USA > Michigan > Cass County > History of Cass county, Michigan > Part 20
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
cratic ticket for State Senator, but the Republican party organized that year swept the State, and Mr. Turner, like others of his party, was defeated. Mr. Turner has been active in the affairs of his party, and a man always trusted and very frequently honored by it. Twice he has been a candidate for the office of Probate Judge, and once for that of Prosecuting Attorney. He was nominated for Secretary of State in 1866; was Presidential Elector on the Seymour ticket in 1868, and, in May, 1876, was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention at St. Louis, which nominated Samuel J. Tilden for the Presidency. Had he been a Republican he might have been advanced to distinguished positions, but he has pre- ferred to be loyal to his political convictions at the price of losing honored public place, and has enjoyed private life in a degree which, perhaps, only one man in a hundred is qualified for. Mr. Turner was for several years editor of the first paper published in Cass County-the Cass County Advocate, now the National Democrat, and has been a valued contributor to the local press, the Jackson Patriot and other pub- lications at periods during the past thirty years. He has been noted for his strict integrity, untiring indus- try, energy and earnestness. Politically, he has ever been a Democrat of the Jeffersonian school, has vigor- ously asserted and supported what he has conscien- tiously believed correct political principles, and, in so doing, has made some bitter enemies, as well as many friends. In 1874, he returned to Cassopolis, where he has since resided and carried on an exten- sive business in real estate, insurance, etc. Mr. Tur- ner was married, in 1845, to Harriet, danghter of Allen Munroe, who died in 1858. In 1863, he married the widow of John Tytherleigh, an English lady, who came to this country in 1850. Mr. Turner had by his first wife six children, two of whom died in infancy. Two daughters-Mary (Bosworth) and Lotta (Banks) have died in recent years, and two sons are now living- Ralph B., located at Jackson, Mich., and Sterling B., at Bremen, Ind.
Clifford Shanahan, although a member of the bar, was more generally known to the people through his long occupation of the office of Probate Judge. He was born in Sussex County, Delaware, February 4, 1801. His mother died when he was eleven years old, and he was brought up by an uncle. After he was twenty-one years of age, he worked on a farm summers and taught school winters, for three or four years. He also carried on for a time a cabinet shop and preached quite frequently for the Methodist denomination, of which he was a member. April 8, 1828, he married Miss Mary Lowrey. In the spring of 1834, he moved to Michigan, and settled at Edwardsburg, Cass County.
There he worked at his trade of cabinet-making, served as a Justice of the Peace and preached occasionally. He was elected Probate Judge, in 1840, upon the Whig ticket, and served in that capacity until 1864, the extraordinary period of twenty-four years. In 1845, he removed from Edwardsburg to Cassopolis and soon after that was admitted to practice. He died August 1, 1865. He was the father of eight children, the oldest of whoin, Sarah E., now deceased, was the wife of Judge Andrew J. Smith. Another daughter, Harriet (Pollock), now resides in Cassopolis.
Noel Byron Hollister came to the county in 1850 and was the first resident lawyer of Dowagiac. He was originally from Victor, Ontario County, N. Y., but removed to Dowagiac from Clinton County, Mich. Mr. Hollister, besides practicing law, engaged in busi- ness as a druggist. His father, Joseph Hollister, who was also a lawyer, became a resident of Dowagiac, but did not long remain there. Noel B. Hollister, after a few years removed to Perryville, Ind.
Samuel N. Gannt, of Baltimore, Md., came to Do- wagiac early in the fifties and obtained a small prac- tice.
Daniel Blackman, one of the ablest lawyers and most marked characters of the county bar, resided at Cassopolis for a period of twenty-one years. He was born in Newtown, Conn., December 31, 1821; was ad- mitted to the bar in December, 1845, and practiced five years in Danbury, Conn. In July, 1851, he settled in Cassopolis. He was elected Circuit Judge on the peoples' ticket, in November, 1869; resigned November 1, 1872, and removed to Chicago, where he is now practicing law as a member of the firm of Fair- child & Blackman. In politics, Mr. Blackman is, and has been, a Democrat. He is a man of large ability and many peculiarities. While he lived in Cassopo- lis, he was identified with a number of public meas- ures. In company with Joseph Harper, he located the site of the new schoolhouse ; he induced the building upon the public square, and did much to bring the Peninsular Railroad through the village.
