USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests Volume I > Part 21
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In the military branch of the Knights of Pythias, Mr. Sawyer has held the rank of colonel since 1892 and served upon the staff of the major general in the biennial encampments at Kansas City, Cleveland, Washington, Indianapolis and Detroit. He is a venerable sheik of Mecca Temple No. 56, D. O. K. K. and has filled that position since the institution of the temple on May 5, 1896, with the exception of one year, when that office was held by Rev. Edward Collins of Detroit.
Mr. Sawyer is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church and was for many years a vestryman of Zion church of Pontiac. He was a lay reader under Bishop Harris and held services at various places in Oakland county, and at Clintonville established a flourishing mission in 1887.
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HON. GEORGE W. SMITH
Hon. George W. Smith, judge of the sixth judicial district since 1896, and one of the more prominent citizens of Pontiac, was born at Warsaw, New York, on March 27, 1850, and is now in the prime of life.
When he was five years of age Judge Smith accompanied his par- ents from their eastern home in Michigan, and he was reared in Com- merce, Oakland county. He is the son of Orson H. and Jeannette (Armstrong) Smith. Finishing the public schools, Judge Smith carried on his law studies in the University of Michigan, and was admitted to the bar in 1874, beginning the practice of law in Pontiac on May I, 1876. In 1877 and 1878 he served as circuit court commissioner of Oak- land county, and in 1879 and 1880 he was city attorney of Pontiac. In November, 1888, he was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney of Oakland county and served six years in that position, discharging the duties of the office with all fidelity and fixity of purpose, displaying a splendid ability meanwhile. On January 1, 1896, Judge Smith entered upon his first term as judge of the Sixth judicial circuit, and in the years that have passed with him as the incumbent of the office, he has made a splendid record upon the bench. He is recognized as a learned. fearless and impartial jurist, and no hint of suspicion has ever been cast upon his integrity.
ROBERT J. LOUNSBURY
Robert J. Lounsbury, mayor and a well known attorney of Pontiac and the representative of large real estate interests here and in the east, was born in Putnam county, New York, where his father, a prominent farmer of that district, died in 1881.
Mr. Lounsbury was prepared for college at Andover, Massachusetts, and was a student at Dartmouth, afterwards graduating from the Columbia Law School of New York City in 1875. Immediately there- after he came to Pontiac in the interests of certain eastern capitalists who were operating in Michigan, Illinois and adjoining states, and he has had their interests in charge since that time. During the first few years he was able to devote a considerable time to general practice on his own responsibility, but for the most part the demands on his time by his eastern clients has precluded the possibility of making progress as a private practitioner. In recent years he acted as receiver for the P. O. & N. Railway, and he made a record for efficiency that was com- mended by both factions of the defunct road.
In 1911 Mr. Lounsbury was elected mayor of Pontiac under the commission form of government, which provides for three commissioners only, of which the mayor is one, and he has made a distinct success of his administration as chief executive of the city, his term being marked by a straightforward business administration of the affairs of the city. He is a thoroughgoing Pontiacker, has the best interests of the city at heart at all times, and is held in high esteem throughout the city and county.
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In 1880 Mr. Lounsbury married a daughter of Col. S. E. Beach, well known in Oakland county. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lounsbury,-a son and a daughter, the latter still surviving.
AARON PERRY
Aaron Perry, B.S., LL.B., whose portrait is shown on the opposite page, is one of the best known and most successful lawyers of Oakland county, Michigan, where he has spent nearly his entire life. He was frequently called upon to fill positions of public trust at an earlier day, but has devoted his later years to the practice of his profession and study. He is the senior member of the firm of Perry & Lynch, with offices in Pontiac, where he has resided many years.
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Mr. Perry was born on a farm in Oakland county, Michigan, November 1I, 1848, and is the youngest of a family of eight children born to Abram and Sophia (Andrews) Perry. His father was born in Warren county, New Jersey, and died when our subject was fifteen years of age. He had come to Oakland county in 1836 and lived here until his death at the age of fifty-four years. The mother, Sophia (Andrews) Perry, was born in Genesee county, New York, and she died when Aaron Perry was but two years old.
