USA > Washington > King County > Seattle > A volume of memoirs and genealogy of representative citizens of the city of Seattle and county of King, Washington, including biographies of many of those who have passed away > Part 23
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After Mr. Allen's retirement from the senate the present law firm of Struve, Allen, Hughes & McMicken was formed in Seattle. Its members are all men of superior education and broad experience, standing high in the profession, and their practice embraces much of the most important litiga- tion of the state. Mr. Allen now devotes his entire attention to his practice. He has a keenly analytical mind and determines with accuracy the strong points in a suit without losing sight of the details. He is exacting in the research and care with which he prepares his cases and in argument he is
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strong. His ability has drawn to him a large practice, and his success indi- cates his mastery of the principles of jurisprudence.
In 1871 Mr. Allen was united in marriage to Miss Cecelia M. Bateman, a native of the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and a daughter of the Hon. Hiram Bateman, a man of prominence and influence in his state, who has served as a member of the legislature and has been active in molding public policy. He and two of his sons served their country in the Union army throughout the Civil war, strong in their love for the Union and their loy- alty to the flag. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Allen have been born five children, two sons and three daughters. Mrs. Allen is a member of the Congregational church and has served for two terms as president of the Red Cross Society of the state of Washington.
Not only in positions of political preferment has Mr. Allen served his country, for he, too, at the time of the war of the Rebellion joined the boys in blue. He enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Regi- ment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in 1864. His service was in eastern Ten- nessee and Alabama and at the close of the war he received an honorable discharge. He was but nineteen years of age when he volunteered and it was at the time when the great war had become a tremendous struggle. Many thousands of the brave men from both north and south had been killed and vast numbers maimed for life, and at no time in the history of the san- guinary struggle did it require more devoted love of country or more bravery to enlist. The same fearless devotion to duty has ever marked the career of Mr. Allen and has won for him the highest respect and admiration. In man- ner he is quiet and unassuming, yet is of the highest type of our American manhood, a fine representative of our citizenship, a lawyer of broad learning and at all times a man of the very highest honor and integrity, whose record reflects credit upon the city in which he makes his home and upon the bar of the state.
ORANGE JACOBS.
Perhaps there is no part of this history of more general interest than the record of the bar. It is well known that the peace, prosperity and well-being of every community depend upon the wise interpretation of the laws, as well as upon their judicious framing, and therefore the records of the various per- sons who have at various times made up the bar will form an important part of this work. A well known jurist of Illinois said: "In the American state the great and good lawyer must always be prominent, for he is one of the
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forces that move and control society. Public confidence has generally been reposed in the legal profession. It has ever been the defender of popular rights, the champion of freedom regulated by law, the firm supporter of good government. In the times of danger it has stood like a rock and breasted the mad passions of the hour and finally resisted tumult and fraction. No Political preferment, no mere place, can add to the power or increase the honor which belongs to the pure and educated lawyer." Orange Jacobs, of Seattle, is one who has been honored by and is an honor to the legal fraternity of Washington. He stands to-day prominent among the leading members of the bar of the state, a position which he has attained through marked ability. He has moreover been honored with the highest judicial office within the gift of the state and upon the bench sustained the dignity of the law which stands as a conservator of human rights, liberties, life and justice.
Judge Jacobs is a native of Geneseo, Livingston county, New York, born on the 2nd of May, 1829, and is of English ancestry, the family, however, having been founded in Massachusetts at an carly epoch in colonial history. Captain Hiram Jacobs, the father of our subject, was born in New Hamp- shire and won his title by service in the Black Hawk war. He married Miss Phebe Jinkins, a native of Massachusetts. They removed to Sturgis, Michi- gan, in 1830, and became pioneer farming people of that portion of the ter- ritory. Captain Jacobs was an earnest Christian man who served as a class leader in the Methodist church and was active in promoting the cause of Christianity in every possible way. He was also a leader in public affairs and in the early history of his county filled the office of deputy sheriff, while for many years he was overseer of the poor. In 1849 he crossed the plains 10 California, meeting with excellent success in his undertakings, where he remained for three years. He was a man of the highest probity of character and died at the ripe old age of ninety years, departing this life in 1897. His wife also lived to an advanced age and shared with him in his Christian work and in rearing their family of noble children. They had six sons and three daughters, and with one exception all are living.
