USA > Wisconsin > History of the bench and bar of Wisconsin, Vol. I > Part 41
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The mention of this last position-fit recognition of the regard entertained for Mr. Miller by his brethren of the profession-suggests the recording of a recent graceful action by him for the benefit of the lawyers of Milwaukee. Although the firm, with which he has been and is connected, has always paid careful attention to the completeness and
(1) Western Historical Company's "History of Milwaukee," 549. The original name, Milwaukee academy, has again been adopted by this school.
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excellence of its professional library and has one of the largest and best selected collections of reports and text books in the United States, yet all its members have uniformly been interested in the Milwaukee law library association. This Mr. Miller's firm assisted in organizing on November 18, 1860. The depth of Mr. Miller's regard, which has con- tinued more than thirty-seven years, was shown at Christmas, 1895, when, as a memorial of his deceased partners, Asahel Finch, William Pitt Lynde and Henry Martyn Finch, he presented to the Law Library Association the sum of five thousand dollars, to be applied in the pur- chase of statutes, text books and digests to "make the library of greater value to the members of the profession" (3). The result thus sought by Mr. Miller has been accomplished, as is evidenced by the increasing num- ber of students, especially young lawyers, who now enjoy the privileges of the books. A marble bust of Mr. Miller, executed by Trentanove and presented by attorneys of Milwaukee to the association, now adorns the rooms of the library.
Mr. Miller's religious affiliations have been with the Protestant Episcopal Church. His father, Judge Miller, a Scotch Presbyterian by descent (4), continued his attachment to the Presbyterian church when he removed to Milwaukee. Judge Miller assisted in the reorganization of the First Presbyterian church February 10, 1840 (5), and was a trustee of the society of that church as late as February, 1844 (6). He joined St. Paul's Episcopal church in 1849 (7). His son, Benjamin K. Miller, al- though by maternal descent of pronounced Lutheran stock (8), followed his father into the Episcopal communion. He was for a long period a warden of St. Paul's church, and his activity as well as taste was enlisted
(3) Extract from his letter of December 24, 1895, to Samuel Howard, president of the Milwaukee Law Library association.
(4) Judge Miller Memorial Volume, page 5.
(5) Wight's "The Old White Church," 12.
(6) As appears from his signature as trustee, under date of February 6, 1844, to still existing bills of sale of pews in the First Presbyterian church.
(7) Miller Memorial Volume, page 18.
(8) Mr. Miller's maternal great-grandfather, the Rev. John Nicholas Kurtz, was born in October, 1722, in the principality of Nassau-Weilburg, Germany, of an an- cient Protestant family. He studied theology at Giessen and Halle, and in 1745 came
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in the erection of its present stately edifice (9). He has also been one of the managers of Forest Home cemetery, which was established in 1850 by the vestry of St. Paul's church, and is controlled by a committee of that body.
As has before been suggested, Mr. Miller has never been an advo- - cate, a trial lawyer, in the courts. His work has been done, his power exerted, his influence wielded, his success achieved, in the office. For this quieter forum his mental qualities peculiarly fit him. Yet his part- ners who contended at the bar and before the jury have gained con- fidence for their conflicts and have added fibers to their eloquence by consulting his judgment. Persons entrusting their perplexities to his management and relying upon his sagacity feel no sense of fear as they roll upon him the burden of responsibility. Through all his career Mr. Miller has been cool, conservative, careful, cautious, yet courageous. It is probably true that as trustee, guardian, executor, administrator- and he often acts in these fiduciary capacities-he has never lost a dollar of funds committed to his keeping. Loyal to the interests of his clients, prompt in the settlement of affairs, frank in his dealings, fertile in re- sources, versatile, firm, aggressive, self-assertive, an apt counselor, a quick and skilled adviser, a faithful trustee, he is a brilliant type of that increasing body of lawyers who find their highest success in the quiet diplomacy of the office rather than in the uproar of litigation.
FREDERICK C. WINKLER.
