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Full text of "The bench and bar of Chicago. Biographical sketches"

"LI B RAR.Y 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY 
Of ILLINOIS 



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THE 



BENCH AND BAR 



CHICAGO. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



WITH STEEL ENGRAVED PORTRAITS. 



CHICAGO: 

AMERICAN BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
H. C. COOPER. JK.. & CO.. PROPRIETORS. 



H. C. COOPER, JR. & CO. 

PUBLISHERS, 

107 MADISON STREET, 

CHICAGO. 



I KHISHT a LEONARD . 



to 

J 



INTRODUCTION. 



THE profession of the Law, when clothed with its true dignity and purity 
and strength, must rank first among the callings of men. Law rules the 
universe; "her seat is the bosom of God; her voice is the harmony of the world; 
all things in heaven and earth do her homage, the very least as feeling her care, 
and the greatest as not exempt from her power." What comprehensiveness! If to 
law herself may be applied such language, what may be said of that profession 
whose work is to formulate, to harmonize, to regulate, to adjust, to administer 
those rules and principles that underlie and permeate all government and society, 
and control the varied relations of man? As thus viewed, there attaches to the 
legal profession a nobleness that cannot but be reflected in the life of the true 
lawyer, who, conscious of its greatness, and honest in the pursuit of his purpose, 
embraces the richness of learning, the profoundness of wisdom, the firmness of 

^ integrity and the purity of morals, together with the graces of modesty, courtesy 

>fq and the general amenities of life. 

To attain the highest excellence, the lawyer must possess the most varied and 
opposite qualities, and know how and when to use them; with depth and firmness 
^ of understanding, there must combine the keenness of acute discernment; 
learned in the subtleties of legal lore, let him at the same time know men, have 
tact to deal with them, and be rich in the enlarged beauties of classical learning; 
besides being a student, he must be able to leave the solitude of the study and 
adapt himself to the practical affairs and every-day doings of men. It is his to 

p> command the respect of superiors, and again appeal to the weaknesses and infir- 
<y 

mities of those less favored than himself; in fine, he must be " all things to all 

men." 
> O 

In preparing this volume the publishers have aimed to fairly and faithfully 

: represent the legal fraternity of Chicago. The. </a/ have been secured as far as 

possible by personal interviews with those whose biographies are recorded, and 

^ i where these could not, be secured, by interviewing friends and consulting records. 



1 923 1 3 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

The editorial work has been done by able and experienced writers, and each 
sketch, before publication, has been submitted for revision and approval. 

While prosecuting their work, the publishers have been aided and cheered by 
the interest which many of the profession have shown in their undertaking, and 
thus convinced that the result of their labors cannot but supply an urgent need. 
That their work is faultless they do not presume; that it will meet with unquali- 
fied approval they dare not hope; they have honestly and conscientiously per- 
formed their task, and hope they have done it well. To those who read only to 
criticise they have no apology to offer, while for commendation they cheerfully 
submit the volume to the intelligent judgment of a fair-minded, liberal and gen- 
erous-hearted profession. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



HON. THOMAS DRUMMOND. 

ILLINOIS has many sons whose brilliant genius, splendid achievements and 
unsullied characters have rendered her name illustrious. Though the brain 
and the brawn of her citizens have been chiefly employed in responding to the 
imperative demands of a new state, the pursuits of agriculture, manufactures and 
commerce, yet their footsteps are found in the domain of statesmanship, of juris- 
prudence, science, art, theology, oratory, philanthropy and war. In all these 
directions some of her children have achieved eminence. Among the factors 
which enter into and compose the state, the most indispensable to its growth, 
prosperity and permanence is its jurisprudence. This is the very corner-stone of 
a stable government. It is that which conserves all other forces of civilization, 
and produces harmony and an equilibrium of apparently conflicting powers. 

In selecting from the many eminent jurists of Illinois that one most illustrious, 
the name of Hon. Thomas Drummond, judge of the circuit court of the United 
States, is naturally suggested. 

True there have been more eloquent advocates, more brilliant orators, more 
polished scholars, possibly more profound students of some department of legal 
lore; but in sound judgment, in patient industry, in clear conception of the spirit 
and scope of jurisprudence, in that intuitive perception of right which is almost 
an inspiration, Judge Drummond has no superior. 

Thomas Drummond was born October 16, 1809, at Bristol Mills, Lincoln 
county, Maine. His father, Hon. James Drummond, was an honest farmer of 
Scotch descent, highly esteemed for sound judgment. In the early part of his 
life he was much of the time at sea, and was for several years a member of the 
legislature of Maine. 

After having attended the common school of his native town, the young man 
attended several academies in the vicinity, where he laid a solid foundation for 
an education, pursuing especially those studies preparatory to a college course, 
and in 1826 entered Bowdoin College, from which he was graduated in 1830. 

He immediately commenced the study of the law in the office of William T. 
Dwight, Esq., a son of President Dwight, of Yale College, who was then engaged 
in the practice of law in Philadelphia. In 1833 he was admitted to the bur, and 



6 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

in 1835 removed to Galena, Illinois, where he entered at once upon the practice 
of his profession. At that time the bar of Jo Daviess county comprised some of 
the most eminent lawyers in the state, and the young attorney was called upon to 
measure swords with men skilled in legal contests; but so closely and studiously 
did he apply himself to his profession, that in a few years he was recognized as a 
peer of the ablest members "of the bar of Galena. Candid, cautious, thorough in 
his investigation of facts, exhaustive in his examination of precedents, clear in 
his analysis of the principles of law applicable to the case at bar, his opinion was 
eagerly sought and implicitly relied upon in cases of importance. He continued 
in successful practice in Galena for about nineteen years, during which period 
his reputation as a sound jurist extended beyond Illinois, and in 1850 President 
Taylor appointed him judge of the district court of the United States, for the dis- 
trict of Illinois. When the state, in 1855, was divided into two districts, he 
became judge of the northern district. In 1854 he removed to Chicago, in which 
city or its vicinity, he has since resided. 

When first called to the bench, the labors of his position were considered 
arduous; but the rapid development of the maritime interests of Chicago, the 
large increase in patent litigation, and the general expansion of the commercial 
and material resources of the state, caused an immense increase in the business 
of his court. In addition to presiding in the district court, however, Judge 
Drummond sat as circuit judge in the transaction of nearly all the business of 
that court, so that for the last ten years of his occupancy of the district bench his 
duties were onerous almost beyond precedent. 

In December, 1869, he was appointed judge of the circuit court of the United 
States for the seventh judicial circuit, comprising the states of Illinois, Indiana 
and Wisconsin, which position he still continues to hold. 

As circuit judge, he holds court in nine places, three in Indiana, four in Wis- 
consin, and two in Illinois; but the greater portion of his time is spent in 
Chicago, where the most important litigation of the Northwest is concentrated. 
Since the remarkable depreciation in the values of property, resulting from the 
panic of 1873, and the legislation hostile to the railroad interests in several of the 
northwestern states, many of the railroads in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin 
have been placed in the hands of the United States courts, thus largely increasing 
the responsibilities and labors of the circuit judge. 

Since the financial crisis of 1873 there have been probably not less than a 
score of railroads, representing an indebtedness of more than one hundred mill- 
ions of dollars, in the hands of receivers appointed by the courts over which 
Judge Drummond presides. Many grave questions have necessarily arisen in 
connection with the administration of the affairs of these vast corporations, 
through the machinery of the courts. But here, as elsewhere, so great and uni- 
versal is the confidence in the intelligence and probity of Judge Drummond, that 
no one has been found to utter a word of complaint. 

Politically, Judge Drummond was a member of the old whig party, and since 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 7 

the formation of the republican party, he has been in full sympathy with its prin- 
ciples. Although decided in his opinions, and at proper times frank in their 
avowal, he evidently feels that the dignity of his position should preclude him 
from becoming an active partisan of any political creed. 

He was married in 1839 to Delia A. Sheldon, daughter of John P. Sheldon, 
Esq., of Willow Springs, Wisconsin. Seven children, two sons and five daugh- 
ters, have blessed their union, all of whom, save one, still survive. The Episco- 
pal mode of worship seems preferable to him, and with his family he is connected 
with the congregation of St. James Church, in Chicago. 

For more than a quarter of a century Judge Drummond has occupied the 
responsible position of judge of a federal court in the great metropolis of the 
Northwest. He has lived, studied and labored chiefly to discharge the functions 
of that important office. Into the flowery paths of literature, or the domain of 
science, art and philosophy, he has not wandered, except so far as it became 
necessary to do so for recreation, or to illustrate the principles of law and their 
practical application. He has been ambitious only to administer justice with as 
little of the increment of error as possible. Clothed with a becoming dignity, 
but without a trace of personal vanity; courteous and gentle, but never permit- 
ting undue familiarity; conscientious and painstaking in the highest degree in 
every official act, with unswerving fidelity to truth, integrity and honor, he has 
held aloft the even scales of justice himself its very incarnation. Who shall 
estimate the value to a nation of such a life ? Who shall measure the potency of 
a character so resplendent ? 

To how many a young lawyer, struggling with adversity, and sorely tempted 
to descend from the shining heights of professional honor and personal integrity, 
to the shambles where justice is crucified, and impious hands cast lots for her 
seamless garments, has the illustrious example of Thomas Drummond been at 
once an inspiration to good, and a salvation from sin and shame ! 



HON. JOHN M. HARLAN. 

JOHN MARSHALL HARLAN, Louisville, Kentucky, was born in Boyle 
J county, near Danville, Kentucky, June i, 1833, and is a son of James Harlan, 
who was a prominent lawyer of the state. He graduated at Center College, 
under the presidency of John C. Young, D.D., LL.D., studied law with his father, 
graduated in 1853 in the law department of Transylvania University, at Lexing- 
ton, under Chief Justice Thomas A. Marshall and George Robertson, and entered 
upon the practice of his profession at Frankfort in his native state. 

In 1858 he was elected judge of Franklin county and held that office one year. 
In 1859, when but twenty-five years of age, he was the whig candidate for con- 
gress in the strongly democratic district of Ashland, and came within sixty-seven 
votes of an election. In the spring of 1861 he moved to Louisville, where he 



8 THE BENCH AND BAR Of CHICAGO. 

became associated with Hon. W. F. Bullock, and practiced with great success. 
The civil war breaking out soon after, he relinquished practice and recruited and 
organized the loth Kentucky Union regiment, which served under Gen. Thomas. 
Having served for some length of time in command of a brigade, his nomination 
for brigadier-general was made by President Lincoln, but at that auspicious 
period in his military career the death of his venerable father compelled him to 
forego the flattering promotion, resign his commission and return to civil life. 

In the fall of 1863 he was nominated by the union party as their candidate for 
attorney-general, was elected by an immense majority, and occupied the office 
until 1867, when, as the candidate of the same party, he failed of an election, 
whereupon he returned to Louisville and resumed practice with much success. 
In 1871 he was unanimously nominated, against his desire, as the republican can- 
didate for governor, and although there had been considerable falling off in the 
republican ranks in the north in 1874, he largely increased the party vote over 
that of the previous election of chief magistrate of the state. In 1875 he was 
again the republican candidate for governor. In 1877 Col. Harlan was appointed 
by President Hayes one of the Louisiana commission, on the part of the govern- 
ment, to bring about an amicable plan for adjusting the unfortunate political 
status of that state, and the result of the wise and temperate course of the com- 
mission was a matter of congratulation throughout the country. In 1877 he was 
appointed by President Hayes an associate justice of the United States Supreme 
Court, which office he is still filling. In this capacity Justice Harlan has fre- 
quently held courts in Illinois as part of his circuit, and is accounted by the bar 
of this state as not only a very able, but also an exceedingly impartial, honest 
dispenser of justice. 

HON. DAVID DAVIS. 

DAVID DAVIS, Bloomington, Illinois, is descended from Welsh ancestors, 
who had resided in this country more than a century at the time of his birth, 
March 19, 1815. The home of his childhood was in Cecil county, Maryland, 
where he pursued his early education until he went to an academy in Delaware 
to prepare for a regular classical course. 

Mr. Davis went from the academic school in Delaware to Kenyon College, 
Ohio, entering that institution in the autumn of 1828. Ohio was then a com- 
parative wilderness, and for a boy student only thirteen years of age, without a 
relative to welcome him the prospect was lonely and uninviting. But there was 
something of the heroic in the native energy of character and firmness of purpose 
which revealed the man of after life. In 1832, when seventeen, he graduated, and 
soon afterward chose the law for his profession. The advantages for its study 
were few in the West at that time, and he started on a long and difficult journey 
east, reaching at length the old town of Lenox, Massachusetts, to prosecute his 
studies in the office of the distinguished lawyer, Judge H. W. Bishop. After two 



THE BENCH AND BAK OF CHICAGO. I I 

years spent in that office he went to the law school at New Haven, Connecticut, 
then under the direction of Judges Daggett and Hitchcock, both of whom were 
known as eminent jurists. Here Mr. Davis enjoyed the excellent legal discipline 
which had the effect to mould his character into that of a lawyer of clear and 
accurate knowledge of legal principles and precedents which has since given him 
his merited prominence. Upon his admission to practice he turned his face 
again toward the Great West, settling in Pekin, Illinois. This was in the fall of 
1835. The prevalence of fever and ague there compelled him to leave the place 
at the end of a year, and he removed to the town which is now the pleasant city 
of Bloomington, his present residence. Here he began in earnest to lay the 
foundation of his future success by hard work, which he ever regarded as a better 
dependence than genius. Shortly after his settlement in Bloomington he married 
Miss Sarah Walker, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, who died in November 1879. 
Mrs. Davis was a fit companion for him, and left many pleasant memories of 
charity and kindness. 

The proceeds of a considerable fortune were devoted by her to the alleviation 
of human suffering, and she contributed very much to the success of her hus- 
band's life. Mr. Davis was an ardent whig of the Henry Clay school, but had no 
taste for political life. Without solicitation he was nominated for the legislature 
of Illinois, and elected, in 1844, and to the constitutional convention in 1847. In 
both positions, especially the latter, he took a leading part. Upon the adoption 
of the new constitution, in 1848, a new judiciary had to be elected in the entire 
state. The circuit in which he lived was largely democratic, but Mr. Davis was 
not a bitter partisan, and by the common consent of the bar and people of his 
circuit he was chosen judge. Abraham Lincoln was then in the full tide of suc- 
cessful practice, and visited Judge Davis' circuit, forming with him a life-long 
friendship. The judge saw from the beginning evidence of inborn greatness in his 
afterward famous friend. Judge Davis' circuit embraced fourteen of the largest 
and most wealthy counties of the state. It was before the day of railroads, 
yet neither rough traveling nor bad weather prevented him from always being in 
his place ready to proceed with the public business. Soon after his settlement in 
Illinois he began investing in prairie lands, and laid the foundation of that for- 
tune which he now dispenses in acts of unostentatious charity. In 1858, when 
Abraham Lincoln was a candidate against Stephen A. Douglas for the United 
States senate, Judge Davis supported Mr. Lincoln with great earnestness. Rec- 
ognized as Lincoln's confidential friend, he was selected delegate at large to the 
republican national convention at Chicago, in 1860, where his management as a 
leader was very successful. In 1860 and 1861 he counseled a moderate and con- 
servative course, in the hope that war might be averted. He formed one of the 
presidential party to Washington, but after the inauguration resumed his duties 
on the bench, which he performed until selected with General Holt and Mr. Camp- 
bell, of St. Louis, to investigate the administration of the department of St. Louis, 
then under the command of General Fremont and Major McKinstry, during a 



12 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

period of the war of the rebellion. In the summer of 1862 a vacancy occurred on 
the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, and Judge Davis was 
selected in the fall of 1862 associate justice. At that time Judge Taney was chief- 
justice, and between the two there commenced a friendship which continued until 
the latter's death. Judge Davis served on the bench of the supreme court until 
February, 1877, when he resigned to accept the office of United States senator 
from the state of Illinois. 

He met with no opposition to his reelection as judge of the state court, the 
bar and people both being satisfied with the prompt, impartial and honest dis- 
charge of his duty. His labors in the federal and state courts extended through 
a period of twenty-nine years, during which time he adjudicated questions of the 
highest importance affecting life, liberty and property. His opinion in the cele- 
brated Milligan case is regarded by the profession as one of the ablest expositions 
of the rights of civil liberty ever announced by a court. It was criticised unfa- 
vorably by some, but by the lawyer and the jurist it will ever be regarded as a 
sound constitutional recognition of the personal and individual rights of the citi- 
zen. During the first four years of President Grant's administration much dis- 
satisfaction arose in the republican party, and, as an outgrowth, the liberal 
movement was organized which assumed form in the Cincinnati convention. A 
considerable portion of the democratic party and a large number in the liberal 
cause regarded Judge Davis as a proper candidate for the presidency, he having 
been nominated by the labor reform party in January 1872. His friends presented 
his name at Cincinnati, but, owing to certain combinations, he was defeated, and 
Mr. Greeley became the nominee in the remarkable campaign of 1872. In the 
Illinois senatorial campaign of 1876 the balance of power was with the indepen- 
dent party, friendly to Judge Davis; and, after a protracted contest, by a combi- 
nation of the democratic party with the independents he received a majority and 
was elected. His term as senator commenced March 4, 1877, with President 
Hayes' administration. 

Elected by a combination of parties, he has identified himself with none, but 
has maintained independence, voting for or against measures without reference to 
party lines. On account of his ability as judge he was selected member of the 
judiciary committee, in which for more than four years he has been a great 
worker in the advancement of the public interests. His speech on the Geneva 
Award bill reported by the committee was regarded as a very able exposition of 
the law in favor of the underwriters. Judge Davis is not a speech maker, but 
does a great deal of work in the committee room and in the business detail of the 
senate. His disposition is to deal with practical questions of legislation, leaving 
the discussion of mere party politics to others. Upon the reconstruction of the 
senate at the inauguration of President Garfield's administration, he was tendered 
the chairmanship of the judiciary committee, which he declined, giving his rea- 
sons in a speech worthy the better days of the republic. After the death of Presi- 
dent Garfield, Judge Davis was elected president of the senate, without having in 



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Wtt '"' 




i : ^ 



THE KENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 13 

any way sought that high honor. In accepting it he informed the senate that if 
the least party obligation had been made a condition, directly or indirectly, he 
would have declined the compliment. 

Independent in thought and in action, Judge Davis has never favored the arts 
of the politician, nor sought to gain any object by devious courses. Upright and 
straightforward, he has always moved openly on a given line of conduct, and 
boldly proclaimed his convictions on public questions; hence the universal confi- 
dence in his integrity of character. Although now over sixty years of age, his 
mind and body are unimpaired in vigor and health. He resides on one of the 
most highly cultivated farms of the state, adjoining the city of Bloomington, in a 
mansion of great elegance and taste. His life has been a great success, finan- 
cially and officially. 

" How blest is he who crowns in shades like these, 
A youth of labor with an age of ease." 



HON. HENRY W. BLODGETT. 

HENRY WILLIAM BLODGETT stands prominent among the few men 
whose personal and public history is inseparably connected with the juris- 
prudence of Illinois; his sound and clear judgment, his achievements, his upright 
character, his unremitting labors in ascertaining the right and administering 
exact justice have contributed largely to the high reputation which attaches to 
the bench of the United States courts in the Northwest. He commenced practice 
during the formative period of the substantial jurisprudence of the West and 
has been one of its most important factors from that time until the present; 
throughout the period while the great outlines of this jurisprudence were being 
established and its foundations being laid upon an enduring basis, one may trace 
the impress of his mind upon every important advance step. Being so important 
a factor in formulating, and now in administering, he deserves the gratitude of 
the public, since the jurisprudence is an indispensable element to the growth, pros- 
perity and permanence of the commonwealth, conserving and harmonizing all 
other forces of civilization. Without an impartial administration of law and jus- 
tice no form of popular government can long survive. Judge Blodgett may be said 
to act with these considerations in view. In the investigation of the many impor- 
tant cases which come before him he is guided solely by facts in evidence and the 
law applicable to them. His decisions are impartial, simple in style, lucid and 
forcible, never sensational, florid or highly ornate; he expresses his thoughts and 
opinions in a clear and concise manner, not to be misunderstood, and with a pleas- 
ing diction. His fame rests mainly upon his scholarly attainments and his pro- 
found knowledge of common and statute law; his more important decisions are 
monuments of learning and research and have won for him the profound respect 
of the bench and bar. He is an indefatigable worker and constant student, and 



14 THE KEXCII AND RAK OF CHICAGO. 

has great power of concentration, a remarkable memory and a clear and accurate 
judgment. 

Judge Blodgett was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1821. His parents 
removed to Illinois when he was about ten years of age; his father was a black- 
smith, his mother a woman of superior education and refinement. Both were 
sincere and earnest, and devoted themselves to the correct development and train- 
ing of their children. When seventeen years of age Henry went to the Amherst 
Academy one year, whence he returned to Illinois and engaged in teaching school, 
and subsequently in land surveying until twenty-one years of age. In 1842 he 
commenced the study of law in the office of J. Y. Scammon and Norman B. 
Judd, in Chicago, and three years later, in 1845, was admitted to the bar, and 
commenced practice in Waukegan, Illinois, where he still resides. In 1844 he 
voted the anti-slavery ticket, and has since been an adherent of the anti-slavery 
and republican parties, remaining true to the principles and the cause he then 
espoused. In 1852 he was elected to the general assembly of Illinois, being the 
first avowed anti-slavery member who ever occupied a seat in that body, and in the 
following year was elected to the state senate. As a legislator he was one of the 
ablest and most useful, and was largely instrumental in shaping the legislation of 
the commonwealth and in promoting the development of the immense resources 
of Illinois by internal improvements and otherwise. In 1855, and for a number 
of years subsequently, he was associated with the legal department of the Chi- 
cago and Northwestern railway, of which he was one of the projectors. He was 
the pioneer in the building of the then Chicago and Milwaukee railroad, on the 
lake shore from Chicago to Milwaukee, and was identified with it in the several 
capacities of attorney, director and president; he procured the charter for the 
road, and to his influence and personal efforts was mainly due the securing of the 
money necessary to its construction. Later he was solicitor of the Michigan 
Southern, Fort Wayne, Rock Island and Northwestern roads, and retired when the 
business reached such proportions that it was impossible for one man to attend 
to it. As a solicitor he was regarded as the peer indeed the superior of anyone 
in the Northwest. During all these years he had been industrious and studious 
and formed habits which have characterized his subsequent notable career. 

In 1870 he was appointed, by President Grant, judge of the United States dis- 
trict court for the northern district of Illinios, and holds that position now 
(1883), discharging the duties of his important trust with signal ability and 
fidelity. He brought to the bench varied legal learning, a self-gained scholar- 
ship (for he is essentially a self-made man), wide experience and an eminently 
judicial mind; his rulings and decisions will live as long as the jurisprudence of 
the United States courts exists, and his history and name will outlive him. He is 
a model of benevolence and generosity in all the relations of life, and his deport- 
ment is characterized by courtesy and unswerving impartiality; magnanimous 
and pure in private and official life he is a worthy citizen, an upright judge and a 
true man. His deeds are indelibly written in the history of his time so plainly 



THE BENCH AND fi.tK OF CHICAGO. 15 

that all may read. He has turned his abilities to good account in bettering others 
and developing in himself a noble manhood. Such is an outline of the life career 
of one who mapped out his own course, guided by the teachings and admonition 
of a noble mother at the beginning, and inspired and impelled by a noble am- 
bition to make the most of his powers. How near he has " hewn to the line " let 
his life work tell, for in this one may find the true measure of his success. 



COL. EDMUND JUSSEN. 

EDMUND JUSSEN was born in Germany in 1830, pursued the classical 
course of study at the Jesuit College of Cologne, and immigrated to 
America in 1847. Although he was an accomplished scholar in the Latin, Greek, 
French and German languages, he did not then understand a word of the English 
language; settling at Columbus, Wisconsin, he commenced practical life under 
this disadvantage, a,nd by unaided effort has attained to his present rank among 
the most prominent members of the Chicago bar. 

When he came to this country in 1847, he engaged in whatever he could find 
to do to meet his daily expenses, and during leisure hours devoted his time to the 
acquirement of the English language, and under these circumstances mastered it, 
and is now an accomplished English scholar. In 1854 he commenced the study 
of law in the office of William T. Butler, then county judge of Jefferson county, 
Wisconsin, and upon being admitted to the bar in 1856 returned to Columbus 
and engaged in practice. During this year he married Antonie Schurz, sister of 
Hon. Carl Schurz, and has an interesting family. He moved to Madison, Wiscon- 
sin, in r86o, and formed a law partnership with James Hopkins, subsequently 
United States judge for the eastern district of Wisconsin. In the fall of 1861 he 
was elected to the legislature from the Madison district, and was prominent and 
efficient in that body. In the spring of 1862 he entered the army as major of the 
23d Wis. Vol. Inf., and took part in the battles of Arkansas Post and Chickasaw 
Bayou, where he was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of his regiment. He 
soon afterward resigned his commission on account of physical disability, and in 
1864 settled in Chicago, and resumed the practice of his profession. Mr. Jussen 
has been successfully engaged in many important cases of special and public 
interest, notably the so-called " whiskey-ring cases," the criminal prosecution of 
Henry Greenebaum for the alleged embezzlement of the funds of the German 
Savings and German National Bank of Chicago, and others, in the management 
of which he won the highest commendation and opinions of the bar and the gen- 
eral public. 

In 1869-71 Col. Jussen was collector of internal revenues for the Chicago 
district, before the " rings " and schemes for defrauding the government had been 
entered into, though an attempt was made in that direction upon him. His 
unwavering integrity, however, and the consciousness of his responsibility 



1 6 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

repulsed all such advances, and by reason of the stand which he took, he incurred 
the ill will of corrupt men, who did not rest until they had secured his removal. 
He was subsequently an important factor in securing the overthrow and downfall 
of these conspirators against the internal revenue, in doing which he proved him- 
self not only a gentleman, a scholar, and an able lawyer, but also an honest man, 
and a friend of his adopted country. That he was a most zealous and capable 
officer no one will deny; that he attempted to perform his full duty and protect 
the government against fraud, and that he was thwarted in this honest and 
earnest endeavor, subsequent events fully demonstrated. 

Col. Jussen has traveled much, and is a gentleman of varied culture and 
refined tastes, as well as an earnest and forcible advocate and an able and success- 
ful lawyer. 

HON. THOMAS HOYNE, LL.D. 

THOMAS HOYNE, one of the foremost lawyers in Chicago, is a son of 
Patrick and Elleanor M. Hoyne, who were obliged to leave Ireland about 
the year 1815, on account of troubles in which the father became involved with 
the British government. They sought an asylum in the city of New York, where 
our subject was born about February n, 1817. He was the eldest of seven chil- 
dren, and at a suitable age was sent to St. Peter's Catholic school in that city, 
where he remained until the death of his parents, that of his father occurring in 
1829, and that of his mother in 1830. He was left poor as well as an orphan and 
unfriended. In the year 1829 he became an apprentice to a manufacturer of 
fancy goods, traveling cases and pocket-books, working in that capacity for four 
or five years in the city of New York. 

Mr. Hoyne seems to have early had a strong desire for knowledge, and at that 
period, while still a mere youth working under indentures, he joined what was 
known as the Literary Association, the membership of which included several 
persons who afterward distinguished themselves in the literary or political world, 
notably Hon. Horace Greeley and his associate in the publishing business, Mr. 
McElrath, Judges Manierre and Daly, Hon. William B. Maclay and the Maclay 
family, and others. W. B. Maclay was member of congress for several years, and 
his father founded the Baptist church on Mulberry street as early as 1800. It was 
with men of this class that he came in contact, and early began to feel the bright- 
ening influence of their keen intellects. In that society Mr. Hoyne made his 
debut as a debater, and acquired the happy art of speaking in public. It was no 
doubt the turning point in life, the first stepping-stone to the stage on which he 
has acted a brilliant as well as conspicuous part. 

While an apprentice young Hoyne also attended two night schools, in one of 
which he made a specialty of English grammar and elocution, in the other, of the 
classics, acquiring a fair knowledge of Greek as well as Latin. For such economy 
of time and such industry he has since reaped a rich reward. 





[>, kv EC Williams I 6ci MY 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 1 9 

At the end of his apprenticeship, in 1835, Mr. Hoyne accepted a clerkship in a 
large jobbing house for the salary it would afford him to liquidate and pay off 
the expense of the schools he was attending. In 1836 he commenced the study 
of law in the office of Hon. John Brinkerhoff, and late in the summer of 1837 
came to Chicago to join his old and esteemed friend, Judge Manierre, who had 
preceded him hither two years before, and was serving the public in the office of 
clerk of the circuit court. His old associate in the New York literary club was 
not slow in making a place for Mr. Hoyne, whose compensation for clerical ser- 
vices was ten dollars a week. Mr. Hoyne now found time to devote to study. He 
took up Latin again; commenced the study of the French language; and for two 
years attended the meetings of a literary society, in the exercises of which he was 
an active participant. In the latter part of 1838 he taught a public school one 
of the first organized in Chicago four months. Soon afterward he resumed his 
legal studies in the office of Hon. J. Y. Scammon, who became his friend and patron, 
and was admitted to practice late in the autumn of 1839. Since that date, with 
the exception of a little more than two years spent in Galena, Illinois (autumn of 
1842 to December, 1844), Mr. Hoyne has resided in Chicago, and has practiced his 
profession, making a brilliant record at the Cook county bar, as well as appearing 
in many cases in the supreme court of Illinois, and the United States Supreme 
Court at Washington. He has great power before a jury. 

In 1840 Mr. Hoyne was elected city clerk on the democratic ticket, and during 
most of the time for the last forty years he has taken a deep interest in political 
matters, sometimes aiding to shape the policy of his party, or furnishing material 
for congressional consideration. It was Mr. Hoyne who, in 1841, wrote the 
memorial which was presented to congress asking for increased appropriations 
for the improvement of the Chicago harbor. In 1870 he was nominated by accla- 
mation for congress in the Chicago district, but declined to run, when Hon. John 
Wentworth was nominated in his place and beaten by Hon. C. B. Farvvell. 

Mr. Hoyne held the office of probate justice of the peace in 1847, 1848 and 
1849 under the old constitution, the office which under the new constitution, 
which went into effect in the autumn of 1848, took the name of county judge, at 
which time his court was suspended. 

Mr. Hoyne was an earnest advocate of the Mexican war (1846-47), but on the 
passage of the " Wilmot proviso," prohibiting the extension of slavery in any 
territory acquired from Mexico, at the close of the war, he became what was then 
known as a " free-soiler," and supported' Van Buren and Adams on the " Buffalo 
platform " in the presidential campaign of 1848, and being a presidential elector 
that year, "stumped " the northern half of Illinois. He had previously, at a great 
mass-meeting held in Chicago, as chairman of a committee chosen for the pur- 
pose, written an able address to the people on the great issues of the day, and 
that address had a very wide circulation. "It was,"* says one writer, "a bold, 

* See "The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Illinois." Philadelphia, 1875. We are indebted to 
the same source for other data in this sketch. 



2O THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

manly and vigorous protest against the further encroachments of slavery, and 
was designed to affect the opinion of the democratic masses of the state." Mr. 
Hoyne continued his opposition to the extension of slavery, yet did not break 
entirely away from the democratic party, and in 1853 received from President 
Pierce the appointment of United States district attorney for Illinois, which 
appointment greatly increased his business. He sided with Judge Douglas on 
the Kansas and Nebraska bills and the bill to repeal the Missouri compromise 
(1854), and took an active part in the field of debate on the democratic side in the 
presidential campaign of 1856. Two years later he advocated the admission of 
Kansas under the Lecompton constitution, in this step taking sides with the 
administration and against Judge Douglas. In 1859 Mr. Hoyne, without his 
knowledge or consent, was appointed United States marshal for the northern 
district of Illinois, taking the place of a defaulter (Charles A. Pine), which office 
Mr. Hoyne would have declined at once had not Judge Drummond, for the pur- 
pose of restoring order and discipline in that office, made a special request upon 
him to accept the place for the short period of the unexpired term of his prede- 
cessor. In 1860 he superintended the census for the northern district, and was 
very highly complimented by the superintendent of the census bureau for his 
faithful services. 

In literary as well as political matters Mr. Hoyne has acted a conspicuous and 
eminently praiseworthy part. In 1850 he was elected president of the Chicago 
Young Men's Association, and subsequently had the rare honor of being reelected. 
When the University of Chicago was founded, in 1857, Mr. Hoyne took a deep 
interest in the enterprise ; was elected a member of its board of trustees, and 
continues to act in that capacity ; was a leader and quite active in founding the 
law department of the University, paying $5,000 into the fund for that purpose, 
and in September, 1859, in recognition of his valuable services and generosity in 
this matter, the trustees established a chair in the faculty known as " The Hoyne 
Professorship of International and Constitutional Law." To Mr. Hoyne also 
belongs the credit of securing the great Lalande prize telescope for the Univer- 
sity, and he was elected the first secretary of the Chicago Astronomical Society, 
which position, we believe, he still holds. He is a life member of the Mechanics' 
Institute, the Academy of Sciences and the Chicago Historical Society, and has 
always taken a great interest in building up such institutions. His greatest work 
in this connection has been in aiding to found and in fostering the Chicago Free 
Public Library, of which he wrote a long and valuable historical sketch in 1877, 
and which was published in a pamphlet of nearly a hundred pages. That pam- 
phlet lies before us, and contains a detailed account of the appeal of Thomas 
Hughes and his associates in England, made immediately after the great fire of 
October 9, 1871, to found a new library in Chicago ; the public spirit which that 
appeal stirred up in the hearts of the enterprising men of this city ; the frequent 
public meetings held here in the interest of that cause ; the public address of Mr. 
Hoyne, Mayor Medill and others ; the correspondence which Mr. Hoyne carried 



THE BKNCir AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 2 I 

on with the promoters of this enterprise in the old world, etc. Mr. Hoyne's con- 
nection with that grand work of founding a free public library in Chicago reflects 
the very highest credit upon his energy, enterprise and truly philanthropic spirit. 
He was not only one of the originators of this eminently useful institution, and 
presided over the first meeting called to organize it, but was chosen president of 
its first board of directors, and still holds that honorable post. He was also one 
of the originators of the Chicago Bar Association, and was its vice-president in 
1874, and one of the committee on legal education in 1875. He has recently deliv- 
ered an address before the association entitled "The Lawyer as a Pioneer," in 
which he gives sketches of the early Illinois and Chicago bar (1837-1840). It is 
to be published in book form by Fergus and Co. 

Mr. Hoyne is a man of a good deal of literary taste as well as legal ability, 
and his intellectual efforts outside the bar and the political arena have attracted a 
great deal of attention. An address which he delivered before the graduating 
law class of the University of Chicago in 1869 was pitched on a high key of elo- 
quence and a truly lofty moral tone, and its stirring appeal to the young men 
before him to uphold the honor and dignity of their profession could not fail of 
having a salutary influence on all who heard him. His Fourth of July oration, 
delivered two years later at La Salle, Illinois, on the " New Departure," was pro- 
nounced a masterly effort, and its publication and wide circulation raised Mr. 
Hoyne in the estimation of many as an orator. As a forensic speaker he certainly 
has but few peers at the bar of Cook county, which has from ten to twelve hun- 
dred members. 

As already intimated, our subject took an early and deep interest in politics 
and the welfare of the country, and that interest seems not to have abated. Dur- 
ing the civil war his patriotism rose to white heat, and no man in Chicago was 
more earnest in trying to save the Union. He was a very active member of the 
Union Defense Committee, and wrote the well known appeal to the people of this 
state. He was on the committee that visited Lincoln to urge a campaign down 
the Mississippi river in 1862. During that long and trying period of civil strife 
every emanation from his pen or tongue had the unmistakable and thrilling ring 
of a true and devoted lover of his country. 

After the war Mr. Hoyne sided with President Johnson against congress, and 
was a delegate to the conservative convention held at Philadelphia in August, 
1866. He also supported Horace Greeley for the presidency in 1872, and was an 
elector that year in the first district. Two years later he acted with the opposi- 
tion, so called, and aided in drawing up the call of the democratic state commit- 
tee, issued in this city under the eye of Mr. Hoyne, and embodying a specie plank, 
free commerce, civil rights and other live issues, and which was received with 
great eclat by the leading journals of his party. 

July 9, 1875, he delivered an address before the Jeffersonian Club of Chicago, 
of which he was then president, and on that occasion took the ground that "there 
is sufficient vital moral force and patriotism in the people to save their free insti- 



22 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

tutions." In that address, which he had evidently prepared with great care, he 
denounced in the strongest terms the tendency to corruption among the politi- 
cians of the day, and clearly announced his own political tenets, as embodied in 
the club in whose interests he was speaking. 

Mr. Hoyne has always been regarded as one of the bitterest enemies of cor- 
ruptionists, and has been a leader in trying to rout them. For this purpose he 
was brought out as a candidate for mayor in the spring of 1876, and was tri- 
umphantly elected. An account of this election was published in "The Alliance," 
of this city, in April, 1881, in a sketch of Mr. Hoyne, under the heading. "The 
Men who have Built Chicago," and we reproduce it in a condensed form: 

" There was a time when this great city, with all its unexampled growth and 
prosperity, was in danger of financial ruin and moral bankruptcy. In 1876 Chi- 
cago was awakened to the fact that she had long been ruled by an unscrupulous 
ring of thieving politicians, which received its support from a class of the com- 
munity not unlike that which kept Tweed in power in New York city for so long 
a time, and saddled that city with a financial burden, and gave its government a 
notoriety that has passed into a proverb. We say that Chicago was awakened to 
her danger, awakened only just in time to avert ruin, awakened mainly by the 
efforts of the man whose name stands at the head of this sketch. 

" H. D. Colvin was mayor of the city at the time. He had inherited from 
preceding administrations a bequest of debt and bad management, and was 
hedged about by precedents which he had not the wisdom or energy to set 
aside precedents involving large running expenses, extravagant appropriations, 
and a reckless financial policy. His administration began the system of meeting 
the illegal debt of the city by an equally illegal issue of scrip, but was unequal to 
the broad statesmanship of immediate retrenchment of municipal expenses and 
refunding the debt so that it might comfortably be carried. Extravagance and 
incompetence and rascality threatened the city. Taxation had become too heavy 
to be borne. The name of Chicago, prosperous and lusty as the city was, was fast 
becoming a by-word for misrule. It was a crisis in her history. Had the reign- 
ing state of affairs continued there is no manner of doubt but that some other 
city would have become the metropolis of the West. Capital and enterprise do 
not gravitate to any city overburdened with taxation, cursed by misrule and 
threatened with financial troubles. There is always a man for every emergency, 
and in Chicago's hour of need Thomas Hoyne came to the front. Through his 
efforts the Municipal Reform Club was organized, and in a very short time it 
succeeded in arousing the people to a sense of the dangers which threatened 
them. An American community, and especially a Chicago community, engrossed 
with their private business affairs, are slowly aroused to a sense of public danger, 
but when they are aroused no people in the world act so quickly or so effectively. 
The Reform Club called a mass-meeting of the citizens in the Exposition build- 
ing. Nearly 40,000 men, of every political faith, gathered at that meeting, which 
resolved to take energetic means to abate the growing evil of municipal misrule. 



THE BENCH AND BAR Of-' CHICAGO. 2$ 

Mr. Hoyne was, at the meeting, nominated for mayor on a reform platform, and 
in the election that followed was nearly unanimously elected to the office, he 
receiving a majority of over 33,000, the largest ever given a municipal chief 
magistrate in Chicago. There were but eight hundred votes cast against him. 
Mayor Colvin contested the legality of the election and appealed to the courts. 
The circuit court, which really had no jurisdiction in the case, decided by a vote 
of three to two that the election was illegal. Mr. Hoyne could, with every pros- 
pect of success, have appealed to the supreme court, but as his object was to 
cleanse the city of corruption, and not to secure honor or place for himself, and 
as the Colvin administration agreed to resign if another election were permitted 
without appeal, Mr. Hoyne, for the sake of the public good, assented, and refusing 
to allow the use of his name, Monroe Heath was elected mayor and Mr. Hoyne 
retired to private life, after having been de facto mayor for six weeks. But the 
line of policy marked out by his inaugural address has been followed, not only 
by his successor but by the doughty Harrison, and Chicago's prosperity and place 
in the nation is doubtless due to the unselfish and wise action of Mr. Hoyne." 

