Albert H. Orvis Biography


	This biography appears on pages 399-400 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				ALBERT H. ORVIS.  

	Many elements figure in the success of one who gains prominence 
at the bar. He must possess not only accurate and comprehensive 
knowledge of the law, but discrimination in applying its principles and 
ability to clearly and cogently present his case. Oratory as well as 
logic frequently constitutes a feature in winning favorable verdicts 
and, added to this, there must be a recognition and observation of a 
high standard of professional ethics Lacking in none of these 
qualities, Albert H. Orvis is now a well known and successful attorney 
of Yankton. He was born in Jefferson county, New York, May 19, 1857. 
His father, Chester Orvis, who was born in 1823, devoted his life to 
general farming and passed away in 1896, in the seventy-third year of 
his age. His wife, who in her maidenhood was Esther A. Ware, was born 
in July, 1831, and had reached the age of sixty-four years when death 
called her in April, 1896. The Orvis and Ware families both came of old 
colonial stock, the Orvis family tracing its ancestry back to 
Farmington, Connecticut, to which place George Orvis came from the old 
world in 1658 or earlier. The Ware family was established in Boston as 
early as 1642 and both families were represented in the war of the 
Revolution.  

	Mr. and Mrs. Chester Orvis had four sons who reached adult age, 
of whom Albert H. is the second in order of birth. The country schools 
afforded him his early educational opportunities and he afterward 
attended the high school at Watertown, New York. The year 1875 
witnessed his arrival in the middle west. He made his way to Iowa, 
where he taught school and farmed. Six years were spent in that state 
and in May, 1881, he came to the territory of Dakota, settling near 
Mitchell, where he engaged in farming. He after" ward removed to 
Buffalo county, where he proved up a preemption claim, and his ability 
and worth were readily recognized, as is indicated in his appointment 
to the office of register of deeds. Later he was elected to the same 
position, in which he served for three years and four months. He then 
resigned and went to Chamberlain, where he spent several months, after 
which he became a resident of Scotland, South Dakota. In 1892 he 
arrived in Yankton and here entered into partnership in the practice of 
law with Levi B. French under the firm style of French & Orvis. He 
began studying law several years before and in 1886 was admitted to the 
bar. While advancement in the law is proverbially slow, he possessed 
persistency of purpose and knew that ability must ultimately win its 
reward. He, therefore, studied broadly and prepared his cases with 
great precision and care, preparing for defense as well as for attack. 
Today he is accorded a large clientage, that connects him with much 
important litigation. In the year 1897 he was chosen city attorney and 
in 1898 was reelected and on the expiration of his second term was 
elected state's attorney, in which office he served for a term of two 
years. He continues in general law practice and his work before the 
courts indicates him to be one well versed in the basic principles of 
the profession. He holds membership in the South Dakota State Bar 
Association.  

	On the 24th of October, 1878, Mr. Orvis was united in marriage to 
Miss Linnie P. Hall, a daughter of Hiram and Katherine (Groff) Hall, 
residents of Shell Rock, Iowa. They have become parents of three 
children, who are yet living: Caroline, who is a graduate of Yankton 
College; Harriet, who is a graduate of the University of Nebraska and 
of the College of Medicine of that institution and who entered the Mary 
Thompson Hospital for Women and Children in Chicago as interne in the 
fall of 1015; and Herbert C., at home.  

	Mr. Orvis is a republican where national issues are involved. He 
does not feel that politics, however, should enter into local 
elections, where the capability of the candidate is the only point to 
consider, and, therefore, he casts an independent local ballot. In 
Masonry he has attained the degree of the Royal Arch chapter. Since 
1903 he has been a member of the board of education and has served as 
its president for seven years, doing effective and earnest work to 
promote the interests of the schools and giving to the city a system of 
public instruction of which it has every reason to be proud. He enjoys 
outdoor sports and in these finds his recreation. In an analyzation of 
his life work it is found that reliability and integrity have featured 
largely in his success, as well as close adherence to the ethics of his 
profession.