L I E> R.AFLY 

OF THE 

U N IVER.SITY 
OF ILLI NOIS 



923.4 
P18 

Vol 

cop.l 



It I IMHIC morn 



RY SURVEY 



RRMfiKAl SURVEY 



NOTICE 

AT LEAST ONE OF THE EDGES OF THIS 
MAGAZINE HAS BEEN LEFT UNTRIMMED, 
BECAUSE OF AN EXTREMELY NARROW 
MARGIN. 

HERTZBERG-NEW METHOD, INC. 




Henry Ta.-ylcr.Jr 4 Co. Chicago. 



THE 



BENCH AND BAR 



OF 



ILLINOIS. 



HISTORICAL AND REMINISCENT. 



EDITED BY 

JOHN M. PALMER, 



WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM A NUMBER OF THE FOREMOST MEMBERS OK THE 
LEGAL PROFESSION IN THE STATE. 



VOLUME I. 



CHICAGO: 

THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
1899. 



Copyright, 1899, 

THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
Chicago. 



v.l 



t PREFACE. 



It may be recalled that in the prospectus of this work there appeared the 
following words, which, per se, stand in justification of the history of the Bench 
and Bar of Illinois : 

"The memory of the life of even a lawyer is fleeting a name written upon 

^r~ 

the sandy shore of time, effaced by the oncoming wave of the next generation ; 
his work is for the present, and unless some effort is made to preserve in perma- 
nent form a record of that work it will be lost to the future. Even the great 
judges are forgotten ; they live only in the pages of dry and musty reports, 
and then the recollection is only a shadow. In no better way can some of the 
most valued items in the history of the lives of such men be preserved than 
through the medium of such a work. Thus may the merits and virtues of those 
eminent in the profession be recorded for the emulation and guidance of me 
younger generation." 

In the compilation of the work the editor and the publishers have fully 
recognized the magnitude of the task set them, and in the collation of material 
for the same there has been a constant aim to use a wise discrimination in regard 
to the selection of subjects and the methods of treatment. The province of the 
(^ work is entirely aside from technical lines, and the subject-matter is presented 

in a style which is mainly reminiscent, though due recognition is accorded the 
contemporaries of the bench and bar of this end-of-the-century period. 

In the compilation recourse has been had to divers authorities, including 
various histories and historical collections, and implying an almost endless array 
of papers and documents, both public and private. That so much matter could be 
gathered from so many original sources and then sifted and assimilated for the 
production of a single work without incurring a modicum of errors and in- 
accuracies, would be too much to expect of any corps of writers, no matter how 
able they might be as statisticians or skilled as compilers of such works. It is, 
nevertheless, believed that no inaccuracies of a serious nature can be found to 
impair the historical value of the volumes, and it is further believed that the 



iv PREFACE. 

results will supply the demands which called forth the efforts of the editor, his 
assistants and the publishers. 

Names worthy of perpetuation here have in several instances been omitted, 
either on account of the apathetic interest of those concerned, or the inability 
to secure the information demanded. Earnest co-operation has been accorded 
by leading members of the bar in various sections of the state, and the editor 
and publishers, as well as the patrons, can not but feel grateful to those who have 
thus contributed. In other quarters it has been impossible to awaken the 
requisite interest, and in such cases it has been necessary to fill in the gap as 
best possible. However, the incidental references made to those who have been 
important actors in the public and civic history of the state will serve to indicate 
the generic phases and will shadow forth much to those who can "read between 
the lines." As issued under the editorial supervision of one who has honored 
and been honored by the great state of Illinois, "a state that has been en- 
riched by his character, his example and his labor," we can not but feel that 
the edition will meet with hearty reception as a work of distinct and intrinsic 

historical value. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page 

CHAPTER I. 
Introductory I 

CHAPTER II. 
The Formative Period Territorial and State 6 

CHAPTER III. 
The Supreme Court Territorial and Supreme Court Judges 10 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Supreme Court 1825 Notable Cases 21 

CHAPTER V. 
The Supreme Court 1841 32 

CHAPTER VI. 
Reporters of the Supreme Court 73 

CHAPTER VII. 
Lawyers of Chicago 79 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Bench and Bar of Crawford County 125 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Courts and the Law Practice in Chicago : A Sketch 141 

CHAPTER X. 
The Bench and Bar of Sangamon County 152 

CHAPTER XL 
Compilations and Revisions of the Laws of Illinois 230 

CHAPTER XII. 
The Macoupin County Bar Lake County Lawyers 237 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Lawyers in Chicago 25 1 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Reforms in Abatements, Amendments and Practice at Law Imprisonment 

for Debt 285 

v 



vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Page 

CHAPTER XV. 
The Bench and Bar of Peoria County 290 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Lawyers of Peoria County 310 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Reforms in the Criminal Law 327 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Bench and Bar of Morgan County Notable Cases 335 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Representatives of the Chicago Bar 359 

CHAPTER XX. 
The Jersey County Bar 396 

CHAPTER XXI. 
The Bench and Bar of Effingham County 405 

CHAPTER XXII. 
The Bench and Bar of Cumberland County 419 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Autobiography of John M. Palmer Sketch of the Life of William H. Bissell 429 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
The Courts of Knox County Early Members of the Bar Lawyers of 

Present Bar 447 

CHAPTER XXV. 
The Bar of Shelby County Anecdotes 457 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
Contemporaries of the Chicago Bar 471 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
The Early Bench and Bar of Jo Daviess County 510 

CHAPTER XXVIII. . 
History of the Bond County Bar S 2 ^ 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Abraham Lincoln David Davis Shelby M. Cullom George Manierre 
Isaac N. Arnold Thomas Hoyne Melville W. Fuller Leonard 
Swett 536 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii 

Page 

. CHAPTER XXX. 
Representative Lawyers of Rock Island, Christian, Clay, Franklin and 

Macon Counties 563 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
The Bar of Jefferson County 595 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Chicago 602 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
Representatives of the Madison County Bar 672 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 
Representative Lawyers of St. Clair, McLean, McDonough, Massac and 

Clark Counties 705 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
Lincoln and Douglas A Comparative Estimate of Their Characters, 

Drawn from the Great Debate of 1858 750 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 
Members of the Chicago Bar 760 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 
The Bench and Bar of Grtindy County 774 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
The Bar of Clinton and Boone Counties 780 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 
The Bar of Livingston County 794 

CHAPTER XL. 
A Short History of the Bench and Bar of Harclin County 801 

CHAPTER XLI. 
The Bar of Henry County 805 

CHAPTER XLII. 
The Bar of LaSalle County 816 

CHAPTER XLI II. 
Representatives of the Chicago Bar 831 

CHAPTER XLIV. 
Reminiscences of the Early Bar 848 

CHAPTER XLV. 
The Bar of Gallatin County 851 



viii TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XLVI. 
The Bar of Schuyler and Fayette Counties 858 

CHAPTER XLVII. 
A Sketch of the Bench and Bar of Johnson County 872 

CHAPTER XLYIII. 
The Bench and Bar of Hancock County 875 

CHAPTER XLIX. 
Representative Lawyers of Vermilion and DeWitt Counties 889 

CHAPTER L. 
The Bench and Bar of Kane County 901 

CHAPTER LI. 
Leading Lawyers of Alexander, Cass, Coles, DeKalb, Macoupin and 

Sangamon Counties 925 

CHAPTER LII. 

Representative Lawyers in Champaign, Jackson, Kankakee, Monroe, Mont- 
gomery, Moultrie, Ogle, Perry. Wabash, Warren, Will and Winnebago 
Counties 949 

CHAPTER LIII. 
The Bar of Bureau County 1001 

CHAPTER LIV. 
The Bar of Logan County 1006 

CHAPTER LV. 
Chicago Lawyers 1018 

CHAPTER LVI. 
The Bar of Fulton County IO 37 

CHAPTER LVII. 
The Bar of Pike County 1047 

CHAPTER LVIII. 

Prominent Members of the Bar in the Counties of Lawrence, Marion, 
Marshall. Menard, Randolph, Richland, Tazewell, Whiteside and 
Woodford 1054 

CHAPTER LIX. 
Representatives of the Chicago Bar 1078 

CHAPTER LX. 
The Courts and Bar of Greene Countv 1092 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. . ix 

r 

CHAPTER LXI. 
Leaders of the Bar in Edgar, Douglas, Henderson, Iroquois, Jasper, Lee, 

McHenry, Mercer, Piatt and Pulaski Counties 1115 

CHAPTER LXII. 
Walter Q. Gresham Ninian Edwards John A. Logan Richard J. 

Oglesby 1 139 

CHAPTER LXIII. 
Representatives of the Chicago Bar 1156 

CHAPTER LXIV. 
The Stephenson County Bar 1 188 



CHAPTER LXY. 
Members of the Present Bar of Stephenson County 1 198 

CHAPTER LXYI. 
The Bench and Bar of Pope County 1210 



INDEX. 



Adair, John D., 1083. 
Adams, George E., 1031. 
Adams, James, 158. 
Ahrens, John P., 1161. 
Akin, Edward C., 082. 
Aldrich, Charles H., 834. 
Aldrich, N. J., 920. 
Alexander, Guy S., 129. 
Alexander, J. F.. 527. 
Allen, James C., 126. 
Allen, Oscar, 1008. 
Allen, William J., 211. 
Allen, Willis, 856. 
Alschuler, Samuel, 922. 
Ament, William T., 794. 
Ames, Truman E., 464. 
Anderson, William E. P., 242. 
Andrews, Francis E., 1070-1. 
Anthony, Elliott, 79. 
Armstrong, John F., 223. 
Armstrong, P. A., 778. 
Arnold, Isaac N.. 555. 
Arrington, A. W., 662. 
Asay, E. G., 638. 
Ashcraft, Edwin M., 480. 
Atherton, Boaz M., 776. 
Avery, Julius, 818. 
Ayer, Benj. F., 83, 649. 

B 

Babcock, A. S., 912. 
Bacon, Francis, 996. 
Bailey, Joseph M.. 1196. 
Bailey, Oliver J., 320. 
Bainbridge, John W., 238. 
Baird, Frederick S., 1160. 
Baker, Alfred L., 118. 
Baker, Edward D., 177. 880. 104 
Baker, Edward S., 137. 
Baker, Frank, 1179-80. 
Baker, Henry S., 689. 
Baldwin, Adolphus M., 803. 



1103. 



Baldwin, Charles, 1002. 
Ballingall, Patrick, 634. 
Ballou, Horace H., 1008. 
Bancroft, Edgar A., 508. 
Banning, Ephraim, 115. 
Barbee, Milton, 467. 
Barge, William, 1127. 
Barger, Richard W., 1165, 
Barker, Joseph N., 648. 
Barnes, Charles A., 356. 
Barnum, Henry M., 1202. 
Barnum, William H., 471. 
Barr, James G., 917. 
Barr, William W., 953- 
Barrett, Elmer E., 1029. 
Barricklow, Joseph P., i;i8. 
Barry, Alonzo H., 912. 
Barry, William D., 907. 
Barton, E. P., 1195. 
Bates, George C., 625. 
Baugh, Downing, 595. 
Baugher, Oscar, 776. 
Baum, William, 466. 
Beach, Myron H., 499. 
Beach, Timothy T., 1007. 
Beason, Silas, 1007. 
Beck, William E., 829. 
Becker, John H., 913. 
Beckwith, Corydon, 645. 
Bekemeyer, Carl, 1016-17. 
Bell, Alexander H., 243. 
Bell, Henry C., 219. 
Bell, Robert, 974. 
Benjamin, Reuben M., 727. 
Bennett, Albon, 776. 
Bentley, Cyrus, 652. 
Berdan, James, 338. 
Berry, Orville F., 885. 
Belts, Charles, 1200. 
Bigelow, Lewis, 293. 
Bingham. John A., 868-9. 
Bissell, William H., 441.. 
Black, John C.. 94. 
Black. William P., 375- 



Nil 



INDEX. 



Blackburn, Joseph, 604. 
Blackvvell, Robert S., 881. 
Blaisdell, Elijah W. ( 957. 
Blanchard, Charles, 822. 
Bledsoe, Albert T., 174. 
Blinn, Edward D., 1007. 
Blodgett, Henry W., 245, 617. 
Bogard, Hampton S., 137. 
Boggs, Carroll C, 71. 
Boice, John P., 1038. 
Bond, Benjamin, 3. 
Bond, Lester L., 107. 
Bonney, Charles C., 305. 
Booth, William, 898. 
Bowen. Thomas S., 820. 
Boyer. Oscar J., 1046. 
Boyle, Henry K., 820. 
Bradbury, Presley G., 135. 
Bradley, Isaac K., 199. 
Bradley, Lewis M., 1136. 
Bradshaw, William P., 690. 
Bradwell, James B., 630, 831. 
Bradwell, Mrs. Myra C., 235, 277. 
Brady, Peter A., 426. 
Brainard, Henry, 805. 
Brainard, Samuel P., 805. 
Brawley, Francis W. S., 88. 
Brayman, Mason, 231, 628. 
Breese, Sidney, 16, 33. 
Brewer, Levi N., 425. 
Brewer, Thomas, 422. 
Brewer. Thomas C., 426. 
Brice, James G., 1009. 
Briggs. J. Albert, 1076. 
Bright, Hiram, 1195. 
Broadwell, Norman M., 193. 
Brock, James M., 1130-1. 
Brower, Franklin F., 819. 
Brower, H. H., 826. 
Brown, Christopher C., 195. 
Brown, Edward O., 281-2. 
Brown, Floyd, 1039. 
Brown, Frederick, 922. 
Brown, Henry, 617. 
Brown, Irving J., 426. 
Brown, John A., 585. 
Brown, John B., 986. 
Brown, John J., 656. 
Brown, Paul, 1026. 
Brown, Porter W., 787. 
Brown, William, 338. 
Brown, William H., 621. 
Browne, Thomas C., 14, 855. 
Browning, Daniel M., 589. 



Browning, Granville W., 1156. 
Browning, Orville H., 183. 
Bruner, Thomas H., 1044. 
Brush, Charles H., 820. 
Bryan, W. F., 311. 
Buckingham, Caleb A., 906. 
Buckingham, Isaac A., 580. 
Bulkley, Alnion W., 498. 
Bull, E. F., 828. 
Bunn. David L., 583. 
Burchard, Horatio C., 1198. 
Burford, Kendall H., 406. 
Burgess, William T., 651. 
Burgett, John M. H., 1172. 
Burns, John, 308. 
Burr, Albert G., 1099. 
Burroughs, Benjamin J., 695. 
Burton, Charles H., 702. 
Burton, Frank W., 243. 
Bush, D. B., 1048. 
Bush, J. M., 1049. 
Bushnell, Nehemiah, 881. 
Bushnell, Washington, 818. 
Bussard, Albert F., 426. 
Butler, William N., 935. 
Butterfield, Justin, 2, 181, 613. 
Butterfield, Justin, Jr., 181. 
Buxton, Harvey P., 785. 



Caldwell, Albert G., 855. 
Caldwell, Henry D., 406, 415. 
Calhoun, John, 30. 
Callahan, Ethelbert, 130. 
Cameron, Alexander T., 820. 
Cameron, Dwight F., 819. 
Campbell, Antrim, 174. 
Campbell, David B., 174. 
Campbell, George C., 811, 
Campbell, Thompson, 518, 522. 
Campbell, William, 18; 
Canby, Benjamin H., 716. 
Canfield, Eugene, 918. 
Cannon, Joseph G., 458. 
Cannon, Nelson C., 828. 
Carnes, Duane J., 945. 
Carr, Joseph S., 400. 
Carter, Henry G., 1135. 
Carter, Joseph N., 69. 
Carter, Orrin N., 779, 1018. 
Cartwright, James H., 71. 
Case, Theodore G., 504. 
Casey, Edward W., 625. 



INDEX. 



xin 



Casey, Lewis F., 596, 1055. 
Casey, Samuel K., 596. 
Casey, Thomas S., 596, 705. 
Caton, John D., 39, 604. 
Cavarly. Alfred W., 160. 1101. 
Chadwick, John H., 1119-20. 
Chafee, George D., 460. 
Champlin. John C., 817. 
Chancellor, Justus, 1174-5. 
Chapman, H. N.. 906. 
Chapman, Theodore S., 401. 
Chesnut, John A., 209. 
Chetlain, Arthur H., 362. 
Chew, Morris R., 457. 
Chew, William, 457. 
Chew, William H., 467. 
Chubbuck, Orlando, 822. 
Chumasero, William, 827. 
Church, L. S., 1129. 
Church. William T., 1131. 
Churchill, Joseph W., 907. 
Chytraus. Axel, 490. 
Clapsaddle, D. M., 921. 
Clark, Charles A., 1194. 
Clark, John A., 1194. 
Clarke, Francis E., 250. 
Clarke, Isaac L., 250. 
Clement, Daniel E., 595. 
Clendennin, John S., 1044 
Clifford, Eugene, 913. 
Coates, John, 1203. 
Coburn, George F., 893. 
Coburn, Lewis L., 836. 
Cochran, James S., 1202. 
Cochran, Joseph W., 308. 
Cochran, William G., 970. 
Cody, Hope R., 1027. 
Coffeen, M. Lester, 503. 
Colby, William H., 207. 
Collins, James H., 608. 
Collins, Winfield S., 210. 
Condee, Leander D., 479. 
Conkling. Clinton L., 200 
Conkling, James C., 190. 
Connell, James H., 1130. 
Connolly, James A., 223. 
Connor, Charles M., 426. 
Constable, Charles H., 5. 
Cook. C .E.. 528. 
Cooper, Job A., 528. 
Cooper. Jonathan K., 303. 
Cooper. Rauseldon, 1120. 
Cooper. William B.. 406. 
Corbin, Lewis, 1044. 



Cornell, Paul, 617. 
Corrington, Stephen F., 1108. 
Cotton, Henry G., 818. 
Coulter. Hugh R., 1038. 
Cox, Jesse, 365. 
Craddock. William W., 421. 
Craig, Alfred M., 60. 
Craig, Isaac B., 942. 
Craig, James A., 804. 
Craig, James W., 940. 
Craig, William H.. 468. 
Cratty, Thomas, 112. 
Crawford, Charles H., 829. 
Crawford. Frank J.. 819. 
Creighton, James A.. 207. 
Cronkrite, William N., 1205 
Crook, A. N. J., 202. 
Crooker, Lucien B., 829. 
Crooker, J. C., 828. 
Crow, George A., 720. 
Crowley, Joseph B., 136. 
Cullom, Shelby M., 549. 
Culver, Morton T., 841. 
Cummins, Stephen H., 215. 
Curtis, James, 626. 
Cussins, William T., 584. 
Custer, Jacob R., 259. 
Cutting, Charles S., 1021. 

D 

Dale, Michael G., 2, 526, 697. 
Daud, A. L.. 778. 
Davidson, Asa L., 1039. 
Davis, David, 154, 541. 
Davis, James M., 526, 967. 
Davis, Levi, 181, 682. 
Davis, Thomas G. C, 857, 1211. 
Dawdy, William H., 528. 
Day. Orsamus D., 907. 
Dean, C. B., 793. 
Decius, Hiram B., 126, 423. 
Defrees, Joseph H., 1085 
Delano, Sterling P., 882-3. 
Dent, Thomas, 106. 
Devine, Miles J., 387. 
Dewey, William S.. 931. 
De Wolf, Calvin, 618. 
De Wolf, William C., Jr., 792. 
Dexter, Wirt, 659, 660. 
Dickey, T. Lyle, 61. 
Dicks, William E., 1009. 
Dixon, George C., 881. 
Doak, John W., 1117. 
Dodge, A. R., 906. 



XIV 



INDEX. 



Dolan, Martin J.. 404. 

Dominy, C, 826. 

Donnelly, C. H., 1185. 

Doolittle, James R., 618. 

Doremus, John C., 180. 

Douglas, Leander, 451. 

Douglas, Stephen A., 37, 175. 750, 875. 

Douglas, Stephen A. (Jr.), 1028. 

Douglass, John M., 513, 523, 648. 

Dove, Theodore F., 466. 

Dow, S. K., 647. 

Dowling, James E., 206. 

Drennan, James L., 577. 

Drummond, Thomas. 360. 361, 512, 521, 642. 

Duff, Jonathan, 794. 

Dummer, Henry E.. 3, 166, 338. 

Duncan, James W., 281, 828. 

Duncan, Warren W.. 983. 

Dunham, Charles, 813. 

Dunn, Charles, 1210. 

Dunn, Frank K., 941. 

Dwight, Samuel L., 1056. 



Eagleton, John C., 132. 
Early, William P., 701. 
Eastman, Albert N., 102. 
Eastman, David L., 911. 
Eckert, Robert P., 1208. 
Eckles, James H., 112. 
Eckles, James S., 1001. 
Eddy, Alfred D., 1033. 
Eddy, Henry, 853. 
Eden, John R., 972. 
Edwards, Benjamin S., 190. 
Edwards, Cyrus, 4. 
Edwards, F. M., 404. 
Edwards, Ninian, 1143. 
Edwards, Ninian W., 174-5. 
Ela, John W., 386. 
Eldridge, G. S., 828. 
Elliott, William, 881, 1038. 
English, James W., 1101. 
Epler, Cyrus, 355-6. 
Estabrook, George H., 1009. 
Estabrook, Henry D., 767. 
Evans, Winslow, 325. 
Everhart, Winfield S., 426. 
Ewing, Adlai T., 1034. 
Ewing, Charles A., 581. 



Falvey, Charles, 1003. 
Farmer, William M., 861. 



Farnsworth, John F., 908. 
Farwell, Robert, 1001. 
Ferguson, William I., 182. 
Ferns, Thomas F., 403. 
Ferrell, John H., Jr., 803. 
Ferry, Elisha P., 249. 
Fetzer, Henry, 827. 
Field, Alexander P., 29. 
Field, Elisha C., 1078. 
Fitzsimons, John J., 1102. 
Fleming, Robert L., 725. 
Fletcher, Charles C., 129. 
Fletcher, Mark W., 910. 
Fletcher, William M., 1169. 
Foley, Stephen A., 1012. 
Ford, Thomas, 32, 879. 
Ford, Thomas E., 787. 
Forquer, George, 162. 
Fort, James M., 1074-5. 
Fortney, Samuel, 409. 
Foster, William H., 814. 
Foster, William P., 20. 
Fowler, H. R., 802. 
France, J., 186. 
Fraser, William, 1002. 
Frazer, James S., 250. 
Freels, Jesse M., 707. 
Freeman, Norman L., 77. 
Freer, Lemuel C. P., 1183. 
French, Augustus C., 127. 
Fridley, Benjamin F.. 909. 
Frisby, William, 293. 
Fritz, Fred W., 528, 534. 
Frost, Thomas G., 448. 
Fry, George C., 274. 
Fryer, Andrew J., 943. 
Fuller, Allen C., 787. 
Fuller, Charles E., 791. 
Fuller, Melville W., 561, 646. 
Fullerton, A. N., 626. 



Gale, Jacob, 306. 
Garbutt, Zachariah N., 1049. 
Gardner, Corbus P., 829. 
Gardner, J. C. F., 1103. 
Garfield, F. G., 916. 
Garnsey, Charles B., 998. 
Gartside, John M., 1022. 
Gary, Elbert H., 381. 
Gary, Joseph E., 650. 
Gatewood, William J., 852, 857. 
Gemmill, W. N., 1168. 



INDEX. 



xv 



Gibons, G. Gilbert, 1002. 
Gibson, Alexander C., 917. 
Gibson, James W., 1126. 
Gifford, Edmund, 907. 
Gilbert. Hiram T., 365. 
Gilbert, Miles F., 929. 
Gilbert. Samuel S., 238. 
Gilman, Charles, 76, 880. 
Gilman, Charles H.. 820, 828. 
Gillespie, David, 695. 
Gillespie. Joseph, 684. 
Gilson, Edward P., 1103. 
Glass, Elliott B., 699. 
Glenn. John J., 984. 
Glennon, Edward T., 762. 
Goddard, Lester O.. 1159. 
Goodhue, Thomas F., 1194. 
Goodman, Amos N., 1054. 
Goodrich, Adams A., 265, 402. 
Goodrich. C. H.. 396. 
Goodrich. Grant. 610. 
Goodwin. Russell P., 921. 
Gordon, Abram G., 1064. 
Gordon, Newton F., 1176-7. 
Goudy, William C., 647, 1039. 
Graham, James M., 226. 
Grant, Alexander F., 854. 
Grant, Frederick M., 1044. 
Grant, James. 625. 
Gray, O. C, 818. 
Greathouse, John S., 237. 
Green, David B., 425. 
Green, Nathaniel W., 309 
Green, William H., 927. 
Greene, Henry S., 201. 
Gregory, Daniel, 457. 
Gregory, Stephen S., 1089. 
Gresham, Otto, 93. 
Gresham, Walter Q., 1139. 
Grider, J. K. P., 466. 
Grimes, John W., 1002. 
Grimshaw, Jackson, 882. 
Grinnell, Julius S., 103, 637. 
Gross, Eugene L., 196, 205. 
Gross, William L., 205. 
Grosscup, Peter S., no. 
Grout, Joseph M., 207. 
Grove, Henry, 301. 
Grubb, Alfred, 1049. 
Gwin, Horace, 238. 

H 

Hadley, William F. L., 693. 
Hagle. Dios C, 572. 



Haines, Elijah M., 249, 630. 
Hale, Eugene, 404. 
Hall, Anthony T., 460. 
Hallam, Samuel S., 981. 
Halligan, Thomas, 828. 
Hamilton, Frank Y., 725. 
Hamilton, Lloyd F., 200. 
Hamilton, Oscar B., 402. 
Hamilton, Paul M., 404. 
Hamilton, Richard J., 602. 
Hamilton, William S., 159. 
Hamlin, Rowland J., 465. 
Hamline, John H., 393. 
Hanchett, Frank G., 920. 
Hand, John P.. 810. 
Hanecy, Elbridge, 263. 
Hanly. Joseph H., 946. 
Hardin, Fisher A., 604. 
Hardin. Jeptha, 852. 
Harding, Abner C., 5. 
Harding, Alfred E., 794. 
Harlan, Justin, 3, 126, 420. 
Harrah, Rufus C., 417. 
Harris, Sidney W., 777. 
Hart, William H., 591, 592. 
Hartzell, William, 1061. 
Harvey, Curtis K., 450. 
Harvey, Edward E., 907. 
Harvey, Joel D., 907. 
Hatch, Azel F., 262. 
Hawes, Kirk, 649. 
Hay, John B., 709. 
Hay, Milton, 196. 
Hayes, Frederick W. C., 382. 
Hayes, Samuel S., 5, 647. 
Haynie, Edwin C., 21 1. 
Hazlitt, Robert H., 205. 
Heacock, Russell E., 602, 872. 
Headen, W. C., 464. 
Heard, Oscar E., 1206. 
Helm, Henry T., 650. 
Hempstead, Charles S., 512, 521. 
Henderson, John G., 1107. 
Henry, A. G., 527. 
Henry, Beverly W., 864-5. 
Henry, Edward D., 227. 
Henry, William J., 460. 
Henshaw, Thomas, 1 1 12. 
Herbert, John M., 961. 
Herdman, George W., 401. 
Herndon, Elliott B., 184. 
Herndon, William F., 209, 
Herndon, William H., 192. 
Herrick, John J., 1162. 



xvi 



INDEX. 



Herrington. Augustus. 908. 
Hess, William W., 461. 
Hewitt. Josephus, 173. 
Hicks, Stephen G., 595. 
Higbee. Chauncey L., 876, 1051. 
Higgins. Van H.. 514, 524, 648. 
Hill, Lysander. 85. 
Hilscher, R. W.. 1124. 
Hitchcock, Charles, 649. 
Hoblit, James T., 1010. 
Hodges, Charles D.. 1096. 
Hodnett. Joseph. 1008. 
Hoes, Abraham. 818. 
Hoes, John V. A.. 817. 
Hood. Alexander. 1062. 
Hogan, John E.. 580. 
Hoge, Joseph P.. 513, 521. 
Holcomb, Osborn A., 921. 
Holdom. Jesse. 844-5. 
Hollenbeck. William T.. 747-8. 
Holloway, Edward M., 276. 
Hooker. William C.. 876-7. 
Hopkins, Albert J.. 92. 
Hopkins, Henry B., 308. 
Hopkins, William T., 775. 
Hopkinson, Isaac, 245. 
Horn, Joseph A.. 1014-5. 
Horton, Oliver H., 494. 
Hough. David L., 828. 
Hoff, Gershom A., 570. 
Houston, William T., 210. 
Howard, H. H., 396. 
Howe, John H., 809. 
Howett, William A., 839. 
Hoyne, Thomas, 558, 615. 
Hoyles, Clarence E., 529. 
Hoyt, E. Winchester, 245. 
Hubbard, Adolphus F., 25. 
Huddle, F. E., 1103. 
Hughes, James F., 938. 
Hughes, J. J., 404. 
Hull. Charles J., 668. 
Humphrey, J. Otis, 216. 
Hunter. Joseph H.. 829. 
Huntington, Alonzo, 633. 
Kurd, Harvey B.. 618, 769. 770. 
Hyde. Henry C.. 1204. 



Ide. George O., 1002. 
Ingersoll, Ebon C., 304. 
Ingersoll. Robert G., 304. 
Inghani, George C.. 635. 



Ingham, George K., 899. 
Irwin, Clinton F.. 913. 
Ireland, Robert M., 913. 
Irwin, John G., 672. 
Irwin, William T., 322. 
Isham, Edward S., 389. 

J 

Jack. William. 320. 
James. L. W.. 1043. 
Janney. Eldredge S., 127. 
January. Joseph H., 1009. 
Jenkins. David P., 828. 
Jenkins. James G., 838-9. 
Jenks. Chancellor L., 648. 
Jewett, John N.. 843. 
Johnson, C. Porter, 371. 
Johnson. Elbridge G.. 294. 
Johnson. James, 1043. 
Johnson. Madison Y.. 514, 525. 
Johnson. N., 882. 
Johnson. William H.. 1079-80. 
Jones, Alfred H., 134. 
Jones, Edward, 165, 852. 
Jones, Frank H., 209, 488 
Jones. George W.. 137. 
Jones, Michael, 852. 
Jones. Oscar, 914. 
Jones, S. S., 906. 
Jones, William C., 131. 
Jordan, Alvah R.. 778. 
Joslyn, Edward S., 914. 
Joslyn, Frank W., 914. 
Jouett, Charles, 602. 
Joy, James F., 640. 
Judd, S. Corning, 1043. 

K 

Kagay. Benjamin F.. 406. 413. 
Kane, Charles P., 203. 
Kane. Henry B., 209. 
Kay, Wilson S., 1122. 
Kean, John C., 1194. 
Kehoe, John E.. 258. 
Keller, C. W., 826. 
Kelley. William C, 464. 
Kellogg, William. 295, 1039. 
Kellogg. William P., 1040. 
Kelluni, Charles, 944. 
Kendall, Milo, 1002. 
Kenna. Edward D., 382. 
Kennedy, Henry H., 382. 
Kennedy. James A., 203. 



INDEX. 



xvu 



Kennedy, W. H. H., 916. 
Kenworthy, John T., 566. 
Kepley, Henry B., 406. 
Kerrick. Thomas C., 735. 
Keyes, Charles A., 195. 
Kimbrough, E. R. E., 889. 
King, David F., 1112. 
King, John C., 265. 
King, Robert A., 399. 
Kingsbury, A. N., 527. 
Kingsbury, Darius, 527, 785. 
Kingsbury, Dennis H., 527. 
Kingsbury, John, 527. 
Kinne, La Vega G., 829. 
Kirby, Edward P., 354. 
Kitchell, Alfred, 126. 
Kitchell, Wickliffe, 127. 
Knapp, Anthony L., 397. 
Knapp, Robert M., 399. 
Knight, Clarence A., 372. 
Knotts, Edward C., 244. 
Knowlton, Lincoln B., 293. 
Knox, Joseph, 635. 
Koerner, Gustavus, 47, 405. 
Koerner, Gustavus A., 717. 
Kraus, Adolph, 1186. 
Kretzinger, George W.. 1187. 
Krome, William H., 691. 



Lacey, Lionel P.. 1006. 
Lacey, Lyman, 989. 
La Dow, James, 420. 
Lamb, Robert C., 787. 
Lamborn, Josiah, 181, 337. 1102. 
Landes. Silas Z., 976. 
Lane, George F., 403. 
Laning, Edward, 1060-1. 
Lanphier, John C., 204. 
Lansden, John M., 925. 
Latham, James, 156. 
Lauderdale, John S., 238. 
Lawrence, S! S., 795. 
Layman, Charles H., 586. 
Layman, Thomas J., 587. 
Leach, O. D., 403. 
Learning, Jeremiah, 119. 
Ledbetter, John Q. A.. 802. 
Lee, Charles M.. 775. 
Leland, Cyrus, 820. 
Leland, Lorenzo, 816. 
Leland, P. K., 818. 
Lewis. F. W., 138. 
Lewis, S. G., 1103. 



Lewis, Thomas, 186. 

Lincoln, Abraham, 38, 175, 536. 642, 750. 

Lincoln, Robert T., 1187 

Linder, Usher F., 181, 656. 

Lindley, Cicero J., 528. 

Lindley, Frank, 893-4. 

Lindsay, John T., 305. 

Little, Alexander C, 918. 

Little, Sidney H., 879. 

Little, Thomas J., 1043. 

Littlefield, M. S., 397. 

Lloyd, J. William, 464. 

Lockwood, Samuel D., 22, 1094. 

Lodge, William E., 1133-4, 

Logan, David, 182. 

Logan, John A., 1148. 

Logan, Leonidas L., 425, 428. 

Logan, Stephen T., 166, 1094. 

Lott. Peter, 875. 

Louden, Walter S., 787. 

Lovejoy, Owen, 608. 

Lovell, Edward C., 915. 

Lowden, Frank O., in. 

Lowe, Ausby L., 136. 

Loy, Ferdinand W.. 412. 

Lyford, Will H., 394. 

Lyle, David A., 427. 

Lyman. David B., 768. 

Lynch, Edmund. 1006. 

Lynch, John, Jr., 1067. 

M 

Mabin, George G., 894-5. 
MacHatton, Joseph A., 138. 
Magruder, Benjamin D., 65, 649. 
Manier, Wesley H., 884. 
Manierre, George, 553. 
Manning, Julius, 297. 
Marshall, Samuel D.,8si. 
Marshall, Thomas A., 3. 
Marshall, Thomas F., 604. 
Martin, James H., 960. 
Martin, Robert D., 762. 
Marvin, Matthew, 1207. 
Mason, Benjamin, 1102. 
Masquerier, Louis, 879. 
Masters, Edgar L., 1090. 
Matheny, Charles R., 157. 
Matheny, James H., 158, 191. 
Matheny, James H., Jr., 206. 
Mather, Robert, 489. 
Mather, Thomas C.. 200. 
Mathes, George C., 427. 



XV111 



INDEX. 



Matthews, Asa C, 1052. 
Maxwell, John C, 137. 
Maxwell, Robert W., 206. 
May, William L., 173, 293. 
Mayo, Henry, 824. 
McAllister, William K., 60. 
McAvoy, Felix D., 353. 
McBride, James C.. 576. 
McCagg. Ezra B.. 619. 
McCallon. Andrew. 857. 
McCartney. James. 1030. 
McCartney. John F.. 745. 
McCartney. Robert W., 742. 
McCauley. Richard N.. 1066. 
McCIellan. Robert H.. 515. 
McClernand. John A., 29, 194. 
McClure, Henry B., 339. 
McConnel. Edward, 355. 
McConnel. John L.. 339. 
McConnel, Murray, 337. 
McConnell, Richard H., 804. 
McConnell, Samuel P., 1166. 
McCoy, Alexander, 302. 
McCrillis, L. F., 186. 
McCulloch, David, 310. 
McCune, George C.. 424. 
McDole, Asa G., 922. 
McDonald. Edmund S.. 583. 
McDonald. William H.. 425. 
McDougall. James A., 627. 
McDowell, H. H., 795. 
McElroy, Daniel, 634. 
McElvain, Robert J.. 952. 
McEniry, William. 567. 
McGaffigan, John J.. 787 
McGalliard, William. 1006. 
McGregor, Malcolm, 882. 
McGrew, Enoch. 461. 
McGuire, Robert L.. 199. 
McHale, James, 787. 
Mcllduff, R. S.. 795- 
Mclver, Duncan C., mo. 
McKenzie, James A., 454. 
McLaughlin. Charles A.. 977. 
McLean, John, 855. 
McNett, Charles I.. 922. 
McNulta, John, 846. 
McNulty, George F. W.. 718. 
McPherran, J. E.. 1073-4. 
McQueen, George E.. 138. 
McQuigg, James C., 575. 
McRoberts, Samuel. 160. 
McWilliams, A., 186. 
Meacham, U. D., 1195. 



Meeker, George W.. 628. 
Meeker, J., 1000. 
Mendel. William. 160. 
Merrick. Richard. 645. 
Merriman, Amos L.. 307. 
Merriman, Halsey O., 294. 
Messick, Joseph B., 714. 
Metzner. Charles J.. 917. 
Meyerstein, Mark, mo. 
Miller, Charles S.. 828. 
Miller, George W., 121. 
Miller, Harry, 1002. 
Miller, H. G., 646. 
Miller, John S.. 1082-3. 
Mills. Benjamin, 160, 511, 520. 
Mills, Luther Laflin. 832. 
Mills. Richard W.. 937. 
Miner. Martin B.. 396. 
Minshall. William A.. 183, 876. 
Misner. Smith, 426. 
Moffett, Thomas. 159. 
Moloney, Maurice T., 823. 
Monroe, Henry S., 482, 648. 
Monson, William, 899-900. 
Montgomery, H. H., 1109. 
Montony, Richard G.. 919. 
Moore, Clifton, H., 896. 
Moore, Henry, 617. 
Moore, Henry W., 853. 
Moore, Stephen R., 978. . 
Moore, Thomas C., 916. 
Moran, Thomas A.. 764. 
Morris. Edward H.. 117. 
Morris, Freeman P.. 1125. 
Morris, Isaac N.. 879. 
Morrison, C. M., 186. 
Morrison, Isaac L., 350. 
Morrison, Thomas. 882. 
Morrison. William R.. 964. 
Moses. Adolph. 95. 
Mott, Robins S.. 1086. 
Moulton. Samuel W.. 459. 
Mouser, H. S.. 461. 
Mudgett. E. S.. 828. 
Mulkey. John H., 63. 
Mulligan. James A., 661. 
Murdock, J. D.. 826. 
Murray, Hugh. 787. 
Murray, George W., 206. 
Murray, M. P., 786. 

N 

Neal, Henry A.. 939. 
Neale, Thomas M., 159. 



INDEX. 



xix 



Neff, James I., 1197. 
Nelson. Richard S.. 595. 
Newcomb. George W.. 97. 
Newlin, Enoch E., 133. 
Newlin, Thomas J., 138. 
Newport, John W.. 777. 
Nichols, N. F., 921. 
Noble, Charles N.. 404. 
Noble, H. P., 404. 
Northcott, William A., 528. 532. 
Norton. A. C., 795. 

O 

O'Brien, William, 638. 
O'Bryan, Edward. 1185. 
O'Donnell, Joseph A., 86 
Oglesby, Richard J., 1150. 
O'Harra, Apollos W., 887. 
Olin, Benjamin, 778. 
Olson, Jonas W., 805. 
Olwin, Jacob C., 129. 
O'Neil, Barney, 787. 
Orendorff, Alfred, 201. 
Osgood, Stacy W., 276. 
Oxford, John C., 803. 



Packard, Major W., 726. 
Packard, Samuel W., 1024. 
Page, Samuel S., 309. 
Palmer, John M., 429. 
Palmer, John Mayo" 1186. 
Park, H. W., 529. 
Parker, George N., 136. 
Parker, Valmore, 138. 
Parkinson, Robert H., 479. 
Parks, Benjamin F., 917. 
Parks, Samuel C., 1006. 
Parks, Samuel S., 384-5. 
Patterson, James L., mi. 
Pattison, Douglas. 1206. 
Patton, Charles H., 599. 
Patton, George W., 708. . 
Patton, James W., 201, 228. 
Payne. Carroll C. M. Van B.. 500. 
Payson. Lewis E., 794. 
Pease, Arthur B., 1174. 
Peck. Ebenezer, 76. 627. 
Peck, George R., 506. 
Peck, George W., 128. 
Peebles, Lewis P., 240. 
Perce, Le Grand W.. 1182. 
Perley, Peleg S.. 1058. 



Perry. John R., 794. 
Peter, Zachariah, 157. 
Peters, Milton T.. 1001. 
Peters, Onslow, 306. 
Phelps, Salmon A., 527, 531. 
Philbrook, Eli, 406. 
Philips, Joseph, 13. 
Phillips, Edward J., 165. 
Phillips, Isaac N., 78. 
Phillips, Jesse J., 156. 
Phillips, L. M., 186. 
Pierce, William L., 793. 
Pillsbury, Nathaniel J., 795. 
Pinckney, Merritt W., 119. 
Pinero, E. A., 397. 
Pitman, Samuel, 240. 
Plato, William B., 907, 916. 
Pogue, H. W., 403. 
Pogue, W. H., 309. 
Pollock, James M., 595. 
Pope, Nathaniel, 641. 
Porter, John, 1002. 
Potter, Asa, 1102. 
Potts, Rufus M., 575. 
Powell, Elihu N., 307. 
Power, William D., 157. 
Prater, Samuel A., 863. 
Prather, William C., 426. 
Pratt, O. C., 514, 524- 
Prendegast, Michael D., 775. 
Prentiss, Alexander S.. 646. 
Prentiss, William, 274. 
Prescott, William, 186. 
Prettyman, W. L., 1069. 
Prickett, David, 172. 
Primm & Gibson, 187. 
Pringle, Frederick W., 1170. 
Pugh, Jonathan H., 159. 
Purinton, George, 1194. 
Purple, Norman H., 45, 299, 876. 
Pursley, James, 1101. 
Puterbaugh, Sabin D., 307. 
Putnam, Alfred, 828. 

Q 
Quigg, David, 1157-8. 



Rae, Robert, 651, 1163. 
Ragan. William H., 468. 
Rainey, Henry T., 1113. 
Ralston, James H., 875. 



INDEX. 



Randle, Frederick A., 995. 
Ranstead, John W., 914. 
Raum, Green B., 1211. 
Rawlins, John A., 515. 
Rea, John J., 954. 
Reading, James N., 776. 
Rearick, George F., 895. 
Reed, Charles H., 637. 
Reed, Samuel R., 1134. 
Reed, William R., 460. 
Reeves, Owen T., 723. 
Reeves. Walter, 825. 
Reynolds, H. G., 186. 
Reynolds, John, 15, 18, 161, 1094. 
Reynolds, Thomas, 13, 1094. 
Rhoads, George B., 467. 
Rice, Edward Y., 155, 987. 
Rice, Thomas P., 777. 
Richardson, Eben A., 467. 
Richardson, Hiram L., 994. 
Richardson, John T., 879. 
Richardson, William A., 458, 880. 
Richmond, Elijah D., 1059 
Rickert, Joseph W., 955. 
Righter, Thomas, 466. 
Rinaker, John I., 238. 
Ritter, Henry A., 283. 
Rives, John C., 854. 
Robarts, Joseph P., 933. 
Robb, Franklin, 129. 
Robbins, Silas W., 180. 
Robertson, Alexander H., 210. 
Robinson, James C., 202, 421. 
Robinson, James P., 421. 
Robinson, John M., 43. 
Robinson, Nathaniel P., 421. 
Rogers, William P., 776. 
Roosevelt, William H., 882. 
Root, H. T., 1103. 
Rose, Albert M., 574. 
Rose, John A., 112. 
Rosette, John E., 193. 
Ross, John W., 1044. 
Ross, Leonard F., 1042. 
Ross, Lewis W., 1038. 
Ross, Mahlon, 947. 
Rountree, Hiram, 965. 
Rowell, Jonathan H., 734. 
Rue, Ezra, 914. 
Runnells, John S., 1180. 
Runyan, Eben F., 91. 
Rush, G. Fred, 1020. 
Rushton, Thomas J., 914. 
Russell, John A., 915. 



Ryan, Edward G., 604. 
Ryan, James L., 426. 
Ryan, William L., 426. 
Ryon, Hiram N., 821. 



Salzenstein, Albert, 210. 
Sanders, George A., 206. 
Sanford, Edward, 776. 
Sanford, Patrick H., 448. 
Sanger, Ezra G., 294. 
Sankey, Samuel, 1195. 
Sawyer, John Y., 152, 1094. 
Scammon, Jonathan Y., 73, 616. 
Scanlan, Kickham, 480. 
Scales, Walter B., 35. 
Schaefer, Martin W., 711. 
Schnepp, John S., 214. 
Scholes, Samuel D., 201. 
Scholfield, John, 139, 422. 
Schuyler, Daniel J., 1032. 
Schwartz, William A., 962. 
Scott, Guy C., 1132. 
Scott, John M., 55. 
Scranton, Norman L., 426. 
Seago, George M., 403. 
Searles, A. E., 921. 
Searles, William S., 249. 
Seeley, Ezra P., 775. 
Seelye. Henry E., 651. 
Selby, Charles E., 220. 
Selby. T. J., 397- 
Semple, James, 41. 
Seyster, John C., 996. 
Shaw, Thomas M., 308. 
Sheean, David, 516. 
Sheean, James M., 516. 
Sheean, J. L., 516. 
Sheean, Thomas J., 516. 
Sheldon, Benjamin R., 969. 
Shepard, H. M., 650. 
Shepherd, John H., 820. 
Sherman, Elijah. B., 485. 
Sherman, Lawrence Y., 739, 740. 
Sherman, Penoyer L., 646. 
Sherwin, John C., 917. 
Shields, James, 44, 405. 
Shirley, Robert B., 240. 
Shirley, Thomas, 628. 
Shope, Simeon P., n8t 
Shortall, John G., 501. 
Showalter, John W., 1179. 
Shriner, Harvey W., 573. 



INDEX. 



xxi 



Shutt, William E., 199. 
Sibley, Joseph, 876. 
Silver, Herman, 8.20. 
Singleton, James W., 2. 
Skinner, Mark, 613. 
Skinner, Onias C., 54. 876. 
Skinner, Richard M., 1004. 
Slaten, A. M., 401. 
Slaten, Benjamin F., 399. 
Sloan, Wesley, 1210, 1212. 
Smede, A. K, 182. 
Smeidel, Charles L., 427. 
Smith, Abner, 366-7. 
Smith, Arthur A., 451. 
Smith, C. D. F.. 923. 
Smith, David A., 339, 347. 
Smith, Frederick A., 1172-3. 
Smith, J. Bright, 1195. 
Smith, Samuel L., 654. 
Smith, Theophilus W.. 23. 
Smith, Thomas H., 1211. 
Snedeker, Orville A., 400. 
Snigg, John C., 204. 
Southworth, John P., 777. 
Southworth. M. O., 923. 
Sparks, William A. J., 780. 
Sparling, George. 1002. 
Spiller, William F., 593. 
Sprigg. William, 12. 
Spring, Giles, 603, 612. 
Springer, William M., 199. 
Starbuck, Charles L., 775. 
Starkweather, Elijah H., 419. 
Starr, Charles R., 775. 
Starr, Henry, 162, 775. 
Starr, Merritt, 100. 
Stearns, James H., 1202. 
Steel, James H., 128. 
Sterling, Thomas, 207. 
Sterrett. William H., 128. 
Stephens, Henry, 882. 
Stephens, Henry A., 206. 
Stephens. John S., 324. 
Stephenson. Lloyd B., 461. 
Stevens, Joel W.. 478. 
Stewart, William K., 999 
Stickney, William H., 631. 
Stiles, Israel N., 662. 
Stillman, Henry B., 1043. 
Stipp, George W., 1001, 1043. 
Stone, Daniel, 173. 
Storrs, Emery A., 663. 
Story, Joseph H.. 529. 
Stoskopf, Michael, 1205. 



Stough. Samuel C., 7/8. 
Stout, James, 818. 
Strain, James, 828. 
Strawn. C. C., 795. 
Strode, James M., 159, 620. 
Strong, Schuyler, 174. 
Stuart, John T., 187, 188. 
Stubbs, Thomas H., 803. 
Swan, Thomas B., 921. 
Sweeney, Edward D., 569. 
Sweet, Martin P., 1193. 
Swett, Leonard, 562. 



Tanner, Tazewell B., 595, 597. 

Taylor, John W., 157- 

Taylor, Joseph D., 1001. 

Taylor, Richard F., 802. 

Taylor, Washington J., 1043. 

Templeton, L. W., 420. 

Terry, James T., 795. 

Thatcher, Frank H., 920. 

Thoman, Leroy D., 1080. 

Thomas, Jesse B., H. 875. 

Thomas. Jesse B.. Jr., 44, 177, 1094. 

Thomas, William, 337, 1095. 

Thompson, Morton W., 892. 

Thompson, Thomas J., 209. 

Thornton, Anthony, 458. 

Thornton. Charles S., 359. 

Ticknor, Harry M., 357- 

Tipton. Thomas F., 721. 

Torrencc. C. R., 468. 

Tossey, Flavins, 426. 

Towle, Henry S., 373. 

Townsend, William, 465. 

Tracey, E. W., 658. 

Trainor, John C., 1085. 

Travous, Charles N., 701. 

Treat, Samuel H., 34. 

Tree, Lambert, 492. 

Trimble, Cairo A., 1003. 

Trimble, H. M., 1003. 

Truitt, James M., 993. 

Trogdon, Andrew Y., 1115. 

Trumbull, Lyman, 51, 618. 

Trusdell, Abram K., 1128. 

Tuley, Murray F., 256. 

Tunnicliff, John J., 455. 

Turner, Chester M.. 810. 

Turner, George T., 870. 

Turner, Giles H., 1102. 

Turner, John L., 250. 



XX11 



INDEX. 



Turner, Noah H., 211. 
Turner, Thomas J., 1192. 
Turney, James, 162. 

U 

Upton, Clark W., 249. 
Urion, Alfred R., 1168. 
Urquhart, John D., 180. 

V 

Van Arnam, John, 637. 
Vandeveer, Horatio M., 156, 577. 
Van Dorston, John P., 859. 
Van Hoorebeke. Gustave. 785. 
Vaughn, Edward J., 402. 
Vincent, William A., 210. 
Vocke, William, 1177. 
Voris, Alvin C., 426. 
Vredenburg, Larue, 210. 

W 

Wagner. Leander R.. 916. 

Waite, George E., 811-2. 

Waite, Horace F., 645. 

Walker, Charles A., 241. 

Walker. Cyrus, 175. 736, 881. 

Walker, Edwin, 267. 

Walker, Henry, 1044. 

Walker. Pinckney H., 54, 876. 

Wall, E. J., 826. 

Wall, George W., 992. 

Wallace, Edgar A., 990. 

Wallace, R. R., 795. 

Wallace, Samuel L., 1015-6. 

Wallace, William H. L., 818. 

Wallace. W. O., 466. 

Ward, James R., 1107. 

Ward, W. M., mi. 

Warren, E. T., 1037. 

Warren, George E., 399. 

Warvelle, George W., 1158. 

Washburne, Elihu B., 512, 522. 

Watson, James A., 803. 

Watson, Wesley, 406. 

Wattles. James O., 126. 

Wead, Hezekiah M., 4, 301, 315, 1039. 

Webber, William B., 950. 

Webster, Fletcher, 604. 

Wegg. David S., 1086-7. 

Weighley, Wellington, 514. 524. 

Weir, Marshall W., 712. 

Welch, William R., 156. 

Weldon, Lawrence, 186. 



Welles, Charles R., 174. 
Wells, Charles B., 907. 
Wells, Henry W., 305. 
Wendling, George R., 461. 
West, Benjamin, 184. 
West, Roy O., 1171-2. 
Wheat, Almeron, 882. 
Wheaton, Charles, 918. 
Wheeler, Alpheus, 1049. 
Wheeler, Hamilton K.. 985. 
White, Charles S., 403. 
White, John C., 410. 
White, Marcus, 923. 
White, Spencer M., 954. 
White, William. 787. 
Whitehead, Silas S.. 425. 
Whitehurst, S. S., 186. 
Whittaker, Nathaniel M.. 1008. 
Wiemers, William F.. 385. 
Wilcox, John S., 915. 
Wilcox, Sylvanus. 004. 
Wilcox, William H., 914. 
Wilkin, Jacob W., 68. 
Wilkinson, Ira O., 563. 
Willis, Henry B., 915. 
Willitts, George S., 766. 
Williams, Archibald, 2, 182, 880. 
Williams, Edward P., 452. 
Williams, Frank R., 210. 
Williams, John H.. 914. 
Williams, Joseph L., 250. 
Williams, Robert R., 878. 
Williamson, Marion, 307. 
Wilson, B. F., 466. 
Wilson, Bluford, 221. 
Wilson, H. Clay, 218. 
Wilson, Isaac G.. 004, 913. 
Wilson, John, 238. 
Wilson, John M., 612. 
Wilson, John P., 491. 
Wilson, Peter, 826. 
Wilson, Robert S., 634. 
Wilson, Samuel M., 522. 
Wilson, Seymer G., 891. 
Wilson, William, 21, 125. 
Winchester. Palemon H., 237. 
Winders, Henry M., 803. 
Windes, Thomas G., 90. 
Windett, Arthur W., 651. 
Wines, Walter B., 211. 
Wing, Russell M., 779. 
Wing, William H., 914. 
Wingate, Robert F., 595. 
Winslow, Fayette D., 920. 



INDEX OF PORTRAITS. 



xxni 



Winston, Frederick H., 261, 652. 
Winston, Frederick S., 760. 
Wise, Charles P., 710. 
Witcher, Robert B., 1065. 
Withers, Henry C, 1104. 
Wolcott, Alexander, 625. 
Wolcott, Richmond, 200. 
Wood, George A., 207. 
Wood, Wales W., 792. 
Woodbury, James C., 895. 
Woods, James W., 879. 
Woods, William A., 251. 
Woodson, David M., 4, 1095. 
Woodson, J. M., noi. 
Woolfolk, A. C., 1044. 
Worthington, Charles, 1009. 
Worthington, Nicholas E., 309. 



Wright, Paul R., 907. 
Wright, Robert W., 792. 



Yates, Richard, 352. 
Young, Frederick R., 744. 
Young, Jackson G., 803. 
Young, Richard M., 42, 875. 
Young, William H., 1006. 
Youngblood, Edmund D., 596. 
Youngblood, Francis M., 949. 
Youstler, John K., 424. 



Zane, Charles S., 193. 



INDEX OF PORTRAITS. 



Ahrens, John P., 1161. 
Aldrich, Charles H.. 834. 
Allen, William J., 212. 
Ayer, Benjamin F., 83. 

Baker, Alfred L.. 118. 
Baker, Edward D., 28. 
Baker, Henry S.. 689. 
Barger, Richard W., 1165. 
Barnum, William H., 471. 
Barrett, Elmer E., 1029. 
Beach, Myron H., 500. 
Benjamin, Reuben M., 727. 
Bissell, William H., 50. 
Black, John C., 94. 
Black, William P.. 375- 
Blaisdell, Elijah W.. 957- 
Blodgett, Henry W., 245. 
Bond, Lester L., 108. 
Bradwell, James B., 831. 
Bradwell, Myra C., 278. 
Breese, Sidney, 16. 
Brown. Paul, 1026. 
Browning, Granville W., 1156. 
Buckingham, Isaac A.. 580. 

Callahan. Ethelbert, 130. 
Carter. Henry G., 1136. 
Carter, Orrin N., 1018. 



