USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska > Part 37
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Ilon. B. E. B. Kennedy, who located in Omaha. September, 14, 1858, was born April 20, 1827, at Bolton, Vermont, He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1853, and was married August 4, 1858, to Miss Frances Nims. 1le served as mayor two terms, being re-elected
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in 1863, and as city attorney in 1866 and 1867. He was a member of the house of Representatives, in 1864, and of the ter- ritorial council in 1865 and 1866. IIe served as a school director, under the old system, from 1864 to 1872, and was a mem- ber of the city council in 1862, and of the house of representatives in 1879. Ile has been a member of the normal school board of the State since June, 1872, and of the State fish commission since June, 1882. Mr. Kennedy has one son and two daughters, his youngest daughter being Mrs. Will. S. Pop- pleton. The writer can say of Mr. Ken- nedy that he is absolutely without stain in his private character, fair in his dealings with men generally, and in the trial of causes always open, winning no case by tricks, and earnest but not eloquent. His success has been in the domains of real estate and probate law; and he is withal a kindly, affable gentleman.
Judge Eleazer Wakeley came to Ne- braska early in 1857 as associate justice of the territory under appointment of Presi- dent Pierce, and was assigned to the third district, embracing all the northwestern portion of the territory, then unorganized into counties, with the exception of Wash- ington and Burt, and a few others, and comprising an area of about three hundred and fifty thousand square miles. Ile first took up his residence in De Soto, then a promising young "city" in Washington County. Ile was re-appointed by President Buchanan, but, on the Republicans coming into power under President Lincoln, he re- turned to Wisconsin and resumed the prac- tice of law at Madison, representing that distriet in the Legislature in 1866 and 1867, returning to Omaha in the last named year, where he at once entered upon the practice of his profession. In 1871 he was a member of the Nebraska constitutional convention, and in 1883 was appointed dis- triet judge of the third district by Gov- ernor Dawes, of the opposite political party,
in deference to the unanimous application of the Douglas County bar, and that fall was elected for a term of four years, and at its expiration in 1887 was re-elected. Judge Wakeley was born at Homer, New York, in 1822, and was admitted to the bar in 1844, at Elyria, Ohio. In 1845, locating at Whitewater, Wisconsin, he served as repre- sentative in the Legislature in 1847 and as State senator in 1851 and 1855.
Judge Wakeley left Madison, Wisconsin, to return to Omaha, in November, 1867; and his reputation as a lawyer having been such, during his administration as judge in the territory, that within two weeks after his leaving Madison he was assisting Judge Doane in the trial of a contested and impor- tant jury case, so that he was not long in giving himself a status at the bar. From 1871 to 1878, he was the assistant attorney of the I'nion Pacific Railroad Company, hav- ing special charge of its Nebraska litigation, then very large and important. During all the years from 1867 to 1883, the time of his appointment as judge, he was very busy as a lawyer; and the reports, from the first to the fourteenth, opening with the January term, 1883, of the Supreme Court, contain many cases argued by him, embracing a vast range of subjects, including the law in relation to the service of process upon managing agents of corporations, questions of corporation law, grading taxes, the right to enter salt lands under the statutes of the L'nited States, the right of husband's courtesy in real es- tate, the right to forfeit land grants of the l'nion Pacific corporation, the liability of stockholders in railroad corporations, the liability of sureties for tort of an officer. and the right to levy upon property in the hands of an administrator for taxes. All these questions, and many more, were litigated by him in the courts of the State. In the United States Circuit and Supreme Courts, he was engaged very largely in the preparation of arguments which were made in cases involv- ing various rights of the Union Pacific Rail-
A. N. Ferguson,
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road Company. Among these, were the cases against Durant and the Wyoming Coal Company and Polk County, the right of the Union Pacific Railroad Company to mort- gage its land grant, as well as many others of national importance.
Judge Wakeley has a fund of humor in his composition, much more than one would imagine, to see him administering equity law from the bench. He is also very quick in repartee. When he and Judge John I. Redick, noted for his ready wit and keen hits, met, as they frequently did in contested cases, they seldom failed to give and take sharp thrusts, and he who had the last word was apt to get the best of the encounter. Several such passages at arms are current in local legal gossip. As illustrating Judge Wakeley's fund of humor I give the follow- ing very spicy correspondence, relating to that subject which is the bane of every law- yer's life, that of borrowing books:
"OMAHA, September 13, 1875.