Judge Andrew J. Smith, son of White B. and Arriette (Brown) Smith, was born near Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio, whither his parents had emigrated from Delaware, on the 2d of September, 1818. His mother died when he was nine months old, and his father, who was a house- joiner and farmer, removed the family a few years later-in the fall of 1826-to Rush County, Ind. From there they went to Porter County, in the same State, in 1835, and settled where the town of Valpa- raiso has since been built. The subject of our sketch enjoyed very limited educational advantages. He at- tended the district school a few winter terms, but the greater portion of his time he was at work upon his
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
father's farm, until he was twenty years old. In the spring before he arrived at his majority, he was elected Constable of Valparaiso. Soon after this time, he resolved to abandon farming. He conceived a great liking for study, and determined to improve himself mentally. He began teaching the district school in winter and studying in summer. In the summer and fall of 1840, he became much interested in politics, attended the immense Whig Convention at Tippecanoe, and rendered some services during the campaign in the neighborhood of his home. In December, 1840, he removed to Edwardsburg, Cass County, where he attended school alternately as teacher and pupil, most of the time for seven years. During this period, he also read law. Mr. Smith moved to Cassopolis in June, 1847, and taught school there in the fall and winter succeeding, after which he clerked in " Uncle Jake " Silver's store. Subsequently, he entered the employ of Asa and Charles Kingsbury, and was sent by them, in 1851, to carry on a branch store in Van- dalia. In the mean time, he had industriously pur- sned the study of law. He was admitted to practice in 1853, and elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1854. In the spring of 1856, he gave up the mercantile business, returned to Cassopolis and devoted himself wholly to the practice of law, and the discharge of his official duties. He was elected County Prosecutor five times in succession, and served from 1854 to 1864. After an interval of two years, he was again elected, and thus served altogether in this capacity twelve years. In 1874, Mr. Smith was elected Attorney General of the State, and served in that capacity for two years. In his official capacity as Prosecuting At- torney, he rigidly enforced the anti-liquor laws, and brought about a very salutary condition of things in Cass County. The number of saloons in the county was decreased to the minimum, and there were none at all in Cassopolis from 1857 until the license law came into force. While he was Attorney General, the con- stitutionality of the liquor tax law was tested, and, notwithstanding the fact that he was personally op- posed to such a law, and believed in prohibitory legis- lation, he decided it admissible under the constitu- tion. His briefs in favor of the law attracted atten- tion not only in Michigan, but in all the States in which similar questions were before the people. He gained a reputation second to that of none who have held the position. In the fall of 1878, Mr. Smith was elected Circuit Judge in the Second Judicial Dis- trict, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Coolidge, and in the spring of 1881, he was re-elected without opposition. On that occasion he published the following card, which may very appro- priately be inserted here :
CASSOPOLIS, April 11, 188I.
I take this opportunity to return my thanks to the people of this Judicial Circuit for the unanimous support they have given me for the office of Circuit Judge. It is certainly very gratifying to me lo be re-elected without opposition from any party, and I especially lender my thanks to the people of Cass County for the hearty support they have always given me whenever I have been a candidate for their suffrage ; and the unanimous indorsement the people of this circuit have given me at this time is the more gralifying to me, as this is the last time I shall be a candidate for any office. If I shall live to the close of this term, I shall have served the people nine years as Circuit Judge, two years as Attor -. ney General of the State, and twelve years as Prosecuting Attor- ney of Cass County. This is certainly all that I could ask or de- sire, and if I live to see that time, I shall retire from public life. Again thanking the people of this circuit for the confidence re- posed in me, I assure them that I shall endeavor to discharge the duties of the office impartially and to the best of my ability.
A. J. SMITH.
Judge Smith has held many positions of trust in Cassopolis; been active in promoting the welfare of the village, and a liberal supporter of all good institu- tions. He has been a member of the Council for a number of years, and has served twelve years on the School Board. He joined the Presbyterian Church, of which he has been a very influential member, in 1845, and has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1853. Judge Smith's strict integrity, untiring industry and strong determination, have been the forces which have made his career one of success. He has always com- manded the respect of the people with whom he has come in contact, as being a conscientious man and one of remarkable fidelity to fixed principles. In politics, he has been a Whig, a Free-Soiler and a Republican. He was married in 1844, to Sarah E. Shanahan, daughter of Clifford Shanahan, who was Probate Judge of Cass County for twenty-four years, and of whom a sketch appears in this chapter. Mrs. Smith died January 1, 1873, leaving a son and daughter of mature age.
