Bullis, Levi - 1828 - 1902

BULLIS, DIBBLE, NOYES, WEISER

Posted By: Bill Waters (email)
Date: 5/19/2024 at 21:00:46

Levi Bullis was born at Schuyler Falls, Clinton County, N. Y., April 5, 1828, where the foundation for his long and honorable professional career of more than forty-eight years was laid by a good common school course, and later by a thorough education acquired at Ballston Springs law school. Mr. Bullis left his native state in 1853, and after spending a year in Illinois and several months at Portage City, Wisconsin, came in 1854 to Decorah

In the spring of 1854 Levi Bullis, in the prime of early manhood, came and settled in Decorah, then a primitive town indeed. On the 23rd day of July, 1902, after more than 48 years of incessant labor, his body was laid beside his two children in God’s half acre, and we hope that his indomitable spirit is at rest. Mr. Bulks, fresh from school, at once became prominent as a citizen, and his voracity for work and aggressive energy soon placed him in the front rank of his profession—a noble one when honestly followed—and he possessed the highest ideals of an attorney, and no man can truthfully say that he was not honest with his clients, or that he ever employed trickery or chicanery in the conduct of his cases. He won or lost in an open and fair fight, while putting forth every honorable effort possible. He was imbibed with a spirit of chivalry in a high degree, and was at all times willing and anxious to defend anyone whom lie believed others were trying to oppress. No client whom he believed to have a just cause ever sought his services in vain. Though he loved to make money, yet he loved his profession better, and would undertake the cause of a poor client and furnish money to fight his battles. His zeal for what he deemed the right carried him beyond all bounds of reason. It made him intolerant, and in a great measure hampered his usefulness in the cause he wished most to serve. He was a man of heart, a man of action, and zealous as a martyr—a man of strong passion governed by impulse and calm judgment. Yet his heart was as pure as the heart of a child, and his life was as clean. He hated sham, he hated fuss and feathers. He loved young men; he loved children, and a little child could lead him. Above all things this many-sided man of whom it can truthfully be said that he was without a model and without a shadow, has his memory enshrined in the hearts of the poor and lonely, whom he loved and aided always.

Decorah Journal, July 29, 1902.
Source: The Courts and Legal Profession of Iowa Vol II, Cole and Ebersole, H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co. Chicago, ILL, 1907

Source: Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer July 25, 1902, FP, C5
Death of Levi Bullis.
It is with sadness, indeed, that the Journal is called to chronicle this week the sudden death of Attorney Levi Bullis, who passed away at his home on West Main street Monday morning, July 21st, at 6 o’clock, from a stroke of paralysis, which came upon him last Saturday morning at seven o’clock, as he was getting up from bed. He remained conscious for about three hours, and then passed into an unconscious state from which he never rallied.
His death has come so sudden and entirely unlooked for that it is as a flash of lightning from a clear sky. He was in usual health, which was remarkably good for one of his advanced years, and was attending to business at his law office as usual Friday, and retired to rest that night with no thought by himself or family or friends that his long and vigorous life was at a close.
Levi Bullis was born April 5, 1828, at Schuyler Falls, New York, so that at the time of his death he was 74 years, 3 months and 16 days old. He came to Winnesheik{sic} county in May 1854, since which time his whole life has been spent here in the practice of his profession. October 24, 1865, he was married at Whitehall, N. Y., to Miss Amy Dibble, who with five children of the seven born to them, survive. The surviving children are: Mrs. D. A. Noyes, of Chicago; Mrs. C. J. Weiser, of this city; Misses Clela and Ruth, living at home, and one son, Levi, who for several months has been assistant cashier in a bank at Kenmare, N. D. Mrs. Noyes arrived from Chicago Sunday morning and Levi, or “Boy” as he has long been familiarly called by the family and acquaintances, came Monday afternoon.
To the sorrowing family the Journal and many friends extend heartfelt sympathies.—Decorah Journal.
The mutations of time are in evidence in the recent death of Levi Bullis, In 1857, when the writer came to this Judicial district, which then comprised with its present territory, Floyd and Mitchell counties, in each county of the district was an able and efficient corps of attorneys. The bar in Mitchell county had Gen. Eaton, C. Foreman; Floyd, the Reinegers, Starr, Patterson, Wiltse and Fairfield; Fayette, McClintock, the Ainsworth’s and the late Judge McGlarthery; Allamakee, John T. Clark, the late Judge Hatch, and the present Judge L. E. Fellows; Clayton, Judges Murdock, Williams, and Noble, Baugh, Stoneman, Remick, J. O. Crosby, Price, Drummond; Winnesheik,{sic} Bullis, Griswold, S. A. Tupper, Dryden Smith, E. E. Cooley, J. T. Atkins, while Howard was at the mercy of Judge Berry and the writer of these notes.
In looking over this list of attorneys we recall the names of but four now living and but one, J. O. Crosby in practice.