" IION. E. WAKELEY, CITY.
"Dear Judge :- I hold your receipt for Abbott's Third National Digest, which was taken by you some four months ago. If you have no further use for the book I should like it. I often wish to consult it, but still, if you are not through reading it, I can get along without it.
" Yours truly, G. W. AMBROSE."
" LAW OFFICE OF E. WAKELEY, "OMAHA, September 14, 1875.
"Dear Ambrose :- I herewith comply, under protest, with your untimely request that I should return your book.
" You remark that you have held my re- ceipt for it some four months. This is prob- ably true. But if you will read the statute of limitation of Nebraska, you will observe that it does not bar a claim, under any writ- ten instrument, until the lapse of five years, leaving you about four years and eight months still to reclaim your book. Why, then, this undue precipitancy?
" Will you permit me, as a searcher after legal knowledge, respectfully to inquire if you can refer me to any respectable author- ity requiring the borrower of a law book to return it within four months? I have read a large number of cases in my time, and I do not remember one in which such a prop- osition is advanced, although there may be an occasional dictum to the effect that the borrower is under a moral obligation to re- turn the book as soon as he becomes able to buy one for himself.
" Considered upon principle and without reference to authority, how would the prop- osition stand? Is it reasonable to suppose that a man engaged in a somewhat active practice can find time in four months to read through all the books he borrows, besides perusing the daily papers, answering dun- ning letters, and keeping up with the Beecher-Tilton literature? That ease, you will remember, was going on for some two months after I got your volume.
" You remark that you often wish to con sult the book. I highly commend that reso- lution. You would certainly find it benefi- cial to occasionally read some law, and, if you should become accustomed to it, you would find it comparatively easy; only, don't overdo it at first.
" The only thing I object to in that par- agraph is an implication that I would not allow you to consult the book at my office. This is unjust. I have never refused the owner of a book that privilege, even when it has occasioned inconvenience to myself. " In conclusion, permit me to suggest that, if you really can not afford to keep law books, for other practitioners to use, it would be a philanthropic thing for you to sell them to some one who can.
" Gratefully yours, "E. WAKELEY."
Judge John I. Redick came from Lansing, Michigan, to Omaha, arriving October 27, 1856. Ile was born in Wooster, Ohio,
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMANIA.
July 29, 1828, and just previous to his locating here had been admitted to the bar, and in February, 1857, formed a partner- ship with James G. Chapman, under the firm name of Redick & Chapman, which partner- ship was not of long duration. In 1859, he entered into partnership with Clinton Briggs, which continued for ten years. In 1887, he formed a partnership with W. J. Connell, which existed for about a year. In 1876, he was appointed by President Grant United States judge for New Mexico, which position he retained for a year and a half, and then served the Union Pacific Railroad Company, as attorney, at Denver, Colorado, for one year. In January, 1887, he located at Los Angeles, California, where he became actively engaged in real estate transactions, and served for nearly two years as president of the Southern California National Bank. In the fall of 1889, he returned to Omaha, and will make it his permanent home. lle has been largely interested in real estate in this city since the date of locating here, and has thereby amassed a handsome fortune. In 1869, he was one of the seven men who built the Omaha & Northwestern Railroad, and was also one of the builders of the Grand Central Ilotel. He was chair- man of the Nebraska delegation to the Baltimore convention which nominated Lincoln and Johnson, and also chairman of the delegation from this State which nomi- nated Grant for his second term, at the Philadelphia convention. Mr. Redick was first married to Miss Mary E. lligby, in 1855, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his wife dying in this city, in 1865. Two years later he married Miss Mary E. May of Omaha. He has seven sons, Charles R., William A., John I., Jr .. Clarke, Chatham, George M., and Elmer. No man at this bar ever enjoyed a more prominent place as a jury lawyer than Mr. Redick. He had his own orig- inal methods in the trial of causes, and great tact in the presentation of the facts to a jury, and was very generally successful, with
his partner, Judge Briggs, to look after the law of the case.
