Severyn Bruyn Sharpe (1857-1929)

 

From the 1915 Manual of the New York Constitutional Convention.

  A leading lawmaker in Ulster County, New York in the late 19th and early 20th century, Severyn Bruyn Sharp served briefly as Ulster County judge and in 1914 was elected as a delegate to the New York state constitutional convention. The son of George Henry and Caroline (Hasbrouck) Sharp, Severyn Bruyn Sharp was born on New Year's Day 1857 in Kingston. A distinguished figure in his own right, George Henry Sharp (1828-1900) was a Civil War Brigadier General, a former state assemblyman and Speaker of the House from Ulster County,  a U.S. Marshal, Surveyor of Customs of the Port of New York from 1873-78, and from 1884-85 was a U.S. Commissioner to the South American Republic.

  Being the son of a prominent New York family, Sharpe had the benefit of an excellent education, studying at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He would enroll at Yale University in the late 1870s, and graduated in 1879. Deciding to pursue a law degree, Sharpe enrolled at the Columbia University Law School and was admitted to practice in 1881. He soon returned to Kingston to join his father's law practice, and in 1883 joined the New York City law firm of Alexander and Green. He practiced there several years and later removed back to his hometown of Kingston, where he established his law practice. In addition to private practice, Sharpe served as the attorney for the Ulster County Savings Institution for an indeterminate period.

  Sharpe married in  February 1897 to fellow Kingston native Frances Payntar (1868-1949), to who he was wed until his death. The couple had one daughter, Katherine (born 1901). A former chairman of the Ulster County Republican Committee for three years, Sharpe was selected by Governor Frank S. Black to succeed Alphonso T. Clearwater as Ulster County judge in January 1898. This appointment, occasioned by Clearwater's appointment to the state supreme court, saw Sharpe serve briefly on the bench, and in November 1898 was defeated for reelection by John G. Van Etten, the latter's six-year term beginning in January 1899.

  Returning to his law practice in Kingston, Sharpe resided there until 1904, when he removed his practice back to New York City, where he specialized in "the legal interests of banking and railroad corporations." In 1914 he was elected from the 27th senatorial district as a delegate to the 1915 state constitutional convention, and during the proceedings sat on the committees on Contingent Expenses and Counties, Towns, and Villages.

From the History of the Class of '79, 1906.

  Following his convention service, Sharpe continued with his law practice in New York City, where he died on November 24, 1929, aged 72. He was survived by his wife Frances and was returned to Ulster County for burial at the Wiltwyck Cemetery in Kingston.

Bickerton Lyle Winston (1857-1904)

Portrait from the Richmond Post-Dispatch, December 13, 1904.

   Following up on July 16th's profile of Virginia state delegate Moncure Woodson Camper, we continue our stay in Virginia to examine the life of a man named Bickerton--an odd first name to be sure! A standout figure in the county of Hanover, Bickerton Lyle Winston was for many years active in the fields of both medicine and politics, being a three-term member of the State House of Delegates as well as serving on the State Board of Medical Examiners. 

  Born into a prominent Hanover County family, Bickerton Lyle Winston was born on February 8, 1857, one of several children born to William Overton and Sarah Ann (Gregory) Winston. He began his schooling in the public schools of Hanover and later attended the Randolph-Macon College in Ashland. Deciding upon a career in the medical field, Winston enrolled in medical school at the University of New York City and received his degree in the class of 1884.

   In the late 1870s, Bickerton L. Winston married Fanny Byrd Tunstall (1850-1936). The couple would have seven children born to their union, including Bickerton Lyle Jr. (1880-1966), Frances Byrd (1891-1989), and Josephine Allen (1893-1982). 

  After receiving his medical license Winston returned to Hanover Court House, Virginia to begin his practice, residing there until his death two decades later. Winston would also engage in farming in addition to practicing medicine, serving as president of the Virginia State Farmer's Alliance in the early 1890s.  

   During his years as a practicing physician Bickerton L. Winston was especially devoted to the affairs of the deaf, and for several years served as a member of the Board of Visitors for the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind, located in Staunton. Winston's eldest son, Bickerton Lyle Jr. (1880-1966) suffered from deafness and beginning in 1897 was enrolled as a student at the aforementioned school. Winston's tenure on the board of the Staunton school received prominent mention in his memorial notice published in the New York Deaf and Mutes Journal a few days after his passing. In it, Winston is remarked as having:

"Served with ability, and his services were always along lines practical, helpful and far reaching into the good all the while. He was unselfish, conscientious, nurturing and devoted to the deaf--largely because of having a deaf boy, perhaps. To him much credit is due for the condition of the school to-day, for he never lost any interest in it or in the class."

From the 1898-99 Virginia House of Delegates composite photograph.

   In 1892 Bickerton Lyle Winston entered the political life of his state for the first time, serving as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention that nominated Grover Cleveland for the presidency. Two years later Winston was elected to fill a vacancy in the House of Delegates that had been occasioned by the resignation of Richard H. Cardwell, who had recently been elected to the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Winston served out the remainder of Cardwell's term and in 1895 was elected to a term of his own in the legislature. He would win a second full term in 1897 and wasn't a candidate for renomination in 1899. 

   Winston's six years in the legislature saw him sit on the committees on Prisons and Asylums, General Laws, Agriculture, and Mining, as well as taking a special interest "in all matters relating to humane institutions of the state." Winston was also responsible for introducing a bill that advocated "separate institutions" for the blind and deaf, as well as requesting that a school for the blind be established in Ashland, Virginia. Despite "being reported favorably to the committee of the house to which it was referred", the bill wouldn't pass. 

