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.

Peregrine Lethbury Wickes (1837-1923), Peregrine Foster Wells (1847-1930)

                                                    Portrait courtesy of the Archives of Maryland website.

    A distinguished member of both the Pennsylvania and Maryland bar, Peregrine Lethbury Wickes served as a district court judge in Pennsylvania and in the latter period of his life was elected to the Baltimore City Supreme Bench, serving here until his retirement. Born on August 13, 1837, in Chestertown, Maryland, Peregrine L. "Pere" Wickes was one of seven children born to Joseph Wickes IV (1788-1864) and his wife, the former Elizabeth Caroline Chambers (1799-1872). Wickes' higher education took place at the Washington College in Chestertown and he would later attend Princeton University, earning both his Bachelor of Laws and Master of Arts degree from this institution.
   From 1858 to 1859 Wickes studied law with prominent Baltimore attorney Severn Teackle Wallis (1816-1894), who would later serve in the Maryland House of Delegates. Wickes was admitted to the state bar in 1859 and shortly thereafter established a law practice in Chestertown. He married in February 1862 to York County, Pennsylvania native Henrietta Catherine Welsh (born 1841) and the couple would become parents to eight children, listed as follows in order of birth: Joseph Lee (born 1862), Benjamin Chambers (born ca. 1863), Henry Welsh, Katherine, Peregrine Lethbury (died in infancy in 1868), Peregrine Lethbury Jr. (1873-1948), Henrietta Elizabeth and Dr. Walter Forman (1877-1960). 
    After several years of practice in his hometown, Wickes removed to his wife's home county of York, Pennsylvania in 1866. He began a new law practice here and later served as an attorney for the Northern Central and Pennsylvania Railroad. He continued to enjoy a successful career as an attorney for the next several years, and in 1875 was elected as an additional law Judge for Pennsylvania's 19th Judicial district. Wickes' time as an additional law judge ended in 1882, when he received the appointment as president judge of the 19th judicial district, holding his seat until his resignation in 1886. 
   Following his resignation, Wickes moved back to Baltimore with his family and soon recommenced with the practice of law. In 1890 he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City and in the following year was elected to a term of his own. He would continue to serve on the court until reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 1907 and resigned that year.
   After retiring from legal practice Wickes remained active in several fraternal clubs, including the Maryland Club of Baltimore and the Casino and Yacht Clubs of Jamestown, Rhode Island. Peregrine L. Wickes died at age 86 on October 27, 1923, of heart failure at his Baltimore home. A burial location for Wickes is unknown at this time and is presumed to be somewhere in Baltimore, where he had resided for the last three decades of his life. The spelling of Wickes' middle name is also under scrutiny, being given by various sources as "Lethbury", "Lithbury", Lethrbury, and Leatherbury.

Peregrine L. Wickes, from "The Book of Maryland" 1920.

Pere L. Wickes' obituary from the Chestertown Transcript, November 3, 1923.

From the 1917 West Virginia State Blue Book.

   Born several years after Peregrine L. Wickes, West Virginia native Peregrine Foster Wells was another man with this odd first name who found distinction in public life. A one-term member of the West Virginia State House of Representatives, Wells was born in Belleville, Virginia on August 21, 1847, being one of several children born to Caleb (1798-1860) and Elizabeth Prather Wells (1812-1893). His education occurred in the "common schools" and went on to attend the National Normal School in Lebanon, Ohio.

  Prior to serving in the legislature Wells occupied the offices of constable, justice of the peace, and county surveyor in Wood County, West Virginia. A farmer by occupation, Wells was elected to the House of Representatives in November 1916, receiving 4,376 votes. During the 1917-19 session, he would serve on the committees on Immigration, Agriculture, Humane Institutions, and Federal Relations. He returned to private life after the completion of his term and died on June 8, 1930, at age 82.

Oval Pirkey (1861-1923), Oval Sethal Hatler (1892-1956)

From Shuck's History of the Bench and Bar of California, 1901.

