LYON, Delos E.

Family History: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=wmrblakeley&id=I27250

Photos courtesy: the Spensley descendants of Col. D. E. Lyon.

LYON, Delos E. (Franklinville, NY, 1834-Dubuque, IA, Apr. 10, 1913). The fifth in the family of six children, Lyon attended the public schools and later entered the Buffalo Academy. He attended Oberlin College for three years and then returned to his home in New York.

Lyon worked in the commission and mercantile business for five years, during which time he also studied law. He was graduated in the same class with Grover Cleveland, on May 18, 1858.

Prior to the CIVIL WAR, Lyon held the office of surveyor of the port of Dubuque. During the war he was a recruiting officer and aide de camp to Governor Kirkwood. Upon returning to Dubuque, Lyon established one of the city's major legal firms with clients ranging from RAILROADS to corporations.

The Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Thursday, April 10, 1913, p. 1 COL. D. E LYON, PIONEER LAWYER IS SUMMONED

Passes Away at Home of Bluff Street Thursday Morning

IN PRACTICE 54 YEARS

Splendid Career of Integrity and Achievement is Rounded Out

Col. D. E. Lyon, longest in active practice at the Dubuque bar of any attorney living passed away Thursday morning at 7:30.

For two years past Col. Lyon had been failing. He succumbed peacefully at his home at 1005 Bluff Street having been in a state of como for several days.

No man in Dubuque had been more active or more vigorous than he. Throughout his long and eventful career of seventy-nine years no detail of his professional or public career was too small to receive exhaustive attention and no client ever had a more competent or painstaking attorney. He lived in every sense a full and profitable life. There was no time wasted, no energy expended unproductive in his life. Every movement was one well ordered and plan with a view to greater results.

REFUSED TO RETIRE

In the fulness of time, after a life rounded out with results, the break came, and he answered, the final summons. Eight years ago he declared to the writer that the idea of retiring from business was repugnant to him. "I shall never quit as long as my strength and faculties are with me." "Rust," he asserted, "consumes faster than labor wears, and to lay aside the activities of nearly fifty years of practice with its mental and physical activities, would mean quick dissolution." "Read," he said, "the record of men who quit before the forces of nature demand it and you will find that there ends a matter of but a short time."

Col. Lyon followed out this idea. He followed it even after the forces of nature, nearly four score years in constant operation, had begun to show signs of failure. Necessity alone forced a slowing up.

PERSONALITY UNIQUE

Col. Lyon's personality was unique. No member of the Dubuque bar nor any citizen of Dubuque for that matter, was quicker with retort, more picturesque in expression, more resourceful in his mental qualities than he. He knew men; he knew nature. Fundamentally he was sound. The truth was in him; the love of his profession and his patriotism both as it applied tto the nation and to the city, were marked characteristics.

A constant student, an omniverous reader and equipped with a mind that quickly assimilated and digested the printed page, he was one of the most charming of companions and at the same time the most dangerous of adversaries in the field of forensic struggle. His love of his profession and the demands it made upon his time did not prevent his many-sided nature from enveloping equally strong home ties. His working hours at his office were equally ordered. His strong love of home had an equal place in his nature and his recreation which also was a part of his yearly routine was largely taken into the gun and dog. The northern lakes each spring and late fall, and during the late summer the prairies of Dakota found him for brief periods in quest of wild duck and the prairie chicken. Here he recuperated from the strain of his law practice. His was essentially a sane and normal existence.

LOVER OF NATURE

At his residence on Bluff Street, his pride was the fruit trees and other horticultural development that he fostered on the terraced heights in the rear of his home. His law practice was wide. His services were sought by individual and corporation but this he handled and was able to handle because he was temperate and had that character of mind that at all times maintained a perfect balance.

More than half a century of legal practice in Dubuque and during that time every move showing a record {illegible} hounds tooth -- that tells {illegible} successful high grade {illegible} example furnishes at {illegible} and a text book {illegible} . He was a factor in the development of the city and county.

LEGAL PRACTICE

His practice extended in all illegible} the state of Iowa and in federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States. His {illegible} is indelibly stamped {illegible} the records of Dubuque County and his name is familiar in legal circles of this and neighboring states and he has been identified with some of the famous and important {cases?} of the western courts.

PATRIOTISM STRONG CHARACTERISTIC

During the Civil War he was recruiting officer and aide de camp on the staff of Governor Kirkwood and rendered valuable service to his country during the war. One of the strongest characteristics of Mr. Lyon was his intense patriotism for his country. An eagle shield and the beautiful Stars and Stripes was the emblem decorated in his office over his door for many years, under which everyone entering was compelled to walk. This was a silent tribute to his country {illegible} every day.

