George Grover Wright

Pioneer Lawmaker - Jurist - Statesman - Financier - Occasion Orator

1820 - 1896

I

The golden wedding of Judge and Mrs. Wright, in Des Moines on the 19th day of October, 1893, was an event of rare interest to the many friends of the long and happily married pair. Coupled with the event was the silver wedding of Thomas S., their eldest son, and Mary Tuttle Wright. The children and grandchildren present numbered twenty-two. Besides these there were many relatives and friends assembled from the capital city and from other cities near and remote. Among the number were Judges Francis Springer, of Columbus Junction, and D. F. Miller, of Keokuk, who with Judge Wright were the only surviving attorneys of territorial days. Judge Seevers and several other members, also several ex-members of the Supreme Court were present. Maj. Hoyt Sherman "represented the old settlers of Polk county," of which Judge and Mrs. Wright were prominent members. A diamond-studded gold pin was presented by the guests to each, in a neatly-worded speech by Major Sherman, in the course of which happy allusion was made to the half-century of life passed by them in loving companionship, each a sharer with the other in joys and friendships, in sorrow and losses, pains and disappointments. Since the happy event that day celebrated, much had happened. "When you began life together," continued the major, "there was no state of Iowa on the map of the world; only a narrow strip of settlements stretching along the west bank of the Mississippi from the mouth of our Des Moines river into an almost unknown region forming what was then the territory of Iowa. All westward, including our own city and surroundings, was the home and hunting ground of Indians - the Sacs and the Foxes, the Pottawattamies and the treacherous Sioux. . . . To you, sir, as much as any other living man, is due the honor of building out of the wilderness this great empire. As lawmaker in the councils of both state and nation, you were among the most prominent in enacting statutes that strengthened and promoted the growth and prosperity of our whole state. As judge on the bench of our Supreme Court, in the interpretation of the law, you were guided by the highest principles of justice and equity and aided greatly in establishing that respect for law and order which is a characteristic of our people. As one of the great forces that placed our commonwealth in the front rank of states in intellectual growth and progress, in the prosperity of our farmers, our merchants and our manufacturers and in the development of our educational institutions, you are heartily recognized and honored by all good citizens."

The venerable judge was deeply moved by these strong words of praise. Quickly recovering, he responded in his usually happy vein. He pictured the comfortable farm-house of Judge Dibble in Van Buren county - a somewhat pretentious home for that early day - in which one early October morning, fifty years before, he and the judge's daughter had vowed to be true and loyal while life should last. "Then a poor and briefless attorney, taking a young wife from a well-provided home to new duties and possible if not actual poor and scanty surroundings," he had struggled on, honored, as he believed, beyond his deserts, blest with a family that had never brought pain to his heart - "How short the time - that period of fifty years!" The judge also alluded with satisfaction to the marvelous growth and development of Iowa during that half- century. He fondly turned his thoughts to the old settlers, present and absent, who had been so much to him during those years. He then repeated the names of many of Iowa's illustrious sons who had passed on, in a felicitous phrase here and there presenting an impressionistic picture of the more notable ones.

In this happy address, Judge Wright imparted to his friends collectively the open secret of his ruling motive of life - affording to the biographer the key by which he is enabled to find that without which biography is a dead thing - scarcely more than a "Who's Who" amplified. Here is the secret: "Not a few of you have taken a large part in giving us a state so proud, laws so just and essential to our greatness and strength. Thinking of this, and of the duty of every citizen to magnify and uphold these laws, I am led to say that we do this in proportion as we stand by the law and all its social mandates -

"'Sovereign law, the state's collected will Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill.'

"This thought had been the supreme dream and hope of my life. And now as the years come upon me, and when, more than ever, I fear, perils and dangers confront us, it is my constant prayer and aspiration."

