History of Monroe County, Michigan, Part 78

Author: Wing, Talcott Enoch, 1819-1890, ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York, Munsell & company
Number of Pages: 882

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The first steps in the education of Judge

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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

Morris were taken under the supervision of a governess. Rapidly outgrowing this form of instruction, he attended academies in Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire until his seven- teenth year, when he entered Dartmouth Col- lege, graduating therefrom in the class of 1830. After one year of close application at the New Haven Law School, he left on account of ill · health and traveled through the Southern States. Partially recovering his health, he entered the law office of King, Chase & Walker, of Cincinnati, and was a member of the first class of what was afterwards known as the Cincinnati Law School, where he completed his studies. Here a friendship commenced between Judge Chase (afterwards Chief Justice) and himself, which was continued in a correspond- ence for many years. He was first admitted to the bar in Kentucky ; afterwards returning to Vermont, he settled in Brattleboro, and com- menced the practice of his profession.

In 1834 he was married to Frances V. Hunt, of Vermont; and three years later removed to New York City. In 1840 he came to Michi- gan, settling at Brest, Monroe county, at that time a stirring village with all prospects of be- coming a prosperous city; but the growth of Detroit and Monroe usurping its brilliant future, he, with others, turned his attention to farming. In 1855 he removed to Monroe City, where he has since resided. In 1860 he was elected county treasurer. At the expiration of his term of office, he formed a copartner- ship with the late Roderick O'Connor, then a leading dry goods merchant of Monroe, and has since retained an interest in the mercantile business in connection with the practice of law. During his residence in Monroe county Judge Morris has held the offices of supervisor, city treasurer, county treasurer, alderman, member of the school board, circuit court commissioner, judge of probate, and finally circuit judge for the first term of the Twenty-second Judicial Circuit, composed of Monroe and Washtenaw counties. The fidelity with which he dis- charged the duties of these various offices may be inferred from the fact that in his election for circuit judge, he received a plurality of over twelve hundred (1200) in Monroe county, in a triangular contest with two well known and prominent gentlemen, lawyers of recognized ability.

While Judge Morris has been a lifelong

Democrat, zealous for the success of his party, he has never been an office seeker. All the offices which he has held came to him without effort on his part. To him great credit is due for rescuing Monroe county from Re- publican rule in 1868 ; since which time it has continued a Democratic county. In that memorable campaign he, as candidate for judge of probate, with his associates on the Democratic ticket, met the Republican party, in its palmiest days, then having a handsome majority in the county, whose candidates pos- sessed the necessary wherewithal and a deter- mination to retain this majority at all hazards. The result was the election of the entire Demo- cratic ticket by fair majorities. It has been his effort to keep dissenters and sorc-heads of other parties from obtaining office at the hands of the Democracy ; but when, through inad- vertence or chicanery, one of that stripe secures a place on his party's ticket, he has always considered it his highest duty at the polls to secure the fall of such political acrobats.

Judge Morris is a man of strong prejudices, always ready to do a kind act for his friends, and equally ready to punish his enemies. It has been his desire to gratify his friends rather than to appease the wrath of his enemies. While he respects one who honestly and openly opposes him, he despises a fawning hypocrite.

Judge Morris appears like one who has come down to the present from a former epoch in history. There are others in the community who are considered well preserved old men, but few of them retain in so great a degree their powers of body and mind. Having now passed four score. years he still stands promi- nent at the Monroe county bar.

Seeing Judge Morris still actively engaged in the laborious duties of his profession, one . can hardly realize that in youth he saw Presi- dent Monroe during his official tour of the Eastern States; was present at a reception given Lafayette in 1824 ; has conversed with Daniel Webster while a guest in his father's house; has seen Joseph Bonaparte, brother of the great Napoleon and ex-king of Naples and Spain, in 1829, at his (Bonaparte's) home, in Bordentown, New Jersey, Henry Clay, Martin Van Buren, John Jacob Astor, Noah Webster, and other prominent and noted men of their day. Has listened to sermons delivered by the father of Henry Ward Beecher ; has attended

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lectures of the first Professor Silliman, and is familiar with and has a clear recollection of important events which to most of us are known only as history.

