USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume V > Part 25
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To the public schools of Cornwall, New Haven, Vermont, Henry M. Lewis is indebted for his preliminary educational training. He was a lad of sixteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to Wis- consin and after completing the curriculum of the public schools of Dane county he was matriculated as a student in the University of Wis- consin and after completing the curriculum of the public schools of offices of the well known law firm of Vilass & Remington and later with Collings, Smith & Keyes. He was admitted to the Wisconsin bar in October, 1853, and for one year thereafter was engaged in the active practice of law at IIudson, Wisconsin. In 1854 he came to Madison. where he has sinee resided and where he has gained distinctive pres- tige as a brilliant and versatile lawyer. He has figured in many of the important litigations of the state and federal courts and has held numerous public offices of important trust and responsibility. In his Vol. V-14
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political convictions he owns allegiance to the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor. For one term he was district attorney of the county, for four terms city alderman from the Second ward, for fifteen years member of the Madison school board and for three years its president and for some three or four years assistant United States district attorney. In the year 1878 he was appointed United States district attorney and he served in that capacity for nearly nine years. In March, 1867, he was appointed collector of in- ternal revenue and he retained that incumbency until July 1, 1872. In July, 1898, he was made referee in bankruptcy and he has held that office during the long intervening years to the present time, in 1913. He is affiliated with the Dane County and Wisconsin State Bar Societies and with the American Bar Association. In the time-honored Masonic order he is a valued and appreciative member of Madison Lodge, No. 5, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons; Madison Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons; and Robert McCoy Commandery No. 3. In the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks he is a member of Madison Lodge, No. 410.
September 1, 1858, Mr. Lewis was united in marriage to Miss Char- lotte T. Clarke, who was born in, Carbondale, Pennsylvania. She died August 16, 1864. This union was prolific of three daughters : Lottie B., deceased; Jessie R. married Lloyd Skinner, residing in Madison : and Sophia M. is the widow of H. E. Briggs; she lives in Madison. Mrs. Lewis was a woman of most gracious personality and she was deeply beloved by all who came within the sphere of her gentle influence.
Although well advanced in years, Mr. Lewis is still hale and hearty and gives his undivided attention to business affairs. As a man he is thoroughly conscientious, of undoubted integrity, affable and courteous in manner and he has a host of friends, with few, if any, enemies.
HON. AAD JOHN VINJE. There is a certain sameness in the careers of American judges. With some exceptions the common type brings to mind an ambitious and gifted youth, born, if not in penury, in humble circumstances, struggling with ceaseless labor and self-denial to obtain subsistence, while giving his thoughts to the acquisition of an academic and usually a collegiate education. An interval of labor, not infre- quently in the school room, opens an entrance into professional schools. A calling to the bar follows; then comes a settlement in some growing community, usually in the West or Middle West. The gaining of a foothold in practice by slow and painful steps ensues ; and with moderate success the founding of a home and family life results. After a few years of more marked prosperity, a selection by the bar for judicial honors is followed by popular ratification at the polls, and then comes years of labor, of isolation, of anxious thought, of conscientious devo-
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tion to the high calling, of which the highest praise is that of duty done. The career of the Hon. Aad John Vinje has been no departure from the ordinary type. He, too, struggled with limited means; he won a liberal education by his own labor, and spent years in the school room before he came to the bar. His admirable qualities were appre- eiated by his fellow practitioners, and after serving several appoint- ments with high ability was elected to the Supreme bench of the State for a period of ten years. The highest encomium possible is that he has proven himself worthy of the confidence reposed in him and that he has been an able, impartial and learned judge.
Judge Vinje was born in Voss, Norway, November 10, 1857, and is a son of John and Ingeborg (Klove) Vinje, natives of that country. John Vinje was born in 1823, and died in 1859, having been the father of five children, of whom two are living: Julia, the wife of Andrew HI. Dahl, state treasurer of Wisconsin; and Aad John. The widow, who was born in 1824, was married to M. K. Vinje, and died in 1901. having had one daughter, Ellen, by her second marriage. Her husband still survives her and make his home in Marshall county, lowa, being eighty- three years of age.