A story is told by the judge's old neighbors in Keosauqua which was not drawn out at the golden wedding. The handsome and well-dressed young attorney was wont to visit his intended, driving a fine horse and seated in a smart new buggy. A buggy in Iowa, in the early '40s, was as much a curiosity as was an automobile fifth years later. The town boys first wondered, then admired, and then - on the night before the wedding - ran the buggy into the pond near the Dibble home! The boys, waiting in the darkness to see the fun, anticipated a terrible ebullition of wrath when Wright should make the discovery that his buggy was gone. But no: philosopher that he was, he comprehended the situation at a glance. Calling the boys around him, he admitted it was a good joke on him and appreciated the implied compliment; but he very much wanted the buggy, that he might reach home in good season and get his regular sleep in preparation for the important event of the morrow. The boys were so impressed with Wright's good nature that, concluding they had carried the joke far enough, they waded into the pond, hauled the buggy to the barn door, harnessed the horse, helped the bridegroom-elect into the buggy, handed him the lines, and, with a good-night all around, wished him much joy!

II

George Grover Wright was born in Bloomington, Indiana, on the 24th day of March, 1820. He was the son of John Wright, a master mechanic, and Rachel Seaman Wright. His father's family was of Welsh descent; his mother's came originally from England. The father's first American ancestor came from Wales in 1720. The father himself was born in Pennsylvania and died in Bloomington, Indiana, when his son, George, was five years old. His mother came to Iowa in territorial days, and died in Keosauqua in 1850.

Young George was lamed early in life by a severe attack of rheumatism, and as a consequence was compelled to forego outdoor sports in his boyhood and youth. But every loss has its compensations and he found his chief delight in the companionship of books. Awarded a free scholarship in the Indiana University, he graduated from that institution in his twentieth year. He read law in Rockville with an elder brother, Joseph A. Wright, who afterwards became governor of Indiana. Admitted to the bar in 1840, in September of that year he set out for Iowa. He followed the Wabash, the Ohio and the Mississippi, on his way to Burlington. One of the stories Judge Wright enjoyed telling was of his chief reason for finally locating in Iowa. He first came to Iowa in 1840, and studied the situation in Burlington and the few other Iowa towns then worth investigating. He then took a boat back to St. Louis, purposing to locate in that city. On arriving at his destination he learned, to his surprise, that the city was credited with 20,000 inhabitants, and its immense population overwhelmed him! He took the first boat up the river and, landing in Burlington, he there decided to locate in Keosauqua. He lived to see Des Moines, the city of his final choice, more than four times the size of the St. Louis of 1840, and did all in his power to make it grow many times larger.

The young attorney's first appearance in the Supreme Court of Iowa was at the January term in 1844, and he was successful in his case. In 1846 he was appointed prosecuting attorney for the county, and that same year was nominated by the whigs for a seat in the upper house of the Territorial Legislature. His father-in-law, Judge Dibble, the democratic candidate, defeated him. The contest for the coveted seat was a good-natured one, and the young attorney expressed himself as "pleased to have the office in the family"!

Meanwhile the territory became a state, and in 1848 the son-in-law succeeded the father-in-law in the Senate. the bulk of the work of codifying the laws and of reconstructing the entire judicial system of Iowa fell upon the young senator from Van Buren. When, near the end of the session, the opinion was expressed that an extra session would be necessary to complete the work, Senator Wright took the floor and insisted that the General Assembly should not adjourn until the code was completed and passed upon. He carried his point, though it compelled him to toil night and day to complete the code.

It is a matter easily proved by the algebraic process of elimination that many of the measures prepared by him at this time are still in the code, and, in the main, in phraseology as originally written by him.

Honors and defeats came thick and fast. In 1850 Senator Wright was nominated for Congress by the whigs. Opposed to him was Bernhart Henn, a man of ability who in his time gave much promise. The congressional district at the time comprised the entire south half of the state. The state was still democratic and Wright went down to defeat with his party. In 1853 he was put forward as the whig candidate for United States senator against General Jones.

In 1855, not yet thirty-five years old, Senator Wright was nominated chief justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa. He had for his opponent Edward Johnstone, a man of fine ability and magnificent personal presence. But the tide had turned. The slavery question had solidified the anti-slavery voters of the state. Under the leadership of Grimes, the republican party was born, and Senator Wright was "in at the bornin'." The Legislature was republican and elected Wright by a vote of fifty-three to forty-five. His first associates on the bench were William G. Woodward and Norman W. Isbell.

