USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska > Part 94
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In his religious belief, the doetor is a Bap- tist. lle was baptized in 1850. He has a wife and three children-two sons and a daughter. He has been closely identified with the material interests and prosperity of Omaha every since his arrival in the city. He has stood high in the estimation of the citizens, from first to last, for his abil- ity as a physician and his strict integrity. The Y. M. C. A. owes much to him for his wise council and hearty co-operation. He has been a member of the First Baptist Church, of Omaha, ever since he has been a resident here, and for many years has held the office of chairman of its board of trus- tees, and is a life deacon of his church. Through all the ups and downs of this organ- zation of which he is a member, he has stood by it and given liberally of his means and personal assistance. But very few business men, and especially professional men, are as faithful to all the appointments of the church, and the various moral, temperance and religious organizations of the city as he. Ile believes it to be the duty of every man to be interested in every movement that tends to the moral welfare of the citizens of this commonwealth. The doctor has, at this time, a very extensive practice, not only in the city, but is called to different parts of the State for consultation on important cases. His success as a physician is owing largely to his thoroughness in whatever he does, and with it his having a kind heart and gentle hands.
JAMES M. WOOLWORTH .- Among the crowd of bright and ambitious young
lawyers who were attracted to Nebraska in its early days, there was no one who has been so thoroughly identified with the legal history of the Territory and State, so con- stantly engaged in laborious practice and so successful in its prosecution as the gentle- man whose name heads this article. Mr. Woolworth was born in 1829, in Onondaga Valley, New York. The family name is a very old one. It remains in some of the rural parts of England. In Wales is an old church dedicated to St. Mary Woolworth, and formerly there was one in London bear- ing the same name. In recent years it has been taken down. The name was brought to this country by two brothers, Chester and Aaron; and these have been family names ever since. They settled in Connecticut, and in the early years members of the fam- ily lived in different towns of that State and Massachusetts. The immediate descendants of Chester Woolworth lived at Westfield, in the latter state. From this branch came Aaron Woolworth. His grandson, James M. Woolworth, has his diploma from Yale college, dated 1793 conferring the B. A. de- gree upon him, and also his diploma from Princeton, dated in 1812, conferring the de- gree of D. D. He was an eminent Presby- terian clergyman. Dr. Woolworth married Mary Buel, the daughter of the Rev. Samuel Buel, D. D., another eminent minister of the same faith and at one time chaplain to Washington in the Revolutionary war.
Mr. Woolworth was the second son of Samuel Buel Woolworth, LL. D. The life of this man was devoted to the cause of public education. He was a teacher in early life, and almost every town in New York sent its sons to his school, known as Cort- land Academy, at Homer, in that State. For some years principal of the State Normal school at Albany, he became secretary of the board of regents of the University of the State of New York. He held this office for more than a quarter of a century, and in that and other positions did more, perhaps, for the cause of education in that common- wealth than any other one man. Ilis name is held in Albany in most grateful remem- brance.
Mr. Woolworth's mother was Sophia Mickles, who came of an old Dutch family. She was a woman of great refinement, cul- ture and beauty. Those who still remem- ber her, delight to speak of her grace and
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loveliness. The son, inheriting the literary and scholastic tastes which distinguished his father, entered Hamilton College, from which institution he graduated in 1849. Betaking himself to the study of law, he was admitted to the bar in 1854, and commenced the practice of his profession at Syracuse in his native state. But the west, with its bound- less possibilities, presented too tempting a field to permit him to remain long in the city of his first adoption, and he came to Omaha in October, 1856. The following extract from an address delivered by him in 1879, before the Historical Society of Ne- braska, may be, to some extent, uncon- sciously biographical. He is speaking of the tendency to emigration in English- speaking races:
"Doubtless the charm of adventure is something; the mere fact of removal is some- thing. The exchange of familiar and there- fore tame scenes and companionships for other lands, other seas, other skies and other air, strangely quickens, freshens and stimu- lates the pulses, sensations, thoughts, emo- tions and aspirations. This is a common experience, and, touching the universal fact, is something; and yet it is inadequate to account for the sacrifice of so much that the heart loves and for the endurance of so much that the heart revolts from.
