USA > Wisconsin > History of the bench and bar of Wisconsin, Vol. II > Part 51
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East Troy, so that when he graduated from the university, in 1881, he was well qualified, both theoretically and practically, to assume the duties of his profession. He at once commenced practice in the office of D. H. Sumner, Waukesha, but in 1882, forming a partnership with D. J. Hemlock, removed to Port Washington. When Mr. Sumner was elected to Congress the firm transferred the scene of its professional activities to Waukesha, and a combination was formed under the name of Sumner, Tullar & Hemlock. After two years Mr. Hemlock with- drew and the firm of Sumner & Tullar continued for five years, until 1890, since which time Mr. Tullar has practiced alone.
He has been engaged in a large number of important cases, that ot Sweet & O'Connor vs. Cunningham et al., involving over 5,000 acres of school lands, attracting wide attention. The supreme court enter- tamed a motion for a new trial in the case, although the original action was brought in that body.
Mr. Tullar has always been a republican. He has filled the offices of city attorney, district attorney (elected 1890) and municipal judge, being chosen to the last named position in 1895, for a term of six years. He also takes a constant interest in the Masonic order, the Elks and the Knights of Pythias. ..
In 1886 Mr. Tullar was united in marriage, at Chicago, to Miss Jessie Medbery. They have two children, Maurice Sidney and Robert Jackson Tullar.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE FOURTEENTH CIRCUIT, ITS JUDGE AND LAWYERS.
In 1883 the legislature created the fourteenth judicial circuit out of the counties of Door, Brown, Oconto and Marinette. The elec- tion for judge was held on the first Tuesday in May, 1883, and resulted in the choice of Samuel D. Hastings, Jr., who, by repeated re-elections, continues to be judge. He entered upon his duties on the first Monday in January, 1884. The boundaries of the circuit remain as above stated.
THE BENCH.
SAMUEL D. HASTINGS, JR.
Mr. Hastings is a native of Pennsylvania, having been born in Phila- delphia June 19, 1841. In 1845 he came west with his parents, locat- ing at Madison, Wisconsin. He was graduated from Beloit college in 1863, and from the law school at Albany, New York, in 1865. Pre- vious to attending that school Mr. Hastings had "read law" with Ab- bott & Hutchinson of Madison. In 1865 he entered upon the practice of the law there as a partner of Elisha W. Keyes; in August, 1867, re- moved to Green Bay and formed a partnership with E. H. Ellis; about a year later George G. Greene was added to the firm, which remained unchanged until the election of Mr. Ellis as circuit judge in 1871. From that time until January, 1884, Messrs. Hastings and Greene con- tinued to be partners. At that time Mr. Hastings became judge of the newly created fourteenth circuit, a position to which he has been twice re-elected and which he now holds.
After the death of Chief Justice Ryan Judge Hastings was strongly supported by the bar and people of northern Wisconsin for appoint- ment to fill the vacancy. In 1895 Governor Upham tendered him the appointment of justice of the supreme court to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Orton. A complication of circumstances. seemed to render it unadvisable for him to accept the position, and it
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was, therefore, declined. The fact that the appointment was made and the supposition that it would be accepted led the bar and press gen- erally to give their hearty endorsement to the selection. Upon the death of Judge Newman in 1898, Judge Hastings was strongly urged to be a candidate, and was indirectly notified by the executive that he could have the position if he would accept. For substantially the same reasons that made it seem best to him to decline Governor Upham's offer, he again declined to be a candidate. In view of Judge Hasting's long service on the circuit bench and the fact that his services as a member of the supreme court have been in demand, it is superfluous to add anything by way of comment on his judicial career. At the bar he maintained a high position and was entrusted with as important business as any lawyer in the northern portion of Wisconsin. The firm of Hastings & Greene was widely and favorably known, and its services were in constant demand.
In politics Mr. Hastings has always been a republican, but has never been a politician or taken an active part as a partisan. His elections to the bench have been on the non-partisan basis. He has been actively interested in educational matters and has served the city of his resi- dence as president of the school board; has been president of the board of directors of the Kellogg public library of Green Bay since its organi- zation in 1888. For several years he was a special lecturer on the sub- ject of taxation in the college of law of the state university.