Aad John Vinje was twelve years of age when he accompanied his mother and step-father to the United States, the family settling in Marshall county, Iowa. During the winter of 1873-4 he attended Iowa College, at Grinnell, Iowa, and in the winter of 1874-5 went to North- western University of Iowa, at Des Moines. He then spent several years in teaching in the publie schools of Iowa, but in the fall of 1878 came to Madison and entered the literary department of the University of Wisconsin, being graduated therefrom in 1884 and from the law depart- ment in 1887. He was assistant in the State Library from 1884 to 1888. and assistant to the Supreme Court Reporter from 1888 to 1891. In the latter year he entered upon the practice of his profession at Supe- rior, and August 10, 1895, was appointed judge of the Eleventh Judicial Cireuit of Wisconsin, holding the office until September 10, 1910, when he was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court. On April 4. 1911. he was elected for a term of ten years commencing the first Monday of January, 1912. Judge Vinje is known as a type of the scholarly industry, as a profound thinker, and as an upright judge. He is a Republican in his political views.
On June 5, 1886, Judge Vinje was married to Alice Idell Miller. who was born near Oregon, Wisconsin, and educated in Cambridge. Massachusetts. Four children have been born to this union: Arthur M., David R., Janet and Ethel. The family is connected with the Unitarian church.
JUDGE JOHN BARNES. Deep and accurate knowledge of law and practice, native shrewdnes and ability, and unswerving integrity have
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made Judge John Barnes, of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, an ex- cellent lawyer and an admirable judge; high personal character, firm religious convictions, a kind heart and a strong sense of duty, have made him a valuable citizen. A most conscientious public servant, his life guarded by high purpose and sincerity, his dignity and well- balanced legal mind commend him to all who have anything to do with the court, and his sound reasoning and impartial decisions place him in a foremost position among those who have won eminence on the Wis- consin bench. Judge Barnes is a native son of Wisconsin, having been born in Manitowoc county, July 26, 1859, and is a son of John and Mary (Butler) Barnes.
John Barnes, the father, was born in Kilkenny County, Ireland, in 1814, and was there married to Mary Butler, born in the same locality in 1822. Soon after their marriage they emigrated to Mont- real, Canada, where they arrived after a journey of seven weeks on a sailing vessel, and later they made removal to Lockport, New York, from whence they came in 1858 to Manitowoc county, Wisconsin. Here Mr. Barnes engaged in agricultural pursuits, which occupied the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1881, when he was sixty-seven years of age. His wife passed away in 1880, at the age of fifty-eight years.
The boyhood of Judge John Barnes was passed on his father's farm, and his early education was secured in the district schools of Manitowoc county, following which he attended the Manitowoc High school and the Oshkosh Normal school. He then took up the study of law in the University of Wisconsin, where he was graduated in 1883, and. com- menced practice in Manitowoc, but in 1885 went to Rhinelander and there carried on a general practice and served as a member of the school board for several years. After serving as municipal judge of Oneida county for four years, Judge Barnes was appointed a member of the State Railroad Commission, but resigned therefrom in August, 1907, and in the following year was elected to the Supreme Bench of
the State. He is now serving his second term as a member of that august body. Judge Barnes' mind is of the judicial order, and he would in almost any community have been sought for to occupy a place upon the bench. The high esteem in which he is held as a jurist among the entire profession is the result of a combination of legal ability culture, and incorruptible integrity, with the dignified presence, absolute courage and graceful urbanity which characterize all of his official acts. His political support has always been given to the cause of Democracy. He is a member of the county and state bar associations, and fraternally he is interested in the work of Rhinelander Lodge, B. P. O. E., and Antigo Council, Knights of Columbus.