   Certainly, one of the funniest named jurists ever to be elected to office in the United States, Judge Oval Pirkey of California held a seat on the Superior Court of Glenn County during the early years of the 20th century. He was born in Alexandria, Tennessee on February 22, 1861, and inherited his odd name courtesy of his father, also named Oval Pirkey. Pirkey sR. (1833-1912) was a prominent figure in educational circles, being a professor at the Christian University in Canton, Missouri, and former president of both the Lawrence College in Tennessee and the Abingdon College in Illinois. He married in 1859 to Sallie McClelland and later had several children, of which Oval Pirkey II was the second born. Young Oval attended college at the Christian University in Canton, Missouri, and graduated from here in the class of 1883. 
  Pirkey embarked upon a career in law after the completion of his schooling and was admitted to the Washington Territorial Bar in 1885. He later moved to California to continue his law practice and married here in 1900 to Marion Moore Rice (1871-1948), and the couple is recorded as having at least one son, Oval Jr. (1901-1986) who was later involved in vaudeville. In 1898 Pirkey won election to the Superior Court of Glenn County, California, and took his seat on the bench in 1899. 
  His service on the court lasted only a few years (1899-1905) but was not without controversy. In 1903 Pirkey became the judge in the case of Swan vs. Talbot in Willows, California. During the trial proceedings, attorneys for the defense leveled charges of bias against Judge Pirkey, which he vehemently denied. Pirkey went as far as to file affidavits denying all of the charges, as did attorneys for the plaintiff, who noted that Judge Pirkey had never appeared biased or had shown favoritism during past cases. An article on the brouhaha concerning the trial appeared in the June 6, 1903 edition of the San Francisco Call and is shown below.

   In the 1904 election season, Pirkey was defeated for re-election to the Superior Court, losing to Democratic candidate William Finch by a vote of 875 to 623. Following his loss, Pirkey removed to Washington and resided there for the remainder of his life. Although a resident of Washington, notice is given as to his practicing law in Portland, Oregon, and serving as city librarian in Vancouver, Washington, later being succeeded in that office by his wife Marion. Pirkey died at the St. Joseph's Hospital in Vancouver County on August 29, 1923, at age 62 and was later buried at the Blaine Cemetery in Blaine, Whatcom County, Washington. Marion Rice Pirkey survived her husband by many years, dying in Washington in 1948 at age 77. A burial location for her is unknown at this time.

Judge Oval Pirkey, from the Glenn County Superior Court website.

From the Havre Daily News, October 29, 1951.

  Longtime Havre, Montana resident Oval Sethal Hatler is another "Oval" who ran for public office, in his case serving multiple terms as mayor of Havre. A yardmaster for the Great Northern Railway and a former Havre city alderman, Hatler died in office in 1956 after undoing an operation at a Seattle, Washington hospital. The son of Leonard Pendleton and Lydia Jane (Elsea) Hatler, Oval Sethal Hatler was born in Moberly, Missouri on February 17, 1892.

  Hatler removed with his family to Havre, Montana in 1902 and in 1907 began work with the Great Northern Railway, in the road and freight service. By 1913 he had worked his way to the post of switchman and in 1924 succeeded to the post of yardmaster, which he would continue to hold during his tenure as mayor. In June 1915 Hatler married Mary Garnet Dry (1894-1995), and the couple's near four-decade marriage saw the births of six children, Caleb (1914-1967), Jeanette (1915-2001), Francis Oval (1917-2008), Mary Louise (birthdate unknown), Carol Lynn (birthdate unknown) and Kenneth (1924-1990).

   Oval S. Hatler first entered Havre politics late in his life, winning election to the Havre city council in 1947. He was reelected in 1949 and became president of the council in 1950 in the wake of the resignation of Mayor Harry Soderberg. With Soderberg's resignation, Hatler became acting mayor of Havre, and in 1951 was elected to a term in his own right, garnering 1, 173 votes in the April 3rd city election. In total Hatler would serve three terms as mayor (1950-56) and during this time the city built new sewer and water lines and "lights were added to the newly developed south and west sections of the city".

  In early 1956 Hatler traveled to Seattle, Washington to undergo an unspecified operation and on March 9, 1956, died in that city while recuperating. He was later returned to Havre for burial at the Highland Cemetery. Hatler was survived by all his children and his wife Garnet, who lived to become a centenarian, dying shortly before her 101st birthday on August 8, 1995.

Ranslure Weld Clarke (1816-1899)

From the Annals of Brattleboro, 1681-1895.