Mr. Hastings has been twice married-first to Mary C. Kendall of Beloit, Wisconsin, who died in 1868; second, to Hetta Sue Clapp of Kenosha. He has three children living, two daughters and one son.
THE BAR.
H. O. FAIRCHILD.
Hiram Orlando Fairchild, now of the firm of Greene, Vroman, Fair- child, North & Parker, of Green Bay, was born in Newtown, Fountain county, Indiana, August 14, 1845. He graduated at Wabash college, Crawfordsville, Indiana, from the classical course in 1866 with the de- gree of B. A., and three years later received therefrom the degree of
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M. A. In 1866 Mr. Fairchild went to Fort Kearney, Nebraska, to look after certain business interests of the late Judge Levi Hubbell, and remained there until the spring of 1867, when he removed to Wis- consin. His preparation for admission to the bar was made in the office of his brother, John B. Fairchild, at Oconto, Wisconsin, and he was admitted in Oconto county in May. 1870. Subsequently he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of the state and of all the federal courts, including the supreme. Mr. Fairchild began to prac- tice at Marinette, Wisconsin, where he and his brother formed a part- nership in 1874. He continued in that partnership until shortly be- fore his removal to Green Bay in 1895. to become a member of the firm of Greene, Vroman & Fairchild, since changed as stated.
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On the organization of Marinette county in 1879 Mr. Fairchild was appointed its district attorney, a position held by him fourteen consecu- tive years. In 1883 and in 1885 he was a member of the assembly. serving as speaker during the latter session. Mr. Fairchild is a re- publican in politics and in 1888 was one of the delegates at large to the republican national convention.
Mr. Fairchild's career as a lawyer has been a successful one and in every way worthy of the ability, industry and character of the man. He has won an enviable place at the bar by displaying qualities which have commanded respect. He is a worthy member of a firm which has high standing for integrity and ability. As a legislator and pre- siding officer he made an excellent record.
GEORGE G. GREENE.
Mr. Greene is the senior member of the firm of Greene, Vroman, Fairchild, North & Parker, of Green Bay. He was born at Brock- ett's Bridge, Herkimer county, New York, November 18, 1843. His parents were Nathan S. and Elizabeth (Griswold) Greene, the for- mer a native of Vermont, the latter of New York; both were members of old families in those states. When our subject was but three years old his parents moved to Milford, Jefferson county, Wisconsin, where his youth was passed. He spent two years at the university of Wis- consin, and then attended a military school at Fulton, Ill. It was dur-
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ing this period that the war of the rebellion was being carried on, and young Greene, while attending school at Fulton, enlisted, in 1864, with a company from the academy, in company I, 140th Illinois in- fantry, for one hundred days. He was made corporal as soon as the company was formed. His regiment joined the army at LaFayette, near Memphis, Tennessee, after having been in rendezvous at Spring- field, and engaged in guard duty on the Memphis & Charleston rail- road. It was in service seven months.
Upon his graduation at Fulton, in 1865, Mr. Greene held the rank of major, receiving his commission from Governor Oglesby. He then went to Madison, Wisconsin, and entered upon the study of law in the office of Keyes & Hastings, and a year later entered the law de- partment of Columbia college, New York, from which he was graduated after a two years' course. He returned, in 1868, to Wisconsin, and was at once admitted to practice in the circuit court of Brown county, and in the following year to the supreme court. From that time to the present Mr. Greene has been a resident of Green Bay. In 1869 he became a member of the firm of Ellis, Hastings & Greene, which continued until 1872, when the senior partner became judge of the tenth circuit: from that year until 1884 the firm was Hastings & Greene. Mr. Hastings having been elected judge of the fourteenth circuit, the firm of Ellis, Greene & Merrill was formed. This continued until Mr. Greene withdrew, after which he formed a partnership with Charles F. Vroman, to which Hiram O. Fairchild was admitted later, and which has recently assumed the style given above.
