USA > Michigan > Bench and bar of Michigan : a volume of history and biography > Part 25
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GEORGE W. COOMER, Wyandotte. George W. Coomer was born November 3, 1843, in Oakland county, Michigan. He is English by descent, through both parents. His father, Zetus Coomer, was a native of the State of New York and a farmer; came to Michigan in 1835, settled in Oakland county, where he cleared and cultivated a farm, and died in 1878. His mother was Clara Rockwell. The first authentic record of the Coomer family in America shows that John Coomer, an English emigrant, was a clergyman at Boston in 1748. To this ancestor has been ascribed the founding of the family on the American continent. The settlement of the Rockwells in New England antedates that of the Coomers by more than a century. They emigrated from England in 1630, making the voy- age on the ship Mary and John, in company with the Grants, ances- tors of the General and President. It is a matter of sufficient importance to be referred to by General Grant in his memoirs, that one of his ances. tors by the name of Grant, an emigrant passenger of the Mary and John, married the widow Rockwell, who was also one of the passengers, and set- tled in Windsor, Connecticut. They were of Puritan stock, whose self- denial and courage were equal to the privations of exile and the battle for
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freedom to worship God in harmony with the promptings of individual conscience. The traits and attributes transmitted from such ancestors con- stitute a valuable inheritance. George W. Coomer was educated in the district schools and the Birmingham Academy, situated in his native county. In this academy he was prepared for admission to the University of Michi- gan. He entered the Law School of the University, and after completing the course was graduated in the class of 1871. As a preliminary prepara- tion he had read law in the office of Judge Franklin Johnson, of Monroe, prior to his admission to the law school. He was admitted to the Bar immediately after graduation and settled at Wyandotte, Wayne county, for practice. He has maintained his residence in Wyandotte continuously, and has also kept an office there for the practice of his profession. In 1891 he opened another office in Detroit, as affording greater accessibility to the general public. He served as city attorney of Wyandotte for twelve years, and was for the same time counsellor of the board of education. As a member of the common council of the city, his influence has been wisely exercised to promote its growth and prosperity. He recognizes good citi- zenship as the sum of public duty, and has always been active in the sup- port of measures which conduce to the substantial material interests of the city, promote the culture and subserve the welfare of the people. Politi- cally he has always been a Republican. In 1884 he was elected to the Legislature and served one term. In 1887 he was nominated as the candi- date of his party for Judge of the Circuit Court, but the party was unsuc- cessful and he suffered defeat with it. He was married in 1870 to Miss Laura M. Harris, daughter of Solon Harris, of Oakland county. Their children are Grace A., J. Elroy and Harry II. Mr. Coomer is unassum- ing and unpretentious. He has built for himself a home among the peo- ple of Wayne county and secured their respect. He has proved himself the strong friend of popular education. While many others have attained great celebrity and more exalted position, there has all the time been substan- tial accord between himself and his work. He has chosen to maintain his residence continuously in one place, because in no other way can attach- ments be formed which are essential to the genuine home feeling. The sense of proprietorship in one who owns his dwelling place tends to give a man confidence and courage. Home is recognized as one of the chief sources of abiding happiness. It is one of the surest defenses against evil fortune. The intelligent owner of a good home is more self-respect- ing and commands the respect of others in a greater degree than is possible for the man who is content to live in another's house.
