USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895 > Part 79
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 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
Within a few years after he began the practice of his profession, Mr. Smith became recognized as a lawyer of superior attainments, and drew about him a large circle of clients. In 1862 he was ap- pointed by Gov. Salomon attorney-general of the state to fill out the unexpired term of James H. Howe-afterward a judge of the United States Court-who had resigned that office to enter the military service. In 1863 Mr. Smith was elected attorney-general for a full term, which expired in 1866. As the law officer of the state he dis- charged his duties with zeal, care and ability, rendering to the public, services of special value in the investigation of the claim of the Rock River Canal Company against the state. His re- port on this claim was so complete in facts and arguments, that it annihilated the grounds on
420
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.
which the claim of the company was based, and led to a subsequent adjustment between the general government and the company, in conse- quence of which over three hundred thousand dollars, long withheld from the state treasury awaiting the settlement of this claim, was paid over to the state.
For over ten years Mr. Smith served as United States Commissioner and Master in Chancery in Milwaukee, and during this period occurred the fugitive slave riots, and the prosecutions growing out of what has been known as the "Glover Rescue." He was called upon to act officially in this connection, and discharged unwelcome duties consistently with his oath, not withstanding the fact that in doing so he antagonized to a considerable extent the prevailing public sentiment, and drew upon himself unmerited criticism. Subsequent events vindicated his course of action, and his election to the attorney-generalship by one of the largest majorities ever cast for a candidate for that office in the state of Wisconsin, demonstrated that the people of the state believed both in his in- tegrity and his ability.
In 1872 he was elected to the assembly of Wis- consin, served as chairman of the judiciary com- mittee during the ensuing session, and was recog- nized as one of the ablest debators on the floor of the house. In 1876 he was tendered an appoint- ment as United States District Attorney to suc- ceed Judge Levi Hubbell, but declined the ap- pointment.
After the dissolution of his partnership with Gov. Salomon, he practiced law in partnership with Joshua Stark from 1869 to 1875. In the year last named he became associated in practice with Matthew H. Carpenter and A. A. L. Smith, and the firm thus constituted was one of the most widely known in the Northwest. With some changes of associations he continued the practice as one of the recognized leaders of the bar of the state, until his retirement a few years since to the enjoyment of a comfortable fortune and well- earned rest from professional labors.
During his professional life Mr. Smith was identified with numerous famous cases, a few of which it is not inappropriate to mention in this connection. One of these cases was the cele- brated draft-riot case, growing out of the enforce- ment of the draft of Ozaukee county, during the war. This case involved the constitutionality of
the act of Congress authorizing the conscription of citizens and their enrollment in the military service of the government, and the lawful power of the governor of the state in executing the act. On the final appeal of the case to the Supreme Court, all the acts of Gov. Salomon in en- forcing the draft, including the arrest of recalci- trant citizens and their imprisonment in the mili- tary camp at Madison, were declared to be consti- tutional and in pursuance of law. In the conduct of this case, and in defending the acts of Gov. Salomon, Mr. Smith evinced a broad knowledge of the law and thorough mastery of all the ques- tions involved in the controversy.
He was retained also in the noted litigation be- tween the stockholders of the old Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company and the old Milwau- kee & Prairie du Chien Railroad Company, and ably championed the interests of his clients in that complicated and long drawn out litigation. In later years he was a conspicuous figure in the Wells-McGeoch case, growing out of Board of Trade transactions, which attracted wide spread attention. Of Democratic antecedents Mr. Smith affiliated with that party up to the time the Re- publican party came into existence, and then transferred his allegiance to the new party. Dur- ing the war he was an ardent Unionist, and since that time has been a member of the party which conducted the war to a successful issue and es- tablished the principle of national supremacy. He has, however, apparently had no ambition for official position, and declined a United States Judgeship when offered him, and also refused to become a candidate for chief justice of Wiscon- sin and for local judicial positions, when soli- cited to do so by many friends and members of the bar.
Mr. Smith's social and domestic relations have been as happy as his professional career has been successful. Married to an amiable and accom- plished lady, a family of six children grew up about him, and for many years his home in Mil- waukee was a center of culture and refinement. Of late years he has resided a portion of the time in New England, has traveled extensively, and at the present time is sojourning abroad.
