USA > Wisconsin > A political history of Wisconsin > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
Gc 977.5 T38p 1729710
M.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOLY COLLECTION
3 1833 01715 8400
A POLITICAL HISTORY OF
WISCONSIN.
T HERE IS NO ROMANCE LIKE THAT OF HISTORY. INDEED, IN A LARGE SENSE, HISTORY IS ROMANCE; FOR LIFE ITSELF IS STRANGE AND MYSTERIOUS, AND ALL ITS HAPPENINGS ARE FILLED WITH DRAMATIC ELEMENTS WHICH NEED BUT THE TOUCH OF IMAGINATION TO GLOW AS THE DULL CARBON FLASHES INTO LIGHT WHEN QUICK. ENED BY THE ELECTRIC CURRENT. ALL THE YEARS HAVE VOICES FOR THEM THAT WILL HEAR; AND EVEN THE SIMPLE AXXALS OF COMMONPLACE EVENTS HAVE IN THE HEARTS OF THEM EPIC POSSIBILITIES,-
GEORGE R. PECK.
A. M. THOMSON.
E. C. WILLIAMS. 342 BROADWAY, MILWAUKEE, WIS. 1900.
20500
1+29710
A.m. Thomson
·
orseast
PREFACE.
The first draft of this "Political History of Wisconsin," by A. M. Thomson, was made for The Milwaukee Sentinel, and pub- lished in the Sunday edition of that newspaper from week to week until concluded, the initial installment appearing in the issue of January 2, 1898. A resident of Wisconsin for nearly fifty years, and during most of that time active and influential in journalism and politics, Mr. Thomson was widely regarded as the man above all others best fitted to write the history of politics in Wisconsin. and he undertook the task in response to numerous urgent re- quests. It proved to be the final work of his life. When the closing chapters saw the light of print. he was. on his death-bed. But even in the extremity of mortal illness, his mind was busy with the history, and he wrote several letters to publishers with reference to bringing it out in book form. He carefully revised the earlier chapters for final publication, and gave explicit direc- tions, which have been scrupulously carried out. regarding the revision of the remainder. It is the belief of those who have been concerned in the erection of this nionument fashioned by his own brain and hand, that. in the artistic and substantial form in which it is here presented, his work appears as he would have wished to . see it.
The history which Mr. Thomson proposed to write begins with the Ordinance of 1787 and comes down to the election of Scofield and Mckinley in 1896. It is not constructed on the lines of what is termed critical history, which is generally dry: neither is it a mere chronicle-a chronicle is also dry. Mr. Thomson's work is for the most part cast in the narrative form. The chici personages with whom it deals were intimately known to the author, and he draws them from life. illustrating their character- istics by happy anecdotes. His casy, graceful. lucid style invests
iii
.
iv
PREFACE.
with interest even the discussions of party principles which neces- sarily come within the scope of such a work. The early steps in the organization of political parties in Wisconsin are graphically sketched, and the heated campaign which resulted in the defeat of the first draft of a State constitution is fully described and explained, together with the fight over the boundary, in which the members of the constitutional conventions and territorial Legisla- tures saw fit to pit themselves against Congress and the Federal government. The years which followed the organization of the State government were full of exciting political occurrences. The Judge Hubbell impeachment trial; the escape and rescue of the slave Joshua Glover; the Bashford-Barstow litigation-very much like a revolution-in which the judiciary was called upon to decide who was Governor of Wisconsin; the conflict in the Booth case between the Supreme Court of Wisconsin and the Supreme Court of the United States: the corruption at the capital in 1856, when bribes were received from a railway corporation by the Governor and most of the members of both houses of the Legislature of Wisconsin, all these stirring incidents. episodes and events of . Wisconsin's political history are brought before the reader in pro- cession. Then the writer devotes himself to recounting the part which Wisconsin played in the great drama of the Civil war. There is on one side of the picture the patriotic response to the call for troops, and on the other the Ryan address and the draft riots in Washington and Ozaukce counties. Mr. Thomson was "the man who started the ball rolling" for Matt. H. Carpenter for United States Senator in 1860, and who headed the successful opposition to his reelection in 1875. Both campaigns are vividly recalled, not in a one-sided way, but in a manner which shows Plutarch's impartial desire that "both the Greeks and the Romans shall be accorded iair treatment." Wisconsin was the first State in the Union whose Legislature successfully attempted to set a limit to the amount of fare that might be charged by railways. The Potter law and the Grange movement, of which it was the outcome, have full justice done them in Mr. Thomson's history. So have the two great struggles on the money question-that of 1875-1877, when the issue was "honest money vs. greenback inila- 1
·
-
.
