USA > Wisconsin > History of the bench and bar of Wisconsin, Vol. I > Part 49
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Mr. Smith was married to Miss Frances Louise Brown, of Evanston, Illinois, May 20, 1874; the result of this union has been three sons and one daughter.
WILLIAM HARVEY AUSTIN.
William H. Austin was born in Binghamton, New York, on Octo- ber 22, 1859. His parents were Patrick and Mary (Collins) Harvey. His mother dying at his birth he was adopted when about five weeks old by Allen and Sarah (Meigs) Austin. His father by adoption was
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himself a member of the legal profession, but retired from practice about the time of the birth of the subject of this sketch.
The family removed to Wisconsin in 1868 and settled at Portage city during the succeeding year. In 1871 another change of location was made to Milwaukee, where the father died in 1876 and the mother in 1879. Before coming west the former had lost all his property in un- fortunate speculations, and as he was not able subsequently to regain his former financial standing, upon his death the adopted son was thrown entirely upon his own resources.
But ere now the youth had obtained a valuable business experience, as well as a good primary education. He had served in a clerical ca- pacity for J. B. Shaw, the salt merchant, and J. B. Durand, the whole- sale grocer. Subsequently he secured a position as assistant librarian with the young men's association, afterward merged into the public li- brary. While thus employed he also commenced to read law with Joshua Stark, and in November, 1879, he was admitted to the practice of his profession.
In 1880 Mr. Austin was appointed assistant district attorney under W. C. Williams and two years thereafter became the junior member of the firm of Brazee & Austin. This partnership continued for nearly two years, when he formed a professional connection with the brilliant lawyer, George B. Goodwin. The firm of Goodwin & Austin con- tinued until the fall of 1884, when the senior member of the firm died and the junior was received into the partnership of Austin & Runkel, making the third member of Austin, Runkel & Austin, the senior mem- ber of this firm being Judge R. N. Austin. While thus engaged in active and successful practice, in the spring of 1889 he was appointed a member of the school board. During the following year he became assistant city attorney, his partner, R. N. Austin, being at the head of the department, and when the latter was elected judge of the superior court in 1891 Mr. Austin himself was promoted to the vacancy thus created. His next partnership was with C. H. Hamilton, and his next assumption of public office, in 1892, when he was elected to the legis- lature from the sixteenth ward. An added compliment to his ability
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was bestowed upon him, when he was placed in nomination for the speakership by the republican minority. Upon Mr. Hamilton's election as city attorney in 1894, the firm of Austin & Hamilton was dissolved. During this year the partnership of Austin & Fehr was formed. That year Mr. Austin was elected senator from the fifth Wisconsin district. He was also unanimously nominated by the republicans for judge of the circuit court, in opposition to D. H. Johnson, but refused to allow his name to be used in a movement which would bring judicial elections into politics.
As a practitioner, Mr. Austin has been recognized as keen, incisive, aggressive and yet even tempered and judicial. In the earlier stages of his practice his ability as a criminal lawyer attracted general attention, one of the most noteworthy cases with which he has been connected was the murder trial of the State vs. McLeod. Of late years, however, Mr. Austin has withdrawn virtually from criminal practice, devoting himself chiefly to civil cases, corporation law and damage suits. As an attorney, either for the county or the city, he has safeguarded the in- terests of the public with ability, and has fully gained the confidence of the people. On constitutional questions his views are broad and correct. For instance, when North Milwaukee applied for incorpora- tion as a village he opposed the application in the circuit court and his contention that the village incorporation law which had been in force since 1859 was unconstitutional was sustained by the supreme court. His view regarding the constitutionality of the law of 1887, providing for the imprisonment of habitual drunkards, was also sustained by the court of last report.
As a legislator Mr. Austin has fathered many measures for the bene- fit of Milwaukee. Among the legislative measures placed to his credit may be mentioned the bills relating to the civil service in the city and county of Milwaukee, creating the park system of Milwaukee and allow- ing the school board a voice in the selection of sites and plans-all of which measures were introduced and supported by him.
