USA > Wisconsin > History of the bench and bar of Wisconsin, Vol. II > Part 7
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 following extracts from the memorial of the Milwaukee bar give an indication of the esteem in which this worthy man was held. After giving a resume of his life, the memorial continues:
"Within such narrow bounds are compassed the meager records of this lawyer's life, records that may be still further condensed into four words: Birth, work, success, death. These tell the story of his career, but they fail to show the delicate lines that constitute the light and
56
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
shade of his individuality; nor do they adequately represent the affec- tionate regard and profound esteem that were inspired by the royal at- tributes of his character. Of such attributes there can be no photo- graph; the traits by which we recognize a manly man are beyond the limits of the limner's art, nor can human skill devise a mirror that will do more than indistinctly reflect the outlines of the portrait. In so far, however, as words can indicate those qualities of mind and heart that made him eminent, let this memorial of his brethren at the bar be ad- mitted in evidence.
"Hardly twenty-eight months have passed since Franklin L. Gilson was invested with judicial honors. If, when he ascended the bench, there were some who doubted whether the successful advocate could safely exchange the gown for the ermine of the judge, such doubts were speedily removed. Fully conscious of the responsibilities of his high function, and sensible as well of the fallibility of human judgment and of the limitations upon his own strength, he entered upon the adminis- tration of his trust modestly, but with a confidence born of determina- tion to do what was right, as God gave him vision to see the right. That he had a laudable ambition to be numbered among the great jurists who have added luster to the bar is doubtless true; but this am- bition was entirely subordinate to the higher and nobler aim of taking rank as an upright, impartial and incorruptible judge.
"That he was successful in this, we, his brethren at the bar, attest. He held the scales of justice with a steady hand, uninfluenced either by prejudice or fear, by favor or affection; mindful only of the law, of which he was a zealous student, yet never regardless of that equity which supplieth those things of which the law is deficient. As a trial judge he was invariably urbane in his treatment both of counsel and witnesses, and had the happy faculty of impressing the same courteous demeanor upon all with whom he came in contact. As a judge he amply met the requirements of the ancient lawgiver in that he heard courteously, an- swered wisely, considered soberly and decided impartially.
"But not alone to his eminent merits as a lawyer do we, his asso- ciates and brethren, render tribute. Higher than the sagacity of the lawyer, greater even than the wisdom of a judge, was the manhood of the man. Sincerely trusting, as we know he did, in a divine and omnipotent Providence, he believed, as well, that humanity was mainly responsible for its own happiness and that no individual had a right to shirk his share in its promotion. He believed that the world was too dark to permit wanton waste of a single ray of sunshine, and, so be- lieving, his great heart throbbed in sympathy with his kind. Nothing pleased him more than to pick up some gnarled and crooked specimen of humanity and try, with kindly words and cheery smile, to straighten it out.
57
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
"Thus, surrounded as with a halo of glory, in addition to his erudi- tion and his integrity, was a magnetism of manner, combined with a human sympathy and a loyalty of disposition that speedily converted acquaintance into friendship, and made that friendship eternal. It was impossible for him to deceive a friend or betray a trust.
"Not a lawyer practiced before his bar who did not know that in the presiding judge he had a personal friend. Not a suitor left his pres- ence who did not feel, even though he had a lost his case, that he was enriched by knowing such a man.
"To a mind enriched by such generous qualities, he added an ex- quisite taste for the beautiful. His reading was vast and varied, and his knowledge of English poetry was remarkable. His memory was a conservatory in which he cherished the choicest flowers of literature.
"We were his friends, but the companions in whose society he in- dulged most, and with whom he found his chief delight, were sought in the privacy of his own room, and talked to him with winged words through sealed lips.
"Franklin L. Gilson is dead, wrested from life while yet his honors clustered, in obedience to a Divine decree from which there is no ap- peal. He was happy in his life, happier yet in his death, and most happy in a spotless character and an unblemished reputation. If he had faults, they were manly faults, such as only generous natures know; but the world was better for his living, for his presence was a benedic- tion, as his example is an inspiration to noble aims and high and hon- orable ambitions."
