Howard Wiest

Howard Wiest (February 24, 1864 – September 16, 1945) was an American jurist. Although he neither graduated from high school nor attended law school, he read law, became Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, and went on to be "the Dean" of all Michigan jurists.

Howard Wiest
Wiest circa 1927
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan
Justice of the Supreme Court
In office
1921[1][2][3]–1945
Nominated byAlex Groesbeck
Preceded byFlavius L. Brooke
Succeeded byLeland W. Carr
Personal details
Born(1864-02-24)February 24, 1864
Washington Township, Macomb County, Michigan, U.S.
DiedSeptember 16, 1945(1945-09-16) (aged 81)
Lansing, Michigan, U.S.
Resting placeMount Hope Cemetery
Lansing, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation
  • lawyer
  • jurist

Background

Born in Washington Township, Macomb County, Michigan, to Jacob and Elizabeth Wiest, he had eight siblings.[4] He attended school in Pontiac, Michigan, but "never finished high school."[5] Wiest left school and worked as a machinist, and never attended law school.[upper-alpha 1]

He then moved to Detroit, Michigan, read law at the Detroit law firm of Atkinson & Atkinson, and was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1885. He was appointed commissioner of the Wayne County Michigan Circuit Courts by Governor Cyrus Luce. In April, 1890 he started ten years in private practice in Ingham County.[2][7]

On December 19, 1888, he married Cora Newman of Pontiac, and they had two children: Lucille Wiest and Theodosia Milkton (of Baltimore, Maryland).[2]

He was a Republican.[3]

Judicial career

From 1900 to 1921, Wiest served as an Ingham County, Michigan, 30th Judicial Circuit Court judge,[3] which occasioned him to hear many important cases involving the State of Michigan.[2][upper-alpha 2]

His name first appears at 213 Michigan Reports 95.[2][9] He served in a judicial capacity for 44 continuous years.[2]

In 1913 he delivered a paper entitled "Districting the Judicial Circuits" to the State Bar of Michigan.[10]

In 1916 he became the first to fill the statutorily created position of "presiding Circuit Judge" in Michigan.[2]

In 1921, based on his experience and record in the Circuit Court Wiest was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court by Governor Alex Groesbeck to fill the seat vacated upon the death of Flavius L. Brooke.[1][2][11][12] He served as a Justice for twenty-four and one-half years, until his death in 1945.[3] He was the chief justice in 1923, 1930, 1938.[12] Wiest died in a Lansing, Michigan hospital. An Honorary Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by the University of Michigan Law School in 1935.[1][2][5][13] More than 1,400 opinions he authored appeared in 96 volumes of the Michigan Supreme Court Reports. He participated in deciding over ten thousand cases.[2] His opinions had substantial impact on the state's decisional law.[5]

The Supreme Court Historical Society wryly noted:

He was personally slow to accept changing times. The paradox lies in the fact that his personal preferences found no reflection in his holdings. For instance, while the automobile affected day-to-day life, Wiest retained a personal preference for travel by rail and by horse and carriage. While the electric age affected daily lives, Wiest retained his personal preference for illuminating gas and kerosene lamps[1]

Justice Wiest had a large estate, called "Shagbark" on Rowley Road in Williamston, Michigan.[upper-alpha 3][15] He himself mixed the mortar and laid the brick "for several commodious buildings" to house his 10,000 volume personal library. He regularly feted a large Ox roast summer dinner, the culmination of which was in 1940 when 1,200 notable guests gathered, including the president of the American Bar Association and prominent members of government and the judiciary.[2][14]

In 1931 he is listed as the Ex officio president and on the Board of Governors of The Lawyers' Club, University of Michigan.[16]

Death and legacy

He died in hospital after a few years of decline, but a relatively short illness.[6] When he died he was "the Dean of all Michigan jurists in point of service" and the "oldest member of the state's highest tribunal."[6][upper-alpha 4]

He was the subject of a portrait executed in 1946 by Detroit artist Roy C. Gamble (1887–1972) which hangs at the Supreme Court.[17] The portrait joins nine others by Gamble of Chief Justices.[upper-alpha 5]

