USA > Wisconsin > Fond du Lac County > Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume I > Part 24
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 (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
A. M. Blair has said of Judge Taylor as a legislator that "he was quiet, care- ful and attentive, looking up all questions thoroughly ; never aggressive, never in search of new ways to pay old debts, but looking after defects in the old law and devising a new way to make the old better, instead of taking a new way to accomplish the same thing. He endeavored to understand everything, and to favor nothing he did not understand. He was not a brilliant member of either house. · In his first session his merits were not appreciated or perhaps not per- ceived. The first and third sessions of the legislature in which he served were active and stirring ones. In the first a trial by impeachment of Judge Hubbell was held, and in the third there was during its session a trial to ascertain who was the legal governor. The deceased took no special part in either."
Judge Taylor's judicial career began in 1857 on his appointment by Governor Bashford to the judgeship of the fourth circuit to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge William R. Gorsline. He was elected to fill the unex- pired portion of the term, and upon its expiration was chosen for a full term, thus extending his service as circuit judge until January 1, 1869, having failed of reelection the previous April. Campbell McLean was his successor. The mem- orial of the bar of the supreme court, prepared by W. H. Seaman, S. U. Pinney, W. C. Silverthorn, F. C. Winkler and Elihu Colman, expressed that during his service on the circuit bench Judge Taylor earned wide reputation for judicial ability.
On his retirement from the bench Judge Taylor resumed the practice of the law at Sheboygan, remaining there until 1872, when he removed to Fond du Lac and entered into partnership with J. M. Gillet and subsequently with George E. Sutherland. His practice was large and increased up to the time of his election as associate justice of the supreme court.
In 1857 the legislature provided for the appointment of commissioners "to collect, compile and digest the general laws of the state" for publication. The governor appointed David Taylor, Samuel J. Todd and F. S. Lovell to perform that work. The result was the revised statutes of 1858. By 1871 Judge Taylor had prepared and there was published "The revised statutes of the state of Wis-
200
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
consin, as altered and amended by subsequent legislation; together with the unrepealed statutes of a general nature passed from the time of the revision of 1858 to the close of the legislature of 1871, arranged in the same manner as the statutes of 1858; with references showing the time of the enactment of each sec- tion, and also references to judicial decisions in relation to and explanatory of the statutes." The preparation of this work ( there being two volumes, aggregat- ing more than two thousand two hundred pages) was a great undertaking, re- quiring patient industry and the closest application. These statutes came into general use and were known as "Taylor's Statutes." They were so satisfactory to the bench and bar that when, in 1875, the legislature provided for a new re- vision of the statutes Judge Taylor, with William F. Vilas and J. P. C. Cottrill, was designated by the justices of the supreme court to prepare a bill for that purpose. The result of the labors of these gentlemen and Messrs. Harlow S. Orton and J. H. Carpenter, who, two years later, were selected to assist them, was the revised statutes of 1878. Judge Taylor served as the president of this commission.
In 1877 an amendment to the constitution was adopted increasing the num- ber of justices of the supreme court from three to five. By an understanding reached between the republican and democratic members of the legislature the additional members of the court thus provided for were to be taken one from each of these parties ; and a caucus of each party was held by members of the legislature for the purpose of selecting the candidates of each. The republican caucus, by a very close vote, chose Judge Taylor as its candidate, the leading candidate in opposition to him being William E. Carter, then of the Grant county bar, now a practitioner in Milwaukee. In April, 1878, Judge Taylor was elected without opposition as an associate justice of the supreme court and drew the short term of eight years, Harlow S. Orton drawing the ten-year term. Both sat on the bench of the supreme court for the first time, April 18, 1878. At the expiration of his term Judge Taylor was reelected without opposition for the ten years ending in January, 1896. His first written opinion is reported on page 49 of the 44th volume Wisconsin reports, and his last in volume 79, page 471; so that his labors in the supreme court are represented by thirty-six volumes of its reports. He prosecuted his labors almost without interruption 11p to the 3d of April. 1891, without any diminution of his powers, and in the after- noon of that day, after working as was his wont, went to his home and within an hour or so was dead.