From his father's estate Aaron Perry received $700, which, with a sum borrowed, paid his way through school. He received a prepara- tory education in the Clarkston Union School of Oakland county, then entered the University of Michigan and was graduated therefrom with the class of 1870. He was a member of the Literary Adelphi and was one of the speakers at the second sophomore exhibition. In the fall of 1870 he entered into politics and lacked one vote of securing the Demo- cratic nomination for the office of state representative. He taught dur- ing the following school year at the Ortonville Academy, and during the school year of 1871-2 was superintendent of the Ovid Union School in Clinton county. In the famous Greeley campaign of 1872 he was elected a member of the state legislature, and with five others formed the minority in that body. At the close of the session in the spring of 1873 he went to Muskegon, Michigan, and took charge of the United States Harbor improvements under his former classmate, C. M. Wells. In the fall of the year he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, and in March, 1874, attended a special session of the legis- lature called for the purpose of considering and submitting a new state constitution to the people for their approval at the next election. The session continued about forty days, during which time he roomed with Col. C. B. Grant, the speaker of the lower house and afterward one of the supreme court justices of the state. It is a matter of some pride to Mr. Perry that because of his recognized ability for rushing busi- ness through, he was called upon to preside during that session more than was any other member, excepting two, and that during his term of office he was able to do some good work in the interests of the uni- versity. During the next summer he was for a time in the service of the United States government as a harbor inspector on the west coast of Michigan, and traveled some in Illinois, Wisconsin and the Northern
aaron Perry
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Peninsula. In the fall of 1874 he was a candidate for county clerk and with a total of ten thousand votes cast he was defeated by eleven votes. That defeat he now counts as one of the fortunate events of his career, as he subsequently reentered the law department of the uni- versity, from which he was graduated the following spring. He next spent two summers at Sand Beach, assisting Mr. Gilbert, of the class of 1870, University of Michigan, in charge of the work of constructing the United States harbor refuge at that place, spending the intervening winter in careful study of the law in the office of Judge A. C. Baldwin of Pontiac. In the fall of 1876 he entered actively into the Tilden campaign and stumped the county in the interests of Democracy. After the election he became a partner of Judge Taft of Pontiac, with whom he continued for two years. In the spring of 1878 he was appointed city attorney and has filled that office at various times with the utmost efficiency during a period in the aggregate of eight years. In the year 1878 he was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney, in which office he served for two years. Since that time he has been but twice a can- didate for public office. He was a candidate for circuit judge and for membership in the state constitutional convention, and, although he ran ahead of his ticket in his own county for both these offices, he met with defeat. In 1912 Mr. Perry was a delegate to the Democratic national convention at Baltimore, Maryland. Since 1876 he has practiced law continuously in Pontiac and ranks among the foremost in the county, having participated in much important litigation, and is president of the Bar Association of Oakland county. Both his taste and aptitude fit him better for the trials of issues of law than of fact, and for that reason he has successfully argued a large number of cases before the Michigan supreme court. He has accumulated a large law library and an extensive collection of miscellaneous books. He has traveled very extensively through the United States and in the summer of 1908 spent three months in Europe with his wife.
. Although a member of a fishing club, he has not caught a fish nor fired a gun, with the exception of one season, in thirty years, and has no taste for sports of any kind, preferring to travel or hunt fossils from a rock ledge. He has made a specialty of geology and microscopy and has spent many hours of recreation in gathering fossils and examin- ing microscopical specimens. He has a large cabinet of fossils and geological specimens of different kinds and has a fine collection of books on the subject of geology. He is a member of the National Geographic Society.