Casey, Thomas S., 705. 
Caton, John D., 40. 
Chancellor. Justus, 1175. 
Chetlain, Arthur H., 362. 
Chytraus, Axel, 490. 
Connolly, James A., 224 
Cook, Daniel P., 50. 

Dale, Michael G., 697. 
Davis, David, 542. 
Douglas, Stephen A., 230. 
Drummond, Thomas, 50. 

Eddy, Alfred D., 1035. 
Edwards, Ninian, 50. 
Epler, Cyrus, 356. 

Field, Elisha C., 1078. 
Ford, Thomas, 28. 
Freer, Lemuel C. P., 1184. 
Fuller, Melville W., 230. 

Gartside, John M., 1022. 
Gemmill, W. N., 1168. 
Gillespie, Joseph, 28. 
Goodrich, Adams A., 265. 

Hayes, Frederick W. C, 382. 
Henry, Beverly W., 866. 



XXIV 



INDEX OF PORTRAITS. 



Higbee, Chauncey L., 1051. 
Hoblit, James T., 1010. 
Hodges, Charles D.. 1096. 
Holdom, Jesse, 844. 
Horton, Oliver H., 494. 

Irwin, John G., 672. 
Isham, Edward S., 389. 

Jack, William, 320. 
Jenkins, James G., 838. 
Jones, William C., 132. 

Kellum, Charles, 944. 
Kimbrough, E. R. E.. 889. 
Koerner, Gustavus, 16. 
Knapp, Anthony L., 398. 

Lacey. Lyman, 989. 

Lansden, John M., 925. 

Layman. Charles H.. 586. 

Lincoln, Abraham, Frontispiece Vol. 2. 

Lockwood. Samuel D., 16. 

Logan, John A., 230. 

Logan, Stephen T., 166. 

Lyman, David B., 768. 

Masters, Edgar L., 1000. 
McCartney, Robert W., 742. 
McCulloch, David, 3ia 
Miller, John S., 1082. 
Monroe, Henry S., 482. 
Moore, Clifton H., 896. 
Moore. Stephen R., 978. 
Moran, Thomas A., 764. 
Morrison, Isaac L., 350. 

Northcott. William A., 532. 

Oglesby, Richard J., 230. 
Olson, Jonas W., 805. 

Palmer, John M., Frontispiece Vol. I. 
Palmer, John Mayo, 1186. 
Patton, Charles H.. 599. 



Peck, George R.. 506. 
Potts, Rufus M., 575. 
Pringle, Frederick W., 1170. 

Reynolds, John, 28. 
Rinaker, John L, 238. 
Robarts, Joseph P., 934. 
Runnells, John S., 1180. 

Scanlan, Kickham, 480. 
Schuyler, Daniel J., 1032. 
Scott, John M., 55. 
Semple, James, 16. 
Sheldon, Benjamin R., 969. 
Shields, James. 16. 
Showalter, John W., 230. 
Smith, Abner, 368. 
Smith, Arthur A., 451. 
Smith, Frederick A., 1173. 
Sparks, William A. J., 780. 
Stevens, John S., 324. 
Sweeney. Edward D.. 569. 

Thoman, Leroy D.. 1080. 
Thornton, Charles S., 359. 
Tipton. Thomas F., 721. 
Treat. Samuel H., 34. 
Trainor, John C.. 1085. 
Trumbull, Lyman, 50. 
Tunnicliff, John J.. 455. 

Van Dorston, John P., 859. 
Vocke, William. 1178. 

Waite, George E., 812. 
Warvelle, George W.. 1158. 
Wegg, David S., 1088. 
White, John C., 410. 
Wilkinson, Ira O., 563. 
Winston, Frederick S.. 760. 
Woods, William A., 251. 

Youngblood, Edmund D.. 596. 



THE 

BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS, 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

WHEN I accepted the position of editor of the history of the Bench and Bar 
of Illinois I supposed from my early acquaintance with the judges and the 
lawyers of the state, aided by contemporary publications and by the vol- 
untary contributions of those who would, from consanguinity or affinity to the 
judges and the lawyers of the "old time," feel interested in their fame, I could 
prepare sketches of their professional and judicial history. I am under great 
obligations to some of these sources of information. 

I was admitted to the bar of Illinois on the i8th of December, 1839. The 
judges of the supreme court, with the governor, constituted a "council of re- 
vision." They convened at the capitol of the state, and held their judicial terms 
there. When I "came to the bar" William Wilson was the chief justice and 
Thomas C. Browne, Samuel D. Lockwood and Theophilus W. Smith were as- 
sociate justices of the supreme court. 

The whole population of the state of Illinois, as was shown by the census of 
1840, was 476,183, and even as late as 1850 the population of the state was 851,- 
470, and the county of Cook, including Chicago, only contained 43,385 inhab- 
itants.- The whole of the state of Illinois then constituted one federal judicial 
district, and Judge Nathaniel Pope was then the district judge. The Hon. John 
McLean was' one of the justices of the supreme court of the United States, and 
occasionally presided in the circuit court. I remember to have met him but 
once; he came to Springfield "by the stage-coach," which was then the most 
convenient mode of travel. John McLean was an amiable man and a most ex- 
cellent judge. He reported the decisions of the court over which he presided, 
and they are entitled McLean's Reports, and extend over a number of volumes. 

While attending the sessions of the supreme court of Illinois and the district 
and circuit courts of the United States for the district, I became acquainted with 
Justin Butterfield, Giles Spring, James H. Collins, George Manierre and other 
lawyers from Cook county, who traveled in the stage-coaches of the period and 
attended the supreme and federal courts at Springfield. 



2 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

Mr. Butterfield was admitted to the bar of Illinois in 1837. He came to 
Chicago from some point in the state of New York. His logic was exact and 
ponderous and his sarcasm was terrific. In his native state he was a Federalist, 
and he opposed the war with Great Britain in 1812. In 1845 ne was consulted 
with regard to the policy of the war with Mexico, to which he replied: "I op- 
posed one war, and have never got over it ; I am now for war, pestilence and 
famine." In 1847, while the constitutional convention was in session, he said to 
some one : "The only thing necessary to perfect the constitution proposed by 
the convention is that an appeal shall lie from the decisions of the supreme court 
to three sensible justices of the peace." He was appointed commissioner of the 
general land office, a place to which Mr. Lincoln aspired. Mr. Lincoln was ten- 
dered the office of governor of Oregon territory, by way of a solatium. I met 
Lincoln at Jerseyville soon afterward, and said to him : "I supposed you were 
going to Oregon as governor." He said in reply: "Two men were playing 
cards, and one said to the other, 'Go, to hell !' The one addressed said: 'I will go 
to hell when I am obliged to, and not one minute before !' ' Lincoln did not go 
to Oregon ! Giles Spring was an exceedingly bright, active and intelligent 
lawyer. He died in Chicago many years ago, too early for his merits to be 
understood. James H. Collins was a good lawyer; he was even at that early 
day opposed to slavery. Mr. Butterfield was arrogant, while Mr. Collins was 
imbued with the profoundest sympathy for humanity. They were partners. 
Butterfield had nothing like enthusiasm in his nature ; Collins loved mankind. 

In June, 1847, the constitutional convention of that year assembled, and I 
became acquainted with its members and studied their characteristics. Archi- 
bald Williams was a member of the convention from Adams and Highland 
counties. (Highland county has long since ceased to be one of the counties of 
the state of Illinois. It was taken from Adams county and was reannexed by the 
third section of the seventh article of the constitution of 1847.) He was a very 
able man, was a Whig, and made an efficient member of the convention. Mr. 
Williams was a native of the state of Kentucky. He had not then attained the 
distinction he afterward secured as a lawyer. He became known as profoundly 
skilled in the peculiar litigation of what was then known as the "Military Tract," 
and died, as a district judge, in Kansas. 

Michael G. Dale, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1814, was a delegate to 
the convention, from Bond county. He was modest, and was afterward ap- 
pointed to be receiver of public moneys at Edwardsville, of which place he be- 
came a resident. He held the office of county judge of Madison county from a 
time when the memory of man "runneth not to the contrary." He was a party 
to a contested election case (reported in Eighty-eighth Illinois Reports, Dale 
versus Irwin) in which he was successful. He died in 1897. 

General James W. Singleton was a delegate from Brown county. He 
afterward removed to Quincy, and was a member of congress from that district 
for several terms, having once defeated Mr. Archibald Williams. He ran for 
congress as an old-line Whig. While the canvass was progressing, Mr. Williams 
was asked : "What is an old-line Whig?" Mr. Williams answered : "An old-line 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 3 

Whig is a gentleman who takes his toddy regularly, and votes the Democratic 
ticket occasionally." General Singleton died in Baltimore in 1895. 

Henry E. Dummer was an excellent lawyer; his papers were neatly pre- 
pared. He represented Cass county in the convention of 1847; ne died in 
Morgan county many years ago. 

Clark county was represented in the convention by William Tutt and Justin 
Harlan. Judge Harlan was county judge, and afterward circuit judge. He was 
eccentric, and possessed a marvelous fund of common sense. He was a little 
profane, even on the bench. One of the suitors of his court sued another on a 
contract for the sale and delivery of a lot of hogs. The evidence showed that the 
contract was that the hogs should be delivered if they could be driven. Judge 
Harlan said that while he was compelled to render a judgment for the defend- 
ant, "it was d d singular that hogs grew wild when pork rose." 

From the county of Coles, one of the delegates was Thomas A. Marshall. 
He was a lawyer of some distinction. He was afterward elected colonel of the 
First Illinois Cavalry. 

Jo Daviess county was represented by Thompson Campbell, W. E. Green 
and O. C. Pratt. A sketch of Mr. Campbell's life appears elsewhere in this work. 
During the session of the convention an incident occurred to which Mr. Camp- 
bell and Mr. Pratt were parties which afforded to members, not connected with 
the affair, great amusement. This incident was nothing less than a proposed 
duel between the two delegates from Jo Daviess county, Mr. Campbell and 
Mr. Pratt. It is not important which was the challenger, but it led to the 
stringent clause in the constitution which provides that "From and after the 
adoption of the constitution, every person who shall be elected or appointed to 
any office of profit, trust or emolument, civil or military, legislative, executive or 
judicial, under the government of this state, shall, before he enters upon the 
duties, in addition to the oath prescribed in this constitution take the following 
oath : 'I do most solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be,) that I have not 
sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel, the probable issue of which might 
have been the death of either party, nor have been a second to either party, nor 
in any manner aided or assisted in such duel, nor been knowingly the bearer of 
such challenge or acceptance since the adoption of this constitution, and I will 
not be so engaged or concerned directly or indirectly in or about such duel during 
my continuance, so help me God !' " and it led to the sarcastic remark of Colonel 
Servant, delegate from Randolph county : "I hope Charlie Constable will be put 
in jail for twenty-four hours, and kept without a looking-glass, a hair-brush, or 
tooth-brush !" To those who knew Judge Constable, such a wish was a cruel 
one. Both of these gentlemen (Mr. Campbell and Mr. Pratt) afterward went to 
California, and died there. 

Benjamin Bond was a delegate to the convention from Clinton county. He 
was a lawyer. He became notorious afterward as the author of the separate 
article in the constitution "prohibiting free negroes from hereafter emigrating to 
this state and settling within the bounds of this state, and to prevent the owners 
of slaves in other states from bringing them into and setting them free in this 



4 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

state," with such penalties annexed as would be calculated to effect the object 
in view. I spoke and voted against this resolution, on account of which 1 was, 
at the election which occurred in the month of August, defeated for re-election 
to the office of probate justice of the peace. 

Hezekiah M. Wead was a delegate from Fulton county. He was born in 
Vermont and died in Peoria. Mr. Wead was a lawyer, and was afterward cir- 
cuit judge : I refer to a sketch of his professional and judicial life furnished 
by his son, Hon. S. P. Wead. Albert Gallatin Caldwell, delegate to the con- 
vention from Gallatin county, was a lawyer of great promise. He died soon 
afterward, in Springfield, while attending a term of the court held in this city. 

David Mead Woodson was a delegate to the convention from Greene 
county. Judge Woodson, as he was afterward known, was born near Ver- 
sailles, Woodford county, Kentucky. He afterward was elected judge of the 
circuit court, and held that place for three terms. He was state's attorney for 
his judicial district in 1840, and prosecuted Aaron and William Tocld. I speak 
elsewhere of the murder of their cousin, Larkin Scott. Judge Woodson was a 
gentleman of the old school, and maintained the dignity of his court under all 
circumstances. 

Iroquois and Will counties were represented by Jesse O. Norton, who was 
afterward a member of congress and a circuit judge. Jefferson, Marion and 
Franklin counties were represented by Zadok Casey and Walter B. Scates. 
Judge Scates had been attorney general of the state of Illinois and a justice of the 
supreme court. A sketch of his life will appear elsewhere. The delegates from 
Knox county were Curtiss K. Harvey and James Knox. 

Judge Davis, who represented McLean county, is noticed on succeeding 
pages. He was elected circuit judge, and discharged the duties of that office 
for many years. He was then appointed associate justice of the supreme court 
of the United States, and was afterward elected a senator in the congress of the 
United States. He was of doubtful politics, and consented to supersede Mr. 
Bayard in the presidency of the senate pro tern. 

Cyrus Edwards, who represented Madison county, with Edward M. West, 
Benaiah Robinson, and George T. Brown, was a lawyer of great eminence. 
He desired more than anything else to preserve the credit of the state of Illinois, 
and was the author of the two-mill tax, which established the credit of the state. 
Thomas G. C. Davis represented Massac county in the convention. He was a 
native of Virginia, afterward removed to St. Louis and thence to Texas, where 
he died. He was a man of great capacity and of remarkable eloquence. 

Hiram Rountree represented Montgomery county in the convention. We 
furnish elsewhere a sketch of his life. Montgomery and Bond counties and 
Moultrie and Shelby counties were represented by James M. Davis and Anthony 
Thornton, sketches of whom will be found elsewhere. Judges William Thomas 
and Samuel D. Lockwood, who represented Morgan county in the convention, 
were eminent jurists. Lincoln B. Knowlton, who represented Peoria county, 
and Onslow Peters, who represented Peoria and Fulton counties, were success- 
ful lawyers. William R. Archer and William A. Grimshaw, who represented 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 5 

Pike county, were lawyers. Mr. Archer was afterward county judge. Alfred 
Kitchell, a delegate from Richland county, was circuit judge, and after the ex- 
piration of his term of office removed to Galesburg, where he died. Colonel 
Servant, of whom I have before spoken, was a lawyer from Randolph county. 

Sangamon county was represented by John Dawson, James H. Matheny, 
Ninian W. Edwards and Stephen T. Logan, all of whom have since died. James 
H. Matheny was once clerk of the circuit court and afterward was county judge. 
Ninian W. Edwards had been attorney general, member of the legislature from 
Sangamon county and was afterward superintendent of public instruction, having 
been appointed by Governor Matteson. Mr. Edwards was the brother-in-law of 
President Lincoln, who appointed him commissary of subsistence during the 
late civil war. Stephen T. Logan, whose sketch will appear elsewhere, was an 
oracle in the law. He was remarkable for his extensive knowledge of the law, 
and the moderation of his charges for his services. The county court of 
Macoupin county (under my advice) procured his written opinion upon a consti- 
tutional question, for which service he charged ten dollars. Notwithstanding 
the moderation of his charges, he left an immense estate, having used his money 
in the entry of real estate, at one dollar and a quarter per acre. 

Charles H. Constable was a delegate from Wabash county. He was after- 
ward circuit judge, was a good lawyer and was remarkable for his personal 
neatness. Abner C. Harding was from Warren county ; he was a lawyer of some 
distinction, was afterward appointed colonel of one of the Illinois infantry regi- 
ments, and won some reputation by the repulse inflicted upon Forrest at Fort 
Donelson. 

Samuel Snowden Hayes, a delegate from White county, was the youngest 
man in the convention. He afterward married the daughter of Colonel E. D. 
Taylor, of Springfield, removed to Chicago, and was appointed city comptroller. 
He died in Chicago many years ago. Willis Allen, father of the present judge, 
W. J. Allen, represented several of the southern counties. He was state's attor- 
ney, member of congress, and circuit judge. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE FORMATIVE PERIOD TERRITORIAL AND STATE. 

THE territory of Illinois was organized into a county of Virginia on the I2th 
day of December, 1778, and John Todd was appointed lieutenant com- 
mandant of the county of Illinois, by Patrick Henry, at that time the 
governor of the state of Virginia. 

Governor Henry's letter of instructions to the commandant contained direc- 
tions relating to the defense of the county ; but it is noticeable that the liberties 
of the people were also the subject of the care of that patriotic statesman. He 
said : "You are on all occasions to inculcate on the people the value of liberty, 
and the difference between the state of free citizens of this commonwealth and 
that slavery to which Illinois was destined ; a free and equal representation 
may be expected by them in a little time, together with all the improvements in 
jurisprudence and police which other parts of the state enjoy." 

Illinois continued to form a part of the state of Virginia, and subject to its 
laws, until 1784, when the "County of Illinois," being a part of the territory 
northwest of the river Ohio, was ceded by the state of Virginia to the United 
States. 

The congress of the confederation adopted certain resolutions for the gov- 
ernment of the Northwestern territory in 1784. but they were repealed by the 
ordinance of 1787, which laid the foundations of liberty and law for all the states 
of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, a territory whose resources 
were then unknown, it being inhabited by but a few white persons, who were 
engaged then, and for many years thereafter, in a struggle with the red men for 
its possession ; a territory which is now the home of millions of happy and 
prosperous people. 

The ordinance, which passed the congress, assembled under the articles of 
confederation, on the I3th day of July, 1787, not only provided the framework 
for a temporary government of the territory of the United States northwest of the 
river Ohio, (which has been in essentials followed by subsequent congressional 
legislation in the creation of territories formed from the national domain), but 
it secured perpetually to inhabitants of the territory their most valuable and 
precious rights. 

The ordinance provided a rule for the descent of the property of intestate 
proprietors, for the making of wills and conveyances, and for the transfer of per- 
sonal property by delivery, saving to the French inhabitants their own customs. 
It anticipated what is called the "bill of rights," the ten first amendments of the 
federal constitution. It secured to the present and future inhabitants of the 
territory freedom of worship and the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus. It 
gave assurance of a proportionate representation of the people in the legislature, 
and of judicial proceedings, according to the course of the common law. It 
secured to all persons accused of crime, where the proof was not evident or the 

6 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 7 

presumption great, the privilege of bail and moderate fine, and protection 
against cruel, or unusual punishments in case of conviction for misdemeanors or 
crimes, and insured to the citizen that protection for his person and property 
conceded by the "Great Charter." 

"No man shall be deprived of his liberty, or property, but by the judgment 
of his peers or the law of the land, and should public exigencies make it 
necessary for the common preservation to take any person's property or to 
demand his particular service, full compensation shall be made for the same ;" 
and then, as if in anticipation of the efforts of demagogues to pervert the public 
conscience, it was declared, as the sense of congress, "and in the just preserva- 
tion of rights and property it is understood and declared that no law ought ever 
be made, or have force in the said territory that shall in any manner whatever 
interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements, bona-fide and without 
fraud, previously formed," and the ordinance further provides that ''there shall 
be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than 
in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." 

These provisions were preserved in the constitutions of the states formed 
from the Northwestern territory, and under them the liberties of the people 
have found protection and security. 

It has been said by an eminent statesman and jurist that "Two of the pro- 
visions of the ordinance of 1787 were sufficient for the protection of popular 
rights : First, that which provides for a proportionate representation of the 
people in the legislature ; second, that of judicial proceeding according to the 
course of the common law." By the fifth section of the ordinance the governor 
and judges were clothed with qualified powers of legislation, that is to say, the 
governor and judges, or a majority of them, were "authorized to adopt and 
publish in the district such laws of the original states, criminal and civil, as may 
be necessary and best suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them 
to congress, from time to time ; which laws shall be in force in the district until 
the organization of the general assembly therein, unless disapproved of by the 
congress ; but afterwards the legislature shall have authority to act as they 
see fit." 

In 1798 it was ascertained that the Northwestern territory contained five 
thousand white male inhabitants and was therefore entitled as a matter of right 
to enter on the second grade of territorial government provided for in the 
ordinance of 1787. (Burnett's Notes, 288.) The fact was made known by the 
proclamation of Governor St. Clair, calling upon the people to elect represent- 
atives to meet at Cincinnati, in convention, for the purpose of nominating ten 
persons to be returned to the president of the United States, five of whom it 
was his duty to select, and, upon confirmation by the senate, commission as a 
legislative council. 

The representatives elected assembled at Cincinnati on the 4th day of 
February, 1799, as required by the proclamation. They made the nomination 
and adjourned to meet at Cincinnati on the i6th day of September ensuing. 
The governor transmitted the names of the nominees to the secretary of state, 



8 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

and the president, by and with the consent of the senate, appointed Jacob Bur- 
nett and four others to be the legislative council. The house of representatives 
consisted of twenty-two members, amongst whom it is noticeable that Shadrach 
Bond and John Edgar represented the counties of St. Clair and Randolph, 
respectively. 

The governor and judges had power under the ordinance to legislate to 
the extent of adopting the statutes of any of the original states of the Union, 
and the legislature elected by the people, which assembled at Cincinnati on the 
1 6th of September, 1799, was clothed with complete powers of legislation, sub- 
ject only to the ordinance of 1787 and to the superior supervising power of 
congress. 

Burnett says : "The statutes which had been adopted from time to time by 
the governor and judges formed a miserable apology for a code of statute law : 
many subjects of interest were not embraced in them, and most of them were 
in a crude and imperfect state. The most useful of them were taken from the 
Pennsylvania code, with the exception of one from the code of Virginia, which 
adopted the common law, and such of the English statutes made in aid of it prior 
to the '4th,' of James I, as was of a general nature, and applicable to the 
country. 

"Although this law was important in the administration of justice, as with- 
out it the courts must have legislated in many of the cases which came before 
them ; yet it was so general and indefinite in its terms, that questions were 
perpetually arising at the bar and on the bench as to which of the statutes of 
the English code were adopted, and whether such parts of statutes as were 
applicable to the state of the country might be taken, and others rejected, as, 
for example, in a case in which the defense rested on a plea of usury, there 
being no statute of the territory on that subject, the defendant relied on the 
statute of 1 3th Elizabeth, which comes clearly within the terms of the adopting 
law, both as to time and subject matter; yet, as it authorized an interest of ten 
per cent., and the interest in the territory, established by general consent, was 
only six per cent., it became a question whether it did or did not justify that 
rate of interest, and, if not, whether the penalty of the act could be enforced 
in that case." 

Burnett, from whom I quote, was a lawyer and he says "On many inter- 
esting subjects, particularly that relating to remedies and the mode of enforcing 
them, there had been no legislation. The course of the common law was relied 
on, which was tedious and in most cases difficult and expensive, and the more 
so as there was not any tribunal in the territory vested with chancery powers. 
The courts of common law, as far as their forms and modes of administering 
justice would permit, assumed those powers from necessity, by which partial 
relief was obtained. On the subject of the partition of real estate, assignment 
of dower, relief of insolvent debtors, settlement of disputes by arbitration, 
divorces, and alimony, equitable set-off, and the specific execution of real con- 
tracts, the territorial code was entirely silent." 

In most of the cases mentioned the legislature at its first session "passed 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 9 

laws providing simple and easy modes of proceeding." Laws which were made 
by the governor and judges, and by the general assembly of the Northwestern 
territory, until passage of the act of congress of May 7, 1800, which created 
Indiana territory, were in force in Illinois. 

On the 3d day of February, 1809, congress passed an act dividing the 
Indiana territory into two separate governments, and the laws borrowed by the 
governor and judges from other states of the Union, which had been done 
with such liberality that only the titles were retained,- the laws enacted by the 
house of representatives of the Northwestern territory, and also enactments of 
the representatives of the people of the territory of Illinois were, except so far 
as they were repealed, in full force when the territory of Illinois. was created 
(February 3, 1809). 

It must be observed that the congress of the United States, which had full 
authority to legislate for the people of the Illinois territory, on the 3d day of 
March, 1815, passed an act regulating and defining the duties of the United 
States judges for the territory of Illinois. The act divided the territory into 
three circuits, that is to say, the counties of Madison and St. Clair were to 
constitute the first circuit; the counties of Randolph and Johnson the second; 
and the counties of Gallatin and Edwards the third circuit. These were at the 
time all the counties of the territory, and the places of holding the circuit courts 
was fixed by the same law. 

The judges were given by the act jurisdiction "over all causes, matters or 
things at common law or in chancery," arising in each of said counties, "except 
in cases where the debt or demand shall be under twenty dollars, in which cases 
they shall have no jurisdiction." 

The act further provided that "the said judges shall be conservators of the 
peace, and the said circuit courts in term time, or the judges thereof in vacation, 
shall have power to award injunction writs of ne exeat, habeas corpus and all 
other writs and process that may be necessary to the execution of the powers 
with which they are, or may be, vested." It was further provided by the act 
that "the said circuit courts respectively shall have power to hear and determine 
all treasons, felonies and all other crimes or misdemeanors that may be com- 
mitted within the respective counties aforesaid, and that may be brought before 
them respectively by any rules or regulations prescribed by law." 

The effect of this a'ct was to create a court of appeals for the territory of 
Illinois. 

The fifteenth section of the act provides : "That the said judges, or a 
majority of them, shall constitute a court to be styled the court of appeals of 
Illinois territory, and shall hold two sessions annually, at the town of Kaskaskia, 
which court shall have appellate jurisdiction and to which appeals 
shall be allowed, and from which writs of error, according to the principles of 
the common law and conformably to the laws and usages of the said territory, 
may be prosecuted for the reversal of the judgments and decrees of the said 
circuit court, as of any inferior courts which now are or may hereafter be 
established by the law of said territory." 



CHAPTER III. 

THE SUPREME COURT TERRITORIAL AND SUPREME COURT JUDGES. 

ON the 3d day of February, 1809, congress passed an act creating the 
territory of Illinois, and on the 7th day of March, in the same year, the 
president appointed Alexander Stuart, Obadiah Jones and Jesse Burgess 
Thomas to be territorial judges. 

The territorial legislature, at its session in 1814, passed an act to establish 
a supreme court for Illinois territory, which in many material points changed 
the judicial system adopted by the authority of congress upon the organization 
of the territory. 

The judges of the territory took emphatic ground against the law : they 
were requested by the legislature to state their objections in writing, which they 
did. They held among other grounds for their opposition, ''That as the United 
States government, in pursuance of the ordinance, had established a court of 
general jurisdiction, and had reserved the right of appointing judges to con- 
duct it, the territorial legislature, which is an inferior authority, had no power 
to change or modify it." 

They said "It would have been futile in congress to establish a court, 
leaving the power in other hands to establish a tribunal superior to it, which 
would be to annul it." The judges proceeded to argue at length in opposition 
to the bill ; and the opinion was signed by Judges Jesse B. Thomas and William 
Sprigg. Judge Griswold, though absent, is understood to have concurred with 
the other judges. The governor (Edwards) favored the act, and he was re- 
quested by the legislature to prepare an answer to the objections of the judges, 
which he did, and his answer was spread at large upon the legislative journals. 

The reasoning of the judges seems to be solid and conclusive. "In view 
of the whole matter the legislature adopted resolutions for transmitting the 
contemplated act, together with the letter of the judges, and answer thereto of 
Governor Edwards, to congress, accompanied by an address "requesting the 
passage of a law declaring the . aforesaid enactment valid, or pass some law 
more explanatory of the relative duties and powers of the judges aforesaid and 
of this legislature, in order to remove any future or existing difficulties that 
may arise between the judges and the legislature." 

Congress accordingly, on the 3d of March, 1815, passed "An act regulating 
and defining the duties of the United States judges for the territory of Illinois," 
of which we have heretofore spoken. 

The territorial judges were appointed by the president, and confirmed by 
the senate. On the occasion referred to they exhibited commendable firmness, 
and their arguments were unanswerable; still but little is known of the terri- 

10 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. n 

torial judges, unless Jesse Burgess Thomas, one of their number, is an exception. 

Governor Reynolds says, speaking of Judge Stuart (Pioneer History, 365) : 
"Stuart soon resigned, and Stanley Griswold was appointed. Judge Stuart 
remained on the bench but for a short time in Illinois and was appointed judge, 
of the territory of Missouri" (Pioneer History, 371). He says of Stanley Gris- 
wold, the successor of Judge Stuart, "He was a correct, honest man, a good 
lawyer, paid his debts and sung David's psalms. He was transferred to Michi- 
gan territory, and in his place Thomas Towles was appointed, who presided on 
the east of the territory" (Pioneer History, 402). There are in the annals of 
Illinois territory no account of Obadiah Jones, one of the judges appointed 
by the president on the 7th day of March, 1809; it is doubtful if he accepted 
the place, or performed any of its duties, and Stanley Griswold, his successor, 
was commissioned March 16, 1810. 

Jesse Burgess Thomas has a history. He was born in Hagerstown, Mary- 
land, in the year 1777, and was reputed to be a lineal descendant of Lord Balti- 
more. He removed with his parents to Kentucky in 1779, and after having 
received something more than a common-school education studied law with his 
brother, Richard S. Thomas, in Bracken county, Kentucky. On the organiza- 
tion of Dearborn county, Indiana territory, March 7, 1803, he removed to 
Lawrenceburg, and commenced the practice of law. 

On January 3, 1805, he was elected to represent that county in the legis- 
lature, which convened in Vincennes, February i, 1805, to choose members 
of the legislative council, and on the proclamation of the governor, William H. 
Harrison, the legislature assembled on the 291)1 of July, 1805, and at this its 
first session he was elected speaker of the house of representatives. He presided 
as speaker of the first and second sessions, at Vincennes, from September 26, 
1805, to October 24, 1808, when he was elected by the assembly as delegate to 
the tenth congress, to succeed Benjamin Park, resigned. He served as delegate 
from December 8, 1808, to March 3, 1809. He was appointed and commissioned 
August 24, 1805, by Governor Harrison, a captain of militia of Dearborn county. 

Within his legislative term he married the widow of Major John Francis 
Hamtramck, and then moved to Vincennes, where he resided a short time. On 
the organization of Illinois territory, March 7, 1809, President Madison 
appointed him one of the territorial judges. He then moved to Kaskaskia, 
thence to Cahokia and later to Edwardsville. 

In July, 1818, he was elected a delegate from St. Clair county to the 
constitutional convention, and was elected president of the convention that 
formed the constitution of Illinois. He was elected by the first general assembly 
of Illinois one of its first two United States senators, serving from December 4, 
1818, to March 3, 1828. As senator he proposed the Missouri Compromise 
and was chairman of the committee of conference on that measure, and it, as 
adopted, was his work. This he regarded as the most important act of his 
life. 

Ip 1829 he removed to Mount Vernon, Ohio; where he assisted at the 
organization of St. Paul's Episcopal church, of which he was a consistent 



12 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

member. He owned a large property in Mount Vernon and was one of the 
town proprietors of Brookville, Indiana. 

In stature he was full six feet, with florid, brown complexion, dark hazel 
eyes, dark brown (nearly black) hair. With a well developed muscular system, 
he weighed over two hundred pounds, was very particular in his personal 
appearance, and had the mode (manners) of a refined gentleman of the last 
century. He died, childless, at Mount Vernon, Ohio, leaving a large estate, 
May 4, 1853, aged seventy-five years. We have followed the sketch of Judge 
Thomas, contributed to the Pioneer History by Samuel Morrison, of Indian- 
apolis, Indiana, in 1884. But Governor Reynolds' Pioneer History (page 401) 
says of Judge Thomas that "He was a man of talents, but did not particularly 
employ his mind on the dry subtleties of the law. He was born a politician, 
and never ceased the avocation until death closed the scene with him a few 
years since in the state of Ohio. In 1818 he was elected a member, from St. 
Clair county, of the convention that formed the state constitution ; was elected 
the president of that body, and gave general satisfaction in the performance of 
his duty. He was also elected to the United States senate, the same year, made 
a good business member, was a great friend of Crawford for the presidency, 
. and did much in the compromise of the Missouri question. He was a gentleman 
of fine appearance and address." 

Governor Reynolds quotes a significant saying of Judge Thomas, on which 
he acted "considerably," and which proves that he was born a politician, "that 
you could not talk a man down but you could whisper him to death." It is 
added, "on the bench or in the senate he possessed a dignified and respectful 
bearing." 

Judge John M. Scott (Illinois History, page 270) says of Judge Thomas: 
"The services rendered by him in the senate of the United States not only 
affected the welfare of the state of Illinois, but in a degree the nation at large. 
One measure with which his name is connected has become famous in the 
history of this country. It is said that he was the author of that measure 
known as the Missouri Compromise of 1820. In that way he connected his 
name with an act predestined from the beginning to be one of the most mo- 
mentous events in American history." 

Governor Reynolds properly understood the character of Judge Thomas, 
I have no doubt. He was a politician and his successes were in the field of 
politics. 

"William Sprigg 'possessed a strong, discriminating mind, and made an 
excellent judge, was a fine classical scholar, and a well read and profound 
lawyer. He was born in Maryland and was of excellent family. His brother 
was the governor of Maryland, and other relatives occupied important stations 
in that state. He had an utter contempt for street politics. A purer heart, or 
one with more integrity, never found its way to the bench. He was a spectator 
in the campaign of 1812, under Governor Edwards, to Peoria lake, as he had 
no gun or other weapon that denoted belligerency. His pacific and sjckly 
appearance, together with his perfect philosophic indifference as to war or 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 13 

peace, life or death, made him the subject of much discussion among the troops." 
(Pioneer History, page 402.) 

We have related all that is known to the public concerning the territorial 
judges. After the passage of the act of March 3, 1815, which took effect from 
and after the ist day of April next, the judges were required to perform circuit 
duties, and they, or a majority of them, were constituted a court, to be styled 
the court of appeals for Illinois territory. The records of the court of appeals 
have not been examined, but it is understood that in no case heard by the 
judges was a written opinion filed. The constitution of 1818 made the judges 
of the supreme court elective by the joint ballot of the two houses of the legis- 
lature and the constitution required that "the supreme court shall be holden at 
the seat of government, and shall have an appellate jurisdiction only, except in 
cases relating to the revenue, in cases of mandamus, and in such cases of im- 
peachment as may be required to be tried before it." It was made to consist of 
a chief justice, and three associates "any two of whom shall form a quorum. The 
number of justices, may, however, be increased by the general assembly after 
the year 1824." 

"The judges were directed to be commissioned by the governor and to 
hold their offices during good behavior until the end of the first session of the 
general assembly, which shall be begun and held after the ist day of January 
in the year of our Lord 1824, at which time their commissions shall expire. 
But ever after the aforesaid period the justices of the supreme court 
shall be commissioned during good behavior, and the justices thereof shall not 
hold circuit courts unless required by law." 

The first session of the general assembly of the state of Illinois met on the 
5th day (first Monday) of October, 1818, in Kaskaskia, in pursuance of the 
constitution, and on the 8th of that month proceeded to choose a chief justice 
and three associate justices. 

The legislature had but little difficulty in selecting a chief justice, for on 
the first ballot Joseph Philips received thirty-four of the forty ballots cast ; for 
associate justices William P. Foster and Thomas C. Browrle were chosen, and 
finally John Reynolds was elected, having received twenty-two votes of the 
whole number (forty) cast. 

All writers agree that Chief Justice Joseph Philips was an admirable selec- 
tion. As one writer says : "He was a lawyer of fine intellectual endowments." 
He held the office but a short time, as he resigned his place upon becoming a 
candidate for governor, in 1822. His resignation bears date July 4, 1822, and 
Thomas Reynolds became chief justice on the 3ist of August, 1822. Breese 
reports but fifteen cases, which fill only fourteen pages of his reports, decided 
by the supreme court while Chief Justice Philips was on the bench, so there are 
but scant materials for determining his merits as a judge. 

Thomas Reynolds, his successor, was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, 
March 12, 1796, and was admitted to the bar about the time he reached his 
majority. He came to Illinois while it was a territory, and filled the office of 
clerk and speaker of the house of representatives. He was appointed chief 



i 4 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

justice of the supreme court of Illinois on the 3ist of August, 1822. He removed 
to Missouri in 1829, locating himself at Fayette, Howard county, in that state. 

He was elected a member of the house of representatives of the state 
legislature from Howard county, and was chosen to be speaker of that body. 
He filled the office of circuit judge for a short time, and was afterward, in 1840, 
elected to be governor of Missouri, and died while in office, February 9, 1844. 
He was a profound lawyer, and as an orator was forcible and captivating, both 
in the legislature and in the courts. At the time of his death he was a candidate 
for a seat in the United States senate, with almost a certainty of being elected. 

Breese reports a number of the opinions of the supreme court delivered by 
Chief Justice Reynolds, which exhibit much more finish than those reported 
before "he came to the bench." 

Thomas C. Browne was elected one of the associate justices of the supreme 
court, and his commission is dated October 9, 1818. He was re-elected one 
of the associate justices at the reorganization of the supreme court in 1825 ; was 
again commissioned on the igth day of January, 1825, and held his office until 
after the adoption of the constitution of 1848. 

There is much difference of opinion in the legal profession as to the 
judicial merits of Judge Thomas C. Browne. He was born in Kentucky, came 
to Illinois territory in 1812, and settled himself in Shawneetown; he had 
studied law in Kentucky and at once commenced the practice of his profession. 
Judge Scott says (Illinois History, page 77) in speaking of him : "All lawyers 
at that early day seem to have had quite as much, if not more, fondness for 
politics than the law : Judge Browne was no exception to that general rule. 
Within two years after his coming to Illinois territory he entered upon the 
work of office-seeking, and office-getting, a work in which he was quite 
successful. He did not practice his profession for any great length of time. 
Office-seeking seems to have been a mania of that period, and became a mad 
passion with all professional men, lawyers, doctors, and even ministers, became 
attracted within the maelstrom of politics. * * * In 1814, Judge Browne 
was elected a member of the house of the territorial legislature, as a represent- 
ative from Gallatin county. In 1816 he was a member of the legislative council 
of the territorial legislature. * * * He was appointed attorney for the dis- 
trict in which Gallatin is situated, in 1816, and probably continued in that 
office, whatever it was, until the state government was organized. 

"On the organization of the state government, in 1818, he was, on joint 
ballot of both houses of the legislature, chosen one of the associate justices of 
the supreme court of the new state, shortly to be admitted into the Union. He 
was re-elected in the same way and commissioned a member of the same court 
on the igth of January, 1825, and thereafter held the office until the first Monday 
of December, 1848, when the old constitution was superseded by the new. He 
then retired to private life, and nothing more was heard of him. Later, there 
was a brief announcement of his death. That was the end of one whose life 
had been a benediction to the state." 

Judge Scott's observations are true, but in making them he overlooked 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 15 

the fact that before the introduction of railroads, telegraphs, telephones, and 
the "daily newspaper," which collects the history of events in all parts of the 
civilized world and, by means of the railroads, is delivered on the day of its 
publication at nearly every postoffice in the state, the lawyers were the 
instructors of the people on every political topic. 

The terms of the courts usually lasted three or four days and rarely more 
than a week. On the Monday beginning the term, at noon or in the evening 
after court adjourned, some recognized member of the bar would "make a 
speech," defending his own party or assailing the other party. If the first 
"speech" was made at noon or at night, some lawyer would answer the first 
speaker at night or at noon, and so the party orators would alternate to the 
end of the term of the court. 

Under such circumstances, it was natural that lawyers should be politicians 
and office-seekers, most of them were so, and for their reputation at the bar 
some of them were more indebted to their political dexterity than to their 
knowledge of the law. Without capacity for "stump oratory" the lawyer of 
early times rarely succeeded in winning reputation. 

Following Judge Scott (Illinois History, page 79) : "Writers concerning 
the period in which Judge Browne lived speak very favorably of him as a 
man of the highest personal integrity and as a worthy judge for the time in 
which he served in that capacity. On the circuit he was a most valuable judge 
and administered the law as he understood it, with the strictest impartiality to 
all alike that had business in the court where he presided. In that respect his 
character is without the slightest smirch or reproach." Governor Reynolds, who 
knew him well, says: "Honor, integrity and fidelity are prominent traits in his 
character." It was never claimed for Judge Browne that he was a man of any 
very great literary attainments, or that he was a profound lawyer, still, following 
Judge Scott, "but it is due to his memory to say, as the truth is, he was a good 
judge on account of his integrity of character and his valuable practical sense 
in all matters of business." 

An attempt was made, in 1843, to impeach Judge Browne "for want of 
capacity to discharge the duties of his office of judge of the supreme court." It 
is to be regretted that, though Judge Browne was continuously one of the 
associate justices of the supreme court from 1819 until 1848, he delivered no 
opinion upon any important subject and did no act worthy of being remembered, 
unlike Lockwood and Smith and some others of his associates. Though a 
member of the council of revision, he did nothing for the reform of the law or 
the improvement of the statutes. 

Justice John Reynolds was appointed one of the associate justices and was 
commissioned on the 9th of October, 1818. Judge Reynolds, who was better 
known to the public of his day as Governor Reynolds, or the "Old Ranger," has 
written the story of his "Own Times." He was born in Montgomery county, 
Pennsylvania, on the 26th of February, 1788. When he was about six months 
old his parents removed to Tennessee and settled near Knoxville, in that state, 
and, according to the governor's account : "We left Tennessee in February, 



1 6 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

1800, with eight horses and two wagons, for New Spain. Our company con- 
sisted of my parents, six children, I, the oldest, three hired men and a colored 
woman." In "My Own Times" he describes the journey of the family from 
Tennessee to Kaskaskia, and gives the reason why his father did not settle under 
the jurisdiction of the Spanish government. 

Judge Reynolds was liberally though not classically educated, and says 
("My Own Times," page 91) : "In the fall of 1812 I was examined, at Kaskaskia, 
before Judges Thomas and Sprigg, two of the United States judges for the 
territory, and admitted to practice law. I attended a county court this fall, 
which was held in an old house of Thomas Kirkpatrick, near the high bank of 
Cahokia creek, embraced in the present Edwardsville ; but I had no business 
in court, and, being so diffident and so much out of gear for the practice of law, 
I was truly glad that I had nothing to do." 

The writer is reminded by this story told by Governor Reynolds of an 
incident which he copies from "Recollections of an Earnest Life," a book which 
he hopes to publish at an early day. 

He lived at Carlinville, and like Governor Reynolds attended his first court 
at Edwardsville : "It is thirty-five miles from Carlinville to Edwardsville, and I 
walked the first day from Carlinville to the home of my father, who lived near 
the road, eight miles from Edwardsville. I spent a day at father's, and the 
following morning went into Edwardsville, stopped at a public house kept by a 
man named Wilson, with whom I had a friendly acquaintance ; I explained to 
Mr. Wilson that I had no money to pay bills, when, without waiting to hear 
more, he told me with a rough generosity I can never forget that I could 
stay with him as long as I pleased, pay him when I could, and if I never could 
'it didn't make a d d bit of difference!' It can well be imagined that after this 
reception I felt at home. 

"I had known Judge Breese when I was a boy, and the first law speech I 
ever heard was made by him. He met, and remembered me kindly, and soon 
after assigned me to the defense of a poor fellow who was indicted for larceny. 
I have often repeated the incidents of this trial and the conduct of Judge Breese 
toward me, to illustrate the wisdom of judges who treat young members of the 
bar with kindness. 

''Any lawyer may easily guess the character of the defense I made for 
this, my first client. I had never before appeared in the circuit court; my 
client was unquestionably guilty, and the jury so found after very brief hesita- 
tion. After the jury had found him guilty, I remembered that according to 
'the books,' after a verdict against a client it was the duty of a lawyer to make 
a motion for a new trial, and if that motion failed to then move in arrest of 
judgment. Accordingly I made a motion for a new trial for the usual formal 
reasons : I know I attempted to argue the motion, and although at the time 
I was so embarrassed by the surroundings that I then scarcely understood what 
I said, I was satisfied soon afterward, when I heard the judge, that I had made 
a most learned and forcible argument. 

"When I concluded my speech, whatever it was, I was confused enough, 








GUSTAVUS KOERNER. 
JAMES SEMPLE. 



SAMUEL D. LOCKWOOD. 



SIDNEY BREESE. 
JAMES SHIELDS. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 17 

but when Mr. Kitchell, the then attorney-general, finished his caustic and almost 
contemptuous reply, I was overwhelmed with confusion. The judge however 
rescued me ; he noticed in succession the reasons I had assigned in writing for 
a new trial, and said that 'the learned counsel had supported these reasons with 
great force of argument.' He stated what he said were the arguments I had 
used, confessed he was impressed with their force, and then proceeded to 
answer them with great deliberation, and concluded by saying that 'the defendant 
had been ably defended by learned counsel, and tried by an intelligent and 
impartial jury, and that he therefore felt constrained to overrule the motion for 
a new trial, and render a judgment on the verdict.' 

"I did not make a motion in arrest of judgment, but I will confess that for 
a while after the judge concluded I believed I had really used the arguments 
that he attributed to me and then repeated, and answered, and though I after- 
ward realized that both the arguments and the answers to them were the work 
of the judge, he made an impression upon me that still remains, and secured 
for himself my best personal services as long as he had occasion for them ; and 
he left upon my mind an impression which I still retain, that Sidney Breese 
was in all respects an ideal judge, and, in view of his inaptness as a politician, I 
have been inclined to repeat what Dryden says of Shaftesbury : 

In Israel's courts ne'er sat an Abeth-din 

With more discerning eyes or hands more clean 

Unbribed, unsought, the wretched to redress, 

Swift of dispatch, and easy of access! 

O, had he been content to serve the crown 

With virtues only proper to the gown; 

Or had the rankness of the soil been freed 

From cockle that oppressed the noble seed, 

David, for him, his tuneful harp had strung 

And Heaven had wanted one immortal song." 

The judge was for some reasons a failure as a politician, but his pre- 
eminence as a judge has never been disputed. 

Governor Reynolds describes the condition of the country from the time 
of his father's migration to Illinois territory, and says ("My Own Times," page 
95) : "Many of my comrades at the organization of the army were appointed 
to small offices, but diffidence and a savage independence never permitted me 
to approach officers' tents or solicit anyone for an office. I declined becoming 
acquainted with any of the higher officers." 

In the estimation of his cotemporaries the afterward judge of the supreme 
court, governor and member of congress got bravely over his "diffidence," for 
there never existed in the state a more inveterate office-seeker than he was. 
Governor Reynolds, in his "My Own Times," page 135, gives the following 
account of his election as one of the associate justices of the supreme court: "At 
the time of the session of the first legislature I resided in Cahokia, and had not 
the least intention of visiting the legislature at all. I cared very little who was 
elected to any office ; one thing was, I coveted nothing for myself. My friends 



i8 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

urged me to visit with them the general assembly in session at Kaskaskia, and 
I did so. When we reached the legislature there was great excitement in 
relation to the election of officers by the general assembly. I had been in 
Kaskaskia only a few days when it was urged on me to know if I would accept 
a judgeship if I was elected. This broke on me like a clap of thunder ! I was 
in truth persuaded to become a candidate for the office. I had a great many 
personal friends, both in and out of the legislature, who urged me much to 
consent to offer. The material for the bench was not as good as it might be." 

It is probable, that Governor Reynolds believed at the time that he was 
forced by his "friends" to become a candidate for the office of associate justice 
of the supreme court of Illinois, but his "diffidence" was easily overcome. He 
became a candidate, and was elected, as before stated, by a vote of twenty-two 
to eighteen. 

Judge Reynolds was not re-elected in 1825. The judiciary .of the state was 
reorganized by that legislature, as was required by the constitution. "Although 
candidates before the general assembly for re-election to the same positions 
they had held, Chief Justice Thomas Reynolds and Associate Justice John Rey- 
nolds were defeated ; it was a sore disappointment to them." 

Of Chief Justice Reynolds persons who knew him all bear the same testi- 
mony. He was a very able and learned lawyer and made a good judge. Many 
modern writers speak of him as a younger brother, and others as nephew of 
Judge John Reynolds, but neither statement is correct. The fact is, Chief 
Justice Reynolds was in no way related to Justice John Reynolds. 

In 1829, some years after his defeat, Chief Justice Thomas Reynolds went 
to Missouri, and perhaps remained there until his death. In the sketch of 
Chief Justice Thomas Reynolds we have given an account of his subsequent 
career in Missouri. Judge Scott says (Illinois History, page 141) : "A sum- 
mary of Judge John Reynolds' judicial career is : While he was not a great 
judge, he was a good judge ; not learned in the law as written in the books, yet 
he was a fair lawyer ; undignified in his presiding on the bench, and always 
saying foolish things, yet his purpose an honest one was to mete out equal 
and impartial justice to all persons without distinction as to station in life ; 
whether high or low, white or black, bond or free litigating in the courts held 
by him. That was the crowning excellence in his judicial character." 

Still following Judge Scott (Illinois History, page 142) : "After Judge 
Reynolds left the bench, early in 1825, he pretended to enter upon the practice 
of law. He attended courts in his own and adjoining counties, with very great 
regularity. In some of the counties he picked up a few cases, but none of 
considerable importance. His ambition was now turned into another channel, 
his purpose was to enter upon a political life, one for which, it will be seen 
later, he was eminently fitted. I have no doubt that it was for that reason he 
attended the courts, more to become acquainted with the people, that he might 
in that way advance his political ambition, rather than in any hope or even 
desire to obtain law business. * * * Of his practice in later life he says: 
'I practiced law in some peculiar cases, for my amusement and recreation.' 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 19 

These peculiar cases were cases that no one else wanted or would have, mostly 
they were for old friends who had really no cause of action, but wanted a 'law- 
suit,' and he was willing to oblige them." Judge Scott says further, of Judge 
Reynolds (Illinois History, page 150): "The judge's later practice brought him 
neither money nor reputation. It would have been better for his legal repu- 
tation had he never undertaken to resume the practice of the law. It made 
known his unfitness for the profession, either on account of a want of natural 
ability for forensic wrangling or the necessary legal learning," and Judge Scott 
adds: "But, after all, traveling with the courts was not unprofitable to Judge 
Reynolds. It was the beginning of a successful political life, and one that was 
crowned with many splendid triumphs : It was the school in which he was 
educated for his later life work." 

Judge Reynolds was, after his retirement from the bench, elected to the 
house of representatives of the general assembly. Governor Reynolds ("My 
Own Times," page 184), says: "I decided, in the legislature of 1828-9, that I 
would present myself for something higher than an office in the general 
assembly, or quit public employment altogether," and at the August election 
in 1830 he was elected governor of Illinois, defeating Rev. William Kinney, who 
was a candidate for the same office. 

He was afterwards elected a member of the house of representatives in 
congress, and was, after the end of his two or three terms in congress, elected 
to the house of representatives of the general assembly of the state, and was 
chosen speaker of the house. 

One characteristic anecdote is told of the governor, while speaker. The 
house was proceeding under the ''previous question" on some measure, and 
there was a dispute as to the right of members to the floor. A member arose, 
and said, "Mr. Speaker, am I entitled to the floor?" the speaker answered: 
"Yes, but you can't say a d d word." 

The writer first saw Governor Reynolds in 1832. The criminal code in 
force at that time provided whipping as a punishment for larceny ; the maximum 
number of stripes to be inflicted was one hundred. A person named D 
P - was convicted of larceny by the circuit court of Madison county, and 
was sentenced to be whipped thirty-nine lashes. I witnessed the punishment, 
and the governor did also, and said he "had come over to see the whipping." 
He stood by, and witnessed the whipping, and after thirty-eight lashes had been 
administered said, "I forgive him one : that's enough." I have been told that 
the person I have alluded to was the last one "whipped for stealing" in the 
state. 

In 1827, by an act of the legislature, commissioners were appointed to 
construct a penitentiary at Alton, and in 1833, tne penitentiary being ready 
for the reception of convicts, a criminal code was adopted, subjecting persons 
convicted of larceny committed after the 1st of July, 1833, to confinement in 
the penitentiary for not less than one year, nor more thaji ten. 

Governor Reynolds was suspected in the last years of his life of favoring 
the southern Confederacy. It is reported that among the papers of Jefferson 



20 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

Davis was found a letter from him, advising armed resistance to the authority 
of the United States. During his whole life he was intensely pro-slavery in his 
opinions. He died May 8, 1865. 

William P. Foster also was elected one of the associate justices of the 
supreme court by the legislature. His commission bears date October 9, 1818. 
Ford says (History of Illinois, page 29) : "Foster, who was elected one of the 
judges, was almost a total stranger in the country. He was a great rascal, but 
no one knew it then, he having been a citizen of the state only for about three 
weeks before he was elected. He was no lawyer, never having either studied 
or practiced law." He resigned within a year, "but took care to pocket his 
salary." 

The late John Moses, in speaking of Foster, says (Illinois Historical and 
Statistical, page 293) : "The career of Foster affords a striking illustration of the 
possible success of a polished but unscrupulous adventurer, in a new country. 
An entire stranger in the territory, a lawyer by neither profession nor practice, 
in a few weeks, through his plausible address and skillful manipulation of 
credulous members, he succeeded in capturing one of the highest judicial offices 
in the gift of the legislature. He never took his seat upon the bench, and after 
drawing a year's salary for services not rendered, he left the state. His 
subsequent career was that of an accomplished swindler who traveled from city 
to city, numbering his victims by the score." 

The successor of Foster on the supreme bench was William Wilson, who 
will have a place in the next chapter, which will be devoted to the courts as 
reorganized in 1825. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE SUPREME COURT 1825- NOTABLE CASES. 

THE term of office for the chief justice and associate justices of the supreme 
court, as fixed by the constitution of 1818, was limited "until the end of 
the first session of the general assembly which shall be begun and held 
after the ist day of January, 1824." 

At that session the following named judges were elected, the tenure of 
whose office is ''during good behavior," and whose commissions bear date 
"January 19, 1825" : William Wilson, chief justice ; Thomas C. Browne, Samuel 
D. Lockwood and Theophilus W. Smith, associate justices. 

We have before mentioned Thomas C. Browne, who was re-elected one 
of the associate justices, but have not described William Wilson, who was 
appointed to succeed William P. Foster (of whom something has been said), 
resigned. Judge Wilson was elected chief justice of the supreme court when 
less than twenty-nine years of age, and held that office until December 4, 1848. 
Both Chief Justice Thomas Reynolds and Associate Justice John Reynolds were 
candidates for re-election to the positions they had before held, but were 
defeated, much to their disappointment. On the first ballot Judge Wilson 
received thirty-five votes in the joint session, and Chief Justice Thomas Reynolds 
nineteen votes. Undoubtedly the defeat of Chief Justice Thomas Reynolds 
was the result of his support of "the convention." He was a good lawyer, and 
his subsequent history is detailed in a former chapter. 

"William Wilson, at the time of his elevation to the high and honorable 
position of chief justice of Illinois, was but twenty-nine years old, and had been 
already on the supreme bench as associate justice. He was born in Loudon 
county, Virginia, in 1795. When quite young his father died, leaving his 
widow with two sons and an embarrassed estate. At an early age his mother 
obtained for him a situation in a store, but the young man discovered no aptitude 
for the business of merchandising, and, young as he was, developed an unusual 
greed for books, reading every one attainable, to the almost total neglect of his 
duties in the store. At the age of eighteen he was placed in a law office, under 
the tuition of the Hon. John Cook, who ranked high as a lawyer at the bar of 
Virginia and who also served his country with honor and distinction abroad, as 
minister to the court of France. 

"In 1817 young Wilson came to Illinois to look for a home, and such was 
his personal bearing and prepossessing appearance that one year later, at the 
inauguration of the state government, his name was brought before the legisla- 
ture for associate supreme judge, and he came within six votes of an election. 
Within a year, as we have seen, he was chosen in the place of Foster. 

