USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume V > Part 22
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
Such were some of the incidents that attended the practice of the profession of law in the early days of Wisconsin.
Mr. Upham was not a politician in the generally accepted sense of the word. He had no taste for the bitterness, animosity and personal abuse that prevailed in the party contests. He filled, however, some im- portant positions, being several times a member of the territorial coun- cil at the earliest sessions of the Legislature at Madison, and was a mem- ber of the first convention that was called to form a constitution for the State of Wisconsin, and was elected president of that convention. He was nominated by the Democratic party for governor of the state to succeed Governor Dewey, but took no active part in the canvass. The contest was very bitter, from dissensions in the party, and the result was doubtful, but the state canvassers then at Madison declared his opponent elected by a small majority. Previously. Mr. Upham had been
1210
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
twice elected mayor of Milwaukee, being the successor of Mayors Juneau and Kilbourn, and was afterward appointed United States Attorney for the district of Wisconsin, an office which he held for a term of four years. After thirty years of successful practice in Mil- waukee, he was compelled by ill health to retire from the profession, and he spent the remainder of his life living quietly and devoting his time to the study of astronomy, which had been his favorite study while in college. His death occurred July 19, 1877.
In justice to the memory of Mr. Upham, it should be stated that he and many of his friends always believe that he was actually elected governor of the State of Wisconsin, but that he was counted out by means of spurious returns which were made to the state canvassers, similar in many ways to the false returns which were made public at a later day in the contest and trial between Bashford and Barstow. The thinly settled condition of the state at the time, the method of conducting elections and conveying the returns, made it possible for the unscrupulous to impose counterfeit and fictitious returns from distant precinets upon the state canvassers, and the lack of means of communication with the remote parts of the state rendered it impossible immediately to discover the impositions. The friends of Mr. Upham later on believed that they had obtained satisfactory evidence showing the errors in votes as counted by the state can- vassers, but as this evidence was not obtained until the close of the term, nothing could be done. A comprehensive review of this sub- ject is found in the history of the state, by the late A. M. Thompson.
In 1836 Mr. Upham was married to Miss Elizabeth S. Jacques, daughter of Gideon Jacques, M. D., of Wilmington, Delaware. The Jacques family was one of the oldest in New Jersey and descended from the French Huguenots that came to this country. Mr. and Mrs. Upham had ten children, of whom the following survived infancy : Colonel John J., deceased, late of the United States Army; Carrie J., who is the wife of Colonel George H. Raymond, of Smyrna, Dela- ware; Addie J., the wife of Henry B. Taylor, of Chester, Pennsyl- vania; Sallie J., who was the wife of Rear Admiral George B. Ran- som, who served on the U. S. Cruiser "Concord," May 1, 1898, at the battle of Manila; Horace A. J., a member of the Milwaukee law firm of Cary, Upham & Black, Wells Building, a complete sketch of whose career will be found on other pages of this work. The mother of these children passed away September 9, 1883, and was laid to rest beside her husband in Forest Home cemetery at Milwaukee.
HORACE ALONZO JACQUES UPIIAM was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 14, 1853, and was the youngest son of the late Hon. Don A. J. Upham, who is mentioned at length elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Upham belongs to a generation of young men who have been called
Hetphphan
1211
IHISTORY OF WISCONSIN
upon to assume important responsibilities, laid upon them by the pio- neers who were their immediate ancestors, and he has ably demonstrated his ability to bear his full share in these responsibilities.
Mr. Upham received his early training in the schools of Milwaukee, after which he entered the University of Michigan and was duly grad- uated from that institution with the class of 1875. Upon his return to his Milwaukee home he at once began the study of law, first in the office of Wilson Graham, and afterwards with Jenkins, Elliott & Wink- ler, Judge James G. Jenkins, now retired United States Circuit Court Judge, being at that time the senior of the firm. In 1877 Mr. Upham was admitted to the bar and two years later became identified with one of the oldest law firms in the city,-that of Wells & Brigham. In 1852 Charles K. Wells and Jerome R. Brigham had formed a copartner- ship, and the same had been in force for twenty-seven years, when Mr. Upham entered it as a junior partner, the firm becoming Wells, Brigham & Upham,
With an established reputation as capable and successful lawyers in general practice, the members of this firm became noted as safe, con- servative and candid counselors, and especially successful in litigation where large interests and difficult questions were involved. When Mr. Upham entered the firm he took an active part at once in the important matters which the senior partners had formerly in charge, thus mak- ing rapid progress in the actual work of his profession. Real estate, corporation and commercial law, as well as the care of estates, the guardianship of trust funds and watchfulness over the financial invest- ments of clients, all have come in for a share of Mr. Upham's attention. and he has at all times given evidence of the taet, good judgment and business ability of a capable man of affairs, as well as the discretion and conservatism of a well equipped and thoroughly competent lawyer.