James M. Spencer was born on board of a British merchantman, in British waters, on the 14th of Sep- tember, 1833. His father was in command of the ship, and his mother accompanied her husband on the voyage. Not long after his birth, his parents re- moved to this country and located in New Orleans. After carrying on a mercantile business there for a year or two, the father and family removed to Cincin- nati, and in 1836 or 1837, to Monroe, Mich. He in- vested his money in wild lands lying west of that place, and soon after died. The mother's death fol- lowed a few years later, and the family of three boys and two girls were left to care for themselves. The subject of this sketch worked his way upward in the world without any assistance (some defect in the title to the estate purchased by his father causing it to be lost to the children). He went in turn to Ypsilanti,
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Ann Arbor, Jackson, Kalamazoo and Dowagiac. In September, 1853, he was admitted to the bar at Cass- opolis by the Hon. Nathaniel Bacon, then Circuit Judge. From that time until August, 1865, he re- sided and practiced in the county. He writes that " he made many friends, and doubtless some enemies. My fourteen years' sojourn in Cass County, as a whole, were pleasant and profitable to me." Mr. Spencer was elected a Justice of the Peace in Po- "kagon Township, and discharged the duties of the office for four years; he was Circuit Court Com- missioner for two years, and subsequently Assessor of Internal Revenue for the General Government for the district including Cass County. In 1862, he was appointed to a position in the War Department, which he occupied for about eight months. In 1865, Mr. Spencer removed to Topeka, Kan., where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession.
Charles W. Clisbee, son of Lewis and Hannah (Farr) Clisbee, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, July 24, 1833. He moved to Cassopolis with his father's family in 1838. In 1846, he went to Oberlin, Ohio, and spent five years in preparing for college, maintaining himself in various ways during the whole period. He entered Oberlin College in 1851, but left very soon afterward to recruit his finances, and after teaching one year at Rochester, Oakland Co., Mich., entered, in 1852, Williams College, Massachusetts, where he spent three years. He passed his senior year at Ham- ilton College, New York, in order to enjoy the advan- tages of its law school, and graduated in 1856. He then went to Cleveland, Ohio, and entered the law office of the Hon. John Crowell. In 1858, he was admitted to the bar and served the four years follow- ing as Circuit Court Commissioner. He was elected, in 1862, as Prosecuting Attorney of Cass County. In 1864, he was a delegate at large from Michigan to the National Republican Convention, held at Baltimore, which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the second term. He was elected State Senator from Cass County in 1866. In 1868, he was a Presidential Elector from Michigan, and in the following year was appointed Reading Clerk of the House of Represen- tatives of the Fortieth Congress, which office he held until 1875. He then returned to Cassopolis and fol- lowed his profession. He was Reading Secretary of the Republican National Convention, which assem- bled in Chicago in 1880, and in December, 1881, was appointed to his old position as Reading Clerk of the House, a place which he is eminently fitted to fill.
Joseph B. Clarke was born in Connecticut, edu- cated at Pompey Academy, Onondaga County, N. Y., and at the Rennselaer Scientific School (now called institute), at Troy, N. Y., of which he is a graduate.
He studied his profession principally at Rochester, N. Y., and has been admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States, to the Federal, Circuit and Dis- trict Courts of several States and to the State Courts of New York, Michigan and several other States as his business has required. Before his admission to the bar, he was editor of daily newspapers at Rochester and Buffalo, N. Y., Inspector of United States Cus- toms for the Genesee District, including the port of Rochester, in that State, and acted as Professor of Chemistry, botany and other branches of natural science in the Vermont Medical College, at Wood- stock, Vt., and in several institutions in the State of New York. He commenced practice in this State at Coldwater, Branch County, in 1855, removed thence to Dowagiac, in 1859, and has practiced there ever since, with the exception of three years during the war when he held positions in the War and Interior Departments at Washington, resigning in February, 1866. He has held the office of Circuit Court Com- missioner in this and Branch County, eight years ; . is now and for fifteen years has been United States Commissioner for the Western District of Michigan, and is now the Prosecuting Attorney for this county. Whilst at Washington, during the war, and when it was surprised by the appearance upon its northern border of Early's army of eighteen thousand in the summer of 1864, he, with others in the civil service, volunteered and was mustered into the military serv- ice of the United States, in a force extemporized for the defense of the national capital.
