Kenelm Lawrence Shirk Sr. (1894-1956)

From the Lancaster New Era, June 13, 1942.

  At the same time as Menno Brubaker Rohrer's service as Burgess of Lititz in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, another curiously named man was serving as that county's District Attorney. That man was Kenelm Lawrence Shirk, a World War I veteran who had previously served as U.S. district court commissioner and as assistant district attorney. Shirk's time as district attorney was cut short due to his resignation to enlist in the U.S. Army, where he attained the rank of lieutenant colonel. Following his return from service, Shirk served nearly a decade on the Lancaster city council, being appointed in 1946. The son of Martin and Anna (Landes) Shirk, Kenelm Lawrence Shirk Sr. was born in Lancaster County on August 11, 1894.

  Shirk spent a portion of his early life in Richmond, Virginia with his family, and his early education was obtained in schools local to Lancaster County. Following graduation from the Ephrata High School in 1912, he enrolled at Washington and Lee University in Virginia and graduated with his law degree in the class of 1915. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar the following year and put his career on hold to enlist for service in WWI. By December 1917 he was stationed at Camp Meade in Maryland and was commissioned a lieutenant. Assigned to the 314th Infantry of the 79th Division, Shirk served through the duration of the war and returned to Pennsylvania in May 1919. Following his return, Shirk was commended for his bravery by the Philadelphia Inquirer, titling him the "Damndest Daredevil Yet." In a writeup on his actions, the Inquirer further related that:

"There is another regimental hero who has no decorations at all. He doesn't even have a wound stripe to show for his bravery. His name is Lieutenant Kenelm Shirk, and he resides just outside of Philadelphia. Shirk, he did not. Anytime there was a hazardous job Shirk did it. Where the bullets and shells were thickest Shirk was. Every risk he took. Men were killed all around him, but his was a charmed life, and because nothing happend to him his specialty was walking around with a couple of hand grenades in his pocket, ready for any action."

Kenelm Shirk during WWI, from the Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 1919.

  After returning to Lancaster County Shirk was cited for "gallantry in action and meritorious service" in June 1919 for his actions on the evening of November 8, 1918, when he "made repeated trips to keep contact between companies under heavy artillery fire, which necessitated great personal danger." He recommenced with the practice of law in Lancaster, and in the early 1920s was a member of the law firm headed by John A. Coyle.  In February 1922 Shirk married Beatrice Marie Wertz and had two children, Kenelm Lawrence Jr. (1922-2006) and Joan Shirk Janeski (1925-2010). The couple later separated, and Shirk remarried in June 1937 to Alice Margaret Cawood (1895-1991), who survived him upon his death in 1956.

  In the 1920s Shirk was selected as a U.S. district court commissioner for Lancaster County, and in 1930 was elected as the exalted ruler of the Lancaster Lodge No. 134, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In October of that year, he was elected president of the Young Republicans Club of Lancaster and held that office until at least 1933. He continued his rise in public life in December 1931 when he was appointed assistant district attorney of Lancaster County.

From the Lancaster New Era, October 10, 1930.

  Shirk's time as assistant district attorney extended eight years, and in July 1939 announced his candidacy for district attorney of Lancaster County. That November he trounced his Democratic opponent, A.E. McCullough Jr., by a vote of 34,360 to 13,681, and took office in January 1940. Several months into his term Shirk made headlines by ordering the arrest of seven Communist Party candidates in Lancaster County for "conspiracy and perjury under the election laws", arising from falsified signatures and duplications. Two of those men, J. Granville Eddy and Reuben Carr, were candidates for state office that year and had circulated petitions which had garnered over 1,200 signatures. Following a two-month investigation, a number of those signatures proved to have been obtained under false pretenses, with dozens being recorded as either duplications or forgeries. Interviewed by the Lancaster New Era in August 1940, Shirk remarked that:

"I think its one of the rottenest things I've ever seen...The further into it you go, the more you find the Communist circulators had no regard whatsoever for the Commonwealth's election laws. One person whose name was on a petition told us that the circulator said 'We've got to get to 2,700 names somehow.' Apparently that's what they did. They didn't care how they got them."

 In addition to the police investigation and Shirk's comments on the arrests, "similar investigations" were announced in other Pennsylvania counties where the Communist Party obtained signatures in 1940. Shirk resigned as district attorney in May 1943 to join in the war effort and reentered the U.S. Army as a major. Early in his service he was stationed at the Army School of Military Government at Harvard University and was later transferred overseas. His full period of enlistment extended 29 months and saw him stationed in North Africa, Sardinia, and Italy, and was a provincial commissioner in the latter two areas. These positions saw him responsible for organizing "local Italian governments and directed operations in hospitals and orphanages." He also was named a trial judge advocate for the Fourth Army Corps near Trieste, Italy. Upon his return stateside in February 1946, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel at Indian Gap, Pennsylvania.