His remains are interred at Mount Hope Cemetery in Lansing, Michigan.[3]

Leland W. Carr was appointed as his successor by Governor Harry F. Kelly in 1945.[19]

References

Notes
  1. "Without the benefit of a college legal training, Wiest rose from a youthful steamfitters job and became known as one of the unique characters of Michigan jurisprudence."[6]
  2. See decision regarding an attempt by the Michigan Power Company to compete with the Lansing Board of Water & Light, which decision was affirmed by the Michigan Supreme Court.[8]
  3. In the tradition of The Great Gatsby, unsubstantiated but persistent rumors claim that Presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, Federal District Court judge/Commissioner of Major League Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis, and various movie stars attended these events.[14]
  4. As of his demise, "It fell to the lot of Justice WIEST to serve as a member of this Court for more years than any other justice with two exceptions–Justice CAMPBELL and Justice MOORE." James V. Campbell (1823–1890) was a member of the Michigan Supreme Court from 1858–1890. Joseph B. Moore (1845–1930) served from 1986 to 1925 at age 80.[5]
  5. The other Chief Justices painted by Gamble are: Honorable George E. Bushnell, Hon. Henry M. Butzel, Hon. Leland Carr, Hon. Bert D. Chandler, Hon. George Clark, Hon. Louis H. Fead, Hon. William Potter, Hon. Raymond Starr and Hon. Harry Toy. Inexplicably, this portrait is not listed in the following source.[18]

Citations
  1. "Howard Wiest". Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  2. State of Michigan, Supreme Court (February 22, 1944). Howard Wiest. (This brief history of the life of Justice Howard Wiest has been prepared by his associates of the Supreme Court of Michigan, and is presented to him on the occasion of a dinner commemorating his eightieth birthday). Lansing, Michigan: Gaylord Brothers. Retrieved August 10, 2015. at the Bentley Historical Library.
  3. "Howard Wiest". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  4. 1870 Census
  5. Starr, Raymond W.; Burns, Wilber N.; Kelley, Dean W.; Kelly, Harry F.; Chandler, Bert D.; Van Note, Charles P. (October 2, 1945). "In Memoriam Howard Wiest". Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  6. "Associate Justice of Michigan Dies: Wiest Was Oldest Member of State's Highest Tribunal". Ironwood Daily Globe. Ironwood, Michigan. September 17, 1945. p. 2. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  7. "Chief Justice Wiest". Bench and Bar. Lawyers' Club of Detroit. 1 (6): 2. June 1921. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  8. "Company Permitted to Compete with City Plant". Public Service Magazine. 18–21: 150. May 1915. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  9. Cooley, Thomas M. (1884). Attorney General v Joy. Retrieved August 10, 2015. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  10. Wrightington, Sydney Russell; Fuller, Horace Williams; Spencer, Arthur Weightman; Baldwin, Thomas Tileston (1913). "Michigan". The Green Bag. Boston Book Company. 25: 412. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  11. Colby, Frank Moore (1922). Michigan. p. 452. Retrieved August 10, 2015. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  12. "Michigan: Chief Justices of the Supreme Court". The Political Graveyard. 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  13. "Michigan Justice, 81, High Court Dean, Dies". Racine Journal Times. September 17, 1945. p. 6.
  14. Lutzke, Mitch (Fall 2011). "A Look Back: Famous Faces of Williamston's Past". My Williamston: 12–13. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  15. "Howard Wiest Obituary". The Escanaba Daily Press. Escanaba, Michigan. September 18, 1945. p. 2.(subscription required)
  16. "Officers". The Lawyers' Club, University of Michigan. 1931: 7, 10. Retrieved August 10, 2015. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  17. "Howard Wiest, 1864 – 1945". Catalog of American Portraits. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  18. Zofchak, Audrey. "Roy C. Gamble: Detroit Muralist & Portraitist". University Art Collection. Wayne State University. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  19. "Leland Carr— Served from 1941 through 1963, Chief Justice: 1947, 1955, 1962, 1963". Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
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