USA > Michigan > Bench and bar of Michigan : a volume of history and biography > Part 15
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opinion; and from the foregoing it will be seen that his life has been very busy and useful. Mr. Russell was married September 10, 1863, to Miss Helen Edwards, of Medina, New York, a niece of ex-Congressman Bur- rows. She was a very bright, refined woman and a devoted mother. She died May 3, 1890. The issue of this marriage was three sons and a daugh- ter, to-wit : Clinton W., of Staten Island, New York, a superior designer and mechanical draftsman; Mrs. Lela Harrah, wife of C. W. Harrah, a thrifty real estate dealer of Detroit; Walter Knox, a boy of great promise, who died in 1883, and Frank P., a lawyer and real estate dealer of Detroit.
ALBERT H. WILKINSON, Detroit. Albert Hamilton Wilkinson was born at Novi, Michigan, November 19, 1834. He is of German-English extraction. llis father, James Wilkinson, a native of Jefferson county, New York, was of English descent. His mother, Elizabeth Yerkes, whose ancestors came to America during the Colonial period, was of Ger- man descent. His parents settled as pioneers in the Territory of Michigan in 1825, on a tract of land in Oakland county, purchased from the Govern- ment. They both lived in the farm home on this land until death. Albert HI. was one of the six children of James and Elizabeth Yerkes Wilkinson. He was brought up in the country and trained to work on the farm. His education was rather fragmentary in the method of obtaining it, but finally well rounded and complete. He first attended the district school and from there went to the Cochrane Academy, at Northville. After that he taught a winter in the country before entering the State Normal School at Ypsilanti, at the time of its opening in 1853. Remaining less than two years in the Normal, he left to take charge of the union graded school at Centerville, St. Joseph county, as principal. He had not yet definitely decided upon the profession which should employ his energies during life, but had determined to enlarge the scope of his education. So, after teaching half a year in the union school, he entered Rufus Nutting's private academy at Lodi Plains, where he was prepared for admission to college. In 1855 he entered the freshman class of the University of Michigan and pursued the regular classical course to graduation. Afterwards he spent a year in the Law Department of the University, and then read law in the office and under the instruction of Judge Crofoot, at Pontiac. He was admitted to the Bar in June, 1860. His first partnership, formed immediately after his admission to the Bar, was with Henry M. Look; his second with Oscar F. Wisner, at Pontiac. In 1861 he located in Detroit and formed a part- nership with W. P. Yerkes, which existed five years. In 1866 he formed a partnership with Hoyt Post, under the style of Wilkinson & Post, which continued seven years. On the retirement of Mr. Post from the firm Mr. Wilkinson admitted his brother, C. M. Wilkinson, to a partnership and the brothers continued to practice in this relation for three years. In 1877
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Mr. Post became associated with them and the three remained together . until 1884. His brother then retired and Wilkinson & Post have composed a legal firm from that time until the present. Mr. Wilkinson was a successful lawyer in general practice, building up a large and profitable business, so that he has been able during the later years to exercise his own preference in the class of business taken. During this time he has been employed chiefly in the management and settlement of large estates, a business both congenial and profitable. He has been wedded to the law during the entire period covered by his practice; has had no political ambitions or other aspirations to divert attention from his profession. In politics he is a Republican, but has never sought or held a political office. As one of the recognized duties of citizenship, he served as a member of the board of education of Detroit for some time and was Judge of Probate for a term of four years, beginning in 1873. He has given some time to business affairs; was one of the organizers of the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company, the Michigan Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and the Michigan Savings Bank; has served as director in all of these corporations except the Bank, and also held the relation of counsel to each `of them. Early in life he professed christianity and united with the Baptist Church. His membership is in the first Baptist Church of Detroit, of which he has long been a trustee and deacon. He has been a working member, influential in promoting the cause of christianity. He has served as superintendent of the First Baptist Sunday School and the Clinton Avenue Mission. He was one of the promoters and organizers of the Detroit Baptist Social Union, of which he was the first president. Mr. Wilkinson has established a reputation in the community as a careful, con- scientious lawyer, a progressive citizen, an honorable gentleman and a devoted christian. He enjoys the esteem and regard of his neighbors and the community generally, because of the estimable traits of his character and the faithfulness with which he has discharged the trusts and responsi- bilities which have come to him. July 4, 1859, he was married to Elvira M. Allen, who was educated for a teacher and graduated from the State Normal School in the class of 1858. Their only son, Ralph B., is a practising lawyer in Detroit.