The wife of Mr. Hoyne was Leonora M. Temple, daughter of the late John T. 
Temple, M.D., one of the pioneers in settling Chicago, their marriage being dated 
September 17, 1840, and she being the mother of seven children. The eldest son, 
Temple S., occupies a chair in Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago ; the second 
son, Thomas M., is the junior member of the firm of Hoyne, Horton and Hoyne, 
and a lawyer of much promise ; the third son, James, is cashier of the Germania 
Savings Bank, and the fourth son is employed with the firm of Culver, Page and 
Hoyne, of Chicago. Mrs. Hoyne is also the granddaughter of the late Dr. Staugh- 
ton, the most eminent Baptist divine of this century. He founded Columbia 
College, at Washington, District of Columbia, and in 1822 delivered the address 
at Castle Garden, New York, upon the first visit of La Fayette to America after he 
had aided Washington in accomplishing the success of the revolution. 



GEORGE PAYSON. 

AMONG the distinguished members of the Chicago bar, we are pleased to 
record the name of George Payson, rich in scholarly attainments, a true 
gentleman, one of the purest of men and one of the noblest of the profession. 
He was born in Portland, Maine, in 1824, graduated at Bowdoin College in 
1843, studied law in New York, came to Chicago in 1856 and commenced the 
practice of his profession, in which he has continued with unvarying success 
until the present time (1883), and by which he has gained an eminent and envi- 
able reputation. Until 1874 he was engaged in a general practice of his pro- 
fession, but since that time has devoted his whole attention, time and energy to 
patent law and patent cases, and to-day stands second to no living man as a 
patent lawyer. Some fifteen or sixteen years ago an association was formed in 



24 THE BENCH AND KAK OF CHICAGO. 

Chicago known as the Western Railroad Association, which in 1874 retained 
Mr. Payson as its counsel in all matters pertaining to patents and patent litiga- 
tion; and from that time to the present Mr. Payson has continued to be actively 
engaged in defending the interests of the railroads belonging to said association, 
so far as relates to that particular branch of the law. When that association was 
formed it was composed of fifteen railroad companies, and its membership has 
since increased until it now numbers about eighty. 

No client was ever deceived by any advice or counsel given by Mr. Payson. 
He is very chary in giving an opinion unless fortified by principle and authority; 
and he is well and thoroughly posted in authorities. Mr. Payson is very popular 
with the bar. His frank and gentlemanly bearing endear him to his professional 
brethren. He is thoroughly honest and conscientious in everything. He is ex- 
ceedingly happy in his presentation of a case to court or jury. With him there 
is no talk for buncombe; the facts and the law are presented in his own inimi- 
table manner. His father, Rev. Edward Payson, was one of the most eminent 
of New England divines, and died in 1827. George, the subject of this sketch, 
is represented to be very like his father except on the question of religious ortho- 
doxy. During Mr. Payson's practice he has been a partner of Isaac N. Arnold, 
William H. King and others. 

In 1857 he married Margaret Codman, a daughter of Randolph A. L. Codman, 
who, thirty years ago, was recognized as one of the most brilliant and distin- 
guished members of the Maine bar. Four children have been born of this mar- 
riage, only two of whom, one son and one daughter, are now living. 



HON. HIRAM H. CODY. 

HIRAM HITCHCOCK CODY, a native of Vernon Centre, Oneida county. 
New York, was born June n, 1824, the son of Hiram Cody and Huldah 
(Hitchcock) Cody. His paternal grandparents, Samuel Cody and Susannah Cody, 
were among the pioneer settlers of Oneida county. The former was a soldier in 
the revolutionary army; the latter, with pardonable pride, traced her lineage to 
one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His maternal grand- 
parents, David Hitchcock and Mercy Gilbert Hitchcock, formerly of Connecticut, 
but during many years residents of Hamilton, Madison county, New York, were 
universally respected for their many virtues. For several generations back his 
ancestors have all been Christian people, identified with either the Methodist 
Episcopal or Congregational church. His father was a man of unusual mental 
and physical vigor, with a good degree of self-culture, and known for his frank- 
ness and independence in thought and action. His mother was a woman of 
earnest, decided Christian character, superior culture and refined tastes. Of his 
four sisters, all of whom were ladies esteemed for their intelligence and excellent 
traits of character, only the youngest is now living. The eldest and youngest were 







I 






THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 2/ 

married successively to his wife's eldest brother, Dr. S. P. Sedgwick, formerly pro- 
fessor in Bennett Medical College, of Chicago. The second sister was the wife 
of Hon. E. O. Hills, of Bloomingdale, Illinois, and the third was married to Mr. 
Samuel Talcott, of Rockton, Illinois. 

His early education was thorough, and was conducted with the design that he 
should enter the legal profession; and in all his instruction this purpose was kept 
in view, and being well known to him, made a very deep impression upon his 
hopes and aspirations for the future. His father, however, determined to remove 
with his family to the West when the subject of this sketch was about eighteen 
years of age. This circumstance, though it seemed at the time to interfere 
seriously with his plans for the future, proved to him a blessing in disguise, by 
inducing his removal to the West, and settlement in Illinois. 

In 1843, with his father's family, he removed to Lisbon, Kendall county, Illi- 
nois, whither many of his old townsmen had preceded him. One year later the 
family settled at Bloomingdale, Du Page county. 

In August, 1847, Mr. Cody removed to Naperville, having been elected clerk 
of the county commissioners' court of Du Page county. Two years later, upon 
the adoption of the constitution of 1848, he was nominated by acclamation, and 
in 1849 elected, the first county clerk of said county, thus serving as clerk six 
years, during which time, aside from his official duties, he vigorously applied 
himself to the study of law, and finally, in June, 1851, realized the long cherished 
hopes of his earlier years, by being admitted to the bar. Upon the expiration of 
his term of office he went before the convention, and, though a majority of the 
delegates favored his renomination, he voluntarily withdrew his name, his pur- 
pose being to retire from public life and devote himself to the study and practice 
of his profession. Aside from these he has held no offices by virtue of a political 
party vote. Politically, his views were democratic; but when the voice of trea- 
son was heard, and efforts were making to sever the union of states, discarding 
party prejudices, he thought only of his country's welfare. His earnest efforts 
and eloquent appeals in behalf of the Union cause will ever be remembered by 
his fellow citizens; and it was to these that Du Page county was largely indebted 
for her brilliant record made during the war. 

In 1861, in a convention assembled without distinction of party, he was nomi- 
nated, and afterward almost unanimously elected, county judge of Du Page 
county. In 1869, at a time when the citizens of his county were nearly equally 
divided upon the question pertaining to the removal of the county seat, he was 
the candidate of the anti-removal division for delegate to the constitutional con- 
vention, then about to be held. The election of 1867 was claimed to have resulted 
in favor of removal by a majority of about one hundred; yet, notwithstanding this, 
and also the fact that the vote of his county was three-fourths republican, and 
the Hon. Thomas B. Bryan, a gentleman well known in business circles throughout 
the state, and especially in Chicago, was the opposing candidate, Judge Cody was 
elected by a majority of between one and two hundred. In the convention he 



28 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

was one of the most useful members, and his service therein was exceedingly val- 
uable and efficient. Feeling bound by the will of those who, irrespective of party, 
had' elected him, no less than by his own inclination, he acted with the small 
number of independents who, in the convention, really held the balance of power, 
which they so used, alternating the election of officers between the two parties, 
that party spirit was more nearly banished from that assembly than from any 
deliberative legislative body that ever convened in Illinois. In the convention 
he was chairman of the important committee on revision and adjustment, arid 
with characteristic energy, vigilance and foresight, so conducted the work of the 
committee that upon the day, and at the hour fixed for final adjournment, 
its rep6rt was found complete, something new in the hjstory of such conven- 
tions. The appreciation of the committee's services was clearly attested by a 
unanimous vote of thanks, which was the only one of the kind given to any com- 
mittee during the entire session. Aside from this, the record of the convention, 
the flattering notices of the Springfield papers, and the personal testimony of his 
fellow-members, furnish abundant evidence of the ability which he displayed in 
this responsible and honorable position. Upon the resignation of Hon. S. 
Wilcox, judge of the fourth judicial circuit of Illinois (composed of the counties 
of Kane, Du Page and Kendall), in the fall of 1874, the minds of his fellow-citi- 
zens at once fixed upon Judge Cody as his successor. ^ A district convention for 
nomination having been called, a mass convention was at once held in Du Page 
county. About one hundred and fifty of the most substantial men in the county, 
irrespective of party, composed this convention, which was the largest of its kind 
ever held in the county. When from this body a delegation comprising men 
whose personal appearance, superior abilities, and genuine merit, made them a 
tower of strength, were selected to present the name of a candidate from Du Page 
county, they needed no formal instructions as to who it should -be, but went into 
the district convention with a unanimity and moral force that insured success, 
and secured the nomination of Judge Cody, who, on September 8, was elected by 
the largest majority ever given in the circuit; every town in his own county giv- 
ing him a majority. In the three south towns, which had been his home since 
1847, out of a total of ten hundred and twenty-one votes, ten hundred and seven 
were cast for him, thus showing that where he was best known his abilities were 
most highly appreciated. 

During his term as circuit judge, in 1877, the appellate court of Illinois was 
established, and the counties of Lake, McHenry, De Kalb and Boone were com- 
bined with the old fourth circuit, forming the twelfth judicial circuit of the state, 
the law making this change providing also for three judges in each of the thirteen 
circuits of the state. 

In 1879 a republican convention made a party nomination for judges, the cir- 
cuit having a republican majority of over twelve thousand, which of course ter- 
minated Judge Cody's official service, although the people throughout the circuit, 
without organization in his favor, voted for him in such numbers that he lacked 



THE BENCH AND KAR OF CHICAGO. 29 

but about two thousand votes of being reelected. This unexpectedly large volun- 
tary indorsement of the people, irrespective of party, under the circumstances, 
gave substantial evidence of popular appreciation. 

Judge Cody immediately formed a business connection^in Chicago, where he 
has since that time been practicing law, retaining his residence, however, at Na- 
perville, in Du Page county. The firm of which he is a member, Gary, Cody 
and Gary, is widely known and stands in the front rank of the profession. 

In the fall of 1880, the democratic senatorial conventioiv for the fourteenth 
district, against his protest, nominated Judge Cody for state senator, an honor 
which he peremptorily declined. Soon after this^ in -the same year, lie was unex- 
pectedly and unanimously nominated a candidate for congress by the democrats 
of the first congressional district. His professional engagements compelled him 
to decline this nomination also, and devote himself to the large and continually 
increasing business interests confided to his care. For the same reason, when the 
congressional districts had been changed, and in 1882 he was unanimously nomi- 
nated for the same position in the eighth district, he again declined, though he 
believed at the time, and his friends insist they now know, that his election was 
certain. Though he is still called a democrat, he is thoroughly and absolutely 
independent in his views, taking little or no part in party politics. 

As a judge he was peculiarly free from prejudices, and his thorough investiga- 
tion of the law, his clear perception, and his careful, deliberate and correct opin- 
ions have made for him a most enviable reputation. During his whole term as 
county .judge no appeal was taken from his decisions. When he began his labors 
as circuit judge, by reason of the illness of his predecessor, there was an immense 
accumulation of unfinished business. He quietly but persistently discharged his 
responsible duties, and at the end of his term left all the dockets in his circuit in 
far better condition than they had been 'for many years. Of the cases appealed 
during his term more than eighty per cent were affirmed by the supreme court. 

As a lawyer, he has ever been noted for his care and skill, and faithfulness to 
his clients; possessing fine abilities as a public speaker, his clear voice, distinct 
articulation, well chosen language and earnest sincerity, rendered him a popular 
and successful advocate. As a citizen, he is loyal and true, and has been espe- 
cially faithful to the interests of the community in which he lived. As a man, 
Judge Cody possesses most admirable qualities; warm and sympathetic in his 
friendships, courteous, affable, social and genial, he possesses that plain style and 
matter-of-fact directness of purpose, and that modest and unobtrusive manner, to 
be expected in one who like him has an utter contempt for all shams and mere 
pretense. His aim in life has been to unfold his nobler manhood, and to make 
the highest use of his powers for the benefit of his fellow-men, and this with an 
unselfishness that his friends are inclined to consider an injustice to himself. 

He was married December 31, 1846, to Miss Philomela E. Sedgwick, daughter 
of Parker Sedgwick, M.D., formerly of Lowell, Oneida county, New York, but 
since 1843 a resident of Du Page county, Illinois, where he is widely known as an 



30 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

eminent and successful physician. Of his eight sons one is a minister, three are 
lawyers, and four are physicians. Mrs. Cody is a lady of intelligence and refine- 
ment, esteemed for her earnest piety and her true womanly qualities, a devoted 
wife and fond mother. 

They have from early life been members of the Congregational church at Na- 
perville, in which for a quarter of a century the judge has been superintendent of 
the sabbath school. Their eldest son, Hiram S., was admitted to practice law in 
September, 1877, and died in March, 1879, at the age of twenty-four years. Dur- 
ing his brief practice at the bar he gave unmistakable prom.ise of brilliant suc- 
cess as a lawyer, while in every other respect his future was equally promising. 

There are remaining three sons and five daughters, constituting a family cir- 
cle of culture, refinement and intelligence, and making a home in which the judge 
may well be said to be a contented and happy man. 

Such is a simple outline of his life history, to which little need be added. The 
character of the positions which he has held is a faithful test of his ability; this, 
and the substantially unanimous indorsement of an intelligent people with whom 
he has lived for over thirty years, speak of his genuine merit and worth in language 
that cannot be misunderstood. In representing the interests of others he has been 
singularly fortunate and happy, and as a reward of his rare honesty of purpose, 
his undoubted fairness to opponents, he is the favorite of a whole people. If we 
search for the secret of his success, we shall find it, not alone in his native abili- 
ties, but also in his sterling integrity, his loyalty to principle, and his firm deter- 
mination to be absolutely honorable and manly in all his endeavors. 



HON. JOHN A. JAMESON. 

JOHN A. JAMESON, chief-justice of the superior court of Cook county, was 
born in Irasburg, Orleans county, Vermont, January 25, 1824. Being now 
nearly sixty years of age, he is well preserved and vigorous in both mind and 
body. His father, Thomas Jameson, was sheriff of Orleans county, Vermont, for 
many years, a member of the constitutional convention, and a prominent man in 
that county. Being deprived in his early life of the adequate means of gaining the 
education his ambition coveted, John A. had to rely mainly upon his own efforts 
in the struggle to attain this object. After completing the usual preliminary and 
preparatory studies he entered the Vermont University at Burlington, from which 
he graduated with high rank in the class of 1846; his alma mater has since con- 
ferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. After graduating he taught 
school in Canada some four years, and was subsequently tutor in Vermont Uni- 
versity two years, teaching languages and mathematics. During all these years 
he lost no opportunity for self improvement. He writes and speaks several lan- 
guages, and is a man of varied literary attainments. He attended the Dane Law 
School of Harvard College, and read law at Burlington, Vermont, and was there 



TIfF. BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 31 

admitted to the bar. He soon afterward removed to Chicago with his classmate 
in the law school. Homer N. Hibbard, with whom he formed a partnership. After 
acquiring the Illinois practice and processes the firm went to Freeport, Illinois, 
and engaged in practice. A few years later Mr. Jameson, returning to Chicago, 
formed a new partnership and continued his practice until 1865, when he was 
elected to the bench of the then superior court of Chicago, a court now having 
jurisdiction coequal with the circuit court. He has been elected to three successive 
terms of six years each and always by large majorities, evidencing his popularity 
and the high esteem in which he is held by all parties in Chicago and Cook county 
as an upright and just judge. As a lawyer and counsellor, before he was elected 
to the bench, he ranked among the foremost young men, especially in chancery 
practice, and he now holds the same relative position among the judges of equal 
rank in this county. He is now chief-justice of the superior court of Cook county. 
As a jurist he is regarded by the profession as able and impartial. He brought to 
the bench a thorough knowledge of law, a wide range of learning and that clear 
perception of right and justice which is so marked in all the walks of his life. 
He is candid and cautious, and clear in his analysis of the principles of law and 
equity, with a broad comprehension of the spirit and scope of jurisprudence, and 
the independence to decide according to his best judgment of the law and the 
right. The following is the estimate of him by a distinguished Chicago lawyer: 
" He is exceedingly diligent and patient in research, and seldom or never, per- 
haps, relies wholly upon authorities and precedents laid before his mind by the 
lawyer. The result of this habit of mind is a great encouragement to lawyers 
having cases before him. There is no court in Chicago where closer or more 
careful research is made. He is an attentive listener, anxious to hear all a lawyer 
has to say about his case, does not assume on the argument or authorities pre- 
sented by the attorney before him, but knows all about the case himself before 
giving a decision; he is slow to commit himself, and does not jump at conclu- 
sions; makes no display of his learning on the bench, and has no conceited prid^e 
of opinion, but will with great promptness correct any errors subsequently dis- 
covered in his own rulings, and will listen with great patience to get the facts and 
law. In the consideration of law questions he is entirely uninfluenced by popu- 
lar opinion, having often decided cases contrary to time honored decisions, and 
has been sustained by the higher courts. He philosophizes upon the law and 
evidence, and eliminates from the mass of authorities the real foundation princi- 
ples, and decides accordingly, giving due weight to the equities of the case. His 
mind seems to be organized especially for the discussion and consideration of 
general principles of law, and he is at his best in the trying and deciding of nisi 
prius cases, which he can fully and carefully examine. He is sympathetic and 
kind, and protects the rights of the humblest witness in his court, and promptly 
checks anything like oppression or unprofessional and unfair practice." 

He has been assistant editor of the "American Law Register," and since he has 
been on the bench has published one of the most valuable works known to legal 
4 



32 THE BENCH AND BAR Of CHIC AGO. 

jurisprudence, "The Constitutional Convention; Its History, Powers, and Modes 
of Proceeding." It bears the evidence of great research and learning, is a stand- 
ard work and reflects great credit upon its author. When a young man he was a 
strong and vigorous essayist. He has in later years written and delivered several 
addresses upon different subjects, which were pronounced by his hearers and the 
press masterpieces of logic and learning. He is still a student; quiet and studi- 
ous in his demeanor and habits, and an indefatigable worker on or off the bench. 
He has been instrumental in introducing many reforms in court practice. 

In 1855 he married Eliza Denison, daughter of the late Dr. Joseph A. Deni- 
son, Jr., of Royalton, Vermont. He lives in Hyde Park, a suburb of Chicago. 



HON. JOSHUA C. KNICKERBOCKER. 

JOSHUA C. KNICKERBOCKER was born in Gallatin, Columbia county, in 
J the state of New York, September 26, 1837, and is of remote Holland extrac- 
tion, although his ancestors, paternal and maternal, were for several generations 
natives of Columbia and Dutchess counties in the Empire state. 

In the spring of the year 1844 his father, David Knickerbocker, with his 
family, joined the tide of western emigration, and removed to Alden, in McHenry 
county, in the state of Illinois, where he settled upon a farm which he continued 
to occupy and cultivate until his decease, which occurred February 22, 1874, his 
relict, Susanna Knickerbocker, dying August 12, at the same place in that year. 
The children consisted of four in number, all of whom survive: Isaac D. Knick- 
erbocker, who resides on the old homestead in Alden, the subject of this sketch 
Mrs. Hannah M. Bowman, wife of Prentice Bowman, of La Porte city, Iowa, and 
John J. Knickerbocker, a well known member of the Chicago bar. 

Judge Knickerbocker was educated in the common schools and at the acad- 
emy in Alden. In the winters of 1856, 1858 and 1859 he engaged in teaching 
district schools and in prosecuting his private studies in the more advanced 
branches of education. Having determined to devote himself to the law, he 
removed to Chicago in March, 1860, and at once commenced a course of study of 
the law. In March, 1862, he was admitted to practice by the supreme court of 
the state, opened an office at No. 14 Metropolitan Block, and at once entered 
u^ion a remunerative practice. In common with many others, he suffered the 
misfortune of having his office, including a valuable law library, burned in the 
great fire of October 89, 1871. He was joined in business by his brother, Mr. 
John J. Knickerbocker, in 1867, and thus was formed the well known law firm of 
J. C. and J. J. Knickerbocker, which continued until December, 1877, when it was 
dissolved by the election of the senior member of the firm to the office of probate 
judge of Cook county. Judge Knickerbocker was elected supervisor of the first 
ward of Chicago in 1864 for one year, alderman of the first ward in 1865 for two 
years, and reelected in 1867 for a like term. In 1868 he was nominated for 





tu? VyECWil'-jrs 9 P' 



7'ffE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 



35 



representative in the twenty-sixth general assembly, and in a close and doubtful 
district was elected by a majority of more than two thousand. In 1869 he was 
nominated by acclamation by the republican county convention for county 
judge, but owing to irreconcilable complications the whole ticket suffered defeat. 
In 1875 he was appointed by the governor a member of the state board of educa- 
tion, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of the late Dr. John H. Foster, 
and in 1877 was reiippointed for a term of six years. While at the bar Judge 
Knickerbocker devoted himself largely to probate business, a department of the 
law to which he had devoted much study and which was congenial to him, and 
in October, 1877, he was nominated for the important office of probate judge of 
Cook county with little effort on his part, while a contest for the nomination was 
made by several able competitors, who made a vigorous and protracted personal 
canvass. He was elected, and organized the present probate court of Cook 
county, December 3, 1877, under the act of the general assembly passed and 
approved in April of that year. In October, 1882, he was renominated for pro- 
bate judge by acclamation and was reelected. 

No man enjoys a more extensive and favorable acquaintance with the people 
of Cook county than Judge Knickerbocker. All the public and private trusts 
committed to his charge have been executed with promptness and fidelity. In 
the councils of the city and state his official influence and action have ever been 
in the interests of good government. 

The court over which he presides has jurisdiction over the estates of all 
deceased persons, and over the persons and estates of all infants, lunatics, idiots, 
spendthrifts and drunkards in Cook county, and adjudicates annually upon more 
property than all the other courts of Cook county combined. To administer the 
delicate and sacred trusts of such an office requires learning, industry, vigor and 
patience. We believe we express the universal opinion when we say these trusts 
have never been more promptly, impartially and satisfactorily executed than 
under the administration of Judge Knickerbocker. 



HON. JOSEPH B. LEAKE, 

"T) REVET brigadier-general of United States Volunteers, lawyer and soldier, 
.D was born April i, 1828, in Deerfield, Cumberland county, New Jersey, and 
is of Welsh descent, his family having been among the earliest settlers of that 
colony. His father removing to Cincinnati, the son there received his prepara- 
tory education, and subsequently entered Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, 
from which institution he graduated in the class of 1846. He soon after entered 
the law office of Hon. W. S. Groesbeck, where he remained until he was admitted 
to the Ohio bar, January 16, 1850. He practiced law in Cincinnati about six 
years, and removed thence to Davenport, Iowa, where he opened an office and 
devoted himself assiduously to building up a lucrative business. In 1861 he was 



2 8 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

elected judge of the superior court of Cook county for a term of six years, which 
position he now holds. His duties since that time have been of a very arduous 
and complex nature. He is a working judge, attending daily at his chambers, 
with very rare intermission. His judicial tendencies are the result of thorough 
training in the doctrines of the common law, as it was expounded before the days 
of innovation, and his great familiarity with the statutes and reported jurisdiction 
of the federal government is conceded by the entire bar. He possesses that 
judicial instinct which makes its way quickly through immaterial details to the 
essential points upon which the determination of a cause must turn. He there- 
fore charges juries with great distinction, and in cases which are decided by him 
places the results upon plainly discernible principles. He enjoys the unqualified 
confidence and respect of the bar and the people of the state. 

In politics Judge Smith was a democrat previous to the late war, when he 
became a staunch Union man, and since then has been a republican. 

Judge Smith is well and heavily built, having a handsome physique and a 
powerful brain, is at heart a very genial and kind, prepossessing gentleman, who 
has a thousand admirable qualities. He has made the law his greatest ambition, 
hence his high standing as a jurist. A state and city are honored by keeping 
such a man on the bench. 



HON. LEONARD SWETT. 

E;ONARD SWETT was born near the village of Turner, Oxford county, 
Maine, on what was, and is now, known as the Albine Richer farm. His 
mother, about eighty-seven years of age, is still living on the homestead. At the 
age of twelve years, having previously been in the schools of his neighborhood, 
he began the study of Latin and Greek with the Rev. Thomas R. Curtis, his 
parents and the wise ones of the neighborhood having, as they supposed, 
"elected" him for the ministry. When fifteen years of age he went to North 
Yarmouth Academy, where he remained two years, and then entered Waterville 
College (now known as Colby University), where he remained three years, and 
left on account of some misunderstanding with the faculty; involving, however, 
nothing dishonorable on his part. He then read law with Messrs. Howard and 
Shepley, of Portland, two years, when he left to take his chances in the battle of 
life and seek his fortune. He has fought the battle successfully, and has gained 
a fortune. He intended to settle in the South, but after traveling through the 
southern states for a time he came west in 1847. At that time the war with 
Mexico was raging, and he enlisted as a private in the 5th Ind. Inf., commanded 
Gen. James H. Lane, afterward United States senator from Kansas. Although 
not commissioned as an officer, he had practical command as captain of the com- 
pany, of which he was orderly sergeant. Having entered the city of Mexico 
after its capture, the company was detailed to guard trains from Vera Cruz to 
Jalapa, Pueblo and Cordova and return. In May, 1848, he was taken sick at Vera 



THE BENCH AND B'AR OF CHICAGO. 39 

Cruz, and lay in hospital one month, when peace was made and he returned to 
the North with shattered health, which was not soon restored. Upon regaining 
his health, in 1849 he was admitted to the bar at Bloomington, Illinois, and there 
began the practice of law. He rode the circuit with Abraham Lincoln, Stephen 
T. Logan, John T. Stuart, U. F. Linder, Edward D. Baker, Edward Hannagan, and 
other prominent lawyers of that day, and while being trained in that school was 
recognized as one of the leaders and among the ablest. He spent six months of 
' the year in courts with Lincoln from that time on until the latter was elected 
president, and always found in him a warm friend, a safe counselor and a con- 
genial companion. This intimacy continued up to the time of Mr. Lincoln's death. 

When he started out to practice law there were two men who took him by the 
hand and helped him along with that affection and kindness which marks a 
father's conduct toward a son. These two men were Abraham Lincoln and 
David Davis, who remained true and confidential friends to the last. Next to 
Judge Davis Mr. Swett was most influential in securing the nomination of Lin 
coin for the presidency, and was the prime mover and controlling influence in 
planning and executing that remarkable campaign which resulted in the election 
of that great man. Suffice it to say that both came to Chicago to secure this 
result, and Judge Davis being Swett's senior by twelve years, he was very natu- 
rally the nominal leader. The nomination was secured, under their management, 
through a combination of the Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania delegations, and 
in this the hand of Leonard Swett was powerful and controlling. 

But it is as a lawyer that he is best known. During the war he was in the 
employ of the Quicksilver Mining Company, a corporation owning the great 
Almaden or quicksilver mine in California, which was involved in litigation for 
twelve years, the last four of which Mr. Swett had the full control, which kept him 
in Washington the greater part of the time. As he did not want any office because 
of better employment, it left him untrammeled, and insured the full confidence of. 
President Lincoln, and hence he was a power behind the throne to an extent of 
which few have any knowledge. In 1865 he came to Chicago permanently. He 
has held but one office, that of state senator one term, and has declined all ten- 
ders of office made to him. He has devoted himself assiduously to the practice 
of his profession, to which he has been passionately devoted the past twenty-five 
years, attaining to an eminence which ranks him among the first at the bar, 
especially as a criminal lawyer. Of the nineteen murder cases which he has 
defended, he has lost but one, and these cases are among the most celebrated in 
the annals of our courts. He is a born orator; has a fine physique and command- 
ing presence; an attractive delivery; is an entertaining speaker, an affable and 
genial gentleman, and is esteemed and honored as a citizen and a man. In poli- 
tics he is a republican, and his voice is heard in defense of that party in all 
important campaigns and from the lecture platform. He took an active part in 
the effort made to secure the nomination of Gen. Grant to the presidency in the 
Chicago convention. 



40 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

He is still in the prime of life, and is a noble example of what may be accom- 
plished by earnest, conscientious and faithful work in the direction of one's 
native inclination and abilities. He is one of the conspicuous citizens of Illinois, 
and is thoroughly identified with the history of the state; has been a part of it, 
and one of its most notable and important factors; at the bar he has ably illus- 
trated its annals. His pleadings before the highest courts, his brilliant efforts 
from the platform as lecturer and orator, evidence his profound knowledge of 
law, the accuracy of his judgment, the extent of his scholarship and reading, the 
force of his logic and the grace of his diction. He has varied and comprehen- 
sive legal learning and general accomplishments which have won for him the 
highest respect of the bar as well as the esteem and confidence of the general 
public; a man of spotless integrity, which all attempts to assail have been fruit- 
less. He is not a man of circumstances; he has made and controlled them. 

When he settled in Chicago, in 1865, he formed with Van H. Higgins and 
Col. David Quigg a partnership which continued for several years. His previous 
reputation and well known ability brought him at once into prominence, and 
insured him a lucrative practice which he has to this day. The present firm is 
Swett and Haskell., He is retained in the most important cases which have come 
before the higher courts; he devotes himself almost exclusively to his profession; 
and while his comprehensive and well trained mind and large experience and 
knowledge of men fit him for doing any work ably, it is as an advocate that he 
is most conspicuous. He is a clear reasoner, and applies to every subject he con- 
siders strong logical power, his appeals to jury or court often being masterpieces 
of oratory. 

HON. WILLIAM H. KING, LL.D. 

ONE of the best known, as well as one of the most prominent and popular, 
members of the Chicago bar is William H. King. To those who know him 
nothing need be said as to his character and accomplishments. To those who do 
not know him it would be difficult to convey any just idea of his personality. He 
belongs to no class. There is no one else to whom we can compare him. His 
thoughts, his expressions, his manner are all his own. They are alike character- 
istic and original. 

Mr. King was born in Clifton Park, in the county of Saratoga and state of 
New York, October 23, 1817. We have no account of his earlier days, but if the 
child is father of the man, it is safe to say that he must have been of a remark- 
ably active, wide-awake, inquisitive turn of mind; fond of practical jokes, yet 
without malice; speaking his own mind freely on all occasions, with no great 
amount of reverence for precedent or tradition, and doing his own work in his 
own way without fear and without reproach. After receiving the usual education 
preparatory therefor he entered the sophomore class of Union College, where he 
graduated in 1846. In 1879 his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of 



THE BENCH AND BAR 01- CHICAGO. 43 

LL.D. He commenced his study of the law in the office of Hon. John K. 
Porter, then of Waterford, now of New York; was admitted to the bar in 1847, 
and continued the practice of his profession at Waterford, New York, until 1853, 
when he determined to seek a wider field of action, and finally, with a wise fore- 
sight, fixed upon Chicago as his future home. Here for nearly thirty years he has 
led a life of unusual activity and usefulness. It is as a lawyer, of course, that he 
is here especially to be considered. That was the profession for which nature 
evidently intended him. He was a born lawyer. It is difficult to think of him as 
anything else. His talents and acquirements all pointed in that direction com- 
bative, ardent, sanguine, quick to perceive the strong points in his own case, as 
well as the weak ones in his adversary's; always ready to present those points to 
court or jury in the clearest and most forcible manner. It might have been 
expected that he would be tempted to rely too much on his natural powers, and 
to neglect that preliminary study and preparation without which no one, how- 
ever gifted, can hope to succeed. Yet in fact there never was a lawyer more con- 
scientious and painstaking in this, the least inviting but most important work of 
the profession. When Mr. King appears in court his client may rest assured that 
he comes equipped with that full and exact knowledge both of the law and the 
facts that is the surest guarantee of success. Woe then to his adversary who 
makes a false step, misstates the evidence, or wanders outside of the record! For 
such an one Mr. King has no mercy, no bowels of compassion. The wit and 
humor in which he abounds enable him to show up the mistakes of witness or 
counsel in the most effective light. Yet his humor leaves no sting. There is no 
poison in the wound. Men will bear from him what they would bear from no one 
else. And it may safely be said that, no matter how uncurbed his humor may be, 
it has never yet lost him a single friend. Mr. King is not an orator in the usual 
sense of the term. He is too direct and straightforward for that. But if to make 
his point clear, so as to leave no possible room for misunderstanding, to fasten it 
so that it cannot be forgotten, to fortify it with the keenest wit and most incisive 
logic, and finally to win the verdict rather than applause; if this is to be an ora- 
tor, then there is no doubt that he eminently deserves the appellation. 

But it is not alone as a lawyer that Mr. King has won his reputation. During 
his residence in Chicago he has held many offices of honor, though, so far as we 
know, not one of profit. He was one of the founders of the Chicago Law Insti- 
tute and one of its earliest presidents. The Chicago Bar Association has honored 
him in the same way, and so also for successive years has the Union College 
Alumni Association of the Northwest. For several years he was president of the 
Chicago board of education, and to-day one of the grammar schools is called by 
his name. For two years he was a leading member of the Illinois state legisla- 
ture, where he was distinguished for the same qualities that have made him so 
prominent at the bar. 

In his family relations Mr. King has been unusually fortunate and happy. He 
is the father of two children, both daughters, one of whom, Mary, is married and 
5 



44 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

lives at Kenwood, a beautiful suburb of Chicago, and the other, Fanny, recently 
graduated at Smith College. Mrs. King is a lady of distinguished ability and 
accomplishments, and her unaffected kindness and goodness are recognized by 
all who know her. 

HON. MURRAY F. TULEY. 

MURRAY F. TULEY, one of the judges of the superior court of Cook county, 
is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and was born March 4, 1827, the son of 
Courtney M. Tuley, who died when the son was five years of age; his mother's 
maiden name was Priscella P. Buckner, a name known to the annals of Kentucky. 
The family of Tuleys is of English extraction and descended from the early set- 
tlers of Virginia. His early education was obtained in the public schools of 
Louisville; at the age of thirteen he left school and engaged in clerking, but 
improved his leisure hours in study, and may be said to be a self-made and 
self-taught man. In 1843 his widowed mother married the late Col. Richard J. 
Hamilton, a prominent lawyer of Chicago, whither the family came to reside. 
The following year he commenced the study of law in his step-father's office, and 
continued until 1846, when he went to the Louisville Law Institute, where he 
remained one year under the tuition of those learned and distinguished profes- 
sors, Duncan, Loughborough and Judge Pirtle; the latter, discovering that young 
Tuley 's predilection was in the direction of chancery practice, and knowing his 
abilities, predicted that he would some day become a chancery law judge. That 
prediction has been fulfilled, as he is now one of the judges of the circuit court of 
Cook county, and hears chancery cases mainly, and is conceded by the bar to be 
one of the ablest, and is giving general satisfaction. From that, institute he 
returned to Chicago, was admitted to the bar, and immediately enlisted in the 5th 
111. Vols., for services in the Mexican war; was elected first lieutenant of Co. F., 
and served with it through the war in the brigade commanded by Gen. Price 
(subsequently Confederate general in the late war) with honor and credit as a sol- 
dier and officer. When peace was declared he went to Santa Fe, New Mexico, 
and engaged in the practice of his profession, doing a successful business. In 
1849 he was appointed attorney general of New Mexico, and held the office two 
years; was a member of the territorial legislature during 1863-4, and left his 
mark upon the legislation and jurisprudence of the territory. He then returned 
to Chicago and engaged in practice with prominent attorneys, and has been here 
since, standing in the front rank at this able bar. In 1869 he was appointed coun- 
sel to the corporation of Chicago, which position he graced and filled with marked 
ability; protecting the interests of the corporation in a way which added to his 
reputation as a lawyer and as a citizen, who had the well being of this commu- 
nity at heart. He was the law officer of the corporation at the time of the great 
fire, and to his counsel and energetic action the people of Chicago are largely 
indebted for the successful spanning and bridging of the legal chaos in which the 



THE BENCH AND BAR Of CHICAGO. 



45 



fire left them. He is essentially the author of the act of incorporation of cities in 
this state, under which Chicago is now acting; he framed it, and it was carried 
through the legislature by his influence largely. He was such counsel four years. 
In 1873 he resumed practice in the well remembered firm of Tuley, Stiles and 
Lewis, which was then organized. In 1878 he was elected alderman of the first, 
the most important ward in the city, and was a leading member and important 
factor of the common council. In 1879 he was elected to the bench of the circuit 
court of Cook county. He has held a high rank at the bar as a member of the 
profession, and has won a like position on the bench, amid an array of talent and 
judicial learning and ability. He seems to study and labor to conscientiously 
discharge the functions of his high office in the interests of right, and administers 
justice with as little of the increment of error as possible. His decisions are clear, 
logical, and based upon law, of which he is an able interpreter. 

As a judge and as a man he is clothed with becoming dignity, though courte- 
ous and gefitle withal, and, possessed of a high sense of honor, is a fair type of 
true manhood, and an honor to the bench. In his attainments as a wise and safe 
counselor and an upright and just judge, he well illustrates what may be accom- 
plished by the persistent and honest pursuit of an ardent and determined 
purpose. 

In 1851 Judge Tuley was married to Miss Catherine Edmonson, of Missouri, a 
lady of fine accomplishments. 

HON. RICHARD S. THOMPSON. 

RICHARD S. THOMPSON was born at Cape May Court House, Cape May 
county, New Jersey, December 27, 1837, and is 'a descendant, on his father's 
side, of an old south Jersey family, who settled there in 1765. His mother's 
ancestors also settled in New Jersey in 1730. 

His parents were Richard and Elizabeth Thompson. His mother was a 
daughter of Major Nathaniel Holmes; his father was a prominent citizen of south 
Jersey, a member of the general assembly in 1837, a large land owner, and was 
interested in coasting vessels. 

At the age of thirteen Richard entered the Norristown Seminary, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he remained three years, and was then placed as a pupil under 
Rev. A. Scovel, a Presbyterian clergyman, of Bordentown, New Jersey, where he 
remained four years. The next two years he continued his studies with A. I. 
Fish, LL.D., of Philadelphia, a scholar of rare attainments. In 1859 he entered 
the law department of Harvard College, and graduated in 1861. Returning to 
Philadelphia he continued his studies with his preceptor, Mr. Fish, and early in 
1862 was admitted to the Philadelphia bar. While prosecuting his law studies he 
was a member of Capt. Biddle's artillery company, of Philadelphia. 

In August, 1862, under the call of President Lincoln, Mr. Thompson, as cap- 
tain, raised a company of volunteers in twelve days, and reported at camp with a 



46 THE BENCH AKD KAR Of'' CHICAGO. 

full company, which was mustered in as Co. K, in the i2th regiment N. J. Vols. 
The regiment was shortly afterward stationed at Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, and 
Mr. Thompson was appointed assistant provost-marshal under General Wool, the 
duties of which position he performed until the regiment was ordered to the front. 
His regiment joined the army of the Potomac, and was placed in the second 
brigade, second army corps, occupying a position on the Rappahannock, three 
miles above Falmouth and Fredericksburg, Virginia. On February 16, Mr. 
Thompson was appointed judge advocate of a division court martial. 

At the battle of Chancellorsville he took an active part, and distinguished him- 
self, contributing largely in protecting the right Hank of the Union troops, when 
actively engaged in a field in the rear of the Chancellorsville House. 

The journal accounts of that battle give great credit to Capt. Thompson, who, 
after his brigade commander and staff were captured by the enemy, and the 
colonel of his regiment seriously wounded, and while the larger portion of the 
brigade was falling back, in the face of a close and terrific fire, assumed com- 
mand, ordered the retiring color bearers back into position, reformed the broken 
line on a changed front and with the io8th regiment N. Y. Inf., the only other 
portion of the brigade remaining, fought bravely, until the onslaught on that posi- 
tion was abandoned. 

His calm judgment never forsook him in the heat of that terrible battle. The 
struggle had been severe, a portion of the time a hand-to-hand fight. One hun- 
dred and sixty of his regiment had been killed or wounded, and twenty-three 
were missing. 

At the battle of Gettysburg, on the 2d and 3d of July, 1863, while Capt. 
Thompson was acting as major of the regiment, on the morning of the 2d a por- 
tion of his regiment charged a stone barn on the rebel skirmish line, filled with 
rebel sharpshooters, and captured them, taking from the barn more prisoners 
than there were men in the charging party. During the night the rebels regained 
possession of the barn, and the next morning Brig. Gen. Alexander Hayes, com- 
manding the division, ordered a regiment from another brigade to charge the 
barn. They advanced until they came under fire, when the storm of shot was so 
terrific that they lay down and failed to advance further. Thereupon Maj. 
Thompson, in command of five companies from his regiment ( A, C, D, F and K). 
charged, took the barn and captured a number of prisoners. On this memorable 
day, July 3, the position of the izth N. J. Vols. was in the second brigade, third 
division, second army corps (Hancock's), which held the left center, on which the 
artillery of Gen. Lee was concentrated, and against which the furious charge was 
made. Over eight hundred rebel dead were buried on the two hundred yards of 
front occupied by the second brigade, and fourteen hundred stand of arms were 
picked up upon the same front. Maj. Thompson's behavior on that day received 
special notice, not only from Col. Smyth, who acted as brigadier, but also from 
Gen. Hancock. Limited space prevents the insertion of the letters on this matter. 

