SHEBOYGAN HISTORY

Hon. Dennis T. Phalen, Page 664

HON. DENNIS T. PHALEN, State Senator from the Twentieth District of Wisconsin, is a lawyer by profession, and a prominent member of the Sheboygan County Bar.  He was born in the town of Lima, Sheboygan County, April 20, 1856, was educated in the Sheboygan High School, and studied law under the direction of his brother Albert Phalen.  He was admitted to the Bar in 1880, and entered upon the practice of his profession in Sheboygan, where he has since pursued it with exceptional success.

    Mr. Phalen is a Democrat in politics, and for a number of years has borne an active part in local and State politics, serving as delegate to conventions, in which he has often been called upon to fill the position of Chairman.  In 1882 he was elected District Attorney, and re-elected in 1884.  In the last-named year, he was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly, and in 1892 to the State Senate, being the present incumbent of that office.  He has been for three years a member of the Sheboygan Board of Education.

    On the 10th of July, 1885, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Julia Moore.  Mrs. Phalen is a native of Sheboygan, and a daughter of J. L. Moore, one of the early settlers and a prominent citizen of this county.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Phalen were born two daughters, Irene Frances and Julia Caroline, both natives of Sheboygan.

    While in the Assembly, Mr. Phalen was Chairman of the Committee on Cities, and of the Committee on Railroads.  In the Senate he is a member of the Judiciary Committee, and of the committee on Roads and Highways.  He distinguished himself in his senatorial career as a leader in the fight against the bill that provided for favoring the interest-grabbing State Treasurers, by granting them a reduction on the State funds in their hands of from seven to three per cent.  He made a most eloquent and stirring speech on the subject.