Legislator Details
Portrait of Jabez Wight Giddings scanned from Men of Progress p.388.
Vital Records Information:
Marital Information:
married Fidele Emelie Fitch, daughter of Hon. Ferris S. Fitch, of Ingham county, MI in 1883; children: Ferris Harold; married Emmalyn Madelaine (Wright) Miller in Tuscon, Arizona, 2/14/1907, divorced in 1910; married Anna L. Befell 6/27/1910, in Romeo, MI
Number of Children: 0
Background
Education:
common schools, graduated from Romeo High School, 1877; Oberlin College (OH); attended Amherst (MA) College, 3 years
Biographical Sketch:
Son of Moses Avery and Caroline (Beekman) Giddings. He left college in his senior year, and in 1880 entered the legal department of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad at Chicago. He went in as a student and read law. He continued until 1882, when he removed to Cadillac, MI and bought the Cadillac News, a Republican weekly paper. He was editor and proprietor until 1887, when he sold it. He continued his law studies and was admitted to practice in 1886. After retiring from his newspaper enterprise, he began the practice of law in company with S. J. Wall, of Cadillac, MI. Two years later he was in partnership with E. E. Haskins, which continued until 1889, since which time he practiced alone. In 1896, he was elected Judge of the Recorder's Court of Cadillac for the term of 6 years. He served on the Board of Education of Cadillac for 7 years, and was chairman of the Republican State Convention in 1896. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias. He was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity of Amherst College.
He was editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican and at the time of his death was editor of the Taos Valley News.
Notable Facts:
Known a J. Wight Giddings. Lt. Governor of Michigan, 1893-94. Was on the lecture platform a number of seasons under Central Lyceum Bureau of Rochester, NY. Three of his subjects are "The Evolution of the Demagogue," "Uncle Sam's People," and "Cardinal and King," the latter giving a picturesque view of the life and prominent figures of the sixteenth century.