Although it is self-evident from the facts above stated that Mr. Austin is an indefatigable and systematic worker, he has the rare faculty
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of throwing off business cares with the close of business hours and devoting himself to social pleasures and recreation. He reads much, is possessed of a most retentive memory and rare literary discrimina- tion, and, withal, is domestic in his tastes and his habits. Before mar- riage his wife was Miss Jeannette Ferguson McLean, of Faribault, Min- nesota, to whom he was united at Fox Lake, Wis., in 1882. Their children are William McLean, Robert Harvey, Jeannette Grace and Allen S.
ELIAS H. BOTTUM.
Elias H. Bottum was born in New Haven, Addison county, Ver- mont, February 28, 1850, and grew to manhood in a quiet farming com- munity in the heart of the picturesque Champlain valley.
The Bottum* family history in America dates back to 1670, when two brothers emigrated from England and settled at Saybrook, Con- necticut. For a century or more thereafter the descendants of these two colonists settled mainly in Connecticut and Massachusetts, but among the first settlers of Vermont was Simon Bottum,t the great- grandfather of Elias H. Bottum, who removed from Lanesborough, Massachusetts, to the Green Mountain state, settling at Shaftsbury, in Bennington county. One of the grandsonst of the Vermont pioneer was Elias S. Bottum, ** who married Mary M. Hoyt. a highly edu- cated and accomplished woman, daughter of Rev. Otto S. Hoyt, a well-
*Two brothers Winterbottum settled at the mouth of the Connecticut river about 1670. They disagreed and by act of general court had their names changed; one taking the name of Winter-the other that of Bottum.
Simon Bottum came up from Massachusetts and settled at Shaftsbury before the revolutionary war. He owned a large tract of land. He participated in the war of the revolution; was captain of a volunteer company and fought in the battle of Bennington.
#The father of Elias S. Bottum, also named Elias, removed at an early age from Shaftsbury, Vermont, to New Haven, Addison county, in the same state, to take possession of and to reside upon a large tract of land which his father had purchased for him. He was an active, prosperous and influential farmer. Was honored politi- cally; was a member of the Vermont senate and was county judge. He married Diadama Squires.
** Elias S. Bottum succeeded to his father's farm. Although he was an invalid during most of his life, he was a man of influence in the community. He died at the age of fifty-six years.
.
That Bothum
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known clergyman of the Congregational church. A prosperous farmer of the intelligent New England type, Elias S. Bottum was the owner of a large tract of land in Addison county, which had been in possession of the family since 1750. Elias H. Bottum, his son, was born and brought up on this farm, leaving the old homestead for the first time when sent away to fit himself for college. In early childhood he was not strong physically, and not only was unable to attend school much of the time, but found the solitary reading and study to which he was strongly inclined, discouraged by his elders. Notwithstanding the fact that he labored under some disadvantages, he made fair progress in his studies, and the improved condition of his health after he was fifteen years of age enabled him to apply himself so closely that he soon made up for the time lost in his early boyhood. He was fitted for college in Kimball union academy at Meriden, New Hampshire, and then entered Middlebury college at Middlebury, Vermont, from which institution he was graduated at the age of twenty-one years in the class of 1871. Im- mediately after his graduation he went to New York city and began reading law in the office of Evarts, Southmayd & Choate, the firm being then, as now, probably the most notable in the United States for the high character and distinguished ability of the lawyers composing it. The duties of the position which he had obtained in this office proved to be too exacting to allc .v him to devote as much time as he desired to study, and after a short time he went to Washington, D. C., where he obtained a clerkship in the government bureau of education, and while thus employed he continued his law studies in the law school of Co- lumbian college, and was graduated therefrom in 1873.
Immediately after his admission to the bar Mr. Bottum decided to locate in Milwaukee-a decision he had reached after deliberate obser- vation and examination of statistics regarding the resources of the state.
In November, 1873, he was joined by a former classmate, Walter E. Howard,§ and entered upon the practice of his profession as the head of the firm of Bottum & Howard.tt
§Now professor of political economy at Middlebury (Vt.) college.
