Medor Ewing Louisell (1869-1938), Meader Bly Pinkham (1837-1914)

Portrait from the Manual of the Constitutional Convention of Michigan, 1907.

  Benzie County, Michigan attorney Medor Ewing Louisell had fleeting involvement in Bay State politics with his service as a delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention of 1907-08. Born of French descent, Louisell possesses a rare first name, the first such instance of which I've found. Born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on May 5, 1869, Medor Ewing Louisell was the son of Joseph and Julia (Balthazar) Louisell. During childhood, Louisell removed with his family to the Dakota territory, and, after several years of residence in that area resettled in Manistee County, Michigan.

  Louisell would obtain his early education in the common schools during the winter months and during the summer months took employment in a local shingle mill. Resolving to better himself, he enrolled at the University of Notre Dame for a three year period and, while working for tuition and board, finished out his studies in 1891 when he graduated from the Manistee High School. Deciding to pursue a career in law, Louisell attended the University of Michigan from 1891-95 and during this period dabbled in journalism for a time, even serving as city editor for the newspaper that evolved into the Manistee Daily News.

  Following his graduation from the university's law and literary departments in 1896, Louisell was offered a teaching position (as a French language tutor) at his alma mater but declined, wanting to focus on law. By 1903 Louisell had established a practice in Calumet, Michigan, and married that year to Calumet native Mary J. Tallon (1875-1957) and later had seven children: Catherine Medora (1904-1991), Paul Jerome (1907-1986), John Henry (1909-1953), James Michael (1909-1975), Wilfred Francis (died in infancy in 1913), David William (1913-1977), and Charles Tallon (1917-1994). 

  During his residency in Calumet, Louisell was named an assistant prosecuting attorney for Houghton County, and after removing to Benzie County, won election as its prosecuting attorney, holding that post from at least 1905-06. In 1906 he was elected as the 27th district's delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention that was to be held in Lansing in 1907-08, and during the proceedings was named to the following committees: Arrangement and Phraseology, Education, and Liquor Traffic.

  Shortly after his service at the constitutional convention Medor Louisell removed with his family to Duluth, Minnesota, where he continued to practice law. In 1915 he returned to politics when he announced his candidacy for judge of the municipal court of Duluth, but was defeated. In the next year, Louisell was elected vice president of the French Naturalization Club of Duluth and continued residence in that city until his death at age 69 on August 5, 1938. He was survived by his wife and children and was interred at Duluth's Calvary Cemetery.

From the Duluth Labor World, April 3, 1915.

From the 1893 Maine legislative composite portrait.

  A one-term member of the Maine House of Representatives from Lincoln, Meader Bly Pinkham held the additional post of selectman for that city, and also operated a general store. Born in Lincoln on October 9, 1837, Meader Bly Pinkham was the son of James and Mollie (Bly) Pinkham. A student in schools local to the area of his birth, he entered into the mercantile trade at age 21, operating a general store in Lincoln for many years.

  In June 1857 Pinkham married in Lincoln to Lucy A. Brock (1838-1873), to who he was wed until her death. The couple's brief union produced two daughters, Cora (1859-1948) and Etta Eliza (1867-1963). Pinkham entered local politics with election to the Lincoln board of selectmen and was later appointed as U.S. Postmaster at Lincoln, where he served for nine years. In 1892 he was elected to the Maine House of Representatives, and during the 1893-95 session was a member of the committee on State Lands and State Roads.

  Prior to removing to Bangor from Lincoln, Pinkham served as a trustee for the Mattanawcook Acadamy in Lincoln, serving as board secretary. In his final years, he resided with his daughter in Bangor, where he died on May 3, 1914, aged 77. He was survived by his daughters and was interred alongside his wife at the West Broadway Cemetery in Lincoln.

From the Bangor Daily News, May 4, 1914.

Lotie Irenus Minard (1837-1913)

Portrait from the History of the City of Nashua, New Hampshire, 1897.

   Snappily dressed and sporting a fine example of a 19th-century mustache, three-term New Hampshire state legislator Lotie Irenus Minard was a lifelong resident of Nashua, being born in that city on April 7, 1857, the son of Charles F. and Sarah (Gay) Minard. He would attend the public schools of Nashua and the Crosby Academy and as a young man went into railroad work, which he would follow for four years.

