USA > Wisconsin > History of the bench and bar of Wisconsin, Vol. II > Part 12
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
THE BENCH.
WILLIAM R. GORSLINE.
Mr. Gorsline was judge of the fourth circuit from 1855 until July I, 1858, succeeding Timothy O. Howe. He was born in Manlius, Onon- daga county, New York, June 28, 1823. In early childhood he was left an orphan, but received, through the care of an uncle, an academic education in his native town; his study of the law was also begun there. In 1844 he removed to Milwaukee and completed his legal studies in the office of Francis Randall; the following year he opened a law office in Sheboygan, and during that year and 1846 was register of deeds of Sheboygan county; in 1850 and 1851 he was county judge. April 3, 1855, he was elected to the circuit bench to fill the unexpired term of Judge Howe, and in 1856 was re-elected for a full term, but served only until July, 1858, when he resigned for the purpose of going to Colo- rado.
112
சட்ட
arman S. El
I13
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
Reaching Colorado, he began the practice of the law and continued therein until 1860, when President Buchanan appointed him one of the district judges, a position to which President Johnson reappointed him. During 1867, 1868 and 1869 he was a justice of the supreme court of Colorado territory; the opinions filed by him are contained in the first volume Colorado reports. On the admission of that territory into the Union he resumed the practice of his profession in Denver, where he died March 3, 1879. Judge Gorsline was succeeded by David Taylor, whose term of service covered the years 1858-1869. (See sketch of Judge Taylor's life in volume I.) The latter's successor was
CAMPBELL McLEAN.
Mr. McLean was a native of Washington county, New York. In his childhood his family removed to Clinton county, New York, where he received an academic education. His legal education was obtained in the office of George A. Simmons, at Keeseville, in his native state, where he was admitted to the bar. In 1856 he came to Wisconsin, and in October of that year located at Fond du Lac. In 1862 he was a member of the assembly. In April, 1868, he was elected judge of the fourth circuit, and six years later was re-elected, serving in that office until January 1, 1881. In the spring of 1882 he removed to Platts- burgh, Clinton county, New York, where he now resides.
NORMAN S. GILSON.
Judge Norman S. Gilson, who in 1898 declined to be a candidate for re-election to the judgeship of the fourth judicial circuit for the fourth term, is one of the well-known jurists in the state. He was born on the western reserve in Ohio in 1839. He taught school in his native state in 1859-60, and early in 1861 entered the law office of his uncle, the late Leander F. Frisby, of West Bend. The breaking out of the civil war interrupted his law studies, and in September, 1861, he enlisted as a private in company D, twelfth Wisconsin infantry, and was soon promoted to sergeant-major of the regiment; the twelfth at that time doing service in Missouri and Kansas. The regiment was soon after transferred to the army of the Tennessee, and for a time he was on de- Vol. II .- 8
II4
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
tached duty with the staff of General Robert B. Mitchell. He remained with the army until the capture of Jackson, Mississippi, in July, 1863. In the following August he was commissioned first lieutenant of com- pany H. fifty-eighth regiment, United States colored infantry; he was rapidly promoted to the position of adjutant, and finally became lieu- tenant-colonel of the regiment. He took part in the siege of Vicksburg and in the battles of Jackson and Perryville and several other promi- nent engagements.
Colonel Gilson served on the staff of Major General Davidson, and was assigned to duty as judge advocate of the Natchez district. In 1865-66 he was judge advocate of the department of the Mississippi, serving at the time on the staffs of Major General Osterhaus and Major General Thomas J. Wood. Although his regiment was mustered out of service in 1865, Colonel Gilson was retained on duty for more than a year afterwards by the direction of the secretary of war on account of being judge advocate of the court-martial convened for the trial of Captain Speed for criminal carelessness in overloading the steamer Sultana, whereby the lives of 1, 100 paroled prisoners of war were lost. Colonel Gilson had the honor of thus appearing for the government in the most important military trial held on the Mississippi during the war. He was mustered out of service June 12, 1866, at Vicksburg, and was brevetted colonel of United States volunteers by President John- son for the efficiency and faithfulness with which he discharged all the . duties devolved upon him, thus retiring from the army at the end of nearly five years of constant service with a record creditable alike to his ability, his valor and his patriotism.