** This partnership was dissolved in 1874, when Mr. Howard returned to Vermont.
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By earnest and steady application to the requirements of his profes- sion, he soon obtained recognition from the members of the bar and the public, as being a conscientious, capable young lawyer, who dis- played more than ordinary ability. In 1878 he entered into copartner- ship with James G. Flanders, and the professional association thus formed has continued to the present time-a period of twenty years. In 1888 the business of Flanders & Bottum and Winkler, Smith & Vilas was consolidated, and the firm of Winkler, Flanders, Smith, Bottum & Vilas was organized.
In the earlier years of his professional life Mr. Bottum engaged in general practice, but in later years much of his time has been given to patent cases. To this branch of the practice he has given most careful consideration, and he has taken the highest rank among the able patent lawyers of the west. That Mr. Bottum is an authority upon the law of patents proves that he has diligently devoted himself to study, not only of the law but also to philosophy and engineering, for to attain success as a patent lawyer it is necessary not only to have a thorough knowl- edge of law but also to be a master of mechanics, of philosophy, chem- istry and of civil engineering. Constant study and application are re- quired; each case introduces some mechanical, electrical or chemical principle that must be studied and comprehended, and the degree of success which a member of the bar attains in this branch of practice is nearly always commensurate with the degree of knowledge of philoso- phy and mechanics possessed by him.
Mr. Bottum was married on the 17th of October, 1876, at Schuyler Falls, N. Y., to Caroline M. Bailey, daughter of Rev. Augustus F. Bailey. They have one daughter, Mrs. Morris F. Benton of New Brighton, N. Y.
Mr. Bottum has always been a republican, but has taken no active interest in politics, nor held political position. He is a member of the masonic fraternity, and has taken the various degrees in the blue lodge, chapter and commandery.
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WILLIAM G. WHIPPLE.
For nine years preceding 1868 Mr. Whipple was a member of the Milwaukee bar. He was born in Warehouse Point, Connecticut; grad- uated from Wesleyan academy, Wilbraham, Massachusetts, Wesleyan university, Middletown, Connecticut, and the law school at Albany, New York. During part of the time he resided in Milwaukee he was a member of the firm of Carter & Whipple, and at one time was in partnership with S. Park Coon. Mr. Whipple was once the repub- lican candidate for district attorney of Milwaukee county. In 1868 he removed to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he continues to reside and practice law. Since he has been there he has served as United States district attorney and mayor of Little Rock. and been the republican candidate for governor.
JOHN H. ROEMER.
Jacob Roemer, his father, was a merchant and a native of Germany, as was Herman, his grandfather. His mother, Elizabeth Leinberger, and her father, John, were also natives of Germany, parents and grand- parents, both paternal and maternal, forming a portion of that great emigration which resulted from the revolution of 1848.
The Roemers first settled in Pennsylvania and the Leinbergers in Virginia, but subsequently met in Ohio, where Jacob Roemer and Elizabeth Leinberger became man and wife. On the 26th of April, 1866, was born their son, John H. Roemer; the place of his birth, Clarington, Monroe county. He enjoyed a thorough mental training, passing with honors through Marietta college and Yale university. While teaching he diligently prosecuted his legal studies under the direction of John H. Holt, a prominent attorney at Wheeling, West Virginia, and was admitted to the practice of his profession in 1891. He subsequently returned to Yale and completed the law course in 1892.
Soon after graduating from the Yale law school Mr. Roemer de-
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cided to locate in Milwaukee and remained for four years associated with the firm of Van Dyke & Van Dyke.
Mr. Roemer's abilities as an educator have been recognized by sev- eral high grade institutions. He is one of the corps of special lecturers of the Illinois college of law at Chicago, before which he delivers twelve lectures annually upon the theme of negligence law. Before his admis- sion to the bar, and while pursuing his legal studies, he was principal of the Linsly institute at Wheeling, West Virginia, a military and clas- sical academy, and the oldest institution of the kind in the Ohio valley. His services at this institution were of high character and note, and are given prominence in the work entitled "History of the Ohio Valley." Mr. Roemer resigned his position as principal of the Linsly institute in 1889 to enter the law school at Yale, but was induced by Governor Fleming and the board of regents of the state normal school at Fair- mont, W. Va., to become the head of that institution for one year. He declined to remain longer out of the ranks of his chosen profession, and at the end of the year he left the state normal school for Yale.
