History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895, Part 75

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. cn
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago and New York, American Biographical Publishing Co
Number of Pages: 840

USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895 > Part 75

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It may be stated on the same authority, that a descendant, in a later generation, removed to Vir-

ginia, and became the progenitor of a southern branch of the family, representatives of which have achieved distinction in the states of South Carolina and Georgia, and also in the United States Senate and House of Representatives.

Judge Baker also knew the connection between other collateral branches of the family for a very extended period, and the relation of the early American groups to each other. Frederick But- ler the author, and the late Thomas Belden But- ler chief justice of Connecticut, were conspicuous descendants of Richard Butler; and other mem- bers of the northern branch of the family, notably the late attorney-general, B. F. Butler, of New York, have achieved national celebrity. Many others of the same name have brightened the pages of American history with their achieve- ments, and all the early American families, includ- ing the Kentucky and Philadelphia Butlers, sprang from the house of Ormonde. The author of Hudibras, in common with other Butlers of his day, spelled his name Boteler, a transition from the Norman Le Botelier, the designation given the family by Henry II.

Among the descendants of the Hartford colonist was Deacon Isaac Butler, a native of Litchfield, Connecticut, and a soldier in the Revolutionary War. His wife was a near relative of Gen. Wil- liam Hull and his nephew Commodore Isaac Hull the famous commander of the "Constitution." and a Damascus rapier, sheathed in " Constitution Oak," which was presented to Commodore Hull, is now in the possession of a member of Mr. Butler's family.

At the close of the War of Independence Isaac Butler settled in Fairfield, Vermont, where he reared a large family of sons and daughters, all of whom were educated beyond the standards of that day, several of the sons becoming physicians of much professional eminence in western New York. The second of these sons was Dr. A. R. R. Butler, father of the subject of this sketch. who married Matilda Stone, a descendant of Major Stone, of Piermont, New Hampshire, a pros- perous and intelligent man of Scotch-Irish extrac- tion, who served with credit in the French and Indian wars. President Chester A. Arthur, a cousin of Mrs. Dr. Butler, was one of many distinguished descendants of Major Stone, and joined with other representatives of the family in erecting a monu- ment to his memory at Piermont, where the honse

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which he occupied more than a century since is still in possession of one of his descendants.

Dr. Butler removed to Alexander, Genesee county, New York, in 1822, and practiced his profession there up to the time of his death which occurred in 1858. He was a man of strong men- tality and striking personal appearance and not only conspicuous as a citizen and physician, chief magistrate of his town, and president of the County Medical Society, but generally beloved by the people of all the surrounding country.

His son, A. R. R. Butler-whose personal history is a part of the history of the Wisconsin bar-was born in Fairfield, Vermont, September 4, 1821. The removal of his parents to the state of New York occurred a year later, and he grew to manhood, in the midst of environments admir- ably adapted to the quickening of mental, moral, and physical development. The village of Alex- ander, which lies in the Eden of the Empire state, was settled by the best people of New England, and has always evidenced the benign influences of its origin. While the people were plain, they were cultivated and refined, and the social and intellectual atmosphere in which Mr. Butler lived during the early years of his life, was healthful and invigorating. He was educated at a famous old time academy in Alexander, having as his companions and compeers such men as Frank Lee Benedict, the novelist; Robert Stevens, the lawyer and railroad prince of Kansas; William Tilden Blodgett, the principal founder of the Metropoli- ton Museum of Art in New York; Lyman C. Draper, the main stay of the Wisconsin Historical Society at Madison, and Thomas M. Cooley, the eminent jurist of Michigan. Among those whose instruction these young men received at the Alexander Academy was Prof. Massett, a graduate of an English university and later professor in Columbia College, and Prof. Robert Blennerhas- sett, a brilliant university bred Irishman, whose blood relationship with Aaron Burr's associate bespeaks his talents. With the professor's brother, Richard S. Blennerhassett, a lawyer of great ability, Mr. Butler studied for the bar. He com- pleted his preparation for his chosen profession in Buffalo in the spring of 1846 in the office of IIiram Barton, and in the autumn of the same year removed to Milwaukee. Before establishing him- self permanently in this city he married Miss Orvilla Lurana Tanner, a kinswoman of Francis

and Gideon Granger of New York, cabinet officers under Jefferson and Madison, and Gen. Gordon Granger of Kentucky. A cultivated and intelli- gent lady of strong and well balanced character, Mrs. Butler has shared with her husband an ideal domestic life, and of their union has been born one son-John A. Butler-whose contributions to leading magazines, his " Pen Pictures of Dresden life" and his untiring efforts in behalf of pure municipal politics, proclaim him to be no degen- erate son of worthy ancestors.