   Just months after his return to Lancaster Shirk reentered city politics when he was appointed to a vacancy on the city council, being assigned to the Department of Public Safety. He won a full term of his own in November 1947 and began his third term in November 1951. He retired from the council in early 1955 as director of accounts and finance, and for the remainder of his life practiced law in Lancaster with his son Kenelm Jr. In addition to his time on the city council, Shirk was a member of the State Tuberculosis Society Board, the Lancaster Post 34 of the American Legion, the Reserve Officer's Association, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Kiwanis Club, among other organizations.

  After decades of prominence in Lancaster, Kenelm Lawrence Shirk Sr. died at the Lancaster General Hospital on May 18, 1956, succumbing to the effects of a stroke he'd suffered a week previously. He was survived by his wife and two children and was interred at the Keller Cemetery in Springville, Pennsylvania. Public service continued in his family with his son Kenelm Jr., also a veteran of WWII. A past president of the Lancaster Bar Association, Shirk served as chairman of the Young Republicans of Pennsylvania on two separate occasions and from 1964-71 served as chairman of the Lancaster County Republican Committee.

From the Lancaster Daily News, May 18, 1956.

Alpha Omega Hill (1894-1952)

From the Adams County News, August 5, 1952.

  Aurora, Colorado has lucked into electing two oddly named mayors in its century-plus history, and following the write up on Allington Horatio Kramer (mayor from 1908-10), the life of Alpha Omega Hill is examined. A World War I veteran and mayor of that city, Hill and his space-age sounding name would gain further political prominence when he was elected to the first of three terms in the Colorado legislature in 1944. A native son of Effingham, Florence County, South Carolina, Alpha Omega "A.O." Hill was born in that town on October 25, 1894, the son of David S. and Minnie Hill.

  A student in the public schools of Florence County, Hill later went on to attend the University of Georgia at Athens. He signed on for service during WWI and after enlisting in the Army served overseas with the 116th Engineer Corps. Hill was part of the Allied forces that finally broke the Hindenburg Line in France in September 1918, and during this action was grievously wounded, injuries that proved so severe that he would be hospitalized for several years afterward.

  After being returned stateside for recuperation, Hill contracted tuberculosis, necessitating hospitalization at Fort Bayard, New Mexico. While recuperating in that state he made the acquaintance of former navy Yeomanette Kathryn J. Fox (1896-1980), who he would marry in neighboring Silver City in June 1921. The couple were wed until Hill's death in 1952 and would remain childless. In 1923 the couple removed to Colorado, where Alpha Hill underwent further recuperation at the Fitzsimons General Hospital near Denver, and in 1926 was finally discharged.

  In the weeks following his release from the hospital Alpha O. Hill decided to pursue a career in public service, and after removing to the city of Aurora, ran for and was elected as a justice of the peace. In the 1930s Hill entered into the post of police magistrate for Aurora, serving on the bench for an indeterminate period. Hill's residence in Aurora also saw him active in the Masonic order and local veteran's groups, being a past master of the Aurora Masonic Lodge No. 156 and a member of the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

From the Colorado Yearbook, 1945.

  Hill continued his political ascent in the early 1940s with his election to the Aurora city council, and from 1942-43 was chairman of the Arapahoe County Draft Board. In January 1943 Aurora mayor J.E. McWhorter resigned due to health concerns and Alpha O. Hill was selected to fill out the remainder of McWhorter's term by members of the city council. He would be elected to a term of his own as mayor that April, and despite serving just one term in office (1943-45), pushed through a bevy of civic improvements for his city. His term saw Aurora's first zoning and building ordinance established, a new sewer district developed, and an improved water main system built. Hill's foresight in regards to city planning and zoning was later lauded by the Aurora Democrat in 1950, which noted his developing a planning commission comprising city council members and builders, and after numerous meetings devised a plan to do away with the area's tax-delinquent land. After the completion of a parkway and a channel to carry away flood water, this former "worthless" land became home to "a large theatre, one large grocery and other stores, large apartment houses and perhaps 150 homes."

   A candidate for reelection in early 1945, the mayoral contest proved to be a heated one between Hill and his opponent, B.T. Howard. Though he was defeated in April 1945, Hill continued a steady workload right up until his last day in office, and one week after turning over the mayoral chair to Howard received praise in the Adams County News, who noted:

"The fact remains that Mr. Hill made one of the best mayors Aurora ever had--and considering the whole picture, Aurora made wonderful progress under his administration. Fortunately for our city we still have his advice and best efforts towards making Aurora a better place to live and prosper."