Col. Lyon loved his profession but he was distinctly a "home man." When through his work he was {illegible} found with is family to whom he was a devoted husband and father. Mr. Lyon was twice married, his first wife being Cecilia Howard. His second wife, Eunice Taylor Lyon, preceded him in death two years ago. My. Lyon leaves surviving him, his son, George T. Lyon, the city attorney, his daughters, Mrs. A. Y. McDonald and Mrs. Annie Tileston of Dubuque, and George B. Grosvenor of Chicago, Ill., and one sister, Mrs. Clara McMillin, of Franklinville, New York. He was a member and an active member in the First Congregational Church. The funeral will be held Saturday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at the First Congregational Church.

TRIBUTES FROM ASSOCIATES

Glenn Brown: For thirty years I have greatly admired Colonel Lyon and keenly appreciated his friendship. He was one of the leaders of this bar when I came to it but our more {illegible} personal friendship developed during the later years in which he was in practice. He was a layer of untiring energy, unusual ability, ever ready for any emergency and served well {illegible}. He had a strong sense of personal integrity, maintained a high standard as regards his own conduct and expected and demanded the same {illegible}. As a companion no one could be more entertaining. Ever {ready?} with a flow of wit and {picturesque?} statement he enlivened every {illegible} in his company. His death was a personal loss to me and a great {illegible} community and to the bar of this state.

William Graham: Col. Lyon though {illegible} the oldest or longest in practice {illegible} his death had been a member {illegible} of Dubuque County longer than any other lawyer except Judge {illegible} who came here in 1850, locating here at the recommendation of {illegible} Burt, who had been an intimate friend of his father, and became a member of the firm of Burt Angell & Lyon. Before entering the profession of the law, Colonel Lyon had been {illegible} in Cattaraugus County, New York. From the time of his settling in Dubuque he had a large clientele and a lucrative practice and was on the whole successful in his business. {illegible} associates at the bar, both in this and other counties of the state, and the supreme court will long remember him for his genial humor and {immutable?} industry, and will regret {illegible} the places which knew him will {illegible} him no more forever.

{illegible} M. Thorne: I always regarded Col. Lyon as one of the pillars of the Dubuque bar. During my first few years in this city, he was still actively engaged in the practice of law and I regarded him as a very strong and able advocate, especially in the trial of jury cases, where his originality and versatility of expression often set out a controverted question in such a clear light that all members of the jury could readily understand it. I always found him ready and willing to assist any of the younger members of the bar, and personally I feel deeply indebted to him for the many acts of kindness and courtesy to me. J. P. Frantzen: The death of Col. D. E. Lyon has removed from our midst a man of firm convictions, strong likes and dislikes, a lawyer of the old school, a leader at the bar, in his church and public life. He was noted for his loyalty to his family, his church, and to his chosen profession. What first attracted my attention to Col. Lyon was his originality of expression. He was never at a loss for a term or a word and if he did not think of or remember the proper expression he would coin one to suit the occasion. His loyalty to his friends, his plain homely way of dressing and living were some of the things that would impress themselves upon those associating with him. At the bar he was an opponent worthy of his steel and would never admit defeat. If he thought he was in the right he would carry his cases to the courts of last resort with a tenacity that excited admiration even in his opponents. He was a good citizen, public spirited, who in his active life did many things to advance Dubuque. In his death his family loses a loving father, the bar a leader in every sense of the term and the city one of its most useful citizens.

Henry Michel: The death of Col. Lyon forcibly calls attention to the fact that the ranks of the veterans of the legal profession are rapidly being thinned. But a very few of those who commenced the practice of law when he did are left. It is generally conceded that during his prime he was the most picturesque figure at the bar of this county, and many of his quaint sayings will long be remembered. But what will longer be remembered, and what will longer endure is the fact that he was clean, and strong, and cherished lofty ideals, and during all the years that he labored in this community his voice and his influence and his vote were always for clean government, lofty ideals and progressive thoughts along all lines and a better monument no man can have.

Judge D. J. Lenihan: I knew Col. Lyon many years before I became associated with him in the practice of the law, and during the years of his work at the bar when I was upon the district bench. He was a man of untiring industry and systematic effort in the preparation and presentation of his cases. His sagacity and prudence in council, acquired in a business training before he entered the practice of the profession, made him a valued advisor in complicated business transactions. His geniality and companionable disposition and more than half a century of laboring in the courts gave him a wide and popular acquaintance enjoyed by few men in any walk of life. As a man his impulses were generous and just, and his keen appreciation of his obligations and duties as husband and father, often the subject of his coversation in confidential moments, was most exemplary. He will long be remembered in Dubuque as one of its most loyal and valuable citizens, and one of the striking figures in the political history of the state.

Geo. W. Kiesel: For more than thirty years I have known Mr. Lyon and enjoyed his companionship, admired his industry, and appreciated his ability as a lawyer. His love of work and his devotion to his clients' interest stand forth as a worthy example to all men, especially to the lawyers young and old. His exemplary life, extended far beyond the three score seven years and ten, was full of usefulness. To his children his home life will always be remembered with great pleasure and satisfaction. His life was one well spent and his influence for good will long be felt. May time deal gently with those to whom he was most dear.

