USA > Michigan > Bench and bar of Michigan : a volume of history and biography > Part 16
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ning back to 1668. He has received many volumes pertaining to its history and the Superior regions generally, from dealers in Europe, many of the volumes are printed in French. He has never married. He spends his vacations hunting and fishing and his evenings in study. He has been elected to succeed himself without opposition. He knows no friend while on the Bench. A strange attorney is treated with the same courtesy in his court that his best friend would receive. He is often called to Detroit and other places in southern Michigan to preside in the courts, and is known throughout the State as a just and upright judge. He is not a politician and believes that politics should have no part or lot in court work. He has done much to elevate the Bench and Bar since he became judge. He is kind hearted and charitable and has helped many unfortunate men and women to a larger and better life. He is a genial and companionable character and has a wide circle of admiring friends, who love him not only for his sterling qualities as a judge and public official, but also for his warm heart and sympathetic disposition. He is a Mason of high rank, and has taken the 33d degree.
WILLIAM F. WAITE, Menominee. William Fuller Waite, the junior member of the firm of Sawyer & Waite, is of English descent, his fore- fathers having settled in New England before the Revolutionary War. Later descendants moved to Western New York where Elihu Waite, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born and grew to manhood; marrying Elizabeth Tarbell, who was also a native of New York State, and coming, in 1855. to Michigan where he soon after settled on a farm in Tyrone, Livingstone county. On this farm William Fuller Waite was born, on the 4th of August, 1860, being the sixth in a family of seven children, five of whom were boys. The name Fuller given him for a mid- dle name was the family name of his paternal grand-mother. He passed his boyhood on the farm, attending the district school winters but the rest of the season learning the science, pleasures and profits of farming, none of which he seemed to care for. When he was seventeen years old, he entered the Fenton high school, and after alternating two years of attendance with two years of teaching, he graduated in 1881. He was desirous of entering the University of Michigan but lack of funds prevent- ing he was unable to do so until the fall of 1883, when he entered the Literary Department with the class of '87. Here by attending the law lectures in addition to his regular literary studies he prepared himself for his life work, the study and practice of the Law. He was admitted to the Bar at Howell, Michigan, by Judge Newton January 13, 1888. After prospecting awhile for a location he settled at Escanaba, forming a part- nership for practice with E. P. Royce, the oldest practitioner of that city. This relationship was continued until April 1, 1893, when he removed to
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Menominee and became the junior member of the then existing firm of Sawyer & Waite, the firm taking the name of Sawyer, Waite & Waite. This arrangement continued until his older brother removed to Detroit when the firm again took the old name. The firm has a large practice of the better class, mostly civil work, which they prefer, accepting criminal work only when it cannot well be avoided. Politically, Mr. Waite is a Republican and active in the support of his party; but he has never held political office, his ambition being rather to stand high at the Bar and in the esteem of his fellow men than to secure political preferment. He is a Mason and a member of Menominee Chapter R. A. M. He was married January 15, 1891, to Miss Helen Osgood, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a graduate of the University of Michigan with the degree Ph. B., Class of '86 and the poet of her class in the senior year. They have one living child, Leslie Osgood Waite. Mr. Waite is a good lawyer, strongly attached to the profession and launched fairly in the practice. He has the care, the application, the disposition and natural ability essential to success.
