USA > Wisconsin > A political history of Wisconsin > Part 32
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A POLITICAL HISTORY OF WISCONSIN. 365
before he entered the army. His wife, Marion Elizabeth Hulse, daughter of Lucian Hake, was born in Pennsylvania, of Dutch ancestors, and came to Appleton. Wis., with her parents in child- hood. She was well educated and a woman of strong character and high personal attainments. M. C. Phillips was born in Royal. ton, Wis., on the 25th of July. 1856. His primary education was re- ceived in common and select schools, and in 1872 he entered Ober- lin College, where he was a student four years, when he left the in- stitution to take a place as station agent on the Green Bay, Winona & St. Paul railroad. After some years spent as station agent and in manufacturing, he began the study of law in the office of Brown & Bump, in Waupaca, Wis., and was admitted to the bar in 1879. Immediately after admission he began the practice of his profes- sion at Clintonville, Wis., where he remained five years, succeed- ing in building up a successful business. During his last year there he was in partnership with C. H. Forward. In 1884 he and his partner moved to Oshkosh, where a partnership was formed with George Gary, under the firm name of Gary, Phillips & Forward. which was dissolved in 1886. Mr. Phillips is now associated with E. R. Hicks, the firm being Phillips & Hicks. He has been con- nected with much of the important litigation in Oshkosh and vicin- ity, where he stands in the front rank of his profession. His special taste for insurance law has led him to devote much of his time to this branch of practice, and he now appears in much of the litigation. of that character in the State. He is retained by a number of do- mestic as well as foreign companies. In April. 1897. he was ap- pointed, by the President. United States District Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and that position he now holds. Mr. Phillips has always been affiliated with the Republican party, and has taken an active part in politics. In 1804 he was chosen Chair- man of the Republican committee of Winnebago county, one of the largest counties in the State, being again selected to the respon- sible post in 1806. The Republican plurality during the time of his management was the largest which the county ever gave. He is a Knight of Pythias, an Odd Fellow and a Mason of high stand- ing, and a member of the Presbyterian church of Oshkosh. Mr. Phillips was married in 1878 to Marcia H. Eastman, youngest
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daughter of Rev. M. L. Eastman, of Royalton, Wisconsin. His family consists of five children -- Bradford E .. Ermine J., Philip. Lewis and Miriam HI.
WILLIAM H. FROEHLICH.
No one in the history of Wisconsin has administered the office of Secretary of State with a stricter regard for business principles than William H. Froehlich. Mr. Froehlich was born at Jackson, Washington county, June 22, 1857. Ilis parents, B. J. and Amelia Froehlich, were natives of Germany. After receiving an education in the public, private and parochial schools of Jackson, he spent three years as clerk in a mercantile business in Milwaukee. He then entered the Spencerian Business College, and, after complet- ing his course in that institution, became assistant bookkeeper in the dry goods establishment of T. A. Chapman & Co., where he remained from ISTS to ISSO. In June of the latter year he left Milwaukee to establish himself in the general merchandise business at Jackson, where he built up a prosperous trade. In 1892 he or- ganized the Jackson Butter and Cheese Company, which estab- lished the first separator creamery in Washington county. He has been secretary and treasurer of the company since its organiza- tion. Mr. Frochlich became interested in politics at an early age, and has creditably performed the duties of a public officer in vari- ous capacities for many years. He was appointed Postmaster at Jackson in 1881, and held the office until 1893. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1887. and a member of the School Board of Jackson in 1891. In 1893 he was elected Town Clerk, and was re- elected without opposition till obliged to relinquish the position in order to assume the duties of Secretary of State, to which office he was elected in the fall of 18gS. Washington county never sent a Republican to the Assembly till 1894. when it elected Mr. Froch- lich, who received 2.310 votes against 2.200 for his Democratic op- ponent, Herman Horton. In 1896 Mr. Frochilich was again elec- ted to the Assembly on the Republican ticket, receiving 2.845 votes against 2.463 for the Democratic candidate. Geo. W. Jones. His plurality for the office of Secretary of State was 54.912. One