D
PREFACE.,
tion," and that of 1896, when the issue was "sound money vs. silver inflation." The Bennett Law, the reapportionment squabble and the treasury cases-each comes in for impartial treatment, and there is an interesting non-controversial survey of the temper- ance movement in Wisconsin.
A brief review of the author's life is a fitting prelude to his book. "Alexander McDonald Thomson was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1822. His father removed with the family to Trumbull county, Ohio, when he was two years old. His ancestors were Scotch on his father's side, the grandfather con- ing from Paisley, and his mother was a Pennsylvania Dutch- woman. Naturally he possessed some of the characteristics of both races -- the tenacity of the Scotch and the stubbornness of the Dutch. For thirty-five years after his advent in Ohio, Mr. Thomson, as boy and man, resided in the famous old Giddings- Garfield congressional district. Then, in 1849, he removed to Wis- consin. He was educated in the common schools and at the Western Reserve Teachers' Seminary and Normal School, located at Kirtland, Ohio. In early life he followed the business of teach- ing. He married Miss Emeline I. Peck. June 11, 1846, at Bloom- field, Ohio. She died July S. 1892. On his arrival in Wiscon- sin he settled first at Hartford. Washington county, and engaged in farming. About five thousand Wisconsin farmers mortgaged their farms to different railroad companies for stock in the corpo- rations, between 1850 and 1860, as a means of helping buiki the roads-a scheme for raising the wind that proved very disas- trous to many of the mortgagors. The mortgages had ten years to run, and bore 10 per cent. interest. no interest to be paid until due. Many of the roads never were built. Every one of those built became bankrupt. When pay day came, there was great excitement in the State, as some of the holders at once began to foreclose the mortgages upon the farmers' homesteads. The farmers formed a State organization in self-defense, holding that they had been defrauded: and, like the Barnburners of New York, they resolved to resist the collection of the mortgages to the death. In order to hold the organization compactly together, and dis- seminate information on the subject, they established a weekly
vi
PREFACE.
paper, and Mr. Thomson became its editor, issuing the first num- ber August 11, 1860. It was called The Home Journal, and was published at Hartford. In 1859 Mr. Thomson became associate editor of The Free Democrat, then published by S. M. Booth, in the city of Milwaukee. In 1864 he became part owner and editor of The Janesville Daily Gazette, in which capacity he continued six years. During his residence in Janesville he twice represented the city in the Assembly of the State, and was Speaker of the House at both sessions, being each time chosen by acclamation in the Republican caucus. In 1863 he was sergeant-at-arms of the Assembly, and again in 1864. In the Republican State con- vention of 1869, the Rock county delegation presented his name as a suitable person to be nominated for Governor of Wisconsin. In 1870 he became editor-in-chief of The Milwaukee Sentinel. which position he held until 1874. In 1873 many of the Republican papers urged him to be a candidate for Lieutenant-Governor, but he declined the honor. In that year he published a volume of the poems which he had contributed from time to time to his paper, and which were written amid the cares and confusion of journalism. The title of the volume was "The Poems of a Day." After leaving The Sentinel he became the associate editor of The Chicago Evening Journal, which position he held for nearly four years when failing health drove him to the "New Northwest." where he opened up and improved one of the finest wheat farms in North Dakota. In his retirement his pen was not allowed to rust, and his articles on agriculture, written on his farm, had a wide circu- lation. During his residence in North Dakota the Republican papers often used his name as a candidate for Congress and for other places of honor and trust. In 1892 he returned to Mil- waukee. January 24, 1804. he was married to Miss Annie E. Greenman, of Chicago. He had no children."
