USA > Wisconsin > History of the bench and bar of Wisconsin, Vol. I > Part 35
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tic life go hand in hand with his church work and when both are coupled with his intelligent love of books, one may gain an idea of his high character outside of his profession.
Judge Hand was married September 5, 1861, to Margaret S. Budd, of Chatham, Columbia county, New York. Their children are Mary Elizabeth, now Mrs. John D. Rowland of Milwaukee; Imogene F., now Mrs. R. Carpenter of Racine; Elbert B., in partnership with his father; Jessie L. and Edith M. Hand, excepting the youngest, all graduates of the University of Wisconsin.
JOHN M. HAYES.
Mr. Hayes was born at Berwick, York county, Maine, August 30, 1838; graduated from Dartmouth college in 1860; studied law at Lock- port and at the Albany law school, being graduated in 1862; practiced in Chicago from 1862 to 1868; in Lockport, New York, from 1868 to 1870; in Chicago again from 1873 to 1876; in the latter year he re- moved to Kenosha, and was, for a time, a member of the firm of Van Buskirk & Hayes, and after its dissolution practiced alone.
ORSON S. HEAD.
Orson S. Head was born at Paris, Oneida county, New York, Oc- tober 9th, 1817. He spent his earlier years in agricultural pursuits, but he was still enabled to acquire a good academic education. He studied law at Utica under Horatio Seymour. In 1841 he removed to Wisconsin and settled at Kenosha, and was soon after admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law, which he continued to pursue at Kenosha as long as he lived. Upon his academic education he built up a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles of jurisprudence, and took rank as one of the ablest lawyers in the circuit in which he practiced. He was several times chosen prosecuting at- torney for Kenosha county, and discharged the duties of the office to the entire satisfaction of the people, as he always did his professional duties in civil practice to the satisfaction of his clients. Mr. Head
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had but little taste or ambition for political life; he, however, con- sented to serve one year in the state senate in 1851 to fill a vacancy. He died at Kenosha, February 19, 1875.
CHARLES H. LEE. 4
Charles H. Lee is a native of Racine. His father, Alanson H. Lee, a pioneer merchant of Racine, where he located in 1840, was a native of Connecticut, where his family had resided for nearly two centuries. He was a descendant of Elder Brewster of the Mayflower. The mother of Charles H. Lee, Permelia A. Gaylord, was a native of New York state.
The Racine high school, under the guidance of Principal McMynn, was in the early days of Wisconsin the leading educational institution of the state. There Charles H. Lee obtained his education. Deter- mined to make the law his profession, he began its study in the office of C. W. Bennett, then of Racine, now of Salt Lake, and later in the office of Fuller & Dyer at Racine. After graduation from the Albany (New York) law school and admission to the bar, he returned to Racine and for two years acted as managing clerk for Fuller & Dyer. From 1871 to 1878 he was associated with John T. Fish. He then accepted the position of general counsel with the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company. In 1887 he became a director and treasurer of the com- pany. This connection continued until January, 1897, when Mr. Lee retired to enable himself to enjoy the fruits of his labor, by taking life easier. However, in 1897, he made a trip abroad for the company, visiting Russia, Roumania, Austro Hungary and Belgium. The object of this trip was to examine into the possibilities for the use of American threshers in those countries.
Politically, Mr. Lee is a democrat, but believing the democratic platform of 1896 antagonistic to the welfare of his country, he voted for McKinley. While in no sense a politician, he was elected district at- torney in 1872 on the republican ticket. He was brought up as an Episcopalian, but is now an attendant of the Presbyterian church and is a member of the board of trustees. He was married in 1881 to
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Emily A., daughter of James H. Kelley, of Racine. They have no children.
Mr. Lee is active in charitable enterprises, and in all movements formulated for the benefit of Racine and its citizens he takes a leading part. As a member of the board of trustees and treasurer of the Taylor orphan asylum, he has displayed the same high order of business ability he has shown in connection with the corporations with which he has from time to time become associated. He is president of the Racine public library and has labored zealously for its improvement. For the past ten years he has been trustee of the Baker estate, amounting to over a million dollars, and is also president of the Chicago Rubber Clothing Company, of Racine.
FREDERICK S. LOVELL.