Among the important legal actions commenced by Mr. Upham is the case of Hawley vs. Tesch, which was eight years in litigation, and in which judgment was finally entered in favor of Mr. Upham's client. This suit came to be noted because of the immense amount of property it involved, and as a result of the continued litigation Mr. Upham's clients not only were awarded judgment, but recovered their property. (See volumes 72 and 88 of the Wisconsin reports. ) Thus the heirs of Cyrus Hawley recovered property aggregating $400.000. none of which they would ever have enjoyed but for the successful fight of Mr. Upham.
The death of Charles K. Wells in 1894 and of Jerome R. Brigham three years later left Mr. Upham the sole surviving member of the firm of Wells, Brigham & Upham. On May 1, 1897, the firm of Fish. Cary, Upham & Black was organized by the consolidation of the business interests of the two firms of Wells, Brigham & Upham and Fish & Cary. This partnership contimed until the death of Mr. Fish in 1900. since which time the firm has been known as Cary, Upham & Black.
1212
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
Mr. Upham is executor and trustee of the estate of Daniel Wells, Jr., the largest estate ever probated in Wisconsin, aggregating more than $15,000,000. He is also a trustee of the John Plankinton estate.
Mr. Upham is in the fullest sympathy and accord with every pro- gressive movement, or indeed of any movement, calculated to advance the public welfare, and has contributed in many ways to the growth and advancement of business enterprises of large scope and import to the city, as well as to the advancement of social, moral and other re- . forms. He is a member of the University Club, the Milwaukee Athletic. Country and Town Clubs, as well as of the Milwaukee Club. He and his wife are members of the Unitarian church.
On June 5, 1889, Mr. Upham was united in marriage with Miss Mary Lydia Greene, the daughter of Thomas Greene, one of the oldest mer- chants of the city and for many years one of the best known of Milwau- kee's citizens. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Upham, two of whom are living: Elizabeth, educated at Milwaukee-Downer College, and Caroline who is attending the Seminary at Milwaukee-Downer College at the present time. The third daughter, who is deceased, was named Mary. All three were born in Milwaukee.
WILLIAM WARD WIGHT. For thirty-seven years William Ward Wight has been a factor in Milwaukee's intellectual and civic life, and it would be hard to find a man whose activities have been at once so important and so comprehensively varied. Historical and legal erudi- tion, foreign languages, library science-these are the most conspicuous intellectual lines of his gifts and functions which are devoted to public use. But his definite educational service, his practical interests in religious societies, his influence on civic affairs in Milwaukee,-these appeal no less to the citizen's appreciation of what Mr. Wight has meant to the city.
William Ward Wight was born in Troy, New York, on January 14, 1849, and graduated from Williams College in 1869, with the philoso- phical oration, the first prize for excellence in French and with member- ship in the honorary society of Phi Beta Kappa. For two years he was an instructor in the ancient languages at the Delaware Literary Institute, located at Franklin, New York. In 1873 he was graduated from the law department of Union University at Albany, New York, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. For a time thereafter he practiced law in partnership with his uncle, Edwin Mather Wight of New York City. Considerations of health presently made a change necessary, and in 1875 Mr. Wight came to Milwaukee, where he has since been engaged in practice, in conjunction with his other phases of activity. Continu- ously since that year he has also held the position of librarian in the Milwaukee Law Library.