Judge Jacobs, who is the second in order of birth, pursued his education in the primitive log school house that was founded on the frontier and in Albion Seminary, while later he was a student in the State University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. When a young man he engaged in teaching school and also took up the study of law, intending to make its practice his life work. In 1852 he was admitted to the bar, and believing that he might have better opportunity in the new and growing west he crossed the plains to Oregon, locating first in Marion county, near Salem. In 1857 he removed to Jackson
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county, where for several years he had a large law practice. He was also an important factor in shaping public sentiment in favor of the Union and against secession, and in order to promote opposition to slavery for a num- ber of years he edited and published the Jacksonville Sentinel. Through its columns he took a strong position against oppression and the secession move- ment of the south. When the Republican party was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery, he joined its ranks, and such was his ability and his prominence in the party that he lacked but one vote of becoming its can- didate for the United States senate. At last, however, the good work that he had done for the party and for the government during the dark days of the great Civil war was recognized by President Grant, and in 1867 he received the appointment of associate justice of the supreme court of Washington territory, while in less than a year, without solicitation on his part, the legis- lature of the territory asked the president to give him the appointment of chief justice of Washington. President Grant immediately complied and for six years Judge Jacobs continued on the bench, filling that high and honor- able office in a manner that showed forth his good judgment and great legal ability and reflected credit upon the judicial history of the state. In 1879 he resigned the office after being nominated as the Republican candidate for the office of delegate to the United States congress. He made an efficient can- vass and was elected, serving his territory in a distinguished manner in the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth congresses. He was very active in trying to secure its admission into the Union, also in gaining increased postal facilities for the territory and in the passage of the light house bill. It was also ow- ing to his efforts that the law was enacted for the relief of the settlers who had taken up their residence along the original survey of the Northern Pa- cific railroad. Had it not been for the passage of this bill many of those settlers would have lost their land and homes, for they had taken possession thereof in good faith and had probably invested their all in obtaining the property. After serving for two terms in congress Judge Jacobs declined a re-nomination and returned to Seattle, where he resumed the practice of his profession.
While his efforts in behalf of the state have been recognized as of great value, his labors in Seattle have been of much benefit to the city. In 1880 he was elected mayor and while serving in that capacity did all in his power to secure reforms in the financial management of the city and in the police force. IIis administration was one of progress and improvement and re- ceived the endorsement of the majority of the best citizens of Seattle. At the close of his term he declined a re-election, but in 1884 he was again called
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to public life, being elected a member of the territorial council, in which he served as chairman of the judiciary committee and of the committee on edu- cation. He became very active in securing the appropriations for the peni- tentiary, the insane asylum and the university and for many years he took a very deep and active interest in promoting the welfare of the university. He served for many years on its board of regents and for ten years acted as treasurer of the board. He is certainly entitled to much credit for placing the university in its present high position among the institutions of learning in this country. In 1899 Judge Jacobs was elected a member of the com- mission to form a new charter for the city of Seattle and here his signal ability and knowledge of law proved of great value in securing the paper which gives a legal existence to the city. This charter was adopted by the people in 1890 and under the new charter he had the honor of being elected corporation counsel. In 1896 he was elected one of the supreme judges of King county, in which position he most ably served for four years, hav- ing charge of the criminal department most of the time. During the whole of his long service on the bench very few of the cases decided by him were carried to the supreme court and he had but three criminal cases reversed. Judge Jacobs is still in the active practice of law under the firm name of Jacobs & Jacobs, his sons, Hiram J. and A. L., being his efficient partners. His law practice is large and remunerative, and has connected him with the most important litigation heard in the courts of his district through the past two decades. He has won for himself very favorable criticism for the careful and systematic methods which he has followed. He has remarkable powers of concentration and application, and his retentive mind has often excited the surprise of his professional colleagues. As an orator he stands high, es- pecially in the discussion of legal matters before the court, where his com- prehensive knowledge of the law is manifest and his application of legal principles demonstrates the wide range of his professional acquirements. The utmost care and precision characterize his preparation of a case and have made him one of the most successful attorneys in Seattle.