On July 26. 1887, Judge Barnes was married to Miss Julia A. Koelzer, who was born in Rochester, New York, daughter of Peter J. and Sarah (Doyle) Koelzer, the former a native of Germany and the latter
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of Ireland, and both surviving. They came to Wisconsin in 1864, settling in Manitowoc county, later going to Antigo, Langlade county, where Mr. Koelzer was engaged in a general merchandise business, and finally removing to Rhinelander, Oneida county, where they live re- tired. Of their five children, Mrs. Barnes was the fourth in order of birth. Judge and Mrs. Barnes have had four children : Dorothy MI., Beatrice F., Fayne J. and John, Jr. The pleasant family residence is located at No. 104 Langdon street.
CHARLES C. BROWN. For many years closely associated in business with the late Z. G. Simmons and the successor of that splendid financier and manufacturer in the presidency of the First National Bank of Kenosha, Charles C. Brown has had what every one would consider a most fortunate association and career. The facts are, however, that he has won on his merit every promotion, and it is doubtful if any man in Wiseonsin stands more solidly on his own bottom than this Kenosha banker. Few banks of Wisconsin have a longer history of conservative and successful management than the First National Bank of Kenosha. It originated as a state bank in 1852, and in the year following the passage of the National Bank Aet in 1863. the state in- stitution was reorganized and the charter for the national bank taken out in 1864. The number of the charter was two hundred and twelve. and that eharter number has since been retained at subsequent renewals. Throughout its existence the bank has been prosperous through having an able directorate and exceptionally competent executive officials. and has weathered all the financial storms safely. In June. 1913. the aggregate resources of the First National Bank were approximately $3,750,000. Its capital stock is $150,000, and the surplus fund of an equal amount. Its total deposits aggregate over three and a quarter million of dollars. The executive officers are Charles C. Brown, presi- dent; George Yule, vice president : and W. HI. Purnell. cashier. The directors are all men of the highest prominence in local financial and industrial affairs, and are : George Yule, C. C. Allen, Charles T. Jeffery. Z. G. Simmons, Richard F. Howe. A. H. Lance, and Charles C. Brown.
The old State Bank, from which the First National Bank of Kenosha developed, was organized two years before the birth of Charles ('. Brown. who has been closely connected with the executive direction of the bank for more than twenty years and is now president. A Kenosha boy. born May 20, 1854, Mr. Brown when young lost his father, and was obliged to go to work for his own living and the support of his widowed mother. He had some schooling, but aside from that never depended upon any one but himself for assistance. At one time only one among hundreds. so far as his relative position was concerned, he has achieved on merit. the presidency of the largest bank in Kenosha county, and those who
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know say he has returned in business service and actual ability, a com- pensation equal to all the material prosperity he has won.
His parents were Charles C. and Katharine (Lampson) Brown. His father was a native of Massachusetts and the mother of Vermont. The senior Brown came to Kenosha county, in 1849, when Kenosha was known as Southport. Mr. Brown grew up in Kenosha, attended the common schools, and also an academy in Milwaukee. When his educa- tional opportunities were ended, he started out to make his own way in the world, and his first position was as a clerk in the store of Rouse Simmons for seven years. Then in partnership with Gilbert M. Sim- mons, under the firm name of Simmons & Brown, a general merchan- dise business was conducted for three years, at the end of which time Mr. Simmons sold out to Seth Doan, who had been the pioneer merchant of Southport. Doan & Brown continued in business for ten years. In 1890, after Mr. Brown had been chosen cashier of the First National Bank of Kenosha, his mercantile interests were sold to William Fisher. Mr. Brown was cashier of the First National Bank until 1907, was vice president until 1909, and then succeeded the late Z. G. Simmons, who had been president of the bank for thirty-eight years.
From an early date in his business career, Mr. Brown was first a valued assistant and later a trusted advisor and associate of Z. G. Simmons. He sat by the side of that business leader and worked with him through two financial panics, and perhaps knew him better than any other man. Mr. Brown was secretary of the great Simmons manu- facturing industry from 1907 for two years. Especially during the later years of the senior Simmons these two business men were very closely associated financially, morally and socially. The confidence dis- played by Mr. Simmons in his younger associate, has naturally been manifested by the general business public, and it can be said that Mr. Brown never abused this confidence in the slightest degree. He has perhaps as many personal admirers as any banker in the state, and yet he retains the modest and unassuming demeanor and quiet business efficiency which have marked him since youth. Having made his own way in the world, he appreciates many things that escape the notice of men who have not had that experience, and while a thorough judge of human nature and conservative in all his policies of banking, he has at the same time proved a liberal and generous factor in his community.
