MEMOIRS OF DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS OF THE BAY
COUNTY BAR.
________________
BY A. C. MAXWELL
__________________
In undertaking to write an account of
those men who have heretofore been members of the Bay county bar I have found
myself so embarrassed by any attempt at discussion of the character of those
members still living that I shall only give some account of those who are dead.
I settled in lower Saginaw (now Bay City) in March,
1857. When I arrived there I found that Messrs. C. H. Freeman, W. L.
Sherman, and James Birney had preceded me, and they were all then actively
engaged in the practice of law.
JAMES BIRNEY.
Hon. James Birney was born at
Danville, Kentucky, in 1817. His father, James G. Birney, candidate for
the liberty party for president in 1840 and 1844, resided in Lower Saginaw from
1840 and 1856. He was trustee of the old Saginaw Bay company, which owned
the section of land on which the original plat of Lower Saginaw was first laid
out, and no doubt the interests that he left in Bay City was the cause of the
settlement of his son at that place.
James Birney was educated at Center College, Ky.,
and at Miami University, Ohio, from which latter institution he was graduated in
1836. For the two years succeeding his graduation he occupied the position
of professor of the Greek and Latin languages at that institution. He
afterward studied law at New Haven, Conn., and subsequently entered upon the
practice of that profession at Cincinnati, Ohio. While at New Haven
he married Miss Moulton, cousin of Commodore Isaac Hull who captured the
Guerriere on the 19th day of August, 1812. In 1856 Mr. Birney removed with
is family to Lower Saginaw (now Bay City) and at once interested himself in the
development of the place. From that time until his death Bay City
was his home.
Mr. Birney was a prominent republican in politics
and in 1858 was elected to the State senate, and in this office he displayed
both great capacity and great independence. In the year 1859 most of
that great grant of swamp land which the general government had made to the
State for the purpose of drainage and reclamation was appropriated by the State
for the building of State roads and to the construction of drains and ditches.
And here Mr. Birney rendered services to northern Michigan, for which its people
for all time to come should be forever grateful. There was a strong
body of men in the legislature that year, who were determined to ignore and
neglect the conditions of the trust, and to sell the swamp lands and apply the
proceeds of the sale to the school fund, thus leaving the northern portions of
the State with is swamps and morasses to take care of themselves.
And as the phrase went, let them get out of the woods as best they can.
Mr. Birney overcame this faction and secured the legislation which has opened up
northern Michigan through every portion of it with the State roads.
So well did he perform his duty as senator as to
attract general attention, and in 1860 he was elected lieutenant governor of the
State. He was exceptionally well qualified for the office of president of
the senate. He was careful, studious, and absolutely impartial and
independent, and managed to perform his duties with a constant suavity and grace
that caused the members of that body to be very proud of him, and justly too,
for all the men who have succeeded him in that office, none has reached that
high standard attained by Judge Birney as a presiding officer.
In the senate that year (1861) were Henry P. Baldwin,
afterwards governor and senator, Byron G. Stout, afterwards a candidate of his
party for governor and since a member of congress, and Solomon L. Withey,
afterwards judge of the federal courts at Grand Rapids, and many other
distinguished sons of Michigan. And it is safe to say that Judge
Birney was the full equal of all these distinguished men. He frequently
debated questions on the floor of the senate; always with sincerity and ability,
and always with firmness and kindness. While he was ambitious he was totally
above all the low schemes and practices of modern politicians.
In the spring of 1861 Governor Birney was
appointed circuit judge of the eighteenth judicial circuit, then composed of the
counties of Bay, Iosco, Alcona, and Alpena. He presided four years
on the bench of that circuit. He was a dignified, prudent, and careful
judge. His administration of justice was satisfactory. He was
modest, kind, accommodating, fair and impartial, and generally right, but like
all judges he made some mistakes. I remember once he intimated a
decision against me. I mentioned to him that the supreme court had
decided otherwise, and showed him the decision of Tannahill vs. Tuttle.
He refused to modify his ruling and simply remarked "So much the worse for the
supreme court". I cheerfully add that he was right, as Tannahill vs.
Tuttle was afterwards overruled. He was not well adapted to a
judicial position. While his mind was active and clear, he could not
comprehend and would not follow many of the rules of law which to the general
student appear unreasonable.
After leaving the bench he resumed his practice of law
in Bay City. In 1867 he was elected a member of the constitutional
convention and actively participated in the proceedings of that body. He
was very conservative, perhaps too much so, as the work of the convention was
rejected by the people.