George Miller came to this county from Preble County, Ohio, in 1859. He had practiced law in Ohio two years prior to that time. He was admitted to the bar of the several courts in this State at the March term of the Circuit Court in 1860, and at once opened an office at Dowagiac, obtaining a fair share of business. In 1861, he was elected Justice of the Peace for a term of four years. He resigned the office, however, in February, 1862, for the reason that upon the 22d of the preceding month he had been commissioned as Captain of Company L of the Ninth Regiment of Michigan Cavalry, which was then in camp at Coldwater. He remained in the army until March, 1865, when he returned home and commenced the practice of his profession at Dowagiac. In the fall of 1866, he was elected Circuit Court Commissioner, and in 1868 Prosecuting At- torney. In May, 1871, he removed to Berrien County ; three years later to La Salle, Ill .; in 1875, re- turned to Cass County, and in 1881 removed to Dakota.
Lowell H. Glover was born in Orleans County, N. Y., February, 25, 1839, and removed with his parents
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
the same year to White Pigeon Prairie, St. Joseph County, Mich. In the fall of 1840, the family removed to Edwardsburg, Cass County. The father of the family died in 1852. The subject of our sketch attended school for two years, and then took charge of a grocery belonging to his step-father, and pursued his law studies while carrying on the store. In the meantime, he had lost his right hand by the bursting of a shot-gun. In April, 1861, Mr. Glover removed to Cassopolis and became a student in the office of Daniel Blackman. He was admitted to the bar at the October term of the Circuit Court in 1862, Judge Nathaniel Bacon presiding, and Henry H. Coolidge, A. J. Smith and the late James Sullivan constituting the examining committee. In April, 1862, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and has held the office ever since with the exception of one year. He was married in October. 1865, to Maryette, youngest daughter of Joseph Harper.
Jacob J. Van Riper, the present Attorney General of the State of Michigan, was a practitioner in Cass County for nearly nine years. He was born at Hav- erstraw, Rockland Co., N. Y., March 8, 1838, and was the son of John and Leah Van Riper, who after- ward were settlers at La Grange Village. Cass County. The young man was reared in New York City, and there received a good academic education in the Con- ference Seminary and Collegiate Institute. He came to La Grange in March, 1857, about six months after his parents located there. After teaching school for two years in the village, he attended law lectures at Michigan University in 1860 and 1861. He was ad- mitted to the Cass County bar in January, 1863, subsequently to the bar of the Supreme Court of the State and, in May, 1881, to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. He commenced practice in 1863, taking up his residence at Dowagiac. His practice was carried on, with only slight intermission, until 1872, when he removed to Buchanan, Berrien Co., where he has since lived. During the war, he was Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue for Cass County. He was elected a member of the Constitu- tional Convention of 1867. and was a member of the Judiciary Committee and Committee on Bill of Rights. He was elected, in 1876, Prosecuting Attorney for Berrien County. re-elected in 1878. appointed to the Board of Regents of the State University in January, 1880, and, in the same year, was elected to the office of Attorney General. Mr. Van Riper was married, in 1858, to Miss Emma E. Brouner, of York Mills, N. Y.
Freeman J. Atwell was born in Orleans County, N. Y., December 24, 1831, where he was reared and ed- ucated. taught school and read law. He went into
the Union army May 21, 1861, and remained until 1863, serving in the Twenty-seventh Regiment New York Infantry, which had, perhaps, more heavy losses than any other from the State, coming out of the war with only 400 men of a total enlisted of 2,200. Mr. Atwell was on detail duty most of the time. On his return home, he was admitted to the bar, in 1863, at the Supreme Court, which sat in Buffalo. In 1864, he went to Memphis to join the forces of Gen. Slo- comb; but that officer having gone to Atlanta, Mr. Atwell remained in Memphis and began the practice of law. He remained there until 1868, when, becom- ing partially blind, he gave up his business and spent nearly a year in wandering, his infirmity disabling him for close attention to professional duties. In 1869, he came to Dowagiac, with no definite intention of re- maining there: but his sight improving and business coming to him. he did so, and has since practiced un- interruptedly and with fine success. He is recognized as the leading lawyer of Dowagiac and the equal of any in the county. IIe married, in October, 1871. Miss Ellen T. Clark.
