State Bar of Wisconsin

Wisconsin's Legal History: Part VI

Moses Strong

Moses Strong is one of the most colorful lawyers in Wisconsin's history. Strong made few contributions to the development of Wisconsin law, but he figures largely in the early history of the organized Wisconsin bar, and in many ways he is the archetype of the first generation of Wisconsin lawyers.

Strong was born in Vermont in 1810, where he acquired his general and legal education. In 1836 he moved to Wisconsin and settled at Mineral Point. Strong was active in territorial and state politics, serving at various times as the U.S. attorney for the territory of Wisconsin, as a member of the first state constitutional convention and as a territorial and state legislator. During his periods out of political service Strong conducted a moderately successful solo law practice. He also devoted much of his time to investing in real estate and promoting railroad and lumber mill development. Among other things, he founded the town of Arena and at one time he had one of the largest lumber operations on the Wisconsin River. However, Strong's eclecticism prevented him from making a great success of any of his endeavors.

In the early 1850s Strong joined forces with Byron Kilbourn to promote the ill-fated La Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad, which he hoped to bring to Mineral Point. Even though Strong lived in Mineral Point, Kilbourn arranged for a Milwaukee assembly district that he controlled to elect Strong to the 1856 Legislature. After his election, Strong became heavily involved in Kilbourn's efforts to bribe state officials to gain favors for the railroad. When the 1858 Legislature investigated this scandal, it subpoenaed Strong to testify. Strong resisted; he spent six days in jail for his pains, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected his argument that the legislative committees had no subpoena powers. In re Falvey, 7 Wis. *630 (1858).

The railroad scandal ended Strong's political career. He returned to the practice of law and business, and he became increasingly interested in history and in organizing Wisconsin lawyers into a bar association. In the 1870s he wrote a history of the Wisconsin Territory and, after much lobbying, persuaded the Legislature to pay for its publication. When the State Bar Association of Wisconsin was organized in 1878, Strong was elected its first president; he continued to serve as president until 1893, shortly before his death in 1894. Strong worked hard to build up the new association; he emphasized to his colleagues that they needed the association to get to know each other better, to have a social respite from the responsibilities of their profession and to defend their interests against periodic bouts of public misunderstanding and hostility.

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