USA > Michigan > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Michigan > Part 42
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convention of 1850; the first Governor for the short term under the new constitution for 1852, elected in' 1852 for the term of two years, and went into office as Governor January 1, 1853. On the inauguration of Franklin Pierce as President, March 4, 1853, McClelland was appointed Secretary of the Interior, in which he continued till the end of Pierce's administration, March 4, 1857. This was his last public office.
This list shows of itself that he must have been above the average of men in ability and fidelity to the public interests. And when it is further stated that he performed the duties of these various offiees with credit to himself and a high reputation among all parties for ability and integrity, little more need to be said of him in this direction.
In 1836 he married Miss Elizabeth Sabin, a beautiful and excellent lady, who survived him, but died at Detroit in 1884. He had removed to Detroit prior to his election as Governor, and resided there afterwards till his death, August 30, 1880.
As a politician, he was eminently cautious and conservative, and when he thought his party was going to extremes in any direction, he used his best efforts to restrain them ; but like a true politician, if, in spite of his efforts, they persisted, he did not denounce them or leave them, but went with them, though against his better judgment, probably believ- ing that by so doing he could have a more salutary influence in restraining them from dangerous extremes than by coming out in open and direct opposition, by which that in- fluence would be lost Doubtless many other patriotic men of all parties have honestly acted upon the like principle.
Few, if any, knew him more intimately than I did, having been a student in his office for two years (from 1836 to 1838), when I was ad- mitted to the bar, having, in 1845, taken and closed up the business of Wing & McClel. land, and been a law partner with him in 1849 and 1850.
As a man and a citizen he was strictly just and fair, and while exacting what was his due he was careful to exact nothing more. He was of a cheerful and social disposition, of pleasant address and popular manners, never morose or fretful, and if ever melancholy or despondent he would successfully conceal it. Though seldom indulging in witticisms or story-
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telling, yet he enjoyed these qualities in others, and in all circumstances was ready to indulge in a pleasant laugh, so much so that his opponents asserted that he laughed himself into office.
As a practicing lawyer he was systematic and orderly in his habits, strictly and con - scientiously faithful to the interests of his clients. His industry and care in the prepara- tion of his cases were persistent and inde- fatigable. No decision bearing upon his case escaped his search, and all efforts were made to ascertain what the evidence was likely to be, and if he failed of success it was no fault of his.
But he was a lawyer of the old school, and adopted A. D. Frazer, of Detroit, as his model. This school of lawyers was strong so far as they could find decisions sustaining their po- sitions, and these decisions were treated as texts of revelation, and commented upon much as the old Scotch divines commented upon texts of Scripture. But they were very timid, and therefore not very strong in reasoning up- on the fundamental principles of the law and demonstrating what the law must be in the ab- sence of any authority upon a particular point. They did not lack the power of reason- ing upon such principles, but they did not often venture to exercise it.
He was ambitious as a lawyer for honorable success in his profession. As a politician he was also ambitious for success, but though after 1848 I was opposed to him in politics, I never doubted his patriotism and do not now.
I remember him as I do Judge Warner Wing and Hon. Alpheus Felch and many others with whom I differed in politics, as excellent men, who would be deserving of a high standing as true patriots in any country. I believe they all honestly strove for what they sincerely be- lieved best for the welfare and prosperity of our whole country. Ithink they were in some things mistaken as to the best means of ac- complishing the result - they thought I was; Ommpotence alone can finally decide which was right. I. P. CHRISTIANCY.
HON. ISAAC P. CHRISTIANCY
Was born March 12, 1812, at Johnstown, State of New York. His father, Thomas, was of Holland descent, though a native of Schenec- tady, New York. His mother was a Peckham
of Rhode Island (hence P. in his name). Isaac P. was the second of a family of eight children, all of whom lived to manhood and woman- hood, the last (William Perry) dying in 1861.