Under the new state constitution, a Supreme bench was to be elected in 1859. Justice Wright declined a renomination, but the death of Justice Stockton, who by lot had been chosen chief justice, created a vacancy which Governor Kirkwood filled in 1860 by the appointment of Wright. From June 19, 1860, to September 1, 1870, Judge Wright remained on the bench. During this decade - perhaps the most resultful period of his long public career - Judge Wright confronted the most abstruse and complicated questions of law, questions involving the vast and varied interests of the new state, struggling as it was with problems growing out of the war and readjustment to a peace basis, problems incident to the rapid growth and development of the state, the overlapping rights of individuals and corporations, the adjustment of municipalities to the state, the limitations found necessary to be placed upon personal liberty, etc.

In an address delivered on the occasion of his retirement from the presidency of the State Agricultural Society, in 1865, with his wonted plain-spokenness, Judge Wright urged the members of the society not to permit political considerations to influence their actions, adding: "The day that witnesses a political State Agricultural Society will witness its doom," or at least the beginning of the end.

The establishment of the Supreme Court at the state capital had long made it difficult for Judge Wright to retain his home in Keosauqua. In 1865 he moved his household goods overland to Des Moines and permanently established a home in the capital city.

III

Then it was that the two best known jurists in Iowa, Judges Wright and Cole, conceived and put into execution an ambitious project - not so much for their own profit as for the glory of Iowa: the founding of a law school in the state. Beginning in November, 1865, with two law students only, the number soon increased to twelve or more. The judges each gave three evenings a week to the class, examining the students on their readings and on correlated subjects. The failure of the General Assembly, in 1865, to father the movement led the judges to make the local school general. They issued a circular in which they said:

"Unpretending in our efforts and promises, or hope is to contribute somewhat in advancing the student in his studies, and at the same time benefit ourselves by the undertaking."

Editor Hammond, in the Western Jurist of December, 1868, referring to Judge Wright, remarked: "For thirty years he has been identified with that history, taking an active and leading part in every good work, and especially in the promotion of education, and of justice. . . . With the exception of a few months in 1860, he has occupied a seat on the Supreme bench for fourteen years, and has undoubtedly done more than any other man, living or dead, to mould the jurisprudence of our young state, and to give it the honorable name which we may justly claim for it."

The school was duly incorporated, its corporate members including all the federal and state judges in Iowa and many ex-judges and other leading members of the Iowa bar. On December 4, 1866, Chief Justice Lowe conferred degrees on the twelve members of the first graduating class. The examining committee regarded the inauguration of the school as marking "an epoch in the jurisprudence of the state," permanently raising the standard of professional education in Iowa. In behalf of the state bar, its members expressed "their obligations to Judges Wright and Cole for this great service."

The school struggled on until 1868, when the General Assembly appropriated the sum of $20,000 for the purpose of establishing a law department in connection with the university. This action resulted in the absorption of the Des Moines Law School and the transfer of its dean, Mr. Hammond, to the headship of the new department. Judges Wright and Cole retained their former relations with the school, contracting to "spend considerable part of each term" in instructional work.

It will thus be seen that the law school of Iowa's State University had its inception in the brains of Judges Wright and Cole - this not among the least of the achievements of these eminent jurists.

In this connection it may be mentioned incidentally that "Hon. George G. Wright, LL. D." was listed as "Professor of Real Property Law, etc.," in the second law school established in the capital city, founded in June, 1876.

We now return to Judge Wright's career on the Supreme bench. As Mr. Ebersole has well said of Wright's opinions: "They won the profound respect of the bench and bar of Iowa and are studied admiringly by present-day students of the law."

