Bartlett Tripp Biography


	This biography appears on pages 4-6 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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				BARTLETT TRIPP

	Bartlett Tripp, a native of the state of Maine, was born July 15, 
1839, at Harmony, Somerset county. His early education was obtained at 
the country schools and at intervals he engaged in teaching. In 1857 he 
entered Colby College at Waterville and in the early spring of 1861, 
while en route to California, he visited a brother living in Sioux 
City, Iowa, and at that time came to southeastern Dakota and was then 
much impressed by the possibilities of the country and and 
opportunities which it offered to young men with little capital. 
Continuing his journey westward to Omaha, he joined a train of about 
sixty wagons just leaving to cross the great plains reaching Salt Lake 
City late in the season. There he taught school during the winter and 
in the spring went to Sacramento, California, where he assisted in the 
survey of what afterward became a part of the great Central Pacific 
line. His health becoming impaired, he returned to Maine and later 
entered the law course at Albany, New York, graduating in the class of 
1867. Among his classmates graduating at the same time was William 
McKinley, afterward president of the United States. Even earlier they 
had formed a friendship that continued throughout life.  

	From 1867 until 1869 Mr. Tripp practiced law in Augusta, Maine, 
as a member of the firm of Pillsbury & Tripp, but the call of the west 
was insistent and drew him to the land of promise. In 1869 he returned 
to Dakota, settling in Yankton, where he resumed the practice of law, 
forming a partnership with his elder brother, General William Tripp, 
then surveyor general. The bar at Yankton was at that time a very able 
one, among its members being George H. Hand, Colonel G. C. Moody, 
General William Tripp, Asa Bartlett, S. L. Spink, Warren Cowels and 
James D. Boyer. Bartlett Tripp soon gave evidence of his ability as a 
lawyer and rose rapidly to prominence as an authority upon legal 
problems. His power as a counselor and advocate won him a liberal 
clientage and he became recognized as one of the foremost 
representatives of the South Dakota bar. In 1873 Mr. Tripp, the junior 
member of the bar, was one of the attorneys for the defense in the 
Wintermute case, the most celebrated criminal trial of its time. Some 
years later he was associated with Colonel Moody in the revision of the 
code of 1903, and his name figured conspicuously upon the legal history 
of the state.  

	Mr. Tripp was twice married. In 1863, at Garland, Maine, he 
married Ellen M. Jennings, who died in 1884. On the 6th of November, 
1887, in St. Paul, Minnesota, at the home of her brother, United States 
Senator Cushman K. Davis, Mr. Tripp married Janet (Davis) Washburn, who 
survives him. Mrs. Tripp comes of ancestry honorable and distinguished, 
being a lineal descendant of Thomas Cushman and Mary Allerton, the 
latter the last survivor of the one hundred passengers who came to 
America in the Mayflower. Mrs. Tripp organized and was appointed regent 
of the Daniel Newcomb chapter of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution.  

	In 1883 Bartlett Tripp was elected president of the first 
territorial constitutional convention. As more than four-fifths of the 
members of that convention were republicans and Mr. Tripp was a 
democrat, it showed a remarkable confidence in his ability. His 
knowledge of the law well qualified him for the onerous and responsible 
duties which devolved upon him on this occasion and his work was at all 
times actuated by a public-spirited devotion to the general good. In 
1885 he was appointed by President Cleveland as chief justice of the 
supreme court of Dakota and he proved himself the peer of the ablest 
men who have ever graced the court of last resort. His powers had 
gained. him recognition as one of the most eminent lawyers of the 
northwest and his service on the bench placed him with the foremost 
jurists of his section of the country. From 1893 until 1897 he was 
United States minister to Austria-Hungary and in 1899 President 
McKinley appointed him chairman of the Samoan commission to settle 
difficulties growing out of the Berlin treaty, involving England, 
Germany and America. Judge Tripp was well equipped to deal with 
international problems and his diplomacy secured for the United States 
the island of Tutuila with absolute and independent control of the 
harbor of Pango-Pango, where our coaling station, the largest in the 
world, is situated half way between Hawaii and Australia Of this harbor 
Judge Tripp says in his book, "My Trip to Samoa", "The harbor can be as 
easily defended as the approach to Gibraltar without the expenditure of 
money for fortifications which nature has already built. All that is 
required is to mount and man the guns." Mr. Tripp was identified with 
the development of Dakota and up to the time of his death, which 
occurred December 8, 1911, took an active interest in its progress, 
marking with pride its evolution from early pioneer conditions through 
its territorial struggle, the attainment of statehood, the growth of 
mining, agricultural and educational interests and finally its 
marvelous prosperity, for South Dakota is today the richest state per 
capita in the Union.  

	Dr. F. B. Gault, president of the State University of South 
Dakota, in his memorial address, said: "Judge Tripp was the highest 
type of manhood at his own hearthstone, upon the bench, as a diplomatic 
representative of his country and as he stood, full-robed in 
scholarship and experience, in the lecture room before his class of 
young attorneys. As chairman of the Samoan commission he was called 
upon to meet unusual international complications. The result is that he 
added one of the most luminous pages to the brilliant history of 
American diplomacy. The stirring scenes of the Spanish-American war and 
the war in the Philippines with all the dramatic incidents relating 
thereto filled those years so largely that the public mind did not 
fully grasp the national and international significance of his 
statesmanship.  

	"For over forty years Judge Tripp has been connected with the 
judicial system of our commonwealth. The cases he has tried, the 
decisions he has rendered, the opinions he has delivered and his public 
addresses upon various occasions will be cited in years to come. His 
influence as a great lawyer and as a distinguished jurist can never be 
forgotten. The history of the two score years and more of his active 
life as a citizen and public official are an imperishable part of the 
history of this commonwealth.... Verily a great man dwelt in our midst 
His life work, so monumental, is a part of the enduring renown of our 
state. His influence, extending to generations yet to be, will 
constitute his perpetual memorial."  

	Hon. H. C. Preston, state senator, upon the same occasion, said 
in part: "While Judge Tripp's loyalty and devotion were manifested in 
your community, the home of his choice, yet withal he did not belong to 
you alone. He was a part and parcel of the state and the nation as 
well, for every community through the length and breadth of our 
commonwealth claims him as a benefactor. The history of the territory 
and state, yet to be written, will be replete with his acts. They form 
a part of the foundation upon which the superstructure of our 
government stands. Our constitutional and legislative acts constitute 
no small part of his master mind; our judicial system and the correct 
interpretation of our laws will forever mark with distinction his 
wisdom and sound judgment."  

	Mrs. Tripp still retains her residence in Yankton and is a 
leading figure in the social circles of the city. When her husband was 
minister to Australia she contributed not a little to his success in a 
social way through her courteous manner to all, her uniform tact and 
her high ideals. Said one who knew her: "Always elegantly and 
tastefully gowned, with a gracious manner, she was a prominent figure 
in the social life of the diplomatic circle and made the social 
functions given by the American minister most attractive and popular." 
She is a leader in the social circles of South Dakota and largely, but 
quietly and unostentatiously, promotes the charitable and benevolent 
work of the city. Her high character and advanced ideals are 
appreciated on every hand. Thus it is that the lines of her life have 
been cast in harmony with those of a distinguished and honored 
ancestry.