JAMES G. FLANDERS began the practice of law in this city in 1869, and has rounded out a quarter of a century of most commendable work as a member of the Milwaukee bar. The New
421
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
England family to which he belongs has contribu- ted some able and distinguished lawyers to the American bar, and eminent fitness for the profes- sion may be said to have come to him as a legiti- mate inheritance. His great grandfather, Hon. James Flanders, who was born in 1740 and died in 1820, was noted both as a lawyer and legislator in New Hampshire, and as a participant also in the Revolutionary struggle. His father, Hon. Walter P. Flanders, practiced successfully several years in the courts of New Hampshire, and was twice elected a member of the legislature of that state. In 1848 the elder Flanders removed with his family to Milwaukee, where he became a member of the bar, but did not engage actively in practice. He became largely interested, however, in realty investments, was one of the promotors of the Mil- waukee & Mississippi Railroad project and first treasurer of the company, and was prominent also in other fields of pioneer enterprise. His wife was Miss Susan Everett Greeley of Newburyport, Massachusetts, before her marriage, and James Greeley Flanders was the full name given to the son, who was born in New London, New Hamp- shire, December 13, 1844.
He was four years of age when the family re- moved to this city, and his life in Milwaukee as boy and man dates back to the pioneer period. He attended school here until he was fifteen years of age and was then sent back to New Hampshire, where he was fitted for college in the famous old Phillips Exeter Academy. He was graduated from that institution in 1861, and the same year was admitted to the freshman class of Yale Col- lege. Certain circumstances, however, made it necessary for him to return home for the time be- ing, and the next year he engaged in teaching school. Then he studied book-keeping and en- gaged in business for a year, and did not return to Yale until 1863. He was graduated from Yale Col- lege with the class of 1867, and after reading law one year in the office of Emmons & Van Dyke, of this city, he entered Columbia law school in New York city, was graduated from that institution in 1869, and immediately there- after was admitted to the bar in the Supreme Court of that state. In July of .that year he opened a law office in Milwaukee, and has prac- ticed here, in the higher courts, and other courts of the state ever since. In the early years of his practice he was associated with DeWitt Davis
under the firm name of Davis & Flanders, and from the spring of 1875 until some time in 1876 Hon. A. R. R. Butler was the senior member of the firm. When this partnership was dissolved he continued the practice alone until early in 1878, when he and Mr. Elias II. Bottum became asso- ciated together under the firm name of Flanders & Bottum. Continuing in existence ten years without change, this firm had come to be recog- nized as one of the strongest law firms of the city, when in 1888 it was consolidated with another notable combination of lawyers, of which Judge James G. Jenkins, now of the United States Cir- cuit Court, had for some time been senior mem- ber. Since that time the firm of Winkler, Flan- ders, Smith, Bottom & Vilas has been regarded by the bar of Milwaukee and the state at large as one having unusual elements of strength, and second to no law firm in the Northwest as an aggrega- tion of conscientious, honorable and capable law- yers.
Mr. Flanders entered upon the practice of his profession as a young man, admirably equipped physically, mentally and by education for the work in hand. A strong constitution enabled him to perform a prodigious amount of hard work, and to apply himself assidiously to the study and investigation so essential to success in the practice of law. Nature gave him an intellect as vigorous as his body, and his preliminary education had been such that he began the practice of law with a mind well disciplined, faculties well trained, and that capacity for systematic and continuous effort which some one has characterized as " the best type of genius." The impression which he made upon his associates and contemporaries at the bar as a young lawyer was favorable, and each suc- ceeding year of practice has added to his prestige and influence. It is hardly too much to say that no lawyer now in active practice as a member of the Wisconsin bar has achieved a greater measure of success within strictly professional lines than has Mr. Flanders, and none has more fairly earned such success. From the beginning of his career he has regarded the law as a jealous mistress, hay- ing a right to demand from her votaries unalloyed fealty and chivalrous devotion. While he has taken a reasonable interest in politics and public affairs, has from time to time been conspicuous in the counsels of the Democratic party with which he affiliates, and has served with credit as a city
422
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.
official and state legislator, he has allowed nothing to divert his attention for more than a passing moment from the exacting duties of his profession.
