Term: Kennan, Thomas Lathrop 1827 - 1920

Definition: lawyer, b. Morristown, N.Y. He studied law in Ohio, was admitted to the bar, and in 1851 moved to Oshkosh where he set up a law practice. In 1855 he moved his practice to Portage, and there gained distinction as a criminal lawyer. During the Civil War, he served as 1st lieutenant, Co. D, 10th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry (1861-1862), and after resigning his commission returned to his law practice in Portage where he specialized in railroad cases. He was attorney for the Wisconsin Central R.R. Co. (1880-1890), and after 1881 made his home in Milwaukee where he continued to practice law until his death. T. L. Kennan, Genealogy of the Kennan Family (Milwaukee, 1907); J. R. Berryman, ed., Bench and Bar of Wis. (2 vols., Chicago, 1898); Wis. Reports, 175 (1922), pp. xlix-lii; J. G. Gregory, Hist. of Milwaukee (4 vols., Chicago, 1931); Milwaukee journal, Aug. 2, 1920, Dec. 8, 1933; WPA field notes.