The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1909-12-31

10 nave been j ttNi>R woman. though
this Is denied by the Grosseup family
Her brother. Soloman Baummeister, was
q familiar character about Ashland. and
Is said 10 have been the prototype of his
nephew. Peter :. Grosscup. Old Solo
man Baummei>ter was a man of vary
ing moods and achievements Alter
nately he would hold religious revival
meetings. wherein he would exhort sim
ners to accept salvation and then he
would be found in some low dive earous-
ing with loose women and filling his
hide full Of booze. \ more hcentious
two-legged animal never appeared in
Ashland. it is said, until his nephew
now the Honorable Judge Grossc,tp. he.
gan his career which drove him out
OF the town. The uncle held revival
meetings to offset his wickedness: the
nephew writes fluently about people
izing' the corporations. the purpose of
which. believed by many persons, is to
throw sand in the eyes of the people
while he hands down decisions granting
enlarged power and further privileges
to the corporations.
The house where Grosscup was born
originally was log structure and stood
in the midst OF the Grosseup farm two
miles west of Ashland. The writer
drove by the place recently, accompanied
by an old gentleman who was one of
Grosscup's former sehoolmates, Today
the logs have been weather boarded and
tin roof put on. 1t had an air of pros
perity not unlike the days when the
judges parents lived there and engaged
in agricultural. The room occupied by
Young Peter is on one side of the en-
trance and had changed but little in
forty years When Peter returned IRON
the Boston law school. where he com
rleted Il course in law in 1873, his par
entS moved into Ashland, taking a house
on ClairmoLnt avenue.
Peter has two brothers. Fred Paul,
nov a resident of West Virginia. and
! Beniaulin. of Tacoma, Wash. These
brothers will figure in this narrative
later. The name Grosscup is derived
from Groeskoupf, German word
meaning big head. In early youth the
now distinguished Chicago iurist is de-
scribed as having cut as sorry a eaper
before high heaven as was possible in
uhita urahin Of his vaars
Despoihng Women of Virtue.
From the time of his appearance in
Ashland as a lawyer in 1873 until the
year of his enforced departure Grosseup,
it is claimed, ruined five young mmar-
ried women and caused two wives, to
separate from their husbands, one of
whom. the wife of Lutheran preacher
after deserting her husband and chill
iren. ended her life in house of prosti-
next instalment in our issue of Janu-
airy sth, the particulars incident to these
affairs will be set forth,
In 1876 Grosseup was a candidate for
office before the Fourteenth district
congressional convention. but he failed
to secure nomination. In 1882 he was
again candidate for congress, and
while he managed to hold partisan
delegation solidly until sos ballots Were
cast, he lost the nomination, through
collusion with an opposing candidate, it
is charged, who paid Grosseup sum
estimated at from $4,000 to $1,000 for
delivering the delegation. With the
money thus seoUres, Ashland people
assert, Grosscup went to Chicago, where
he at first got employment in Leonard
Sweets law office. After a few months
Grosscup was admitted as partner,
the firm being Swett, Grosseup and
SWEET. The subsequent death of Leon
ard SWEET created opportunity for
Grosscup, who was not slow in seizine
it, The money he carried away from
, Ashland, according to his mother, en-
abled him to Join several prominent
. lpolitical clubs and social organizations
lin these he met men in high finance
. Iamong whom was George Pullman, OF
q palace ear fame.
: Two of a Kind as Partners
Q Pullman, possessing temperament
and habits similar to Grosscup, found
in this latest acquisition to the Chicago
I bar a hale fellow well met. PerceivinS
$ Grosscup's natural force of intellect, an6
/ his willingness to perform any service
: that assured financial returns, the pal
I ace car manufacturer gave into hi'
!. custody virtually all the legal business
Of the Pullman company, and whel