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of the business-like innovations which Mr. Froehlich made as Sec- retary of State had to do with the strict construction of the law relating to premiums at County Fairs. With a view of encourag- ing agriculture, the State pays qo per cent. of the premiums awarded at county fairs; but it had become the practice of the management in some counties to pay only 50 per cent. of the amounts advertised as premiums, though collecting from the State 40 per cent. of the whole advertised amount. Mr. Froehlich se- cured a written opinion on the subject from the Attorney General. and, acting in accordance therewith, refused to sign orders for more than 40 per cent. of the premium money actually paid. This is not in itself a great matter, but it is significant on account of the principle involved that the money of tax-payers should be guarded by officials acting for the people as carefully as an individual guards his own. The State Constitution vests the tax-levying power in the Legislature. A statute enacted many years ago provides that when the appropriations made by the Legislature in any year ex- ceed the amount of the State tax levied by the Legislature for that year, the Secretary of State shall levy and apportion such addition- al tax as may be necessary to meet this excess. Can the Legisla- ture thus shift the responsibility for performing its most solemn duty, the burdening of the people with taxation? It is a familiar principle that discretionary power lodged in the Legislature cannot be delegated by that body. Is the levying of taxes a discretionary power? Until Secretary Frochlich's term the question was never raised. Other Secretaries of State had made additions to the tax levy in conformity with the statutery provision, and their action was not challenged: but the amounts involved were comparatively small. Mr. Froehlich found himself confronted with legislative ap- propriations to the amount of $679.000 in excess of the expected revenues, the Legislature, aware of the deficiency, having ad- journed without providing for taxation to meet it. He read the constitution and came to the conclusion that it was his duty to re- fuse to levy any tax beyond what had been authorized by the Leg- islature. Great pressure was brought to induce him to change his decision. There was talk of taking the matter to the Supreme Court, a course which he would have welcomed, but no one came
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forward to institute the suit. The probability seems to be that Sec- retary of State Frochlich has established an important precedent which will not be departed from by his successors.
CHARLES J. SMITH.
Charles J. Smith was born in Buffalo county, Wisconsin, Janu- ary 22, 1858. His father, Melford P. Smith, was a farmer, who. starting in life without other resources than the ability to work. and the persistence that knows no deicat, is now the proprietor of one of the finest farms in Southern Wisconsin. He married Ada. daughter of David and Deborah Adams. It was as an infant of six months that Charles J. Smith moved into Grant county, where his parents are still living. Originally from Pennsylvania, they had settled in Wisconsin in 1852. Young Charles studied in the con- mon schools of Grant county until he was nineteen. He then at- tended the State Normal School at Platteville, from which he grad- uated in ISSI. Afterwards. for three years, he held the position of principal of the High School at Viroqua. Having taken up the study of law with Judge Wyman at Viroqua, he subsequently entered the Albany Law School, graduating from the latter institution in 1886. He was one of the four orators appointed to represent his class at commencement, and was chosen vale- victorian. In July. 1886. at Madison, he was admitted to the bar, and without any delay settled in Viroqua. He prac- ticed alone until 1895, when he formed a partnership with Ira S. Griffin, which still exists. Mr. Smith has been successful in a number of interesting and important cases. In his political affilia- tions he has always been a Republican and has "stumped" the State in the interest of Republican principles and candidates for many years. Elected District Attorney of Vernon county, he heldl that. position from 1801 to 1897. From April. 1803. to April. 1895. he was Mayor of Viroqua, and was a member of the Board of Educa- tion for nine years. For five years he was City Attorney, and for four years City Clerk. He was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress in his district in 18os, and. although un- successful, developed strength that was a surprise to his opp ments.
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He is a Knight Templar, a member of Sparta Commandery, No. 16. He was Master of La Belle Lodge. F. &. A. M., at Viroqua. for two years, and he also belongs to the Order of Modern Wood- men. On September 4. 1889, he was married at Trempealean. Wis., to Eda M. Blume, who, for five years, was a teacher in the Viroqua schools. They have one child. Notwithstanding the heavy demand upon his time made by his profession, Mr. Smith still finds opportunity to do considerable work on his farm of two hundred and forty acres, which has acquired a wide reputation for its blooded stock.
JAMES L. O'CONNOR. .