Frederick S. Lovell was born at Rockingham, Windham county, Vermont, November 1, 1815. He received early and good educational advantages, and was graduated from Geneva college in August, 1835. He soon after entered upon the study of law at Charleston, Sullivan county, New Hampshire, in the office of Henry Hubbard, once gov- ernor of and senator for that state. He afterwards pursued his law studies with Judge S. K. Strong, in the state of New York. On being admitted to the bar he directed his steps to the then new territory of Wisconsin, and in September, 1837, settled at Kenosha-then called Southport-which continued to be his home for the remainder of his life. He at once opened a law office and entered upon the practice of his profession, which he continued to pursue uninterruptedly until he entered the army to aid in suppressing the rebellion.
Col. Lovell was possessed of fine native talents and brilliant genius, which, superadded to his excellent scholastic education and his thor- ough professional training, gave him high rank among the galaxy of able lawyers which graced the bar of Wisconsin during its existence as a territory.
He was not permitted to confine his abilities exclusively to the prac- tice of his profession, but was eagerly summoned by his fellow-citizens
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to the legislative halls. In 1846 he was elected a member of the council in the territorial legislature and continued to perform the duties of that office until the organization of the state government. He was a mem- ber of the convention which framed the first constitution. This con- vention consisted of one hundred and twenty-four members, of which only six were elected to the second convention held the next year. Colonel Lovell was one of these six. In 1856 he was elected a member of the assembly from the Kenosha district, and reelected the next year, serving during the years 1857 and 1858. At the last session he was speaker and discharged the duties of that office in an able and dignified manner.
In 1857 he was appointed, in connection with David Taylor and S. J. Todd, as a commission to revise the statutes of the state. The result was the volume of revised statutes of 1858, which continued in force, except as amended or repealed, until the revision of 1878. The superintendency of the printing of this volume was entrusted to Col. Lovell.
In August, 1862, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the thirty- third regiment, Wisconsin infantry-J. B. Moore, colonel. The colonel being placed in command of a brigade, the command of the regiment devolved upon the lieutenant colonel soon after it entered upon active service. In January, 1865, Col. Lovell was transferred to the forty- sixth regiment, of which he was appointed colonel, which was mustered out September 27, 1865. After his regiment was discharged he re- turned to his home in Kenosha, where he remained in quiet and repose until his death, May 14th, 1878.
JAY FORREST LYON.
Jay Forrest Lyon is the junior member of the firm of J. F. Lyon & Son, practicing attorneys at Elkhorn, Walworth county, Wisconsin. He was born at Darien, Wisconsin, November 8th, A. D. 1862, and was educated in the schools of Walworth county. He was employed as stenographer in the general office of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minne- apolis & Omaha railroad at St. Paul, Minn., from 1882 until 1886.
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He graduated from the Boston university school of law, class of 1888, summa cumlaude; was admitted to practice at the state bar ex- amination in 1888, and at once formed a partnership with his father, J. F. Lyon, with whom he is still in practice.
Mr. Lyon is a republican in politics and has held village and city offices.
He was married June 30th, 1886, at St. Paul, Minn., to Carrie A. Bayard of that city, and is a member of the Baptist church.
JOSEPH F. LYON.
The subject of this sketch, Joseph F. Lyon, of Elkhorn, Walworth county, Wisconsin, was born in Harford, Susquehanna county, Pennsyl- vania, April 23d, 1825, and is one of fifteen children. His father, Isaac Lyon, was born in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, July 4th, 1779; was the son of David Lyon, an Englishman. Isaac Lyon moved to Har- ford in 1822, where he settled and was engaged in the milling business until 1856, when he moved to Darien, Wisconsin, remaining there until 1863, when another move was made to Independence, Iowa, where he died five years later. His mother, Sally (Blodgett) Lyon, was born in Deerfield, Mass., August 4th, 1800, and died at Independence, Iowa, in 1874.