The above modest sketch. never heretofore published, was prepared by Mr. Thomson himself, at the instance of a friend. in 1895. He died June 9, 1898.
.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PREFACE
PAGE. iii
INTRODUCTION 13
CHAPTER I .- THE ORDINANCE OF 17S7 17
CHAPTER II .- DRAWING PARTY LINES 24
CHAPTER III .- POLITICS IN THE TERRITORY 33
CHAPTER IV .- THE TERRITORIAL DELEGATES AND THE DEFEATED CANDIDATES 43
CHAPTER V .- STEPS TOWARD STATEHOOD 53
CHAPTER VI .- THE FIRST GOVERNOR 63
CHAPTER VII .- FARWELL AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES 73
CHAPTER VILI .- THE HUBBELL IMPEACHMENT TRIAL 85
CHAPTER IX .- THE GLOVER RESCUE AND SHERMAN M. BOOTH 96
CHAPTER X .- ORGANIZATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 100
CHAPTER XI .- BARSTOW AND THE BALANCE 121
CHAPTER XIL .- MAMEUVERING FOR THE GERMAN VOTE .. 136
CHAPTER XIII. - THE STORMY TIME BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR 144
CHAPTER XIV .- THE POLITICS IF THE WAR TIME 154
. CHAPTER XV .- THE FIRST ELECTION OF MATT CARPENTER 163 CHAPTER XVI .- PERSONAL. REMINISCENCES OF DOOLITTLE AND CARPENTER 18:
vii
-
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS. PACE. CHAPTER XVII .- THE ELECTION OF ANGUS CAMERON. .. 195
CHAPTER XVIII .- THE GREENBACK EPIDEMIC 208
CHAPTER XIX .- THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT IN WIS- CONSIN. 219
CHAPTER XX .- THE BENNETT LAW EXCITEMENT 220
CHAPTER XXI .- THE TREASURY CASES-TWO APPORTION-
MENT ACTS THAT FAILED 241
CHAPTER XXII .- REPUBLICANS AGAIN AT THE HELM .. .. 260
CHAPTER XXIII .-- WISCONSIN'S REPRESENTATIVES IN CON- GRESS 269
CHAPTER XXIV .- SOME OF THE BOSSES 286
CHAPTER. XXV .- BIOGRAPHICAL 295
.
·
-
·
INDEX TO PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES.
Portrait. Page
Biography.
Page
ADAMS, H. C
440
353
ALLIS, E. P. .
240
414
BABCOCK, J. W
208
351
BARBER, CHARLES
336
424
BARNEY, J. A
188
348
BLACK, JOUN
284
417
BRADFORD, IRA B
232
356
BRAGG, EDWARD S. BRUCE, WM. GEORGE
420
363
BUNS, ROMANZO.
112
440
BURROWS, GEORGE B
280
325
CARANIS, JAMES H
416
336
. CAMERON, ANGUS
44
391
CARPENTER, MATT. H
17
308
CASSODAY, J. B
52
317
CASSON, HENRY
272
347
COE, E. I).
312
336
COOPER, HENRY ALLEN
220
359
CRAMER, WILLIAM E
160
408
CUNNINGHAM, T. J
260
380
DAVIDSON, JAMES O
288
370
DFUSTER. P. V
152
320
DICK. JAMES J
168
330
DODGE, A. C
412
380
Escu, Jons 1
224
420
FINK, HENRY
316
447
FRAWLEY, T. F.
292
355
FROEHLICH, WILLIAM H
300
366
GILSON, N. S. .
132
419
GOODLAND, JOHN
164
321
. .
402
DAVIDSON. JAMES HI
120
396
416
BARNEY, S. S.
ix
.
I
INDEX TO PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES.
Biography.
GRACE, H. H
340
406
GRIFFIN, MICHAEL
176
342 .
HAMBRIGHT, CHARLES M
450
450
HASTINGS, SAMUEL D
82
425
HOARD, W. D.
