The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1920-10-28
PIONEER COURTS AND
LAWYERS OF MANITOWOC Co.
Collections and ReCOIectiOns
BY,J. S. ANDERSON
"FJrsan ct haec olim meminisse iuyabit'
NUMBER ONE
Introductory.


county. 1t is largely the result of a
conversation, had with fellow mem
ber of the bar, after holding obituary
addresses upon the death of one of our
number. had spoken of the early days
OF the court and he suggested that the
story should he preserved, saying "why
don't you do it, you are the only one
left that cam" And that is the fact
with the passing Of the late s. A.
Wood Esq all actual knowledge of the
beginnings of these institutions ended.
My personal contact with them be
gan in 1852, but, my recollections are
only the impressions which a boy was
likely to have of men who were the
leaders of the little village community
which MantOwoc was then and for
many years after.
l have elected to publish these in the
Pilot, for that is emphatically the plo-
ncer newspaper and its files contain
more of the early history of the city
and county than any other existing re
Pesitary.
There were lawyers located in Mani
towoc before there was a Manitowoc
bar, or even before there was Mani
towoc county for judicial purposes
For, although, Manitowoc county was
geographically created by law in 1896
and partially organized in 1889 it was
considered too Sparsely settled to have
a complete organization and the law
creating it provided that it should re
main attached to Brown county for
judicial purposes. But the country
along the west shore of Lake Michigan
was beginning to attract settlers and
in the early '40's four lawyers had al
ready squatted in Mantowoc and let
it be known that they were out for law
business, should any venture into this
neck of the woods.
As a matter of fact there was CON
siderable work to do in the land bust
ness. Investors were willing to pay the
Sl.25 an acre, which was all Uncle Sam
asked for lands now selling at $4,000
to 5000, and hold them for the ineyit-
able rise in price. Men of smaller
means were looking eagerly for q good
eighty" or "quarter-section" to be
had for 800 and 5000, respectively, on
which to found a home.
Many of these needed the advice and
assistance of men who were presumed
to know something of the laws and
regulations of the land Office of the
district established first at Green Bay
and later at Menasha.
The first lawyer to settle in Manito-
woe county was jeremiah II. Colby,
who arrived here at a very early date,
| think between lSi5 and 1886. He
was a very scholarly man, a graduate,
if | remember rightly, of Dartmouth
college. lie was slender in build,
about medium height and was thin and
ascetic in appearance caused no doubt
by his i'll health. He had come from
the East hoping that the comparative
open air life in the new country might
restore him or give him a greater
measure Of robustness A picture of
him in the possession of the family Of
the late Perry u. Smith, brought him
yiyidly to my memory as | saw him a
year or so previous to his death He
was a man of winning personality, gen
tlemanly and dignifed in manner and
was spoken of atfectionately long after
his death, by those who had known
him as Jerry Colby"
lie was born in New Hampshire in
1922 In the autumn of 1850 he was
married to Emily Jones, daughter of
Benjamin Jones, one of the founders
Of the city of ManitOwoc. lie had the
honor of being the first postmaster Of
Mantowoc, and was also the first
county judge Of Manitow0c county.
His death occurred on May 10, 1853.
He died of the tuberculosis which he
had sought to escape by coming to the
western pineries,
About a year after Judge Colby had
settled here came James l.. Kyle. |
must have seen Kyle for he lived here
for nearly two years after my family
settled in the county and my wander
ings were frequent about the village,
which was then small enough for cy-
erybody to know everybody else How
ever, cannot recall seeing him as |
saw Judge Colby He must have been
man of winning manner, for he was
sincerely mourned at the time of his
death as great loss to the little com
munity, lie was bachelor and some
what conyiyial in habits, for a legend
persisted for many years in Manito-
woe of the "NOrtes Ambrosance" he
and DR.. Preston and other kindred
spirits spent at the bachelor rooms OF
"Jim Bennett" merchant and one time
president of Manitowoc village, over d
steaming bowl of "blackstrap." Black
strap was a compound of boiling wa
ter, molasses, a scrape of nutmeg, Gin.
namon or other spice with a very lib.
eral addition of New England rum. II
was a potent rure for n acolan nm,