Manoah Bostic Reese (1839-1917)

From the Creighton Chronicle, May 20, 1913.

"In Judge Reese the republican party presents to the people of Nebraska a candidate who has often been tried and never found wanting; a man who laid down the judicial ermine he had worn for six years as spotless as when he first donned it. Coming unsought, and, in fact, in spite of repeated declinations, the nomination of Judge Reese by a unanimous vote of a representative and harmonious convention is an honor rarely conferred. It is an expression of confidence and esteem that comes to but few men in a lifetime."

  The above character assessment of Nebraska jurist Manoah Bostic Reese by the 1899 Omaha Daily Bee describes a man who, in the years following his removal to Nebraska, rose to become one of the towering figures at the state bar. A state constitutional convention delegate, district attorney, dean of the University of Nebraska College of Law, and associate justice of the state supreme court, Reese attained his highest degree of judicial prominence when he succeeded to the post of Chief Justice of the Nebraska supreme court in 1908, serving until his resignation several years later. A native of Illinois, Manoah Bostic Reese was born in Macoupin County on September 5, 1839, the son of Simon and Mary Ann (Steidley) Reese.
  The formative years of Manoah Reese were spent on a farm in Macoupin County, and his education was obtained in the county schools. He removed with his family to Clark County, Iowa in 1856, where he again resided on a farm. After studying in schools local to that area he attended a seminary in Osceola for two years, and at the dawn of the Civil War enlisted for service in the Union Army. Despite his wanting to serve, an arm injury Reese had sustained in his youth kept him out of action, and he returned home. During this period Reese decided to pursue a career in law. In the early 1860s, he entered the office of James Rice (1820-1907), who would go on to a political career of his own, serving as Clark County judge, and in both houses of the state legislature. 
  After completing his studies Reese was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1865 and soon joined with James Rice in a joint law practice in Osceola. On New Years Day 1862, Manoah B. Reese married in Iowa to Carrie Burrows (1840-1901). The couple was wed for nearly forty years and had four children, including Daisy and Henry Allen Reese (1869-1938).
  In the early 1870s, Reese and his family removed from Iowa to Nebraska, first settling in Plattsmouth. He would practice law there briefly,  and by 1874 was residing and practicing law in Wahoo (located in Saunders County.) Within a short period of establishing roots in that community, Reese had attracted attention, and in early 1875 his name was prominently mentioned for delegate to the Nebraska state constitutional convention that was to occur in May 1875. He would win election to that convention as a delegate from Saunders County and afterward continued his political rise with his successful campaign for District Attorney for Nebraska's 4th district in November 1876. He would win reelection to two further terms in 1878 and 1880 and resigned from office in November 1882.

Portrait from "Nebraskans: 1854-1904".

  After resigning, Reese returned to practicing law but was called to public service once again the following year, when he received the Republican nomination for associate justice of the state supreme court. While prominent and popular amongst Republicans in his region, that opinion was not shared by Democratic newspapers of the time, including the Plattsmouth Journal. In an October 1883 notice concerning the race for the supreme court, Reese was pilloried by the Journal as a "Third Rate Lawyer", and further noted that:

"The nomination of M.B. Reese for Supreme Judge is generally regarded as very weak and an improper one and is almost equivalent to defeat in advance. Reese was a resident of this city some ten years ago and is described as a third or fourth- rate lawyer, and a very poor scholar, as the city which he kept for a short time will show. The Republican delegates from Cass County came home pretty thoroughly disgusted."

  The opinion of the Plattsmouth Journal notwithstanding, Reese would go on to win the election in November and took his seat as an associate justice in January 1884. He would serve one six-year term and was defeated for renomination in 1889, going "down before the powerful onslaughts of the railroad influences" at that year's Republican state convention. Just a few weeks following his defeat, Reese made preparations to remove his law practice to Lincoln, doing so in November 1889. 
  By 1891 Reese had returned to the public eye in a different capacity, that of lecturer at the University of Nebraska's College of Law. He would serve in that position until 1893 when he advanced to the post of Dean, where he remained until 1904. Reese's tenure as dean saw him establish "a regular series of textbook courses, staffed largely by practicing attorneys", and after stepping down in 1904 was presented with a gold cane for his decade of service. 
  In addition to success at the bar and in academia, Reese was a Mason of prominent standing in his state, having served one year (1886-87) as state Grand Master. Reese was active in religious work, and as a long-standing member of the Methodist Church, was selected as a delegate from Nebraska to the Methodist General Conference held in New York City in 1888. More honors were accorded to Reese in 1901, with his being a founding member of the Nebraska Prison Association, a body devoted to bettering the lives of state convicts that had been released from Nebraska state prison. Reese would serve as that group's inaugural president beginning in 1901, and his long affiliation with it saw him receive "scores of letters" from redeemed prisoners testifying to his support.