E. S. B. SUTTON, Sault Ste. Marie. Judge Sutton was born in Orion, Oakland county, March 20, 1854. His father was Jonathan Sutton, a native of New Jersey, and of English descent. The English branch of the family has had representatives high in church and State. The pater- nal Sutton was a merchant and land owner. He came to Michigan in 1839, and died on his farm in Oakland county in 1880. The mother of our subject was Delila Predmore, also a native of New Jersey, and of English descent. She died in 1892. She had ten children, five boys and five girls, of whom two daughters and four sons are yet living, Judge Sutton being the youngest in the family. Ilis carlier life was spent in Orion, and when he was eight years of age his parents moved to Saginaw. Here he spent many years. At eighteen he was graduated from the Saginaw high school, and then took a course in Latin under Rev. Father DeCunick, S. J. After this he went to Detroit and entered the law office of Col. John Atkinson where he remained as a student for three years. He was admitted to the Wayne county Bar in 1878. He immediately established himself at the "Soo" and opened an office, which he has maintained to the present day. At the time of his arrival in the upper country there was but one other lawyer in the place. In politics he has always been a Democrat and had taken a lively interest in his party until 1891, when he retired from active participation in its management. He has never had but one partner. T. J. Martin was associated with him during 1887 and 1888. Soon after coming to the "Soo," he was elected county inspector of schools, and afterwards was county superintendent of schools for one year. He was Circuit Court Commissioner for two terms, his time of service extending
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from 1880 to 1884. He was elected judge of probate for the same years, and was prosecuting attorney for one term from 1886. He was active in suppressing the lawlessness then so prevalent in the Northern Peninsula. In 1880, as a compliment to his good work in securing the conviction of counterfeiters from Canada, he was appointed a Commissioner of the Court of Queen's Bench of the Dominion. He was made United States Com- missioner in 1894, and still holds that position. He always carried on a general practice until 1891, since which time he has made a specialty of admiralty law, and is interested in many marine cases in his part of the State. He is attorney for the M., St. P., and S. Ste. M. Railway, and transacts all their business at this end of the line. He is Director of the "Soo" National Bank, and is its attorney. This relation to the bank he has held since its organization in 1888. He is president of the "Soo" Club, and is a 32d degree Mason. He is a member of the Knights Tem- plar, and of the "Shrine." He was united in marriage in 1881 to Miss Annie Scranton, of Sault Ste. Marie. She was born in that city, and her maternal grandfather, Pierre Barbeau, was Factor for the American Fur Company, and had jurisdiction from Detroit to Hudson's Bay. Mr. Sut- ton has many cases in the Supreme Court, and his extensive practice is not confined to his locality, but frequently calls him to other cities. He is a genial man, who is much in society. and is a bright, pleasant ener- getic gentleman. He is a good trial lawyer, an easy talker, and makes a good impression on both judge and jury. His speech is "redolent with the grace of calm simplicity."
BENJAMIN J. BROWN, Menominee. Hon. Benjamin J. Brown was born into the profession of law and inherited the talents and the tenden- cies which combine to make the best lawyers. On his father's side he is a descendant of Benjamin Harrison of Virginia, signer of the Declaration of Independence, while his maternal lineage connects him with Lord Balti- more, the founder of Maryland. His father, Benjamin S. Brown was a native of Bath, Virginia; was educated for the Bar, and on his admission to practice located at Mt. Vernon, Ohio. He ranked with Seargent S. Prentiss of Mississippi as an advocate, and was associated in practice at Toledo with Noah HI. Swayne, afterwards one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and at Mt. Vernon with Rollin C. Hurd, father of the late Frank Hurd, who in the maturity of his powers had no superior as a chancery lawyer in the Northwest. His mother Catha- rine C. Thomas was a native of Missouri, and a daughter of Judge Rich- ard S. Thomas, born in Maryland. His grandfather Thomas was a great lawyer. Hle commenced the practice of his profession in Kentucky, and was there brought into close association with Henry Clay, with whom acquaintance ripened into friendship which was never broken, or inter-
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rupted. His last days were spent in Missouri, where, from 1821 until the close of his life in 1828, he held the office of Circuit Judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit. After his death, Mr. Clay said to one of his daughters: "Of all the men I have ever known your father had the best judgment." Jesse B. Thomas, a brother of Richard S., was judge of the Territory of Illinois, and president of the convention which framed the first constitu- tion of the State. He suggested the name of the State. On its admis- sion into the union he was elected to the Senate of the United States, and was re-elected for the succeeding term. He was the author of the Missouri Compromise, and chairman of the committee of conference upon that measure-William Pinkney, of Maryland, then the acknowledged leader of the American Bar, being also a member of the committee. Jesse B. Thomas, son of Richard S., served the state of Illinois as Attorney Gen- eral, Circuit Judge, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. But his chief claim to distinction rests upon his character and services as a nisi- prius judge, wherein, in the general judgment of his contempories, he was without a rival. Benjamin J. Brown was born at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, July 8, 1833. His father died when he was five years old; his mother is still living and a resident of Saginaw. He had two brothers and two sisters, of whom one brother and one sister are dead. His surviving brother, Jesse B. Brown, resides at Indianapolis. Mr. Brown was reared at Mt. Vernon and mainly educated at Mr. Sloan's Academy in that place, one of the most notable schools of its time. He read law, and in May 1855 was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of Illinois. In May 1856 he removed to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and remained a citizen of that state until 1865 when he changed his residence to Michigan, and since 1873 has made his home at Menominee. In 