The following quotations, taken from the addresses made upon the presentation of the bar memorial to the supreme court, give further indication of the esteem in which he was held by those who knew him best:
Hugh Ryan: "His character, his whole moral organization, had the grandeur of perfect simplicity, and the simplicity of true grandeur. I never knew a manlier, sweeter disposition, a nature more permeated by the broadest charity; a sunnier temper. Yet his was not the care- less good nature of irresponsibility or indifference. He had infinite compassion and patience for the frailties inseparable from our imperfect human nature; but he had no mercy for deliberate dishonesty or pal- pable corruption. Honor was his idol. He had. as Burke expresses it, 'that chastity of honor that feels a stain like a wound.' Falsehood, spoken or acted, great or small, was abhorrent to his nature. Justice and truth were the breath of his nostrils. The mere possibility of tam- pering with dishonor, judicially or individually, could never have oc-
58
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
curred to him. He was singularly fair-minded and candid, and deeply imbued with the broad and wholesome spirit of equity; and it is no ex- aggeration to say that he was absolutely without prejudice."
Eugene S. Elliott: "The keystone of Judge Gilson's character was his sincerity. He was sincere in his friendships, sincere in the appre- ciation and performance of his duties, sincere in the motives which in- spired his acts. The education of college, and the greater education by the experience of after life, taught him to reason well; but while yield- ing obedience to the dictates of his reason, he preserved a boyish light- ness of heart and a tenderness of disposition fully feminine in its nature. Despising tawdry sentimentality, he was nevertheless intensely human. No living object was too low to escape his kind regard; my dog was his best friend, and he was the best friend of my dog. There was no dis- simulation in the tears of the little newsboy who, standing afar, wept as they took away the body of his friend. Weakness attracted him; suf- fering aroused him; injustice stimulated every resource of mind and body into active opposition. In all this he was sincerely sincere."
John C. Spooner: "His memory was capacious and exceedingly retentive. Quick as a flash, he was a terror to the witness intent upon withholding or obscuring the truth. Of splendid physique, with great wealth of imagination, fine vocabulary and ringing, powerful voice, he was an advocate of exceptional strength.
"He combined the fiber and nerve of a giant with the tenderness and delicacy of a woman. Generous and chivalrous in his friendship, eager always to espouse the cause of the weak and helpless, frank and sincere in his intercourse with the world, passionately fond of children and proud of their fondness for him, his was a personality of peculiar charm.
"Well, indeed, it may be said of him, in whatever relation of life we consider him-as lawyer, judge, citizen or friend-the world is better for his having lived."
JOHN C. LUDWIG.
The vacancy on the bench of the superior court caused by the death of Judge Gilson was filled by the appointment of John C. Ludwig, a native of Milwaukee. He was born December 1, 1850, of German parentage. He was educated in the private schools of his native city, and during his youth and early manhood followed the trade of a jeweler. His inclination, however, was toward the intellectual rather than the mechanical, and the mastery of his trade was but the stepping stone to his profession. He began his legal studies in the office of John E.
4
59
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
Mann and F. W. von Cotzhausen, then partners, and was admitted to the bar March 25, 1875. About a year thereafter a partnership was formed with Peter J. Somers, and continued until April, 1882. The firm thus composed was recognized as one of the most reliable of the city. At this time Mr. Ludwig withdrew, practicing alone for the suc- ceeding ten years, or until his appointment to the judgeship of the su- perior court of Milwaukee, on the 13th of June, 1892.
Judge Ludwig is a man of broad and liberal views. He has a large library of general literature and his culture is the result of persistent and discriminating reading and study. He has always been a warm and helpful friend of the public schools and the cause of education generally, his effective work being partially acknowledged by his election to the office of commissioner, his term of service covering the period from 1878 to 1881. Governor Peck appointed him trustee of the asylum for the chronic insane, but he resigned this position when he received the appointment of judge of the superior court. In April, 1893, Judge Ludwig was elected to the position for six years, from January 1, 1894, and it is not too much to say that no incumbent of that office has con- ducted himself with more firmness, ability and courtesy than he.
Prominence as a professional man and a public-spirited citizen does not prevent Judge Ludwig from being a leader in many organizations, both social and benevolent. He is identified, as to his religion, with the Catholic church.