CHARLES W. CASGRAIN, Detroit. Mr. Casgrain was born at Sandwich, Ontario, Canada, on May 24, 1859. His father, Dr. Charles E. Casgrain, of Windsor, Ontario, is a Senator of the Dominion of Canada. He was at one time a resident of Detroit, and in practice there as a physician. His mother was Charlotte Chase, daughter of Thomas Chase and Cathe- rine Caroline Adelaide Bailie de Messein, both well known to all old resi- dents of Detroit, so that although Mr. Casgrain was born on Canadian
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soil and his father is an honored citizen of the Dominion, he is to all intents and purposes a native American in thought, habit and instinct. On the side of his father he is descended from a long line of ancestors dis- tinguished for their services to their native France and their adopted country, Canada, upon the field of battle, in civil station, in legislative service and in professional callings. Jean Baptiste Casgrain, of Poitou, France, distinguished himself at the battle of Fontenoy, and after retiring from the army, covered with the scars of hard-fought victories, he came to the new France in 1756, settled in Quebec, and was the founder of the family in America. The grandfather of our subject, Hon. Charles E. Casgrain, represented his county in the Legislature of Quebec Province in 1830-34, and was also a member of the special council instituted to admin- ister the affairs of the province during a most trying and critical stage, when the constitution was suspended by the British Parliament. Of his sons the eldest, Hon. Charles Eusebe, entered the ranks of the medical profession ; another, Henri Raymond, the priesthood, being the author of several works which have given him rank among the most brilliant of French prose writers of his time. His last book, " An Historical Study on the Arcadians," has been crowned by the French Academy. A third son, Phillip Baby, has long represented a constituency in the Dominion Parliament from Quebec Province, and is also a writer of great ability. The paternal grandmother of our subject was descended from Jaques Baby de Rouville, whose descendants settled in Canada and in Detroit in the last years of the French domination. The family is one of much influence and distinction in Canada, Hon. James Baby, of Quebec Province, being a member of Parliament, a Minister of the Crown and Judge of the Court of Appeals. Dr. Charles E. Casgrain, the father of our subject, was gradu- ated at McGill University, Montreal, and settled in Detroit in the practice of his profession. While a resident there he was married in 1851 to Miss Charlotte Chase. He finally decided to settle in Sandwich, on the Cana- dian side, and met with remarkable success in his profession and in his desire to serve the people whom he loved so well. He has been honored with the life appointment of Senator of the Dominion, and does honor to the office in the able discharge of its duties. He was the first French Canadian raised to that important position from the British Province of Ontario. He has also been made a Knight of the Order of the Holy Sep- ulcher by His Holiness Leo XIII. In the maternal branch of Mr. Casgrain's family Thomas Chase was a prominent merchant, settling in Detroit dur- ing the territory. He enjoyed the friendship and confidence of Governor Mason and his successors. His wife was an able coadjutor in the enter- tainment of the noted men of the day who assembled in Detroit. She was a most gifted woman of queenly deportment and great beauty, and contributed largely to the building up of the educational and church inter- ests of the city, giving of her time and money to found charities that
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endure to this day. This lady, Mrs. Caroline Adelaide Bailie de Messein. died at Windsor at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Dr. Charles E. Cas- grain, in 1883, July 30, maintaining even to the last a charm and fas- cination in her relations to those about her. A brother of Mrs. Chase was a noted lawyer. He was Sir Andrew Steuart, Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench at Quebec, Canada. Heredity of intelligence is an heirloom of which any one may be proud, and Mr. Charles W. Casgrain has in the ancestry of both paternal and maternal lines the names of many honored by useful service in the annals of their coun- try. Educated under the careful guidance of his father in Assumption College at Sandwich, from which he was graduated, he entered upon the study of law, which he had determined, at an early day, to make his life work. Coming to Detroit he entered the office of Don M. Dick- inson in 1879, and in 1883 he was examined by the Circuit Court of Wayne county and admitted to practice, but remained with Mr. Dick- inson for some two years. In 1885 he opened an office, and has since been an active practitioner of his profession. Mr. Casgrain has always taken a lively interest in the political affairs of his country. An ardent Democrat, he has given of his time and money to enhance the success of the principles he espoused. Never an office seeker, he was called to serve his party as their candidate for city attorney in 1888-9, and during his term of office had in charge much important litigation involving the validity of city ordinances. Important street opening cases, and in The case of the common council of the City v. Theo. Rentz et al., the ques- tion of the validity of the law passed by a Democratic Legislature taxing mortgages was finally established; the right of the city to regulate the weight of bread offered for sale and to enforce the smoke ordinances were successfully contested and maintained by Mr. Casgrain. He was for four years, from 1888 to 1892, the chairman of the Congressional Demo- cratic Committee for the First Congressional District, and while in this position the district was represented in the Congress by a Democrat. Pursuant to a concurrent resolution passed by the Legislature of 1891, he was appointed by Governor Winans one of the commissioners for the State of Michigan for the promotion of uniformity of legislation in the United States. In 1892 he was a delegate from his district to the Democratic National Convention at Chicago which nominated Mr. Cleve- land. He has been engaged in the general practice since 1885 and, aside from the city attorneyship held in 1888 and 1889, he has given his entire time to his profession in which he has met with enviable success. Mr. Casgrain has been engaged in many important cases, and for a young man his name appears frequently on the records of the Supreme Court. Amongst other cases in which he was of counsel that of Louis George vs. City of Wyandotte and the Western Electric Company involving the right of a municipality to establish electric lighting plants was one of impor- tance, being the first of the kind brought to settle the law in that
