USA > Michigan > American Biographical History of Eminent and Self-made Men.: Michigan Volume > Part 20
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College, in Philadelphia. He graduated from the latter | posed upon him. Ile was a del. gate to the Philadelphia institution, March 13, 1871. The ambition of years was Convention in 1866, and a member of the Michigan Constitutional Convention in 1867. In May, 1870, he was appointed Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan ; and. about a year later, he removed to Detroit. He took high rank as a jurist, and was regarded by the legal profession as one of the most capable men on the bench. His decisions were generally accepted as standard authority, and no decision of his was ever reversed by the United States Court. Mr. Longyear was not a member of any relig- ious denomination, but was a constant attendant at the Presbyterian Church. In his earlier years, he was a Whig ; upon the organization of the Republican party, he became an advocate of its principles. He married, at Eagle, Clinton County, Michigan, June 25, 1849, Miss now gratified; but he was without means to make his knowledge available. He accordingly returned to his native town, and borrowed fifty dollars; with this, in May, 1871, he opened an office in Detroit, Michigan, where he has since continued to reside. In October, 1872, he was appointed Demonstrator of Anatomy in Detroit Medical College, which position he still holds. He is also Lecturer on Orthopedic Surgery in the same institution. He is a member of the Detroit Academy of Medicine, and of the Detroit Medical and Library associations. He is attending physician of several chari- table and religious institutions in the city. He has always been a member of the Roman Catholic Church. In politics, he has always taken an active part with the Democratic party, since his permanent residence in the ; Harriet M. Monroe. They have had one daughter and States. His person is slight. He enjoys good health,
two sons, one of whom is dead. The death of Mr. Long- and possesses great power of endurance, both physical : year occurred suddenly, on Thursday evening, at eleven and mental. He is esteemed by a laige circle of friend, o'clock, March 11, 1875. The members of the Detroit and acquaintances, and is one of the most prominent ; bar held a meeting, at which a series of resolutions were rising physicians in the city of Detroit.
passed, including the following :
" Resched, That we, who have been witnesses of his labors, and practitioners before him during the past ten year-, as well as friends thoroughly conversant with all his genial qualities and native courtesy, can bear the amplest testimony of his learning; his diligence ; his carefulness and skill in the treatment of all legal questions coming before him for investigation ; his strict honesty and severe integrity in connection with his high office; and his uniform impartiality and courtesy towards the entire bar, from its most distin- guished senior to the humblest of its junior members. " Resolved, That in the varied sphere of his judicial duties, whether in admiralty, bankruptcy, equity, or common law, this distinguished judge showed himself thoroughly conversant with the rules and principles peculiar to all departments of the law, and to such an extent as marked him as one rapi:lly taking rank among the eminent District and Circuit Judges of the country. We regard it as one of the highest eviden- ces of his judicial ability, that, by his opinions, gener- ally carefully, and often laboriously, prepared, he suc- ceeded, not only in demonstrating their correctness to his own satisfaction, but in reconciling the views of opposing counsel to his own."
ONGYEAR, HON. JOHN WESLEY, Detroit, Michigan, Judge of the United States District Court, was born in Shandaken, Ulster County. New York, October 22, 1820. When fifteen years of age, he removed with his father to Dutchess County, and. subsequently, to Delaware County, New York. He received his education in the seminaries of Amenia and Lima, in that State. He then taught school for several years, and, at the same time, devoted his leisure to the study of law. In April, 1844, he removed to Michigan, in which State his father had previously setthd. He went to Ingham County, where he completed his pre- paratory studies in the office of IIon. D. L .. Case, and was also engaged in teaching a select school. Ile was admitted to the bar in 1846. Upon the removal of the State capital from Detroit to Lansing, in 1847, he located in the latter place, and formed a law partner- ship with his brother, Ephraim Longyear, which was continued until 1859. They were among the ablest lawyers in the county, and soon built up a large and 'OTHROP, GEORGE VAN NESS, Attorney-at- law, Detroit, was born in Easton, Bristol County, 3 Connecticut, August 8, 1817. His early years were spent on his father's farm. After an academical course, he entered Brown University, and graduated under its distinguished President, Doctor Francis Way- lucrative practice. In the fall of 1862, he was elected a Representative to Congress; and, in 1864 was re-elected, serving in the Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congres.es. He was a faithful and able representative; and was a member of the Committee on Common Expenditures, and Chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings, j land, in the year 1838. In the fall of the same year, Mr. Longyear was always to be found in his place dur- he entered the law school of Harvard University, then in charge of Judge Story and Professor Greenleaf. In ing the sessions of the House; and never shrank from the responsibilities which the duties of legislation im- I the summer of 1839, being somewhat out of health, he