  In the late 1870s Minard entered into the shoe-making trade, and after several years of private work joined the manufacturing firm of Moody, Estabrook, and Anderson in Nashua. Minard would be employed there for seven years and in the mid-1890s was involved in the concrete business in his native city. On October 1, 1884, Lotie Minard married in Nashua to Josephine Hebert (1858-1934), to whom he was wed for nearly thirty years. The couple would remain childless.

  Remarked as having a keen interest in the political life of Nashua, Lotie I. Minard's first run at public office came in 1884 when he was elected to represent Ward 6 on Nashua's Common Council. In 1885 and 1886 he sat on the Nashua Board of Aldermen and in 1890 was elected to his first term in the state legislature, serving in the session of 1891-92. Minard would be returned to the legislature in November 1896, garnering 316 votes on election day. During the 1897-99 session, he would serve on the committee on the Revision of Statutes and won his third term in the house in November 1898.

From the Souvenir of New Hampshire Legislators, 1897.

   After his third term in 1901, Minard returned to his business interests in Nashua, serving as the treasurer of the Nashua Concrete Co. He returned to political life in 1908 when he began service as a Hillsborough County Commissioner, serving in that post for an indeterminate length of time. Minard died in Nashua on February 24, 1913, at age 63. He was survived by his wife Josephine, who, following her death in 1934, was interred alongside her husband at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Nashua.

Ibzan William Middlebrook (1837-1899)

                                          From the Personnel of the Texas State Government, 1889 edition.

   The Lonestar State yields another oddly named political figure in one Ibzan William Middlebrook, a resident of Colorado County who served as a state representative in the Texas Legislature during that body's 21st legislative session. While his first name "Ibzan" is truly unusual, it has its origins in the Bible, being the name of one of the Judges of Israel featured in the Book of Judges. Why Middlebrook was bestowed this odd name has been lost to history, and his name also has a variation in spelling, being listed on his gravestone as "Ibsam William Middlebrooks", presumably a spelling error on the part of the gravestone carver.
    Born in the county of Chickasaw in Mississippi on November 28, 1837, Ibzan W. Middlebrook was the first born child of nine born to  James Bird Middlebrook and his wife Mariah Bray (1815-1874). He received his schooling in the "private schools of that state" and later relocated to Texas with his family. The Personnel of the Texas State Government reports that Middlebrook worked at farming during the 1850s and is also recorded as being the manager of the estate of a "Mrs. Hardeman" in Bastrop County.
    Shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War Ibzan Middlebrook enlisted for service amongst the ranks of the Confederacy, becoming an orderly sergeant. The Personnel of Texas notes that Middlebrook saw action at the Battles of Elkhorn, Corinth, Mississippi, and Iuka, and in the closing months of the war was taken prisoner, spending the remainder of the hostilities at Fort Delaware. After being released at the conclusion of the war, Middlebrook returned to Texas and later removed from Lavaca County to Colorado County, where he engaged in lumber manufacturing for many years, subsequently amassing a substantial fortune through "lumber yards in different localities."
   On January 3, 1869, Ibzan Middlebrook married in Columbus, Texas to Hattie Cunningham, who eventually gave birth to five children: Earl Sloan (1869-1914), Ibbie (1871-1945), John Moore (1873-1938), Ray (1875-1950) and Percy Cunningham Middlebrook (1879-1963). 
  In the mid-1870s Middlebrook made his first move into politics, winning election to the Texas State House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1876. Representing the counties of Colorado and Lavaca, Middlebrook was returned to the legislature in 1888 and during his second term chaired the house committee on Claims and Accounts, while also holding a seat on the committees on Internal Improvements, Mining and Minerals, Penitentiaries, Public Buildings and Grounds, Roads, Ferries and Bridges, and State Institutions of Learning. In his last full year of legislative service (1890), Middlebrook was named as a member of the Texas State Penitentiary Board, also serving as an inspector of convict camps for a five-year term.

                                                    From the Legislative Reference Library of Texas website.