It was Mr. Wight who was the originator of the plan to found a
1213
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
public library for Milwaukee by turning over to the city the ten thou- sand volumes formerly belonging to the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation. He also originated the Civil Service Reform Association of Milwaukee, from which has since sprung the non-partisan board of fire and police commissioners of this city. Of this board he was made chief examiner on October 12, 1886, a position which he held until his resignation from it on February 13, 1889. Having been chosen in December of 1888 to fill a vacancy on this board, he entered upon the duties of that office and on March 28, was elected chairman of the same body. As an educational influence in Milwaukee, Mr. Wight has been connected with Milwaukee College and its successor, Milwaukee-Downer College. In 1880 he was made secretary for the trustees of Milwaukee College and in 1887 he was chosen a member of the board of trustees. Since then he has continuously held both offices. When in 1897 the name and financial status of the college was changed, Mr. Wight's offices were continued in the new institution, Milwaukee-Downer Col- lege. Mr. Wight's high intellectual status has received special reeog- nition from his own Alma Mater in the honorary degree of Master of Arts, conferred in 1887.
Mr. Wight's deep interest in historieal matters has made his asso- ciation with various learned societies of that nature a valuable aid to such organizations. He is a member of the New England Historie Genealogieal Society, and also of the State Historical Society of Wis- consin, of which latter organization he has served for six years as presi- dent and for two years as vice-president. He is a member of the Ameri- can Historieal Association; of the Minisink Valley Historieal Associa- tion ; and of the Dedham (Massachusetts) Historical Society. He was one of the organizers of the Parkman Club of Milwaukee, founded in December, 1895, and of the Wisconsin Sons of the American Revolution, founded in 1890, the latter society requiring his services as president for some time and still retaining him as registrar. The Wisconsin Society of Colonial Wars has included him in its list of original mem- bers and he has served it, also, as an officer. In the Wisconsin Bar Association Mr. Wight is chairman of the committee in necrology and biography. He is counted a most superior authority on genealogieal and historieal facts as was indieated by his being chosen for the honor of representing the Lake Shore Region at the Historical meeting of the semi-centennial held in Madison in June, 1898.
The multiplieity of Mr. Wight's duties has not prevented him from issuing from the press some of the results of his combined research and judgment. The books that have come from his pen are of a technical nature and with an appeal chiefly to the interests of lawyers. Mr. Wight's practice has been for the greater part confidential office coun- sel and related lines.
The Young Men's Christian Association has benefited largely by
1214
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
Mr. Wight's co-operation and assistance. In 1890 and 1892 he served as president of the Milwaukee organization of that society, but declined a re-election to the position. Since 1896 he has been a trustee of the Immanuel Presbyterian church of the city. Of organizations for com- bined social and educational purposes, he holds membership in the Deutscher Club.
Mr. Wight's home is located at 404 Keene street. His family life began one year after his coming to Milwaukee. On June 29, 1876, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Emily West, who died on February 1, 1877. Mr. Wight remarried some years later, Miss Olivia Brockbury becoming his wife on June 16, 1884. On July 24, 1885, her young life came to a close. The Wight home is now presided over by Susan Elizabeth Lowry Wight, a resident of Milwaukee from Girlhood, her marriage to Mr. Wight having taken place on March 21, 1893. The two children of the family are both grown. Edward Brockbury Wight is a resident of Seattle, Washington, and Miss Elizabeth von Benscoter Wight is a student in Vassar college.
Mr. Wight's biography is one that requires no complimentary remarks to grace it. The thirty-seven years of his life here tell their own story of efficiency of local patriotism, and of high and definite standards of life, well demonstrated in the activities of the man.
HENRY FINK, collector of internal revenue for the First District of Wisconsin and a veteran of Company B, Twenty-sixth Wisconsin In- fantry, was born September 7, 1840, in Bavaria, Germany, and is the son of John Engelhart and Catherine (Diehnann) Fink. These parents when their son Henry was twelve years old, removed with their little family to the United States, locating on a farm in the town of Oak Creek, Milwaukee county, Wisconsin. The father lived on the farm until his death on the 8th of January, 1880, but the mother passed away while her sons were serving in the Civil war, her death taking place on February 9, 1864. Thus were their seven children left motherless, being Mary, Henry, Engelhardt, Jacob, Simon, Helena and Louise. Of this family Engelhardt and Helena are deceased. Engelhardt lost his life at the battle of the Wilderness in the Civil war, in which he served as a member of the Fifth Wisconsin Infantry.