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MICHAEL BRENNAN, Detroit. Mr. Brennan was born in Queens county, Ireland, October 28, 1851. His father, John Brennan, was a farmer. Ilis mother was Mary Comerford. He came to America at the age of ten and settled at Detroit, where his uncle had located twenty years before. Ilis early education was obtained at St. Anne's School and the public schools of the city. He was graduated from the high school of Detroit in 1868. For two years afterwards he studied under a tutor, making preparation for admission to the Literary Department of the University of Michigan, in which he intended to take a classical course. The death of his father about that time rendered necessary a change of his plans and a relinquishment of his purpose to attend the University. He was obliged to earn his own living and bravely set about it. His first employment was in the general freight department of the D. & M. railway, where he remained one year. When about eighteen years of age he was fortunate in securing a position as student and clerk in the law office of Don M. Dickinson, where he remained under a wise instructor and paid his expenses meanwhile by clerical services. In this way he was enabled not only to acquire a knowledge of the text books, but also to gain a practical knowledge of legal forms and pleadings. After remaining more than three years in this office he passed the required examination, was admitted to the Bar, and began practice at once. In 1873 he formed a partnership with John C. Donnelly, which has never been dissolved. Mr. Stewart O. Van de Mark later became associated. with Messrs. Brennan & Donnelly, and the firm of Brennan, Donnelly & Van de Mark is now one of the strongest and busiest in Detroit. For two years Charles S. May was a member of the firm. Mr. Brennan makes a specialty of the trial of jury cases and has gained his best reputation at the Bar as a trial lawyer. Hle is attorney for the Peninsular Savings Bank and has become familiar with the laws regulating banking, both State and National. He has also had a large number of street railway cases as one of the general attorneys of the Detroit Citizens' Street Railway Company. Messrs. Brennan & Donnelly have frequently appeared in the Supreme Court of the State and in the Courts of the United States. Some of the appealed cases may be cited: Ryan-McPherson breach of promise case; U. S. vs. Ryan, in the United States Circuit and Supreme Courts. Hundreds of inferior cases might be enumerated if their importance warranted any reference to them in a historical work of the character of this publication. The records of the courts preserve them and to these all representatives of the Bar have access. The cases relating to affairs with the City Street Railway occupy much of Mr. Brennan's time and the conduct of these has added greatly to his popularity as a lawyer. Politically he has always been a Democrat, but is not classed as a bigoted or " hidebound " partisan. His under- standing of political economy and the science of government enables him to place principles above partisanship and to value a political party not for
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itself or its fame in history, but only as an instrument to facilitate the inauguration of a governmental policy. Principles and men are esteemed more highly than a partisan machine. He has never at any time been a candidate for political office. His preference is the practice of law. In religion he is a Roman Catholic. He is a member of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. In 1894 at Philadelphia he was elected Supreme President of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association for a term of three years. He was married in 1878 to Miss Margaret F., daughter of Thomas Healy, of Detroit. Two daughters and two sons have been born of this marriage : Francis M. and John H., Grace M. and Mary J. Mrs. Brennan is a lady of culture whose interest is manifest and whose activities are enlisted in various organizations for the promotion of education. She is president of the Ladies' Auxiliary Board of the Columbian Summer School. Her assistance and leadership are valued highly by persons interested in the success of the enterprise. From members of the Detroit Bar who are intimately acquainted with the characteristics of Mr. Brennan it is ascer- tained that, as one member expresses it: " He has all the Irish wit and humor that you will find boiled into a fellow; is quick at repartee; has the Irish persuasiveness in his nature that always enables an advocate to win. He tries cases almost constantly. He and Mr. John C. Donnelly are the chief trial counsel for the Detroit Citizens' Street Railway Company." Another characterization is that in temperament he is impulsive, sensitive, generous and sympathetic. As a lawyer he is positive and tenacious, quick and sagacious, brave and pugnacious. As a friend he is enthusiastic, confiding, sincere and true. Socially he is genial, hospitable and liberal- minded. He is a natural student and the acknowledged wit of the Detroit Bar.
