SOLOMON L. WITHEY, during some forty-five years a prominent member of the bar of Western Michigan, and twenty-three years a United States Court Judge, was born at St. Albans, Vermont, April 21,1820. His ancestors were people of note, and left a record of patriotism. His grandfather, Silas Withey, was a soldier of the Revolutionary War, in the American army, and drew a pension until his death in 1836. The Withey family is of Scotch descent, the original name being McWithey, from which his grandfather in early life dropped the prefix " Mc." His grandmother, wife of Silas Withey, of Scotch lineage, died about 1828. His father, Solomon Withey, a native of Washington county, N. Y., was well known and prominent among the early settlers of Grand Rapids, enterprising, independent in opinion and action, General of the State Militia, County Sheriff in 1843-1844, and a hotel landlord. He died at Ada, Mich., Oct. 6, 1851. His wife, Judge Withey's mother, whose maiden name was Julia Granger, a native of Sheffield, Mass., died at St. Albans,Vermont, March 24,1825.

Solomon L. Withey passed his boyhood years in Franklin county, Vermont. In 1835 he attended school at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and afterward spent some time as a mercantile clerk. In 1836 ,the family came to Grand Rapids. Here in the winter of 1838-39 he taught school near where now is the County Court House. In the fall of 1839 he entered the law office of A. D. Rathbone, and subsequently continued his law studies with George Martin, afterward Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan. During a portion of the time while studying he acted as assistant in the post office, which was then in the same building. at a salary of eight dollars a month.

December 24, 1845, he married Marion L. Hinsdill, daughter of Myron and Emily Hinsdill, who came to Grand Rapids in 1836-an amiable, accomplished and philanthropic lady, who survives him and is still a resident of this city.

May 17, 1843, Mr. Withey was admitted to the bar of the Kent Circuit Court, and shortly thereafter entered the practice of law in partnership with John Ball: under the firm name of Ball & Withey. In 1846 George Martin entered the firm, which then became Ball, Martin & Withey. This relation continued until the close of the year 1851. During the following ten years he continued his law practice, having as partners consecutively, Edward E. Sargeant, Ebenezer S. Eggleston and George Gray, Mr. Withey being continuously the senior member of the business firms thus resulting. His success as an attorney was better than the average at that day, he being a man of great force of character and strong judgment, studious and thorough in his work, careful and methodical in his practice, and winning the confidence and respect of his clients; his thorough knowledge of the law, the soundness of his conclusions and his intense convictions commanding the deference and esteem of his contemporaries.

Judge Withey was not only a good lawyer and an impartial judge, but a good legislator and an eminently practical business man. As a legislator he made his name prominent in the State, first by his efforts and success in preventing the squandering of the lands granted to the State of Michigan by the General Government to aid in the building of railroads. Corporations had been organized for building each of the proposed lines of road, and each had presented to the Legislature a bill donating to it the lands along its route, at once, and without limitation or restriction, and by joining forces they were likely to succeed. The general act giving the lands to the respective companies, but withholding the title to the lands until twenty consecutive miles of road had been constructed and then conveying the lands along such twenty miles, was drawn in Judge Withey's office and by him taken to Lansing and placed before the Legislature, and for a considerable time urged by him alone, but with final success.

March 11,1863, he was appointed United States Judge for the Western District of Michigan, and ably performed the duties of that position during the remainder of his life. In the Constitutional Convention of 1867 he was one of the most active and influential of its members, so much so that he was afterward selected as one of the commissioners to draft amendments to the constitution, and the published debates of both bodies testify to his eminently wise and judicious counsels. Not only the constitutional debates but the statute books of this State give many evidences of his wisdom and sound judgment.

Judge Withey was at one period of his life a strong Prohibitionist, and stumped this part of the State in favor of the Prohibitory or so-called "Maine law" of 1853 to 1855. He subsequently became satisfied that its enforcement was not feasible, and favored the present tax law in its stead. He was eminently conservative and practical as a legislator, and never refused a slight step in advance, although he sought a much greater. His appointment to the position of United States Judge came to him as a natural recognition of his real fitness for the place, and at once received the general approval of the people. Judge Withey never at any time laid claim to a profound knowledge of the law, and never attempted to make Himself acquainted with the many subtleties and technicalities of the book makers. But he had a clear, logical mind, a strong sense of right, and a practical common-sense that refused to be led astray, and brought him direct to the object to be attained, the justice and equity of his case.

As an evidence of his own unwillingness to be swerved from his own convictions, is the case of the steamer Daniel Ball, reported in the 10th of Wallace. In March, 1868, the writer of this, acting U. S. Attorney, had libeled the steamer for not having procured inspection and taken license under the United States' Laws. It was claimed by the owner of the steamer, that the Grand River was not a navigable water of the United States; that the steamer was not engaged in trade or commerce between two or more States, and was not subject to the navigation laws of the United States. The case was strongly contested, and the defense was backed up by a long line of decisions of both the District Courts of the United States and State Courts, extending from the formation of the Government down to that time. Judge Withey, after a careful examination of the case, decided to follow the decisions of the other courts, but at the same time expressed his strong conviction that the libel was well filed, and advised an appeal by the Government, which was taken; he at the same time expressed his opinion that the National Government had jurisdiction to regulate the commerce between States carried upon railroads, and that it would be obliged to assume it. On hearing the appeal, Judge Swain adopted the opinion of Judge Withey as to the jurisdiction of the General Government, and reinstated the libel; the defense took an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, where Judge Swain's decision was sustained; and soon afterward the National Government did assume control of commerce between States carried on railroads.]

Judge Withey had many characteristics that not only made him eminent as a judge, but endeared him to and made him respected by the people; he was clear, pure minded, conscientious, and disliked to believe evil of another. In the administration of criminal law, he had a strong leaning toward mercy, in all cases seeming to arise from human frailties, but was stern and relentless in cases of premeditated, deliberate wickedness.

Judge Withey was pre-eminently a religious man, possessed of decided opinions, but at the same time was broad-minded, catholic, and tolerant of the opinions of others. As a judge he was gentle, kind, and greatly beloved, especially by the members of the bar, and that not only in his own State, but in the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, where he frequently sat in the United States Circuit Court. He was never arrogant, but always quietly firm, and had a dignity of manner that no one ever presumed upon. If at any time he found himself in error, he readily, cheerfully, and, without ostentation, corrected himself. He dealt justly, and loved mercy; but little better can be said of him than that he was a Christian gentleman in every relation of life.

THE BENCH AND THE BAR, by Willard Irving Brigham, Chapter LXIV
received 11 July 2001, http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikent/baxter1891/64legal.html