USA > Wisconsin > History of the bench and bar of Wisconsin, Vol. II > Part 49
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On the death of A. Scott Sloan, Judge Parks was, by Governor Up- ham, appointed his successor, and served as the judge of the thirteenth circuit from April 15, 1895, to June 1, 1896. His health has been such since said time that he has not resumed practice.
JAMES J. DICK.
James Jefferson Dick, present judge of the thirteenth circuit, was born in Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York, September 8, 1836; was educated in the common schools and the Westfield academy. In May, 1856, he came west and located at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin; there he taught school until 1860; was graduated from the Albany law school in 1861, and admitted to the bar of the higher New York courts. Returning to Wisconsin, he formed a partnership with H. W. Lander, . which continued about three years. He continued to practice in Beaver Dam until his election to the circuit judgeship to succeed Judge War- ham Parks, in 1896.
Mr. Dick has acted with the democratic party, but previous to being
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elected judge had not held office, except the superintendency of schools of the city of Beaver Dam, a position to which he was annually chosen for twenty years.
August 5, 1862, Mr. Dick was married to Miss Helen M. Drown, of Beaver Dam.
THE BAR.
CHARLES ELDREDGE ARMIN.
Charles E. Armin, for the past fifteen years a successful practicing attorney of Waukesha, is a native of De Kalb, St. Lawrence county, New York, where he was born on the 27th of December, 1853. Lott W. Armin, his father, was long a farmer and dealer in live stock, the even tenor of his life being disturbed by more than two years of faithful service in the civil war. In the fall of 1862 he enlisted as a private, participated in fourteen battles and skirmishes, was twice wounded and was promoted for meritorious conduct. .
Mr. Armin, the elder, was born at Watlas, near Beedel, Yorkshire, England, and came to America with his parents in childhood. His family is traced back to the time of Shakespeare, one Robert Armin being a member of the dramatic company of which the immortal bard was the controlling spirit. This Robert was also an author of some note, one of his literary productions which brought him reputation being "A Nest of Ninnies."
The mother of our subject (nee Abbie J. A. Eldredge) is descended from an old New England family. Her mother was a Howe and the old Howe tavern, which was built before the revolution and is now standing a short distance out of Boston, was erected by Colonel Howe, a great-uncle of her mother, and managed by him for many years. Charles A. Eldredge, one of the ablest men that Wisconsin has pro- duced, was her brother. For many years Mrs. Armin was an active worker in movements of reform and philanthropy, and both she and her husband are leading members of the Presbyterian church.
Their son was of studious disposition, and yet very fond of hunt-
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ing, trapping and fishing. Therefore, he developed symmetrically into a youth strong both in body and mind. When only four years of age he commenced his schooling, continuing his education in the common schools and at the state normal school, at Potsdam, New York. His course at the latter institution included two years of Latin and the higher mathematics.
But the young man's ultimate ambition was neither to teach nor to busy himself in a small, stationary eastern village. So that, after studying law for a time in the office of Judge H. L. Knowles, of Pots- dam, he removed to Waukesha and completed his studies with Judge P. H. Carney, of the latter place. On February 7. 1883, he was ad- mitted to the bar of the circuit court at Waukesha, and on September 24, 1885, to that of the supreme court. He has practiced continuously, conscientiously and successfully since then, Waukesha, his home, ac- counting him one of her able and popular citizens.
Mr. Armin opened his office as a practicing attorney on the Ist of May, 1883, and did not form a partnership until the spring of 1891, when V. H. Tichenor became his associate. The firm thus formed, Armin & Tichenor, continued for three years. During this period he held the office of district attorney for one term, and it is a matter of record that he never failed of conviction except when he entered the motion for a nolle pros. himself. He has also succeeded in placing upon the statutes the municipal court bills, which have been of great financial benefit to Waukesha county. Although requested to serve a second term as district attorney, he refused a renomination that he might devote his attention to his private business which, in the press of public affairs, had necessarily been neglected.