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regard. Mr. Casgrain married in February, 1886, Miss Annie Ham- mond, the accomplished daughter of Mr. George H. Hammond, of Detroit. Both Mr. and Mrs. Casgrain are members of the Roman Cath- olic Church.
BYRON S. WAITE, Detroit. Byron Sylvester Waite was born at Pen- field, Monroe county, New York, September 27, 1852. His father, Elihu Waite, was also a native of Penfield. His grandfather, Elihu Waite, was born in Wakeley, Franklin county, Massachusetts, and removed to New York in early life. His ancestors farther back in the line are English, whose descendants settled in Massachusetts during the colonial period. llis mother, Elizabeth Tarbell, was a native of New York, of New Eng- land ancestry. The name has a Puritan ring. The family came to Michi- gan in the spring of 1856 and settled in Tyrone, Livingston county, where Byron S., who had not yet reached the age of four years, grew to manhood, employed in the industries of the farm and in attendance at the public schools. He attended the high school at Fenton and was graduated from the Baptist Seminary in the same place, when little more than eighteen years of age. For the next two years he held the position of principal of public schools at Rochester, Michigan, appropriating the salary to defray his expenses incident to a course in college. He entered the Literary Department of the University of Michigan in 1876 and was graduated in June, 1880, with the degree, Bachelor of Letters. While pursuing his studies in the college classes he was also attending lectures in the Law School and reading the text books prescribed for the law course. He was in this way qualified for practice, and was admitted to the Bar of the State at Ann Arbor in the fall of 1879. The year immediately following his graduation was occupied with clerical duties in the department of public instruction at Lansing. In September, 1881, he settled down to the practice of law at Ann Arbor, as junior partner in the firm of Cramer, Cor- bin & Waite. This partnership was terminated at the end of one year by the removal of Mr. Waite to Menominee, where he at once became asso- ciated in partnership with A. L. Sawyer, under the style of Sawyer & Waite. This association was continued for thirteen years, until August, 1895, when Mr. Waite settled in Detroit. Soon afterwards he accepted the office of assistant prosecuting attorney for the county of Wayne, which was tendered on his removal to the metropolis of Michigan. In this posi- tion he has served the State and the people with scrupulous fidelity and commendable zeal. His general practice of fifteen years had given him a breadth of qualification unusual in one appointed to that office. Messrs. Sawyer & Waite enjoyed the largest and most lucrative business of any law firm in Menominee. Among the most important cases conducted by them in the nisi prius and Supreme Courts was " The Blodgett & Davis
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Lumber Company vs. Peters et al."-(87 Michigan, p. 498). It estab- lished the riparian law on the great lakes and affected the rights of many land holders. Politically Mr. Waite is a Republican. He has taken a lively interest and a prominent part in local and State politics. In 1884-5 he was Circuit Court Commissioner and United States Commissioner at Menominee. In 1888 he was elected to the State Legislature as the repre- sentative of Menominee county. His ability, political sagacity and readi- ness in debate gave him prominence in the discussions and influence in the transactions of that body. He was chairman of the committee on elections and a member of the judiciary committee and the committee on the University of Michigan. In 1894 he was re-elected and during his second term was chairman of the University committee and also chairman of the committee on municipal legislation, whose most important work is appar- ent in the revision of the municipal laws of the State. He won genuine popularity and the title of leadership in the Legislature. In recognition of his public services he was the recipient of a beautiful testimonial at the close of his second term. This was in the form of a very valuable silver service, presented by fellow members and citizens. He is a patron of Free Masonry, with which he is prominently affiliated. He has held the office of Eminent Commander of Menominee Commandery, No. 35 K. T., and by virtue of that office has membership in the Grand Commandery of Michigan. He is also a member of the Mystic Shrine and of the Order of Elks. He was married January 2, 1881, to Miss Ismene Cramer, daughter of Densmore and Catherine Cramer, of Ann Arbor. The union is bonded by six children, four boys and two girls. A well known judge, whose name is familiar to the profession throughout the state, contributes the following estimate: " Byron S. Waite is considered one of the brightest lawyers that ever practised in the Northern Peninsula. He has a clear mind and is very effective in addressing a jury. The same qualities that made him a leader in the Legislature characterized him in his law practice. As a citizen he is public-spirited, and while at Menomince was constantly endeavoring to advance the interests of that city. Socially he is affable and genial to all."