Frederick C. Winkler was born in Bremen, Germany, March 15, 1838, where his parents, Carl and Elizabeth (Overbeck) Winkler, then resided. In 1842 Carl Winkler emigrated to the United States and
to America as a licentiate missionary to the Germans in Pennsylvania. He was or- dained to the ministry in 1748-the first Lutheran minister ordained in the American colonies. He died May 12, 1794. For the Kurtz family more at length, see Edle's "History of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania;" "Library of "Universal Knowledge." sub nom. Kurtz; Hutter's "Eulogy on the Life and Character of Rev. Benjamin Kurtz, D. D."
(9) From the last sermon preached by the rector of St. Paul's church in the old building it appears that the first proposal to advertise for lots upon which to erect a new church building was made by the junior warden, Mr. Miller, on January 8,- 1881.
F.6. Lom
Aler
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Ridge; joined in the pursuit of the retreating rebels; then joined the expedition for the relief of Burnside at Knoxville. In the spring of 1864 the Twenty-sixth Wisconsin was assigned to the third brigade of the third division of the newly organized twentieth corps under Major- General Hooker. The regiment took part in the four months' campaign to Atlanta, with its many skirmishes and battles, and won reputation as a first-class fighting regiment.
From Atlanta it marched with Sherman to the sea, thence across the Carolinas to Goldsboro, taking prominent part in the battles of Averys- boro and Bentonville. From Goldsboro, by way of Raleigh, Richmond and Washington, where it participated in the "grand review," the regi- ment proceeded to Milwaukee, where it was mustered out June 28, 1865. In the adjustment of honors after the close of the war, Colonel Winkler was brevetted Brigadier General of Volunteers by the war department.
He resumed the practice of his profession immediately after being mustered out of the service. In 1867 he formed a partnership with Mr. A. R. R. Butler, which continued until 1874, when the firm of Jenkins, Elliott & Winkler was organized. Mr. A. A. L. Smith after- ward became a partner, and still later Mr. E. P. Vilas was admitted to the firm. Upon the appointment of James G. Jenkins as a United States district judge, the present firm of Winkler, Flanders, Smith, Bottum & Vilas was organized.
In politics General Winkler is a stanch republican.
In 1864 he married Miss Frances M. Wightman, by whom he has six daughters and three sons.
EPHRAIM MARINER.
Few lawyers in the state present such a remarkable combination of business ability and legal acumen as Ephraim Mariner. He was born at Penn Yan, Yates county, New York, on the 27th of March, 1827, the son of Miles and Mellicent (Seelye) Mariner. Mr. Mariner's father was a carpenter and contractor, a man of stanch character and of moder- ate means. The matter of educating his children assumed the first importance in his mind. Consequently, Ephraim attended the public
d. mariner
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schools of his native town, finished preparing for college under the in- struction of a private tutor, and in 1846 entered Hamilton college. He was graduated from that institution in 1849, studying law in course and as an extra study with the noted Professor Dwight. Subsequently he entered the office of Evert Van Buren, a prominent lawyer of Penn Yan, but becoming imbued with the western fever, decided to complete his preliminary legal education and obtain a foothold in Milwaukee. To this point he therefore came in 1850, and became a student in the office of Coon & Hunter, being admitted to the bar during the succeeding year (1851).
From that time to the present, with the exception of about five years, Mr. Mariner has practiced alone. In 1852-3 he was associated with Charles James, the firm being James & Mariner, and in 1872-6 he was the senior member of the firm of Mariner, Smith & Ordway. Mr. Mariner commenced his career as a general practitioner, but later, with the development of the city, his unusual abilities in the fields of business and finances led him to concentrate his energies upon the law as it especially relates to real estate and corporations. And he not only became identified in his legal capacity with the early railroads and various real estate enterprises, but invested money with caution and foresight.
Thus, at different times, Mr. Mariner has been connected with the old La Crosse, the North-Western and the Milwaukee & Northern railways. He has been a director of the First National Bank, of Mil- waukee, and director and president of the Green Bay & Mississippi Canal company. To those who know him best, it need not be said that whatever Mr. Mariner has undertaken to do, has been accomplished with faithfulness and thoroughness, and that, primarily, he is a man of actions and one who attends strictly and successfully to whatever busi- ness he has in hand. It may perhaps be superfluous to add that these traits, which have ever been uppermost in his character, have brought him both wealth and honor.