The impression which Mr. Butler made upon the bar at the outset of his career was favorable, and about two years after he opened his office he was chosen district attorney of Milwaukee county. He was then but twenty-eight years of age, and the position was one which made it necessary for him to confront the leaders of a bar which has had no superior in the Western states, in the character of its legal talent. A ·timid nature would have shrunk from these responsibilities, but there was no such thing as timidity in young Butler. Modest and unassuming, he was at the same time spirited and courgeous, and when he found the giants of the bar arrayed against him, he was not overawed but. inspired to heroic effort. In view of this fact, it is probable that nothing better could have happened to him than his elec- tion to the district attorneyship. Rising to the emergency, he met every requirement of the posi- tion ably, and reference to some criminal trials which occupied his attention as public prosecutor will accomplish the double purpose of enabling us to measure his legal stature and of chronicling at the same time interesting early history.

On April 14, 1851, David Ross, a South side merchant, was murdered for the sake of a sum of gold, the proceeds of a recent clearance sale of his stock of goods. His body was found on Grove street near his former residence, the head shock- ingly cut, the face badly bruised and the skull cloven in. The belt containing his money had disappeared, but so hasty had been the deed that the murdered man's gold watch and a small por- tion of the money were left near the body. Sus- picion at once pointed to William Ratcliffe, a Second ward blacksmith, a repulsive appearing Welshman who had been in Ross' society on the day of the murder, who was cognizant of his pos- session of the money and who was not unfamiliar to the officers of the law. Ratcliffe was arrested

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and in due course was tried at the Circuit Court before Judge Hubbell. Mr. Butler was assisted by Edward G. Ryan, while the defense was con- ducted by Jonathan E. Arnold and Abram D. Smith, the latter subsequently one of the justices of the Supreme Court. The evidence was purely circumstantial, but so skillfully had the testimony been marshalled by the district attorney that the proof was deemed to be overwhelming, and con- viction was prophesied by the press and by citizens generally. The verdict "not guilty " was followed by indignation meetings and by serious threats of lynching from which fate the accused was saved only by a sudden downpour of rain, which dispersed the crowd determined to mete out justice after that fashion. It should be added that two of the jury were fanatically opposed to capital punishment (which had not then been abolished) and by their active influence in the privacy of the jury room systematically neutralized the testimony of each day, so that the jury never considered or weighed the entire chain of circumstances together, with unbiased intellects. A fellow lawyer who had heard Mr. Butler's presentation of this case recalls his impressions as follows : " In 1852 I heard Mr. Butler make a masterly argument in the prosecu- tion of Ratcliffe for the murder of Ross, wherein circumstantial evidence seemed even more con- vincing than that of eye witnesses. It was a cel- ebrated case. The argument was nobly logical, and the great hall was crowded day after day with an immense audience."

Not long after occurred the famous Mary Ann Wheeler murder case, in the trial of which moral insanity was first pleaded in this state. This young woman had been wronged, as she claimed, by John M. W. Lace. On October 11, 1852, seeing Lace in front of Hopkin's book store on Wisconsin street, she stepped up behind him, placed a pistol at the back of his head and in- stantly killed him. Scrutiny of her person dis- closed a dirk, which she had intended to use if necessary to obtain a fatal result. Her trial be- gan in the midst of the most intense excitement, May 16, 1853. Mr. Butler was assisted by Henry L. Palmer, and the defense was conducted by Jonathan E. Arnold and two lawyers from Ohio. During the trial, which lasted seven days, letters of a compromising nature, which the young lady had written to Lace, were introduced in evidence, and it was proved that he had exhibited these

letters to his companions as a proof of his gallan- try. The defense was temporary insanity, pro- duced by the woman's knowledge of her lover's breech of confidence in exhibiting the letters and by her fears of the later consequences of her wrongful act. The case was most ably presented, and Mr. Butler exhibited great ingenuity and skill in meeting the then novel issue of moral, as distinguished from mental, insanity. The jury, after being out three days and three nights, failed to agree and were discharged. A new trial im- mediately began amidst the keenest mental tension of the populace, the whole city seeming to take sides. The same ability characterized the presen- tation of the evidence, but the chivalry of the jury was against the state, and a verdict " not guilty for reason of insanity " was recorded.

