Drausin Wulsin
pages 364-367

HOW SHALL we recall the fond memories that cluster about our beloved dead?  How shall we portray the nobleness of the character, the purity of the life, the gentleness of the disposition of the late Drausin Wulsin, one of the most brilliant legal lights of his day and generation, not only of the Cincinnati bar, but of the Middle West?  In fact, he had few peers and no superiors in the nation.  We may portray in a fairly comprehensive manner his greatness as a lawyer, his fidelity as a public official, and his gallantry as a soldier; but how shall we describe his high character, his affection as a friend, his devotion as a husband, his tenderness as a neighbor?  How shall we impart the patience of his suffering, the unfailing seal of his trust in the Great Healer of all our infirmities, the sorrow and desolation that, at his death, fell like a dark pall upon the hearts of the loved ones left behind?  We know that all that is must share his destiny; that the brief term of mortal existence is but a passing dream, a story that is briefly told, and man's spirit drifts away on the bosom of that tranquil river that winds with noiseless murmurs through the gloom-shaded shadows of the valley of death.
Mr. Wulsin was born June 10, 1842, near New Orleans, Louisiana, and was a descendant of a sterling old Southern family. He was a son of Drausin and Josephine (Young) Wulsin.  The father was born in the city of New Orleans in 1814, and there grew to manhood, was educated and married, and subsequently removed with his family to Cincinnati, Ohio.  His three sons, who were all born in the South, had natural inclination to rural life and insisted that they be taken to the country; the father accordingly purchased a farm at Cold Springs, Kentucky, in a most picturesque locality and fine agricultural district; however, he retained the family residence in Cincinnati.  This family is of French descent.  The Wulsins prospered and became influential and prominent citizens in the locality of New Orleans, Louisiana, for many generations.
Drausin Wulsin, Jr., attended the Old Twelfth District School in Cincinnati, later graduating from Hughes High School, after which he entered the Cincinnati Law School, where he made an excellent record and from which institution he was graduated.  The great Civil War then being at its zenith, he proved his patriotism and courage by enlisting in the One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served a brief term of enlistment with credit, and was honorable discharged.  Two of his brothers were also soldiers:  Eugene, who was captured by the Confederates and confined in Andersonville prison where he died; and Lucien, who was severely wounded in Georgia, having been a member of the Fourth Ohio Cavalry in the Union Army.
After his career as a soldier, our subject returned to Cincinnati and was admitted to the practice of law, at once engaging actively in the practice of his profession, and he rose to prominence and fame with advancing years, having been successful form the start.  He entered the office of Mills and Goshorn, and upon the retirement of A. T. Goshorn, Mr. Wulsin became a partner of Louis E. Mills, which partnership continued until 1873, when Mr. Mills retired and our subject became associated with James H. Perkins.  The latter soon after became assistant to solicitor Clement Bates.  In 1877, Mr. Wulsin formed a partnership with Judge William Worthington, which continued until 1882, when Judge Worthington took up his duties as judge of the Supreme Court of Cincinnati; then our subject and James H. Perkins became partners and practiced together until Mr. Wulsin's death, this being one of the strongest and most widely known law firms in the State of Ohio.  They were assisted in the office by Frank O. Suir and William J. Rielly, both very able lawyers.  Thus for a period of nearly half a century, Mr. Wulsin was one of the most conspicuous figures in the ranks of Cincinnati and Ohio lawyers.  He favored civil law and specialized in corporation law.  In this line he had no superiors in this country, and his services were in great demand by the largest concerns in the industrial world of the Middle West.  Both fortune and honor came to him as a result of his industry, profound, legal knowledge, and scrupulous integrity.  He eminently deserved both.  He possessed a most comprehensive knowledge of the basic principles of the law.  He was an impressive and logical speaker, often rising to eloquence.  His argument was terse and crisp; his style scholarly, lucid.  He made effective use of all favorable points, no difference how unimportant they seemed to be , and skillfully turned and ignored unfavorable ones.  The subtleties of reason, humor, repartee, eloquence, all reinforced by a well-disciplined and resourceful mind, were at his command in full profusion.  With these eminent qualifications as a lawyer, super-added to his character, energy, and scholarly attainments, he was properly and safely classed among and with the foremost men of the bar that the great Buckeye State has ever known.  For twenty years he was attorney for the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, and when the Central Trust and Safe Deposit Company was organized, he was chosen its counsel.  His firm prepared the bill, which became a law in April, 1882, upon which the original trust and safe deposit company was based, and this company in Cincinnati was first organized.  He was one of the directors of the institution for twenty-two years.  He was the counsel of the late Thomas Emery, one of Cincinnati's greatest financiers and leading citizens.  He was the attorney for those great corporations whose operations were sound, legitimate, and above censure, but his services were not for the unscrupulous and unfair concerns, no matter what inducements were offered him.  Being profoundly versed in the various phases of jurisprudence, his advice was frequently sought by his professional brethren, and his counsel was invariably followed with gratifying results.  He remained an earnest and discriminating student of the law to the last days of his life, keeping fully abreast of the times, and his wide research and extensive experience rendered him a most potent factor in legal circles.