His practice having been general in its character, in a field which embraces almost all the various phases of litigation known to jurisprudence, he can hardly be said to have manifested a special fondness for any particular branch of the law, and he has achieved signal legal victories in widely differing fields of practice. Whatever the problem to be solved he has applied himself with zeal and ardor to its solution. No more able than other lawyers to choose always his own battle ground in a legal contest, he has made it a point to fortify himself in whatever position he might be called upon to take, with all the resources at his command, and to count the battle lost only when the resources were exhausted.
Courageous, persistent, fertile in resources, in- defatigable in his researches and equally able in pleading, examination and argument, he has prob- ably few, if any, superiors at the western bar, as a well seasoned, well equipped common law law- yer. The impress which he has made upon the general public, as a lawyer, long since became ap- parent in a multitude of clients and has been em- phasized in many notable cases in which he has been retained as counsel.
In his intercourse with other members of the profession he has been conspicuous for his fairness, his courtesy, and the honorable methods of prac- tice characteristic of the broad-minded lawyer and well-bred gentleman.
JAMES S. BROWN was born in Hampden Maine, February 12, 1823. His mother-who before her marriage was Miss Padelford-was a native of Rhode Island and came of an old and well known family of that state. He was a pre- cocious boy and under careful private tutelage was fitted for college before he had reached the age necessary to matriculation. Continuing his studies under the private tutorship of Prof. Worcester, brother to the noted author of Worcester's Dic- tionary, he finished the entire course prescribed in the college curriculum before he was sixteen years of age.
When he reached that age, the death of his father threw him upon his own resources and for a year he engaged in school teaching. At the end of that time he came West as far as Cincinnati Ohio, and took up the study of law in the office of
an elder brother who was practicing in that city. At the end of a two years' course of study he was admitted to the bar in the state of Kentucky where the fact that he lacked two years of attaining his majority did not operate as a bar to his admission to practice, as it did in Ohio. He remained in Cincinnati until 1844 and while there formed the acquaintance of Father Henni-after- ward Arch-bishop of Wisconsin -- who induced him to come to this city.
Coming here when he was twenty-one years of age he at once began the practice of his profes- sion and very soon achieved distinction as a member of the pioneer bar. He was one of the few lawyers in the territory of Wisconsin at that time, perhaps the only one in Milwaukee, who had a thorough knowledge of the German language and as there was a considerable sprinkling of Ger- mans in the population of that period, this knowledge proved of material benefit to the young practitioner.
In 1845, a year after he began practicing in this city, he was elected district attorney for Milwau- kee county and discharged his official duties with a zeal and ability which commended him both to the bar and the general public. In 1848 he was elected first attorney general of Wisconsin, being at that time but twenty-five years of age and one of the youngest men who has been called upon to fill a state office in this state.
In 1861 Mr. Brown was elected mayor of Mil- waukee on the Democratic ticket, and became the chief executive officer of the city at a critical period in its history. Not only was he called upon to deal with matters to which the exigencies of war gave rise, but found a readjustment of the financial affairs of the city imperatively necessary. The aid voted to railroads by the city some years before this, the financial panic of 1857, and other causes, had contributed to bring about a condition of affairs which threatened grave disaster. So dis- trustful was everybody of the city's ability to meet its obligations that when the first steam fire engine was purchased for the use of the city, Mr. Brown found it necessary to make a personal guarantee of payment. To better this condition of affairs was one of the first tasks to which he addressed himself and through his efforts largely, a special enactment of the legislature was secured, creating a commission empowered to refund and readjust the obligations of the city. Co-operating with
423
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
the commission appointed under this act, he averted what seemed like impending bankruptcy and restored the credit of the city, which has never since been impaired. The bank riots, famous in the history of the city, occurred during Mr. Brown's administration, and it became his duty to read the "riot act " from the steps of the old " Mitchell Bank," to the excited and turbulent mob gathered in front of it. IIe performed this duty unflinchingly while a shower of missiles were falling around him, and afterward charged the mob at the head of the militia which had been called upon to quell the riotous uprising.
