Viewing Charles J. Bartleson (1844-1913).Charles J. Bartleson (1844-1913).In 1872 Charles Bartleson, a 28-year-old Civil War veteran and member of the Illinois bar, began practicing law in Minneapolis. He was a member of what may be called the second generation of Minnesota lawyers -- those who arrived about two decades after Minnesota Territory was formed, when it was possible for a lawyer to live entirely off earnings from his law business. For the next forty years he practiced in Minneapolis, usually in a partnership. Like most lawyers, few of his cases made headlines in the newspaper. What surely has become a family legend, he was a witness, reluctant probably, in the famous Kitty Ging murder trial in 1895. In 1902 he ran against incumbent David Simpson for judge of the Fourth Judicial District. He lost by a wide margin. He died on February 24, 1913, at age 68. |