21 



22 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

"For five years he served the people so acceptably upon the bench as to 
be at this time chosen to the first position by a large majority over the former 
chief justice, Reynolds. This was the more a mark of approbation in view of 
the fact that Judge Wilson was totally devoid of, and never in his life could 
wield, any of the arts of the politician or party schemer; as regards political 
intrigue he was as innocent as a child. He was singularly pure in all of his 
convictions of duty, and in his long public career of nearly thirty years as a 
supreme judge of Illinois he commanded the full respect, confidence and esteem 
of the people by reason of the probity of his official acts, and his uprightness as 
a citizen and a man. 

"His education was such as he had acquired by diligent reading and self- 
culture. As a writer his diction was pure, clear and elegant, as may be seen by 
reference to his published opinions in the supreme court. * * His 

official career was terminated with the going into effect of the new constitution, 
December 4, 1848, when he retired to private life. He died at his home in the 
ripeness of age and the consciousness of a life well spent, April 29, 1857." We 
have followed Davidson and Stuve, the latter being a relative of Judge Wilson 
(History of Illinois, pages 329-330). 

Judge Scott speaks quite as kindly and respectfully of Chief Justice Wilson 
(Illinois History, page 39) : "He was a judge, and nothing else: in no sense was 
he a politician. During his incumbency of his high office of chief justice he 
seems to have discharged his duties with such faithfulness and ability as to 
secure public approval. It is evident he must have been a man of learning and 
ability, and of the highest personal character, otherwise he could not have had 
and retained through his entire term of service as chief justice the confidence 
of his associates." 

Chief Justice Wilson was held in high regard by his cotemporaries, and 
even now his opinions are admired for their clearness and precision of expres- 
sion. His opinions are to be found in Illinois Reports. 

We have noticed whatever is remembered of the life and services of 
Associate Justice Thomas C. Browne, and we now turn to a much more 
agreeable subject. 

Samuel Drake Lockwood, one of the associate justices of the supreme court 
of Illinois, was born in Poundridge, Westchester county, New York, on the 
2d day of August, 1789, and was the son of Joseph Lockwood and Mary Drake, 
who were married October 9, 1788. He spent a few months at a private school 
in New Jersey, where he acquired some knowledge of arithmetic and a Httle 
of Latin. In August, 1803, he entered the office of his mother's brother, Francis 
Drake, a lawyer of Waterford, New York, and remained there until February, 
1811, when he was admitted to the bar and opened an office in Batavia, New 
York. In January, 1812, he removed to Sempronius, where he was appointed 
justice of the peace and master in chancery, and in November, 1813, again 
removed to Auburn, New York, where he was in May, 1815. 

After providing himself with letters from E. T. Throop, then a member of 
congress, and afterward governor of New York, and others, addressed to General 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 23 

William H. Harrison and Colonel Benjamin Stevenson, then in Illinois, he 
came to Illinois by way of Shawneetown, reaching Kaskaskia on the 26th day 
of December, 1818. He remained in Kaskaskia about one year and then 
removed to Carmi, in White county. In January, 1821, he visited Vandalia, 
which in the meantime had become the seat of the state government, and was 
elected attorney general by the legislature, being commissioned on the 6th day 
of February, 1821. 

He resigned the office of attorney general on the 22d day of December, 1822, 
and by Governor Coles was appointed secretary of state. Later, in 1823, he 
was appointed "Receiver of Public Money" in the land-office at Edwardsville, 
and on the igth day of January, 1825, he received his commission as associate 
justice of the supreme court, having been previously elected to that office by 
the legislature in joint session. 

Judge Lockwood held the position of associate justice of the supreme court 
from the igth day of January, 1825, until the 4th day of December, 1848, hav- 
ing in the meantime represented Morgan county in the constitutional conven- 
tion of 1847. 

The legislature of Illinois, at the session of 1824-5, instructed the justices 
of the supreme court to prepare a revision of the state laws, to be reported to 
the next session of the general assembly. The statutes at that time were not 
quite as much confused as Governor Ford represents them to have been. He 
says, speaking of the code of laws : "It was so crude and contradictory that 
no one could tell what it did, or did not mean, but all agreed that a revision of 
the statutes was a necessity." The judges undertook the work, and most of 
the labor was done by Judge Lockwood. Lockwood prepared the criminal 
code, and, though whipping and other cruel punishments were retained, it is 
apt in its definitions of crimes and misdemeanors, and is still in a large measure 
the law of the state. 

It is a model of clearness and precision, and fully justifies all that is claimed 
for it. Judge Craig said, in his oration on the occasion of laying the corner- 
stone of the court-house of Knox county : "Our criminal code, with but few 
amendments, has been in existence since the revision of our laws in 1827. It 
was drafted, as I have been informed, by Judge Lockwood, one of the ablest 
judges our state has ever produced. We had a constitutional convention in 
1847, ar >d again in 1870, to form an organic law for the state; each of these 
bodies prepared a constitution which was adopted by the people. Again since 
1870 the legislature has revised our statutes, but while the statutes on various 
subjects were changed the criminal code was found to need but few amendments, 
and hence was left substantially as originally prepared." 

The alteration in the criminal code prepared by Judge Lockwood has 
relation to the methods of punishment rather than to the definitions of crime, 
which are still retained in the subsequent revisions of the statutes. 

Theophilus W. Smith, the third of the associate justices elected at the 
session of the legislature 1824-5, was born in the city of New York on the 28th 
day of September, 1784, and came to Illinois in 1816. His name appears on 



24 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

the rolls of the attorneys in 1817. Judge Smith was a man of talent, a good 
lawyer, and exceedingly ambitious of political preferment. He was arbitrary 
and exacting ; he was impeached in 1833 and escaped conviction by a very narrow 
margin. 

Governor Ford says of him, (History of Illinois, page 220) : "Judge Smith 
(I regret to say it of a man who is no more) was an active, bustling, ambitious 
and turbulent member of the Democratic party. He had for a long time aimed 
to be elected to the United States senate ; his devices and intrigue to this end 
had been innumerable. In fact he never lacked a plot to advance himself or to 
blow up others. He was a laborious and ingenious -schemer in politics." 

The impeachment of Judge Smith commenced on the 9th day of January and 
continued from day to day until February 7, 1833. Perhaps nothing is more 
significant of the character of the accused than the fact, stated by Davidson 
and Stuve, (History of Illinois, page 368) that "Pending the trial, the de- 
fendant after each adjournment had the desks of senators carefully searched for 
scraps of paper containing scribblings concerning their status upon the respective 
charges. Being thus advised, the counsel enjoyed peculiar advantages in the 
management of the defense." 

A proposition was then made to remove the Judge by an address to the 
governor. It passed the house, but failed in the senate, the constitution re- 
quiring two-thirds of each house. The fifth article charged him with arbitrarily 
suspending John S. Greathouse, a lawyer, from practice, for advising his client 
to take a change of venue to a county where his Honor did not preside, and the 
sixth article was for tyrannically commanding to jail, in Montgomery county, a 
Quaker who entertained conscientious scruples about removing his hat "in 
court." 

He resigned his seat December 26, 1842, and died May 6, 1846. Judge 
Theophilus W. Smith lived a turbulent life ; he resided for many years in 
Edwardsville. Judge Smith was succeeded by Judge Richard M. Young. 

Having given sketches of the chief justice and the associate justices of the 
supreme court as reorganized in 1824-5, it but remains that we tell what that 
court did to reform and give construction to the obscure statutes in force during 
the existence of the court. 

The chief and associate justices, William Wilson, Thomas C. Browne, 
Samuel D. Lockwood, and Theophilus W. Smith, held the June term, 1825. But 
five cases were decided at that time, and' none were of importance. Justice 
Smith delivered the opinion of the court in three of the cases, and Justice Lock- 
wood in two. At the December term, 1825, the first case decided was that of 
Joseph Cornelius versus Robert Wash ; appeal from St. Clair. This case is of no 
other interest to the legal profession, than that it decides where an attorney at 
law is employed under a contract like this : 

"Belleville, Nov. 19, 1819. 

"Whereas, I have employed R. Wash in the suit instituted by George, a black man, 
against Robert Whiteside and F. Bradshaw, for the recovery of his freedom, I hereby 
oblige myself to pay to said R. Wash or order the further sum of fifty dollars. 
"As witness my hand and seal 

"JOSEPH CORNELIUS. [Seal.]" 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 25 

"He cannot delegate the duty of representing his client to another. The 
court held that the contract was intended to secure the personal services of 
the lawyer." (Breese's Reports, 63.) 

The second case decided at the December term of the supreme court was 
that of The People, on the relation of William L. D. Ewing, against George 
Forquer, secretary of state, which is reported in Breese's Reports, 68. 

The facts in this case involve one of the most important questions which can 
arise under a constitutional government. Edward Coles and Adolphus F. Hub- 
bard were severally elected to the office of governor and lieutenant governor at 
the state election of 1822. The constitution of 1818, which was still in force, 
provided that "the executive power of this state shall be vested in a governor." 
The constitution then provided for the election of a governor. It further pro- 
vides for the election of a lieutenant governor, and the eighteenth section, third 
article, of the constitution provides that "In case of an impeachment of the 
governor, his removal from office, death, refusal to qualify, resignation, or 
absence from the state, the lieutenant governor shall exercise all the powers and 
authority appertaining to the office of governor, until the time pointed out by 
the constitution for the election of a governor to fill such vacancy." 

Governor Coles, on the 22d day of June, 1825, addressed a note to Lieutenant 
Governor Hubbard, in which he said : "You will recollect that I made known to 
you last winter, and again repeated the subject when I saw you in May, that I 
should have occasion to go to the eastward about the middle of July ; the object 
of this letter is to notify you that after the i8th of July I shall be absent, and that 
the duties of the executive will devolve, in pursuance of the constitution, on 
you, as the lieutenant governor of the state, during my absence, which I expect 
will not be longer than about three months." Upon the notice, and the actual 
absence of the governor from the state, Lieutenant Governor Hubbard entered 
upon the discharge of the duties of the office of governor. 

Lieutenant Governor Hubbard, on the 2d day of November, 1825, claim- 
ing that he continued to be the governor, notwithstanding the return of Governor 
Coles into the state, appointed and commissioned the relator, Ewing, as pay- 
master general, which commission was presented to the secretary of state, with a 
request that he countersign it, and affix the seal of the state to the commission, 
which he refused to do. 

The secretary of state showed for cause why the writ of mandamus should 
not issue : "First. Because Edward Coles was, on the day of presenting the 
commission to the secretary, and had been from the 3d day of October, 1825, 
and has ever since remained, in the administration of the office of governor of the 
state of Illinois. Second. That it does not appear from the records of his office, 
that said office of paymaster has ever been filled by any previous appointment." 

Justice Lockwood delivered the opinions of the court. The judge said : "It 
was contended on the argument that Governor Coles by absenting himself from 
this state had abdicated and forfeited the office of governor, and could not, on his 
return into the state, resume its functions. 

"But before the court can enter into this question it will be necessary for 



26 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

them to enquire : First Whether the relator has a right to have the commission 
countersigned and sealed? and, second If he has such a right, do the laws of 
this state afford him the relief that he asks ? It appears from the answer filed by 
the secretary of state, that the office of paymaster general had never been filled. 

"The court concludes that the lieutenant governor, admitting him to be fully 
clothed with all the functions of governor, had not the constitutional power to 
fill the vacancy in the office of paymaster general." 

In answer to the contention that it was the duty of the secretary of state to 
countersign and to affix the seal to all commissions issued by the governor, the 
court said : "By Section 4 of the act defining the duties of the secretary of state it 
is enacted 'That all commissions required by law to be issued by the governor 
shall be countersigned by the secretary of state.' In this section are to be found 
the duties of the secretary. Had the legislature intended to require the secre- 
tary to countersign every commission that the governor should present to him, 
whether authorized by the law or the constitution, its phraseology would have 
been that the secretary should countersign every commission presented to him by 
the governor. The secretary is however only required to countersign those com- 
missions required to be issued by law must he not then look into the law to see 
if the commission is required by law?" 

The court said in the opinion : "A question of much importance here arises, 
whether the incumbent of the office of governor can make an appointment in the 
recess of the general assembly, when the vacancy did not occur since the ad- 
journment of that body." 

The answer to this question is only to be found in the true construction of 
the eighth section of the fourth article of our constitution, which reads as follows : 
"When any office, the right of whose appointment is by the constitution vested in 
the general assembly or the governor and senate, shall during the recess die, or 
his office by any means become vacant, the governor shall have power to fill such 
vacancy by granting a commission, which shall expire at the end of the next 
session of the general assembly." If any doubts existed as to the meaning of this 
section, references might be had to the practice of the government, "had such 
practice been acquired in, etc., the vacancy must have happened during the 
" recess." This view has been accepted as the proper construction of a nearly 
corresponding section of the constitution of the United States. 

The court did decide that the governor had no authority to issue the com- 
mission to Ewing, appointed paymaster general, for the reason stated. That 
the secretary of state might look into the constitution and the law, in order to 
determine whether the commission was lawfully issued or not, and that the 
commission in this instance was not lawfully issued, but did not decide the main 
question, "whether Edward Coles or Adolphus F. Hubbard was the de facto 
governor of Illinois." 

It may be added that nearly all the governors of Illinois have absented them- 
selves from the state at their pleasure, and while the lieutenant governor has 
sometimes exercised the functions of the office of governor, he has ever since 
the adoption of the constitution, with the exception mentioned, yielded to the re- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 27 

turning governor without objection. Judge Smith, associate justice, delivered a 
separate opinion but concurred with the court in refusing to award the man- 
damus. 

It will be readily concluded by the professional reader that the status of the 
negroes and mulattoes, who came or were brought into Illinois and held as 
slaves, or indentured servants, which was a qualified servitude, excited much of 
the attention of the people, the legislature of the territories, the constitutional 
convention, and the courts. 

There was much opposition to the ordinance of 1787, which prohibited the 
introduction of slavery into the territory northwest of the river Ohio, and 
efforts were made in influential quarters to repeal, or evade the operation of, 
the ordinance. On the I7th of September, 1807, the territorial legislature of 
Indiana, which then included Illinois, passed "an act concerning the introduc- 
tion of negroes and mulattoes into this territory." 

The first section of the act authorized the owners or possessors of slaves to 
bring them into the territory. The second section authorizes the master to go 
with the slave before the clerk, and agree with the slave for the term of years the 
slave shall serve, and the clerk shall make a record of the contract. 

It was a part of the same act, section thirteen, "That children born in this 
territory of a parent of color, owing service, or labor by indenture, according 
to law, shall serve the master or mistress of such parent, the male until the age 
of thirty, and the female until twenty-eight years of age." The territorial con- 
vention of 1818 had, by the sixth article of the constitution, also confirmed in- 
denture, except upon the impossible condition that such indenture shall be 
executed by the servant while in a state of perfect freedom, on a bona fide con- 
sideration. The whole article (sixth) looks to the support of a qualified system of 
slavery, called by the name of "apprenticeship." 

The case of Cornelius versus Cohen (Breese, 92) "was an action of replevin 
brought in the circuit court of St. Clair county for the recovery of the possession 
of Betsey, a negro girl. Justice Lockwood delivered the opinion of the court. 
The facts of the case are that on the 6th day of October, 1804, a free negro woman 
named Rachel, aged twenty-three, entered into a writing by which she bound 
herself to serve the plaintiff fifteen years. It was admitted on the trial that 
Rachel was the mother of Betsey, who was born in 1805. The court held that 
Betsey could not be held to service under the act of 1807, because Rachel, 
the mother, was at the date of the contract, October 6, 1804, free. Still the sub- 
ject of the status of negroes and mulattoes returned in various forms to plague 
the courts. 

In the case of Nance, a girl of color, versus Howard, the supreme court, 
per Lockwood, justice, (Breese, 182), held that "registered servants are goods and 
chattels and can be sold on execution." 

The court referred to the territorial statute of 1807, section seven of which 
recites : "And whereas doubts have arisen whether the term of service of 
negroes and mulattoes bound in this territory may be sold on execution, on 
this same day an act was passed subjecting 'bound servants,' with a variety of 



28 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

personal property, to taxation, and by another act 'the benefit of the contract of 
service may be assigned by the master with the consent of the servant.' The 
case was decided at the December term, 1828, and the court did not see the 
obvious distinction between an assignment of the contract of service with the con- 
sent of the servant, and a sale of the time of a servant under an execution open 
to all bidders." 

In the case of Fanny, a woman of color, versus Montgomery et al. (opinion 
of the court by Justice Lockwood), which was an action of trespass to try the 
plaintiff's right to freedom (Breese, 188), it was held that "when the defendant 
in an action of trespass, assault and battery and false imprisonment, justifies, 
under a certificate granted by a justice of the peace in pursuance of an act of con- 
gress respecting fugitive slaves from labor, the plea must show that all the facts 
existed at the time of granting the certificate contemplated by the act. The plea 
should also state affirmatively to whom the certificate was given, whether to the 
person claiming the fugitive, or his agent, and if the agent, his name." 

In the case of Phoebe, a woman of color, versus Jay (Breese, 206), it was held 
(opinion by Lockwood, justice), "The act of 1807, respecting the introduction of 
negroes and mulattoes into the territory, is void, as being infringement to the 
sixth article of the ordinance of 1787, but indentures executed under that law are 
made valid by the third section of the sixth article of the constitution of this 
state. A constitution can do what a legislature cannot, as it is the supreme, fixed 
and permanent will of the people in their original, sovereign and unlimited 
capacity, and in it are determined the condition, rights, and duties of every 
individual of the community; from its decrees there can be no appeal, for it 
emanates from the highest source of power. An act of the legislature is different, 
and if it contravenes the constitution, no repetition of it can render it valid." 

The court after some sophistical reasoning as to the effect of a repeal of the 
ordinance of 1787, by common consent, and as to the effect of the statute of limi- 
tation as it affects the burden of proof, concludes that the plea of the defendants 
who claimed the services of the plaintiff was faulty and the judgment was 
reversed, for defect in the plea. "It did not show whether the defendant claims 
the plaintiff in his character as heir, or administrator. On the ground that the 
plea is too uncertain as to the character in which the defendant claims the 
service of plaintiffs, and upon the further ground that in neither capacity can 
the defendant claim her services, the judgment should be reversed." 

The court seems to have held : First, that if the defendant claimed that the 
plaintiff owed him service as administrator, one had no right to insist that the 
plaintiff "should attend to the ordinary business of him, the defendant, as his 
authority was only to keep the custody of plaintiff until her time of service could 
be sold." 

It was a refinement which could only be justified by an anxiety to give effect 
to the constitution, which forbids involuntary servitude in this state. It is well 
settled that an administrator may plead in replevin "property in himself" 
generally. 

The case of Edward Coles versus the county of Madison (Breese, 115), pre- 





EDWARD D. BAKER. 



THOMAS FORD. 





JOSEPH GILLESPIE. 



JOHN REYNOLDS. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 29 

sents another illustration of the deep-seated prejudice against negroes which 
existed in the popular mind in early times. Governor Coles, who took such a 
conspicuous part in opposition to the introduction of slavery into Illinois, brought 
into Madison county from Virginia a number of slaves, and after providing them 
with homes, "set them at liberty," as was charged in the declaration, without giv- 
ing bond, as was required by an act of the legislature of 1819. 

A verdict was found against Coles at the September term (1824) of the 
Madison circuit court, but no judgment was rendered upon the verdict until 
September, 1825, the case having been continued until that time, pending a 
motion for a new trial which was taken under advisement. 

In January, 1825, the legislature passed an act releasing all penalty incurred 
under the act of 1819, under which Coles was prosecuted. Coles pleaded this 
act puis darrein continuance and renewed his motion for a new trial, but the 
court (McRoberts, judge,) overruled the motion and rejected the plea. Chief 
Justice Wilson delivered the opinion of the court, and the court held that "the 
legislature was competent to release the penalty provided by the act of 1819, after 
suit brought and before judgment rendered." It held that the act releasing the 
penalty was not an ex post facto law, or a law impairing the obligation of con- 
tracts, and further held, that the act of the legislature might be pleaded puis 
darrein continuance, in bar of the suit. 

Another case of great interest, one giving construction to the constitu- 
tion of the state, was decided by the supreme court at the December term, 1839. 
It was the case of Alexander P. Field versus the People, on the relation of John 
A. McClernand (reported Second Scammon, 79). The case was argued by 
eminent counsel for both parties. Cyrus Walker, Justin Butterfield, Levi Davis 
and Mr. Field for himself, for the appellant; and J. B. Thomas, Jr., Stephen A. 
Douglas, James Shields and John A. McClernand for himself, and Attorney 
General Kitchell, for the appellees. It was an information in the nature of a quo 
warranto filed by John A. McClernand against Alexander P. Field "to know by 
what authority he holds and exercises the office of secretary of state of the state 
of Illinois." The facts of the case in brief are that Field was legally appointed 
secretary of state in 1829, and had continued to exercise the duties of said office 
ever since. On the first Monday of August, 1838, Thomas Carlin was elected 
governor of the state of Illinois, and on the ist day of April, 1839, by virtue of 
his authority as governor, he appointed John A. McClernand secretary of state. 
Wilson, chief justice, delivered the opinion of the court, and stated the 
question to be : Whether Field or McClernand was entitled to the office of secre- 
tary of state. The court held in substance: First, that under the constitution 
of the state of Illinois the appointing power has not the power of removal from 
office. Second, the governor has not the power at his will and pleasure to re- 
move the secretary of state when he is once appointed; the power of appointment 
is suspended until a vacancy occurs. Third, when the constitution creates an 
office, and leaves the tenure undefined and unlimited, the officer holds during 
good behavior, and until the legislature by law limits the tenure to a term of years 
or authorizes and confers upon some functionary of the government the power 



30 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

to remove the officer at will or for good cause. This power the legislature has 
an undoubted right to confer. Fourth, the office of secretary of state is created 
by the constitution of the state of Illinois, without any limit to its duration ; it 
consequently remains so until the legislature provides one. 

This was regarded at the time as a political decision, and Judge Smith de- 
livered a dissenting opinion, which sustained the view of the governor. Field 
and McClernand were active politicians, and the case produced great excite- 
ment in political circles. 

The writer of this came to Springfield in December, 1839, soon after the 
opinions were delivered, and states the impression made upon his mind at the 
time. 

The legislature was then in session in Springfield, and the city was filled 
with strangers, including most of the leading public men of the state. I here 
saw, for the first time, Lincoln, Baker, Calhoun, Field, Browning and others 
who were the leaders of that day. 

In the evening after my arrival in Springfield, I attended the public meeting 
held in the Second Presbyterian meeting-house, which was then used by the 
house of representatives, and listened to speeches from Alexander P. Field, John 
Calhoun (then of Springfield), O. H. Browning and Stephen A. Douglas. 
Field's speech was an eloquent and most bitter arraignment of Tneophilus W. 
Smith, one of the judges of the supreme court. Judge Smith had held, in opposi- 
tion to the other members of the court, that the secretary of state was subject to 
removal by the governor. Field was secretary of state, and possessed a re- 
markable capacity for invective, which he used unsparingly. 

Calhoun defended the judge with great dignity and force. Browning took 
sides with Field and delivered a most eloquent and attractive argument, and he 
was followed by Douglas, with characteristic ability. Discussions of this char- 
acter were kept up night after night, by Lincoln, McClernand and Isaac P. 
Walker, then a member of the legislature from Vermillion county and afterward 
a senator from Wisconsin. 

"There were giants in those days." None of these great leaders, except 
McClernand, are now living. Field died in New Orleans, Walker in Wisconsin, 
Calhoun in Kansas, Browning and Douglas are dead, and the circumstances of 
Lincoln's tragic death are well known. 

Governor Ford, in commenting upon this decision, says : "Alexander P. 
Field was the old secretary ; he had been appointed by Governor Edwards ten 
years before, and had been continued in office by both Reynolds and Duncan, 
without any new appointment. He was a Whig, and Governor Carlin was a 
Democrat ; and as the secretary of state is not only a public officer, but a sort of 
confidential helper and adviser of the governor, Governor Carlin claimed the 
right of selecting this officer himself, and from his own party. The governor 
nominated to the senate, Mr. McClernand, of Gallatin county. The Whigs of the 
senate, and some Democrats enough to constitute a majority decided that the 
tenure of the office ought to be defined and limited by the legislature, but that 
until they did so the secretary could not be removed and a new one appointed. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 31 

The governor and his friends contended that he had the power of removal 
and appointment at all times, to be exercised at his discretion. The governor 
made five or six nominations, all of which were rejected by the senate. After 
the legislature adjourned the governor again appointed Mr. McClernand, who 
demanded the office of Mr. Field and was refused. Mr. McClernand then sued 
out his writ, to try his right to the office. The question was taken to the supreme 
court, and was decided against him by Wilson and Lockwood, Judge Smith 
dissenting. Judge Browne gave no opinion, on account of his relationship to Mr. 
McClernand. 

This, at the time, was supposed to be a great question ; the ablest counsel 
of the state were employed and the decision of the judges is elaborated to such 
a degree as to show their opinion of its consequence. The decision raised a great 
flame, and the Democrats contended that the odious doctrine of life offices had 
been established by it. 

The case of Spraggins versus Houghton, which was before the court at the 
June term, 1840, in which the right of aliens to vote after six months' residence 
in the state was involved, produced still greater excitement than did the con- 
troversy between Field and McClernand. 

The constitution provided "that all free white male inhabitants over the age 
of twenty-one years, who have resided in the state for six months shall be 
entitled to vote at all general and special elections." The alien vote at the time 
was estimated at ten thousand, "nine-tenths of which was Democratic." It was 
believed that the Whig judges would decide with their party, and that belief led 
to a reorganization of the supreme court. It is apparent from the opinion of the 
court, delivered by Justice Smith, that the court believed it to be a fictitious case. 

Judge Smith was, as said by Governor Ford, "an active, bustling, ambitious, 
and turbulent member of the Democratic party." 

The act of February 10, 1841, by which the judiciary was reorganized, 
the circuit judges legislated out of office, and the number of the judges of the 
supreme court increased to nine, was the direct result of the anticipated decision 
in Spraggins versus Houghton. 

It is too late now to speak in condemnation of the act of February 10, 1841, 
for it brought into the public service such eminent judges as Thomas Ford, 
Sidney Breese, Walter B. Scates, Samuel H. Treat and Stephen A. Douglas, who 
were elected associate justices by the legislature on the I5th day of February, 
1841. 

In 1846, the writer attended the election in Macoupin county, where the 
judges of election took a much more liberal view of the constitution, which re- 
quired six months' residence in the state as a condition of the right of suffrage. 
A voter, when the elections were held in August, had come into the state some 
time in the month of April. The judges of election decided that as he had not 
been in the state six months he could not vote, but one of the judges bethought 
himself of an inquiry, "Whether he had had the chills or not?" He said he had, 
"and would have another in the afternoon, and wanted to get home." The judge 
said : "Let him vote ; having the chills is equal to six months' residence." 



CHAPTER V. 

THE SUPREME COURT 1841. 

MONG those added to the supreme court by the reorganizing act of 
February 10, 1841, was Thomas Ford, who was afterward the governor 
of the state. 

He was born in, or near, Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1800, and was brought 
into Illinois about the year 1804, by his mother, who settled in Monroe county. 
Governor Reynolds says (Pioneer History, p. 375) : "Ford, being younger, had 
a better opportunity than his half-brother, Forquer, to obtain an education. He 
might be considered as having received a good common-school education, for 
the wilderness state of the country, forty years since, in Illinois. In his youth 
his mind was developing itself so that he gave great promise of his future success ; 
at school he was ardently attached to the science of mathematics. Daniel P. 
Cook became acquainted with Ford, saw that he possessed a vigorous and 
strong mind, and was his sincere and efficient patron ever after. Cook pro- 
vided and made the arrangements for Ford to study law. Forquer, his half- 
brother, considered Ford's education defective, and sent him to Lexington, 
Kentucky, to improve it. He was compelled on many occasions while reading 
law to stop and teach school for support. 

"In 1829 Governor Edwards appointed him the prosecuting attorney for a 
judicial district. In 1831 Governor Reynolds reappointed him prosecuting at- 
torney. In 1835 he was elected by the legislature a circuit judge, and in 1841 he 
was elected an associate justice of the supreme court. In 1842 he was elected 
by the people to be the governor of the state of Illinois." 

Still following Governor Reynolds (Pioneer History, page 376) : "Governor 
Ford possessed many of the high and noble traits of character that constitute an 
eminent man. * * * The mind and character of Governor Ford qualified 
him for a judge better than for any other station. He was frank, open and 
firm on the bench, and at the same time learned and competent in the expo- 
sition of the law. He was a good and sound lawyer, but not the advocate some 
others were at the bar. His honesty and warm, friendly attachment to friends 
when he was governor enabled the cunning and shrewd hangers-on at the seat of 
government to mislead him at times. * * * With these talents he made a 
good writer, and has written the History of Illinois, which is not yet published. 
Those having the manuscript say the history will be valuable for its information 
and add credit to its author." 

After the close of his gubernatorial office he resided in Peoria and practiced 
his profession. He died there November 2, 1850, sincerely regretted by the 
public. There is no doubt but that the friends of Governor Ford made a mistake 

32 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 33 

in advising him to leave the bench and accept the office of governor. He was 
eminently fitted for the judicial place, but totally unfit for the political office. 
There is not much in his history which enables one to determine his merits as a 
judge. His History of Illinois, to which Governor Reynolds makes an allusion, 
was written with the greatest frankness, and is no doubt accurate in its facts, but 
bitter in its criticisms of public men. 

Sidney Breese, the first reporter of the decisions of the supreme court of 
Illinois, was born (so it is said) in Oneida county, New York, on the I5th day 
of July, 1800. At eighteen years of age he was graduated at Union College, 
in a class of sixty-four, among whom were Bishops Alonzo Potter and George W. 
Doane, and United States Senators A. S. Porter and James A. Bayard. 

He came to Illinois, and in December, 1818, reached Kaskaskia, where he 
remained, on the invitation of Elias Kent Kane, in whose office he studied law. 
He was admitted to the bar in 1820. He married Eliza, daughter of William 
Morrison, a merchant of Kaskaskia. 

His volume of reports was published in November, 1831, and he was elected 
by the legislature to be a circuit judge on the igth day of January, 1835. He 
remained upon the circuit bench until after his election to be one of the associate 
justices of the supreme court, which occurred on the I5th day of February, 1841, 
under the act reorganizing the supreme court, which was finally passed over 
the bill of the council of revision on the loth of February, 1841. 

Judge John M. Scott, who writes appreciatively of Judge Breese (Illinois 
History, page 329), tells the story of his life : "He was admitted to the bar 
when he was only twenty years of age, and from that time, for a period of nearly 
three score years, he was prominent in both the legal and political history of the 
state. Writing his biography would be the history of the state during his 
active life. * * * A few of his cotemporaries are still living, and they 
most like to remember him as he appeared to them when he was at his greatest 
strength, after the full development of his physical and mental powers." 

The writer remembers Sidney Breese as he appeared in 1834 addressing a 
jury in Madison county, and was impressed by the clearness and precision of his 
statement of the facts of the case on trial, and with the force of his argument 
based upon the facts. He again met Judge Breese in January, 1840, when he 
(the writer) appeared in the circuit court of Madison county and was assigned 
by the court to the defense of one of the parties indicted, of which he has given 
an account in the sketch of Governor John Reynolds. 

He again met Judge Breese in Greenville, in Bond county, and at Vandalia, 
in Fayette county, when the court assigned U. F. Linder and the writer to 
defend a poor fellow who was indicted for chicken-stealing. Linder. on a motion 
to quash the indictment which charged the value of the chickens to be fifty cents, 
gave his free rendering to the maxim, De minimis non curat lex, as "The law 
don't care for a few chickens." The judge held that the translation of the maxim 
was a forced one, but, after all, Linder acquitted our client by a speech which 
combined wit and fun and raillery of the prosecution and the prosecuting wit- 
nesses. Usher F. Linder was the most remarkable man I have ever met. 

3 



34 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

He combined all the qualities of a great man and great lawyer, except plain, 
common "horse sense." He lived, as he died, without any real friends, and 
without any property. He was the author of the definition of a bigoted man, as 
"one man having more sense than one man ought to have, and not enough for 
two." 

Judge Scott says (Illinois History, page 337) : "Judge Breese was eminent 
in the political as well as the judicial history of the state. It is not generally 
understood, but it is a fact, that he had much more liking for politics than for 
the law ; his political career was short, but it was brilliant, and abounded in re- 
sults that come only from the highest statesmanship. It is more than probable 
that if opportunity had offered itself to gratify his political aspirations he would 
at any time have given up his judicial office for that to him more agreeable, 
the field of politics. His ambition led him to hope for high positions, even in 
national politics, and nothing gave him more pleasure than to see his name 
mentioned in the public press for a high office." "Know thyself" is one of the 
wisest of all the proverbial maxims. 

Judge Breese looked the judge while on the bench. He was industrious, 
prompt, energetic, and patient ; he knew the law, and applied it to the cases 
before him. He was a profound judge, but lacked the elements of a successful 
politician. His diction was stately and accurate, and his opinions, when read, 
will be found to be energetic, forceful and expressed in the best words of the 
English language. 

He remained upon the bench of the supreme court until his election to 
the senate, on the igth day of December, 1842, when he resigned. He was de- 
feated for re-election as senator by General James Shields, at the session of the 
legislature held in 1848, and was returned to the bench at the election held in the 
third grand division, on the 3d day of November, 1857, and remained upon the 
bench until his death, which occurred June 27, 1878. 

Judge Scott says : "No one did more to perfect our judicial system. He 
came into the court when our jurisprudence was not yet matured into a perfect 
system. It is difficult to estimate the character of Judge Sidney Breese. He 
had the reputation of possessing extensive material relating to the history of 
the state of Illinois and the Northwestern territory. The committee on the ju- 
diciary in the constitutional convention of 1870 submitted to the then governor a 
plan for the reorganization of the supreme court. It was that six judges should 
be elected by the people in districts, and the chief justice be appointed by the 
governor and confirmed by the senate. The committee submitted the scheme 
to the governor ; he told them at once that if it was adopted Breese would be the 
chief justice. The governor called upon Breese a few days afterward and told 
him of the plan for the reorganization of the court, and also remarked 'My object 
is to afford you leisure to use the materials you have toward the history of 
Illinois and the Northwest.' Breese replied, 'While I am a judge, I will be 
every inch a judge.' The scheme was abandoned at once." 

Samuel Hubbel Treat was born in Otsego county, New York, on the 2ist 
day of June, 1811. He was admitted to the bar of his native state, and came to 




SAMUEL H. TREAT. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 35 

Illinois in 1834, settling in Springfield, where he resided until his death, which 
occurred on the 2/th day of March, 1887. 

He was appointed to be a circuit judge (to fill a vacancy), on the 27th day of 
May, 1839, by the governor, and was elected by the legislature January 31, 1840. 
On the 1 3th day of February, 1841, he was elected by the legislature to be one 
of the associate justices of the supreme court, which office he held until the 23d 
of March, 1855, when he resigned, in order to accept the position of judge of the 
district court of the United States for the southern district of Illinois, which last 
mentioned place he held until his death, as before stated, March 27, 1887. 

The writer and Judge Allen, his successor, appeared before Judge Treat in 
the last case he heard. Before the case was concluded his countenance indicated 
that he was seriously ill. It was proposed by one of the counsel that, as the 
Judge was manifestly suffering, the further hearing of the case be postponed. 
He acceded to the proposition with manifest reluctance. He never appeared in 
court again. He died a few days afterward. Judge Treat was an able lawyer, 
and excelled in his appreciation of facts. It was said of him that he could be 
depended upon to try issues of fact better than the most intelligent jury. He de- 
voted himself exclusively to his judicial duties, neglected his private business, 
which was found, after his death, to be in great confusion. He was a most rigid 
Episcopalian, and it was said of him that he had never entered a church of any 
other denomination, except upon public occasions when his presence was 
necessary. 

In 1860, after the nomination of Mr. Lincoln for the presidency, a suit was 
instituted by Hon. David J. Baker, the elder, against the faculty of Shurtleff 
College. Mr. Lincoln appeared for the plaintiff, and the writer for the de- 
fendants. A demurrer was interposed to the declaration. Judge Treat pro- 
posed to Mr. Lincoln to take care of his side of the case ; the writer argued for 
the defendants. Judge Treat sustained it, and the declaration was never 
amended. This was the last case in which Mr. Lincoln ever appeared in court. 

Judge Treat was honest, and prompt in his decisions, and gave general satis- 
faction to the bar and to the public. His opinions were brief and clear. He 
was one of the co-editors of Treat, Scates arid Blackwell's Statutes, which work, 
however, never attained much popularity. 

Walter Bennett Scates, formerly chief justice of the state of Illinois, de- 
parted this life at his home in Evanston, on the 26th of October, 1886, at the age 
of seventy-nine years. Being admitted to the bar of the state in 1833, he became 
attorney general on the i8th of January, 1836, and was circuit judge of the third 
circuit on the 26th of December of that year, being at the time of his death the 
oldest judge by date of commission. In February, 1841, he became one of the 
supreme judges, which position he occupied until January u, 1847, when he 
resigned. He was a leading member of the constitutional convention of 1848, 
and was again a supreme judge from July 4, 1853, until 1857, when he again 
resigned. He was made chief justice in 1855, and continued to fill that most 
high and responsible office until his retirement from the bench. 

From a strict sense of duty and responsibility to his country, he served dur- 



36 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

ing the war for the Union. In 1862 Judge Scates was commissioned major on 
the staff of General John A. McClernand, and before the close of the war became 
assistant adjutant general. When he was mustered out of the service, in 1866, 
he was brevetted brigadier general of volunteers. He was tendered but declined 
the position of governor of New Mexico to which President Lincoln would have 
appointed him, and was collector of the port and depositary of moneys for 
Chicago from 1866 to 1869. 

In 1857 Judge Scates was one of the three compilers of our statutes. In a 
succeeding chapter, pertaining to compilation and revisions of the laws of the 
state, certain reference is made to Judge Scates' efforts in the connection. 
During the time when he was not engaged in the public service he was an active 
practitioner at the bar. Few men of our state have been more intimately con- 
nected with our politics and jurisprudence. No worker in those fields was more 
laborious, faithful or painstaking; nor did any of his honored colleagues achieve 
greater respect among his fellows or more public appreciation than Judge 
Scates. 

Always honored by the people when he appealed to their suffrages, he rilled 
all public stations to which the popular vote called him with ability, credit and a 
deep sense of responsibility, and in the ordinary criticism of his public acts, which 
an aggressive and uncompromising nature naturally invoked, his ability, purity 
of character and integrity of purpose were conceded as a matter of course. His 
contemporary, Judge Treat, said : "Judge Scates was as honest and con- 
scientious a man as I have ever known." His decisions always have been and 
still are extolled by good lawyers. They are entitled to greater than per- 
functory praise ; they are direct and trenchant, never attempting to evade the 
responsibility of manfully meeting and deciding the matter at issue, however 
disagreeable or difficult, and when authorities existed, sustained copiously there- 
by. In laborious research, while on the bench, Judge Scates was excelled by no 
judge in Illinois, as his decisions abundantly show ; while in the masterly vigor 
of thought, and a broad comprehension of the entire case in hand and its neces- 
sities, he had no superior among his contemporaries. 

He was as plain and unassuming in the later and more polished era as in the 
primitive days, and he was altogether unassimilated to the superficial methods of 
modern times. He had no vulgar ambition for distinction, much less for display, 
and no envy or jealousy of his fellows ; he had no craft, sagacity or policy in his 
politics, and his achievements and posts of honor were the rewards of merit and 
not of importunity. Judge Scates was a faithful type of the class of judges who 
sat in the highest courts of New York, Georgia, Kentucky and other leading 
states in the early days, and applied and adapted the common law of England to 
our new political conditions. In his day there were not so many cases or au- 
thorities as now, but the labors of the consultation-room, from a dearth of author- 
ities, were more onerous, and logic was the main reliance of the review judge 
then, as precedent is now. 

After a laborious life of half a century, largely spent in the public service, 
during which Illinois expanded from a feeble, indigent and sparsely settled com- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 37 

munity, to a populous, rich and powerful state, this honored servant of the 
people laid down his burden as poor in worldly wealth as when he commenced 
his career, but honored by the record and faithful performance of high public 
trust. He was a grand old man, firm as a rock. He served his country in the 
forum, as a judge, as a legislator, as a private soldier and as an officer in two 
wars, commencing his military career as a musician. He performed every 
duty firmly, ably and with an honest purpose. No power could drive him from 
what he thought was right. Had he been influenced by wealth and power he 
might have died worth millions instead of a few thousand dollars. The state 
should not forget the services of such a man. 

Stephen Arnold Douglas was elected associate justice of the supreme court 
of Illinois on the 1st day of March, 1841, and resigned on the 28th of June, 1843. 
Mr. Douglas remained upon the bench of the supreme court so short a time that 
he had no opportunity to win judicial distinction, but his opinions were expressed 
in good language, and gave promise of future success as a judge. 

He was born April 23, 1813, at Brandon, Vermont. His father, who died 
when Stephen was an infant of three months, was a physician. In youth 
Stephen A. Douglas received the ordinary school education of his native state, 
and was an apt and diligent pupil. At fifteen, unable to gratify an ardent desire 
to prepare for college, he apprenticed himself to a cabinet-maker. He after- 
ward entered an academy at Brandon, and having in the meantime removed to 
Canandaigua, New York, he resumed his academical course and commenced 
the study of law. 

At the age of twenty he started west to seek for a location, and came to the 
village of Winchester, in Scott county, Illinois, in the fall of 1833, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar by the supreme court, which sat at Vandalia. Within a year 
after his admission to the bar he was elected, by the legislature, state's attorney 
for the judicial district in which he resided and he removed to Jacksonville. In 
1836 he was elected to the legislature from Morgan county. In 1837 he was 
appointed by Mr. Van Buren register of the land office at Springfield. In 1838 
he was nominated as a candidate for congress, the district then extending across 
the state and including Sangamon, Cook, Adams and Jo Daviess counties, and 
indeed the whole northern part of the state. It was during this canvass that the 
writer became acquainted with Stephen A. Douglas and John T. Stuart, opposing 
candidates for congress, under the following circumstances. I copy from my 
memoirs : 

"In Hancock county I met, for the first time, Stephen A. Douglas. One 
night after Mr. Sands N. Breed (who was employed with me) and I had retired 
(we occupied separate beds in the same room), the landlord, Mr. Swope, came 
to our room, accompanied by two gentlemen, who were introduced to us as Mr. 
Stuart and Mr. Douglas, opposing candidates for congress. The landlord 
called us by name, and informed us that we would have to occupy the same bed. 
Douglas then asked our politics, and Mr. Breed told him that he was a Whig, 
and that I was a Democrat. Douglas replied, 'I will sleep with the Democrat, 
and Stuart may sleep with the Whig.' The arrangement suited all parties. I 



38 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

heard Douglas speak the next day and, though not quite twenty-one years old, 
voted for him on the first Monday in the August following. He had no more 
devoted adherent than myself until we separated, in 1854, over the Nebraska bill." 

The writer kept up his acquaintance with Mr. Douglas until December, 1839, 
when he came to Springfield to obtain admission to the bar. I again copy from 
my memoirs : "I met Mr. Douglas soon after reaching the city and told him 
my business was to obtain a license to practice law. He, with that cheerful 
kindness which always characterized him and made him so popular particularly 
with young men made my application for admission, had himself and the late 
J. Young Scammon appointed a committee to examine me touching my qualifica- 
tions to practice law. He invited me to his room for examination, where I met 
Mr. Scammon. The committee treated me with great kindness, and made a 
favorable report. Mr. Douglas drew the license, made the motion for my ad- 
mission, and the license was signed by two justices of the supreme court, Lock- 
wood and Browne. I took the prescribed oath and signed the roll, and was 
then a lawyer, lacking nothing but learning, experience, and clients. I had 
money enough to pay my hotel bills before leaving Springfield, and I 'took no 
thought for the morrow.' " 

I have said before, that Judge Douglas, both by his conduct on the circuit 
and through the opinions of the supreme court written by him, evinced great 
capacity, and he would, had he not devoted himself to politics, have made an 
eminent judge. He was elected senator, on the I4th of December, 1846, on the 
first ballot. He had already served parts of three terms in the house of repre- 
sentatives. 

Stuve and Davidson's History of Illinois, page 685, says of him : "With the 
advent of this remarkable man, whom we do not hesitate to call great, into the 
United States senate, Illinois took at once high rank in that august body, re- 
dounding not only to her glory, but solid advantages such as no state received 
before, or has since, at the hands of congress. We allude to the procuring of the 
Illinois Central Railroad land grant, a herculean task, in which he received the 
support of his colleague and the entire delegation in the lower house." 

Douglas, though young in years, was directly acknowledged the peer of the 
great statesmen, Webster, Clay and Calhoun, with whom he served in his first 
term. It is exceedingly difficult for one who took part in the great contest be- 
tween Douglas and Lincoln in 1858 to avoid giving his impressions of that great 
struggle which took place between two members of the Illinois bar. They were 
natural rivals, socially and politically, and it may be added professionally. 

Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, on the I2th of 
February, 1809. In 1816 the family settled in Spencer county, Indiana. Two 
years later the mother died, and the father married a second time, and the son 
worked in the neighborhood on farms, and in clearing away the dense forests. 
He received the meagre education which the new country afforded, and his 
boyhood had few advantages of culture. He said in one of his speeches, "I have 
not a fine education ; I am not capable of entering into a disquisition on 'dia- 
lectics ;' I believe you can." 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 39 

Davidson and Stuve (History of Illinois, page 702) say: "His broad execu- 
tive capacity, so suddenly developed under great trials constituting the sub- 
limest events in our history, his fidelity to the right, and his courage and firmness 
which grew out of that, it may here be said, were not without astonishment to 
those who knew him best in Illinois and who imagined that they constituted all 
that was to be learned of his character. Possibly it was so to himself. The 
great lesson of man, 'Know thyself,' is ever least understood." 

John Dean Caton was born in Monroe. Orange county, New York, March 
19, 1812. His father was three times married and he was one of the four chil- 
dren of the third marriage. Shortly after the birth of Judge Caton his mother 
removed to Oneida county, New York, and there, at the age of nine years, he 
began work as a farm hand, continuing his labors through the summer months, 
while in the winter season he attended the district school of the neighborhood. 
At the age of sixteen he became a student in the academy at Utica, and upon his 
return home a year later began teaching school. He possessed a laudable ambi- 
tion to improve his condition and make the most of his opportunities in life, 
and during the era of school-teaching also took up the study of law and of civil 
engineering. The former, however, proved more attractive, and he later read 
under the instruction of Beardsley & Matterson, prominent attorneys of Utica. 
He afterward continued his studies in the office of Wheeler & Barnes, of Rome, 
and with James H. Collins, of Vernon. In 1883, attracted by the almost limit- 
less opportunities of the west, Judge Caton started for Michigan, but while travel- 
ing he learned of the little town of Chicago, which as yet had no member of the 
bar. He at length arrived at White Pigeon, Michigan, but he had determined to 
go to the future metropolis of the west, and, on a raft, made his way to St. 
Joseph, whence he came on the vessel, Ariadne, to Chicago, then a town of only 
three hundred inhabitants. On the second day he secured a boarding place in a 
log house just north of Lake street and east of Dearborn street, where he found 
and shook hands with Giles Spring, a lawyer who had reached Chicago just 
five days previously. The two became fast friends, though afterward pitted 
against each other in many cases. 

Mr. Caton looked over the field and at length concluded that perhaps busi- 
ness might be better on the north side of the river. Accordingly he moved to 
the office of Colonel R. I. Hamilton, a log building, partly occupied by the latter's 
family. Both the young lawyers were looking for a good place in which to 
begin business, but neither opened an office until the following December, when 
Dr. John T. Temple erected a small balloon building on South Water street, 
near Franklin. The two young lawyers opened an office together with the agree- 
ment that when one had a client the other should leave the room. Thus was 
established the first law office in Chicago. Mr. Caton prosecuted on the first 
criminal case ever tried in Cook county. The justice of the peace wrote out the 
warrant for arrest on his carpenter bench and then Mr. Caton proceeded to the 
log cabinet-shop of James W. Reed, who was both the only cabinet-maker and 
the only constable in the town. Then began the search for the accused man, who 
had stolen forty-six dollars. He was at length found, taken before the justice, 



40 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

and Mr. Caton. who acted also in the capacity of detective, discovered the money 
in the man's stocking. The culprit was defended by Mr. Spring, the only other 
lawyer in Chicago, but Mr. Caton secured a conviction and received ten dollars 
of the recovered money as his fee, which was just sufficient to pay his board 
bill. He, however, spoke of it as the greatest fee he ever received. 

On the 1 2th of July, 1834, when twenty-two years of age, he was elected a 
justice of the peace, the precinct taking in the whole of Cook county, and out of 
two hundred and twenty-nine votes he received one hundred and eighty-two. 
He was connected with the first murder case ever tried in Cook county, but just 
before the trial came off he was taken ill, and his partner, Mr. Collins, who had 
come to the city six months after Mr. Caton. followed out the plan which he had 
mapped out and won the case, acquitting the client. In the spring of 1835 the 
Judge determined to extend his practice to Putnam county, the oldest settled 
in the northeastern part of the state, and started on horseback. There he soon 
succeeded in establishing a liberal clientage and from that time on his success 
was assured. He applied himself untiringly to any work that he began, and this 
application, combined with his superior legal knowledge, won him a position as 
one of the most eminent members of the bar of Cook county a reputation which 
he maintained for many years thereafter. 

Judge Caton was married in July, 1835. to Miss Laura Adelaide, daughter 
of Jacob Sherill. of New Hartford, Oneida county. Xe\v York. She was his 
faithful companion and helpmeet for more than half a century, sharing with him 
in the hopes and disappointments in his earlier years, the prosperity and successes 
of his later life. She passed away in 1892, and was laid to rest in the cemetery at 
Ottawa, Illinois. In the family were three children, but Mrs. Charles E. Towne 
died in 1891. The son, Arthur Caton. is a leading citizen of Chicago, and the 
daughter is Mrs. Xorman Williams. 

Judge Caton had been in the west but a short time before he had left an 
impress of his energetic, sturdy young character on this section of the country. 
He was a member of the first political convention ever held in Illinois. It met 
on the 4th of March. 1834, at Ottawa. Dr. David Walker serving as president, 
while Mr. Caton acted as secretary. In 1836 he formed a law partnership with 
X. B. Judd. and the same year built the first dwelling within the school section 
on the west side of the southeast corner of Harrison and Clinton streets. About 
this time there was an endeavor made to secure a charter for the thriving little 
western city, and the Judge was active in the movement. The following year, 
when the country became involved in a financial panic, he, too, lost much of his 
real estate, and becoming broken down in health he removed, in 1838, to a farm 
near Plainfield that he had purchased some years before, and to which he took 
his family in 1849. 

Judicial honors were early in life conferred upon Mr. Caton. When not yet 
thirty years of age Governor Carlin appointed him judge of the supreme court, 
and not long afterward he was appointed by Governor Ford to fill another 
vacancy. When the supreme court was reorganized under the new constitu- 
tion he was chosen as one of the three judges of that court, his associates being 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 41 

Judges Treat and Trumbull. For twenty-one years he filled that responsible 
position, and during six months of the time presided as chief justice. On the 
bench his decisions were ever fair and just. He possessed a judicial tempera- 
ment of peculiar adaptability and acquired a broad and comprehensive grasp of 
law. Though devoted to his chosen profession he by no means confined his en- 
ergies to that one calling. He was the first citizen of Illinois to cross the state 
with a telegraph line. With a sagacity seldom equaled, he seemed to realize the 
importance of Professor Morse's invention, and organized and became chief 
proprietor of the Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company. The success of the 
telegraph made him extremely wealthy. At one time he controlled all the tele- 
graph lines in Illinois, but he leased them to the Western Union Telegraph Com- 
pany, and thereafter enjoyed an enormous income from these leased lines. Judge 
Caton also became interested in granite street-paving, was a stockholder in a 
glass factory in Ottawa, and was equally successful as a farmer and author. 

On his retirement from the bench Judge Caton went to his beautiful farm 
at Ottawa, Illinois, and devoted much of his time to agricultural pursuits, in the 
midst of a fine park, where deer and wild fawn roam at will under magnificent 
forest trees. He also had a substantial and tasteful residence in Chicago, located 
at 1900 Calumet avenue. He was a deep student of natural history and a lover 
of nature. A man of broad general information and ripe scholarship, he was 
a fluent and forcible speaker and writer. He traveled extensively in Europe and 
was familiar with every part of America. He made a close and comparative 
study of the social and economic conditions of the country, and published the 
results of his careful investigation in a peculiarly lucid and graceful style. He has 
been the author of many able, entertaining and instructive articles, and among 
his better known works are "The Unsetting Sun A Summer in Norway," "The 
Antelope and Deer of America" and "Early Bench and Bar of Illinois." 

He held membership with the Second Presbyterian church of the city and 
gave his support to all interests that were calculated to uplift humanity. He was 
especially charitable and benevolent, and the needy never applied to him for aid 
in vain. In social life he was a true friend, and it is said that no man ever prac- 
ticed before the bar of Illinois or sat upon its bench that was more highly 
respected or admired as a lawyer or citizen. He died July 30, 1895, at the age 
of eighty-three years. 

James Semple was born in Green county, Kentucky, January 5, 1798, his 
parents being John W. and Lucy Semple, who were natives of Virginia. He 
was the eldest of nine children. He received a fair education in the schools of 
Greensburg, Kentucky, which was supplemented by a legal course in Louisville. 

Before this, however, he had learned the business of tanner and currier, 
a business which proved unsuited to his taste. He came to this state in 1818 
and first settled in Edwardsville, where he remained for a short time and then 
returned to Kentucky. In the year 1820 he moved to Chariton, Missouri, and, 
having military tastes, was elected colonel of the Missouri militia. 

In December, 1824, he was licensed to practice law in the state of Missouri, 
and in 1828 he returned to Edwardsville, where he continued the practice of his 



42 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

profession with success. He was diligent and careful, and, being a man of mag- 
nificent presence and fine manners, he rose rapidly to distinction. Upon the 
breaking out of the Black Hawk war he was commissioned, and held a position 
on the staff of General Whiteside. 

He represented Madison county in the state legislature and was twice 
elected speaker of the house. On the 3Oth of January, 1833, he was elected at- 
torney general of the state, and continued to hold that office until he was suc- 
ceeded by the Hon. Ninian W. Edwards, on September 30, 1834. In 1837 he 
was appointed, by President Van Buren, minister to Bogota. The mission was 
accepted, and General Semple took passage for New Granada in January, 1838. 
He held that position until 1842, when he was recalled. He returned to Ed- 
wardsville and the following year was appointed judge of the supreme court of the 
state, which position he resigned after a few months' occupancy, to accept a seat 
in the United States senate, as successor to Hon. Samuel McRoberts, under an 
appointment by Governor Ford, and was afterward elected by the legislature to 
fill the unexpired term of his predecessor. After the expiration of his term in the 
senate he returned to his home in Edwardsville. 

The writer became acquainted with General Semple in the spring of 1832. 
In this connection I copy an extract from my own memoirs : 

"Before I came to Illinois my father had made the acquaintance of General 
James Semple, who was a leading lawyer and politician, and of magnificent pres- 
ence and proportions. He was amiable and kind to me, and in the spring of 1832, 
when about to start north to join the command to which he was attached, he 
offered to furnish me a horse and such equipments as I would need and to 
take me with him on the campaign. 