1862 he was married to Miss Eliza Hart of Oconto, Wisconsin. Seven children were born of this marriage, four of whom are living: DeWitt married Margaret Woessner, has five children and lives in Menominee; Franklin H. married Charlotte Ault, has four children and lives in Menomince; Catharine is the wife of Arthur I .. Lewis, has one child, and lives in the City of Mexico, where her husband is engaged in the business of silver mining; Bessie lives at home and is unmarried. Mr. Brown and the members of his family belong to the Episcopal Church. Politically he is a Republican, and during his adult life has been both active and prominent in the affairs of his party. One important service which it fell in his way to render to the party and the coun- try may be mentioned : In 1859, during the State Rights Controversy in Wisconsin, growing out of the attempted enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, an open letter from his pen on the relations of the State to the Nation, addressed to Charles Billinghurst, then a member of Congress, was published in the Evening Wisconsin of Milwaukee, and produced a marked and immediate effect upon public opinion in favor of the supremacy of the Union. At the Washington Banquet in Menominee, February 22, 1896, Mr. Brown responded to the toast "Washington and his Cabinet,"
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delivering a thoughful and scholarly address. As a prelude to the subject proper, he said :
"We find the counterpart of our revolution in the England of 1688; of the state of the North during the war of the rebellion in the England of 1640. The same clear, practical purpose runs through the revolution which separated us from the mother country, and resulted in our national independence, that drove James the Second from the throne of England and replaced him by William, Prince of Orange. The English revolution of 1688 was the practical consummation of the revolution of 1640. In a larger and more commanding sense the opinions and feelings which domi- nated the North in the war of the rebellion sprang from the loins of Puri- tan England. Not then in the revolution, but in the war of the rebellion do we find the heroic age of America. Never in the history of mankind has there been such spiritual exaltation of the people; and ages may roll around before earth will witness its like again. So we may now and here admit, what none will deny, that Washington, the ideal soldier, citizen and ruler must yield the first place to Lincoln, the sincere believer in the rights of man, and the devoted lover of his race."
He then follows with a clear analysis of the characteristics of Hamilton and Jefferson, the two great statesmen of Washington's cabinet, represent- ing opposite theories of government and very dissimilar intellectual traits. A brief excerpt or two from this address will be interesting, not only as indicating the author's views and familiarity with the subject, but also as illustrative of his powers of analysis and felicity of expression. Hamilton is represented as "the most interesting personality in our political history ;" appointed Secretary of the Treasury at the age of thirty-three by Wash- ington, "who leaned with absolute confidence upon his judgment, and who said of him that 'no one exceeded him in probity and sterling virtue.' * * * Ile was a born statesman and jurist and his native genius supplied the defects of his education. He contributed more than any other man of his time to the formation and adoption of the Constitution of the United States. * * * Had his views been carried into the Constitution, the condition of things in our present congress would have been averted. We would not now witness the spectacle of the rotten * boroughs of the west controlling the financial policy of the nation. * * He was absolutely disinterested, free from any trace of vulgar ambition.
* * * Jefferson was erudite beyond any public man of his day, espe- cially in the exact and physical sciences. He was an agreeable companion, insinuating in manners and engaging in private conversation. He expressed constant contempt of the newspaper as a medium of communication with the public, and affected never to read one. At the same time he carried on a large correspondence, by means of which he sought to disseminate his views. ** * Hamilton rendered great and distinguished services as a member of Washington's Cabinet, and basing his political creed on the doctrine that the Constitution created a government, within the sphere of its powers acting directly upon the people, he applied his great faculties to the work of constructive and beneficent legislation. * * His
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genius won the admiration of the world. * * * He never seemed to think of himself, but only of the honor, the glory and the welfare of his country. On the other hand, Jefferson from the moment that he entered the cabinet, fixed his eye upon the presidency. Assuming as the basis of his political faith that the constitution was a mere compact between the states in their political capacity, he pursued a policy of mere negation. During the whole period of his service in Washington's cabinet his name is not connected with a single public measure of importance. * * * He was insanely jealous of Hamilton on account of his brilliant adminis-
tration of the treasury. *
* ** He who would have turned the consti- tution into a mere rope of sand assumed for himself and his party the name of Republican, condemning the wholesome and legitimate exercise of authority under the constitution as savoring of monarchy." The con- clusion of the address is as follows:
"Hamilton had little faith in human nature, and the range of his sympathies was narrow. He took the obvious average view of society, and was in the main content with things as they are. He believed in a strong government, and in the daily and visible exercise of its authority as essential to the public welfare. On the contrary, Jefferson had unbounded faith in human nature, and his sympathies moved in a wide and all embracing orbit. He held that the world was governed too much ; and he was always ready to lay down his most cherished convictions in obedience to the verdict of the people. The line which separates the authority of the State from that of the Nation, has been clearly delimited. Yet it remains true that the question : what, in a given case, is the proper province of legislation, will constantly revolve upon us. More and more, as time advances, will the statesmen of the future seek counsel and inspira- tion from the author of the Declaration of Independence, and he will for- ever hold his place in our political firmament, as a fixed star of the first magnitude."