Charles P. Birkitt, Esq., is one of Omaha's oldest lawyers, locating licre June 1, 1856, coming from New York. IIe served three terms in the city council, and was extensively engaged for a number of years in the practice of his profession. In
1872 he was appointed agent for the Ponca Indians, at that time established on their reservation in Dakota, twenty-seven miles below Fort Randall. This responsi- ble position he filled for three years, and for several years thereafter was established in Washington City. Mr. Birkitt was married in Omaha, in 1860, to Miss Mary A. Neale, and has three children living.
Charles A. Baldwin was born near Utica, New York, October 8, 1825. Seven years later the family removed to Geauga County, Ohio, where he assisted his father in clear- ing a farm in the woods. At the age of eighteen, after receiving a good common school education, he entered the Western Reserve Academy, at Farmington, Ohio, a branch of the famous Oberlin College, where he attended during three summers, teaching school the intervening winters. In 1846, his health not being good, lie abandoned his plan for a collegiate course and returned to his father's farm. Taking up the study of law, he engaged in regular practice in 1854. In 1859, he located in Akron, Ohio, and formed a law partnership with General L. V. Bierce, who had a national reputation as a criminal lawyer, which fact aided in giv- ing Mr. Baldwin a preference for that class of practice; and, for many years after locating in Omaha, which event occurred in Novem- ber, 1868, he devoted himself almost entirely to the defense of persons charged with crim- inal offenses. The first case of that charac- ter with which he was connected here was that of the State against Hernandez, in- dicted for an assault upon his wife with intent to kill. The defendant was a mem- ber of Selden Irwin's dramatic troupe then,
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in November, 1868, performing at the Academy of Music. Mrs. IIernandez was a sister of Mrs. Irwin, and a ten-year-old daughter of the defendant, who was an im- portant witness for the State on the trial, afterwards became the wife of the famous John Dillon. Various circumstances com- bined to make this case one of unusual prominence, and it proved an excellent in- troduction to Mr. Baldwin in a professional way. Later on, his practice called him into other portions of the State, appearing for the defense in notable criminal cases in North Platte, in Dakota County, in Custer County and elsewhere. Ile successfully defended James Davis and wife, of this city, who were indicted for the killing of Jerry Mc- Cormick, a western cattleman, who assaulted them with a revolver; and, in 1889, he as- sisted Jolm C. Cowin in the defense of Liz- zie Beechler, who was tried for the killing of Harry King, at the Paxton Hotel, in this city. In 1870, he assisted United States District Attorney Strickland in prosecuting four Pawnee Indians for the murder of Edward McMurty in the unorganized terri- tory in the western part of the State, May 8, 1869, when a conviction was secured; but Judge Dillon afterwards decided that the United States Court had no jurisdiction of the case. The prisoners were then tried in the district court at Lincoln, but on account of the impossibility of securing the attendance of witnesses they were finally discharged from custody. A very important civil case with which Mr. Baldwin was connected was that of Franklin Robinson vs. A. D. Jones, et al., involving the title to Omaha real estate, valued at $200,000, recently decided in favor of Mr. Jones, whom Mr. Baldwin represented, having pitted against him at various stages of the case, Judge Doane (previous to his going upon the bench), A. J. Poppleton, John W. Lytle and Patrick O. Hawes. Mr. Baldwin was married in 1848 to Miss M. Isidore Gridley, who, by the way, was a schoolmate of Mrs. Garfield,
widow of President Garfield. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin have had three children, one dying in infancy. The others are Leona, now Mrs. Frederick Mertzheimer, and Frank, who died at Denver, in 1883, while in the employ of the Union Pacific Railway Company.
George W. Ambrose has been a resident of Omaha for nearly a quarter of a century, engaged in all these years in the active prac- tice of his profession. He is now upwards of fifty years of age, and, while he is the writer of this chapter, the bar will perhaps excuse that he personally mentions himself very slightly, as a full history of his life is written by another hand and printed in its proper place in this volume. Mr. Ambrose lias been connected from the early history of this State with the important questions that have been determined by the courts. In all questions of taxation and constitutional law, he has been in a great degree the forerunner, and has been connected with cases in which these questions have been definitely settled and determined by the Supreme Court. lle was the city attorney and argued the case on behalf of the city in the case of Bradshaw against Omaha, reported in I Nebraska Re- ports, which was argued at the first term of the Supreme Court held in the State; after- wards, the case of Turner against Althause, involving the same question, was decided and is reported in VI Nebraska Reports. The report of the two cases shows that Mr. Am- brose enjoys the distinction of being upon both sides of the same question in the two cases and beaten in both instances, which was no surprise to him.