128
331
JENKINS, JAMES G
68
327
JENKINS, JOHN J
184
346
JOHNSTON, JOHN
332
383
JONES, A. M.
364
379
JONES, BURR W
172
349
JONES, J. E
348
360
KEYES, E. W
24
436
KIDD, E. I
344
352
KING, RUFUS
100
300
LEWIS, JAMES T
32
3º7
LYON, WILLIAM P
94
388
MAXON, D. W
236
431
MAYHAM, T. F.
428
413
MCGEEHAN, R. J
432
40 1
· MILLER, L. M
204
3º9
MILLS, E. G
446
444
MITCHELL, ALEXANDER
48
304
MITCHELL, JOHN I.
96
399
MUNSON, O. G.
328
427
NORCROSS, PLINY
352
375
O'CONNOR, JAMES L
180
369
ORTON, PHILO A
26S
422
OTJEN, THEOBALD
192
333
PAINE, BYRON
104
316
PALY -2, HENRY L.
116
306
PARKER, CHARLES H
244
451
PATTISON, MARTIN
304
38 1
PAUL, GEORGE H
86
312
PAYNE, HENRY C.
74
448
PECK, GEORGE W
136
338
PHILLIPS, M. C ..
3So
364
POUND, THADDEUS C
252
404
.
. Portrait. Page
Page
.
INDEX TO PORTRAITS AND. BIOGRAPHIES.
xi
Portrait. Page
Biography.
Page
QUARLES, JOSEPH V'
108
442
REESE, SAMUEL. W.
356
386
RICHARDSON, HAMILTON
256
423
ROEHR, J. E.
436
373
ROSE, DAVID S.
32.4
361
RYAN, T. E.
124
372
RYLAND, GEORGE W
148
386
RUSK, J. M.
60
402
SAUERHERING, EDWARD
212
378
SAWYER, PHILETUS
20
302
SCHMITZ, A. J
408
443
SCOFIELD, EDWARD
196
433
SIMMONS, Z. G
248
314
SMITH, C. J
404
368
SMITH, WILLIAM E
200
311
SPENCER, R. C.
308
394
SPENSLEY, CALVERT
400
396
SPOONER, JOHN C
56
344
SPRATT, GEORGE
396
405
STEPHENSON, ISAAC
64
392
STILLMAN, E. R
320
389
STONE, JESSE
276
329
STRONG, HENRY P
264
439
TAYLOR, GEORGE W
392
360
THOMSON, A. M
Frontispiece.
V
TURNER, A. J.
424
324
UPHAM, D. A. J
40
298
UPHAM, WILLIAM H
140
340
USHER, ELLIS B.
388
357
WALLBER, EMIL.
296
398
WEAVER, RICHARD
376
435
WELLS, DANDY , JR
28
296
WHEELER, V ALIAM G.
384
377
WHITING, J. B.
360
428
WINANS, JOHN
228
322
WISWELL, GEORGE N
372
430
WOLLAEGER, GUSTAV
368
411
-
INTRODUCTION.
S EVERAL histories of Wisconsin have already been written. Some of these books have been mostly devoted to an ac- count of the different tribes of Indians that inhabited the territory before the appearance of the white man; their habits, customs, wars, and traditions, together with the story of the early missionaries and explorers-of Nicollet, Marquette, Joliet. Dubuque, Carver, and the others who came hither as the advance guard of civilization. This was the unique and picturesque epoch, and relates chiefly to that romantic, traditional period before and after the land which is now known as Wisconsin was under the rule of France for eighty-nine years, and under the dominion of Great Britain for thirty-five years. This account was begun early and is not yet completed. That distinguished scholar, scientist. and historian. Dr. Increase A. Lapham, whose name and fame will live as long as the State endures, and whose memory we all revere, began the fascinating narrative in 1844, four years before Wisconsin took her place in the sisterhood of States, and two years later his work was supplemented in part by himself and McLeod. Both of these fragmentary histories were written by anthors who were looking backward over their shoulders into the dim and shadowy past where guesswork is often substituted for fact, and where much depends upon the imagination. Eight years later, the venerable and accomplished William R. Smith made a compila- tion of facts and events, which were published under the author- ity of the State, and embraced in two volumes, to be found in the library of the State Historical Society. Next in order came "Tut-
(2)
.