"I was then fifteen years of age, and was delighted with the offer, which I 
accepted, subject to the approval of my father. I did not doubt that he would 
consent, and hastened home to report to him my opportunity, but he refused to 
allow me to go. It was my first great disappointment, but I bore it in silence 
when in my father's presence, for he held with Solomon on the use of the rod in 
family government. I did not go to the Black Hawk war, but I cherished very 
kind and respectful feelings for General Semple as long as he lived." 

General Semple died on December 20, 1866. It is difficult to predicate as to 
the judicial merits of Judge Semple, as he remained upon the bench but for a 
short time. He was bold, outspoken and frank ; as a politician he was fearless, 
never hesitating to commit himself to any line of policy which his judgment ap- 
proved. He was prompt in his decisions, assumed all the responsibilities of his 
place, and was popular with the bar and the public. 

Richard M. Young was a Kentuckian by birth, but came to Illinois at a very 
early period and took up his abode in Jonesboro, Union county. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar September 28, 1817. He represented Union county in the 
legislature in 1820-1. He was elected a judge of the third circuit, but on the 
formation of the fifth circuit, which comprised all of the state north of the Illinois 
river, he was assigned to that circuit. After he was elected by the legislature 
judge of the fifth circuit he removed from Jonesboro to Quincy, so as to be within 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 43 

his circuit. The amount of law business in the various counties was not great, 
but the distance between the county-seats and the want of modern conveniences 
of travel were such that at certain seasons of the year it was arduous business, 
although the tedium of the journey was often relieved by jovial companions, 
and during a portion of the year must, in the heyday of youth, have been rather 
a delightful exercise than otherwise. 

Judge Young held the earliest terms of the circuit court in Chicago and in 
all of the northern counties of the state. He had the reputation of being a 
shrewd and judicious counselor and was associated with Judges Breese and Ford 
in the defense of Theophilus W. Smith, upon his impeachment before the senate 
in 1832-3. While a member of the United States senate. Judge Young became 
greatly interested in upholding the credit of the state, which was at that time 
seriously threatened, and in a speech in that body, on February I, 1841, he said: 
"The march of Illinois is forward, and if her legislative guardians at home shall 
promptly discharge their duty in the preservation of her credit at home and 
abroad, who can not foretell that her destiny is no less than that of the Empire 
state ?" 

In 1839, in company with ex-Governor Reynolds, he made a visit to Europe 
in order to effect the sale of bonds to carry on the public improvements of the 
state, but was not successful, and failing of a re-election to the senate, he was 
chosen an associate justice of the supreme court January 14, 1843, which office 
he held until January 25, 1847, when he resigned and was appointed commis- 
sioner of the general land office at Washington, to succeed General Shields. In 
1850-1 he was clerk of the house of representatives at Washington. His clos- 
ing years were spent in an asylum for maniacs in Washington, and he died 
universally pitied and regretted. 

He was a tall, fine-looking man, and was one of those persons who would 
attract the attention of the stranger at once by his gentle and courteous man- 
ners and dignified bearing. He did not possess great executive power and 
did not dispatch business rapidly, but everything which he did he did well and 
was very careful to avoid mistakes. 

John M. Robinson, who became an associate justice of the supreme court 
on the I4th of January, 1843, CU< 1 n t l n g survive to exercise the duties of 
his important office, his death occurring at Ottawa, the seat of the court over 
which he presided, on the 27th of the April following. He was born in Scott 
county, Kentucky, in 1794, and emigrated to Illinois about 1818, taking up his 
residence in Carmi, White county, where he entered upon the practice of the 
law. Being well known as a thorough lawyer, he was appointed by the gov- 
ernor as prosecuting attorney for his district. It may be stated in passing that 
another record is to the effect that Mr. Robinson came to Illinois as a child, 
being reared and educated here. He was a brother of James F. Robinson, at 
one time governor of Kentucky. In 1831 he was elected by the state legis- 
lature as United States senator, to fill the unexpired term of John McLean, 
deceased, his opponent being D. J. Baker, the governor's choice. In 1834 
Judge Robinson was re-elected for a full term, which expired March 3, 1841. 



44 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

After his death his remains were taken to Carmi for interment. He was 
a man of ability and left his impress upon the history of the state. In 1829 
he married Mary P. D. Ratcliff, daughter of James Ratcliff, a pioneer and 
eminent citizen of White county, and they became the parents of two children. 
His son, James S., became a lawyer and was at one time prosecuting attorney 
of White county, his death occurring in 1859. 

Jesse B. Thomas, Jr., was the second son of Richard Symmes Thomas and 
Frances (Pattie) Thomas, and was born at Lebanon, Ohio, July 31, 1806. He 
was educated at Transylvania University and practiced law for a number of years 
at Springfield, Illinois, removing in 1845 to Chicago, where he afterward re- 
sided. He was judge of the supreme court and did circuit court duty, and pre- 
sided at the trial of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, at the time of 
Smith's assassination. He was married February 18, 1830, at Edwardsville, 
Illinois, to Adeline Clarissa, daughter of Theophilus W. Smith, and a native 
of New York city. She was born May 13, 1812, and died in Chicago, Decem- 
ber 14, 1866. 

Jesse B. Thomas, Jr., remained in Illinois and worked his way up to prom- 
inence by degrees, for the first notice that we have of him is his election as 
secretary of the senate of the seventh general assembly, which met December 
6, 1830. He was also elected secretary of the senate of the eighth general 
assembly, which convened December 3, 1832. He was a member of the house 
of the ninth general assembly, which convened December i, 1834. He must 
have become prominent as a lawyer at an early period, for we find that he was 
selected as one of the new judges which were provided for by the act of 
January 7, 1835, when five new judges were added to the supreme court, mak- 
ing that court consist of nine judges, and compelling them to do circuit duty. 
Jesse Burgess Thomas, Jr., as the record reads, was commissioned July 30, 
1837, and resigned in 1839, but it appears that his services as a judge were 
in demand and that he was appointed a justice of the supreme court by the 
governor, August 6, 1843, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation 
of Stephen A. Douglas. His term expired December 4, 1848. He was then 
elected by the general assembly, and on the 27th of January, 1847, was elected 
in place of Richard M. Young. He held the terms of the circuit court in Cook 
county in 1848-9, but resigned to go into business with Patrick Ballingall, a 
criminal lawyer of considerable local repute, practicing until his death, which 
occurred February 2, 1850. 

James Shields became a justice of the Illinois supreme court on the i6th of 
August, 1843. He was born in Dungannon, county Tyrone, Ireland, in 1810, 
and his death occurred in Ottumwa, Iowa, June i, 1879. He emigrated to the 
United States in 1826, studied law and began the practice of his profession at 
Kaskaskia, Illinois, in 1832. While he attained higher distinction in connection 
with his valiant military service in the war with Mexico and that of the Re- 
bellion, he gained for himself a prominent place in connection with the bar 
of Illinios and in public life. He was sent to the legislature in 1836, was elected 
state auditor in 1839, and was appointed a judge of the supreme court in 1843, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 45 

as has already been stated. In 1845 he was made commissioner of the general 
land office. 

When the war with Mexico was instituted Judge Shields was appointed 
a brigadier-general, his commission dating July I, 1846, and was assigned to 
the command of the Illinois contingent. He served under General Zachary 
Taylor on the Rio Grande, under General John E. Wool in Chihuahua, and 
through General Winfield Scott's campaign. At Cerro Gordo he gained the 
brevet of major-general and was shot through the lung. After his recovery 
he took part in the operations in the valley of Mexico, commanding a brigade 
composed of marines and of New York and South Carolina volunteers, and at 
Chapultepec he was again severely wounded. He was mustered out on the 
2Oth of July, 1848, and in the same year received the appointment of governor 
of Oregon territory. This office he resigned on being elected United States 
senator from Illinois, as a Democrat, and he served in the senate from Decem- 
ber 3, 1849, unt il March 3, 1855. 

After the expiration of his term he removed to Minnesota, and when the 
state government was organized he returned to the United States senate as 
one of the representatives of the new commonwealth, taking his seat May 12, 
1858, and serving until March 3, 1859. At the end of his term he settled in 
California, and at the beginning of hostilities in 1861 was in Mexico, where he 
was engaged in superintending a mine. Hastening to Washington, he was 
appointed a brigadier-general of volunteers on the igth of August. He was 
assigned to the command of General Frederick W. Lander's brigade after the 
latter's death, and on March 23, 1862, at the head of a division of General 
Nathaniel P. Banks' army, in the Shenandoah valley, he opened the second 
campaign with the victory at Winchester, Virginia, after receiving a severe 
wound in the preparatory movements on the preceding day. He was in com- 
mand at Port Republic on the 9th of June, and was defeated by General Thomas 
J. Jackson. 

Resigning his commission on March 28, 1863, he settled in California, but 
soon removed to Carrollton, Missouri, where he resumed the practice of law. 
He served as a railroad commissioner, and was a member of the legislature in 
1874 and 1879, in which latter year his death occurred. 

Norman H. Purple was born in Otsego county, New York, on the 2gth 
day of March, 1803. He commenced the study of the law with Judge N. B. 
Eldred, in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, but completed his reading, was ad- 
mitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Tioga county, in the same state, 
in the autumn of 1830, where on the 3d day of January, 1831, he was married 
to Ann Eliza, daughter of the Hon. Ira Kilburn of that county. 

In July, 1837, he removed to Illinois and settled at Peoria, where he at 
once entered into an extensive and successful practice of his profession. From 
1840 to 1842 he held the office of state's attorney of the ninth judicial district, 
composed of the counties of Peoria, Kendall, Kane, De Kalb, Ogle, Bureau, 
Stark, Marshall, Putnam and La Salle. 

On the 8th day of August, 1845, he was appointed by Governor Ford one 



46 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

of the judges of the supreme court. On December 19, 1846, he was elected 
to the same office by the general assembly and commissioned on the 2ist day 
of the same month. The fifth circuit, to which he was assigned, was com- 
posed of the counties of Fulton, Schuyler, Brown, Hancock, McDonough, Hen- 
derson, Warren, Knox and Adams, to which the county of Pike was added by 
the act of February 5, 1847. Upon his elevation to the bench, Judge Purple 
removed to Quincy, where he resided, discharging the duties of his judicial 
position, until the office was changed by the new constitution, which went 
into effect on the first Monday in December, 1848. His associates upon the 
supreme bench were William Wilson, Samuel D. Lockwood, Thomas C. Browne, 
Walter B. Scates, Samuel H. Treat, John Dean Caton, Richard M. Young, 
Gustavus P. Koerner, William A. Denning and Jesse B. Thomas. Others of 
his contemporaries at the bar were Lyman Trumbull, Ebenezer Peck, Orville 
H. Browning, Thomas Ford, Julius Manning, Archibald Williams, David Davis, 
Stephen A. Douglas, John T. Stuart, Benjamin S. Edwards and Abraham Lin- 
coln. 

During his residence in Peoria he had as copartners in the practice of the 
law, at different times, Halsey O. Merriman, George T. Metcalf, Ezra G. Sanger, 
Lorin G. Pratt and Alexander McCoy; the last named being his partner at the 
time of his death. 

In 1849, Judge Purple edited and published a compilation of the Real 
Estate Statutes of Illinois, embracing all the real-estate statutes from the time 
of the organization of the Northwestern territory to the time of its publica- 
tion, a work of inestimable value to the profession in those days. In 1856 
he published a compilation of all the acts of the legislature of a general nature 
in force at that time, with references to decisions of the supreme court and to 
former statutes upon the same subject. This work is known as Purple's Statutes 
and continues to be recognized as standard authority until the present time. 

Judge Purple died at the Sherman House, in the city of Chicago, on the gth 
day of August, 1863. On the nth day of the same month, a meeting of the 
members of the bar was held in the United States courtroom to pay a tribute 
of respect to his memory. At that meeting Hon. Lyman Trumbull presided, 
and William H. Bradley, clerk of the United States courts, acted as secretary. 
A committee consisting of Messrs. Emery A. Storrs, H. F. Waite, E. W. Evans 
and Henry G. Miller reported a series of resolutions, from which the following 
extracts are made : 

Resolved, That as a citizen he was everywhere known and respected as possessing the 
highest integrity and patriotism; as a judge he added honor to the ermine and dignity 
to the bench; as a lawyer we can pay him no higher tribute than to say he was by all 
regarded as the leader of the bar of this state. 

Resolved, That he leaves behind him a judicial and professional character which 
must ever remain a more lasting and eloquent tribute to his memory than any other and 
which will ever stimulate the bench and the bar to emulate the virtues which so eminently 
distinguished him. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 47 

Gustavus Koerner. No compendium such as the province of this work 
defines in its essential limitations will serve to offer fit memorial to the life and 
accomplishments of the honored subject of this sketch, a man remarkable in 
the breadth of his wisdom, in his indomitable perseverance, his strong individu- 
ality ; and yet one whose entire life has not one esoteric phase, being as an 
open scroll, inviting the closest scrutiny. True, his were "massive deeds and 
great" in one sense, and yet his entire accomplishment but represented the 
result of the fit utilization of the innate talent which was his, and the directing 
of his efforts along those lines where mature judgment and rare discrimination 
lead the way. There was in Judge Koerner a weight of character, a native 
sagacity, a far-seeing judgment and a fidelity of purpose that commanded the 
respect of all. A man of indefatigable enterprise and fertility of resource, he 
carved his name deeply on the records of Illinois jurisprudence and on the 
roll of the nation's able legists. When the chief justices of the state assembled 
in Mount Vernon for the May term of court in 1896, the chief justice announced, 
"Court is convened for the purpose of receiving resolutions and hearing such 
remarks as may be made by the bar upon the death of Judge Koerner, formerly 
one of the justices of this court;" and the publishers of this volume feel that 
they can best present an account of his life work by quoting freely from the 
speeches made on that occasion by men who were associated with him in pro- 
fessional and public life, who were familiar with his splendid accomplishments, 
who admired him for his ability and his virtues, and who now cherish his mem- 
ory as one who made the world better by his having lived. 

"Gustavus Koerner, our departed professional brother, was born November 
20, 1809, at Frankfort-on-the-Main, a free city of Germany, and died at Belle- 
ville, Illinois, April 9, 1896." Thus began Judge James M. Dill, who continued 
as follows : "His father, Bernard Koerner, was a public-spirited citizen, a mem- 
ber of the legislative council of that city, and by occupation a publisher. Young 
Koerner was a student at Heidelberg in 1832, when the public mind of Ger- 
many was stirred and agitated by sympathy with the revolution of 1830, which 
dethroned Charles X, and made Louis Philippe his successor as king of France 
just as Germany, eighteen years afterward, in 1848, was again stimulated to 
political reform by a revolution which paved the way to the present French 
republic. The former revolution made Judge Koerner, with many of his as- 
sociates, an exile from his native land and a citizen of America. While a 
student, and but little past his twenty-first year, he became a member of a 
secret political society called the 'Burschenschaft,' composed largely of uni- 
versity students, and in the outbreak of this society on the 3d of April, 1833, in 
Frankfort, he was wounded. This attempt at revolution was vigorously sup- 
pressed by overwhelming military power, and our hero sought, and after many 
vicissitudes found, safety in the land whereof Byron writes, 'One freeman more, 
America, to thee.' In the same year he settled in St. Clair county, where he 
lived for a period of sixty-three years, nearly all the time in Belleville." 

Speaking of his emigration to America, Frank A. McConaughy said : "Of 
all those who have sought our shores since the foundation of our republic, 



48 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

Koerner belonged to a class who have contributed most toward the advance- 
ment and perpetuation of our free institutions. Thrown off their own shores 
by revolutionary upheaval brought on by their struggles for liberty, they came 
unirripelled by a single sordid hope or desire for pecuniary betterment of their 
fortune's estate, but a genuine love of freedom. They gathered the scattered 
remnants of their fortunes their cherished Penates and came to us, sacrificing 
friends, family, home, their social positions and the yearnings of their ambition. 
Like the patriot and poet who bore Koerner's name a score of years before, his 
restless sword ever irresistibly left its scabbard at freedom's every call, there, 
in the land of his nativity, and here in the land of his adoption." 

Judge Koerner's business relations connected him prominently with the 
bar of the state. He had won the degree of LL. D. from the historic University 
of Heidelberg, and after taking a diploma from the Lexington Law School, 
he entered upon the practice of his profession, first in partnership with the 
late Adam W. Snyder, and afterward with the late James Shields, and con- 
tinued this practice in conjunction with his son, Gustavus A. Koerner, almost 
down to his very last day. Said Marshall W. Weir: "He brought to the prac- 
tice of his profession a mind thoroughly trained in the broad, underlying prin- 
ciples of law. He was more than a lawyer. He had attained the lofty con- 
ceptions of law had by the old Roman lawyers. They looked upon law as a 
branch of ethics whose foundations lay in ripe reason and the unalterable feel- 
ings of human nature. They believed it was as Cicero had portrayed it, not 
a thing thought out by the ingenuity of man, not a decree of the people, but an 
eternal entity, coeval in its origin and harmonizing in its operations with the 
divine mind ; that it was the recorded morality of a nation, a rule of social 
duty not less than that of civil conduct ; that it was the sacred embodiment of the 
public will and understanding ; the unanimous assent of a great people to the 
principles of a refined equity and enlarged benevolence, reduced to practice in 
the daily concerns of life with the precision, consistency and uniformity of an 
exact science. He did not relax his studies on being admitted to the bar. 
He was eminently conspicuous for his legal ability, and for sixty-three years 
was an active practitioner in the courts of Illinois, being at the time of his 
death the oldest practicing lawyer of the state. His legal lore covered every 
department of the science of jurisprudence, and he won distinction at the bar 
among men of national reputation, including Lincoln, Douglas, Trumbull, 
Shields, Breese and Palmer. Those who practiced with him well knew and 
appreciated the subtlety and profundity of his intellect, its logical compactness 
and the learning which illustrated his discourses. Ten years after the admis- 
sion of Gustavus Koerner to the bar, on April 2, 1845, he' was appointed by the 
governor of the state a justice of the supreme court, in place of Justice Shields, 
who had resigned, and on December 19, 1845, ne was elected by the general 
assembly to fill the same office. He retired from the bench in September, 1848, 
upon the reorganization of the judiciary of the state Under the new constitu- 
tion that was adopted by the people in that year. Thus he was a justice of this 
court for a period of about three years and a half. The opinions that he wrote in- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 49 

dicate that he was an educated lawyer and an able and just judge. The state was 
then in its infancy ; the courts had established but few precedents ; the ques- 
tions that arose were largely questions of first impression, and the labors of the 
justices were both difficult and responsible ; and it may be. said of Justice 
Koerner that he well performed the work of establishing precedents for his suc- 
cessors." 

Mr. Dill, in speaking of this period of his life, said : "Few persons outside 
of the legal profession have any adequate conception of the labors imposed upon 
a minister of justice. So vast, so varied, so complex are the affairs of a civil- 
ized community, that he who sits as a final arbiter of the law must necessarily 
assume responsibilities of the greatest character. Uprightness of character, 
purity of motive, breadth and depth of culture, a complete comprehension of 
underlying principles, and, withal, a patient, painstaking industry and a thor- 
ough mastery of details, are essential requisites and qualities which must be 
possessed by the judge of the court of last resort. The sources of the law 
are numerous, civil, common, ecclesiastical and statutory, forming, when 
properly understood, a harmonious whole. Legislators, composed mainly of 
raw recruits from the people who have devoted comparatively little time to the 
study of statecraft, find it an easy matter to make and unmake the law. Abstract 
theories and propositions are easily stated. It is much easier to prescribe than 
to take, easier to cut out than to fit, easier to hew the timber than to frame 
it together. The temple of justice is a structure of manifold proportions and 
apartments, but of exquisite beauty and symmetry, the growth and produc- 
tion of ages, built upon the solid masonry of wisdom and experience. New 
material cannot be put as patchwork into the edifice. It must be labored into 
proper shape, so as not to mar the beauty of the structure. This labor must 
be performed by courts of last resort. It is, indeed, a herculean task. He 
who devotes his life to this great labor and does his work with the skill and 
ability of a master has won his claim to the gratitude of men. Other callings 
may present greater attractions and open broader avenues of fame. The leaders 
of armies, the possessors of the divine gift of eloquence, politicians and men of 
genius in literature may attract a larger share of popular applause, but cer- 
tainly none do more for the real cause of humanity than the hard-working, pure- 
minded judge." 

While a justice of the Illinois supreme court, then composed of nine jus- 
tices, who held, by assignment, the circuit courts after the old English system of 
nisi prius, Judge Koerner held the circuit court at Belleville. Before him came 
the slave case of Harry Beard against Vital Jarrot, which involved the question 
whether Illinois was a slave state. The jury decided by their verdict that the 
plaintiff was a slave, as did two subsequent juries, verdicts inspired by the 
same pro-slavery prejudices which ten years afterward dictated at Washington 
the Dred Scott decision. The first of these iniquitous verdicts Judge Koerner 
promptly set aside, and in doing so he displayed, in spite of popular prejudice, 
a manly independence and fearlessness rising to heroism. He broke with his 
party on the question of slavery, and became a most efficient supporter of Lin- 



5 o THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

coin and the war. He may be called the creator of the gallant Forty-third 
Regiment, which did such splendid service in the field. He served for a time 
on the staff of General Fremont and did a work there the importance of which 
was known and recognized only by his immediate associates. In 1842 he was 
elected to the legislature of Illinois, where he first attracted the attention of 
Abraham Lincoln. When the latter became president of the United States he 
paid tribute to the ability of Judge Koerner by appointing him minister to 
Spain, a position which he filled with marked ability and to the full satisfaction 
of both Seward and the president. As lieutenant governor from 1852 to 1856, 
he presided over the deliberations of the state senate. July i, 1871, he was 
appointed, by Governor Palmer, a member of the railway and warehouse com- 
mission, and he was chosen its chairman, resigning at the expiration of two 
years. He interested himself in the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, at Normal, 
Illinois, just after the war of the Rebellion, becoming president of the board of 
trustees and taking a very active interest in the institution. 

Judge Koerner was one of the most scholarly men ever connected with the 
judicial history of Illinois. He was familiar with the literature of Europe and 
America. He was a master of at least four great languages the Latin, 
the German, the French and the English and, like Gladstone, one 
of his favorite pastimes was the reading of the Iliad in the language 
of Homer. He could repeat from memory, in the Greek tongue, perhaps more 
than half of the great poem, and while at Madrid held consultations with the 
Spanish minister of justice in the Latin language, for the reason that the Spanish 
minister could speak neither French, German nor English, and our minister 
could not speak Spanish or Italian. He was more than a mere student of 
languages. On the contrary, he used them as a skilled mechanic uses his 
implements. They were to him a means, not an end. He was not only familiar 
with the thoughts and inspirations of Europe and America, but he was, to a 
perceptible extent, an inspirer, a creator and a framer of them. The pro- 
ductions of his laborious pen were read and studied in both Europe and America. 
His reading embraced every branch of learning, law, history, politics, bi- 
ography, science, and belles-lettres. In the Open Court of Chicago there latterly 
appeared from his pen the most discriminating criticism that the public has 
seen of the celebrated novel Trilby. Only a few months ago he gave to the 
world the very best exposition and explanation of the Monroe doctrine as it 
was understood by its authors, James Monroe and John Quincy Adams. He 
was deeply interested in the cause of education and the uplifting of the people. 
Some who did not know him well, thought him, perhaps, exclusive and aris- 
tocratic in his ways, but he was not. That thought was but the tribute in- 
stinctively paid by less favored minds to his superior endowments. He was 
especially interested in the Belleville public library, was one of its founders 
and from its establishment to the day of his death served constantly as president 
of the board of directors. It is not known even to those who knew Judge 
Koerner best and most intimately what hopes, if any, he may have entertained 
concerning the mysterious realm beyond the grave. If such there were they were 




LYMAN TRUMBULL. 
THOMAS DRUMMOND. 



NINIAN EDWARDS. 



DANIEL P. COOK. 
WILLIAM H. BISSELL. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 51 

never intruded on others, nor did he intrude upon or question such hopes or 
beliefs in others. That liberty, in this as in all things, which he demanded for 
himself he fully accorded to others. He was a kind and courteous gentleman 
in his intercourse with both the bench and bar. He was thoroughly honest, 
conscientious and reliable, and known to be so by the courts, by his brother 
lawyers, by his clients and by his fellow citizens. He well and nobly performed 
all the duties that devolved upon him as a lawyer, as a judge, as a citizen and 
"as a man. His qualities of heart and head made him great. No one who 
ever knew him can fail to revere his memory. Thus, full of years, of honor and 
usefulness, his life is finished. Like Newcome, the most superb character in the 
greatest English fiction, to the last call he has made the last response, "Adsum." 

Lyman Trumbtill was born October 12, 1813, in Colchester, Connecticut. 
After receiving his education he went to Georgia, where he spent some time as 
the principal of a school. He came to Illinois in 1837, was admitted to the 
bar, and commenced the practice of the law at Belleville. The writer formed the 
acquaintance of Mr. Trumbull in 1839. 

Mr. Trumbull was active in politics, and was appointed secretary of state 
by Governor Carlin. He was a candidate for congress, but was defeated. In 
1855 he was elected to the United States senate, and was re-elected in 1861 and 
1867. Mr. Trumbull was elected an associate justice of the supreme court 
on the 4th day of December, 1848, and held that office until July 4, 1853, when 
he resigned. He was elected to congress in 1854, but had not taken his seat 
when elected to the senate. 

Davidson and Stuve say : "When Douglas was elected a supreme judge, 
in 1841, Governor Carlin, resisting legislative dictation, appointed Trumbull 
to the vacant office of secretary of state, over McClernand, but he came near 
being defeated in the senate by the latter and his friends, out of which grew 
some ill feeling. 

"At the opening of Governor Ford's administration he incurred the dis- 
pleasure of that functionary by opposing his policy towards the state banks, 
causing his dismissal from office. The same year, and the following one, he 
sought the congressional nomination in the Belleville district, but failing, upon 
the meeting of the legislature he aspired to the senatorial nomination, against 
James Semple, the governor's appointee, and failed again. In 1846 his name 
appears among the candidates for governor, but he failed, through the influence 
of Governor Ford and on account of his opposition to the canal. He immedi- 
ately sought and obtained the candidacy for congress in the Belleville district, 
but was defeated by over two thousand majority, though the district was largely 
Democratic. 

"As a politician Trumbull lacked that hearty and cordial geniality of manner 
which wins popularity among the masses. His intercourse with the people, 
if not formal, left the impression of reserve, and his nature was rather repellant 
than magnetic. 

"But no such advantage obtained with him in regard to politicians. Over 
such as might be reached by the force of intellect he ever exercised a large in- 



U. OF ILL LIB. 



52 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

fluence. However, after these repeated trials for place, in 1848 he was elected one 
of the supreme judges under the new constitution, which office he resigned 
July 4, 1853, on account of insufficient salary. 

"By nature, study and habit he was admirably fitted for the bench. With a 
mind strong, clear and penetrating, a mind which, while it inclined to detail, 
never lost its broad grasp of principle, he was capacitated for great eminence. 
He was an able, searching and comprehensive constitutional pleader. He was 
ever a strenuous and ultra Democrat, but in 1854, unable to brook the repeal, 
of the Missouri Compromise, he opposed his party upon that question and was, 
in November, elected to congress as an 'anti-Nebraska Democrat,' which place 
he resigned to accept the senatorship." 

Governor Ford, in speaking of his act for putting the state bank into liqui- 
dation, and in stating that it passed the house of representatives, says that "In 
the senate the whole out-door opposition was let loose upon the bill. Trum- 
bull took his stand in the lobby and sent in amendments of every sort to be 
proposed by Grain of Washington, Catlin of St. Glair and others. The mode 
of attack was to load it down with obnoxious amendments, so as to make it 
odious to its authors, and Trumbull openly boasted that the bill would be so 
altered and amended in the senate that its framers in the house would not know 
their own bantling when it came back to them. From this moment I deter- 
mined to remove Trumbull from the office of secretary of state. From the 
nature of his office he ought to have been my confidential helper and adviser, 
and when he found that my course was against his principles (if really it was 
against them), he ought to have resigned. * * * Judge Douglas, notwith- 
standing he had advised the measure before the finance committee, voted against 
it in the council." We do not recount these facts for the sake of reviving old 
controversies, for the parties to them have all passed away, except General Mc- 
Clernand. 

Mr. Trumbull was afterward elected to congress upon the issue of the 
Nebraska bill, and was elected to the senate on the 8th of February, 1855, the 
writer, being a member of the state senate, having placed him in nomination 
as an anti-Nebraska Democrat. 

Davidson and Stuve say (Illinois History, page 689) : "James Shields, the 
regular Democratic caucus nominee, was placed in nomination by Mr. Graham ; 
Abraham Lincoln, the idol of the old Whigs, and strongly anti-Nebraska, by 
Stephen T. Logan ; and Lyman Trumbull, the nomination of less than half a 
dozen anti-Nebraska Democrats, by John M. Palmer. * * * Fifty-one votes 
were necessary to a choice on joint ballot. On the seventh ballot Shields was 
out of the field, and Governor Matteson, being substituted, received on the eighth 
ballot forty-six votes, the utmost strength of the Nebraska Democracy. On the 
tenth ballot Mr. Lincoln's name was withdrawn, and the Whig vote being con- 
centrated on Mr. Trumbull he received fifty votes direct, and before the result 
was announced Mr. Waters changed from Williams to Trumbull, electing him 
by just the requisite number. Neither persuasion nor menace could intimi- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 53 

date the Trumbull phalanx of five. Such was the manner of the first election 
of Mr. Trumbull to the senate of the United States." 

Davidson and Stuve add in regard to Mr. Trumbull: "His record in con- 
gress, which is national and not our province to give, stands very high. He was 
for many years the able chairman of the judiciary committee, and there are few 
congressional acts of importance but what bear the impress of his far-reaching 
mind. As an orator he is devoid of imagery and ornateness of diction, but as 
a close, clear, compact and systematic thinker, with an excellent memory, a 
wide acquaintance of public affairs and an extensive knowledge of the law, he 
was the most formidable debater of the august senate. As a practical expounder 
of the principles of his party he eclipsed Mr. Seward. He ever has been a 
hard student." 

In 1865-6 it became an interesting question to determine the status of the 
freedmen, the negroes. Attempts were made in congress and in several 
state legislatures to define their rights specifically. The writer, who was then 
commander of the Department of Kentucky, being much interested in the sub- 
ject, prepared a bill enumerating the rights to be conferred by law upon the 
freed people, and also a petition to the Kentucky legislature. While preparing 
the petition and bill it occurred to him that the whole effect could be accom- 
plished by an act of congress, and he addressed to Mr. Trumbull the following 
letter : 

Headquarters Department Kentucky. 

Louisville, Ky., Jan. 4. 1866. 
Hon L. Trumbull, 
My Dear Sir: 

I enclose you a copy of a petition which is being extensively circulated for the 
signatures of the colored people of this city, and will be presented to the Kentucky legis- 
lature. 

I prepared the paper for them as a quiet, modest demand for the recognition of 
the essential rights of the freed people, seeking to avoid language which could be tortured 
to the purposes of prejudices and at the same time escape the disgraceful imputation of 
servility. 

Still. I have such moderate hope that it will be favorably received by the legis- 
lature, that I have advised them to look to congress, and have prepared a petition for its 
consideration. You will perceive that the first point presented by the petition is that of 
residence in the state, or citizenship, if that form of expression is preferred. 

Chapter XV, Revised Statutes of Kentucky, in all its provisions limits citizenship 
to free, white persons. The law passed in pursuance of a requirement of the constitution 
compels, or is intended to compel, all emancipated persons to leave the state, and Article 
II, Chapter XCIII, Volume II, pages 386-7, declares that any free negro or mulatto who 
has since the nth day of June, 1850, migrated, or who shall hereafter migrate, to this state 
with the intention of remaining there, shall be guilty of felony, and upon conviction shall 
be confined in the penitentiary for any period of time, not exceeding five years. 

The whole article is like this in barbarity and injustice, and will, in some parts of 
the state, be rigorously enforced. I trust your bill, to which I have seen telegraphic ref- 
erences, in terms or in legal effect repeals these and similar laws. I suggest that they may 
be defeated by an act of congress declaring all persons of African descent born in any of 
the United States or any of the territories or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the 
United States, to be citizens. 

By the constitution of the United States congress has power to establish an uniform 



54 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

rule of naturalization, and this power is exclusive of that of the individual states (Kent's 
Commentaries, Volume I, page 424; Second Wheaton's Report, page 269), and it is also true 
that congress has by law naturalized or citizenized certain peoples in gross (see act of 
congress of March 3, 1843, with respect to the Stockbridge Indians. Statutes at large, 
Volume V, page 647), and instances of collective naturalization by the treaty-making power 
are numerous, in the case of the acquisition of Louisiana, April 3, 1800; the purchase 
of Florida, in 1819; treaty with Mexico, 1848; and by joint resolution of congress, as in 
the case of the annexation of Texas, March I, 1845. If the freedmen are declared by law 
to be citizens the legal consequences of citizenship follow and defeat the injurious opera- 
tions of the laws already referred to. 

I am aware that there are many jurists and publicists who entertain the opinion 
that the freed people of African descent are now, in point of law, citizens of the United 
States. This may be the correct view of the subject, but there is a formidable array of 
authorities on the other side, and it is certain that the courts, if the question is left in its 
present state of doubt, will hesitate, falter, and decide both ways for years to come. A few 
words of legislation will remove all doubts, and, what is more, will place the colored 
race in the class of free men whose political and legal rights are so carefully secured and 
guarded by many provisions of the federal and state constitutions. 

I attach great consequence to this idea, for most of the oppressive legislation of 
the states proceeds upon the theory that negroes are not members of the political so- 
ciety and are not referred to or protected by constitutional provisions. They are elabora- 
tions of the amiably expressed, but damnably conceived, doctrine that we find so often in 
the resolutions adopted by meetings of those political bastards who call themselves Demo- 
crats, that 'this is a white man's government,' which means that a thief may be a Chris- 
tian if he only steals from a negro. * * * 

At the opening of congress in December Mr. Trumbull himself had intro- 
duced a bill in which he attempted to enumerate the rights to be conferred upon 
the negro, but accepted the suggestion of citizenship and introduced the civil- 
rights bill by an amendment to his own. 

The relations between the writer and Mr. Trumbull continued to be friendly, 
and even intimate, until the closing years of his life. He voted against the im- 
peachment of Andrew Johnson, and in that way separated himself from the 
Republican party. He was the Democratic candidate for governor in 1880, 
and was defeated by Governor Cullom. 

Mr. TrumbuH's last appearance in the supreme court of the United States 
was in defense of persons who were found guilty of contempt by Judge Woods. 
Mr. Justice Harlan said of the argument of Judge Trumbull "that if the prem- 
ises had been conceded the argument would have been irresistible." He died 
at his home in Chicago on the loth day of July, 1896. 

Onias C. Skinner was elected a judge of the supreme court June 4, 1855, 
vice Samuel H. Treat, and served until April 19, 1858, when he resigned 
shortly before the expiration of his term. He was a sound, able lawyer, and 
popular as a judge, gaining eminence by his excellent service on the supreme 
bench. 

Pinckney H. Walker had served on the circuit bench in Pike county prior 
to 1858, in April of which year he was appointed to succeed Skinner as a justice 
of the supreme court. In the succeeding year he was elected for the full term, 
and was re-elected, dying February 18, 1885, only four months prior to the 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 55 

expiration of his second term. Judge Walker was a native of Kentucky, whence 
he came with his father to Illinois, among the first settlers, locating in Mc- 
Donough county. His early educational advantages were necessarily limited by 
the environments of the time and place, but a strong determination, added to 
pronounced intellectual powers and good health, carried him over all the edu- 
cational wants of the times and gave him a fair position as a scholar. He was a 
thorough student of the law and a safe counselor. His home was at Rushville. 

Judge John M. Scott, the subject of this memoir, was born in August, 
1824, in the county of St. Clair, Illinois, and had the distinction of being the 
first native citizen to become a member of the supreme court of Illinois. His 
ancestors in the paternal line were Scotch-Irish, in which fact he took great 
pride, being a constant attendant of the Scotch-Irish congress and one of the 
vice-presidents of the society. He had many of the characteristics of that 
sturdy, fearless and talented race of men. His mother, whose maiden name was 
Nancy Biggs, emigrated from Virginia to Illinois at a very early day, and was 
identified with the first settlement of the state. His mother, as a child, passed 
through that fearful ordeal incident to the struggle between civilization and 
barbarism as manifested in the massacres and wars between the Indian and 
white man. Educated in that school of suffering and danger, in common with 
her many other good qualities of head and heart, she became a woman of heroic 
mold and well worthy to perform the delicate trust of training children to a 
courageous discharge of duty. His father was in comfortable circumstances 
and afforded his son all the facilities which a new country offered for procuring 
an education. 

Having, in connection with his attendance at school, availed himself of 
the advantages of private tuition, he acquired an accurate knowledge of the 
English branches, besides a fair knowledge of Latin and the higher mathematics. 
The bar at Belleville in the early history of the country was the ablest in the 
state, and well calculated to fascinate the mind of a young man with the pro- 
fession of the law ; and that, in connection with a natural taste for the bar, 
induced him to read law, in the office of Messrs. Kinney & Bissell, then among 
the most accomplished lawyers in the west. Like many others who have ac- 
quired distinction at the bar and on the bench, as preliminary to his career 
as a lawyer he devoted some time to the profession of school-teaching. He 
studied the elementary books of the law with industry and diligence, and thereby 
acquired a knowledge of legal philosophy which, through his life both as a 
lawyer and judge, fitted him to deal with the law as a science and not as a mere 
aggregation of arbitrary rules. Upon his admission to the bar, in 1848, he 
removed to McLean county, where for a half century he resided, discharging 
during that time some of the highest functions of a citizen of the state. At the 
time he became identified with the McLean county bar, lawyers of distinction 
were among its members. Judge Davis and General Gridley were of the local 
bar, and Abraham Lincoln and John T. Stuart were among the non-resident 
attorneys who attended the courts. While Judge Scott had every qualification 
for a successful trial lawyer, like his illustrious predecessor on the bench of the 



56 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

circuit court, Judge Davis, he had a peculiar aptitude for the higher function 
of judge and from his admission to the profession the taste of his ambition in- 
clined to the bench. He had but little trouble in securing his share of business, 
and was not subject to that anxious solicitude which often intervenes between 
coming to the bar and coming to a practice. 

In 1849 ne was elected school commissioner, and served in that office until 
1852, superintending the educational interests of the county and distributing the 
money of the school fund. In the winter of 1852 he was elected to the respon- 
sible position of judge of the county court, which at that time not only had 
within its jurisdiction probate matters, but also all the public business of the 
county. In addition to his official duties and general practice he was the at- 
torney of Bloomington, then recently organized as a city. From boyhood the 
Judge was a great admirer of Daniel Webster, and, as a result of that predilection, 
when he came to the years of manhood he was a Whig, and continued an ardent 
supporter of that party until its dissolution, 1852. Upon the formation of the 
Republican party he identified himself with that party, when it was struggling 
for an existence as a political organization. In 1856 he was nominated on the 
Republican ticket for the state senate, and made a most vigorous and able can- 
vass for the defense of Republican principles, in a district largely Democratic 
in sentiment; and, although defeated, he reduced the majority to a point highly 
complimentary to himself. In this campaign he and Mr. Lincoln often ad- 
dressed the same audiences, and between them there was the most cordial per- 
sonal and political relations. 

In the first years of the Judge's practice his clearness of thought, accurate 
knowledge of the law, services as county judge and his dignity of character 
directed the attention of the people and the bar to him as having the qualifica- 
tions for higher judicial duty; so that in the year 1862, when Judge Davis be- 
came a member of the supreme court of the United States, Judge Scott was 
selected as his successor by a unanimity of sentiment on the part of both the 
bar and the people. He did not, in the administration of his office as judge 
of the circuit court, disappoint the expectations of his most sanguine friends, 
and at the end of the unexpired term of Judge Davis he was re-elected without 
opposition. He held the circuit court in the eighth district, during the most 
troublous times of the civil war, and was called upon, in the discharge of his 
duties, to repress the violence of both sides, which he did with a fearlessness 
and courage worthy of the best age of the judiciary. 

In the year 1870 a constitutional convention was held, and on the 2d of 
July, that year, the constitution formed by that body was adopted, which made 
it necessary to elect additional members of the supreme court. This district of 
which McLean county formed a part was entitled to one of the new judges 
and embraced within its limits the central portion of the state, commencing at 
Tazewell county on the northwest and running to Edgar on the southeast. 
Embracing as it did Sangamon and other large and populous counties of the 
state, it necessarily had some of the leading members of the profession. When 
it was known that there would be an increase in the membership of the supreme 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 57 

court, the public mind was directed to Judge Scott as well worthy of the ex- 
alted position. This was especially so among the lawyers of the district ; and in 
June, 1870, a convention of the bar was held, and although some of the leading 
jurists of the district and state were candidates, Judge Scott was chosen by 
the convention, and in July, 1870, he was elected a judge of the supreme court 
for the term of nine years. 

At the time he became a member of that court many questions of importance 
to the prosperity of the state and the people were pending in the supreme and 
circuit courts, incident to the extraordinary development of the railroad interests 
of the northwest ; and Chicago, with its complex and diversified characteristics, 
its extraordinary and sudden growth, and its many schemes of speculation and 
trade, made the supreme court of Illinois one of the most important courts of the 
United States. Outside of the state of New York it may be safely assumed 
that for importance of litigation and for questions of difficult solution, no other 
in the Union presented a field more fruitful in legal contention than the state 
of Illinois. At the time Judge Scott became a member of the court he was 
in the prime and vigor of his life, and had acquired at the bar and on the bench 
a capacity for legal information which fitted him to deal intelligently and ably 
with all the questions which came before the court. He was identified 
with the judicial history of the state for a period of nearly fifty years, as a 
lawyer and as a county, circuit and supreme judge. His name first appears in 
the third volume of Oilman's Reports as a practicing attorney, and his opinions 
extend from the fifty-fourth to the one hundred and twenty-sixth volume of re- 
ports as a judge of the supreme court. At the end of his first term as a justice of 
the supreme court he was elected, in June, 1879, by a very large majority over 
one of the most accomplished lawyers of the state. His second term expired in 
June, 1888, when he declined a re-election, having served for a period of 
eighteen years, with marked ability and to the entire satisfaction of the people 
and the bar of the whole state. 

During those eighteen years he served as chief justice three terms, and 
was the first native-born citizen of Illinois who held that responsible and digni- 
fied position. During the eighteen years which he held the office of a justice of 
the supreme court the litigation was larger, more complicated and important 
than in the fifty-two years which intervened from the admission of the state 
to the year 1870. The legal controversies of the citizens had changed from 
the simple questions of law, which were the subjects of judicial discussion and 
determination in the early history of the state, to questions more abstruse and 
difficult, depending upon more enlarged, involved and complex conditions of 
fact. The law-suit of 1870 and that of 1820 in the supreme court of the. state 
were very different as legal controversies. In later years immense records had 
to be examined and digested in order to present the whole case and fully de- 
velop the real issue to be determined. 

In the power to master a voluminous record, and to eliminate the imma- 
terial matter of a legal proceeding, Judge Scott had great ability, as shown 
in his numerous opinions upon almost every conceivable subject of human con- 



5 8 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

tention. A supreme court of the state is much more diversified in its juris- 
diction than the supreme court of the United States for the reason that it is the 
court of final jurisdiction for almost every wrong which can be committed and 
for every right that can be protected. Subject to the limited jurisdiction of the 
supreme court of the United States, it is the court of final resort which settles, 
by the authority of law r the many contentions and disputes incident to men as 
they form human society. During his term of service the labors of the court 
extended through seventy-three volumes of reports, so that it may be safely as- 
sumed that his contribution to the body of judicial law of Illinois is as large 
and important as any member of the supreme court at any period in the history 
of the state. His services in the supreme court covered a period which may 
be called formative as to some of the material interests of the state, and from 
which important litigation originated, as the park systems of Chicago, the rail- 
road and warehouse commission, the modified special assessment methods, and 
the many questions of corporation law growing out of, and dependent upon, 
the adoption of the new constitution. 

The protection of the life and liberty of the citizen is the most important 
and delicate trust committed to the jurisdiction of a court; and one of the lead- 
ing opinions of the court on that subject was written by Judge Scott in the case 
of Ker versus the People of the State of Illinois, reported in the one hundred 
and tenth volume. The question presented by the record was one new and 
novel, and called for the highest and best resources of judicial reasoning in the 
determination of legal questions made by the facts. The defendant, Ker, com- 
mitted the crime of embezzlement and larceny in Chicago, as the cashier of a 
bank, and fled to Peru. At the time that country was in military possession 
of the Chileans, and it was practically impossible to proceed under the treaty 
for his return. Owing to the condition of the country, the defendant was taken 
by force, placed on board a United States ship-of-war and brought back to the 
United States. When he was arraigned in the criminal court of Chicago he 
pleaded in defense the illegality of his arrest and extradition. The court below 
sustained a demurrer to the plea, and the case, upon the correctness of that de- 
cision, was appealed to the supreme court. The court, in a very able opinion 
delivered by Judge Scott, sustained the decision of the criminal court, and from 
that decision an appeal was taken to the supreme court of the United States. 
The state court said, "A fugitive from justice has no asylum in a foreign country 
when he is guilty of an offense for which he is liable or subject to extradition 
by treaty between this and the foreign country. If he is illegally and forcibly 
removed from such country, that country alone has the cause of complaint, and 
he cannot complain for it." In the decision of the supreme court of the United 
States it is said : "The treaties of extradition to which the United States are 
parties do not guarantee a fugitive from justice, from one of the countries 
an asylum in the other. They do not give such person any greater or more 
sacred right of asylum than he had before." It will be seen that the line of argu- 
ment pursued by Judge Scott in the supreme court of Illinois was, in sub- 
stance, followed by the supreme court of -the United States ; and by a series of 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 59 

uniform judicial determinations the law upon an important question of in- 
dividual liberty and international right was settled, as far as it can be settled 
by the decisions of the highest courts of one nation. 

In the case of Lenfers versus Henkle (Seventy-third Illinois Reports) the 
supreme court of Illinois was called upon to decide a question which, up to the 
time of the decision, had never been passed upon by any court, either in England 
or the United States. The controversy relates to the dower interest of a widow 
in the mineral or mining lands of the husband. Judge Scott delivered the 
opinion of the court on the question involved in a remarkably clear, original and 
well reasoned argument, showing his ability to deal with questions upon the 
broad ground of original thought, unaided by express authority. During his 
term of service in the supreme court he wrote many opinions upon the subject 
of municipal taxation and the law of real-estate property growing out of the great 
value of land in Chicago : but the compass of this article will not permit special 
reference to them. They will stand as limitations to and qualifications upon 
municipal authority and the law of realty throughout the entire history of that 
state which has to deal with the most remarkable municipal corporation that has 
ever appeared in the history of time. 

The Judge had great respect for the dignity of judicial place and power, 
and no man ever presided in a court with more respect for his environments than 
did Judge Scott. As the result of that personal characteristic the proceedings 
were always orderly upon the part of every one audience, bar and the officers, 
from the highest to the lowest. His opinions are fine specimens of judicial 
thought, always clear, logical and as brief as the character of the case will per- 
mit. He never enlarged beyond the necessities of the legal thought in order to 
indulge in the drapery of literature. 

His mind during the entire period of his course at the bar and on the bench 
had been directed in the line of his profession and his duty, and as a result he did 
not give much time to speculation and money-making; but by the judicious in- 
vestments of the reward of his toil he was eventually placed in independent 
and prosperous circumstances. 

He was the owner of many fine farms in the vicinity of Bloomington, and to 
the care of these he devoted considerable attention, renting them to good tenants 
at no more than one-half the ordinary rent of other farms of like improvements 
and situation. He took great delight in the success and welfare of his tenants, 
and as an inducement to them for their toil he gave them the lowest rent he 
could afford. 

During his term of service as county judge, in the year 1853, he was married 
to Miss Charlotte A. Perry, daughter of Rev. David J. Perry, of Bloomington. 
His marriage was most happy. Mrs. Scott is a lady of culture and refinement, 
and enjoys with grace and without ostentation the assured place given her by 
the public service and life of her husband. They had two children, who died 
in infancy, but to an adopted daughter they ever devoted the most fervent at- 
tachment. 

The Judge was a man of fine literary taste, and as a result of that inclination 



60 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

he accumulated one of the choicest libraries in central Illinois, abounding in 
books of standard quality and highest excellence of authorship. His tastes were 
simple, but refined and delicate, and whatever he had was of the best quality. 
After his retirement from the bench his time was devoted to looking after his 
private interests and to the enjoyment of his home and library. Conspicuous 
among the many good traits of his character was his fearless devotion to what- 
ever came within the pale of public or private duty. He had moral courage fit 
for any emergency, and although he was always a pronounced Republican, 
he was without partisan prejudice, and in his candidacy he was supported with 
enthusiasm by many leaders of the opposition. He had been for many years a 
devoted member of the Presbyterian church, and a constant attendant upon its 
ministrations. His judicial term, extending through twenty-six years of unin- 
terrupted success, was an honor to the state, and his character as a man is well 
worthy the admiration of the whole people. 

In the fullness of years and honors Judge Scott entered into eternal rest, 
January 21, 1898, at his home in Bloomington, leaving a name that will be 
revered for all time in the great state which he dignified and honored by his 
noble character and 'high accomplishments. 

William K. McAllister was an incorruptible jurist, an excellent lawyer and a 
citizen of high standing. He was born 'in the state of New York in the year 
1818, and was reared on a farm. He received a collegiate education, read law 
and practiced that profession for ten years in Albion, New York. In 1854 he 
removed to Chicago and was but a short time in securing a large clientele. In 
1868 he was elected judge of the recorder's court of the city, in which capacity 
he displayed such ability that he was elected a justice of the state supreme court 
in 1870 a position of honor more than of pecuniary reward. He resigned to 
accept the office of circuit court judge of Cook county and by repeated re-election 
was continued on that bench until his death, which occurred October 29, 1888. 
In 1879 he was appointed by the supreme court as one of the circuit judges to 
hold the appellate court for the first district, a position he filled for the re- 
mainder of his life. As a lawyer he possessed a logical, common-sense eloquence 
which, in his practice before juries, proved more successful than all the tricks 
of the insincere and more pretentious orator. 

Alfred M. Craig. On this gentleman the highest elective judicial honors 
within the gift of the people of Illinois have been conferred. For a quarter of a 
century he has been a member of the supreme court, and his present term will 
extend to the close of the century. His name is therefore inseparably associated 
with the history of jurisprudence in the state, and his career has conferred 
honor upon the commonwealth that has so honored him. 

Judge Craig was born January 15, 1831, in Paris, Edgar county, Illinois, 
his parents being David and Minty Craig, the former a millwright and farmer. 
He completed his literary education by a course in Knox College, of Galesburg, 
Illinois, in which institution he was graduated in June, 1853. Immediately 
afterward he began the study of law in the office of Hon. William C. Goudy, of 
Lewistown, Illinois, and in 1854, after his admission to the bar, began practice in 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 61 

Knoxville, Illinois, where he soon acquired a large and lucrative clientage, which 
also extended into adjoining counties. When elected to the bench he had the 
largest practice of any lawyer in that section of the state, and every important 
litigated interest found him as counsel for the defense or the prosecution. He 
stood high at the bar, and his opinion, even in the early days of his professional 
career, was esteemed equal to that of the old savants in the law ; and his great 
earnestness and force of manner gave him an almost irresistible influence over a 
jury. He has a mind of peculiar analytical power which enables him to separate 
the non-essential from the essential in the evidence produced, and to apply to 
the latter the principles of law which bear on the case. His legal knowledge 
is profound, and the intricate problems of the court of last resort are mastered by 
him with a readiness that shows exceptional wisdom. 

Judge Craig's first official service began in 1862, when he was elected to the 
bench of Knox county, whereon he served four years. In 1870 he was elected 
a delegate from that county to the state constitutional convention, and his 
knowledge of constitutional law and his understanding of the needs and condi- 
tions of the commonwealth made him an important factor in framing the or- 
ganic law of the state. Each public service, so well and ably performed, brought 
him greater respect, admiration and public confidence, and he was still more 
honored in 1873, when elected to the supreme court, of which lie has since been 
a member. Twice re-elected, in 1882 and 1891, he is still a member of that 
high tribunal. Upon the just execution of our laws depends the weal or woe 
of the state, and those who are called to high judicial service are men in whom 
the people have great confidence, while re-election always indicates faithful ser- 
vice, unwavering integrity and a fairness which is above question. The fact that 
Judge Craig has for twenty-five years been a member of the supreme court of 
Illinois is a circumstance which needs no favorable comment from the his- 
torian ; it speaks for itself. 

In Knoxville, Illinois, Judge Craig married Miss Elizabeth P. Harvey, 
daughter of C. K. Harvey, a lawyer of eminent ability in his profession. They 
have two children, Dr. H. A., who was born in 1860; and Charles C., who was 
born in 1865, and is now practicing law. 

In addition to his professional duties Judge Craig has been interested to 
some extent in banking, and also has extensive agricultural interests. In his 
private life he is distinguished by all that marks the true gentleman. He is one 
who subordinates personal ambition to public good and seeks rather the benefit 
of others than the aggrandizement of self. Well versed in the learning of his 
profession, and with a deep knowledge of human conduct, with great sagacity 
and tact, he stands to-day with few equals at the bar of Illinois. 

T. Lyle Dickey, whose name is prominently connected with the history of 
Illinois as a lawyer, a jurist and a soldier was born October 2, 1811, in Paris, 
Bourbon county, Kentucky. In 1826, at the age of fifteen years, he entered the 
Ohio University, where he continued his studies four years, after which he en- 
tered the senior class of Miami University, where he graduated with honor, in 



62 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

1831. December 6, 1831, he married Miss Juliet Evans, and after his marriage 
taught school, with great success, in Ohio and Kentucky. 

In the winter of 1834 he removed to McDonough county, Illinois, where he 
made the acquaintance of Hon. Cyrus H. Walker, who induced him to begin 
the study of law. His progress in this line was so marked that he practiced 
law at Macomb before he was regularly admitted to the bar, and attained con- 
siderable renown. In 1835, at the age of twenty-four years, he was duly ad- 
mitted to practice in the Illinois courts. After this he removed to Rushville, 
where, in addition to legal business, he edited a thriving Whig paper. Here he 
became largely interested in real-estate speculations, which proved disastrous, 
owing to the panic of 1837, and many years elapsed ere he was able to entirely 
free himself from the large indebtedness forced upon him at this time. The 
intrinsic honor of his character is shown in the fact that he labored without ceas- 
ing until every creditor was paid in full. In 1836 Judge Dickey removed to 
Ottawa, Illinois, where he soon built up a large and lucrative practice as an 
attorney. He there remained until 1846, when he raised a fine company for 
service in the Mexican war. Of this organization he was chosen captain, but 
after the company had been attached to the First Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, 
he was compelled to resign his commission on account of ill health, and returned 
home and resumed the practice of his profession. He was elected a judge of the 
circuit court, the district comprising twelve counties, but after four years of 
judicial service he resigned, and again returned to private practice. In 1854 he 
opened a law office in Chicago, but continued his residence at Ottawa, and on 
the last day of the succeeding year he lost his wife, who died after a brief illness. 
In the year 1858 he resumed practice in Ottawa, and although heretofore an 
ardent Whig, ardently espoused the cause of Stephen A. Douglas in his famous 
contest with Lincoln, delivering a number of eloquent and forceful addresses 
in various parts of the state. 