On August 20, 1864, during the demonstration made under the command of 



THE BENCH AND HAR OF CHICAGO. 47 

Gen. Hancock, on the north bank of the James river, Col. Thompson was selected, 
upon the recommendation of Gen. Thomas Smyth, to take charge of the with- 
drawal of the corps pickets and skirmishers a matter of no small difficulty, 
from the fact that the line was four miles long, and in some places not more than 
fifty yards from the rebel skirmishers. The line had to be maintained until the 
main body of the corps had recrossed the river. June n, 1864, Col. Thompson 
was put in command of a provisional battalion at Alexandria, Virginia, and 
reported to Gen. Butler at Bermuda Hundreds, and remained in command at 
Point of Rocks, Virginia, on the Appomattox, until June 28, 1864, when he turned 
over his command at headquarters, army of Potomac, and rejoined his regiment. 

Col. Thompson with his regiment took part in seventeen general engagements, 
among which may be mentioned Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Auburn Mills, Bris- 
tow Station, Blackburn's Ford, Robinson's Tavern, Mine Run and Ream's Station. 
In the last named, south of Petersburg, Virginia, on August 25, 1864, a rebel 
column had broken the Union line, captured a battery, and was using the railway 
as a breastwork. In answer to a call for volunteers to charge this column, Col. 
Thompson volunteered his command, and with three other regiments charged 
through a sugar-cane field, drove the rebels from their position, and recaptured the 
battery. While leading his men in this charge he was severely wounded in the side 
and hand by shells. He was sent to Philadelphia for treatment, and was confined 
to his bed until November. In December, 1864, while still on crutches, he was 
detailed as president of a general court-martial sitting at Philadelphia, on which 
duty he continued until about the middle of February, 1865, although still suffer- 
ing from his wounds. He now tendered his resignation, and received an honora- 
ble discharge, on account of physical disability, occasioned by wounds received 
in battle. 

On June 7, 1865, he married Catherine S. Scovel, daughter of Rev. A. Scovel, 
then of Bloomington, Illinois, and in November entered upon the practice of law 
in Chicago. In 1867 he formed a law partnership with Jeremiah Learning, which 
still continues. In 1869 he was appointed corporation counsel of the village of 
Hyde Park, a position which he held until 1876. In 1872 he was elected on the 
republican ticket to the Illinois senate, from the second senatorial district. As a 
member of the senate he distinguished himself as possessing a familiar acquaint- 
ance with parliamentary law. On more than one occasion has Mr. Thompson 
manifested his power in a manner to call forth the encomiums of jurists and of the 
press. There are two cases which may be specially mentioned in which the tact 
and skill of Senator Thompson were very remarkable: one was the contested 
election case of Shering?^. Marshall; the other Senator Lee's motion to reconsider 
the vote by which the senate bill to regulate the sale of intoxicating liquors was 
indefinitely postponed. The Chicago ''Tribune" says: "The event of the week 
occurred in the senate. To the opposition it was the signal defeat of the session. 
The defeat of this plan for gaining two votes additional for the United States 
senatorial contest was due to the masterly argument of Senator Thompson, of 



48 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Cook, who, in thorough lawyer-like style, analyzed the entire testimony, and with 
logical precision exposed the utter illegality of the attempt to unseat the choice 
of the legal voters on an abstract technicality. No speech in either house at this 
session has compared with it in logical force, precision of statement, clear analysis 
of premises, and unanswerable deduction from the facts." The " Daily Sun " 
says: "The last speech made by Senator Thompson in the contested election 
case was one of the most complete, thorough and unanswerable ever delivered 
in a legislative body." The part taken by Senator Thompson on Senator Lee's 
motion to reconsider the vote of the previous day is thus spoken of by the 
Chicago " Times: " " A series of filibustering motions and points of order began, 
which, for brilliancy of thought and celerity of action, have never been surpassed 
on the floor of the state senate. They were initiated by Thompson, of Cook, and 
the result stamped him as the ablest parliamentarian in the senate." In 1876 Col. 
Thompson was appointed attorney of the South Park commission, and held that 
position until the spring of 1880. Col. Thompson ranks among the leading mem- 
bers of his profession, and no member of the bar has had a larger experience in 
the eminent domain practice. 



HOMER N. HIBBARD. 

HOMER N. HIBBARD was born at Bethel, Windsor county, Vermont, 
November 7, 1824. He traces his ancestry through both his father and 
mother back to colonial times. He passed his early life on his father's farm, 
attending the common schools of the neighborhood until he was fifteen, when he 
commenced attendance at the academy at Randolph, Vermont. His desire to 
obtain a classical education was frustrated for a time by the financial embarrass- 
ment of his father, and at the age of eighteen we find him studying law in the 
office of J. C. Dexter, at Rutland, Vermont. While here the old hunger for an 
education, with which most boys who afterward make their mark in the world 
are beset, came upon him, and had to be satisfied. He began to fit for college 
under the tutelage of Rev. William Mitchell, paying his way in the meantime by 
teaching. This preparatory study lasted two years. Then he entered Castleton 
Seminary, and after completing his preparatory course there entered Vermont Uni- 
versity. He paid his way through the academy and university by teaching, and 
graduated from the college with honor in 1850. Hon. Edward C. Palmer, judge 
of the supreme court of Minnesota, Z. K. Pangborn, Jersey City, editor, Rev. 
Theodore A. Hopkins and Rev. William T. Sleeper were among his classmates. 

Upon graduating he was appointed principal of the Burlington high school, 
and served there two years, having as associate teachers Henry Buckham, now 
principal of the State Normal School at Buffalo, New York, and S. H. Peabody, 
subsequently professor of mathematics and civil engineering at Amherst College, 
and now president of Illinois State University at Champaign. Teaching, however, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 49 

did not suit the stirring spirit of the young man, and after he had accumulated 
money sufficient to pay for his tuition there he entered the Dane Law School of 
Harvard College, where he studied until the spring of 1853, when he returned to 
Burlington and for six months longer continued his studies in the law office of 
Gov. Levi Underwood. 

He was then admitted to the bar, his examiners being Senator Edmunds and 
ex-Register of the Treasury Chittenden. 

In the fall of 1853 he removed to Chicago in company with his classmate in 
the law school, John A. Jameson, with whom he entered into copartnership. 
Business does not come at once to the ablest young lawyer, and the young firm 
became impatient at their slow progress in securing clients, and in 1854 removed 
to Freeport, Illinois. Two years later Mr. Jameson returned to Chicago and 
formed a partnership with Mr. Paul Cornell, but Mr. Hibbard remained at Free- 
port. He secured a paying practice there in connection with Hon. Martin P. 
Sweet, then one of the leading lawyers of northern Illinois. While in Freeport 
he was president of the board of education, master in chancery, and for several 
years city attorney. While acting in this latter capacity he drafted the city 
charter, and revised and published the ordinances which form the basis of the 
city government. He was the Lycurgus of Freeport, so to speak. Here, also, 
he married Miss Jane Noble, daughter of Hon. William Noble, of Burlington, 
Vermont, a lady of excellent attainments, who was associate teacher with him in 
the high school in the old days. 

Mr. Hibbard has always taken a great interest in everything pertaining to 
schools and education, and wherever he has lived since he was old enough to 
teach school he has been identified with the same. He filled the office of super- 
intendent of public schools in Burlington, Vermont, at the time he moved to Chi- 
cago, and has been a member of the board of education for the past ten years in 
Hyde Park, where he now resides, having been president of the same for several 
years. He is a member of the board of trustees of Lake Forest University and 
also of Vermont University, and for several years he was president of the Alumni 
Association of his alma mater. 

In 1860, at the invitation of Messrs. Cornell and Jameson, Mr. Hibbard 
returned to Chicago, and with those gentlemen formed a copartnership under the 
firm name of Cornell, Jameson and Hibbard. This firm continued until 1865, when 
Mr. Jameson was elected to the bench of the superior court. Subsequently Mr. 
Hibbard associated with himself Messrs. M. B. Rich and James J. Noble, with 
whom he continued in business until 1871, under the firm name of Hibbard, Rich 
and Noble. In January, 1870, upon the nomination of Chief Justice Chase, he was 
appointed by Judge Drummond, of the United States district court, register in 
bankruptcy for Chicago, a position which he has since filled to the entire satisfac- 
tion of bench, bar and public. 

As a lawyer Mr. Hibbard has been eminently successful. He has filled many 
semi-public positions, and filled them well. He is director of the National Bank 



5O THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

of Illinois, vice-president of the American Insurance Company, and has held 
various other positions of trust and public importance. He is a ruling elder in 
the Presbyterian church. 

Though a decided republican in political belief he has never taken any active 
part in politics, finding in his profession his life's work and pleasure. 



HON. ELBERT H. GARY. 

OF the younger class of lawyers now practicing at the Chicago bar none 
ranks higher than he whose name heads this sketch. As early as 1832 his 
father, Erastus Gary, a well known and wealthy citizen of Wheaton, Illinois, set- 
tled in this state, whither he had removed from the town of Pomfret, Connecti- 
cut. He is descended from an old New England family who settled at Roxbury, 
Massachusetts, in 1631. 

Elbert H. was born in 1846 in Du Page county, Illinois. As a boy he was fond 
of books and study, and after completing his preliminary studies pursued a course 
of study at Wheaton College. In 1863, shortly after leaving that institution, 
having determined to devote himself to the legal profession, he entered upon a 
course of legal study and training in the office and under the tuition and guidance 
of Messrs. Vallette and Cody, of Naperville, Illinois. Here he made good prog- 
ress in the rudiments of the law, and remained about one year and a half, at the 
expiration of which time he entered the Union College of Law at Chicago. Here 
he pursued a thorough course of study, and in June, 1867, was graduated and im- 
mediately thereafter admitted to the bar of Illinois. During the following three 
years he acted as chief deputy clerk of the superior court of Cook county, and in 
1870 began the active practice of his profession. During the first two years of 
his practice he was alone in business, but in October, 1872, associated with him- 
self his brother under the firm name of E. H. and N. E. Gary. This partnership 
continued until the fall of 1879, when Judge Cody, who had retired from the 
bench and resumed practice, was admitted as a partner, and the firm name 
became Gary, Cody and Gary, now one of the leading and most influential law 
firms of Chicago. 

Although a member of the bar of Chicago, Judge Gary has his residence at 
Wheaton, and is closely identified with every public interest and enterprise tend- 
ing to the welfare and improvement of that place. Besides being connected with 
the bank at Wheaton he possesses extensive real estate and building interests 
there, and is a zealous promoter of public improvements. He is now president of 
a large creamery company located at that place. Recognizing not only his 
ability as a lawyer and business man, but also his uprightness, fairness and 
honorable dealing, his fellow-citizens have from time to time honored him with 
important offices and trusts. During the years 1872, 1873 and 1874 he was presi- 
dent of the town council of Wheaton, and in the fall of 1882 was elevated to the 
bench of the county court of Du Page county. 




HCCoupar Jr, 4 Co 





THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 53 

In politics he has been an earnest worker in the republican party. 

As a lawyer he is conscientious, able and successful, and has the unqualified 
confidence of all who know him or with whom he has to do. Thoroughly versed 
in the varied branches of legal lore, and possessing a clear and sound judgment, 
and at the same time fully understanding the rules of practice and having a 
ready command of language, he is at once a safe, reliable counselor, a successful 
trial lawyer and a good advocate. During recent years Judge Gary has been 
retained in nearly every case of importance that has been tried in Du Page 
county, and is very frequently retained as special counselor. He has for many 
years been retained as counsel for the county and various municipal corporations. 
He assisted in the trial of the Farmer Harms suit against Cook county, and 
secured for his client a verdict of $75,000. He also conducted the prosecution 
of President Blanchard, of Wheaton College, before the ecclesiastical council in 
1878. Among his clients are some of the wealthiest individuals and corporations 
doing business in Chicago. Judge Gary was an intimate friend of the late Gen. 
Sweet, who was in command of Camp Douglas at the time of the conspiracy to 
release the rebel prisoners, and by the general's will was named as executor to 
settle up his estate. He is a man of most excellent personal and social quali- 
ties, and by all is esteemed a true friend, a generous companion and a genial 
gentleman. 



CHARLES C. BONNEY. 

/CHARLES CARROLL BONNEY has been prominently before the public 
V^^ in various honorable positions for many years. He is a native of Hamilton, 
New York, which is widely known as the seat of Madison University, and as the 
most beautiful village in the Chenango Valley. His father, Jethro May Bonney, 
was a farmer. The farm was on Bonney Hill, in the vicinity, and embraced a 
charming variety of woodland, field and meadow. Here the son was born, Sep- 
tember 4, 1831. His mother was Jane C. Lawton, daughter of George Lawton, 
whose "old mansion among the poplars," on another hill to the eastward, was 
long one of the stateliest landmarks of pioneer life in that part of central New 
York. The subject of this sketch had two brothers, and one sister. The most 
eminent scholars, divines and politicians of the locality, were visitors at his 
father's house, and the conversations he heard there powerfully stimulated his 
efforts and ambition. The father afterward removed to Hamilton village. 

During his boyhood and youth the son worked upon the farm, and attended 
the district school, Hamilton Academy, and lectures at Madison University; but, 
though offered the full university course, and enjoying friendly relations with 
many of the faculty and students, he declined it, feeling that he could not afford 
the time required for the classical course, and that teaching and private study 
must suffice. He then taught common and academic schools in New York and 



54 TH E BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Illinois until he was twenty-one. He also began the study of law while teaching^ 
and was ready for admission to the bar before attaining his majority. 

Though a non-graduate, he freely acknowledges that he is under very great 
obligations to the university, and regards its influence and associations as potent 
in determining his course in life. 

He came to Illinois, September 28, 1850 ; located at Peoria, October 15, of 
that year; was admitted to the bar of Illinois, September 23, 1852, and to that of 
the United States Supreme Court, January 5, 1866. September 12, 1860, he 
removed to Chicago, where he has ever since resided. 

From 1850 to 1854 he took an active part in establishing the present educa- 
tional system of Illinois, delivering a large number of addresses, and partici- 
pating in the proceedings of more than twenty educational conventions and 
societies. During a part of this time he was employed by the authorities of 
Peoria county as public lecturer on education, and in this connection advocated 
free schools, school district libraries, teachers' institutes, normal schools, state 
and county superintendents, and an enlarged course of study for the common 
schools. The first state educational convention was called through his instru- 
mentality. He was also one of the officers of a State Teachers' Institute, and 
for some years a frequent writer on educational topics. But a constantly increas- 
ing love of the legal profession drew him irresistibly to its service, and deter- 
mined his future career. 

Already known throughout the state, from educational correspondence and 
addresses, he entered on his admission to the bar into a successful and lucrative 
practice, which has continued and extended to the present time. His reputation 
and practice are not confined to his own state, but extend to other parts of the 
Union. His practice has embraced an active and varied experience in almost 
every department of law, and includes many cases of great importance, particu- 
larly in equity and in the law of corporations, patents, wills, commercial transac- 
tions and the administration of estates. 

Among the more interesting cases in which he has been engaged may be men- 
tioned: The People vs. Fash, habeas corpus, involving the liberty of the press; 
Johnson vs. Stark County, municipal subscription to build railroad; the Sherman 
House cases, negotiable instruments and a wide range of technical defenses; 
Miller vs. Wells, inter-state laws of administration; The People vs. Church, right of 
the general government to tax process of state courts; Gage et al. vs. Derby, the law 
of government contracts and the doctrine of seals; the Huston Administrations, 
liens on estates of deceased persons; the Schenck Sewing Machine cases, infringe- 
ment and trial by jury; the Bishop Hill Colony case, corporations and trusts; the 
Fuller and Barnum Tuck-creaser Patent cases; the Yerby's Subdivision Land cases; 
the Allaire Will case; the West Chicago Park case, executive power; the case of 
the State Savings Institution, equity administration of corporate assets; Ely vs. 
Douglas County, state power relating to equitable remedies in the national courts; 
Ligare vs. Semple, securities conditioned on removing objections to title; Fuller 



THE KENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 55 

vs. Hunt, custom and usage in commercial transactions; and the Auditor vs. Chi- 
cago Life Insurance Company, state supervision and control of corporations. 

This brief list includes cases in the courts of Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, 
New York, and New Jersey, and in the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Mr. Bonney was elected president of the Illinois State Bar Association, in Janu- 
ary 1882. This high honor was conferred while he was absent from the associa- 
tion and engaged in the trial of an important cause. 

In the August following, Mr. Bonney was elected vice-president of the Ameri- 
can Bar Association for Illinois, succeeding David Davis in that honorable 
position. A few days later he presented to the American Bankers' Association, in 
session at Saratoga, a proposal for an act of Congress to secure uniformity of 
commercial paper throughout the United States. This proposal was received 
with decided favor, and means were taken to favor its adoption. 

Mr. Bonney's character and reputation as a lawyer may be gathered from 
comments made during his professional career by the public press on numerous 
occasions. The newspapers of his own and of other states speak of him as hav- 
ing "acquired a brilliant reputation as a lawyer; as one who could take any 
given subject and present all its salient points in a condensed, methodical and 
lucid manner; as well and favorably known throughout the entire Northwest as a 
lawyer of large experience, systematic, thorough and reliable; as one who holds 
an enviable position among the leading lawyers of the West, a gentleman of high 
culture, polished manners, and deeply devoted to the duties of his profession; as 
favorably known, and highly esteemed for promptitude, dispatch and integrity in 
attention to legal business, winning confidence and patronage by his talents, 
assiduity and uprightness; as one of our most eminent lawyers; as one of the 
most distinguished members of the Chicago bar, and a writer on political and 
legal subjects of wide reputation; as a profound and accomplished lawyer, and 
one of the most eloquent and effective speakers in the state; and as a lawyer who 
stands at the head of his honorable calling, not only as respects all professional 
attainments, but as a citizen, a scholar and a gentleman, whose influential voice 
and pen are devoted to every good word and work in his city." 

" It was he who first raised and argued the constitutionality of the excise tax 
on judicial process and other state proceedings. He was also the first who stated 
the powers of the courts under the suspension of the habeas corpus, which 
was reproduced two years later by Mr. Binney, the eminent Philadelphia lawyer; 
and he anticipated by more than a year Mr. David Dudley Fields' exposition of 
the modern humbug of emotional insanity." 

The foregoing expressions of public esteem are selected from a large number 
of similar notices. 

From his earlier years Mr. Bonney has found in authorship a charm which has 
made it the unfailing recreation of a severe professional life. Besides a great 
number of other contributions of a legal, political, financial or literary nature, he 
is also the author of a treatise on "The Law of Railway Carriers," and of another 



56 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

on " The Law of Insurance "; also of essays on " The Powers of Non-resident Guar- 
dians and Executors," "The Rights of Married Women to Hold Personal Proper- 
ty," "The Doctrine of Insanity in the Criminal Law," "The Powers of Courts 
and Legislatures over the Railway Question," "The Administration of Justice," 
"The Characteristics of a Great Lawyer," "Government Reform," "Judicial Pro- 
ceedings without Personal Service," "The True Province of the Government," 
"National Regulation of Inter-state Commerce," "An Equity Bankruptcy Law," 
"Practical Law Reform," and "The Future of the Legal Profession." He also 
edited, in a very finished and scholarly manner, the poetical works of the late 
Judge Arrington. His books on railway and insurance law, though small and 
unpretentious, and designed for business men rather than the legal profession, 
were highly commended by eminent authorities as also of great value to the 
bench and the bar. Those books are now out of print, the plates having been 
destroyed in the Chicago fire. His eldest son, Charles L. Bonney, has supplied 
the place of the treatise on railway carriers by an admirable summary of the 
law relating to the subject, entitled "Railway Law for Railway Men." Mr. Bon- 
ney's efforts in the field of authorship have been received by the public with 
decided approbation, as the product of an able and scholarly writer, whose mate- 
rial is full of sound sense and practical value, and arranged in a manner intelligible, 
accurate and comprehensive. 

Though Mr. Bonney has never held or been a candidate for any political office, 
he has taken an active part in public affairs from 1852 to the present time; was a 
party democrat until 1860, a war democrat during the rebellion, and has been an 
independent democrat since that time. He was one of the leaders of the move- 
ment to defeat the effort of a private corporation to obtain control of the Illinois 
river; was a special commissioner from Peoria to St. Louis in that connection, 
and as such delivered an elaborate argument to the city government of the latter, 
which was highly commended. He was one of the original advocates of the con- 
stitutional prohibition of special legislation, also of a national currency under a 
national law, with a prohibition of state issues, also of national regulation of inter- 
state commerce and corporations, also of largely extending the jurisdiction and 
practice in equity, also of state commissioners to represent the people in their re- 
lations with railway and other corporations, and of more careful and thorough 
legislation, suggesting that the houses of representatives be popular bodies to 
express the public will, and the senates legislating jurists to frame and perfect the 
laws, holding terms of office somewhat similar to those of the judges. He has also 
publicly advocated many other reforms in the various departments of government 
in a series of papers under the title of "Government Reform." 

That Mr. Bonney is a political orator of no mean rank is abundantly demon- 
strated in the newspaper notices of the day, which characterize him as a profound 
and accomplished speaker, combining sound argumentative powers and a quiet 
earnestness of manner with a precision of rhetoric and an oratorical ability rarely 
exceeded by any public speaker. One such notice says: "His style of address is 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 57 

peculiar, and highly gentlemanly in tone. We have heard the best speakers of 
the old world and the new, but this is the first instance wherein we have observed 
the entire triumph of a speaker securing the close attention of his audience in a 
subdued tone of voice." Another that "His speech in reply to Senator Trumbull 
[at Peoria in 1858], as a whole and in all its parts, compares favorably with any- 
thing we have heretofore heard as a calm, conservative and eloquent argument. 
In addition to this he demonstrated himself to be the almoner of an imperial ora- 
tory, which held the large audience in attendance for nearly four hours willing 
and eager listeners." Another that "It may be said of Mr. Bonney that, although 
he is far from being devoid of humor, he depends more for effect upon other than 
the feelings. His discourses are of a kind rarely attained that read as well 
months after as they sounded at the time of their delivery. They are in no sense 
ephemeral in their character, and although they may be given before the limited 
audience of a country town they are as carefully prepared, are as full of informa- 
tion and instruction, and as deserving of preservation, as if they were state papers 
to be read by both hemispheres. His effort at Waukegan [in 1880] might have 
been without any discredit delivered before the British parliament, or any other 
body of statesmen and politicians in the world." And another that "In style Mr. 
Bonney is precise, incisive and clear, and withal a ready if not a redundant speaker, 
writer and conversationalist. His political speeches demonstrated the possession 
of an impassioned oratory, based upon a clear and comprehensive knowledge of 
the issues involved and their germane facts. In the character of a politician no 
speaker with whom he came in contact was more popular or more influential, and 
had he devoted himself to this department of effort he might have attained almost 
anything within the gift of the people." 

Though never entering the lecture-field except at occasional intervals between 
professional engagements, his list of lectures embraces many subjects of general 
importance, such as " Why Ninety-seven Merchants in a Hundred Fail," " Gov- 
ernment Reform," "The Government of Cities," and "The Relation of Religion 
to the Government." 

Mr. Bonney was at one time president of the Chicago Library Association, and 
was the author of the agitation that finally resulted in the Chicago Free Public 
Library. He was for several years one of the managers of the Chicago Athenaeum, 
and was one of the founders of the Chicago Literary Club. In 1872-3 he held the 
chair of lecturer on medical jurisprudence at Hahnemann Medical College, Chi- 
cago, and since its organization in 1876 has been a member of the board of coun- 
selors of the Chicago Homoeopathic College. 

Mr. Bonney has also been for some years an active member and officer of the 
Citizens' League to enforce the laws forbidding the sale of liquor to minors, and 
has also taken an active part in other departments of temperance work, though 
not a member of any prohibitory or total abstinence association. 

In religious faith Mr. Bonney is a New Churchman, or Swedenborgian, in 
which church he has been active as a Bible class teacher and as president of the 



58 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

State Sunday School Association. His ancestors on the father's side were Baptists, 
and upon the mother's side they were Friends. In his youth he read extensively 
upon the various systems of religion, and although a firm adherent of his own 
church has always cultivated the most friendly relations with all other religious 
denominations, being a vigorous opponent of sectarianism and bigotry. 

He was married August 16, 1855, at Troy, New York, to Miss Lydia Pratt, by 
whom he has had two sons and three daughters, all of whom, except the youngest 
daughter, who died in infancy, still survive. The family home is a handsome resi- 
dence on Fulton street, near Union Park, and is a well known social and literary 
center. 

Mr. Bonney is domestic in his habits, and likes to gather about his fireside a 
congenial company for the elaboration of literary ideas and the more graceful of 
the social qualities. Enjoying an enviable position as lawyer and author and 
litterateur, he has before him a future which promises still more flattering and 
enviable results. 

The facts of the foregoing sketch have been gathered from the books men- 
tioned and from a large collection of law cases, pamphlets, magazines and news- 
paper publications, and in part from biographical notices in "Wilkie's Chicago 
Bar," "The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Illinois," and in "The United States 
Biographical Dictionary." 

JOHN L. KING. 

JOHN LYLE KING was born, 1825, in Madison, Indiana, and is a son of 
the late Victor King, a merchant of that city, who was one of the pioneer 
settlers of that section, and for fifty years actively identified with the growth 
and interests of Madison. He was also one of the founders and most liberal 
patrons of Hanover College and of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 
now the Theological Seminary of the Northwest, at Chicago. 

John Lyle King was a graduate of Hanover College when that institution was 
under the presidency of Rev. Dr. E. D. MacMaster. From his relationship it was 
almost a matter of course that he should prepare for the legal profession. One 
uncle, Joseph G. Lyle, of Georgetown, Kentucky, and another uncle, Wilberforce 
Lyle, of Madison, Indiana, were eminent lawyers, while Joseph G. Marshall, also 
of the latter city, who was the leader of the bar and of the whig party of Indiana, 
was a near relative. He accordingly entered the office of Wilberforce Lyle as a 
student, and shortly after his admission to the bar his uncle and preceptor died. 
In the following year Mr. King was admitted as an attorney of the supreme court 
of the state. He afterward formed a partnership with S. C. Stevens, a former 
judge of the supreme court, and one of the noted early abolitionists and free- 
soilers of the West, and this connection lasted for several years. In 1852 he was 
elected a representative in the legislature which was the first under the new con- 
stitution of Indiana. The session lasted nearly six months, during which the 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 59 

whole statute law was revised, and the code of practice was also adopted. He 
was one of the frequent and leading debaters in the discussions of the house, and 
a warm advocate of reform in the law and practice. He was a great admirer of 
Kossuth, and introduced into the house the joint resolutions of honor and hom- 
age to the great Magyar orator and patriot which were passed, and in the ovation 
tendered the exile Mr. King was chairman of the committee which presented the 
Hungarian to the legislature. At a meeting of citizens of the capital he made a 
Kossuth speech which gave him great eclat. He was a whig in politics, though 
his party in the legislature was in a powerless minority. In a daily journal of 
his native city, of which Owen Stuart, afterward colonel of a Chicago Irish regi- 
ment in the war, was part proprietor, and to whose columns he was a constant 
editorial contributor, he fulminated the first and most vigorous anti-Nebraska 
articles in the state. 

In the beginning of 1856 he removed to Chicago and formed a copartnership 
with Joshua L. Marsh, then city attorney, and mainly managed the law busi- 
ness of the city in the courts of record. He himself, in 1860, was elected (on the 
John Wentworth ticket for mayor) city attorney, over the late Col. James A. 
Mulligan. Without any assistance, and relying on his own knowledge, industry 
and vigor, he conducted the city's whole law business during his term of office. 
He subsequently acquired a large general practice, both civil and criminal, to 
which he has since exclusively devoted himself. A very large share of his prac- 
tice has been in jury trials, in which his resources, readiness and powers of advo- 
cacy have won him much success and distinction. In a celebrated libel suit, in 
1869, against the Chicago "Tribune," he particularly evinced his special powers, 
and his speech, together with that of E. W. Evans, his associate counsel, was pub- 
lished and had a wide circulation. He has from time to time contributed numer- 
ous editorial and other articles, chiefly on legal subjects and favoring law reform, 
to Chicago journals. During his professional life his pen has been prolific. On 
his motion, the Chicago Law Institute in 1872 adopted a resolution in favor of a 
change in the mode of reporting and publishing the decisions of the supreme 
court, so as to secure their speedier and cheaper appearance. As chairman of the 
institute committee he prepared the "Address of the Chicago Law Institute to 
the Bar and Press of the State," a pamphlet of unusual force and brilliancy. 

This biographical sketch would be incomplete without some reference to his 
merits and qualities as a lawyer and man. His sterling merits are appreciated by 
all who know him personally. He has a high sense of honor and principle, which 
places him beyond suspicion of craft and trick in his profession. He is a true 
and genial friend, and of noted and unswerving fidelity to his clients and of 
untiring zeal for their interests, and is courteous and affable with his brother 
members of the bar. He has a keen sense of professional rectitude, and is zealous 
only for just and rightful success, and commands the respect and attention of the 
court for his law and logic, while before a jury he is ranked among the foremost 
of advocates. His briefs in the supreme and appellate courts are concise and 



60 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

models of logic and legal acumen, and may be read as exceptional specimens of 
legal ability, industry and research, frequently relieved by allusions and illustra- 
tions which show the breadth, richness and variety of an extensive and liberal 
culture. His attainments in general literature, aside from his professional ones, 
which are of the first order, are of no common kind, as is manifest from his written 
compositions and in his forensic efforts. Shakspeare has evidently been much 
studied by him, and an occasional felicitous phrase or quotation from the great 
dramatist has well served him to illustrate a position, or to point or impress an 
appeal. 

In 1878 he made a venture into the field of authorship, in the publication of 
an elegant volume entitled "Trouting on the Brule River, or Summer Wayfaring 
in the Northern Wilderness." The volume relates the experiences of the author 
and his party of professional companions in the woods and on the waters of the 
northern wildernesses of Wisconsin and Michigan, while tenting and trouting on 
the Brule river their summer vacations away. It is written in a charming and 
attractive style, with the enthusiasm of a lover of books and of the great book of 
nature a style always flowing and vigorous, often graphic and brilliant, with a 
delicate and subtle vein of humor and pleasantry, abounding in happy allusions, 
with passages bordering on poetry, and occasional graceful professional turns of 
thought, just enough to remind us it is a lawyer writing of lawyers in their 
holiday freedom and play. This book has passed into a second edition. 

Mr. King is still an active practitioner at the Chicago bar, and is enjoying the 
full fruition of an honorable and successful professional career. 



HON. LEWIS H. BISBEE. 

E^WIS H. BISBEE was born in the town of Derby, Orleans county, Vermont, 
March 28, 1839. His father, David Bisbee, was a farmer. His education 
was acquired in the public schools of his native town up to the time his ambition 
for a higher education led him to seek the means to obtain it. He worked on a 
farm summers, attending school winters, until about sixteen years of age, when 
he fell back upon his own resources to make a further advance in the direction of 
accomplishing the designs he had formed for his future. He had the courage, 
the ambition, the energy and the tenacity of purpose to overcome material obsta- 
cles. Prepared for college in the academies at Glover, Derby and Morrisville, in 
northern Vermont, and entered St. Hyacinth College, near Montreal, Canada, 
when but nineteen years of age, graduating when twenty-one. The course there 
being conducted in the French language he mastered it, and is now a proficient 
French scholar. He subsequently read law with J. L. Edwards, a prominent prac- 
titioner at Derby, paying his way mainly by teaching French, and was admitted 
to practice in June 1862. This course and outcome is a forcible illustration of the 
power and conquering force of mind and well directed will power in overcoming 




H I-'. Conprr Jr *. I'll 




THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 63 

obstacles which appear to those of less vigorous intellect and decided purpose 
insurmountable. The same month he was admitted to the bar he enlisted as a 
private in Co. E, gth Vt. Inf., and was afterward promoted to the captaincy of Co. 
H of the same regiment, and served with decided credit through all the hardships 
and severe service which that excellent regiment passed, and was always found at 
the front, in the thickest of whatever battle or service it was engaged in, which 
were many and often severe. He was captured at Harper's Ferry, released on 
parole and sent to Camp Douglas, Chicago, where he remained until exchanged, 
when he rejoined his regiment and remained with it until 1864, when he resigned 
on account of sickness and returned to Newport, Vermont, and engaged in the 
practice of law, soon building up an extensive and lucrative business. 

About this time he married Miss Jane E. Hinman, the accomplished daughter 
of Aaron Hinman, of Derby, one of the first families in Vermont, and of that good 
old New England stock, the virtues and morals of which have spread through the 
West, permeating and elevating the tone and character of the people wherever 
they find lodgment. Mrs. Bisbee is an estimable, amiable and interesting woman, 
who presides with dignity over a home of attractive and pleasant surroundings. 
The elegant and costly residence which Mr. Bisbee has recently built in the beau- 
tiful suburban town of Hyde Park would grace and ornament the choicest resi- 
dence streets of Chicago or any other city. The hospitality and good cheer met 
with there are in keeping with the elegant home, whose hosts are esteemed by 
their friends and in social circles. They have an interesting and pleasant family, 
which makes the otherwise attractive home the more attractive. 

In 1865 Mr. Bisbee was elected states attorney of Orleans county, where he 
lived, and was reelected in 1867, but soon resigned to accept the position of 
deputy collector of customs, which office he filled until 1869, when he was elected 
to the legislature. He was reelected in 1870. He was an active and prominent 
member of that body, being a member of the most important committees, and 
was the leader of his party in debates, contested legislation and was acknowledged 
to be the best, most vigorous and effective speaker on the floor in extempore 
debate. He made his mark there and also his impress upon the acts of that body 
of men. From 1865 to 1870 he was United States commissioner from Newport 
under the extradition treaty. 

In May, 1871, he moved to Chicago, and had hardly become rooted in business 
when occurred the great fire. In the reorganization, rebuilding and reestablishing 
of order out of the confusion and chaotic condition in which the fire left every- 
thing he came to the front by virtue of his superior intelligence, tact, energy and 
judgment. Old established lines of prejudices and ruts of business were partially 
obliterated by the fire, and Lewis H. Bisbee saw his opportunity to enter an open 
field for a free and equal contest for a high position, in which the bravest and 
best were sure to win. He had unwavering faith in the future of Chicago, seized 
the opportunity and has won. 

He has been associated with different persons in his practice, but much of the 
7 



64 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

time alone. He has been and is one of the most successful jury and chancery 
lawyers in the Northwest. He enjoys a large and lucrative practice of the higher 
order. His conduct of the case known as the B. F. Allen Blanket-mortgage 
case, for Hoyt Sherman, especially, was conducted with great ability and tact, 
and he was highly complimented by courts and bar ; also, the noted Sturges 
case and many others could be enumerated, for the management of which he has 
won signal credit. Few attorneys have attained to such high position at the bar 
in .so short a time. 

In 1878 he was elected to the legislature of Illinois, receiving nearly the unani- 
mous vote of his district, one of the most populous and wealthy in this state. In 
this body, which counts among its members some of the ablest men in the state, 
he at once took a leading position as a ready and able debater and an influential 
and judicious legislator, originating and championing some of the most important 
measures. He nominated John A. Logan for United States senator in a speech 
the eloquence and force of which did much to secure his election, which followed. 
He is a natural orator, a clean-cut, incisive and logical thinker and reasoner, a 
man of fine figure and physique and of commanding presence, which, with his 
attractive delivery, makes him an effective and interesting, a graceful and forcible 
speaker before a jury or a promiscuous audience. He is an ardent republican, 
and his voice and eloquence are heard in the important campaigns when the prin- 
ciples of the party are at stake. He is an affable, genial and generously endowed 
gentleman under all circumstances. Clothed with becoming dignity he is still 
without vanity ; courteous and obliging, but permitting no undue familiarity ; 
painstaking and earnest in the interests of his clients, with fidelity to integrity 
and honor ; gifted by nature with the sturdy qualities of mind, heart and body 
so characteristic of the best New England stock, he has developed and improved 
them. He is a successful man as a lawyer, and a good citizen, a man of exem- 
plary habits. He is a self-made man in the fullest sense, and being in the prime 
of life there is a future of promise before him. He has already illustrated the 
annals of this state at the bar, in the legislature and in shaping public opinion 
and sentiment : a man of force and character, he is liable to make a still further 
impress on the history of his time. 



HUNTINGTON W. JACKSON. 

HUNTINGTON WOLCOTT JACKSON was born January 28, 1841, at 
Newark, New Jersey, and is the son of John P. Jackson and Elizabeth 
(Wolcott) Jackson. His father, who was an eminent lawyer in New Jersey, died 
December 10, 1861, and in a memorial is spoken of as follows: 

"Mr. Jackson was born at Aquackanock, New Jersey, in the year 1805, and 
graduated at Princeton College at an early age, taking the highest honor. He 
immediately entered upon the study of the law, pursuing his studies at the old 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 65 

Litchfield Law School. In the spring of 1827 he was admitted to practice at the 
bar. Few men in the state have filled larger spheres of usefulness than Mr. Jack- 
son. His father was the late Peter Jackson, who was known in former times, 
both in New York and New Jersey, as a successful merchant. The Jackson 
family are of Scotch-Irish descent. Its first emigrant to this country was James 
Jackson, who settled on the banks of the Hudson. The maternal ancestors of Mr. 
Jackson were Dutch, and the names of Brinckerhoff, Schuyler and Van-Der-Linde, 
borne by the highly respectable and pious Hollanders who emigrated hither are 
found in his direct lineage, within the third degree upward." 

The following also is an extract from a memorial of Mrs. Elizabeth Wolcott 
Jackson, who died October 15, 1875: 

" Mrs. Jackson was a native of Litchfield, Connecticut, a village long since 
distinguished for its social, educational and religious advantages. The great 
grandfather of Mrs. Jackson, Maj-Gen. Roger Wolcott, was the first governor 
of Connecticut. Her grandfather was Oliver Wolcott, Sr., a signer of the Decla- 
ration of Independence. Her uncle, Oliver Wolcott, Jr., was secretary of the 
treasury under Gen. Washington. Her father was Frederick Wolcott, who occu- 
pied judicial positions for forty years in his native state. Her mother was a 
Huntington and a member of that branch of the family distinguished in Con- 
necticut during the revolution." 

Mr. H. W. Jackson prepared for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mas- 
sachusetts, and entered Princeton College in 1859. At the close of his junior 
year he left college and went into the army, serving in various grades, and in 1865 
was brevetted lieutenant-colonel. He was appointed aide-de-camp upon the staff of 
Maj-Gen. John Newton, commanding the first army corps, and participated in the 
battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and other engagements 
of the Army of the Potomac, and was with the Army of the Cumberland in Sher- 
man's campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta. He was wounded at Kenesaw 
Mountain, and was present at the fall of Atlanta. A sketch of Mr. Jackson's mil- 
itary record is given in " Foster's New Jersey and the Rebellion," page 761. 

Upon returning to civil life he entered Harvard Law School and remained one 
year, when he went abroad. After traveling in Europe for about a year he 
returned to his home and resumed the study of law in the office of his brother, 
the late John P. Jackson, Jr., of Newark, New Jersey. In the fall of 1867 he 
entered the office of Messrs. Waite and Clarke, of Chicago, where he completed 
his studies, and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1868. He at once com- 
menced practice, forming a partnership with Mr. D. B. Lyman, July i, 1868, 
which partnership still continues. In politics Mr. Jackson is a republican. He 
was elected supervisor of South Chicago, and continued the reforms instituted by 
his predecessors, Robert T. Lincoln and Edward G. Mason. He was appointed 
by the Hon. John J. Knox, comptroller of the currency, receiver and attorney of 
the Third National Bank of Chicago, and his management of the affairs of that 
institution has received high commendation both from official and public sources. 