On Christmas day, 1873, Mr. Perry was united in marriage with Sallie Hoffman, who had been one of his assistants in the Ovid Union School. They have one son,-Stuart H. Perry, who was graduated from the literary department of the University of Michigan in 1894 with the degree of A.B., and from the law department two years later. He then entered into partnership with his father under the firm name of A. & S. H. Perry. For a year prior to August 1, 1901, the firm maintained a branch office in the city of Detroit, under the personal charge of the junior partner. At that time, August 1, 1901, Stuart H. Perry retired from the firm to become the editor of the Oakland County
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Post and the Pontiac Daily Press. His first experience in an editorial way was gained while managing editor of the Inlander while at the university. He is now the editor and proprietor of the Adrian (Mich.) Daily Telegram and lives at that city. He has traveled extensively in the United States, Mexico and Europe, is a member of the American Microscopical Society, and has contributed various articles to the pub- lications of that society. Although his tastes are literary, he also shares his father's inclination for geology. Stuart H. Perry was united in marriage with Maude Caldwell, a daughter of Dr. William C. Caldwell, of Fremont, Ohio, whom he first met as a student at the university. They have two children. While connected with the Detroit bar he wrote a law book entitled "The Legal Adviser and' Business Guide," which was published in January, 1902.
There were many prominent and distinguished men in the class of 1870 in the University of Michigan, of which Mr. Perry was a mem- ber, among them being Rufus Day, justice of the United States supreme court; William L. Penfield, solicitor of the state department of the United States; Walter B. Stevens, secretary of the St. Louis Exposi- tion; Alfred Noble, one of the most able engineers the world has known, who served on the recent canal commission; Bernard Moses, who was appointed to the Philippine commission by President Mckinley in: 1901 ; Lucius B. Swift, the noted civil service reformer of Indiana ; and Count Michael Meyerdorf, a well known civil engineer, who at one time occu- pied a government position in Washington, and is now deceased.
Fraternally Mr. Perry is a member of the Pontiac lodge A. F. & A. M., and the Knights of Pythias. His wife is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, which he also attends.
DANIEL L. DAVIS
Daniel L. Davis, a prominent member of the Oakland county bar and a resident of Pontiac since 1877, was born in Davisburgh, Michigan, on April 27, 1846. He is a son of John C. and Sarah (Griswold) Davis. His paternal grandfather, Cornelius Davis, was born in Shokan, Ulster county, New York, in 1792, and died in Davisburgh, Michigan, in 1852. He was a farmer by occupation and passed his life in that pursuit. He was a Democrat and a member of the Presbyterian church, and was regarded as one of the representative and worthy citizens of his time. He married Agnes Winfield, also a native of New York, and they became the parents of ten children, of which goodly number, John C., the father of Daniel L. of this review, was one. John C. Davis was born at Shokan, New York, on May 1, 1821, and lived there until he was eight years of age, coming to Michigan with his parents in 1835. They located in Davisburgh, as mentioned previously, and there John C. Davis gave his life to farming, milling and merchandising. He was a man of splendid character and was accorded the respect and esteem of all who knew him. He was fairly successful in his business ventures, and after a lifetime of activity in Davisburgh retired and went to Pon- tiac, where he passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring there some five years ago. He was a Democrat of conviction, and gave
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military service as a captain of volunteers under Governor Mason. He was postmaster of his home town for a few years, and in other ways gave useful service to his community. He married Sarah Griswold, who was born in Covington, New York on March 8, 1822, and came to Michigan in 1837, the marriage occurring in October, 1840. She died in Pontiac six years ago. She was a daughter of Hiram Griswold, a farmer, well known in Davisburgh during his lifetime. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John C. Davis, as follows: Mrs. Mary Monroe; George W .; Harry J .; John; J. C .; Hiram G .; Joseph; Martha and Daniel L.
Daniel L. Davis was educated in the district schools up to his eight- eenth year, followed by four terms at Trenton high school. He devoted himself to farming until he was twenty years old, then taught school for three consecutive terms, afterwards being variously engaged as produce dealer, dealer in agricultural implements, grain and general merchandise, until he was thirty years of age. That period of his life marked his determination to engage in a profession, and he was en- abled to carry out his wishes in that respect by being elected to the office of clerk of Oakland county in 1876, which office he held for two terms, and in the meantime he improved his time by studying law in such time as he was not engaged with the duties of his office. At the close of his second term as county clerk Mr. Davis was admitted to the bar upon examination, since which time he has been engaged in active practice in Oakland county. It is a matter of record that in the years of his business experience, he has received some of the largest verdicts ever returned in the county. He has also enjoyed commensurate fees.