Mr. Greene has realized that the law is a jealous mistress, and has paid faithful court to her. His thorough preparation for his profes- sion, coupled with a genius for hard work, a mind in which the judicial quality shines with marked brilliancy, and a character which is the ad- miration of a large circle of friends and business associates, has placed him in the front rank of lawyers in the northwest. This is clearly inferable from the character of the business with which he has been intrusted. A cursory examination of the last thirty-five volumes of the supreme court reports will show that he has been charged with heavy professional responsibilities. A few of the cases of this class may be
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cited: State ex. rel. vs. Cunningham, the celebrated gerrymander case, in which the jurisdiction of the supreme court to review and set aside a legislative apportionment of senate and assembly districts was sustained and exercised: 83 Wis., 90. The Strong's bank cases, in- volving the rights of creditors against insolvent banking corporations and their officers: 62 Wis., 590. Falls Manufacturing Company vs. Oconto River Improvement Company, wherein the right of the state to authorize the use of flooding dams on navigable rivers for log-driv- ing, as against water-power owners, was in controversy: 87 Wis .. 134. The Patten Paper Company vs. the Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, which involved the right of defendant to use the water power of Fox river from its canal to the destruction of the water powers of riparian owners on the river. The Goodrich Transportation Com- pany cases, in which it was sought to make that company liable for all damage by the fire which destroyed a great part of the city of Green Bay in 1880: 69 Wis., 5; 60 Wis., 141. The Oneida county tax cases, in which important questions of taxation were adjudicated. The T. B. Scott Lumber Company vs. Oneida County: 72 Wis., 158. Mr. Greene's practice extends as well to the federal courts and is of the same character as that in the state courts. His standing as a lawyer has long been recognized as excellent by his associates at the bar and the courts before which he has practiced. In 1893 he was urged be- fore a state convention of the bar to become a candidate for justice of the supreme court, but declined to become a party to a contest. Since that time he has twice declined to accept an appointment to that office. the tender of which was made by two governors.
Since 1885 Mr. Greene has served as a member of the state board of law examiners, and for some years has been and now is a member of the commission on uniformity of legislation.
In politics he is a republican, but is not active, and has never held an elective office.
Mr. Greene was married to Miss Nathalie P. Clapp June 10, 1875. Mrs. Greene is a native of Wisconsin, having been born at Kenosha. Her father was a descendant of an old family of Dutchess county, New
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York; her mother was a member of the McCoy family. Mr. and Mrs. Greene's only child, Dexter I., died before he reached his fourth year.
THOMAS R. HUDD.
Thomas R. Hudd, formerly of the Appleton and Green Bay bars, was born in Buffalo, New York, October 1, 1835; when he was seven years of age his mother removed to Chicago, where he attended the public and select schools and learned the trade of a printer. With money earned at his trade he was enabled to attend Lawrence uni- versity, at Appleton, Wisconsin; after finishing his studies there he read law, and in 1856 was admitted to the bar. His practice in Ap- pleton continued from that time until 1868, when he removed to Green Bay, where he remained until his death.
While a resident of Appleton Mr. Hudd was state senator in 1862, 1863, and member of the assembly in 1868; after he removed to Green Bay he was in 1873 city attorney; in 1875 a member of the assembly, in 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1882, 1883 and 1885 state senator. In Feb- ruary, 1886, he was elected a member of the forty-ninth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Joseph Rankin, and was elected, for the full term, a member of the fiftieth Congress. At the close of that Congress he resumed practice at Green Bay and continued therein until his sudden death on the 22d of June, 1896.
Mr. Hudd was a firm believer in and an able champion of the prin- ciples of the democratic party. As a legislator he was progressive, ac- tive and influential; his sympathies were always in favor of liberal laws for the unfortunates, and his judgment impelled him to favor liberal measures for the advancement of education. As a lawyer he was held in esteem by his professional brethren and was true to every interest committed to his charge. Prior to his active participation in political affairs he had a good practice which increased from year to year. As a friend Mr. Hudd was loyal and frank. In official and personal intercourse he was cordial, obliging and agreeable. His record needs no apologies.
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ARTHUR C. NEVILLE.
Although Mr. Neville was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, October 15, 1850, he has lived in Green Bay since he was six years of age, so that his personality is as much a portion of its municipal life as though he had been a native of the city. In the fullest sense of the word, he has been a part of it, since there is scarcely a public work or a private enterprise, which promised to advance the city's best interests for the past twenty years, which he has not furthered by his energy, his ability and his foresight.
