Louis H. Fead

Louis H. Fead
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan
Justice of the Supreme Court[1][2]
In office
1928–1937
Nominated by Fred W. Green
Preceded by Richard C. Flannigan
Personal details
Born (1877-05-02)May 2, 1877
Lexington, Michigan
Died February 4, 1943(1943-02-04) (aged 65)
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Alma mater Olivet College
Detroit College of Law
University of Michigan Law School
Occupation lawyer, jurist
Religion Episcopalian

Louis H. Fead (May 2, 1877 – February 4, 1943) was an American jurist. He was appointed to the office of Chief Justice Michigan Supreme Court in 1928 (completing the term of the late Richard C. Flannigan). After completing that term, he served as a Justice, later becoming Chief Justice again. He had been a Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan Masons.

Background

Born in Lexington, Michigan, he was the eighth of nine children of John Lawrence and Augusta (Walther) Fead.[1] The family operated a wool mill. Louis was valedictorian of his public high school class.[3]

Fead received his bachelor's degree from Olivet College. He attended the Detroit College of Law while working at the Detroit law firm of Bacon & Palmer. He continued his education at University of Michigan Law School and received his law degree there in 1900. Fead then practiced law in Newberry, Michigan and served as prosecuting attorney for Luce County, Michigan from 1901–1913.[1][3][4]

On September 19, 1919, Fead married Marion McPherson, of Howell, Michigan, daughter of former State Banking Commissioner Hugh A. McPherson. They he had four children: Marion Augusta, William Alexander, Nancy Louise and Louis McPherson.[1][4] Fead was a Republican[1] and an active Episcopalian.[4]

In World War I, Fead was active in bond drives. He served as a Captain overseas in the American Red Cross.[4]

He was a member of the Rotary, Kiwanis, and Lions Clubs. In 1917–18, he was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan Masons.[4]

He was vice-president of the Newberry State Bank, and a member of the F. P. Bohn Company of Newberry, Michigan.[3][4] The move to Newberry saw him enter private practice for a relatively short time; shortly thereafter he served as the prosecuting attorney for Luce County.[4]

Judicial career

From 1913 to 1928, Fead served as a judge in Michigan's 11th Circuit Court, located in Luce County.[1][4][upper-alpha 1] At the time of his first election, he was one of the youngest elected circuit court judges in the state.[4]

In 1928, Michigan Governor Fred W. Green appointed Fead to complete Richard C. Flannigan's term as Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. After his term as Chief Justice expired, Fead continued to serve as a Justice of that court, but returned to the Chief Justice position in 1937.[1][2][3] The next year, he lost a bid for reelection to Thomas Francis McAllister.[1][2][3]

Fead's first reported decision on the Supreme Court was First Church of Christ Scientist v. Rentzei, 242 Mich. 120 (April 3, 1928). He helped decide 5,240 cases in which opinions were served, and wrote more than an estimated 700 opinions.[4] As one of his eulogists noted: "I was always impressed by his practical approach to a legal proposition and the common sense he invariably used in deciding matters; also, his freedom from erudition."[4] Another noted: "His decisions were more sound than spectacular."[4]

When the University of Michigan Law School conferred a Doctor of Laws degree on Fead, it was said:

A progressive exponent of the law, conscientious and courageous in the administration of justice, and esteemed by the citizens of his commonwealth, he maintains the authority and supremacy of the State in its conflict with the disruptive forces of society. Salle [sic] in his keeping are the traditions of an informed judiciary, on whose decisions rest the faith and hopes hopes of democracy?[4]

In 1937, Fead was on the Board of governors of the Lawyers' Club of the University of Michigan[6]

Upon leaving the Michigan Supreme Court, Fead practiced law in Detroit, Michigan.

Death and legacy

Fead died from a heart attack while being treated for throat cancer in a hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[1][3][7]

He was the subject of a portrait executed in 1944 by Detroit artist Roy C. Gamble (1887–1972) which hangs at the Michigan Supreme Court building.[8] The portrait joins nine others of Chief Justices of Michigan painted by Gamble.[upper-alpha 2]

Fead is interred at Deepdale Memorial Park near Lansing, Michigan.[1][10]

Six linear feet of his speeches, correspondence, research, scrapbooks, and photographs are held at the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan. Included are "miscellanea relating to Michigan politics and Republican party affairs." Specific subjects included FDR's Supreme Court packing bill, the Newberry State Bank, Masonic affairs, and his World War I service with the American Red Cross in France. Correspondents include: Frank P. Bohn, Prentiss M. Brown, Henry M. Butzel, William G. Fretz, Clare Hoffman, Chase S. Osborn, Henry E. Perry, H. J. Rushton, Alex Sayles, Sam C. Taylor, and Arthur H. Vandenberg.[11][12][13][14][15]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Miriam Newmark worked in her last year of high school for the Luce County Prosecuting attorney, Alexander L. Sayles, and Circuit Judge Louis Henry Fead, who both had offices in the Newberry State Bank Building. However, when she matriculated from high school,she moved to New York and quit those jobs.[5]
  2. ↑ The Chief Justices painted by Gamble are: Honorable Howard Wiest, Honorable George E. Bushnell, Hon. Henry M. Butzel, Hon. Leland Carr, Hon. Bert D. Chandler, Hon. George Clark, Hon. Louis H. Fead, Hon. William Potter, Hon. Raymond Starr and Hon. Harry Toy. Inexplicably, Weist's portrait is not listed in the following source.[9]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Fead, Louis Henry (1877–1943)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Michigan: Chief Justices of the Supreme Court". The Political Graveyard. 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lucas, Ann. "Louis Fead: Served from 1928 through 1937, Chief Justice: 1928, 1937". Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Boyles, Emerson R.; Herbert, Joseph J.; Stone, Ferris; MacDonald, Edward; Wiest, Howard (April 6, 1943). "In Memoriam Louis Henry Fead". Supreme Court of Michigan Historical Society. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  5. ↑ Appelbaum, Phillip (January 1981). "The Jews of Luce County" (PDF). Michigan Jewish History (The Jewish Historical Society of Michigan) 21 (1): 7. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Organizations". University of Michigan Official Publication (University of Michigan) ill: 93. OCLC 24801012. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ 'Judge Louis Fead Dies At University Hospital,' Benton Harbor News Palladium (Michigan), February 5, 1943, pg. 1, 3
  8. ↑ "Louis H. Fead, 1877 – 1943". Catalog of American Portraits. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  9. ↑ Zofchak, Audrey. "Roy C. Gamble: Detroit Muralist & Portraitist". University Art Collection. Wayne State University. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Louis H. Fead Memorial # 87508941". Find a Grave. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Finding aid for Louis H. Fead papers, 1900–1948". Michigan Historical Collections. Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Fead, Louis H., 1877–1943". Social networks and archival context. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Louis H. Fead papers, 1900–1948". Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  14. ↑ William L. Clements Library. The President's Report to the Board of Regents for the Academic Year 1965–66 (University of Michigan). Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Louis H. Fead collection". Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved August 18, 2015.

External links

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