Judge Ludwig was married to Miss Elizabeth Berlandi, of Mil- waukee. They have twelve children living.
ROBERT N. AUSTIN.
In 1891 the legislature provided for an additional judge of the su- perior court to be first elected in April of that year for the term of six years. Robert N. Austin was elected such judge and served the full term.
Judge Austin was born in Carlisle, Schoharie county, New York, on the 19th of August, 1822. His father, a Presbyterian clergyman, died while still a young man, leaving his wife with her infant son in strait- ened circumstances. The boy was reared by friends and as he de-
60
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
veloped physically displayed qualities that indicated a strong legal mind and a retentive memory. He was a bright scholar, and at the age of sixteen began to teach school in the neighborhood in which he resided. He thus obtained means sufficient to enable him to continue his studies in the academies in Ames, Montgomery county, and Nassau, Rensselaer county. He then entered Union college, Schenectady, from which he was graduated in 1845. His tuition in these several institutions of learning, as well as his "keep," were paid for with money earned by hard and arduous labor. Any honorable occupation, from that of driving a plow to school teaching, was resorted to in order to enable him to obtain a collegiate education. After the receipt of his degree he became the principal of an academy at Cherry Valley, Otsego county, New York. . He contemplated entering upon the study of theology, but finally determined to make the study and practice of the law his life work. Therefore he entered the office of Jabez D. Hammond,* as a student, and was admitted to the bar in December, 1847, in Funda, Montgomery county, New York.
Six months later, in May, 1848, he followed his mother and sister to Milwaukee, where he entered upon the practice of his profession. In less than a year later he formed the partnership of Austin & Schoff, which continued about two years; this firm was succeeded by Austin & Dunn. In 1858 Mr. Austin formed an association with the late Nathan
Pereles, which continued for ten years, with great success. In 1867 D. H. Johnson, now judge of the circuit court, was admitted to the firm. This firm was one of the most prosperous at the Milwaukee bar, but in 1869, owing to Mr. Pereles' failing sight, it was dissolved. In 1869 the partnership of Austin & Wallber was formed, and continued until 1873, when Mr. Wallber retired to fill the office of city attorney, to which he had recently been elected.
After practicing alone for two or three years Mr. Austin formed an association with Henry C. Runkle, and later W. H. Austin was ad- mitted into.partnership. The firm of Austin, Runkle & Austin occu- pied high position at the bar until 1890, when our subject was elected
* Author of Hammond's Political History of New York.
1
Sutherland
61
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
city attorney. The following year, when the second branch of the su- perior court was organized, he was elected judge thereof and served until 1898.
Always of studious habits, Judge Austin still devotes most of his spare time to literature. Having a natural fondness for languages, he reads German, French, Latin and Greekt with facility.
GEORGE EATON SUTHERLAND.
Mr. Sutherland is the successor of Judge Austin on the bench of the superior court of Milwaukee. He was born in Burlington, Otsego county, New York, September 14, 1843, being of Scotch descent. His great-grandfather came to America on account of political persecution; his grandfather was a native of the Green Mountain state.
Mr. Sutherland's father, Samuel Waite Sutherland, was a farmer of a studious disposition, and the soul of integrity. His mother, Amy Smith, was of English ancestry, the daughter of Ezra Smith, a sea cap- tain of New London, Connecticut. From her the son George inherited that energetic and steadfast disposition which, combined with the pa- ternal traits, formed a character of remarkable symmetry and one cal- culated to bring its possessor into the front ranks of the profession. Unfortunately, his mother died when the boy was but seven years of age and for the succeeding three years he drifted homeless from one relative to another. Finally, however, at the age of ten, he found an abiding place with his elder brother, Andrew, who was a teacher in Norwich, Connecticut, and determined that he should have a systematic intellectual training, which, up to this time, he had not enjoyed. Here, and subsequently at Waukau, Winnebago county, Wisconsin, whither his brother's family had removed, the boy attended school and worked upon a farm until he was sixteen years of age. He then returned to his old home in New York, teaching school for two winters and attending for two summers the West Westfield academy.