Source: Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer Aug. 1, 1902, FP, C6

Levi Bullis.
In the spring of 1854 Levi Bullis, in the prime of early manhood, came and settled in Decorah, then a primitive town indeed.
On the 23rd of July, 1902, after more than 48 years of incessant labor his body was laid beside his two children in God’s half acre, and we hope that his indomitable spirit is at rest.
Mr. Bullis, fresh from school, at once became prominent as a citizen, and his voracity for work and aggressive energy soon placed him in the front rank of his profession—a noble one when honestly followed—and he possessed the highest ideals of an attorney, and no man can truthfully say that he was not honest with his clients, or that he ever employed trickery or chicanery in the conduct of his cases. He won or lost in an open and fair fight while putting forth every honorable effort possible.
He was imbued with a spirit of chivalry in a high degree and was at all times willing and anxious to defend anyone whom he believed others were trying to oppress. No client whom he believed had a just cause ever sought his services in vain. Though he loved to make money, yet he loved his profession better and he would undertake the cause of a poor client and furnish money to fight his battles.
He hated tyranny and oppression so much, even the appearance of the same that he was in practice an iconoclast and could not and would not brook control. This rendered it impossible for him to become and remain long a member of any party or organization. He was an independent of the independents.
His zeal for what he deemed the right carried him beyond all bonds of reason. It made him intolerant and in a great measure hampered his usefulness in the cause he wished most to serve.
He was a man of heart, a man of action, and zealous as a martyr, a man of strong passions governed by impulses and not calm judgment, yet his heart was as pure as the heart of a child and his life was clean.
He hated sham, he hated “fuss and feathers.” He loved young men—he loved children and a little child could lead him.
Above all things this many sided man of whom it can truthfully be said that he was without a model and without a shadow, has his memory enshrined in the hearts of the poor and lowly whom he loved and aided always.—Geo. W. Adams, in Decorah Journal.

Source: Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer Dec. 23, 1902, LP, C7

In Memory of Levi Bullis.
Last Thursday the district court of Winneshiek county paused in its work in order to tender tribute to the memory of the late Levi Bullis, who was at the time of his death the oldest member of the bar for this county. Brief addresses of eulogy were made by Judge Hobson, J. B. Kaye, M. A. Harmon and R. F. B. Portman, after which the formal tribute was adopted and ordered spread on the court records:

IN MEMORIAM—LEVI BULLIS.
On Monday, July 21st, 1902, the oldest member of the Winneshiek county bar, and one of the most prominent lawyers in the 13th Judicial District of Iowa, passed quietly into the Great Unknown. After nearly fifty years of strenuous, active practice in his profession he is at rest. And we, his associates, knowing that beneath a rough and rugged exterior beat a warm and loving heart, gather here to-day in honor of his memory, to express our high regard for him as a lawyer, a citizen and a man.
He was born at Schuyler Falls, Clinton county, New York, April 5th, 1828; acquired his legal education at the Ballston Springs law school, and came to Decorah in the spring of 1854, where he ever since resided, practicing law until a few days before his death.
He was a worshiper of liberty, a favorite saying of his being, “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” A friend of the oppressed, he gave freely from his services or his means in their behalf. He was oak and rock in every storm of life, a good hater, a good friend. His word was always kept inviolate in all transactions where great or small. He sympathized with the weak and the wronged, the poor and the unfortunate, and quietly, oftentimes secretly, without parade or show, contributed to the support of the needy. He implicity,{sic} almost blindly, believed and trusted in his clients and was unwavering in his fidelity to them.
We sincerely regret his departure from our midst and would that we might look upon his like again.
We ask this action of the Bar be spread upon the records of the court, a copy furnished to the family of the deceased and to the press for publication.
GEO. W. ADAMS,
N. WILLETT,
M. J. CARTER,
JOHN B. KAYE,
Committee.

