In the largest and best sense of the term, Deloss Carlton
Shull is distinctively one of the notable men of his day and as such his
life record is entitled to a conspicuous place in the annals of his state. As a
citizen he is public spirited and enterprising to an unwanted degree; as a
friend and neighbor, he combines the qualities of head and heart that have won
confidence and commanded respect; as an attorney, who has a comprehensive grasp
upon the philosophy of jurisprudence and has brought honor and dignity to the
profession which he has practiced with such distinguished success, he is easily
the peer of any of his professional brethren of the Iowa bar, and as a servant
in high places of honor he has had no superiors.
Mr. Shull was born in Pella, Iowa, on the 28th of March, 1858,
and is a son of Jacob Henry and Martha (Cutler) Shull. He received his
elementary education in the public schools and then attended Des Moines
University, here he was graduated in 1881, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
He then entered the law school of Drake University, where he was granted the
degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1882. In that same year he engaged in the
practice of his profession at Vermillion, South Dakota, remaining there until
1887, when he moved to Sioux City, where he has been identified with the
practice of law continuously since, a period of nearly forty years. In 1888 he
formed a partnership with L. S. Fawcett, under the firm name of Fawcett & Shull,
which relationship existed two years, after which he was for two years alone in
practice. In 1892 he became associated with Orville J. Taylor and William H.
Farnsworth, under the style of Taylor, Shull & Farnsworth, which existed until
1896, when Mr. Taylor retired and the firm name was Shull & Farnsworth until
1907, when J. M. Sammis joined the firm, which thus became Shull, Farnsworth &
Sammis. Three years later C. M. Stillwill was admitted to partnership under the
style of Shull, Farnsworth, Sammis & Stillwill. Two years later Farnsworth
retired and until 1914 the firm was known as Shull, Sammis & Stillwill. When
FRank E. Gill entered the firm in 1915 it became Shull, Gill, Sammis & Stillwill,
which title was retained until 1921, when Messrs. Gill and Sammis retired and
Mr. Shull's two sons, Deloss P. and Henry C., came into the firm, which became
Shull, Stillwill & Shull. In 1922, Sylvester F. Wadden was admitted to the
firm, which has since borne the title of Shull, Stillwill, Shull & Wadden. Mr.
Shull is a director and general counsel for for the First National Bank of Sioux
City and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, as well as many other
important corporations. He is president and a director of the Great Western
Land Company, president of the Shull Realty Company, attorney for the Manhattan
Realty Company, and the Massachusetts Realty Company, of Boston, a holding
company, and of the Colonial Land Company.
On the 2d of October, 1883, Mr. Shull was married at Maple
Grove, Iowa, to Nettie Merrill Perkins, who was born in Madison county, Iowa,
September 13, 1858. She died June 8, 1887, in Vermillion, South Dakota, leaving
a son, D. P. Shull, born May 20, 1887. On October 24, 1889, at Sioux City, Mr.
Shull was united in marriage to Miss Fannie Edith Mitzell, and to them were born
three children, namely: Deloss P. and Henry C., who are associated with their
father in the practice of law, and Laurens C., who was vice
president of the Farmers State Bank of Woodward, Iowa, enlisted for service in
the World war, becoming a lieutenant in the regular army, and was killed in the
battle of Chateau Thierry, France. Mr. Shull is a member of the Sioux City Bar
Association, the Iowa State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
He belongs to the Professional Men's Club of Sioux City, to Shull Post,
Veterans of Foreign Wars, the United States Reserve Officers of the Seventh
Corps area, the Sioux City Golf and Country Club, the Hamilton Club of Chicago,
and the Sioux City Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the board of trustees
of the University of Chicago and of Des Moines University. He is a stanch
supporter of the republican party, while his religious connection is with the
Baptist church. He was president of the Northern Baptist convention of 1919-20,
has been chairman of the finance committee of that body for fourteen years and a
member of the executive committee for sixteen years. Mr. Shull has been much
more than ordinarily successful in his legal career, being a master of his
profession, a leader among men distinguished for the high order of their legal
ability, and his eminent attainments and ripe judgment have made him an
authority on all matters involving a profound knowledge of jurisprudence and
vexed and intricate questions of law and equity. Personally Mr. Shull is a man
of kindly and courteous manner, is generous in his support of all worthy causes,
public spirited in his attitude towards all movements or measures for the
advancement of the general welfare and consistent in his advocacy of all those
things which are really worth while in life.