On the 3d of June, 1891, formal proceedings were had in the supreme court in commemoration of the life of Judge Taylor. Addresses were made by W. H. Seaman, who presented the memorial of the bar of that court, William F. Vilas, A. M. Blair and Charles E. Estabrook.
CAMPBELL M'LEAN
Campbell McLean, who succeeded David Taylor on the bench, was a native of Washington county, New York. In his childhood his family removed to Clinton county, New York, where he received an academic education. His legal education was obtained in the office of George A. Simmons, at Keeseville, in his native state, where he was admitted to the bar. In 1856 he came to Wisconsin
201
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
and in October of that year located at Fond du Lac. In 1862 he was a member of the assembly. In April, 1868, he was elected judge of the fourth circuit and six years later was reelected, serving in that office until January 1, 1881. In the spring of 1882 he removed to Plattsburgh, Clinton county, New York.
NORMAN S. GILSON
Judge Norman S. Gilson, who in 1898 declined to be a candidate for reelec- tion to the judgeship of the fourth judicial circuit for the fourth term, is one of the well known jurists in the state. He was born on the Western Reserve in Ohio in 1839. He taught school in his native state in 1859-60, and early in 1861 entered the law office of his uncle, the late Leander F. Frisby, of West Bend. The breaking out of the Civil war interrupted his law studies, and in September, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company D, Twelfth Wisconsin Infantry, and was soon promoted to sergeant major of the regiment, the Twelfth at that time doing service in Missouri and Kansas. The regiment was soon after transferred to the army of the Tennessee, and for a time he was on detached duty with the staff of General Robert B. Mitchell. He remained with the army until the cap- ture of Jackson, Mississippi, in July, 1863. In the following August he was commissioned first lieutenant of Company H, Fifty-eighth Regiment United States Colored Infantry. He was rapidly promoted to the position of adjutant and finally became lieutenant colonel of the regiment. He took part in the seige of Vicksburg and in the battles of Jackson and Perryville and several other prominent engagements.
Colonel Gilson served on the staff of Major General Davidson, and was as- signed to duty as judge advocate of the Natchez district. In 1865-66 he was judge advocate of the department of the Mississippi, serving at the time on the staffs of Major General Osterhaus and Major General Thomas J. Wood. Al- though his regiment was mustered out of service in 1865, Colonel Gilson was retained on duty for more than a year afterwards by the direction of the sec- retary of war on account of being judge advocate of the court martial convened for the trial of Captain Speed for criminal carelessness in overloading the steamer Sultana, whereby the lives of eleven hundred paroled prisoners of war were lost. Colonel Gilson had the honor of thus appearing for the government in the most important military trial held on the Mississippi during the war. He was mustered out of service June 12, 1866, at Vicksburg, and was brevetted colonel of United States volunteers by President Johnson for the efficiency and faithfulness with which he discharged all the duties devolving upon him, thus retiring from the army at the end of nearly five years of constant service with a record creditable alike to his ability, his valor and his patriotism.
Colonel Gilson returned to Wisconsin to reengage in his law studies, which included a full course at the Albany school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1867. At the same time he was admitted to the supreme court of New York. He then opened an office in Fond du Lac, and at once was recognized as a conscientious and well read lawyer, which soon brought him popularity and a large practice. In 1874 he was elected city attorney of Fond du Lac, and after one year of service was elected district attorney. Occupying a conspicuous position at the bar, he was an easy candidate for the judgeship of the fourth
.
202
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
judicial circuit, and received the democratic nomination in March, 1880, and was elected by over 8,000 majority. He was reelected without opposition in 1886 and again in 1892. Among the notable murder cases tried in Manitowoc county were Anna Straka for the death of Miss Hayward; George Ratksack for killing his wife with an ax; and Louisa Schroeder for poisoning her husband; in She- boygan county, that of William Gaedeke for shooting his brother; Peter Deegen for shooting a tenant on his farm in Ozaukee county. William Morris, charged with shooting a young lady in Manitowoc county, was one of widespread inter- est, and was tried by counsel of great zeal and ability ; the evidence was all cir- cumstantial and Morris was acquitted. In Fond du Lac county the following persons were tried for murder: John P. Hoffman, George Seayer and Herman Sass, a hired man, for killing his employer ; besides many other cases of homi- cide.
