SKETCHES OF SOME OF THE MEMBERS OF THE KALAMAZOO BAR, LIVING AND DEAD, NOT HERETOFORE GIVEN.

From the Kalamazoo Telegraph.]

S. A. ATLEE.

S. A. AtLee was a member of the district land office staff, secretary of state, and a gentleman of much political, social and literary distinction in the early days. He left here in 1843 for Washington. A few years since he presented to the ladies' library a very valuable autograph album which he had been years in making up, and which his intimate and very extensive acquaintance with public men of this and other nations, gave him remarkable opportunities to collect. At one time the name of S. Yorke AtLee was a household word in this part of the state and indeed in the state of Michigan. He never was an active member of the bar.

WM. G. AUSTIN.

Wm. G. Austin was county clerk, and died in Nov., 1845; a young man of great promise and universally esteemed.

WALTER O. BALCH.

Walter O. Balch, son of N. A. Balch, died a young man, failing health preventing him from attaining any decided position at the bar, but he gave promise of distinction. His beautiful character and literary abilities made him loved by all who knew him. He was for a time associated with his father in the practice of law.

J. W. BREESE.

J. W. Breese, now in the 40th year of his continuous practice of the law, is yet, as he has been from the first, a leading member of the bar and has a lucrative practice. He has twice been president of the village and was an able and most efficient executive, always devoted to the best interests of the town. He is a gentleman whom all respect and esteem.

SAMUEL CLARK.

Samuel Clark was a distinguished member of this bar. He was born in Cayuga county, N. Y., in January, 1800. He graduated at Hamilton College, and read law with Judge Hurlburt of Auburn, commencing practice in Waterloo, N. Y., in 1828. In 1833 he was elected to Congress, and after serving one term he resumed the practice of law. He removed to this place

in 1842 and soon took high rank as one of the leading lawyers of the state. He was elected a member of the constitutional convention of Michigan, and was prominent in the more important topics in that body (says Judge Wells, who was a fellow member). He favored, by strong argument, the establishment of an independent supreme court, releasing its judges from circuit court duties. He was elected to Congress in 1853 and was recognized as one of the leaders of the Michigan delegation. Old citizens will remember his ability as a lawyer, his generous hospitality at his home, and his valuable services to his country in every public position he held and his private worth.

HORACE H. COMSTOCK.

*Horace H. Comstock was not so much noted as a lawyer as he was for many other qualities which made him a man of mark and of usefulness in pioneer times. The township and the village is named in honor of him. He removed from this place in 1848 to Otsego. From having once been one of the largest of land holders here and one of the leading citizens of this county and state, he died in 1860 in New York a poor man.

LYMAN I. DANIELS.

Lyman I. Daniels located in Schoolcraft in 1831, and was the first lawyer in the county. In 1832, at the time of the Black Hawk scare, he was appointed, or acted, as colonel, and was ever afterward honored with that title. His law business was mostly in land matters and as agent of eastern purchasers. Colonel Daniels' portrait is in Cooley's picture of the first court in Kalamazoo county. He died in Cassville, Wis., in 1838.

WM. H. DEYOE.

Wm. H. DeYoe was one of the most successful of the younger class of lawyers here. He was an excellent business attorney and very popular. He was very prominent in political and social circles. He was postmaster in 1856 and served four years to the satisfaction of all. His law business was all the time growing and he devoted a great deal of time to it. His health failed and he died on the cars just east of Lockport on his way home, in November, 1863, aged 42 years and 6 months.

JOHN HASCALL.

John Hascall studied law in Genesee county, N. Y., served in the war of 1812, and came to this county in 1830. He was an anti Masonic leader before he came west and was a strong mind among the people in the early * See vol. 5, Page 359.