His political affiliations were always with the Democratic party, but when the Southern states undertook to bring about by force of arms a sub- version of the government, he favored the sup- pression of the Rebellion and a vigorous war policy. In 1862 he was elected to Congress as a war Democrat, and sat in the National Legislature during the closing years of the great conflict. While not of the same political faith as President Lincoln he was an admirer of the great commoner of American politics, and on the occasion of his death delivered an eloquent and touching funeral address in old St. Paul's Church.
After serving one term in Congress he resumed the practice of law in this city, but failing health compelled him to retire from active professional work after a few years, and he died while still a comparatively young man, April 16, 1878.
He was twice married, the first time in 1855, to Miss Elizabeth Shepard, a daughter of Clarence Shepard, one of the pioneers of Milwaukee, by whom he had two sons. Ilis first wife died a few years after her marriage, and in 1865 he married Miss Emily Stetson, daughter of Hon. Charles Stetson of Bangor, Maine.
CHARLES QUARLES, who became a member of the Milwaukee bar in 1888, is a younger brother of Hon. J. V. Quarles, of whom extended personal mention is made elsewhere in this vol- ume, and in the same connection mention has been made of the fact that their father was one of the pioneer settlers of Kenosha. Charles Quarles was born in Kenosha, February 13, 1846, grew up there, and began his professional career in the same city. After passing through the full course of study in the public schools and being graduated from the high school, he entered Michigan Uni- versity at Ann Arbor, took the full classical
course, and was graduated in that institution in the class of 1868. For several years after his graduation he taught school and at the same time pursued a thorough and systematic course of read- ing law, qualifying himself thereby for admission to the bar. Ile was admitted in 1875 and im- mediately thereafter began practicing his profes- sion in Kenosha. His practice at the bar of that city covered a period of thirteen years and his success was such as to give him more than local prominence. Being desirous of entering a broader and more promising field of professional labor, he united with his brother and Mr. Spence, then practicing at Racine, to form the firm of Quarles, Spence & Quarles, which was established in this city in 1888.
Asa member of this firm Mr. Quarles has con- tributed his full share toward the attainment of its high repute, and has become personally con- spicuous among the able and accomplished lawyers of the city and state. In this association of law- vers it may be said that each supplements the others in such a way as to make the combination of legal talent a peculiarly strong and successful one. In the division of professional labor between members of the firm, it has fallen to Charles Quarles, in a large proportion of cases, to give at- tention to the points of law involved in cases at bar, and as a natural consequence he has acquired special distinction in this connection. With a mind keenly analytical and a comprehensive grasp of the spirit and scope of jurisprudence, he applies himself to the mastery of the legal problems involved in a case with the ardor of a devotee. A quick perception seems to enable him to pene- trate to the heart of a question almost without effort, and through a remarkable facility of expres- sion, a sentence or phrase uttered in his incisive way portrays not infrequently the whole aspect of a subject. To the complex and bewildering problems growing out of the extension and multiplication of corporate enterprises he has directed a share of his attention, with results which commended his keen insight and accuracy of judgment to the courts, the bar, and the gen- eral public. In the preparation of his cases he spares no effort to glean from the vast field of legal lore whatever may have a bearing direct or incidental upon the questions at issue. Careful and conscientious in his researches he surveys the whole field of controversy and in the opinion
424
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.
of his associates at the bar, who are the best judges of such matters, classifies and arranges his legal authorities, preparatory to presenting them in court with consummate skill and ability. In the presentation of his oral arguments he gives little heed to oratorical effect, but is notable for the clearness and perspicuity of his statements, his apt illustra- tions, logical reasoning and correct conclusions. His utterances are forceful and convincing rather than ornate, although always clothed in the attractive language in which the thoughts of a scholarly and well informed man find expression. In the higher courts, where questions of law rather than of fact determine issues, where lawyers arguments are shorn of sophistries, where logic counts for morethan nicely turned sentences and where a broad knowledge of the law is more effective than burning eloquence, Mr. Quarles has established an enviable reputation, his candor, fairness and honesty of purpose, as well as his legal acumen and professional attainments, mak- ing a most pleasing and favorable impression upon the administrators of the law.
