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 21
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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. AAlthough his tastes are literary, he also shares his father's inclination for geology. Stuart IT. 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 ocen- 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. IJis paternal grandfather, Cornelius Davis, was born in Shokan, Ulster county, New York, in 1702, and died in Davisburgh, Michigan, in 1852. Ile 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. Ile 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. 1Ie 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 .; Iliram G .; Joseph ; Martha and Daniel L.
Daniel 1. 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. Ile 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 ereditable 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 cach 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.
JOIIN 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 1886 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. Ile died in 1899. Mrs. Patterson was born in Oxford, Oakland county. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Patterson: Donald S., Clarence N. 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. JIe 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 Democratie ticket and reelected in 1888 and 1890, and was appointed to the office of city attorney for the years 1898 and 1899.
Mr. Lynch is an orator of high reputation and ability, and officiated as presiding officer of the ceremonies attending the laying of the corner- stone of the new Oakland county courthouse, on August 30, 1894. His address as president of the day was a masterly effort, and a brief por- tion is enlled from his speech and here offered as a fair sample of his style and sentiment, lack of space forbidding the using of the entire speech : "Some people who reason lightly and without a full considera- tion of the subject, express surprise at and speculate as to why it is that the lawyer will defend men whom the world at large and the com- munity in general have branded as guilty. But the principle of the law
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still remains, and I trust will ever remain, that, in the eyes of the law. no man is presumed guilty until he has been convicted by a jury of his peers ; and so long as that principle stands, just so long will the honest, conscientious attorney be serving the higher, truer and nobler adminis- trations of the law by insisting that however culpable a man may be imagined to be, it is better that he should go unpunished than that the sacred principle of the law, the presumption of innocence be broken in upon, violated and trampled under foot in order to appease popular prejudice, fanatical frenzy, or mob violence.
"It is of as great importance that existing laws be impartially and fully administered as it is that we have good laws. If because of preju- dice, passion or still baser motive, the settled rule of the law is dis- regarded on some particular occasion, it is cause for regret on the part of all good citizens.
"The difference between a government with constitutional limita- tions and an autocracy is not so much in the character of their laws as in their administration-not so much in the severity of the law as in the certainty of its enforcement.
"If a settled principle of the law can be set aside in my favor be- cause of some peculiar circumstance which appeals to sympathy or passion, then all our boasted security is as naught ; life is not secure ; reputation is not safe and property rights are but the toys of a day."
Mr. Lynch is the eldest of the five children of his parents. Thomas, the second born, is now a resident of New Mexico; William died when about twenty-one years old ; John J. is a resident of Pontiac, and Edward is a farmer in Oakland county. The mother died when she was in the seventy-fourth year of her life, while the father still makes his home in Pontiac, and is now in his seventy-eighth year. They have been life- long members of the Roman Catholic church.
On June 12, 1888, Mr. Lynch married Miss Bridget Crotty, of White Lake, Oakland county. She is a daughter of James and Catherine (Gorman ) Crotty, both natives of Liponay, Ireland, who came to Amer- ica in 1834, locating in White Lake, Oakland county.
Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lynch, one of the num- ber dying in infancy. The others are: Catherine F., a stenographer in the office of her father; Mary Ursula, at home; Agnes A., Marcia R. and Margaret M. B., also in the parental home; Patrick Sarsfield and Emmet D. are twins.
Mr. Lynch is a Democrat, and since arriving at his legal majority has been actively and prominently identified with the labors of the party in Oakland county. lle is a stanch Roman Catholic, deeply and prac- tically concerned in the progress of St. Vincent de Paul's church, and one of the most prominent members of the Knights of Columbus to be found in Oakland county, of which he is district deputy for the order. Mr. Lynch is now serving as a member of the school board.
ANDREW L. MOORE
Andrew L. Moore ranks prominently among the prosperous mem- bers of the legal profession in Oakland county. He has passed his
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entire life in this county and since the beginning of his law practice has made his home in Pontiac, where he has with the passing years built up a lucrative and extensive clientele. He is a particularly able trial law- yer and his oratorical ability has won him many laurels.
Born in West Bloomfield. on October 28, 1870, Mr. Moore is the son of Hiram E. Moore. a prominent farmer and stockman of that township. In 1895 Mr. Moore was admitted to the bar and early formed a partnership with Judge Augustus C. Baldwin and James A. Jacokes, which association endured until the death of Judge Baldwin.
Mr. Moore was chosen to represent Oakland and Macomb counties in the convention which revised the state constitution and which, among other things, provided for home rule. Because of the active part he bore in that convention, he was chosen a member of the convention which wrote Pontiac's commission charter and was unanimously elected chairman of that body. It was largely through his influence that the initiative, referendum and recall provisions and the "corrupt practice" sections were given places in that document.
Mr. Moore is an influential member of the First Methodist church of Pontiac and is a teacher of the Young Men's Bible Class of that Sunday-school.
PETER B. BROMLEY
Peter B. Bromley is a member of the firm of Davis & Bromley of Pontiac, organized in 1893. He was born in Oakland township. Oak- land county, in 1863. and is the son of Andrew J. and Sarah P. ( Brew- ster ) Bromley.
Andrew J. Bromley was also a native of Oakland township, born there in 1840 and passing away at the early age of twenty-five years. He was a son of Rosewell Bromley, a Vermonter, born in Rutland county, in 1803, who died in Oakland county in 1890, after having passed his life here from the age of twenty-two years. He married Sybil Pinck- ney, and they were the parents of a goodly family. He was one of the prominent men of this section, serving the county in many public of- fices during his lifetime.
Peter B. Bromley is one of the two children born to his parents. Andrew J. and Sarah Bromley ; his one brother is a farmer in St. Clair county, Michigan. After the death of his father his mother married Tunis Rolison and the family moved from the old home to Pontiac when Mr. Bromley was a lad of ten years. He attended the Pontiac high school and after graduating in the teacher's course began teaching, and with his work carried on a course of law reading in 1881. In August, 1884. he was admitted to the bar, and in the years that have elapsed he has won a high degree of prominence in his profession. He served six years as court commissioner of Oakland county-two terms as city clerk of Pontiac and was elected to the office of city attorney by the city council for a term of three years and is now filling that office. Until 1893 he continued in independent practice, but since that time he has been associated with D. L. Davis, the well known attorney of Oakland county.
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