shared pro rata with those whose activity would otherwise have secured to them a valua- ble advantage.
Added to the loss thus sustained, Mr. Ziegler had the misfortune, in February, 1899, of losing by a destructive fire, his fine law library and his office with its entire contents, including a well devised and thorough- ly indexed office brief book, covering about every conceivable question that could arise in commercial law, and which he had been compiling for a quarter of a century or more.
Mr. Ziegler enjoys the distinction of having been in the continuous practice at the Montgomery county bar for a longer period than any oth- er of its members ; of having been a member of the county's bar longer than any other member now in the practice here, and of being one of the two members that practiced here during the 70's, and still in the active practice, the other being Hon. A B. Clark who was at the bar during nine years of that deeade.
WILLIAM DUNKIN-{Prepared by ex-Governor Humphrey, at re- quest of publisher) -Mr. William Dunkin was born at Flint Hill in Rap- pahannock county, Virginia. April 7, 1845. His parents belonged to old Virginia families whose record runs back to Colonial days, and on down through the period of the American Revolution.
The father, though a slave holder, was, in fact, opposed to the insti- tution of slavery and, like many other Southern men of his time, hoped for its ultimate abolition. During the Civil War, as before, he was an unconditional Union man and stoutly supported the Federal govern- ment throughout that memorable struggle for its existence. He lived to see the Union preserved, slavery destroyed, and died June 23, 1868. It may, however, be said that, while the subject of this sketch took no part in the controversies of those days, he was not in full accord with his father's political views and failed to fully appreciate their wisdom until years afterward.
The son, William, when less than a year old, moved with his father's family to Harrison county, Virginia. His father was a physician and his family consisted of his wife and two step-children (W. M. and Mary C. Late) and an infant daughter and the subject of this sketch. The doctor and his wife and step-children owned a number of slaves, which were brought to the new home of nearly one thousand acres, which was pur- chased in 1846 and located about four miles from Clarksburg-and ad- jacent to Bridgeport-and on which a large stone house was built,
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where William Dunkin, Jr., and the family of eight chiuldren were reared.
The doctor, soon after his arrival in Harrison county, established a lucrative practice which he held for fifteen years, when he retired, and resigned his etensive professional Imsiness to his step-son, who had graduated in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania at Philadel- phia.
Up to the breaking-ont of the Civil War, in 1861, William Dunkin, Jr., and his brothers and sisters received only such education as the primitive subscription schools in that new country afforded, and during the war, their home being near the line of hostility between contending armies, but slight educational opportunities were offered. However, this laek was, in a manner, compensated for in the instruction received by the children from their father and private tutors at their home.
At the age of eighteen years, William Dunkin took "French leave" of his parents and went to New York City where he spent four months in the office of Edward P. Clark, a distinguished lawyer in that city, and, upon his return home, was forgiven and sent to the academy at Morgan- town. West Virginia-the present State University-where he began a classical course. Eight months later. he left this school, on account of impaired health, and remained at home until 1871, having. in the mean- time, administered on his father's estate. Some of the assets af the estate being located in the State of Michigan, he spent the winter of 1871 and 1872 there and, having closed up its affairs, he went to Lawrenee, Kansas, and began the study of law in the office of Thacher & Banks in that historie city. After about one year of preparation he was ex- amined by a committee and admitted to practice law in the District Court of Douglas county, Kansas, and a few months after, in the Su- preme Court of the State. In March, 1873, he opened the office in Inde- pendence, Kansas, which he still occupies.
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