66 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

In his professional character Mr. Jackson combines native ability, the rich- 
ness of a varied experience, and profound learning. To the polish and culture of 
the scholar is added the strength and vigor of a clear, practical judgment. Care- 
ful and conscientious, he never hazards an opinion, and gives his counsels only as 
the result of convincing research. As an advocate he is earnest, concise, and 
convincing. His professional career has been characterized by a marked success, 
and he is esteemed, both by his legal brethren and all with whom he has to do, as 
an able, dignified, and high-minded lawyer. 



W. IRVING CULVER. 

WASHINGTON IRVING CULVER, of the firm of McCagg and Culver, is a 
New Hampshire man, who was born at New Market, Rockingham county, 
July 19, 1844. His father is Adna Bryant Culver, a retired railroad contractor 
and superintendent, now residing in Boston. His mother was Hannah H. San- 
born, a member of an old New Hampshire family, for which the town of Sanborn- 
ton was named more than a hundred years ago. The paternal grandfather of 
our subject, John Culver, was a farmer in northern Vermont. 

In 1852 Adna B. Culver removed to the West with his family. After complet- 
ing his literary education at the Tippecanoe Battle Ground Academy, near La- 
fayette, Indiana, Irving taught school one winter, being then seventeen years of 
age. He also worked for a brief time at railroading, and was subsequently in the 
general ticket office at New Albany, Indiana. 

In January, 1862, he commenced reading law in the office of Messrs. Scammon, 
McCagg and Fuller, of Chicago; was admitted to practice in September, 1866, and 
has always remained with Mr. McCagg, into whose partnership he was taken in 
1870. Their practice is exclusively civil. Mr. Culver is extremely careful in the 
examination of his cases, and is noted for the perspicuity and decision, and at 
the same time gentleness, with which he presses them. Unwearied and pains- 
taking in his researches, he is always prepared to meet his adversary, and to 
anticipate the arguments which that adversary will present. The perfect sincer- 
ity and modesty of Mr. Culver command the respect of the court, so that, in 
presenting his case, he has the closest attention. 

Mr. Culver has been for several years treasurer of the Illinois Charitable Eye 
and Ear Infirmary, and librarian of the Chicago Law Institute, and was at one 
time vice-president, and is now attorney and one of the trustees of the North- 
western Masonic Aid Association. He is past master of Landmark Lodge, No. 
422, of that order, a knight templar, and a member of Fairview Chapter, No. 161, 
and of Apollo Commandery, No. i. 

In political sentiment Mr. Culver is a republican, but his love for his profes- 
sional work prevents his taking any active part in political affairs. His leisure 
time is given almost entirely to reading, and to literary as well as legal study, he 




KCConiMr Jr S C. 




THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 67 

having always had a great love for books. In addition to the excellent law 
library of the firm, amounting to about 4,000 volumes, Mr. Culver has a well 
selected library of miscellaneous books, to which he is adding from year to year. 
He has written and lectured some, particularly on masonic matters, and among 
his lectures on that subject, delivered before Landmark Lodge, and published 
in the " Voice of Masonry," was one that was republished in the " Masonic 
Magazine," London, England. 

With his natural fondness for study, his untiring industry, and his careful and 
methodical division of labor, Mr. Culver cannot fail of success either in his pro- 
fession or literary pursuits. 

He was married on February 24, 1869, to Miss Sarah T. Barnes, a daughter of 
Samuel Barnes, who, in his life-time was a prosperous farmer at Battle Ground, 
Indiana. 

LUTHER LAFLIN MILLS. 

THE subject of this biography, although one of the younger members of the 
Chicago bar, is one of its brightest lights, who, by native fitness for his 
profession, and brilliancy of talent, has gained an eminence attained but by few. 
Descending from pure New England ancestry, he traces his lineage back to the 
Plymouth colony of 1620. 

He was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, September 3, 1848, the son of 
Walter N. Mills, and Caroline (Smith) Mills, his mother being the youngest 
daughter of Alpheus Smith, of that place. When Luther was about a year old 
his father moved to Chicago and opened a dry goods house which for many 
years subsequently flourished under the name of Mills and Co. Here he received 
his early education in the public schools, and later attended the Michigan State 
University, which institution he left in 1868, in the junior year of his college 
course. He subsequently studied law with Homer N. Hibbard, of Chicago, and 
was admitted to the bar when but twenty-one years of age. In school and in his 
legal studies he was an apt and bright student, and came out with high honors, 
leaving the impression among his teachers and classmates that he must rise above 
the average of men in his chosen profession, and take a stand " higher up," where 
Daniel Webster said there is always " plenty of room," predictions which have 
been fully realized. Selecting his profession, he set his standard high, worked 
assiduously to attain it and has already reached a distinction which cannot but 
command admiration and incite to emulation. 

At the outset of his professional career his talents and attainments soon com- 
manded public attention, and in 1876, when but twenty-eight years of age, he 
was nominated on the republican ticket, and elected to the office of states attor- 
ney of Cook county, running four thousand votes ahead of his ticket. At the 
expiration of his term of office, in 1880, he was reelected by a still larger major- 
ity, thus evidencing his increased popularity, and the general satisfaction which 



68 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

his conduct of his office had given. A brilliant orator, a logical and rapid 
thinker, a clear-headed lawyer, a genial gentleman and an honest and just man, 
he has, during his official career, been a bulwark against the flood of criminality 
in Chicago. 

Mr. Mills is a Royal Arch Mason, and a member of Apollo Commandery; and 
while in. college, became a member of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. He is a man of 
sterling social qualities, courteous and generous, and the center of a wide range 
of warm personal friends. 

He was married November 15, 1876, to Miss Ella J. Boies, an accomplished 
daughter of Joseph M. Boies, of Saugerties, New York. They have four chil- 
dren, and live surrounded by the pleasures and comforts of a happy home. 



EDWARD ROBY. 

EDWARD ROBY was born August 31, 1840, at Brockport, New York, of New 
England parents, who, about 1820, had moved into the then extreme West. 
His descent being from the earliest settlers at Boston, and collaterally from Miles 
Standish, John Alden, and Peregrine White, he was of course connected by blood 
with the best of New England, but, as his father died in 1847 and his life was 
soon after turned to that of a student, he never came in contact with his eastern 
kin. Similarity to them in modes of thought appears as a matter of race, not of 
association; yet those modes of thought have made whatever of success at the 
bar he has achieved. Mr. Roby settled in Chicago in 1865, after the close of the 
war, and at once took an office alone and commenced practice. He was married 
in 1876, to Mrs. Lelia P. Magoun, who was born in Boston of the same pilgrim 
ancestry; a lady rarely combining a thorough acquaintance with all domestic 
duties with education and intellectual attainments of the highest order; unex- 
celled in needlework and in every detail of a home, she is as well a connoisseur in 
architecture and in art; having an extensive acquaintance with the languages, 
and with scientific and general literature, it would not be strange if the lawyer's 
briefs should shine with a borrowed luster. And yet she is thoroughly a woman, 
filling the high mission of mother and wife as first of all. Two stalwart boys, of 
strong muscles and large brains, promise at the proper time to take up their 
share of the world's work, perhaps as lawyers, though it is yet too soon to tell. 

Mr. Roby's first two cases in the supreme court were in 1868, and were both 
successful. From that time forward he has exerted a greater influence on public 
affairs by litigation than any man in the state. Before the constitution of 1870, 
abuses of the power of eminent domain caused him to assail the provisions of the 
charter of Chicago vesting the board of public works and common council with 
power to determine the amount of compensation to be given, and the system of 
exerting the power of eminent domain which had been in use for twenty years 
went down before the assault. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 69 

The old constitution had been frittered away by judicial construction in many 
of its most important provisions. Legal opinions were given that the provisions 
of the constitution of 1870 as to collecting revenue were a dead letter, and would 
not take effect until enforced by legislation. The city government of Chicago 
acted on this view, prevented legislation and attempted the collection of the taxes 
and assessments of 1870, as if the new constitution did not exist. The superior 
court by its judgments sustained the city's action. Mr. Roby took the questions 
to the supreme court, and on January 22, 1872, that court delivered its opinion in 
the case of Webster vs. the City of Chicago, and one hundred and twenty-two other 
cases taken by him to that court, declaring the constitution effectual as a living 
law, and annulling more than half a million dollars of tax sales. Petition for 
rehearing was made by eminent counsel, but in April the court delivered a second 
opinion on the subject in the case of Hills, and the motion for rehearing was 
never called up. 

In 1873 a special statute had been obtained by Chicago to keep up the special 
city offices for assessment and collection of the city revenue, though the constitu- 
tion required general laws for city government, and this law made an exception 
of any city from the operation of the general laws. The city taxes were assessed 
under the special law, but were in part defeated because there seemed to be some 
defect of details. The constitutional question was ignored by the court, and the 
city obtained an amendment to the statute to cover the defect as to details; the 
taxes of 1874 were levied under the amended statute. A special charter was also 
obtained to be adopted by any city in lieu of the general city incorporation law of 
the state. It 'was adopted by a vote of the people of Chicago, and Thomas Hoyne 
was elected mayor under it. It was known as the charter of 1875. The tax stat- 
ute was known as bill 300. Upon the application for judgment for the tax of 
1874 Mr. Roby forced the fight on the constitutional ground from the outset, 
obtaining the first place on the calendar and making the single objection to the 
constitutionality of the law. The county court, Gen. M. R. M. Wallace presid- 
ing, held the law unconstitutional, and the city appealed. In the supreme court 
Mr. Roby alone argued the constitutional question, saying to the court that a mil- 
lion and three-quarters of city taxes were represented in the record, and if the 
question was not then decided the next year the whole tax levy would come 'up. 
The result was a victory for the constitution, and the special charter and special 
tax law fell together. The decision was made in the case of City of Chicago vs. 
Cooper. 

From 1870 to 1875 Chicago expended $12,500,000 more than its entire rev- 
enues, and under a system of temporary loans was pushing rapidly into bank- 
ruptcy. Its revenues were about $6,000,000 a year, while it spent $8,500,000. The 
tax contests culminating in 1876 cut off many extravagances, and taught the offi- 
cers that the city could be carried on for much less than had been levied, still it 
was found very easy to obtain money on temporary loans, and the most economi- 
cal mayor and aldermen could not resist the pressure of the various officers for 



JO THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

extravagance. In 1875 a pamphlet, written by the comptroller and corporation 
counsel and endorsed by fifteen of the leading lawyers of Chicago, was issued, 
asserting the legality of the temporary loans, notwithstanding the constitutional 
prohibition, and used to float $4,500,000 of scrip. In March, 1877, Mr. Roby filed 
a bill in the name of Judge Henry Fuller, plaintiff, praying an injunction against 
the payment of any of this scrip. It was not intended to destroy the integrity of 
Chicago, nor to injure any one who in good faith had loaned money; but it oper- 
ated to bring such a pressure that the city officers curtailed expenses to the 
utmost, and by the time the supreme court had decided the case, and that the 
injunction should be issued, every dollar of the illegal scrip had been paid.' It 
had been demonstrated that the city could be sustained on $4,000,000 a year, with- 
out going in debt; and the present excellent condition of low taxation and free- 
dom from debt, is directly traceable to these contests. 

Mr. Roby is mainly devoted to real estate law and to equity cases, being called 
into many cases as counsel by other lawyers, and having considerable reputation 
for learning concerning real estate titles. Occasionally he goes into common 
law cases not connected with real estate, to show that his education on that 
branch was not neglected, and to keep up his acquaintance with it. 

He is a true gentleman and bears the impress of culture and refinement; 
urbane in his manner, kind and courteous, he is yet firm, and has in his character 
many elements of popularity. He possesses one of the finest law libraries in 
Chicago, and being a close and careful student, and a clear thinker, has gained a 
high reputation as a lawyer of sound judicial mind, especially able and reliable 
in questions and matters involving constitutional law, and the graver subjects of 
his profession. 



HON. LESTER L. BOND. 

OF the many able lawyers in the Northwest who make a specialty of patent 
law and patent causes, Hon. Lester L. Bond has no superior. Endowed by 
nature with a comprehensive mind, and great mechanical ingenuity, he has 
attained great proficiency in the arts and sciences especially applicable to that 
branch of his profession to which he has given particular attention. He is 
learned not only in mechanics, but also in chemistry and natural philosophy; he 
has, also, a thorough knowledge of law, and the general practice, being a good 
special pleader, conversant with all of the rules of practice in both the state and 
United States courts. He is thoroughly posted in all of the decisions of the 
courts in Europe and America bearing upon patent litigation. He is a very able 
trial lawyer, a logical reasoner, and an excellent advocate. 

The practice of his firm extends from Portland, Maine, to San Francisco, Cal- 
ifornia. Mr. Bond is often called into the courts in the eastern cities, where he 
has measured lances with many of the ablest lawyers in America, and on such 







HCCo.pn-Jri Co 




Enq liy i C'AY, !,.-,,'. a-.VI 



! ! V 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 



73 



occasions, has received high encomiums from both bench and bar, for his skill, 
profound knowledge of the law and depth of reason in his arguments. 

In the United States Supreme Court at Washington, where he tries a large 
number of cases every year, he stands very high, having in addition to great legal 
lore, and ability in his profession, a keen sense of justice, the principles of which 
he is ever ready to uphold with a zeal that reflects credit upon himself, and sus- 
tains the dignity and honor of his profession. Mr. Bond is a gentleman of fine 
presence, weighing over two hundred and fifty pounds, is over six feet high and 
is easy and graceful in his movements. He is affable in his manner and secures 
the friendship of all who are favored with his acquaintance. 

Lester Legrand Bond is a native of Ohio, and a son of Jonas Bond, of 
Ravenna, where our subject was born, October 27, 1829. His father removed 
from Connecticut and settled in Ohio in 1824. His mother, before marriage, was 
Miss Elizabeth Story, a relative of the celebrated jurist and legal author, the late 
Judge Story, of the United States Supreme Court. 

Lester L. attended select school in his native town four years, and afterward 
entered Ellsworth Academy. Leaving there at the age of eighteen, he assisted 
his father in farming and manufacturing in the summer, and attended school 
during the winter months. During this period he acquired a taste for mechan- 
ics, which in later years asserted itself in his profession as a lawyer. In 1850 he 
commenced the study of the law with Francis W. Tappen in Ravenna, and after- 
ward continued his studies with Messrs. Bierce and Jefferies, the senior partner of 
which firm, Gen. Bierce, was considered one of the ablest criminal lawyers in 
northeastern Ohio ; after completing his studies he was admitted to the bar at 
Akron, in October 1853. In October, 1854, he settled in Chicago and com- 
menced the practice of the law. His means were limited and he had but two 
acquaintances in the city. His business, therefore, was for some time necessarily 
small, and in the hope of bettering his circumstances he joined his name with 
that of a young man in the commission business. His partner absconded, leav- 
ing him to settle the debts of the firm. This occurrence was very embarrassing, 
but he struggled through it, and discharged all of his obligations. 

About the year 1859 some parties, knowing the natural taste of Mr. Bond for 
mechanical studies, employed him to take charge of their patent interests, as well 
as to procure other patents for their inventions. This soon led to considerable 
business, which continued to increase until 1869, when he concluded to withdraw 
from the general practice of the profession, and devote himself exclusively to 
patent business, since which time the marvelous growth of manufactures, and the 
steadily increasing reputation of Mr. Bond as a patent lawyer, had a tendency to 
fill his office with business, and in 1864 he became associated with the law firm of 
West, Bond and Driscoll, he himself taking charge of the business pertaining to 
patents. The following year Mr. Driscoll was elected city attorney, which made 
it necessary for him to withdraw from the firm, and the business was continued 
under the name of West and Bond, 






74 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

On account of the large experience acquired by Mr. Bond in patent cases, and 
also his familiarity with mechanics, he has been intrusted with very important 
cases, and at an early period in his practice was frequently called upon as an 
expert in important trials, in matters relating to patents. Among the cases in 
which he has been engaged as counselor, may be mentioned those of the Bab- 
cock Fire Extinguisher, the Evarts Shingle Mill, the Tubular Lantern, the Marsh 
Harvester, the Keystone Corn Planter, the Kenyon Cultivator and numerous 
other cultivator cases. He defended the Moline Plow Company in its numerous 
contested cases, also the Furst and Bradley Manufacturing Company, was con- 
nected with the Barbed Wire Fence cases, and was on one side or the other, 
usually on the defense, in nearly all of the agricultural implement cases that have 
been tried in the seventh United States circuit. 

His skill, which was. so evidently manifested in these and other cases, has 
placed him at the head of his profession in this department. 

In politics he has been a republican since he has had a vote, his father having 
joined the free-soil party in 1844. His first experience of political position was 
in 1852, when he was sent as a town delegate to the Pittsburgh convention, 
which nominated John P. Hale for president. 

In 1863 he was elected alderman from the eleventh ward of the city of Chi- 
cago, and was in 1864 reelected for two years, and at the expiration of his term 
was again tendered the office from both parties, but on account of the pressure of 
his business, was compelled to decline. 

In 1867 he was elected to the state legislature, and reelected in 1869. During 
this session he was chairman of the judiciary committee, the most important in 
the house. In his first term he was a member of the committee on internal 
improvements, and aided largely in procuring the passage of the act for the 
improvement of the Illinois River. 

Contrary to his wishes, in 1871, just after the great fire, he was placed on the 
ticket for alderman of the tenth ward, and was elected. 

In 1873 Hon. Joseph Medill obtained leave of absence for the remainder of his 
term as mayor, on account of ill health, and Mr. Bond was elected by the council 
to fill the place for the remainder of the term. The following November he was 
nominated for mayor for two years, and although he received the large number 
of eighteen thousand five hundred votes, was defeated by Mr. Colvin. During 
Mr. Bond's short term of the office of mayor the panic occurred, and he, with 
others, taking a decided stand against the issue of scrip, the credit of the city 
was maintained. He also reorganized the fire department so satisfactorily that 
the organization was not afterward disturbed, and settled the long standing 
claims of the gas companies on a basis that has since been followed. 

Mr. Bond was for four years a member of the board of education, and in 1872 
was presidential elector for the second congressional district of Illinois. In all 
these various positions he has distinguished himself for his energy, prudence and 
faithfulness. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 



75 



He was married October 12, 1856, to Miss Amie Scott AspinwaH, daughter of 
Rev. Nathaniel W. Aspinwall, of Peacham, Vermont, a lady of excellent womanly 
qualities, and an affectionate wife. They have one daughter. They are both 
members of the Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church, of Chicago. 



AUGUSTUS VAN BUREN. 

A UGUSTUS VAN BUREN was born in Penn Van, Yates county, New 
r\. York, in the year 1832. He was educated at Kinderhook, and at the age of 
sixteen, entered his father's office at Penn Yan, and commenced the study of law. 
While yet under age he was admitted to the bar at Rochester, New York, with 
leave to practice after attaining his majority. 

In 1850 he went to California where he dug gold, kept store and practiced 
law. His first law case was the defense of an Indian for murder, before the 
mayor of the city of Stockton. His defense was eminently successful, as there 
was no one to prosecute the case. The Indian agreed to give him a fee of $800, 
which he had buried, but was killed before obtaining it, so "Gus," as he is 
familiarly called by his legal associates, never received a cent. 

This was good encouragement for a lawyer just commencing to practice, but 
the legal bent was in the young man's mind, and after remaining a little over a 
year in California, he returned to Penn Yan for a short time, and then removed 
to St. Clair, Michigan. While at St. Clair he was nominated for district attorney 
of the county, but being a democrat, was not elected. 

In 1858 he settled in Chicago, and formed a partnership with his father, which 
still exists. His practice met with encouragement almost from the first, and 
to-day Mr. Van Buren is acknowledged to be one of the most successful criminal 
lawyers in the city. It might almost be said of him as the pirate said of Rufus 
Choate, that he felt that the great advocate would clear him if he were found 
with the victim's money in his boots. But the pirate did not recognize the fact 
that Mr. Choate, in order to win a cause, had to believe in his client's innocence, 
a fact which is true of Mr. Van Buren. 

That he has saved from the gallows some criminals who ought to have " felt 
the halter draw," is undoubtedly true, but in a great majority of the cases, over 
one hundred in number, in which the public has had an interest, which he has 
tried, and not one of which he has finally lost, it is fair to assume that the victims 
of circumstantial evidence have been saved from undeserved death by the 
shrewdness and eloquence of this advocate. 

Mr. Van Buren has probably been engaged in as many important criminal 
cases as any lawyer in the Northwest. One, of marked notoriety, was that of 
Joseph Crawford, who was tried for the murder of William Shanley, one of the 
most brutal murders ever committed. Mr. Van Buren, with great industry and 
perseverance, saved him from the scaffold. 



76 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

The most important trial, however, and one which became widely known, was 
that of Joseph St. Peter and Mrs. Clarke, tried for the murder of Alviro Clarke, 
the husband of Mrs. Annie Clarke. John Van Arnam was employed to assist 
the states attorney. Mr. Van Buren was the leading counselor for the defense, 
and acquired a great reputation for his skillful management of the case. Both 
defendants were acquitted. 

As a lawyer Mr. Van Buren is characterized by persistence, watchfulness, readi- 
ness to take advantage of any weakness in favor of his clients, together with a 
keen appreciation of the intricacies of the law, qualities in an adversary which 
are difficult to overcome, and it is doubtful if in the history of jurisprudence in 
Illinois Mr. Van Buren's uniform success can be matched. His firm has a large 
practice, Judge E. Van Buren, his father, being associated with him. Personally 
he is very popular, and as a lawyer possesses high legal attainments. 



HON. HORACE F. WAITE. 

HORACE F. WAITE was born in Lyme, New London county, Connecticut, 
March 15, 1824. His parents were Horace Waite and Martha (Raymond) 
Waite. His uncle, Henry M. Waite, father of the present chief-justice of the 
United States Supreme Court, was at one time chief-justice of the supreme court 
of Connecticut. The family has produced many successful lawyers, and its vari- 
ous members are well known in New England. As early as 1648 Thomas Wayte 
(the name being then spelled with a " y ") acted as one of the judges of King 
Charles I, and his signature appears on the famous warrant for the execution of 
that misguided and unfortunate monarch. A facsimile of this document may be 
seen in Smollett's " History of England," in the London edition of 1754. Mr. 
Waite's immediate connections begin with Thomas Waite, who settled in Lyme, 
Connecticut, in 1677, where portions of the family have ever since continued to 
reside, and which they look upon as their family home. His parents having 
removed to Lucas county, Ohio, his earlier and preparatory education was 
received at Marietta College, whence he went to the Ohio University, where he 
became noted for his acumen and power of grasping both detail and generali- 
zation. Uopn the completion of his collegiate course, having decided to devote 
himself to the legal profession, he entered the office of his cousin, the present 
Chief Justice Waite, and under his supervision and able guidance was prepared 
for admission to the bar. Soon after being admitted to practice, in December, 
1851, he removed to Chicago. He became primarily a member of the law firm of 
Shumway, Waite and Towne, and successively of the firms of Waite and Towne and 
Waite, Towne and Clarke, now Waite and Clarke. He has a very extensive law 
practice in the different branches of his profession; is a valued member of the bar 
association, and stands high in the estimation of his colleagues and fellow citi- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 77 

zens. In 1870, immediately on his return from Europe, he was nominated as a 
candidate of the republican party for the state legislature, elected, and served as 
a member of the twenty-seventh general assembly, and served on the judiciary 
committee and on the committee on railroads; he also officiated as chairman of the 
committee on municipalities, and in that capacity conducted himself with marked 
ability and unerring judgment. In the twenty-eighth general assembly he was 
chairman, and an influential member of the committee for county and township 
organization. In 1872 he was elected to the state senate from the sixth Illinois 
district for the term of four years. His record as a legislator is above taint or 
suspicion, and in the fulfillment of the many important duties assigned to him he 
has left no room for cavil or reproach. He has a keen perception of the legisla- 
tion needed to subserve the best interests of the state and his constituents, and 
gives to this character of legislation his warmest support. As in the court-room 
and counselor's office, so also in the halls of the legislature he takes a prominent 
position among the leading spirits, and by his scholarly attainments and strength 
of character adds daily to the luster of his reputation as a law-maker and law- 
expounder. He was married February 14, 1853, to Miss Jane E. Garfield, formerly 
a resident of Lee, Massachusetts. 



CHARLES A. DUPEE. 

/CHARLES ANALOG DUPEE was born in West Brookfield, Massachusetts, 
V_x May 22, 1831. His parents were Jacob Dupee and Lydia A. (Wetherbee) 
Dupee, his father being descended from a French Huguenot, who emigrated to 
Boston about the year 1685. 

He began his preliminary education at an academy in the town of Monson, 
and afterward continued it at the Williston Seminary at East Hampton, Massa- 
chusetts. In 1850 he entered Yale College, where he graduated in 1854, with the 
degree of A.B. In November of the latter year he removed to Chicago and 
became the principal of a private school known as Edwards' Academy. He 
remained in this position for six months, after which he spent some time in trav- 
eling. Toward the close of the year 1855 he returned, and was appointed princi- 
pal of one of the public schools of Chicago, a position which he held one year. 

At this time the high school of Chicago was being organized, and Mr. Dupee 
was selected for its principal. The task of forming and developing the system 
of this school fell mainly upon him, and the form and shape which he impressed 
upon it still remain, and have been copied in the systems of other high schools. 

During the time of his filling this position he was the editor of the " Illinois 
Teacher," a monthly magazine published in Chicago, principally for the use of 
school teachers. 

He had also been pursuing for some years, though in a somewhat desultory 
manner, the study of law; but in 1860 he resigned his position of principal and 



78 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

began a systematic course of law study, first in the law school of Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, and afterward in the office of Gallup and Hitchcock, in Chicago. 
He was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Illinois in 1861. About this 
time he was offered the presidency of the State Normal School of Illinois, and 
also the Latin professorship in the Chicago University, both of which proposals 
he declined. 

After admission to the bar he commenced the practice of the profession in 
Chicago under his own name, and continued so for about one year, when he 
entered into partnership with Mr. Jacob A. Cram, under the style of Dupee 
and Cram. In 1863 Mr. Dupee was married to Miss Jennie Wells, daughter of 
Henry G. Wells, one of the early settlers of Chicago. In 1864 the firm of Dupee 
and Cram was dissolved and Mr. Dupee became a member of the firm of Hitch- 
cock, Dupee and Evarts, which continued until 1872, when, by the retirement of 
Mr. Evarts, the firm became Hitchcock and Dupee. In 1876 the firm of Hitch- 
cock, Dupee and Judah was organized by the admission of Abel B. Judah. On 
January 22, 1881, Mr. Dupee was bereft of his wife, and later, May 6, 1882, of 
his friend and partner, Mr. Hitchcock, who had for so many years been associated 
with him. By the death of Mr. Hitchcock the firm became Dupee and Judah, 
which again changed in 1882 by the admission of Mr. M. L. Willard. Mr. Dupee 
is a man of marked ability, and his success is the result of steady application to 
his profession and unswerving integrity. He does not aspire to political distinc- 
tion, but devotes his life to his profession. 



HON. JOHN G. ROGERS. 

ArtONG our Chicago men who have achieved eminence solely by excellence of 
character, without any of the modern appliances by which unworthy per- 
sons seek an undeserved and transient popularity, the subject of this sketch occu- 
pies a conspicuous place. Modest and unassuming in disposition, courteous and 
suave in manners, self-poised and dignified in demeanor, thoughtful of the feel- 
ings and respectful toward the opinions of others, honorable in the highest and 
best sense, possessing those delicate instincts which characterize the true gentle- 
man, he affords a fine example of a successful career, as deserved as it is 
conspicuous. 

Judge Rogers was born at Glasgow, Kentucky, December 28, 1818. He is 
descended from an old Virginia family whose ancestry left England about two 
hundred years ago. His father, Dr. George Rogers, was a physician of eminence, 
and was widely and very favorably known. Judge Rogers acquired his education 
in the schools of his native country, and graduated as bachelor of laws from 
Transylvania University, Kentucky, in 1841. Commencing immediately his pro- 
fessional career in his native town, he soon acquired a large and lucrative prac- 
tice, and won an honorable place in his profession. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 79 

Desiring a wider field of influence he removed in 1857 to Chicago, where he 
continued the practice of law, and was at once accorded a prominent position 
among the ablest lawyers of this city. In July, 1870, he was elected judge of the 
circuit court of Cook county, and in the general election of 1873 was reelected 
for six years, and in 1879 was again reelected. 

While not a violent partisan, Mr. Rogers has decided political views. In 
early life he affiliated with the whigs of the old time, but since 1860 he has iden- 
tified himself with the democratic party. 

In 1849 he joined Glasgow Lodge, No. 65, Independent Order of Odd-Fel- 
lows, and on his removal to Chicago connected himself with Excelsior Lodge, 
No. 22. After having represented that body in the grand lodge for several years, 
he was in 1863 elected grand master of Illinois, and in 1869 was chosen grand 
representative to the grand lodge of the United States. In 1871 he was selected 
as one of the Chicago relief committee, Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, and 
was made its treasurer, and in this capacity received and dispensed not less 
than $125,000. That committee received the highest commendations, not only 
from the fraternitv, the almoner of whose bounty it was, but also from the public 
cognizant of its acts, and its admirable conduct of the delicate work assigned to 
it shed new luster upon the name of the beneficent order. 

In 1844 Mr. Rogers was married to Arabelle E. Crenshaw, the eldest daughter 
of B. Mills Crenshaw, a former chief-justice of Kentucky. Mrs. Rogers is an 
amiable and accomplished lady, gentle and refined in her manners. Two sons 
and two daughters have blessed their union, all of whom have come to manhood 
and womanhood. Having amassed a competence by the exercise of a sagacious 
foresight and the practice of a wise economy, surrounded by the comforts of an 
elegant but not extravagant home, Judge Rogers lives chiefly in his official duties 
and in the charms of a home life. He meets the requirements of society with 
which he mingles, but finds his greatest solace and comfort in his library and the 
companionship of his family. 

Nature designed him for a judge. His mind is of the judicial order, and he 
would in any place have been certain to have been sought out and placed upon 
the bench. The high esteem which he unquestionably possesses as a jurist 
among the entire profession is the result of a rare combination of fine legal 
ability and culture and incorruptible integrity with that dignified presence and 
graceful urbanity which characterizes all his official acts. 

Like the poet, the judge is born, not made. To wear the ermine worthily, it 
is not enough that one possesses legal acumen, be learned in the principles of 
jurisprudence, familiar with precedents and thoroughly honest. Most men are 
unable wholly to divest themselves of prejudice even when acting uprightly, and 
are unconsciously warped in their judgments by their own mental characteristics 
or the peculiarities of their education. This unconscious influence is a disturb- 
ing force, a variable factor, which more or less enters into the final judgments of 
all men. In the ideal jurist this factor becoming so small as not to be discrimin- 



8o THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

able in the result, the disturbing force practically ceases. There has never been 
on the bench in Chicago a man better adapted in this respect to adorn and dig- 
nify this high and responsible place than Judge John G. Rogers. 



HON. ELIJAH B. SHERMAN. 

OF Mr. Sherman it may be truthfully said that he belongs to that class of 
self-made men to whom Chicago owes so much of its prosperity. He is of 
Anglo-Welsh ancestry, his father being Elias H., and his mother Clarissa Wil- 
marth, Sherman, who were residents of Fairfield, Vermont, where he was born 
June 13, 1832. He remained upon the ancestral farm engaged in farm avocations 
during the summer months, and in attending school and teaching during the 
winter until about twenty-two years of age. In 1854 he removed to Brandon, 
Vermont, where he was for a time employed as a clerk in a drug store. During 
the following year he entered the academy at Manchester, where he began a 
course of study preparatory to entering college. Upon leaving the academy he 
entered Middlebury College at Middlebury, Vermont, where he completed the 
full college course, graduating in 1860. From the first he took high rank in 
college, and was selected as poet for the junior exhibition as well as for the 
graduating exercises of his class. Since graduation he has been twice invited to 
address the associated alumni of his college. 

After graduation Mr. Sherman spent a year in teaching at South Woodstock, 
Vermont, at the expiration of which time he took charge of the Brandon Semin- 
ary, where he continued until May 1862. He then enlisted as a private in the gth 
Vt. Inf., and was soon after elected lieutenant of Co. C. He served with his regi- 
ment until January, 1863, when he resigned, his regiment then being on duty at 
Camp Douglas, Chicago. He immediately entered upon the study of law, and 
attended the full course of lectures at the law department of the University of 
Chicago, graduating in 1864. He was admitted to the bar upon graduation, and 
at once engaged in the practice of his profession in Chicago, and has been in 
continuous and successful practice from that time. He has for several years been 
the solicitor for the state auditor, and in that capacity has had charge of many 
important litigations. As such solicitor he instituted the proceedings for closing 
the affairs of the Republic Life Insurance Company, the Chicago Life Insurance 
Company and the Protection Life Insurance Company, in all of which cases con- 
stitutional questions of the first importance were involved. Mr. Sherman's inter- 
pretations of the general insurance laws under which these companies are being 
wound up have been sustained by the highest courts, and have thus become pre- 
cedents .for guidance in future cases. One of these cases is now pending in the 
Supreme Court of the United States, involving the entire question of legislative 
control over corporations, and the extent to which such control may be exercised 
without impairing the obligation of the charter contract. The decision of this 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 83 

question will make this litigation the most important as regards the law of cor- 
porations since the historic Dartmouth College case. He has also prosecuted 
other important cases involving kindred questions, among the more notable of 
which is the case of Eames vs. The State Savings Institution, in which the largest 
savings bank in the West was taken from a voluntary assignee and placed under 
the management of a receiver upon a bill filed by Mr. Sherman, assisted by other 
eminent lawyers, in behalf of all the depositors and creditors of the bank. 

In 1876 he accepted the republican nomination for the Illinois house of repre- 
sentatives for the then fourth senatorial district. He was elected by a flattering 
majority, and was reelected in 1878. His thorough training and ripe scholarship, 
coupled with his experience at the bar and his profound knowledge of the law, at 
once gave him high rank as a legislator, and his name is identified with all the 
more important legislation of those years. He served as chairman of the commit- 
tee on judicial department, and was chiefly instrumental in formulating the law 
establishing the system of appellate courts which are now a part of the judicial 
system of Illinois. He was also chairman of the committee on corporations and a 
member of the judiciary committee, as well as of the military committee which 
prepared the military code now in force. As a legislator he was uniformly arrayed 
against all jobbing schemes, and proved himself an earnest and eloquent cham- 
pion of the rights of the people. His long experience in the trial of causes at the 
bar gave him a quickness and readiness in debate which placed him in the front 
rank as a debater, and his services as a legislator constitute one of the most satis- 
factory features of his successful career. 

In 1879 Mr. Sherman was appointed one of the masters in chancery of the 
United States circuit court for the northern district of Illinois by Judges Harlan, 
Drummond and Blodgett. The appointment was made at the request of the lead- 
ing members of the bar of the city and state, and, as the result has shown, was in 
every respect a most fitting one. His long and successful practice in chancery 
causes, his thorough familiarity both with the principles and procedure of courts 
of chancery, coupled with unusual habits of industry, application and accuracy, 
have enabled him to discharge the duties of this important office to the complete 
satisfaction of the bench and bar, while he has at the same time continued in the 
successful practice of his profession. His name has frequently been mentioned 
for higher office upon the bench and elsewhere for which his experience and 
abilities have well qualified him, but he has thus far preferred to retain the very 
satisfactory position which he now occupies in his profession. 

Mr. Sherman has served as grand master of the grand lodge of the order of 
Odd-Fellows, and was its representative for two years to the sovereign grand 
lodge. He is an active member of the Chicago Philosophical Society, of the 
Chicago Bar Association and of the Chicago Law Institute. He is a member 
of the State Bar Association, of which he has been president, and he delivered the 
annual address before that body at its association in January 1882. This address 
was published by the association and was largely circulated, attracting much 
9 



84 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

attention, not only for its merit as a brilliant literary production, but because of 
its keen, incisive and well aimed blows at the existing faults in our jurisprudence, 
coupled with some admirable suggestions for their reform. He is also a member 
of the American Bar Association, and a member of the General Council, and has 
been prominently identified with various other societies and organizations of a 
public and philanthropic character. 

In private and in social life he is one of the most agreeable of gentlemen. 
Well read in the literature of the times, a close and accurate thinker, a brilliant 
conversationalist, courteous, charitable and considerate to all, he combines in an 
eminent degree the qualities essential to a cultivated gentleman, in the best sense 
of that much abused term. 

In 1866 he was married to Hattie G. Levering, daughter of Mr. S. M. Lover- 
ing, of Iowa Falls, Iowa, a lady of most estimable character, and possessing in a 
marked degree the solid accomplishments and womanly devotion which render 
home and home life restful and happy. 



HON. JAMES R. DOOLITTLE. 

THE public career of James R. Doolittle, as a lawyer, jurist and statesman, is 
a notable one. He is a son of Reuben and Sarah (Rood) Doolittle. He 
was born in Hampton, Washington county, New York, January 3, 1815. Now 
past sixty-seven years of age, he is well preserved, and possesses the vigor, strength 
and force, physically and mentally, which he has possessed from childhood. His 
father was a farmer and mill owner, and engaged in other enterprises; the found- 
er of a school and church, and was a man of beneficent and generous impulses, 
prominently identified with whatever movement was made in the direction 
of promoting the general welfare of the people in his neighborhood; qualities 
which James R. inherited and has put into practice during his long and eventful 
life. After going through the ordinary course of preliminary and preparatory 
education, he entered Geneva College, in western New York, and graduated in 
1835, taking the highest honors of his class for scholarship. He then studied law 
in Rochester, and was admitted to the bar in 1837 by the supreme court of New 
York, and, moving to Wyoming county, engaged in practice and was successful. 
He was, though a democrat, successively elected district attorney in a whig 
county, and served to the satisfaction of all parties. He took an active part in 
politics in those days. He was an anti-slavery democrat, and in 1848 introduced 
in a democratic convention resolutions which constituted the initiative and origin 
of the free-soil party. He was and has since been a conscientious opponent of 
the extension of slavery, and was in favor of stamping out the institution by con- 
stitutional means. 

In 1851 he removed to Racine, Wisconsin, and engaged in the practice of his 
profession. His decided abilities and excellent qualities were soon discovered 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 85 

and recognized, and he at once entered upon a notable, eventful, useful and 
successful career. He ranked among the ablest and best lawyers at the able 
bar of that state. He was retained by Gov. Farwell in important cases involving 
the interests of the commonwealth, and in other equally important litigations, 
in which he successfully competed in the courts with older attorneys, and held 
his own amid that sea of matured intellect at the bar for which Wisconsin 
was somewhat noted at that time. In 1853, after a residence in the state of but 
two years, he was elected judge of the first judicial circuit, then the most populous 
judicial district in the state. As a jurist he was ranked among the most impartial 
and ablest in the Northwest. He brought to the bench a thorough knowledge of 
law, varied learning, and that clear perception of right and justice which is so 
marked in all the walks of his life. He was candid, cautious, thorough in the 
study of facts and precedents, clear in his analysis of the principles of law, and 
while on the bench illustrated the formative jurisprudence of that young state, as 
he subsequently did its political history as a statesman, having been one of the 
most important factors in both connections. In March, 1856, he resigned the 
judgeship. In January, 1857, he was elected by the legislature to represent the 
state in the United States senate. During these politically exciting and stormy 
years he was a conspicuous figure in the senate and before the country. He was 
a hard and effective worker, serving on several committees: foreign affairs, 
military affairs, and was chairman of the committee on Indian affairs. In 1861 
he was a member of the committee of thirteen distinguished senators to con- 
fer with a like committee of the house to devise some plan to settle the threatened 
disruption without resort to arms; not that he was not a decided friend of the 
Union as it was, or that he had an iota of sympathy for the South in its rebel- 
lion, but that he was a friend of the Union and aimed to save it by an honorable 
compromise, and avert the horrible and devastating effects of a fratricidal war on 
a gigantic scale, the ruin that might be wrought, and the danger that, whatever 
might be the issue, threatened constitutional liberty. No matter what may have 
been thought of the move, the spirit which he evidenced was commendable and 
creditable to him. When this and all other expedients had failed, he was enthu- 
siastic and earnest in his efforts to secure enlistment, and by word and deed did 
much to that end. His eloquent and forcible speeches in defense of the govern- 
ment aroused the people to a sense of their danger and to action in defense of 
their firesides. He was a patriot-statesman then, and is to this day. 