From the Omaha Daily Bee, October 6, 1907.

  Following an unsuccessful candidacy for supreme court justice in 1899, Reese was induced to make another run for the court in 1907. In that year he was featured in a full front-page article touting his career in the Omaha Daily Bee of October 6th, and also had the backing of former Governor George L. Sheldon, who stated:

"Judge Reese has a spotless record, both public and private. He is a student, a scholar, and a tireless worker. He has always stood for the best interest of the people regardless of the consequences of himself. He has been opposed to machine rule in politics and has fought for years that the government and the people might be brought closer together. He will make a splendid record on the bench."

 That November Reese won the election and served as an associate justice through 1908, and in December of that year was elevated to the position of Chief Justice, following an amendment to the state constitution that enlarged the court's membership to six associate justices, and one chief justice. He would serve until his term expired in 1915, and spent the remainder of his life in Lincoln. The summer of 1917 saw his health begin to fail, and he later died at a Lincoln hospital on September 28th, aged 78. He had been predeceased by his wife Carrie in 1901 and was interred alongside her at the Maple Hill Cemetery in Osceola, Iowa.

Hibbard Houston Shedd (1847-1905)

                                                                        Portrait courtesy of BJS Genealogy.

    A former Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska, Hibbard Houston Shedd first became a prominent office-holder in the Cornhusker State in the mid-1870s when he served as a delegate to that state's Constitutional Convention. He would attain further distinction as Speaker of the Nebraska House of Representatives and in 1885 began the first of two terms as Lieutenant Governor of his state.
   Born and raised in Iowa, Hibbard Houston Shedd's birth occurred in the small town of Denmark on January 27, 1847, being the son of Dr. George and Abigail Shedd.  Young Hibbard would graduate from the Denmark Academy and enlisted for service in the Civil War, joining the Forty-Fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. During his service, Shedd saw action in both Tennessee and Mississippi and at war's end returned home to Iowa. He would continue to reside here until 1870, whereafter he removed to Nebraska, settling in the town of Ashland. 
   Shortly after his resettlement, Shedd began a lengthy connection in the mercantile and religious life of Ashland, becoming a church trustee, organist, and Sunday School teacher. He married on February 18, 1874, to Cincinnati, Ohio native Katherine Leigh Graves (1854-1936) and would become the father to five children: Harry Graves (1875-1932), George Clifford (1877-1937), Ralph Wayne (1879-1882), Mary (died in infancy in 1883) and Edith (1884-1925). Of these children, George Clifford Shedd is the most notable, as he would become a noted writer of fiction, authoring over a dozen works between 1910 and 1937. 
   Hibbard H. Shedd first became active in Nebraska politics in 1875, when he was selected as a delegate to the state constitutional convention being held that year in Lincoln. Shedd's time at the convention was recalled by a Nebraska Historical Proceeding as having made an impact on his later service as a state legislator and Lieutenant Governor, noting that:

"Here he gained the thorough insight into the fabric of our commonwealth, himself helping to build it, and of the principles fundamental in good citizenship."

   Six years after the constitutional convention Hibbard Shedd was elected as one of Saunders County's representatives to the Nebraska General Assembly in November 1880. His term extended from 1881-1883 and in 1882 won re-election to the house, and during the 17th session of the Nebraska Legislature would serve as Speaker of the House. occupying this post from 1883-1885. In the latter year, Shedd took office as Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska, serving first under Republican Governor James Dawes. He would continue serving under Dawes' successor, John Milton Thayer, with his term as Lieutenant Governor concluding in 1889.
   Two years after leaving office Shedd was elected as the president of the Ashland school board, holding his seat until 1903. For the remainder of his life, he continued involvement in different aspects of Ashland public life and was affiliated with local businessman George Scott in the clothing firm of G. Scott and Co. Shedd died at age 58 on October 6, 1905, in Ashland and was survived by his wife Katherine. She would outlive her husband by over thirty years, and following her passing in 1936 was interred alongside Hibbard at the Ashland Cemetery.

