Ellis, Lyman A.

ELLIS

Posted By: Anne Hermann (email)
Date: 2/7/2008 at 10:18:39

LYMAN A. ELLIS.

Lyman A. Ellis is one of the distinguished lawyers and statesmen of Iowa. There are few men in the community whose lives are crowned with greater honor and respect than is generally accorded him. Through many years he has been an important factor in public affairs, and will leave the impress of his individuality for good upon the commonwealth.

The birth of our subject occurred on a farm a few miles north of Burlington, Vermont, March 11, 1833. The family home was on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain and in that locality he attended the district school and at the age of eighteen he began teaching. In this way he was enabled to meet the expenses of an academic course in Bakersfield and Colchester and to pursue a course of lectures in a law school in Vermont, where, graduating, he was admitted to the bar, and at twenty-one years he resolved to try his fortunes in the west, and after visiting at various places he began the practice of law in Clinton county, Iowa, in 1861, where he rose almost at once into prominence and has steadily maintained a place in the foremost ranks of the profession in the state. In 1865 he was elected district attorney of the Seventh judicial district, consisting of Jackson, Scott, Muscatine and Clinton counties. In this office he became noted as a jury advocate and trial lawyer, and gave such general satisfaction that he was four times re-elected, holding the office for the period of sixteen years, and finally retiring in 1880. Since that time he has been engaged in the general practice of law in the state and federal courts. The Iowa Law Reports show how extensive and successful has been his practice in the supreme court of Iowa.

For a number of years Mr. Ellis has been prominent as one of the leaders in the Republican party of Iowa. From the organization of the party he has never faltered in his allegiance thereto, and his efforts have contributed in no inconsiderable degree to Republican successes. His fitness for leadership and official honors was recognized in 1893 in his election to the office of senator from Clinton county, through it had previously gone Democratic by a large majority. During the first term he became widely known as a debater and renowned for his oratorical ability, winning distinction for his memorable speech against woman suffrage, - a speech which won much admiration and was commented upon at length by the press of the entire state. He is a bold and vehement speaker, and is inflexible in his views as to state politics or what he considers wholesome, provident legislation; yet he never resorts to vituperation, ridicule or abuse of his opponents. In 1897 he refused a renomination as senatorial candidate because his duties at Des Moines claimed so much time from his professional labors; and it is a well-known fact that his devotion to the interests of his clients is vigilant and untiring, and generally successful. He was a determined advocate of local option for the sake of control of the liquor traffic in counties where prohibition has been a failure, and to his persistency and leadership the modification of state-wide prohibition and the provision for the manufacture of liquors in Iowa are largely due. He accepted these modifications whose provisions, though not entirely satisfactory, were the best that could then be obtained. During the second session of the twenty-sixth general assembly he was chairman of the judiciary committee, and here his knowledge of the law and general ability as a safe and conservative legislator proved him to be a practical worker as well as an orator. At the special session of 1897 he was made a member of the joint committee for the annotation and publication of the new code, serving as its vice-chairman.

Mr. Ellis still practices law and his vigor and ambition seem unabated. He has a nice discrimination as to legal ethics, and he is so thoroughly well read that he is able to base his arguments upon thorough knowledge of and familiarity with precedents and originality in application, and to present a case upon its peculiar merits, never failing to recognize the main point at issue, and never neglecting a thorough preparation. His pleas have been characterized by logical and lucid analysis as well as ornament in metaphor and illustration, and his power is greater before court or jury from the fact that it is recognized that his aim is to secure exalted justice and not to enshroud the cause in a sentimental garb, or illusion which will thwart the principles of right and equity involved.

On the 12th of November, 1856, Mr. Ellis was united in marriage to Miss Mary Buckley, and unto them have been born six children: Daniel B., an attorney of Denver, Colorado; George B., who has large manufacturing and fruit-growing interest in southern California; Charles F., a merchant and business man of Denver, Colorado; Frank W., whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume; Gertrude May, wife of Garett E. Lamb, one of the prominent businessmen and financiers of Clinton; and Lyman M., a physician of Chicago, Illinois.
The Biographical Record, Clinton County, Iowa, 1901.