Mr. Davis is an independent Democrat and has been a member of the Democratic state central committee. For a number of years he was president and a director of the Oakland County Agricultural Society, and during that time had in charge the details connected with the Supervisors' picnic, an annual event of some importance in the history of the county. Since 1880 Mr. Davis has been associated in a partner- ship with Peter B. Bromley, under the firm name of Davis & Bromley.
On April 18, 1873, Mr. Davis was united in marriage with Isabel I. Wilson, who was born at Springfield, Michigan, in July, 1843. They have two children,-Sarah G. Davis, born October 7, 1877, and Manley D. Davis, born March 29, 1879, who makes his home in Detroit, where he is engaged in the practice of law.
KLEBER P. ROCKWELL
Kleber P. Rockwell, prominent among the legal fraternity of Oak- land county, was born on November 8, 1868, in the township of Bloom- field, Oakland county, and is a son of the late Edward J. Rockwell of West Bloomfield, his ancestors being among the earliest settlers of Oak- land county and descendants of William Rockwell, who settled at Dor- chester, Massachusetts, in 1630.
Mr. Rockwell was reared to young manhood on a farm. He received his education in the public schools and began teaching school at the age of twenty, later supplementing his education with a three years' course
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at the Fenton Normal School. He began the study of law with George W. Smith in 1893, subsequently entering the office of Taft & Smith, in 1894, and has been an office associate with Congressman S. W. Smith from then until the present time.
After passing a very creditable examination, he was admitted to the bar on January 8, 1895, since which time he has enjoyed an extensive practice. He was admitted to practice in the United States courts on March 22, 1899.
Politically, Mr. Rockwell is a Republican and in 1898 was nominated by that party for the office of prosecuting attorney and elected by a majority of over 1,100; he was unanimously renominated to succeed himself in 1900 and 1902 and was elected each time by a majority of nearly 1,600, running several hundred votes ahead of his ticket each time.
In the discharge of the duties of his office and in the prosecution of criminals he was especially successful. During his incumbency he was identified with many important criminal trials and has secured convic- tions of some of the most noted criminals of Michigan, prominent among whom was Henry Wiseman, convicted of murder in the first degree for the murder of Mrs. Ellen Huss.
Mr. Rockwell was married September 10, 1896, to Maude A. King, daughter of the late George W. King, of Clarkston, and to them were born three children: Alice, Helen and Edward J.
In 1902 he formed a partnership with Henry M. Zimmerman, under the firm name of Rockwell & Zimmerman, which firm has since enjoyed an extensive law practice. In the fall of 1908 he was elected judge of probate of Oakland county for the term of four years and is a candi- date for reelection at the fall election of 1912.
ARTHUR R. TRIPP
Hon. Arthur R. Tripp is one of the leading lawyers of Pontiac, with whose interests he has been closely identified practically since the be- ginning of his legal career. He is the son of Harris N. Tripp, who was the first postmaster of Hunter's Creek, Lapeer county, Michigan, and a brother of Andrew J. Tripp, who has also been prominent in public affairs in Oakland county for some years and is now its sheriff.
Mr. Tripp was educated in the University of Michigan. His public career was commenced early in his professional life and he has served in many important capacities with the passing years. He has twice been prosecuting attorney for his county ; has been circuit court commissioner, probate clerk, member of the Pontiac school board and of the state legislature, and in every office his service has characterized him as an able man and a useful and valuable citizen.
ELMER R. WEBSTER
Elmer R. Webster is known in Pontiac as one of the founders of the present public school system, and as a man who has probably done more than any other one person to establish that system, which is one
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of the most admirable and efficient in the state today. Mr. Webster is a graduate of the Literary and Law departments of the University of Michigan. He was county superintendent of schools for a number of years, has been a member of the board of supervisors and a member of the board of public works of Pontiac, while for many years he was one of the trustees of the schools of the city. At the present time, he is secretary of the school board. Outside of his professional practice, his interests have been mainly along educational lines, although his services in other respects have been invaluable to the city.