Mr. Roemer has the good fortune to have married a lady who is in close and intelligent sympathy with his professional life. Caroline H. Pier, who became his wife November 17th, 1897, is herself a practicing member of the Wisconsin bar.
WILLIAM EDWARD CARTER.
William E. Carter, of the firm of Van Dyke & Van Dyke & Carter, was born near Brighton, county of Sussex, England, on the 17th of November, 1833, his father, William Carter, being a farmer, market gardener and inn keeper. His mother's maiden name was Ann Fox, both of his parents having died near Lancaster, Grant county, Wis- consin, to which locality most of his relations emigrated in 1850. Being the eldest of the family, William E. was kept very busy assisting his father in his agricultural pursuits, in the market garden, and in the care of the roadside inn, as hostler, being required to take care of the horses of travelers as well as those owned by his father.
The last named occupation fell to him in his eleventh year, although
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he continued to assist upon the farm and in the market garden. Fromì his ninth to his eleventh years, however, his father kept an inn at Hen- field in the same county. The inn was located at Pyecomb, county of Sussex, and here it was that the boy attended a public school for a short time. With what thoroughness he was instructed may be inferred from the fact that its one teacher had charge of more than one hundred pu- pils. Another short season of training in a boarding school, with the irregular instruction given him by his father and one of his aunts in the common branches, virtually constitute the education which the youth had received previous to coming to Wisconsin in his seventeenth year, and all of this instruction was prior to his eleventh year.
A firm will and economy in the expenditure of time will surmount many obstacles. These elements of success the boy possessed. Con- sequently, although he was industrious and faithful in the discharge of the practical duties which devolved upon him while assisting his father about the farm near Lancaster, he took advantage of every spare hour to perfect himself in his studies. As he had early conceived an ambition to master the principles and practice of law, the trend of his studies was soon in this direction. At length he entered the office of Hon. J. Allen Barber, who had taken an earnest interest in the future of the young man. For a short time he also pursued his legal studies with Hon. J. T. Mills, of the same place. To the encouragement and ef- fective tutelage of Mr. Barber, however, he gives the chief credit of that wise guidance in his early career which means so much to every mem- ber of the profession.
Mr. Carter was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1856 and practiced alone at Lancaster until January 1, 1861, when, at the invitation of Hon. Stephen O. Paine, of Platteville, he removed to that place and became an equal partner with him until his death in 1871. For some time after- ward he practiced alone and then, in connection with his brother, George B., formed the firm of William E. & George B. Carter. Thomas L. Cleary was subsequently received into the firm and Mr. Carter's brother withdrew, on account of ill health. A season of independent practice followed, after which E. E. Burns became a partner in the firm
34
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of Carter & Burns. This connection continued until June 10, 1895, when, upon the solicitation of the Van Dyke brothers (George D. and William D.), he removed to Milwaukee to associate himself with them, and formed the firm of Van Dyke & Van Dyke & Carter.
Previous to his removal to the Cream city, Mr. Carter had estab- lished a reputation as one of the most astute legislators and lawyers in Wisconsin. A republican from the organization of the party, he has served the best interests of his adopted state for many years. From 1877 to 1883 he was a member of the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin, and during a portion of this period he served in the legis- lature of the state. First elected in November, 1876, he was a member in 1877, 1878 and 1879, serving upon the judiciary committee in 1877, upon the joint committee on the revision of the statutes in 1878, and as chairman of the judiciary committee in 1879.