He became connected in business with W. H. L. Wallace, of Ottawa, and his 
son Cyrus E. Dickey, and the firm transacted a large legal business until 1861, 
when the Rebellion broke out. Judge Dickey immediately set about forming a 
regiment of volunteers, which was mustered into the service as the Fourth 
Illinois Cavalry, and the Judge was commissioned its colonel. For two years 
Colonel Dickey was an active and intrepid soldier. He took part in the capture 
of Fort Henry, and led the brilliant advance at Fort Donelson. At the battle 
of Shiloh he took an active part. Both of his sons and General W. H. L. Wallace 
were with him during this desperate struggle, and General Wallace was killed 
during the engagement. In 1862 he was appointed to the position of chief of 
cavalry on the staff of General Grant, and was placed in command of Memphis, 
Tennessee. He also participated in the battle of luka. After this he assumed 
command of the four brigades of cavalry in General Grant's army. He was en- 
gaged in a desperate encounter with General Pemberton, far in advance of his 
supports, for four days, on the retreat from Tallahassee. At one time he selected 
six hundred men and engaged in an extensive and successful raid through a 
region of country swarming with Confederate soldiers, and returned safely and 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 63 

without losing a man. The celebrated raid of Grierson in 1863, during which 
.the railroads around Jackson, Mississippi, were completely destroyed, was sug- 
gested and organized by General Dickey. 

In the latter part of 1863 he resigned his commission and returned home, 
where he formed a law partnership with Jo'hn B. Rice. In 1866 Judge Dickey 
was the Democratic candidate for congressman at large. In 1868 he was ap- 
pointed as assistant attorney general of the United States, and had full charge 
of the government suits of the court of claims. His labors in that branch of liti- 
gation in the United States supreme court were performed with great ability and 
with undiminishing fidelity. He was frequently complimented by the judges 
of the supreme court for the thorough and able manner in which he performed 
his arduous duties. 

He held this position about two years, when his health failed him and he 
resigned. In 1870 he married Mrs. Hurst, of Maryland, after which he returned 
to Ottawa and again began the practice of law. In December, 1873, he removed 
to Chicago and in December, 1875, was elected a judge of the supreme court 
of the state, to fill a vacancy. In 1879 he was nominated as an independent can- 
didate, was elected and remained upon the supreme bench, his incumbency of 
this high office covering nearly a decade. He gained a distinct popularity and 
uniform respect. Possessed of wonderful memory, and with a remarkable 
power of analysis, his judgments were always received with profound consider- 
ation, and his opinions on important cases have generally been sustained. As a 
lawyer he was a most brilliant advocate. His arguments were lucid, logical 
and marked by an aptness of illustration that carried all the elements of convic- 
tion. In social circles Judge Dickey was a universal favorite, being genial, 
whole-souled and intellectual. 

Judge Dickey died July 22, 1885, at Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the 
state lost an able jurist and eminent citizen. He left surviving him his widow 
and four children. 

John H. Mulkey, formerly a justice of the supreme court of Illinois, was 
born in Monroe county, Kentucky, May 24, 1824. Family tradition says that 
the ancestry of the Mulkeys is Scotch-Irish and that the family was founded in 
America by a young Irish apprentice who ran away from his English master 
and came to this country about the middle of the eighteenth century. He 
located in the Carolinas and married a lady, of Scotch birth, whose acquaintance 
he had formed on the voyage to the New World. Some of the descendants of 
this couple established homes in Kentucky, others in Tennessee, and still others 
farther south. From the Kentucky branch of the family Judge Mulkey is 
descended. His grandfather, John Mulkey, was born January 14, 1773, and 
died December 13, 1844. He was a Baptist minister of some prominence in 
Kentucky, and, in connection with Barton Stone and others, was a forerunner 
of Alexander Campbell in the work of founding the Campbellite church. The 
Judge's father, Dr. Isaac Mulkey, was a physician by profession, and was mar- 
ried to Abigail Ragin, December 18, 1821, he being at the time less than 
eighteen years of age. They reared a family of nine children, of whom Judge 



64 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

Mulkey was the second in order of birth. During his infancy the family re- 
moved from Monroe to Christian county, Kentucky, locating in Lafayette, where 
the father reared his family and practiced his profession until about 1848, when' 
he was induced by his son, John H., to come to southern Illinois. He first made 
his home in Marion, but afterward removed to Ashley, where he made his home 
until his death, which occurred in 1884. He was a man of strong intellectual 
endowment, of rugged eloquence and some literary attainment, and ranked high 
as a country physician. He was the physician for the Stephenson family, to 
which Adlai Stephenson, the former vice-president of the United States, belongs. 

Judge Mulkey spent his early boyhood days in Christian county, Kentucky, 
and when quite young went to Hopkinsville, the county-seat, where he learned 
the tailor's trade, of which acquisition he speaks with much pride. He then at- 
tended Bacon College, at Hopkinsville, for several years, acquiring a fair col- 
legiate education, including some knowledge of the dead languages, particularly 
Latin. On leaving college he started for southern Illinois on horseback, in 
August, 1845, in search of employment as a school-teacher. Failing to secure 
a position, first at Vienna and then at Marion, he continued on his way to 
Benton, where he was employed to teach during the winter and spring terms. 
He was married in Benton, March 23, 1846, to Margaret, daughter of Larkin 
Cantrell, and for a year thereafter he continued to teach school. In the mean- 
time the Mexican war broke out, and at the second call for troops he enlisted 
as a volunteer, entering the service in July, 1847, an( l being mustered out in 
July, 1848. 

From 1848 until 1853, when he was admitted to the bar, Judge Mulkey's 
attention appears to have been engaged with a multiplicity of affairs. During 
that period he lived first at Benton, then at Blairsville, in Williamson county, 
and later at Marion. He farmed for a time near Benton, having entered one 
hundred and sixty acres of land from the government, on his return from 
Mexico. He also traded in stock to some extent, and locally acquired consid- 
erable reputation as an excellent judge of horses. He also engaged in mer- 
chandising in Benton and later in Blairsville, and also taught school for a time. 
During the two years immediately preceding his admission to the bar he read 
law during his leisure hours, from books loaned to him by Judge W. J. Allen, 
who was then a young practicing lawyer at Marion. Judge Mulkey was ad- 
mitted to the bar at Marion, having been examined by Willis Allen, father of 
Judge Allen, his life-long friend and for many years his partner in the practice. 

Judge Mulkey remained at Marion only a short time and then removed to 
Desoto, in Jackson county, where, as he expresses it, he "pettifogged" for two 
years. In 1857 he went to Cairo, where he remained until the flood of 1858, 
at which time he took up his residence in Duquoin. A year or two later he was 
elected circuit judge, whereupon he removed to Jonesboro, on account of its 
central location in the circuit. After serving on the bench for less than a year 
he returned to Cairo, and continued in the active practice in the courts of 
southern Illinois until June, 1879, with the exception of a short period when he 
served as judge of the court of common pleas at Cairo. During that time he 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 65 

was associated as a partner with Judge Allen ; with Samuel P. Wheeler, now of 
Springfield; with David T. Linegar and John M. Lansden, of Cairo. Judge 
Barr, of Carbondale, said of him : "I regard Judge Mulkey as the best all-around 
lawyer I ever knew, that is, greater before both court and jury. Greater with 
the court for the reason that his knowledge of the law was greater than that 
of any nisi prius court in which he practiced, and the court and bar knew that it 
was the point of strictest honor with him never to knowingly misstate the law. 
When he attempted to state the law, if there was a doubt in his mind he in- 
variably expressed that doubt to the court. He was greater with the jury be- 
cause he knew better the turning point of his case than any other I knew, and 
came before it with a better preparation of the evidence, and had the strong, 
rugged, logical speech that was most convincing." 

On the 2d of June, 1879, Mr. Mulkey was elected an associate justice of the 
supreme court of Illinois, and Judge A. K. Vickers, of Harrisburg, spoke of his 
judicial service as follows : ''To my mind the quality which enabled Justice 
Mulkey to succeed both at the bar and on the bench to a degree rarely ever 
attained by lawyers or judges was his power to see further and deeper into 
abstract and close legal questions than others who may justly be called eminent 
jurists. He saw everything as it actually was. This quality might be properly 
called his mental reach or power of penetration, and was combined with a care- 
ful and painstaking mastery of every detail of fact connected with the case in 
hand ; a power of analysis and a force of reasoning that was irresistible and con- 
vincing. These characteristics made him one of the greatest judges who ever 
sat on the supreme bench of Illinois. His opinion in the case of the Fort 
Dearborn Lodge versus Klein, et al., filed in Ottawa at the November term of 
court of 1885 and reported in 115 Illinois Reports, page 177, is in my opinion 
one of the ablest legal opinions to be found in the history of our jurisprudence." 

Since his retirement from the bench, though frequently urged to do so, 
Judge Mulkey has never re-entered practice, except to a very limited extent. He 
wrote a brief in the famous Crerar will case, of Chicago, and another in a 
mandamus case for the Illinois Central Railroad Company. His time is now 
largely given to literary pursuits and the supervision of his farm. In 1884 
he removed from Cairo to Metropolis, where he still resides. His first wife died 
June 2, 1871. By that marriage there were eight children. On the 25th of 
September, 1873, he was again married, his second union being with Kate 
House, who was born and reared in Metropolis. They have two children. In 
early life the Judge was a member of the Campbellite church, but after reaching 
manhood he held agnostic views for some years. In 1883, however, he became 
a communicant of the Roman Catholic church, and finds the greatest comfort 
and solace in the practice of its precepts. 

Benjamin Drake Magruder. It is the mission of law to formulate, to har- 
monize, to regulate, and to adjust and administer those rules and principles which 
underlie and permeate all government and society and control the varied rela- 
tions of men. The judge is the minister of the law, and there attaches to the 
true jurist a nobility which can scarcely characterize any other public servant. 
6 



66 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

The judge who, as does Judge Magruder, reveres the law and holds it above 
every device of criminal or counsel, is more truly a benefactor to his race than 
can be any philanthropist, however wealthy and however generous ; for in the 
simple performance of his duty he blesses mankind. 

Benjamin Drake Magruder is a southerner by birth. His father, W. H. N. 
Magruder, was a graduate of Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 
and a college professor. The future jurist was born September 27, 1838, in 
Jefferson county, Mississippi, and from an early age was a most apt and devoted 
student. Under his father's care he was prepared for college, and at fourteen 
entered as freshman at Yale, where, at eighteen (class of 1856), he was gradu- 
ated fourth in his class. 

After leaving college Judge Magruder taught school at Baton Rouge, 
Louisiana, and while so employed took up a course of reading in law, under the 
direction of Judge Elam, in that city. In due time he entered the law depart- 
ment of the University of Louisiana, at New Orleans, then in charge of men 
of deep learning in the law, the broadest capacity and great eminence as lawyers, 
jurists and instructors, from which institution he was graduated as valedic- 
torian in 1858. 

Judge Magruder began his professional career at Memphis, in September, 
1859, and there held during the succeeding two years a responsible position, 
affording him much valuable experience, in the office of the master in chancery. 
He came to Chicago in 1861, fortified by a classical scholarship, generous read- 
ing and a practical knowledge of the practice of law, and formed a partnership 
with George F. Bailey, under the firm name of Bailey & Magruder, in which 
he attained much success and prominence. Later he was partner in the firms 
of Magruder & Norton, Magruder & Kerr, and Hervey, Gait Si Magruder. In 
1868 he was appointed master in chancery of the superior court of Cook county 
and achieved much distinction in that position, which he filled with the com- 
mendation of the bar and the public until 1885, meantime attending to a select 
general practice. In the year last mentioned he was elected one of the judges 
of the supreme court of Illinois, and during the year beginning June, 1891, 
served as chief justice of that court. 

In this high position Judge Magruder was the successor of Judge T. Lyle 
Dickey, a man of unusual prominence and a lawyer and jurist of national repu- 
tation, a fact which, of itself, might have rendered his position embarrassing, 
and its difficulties were augmented by the equal division of the court on several 
important cases pending. The judges had arrayed themselves three against 
three, and Judge Magruder was required to decide these cases for the court. 
He assumed the responsibility with a calmness born of a conscious integrity, 
after having fully informed himself as to the law and the evidence in each case 
involved. Two opinions written by him, touching the validity of the election law, 
were handed down by the court during the April term following his election, 
and in these he sustained the constitutionality of the law in a course of 
reasoning which was accepted by the bar as sound, logical and convincing. 

An opinion of unusual interest handed down by Judge Magruder was that 



THE BENCH AND BAR OP ILLINOIS. 67 

in the case of Cook county versus the Industrial School for Girls, to whose sup- 
port a portion of the county funds had been diverted, in which he held that an in- 
stitution under sectarian control had no right under the industrial act to draw 
from the county funds any portion of the sum necessary for its maintenance. 
The effect of this decision was to quiet agitation of the "school question," so far 
as it related to a diversion of the public money from the public schools solely 
under state supervision. 

Judge Magruder's decision in the case against the Chicago Gas Trust 
Company, in which he laid down the principles that "whatever tends to prevent 
competition between those engaged in a public employment, or business im- 
pressed with a public character, is opposed to public policy, and therefore un- 
lawful," and that "whatever tends to create a monopoly is unlawful, as being 
contrary to public policy," was of vast interest to the people, as opposed to trusts. 
Four companies in Chicago were engaged in the manufacture of illuminating 
gas, distributing it through the streets under chartered rights. The Chicago 
Gas Trust Company was organized with a nominal capital of $20,000,000 and 
bought a sufficient amount of stock in each of these companies to control them 
all and destroy competition. In an opinion disposing of the case, brought to 
the supreme court on appeal, Judge Magruder denied the right of the trust to 
purchase and hold the stock of other gas companies as incidental to the main 
purpose of operating works for the manufacture and sale of gas to consumers. 

The case of the appeal of Spies, Parsons and other anarchists, convicted of 
murder at Chicago, involved the foundations of government, the supremacy of 
law and the authority of the officials appointed to execute and administer the 
law ; and the whole country, long stirred by the lawless acts of anarchists, cul- 
minating in riot and murder, awaited with intensest anxiety a decision by the 
supreme tribunal of the state. Judge Magruder wrote the decision of the court, 
in which he dispassionately reviewed the proceedings of the trial, affirmed their 
regularity and sustained the majesty of the law, and this decision allayed public 
passion and brought about an abatement of the excitement incident to the trial, 
without further menacing manifestations. No other case of so great popular in- 
terest has come before the court since Judge Magruder's accession to the 
bench. 

His mental equipoise and judicial temperament qualify Judge Magruder for 
the calm and unprejudiced consideration of all questions, and he has too much 
respect for the principles and purposes of jurisprudence to decide important 
questions on mere technicalities and hypercritical issues. All such considera- 
tions he puts ruthlessly aside and rests his opinion on the substantial principles 
of law and equity involved. During his practice of nearly thirty years he ac- 
quired a broad and varied knowledge of the law as laid down in the books and 
construed by the judiciary, and while this is apparent in his every opinion, his 
judicial work is even more distinctly characterized by the incorruptible honesty 
which animates and illuminates it. 

Judge Magruder was married in June, 1864, to Miss Julia M. Latham, of 



68 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

Springfield, who has borne him a son and daughter. The family residence is 
at No. 7 Washington Place, Chicago. 

Jacob W. Wilkin. Among the able and prominent members of the legal 
profession who constitute the present supreme court of Illinois is Judge J. W. 
Wilkin, of Danville. He was born near Newark, Ohio, on the 7th of June, 1837, 
and is a son of Isaac and Sarah Wilkin. In his early life the father was a car- 
penter and contractor. He resided on a small farm in Licking county, Ohio, 
until 1845, when he removed to Crawford county, Illinois, where he carried on 
agricultural pursuits for many years. At the time of the removal the Judge 
was but eight years of age, and in the schools of Crawford county he acquired 
his preliminary education, which was supplemented by work in the classical 
course in McKendree College. His boyhood days were spent on his father's 
farm, and he was the fifth in a family of nine children, having two brothers and 
two sisters older and three brothers and one sister younger than himself. His 
parents were thrifty people, but their family was large and the children were 
therefore denied some of the advantages that might have fallen to them had 
there not been so many to share the patrimony. 

Nevertheless the Judge spent a happy boyhood, although it was attended by 
some privations and hardships. His first step after leaving school was to enter 
the army, for the country was calling for aid to crush out the rebellion which 
threatened the destruction of the Union. He enlisted as a private and served for 
over three years, within which time he was promoted to the rank of captain, 
and he was mustered out in August, 1865, with a major's commission. He par- 
ticipated in a number of important engagements, and on the field of battle, on 
picket duty and in the camp manifested his loyalty to the old flag and the cause 
it represented. 

After the close of hostilities, in accordance with the advice of his father, our 
subject entered upon the study of law in the office of the late Judge John 
Scholfield, of Marshall, Clark county, Illinois, and after his admission to the 
bar, in March, 1867, formed a partnership with his former preceptor, a relation 
that was maintained until Judge Scholfield's election to the supreme bench of the 
state in 1873. Mr. Wilkin continued an active member of the bar of Marshall 
until 1879, and in the earlier years of his professional career enjoyed a general 
country practice, trying all kinds of law-suits, most of the trials being by jury, 
and full of excitement and interest to both clients and lawyers. He practiced 
in several counties adjacent to Clark and met many able men in the Wabash 
valley, representatives of both the Illinois and Indiana bar. His clear reason- 
ing, logical deductions, familiarity with the law and precedents, his effective 
oratory, all enabled him to win many forensic victories, and it was his marked 
ability as a lawyer that led to his selection for judicial honors in 1879, when he 
was elected to the circuit bench. In 1885 he was re-elected to that office and was 
on the appellate bench of the fourth district from 1885 until 1888, in which latter 
year he was elected a member of the supreme court and re-elected in 1897. 

His entire life has been devoted to his chosen profession, in which he has 
attained marked eminence. The only public offices he has held have been in 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 69 

this connection. In politics, however, he has always taken a deep interest, and 
was an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party until his elevation to 
the bench, since which time he has withheld himself from active work, that no 
shadow of partisanship or prejudice may be cast by opponents upon his impartial 
discharge of duty. 

In September, 1865, Judge Wilkin was united in marriage to Miss Alice E. 
Constable, daughter of Judge Charles H. Constable. She died in March, 1883, 
leaving three children : Harry O., who has business interests both in Portland, 
Oregon, and at Lake Lindman, Alaska; John Scholfield, who is engaged in 
gold-seeking in the Klondyke ; and Jessie Bell, at home. Judge Wilkin after- 
ward married Mrs. Sarah E. Archer, a daughter of Judge William Whitlock, 
who resided in Marshall. By her first marriage she had one son, W. VV. Archer, 
who is now practicing law in Tacoma, Washington. He is married and has one 
child. Since 1885 Judge Wilkin has resided in Danville, coming to this city 
because it offered a broader field for his professional achievements. He is one 
of its most prominent and honored residents, and with his family enjoys the 
hospitality of the best homes in this part of the state. 

For about thirty years Judge Wilkin has been a member of the Masonic 
fraternity and has taken the Knight Templar degree and the thirty-second degree 
of the Scottish Rite. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge, but 
while exemplifying the principles of these orders he has never been very active 
in the work of the lodge room. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, 
of which his parents also were members, while two of his brothers were ministers 
of that denomination, Rev. E. D. Wilkin having been chaplain of the Twenty- 
first Illinois Infantry Grant's first command during the civil war. He died in 
Lincoln, Illinois, in 1885. The other brother, Rev. M. P. Wilkin, is now in the 
active work of the church in Havana. 

A man of unimpeachable character, of unusual intellectual endowments, -with 
a thorough understanding of the law, patience, urbanity and industry, Judge 
Wilkin took to the bench the very highest qualifications for this most respon- 
sible office in the system of the state government; and his record as a judge has 
been in harmony with his record as a man and lawyer. distinguished by un- 
swerving integrity and a masterful grasp of every problem that has presented 
itself for solution. 

Judge Joseph -N. Carter. The position which Joseph Newton Carter is 
now occupying that of chief justice of the supreme court of Illinois stands 
in evidence of his rank at the bar of the state. Holding the highest judicial office 
in the commonwealth, his ability is such as to rank him among the most dis- 
tinguished lawyers and jurists that Illinois has produced, and his name is in- 
delibly engraved in honor upon the pages of her legal history. He is a native 
son of a state that has brought forth many eminent members of the profession 
Kentucky and is the adopted son of a state no less renowned for the brilliant 
qualities of its bench and bar. 

Judge Carter was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, March 12. 1843, and is 
descended from Virginian ancestors of English descent. His paternal grand- 



70 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

father was a Virginian planter in good circumstances, who operated his planta- 
tion with the aid of slaves, as was common in those days. The parents of the 
Judge, William Price and Martha (Mays) Carter, removed from Bedford 
county, Virginia, to Hardin county, Kentucky, in 1840, and the father pur- 
chased a farm of four hundred acres. There he extensively engaged in raising 
tobacco with the aid of his sons and a few slaves that he had inherited from his 
father. In the fall of 1856 he removed with his family to Coles county, Illinois. 
The Judge was then a lad of thirteen years. His birth occurred on the family 
homestead in Hardin county, and when old enough he had begun work on the 
farm. During the winter months he attended the subscription school of the 
neighborhood, which was supported by the parents whose children were in 
attendance there. Early in the year 1857 he was a student in the common 
schools of Charleston, Illinois, and later he attended the district schools of Coles 
county. In 1858 his father purchased wild prairie land in the northern part of 
that county in the section which afterward became Douglas county and 
there a farm was improved, upon which the family resided for a few years, when 
it was sold, the family removing to Tuscola. Judge Carter then attended the 
public schools of that city through the winter, and in the summer months 
engaged in teaching in the district schools near by. In 1862 he enlisted as a 
private in Company A of the Seventieth Illinois Infantry, for three months' 
service. When his term had expired he returned home and in the fall of 1863 
entered the freshman class of Illinois College, at Jacksonville, where he was 
graduated in 1866. 

When only thirteen years of age Judge Carter resolved to make the practice 
of law his life work, and the autumn of 1866 saw the consummation of his boyish 
plan, as he then martriculated as a student in the law department of the Michi- 
gan University, at Ann Arbor, where he was graduated in 1868, with the degree 
of LL. B. By means of teaching and various kinds of labor he paid his own way 
through college and law school, and after his graduation in the latter he went 
south with the intention of locating, but, changing his mind, he returned to 
Illinois in 1869 and took up his abode in Quincy. In the fall of that year he was 
admitted to the bar, on examination by a committee appointed by the supreme 
^ourt, and in the spring of 1870 formed a law partnership with William H. 
Govert, also a graduate of Illinois College and the law department of Michigan 
University. Under the firm name of Carter & Govert they practiced until the 
election of the Judge to the supreme bench in June, 1894. For a few years they 
struggled along, but their clientage constantly grew in volume and importance 
and for nearly twenty years before Judge Carter's elevation to the bench they 
enjoyed a large share of the business in the supreme court and in the federal 
and state courts. Their business was often of a very important character, and in 
its conduct Judge Carter displayed exceptional ability, resourcefulness, compre- 
hensive knowledge of the law and a masterful grasp of the situation, which en- 
abled him to keep in mind every detail, giving to each its relative prominence 
and at the same time never losing sight of the important point upon which the 
decision of a case finally turned. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 71 

In June, 1894, he was elected to the supreme bench, over Judge Oscar P. 
Bonney, the Democratic candidate, and became chief justice, under the rules of 
the court, at the June term of 1894. He took to the bench a mind well stored 
with legal lore, a large experience gathered from years of extensive and im- 
portant practice, a character that was an assurance that the duties of the high 
office would be faithfully administered, and a general natural fitness for the posi- 
tion that few men possess ; and when it is admitted that as a lawyer and a judge 
he is ranked with the foremost, nothing more is necessary to show the high 
position, intellectually, professionally and otherwise, that he occupies. 

Judge Carter cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, in 1864, 
and has since been an ardent Republican in politics. His thorough under- 
standing of the political problems of the day, combined with his strong per- 
sonality and ability for leadership, has made him one of the prominent repre- 
sentatives of the party in his district, and in the fall of 1878 he was elected on 
the Republican ticket to the lower house of the general assembly, and re-elected 
in 1880, serving in the sessions of 1879 and 1881, also in the special session of 
1882. He was the minority member from his district, Adams county being 
Democratic. In 1882 he was the candidate of his party for state senator and 
succeeded in greatly reducing the Democratic majority. 

On the 3d of December, 1879, the Judge married Miss Ellen Douglas Bar- 
rell, youngest daughter of the late Captain George and Ann Barrell, of Spring- 
field, Illinois. They have three children : Henry B., born September 19, 1880, 
now a freshman in Princeton University: William Douglas, born August i, 
1882; and Josephine, born March 12, 1886. The Judge and his family attend 
the Congregational church, of which he has long been a member. He has made 
his home in Quincy continuously since 1869, and is one of its most popular 
and honored residents. 

James Henry Cartwright, who was elected a justice of the supreme court in 
December, 1895, was born at Maquoketa, Iowa, on the 1st of December, 1842. 
Plis father, Barton Hall Cartwright, was a well known frontier clergyman of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and the maiden name of his mother was Chloe 
Jane Benedict. Judge Cartwright completed a course of study in Rock River 
Seminary, at Mount Morris, Illinois, and thereafter became a student in the 
law department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he was 
graduated in 1867. In 1870 he engaged in the practice of his profession at Ore- 
gon, Illinois, which place is still his home. He was elected judge of the circuit 
court in 1888 and was assigned to the appellate court of the second-district, in 
June, 1891, and in December, 1895, as already noted, was elected to the supreme 
bench of the state. He was re-elected in June, 1897, and has proved eminently 
qualified for the duties of his important office. 

On the 26th of November, 1873, Judge Cartwright was united in marriage 
to Hattie L. Holmes, and they are the parents of three daughters and two sons. 

Carroll C. Boggs is one of the more recent accessions to the supreme bench 
and is qualified both by natural endowment and ample experience for the high 
office which he holds. Judge Boggs is a native of Illinois, having been born 



72 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

in Fairfield, Wayne county, on the igth of October, 1844. He still maintains his 
home in the city where he was born. Prior to his elevation to the supreme 
bench he had held the offices of state's attorney, county judge of Wayne county, 
judge of the second judicial circuit and judge of the third district appellate court. 
Elsewhere in this work may be found individual sketches of others of the 
supreme-court justices. 



CHAPTER VI. 

REPORTERS OF THE SUPREME COURT. 

THE reporter of the decisions of the supreme court is appointed by the 
court, and there have thus far been six incumbents of this important 
position. 

Sidney Breese, to whom specific reference has been already made in the 
chapter pertaining to the supreme court, which he so dignified by his services 
as justice, was the first person authorized by the court to report and publish its 
decisions. He published the first volume of supreme-court reports, which 
includes all the decisions of the court from its first organization, in 1819, to the 
close of the December term, 1831, this being the only volume published by him. 
. Jonathan Young Scammon, of Chicago, was appointed by the court, July, 
1839, to succeed Judge Breese, and published four volumes, known as Scam- 
mon's Reports. The name of Jonathan Young Scammon is of necessity per- 
petuated in that of the history of Chicago, with which he was identified from 
1835 until his death, which occurred March 17, 1890, a long period of fifty-five 
years. His life was a useful one, and whether as lawyer, man of affairs, journal- 
ist or philanthropist, he always exerted an influence upon the public of Chicago 
and the west that was both helpful and ennobling, and has left an imperishable 
memory as the conservator of every interest contributing to the growth and de- 
velopment of the city of his adoption. 

Jonathan Young Scammon was born July 27, 1812, in the town of Whitfield, 
in that part of Massachusetts which, after the admission of Maine, in 1820, and 
the organization of Lincoln county, was within the borders of that county, that 
state. His father was Hon. Eliakim Scammon, a man of ability, who for many 
years represented the town of Pittston in the house of representatives and Ken- 
nebec county in the senate of Maine. His mother was Joanna Young, daughter 
of David Young, a pioneer, who represented his district in the general court of 
Massachusetts and performed gallant service as a soldier during the Revolution- 
ary war. 

Mr. Scammon received his early education at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary 
and the Lincoln Academy. He then entered Waterville College, now known 
as Colby University, from which he received the baccalaureate degree and at a 
later date the honorary degree of LL. D. He read law at Hallowell, and in 1835 
was admitted to the bar in Kennebec county. After a somewhat protracted 
tour of the west, he reached Chicago in the fall of that same year, and to oblige 
a friend, who was deputy clerk of the courts of Cook county, and who desired to 
be absent for a time, he consented temporarily to discharge the duties of that 

73 



-4 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

position in his friend's stead. That was the beginning of his active career in 
Chicago. 

Xo eastern visitor could at that time see much to favorably impress him 
with Chicago. But Mr. Scammon's stay here was prolonged until he became 
familiar with the town and its advantages, and he conceived a conviction as to 
the great destiny of the place which never left him afterward, even when Chi- 
cago's future appeared darkened. He soon began the practice of his profession 
and was early recognized as a lawyer of great ability. In 1837 he was made 
attorney for the State Bank of Illinois, at that time one of the leading financial 
institutions of the west. In 1839 he^was appointed reporter of the supreme 
court of Illinois, and published the first volume of the court reports issued in 
Chicago. This position he held until compelled by pressure of other business 
to relinquish it, in 1845, and the reports published under his supervision have 
been looked upon by the bar of the state as the most valuable of the series. 

After practicing his profession for a time, in partnership with Hon. B. S. 
Morris, one of the distinguished pioneer lawyers of the state, he became asso- 
ciated professionally with Hon. Norman B. Judd, whose reputation as a lawyer 
and politician was national, and the firm thus constituted was regarded as one 
of the ablest in the northwest. In 1847 the first railroad enterprise set on foot 
west of Lake Michigan was projected and Mr. Scammon became actively inter- 
ested in its advancement. The proposed line was known as the Galena & Chi- 
cago Union Railway, and to secure its completion Mr. Scammon not only 
brought to bear all the influences which he could command, but taxed his 
private resources to the utmost limit to contribute to its financial assistance. 
The amount of time which he found it necessary to devote to the railway and 
other business enterprises caused him to withdraw in a measure from the active 
practice of law in 1847, when his partnership with Mr. Judd was terminated. 

Notwithstanding this withdrawal from regular practice, Mr. Scammon 
retained a prominent position at. the bar and it was in his office that Hon. Robert 
T. Lincoln pursued his law studies at a later date. Even more widely than as a 
lawyer, he was known as a prominent citizen of Chicago and as a man of affairs. 
Early in the history of the city he engaged in banking, and built up various 
important financial institutions, besides investing large sums of money in mak- 
ing substantial and permanent investments on the realty which he acquired. He 
lent his every energy to all movements calculated to promote the growth and 
prosperity of the city. While not entirely successful in all his earlier financial 
ventures, he nevertheless built up a large fortune prior to 1870 and was ac- 
counted one of Chicago's wealthiest citizens, when the fire of 1871 blighted for a 
time the common prosperity and the major part of his own accumulations were 
entirely swept away. 

But his faith in Chicago did not flag, even in those hours of somber despair 
which drove some men mad and others to premature graves. He was one of the 
pioneers in the herculean task of building the city anew. He was one of the 
earliest to contract for building material, and new buildings to replace those of 
his which had been destroyed were among the earliest of those which sprang up, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 75 

almost like magic, immediately after the great conflagration. It is said that he 
entered into one such contract within twenty-four hours after the fire had been 
gotten under control and while some portions of the city were still burning. He 
thus exerted an influence upon others which gave an impetus to the rebuilding 
movement which was of incalculable benefit and which was not the least notable 
of the distinguished services rendered by him to Chicago. 

The financial panic of 1873, following close upon the unexpected and 
extraordinary reverses which had fallen upon him in 1871, prevented him from 
reaping the fruition of his labor and enterprise and resulted finally in the dissipa- 
tion of his entire fortune. He was a most liberal contributor during all the 
years of his financial prosperity to charitable and benevolent institutions, and no 
one ever appealed to him in vain in behalf of any movement having for its object 
the alleviation of human suffering or the improvement of the condition of any 
considerable number of his fellow-citizens. What has since become one of the 
noted hospitals of the city was originally built by Mr. Scammon at his own 
expense and was turned over to the Hahnemann Medical College as a gift, while 
the Hospital for Women and Children received from him liberal contributions 
and material assistance in conduct and management during the early years of 
its existence. He was equally generous in dealing with worthy persons in need 
with whom he came in contact professionally or otherwise. 

Mr. Scammon's friendship to young men just starting in life was exceed- 
ingly valuable. For all such he had a kindly word of advice under any circum- 
stances and he was generous with substantial encouragement when the occasion 
seemed to demand such aid. A distinguished jurist and a late member of the 
federal judiciary relates that when he had completed his course of study in Mr. 
Scammon's law office, and was ready to enter professional life on his own ac- 
count, the latter, entirely unsolicited, placed in his hands a considerable amount 
of business to be looked after in the new county seat in which he was to locate 
and left an order with a Chicago book-seller to supply him any books that he 
might need. His friendships were always generous and his manner of manifest- 
ing his regard or expressing his sympathies was eminently practical. To no 
one of Chicago's pioneers is the city under a greater obligation for the advance- 
ment of its educational interests than to Mr. Scammon. It was through his 
instrumentality that a free-school clause was inserted in the first charter granted 
to the city of Chicago, and it was to him that Chicago was mainly indebted for a 
free-school system some time before the free school became a state institution. 

Mr. Scammon was not only a promoter of but a devotee to science, to vari- 
ous branches of which, notwithstanding the multiplicity of his business and pro- 
fessional engagements, he gave much of his time and means. For many years 
he was specially interested in the study of astronomy. While connected with 
the University of Chicago as one of its trustees, he erected for the use of that 
institution an observatory, in which was placed one of the largest refracting 
telescopes ever brought to the west, and, in addition, he bore the expense of the 
maintenance of a professorship in connection therewith. He was one of the 
founders of the Chicago Astronomical Society, of the Chicago Historical Society 



76 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

and of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. As a religionist he was a follower of 
Swedenborg, and founded the Church of the New Jerusalem, of the Sweden- 
borgian faith, in Chicago. While he was devotedly attached to that church and 
made it the recipient of his most considerable gifts and donations, he took the 
broad view that all organizations of religious men and women were agencies for 
good, and the appeals which came to him to aid churches of all denominations 
seldom failed to meet with a helpful response. 

Nearly all his active life Mr. Scammon was a contributor to the press, and 
at different times he was prominent in the editorial and business management of 
leading Chicago newspapers. He had a more or less intimate connection with 
the founding of both the Tribune and the Journal, and in 1872 established the 
Inter-Ocean, of which he was for a time sole proprietor and editor-in-chief. This 
great journal was first issued March 25, that year, from a plant at the rear of 
Mr. Scammon's residence, where he erected a building and supplied it with the 
necessary printing material and installed a competent and sufficient corps of 
editors and reporters. 

Politically Mr. Scammon was, early in life, a Whig. From the time of the 
organization of the Republican party he was an ardent supporter of its prin- 
ciples. In 1860 he was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of Lincoln, and at 
his own expense published and distributed much of the literature of that cam- 
paign. He was never, however, an office-seeker, and the most important elective 
office he ever held was that of member of the Illinois legislature. He was twice 
married, first to Mary Ann Haven Dearborn of Bath, Maine, who died in 1857. 
His widow was Mrs. Gardner Wright. His one son, who grew to manhood, was 
Charles Trufant Scammon, who, at the time of his death, in 1876, was a partner 
of Hon. Robert T. Lincoln. 

Upon the resignation of Mr. Scammon as reporter of the supreme court his 
successor was appointed, in the person of Charles Oilman, of Quincy, Illinois, 
his appointment bearing date of January 30, 1845. His death occurred July 24, 
1849, when the fifth volume of his reports was about four-fifths completed. At 
the request of the administrators of the estate of the deceased reporter, the 
court authorized Charles B. Lawrence to complete the volume and superintend 
its publication. Mr. Oilman published five volumes, which are known as 
Oilman's Reports. 

After the death of Mr. Oilman, Ebenezer Peck, of Chicago, was appointed 
to fill the vacancy. He gave a new title to the volumes published by him, and 
his wisdom in so doing has been recognized, since the name which he gave, 
"Illinois Reports," has been ever since retained. His first volume was num- 
bered eleven and his last, thirty. He resigned in April, 1863. 

Ebenezer Peck located as a lawyer in Chicago during the summer of 1835. 
He was born in Portland, Maine, but his parents removed to Canada while he 
was but a lad, and he received his education and was admitted to the bar at 
the city of Quebec, where he began the practice of his profession, and soon rose 
to the rank of king's counsel, and was elected to the provincial parliament, 
where he acted with the Liberal party and acquired an influential position. After 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 77 

locating in Chicago he devoted himself earnestly to the work of his profession, 
secured a large and profitable practice, and was looked up to as one of the able 
lawyers of the city. He, however, had a great fondness for politics, which in 
a few years distracted his attention from his law practice, and finally, for a 
time, he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was then for a time clerk of the 
supreme court, with his office in Springfield, but resigned that place in 1846 and 
returned to Chicago, where he formed a law partnership with James A. Mc- 
Dougal, who was afterward United States senator from California. The firm 
soon secured a large practice, as both were able men and sound lawyers ; but in 
1849 Mr. Peck accepted the office of reporter of the supreme court of our state to 
succeed Mr. Charles Gilman, who had died. He held the place of reporter until 
after the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln as president, when he was appointed one 
of the judges of the United States court of claims, which place he filled until 
!875, when he resigned, at the age of seventy years, and died at his home in Chi- 
cago two years later. As a lawyer he was able and industrious, well versed in 
the common law, and an eloquent and effective advocate, courteous and gentle- 
manly toward the court and his brother lawyers, and thoroughly honest. He 
was a natural leader of men, and his influence was always thrown in favor of a 
high standard of professional conduct. He was an early admirer and friend of 
Mr. Lincoln, who had great confidence in his judgment, and often consulted him 
in the trying emergencies of the civil war. 

Norman Leslie Freeman, the fifth reporter of the supreme court, was born 
in the state of New York, on the 9th day of May, 1823. His ancestors were 
among the best of the old New England families. He lost his father when he 
was but a few years of age, and was taken by his mother to Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

He was employed for a short time in a store in Detroit, and then removed to 
Cleveland, Ohio, where he was engaged in a like employment. He completed 
his education at the Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. Shortly after leaving 
school he went to Kentucky, and was a teacher in that state. While teaching he 
entered upon the study of the law, eventually returning to New York, where 
he entered a law office for the purpose of completing his legal education. In 
1846 he again visited Kentucky, and was there admitted to the bar and entered 
upon the practice of his profession. 

In 1851 he removed from Kentucky to Shawneetown, and being admitted to 
the bar of Illinois he continued his practice. In the meantime he removed to 
the state of Missouri, and for a while lived on a farm, but returned to this state 
in 1862 and resumed his legal practice. In April, 1863, he was appointed by the 
supreme court the reporter of its decisions, which position he held until his death, 
which occurred on the 23d day of August, 1894. He reached and afterward 
held a high position at the bar of the circuit and supreme courts until he 
abandoned it to enter upon a new field of labor, the preparation of a digest of the 
Illinois reports. It is a work in two volumes and is now nearly obsolete, being 
superseded by other later and more extensive digests of Illinois decisions. It 
was the pioneer work of its kind, and shows the careful, accurate discrimination 
of a clear, well trained legal mind. It was published in 1856 and afforded great 



78 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

assistance to the practicing lawyers of that day ; it includes only fifteen volumes 
of Illinois reports. 

Judge John M. Scott, who was one of the justices of the supreme court 
for many years, says of Mr. Freeman : "It was his eminent fitness for that class 
of work, as manifested in the preparation of his digest, no doubt, that attracted the 
attention of the court when casting about for a suitable person to fill the office 
of reporter, upon the happening of a vacancy. Prior to that time there had been 
but four reporters of the decisions of the supreme court, Breese, Scammon, 
Oilman and Peck, all men of learning and ability. Selecting a successor to 
such eminent men and most successful reporters was a delicate task ; the selec- 
tion would imply a high compliment to one upon whom it might fall." 

Judge John D. Caton, who was one of the three judges which composed 
the court when Mr. Freeman was appointed, says of him : "Mr. Freeman had 
practiced before the court for a number of years before he was appointed its 
reporter, and we were all familiar with his eminent fitness, as a lawyer, for the 
place, but his other qualifications remained to be proved, and in these he has 
surpassed the most sanguine expectations of the court, of the profession and of 
his personal friends." 

Hon. Wm. E. Shutt, in his remarks in the circuit court of the United States 
for the southern district, January 25, 1895, condensed the personal character of 
Mr. Freeman in a few words : "Mr. Freeman was fearless, generous and honest. 
He lived an honorable, and an eminently useful life, 'And thus he bore without 
abuse the grand old name of gentleman.' " 

Isaac N. Phillips, the present reporter, was born October 24, 1845, m Taze- 
well county, Illinois, to which county his parents came from Wayne county, 
Kentucky, as "early settlers," in 1830. 

He was educated at the Illinois Wesleyan University, attended the old 
Chicago Law School, of which Judge Henry Booth was the dean, and gradu- 
ated in June, 1871. He was admitted to the bar that same summer and has 
practiced since at Bloomington, Illinois, except the four years during which he 
was chairman of the Illinois railroad and warehouse commission, under Gov- 
ernor Fifer. 

He was appointed reporter of the supreme court October 24, 1894. The 
first volume he reported was 152, and volume 173 has now been issued, and he is 
"up with the court." 



CHAPTER VII. 

LAWYERS OF CHICAGO. 

ELLIOTT ANTHONY. On a certain occasion, in speaking of the virtues 
of a prominent jurist, Judge Elliott Anthony said : "May our successors 
in the profession look back upon our times not without some kind regrets 
and some tender recollections ; may they cherish our memories with that gentle 
reverence which belongs to those who have labored earnestly, though it may 
be humbly, for the advancement of the law; may they catch a holy enthusiasm 
from the review of our attainments, however limited they may be, which shall 
make them aspire after the loftiest possessions of human learning ; and thus may 
they be enabled to advance our jurisprudence to that degree of perfection 
which shall make it a blessing and protection to our country and excite the just 
admiration of mankind." The hope that Judge Anthony uttered in those words 
is surely realized in regard to the influence he had upon the jurisprudence of the 
state and the impress he made upon the bar. He was one of the great lawyers 
of the Illinois bar who lives in the memories of his contemporaries encircled with 
the halo of a gracious presence, charming personality, profound legal wisdom, 
purity of public and private life, and the quiet dignity of an ideal follower of his 
calling. He was for many years in active practice in Chicago, and comparatively 
few men endear themselves to so great an extent to their professional asso- 
ciates and to those with whom they come in contact in the discharge of public 
duties. In his lifetime the people of the state, recognizing his merit, rejoiced in 
his advancement and in the honors to which he attained, and since his death they 
have cherished his memory, which remains as a gracious benediction to all who 
knew him. 

Judge Elliott Anthony was born in the town of Spafford, Onondaga county, 
New York, June 10, 1827, and is descended from Quaker ancestry, who sought 
religious freedom in New England, and were even then forced to take up their 
residence in Rhode Island on account of the persecution of the people of that 
sect in other colonies of the New World. Among the number was the grand- 
father of the Judge, who lived in that section of the colony which was occupied 
by the British and their Hessian troops in the war of the Revolution. Captured 
by the enemy he was forced to do menial service in the British headquarters, 
and the wrongs he thus suffered awakened a resentment against the English 
which is still manifest in his descendants. Other members of the family, how- 
ever, found opportunity to join the American army and did valiant service for 
their country. Isaac Anthony, father of the Judge, was born in Rhode Island, 
and the stories of the Revolution became very familiar to him, awakening a deep 
interest in the affairs of his country, so that at a later day he became an able 

79 



80 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

historian. In the early part of the nineteenth century he went with his father's 
family to New York, a settlement being made at Cambridge, a little village 
about twenty miles from Albany. It was also the home of the Phelps family, 
emigrants from Vermont, and Isaac Anthony married Parmelia Phelps. When 
their family numbered four sons and a daughter they removed to the town of 
Spafford, Onondaga county. Once before, the father had made a settlement 
in that county and had resided for a time in Cattaraugus county, but had re- 
turned east at the request of his friends, and Elliott and one sister and three 
brothers had been born in Onondaga county before the final exodus. At the 
time of the second removal the county was still a frontier district, a picturesque 
region of hill, valley and lake, and the farm upon which the family located was 
merely a clearing in the midst of the primeval forest. Three sisters were born in 
this home, and the whole family were engaged in the duties peculiar to a frontier 
settlement ; but these were done with such intelligence and vigor that Mr. An- 
thony became the most prominent farmer in that region, and in addition to the 
advantages of local primary instruction he gave each of his children an academic 
education in Cortlandt Academy, at Homer, which was the leading institution 
in that region. 

Elliott Anthony, the fourth son, manifested special aptitude in his educational 
labors and made rapid advancement, so that on leaving Cortlandt Academy he 
was permitted to enter Hamilton College, of Clinton, New York, as a sopho- 
more, in the autumn of 1847. He was graduated with honors at that institution 
in the class of 1850, and during the succeeding year he and a classmate, Joseph 
D. Hubbard, had charge of the Clinton Academy, in which Grover Cleveland 
was then a pupil. At the same time Judge Anthony pursued a course of law 
study under the direction of the renowned Professor Theodore W. Dwight, 
who then occupied the chair of law and political economy in Hamilton. In 
May, 1851, when twenty-four years of age, he was admitted to the bar, at 
Oswego, New York, and determined to enter upon his professional career in 
Illinois, where his brother had previously located. 

Accordingly he took up his residence in Sterling, this state, where he tried 
his first case in a court of record. After about a year he returned to the east and 
was married, July 14, 1852, to Miss Mary Dwight, a sister of his law preceptor 
and a granddaughter of President Dwight of Yale College. With his bride he 
then came to Chicago, where, with the aid of his accomplished wife, he cele- 
brated his first year of residence by compiling "A Digest of the Illinois Re- 
ports," which was received with great favor. He had been in Chicago but six 
years, when, in 1858, he was elected city attorney and distinguished his adminis- 
tration of the duties of that office in many notable cases where new points of law 
were established ; as, for instance, that special assessments cannot be enjoined 
by a court of chancery ; that the city of Chicago cannot be garnished to collect 
salaries or wages of those employed by it; that no execution can issue against 
the city to collect a judgment, and that the city cannot make contracts with gas 
companies which interfere with the prerogatives of legislation. These are trite 
points now, but they were made against great opposition in eminent quarters. A 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 81 

more striking case still was that regarding the liability of a property owner for 
damages due to injuries received from an excavation left open in front of his prem- 
ises. This was in the well known Robbins case,twice tried before the UnitedStates 
supreme court, in which the position laid down in Mr. Anthony's brief, that the 
owner was liable to the city where the city is sued and pays the damages, was 
sustained, and the case became the leading authority in the country. Five years 
after his election he was chosen general solicitor for the greatest railway corpor- 
ation then in the northwest, the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad Company. 
He was with it when the great fight over its consolidation with the Chicago & 
Northwestern was on, and led the minority stockholders in one of the most stub- 
bornly contested cases in railway law, and enlisted some of the most eminent 
capitalists in the country, among them Samuel J. Tilden. All the positions of 
Mr. Anthony's brief were sustained and the parties patched up their differences. 
This brief grew into a treatise on "The Law Pertaining to the Consolidation of 
Railroads," which not only elicited personal congratulations from such men as 
Josiah Quincy, Sidney Bartlett, Justice Swayne, and the late Thomas A. Ewing, 
but has remained the best work on that subject and has attracted much atten- 
tion in Europe. 

The organic law of the state of Illinois, as framed in the constitutions of 
1862 and 1870, bore the impress of the talent and ability of Judge Anthony, who 
was a prominent and leading member of both conventions. In the first he was 
associated with such eminent statesmen as Henry Muhlke, Chief Justice Fuller 
and Hon. John Wentworth. In the second were as notable a collection of men as 
ever assembled for Illinois, and Judge Anthony was regarded as the expert on 
constitutional methods and procedure. He was chairman of the executive com- 
mittee and drafted the article relating to that department. He also served upon 
the committees on judiciary and railroads and drafted many of the articles of the 
former and most of the latter. To his foresight is clue the provision for the 
appellate courts and additional judges of the circuit and superior courts of Cook 
county to follow the needs of population. In connection with this he was 
always one of the commanding speakers on the floor. 

For the long period of twelve years Judge Anthony sat upon the bench of 
the superior court of Chicago, beginning in the autumn of 1880, and during his 
term he compelled a return to a more strict and correct construction of the law 
in certain features, notably that of self-defense, in which he was the first prom- 
inent jurist to take a bold stand against its abuses. This he did in a work 
entitled "Law of Self-Defense, Trial by Jury in Criminal Cases, and New Trials 
in Criminal Cases," which attracted widespread attention and influenced prac- 
tice to a great degree. His sketches of the courts of England, published in the 
Legal Adviser, attracted much attention about this time, and probably no work 
surpasses his treatise on "The Law of Arrest in Civil Cases." He was twice ap- 
pointed corporation counsel of the city of Chicago. He was always popular with 
the bar, and as founder and president of the Chicago Law Institute, whose 
charter he drafted and whose incorporation he secured, we owe to Judge 
Anthony a debt that can never be paid. In 1859 he was president of the Ex- 



82 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

celsior Society ; was one of the two honorary members of the Chicago Law In- 
stitute; and was president of the Illinois State Bar Association in 1895. The 
last named frequently called upon him for addresses, and that delivered by him 
in 1891 on the Constitutional History of Illinois, as well as that of the following 
year on "Remember the Pioneers," were memorable in the annals of the asso- 
ciation. Judge Anthony was a ready and entertaining writer and his historical 
articles have been many and have been widely read. He was the author of the 
Constitutional History of Illinois, The Story of the Empire, Sanitation and Navi- 
gation, which foreshadowed the famous drainage canal of these days, and many 
articles which have been published in the Magazine of Western History. He 
was a man of very scholarly attainments, and was honored in 1889 with the de- 
gree of LL. D., conferred upon him by his alma mater, Hamilton College. His 
extensive and much read library indicates his familiarity with the master minds 
of all ages, and his collection of historical works is very valuable. The cause 
of education' and mental culture was always one dear to his heart and for many 
years he was a member of the board of directors of the Chicago public library, 
and did much to promote its interests. Travel also broadened his mind and en- 
riched his writings, and his several trips through Europe resulted in the pro- 
duction of a number of interesting articles from his pen, including a very notable 
one on Russia. 

In politics, Judge Anthony was a conspicuous figure. He was one of the 
founders of the Republican party in Illinois and was a delegate to the first Re- 
publican convention in Cook county. His fitness for leadership called him at 
once to a place among the most eminent men of the party, and in 1880, when 
the conflict over the third-term idea came up he was elected chairman of the 
Cook county convention and delegate to the state convention, whereupon he 
became contesting delegate to the national convention, where in a stormy debate 
he answered Green B. Raum, General Logan and Emery A. Storrs, and was 
finally admitted to the convention which nominated General Garfield for presi- 
dent. As a citizen he supported every measure for the general good with a 
public-spirited loyalty that was above question. At the bar he was ever 
courteous and fair to his opponents and won their high respect. On the bench 
he fully sustained the majesty of the law ; he was ever dignified, and his opinions 
were models of judicial soundness, based upon a comprehensive understanding 
of the principles of jurisprudence and a masterful skill in applying them to the 
points in litigation. He was never offensively aggressive, either in the political 
or legal field, but maintained his stand for the right, as he saw it, with a fixed 
purpose that commanded public confidence, and at the same time was courteous 
to all who differed from him. 

He passed away February 24, 1898, and his death brought regret to the 
entire community in which his engaging personality, his lofty character and ex- 
ceptional attainments made him observed of all men. Like all who walk through 
life on a higher plane than the great majority of his fellows, his companionship 
was select, rather than large, but the many who looked up to him and respected 
him realized as fullv as did the few who were near him that a true man had fallen. 




I 



L 






THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 83 

Benjamin F. Ayer, for more than forty years a member of the bar of Chi- 
cago, was born in Kingston, Rockingham county, New Hampshire, April 22, 
1825, and is a son of Robert and Louisa (Sanborn) Ayer. His father 
was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, August 14, 1791, and traced his ancestry 
back to John Ayer, who emigrated to America from Norfolk county, England, in 
1637, and took up his residence in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1645. The 
mother was a daughter of Benjamin Sanborn, of Kingston, New Hampshire, a 
descendant of Rev. Stephen Batchelder, who came from Hampshire, England, in 
1632, and on the settlement of Hampton, New Hampshire, took charge of the 
first church in that town. Among his descendants were Lewis Cass and Daniel 
Webster. 

Liberal educational advantages fitted Benjamin Ayer for life's duties, and his 
rapid advancement indicated an alert and well-trained mind. His preparatory 
training was received at the Albany Academy, of Albany, New York, after which 
he entered Dartmouth College, where he graduated in 1846. Choosing the law 
as a profession, he prepared himself for its practice by a course of study extend- 
ing over a period of three years, including attendance upon the regular courses 
of lectures at the Dane Law School, the law department of Harvard Univer- 
sity. Admitted to the bar, he began practice in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 
July, 1849. 

A solid professional reputation can be attained at the bar only by settled 
habits of labor and research, to which must be added the analytic power and 
trained judgment which can clearly and quickly discern the essential points in a 
complicated case and apply to them the precise legal rule. These qualifications 
are among the marked characteristics of Mr. Ayer and early brought him success 
in his professional career, so that before leaving the east he had a large and 
important clientage. He was honored by his fellow citizens with an election to 
the state legislature in 1853. an ^ the following year was appointed prosecuting 
attorney for Hillsborough county, in which capacity he rendered efficient ser- 
vice to the public until 1857, when he resigned, preparatory to his removal to the 
west. 

Thinking to find a broader and more important field for his labors, Mr. 
Ayer came to Chicago in 1857, and on the I5th of May was admitted to the 
Illinois bar. In 1861 he was appointed corporation counsel for the city of 
Chicago, and during four years' service in that capacity drafted the revised city 
charter of 1863. Soon after his retirement from office he. became a member 
of the firm of Beckwith, Ayer & Kales, a connection which was continued until 
1873, when the senior partner withdrew, Mr. Ayer and Mr. Kales, however, con- 
tinuing their association until 1876. 

While not restricting his practice to any single department of the law, Mr. 
Ayer from an early period in his professional career made a close study of corpor- 
ation and railroad law, and was therefore eminently fitted to accept the position 
of general solicitor for the Illinois Central Railroad Company, which was ten- 
dered him in 1876. The following year he was elected a director of that com- 
pany, and on the ist of January, 1890, became its general counsel. Of late 



84 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

years his attention has necessarily been confined to the legal business of the 
Illinois Central Company, and he has conducted, as its counsel, some of the 
most important litigation in the courts of the country relating to railroad 
interests. Among these cases was the famous one involving the title to the lake 
front and reclaimed ground occupied by the Illinois Central Company in Chicago. 
Another was that involving the right of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to re- 
tain station grounds in the yards of the Illinois Central ; and still another, de- 
termining the right of the Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railroad to condemn 
ten miles or more of Illinois Central right of way between Galena and East 
Dubuque. 