   A native of Massachusetts, Ranslure Weld Clarke later migrated to Windham County, Vermont and for many years was connected with public affairs in that county, being a banker, attorney, state senator, and judge during his residency. Born in Williamstown, Massachusetts on January 27, 1816, Ranslure was the son of Elam and Cynthia Lewis Clarke. His education took place in schools local to Williamstown and also studied at both the Black River Academy and the Orange County Grammar School. Clarke would graduate from Dartmouth College in the class of 1845 and in that same year returned to the Black River Academy to serve as Principal.

   While serving at the Black River Academy Clark began pursuing the study of law with future Vermont Governor Peter Thacher Washburn, and after leaving the position of principal continued his studies with Jonathan Dorr Bradley in Brattleboro. Clarke was admitted to the Vermont bar in 1846 and three years later married to Lucy Chandler Wilder (1826-1864), with whom he had one daughter, Mary Clark Acker (born 1857). Lucy Wilder Clarke died in 1864 and Ranslure remarried in 1868 to Lucy's sister Susan (1835-1886), later having a son, Francis.

   Following his first marriage Clarke established a law practice in Brattleboro and within a short period had become involved in Republican political circles in the area. The party later nominated Clarke to be Windham County Attorney, and he was elected to that office in 1852, 1853, and 1854. Clarke continued his political ascent through the latter part of the decade, being selected as a delegate to the 1857 Vermont Constitutional Convention and in 1858 was elected by the citizens of Windham County to represent them in the State Senate. He was reelected to the Senate the following year and after leaving the Senate became register of probate for Marlboro, Vermont, holding this post from 1861-1862.

   In 1862 Clarke resigned as register of probate to aid in the war effort, becoming an assistant Quartermaster of Volunteers. During a portion of his military service, Clarke was stationed in Brattleboro and is recorded by his Vermont Phoenix obituary as having "bought 4,000 horses for the government" to be used during wartime. He was promoted to major in March 1865 and was honorably discharged from service on October 25th of that year, having attained the rank of Colonel. 

   Shortly after leaving the military Clarke returned to practicing law in Brattleboro and in 1867 formed a partnership with another oddly named man, Kittredge Haskins (1836-1909). Mr. Haskins later went on to distinction as a state representative and senator and served as a U.S. Representative from Vermont from 1901-1909. In 1868 Clarke served as a Republican Presidential elector and two years later Haskins and Clarke's law firm was dissolved, as Clarke had been appointed as the Postmaster for Brattleboro. He served in that capacity until 1879, and around that time began a lengthy connection with the Brattleboro Savings Bank, serving as its President for a number of years.

   Shortly after the conclusion of his tenure as Brattleboro postmaster, Ranslure Clarke was elected as assistant judge of Windham County in 1882. He served on the bench until December 1892 and moved from Vermont in 1893 to reside with his daughter and her husband (New York State Assemblyman Milo Acker) at their home in Hornell, New York. Ranslure Clarke died in Hornell on January 15, 1899, at age 82 and was returned to Vermont for burial at the Prospect Hill Cemetery in Brattleboro. His January 20, 1899 obituary in the Brattleboro Phoenix memorialized Clarke as having "possessed a striking personal presence and bearing" and "a had a courtly manner of the old school".              

                    From the Barre Evening Telegram, January 17, 1899.                  

Baskin Eply Rhoads (1834-1895)

                         From the Biographical Sketches and Review of the Bench and Bar of Indiana, 1895.

   Endowed with an unusual first name that will immediately bring to mind the famed Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream parlor, Indiana legislator and judge Baskin Eply Rhoads was a truly learned man in his day, being well known as an amateur geologist and academic in addition to his service in state government. A Pennsylvanian by birth, Baskin E. Rhoads was born in the small settlement of Coatesville on May 1,1834 and removed to Indiana with his family at age two, first settling in Park County. The Rhoads family would later move to Montgomery County, where Baskin attended the Waveland Academy for a time. He became a tanner's apprentice under one David Mann around the same period and later went on to enroll at the Wabash College, graduating in the class of 1860.

   Both before and after his graduation Rhoads was a teacher in the Montgomery and Vermillion County school systems, serving as a principal in the latter county. Sometime in the early 1860s, he migrated to Clinton County, where he took on a teaching position at the Farmer's Institute for a few months. Around this same time, he began the study of law under Judge Samuel Maxwell of Park County, and while thus engaged also served as school superintendent for the Rockville, Indiana schools. 