James L. O'Connor is a native of Hartford, Washington county. Wisconsin, where he was born in 1858. After completing a course at the Hartford High School. he earned money by teaching and by working on the farm and performing day labor on the railroad. He entered the University of Wisconsin in 1876, and was graduated from the law department five years later, establishing himself in the practice of law at Madison. His reason for selecting that place was that he could not afford to buy a library, and that at Madison he could have access to the great law library of the State. In 1884 he was nominated by the Democrats of Dane county for the office of District Attorney, and was elected with the entire county ticket. When he came up again as the candidate of his party at the end of his first term, there were unmistakable signs of a turn in the polit- ical tide. Mr. O'Connor, however, made an active canvass, asking for judgment on his record, and. although the other candidates on the ticket with him were defeated by majorities ranging from 500 to 2,000, he was reflected. In 1887 he formed a partnership with R. M. Bashford and T. A. Polleys, which continued till the fall of . 1896. When George Peck was nominated for Governor in ISop. the Democrats placed the brilliant and popular young Madison lawyer on their ticket as their nominee for Attorney General. Like the rest of the ticket. he was elected, and was reflected in 1802. He was a strong figure in the Peck administration. The youngest man who ever held the office, Mr. O'Connor was never-
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theless recognized as a man well versed in the law, indomitable in courage, and. in short, a focman worthy of the steel of the most expert legal practitioners. Indeed, he had demonstrated on a smaller stage at an earlier date the notable qualities which were now called into play. Toward the end of 1889 he was married to Miss Anna I. Wood, of Madison, and, while absent from the city, without knowledge on his part of what was taking place, his friends nominated and elected him to the office of City Attorney. During his incumbency of that office, charges were preferred against sev- eral aldermen and the chief of the fire department for irregularities in connection with the purchase of hose. Convinced that the evidence warranted summary action, Mr. O'Connor brought in- peachment proceedings. There was violent opposition to his course by the friends of the accused and the daily press. The defendants secured able counsel to take charge of their case, but the result of the trial fully justified Mr. O'Connor's course, as the chief of the fire department and two aldermen were impeached for bribery. It was during Mr. O'Connor's term as Attorney General that the noted treasury cases, involving nearly a million dollars, were tried. These cases were bitterly contested, but resulted favorably to the prosecution, not only in the lower court, but also in the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, where they were carried for final disposition. For several years Mr. O'Connor has been engaged in the success- ful practice of his profession at Milwaukee as a member of the firm of O'Connor, Hammel & Schmitz. He was Chairman of the last Democratic State Convention, and is a leading figure among the new group of men who have been in control of the Democratic or- ganization in Wisconsin since 1896. Mr. O'Connor is the happy father of three sturdy sons-Arthur, Clarence and Jerome.
JAMES H. DAVIDSON.
James H. Davidson, who is serving his second term in Con- gress as Representative from the Sixth Wisconsin District, is a res- ident of Oshkosh. His father. James Davidson, was a Scotch Highlander, who came to this country at the age of 12 in 1824. His mother, whose maiden name was Ann Johnson, was a native
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of Rheinbeck on the Hudson, descended from Revolutionary stock. Congressinan Davidson was born June 18. 1858, in Colchester. Delaware county, New York. His boyhood was divided between going to school and working at farming and lumbering. He rassed the spring and fall terms of three years as a student in Wal- ton Academy, working as janitor of the institution to pay for his tuition, and teaching school every winter to secure the wherewithal to pay for his board and clothes. The strain affected his health. forcing him to forego the honor of graduation. He began the study of law in the office of Fancher & Sewell, at Walton. In Sep- tember, 1882, he came to Wisconsin, and was employed for one year as principal of the school at Princeton. Green Lake county. after which he returned to New York and entered the Albany Law School, from which he was graduated in 1884. president of his class. Coming back to Wisconsin, he worked for three years as bookkeeper and buyer for Chittenden & Morsey, produce dealers in Princeton, thereby earning the money wherewith to repay a voi- untary