IV

Judge Wright's retirement from the bench was voluntary. the glamor of political life did not affect his judgment until he had reached the age of fifty years, a period when most men see the vanity of it and are proof - or, in default of temptation, think they are! - against its allurements. It became apparent to the judge's friends that they could secure his election to the United States Senate. His principal rivals were Governor Merrill and the young congressman from the Dubuque district, William B. Allison. The canvass had been on for several months, but early in January, 1870, it was transferred to the state capital. The city was full of prominent republicans and the contest was sharp but in the main good-natured. Judge Wright's principal supporters were Speaker- elect Cotton, General Vendever, Thomas F. Withrow and Judges Baldwin and Murdock. It was currently reported that the Merrill votes would go to Allison. So confident were the Allison men that they engaged an oyster supper in honor of their candidate's victory. An Allison man, John Russell, was chosen caucus chairman. Sixty-four votes were necessary to a choice. On the informal ballot Wright had sixty-three; Allison, thirty-nine; Merrill, twenty-four; Kirkwood, one. The first formal ballot gave Wright sixty-six; Allison, forty-seven; Merrill, thirteen; Kirkwood, one. On motion of Senator Newell, an Allison man, the nomination was made unanimous. But, long before the formal announcement was made, the enthusiastic supporters of the judge had filed into the Supreme Court room where the successful candidate sat serenely waiting the result. An informal reception ensued in which the judge's good nature and good humor shone respendently. The Allison men, instead of cancelling their order for a banquet, unitedly laid plans for their candidate's election two years later, inviting the jubilant Wright men and the depressed supporters of Merrill to feast with them, thus preparing the way for the triumph over Harlan in 1872.

V

In the Senate Wright served on several important committees, namely, Judiciary, Finance, Claims, Revision of the Laws, Civil Service and Retrenchment. On these several committees he was recognized as a man of large information, keen perception, excellent judgment and a conscientious and patriotic regard for duty. When the so-called "salary-grab," or "back-pay steal," came to a vote in the Senate as a rider to the executive, legislative and judicial appropriation bill, there were those who, while against increasing their own pay by their own votes, were easily persuaded to vote for the bill with the objectionable rider rather than embarrass the several departments of government, Senator Wright could not be induced to vote for the measure, and , regardless of consequences, recorded his "No."

Early deciding that one term was enough for him, Senator Wright undertook no great constructive work and made no labored effort in debate. His contemplative mind harked back to the more congenial, and, as it seemed to him, more important service he had rendered on the bench; and, along with the thought of his past service, came the desire to practice the profession of his choice. The popularity of Wright as senator was unquestioned and the judge's return to the Senate in 1876 was conceded. His defeated rival in 1870 had been elected to succeed Harlan in 1872, and Governor Kirkwood, the one man next to himself oftenest mentioned in connection with the senatorship, had written a letter saying that he would not be a candidate against his friend Judge Wright. Then, without warning, came Senator Wright's letter of February 25, 1875, in reply to an inquiry by General Vandever, declining to be a candidate to succeed himself. The declination was based on "many reasons not necessary to state here." The controlling one was a certain proposed arrangement - which years afterwards the judge said had already been consummated - by which he was to take the place of Mr. Withrow in a law partnership with Colonel Gatch. He had had all there was of the high honor. He wanted to get back to Iowa. He felt the need of rest. He owed it to his family that he should be with them more than had been possible during the previous twenty years. He had found official life in Washington "beset with untold perplexities, with little to lead anyone to struggle to keep in it." He would direct his energies "so as to save a little money" for his family, a duty which he had thus far to a great extent neglected. His four years' experience had satisfied him he couldn't do this on his present salary. While he regarded the senatorial office as "the highest of earth's political honors," yet he admitted that it had no such charms as to lead him to struggle for its retention.

VI

Hon. Edward H. Stiles, long Supreme Court reporter, in a sketch of Judge Wright (Prominent Men of Iowa, Annals of Iowa, Vol. X, pp. 251-2), thus summarized his personal traits: "In public affairs he was extremely cautious; he was not a bold and aggressive leader of men; his popularity was wholly due to other sources; his good-humor and cheerfulness were perennial; his attractive person, his still more attractive, finely lineated face, carried a ray of sunshine that enlivened all surroundings. . . . He possessed those four qualities which Socrates declares to be the requisites of a judge: To hear courteously; to answer wisely; to consider soberly, and to decide impartially."