His father was a poor, hard-working man, who, until Isaac was eight years old, was a blacksmith and edge-tool maker; from that time engaged in clearing and cultivating a new farm. When about twelve years of age, Isaac P.'s father, in clearing a piece of new land, met with an accident by which seven of his ribs and his collar-bone were broken. He recov- ered after some months, was enabled to do the lighter kinds of work, but with slight over- exertion would be laid aside a month or two. This threw upon Isaac P. at the age of twelve, a large part of the support of the family ; but he was large and strong of his age, having his full growth before sixteen. He could attend school but about three months in winter, at a distance of two miles from home. His mother was a woman of fair educa- tion, and more than average intellectual activity and ability, and to a considerable extent supplied the place of a teacher dur- ing his childhood, taking great pains to inspire him with the love of knowledge, and furnish- ing him with the best kind of books to read. His leisure moments were utilized by reading and study, generally by firelight. His habits of study and reading were thus early formed.
At the age of eighteen he was qualified for and began teaching a district school ; was occupied thus about three-quarters of three years, the balance of the time attending the academies at Johnstown and Kingsborough. The following two years and a half he taught school winters and attended the Ovid academy in the summer. In the fall of 1834 he com- menced the study of law with the Hon. John Maynard at Ovid, New York, and continued with him until May, 1836, when he removed to Monroe, Michigan, where he entered as clerk of the United States land office under Major Gershom T. Bulkley, registrar, and continued therein until the removal of the office to Detroit.
He entered the law office of Hon. Robert McClelland in May, 1836, and was admitted to the bar in 1838; practiced law with John E. Seeley as a co-partner about one year, and was associated with Franklin Johnson a short time. In 1849 and 1850 was a law partner of the Hon. Robert McClelland. With these excep-
J.P. Phústrany
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tions practiced alone and continued in practice until he was elected judge of the Supreme Court of Michigan. He was the prosecuting attorney of Monroe county six years, from 1841 to 1846.
In 1844 he brought from the East his father, mother, two brothers and a sister (being all the family then living), and furnished them with a home on his Macon farm, where his father died in 1849, one brother in 1850, his sister in 1856, and his brother Perry in 1861. His mother died at his home in Monroe in 1864, since which he has been the only survivor of the family.
From the time of his admission to the bar, in whatever engaged, he added to his reputation as a lawyer, and came to be regarded as a leader at the Monroe bar. Withal, he was an ardent advocate of anti-slavery, and in 1848 was a delegate and one of the chief spirits of the National Free Soil Convention at Buffalo. The nomination of both of the old parties as State senator came to him unsolicited in 1849 and he was elected without opposition. The district was then composed of Monroe, Lenawee, Hillsdale and Branch counties. He was a member of the session of 1850 (the last under the old constitution), and the regular and extra sessions of 1851 under the new; in 1852 was the Free Soil candidate for governor of Michigan.
It was his plan, more than that of any other one man, upon which the Republican party, distinctively as such, was first formed-the plan of uniting all men irrespective of past party affiliations, who were opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska measures of President Buch- anan's administration and to the extension of slavery, into a single harmonious party. To this, almost alone at first, he devoted himself, and after long, earnest and persistent efforts in overcoming the opposition of some of the lead- ing Whigs and in inducing the Free Soilers to forego their separate organizations and nomi- nations, he finally succeeded, and the mass convention at Jackson in the summer of 1854, when the Republican party was first formed and named, was the result.
He was a delegate to the first Republican National Convention at Philadelphia in 1856, and one of the committee on resolutions which framed its platform, and about that time be- came proprietor and editor of the Monroe
Commercial and made it a Republican paper. In 1857, he was first elected judge of the then new Supreme Court of this State and re- elected for two subsequent terms. As a judge his opinions are well and widely known. It can be said that he was tenacious for the fullest liberties of the people and thoroughly in accord with the spirit of the jurisprudence of a free people. His third term began in 1874, and in 1875 through a combination between the Democ- racy and Republicans opposed to Zack Chand- ler, in which he had no agency, was elected a United States Senator. It is certain that there was no other possible combination that would defeat Zack Chandler, as he was familiarly called.