" The American has certain qualities of the Roman of ancient and the Briton of modern times-tenacity of purpose, love of dominion and aggressive egotism. Like them, he is fitted by nature for foreign enterprise. And these qualities with him are enlivened by vivacity, sensibility and emotion; he, far more than they, delights in adventure. The risks. the struggle, the promise, the freedom of colonial life, have for him, even more than for others, a charm and an attraction."
In Omaha, Mr, Woolworth took, at the very outset of his career, a leading place in the administration of the law, which he has maintained to the present day. One con- trolling element in his success has been his entire devotion to his business, and the firm- ness with which he has resisted all the allure- ments of political life and the temptations of public office, which a new country holds out in such profusion to young men of ability. With the exception of a seat in the State legislature at one session (perhaps hardly to be considered an exception), all the offices held by him have been directly in the line of
his profession. Thus he became the first city attorney of Omaha soon after his arrival, was a member of the constitutional conven- tion of 1871, became the candidate of the Democratic party, in 1873, for the office of chief justice of the supreme court, was one of the first regents of the high school, a trus- tee of Racine College, in Wisconsin, and of the female seminary in Omaha, known as Brownell Hall.
None of these positions have been allowed to interfere with Mr. Woolworth's entire de- votion to the interests of his clients; and it may truthfully be said of him that no attor- ney in the State of Nebraska has represented so many and such varied interests, and has been employed in so many and important lawsuits, as he. It is not too high praise of him to say that no other person in the State has taken so large a part in shaping its jur- isprudence and establishing its procedure. Students of " Nebraska Reports" cannot fail to notice that there is hardly an important case reported in the first volumes of the series in which Mr. Woolworth was not en- gaged on one side or the other. And the variety of questions argued is no less re- markable than their number. In Mattis vs. Robinson, the law of landlord and tenant was discussed; The City of Brownville vs. Mid- dleton, and Miller vs. Finn, involved im- portant questions of practice; Smiley vs. Sampson, and Towsley vs. Johnson, were cases in which the laws of the United States relative to preemptions were passed upon; Bradshaw vs. The City of Omaha, Poland vs. O'Connor, Sands vs. Smith, The Colum- bus Company vs. Hurford and McAusland vs. Pundt required the investigation and decision of multifarious questions relating to contracts, real estate agency, specific per- formance, practice, taxation, constitutional interpretation and others; in all of which Mr. Woolworth's ability, learning and close study are conspicuous.
Still more convincing evidence of his industry and thoroughness is to be found in the report of the United States Supreme Court for the past twenty-five years. To the bar of that court he was admitted in 1862, and since that time has argued more cases before it than any other counsel west of Chicago. Some of the leading ones, involving questions of first impression, are as follows: Sampson vs. Smiley, 13 Wallace, 91; Johnson vs. Towsley, 13 Wallace, 72.
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both on the law of the public lands; Flag- staff Mining Company vs. Tarbet, 98 United States, 463, on the law of mines and the location of mining claims; Union Pacific Railroad vs. Durant, 95 United States, 576, on the law of trusts and the fiduciary relations of corporation officers; Wardell vs. Union Pacific Railroad, 103 United States, 651, on the same subject; Walden vs. Knevals, 114 United States, 373, on the law of land grants to railroad company; Union Pacific Railway vs. Penniston, 18 Wallace, 5, on the taxation of road-bed of company; Hunnewell vs. B. & M., 22 Wallace, 465, on taxation of lands granted by United States to aid construction of railroads; United States vs. B. & M., 98 United States, 334, constructing grants to railroads; Union Gold Mining Company vs. Rocky Mountain National Bank, 96 United States, 640, on the corporate powers of national banks; Lamasters vs. Keeler, 123 United States, 376, on the extent to which state laws are adapted into the practice of the federal court.
The great diversity of his professional engagements is shown by a singular cir- cumstance. Within a period of ten days he argued before the Supreme Court at Wash- ington the case of the Union Pacific Railroad Company against Penniston; before the United States circuit court at Omaha the case of Hnnnewell vs. the Burlington Rail- road Company, and of Wade vs. the Omaha Hotel Company; and before the territorial court of Utah at Salt Lake the case of Davis vs. the Flagstaff Mining Company.