Mr. Neville's father, John C., was an honored member of the Penn- sylvania bar before he came to Wisconsin. He is a native of Dublin, was born July 27, 1815: came to America in 1834; was admitted to the bar of Philadelphia in 1844, and after practicing twelve years in that state removed with his family to Green Bay. He was not only immediately recognized as a master of his profession, but called to posts of public trust by his democratic associates of city and county. He served as a member of the legislature in 1860-61, was mayor of Green Bay for one term, and district attorney of Brown county for an entire decade. In the midst of his various public duties he maintained his private practice and increased it greatly from year to year.
The son, Arthur C. Neville, passed through the public schools of Green Bay, after which he acquired a thorough and practical business training. › At home he was connected for several years with the ship- ping house of Dousman & Elmore, then removed to Chicago and was employed as a bookkeeper by such firms as Carter & Jones, lumber merchants, and Sprague, Warner & Co., wholesale grocers.
In 1871, after returning from Chicago, he commenced the study of law in his father's office, the business being then conducted under the firm name of Neville & Tracy. Three years later, or in 1874, he was admitted to the bar at Green Bay and became the junior member of the firm. During the succeeding year Mr. Tracy retired and the firm became John C. & A. C. Neville, and thus remained until the retire- .
ment of the senior from active practice in 1897. Since that time Mr. Neville has been an independent practitioner.
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During his entire career, whether a member of the firm or practic- ing alone, he has retained his hold upon the confidence of the people by devoting more of his time and energy to the settlement of cases out of court than to active litigation. It is thus that the community in general has come to look upon him as a conservator of its best in- terests, rather than a man whose work is solely devoted to selfish ends. When litigation could not be avoided, however, he has entered into his professional work with enthusiasm and ultimate success. Of the important cases may be mentioned those pertaining to the recovery of the strip of land included in the old military reservation and known as the "vacant strip." He was also attorney for the DePere Company in the suits brought by it against its tenants relative to the use of the water power and its duty to keep the dam in repair. He was also one of the incorporators of the Green Bay water works company and acted as its secretary for many years and is now its attorney. Among the most interesting matters connected with this incorporation with which, as a lawyer, he has been identified, is the Britton case. Its trial es- tablished the principle in this state that water companies are not liable to private persons for failure to supply hydrants during a fire.
Mr. Neville is a strong and active democrat, but does not allow his political beliefs to interfere with his profession or with the admin- istration of such public affairs as have been entrusted to him. He has been placed in the mayoralty chair for two years, 1888 and 1890. He was also secretary of the business men's association for a number of years, and president of the Kenball manufacturing company. He is a member of the Masonic order and of the Knights of Pythias, and has been commodore of the Green Bay yacht club and vice president of the Lake Michigan yachting association. For several years he was also much interested in the local militia, having advanced from a pri- vate in the Bay City Light Guards to the position of first lieutenant.
In April, 1874, Mr. Neville was married to Miss Harriet Reynolds, daughter of Werden Reynolds, who was for many years principal of the Green Bay high school. She died in December of the same year. On May 9, 1881, he was married again to Mrs. Ella Hoes Peak. Mr. Neville's stepdaughter, Marion Peak, is the wife of George G. Mason,
WB. Quinlan
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a mechanical engineer of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road and a grandson of George Smith, one of the founders of the Wisconsin Marine & Fire Insurance Company's Bank, in Milwaukee, and a father of the western banking system.