On May 31, 1877, Mr. Brown married the daughter of his former business associate, Miss Minnie Doan. They have one daughter, Edith M. Brown.
WALTER DICKSON CORRIGAN has been engaged in the practice of law since 1897. He has attained high rank in his profession through his learning, industry, ability and character, while he is no less valued in the community as a liberal-minded and enterprising citizen. Be-
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longing to that class of professional men who value their education the more because it has been self-gained, his career since early boyhood has been one of tireless industry and well-directed effort, finally result- ing in the attainment of well-deserved success. He is now a member of the leading law firm of Glicksman, Gold & Corrigan.
Mr. Corrigan is a native son of Wisconsin, having been born Decem- ber 28, 1875, in the town of Almond, Portage County. He is of Irish and Scotch-English descent. He was reared to manhood on a Portage County farm, by his grandfather, Walter Dickson, who had come as a pioneer to Wisconsin in 1844, and his early education was secured in the district schools of that vicinity. A youth of ambitious ideas, he early decided upon the law as his life work, and with that end in view, devoted himself assiduously to his tasks on the farm and as a school teacher, to secure the necessary means with which to secure an education. After attending the high schools of Grand Rapids and Almond, Wisconsin, Mr. Corrigan entered the Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa, and on graduation therefrom continued to pursue his studies in Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, where he received ·his law degree in 1896. At twenty-one years of age, he was admitted to the bar and establish himself in practice in Wanshara county. Central Wisconsin was his field of endeavor until September 1, 1905, when his advent in Milwaukee occurred. In October, 1906, he be- came general attorney for the Wisconsin Central Railway Company, and November 1, 1908, was made general solicitor for that road, but resigned his position May 1, 1909, to enter general practice as a member of the firm of Glieksman, Gold & Corrigan, with which firm he has ever since been connected. Mr. Corrigan's inclinations have led him to engage chiefly in what is known as trial work, and he has become distinguished in this line throughout the Northwest. He was distriet attorney of Wanshara county from January. 1899, to January. 1901. and assistant attorney general of Wisconsin from January, 1903, to September 1, 1905, when he resigned to commence practice in Mil- waukee. He has had no amibition for mere office holding. Within the last few years he has declined to be considered for several im- portant offices, including judgeships, and these declinations have come when there was more than fair promise of success. He has, however. been more or less active for years in giving such time as he could spare to the movement in Wisconsin generally known as the Progres- sive Republican movement. He has been a member of the Republican State Central Committee, and is a highly regarded and very effective campaign speaker. He has, however, made all activities subservient to his professional duties. He has been a member of the Odd Fellows since 1897; the Masons since 1898, and the Elks since 1903. In the matter of religion, to quote Mr. Corrigan's own words: "Like unto each and every man, I have my own religion."
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He has a beautiful home on Whitefish Bay, suburban to Milwaukee. His business offices are at 625-630 Caswell Block.
WILLIAM WRIGHT VINCENT. Holding prestige as one of the repre- sentative figures in the manufacturing and commercial circles of the thriving city of Kenosha, Mr. Vincent is here president of the Vincent- Alward Company, which is the direct successor of the Windsor Spring Company, the present corporate title having been adopted on the 1st of January, 1913, and the substantial enterprise conducted by the com- pany constituting a definite contribution to the industrial precedence of the city and county of Kenosha. Mr. Vincent is a native son of the county that now represents his home and is a scion of one of the ster- ling and well known pioneer families of this section of the state. He has had ample experience in connection with manufacturing and com- mercial activities and his advancement to his present position stands in evidence of his ability and well ordered endeavors. As one of the pro- gressive business men and loyal and public-spirited citizens of Kenosha he is well entitled to specific recognition in this history of Wisconsin.