Joseph F. Lyon was educated in the common schools of his native town and later attended Franklin academy in the same town, where he was a schoolmate of Galusha A. Grow, present congressman at large from Pennsylvania. When nineteen years of age Mr. Lyon emigrated to the state of Illinois, walking the first one hundred miles, and coming around the lakes on a sail vessel, landed in Chicago in September, 1844. He then walked to Little Fort, now Waukegan, Ill., and soon after com- menced clerking for his cousin, I. R. Lyon, who was engaged in the mercantile business at that place. He soon formed the acquaintance of Henry W. Blodgett, a distant relative of his, who settled there the same year, and who is now a retired United States district judge. He spent his leisure time in Judge Blodgett's office reading law. In 1850
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he removed to Woodstock, Ill., where he was engaged in the mercantile business for about a year. In 1851 he sold out his business in Wood- stock, went to New York city, where he was in business in a whole- sale clothing house for three years, spending six months of each year traveling for the house in northern Illinois and Wisconsin.
In 1859 he went overland to California with an ox team, arriving at Carson City, Nevada, about the time of the discovery of the Com- stock mine. He was offered three hundred feet (one share) of the mine for a yoke of oxen. He returned from California in the fall of 1860, in time to take part in the first Lincoln campaign; was admitted to the bar of the circuit court for Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1865.
On his return from California he settled in Darien, Wisconsin, . where he remained until 1875, when, upon being appointed clerk of the circuit court for Walworth county, he removed to Elkhorn. At the expiration of his term as clerk he opened a law office in Elkhorn and practiced alone until 1888, when his son, Jay F. Lyon, of whom a sketch appears elsewhere in this volume, went into partnership with him. The firm has since done quite an extensive law business.
As to his political views, he was a whig as long as that organiza- tion existed. As soon as the republican party was organized he be- came a member thereof, and has continued to adhere to the doctrines of that party up to the present time. He was chairman of the board of supervisors of the town of Darien ten years and of the county board of Walworth county for three years; was a member of the general as- sembly for the year 1868; has been justice of the peace for thirty years or more, and court commissioner for Walworth county since 1885.
Mr. Lyon was married at Beloit, Wisconsin, July 26th, 1854, to Arimathea Jones, of Darien, Wisconsin, by whom he had three chil- dren-Arie May, Vernette M., and Jay F. Mrs. Lyon died in 1872.
December 10th, 1873, Mr. Lyon was again married, at Springfield, Wisconsin, to Miss Amelia L. Dodge, who is the second cousin of Judge Blodgett. Mr. Lyon is domestic in his tastes and of quiet tem- perament. In his religious views he is a Congregationalist, but not very active in his religious duties.
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He joined the Masons in 1851; has taken nine degrees. He was senior warden in 1855 and master in 1862.
PETER BERING NELSON.
Mr. Nelson was born in Schleswig, Germany, on the 16th of April, 1869, and is of Danish origin. His mother died when he was a year old and soon afterward his father, H. P. Nelson, a carpenter by trade, came direct to Wisconsin. In the public schools of Racine the boy obtained his primary education and by dint of persistent application advanced to the point where he was qualified to enter the law school of the University of Wisconsin.
Circumstances rendered it impossible for Mr. Nelson to enjoy more than one year's instruction at the university law department. He prosecuted his studies, however, under Congressman H. A. Cooper, of Racine, and in 1891 passed the required examination for entrance to the profession before the state board of examiners sitting at Milwaukee. He at once opened an office in Racine, associating himself with Mr. Cooper, his former preceptor, and as a member of the firm now known as Cooper, Simmons, Nelson & Walker, he has acquitted himself with honor in many cases of local importance.
Mr. Nelson was also elected district attorney by the republicans in 1894 and reelected in 1896. Since 1890 he has held the position of Danish vice consul for the state of Wisconsin. As director in the Commercial savings bank and president of the Racine Refrigerator company his marked aptitude is brought into play. He is, further, identified with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Elks.
HORACE T. SANDERS.
Horace T. Sanders was born in Sheldon, Genesee county, New York, May 1, 1820; he received a collegiate education and a thorough training preparatory to becoming a lawyer. He entered upon the practice of the law in Racine, Wisconsin, May, 1842. He was prosecut- ing attorney for many years in Racine county; was elected, in 1847, a
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member of the second constitutional convention, and served in that body as a member of the committee on general provisions. He took a prominent part in the general debates and proceedings of the body and rendered very useful and valuable services. In 1853 he was a member of the assembly and occupied the position of chairman of the managers on behalf of that body on the trial of Judge Hubbell before the senate as a court of impeachment. He discharged the responsible duties of that position with great ability.
