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

1722

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

that institution, and in the fall of 1872 entered the literary department
of the University of Michigan, where his class is that of 1876, when he
got the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the same year he also graduated
in pedagogy, and had taken some courses in the law department. After
two years of studies in the offices of Geddes & Miller at Adrian, he was
admitted to the bar in I878.
Judge Steere located at Sault Ste. Marie, then a small village, in the
spring of I878, and both by residence and by professional activity has
identified himself with that noted city of the Upper Peninsula until his
recent appointment as judge of the Supreme Court. He served as prosecuting attorney of Chippewa county by appointment, during a portion of
I878, and was then elected to the office, and his service up to i88I gave
him his reputation as an able lawyer. He was elected in I88I on the Republican ticket judge of the Circuit Court of the Eleventh District, and
at the end of each term was re-elected, his last election coming in the
spring of I9IO. He resigned from the office on September I, I9II, to accept the appointment as justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan, and
soon afterwards removed to the capital city of Lansing.
Judge Steere was only twenty-eight years of age when elected to the
circuit bench, and practically all his mature experience has been identified
with judicial office. Concerning his early career and some of his conspicuous characteristics as a man and judge, a writer in a history in the bench
and bar of Michigan in 1897, said: "When he became judge the circuit
comprised the large area of what is now Chippewa, Schoolcraft, Luce,
Alger, Mackinac, and Manitou counties. There were no courthouses in
the entire circuit except at Chippewa, and Mackinac. In Manitou county,
composed of islands in Lake Michigan, the entire population was Irish,
and was governed by Father Gallagher, their priest, and they ironically
addressed Judge Steere as 'Your Lordship.' In the winter he could reach
some of his counties only on snowshoes, and in the summer in sailing
boats. He has held court in stores, hotel offices, and in other convenient
places of assembly. The judge is a great lover of hunting and fishing.
He is a profound student and made a thorough study of the Lake Superior
regions. He has accumulated the finest library of books relating to the
early history of this region to be found anywhere in private hands. Sault
Ste. Marie, where he resides, is the oldest white settlement in Michigan,
having a history running back to I668. He has received many volumes
pertaining to its history and that of Superior regions generally, from dealers in Europe, and many of the volumes are printed in French. He has
never married. He spends his vacation hunting and fishing, and his evenings in study. He has been elected to succeed himself without opposition.
He knows no friend while on the bench. A strange attorney is treated
with the same courtesy while in his court that his best friend would receive. In past years he has been called to Detroit and other places in
Michigan to preside in the courts, and is known throughout the state as a
just and upright judge. He is not a politician and believes that politics
should have no part or lot in court work. He has done much to elevate
the bench and bar since he became judge. He is kind-hearted and charitable and has helped many unfortunate men and women to a larger and
better life. He is a genial and companionable character, and has a wide
circle of admiring friends who love him not only for his sterling qualities
as a judge and public official, but also for his warm heart and sympathetic
disposition. He is a Mason of high rank, having attained the thirty-third
and maximum degree in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite."
Judge Steere is a Quaker in religion, and in his home city of Sault
Ste. Marie served as trustee of the school board and of the public library,
is a member of the Michigan Historical Society, of the National Geo