On the family homestead, in the west division of Kenosha, William W. Vincent was born on the 20th of July, 1869, and he is a son of William C. and Mary (Leach) Vincent, both of whom were born in England. In 1856 William C. Vincent, who was then a young man and still a bachelor, severed the ties that bound him to his native land and came to the United States, where he was assured of better oppor- tunities for the attaining of independence and prosperity through indiv- idual effort. He remained for a short period in the state of New York and finally came to Wisconsin. He established his residence at South- port, the little village which formed the nucleus of the present fine city of Kenosha. He engaged in the manufacturing of matches, and after conducting business in this line of industry for a period of about six years he purchased a small farm on what is now the West side of the city of Kenosha, where he turned his attention to market gardening. He built up a prosperous enterprise, gained secure hold upon the con- fidence and esteem of the community and was known and honored as a loyal citizen of ability and inviolable integrity. He continued to reside on his homestead place until his death, which occurred in 1903, and his wife still survives him, as do also all of their seven children. Mr. Vincent was a staunch Republican in his political proclivities, was affi- liated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was a con- sistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, with which his widow also has long been identified as a devout communicant.
William W. Vincent, the immediate subject of this review, attended the county schools of Kenosha until he had attained to the age of four- teen years, when he became a time-keeper and boarding contractor in the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company,
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with the service of which he continued to be thus identified for eight- een months. Thereafter he did contract work in ballast burning for the Wabash Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, in which connection he gained valuable business experience. At the age of 21 years Mr. Vincent entered upon an apprenticeship to the trade of tool-making, in which he became an expert workman, and from 1896 to 1898 he held the position of chief engineer for the Simmons Manu- facturing Company, of Kenosha. In the latter year he was advanced to the office of assistant general superintendent of that company. His effective service in this capacity continued four years, at the expiration of which he became general superintendent and second vice-president of the corporation noted. This dual office he retained until 1912, when he purchased the plant and business of the Windsor Spring Company, engaged in the manufacturing of sanitary couches and all kinds of springs. This company was organized in 1897, by F. C. Hannah, Frank Chesley and B. F. Windsor, and after the death of Mr. Windsor, Mr. Vincent assumed control of the enterprise, in which he became asso- ciated with Vaughn Lee Alward. The enterprise was thereafter con- tinned under the original title until the 1st of January, 1913, when the name was changed to its present form, the Vincent-Alward Company, Mr. Vincent being president and treasurer of the company and Mr. Alward holding the offices of vice-president and secretary. Under the new regime, marked by most progressive policies, the business had been significantly expanded in scope and importance, and Mr. Vincent has secure vantage ground as one of the successful and representative busi- ness men of the city which has been his home' during virtually his entire life and in the civic and material prosperity of which he maintains a most loyal interest. He is a member of the Kenosha Manufacturers Association and is a member of the directorate of the Merchants' Savings Bank of Kenosha. He is also actively identified with the Em- ployers' Mutual Liability Insurance Company of Wisconsin, is a director of the Wisconsin Young Men's Christian Association and is president of the Kenosha association of this noble organization.
In polities Mr. Vincent accords allegiance to the Republican party. he has attained to the thirty second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Masonry, is affiliated with the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, is actively concerned with the affairs of the Associated Charities of Kenosha, where he also holds membership in the Big Sister Association and the Automobile Club, besides which he is a member of the Chicago Athletic Association, a representative organization in the great western metropolis. Both he .and his wife are communicants of St. Matthew's church, Protestant Episcopal. in their home city, and are popular factors in connection with the representative social activi- ties of the community.
On the 10th of January, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr.
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Vincent to Miss Mary Marguerite Vollmer, of Kenosha, and they have three children, whose names, with respective dates of birth, are here noted: Roger V., February 26, 1901; William W., Jr., June 6, 1906; and Helen V., March 7, 1910.
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