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came to Prairie Ronde, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, | he enjoys a moderately large fortune. From the time where his brother, the Hon. Edwin H. Lothrop, a man of his entrance upon active professional life, 1844, Mr. of note in our State politics and government, owned and cultivated an extensive and productive farm. Here, intermitting his studies, he spent most of his time for two or three years in practical farming and in building Lothrop has enjoyed a wide celebrity throughout Mich- igan, as a lawyer, politician, and a cultured, courteous, and honorable gentleman. His legal record runs through the entire catalogue of Michigan Reports, embrac- up his health. In the spring of 1843, he came to ing a period of more than thirty-five years. He very early became a representative man in the Democratic
that city. The first case he ever argued was before the Supreme Court of the State, prior to his admission to the bar, special leave being granted by the court for sentiment, been looked upon as having a right to the
Detroit, and resumed the study of law, in the office of Joy & Porter, then prominent members of the bar of party; and, had that party remained in power, a seat in the Senate of the United States would have been tendered him, unsolicited. He has, by a pervading
the purpose. It was the celebrated case of the Mich- best positions. He has been the standard by which igan State Bank against Hastings and others. (See other public men have been measured, in the field of first Douglass' Michigan Reports, page 225.) So ably legal learning, eloquence, and general attainments. Probably no man in the country, certainly none in the State, is his superior as an orator. He possesses a peculiar charm of voice and manner; and that which, with some advocates, would, in the energy of forensic appeal, seem bitterness, with him is simply earnestness. A friend has not unjustly likened him to Cicero and Atticus. A true chivalry seems to inspire Mr. Lothrop's every act. He is never time-serving, but always obeys con- viction, regardless of consequences. He was never unpopular, but this species of valor would have been fatal to most public men. If ambitious, ambition has been his servant, not his master. A change of political profession, with the turn of the political tide, would have secured for him the highest honors, but he be- lieved in Democracy. His views must change before a shred of his political garment could change. He twice led the forlorn hope of his party, as their candidate for Congress in his district, when the power of the opposi- tion was so overwhelming that defeat was a foregone conclusion. He led the Michigan delegation at the Charleston National Convention, in 1860; and it may also be said that he led the Douglas sentiment in that body. He was pitted against the ablest, as well as the most inveterate and malignant, champions of that political schism, the first really audible muttering of the storm which, in less than a year, burst upon the country. He maintained his ground with a courage and constancy that would have suffered martyrdom rather than yield a principle. He believed that a vital principle was at stake, and did not hesitate to characterize the disor- ganizing element in the convention as the premeditated secession and treason which it subsequently proved to be. He gave a cordial support to all just and necessary measures of the Government during the war, but not to those which he considered unjust. At the time of Mr. Vallandigham's arrest, Mr. Lothrop addressed a public meeting in Detroit, in protest against it; not that he would shield Mr. Vallandigham from the just conse-
was the case presented by the young student, that the members of the court did not hesitate to openly express their admiration of the effort, and to predict for him that brilliant career that he has since realized. In the spring of 1844, he commenced practice in Detroit as a law partner of D. Bethune Duffield, Esq., under the firm name of Lothrop & Duffield, which continued until 1856. In April, 1848, he was appointed Attorney- General of the State, the former Attorney-General, Hon. Edward Mundy, having been appointed to a seat on the supreme bench of the State. He held the office until January, 1851. Some . excitement occurred about this time, in consequence of a real or supposed purpose, on the part of the Roman Catholics in Detroit, to secure a portion of the school funds for the benefit of their schools. Mr. Lothrop enlisted earnestly in a popular movement to counteract the scheme. An independent ticket for city officers was the result, and Mr. Lothrop became the nominee for Recorder of the city, and was triumphantly elected to a position for which he cer- tainly could have had no personal ambition. He has, two or three times, received the vote of the Democratic members of the State Legislature for United States Senator. He was a member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1867, the record of which bears abundant evidence of his position and influence in that body. The legislature of 1873 authorized the appointment of a committee to prepare amendments to the Constitution of the State; and the Governor, Hon. John J. Bagley, looking to both political parties for members of the commission, recognized Mr. Lothrop's position in his party by appointing him to a seat in the body. This, however, was respectfully declined. For twenty-five years Mr. Lothrop has been general attorney of the Michigan Central Railroad Company, and still con- tinues to be their adviser. He is also a trusted adviser of many other corporations. He is still in the active practice of his profession, both as counselor and advo- cate. He is essentially a man of work; idleness is quences of his acts, but that all should be done accord- unknown to him. As the fruit of a life of industry, | ing to law, and not in defiance of it. He understood
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the professional bearing of the case, and regarded the | branches of the Legislature, he delivered an address occasion as seriously imperiling the most sacred rights, if a citizen could be arrested by a mere military order,
