The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1921-03-10
PIONEER COURTS AND
LAWYERS OF MANITOWOC co,
Collections and ReCOlIeCtiOns
BY j. S. ANDERSON
'FJrsan ethaec olim meminisse iuvabit'
NUMBER 10
George N. Woodin.


1t is a misfortune that so few Of the
facts relating to this pioneer lawyer
can now be given. All his immediate
descendants have died, and the local
newspaper files relating to the period
when he was prominent in his profes-
sion were destroyed by fire, as is also
the case with the period at and next
prior to his death. All that the writer
has to depend upon is his memory
compared with the recollection of two
or three of the old residents who knew
him also. A few dates in the old court
records fixes time approximately, but
not certainly.
My first recollection of Mr.. Woodin
was about 1856 He had come to Mani
towoc in the spring or summer of that
year as "millwright." That was
trade common enough in those days,
when nearly everything about mill
was made of wood. Water wheels, ma
chine frames, heavy shafting, pulleys
and other parts, were all made out of
wood, laboriously by hand. About the
time mentioned | watched Mr.. Woodin
build up large driving pulley from
sections of wooden plank, set it upon
iron spokes, drive it upon its shaft and
then turn it down to a perfect circle
with chiSels, as it revolved around the
shaft This was in the b. Jones saw
mill. 1t was a business which required
a good knowledge of mathematics and
practical mechanics, and the old mill
wright as a rule was a man of more
than average education and mentality
The financial panic and money
Stringency ofthe years from I857-6O
stopped the building Of mills and fac
tories and mill-wrights were compelled
to seek other work. As a part of their
trade or profession, they were good
carpenters and ioiners and Mr.. Wood
in did some work of that kind for
time. Some time about 1878 he was
elected justice of the peace and open
ed an Office. He succeeded in gaining
the confidence of the practising attor-
neyS in his fairness and good judgment
and soon was trying large proportion
of the eases which were within his iur-
Sdiction.
He was admitted to the bar early in
1859, but the exact date | have been
unable to locate never heard of him
as being connected with any of the
local attorneys as student My inn
preston is that he never did any sys-
tematic study, but picked up his knowl-
| edge by trying cases and hearing them
argued before him. There is a class of
men whose mental process appears 10
be simply a spongc-like absorption of
the knowledge of other men with
whom they associate.
Woodin was of that type. He was
naturally man Of keen insight of
good horse-sense" as the saying goes,
and good common-sensc and the com
mon law are never very far apart If
lawyer of some note came here to
try a case, Woodin would study his
methods, listen to his arguments, talk
them over with other attorneys and in
that way absorb a good deal Of knowl-
| edge.
When he ceased to be a justice he
tried a great many justice court cases,
and naturally, appeals carried him
often into the circuit court. When |
came to the bar in 1871 he was at the
height of his career and was in fact
doing n large business of that kind. He
could get along all right In law cases
or criminal matters where the plead
ings were short and process simple,
where 1t was a day or SO Of examina-
tion of witnesses and an hour of talk
to jury, but TO sit down and spend
two or three days drafting long bill
in equity, Nayl Nay!
Although he had an active practice
for over twenty years, and was in fact
strong nisi prius lawyer he never in
all that time made an appearance in
the supreme court He did not lack
confidence in himself and In the work
he did was ready to match himself
against any who came but he did not
like the continuous work which cases
Of that kind called for.
Personally, he was companionablc
sharp at repartee, witty, a great prac-
teal joker, good story-tellcr, and ex-
cclled as an aftcr-dinner speaker He
was a good talker before a jury and
had a fashion Of saying things which
amounted to little in manner so i'm
pressiye that many jurors took them
for inspired wisdom He died on Oct
(, 1877.
Benjamin J. Sweet
B. J. Sweet joined the Manitowoc
bar at April term, 1857. lie entered
/ into narlnarobi,, u,;th C,n.t,o ID Ia, -,