USA > Wisconsin > History of the bench and bar of Wisconsin, Vol. II > Part 52
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Mr. Quinlan has never sought or held any political office whatever, believing that the true lawyer has a more honorable and lofty sphere at the bar of his profession.
JOHN J. TRACY.
John J. Tracy, formerly of the Green Bay bar, was born at Windsor, Vermont, December 23, 1844; was graduated from Dartmouth college in 1864; immediately thereafter enlisted in the fourth Vermont regi- Vol. II .- 36
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ment as a private, and served until the close of the war. Removed to Wisconsin and taught in the Green Bay high school two years; studied law with J. C. Neville and became a member of the bar in 1868, at which time he began practice in Green Bay. For a time he was in partnership with Mr. Neville and later with Mr. Bailey. He was district attorney of Brown county from 1874 to 1876. Mr. Tracy removed from Wisconsin some years ago. His practice at one time was very considerable and gave promise of placing him in a position of more than usual prominence as a lawyer. An unfortunate habit ob- tained control over him to such an extent as to mar his prospects, and probably was a potent factor in causing his removal from the state.
CHARLES E. VROMAN.
Charles E. Vroman, of the law firm of Greene, Vroman, Fairchild, North & Parker, of Green Bay, was born October 5. 1846, in the town of Fitchburg. Dane county, Wisconsin, son of William and Harriet (Field) Vroman. Of Dutch antecedents, his ancestors on the paternal side were among the early immigrants from Holland who settled in the picturesque and fertile "valley of the Mohawk" in New York state. His parents were born in that state, came west and settled in Wiscon- sin before it became a state, and continually resided in Dane county until the father's death, May 1, 1896. The mother's place of residence is the state capital, but for many years they lived on a farm near Madi- son, and Charles E. Vroman grew up on this farm. His parents were thrifty and industrious people, whose chief ambition was to have their children well educated. When not at school he worked on the farm as a boy, but the bent of his mind was toward the law, and his course of study was designed to fit him for that profession.
He was graduated from the university of Wisconsin in 1868, as one of the "honor men" of his class, and immediately thereafter entered the Albany law school, at Albany, New York, being graduated from that institution in the class of 1869. Returning to Madison after his graduation from the law school he entered the law office of Senator William F. Vilas, and remained there some months, continuing his
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studies and familiarizing himself with office and court work. He then served for a time as deputy clerk of the circuit court of Dane county, and in the spring of 1870 went to Green Bay, Wisconsin. After de- voting some further time to study, he entered upon the practice of his profession, beginning his career as a lawyer, well equipped to assume the responsibilities which rest upon those who represent the interests of clients at the bar of justice. For several years he was associated in practice with the late Linas B. Sale, of Green Bay, and formed the partnership with George G. Greene, in existence at the present time, in 1891. He served several years as city attorney of Green Bay and Fort Howard, and was district attorney of Brown county from 1880 to 1885.
Within a few years after he began practicing he became connected with various important cases and impressed his associates at the bar with his ability as a trial lawyer. Whether he preferred this branch of the practice, or circumstances caused him to give it special atten- tion, the professional prominence which he has ever since enjoyed has been largely due to his conduct and management of jury trials. A thorough common law lawyer, he enters upon the trial of causes ready to meet any emergency which may arise and prepared to contest all the issues involved. His skill in the examination of witnesses and his tact in bringing to the surface buried facts and suppressed truths, are characteristics which impress themselves upon both courts and juries, and as an advocate he is also forcible and impressive. Chivalrous in his devotion to his profession, his championship of the interests of his clients is spirited and vigorous, and all the resources of the law are evoked to sustain his contentions. Quick to perceive the weak points of an antagonist's case, he attacks them with energy and determination, and all his methods are those of the able and resourceful practitioner. who has fitted himself by education and experience for legal warfare, and for winning victories in hotly contested legal engagements.