On the Ist of January, 1857, was celebrated the marriage of Judge Jacobs and Miss Lucinda Davenport. a native of Ohio and a daughter of Doctor Benjamin Davenport, of the Buckeye state, who became an Oregon pioneer of 1850. Seven children have been born unto the Judge and his wife, all of whom have been reared to maturity and the family circle yet re- mains unbroken. In order of birth they are as follows: Hiram J .; Abra- ham Lincoln; Harry Edwin; Orange; Estella, now the wife of .\. L. Clark, of Seattle; and Donna and Jessie, who are at home with their parents. The
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Judge has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1848 and has filled all of the offices in the subordinate lodge. He is one of the oldest representatives of the fraternity in the state and he is also identi- fied with the Masons, having reached the sublime degree of a Master Mason in Sturgis, Michigan, in 1852. He is a man of unimpeachable character, of unusual intellectual endowments and stands as one of the ablest repre- sentatives of his profession in the state, but while his legal practice has gained him distinction, his work in behalf of the commonwealth and of humanity has made him loved and respected throughout Washington. He has con- tributed to the intellectual development, has aided in forming the policy of the state, as manifest along many lines of progress, and his ability and keen discrimination have resulted to the general good.
ALBERT M. BROOKES.
In a history of the men whose business activity has won Seattle com- mercial prominence, Albert Marsdon Brookes deserves honorable and promi- › nent mention. His business career has been one of continual advancement, and from a position of little importance he has worked his way upward until he stands to-day among the wealthy men of the city, respected and honored by all on account of the straightforward methods which he has ever fol- lowed. His residence here dates from March, 1877, his early life having been passed in the middle west.
Mr. Brookes is a native of Galena, Illinois, his birth having occurred on the 2d of September, 1843. The family is of English origin. His grand- father, Samuel Brookes, was a distinguished botanist of England and im- ported into that country the first chrysanthemums, which were brought from Japan. Joshua Brookes, a great-uncle of our subject, was a celebrated sur- geon and at one time a director of the Zoological Gardens. Samuel Mars- don Brookes, the father of our subject, was born in England and attained great skill and renown as an artist. His specialty was the painting of still life, and many valuable works from his brush are scattered over the world. His pictures sold for very high prices and his work commanded great praise from the critics. Leaving his native country he emigrated to Chicago in 1834. when it contained only about six hundred inhabitants, including the garrison. Mr. Brookes was a pioneer of Milwaukee, and remained there until 1860. when he removed to San Francisco, where he continued his painting. One of his canvases, life-size portrait, sold to Mrs. Hopkins for twenty-five hundred dollars. A rather humorous incident is told concerning
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one of his paintings, but it illustrates how remarkably true and life-like was his work. On one occasion he had completed a painting of a full-sized salmon which had just been caught, the water still dripping from its tail. A gen- tleman greatly admired it and wished to buy it, the price being fifteen hun- dred dollars, but before deciding to take the picture he brought his wife to see it. She objected to his making the purchase, saying she wouldn't like it because it was so real and she felt just as if she could smell fish. Samuel M. Brookes had great enthusiasm and zeal in his work and his art won high praise. In religious faith he was a strict Presbyterian. He departed this life in San Francisco, at the age of seventy-six years, while his good wife, who was about five years his junior, survived him for about that period. She was the mother of fourteen children, of whom five died in infancy, while nine reached mature years.