A man of fine intellect and classical educa- tion, who has found his enjoyment in books rather than people, he is gifted with a wonder- ful memory, combined with an ardent desire for information upon all subjects that interest the world of to-day.

Quiet, unassuming and cordial to all, yet he is descended from one of the oldest and most illustrious families of the United States, and is. related by blood or connected by marriage with the Hamiltons, Schuylers, Bleekers, Lud- lows, Lorillards, Hunts, and many others whose names are prominent in history. Still, Judge Morris recognizes no aristocracy in this land, and is ready to accord to every one such consideration as their own conduct and quali- fications merit.

TALCOTT E. WING,

Of Monroe, Monroe county, was born in De- troit, Michigan, September 24, 1819. His father, Austin E. Wing, was a graduate of Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1814, and moved from Detroit to Monroe in 1829 with his family. He was one of the first sheriffs of Wayne county, and was for three terms delegate to Congress from the Territory of Michigan. Subsequently he was regent of the University of Michigan, and in 1842 was a member of the State legislature, afterwards holding the office of United States Marshal. He died at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1849. He was a public-spirited man, identifying himself with all public enterprises of importance. He was prominently connected with the temperance movement, being president of the first State Temperance Society. His wife, the mother of Talcott E. Wing, was Harriet Skinner, daughter of Benjamin Skinner, Esq, of Williamstown, Massachusetts. Talcott E. attended the old academy on Bates street, Detroit, until the family removed to Monroe, when he continued his education under the Rev. John O'Brien and Rev. Samuel Center, principal of the Mon- roe branch of the State University. He en- tered in 1836 Knox College, Gambier, Ohio. The following year he went to Williams Col-

lege at Williamstown, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1840. Returning to Monroe he entered the law office of his uncle, Warner Wing, afterwards judge of the Supreme Court, who was at that time practicing law in partnership with the Hon. Robert McClelland; subsequently member of Congress and Secre- tary of the Interior. He was admitted to practice in 1844. In 1849 he formed a copart- nership with Ira R. Grosvenor for the practice of law, which continued for eight years. He was elected judge of probate in 1864, and re- elected to that office in 1868, since the expira- tion of the last term continning his practice, although not an active member of the bar. He has held a number of minor local offices, and was instrumental in organizing the union school at Monroe, of which he was a trustee for a number of years, and since 1844 he has held the office of United States Circuit Court Commissioner. Organizing the banking firm of Wing & Johnson, he retained an interest in it until 1864, when it was merged with the First National Bank of Monroe, of which he has been president and cashier, and is now one of the directors and its vice president. He was elected an officer of the State Historical Society in 1882, and at its meeting held at Lansing June 2, 1887, was made president of the society and was re-elected to that office in 1888. He received from Governor Luce the appointment of president of the commission to attend the centennial celebration of the first settlement in the Northwestern Territory, under the ordi- nance of 1787, to be held at Marietta, Ohio, in April, 1888, and also the Industrial and Edu- cational Exposition to be held at Columbus, Ohio, in the fall of that year.

Mr. Wing has for the last forty years been a member of the Presbyterian church of Monroe, being one of the board of trustees, and was in 1886 elected and ordained an elder of the church. He has been instrumental in organ- izing and establishing Sunday schools in the county, and has taken an active part in teach- ing and superintending them.

He was married in 1844 to Elizabeth P. Johnson, daughter of Colonel Oliver Johnson, of Monroe, the fruits of that marriage being four children, three sons and one daughter, all of whom are living. The eldest, Talcott J. Wing, is a merchant at Westfield, Massachu- setts. Charles R. Wing, the second son, is a

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lawyer of Monroe, and Austin E. Wing was assistant cashier of the Commercial National Bank of Detroit, and in 1888 was appointed United States Bank Examiner, in which position he is now engaged. The daughter is the widow of James C. Little, and resides at Monroe. He was married in 1859 to Elizabeth Thurber, daughter of Hon. Jefferson G. Thurber, by whom he has one son, Jefferson T. Wing, engaged in business in Detroit.

Mr. Wing has lately undertaken, at the solicitation of Munsell & Co., of New York, the compilation of a history of Monroe county, being one of its first settlers, and having a vivid memory which enables him to describe remin- iscences of days reaching far back of the present generation.