A just estimate of Mr. Ayer's professional attainments and achievements 
cannot be better given, perhaps, than in the words of the late William C. Goudy, 
who knew him well and who said : "Benjamin F. Ayer has stood in the first 
rank of lawyers in Chicago for more than thirty years. Nothing has been 
allowed to divert him from his profession. He never relies on others to do his 
work. Every question is investigated until the subject is exhausted. While 
not controlled by precedents, he personally examines every case where the sub- 
ject has been involved, in order to extract the principles applicable to the matter 
in hand. The most remarkable is the ability to make a connected and logical 
statement of his case to the court. This is done in language which cannot be 
misunderstood, and when presented orally it is with a clear voice and appropriate 
emphasis, giving the greatest pleasure to. the listener. The manner is one of 
honesty and candor, which leaves no room for doubt as to his own convictions. 
He has always had the credit of sincerity with the court, stating facts in a 
conservative way and suppressing nothing, regardless of the effect on his case. 
He has always endeavored to aid the court in arriving at correct conclusions, 
both as to fact and law, believing that the highest duty of a lawyer is to see 
that justice is done. In short, he commands the confidence and respect of 
judges and lawyers, and as a citizen is without reproach." 

Mr. Ayer was married in 1868 to Miss Janet, daughter of Hon. James C. 
Hopkins, of Madison, Wisconsin, and they have four children : Walter, Mary 
Louisa, Janet, and Margaret Helen. Mr. Ayer is a valued member of various 
social organizations. He was one of the founders of the Sons of New Hamp- 
shire, organized in 1889, and for two years filled the office of president. He 
is a member of the Chicago Historical Society, the Chicago Law Institute, the 
Chicago Literary Club, the Chicago Club, the American Bar Association and 
the Chicago Bar Association: in 1875 he was president of the latter. In 1878, 
the honorary degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by his alma mater. 

He is a man of scholarly tastes and his mind has been cultivated by ex- 
tensive reading and research carried into various fields of literature and science. 
His manner is one of modesty and reserve, yet he is ever most courteous and 
kindly to those with whom he is brought in contact ; and those who are ad- 
mitted to his friendship find him a most entertaining, social man, quick to 
recognize commendable traits in others, and always worthy of the highest re- 
gard and esteem. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 85 



Lysander Hill. In a classification of the lawyers of Chicago the name of 
this gentleman will occupy a notable place among the distinguished members 
of the profession who have devoted their energies to patent law. This branch 
of jurisprudence, developed within a comparatively short period, is one of 
the most important in its relations to the trade interests of all departments of 
the law. By the protection which it furnishes to inventors, it stimulates all 
inventive genius, and, when superior ability has produced mechanical devices 
whose utility promotes the business interests of the land, patent law protects 
the rights of the inventor from the attacks of the unscrupulous, who would 
take advantage of his genius for their own profit and to the detriment of the 
producer. No more intricate or delicate problems come before the courts than 
those concerning patent litigation, and the man who can successfully handle 
these must not only be well versed in the principles of jurisprudence, but 
must also have a definite knowledge of mechanics that he may prove the orig- 
inality of the invention. In both respects Mr. Hill is well qualified to handle 
the important interests which are entrusted to his care, and has attained hon- 
orable distinction as one of the ablest patent lawyers of the land. Even be- 
fore he had completed his literary education Mr. Hill had determined to devote 
his life to the practice of law, and the careful pursuit of a well defined purpose 
has gained him prestige in professional circles and also a handsome competence 
which is a well-merited reward of his labors. 

He was born in Union, Lincoln county, Maine, on the 4th of July, 1834, 
a son of Isaac and Eliza M. (Hall) Hill. Among the Puritans who settled 
Massachusetts in the beginning of American colonization were the paternal and 
maternal ancestors of our subject, and thus from a sturdy stock is he descended. 
Having attended the common schools of his native town, he entered Warren 
Academy, where he prepared for college, and in 1854 he matriculated in 
Bowdoin College, in which institution he was graduated in 1858 with the highest 
honors of his class. Soon afterward he carried into execution his plan of pre- 
paring for the bar, and after a comprehensive course of reading in the office 
of A. P. Gould, a prominent attorney of Thomaston, Maine, he was admitted 
to practice in 1859. 

Mr. Hill opened an office there and was intent on building up a good busi- 
ness, when the events which preceded the civil war claimed his attention. 
He watched with growing interest and anxiety the hostile attitude of the people 
of the south, and when war seemed imminent he took an active part in rais- 
ing troops for the government. In April, 1861, he enlisted with an artillery 
company, but this was not accepted for active service, because, as General 
Scott expressed it, "the government already had more artillery than it knew 
what to do with." After the battle of Bull Run Mr. Hill prevailed upon 
Governor Washburn, of Maine, to organize a regiment of cavalry and took 
an active part in raising it, although business duties obliged him to decline a 
commission in it. In the early summer of 1862, however, Mr. Hill entered 
the service as captain of an infantry company belonging to the Twentieth 
Regiment of Maine Volunteers. Colonel Bacheldor, the historian of Gettys- 



86 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 



burg, credits this regiment with turning the tide of battle in that decisive en- 
gagement. In 1863 Captain Hill was honorably discharged on account of dis- 
ability and his health was so greatly impaired that his physician forbade a return 
to the north. He therefore located in Alexandria, Virginia, where he resumed 
the practice of law, also conducting a law office in Washington, D. C., at the 
same time. In the former city he was associated with George Tucker, under 
the style of Hill & Tucker. With the close of the war there came an important 
service to perform, the reconstruction of the south, and in the work of har- 
monizing that division of the country to the new order of things Mr. Hill 
bore an important part and one which redounds to his credit as a citizen, a 
patriot and a friend to humanity. He not only had the confidence of the 
government at Washington but also won the warm regard of his fellow citizens 
of the Old Dominion, who afterward showed their appreciation of his services 
by making a strong effort to confer upon him high judicial honors. In 1866 
he was made a delegate to the Southern Loyalist Convention, which met in 
Philadelphia, and was also a delegate to the Republican national convention, 
at Chicago, in May, 1868. In 1867 he was appointed register in bank- 
ruptcy, and in 1869 resigned in order to accept the appointment of judge of 
the eighth judicial district of Virginia. In that office he discharged his duties 
with such impartiality and marked fairness that an attempt was made, ir- 
respective of party, to place him on the supreme bench of the state. 

Until 1871 Mr. Hill's law practice was of a general nature, but from that 
time he has devoted his attention almost exclusively to patent and corporation 
cases. In 1874 he left Virginia, removing to Washington, where he formed 
a partnership with E. A. Ellsworth, under the firm name of Hill & Ellsworth. 
This connection was maintained until 1878, and Judge Hill was then alone in 
business in Washington until 1881, when in the month of May he came to 
Chicago. He formed a partnership with T. S. E. Dixon, which continued for 
nine years, and since that time has been alone in business, enjoying a most 
extended clientage, which comes from all parts of the country, and includes 
many of the most important patent cases that have been heard in the history 
of American jurisprudence. 

In February, 1864, Mr. Hill was united in marriage to Miss Adelaide R. 
Cole, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and in the company of his wife and three 
children the Judge finds his chief pleasure. His political support is still given 
the Republican party and he is as ardently devoted to the cause as in earlier 
years, notwithstanding the duties of an extensive law practice make it im- 
possible for him to engage in active political work. Of Mr. Hill it has been 
written : "Upright, reliable and honorable, his strict adherence to principle 
commands the respect of all. The place he has won in the legal profession 
is accorded him in recognition of his skill and ability, and the place which 
he occupies in the social world is a tribute to that genuine worth and true 
nobleness of character which are universally recognized and honored." 

Joseph A. O'Donnell. Among the representatives of the Illinois bar that 
come from the Emerald Isle is Joseph A. O'Donnell, who was born in the 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 87 

town of Ballina, county Mayo, December 23, 1859, his parents being Patrick 
and Catherine (Nellis) O'Donnell, members of the famous O'Donnell family 
of Ireland. In 1866 they brought their children to the New World, locating in 
Chicago, and Joseph pursued his. education in St. Patrick's Academy of this 
city and in the public schools. His school life then ended for a time ; the family 
was in limited circumstances and he was obliged to find employment that he 
might aid in the support of the other children. He entered upon his business 
career as an office boy and later was apprenticed to a mechanical engineer. 
He applied himself with great diligence to the thorough mastery of the work, 
and when only twenty-two years of age was appointed to the important position 
of foreman. During most of this time he attended a night school and studied 
mechanical drawing, engineering and other kindred subjects, eagerly embrac- 
ing every opportunity for gaining a comprehensive knowledge of his trade. 

The arduous labors which he performed, however, undermined his health 
and led to his determination to make the practice of law his life work. He had 
previously read Blackstone's Commentaries on English law and Kent's Com- 
mentaries on American law, and had also studied Latin during his leisure hours 
in morning and evening. He was graduated in the Union Law College of Chi- 
cago, in 1887, with the degree of LL. B., won a senior diploma, and later took 
a post-graduate course, winning the degree of Master of Law. From the be- 
ginning he has been very successful in his practice and has always enjoyed 
an extensive and lucrative clientage. He is of a studious disposition, possesses 
a keen, analytical mind and is very thorough and exact in the preparation and 
conduct of the litigated interests entrusted to his care. 

While Mr. O'Donnell has won a creditable position at the Chicago bar, 
he has also become prominent in political circles and his influence is strongly 
marked in the counsels of the Democratic party, with which he has been as- 
sociated since attaining his majority. In 1889, 1891 and 1893 he was elected 
from the ninth district to the general assembly, and was also in attendance 
at the special session called to consider the World's Fair bill. During the 
last two sessions he 'was a member of the steering committee of the house, and 
his able management led to not a few successes for his party. He was instru- 
mental in securing the passage of a number of important bills, and it was through 
his efforts that the Australian ballot law was placed on the statute books of this 
commonwealth. The bill was introduced by him and engineered by him through 
the house. He was well known as one of the leading orators of the assembly, 
and while he did not resort to the use of flowery phrases to any extent his sound 
logic and evident belief in all he advocated produced great effect upon his 
auditors. He was also associated with the "one hundred and one" who secured 
the election of General Palmer as United States senator. 

In 1886 Mr. O'Donnell married Miss Rose E. Dugan, whose father, 
Thomas Dugan, was one of the pioneers of the city, of 1833. He belongs to a 
number of distinctly Irish societies and in addition holds membership in the 
Royal League, Ancient Order of United Workmen, National Union and the 
Knights of the Maccabees. For five years he was a member of the Second 



88 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

Regiment, Illinois State Militia, in which he held the rank of first lieutenant. 
In his religious associations he is a Roman Catholic. In 1894 he revisited the 
land of his birth, and also viewed many of the places of historic and modern 
interest in England and Scotland. His courteous, affable manner renders him 
a general favorite and his friends are many. 

Francis W. S. Brawley. In the death of the honored subject of this 
memoir there passed away another member of that little group of distinctively 
representative lawyers who were the pioneers at a bar now famous for the 
brilliant achievements and deep learning of its members. His name is familiar 
not alone to the residents of northern Illinois, but to all who have been in the 
least intimately informed as to the history of jurisprudence in this state. For 
a half century he practiced in the courts of this commonwealth, winning a name 
and fame that have left their impress upon our judicial history and that ever 
reserved for him a place among the most prominent representatives of the bar. 
He never confined his attention exclusively to one line of the law, but had 
a comprehensive knowledge of its various departments and had the ability 
which enabled him to master the intricacies of each branch. There is in his 
history a mastering of expedients and a utilization of opportunities that fur- 
nish an example well worth emulation, as it illustrates what can be accom- 
plished through determined purpose and well directed energy. 

Mr. Brawley was born at North East, Erie county, Pennsylvania, his par- 
ents being John and Mary (Saltsman) Brawley. His ancestors were among 
the Pennsylvania colonists and were of Scotch lineage. His early childhood 
was spent on his father's farm, but while he was still young the family re- 
moved to a village in western Pennsylvania and later to the city of Erie. In 
the latter place he acquired an academic education, and resolving to find in 
the legal profession his life work, began the study of law, in the office of Hon. 
John Galbraith, a distinguished jurist, who carefully directed his reading. He 
applied himself with such diligence that he was ready for admission to the bar 
at the age of twenty, but the laws of his state prevented the practice of any 
lawyer under the age of twenty-one, and until time should qualify him for his 
chosen calling he resolved to emigrate westward and seek a location in the 
Mississippi valley, whose rapid development promised a good field for the young 
and ambitious. 

In 1845, therefore, Mr. Brawley arrived in Chicago. His financial resources 
were limited and in order to gain a living he accepted a position as compositor 
on a Chicago newspaper, having acquired some knowledge of the printer's 
art while in the east. While thus employed he spent more or less time in the 
courts and learned something of western methods of practice, and was much 
interested in watching the work of the old-time leaders of the Chicago bar. 
The termination of one of the cases that came under the jurisdiction of the 
court of this city was rather amusing as showing new methods of administering 
justice. A fugitive slave had been apprehended in Chicago by his pursuers 
from a southern state and was taken before a justice of the peace. A great 
crowd gathered around the magistrate's office, and when the negro was brought 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 89 

out they closed around him and by some peaceable means separated him from 
those who had him in charge. They then started him running down the street 
and fell in behind him and before his captors, ostensibly as active and zealous 
pursuers. In this way, without any violence to the slave hunters, they kept the 
latter in the rear until the negro was lost to sight, and ultimately, by means 
of the historic underground railroad, he found his way into Canada ! 

Thus working at the printer's trade and attending court as opportunity 
offered Mr. Brawley passed a few months, but tiring of the life he determined to 
go further west and started for Iowa by stage. He first stopped at Freeport, 
Illinois, and then went on horseback to southern Wisconsin. On his return 
he met a minister who induced him to accept a school in Freeport until such 
time as he might be ready to enter upon the practice of his profession. 

It was thus that Mr. Brawley became a resident of Freeport, where he made 
his home for twenty-three years, becoming the foremost member of the bar 
of that place. He was married there in 1850, to Miss Mary Reitzell, a daughter 
of one of the pioneers of Stephenson county, and establishing a home there 
was long identified with its interests. After teaching school for a year he was 
examined for admission to the bar by Madison Y. Johnson, Colonel Jason 
Marsh and Thomas Goodhue, and being licensed to practice entered upon his 
professional career in association with Hon. Martin P. Sweet, an able advocate 
and counselor, who greatly assisted his young partner in the active workings 
of the law. On the termination of their partnership Mr. Brawley became a 
partner of Hon. J. M. Bailey, subsequently one of the judges of the supreme 
court of Illinois, and the firm at once took a leading rank at the bar of Free- 
port, where they continued practice until 1869, when seeking a broader field 
they came to Chicago. They were retained as counsel on one side or the other 
of every important litigated interest of Stephenson county, and in matters of 
public importance outside the line of his profession Mr. Brawley was also a 
recognized leader. He served for two terms as county superintendent of schools 
and was long a member of the board of education of Freeport. He prepared 
the special charter under which the schools of Freeport have since been con- 
ducted, and which is recognized as formulating one of the best educational 
systems of the state. As a Douglas Democrat he interested himself in politics, 
and during one of the stirring campaigns early in the '505 he purchased and for 
a time edited the Freeport Bulletin, which was one of the most ardent champions 
of Democratic principles as represented by the distinguished Illinois senator. 
In 1852 a long and bitter contest for the postmastership of Freeport was waged 
between rival aspirants for the position, and it was suddenly terminated by the 
appointment of Mr. Brawley, who had been neither an applicant nor an aspirant 
for the position, and who, until he received his commission, had no knowledge 
that his name had been considered in connection with the office. He served in 
that capacity for six years, and during that period was several times elected 
city attorney of Freeport. 

In 1869 Mr. Brawley returned to Chicago and from that time until his 
death, which occurred August 19, 1898, was a conspicuous figure at the bar 



90 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

of the metropolis by reason of his versatility, his wide learning and his ability 
to determine with accuracy the special point in law that applied to the litigated 
interest. He had previously given his attention largely to railroad and in- 
surance litigation, but on locating in Chicago did not confine himself to any one 
branch of the law and won splendid success in various branches of jurisprudence. 
His partnership with Judge Bailey continued until the latter's elevation to the 
bench, when he became a partner of Hon. Thomas J. Turner. His practice 
constantly grew in volume and importance, and from the beginning of his 
career as a legal practitioner his efforts have been attended with success. He 
mastered the science of jurisprudence, and his deep research and thorough 
preparation of every case committed to his care enabled him at once to meet 
any contingency that arose. His cause was fenced about with strong logic and 
his arguments were cogent, concise and followed each other in natural sequence, 
forming a chain of reasoning that his opponents found difficult to overthrow. 
Probably sixty cases with which he was identified were carried to the supreme 
court of the state, and in a considerable number of them important principles 
of law were for the first time clearly enunciated and important precedents 
established. A large and distinctively representative clientage attested his abil- 
ity and he long ranked very high at the Chicago bar. 

Previous to the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 he was chairman 
of the society of Pennsylvania residents in Chicago, who enthusiastically and 
assiduously labored to have that fair held in Chicago, as it eventually was, 
the Keystone state, in congress, with almost entire unanimity voting for Chicago 
as the locality for the fair. Of the Knight Templar Commandery he was a 
valued and prominent member, and in the Protestant Episcopal church he 
also held membership. A man of scholarly tastes and studious habits, he spent 
many pleasant hours with his favorite authors, and his kindly impulses and 
charming cordiality of manner rendered him exceedingly popular among his 
many friends. 

Judge Thomas Guilford Windes, of the appellate court of the first district, 
has been a member of the Chicago bar for almost a quarter of a century. He 
was born in Morgan county, Alabama, January 19, 1848, and is of Scotch 
descent, the original American ancestors of the family having come to the New 
World prior to the Revolutionary war. His father, Rev. Enoch Windes, was 
a minister of the Baptist church, and wedded Mary Ann Ryan, a lady of Irish 
lineage, whose people were among the pioneers of Kentucky. 

Judge Windes was educated in an academy at Huntsville, Alabama, and was 
engaged in farming until sixteen years of age. He then entered the Con- 
federate service as a cavalryman under General Forrest, and was at the front 
until the close of hostilities. He read law under the direction of the firm of 
Beirne & Gordon, of Huntsville, and in 1867-8 was a law student in the Uni- 
versity of Virginia, after which he engaged in teaching school until admitted 
to the bar at Jasper, Tennessee, in 1870. Through the succeeding two years he 
engaged in merchandising and in farming, but, meeting with an accident, he 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 91 

resolved to come to Chicago, and has since been identified with the interests 

of this city. 

Judge Windes was employed in various ways until September, 1873, when 
he secured a situation as a law clerk. In the summer of 1875 he was admitted 
to the Illinois bar and has since engaged in practice. For some years he was 
associated in a partnership with Alexander Sullivan, and much important liti- 
gation fell to their share. In November, 1880, our subject was appointed master 
in chancery of the circuit court of Cook county and served for twelve years, 
when, in 1892, he was elected judge of the circuit court. In June, 1897, he 
was appointed to the appellate bench, and has long since demonstrated his right 
to be classed among the ablest jurists of the state. His decisions indicate strong 
mentality, careful analysis, a thorough knowledge of law and an unbiased judg- 
ment. He is also possessed of that self-control which enables him to lose his 
individuality and put aside all personal feelings and prejudices, in order that 
he may impartially and righteously dispense justice. 

In 1868 Judge Windes was united in marriage to Miss Sallie C. Humphrey, 
daughter of Boyle P. Humphrey, a prominent planter of Madison county, 
Alabama. They have four children and reside in a pleasant home in Winne|ka. 
The Judge is a Baptist in his religious views, and a Democrat in his political 
faith. 

Eben Fitch Runyan. Only five members of the Chicago bar in the present 
year, 1898, were practicing here at the time of Mr. Runyan's arrival in 1855. 
He may therefore be said to be one of the pioneer lawyers of the city, and 
through the four decades that have since come and gone he has ever occupied 
a prominent position in the foremost rank of the legal practitioners of the 
western metropolis. His life has been one of untiring activity and has been 
crowned with a high degree of success, yet he is not less esteemed as a citizen 
than as a lawyer, and.his kindly impulses and charming cordiality of manner 
have rendered him exceedingly popular among all classes. The favorable judg- 
ment which the world passed upon him in his early years has never been set 
aside nor in any degree modified. It has, on the contrary, been emphasized 
by his careful conduct of important litigation, his candor and fairness in the 
presentation of cases, his zeal and earnestness as an advocate, and the generous 
commendation he has received from his contemporaries, who unite in bearing 
testimony as to his high character and superior mind. 

Eben F. Runyan was born in Victory, Cayuga county, New York, December 
3, 1831, and remained in his native town until the spring of 1838, when his father 
died and he was compelled to care for himself. His educational privileges 
were somewhat limited. He attended the common schools and later pursued his 
. studies in the Waukegan Academy, of Waukegan, Illinois, when Hon. Francis 
E. Clark was principal, and his wife, then Miss Hannah Scott, was one of the 
teachers. Of a studious nature, Mr. Runyan, through his childhood and youth, 
spent much of his leisure time in the perusal of books and thus gained a broad 
knowledge which largely assisted him in the acquisition of legal lore. In the 
spring of 1849 he entered the store of Captain T. F. Comstock, at Wilton, 



92 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

Saratoga county, New York, and remained in that employ until the spring 
of 1850, but he did not find that occupation congenial, although he gave entire 
satisfaction to his employer, and resolved to seek a home in the west. In April 
of that year he started for Illinois, making the journey almost entirely on foot, 
and from the nth of June until March, 1853, was engaged during the summer 
months in farming in McHenry county, Illinois, while during the winter season 
he taught school. In the spring of 1853 he continued his own education in 
Waukegan Academy, and on leaving that institution entered upon the study 
of law in the office of W. S. Searls, being admitted to the bar in the spring of 
1855. Then, as now, he believed that whatever is worth doing is worth doing 
well, and was so strict in his adherence to the rules, forms and principles of the 
text-books that for years after he commenced the practice of law he would not 
himself use, nor would he permit a student in his office to use, a blank in the 
preparation of a case for court. 

In June, 1855, Mr. Runyan opened a law office in Chicago and from the be- 
ginning met with excellent success in his practice, which has always been of 
a general character, embracing many departments of the law, in all of which 
his knowledge is comprehensive and accurate. On the ist of January, 1856, 
he formed a partnership with T. B. Brown, of Chicago, under the firm name 
of Brown & Runyan, an association that was maintained until 1859. His 
next partner was Daniel J. Avery, who had formerly been a student in his 
office, and under the style of Runyan & Avery they conducted a successful 
practice until 1870, when E. F. Comstock was admitted into the firm, and its 
style became Runyan & Comstock. Later, by the admission of other partners, 
it became Runyan, Avery, Loomis & Comstock. Mr. Loomis was admitted 
in 1872 and this relation was maintained until November, 1876. Since 1888 
the present firm of Runyan & Runyan father and son has occupied a prom- 
inent position at the Chicago bar. 

A contemporary biographer has said of the senior partner : ''During the 
forty years Eben F. Runyan has been at the Chicago bar he has tried more 
cases than any other lawyer. He has attended strictly to business and has 
been at his office early and late. As a trial lawyer he is possessed of ability of a 
high order. He is devoted to the interests of his client and makes his cause 
his own. Whenever he sees defeat is certain, he never hesitates to advise a 
settlement. He has the happy faculty of sifting the evidence and presenting 
clearly and concisely to a court or jury the strong points in a case, and is a 
convincing speaker and successful lawyer." From another publication we 
quote the following: "Thoroughly skilled in the science which he practices, 
of great discernment, with a sharp faculty for analyzing evidence and a readiness 
of resource in argument, he has attained great prominence as a pleader at the 
bar; and his success is attested by numerous clients. He has won his way 
to the position of a leading lawyer of Chicago by the exercise of a well culti- 
vated mind and a ceaseless energy. These qualifications, added to a fair-mind- 
edness which enables him to see both sides of the question, perfect self-control 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 93 

and a pleasing courtesy of manner, have won for him the respect and good will 
of his fellow members at the bar and will make him an ideal judge." 

In the spring of 1898 he was nominated for judge of the circuit court on the 
united silver ticket. 

The subject of this review is a member of the Law Institute ; in politics he 
has always been a stanch Democrat; and from 1864 until 1874 he was a member 
of the board of education of Chicago, and has always been deeply interested in the 
welfare of the city schools. He served as vice-president of the board and was 
twice elected its president. Upon the organization of the board of park com- 
missioners of West Chicago, he was appointed by the governor one of its 
members and was connected with the board for about seven years, his efforts 
being largely instrumental in the establishment of the three splendid west side 
parks and the boulevards connecting them. He has been a man of great activity 
and enterprise and has done much to develop the resources of Chicago. In 
religion he adheres to the Baptist faith, and is a member and trustee of the 
Fourth Baptist church. He resides at Xo. 804 Walnut street and has many 
warm friends in the city, some of forty-three years' standing, the whole period of 
his residence in Chicago. 

On the 2cl of January, 1860, Mr. Runyan was married to Miss Flora R. 
Avery, of Waukegan, Illinois, and to them have been born six children, one 
of whom is Mr. Runyan's law partner. 

Otto Gresham, who for five years has engaged in the practice of law at 
the Chicago bar, was born on the 3Oth of January, 1859, in Corydon, the old 
capital of Indiana, and is the only son of Judge Walter Q. and Matilda (Mc- 
Grain) Gresham. His preliminary educational training was supplemented by 
study in Santa Clara College, of Santa Clara, California, and in Wabash College, 
of Crawfordsville, Indiana, and he graduated in the latter institution with the 
class of 1881. With the example of his illustrious father to serve as inspira- 
tion and encouragement, and prompted by his own tastes and inclinations, he 
took up the study of law in the office of Baker, Hord & Hendricks, of Indianap- 
olis, and the following year was admitted to the bar; but though his progress 
was rapid and his efficiency satisfactory for his admission, he was not content 
with his preparation and entered the Columbian Law School, of Washington, 
D. C., in which institution he was graduated in the class of 1884. 

Mr. Gresham then returned to Indianapolis and began the practice of law. 
His was the usual experience of the members of the profession to whom success 
comes only as they demonstrate their ability. W r ealth and influence cannot gain 
advancement in the law and realizing this Mr. Gresham applied himself earnestly 
to his work, and won advancement through his ability to handle successfully 
the intricate problems of jurisprudence. In 1889 Governor Hovey offered him 
the appointment to a place on the circuit bench to fill a vacancy, but he declined 
the honor and continued in the private practice of law in Indianapolis until 
1893, when he came to Chicago. He is now enjoying a liberal clientage and is 
recognized by the profession as a lawyer whose talents and energies will win him 
still greater success. He is a member of the Indianapolis Bar Association, the- 



94 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

Chicago Law School, the University Club, the Chicago Athletic Club, the Calu- 
met Club and the Beta Phi Pi, a college fraternity. 

John C. Black. As a distinguished member of the bar, as a statesman of 
.prominence, on the lecture platform and in Grand Army circles, General John 
Charles Black is so well known that he needs no introduction to the readers of 
this volume. His career has conferred honor and dignity upon the profession 
and civic organizations with which he is associated, and there is in him a weight 
of character, a native sagacity, a far-seeing judgment and a fidelity of purpose 
that commands the respect of all. 

General Black was born in Lexington, Mississippi, on the 27th of January, 
1839. His parents were Pennsylvania people, and his father died in 1847. 1 
March of the same year the son came to Illinois, being then only eight years 
of age, and has since been a resident of this state, living at different times in 
Danville, Champaign, Urbana and Chicago. For four years he was in the 
military service of his country. 

Prompted by a spirit of patriotism he volunteered on the I5th of April, 1861, 
and as a private soldier and non-commissioned officer served with the Eleventh 
Indiana Infantry. He afterward became colonel of the Thirty-seventh Regiment 
of Illinois Volunteers, and brevet brigadier general. Until the I5th of August, 
1865, he remained in the army that fought for the perpetuation of the Union, 
and was absent from the front for only one month, during which time he was 
recruiting a company for the field and while suffering from wounds. He was 
twice wounded and his injuries resulted in the incapacitating of both arms for 
many years. 

At the time he joined the army General Black was pursuing the work of 
the junior year in college, and by his own labor was meeting the expenses of the 
course. Upon his return from the south he took up the study of law, and is now 
a practitioner at the bar of the various state and federal courts, including the 
United States supreme court. He first opened a law office in Danville and sub- 
sequently engaged in practice in Champaign, where he soon secured a lucrative 
and extensive patronage, being for some time in command of one of the largest 
law practices in central Illinois. During this time his fitness for leadership 
and his comprehensive understanding of the political problems of the day gained 
him prominence in the Democratic party, of which he has long been a stanch 
adherent, and he was frequently engaged in labors for the advancement of the 
party's interests. On the 7th of March, 1885, he was appointed by President 
Cleveland to the position of commissioner of pensions and continued in that 
office until March 27, 1889, when he tendered to President Harrison his resigna- 
tion. 

On the 29th of May, 1889, General Black took up his abode in Chicago 
and resumed the practice of law, his marked ability, wide legal lore and accuracy 
in the application of judicial principles to the points in litigation securing to him 
a distinctively representative clientele. His party, however, was not content 
that he should devote his talents entirely to the law, and in 1892 he was nom- 
inated a candidate for congressman at large. Elected in the fall of that year, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 95 

he served from the 4th of March, 1893, until December, 1894, when he resigned 
in order to accept the position of United States district attorney for the northern 
district of Illinois, to which he was appointed by President Cleveland, and to 
which he qualified January 12, 1895. He, until January, 1899, occupied that 
office, and he has maintained a general practice, in both the state and federal 
courts. He has successfully conducted some of the most important cases ever 
heard in those courts. The essential qualifications of the truly great lawyer are 
his, comprehensive knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence and familiarity 
with the long line of decisions, careful preparation of cases and the logical 
assembling of the points in evidence, combined with a clear, cogent and forceful 
presentation of the case to judge or jury. He has, too, a full appreciation of 
the allegiance which he owes to the majesty of the law, and realizes that the 
duty of the lawyer is to aid the court to arrive at just conclusions, and no mem- 
ber of the profession is more careful to conform his practice to a high standard 
of professional ethics. 

General- Black is also an orator of ability, and under the adornments of 
rhetoric is the substratum of deep thought and earnest purpose which never fails 
to hold the attention of his auditors. Three of the speeches which he delivered 
while in congress attracted general attention, one on the Hawaiian question, 
another on the subject of pensions, and a third delivered on the occasion of the 
presentation of the bronze statue of General Shields by the state of Illinois to 
the United States. The General is frequently called upon to address public 
assemblages on matters of importance and general interest. At different times 
he has delivered addresses on John Marshall, on U. S. Grant, and on Abraham 
Lincoln, and on the 23d of April, 1888, he addressed the Iroquois Club in a most 
pleasing manner on the subject of Triumphant Democracy. His prominence 
in Grand Army circles is shown by his election, in the spring of 1898, to the 
position of department commander of the Illinois G. A. R. He has also been 
elected commander of the Illinois Commandery of the military order of the 
Loyal Legion of the United States. 

In 1867 General Black was united in marriage to Miss Adeline L. Griggs, 
who has ever since been to him a wise and encouraging companion and help- 
mate. To them have been born four children : Grace, now the wife of F. B. 
Vrooman ; John, a promising attorney ; Josephine L., who died at the age of 
six years ; and Helene, who completes the family. 

Such in brief is the history of one of Chicago's representative citizens. 
Popular among his army comrades, accorded recognition for his high legal 
talents, admired for his splendid oratorical ability, and esteemed for his genuine 
worth, this is the summary of the life and character of General John C. Black. 

Adolph Moses is a prominent member of the Chicago bar, where he has 
practiced for almost thirty years. ' The bent of his mind is analytical and crit- 
ical, a characteristic which not only ably fits him for his chosen calling but also 
enables him to gain the essence of all literary productions, to determine with 
accuracy the underlying principles of all measures of state, and to catch with 
special quickness the permeating truth of any argument or line of thought that 



96 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

may be presented by a speaker. His criticisms therefore are the logical de- 
ductions of his analysis, and are ever comprehensive in their understanding and 
correct in conclusions. 

A native of Germany, Mr. Moses was born in Speyer, the capital of the 
Palatinate, February 27, 1837, and in the public and Latin schools of that coun- 
try prepared for the study of law, being destined for that profession by his par- 
ents as well as by his own taste and inclinations. Race prejudice, however, 
made it difficult for him to gain advancement in Germany, and accordingly he 
came to the "land of the free," arriving at New Orleans on the 22d of December, 
1852. For some years he was a law student in the Louisiana University under 
the preceptorage of Randall Hunt, Christian Roselius, Alfred Hennen and Judge 
Thomas M. McCaleb. Graduated in March, 1861, he was then admitted to 
practice at the bar of Louisiana and entered upon his professional career. How- 
ever, the events in that period of our national history caused him to put aside 
all personal considerations for the time being. Having spent nine years in the 
south, and naturally imbued with the sentiments common to all classes in that 
state, his sympathies went out to the Confederacy, and as one of the officers 
of the Twenty-first Louisiana Regiment he served for nearly two years. 

On the expiration of that period Mr. Moses came north and took up his 
residence in Quincy, Illinois,- where he remained until 1869, and since that time 
he has been a member of the Chicago bar. To occupy a foremost place in the 
legal profession in this city with its hundreds of lawyers demands a superior 
skill, a comprehensive knowledge of the science of jurisprudence and extreme 
accuracy in the application of its principles to the points in litigation, and such 
elements are characteristics of Mr. Moses' law practice. The extent and variety 
of his legal business can be seen by reference to the reports of the supreme and 
appellate courts, where the briefs and arguments of his firm are of frequent 
occurrence. As a lawyer he is exceedingly painstaking, of good judgment as to 
the merits of a controversy, and especially devoted to the interests of his clients. 
His manner in court is one of eminent courtesy and fairness to judge, counsel 
and jury, but he is also very independent and firm in his relations to bench 
and bar. As a speaker he is clear in his statements and forcible in delivery. 
The judge gives him undivided attention, and the jury follows his compact sqn- 
tences with unflagging interest to the end. 

Mr. Moses is also a writer of force and merit and has now in process of 
compilation a work entitled "Rambles through the Illinois Reports," which 
commenced with the first volume of the Breese Reports and has already reached 
volume 19. It is intended by the editor to illustrate the judicial, political and 
social history of the state and its people through the adjudicated cases, and to 
accompany them with all sorts of biographical data. Mr. Moses is a valued 
member of the American, Chicago and State Bar Associations, and of the last 
named has served twice as vice-president. 

In 1890 he founded the National Corporation Reporter, a journal devoted 
to the interests of business corporations, and whose sole editor he is. He has 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 97 

also established the United States Corporation Bureau, which has for its object 
the collection of information in regard to corporations. 

At the opening of the consolidated supreme court in October, 1897, Mr. 
Moses was selected by the bar of Illinois to deliver the address of welcome to 
the court, which is published in extenso in the annual report of the State As- 
sociation, of 1898. 

In 1869 Mr. Moses was married, and his two sons are members of the law 
firm of Moses, Rosenthal & Kennedy, of which their father is the head. In 
politics he is a conservative Democrat, and in 1879 received the nomination 
of his party for judge of the superior court, but failed of election. He has never 
been ambitious for political preferment, but consented to act as one of the di- 
rectors of the Chicago Public Library, filling that responsible position for a term 
of six years, and as chairman of the library committee he gave the library special 
attention which advanced the institution in no small degree. He is a member 
of various social, benevolent and political organizations, including the Masonic 
fraternity, the Standard, Lakeside and Iroquois Clubs, and the Independent 
Order of B'nai B'rith, of the national convention of whose lodges he was the 
first president in 1869. He is also a member of the Sinai Congregation, pre- 
sided over by Dr. Emil G. Hirsch. He resides at 4139 Drexel boulevard. 

George W. Newcomb. A lawyer in whom is placed implicit reliance and 
whose practice has been to a very large degree in that department of the law 
which demands of its representatives the utmost reliability and most unswerving 
fidelity to the interests entrusted to his care, is George W. Newcomb, who as a 
law clerk became identified with the legal business of the city in 1852 and who 
for forty-five years has been a licensed member of the Chicago bar. Although 
his practice has been of such character as not to bring him conspicuously be- 
fore the attention of the public, as does that of the criminal lawyer, nevertheless 
he holds an enviable position in the ranks of his professional brethren and stands 
as a worthy exponent of those principles of jurisprudence which, having for 
their foundation true justice, are as eternal and unalterable as the everlasting 
hills. 

George Whitfield Newcomb was born in the little village of Putney, Wind- 
ham county, Vermont, on the I2th of April, 1825, and is descended from some of 
the most notable families of America. His ancestry can be traced in direct line to 
Governor William Bradford, the first governor of Plymouth colony, who with the 
historic band of Pilgrims on the Mayflower made the first settlement on the bleak 
New England coast. His ancestors also include several Revolutionary heroes 
who valiantly fought for the independence of the nation. His grandfather, 
William Newcomb, was a private in the colonial army and was with Washing- 
ton's command in Pennsylvania when several times it waded the Schuylkill 
river during a winter's night. He was with the party that rowed General Wash- 
ington's boat through the icy water of the Delaware river on the terrible night 
preceding the battle of Trenton. Another of the early ancestors, Lieutenant 
Andrew Newcomb, was in command of the fortifications for a period during 
King William's war in the latter part of the seventeenth century; and others 



98 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

gallantly served their country in the Revolution, including Governor Brad- 
ford's son, Major William Bradford, whose service has become a part of the 
history of that period. 

The parents of Mr. Newcomb were Asahel and Lucinda (Sykes) Newcomb, 
and when the son was three years of age they removed to Whitestown, New 
York, where he acquired his preliminary education. At the age of fourteen he 
entered Whitestown Academy, and while a student there had awakened within 
him a desire to attend college. He pursued a preparatory course in Whitestown 
Seminary, and became a sophomore in Hamilton College in 1846. He had 
scarcely matriculated when he accepted an offer of twenty dollars per month 
and board to teach school at Sherburne, Chenango county, New York, as he was 
entirely dependent upon his own resources for the means of carrying him 
through college. He devoted his leisure time to the study of the branches taught 
in the regular college course, kept abreast of the class and in the third term of 
the sophomore year was again enrolled as a student in Hamilton College, where 
he won the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1849. Accepting the principalship 
of Ames Academy, of Montgomery county, New York, he continued in that 
position until chosen principal of the Utica Academy, of Utica, New York, but 
after a few weeks' service in the latter capacity ill health forced him to resign. 

After some months, having somewhat regained his strength, he determined 
to seek health and a business opening in the west, which offered an attractive 
field to the ambitious young man who was determined to work his way upward 
by his own efforts, conquering an adverse fate by determined purpose and un- 
abating energy. Accordingly in July, 1852, Mr. Newcomb arrived in Chicago, 
but afterward spent a few weeks in visiting relatives in Kane county, Illinois, 
and friends in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He then returned to Chicago and with a 
cash capital of twenty dollars and a half began life in the western metropolis, 
which, however, at that time gave little indication or promise of its present pros- 
perity and greatness. He saw a sign in an employment office saying that a 
clerk who could speak German was wanted in a law office ; but on entering he 
was told that the information as to the position would cost him fifty cents. At 
that time fifty cents seemed to him a large capital, but he finally paid it and was 
told that the law office was just across the street, and though a German-speaking 
clerk was preferred one who could not speak that language would not be de- 
clined. Thus he became an employe in the office of Skinner & Hoyne, at a 
salary of two dollars per week. It would have been impossible for him to meet 
his expenses had not Mr. Hoyne gone on a vacation about that time and asked 
the young clerk to room at his residence and protect his family. 

While pursuing his clerical duties Mr. Newcomb devoted all his leisure 
time to the study of law, and in February, 1853, was admitted to the bar; but 
after practicing for a short time he was offered and accepted the position of 
cashier in a private bank, where he remained for two years, when he entered 
upon an independent business career. He has given his time and attention 
mostly to probate-court work and to the real-estate branch of the law, such as 
examining titles, conveyancing, settlement of estates, etc. ; while the business of 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 99 

loaning money on real-estate security gradually increased until it claimed much 
of his time. The acquaintances which he made while in the bank placed money 
in his hands to loan after he had severed his connection with the bank, and 
friends of theirs in the east also trusted Mr. Newcomb with large amounts of 
money to invest in mortgages. In the line of his profession he has been very 
successful and as a probate and realty lawyer has had charge of some very 
important litigated interests. 

On the ist of February, 1860, Mr. Newcomb was united in marriage to Miss 
Mary Eliza Eddy, daughter of Azariah and Harriet M. (Hooker) Eddy. Mrs. 
Newcomb was a lady of marked culture and refinement, of brilliant intellectual 
endowments and most kindly and generous disposition. She found her greatest 
pleasure and happiness in ministering to those of her own household and in 
relieving the needs of the poor or suffering. Through the last years of her life 
she was in ill health, but she bore her sufferings uncomplainingly and by her 
cheery and helpful disposition made sunshine in the home. Her death occurred 
September 11, 1892, and six children were left to share with the husband in 
his great loss. Since 1860 Mr. Newcomb has occupied his comfortable residence 
at No. 236 Warren avenue, and there his children have all been born, namely : 
Mary Harriette, wife of Edward J. Vaughan, of Chicago ; George Eddy, a well 
known lawyer of Chicago ; William Henderson, who is also a member of the 
legal fraternity ; Helen Maria, now Mrs. U. G. Courier ; Bessie Jeanette, and 
Francis Herbert. 

Mr. Newcomb has membership connection with, and is a valued representa- 
tive of, the old Tippecanoe Club, the Sons of Vermont, the Illinois Sons of the 
American Revolution and the Society of the Colonial Wars. In ante-bellum 
days he was strongly opposed to slavery, and when the Republican party was 
formed of those who shared his views he became one of its loyal and earnest 
advocates. He served as supervisor of Cook county under the early township 
organization, and in 1876 led the Republican ticket as the candidate for Cook 
county commissioner. He has always been zealous in his advocacy of any 
movement or measure for the public good, and stands among those representative 
Americans who place the national welfare before partisanship, and the public 
prosperity before self-aggrandizement. This review would be incomplete with- 
out mention of what is perhaps Mr. Newcomb's strongest characteristic, his 
fidelity to every trust reposed in him ; and to do this we probably can not do 
better than to quote from a contemporary biography which said : "While Mr. 
Newcomb was engaged in loaning money and making investments, he formed the 
acquaintance of Dr. Swayne Wickersham and there sprang up between them a 
friendship ideal in character and terminated only by death. No one was better 
able to judge of the character and life of Mr. Newcomb than the Doctor, who 
knew him so long and intimately. He left a characteristically short and concise 
will, consisting of seventy-four words, divided into four clauses, the fourth 
clause reading as follows: 'I appoint my old friend, George W. Newcomb, 
of Chicago, my executor, and I direct that no bond be required of him ; he is 
an honest man.' Much that is laudatory might be written of Mr. Newcomb, 



ioo THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

but what is more eloquent than this simple tribute of one who knew almost 
his every thought and action? It expresses the general opinion, for all who 
know him have for him the utmost confidence and highest regard." 

Merritt Starr* is one of the sons of the Empire state who has achieved emi- 
nence in this great commonwealth. A native of Ellington, Chautauqua county, 
New York, he is a descendant in the ninth generation of Dr. Comfort Starr, 
of Ashford, Kent, England, who in 1635 crossed the Atlantic in the sailing 
vessel Hercules and took up his residence in Boston, and whose second son, 
Comfort Starr, A. M., of Emmanuel's College, Cambridge University, was one 
of the founders and a member of the charter board of Fellows of Harvard College. 
On the maternal side, Mr. Starr is descended from John Williams, who was 
a member of the Rhode Island senate during the Revolutionary war, and a 
grandson of Roger Williams, the founder of the colony of Rhode Island. Both 
of the families were represented in the American army during the struggle for 
independence. 

In his early boyhood Mr. Starr's parents removed to Rock Island, Illinois, 
where he attended school preparatory to entering Griswold College at Daven- 
port, Iowa. Later, he was a student in Oberlin College, from which he received 
the degree of A. B. in 1875. Having become imbued with the desire to enter the 
legal profession, he read law for three years in the office of the attorneys for the 
Chicago, Burlington & Ouincy Railroad Company, and in 1878 entered the col- 
lege and law departments of Harvard University, at which he was graduated in 
1881, and received the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws. The 
degree of Master of Arts was subsequently conferred upon him by Oberlin 
College. 

Upon graduation at Harvard, Mr. Starr came at once to Chicago, was ad- 
mitted to the bar and entered upon a successful professional career. His first 
professional work was the preparation of briefs for some of the prominent attor- 
neys of Chicago. While he was thus engaged, he prepared and published some 
valuable contributions to legal literature. Among these are Starr's Reference 
Digest of Wisconsin Reports, the practice chapters in the treatise known as 
Gould on the Law of Waters, and, in connection with the late R. H. Curtis, Starr 
and Curtis's Annotated Statutes of Illinois. He was the first editor of the de- 
cisions of the supreme court of Illinois for the Northeastern Reporter, and held 
that position two years, at the end of which time he was forced by the demands 
of growing private business to resign it. He has been a frequent contributor to 
legal publications, is an orator of recognized ability, and is listened to often 
and with pleasure by local clubs, law societies and popular audiences. On the 
suspension of the Indiana banks in 1883, he conducted the litigation carried 
on in Chicago on behalf of their creditors and established in the supreme court 
of Illinois the then novel doctrine that banks must hold the entire funds of the 
garnished depositor for the benefit of all the creditors who may thereafter per- 
fect claims under the statute. In these important and warmly contested cases 

*Sketch prepared by E. B. Sherman. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 101 

lie met the late W. C. Goudy, the firm of Jewett, Norton & Larnecl, and other 
leaders of the Chicago bar. Mr. Starr was honored with the friendship of the 
late Corydon Beckwith, ex-judge of the supreme court of Illinois, and assisted 
him in important matters. 

In 1890 he formed a partnership with Hon. John S. Miller, ex-corporation 
counsel of Chicago, and ex-Senator Henry W. Leman, under the firm name of 
Miller, Starr & Leman. Two years later the junior member of the firm re- 
tired, but Messrs. Miller and Starr continued their business relations, and in 
the autumn of 1893 became associated with Colonel George R. Peck, then gen- 
eral solicitor of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company, and more 
recently general counsel for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Com- 
pany. The firm of Peck, Miller & Starr occupies a prominent position at the 
Chicago bar. It has for years represented the Railway Conductors' Association, 
and the Chicago Live Stock Exchange, the latter being charged with the duty of 
protecting the rights of stock shippers and commission men of Chicago against 
a combination of large ranch owners and other corporate interests, the firm 
thus representing both corporations and laboring men. The firm has also 
acted as the legal counsel for the Chicago Public Library Board, Chicago Gen- 
eral Railway Company, the Mercantile Trust Company of New York, the Boston 
Safe Deposit & Trust Company, and other large corporations. 

Mr. Starr possesses marked individuality and originality. His opinions are 
neither inherited nor acquired from others, but are the result of his own careful 
and conscientious investigation and deliberation. As a lawyer, he is distin- 
guished for clearness of perception, tireless industry and keen discrimination. 
In an important case his brief gives indubitable evidence of exhaustive research, 
legal acumen, forcible statement and faultless logic. But he is not content with 
being a lawyer. He is a man of wide and generous culture. An omnivorous 
reader, he is familiar with the best books, classic and modern, and being blessed 
with a memory loyal to its trust he can, when occasion demands, bring forth 
from the rich storehouse of the world's wisdom treasures new and old. Not 
unfamiliar with art, science and philosophy, his greatest delight is in the domain 
of literature, wherein he finds rest from professional toil. 

He is a true and steadfast friend, a genial companion, prizing all the ameni- 
ties and courtesies that make life pleasant and friendship valuable. 

Recognizing his obligation as a citizen, Mr. Starr has taken an active part in 
every effort to improve municipal government, and labored earnestly in securing 
the passage of the law by which the merit system has become operative in 
Chicago. 

He adheres to the principles of the Republican party, believing them best 
to conserve the public good. He is connected with various societies and organi- 
zations for the promotion of social, literary and philanthropic aims and purposes, 
and is a member of the Union League Club, the Chicago Literary Club, the 
Congregational Club, the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Asso- 
ciation, the American Bar Association, and the Chicago Law Institute, of which 



102 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

latter he was president for two terms. He is also a trustee of Oberlin College, 
and keeps in close touch with Harvard University, his cherished alma mater. 

Mr. Starr was married September 8, 1885, to Miss Lelia Wheelock, of Cleve- 
land, who was a fellow student in Oberlin College. Mrs. Starr is a member of 
the Chicago Woman's Club, and takes an active interest in literary and philan- 
thropic work. 

Albert N. Eastman. For eleven years Albert N. Eastman has been a mem- 
ber of the Chicago bar, and in that time has gained a good clientage. His law 
studies were pursued in this city, although his literary education was acquired 
in Ohio, his native state. He was born in Kingsville, Ashtabula county, October 
17, 1864, and is a representative of a pioneer family of that state. The first 
representative of the Eastman family in America came to this country in 1630. 
Our subject's grandparents were Porter and Phoebe Eastman, early settlers in 
the Western Reserve, and the former became a prominent and influential citizen 
of northern Ohio. He not only gave his support and influence to all educational 
and moral interests, but also became one of the conductors on the "underground 
railroad," and through his agency many a slave was assisted on his way to 
Canada and freedom. The parents of our subject were Henry A. and Sarah F. 
(Parrish) Eastman, who in 1872 removed to Chicago, but in 1876 returned to 
their old Ohio home. The father went to California in 1852 and was one of the 
first prospectors in the Virginia district, in which Mackey, Fair, Flood and other 
millionaires were subsequently interested. Early in the '6os, in connection with 
two of his cousins, he founded a branch of Eastman's Business College in Chi- 
cago, and in 1872 he was connected with the Chicago board of trade. 

Our subject was educated in the common school and the academy of Kings- 
ville, Ohio, and later was graduated in the high school of Ashtabula, that state, 
and completed a collegiate course under the direction of Rev. Joseph N. Mc- 
Giffert, a prominent Presbyterian minister of Ashtabula. Thus with a broad 
general knowledge he came to Chicago, where he began preparation for the 
bar as a law student in the office of Smith & Helmer, being admitted to the bar 
in May, 1887, having successfully passed an examination before the supreme 
court of Ottawa, Illinois. In September, following, he entered the office of 
Weigley, Bulkley & Gray, of which firm he subsequently became a partner, and 
on the 1st of May, 1895, this firm dissolved and the senior member and Mr. 
Eastman formed the firm of Weigley & Eastman. This firm was dissolved 
in June, 1896, since which time Mr. Eastman has been alone in the practice, hav- 
ing with him clients of many years of standing and constantly building a large 
business. He is a close and careful student of the law and faithful to the interests 
entrusted to his care. 

In his political adherency Mr. Eastman is a Republican, and in his religiqus 
belief is a Congregationalist. He is a member of the Congregational and Lincoln 
Clubs, and was formerly a director and president of the latter. In July, 1889, 
he married Miss Myrta E. Hopkins, a native of Ashtabula county, Ohio, a 
daughter of William L. Hopkins and a granddaughter of Alden W. Walker, one 
of the pioneer Methodist ministers of that state. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 103 

Judge Julius S. Grinnell. No compendium such as the province of this 
work defines in its essential limitations will serve to offer fit memorial to the 
life and accomplishments of the honored subject of this review, a man re- 
markable in the breadth of his wisdom, in his indomitable perseverance, his 
strong individuality ; and yet one whose entire life had not one esoteric phase, 
being an open scroll inviting the. closest scrutiny. True, his were "massive deeds 
and great" in one sense, and yet his entire accomplishment but represented the 
result of the fit utilization of the innate talent which was his, and the directing 
of his efforts along those lines where mature judgment and rare discrimination 
led the way. There was in Judge Grinnell a weight of character, a native 
sagacity, a far-seeing judgment and a fidelity of purpose that commanded the 
respect of all. A man of indefatigable enterprise and fertility of resource, he 
carved his name deeply on the civil and political history of Illinois. 

Julius Sprague Grinnell was born in Massena, St. Lawrence county, New 
York, in 1842, and is of French-Welsh ancestry, although his more immediate 
progenitors for several generations were natives of New England. The town of 
Grinnelle, France, now an important manufacturing center near Paris, was 
named in honor of the family. Representatives of the name emigrated from 
France to Wales and thence to this country, one branch of the family being 
founded in New York, a second in Connecticut and a third in Vermont. It is 
from the last that our subject was descended. His parents were Dr. A. H. 
and Alvira (Williamson) Grinnell, both natives of the Green Mountain state. 

In the common schools of Massena, Judge Grinnell acquired his preliminary 
education and prepared for college in Potsdam Academy, of St. Lawrence county, 
New York, after which he matriculated in Middlebury Colleg'e, of Middlebury, 
Vermont, in 1862. On the completion of the regular four-years course he was 
graduated, in 1866, ranking high in his classes, and during his young manhood 
foreshadowed future success in whatever profession he might engage, by his 
earnestness of purpose, close application and ready use of his strong mental 
endowments. With a view of entering the legal profession he entered upon 
the study of law in the office of Hon. William C. Brown, of Ogdensburg, and 
was admitted to practice by the supreme court of New York in 1868. He im- 
mediately afterward began practice in that city, where he remained for two years, 
and during that time was also a teacher in the Ogdensburg Academy for a year. 

In December, 1870, Judge Grinnell arrived in Chicago and entered upon 
what proved to be a most brilliant and successful career at a bar that numbers 
among its members some of the most distinguished lawyers and jurists of the 
nation. He was almost an entire stranger here, having but two acquaint- 
ances in the city, but with a hopeful and resolute disposition he resolved to win 
a name and place for himself. One of the decided characteristics of his nature 
was self-reliance, backed by decision of character, and the public accorded him 
the credit of possessing integrity and sincerity. With these qualities he was not 
long in taking his place among the rising lawyers of the city, and ere he had 
reached the close of his labors he had attained distinguished preferment as one 
of the leaders of the Chicago bar. When the great fire of 1871 came and swept 



104 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

the main business portion of Chicago out of existence, he had scarcely gained 
a foothold in his practice; but in the reorganization and re-establishment of 
business he was one of the number who had the force, courage and confidence 
in the rebuilding of the city to assert himself and resume practice with renewed 
energy. In 1879 he was elected city attorney on the Democratic ticket, when 
that part\ r was largely in the minority, and easily earned re-election in 1881 
and 1883. In 1884 he was called by the vote of the people to the position of state's 
attorney, being the only one elected on his ticket, a fact which indicates the 
personal popularity he enjoyed and the high confidence reposed in him. In that 
capacity he carried forward more important, distinguished and successful prose- 
cutions of public offenders than stand to the credit of any other man in the 
history of Chicago, perhaps in any city of the country or the world. In 1884 
arose the famous election conspiracy case against Joseph C. Mackin, secretary of 
the Democratic state central committee, William J. Gallagher, and others. The 
crime, if successfully carried through, would have changed the political majority 
in the state legislature and caused the election to the federal senate of a Demo- 
crat in the place of General Logan, the Republican candidate. Although Judge 
Grinnell was an earnest advocate of the Democracy, he was most vigorous and 
diligent in the prosecution of the case, for personal interest, fear or favor could 
not deter him from a course which he believed to be right and just. The trial for 
tampering with the ballots and returns was, in the United States district court, 
conducted by General Tuthill, district attorney, General Stiles, General Hawley 
and Judge Doolittle. Mackin was also indicted in 'the state court for perjury, 
and the case was prosecuted by Mr. Grinnell, General Stiles and Mr. Longe- 
necker. Mackin was found guilty in both courts and sent to the penitentiary. 
The next great trial that was carried to a successful issue by Mr. Grinnell was 
that of the "boodler" county commissioners in 1885, when William J. McGarigle, 
Edward S. McDonald and several others were convicted. Next it fell to Judge 
Grinnell's lot to manage the indictment, arrest, trial and conviction of the 
anarchists, Spies, Parsons, Schwab, Lingg, Fielden, Engel and Fischer, that very 
remarkable prosecution which resulted in vindicating law and order by the signal 
discomfiture and condign punishment of their assailants. In speaking of Judge 
Grinnell in connection with the last two mentioned cases, Luther Laflin Mills 
said : "His labors in these two trials were long continued and would have 
broken down an ordinary man. He was the master spirit in the prosecution, 
although, in addition to his regular assistants, General Stiles in the boodle case 
and George C. Ingham in the anarchists' trial also appeared for the state. In 
the former case no appeal or any kind of persuasive influences could swerve him 
from his duty ; and in the latter no threats of personal violence could deter him. 
In both he was successful. Although a man successful in politics, he was in his 
office absolutely independent of the politicians. He regarded his high office 
as a public trust, and showed neither fear 'nor favor where the people's interests 
weie involved. He was a man of remarkable abilities ; he was a man of duty." 