ALFRED J. MURPHY, Detroit. Alfred J. Murphy bears the distinc- tion of being the youngest man ever nominated for the office of Attorney General in Michigan. He has always lived in Detroit, the city of his birth, where he was born January 1, 1868. His education was received in the public schools of Detroit and completed in Detroit College a clas- sical school. He spent five years in the latter institution, taking a full classical course and graduating in 1887 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He thereupon took a position on the editorial staff of the Detroit Free Press, where he remained for two years, meanwhile pursuing a post graduate course at Detroit College. In 1889 he received the degree of Master of Arts from this institution. He entered upon politics before attaining his majority, by organizing the Young Men's Club of Detroit in 1888, of which he was made president. In 1890 he became assistant sec- retary of the Democratic State Central Committee of Michigan. The Democrats elected their State ticket in Michigan that year for the first
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time in nearly forty years. He was elected Secretary of the State Senate in January, 1891, and then began the study of law. In December, 1891, he entered the Detroit College of Law, from which he was graduated in June, 1893, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He had been admitted to the Bar in March, 1893, however, and at once began independent prac- tice. The wide acquaintance he enjoyed in Detroit and Michigan, coupled with his industry and ability, gave him a speedy foothold. Gifted by nature with unusual powers of eloquence, he was fortunately given early chance to display his capacity for forensic oratory in several notable crim- inal cases, particularly those of the People vs. Goodson, and the People vs. Considine. The verdict of acquittal in the former case was attributed largely to his argument. In the latter case, while a conviction resulted, his argument was generally conceded to be of unusual strength and of most forceful delivery. He has been able latterly to direct the lines of his practice and in consequence has been enjoying a growing business in probate and commercial law. He has been confining his entire time to his profession, and his nomination for the office of Attorney General, in August, 1896, at the hands of the joint State conventions of the Demo- cratic, People's and Union Silver parties, came not only without his solicitation, but without his knowledge. Mr. Murphy has advanced solely through his own efforts. He defrayed the expenses of his education and has made his own way independently. His talents are of a high order, his industry unflagging and his earnestness constant. There is ample proof of this in the position he has won at the Bar in the three years he has been practising.
JOHN C. DONNELLY, lawyer, Detroit. Captain William Donnelly was a native of County Wicklow, Ireland, who emigrated in childhood with his parents and settled in Warwick, Lambton county, Ontario, where he grew to manhood. le resided for many years in Kertch, Plympton and Sarnia, Ontario, and died at the latter place in 1873. He was a farmer, merchant and timber dealer, and carried on the largest business in square oak timber of any dealer west of London, Ontario. He held a commission as captain in the royal militia for twenty-five years. He was appointed magistrate by the Crown and held that office also for a quarter of a century. He married Elleanor Boulger, a native of County Kildare, Ireland, who was brought to Canada by her parents when a small child. They reared a family of fourteen children. John C. was the seventh member of this family. He was born at Kertch, Ontario, November 27, 1851. He was educated in the public schools and at home. At the age of eighteen he began the study of law in the office of Col. John Atkinson, at Port Huron. A year later, when Colonel Atkinson removed to Detroit, young Donnelly went with him. In 1871 he entered the Law School of
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the University of Michigan, where he spent one year, then returned to Detroit and resumed his duties in the law office of Colonel Atkinson. He held this position until July 1, 1873. Prior to that he had been admitted to practice on examination in the Wayne county Circuit Court. After his admission to the Bar he completed the law course in the University and was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. At the very begin- ning of his practice he formed a partnership with Michael Brennan under the firm name of Brennan & Donnelly, which has been maintained con- tinuously for the past twenty-three years. In 1877 Hon. Charles S. May was received into the firm and remained a member of it until his return to Kalamazoo. From 1889, for two years, A. C. Raymond was a member of the firm, but soon retired to accept the position of attorney of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. In 1893 Mr. Van de Mark became associated with Brennan & Donnelly as junior member of the firm, a relation which is still maintained. The legal business of this firm is very large, especially in the line of corporation counsel. They are attorneys for some very large cor- porations. They are engaged in a very great number of negligence cases, having more of this class of litigation perhaps than any other firm in the State. Mr. Donnelly is well known in Lansing at the Supreme Court of the State, where he frequently represents the firm in cases carried to that court by appeal. His practice is not confined to any specialty, or any class of cases, but covers all kinds in all of the courts of record in the State, as well as those of the United States. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States at Washington in 1883. He is retained as counsel by such corporations as the Citizens' Street Railway Company of Detroit and the Detroit Gas Company. He is esteemed by members of the professions as an excellent lawyer, worthy to stand in the front rank of those who practise in the courts of Michigan. Politically he is a Democrat and has always exhibited a lively interest in the affairs of his party. In 1878 he was elected to the State Legislature from Detroit and served acceptably during the single term of his membership. He was a member of the committee on municipal corporations, a position which enabled him to work for his city with marked advantage. He was the ' nominee of his party for Attorney General in 1886, but defeated with the rest of the ticket. For years he displayed an interest in military affairs; was the first captain of the Montgomery Rifles, serving in that rank two years. He was also adjutant of the First Battalion of state troops. He was lieutenant of the National Guard and in company with that organization made the trip to the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876. He has given support to various club organizations which have for their object social culture and physical as well as intellectual development. Ile is a member of the Detroit Club, the Yondatega Club, the Detroit Riding Club and the Catholic Club. He was married September 1, 1875, to Miss Anna Minton, of Alpena, daughter of Martin J. Minton, Esq., a pioneer lumberman of that city, and has four children. Mr. Donnelly is in the
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full flush and prime of life, with apparently thirty years of activity yet to come. He preserves always the bonhomie which gives to the noonday of life its radiance and most agreeable effects; which tends to longevity, and gives a glow to the sunset. He has the kind of esprit de corps which is not exhausted in organizing and disciplining a military company, but makes a man jealous of the honor of his profession. Such a man places a high estimate on professional honor and makes the preservation of it his personal concern. His ambition needs no other spur. It makes him zealous in attack and courageous in defense. It is the mark of a gentleman so to bemean himself in a contention that his adversary will be impressed with his honesty and sense of fairness. He does not employ censorious speech or seek to overbear with the manners of a bully. The temptation to ter- rorize a witness is stronger than some cross examiners can withstand; but the practice does not commend the lawyer who resorts to it, nor is it attended with the best results. A gentle manner is not significant of weakness, but is much more effective than boisterousness in establishing confidential relations with a witness. Mr. Donnelly is keen but honest. His conduct of a case is honorable and manly. His opponents have no dread or fear of petty trickery. They know that he will either win his contention by fair means in the open field, or he will lose. He knows that a resort to questionable tactics is unavailing in a weak case and unneces- sary in a strong one - undignified and disreputable in any case. In society he is a prime favorite, because of his frankness, ready wit, heartiness and unassuming manners.
EDWIN F. CONELY, Detroit. Mr. Conely is descended from colonial ancestry. His ancestors were among the original settlers of Maryland and Massachusetts, and therefore he may be said to have sprung from a union of the Puritan and the Cavalier. His grandfather, Jeremiah Conely was born at Snow Hill, Maryland, prior to the Revolution. Various branches of the family were represented in the Revolutionary army. His father, William S. Conely, born in January, 1799, was a native of the city of New York, a man of affairs and a member of the New York Constitutional Convention of 1846. Edwin F. Conely was born September 7, 1847, in the city of New York. At the age of six years he came to Michigan with his parents. His literary education was received in New York, in Brigh- ton and Jackson, Michigan, and in extended private study. He read law 'with Mr. Sardis Hubbell, of Howell, and Messrs. D. B. & HI. M. Duf- field, in Detroit. Hle also attended the Law School of the University of Michigan. In the spring of 1870 he became a permanent resident of Detroit, and in the autumn of the same year was admitted to the Bar upon examination of the Supreme Court then sitting in the old Odd Fellows Hall on Woodward Avenue. The judges sitting at the time were Chris-