Colonel Gilson returned to Wisconsin to re-engage in his law studies, which included a full course at the Albany school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1867. At the same time he was admitted to the supreme court of New York. He then opened an office in Fond du Lac, and at once was recognized as a conscientious and well- read lawyer, which soon brought him popularity and a large practice. In 1874 he was elected city attorney of Fond du Lac, and after one year of service was elected district attorney. Occupying a conspicuous po- sition at the bar, he was an easy candidate for the judgeship of the
II5
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
fourth judicial circuit, and received the democratic nomination in March, 1880, and was elected by over 8,000 majority. He was re- ' elected without opposition in 1886 and again in 1892. From 1881 to the close of 1898 there have been six thousand five hundred cases on the calendars of the four counties of the circuit. Among the notable murder cases tried in Manitowoc county were Anna Straka for the death of Miss Hayward; George Ratksack for killing his wife with an ax, and Louisa Schroeder for poisoning her husband; in Sheboygan county that of William Gaedeke for shooting his brother; Peter Deegen for shooting a tenant on his farm in Ozaukee county. William Morris, charged with shooting a young lady in Manitowoc county, was one of widespread interest, and was tried by counsel of great zeal and ability; the evidence was all circumstantial, and Morris was acquitted. In Fond du Lac county the following persons were tried for murder: John P. Hoffman, George Seayer, and Herman Sass, a hired man, for killing his employer; besides many other cases of homicide.
In 1881 Robert A. Baker, a banker of Fond du Lac county, failed. He was charged with receiving deposits knowing that he was insolvent. General Bragg applied for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that the statute was invalid. Judge Gilson refused to discharge Baker, and on an appeal to the supreme court the act was held valid, which was the first decision on that point in the state.
Judge Gilson has been present at every term of court in each county since his first election, except one term at Kewaunee, held by Judge Parish while Judge Gilson was holding a term in Taylor county, and one term in Sheboygan county when Judge Pulling presided, Judge Gilson being absent to attend the funeral of a relative.
In 1887 John Jacob Hoffmann, pastor of St. Peter's Lutheran Unity church of Sheboygan, with his wife and children, were forcibly ejected from the parsonage by members of the church. Innumerable suits of every nature followed. For several terms Hoffmann's troubles occupied a large share of the time. He hired and discharged one lawyer after another until he was without an attorney and compelled to manage his own affairs. He was present every morning at the opening of court with some sort of a motion, and if permitted would talk indefinitely.
II6
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
He filed charges or brought actions against everyone who came within the range of the church difficulties. In his opinion one or two of the attorneys ought to have been disbarred; and, because Judge Gilson did not agree with him, he brought action against the judge for damages, which was dismissed by Judge Sloan, after a trial. The bell of the church was cast out of a cannon contributed by Count Von Moltke. Since the church war subsided the church has burned and the bell has gone to the junk shop.
During Judge Gilson's term a great number of civil suits have been tried, many of them involving large and important interests, and requir- ing decisions in every branch of the law.
On the first Monday of January, 1899, Judge Gilson will retire from the circuit bench after eighteen years of continuous service.
MICHAEL KIRWAN.
Mr. Kirwan was born in Ireland in 1847, but has resided in Wiscon- sin since 1849, and in Manitowoc county since 1855. He was brought up on a farm, educated in the public schools and taught therein for several years. He served as county superintendent of schools for Manitowoc county from 1870 to 1875, and for the third term was nom- inated by both political parties and elected without opposition. In 1874 he became a member of the state board of examiners for teachers' certificates and in 1876 was elected secretary of the state teachers' as- sociation. He decided to enter the practice of law and was admitted to the bar in 1878. In that year he was nominated by both political parties for the office of county judge of Manitowoc county, was elected without opposition, and held that office until 1882. From 1890 to 1896 he was a member of the board of regents of normal schools of Wiscon- sin. He was elected in April, 1898, as a non-partisan candidate to the office of circuit judge of the fourth judicial circuit of Wisconsin, receiv- ing 13,228 votes against 8,280 votes for A. C. Prescott, also a non- partisan candidate.