His moderation, urbanity, dignity of manner and personal character won him 
the esteem of his political opponents, who recognized in him an antagonist that 
always fought fairly, that never lost his temper, and never struck a foul blow; 
and his earnest and logical presentation of facts, his manly appeals to their better 
judgment, often carried more weight than the most fiery and vehement eloquence 
could have done; and as he would not condescend to tricks in debate, so he 
earnestly opposed all irregular strategy in party action. Being a man of remark- 
able simplicity and frankness of character, wholly free from affectation or insin- 



86 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

cerity, he had the thorough confidence of all who knew him. Spotless integrity, 
and an independence and straightforwardness that despised all subterfuges, 
finesse and crooked ways, to ends however desirable, marked his course in the 
senate during these trying years indeed, have marked his entire career, profes- 
sional, political and social. His calm, steady mind stood like a rock amid the 
storm. The possession of these traits was candidly admitted by his political 
opponents, who have often paid manly tribute to his moral worth. As to his 
incorruptible integrity and abhorrence of anything of the nature of a bribe while 
in public life and acting for the people and representing the interests of a con- 
stituency, no better proof can be had than the fact that any attempts to besmirch 
him for political or other ends have utterly failed, and the plague-spot of corrup- 
tion has never been detected on his reputation. He has conquered, risen above 
and put to shame any and all calumnies against him by his magnanimity and 
purity of private and public life. 

In 1863 he was reelected to the United States senate without party opposition. 
He continued to support the government in a vigorous prosecution of the war up 
to the time of peace, when the great work of reinstating the seceded states in the 
Union commenced. He was an advocate of restoration rather than reconstruc- 
tion in the way proposed, and differed somewhat from his party friends. The 
supremacy of the Union had been established by arms, and next arose the ques- 
tion as to the terms upon which it should be reconstituted. The passage of what 
President Johnson considered unconstitutional measures brought out his veto, 
which caused bitterness of feeling and his resultant impeachment. This Mr. 
Doolittle opposed on principle, and incurred the displeasure of his party and 
became a martyr to his honest convictions and opinions. His course, when 
looked upon in the light of after years, is generally conceded to have been 
prompted by the highest motives and sincere conviction of right. It was not the 
outgrowth of a factious temper, motives of gain in any sense, nor a partisan 
spirit. Though a party man, he was not a partisan. He entered the senate with 
one leading and overshadowing idea; one polar star of intent; which every vote 
cast, every word uttered by him in his senatorial service, served to discover: it 
was, first, to preserve the Union as made under the constitution; and second, 
after it had been saved from destruction, to restore that Union in reality to its 
primal status, and to bind the hearts of his countrymen in the common cause of 
national pride, honor and welfare. To this end, during his last years in the sen- 
ate, he denounced and opposed everything tainted with sectional animosity, or 
tending to the injury or estrangement of the Union. His guide, no matter with 
what party he acted, has been the constitution, and the equality of each and 
every member of the great family of states and their inhabitants. His thought- 
ful face and incisive address were sharpened and intensified by the conscious- 
ness that he had been misunderstood or misrepresented, and made to suffer 
unworthily in that cause for opinion's sake. All through the period of his sena- 
torial career, from 1857 to 1869, he never ceased to denounce what he found to 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 87 

be contrary to the principles he held and subversive of that constitution 
of which he was then, had been before, and has been since, a conspicuous 
supporter and defender against its domestic enemies, the only enemies that 
have seriously tried to overturn it. He has had no time to take off his 
armor and rest from such efforts. His acumen, his logic, his learning in consti- 
tutional law, his intrepidity in debate, all availed him to stand in the breach and 
defend that fundamental instrument. He did yeoman's service in those years in 
averting and checking radical and desperate partyism, in bringing it to its senses, 
and in awakening the whole country to its fatal designs. This is true, notwith- 
standing the ill-advised and unscrupulous may for a purpose say otherwise, and 
attempt to misstate history, mislead the public mind, and create unworthy preju- 
dice. All his work in public life was well done; done cleanly, thoroughly and 
intelligently. His political consistency is not simply the result of early associa- 
tion and inherited principles, but it is a consistency such as comes from ripe 
reflection and matured patience in thought; an educated, logical consistency, 
which defies antagonism because it is fully conscious that it fights in armor of 
proof and with tempered weapons. He is bound to be right in his own mind, 
whether his party be right or wrong. In short, while in the national counsels he 
was a statesman rather than a partisan. 

During the summer recess of 1865, as a member of a joint committee of both 
houses, of which he was chairman, he visited Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico 
to inquire into the condition of the Indians west of the Mississippi, and reported 
upon their condition and wants, suggesting reforms in their management, and 
gained much information which aided him in future legislation. The inquiry 
and investigation were thorough, and the results were published in a volume 
which contained more information about the Indians than was ever embodied in 
any publication before or since. 

In 1866, he was president of the national union convention held in Philadel- 
phia, and took an active and prominent part in its proceedings. It was the first 
national convention held after the war, and was a veritable reunion of the North 
and South, and was called for the purpose of restoring fraternal feeling between 
the two sections. He suggested the convention, and framed the call for it, which 
was pronounced a sagacious and timely manifesto. In 1871 he was nominated by 
the democratic party for governor of Wisconsin. 

After his retirement from the senate, in 1869, he engaged in the practice of his 
profession in Chicago (retaining his residence in Racine, Wisconsin), in partner- 
ship with the late Jesse O. Norton. After the fire of 1871 the firm was dissolved, 
and he formed a new partnership with his son, James R. Doolittle, Jr., and in 
1876 Henry McKey came into the firm, under the firm name of Doolittle and 
McKey, which continues to this day, and is one of the strong, first-class law 
firms in Chicago. 

James R. Doolittle was one of the distinguished visitors to Louisiana in 1876, 
to consider the interests of the democratic party in the political controversy in 



88 THE BENCH AND RAR OF CHICAGO. 

connection with the presidential election. He has been a member of the board 
of trustees of the University of Chicago since its foundation, and lectures upon 
equity and jurisprudence in Chicago Union College of Law. He is a conscien- 
tious, independent and profound lawyer, and under all circumstances faithful 
alike to his profession and his clients. As a citizen he is public-spirited, and lends 
a helping hand to whatever tends to promote the public welfare. As an orator, a 
statesman, a lawyer he has few peers. He is clothed with becoming dignity, 
though courteous and kind, painstaking and laborious in the interests of those 
who entrust their business to him. Faithful, upright and honorable, he is a 
counselor whose services are sought by the better class of clients. 



JAMES R. DOOLITTLE, JR. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Warsaw, Wyoming county, New York, 
and was born April 2, 1845, and is son of Hon. James R. Doolittle, of Wis- 
consin, ex-United States senator and ex-judge of the circuit court of the first district 
of Wisconsin, and Mary L. (Cutting) Doolittle. His parents removed to Racine, 
Wisconsin, when he was six years of age. There young Doolittle attended the 
common schools, and afterward entered Racine College under Dr. Roswell Park 
and Rev. James De Koven. When about sixteen years of age he left college, and 
during the winters of the two following years spent his time in Washington, Dis- 
trict of Columbia, with his father, who was then United States senator from Wis- 
consin. This was during the war of the rebellion, and afforded him an oppor- 
tunity of meeting nearly all of the public men of those memorable times, and 
although but a boy, he was quick to observe the peculiarities, tastes and manners 
of each as he moved in life's grand drama. In 1863 he entered Rochester Univer- 
sity, under the presidency of Martin B. Anderson, and graduated therefrom at the 
age of twenty years, winning the first honors for excellence in literary composi- 
tion. During the same year he commenced the study of the law, and attended 
the law department of Harvard University at Cambridge, Massachusetts, about a 
year, and was admitted to the bar in Wisconsin in 1866. He then removed to the 
city of New York, and practiced law until November 1870. His father having 
left the United States senate the preceding year, and having established himself 
in Chicago, he closed his business relations in New York, and soon afterward 
became associated with his father in a general law practice, which has continued 
uninterruptedly until the present 1883. 

As a lawyer Mr. Doolittle possesses fine abilities, being a careful and diligent 
student. A safe counselor, painstaking and faithful to his clients, he has won a 
good reputation, and maintains an honorable standing at the Chicago bar. 

He is a man of fine, prepossessing personal appearance, of a cheerful and 
social disposition, measuring five feet and eleven inches in height, and weighing 
one hundred and eighty pounds. He is an earnest advocate, being a fluent and 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 89 

forcible speaker, and, possessing a rare fund of literary lore, is enabled to spice his 
remarks with happy wit and illustrate with anecdote. 

In political sentiment Mr. Doolittle is a democrat. In 1878 he was the candi- 
date of his party for congress in the first congressional district of Illinois. He 
made a good canvass, running some six hundred ahead of the regular state ticket, 
but was defeated by Hon. Wm. Aldrich, the republican candidate. 

Mr. Doolittle was married November 4, 1869, to Miss Clara Matteson, daugh- 
ter of Hon. J. A. Matteson, ex-governor of Illinois. 



THOMAS DENT. 

THOMAS DENT was born in Putnam county, Illinois, November 14, 1831, 
and is a son of George Dent and Comfort (Ijams) Dent. His father, a 
native of Virginia, was reared in Ohio, and thence removed to Illinois; and dur- 
ing his residence of nearly fifty years in this state occupied various official posi- 
tions, including the offices of recorder of deeds, clerk of the county commissioners' 
court, clerk of the circuit court, county judge and member of the state legislature. 

The subject of this sketch had a home training, and received his education 
mainly in the common schools in the vicinity of his father's residence. Having 
entered upon clerical work in various forms at an early age, he sought as far as 
opportunity was afforded him to extend his studies, and in early youth became 
studious and fond of reading. 

At the age of fifteen he became an assistant of his father in the public offices 
of Putnam county, and was thus occupied during the greater part of eight years. 
Near the close of that period he prepared tract and sectional indices to the land 
records of Putnam county, under appointment of the county court. 

Admitted to the bar in the fall of 1854, he began the practice of the law at 
Hennepin,.and soon had quite satisfactory employment in such legal business as 
there was in a circuit embracing a few counties. In the spring of 1856 he 
removed to Chicago, and became associated for a time with Martin R. M. Wal- 
lace, since so well known as general, and as county judge of Cook county. Later, 
Mr. Dent removed his office to Peoria, but having meanwhile retained some hold 
upon the practice in Putnam county, and also in Cook county, he returned in a 
few months to Chicago, where he settled permanently. 

In the year 1860 he entered into association in practice with the late Judge 
Arrington, which association continued until the death of the latter, at the close 
of the year 1867, and in the next following spring William P. Black was received 
as Mr. Dent's partner, since which time the firm of Dent and Black has continued 
to pursue a general law practice. 

While occasionally representing corporate interests, for banks, insurance com- 
panies, and the board of trade, they have more especially relied upon the general 
public for employment, which has been given them in nearly all branches of legal 
work in the state and federal courts. 



gO THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Mr. Dent is of medium height, and of graceful figure; of a thoughtful, gentle 
and earnest expression of countenance, and firm in his purposes, which are based 
on conviction. He is prized as a counselor because his advice is the result of 
experience combined with candid and thorough investigation. Pursuing his 
course with steadfastness and constant patience, he has won for himself a grati- 
fying reputation as a lawyer and citizen. 

Before taking up his residence in Chicago he was brought forward by friends 
for the office of county judge of Putnam county, and received good support with- 
out any canvass on his part, but the opposing candidate was elected by a few 
votes, since which time he has but once been a candidate for office. On the occa- 
sion just mentioned he was the republican candidate in the seventh judicial dis- 
trict of Illinois, for judge of the supreme court. 

His constant employment in office and court work has left him but little 
opportunity for making addresses on political and social subjects, for which he 
showed some taste in early life, when called out by friends or circumstances. 

In 1857 he was married to Miss Susan Strawn, then of Putnam county, Illinois, 
a lady much esteemed. Their only child, Miss Mary Dent, who was growing into 
a beautiful and promising young womanhood, was taken with the typhoid fever 
at Milan, Italy, while traveling in Europe, and there died in February, 1882, just 
before the arrival of her bereaved parents. 



CHARLES S. THORNTON. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and was born 
April 12, 1851. He is the son of Solon Thornton, who was born at Lemp- 
ster, New Hampshire, and Cordelia A. (Tilden) Thornton, who comes from the 
Tilden family of Marshfield, Massachusetts. 

He commenced his education in the public schools of Boston, passing rap- 
idly through the lower and grammar schools, then taking the six years' course 
in the famous Boston Latin School. He entered Harvard College in 1868, and 
graduated from that celebrated institution with the highest honors in 1872. 
While pursuing his ordinary college course, he also devoted all the time not 
required by that course to the study of the law under the guidance of Henry 
Adams, of Cambridge, attending the law lectures of the Harvard Law School. 
After graduation he pursued his law studies in the Boston Law School until the 
spring of 1873, when he came to Chicago. He here obtained a knowledge of 
practice in the law offices of Lyman and Jackson, and Isham and Lincoln, remain- 
ing with the latter firm until the fall of that year, when he passed his- examina- 
tion at Ottawa before the supreme court, and was admitted to the Illinois bar. 
He at once entered upon the practice of his profession in Chicago, transacting a 
general law business, the greater part, however, of his practice being devoted 
to the adjustment of the rights of real estate owners. Commencing practice 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 93 

without a single acquaintance in Chicago in 1873, he has steadily fought his way 
to the foremost ranks of the profession, and is now in possession of a practice 
which, with the exception of one attorney, is greater in extent, and more lucra- 
tive, than that possessed by any one member of the Chicago bar. Without pecu- 
niary resources of any kind in 1873, he is now, after his nine years of practice, 
ranked among the wealthy men of that bar. Mr. Thornton is not only well read 
in his profession, but keeps up his acquaintance gathered at college with ancient 
and modern literature. 

In the practice of his profession he is one of the most successful men at the 
bar, preparing his cases carefully, and trying them with a skill rarely attained by 
the most eminent lawyers after many years of practice. He is especially success- 
ful in the trial of jury causes, for which he seems by nature preeminently 
adapted. Clear in the explication of his client's rights, never moved by passion 
to let slip any opportunity to benefit his client, even in the most desperate of 
causes, he tries his suits with that degree of coolness only attained by veteran 
advocates, and which invariably wins. 

He is discriminating in his legal practice, and honorable in all of his dealings. 
His habits are unexceptionable, and he bears the impress of a liberal education, 
possessing refinement and cultivated tastes, and being at the same time social 
and congenial. As a lawyer he already occupies a high position, is in possession 
of a very extensive practice, and is one of the acknowledged leaders of the Chi- 
cago bar. 

In political sentiment Mr. Thornton is a democrat, and takes a leading part in 
both local and national politics. 



HON. THOMAS A. MORAN. 

THOMAS A. MORAN, one of the judges of the circuit court of Cook county, 
was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, October 7, 1839, of Irish parentage. 
His father, Patrick Moran, was engaged in business there. When Thomas was 
about seven years of age, the family moved to the town of Bristol, Kenosha 
county, Wisconsin, and settled on a farm, where Thomas remained until about 
nineteen years of age, attending school winters and working on the farm sum- 
mers, never losing an opportunity, under any circumstances, of self-improvement 
from books or observation. Besides the district schools, he attended for several 
terms Liberty Academy at Salem, about three miles from his home, and subse- 
quently engaged in teaching school. When twenty years of age, he commenced 
the study of law, in Kenosha, with J. J. Pettit, and later continued his studies 
with Judge I. W. Webster, studying in the summer and teaching winters. Dur- 
ing those latter years he took an active and prominent part in debating schools 
and clubs, and became well known in that section as an apt, ready and well in- 
formed debater. When engaged in discussion he was in his natural element. 



94 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

To this practice, when young, is largely attributable his fluency of speech, ready 
command of language, accuracy of expression and grace of diction in public 
speaking or addressing a jury. Before twenty years of age he was making polit- 
ical speeches, and stumped his county in the campaign of 1860. He was an 
ardent admirer of Stephen A. Douglas, and in full accord with the liberal democ- 
racy of which that eminent statesman was the champion. 

In 1862, owing to his father's illness, he returned to the farm and managed it 
one year. During the year his father died, and the farm was sold, when the 
family moved to Kenosha. In 1864 his mother died, and he went east, and in 
the fall of that year entered the law department of the Albany University, grad- 
uating in May, 1865, when he was admitted to practice. While in the law school 
he was among the leaders of his class. He was, as he had previously been, 
industrious and studious, evidencing such decided ability that Prof. Dean, the 
head of the law college, predicted for him a successful future as a lawyer which 
prediction has been realized. He had, while there, the full confidence of the 
faculty and of the students; they had confidence in his ability, judgment and 
manhood. 

In November of the same year he removed to Chicago, and engaged in prac- 
tice, and has been here since, attaining to the first rank at the bar. He was first 
in the office of H. S. Monroe, subsequently formed the partnership of Schoff and 
Moran, second that of Moran and English, and later that of Moran, English and 
Wolf, which was the law firm when he was elected to the bench in 1879. As a 
lawyer he engaged in general practice, but was especially successful in jury 
trials. Indeed, so marked was his success in this class of cases, that two of the 
most eminent judges on the circuit bench openly pronounced him one of the 
most successful jury lawyers at the Chicago bar. He has a clear intellect, which 
enables him to grasp and comprehend all the points in a case, arising out of the 
evidence, or involved in the law bearing upon it. While at the bar he was an 
eloquent and forcible advocate; logical and terse, earnest and vigorous and often 
ornate. He possesses energy, industry, sagacity, intellectual vigor and patience, 
which well qualify him for the proper discharge of the duties and functions of a 
judge. Before his elevation to the bench the court calendars, and the books of 
his own office, evidenced that he had a greater number of cases in the courts 
of record than any other attorney at .this bar, and his success was marked and 
noteworthy. 

In the fall of 1879 he was elected one of the judges of the circuit court of 
Cook county for a term of six years. He is the first Irish-American ever elected 
to the Cook county bench, and the Irish naturally have a special pride in him; 
as indeed do all nationalities and parties. He sat for some time after he took the 
bench as common law judge, and is now holding one of the chancery branches 
of the court, and in either branch he is found equally at home. As a judge he 
is always self-contained and self-poised, of patient and courteous bearing 
and an attentive listener; he discharges his high functions without ostentation 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 95 

and with conspicuous ability, giving satisfaction to the bar and to litigants. 
He is an impartial judge, an upright man, a good citizen, esteemed by all who 
know him. 

ROBERT H. FORRESTER. 

ROBERT H. FORRESTER was born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His 
father, George Forrester, was a Scotchman, a graduate of the University of 
Edinburgh, and an eminent classical scholar and mathematician, who first settled 
at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and removed from that city to Pittsburgh in 

1815, his residence and library having been burned by the British in their raid 
upon our seaboard cities near the close of the war of 1812. At Pittsburgh, in 

1816, he united with Rev. Drs. Bruce and Black, two famous Scotch educators, in 
founding the Western University of Pennsylvania, in which he took the profes- 
sorship of mathematics. But he was not suffered to remain long in this position. 
The stockholders of the Columbian Steam Engine Company, at Pittsburgh, among 
whom were the celebrated mechanical inventor, Oliver Evans, of Philadelphia, and 
his no less celebrated brother George, of Pittsburgh, having erected a large estab- 
lishment there the first ever established in the western country for the manu- 
facture of machinery and steam engines induced Mr. Forrester to become the 
general manager of the business of the corporation, which he continued to be 
until his tragical death, several years later, by his being drowned while bathing 
in the Allegheny river. His widow was left with a modest fortune and a family 
of five infant children, his son Robert being only four years of age. 

The childhood of this son, until the age of twelve, was comparatively unevent- 
ful. He enjoyed the instruction of his father's intimate friend, Walter Scott, also 
a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, a Scotchman of great learning, elo- 
quence and eccentricity, and one of the most famous educators of his day in the 
western country, and afterward still more famous as a preacher. The Scotch 
system of education, in which the rod figures constantly as an essential element 
of success, was religiously pursued by this prince of pedagogues with the most 
gratifying results to his patrons, though the pupils might wince under its coercive 
discipline, which did not fail, however, to secure close application to study on their 
part. At the age of twelve, his mother having had the misfortune to lose a large 
portion of the family estate by the failure of a manufacturing firm, he resolved to 
relieve her of the burden of his support. He obtained a situation in the Pitts- 
burgh postoffice, and for several years did the work of a man to the satisfaction 
of his employer and the public. But having acquired a fondness for books and 
a considerable acquaintance with them from delving from infancy in his father's 
large and choice library, he left the postoffice to take a situation in a bookstore in 
Pittsburgh as a salesman. In this he found congenial employment, and became 
a favorite with book buyers, as he knew a good deal about the books he sold, to 
the examination of which he devoted most of his spare time. While in this busi- 



96 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

ness he made constant efforts to complete his education with such help as he could 
obtain, attending, a portion of the time, the classes of the university of which Dr. 
Bruce, his father's former friend, was the president. While yet a boy he became 
the president of the Wirt Literary Institute, an association of youths for intel- 
lectual improvement, which had the honor of giving to the public of Pittsburgh 
the first popular course of literary and scientific lectures ever delivered in that 
city, the lecturers being prominent professional men of Pittsburgh and western 
Pennsylvania. These lectures were published in a weekly literary paper, edited 
by the famous Jane Swisshelm, and were regarded as singularly able and brilliant. 
On arriving at manhood Mr. Forrester was seized with a desire to study law and 
embark in the legal profession, and at a great pecuniary sacrifice in abandoning 
the book business he entered on this new career. 

He placed himself under the tuition of James Dunlop, a great lawyer, and the 
former rival at the Carlisle bar of Justice R. C. Greer, of the United States 
Supreme Court, and after two years of severe study passed a successful and un- 
usually thorough examination before a committee of able lawyers appointed by 
the courts to examine applicants for admission to the Pittsburgh bar. He then 
entered vigorously upon the practice of law, and soon achieved considerable dis- 
tinction both in civil and criminal cases, continuing to practice in the courts at 
Pittsburgh for two years, when he concluded to carry out a long cherished pur- 
pose to emigrate to the South, then a most inviting field to young northern law- 
yers. He accordingly, in 1846, emigrated to Kentucky and settled at Georgetown, 
then the educational center of the state. 

Before leaving Pittsburgh he had won quite a reputation as a political orator 
and debater, frequently addressing large political assemblages in that city. A 
devoted admirer of Henry Clay, in 1844, at the request of the Clay whigs of Pitts- 
burgh, he made his debut in politics as a champion of the cause of that great 
statesman, against the opposition of the anti-masonic wing of the whig party led 
by Russell Erritt, now a member of congress, Thomas M. Marshall, recently 
nominated for congressman at large, and others. Soon afterward, in an anti- 
masonic county convention held at Pittsburgh to which he was elected a delegate 
by the anti-masons themselves, he was instrumental in disbanding forever the 
anti-masonic party in Allegheny county, long its stronghold. The dissolution of 
the same party in eastern Pennsylvania, which had been led by Thaddeus Stevens, 
soon followed, and the whig party of the state became thoroughly united in the 
support of Henry Clay as its candidate in the presidential struggle of that year. 
Soon after his removal to Kentucky Mr. Forrester was solicited to return to his 
native county and accept a nomination for congress. This he declined to do, for 
the reason, among others, that he has always felt an unconquerable disinclination 
to run for office. 

Arriving at Georgetown, Kentucky, about the beginning of the Mexican war, 
he united with Col. Thornton Johnson, a retired West Point officer and an emi- 
nent teacher of mathematics, in organizing a military college, to which was given 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 97 

the name of the Western Military Institute. Unlike other military schools, this 
one united with the ordinary course of instruction in such schools a thorough 
collegiate course in the classics and other branches, with the power to confer the 
usual collegiate degrees. There were in its faculty, besides several civil pro- 
fessors, three West Point graduates, Col. Hopkins, the superintendent, having 
been for many years professor of the natural sciences at West Point. Mr. Forres- 
ter was appointed professor of law in this institution, and organized and con- 
ducted for several years, without assistance and with marked success, a law 
department in which was a large number of students. The system of instruction 
pursued was that of daily familiar lectures and rigid examinations through ses- 
sions of ten months in the year, and the results were rather unusual in the 
remarkable proficiency of the students. 

Soon after the establishment of this military college the celebrated James G. 
Elaine, of Maine, became assistant professor of Greek and Latin in the institution. 
He was then a youth of about eighteen, having just graduated at Washington 
College, Pennsylvania, and emigrated to Kentucky in search of fame and fortune. 
Mr. Elaine, intending to prepare himself for the bar, became a student in the law 
department, and under the tuition of Prof. Forrester pursued the study of law 
for two years with diligence and success, while he continued to discharge his 
duties as teacher of languages. Even at that early period he gave some indica- 
tions of the bent of his mind and his inclination to engage in political life, in the 
special interest he took in constitutional and international law. A cordial friend- 
ship for each other is still cherished by Mr. Forrester and his renowned student. 

From 1850 to 1860 Mr. Forrester practiced law in the courts of Harrison, 
Bourbon and other counties of Kentucky, and also in the state court of appeals, 
being engaged chiefly in land suits, which have always furnished the bulk of liti- 
gation in Kentucky. He also, at the request of his party, frequently took part in 
political campaigns. In 1856, in company with most of the whig politicians of 
the state, he went over to the democratic party, and he has acted with it ever 
since. In 1849 he engaged in a newspaper controversy with Hon. Garrett Davis, 
who violently opposed the adoption by the people of the amended state con- 
stitution of that year. In this controversy he published ten elaborate essays, 
in which he advocated the election of judges and county officers by the people, 
and other reforms, and which were republished by the newspapers throughout 
the state favorable to the new constitution, being considered able and exhaustive. 
In 1860 Mr. Forrester, desiring to engage in a city practice, removed to the then 
thriving city of Memphis, Tennessee, and had entered upon practice there, with 
bright prospects, when the war cut short his legal career in that city. 

In 1862 he became provost-marshal general of west Tennessee under Gen. 
Bragg. He was induced to accept this position that he might minister to the 
relief of the thousands of sick and wounded soldiers who were thrown upon his 
care. Soon afterward he was invited by Gen. Villepigue, of South Carolina, and 
formerly of the United States army, to take the position of provost-marshal on 



98 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

his staff, with the rank of colonel, having jurisdiction over northern Mississippi, 
then under martial law and of which the general was department commander. 
The special reason why he was invited to take this position was that it was the 
desire of Gen. Villepigue that the numerous federal prisoners brought to his 
headquarters at Grenada, Mississippi, should be treated with all the humanity 
and kindness possible under the circumstances, and that he could rely on Col. 
Forrester to carry out his humane wishes. Entering upon the performance of his 
duties at Grenada in June, 1862, Col. Forrester adopted and carried out a policy 
in the treatment of prisoners of war perhaps without a parallel. He paroled all 
the officers, giving them the freedom of the town, and for months was witnessed 
every day in Grenada the singular scene of federal officers in uniform associating 
freely on the streets with the citizens, who were staunch confederates, and even 
discussing with them in a friendly manner the issues of the war. Col. Forrester, 
of course, had given a caution to the citizens that they must treat his military 
guests with respect. For the private soldiers a spacious and well ventilated prison 
was furnished, which was kept scrupulously clean and provided with a brick oven 
and cooking range, so that the food of the prisoners was prepared by bakers and 
cooks detailed by themselves, and so excellent was it that the paroled officers 
obtained from the colonel permission to take their meals with the boys at the 
prison table, assuring him that the fare there was better than at the hotel. This 
excellent fare was secured by the steward of the prison trading the rations of 
bacon and cornmeal for fresh provisions with the planters and the negroes, who 
daily brought in fresh supplies of the delicacies of the season. It may have been 
that the colored brothers, in their zeal to provide for the comfort of the boys in 
blue, occasionally made a hen-roost suffer, but there was no complaint from any 
quarter. The prisoners were frequently allowed to bathe in the Yellowbusha 
river, which flows past the town. The result of these sanitary measures was that 
in the course of a very hot summer not a case of sickness or death occurred 
among the large number of prisoners. Dr. Yandell, of Louisville, Gen. Bragg's 
medical inspector-general, who often visited the prison officially, pronounced it a 
model which could not be improved, and that this novel experiment in the treat- 
ment of prisoners of war was a complete success. On leaving this post Col. For- 
rester, backed by a strong written recommendation from Lieut. Col. Beale, Gen. 
Bragg's inspector-general, offered to undertake the task of organizing for the 
confederacy a system of prison discipline and sustenance similar to that so suc- 
cessfully carried out at Grenada, but other views had begun to be entertained at 
Richmond, and his offer was not accepted. This ended Mr. Forrester's connection 
with the confederate military service. 

Early in the year 1864 he became the editor-in-chief of the Augusta "Chron- 
icle and Sentinel," a daily paper of large circulation in Georgia and other states. 
This paper, encouraged and supported by Alexander H. Stephens, Joshua Hill and 
Gov. Joseph Brown, who were opposed to the continuance of the war and in favor 
of the restoration of the Union, had become an avowed peace organ, like the 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 99 

Raleigh (North Carolina) "Standard," then edited by Gov. Holden. During this 
year, while the war was still raging, Mr. Forrester, in the editorial columns of this 
paper, commented freely upon the confederacy, the war and Jefferson Davis, argu- 
ing that a confederacy based on the doctrine of secession carried within itself the 
seeds of its own speedy dissolution, that the war was suicidal and a failure, that 
Mr. Davis had shown himself to be a despot and usurper, and that the true inter- 
ests of the South demanded the restoration of the Union. His editorials occasion- 
ally found their way into the northern press, and surprised and cheered the friends 
of the Union by the evidence they afforded of a reaction in southern sentiment. 
This bold opposition to Mr. Davis and the war was generally popular in Georgia, 
and even in South Carolina, whose planters had become sick of secession. 

But Mr. Davis was much irritated by these attacks, and had an act passed by 
the confederate congress suspending the writ of habeas corpus in Georgia, to 
enable him to suppress them. In response to this menace against his own people 
Gov. Brown issued a counter proclamation, and organized the militia reserve, to 
resist any attempt to enforce this high-handed act. The result was that no arrests 
were made. 

The suspension of the writ of habeas corpus excited in Georgia such a deep 
feeling of resentment against the Richmond government that Howell Cobb, the 
bosom friend of Jefferson Davis, published in an Atlanta newspaper a lengthy 
article in vindication of it. To this Mr. Forrester replied in an argument which 
covered a page of his paper, in which he contested the positions of Mr. Cobb and 
denounced the act as an attack on the liberties of the people. But, notwithstand- 
ing he had incurred the displeasure of Mr. Davis and his friends by his editorial 
attacks, when the Richmond cabinet desired to share in the trade of cotton for 
provisions, which Mr. Lincoln toward the close of 1864 had offered to open with 
the famished confederates, that they might be won back to the Union by a taste 
of the benefits of its commerce, which had already been opened at Memphis, the 
confederate secretary of war commissioned Mr. Forrester as a special ambassador 
to the government of the United States to negotiate a trade of confederate cotton 
for supplies other than military, believing that he would be favorably received. 
He undertook and successfully accomplished this novel mission at Memphis, being 
very kindly received both there and at Washington by the United States authori- 
ties, they being apprized of his services to the Union cause in Georgia. 

After the close of the war, in the fall of 1865, Mr. Forrester embarked his 
capital in a large cotton plantation on the Tombigbee river, in Alabama, which 
adventure proved disastrous to both his fortune and health. In 1866 and 1867 
his plantation was overflowed by spring floods, which destroyed his crops, and 
the malaria produced by these late overflows ruined the health of himself and 
family. The whole river valley shared these calamities, and many of the oldest 
citizens died of malarial fever. 

Early in 1868, having spent several months at Washington city on business, 
Mr. Forrester was induced by curiosity to visit Chicago on his way back to the 



IOO THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

South, and, attracted by its wonderful activity and growth, and the prospect of 
regaining his health in its pure lake breezes, concluded to settle and end his days 
in the metropolis of the West. Here he has since quietly applied himself to the 
practice of his profession without any wish to achieve any special prominence, 
seeking, rather, rest and repose after a life of such vicissitude and excitement. 
He has had a good measure of success in his cases, and especially in the appellate 
and supreme courts, several leading cases, in which important questions have 
been settled by the supreme court, having been carried through by him. In 
exciting jury trials his old-time fire often blazes forth afresh. Before the college 
of law he has occasionally, at the request of the students, given them a taste of his 
quality as a law lecturer. Five times, at different sessions, by invitation, he has 
lectured before them on the dry and difficult subject of "Uses and Trusts," which 
it is said by the students he invested with the charms of poetry and humor while 
he gave them a lucid exposition of its crabbed technicalities so appalling to the 
student. 

In addition to his efforts at the bar he has often come before the public of 
Chicago and other places in northern Illinois as a democratic orator, and espe- 
cially in the presidential campaigns of 1876 and 1880. His speeches have been 
logical and eloquent, enlivened by anecdote and humor, and have always been 
characterized by fairness and the absence of bitterness toward his political oppo- 
nents, many of whom have listened to them with apparent interest and pleasure. 
The democracy of Cook county regard him as one of their most efficient and 
reliable champions. 

HON. HARVEY B. HURD. 

WHEN we trace the history of our leading men, and search for the secret of 
their success, we find, as a rule, that they are men who were early thrown 
upon their own resources, and whose first experiences were in the face of adversity 
and opposition. Such was the case with Harvey B. Hurd, an outline of whose life 
may be found in what follows. 

He is a native of Huntington, Fairfield county, Connecticut, and was born 
February 14, 1828. His father, Alanson Hurd, was of English descent. His 
mother's name was Elizabeth Lowe, of Dutch and Irish descent. Until his 
fifteenth year young Hurd worked on his father's farm during the summer and 
attended the district school during winters. The narrow routine of such a life, 
however, had no attractions for him, and he determined to seek a wider sphere of 
action. Accordingly, having with considerable difficulty obtained his father's con- 
sent to leave home, on May i, 1842, with his clothes tied in a cotton handkerchief, 
he walked to Bridgeport and entered the office of the " Bridgeport Standard," a 
whig paper, as youngest apprentice, "printer's devil." In the spring of 1844 he 
went to New York, where he remained until the fall, when he returned to Bridge- 
port, and, in company with ten other young men, went to Peoria county, Illinois, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 103 

and entered Jubilee College. He remained here one year, when a misunderstand- 
ing with the president of the college, Rev. Samuel Chase, resulted in his leaving. 
He went immediately to Peoria, but not finding employment there took passage 
in a baggage stage for Chicago, where he arrived on January 7, 1846, with fifty 
cents in his pocket and thinly clad. He stopped at the Illinois Exchange, kept by 
a Mr. Lee, for whose generous treatment Mr. Hurd in after years, when the cir- 
cumstances of the two men had been changed, expressed his gratitude in a sub- 
stantial way. He at once obtained work in the office of the "Chicago Evening 
Journal," then published by Wilson and Geer, and afterward was engaged in the 
office of the "Prairie Farmer." In the fall of 1847 he began the study of law in 
the office of Calvin De Wolf, and was admitted to the bar in 1848. He began 
the practice of law with the late Carlos Haven, who was afterward states attorney. 
He afterward formed a partnership with Hon. Henry Snapp, late member of con- 
gress, now practicing law in Joliet, Illinois. In 1850 he formed a partnership with 
A. J. Brown, which continued till 1854. The firm dealt largely in real estate, and 
were proprietors of 248 acres of land, which they laid out as a part of Evan- 
ston, in which town Mr. Hurd was one of the first to build, having commenced 
the house in which he now resides in the summer of 1854, and moved into it in 
September 1855. His residence occupies a block of ground, and is one of the 
most beautiful and home-like in that beautiful suburb. 

Mr. Hurd was married May 18, 1853, to Miss Cornelia A. Hilliard, daughter of 
the late Capt. James Hilliard, of Middletown, Connecticut. From this marriage 
he has three daughters: Eda I., the wife of George S. Lord, and Hettie B. and 
Nellie. He was married to his present wife, Sarah G., November i, 1860. She 
was the widow of the late George Collins, of Chicago. 

He was an abolitionist, and took an active part in the stirring events that 
occurred in Chicago before and following the repeal of the Missouri compromise 
line. He was a member of the convention held at Buffalo, New York, which 
formed the national Kansas committee, and became secretary of its executive com- 
mittee, which had its headquarters at Chicago. The other member of this execu- 
tive committee were Gen. J. D. Webster and the late George W. Dole; the former 
acting as its president and the latter as treasurer. Mr. Hurd gave his entire time 
to the duties of the committee for a year without compensation, taking the prin- 
cipal direction of its affairs. His position may be said to have been that of secre- 
tary of the Kansas war. Horace White, now one of the editors of the " Chicago 
Tribune," was assistant secretary, and Mr. Hurd speaks in praise of his services in 
that capacity. No higher commendation can be given to this committee than to 
say its labors were crowned with entire success in making Kansas a free state. 

To give a full account of Mr. Hurd's connection with the Kansas struggle 
would be to write the history of the struggle itself. There is one instance, how- 
ever, deserving especial mention. The strife in the territory and on the western 
border of Missouri was so devastating that no crops of any considerable amount 
were raised in 1856; as a consequence, there was not a sufficient quantity of grain 
ii 



IO4 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

and other products to supply the demand for seed for the next spring's planting. 
A large increase in the population was expected through the improved means of 
travel which were secured by the committee. To hold this population in the ter- 
ritory it was necessary they should be enabled to raise a crop, and for this purpose 
seeds must be furnished. At a meeting of the committee in New York city, in 
February, 1857, a resolution was adopted instructing the executive committee at 
Chicago to purchase and forward the necessary seed. At the same time an appro- 
priation of $5,000 was made to John Brown, to be used by him in raising and 
equipping in Kansas a company of armed men for the ostensible purpose of 
defending the free-state settlers, but which it was feared by some might be used 
by Brown in making incursions into Missouri or some other slave state. 

Mr. Hurd, ascertaining on his return to Chicago that the funds in the hands of 
the treasurer were barely sufficient to answer one of these requirements, selected 
that which he thought most important, and the one which he believed would be 
the most efficient in the settlement of the contest as it affected Kansas, viz., the 
purchase of the seed, which he immediately set about doing, and when Mr. Brown 
a short time afterward applied for his appropriation he found the committee's 
treasury empty. At first Gerritt Smith and other friends of Brown were inclined 
to find fault with Mr. Hurd's course. They contended that he should at least 
have divided with Mr. Brown, and for a time there was fear that dissatisfaction 
would be stirred up; but Mr. Hurd soon found himself vindicated by the events 
which followed in due time. As had been expected, the restoration of the travel, 
from the tedious overland route through Iowa and Nebraska, to the Missouri 
river by way of St. Louis, Jefferson City and Kansas City, and the sale of through 
tickets from all important points in the North, resulted in a large immigration; 
claims were taken up and preparations made for permanent abode; but the seeds 
had been forwarded by a small steamboat which was to ascend the Kansas river 
to Lawrence. In consequence of low water its arrival was delayed about two 
weeks. The people therefore gathered at Lawrence from all parts of the ter- 
ritory, awaiting the arrival of the seeds. At one time it was feared that their 
expectations would not be realized, and their return to the states was contem- 
plated as the only alternative. When at last the boat arrived, and the agent of 
the committee announced that he was ready to make free distribution of seeds to 
all free-state settlers who desired them for the purpose of planting, such a shout 
of rejoicing was sent up that the action of Mr. Hurd received the universal com- 
mendation of the people of the North, and no further question was made by Mr. 
Brown or his friends as to the wisdom or propriety of his course. The free-state 
settlers were thus enabled to satisfy their enemies that they had come to stay; they 
were too many for the Missourians, as the pro-slavery party was called, and the 
latter gave up the strife. 

In 1862 he formed a partnership for the practice of law with Henry Booth, late 
one of the judges of the Cook county circuit court, and at the same time accepted a 
position as lecturer in the law department of the University of Chicago. This 



THE BENCH AND BAR Of CHICAGO. 105 

partnership continued, with several changes by the admission of junior partners, 
till 1868, when he withdrew from the firm with the intention of retiring from the 
practice of his profession. 