                                             Shedd's death notice from the Omaha Daily Bee, October 7, 1905.

Experience Estabrook (1813-1894)

Portrait from the Proceedings of the Grafton and Coos County Bar Association, 1895.

   This uniquely named gentleman is Experience Estabrook, a man who gained notoriety as an attorney and political figure in both the Wisconsin and Nebraska territories. Born in Lebanon, New Hampshire on April 30, 1813, Estabrook was the first of five children born to Seth and Hannah Hebard Estabrook. Sporting one of the most unusual first names in the history of Congress, the origins behind Estabrook's first name have unfortunately been lost to the dustbin of history, and one can only wonder what Seth and Hannah Estabrook had in mind when they were in the process of naming their son!!
   The Estabrook family resided in New Hampshire until 1822 when they moved to the town of Clarence in Erie County, New York. Estabrook attended schools local to the Clarence area and later went on to study at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. After leaving this institution Estabrook enrolled at the Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Law School in 1839. After being admitted to the bar in 1840 he decided to seek his fortune in the American Midwest and removed to Geneva Lake, Wisconsin. Soon after his arrival he established a law practice and briefly returned to New York in the mid-1840s, marrying in Alden in April 1844 to Caroline Augusta Maxwell (1823-1903). The couple would have two children, Cynthia Augusta (born 1845) and Henry Dodge (1854-1917). Henry Dodge Estabrook would follow his father into law, becoming a celebrated attorney and nationally known orator.

   Within a few years of settling in "America's Dairyland," Estabrook entered politics, being elected as District Attorney for Walworth County and later as a delegate to the Wisconsin state constitutional convention of 1847-1848. His time at that convention saw Estabrook chair the committee on Education and School Funds, with the Memorial Record of the Fathers of Wisconsin noting:

"While he made but few speeches, they were uniformly upon the most important subjects pending, and always terse, logical and to the point. Upon the question of suffrage to all alike, without regard to color, he took a position far in advance of his party at that time, and was, indeed, one of the pioneer leaders in breaking from the shackles of mere prejudice, and rising to the real dignity and equality of republican government." 

  Following his service as a delegate, Estabrook's political star continued to rise, being elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly. He would serve in the session of 1851 and in the following year began service as Attorney General of Wisconsin, being only the third man to hold that position since Wisconsin had achieved statehood. Estabrook served two years in that capacity (1852-54).

    In 1854 Estabrook was selected by President Franklin Pierce to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Nebraska Territory, becoming the first man to hold that post. Upon receiving notice of his appointment Estabrook and his family struck off for Nebraska, reaching their destination in early 1855. Estabrook's early residency in Nebraska saw him regarded as "the only member of the bar in the territory" and as such was later honored with the title the "father of the Nebraska bar".  
   Estabrook's tenure as U.S. Attorney extended four years (1855-1859) and in November 1858 added another political feather to his cap, being elected as the Nebraska Territory's delegate-elect to the United States House of Representatives. He took his seat in Congress on March 4, 1859, and served until May 1860, as he would lose his house seat to one Samuel G. Daily (1823-1866), who had successfully contested Estabrook's election to Congress.

                                                            

Portrait from "Omaha Illustrated", 1888.

   After his brief stint on the national political stage, Estabrook returned to Nebraska and, at the request of Governor Alvin Saunders, set about codifying newly developed Nebraska state laws in 1866. Estabrook would lend further legal knowledge to this project by supervising the publication of the work and its index. In 1867 he was appointed as District Attorney for Douglas County (serving until 1869) and two years later was a delegate to the Nebraska State Constitutional Convention. In 1875 Estabrook would again serve as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention being held that year, and in an interesting anecdote, the Proceedings of the Wisconsin Bar Association Vol. III denotes that he "had the unusual distinction to have sat in the Constitutional Conventions of two territories." 
    Acknowledged as an "able, aggressive, and successful lawyer" and a man of "splendid physique", Estabrook spent the remainder of his life in Omaha, where he died on March 26, 1894, a month short of his 81st birthday. His wife Caroline survived her husband by nine years, dying in 1903 at age 80. Both were later interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Omaha.

From the Proceedings of the Wisconsin State Bar Association, Vol. III.