A life of such laborious effort will never be complete and healthy without abundant recreation. This Mr. Woolworth finds first, in literary studies and pursuits, and second, in his thorough devotion to the Episcopal Church. Chancellor of the diocese of Neb- raska, for nearly thirty years a vestryman of Trinity, a lay delegate to the general convention of the church, member of the committee on revision of the liturgy, he is, by common consent, the most influential and nseful layman that that church possesses in Nebraska. Mr. Woolworth was chosen in the vestry of Trinity Church at its first Easter election in 1857, and with brief intervals remained a member of it until the summer of 1885, when he resigned. For seventeen years of this time he was its senior warden, and took upon himself the active
care of its affairs. During his term of service the parish was erected into a cathedral, the principles and the details of the larger organization having been formulated by him.
He has been greatly consulted by the bish- ops of other dioceses in the organization of their cathedrals. During his service as senior warden of Trinity, the present cathe- dral structure was erected. He had more to do with the work than any other person. Every one of the beautiful articles of furni- ture with which the church is filled were de- signed by the architect under his eye, and many of their striking features were his sug- gestions. He and his immediate family contributed to it a number of beautiful mem- orials. He erected the altar and reredos to the memory of his first wife. The panels of the altar are five in number and are filled with bas-reliefs in bronze, illustrative of scenes in our Lord's life. The bishop's throne and the annexed stalls, and the dean's and canon's stalls, were gifts of members of his family.
His work on " The Cathedral in America" is a charming contribution to a subject but little understood outside of the pale of the church, and his occasional addresses upon matters of Episcopal polity are replete with profound learning and interesting informa- tion. His addresses, essays and lectures up- on general subjects have been very numer- ous. Beginning in 1856 with a hand-book of Nebraska territory, his last work was an address before the American Bar Association, at its annual meeting in Saratoga, in 1888, when he chose for his theme, "Jurisprudence Considered as a Branch of the Social Science." Between these dates he has writ- ten, compiled and published books and articles upon many topics. Among these may be mentioned the first two volumes of " Nebraska State Reports," a volume of "Cir- cuit Court Reports of the Eighth Judicial Circuit of the United States," addresses be- fore the State University, the Bar Associa- tion of Nebraska; before the Nebraska State Historical Society, on "The Philosophy of Emigration," before his alma mater, Hamil- ton College; before the Iowa University Law School, the Iowa State Bar Association and at the commencement of Hobart College.
In the year 1875, Racine College con- ferred upon Mr. Woolworth the degree of LL. D., and in 1892 the University of Ne-
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braska conferred upon him that of LL. D. His style is concise, scholarly and polished in a high degree. His arguments in equity cases and before appellate tribunals are marked by profound learning, extensive re- search and logical arrangement rarely sur- passed by counsel. Books are his delight; his law library is extensive, and especially rich in the works of English authors and re- porters, while his collection of miscellaneous books comprises many rare editions, illus- trated treasures, splendidly bound copies of English and American classics. His extensive practice in cases involving im- mense property interests, with correspond- ing emoluments, together with the rise in value of Omaha real estate, has assured to him a comfortable fortune, which his gener- ous mode of living and his profuse benfac- tions to charitable objects have never been
able to seriously impair. He has been twice married-his first wife having been Miss Helen M. Beggs, of Syracuse, New York, and his second, who still graces his home, Miss Elizabeth S. Butterfield, of Omaha. Of these unions three children survive. His large practice and engrossing cares have not debared him from the enjoyment of cul- tured society. In his elegant residence on St. Mary's Avenue he has long exercised and still indulges a refined hospitality, which is alike alluring to the transient guest and to those who enjoy the privilege of his constant companionship. He enjoys the early history of Nebraska. In the hall of his residenee is a large mantel made of brick, stone and wood taken from public buildings, all long since extinct, which were built before or shortly after the territory was organized.
CHAPTER LVII.
JAMES WOODRUFF SAVAGE-IIIS EARLY LIFE AND SUBSEQUENT CAREER-IIIS DEATH IN OMAHA -TRIBUTES OF RESPECT TO HIS MEMORY.