In April, 1869, Mr. Hurd, on the nomination of Gov. Palmer, and confirmation 
of the senate of the twenty-sixth general assembly of Illinois, was appointed one of 
three commissioners to revise and rewrite the general statutes of the state. One 
of the commissioners, Mr. Nelson, having been elected to the house of repre- 
sentatives, the work of the revision fell upon Mr. Hurd and the other commissioner, 
Mr. Schaeffer, who acted together till the twenty-seventh general assembly ad- 
journed, when the latter also withdrew, leaving the whole work in the hands of 
Mr. Hurd, who completed the same with the adjournment of the twenty-eighth 
general assembly in April, 1874, when the last of the chapters of the revised stat- 
utes of 1874 was adopted, and Mr. Hurd appointed by that body to compile, edit 
and supervise the publication of the same, which he has accomplished to the entire 
satisfaction of the people of the state. Few people appreciate for how many 
reforms in the law they are indebted to Mr. Hurd, or how great a work it was to 
revise and rewrite the whole body of the laws of the great state of Illinois, and 
adapt them to the new condition of things resulting from the adoption of the new 
constitution of 1870. Ordinarily a revision means the rearrangement and adjust- 
ing of existing laws, but the revision of the laws of Illinois under the circumstances 
meant radical changes in many of them; the rejection of old provisions and the 
construction of new ones; and in many cases the construction of entire new chap- 
ters, construing for the first time the provisions of the new constitution. Mr. Kurd's 
work as reviser has proved a success. The state edition of 1874 of 15,000 volumes 
was soon exhausted, and he has been called upon to edit three editions since, all of 
which have received the unqualified commendation of the bar and public. In the 
summer of 1875 Mr. Hurd was again elected to a chair in the law school, which 
had then become the Union College of Law of the University of Chicago, and the 
Northwestern University, and now fills the position of professor of pleadings, prac- 
tice and statutory law in that flourishing institution. 

He was nominated by the republican party as its candidate for the office of 
judge of the supreme court of Illinois, at the special election held on December 
21, 1875, but was defeated by his democratic rival, T. L. Dickey, who ran as 
an independent candidate, and not only received the support of his party but 
of the city government of Chicago, whose counsel he then was, and the pow- 
erful railroad influence, the railroad companies attributing to Mr. Hurd a large 
share in the enactment of the stringent railroad laws contained in his revision. A 
highly defamatory pamphlet was published against Mr. Hurd a few days before 
the election too late to be successfully met, and no doubt it had some influence 
in effecting his defeat. The falsity of this publication was afterward fully estab- 
lished in the trial of its author for slander and unchristian conduct before the 
church of which both he and Mr. Hurd were members, and in which the author of 
the libel was found guilty and censured by the court that tried him In this trial Mr. 



IO6 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Hurd gained many friends for his fairness and Christian bearing, as also for his 
magnanimity toward the one who had thus wronged him. 

As a lawyer Mr. Hurd has long maintained a high position at the bar, his forte 
being in the argument of legal questions to the court, rather than as an advocate 
before a jury, though he is by no means unsuccessful in the latter character. His 
style in speaking is deliberate and argumentative, rather than impassioned and 
declamatory. In the preparation of his cases he is careful and exhaustive, and is 
eminently a safe adviser. As a teacher in the law school he is accurate, method- 
ical and thorough. 

One of the cases in which Mr. Hurd was early engaged, and which attracted 
a great deal of attention in Cook county, was that of Farrell vs. Cadwell (1861), 
a case of malpractice on a servant girl's eye, Mr. Hurd being counsel for the plain- 
tiff and obtaining a verdict of $10,000. 

Another case was that of Hartranft vs. Yundt, tried in Kane county in 1865, 
a crim. con. case, in which Mr. Hurd was counsel for the plaintiff, gaining the suit 
with no less than seven or eight lawyers for the defense, including one of the ablest 
criminal lawyers in the Northwest. 

Mr. Hurd is an indefatigable worker. No one has more implicit faith than he 
in the ancient maxim, "Labor vincit omnia." He possesses great tenacity of pur- 
pose, endurance and force of will. He is self-reliant, persistent in whatever he 
attempts and not easily diverted from the pursuit of his object. Being still in 
the prime of life, with the laudable ambition as well as the ability to still further 
distinguish himself, he may well be regarded as one of the rising men of the state. 



PERRY H. SMITH, JR. 

FOREMOST among the young men whose names adorn the bar of Illinois is 
the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, no man possessing more of 
the true instincts and characteristics of the gentleman than Perry H. Smith, Jr. 

It will generally be found that similar causes lead to like results in whatever 
branch of human activity a man's genius and enterprise may be employed. The 
essentials of success are courage, patience and perseverance. Success brings 
honor in every honest occupation, and when it is achieved by a young man it 
adds new pleasure. This has been accomplished by the gentleman who is here- 
with presented to our readers. He is the son of one of our most respected and 
wealthy citizens, a gentleman who is prominent among the influential men of 
Chicago. 

Perry H. Smith, Jr., was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, but his parents removed 
to Chicago when he was but five years of age. He commenced his school life at 
the Ogden school, where he remained for one year, and at the age of eight years 
was a student at the Racine College, where he closely applied himself to his 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 107 

studies for three years, after which he was favored with a trip abroad, visiting 
the Paris Exposition and other places of interest in France and Germany. 

In 1867 he returned, and was admitted to the Charlier Institute in New York 
city, where he remained for two years. Again expressing a desire for travel, he 
was permitted to take an extensive tour abroad, visiting Belgium and all promi- 
nent points of the old world. After a two years' trip, he returned home and 
entered the Sophomore class in Hamilton College, New York, where, years 
before, his father had been graduated, and in 1874 passing a very creditable 
examination, graduated with the highest honors. He was honored by the fac- 
ulty with an appointment on the Clark Prize, which is considered one of the chief 
honors that could be bestowed in the senior year. His classmates fully appre- 
ciating his abilities selected him as the class orator at the commencement. 

After graduating he made another trip abroad, and returning after a year's 
absence entered the Columbia College Law School, New York city, presided over 
by Judge Dwight, a distinguished lawyer and a gentleman of the highest legal 
attainments. 

Mr. Smith being endowed by nature with a strong and acute intellect, trained 
under legal teachers distinguished for ability, he closely applied himself to the 
study of that profession and graduated with the degree of LL.B., and was admit- 
ted to practice in the supreme court of the state of New York. 

He then returned to Chicago, and entered the law office of John N. Jewett, 
and has been for three years past the law partner of Francis H. Kales, of the 
late famous firm of Beckwith, Ayer and Kales. His tastes and character of 
mind induce a love of legal study for its own sake, and he is therefore wedded to 
the law. 

In the practice of his profession he is very zealous, as, indeed, he is in every- 
thing which he undertakes. He is reliable and honorable in all places, and 
under all circumstances; he is loyal to truth and right, justly valuing his own 
self-respect and the deserved esteem of his fellow-men, as infinitely better than 
wealth, fame or position. His character as a citizen is irreproachable; he holds 
the respect and confidence of all who know him. He has never been known to 
betray a friend, or a trust, and if he has any enemies they have never made them- 
selves known. 

In social life he is genial and companionable, warm in his attachments and 
firm in his friendships, a gentleman, liberal in all his views, and of culture and 
refinement, a pleasing conversationalist and always the life of the social circle, and 
can express his views clearly, forcibly and elegantly when the occasion requires. 

Personally he has rare qualities, and by his upright course of life, his deport- 
ment and independence of character, has made for himself an honorable reputa- 
tion. He is as quick of observation and prompt in his business as he is generous 
in his social relations, thoroughly meriting the esteem in which he is held by his 
fellow-citizens. He was the democratic candidate for congress in the third dis- 
trict in the Hancock campaign, and carried the city precincts by r,ooo majority. 



IO8 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

While Mr. Smith is not exactly a politician in the general acceptation of the 
term, he has always taken a lively interest in the political matters of the day, and 
in so doing has ever been honorable and zealous in what he esteems to be the 
cause of right and justice. 



ISRAEL HOLMES. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in Herkimer county, New York, January 
21, 1828. His father was John Holmes, a widely known physician in that 
county; his mother's maiden name was Alida Herkimer. He received his early 
education in the public schools, and fitted for college at Fairfield Academy, in his 
native county, and entered Union College at Schenectady, from which he gradu- 
ated with the highest honors in 1849; after which he was chosen principal of 
Fairfield Academy. He studied law and graduated from the law school at Balls- 
ton Spa, New York, where he ranked as one of the most proficient and promising 
students. He was admitted to the bar in the state of New York, and in 1854 
removed to Portage, Wisconsin, and eventually settled there, in the practice of 
his profession, and soon took position as one of the foremost lawyers of that state, 
ranking high as a conscientious and able counselor and an eloquent advocate, 
and contributed much toward giving to the bar of Wisconsin its reputation. 

Mr. Holmes received his earliest political impressions under the example and 
teachings of Silas Wright, John A. Dix, and A. C. Flagg, and of such local politi- 
cians as Michael Hoffman and others, who made such a proud name for old Her- 
kimer county, and gave her that power in the councils of the state and nation she 
so justly enjoys; he was a true democrat of their school, and naturally identified 
himself with the republican organization at its inception; for no man ever lived 
who hated tyranny in every form, whether over the mind or person, more 
intensely, and with every fiber of his soul, than Israel Holmes. Thoroughly inde- 
pendent in thought and action, in all things, he freely concedes the same to every 
other human being. 

During his residence in Portage he frequently contributed leading articles to 
the columns of the local papers, and for a time was connected with the editorial 
department of the "State Register." In that capacity also, he gained more than 
a local reputation, and his articles always commanded wide spread attention. 
Had he been connected with the metropolitan journals, he must have gained the 
same reputation throughout the country as a journalist, that he enjoyed in the 
state as an advocate. His professional duties, however, required his attention to 
a degree that forbade editorial labor, and he withdrew from journalism to devote 
his entire time to his chosen profession. 

In writing or speaking Mr. Holmes has not the art of mystifying with words, 
at least he will not practice it. With him every word is to represent or help to 
express an idea, but never to conceal one, and so he always writes and speaks 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. IOQ 

plainly, and to this fact was due much of the reputation he gained in Wisconsin 
with the common people. So perfect was the confidence of his neighbors in him 
that they came to lay aside all political differences when he was talked of for 
office, and supported him unanimously. His political associates knew him to be 
a republican. He was so just in his dealings with men; was so tolerant and lib- 
eral toward others who held conflicting views; was so much the friend of the 
weak at all times, that the average democrat believed that he must be a demo- 
crat, and so men of all parties favored and supported him with one accord, a 
sentiment that constantly grew in strength until he determined to retire from 
politics and devote his labors wholly to his profession. His county often desired 
to make him a candidate for congress, and on one occasion presented his name 
in convention, and worked for him most zealously through many ballotings, but 
with a disdain for the jugglery of politics that was as hearty as it was lofty, he 
could not be led from the avenues of self-respect, into the by-ways that led to 
success. Israel Holmes never compromised his-self-respect. Political preferment 
had but little attraction for him: an unsullied manhood was the apple of his 
existence. 

Just previous to the great fire of 1871 he moved to Chicago to seek a wider 
field of operations. After practicing alone for a time, he formed a partnership 
under the firm name of Holmes, Rich and Noble, which was among the best and 
strongest law firms in the city; this firm was dissolved in 1881, since which time 
Mr. Holmes has been alone in practice. He has been very successful, and has 
been employed in some very important cases, attracting wide attention and inter- 
est, in which his power as an advocate and an eloquent speaker have been felt. 
He is a thorough lawyer in either the civil or criminal practice, and ennobles the 
profession of which he is so honored a member. 



JOHN L. THOMPSON. 

JOHN LEVERETT THOMPSON was born in Plymouth, New Hampshire, in 
1835, and was the son of William C. Thompson, who was a lawyer in that 
place. His grandfather, Thomas W. Thompson, who was United States senator and 
speaker of the house of representatives of New Hampshire, practiced law in Salis- 
bury, New Hampshire, the birthplace of Daniel Webster, and it was in his office 
that Webster studied law, and during the period of their connection as preceptor 
and pupil was formed the friendship between them which lasted through the for- 
mer's life. The subject of this sketch prepared for college at Meriden, New 
Hampshire, and entered Dartmouth College in 1852, where he remained two 
years, when he entered Williams College, remaining there one year. He then 
began the study of law in the office of Hon. F. H. Dewey, in Worcester, Massachu- 
setts, attending for a time the law school at Poughkeepsie, New York, and after- 
ward in 1856 entering the Harvard Law School, where he graduated in 1858, in 



IIO THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

which year he was admitted to the bar in Worcester. Mr. Thompson then went 
to Europe to continue his studies and travel, and matriculated at the universities 
of Berlin, Munich and Paris, severally, and returned to America in 1860. He set- 
tled in Chicago the same year, and entered the office of Messrs. Scammon, Mc- 
Cagg and Fuller as a student and clerk, and remained there until the opening of 
the war, when he entered the army as a private in Battery A, Chicago Light 
Artillery, and served three months. He then entered the ist R. I. Cav., as lieu- 
tenant, and afterward was transferred to the ist N. H. Cav., of which he became 
colonel, being afterward brevetted brigadier-general. Serving with considerable 
distinction till the close of the war, in the Army of the Potomac, in Pope's Army 
of Virginia, and in the Army of the Shenandoah, under Sheridan, and in the 
principal engagements of these corps, Gen. Thompson was mustered out of the 
service in 1865. Returning to Chicago he reentered the office of Scammon, Mc- 
Cagg and Fuller, and in the spring of 1866 began practice alone, and in the fol- 
lowing October formed the partnership now existing between himself and Mr. 
Norman Williams, which is now one of the oldest law partnerships in the city, 
under the style of Williams and Thompson. Mr. Thompson's health failing, he 
has been traveling during 1881 and 1882, in the Rocky mountains and on the 
Pacific coast, with the desired result of restoring him again to strength and vigor. 
He was an alderman of the city from 1876 to 1878, is a republican in politics, but 
is not an aspirant for public office. He was in 1870 a republican candidate for the 
state constitutional convention, and is now prominently connected with the work 
of the Citizens' Association of Chicago. Mr. Thompson was married in 1866 to 
Miss Laura Chandler, of Concord, New Hampshire, and has two children. 



ARTHUR DRAPER RICH. 

AMONG the substantial lawyers at the Chicago bar Arthur D. Rich ranks high. 
He was born in Ticonderoga, New York, November 25, 1827. His father, 
Larned Rich, came from Richville, Vermont. His mother's maiden name was 
Amanda Pearce. She was a native of Bolton, New York. His father served in 
the revolution and was in the battle of Plattsburg. Arthur received his prelimin- 
ary education mainly in the schools where he lived, and took a college course in 
the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated in 1851, when he came 
to Chicago and studied law with the then well known and strong firm of Judd and 
Wilson, and later, Judd, Wilson and Frink. He was admitted to the bar in 1853 
when he commenced practice, and has been so engaged since, doing a general and 
successful law business, and attaining to a position among the best. He has 
earned and is accorded the reputation of being a faithful and reliable attorney 
and counselor, and has conducted to a successful issue some notable cases in the 
higher courts, which appear in the court reports, and are noted there as involving 
important points of law. Among them Butler vs. Butler, in 1872, which was an 



THE FtF.NCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. I I 3 

attempt to take minor children from the custody of the father and recover their 
estate, valued at over a quarter of a million dollars; Jenkins vs. Jenkins, a divorce 
case of consequence which was before the courts several times on various issues; 
the case of Sims vs. Everhart, involving a large tract of land, the case culminating 
in the United States Supreme Court in favor of his client; and other cases of note 
could be cited in the conduct of which he evidenced decided ability and a thorough 
and varied knowledge of law. In sound judgment, in patient industry, in pains- 
taking research and clear conception of the spirit and scope of the law as bearing 
upon the case of his client, in his almost intuitive perception of the right, in his 
integrity and honesty of purpose, Mr. Rich ranks with the best. He is a man of 
generous impulses and of genial companionship, which qualities characterize 
his professional and social relations, and have won for him the deserved respect 
and regard of those with whom he comes in contact. He devotes his time and 
energies to his profession to the exclusion of politics, except to discharge his duties 
as a citizen. He is a member of the Swedenborgian church. In the year 1856 he 
married Esther Tenant Dyckman, daughter of the late Judge Evert B. Dyckman, of 
Kalamazoo county, Michigan. They have had nine sons and two daughters; eight 
of the former and one of the latter survive. 



E. RAYMOND BLISS. 

A^IONG the more prominent and successful of the younger members of the 
Chicago bar is E. Raymond Bliss, present attorney of Cook county. He was 
born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, September 3, 1847 ; son of George Ripley 
Bliss, D.D., an author and professor of theology in the Upland Seminary, in Penn- 
sylvania. His mother's maiden name was Mary A. Raymond; she was a daughter 
of Eliakim Raymond, of New York, who gave his children not only the advantages 
of excellent associations but devoted himself to their correct training and devel- 
opment. E. Raymond was primarily educated at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He 
first came to Chicago in 1863, but was away from 1870 to 1876, during which 
time he attended the Columbia Law School, in Washington, District of Colum- 
bia, from which he graduated in 1873 and was there admitted to the bar the 
same year. Upon his return he engaged in practice, first forming a partnership 
which existed but a few months, when he formed another, in 1880, with Mr. 
Leander D. Condee, under the firm name of Condee and Bliss, a firm which ranked 
high and conducted to a successful issue some important cases. Wherever the 
distinction of merit is preferred to and regarded as superior to ephemeral, acci- 
dental or incidental success, there the name of E. Raymond Bliss will be recog- 
nized as deserving of credit. He is yet a young man, but his life work up to this 
time is to his credit, and the firmness and persistency of his faithfulness to well 
founded principles, with his integrity of purpose, give promise of a successful 
future. The individual who devotes himself to an early imbibed principle, and 



114 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO 

the profession or avocation of his choice, with earnestness, sincerity and persever- 
ing energy, is almost certain to rise above the majority of men in the way of 
success and develop his native abilities, his real character and his manhood. 

He is an active and earnest member of the republican party, and takes the part 
in politics every good citizen should. September i, 1882, he was appointed by the 
board of commissioners to the responsible position of attorney for Cook county, 
and is serving with ability and to the satisfaction of his great clientage, and pro- 
tecting the interests of the county well. He is held in high estimation by all who 
know him. 

WILLIAM J. ENGLISH. 

WILLIAM J. ENGLISH is one of the most successful lawyers at the Chi- 
cago bar. Though comparatively young in years, he has attained to an 
enviable prominence in a quiet and unostentatious way. His life has been one of 
activity. He seems to have had the intuition to formulate his future, and the 
ability, singleness of purpose and integrity of character to consummate his early 
formed purposes. He possesses the tact, energy and application, which have ena- 
bled him to meet, contend with and eventually master emergencies, and hence 
conquer in his profession; such men usually attain to success, and often emi- 
nence. Gifted by nature with sturdy qualities of mind and body, he has trained 
and cultured them. 

Mr. English was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the year 1845. His father, 
John English, was a business man there, and at one time county treasurer. Later 
he engaged in the wholesale business in Chicago, and is now residing here. He 
furnished William the advantages for obtaining an education, which were im- 
proved. After graduating at the Kenosha high school, he entered Michigan 
University at Ann Arbor, and graduated in the classical course in 1867. He was 
among the first in his class in all branches, and was a superior linguist. After 
graduating he remained with the institution, acquiring a knowledge of the mod- 
ern European languages, and can now read fourteen different languages, includ- 
ing the Hebrew. He held positions in the university successively as Greek tutor, 
assistant librarian and curator of the museum, and lost no opportunity to add to 
his fund of knowledge of all subjects. He took a two years' course in the law 
school there, graduating in 1869, and was admitted to the Michigan bar. He 
then came to Chicago, and entered the law office of Walker and Dexter; later 
became assistant to Mr. J. M. Walker as counselor for the Chicago, Burlington 
and Quincy and Michigan Central railroads, and the lines known as the Joy rail- 
roads. This was a valuable experience as it brought him in contact with the 
ablest minds of the country, including senators and members of the national 
house of representatives, and gave him an insight into corporation law, which he 
practices largely. In 1871 he formed a partnership with Thomas A. Moran, now 
one of the judges of the circuit court of Cook county, under the firm name of 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. I 15 

Moran and English, and when the former was elected to the bench the firm 
became, and is now, Hynes, English and Dunne, one of the leading law firms in 
Chicago. As a lawyer he is studious, and prepares his cases with great care and 
research. A case well presented is already half tried, he thinks. He masters a 
case before he leaves it, and when presented to a court it is complete to that 
extent. 

He is attorney for and manages a great number of estates, and has the 
implicit confidence of those who have intrusted their interests to him. He has 
the management of over one hundred estates, besides one of the largest common 
law dockets in the city, and a combination of legal and business qualifications 
are indispensable in the successful and faithful prosecution of the same. His 
education and experience have given him these qualifications. He is the attor- 
ney for a number of large corporations, including Chicago board of education, 
the Catholic Bishop of Chicago (a corporation), People's Gas Light and Coke 
Company, Hibernian Banking Association, Home National Bank, and Fortune 
Brewing Company. The management of the school property, amounting to mill- 
ions, with an annual income of about $200,000, requires special fitness which he 
possesses. So also of other large estates. 

Mr. English was appointed a member of the Chicago board of education 
three successive times, and served seven years and declined a reappointment. On 
his retirement, the board passed the following resolution: 

Resolved, That we part with regret with the valuable services of William J. English, who has 
discharged his duties faithfully as a member of the board of education during the past seven 
years, a great portion of said time acting as chairman of the committee on school fund property, 
who has ever proved himself a zealous and watchful guardian over the interests of the public 
schools of the city, and that our best wishes go with him in his retirement. 

At the following election, however, the board, desiring to retain his services, 
elected him attorney of the board, which position he still holds. From his first 
appointment he was chairman of the committee on school fund property, requir- 
ing the highest business ability combined with legal knowledge. He had as 
assistants on that committee such successful business men and millionaires as D. 
A. Kohn,' Perry H. Smith and E. G. Keith, the latter succeeding him as chairman. 
As attorney he now has the same charge of the fund. As the recognized scholar 
of the board, he was also accorded the chairmanships of the committees on high 
schools and of the judiciary. While a linguist, and having a special fondness for 
the Greek language, he did not hesitate to antagonize the prevailing sentiment 
in the board at the time when the finances of the city were straitened, and took 
radical ground in favor of giving primary children the full advantages of rudi- 
mental education, even if to the detriment of those pursuing higher studies, 
music, drawing and modern languages, at the expense of the public money 
designed to educate the poorer children in the fundamental branches. He was 
sustained in his position by the real friends of public schools, the mayor and the 
press, the latter approving his course in its editorial columns. 



Il6 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

He is the adviser of many mercantile houses, which have confidence in his 
ability to advise them because he has evidenced his competency and knowledge 
of business management in having accumulated a handsome property himself. 
He is quiet and modest in his manner, and attends strictly to his professional 
business. 



THOMAS CRATTY. 

THOMAS CRATTY was born in Champaign county, Ohio, of Irish parentage, 
his great-great-grandfather having emigrated from the north of Ireland in 
1760, and settled in Pennsylvania, where many of his descendants still reside. 
Several of the family were prominently connected with the current events of the 
day, and the grandfather of the above, who was born in Franklin county, Penn- 
sylvania, in 1763, bore arms as a soldier in the revolutionary war. 

His ancestors were very long-lived, almost always exceeding the allotted time 
of man, and often nearly reaching the one hundredth year. His grandmother, 
who reached the age of ninety-three, when over eighty years of age made the 
journey on horseback from Delaware county, Ohio, to Butler county, Pennsylva- 
nia, a distance of over two hundred and fifty miles. Her mother died at the age 
of ninety-nine. Robert Cratty, a great-uncle, is still living in Marion county, 
Ohio, strong and erect, at the advanced age of ninety-seven. 

William Cratty, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Butler 
county, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1805, but removed to Ohio when a boy, in 1814. 
In April, 1826, he was married to Miss Candis Bennett, who was born in Rhode 
Island, December 25, 1805, and they lived happily together up to the time of her 
death. He was an earnest, indefatigable abolitionist, and for many years, while 
in Ohio, he was thought to be a conductor, and his residence a station-house on 
the under-ground railroad running across the state into Canada. During those 
years of unparalleld struggle for freedom there was a standing reward of $3,000 
offered for his body, dead or alive, delivered south of the Ohio river, and many 
times while the devoted mother was at home alone with the children she could 
hear the curses of the slave hunters heaped upon her husband, as they hanged 
him (in imagination) to a neighboring tree. From their parents the children 
very naturally early imbibed their anti-slavery sentiments. 

For many years, until broken down by hard work, William Cratty was a thor- 
ough, industrious farmer, and when old age crept on he was obliged to seek rest 
and a more retired life, and now resides with a widowed daughter in the beautiful 
town of Elmwood, Illinois, in the vicinity of all of his remaining children and 
grandchildren, who gladly minister to the wants of his declining years. He rests 
in the satisfaction of having done his work well, having raised up a family of 
twelve children, eight girls and four boys, of whom five girls and two boys are 
still living. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. \ \ J 

The death of Mrs. Cratty, which occurred in her home in Elmwood on Janu- 
ary 27, 1875, was deeply mourned by all who knew her. Her family, who gath- 
ered around her during her last sickness, deeply felt the loss of the gentle hand 
and loving heart that had so long kept them in peace and happiness around the 
family hearth. Although tried almost beyond endurance by a long and severe 
illness, she was a consistent and exemplary Christian woman, an affectionate and 
devoted wife, and a loving mother. Her disposition was uniformly kind and 
gentle, and she was sincerely loved by her husband and children. Theirs was a 
happy family, and those remaining revere the memory of her to whom they owe 
so much of what they now are and enjoy. She and her husband early became 
members of the Presbyterian church, and they ever after adhered to their first 
choice. 

The subject of this sketch, a farmer boy, was early trained to habits of indus- 
try and sobriety, and inherited from his parents a genius for hard labor. His 
education was mainly acquired from attendance at the country common school 
in the winter months, sandwiched between seasons of farm labor. His collegiate 
education was limited to the ownership of a scholarship. At an early age he 
began the work of a pedagogue in a district school, boarding round, and holding 
spelling schools Friday nights. This he kept up until the fall of 1854, when he 
took a trip through the southern states, as well for a recreation as to better 
acquaint himself with, the institution of slavery. Being limited in means with 
which to pay his way, he taught school a portion of the time, and thereby had 
opportunities of witnessing results of the divine right which, when he returned 
to Illinois a year after, made him if possible more bitter than ever against 
slavery. 

After his return, in 1856, he continued farming, struggling nobly against hard 
times and low prices, on a farm of several hundred acres. When in 1860 finan- 
cial troubles brought his farming operations to a close, he saw in the ruins the 
long-hoped-for opportunity of entering the profession of his choice. Gathering 
together what little he could from the wreck, he commenced the study of law in 
the Chicago Law School, from which he graduated with honor in 1861, and was 
immediately admitted to practice by the supreme court, then in session at Ottawa. 
Not being able to pay cash for his tuition at the law school, he gave to the then 
professor in charge, Hon. Henry Booth, his note therefor, and paid the same out 
of the first moneys earned in his practice. For Prof. Booth he has always enter- 
tained the highest regard as a thorough lawyer and an accomplished gentleman. 

During his attendance at the law school poverty compelled him to keep bach, 
cooking his own meals and doing his own housework. It no doubt agreed with 
him, for it is said he did not miss a meal or a lecture during the year. He, with 
his companions in poverty, E. S. Abbott, of La Salle, Illinois, and P. W. Harts, 
of Springfield, Illinois, occupied a small room in an old house, still standing, on 
the corner of Green and Randolph streets. Many pleasant recollections are 
retained of the school and the faculty, by whom he was selected as one of four 



Il8 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

graduates who participated in a moot trial at a public exhibition in Metropolitan 
hall, by way of graduating exercises. 

After his admission to the bar he commenced practice in Elmwood, Peoria 
county, Illinois, with but little money and less furniture, and a library consisting 
of one small law book. For two years it was a struggle to get along, having to 
allow the fees earned of the merchants, to go toward paying his old farming bills. 
Had it not been for the kindness of W. H. Kellogg and Dr. J. J. Lobaugh, it 
might have gone even harder for the young lawyer; but when kindness was of 
some account, they extended it. As a village practitioner it became necessary 
for him to travel over the country considerably; but no inclemency of the weather 
or roughness of the roads ever prevented him from meeting his engagements. 

In the fall of 1863 he entered into a partnership with Hon. W. W. O'Brien, a 
prominent lawyer in Peoria, but now of Chicago, with whom he did a pleasant 
and prosperous business for three years. Being of opposite political views, it was 
in the contract that politics should not be a subject of conversation between 
them, that they might avoid unpleasantness. 

The present law firm of Cratty Brothers in Peoria, was formed in January, 
1872, by the admission into the profession of Josiah Cratty, an only brother. 
They are doing an increasingly prosperous business. The collection department 
of their office has become so extensive that they now require the assistance of 
several clerks and a stenographer. Being a hard worker himself, he desires others 
in his employ to follow his example, and remember the meaning of the conspicu- 
ous sign in his office, "Time is Money," for to such industry does he owe his 
present position at the bar. 

On May i, 1880, Mr. Cratty came to Chicago and entered into partnership with 
W. W. O'Brien, under the name and style of O'Brien and Cratty (still retaining 
his office in Peoria), which partnership lasted four months, when Mr. Cratty 
became a member of the firm of Tenney, Flower and Cratty. This latter connec- 
tion lasted until May i, 1882, when the firm was dissolved, since which time Mr. 
. Cratty has been practicing alone. 

In politics he is a republican, but political fame has for him no allurements, 
he never having held or been a candidate for any office. 

During the years 1871-2-3 he, together with Mr. Leslie Robison, published 
the " Peoria Review," a daily, weekly and tri-weekly republican newspaper, of 
wide circulation. Connected therewith they had an extensive steam job office 
and blank book manufactory and bindery. The newspaper requiring too much 
time and attention from their professional duties, they disposed of it, and its 
publication was discontinued. In the presidential campaign of 1872 the "Review" 
supported the late Horace Greeley for president. 

In enterprises of public benefit Mr. Cratty has been among the foremost, not 
always regarding his own self-interest in the matter. When school houses were 
thinly scattered over the western prairies he assisted in organizing the first 
teachers' institute of Knox county, a feature that has become so invaluable to the 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. Iig 

cause of education. The Elmwood Paper Manufacturing Company, the Cham- 
ber of Commerce Association of Peoria, the Merchants' Exchange, and the Peoria 
Public Library, are each indebted partly to the assistance and material aid of Mr. 
Cratty for their existence and success. 

His ability as a speaker has received many compliments, not the least of which 
is his occupying the position of law lecturer in Cole's Commercial College, Peo- 
ria, delivering his lectures weekly for several years, both to citizens and to students 
of the college. 

Although of a domestic turn of mind, it has never been his fortune to marry, 
and at this late day he is rather busy to pay much attention to the selection of a 
life partner. Being a man of firm integrity and untiring industry, a lawyer of 
honest purpose and an increasing practice, he has attained an enviable position 
in society and at the bar of his state. 



ROBERT HERVEY. 

ROBERT HERVEY was born in Glasgow, Scotland, August 10, 1820, his 
father, Alexander, being a West India merchant and, like the long-lost 
brother in the novels of the time, owning a plantation in Trinidad. In his youth 
Robert attended the preparatory grammar schools, and entering Glasgow Univer- 
sity was graduated in 1837. Shortly after this event he turned his face to the new 
world, and settling in Canada began the study of the law with Henry Sherwood, 
attorney general of the province. He was admitted to the bar in 1842, and com- 
menced practice in Bytown, now Ottawa, the capital of the Dominion. His ability 
and solid legal acquirements soon won him a very extensive and paying practice 
in Bytown; but the city was small and, after all, provincial, and desiring a wider 
field he readily yielded to the solicitations of an uncle, long a resident of Illinois, 
to settle in Chicago. Removing thither in 1852, he became a member of the firm 
of Morris, Hervey and Clarkson, a firm existing until the elevation of the senior 
partner, Buckner S. Morris, to the bench. Mr. Hervey continued with Mr. Clark- 
son until 1857, when he formed with Eliot Anthony the firm of Hervey and 
Anthony. In 1860 Mr. Gait was admitted to the firm, and the copartnership con- 
tinued to 1877, and was then the oldest legal firm in the city. 

He has always enjoyed an extensive and profitable practice in all the courts, 
state and national, civil and criminal. Mr. Hervey, indeed, has been retained in 
most of the cases of public importance, civil and criminal alike, which have come 
before our courts in his time. He assisted in the defense of the nineteen alder- 
men indicted for bribery, only one of whom was convicted. He also defended 
Arthur Devine for the murder of Francis McVey, one of his employes, and secured 
Devine's acquittal ; and of all the capital cases in which he has been retained not 
one of his clients has suffered the extreme penalty of the law. He was retained 
by the state in the celebrated Hoops murder case, and again in the defense of 
the county commissioners, not one of whom was found guilty. 



I2O THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

The list of his important civil cases would be too large for publication here. 
His firm were the attorneys of the complaining stockholders of the Galena Rail- 
way Company, and succeeded in preventing its consolidation with the North- 
western until their clients were paid the full value of their shares, and in almost 
innumerable cases of similar importance he has been counsel on the one side or 
the other. It may be said that he lives in the court, his special forte being trial of 
cases before a jury. He has fine literary attainments and is an accomplished 
linguist. His integrity as a lawyer and a man is unquestioned. No corporation 
ever purchased his conscience, no client ever retained it. He is a prominent 
member and one of the originators of the Chicago Bar Association, and has been 
frequently president of the St. Andrews Society and chief of the Caledonian Club. 

He has been twice married: in 1843 to Maria Jones, daughter of Dunham 
Jones, collector of the Port Maitland, and in 1861 to Frances W. Smith. 

In personal appearance Mr. Hervey is rather distingue. His form is medium 
height, very erect and well proportioned. His complexion is fresh, his whiskers 
are gray and worn in the English fashion, his hair is silvery, his head well shaped, 
his eyes gray and keen, and the tout ensemble that of a very pronounced Scotch- 
man. In his demeanor he is very affable and courteous, and before a jury and in 
the examination of a witness, as well as in his treatment of opposing counsel, is 
always gentlemanly and considerate. 



CAPT. STEPHEN F. BROWN. 

OTEPHEN F. BROWN was born in Swanton, Franklin county, Vermont, April 
w^3 1841, and was reared on a farm. His maternal grandfather served during the 
revolution and was with Washington at Valley Forge. He received his primary 
education in the schools of his native town, and subsequently attended the academy 
at Swanton Falls spring and fall, teaching school winters and working on the farm 
in summer, until he had fitted himself for college, when he passed examination for 
admission to the Vermont University in the fall of 1862, immediately after which 
he enlisted in the service of his country, and graduated in the Army of the Poto- 
mac with an empty sleeve for a diploma. He enlisted as a private in Co. K, I3th 
Vt. Inf. and was elected first lieutenant of that company. The regiment enlisted 
for but nine months, and its term of service had expired just before the battle of 
Gettysburg wa% fought, but it continued in service and did itself great credit in 
that memorable contest. The second Vermont brigade, of which that regiment 
was a part, did effective service, and Capt. Brown distinguished himself, and his 
name has since been placed on the roll of honor for gallantry and daring, about 
which it is proper in this connection to state some facts. 

The officers of Vermont regiments formed a reunion society after the war, and 
have held an annual meeting and banquet ever since. In January, 1882, that 
society met at White River Junction, Vermont, where an address was delivered 



**$ 






THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 123 

by Capt. Albert Clark, of i3th regiment, and the following extract from it will 
explain an incident which has become historical: 

" One personal incident of the Gettysburg campaign let me here contribute. 
We had marched an entire sweltering forenoon without a drop of water. A short 
halt was made and orders passed along the line 'to rest in place.' Notwithstand- 
ing this the commanding general had taken the precaution to place a safeguard 
over a neighboring well, he knowing what the troops did not know, that the well 
would prove totally inadequate to the wants of the brigade, and within an hour 
Frederick City would be reached, where an ample supply of water could be ob- 
tained. Disregarding the order and the safeguard, Lieut. S. F. Brown, from Swan- 
ton, went to the well and, in the face of threatened death, obtained some water 
and took it to a few of his famishing men. He was immediately put under arrest 
and deprived of his sword. When Gettysburg was reached, and all could see that 
there would be business for every one on the morrow, Brown went to Gen. Stan- 
nard and asked for his sword, promising to return it if he survived the battle. 
The general found himself relieved from an embarrassing position, in which his 
generous sense of gallantry contended with his knowledge of the importance of 
discipline, by replying that the weapon had been sent with the baggage twenty- 
five miles to the rear. But nothing discouraged, Brown armed himself with a 
hatchet and went into the fight. All through the two terrific days that followed, 
whenever there was an opportunity near him for conspicuous gallantry, there that 
hatchet was seen swinging; and all through the live long night, while most of us 
were wrapt in slumber, he was hovering along the front, and even penetrating the 
skirmish line to help off the wounded and minister unto the dying. I hardly need 
add that after the battle he was allowed to wear a captured sabre. Nothing more 
was ever heard of the impending court-martial, and after his honorable discharge 
he again entered service as a captain in the i7th, lost an arm at the Wilderness and 
is now a prosperous lawyer in Chicago." 

The error in the above statement is that although Capt. Brown is the personal 
friend of the general, the subject of the arrest has never been mentioned between 
them. The lieutenant-colonel was the one who just before the battle informed the 
captain of his release from arrest, but that his sword was away in the baggage 
with the quartermaster. 

These facts became generally known through the newspapers. More than 
nineteen years had passed, but the veteran soldiers of the West determined that 
such gallantry merited recognition, and the subject of this sketch was, a few 
months ago, presented with a very elegant medal in commemoration of the event, 
concerning which the " Chicago Times" of May 28, 1882, contained the following: 

"Capt. Stephen F. Brown, a well-known member of the Chicago bar, was the 
recipient of distinguished honors at the meeting of Post 28, G.A.R., on Tuesday 
evening. The occasion was particularly noteworthy, as this was the first instance 
where a veteran has been complimented by his comrades with a medal for any dis- 
play of gallantry. The facts which led to the event noted were brought out inci- 
13 



124 THE BEN CH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

dentally in an oration delivered before the Vermont officers reunion last winter, 
and were briefly set forth in the charges preferred at the past meeting. Capt. 
Brown was arraigned under the following specification: For having obtained water 
for his soldiers contrary to orders while performing a forced march to Gettysburg, 
and thereby having been ordered under arrest and deprived of his sword; for 
having gone into battle armed only with a camp hatchet after having been released 
from arrest, his sword being in the keeping of a quartermaster, who was in a safe 
place somewhere; for capturing a rebel officer in a hand-to-hand contest, and 
taking from the latter his revolver and saber; for having rushed into a place of 
extreme danger to save a wounded comrade, and, when wounded himself, refusing 
to leave the field until the fight was over. Evidence of the truth of these charges 
was supplied by members of his company, now residents of Chicago, and the 
captain was then sentenced to receive a gold badge of most beautiful design 
and workmanship. The guard bar is an angle, with crossed cannon below, a mini- 
ature hatchet of platinum, and suspended from this is a colonel's badge, from 
which depend charms supporting a five-pointed star, bearing the G.A.R. badge, 
surrounded by oak leaves. On the back is the inscription : ' Presented, May 23, 
1882, by friends in Post 28, G.A.R., to Capt. Stephen F. Brown, for gallantry at 
Gettysburg.'" 

The facts and circumstances that surrounded Capt. Brown's breach of disci- 
pline are set forth in his extempore response to the presentation, which we copy 
from the "Chicago Weekly Freeman," of June i, 1882, whose reporter was present 
.at the time. After expressing his thanks for the beautiful and costly gift, and 
the kind expressions that accompanied its presentation, and stating that all com- 
mendations of his valor and patriotism applied equally to every worthy member 
of the Grand Army of the Republic, Capt. Brown said: "The device [the 
hatchet] upon this medal must have been intended by its donors to commemorate 
an episode in my army life, an event of my boyhood, upon which I have fre- 
quently reflected since maturity, and although I have discovered no valid reason 
for revising the conclusion I then formed, I can never forget that in obtaining 
water for my famishing men, I not only incurred the penalty of death for forcing 
a safeguard, but also disobeyed the positive orders of my superior officer. Hence 
in my mental horizon, have there floated the mists of doubt, and the hazy horror 
of the military maxim: 'A soldier's honor is to obey.' Contemplate the relief I 
now experience in such an indorsement from veterans, a majority of whom have 
held commissions, and many of them, including yourself, sir, of distinguished 
rank. This occasion furnishes an added illustration of the fact that no great 
principle can be extended beyond its proper limits, without crossing the bounda- 
ries of some other great truth. 

"Comrades, you have often followed honor across barriers where death stood 
sentinel. You have suppressed the holiest and tenderest emotions, and bidden 
the heart keep still, while cold duty led you through hottest dangers, but you 
have admitted to-night that sometimes hearts find their way surer than heads to 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 125 

wise conclusions. I do not take this occasion to cast any reflections upon the 
general who commanded. He is a man of noble and generous impulses. Except 
for him the history of this country might have been written differently. He is 
one of the bravest of the brave. He hurled his regiments upon the enemy in 
hand to hand conflict, and actually finished the fighting at Gettysburg. I am 
always ready to uncover in his presence, but I think now, as I thought then, that 
he did not fully realize the extremes of suffering we endured on the fearful forced 
march by which we reached that battle-field. You may the better judge of its 
rigors when you remember that our brigade (the 2d Vt.) was left on outpost duty 
in Virginia until the third day after the Army of the Potomac had passed us in 
pursuit of Lee, and that in six days after we started, we overtook that army on 
its forced march. Ours was, therefore, doubly severe. 