In the public schools of Milwaukee Albert M. Brookes began his edu- cation, which was continued in the academy there. When he was only eighteen years of age the great Civil war burst upon the country. He was . too young to enlist at the first call, but when President Lincoln asked for three hundred thousand men the following year he responded, enlisting on the Ist of August, 1862, as a member of Company K, Twenty-fourth Regi- ment, Wisconsin Infantry. The regiment was sent to the front under com- mand of Colonel Larrabee, and the division was first under General Nelson and later under General Phil Sheridan, who remained in command until transferred to Virginia. The first battle in which Mr. Brookes participated was at Perryville, and later he took part in the engagements at Murfreesboro, Stone River, Tullahoma, Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge, where the Union forces covered themselves with glory, winning a splendid victory against great odds. He was afterward in the battles of Rocky Face Gap. Resaca, Dallas Court House, Kennesaw Mountain and the siege of Atlanta. besides many intermediate engagements. He then returned with General Thomas and participated in the battles of Franklin and Nashville. His regi- ment went out with eleven hundred and fifty men and returned after three years' service with only two hundred and fifty. Mr. Brookes was mustered out at the close of the war, having served his country most faithfully. He never lost a single day and seemed to be possessed of a charmed life, for neither wounds nor ill health prevented his response to roll-call or the valor- ous performance of duty upon the field of battle. He returned to the north at the age of twenty-two years, a victor and a veteran, and his is a grand mili- tary record equalled by few of the brave volunteers who went forth in de- fense of country.
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In the meantime Mr. Brookes' parents had removed to San Francisco and he joined them on the Pacific coast early in September, 1865. Almost immediately thereafter he received an appointment as clerk in the San Fran- cisco postoffice, General Randall, the postmaster-general, being a friend of his father's. He filled various positions in the postoffice, discharging his duties so satisfactorily that he was three times promoted during the twelve years of his connection with the mail service of San Francisco, beginning in a humble capacity and terminating his service in the position next to assist- ant postmaster. In 1877, however, he resigned in order to come to Seattle- a step which he has never had occasion to regret.
Upon his arrival he became a partner with his brother-in-law in the wholesale liquor and cigar business. In 1885 he became interested in a gen- cral mercantile store at Black Diamond and remained there for two years. after which he returned to Seattle and purchased an interest in the cracker factory, being made president of the company which owned it. The business inet with very gratifying success and Mr. Brookes is still a large stockholder in the enterprise. In 1889 he had the honor of being appointed postmaster of Scattle by President Benjamin Harrison, his long connection with the postoffice in San Francisco eminently fitting him for the work. He had been in charge only a short time when the great fire swept over the city and the postoffice was the only brick building which escaped, but great efforts were put forth to save it and the task was at length accomplished. When Mr. Brookes took charge of the office he at once set to work to systematize it and succeeded in making it one of the best in the entire country and a credit to the city. His arrangements made it possible to conduct the business with great accuracy and dispatch, and for this he received very high commenda- tion. After two years' service he resigned to accept the position of cashier in the Boston National Bank, which was organized by him and other promi- nent business men, and of this institution he has been a stockholder and director from the beginning. The duties of the cashiership he has dis- charged to the fullest satisfaction of all concerned, and it is owing to his efforts, in a large measure, that the bank has won its creditable position among the financial enterprises of the state. The bank is capitalized for one hundred and eighty thousand dollars and from its opening has enjoyed a constantly growing business. Mr. Brookes is also a director and stockholder in the Diamond Ice Company and has acquired a large amount of city real estate.
Mr. Brookes has built a beautiful home, adorned with all that wealth can secure and refined taste suggest and standing in the midst of magnificent
John M Lyon
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grounds, showing the art of the landscape gardener. In 1873 Mr. Brookes was united in marriage to Miss Laura Hannath, a native of Toronto, Canada. They have one daughter, Elise. They are all members of the Episcopal church, Mr. Brookes having aided in building the first church of that denomi- nation in the city and also the present St. Mark's church. He is an active and valued member of the Grand Army post, being one of the first repre- sentatives of the order on the Pacific coast, and in 1886 he had the honor of being elected department commander. His life has been an upright and straightforward one, his success has been achieved along the lines of legiti- mate activity and unfaltering energy and he has well earned the uniform regard that is extended to him by the business men of the state.
