Judge Zala A. Church
Click image to enlarge
Judge
Zala A. Church, judge of the sixteenth judicial district since the 1st
of January, 1895, his present term extending until the 1st of January,
1910, is recognized as one of the strongest members of the bar of
western Iowa and has made a splendid record in this calling, which has
embraced many of the leading man of the state. A native of Dayton,
Greene county, Wisconsin, he was born May 28, 1852. His father, Harvey
Church, a native of New York, made his way westward to Wisconsin when
it was still a territory. His father followed farming and
merchandising, becoming one of the leading business men of his
community, but at the time of the Civil war he put aside all business
and personal considerations and offered his aid to the government,
serving for three and a half years as a member of Company I and Company
M of the First and Second Wisconsin Cavalry. He was a member of the
regiment that started out to capture Jefferson Davis, the president of
the southern Confederacy, but were outstripped by a Michigan regiment.
When the war ended he returned to Wisconsin and in his community he was
known as a prominent and influential resident. He stood fearlessly in
support of his honest convictions without weighing his acts in the
scale of public policy and he was one of five men in his township who
had hitherto supported the whig party that voted the first republican
ticket. He continued a resident of Wisconsin until 1878, when he
removed to Iowa, settling in Jefferson. Here he established a
mercantile enterprise, which he conducted successfully for fifteen
years, becoming one of its leading business men. He died in 1897 at the
age of eighty-two years and is still survived by his widow, who bore
the maiden name of Emily M. Tucker. She was born in the Empire state
and is still living at the advanced age of ninety years. In their
family were three daughters and a son: Mrs. Adell Duncan; Mrs. Melvina
Ellis, who is living in Jefferson; Zala A.; and one who died in youth.
Judge Zala A. Church was reared in Wisconsin, spending his boyhood days
in Dayton, Brooklyn, Evansville and Madison. In his early youth he
attended the public schools of Dayton and Brooklyn. He supplemented his
preliminary education by study in Evansville Seminary in Wisconsin and
subsequently entered the University of Wisconsin as a member of the
class of 1877. He was obliged to work his way through college and did
not continue the course, but later took up the study of law and was
graduated from the law school in 1876. In early manhood he engaged in
teaching in Dayton, Monticello and Belleville, Wisconsin, after which
he entered upon the practice of law in Jefferson, Iowa, on the 14th of
May, 1878. He has since been a prominent representative of the legal
profession here, meeting with that success which always crowns the
efforts of him whose knowledge of judicial principles is comprehensive
and exact, who prepares his cases in thorough manner and who is clear
and concise in his presentation of his cause before the courts. It is a
well known fact that the lawyer has been the most prominent factor in
public life, especially in molding the political situation and opinions
of the country. The reason is obvious and needs no explanation here,
for the training which qualifies him for practice in the courts gives
him that habit of analysis and clear reasoning that enables him to
comprehend a political situation and to present it with force before an
audience. Judge Church is widely recognized as one of the prominent
representatives of the republican party in western Iowa and has been
honored with a number of local positions. He was mayor of Jefferson for
one term, giving to the city a businesslike, progressive
administration. He was also justice of the peace for four years, has
been a member of the school board and has served as its president. He
was called to the oflice of county recorder and as county attorney his
labors proved a safe guard to the legal interests of the community. He
was made presidential elector at the time when Benjamin Harrison was a
candidate before the people and again he was called to oflicial
prominence when in 1894 he was elected judge of the sixteenth judicial
district. He entered upon the duties of the court on the 1st of
January, 1895, and the continuance of his present term will make him
the incumbent of the office until the 1st of January, 1910. His
decisions are based upon a comprehensive knowledge of the law and of
the equity in the case and are characterized by a masterful grasp of
every problem presented for solution.
Judge Church has attained distinction not only in the line of his
profession, but is also one of the most prominent representatives of
the Odd Fellows society in Iowa. He has been continuously connected
with the order since 1876 and high honors have been conferred upon him.
He is a past grand master of the state and is now serving his third
term as grand representative to the sovereign grand lodge of North
America. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and is
well known in Masonic circles. He has occupied various oflices in the
blue lodge, has been high priest of the chapter and has held different
official positions in the Knight Templar commandery. He likewise
belongs to the Mystic Shrine at Des Moines. For many years he was chief
of the fire department of Jefferson and at all times he has been
interested in progressive public measures contributing to the
advancement, growth and material improvement of his adopted city. As a
leading representative of the republican party he has for many years
served as a member of the county central committees and has done much
to shape the policy of the party in this locality. He holds membership
in the Baptist church and although his professional duties and official
work make many demands upon his time and attention he yet finds
opportunity for active co-operation in the moral development of the
community.
Judge Church was married in Jefferson, in 1881, to Miss May E. McCully,
who was born at Big Rock, Scott county, Iowa. They now have three
children: Iza L., now Mrs. C. I. Wells, of Dunbar, Wisconsin, and the
mother of one daughter, Monica; Bessie M., at home; and Theo T. All are
graduates of the high school of Jefferson and the two younger children
are now students in Mount Vernon College.
Judge Church built an attractive residence in Jefferson and in addition
to this is interested in other real-estate of the city. He has improved
two farms in the county and his real-estate interests are now valuable.
He has owned a country home for five years at Okoboji Lake, where he
has continuously spent the summer months since 1884. In all life’s
relations Judge Church is found as a man who stands firm in support of
his convictions, being actuated by a spirit of progress in all that he
does. His activity in politics, in fraternal circles, in his profession
and in other lines of business have made him a foremost resident of
Greene county, honored and respected wherever known but most of all
where best known.
|