Mr. Armin has been retained in many important cases which are of interest because of the legal questions involved. In the case of Estey vs. Snyder, in which an organ company brought replevin against de- fendant to recover on the original chattel mortgage which had been satisfied by payments made to an agent, he conducted a strong and successful defense before the circuit court, his position being fully sus- tained by the supreme court to which an appeal was taken. The libel suit of Loibel vs. Breidenback established the important principle that Vol II .- 34
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one who even ignorantly sanctions libelous matter and allows it to pass from his hands for publication is himself liable to the law. This con- tention, advanced by Mr. Armin in behalf of his client, was sustained by the higher court. The case of Evans vs. Foster and the contest over the will of Morris D. Cutler, who deeded his property to his half brother, James, are also illustrations of the character of litigation in which Mr. Armin has been engaged. In the former the claim was successfully advanced that a residuary legatee to whom land was devised subject to the lien of a legacy to another person and who sold the land, convert- ing the proceeds to her own use, was personally liable for the payment of such legacy.
The contest over the will of the late Morris D. Cutler was lately disposed of upon appeal in the circuit court. At the time of making his will the decedent was about seventy-five years of age, being one of the first white men to locate in the vicinity of Waukesha. He had acquired a large property, being reported to be worth from one-half to a million of dollars. His wife died without issue, so that at the time of the making of his will he had neither wife nor children, but he had brothers and sisters, half brothers and sisters, and children who be- longed to a deceased brother. He was a man of strong individuality. but with a limited education, and very eccentric and secretive about his business affairs. When his will was made he sent to Green Bay for an old friend. Malcolm Sellers, who had resided at Waukesha for many years before going to that city, and told him that he wanted a paper drawn up, which would deed his property to his half brother, James. The old friend returned to Green Bay and there dictated the terms of a will giving all of Mr. Cutler's property to that individual. The will was afterward executed, with all of the formalities required by statute, and the decedent kept it among his papers for some ten years thereafter. It appeared that he had given large sums of money to this friend who had the will drawn, without any security therefor; he had been subject to spells or fits, and it was claimed by his housekeeper, her daughter and daughter's husband that he had had one of these paroxysms a day or two before the will was executed, and that he was not accountable. A special verdict was submitted to the jury, which found that there was
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no undue influence and that he was of sound and disposing mind at the time of the making of the will. A motion for a new trial was overruled by the circuit judge who tried the cause, with directions that the papers be remanded to the county court from which the appeal had been taken.
Mr. Armin says that he is a democrat, "as defined by the Chicago platform of 1896," but has never been actively engaged in politics. He has been a member of the Knights of Pythias for several years, having held the offices of prelate, vice chancellor, chancellor, commander and deputy. He is also identified with the Improved Order of Red Men, the Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Married on the 15th of February, 1880, to Miss Flora Butterfield, Mr. Armin has two children-an infant son. Rex Kenneth, born Jan- uary II, 1898, and Cora Abbie, born August 31, 1882. The latter is an elocutionist of remarkable talent. She was awarded the gold medal by the state agricultural society for excellence in this department, when only eleven years of age, and it is perhaps not too much to say that no one of her years in the state is her superior as an elocutionist.
Mr. Armin himself, besides being an able lawyer, is a great lover of nature and of poetry, being a versifier of decided talent.
JOHN G. BACHHUBER.
John G. Bachhuber was born on the 8th of March, 1868, in Leroy, Dodge county; his parents were Max and Theresa (Engel) Bachhuber. The former, a farmer and merchant, was a native of Germany and came to the United States in 1846. settling at Farmersville, Dodge county, Wisconsin. His father (Martin) located at Milwaukee, where he be- came well known as a veterinary surgeon and.brewer.
Max Bachhuber, was a man possessed of more than ordinary abili- ties; for he was not only a successful farmer and merchant, but a legis- lator whose services were repeatedly recognized by his constituents in the councils of the state. He was a member of the legislature for three terms-1864, 1868 and 1874-and died in 1880.
It was in the very midst of his father's legislative experience that John G. Bachhuber commenced his career in this world. Until he was fourteen years of age the boy worked continuously on the family
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farm. Afterward he commenced attending school, giving his vacations to farm work. Thus, for many years, he and his two younger brothers carried on a farm of one hundred and forty acres-not a small responsi- bility to be placed on such youthful shoulders.