For the past fifteen years he has been identified with nearly all the important litigation which has occupied the attention of the courts of northeastern Wisconsin. The firm of which he is now a member has become the legal representative of large interests, and cases of greater
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importance than usually demand the attention of law firms in the smaller cities of the state have been entrusted to their care. In the division of professional labor between the partners it has fallen to Mr. Vroman to take charge, as a rule, of the trial of causes, and his superior ability as a trial lawyer has given him wide celebrity among the lawyers of Wis- consin.
In the local affairs of Green Bay he has evinced the public spirit and enterprise of good citizenship, giving aid and encouragement to all movements designed to promote the growth, welfare and prosperity of the city. He has held various local offices and is now serving as president of the board of education of Green Bay. A republican in politics, he has contributed his share to the success of that party, but has endeavored as much as possible to hold himself aloof from active participation in campaign work, which so seriously interferes with the professional duties of a busy lawyer.
He was married in 1871 to Miss Emma R. Phillips, who was gradu- ated from the university of Wisconsin in the class of 1867. Mrs. Vro- man is a descendant of revolutionary ancestors, and belongs to the society of "Daughters of the Revolution" and that of "Colonial Dames."
Mr. Vroman is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
JOHN H. M. WIGMAN.
Mr. Wigman is a native of Holland, having been born in Amster- dam, on the 15th of August, 1835. His father, James Bernard Wig- man, was a prosperous architect, who supervised many important build- ings in the Dutch metropolis, being moreover a man of influence out- side the pale of his profession. . Matilda Doorenboss, his mother, died in December, 1847. John was her eldest child, she being a second wife. The death of his mother, and his father's failing health neces- sitated a change in the affairs of the family and it was decided that he and his brother should accompany the Rev. Van der Broek, who was then on a visit in Holland, to the United States. Even at this early age he had received an education far above that usually enjoyed, as
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he had not only attended the public schools of his native city but had taken a collegiate course in the province of Limburg. It is said that even at the age of twelve, aside from his ordinary studies in his mother tongue, he was able to read and write the French and German lan- guages. To-day he is recognized as one of the finest linguists of the state.
Taking with him his younger brother, Henry J., a boy but eleven years of age, John set out bravely for America, coming directly to Little Chute, Brown county, where he arrived in June, 1848. They were accompanied by Rev. T. J. Van der Broek, with whom they re- mained for about a year. The youth, himself but thirteen years of age, first obtained employment upon a farm; afterwards his labors were varied by attending to the duties of a dry goods clerk in Green Bay. His salary was small but he was economical and conscientious and made progress both in material things and in the good graces of his em- ployers. In the spring of 1857 he was induced to take charge of a public school and removed to the town of Green Bay, now known as Scott, and was also elected justice of the peace for said town, and com- menced, with all his other duties, to study law. Borrowing books of the old attorneys of Green Bay, with whom he came in contact and who almost invariably were taken with his earnestness and ability, Mr. Wigman was soon abreast of those who had taken regular legal courses. Among his most steadfast and helpful friends in these days was the late Judge Cotton and Timothy O. Howe, so long identified with the judicial and political history of the state.
In 1858 Mr. Wigman was elected town clerk, and in 1859 treasurer of the town. In 1863, by which year he had already earned a substantial reputation for ability and absolute uprightness, he was called to Holland to settle his father's estate. When he returned to Wisconsin he was accompanied by his sister and settled in Appleton; he entered the law office of T. R. Hudd, and was admitted to the bar in February, 1864. In the fall of that year he was elected district attorney of Outagamie county, being re-elected in 1866 and 1868. Upon being admitted to practice he had formed a partnership with Mr. Hudd, and in 1868 the business of the firm (Hudd & Wigman) had so expanded that it was
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deemed necessary to open an office in Green Bay. In 1870 head- quarters were established in that city, and the firm continued as first organized, until November, 1889, when Mr. Hudd removed to Chicago. During this period (1882) Mr. Wigman was elected mayor of Green Bay. In 1889 he admitted his son-in-law, P. H. Martin, as a partner, the resulting firm of Wigman & Martin enjoying a large general prac- tice, which still continues. Its senior member was called to government service in April. 1893, being appointed by President Cleveland United States district attorney for the eastern district of Wisconsin. This position he retained until April 15, 1897, though at the same time he gave such attention as he could to the business of the firm, of which he continues to be the senior member.