Henry Fink worked on a farm until he was twenty years of age, after which he secured work as a clerk in a store in Milwaukee, con- tinning in that work until August 17, 1862, when in the height of the war excitement in Milwaukee, the young man found himself no longer able to resist the martial spirit which inflamed him, and he enlisted as a private in Company B, of the Twenty-sixth Wisconsin Infantry. On October 5th following their regiment left the city and state for the scene of action, going direct to Fairfax Court House, where it became a part of the Second Brigade, Third Division of the Eleventh Army
1215
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
Corps, and with it participated in the expedition to Thoroughfare Gap, New Baltimore and Warreton. The winter was spent in camp at Staf- ford Court House and in the spring the regiment was one of those said to be "stuck in the mud" with General Burnside. On April 27th, the Eleventh Corps under Major-General O. O. Howard, left Stafford Court House in the start of the Chancellorsville Campaign. The cross- ing of the Rappahannock was made at Kelly's Ford, and on May 1, the corps took position on the right of the Federal line. In the Terrible onslaught of "Stonewall" Jackson's corps on Howard's Command, before which the Union line wavered and then fell back, Mr. Fink was wounded, a musket ball piercing his right arm and rendering it useless. He was taken from the field and placed in Hospital at Falmouth, where he received medical aid and was later sent to the Judiciary Square Hospital in Washington. On June 26th he was transferred to Fort Schuyler, New York, and in November to David's Island, where he remained until removed to the Harvey hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, on January 7, 1864. In the following March, he was mustered into the Invalid Corps and remained there until his discharge on May 10, 1864. He then returned to Milwaukee, and for three years thereafter he was employed as a traveling salesman.
In 1876 Mr. Fink engaged in business on his own responsibility. becoming a dealer in wool, hides and furs. This occupied his time and attention until 1878, when he sold his interests in that enterprise and entered the land business.
Mr. Fink is a Republican and served four years on the county board of supervisors, his term of service extending from 1870 to 1874. In 1876 and 1877 he served in the state legislature, and in the latter year was appointed United States marshal, continuing in the office through the administrations of Hayes, Garfield and Arthur, presidents. He closed his service in that capacity on May 10, 1885. On June 13, 1889. Mr. Fink was appointed collector of internal revenue for the First Dis- triet of Wisconsin, and he still remains the incumbent of that position.
Mr. Fink has no fraternal affiliations beyond that of his membership in the E. B. Wolcott Post No. 1, of the Grand Army of the Republic. of which he has long been a member.
On May 13, 1866, Mr. Fink was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Streiff of Milwaukee, and three children have been born to them-Albert, Edward and Emma. The wife and mother died on January 6, 1883, and on September 12, 1883, Mr. Fink married Miss Rosa Blankenhorn, of Cedarburg, Wisconsin. The home of the family is located at No. 562 Murray Avenne, while Mr. Fink's office address is the Government Building.
WALTER PALMER BISHOP. The great city of Milwaukee, with its multiform industries and far reaching commerce, owes its marvelous
1216
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
growth and prosperity to its position as a distributing center of the products of a vast country, and its concentration of production. A typical branch of its business, and one of the leading sources of its wealth, has been the preparation and distribution of the products of . the farms which cover the vast prairies of the Northwest. The growth and extent of the grain business are marvelous and express the pro- ductive powers of the wide region tributary to it. One of the best known grain commission men of the city is Walter Palmer Bishop, who has had a long and successful experience in the grain business, is vice presi- dent of the grain commission firm of E. P. Bacon Company, and recently retired from office as president of the Chamber of Commerce.
Walter Palmer Bishop was born at Solon, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, August 9, 1850, and is a son of Sanford Holmes and Fannie Melissa (Cannon) Bishop, his father being a farmer, teacher and merchant. Mr. Bishop is a direct descendant of John Bishop, who was born Sep- tember 30, 1685, and who was the youngest son of Samuel Bishop, of Ipswich, Massachusetts, who was a son of Thomas Bishop, one of the founders of Massachusetts Bay Settlement, who lived and died in Ipswich. His daughter, Temperance, married Capt. Dr. David Holmes, the father of Rev. Abiel Holmes, whose son was Oliver Wendell Holmes, M. D., LL. D. Joseph Bishop, born December 19, 1772, son of John Bishop, married Mary Palmer, of Preston, Connecticut, and their oldest son was Sanford Holmes Bishop, the father of Walter Palmer Bishop. John Bishop and his brother, Samuel, were early settlers in Norwich, Connecticut, subsequently known as Newent Parish, and later as the incorporated town of Lisbon. Their descendants include a long line of legists, theologians and physicians, and the Bishops of the Ipswich- Norwich stock were noted not only for their professional abilities, but for their patriotism and public-spirit, temperance and probity.