loan from a friend who had advanced the sum necessary to defray the cost of his legal education. In 1887 he opened a law office in Princeton, where he soon commanded a profitable practice. . In January, 1892, seeking a larger fickl. he removed to Oshkosil, becoming a member of the law firm of Thompson, Harshaw & Da- vidson. His partnership continued for three years, when he with- drew and entered upon practice alone. In May, 1895. he was ap- pointed City Attorney for Oshkosh for a term of two years. Janu- ary Ist, 1896, he formed a partnership with R. W. Wilde, formerly a student of the law department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, under the firm name of Davidson & Wilde, which partnership still continues. Mr. Davidson's political record is that of a conscientious Republican, thoroughly believing in the princi- ples of the party, and using all proper means for securing its as- cendency. He was elected District Attorney of Green Lake county in 1888: and, in 18go, he was made Chairman of the Committee of the Sixth Congressional District of Wisconsin, which position he held continuously for six years. In the fall of 1896 he was non- inated by the Republican Congressional Convention for the Sixth District for Congress, and was elected by a very large majority. re-
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ceiving 26,649 votes against 18.944 for W. F. Gruenewald. Demo- crat, and 626 for James S. Thompson, Prohibitionist. In 188 he was reelected, with a plurality of 3.427 votes, his opponents being Frank C. Stewart. Democrat. and William H. Clark, Prohibition- ist. His dignified and creditable record in the National Legislature commands the approval of his -constituents. Mr. Davidson is a member of Oshkosh Lodge, No. 27, F. & A. M .; Oshkosh Lodge. No. 192, B. P. O. E., and Oshkosh Lodge, No. 25. K. P. He was married October 8. 1889, to Niva T. Wilde, daughter of F. A. Wilde, now of Milwaukee. They have two sons, Kenneth Wilde and James Ferdinand.
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TIMOTHY E. RYAN.
In 1898, while the Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature were split up into warring camps in a struggle over the United States Senatorship, the members of the Democratic minority in that body were a unit, and cast their votes for Timothy E. Ryan. Mr. Ryan, who is a prominent member of the bar of Waukesha, is the son of Jeremiah and Johanna Cronin Ryan, who came to this country from the county of Tipperary, Ireland, in 1849, settling first in Troy, New York, and afterwards removing to the town of Greenwich, Washington county, in the same State, where Mr. Ryan, Sr., was engaged as foreman for R. W. Loeber in an exten- sive lime business for nearly a quarter of a century. In the year 1872 he came to Waukesha county, and located on what was known as the Dorothy farm, in the town of Pewaukee, where he died in December, 1887. His widow is still living on the home- stead. T. E. Ryan was born in the town of Greenwich, Washing- ton county, New York, in 1859. He attended the public schools in Washington county, New York, the Greenwich Academy, in the same State, and, coming to Wisconsin, with his parents. in 1872. he also attended the Pewaukee High School. After that he taught country schools for six winters, and attended a business college in Milwaukee for one year. He then began the study of law in the office of Van Dyke & Van Dyke in Milwaukee, and continued there for a year, when he entered the law department of the Uni-
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versity of Wisconsin, where, after two years and a half. he gradu- ated in the Class of 1885. After graduation he formed a partnership with Judge P. H. Carney, of Waukesha, which continued until ISSo, when it was dissolved, and he entered into another with F. Merton, of Burlington, under the firm name of Ryan & Merton. with office in Waukesha, and this partnership still continues. Mr. Ryan has been engaged in many important cases since the forma- · tion of this last-named partnership, the most important. perhaps. being the Waukesha pipe line suits. Mr. Ryan was appointed postmaster of Waukesha by President Cleveland January 10th, 1895, and this position he held until the change of administra- tion. In politics he has always affiliated with the Democratic party. He was the nominee of that party in 1888 for Attorney General of the State, and, in IS98, was prominently mentioned for the Democratic nomination for Governor. He has in many ways been prominent and useful in councils and campaigns of his party. He is a member of the Catholic church, the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin and the Catholic Order of Forest- ers. Mr. Ryan was married on the 5th of October. 188;, to Mary E. Bannon, of Waukesha, and they have three children living- Margaret. Frances and Agnes Josephine.
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JULIUS E. ROEHR.