THE BAR.
JAMES S. ANDERSON.
James S. Anderson, of Manitowoc, is a native of Scotland. He was born on Christmas day, 1842, near the town of Glasgow, where his
II7
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
father, John Anderson, previously an officer in the British army, was at that time foreman of a calico printing establishment. The mother of the subject of this sketch, who was formerly Harriet Sibree, was a daughter of Charles Sibree, who had settled in New York as far back as 1841. John Anderson, with his family, left Scotland in 1852, and, coming to the United States, located in Manitowoc county, Wis., quite near the town of Manitowoc, into which he afterwards moved.
Having passed through the usual curriculum of studies at the high school of Manitowoc, James S. Anderson enlisted April 20, 1861, when eighteen years of age, in company A, of the 5th Wisconsin infantry. He served three years and five months in the army, during which time he was appointed corporal and afterwards sergeant. Resuming a civil- ian life, he resolved to become a lawyer, and as a preliminary thereto, entered Lawrence university at Appleton, whence he graduated with full honors in 1870. Having read law with Judge Myers, of Appleton, and J. D. Markham, of Manitowoc, he took his examination before Judge McLean in June, 1871, and was admitted to the bar.
It was not, however, until a year later that his active professional work was commenced, and since June of 1872 he has remained in Manitowoc, practicing alone with the exception of a short period, in which he was associated with Henry Sibree. In the numerous cases he has handled during that time many have held more than mere passing importance. Among these latter may be mentioned Riemer vs. Jahnke, Horn vs. Gary and Watts vs. Owens, the last claiming particular im- portance, as it fixed the heritable status of children born of void mar- riages. Of noticeable late cases which have benefited by his legal knowl- edge and powers were Hubbard vs. Shove and others, and Strong & Carrol vs. Imig and others; the decision in the last named was the first case to be written by Justice Marshall. Mr. Anderson has been success- ful in his trials of cases and his services have naturally been in demand.
That he bore a high reputation in his community was shown in his selection as city attorney for seven years, while in 1889 he was given the still higher honor of being elected a member of the state legislature. Having served for a time with ability as police judge and also as court - commissioner, he was appointed by Governor Upham in August, 1895,
118
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
to be county judge, and was elected in the spring of 1897 without op- position to the same responsible and honorable office.
Mr. Anderson is an old time Mason and is also a member of the Grand Army Post, Horace M. Walker, No. 18, which he organized. At the present time he is judge advocate of the Grand Army for the state of Wisconsin.
An active part has always been taken by him in the business interests of his town. From 1883 to 1886 he added to his other heavy duties the position of editor of the Lake Shore Times, a weekly paper published in Manitowoc.
Mr. Anderson was married July 17, 1873, to Eva M. Mills, daughter of the late Judge Joseph T. Mills, of Grant county, who was at that time residing at Lancaster. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have two children, Jean H., who is assistant principal of the high school at Menasha, and Joseph Mills Anderson, a student at Ripon college.
DAVID BABCOCK.
The subject of this sketch was born in Utica, New York, on the 4th of January, 1835. His parents, Jesse and Maria Babcock, moved at an early day from Oneida county to Jefferson county, New York. His father, who by occupation was a manufacturer and a miller, was a sturdy Henry Clay whig and afterward a strong abolitionist, being a friend and a follower of James G. Birney and Gerrit Smith. Later he was a republican, respected throughout the county (Jefferson) for his integ- rity, earnestness and ability.
David Babcock received a common school education, and after studying law in the office of J. M. Gillett, of Fond du Lac, in 1864, was admitted to the bar. He at once commenced practice and during the period of his professional service no interest which has been intrusted to his care has ever been neglected. This long and enviable record has been made also amid the residents of Fond du Lac, with whom he cast his lot as a young lawyer, and with whom he is now practicing as an honored veteran of the profession. With the exception of a period of ten years, when he was a partner with George P. Knowles, he has prac- ticed alone.