ALVAH L. SAWYER, Menominee. Among all the men and influences that have contributed to the development of the resources of the west, and the establishment of its people upon a basis of sound morality and liberal education, the most potent is that current composed of brawn and brain, morality, thrift and culture which has flowed out from New England. Its influence has been powerful in Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. The Sawyer family had its nativity in old England. The first American repre- sentative of it came from Birmingham in 1648 and settled in Massachu- setts. From that beginning the family branches extended into other New
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England States and thence to the west. The particular branch of the family to which our subject belongs settled early in Haverhill, New Hamp- shire. Hiram Sawyer, one of the descendants, came with his wife and family to Wisconsin in 1848. He was a farmer and followed that vocation during life. He was a man of more than average ability, prominent in social and political affairs of his neighborhood. He was selected for different local offices of trust, and in 1866 was a member of the Wisconsin Legislature. As a patron of education he was instrumental in raising the standard of the public schools of his community and the State. He died at his farm home in 1888. In early life he had married Barbara A. Wilson, a native of New Hampshire and member of an old and highly esteemed New England family, many of whose members were prominent in the affairs of State. She was the worthy companion of her husband in all of his pioncer labors and successes, and is still living on the old farm in Wis- consin. They had an old-fashioned family of twelve children, nine of whom, five boys and four girls, are still living. The eldest son, H. W. Sawyer, is a prominent lawyer at Hartford, Wisconsin, who has held the office of county judge for sixteen years. Two of the sons are druggists and one is a merchant. Alvah L. Sawyer, of Menominee, was the fourth son of Hiram and Barbara Wilson Sawyer. He attended the district school and worked on the farm until eighteen years of age, then attended Wayland Institute at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, for two terms. This was the extent of his academic education, except that it was broadened and rendered more practical by teaching for a year after leaving the institute. He took up the study of law in the office of his brother in Hartford, and was admitted to the Bar at that place in November, 1877. His examina- tion was by Judge D. J. Pulling, whose record for speed in the trial of causes and in the small number of cases reversed by the Supreme Court excelled that of any judge in the State. Mr. Sawyer remained with his brother, engaged in the practice, for a year after his admission to the Bar and then, in 1878, settled in Menominee, Michigan. For more than eighteen years he has resided and practised law in that place. His business has always been of a general character, and his practice was conducted alone until 1882, when he formed a partnership with Byron S. Waite. For eleven years thereafter the firm was Sawyer & Waite. In 1893 W. F. Waite was admitted to the partnership, and the firm name was changed to Sawyer, Waite & Waite. In 1895 Byron S. Waite removed to Detroit, and since that time the style of the firm has been Sawyer & Waite. Among the important cases managed by this firm was that of Peters & Morrison vs. The Blodgett & Davis Lumber Company, in which they were attorney's for the defendant. In this case they succeeded in establishing a point not theretofore clearly defined by law in regard to riparian rights on the great lakes. The Supreme Court of Michigan adopted their view and declared the law. Another case was that of Beyer vs. Ramsay & Jones. It involved the location and establishment of government lines in case of trespass.