In 1881 Robert A. Baker, a banker of Fond du Lac county, failed. He was charged with receiving deposits, knowing that he was insolvent. General Bragg applied for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that the statute was invalid. Judge Gilson refused to discharge Baker, and on an appeal to the supreme court the act was held valid, which was the first decision on that point in the state.
In 1887 John Jacob Hoffmann, pastor of St. Peter's Lutheran Unity church of Sheboygan, with his wife and children, were forcibly ejected from the par- sonage by members of the church. Innumerable suits of every nature followed. For several terms Hoffmann's troubles occupied a large share of the time. He hired and discharged one lawyer after another until he was without an attorney and compelled to manage his own affairs. He was present every morning at the opening of court with some sort of a motion, and if permitted would talk indefinitely.
He filed charges or brought actions against every one who came within the range of the church difficulties. In his opinion one or two of the attorneys ought to have been disbarred, and, because Judge Gilson did not agree with him, he brought action against the Judge for damages, which was dismissed by Judge Sloan, after a trial. The bell of the church was cast out of a cannon contributed by Count Von Moltke. Since the church war subsided the church has burned and the bell has gone to the junk shop.
During Judge Gilson's term a great number of civil suits were tried, many of them involving large and important interests, and requiring decisions in every branch of the law.
MICHAEL KIRWAN
Michael Kirwan was born in Ireland in 1847, but came to Wisconsin in 1849 and located in Manitowoc county in 1855. He was brought up on a farm, edu- cated in the public schools and taught therein for several years. He served as county superintendent of schools for Manitowoc county from 1870 to 1875, and for the third term was nominated by both political parties and elected without opposition. In 1874 he became a member of the state board of examiners for teachers' certificates and in 1876 was elected secretary of the state teachers' asso- ciation. He decided to enter the practice of law and was admitted to the bar in 1878. In that year he was nominated by both political parties for the office of
203
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
county judge of Manitowoc county, was elected without opposition and held that office until 1882. From 1890 to 1896 he was a member of the board of regents of normal schools of Wisconsin. He was elected in April, 1898, as a non- partisan candidate to the office of circuit judge of the fourth judicial circuit of Wisconsin, receiving 13,228 votes against 8,280 votes for A. C. Prescott, also a non-partisan candidate.
EDWARD S. BRAGG
Edward S. Bragg was born in Unadilla, Otsego county, New York, on the 20th day of February, 1827. His father's name was Joel Bragg. He was born in the town of Paulett, Rutland county, Vermont, February 26, 1784, and was of English descent and Revolutionary stock.
Joel Bragg's father died when he was twelve years old and the young boy went into the then wilderness of the state of New York to seek his fortune. He found a habitation after a good deal of wandering about, in the upper part of the Chenango valley in that state, where he commenced his life, having for com- panions Indians and early settlers. From this start he grew to be a man re- spected by all who knew him for his sound judgment, his probity and integrity, inflexible determination, energy and untiring industry. He was wholly self- made. without the benefit of any education except such as he taught himself. He was a clear, sound thinker, and possessed an acute and incisive intellect, which made him a natural lawyer, but he never essayed to practice, but followed farming, milling and lumbering for his calling in life. He died at his home in Unadilla, on the roth day of January, 1870-not from disease, but because his mortal machinery was worn out.
Margaretha Kohl, a German by birth, was Joel Bragg's wife, and mother of Edward S. Bragg. She was born in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1787, and was given a good, practical education by her parents. She was married to Joel Bragg, in the city of Baltimore, at St. Paul's church, October 16, 1822. She was a good wife and an affectionate, devoted and indulgent mother, generous and hospitable and with energy and industry, which carried her fully abreast with her husband in the accomplishment of the purposes which he under- took. She died at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, February 23, 1871.
There were born as the fruits of this marriage five children-four sons and one daughter. All of the boys, except Edward S. died without issue, and with his decease the family name of this branch of the family has become extinct.