    After leaving the legislature Middlebrook returned to his business dealings and in 1891 he and his brother Oscar joined in a partnership to purchase several thousands of acres of land which was eventually harvested for its timber, this acreage eventually saw the erection of a sawmill and a cattle ranch. Middlebrook also continued activity in politics, being elected as the Mayor of Columbus, Texas, serving in office until his death on July 5, 1899, at age 61. He was later interred at the Columbus, Texas Odd Fellows Rest Cemetery and was survived by his wife Hattie, who followed her husband to the grave in January 1917 at age 69.

Rheuna Drake Lawrence (1837-1901)

From the Encyclopedia of Biography of Illinois, Volume III.

  Hailing from the Illinois capital city of Springfield, the curiously named Rheuna Drake Lawrence served as mayor of that city for one term in the 1890s and had earlier distinguished himself in several endeavors in the "Land of Lincoln", including time spent as a mine manager and as city superintendent of public works.
   A native of the Buckeye State, Rheuna Drake Lawrence was born near Cedarville, Ohio on January 18, 1837, the son of Lewis W. and Sarah Minerva Lawrence. He had limited educational advantages as a youth, and while in his teens took work as a carpenter. Lawrence and a fellow carpenter would leave Ohio at an early age, hoping to make their way to Chicago. Along the way, Drake found employment as a bricklayer in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Drake would settle in Springfield in 1856, and after taking up residence, established himself as a building contractor in the still-young city. In the succeeding years, he aided in the design and construction of the Springfield Universalist Church, as well as masonry work on the Jacksonville Insane Asylum. Following his death in 1901, Lawrence's building prowess was described in a memorial notice to him in a Springfield Board of Education annual report, which noted:

"Many public and private structures were erected by him in Springfield and in other cities in Central Illinois. Blessed with robust health in early manhood, he was able to accomplish much. Endowed with great common sense, he quickly perceived and availed himself of the opportunities that existed for the investment of his earnings and profits, and at the time of his death he possessed a great deal of real estate on which he had erected buildings which adorn and beautify our city."

  In January 1859 Rheuna Lawrence married in Springfield to Mary Agnes Maxcy (1841-1905), to whom he was wed until his death. Two daughters were born to the couple, Salome Agnes Lawrence (who died in infancy in 1862), and Susan Lawrence Dana (1862-1946). Susana Lawrence would gain notoriety after she inherited her father's fortune, and with this wealth hired famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright to redesign and remodel the existing Italianate Rheuna Lawrence home, which took two years to complete. The finished work was later to be known as the Dana-Thomas House. This home, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976, still exists as a tourable location and contains the "largest collection of site-specific original Wright glass and furniture."
  During the late 1860s, Lawrence began dabbling in railroad contracting, helping to design and construct a railway from Springfield to Gilman, Illinois. and later began a lasting interest in the coal mining industry. In 1872 he and several partners established a coal mining town in Barclay, Illinois, with Lawrence subsequently holding the presidency of the Barclay Mining Company for several years. In 1876 he was named by then Illinois Governor John Lourie Beveridge as a member of the commission that would eventually locate and design the Illinois State Penitentiary. He served on this commission until August of 1878 when he resigned, and within a few years was appointed to the office of Springfield Superintendent of Public Works.

                   Rheuna D. Lawrence,  courtesy of the 1996 book Frank Lloyd Wright's Dana House.
  
   Throughout the 1880s, Lawrence's public profile in Sangamon County continued on the rise, and during this period he served as President of the Springfield Board of Trade. Ten years later the citizens of Springfield elected Lawrence as its Mayor for a one-year term. During his tenure, "his administration accomplished many reforms and much was done in the way of municipal improvements." Shortly after the conclusion of his term in 1892, he was appointed as a member of the Springfield Public School Board. He served on this board for almost nine years (including six as its president) and was later appointed president of the State Board of Public Charities by Governor John Riley Tanner. This period saw Lawrence hold the additional role of president of the State Bank of Springfield, serving from 1894 until his death.
   After a "long and painful illness", Rheuna Drake Lawrence died at his Springfield home on February 17, 1901. Lawrence was interred at the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, and it can certainly be said that he is buried among good company! This massive cemetery is the final resting place of numerous Illinois public figures, including Governor Ninian Edwards (1775-1833), Illinois Governor and Senator Shelby Moore Cullom (1829-1914), and last but not least, Abraham Lincoln and his family.

From the Indianapolis Journal, February 18, 1901.