My Genealogy Hound

Hugh M. Fry, who died suddenly October 22, 1907, was a member of the firm of Sullivan & Fry, attorneys at Creston. He was born in Union county, August 4, 1872, his parents being John W. and Ellen M. (Green) Fry, the former a native of Illinois and the latter of Ohio. John W. Fry is of German lineage, the ancestry having originally settled in Kentucky. His wife is of English descent and of Revolutionary stock. About 1868 he came to Iowa and settled upon a farm in Union county, carrying on general agricultural pursuits until 1881, when he removed to Creston, where he is now living at the age of sixty-two years and filling a position in the supply department of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. His political views are in accord with the principles of the republican party. In his family were seven children: Ernest A., now deceased; Mary; Hugh M.; Jay W., a practicing physician of Creston; Mark W., a commercial traveler; Sherry E., a sculptor, now in Rome, Italy; and Jeannette, deceased.

Hugh M. Fry was reared to farm life until 1881 and attended the country schools. He then accompanied his parents on their removal to Creston and after completing a public-school course he entered the law department of Drake University at Des Moines in 1893 and was graduated in 1895. Then he located for practice in Creston, where he remained until his death, gaining a large and distinctively representative clientage. Here he formed a partnership with James G. Bull under the firm style of Bull & Fry, which association was maintained for two years. In 1904 he entered into partnership with E. F. and J. B. Sullivan under the firm name of Sullivan & Fry.

The political offices that he filled were in the direct line of his profession. He was city attorney from 1899 to 1903; was elected to the office of county attorney in 1904; and was reelected in 1906, being the incumbent at the time of his death. Three times chosen for this office, he needed no further encomium or indication of his faithful and able service. His success in a professional way afforded the best evidence of his capabilities in this line. He was a strong advocate with the jury and concise in his appeals before the court. Much of the success which attended him in his professional career was due to his earnest work in the office prior to entering the court room. Yet in the presentation of a cause he displayed strong logic, clear deductions and strong legal principles. He belonged to both the City, County and State Bar Associations and his membership relations also extended to the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Elks and the Woodmen fraternities.