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tiancy, Campbell, Cooley and Graves, whose decisions gave a world wide fame to Michigan's highest court. Mr. Conely has practised law in the local and appellate courts of the State and Nation; also in the courts of Ohio and Indiana. His practice has included every branch of the law, but his principal work has been in the field of general common law practice, and the trial and argument of causes. The cases in which he has appeared in the Supreme Court of Michigan are scattered through twenty or more volumes of reports. Among the prominent cases in which he has appeared as senior counsel are the following : The Constable Case, constitutional law ; Gott vs. Culp, Probate law; R. R. Co. vs. Gilbert, liability of corporation for employment of agent; Carew vs. Mathews, conflict of jurisdiction; Davis vs. Burgess, breach of the peace; People vs. Wilson, murder: Peo- ple vs. Fonda, jurisdiction of federal courts; Klanowski vs. Grand Trunk Ry. Co., speed as evidence of negligence; Wheaton vs. Beecher, libel ; Holcombe vs. Noble, innocent false representations as evidence of fraud ; Robinson vs. Miner and Haug, constitutional law; People vs. Montague, habeas corpus and extradition ; Weeks vs. Wayne Circuit Judges, lien of attorney on verdict; Estate of Mabel Ward, liability of guardian; Attor- ney General vs. James, quo warranto; Laffrey vs. Grummond, liability of warehouseman ; McAllister vs. Free Press, libel; Latimer's case, murder; Clark and Graham's case, murder; People vs. Walsh, manslaughter; Fin - nigan vs. FreePress Co., libel; Strobridge Lith. Co. vs. Randall, effect of settlement ; Brown vs. McGraw, logging and lumbering case; Park Com- missioners vs. Common Council, constitutional law; Wellman vs. Police Board, power of police commission; People vs. Fort Wayne and Elmwood Ry. Co., constitutional and municipal law; McRae vs. R. R. Co., con- stitutional law and railroad building; Baron vs. Detroit, liability of city as a proprietor; Coffin vs. Election Commissioners, right of women to vote; Down vs. Harper Hospital, liability of trust fund to claims for negligence of trustees; Campbell vs. Wyandotte, law of municipalities; Fort St. Union Depot Co. vs. Peninsula Stove Co., constitutional law; Attorney General vs. Supervisors, constitutional and statutory law; Metcalf vs. Tif- fany, liability of female def't for alienation of husband; Moran vs. Moran, fraud as a basis of ejectment ; Merz Capsule Co. vs. McCutchon, monopoly and public policy ; Richardson vs. Medbury, accounting. During the years 1891-2-3 he was professor of law in the University of Michigan, having among his subjects that of constitutional law, but resigned on account of the demand of increasing practice. In 1876 he was elected member of the Legislature and received the Democratic nomination for Speaker of the House of Representatives. During the session he was a member of the judiciary committee. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Con- ventions of 1880 and 1892. In 1881 he was unanimously nominated by the Democratic Convention for judge of the Recorder's Court, but was defeated by George A. Swift. He was a member of the board of water commissioners of Detroit in 1885, and from 1890 to 1896 was a member of the board of
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library commissioners. In 1893 he was appointed by Governor Rich a member of the State Commission to frame a general law for the govern- ment of municipalities. He was connected with the Michigan State troops for thirteen years, serving as private, corporal and captain of the Detroit Light Infantry, major of the Fourth Infantry, and as colonel and A. D. C. and president of the State military board. He was instrumen- tal in securing much favorable legislation for the benefit of the State troops. During the campaign of 1896 he supported the National Democ- racy as against the platform and nominees of the Chicago convention. He was one of the orators at the banquet given by the sound money Dem- crats in Chicago on Jackson's Day, 1897. He is a life member of the American Historical Association and a member of the American and Michigan Bar Associations. He has been a contributor to the American Law Review and other law periodicals; has travelled extensively in Europe and is a cultured gentleman. Mr. Concly delivered a public address before the Bar Association some years ago on the Bar of Detroit, which is referred to by members of the profession as a production of much literary . excellence and great historic value. He is devoted to the law, for which he entertains the highest respect, and it is entirely within the record to say that he is one of the best lawyers of the State. As a writer his style is smooth, graceful and felicitious in expression. His words are fitly chosen from an extensive vocabulary. He was married December 1, 1873, to Miss Achsa Butterfield, of Green Oak, Michigan, who died in February, 1878. He was married a second time May, 1882, to Miss Fannie Butter- field, a cousin of his first wife. He has no children.
ELBRIDGE F. BACON, Detroit. Mr. Bacon was born in the township of Superior, Washtenaw county, May 3, 1850. His father was Henry Bacon and his mother was Caroline Farrand. The Bacon family is of colonial origin, and, on both sides, American for many generations. The great-grandfather of our subject was a Revolutionary soldier. The family also had representatives in the war of 1812. Mr. Bacon's grandfather settled in Superior in 1829, and his mother's people came four years later. At the age of thirteen he was sent to the Model School, then a part of the State Normal at Ypsilanti. His home on the farm was three miles distant from Ypsilanti, but almost every morning he made his appearance at the school before the hour of opening. This circumstance indicated a pre- dominant characteristic of his entire life, promptness and punctuality. It was no easy task to attend school, trudging along on foot for such a dis- tance, through all kinds of weather, always ahead of time, and keeping it up until his senior year. Mr. Bacon was graduated from the classical course in 1872, the next year after Professor Estabrook became president of the State Normal. With other members of his class he felt the inspira-
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