in which she pays now and has always paid special attention to real estate and probate law. In addition to the three daughters of her own. Mrs. Pier has brought up two nephews from their infancy,
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KATE PIER.
being assisted by her mother in the care of the large family. She greatly desired that her daughters should begin business life under her personal supervision. She had started alone and knew what pioneer business undertakings meant for a woman. She wished her girls to benefit by her experience. As it was a new venture for girls to enter law schools, she desired to take the course with her oldest. Mrs. Pier and Kate therefore began their legal studies together in the law department of the Wisconsin State University, in 1886. It was a unique precedent and brought the talented pair immediately into public notice. Their companionship was evidently so pleasant, their manners were so perfect and their aims so high and womanly, that they met with general kindness and pronounced courtesy. In May, 1891, Mrs Pier received an appointment that shows the decided advancement of women in the legal profession. She was made court commissioner, and she still holds the position. Of course, in departing from the beaten path of " woman's sphere," she conquered many obstacles before reaching the level road of a successful practice. Feeling that the profession of law needs women in its ranks almost, if not quite, as much as did the medical, Mrs. Pier is an enthusiast in her work.
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.
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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
