Viewing "Bench and Bar of Nicollet County." (1916)"Bench and Bar of Nicollet County." (1916)"The bar in Nicollet county has not had a large number connected with it." So begins this thumbnail sketch of the "bench and bar" of Nicollet County, published in 1916. Counting the names of the lawyers and judges listed in this history, it appears that less than thirty men practiced law in Nicollet County from the mid- 1850s to 1916, a period of sixty years. At the time of the publication of this history, there were only six lawyers residing in the county, and one of them, Charles R. Davis, was serving in congress in Washington, D.C. Despite its brevity, this history suggests that several lawyers warrant further scholarly attention: Sumner Ladd, who delved into politics, William Cowan, an associate of Charles Flandrau, and particularly C. S. Bryant, described as "the brainy attorney and brilliant writer of state and Indian history." |