In 1870 Mr. Birney established the Bay City Chronicle,
a weekly newspaper, and in 1873 it was issued daily. It was
published until after Mr. Birney's departure for the Hague, when it was merged
into the Tribune. In 1872 he was appointed centennial commissioner for
Michigan and as such was of considerable service to the State. He
was noted as such for his affability and kindness.
In 1872 he was appointed minister to the Netherlands.
This was a position to which he was exceptionally well adapted. He
held this office until 1882, when he returned to Bay City. His
father was a graduate of Princeton, a man of fine taste and elegant
accomplishments. He was simple and free in his manner, liberal in
his views in everything except upon the subject of slavery, perfectly honest,
and no doubt from him Judge Birney acquired those elegant manners for which he
was noted.
At the court of Holland, as a representative of the
United States, he was highly distinguished, and it is probable that of all the
representatives of the nations at that court he was the most respected and
admired as a man. It is true the embassadors from Germany, France and
Russia with millions of armed men near at hand, and England with her tremendous
navy, each able to crush Holland in a month, must be shown great consideration;
but this was due to force and to the position of affairs, not to the
representative or to the man who might happen to represent the nation.
Judge Birney maintained a high position there, and did much to elevate the
embassy and in the building up of friendly feelings towards the people of the
United States. He died in May, 1888.
Mr. Birney was a man of great public spirit and filled
the many public offices, to which he was either elected or appointed, with
ability and fidelity. He was devoted to the interests of Bay City
and Bay county, and took an active part in promoting their growth and
development.
At the time of his death he was president of the board
of education of Bay City, and in this office, as in all other positions of
public trust occupied by hi m, he made his duty to the people of paramount
importance. He was a man of sensitive and refined feelings, firm in his
convictions, of fine appearance, and eminently qualified by education and
manners to shine in the higher walks of public life, loyal , tender hearted
gentleman who could not play the demagogue.
ANECDOTE
Although Judge Birney was
self-possessed and circumspect in his conduct generally, one morning in the
spring of 1859 he said to me, "I feel most devilishly ugly this morning."
The next morning I learned the occasion of his wrath. At this time there
was not a rod of made road in Bay county. There was but one span of horses
in town. People's cattle, cows, pigs, and geese run everywhere at
large on the property of every land owner with impunity. Judge
Birney had cleared some blocks between Ninth and Tenth streets in Bay
City, and had made some clearing where the family homestead now stands. He
had cleared his lands, fenced it, and planted it. It so happened
that this enclosure embraced a sand ridge over which the settlers' cows had
passed out to the woods to graze. On each side of the judge's fences
were swamps, so that when the cattle got beyond his enclosure they could not
find their way home, and every night the settlers would pull down his fences and
let the cattle through to their homes. Finally he laid in wait for
them and one evening caught two old German settlers named Mikler and Steinbauer
letting down his fences. It was past one o'clock in the morning.
He at once woke up Squire Chilson
had both trespassers arrested, tried them before two o'clock in the morning and
had them in jail punctually at three.
THEOPHILUS C. GRIER.
Among the members of the bar who gained
a special notoriety at an early age of his life was Theophilus C. Grier.
His reputation was known all over the State as one of the rising lawyers of our
country.
Judge Grier was born at Ravenna, in the state of Ohio,
on the 2d day of January, 1834, and was a descendent, on his mother's side, of
Rev. John Cotton, of Pilgrim fame. His parents died while Mr. Grier
was yet a mere lad, and he was taken and cared for during a short time by an
uncle whose name was Carlton, and who was a minister of the Universalist
denomination of more than ordinary reputation. At the age of fifteen
young Grier became apprenticed as a printer to one Joel D. Brattels, who was
then editor of the Trumbull County Democrat. This training was
subsequently of immense value to him as a writer. The young
man's health became very delicate, and he was necessarily compelled to quit the
printing business and cultivate his physical strength. After a short
time he became strong enough to attend school and entered an educational
institution
at Marietta, Ohio. Subsequently he made up his mind to enter the
legal profession, and to this end he became a student in the law office of
Riddle & Hathaway, of Chardon, Ohio. His circumstances were such
that it was necessary for him to teach school during the winter season of the
year and pursue his law studies during the summer, spending what he earned
during the winter to enable him to prosecute his studies during the summer.
While thus engaged and while yet a youth he became acquainted with Jennie
Miller, whom he married in July, 1857. Three children were the fruits of
this marriage, the oldest being Carlton Grier, who is now a resident of Spokane,
Washington, the second, a daughter, who died in Bay City some years ago, and the
third, Rev. A. Grier, who is now one of the most scholarly and eloquent
ministers of the gospel in the state of Iowa.
Shortly after the marriage of Judge Grier, he was
admitted to the bar in the state of Ohio, and moved with his wife to Pine Run,
Michigan, where he commenced the practice of his profession. This
practice for the first few years was confined chiefly to the justices'
courts, as is the case with most of the lawyers of his training and advantages.