Mr. Mariner was married in November, 1850, to Lucinda Watkins, of Waterloo, New York, by whom he has had two sons, William and John.
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DANIEL H. CHANDLER.
1
Daniel Hicks Chandler was the first reporter of the supreme court of the state of Wisconsin. His four volumes cover the years 1849-52. The fact that the cases reported by him have been re-reported by Mr. Pinney causes his name to be less familiar to the lawyers of this genera- tion than it would otherwise be.
Mr. Chandler was born in Granville, New York, October 20, 1795; was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of that state in 1818. He was a man and lawyer of prominence in Genesee county, New York, having held there the offices of district attorney, master in chancery and judge of the court of common pleas. He was strong both as a pleader and advocate. It is said of him in a New York paper published soon after his death that few lawyers were listened to at the bar of the old supreme court and in the court of chancery with more respect. In the political and social circles of "old Genesee" Judge Chandler long occu-" pied a foremost post, his unfailing kindness and good humor winning and retaining for him hosts of personal friends. Few men were more free from petty jealousies and animosities, and few leave behind them a larger number of acquaintances who treasure and honor their memory.
Mr. Chandler came to Wisconsin as early as 1849, and settled in" Milwaukee. He is said by an eminent lawyer of that city to have brought with him some reputation as a New York chancery lawyer. He seems to have acquired a fair business in Milwaukee, judging from the fact that his name appears as attorney in four cases in volumes two and three of Pinney's reports. It may also appear in later volumes of the Wisconsin reports. His death occurred March 28, 1864, he then being a patient in the state hospital.
S. PARK COON.
Squire Park Coon was born March 28, 1820, in the town of Coving- ton, Wyoming county, New York. He was educated at a local academy and at Norwich University, in Vermont. He began the practice of the
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law in his native state. In 1843 he located in Milwaukee and entered upon the practice of his profession. He was the second attorney gen- eral of the state, serving from January 7, 1850, until January 5, 1852; he was also the district attorney of Milwaukee county in 1863-4. In 1862 he was appointed colonel of the Second Wisconsin regiment, but did not long serve in that capacity; he served thereafter, for a time, on General Sherman's staff. Mr. Coon died in a Milwaukee hospital, Octo- ber 12, 1883. Whisky ruined him. A short time before his death he was found in abject poverty, and but for the kindness of a few men who knew him in earlier days would probably have died for lack of food and attention.
ASAHEL FINCH, JR.
Asahel Finch, Jr., who passed away April 4, 1883, was at the time of his death a member of the oldest law firm at the Milwaukee bar, his part- nership with William Pitt Lynde being probably the longest continued law partnership in the history of the western bar. Entered into in 1842 the partnership between Mr. Finch and Mr. Lynde continued unin- terruptedly for more than forty years, each of the partners achieving unusual distinction at the bar of Milwaukee and attaining a high rank among the lawyers of the state. Mr. Finch, who was a native of New York state, was born at Genoa, Cayuga county, February 14, 1809, and came of as brave and hardy a race of pioneers as ever contributed to the upbuilding of new communities or commonwealths. His parents came originally from Orange in the same state, but his paternal grand- father resided in Pennsylvania and was one of the victims of that terrible massacre which occurred in the Wyoming valley in 1778.
Reared in the midst of those rural environments which seem to con- tribute in a remarkable degree to the development of the best type of American manhood, inheriting from his ancestry high courage and in- domitable will power, Asahel Finch, Jr., was admirably fitted by nature for an active and useful career among the pioneers of the northwest. His early education was received in the common schools of the neigh-
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borhood in which he was brought up, and in his young manhood he attended school at Middlebury academy in Genesee county.
He was married, in 1830, near Rochester, New York, to Miss Mary De Forest Bristol, a native of Connecticut, and almost immediately thereafter was carried westward with the tide of immigration as far as Michigan. Locating at Tecumseh, he engaged for three years in mer- cantile business, when, having a love for the law, he removed to Adrian, and entered the office of Orange Butler of that city as a law student in 1834. While reading law he took an active interest in public affairs, was elected to the Michigan legislature, and while serving in that body aided materially in bringing about a settlement of the boundary line dispute between Michigan and Ohio, which at one time threatened to involve the two states in armed conflict.
