N. W. Hutchins

HUTCHINS, TANNER, SMITH

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 3/2/2012 at 18:39:41

Portrait and Biographical Record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton Counties, 1894, Chapman Publishing Company

N. W. HUTCHINS, who has done conspicuous public service, and is influential in all things pertaining to the welfare of his community, is a man of wide experience and more than ordinary ability as an attorney, standing foremost among the representatives of the Jones County Bar. Among the attorneys of Wyoming there is probably no one more in touch than is he with that wide-awake public spirit which is promoting the welfare of the city along the lines of general culture. He is endowed in intellect and gifted in mind and having traveled extensively has gained broad information concerning the habits and customs of mankind.

The parents of our subject, Benjamin and Patience (Tanner) Hutchins, were born in New York, where the latter remained until death. The father sometime afterward came west to Iowa and settled in Jackson County, where he continued to reside until his demise. N. W. was born in Jefferson County, New York, November 1, 1891, and spent the years of boyhood and youth in that state, where after having completed the studies of the common schools he was a student in an academy. Even in early boyhood he cherished a fondness for the technicalities of the law, and at an age of eighteen years, having determined to enter the profession, he entered the office of Moore, Brown & Beach, of Watertown, New York, under whose supervision he explored the mysteries of Blackstone. In October of 1852, he was admitted to the Bar.

In addition to his desire to become an attorney, Mr. Hutchins had also cherished an ambition to travel and see the world. An opportunity came to him to gratify this wish, and he eagerly availed himself of it. Journeying across the continent he took passage on a ship bound for Australia and after a tedious voyage reached his destination. There for eighteen years he made his home, meantime residing in Melbourne and Sydney, and also sojourned for short periods of time in other cities. Meantime he engaged in mining, and met with the usual ups and downs of a miner's life., experiencing its reverses and hardships as well as its excitements and successes. It had never, however, been his intention to establish his permanent home in Australia, and after a residence of eighteen years on that continent he returned to America, which he considers the best country in the world.

On returning to the United States in 1871, Mr. Hutchins settled in Jackson County, Iowa, but soon afterward began the practice of law in LaMotte, Jackson County, where he continued a number of years. In 1875 he removed to Wyoming, Jones County, Iowa, where he has since conducted a general practice of law in all courts. While he has never been partisan in his opinions, he nevertheless champions the Democracy at all times and is firm in his allegiance to his party.

While a resident in Australia, Mr. Hutchins was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Smith, a native of that country, and of English parentage. They have had a family of thirteen childre, of whom nine are living, all daughters, and names as follows: Esther Jane, Alice V., Lizzie Jane, Gertrude, Laura, Emma, Mary, Pansy Anna and Grace.