When the young man commenced to devote his entire energy to the acquisition of an education, however, his progress was remarkable. In a short time he had graduated from the Mayville high school and was ready to commence his legal studies. Removing to Madison, he entered the law school of the state university, where the advantages are as broad as can be obtained anywhere in the west; he graduated therefrom in 1888 and was admitted to practice.
Returning to his home at Mayville, he commenced the practice of his profession, continuing thus for four years. Then (in 1892) he re- moved to Juneau, where he has since resided. During most of this period he has been in partnership with J. E. Malone, and the combina- tion has been a remarkably successful one. In fact, it may be said that there is little important litigation in the county, either civil or criminal, in which the firm has not been engaged. Of the noted murder trials may be instanced those of Piosikowski vs. State, Zellmer vs. State and Johnson vs. State. In these cases Mr. Bachhuber, with other attor- neys, represented the defendants and of three, two were acquitted.
In politics Mr. Bachhuber is a democrat. For two years he has been city clerk of Mayville, serving as alderman of Juneau three years and city attorney of the same place two years. He has also held the office of county judge of Dodge, filling the unexpired term of S. W. Lamoreaux-a record of which any man of thirty need not be ashamed. To that record it is perhaps needless to add that Mr. Bachhuber is a hard, methodical and able worker.
In religious belief he is a Roman Catholic, and, excepting his affilia- tion with the Knights of Pythias (which order he joined in 1895), is unconnected with any secret order.
Mr. Bachhuber was married at Mayville, in 1891, to Marie De- vantier, a native of Germany, but, as her name implies, of French descent. Her ancestors were a portion of that great emigration of the Huguenots from France, which resulted from religious persecution and
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which drained the country of so much of its best blood. These repre- sentatives of German and of French blood are now further represented by two bright children, Alice and Irene.
CHARLES BILLINGHURST.
This well-known lawyer of the last generation was born in Monroe county, New York, in 1818. His earlier years were passed upon his father's farm, with but limited opportunities for education; but such as he had were well improved, and his scholastic attainments were all they could have been without other or better advantages. He read law and was admitted to the bar in Rochester, New York, and formed a partnership with Henry R. Selden, afterwards a judge of the court of appeals of New York. In 1845 his health obliged him to abandon the practice, as it did a second time before 1847. Being compelled to seek a change of climate he removed, in 1847, to Wisconsin, and settled at Juneau, Dodge county, where his practice became extensive and profit- able. "His abilities as a lawyer were of a high order. He was learned, eloquent and astute, at the same time dignified and urbane. In the severest conflicts of the forum he never forgot the courtesies of a gentle- man. His brethren of the Dodge county bar, who were his contem- poraries, still lament the loss of a recognized leader, whose assistance was always welcome and whose antagonism summoned forth their best resources and strongest powers of resistance."
Mr. Billinghurst was a member of the popular branch of the first state legislature; in 1852 was a presidential elector and cast his vote for Franklin Pierce for President, and during the six years preceding 1854 held various local offices; in that year he was elected to Congress and re-elected in 1856. His political affiliations were changed about the time the civil war broke out, and he became an active supporter of President Lincoln and the war measures of his administration. Mr. Billinghurst died at Juneau, August 18, 1865.
MICHAEL E. BURKE.
Another very notable instance of the possibilities before American youth, when determination and a capacity for hard work are united,
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may be found in the career of this lawyer and public man who has been able to do the state, as well as his own district, much and appreciable service.
Michael E. Burke is of Irish descent and his grandfather, John Burke, spent his life in the Green Isle, which his father, Michael Burke, left in 1837. For many years the last named followed the occupation of a laborer, but in 1856 he moved to Beaver Dam and, marrying Ellen Foley, also of Irish descent, took up farming, in which he remained until the time of his death in 1892.
Michael E. Burke was born at Beaver Dam, October 15, 1863, and was still a child of four when his mother died. His earlier education was obtained in the district school of the town of Beaver Dam, his father's farm being two miles outside the city. At fifteen he entered Wayland academy, from which he graduated in June, 1884. and after- wards attended the law school at Madison. His legal studies, however, were chiefly pursued under Judge Elwell, at Beaver Dam, and in De- cember. 1887, his examination was successfully passed before the state board of examiners, and he was formally admitted to the bar. He im- mediately formed a partnership with Judge Elwell.