119
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
Mr. Babcock has never, to any extent, been involved in practical politics. As a young man he twice served as clerk of the circuit court, at Fond du Lac, and upon the breaking out of the civil war was among the first to respond to the call for troops, going to the front in April, 1861, as a private in company I, first regiment Wisconsin infantry. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he returned to his home, and in September, 1864, was married to Miss Sara L. Strong, of Fond du Lac. They have one child, now the wife of Doctor Wiley, of that city.
SAMUEL W. BEALL.
Samuel Wotton Beall was born in Montgomery, Prince George county, Maryland, in 1807; was educated at Union college, Schenec- tady, New York, and studied law at Litchfield, Connecticut. In 1827 he was appointed receiver for the sale of the public lands in a district covering what was then the territory of Michigan, his office being at Green Bay. He was admitted to the bar there in 1829. On the expira- tion of his term of office as receiver he returned to the east, but came to Wisconsin again in 1840, locating at Green Bay. In or about 184I he settled for a time at Lychora, Marquette county, and in 1846 was a delegate to the first constitutional convention, and served as chairman of the committee on the schedule for the organization of the state gov- ernment, and took a prominent part in the proceedings. Before the delegates were elected to the second convention Mr. Beall had become a resident of Laycheedah, Fond du Lac county, and was chosen a dele- gate thereto. In 1850-51 he was lieutenant governor; in 1859 he removed to Denver, Colorado, returning to Wisconsin in 1861. The following year he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the eighteenth Wisconsin, and participated in all the engagements of that regiment from Shiloh to the siege of Vicksburg. He was severely wounded at Shiloh, and soon after the surrender of Vicksburg was transferred to the invalid corps. He located at Helena, Montana, soon after the war closed, and was shot and killed in an altercation there with George M. Pinney.
Mr. Beall never practiced law extensively, and abandoned the pro- fession at an early day. It has been said that he was noted for a warm
120
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
and generous heart, impulsive feelings and intense and vigorous activi- ty in whatever he undertook. He possessed large, and in some respects, unusual abilities, was a fluent speaker, dignified in public position, and courteous and affable to all.
EDWARD S. BRAGG.
Edward S. Bragg was born in Unadilla, Otsego county, New York, on the 20th day of February, 1827. His father's name was Joel Bragg; he was born in the town of Paulett, Rutland county, Vermont, Febru- ary 26, 1784, and was of English descent and revolutionary stock.
Joel Bragg's father died when he was twelve years old, and the young boy went into the then wilderness of the state of New York to seek his fortune. He found a habitation after a good deal of wandering about, in the upper part of the Chenango valley in that state, where he commenced his life, having for companions Indians and early settlers. From this start he grew to be a man respected by all who knew him for his sound judgment, his probity and integrity, inflexible determina- tion, energy and untiring industry. He was wholly self-made, without the benefit of any education except such as he taught himself. He was a clear, sound thinker, and possessed an acute and incisive intellect, which made him a natural lawyer, but he never essayed to practice, but followed farming, milling and lumbering for his calling in life. He died at his home in Unadilla, on the Ioth day of January, 1870-not from disease, but because his mortal machinery was worn out.
Margaretha Kohl, a German by birth, was Joel Bragg's wife, and mother of Edward S. Bragg. She was born in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1787, and was given a good, practical education by her parents. She was married to her husband, Joel Bragg, in the city of Baltimore at St. Paul's church, Oct. 16, 1822. She was a good wife and an affectionate, devoted and indulgent mother, generous and hospitable, and with energy and industry, which carried her fully abreast with her husband in the accomplishment of the purposes which he un- dertook. She died at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Feb. 23, 1871.
There were born as the fruits of this marriage five children-four boys and one girl. All of the boys, except Edward S .. died without
Yours very Donly de of Brazy
I21
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
issue, and with his decease the family name of this branch of the family will become extinct.