"Our nine months' term of service had expired before we left Virginia, and we 
supposed our march would terminate at the first railroad leading to Vermont, 
and so the boys filled their knapsacks with every conceivable relic of camp, until 
they appeared more like a brigade of foot pedlers than soldiers, while the multi- 
tude of dogs they were taking home devoured their rations. However, before 
we reached the Maryland border, we were alike destitute of knapsacks, dogs and 
rations, but the boys were tired out. 

"Col. H. W. Jackson recently delivered a lecture before the Historical Society 
in this city, wherein he very properly paid a tribute to the generosity and patri- 
otism of the people of Maryland and Pennsylvania, who are said to have wel- 
comed the advanced guard of the Union Army with munificent hospitality. 

" I pause now and here to respectfully recommend, that the first hundred 
pages of the history of the rebellion be kept free of any other matter, that 
thereon may be recorded the outlines of some slight tribute to the enormous 
appetite of that advanced guard, and of that army that consumed everything in 
its progress, and left its track as destitute of rations for its rear guard, as if it 
had been marching across the Sahara. 

" I have offered, and have seen other soldiers offer, to those generous and pat- 
riotic citizens one dollar a loaf for bread, and no takers. There was none. Never 
before had these boys passed a summer beyond the cool breezes of their native 
mountains, but they then found themselves in a climate almost tropical, burdened 
with the weight of gun and ammunition, and clothed with heavy woolen gar- 
ments, and thus they marched on and on, over a seemingly endless track, 
fatigued, hungry, exhausted, the perspiration pouring from them like summer 
rain. 

" In many cases the rough stones of the macadam pike had worn through the 
'soles of their shoes, and their tracks were blood-stained. They were too plucky 
to fall out when exhausted; they fell out only when they fainted. 

"We actually marched past the prostrate forms of unconscious soldiers, strug- 
gling convulsively in the dust. So urgent was the march, that we were not 
allowed to stop and assist such a one. We were only permitted to leave the 



I 26 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

ranks for water three times a day, and a canteen full, under the circumstances, 
would not last an hour. 

"These were my school fellows. Their parents, their mothers had charged 
me with their well being. They were on the cruel road from Gethsemane to 
their Golgotha, like that innocent Nazarene, whom our order recognizes, and 
whom my mother had taught me to worship as a God, because he gave up his 
life for others. But these brave boys, amidst all the extremes of their suffering, 
were each bearing his cross toward his Calvary, there to offer up himself, a willing 
sacrifice for my liberty and for yours, and that of all the people that dwell in this 
broad land from ocean to ocean, and all the generations that are to come. 

"These were the martyrs of liberty, and their piteous cries of distress went up 
to heaven. They were perishing from thirst with an abundance of water in 
sight. What less could man have done than what I did ? And, except the pleas- 
ing consciousness that attends well doing, what greater pleasure can I now expe- 
rience than comes to me from your generous indorsement of my act? Surely 
man in his dark strivings may still be conscious of the right way. 

"I was ordered under arrest, and deprived of my sword. It was placed in the 
possession of the quartermaster, for it was supposed I had disgraced it. In my 
then situation, nothing for arms was obtainable but a common camp hatchet, 
and with that I encountered the enemy. But to-night, you encounter me with a 
hatchet of gold, and I interpret your peaceful attack to mean, that there are 
exceptions to all general rules, and that an intelligent, manly act, prompted by 
pure purposes, will always answer for its own consequences and furnish its own 
vindication. Upon the medal which you have presented" to me, appears the 
hatchet, but no word of disgrace. I read upon it words of commendation. 
Surely, time dispels the illusions of opinion, and vindicates all things that in 
themselves are right. Again, sir, permit me to thank you and these friends for 
your kind words, and this elegant gift." 

During this desperate engagement he was injured in the head by concussion 
from the explosion of a shell, while in the act of aiding one of his soldiers, who 
had had a leg carried away by a shell. The final result of this injury was the 
permanent loss of nearly all of the hair on his head. Notwithstanding this severe 
injury he remained on the field, refusing to be taken to the rear, and held himself 
in readiness to take part in any succeeding battle as his condition would admit 
of, but the battle was essentially closed, and he, with the regiment, was taken to 
Vermont and mustered out. Subsequently Vermont attempted to organize a vet- 
eran regiment from the discharged brigade, and he was commissioned recruiting 
officer for northern Vermont, and had a company of one hundred and sixty men 
ready to muster long before any one else. The veterans had confidence in him,' 
and enlisted under him. He accepted the captaincy of the company; though he 
had not sufficiently recovered his health to again engage in the service, he listened 
to the call of duty, which was to him paramount to all other considerations. In 
the spring of 1864 the regiment was organized as the iyth Vermont, and imme- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. \2"J 

diately took the field and participated in the Battle of the Wilderness, in which 
on May 6, following, he lost his left arm by a minie ball which entered his 
shoulder and came out at the elbow, while that arm was extended in giving 
orders to his men on the left. The arm was amputated, and after great suffering 
it healed. One of the fortunate results of this wound was his complete recovery 
from the injury in the head, the cerebral pressure being relieved by the excessive 
discharge of blood. 

After his final muster out, and when he had recovered his health and strength 
sufficiently to admit of his pursuing his studies, he entered the Albany Law Uni- 
versity, and graduated with the highest honors of his class March 3, 1868; was 
admitted to the bar and removed to Chicago, and engaged in the practice of his 
profession, which he has persistently followed since. When he commenced he 
had but twenty-five dollars in his pocket, and had never spent an hour in a law 
office, but as the result solely of his law practice he has accumulated a handsome 
fortune, including the Vermont block, where his office is, and real estate else- 
where. The great fire destroyed his building and a fine law library, but he has 
more than recovered all since. In pursuing the legal profession his courage has 
never faltered, and invention and enterprise have distinguished his career in 
Chicago. 

The following illustrates his invention: After the great fire in Chicago, Capt. 
Brown rented for a law office a room on Desplaines street, Chicago, wherein was 
a pine table and upon it a copy of the New Testament. A man called for advice. 
He stated that as a collector he held money which he desired to use a few days, 
but that it belonged 'to his principal, who threatened to capias him unless he paid 
over. Capt. Brown told his client that he had the latest law on the subject, and 
opening the Testament read Mat. v, 25: "Agree with thine adversary quickly," 
etc. That law settled that case. 

As we have said, he has been financially successful, but none of his gold is 
stained with blood, or rusted with tears. His purpose and practice is to render 
to every man his just dues without distinction. His present partner, Mr. Hull, 
relates an incident illustrating Capt. Brown's old fashioned notions of honesty 
and fair dealing: During Mr. Hull's earliest connection with the office as a clerk, 
one of his duties was to watch the court calls, and not being familiar with his 
duties, a case of replevin went by default, and a judgment in trover for $290.45 was 
rendered against his client, and the term passed so that it could not be set aside. 
Capt. Brown promptly drew his check payable to his client's order for that amount, 
and no case has since gone by default in that office. 

The subject of this sketch has not only never sought to be retained in cases 
merely for advertisement, but has, as now appears, sometimes declined retainers 
in cases that vainer men would gladly grasp. Two criminals in fleeing from the 
scene, of a burglary they had just committed in Chicago, were arrested by police 
officer Hubner, whom one of them killed. James Tracy and Michael Rock, two 
discharged convicts, were arrested and held for that crime. Rock's father and 



128 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

brothers knowing the captain's skill, ability and success as an advocate, offered 
him a retainer for the defendant Rock. Before accepting it, however, he inquired 
into the case, and the following letter from him to Mr. Rock, Sr., from whom the 
writer obtained it, illustrates points in Capt. Brown's professional methods. 

JOSEPH B. ROCK, Esq. CHICAGO, April 15, 1882. 

Dear Sir: I have inquired into the case of your son, charged with murder, and give you 
timely information that I cannot undertake the case, for the following reasons : First, Your son, 
apparently more anxious for Tracy's safely than his own, demands that we defend Tracy jointly 
with himself. Second, That we prove by members of your family that Tracy slept with Michael 
Rock at your house on the night of the murder, -which was not a fact. Third, That if we fail to 
establish that false alibi for Tracy, Michael Rock threatens to be sworn and deny the testimony of 
his brothers and sisters, necessary witnesses in his own defense. Thanking you for the efforts you 
have made to change the insane purposes of your son, and fully appreciating the confidence that 
has induced you to request my professional services in a case of such moment to him and your 
household, I must decline to accept the retainer you so generously offer. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully yours, STEPHEN F. BROWN, 

For Brown and Hull. 

P.S. I am satisfied that your son is innocent of the murder, and I shall not fail to exert my 
influence in favor of his acquittal. S. F. B. 

James Tracy expiated his crimes on the gallows in Chicago, September 15, 
1882, and the case against Michael Rock was nolle prossed. Capt. Brown never 
sought a criminal practice, but has been uniformly successful in every criminal 
trial he has undertaken; and in some important cases he has defended, the evi- 
dence of the defendant's guilt seemed overwhelming; but the attorney fully 
believed in the innocence of his client. 

In the McManus arson case defendant was a saloon-keeper, and lived on the 
same floor and in rear of the saloon. The stock in trade was insured for $600, 
and there was not a pint of liquor or a cigar in the saloon, and when the fire 
department arrived defendant had his household goods packed and moved into 
the alley in the rear with his family. The fire was easily extinguished. The 
firemen found in the saloon a ball of candle wicking saturated with kerosene. It 
was therefore conceded that the place was set on fire. The case was stubbornly 
prosecuted, and the trial was a severe one. The fire department, an insurance 
company and an irate and wealthy landlord assisted the prosecution. But Capt. 
Brown's management of the case was as fearless and honorable as it was inge- 
nious and masterly, and the jury acquitted the defendant. 

Shortly after the great fire a maimed soldier, named Sommers, who kept a 
saloon on North Desplaines street, Chicago, was arrested for assault with a deadly 
weapon with intent to kill. The circumstances attending the assault were that a 
mob had surrounded the saloon to obtain free drinks, and the accused, after vainly 
trying to disperse the mob, fired a pistol shot in the air above their heads, and 
that only caused derision. He next fired directly to disperse the mob, and the 
bullet lodged in the leg of a small boy on the outskirts of the crowd. Hence the 
arrest. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. I 2Q 

Capt. Brown sought to introduce evidence to prove among other things that 
as many as twelve of the individuals in that mob had since that time been indict- 
ed for various crimes, from highway robbery to petty larceny, but the court 
refused to allow the evidence; and though it was conceded to be the rule that if 
the accused was found to have acted as a man of ordinary prudence would have 
acted under similar circumstances the jury must acquit the accused, yet the 
court refused to admit testimony tending to show what the circumstances were. 
Thereupon Capt. Brown, as defendant's counsel, appealed from the court to the 
jury upon a question of law, under a provision of the Illinois statutes, and the 
jury discharged the defendant. It was an extraordinary proceeding, and one 
never resorted to in any other case that has come to the knowledge of the writer, 
but it was the only thing that could have saved the defendant from a verdict of 
guilty. It was afterward ascertained to have been the intention of the judge to 
have suspended sentence in the event of a verdict of guilty; but the attorney 
replied that he had no knowledge at the time as to any such intention, and 
thought the intention to convict was sufficiently manifest. The jury immediately 
rendered their verdict of acquittal, and the enthusiastic friends of the defendant 
lifted Capt. Brown upon their shoulders, much to his surprise and against his 
earnest protest, and bore him triumphantly from the court-house. 

His practice has been largely in the civil courts, wherein he has had occasion 
to rejoice in many triumphs, while his defeats can be numbered on the fingers of 
one hand, and these only because occasionally misinformed by a client. In every 
sense of the term his career has marked the successful lawyer. 

In the circuit court, before Judge McAllister and a jury, he defended Peter E. 
Reimond in an action brought by Richard Bonhomie to recover $1,500, and 
actually recovered a verdict against the plaintiff in the suit in favor of the defend- 
ant for $271 and costs. 

Capt. Brown was intrusted with the prosecution or defense of many mechan- 
ics' lien suits brought after the rebuilding that followed the great fire of Chicago, 
and in every one of these suits he was equally successful, whether for plaintiff or 
defendant, and some of them were hotly contested. Not the least notable among 
them was the case of Biggs et al. vs. Clapp, in which he'was opposed by Messrs. 
Fuller and Smith. That case was reported in the "Chicago Legal News" of 
1875, p. 272, and in the seventy-fourth volume Illinois Supreme Court Reports. 

Another notable case that he defended was Holden vs. Bushnell et al., the last 
trial over which the late Judge Porter, of the superior court, presided. The 
amount involved was $20,000, and the trial of the cause occupied the entire week 
preceding the sudden death of the judge. 

Capt. Brown made a successful defense, closing the case with a masterly argu- 
ment ; and though he had not averaged three hours of rest out of every twenty- 
four during the trial, he was in good condition at its close, but both attorneys for 
plaintiff were exhausted. 

A fine physical constitution and untiring industry, united with strong common 



130 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

sense and natural tact, arm him with the power of "bringing things to pass,' 
and his unassailable integrity gives him power with judges and jurors. 

Capt. Stephen F. Brown has never yet been, but has thus far declined to be, a 
candidate for any political office. In 1873 a nominating convention sent its com- 
mittee to tender him a membership in the legislature, which he declined. In 
1868 the executive committees, on behalf of both political parties jointly, tendered 
him the nomination for alderman of the First, the ward containing the amassed 
wealth of Chicago. Dr. J. Ward Ellis, in tendering the support of the democracy, 
stated that his party expected Capt. Brown to accept the nomination as a repub- 
lican. His charities and helpfulness to the poor and distressed have made him 
as universally loved as he is universally respected. 

His father and mother, stricken with years, still reside in the valley of Lake 
Champlain, in Swanton, Vermont. He is all that remains to them, having lost 
his only brother, Lieut. S. G. Brown, Jr., in the war. He spends every court 
vacation with them. 

Ambition for political distinction has not lured him from professional pursuits, 
but it is intimated among his friends that filial duty may induce him to abandon 
the law. There are circumstances aside from their earlier associations that ren- 
der it impracticable for his parents to come west. But if Stephen F. Brown leaves 
the West, we shall hear from him in the East. 



ALLAN C. STORY. 

A, LAN C. STORY, the subject of this sketch, and one of the leading lawyers 
of the Chicago bar, was born in Allegany county, New York, August i, 
1835. His grandfather, Rev. Cyrus Story, was of an old Massachusetts family of 
English origin, a clergyman, and latterly a member of the old Genesee confer- 
ence of the Methodist Episcopal church, as was also his father, Rev. Asa Story, 
who with true heroism bore for many years the privations common to men of his 
profession in those early days. In 1828 he married Miss Minerva Davis, of Caze- 
novia, New York, a young lady of excellent family and religious cjiaracter. 
There were four children born of this marriage, of whom Allan C. was the 
youngest. During infancy he suffered the loss of a kind and gentle mother, and 
at the tender age of twelve years was left an orphan by the death of his father, 
who died at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to which place he had gone in the hope that a 
milder climate might restore his then failing health. His son Allan was thus a 
young lad thrown almost entirely upon his own resources, the expenses incident 
to his father's sickness and death in a strange land having exhausted the small 
savings of a frugal life, and left him only a father's good name as an inherit- 
ance. The struggle for an education at first seemed almost desperate, but 
with energy and some slight assistance from kind relatives he was able to attend 
school winters, working as a farm hand during the summer months. A bright 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 133 

and precocious youth, he made rapid progress, and soon was enabled, as a teacher, 
to increase his income, and thus to acquire, in part at least, a collegiate education 
at Genesee College and the University of Albany, though he felt constrained by 
reason of his limited means to commence the study of law before completing a 
full collegiate course. In 1855 he entered the law office of Rogers, Lowman 
and King, at Elmira, New York, where he remained until 1856, when he entered 
the office of Hon. Ira Harris, at Albany, attending lectures at the law school of 
the university, and was admitted to the bar of New York in March 1857. He 
practiced in Livingston county until 1859, when he visited Pine Bluff, Arkansas. 
Thence he proceeded to New Orleans, where he landed an entire stranger. He 
there found that owing to the peculiar code of Louisiana he must again become 
a student before being admitted to the bar. He entered the law office of Whita- 
ker and Fellows, where he prosecuted his studies with vigor, and was admitted to 
the bar by the supreme court of that state in 1860, and, remaining with that firm, 
was doing a prosperous business at the breaking out of the war. As all northern 
men were looked upon with suspicion at this time, he gathered together a few 
books, secured as much for his interest in the business as he could, reluctantly 
leaving the Crescent City, which he had intended to make his home, and returned 
to the North in April 1861. After visiting friends, he entered the office of W. 
J. Baxter, at Jonesville, Michigan, and was admitted in the supreme court of 
that state in November 1861. Desiring a wider field of labor, he removed to 
Chicago in June, 1862, where he has since devoted himself untiringly to his pro- 
fession, being admitted to the bar of Illinois in September of that year. His 
name appears frequently in the reports of the state in connection with many 
important leading cases, most of them pioneers in the principles established. 
Among these Mason vs. Dousay is the leading case, holding a parol accept- 
ance of a bill of exchange to be valid. Burton vs. Curyea holds that warehouse 
receipts are non-negotiable. Green vs. Williams is a leading case upon the 
measure of damages on a breach by the lessor of the covenants of a lease. 
Commercial Insurance Company vs. Mehlman establishes the right of a corpo- 
ration to take a change of venue like other litigants. In People ex rel. vs. 
Chicago City Railway Company, involving important constitutional questions, 
he was acting attorney general appointed by the circuit court to bring the 
suit. Garrick vs. Chamberlain, one of his more recent cases, is remarkable in 
that a tax title was allowed to prevail in a court of equity, probably for 
the first time in any court. The principles here established were important 
and just, and have since been followed generally. Insurance Company vs. Corn- 
stock, in the United States Supreme Court, was a case where Mr. Story as coun- 
selor successfully established the right of a bankrupt after adjudication to take 
a bill of exceptions and writ of error upon the judgment adjudging him bankrupt. 
This case is a notable one, not only as to the theory and practice of the law in 
bankrupt cases, but also as to its practical effect. In August, 1863, Mr. Story 
was married to Miss Cornelia Witherell, a daughter of the late Henry M. With- 
14 



134 TIIE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

erell, M.D., of Waukegan, Illinois. In religion Mr. Story is an Episcopalian, and 
in politics has always been an ardent democrat. He was secretary for Illinois 
of the national democratic convention held in St. Louis in 1876, and has been 
frequently and favorably mentioned in connection with a congressional nomina- 
tion. In July, 1882, he was appointed by Mayor Harrison to the board of educa- 
tion of Chicago, and has proved himself an active, efficient and prominent member. 
He has a large and profitable clientage, and may be classed as an able and 
successful lawyer. 

JOSEPH W. MERRIAM. 

THE subject of this sketch is a well read lawyer in all of the branches of the 
profession. He was born in Coos county, New Hampshire, June 14, 1828, 
the son of David Merriam and Joanna (Smith) Merriam. His grandfather was 
a soldier in the revolutionary war, and was in the battle of Stony Point under 
Gen. Wayne; and was one of three men in the town of Northumberland to vote 
for Thomas Jefferson the first time he was a candidate for the presidency. Mr. 
Merriam received his earlier education in the common schools, and afterward 
pursued a classical and scientific academic course. He read law three years in 
Lancaster, New Hampshire, with Messrs. Burns and Fletcher, both of whom were 
very eminent men, and the most distinguished lawyers in New Hampshire at that 
time. Mr. Merriam 's course of study was very thorough, and he imbibed deeply 
of the principles of the common law, and was well grounded in the rudiments of 
the profession. He went into the newspaper business in 1857, and was connected 
editorially with the New Hampshire "Patriot," where he displayed rare talent as 
a political writer, his paper taking rank as one of the ablest journals in New Eng- 
land under his leadership. He was afterward connected with the Memphis, Ten- 
nessee, " Avalanche," but severed his connection with it in 1860, not being disposed 
to continue with it after it had declared for secession, and commenced the practice 
of his profession at Memphis. Mr. Merriam was on a hunting expedition in 
Mississippi, some twenty-five miles below Memphis, when Fort Sumter was fired 
upon. He at once returned to Memphis, arriving there April 15, 1861, to find his 
partner prepared to start north. Mr. Merriam remained until April 25, when he 
embarked on board the last steamboat allowed by Gen. Polk to pass Columbus, and 
says " if ever a man felt grateful for a sight of the United States flag, it was I, 
when the old star spangled banner first met my view at Cairo," Illinois. He landed 
beneath its ample folds as it floated out over the Father of Waters, and cheered 
heartily for the Union. He then went to Grinnell, Iowa, and practiced law in 
that place one year with reasonable success. He removed to Chicago in 1862, 
and formed a partnership with Solomon M. Wilson, a well known Chicago lawyer, 
under the firm name of Wilson and Merriam; afterward associated himself with 
Mr. Alexander, under the firm name of Merriam and Alexander, a partnership 
which continued about fourteen years. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 135 

Mr. Merriam was in business by himself from 1877 to 1880, when the present 
firm of Merriam and Whipple was formed. This firm has a very respectable 
business, largely in chancery matters, and business connected with patent litiga- 
tion. They also, to a considerable extent, engage in a general law business. As 
a lawyer, Mr. Merriam justly sustains the reputation of being a very thorough 
practitioner, discriminating and accurate, having a well balanced judgment, 
which, combined with that sterling integrity that characterizes the natives of the 
granite hills, has won for him the respect of all who know him, both as a lawyer 
and a citizen. 

HON. E. A. OTIS. 

THE subject of this sketch was born August 2, 1835, at Marengo, in'Calhoun 
county, Michigan. His father, Hon. Isaac Otis, was one of the old settlers 
of Michigan, and at one time judge of the probate court of Barry county. His 
mother's maiden name was Caroline Curtis. She was a daughter of Hon. Gideon 
Curtis, of Courtland county, New York. Both his parents were Quakers, and 
natives of New York state, and of English descent. 

Mr. Otis lived on a farm until nineteen years of age, attending school at 
Albion, Michigan, and afterward at the Michigan University. In the fall of 1856, 
he began the study of the law with Hon. Joseph Miller, at Kalamazoo, Michigan. 
After completing his legal course of study, he was admitted to the bar, and 
entered into the practice of the law at St. Paul, Minnesota, in company with his 
brother, Hon. George L. Otis, one of the leading lawyers of that state, and was 
in successful business there from that time until the opening of the civil war. He 
assisted in the organization of the 2d Minn. Inf., and was commissioned a 
lieutenant in that regiment, which, in October, 1861, was ordered to join the 
Army of the Cumberland. He was immediately detailed on the staff of Gen. R. 
W. Johnson, with whose command he served until after the battle of Shiloh, in 
which he participated. In the spring of 1862, at the request of Brig. Gen. Van 
Cleave, the old colonel of the 2d Minn., Mr. Otis was assigned to duty on his 
staff as assistant adjutant-general, in which capacity he served until the close of 
the war, through all of the campaigns of the Army of the Cumberland. He was 
in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesborough, Perryville and Chickamauga, in all of 
which his command was very heavily engaged. He left the army after the battle 
of Nashville, in December 1864, being satisfied that the war was over. He was 
then serving temporarily on the staff of Maj. Gen. Rosseau, of Kentucky. 

Believing that the southern country would be opened to northern emigration, 
he opened a law office in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1865, when he took an active 
part in the reconstruction of that state, and was a warm personal friend of the 
late ex-Gov. Brownlow. He was commissioned chancellor in the Nashville chan- 
cery district of Tennessee in 1868, being the youngest man, who, up to that time, 
had ever held that office in that state. He filled this position with great ability, 



1^6 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

giving universal satisfaction to all having business connection with that high 
court, where he presided about one year. Judge Otis arrived in Chicago, June 10, 
1869. On the 22d of the same month, when the court convened, over which he 
had presided, a meeting of his old associates at the bar in Nashville was held, at 
which the following resolutions were reported by a committee, composed of Col. 
William B. Reese, Hon. William F. Cooper, Gov. Neil S. Brown, Hon. Francis B. 
Fogg and H. H. Harrison. 

" Chancellor E. A. Otis, having found it to be to his interest to remove from Tennessee to the 
city of Chicago, to engage in the practice of the law at that place, and having left the bench at the 
close of the term for which he had been appointed chancellor of this division, the members of the 
Nashville bar, desiring to attest their appreciation of his labors and merits, have met and 

"Resolved: That we regret that circumstances have called Judge Otis from our midst, and that 
our best wishes for his success and prosperity in his new field of labor attend him. 

"Resolved: That the industry and ability he manifested in the examination of questions 
brought before him while presiding as chancellor, and his gentlemanly bearing and courtesy to the 
members of the bar, in the discharge of his official duties, entitle him to our high consideration and 
esteem. 

"Resolved: That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to Judge Otis, and inserted in the 
Nashville papers, and that the chancellor be moved to enter them on the records of the chancery 
court." 

Judge Otis was a prominent republican, and assisted in the organization of 
the republican party in Tennessee, and was one of the few northern men who had 
been prominent republicans in the South, and who came away, retaining the 
friendship of the ex-rebels. Among other able and leading men in this country, 
during his service in the army, and during his residence at Nashville, he made 
the acquaintance of Gen. George H. Thomas, and sustained warm personal rela- 
tions with him up to the day of his death. He was. employed by him in several 
suits in which officers who had served under Gen. Thomas during the war had 
been sued in connection with the reconstruction policy. Among others, was one 
brought against Hon. William B. Woods, now associate justice of the United 
States Supreme Court, in which he was entirely successful. 

He was also employed by Gov. Brownlow to defend the constitutionality of 
the Tennessee franchise law, whereby confederate soldiers were excluded from 
voting. He made a very able and elaborate argument on that question before 
the supreme court of Tennessee, and afterward in the Supreme Court of the 
United States, and was successful in every case where a decision was rendered. 
Since coming to Chicago, Judge Otis has been in the general practice of the law, 
having numerous chancery cases, and a large amount of business for national 
banks in Chicago, and in the East. In all of his business he has been very suc- 
cessful. 

He is a very thorough lawyer in all branches, possessing an analytic mind 
with great power of condensation. He is quick of apprehension, has large rea- 
soning faculties, a retentive memory, a copious flow of language and is fertile in 
original ideas, and eminently skillful in arguing questions of law before a court. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 137 

He is a gentleman of fine presence, being of medium height and size, of light 
complexion, with a high, broad forehead and dark, large eyes. He is urbane in 
his manners, social in his intercourse with mankind, and sustains a reputation for 
honor, integrity and truthfulness second to no man. He has a keen sense of jus- 
tice, which he upholds with an untiring energy. 

He has been prominently connected with the Historical Society of Chicago, 
and the Chicago Literary Club, and is one of the founders of the society of the 
Army of the Cumberland, and also a member of the military order of the Loyal 
Legion and the Grand Army, and other ex-soldier societies. Judge Otis belongs 
to a family of lawyers, and is one of five brothers, all prominent and successful 
in the profession. 

WALLACE SMITH. 

THE subject of this sketch is descended of Scotch-Irish parentage. He was 
born at Troy, New York, May 28, 1850, and, consequently, is in his thirty- 
third year. He was named after Sir William Wallace, the hero of his father's 
native country, but for many years, except on occasions such as being admitted 
to the bar, and the present one, he has abbreviated his name to read Wallace 
Smith, instead of William Wallace, having been so called from his boyhood up. 
His father, George Smith, was born in Paisley, Scotland, and his mother, whose 
maiden name was Jane Maloy, was born in the County of Cavan, Ireland. After 
bringing Ireland to submission in the seventeenth century, Cromwell peopled 
this part of it from Scotland, therefore Mrs. Smith's ancestors must also have 
been Scotch. 

Mr. Smith's parents were married in the city of New York in 1845, and after- 
ward moved to Troy, where they resided for some years, and thence removed to 
Watkins, New York, where his widowed mother still resides. His parents 
belonged to different religious denominations, his father belonging to the estab- 
lished church of his native country, and his mother to the established church of 
England, but no religious restraint being placed on their children, they were 
permitted to attend the churches of either denomination or both. Mr. Smith's 
father having been a merchant, it was his intention to have his son follow that 
walk of life, and therefore his education was mainly directed to that end. After 
having attended the common schools, which New York state so amply affords, up 
through the high school, he was sent to the Watkins Academy for several years, 
where he graduated. Then he was sent to Eastman's Business College at Pough- 
keepsie, New York, and after graduating in that institution, his father furnished 
the capital to carry on the boot and shoe business, which proving distasteful to 
his son was soon abandoned for a more congenial pursuit. Mr. Smith now 
decided to study law. After studying the law in his native state for a time, he 
came west and settled in Cincinnati, where he continued its study for over two 
years, at the expiration of which time he was admitted by the supreme court at 



138 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Columbus to the Ohio bar, his certificate bearing date January 19, 1875. After 
being so admitted, Mr. Smith continued to reside in Cincinnati, and practice law 
there till the spring of 1879, when he removed to Chicago. On June 12, 1879, he was 
admitted by the supreme court of Illinois at Mount Vernon, to practice in the 
courts of record of this state, since which time he has continued to live in Chi- 
cago, and practice law. 

H. S. AND F. S. OSBORNE. 

THE senior member of this firm, Henry Sayre Osborne, was born November 
24, 1840, in New York city. The junior member, Frank Sayre, is a native 
of the same place, and was born July 24, 1844. Their father was Milo Osborne, a 
steel engraver of that city, who married Miss Phoebe A. Sayre, a descendant of 
one of the oldest and most honored families of New Jersey. In 1852 the family 
removed to Rock county, Wisconsin. While there both boys entered Beloit Col- 
lege, Henry graduating in 1862, and Frank in 1866. Immediately after graduat- 
ing, Henry enlisted in the 8th Illinois Cavalry, and at the same time became the 
western war correspondent of the Chicago "Tribune." He served through the 
four years principally in the East, and at the close of the war, was detailed to 
Texas to guard the frontier, and was mustered out of the service in February 
1866. He at once returned to the North, and, settling at Chicago, commenced 
the study of law, and in 1869 was admitted to the bar of Illinois. 

Frank Sayre Osborne, after graduating at Beloit, in 1866, accepted a position 
as teacher in a public school in Long Island, a position which he retained three 
years, improving his spare time by studying law. In 1870 he was admitted to the 
bar of New York, and at once proceeded to Chicago, where, in the same year, in 
connection with his brother, he formed the present firm of H. S. and F. S. Osborne. 
In politics both are republican, although neither take an active part, but always 
vote at the polls and the primary elections. Frank S. was married October 20, 
1874, to a daughter of Hon. J. Lawrence Smith, and since that time has resided in 
Hyde Park, his brother living with him. In religion Henry is a Presbyterian, 
and takes a very active part in all that pertains to church matters. Frank is an 
active and leading member of the Hyde Park Episcopal Church. As lawyers the 
Messrs. Osborne rank among the leaders of the younger members of the Chicago 
bar, and are both esteemed by the profession for their legal attainments and 
genuine upright manliness. 

BENJAMIN M. MUNN. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in West Fairlee, Orange county, Vermont, 
in the year 1828, on a farm, where he worked during his youth and early 
manhood, until he resolved upon obtaining a liberal education. He had attended 
the schools of his native town during the periods between the seasons of labor. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 139 

He was dependent upon his own resources, which consisted mainly of health, 
strength, determination, decision, willing heart and hand, a robust body and a 
well balanced mind. His education was obtained in the schools of Vermont, and 
in Williams College, Massachusetts. He commenced the study of law, the pro- 
fession he had chosen, in Massachusetts, and completed his studies in Indiana, 
under Hon. William S. Holman; was admitted to the bar in 1852, after which 
he was principal of the Rising Sun, Indiana, Female Seminary, one year, when he 
moved to Charleston, Illinois, and taught the academy there one year, when he 
engaged in the practice of law in that place, and continued until 1861. During 
this time he practiced in the same courts with Abraham Lincoln, Leonard Swett, 
and other noted men who traveled that circuit, and practiced before Hon. David 
Davis and others. In 1861 he entered the Union service as private, and was 
immediately elected captain of a company in the yth 111. Inf., and served his 
country well. He now holds the oldest captain's commission in the volunteer 
service in this state. He settled in Chicago in 1869, and was made deputy col- 
lector of internal revenue in 1872 and 1873, a d assistant counsel to the corpora- 
tion of Chicago, under the late Hon. Jesse O. Norton, and was acting counsel for 
several months. In all of these different capacities in which he has acted for the 
public or individual client, he has devoted himself to the conscientious discharge 
of his duty, and has always been faithful and honorable, and has the respect of 
the profession. For several years past he has made a specialty of internal revenue 
practice, in connection with his partner, Theodore E. Davis, of Washington, D.C., 
and has collected large sums of money upon refund claims of distillers of spirits, 
paid upon erroneous assessments under internal revenue laws. He is now in 
active and successful practice here, and takes an active part in politics, invariably 
in support of the principles of the republican party. 



HON. LEANDER D. CONDEE. 



EiANDER DEVINE CONDEE is a native of Athens county, Ohio, his birth 
being dated September 26, 1847. His parents are Henry M. and Jane 
(Rickey) Condee. His paternal grandfather, Ami Condee, was a soldier in the 
war of 1812, and his maternal grandfather was a member of the first board of 
trustees of Athens county. Leander farmed with his father until seventeen years 
of age; received an academic education at Kankakee, Illinois, the family moving 
to this state in 1854; read law at the same place, and is a graduate of the law 
department of the University of Michigan, class of 1868. 

Mr. Condee opened an office at Butler, Bates county, Missouri, and while 
there held the office of city attorney for three years. Early in the autumn of 
1873 he removed to Chicago, and has been in practice there since that date. He 
was alone for four years, at the end of which time he became a member of the 
firm of Condee and Bliss, his partner being E. R. Bliss, present county attorney 
of Cook county. 



140 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

The residence of Mr. Condee is at Hyde Park village, of which he has been 
attorney since the spring of 1879. In November, 1880, he was elected state sena- 
tor for the second district, South Chicago, and still holds that office. He is a 
strong republican, very active during a political canvass. 

In the senate he is chairman of the committee on corporations, a committee 
having great interests in Chicago to guard, and is also a member of the commit- 
tees on judiciary, railroads, judicial department, municipalities, warehouses, 
canals and rivers, and military affairs. 

Mr. Condee is a Knight Templar in the masonic order, and has passed all the 
chairs in Odd-Fellowship. He was married in March, 1871, to Miss Margaretta 
Stovie, of Butler, Missouri, who died in March, 1881, leaving three children; was 
again married August 24, 1882, to Mrs. M. J. Waterbury. 



RICHARD S. TUTHILL. 

THE subject of this sketch was the son of David B. Tuthill, and his wife, Sally 
Strong, daughter of Luke Strong, a prominent lawyer of Vergennes, Addi- 
son county, Vermont. Their ancestors on both sides are among the best New 
England families, and can be traced in its annals for many generations. The 
elder Tuthill was educated for an Episcopal clergyman, but on account of deli- 
cate health would not enter the ministry, and in 1819, with his wife, joined a com- 
pany of pioneers, who settled on and gave name to Tuthill's Prairie, in Jackson 
county, in southern Illinois. The town of Vergennes was founded by them, and 
named by Mrs. Tuthill after her own native place, one of the oldest cities of Ver- 
mont. Mr. Tuthill became postmaster of Vergennes, and held the office for many 
years, under all administrations, without regard to their political complexion, 
though he himself was a whig and afterward a republican. 

His hospitable mansion was the resort of all the noted men of the state and 
nation who chanced in that part of the state, such as President Lincoln, Judge 
Breese, Bishop Chase, John A. Logan, D. L. Philips, and many others. 

Richard Stanley Tuthill was born in Vergennes, Illinois, November 10, 1841. 
He was the youngest of a family of nine children. His education began in a 
private school established by his father, and was continued in the St. Louis high 
school, in Jacksonville College, and finally completed at Middlebury College, 
Vermont, where he graduated with high honors in August 1863. 

Immediately after graduating he joined the army before Vicksburg, with the 
intention of entering the ranks, but the promise of a commission delayed his 
doing so, and after a time he joined a company of volunteer scouts, and served 
with them on the campaign through Mississippi to Meridian. After spending 
some months in this most dangerous and exciting arm of the service he returned 
to Vicksburg to find a commission awaiting him. Gov. Blair, of Michigan, had 
sent him a commission as 2d lieutenant of Battery H, ist Michigan Light Artillery, 





J . 




THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

attached to Gen. Logan's old division of the i7th army corps, Army of the Ten- 
nessee. He remained attached to this battery till the close of the war, taking 
active part in the campaign, which ended in the fall of Atlanta, and in the bat- 
tles of Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Altoona, and in the numerous severe engage- 
ments in front of Atlanta, and afterward in Gen. Geo. H. Thomas' campaign 
against the rebel Gen. Hood, in Tennessee, and in the final and victorious battle 
of Nashville. After the fall of Richmond, believing the war ended, and anxious 
to enter upon his profession, he resigned his commission on May 29, 1865, and 
returned to Nashville. He had with commendable energy and foresight spent 
his leisure hours in camp in the study of the law, and now he resumed his studies 
in the office of Hon. H. H. Harrison, at Nashville, Tennessee. In the latter part 
of 1866 he was admitted to the bar, and entered at once upon the practice of his 
profession in the courts of Tennessee. 

In 1867 he was elected attorney general of the Nashville circuit, and served 
until 1870, when a change in southern politics threw all republicans out of office. 
In 1872 he ran for presidential elector on the republican ticket, and made a vig- 
orous campaign, stumping the district which was largely democratic, and only 
lacked a few votes of an election. In 1868 Mr. Tuthill married Miss Jennie Smith, 
a native of Vergennes, Vermont, by whom he had one child, a daughter, now liv- 
ing. Mrs. Tuthill's death occurred December 22, 1872, at Nashville, Tennessee, 
which, together with the breaking up of the republican party in Tennessee, and 
the general weakening of the ties which bound him to the South, sent him to 
Chicago in the early part of 1873. Here he found a more congenial and a wider 
field for his talents. He entered at once with determination upon the practice of 
his profession, to which he has devoted himself with unwearied diligence and 
marked success. In 1875 Mr. Tuthill was nominated by the republican party as 
its candidate for city attorney, and was elected with what was known as the 
reform council, by a majority of over 5,000. In 1877 he was again nominated and 
elected to the same office by a largely increased majority. 

His service in the city law department was marked with unusual success. 
He soon became thoroughly familiar with the law of municipal corporations, and 
established a high reputation as a corporation lawyer, as is well shown by the 
fact that he has since been employed by the city to conduct in its behalf the 
highly important suits yet undecided in the Supreme Court of the United States, 
involving the right of the city to impose a license fee of $50 a car upon the street 
railway companies in Chicago, the amount involved not less than $50,000 per 
annum, and the principles of law involved making the cases of the utmost 
importance. At the close of his term of service as law officer of the city Mr. Tut- 
hill entered a law partnership with Col. David Quigg, an attorney of large expe- 
rience and very high personal and professional character, which business associa- 
tion continues at the present time. 

While not a politician in the professional sense, Mr. Tuthill takes a deep 
interest in all public concerns. He is still an earnest republican and active in all 
15 



144 THE BEN CH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

party matters. He was a member of the state convention at Springfield in r88o 
was one of the delegates to the national convention held in Chicago, and one of 
the phalanx of 306, who voted for the nomination of Gen. Grant. Mr. Tuthill is 
in the prime of life, full of vigor and of unbounded energy; he is master of his 
profession, full of ambition, enthusiasm, and personal magnetism, and is richly 
endowed with those qualities which manifest themselves only through the medium 
of an ardent and exalted friendship. He never betrayed a trust, never neglected 
a duty, never deserted a friend. Honorable in all things, he is a sincere hater of 
shams in business, politics or religion, and in the practice of his profession scorns 
to resort to subterfuges, or to secure victory by questionable means. He is a 
member of several military societies, the Grand Army of the Republic, the Vete- 
ran Club, and military order of the Loyal Legion. 

January 2, 1877, he married for the second time. His wife was Miss Hattie 
McKey. the daughter of Edward McKey, a noted dry goods merchant of Janes- 
ville, Wisconsin, by whom he has had two children. 