Mr. Burke's earlier practice was of a rather arduous description, for, in addition to his legal duties, he lived with his father on the farm outside of the town and used every endeavor to help him in the neces- sary working of the same. His father's financial expectations in the farming line, however, were not destined to eventualize.
Association with Judge Elwell continued until his death. in 1893. following which Mr. Burke practiced alone until December, 1895, when the partnership with B. F. Babcock, which still exists, was formed. Mr. Burke, in addition to a large general practice, has taken part as associate counsel in several notorious murder trials, and has also been engaged in most of the important litigation in Dodge county.
Always a democrat in his political connections, Mr. Burke's stand- ing with his party was recognized in 1888 when he was elected justice of the peace and was re-elected to that office in 1890. in which year, also, he was elected to the popular branch of the legislature. There, as has been mentioned previously, he did good service as a member of com-
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mittee on claims and also in 1891 as chairman of the committee on expenditures. He was honored with re-election in 1892, and became a member of the committee on retrenchment and reform, while in the fol- lowing year he was on the judiciary committee. In 1894 he was elected to the senate from the thirteenth senatorial district, comprising Colum- bia and Dodge counties, and here he also made himself a power to be reckoned with. His own town has given him further honor for, elected city attorney in 1893, he has held that position uninterruptedly since.
Mr. Burke is a member of the Odd Fellows, in which body he has filled all offices in the subordinate lodge.
HOPEWELL COXE.
Hopewell Coxe was born in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, June 28, 1812; his education was limited to such as the common schools afforded; read law in Williamsport, admitted to the bar and practiced there until 1842; removed to, and resided in, Kentucky about three years: in 1845 removed to Wisconsin, remained in Milwaukee for a time and settled at Cedarburg, Washington county, in 1846, and was elected county judge the same year; held that office eight years; was a member of the first constitutional convention; rendered valuable service in that body; "possessed more than average abilities, and was highly respected by his associates." In 1854 Mr. Coxe removed to Hartford, Washington county, at which place he died June 16, 1864.
JAMES B. HAYS.
Mr. Hays was a native of Pennsylvania, having been born in Craw- ford county, September 10, 1840. His family came to Wisconsin in 1847 and settled at Ashippun, in Dodge county. He was educated in the public schools, the college at Delafield and the Wisconsin state university; read law at Horicon. From January, 1863, to January, 1867, was clerk of the Dodge county circuit court; was admitted to the bar in 1865; in 1867 was a member of the assembly; in 1874 was elected district attorney of Dodge county; in 1877 was the democratic candidate for secretary of state, but failed of an election as did his associates on that ticket. July 1, 1885, Mr. Hays was appointed chief
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justice of the supreme court of the territory of Idaho, and, apparently, held that office until sometime in 1888. Whether he died while a mem- ber of that court is not positively known, but the writer understands that such is the fact. His written opinions are in volume 2, Idaho re- ports.
EDWIN HURLBUT.
Edwin Hurlbut, a prominent lawyer, editor and humanitarian of Wisconsin, was born in Newton, Connecticut, on the Ioth day of October, 1817. His parents, Philander and Julia (Thomas) Hurlbut, were also natives of Connecticut, the family in America being founded by three brothers who came to this country on the Mayflower. Mr. Hurlbut's grandfather, Thomas, was a major of the revolution, and, moreover, a physician in good standing, while his father served with credit in the war of 1812.
