Fisk, Otis-Harrison

Otis Harrison Fisk was born in Covington, Kentucky, on March 5, 1870. He was educated at Yale University, where he received the degree of B.A. in 1892. For the following four years, he studied at the universities of Leipzig, Berlin, and Heidelberg, the latter of which awarded him a Ph.D. in 1895 and a J.D. in 1896. He continued his education at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where he received an LL.B. in 1899. That same year, he was admitted to the Ohio bar and began practicing law, which he would continue to do until his retirement in 1929. Between 1914 and 1929, he was also a lecturer at the University of Cincinnati. Fisk was the author of numerous books on law. He was married to Helen Whitelaw Pogue on June 5, 1901 and to Mabel Anna Hebb on February 9, 1929. With his first wife, Fisk had four daughters. Otis Fisk died on January 10, 1944, in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Otis Harrison Fisk, B.A. 1892.

Born March 5, 1870, in Covington, Ky.

Died January 10, 1944, in Framingham, Mass.

Father, Charles Henry Fisk, LL.D. (B.A. Miami Univ. 1863, M.A. 1868; LL.B. Cincinnati Law School 1864), a lawyer in Lexington and Covington, Ky.; son of Lieut. John Flavel Fisk and Elizabeth Sarah (Johnson) Fisk of Covington. Mother, Margaret Anne (Emmal) Fisk; daughter of William B. and Catherine (Miller) Emmal of Lexington. Yale relatives include a cousin, John F. Fisk, 3d, '13 S.

Prepared at private schools and Mt. Auburn Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio. Oration appointment Junior and Senior years; member Yale Union and Beta Theta Pi.

Studied at universities of Leipzig, Berlin, and Heidelberg 1892-96 (Dr. Phil. Heidelberg 1895, Dr. Jur. 1896); attended University of Cincinnati College of Law 1896-99 (LL.B. 1899); admitted to the bar 1899; lawyer in Cincinnati 1899 until retirement 1929; lecturer in medical jurisprudence University of Cincinnati 1914-29; assistant professor of civil law Harvard University 1929-30; lecturer on wills and probate practice Xavier University, Cincinnati, 1929-30; attended Y.M.C.A. Training School, Blue Ridge, N.C.; educational and building secretary Camp Sheridan 1918-19; trustee Miami University; author: Stimmrecht und Einzelstaat in den Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika (1895, 1896), The Constitution of the German Empire (1916), Presumption in the Law (1921), Fundamentals of the Law of Proof in Judicial Proceedings (1928), and Kunde über America (1944); translated into German The Facts about the Candidate by Byron Andrews (1904) and from German Institutes of Roman Law of Civil Procedure by Leopold Wenger (1940); member Cincinnati Bar Association and Masonic order; vestryman, treasurer, and Sunday-school superintendent Church of the Epiphany (Episcopal), Cincinnati, and vestryman St. Andrew's Church, Framingham.

Married (1) June 5, 1901, in Cincinnati, Helen Whitelaw, daughter of Joseph and Sophia Helen (Whitelaw) Pogue. Children: Isabelle Eastman (B.A. Wellesley Coll. 1923; B.Ed. Univ. Cincinnati 1929); Elizabeth Whitelaw (died March 9, 1913); Sophia Helen (B.A. Wellesley Coll. 1930), the wife of John Anderson Laird (B.A. Cornell 1930); and Margaret Pogue (B.A. Wellesley Coll. 1937). Mrs. Fisk died August 7, 1927. Married (2) February 9, 1929, in Roslindale, Mass., Mabel Anna, daughter of Elijah and Ella (Pearl) Hebb.

Death due to cerebral hemorrhage. Buried in Walnut Hill Cemetery, Brookline, Mass. Survived by wife, three daughters, two grandchildren, and a sister, Elizabeth Sarah Fisk Cutter, the wife of Edward Henry Cutter (B.S. in M.E. Massachusetts Inst. Technology 1902) of Elgin, Ill.

(Taken from Yale University Obituary Record, 1943-45, p. 53).

From the guide to the Otis Harrison Fisk papers, 1893-1944, (Manuscripts and Archives)