Woman of the Century/Kate Hamilton Pier

PIER, Miss Kate Hamilton, lawyer, born in Fond du Lac, Wis., 11th December, 1868. Her father's name was C. K. Pier, a lawyer by profession. He was the first white child born in Fond du Lac county, in 1841, and Kate, the oldest of three daughters, was born on the same farm. Her mother s maiden name was Kate Hamilton. Both her parents' families were originally from Vermont. During the childhood and early school life of Kate H. Pier, as she is known, her mother being also a lawyer and distinguished as Kate Pier, without the initial, she lived on the homestead farm just outside the limits of Fond du Lac. KATE HAMILTON PIER. She attended the German and English academy, where she learned the German language, which has enabled her so successfully to practice law in Milwaukee, Wis. Later she went to the public schools and was graduated from the Fond du Lac high school in 1886, just twenty-five years after her mother had graduated from the same institution. A university course was then much desired, and Kate would have entered upon it well prepared for special honors, but her mother's anxiety to be with her and to have her begin business life under her personal supervision led to their both entering the law department of the Wisconsin State University in September, 1886. Both mother and daughter accomplished the two-year course in one year by taking the work of the junior and senior classes simultaneously. Kate H. Pier therefore received the degree of LL. B. in 1887. She was very popular with the faculty and students, and was elected vice-president of the senior class. After receiving her degree she returned to Fond du Lac for one year, where she did some law business, but also spent much time in perfecting her knowledge of German and stenography. In 1888 she removed with her parents to Milwaukee and went into the law department of the Wisconsin Central Railroad for a year. Since that time she has been in general practice and has steadily gained in reputation for remarkable intellectual vigor and solid legal acquirements. She won her first victory in the supreme court of Wisconsin in September, 1889. She practices in all the courts in Milwaukee, except the municipal, which is purely a police court, and one into which she does not care to go. From the members of the bench and bar of Wisconsin she has ever received the most courteous treatment. All speak of her in terms of the highest admiration and respect. She has done some very praiseworthy legislative work, spending many weeks in looking after bills in the interest of women.