When Edwin was a boy of seven years his parents removed to Bradford county, Pennsylvania, where his father prospered both as a farmer and a lumberman. For the succeeding seven years he busied himself in attending the common schools of that place, after which he spent a year in Newark, New Jersey, and some time in Michigan. By this time he had determined upon the study of law, and, returning east, entered the offices of Governor Maynard, in Lodi, Seneca county, New York, and of David Willmott, Towanda, Bradford county, Pennsyl- vania. After the election of the latter to a seat in Congress, Mr. Hurl- but completed his studies with Judge William Elwell, of the same town, where he was admitted to the bar in 1847. He secured admission to the bar of Michigan in 1848, and, after a period of indecision as to where he should permanently locate, he removed to Oconomowoc in 1850. Ad- mitted to the higher courts of both the state and the United States (United States supreme court in 1886), Mr. Hurlbut has been retained, during nearly half a century of practice, in most of the important cases which have been tried in his section of Wisconsin. He first opened an office at Towanda, Pennsylvania, and practiced for a time in Ingham county, Michigan, before removing to Oconomowoc, being alone not only during this period but during most of his professional experience in Wisconsin. The two exceptions to the general rule were the admission
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to partnership of Warham Parks, who had studied law in his office, and of C. H. Van Alstyne, both able and prominent members of the pro- fession.
For fifty years Mr. Hurlbut has been an office holder or a public man in varied fields of action, and whatever duties have been intrusted to him have been promptly and acceptably filled. At the commence- ment of his practice, at Mason, Ingham county, Michigan, in 1848, he was appointed both postmaster and district attorney, and in 1849 became judge advocate of the Michigan state militia with the rank of colonel. Settling in Oconomowoc in April, 1850, in a short time he was appointed attorney of the Milwaukee, Watertown & Madison plank .. road, and subsequently served the Milwaukee, Beaver Dam & Bara- boo railroad (now a branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul rail- road) in a like capacity. He was elected district attorney of Waukesha county in 1856, and also in 1873, holding that office two terms, and at the outbreak of the rebellion was appointed colonel on Governor Ran- dall's staff. Colonel Hurlbut was an active and efficient recruiting officer, freely giving his services in obtaining bounties and subsequently pensions. Going to Washington with the fourth Wisconsin infantry. he served in the state commissary department, as an inspector of the troops and as governor's aid. In 1862 he was appointed deputy United States marshal, with the powers of a provost marshal, and afterward was offered the command of a Wisconsin regiment, which he declined.
Mr. Hurlbut is one of the founders of the republican party. Origi- nally he was a Jeffersonian democrat, and in 1844 assisted his father to peddle presidential tickets in the interest of Andrew Jackson. He advocated the election of Polk and of Cass, and after his removal to Wisconsin was a free soil democrat. He continued to act with that party until the Glover rescue of 1854. when he joined with Sherman M. Booth in the calling of the famous convention at Madison which de- clared against the extension of slavery. It was upon Mr. Hurlbut's motion that the political organization then formed was called the repub- lican party, and he was named as a delegate to its first convention which nominated General Fremont for the presidency. Until the nomination of Grant he continued to uphold the party, of which he was one of the
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chief sponsors, when he abandoned the organization to support Horace Greeley. From that time until 1890 he affiliated with the democratic party, but during the year named again became a republican. Since residing in Wisconsin he has been actively identified with the campaign committees of the state, whether democratic or republican.
With the exception of one term in the assembly (1869), Mr. Hurlbut has held no office which may be called purely political, although for fourteen years he has served either as trustee (president, a portion of the time) of the village of Oconomowoc, or as clerk of its school board. He has also been alderman several times and is now president of the board of education. While an assemblyman he was chairman of the committee on federal relations and a member of other committees. From 1870 to 1878, however, he became known in the field of reformatory in- stitutions, representing Governor Fairchild at the international congress on penitentiary and reformatory discipline. In 1872 he was a delegate to the international penitentiary congress, London, England, and in 1874 he became a member of the national prison congress, held in St. Louis. At the latter session he was elected one of the trustees and placed on the committee on criminal law reform, and in 1875 he became a trustee of the national prison association of New York, being named a member of the committee on discharged convicts. In 1878 he was appointed a member of the board of managers of the Wisconsin state industrial school. It will thus be seen that Mr. Hurlbut has acquired a national and international reputation in the domain of prison reform. It may be added that his broad reputation is not more theoretical than practi- cal, and that this fact was well illustrated in his management for seven years of the state industrial school at Waukesha. During this period he not only brought the institution to a high state of discipline and useful- ness but succeeded in abolishing therein the system of corporal punish- ment.
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