.
14
INTRODUCTION.
the's Illustrated History of Wisconsin" in 1875, which has been described by a contemporary writer as "an undigested mass of annals, filled with glaring inaccuracies," but which the student will find useful as to dates. In 1878, Snyder, Van Vechten & Co., of Milwaukee, published a "Historical Atlas of Wisconsin," the writing being done chiefly by C. W. Butterfield, which not only contained a complete history of the State up to that time, but gave an accurate and interesting account of each county, and which makes a valuable book for reference. Then ten years later. Moses. M. Strong wrote a territorial history of Wisconsin, leav- ing off with the admission of the State. This book, like Smith's, was printed at the expense of the State. Smith, Tuttle, and Strong have each done a valuable service for the future historian in collecting, arranging and preserving an immense amount of valuable information relating to carly times in Wisconsin. In 1888, Horace A. Tenney and David Atwood printed a book .entitled "The Fathers of Wisconsin," being a collection of bio- graphical sketches of the members of the two conventions which met to frame a constitution for the State. It should not be over- looked that Smith. Strong. Tenney and Atwood were all pioneers in Wisconsin, who were personally acquainted with every man of prominence in the territory and State of all political parties. They knew what they were about, for "all of it they saw, and much of it they were!" Then there are other sketches, papers, addresses. essays, reminiscences and biographies, of great interest to the stu . dent, a rich repository of knowledge, to be found in the Wisconsin State Historical Society's collections, of which over a dozen vol- umes have already been published. Some fine historical chapters are also embodied in the histories of the different counties, which are correct in detail and valuable for the library. Mr. Reuben G. Thwaites, the industrious secretary of the State Historical Society. has written "The Story of Wisconsin," and has told it as well as
·
15
INTRODUCTION.
it can be told in twelve short chapters. The Sentinel Company has issued a book bearing the title "Leading Events of Wiscon- sin History," but much more elaborate, by Henry E. Legler.
Dr. Lapham has written about the "AAntiquities of Wisconsin." and P. R. Hoy has interested himself and others by asking hard questions on the difficult subject of "Who Built the Mounds?" If the pre-historie man is of interest, and if the mound-builders still serve to arrest our attention and puzzle our curiosity, surely it would seem that some fuller account of the lives and public serv- ices of the men who founded our great commonwealth, though it be less romantic and less picturesque, is worthy of preservation by the present and succeeding generations. The capitol and the State University at Madison, the colleges, libraries, hospitals, normal schools, and ekvemosynary institutions, scattered all over the State, are "mounds" built by a generation of men who have done much more for posterity and for Christian civilization than the rude barbarians who left their "footprints on the sands of time" at a period se remote that no one can tell whence they came or whither they went. We laud the educator to the skies, and properly so; butt we are apt to forget that to found a university or a college, or to sustain a public school system, there must be governors, con- gresenken, and legislators, and back of all these the taxpayers, who must provide the ways and means, or nothing can be accom- polished. We may sneer at the politician, but he has his uses, and he has been found to be an essential factor in modern affairs, and under any form of government, democratic or aristocratic. "Men constitute the State." and in attempting to write a brief "Politi- cal History of Wisconsin." it will be my purpose to give an umpre- juleed and faithful account of the public services and some of the more striking personal characteristics of those who did so much to develop the resources of our grand commonwealth, those who helped to frame her constitution, to pass and execute her laws,
16
INTRODUCTION.
who stood for her honor and dignity in the halls of Congress, and who have made the name of Wisconsin respected wherever it is heard.
"Thou, too, sail on, O'ship of State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Humanity with all its fears, With all its hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless ou thy fate!
* Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee! Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers. our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our iears,
Are all with thee, are all with thee!" -
-
Wall. M. Carpintero
.
A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
CHAPTER I.
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787.