In these two celebrated cases, though unsuc- cessful in producing conviction, Mr. Butler's rep- utation as an acute criminal lawyer was thor- oughly established. He was twice re-elected district attorney and refused further tender of the office when more profitable civil practice began to engross his time and attention. For the rest of his active career he constantly occu- pied a leading position in important litigation, measuring swords with, and winning victories from, the ablest lawyers.

To Mr. Butler's mental traits was added a fine appearance as an important equipment of his pro- fession. Spirited and handsome, he was candid and earnest in his manner, and his demeanor was always marked by dignity and reserve. Senator Carpenter at a later period said of him, "He looks the great lawyer more than any man I ever saw," and this statement from one of the leaders of his profession, the president of the Senate of the United States, who studied with Choate, and sat at the feet of Webster, was a compliment as high as it was characteristically generous.

It was not in criminal law that Mr. Butler found his greatest satisfaction. In all the branches of the civil jurisdiction he was sought by clients and was largely successful. His causes abound in the decisions of the Supreme Court. Almost at random the twentieth volume of Supreme Court reports has been examined. Seven cases in which he was retained are there presented, in six of which he was successful. One of these was an action in which he was especially happy, a suit against a railroad corporation for damages

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for personal injuries. In this case (Blair and wife os. Milwaukee & Prairie du Chien Railway Com- pany, 20 Wis. 254) a verdict for eight thousand dollars against the corporation for an injury to Mrs. Blair was affirmed. Mr. Butler likewise secured, upon a second trial, a verdict for ten thousand dollars for injury received in the same accident by the husband of Mrs. Blair. This ver- dict was submitted to by the defendant without appeal. Another somewhat similar action was twice in the Supreme Court of the state (Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad Company vs. Curtiss 23 Wisconsin 152; Curtiss vs. Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad Company 27 Wisconsin 158). A verdict for Mrs. Curtiss for fifteen thousand dollars was finally sustained by the Appellate Court, and, indeed, eleven of the jury held out for a time for double that sum. The opposing counsel were Nor- man J. Emmons of Milwaukee and his brother H. H. Emmons of Detroit, afterward United States Circuit Judge. The latter having occasion subsequently to introduce Mr. Butler to the direc- tors of the defendant railroad company in Chi- cago, referred to him as "The lawyer who wrung from the jury at Milwaukee, the other day a ver- dict of fifteen thousand dollars for barking an old woman's shins," a compliment in its manner and language rarely paid by a lawyer to an antag- onist who had won a great victory in a hotly contested case. These were the first personal injury cases in the state in which large verdicts had been sustained, and Mr. Butler was credited by his professional brethren, and by the courts, with having managed, tried and argued them with consummate tact and ability.

In quite a different field was the Olivet Church litigation, in which Mr. Butler was associated with Mr. Palmer and Mr. Asahel Finch. The con- troversy being an ecclesiastical one, aroused bitter feeling, but the facts are unnecessary for the pres- ent purpose. Mr. Butler's argument was the sub- ject of enthusiastic comment throughout the state by lawyers, clergymen and citizens at large, and the opinion of all was summed up in this statement of a correspondent of a leading Chicago paper : "The argument of Mr. Butler, just concluded, was pro- nounced by leading lawyers who heard it a master-piece of forensic eloquence, rarely equalled and never surpassed in a Milwaukee court-room."

