USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County, Michigan, a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 19
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Mr. Hosmer was always full of fun, and, though a nephew of Mr. William Draper, called him, as did many others, "Father Draper": and he used to relate with great gusto the following anecdote: One day Hosmer and Mr. Draper were called to Farmington to attend a lawsuit. and, in going to the same, Rufus drove. On coming to the top of a hill of some considerable height, the old gray mare Mr. Draper drove for many years struck a brisk trot, and the somewhat careless driver did not strive to check her speed down the declivity ; but on arriving at the bottom a bridge which traversed a small creek was found to be un- planked. However, it was too late to stop, and the old mare cleared it somehow, the wheels by the strangest fortuity squarely striking the sleepers and passing in safety. Not a word was spoken until they ar- rived at the village when the condition of the bridge was commented
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upon calmly. After the trial was over the lawyers set out on their re- turn, Mr. Draper taking the reins into his own hands. They stopped a few minutes at Birmingham, and just as they were seated in the buggy, Mr. Draper's hands, with a rein in each, planted on either knee and ready for a start, a Spanish jack, confined in the yard alongside the hotel, by which they were standing, put his head over the high board fence that separated him from the rest of the world, and lifted up his voice as only that animal can. Old "Gray" shot from her standing like an arrow and tore down the pike on a swinging gallop, Mr. Draper sit- ting bold upright, his fists firmly pressed on his knees and Rufus elinging for dear life to the buggy-seat. Down the long smooth pike sped the gallant gray, not a word being spoken by the lawyers whom she car- ried. Past farmhouses the clattering vehicle dashed; dogs barked, chil- dren hurrahed, men stared and wondered what had got into Father Draper. Dashing into Saginaw street with unchecked lope, the old mare made straight for her wonted stable, nor stopped nor stumbled un- til she bumped her nose against the gate she had left a few hours before. She gave a long breath and looked back, not at her drivers, but at her followers; and Mr. Draper in solemn tones broke the silence that had been maintained throughout the entire seven miles' drive. Said he: "Rufus, what an awful noise that was!"
GEORGE W. WISNER
George W. Wisner came from New York City to Pontiac in July, 1835. He was formerly editor and had a half proprietary interest in the New York Sun, which he disposed of in September of that year and removed his family to Pontiac, where he at once commenced the study of the law under William Draper, who was admitted in January, 1839, to the practice of his profession. He and Alfred Treadway were in partnership for a time and succeeding that partnership was one with his brother Moses and Rufus Hosmer, which was a strong and successful one. In 1837 he was a member of the first legislature of the state and was prosecuting attorney for some years. Politically he was a Whig, with anti-slavery leanings. In the fall of 1847, he purchased with Nor- man Rawson and H. H. Duncklee, the Detroit Advertiser, and man- aged the editorial columns so effectively that he was given the credit of largely influencing the Whig triumph in that city in the spring of 1848. He died in September, 1849, young in years but ripe in experi- ence.
ALFRED H. HANSCOM
Alfred H. Hanscom, said to be the most eloquent advocate who ever lifted up his voice in defense of innocence and the maintenance of right at the Oakland bar, was admitted to the same in 1838. He was a native of Rochester, New York, whence he came early to Macomb county, and thence removed to Troy, in Oakland county. He was edu- cated in the eastern schools, and in 1842 was speaker of the house of representatives of the legislature of Michigan. He was the district attorney of the county of Oakland for some years, and removed to On-
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tonagon in 1850 or thereabouts. He died on his return from a visit to Pontiac about half a century ago, on shipboard. en route from Mar- quette to his home.