In addition to the cases previously mentioned Judge Grinnell secured four 
convictions in the Italian trunk murder case, conviction in the Mulkowski 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 105 

murder case and in others of considerable importance. His readiness, his ability, 
his resolution, his legal acumen and his eloquence drew to him the attention of 
the entire public and resulted in his election to the circuit bench, in 1887, where 
he served with a degree of acceptation which only added judicial distinction to 
the fame he had won as an advocate; but in 1890 he resigned his judgeship to 
accept the position of counsel for the Chicago City Railway Company, which 
incumbency he retained until his death. 

Judge Grinnell was married on the 5th of October, 1869, to Miss Augusta 
Hitchcock, a daughter of Dr. William Hitchcock, of Shoreham, Addison county, 
Vermont. Their home life was ideal. They had two children: Robert, a 
student in the Michigan State University, at Ann Arbor; and Bertha. It 
seemed that Judge Grinnell could not do too much for his family and he counted 
no personal sacrifice too great if it would enhance the welfare and happiness 
of his wife and children. He was also a popular and valued member of several 
clubs and civic organizations, including the Masonic fraternity, the Chicago 
Club, the Union League and Iroquois Clubs and the Chicago Bar Association. 
Judge Hanecy said of him : "He was the most genial man I ever met ;" and it 
was this quality as well as his superior ability and sterling rectitude of character 
that so endeared him to those he met and made his circle of friends coextensive 
with the circle of his acquaintances. 

At his death, which occurred June 8, 1898, the highest tributes of respect 
and honor were paid to him by his fellow members of the bar. Judge Kohlsaat 
said : "I had known Mr. Grinnell for twenty years, when he was city attorney, 
state's attorney and judge. As state's attorney he was simply magnificent. I 
always considered him as one of the strongest men ever elected by the vote of the 
people of Cook county. His conduct in the boodle and anarchist cases was that 
of a fearless, earnest and most efficient public officer. Personally he was a lovable 
man. He had hosts of friends, and few of us will be missed as will Julius S. 
Grinnell." Another said : "He was a man of remarkable abilities and force of 
character, and a lawyer of the front rank. In high places of official life he was a 
devoted and brave servant of the people. His memory will abide in our com- 
munity as that of a man who in private walk and public station unfailingly did 
his duty and did it well." 

The funeral of Judge Grinnell was attended by committees representing the 
Iroquois Club, the Chicago Bar Association and the Union League Club, and 
the last named passed the following resolution, which is certainly a fitting tribute 
to one of Chicago's most distinguished citizens : 

"Whereas, Julius S. Grinnell has suddenly passed from earth, it is but fitting 
that we, his friends and associates in the Union League Club, testify to our 
affection for him and speak our deep appreciation of his noble, manly life. 

"We recall the splendid courage of his attack on corrupt misgovernment. 
We know how he jeopardized his life in defense of organized society under the 
law. We know how his clear appreciation of .justice was tempered always by 
human kindliness, so that those whom he was forced to punish afterward became 
his friends. 



106 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

"With all his great name he remained the simple, most democratic of men, 
freely giving the best of his ability to the humblest who came in trouble. Nor 
did he ever turn a fellow man away in distress. A more open-hearted friend 
we cannot conceive ; a truer American we cannot name. It is the pride of our 
nation that for such character, such power and such indomitable will there lie 
open the highest places, and that simple manliness goes step by step with great 
achievement. 

"Resolved, That we tender to the bereaved family of our friend our deepest 
sympathy, feeling that, in that they have known one of the truest and most 
lovable of men in the dearest relation of life their sorrow will be harder to bear, 
but their pain will be mitigated by the assurance that our departed friend has 
left a heritage of priceless worth,- the memory of a life well lived, an example 
worthy of emulation by all." 

Thomas Dent, a veteran member of the Chicago bar, entered into practice 
in his twenty-third year, while residing at Hennepin, in Putnam county, Illinois, 
in which county he was born November 14, 1831. His parents were among the 
early residents of that county, having settled there in that year, upon their re- 
moval from Muskingum county, Ohio, where the father, George Dent, was 
chiefly reared, his father having been a pioneer settler there before coming to 
Putnam county, as he did at an early day. In Mr. Dent's ancestry, traced 
back to Maryland and Virginia, sturdy pioneers for a few generations back, 
pursuing creditable careers, and holding positions of public honor and trust, 
corresponding with educational and other advantages, would be numbered. 

While residing in Putnam county, George Dent, father of the subject of this 
sketch, held sundry 'public offices, including those of clerk of the county com- 
missioners' court, county recorder, clerk of the county court, master in chancery, 
county judge, and member of the general assembly; and later in life, removing 
to Minonk in Woodford county, he was honored with offices there. The scho- 
lastic training of Thomas Dent was mostly in the district schools near his home 
in Illinois, though he attended school for a short time in Ohio during a tempo- 
rary residence there. He endeavored when drawn into work and away from 
the schools at an early age to supplement the foundation which faithful and 
efficient teachers had helped him to lay. His taste for legal work was much pro- 
moted by environment and by his business training, which began in his thir- 
teenth year, at first with attendance at times in the clerk's offices and recorder's 
office in Putnam county, under the late Oaks Turner, a careful and capable 
official. When Mr. Dent was nearing the age of sixteen his father began to fill 
those offices, and the son became more continuously connected with the work. 
While thus engaged he prosecuted legal studies, and was benefited by the 
examples, and in the direction of such studies, by the practical aid of able mem- 
bers of the bar with whom he was thrown into contact. Soon after his entrance 
into the profession he was entrusted with the management of a variety of im- 
portant causes at his home and elsewhere in the state, in the courts of the state 
and also in the federal courts. He received much encouragement in the character 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 107 

of business committed to his care in early professional life. While residing in 
Putnam county he compiled tract and other indices to the land records. 

He has been a member of the Chicago bar almost continuously since early 
in 1856, when lie entered into partnership with Hon. Martin R. M. Wallace, 
whom he had known at Ottawa, Illinois. The following year inducements to 
remove to Peoria led him to open an office there ; but his connection with cases 
of much importance required his attendance in Chicago, and after a short time 
he resumed his residence there. In 1860 he formed a partnership with Hon. 
Alfred W. Arrington. This association, under the name of Arrington & Dent, 
came into marked prominence, and was terminated only by Judge Arrington's 
death, in December, 1867. A few months later the firm of Dent & Black was 
organized, the junior member, William P. Black, having been a student with 
Arrington & Dent for a time prior to entering into practice at Danville, Illinois. 
The association of Dent & Black was continued with much satisfaction for many 
years. They were for a time the senior members of the firm of Dent, Black & 
Cratty Brothers. Mr. Dent has since had with him for a time Edwin Burritt 
Smith of the Chicago bar, and later Russell Whitman of the same bar, under 
the firm names of Dent & Smith and Dent & Whitman, respectively. 

He has had a large and varied experience in legal work in many lines, 
involving the trial of causes in different parts of Illinois, and in other states and 
localities, as well as in the supreme court of the United States. His practice 
has required an extensive knowledge of legal principles, keen and careful 
analysis, and earnest preparation. 

He has served as president of the Chicago Law Institute, of the Illinois 
State Bar Association, and of the Chicago Baf Association, respectively, and 
takes a lively interest in the profession and in matters pertaining to the welfare 
of his adopted city. In contributions to the press and in addresses on various 
occasions at intervals Mr. Dent has not been inactive, although his regular 
professional work has chiefly occupied him. 

Lester L. Bond. The name of this gentleman is inseparably connected 
with the history of the legal profession of Chicago. Yet not alone on account 
of his association with this calling is he numbered among the truly representa- 
tive men of "the city marvelous ;" he has been also prominent in municipal affairs 
that have led to the best development of the city, to its improvement, its progress, 
and to the adoption of important reform measures. He has been the champion 
of those movements which support the moral, the educational and the aesthetic ; 
and has been a valued member of the law-making bodies of city and state. 
To-day as a patent lawyer he stands on an eminence occupied -by few, and his 
name is inscribed high on the roll of Chicago's most able legists. But back of 
all this, and the causation of it all, is the character of the man, a character that 
is based upon the noblest and most honorable principles. 

Historians and biographers in their analyzation of the lives of those who- 
have attained success and honor in various high callings, attribute the result to 
the possession of energy, of industry, of enterprise, of strong mentality, of perse- 
verance, or other qualities, and while some and ofttimes all of these contribute to 



io8 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

it, yet the foundation upon which they in turn rest is character. On this depends 
the esteem in which man is held, his popularity, his position in social circles. 
Prosperity in business may be secured ; but if the means are unworthy there 
comes with his success the condemnation of the public ; when high principles 
actuate his labor, his work is followed by commendation and high respect. 
This truth finds exemplification in the life of .Mr. Bond, who, though unpretentious 
and entirely free from ostentation, occupies a place among the most honored 
and successful residents of Chicago. 

Mr. Bond represents one of America's oldest families, tracing his ancestry 
back to John Bond, who located in Massachusetts about the time the Pilgrim 
forefathers established their colony in the Bay state. Members of the family 
have made the name famous in connection with scientific research. William 
Cranch Bond, who was born at Portland, Maine, in 1789, and died at Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, in 1859. became noted for his observations on Saturn and 
the fixed stars, as well as for his operations in celestial photography, and, after 
superintending the erection of Harvard Observatory in 1839, he became its di- 
rector. His work was carried forward by his son, George Phillips Bond, also 
director of Harvard University, who wrote "On the Construction of the Rings 
of Saturn" and other astronomical papers. He was born at Dorchester, Massa- 
chusetts, in 1825, and died at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1865. The old 
Bond homestead, established at Ipswich, Massachusetts, only about ten years 
after the settlement at Plymouth, is one of New England's most revered historic 
landmarks. As the years passed representatives of the family removed west- 
ward and at the time of the birth of our subject, October 27, 1829, his parents, 
Jonas and Elizabeth (Story) Bond, were residents of Ravenna, Ohio. The Story 
family, from which he is descended on the maternal side, is no less prominent 
in the history of the country than the Bonds, for among its members were 
Joseph Story, the eminent jurist, and William Wetmore Story, renowned as a 
sculptor and poet. 

L. L. Bond began his education in his native town of Ravenna and after- 
ward pursued his studies in several excellent academies. He was dependent upon 
his own exertions for the means which would enable him to pursue his more 
advanced studies, and mechanical labors largely engaged his attention during 
vacations and other periods affording him leisure from school duties. This gave 
him considerable familiarity with inventions and machinery and has been one 
of the elements that has contributed to his success at the bar, for the patent 
lawyer must have a practical knowledge of the mechanical appliances concerned 
in his suits. Determining to enter the legal profession he became a student 
in the law office of F. W. Tappan and afterward continued his reading under the 
direction of the law firm of Bierce & Jeffries, the latter the comptroller of 
currency under President Johnson. 

Mr. Bond was admitted to the bar October 15, 1853, and on the 28th of 
May, 1854, cast in his lot with the residents of the young but rapidly-growing 
Chicago. Opening an office he entered upon his professional career as a general 
practitioner and so continued for eight years, when his liking for mechanics and 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 109 

the fortune of the courts threw some important cases into his hands. His ability 
to handle such soon made itself manifest, and a patent-law practice rapidly 
superseded the general until he is now known almost entirely as a specialist in 
that line. So large is his clientage in patent-law cases that it leaves him no time 
for labors in other departments of jurisprudence. He has made a close and com- 
prehensive study of the law of patents, copyrights and trademarks, and in this 
branch of practice is the acknowledged leader at the Chicago bar, and ranks as 
number two in arguing reported cases in all the United States courts. 

Mr. Bond has ever manifested a deep interest in political affairs as the 
voice of the people concerning government. A firm belief in Republican prin- 
ciples led him to ally himself with that party on its organization and a loyal 
devotion to the cause of the Union prompted his enlistment in the army, but 
being in ill health at the time he was rejected by the examining physicians and 
had to content himself with laboring for the cause of liberty at home. The 
questions of municipal policy claimed his attention and his advanced and practical 
views on this subject led to his election to the city council, where he served from 
1862 until 1866, and during two years he held the responsible position of chair- 
man of the finance committee. In 1868 he was chosen one of the presidential 
electors of Illinois and thus cast a direct ballot for General Grant. In 1871 he 
was again elected to the city council and during a portion of his two years' 
service was acting mayor of Chicago. For two successive terms, from 1868 
until 1870, he represented his district in the state legislature and during the 
second term championed a measure which has been of lasting benefit to the 
city. He was elected on what was known as an anti-park ticket, in opposition 
to the establishment of the south-side park system of Chicago. It will be readily 
seen that the establishment of such a system on the south side would be detri- 
mental to the west division of the city, which was without such privileges, and 
hence the three west-side members strove to defeat the measure. After a time, 
however, seeing that it would be impossible to do this, he called a meeting of his 
west-side colleagues and unfolded to them his plan of securing to the west side 
as nearly equal advantages of the same kind as possible. The three west-side 
members then agreeing on their course of action, had a conference with 
the men who^rn they had been opposing and a compromise was made which 
resulted in legislation by authority of which not only the south-side park system 
but also the beautiful west-side park system was established, and now no city 
in the entire country can claim a park system to rival that of Chicago. In this 
movement Mr. Bond went directly against the anti-park ticket on which he had 
been elected, but with wonderful foresight he saw the advantages which would 
result to his district from this course and carried out the plan which he believed 
to be the right one. Time and the public have sanctioned his work and his 
labors at that time are deserving of the gratitude of all of Chicago's vast popu- 
lation. 

The cause of education has ever found in Mr. Bond a warm friend, and as 
a member of the school board he was instrumental in bringing about some needed 
changes in school organizations and the educational system of the city. Since 



no THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

his retirement from the city council on the close of his third term he has 
steadily refused public office, but his interest in the welfare and progress for 
the city has never abated. His time has largely been given to his law practice, 
in which he has gained an enviable prestige. His logical grasp of facts and 
principles and of the law applicable to them has been a potent element in his 
success, and a remarkable clearness of expression, an adequate 'and precise 
diction which enables him to make others understand not only the salient points 
of his cause, but every fine gradation of meaning manifest in his speech, may be 
accounted among his most conspicuous gifts and accomplishments. 

The home relations of Mr. Bond are particularly pleasant. He was mar- 
ried October 12, 1856, to Miss Amy S. Aspinwall, a daughter of Rev. N. W. 
Aspinwall, of Peacham, Vermont, and a lineal descendant of Peregrine White, 
the first white child born after the embarkation of the Pilgrims for their far 
western home. They have one daughter, the wife of John L. Jackson, of the 
law firm of Bond, Adams, Pickard & Jackson, of which Mr. Bond is senior 
member. Mr. Bond has long been active in church and fraternity circles. For 
many years he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, a worker 
in its Sunday-school and a contributor to its work and benevolences. In Ma- 
sonic circles he has attained the position of eminent commander in the York Rite 
and the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. Fond of travel, he finds his 
chief rest and recreation in visiting the many points of interest in this country 
and abroad, thereby gaining a knowledge and culture which only travel can 
bring. He is a man of broad humanitarian principles, deep thought, earnest 
purpose, conscientious action and strong intellectuality, and in all the relations 
of life he commands that true homage and respect which is ever rendered real 
worth. 

Judge Peter S. Grosscup, of Chicago, was born February 15, 1852, in Ash- 
land, Ohio. On his father's side his lineage can be traced back to Holland, on 
his mother's to Germany, but both families were established on American soil 
prior to the war of the Revolution. The great-grandfather, Paul Grosscup, was 
for many years a member of the Pennsylvania colonial assembly, and afterward 
of the Pennsylvania state assembly, also of the convention which met in Phila- 
delphia, in 1791, and framed the first constitution. On his father's side the 
Judge is also connected by ties of blood with the Stenger family* well known in 
political circles in Pennsylvania and at the bar. His mother's family name was 
Bowermaster, and her father was a soldier of the war of 1812, while his father 
held a commission as an officer in the American army during the Revolutionary 
war. On the maternal side Judge Grosscup is connected with the Studebakers, 
well known in the business world, as also with the Mohlers, some of whom 
are well known in railway circles. 

Peter Stenger Grosscup was educated in the schools of Ashland, and in 
Wittenberg College, one of the educational institutions of the Lutheran church, 
from which he was graduated in 1872, at the head of his class. He obtained 
his degree of Bachelor of Laws from the Boston Law School. From 1874 until 
1883 he engaged in the practice of his profession in Ashland, Ohio, and during 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. in 

six years of that time was city solicitor. In 1876 he became the candidate of the 
Republican party for congress, but was defeated. In 1883 he took up his resi- 
dence in Chicago and became associated with the law firm headed by Leonard 
Swett, a former law partner of Abraham Lincoln, and the best known attorney, 
at that time, of the west. From that time forward Judge Grosscup participated 
in some of the most important trials occurring in the west, and built up a reputa- 
tion as a lawyer that ranked him among the ablest practitioners of the Chi- 
cago bar. 

On the 12th of December, 1892, he was appointed to the United States 
district bench by President Harrison, and soon after assuming the duties of that 
office he attracted the attention of the entire country by his decisions upon the 
application of the government to close the World's Columbian Exposition on 
Sunday. He dissented from the two circuit judges on that occasion, but on an 
appeal to the circuit court of appeals, presided over by Chief Justice Fuller, this 
dissent was sustained. His most widely-known service, however, was in con- 
nection with the Debs riots of 1894. In connection with the circuit judge, 
William A. Woods, he issued the injunction in favor of the government and 
against the rioters. When this injunction was spurned by the' rioters he called 
upon the president for the federal troops, a call that unquestionably saved the 
city from mob violence. Summoning the grand jury at the earliest day per- 
missible by law, he delivered to them, on their assembling in the midst of the 
riots, a charge that instantly gave him a national reputation. The indictments 
and arrests that followed were the beginning of the end of the mob violence. 
In the meantime he has handed down many decisions of interest to large por- 
tions of the public and to the profession generally. On January 23, 1899, Judge 
Grosscup's appointment to the United States circuit bench was unanimously con- 
firmed by the senate. 

Judge Grosscup married Miss Virginia Taylor, daughter of A. A. Taylor, 
an extensive manufacturer of flour of Loudonville, Ohio. They have one daugh- 
ter. The Judge is a member of the Chicago, University, Union and Athletic 
Clubs, and is esteemed by his professional associates as well as an extensive 
circle of friends outside of legal lines. 

Frank Orren Lowden was born in Sunrise City, Minnesota, January 26, 
1861, his parents being Lorenzo Orren and Nancy Elizabeth (Breg) Lowden. 
In the fall of 1868 the father of the subject of this sketch removed with his 
family to Point Pleasant, Hardin county, Iowa. At the time of this removal 
to Iowa, Frank Orren Lowden was a lad of seven years. During his early youth 
he attended the common schools in winter, and in the summer months assisted 
in the cultivation and development of the home farm. At fifteen he began teach- 
ing in Hardin county, and while teaching he prepared himself for college. In 
September, 1881, he entered the freshman class of the Iowa State University, and 
was graduated in June, 1885, as valedictorian of his class. 

His college course completed, Mr. Lowden secured a position as teacher of 
Latin and mathematics in the high school of Burlington, Iowa. Here, during 
his leisure hours, he engaged in the study of law. In July, 1886, he came to 



ii2 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

Chicago and entered the law office of Messrs. Dexter, Herrick & Allen. Simul- 
taneously he became a student in the Union College of Law, at which he gradu- 
ated in July, 1887. He was valedictorian of his law class and received the first 
prize for his oration and the first prize for scholarship. He remained with Dexter, 
Herrick & Allen three years after his graduation at the La,w School. In July, 
1890, Mr. Lowden entered into partnership with Emery S. Walker. In May, 
1892, he became a partner of William B. Keep, and was associated with him 
until September i, 1893. From this time he practiced his profession alone until 
March i, 1898, when he became a member of the firm of Lowden, Estabrook 
& Davis. 

Mr. Lowden is a member of the Calumet Club, the Chicago, Union League, 
Washington Park, Marquette, the Chicago Literary, the Sunset, Saddle and 
Cycle, Chicago Golf, and the Thousand Islands Yacht Clubs. He is a member 
of Phi Beta Kappa and belongs to two college fraternities, the Beta Theta Pi 
and Phi Delta Phi. He is a member and president of the Law Club, and holds 
membership in the Chicago, Illinois State and American Bar Associations. He 
is a trustee of Central church and in politics is a Republican. 

Air. Lowden was married on the 291!! of April, 1896, to Miss Florence Pull- 
man. They have two children. 

James Herron Eckles was born in Princeton, Illinois, November 22, 1858, 
and is a son of James H. Eckles, an attorney. He attended the public schools 
of his native town, and is a graduate of the Princeton high school, of the class 
of 1876. Determining to enter the legal profession, he attended the Albany (New 
York) Law School, in 1879 and 1880, and received therefrom the degree of 
LL. B. In 1881 he entered the law office of Leland & Gilbert, of Ottawa, Illinois, 
and afterward formed a partnership with Hiram T. Gilbert. Later he was 
associated in partnership with James W. Duncan, Hiram T.Gilbert, A. J. O'Conor 
and V. J. Duncan, and upon the removal of Messrs. Duncan and Gilbert to 
Chicago, in 1888, a partnership was formed with Senator O'Conor and V. J. 
Duncan, which continued until 1893. 

On the 3d of April of that year Mr. Eckles was appointed comptroller of the 
currency by President Cleveland, and held that position until December 31, 
1897, when he resigned to accept the presidency of the Commercial National 
Bank of Chicago. 

John A. Rose, the general attorney for the North Chicago and West 
Chicago Street Railway Companies, was born in Will county, Illinois, in 1853, 
and in the common schools acquired his preliminary education. He pre- 
pared for college under private teachers, and was graduated in the Northwestern 
University, at Evanston, with the class of 1882. The same .year he was admitted 
to the bar, and since that time has been engaged in practice. For about ten 
years he was a member of the well known firm of Condee & Rose, and since 
1895 he has held his present prominent position as already named. 

Thomas Cratty. It lias been said that Philip D. Armour is the hardest- 
working man in commercial circles in Chicago, and in professional lines the 
same remark may well be applied to Thomas Cratty, whose time is fully occupied 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 113 

with a very extensive law practice, the important nature of which indicates his 
superior ability in handling the intricate and involved principles of jurisprudence. 
He is indefatigable and persistent, and his labors are so systematized as to pro- 
duce the greatest possible results at a minimum expense of effort. This enables 
him to attend to a business the volume of which would appall and overwhelm an 
ordinary man. He stands to-day at the head of the well known firm of Cratty, 
Jarvis & Cleveland, one of the leading law partnerships of the city. 

Mr. Cratty is a native of Champaign county, Ohio, and is of Irish lineage, 
his great-great-grandfather having emigrated from the north of Ireland to Penn- 
sylvania in the year 1760. Representatives of the family were prominent factors 
in the public life of the Keystone state, and the grandfather of our subject, a 
native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, born in 1763, was one of the patriots 
who fought for the independence of the nation in the war of the Revolution. 
William Cratty, the father of our subject, was born in Butler county, Pennsyl- 
vania, June 20, 1805, but in 1814 removed to Ohio, and in April, 1826, was united 
in marriage to Miss Candis Bennett, a native of Rhode Island, born December 
25, 1805. He was a man of strong anti-slavery principles and his home was 
supposed by the friends of slavery to be a station on the famous underground 
railroad. In consequence a reward of three thousand dollars was offered for his 
body, dead or alive, if delivered south of the Allegheny river. For many years 
he was an industrious, energetic farmer, but spent his last years in a well earned 
retirement from labor, his death occurring in 1897. His wife passed away Janu- 
ary 27, 1875. Her noble life, kindly manner and exemplary Christian character 
endeared her to all who knew her, and of the Presbyterian church she was a 
most faithful member, as was her husband. Their family numbered twelve chil- 
dren, four sons and eight daughters. 

On the home farm in Ohio Thomas Cratty spent the days of his boyhood 
and youth. Hard work occupied the greater part of his time, for the fields had 
to be cleared and cultivated and the sons of the family shared in this work. 
His education was acquired in the winter season when he found opportunity to 
attend the district school. Endowed by nature with strong mentality he made 
the most of his educational advantages and at an early age was qualified to teach. 
He accordingly took up that work after the manner of the frontier teacher, 
"boarding round" among the pupils and holding spelling schools on Friday 
nights, these schools being an important factor in the social life of the country 
districts. He was thus engaged until the fall of 1854, when he went south with 
the dual purpose of seeking recreation and to study the institution of slavery as 
it then existed south of Mason and Dixon's line. His opposition to the institu- 
tion grew even more pronounced as with his own eyes he witnessed the wrongs 
and outrages committed by the slaveholders and slave dealers of the south. 

In 1856 Mr. Cratty resumed farming, but in 1860 financial reverses overtook 
him and he lost his property. What then seemed a hardship was really the open 
door to greater opportunities. Leaving his old home he resolved to gratify a 
long cherished desire of studying law and entered the Chicago Law School, in 
which he was graduated with honor in 1861. During this time he lived in a 



1 14 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

little rented room, did his own housework and cooked his own meals. Neither 
had he the money to pay his tuition, and to the professor in charge he gave his 
note, which was to be paid out of his first lawyer's fees. That he ranked very 
high as a student is shown by the fact that he was one of four graduates chosen 
to participate in a moot trial at a public exhibition in Metropolitan hall, by way 
of graduation exercises. 

Mr. Cratty opened his first law office in Elmwood, Peoria county, Illinois, 
his law library consisting of a single volume. Success in the law is proverbially 
slow, but gradually he built up a good and constantly increasing practice, gain- 
ing valuable experience and some substantial fees. Recognizing the fact that 
labor, earnest, persistent labor, is the key to success in the law as in every other 
department of life, he spared no pains in the preparation of his cases and in con- 
sequence was ready to meet any contingency that might arise. The strong 
analytical cast of his mind, combined with keen perceptive faculties, peculiarly 
fits him for his chosen vocation, and his presentation of a cause before jury or 
judge is at once forceful, logical and convincing. 

In the fall of 1863 Mr. Cratty removed to Peoria, where he entered into 
partnership with Hon. W. W. O'Brien, with whom he was associated for three 
years. In January, 1872, the firm of Cratty Brothers, of Peoria, was organized, 
the junior partner being Josiah Cratty, who was admitted to the bar in that year. 
They built up a very large and lucrative business and the collection department 
became so extensive that they were obliged to employ several clerks. On the 
ist of May, 1880, seeking broader field for his labor, Mr. Cratty came to Chicago, 
where he entered into partnership with his former business associate, W. W. 
O'Brien, under the firm name of O'Brien & Cratty, which connection was con- 
tinued five months, when he became a member of the firm of Tenney, Flower 
& Cratty. On the ist of May, 1882, that firm was dissolved and for a time the 
junior member was alone in business. Subsequently he was a member 
of the firm of Cratty Brothers, Jarvis & Cleveland, and is now the senior member 
of the firm of Cratty, Jarvis & Cleveland. They are located in the New York 
Life building, where they have one of the finest law offices in the entire city. 

While he was well grounded in the principles of common law when ad- 
mitted to the. bar, he has continued through the whole of his professional life a 
diligent student of those elementary principles which constitute the basis of all 
legal science, and this knowledge serves him well in many a legal battle. He 
always prepares his cases with great care. If there is a close legal point involved 
in the issue, it is his habit to examine thoroughly every authority within his 
reach bearing upon the question, and this makes him a most dangerous adver- 
sary. When he comes to the discussions of such intricate problems before the 
courts, it is then perhaps that his great powers as a lawyer are shown to the best 
advantage. With a thorough knowledge of the subjects to be discussed, and 
of the legal principles applicable to them, his addresses before the courts are 
models of clearness and logic. Quick to perceive and guard the dangerous phases 
of his case, he never fails to assault his adversary at the point where his armor 
is weakest. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 115 

Mr. Cratty has at times been connected with some important commercial 
interests. From 1871 until 1873 he was connected with Leslie Robison in the 
publication of the Peoria Review, a daily, weekly and tri-weekly Republican 
newspaper, which in the campaign of 1872 supported Horace Greeley for the 
presidency. They also had an extensive steam job office and blank-book manu- 
factory and bindery ; but this enterprise made too heavy demands upon his 
time, so Air. Cratty disposed of it. He has been financially interested in the 
Elmwood Paper Manufacturing Company, the Chamber of Commerce Associa- 
tion of that city, the Merchants' Exchange, and was an active factor in promoting 
the interests of the public library of Peoria. He has always been deeply inter- 
ested in everything pertaining to education and the intellectual advancement of 
the race, and in an early day assisted in organizing the teachers' institute of Knox 
county. He also occupied the position of law lecturer in Cole's Commercial 
College, of Peoria, delivering his lectures weekly for several years, both to citi- 
zens and to students of the college. He possesses considerable oratorical ability 
and never fails to hold the attention of his auditors by the sound sense which 
underlies the adornment of well chosen words and neatly turned phrases. 

Mr. Cratty is a Republican ; was one of the organizers of the Washington 
Park Club in 1883, a member of the Union League, Marquette,. Irish-American, 
and Veteran Union Clubs. He is also a member of the Chicago Bar Associa- 
tion, the State Bar Association, Chicago Law Institute, the Peoria Law Library- 
Association, and of the Chicago Real Estate Board. 

Ephraim Banning. One of the most interesting indications of the progress 
of the world is the development of its jurisprudence. The law, which is the 
safeguard of life, liberty and property, has expanded with the manifold growing 
interests of business and society until it touches all departments of trade, of 
commerce, of industry, of invention and mental production, as well as controls 
the individual in his relations to humanity. Ever broadening in its scope, it 
would be impossible for any one representative of the bar to be sufficiently 
familiar with all departments of the law to handle all kinds of legal business with 
equal success, and as a result have come our specialists, who, having mastered 
the fundamental principles of justice and right, have turned their energies into 
only a few channels and possibly but one, thus augmenting the strength with 
which they care for the interests entrusted to them along their special lines. It is 
this that Mr. Banning has done, and in the line of patent, trade-mark and copy- 
right litigation he has achieved a reputation hardly second to any member of the 
bar in the country. 

He was born near Bushnell, McDonough county, Illinois, July 21, 1849, 
and when less than six years of age accompanied his parents on their removal 
to Kansas. It is a matter of history that the committee of the convention which 
made Kansas a free state held its meeting in the home of the Bannings. When 
our subject was about ten years of age the family removed to Missouri, and two 
years later, when his brothers went to the war as defenders of the Union, he was 
left as his father's principal assistant in the care of the home farm. Meager were 
the school privileges afforded in that locality, but he made the most of his oppor- 



n6 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

tunity and was usually found at the head of his classes. Having mastered the 
branches taught in the common schools when about sixteen years of age he be- 
came a student in the academy of Brookfiekl, Missouri, where he gained a 
knowledge of the languages and the higher branches. Subsequently he taught 
school for a short time and then took up the study of law. For three generations 
on the maternal side his ancestors were members of the legal profession, and 
his predilection for the law seemed most natural. At all events, if success is 
any criterion by which to judge, nature undoubtedly intended Mr. Banning 
for the bar. After studying in the office of Hon. Samuel P. P. Houston, of 
Brookfield, Missouri, until the spring of 1871, he came to Chicago and as clerk 
and student entered the office of Rosenthal & Pence, then a well known law 
firm. In June, 1872, he was admitted to practice at the bar of the supreme 
court of Illinois, and in October following opened an office and entered upon 
his professional career. 

Competition for leadership at the bar was even then great, but Mr. Banning 
possessed youth, ambition, courage and determination, combined with an ex- 
cellent theoretical knowledge gained from textbooks as well as some practical 
knowledge of the workings of the courts. He resolved that if untiring effort 
and devotion to the interests entrusted to him could win success it should be 
his, and acting on this plan it was not long before he had gained a good practice 
in commercial, real estate, corporation and criminal law. In the course of his 
practice several cases came to him involving questions of patent law, and he 
speedily acquired a decided preference for the scientific and intricate points of 
this peculiar branch of jurisprudence. It was in 1877 that he made his first 
argument in a patent case. About the same time he formed a partnership with 
his brother, Thomas A. Banning, and in a few years the firm of Banning & 
Banning became widely known as successful patent attorneys, Mr. Banning 
gradually relinquishing his general practice as this branch grew more and more 
prominent. Making a specialty of patent and trade-mark law, he has, during 
the last fifteen years, argued many important cases in the United States 
supreme court and in the federal courts at Chicago, New York, Boston, Phila- 
delphia, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Kansas City, St. Paul, Des Moines and in other 
places. Possessed of a mind strong, logical and comprehensive, he is excep- 
tionally well equipped for this kind of practice. In 1888 he made an extensive 
tour of Europe, and by observation and special investigation greatly extended 
his already thorough knowledge in his chosen field of study and practice. 

Mr. Banning is a member of the American, State and Chicago Bar As- 
sociations and of other legal organizations. He has always taken an active 
interest in all matters connected with the profession, and was a member of the 
committee appointed by the Chicago Bar Association to secure legislation by 
congress to give Chicago additional United States judges. He was also chair- 
man of the committee on organization of the patent and trade-mark congress 
held in Chicago under the auspices of the World's Congress Auxiliary, in 1893. 
At the closing session of that congress he was appointed one of a committee 
to present to the congress of the United States various matters connected with 



THE BENCH 'AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 117 

industrial property, particularly in its international aspects, the other members 
of the committee being from New York, New Jersey, Washington and California. 
In 1896 he was elected a McKinley presidential elector, and in 1897 he was 
appointed a member of the State Board of Charities, which office he still holds. 
For a man in private life he has had an unusually large experience in public 
affairs. 

Mr. Banning was married in October, 1878, to Miss Lucretia T. Lindsley, 
who died in February, 1887, leaving three sons. In September, 1889, he married 
Miss Emilie B. Jenne, daughter of the late O. B. Jenne, of Elgin, Illinois. He 
and his family attend the Presbyterian church, in which he holds the office of 
elder. He belongs to the Union League and Illinois Clubs, and is deeply inter- 
ested in the moral and material, as well as social, progress of Chicago. 

Hon. Edward H. Morris. The life record of this member of the Chicago 
bar is another proof of the statement that merit is the only indispensable quali- 
fication at the bar. Mr. Morris was born a slave upon one of the plantations 
of Kentucky, in 1859. To-day he stands among the successful legal practitioners 
of the western metropolis, enjoying a very handsome income which results from 
a large and important law practice. The greater part of his youth was passed 
in Ohio and Illinois, where he attended the common schools. For twenty-eight 
years he has been a resident of Chicago. Under great pecuniary difficulties 
he acquired his professional education, and on the I2th of June, 1879, he was 
admitted to the Illinois bar, having passed an examination before the appellate 
court. His exchequer was then in such a state of depletion and his wardrobe 
so in need of repair that when taking the examination he wore a long overcoat, 
closely buttoned, in order to hide the ravages of time and wear upon his trousers. 
In the years which have since passed, however, he has won financial success. 
With strong determination and invincible courage he entered upon his pro- 
fessional career and has steadily gained a large clientage, largely among the 
white race. His practice brings him in a number of thousands every year, 
and his surplus earnings he has invested in real estate until his property inter- 
ests are now quite large. In September, 1881, he was admitted to the bar of 
Wisconsin, and has had considerable practice in that state. On the I5th of 
October, 1885, he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of the United 
States. In 1892 he served as attorney for the town of South Chicago. In 1895 
was assistant attorney for Cook county, and in 1896 was again attorney for the 
town of South Chicago. 

Mr. Morris has been especially helpful to young law students of his own 
race, and among those whose studies he has directed in his own office are Fred 
L. McGhee, of St. Paul ; his brother, William R. Morris, of Minneapolis ; F. A. 
Denison, of Chicago; and Paul Jones, of Kansas City, all now successful 
lawyers. He has a wide, thorough and comprehensive understanding of the 
law, yet his reading has never been confined to that department of learning 
alone. In addition to a large law library, he has a well selected miscellaneous 
library, containing the works of Shakespeare, Carlyle, Dickens, the poets and 
many other standard works, with which he is very familiar, thus finding pleasure 



ii8 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

in the master minds of various ages. In politics Mr. Morris is a Republican, 
and in 1891 was elected to the Illinois general assembly from the third senatorial 
district. 

In 1896 he was united in marriage to Miss Jessie Montgomery. 

Alfred L. Baker. At the bar and in commercial circles Alfred L. Baker 
has won an enviable reputation and has recently been elected president of the 
Chicago Stock Exchange. To gain a position of prominence among the repre- 
sentatives of commercial interests in this metropolis requires pronounced ability 
and splendid executive force, and it is through the exercise of these attributes 
that Mr. Baker occupies a successful position in the business world. 

Born in Massachusetts, on the 3Oth of April, 1859, he is a son of Addison 
and Maria A. (Mudge) Baker, natives of Boston. His literary education was 
completed by his graduation in the high school of Lynn, Massachusetts, and at 
the age of nineteen he entered upon the study of law in the office of George E. 
Smith, of Boston, who directed his reading until his admission to the bar of 
Essex county, Massachusetts, in January, 1882. He practiced for some time as 
a member of the law firm of Baldwin & Baker, of Lynn, Massachusetts, and 
during that period was connected with the administration of the city govern- 
ment as a member of the. city council. He was also a member of the board. of 
education and did effective service for the schools in that city. 

At length Mr. Baker determined to seek a home and fortune in the west, 
and in 1886 located in Chicago, where he practiced law for ten years, being a 
member of the firm of Baker & Greeley for six years of that period. He soon 
won a distinctively representative clientele and was connected with that special 
branch of jurisprudence known as realty law. Much of his time was given to 
the management of property interests and he was the counsel for a number 
of large estates, including that of Joel C. Walter, who was one of the pioneers 
of Chicago and left extensive holdings in real estate. 

In 1896 Mr. Baker abandoned the active practice of law in order to engage 
in the banking and brokerage business, and in 1898 was elected president of 
the Chicago Stock Exchange. He is also a member of the New York Stock 
Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, and his investments in those lines 
have brought to him profitable financial returns. He is a man of keen sagacity, 
of strong purpose and of active enterprise, and his business methods are in 
strict conformity to the highest standard of ethics, so that he commands the 
uniform respect of his business associates. 

In 1894 Mr. Baker was united in marriage to Miss Mary Corwith, daughter 
of the late Henry Corwith, of Chicago. He is a member of the Union League 
and Chicago Clubs. In politics he is an independent Republican, and although 
opposed to the free coinage of silver, yet on all social and economic questions 
he has, from his wide sympathies, always favored any movement of the 
point of view which gives larger opportunities for all classes, to better their 
social and industrial conditions. Mr. Baker belongs to that class of citizens 
who came from the east to become an integral part in the great activity that 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 119 

has placed Chicago among the leading cities of the world and made her the 
great rival of the eastern metropolis. 

Merritt W. Pinckney.- For fifteen years a member of the bar of Chicago, 
Merritt Willis Pinckney was born in Mount Morris, Ogle county, Illinois, De- 
cember 12,. 1859. His father, Daniel J. Pinckney, was a man of strong mentality 
and for many years was prominently connected with the educational interests of 
Illinois. He was born in Ithaca, New York, educated in the Wesleyan University, 
of Connecticut, and for a number of years thereafter was principal of the Rock 
River Seminary, of Illinois. He was also a leading factor in political circles, 
was a member 'of the constitutional convention of the Prairie state, later repre- 
sented Ogle county in the state legislature for several terms, and subsequently 
was elected state senator. His public career was an honorable one, and in the 
discharge of his official duties he showed a knowledge of affairs only to be at- 
tained by deep and extensive reading. He married Margaret C. Hitt, daughter 
of Samuel M. Hitt, one of the pioneers of Illinois. 

In the public schools Merritt W. Pinckney acquired his preliminary educa- 
tion, which was supplemented by a course in Rock River Seminary and by 
study in Knox College, of Galesburg, Illinois. His professional course was 
pursued in the Union College of Law, a department of the Northwestern Uni- 
versity, in which institution he was graduated in 1883, with the valedictorian 
honors of his class. Beginning practice in this city, he was alone in business 
until November, 1884, when he entered into partnership with William H. Tatgc, 
with whom he was associated until March, 1893, when the latter's brother, 
Gustavus J. Tatge, became his partner. He devotes his attention entirely to 
civil law and has a large clientage. 

He has never sought political distinction, preferring to give his attention 
entirely to his profession. He is now a familiar figure in the various courts of 
the city, owing to his extensive business and his ability in the handling of the 
intricate problems of civil law, and his uniform courtesy at all times commands 
the respect of his fellow practitioners at the bar. He is a man of sound judg- 
ment, keen discernment and ability, which, united to an untiring energy and 
devotion to his clients' interests, makes him a valuable attorney and counselor. 

On the 24th of June, 1885, Mr. Pinckney was united in marriage to Miss 
Mary Van Vechten, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

Jeremiah Learning/ For forty-two years an active practitioner of law in 
Illinois, the friend and associate of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas and 
John T. Stuart, an honored and prominent jurist long after that eminent trio 
had suspended their labors in the Prairie state, and to-day a leading member 
of the Chicago bar, Mr. Learning now stands among those with whom age has 
dealt kjndly as the result of a careful guarding of the citadel of his powers, of 
a splendid development of his mental forces, and a life spent in conformity with 
those great laws which underlie the universe. In the years of his early man- 
hood he won a foremost position among the most prominent lawyers of the 
state and has ever maintained his place in the ranks of the successful and brilliant 



120 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

men whose talents have made the bar of Illinois unexcelled in the history of the 
nation's jurisprudence. 

A native of New Jersey, Mr. Learning was born in the town of Dennisville, 
January 20, 1831, and is a son of Jeremiah and Abigail (Falkenburg) Learning. 
His father was born in New Jersey in 1793 and died in that state in- 1839. He 
was a merchant and shipowner and a man of influence and high position in the 
community in which he made his home. His political support was given the 
Whig party, and for many years he was a member of the general assembly of 
New Jersey, serving in both the house and senate. His wife, who was born in 
New Jersey in 1796, departed this life in Philadelphia in 1863. Her father, 
Joseph Falkenburg, was born in Pennsylvania and was a man of much prom- 
inence in Cape May county, New Jersey, where official honors were bestowed 
upon him in his election to both branches of the state legislature. 

Jeremiah Learning pursued his initiatory educational training in the schools 
of Westchester, Pennsylania, was afterward a student in Mount Holly and in 
Bordentown, New Jersey, and pursued his collegiate course in Princeton College, 
wherein he was graduated with the class of 1853. Having made a choice of the 
legal profession as a life-work, he began preparation for his labors at the bar 
by becoming a student in the law office of Garrett S. Cannon, of Bordentown, 
and in June, 1856, was admitted to the bar of his native state. 

The rapidly growing west, however, seemed to him a more attractive and 
promising field for one who would gain advancement, and in August, 1856, he 
came to Illinois, taking up his residence in Bloomington, where he began the 
practice of his profession. It was here he formed the acquaintance of those 
men of national reputation before mentioned, Lincoln, Douglas and Stuart, 
and was associated in the trial of the last important case with which the afterward 
martyred president was connected in this section of the country. It was a case 
of malpractice, where Leonard Swett and William W. Orme were the counsel 
for the prosecution, and Abraham Lincoln, John T. Stuart and Jeremiah 
Learning were the counsel for the defense. The latter gentlemen won the suit 
for their client, thereby saving to him the sum of five thousand dollars. When 
his lawyers met to confer concerning the fee which should be charged, Mr. 
Lincoln said that he thought one hundred dollars would be about right. 
Throughout the state he had the reputation of making exceptionally low charges. 
He had passes on all the railroads, was entertained gratis at most of the hotels 
and could therefore afford to take much smaller fees than could the other 
lawyers, who had to meet all traveling and other expenses, and his low charges 
proved detrimental to his fellow members of the profession who desired to make 
a comfortable living off their labors. Therefore, when Mr. Lincoln suggested 
that only one hundred dollars be asked of their client, both Mr. Stuart and 
Mr. Learning protested, for the latter had spent six weeks in preparation of the 
case. Explaining then to the future president how he ruined the chances of 
the other lawyers by his course, they finally induced him to charge the by no 
means exorbitant fee of three hundred dollars. 

In January, 1867, Mr. Learning removed from Bloomington to Chicago, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 121 

and the already high reputation which he had gained enabled him soon to win a 
large clientage here. From the year of his arrival until 1886 he was in partner- 
ship with R. S. Thompson, but since that time has been alone in the practice. 
While he is known as a general practitioner, he has devoted his attention largely 
to civil law, and has left the impress of his individuality upon the law history 
of the state. He became connected with the Illinois bar at a time when there 
were few if any specialists, and all lawyers must be able to handle any kind of a 
cause that might be entrusted to them. This necessitated a comprehensive and 
thorough knowledge of the law in its various departments, and Mr. Learning 
became renowned for his legal lore as well as for his successful handling of a 
cause in the courts. 

One of the most important cases with which he was connected in an early 
day was argued before the United States supreme court about 1860, which 
settled the question regarding the right to pre-empt lands within six miles of 
the Illinois Central Railroad, and he won a reversal of the decision of the supreme 
court of Illinois. This was a test case, which settled some one hundred other 
suits then pending, and was very far-reaching in its effects, for it involved the 
actions of the general land offices respecting lands withdrawn from market 
from the time of the establishment of the office until the time of the trial of the 
case. 

In politics Mr. Learning has always been a Democrat, and was a warm sup- 
porter of Stephen A. Douglas. While residing in Bloomington he took a very 
active part in the political campaigns, but since coming to Chicago has been 
content to express his opinions by his ballot and in other quiet ways. At one 
time he was a candidate on the Democratic ticket for judge of the superior 
court of Cook county, and in 1893 he was appointed a master in chancery of the 
circuit court of Cook county. For several years he was chairman of the bar 
committee of Chicago, was president of the Chicago Law Institute in 1895, and 
is a member of the Iroquois Club. 

In 1856 Mr. Learning was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Scovel, of 
New Jersey, a daughter of Rev. Alden Scovel, a Presbyterian minister. They 
now have five living children. The parents are members of the Reformed 
Episcopal church. 

This in brief is the history of one whose connection with the bar of Illinois 
has not only brought him renown, but has reflected honor upon the profession 
in the state. A diligent student from the beginning of his career, he has ac- 
quired an unusually profound knowledge of the law, which a well disciplined 
memory places absolutely at his command. He is an original thinker as well, 
and has a generous share of that very necessary quality which we term common 
sense. Thus he is never led away by impractical theories, and his judgment 
is reliable and accurate. 

Hon. George W. Miller has in his brief life-span of thirty years at- 
tained a distinction equaled by few whose career covers so short a period. As 
a lawyer, statesman and orator he bears a high reputation that is by no means 
confined to the locality in which he lives. Illinois claims him among her native 



122 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

sons and is proud of his brilliant achievements, for he has indelibly impressed 
his individuality upon the statutes of the state, and in the realm of legal prac- 
tice is already gaining a place among those whose seniority in business and in 
years has given them great advantage over those of the younger generation. 
He has stood as the defender of the rights and liberties of his fellow men both in 
the assemblages where the law is formulated and where it is executed, and his 
ability to interpret the principles of justice has been indicated in many a master- 
ful argument showing deep thought, comprehensive legal learning and the keen- 
est discrimination between truth and falsity. Such is the work to which Mr. 
Miller is now devoting his energies, labors that necessitate the possession of 
strong mentality, exceptionally keen analytical power, extended research and 
close application ; for in the law, perhaps more than in any other calling, suc- 
cess must depend upon individual effort and personal merit. 

Mr. Miller was born on a farm near Oilman, Illinois, January 12, 1869, a 
son of Rufus H. and Ellen M. (Hale) Miller, the former a native of Ohio and 
the latter of Massachusetts. Both came to Illinois in early childhood, and the 
father of our subject, after attaining to man's estate, turned his attention to 
agricultural pursuits. Later, however, he engaged in the nursery business for 
a number of years, but has now for a few years past been connected with the 
insurance business. He has always been a pronounced Democrat, voting always 
for the candidates of that party with the exception of the years 1860 and 1864, 
when he supported Abraham Lincoln for the presidency. His father was also 
an advocate of Democratic principles until 1860, at which time he allied his 
strength with that of the Republican party and continued to follow its banner 
until his death. 

Upon the home farm George W. Miller spent his early years and in the 
schools of Oilman acquired his literary education, being graduated at the Gil- 
man high school in the class of 1887, when eighteen years of age. He chose as 
the field of his future labor the greatest of all the learned professions and in 
1889 entered the Union College of Law, of Chicago, where he remained as a 
student for one year. He then went to Washington, D. C, where from 1890 
until September, 1891, he was one of the chief clerks in the census bureau, en- 
gaged in computing the eleventh census of the United States. In September, 
1890, he joined the senior class of the law department of the Columbian Uni- 
versity, and completed the regular two-years course in one year, graduating at 
that institution in June, 1891. Resigning his position on the census bureau 
in September of the same year, he came to Chicago and accepted a clerkship in 
the law office of James R. Mann, with whom he continued in that capacity until 
January i, 1894, when he became the junior member of the law firm of Mann, 
Hayes & Miller, a connection that has since been maintained. The firm occu- 
pies a leading position in professional circles. 

For four years Mr. Miller has now been an active member of the Chicago 
bar and has gained an enviable distinction by the able manner in which he has 
handled the legal interests entrusted to his care. He devotes his best thought 
and energies to his practice, and the assiduous and earnest attention which he 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 123 

gives to his clients' affairs has earned for him the reputation of a careful, trust- 
worthy and reliable guardian of the interests of others. He is a clear and 
logical speaker, a close reasoner and a convincing advocate before court or 
jury. He is always courteous and self-possessed, with a poise not easily dis- 
turbed, is generous to his opponents, fair to his witnesses and has the respect 
of the bar and the general public as well. In October, 1897, he was appointed 
a master in chancery of the superior court of Cook county, which is an unprece- 
dented honor, for few men of his years have ever held that position. 

In his political affiliations Mr. Miller is diametrically opposed to his father, 
being widely recognized as an unswerving Republican. He is a most effective 
campaign speaker, instructive, entertaining, logical and convincing, and his 
services in that particular are greatly in demand. His powers of oratory make 
him a fluent, graceful, easy speaker, and while thus entertaining his hearers, he 
at the same time appeals to their reason in a manner that makes his words not 
easily forgotten. His legislative service has been most brilliant and honorable. 
In the fall of 1894 he was elected a member of the house of representatives from 
the third senatorial district, and in January, 1895, took his seat as a member 
of the thirty-ninth general assembly of the state of Illinois. He had some im- 
portant committee appointments, serving as a member of the committee on 
statutory revision, the judiciary and on state and municipal civil-service reform. 
During the special session of the thirty-ninth assembly he was a member of the 
"steering committee." He introduced into the house and had charge of the 
Torrens bill while it was pending, also the county civil-service bill and a bill to 
revise the pharmacy laws. All of these bills were passed and became laws. 
From the commencement of the senatorial contest he was an earnest and out- 
spoken supporter of Shelby M. Cullom for re-election. 

So capably did Mr. Miller represent his district and labor for the interest 
of his constituents that in 1896 he was re-elected, and in January, 1897, became 
a member of the fortieth general assembly. In that session he was appointed 
chairman of the committee on the judicial department and practice and is a 
member of the committees on civil service, finance, live stock and dairying, 
elections and statutory revisions. He introduced and was instrumental in se- 
curing the passage of the bill to consolidate the supreme court at Springfield. 
For twenty-five years similar bills had been introduced at almost every session, 
only to meet defeat, and many of Mr. Miller's friends regard his successful 
conduct of this bill through the house as the most important work he has per- 
formed during his two terms of service. He received congratulations upon 
this work from all parts of the state and won high encomiums from the bar. 
When the supreme court declared the Torrens law unconstitutional he again 
introduced and had charge in the house of a second Torrens bill, so amended 
as to comply with the supreme-court decision. This became a law. He also 
introduced a bill to establish branch appellate courts in Illinois, and in the 
house had charge and secured the passage of a bill providing for an increase 
in the salaries of the supreme-court judges from five to seven thousand dollars. 
Mr. Miller is recognized as one of the strongest debaters in the legislature. His 



I2 4 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

argument is ever clear, forcible, exact and to the point, and at the same time 
lacks not the oratorical adornments which not only please the aesthetic sense 
but also serve to heighten by contrast the strong points in his appeal. 

On the 4th of August, 1892, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss 
Carrie E. Sproule, of Chicago, and in social circles they occupy an enviable 
position. Mr. Miller is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity and of the 
Royal League, and the social qualities of his nature have endeared him to many 
friends, while his pleasing conversational powers make him a favorite in business, 
legislative and home circles. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

BENCH AND BAR OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 

CRAWFORD COUNTY was created by "an act of the Legislative Council 
and House of Representatives of the Illinois Territory," approved on 
the 3ist of December, 1816. Its boundaries, as fixed by the act creating 
the territory, were as follows: "Beginning at the mouth of the Embarrass river 
and running with said river to the line between townships three and four north 
of range eleven west of the second principal meridian, and thence due north until 
it strikes the line of Upper Canada, thence to the line that separates the terri- 
tory of Illinois from the state of Indiana, and thence south with said line to 
the place of beginning." The same act fixed "the seat of justice at the house of 
Edward N. Cullom," which was on the present site of the village of Palestine. 

The first term of court held in the county convened at the house of Edward 
N. Cullom on the 15111 of September, 1817. Hon. Thomas Towles was the 
presiding judge. There were four cases on the docket for trial, one action for 
debt, one for assault and battery, and two actions on the case. Four indictments 
were returned by the grand jury, two of which were for assault and battery, one 
for selling whiskey to Indians, and one for "bringing home a hog without ears." 
The court adjourned until court in course on the ijth of September, 1817. 

.The first term of the circuit court held after the state was admitted into the 
Union was a special term which convened on July i, 1819, for the trial of Will- 
iam Kilbuck, Captain Thomas and Big Panther, three Delaware Indians, for the 
murder of Thomas McCall. McCall was engaged in surveying the public lands, 
and these Indians asked for an order to the man in charge of his camp to give 
them whiskey. He pretended to comply with their request, but sent the order 
by them that they should be given no whiskey, and for the deception they killed 
him. Kilbuck was convicted and sentenced to be hanged the next Wednesday, 
but escaped before the day set for his execution, and there lingers in the county 
a tradition that there were boodlers even in that early day. This court was 
held by Judge Thomas C. Browne, who continued to be the presiding judge 
until the April term, 1820. 

Judges Towles and Browne appear to have clone nothing to impress their 
names or character upon the public mind. Among the pioneers of the county 
there can be found no recollections or traditions of them as judges or as men. 
Nothing can be learned outside of the brief judicial records to which they affixed 
their names. 