John A. Talhot, son of Edward and Aseneth (Green) Talbot, of Peun Township, was born Febru- ary 27. 1847. When only seventeen years of age, he enlisted in the First Regiment of Michigan Sharp- shooters, and went into active service. He was obliged, at one time, to return home on account of sickness, but when his health was sufficiently re- covered, again went into the army, and remained until the war was nearly over. He graduated when in his twenty-first year from the Law Department of the State University of Michigan, and began practice in Cassopolis, continuing about ten years, or until the sickness which ended in his death, December 24, 1878, incapacitated him for labor. Mr. Talbot was a good lawyer, a man of fine qualities, almost universally liked, and, had he been longer spared, would undoubtedly have made for himself more than a local reputation in the law. or some other intellectual field. During the last three years of his life, he compiled "Talbot's Tables of Cases," a law book which has received high praise from mem- bers of the profession.
The law firm of Messrs. Howell & Carr, of Cass- opolis, was formed May 10, 1870. At the start the firm possessed a library of ten volumes, and they now take a laudable pride in pointing to the complete re- ports of nine States, and about two hundred and fifty volumes of law text-books. costing not far from $4.000. This firm, which has enjoyed a lucrative and constantly increasing practice, is composed of Marshall L. Howell and John R. Carr.
Marshall L. Howell, son of David M. and Martha
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
A. Howell, was born in Cassopolis January 25, 1847. He received the degree of Bachelor of Science from Kalamazoo College June 17, 1867, and the degree of Bachelor of Laws from the University of Michigan in March, 1870. His preceptor, with whom he read law one year, was the Hon. Daniel Blackman. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Cass County in 1874, and defeated in 1876, when he was also candi- date for Presidential Elector on the Democratic ticket. He ran again for Prosecuting Attorney in 1880, but made no canvass, and was defeated by Joseph B. Clarke. Mr. Howell was married to Miss Emma Banks October 11, 1870.
John R. Carr was born May 18, 1841, at North St. Eleanors, Prince Co., Prince Edward Island, B. N. A. His father and mother, Hugh and Sophia (Ramsey) Carr, both of whom were born upon the Island, are still living, and reside at the old home- stead. They are of Scotch and English descent. John R. Carr came to Michigan at the close of the war; taught school, studied law, entered the Law Department of the University of Michigan in 1868, and graduated therefrom in March, 1870, receiving the de- gree of Bachelor of Law. He was immediately after- ward formally admitted to the bar at Paw Paw, Mich., and was also admitted to the United States Courts at Grand Rapids in May, 1873. Mr. Carr was called upon in the summer of 1881 to defend a man charged with murder in Dakota, and appearing as his attorney in the court at Fargo, cleared him. Upon October 10, 1868, , ning on the Democratic ticket. He remained in the Mr. Carr married Olive, only daughter of John and Ann Lyle, of Dowagiac.
Harsen D. Smith was born near Albion, N. Y., March 17, 1842. He received an academic educa- tion, and at the age of seventeen commenced teaching school. In 1863, he was Principal of the Union School at Eldora, Iowa, and the following year be- came Assistant Professor of Mathematics in the Iowa Lutheran College at Albion, Iowa. In 1865, he re- turned to New York and commenced the study of the law in the office of Hon. George F. Danforth, of Rochester, now one of the Judges of the Court of Appeals of that State. In 1867, he came to this State and was admitted to the bar the same year at Cold- water, Branch County, by Hon. Nathanial Bacon, Circuit Judge. He commeneed practicing at Jack- son, Mich., the following year, and remained there until August, 1870, when he removed to Cassopolis and formed a copartnership with Hon. Charles W. Clisbee for the practice of law. He remained in partnership with Mr. Clisbee until August, 1872, at which time he opened an office by himself. October 16, 1873, he was married to Miss Sate Read, daughter of S. T. Read, Esq., of Cassopolis. January 1, 1875,
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