Edward S. Bragg, the subject of this memoir, at the early age of twelve years selected the law as the profession which he intended to follow, and was educated with express reference thereto. His early education, covering the rudiments of a practical education, were received at the district school, and closed in his twelfth year. From that time he was taught, preparatory for a college course, in four of the most celebrated academies of that day in that section of New York -at Oxford, Chenango county ; at Delhi, Delaware county; at Franklin, in Delaware county ; and at Gilbertsville, in Otsego county. In 1844 he was ad- mitted to the freshman class in Geneva (now Hobart) college, New York, which institution conferred upon him, June 22, 1898, the degree of LL. D. He remained there, following the course of study in the curriculum until the summer of 1847,
.
204
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
when he closed his college career and entered the law office of Judge Charles C. Noble, at Unadilla, in the state of New York, from whom he had secured the right to a chair in his office at the early age of twelve years, by personal negotia- tion.
In 1848 he was admitted to the bar of the state of New York, upon an open court examination. He came to Wisconsin in 1850 and opened a law office at Fond du Lac, where he remained until his death. On the 2d day of January, 1854. he married Cornelia Colman, a granddaughter of Colonel Nathaniel Roch- ester, one of the founders of the city of Rochester, New York, which was named for him.
Six children were born of this marriage-three sons and three daughters. Two of the sons, Harry Sweet and Rochester, died in childhood; William Kohl died at the age of twenty-one after graduation with honor at the Pennsylvania military academy. The eldest daughter, Kate Colman, married Clarence W. Henry, and died October 18, 1895, at the age of forty-one. The second daughter, Margaret, married Frank H. Sherman, a lieutenant in the United States navy ; both are still living and they have two children, Edward Bragg Sherman and Helen Leslie Sherman. The third daughter, Bertha, married George Percival Scriver, now a major in the United States army, both of whom are living, and have two children, Elizabeth and Catharine.
The subject of this memoir occupied in civil and political life the following . positions : District attorney of Fond du Lac county in 1854; delegate to the national democratic convention at Charleston in 1860; delegate to the union na- tional convention at Philadelphia in 1866; delegate to the union sailors' national convention, New York, in 1868; senator from Fond du Lac district, 1867- 69 ; and was appointed seriatim, assessor of internal revenue and postmaster at Fond du Lac, by President Johnson, in 1867, each of which appointments the senate of the United States refused to confirm because of the belief in and ad- herence to the democratic faith for which the appointee was noted. He was elected four times a member of congress from the district in which he lived, as a democrat. His service in that body covered the forty-fifth, forty-sixth, forty- seventh and forty-ninth congresses. In February, 1888, he was appointed min- ister to Mexico by President Cleveland, and served in that capacity until the ad- ministration was changed.
General Bragg was always a democrat of the old school. He was a delegate to the democratic national convention at Baltimore in 1872 ; chairman of the Wis- consin delegation in the democratic convention at Chicago in 1884, and again in 1896 ; and à delegate to the democratic national convention at Chicago in 1892.
General Bragg never made the acquaintance of Mr. Fear ; indeed, he knew of his existence only because of his observation, not from personal experience. He was plain spoken and called things by their right names. No party label was · ever strong enough to hold him in party line when he believed that the best inter- ests of his state and nation were hostile to the proposed action. A late and con- vincing proof of this was afforded by his action in the last presidential election, when he actively opposed the nominees of the national convention of the dem- ocratic party.
The editor acknowledges his obligations to Messrs. William P. Lyon and Charles E. Dyer for their estimates of General Bragg as a lawyer. and fully
1
205
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
concurs in what they have written of him. Judge Lyon has thus expressed his view :
"Prominent in the list of names of those lawyers of Wisconsin who have honored the state by their ability, brilliancy and fidelity to professional obliga- tions, will be found the name of Edward S. Bragg, who for nearly half a cen- tury, has been a central figure in the state and federal courts.