W. B. QUINLAN.
Among the younger generation of men who quietly and unosten- tatiously are making enviable history for the state of Wisconsin as well as building up an enduring and commendable reputation for them- selves, is the subject of the present sketch, William Barclay Quin- lan, of Marinette. He has in addition to this the distinction of being a native of the state, having been born at Pewaukee; Waukesha county. on the 24th day of March, 1869. Mr. Quinlan is a son of Thomas Quin- lan, a native of County Cork, Ireland, who, learning of the many mater- ial advantages afforded in the rapid development of the western hemi- sphere, emigrated to the United States when but nineteen years of age. Upon his arrival in this country Mr. Quinlan at once proceeded west and located in the city of Milwaukee, remaining there until 1866, when he removed to Pewaukee, Wisconsin. There he embarked in an ac- . tive business career in which he succeeded to such an extent that after thirty years of diligent application to the duties pertaining to his call- ing, he was enabled to retire permanently and enjoy the pleasures of a well earned and merited rest. The mother of William Barclay Quin- lan, whose maiden name was Anna Elisabeth Coleman, was also a na- tive of Ireland, having been born in the county of Sligo. Her asso- ciations with this country also date back to an early period in her existence, she having come to the United States with her parents when but a very young child. They at first located in the city of New York, but later removed west, locating permanently in Waukesha, Wis- consin. It was in the "Spring City" that she subsequently met Thomas Quinlan, and there she was married to him on the 12th day of October, 1863. She died on January 10, 1880.
The youth of William Barclay. Quinlan was spent like that of a ma- jority of boys of his day in acquiring the elementary part of an educa-
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tion which was afterwards to prove the basis of his life's work. He then became a student at the high school in Pewaukee, graduating from that institution with the class of 1887. Naturally of a studious and persevering turn of mind these characteristics were amplified and strengthened by the fact that he had already fully decided upon the law as his future profession and hence readily appreciated the neces- sity for cultivating these mental qualifications of assimilation and re- tention, which are such invaluable qualifications in one of that calling. Having there completed his scholastic course at the high school, he at once entered the office of Carney & Ryan at Waukesha, with whom he remained as a student until the latter part of 1889.
Young Quinlan had evidently acquired a most proper appreciation of Pope's well turned adage: "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." He recognized to a full extent the seriousness of the work before him and the absolute necessity of a proper and thorough un- derstanding of the duties of his calling before launching his craft upon the fickle sea of chance. He believed in being on intimate terms of acquaintance with the vessel upon which he purposed risking his earthly all, and with laudable determination set forth to acquire what he might of the steerman's art the better to avoid those hidden dangers which ever confront the ardent and venturesome spirit in its efforts to ad- vance. So, having obtained somewhat of a grasp upon his subject he next entered the literary department of the university of Wiscon- sin, completing the English course in that institution in the month of June, 1892. Following this, he in the fall of the same year entered the law department of the university, from which after much diligent application he graduated with the degree of LL. B. with the class of 1894. Following this he was some time after admitted to the prac- tice of his profession in the state, United States circuit court and the supreme court of Wisconsin. 'Thus thoroughly prepared and equipped for the pursuit of his chosen calling, Mr. Quinlan at once located in Marinette, Wisconsin, where in the month of February, 1895, he formed a law partnership with Mr. Charles C. Daily under the firm name of Quinlan & Daily.
Mr. Quinlan is a young man, of rich and varied abilities, as is char-
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acteristic of the race from which he sprung, a sound lawyer, an earnest and painstaking advocate, diplomatic in his methods but at no time and in no way lacking in either force or decision of character. Per- sonally Mr. Quinlan is tall, erect, strong, florid faced, with dark hair, dark eyes, highly rhetorical in style, often vehement and powerful in voice and gesture, at times reaching to a pathetic and touching deliv- ery. His large form and general bearing give him a commanding and distinguished appearance. Indeed he possesses the requisites of an orator: Earnestness of manner, point and vigor of speech, a rapid, sparkling stream of overflowing language, both thrilling and pleasing, moving and magnetic-few men at the bar possess such gifts of forensic eloquence.
Young Quinlan thus early in his career has obtained a reputation bounded only by the limits of the state of Wisconsin and northern peninsula of Michigan. Perhaps few men at the bar have met and successfully coped with as many able and distinguished lawyers in im- portant cases as Mr. Quinlan. The number of notable cases with which he has been connected to the advantage of his clients as well as to his own financial profit has been remarkable, having been re- tained in two murder trials within the past year by the defense and con- ducted each to a successful victory. He has also been the leading counsel in the case of Hatton vs. Wolf et al. at issue in the court of chancery in the county of Menominee and state of Michigan, perhaps the most complicated and important case ever tried in Menominee county, and recently secured a decree from the master in chancery in favor of his clients.
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