History of Wexford County, MI. Compiled by John H. Wheeler Published in 1903 by B. F. Bowen Biography Page 95 - 97

EUGENE F. SAWYER

The law is generally conceded to be the most exacting of the learned professions and to achieve distinction therein requires not only natural abilities of a high order, but long years of patient study and painstaking research, supplemented by a knowledge of human nature such as the ordinary mind does not possess. Whatever else may he said of this calling, it has always been the great arbiter of human rights and it cannot be denied that members of the bar have been more active and influential in public affairs as directors of thought and moulders of opinion than any other class of men. This is but the natural result of causes that are manifest and require no explanation. The ability and training which qualify one for the practice of law also fit him in many respects for duties which he outside the strict oath of the profession and which touch and affect the general interests of society and the state. Hence the majority of lawyers are broad-minded, many-sided men, capable of grasping questions, appreciating situations and controlling conditions upon which the well being of the body politic very largely depends. Holding marked prestige among the leading lawyers of Wexford county is Eugene F. Sawyer, at this time the oldest practicing attorney in the city of Cadillac and one of the most successful members of a bar long noted for the high order of its legal talent. Mr. Sawyer was born May 8, 1848, in the city of Grand Rapids, being the son of James and Susan C. (Nardin) Sawyer, the father a native of England, the mother a descendant of an old Huguenot family whose ancestors in this country came from France. James Sawyer came to the United States as early as 1834, settling at Grand Rapids when that flourishing city was but a mere backwoods hamlet, the Nardins moving to the same place about four years later. The subject's parents were married in Grand Rapids, and there reared their family and spent the remainder of their days, both dying a number of years ago. Eugene F. Sawyer spent the years of his childhood and youth in his native town and received his education in the public schools, graduating in 1868 from the high school of Grand Rapids, with a creditable record as a student. During the early years of his manhood he followed farming and of winter seasons taught school, in this way earning sufficient money to defray the expenses of a course in the Michigan University, which he entered in the fall of 1870, for the purpose of preparing himself for the legal profession. Three years later he was graduated from the law department of that institution and immediately thereafter came to Cadillac, where he opened an office and soon took high rank among the leading members of the Wexford county bar. For two years he was associated with S. S. Fallas, but at the expiration of that time effected a copartnership with James R. Bishop, which, under the style of Sawyer & Bishop, has continued to the present time, and which is universally conceded to be one of the strongest and most successful legal firms in the northern- part of the state. As a lawyer Mr. Sawyer has always been a safe counsellor and judicious practitioner, being well grounded in the fundamental principles of jurisprudence, with the ability and tact to apply the same in the most obstruse and technical cases. From the beginning of his professional career he has exhibited fine legal talent, his chief aim being to acquire a critical knowledge of the law, which, coupled with the ability to present and successfully maintain any cause undertaken, has won him a large and lucrative practice in the courts of Wexford and neighboring counties. He is a close, logical and judicious pleader, prepares his papers with great skill and caution so that when his cases come to trial he is amply able to meet the issues with little fear as to results at the hands of either court or jury. His treatment of his cases is always full, comprehensive and accurate, his analysis of the facts clear and exhaustive, and he sees with easy effort the relation and dependence of the facts and so groups them as to enable him to throw their combined force upon the points they tend to elucidate and prove. In the trial of a cause he is always master of himself, deferential to the court, kind and courteoustowards opposing counsel, examining witnesses very thoroughly, but treating them with the respect that seldom fails to gain their confidence and good will. As a speaker he is direct, logical and forcible, presenting his facts clearly and concisely and impressing them with strong and eloquent appeals which seldom fail to impress juries with the justness of his cause. The firm of which Mr. Sawyer is senior member has been identified with nearly all important litigation at the Cadillac bar for many years past, and in every case of any prominence the subject is retained either for the prosecution or defence, his well-known abilities causing his services to be in great demand. Aside from his profession, Mr. Sawyer has been an influential factor in the material growth and prosperity of Cadillac, taking an active interest in all public improvements and spending no little of his time and money to make this city the center of trade and culture for northern Michigan. For a number of years he has been secretary of the Cadillac Improvement Board the objects of which are to locate industries, inaugurate Improvements and in many other ways promote the industrial, commercial and financial advancement of the city and advertise its advantages to the world as a favorite place for the investment of capital and as a beautiful and healthful locality in which to reside. Mr. Sawyer was one of the chief promoters of the western division of the Toledo & Ann Arbor Railroad and for several years served as its local attorney, the success of the line in this part of the state being largely due to the interest he manifested in its behalf. As an ardent friend of popular education he has done much to promote the efficiency of the public schools of Cadillac, serving for a number of years on the board of trustees, in which capacity he was untiring in his efforts to improve the system, by weeding out incompetent teachers and securing those of a higher order of intellectual and professional training. In the language of another, "It is claimed that while serving as trustee, he was, and still is, better acquainted with the public schools of Cadillac than any other person in the city not engaged in teaching," the justness of which Compliment everybody at all familiar with the circumstances cheerfully concedes. While prosecuting his legal studies in the University of Michigan Mr. Sawyer became acquainted with an estimable lady of varied culture by the name of Miss Kate Sipley, whom he afterwards married and with whom his life has since been spent in the most felicitous home relations. Mrs. Sawyer is the daughter of John F. Sipley, of Ann Arbor, and she has borne her husband two children, Christobell and Olive, both bright, intelligent and popular with the social circles in which they move. Politically Mr. Sawyer may be classed as an independent, holding to no particular party but supporting men and measures which in his judgment make for the best interest of the public in both local and state affairs. It has been his boast that he has not voted a straight ticket of any kind since he could remember, which course has doubtless prevented his elevation to high official stations, which he is so well and worthily qualified to hold. All who know Mr. Sawyer recognize his sterling worth as a lawyer and citizen and appreciate his many efforts and self sacrifices for public good. He is constitutionally honest and true, with a high conception of the dignity of manhood and the genuine pride of character that make it impossible for him to do anything little, sordid or in any way disreputable. He possesses in an eminent degree the moral courage which more than any other human attribute constitutes the man, the steadfast, reliable friend, the true Christian and the patriotic citizen. He is a man of deep and profound religious convictions, belonging, with his family, to the First Congregational church of Cadillac, for the material support of which he contributes liberally of his means. He makes religion a part of his every-day concerns, demonstrating by a life singularly free from faults the pure, simple faith which he has long professed. In every relation, Mr. Sawyer is easily the peer of any of his fellows in all that constitutes strong, vigorous manhood and during his long period of residence in Cadillac his name has been synonymous with all that is moral and upright in citizenship. He has honored every station to which he has been called and in years to come his name and fame will be cherished by a people who look upon him as a lawyer of distinguished ability, a citizen without pretense, a public benefactor whom the attractions of office could not entice, and as a man who, seeing and understanding his duty, strove by all means within his power to do the same as he would answer to his conscience and his God.