"Before General Bragg commenced practice he had acquired an unusually thorough knowledge of the elementary principles of the law, and on that solid foundation, by continued and well-directed study and thought, inspired by pro- found love of his profession and appreciation of its true dignity, he has become one of the great lawyers of the country. Although he has served with conspicu- ous ability in the halls of congress, and with equally conspicuous gallantry and patriotism as a soldier during the late war of the rebellion, and although he has given his service freely to promote the success of the political party with which he is identified, and in the councils of which he exerts a commanding influence, he has never ceased to make knowledge and successful pursuit of his profession the paramount business of his life. Comparatively few have such a record for professional fidelity, and fewer still for professional success.
"General Bragg has not only a strong, clear, analytical mind, which enables him readily to grasp and retain legal principles, but he also possesses the much rarer ability-indispensable to greatness whether as a lawyer or judge-to cor- rectly apply those principles to the facts of each case as they may be established by the evidence. He also excels in the ability, so essential to a lawyer's success, to make a clear and logical statement of such facts to the court or jury. Many a meritorious case has been lost because of an imperfect or bungling statement of facts, but it would be a surprise to the bench and bar of Wisconsin to learn that General Bragg had lost one for such a reason.
"In the speeches and writings of General Bragg little mere rhetorical orna- mentation is found, and no straining for effects. As a speaker, he is pleasing, calm and convincing, and always commands marked attention. His style is terse and vigorous, and he excels in logical power. Indeed, his premises granted, it is difficult, usually impossible, to escape his conclusions. It is not easy to deter- mine in which forum-the trial or appellate court-he is strongest, but whether in one or the other his arguments are always learned and sincere, and hence are valuable aids to the formation of correct judgment. This is the true func- tion of argument.
"It may be properly said in conclusion that General Bragg is a most consistent and faithful exponent and practitioner of true legal ethics. This is the rock upon which his reputation and all enduring professional reputations are builded. When the next generation shall make up the roll of great lawyers who lived and flourished in Wisconsin during the first half century of its existence as a state, it is confidently believed that the name of General Bragg will have thereon a prominent and honorable place."
Judge Dyer has written as follows:
"To General E. S. Bragg has long been deservedly accorded a position of leadership in the ranks of the legal profession. His prominent identification with the bar of the state began at an early period and has continued without interruption, whether actively connected with professional work at home or en-
206
HISTORY OF FOND DU LAC COUNTY
gaged in the public service of his country as soldier, legislator, or national rep- resentative abroad. No more brilliant galaxy of lawyers ever adorned the pro- fessional annals of a state than that in which he may justly claim equal mem- bership in high and meritorious service. Surviving many eminent contempo- raries, he continues to maintain a rank and reputation in the profession which no rivalship in the past or present has been adequate to abate. Nature endowed him with the qualities of a great lawyer. Born and bred to the law as the bird to the air, his equipment for the profession is as natural as it is efficient and complete. Instant in discernment, vigorous in thought and apt in expres- sion, forensic discussion becomes with him playful enjoyment in comparison with the labored efforts of those not possessed of aptitude for debate. Grounded thoroughly in fundamental principles and in the best learning of the law, he naturally and instantly distinguishes what is superficial from what is sound, and repudiating the former, takes his stand on the solid ground of elementary principle and logical reasoning, rather than on the dictum of some chance au- thority easily invoked, in support of fallacious argument. To such a lawyer, Richard Tidd is better authority than shelves of modern books of Practice and Pleading.
"By genuine right of natural possession must be accorded to General Bragg the qualities of the true, competent and accomplished lawyer. When he pro- mulgates a legal principle, whether of application or construction, he gives no . false or uncertain sound. Sharp, clear, concise, apt in statement, his conclu- sions always follow his premises in good marching order. He fights in a trial at nisi prius as he fought on the battlefield, with courage, sincerity, singleness of purpose and tenacity. Nothing escapes or eludes him. If struck, he strikes back with ease and celerity, and never loses his self-command. Pertinent in illustration, quick in repartee, clear and cogent in argument, he never loses sight of the controlling question or the main point in the case. He never shoots at random, but always at the mark. That is one of his distinguishing character- istics. His fire is never scattering, but always concentrated.
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.