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This of course was tried in the United States court. Mr. Sawyer has always been a Democrat, but never an office secker. When the town of Menominee was incorporated as a city he was elected the first city attor- ney, and held the office five years. He has always manifested an interest in the subject of education, and his activities have been exerted for the promotion of popular education. He has been a member of the school board for several years. At different times nominations for county offices have been tendered him, but he has declined them. For many years he has been a Mason and has passed up through the degrees to the highest of ancient craft Masonry, and has also connected himself with modern divisions of the order. He is a member of Menominee Commandery, No. 35, K. T., and of Saladin Temple Mystic Shrine, at Grand Rapids. He was married April 13, 1880, to Miss Josephine S. Ingalls, daughter of the fate Judge Ingalls, of Menominee. They have five children, namely, Kenneth, aged twelve; Gladys, aged eight; Meredith, aged six; and Wilda, aged three, and a baby girl. Mr. Sawyer is a man loyal to the community in which he lives, enterprising and active in support of all . measures of a character to advance the general interests and welfare. He has the faculty of acquiring money, which he loves not for itself, but for its higher uses. He does not take enjoyment in hoarding, but in expend- ing, and hence he appreciates money for what it purchases. Ilis beautiful home is adorned with works of art and furnished with one of the finest private libraries in Northern Michigan. His naturally refined taste is evidenced by his love of flowers and pictures. He is also a successful hor- ticulturist and finds the cultivation of fruits one of his most . enjoyable recreations. His investments have been successful in pine and mineral lands, and among his holdings are gold mines in British Columbia. His home is a center of culture and social pleasure. His wife joins him in the entertainment of friends and the exercise of a liberal hospitality. They are very popular among the society people of that section. With such a home and surrounded by such a family, with the advantages of books and art, and the opportunity to gratify tastes in recreation, as well as in the cultivation of the mind and moral sentiments, it is not surprising that Mr. Sawyer prefers private life to the cares and exactions of public office. As a lawyer he ranks high, and it may be said of him that he is equally suc- cessful in the preparation of pleadings and in the trial of cases in court. Hle is a man whose usefulness to the community is recognized, whose hon- orable position in the profession is established and who needs none of the superficial honors of state to crown a life in every way worthy.
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JOSEPH H. STEERE, Sault Ste. Marie. Joseph H. Steere, Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, was born May 19, 1852, at Addison, Lenawee county, Michigan. His father, Isaac Steere, was a native of Ohio and a descendant of an old Virginia family. He followed the double occupation of milling and farming, and came into Michigan in 1834. He settled at Adrian, and afterwards removed to Addison where he lived many years. He finally returned to Adrian, where he is still living at a very advanced age. Judge Steere's mother was Elizabeth (Comstock) Steere, a native of New York and of English descent. She also is still living. Four children were born to them, three girls, and the subject of our sketch. His carly days were spent in Lenawee county on the farm. He attended the district school and Raisin Valley Seminary, a Quaker school, from which he was graduated in 1871. Hle then attended the Adrian high school completing its course in six months. In the fall of 1872, the same year, he entered the Literary Department of the University of Michigan and was graduated in 1876 with the degree of A. B. After finishing his school life he entered the law office of Geddes & Miller at Adrian. He spent two years in study and was admitted to the Lenawee county Bar in 1878. While he was in the University he had taken law lectures but did not matriculate in the Law Department. In the spring of 1878, he came to Sault Ste. Marie and began the practice of law. He was appointed prosecuting attorney in 1878 and was elected to the same office a year later, and held it until the spring of 1881. At that time he was nominated by the Republicans for Circuit Judge and was elected by a very complimentary vote. He has continued to act as judge to this day. It is said by the members of the Bar in his circuit, without respect to party, that he can hold it as long as he will accept the position. He was only twenty-eight years old when he became judge and his judicial record is remarkable for one so young at its beginning. In 1889 he travelled in Europe and has since travelled extensively in America, making a canal voyage one summer of over 1,000 miles in visiting Hudson's Bay. When he became judge the circuit comprised the large area of what is now Chippewa, Schoolcraft, Luce, Alger, Mackinac, and Manitou counties. There were no court houses in the entire circuit except in Chippewa and Mackinac. In Manitou county composed of islands in Lake Michigan, the entire population was Irish and was governed by Father Gallagher, their priest, and they ironically addressed him as " Your Lord- ship." In the winter he could reach some of his counties only on snow shoes and in the summer in sailing boats. He has held court .in stores, hotel offices and in other convenient places of assembly. The judge is a great lover of hunting and fishing. He is a profound student, and has made a through study of the history of the Lake Superior region. He has accumulated the finest library of books relating to the early history of this region to be found anywhere in private hands. Sault Ste. Marie, where he resides, is the oldest white settlement in Michigan, having a history run-
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