entitled "Union, Victory, and Freedom,"-a brilliant and powerful effort, which was published in pamphlet and subjected to pains and penalties, without even 'form, and was copied in the Republican journals of the being permitted the benefit of a remedial writ. Many West. In August, 1866, he presided over the Repub- a man in his position would have shrunk from taking lican State Convention, at Detroit. From 1856 to 1870, this stand, at a time when not only partisan spirit ran I he was actively engaged as a speaker for the Republican high, but when to oppose the popular sentiment was' cause. In 1872 he gave his support to Horace Greeley, deemed little short of treason. Personal considerations and was a candidate of the Liberal party for Presidential were probably not considered by Mr. Lothrop. He was | Elector. Sickness prevented his taking an active part a sentinel on the watch-tower of the law. The law was : in this campaign, though he made one speech at Kala- every thing; he was nothing in comparison. This brief mazoo, which was used by the Liberals as a campaign but imperfect outline of the leading trait, of Mr. document. In 1876 he delivered an address at Cleve. Lothrop's character is given because the world claims a land, advocating the election of Tilden and Hendricks, certain property in the lives of all it, people, and ha- a which received favorable comment from the Democratic right to the example of some of its best men and press. He also addressed large meetings at various other women.
places during the same year. Among his forensic efforts are several worthy of mention : his exhaustive argument in the famous Pierce will case-in which law, logic, and ,dloquence were blended with the skill of a master- gave him a victory, after a protracted and tedious trial;
AV, HON. CHARLES S., of Detroit, Michi hi, argument before the Supreme Court, to compel the gan, is a native of Berkshire County, Massa- Regents of the University, by mandamus, to establish chusetts. He removed, with his parents, when a chair of homeopathy, in pursuance of an act of the he was four years old, to Richland, Kalamazoo Legislature, attracted wide and favorable attention; and County, Michigan. After completing his academic edu- an address given before the law department of the cation, he entered upon the study of law as his cho-en University of Michigan, in March, entitled "Trial by profession. While thus engaged, he became thoroughly 'Jury." is among the most scholarly of his efforts. Ilis enlisted in the antislavery movement, and contributed eulogy upon the late Charle, Sumner, delivered before various articles upon that subject to the journal of the the faculty and societies of Kalamazoo College, and his State. He devoted a year or more to the practice of Centennial address on Patrick Henry, have placed him law after his admission to the bar, in 1854: and then in the font tank as a popular orator. In 1863, in con- became associate political editor of the Detroit Tribune, nection with an excursion of the Western Boards of A part of the time, he was employed as it- Washington Trade, he made a series of speeches at Toronto, Mon- correspondent. In 1856 he resumed his professional' tical, Portland, and Boston, which were highly com- work. Ile practiced both at Battle Creek and Kalama- I mended by Eastern journals, and added to his reputation. zoo, and soon acquired a reputation as an able advocate ; A> a lawyer, advocate, and orator, Mr. May stands and lawyer. At the breaking out of the civil war, he among the ablest in Michigan and the North-west. Ilis raised a company of men, and was commissioned Cap- eloquence i- fervid and convincing, and his English pure tain in the 2d Regiment of Michigan Infantry. He and flowing. His printed speeches are remarkable for participated in several of the early battles, and served their clearness and force, and contain abundant proof with distinction in the first campaign in Virginia. He 'that they are the result of original, careful thought ; yet received his first recommendation for promotion from those which have been most powerful, and have gained the late lamented Major-General I. B. Richardson; but ; him his reputation as a speaker, have been extempora- ill health necessitated his leaving the army, and he re -; neon. He impresses all who listen to him with his turned to his professional studies. In the fall of 1863. 'earnestnes .. He is a man of strong convictions, and he was elected, by a large majority, Lieutenant Governor of sufficient moral courage and independence to do and of the State: and presided over the Senate, in the sea dare for the right. as the record of his life testifies. In sions of 1863-64, with distinguished ability. His ad- politics, he is not a partisan, except, perhaps, when dress to the Senate, February 9, 1803, on the subject great principles are at stake. He is unobtrusive and re- of sustaining the Government in its efforts to carry the ; served in manner, but has an extensive circle of friends, war to a victorious termination, was one of great power, among whom he is recognized as a genial, cultivated and eloquence. It was printed and widely circulated gentleman and an independent thinker. In the summer throughout the whole North-west. During the extra | of 1876. Mr. May removed to Detroit, where he is now session of 1864, by the unanimous request of both ; engaged in the practice of his profession. As a recog-
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nition of his ability, and of his oratorical services during | vious four years, -including two teams and much other the campaign of 1876, he received the unanimous vote of the Democratic members of the Legislature for United States Senator. He was, for a number of years, Vice- President of the National Unitarian Conference; and, in 1870, was selected, by the National Committee, to fill the vacancy in the office of President, occasioned by the death of Hon. Thomas D. Elliott, of Massachusetts.
