Edward Clemens Wade Doña Ana County, New Mexico

Edward Clemens Wade, an attorney practicing at Las Cruces, was born in South Carolina, but was reared in Georgia, and during five years of his youth was a student in the schools of England. He returned to America in 1872 and secured a position in the post office department in Washington. He afterward read law and was graduated from the National University Law School in 1876, being admitted to the bar the same year. On the 1st of February, 1880. he made his way to Santa Fe on the first passenger train reaching that point, and for a year practiced in that city. He was also collector of customs in 1881-2, and in 1883 came to Las Cruces. He has, however, since resided on the Pacific coast for a few years, but has remained permanently in Las Cruces since 1898. In January, 1884, he was commissioned district attorney of Dona Ana County for two years, but the term was extended to three years by a change in the law. He was then removed by Governor E. G. Ross in 1885, S. M. Ashenfelter being appointed his successor. He contested the right of the governor to remove him, however, and won his case, but Ashenfelter appealed and the case was afterward compromised. The term expired in 1887. The Republicans had a majority in the legislature and took the power of appointment from the governor and conferred it on the council, and the council reappointed Mr. Wade in 1887. He then served for seven years, save for the brief period of a year and a half, when his position was contested by Ashenfelter. This brought forth a decision on a point of law which had never been decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, concerning the power of the governor to remove officers appointed by the council. This case attracted widespread attention, being the only one of the kind on the legal records of the country. Mr. Wade in his practice confines his attention largely to the litigation of his district. In politics he has always been a Republican.

In 1886 Mr. Wade was married to Hattie B. Wilson, a native of Washington, D. C. and they have three children: Edward C, Wilson and Marion.

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Source: History of New Mexico, Its Resources and People, Volume II, Pacific States Publishing Co., 1907.