Judge J. W. Kintzinger: Colonel Lyon was one of the leading lawyers in Dubuque and the state of Iowa ever since I can remember and retained his standing among the leaders of the bar until a few years ago. He was always known as an indefatigable worker and at times seemed to possess the energy of a dozen men. He was always fair in the trial of a law suit and never incurred the ill will of his opposing counsel. He was one of our leading citizens, always upright and honest in his dealings with mankind and always took a leading part in any movement looking toward the advancement and progress of this city. The colonel was loved by every one. His passing marks the end of one of the highest types of the old school of lawyers whose like the present generation will never see again. Judge O. P. Shiras: I have known Col. Lyon since he came to Dubuque. We were both young lawyers in active practice and were thrown actively together, politically in campaigns of the war days, and also associated in many of the matters that arose in the development of our city. He was an active worker in his profession, in fact continued so until failing health in the last few years caused him to retire. He ever maintained a notable and honorable standing at the bar. In the war days he was an active and egergetic supporter of the government, ever ready to respond to all the calls that in those days were so frequent and pressing. In the earlier days, members of the Dubuque bar were in the habit of attending court in all adjacent counties. Col. Lyon was always a marked character on these trips, always lively, pleasant, and uncomplaining of the hardships we had to face. He was very fond of outdoor sports like fishing and hunting and in these matters he was always the life of the company. In the death of Colonel Lyon I feel that I have lost a warm personal friend and who has been one of the few who connect the present days with those of the war times.

T. J. Fitzpatrick: In the death of Colonel D. E. Lyon the Bar of the state of Iowa has lost one of its capable members. While his death was not unexpected yet it leaves deep regret with every lawyer who had the pleasure of knowing and practicing law with him. For many years he was one of the leading lawyers of the state. He was unsurpassed as a trial lawyer. He was gifted of native eloquence to which was added a high sense of humor and pathos which made him especially successful before a jury. The many cases tried and submitted to the supreme court of this state furnished evidence of his splendid practice and his unusual success in the practice of his chosen profession. Colonel Lyon was a man of honor, integrity, and high moral character. He was a power for good in the community in which he lived. He was an intense patriot and his love for his country and his devotion to its institutions is not surpassed even by is love for his chosen profession, the law. His long life was one of great usefulness, and his death has occassioned deep regret and sorrow on the part of all citizens of this community. John D. Denison: Colonel Lyon was a splendid type of the gentleman of fifty years ago. He was virile in character, intense in his advocacy of a {illegible}, a genuine lover of human freedom. He believed in the thing for which he {contended?} and he contended for the things which he believed to be wise and right {and the} personal style he was sweet and {illegible}. His thought was original and unique and subtle <?>. His mental processes {illegible} and effective. He never lost a battle when anyone would have won it, and he never won a battle except by open, honorable {illegible....} it is doubtful that the history of Iowa has ever known {illegible....} affection of those who knew him best.

R. P. Roedell: The death of Col. Lyon brings to {illegible....} another life {illegible....} usefulness and the career of an {illegible} lawyer. He held a {unique?} place at the bar. He was a good counselor and a strong advocate, but never missed an opportunity to display is {illegible....} in apt expressions peculiar to himself. Across the trial table I found him {illegible....}, withal a good lawyer and splendid gentleman.

Judge M. C. Mathews: The death of Colonel Lyon causes me deep regret. I have known Colonel Lyon since boyhood. My first recollection of him as a lawyer is in the case of the State of Iowa vs. Wagner, in which he appeared as the attorney for the defendant. Wagner was on trial under an indictment for murder and owing to the masterly defense of Colonel Lyon was acquitted. I have watched his career as a lawyer throughout the years that I have known him in his hey day e was undoubtedly the most able, eloquent and astute trial lawyer in eastern Iowa. At one time the firm of which he was a member tried more cases than any twenty members of the Dubuque bar. During the time I was District Judge Colonel Lyon practiced before me and he was always earnest and truthful with the court. He was one of the men whose impress upon the community will always be felt. Colonel Lyon was patriotic to the core, {illegible....} conscientious and charitable. He was public spirited, pronounced in his views and faithful to his high ideas. As City Attorney he rendered services that were worth thousands of dollars more than the salary he received. His capacity for work and his studious habits were remarkable even in a member of a learned profession. The {illegible....} by Colonel Lyon will be extremely hard to fill. {rest is illegible}

Col. D. E. Lyon's daughter (Abigail Farwell Lyon) married Andrew Young MCDONALD II. Delos Lyon MCDONALD was their son.

See: D. E. LYON-1005 BLUFF

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Source:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nycattar/towns/franklin/lyon.htm

Portrait and Biographical Record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton Counties, Iowa. Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1894, p. 184

Christa Hughes, descendant