When the civil war began Mr. Sutherland was in his eighteenth year. His services were accepted by the government September 30,
+ Within the last five years he has written a translation of the New Testament from the original Greek.
62
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
1862, when he had but just entered his nineteenth year. Upon that date he enlisted in company A, first regiment New York light artillery, known as Bates' battery. At first he was sent to Albany barracks to be drilled and thence dispatched to the defenses of Washington. Dur- ing the year 1863 the battery was ordered to Philadelphia and Pottsville, Pennsylvania, to the scene of the draft riots, but, upon the whole, it re- mained so inactive as to be distasteful to the energetic young man. He therefore obtained permission from Captain Ramsey, the adjutant gen- eral, to attend the Philadelphia military school, where officers were being instructed for the special command of colored troops. He passed the required examination before the military board sitting at Washing- ton, and was at once recommended for appointment as captain. Gen- eral Casey telling him he was too young for a field officer, he did not receive his commission until July 23, 1864, when, although less than twenty-one years old, he was commissioned captain by President Lin- coln and sent to Eddyville, Kentucky, to recruit colored troops for the thirteenth United States C. H. A. While thus engaged he was taken prisoner by the enemy, wounded in the arm and rescued by a gallant, loyal woman and taken to a Union gunboat. Before he could receive proper surgical treatment the bullet remained three days in his arm, with the natural result of inflammation and delirium, and when he reached the hospital at Clarksville. Tennessee, he took to his bed under an attack of typhoid fever. After remaining in bed for three months he had regained sufficient strength to undertake the work of recruiting at Caseyville and Owensboro. Later he was detailed as commissary of subsistence at Smithland, Ky., and became a member of the military commission and court-martial which sat at Camp Nelson and Lexing- ton, Kentucky. These duties he discharged from May to November, 1865. He was mustered out of the service on the 26th of the latter month.
With the close of the war Captain Sutherland resumed his studies where he had discontinued them to serve his country. Until July, 1868, he attended Ripon college, and during the next month entered Amherst college as a junior, graduating with honors in the classical course of the latter institution. In the summer of 1870 he commenced
-
63
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
the study of law in the office of Judge Willard, at Utica, New York, and completed his legal course at the Columbia college law school, of which at the time the dean was the scholarly Timothy W. Dwight, who com- plimented Captain Sutherland by saying that he was one of the best students he had ever instructed.
Mr. Sutherland was admitted to the bar at Oshkosh on September 1,1871, but commenced to practice in Ripon. His first partner was A. B. Hamilton, brother of General C. S. Hamilton, so prominent in the military and professional annals of Wisconsin. In June, 1874, he removed to Fond du Lac, and formed a partnership with Judge David Taylor which continued until the latter was elevated to the bench of the state supreme court.
In 1872, while a resident of Ripon, Mr. Sutherland was elected city attorney of that place, also a member of the county board, and was a member of the state senate from 1880 to 1882. During the former year he served as chairman of the committee which investigated the affairs of the state insane hospital and whose work expanded into an examina- tion of the management of the charitable and penal institutions of the state. The report of the committee created widespread attention, its conclusion being that to place the government of these institutions in the hands of unsalaried trustees was productive of much evil and that the remedy was to create a board of salaried supervisors, the members of which were to manage the affairs of the charitable and penal institu- tions of the state and be accountable to the state. A bill embodying these features was subsequently introduced by Mr. Sutherland and unanimously passed both houses. It was then a novel proposition, but the wisdom of this reform has been acknowledged not only by the state of Wisconsin, but by many other commonwealths which have subse- quently adopted the same plan.
It should also be said that in 1883-85 Mr. Sutherland served as post- master of Fond du Lac, being removed by President Cleveland for "of- fensive partisanship."
Wishing a broader professional field, in 1886 he removed to Mil- waukee, where he has been in partnership with Joshua Stark, W. J. Turner and W. H. Timlin. In the spring of 1897 he was elected judge
64
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
of the superior court of Milwaukee county, defeating Judge R. N. Aus- tin, an old, popular and well-known member of the profession. Judge Sutherland fills the position not only with dignity, but with marked ability and fairness, and to the general satisfaction of the bench and bar. His elevation was a well-deserved promotion and a merited climax to his professional career in the state. As to the individual traits which have brought about this success, the most prominent are industry, candor, entire impartiality and the genius of instinctively seeing the main point of an issue and concentrating every energy upon it.