John L. Webster has been an active prac- titioner at this bar for the last twenty years or more, and, as a lawyer, citizen or friend, is worthy a place in any community. Mr. Webster, upon whatever subject he may be called to address the courts, is always pre- pared. He makes a very fine legal argu- ment. He is a student of books, and he draws very largely for what he has to say
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upon what is contained in the books which he reads. Mr. Webster, as well as others who are in this personal mention, are more accurately and thoroughly deseribed in their proper place in this book. Mr. Web- ster has lately rendered great service to the State in his advocacy of the question of high license, as against prohibition, and he is entitled to deserving mention among those who fought a very severely contested battle in the late eleetion. He was selected as one of the four delegates at large to the Republican national convention at Minneapolis.
John M. Thurston removed to Omaha from the State of Wisconsin, in 1869, where he commeneed the practice of law. Ile served acceptably in the city council of the eity and as city attorney, and was elected to serve a term as a member of the lower house of the Legislature of the State. He was soon thereafter selected by Mr. Poppleton as the assistant general attorney of the Union Pacific Railroad Company with head- quarters at Omaha. Mr. Thurston at a very early date established his reputation as an orator; and, upon the retirement of Mr. Poppleton as general attorney for the Union Pacific, Mr. Thurston was selected by the management to that position, and is now the general solieitor of that great corpora- tion. Mr. Thurston has been an important factor in the trial of cases in this State, one of which was the great eriminal ease of the State against Olive, who, with others, was indieted for the burning of three men in the western portion of the State, and the trial of which was transferred to Adams County. The killing of these men caused such a feeling in the State that the Legislature passed a special act authorizing the gov- ernor to appoint counsel to assist in the prosecution. Governor Nanee appointed Mr. Thurston as one of such counsel. The defendants wers convicted before a jury, but were released upon an appeal to the Supreme Court. Mr. Thurston's connection
with the case eeased after the trial in the lower court, and, although he has never been specially engaged in the eriminal prac- tiee, he has defended fourteen men for mur- der, and secured acquittal of them all. In some instances, his elients liave been con- vieted upon first trial, but the verdicts in every instanee were set aside, as notably that of Lauer, at Omaha, for the murder of his wife. Mr. Thurston has had equally good success in the eivil branch of the law. He was a member from Nebraska of the Chicago Republican national convention, in 1888, and as temporary presiding offieer of that convention made a national reputa- tion as an orator, which he now enjoys, and always, whether at the bar or on the lecture platform, he aequits himself to the satisfac- tion of all his friends.
William J. Connell came to the city of Omaha as a young man and engaged as a elerk in the store of the old firm of Tootle & Maul. Afterwards, he took up the practice of law and was admitted to the bar, in 1870, and at onee, by his indomitable push, made him- self felt as a lawyer. Mr. Connell has had a marked experience at the bar. Ile has been extremely fortunate in the trial of his causes. Ile is well read, and is a hard fighter, and as city attorney of this eity for a number of years has established a reputation as a lawyer of great ability. In 1888, he was elected as a representative from the first Congressional distriet a member of the lower house of Congress, and served for two years; having been defeated in a con- test by his Democratie competitor, in the fall of 1890, and, as he has returned to the practice of his profession with his aeeus- tomed vigor, he will meet with undoubted success. He was again appointed city attor- ney for Omaha in January, 1892.