  After being admitted to the state bar in 1862 Rhoads set up a law practice in Newport in Vermillion County. In November 1864 he was elected as that county's representative in the Indiana General Assembly, taking his seat in January 1865. During his term, he held a seat on the education committee and is remarked by Theophilus Wylie's history of Indiana University as helping to draft "the present School Law, which was passed, and was presented by himself to Governor Morton, who signed it in his presence. The law was passed with but little alteration from the original draft."

Baskin E. Rhodes, from the 1865 Indiana House of Representatives photo composite.

   Many sources of the time note Rhoads as a fervent proponent for public education in Indiana, and during his one term in the state legislature was instrumental in the creation and drafting of the bill that led to the establishment of the Indiana State Normal School (now known as Indiana State University). With the introduction (and eventual passing) of this bill, Rhoads is justly referred to as the "founding father" of the Indiana State Normal School. He remained connected to the school for many years afterward, and three years after leaving the legislature was elected as a University trustee. He served in this capacity until 1874, and earlier, in 1870, had been appointed as a Professor of Law. His professorship extended several years and in July 1874 he married Ida Moffatt (1850-1936) with whom he had two children, Sarah (1876-1918) and Daniel, who died aged 17 in March 1897.

Baskin E. Rhoads, from the archives of the Vigo County Historical Society.

   Rhoads continued to be involved in educational affairs for the remainder of his life, journeying to Europe in the late 1870s "where he studied Civil Law, modern languages and general literature." After returning to the United States, Rhoads became politically active once more, being named by Indiana Governor Albert G. Porter as a Judge for the Vigo County Court in 1881. He served on the bench until December 1882 and two years later became a member of the first board of trustees of the newly established Coates College of Women in Terre Haute.

   For the last decade of his life, Rhoads was engaged in the practice of law in Vigo County, being a member of the firm Rhoads and Williams with Terre Haute native Elmer Williams. The Biographical Sketches of the Bench and Bar of Indiana notes that Baskin E. Rhoads "was stricken with apoplexy" and died shortly thereafter at his home in Terre Haute on January 15, 1895. He was 60 years old and was survived by his wife Ida Moffatt Rhoads, who died forty-one years after her husband in July 1936. Both Baskin, Ida, and their children are interred in a family plot at the Highland Lawn Cemetery in Terre Haute, Indiana. In an interesting side note, several decades after his death, Baskin Rhoads received the honor of having Rhoads Hall (on the campus of Indiana State University) named after him in a 1965 dedication ceremony.

Death notice for Baskin E. Rhoads from the Logansport Reporter, January 15, 1895.

Sebeus Colver Maine (1812-1887)

   Bearing a remarkable resemblance to literary icon Charles Dickens, Massachusetts state senator, judge, and inventor Sebeus Colver Maine looks every bit the dapper 19th-century man-of-affairs. This interestingly named man carved quite a career for himself in a number of different vocations, but despite his impressive stature in Massachusetts public life, very little information could be found on him.

   Born in North Stonington, Massachusetts on June 22, 1812, Sebeus was one of thirteen children born to Jabish Breed Maine (1774-1856), a stone and plaster mason, and his wife, Freelove Edwards (1776-1856). No information could be located as to Maine's childhood or education, although it has been found that he taught school in Herkimer County, New York, and during the early 1840s operated the law office of Benton and Maine in the town of Little Falls. He married in Pittston, Maine on September 18, 1843, to Julia Octavia Stevens (1806-1881), a native of Kennebec County. The couple later became the parents of two children, Annie Evans (birth date unknown) and William Stevens Bartlett (birth date unknown) who later became a painter of landscapes.

   Maine was admitted to the Suffolk, Massachusetts bar in February 1845 and spent the next decade in the practice of law. In 1854 he won election to the Massachusetts State Senate, representing the county of Suffolk. His name appeared in an 1855 Massachusetts State Register and is shown below. 

  In the year following his term in the senate, he was named as a commissioner of Insolvency in Boston and in 1858 was appointed as Judge of the Boston Police Court, serving on the bench until 1866. During his tenure on the court, Maine had to contend with numerous instances of draft protests in Boston during the Civil War period, and is acknowledged by a 2012 Foxboro Reporter article as coming "down hard on those who protested the draft during a time of great peril for the nation." Maine's reputation for doling out harsh sentences to protesters garnered him a number of threats, and he eventually had to leave Boston for a short period out of concern for his safety!