JOHN H. PATTERSON
John H. Patterson, of the firm of Patterson & Patterson, one of the most prominent law firms in Oakland county, Michigan, has been a resident of Pontiac since first entering upon his professional career, and of Oakland county all his life. Born at Holly, Oakland county, Mich- igan, in 1865, he is the son of Hon. Thomas L. Patterson, a prominent attorney and for many years judge of the probate court of Oakland county. The firm name, Patterson & Patterson, has long been a familiar one in Oakland county, and is almost a name with which to conjure in the districts where best known, so capable and efficient have its mem- bers proved themselves as exponents of the law. When first organized, the firm was composed of Judge Thomas L. Patterson, the father of the subject, and James K. Patterson. Upon the decease of the latter, his son, Samuel J., became the partner of John H. Patterson, thus con- tinuing the firm name under a new personnel. Of the parentage of Mr. Patterson, the brief mention made above is sufficient, as the life of Judge Patterson is one of such importance and interest in the history of Oakland county that specific place is given to a detailed setting forth, of at least a portion of that life in this work.
John H. Patterson, after finishing the schools of Holly, took a high school course in the public schools of Ann Arbor, preparatory to his entering the University of Michigan at that place. He entered the literary department of the University in 1883, continuing therein for two years, at the same time attending the lectures in the law depart- ment. In 1885 he came to Pontiac and served as clerk of the probate court, of which his father was then judge. He continued the study of law under the able preceptorship of his father and of Thomas J. Davis, the latter then an attorney of Pontiac, but in later years of Duluth, Minnesota. In 1887, upon examination before the circuit court at Pontiac, he was admitted to the bar, and was subsequently admitted to practice before the United States courts. In 1901 he formed a partner- ship with his cousin, Samuel J. Patterson with whom he has since been associated.
By reason of his early connection with the probate court, Mr. Pat- terson had gained a valuable experience in its practice, and since that time has had much to do in the handling and ultimate settlement of estates and in general probate practice. His clientele numbers among it some of the most substantial business firms and individuals in the county, and he has won an enviable reputation among the profession
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in Oakland county. Mr. Patterson is general counsel for the Pontiac. Oxford and Northern Railroad Company, to which position he suc- ceeded Judge A. C. Baldwin, deceased, in 1901, and he is a director and also attorney for the First Commercial Bank, one of the strongest finan- cial institutions in the county, as well as being identified in similar capacities with many another leading business house in Pontiac and Oakland county.
In 1889 Mr. Patterson was united in marriage with Miss Ella Stan- ton, the daughter of L. W. Stanton, at one time sheriff of the county and for a quarter of a century a prominent citizen of Pontiac. He died in 1899. Mrs. Patterson was born in Oxford, Oakland county. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Patterson: Donald S., Clarence K. and Marion, all living in Pontiac at this time. Mr. Patterson is a Democrat of strength and conviction and has always given his efforts in the interests of that party. He is identified fraternally with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Masonic lodge.
JAMES H. LYNCH
James H. Lynch, member of the firm of Perry & Lynch, one of the leading law firms of Oakland county, was born March 12, 1859, in Goshen, Orange county, New York, where his parents, Thomas and Mary (Markey) Lynch, natives of Ireland, had settled when they arrived in the United States in about 1855. When he was eight years of age his parents moved to Commerce, Oakland county, where the father engaged in farming and where the parents passed the remainder of their lives, and there James H. Lynch attended the district schools of Commerce township. He worked on the farm between school seasons, and for a time taught in the country schools of his district. Later he attended the high school at Pontiac, from which he was graduated in 1884, after which he began the study of law in the offices of Aaron Perry and Arthur R. Tripp. So well did he utilize the time devoted to his studies and so apt were his preceptors in the law, that in September, 1886, the young man was admitted to the bar, and on January 1, 1887, he entered upon the active practice of his profession, in which he has ever been prosperous and prominent. In November of the same year in which he was admitted to the bar Mr. Lynch was elected circuit court commis- sioner on the Democratic ticket and reelected in 1888 and 1890, and was appointed to the office of city attorney for the years 1898 and 1899.
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