 While he may have lost in his reelection bid for mayor, Hill was not through politically, as he had won election to the Colorado House of Representatives from Arapahoe County in November 1944. Hill's first term saw him chair the committee on Municipal Affairs and also sat on the committees on Enrollment; House Expenses; Indian and Military Affairs; Mercantile and Manufacturing Interests; and Public Buildings. 
  In November 1946 Hill won a second term in the legislature, and during the 1947-49 session again chaired the committee on Municipal Affairs. He was elected to a third term in November 1948, and in his final term was a member of the committees on Constitutional Amendments; House Expenses; Municipal Affairs; and State Institutions. In his last year in office Hill took part in a gathering of former Aurora mayors who were guests of honor at a city official swearing-in ceremony. He was photographed at this gathering with former mayor Allington Horatio Kramer, profiled here on January 22.

Former mayors Alpha Omega Hill and Allington H. Kramer, January 1950.

  For the final three years of his life A.O. Hill battled cancer, and during that period underwent six operations in the hope of being cured of that illness. Hill died of cancer at the Veteran's Hospital in Denver on July 28, 1952, aged 58. Memorialized as a "valiant warrior" and "gallant soul", Hill was survived by his wife Kathryn, who. following her death at age 84 in 1980 was interred alongside him at the Fairmount Cemetery in Denver.

Lawritz Bernhard Sandblast (1888-1978)

From the 1944 Oregon Voters Pamphlet.

  Possessing a name that is guaranteed to give you a case of the chuckles, Lawritz Bernhard Sandblast was for over fifty years a practicing attorney in Oregon, and in addition to his profession was a candidate for several political offices at the state and national level, being an unsuccessful aspirant for U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative from Oregon; a candidate for Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court; and a candidate for delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1928, 1944 and 1960. Only once would Sandblast win elective office, that of delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1932. Born and raised in Howard, South Dakota, Lawritz Bernhard "Sandy" Sandblast was born on April 19, 1888, the son of Halvor and Bertha Sandblast.

  Referred to by most sources by the initials "L.B.", Sandblast removed to Oregon in 1900 and was later a student at the McMinnville College. Early in his life Sandblast followed the printing trade, work that would take him to Washington, D.C., where for several years he worked in the service of the government. In 1910 Sandblast is recorded as a "laborer" in the office of the Postmaster-General, and married in Baltimore, Maryland in 1913 to Norfolk, Virginia native Clara Mae Patterson. 

  After deciding upon a career in law, Sandblast enrolled at the National University School of Law in Washington, D.C., where he earned his degree. Following his return to Oregon he was admitted to the state bar in 1916 and during the First World War saw action in France as a member of a heavy artillery unit. At the conclusion of his military service, Sandblast opened his law practice in Portland and subsequently held memberships in the local Masonic order, the Elks Club, and the American Legion.

   In May 1926 Sandblast entered politics for the first time, announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator from Oregon. In that year's primary race he was one of several candidates vying for the nod, and ran on a campaign slogan of "Wine and Beer under Government Control No Saloons". Sandblast advocated modification of the 1918 Volstead Act, and, amongst other tenets of his platform, noted that:

"The results of prohibition have been: 1. The increase of the use of spiritous liquors. 2. The increase of use of intoxicants by the young. 3. The creation of hundreds of thousands of illicit distilleries, that produce poisonous products the blinded and killed thousands. 4. The spread of the knowledge of making intoxicants that is increasing each day, and which, if not arrested by moderate laws on the question, will soon become impossible to control."

From the Portland Advocate, April 24, 1926.

  Despite polling nearly 15,000 votes, Sandblast would lose the Republican primary to Frederick Steiwer (1883-1939), who would go on to win the general election that November and served in the Senate until his retirement in 1938. Not one to let a loss get the best of him, Sandblast entered into the race for delegate-at-large to the Republican National Convention of 1928, and during his candidacy again pressed for changes in then existing liquor laws. While he lost that contest in May 1928, Sandblast still polled a respectable 42, 870 votes.

  With two unsuccessful candidacies behind him, Sandblast announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon's 3rd district in 1930. Again running on a modify the 18th amendment platform, Sandblast further detailed that government control of liquor traffic would be an excellent source of revenue, which in turn could be used to "provide a federal old-age pension." Sandblast would go down to defeat in that election, losing to incumbent representative Franklin Korell, who, in turn, would lose the general election to Democrat Charles Martin.