   Following his tenure on the Boston police court, little else could be found on Maine's life. In addition to serving in the above capacities, Maine was also an inventor, being awarded patents for "inventions relating to disinfection, cooling, and ventilation" between 1866 and 1872. He also was awarded patents for a "cabinet bedstead" and a fire extinguisher in June 1869. Maine's wife Julia died in 1881 at age 75 and he died on November 25, 1887, at the same age. The Genealogical Record of Nathaniel Babcock, Simeon Maine, Issac Miner, Ezekiel Main notes that Sebeus Maine was buried in Stonington, but fails to mention a name for the cemetery in which he was interred. Julia Octavia Maine was buried in Pittston, Randolph County, Maine following her death in 1881.

   From the Genealogical Record of Nathaniel Babcock, Simeon Maine, Issac Miner, Ezekiel Main, 1909.

Ippie Purvis Graham (1889-1962)

From the 1949 South Carolina Manual of the legislature.

   Following on the heels of the April 18th article on Fleetus Lee Gobble, today's write-up highlights the life and accomplishments of another North Carolina State Representative--Ippie Purvis Graham. This interestingly named man served alongside Fleetus Gobble in the North Carolina legislature for several years, and one can wonder if these two funny-named politicians ever went palling around the state capitol together. I can almost imagine someone falling over with laughter when they were introduced to representatives "Ippie" and "Fleetus"!

   All humor aside, Ippie P. Graham's curious name didn't keep him from pursuing a lengthy career in public service. His story begins on February 3, 1889, when he was born in Proctorville, North Carolina, the son of Charles William and Mary Jane Hedgpeth Graham. Graham received the unusual first name "Ippie" in honor of his uncle, a North Carolina Baptist minister named Ippie Purvis Hedgpeth, and the only available biographical source on Graham is a brief write-up in the North Carolina Manual published during his service in the legislature. His birth year is variously given as either 1889 or 1890, although a good majority of the sources mentioning him give 1889 as the correct year.

  Graham received his education at the Stinson Institute and later studied at the King's Business College from 1911-1912. The majority of Graham's life was centered around farming pursuits in his native town, and he is listed by the North Carolina Manual as being the proprietor of a cotton gin. In addition to his being a farmer, the Manual mentions Graham as being a cashier at the Bank of Proctorville and also as a Sunday school superintendent for the Proctorville Baptist Church. Graham later married Ms. Athesia Powell (1895-1974), with whom he had three children, Hal, Paul, and daughter Stennett Graham McLeod (1927-2016).

                                          Ippie P. Graham, from the May 31, 1942 edition of the Robesonian.

   Ippie Graham's first candidacy for public office came during the First World War when he was elected as Mayor of Proctorville, serving from 1917-1919. Graham's obituary in the 1962 Robesonian newspaper also gives note that he served as judge of the Fairmont Recorder Court for six years, 1933-1939. In Graham's last year of service on that court, the citizens of Robeson County elected him to the first of four terms in the North Carolina State House of Representatives, and he began his first term in January 1939. His service in the legislature lasted nearly a decade (except the 1941-43 session) and during his tenure held seats on several committees, including the following: Agriculture; Appropriations; Banks and Banking; Congressional Districts; Counties, Cities, and Towns; Court and Judicial Districts; Drainage; Education; the Journal; Military Affairs; and Printing.

Ippie Graham receiving the Adrian B. McRae Award for Robeson County Man of the Year, in 1961.

   At the conclusion of his legislative service in 1949, Graham returned to his home in Proctorville and later held a seat on the Proctorville Board of Education from 1949 until he retired from public life in 1961. He served as the chairman of this board from 1950 until the fall of 1960. The Robesonian also notes that Graham was honored by his fellow citizens as Robeson County Man of the Year for 1961. In addition to this accolade, Graham was a longstanding member in the Masonic Lodge of Proctorville.

  Ippie Purvis Graham died at a hospital in Lumberton, North Carolina on February 10, 1962, at age 73 and was later interred at the Proctorville Cemetery in Fairmont, North Carolina. The obituary below for Graham marks the second picture that I've located of the man, and I'm extremely happy to have located it (via the website newspaperarchive.com!)

Graham's obituary as it appeared in the Robesonian on January 12, 1962.