Paul M. Niebell Collection

Paul Milton Niebell, Sr., June 26, 1901 – March 18, 1995.

Obituary published in the Washington Post on 3-25-1995. “Paul Milton Niebell, Sr., 93, a prominent American Indian Claims attorney, died March 18th at Suburban Hospital following a heart attack.

Mr. Niebell was born June 26, 1901 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and was a 1919 graduate of Dunmore High School. He attended the Chicago Conservatory of Music. His study of the violin led him to become nationally known as a maker of fine violins, a hobby he enjoyed up until his death.

Moving to Washington, D.C., he enrolled at George Washington University Law School, receiving his Bachelor of Law Degree in 1925 followed by his Juris Doctor Degree. Admitted to the D.C. Bar in 1926; the U.S. Supreme Court Bar in 1929; U.S. Court of Claims Bar in 1930. He was a member of the American, Federal, and D.C. Bar Associations.

He opened his Washington law office in 1930, becoming one of the Nation's outstanding experts in handling American Indian Claims against the United States.

Most noted of many claims was that of the Yakimas in the State of Washington. When the map of the tribe's boundaries was lost of 75 years, the Yakimas suffered the loss of their sacred snow-capped Mt. Adams. When an impasse developed between the Departments of Interior and Agriculture it was referred to the Executive Office, which proclaimed it a legal matter. Mr. Niebell took the stand that it was a moral one; that the United States was the trustee of the Yakima Tribe and as such could not morally hold land belonging to its Indian ward, including Mt. Adams, to the tribe. On May 20, 1972, President Nixon signed an Executive Order restoring Mt. Adams and other vacant lands to the Yakima tribe. Nixon stated, "It is with particular pleasure that I sign this Executive Order which places 21,000 acres of land in the State of Washington under the trust jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior for the Yakima Indian Tribe. This action rights a wrong going back sixty-five years."

In 1980, the Paul M. Niebell, J.D. Classroom was dedicated at Stockton Hall in the National Law Center at George Washington University in his honor.

Interested in the education of young American Indians, he funded the chair of silversmithing at Bacone College, Muskogee, Oklahoma, and gave the college funds for its printing shop, which it named after him.

He was active in numerous Masonic and civic bodies, including: Scottish Rite 33, Board of Trustees Scottish Rite Foundation; Past Sovereign of Red Cross of Constantine, St. Simeon Stylites Conclave; Masonic Consistory, Southern Jurisdiction, Valley of Washington; Past Chairman, Board of Trustees, Almas Shrine Temple; Member of Knights Templar, Washington Commandery #1; Past High Priest and for 30 years Treasurer of Mt. Vernon Chapter #3 Royal Arch Masons; Member Adoniram Council #2; Royal Order of Jesters Count #50; Washington Daylight Lodge #14 R.A.A.M.; Past President of Bethesda-Chevy Chase Shrine Club; Honorary member Legion of Honor, D.C. Order to DeMolay.

Past President D.C. Society Sons of the American Revolution and served as a National Trustee for the National Society SAR; Past President Seabrook, Md. Civic Association; Vice President Washington Chapter #3 national Sojourners, Inc.; Former President and Director of the Optimist Club of Washington, D.C.; Member D.C. Society of Colonial Wars; Associate member The Order of the Blue & Gray; Honorary member of the continental Society Sons of Indian Wars, and George Washington University Luther Rice Society 1821 Associates.

Survivors include his wife of 39 years, the former Eleanor Warrene Smallwood Beasley; father of Paula N. Tidwell of Crofton; Nancy N. Ashton of Annapolis; Barbara B. Sweeney of Gambrills; and Dorothy B. Burkholder of Laurel; two sisters Arlene N. Coon and Evelyn I. Niebell, both of Florida; a niece, Joyce O'Briant of Connecticut; a nephew, Dr. Richard Harmstone of Dunmore, Pennsylvania; and four grandchildren. A son, Paul Milton Niebell, Jr., died in 1991.”