He represented as elder the First Presby- terian church of Monroe at the Synod of Mich- igan, held at Grand Rapids in 1886, at Bay City in 1887, at Flint in 1888, at Kalamazoo in 1889, and the Presbytery of Monroe in May, 1889, at the General Assembly held in New York.

OTIS ADAMS CRITCHETT.

It was a characteristic of the early settler of New England that he named his son, not for some public man whose name was famous, as is the custom to-day, but for some sturdy an- cestor of the boy, that his name might be a patent to the world of the blood which was his heritage. Descended by both the paternal and maternal families from this Puritan stock, Judge Critchett's names show his lineage.

A few years before the Revolutionary war John Critchett was a young New England sailor on a trading vessel sailing from the port of New London, Connecticut. He was over- hauled one night by a British press gang, taken on board a man of-war and became a sailor for King George. He had no opportunity to es- cape for nearly two years, but finally received his freedom in England and made haste to re- turn to his widowed mother. Lexington and Concord speedily followed, and taking advan- tage of the action of the Continental Congress he became mate of a privateersman. Hc pros- pered financially and had accumulated a snug fortune, when one day the traitor Benedict Arnold, in command of a British expedition, appeared on the shore of the Sound, and the

next morning Critchett was homeless and poor, having snatched his infant son and barely managed to escape from his burning dwelling. His wife was Grace Otis, of the celebrated fam- ily of Massachusetts patriots whose eloquence had stimulated the colonists to throw off the British yoke. After his losses in Connecticut, he entered the land service and served till the close of the war, when he removed to Wash- ington county, New York, where his son James was born. The boyhood of James was spent across the border in the State of Vermont. Animated by the American desire to "go west," while yet a young man he emigrated to Seneca county, and later to Niagara county, New York. De Witt Clinton was at that time building the Erie canal and Critchett became a foreman upon that work, and later a contractor upon the Welland canal. He settled in Lock- port, Niagara county, and entered upon the manufacture of soap and candles. Here in 1831 he married Abigail Winslow. She was descended upon her father's side from Kenelm Winslow, who came over in one of the earliest trips of the Mayflower, a brother of Governor Edward Winslow, who came with the Ply- mouth colony in 1620. They were natives of Droitwich, England. Abigail Winslow's mother was Abigail Adams, a daughter of the Massa- chusetts Adamses, her grandfather being a cousin of John Adams, the second president.

Shortlyafter their marriage, John and Abigail Critchett came to Monroe county, Michigan, and settled in London township upon the homestead which is still in possession of their descendants. They had four children who survived infancy, three sons and one daughter, all of whom are residents of Monroe county. The daughter, Mrs. E. M. Lewis, is a resident of Dundee ; one brother is upon the old homestead in London, one in Milan, and the subject of the present sketch for nearly a quarter of a century has been one of the prominent and active attorneys of Monroe City.

Otis A. Critchett was born November 30, 1838, and during his childhood knew the la- borious life which falls to the boy in the family of the pioneer farmer. It was a hard and a rugged life at best, such a life as the youth of to-day hardly know even by tradition, but it made manly men and heroic women. His early school days were passed in a log school house, wherein taught a pedagogue who was

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paid by a "rate bill" and who "boarded around." At the age of seventeen he became a teacher himself and experienced the de- lights (?) incident to a continuously shifting boarding place. Having by this means accu- mulated a little money, he entered Lodi Acade- my to prepare himself for admission to the Uni- versity of Michigan. This academy, now but a memory, was at that time quite a famous edu- cational institution. The public school system afforded absolutely no facilities to the student desiring to prepare for college, and he was com- pelled either to attend one of these preparatory academies or have recourse to a private tutor. Lodi Academy was presided over by Rufus Nutting, a former professor of languages in the Western Reserve College of Hudson, Ohio. Under his tuition Judge George M. Landon, Edwin Willitts and others were prepared for the university. With the exception of a short time when young Critchett was in Monroe City, reciting to Edwin Willitts, who directed his studies, his preparation for the university was made at this institution, and after being prepared he pursued the course of the freshman year under Prof. Nutting, taking charge of the classes in higher mathematics at the academy during this time.