  Following his time in the legislature Winston continued in the practice of medicine and for three years (1901-1904) served as a member of the State Board of Medical Examiners. In the last several months of his life, Winston suffered through a "protracted illness" that would eventually lead to his death on December 11, 1904. Just 47 years old at the time of his death, Winston was survived by his wife and children and was later interred at the Blenheim Winston Cemetery in Hanover.

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Dec. 14, 1904.

Oswin Hart Doolittle Fowler (1857-1939)

From the "Souvenir History of Wallingford, Connecticut:, 1895.

   Recorded by the "Souvenir History of Wallingford, Connecticut" as being one of the youngest practicing lawyers in that city's history, Oswin Hart Doolittle Fowler would go on to further distinction in the mid-1900s when he was elected to serve as judge of the Borough Court of Wallingford, holding that office for several years. Although his reputation was largely confined to New Haven County, Connecticut, it was his service as a judge (as well as his unique name) that earns him a place here. 

    Born in North Haven, Connecticut on January 17, 1857, O.H.D. Fowler (as most sources list him) was the son of Henry Baldwin and Lucy Eloise Doolittle Fowler. A family with its roots in Connecticut extending back to the mid-17th century, the Fowler family could count among its relations one Sir Richard Fowler de Foxley, a crusader Knight who accompanied Richard Coeur de Lion (the future Richard I of England) into battle in the Holy Lands. O.H.D. Fowler's unusual name can be traced back to his maternal uncle Oswin Hart Doolittle (1818-1851), a resident of New Haven County who represented that area in the Connecticut state legislature for three terms in the late 1840s before dying of "lung fever" at the age of 32.

   A student in the local schools of Wallingford, O.H.D. Fowler would attend high school in New Haven and later studied at the Hopkins Grammar School, completing his studies there in 1875. Shortly thereafter he entered Yale University and during the 1878-79  year also taught school in Wallingford. In 1879 he began to study law at the Yale Law School and graduated in the class of 1881. He was shortly thereafter admitted to the state bar of Connecticut and removed to Wallingford in September 1881 to open a law practice. Three years following his removal he married Carrie B. Parmelee (1860-1938) and later had three daughters, Mabel E. (birth-date unknown),  Ethel (1888-1953), and Helen (birth-date unknown).

  Over the course of the next twenty years, Fowler's law practice continued to grow "steadily in  volume and importance" and he would gain a reputation as being "numbered among the ablest representatives of the bar in this section of the state." In 1888 he purchased a palatial home in Wallingford (shown below) and through various renovations built it into one of the city's most "attractive residences".  

                              The Fowler home in Wallingford, from the "Souvenir History of Wallingford."

   Fowler experienced his first taste of political life when he served a two-year term as judge of probate for the Wallingford district, holding that post from 1893-95. Several years later he would win election as Prosecuting Attorney for Wallingford's borough court and occupied that post for the remainder of the decade. During his term, Fowler was a prominent booster for the establishment of a municipal electric light plant in the city and took on the task of authorizing and compiling the resolutions necessary for its construction. 

   In April 1911 Fowler's public profile continued to rise when he was named as Judge of the Borough Court of Wallingford. He would be reappointed to the bench in 1917 and would also serve Wallingford as town counsel, counsel for the town's First National Bank, and counsel for several businesses in Wallingford. Fowler also maintained affiliation with the St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the New Haven County Bar Association and the Wallingford Club. The Yale Obituary record of 1938-39 also notes that Fowler served in the Connecticut state legislature. Despite this brief mention, I could find no other source that records his service in that body or however long he may have served. 

   Fowler left the office of borough court judge in 1925 but continued to serve as town counsel until 1931. In 1920 he served on the celebration executive committee for Wallingford's tercentenary and pulled double duty as chairman of the reception's committee. Widowed in February 1938, Judge Fowler died just over a year later on March 3, 1939, at age 81, his cause of death being attributed to "arteriosclerosis". He was later interred alongside his wife Carrie at the In Memoriam Cemetery in Wallingford.

O.H.D. Fowler at the 250th anniversary of the founding of Wallingford, 1920.

Theorus Rickenbaugh Stoner (1857-1942)

    A Pennsylvanian by birth, Theorus Rickenbaugh Stoner later migrated to South Dakota, where he gained distinction as a business leader and served terms in both houses of the state legislature. Stoner was for many years a prominent Mason in South Dakota and was a past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of that state. While two pictures of him have been located (as have other pertinent pieces of information) his first name varies in spelling and is recorded as being spelled as "Therous T. Stoner" in a 1921 edition of the South Dakota Legislative Manual. While this is a spelling mistake, a Masonic Report proceeding from 1923 lists his full name as "Theorus Rickenbaugh Stoner".

  Born in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania on October 28, 1857, Stoner's schooling took place in Mifflintown schools and in 1888 removed from Pennsylvania to South Dakota, settling in the town of Lead in Lawrence County. Theorus also married at an unknown date to Ms. Sallie Marie Perkins (1875-1954) and had at least one daughter, Frances, in October 1903. He was for many years identified in the mercantile business in Lead and in 1914 was elected as a Republican to the South Dakota State House of Representatives, representing the counties of Butte and Lawrence. He served one term in the house (1915-1917) and was later elected to three terms in the state senate, serving from 1917-1923. 

   In addition to his service in the legislature, Stoner was prominent in South Dakota Masonic circles for many decades, being anointed as a High Priest in the Golden Belt Masonic chapter in Deadwood in 1903. He served as the Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge in Lead and in 1922 held the post of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of South Dakota. Little is known about the remainder of Stoner's life, except that he died at age 84 on July 3, 1942, in Leeds, South Dakota. He was later interred at the West Lead Cemetery in his native city of Lead. The portrait of Stoner shown above was featured in the 1921 edition of the South Dakota Legislative Manual, Volume 17.

From the 1915-16 South Dakota State Legislative Manual.