Morris Lamprey, a twenty-seven year old lawyer, arrived in Minnesota Territory in 1855. Over the next two decades he built a large law practice and became a leader of the St. Paul bar; he also invested in city real estate and became wealthy. He died on April 9, 1879, at age fifty-one. In an editorial the St. Paul Daily Globe lamented:
"By the death of Mr. Lamprey, St. Paul and the State lose one of the most prominent members of the bar. He was a man who was passionately devoted to his profession, and probably confined himself more closely to his legal work than any other lawyer in the State. He never engaged in a case without giving it the closest study, and familiarizing himself with every detail, and his success can be largely attributed to this careful, painstaking custom. Many a time he has succeeded in court by his care in preparing his case, where in other respects his suit was weak....His long residence in St. Paul made him seem like a portion of the actual city and his large property interests gave him an additional incentive for aiding in building up the place. He was cut off in his prime, and at a time when his counsels and great financial strength were eminently advantageous to the public."
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