Young Benjamin Sheeks, Attorney & State Legislator
Benjamin graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1865 with an A. B. Degree, where he had been in the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. He then studied law at the University of Michigan, and practiced law in Indiana and in Lincoln, Nebraska. He became a member of the lower house in the territorial legislature in Wymoning for two terms and became the speaker. Although he was not Mormon, he bacame the attorney for the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City, and was Brigham Young's personal attorney, representing both before the U. S. Supreme Court "with great ability," until he moved to Tacoma and then Aberdeen, Washington ca 1904. He was a bachelor, an outdoor enthusiast and enjoyed long walks in the mountains.
Date & Place:
at Taber Photography Studio in 6 Montgomery Street, San Franciso, California
Ben died 10 April 1929 and was buried cremated at Fern Hill. In Jan 1925, he had retired at the age of 83, having served since 1909 as a Superior Court Judge, appointed by Governor M. E. Hay. Another judge eulogized Ben for his "character...his wisdom, his enormous learning and scholarship which...was second to none in this community." His funeral was attended by the Bar Association enmasse but by only one relative, Mrs. Nora Moore Tubbs, his niece. Ben's heirs included Mary A. Moore; Nora & Harry S. Tubbs of Michell, IN; Lou Miller of Ottawa, Kansas; Florence Brown of Kansas City; Alice Sheeks Sims of Portland, Oregon; and Jennie Sheeks of Denver, Colorado. On April 13, 1929, the Grays Harbor, Washington newspaper, P. 4 said: "In the death of Judge Sheeks, this section loses a man who served as judge in this county from 1909 to 1923. During that long period not a single decision by Judge Sheeks awakened a doubt as to the integrity of his purpose. Singularly fitted for the office of judge, learned in the law and holding a high ideal of government and the courts, Judge Sheeks held a position unique among judges. His influence was uplifting and in this sense his life was well spent. It is well that he lived."
Date & Place:
at Aberdeen in Grays Harbor, Washington
