- JOSEPH WILLIAM BATES, of Beloit, Rock County, is a prominent
member of the legal
- profession, and has a reputation throughout the State of
Wisconsin for conspicuous ability as a general practitioner of
the law. He is thoroughly versed in the fundamental principles
of his profession, and his judgment of the right and equity is
unusually strong.
- Mr. BATES was born in Janesville, Wis., July 14, 1852, a
son of Allen C. and Sarah H.
- (BANKS) BATES, natives of New York and Maine respectively.
They were the parents of seven children, five of whom are now
living: Joseph William; Edwin Ellsworth, of Edgerton, Wis.; Ina
L., of Des Moines, Iowa; George H., of Chicago; and Louise Helen,
wife of Rev. E. L. EATON, of Des Moines. The father, an attorney
at law, came to Wisconsin in 1843, settled at Janesville, and
engaged in the practice of law in that city until his death,
in 1891, at the age of sixty-nine; he was born at Sacket's Harbor,
N.Y., Nov. 12, 1822. His wife died Nov. 9, 1894, aged sixty-two
years. Both were Methodists. Allen Cole BATES was about twenty-two
years old when he came to Janesville, and from the first was
a recognized leader in the community. Four years after his arrival
he married Miss Sarah H. BANKS, who proved a faithful and devoted
wife. Mr. BATES was alderman of the Second ward for the first
twenty-one years of the city's existence. He filled the office
of justice of the peace many terms, and served on the county
board before the incorporation of the city. He was a member
of the state Legislature in 1862, 1863 and 1867. In 1859 he
was admitted to the Rock County Bar, and proved himself a man
of sound judgment in his long and brilliant career. He had a
kindly greeting for his friends, and lent a helping hand to the
poor. His funeral sermon was preached by his son-in-law, Rev.
Dr. E. L. EATON; the pall-bearers were Judge John R. BENNETT,
J. J. R. PEASE, A. A. JACKSON, E. F. CARPENTER, Pliny NORCROSS,
and L. F. PATTEN. Mr. BATES was a leading lawyer, and owned
at one time the finest residence in the city. He built thirteen
business blocks in Janesville in whose progress he was extensively
interested. His father, Orin BATES, a farmer, was a native of
New York, and son of Caleb BATES, and died in his native State.
He had a family of nine children. The history of the family
runs back many generations in America, to the arrival of an ancestor
from Holland, who settled in Dutchess County, N.Y. The maternal
grandfather of our subject, Joseph BANKS, was a native of Maine,
and of English descent, being in the eighth generation from William
BANKS, who was a physician in Lincolnshire, England, and at one
time a sheriff of the county. He had a son to whom he gave the
name of Joseph and this name was repeated in each of the eight
following generations. Joseph BANKS came to Wisconsin in 1847,
and lived in Janesville, where he practiced medicine several
years, also engaging in the same vocation in Winnebago County.
He was the father of six children. His death occurred at Omro,
Wis., when he was quite old. He was a Democrat.
- Joseph William BATES spent his boyhood and youth in Janesville,
and attended Lawrence
- University, at Appleton, Wis., three years, and the Northwestern
University, at Evanston, Ill. two years. He was admitted to
the Bar Feb. 5, 1875, and practiced law at Janesville until 1890.
On Jan. 6, 1890, he removed to Beloit, where he opened a law
office and has followed the practice of his profession to the
present time. He is a Republican, and exercises a wide influence
in local affairs. Mr. BATES was elected judge advocate of the
Janesville Guards at the organization of the company, and was
commissioned judge advocate of the 1st Regiment at the time of
its formation. He drafted the bill, and secured its passage,
that changed the name of the Wisconsin State militia to the Wisconsin
National Guard. This was done in the Legislature of 1878, when
he was a clerk in the State Senate. Mr. BATES has held many
important clerkships in the Senate and General Assembly of the
State. He was assistant chief clerk of the Senate in 1883.
-
- Taken from "Commemorative Biographical Record of
the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin"
(c) 1901, pp. 85-86.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
|