His popularity as a judge of the Supreme Court may be inferred from the fact that in 1857, when nominated as justice of the Supreme Court for the term of eight years, he was elected by a very large majority, and when in 1865 re- nominated for the same position for the term of eight years, the Democratic party would make no nomination against him, and at the end of this term was again nominated by both . parties and elected without opposition. In January, 1875, without soliciting the office, he was elected as before stated to the United States Senate, and remained there nntil Feb- ruary 11, 1879, when he accepted the appoint- ment of United States Minister to Peru, where he remained about two and a half years and returned to his home in Lansing, where he still resides, and for a number of years was resorted to as counsel and for the argument of causes before the Supreme Court. He is now in feeble health, and when absent from his home, fre- quently may be found in the State library; law and history, the natural sciences being his favorite subjects of study. He is occasionally seen in the Supreme Court room, where his por- trait adorns the walls, as of right it should, he having formerly for many years occupied a seat upon the bench of the Supreme Court. He possessed in an eminent degree the confidence of all having business relations with him ; as a lawyer and as a jurist was especially distin- guished for his love of justice and for his strong, practical common sense. His long and successful career upon the bench of the Supreme Court is fully evinced by the many able and careful judgments found in our State reports.
He married at Monroe in November, 1839,
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the daughter of Mrs. McClosky. His wife died at Lansing, December 13, 1874, leaving a large family, but five of whom are now living, viz .: Henry Christiancy, a man of decided ability, who has been for many years and is still first assistant in the Detroit custom house ; James, who is engaged in the Interior Depart- ment at Washington; William, who resides at Lansing; and one widowed daughter (Mrs. Mary E. O'Brien), who superintends his house- hold and is the comfort of his declining years.
His second marriage at Washington, while United States Senator, proved an injudicious and unfortunate one. He was soon divorced, and any person that will peruse the testimony taken in the case (which is quite voluminous), or who has personally known him through a long life, would unhesitatingly approve of the conduct and course pursued by the Judge.
One of the figures often seen at the Capitol is that of a tall and sturdily built man, whose frame and stature, once that of a giant, are now shrunk and bowed by age. He goes about with a cane, and his slow step, due somewhat to bodily feebleness, is also in part due to the preoccupation of a mind which deals with prob- lems of law - a habit of long standing. There is a distinguishable difference between the por- trait on the wall, which represents a man well on in middle life, with a grayish fringe of whisker about the lower part of the face, a smooth and a rather yellowish countenance, keen gray eyes and high intellectual forehead, . and the furrowed features and whitened hair of the living man to-day. Most frequently he may be found in the library - law and history being favorite subjects of perusal. His last case in the court of which formerly he had formed a part was when Begole was gov- ernor, and Trustce Walker of the Flint asylum resisted the attempt of the governor to re- move. His last appearance as an advocate in any court was two years ago at Monroe, his carly home.
There is pending before the legislature a bill to pension at a moderate sum such judges as have attained the age of seventy years and have served for a long time. It is said that but five men would be entitled to such a pension : Judge Turner, of Owosso; Judge Christiancy, of Lansing ; Judge Graves, of Battle Creek, and Judges Campbell and Swift, of Detroit. All these men served long years at very low
salaries, and gave to the State the time which might have been employed in making private fortunes.
ALPHEUS FELCH
Was born at Limerick, York county, Maine, September 28, 1804. After an academic course at Exeter Academy, New Hamshire, he graduated at Bowdoin College in 1827, and immediately became a student-at-law at Frey- berg, Maine, and was admitted to the bar at Bangor, Maine, in autumn, 1830. Commenced practice at Houlton, Maine, in the fall of that year, where he continued in practice until the spring of 1833.
He came to Monroe, Michigan, in the sum- mer of 1833, and opened an office there in August of that year, and continued to reside there until September, 1843, when he removed to Ann Arbor, which has since been his resi- dence.
He was elected to House of Representatives of Michigan in 1835, and again in 1836. Early in 1838 he was appointed Bank Commissioner. In February, 1842, appointed Auditor Gen- cral of this State; but soon after entering upon its duties was appointed by Governor Barry Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; and in January, 1843, was nominated and confirmed as sneh justice, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William A. Fletcher, and also for the succeeding full term.
In November, 1845, he was elected Governor of the State. In 1847 was elected United States Senator.
