150 Years of Distinguished Service

Founded in 1870 by Alfred W. Benson, Harris Kelsey Chartered is one of the oldest continuously operating law firms in the state of Kansas. Located in the heart of historic downtown Ottawa, the firm has a long and distinguished history rooted with attorneys who are dedicated to serving their clients, their community and their state with distinction. Our founders include two mayors, a Civil War veteran, a World War II veteran, a United States Senator, three State Senators, a Fourth Judicial District Court Judge and a Kansas Supreme Court Justice. Today, the firm is owned and operated by Blaine Finch who served a decade in the Kansas House of Representatives, including two terms as the Speaker Pro Tem.

ALFRED WASHBURN BENSON (1843-1916)

Commonly known as Judge Benson for positions held later in his career, Alfred was born in New York and served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Following the end of the war he studied law and first practiced in New York. In 1869 he came to Ottawa, Kansas, and opened a law office. He briefly returned to his home state to marry and returned in 1870 with his wife, Unettie Towsley. Benson was admitted to practice in Kansas on March 28, 1870. 

Upon founding the firm, he built his practice while holding many public offices. Benson served as City Clerk of Ottawa, County Attorney of Franklin County, and Mayor of Ottawa. He later served in the Kansas House of Representatives and the Kansas Senate. In 1884 he would accept his first appointment to the bench and became a district court judge in Franklin County. He resigned in 1905 to serve as a United States Senator for Kansas until he accepted an appointment as a Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court in 1907. He held that position until 1914 when his disdain for campaigning led him not to fight for a second term. 

After serving on the state’s highest court Benson became a full-time faculty member at the Washburn University School of Law where he taught until his death in 1916. Benson enjoyed a fine reputation as a lawyer, statesman, judge and teacher. Though his service on the high court precludes his name being used by the firm, his legacy lives on in the firm that he founded 150 years ago.

FRED M. HARRIS (1875-1950)

Harris was a Franklin County native born near Homewood, Kansas, in 1875. A graduate of Ottawa University and the University of Kansas School of Law he was admitted to the Kansas Bar in 1896. Young attorney Harris was hired by Alfred Benson and became his partner in 1898. Like Benson, Harris was committed to the community he served and held public office, including as a Kansas State Senator in the 1930s. He was active in Republican politics and attended national conventions on behalf of the Party.

One of his abiding passions was the promotion of education. He was a member, and twice chairman, of the Kansas Board of Regents and played a prominent role in the creation of the University of Kansas Medical Center. Throughout his career Harris took on special assignments such as serving as a special prosecutor in numerous local cases as well as prosecuting the famous Finney Bond Scandal case at the personal request of Governor Alf Landon. 

Fred Harris was passionate about his clients and his practice. In the 1930s he was offered an appointment to the Kansas Supreme Court which he flatly rejected citing his love for his practice and his desire to remain with it. And, he did. On the morning of July 18, 1950, after 52 years of practice Fred Harris went home ill and later passed peacefully at his home. All but six months of his 52-year practice had been conducted from the offices at 109 West Second Street in the building where Harris Kelsey is located today.

BASIL W. KELSEY (1907-1960)

Kelsey was a son of Kansas, born in Garnett and a graduate of the University of Kansas. He was admitted to the bar in 1931 and moved to Ottawa where he was hired by Fred Harris. Together they formed the firm Harris & Kelsey and would practice together for nearly 20 years.

Kelsey interrupted his practice in 1943 to serve his country as a naval officer through the end of World War II. He saw action in the Atlantic and Mediterranean theaters. Following his service he returned to the firm and burnished his reputation as an outstanding attorney. He was thorough and detailed and had a knack for presenting a case. He was best known for his work in the utility field and was statewide general counsel for Kansas City Power and Light.

After nearly 30 years of practice, Kelsey passed away following a long illness in 1960. But not before continuing the tradition of a client-centered practice coupled with public service and a commitment to leaving things better than he found them. Kelsey hired Winton A. “Wint” Winter in 1957 to carry on the firm’s tradition.

Wint winter (1930-2013)

Winton “Wint” Winter grew up in Topeka, Kansas, and attended the University of Kansas where he was the starting center on KU’s football team. Following graduation, he served in the United States Marine Corps and served as a reservist while attending KU School of Law.

In 1957, Winter joined Basil Kelsey at the law firm, where he became well known for taking on tough cases and zealously advocating for his clients. While active in the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section, he developed an interest in politics. He ran for the Kansas Senate and served two terms there.

Following the death of Basil Kelsey, Winter practiced alone until he hired a young associate in 1967 named Robert “Bob” Green. In 1971, purchased a controlling interest in Peoples National Bank of Ottawa, becoming a director and eventually president of the bank. With growing commitments at the bank and in the Statehouse, Winter left the practice of law to devote himself full-time to banking and public service. Green stepped up to lead the firm upon Winter’s departure in 1973.

Bob Green (1942-)

Robert “Bob” Green grew up in Concordia, Kansas. He graduated from Kansas State University and earned his law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law. It was an internship with local judge Floyd H. Coffman that introduced Green to Ottawa, Kansas, and its legal community. In 1967, he joined Wint Winter at the firm, then served in the United States Army before returning to Ottawa to practice.

Green carried on the firm’s tradition of public service through his active involvement in local organizations, including the local economic development organization, chamber of commerce, Rotary club, First United Methodist Church and many others. Bob also served on the Republican Central Committee and helped in the campaigns of Wint Winter and Bob Dole.

Green led the law firm for 40 years. He became known for his legal representation of the local hospital and several area rural water districts, lecturing statewide and serving in leadership posts in organizations for attorneys practicing in these areas. He took on Tom Sachse as a partner until 1991 when Sachse became a district court judge. Green practiced alone until he hired Blaine Finch as an associate in 2002. Green retired from the active practice of law in 2011.