He was admitted to the bar in 1838, and in the fall of the following year he came to Milwaukee and began his professional career there, a well-seasoned and well-informed man, whose experience as a man of affairs had added materially to his qualifications for successful practice. For a short time he was associated professionally with H. N. Wells and Colonel Hans Crocker, under the firm name of Wells, Crocker & Finch, and his first change of associates resulted in the formation of the part- nership with Mr. Lynde, which continued up to the time of his death, B. K. Miller and H. M. Finch becoming partners in the firm in 1857, the firm thus constituted continuing in existence twenty-seven years under the name of Finches, Lynde & Miller.
It is the judgment of Mr. Finch's professional contemporaries, only a few of whom are now living, that the firm of which he was for more than forty years the head, had, during his life, as large, varied and im- portant a law practice as any firm in the state or within the broader limits of the northwest. The books of the firm, still preserved, testify to the fact that during the four decades of his active practice the firm had to do with more than ten thousand suits in courts of record, many of them involving large amounts of money, valuable property interests and important questions of law. Of Mr. Finch's character and ability as a lawyer and his worth as a man and a citizen, no more correct esti-
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mate could be made than found expression in the closing words of a sketch of his career presented to the Wisconsin state historical society. Writing of him in this connection, one who had known him intimately for many years said: "For over forty years Mr. Finch was in constant and successful practice, meeting not only all the able lawyers in the west as opponents at the bar, but some of the most distinguished mem- bers of the legal profession from the east who had been sent to Wis- consin to look after the interests of non-resident clients. He seldom found himself overmatched. He was always regarded as an able and upright lawyer, with such a sense of justice, such a conscientious regard for the right, and such a strict fidelity to the highest ideals, that it was said of him that no amount of money could secure his services for the wrong side. His professional habit gave the lie to the oft-repeated assertion that a lawyer can be hired to undertake any kind of a case provided the fee is large enough. He had no sliding scale of morality that excused a member of the legal profession for doing what was con- sidered dishonorable in other men. If the law made it a crime to secrete stolen goods, he held it to be wrong to aid the real thief to escape by the technicalities and loop-holes of the statute. He was one of the kind that could not be hired to defend a confessed criminal to defeat the ends of justice. His conception of the proper function of jurisprudence in modern civilization was to secure the highest good attainable by organ- ized society.
"He had such an extensive practice that his clients were not im- poverished by his charges after he had won their suits. He often re- fused to prosecute poor men. He aided in the settlement of more dis- putes by arbitration outside of the courts than any other man ever in practice in Milwaukee. He often put aside large prospective fees for himself and his firm by advising belligerent litigants to keep out of court. Had Diogenes gone among the members of the bar with his lantern, in search of an honest lawyer, he would have put out his light and returned home satisfied after meeting Asahel Finch.
"In politics he was a whig, being once whig candidate for Congress, and he always adhered to that party until it was dissolved after the dis-
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astrous defeat of General Winfield Scott in the well-remembered cam- paign of 1852. He aided in the formation of the republican party when the attempt was made to carry slavery into the new territories of the west, under the Dred-Scott decision of the supreme court and the re- peal of the Missouri compromise act, and supported John C. Fremont for President in 1856. And when the south finally rebelled and at- tempted to dissolve the Union by an appeal to the bloody arbitrament of the sword, Mr. Finch supported the government with voice, pen and purse to the best of his ability.
"When Mr. Finch settled in Milwaukee, religious societies were to be organized out of the discordant elements that are always present in new countries; churches were to be built with the scanty funds gathered by the contribution box; preachers were sent out by home missionary societies at the east, and the slow and tedious process of laying the foundations of a great commonwealth was commenced. In all this grand work Asahel Finch took an active and prominent part. Probably it is safe to say that no layman ever set foot on the soil of Wisconsin who helped the churches of all denominations, in proportion to his means, as liberally as he. He was an early communicant of the Plymouth church of Milwaukee, and for forty years was its steadfast friend, through all its vicissitudes and trials, supporting it cheerfully with voice and material aid. Although a strict Congregationalist and a stanch defender of the democratic form of church government, he was neither bigot nor partisan in religion, but recognized the upright man as his brother, no matter how much his creed differed from his own. His donations for the support of religion were scattered freely among all evangelical denominations that needed help, and many an impoverished society was indebted to his generosity for assistance in time of keen distress. His public benefactions did not divert his attention from the claims of the destitute in the humblest walks of life. He delighted in relieving the wants of the poor without letting one hand know what the other did. His good deeds are not all known except to the God whom he tried to serve; and like Abou Ben Adhem, he served Him best by 'loving his fellow-men.' He never asked 'Who is my neighbor?' nor 'Am I my
W TBother
Nelke & Co.Publishers.