Throughout his entire career, whether in official position or with oth- ers, Mr. Wigman has shown a perseverance, a loyalty to high profession- al ideals and a faithfulness to the trusts reposed in him, which could not but bring the success which has come to him. The ability with which he has handled the cases entrusted to him has given him a wide reputation. Of the most important may be mentioned the State of Wisconsin vs. the School Board of the City of Edgerton, by which the reading of the Bible was excluded from the public schools, and the noted McLeod will case, argued in 1890.
Mr. Wigman has always been a stanch democrat, the first note- worthy acknowledgment of his political influence being the proffer from the governor of the position of district attorney for Brown county. The honor was declined, as he did not feel justified in even partially abandoning his large and growing practice. This was in 1878; but during the succeeding year he was accorded a recognition from another source which he was proud to accept. For years he had been one of the most prominent Catholics in the state, not only deeply interested as a layman in all church matters but, as an attorney, taking an active part in church litigation. In 1879, therefore, in recognition of his manifold and invaluable services in behalf of the church he was made by the pope a member of the Societas Romana Princeps a Petro Juris Consultorum, the diploma from Rome being dated February 2Ist of that year. On
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March 1, 1887, he received the even greater honor of being made, by papal authority, a knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great.
Through all his early struggles toward eminence, Mr. Wigman possessed as a faithful helpmate the wife of his early manhood, Matilda Lyonnais, whom he married in August, 1857. She died in 1876, leaving nine children. His second wife, formerly Miss Jane Meagher, of Green Bay, has been the mother of four children and is a woman of education and strong character. Of the thirteen children born to him nine sur- vive.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE FIFTEENTH CIRCUIT, ITS JUDGE AND LAWYERS.
In 1887 the counties of Ashland, Bayfield and Sawyer were detached from the eleventh circuit, the counties of Price and Taylor from the seventh circuit, the county of Oneida from the tenth circuit, and these counties were formed into a new circuit, designated the fifteenth. Sub- sequently Oneida county was transferred to the sixteenth circuit, and on the creation of Iron county it was made a part of the fifteenth cir- cuit. The first judge was elected on the last Tuesday of May, 1887, and entered upon the discharge of his duties on the first Monday in January, 1888. That election resulted in the choice of John K. Parish, then a resident of Medford, Taylor county, who continues to hold the position to which he was then chosen.
THE BENCH.
JOHN KIMBALL PARISH.
John Kimball Parish, judge of the fifteenth judicial circuit, state of Wisconsin, was born at Randolph, Orange county, Vermont, No- vember 18, 1848, and lived during his early childhood and youth at the old "Maple Grove" homestead, built by Judge Dudley Chase, at one time chief justice of the Green Mountain state, and afterward the home of Judge Isaac F. Redfield, the law writer and one of New England's ablest jurists; so, figuratively speaking, he imbibed the law from his earliest days. Jacob Kimball Parish, his father, was also born in Ran- dolph, in 1793, and when nineteen years of age joined the patriots of the war of 1812, and was orderly sergeant of the Randolph company. The father of Jacob K., grandfather of John K., emigrated to Vermont from Windham, Connecticut, in 1788, and was a soldier in the revo- lutionary war. He married Mary A. Converse, of Randolph, the mother of our subject. She was the granddaughter of Colonel Israel Converse,
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who fought at Bunker Hill and in subsequent engagements of that war. Consequently, it is little wonder that John K. should be able to hold his own in either a legal fight or a political battle. His parents were married in 1830. The mother died in 1887, being nearly eighty-four years of age. He was the youngest of their family of eleven children. Jacob K., his father, was for many years one of the most prominent citizens of the state of Vermont. When a young man he took great interest in military affairs, and was brigade paymaster and division quartermaster, with rank of major, in the Vermont militia. The origi- nal roll of the Randolph company, of which he was sergeant in the war of 1812, is in his handwriting and is deposited in the public archives at the state house at Montpelier, Vermont. During his long life he took a very active part in public affairs. He died in 1881 at the age of eighty-eight years. His fellow citizens recognized his ability and worth by choosing him to many and very responsible offices, having been judge of the probate court for the Randolph district, associate judge of the Orange county court for several years, a member of the legisla- ture for two terms, twice a delegate to constitutional conventions of the state of Vermont, a collector of internal revenue under President Lincoln, besides many other positions of responsibility. Judge Jacob K. Parish was a life-long enemy of tyranny and oppression, and a cham- pion of liberty and equal rights for his fellow men,
