Bio: O’Neill, James (Supreme Ct. Candidate - 1906)

Contact:stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: O’Neill, Rusk, Harrison

----Source: Granton News (Granton, Clark Co., Wis.)  03/16/1906

O’Neill, James (Supreme Ct. Candidate - MAR 1906)

Judge O’Neill was born in Lisbon, St. Lawrence County, N.Y., Sept. 3, 1847; was brought up on a far, and after pssing thorugh the common schools in St. Lawrence County, he attended the St. Lawrence University three years, taught in the district schools of that county two years, was principal of the Ogdensburg Academy one year, graduated from the full classical course at Cornell University in 1871, and from the Albany Law School in 1873.  He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of New York in May 1873.  In September of the same year he came west and began the practice of law in Neillsville, Clark Co., Wis., then a small village which had been founded by his uncle, James O’Neill Sr.  His practice grew rapidly and for many years he was one of the foremost attorneys in the north central part of the state.  In 1884 he was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly; in 1888 appointed District Attorney of Clark County by Gov. Rusk to fill a vacancy, and was later elected to that office.  The same year he was a delegate to the National Convention which nominated Benjamin Harrison for president.  He continued the active practice of law until 1897, when he was elected Circuit Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which is made up of Eau Claire, Clark and Jackson Counties, and after holding this office for six years, was re-elected in 1903 without opposition.  It is very generally conceded by those who practice before him and who have had opportunity to observe his official conduct, that he is one of the most careful, painstaking, conscientious and able Circuit Judges in the state; that he is a hard worker and has grown steadily in ability during the years he has been upon the bench.

While his extensive law practice before he went to the bench, and his official duties since he became Circuit Judge, have made his life a busy one, he has for many years owned one or more farms near Neillsville in connection with which he spends what leisure time he can find.  He has for several years past given a great deal of attention to, and aided materially in the development of the dairy interests of Clark County.  Many a dairy farmer finds his way to the Judge’s office to consult with him upon that branch of farming.

Judge O’Neill’s grandfather on his father’s side was from Antrim, North Ireland.  He came to this country about the year 1790 and in 1898 opened the farm on the St. Lawrence near Ogdensburg, which is still in the family.  The maternal grandparents of the subject of this sketch were natives of Bianslie, near Melrose, Scotland.  They came to the United State in 1817 and located on a farm near Ogdensburg, N.Y.

Judge O’Neill’s father, Andrew O’Neill, who is now eighty two years of age, is still living on the old farm in St. Lawrence County, N.Y., where the Judge was born and where he goes to visit his father frequently.