Bio of Hahn, Hon. William John (b.1841) Wabasha Co., MN
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This bio comes from "HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY" 1884.
Check out Barbara's site for more great information on this book:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mnwabbio/wab1.htm
There are also some pictures and information from descendents for some 
of the bios on her pages.

Hahn, Hon. William John, Minneapolis, Minnesota, was born November 5,
1841, in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania. His great grandfather emigrated
from Germany many years prior to the revolution and settled in Berks
county, Pennsylvania, where his grandfather was born. The latter entered
the continental army as a private at the age of eighteen and rose to the
rank of captain, and served through the war. After the war he moved to
Chester county, Pennsylvania, where the father of this sketch was born.
His name was Joseph. When he (Joseph) was quite young his father moved to
Mifflin county, where he lived until his death, and where his son Joseph
lived for sixty years, or until his removal to Minnesota in 1864. His
mother's name was Lavinia Hutchinson Mitchell, who was of Scotch-Irish
descent. His early youth was spent on his father's farm and at school. In
April, 1862, he came to Lake City, Minnesota on a visit to his sister,
Mrs. Sterrett. Here he spent the summer, and the Indian outbreak occurring
while here, he spent two months with the expedition against them,
returning to Pennsylvania in November of that year, where he remained
until August, 1863, when he permanently located at Lake City. He remained
there until January, 1882, when he removed to Minneapolis, He had charge
of Lake City schools for some time, and was also bookkeeper. He read law
about one year prior to coming to Minnesota, and also read a year in
office of Ottman & Scott, at Lake City, and completed his law studies in
the office of P. Pemberton Morris, at Philadelphia, where he attended law
school. Returning to Lake City in the spring of 1867, he was admitted to
the bar at the May term of that year, and immediately formed a partnership
with W. W. Scott, Esq., with whom he was connected in business until May,
1874, when Mr. Scott left for Kansas. He practiced law at Lake City until
his removal to Minneapolis. He was elected county attorney in 1872;
re-elected in 1874 and in 1876, and was nominated again in 1878, but
declined the nomination. He was appointed attorney-general, March 11,
1881, by Gov. Pillsbury, to succeed Attorney General Start, who resigned
to accept the judgeship of the third district, and was elected to the same
office in 1881, and again in 1883. A prominent Minnesota judge, in 1879,
in speaking of him as a lawyer, said: "Mr. Hahn deservedly occupies a high
rank as a lawyer. He is not only well 'read up' in the law, but his mind
is naturally unusually clear and discriminating, thus enabling him always
clearly and accurately to detect the material and pivotal questions
involved in every case in which he is engaged. In the practice of his
profession he is always controlled by the highest sense of honor,
disdaining to resort to tricks or quibbles, never taking any position
before either court or jury which he does not believe to be correct.
Consequently he is always listened to with interest by both. Although
modest and unassuming, he always advocated his position with that
earnestness which always comes from a clear conception of an idea and an
honest conviction of its correctness." Shortly after his appointment as
attorney-general the celebrated Bond case (the most important case ever
heard in this state) came on to be heard, and the charge of the same for
the state was committed to the new attorney-general. St. Paul "Dispatch"
of August 2, 1881, says of him:

"Shortly after the close of the "Dispatch" report of last evening the
attorney-general closed his argument, and the court adjourned over to nine
o'clock this morning. During the attorney-general's remarks he was
listened to with the strictest attention, and it was plain to be seen that
he has made both a strong and a very favorable impression upon his
auditors. In fact, one of the oldest attorneys at the Ramsey county bar,
one who himself delights, if not revels, in abstruse points and tangled
legal webs, remarked to a "Dispatch" representative that the
attorney-general had made a brilliant argument, and one which would give
him a high reputation among lawyers throughout the state as abounding in
legal acumen and displaying deep research and a very high order of logical
reasoning.

Mr. Hahn served in the army three months in Pennsylvania. He belongs to
Lake City Commandery of Knights Templar, Hope Chapter of Royal Arch
Masons, and Carnelian Lodge, A.F.A.M., of Lake City, and was Grand High
Priest of Minnesota. He has always been a republican in politics. He
married Emily Laurette Martin, of Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, September
16, 1868. She was the daughter of James M. Martin, Esq., and a sister of
J. M. Martin, of Lake City. He has four children: Emily Alexander, Roland
Bruce, Lavinia Mitchell and Clara Josephine.
War of 1812