Added by Joy Moore Jan. 14, 2020

Source: Decorah Republican July 24, 1902 Page 4 Col 3,4

LEVI BULL1S
-died at his home in this city, at about six o’clock, Monday morning, July 21st, aged 74 years, 2 months and 22 days. Death resulted from a stroke of apoplexy that came to him early Saturday morning, from which unconsciousness speedily resulted, and death followed in its apparently least painful form.
Deceased was the last survivor of the pioneer bar of Winnesheik{sp} county. He came hither from his native state, after tarrying in Illinois for a year, and at once begun a legal career that lasted through the ensuing forty-eight years. In the first week of his residence he tried and won a law case. His associates at the bar of those days were the late G. H. Willett, M. V Burdick, E. E. Cooley, D. H. Hughes, John T Clark, Dryden Smith, L. W. Griswold, S. A. Tupper and others not as well known. Four of these attained to judicial titles and honors, but for many years Mr. Bullis ranked a peer of the best before a jury and as a trial lawyer. In the old tenth judicial district he was co-temporary with ex-Judges Sam’l Murdock, Elias H. Williams, Reuben Noble and L. O. Hatch and of Hon. L. L. Ainsworth, Eliphalet Price, Jacob W. Rogers, besides many others whose names cannot easily be re-called. The only survivors of that pioneer band are
J. O. Crosby of Clayton and J. H. Powers of Chickasaw.
Mr. Bullis was born at Schuyler Falls in Clinton county, N. Y., April 5th, 1828, and after acquiring a good common school education entered the Ballston Springs Law School, where he acquired his legal education. His residence in Decorah dates from 1854, and in those early times no citizen was more active than he in all the daily affairs of the town. When the old County Judge system of county government was followed by the first form of the Supervisor system—one member from each township—Mr. Bullis was chosen to represent Decorah township. Naturally he became one of the leaders in that body. When the War of the Rebellion broke out the spirit of patriotism was aroused in the board. A committee on the war was created to report appropriate action. Of this committee Mr. Bullis was a member and the elaborate report made and adopted bears evidence of his master mind. Capt. Willett’s company (D of 3d Iowa Infantry) was being raised, and the report appropriated $2000 to be used in uniforming the company. This was done and “our boys’ went out clad in an attractive if not a regulation uniform. No legal quibble was permitted as to the right to expend public money for that purpose. Mr. Bullis was head of the finance committee to carry out the provisions of the report as to this equipment. The report also ordered the issuance of warrants to the wife of each married soldier for $3 each week, and $1 additional to each child up to three. These sums were afterwards modified— the treasury could not stand the strain later enlistments rendered necessary— but this method of giving bounties was continued until the close of the war. It involved an expenditure of scores of thousands of dollars — an exhibition of public patriotism rivaled nowhere else in Iowa. From the official record, assisted by a lively recollection of those stirring events, this tribute is paid to the memory of Levi Bullis for his active efforts in such a noble work.
In early politics Mr. Bullis was a radical republican. It was in his nature to be whole-hearted and intense in all causes he espoused. In 1861 he aspired to the honors of a state Senatorship. M. V. Burdick competed for the nomination and won it on a narrow majority and by methods which Mr. Bullis believed to be fraudulent. This defeat caused his retirement for several years from active politics, except as he was able to aid personal friends or defeat an enemy. After the war of the rebellion he disagreed with the republican party and thereafter affiliated with democracy.
In 1865 Mr. Bullis married Miss Abbie R. Dibble, of Clinton county. N. Y. whose coming hither was the foundation of one of Decorah’s pleasantest homes. Into it were born five daughters and two sons. Five of these gathered yesterday at the side of this loving mother to support her in the grief that rightly attends the laying away of a loyal, faithful husband and a most indulgent father. The surviving children are Mrs. David A. Noyes of Chicago, Miss Clela, Mrs. Charles J. Weiser and Miss Ruth, and Levi P, of Kenmare, N. D.
The dominant characteristic of the deceased was intensity of feeling and an unswerving purpose in whatever he undertook. As a friend he was unstinted in his affection, untiring in his willingness to serve, and whole-hearted in his devotion. As an enemy he was equally out-spoken, bluff and pronounced. His nature knew no such thing as neutrality, and his opinions were never withheld whenever called for by circumstance or event. As an attorney every atom of trained mental equipment and legal acumen was at the service of his client, and for the life-time of a generation he was counsel on one side of a majority of the cases in our courts and enjoyed one the most lucrative of Decorah’s law practices.
The funeral was held from the family home yesterday afternoon.

Phelps Cemetery
 

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Jeff Getchell.
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