cCAIN, HIRAM, Detroit, Real Estate Owner, was born in Dunwich, county of Elgin, London District, Canada, March 12, 1822. His parents emigrated from Ireland in 1818. His father was of Scotch descent; and his mother, who was a third cousin of Sir James Ackison, of Turgan, Ireland, was a native of Ireland. At the time of his arrival in Amer- ica, his father had some property, consisting mainly of carpenters' and glaziers' tools, with which he stocked a small store in the city of Montreal. Upon removing to Fort Talbot, on Lake Erie, in the fall of 1820, he was shipwrecked near Dunkirk, on the American side of the lake, losing all his tools and household goods, barely escaping with his own life and that of his wife and child. He had previously purchased of Colonel Talbot fifty acres of land in the township of Dunwich, then a wilderness, upon which he erected a log-cabin. Not- withstanding the severe struggles of the next ten or twelve years, he succeeded in maintaining his family, which had increased to eight children, and in clearing about three-fourths of his farm. About this time, a misunderstanding occurred between the husband and wife, and it was several years before a reconciliation was established, which, even then, was not perfect. This misfortune naturally cast a gloom over the minds and hopes of the children. Hiram McCain, who is the third child and first son, was, consequently, at the age of ten years, thrown penniless upon the world, without even a conception of the meaning of the word educa- tion. This occurred at a time when opportunities were by no means numerous, and at a place where his pros- pects were not at all encouraging. He was, however, of a hopeful and adventurous disposition, and made manly efforts to overcome the difficulties that surrounded him. At the age of seventeen, he engaged in taking contracts for clearing land by the acre; and, the follow- ing year, undertook the timber business on his own account, keeping two forces of men employed, in turn, during the winter. In summer, he worked a large farm on shares, raising grain and other products to be con- sumed by his employes in the lumber business. This business, however, resulted most disastrously in the
stock, and involving him in debt. The timber and staves, which commanded a large price at the beginning of the undertaking, fell to just one-half their value. An- ticipating an improvement, he kept the timber which he already had on hand, and continued work the fol- lowing winter; but his hopes of a rise in price were not realized, and he sold his property at a great sacrifice, leaving large quantities of it to decay in the woods. This, of course, dampened his ardor; but, having learned that to be despondent was unwise as well as unmanly, in 1847, though but nineteen years of age, he engaged in building houses, by contract, in Detroit. He had been in Michigan, and, more or less, in Detroit, since the year 1836; and settled in that city permanently in 1847. Although building was entirely new to him, he con- structed houses of almost every size and description with perfect success. In 1848 he leased, of the late Hon. E. A. Brush, a large piece of ground on Jeffer- son avenue, upon which he erected two blocks, of four buildings each, five of which were stores, and three first-class dwellings. They are on Jefferson avenue, just above the Biddle House; one being known as the Beecher Block, and the other,-including the drug store of Mr. Henry Heigh, on the east side of Brush street,- as the Booth (or Thompson) Block. He continued this occupation until the spring of 1849, and realized a small fortune for that time, having made, in one year, what was equivalent to at least eight thousand dollars. In 1849 he engaged in mercantile business, in which he was very unfortunate. Being young and inexperienced, he was induced to buy two old stocks of goods, with which he could not compete with other merchants in Detroit. He accordingly took his goods to Bay City, then known as Lower Saginaw, with the view of event- ually starting a trading-post there for lumber and other building materials. While there, he went deer hunting in the dense pine forests, and got lost. Being out all night,-one of the coldest of the winter, -his feet were so badly frozen that they had to be amputated,-the left leg just below the knee, and the right foot at the instep. This calamity, which would have crushed the spirits of most men, had a contrary effect upon Mr. McCain. Despising, as he did, the man who ate idle bread, he resolved never to be a burden upon any one, but to secure independence for himself. Aided by Hon. E. A. Brush, who greatly admired his energy and perse- verance, and was always his firm friend, Mr. McCain again undertook building enterprises. He has been