In this field, however, Mr. Grier showed indications of his future merits and
abilities. He soon sought a more extended opportunity in which to
grow, however, and during the year 1859 he took up residence in Bay City.
Here he found remunerative calls for his services from the beginning.
His great ability as a rising lawyer was at once recognized, and in the year
1860 he was elected prosecuting attorney and circuit court commissioner of Bay
County. As a public prosecutor he was the dread and fear of criminals and
at once came to the front as a trial lawyer. During the month of
September, 1861, he associated with him A. McDonell, now of Bay City, and this
firm, under the name of Grier & McDonell, controlled a very extensive and
lucrative practice until Judge Grier was elected to the bench. They
were engaged in the trial of as many as one hundred and ten issues of fact
during one term of the Bay County circuit court. In 1865, Mr. Grier
was appointed city
attorney of Bay City. In 1867 he was elected a member of the State
legislature. In this body he commanded the respect of his
colleagues, and the attention of the State, by his power as a ready debater, his
eloquence, and his acute and discriminating mind, as well as his sharp and
incisive logic. Few men of the day were equal to him in debate on
the floor of the legislative hall. His industry as a committee man
was also noticeable. He was called by the press of the State the
"Ajax of the House." Few men possessed the power of Mr. Grier before a
miscellaneous audience. As a political speaker on the stump his
influence was almost matchless, and during our political campaigns his services
were in constant demand all over his State. In 1871 the territory of
the tenth judicial circuit of Michigan was changed and the eighteenth circuit
was organized, composed of Bay Iosco, Alcona, and Alpena counties.
Mr. Grier was elected judge of the new circuit as the unanimous choice of both
political parties, he being a democrat. This position on the bench
he held until his death, which occurred on the 5th day of June, 1872.
The decease of Judge Grier at this early day of his life, was sorrowfully and
keenly felt by his many friends of the Saginaw Valley. It occurred
at a period, as will be seen, when he was on the threshold of a brilliant and
useful life. He was strictly a self made man, having no advantages
except those given him by nature herself. The community in which he
lived during the last ten years of his life looked upon him as one of the most
brilliant men of his age; his judgment on law questions was considered eminently
accurate and sound; he seldom erred in matters of opinion, and his power as a
public speaker and especially as a jury lawyer was almost dangerous, because
under the excitement of his addresses he ignored everything but the success of
his client.
HON. SIDNEY T. HOLMES
The late Judge Sidney T. Holmes was
born at Skaneateles, N. Y., in August, 1815. His father, Judge
Epenetus Holmes, was a prominent attorney at that place, but he removed to
Morrsiville, a thriving village and county seat of Madison county, N. Y., when
the subject of our sketch was but four years old. Here the child
attended the village school and graduated from the village academy, afterwards
completing his education at the Waterville seminary. He then engaged in
teaching and in the study of the law and civil engineering. He was
appointed chief engineer of the Chenango and Black River canal, and afterwards
was engaged on the New York and Erie railroad. In 1838 he married
and settled in Morrisville in the practice of the law, a profession to which he
became greatly attached and in time acquired a great and well earned reputation.
In 1851 he was elected county judge, filling that position for twelve years, and
in 1864 he was elected to congress from the twenty-second congressional district
of New York, receiving the largest majority ever given to any candidate up to
that time. He served his term of two years in congress to the entire
satisfaction of his constituents, but declined a re-nomination, preferring his
profession to that of congressional life at Washington. Soon after
his return home he became associated at Utica in the practice of law with
Hon. Roscoe Conklin, remaining in the firm three years, but their large practice
devolving mostly upon the Judge, his health became impaired and he came to Bay
City to recuperate his failing health, and to visit friends and relatives, and
was so favorably impressed with the push and prospects of the place that he
determined to locate in Bay City. He returned to Utica and as soon
as possible with so large a practice, dissolved his connection with the firm and
removed with his family to Bay City, opened an office in the Watson block, with
Mr. Haynes and J. L. Stoddard, a young attorney who had come with him from
Utica. Mr. Haynes removing to the west the firm afterwards became
Homes, Collins & Stoddard. But for some years before his death the firm
was Holmes & Collins. Judge Holmes' death occurred January 16, 1889.
None stood higher in his profession or was better known throughout central New
York than Judge S. T. Holmes. He was republican in politics and
liberal in his religious belief. Honor and the strictest integrity
gave him influence not only at the bar but among the citizens who knew him best.