Mr. Brown has been a profound student of economic questions and his discussions of financial topics in the public press have commanded the attention and the encomiums of great financiers. He holds that there is an inherent difference between the government note and the bank note; and that it is impossible to continue the government note, as a part of the cur- rency of the country, and to maintain a reserve for its prompt, certain and repeated redemption.
"The government note made the silver dollar of 1878 possible, and it has obscured the dangers arising from its continued coinage. It has brought about an artificial state of things which has dismayed capital, * degraded labor, and cost the country untold millions of money. * * Some day everybody will plainly see that since the beginning of time there has been no expedient like the greenback for manuring the rich man's field with the sweat of the poor man's brow."
He therefore favors the cancellation and destruction of the greenback currency as fast as it is redeemed, instead of perpetuating the debt by re-issuing it. He would have our paper money supplied wholly by the national banks and redeemable in gold coin - "the money of the world"- 28
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and "relegate silver to its proper function as a subsidiary currency." The currency would be made elastic by the rate of discount and this would be regulated by the banks. "What we need," he says, "as the essential con- dition of genuine prosperity, is an automatic, self-regulating currency, and that is not possible so long as the government note remains a part of our financial system."
HORACE M. OREN, Sault Ste. Marie. Horace Mann Oren, prosecuting attorney of Chippewa county, was born February 3, 1859, near Oak- land, Clinton county, Ohio. His parents were both natives of that county. His father, Charles Oren, enlisted in the Union army, was appointed captain in the Fifth U. S. Colored Infantry, and was killed before Petersburg, Virginia, in July, 1864. His mother was Sarah Allen Oren, who, left with two young children, supported herself and them by teaching in Antioch College, Ohio, and in the high school at Indiana- polis. She had attended Antioch College as a student under the great . educator, Horace Mann, who was its first president. In 1873 she. was elected State Librarian of Indiana and was the first woman elected to that office. Afterwards she was an instructor and a member of the faculty of Purdue University at LaFayette, Indiana. While thus engaged, she was married a second time and removed to Miami county, Indiana, which is her home at this time. Horace Mann Oren attended the public schools of Indianapolis and was graduated from its high school. He assisted his mother in the State Library and later was an assistant in the Indianapolis Public Library. He entered the University of Michigan in 1877 and was graduated from the classical course in 1881. He then entered the Law Department of the University, from which he was graduated in 1883. The summer of 1882 he spent at Sault Ste. Marie as editor of The News. After his graduation and admission to the Bar he settled at the "Soo" and engaged in practice, continuing alone until 1892. He then entered into a partnership with the late Hon. J. W. McMahon and William M. Snell. In 1894 Mr. Snell retired from the firm and the same year Mr. McMahon died. In 1895 he formed a partnership with William Webster, which is still in existence. The firm is Oren & Web- ster. Mr. Oren has been city attorney of Sault Ste. Marie, justice of the peace, Circuit Court Commissioner, and prosecuting attorney. He was elected to the last named office in 1894 and re-elected in November, 1896, by a majority of eleven hundred. His firm has the leading business in that county. He was married January 1, 1890, to Miss Margaret J. Wal- lace, of Grindstone City, Michigan. They have two children, Robert Allen and Chase Osborn. Mr. Oren's scholastic and professional acquire- ments preparatory to engaging in the practice of law were far above those of the average young lawyer. During his whole life he has been a stu-
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dent. The opportunity for reading which he enjoyed in early life by con- nection with public libraries was exceptional and well improved. His taste for literature, perhaps born in the libraries, has been cultivated through all the years that have followed. The historical and scientific information there acquired has proved invaluable for professional uses. Hle began the practice of law a scholarly, thoughtful young man, with aspirations which always tend to lift one higher. His training had been excellent-by a mother of fine mind, thorough education and beauti- ful character; he had confidence in mankind and confidence in his own ability to succeed. He had learned the lesson of manly self-dependence and was ready to join the company of older lawyers. He asked no special favors, but desired only an even chance. His views of profes- sional life were not rosy-tinted. He knew it meant work-constant application, unremitting toil; that even the favored of fortune have found no other way to reach honorable distinction and eminence that is perma- nent. With a realization of the essential conditions he settled among strangers and went to work. He has gained the popular confidence and won professional esteem. He has established himself and secured his posi- tion-on merit. He is modest in his pretensions and bold in the assertion of his rights. In the discharge of his official duties as public prosecutor he seeks only to apply and enforce the law, without malice or vindictive- ness. The motive to protect society is quite as strong as that to punish the criminal. His character is well and firmly compacted of the elements and principles that fortify a man against assaults, qualify him for profes- sional distinction and the actualities encountered in social or business life.
