History of Michigan, / by Charles Moore. [Vol. 3]

1700

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

and received the early training and impressions which have modeled his
character. He was twelve years of age when the family came to Michigan, and his early education was acquired by attendance at district
school during the winter time, and at work on the farm in the summer.
When he was eighteen he was qualified to teach, and was a capable
instructor of a roomful of children for number of terms, both before
and after the war. During the last year of the Civil war Mr. Huggett
enlisted in the First Michigan Cavalry, and went with that command to
the western frontier and saw some service against the Indians.
His earlier years had been taken up with winning a livelihood, getting a foothold in the world, and he was twenty-five years of age before he was able to crystallize his ambition for a professional career
by beginning actual study.
In the fall of I867 Mr. Huggett entered the office of Mr. Martin S.
Brackett at Bellevue, and after three years of reading and observation
in the local courts was admitted after examination to the bar in 1870.
Mr. Huggett first practiced at Bellevue in partnership with his instructor
Martin S. Brackett. In I876 the election of Mr. Huggett to the office
of prosecuting attorney of Eaton county caused him to dissolve partnership with Mr. Brackett and remove to the city of Charlotte, which has
been his home and center of practice now for upwards of forty years.
As a lawyer there are many points at which he has excelled, and both
in civil and criminal practice, and before a judge and jury and in the
office, has enjoyed distinctive prestige and success. Something of his
characteristics as a lawyer and citizen was described by a contemporary
in the bar as follows: "He is a great student. In summer he usually
rises at'daylight and works in his garden, in which he takes great pride,
having one of the most attractive homes in the city, the shrubbery and
flowers in his yard being always particularly beautiful in the summer.
After this recreation in preparation for the day, he spends the remaining
hours among his books or in study or in consultation at office, or in the
business of the courts. He has the absolute confidence of the people, and
is strictly upright in his dealings. He never leads a man into litigation,
but advises him to keep out of it if possible. He is candid in his statements and stands as high as any man in the county, both as a lawyer
and as a citizen. He is a safe man to know and a great help in the educational affairs of the town."
His public career has been one of importance. In 1875 he was elected
a member of the Michigan legislature from Eaton county. His party
affiliations have always been Republican. From I876 to I88o he served
as prosecuting attorney for Eaton county, and in 1876 was president of
the board of trustees of Bellevue. In I886 he was mayor of the city
of Charlotte, and also served on fhe public library board and is a member
of the school board.
At Charlotte from 1879 to I882 Mr. Huggett was a law partner of
Robert W. Shriner, and for the following eighteen years was associated
with John M. C. Smith, under the firm name of Huggett & Smith.
Later for about two years Roy R. McPeek was his partner, and since
then he has practiced alone. Mr. Huggett is a Knight Templar Mason
and is active in the affairs of the Congregational church.
On November 22, 1870, he married Mary L. Brackett, a daughter of
his first law partner. They are the parents of two children, a son and a
daughter. The son, Charles M. Huggett, graduated from the Charlotte
high school in the class of I895, spent two years in the literary department
of the University of Michigan, and subsequently graduated from the
Columbian Law School of Washington, D. C. Charles M. Huggett is a
young man with promise of a brilliant future, and has had unusual oppor