The subject of this sketch comes of a dis- tinguished historical family. The name was brought to this country by his paternal ancestor, Thomas Savage, who landed from England in 1630, and afterwards married Faith, daughter of Anne Ilutchinson. The life of this woman is familiar to every reader of colonial history. She was the famous religious enthusiast who founded the Antinomian sect, of New England. On her mother's side she was a second cousin of the poet, Dryden. In 1634, she came to Boston, Mass., to enjoy the preaching of John Cotton. Here she instituted meetings of women for the discussion of doctrinal questions, and her influence created a pow- erful faction and led to public disturbances. She was banished to Rhode Island, and afterwards removed to New Amsterdam, where she was murdered by the Indians, in 1643. Very eminent men of that day, among them Sir Henry Vane and John Cotton, were favorably inclined to her doctrine.
We have not space to trace the descent of the name through generations always dis- tinguished in the annals of New England. The father of our subject was Rev. Thomas Savage, a minister of the Presbyterian de- nomination, who died in Bedford, N. H., in 1866, having been pastor of the church in that place for forty years.
James Woodruff Savage was born Febru- ary 2, 1826, in Bedford, N. H. His early life was passed in a farming community. Its quiet and simple conditions were favorable to the formation of an ingenuous character. At the same time they were not rude. In the liome of his youth there were the gravity of a minister's household, the sober faith and devout life of Christian parents, and the books and the learning and the culture of educated, gentle people. The seeds then planted have borne good fruit.
In September, 1841, the young man en-
tered the Phillips Andover Academy, and after having been well taught at home, he began his preparation for college. In Aug- ust, 1843, he entered Harvard, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1847. Ilis rank was seventh in his class. The triennial catalogue of Harvard Univer- sity bears the names of fourteen of his family.
Immediately after his graduation, Mr. Savage went to St. Simons Island, which lies just off the coast of Glynn County, in Georgia, and which belongs, in large part, to the estate of T. Butler King, then a representative in congress. Ile was private tutor to the children of this distinguished man until July, 1848, when he returned to the North. In September, of that year, he was entered a student-at-law in the office of Origen S. Seymour, at Litchfield, in Con- necticut, who was his relative. At that time, Mr. Seymour was a distinguished law- yer, in large practice. He was afterwards governor and a judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, and took an active part in politics, as a Democrat. In order to sup- port himself while prosecuting his law studies, in the winter of 1848-49, Mr. Sav- age taught a private school. In October, of the next year, he removed to New York City, where he continued his studies, in the office of George Wood. This gentleman was, at that time, at the head of the bar of the State of New York. Ilis name may be seen very often in the State and Federal Reports, as connsel in the greatest causes.
On the 12th of February, 1850, Mr. Sav- age was admitted to the bar in New York City, and entered the office of his cousin, Lewis; B. Woodruff, as managing clerk. Mr. Woodruff, at that time, held high rank in the profession, and his office was full of heavy business. He was a most amiable gentleman, and took a deep and affectionate interest in his young kinsman. In 1850, he
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was elected judge of the Superior Court of New York, and, in 1866, was promoted to a seat on the bench of the court of appeals, from which position he was removed to the office of eireuit judge of the United States for the second circuit. The exclamation is natural: How fortunate were the eireum- stanees of the early life of Mr. Savage! Above all, he had before his eyes the exam- ple of eminent lawyers and the best men, and he felt in great measure the influenee of the highest professional character.
When Judge Woodruff entered upon his most useful and distinguished judicial ea- reer, his clerk commenced the praetiee of his profession for himself, and continued at the bar of New York City until the break- ing out of the war, in 1861. It was no mean sacrifice he felt himself ealled upon to make for his eountry. He had good reason to hope for professional success in the great city, for he enjoyed associations and connee- tions sure to bring him many and valuable engagements. Nor did he feel the assurance of high rank in the army, which stimulated the ambition of many young men. Reared in the school of the best Demoerats, he valued far more than his own interests the Union whiel Andrew Jackson, in another juneture, had deelared "must and shall be preserved." It is a part of the unwritten- the silent history of those days of doubt, that the fervor of patriotic emotion and the spirit of self-sacrifiee animated the youth of the country.