ANDREW L. DEUEL, Harbor Springs. Mr. Deuel is of English descent through the lineage of both his parents, although the nativity of both was the State of New York. His father, Thorn Deuel, a merchant, whose immediate ancestors lived in New England, came from the vicinity of Albany, and his mother, Mary C. Lord, from the neighborhood of Buffalo. They settled at Walled Lake, Oakland county, Michigan, in 1837. Andrew L. was born at Walled Lake, August 22, 1850. The first eighteen years of his life were passed there and in Washtenaw county, near Ypsilanti. The substantial elements of his education were received in the district schools of Oakland and Washtenaw until he reached the age of eighteen. He then entered the State Normal School and paid his expenses therein by teaching in the alternate years. More time was required to complete the course in this manner, but the acquisition was more valuable to him when his certificate of graduation was secured, in 1875. Having received special training in the science and the art of teaching he took charge of the union school at Grand Rapids, Ohio, the next year after his graduation; the year following he taught at Hart, Michigan; and for the next two years -
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1877-8-9-he was superintendent of schools at Mt. Pleasant. He had in the meantime devoted his leisure hours to the study of law and was admitted to the Bar of Isabella county by Judge Hart, at Mount Pleasant, in the spring of 1879. His proficiency, evidenced by examination, was accepted as the equivalent of one year of the course in the Law School of the University of Michigan. Accordingly he was admitted to the senior class of that school at Ann Arbor, in the fall of 1879 and graduated with his class in 1880. In May of that year he settled in Harbor Springs and opened a law office for practice. He made the subject of titles and all laws relating to real estate a specialty and combined the business of real estate with his law practice. He has continued alone and been remarkably successful, not only in the application of his legal knowledge to the man- agement of land cases; but also in the practical use of his knowledge of the value of property in the accumulation of a handsome fortune. He is usually retained on one side of all cases in court involving any controversy over real property. He is regarded by the Bar as authority on this branch of the law. His transactions in real estate occupy much the larger portion of his time and are far more remunerative than the general practice of law. : Mr. Deuel has always been a Republican and his activity in support of the party has given him great prominence in campaign management. As a politician he is keen, shrewd and indefatigable; more influential because his work is for the party and not for himself. For thirteen years he has been chairman of the county committee and is now a member of the State Central Committee. In 1881-2 he was prosecuting attorney of Emmet county. He was president of the village and member of the board of trustees for six years, and under the administration of President Harrison was postmaster of Harbor Springs. For about eight years he has been on the county board of school examiners, and for several years has been school commissioner. Ever since he left the Normal School he has taken a lively interest in educational affairs. Having been a successful teacher himself, he is familiar with the wants of the schools and the essential qualifications of a teacher. His methods are practical, eliciting the enthusiastic support of the progressive teachers of the county. In grading them he gives as much credit for capacity to teach and success in teaching as for correct answers to a set of questions. His institutes.are conducted along the same lines with a view of developing teachers rather than making scholars, and his official services have elevated the standard and the efficiency of the public schools. He is Chancellor Commander of Harbor Springs Lodge, K. of P., a member of the A. O. U. W. and a member of the Presbyterian Church. He was married December 27, 1881, to Miss Emma M. Lance of Mt. Pleasant, whose father was a contractor. They have one child by adoption. Mr. Deuel is a leader in all movements for the promotion of the social, material and educational interests in the community in which he lives. Wide awake, energetic and persistent, he moves forward whatever he undertakes. One of the manifest sources of his influence is his large
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