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Compiled by John H. Wheeler Published in 1903 by B. F. Bowen Biography Page 220 - 221 |
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SAMUEL J. WALL
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Among Wexford's leading men of affairs and distinguished citizens, the name of Samuel J. Wall, of Cadillac, has long been pre-eminent. Of commanding intellectual ability and high professional attainments, he has been a forceful factor in legal circles and as a director of thought and moulder of opinions in all matters of a public character, his influence being duly recognized and appreciated by his fellow citizens in this part of the state. Samuel J. Wall was born in Kent county, Michigan, July 10, 1851, the son of Samuel and Mary (Morris) Wall, both parents natives of England. Samuel Wall and wife were reared and married in the land of their birth and there remained until several of their children were born, when they came to the United States, sojourning for a time in Ontario county, New York. About the year 1850 they removed to Kent county, Michigan, and settled on a farm which the older sons improved and cultivated. The father, being a tailor, worked at his trade in the city of Grand Rapids of winter seasons, devoting the rest of the year to agricultural pursuits. Mrs. Wall bore her husband nine children and departed this life in the year 1864, Mr. Wall surviving her until 1892, when he too was called to the other world. Samuel J., the youngest of the nine children, spent his youthful days in the ceaseless round of labor which attends farm life and at intervals pursued his studies in the district schools until he acquired a fair knowledge of the fundamental branches. The training thus received was later supplemented by a course in the Grand Rapids Business College, after which he taught school for a while, but soon abandoned that profession for other and more congenial pursuits. Mr. Wall began his business career at Bay Port, Huron county, Michigan, where, in partnership with James McKay and others, he organized the Bay Port Salt and Lumber Company, of which he was made secretary. After remaining at that place until 1876 he returned to Cadillac and accepted a clerical position in the offices of Harris Brothers, lumber dealers, and continued in their employ until engaging with another lumber firm near the city two years later. Meantime he devoted his leisure to the study of the law, a profession for which he had long manifested a decided preference, and in the spring of 1880 he was admitted to the bar, immediately thereafter opening an office in Cadillac and engaging actively in the practice. The following fall he was elected on the Republican ticket prosecuting attorney, the duties of which office he discharged one term and at the expiration of which he again turned his attention largely to his lumbering interests in Lake county, where he made considerable investment in the year 1880 with a partner by the name of Sipley. In 1882 these gentlemen enlarged the plant and prosecuted the business with the most encouraging success until the following year, when the entire outfit was destroyed by fire, entailing a heavy loss, which for a time seriously crippled them and interfered very materially with their plans. Returning to Cadillac after this disaster, Mr. Wall resumed the practice of the law, which, with various lines of miscellaneous business, engaged his attention until 1888, when he was elected county clerk, which position he continued to hold by successive reelections four terms, proving a capable and obliging public servant and so administering the office as to gain the confidence and goodwill of the people. Subsequently, in 1890, he was chosen to represent the third ward in the city council, in which body he was untiring in his efforts to promote the interests of the municipality, and four years later he was further honored by being elected mayor of Cadillac. Mr. Wall served two years in the latter capacity and made an honorable record as an executive, his administration throughout being straightforward, business-like, creditable to himself and satisfactory to the public. Retiring from the office, he resumed the practice of his profession, and was thus engaged until 1898, when he was again called from private life by being appointed postmaster of Cadillac, the duties of which position he has since discharged. Mr. Wall's almost continuous retention in important official stations affords the best evidence of the high esteem in which he is held by the people and his official career throughout has fully justified the confidence reposed in him by his fellow citizens. His long residence in Cadillac has enabled him to realize as well perhaps as any other the wants of the people and with clear brain and willing hand he has supplied the demand generously and unsparingly. His coming here and the existence of the town were almost coeval events and it is not too much to claim for him a large share in the community's subsequent development and prosperity. A western man in the broad sense of the word and public spirited in all the term implies, he has labored zealously for the general welfare, and that his efforts have been productive of large and lasting results is cheerfully conceded by those at all familiar with the history of Wexford county and the growth of its flourishing capital city. In his achievements as a lawyer Mr. Wall is wholly indebted to personal efforts, having pursued his preparatory studies during spare hours, snatched from time devoted to his regular occupations. He made the most of his opportunities under such circumstances and today occupies a respectable place among his professional brethren of the Cadillac bar, enjoying a lucrative practice, which but for the pressing claims of his official duties would be far more extensive than it now is. In politics, as already indicated, he is an uncompromising Republican and for a number of years past has been an influential factor in local matters, besides taking an active interest in state and national affairs. He knows the grounds of his belief and has carefully studied the differences between the two great parties, therefore his position is that of an intelligent man who reaches conclusions after mature deliberation and supports the cause which in his judgment makes for the best interests of the people. As chairman of the Republican county central committee his services were especially valuable to the party, and he has also frequently figured as a delegate to various nominating conventions, local, district and state, manifesting much more than a passive interest in their deliberations. Mr. Wall's fraternal relations are represented by the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias, both of which he recognizes as important agencies for man's moral good and social advancement. Mr. Wall is a married man and the father of four children, whose names are Ruth, Marjorie, Stewart and Morris. His wife was formerly Miss Caroline Sipley, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the ceremony by which it was changed to the one she now bears was solemnized in the year 1881. |