On the 21st of July, 1861, Mr. Savage was commissioned a captain in the regular army, and assigned as aid-de-camp to the staff of General Fremont, and in the Oeto- ber following he was promoted to be major. In Mareh, 1862, he was commissioned a lieu- tenant-colonel. In December, 1863, he re- signed his eommission in the regular army, and was mustered in as eolonel of the 12th N. Y. Vol. Cav. He served until the elose of hostilities, and on the 5th of August, 1865, was mustered out with his regiment.
Surely that is a happy country which ean fill the ranks of her army with men of edu- cation and spirit, who will not lay down the sword until her cause is won and her honor vindieated. As long as she has sueh sons. however dark the elouds, the glory of the day is sure.
After retiring from military service, Col- onel Savage spent a year in travel. In the
spring of 1867, just after Nebraska had been admitted to the Union, he removed to Omaha, reaching this city on the 18th of April, and resumed the practice of his pro- fession. He was, at that time, well-knit, vigorous, of dignified mien and gentle man- ner; a bright spirit and a kindly speech were his, so that at onee friends gathered around him, and through all the years and contentions which afterward passed, he held them to him.
Colonel Savage at onee took a high rank at the bar, many of whose members have attained enviable places in the country. In 1869, he became associated in practice with Charles F. Manderson, now United States Senator from Nebraska, under the style of Savage & Manderson.
The public esteem in which he was held is shown by the repeated calls of his fellow citizens for his serviees. In 1870, he re- eeived the nomination of the Demoeratie party for member of congress, but was de- feated by Lorenzo Crounse. In 1873, the legislature eleeted him regent of the State University, which offiee he held until it was made eleetive by the constitution of 1875.
In November, 1875, he was elected judge of the third judicial district, and in 1879, was re-elected to the same office for another term. The district was largely Republiean, and his election both times by large major- ities bears emphatic testimony to the esteem in which he was hield, and the value of his judicial serviees. He had the best qualities of a good judge-a vigorous administration, conscientious impartiality, a quiek appre- hension and a strong, native sense of justice. The business of his distriet very largely exceeded that of any other in the State; but fewer of his judgments were carried to the supreme court for review than those of any other judge. That eourt seldom reversed him. The severities of his office compelled him to resign it before the expiration of his term, his health having become seriously impaired.
In 1883, he resumed the praetiee of the law. With great experience, he was able to bring into the service of his large elientage wisdom, skill and abundant learning.
A vacaney occurred at this time in the chancellorship of the State University. The position was offered to Judge Savage, and the friends of the institution pressed upon
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him the acceptance of it, with great urgency. They felt that he had the wisdom to guide it through the troubles which then sur- rounded it, and bring it to that measure of success and service which other western state universities enjoy. Nor did he in any measure underrate the dignity tendered him, nor what a fit man could do in it; but, greatly to the disappointment of all who hoped for good things of the young insti- tution, he felt himself constrained to decline the honor.
At the November election, 1883, lie was a candidate for judge of the supreme court, on the Democratic ticket, but was defeated by 4,250 votes, when the Republican ma- jority in the State was five times that num- ber. He was, at his decease, one of the trustees of the Omaha Public Library, and had been since 1881. 1Ie was also a trustee of Bellevue College. In July, 1885, Presi- dent Cleveland appointed him a govern- ment director of the Union Pacific Railway Company, and reappointed him each year until the date of his death .*
In April, 1875, he was married to Mrs. Lncy T. Morris, daughter of Alanson Tucker, Esq., of Derry, N. H., a most intel- ligent and estimable lady, and an ornament to the best society of Omaha.
Judge Savage, at the time of his decease, was president of the Omaha Club, president of the State Historical Society, and corres- ponding member of the historical societies of New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Missouri. For the last few years of his life, he devoted much of his time to literary pursuits and travel. He was a close student of Shakes- peare, and possessed a Shakespearian library of many volumes. Ile was also a lover of local history, writing considerable concern- ing the early history of the West.
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