John Howard Voorhees Biography


	This biography appears on pages 647-648 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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				JOHN HOWARD VOORHEES

	John Howard Voorhees, one of the prominent representatives of the 
bar in Sioux Falls, is connected with important business and litigated 
interests as a member of the well known firm of Bailey & Voorhees. He 
was born in South Branch, New Jersey, February 20, 1867, and is a son 
of Samuel G. and Jane (Brokaw) Voorhees. The paternal branch of the 
family is of Holland extraction and was established on Long Island in 
1660. The maternal branch is of Huguenot ancestry. In 1869 his parents 
removed to Middlebush, New Jersey, where he resided until he came to 
Sioux Falls.  

	John H. Voorhees, as his name is generally written, received his 
college preparatory education at the Rutgers grammar school at New 
Brunswick, New Jersey, and took his college course at Rutgers College, 
which is also located at New Brunswick. He graduated from that college 
in 1888 with the degree of A. B. In his freshman year in college he 
became a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity and during his senior year 
he was elected to membership in the Phi Beta Kappa society. In 1891 he 
received from his alma mater the degree of A. M.  

	In October, 1888, Mr. Voorhees came to Sioux Falls and entered 
the law office of Charles O. Bailey. He was admitted to the bar of the 
territory of Dakota in 1889 and to the bar of the supreme court of the 
state of South Dakota shortly after statehood, and was later admitted 
to the bar of the supreme court of the United States. In 1891 he 
entered into partnership with Mr. Bailey under the firm name of Bailey 
& Voorhees. This relationship has continued since its formation and at 
the time of the writing of this sketch this firm is one of the oldest, 
possibly the oldest, law firms in South Dakota. It is now composed of 
Charles O. Bailey, John H. Voorhees, Peter G. Honegger, who became 
connected with it in 1904, and Theodore M. Bailey, who entered the firm 
in 1912. Bailey & Voorhees have been the attorneys in South Dakota for 
the Illinois Central Railroad Company since 1891 and they have also for 
the past twenty years been the counsel in South Dakota for the Western 
Union Telegraph Company. They are attorneys also for the Chicago, 
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, the American and Wells Fargo & 
Company Express Companies and various insurance companies. In addition 
they are retained by many local and non-resident corporations and also 
carry on an extensive commercial law business. In their offices is a 
law library of over ten thousand volumes, one of the largest private 
law libraries west of the Mississippi river.  

	On the 5th of June, 1894, at Sioux Falls, Mr. Voorhees was united 
in marriage to Miss Bessie A. Tabor, a daughter of Holmes Tabor. Two 
children have been born to this marriage, Lorraine Brokaw and Mildred 
Tabor. The former was married October 29, 1914, to Neil Loynachan, of 
Manchester, New Hampshire.  

	Mr. Voorhees affiliates with the Episcopal church and gives his 
political allegiance to the republican party. He is a thirty-second 
degree Mason, a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the 
Mystic Shrine and a member and a past eminent commander of Supreme 
Commandery, No. 2, Knights Templar, of Sioux Falls. He was a charter 
member of Sioux Falls Lodge, No. 262, of the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, and is No. 4 on the roll of membership of that lodge and 
is one of its past exalted rulers. He holds memberships in the Elks, 
the Dacotah and the Minnehaha Country Clubs of Sioux Falls.  

	Mr. Voorhees has been secretary of the Minnehaha County Bar 
Association since its organization in February, 1897, and has also been 
secretary of the South Dakota Bar Association since its organization in 
December, 1897. He is a member of the American Bar Association, has six 
times been a member of the general council of that association and has 
served on various of its committees. In 1912 he was elected a member of 
the executive committee of that association and was reelected to that 
committee in 1913 and 1914. 

	Mr. Voorhees has won prominence and distinction in his profession 
and his ability and experience have been contributing factors in making 
the firm of Bailey & Voorhees one of the leading law firms of South 
Dakota and the northwest.