John K., the subject of this sketch, commenced his education in the public schools of his native state, including the Orange county gram- mar school, afterward the state norinal school of Vermont, which was within a few rods of his home, "Maple Grove." He located in Waupaca, Wisconsin, at the age of eighteen, since which time he has depended almost entirely upon his own efforts, and, with the exception of one year, paid all his expenses while attending the state university. He graduated from that institution, college of arts, in 1872. After gradua- tion, he returned to Waupaca, where he studied law with E. L. Browne, his brother-in-law, and was admitted to practice in 1873. After his ad- mission to the bar he practiced law in that city for nearly two years, when he located at Medford, Taylor county, Wisconsin. He was ap- pointed district attorney soon after by Governor Taylor, and was repeat-
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edly elected to that office, which he held continuously until January, 1885, at which time he voluntarily retired. During his long service as district attorney there were many important cases conducted by him, among which may be mentioned the case of the State of Wisconsin against Williams, who was charged with murder. The state depended for conviction exclusively upon circumstantial evidence and, although it was the general belief that conviction was impossible under the evi- dence, Williams, although defended by able counsel, was convicted of the crime and was sentenced for life. The murder was one of the most cold-blooded and mercenary ever committed in this state. The victim was a stranger in the community-an Austrian, named Skerbin. His case was appealed, and the judgment of the circuit court was af- firmed. William's died in prison. Another important case was the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company against Taylor County, which in- volved the constitutionality of a certain law exempting the company's lands from taxation. Mr. Parish contended that the act was unconstitui- tional. The law was sustained by the supreme court, although it di- vided on the question. The supreme court reports show that Mr. Parish had built up an extensive and lucrative practice before he was elected judge. Politically he may be classed as an independent republi- can. In 1885 he was elected to the legislature from the district then composed of Ashland, Lincoln, Price, Sawyer and Taylor counties. His opponent was Colonel John H. Knight, who was subsequently a candi- date for the United States senate. While in the legislature he was assigned to the chairmanship of the important committee on bills on their third reading. As a legislator he was active and influential. He was particularly interested in bills in the interest of labor and education. He was instrumental in aiding in the passage of a law making a claim for supplies a lien upon logs prior to all other claims, except those in l'ehalf of laborers. He was the author of an act requiring the signature of the wife to a chattel mortgage upon household furniture, thereby preventing her effects being taken from her without her consent. He aided in the passage of a law taxing all property in the state for the benefit of the public schools; which state tax is distributed in the re- spective districts throughout the state proportionately to the number
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of children in each district. He also zealously supported a bill to pro- vide for free text books in our public schools .. He worked for the pas- sage of a law requiring railroad companies to put in frogs at their switches for the protection of their workmen. He also actively supported a bill to hold railroad companies responsible for personal injuries sus- tained by their employes caused by incompetent foremen, by declaring that such foremen should not be regarded in the law as co-employes. He introduced into the assembly and secured the passage of a joint reso- lution memorializing Congress to pass a law pensioning all needy dis- abled honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors, although their disabilities might have occurred since the war, or were caused by old age. He actively supported the law requiring registration of voters to preserve the purity of elections. In fact, he exerted a strong influence in favor of some of the most salutary laws on the statute books.
