McCULLA, Walter Philo - 1914

MCCULLA, COLEMAN, FENSLER, LEWIS

Posted By: Volunteer
Date: 7/8/2009 at 15:28:57

HISTORY OF
Cherokee County
IOWA
VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1914
by Thomas McCulla

WALTER PHILO McCULLA.

Walter Philo McCulla, one of the prominent and leading attorneys of Cherokee, connected with important legal interests as a member of the well known firm of McCulla & McCulla, was born in Spring township, this county, May 27, 1876. He is a son of L. J. and Mary (Coleman) McCulla, the former a native of Montreal, Canada, and the latter of New York state. Both the father and grandfather served in the Civil war, L. J. .McCulla being a member of Company H, Eleventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry, for four years. He spent six months of this time in prison at Florence, South Carolina. The maternal branch of this family is descended directly from one of six Guernsey brothers who came to America in early times from the isle of Guernsey. The father of the subject of this review moved in 1870 from Muscatine county, Iowa, where he had resided since 1856, to Cherokee. The father entered land in Spring township and has operated and improved a farm there since that time. He is today one of the extensive land holders in this part of the state, owning seven hundred and eighty-eight acres of farming property. He and his wife became the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this review is the oldest.

Walter P. McCulla acquired his early education in the country schools of Cherokee county and later attended high school at Sutherland. He was graduated from the liberal arts department of the Iowa State University in June, 1901, having taken his first year of the law course during his senior year, and received his degree from the law department in June, 1903. In the same year he located for practice in Cherokee, forming a partnership with his uncle, Thomas McCulla, under the name of McCulla & McCulla. This is one of the leading law firms in the city and it is connected through a large and representative patronage with .a great deal of important litigation. Walter P. McCulla is known as a strong and able practitioner, well versed in the underlying principles of law and familiar with legal precedent. He has won a great many noteworthy cases and is ranked among the successful members of the bar in this section of the state. In addition to his professional interests he is well known in business circles as part owner of the Cherokee Times.

In Missouri Valley, Iowa, October 23, 1907, Mr. McCulla was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor B. Fensler, born in that city September 27, 1880. She is a daughter of W. H. and Cornelia A. (Lewis) Fensler, pioneers in Harrison county, Iowa. The father was a successful merchant in Missouri Valley for a number of years and also a large landholder in that locality. He died March 4, 1909, and is survived by his wife. Mr. and Mrs. McCulla have two children: William Louis, aged five; and Mary Annette, aged two.

Mr. McCulla is a member of the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and he is also a member of the Cherokee Commercial Club. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has held some important positions of trust and responsibility, serving for two sessions as enrolling clerk in the Iowa house of representatives and from January, 1909, to January, 1913, as county .attorney. His official record was distinguished by the accomplishment of a great deal of beneficial and farsighted work in the public service, for he proved conscientious, resourceful and fearless in the discharge of his duties. His attention is now largely centered upon his profession, in which he has won that distinction which comes only as a result of merit and ability. He is further entitled to a place in this volume as a veteran of the Spanish-American war, having served as a member of Company I, Fiftieth Iowa Volunteers.