Judge II. J. Davis came to Omaha about ten years since and soon proved himself to be a lawyer of ability. He attracted the attention of Judge Savage, and in 1885 the latter took him into partnership, under
A. G. B. Kennedy
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the firm name of Savage, Morris & Davis, Mr. Morris being a step-son of Judge Savage; the firm, as thus constituted, made a good working team. In 1889 Judge Davis accepted the nomination at the hands of the Republican party as its candidate for judge to fill the vacancy of Lewis A. Groff, who had resigned. Upon his nomination, Governor Thayer appointed him as judge of the district court, and he served in that capacity for a few months, having been de- feated at the polls for election by Judge Joseph R. Clarkson. He then returned to his place in his old firm, where he continued until the death of Judge Savage, when the firm became Davis & Morris. Upon the creation of three new judges by the legisla- ture of 1890, in obedience to the wish of the bar, he accepted a nomination at its hands, and in March, 1891, was appointed by Gov- ernor Boyd as one of the judges of the district court of this district, and elected by the people in November, 1891. Judge Davis, while upon the bench, has evinced qualities which go to make a good judge, and there is no doubt that, with the oppor- tunity now presented to him, he will fulfill his ambition to become an excellent judge rather than a great lawyer.
Judge Arthur N. Ferguson is the son of Chief Justice Fenner Ferguson, the first judge appointed in the territory of Nebraska. Ile is about forty-nine years of age, and for the last twenty years has been a resident of the city of Omaha, where he has practiced his profession in a quiet, unos- tentatious way. Judge Ferguson, in March, was appointed by Governor Boyd one of the judges of the district court, to fulfill the requirements of the act of 1891. He was selected by the bar without any personal solicitation upon his part, but simply be- cause of his calm, judicial temperament and his well-known upright character and his good standing as a citizen, as well as a lawyer. He was elected for four years, in November, 1891. Judge Ferguson married Miss Sears,
a sister of Mrs. Andrew .I. Poppleton, and his family reside in a comfortable, unpre- tentious home, in the northern part of the city, respeeted by all who know them.
Judge Lee S. Estelle served one term as judge of the District Court of Douglas County. Mr. Estelle, as prosecuting attorney for the third judicial district, established for himself a reputation as a criminal law- yer, and is very fond of the practice, and from choice was assigned the criminal doeket. Since his retirement from the office of pros- ecuting attorney, and during the last six years, he has had to do with the defense of most of the important criminal cases that have been tried, and has uniformly been very successful. He is a good talker and a painstaking lawyer. Prior to his elevation to the bench he was the attorney of the school board of the city. Judge Estelle is a pleasant, affable gentleman, and has a great ambition to make his mark as a criminal lawyer, and he will have abundant oppor- tunity to develop himself in that regard. Hc is about forty years of age, and has a quiet, pleasant home, where he resides with his wife and family, an honored hus- band and father. Judge Estelle was de- feated for re-election in November, 1891, and has again resumed the practice of his profession.
Judge Lewis A. Groff came to Omaha about 1880 and at once entered into partner- ship with Mr. C. S. Montgomery. The firm soon established a reputation as collecting lawyers, and acquired a large and lucrative business in that line. In 1886, he was ap- pointed one of the judges of the district court by Governor Thayer, which position he resigned in 1889 to accept that of com- missioner of the general land office, tend- ered him by President Harrison. Judge Groff, while upon the bench, gave good sat- isfaction; but the labor was great and the pay small, and it was not long until it be- came apparent to himself, as well as his friends, that his health was failing him. As
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.
a commissioner of the general land office, Judge Groff established a great reputation throughout the entire country. He was a most valuable officer in that department, and especially to the settlers of the Northwest he has endeared himself; and all classes of people were sorry to know that his continued failure of health rendered it necessary for him to resign and seek another clime. Judge Groff is an honorable and upright man and an esteemed citizen, and Omaha regrets to lose him; but the loss of Omaha will be the gain of California, to which State he has now removed.
Hon. C. F. Manderson came to Omaha some twenty years since from the State of Ohio, and formed a partnership with the late Judge Savage, which partnership continued until Judge Savage went upon the bench, of which fact mention has been made else- where. Ifis biography is written in its appropriate place in this book, and it is need- less here to recur to his career as a soldier in the late war, or as senator of the United States. Mr. Manderson, soon after coming to Omaha, established a decided reputation as an orator. Ile is a pleasant, smooth speaker, having a fund of wit and sarcasm in his nature which he enjoys displaying, and he displays it to good advantage. lle served a term of four years as city attorney and was an acceptable officer. If there is one thing that he enjoys more than another, it is telling a good story. Ile is an adept in that art. While at the bar in this city, he displayed great aptitude in the preparation and presentation of his cases to the jury.
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