Judge Holmes was a great lawyer. This was
true of him not only as counsel with parties about their business transactions,
but also in the preparation and trial of causes. He was an all
around lawyer. He had been an engineer in early life. Prior to
his coming to Bay City, he had made political speeches from his early manhood
all over the country. He was for twelve years surrogate judge of
Madison county, New York. He acquired an intimate knowledge of the
business affairs and details of the business life of the community in which he
lived. He had a great knowledge of human nature. His knowledge
of the law was profound. He studied hard, earnestly and deeply.
His knowledge of New York case law and of the cases governing the general
principles of the law was very great. He kept a large library well
stocked with text books; kept up his reports and digest and kept abreast of the
law as the decision came out. All of this combined made him an able
and wise counselor. When it cam to advising about matters of law,
particularly in connection with business transactions, his advice and judgment
were able and shrewd. Before litigation commenced he was in favor of
exhausting all reasonable means to effect a settlement which would avoid
litigation, but after litigation was commenced his watchword the was
"fight", and from the beginning to the end of litigation he was a zealous,
earnest, and able combatant and advocate.
His preparation of causes for trial was thorough and
exhaustive. On trial of causes he was alert, vigilant and active.
In the examination and cross-examination of witnesses he was very able, and
where there were any questions of fraud involved or any question where the
motives of parties were in issue, his cross-examination was wonderfully
ingenious and shrewd as well as combative and some of the events in this class
of cases are long to be remembered by those who witnessed them.
His presentation of a case to the court was most able,
and he analyzed and presented case law with great effect. In arguing
cases to the jury he analyzed testimony closely. He argued strongly
and made powerful and logical arguments, arguments that were homely and strong.
And at the same time from his wide range of reading and study he had many apt
illustrations and anecdotes at his command which he used with great effect to
enforce his points. His antagonists and the witnesses whom he
cross-examined very often thought he was entirely too severe and combative, but
his own clients seldom have entertained that opinion. His repartee and
hits on opposing counsel were sometimes quite caustic and in the heat of
argument he was sometimes severe on opposing parties and witness and counsel;
but he could take as well as give, and when the contest was over he carried no
spite or ill feeling.
In a trial of a cause he contested every inch of the
ground and never willingly gave up the contest that was against him until the
last decision of the highest court had settled the question beyond recall.
To sum up in a few words, he was wise and able as a
counselor in his office, as a trial lawyer he was shrewd, aggressive and strong
before court or jury.
And whether in his office or in litigation he was both
honest and honorable and had the strength that a reputation for honor and
honesty gives.
While Judge Holmes was a very great lawyer, careful,
studious and able, he was hampered by natural deficiencies of a very serious
character. He was totally deficient of imagination. His
speeches to court and jury were strong, direct, and logical, but he had not a
trace of fancy. His earnestness lent some interest to his speeches, but he
was not an orator, or even a good a good debater. While he showed greater
familiarity with the New York reports than any man I ever saw, being able to
turn to the book and page where almost any case was reported in an instant, he
was totally unable to extract from the authorities the philosophical reasons on
which they were founded. The case was presented by him to the court
stripped of all interest, except the bare point of the decision.
Here was a decision in his favor, and that was all there was of it.
The reason or the rule laid down in the case seemed of no consequence to him.
The decisions and the facts which they were founded were put fairly before the
court, and such reasoning as followed was from the decision as a point
established and not to sustain the reason and principle of the case.
These difficulties were apparent to those with whom he
practiced law. He was conscious of them himself, but he overcame
every obstacle by work. He supplied the place of qualities he lacked
by work, work, work, till he became the great and learned lawyer that he was.
Judge Holmes, outside of the contentions of the bar, was an amiable and sociable
man, and the extent of his information about the public men of the country was
astonishing.
One fall I went hunting with him for about a week.
In the evenings he used to tell anecdotes about nearly all of the public men of
the country. Of Lincoln, Seward, Marsey and about Kent, Walworth,
and the other judges of the state of New York. Also about Seymour,
Conklin, Tilden, and Charles O'Connor, and he had a marvelous amount of
knowledge about them. His fund of anecdotes seemed inexhaustible.
Besides this he had a great fund of knowledge of the inside or secret history of
decisions of the courts and in regard to public measures. His mind
was stored with this unwritten history more fully than any other man I ever met
with the one exception of General Cass.
To the young man aspiring to eminence at the bar no
better example could be set before him than the achievements of Judge Holmes
which show that careful and continued study will make the good lawyer and
overcome all obstacles and personal deficiencies.
In his manner, when out of the court room and out of
his office, he was simple as a child. He was a man of simple truth.
He had no vein for romance or exaggeration. His conversation was
modest, chaste and delicate, yet highly interesting from the fullness of his
store of information.
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