GOVERNOR MOSES WISNER
Hon. Moses Wisner was one of the lawyers whose powers and abili- ties reflected great credit on the Oakland bar. His father was a farmer residing near Auburn, New York, and Moses and his brother. George W., even in childhood, while toiling and drudging on the farm, evidently were bent on some other development in life's work, for they shirked the labor whenever they might and turned their attention to the cultiva- tion of their minds. George, as he has previously been shown, went to New York and entered journalism for a time previous to his removal to Michigan, and Moses, after an interval, came to the forests of Lapeer county, and began life in what was to him an unpromising line, that of agriculture. After some months of incessant toil he one day stuck his axe into a tree and said to himself: "There! If I can't make a living at a more congenial employment I will starve." And immediately he turned his steps toward Pontiac, where his brother George had already gained something of a standing in the practice of law, and entered his office as a student, being admitted to the bar in 1841. He returned to Lapeer county, where he acted as prosecuting attorney for two or more vears and then returned to Pontiac and entered into copartnership with his brother and Rufus Ilosmer. On the departure of George to Detroit, Moses continued the practice alone. In the noted case of the Tully boys, tried for the murder of their father, Mr. Wisner was associated with Judge Crofoot and Hon. Thomas J. Drake in the defense, and made a most searching analysis of the testimony.
In the celebrated burglary case, wherein Guy M. Trowbridge's house was burglarized, Governor Wisner aided the prosecution, and made a very fine argument in closing the case, also making an effective illus- tration in the course of it by discharging a pistol which was claimed to be unloaded. He was careful to point it where no damage could accrue to persons, but it damaged with telling effect the defense and its theo- ries. In 1858 Mr. Wisner was elected governor of Michigan, and served the state two years, 1859 and 1860, although he did not turn his atten- tion to politics until after the presidential election of 1852. He was an effective stump speaker, as well as a powerful advocate before a jury. In the campaign of 1856 he addressed a Fremont gathering, and the opening sentence of his speech will give the key-note to what followed. It was delivered in the deep chest-tones of the speaker, and thrilled the audience with its earnestness and power. He said: "Two hundred and forty years ago was heard the first clank of chains on a slave on Ameri- can soil!" At the close of his gubernatorial term Governor Wisner re- turned to Pontiac and resumed his profession. remaining so engaged until the summer of 1862, when he entered the field of war at the head of the Twenty-second Michigan Infantry as its colonel, that regiment being raised largely by his own efforts. He was taken ill with fever and
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died at Lexington, Kentucky, January 5, 1863. He lies in the Pontiac cemetery, and a massive monument attests his valor and patriotism.
IlON. AUGUSTUS CARPENTER BALDWIN
Ilon. Augustus Carpenter Baldwin, Nestor of the Oakland county bar, who was one of the most distinguished figures in the public life of Pontiac for a period of threescore years, died at his residence in that city on January 21, 1903. He had frequently been called to fill positions high in the public trust, serving on the bench, in the Michigan state legislature and in the halls of congress, and in his professional work reached a rare height. In public and private life alike, the same rugged honesty and sincerity of purpose characterized his every act, giving him a place in public esteem which time cannot alter.
Judge Baldwin was born in Salina, now Syracuse, Onondaga county, New York, December 24, 1817, and was the sixth lineal descendant from Henry Baldwin, who migrated to Woburn, Massachusetts, from Hertfordshire, or more probably, Devonshire, England, about 1630. The latter subsequently located in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which town he represented in the general court. He was a subscriber to the "Town Order," drawn at Charlestown for the regulation of the projected settle- ment. He married Phoebe Richardson, whose parents were ancestors of Governor O. D. Richardson of Michigan.
Jonathan Baldwin, father of Judge Baldwin, was a native of Can- terbury, Connecticut, and was engaged in the mercantile business until his death in 1822. He married Mary Carpenter, a daughter of, Joseph Carpenter of Lancaster, New York. Upon his death the family were left in straitened circumstances, and at an early age Augustus C. Bald- win was thrown upon his own resources. He was but five years old at the death of his father, and during the six years that followed he lived at the home of an uncle. He then located at Lancaster, New York, in which vicinity he remained until 1834, when he went to Buffalo, New York, and there entered the office of the Buffalo Bulletin as an appren- tice. He continued with this paper until it passed under the manage- ment of James Faxon & Company, and was changed to the Buffalo Daily Star, the first daily paper to be published in western New York. He was variously employed during the following four years, teaching school a part of the time, but always continuing his preparation for his betterment by careful study. During the fall and summer of 1837 he attended the academy of Plainfield, and in November of the same year he came to Oakland county. He alternately engaged in teaching and study and in 1839 began his preparation for the legal profession under the direction of John P. Richardson of Pontiac. A branch of the state university of Michigan was then located in this city, and he took ad- vantage of the opportunity of advancing and perfecting his knowledge of the branches of education embraced in its course. He subsequently entered the office of Hon. O. D. Richardson, with whom he continued until he was admitted to the bar on May 14, 1842, and then entered upon the practice of law at Milford, Oakland county. He continued there until March, 1849, then removed to Pontiac where he would have greater
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opportunities and a larger field for the exercise of the superior talents with which he was endowed. 'HIe carly attained a position of promi- nence in his profession, and in much of the important litigation during the following half century he was retained either by the prosecution or the defense. As a criminal lawyer he was without peer and was identi- fied with many of the leading criminal trials in Oakland and adjoining counties.