The case of Ryan vs. Martin, twice in the Su- preme Court (16 Wis. 57; 18 Wis. 672), deserves

brief notice on its merits, and because it brought into interesting association the three men who were undoubtedly the leaders of the bar of the state at the time it was tried. Edward G. Ryan. afterwards chief justice, and Matthew H. Carpenter, who had been in partnership as law- yers, dissolved this relation with some bitterness of feeling. One of their clients, a Mr. Martin, preferring to be represented by Mr. Carpenter, dismissed Mr. Ryan, who thereupon brought suit foran agreed fee of fifteen thousand dollars, Mr. Martin retained Mr. Carpenter to defend the case and Mr. Ryan chose Mr. Butler to represent him at the trial. The case went to the Supreme Court on demurrer (16 Wis. 57), which being overruled, it was tried, on change of venue, in Dodge county. In the course of the trial, which lasted a full week, Mr. Butler was taken seriously ill and his voice failed him at a critical point, when it was neces- sary to argue a motion which involved the merits of the case. Whispering his condition to his client, Mr. Ryan, he suggested the submission of the motion without argument, or that Mr. Ryan himself should argue it. The latter replied, "I will not verify the old adage of the profession that a lawyer who tries his own case has a fool for a client, but will ask the court to adjourn until you can go on with the argument." The permis- sion was accorded, the trial when concluded re- sulted in a complete victory for Mr. Butler's client, and the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment (18 Wis. 672).

In no sense a specialist in his profession, Mr. Butler was at home in every branch of the prac- tice, thoroughly equipped to meet any demand that might be made upon him ; a general, equally ready for the skirmish, the pitched battle, or the prolonged legal siege. His self poise, was admirable. If in any special field of prac- tice his ability was more strikingly demon- strated than in any other, it was in that of advocacy, and it is the testimony of those of his contemporaries now living, that he displayed remarkable power in the presentation of his cases to juries. In the marshaling of facts, and in the arrangement and presentation of strong points in evidence in such a way as to convince juries of the righteousness of his cause, it is said that he has hardly had an equal at the bar of Milwaukee. Equally earnest and impressive he appears to have been when arguing questions of law and equity

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before the courts. A member of the bar, who on one occasion listened to one of Mr. Butler's argu- ments before a Probate Court, commenting upon its power, thus deseribes the manner and appear- ance of the distinguished lawyer on that occasion : " In addition to the irresistible logie of his argu- ment I shall never forget the fascination of his voice and the power of his personality. He seemed to me, as a young man, like a vehement intellectual force shaken by its own energies, battling along the heights of moral and intel- lectual controversy with overwhelming conclusive- ness and power. He was autoeratie, impressive, and earnest to the point of exaltation, and at the same time facile, wonderfully persuasive, and full of a spirit of candor that seemed to double the force of all his other qualities."

Mr. Butler's devotion to his profession com- pelled his uniform refusal of all offers of political preferment. His opinion was, and he often so ex- pressed himself, that a place in the front rank of the legal profession, well won and worthily held, in competition with great lawyers, was higher honor than attached to the holding of any public office. Aside from the office of district attorney, which he held soon after he came to Milwaukee, all other positions were refused. In 1869 he was urged to contest the chief justiceship of the state against Luther S. Dixon, and was nominated by a Democratic legislative caucus, but he inflexibly deelined the candidacy and published his refusal throughout the state. Notwithstanding this, he was given complimentary majorities in various distriets. This was notably true in Milwaukee county, which he carried by one hundred and seventeen majority.

During Mr. Butler's absence in Europe in the summer of 1874, his name was presented without his knowledge by the bar of his home county and other counties, with flattering unanimity, for ap- pointment to the office of chief justice on the resignation of Judge Dixon, but as Mr. Butler's preferenee was unknown, and there was need of immediate decision, Mr. Ryan received the ap- pointment. It is no disparagement to the memory of that distinguished jurist to remark that the oe- eupancy of this position by Mr. Butler would have placed in the chief judicial position of the state one whose superior talents and gentle dig- nity would have bestowed peculiar lustre upon the exalted office. Moreover, the position would have

been more congenial to his tastes and habits than any politieal office. He was also very strongly urged on several occasions to accept the nomina- tion for Congress, when a nomination was equiva- lent to election, but unqualifiedly refused.