Politically, Mr. Wulsin was a stanch Republican and he was active and influential in party affairs.  He held but one office of public trust; but there is no doubt that he could have had any high position of trust within the gift of the people in Cincinnati and the State of Ohio, had he devoted his time and efforts to statesmanship.  He refused all offers of his selection otherwise to position of public trust.  He accepted his election as a member of the city council and took a prominent part in shaping the ordinances affecting the construction of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad, and this road is the largest and best asset of the city of Cincinnati.  During that period he gave his advice freely and cheerfully in movements having for their object the betterment of the city of his residence.  He assisted very materially legislation controlling pension funds for public-school teachers, which the General Assembly of Ohio passed.  For some time he was in the employ of the Ohio Bankers' Association and the Ohio State Board of Commerce, and he prepared the foundation upon which was modeled the banking laws now in force in Ohio.  He took much interest in all questions of public importance that pertained to his city and State, the interests and general welfare of each being of much concern to him.  He was a very faithful friend and supporter of the public library and he served as trustee of the same for many years and was a faithful attendant at the meetings of the library board, giving much of his valuable time in aiding the library work.  He was of great assistance in the commercial development and welfare of Cincinnati, and her people owe him a debt of gratitude which they can never repay.  He was a member of the Cincinnati Business Men's Club of Walnut Hills, also the Chamber of Commerce; he also belonged to the Queen City Club.  Several times he was honored by being elected president of the Cincinnati Bar Association.
Mr. Wulsin was a great home man, and enjoyed spending his evenings by his own fireside after the arduous work of the day.  He spent much time in his large and valuable library, becoming familiar with the world's best literature.  He was a man of high intellectual attainments and a profound scholar.  His domestic life which was singularly happy and harmonious, began on December 21, 1875, when he was united in marriage with Julia Carson, a lady of education, culture, and many estimable traits.  She is a daughter of Enoch T. Carson, who was at that time assistant United States Treasurer, and for many years was prominent in the public life of the nation.  Mrs. Wulsin still resides in the beautiful family home in Walnut Hills.  The union of our subject and wife was without issue.
Mr. Wulsin was a lover of the outdoors, his soul being in harmony with the finer elements of nature.  He also took an interest in wholesome recreation.  He was a charter member of the Cincinnati Base Ball Club, which was organized in july, 1766, as a purely amateur club, its members playing purely for the physical benefits to be derived from the game.
Personally, he was unpretentious, companionable, yet always bore himself with the dignity of a genteel gentleman.  He loved the truth, hated sham and hypocrisy, and his word was regarded as the bond of most men, if not better.  He was a brilliant conversationalist and his company was sought by the best people of the country; in fact, he was held in the highest esteem of all who knew him, and when he was summoned to his eternal rest on November 14, 1910, the whole city and State mourned his loss, well knowing that his place could never be filled and that humanity would henceforth be the poorer; but his influence for good is still potent in the lives of those with whom he came in contact.  He was a man of high ideals, clean in character, honest, honorable, kind, gentle, and noble.  He took great pleasure in helping others, gave liberally of his time and means to charity, was free with his valuable advice.  When the national reunion of the Grand Army of the Republic was held in Cincinnati, he aided his brother, Lucien Wulsin, in entertaining the veterans of the Fourth Ohio Cavalry, introducing them to his mother, then advanced in years, and who had sent three sons to aid the Union cause during the nation's gravest crisis and darkest hours.
At the time of his death the press of the entire country devoted columns to his brilliant career as a lawyer and his worth as a man and citizen.  We can only quote here briefly from an editorial in one of the daily papers of his home city, as follows:  
"In the death of Drausin Wulsin, the local bar loses one of the best of members.  His instincts were those of a gentleman.  We doubt whether there is any one who can recall seeing him losing his temper.  His triumphs left no sting for those he vanquished.  His influence was always thrown on the right side.  His life was above reproach and his memory will be hallowed."

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