Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1888-03-29

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70 HREs5 xsss M
MORRISON f. WAITE
professional nurse was IN charge of the
sick ROOM Shortly after O'Clock this
morning the chief justice SAID: u feel q
little easier. l think l will go to sleep"
and turned over in his bed In a few mo-
inents he was dead The nurse could not
realize the fact There was no struggle. no
suffering The chief Justice literally fell
asleep The two members Of the family
could not realize the terrible blow that had
come upon them Miss Waite Is completely
Frustrated
Associate Justice Miller, the senior member
of the court, sent invitations to his fellow
members to meet him at the consultation
room of the court, where they all assembled
at IL o'clock The attorney general and
leading members of the bar were present
The chair Of the chief justice vas simply
draped in Grape, but In no other respect did
the appearance of the chamber give any in
5ication of the mournful nature of the oeca-
sion When the court and the assemblage
were seated, Justice Miller, in low, broken
voice, said:
1t Is my painful duty to announce to the
bar of this court that its honored chief JUS
tice departed this life this morning at $50
o'clock. This is not the occasion to make
any extended observations on the subject
which will be done in due time The court
will adjourn until IL o'clock on N onday,
April 2
The senate and house both adjourned
as the death was formally announced.
THE DISTINGUISHED DEAD.
Morrison Remick Waite received his ap-
pointment as chief justice Jan. 81, 1874,
and was the successor of Chief Justice Chase.
He was the seventh in the line of dis
tinguished jurists who have held the office.
In the rural town of Lyme, Conn, the old
house in which he was born, Nov. 30, 1916,
still stands At the age OF seventeen he en-
tered Yale college, from which he graduated
In 1897 in the class which included William
NJ Evarts Edward Pierrepont. Prot Benja-
min Silliman and other distinguished men.
He began the study of law with his father in
Lyme and concluded his preparation for the
bar in the office of Samuel L Young, then a
prominent lawer in Maumee City, Ohio. He
formed q partnership with Mr.. Young shortly
after being admitted in 1889, and the year
after he took as his life partner young lady
Of his native town. He was elected
to the Ohio legislature in 1919,
and the following year the firm Of
Young & Waite removed to Toledo, Ohio,
where they built up very large ana remu-
nerative practice. A younger brother of Mr..
Waite was admitted to the firm soon after,
and the partnership continued up to his ap-
pointment to the chief justiceship. Mr..
Waite was Wing until that party disbanded,
when he Joined the Republican party. He
reluctantly became candidate for congress
in 1862, and later was the nominee of the
Administration party" but his canvasses
were unsuccessful Other nominations and
various appointments were rendered him
from time TO tune, all of which he refused
to accept The first position in which his
ability attracted the attention of the whole
country was that of counsel for the United
States in the tribunal of arbitration which
met at Geneva in 1912. He was ascot
ated in this delicate negotiation with Caleb
Cushing and William NJ Evarts His tact
and good Judgment largely served to termi-
nate the difficulty arising out of our civil
war between the United States and the
United Kingdom. The year after his return,
in 1872, he presided over the constitutional
convention of Ohio.
PERSONAL APPEARANCE
Though the chief justice was in his SOW
enty-second year, one who had met him in
the street even recently would have ven
tured the prediction that be would live
many years yet to grace the bench He was
of medium height with broad shoulders and
sturdy figure. Everything about his appear
ance indicated a splendid physique. He
stood straight and was dignified in carriage
His large head was crowned with a thin
growth of iron gray hair. His forehead was
e,111 al a
heavy. The mouth and nose were large and
full of character. He wore a beard about
his face, but his upper lip was clean shaven.
His figure was familiar one on the streets
as he almost invariably walked to and from
his house and the supreme court cham
Der in the capitol In the summer OF
1888 Chief Justice Waite was one
of the party with President Arthur, Gen
Sherman, Gen. Sheridan and others who
went on a trip through Yellowstone Park
On that trip he met with an accident that
caused considerable alarm at the TINA
While en- route from the Mammoth Hot
Springs to the falls the chief Justices saddle
slipped from under him and he had a bad
fall At first he felt but little pain from the
effects of his tumble, but after riding two or
three days he was obliged to stop, and the
surgeons who accompanied his party made
an examination which elected from them
the opinion that the chief justice had suf-
fered slight fracture of the ninth and tenth
Ribs The chief Justice was obliged to
abandon his trip and return East. Go
ing to his old home at Lyme. Conn.
he soon recovered from the effects of his
accident. The Waite family is one of the
Oldest families in the country and the coat
of arms granted to it bears the date OF 1912.
Thomas Waite, who was member of parlia-
ment signed the death warrant of Charles
IL. and the family moved to this country
soon after the Restoration. II was about
ba pf thsap lori
that Thomas Waite settled in Connecticut,
and this mans son was one of the first presi-
Dental electore after the War of the Reyo-
luton, and cast his vote for George Wash
ington. Justice Waite's father was chief
Justice of the supreme court of Connecticut
and he studied law under Matthew Griswold,
one of the most noted statesmen of early
days Like Judge Waite, he was graduate
of Yale ard eminent as a jurIst He left the
supreme bench, however. at the age of sew
enty, ard Gied at eighty-two.
HIS APPOINTMENT RECALLED
Judge Waite's appointment and confrms-
ton formed q striking episode of the time
Ex-President Grant had nominated success
lively Attorney General Williams and Caleb
Cushing, both OF whom encountered much
opposition, and after a time their names
were withdrawn and Mr.. Waite was nomi-
mated He had been an Independent Repub-
lican candidate for congress against one of
the late Charles Summers warm personal
friends, and had incurred the enmIty of Mr.
sumner, who at that time also enter
tanned no yery friendly relations to-
ward the Grant administration The
proceedings of the senate are still
covered by the veil of executive secrecy. vet
iG was wen known that Mr.. Summers two
hour speech in opposition to Mr. Waite was
one Of the strongest efforts of his life He
dwelt upon the eminneu services and attain
ments OF each one in the long line of in
cumbents of the office of chief Justice and
spoke In bitter terms of disparagement of
Mr. Waite's qualifications Sixty-three SEN
atcrs were present No voice was raised in
defense of the nominee. yet when the ques-
ton of confirmation came TO vote (which
was Immediately upon the conclusion of Mr.
Summers speedy sixty-two senators voted In
the affirmative and Mr. Sumner did not vote
at all.