Judge Baldwin was always an enthusiastic Democrat and one of the hardest workers for that party's success in Michigan. His first public office was that of school inspector of Bloomfield township in 1840, and three years later he was elected to the state legislature. He was re- elected to the legislature in 1845 and took a prominent part in the ses- sions of 1844 and 1846. He served as a brigadier general of the fifth brigade of Michigan militia from 1846 to 1862, in which year the ex- isting militia system was abolished. He was prosecuting attorney of Oakland county during 1853 and 1854. In 1862 he was elected a mem- ber of the thirty-eighth congress from what was then the fifth con- gressional district of Michigan, defeating the Republican candidate, R. E. Trowbridge, and served on the committees on agriculture and ex- penditures in the interior department. In the issue concerning the thirteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States, he voted in support of the amendment, that is, for its submission to the states for their approval. He was renominated for congress in 1864 and was again opposed by Mr. Trowbridge. The state had in the meantime en- acted a statute authorizing Michigan soldiers in the army to vote in the field. Judge Baldwin received a clear majority of the home votes, and notwithstanding the fact that the supreme court of Michigan declared the statute above mentioned to be void, the house of representatives, upon contest being made, gave the seat to Mr. Trowbridge.
Mr. Baldwin was elected mayor of Pontiac in 1874 and for eighteen consecutive years was a member of the school board of the city, during which time many important changes were made in the school system and the high school erected largely through his influence. He was also active in having Pontiac chosen as the location of the eastern Michigan asylum, and for eighteen years he was a member of the board of trustees of that institution. In 1875 he was elected judge of the sixth judicial district of Michigan for a term of six years, and served four years of that time with characteristic impartiality and a high sense of justice. retaining the respect and gaining the commendation of the entire bar. The salary at the time was so utterly inadequate, and the state refusing to make the necessary consitutional amendment, he resigned the office with two years of the term unexpired, to resume a remunerative practice. Every phase of jurisprudence and legal procedure came up in his extensive practice, and not infrequently he had his share in the establishment of precedents in the laws of Michigan. There are few reports of the supreme court of Michigan between 1850 and 1900 which do not record important cases with which he was identified.
The Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake also owes much to him for its remarkable success, as he was one of its trustees and for years its president. Ile was for several years president of the Oakland
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County Agricultural Society and of the Oakland County Pioneer So- ciety. For fifty years he was a frequent member and officer of state and local political conventions. He was a delegate to the National Demo- cratic Conventions at Charleston and Baltimore in 1800, delegate-at- large to the National Peace Convention at Philadelphia in 1866, and at different times a member of the national and state central committees.
In October, 1842, Judge A. C. Baldwin married Isabella Churchill, who died in 1894. He later married Flora E. Belding, a daughter of the late Hon. Friend Belding of Bloomfield. Fraternally he was a Mas- ter Mason, being a member of Pontiac lodge No. 21, A. F. & A. M., and Pontiac Commandery, No. 2, Knights Templar, of which he was past eminent commander. Judge Baldwin had a comfortable home on Clark street in Pontiac, where he was surrounded by the comforts and luxuries of a refined taste. His magnificent library represented years of accumulation, comprising a large number of volumes, treating upon almost every subject which human versatility might suggest. However, a large portion of his library was placed a few years ago at the dis- posal of the Orchard Lake Military Academy. His home also con- tained a gallery of fine paintings, rare and in good taste.