After expiration of his term as Senator, in March, 1853, was appointed by the President one of the commissioners to settle land claims under the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, and was president of the Board. He returned to Michigan in June, 1856 (the labors of the com- mission being closed), and from that time to 1873 engaged in professional business as a law- yer. From this time for several years he be- came nearly blind, and was unable to do busi- ness. But in 1879, having partially recovered his sight, he was appointed professor of law in the law department of the University of Mich- igan, and continued to act in that capacity un- til 1883, when he resigned, and has not since been engaged in any official business.
In 1877, just fifty years after his graduation,
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Jefferson G. Tucker .
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Bowdoin College conferred upon him the de- gree of LL. D.
He was married to Lucretia W. Lawrence, daughter of Judge Wolcott Lawrence, at Mon- roc, Michigan, September 14, 1837, who died at Ann Arbor July 30, 1882. They had eight children - Caroline O., who married Claudius B. Grant (now Judge Grant); Elizabeth II., who married Milton B. Cole; Emma L., who married Horace V. Knight; Arthur Willis, who died in 1846; Theodore, who married Ilattie C. Ege ; Florence C., who died October 31, 1862; Francis L. and Helen L, the latter of whom married Doctor Chas. G. Jennings.
It may be readily and correctly inferred that a man who was called upon to fill so many im- portant offices was not a merely ordinary or commonplace man, but that he must have pos- sessed some characteristics which raised him above the common level of his cotemporaries. But this will still more clearly be seen when the further truth is stated that, so far as the public ever knew or suspected, and therefore as far as truth will warrant us to presume, he never sought or made any effort to obtain any office which he ever held. And though he held these offices when the demands of party were as strong and unrelenting, and party prejudices were as sharp and suspicions as they have since been, his integrity was never doubted by any party, though he always acted as a member of the Democratic party. Why, then, this confidence reposed in him almost alone by the opposite party ?
The reason is not far to seek. First, he was a modest man, entirely clear from all self-asser- tion, and frankly recognized in the opposite party the same purity of purpose by which he professed to be guided, and never impugned their integrity. Secondly, he showed by his private life the most sincere interest in the promotion of every measure for the advance -. ment, purification and elevation of society in general ; always charitable in his judgment of others and lenient even to their fanlts.
As a lawyer, while in practice at. the bar, he was not so familiar with the technicalities of the law, nor generally so thoroughly prepared with authorities bearing upon his case as some of his cotemporaries at the bar, but he was familiar with legal principles and strong upon the merits of his cases, and specially successful in the examinations of witnesses, never resort-
ing to abuse or harshness, but by his mild and gentle course often succeeding in drawing from a hostile witness what others had failed to elicit. I never heard him impute to the op- posite party or to opposing counsel a dishonest purpose, nor make use of a harsh expression under any provocation; and this gentleness and almost meekness of manner gave to both court and jury full confidence in his integrity. and made him a formidable opponent on the merits of the case. The same qualities in private life and the fact that he never sought to promote litigation, but rather to avoid it, justly gave him the like favorable opinion of the public.
And finally, it may be truly said the more intimately he was known the more highly was he esteemed. I. P. CHRISTIANCY.
JEFFERSON GAGE THURBER
Was born in Unity, New Hampshire, in 1807. He descended from a family actively engaged in the Revolutionary War, and among the pleasant reminiscences of his childhood were the stories of war and adventure related around the blazing fire by his grandfather and uncles, the " chimney piece " adorned with the mus- ket, powder-horn and sword that had seen rough service in their hands. His parents re- moved to Western New York when he was an infant, and settled on a farm. Mr. Thurber received an academical education at the then celebrated Canandaigua Academy. After grad- uating he taught Latin and the higher mathe- matics in the preparatory department, pursu- ing his law studies at the same time. In 1833, being admitted to the bar, he came with a company of young men to Monroe, and opened a law office on Washington street. Here he met and soon married Mary Bartlett Gerrish, of Boscawen, New Hampshire. He served as prosecuting attorney for the county, and in 1839 was elected Judge of Probate. Judge Thurber was State Senator from 1844 to 1847, and presidential elector in 1849; State Repre- sentative in 1851, when he was chosen Speaker of the House. He was a constant contributor to Eastern and Western papers and magazines; was interested in all educational subjects, and one of the original stockholders and trustces of the Young Ladies' Seminary of Monroe. During life Judge Thurber was active and infin- ential in the politics of the State, and a public-
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spirited citizen. He died May 6, 1857, leaving a widow and six children. The eldest son, Doctor Edward G. Thurber, has for eighteen years been pastor of Park Church, Syracuse, New York, and this spring (1889) accepted the pastorate of the American church in Paris, where he now resides. The second son, Jeffer- son M. Thurber, of the firm of Buhl Sons & Co., Detroit, Michigan, and the third son, Henry T. Thurber, a lawyer, residing in Detroit, consti- tuting one of the firm of Dickinson & Thurber. His danghters are Mrs. Talcott E. Wing, of Monroc; Miss Julia Thurber, and Mrs. Dr. Dunlap, of Syracuse, New York.