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brother's keeper?' but tried 'the luxury of doing good.' In the dark and cruel days of slavery his ear was ever open to the cry of the black man in bondage, and he became an active director on the under- ground railway, whose terminus was on Mason and Dixon's line in the south and in Canada on the north. Many a trembling fugitive, fleeing from his cruel taskmaster, was aided on his hazardous journey toward the north star by a friend on the shore of Lake Michigan whose name he had never heard. He remembered those in bonds as bound with them. In short, he followed in the footsteps of his Master as nearly as he could."
That the pioneers of Milwaukee were men of strong character and of far more than ordinary ability is a fact which impresses itself upon every student of the city's history, and in this community Asahel Finch for many years wielded a commanding influence. Quiet and mild mannered in his demeanor, he was resolute, forceful, earnest and notable among his contemporaries for his capacity for organized and systematic effort. His public-spirited interest in everything calculated to develop and build up the city was a marked feature of his career, and he was one of the most prominent of the men who conceived the idea of building the pioneer railway of Wisconsin, secured the charter authorizing its construction, and in various ways materially aided the enterprise. Gen- erous in his impulses, philanthropic by nature, and kindly in his inter- course with all classes of people, his beneficent existence was one to be contemplated with pleasure, and studied with profit by the present gen- eration of his successors at the bar and in other walks of life.
The only surviving member of Mr. Finch's family is his daughter, Mrs. Mary Finch Papendiek, who is still a resident of Milwaukee.
JOHN HENRY VAN DYKE.
John H. Van Dyke is a typical pioneer of Milwaukee, cautious, thorough, charitable, far-sighted, cultured and substantial in every phase of his character. He well represents the element which has made Mil- waukee not only a great business center but the ideal residence city of the west. He stands for the faithful pioneers who have given it a char-
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acter which is as unique as it is pleasing; whose sons and daughters have never wandered permanently from their native place, thereby giv- ing the city an air of mellowness and repose, which is an unusual trait of the western municipality.
John H. Van Dyke was born in Mercersburg, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, on the 17th of October, 1823. As his name implies, he is of Dutch descent, and it is not strange, remembering the famous artists of Holland who have borne the family name, that he should have pos- sessed such artistic tendencies and should have so persistently cultivated them. As a connoisseur Mr. Van Dyke has a national reputation, his private collection of art works having few equals in the United States.
At the basis of Mr. Van Dyke's artistic tastes and talents, however, is the solid character of the shrewd, cautious, able and successful lawyer. These traits of character have enabled him to give an invaluable impetus to the practical movements of art and charity which have given Mil- waukee such a noteworthy stamp of culture and high life. Tradition says that at an early day his family was financially interested in the Hol- land grants of New York. William Van Dyke, his father, was of that Dutch element which made Pennsylvania a great commonwealth, set- tling at an early day in Franklin county. Before his death he was one of the most prosperous men of that section, being at first proprietor of several tanneries and, later in life, the owner of productive farms.
Mary Duncan Van Dyke, the mother, was of Scotch-Irish descent, many of her kith and kin locating in the Cumberland valley, near Car- lisle. As, therefore, Mr. Van Dyke has woven into his personality the racial traits of the Dutch and the British, the main characteristics of his nature are accounted for. He received a thorough education at his native town, Mercersburg, passing through the district schools and taking a higher course at Marshall college. Graduating from the latter institution at the age of eighteen, he removed to Detroit, Michigan, where his brother, James A. Van Dyke, was engaged in the practice of law in partnership with Mr. Harrington. Thus he commenced his legal studies, and, upon the death of Mr. Harrington, he continued them in the office of the firm subsequently formed under the style of Van Dyke
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