In 1859 he entered the sophomore class at Michigan University, in the classical course, and graduated an A. B. in 1862. From his earliest boyhood the profession of the law had been his choice, and immediately upon his graduation in the department of literature, science and arts, he entered the law depart ment. Here in March, 1864, he was graduated an LL. B. Continual study had told upon his physical well being, and in February, 1864, he became ill from overwork. Returning home he recuperated during the summer, coming to Monroe in the fall, where he had engaged as principal of the high school. He entered upon the duties of his position in September, 1864, but a few weeks after an attack of pneumonia compelled him to relinquish his position. Upon his recovery he continued the study of law, was admitted to the bar in September, 1865, hung out his shingle and commenced his life-work in the practice of his profession.

Among his earliest recollections he recalls scenes wherein at the early dawn some trem- bling negro slave, escaped from bondage, would be brought to his father's house, his conceal-

ment for a time, and his journey forward to the next station of the "underground railroad " when safe to do so. It is needless to say that the boy became an " Abolitionist; " and he has been a stanch Republican all his life. When Abe Lincoln was nominated in 1860, Critchett was a student at the university. It was his first vote for president, he having attained his majority only eleven months before, and in the raw, cold November weather, with roads stiff with freezing mud, he walked twenty-six miles from Ann Arbor home to cast his vote.

In 1866 he was nominated by the Republi- can party for prosecuting attorney and was elected. He was renominated in 1868, but in that year the Democrats regained the ascend - ency in Monroe county, which they had lost during the war, and he was unsuccessful. In 1872 he was nominated and elected judge of probate, and ably filled the position till 1876. In 1881 he received the nomination of his party for circuit judge of the Twenty-second Judicial Circuit, consisting of the counties of Monroe and Washtenaw. Both counties were strongly Democratic, yet so great was the con- fidence of the people in Mr. Critchett in the county where he had been born, and where his ability and integrity were best known, that he reversed the usual majority, carrying Monroe county by nearly 500; though owing to the heavy Democratic vote of Washtenaw county, his opponent, Hon. Chauncey Joslyn, was elected. He was appointed postmaster at Mon- roe by President Arthur, and held the position for four years. During his practice he has at various times associated himself with other practitioners. He was at one time the part- ner of General Maxwell, and in 1876 he formed a copartnership with his former preceptor, Ed- win Willitts, which continued during the terms of Mr. Willitts as Congressman, and until he settled in Ypsilanti as principal of the State Normal School.

The interest which the boy took in educa- tional matters has been characteristic of the man, and he has been at all times a stanch and untiring advocate of mental advancement. For ten years he was a member of the board of education of Monroe City, and has taught its high school when sudden change has left it without a principal. He has been for sixteen years a trustee of Albion College, and has de- voted considerable labor and time to the wel-

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fare and progress of that flourishing institu- tion.

His connection with the Methodist Episco- pal church is almost as extensive as his resi- denee in Monroe. He early became an attend- ant upon its services, and was made a member of its official board, even before he formally united with it. His connection with its board of trustees has never been broken, and he con- tinues to-day to watch over its interests with earnest and intelligent care.

He was married at Ann Arbor, while still a student of the university, on November 23, 1861, to Anna G. Warner, also of New England lineage. Four children were the results of this marriage : James C., born October 25, 1862, who was admitted to the bar of Monroe county, and is now in Mexico; John, born November 1, 1866, a graduate of Albion College, and now an instructor in the Flint Normal School ; Mary Abigail, born September 1, 1869, died August, 1870 ; and Otis A., jr., born August 17, 1875. On July 31, 1882, his wife died, and in Sep- tember, 1883, he was married to Almira A. Warner, a sister of his former wife.

As an attorney Judge Critchett has attained an enviable position and an excellent practice. He has, so far as possible, avoided " criminal practice," and devoted himself to the broader field of jurisprudence, based upon the common and the civil law. He is a cautious and a safe counselor ; a clear advocate, depending upon a logical and rational presentation of his ease rather than oratorical efforts or sympathetic pleas, and a persistent practitioner who doesn't know how to " stay beaten." Indeed, his op- ponent who fancies himself securely triumph- ant, not infrequently finds the judge suddenly " on top" and fighting as vigorously as ever.

In the quiet of his pleasant home Judge Critchett has collected about him a notable library, in which his leisure hours are spent. While rich and full in every department of literature which challenges modern thought, it is particularly complete in historical works of value, and especially so in those pertaining to American history. In the field of political and social economy, and particularly that de- partment of it covering the inception, growth and development of constitutional government, he is an earnest and close student.