It is needless to say that during his long and honorable career Mr. Carter has been connected with many remarkable cases, but a mention of two of them will suffice to illustrate the facility with which he grasps the weak points in an opponent's position and the conclusive way in which he exposes its instability. For instance, a few years ago, he was chief counsel for plaintiff in the suit of Thompson vs. Horton, it being an action for libel brought in the United States circuit court for the western district of Wisconsin, sitting at Madison. The libel was in the form of anonymous letters, purporting to have been written by a woman to plaintiff's wife; to a banker at Fennimore, Wis .; and to the Methodist minister, making most scandalous charges against Mr. Thompson. When the trouble came about, the plaintiff had removed to Dakota, and when Mr. Carter was called to take charge of the case, he found that a detective had already been employed to obtain speci- mens of the handwriting of the suspected Horton. Although the so- called detective betrayed the interests of his employer and went over to the defendant, Mr. Carter boldly turned the guns of the enemy against his own ranks and completely routed him. In other words, Horton and his attorneys unconsciously furnished the evidence which fastened the guilt upon him beyond the shadow of a doubt. For the use of his
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experts he had obtained and produced a number of letters, which, at various times, he had written to friends and relatives. The anonymous letters contained a number of curiously misspelled words which Mr. Carter noticed were repeated in the genuine letters introduced by the defendant. Strange to say, defendant's counsel did not notice this vital point, but while they were making their arguments to the jury the attorney for the plaintiff was carefully drawing off a list of these death- dealing words. When it was produced the effect was crushing-the plaintiff won his case then and there.
In the State of Wisconsin vs. John Groth et al., three men, father, son and grandson, were charged with entering a barn in the night-time to steal wheat, they not knowing of the presence of the farmer and his wife who chanced to be sleeping therein that night. They claimed that by the light of the moon, which shone in over the top of the quarter . opened barn door, they recognized the faces and the clothes of the cul- prits. After fixing the position of the barn doors relative to the wheat bin, the hour of the night when the event was claimed to have occurred, the position of the sides of the barn with respect to the points of the compass, the position of the barn door, the side of the barn exposed to the rays of the moon, and the angle at which the light would be obliged to strike the barn floor, Mr. Carter drew a diagram illustrating these points and sent it to a Chicago friend who was requested to place it in the hands of an astronomer in order to ascertain how much light, under the circumstances, could have illuminated the barn floor. To the uninitiated, this may seem like taking much trouble over a very small matter; but upon this very small matter, or point, revolved the entire case. Mr. Carter took this trouble because he had noticed that shadows in the moonlight were very black and dense, and their edges very sharp, and saw the important bearing this fact had upon the case, and he there- fore realized that his case was won when he received a reply from an astronomical expert, stating that upon the night in question, under the circumstances, all the light that could enter the barn was a mere pencil ray which would pass over the heads of the three men, strike the floor near where the alleged witnesses were located, between them and the cul-
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prits, and leave the wheat bin and the space between the witnesses and the culprits in total darkness. Manifestly, this would make it impossible for those charged with the theft to be recognized; and these points were so clearly demonstrated by Prof. Elias Colbert, the well-known astronomer and editor of Chicago, who was called as an expert in the case, that the district attorney promptly acknowledged that he had no grounds for prosecution. It is such painstaking as this that goes far to make the successful trial lawyer.
On the 4th of December, 1856, Mr. Carter was married to Ellen Evans Rowdon, his family consisting of his wife and four children- Byron B., born in 1860, a resident of Hinsdale, a Chicago suburb; Myrtle E .; Thomas P., a law student, and Susan.
GEORGE C. MARKHAM.
George C. Markham was born in Wilmington, Essex county, N. Y., May 7, 1843. The Markhams came from England before the war of the revolution and settled, some in Connecticut, some in Pennsylvania and some in Virginia. His grandfather, Barzillai Markham, was born in Enfield, Conn., and fought in the revolution, serving as an ensign in the 8th Connecticut. He was afterwards colonel of militia. His father, Nathan Barzillai Markham, was born at Pittsfield, Vt., in April, 1796. When two years old his parents moved to Essex county, N. Y., where he married Susan McLeod, and to them were born six sons and four daughters, the subject of this sketch being the youngest. Nathan Bar- zillai Markham and his wife continued to live in New York state until 1870, when they removed to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where their eldest son lived, and spent the balance of their days there, he dying at eighty- six and his wife surviving him less than a year. The McLeods were from Scotland; they came to this country at an early day, and were found fighting with the colonists in the days of '76.
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