The following extracts are taken from the biography of Judge Bald- win prepared for the County Pioneer Society by Elmer E. Hymers, the Pontiac attorney in 1901, about two years before the death of the vener- able and beloved jurist and member of the bar :
"A resume of the lives of those early lawyers who composed the bar of Oakland county in the pioneer days would indeed be incomplete if it did not contain some recital of the career of one of the most active members of that early association, and the only living representative of the legal profession in the county of Oakland, whose history dates prior to 1840. The respect which Judge Baldwin commands from all individuals, the reputation which he enjoys in the judicial, legislative and social circles of this state, his legal acumen, the physical and intel- lectual vigor which have for years made him prominent in politics, and a commanding and potent factor in the development of the educational and social life of the state, make it eminently fitting that some attempt be made to preserve a record of his achievements in these particulars for the benefit of posterity and this society. His legal practice during the years of his active engagement in his profession embraced every phase of procedure known to the profession in this state. The various dockets and calendars of Oakland, Lapeer and neighboring county circuits attest the numerous and important cases in which he has been employed. From the fifth report of the Michigan supreme court, to the last compiled volume of the reports of the decisions of that body, the practitioner searching for judicial precedent will find in al- most every volume some case with which Mr. Baldwin has been identi- fied. For a period of over sixteen years, extending from February, 1884. Judge Baldwin acted as counsel for the Pontiac. Oxford & Northern Railway Company, his connection with which terminated September 30th of the present year ( 1901). Lack of space forbids an extended notice of the numerous important cases in which he has been employed during more than half a century of active practice ; suffice it to say that
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during that time he has been employed either on behalf of the people in prosecuting, or in behalf of the defense in a multitude of famous crimi- nal cases, while many of his most famous civil victories are leading cases and recorded landmarks for the guidance of the profession in this state.
"As in the legal field, so in the political arena Judge Baldwin has since his first appearance in politics been a recognized leader of the ad- herents of his party. He has always been a persistent and powerful advocate of the principles of that party which demands the recognition and development of the individual, which is founded in opposition to the idea of centralization ; it was impossible for him to be other than a Democrat. Democratic instinct was all powerful in him ; he personifies the doctrine of 'individuality.' being a living exponent of what is meant and may be accomplished by the fullest development of the individual life. Although a Democrat. he supported the thirteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States. For the past sixty years and over no political contest, national or pertaining to this state, has failed to see him actively engaged in earnest advocacy of the principles of his political faith. Years of fierce contest over political questions on the hust- ings and within the walls of the state legislature and of congress, gave him a familiarity with such issues and such a knowledge of the political growth and history of the leading publie men and political parties, that he has long been recognized as an authority on all questions relating to the political history of this country, and now, almost a decade and a half after he has reached the limit of the threescore and ten years assigned to the lot of men, it is a marvelous tribute to the mental vigor and reten- tive memory of this leader of men and molder of forces that he is still able to discuss in remarkable detail all the circumstances attendant on his stormy political career. Men and measures, parties and politics of the past are reviewed by him today as though the circumstances which called them forth were but of yesterday. It is only recently that he has laid off the political harness, his last public appearance on a political platform being during the national campaign of 1900 when, on the evening of October 28, 1900, he addressed a crowded meeting of the electors of this county at the village of Birmingham on the issues of that campaign. His last public appearance, however, was on February 22, 1901, when he addressed the Oakland County Pioneer Society at the courthouse in the city of Pontiac.
"It is less than a year (written in 1001 ) since Judge Baldwin gave up the active practice of his profession. He still, however, visits his office frequently but does not pretend to attend to more than the details of his own private business. In this age of strife and wealth-seeking it is refreshing to record the career of one whose ambition was not solely engrossed with amassing a fortune. Judge Baldwin is, however, able to spend his declining years in comfort at his home on Clark street. Pontiac, where the visitor will find ample evidence of those comforts and refining influences which permit him to apply his leisure in reading and research.
"In his home surrounded by a magnificent library, which it has been his life work to accumulate he may nearly always be found buried in
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his retreat among his books and other treasures. His library is an ex- cellent one, comprising many volumes, treating on almost every subject which human versatility may suggest. A large portion of his library, however, was a few years ago placed at the disposal of the Orchard Lake Military Academy, of which institution he is still president and has ever been a liberal patron. His home also contains a gallery of fine paintings collected through years of carefully cultivated artistic taste.