The passage of the celebrated Ordinance of 1787, by the Con- tinental Congress, extended the federal jurisdiction over the Northwest territory, which included the section of country that . now known as the State of Wisconsin. ""It led to the exercise vi national sovereignty in the sense of eminent domain." At the close of the Revolutionary war, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Virginia made conflicting and irreconcilable claims to the territory west of the Allegheny mountains, and north of the Ohjo river, and the dispute over the title was angry and long-
#
continued. threatening serious trouble for some time. The con- troversy included all the land comprising what is now the great States of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. Massachusetts wanted what is now the southern portion of Wis- con-in and Michigan. Connecticut claimed a narrow strip run- ning across the north end of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. New York would be satisfied with almost everything north of the Ohio river. Lastly came Virginia, who notified all the other claimants that she was the original possessor of all the land out of which the thirteen colonies had been carved; that Massachusetts had been under her jurisdiction until 1614; that She was then in actual possession of a good share of the territory claimed by the others, and that her title was indisputable. Mary- . land, whose isolated position made her jealous of the influence
17
.
18
. A POLITIC.IL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
and growth of the larger States, brought matters to a crisis by resolutely declaring that she would never ratify the Articles of Confederation until all these States laying claims to portions of the Northwest territory relinquished them to the federal authority, and her demand was at last reluctantly complied with after a long and acrimonious discussion.
It is worthy of remark here that the passage of the Ordinance of 1787 was an illegal act, the Continental Congress having acted. as Madison said, "without the least color of constitutional author- ity." . Yet Madison warmly commended the act. and Daniel Webster said: "I doubt whether one single law of any law-giver, ancient or modern, has produced effects of more distinct. marked and lasting character, than the Ordinance of 1787." But it was a usurpation of authority for the common good, like the Louisiana purchase from France in 1805. by Mr. Jefferson, whereby we acquired the title to the mouth of the Mississippi, or to cite a later example, similar to the issuance of the Emancipation Procia- mation by President Lincoln, which was a war measure, to put down a great rebellion, and to set free 4.000,000 of slaves, but which had no warrant in the Constitution.
From 1787 to 1800, the right of civil government was vested by the Ordinance of 1787: from May 7, 1800. to January 11. 1805, jurisdiction over Wisconsin was exercised by the territory of Indiana; from January 11, 1805. until February 3, 1809, by the territory of Michigan; from February 3. 1809. until December 3. 1818, by the territory of Illinois; and from December 3. ISIS, until July 4, 1836, Michigan again had jurisdiction.
Political activity of any importance seldom begins in a new territory until it has been duly organized by an act of Congress, and the territorial officers are appointed by the President of the United States. Then the politicians begin to show themselves. The most active and prominent of the kind ever seen in Wisconsin, and the man most closely identified with hier history and develop- ment was James Duane Doty, who was born in Salem, Washing- ton county, N. Y., in 1790. He did not bear the degree of any college. but he had been carefully educated in private institutions, and was admitted to the bar when quite young, after careful prep-
.
19
A POLITIC.IL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
aration. He began life by holding office, and he died while acting as governor of the territory of Utah, under the appointment of President Lincoln. He settled in Detroit in 1818, and while there he was elected secretary of the legislative council and clerk of the court. He had become a special favorite of Gen. Lewis Cass, and, in 1820, he had made the celebrated tour with him in canoes from Detroit through Lakes Huron and Superior, and thence to the headwaters of the Mississippi river, an interesting account of which was afterwards published by Henry R. Schoolcraft. In 1823 young Doty was appointed by President Monroe additional judge for Michigan territory, and was subsequently appointed for four years, from February 1. 1824. He was the first judge to hold a court of general jurisdiction within the borders of Wisconsin. He was reappointed by President John Quincy Adams, from February 1, IS28. He was on the ground twelve years before the territory was detached from Michigan, holding court first at Prairie du Chien, and next at Green Bay, for eight years, until the expiration of his term in 1832, when he devoted himself to land speculation and politics, and along both these lines of activity he was quite successful, as will appear farther on. He never had a high stand- ing at the bar. and it is as a successful politician that he is held in remembrance. When he left the bench he did not resume the active practice of his profession, the presumption being that his equipment did not warrant it. He was a judge at 25.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.