State Senator Julius E. Roehr is the son of a native of Ger- many, Edward Roehr, who was connected with the revolution of 1848, and who. upon the failure of that struggle for freedom, fleu to the United States in the disguise of a sailor, landing in New York destitute of money or means of any kind, and without friends. Determined to make his way. the refugee began carrying and selling newspapers, then opened a bookstore, and finally founded a newspaper in Brooklyn. N. Y., whch he called "The Brooklyn Freie Presse," and which is now published by one of his sons, Henry, and is the only German daily in that city. Mr. Roehr retired from the business in 1872, in good financial circumstances. Edward Rochr. the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a soldier in the German army, and was among the first who were (32)
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awarded the iron cross. Julius E. Roehr was born in Brooklyn, New York, March 6th. 1860. where he attended the public schools for several years. Coming to Milwaukee in 1872, he resumed his studies in the public schools here, continuing them for a year or more, when he went to work for the real estate firm of Becher & Milbrath, at four dollars a week. He remained in this position until 1879, when he entered the law department of the University of Wisconsin, from which he was graduated in 18SI. He then be- gan the practice of law with Leander Wyman, at the corner of Reed and Lake streets, Milwaukee; and this partnership was con- tinued for five years, until Mr. Wyman's death. Since then Mr. Roehr has conducted the business alone, and has met with very flattering success. He has been engaged in some important cases. and has a large practice in commercial and real estate law. He was appointed Court Commissioner by Judge D. H. Johnson, in 1888, and reappointed for another term of six years in 1894. Mr. Roelir has been a Republican since he reached the age of maturity, and cast his first vote for James A. Garfield for President. He was a candidate for member of the Assembly in 1890, and in 1892 was nominated for Judge of the Superior Court, but in both cases failed of an election, owing to the strong drift toward the Democracy in those years. He has been a delegate to many State and county conventions, was Chairman of the Congressional Convention in the Fourth District of the State in August, 1896, delegate to the Na- tional Republican Convention at St. Louis in 1896 from the Fourth Congressional District, and zealously supported Mckinley for President, both in the ranks and on the stump. In November, 1896, he was elected State Senator in the Eighth District over Mi- chael Kruszka, by a plurality of 1,018. Mr. Rochr is a member of the Iroquois Club, member of the South Side Gymnastic Associa- tion, the Knights of Pythias, the Deutscher Club, the National U'n- ion, the Milwaukee Musical Society, the South Side Educational Society and of several minor associations. He was married May 28th, 1882, to Miss Emma Krueger. They have three children.
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PLINY NORCROSS.
Among the citizens of Wisconsin who have done much to con- tribute to hier prosperity is Captain Pliny Norcross of Janesville. He was born November 16, 1838, at Templeton, Worcester county, Massachusetts, and is a descendant of Jeremiah Norcross, one of the four brothers who came from England in 1636 and set- tled in Boston. His father was a farmer, and removed from Mas- sachusetts to La Grange, Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1852. To the age of 15 Pliny remained on his father's farm. He attended the common school. and also studied-one term each- at the Milton and Albion Academies. In the fall of 1858 he entered Milton Academy, and spent two years there. In 1860 he began a course of study at the Wisconsin State University, con- tinuing through the ensuing winter. Then came President Lin- coln's call for troops. Pliny Norcross was the first from the Uni- versity to enlist in response to that call. He was also the first from Rock county. The organization which he joined was the Governor's Guards. It was assigned to the First . Wisconsin Infantry, and was known as Co. K. commanded by Captain, afte :- ward General, Lucius Fairchild. At the request of his fellow-" students, young Norcross was appointed Corporal. The only bat- tle in which he participated was that of Falling Waters, the first in which Wisconsin troops were engaged. When his term of enlistment had expired. Corporal Norcross returned to his studies, but the bugle of war sounded so shrilly in his ears that he pro- ceeded to Milton. where he recruited and organized what became Co. K, of the Thirteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry. He was unanimously elected Captain. The regiment went into camp at Janesville, and went to the front in January, 1862, continuing in active service till the close of the war. Captain Norcross was frequently detailed for special service. In the winter of 1863-4. he was in command of a special detachment in charge of ordnance stores at Nashville, Tennessee, occupying the office of the Mayor, . who had found it advisable to secure quarters outside of the Union lines. When not on detail duty. Captain Norcross was with his company until the expiration of his term of service, when he . returned home. For seventeen years Captain Norcross was
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