In 1876. the centennial year, the desire was general in Milwaukee that a man of marked ability should occupy the office of mayor of the city. It was known that many bodies of national importance, like the Bankers' Association of the United States, would hold conventions here, and it was desired that a man who would do the city peculiar eredit should be elected. Mr. Butler, who had shortly before this, at about the age of sixty years, retired from active practice, was the unanimous choice of the Democratie press and of the Democratic convention which met to name a candidate for that office. The leading Demo- eratic newspaper, the Daily News, said of him:

"The manifestly growing sentiment of the city in favor of Hon. A. R. R. Butler for mayor, shows a disposition on the part of the voters to make the office count for all it is worth. He may not be the only man in the Democratic party who can do this, but he is pre-eminently a man about whom there is no doubt of his ability to do it to the fullest extent. An old-time citizen and unswerv- ing, but moderate Democrat; of integrity unim- peached and unimpeachable; of intelligence of a high order; a reputation for faithfulness to all trusts; universally esteemed by all parties, his elec- tion to the position of mayor would not be his triumph so much as the triumph of every man who votes for him, and every citizen for whom ever he votes. The News does not nominate him, the people seem to have nominated him already."

Against his inclination and repeated protests, he finally accepted the nomination thus tendered, and the feeling of the community with which he had been so long identified, was forcibly illustra- ted when the Sentinel, the leading Republican paper of the eity, commented upon the nomina- tion as follows :

"It is a hopeful circumstance when a citizen of such high character and standing is nominated against his own wishes and protests, over politi- cians who have sought the office, and we believe that the people of the city should show their ap- preciation, not only of Mr. Butler, but of the commendable disposition and good judgment of

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the convention in nominating him by making his election unanimous."

The advice of the Sentinel was followed by the Republican party, and Mr. Butler was elected without opposition, a compliment never before or since paid to a candidate for the mayor- alty of Milwaukee. He proved, as the people had expected, an ideal official, but at the close of his term sought the retirement to which his years of earnest and successful effort entitled him. At the conclusion of his professional career he retired to his country home, and has ever since made that his place of residence. He transferred his large and well selected library and numerous works of art to the country, where unfortunately many of his collections were destroyed by fire some years since. His travels both in this and foreign countries have been extensive, and in later years he has replaced many of the treasures gathered in earlier life and lost in the fire which destroyed his home.

Succeeding Jonathan E. Arnold as president of the Bar Association of Milwaukee county, he held that position for many years, occupying it some time after he had retired from active service. At a banquet given by the Bar Association of Milwaukee, on May 19, 1893, Judge Jenkins of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, in responding to a sentiment, feelingly alluded to the great lawyers who led the profession at his coming to Milwaukee in 1857, most of whom had passed from earth, and thus spoke of the subject of this sketch: "There has come to me a message from an old and honored member of this bar. It comes from a bed of pain and suffering, a message from one some time withdrawn from active practice, but whose love for his chosen profession suffers no abatement. It is a commission from one who stood in the front rank of the bar, at the top round of the ladder of professional fame, when, a young man, I started at the foot. It is from one who was the associate and peer of those intel- lectual giants of our profession, Chief Justice Ryan and Jonathan E. Arnold. He asks me to present to your consideration a toast expressive of the character and nobility of the profession of which he is a distinguished member. I feel hon- ored in being the medium selected for its sub- mission to you, and beg leave to offer, in behalf of the sender, the Hon. A. R. R. Butler, the fol- lowing:

"The bar, in all ages and through all history has fearlessly stood by the right and condemned the wrong; it has been the steadfast friend of lib- erty and the uncompromising foe of oppression ; it has been the conservator of public morals and the bulwark of public liberty ; and if we would transmit this rich heritage to those who are to come after us, unimpaired, it behooves us to main- tain the high character for integrity, learning and ability which has characterized the profession from the earliest time to the present."

The toast was received by the bar with great applause, and as it was, perhaps, the last public utterance of Mr. Butler on the subject, and justi- fies and accounts for the singleness of his devotion to the profession, to the exclusion of all other avenues to distinction, it may fitly close this sketch.

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History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895, Part 75

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. cn Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago and New York, American Biographical Publishing Co Number of Pages: 840

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. cn
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago and New York, American Biographical Publishing Co
Number of Pages: 840