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.

Ephraim Smyser Hugentugler (1869-1949)

Picture courtesy of the "York County Blog".

   Possessing a truly funny name, Ephraim Smyser "Huggy" Hugentugler served as the Mayor of York, Pennsylvania for three terms during the late 1910s and 20s. Descended from German settlers, E.S. Hugentugler was born on May 31, 1869, in Columbia, Pennsylvania, the son of Ephraim and Mary Smyser Hugentugler.
   Early in his life Hugentugler and his family moved to York, Pennsylvania, where he later attended York High School in the mid-1880s. Soon after graduating from this school, Hugentugler began work as a carrier for the local York Dispatch and later became an apprentice printer at this paper. His employment at the Dispatch lasted over twenty years, and in June 1892 Hugentugler married Lancaster, Pennsylvania native Laura Daveler, with whom he had one son, Charles Robert (1895-1973). Sources also note Hugentugler operating "a delicatessen store in the 100-block of George Street."
   In 1901 Hugentugler was appointed as the assistant postmaster of York and later was named as the secretary of the Columbia County Republican committee. In 1915 he mounted a successful campaign for the Mayor of York and officially took office in 1916. A rare campaign button from Hugentugler's campaign has been posted below.

  "Huggy" Hugentugler is remarked as being one of York's most colorful and popular Mayors, and his three terms (1916-1928) prove that he was well respected among the electorate. During his first term as mayor (which coincided with WWI) Hugentugler had to contend with numerous incidents involving anti-German sentiment and used the power of his office to support the war effort. The York County blog (where the top portrait of Hugentugler was found) gives notes that he banned anti-war meetings in the city, prohibited the publishing of anti-war literature, and even went as far as to erect a wooden bust of Kaiser Wilhelm in York's Centre Square that citizens could pound a nail into (at the low price of ten cents a nail!)

  Hugentugler continued to serve as York mayor until 1928 and retired from public life in the mid-1930s. He died in his native York on November 23, 1949, at age 80, with death being attributed to "advanced age and hardening of the arteries." He was interred at the Spring Garden Township Cemetery in York County.

From the York Gazette and Daily, November 25, 1949.

     This Hugentugler obit appeared in the Lebanon, Pennsylvania Daily News shortly after his death.

Benyew Dunham Philhower (1869-1952)

   After yesterday's profile of New Jersey state senator Providence Ludlam,  we journey to Northern New Jersey to profile obscure oddly named Mayor Benyew Dunham Philhower. Mr. Philhower served a short term as Mayor of the borough of Madison, New Jersey, and little else could be found on him other than the following!
  Philhower was born in New Jersey on March 16, 1869, the son of Phillip (1828-1872) and Mary Dunham Philhower (1830-1901). Facts detailing his early years have proven to be difficult to locate, except his marriage to Susan Reeve Techer in 1893. The couple was married for nearly sixty years until her death at age 80 in 1951. Benyew and his wife are known to have had at least one child, Helen May Philhower, who is listed as dying in 1974.
   We fast forward now to January 1914, and it was in this month that Philhower was elected Mayor of Madison, New Jersey. He served a one-year term in this office, concluding on December 31, 1915. Five years after leaving the mayor's office, Philhower became Madison's Fire Chief, serving a short term from 1920-21.
  Other than the preceding information, little else could be found on the life of Benyew D. Philhower. It is known that he died on August 2, 1952, at age 83, and was buried alongside his wife in the Pottersville Reformed Cemetery in Pottersville, Somerset County, New Jersey.

YOU CAN HELP!

   I am currently in the process of trying to locate more facts on the life of Benyew D. Philhower, and need your assistance! As there is next to nothing online about this interestingly named man, maybe someone out there knows more than what's already stated in this article. If any reader/lurker/amateur historian wants an interesting project to fill their time with, see what you can locate on this obscure politician!