Walter Palmer Bishop attended the country district schools in Ohio, until he was seventeen years of age, which was his only schooling excepting that secured during a term in the Spencerian Business Col- lege, Milwaukee, when he was eighteen years old. His education has been secured largely by observation, reading and experience, the latter a hard and expensive method, but one which is lasting and comprehen- sive. His country and farm life served to inculeate in the young man habits of thrift, industry and economy, and gave him that acquaintance which is of material advantage to the young man starting upon a career who wishes to obtain the most from life. On leaving business college he was initiated into business methods and customs in the employ of his brother, entering the latter's cheese and produce business in Milwaukee, in 1868, At that time the cheese industry was in its inception in Wis- consin, and young Bishop was somewhat of a factor in stimulating its growth, becoming an expert in this line, but in 1878 turned his atten- tion to a wider field, entering the grain business and becoming a mem-
1217
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
ber of the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce. Experience in every phase of the grain business followed, and Mr. Bishop became an expert in the handling of grain, and carried on a large business with varying degrees of success until 1889, when he decided upon a change, and embarked in the manufacture of cement. This business, however, was not destined to succeed, and in 1891 Mr. Bishop returned to the grain business, entering the employ of E. P. Bacon Company, grain commis- sion merchants. He became a partner in this enterprise in 1897, and in 1909 was made vice-president. In the meantime, from 1897 to 1908 he served as chairman of supervisors of inspection and weighing of the Chamber of Commerce. In 1911 his abilities were recognized by his associates by his election to the presidency, and in 1912 he was again sent to the chief executive's chair, in which he served until April, 1913. In 1911, Mr. Bishop was appointed a member of the harbor commission of the city of Milwaukee by the mayor, and during that same year was vice-president of the National Board of Trade. In 1912 he became a member of the organization committee of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, and was elected councillor of that body to represent the city of Milwaukee. He has always been an active and enthusiastic Republican, and in 1896 served as president of the Fifth Ward Republican Club, and as such organized the only flambeau marching club the city has ever known. In 1879 Mr. Bishop became a member of Crescent Lodge, Knights of Pythias, in which he has served in all the offices and is now a life member of the order. He also holds membership in the Sons of the American Revolution, and has been a member of the Arion Musical Club of Milwaukee for thirty years and its president for some time. He is a member of the Bapist church.
As president of the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Bishop had intimate relations and responsibilities in directing the most vital commercial organization in the city. In commenting upon the growth and development of this institution, a local newspaper recently said : "The Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce is one of the oldest commercial exchanges in the west, and in many respects has been a pioneer in those matters pertaining to the marketing of grain and other agricultural products. For fifty-four years it has stood for the highest principles of trade and for the commercial and industrial progress of Milwaukee. Its customs and rules have served as models after which associations more recently organized in other cities have patterned, and it has been a power in the commercial life of Milwaukee, achieving and helping to achieve much that has counted for the material progress of the city and of the country.
"Fifty years ago this summer (1911) this Chamber of Commerce pledged itself to raise and did raise, in response to President Lincoln's call for men, two companies which went to the front with the Twenty- fourth Wisconsin. The Chamber of Commerce assessed its members ten
1218
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
dollars each to form a fund for inducing enlistments, and in this way raised the sum of $2,000. This regiment rendered distinguished service for the Union. The spirit that has governed the members of the Cham- ber of Commerce for more than half a century is embodied in the pre- amble to the rules as follows: 'The objects of this association shall be to promote just and equitable principles in trade, to correct abuses, to establish and maintain uniformity in the commercial usages of the city, to acquire, preserve and disseminate valuable business information, and to support such regulations and measures as may advance the mercan- tile and manufacturing interests of the city of Milwaukee.'
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.