Michael Fansler

Michael Fansler
Michael Fansler
Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court
	In office; January 4, 1933 – January 1, 1945
Preceded by	Julius Travis
Succeeded by	Oliver Starr

Michael Louis Fansler (July 4, 1883 – July 26, 1963) was an American lawyer, football player, politician, and judge who served as a justice of the Indiana Supreme Court from January 4, 1933, to January 1, 1945.[1]

Biography

Early life, education, and career

Fansler was born in Logansport, Indiana to Michael David and Johanna Fansler (née Mulcahy). Michael David Fansler (born 1857 in Wyandotte County, Ohio), the son of one of Logansport's early physicians, was of Scots-Irish, German, and French descent. M.D. Fansler was a prominent local lawyer, serving for most of his career as a prosecutor. Johanna "Nannie" Fansler was the daughter of an Irish immigrant.[1][2]

Fansler began attending Notre Dame Law School at the University of Notre Dame (in Notre Dame, Indiana) in 1901. He was a member of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. Known to his teammates as "Big Mike" (he was over six feet tall), he played a variety of positions during his time on the team. He graduated and was admitted to the bar in 1905.[1][3]

Fansler returned to Cass County. From 1906 to 1910, he served as Assistant Prosecuting Attorney of the 29th Judicial Circuit, working under prosecutor George C. Custer. From 1910 to 1914, he served as the Prosecuting Attorney of the 29th Circuit, succeeding Custer. In 1915, Fansler became a partner at the private firm of Rabb, Mahoney, Fansler & Douglass. He remained at the firm until 1932. Fansler helped to organize a liberty loan drive in Cass County during the First World War. Fansler was a Democrat.[1][2][4]

Judicial career and later life

Fansler became a justice of the Indiana Supreme Court in 1933. In 1941, Fansler delivered a speech titled "Some Public Reactions to Procedural Methods" at a meeting of the Indiana State Bar Association. Fansler left the court in 1945, succeeded by Justice Oliver Starr.[1][5]

Fansler chaired the Indiana Judicial Council from 1951 to 1960.[1]

Personal life and death

Fansler was a member of the Indiana State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He was also a member of the Gamma Eta Gamma and an Elk. Moses Lairy, another Indiana Supreme Court Justice (1915-1921), was a friend and mentor to Fansler. Fansler wrote a letter to Governor Paul V. McNutt to thank him for leading the Democrats to a landslide victory in the 1932 elections.[4][6][7]

In 1909, Fansler married Katherine Hall of Peru, Indiana. During the First World War, Katherine Fansler was a member of the Women's Section of the Indiana State Council of Defense, the Indiana branch of the nationwide volunteer organization that helped coordinate Americans resources and industry for the war effort.[4][8]

Fansler died in Indianapolis in 1963.[1]

References

Minde C. Browning, Richard Humphrey, and Bruce Kleinschmidt, "Biographical Sketches of Indiana Supreme Court Justices", Indiana Law Review, Vol. 30, No. 1 (1997), section reproduced in Indiana Courts Justice Biographies page.
Powell, Jehu Z. (1913). History of Cass County Indiana : From its earliest settlement to the present time : with biographical sketches and reference to biographies previously compiled. Lewis Publishing Company.
Notre Dame Scholastic Football Pages Volume 38 Issue 13 (PDF). 17 Dec 1904. p. 218.
Schwarz, J.C. (1937). Who's who in Law, Volume 1. p. 297.
Fansler, Michael (February 1941). "Some Public Reactions to Procedural Methods". 16 Indiana Law Journal 277 (1941). Indiana University Bloomington. 16 (3).
Ridlen, Julian (2010). Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court. Indiana Historical Society. pp. 227–229. ISBN 9780871952882.
Madison, James H. (1982). Indiana Through Tradition and Change: A History of the Hoosier State and Its People, 1920-1945. Indiana Historical Society. p. 78. ISBN 9780871950437.
Carlisle, Anne (1919). Report of the Woman's section of the Indiana State council of defense. Indianapolis, W. B. Burford, contractor for state printing and binding.

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[Ind-1] Minde C. Browning, Richard Humphrey, and Bruce Kleinschmidt, "Biographical Sketches of Indiana Supreme Court Justices", Indiana Law Review, Vol. 30, No. 1 (1997), section reproduced in Indiana Courts Justice Biographies page.

[Powell-2] Powell, Jehu Z. (1913). History of Cass County Indiana : From its earliest settlement to the present time : with biographical sketches and reference to biographies previously compiled. Lewis Publishing Company.

[3] Notre Dame Scholastic Football Pages Volume 38 Issue 13 (PDF). 17 Dec 1904. p. 218.

[Schwarz-4] Schwarz, J.C. (1937). Who's who in Law, Volume 1. p. 297.

[5] Fansler, Michael (February 1941). "Some Public Reactions to Procedural Methods". 16 Indiana Law Journal 277 (1941). Indiana University Bloomington. 16 (3).

[Book-6] Ridlen, Julian (2010). Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court. Indiana Historical Society. pp. 227–229. ISBN 9780871952882.

[7] Madison, James H. (1982). Indiana Through Tradition and Change: A History of the Hoosier State and Its People, 1920-1945. Indiana Historical Society. p. 78. ISBN 9780871950437.

[8] Carlisle, Anne (1919). Report of the Woman's section of the Indiana State council of defense. Indianapolis, W. B. Burford, contractor for state printing and binding.