Within the past few years some of the cases in which the firm of Quarles, Spence & Quarles have been retained have been of that character which involve issues comparatively new to the courts, growing out of changing social and industrial conditions. To these questions Mr. Quarles has given the most careful and intelligent considera- tion and his argument in the famous injunctional order case, in which the Northern Pacific Railway employes were enjoined from striking, obtained unusual celebrity as an able presentation of the rights of employes.
A profound and able lawyer in all departments of practice, Mr. Quarles has been conspicuous among the members of the Milwaukee bar who have within the past decade taken rank with the leading lawyers of the state.
He was married in 1881 to Miss Emma Thiers, of Kenosha, and has a family of three sons and one daughter.
THOMAS WILSON SPENCE, who became a member of the Milwaukee bar in 1888 and has since been identified with much of the important litigation occupying the attention of the courts in this city, was born in Dungannon, in the north of Ireland, in 1846, son of Andrew and Elizabeth (McKell) Spence. His parents immigrated to the
United States in 1848, and settled in Chillicothe, Ohio, where his father engaged in business as a merchant.
The son obtained his rudimentary education in the public schools of Chillicothe, and began his collegiate course in Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio. In 1867 he entered the sopho- more class of Cornell College, and completed a full classical course in that institution, from which he was graduated as valedictorian in the class of 1870. After leaving college he went to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, to which city his father had re- moved some years earlier and began the study of law in the office of Messrs. Coleman & Thorpe. He was admitted to the bar in 1872 and began the practice of his profession in Fond du Lac, making a favorable impression upon the bar and general public at the outset, and continuing to grow in public favor as long as his connection with the bar of that city continued. In 1875 he formed a partnership with his former preceptor, Mr. Cole- man, which continued for five years thereafter, when the association was dissolved by the re- moval to Washington of Mr. Coleman, who be- came the law partner of Senator Matt. H. Carpen- ter in the National Capital. Soon after that Mi Spence became senior member of the firm of Spence & Hiner, and continued to practice in Fond du Lac until 1884, when he removed to Racine to become the law partner of Joseph V. Quarles, who had become well-known throughout the state as an advocate and trial lawyer of distinguished ability. The firm thus established took high among the law firms of the state, and in 1888 sought a wider field of professional labor in Milwaukee. Removing to this city, they admitted into the partnership Mr. Charles Quarles and the present firm of Quarles, Spence & Quarles was thus established. The combina- tion of legal talent thus formed was a peculiarly strong one. Each of the partners possessed ele- ments of strength as a lawyer and special adapta- bility to certain branches of the practice, which added materially to the strength of the combina- tion, and all have achieved unusual distinction at the bar of the leading city of the state. Much of the litigation with which the firm has been iden- tified has been carried to the higher courts of the state, and Mr. Spence's practice, as well as that of his associates, has extended over a wide and var- ied field. During the earlier years of his profes-
425
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
sional life, although engaged in general practice, a large portion of his time was occupied in the trial of jury cases and the active conduct of liti- gation. Since his coming to Milwaukee he has adapted himself to the changed conditions of general business which have brought about cor- responding changes in the practice of the leading law firms of the country, and especially of those doing business in the larger cities. So large a proportion of the business of the country is now transacted through corporations that the ablest members of the bar in Milwaukee, as in other cities, are called upon to give a large share of their at- tention to the formation, conduct and manage- ment of these corporate bodies, to the solution of legal problems affecting their interests and to the adjustment of complications and controversies in which they become involved. Guardianship of corporate interests, the settlement of an increas- ing number of large estates, and the demands of commercial and manufacturing establish- ments for legal counsel and advice, have com- bined to make the modern lawyer in a larger sense than formerly, a counselor, and to greatly extend the court practice of the most active mem- bers of the legal profession. What the business in- terests of to-day require of a lawyer is that he shall have a thorough knowledge of the law and a keen business instinct, and that he shall accom- plish desired results in the most direct and prac- tical way.
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.