Los Angeles County
Biographies
ANDREW GLASSELL, SR.
In any
history which is written of the Southern California
bar, conspicuous mention must be made of the late Andrew Glassell, Sr., whose
career in the practice of law was one of the extraordinary achievement which
won him a reputation unsurpassed. For a
period of fifty years, with the exception of the four years of the Civil war,
he was intimately associated with the profession which he had adopted as his
life’s work and which he so honored.
Andrew
Glassell, Sr., was born in the ancestral home at Torthorwald,
Virginia, September 30, 1827, and he was one
of the six children, and the last survivor, born to Andrew and Susan (Thornton) Glassell. He was the fourth in direct succession to
bear the name of Andrew Glassell. The
first of the name was a native Scotchman, and the second of the name was the
first of the family to settle in the state of Virginia.
When Andrew Glassell, Sr., was seven years of age, he accompanied his
parents to Sumter County, Alabama,
where his father became a cotton planter near Livingston. At the age of seventeen years, Mr. Glassell
became a student at the University
of Alabama and graduated
from this institution in 1848. The law
appealed to him irresistibly, and he began studying to fit himself for the
profession under the preceptorship of the Hon. Samuel W. Inge, and later he
entered actual practice in association with the Hon. John A. Campbell, a form
judge of the United States Supreme Court.
His experience with this learned jurist was one of the greatest assets
he had in his work of learning the law.
In 1852, he came to California, bringing with him a letter from his good
friend, Judge Campbell, which missive immediately gave him recognition and also
admission to the bar before the state supreme court. Very soon afterward, he was appointed as a
deputy to the United States
district attorney in San Francisco,
with whom he remained for three years.
During this period, he was especially assigned to try a large number of
land cases, some pending before the United States Land Commission, which body
was appointed under the act of Congress March 3, 1851, to settle the titles to
land in California.
With the
outbreak of the Civil war, Mr. Glassell found himself in a situation which was
perplexing. In his heart he believed in
the cause of the South and he could not honestly take the test oath of
allegiance to the north. Accordingly,
with the honesty of motive which was always his characteristic, he temporarily
closed his law office, and for the duration of the war operated a sawmill near Santa Cruz, where he made
lumber and staves.
After the
close of hostilities, Mr. Glassell came to the city of Los Angeles.
Here he resumed his law practice in partnership with Alfred B. Chapman
under the firm name of Glassell and Chapman.
Alfred B. Chapman had been a friend of his since boyhood and was a
former officer in the United States Army.
The firm continued for an interval, then on the admission of Col. George H.
Smith on January 1, 1870, the title was changed to Glassell, Chapman, and
Smith. Henry M. Smith was also for a
short time with the firm. He was a
former judge of the Supreme Court. In
1879, Mr. Chapman retired from the firm, and later George S. Patton, a nephew
of Mr. Glassell, was admitted as a partner.
This arrangement continued until 1883, when Mr. Glassel retired from
active practice.
In San Francisco, Mr. Glassell was first married.
His bride was Miss Lucy Toland, who was a daughter of Dr. H. H. Toland,
who was the founder of the Toledo Medical College,
which later became the medical department of the University of California. To their union there were born the following
children: Susan G., who became the wife
of H. M. Mitchell; Minnie G., who married Harrington Brown; Hugh; Andrew;
William T.; Louise G., who was the wife of Dr. J. DeBarth Shorb; Phillip H.;
Alfred L.; and Lucien T. Mrs. Glassell
was born in the state of South Carolina and
was brought to California
as a child. She was a communicant of the
Roman Catholic Church and passed away when she was but thirty-nine years of
age. Six years after his first wife’s
death, Mr. Glassell was married secondly to Mrs. Virginia Micou Ring of New Orleans, who died in Los Angeles in 1897.
It is an
unquestionable fact that Mr. Glassell had one of the largest and most lucrative
practices among the lawyers of his day.
He was known over the whole state and, was the records show, he was an
attorney, on one side or the other, of most every important civil suit during
his career. He specialized greatly in
naturalization law, and helped materially in building up immigration to the
state and developing this section of the country. The firm of Glassell and Chapman represented
the Los Angeles & San Pedro Railway Company, which was the first railroad
in Los Angeles County, and they served in this capacity
until the road was taken over by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, after
which they continued as official counsel.
An epitome of Mr. Glassell’s work and his sterling character is
beautifully phrased in a memorial written by the lawyers of Los Angeles County. Mr. Glassell passed away January 28, 1901, at
his home at 352 Buena Vista Street
in Los Angeles,
and at the time of his interment his brother lawyers wrote what they considered
a worthy eulogy to his fine manhood and ability. This, in part, follows:
“As a
lawyer and as a man he was scrupulously honest, direst in his methods, open and
frank in all of his dealing, and toward the members of the bar always extremely
courteous and affable, but at the same time in the trial of a case bold and
vigorous. He was generous to those who
were associated with him in his cases and was always quick to recognize their
services rendered to the common cause.
He was liberal to the young men who entered the profession through his
office and more than one member of your committee remembers with gratitude his
kindness, helpfulness and generosity, and it is most pleasing now to remember
that in all their intercourse with him they cannot recall one single course of
expression or single instance in which even for a moment he laid aside the
bearing of a gentleman. He was a sound
lawyer, deeply versed in the principles of his profession and thoroughly posted
as to precedents affecting questions in hand.
He was a safe adviser and practical rather than brilliant. He was not an orator, but always terse, clear
and forceful in argument. In his
business dealings with his debtors he was merciful and forbearing, often
reducing or remitting the debt when its enforcement might have seemed to be
harsh. By devotion to his profession and
by rare business sagacity he accumulated a large fortune, but by far the
richest legacy he leaves behind him is the reputation which he earned by a
lifelong course of honest dealing in his professional and business career.”
Transcribed
By: Michele Y. Larsen on October 18, 2012.
Source: California
of the South Vol. V,
by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 355-358,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles,
Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 Michele
Y. Larsen.
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