From the 1930 Republican Oregon Voters Pamphlet.

  The political tide turned in favor of L.B. Sandblast in 1932 when he was elected as part of the Oregon delegation to that year's Republican National Convention held in Chicago. At the convention in June Sandblast was selected to place in nomination for president the name of Dr. Joseph France, a former U.S. Senator from Maryland who had won the Oregon Republican primary. After delivering his speech, Sandblast was witness to a convention brouhaha when ex-senator France attempted to force his way onto the speaker's rostrum to deliver remarks. After a minor confrontation with convention chairman Bertrand Snell, France was nabbed by convention security and hustled away from the stage.

  Following his service as a delegate Sandblast would mount two further candidacies for Republican National Convention delegate, running unsuccessfully in 1944 and 1960. In 1956 Sandblast reemerged on the political scene when he entered into the race for Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, running on the slogan "Human Rights Before Property Rights Puts A Heart In Justice." Sandblast's candidacy failed to extend past that year's Republican primary and after his defeat resumed his law practice in Portland.

  Little else is known of Sandblast's life following his last political candidacy in 1960. In 1968 the then 80-year-old lawyer made Oregon papers in a humorous incident, as he failed a "newly ordered driver's test" for the fourth time, and subsequently lost his drivers license. He continued residence in Portland and died a few months shy of his 90th birthday on February 27, 1978. He was later interred at the Willamette National Cemetery in Portland.

From the Oregon Voters Pamphlet, 1956.

Adonis Haight Nielson (1899-1973)

From the Burley Bulletin, November 3, 1938.

  Longtime Idaho attorney and WWI veteran Adonis Haight Nielson logged nearly two decades of service as Prosecuting Attorney of Cassia County. The son of physician Axel Francis Oscar Nielson (1868-1929) and the former Louisa Haight (1876-1956), Adonis Haight Nielson was born of Danish descent in Oakley, Idaho on December 13, 1899. 

  A student at the Cassia Academy, Nielson graduated in 1918 and soon joined in the ongoing war effort, enlisting in the U.S. Army from 1918-19. While his area of deployment remains unknown, Nielson had returned to private life by late 1919 and had enrolled at the University of Utah. He studied here until 1920 and then continued schooling at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, where, in 1923, he received his A.B. degree. Having decided to pursue a law degree, Nielson attended Harvard Law School from 1923-24 and in 1926 achieved his Juris Doctorate degree from Stanford. 

  Adonis H. Nielson settled in Twin Falls, Idaho after concluding his studies, and for a time was a member of the law firm of Wolfe and Nielson, with offices in Burley and Twin Falls. For an unspecified period Nielson held the post of assistant county attorney for Twin Falls County, and in 1928 resettled in the city of Burley in Cassia County, where he would reside for the remainder of his life. On June 25, 1929, Nielson married at the LDS Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah to Jane Anderson (1901-1996), to who he was wed for over forty years. The couple later had three children, Judith Nadine (born 1932), Adonis Haight Jr. (1934-2019), and Gordon Stanley (1940-1998). 

  Following his establishing roots in Burley Nielson was appointed as its city attorney in June 1929. In the year following he was elected as Prosecuting Attorney of Cassia County, and continued to serve uninterrupted terms until 1942 when he was succeeded by Clarence W. Thomas. Thomas' time as prosecuting attorney proved to be brief, as he resigned in May 1944, and just days after his resignation Adonis Nielson was appointed to the vacancy. He continued as prosecuting attorney until 1950, and in January 1949 pulled political "double duty" when he was appointed to another term as Burley city attorney, due to resignation of Kales Eldon Lowe, who had been named as an Idaho district court judge.

From the Burley Herald, January 20, 1949.

  Adonis Nielson resigned as Cassia County attorney in June 1950 and was succeeded by his younger brother Norman (1917-1975), who served until 1960. In addition to practicing law, Nielson was for many years affiliated with the scouting movement in his county, serving as Burley district chairman for the Boy Scouts in 1943-44. Nielson's other civIc doings include time as president of both the Burley Knife and Fork Club and the Burley Rotary Club, and in 1950 served as chairman of the Cassia County Independence Bond drive. 

  Through the 1950s and 60s, Nielson was a member of the law firm of Nielson and Nielson with his brother Norman, and in December 1961 was appointed as a representative on the national council for the Boy Scouts of America. Adonis H. Nielson died at his Burley, Idaho home on May 12, 1973, aged 73. He was survived by his wife Jane and all of his children, with burial occurring at the Pleasant View Cemetery in Burley.