In 1885, shortly after his return from the legislature, Mr. Parish met with a serious accident in the "Medford fire." The town depended entirely upon volunteers to extinguish fires. While he was assisting in saving the property of a neighbor he was caught by a falling wall; was knocked senseless, his hip dislocated, and was severely burned. While in this condition his own building took fire and was consumed with the greater portion of his law library and personal effects. He was rescued by friends, but his injuries proved to be only temporary. In 1887 an act was passed organizing the fifteenth judicial circuit, provid- ing for a special election for judge on May 30 of that year-which cir- cuit comprised the counties of Ashland, Bayfield, Oneida, Price, Sawyer and Taylor. After the passage of this act, upon a call numerously signed by his fellow citizens. Mr. Parish became an independent candi- date for circuit judge, made the canvass against three opponents, and was elected by a rousing majority. In 1893 he again, upon a call by the people, became a candidate for that office and was re-elected. His vote nearly equaled the total vote of the other four candidates who then ran against him.
On the bench Judge Parish is prompt, fearless, firm, impartial and independent. His integrity and firmness are never questioned. He has decided many important cases, involving novel and difficult questions of
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law, both civil and criminal, and comparatively few of his judgments have been reversed by the supreme court. There is only one judicial circuit in the state which has as great an area as the one over which Judge Parish presides. This judicial circuit is in the new and growing portion of the state and the litigation there has been, and is, still very large. There is no other court of record within this circuit to aid Judge Parish in the discharge of his official duties; and there is probably no county in this state in which as much legal business is transacted as in Ashland county, which has not one or more courts of record, with con- current jurisdiction with the circuit court.
Judge Parish's sympathies are strong for the poor and unfortunate, and he is ever ready with helping hand to relieve them as far as possible. He therefore could not be otherwise than popular with the great mass of people, who have always sustained him when he has been a candidate for their suffrages. He has an abiding faith in the future of the new and growing portion of this state in which he has resided for nearly a quarter of a century. This is demonstrated by the fact that he has purchased, is improving and paying taxes upon large tracts of land there. He has always manifested great interest in agricultural pursuits, and has a large farm in Taylor county, near the thriving city of Medford, in which he takes especial pride. When his arduous duties as judge permit, he devotes himself to improving, clearing and marketing the timber from the land, and he is endeavoring to bring it up to his high standard as a stock and grain farm.
Judge Parish was married on June 25, 1891, to Miss May Whitall Carrington, of Ashland, Wisconsin, a native of Virginia. Her parents were Theodore and Anna E. Carrington. Her father is descended from the Carrington, Griffin and Adams families of that state, who took a prominent part in the affairs of the "Old Dominion" even when a colony under Great Britain, and in the interest of America's cause in her struggle against British oppression in the revolutionary war. Her mother is descended from the Whitall and Newbold families of New Jersey, who were originally Quakers. Judge Parish's domestic life is in all respects enjoyable. His home is his all to him. His devoted and ac- complished wife and their promising son, John Kimball, Jr .- the pride
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of the family-make up a little home circle where contentment and peace reign supreme. It is no wonder that Judge Parish is always genial, courteous and kind, and a general favorite wherever he is known. He possesses vigorous health and is in the very prime of mature manhood; many years are before him if he lives to the age allotted to man. His active and useful life, so far, is a prophecy of future usefulness which all who know him hope to see fulfilled.
ยท THE BAR.
GEORGE F. MERRILL.
George F. Merrill is a native of Wisconsin. He was born at Bur- nett, Dodge county, February 17, 1847. After attendance at the com- mon schools of his native town and at the Wayland academy, Beaver Dam, he entered the university of Wisconsin and was graduated in 1872. He studied law in the university law school and after graduation therefrom, in 1873, began to practice his profession in De Pere, Wis- consin. He soon demonstrated his ability as a lawyer, and was re- warded with a paying practice. After following his profession for ten years in De Pere, he concluded to seek a broader field in which to labor, and in pursuit of this determination moved to Ashland in 1883.
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