Judge William Wilson held the October term, 1824. He was a very prom- 
inent man during his judicial career, and very highly esteemed as a judge of 
both circuit and supreme courts. His written opinions are usually short, clear, 

125 



126 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

satisfactory and sound law. In his time the court and bar "rode the circuit" 
together. Story-telling was a high art among them, and he was of the best. 
One of his stories was of a grape vine which followed a rail fence around three 
sides of a ten-acre field, three-quarters around the fourth side, then to the top 
of a very tall maple tree, from which its tendrils reached toward the clouds, but 
'for want of support fell to the earth. This vine produced "tons and tons of 
grapes, which were hauled away in wagon loads by people who came from 
far and near to see the wonder and to gather its rich clusters of grapes, from 
which were manufactured many thousand barrels of excellent wine." Judge 
Wilson was a resident of White county and died, at Carmi, many years since. 

When the state was divided into circuits, in 1824, James O. Wattles was 
elected judge of the fifth circuit, which included the county of Crawford. Judge 
Wattles was commissioned January 19, 1825, and was legislated out of office 
by an act of the legislature approved January 12, 1827. He held the February 
term, 1825, and a special term in May afterward. Judge James Hall held the 
November term of the same year, and Judge Wattles held the terms for May 
and November, 1826. Judge Wilson then held the courts from the April term, 
1827, to the April term, 1834, and was succeeded by Judge Justin- Harlan, who 
held all the courts in the county until the September term, 1840. Judge Wilson 
then held the courts from the April term, 1841, to the April term, 1849, when 
he was again succeeded by Judge Harlan, who held the courts until the October 
term, 1858. 

Judge Harlan justly ranks with the best judges and lawyers of his time. 
Like Judge Wilson, his profound knowledge of the law did not detract from 
his high character as a teller of stories. He loved the music of the chase, and 
many of his stories were the embellished productions of the pioneer settlers. One 
tale that is still remembered, was of a fox that, while the hunters were taking 
refreshments, died so suddenly that on their return they found it standing on 
its legs stiff and cold in death. Judge Harlan was a resident of Marshall, in 
Clark county, and his history as a lawyer is properly written in the history of 
the bench and bar of that county. 

lion. Alfred Kitchell, of Richland county, was elected judge in the twenty- 
fifth circuit and held the courts from the May term, 1859, until he was suc- 
ceeded, in 1861, by Hon. James C. Allen, who was at that time a resident of 
Crawford county. Judge Allen resigned in 1862, having been elected to con- 
gress, Hon. Aaron Shaw being elected to fill the vacancy. 

In 1865 Crawford county was again placed in the fourth circuit and Hiram 
B. Decius of Cumberland county was, on the 1st of December, commissioned 
as judge of the circuit court. .He was re-elected in June, 1869, and continued 
to hold the courts of the county until after the constitution of 1870. In 1873 
Judge Decius was succeeded by Judge Allen, who continued to hold the circuit 
courts of the county until 1877, when the judicial system was changed into its 
present form, and John H alley, of Jasper county, was elected as third judge in 
the second circuit. 

On the i6th of June, 1879, Chauncey S. Conger, of White, Thomas S. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 127 

Casey, of Jefferson, and William C. Jones, of Crawford, were elected judges of 
the circuit court in the second circuit, and these interchangeably held the courts 
of Crawford county for six years. In June, 1885, William C. Jones, Carroll C. 
Boggs and E. D. Youngblood, of Gallatin, were elected and held the courts for 
six years, when Judges Boggs and Youngblood were re-elected and Silas Z. 
Landes, of Wabash, was elected as third judge in the circuit. In June, 1897, 
Judge Youngblood was re-elected and Prince Albert Pearce, of White, and 
Enoch E. Newlin, of Crawford, were elected judges and now hold the courts 
of the county. 

The bar of Crawford county during its early and later history has contained 
men of learning, ability and character, men whose names deserve, and will 
receive an honorable place in the history of the state of Illinois. Among these 
are Eldredge S. Janney, born July 12, 1801, in Alexandria, Virginia. He was 
a graduate of Nassau Hall College, of Princeton, New Jersey. He came to 
Crawford county in 1827 and, following the custom of his Virginia ancestors, 
established his home in the country and managed a plantation, while he prac- 
ticed law in the county-seat. The papers remaining on file and of record pre- 
pared by him show him to have been a careful, painstaking, well educated 
lawyer. He was scholarly in his tastes, and continued to read the classic authors 
in the original until blindness hid them forever from him. He removed to 
Marshall, Clark county, in 1853, where he died December 17, 1875. 

Wickliffe Kitchell was born in New Jersey, May 21, 1789, and died at Pana, 
Illinois, February 2, 1869. About 1814 he came to southern Indiana and began 
the improvement of a tract of heavily timbered land. While engaged in clearing 
he so cut his foot as to lame him for life and partially incapacitate him for 
physical labor. He was elected sheriff, and his association with the courts 
revived an earlier ambition to become a lawyer. He bought a few text-books 
and read them by firelight, on rainy clays and when others were idle. He was 
eventually admitted to the bar, and began the practice of law at Palestine in 
1817, and continued until 1838, when he removed to Hillsboro, Illinois. He was 
a member of the house of representatives from Crawford in 1820-21, and from 
Montgomery in 1841. He held the office of state's attorney for several years, 
and in 1839 was appointed attorney general of the state, which office he held 
for one year. He was the father of Alfred Kitchell, one of the judges of the 
circuit court of this county; of General Edward Kitchell, late of Richland county, 
and John W. Kitchell of the Christian county bar. 

Augustus C. French was born and educated in New England and possessed 
in a large degree the solid qualities of the granite hills from which he came. He 
first located in Edgar county, and represented that county in the legislature in 
1836. In 1839 he was appointed receiver of public moneys at the land office in 
Palestine, and removed to Crawford county where, besides his duties as a public 
officer, he entered actively upon the practice of law. In 1846 he was elected 
governor of the state and re-elected in 1849, holding the office until 1853. Gov- 
ernor French was misunderstood and misrepresented by many people. His 
rigid economy was called stinginess, and many stories are still current in regard 



128 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

to his habit of gathering' and saving small things. When it is known that 
all his care and saving was for the purpose of maintaining and educating younger 
brothers and sisters that were dependent upon him, it presents his character in 
a fairer light and invokes a more charitable judgment than has usually been 
accorded to him. His administration of public affairs as governor was eminently 
successful. After his term of office had expired he did not actively engage in 
legal practice, but after a few years of comparative leisure removed to Lebanon 
and took charge of the law school of McKendree College. He was a scholarly 
gentleman and his life is an example of labor, of sacrifice and success, well 
worthy the consideration of those who follow him. 

William H. Sterrett was born in Nova Scotia, in 1810. He was educated in 
Kings College, Windsor. After leaving college he came to the United States 
and read law with Hon. Lucius Case, of Newark, Ohio. He was admitted to the 
bar in that state in 1840. He came to Crawford county in 1845 an d continued 
in active practice until 1858, when he was elected county judge and discon- 
tinued general practice. His health had been declining for several years, and at 
the end of his term of office he returned to Nova Scotia on a visit, and died. He 
was a member of the eighteenth general assembly. As a lawyer he devoted 
himself assiduously to his business, and possessed ability both as a special pleader 
and as an advocate. As a judge he was arbitrary and took little counsel save his 
own will. On the 291!: of August, 1848, he was married to Elizabeth Barlow, 
who still survives. 

George W. Peck was born at Salem, Indiana, and educated at Asbury 
University, in Greencastle, that state. He was twenty-one years old when he 
located in Crawford county, in 1853. He soon obtained a practice which con- 
stantly increased until he entered the army, in 1861. He was a good special 
pleader, and his address to court or jury was always clear in statement and 
logical and eloquent in argument. His mental and physical organization was 
of very fine texture and eminently fitted him for a high rank in the legal p/o- 
fession. He became captain of Company I, Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers, and 
afterward lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. His health failed until he was 
unfit for service in the field and he was detailed for duty as a provost marshal 
at Louisville, Kentucky, whence he returned to his old home in Salem, where 
he died. 

James H. Steel was born in Philadelphia and came to Crawford county in 
his boyhood. His early life 'was spent on a farm. He was for many years clerk 
of the county court of the county. He was admitted to the bar in 1857 and 
commenced practice. His extensive acquaintance in the county, and the con- 
fidence of the people in his integrity and business ability, brought him a large 
and profitable clientage. His mind was of that peculiar cast which reasons 
about everything and doubts everything until it is demonstrated. He was also 
a successful business man and acquired a large amount of property. His health 
failing, he retired from active practice, and died at his home in Robinson on 
the 2d of December, 1872. Mr. Steel was a Whig until the organization of 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 129 

the Republican party, when he became a member of that party and participated 
zealously in every political campaign that occurred during his life. 

Jacob C. Olwin was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, December 6, 1838, 
and died in Robinson, June 22, 1887. He graduated from the Union Law School, 
at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1863. In 1864 he opened a law office in Robinson, Illinois, 
and entered upon his career as a lawyer. He was a member of the thirty-second 
general assembly of Illinois, was elected county judge in 1882, and was four 
years master in chancery for the county. Judge Olwin left a reputation for 
honor and fair dealing that will long be cherished by all who knew him. 

Franklin Robb was a man whose name arid memory will linger long and 
lovingly with the older citizens of the county, and members of the bar who were 
associated with him in his practice will ever remember and honor him. Mr. 
Robb was born in Gibson county, Indiana, February 15, 1817. He graduated 
t* Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, was admitted to the bar in 1840 
and for a time practiced law at Princeton, Indiana. He then spent three years 
studying medicine, and practiced that profession several years, when he returned 
to the law, to the practice of which he devoted his entire time and energy to the 
end of his life. His knowledge of the law was profound. Every question that 
came to him was thoroughly investigated and he seemed never to weary until 
he was satisfied that he had the correct solution. He was fearless and unshrink- 
ing in his defense of the conclusions to which his research led him. His char- 
acter was above suspicion and his statements of facts were always accepted with 
absolute confidence. He was county judge for a term of four years and his 
opinions from the county bench would have done honor to the supreme bench. 
He was an elder in the Presbyterian church, and a Republican from the organi- 
zation of -the party until his death, which occurred in Robinson, February 10, 
1890. 

Major Guy S. Alexander was born in Crawford county, Illinois, December 
4, 1847, and died in Robinson, May 28, 1876. He was a son of Dr. John Alex- 
ander, one of the pioneer settlers of the county. He began and pursued his law 
studies while teaching country schools, and was admitted to the bar in 1866. On 
the 1 5th of January, 1862, he was mustered into the service of the United States 
as second lieutenant of Company F, Sixty-second Illinois Infantry, and was 
mustered out as major of the regiment, on March 6, 1866. 

He was married On the 3d of September, 1867, to Miss Rhoda Becker and 
in the same year opened a law office in Robinson. His mind was active and 
ready for whatever might arise in the trial of a cause, skillfully arraving his 
authorities to maintain his positions. He was county attorney from 1872 to 1876, 
filling that position to the general satisfaction of the people. 

The history of the lawyers of Crawford county who have died would be 
incomplete without some mention of Charles C. Fletcher, who came to the county 
in 1863 and died in Robinson September 20, 1873. Whence he came seems to 
have been unknown. His brilliant and somewhat erratic career, ending under 
shadows that were akin to insanity, will not soon be forgotten. He was well 
educated both in law and literature. His presence was commanding. Curled 



130 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

locks, black as the raven's wing, hung over his broad intellectual forehead, and 
when excited his eyes flashed with a brilliancy that was startling. His speeches 
both at the bar and on the stump were smooth and eloquent. But "melancholy 
claimed him for its own," and ere he died, reason too had fled. 

Of the lawyers who constitute the present Bar of Crawford county Ethelbert 
Callahan is the oldest. He was born in Licking county, Ohio, December 17, 
1829. His father was of Irish and his mother of English descent. His grand- 
father. Rev. George Callahan, was a soldier of the Revolution and a pioneer 
Methodist preacher in Ohio. In 1849 ne came to Crawford county, and that winter 
he taught a three-months school, at fifteen dollars a month, and when paid felt 
richer than at any time since. He edited the Wabash Sentinel in 1853-4, after 
which time he went to Marshall and edited the Telegraph during the Know- 
Nothing campaign of that year. 

On the 27th of June, 1854, he married Mrs. Mary Barlow Jones and has 
since resided in Crawford county. In boyhood he had heard Thomas Ewing 
make a great legal argument and had decided, in boyish fashion, that he too 
would be a lawyer, but years had passed, leaving the ambition still ungratified. In 
1857 he was elected justice of the peace, began to read law, and in 1859 was 
admitted to the bar. In 1861 he opened an office at the county-seat and com- 
menced an active practice, which he still continues. 

His career as a lawyer has been sufficiently successful to gratify any reason- 
able ambition. This has been achieved by an untiring devotion to his profes- 
sion, a profound knowledge of the law, the patient study that gave him complete 
mastery of his cases and a rare faculty for seizing opportunities in their trial, a 
genius for examining witnesses and an unfailing judgment of men, strong earn- 
est argument, and the high standard of honor and courtesy to friend and foe that 
entitles a man to call himself in the true sense a lawyer. 

The general practice of a country lawyer necessarily includes every branch 
of the law and all classes of cases, from the most trivial to those of the most 
serious character, involving life, liberty, reputation and the numerous rights of 
property arising out of the diversified pursuits and commerce of the country. 
This kind of a practice enlarges the knowledge and broadens the mind of a 
lawyer who keeps up with its demands. It is enough to say of Mr. Callahan 
that he has not lagged behind his professional brethren, but has won his full 
share of important legal battles. As recognition of his character, ability and 
standing as a lawyer the honorable degree of Doctor of Laws was, in June, 
1898, conferred upon him by McKendree College. 

Mr. Callahan claims the distinction of having made the first speech in the 
county in behalf of the Republican party. As a Republican he has been a mem- 
ber of the twenty-ninth, thirty-seventh, thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth general 
assemblies of the state. As presidential elector he voted for Garfield and Harri- 
son. He was a member of the first state board of equalization. He is a member 
of the Methodist church and was, in 1874, a delegate from the southern Illinois 
conference of that church to the general conference held in Brooklyn. Mr. 
Callahan was one of the organizers of the Illinois State Bar Association, was 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 131 

its president in 1889, and has contributed several valuable papers, among which 
was "The Lawyers of the Bible," which has been extensively copied. 

He is one of the largest farmers in the county and his farm on the banks 
of the Wabash is an exponent of the best scientific methods of cultivation. His 
great success proves that brains are better, even in the growing of corn and 
systems of drainage. 

William C. Jones, who for twelve years occupied the bench of the 
second judicial circuit, was at the time of his election the youngest 
circuit judge in the state, a distinction of which he has every reason to be 
proud, for the public is a discriminating factor and does not lightly place the 
scales of justice in unworthy hands. It was therefore a tribute to his ability 
and an unmistakable evidence of the confidence reposed in him by the voters of 
his circuit. On the expiration of bis second term he retired to private life and 
is now successfully engaged in the practice of law in Robinson as a member 
of the firm of Jones, Eagleton & Newlin. 

Judge Jones was born in Hutsonville, Crawford county, Illinois, July 15, 
1848, and was a son of Caswell Jones, a successful merchant, who died in March, 
1853. 1 June, 1855, his mother married again, becoming the wife of Ethelbert 
Callahan, who, in 1861, removed to Robinson and opened a law office. While 
a youth William C. Jones, following his own wishes, entered the office of the 
Monitor, a local newspaper, where he served as the youngest apprentice for a 
year. In 1863 he became a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University, where he 
remained three years, following his literary course by study in the office of 
Callahan & Steel, in which he began his reading in 1867. Later he attended a 
course of law lectures in the Michigan State University, at Ann Arbor, and 
on the 9th of May, 1868, was admitted to the bar. In June of the same year he 
entered into partnership with his step-father, Mr. Callahan, this connection con- 
tinuing for ten years, during which he gained wide experience in the work of 
the courts and won a liberal clientage. He has always made a close study of 
the political problems of the day, and in November, 1870, was elected a member 
of the twenty-seventh general assembly of Illinois. In November, 1877, he was 
elected judge of the county court, which position he filled, to the entire satis- 
faction of all concerned, until June, 1879, when he was elected to the circuit 
bench for a term of six years. On the expiration of that period he was re- 
elected, filling the office until June, 1891. As a judge he was careful, pains- 
taking, energetic and industrious. He was ever kind and courteous to the bar 
and to the public, and seemed to possess a strong realization of the importance 
of the profession to which he devoted his energies and the fact that justice and 
the higher attribute of mercy he often held in his hands. His opinions were 
entirely unbiased by fear or favor and showed a comprehensive and accurate 
knowledge of the law. 

Upon his retirement from the bench, in 1891, Judge Jones formed a part- 
nership with E. E. Newlin, who was then state's attorney, and the relation was 
maintained until the election of Mr. Newlin to the bench of the second judicial 
circuit, in June, 1897. In that year Judge Jones formed a partnership with 



132 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

Judge J. C. Eagleton and Thomas J. Newlin, under the firm name of Jones, 
Eagleton & Newlin, and is now in active practice. He was appointed a min- 
ority member of the court of claims by Governor John R. Tanner, in 1897. He 
has always been a very close student, and his legal learning has gone beyond 
and encompassed not only the leading principles but the minutiae of jurispru- 
dence in a manner equaled by few. In 1880, in connection with Judge Cunning- 
ham, of Urbana, he published "A Treatise on the Jurisdiction and Practice in 
County and Probate Courts," which they revised in 1892, and which is still 
accepted as standard authority. 

Judge Jones is not only a prominent lawyer and jurist but is also a success- 
ful financier and business man, and is now serving as vice-president of the First 
National Bank, of Robinson. Socially he is connected with the Knights Temp- 
lars of the Masonic fraternity; politically is a Democrat: and religiously a 
Presbyterian. His home life is very pleasant. He was married, November 25, 
1869, to Mary H., daughter of James H. Steel, then a member of the Crawford 
county bar, and they have three children, Caswell, William and Dorothy M. 
Judge Jones has never confined his reading solely to the law and kindred sub- 
jects. He is a man of scholarly attainments and broad general culture, familiar 
with the leading works of the master minds of all ages. He, too, possesses con- 
siderable literary ability, and in 1892 published a volume entitled "Birch-rod 
Days and Other Poems," which was followed, in 1896, by "Elements and Science 
of English Versification." These, taken in connection with his law volumes, 
show the wide range of a versatile mind, and indicate an interest in the various 
problems of life which shows a well rounded and symmetrical character. 

Hon. John C. Eagleton is a native of Crawford county, Illinois, and was 
born April 10, 1866. He graduated in the public high school of Robinson, 
Illinois, with honor, June 3, 1885, and afterward read law in the office of Olwin 
& Xewlin, being admitted to the practice of his profession in 1889. In Sep- 
tember, 1891, he opened a law office in Robinson and began active practice. 

He was married to Miss Lola M. Ritchie April 6, 1892. Shortly after his 
admission to the practice he was elected and served one year as city clerk of 
Robinson, and was then elected city attorney of Robinson for two successive 
terms, resigning within his second term, to accept the office of county judge 
of Crawford county, to which he was elected in 1894. On May i, 1896, he formed 
a partnership with Judge W. C. Jones and E. E. Newlin, which continued until 
the election of Mr. Newlin as circuit judge, in June, 1897. After Judge Newlin 's 
retirement from the firm Thomas J. Newlin became a member of the firm under 
the firm name of Jones, Eagleton & Newlin, which firm is still in existence and 
in the active practice of law. 

Judge Eagleton is a versatile speaker, an active, industrious young man 
and well versed in the law, being a close student of the same. As a county judge 
he has given universal satisfaction, and presides with becoming dignity, and 
the easy grace that readily fits him for the duties of that profession. 

Socially he is a Knight of Pythias and a Mason ; religiously he is a member 
of the Christian church ; politically he is an ardent Republican, and is frequently 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 133 

called upon to address public gatherings and always responds in an easy and 
fluent manner. 

Judge Enoch E. Xewlin was born on a farm in Crawford county, Illinois, 
February 22, 1858. He was four years old when his father died, in the army, 
in 1862, leaving his mother a widow with three small boys. His mother had but 
little means, and at that time, with one horse and one cow, was living on a rented 
farm in said county. By her good management and hard labor she kept her 
little family together, and when her boys were old enough to attend school she 
kept them in the district school during the winter, and in the summer time they 
were employed at such work as they could find, to help make a living. Enoch, 
being the oldest, was hired out to work on a farm by the month when he was 
thirteen years old. He continued thus to work in summer and attend school in 
winter until he was seventeen, when he began to teach school. He taught eight 
successive terms of winter school in said county, using the money derived there- 
by in assisting his mother and younger brothers in maintaining the family at 
home. In 1879, by his economy, he had a little money saved up, and with that 
to pay his expenses, he attended the State Normal School at Terre Haute, 
Indiana, one year. In 1880 he entered the law office of Callahan & Jones, in 
Robinson, Illinois, as a law student, and pursued his law studies for two years, 
teaching school in the winter time to obtain money with which to pay his board 
during the summer. In 1882 he was admitted to the bar. Without money and 
without clients, but with an ambition and determination to become a lawyer, he 
at once opened a law office at Robinson, and as a young lawyer began the strife 
to succeed in his profession. His many friends and acquaintances, made while 
working on the farm and teaching school, were an advantage to him, and he 
soon began to pick up a good law practice. His whole energy and desires were 
directed to the practice of his profession, and since he began practicing he has 
applied himself constantly to his law business. His success from the start as a 
trial lawyer, and his careful preparation and management of his cases in court 
were so noticeable that his business increased rapidly. 

In 1883 he was appointed city attorney for the city of Robinson, and dis- 
charged his official duties in a manner creditable to himself and to the entire 
satisfaction of the city. In 1884 he was elected state's attorney for Crawford 
county, and re-elected without opposition in 1888. In 1892 he declined to 
become a candidate for re-election. As state's attorney he was vigilant and care- 
ful, and his honest and persistent efforts in the trial of offenders, and his ability 
to take a broad view of the facts in controversy and the law applicable to th'e 
case, won for him the confidence of jurors, and the guilty were made to pay the 
penalty for violating the law. During his eight years' service as state's attorney 
he collected each year from fines and forfeitures enough money to pay his fees 
and had a balance left that he turned over annually to the county. His integrity 
and ability have been recognized and admired by the judges on the bench and by 
the lawyers, not only in his own county but in other counties where his law 
business called him. In 1897 he was elected to the office of Judge of the circuit 
court in the second judicial circuit of Illinois, and his knowledge of the law. 



134 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

even temper, and care in weighing controverted questions arising before him, 
have demonstrated that he is capable and well fitted to fill the office of judge. 
He has while on the bench given general satisfaction to lawyers and litigants, 
and made a record of which any judge might well feel proud. 

In politics Judge Newlin has always been a Democrat, and has been an 
enthusiastic factor in his own county in the cause of free silver. His party has 
felt and appreciated his assistance, both on the stump and as an organizer. 
While he has labored for the success of his own party, he has always been 
courteous to his political opponents, and accorded to them the same honest 
purpose possessed by himself. 

By his economy and industry he has accumulated some property, and has 
a 'beautiful home in Robinson, where he resides with his family. In 1885 he 
married Miss Clara Coulter, a niece of Judge J. W. Wilkin, of the supreme 
court of Illinois, and they have a family of three interesting children. He is 
sober, moral and religious in his habits, a hard worker, industrious and well 
informed, and does not devote much time to recreation. When not engaged 
in his business he can usually be found at home with his wife and children, where 
he takes great delight in enjoying the comforts of a happy home. Judge Newlin 
i.i young in years, with much of life and bright prospects before him. In his 
manly struggle from his humble beginning, and his success achieved he demon- 
strates what a plucky, honest and energetic American boy can do when depend- 
ing entirely upon his own resources. 

Alfred H. Jones is numbered among both the lawyers and law-makers of 
Illinois. He has practiced for twenty-three years at the bar of Robinson, and 
has also been instrumental in framing the laws of the state through service in 
the general assembly. He is numbered among Illinois' native sons, his birth 
having occurred in Crawford county, at Flat Rock, on the 4th of July, 1850. 
His paternal grandparents were Aaron and Mary (Shepard) Jones, the former 
a native of Wales, the latter of Scotland. Their son, John M. Jones, father of 
our subject, was born in Virginia and married Elizabeth Ford, a native of Ken- 
tucky, and a daughter of John and Hopy (Highsmith) Ford, the former a native 
of England, the latter of Holland. All were farming people and the parents of 
our subject, coming to Illinois at an early day, cast in their lot with the pioneer 
farmers of Crawford county. 

Alfred Hanley Jones was reared on his father's farm, and amid fields of 
grain and verdant meadows spent his childhood days. For two years he was a 
student in Westfield College, of Clark county, Illinois, and completed his literary 
education in the National Normal School, of Lebanon, Ohio, where he was 
graduated in 1870. The following year he went to Kansas, where he remained 
for a year, and upon his return began the study of law, being admitted to the 
bar on the I4th of June, 1875. In the same year he was elected city attorney 
of Robinson and in 1876 was appointed state's attorney to fill out the unexpired 
term of G. S. Alexander. In the practice of law he has succeeded in gaining 
a good clientage and is well versed in the various departments of jurisprudence, 
with keen perceptive power and analytical ability, sound judgment in deter- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 135 

mining the law applicable to the facts under consideration and effective manner 
in presenting his arguments to judge or jury. 

Mr. Jones had long been a prominent factor in Republican circles in south- 
ern Illinois. He served for ten years as a member of the town council and gave 
a public-spirited support to every progressive measure for the general good. For 
fifteen years he was a member of the board of education and the cause of the 
schools found in him a warm and practical friend. In 1886 he was elected and 
served in the thirty-fifth general assembly, proving an able representative of his 
district, but on his retirement from that office he resolved to never again become 
a candidate for an elective office. He has, however, served in several appointive 
positions, being at the present time chairman of the board of trustees of the 
Eastern Illinois State Normal School, at Charleston, Illinois. His interest in 
politics has never abated. He is well informed on the issues of the day, and his 
powers of organization and splendid executive ability have contributed not a 
little to Republican successes. For six years he was a member of the state 
central committee of his party, and for twenty years has been a member of the 
county central committee. Each year he enters actively into campaign work 
and his organizing power is well supplemented by his strength on the platform, 
his oratory, sound logic and readiness in argument proving both entertaining 
and convincing. 

Mr. Jones has been twice married. On the i8th of June, 1872, he married 
Ellen M. Thompson, of Poolsville, Indiana, who died in 1874, leaving one son, 
Gustavus Adolphus. His present wife bore the maiden name of Catherine A. 
Beals, and they were married November 26, 1878. They had one child, Roscoe, 
who was born October 3, 1880, and died October 4, 1883. With his wife and 
son Gustavus, Mr. Jones resides in Robinson and their high position in social 
circles is assured by their sterling worth. For over twenty years Mr. -Jones has 
been a valued member of the Masonic fraternity and Odd Fellows society, and 
for five years has been connected with the Modern Woodmen of America, the 
Court of Honor and the Royal Neighbors. He a.lso belongs to the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

Presley G. Bradbury was born on a farm in Crawford county October 6, 
1847. At the age of 'fifteen he conceived the thought of leading a professional 
life and shaped his studies along the line of his ambition. He attended the state 
normal schools at Carbondale and Bloomington. He was county superintendent 
of schools from 1873 to 1877. In 1874 he began to read law in the office of 
Judge Robb, and in 1876 was admitted to the bar and formed the partnership of 
Robb & Bradbury, which was dissolved by the death of Judge Robb. From 
1876 to 1884 he was state's attorney. He was married December 31, 1879, to 
Miss Jennie Kelley, of Sullivan, Indiana. 

Mr. Bradbury has a strong physical organization which endures protracted 
labor without weariness, and since his advent into professional life has brought 
all of his physical and mental powers into requisition in order to win success. 
Honest and candid in his dealings with private individuals, and with all public 
business entrusted to him, he commands the respect and confidence of his fellow 



136 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

citizens. He is in the prime of life and his history can not be truly written until 
after years have covered him with the full honors of a useful career. Mr. 
Bradbury is an elder in the Presbyterian church and an ardent temperance man 
who illustrates his profession by his own daily life. He is politically a Dem- 
ocrat and marches under the flag of his party in all political campaigns. He is 
also a successful farmer and stockman, and to these interests he gives his personal 
supervision. 

Ausby L. Lowe was born at Hutsonville, November 18, 1857. His family 
is one of the oldest and best of those pioneers who came from Virginia to find 
homes in the new west. He is a graduate of Earlham College, Richmond, 
Indiana. Upon leaving school he entered the office of the circuit clerk and ex- 
officio recorder of the county. In this office he disclosed an ability to discover 
and secure the correction of mistakes, which attracted the attention of lawyers 
and suitors. When his term as deputy clerk ended he was invited to take a 
place in the office of Callahan & Jones, with a view to his admission to the bar 
and to a permanent place in the firm, and he was duly admitted and at once the 
firm of Callahan, Jones & Lowe was formed. Mr. Lowe is justly regarded as 
one of the safest legal advisers in all matters of business and upon all questions 
of real-estate titles. His deliberately formed opinions are of the highest 
authority. His mind is of a distinctly judicial cast, and its operations tend more 
strongly to securing the right of the matter under consideration than the advo- 
cacy of a selected side of a controversy. He possesses in a high degree the sense 
of honor, integrity and honest devotion to duty, which are the secure foundation 
; for success in the life and business of the lawyer. 

Mr. Lowe is not devoid of judicial ambition. He has already filled the 
office of county judge with ability, and higher judicial honors may safely be 
predicted Jor him. His politics begin and end in the "traditions and doctrines" 
of the Democratic party, of which he is an active partisan. Mr. Lowe was mar- 
ried to Miss Alice Hodge, on the 27th of November, 1879, and his sons are 
worthy successors to the name. 

George X. Parker was born in Crawford county, April 9, 1843. He married' 
Miss Julia Crowley May 5, 1870. He was educated at Union Christian College, 
Merom, Indiana. He taught school for several years and was elected superin- 
tendent of schools for one term, during which he read law in the office of C. C. 
Fletcher, then attended the law department of Michigan University and was 
admitted to the bar in 1870. He located at the county-seat, where he still re- 
sides, and has a large practice. His industry is proverbial. His office hours 
begin early and end late. His manner is always that of one in a hurry. His 
devotion to the interest of his clients passes without question, and by his per- 
sistent zeal he often wins where others would fail. His manner of address to 
court and jury is fervent and confident, whether right or wrong. Mr. Parker 
has given much time and study to horticulture, and is an authority on apples 
as well as law. 

Hon. Joseph B. Crowley was born at Coshocton, Ohio, in 1858, moved to 
Jasper county with his parents while very young, and there he resided until 1872, 



THE. BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 137 

when he accompanied them to Robinson. His boyhood days were spent on a 
farm. Mr. Crowley is a self-made man in the fullest acceptation of the term. 
His earliest education was received in the common schools and in actual experi- 
ence in the business world. At the age when most boys nowadays wear Fauntle- 
roy curls and clothes he was put astride a horse to carry the mail from this city 
to Lancaster, in Wabash county a distance of forty miles. He prosecuted the 
study of law under difficulties, was admitted to the bar in 1883, formed a part- 
nership with Hon. G. N. Parker and began the active practice of his profession. 
In 1886 Mr. Crowley was elected county judge by a large majority, and was re- 
elected in 1890. In 1893 he was appointed special treasury agent in charge of 
the seal fisheries of Alaska. He has served as master in chancery, was twice 
elected president of the school board, was twice a member of the congressional 
committee of his district, and is at present serving his twelfth year as treasurer 
of the county Democratic central committee. He is a wide-awake, energetic 
young man and always identified with all progressive measures. 

George W. Jones was born in Crawford county October 28, 1858. He grew 
up on a farm and was educated in the public schools. He was married first to 
Miss Euphemia Bales, November 3, 1878, and his second union was with Miss 
Christine Kern, on July 12, 1895. From 1886 to 1890 he was sheriff, and on the 
expiration of his term of office entered the office of Jones & Kewlin as a law 
student. He was admitted to the bar in 1892, since which time he has been 
engaged in the law practice in Robinson. He is quick to see the vital point 
in a legal controversy, is a very magnetic speaker and there is predicted for 
him a very prosperous and successful career. He is a member of the Methodist 
church and one of the most efficient of the organizers of the present Democratic 
party in Crawford county. 

John C. Maxwell was born in Blount county, Tennessee, September 26, 
1847, and came to Crawford county in 1848. He graduated at the National 
Normal School, Lebanon, Ohio, in 1872, read law in the office of Callahan & 
Jones, was admitted to the bar in 1875 and has since that time practiced his 
profession in Robinson. He was married, in 1881, to Miss Gertrude Jackson, 
of New Albany, Indiana. He is a Methodist and a Republican. 

Edward S. Baker was born in Fountain county, Indiana, December 25, 
1872. He is a graduate of the Robinson high school and was a very successful 
teacher. He read law in the office of Callahan, Jones & Lowe and was admitted 
to practice August 25, 1897. In September of the same year he married Miss Ida 
Evcringham. He is a member of the Baptist church and of the Republican 
party, is well educated in literature as well as law, has an enviable reputation as 
a political speaker and there is predicted for him an unusually bright and suc- 
cessful future. 

Hampton S. Bogarcl was born in Sainte Marie, Illinois, August 22, 1863. 
His father was a farmer, and the son remained on the farm until he was twenty 
years of age, during which time he attended the common schools. In 1883-4 he 
attended Union Christian College, at Merom, Indiana. For some years he 
taught school and in vacation read law in the office of Parker & Crowley, in 



138 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

Robinson. In 1887 he graduated in the law department of the Northern 
Indiana Normal School, at Valparaiso. He was admitted to the bar in May, 
1896, and immediately began the practice of his chosen profession in Robinson. 
He was elected state's attorney in November, 1896, and is at this time discharg- 
ing the duties of that office. 

George E. McQueen was born in Bartholemew county, Indiana, March 19, 
1858, was married to Miss Emma J. Gordon November 18, 1881, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1886, since which time he has been engaged in the practice 
of law in Robinson. 

Valmore Parker was born in Crawford county, on the 29th of December, 
1861. He is a graduate of the normal school at Danville, Indiana, and a very 
successful teacher. He was county superintendent of schools from 1890 to 1896. 
He was married in 1886 to Miss Ella Barrett. He read law in the office of 
George N. Parker, in Robinson, was admitted to the bar in 1887, and has since 
been engaged in the practice of law in the county. He is a Democrat, with 
unblemished reputation. 

F. W. Lewis was born at Lewiston, Ohio, April 8, 1864. Mr. Lewis is a 
graduate of the Robinson high school. He was a law student with Robb & Brad- 
bury, was admitted to the bar in 1886, and located in Robinson. He was state's 
attorney from 1892 to 1896. Mr. Lewis is a rising lawyer and a prominent 
Democratic politician. 

Joseph A. MacHatton was born at Marion, Indiana, May 27, 1860, and 
came to Crawford county when he was one year old. He remained on the 
farm until he was nineteen, during which time he received a common-school 
education. He taught school until 1892, when he was admitted to the bar, and 
in 1893 he formed the partnership of Bradbury & MacHatton. He is energetic 
in business, eloquent in argument and a good trial lawyer. He is a Republican 
in politics and an earnest advocate of the principles and policies of the party. 
He was married in 1884. 

Thomas J. Newlin was born in Crawford county, Illinois, April 2, 1863, 
studied law with his brother, Judge E. E. Newlin, and was admitted to the bar 
August 28, 1891. On August 28, 1892, he was married to Miss Sarah E. Kirtz. 
Mr. Newlin was elected circuit clerk of Crawford county on the 4th day of 
November, 1892, and after serving four years with entire satisfaction he refused 
to become a candidate for re-election and opened an office for the practice of 
law. After a short but very successful practice by himself he became a member 
of the law firm of Jones, Eagleton & Newlin, composed of Judge W. C. Jones, 
J. C. Eagleton and Thomas J. Newlin, succeeding Judge E. E. Newlin, as a 
member of said firm. 

In September, 1897, Mr. Newlin was appointed master in chancery for 
Crawford county, by the presiding circuit judge, which office he still holds. Mr. 
Newlin is a Knight of Pythias, a Mason and a Modern Woodman. He is a fluent 
speaker, a careful lawyer and, politically, a stanch Democrat. 

Politically, socially and as a business man, he is upright, honest and care 
ful, and with the success that has attended him has a splendid career before him. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 139 



REMINISCENCES. 

The following paragraphs are from an article contributed to the local press 
by Judge William C. Jones, and are most apropos in this connection: 

Speaking of old-time lawyers, few people remember the fact that the late 
Judge Scholtield was once prosecuting attorney on this circuit. After his grad- 
uation from the Louisville Law School he became state's attorney, in 1856, and 
traveled with Judge Harlan and Judge Alfred Kitchell. He was an ambitious 
man and it almost killed him to lose a case. 

At one time he was prosecuting a case in Crawford county and had made 
a very forcible argument. He was deliberate and calm, and yet had put all his 
energy and soul into the case. Every one complimented him on his effort, for 
he was from the first a favorite. The jury was against him and the verdict 
was for the defendant, lie immediately left the court house and began tearing 
his hair and using expletives. Old Uncle Newman Parker was near by, and, 
hearing him, stepped up and remarked, "John, what's the matter? You made 
the best speech I ever heard. You'll be all right, young man. I think the peo- 
ple were all with you." "Yes,"' remarked the young prosecutor, "but ihe d d 
jury were not!" 

There were none his superior in addressing the court. He would sit up all 
night running down a question of law. He was logical and concise in his 
arguments and always fortified with authorities. He was not so eloquent 
as he was forceful. The energy of the whole man was bent on his effort to 
succeed. He was tireless in his efforts and convincing in his logic. 

He had no patience with a judge who was not a lawyer. At one time he 
was trying a case in the county court before a judge of the early days, who was 
not a lawyer by profession, but who assumed a great knowledge of the law. 
Judge S. and Judge Wilkin were defending. A motion had been made before 
his honor to dismiss the case, but his honor was prejudiced and learnedly deliv- 
ered an opinion about which he knew nothing, overruling it. .When he had 
concluded Judge S. remarked: "Call a jury, Jake; let us take the case from one 
d d fool to twelve!" 

Judge Scholfield was one of the kindest men I ever knew in private or public 
life. He would always stop and write a letter of recommendation for a young 
man and say all the good things possible. He was always for his old friends 
and whenever and wherever he could he would inquire after the old lawyers with 
whom he used to be associated. Governor Robinson was a favorite with him. 
Ficklin was a man he always wanted to know about. 

One time at the Clark circuit court an important case was being tried and 
Robinson, Ficklin, Scholfield and Wilkin were all defending. Silas Whitehead, 
with able assistants, was prosecuting. Judge Decius was never averse to taking 
a small drink, and the attorneys sometimes would come to his room for an 
appetizer. On this occasion each had taken a small drink, when Judge Ficklin 
took the jug and filled a large glass. Drinking it down he remarked: "That's 
fine, Hiram, where did you get it? I'll just take another." Judge S. stood 
by watching when he remarked, "We will just take the Jug in to dinner for 
brother Ficklin to drink instead of water." "It would just suit me, John. It 
reaches further than water," replied Ficklin. 

Senator Thomas Brewer was a great favorite of Scholfield. He was a 
brilliant talker, with a voice as mellifluous as a flute. Although an uneducated 
man few men were his equal as a talker. I have heard Judge Scholfield remark he 
would rather hear Tom Brewer talk than any man he ever heard except Gov- 
ernor Robinson. He always inquired after Senator Brewer and Judge Decius so 



140 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

long as they lived. He often remarked he had seen more happy hours at Cum- 
berland than any court in the circuit. After the death of Decius and Brewer he 
never inquired more. They had gone, and with them his old-time memories. 

Along in the latter part of the '505, Newton, Jasper county, was quite a 
place to congregate for the attorneys of the old fourth judicial circuit. Judge 
Scholfield was then prosecuting attorney. George W. Peck, afterwards colonel 
of the Twenty-first Illinois, a friend and favorite of Judge Scholfield, together 
with Judge Franklin Robb and Judge James C. Allen, of Crawford county, and 
many others from adjoining counties, would meet together at the old Litzleman 
hotel at Xewton, and Mother Litzleman told the writer many good stories con- 
cerning them. All of them, save Judge Robb, were full of fun, and he never 
would tell anything, and they caused Mother Litzleman no little annoyance. On 
one occasion they procured a considerable quantity of drinkables, and then made 
a night raid on her pantry, capturing all the old lady's pies, cakes, pickles and 
considerable of her canned fruit. She describes them as having a glorious time 
in a large room jointly occupied by Robb, Peck, Scholfield and others, for rooms 
were scarce in those clays. Along about morning a man by the name of Mc- 
Ginley became sick from the effect of his gormandizing. The party resolved to 
walk him. They took him out to an old sawmill near town, and there, placing 
him face downward on the smooth surface of a sycamore log. Peck holding 
him by one leg and Scholfield by the other leg, proceeded to churn him over 
its smooth surface, telling him to "Heave it up, brother McGinley, heave it up! 
If you'll do so you'll not die this time." McGinley recovered, but was not in 
court next day. Mother Litzleman demanded of them who had taken her pies 
and cakes. All claimed it was the Robb-man from Crawford. She told them 
that she found a lot of their empty bottles. They denied knowing anything 
about them, and told her they did not belong to them and if she found anything 
of that kind in their room she was perfectly welcome to them. Mother L. said 
Scholfield and Peck were the most thorough gentlemen who ever stopped with 
her. Very polite, very affable, and to see them neatly attired going to court 
one would never have thought they were guilty of jostling McGinley across a 
sycamore log. 

Judge Scholfield was a very plain and practical man. At one time he was 
asked if he intended to make professional men of all his boys. He replied, "All 
men cannot be lawyers and doctors. If my boys make an honest and respectable 
living I shall be satisfied." He always had a kind word and genial smile. Before 
his death he loved to talk about his friends on the old circuit that he left. He 
was a devoted man to his town, county and state. Few men could resist the 
temptation of being judge of the supreme court of the United States as he did. 
President Cleveland tendered him the place, but he declined it. Speaking of it 
one day he said: "I like the quiet of my home best. I think I am acquainted 
reasonably well with the statutes of Illinois and the decisions. I would be com- 
pelled to study anew the statutes and decisions of the United States. I couldn't 
afford to do so at my time of life. Aside from this Washington is not a good 
place to raise mv boys." At the bar he was the leading lawyer of eastern Illinois. 
On the bench he had no superior in the state. 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE COURTS AND THE LAW PRACTICE IN CHICAGO: A SKETCH. 

, BY THOMAS DENT. 

THE county of Cook was created by an act of the general assembly ap- 
proved January 15, 1831. Its boundaries embraced a considerable part 
of the present county of Will and all the territory since organized into 
the counties of Du Page and Lake. Its considerable territory was but sparsely 
settled, and only at a few points. As the country became more fully settled the 
others of said counties embracing a part of what was originally Cook county 
were organized. The organization of Will county occurred in 1836; that of Mc- 
Henry county, the eastern part of which afterward became Lake county, also 
occurred in 1836: that of Du Page county occurred in 1839. 

The same act which declared the boundaries of Cook county made provision 
for the organization of two other counties, to-wit: La Salle county, the northeast 
corner of which was to be the southwest corner of Cook county, and Putnam 
county, still farther southwest, and cornering upon La Salle county. The three 
counties had large proportions, but did not have extensive or large settlements; 
but the region was attractive in its woods, waters and fertile soil. La Salle is 
still a large county, the next to the largest in the state, but by the organization 
of intervening counties it has become more segregated from its former neighbor, 
Cook county. 

The prospect of a canal to connect the waters of Lake Michigan with those 
of the Illinois river, a project which was delayed many years, though kept in 
mind, is reflected in the act organizing these counties, especially in the location 
of the county seats of Cook and La Salle counties at Chicago and Ottawa, at 
sites laid out by the canal commissioners. 

Notwithstanding the same act declared that the western boundary of the 
county of Cook should extend from the southwest corner of township 34 north, 
range 9 east, due north to the northern boundary line of the state, a distance 
of not less than seventy-eight miles, and that the boundaries of the county were 
so designated as to embrace all the northeastern part of the state eastward of the 
line drawn for the western boundary, and northward of the present counties of 
Cook and Du Page, yet a clause in the last section of the act provided that "All 
country north of Cook county and parallel with the lines of the same as far 
northward as Rock River is hereby attached to Cook county." There seems to 
have been some territory that might be called terra incognita ; but doubtless the 
legislators anticipated the organization of other counties in a part of the 
territory more or less permanently assigned to constitute a part of Cook county, 
or so attached thereto. 

141 



142 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

In the year 1831, also, a redistricting of the state for judicial purposes was 
made by the legislature. In doing this, the legislative act of February 16, 1831, 
required that the chief justice of the supreme court and the associate judges 
thereof, and the circuit judge of the fifth judicial circuit, the latter being the Hon. 
Richard M. Young, should hold the circuit court at times therein designated. 
The act provided that the counties of Cook, La Salle, Putnam, Peoria, Fulton, 
Schuyler, Adams, Hancock, McDonough, Knox, Warren, Ju Daviess, Mercer, 
Rock Island, and Henry (fifteen counties then, but more than twice that num- 
ber now), a principality in dimensions, should constitute the fifth judicial circuit. 

Judge Young had presided in the third judicial circuit from January 19, 
1825, until the circuit judges were legislated out of office in 1827, when he was 
succeeded by Judge Thomas C. Browne, one of the judges of the supreme court. 
Judge Young had, however, when Cook county was organized, again been 
selected to preside in the fifth judicial circuit, and was therefore designated as 
above to hold the courts in that circuit. Two terms in each year were provided 
for as to the county of Cook; one to be held on the fourth Monday in April, and 
the other to be held on the second Monday in September. As the court in 
La Salle county, to be held at Ottawa, was to begin on Friday after each of the 
Mondays so designated, only about two days at each regular term were actually 
allowed for the holding of the court in Cook county; for the judge, being required 
to go from Chicago to Ottawa, must necessarily have taken about two days' time 
for the journey. 

The time thus allotted would seem to have been sufficient for at least the first 
year or two after the organization of the county of Cook, as to which time there 
is meagre information as to the business in the court, the records having been 
destroyed in the great fire of October 8 and 9, 1871. A newspaper was published 
in Galena as early as 1829, but none made its advent in Chicago until November, 
1833. Undoubtedly Judge Young, who was an able and experienced official, a 
fine-looking man, and having a good horse to carry him from county to county, 
discharged his duty by attending to open the court as required by law. There 
is information, more or less distinct, of the holding of the court in. Fort Dear- 
born in 1831. It is said to have been held in the house of James Kinzie in 1832. 
Judge Young's diligence in holding his court in other counties, as their records 
show, indicates that he attended regularly in Cook county, and we may suppose 
that where the gospel was preached the law was not voiceless. 

As illustrating the need of a horse to carry the judge from court to court, 
reference may be made to a passage in Ballance's History of Peoria, showing 
that the author, a highly worthy citizen and lawyer of Peoria, met Judge Young 
in that city in the spring of 1833 and arranged to accompany him in a journey 
by horseback to Chicago, where the judge was to hold court, he having already 
journeyed in that way from Quincy. The distance to be traveled in such a trip 
from Quincy to Chicago would be about three hundred miles. 

In the order of time as to the coming of lawyers, Russell E. Heacock pre- 
ceded both Giles Spring and John Dean Caton in settling in Chicago, but they 
became much more especially prominent in the profession. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 143 

Judge Caton, in his Reminiscences, speaks of a jury case in a civil action in 
which he participated at a term of the circuit court in the spring of 1834 as being 
the first jury case, meaning, perhaps, that such cases, on the civil side of the 
court, had up to that time been infrequent, if, indeed, any had actually come to 
so full a trial. The statement almost necessarily implies that the character of 
the inhabitants, and the nature of the business transactions carried on in Cook 
county up to that time, had not required much attention from the courts of rec- 
ord, whatever may have been done in the justices' and probate courts. 

By act of January 17, 1835, the sixth judicial circuit was created. It em- 
braced the counties of Jo Daviess, Rock Island, Mercer, Henry, Peoria, Putnam, 
La Salle, Cook, and Iroquois, then something like one-third of the state. The 
salary of a circuit judge at that time was seven hundred and fifty dollars per 
annum. The times of holding the circuit court in Cook county were by that act 
fixed for the fourth Mondays in May and first Mondays in October. The terms 
in the other counties of the circuit were earlier in the year, and it was not, there- 
fore, incumbent on the judge to hurry from the court in Chicago to open court in 
the other counties of his circuit, but provision was made for holding special terms 
for the hearing and deciding of chancery causes, and also special terms for the 
trial of civil and criminal causes. 

At that session of the legislature there was passed an act to change the 
corporate powers of the town of Chicago, and sections 9 and 16 and north and 
south fractional sections 10 and fractional section 15 in township 39 north, range 
14 east, were declared to be within the boundaries of the town. 

The term of the circuit court in 1835 seems to have been held May 25, 1835, 
to June 9, 1835, by the Hon. Sidney Breese, of Carlyle, Illinois. The next term 
appears to have been held by the Hon. Stephen T. Logan, of Springfield, by in- 
terchange with the Hon. Thomas Ford, and seems to have begun the first Mon- 
day of October, and to have closed for the term October nth. These terms are 
said to have been held in the First Presbyterian church. At the next term the 
second murder trial held in the county seems to have occurred. Judge Ford 
presided at the spring term, 1836, and again at the fall term, 1836, at which latter 
term the Beaubien land case, involving a claim to the government reservation at 
Fort Dearborn, was tried. 

By act of March 4, 1837, there was appropriated 'two hundred and fifty 
dollars per year to be paid to the judges of the circuit courts in addition to their 
salary at the time, except as to the judge in the sixth circuit, his salary not being 
increased apparently. At that session of the legislature, also, the city of Chicago 
was incorporated. Its bounds were extended somewhat beyond those of the prior 
town of Chicago, and a municipal court to be held therein was established, such 
court to have concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit court in all matters arising 
in Cook county. The judge of the court was to be elected by the general assembly 
on joint ballot, and seven terms per year of the court were provided for, with 
power in the common council to increase the number of terms. By act of July 
21, 1837, a judge of the municipal court was empowered to perform all the 
judicial duties appertaining to the office of a judge of the circuit court. 



T44 THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 

The May term, 1836, of the circuit court and the October term in that year 
were presided over by the Hon. Thomas Ford. Judge Ford had in earlier times 
been elected by the general assembly twice to hold the office of state's attorney. 
He was on four different occasions elected by the general assembly to the office 
of judge, and on one of these occasions became judge of said municipal court. 
He afterward, as is well known, served one term as governor of the state, and 
subsequently pursued the practice of his profession in the city of Peoria until his 
final illness and death. He was in all positions an excellent officer, and was 
admirably well qualified to sit as judge. A writer has spoken of him as having 
been a pupil of Daniel P. Cook. Our county was named in honor of Mr. Cook, 
a representative in congress of this part of Illinois, and the county of Ford was 
named in honor of Thomas Ford. Judge Ford resigned his position as judge 
of the supreme court of the state in August, 1842, upon consenting to become a 
candidate for governor. 

By act of February 4, 1837, the counties of Cook, Will, McHenry, Kane, 
La Salle and Iroquois were formed into an additional circuit to be called the 
seventh judicial circuit. By act of March 4, 1837, the times of holding courts in 
said circuit were fixed, and three terms per year were provided for as to Cook 
county. 

It is very evident that at that time a considerable increase in the business of 
the courts in Chicago had occurred. The Black Hawk war of 1832, the Indian 
treaties, freeing a large body of lands for settlement by immigrants, the opening 
of the United States land offices in Chicago, and great activity in business affairs 
and in speculation, had helped to increase the importance of the young' city; and 
we may feel sure the work for lawyers and judicial functionaries kept pace with 
the times. 

Upon creating this seventh circuit, which was to date from the 1st of June, 
1837, John Pearson of Iroquois county was elected by the general assembly to 
preside therein. 

The aforesaid act of February 4, 1837, seems to have been construed as re- 
lieving Judge Ford from the position of circuit judge, so far as concerned the 
seventh circuit, and Judge Pearson appears to have presided in Chicago a part 
of the time in that year and at the Alarch term, 1838, though the Hon. Jesse B. 
Thomas seems to have presided in the court at the August term, 1837. 

Unpleasant relations between the bar of Chicago and Judge Pearson were 
brought to the attention of the supreme court of the state in different instances. 
Scenes which were almost dramatic are represented, for example, in The People, 
etc., ex rel. Teale vs. John Pearson, i Scam., 458, and The People, etc., ex rel. 
Bristol vs. John Pearson, 2 Scam., 189. In looking into the report of those 
cases we find Messrs. Justin Butterfield and James H. Collins, eminent in their 
time, acting for the relator in the earlier of the cases which came up for hearing 
in the circuit court before Judge Pearson at the March term thereof, 1837, an d 
the hearing of which was renewed before the same judge at the May term of the 
court, 1838. We also find James Grant and Francis Peyton opposing in the 
supreme court a motion for a mandamus against the judge. In the latter of said 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF ILLINOIS. 145 

cases we find Messrs. J. Young Scammon and Isaac N. Arnold to have been the 
opposing counsel in the case before Judge Pearson at the May special term of 
the circuit court in 1839. In this case, also, the late Thomas Hoyne, who had 
just prominence as a citizen and lawyer for many years before his death, made 
an affidavit showing the proceedings in the court when Mr. Butterfield asked to 
have a bill of exceptions signed by Judge Pearson, the result of which application 
seems to have been that the court assessed a fine against Mr. Butterfield for what 
the court deemed an interruption of the proceedings of the court. On this oc- 
casion Mr. Hoyne seems to have been taking care of the minutes of the court 
for the clerk of the court. 

It may be said of the lawyers in practice in Chicago at that time that they 
had come mainly from New York, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina, and 
were of an order of men whose relations toward the judge presiding would be of 
great consequence to that official in respect to the harmonious working of the 
court. The one of them of most advanced age was Justin Butterfield, who had 
been in practice in the state of New York for some time before coming to 
Chicago, and whose eminence as a lawyer was well recognized. Mr. Butterfield 
was for a time United States attorney, and during the administration of President 
Zachary Taylor was appointed commissioner of the general land office at Wash- 
ington, a position for which Abraham Lincoln was a candidate at the time, one, 
too, which seems to have been recognized as a political plum in some sense be- 
longing to Illinois. Mr. Butterfield was leading counsel in a variety of important 
cases, such as Field vs. The People, 2 Scam., 79, involving a contest between 
A. P. Field and John A. McClernand in respect to the office of secretary of 
state, and Spragin vs. Houghton, 2 Scam., 377, involving a question as to the 
right of suffrage under the constitution of 1818. It has been said of Mr. But- 
terfield that in personal appearance he resembled Daniel Webster, of whom he 
was an admirer. 

Without entering into long episodes, it will not be practicable to speak at any 
considerable length of individual members of the Chicago bar, either of the time 
already touched upon or in later times. It may, however, be said generally that 
it should be reckoned fortunate in the matter of jurisprudence and in the history 
of Chicago, that so worthy and able a body of lawyers entered into practice here 
in the early times of which we have been speaking. Foundations in character and 
attainments were well laid. 

The term of office of Judge Pearson, as presiding judge in the seventh cir- 
cuit, continued from February 4, 1837, to November 20, 1840. It is in a measure 
to be conjectured that in having the municipal court, above mentioned, with 
Judge Ford to preside therein, the bar of Chicago managed to get along pretty 
well during the incumbency in office of Judge Pearson. Personal relations do 
not seem to have been so strained that Mr. Scammon, Mr. Spring, afterward 
Judge Spring, and Mr. Butterfield, would refrain from practicing in Judge Pear- 
son's court. They, for example, may be supposed to have appeared before him 
at the March term, 1839, f the court. That, however