"Of Judge Baldwin's personal characteristics it may be said that though he has long since passed the meridian of life, yet he still stands before us a central figure ; with a mind still active he keeps in touch with the events of the day, and his intelligent discussion of current topics shows that he still keenly sympathizes with the pulsing life of the community. If asked what is the most prominent element of his nature we would say unhesitatingly, rugged strength, vigor of intellect, unyielding determination. A strong mind in a strong body has demon- strated once more that these are necessary elements to achievement. In judicial conventions, in political and educational gatherings, in legis- lative halls of the state and nation, the voice of Judge Baldwin has many times been listened to throughout his long and arduous public services, and it is in the recorded actions of such educational, political, legislative, or judicial assembles that we must look for the most lasting record of his efforts expended in behalf of the common weal. His life has embraced practically the whole of the nineteenth century, and now in his declining years he witnesses the twentieth century well launched and wishes God speed to his fellows in the path of achievement in all things that go to the betterment of mankind."
JOUN S. GOODRICH
John S. Goodrich was from the state of New York and was ad- mitted to the bar of Oakland county in November, 18440. He was elected a judge of the supreme court after he removed from Oakland to Gene- see county in April, 1851, and died before qualifying as such judge. He was unmarried, rather ungainly in personal appearance, painfully awk- ward in manner, but possessed of the most wonderful powers of memory, and a library in himself. It is said that he read Hume's history of Eng- land through in forty-eight hours, and from that single and rapid pe- rusal could give every important event and its date, recorded therein. He died in 1851 at Goodrichville, in Genesee county, a village to which his family gave its name and where representatives of the family made their home for many years.
LEVI B. TAFT
Judge Levi B. Taft was a native of Bellingham, Norfolk county. Massachusetts, where he was born on August 6, 1821. He came to Michigan in 1834 and read law with Hon. Jacob M. Howard and Messrs. Barstow & Lockwood. He was graduated from Dartmouth college in 1843, and was admitted to the bar in 1845 in the supreme court and also in the United States courts. He practiced his profession sixteen years
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in Chicago, and from that city came to Pontiac, where he continued his practice until 1873, when he was elected judge of the sixth judicial circuit, and presided over the courts of that district until December 31, 1875, when he retired from the bench and resumed his practice in Pon- tiac, which he continued until his death, April 29, 1895.
HESTER L. STEVENS
In 1845 General Hester L. Stevens, an eminent attorney of Roches- ter, New York, located in Pontiac, and began the practice of his pro- fession. He was prosecuting attorney in 1847-48, and with Judge Baldwin formed a partnership in 1849 and 1850. In 1851 he was elected to congress from the district in which he resided and took up his resi- dence in Washington after his congressional term expired. where he practiced extensively before the court of claims. He was an able law- yer and a man of high social position.
JUDGE MICHAEL E. CROFOOT
Judge Michael E. Crofoot, one of the leading members of the Oak- land bar, and whose powers as an attorney reflected great honor upon the profession of the law, was admitted to practice in Rochester. New York, previous to 1846, and in the Oakland county courts in February, 1848. His first great case was the trial of the Bismuth murder case, so called, wherein he gained great celebrity in the defense of the ac- cused, and procured the acquittal of his client. He pursued his legal studies with General H. L. Stevens. Judge Crofoot was judge of pro- bate for eight years, and for several years before he relinquished active practice and maintained an office in Detroit, whither he went daily when not engaged in the courts elsewhere, conducting an extensive practice both in Oakland and in that city. Judge Crofoot's power was greatest in getting and marshaling his proofs and in the examination of witnesses. but he was also eloquent and effective with a jury. He was always ready for his arguments and uniformly effective in his manner of pre- senting them, his success, as a probate judge and at the bar having been marked and his high standing as a citizen universally conceded. Judge Crofoot died May 11, 1884. He was always a public spirited and useful citizen. He was a member of the Pontiac school board for many years and one of the principal school buildings of that city now bears his name. Judge Crofoot left two sons who have followed his profession and are prominent and successful lawyers. One, Lonis, is located at Aberdeen, South Dakota, and the other. Lodovic, is at Omaha, Nebraska.
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