JOHN M. LYON.
The days of chivalry and knighthood in Europe cannot furnish more interesting or romantic tales than our own western history. Into the wild mountain fastness of the unexplored west went brave men, whose courage was often called forth in encounters with hostile savages. The land was rich in all natural resources, in gold and silver, in agricultural and commer- cial possibilities, and awaited the demands of man to yield up its treasures ; but its mountain heights were hard to climb, its forests were difficult to pene- trate, and the magnificent trees, the dense bushes or the jagged rocks often sheltered the skulking foe, who resented the encroachiment of the pale faces upon their hunting grounds. The establishment of homes in this beautiful region therefore meant sacrifices, hardships and oft times death, but there were some men, however, brave enough to meet the red man in his own familiar haunts and undertake the task of reclaiming the district for purposes of civi- lization. The rich mineral stores of this vast region were thus added to the wealth of the nation; its magnificent forests contributed to the lumber indus- tries and its fertile valleys added to the opportunities of the farmer and stock raiser, and today the northwest is one of the most productive sections of the entire country. That this is so is due to such men as John M. Lyon, whose name is inseparably interwoven with the history of the region.
John Miron Lyon was born in the city of Jackson, Michigan, March 13, 1840, and is of Scotch and German ancestry. His father, John Lyon, was born in Rochester, New York, and there married Miss Charlotte C. Cramer, of the same place. Her father was born in Germany and her mother was a member of the noted Sherman family of the United States. Soon after their marriage the parents of our subject removed to Michigan, which
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was then a Western district, in which the work of progress and civilization had scarcely been begun. Mr. Lyon secured three hundred and twenty acres of land, on part of which the city of Jackson now stands. He was the founder of the city, he and others building a number of the first houses in the place. Being taken ill with brain fever he died, leaving to his wife the care of their three children. She was afterward married again. The estate which Mr. Lyon left was badly managed but the widow retained eighty acres, which is now within the corporation limits of Jackson. By her second mar- riage she had five children, of whom three are living. She was born in 1810 and departed this life in 1865, at the age of fifty-five. Of the first marriage only two are living, D. B. Lyon, of Red Bluff, who was a pioneer on the Pacific coast in 1852; and John M.
The latter was educated in the public schools of his native state and pursued a preparatory course in Ann Arbor. Two of his brothers were upon the Pacific coast, and in 1860, when in his twentieth year, he took passage at New York for San Francisco, where he arrived safely after a voyage of twenty-two days. The ship upon which he made the voyage upon the Pacific was the well known John L. Stevens. Upon his arrival Mr. Lyon proceeded up the Sacramento river to Red Bluff and engaged in clerking for his brother. who was in the book and jewelry business there. His other brother con- ducted the telegraph and express office in the same building and John M. Lyon remained in their employ for a year and a half. During that time he acquired a knowledge of telegraphy and he also read law for some time in the office of Earl & Myrich, but having quickly acquired a knowledge of telegraphy he was offered a position in Portland, Oregon, and became man- ager of the Western Union Telegraph office at that place. A year later he was sent through Oregon and Washington to establish offices for the com- pany and give instruction to the operators. He also put the instruments in order and upon the completion of the line to New Westminster, in British Columbia, connecting with the Western Union extension, Mr. Lyon was given charge of the office at that place, but soon afterward the Atlantic cable was laid and this caused the extension of the Russian line to be abandoned. However, six hundred miles had been constructed at a loss of one million one hundred thousand dollars. While Mr. Lyon was at Westminster the queen's potlatch was given to the Indians, who were invited from all along the coast. They came in such large numbers that the supply of presents was exhausted and trouble was only avoided by the agents buying out a hard- ware and grocery store and presenting the goods to the red men. Great excitement prevailed, but the arrival of three gunboats prevented the outbreak
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