With matured and well-trained powers, he is yet but in the prime of life with, it is to be

hoped, many useful and honorable years yet before him.

JOHN R. RAUCH,

A member of the Monroe county bar, is a native of Pennsylvania. When a young lad, his father, with his family, consisting of his wife and eight children, moved to Michigan and settled on a farm in the township of La Salle, this county. After a few years of farm life he left home to attend school, and gradu- ated at Heidelberg College in 1856. He studied law with Colonel Ira R. Grosvenor of Monroe, and after his admission he became and was for a number of years associated with Colonel Grosvenor in the profession. He was married in 1864 to Frances C., youngest daughter of the late Rev. Charles N. Mattoon, D. D., who was then and for some years later, the pastor of the First Presbyterian church at Monroe. Mr. Rauch never dabbled much in politics, at least not with the view of making that a hobby for power or pelf. Aside from the general demands of the public and the time and energy which any true citizen should give to the problems of social life, his time is occupied in professional duties and his private business interests.

GEORGE M. LANDON,

Son of Dr. George and Euphemia (McQueen) Landon, was born in Monroe, July 4, 1837. He prepared for college in Monroe, and gradu- ated at the Michigan State University in 1857. Studied law in Cleveland, Ohio, in the office of Ranney, Backus & Noble, and subsequently with Hon. Isaac P. Christiancy of Monroe ; was admitted to the bar and entered on the practice of his profession in Grand Rapids. He remained there but a few months, when he removed to St. Joseph, Missouri, and practiced law until the news reached St. Joseph of the disastrous battle of Bull Run, when he returned to Monroe and acted as deputy, county treas- urer's office, until the close of his father's term as treasurer; entered the Fourth Michigan in summer of 1862; was in the Army of the Cum- berland until the close of the war; mustered out July, 1865. In the fall of 1865 entered the Chicago Theological Seminary and graduated in the spring of 1868; ministered in churches in the States of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minne-

THENEW PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX AND TIDEN FUR. -

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sota. In 1875 chronic throat troubles com- pelled him to leave the ministry ; returned to Monroe. In May, 1876, was chosen city attor- ney, and in November of same year was elected prosecuting attorney of the county of Monroe ; held the office for two terms. In 1879 he formed a copartnership with Colonel Ira R. Grosvenor which lasted until appointed judge of probate, February 27, 1884, vice Hon. Rufus E. Phinney, deceased ; in the fall of same year was nominated and elected judge of probate for term ending with the year 1888, when he re- turned to the practice of his profession ; married April, 1873, Miss S. J. Johnson of Plainfield, Iowa, who died in 1882. In June, 1884, mar- ried Miss Kate Chapman of Monroe, Michigan. Though entitled to a pension, has not applied for one.

HON. BURTON PARKER

Is a native of Monroe county, being born in Dundee, April 24, 1844. His parents were Morgan and Rosette C. (Breningstall) Parker. In 1854 he removed with his parents to Peters burgh, where his father engaged in milling and manufacturing .lumber. For seven years he attended the schools at Petersburgh, until the breaking out of the civil war, when, with his father, Morgan Parker (from whom the G. A. R. Post at Petersburgh receives its name), he en- listed October, 1861, in Company F, First Regiment of Michigan Engineers and Mechan- ics. He participated in the campaign of 1861 in Kentucky. He, with his father, was at the battle of Mill Springs, January 19, 1862, in which the rebel general Zollicoffer was killed. His father died April 4, 1862, and Burton was discharged the following July on account of ill health.

Shortly after the close of the war he entered the employ of M. B. Thomas, at Petersburgh, as a clerk in a dry goods house, at the same time pursuing the study of law. He was elected justice of the peace in 1867, and the fol- lowing year entered the law department of the Michigan University from which he graduated with the class of 1870, and was admitted to the bar the following May.

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History of Monroe County, Michigan, Part 78

Author: Wing, Talcott Enoch, 1819-1890, ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: New York, Munsell & company Number of Pages: 882

Author: Wing, Talcott Enoch, 1819-1890, ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York, Munsell & company
Number of Pages: 882