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nobly successful, and is now not only independent, but quite wealthy. His self-reliance led, also, to his pre- paring himself to transact his own law business. He determined to be his own instructor, and this, in con- nection with the fact that his early education had been loss of every thing he had accumulated during the pre- | so neglected, was no small task. He accomplished it,
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however, and has even been employed by others to | ter, New York, he, however, changed his purpose, and prepare and adjust papers and legal documents involv- ing thousands of dollars; his work standing the test of the sharpest judicial investigation. Mr. McCain is a firm believer in the teachings of the Bible, but enter- tains a more catholic interpretation of them than is held by any of the sects of the present day; and, for this reason, has never united with any church. He believes that church privileges should be free to all, and is noted for his liberal contributions to the poor. He abhors dishonesty in any form, and is exact in keeping his word. Mr. McCain is strongly Republican in poli- tics; but in that, as in everything else, he endeavors to
secured a clerkship at a salary of ninety-six dollars a year,-a high price for a boy's services at that time. At the end of two years, he returned home, with fifty- five dollars as the product of his industry, -an amount ¡of money that, at that early day, was not often seen in the hands of a tolerably successful farmer in the woods of Michigan; while, in the possession of a boy, it must have made him quite a lion. He invested fifty dollars of his money in forty acres of Michigan land, which he held until 1848, and then sold for seven hundred dollars. This transaction was the beginning of his successful career. Declining a liberal offer made by his father, he be consistent, and to be controlled by principle. In | became clerk for a Pittsburg iron company agency in earlier days, although he favored the abolition of slav. ; Detroit, with whom he remained until 1847; but, real- izing the power of money, directed by a liberal and com-
ery, he considered it wrong to bring it about by force.
He did not believe in the extreme policies of the ultra : prehensive mind, to contribute to the development of element of the Republican party during and after the the resources of nature, and, consequently, to the hap- late civil war, and refused to support the administration which was the legitimate outgrowth of that element. He was, however, a stanch supporter of President Lin- coln and his administration, and a strong Union man during the war. le corresponded with many of the soldiers, both officers and privates, while they were in the field, sending practical suggestions for the conduct of the war. Among others, he wrote a letter to Lieu- tenant Levi G. Mitchell, of the 10th Michigan Cavalry, while he was in Tennessee, setting forth the importance of the movement afterwards made by General Sherman in his march to the sea. Mr. McCain never married. piness and comfort of man, he determined to make a venture in business for himself. In the fall of 1847, he chose the township and little business center of Novi, in Oakland County, opening there a general stock of merchandise, and making a specialty of wool, which was produced largely in that fine farming region. This latter feature of his business soon became the leading one; and, after remaining at Novi from 1847 to 1864, his wool trade had extended so generally over the State that his removal to Detroit became necessary; and he opened a branch house in Boston, Massachusetts, for the purpose of selling his large purchases of wool. Devot- ing his entire energies to the business until 1872, his field of operations embraced not only Michigan, but Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa. In 1868 his purchases amounted to four and a half million pounds; and, from that time till 1872, they averaged from two to four millions yearly. During twenty years of his heaviest trade, he was never forced to make sales to meet his obligations. He always bought heavily when wool was low, no matter how large a stock he had on hand; and, during thirty years of business life, he never sold at a loss any season's purchases. This success was due to his financial system,-his tact in making provision for the large sums required in busy seasons, sometimes amounting to seventy-five thousand dollars per day; to the acuteness which enabled him to know where to buy, what prices to pay, and when to hold or sell his stock; and to his accurate judgment in selecting his agents, not one of whom has ever, in a single instance, proved unfaithful to his trust. No wool
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