The righteous indignation of the habitually serene man is something compelling. Mr. Stiles quotes a letter written by Judge Wright after his own retirement from the bench. Not a few Iowa journals had denounced the four judges who on technical grounds had pronounced the prohibitory amendment void. Judge Wright, from the privacy of his office, wrote Mr. Stiles: "As you value the independence of the judicary, the integrity of courts and the good name of the state, I hope you will stand as a wall of fire against this most iniquitous clamor that four judges should be outraged and disgraced because they had the courage of their convictions.' I do not care about the case, nor the decisions, nor how it was decided; but I do care, when it is proposed to appeal from the court to state conventions and town meetings. . . . I do not propose that Judge Day shall go down before this unjust whirlwind."

Praise from Judge Dillon is praise indeed. Speaking of his contemporary and long-time friend, this famous New York lawyer - formerly a member of the Supreme Court of Iowa - once remarked: "The verdict of the bar . . . is that, take him all in all, he had no equal among the state's chief justices or judges in her judicial history. Some may have had, in special and exceptional lines, superior gifts or superior learning; but, take him all in all, he easily stands conspicuous and foremost."

A more feeling, yet none the less just, judgment on the man was passed by a representative jurist of a younger generation. At the third annual banquet of the State Bar Association, held in Cedar Rapids in July, 1897, Judge Deemer, of the Iowa Supreme Court, referred to Judge Wright as "that grand old man who recently went before the Judge of judges." He said Judge Wright was "a man of keen judgment, of almost intuitional divination as to the right; one of the great chancellors of this country."

Judge Wright was not the typical jurist - jurist and little else. He was also a statesman, a financier and a public-spirited citizen. The pioneer instinct in him was strong. He "saw golden ages coming," and as a practical man of affairs and financier, he clearly saw that golden ages never come unless men of affairs unite in planning and pushing to completeness private and public enterprises - "enterprises of great pith and moment," developing the latent resources of the soil, of mines, of water and of air. He was a born promoter. Many were the early enterprises to which he generously lent his quick, true vision, his legal advice and his credit.

As an after-dinner speaker, Judge Wright in his time had few if any equals in the state. He could think on his feet with a rapidity and reliability which was ever a new surprise to his friends. His expressive face ran the whole gamut of emotions, from rollicking fun to tragic earnestness. His voice was sympathetic and well-modulated. His humor was inexhaustible and as a raconteur he was unsurpassed. When aroused, his face became ominous of a coming storm; his voice took on new volume and power. On such occasions his flow of words was inspirational. It was as though the gates enclosing the sub-conscious mind had been pressed open by the outflow of emotion. He was never quite as happy as when the occasion led him into a reminiscent mood. No one saw the quaintness and felt the grim humor of the old pioneer days more than he. Nor did he spare himself. He delighted to tell stories which made himself the butt of a joke.

He would not spoil a story for relations' or friendship's sake; but his quips and jokes never hurt, - never even aroused the suspicion of malice. A story is told well illustrating Judge Wright's rare ability to respond to call without the previous preparation which dulls the edge of many a banquet speech. On one occasion he hurried to a banquet without donning his evening suit. His daughter, who sat beside him, was much distressed because of his appearance. He was not on the regular program, but was called on for a speech. His impromptu response evoked peals of laughter alternating with tears, and closed with a touch of impassioned eloquence. It is reported that as they were on their way home, the daughter caressed him lovingly, exclaiming: "Father, I wasn't ashamed of the old coat; I was so proud of the man inside of it."

Though an able legislator, a resourceful educator, a brilliant occasion orator, a shrewd and successful financier, and a public-spirited citizen, yet, nevertheless, George G. Wright's fame rests chiefly upon the public service he rendered on the bench. His record as judge of the Supreme Court runs through more than thirty volumes of the Iowa state reports.

On the 6th of January, 1896, the venerable judge met his friends in his law office for the last time. On the 11th of January, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, he died. His funeral was a remarkable testimony to the wide range of his friendships and the devoted love of his friends.