HON. DAVID ADDISON NOBLE,
Son of Deodatns Noble, was born in Williams- town, Massachusetts, November 9, 1802, and died in Monroe, Michigan, October 13, 1876, aged seventy-three. He was fitted for college in the school of Parson Moses Hallock in Plain- field, Massachusetts, and entered Williams Col- lege in 1821, from which institution he gradu- ated with honors in 1825. In college he was a good scholar, distinguished for accuracy and soundness rather than for fluent recitations and showy acquisitions. In September, 1825, he entered the law office of Hermanus Blecker in Albany, New York, remaining there until the winter of 1826, when he went to Hudson, New York, where he entered upon his literary work as assistant editor of the Columbiad. In the following year he moved to New York, en- tered the law office of Benjamin Clark, on Franklin Square, at the same time gave lessons in French in Bancell's Academy. He was a fine Greek and Latin scholar, and during the winter was engaged in correcting the publish- er's proof-sheets for a Greek work. He subse- quently opened a law office with David Logan at No. 4 Pine street. He was in the practice of his profession abont two years in New York, and for a short time was in partnership with Hon. Charles O'Connor.
In 1831 he removed to Monroe, Michigan, where he resided the remainder of his life. He here opened a law office with Hon. Warner Wing. He was an accomplished French scholar, which was of great advantage to him with the French population. It was as a counselor that Mr. Noble was chiefly dis- tinguished, his thoroughly disciplined mind, his habits of patient research and his superior
judgment peculiarly qualifying him to arrive at correct legal conclusions. He was elected recorder of the city in 1833, and while acting in this capacity drew up the city charter. Was twice elected alderman, and in 1842 mayor of the city. In 1845 Mr. Noble was chosen to represent his county in the legislature, which he did with ability and to the satisfaction of his constituents. On November 10, 1846, Mr. Noble secured the charter of the Michigan Southern Railroad. In 1847 he was appointed a member of the Harbor and River Convention at Chicago. Subsequently he was appointed one of the committee of five to carry out the wishes of the convention, at which time he wrote a full statistical report of the commerce of the lakes. In 1852 Mr. Noble was elected to Congress from the Second District. In 1858 he was appointed manager of the Lonisville, New Albany and Chicago Railroad, which po- sition he held four years.
He married, July 10, 1832, Sarah Shaw, daughter of Hon. Henry Shaw, of Lanesboro, Massachusetts. The children of this marriage were : Henry Shaw Noble, born Decem- ber 10, 1838; married Delia Vrooman ; adopted the legal profession ; is at present the post- master of Monroc. Lanra Wheeler Noble was born July 14, 1841; married Herbert Lec Stoddard, a resident of this city. John Savage Noble was born November 5, 1848; married . Nellie Kendall, of Monroe ; a lawyer of prom- ise, now residing in Brown Valley. He held the office of prosecuting attorney and is now judge of probate of the county.
HON. WARNER WING.
Warner Wing was born in Marietta, Ohio, September 19, 1805. His father's name was Enoch Wing and his mother's maiden name was Mary Oliver. On his father's side he was descended from one of the old New England families. His father's grandfather, John Wing, was one of the two brothers of Welch extrac- tion, who came from England at a very carly day, and with their families were among the first settlers of New England. Judge Wing's grandfather, also named John, settled in Con- way, Massachusetts, where he had seven sons, the names of some of whom were: Peter, Isaiah, Eli, Enoch -" good old Bible and Puritan names," as Judge Wing noted on a scrap of paper which he has left. His father,
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