In 1862 he became colonel of the nineteenth Wisconsin infantry and was assigned to the eighteenth army corps; he acted as provost judge of Norfolk, Virginia, and attained the rank of brigadier gen- eral by brevet. His military service continued until the war closed, after which his health gradually failed; his death occurred October 6, 1865.
"He was a man of genius, great brilliancy of intellect, and fine analytical powers, all of which, combined with a finished education, gave him, justly, the character which he sustained, of being in the fore- most rank of the profession in the state."
JAMES SIMMONS.
The labors of Wisconsin lawyers have been much lightened by the skill and patient industry of James Simmons, of Lake Geneva, Wis- consin. From time to time since 1868 he has prepared and caused to be published digests of the reports of the supreme court of this state. In the main his work has been satisfactory. In so far as it has not been entirely so, the fault is less his than it is chargeable to the condi- tions under which he has wrought. The necessity of furnishing books as cheaply as possible has resulted in the publication of more supple- ments than would be desirable under other circumstances, and pre- vented the consolidation and revision of volumes as frequently as con- venience has demanded. Mr. Simmons has done like work for other reports, as is mentioned in another chapter. He has also prepared articles for a series of books much in use a few years ago-Wait's Actions and Defenses-to the extent of about half a volume.
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Mr. Simmons' father, John, was a native of Ashford, Connecticut, a graduate of Rhode Island college (now Brown university) and a law- yer by profession. His mother was Laura Bell. Both were descend- ants of revolutionary soldiers. He was born at Middlebury, Vermont, and was graduated at the age of twenty from Middlebury college. Soon afterward he began the study of law; but before completing it re- moved to the west, reaching Geneva, Wisconsin, in 1843, where he qualified for admission to the bar under the direction of C. M. Baker; he was admitted in October, 1843. He practiced at Geneva for a time, but failing health compelled him to seek other employment, and he engaged in engineering and clerking. In 1848-9 he served as clerk for the revisers of the statutes of 1849. After entering upon the prac- tice of his profession a second time he was obliged to again abandon it; for six or seven years he was engaged in merchandising. In 1857 he became a partner of John T. Wentworth; in 1860 was elected clerk of the Walworth county circuit court, a position he held for ten years.
In 1870 Mr. Simmons caused to be published a history of Geneva, written by him. This he has recently revised, and it now appears under the title "Annals of Lake Geneva."
In 1848 he was married to Miss Katherine Colter, with whom he lived until her death in 1895. Surviving her are three children-John B., a lawyer of Racine; James, a professor in Iowa college, and Mary E., a professor in the Cedar Falls normal school.
JOHN B. SIMMONS.
John B. Simmons, member of the well known firm of Cooper, Sim- mons, Nelson & Walker, is a native of McHenry county, Illinois, being born on the 26th of October, 1851. His parents, James and Catherine (McCotter) Simmons, were natives of Vermont. The elder Simmons is perhaps better known as an author than as a practicing attorney. He compiled several volumes of New York Digest since coming to Wis- consin in 1844. At that time he located at Lake Geneva and in 1849 was clerk and assistant to the board of revision of the Wisconsin state
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statutes, and is widely known throughout the state as the author of Simmons' Digest of Wisconsin Reports. In 1850 he removed to Mc- Henry county, Illinois, where, as stated, was born his son, John B., the subject of this sketch. In 1855 he returned to Lake Geneva, where the boy received his early education. The family afterward removed to Elkhorn, Walworth county, where the son commenced the study of his profession in his father's office.
In February, 1873, the former (John B. Simmons) was admitted to practice at Elkhorn, but immediately removed to Lake Geneva and opened an office alone. In this prosperous and intelligent community he continued to reside, as a prominent citizen and attorney, for a full quarter of a century. When the village was incorporated as a city in 1885 Mr. Simmons was elected its first mayor, and for many years he served as city attorney. In 1886 he formed a partnership with H. A. Cooper and P. B. Nelson, of Racine, conducting a branch office at Lake Geneva, and this arrangement continued until February, 1898, when he removed to the former city. At present he is, therefore, a member of the firm of Cooper, Simmons, Nelson & Walker, one of the strongest combinations of legal and business talent in southern Wis- consin.