Judge Sutherland is a member of the Loyal Legion, of which he was chosen commander in 1894, and is also a member of E. B. Wolcott Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He is also connected with the Old Settlers' club of Milwaukee. A Congregationalist in religious belief, he is actively identified with Plymouth church, having been chairman of its board of trustees for many years.
Mrs. Sutherland in her maiden days was Miss Adela E. Merrell, sis- ter of President Merrell, president of Ripon college, and connected with its faculty for over thirty-five years. She was married to Judge Suther- land at Kirkland, New York, May 3, 1871, and was a woman of rare education, culture and artistic tastes, as well as a leader in charitable and religious work. She died May 8, 1898, and no Milwaukee woman was ever more generally lamented. Two daughters-Amy M. and. Agnes M. Sutherland-survive to comfort the bereaved father.
THE MUNICIPAL COURT.
The legal provisions for the orderly administration of justice in cases of crime in Milwaukee have been anomalous from the time of the incorporation of the city. The original charter, passed in 1846, pro- vided that the common council should designate one of the justices of the peace elected within the city to be a police justice, and conferred upon such police justice, in addition to the ordinary powers and duties of a justice of the peace, "sole and exclusive jurisdiction to hear all complaints and conduct all examinations and trials in criminal cases within the city;" and also "exclusive jurisdiction in all cases in which the city was a party." Other justices of the city were authorized to
65
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN
issue warrants in criminal cases returnable only before the police justice, but without fee.
In 1850 an act was passed giving the justice of the peace of the fifth ward concurrent jurisdiction with the police justice of criminal offenses committed within his ward. This act was repealed by the new and re- vised city charter passed in 1852, which made the police justice a city officer, to be elected as such annually, and to exercise exclusive jurisdic- tion in criminal cases only, within the city, cognizable before a justice of the peace.
The office of police justice was held by Clinton Walworth, one of the pioneer lawyers of 1836, from 1846 until it was superseded in 1859. Mr. Walworth was a native of Otsego county, New York, and a nephew of Chancellor Walworth of that state. He came to Milwaukee at the age of twenty-one and identified himself early with its life and in- terests. He was modest and retiring, of courteous manners and dig- nified bearing. His long service as police justice by virtue of repeated annual elections proves the high esteem in which he was held as a citi- zen and magistrate.
In 1859 an act was passed by the legislature creating the municipal court of the county of Milwaukee, with jurisdiction concurrent with the circuit court of said county, "to hear, try and determine all cases of crimes and misdemeanors of whatsoever kind-except such as may be punishable with death or in the state prison for life-that are or may be cognizable before the circuit court, which may be committed in the county of Milwaukee." This court was also invested with the powers and jurisdiction of the police justice of the city, and that office was abolished upon the election and qualification of the municipal judge.
Under this act the municipal judge was made "chief magistrate of the city of Milwaukee," and the powers of a justice of the peace in crim- inal cases, not indictable, and in city prosecutions, were vested in him; and the same court was made a court of record, with power to try in- dictments for all criminal offenses not punishable with death or life imprisonment, and with exclusive jurisdiction of appeals from justices of the peace of the county in criminal cases; all examinations, recogni- zances and commitments from justices of the peace were to be certified
Vol. II .- 5
66
HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF WISCONSIN.
and returned to such court instead of the circuit court. All laws con- ferring powers and jurisdiction upon circuit courts or the judges thereof, in criminal cases, or regulating the proceedings of such courts or the judges therein, were extended to such municipal court and its judge, and the judgments of such court were declared to be subject to exam- ination and review by the supreme court in the same manner and to like extent as the judgments of the circuit courts of the state. In sub- stance and effect, the act combined in one court and one and the same judge all the powers and jurisdiction of the circuit court in criminal cases-capital cases only excepted-with the exclusive powers and jurisdiction theretofore exercised by the police justice in the city.
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.