Edward S. Bragg-the subject of this memoir-at the early age of twelve years, selected the law as the profession which he intended to follow, and was educated with express reference thereto. His early education, covering the rudiments of a practical education, were re- ceived at the district school, and closed in his twelfth year. From that time he was taught, preparatory for a college course, in four of the most celebrated academies of that day in that section of New York-at Ox- ford, Chenango county; at Delhi, Delaware county; at Franklin, in Delaware county; and at Gilbertsville, in Otsego county. In 1844 he was admitted to the freshman class in Geneva (now Hobart) college, New York (which institution conferred upon him, on June 22, 1898, the degree of LL. D.), and remained there, following the course of study in the curriculum until the summer of 1847, when he closed his college career and entered the law office of Judge Chas. C. Noble, at Unadilla in the state of New York, from whom he had secured the right to a chair in his office at the early age of twelve years, by personal negotiation.
In 1848 he was admitted to the bar of the state of New York, upon an open court examination. He came to Wisconsin in 1850, and opened a law office at Fond du Lac, where he has ever since remained.
On the 2d day of January, 1854, he married Cornelia Colman, a granddaughter of Col. Nathaniel Rochester, one of the founders of the city of Rochester, in New York, which was named for him.
Six children were born, the issue of this marriage-three boys and three girls-two of the boys, Harry Sweet and Rochester, died in child- hood: William Kohl died at the age of twenty-one, after graduation with honor at the Pennsylvania military academy. The eldest daugh- ter. Kate Colman, married Clarence W. Henry, and died without issue October 18, 1895, at the age of forty-one. The second daughter, Mar- garet, married Frank H. Sherman, a lieutenant in the United States navy; both are still living, and have two children, Edward Bragg Sher- man and Helen Leslie Sherman. The third daughter, Bertha, married George Percival Scriver, now a major in the United States army, both of whom are living, and have two children. Elizabeth and Catharine.
I22
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
The subject of this memoir has occupied in civil and political life the following positions: District attorney of Fond du Lac county in 1854; delegate to the national democratic convention at Charleston, in 1860; delegate to the union national convention at Philadelphia, in 1866; delegate to the union sailors' national convention, New York, in 1868; senator from Fond du Lac district, 1867-69; and was appointed, seriatim, assessor of internal revenue, and postmaster at Fond du Lac, by President Johnson, in 1867, each of which appointments the senate of the United States refused to confirm because of the belief in and ad- herence to the democratic faith for which the appointee was noted. He was elected four times a member of Congress from the district in which he lives, as a democrat. His service in that body covered the forty-fifth, forty-sixth, forty-seventh and forty-ninth congresses. In February, 1888, he was appointed minister to Mexico by President Cleveland, and served in that capacity until the administration was changed.
General Bragg is and always has been a democrat of the old school. He was a delegate to the democratic national convention at Baltimore in 1872; chairman of the Wisconsin delegation in the democratic national convention at Chicago in 1884, and again in 1896; and a dele- gate to the democratic national convention at Chicago in 1892.
General Bragg has never made the acquaintance of Mr. Fear; in- deed, he knows of his existence only because of his observation, not from personal experience. He is plain spoken and calls things by their right names. No party label has ever been strong enough to hold him in party line when he believed that the best interests of his state and nation were hostile to the proposed action. A late and convincing proof of this is afforded by his action in the last presidential election, when he actively opposed the nominees of the national convention of the democratic party.
The editor acknowledges his obligations to Messrs. William P. Lyon and Charles E. Dyer for their estimates of General Bragg as a lawyer, and fully concurs in what they have written of him. Judge Lyon has thus expressed his view:
123
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
"Prominent in the list of names of those lawyers of Wisconsin who have honored the state by their ability, brilliancy and fidelity to profes- sional obligations, will be found the name of Edward S. Bragg, who, for nearly half a century, has been a central figure in the state and fed- eral courts.
"Before General Bragg commenced practice he had acquired an unusually thorough knowledge of the elementary principles of the law, and on that solid foundation, by continued and well-directed study and thought, inspired by profound love of his profession and appreciation of its true dignity, he has become one of the great lawyers of the country. Although he has served with conspicuous ability in the halls of Congress, and with equally conspicuous gallantry and patriotism as a soldier during the late war of the rebellion, and although he has given his service freely to promote the success of the political party with which he is identified, and in the councils of which he exerts a commanding influence, he has never ceased to make knowledge and successful pur- suit of his profession the paramount business of his life. Comparatively few have such a record for professional fidelity, and fewer still for pro- fessional success.
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.