Mr. Simmons' long career has been one of steady advancement and prosperity, his practice often taking him into the higher courts. One of the most important cases with which he has been identified is that of Lyon vs. Fairbank (79 Wisconsin), in which an attempt was made to enter as public lands a portion of a lot in possession of N. K. Fair- bank. Suit was brought for $100,000 for dispossessing plaintiff and demolishing the building he had started to erect on the premises. He was also connected with the case of the State ex rel. Janes vs. Nelson, being an attempt to oust defendant from the office of district attorney of Racine county upon the ground that he was holding the position of Danish vice consul at the same time that he was an incumbent of the county position.
In politics Mr. Simmons is a republican and has been a faithful worker for his party, without being a narrow partisan.
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He was married at Lake Geneva, in 1876, to Miss Sarah B. Sturges. They have two children-John E. and Katherine.
MARSHALL M. STRONG.
Marshall Mason Strong was born at Amherst, Massachusetts, Sep- tember 3, 1813; he received an academic education in his native town and graduated from Union college, after which he studied law and was admitted to the bar in Troy, New York. In May, 1836, he came to Wisconsin, locating at Racine, where his residence continued to be; he was the first prosecuting attorney of Racine county. In 1838 he was elected a member of the territorial council for four years; after at- tending the sessions of November, 1838, and January, 1839, he re- signed; in 1843 he was elected to fill a vacancy of three years; was again elected in 1846 and resigned in 1847. In 1839 he was one of the committee to prepare a bill revising the statutes. In 1846 he was chosen a member of the convention that framed the first constitution; he served in that body as chairman of the committee on constitution and organization of the legislature and as a member of the committee on the organization and officers of counties and towns. "He took a very prominent part in all the labors and debates of the convention; but, in the end, so widely differed from the majority that he resigned before the close of the session, and was very active in his efforts to defeat the constitution when submitted to popular vote-indeed, may be said to have been the chief cause of its final rejection at the polls." In 1849 Mr. Strong was a member of the assembly and took an important part in the enactment of the revised statutes. This was his last appearance in public life. He continued in the practice of his profession until his health failed, and died March 9, 1864.
Moses M. Strong has written of Marshall M. Strong that the latter's reputation and standing as a lawyer soon "after 1839 became coexten- sive with the territory, and he ranked as the professional peer of any and all of his contemporaries. Perhaps the most remarkable trait of his character as a lawyer was his extreme imperturbability. Noth- ing could disturb him, nothing excite him. Always self-possessed, ever
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equipoised, he was at all times ready to take any proper advantage of the mistakes of his adversaries. While he possessed great power of argument, it was the power of captivating, unanswerable logic and an- alytical deduction, and not the force of declamation or oratory. In the early years of the territory its legislative assembly presented a field for the display of argumentative abilities which, outside the walls of the capitol, served to establish the status of its members. The opportu- nities thus existing, although not used with any such design, had the effect of securing for Mr. Strong the reputation of a forensic debater of the highest order of intellect and power."
It is further said that Mr. Strong's general reading, aside from his profession, was extensive and varied. His love of literature and science prompted him to spend time and money for the establishment of Racine college and the erection of the college buildings, being always forward in such public or private enterprises as the public good seemed to require. He was a man of strong will and great firmness of purpose, yet seeking less his own advantage than what he conceived to be for the public good. During the civil war he was an unconditional sup- porter of the government, using his means, employing his pen and lift- ing his voice, while strength lasted, to aid the government.
In his intercourse with his fellow-men he was courteous and gentle- manly. Toward his professional brethren he was unassuming, and ever ready to advise and assist the younger portion, who placed unlimited confidence in his judgment and rectitude. Dignity characterized his bearing in court, as elsewhere, and his uprightness, fairness and candor in trying causes gave him as much influence with the court and jury as a man ought to have; but that influence was ever used to promote justice and never abused. No person had just cause to complain that he ever endeavored to obtain an unfair advantage, and yet his sagacity and watchfulness were an effectual guard and protection to his clients' in- terests. His exalted views of the nature and duties of his profession were such that he despised the tricks and chicanery resorted to by some, and always used his influence to effect a settlement of difficulties be- tween litigants rather than add fuel to the flame. He had a quick ap-
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