JAMES EDWARDS FAY. 

JAMES EDWARDS FAY, of the widely known law firm of Bonney, Fay and 
Griggs, was born in Westborough, Worcester county, Massachusetts, June 20, 
1830. His father, James Fay, was engaged in farming there. His mother's maiden 
name was Jane Bates; she was of Cohasset, Norfolk county, Massachusetts, and a 
sister of Joshua Bates, D.D., formerly president of Middlebury (Vermont) College. 
James' early education was obtained in the public schools of his native .county. 
After passing two years in a store he went to Thetford Academy, Vermont, where 
he fitted for college, and entered the sophomore class in Williams College; gradu- 
ated from that institution with high rank in scholarship in the class of 1856. 
Among his classmates were the late President Garfield and others distinguished 
in the different avocations of life. He is one of two classmates of Garfield now 
living in Chicago. After graduating, he was for one year principal of the Dickin- 
son Academy at Southwick, Massachusetts. In 1857 he moved to Minnesota and 
began the study of law with Hon. William Windom, late Secretary of the United 
States Treasury, and now United States senator from that state. In 1858 he re- 
turned to Massachusetts and completed his preparations for the practice of law 
under the late Chief Justice R. A. Chapman, of Massachusetts, and at the Dane 
Law School of Harvard College; was admitted to the bar in 1859, and during the 
following year removed to Chicago and entered upon the practice of his profes- 
sion. In 1869 he formed the present partnership, which has remained substantially 
the same to the present time, ranking among the ablest and most successful law 
firms practicing at Chicago bar. While Mr. Fay is a general practitioner, he has 
given special attention to real estate law and its practice in all branches, and in 
this respect ranks high with the courts and the profession. He has, by his indus- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 145 

try, integrity and unblemished character, won an honorable reputation and a fair 
competency. He has never sought or held political office, but is a decided repub- 
lican and takes part in politics only to the extent of discharging his duties as a 
citizen who has the general welfare at heart. He devotes his time not occupied in 
his profession to the cause of education and religion, being a prominent member 
of the Eighth Presbyterian church, of which he has been elder and held other 
offices for several years. In 1862 he was married to Julia A. Bush, of Southwick, 
Massachusetts, and has four children. His life is exemplary in all respects, and 
he has the esteem of his friends and the confidence of those who have business 
relations with him. 

CALVIN DEWOLF. 

A HONG the early settlers of Chicago, who have persevered in the face of stern 
adversity, and won for themselves a name long to be remembered, none 
deserve more honorable mention than he whose name heads this article. Calvin 
DeWolf, one of thirteen children, was born February 18, 1815, at Braintrim, 
Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and is the oldest son now living. His father, 
Giles M. DeWolf, was born at Pomfret, New London county, Connecticut, 
November 7, 1782; and his mother, Anna Spaulding, of Cavendish, Winsdor 
county, Vermont, was born April 22, 1786. Soon after his birth his parents 
moved to Cavendish, Vermont, his mother's native town, where he received his 
first schooling and religious instructions. In 1820, when he was five years old, 
his parents returned to Braintrim, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania; and in 1824 
his father purchased a farm at Pike, in the beech forests of Bradford county, 
Pennsylvania. Here young DeWolf assisted in clearing and cultivating his 
father's farm, attending the district school during the winters, until he reached 
his twenty-first birthday. 

Being of an ambitious and aspiring disposition, the advantages offered by the 
district school did not satisfy him; and there being in the neighborhood a gen- 
tleman of liberal education, young DeWolf procured a Latin grammar and dic- 
tionary and a copy of Virgil, and so economized his time that, with the help of 
his instructor, Mr. Woodruff, he gained a fair knowledge of the Latin language, 
and read six books of the JEne'id. He also studied arithmetic, algebra and sur- 
veying under his father, who was a fine mathematician. When nineteen years of 
age he taught school in his own town at a salary of ten dollars per month, and 
when he was twenty he took a school in the adjoining town of Orwell, at twenty- 
five dollars per month. He left home in 1836, and entered the Grand River Insti- 
tute, a manual labor school of Ashtabula county, Ohio, where he remained till the 
fall of 1837, when he removed to Chicago, then containing about 4,000 inhabi- 
tants, arriving October 31, with but a few dollars in his pocket, and poorly 
clad. Here he passed the requisite examination and applied for a school; but 
being unsuccessful, he started on foot across the prairies toward St. Charles, to 



146 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Elgin and the different settlements along Fox river, and finally obtained a situa- 
tion as teacher in Hadley, Will county, Illinois. 

In the spring of 1838 he returned to Chicago and engaged in teaching, till the 
autumn of that year, receiving as pay only certificates, when he was forced to seek 
other employment, and took a situation as collector in the meat market of Funk 
and Doyle, which he held until the summer of 1839, when he began the study of 
the law with Spring and Goodrich. He again engaged in teaching in 1841, and 
continued for two years, till May 1843, when he was examined by Hon. Richard M. 
Young, judge of the supreme court, assisted by Hon. J. Y. Scammon and Buckner 
S. Morris, and being found qualified was duly licensed to practice law in all the 
courts of Illinois. 

Mr. DeWolf then entered upon the general practice of his profession, with 
good success, doing a large business, until 1854, when he was elected justice of 
the peace, an office which he held six successive terms, four by popular election, 
and two by appointment, in all over twenty-five years. During that time he 
heard and disposed of over 90,000 cases, a greater number than any other judicial 
officer in Illinois. Many of the ablest members of the Illinois bar who practiced 
before him, can bear testimony to his well balanced judgment, candor and hon- 
esty, with an ability to hold the scales of justice with an even hand. He held the 
office of alderman four years, from 1856 to 1858, and from 1866 to 1868. During 
the first period the ordinances of the city were revised, and Mr. DeWolf was 
chairman of the committee of revision and publication, and many of the most use- 
ful provisions of the present ordinances were originally framed by him or under 
his direction. From his boyhood he has possessed positive qualities and strong 
convictions. In the early days of the anti-slavery crusade, when political parties 
denounced abolitionists, when most of the churches, though opposed to slavery in 
the abstract, were opposed to disturbing the peace and harmony of our southern 
brethren, Mr. DeWolf was one of the most active and persistent advocates of the 
anti-slavery cause. He was secretary of the first abolition society formed in 
Chicago in 1839, Rev. Flavel Bascom being president and Hon. George Manierre 
treasurer. In 1842, at a meeting of the Illinois state anti-slavery society, an 
organization was effected to raise funds for establishing an anti-slavery news- 
paper in Chicago, with Mr. DeWolf as treasurer, and the " Western Citizen " was 
established with Mr. Z. Eastman editor and publisher. 

In September 1858, an indictment was found against Mr. DeWolf by the grand 
jury of the northern district of Illinois, for the alleged crime of " aiding a negro 
slave called Eliza, to escape from her master," one Stephen F. Nuckolls, of the 
territory of Nebraska. Mr. DeWolf, together with George Anderson, A. D. Hay- 
ward and C. L. Jenks, who were indicted at the same time, were arrested and 
gave bail in the sum of $2.500. 

Under advice of counsel a motion was made to quash the indictments, because 
slavery did not exist by authority of law in Nebraska, and consequently a slave 
could neither be held in, nor escape from, that territory. Judge Drummond never 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 147 

decided the point, and under the advice of Hon. E. C. Larned, United States 
district attorney, dismissed the case December 3, 1861. 

Since 1879 Mr. DeWolf has practiced law with his son, Wallace L. DeWolf, a 
promising young lawyer. Mr. DeWolf is well posted in his profession, is dis- 
criminating in his practice, and has a clientage of many of the wealthiest business 
men and property owners of Chicago. He is a well preserved man of his age, is 
active, and walks with the elasticity of youth; he is also cheerful, courteous and 
kind, and enjoys the society of a large circle of friends, who respect and honor 
him for his manly and upright qualities. 



LUTHER MARTIN SHREVE. 

ETHER M. SHREVE was born September n, 1819, near Nicholasville, in 
the county of Jessamine, state of Kentucky, and was the youngest child of 
William and Ann Shreve, each of whom, at the time of their marriage, had a 
family of sons and daughters by former marriage. William Shreve, for many years 
judge of the county court of Jess'amine, was born in Maryland, and while but a 
boy at a country school in his native state joined a passing company of volunteer 
infantry, and served the full term for which he enlisted in the revolutionary war, 
and was awarded a pension in after life. He emigrated to Kentucky in early 
manhood, where he acquired an ample fortune, and lived and died respected and 
beloved by all who knew him. A lofty shaft of Italian marble reared over his 
remains can be seen by every passenger upon the Kentucky Central, and though 
the beautiful farm has passed into other hands, the family burying ground with 
its broad approach is preserved in perpetuity, where repose his widow and many 
of the family. His eldest sons, L. L. Shreve and I. T. Shreve. of Louisville, 
engaged in the iron manufacture, and through his direction and financial indorse- 
ment, in every crisis which attended the business and closed every manufactory 
which could not withstand the fluctuations that changes in the tariff system pro- 
duced, they were enabled to amass large fortunes, and L. L. Shreve is remem- 
bered by the people of Louisville to-day as one of the largest minded, public 
spirited men of that city. But three of the sons and daughters of William Shreve 
survive: Ann, the widow of L. Y. Martin, and mother of a numerous family of 
enterprising men and several married daughters; John M. Shreve, a resident of 
Louisville, and known as a man of large intelligence and great purity of life, and 
Luther M., the subject of this memoir, and the only member of the numerous 
family who embarked in the profession of the law. 

Having graduated in the St. Mary's Collegiate Institute of Kentucky, the 
youngest graduate of the school, at seventeen years of age, he entered Cambridge, 
and was received by the president of the institute, Hon. Josiah Quincy, as a 
university student, being considered then too young to enter the law department. 
After remaining one year in this department, during which time he had the ben- 



148 THE BENCH AND BAR Of CHICAGO. 

efit of the lectures of all the distinguished men who were then connected with 
that institution, under the direction of Hon. Joseph Story and Simon Greenleaf, 
he here pursued the study of the law, and in two years after received his diploma 
from that law school. The death of his father during this period left him, on 
his return to Kentucky, without the guidance and protection enjoyed by the 
older members of the family, but with ample means to commence the struggle of 
life. 

The successful effort of the denizens of that portion of Mexico now known as 
the state of Texas to form an independent government was now in progress, and 
fired with the movement, after a few days passed with his aged mother he deter- 
mined to join the army of Texans and hastened to the scene, but being delayed 
by want of conveyance for several weeks, reached the shores of the "lone star" 
too late to be a participant in that revolution in which his brother John was 
engaged from its commencement to its memorable close at San Jacinto. 

He sojourned about two years in Texas, during which time sickness induced 
his return to Kentucky, where he soon afterward met the daughter of King 
Strong, of New York, who was visiting his brother, Dr. Henry L. Strong, and 
married her, and immediately settled in St. Louis and commenced the practice 
of his profession. He was soon after elected city attorney, and after serving 
a second term formed a law partnership with Hon. Uriel Wright, perhaps the 
most accomplished lawyer and eloquent advocate at the bar. This partnership 
continued until the war of the rebellion, when Mr. Wright joined the army of the 
South, and urged Mr. Shreve to go with him, but he refused. And though in full 
sympathy with the South and the justice of the cause, he declined to participate 
in the rebellion, and in a speech made from the court-house steps to an immense 
audience proclaimed the position he occupied in that eventful hour. On this 
occasion he declared his conviction that his people had just cause for complaint, 
just even to resistance, but whatever the grievance it should be righted in the 
Union, and that he would never join any military organization that did not wave 
the national emblem, the stars and stripes; that the rebellion must be fought in 
the Union, not out of it; that secession was death to the cause for which they 
contended; and firm in these convictions he took no active part in that unfor- 
tunate struggle. As a result of the war, prescriptive laws were passed in Missouri, 
and among these the notorious iron-clad oath which debarred every lawyer from 
practice who did not take and subscribe to it. This Mr. Shreve refused to take, 
and for some years was denied the privilege of pursuing his profession. 

The death of his wife during the last year of the rebellion was a terrible blow, 
and for several years he devoted more attention to an unsuccessful culture of 
cotton than to the practice of the law, and in 1867 made a trip to Europe, where 
he renewed acquaintance with and married his present wife, Julia P. Aldershaw, 
the accomplished daughter of Hon. Aldershaw, master in chancery, of London, 
by whom he has tw.o children living: Luther and Violet. 

While Mr. Shreve positively refused to enlist beneath the folds of the bonnie 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 149 

blue flag, with equal firmness declined to join the army of the Union, impressed 
with the conviction that he could not conscientiously take up arms against those 
among whom he was born and reared, nor fight their battles under a foreign flag 
floating upon the iconoclastic principles of secession. Despite this resolution 
firmly adhered to through the rebellion, he was court-martialed, tried and con- 
victed for treason, the specific charges being outspoken expression and aiding the 
enemy in the purchase of quinine sent to the South for the benefit of southern sol- 
diers shaking with the ague. The only proof submitted before the august drum- 
head, composed of the son of Gen. Curtis as judge advocate, and two soldiers of 
German origin, one of them known to him as the carriage driver of Hon. Luther 
M. Kennett, mayor of the city of St. Louis, and the other convicted of having 
robbed a stranger in his saloon, was that a small amount of money had been sent 
to Mr. Shreve to pay an order for some quinine, made upon the druggist who 
furnished it unknown to him. The conviction was promptly set aside by Gen. 
Rosecrans as soon as the facts were made known to him. Confiscation of private 
property was the order of the day, and even the furniture in the dwellings of 
those who refused to participate in the war, or became obnoxious to the ruling 
provost, was dragged from their houses and sold. Such an order was resisted by 
him, and when late in the evening attempted to be enforced by an orderly and a 
few subalterns, he stood upon the threshold of his own house armed for the occa 
sion, and defied them with suggestive expression if they attempted to enter the 
house, which was at once reported to headquarters. The order was suspended 
until next day and never carried out; he being afterward placed under bonds of 
$40,000, and enjoined not to leave the state, which he had no purpose of doing. 

Amusing incidents sometimes occurred showing the fury of the times. On 
one occasion, having been paroled from imprisonment in the military prison 
upon honor to his own house, where his wife was lying on the bed of sickness 
and death, a lady friend visited Mrs. Shreve, and at nine o'clock was compelled 
to return home. As it was raining, Mr. Shreve, with an umbrella, escorted her to 
the cars two squares distant. During the walk he was observed by one of the 
spies officiating, the fact made known to the provost, and it was thirty days 
before he saw his wife again. Soon after the battle of Pea Ridge, knowing the 
commotion it would create in St. Louis, Mr. Shreve suggested to some friends 
that it would be a good time to go fishing. John J. Anderson, a well known 
banker of the city, and John Y. Page, a brother lawyer, neither of whom had 
taken any part in the drama enacting, and Hon. Asa Jones, then United States 
district attorney for that district, a noble son of Vermont, and as ardent a lover 
of the Union as any one, were his companions. Having procured two buggies, 
they proceeded to Mud river, intending to remain all night at the house at which 
they stopped on the bank of the river, and socially enjoying the evening retired 
to bed, but before twelve o'clock were aroused by the clatter of horses' feet and 
soldiers' gear, followed by the bursting of the door of the large room, and made 
prisoners by sixty stalwarts in the uniform of the United States. The captain 



150 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

was much inclined to release Mr. Shreve, as he had done him some service on an 
occasion in the criminal court, but Jones they knew to be an arrant rebel, his 
lofty mien and jet black full beard and piercing black eyes fully establishing his 
rebel proclivities. As a consequence, they were all marched across the hills of 
the Merrimac fourteen miles distant to the fortress in the darkness of night, 
riding double upon the bare back buggy horses. The incident was subject of 
amusement to the newspapers, but never much enjoyed by the district attorney. 

Soon after his return from Europe Mr. Shreve removed to Chicago, where he 
is now engaged in the practice of his profession. Since his residence here he has 
taken no part in politics. He is a democrat in feeling, believing the principles of 
the democratic party insure the largest liberty to the citizen, and are the surest 
safeguard to the perpetuity of republican institutions. 

Although not a professor of religion, he declares that advancing .years but 
more firmly convince him of the great moral truths of the Bible perhaps better 
illustrated in the teachings of the Christian denomination than any other, but 
dependent upon no profession to determine the hereafter. 



ROBERT RAE. 

ROBERT RAE is an accomplished gentleman of versatile genius, with a broad, 
comprehensive mind; he is learned in the law, possesses fine literary talents, 
and holds a high rank at the Chicago bar. 

He is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is one of those refined, pol- 
ished gentlemen, for the production of which that city has become famous. He 
was born October 3, 1830, and prepared for college at David Stroud's Academy, 
at Westchester, Pennsylvania, commencing the study of Latin at eight, and Greek 
at eleven years of age, and entered Lafayette College in 1844. At eighteen, he 
was an excellent Greek and Latin scholar. He read law with John Cadwalader, 
of Philadelphia, and was admitted to the bar in 1851, and practiced in that city 
two years, when he removed to Erie, Pennsylvania, and edited the Erie " Chroni- 
cle" in the interest of the Sunbury and Erie railroad. On the breaking out of 
the Mexican war he volunteered, and was appointed lieutenant in a Washington 
regiment and remained in the service until the close of that contest. 

In 1855 he removed to Chicago, where he resumed his profession and became 
identified with insurance and admiralty practice. He argued the case of Walker 
against the Western Transportation Company successfully. This was a leading 
case, involving the right of congress to limit the liability of ship owners, and is 
reported 5th Wallace. In the case of Aldrich vs. Etna Insurance Company, 
reported by Wallace, the decision, based on his argument, established the doc- 
trine of the exclusive right of congress to legislate over the paper titles to vessels 
engaged in foreign or inter-state commerce. The case was taken from the New 
York court of appeals, where the right had been denied, and he succeeded in hav- 






HCCupir Jr S C. 




En 9 !>> GWilhim BrNlT 



THE BENCH AND BAR Of-' CHICAGO. 151 

ing the decision of the New York court reversed. This established the present 
law ruling in all similar cases. He was also counselor for the Galena Packet Com- 
pany against the Rock Island Bridge Company. He was instrumental in having 
the United States courts abolish the twelfth rule in admiralty which denied the 
jurisdiction in rein of the admiralty court in cases of supplies furnished domestic 
vessels ; which overruled a series of decisions from the time of the case of the 
Gen. Smith until this change in the rule. He obtained a charter from the state 
of Illinois for the establishment of the chamber of commerce for Chicago, which 
he organized, and for which he acted as secretary one year, without remuneration, 
taking an active part in the purchase of grounds and the erection of buildings. 

At the opening of the war of the rebellion he entered the army as colonel of 
the Douglas brigade in Chicago, and was in command of Camp Douglas until 
1863, when he resigned. In October, 1873, he called a meeting to organize and 
deliberate for the purpose of building a new rail route from Chicago to Charles- 
town; over three hundred delegates attended, and the result of their delibera- 
tions was the organization of the Chicago and South Atlantic Railroad Company. 
Mr. Rae was elected vice-president of the corporation. This road when com- 
pleted will be an almost direct air line between Chicago and Charlestown, and 
the benefit to be derived therefrom by both cities, and the country traversed, can 
hardly be estimated, and will be a stronger bond of union than the combined 
congressional acts in that direction since the war. 

Mr. Rae is largely interested in railroad and telegraph companies. He was 
burned out in the fire of 1871, and lost a large and valuable library. 

In the spring of 1882 he went to London and argued a case in the English 
court of commissions involving one hundred thousand pounds sterling and 
interest. He was employed in the interests of the American Board of Under- 
writers, and was the first American lawyer who had ever appeared in any case in 
that court; he won his case and received high encomiums for his effort. He then 
visited Fishmongers' Hall and attended the convention of the shipbuilders of the 
world, and took drafts and copies of models from the earliest ages. He wrote a 
letter to the American government, urging that photographs be taken of all the 
principal models of ships and regretting that not a single American model was 
represented in the convention, and also urged upon the government to build a 
dozen or more first class passenger steamers, suitable to be used in time of 
war, for the defense of our seaports and commerce, and to employ the officers of 
the navy to navigate them, carrying freight and passengers in the time of peace, 
in order that the shipbuilders of America might be justified in obtaining the most 
improved tools and machinery to be used in the manufacture of vessels, and that 
the earnings of the vessels which should carry our produce and travelers to for- 
eign countries, amounting to over $150,000,000 a year, might be retained in this 
country. 

In 1877, in addition to his professional duties, Mr. Rae wrote a play that was 
published, called " Newport," in six acts, being more of an idyl than an acting 
16 



152 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO 

play; it has been highly spoken of by dramatic critics for its pure English. He 
devotes his attention to fire and marine insurance law, and that pertaining to 
railroad and shipping, and sustains the reputation of being the leading maritime 
lawyer in Chicago, and has the largest practice in the United States Supreme 
Court of any lawyer in the Northwest. 

Mr. Rae was married in 1850 to Miss Sarah Moulson, of Philadelphia, and has 
a family of six children; the eldest son, Robert, is an architect. 



HON. DANIEL W. MUNN. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in Orange county, Vermont, in the year 
1834, and was educated in the public schools of his native town, and in 
Thetford Academy, where he graduated. He came west in 1852, stopping first in 
Indiana, where he was engaged in teaching about two years, and incidentally 
initiating himself into the theory of law practice. In 1855 he went to Coles 
county, Illinois, and completed his studies under Judge Starkweather, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1859, and entering upon the practice of his profession, 
soon won the respect of the bar as a young man of more than ordinary ability. 
In 1862, impelled by that patriotism which has always characterized the Green 
Mountain boys, wherever they may be, a patriotism inherited from their ances- 
tors, he entered the army as adjutant of the i26th 111. Inf., and the following year 
was appointed colonel of the ist Ala. Cav., an honor which feeble health com- 
pelled him to decline. Returning to Cairo, Illinois, he resumed practice, and for 
a time edited the Cairo "Daily News." In 1866 he was elected to the state senate, 
being the first and only republican ever elected from that district. His record 
during the four years in the senate was not an ordinary one. He delivered a 
speech on the adoption of the fourteenth amendment, which was conspicuous for 
the ability displayed, and was pronounced one of the ablest ever delivered before 
that body. In 1871 he was nominated for congress on the republican ticket, 
made,a gallant fight against immense odds, and was defeated by but a small 
majority, greatly reducing the usual democratic majority, which evidences his 
popularity. He was appointed by President Grant supervisor of internal reve- 
nue the same year, his jurisdiction extending over Illinois, Michigan and Wiscon- 
sin, with headquarters in Chicago. 

Mr. Munn is a natural orator, a scholar of varied attainments, a thinker and a 
logical reasoner; hence his services have been sought in almost every important 
political campaign during the past fifteen years, and his eloquent voice has been 
heard in many of the northern states. He moved to Chicago in 1875, to make it 
his permanent residence, since which time he has devoted himself to the practice 
of law, largely criminal law. His success in many important cases has been 
decidedly notable. He has conducted with marked ability, and won some of the 
most important cases ever tried in the Northwest. Among them may be men- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 153 

tioned the Clark-St. Peter murder trial, in which Col. Munn defended and cleared 
Mrs. Clark, charged with the murder of her husband jointly with Joseph St. 
Peter, and this too with the police and detective forces earnestly opposing him. 
Several other cases, notable in criminal annals could be cited. He has attained 
to a first rank among the leading criminal lawyers of the Northwest. 

He has always been an earnest, consistent republican, taking an active inter- 
est in politics, and whatever pertains to the public welfare. He is devoted to 
his profession. He was a poor boy in Vermont, who started out alone for the 
Great West, to make his own way in the world, comparatively unaided by any 
influence except what his own inherent ability, tact and character could attract 
and secure. How well he has succeeded, this brief mention will partially indicate. 



HON. JOHN M. THACHER. 

JOHN M. THACHER was born at Barre, Washington county, Vermont, July 
J i, 1836, and is the son of Rev. Joseph Thacher and Nancy (Attwood) Thacher, 
both of Woodstock, Windsor county, Vermont. His father was a well known cler- 
gyman of the Congregational denomination, and descended from an old English 
family. The founder of this branch of Mr. Thacher's family in America was 
Rev. Thomas Thacher, the first pastor of the old South Church, in Boston, Massa- 
chusetts. He was the son of Rev. Peter Thacher, minister of St. Edmunds, and 
came to this country when a lad of fifteen years of age with an uncle, Anthony 
Thacher, landing in Boston in June, 1635. Rev. Thomas Thacher was a noted 
scholar and preacher. It has been said of him that probably no man of his time 
deserved more than he the title of "universal scholar." He was the progenitor of 
not a few worthy descendants, among whom was Oxenbridge Thacher, Jr., an 
eminent lawyer of Boston, who was associated with James Otis in the great con- 
troversy of 1763 respecting writs of assistance, " which," says Drake in his history 
of Boston, "was nothing more nor less than the cause of independence." He 
died in 1765, while yet in the prime of life, at forty-five years of age. In the 
direct line of descent down to Mr. Thacher's father all were clergymen with but 
two exceptions, his grandfather and great-grandfather, the latter being Capt. 
Samuel Thacher in the revolutionary war, who took his young son into the army 
with him. 

Mr. Thacher received a good elementary education in the common schools of 
Vermont, and was there fitted for college at Barre Academy, in his native town, 
then under the charge of J. S. Spaulding, LL.D., one of the most noted instruc- 
tors of youth in Vermont. He entered the freshman class of 1855 at the University 
of Vermont, Burlington, and graduated with honors in 1859, standing fourth in 
his class. 

Mr. Thacher's father died when his son was a lad of only eight years, leaving 
his mother with four children, two of them girls older and a brother still younger 



154 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

than himself, and with very little of this world's goods. Then commenced the 
oft repeated struggle of life. His mother possessed the sterling qualities of a 
New England woman a strong will, indomitable energy, and solid good sense. 
With a mother's devotion she unhesitatingly determined to keep her little family 
together and make them true men and women, and with singleness of purpose 
she pursued this task, replete with pain and toil and suffering known only to 
American mothers who have trod the same thorny way. When but a child John 
M. felt that he must work, so that what little he could earn might be of benefit to 
his mother; but his love for books and study was predominant, always being first 
in his classes at school. Though this early experience gave him a gravity and 
soberness far beyond his boyish years, it did not quench the thirst for knowledge 
or quell a youthful ambition in looking forward to the future. His mother incul- 
cated the good Puritan habits of New England, and home influences prevented 
him from yielding to evil influences when away, and he was always known in his 
home village as a quiet, studious, industrious boy, and one that could be trusted 
implicitly. 

After graduating from college he accepted an invitation to become the princi- 
pal of an academy at Lyndon, Vermont, and being under the influence of strong 
religious impulses, he became a member of the Congregational church at Barre, 
Vermont. Family predilection, and the influence of others, added to some per- 
sonal sense of duty, directed his thoughts to the ministry, and he left college with 
the intention of making this his profession. After teaching a year, he left Lyndon 
to enter the theological seminary at Andover, Massachusetts, in the autumn of 
1860. During the year the war of the rebellion broke out, financial embarrass- 
ment obstructed his progress, and all his plans were disturbed. He suspended 
his studies, and in the autumn of 1861 accepted an engagement as associate 
principal of Barre Academy with his old preceptor, Dr. Spaulding. In the sum- 
mer of 1862 came the call for 300,000 volunteers for three years' service, followed 
shortly by a call for a like number for nine months' service. This was just after 
the close of the academic year, and with a patriotic desire to have some part in 
the struggle for national life, he felt the time had come for him to go. He 
enlisted, and raised a company of nine months' men, known as Co. I, ijth Vt. 
Vols. (a nine months' regiment), and entered the service with the rank of captain. 
When the regiment was mustered out, in 1863, he returned to his old position in 
Barre Academy. 

The patronage of all the higher schools of learning had at this time, owing to 
the war, become very light, and Mr. Thacher did not see his way clear to resume 
his studies, and in fact had begun to doubt whether the ministry was his proper 
life-work. At this period he was quite unsettled in his aims and purposes. An 
apparent accident turned his attention to the United States patent office, in which 
he obtained an appointment in June, 1864, as an ordinary clerk, but was assigned 
to duty in the examining corps of the office as an assistant examiner. This duty 
he found suited to his tastes, and for which he seemed to be well adapted. He 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 155 

then determined to prepare for the legal profession, and for the special depart- 
ment of patent law. Diligent study, and careful, conscientious discharge of 
official duties, were rewarded with remarkable success, promotions following in 
rapid succession, and in less than twelve years he was at the head of the patent 
office, having been appointed first assistant examiner the last of 1864, principal 
examiner in 1866, examiner of interferences in 1869, examiner in chief in 1870, 
assistant commissioner in 1872, and commissioner in 1874, the last three presiden- 
tial appointments requiring confirmation by the United States senate. In the 
meantime he studied law, and was admitted to the bar of Virginia in April, 1870, 
at Alexandria, where he then resided. Promotions had retained him in official 
life much longer than he intended, and in the autumn of 1875 he resigned the 
office of commissioner of patents to enter upon the practice of his profession, 
having formed a law partnership with L. L. Coburn, of Chicago, an old friend 
and college classmate. 

Mr. Thacher's duties for the last five years of his official life were almost 
entirely of a judicial nature, and the official reports of " Commissioner's Deci- 
sions " from 1872 to 1875 contain many of his opinions, some of them in impor- 
tant cases, which are recognized as evidencing good judgment and sound learning- 
He was the first commissioner of patents attaining to the position through the 
ranks of the examining corps, and when appointed was the youngest man that 
had ever held the office, his promotions having been almost entirely on merit, as 
he had little political influence, and was not disposed to seek assistance from this 
source. On entering active practice at Chicago, Mr. Thacher at once took rank 
with leading members of the legal profession in the West in the department of 
patent law, to which he had given exclusive attention. 

In 1871 Mr. Thacher was appointed a member of the civil service sub-commis- 
sion for the interior department, under the national commission, of which Mr. 
Geo. William Curtis was president. The work of organizing and practically 
carrying into effect the contemplated reforms in appointments and promotions in 
the executive departments at Washington was substantially delegated to the sub- 
commissions under the general rules of the national commission. Mr. Thacher 
exercised a controlling influence in- carrying out this work in the interior depart- 
ment, and it has always been admitted that during the time he remained on the 
commission the experiment was a decided success, and a great benefit to the 
department. In the year 1873 Mr. Thacher was appointed by the president to 
represent the United States in an international patent congress, held at Vienna, 
Austria, during the exposition of that year. 

Mr. Thacher is a republican in politics, though not a strong partisan, being a 
conservative republican. During most of his official life in the patent office he 
resided at Alexandria, Virginia, and took a somewhat active part in the political 
reconstruction of that state, and was a delegate from Virginia to the national 
republican convention at Chicago in 1868 that nominated Grant and Colfax, and 
in 1870 was a member of the republican state central committee of Virginia. He 



156 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

has been repeatedly asked to become a candidate for elective office, but always 
declined. 

Although still retaining his ecclesiastical relations with the church of his fore- 
fathers, Mr. Thacher has kept abreast of the religious progress of the period. 
Rooted and grounded in the fundamental truths of Christianity, he has outgrown 
somewhat the narrowness of earlier life. He has never been married. A gentle- 
man of pleasing manners, good conversational and oratorical powers, national 
reputation in the branch of his profession to which he has devoted himself, and 
free from stain in record or character, he is a conspicuous illustration of the 
higher possibilities open to every American youth, however untoward may be his 
surroundings, provided only he possesses intellectual capacity and aspirations. 



AREA N. WATERMAN. 

A^BA NELSON WATERMAN is a native of Orleans county, Vermont, and 
was born at Greensboro, February 5, 1836. His father, Loring F. Waterman, 
a merchant, was born at Johnson, Vermont, and his mother, whose maiden name 
was Mary Stevens, was born in Greensboro, her father being a mill owner and 
prominent business man in that town. The paternal great-grandfather of Arba 
was a captain in the revolutionary army, and had a number of sons who were 
substantial men and among the leading citizens of Lamoille county, Vermont 
One of them, Arunah Waterman, grandfather of our subject, was a woolen manu- 
facturer at Montpelier, and served in the state senate for several years. 

Mr. Waterman received a first-class academic education at Johnson, Montpe- 
lier, Georgia, and Norwich military school, all in his native state; taught one 
year in the Georgia Academy; studied law at Montpelier and the Albany (New 
York) Law School; was admitted to practice in 1861; opened a law office in Joliet, 
Illinois, and in 1862 enlisted as a private in the looth regiment 111. Vol. Inf., made 
up in Will county and connected with the department of the Cumberland; was in 
numerous engagements, including Chicamauga, Resaca, Dalton, and Altoona 
Mountains, etc. At the first named battle he had his horse killed under him, and 
was afterward shot through the right arm and in the right side, but did not leave 
the service until August, 1864, being mustered out as lieutenant-colonel of the 
regiment. On leaving the army Col. Waterman opened a law office in Chicago, 
with residence in Waukegan until 1868, when he removed to this city. He is 
doing a general civil business, and has good class of clients, who impose in him 
the most implicit confidence. He is a thorough lawyer, and maintains the 
esteem and respect of both bench and bar. 

Mr. Waterman represented the eleventh ward in the city council for two years, 
1873-1874, that being the only civil office that he has ever held. He is a decided 
and somewhat active republican and a Master Mason. 

He married in December, 1862, Ella Louise, daughter of Samuel Hall, formerly 
a merchant in Brooklyn, New York. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 157 

Mr. Waterman has been a student all his life, and has a keen relish for scien- 
tific studies. He was one of the founders of the Chicago Philosophical Society, 
before which he has lectured on one or more occasions. He is president of the 
Irving Literary Society, which is composed of professional men and others resi- 
ding in the west division of Chicago. 



NOAH E. GARY. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in Du Page county, Illinois, in 1844, and 
is the eldest son of Erastus Gary, now a wealthy citizen of Wheaton, who 
came to Illinois in 1832 from Pomfret, Windham county, Connecticut, and is of old 
revolutionary stock, his ancestors having settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 
1631. Noah E. was educated at Wheaton College, and left there in 1862 and 
enlisted in the losth 111. Inf., which served on detached duty until the spring of 
1864, when it was attached to the Twentieth Army Corps under Gen. Hooker, and 
advanced with him on Atlanta. Mr. Gary was severely wounded in four places 
at Resaca, and was sent to Nashville to the hospital. He was mustered out 
November i, 1864, and suffered from the effects of his wounds until the following 
spring. He returned to Wheaton and engaged in business pursuits and teaching 
school until the spring of 1868, employing his leisure hours in the meantime in 
the study of law. He then entered the office of the clerk of the superior court of 
Cook county, and served there until October, 1872, being chief deputy during 
1871 and 1872. Mr. Gary was admitted to practice by the supreme court in Jan- 
uary, 1875, having, however, been a partner of his brother, E. H. Gary, in practice 
of law since October, 1872. In 1879 Judge Cody retired from the bench and 
became a member of the firm of Gary, Cody and Gary, which still continues. 

Mr. Gary was for two years (1879 and 1880) president of the town council of 
Wheaton, and in 1879 was appointed master in chancery of Du Page county, 
which office he still holds. He is a republican, and takes a very active and prom- 
inent part in the politics of his native county. His life has been one of honest, 
persistent effort, and as the result of a faithful adherence to right and loyalty to 
his own manhood, he sees that life crowned with a most satisfactory success. 



JOHN H. S. QUICK. 

THE subject of this sketch is the son of John S. Quick (deceased), formerly an 
enterprising and prosperous business man of New York, and Mary Quick. 
He studied in the grammar school of Columbia College, New York, and afterward 
at the Episcopal Academy at Cheshire, Connecticut. He entered Trinity College, 
Hartford, Connecticut, and graduated from that institution in the class of 1858. 
He then went to Europe and attended lectures at the University in Leipsic. Re- 



158 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

turning to New York he read law with Scudder and Carter, and was admitted 
to the New York bar in 1861. He then practiced law successfully three years, 
at the end of which period he removed to Chicago, where he was engaged 
in the practice of the law by himself until 1871. He then formed a partnership 
with George Herbert, a lawyer of decided ability. In the great conflagration of 
1871 the fine partnership library and the large personal library of Mr. Quick were 
consumed. This partnership continued doing an extensive general law business 
up to 1876, when John S. Miller was admitted as a partner into the firm, and the 
name became Herbert, Quick and Miller, and so continued until the sudden 
demise of Mr. Herbert, October 9, 1882, when it was changed to Quick and Miller. 

Mr. Quick is a well read lawyer, who is patient in research of authorities. He 
possesses an analytic mind and is a sound reasoner. He has never sought public 
position or preferment, but has been fully absorbed in the work of his profession 
and the management of his estate. He is a gentleman of refinement and culture, 
and inspires all who come in contact with him with confidence and respect. 

He is a member of the Episcopal church, and in political sentiments is a dem- 
ocrat. He has passed to the Knight Templar's degree in Masonry. 

Mr. Quick has a fine presence, is of medium size and height, with high, broad 
forehead, blue eyes, and a luxuriant growth of auburn hair slightly tinged with 
gray. He was married October 3, 1861, to an estimable lady of refinement and 
education in the person of Miss Henrietta B. Carter, daughter of H. Kendall 
Carter, of Hartford, Connecticut. They have an interesting family, consisting of 
one daughter and three sons. 



NOEL B. BOYDEN. 

NOEL BYRON BOYDEN has been an attorney in Chicago since 1864, dur- 
ing which time he has been prominently identified with local jurisprudence. 
He was born in Belleville, Jefferson county, New York, February 18, 1824. His 
father, Samuel Boyden, was a manufacturer of potash, and a tanner. His 
mother's maiden name was Eunice Fish. 

He secured his education at the public schools of Belleville, graduating from 
the Belleville Academy, a most excellent institution of learning, when about 
twenty-four years of age. On the day he was twenty-one, he was nominated by 
the democratic party, and elected, town superintendent of schools for his native 
town, and successively reflected for three terms. He was possessed of unusual 
talent as an educator, and naturally turned his attention to teaching upon the 
expiration of his last term as superintendent of schools. He pursued this occupa- 
tion in his native town, studying and teaching till he was about twenty-five years 
of age, when he went to Sackett's Harbor, in the same county, and entered the 
law office of Hon. Augustus Ford, a prominent and successful lawyer of that 
place. 




HCCinpar Jr * Co 




GWiIln-. IBrN Y 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. l6l 

After having had some practice in Sackett's Harbor, he was admitted to the 
bar by the supreme court of New York, at Albany in May 1849. He first opened 
a law office in Watertown, New York, where he practiced for about eighteen 
months, when, in 1851, he removed to the West, and settled in Mineral Point, 
Wisconsin. Here he remained in the practice of his profession until the year 
1857, when he received the appointment of receiver of public moneys, at the land 
office in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, from the President of the United States, James 
Buchanan. Dr. W. T. Galloway received an appointment as register, and together 
they organized that district. After discharging the duties of this position for 
three years, he resigned, and opened a law office in the town, where he practiced 
several years successfully. At the end of that time, in 1864, he removed to Chi- 
cago, and there resumed his profession. 

In 1871 he was appointed justice of the peace, for Chicago, by Hon. John M. 
Palmer, then governor of the state of Illinois, and served his term of four years 
with more than ordinary ability. In 1873 he was appointed by the then mayor, 
Hon. H. D. Colvin, police magistrate of Chicago, serving the full term of his 
appointment. In July, 1875, Mayor Colvin appointed him prosecuting attorney, 
and in connection with the last appointment the board of county commissioners 
appointed him a prosecuting attorney, that there should be a conformity in the 
prosecution of cases in the criminal court, as well as before justices of the peace. 

After the expiration of his last appointment, he engaged in the practice of 
law until the fall of 1882, when he was elected to the high and important office of 
coroner of Cook county, and is now serving his official term. 



JULIUS S. GRINNELL. 

THE designs and purposes of the boy are the beginning; the results and 
difficulties met with in the execution of these purposes are the middle; the 
resolution and unraveling of them, the end of a man's career. What a man 
accomplishes, and what he develops into, are the outcome of his inherent nature, 
modified by the direction given by himself, and not the result of chance. In this 
mention of Julius S. Grinnell, it is correct to say that he has so controlled and 
directed his own course that he has attained to a creditable success; first, because 
he had the necessary native elements in him, and second, because he has made 
good use of his capabilities and opportunities, as the details will evidence. 

He was born in Massena, St. Lawrence county, New York, in the year 1842, 
and is of French-Welsh extraction as to remote ancestry, but thoroughly New 
England as to immediate ancestry. His father was Dr. J. H. Grinnell, of New 
Haven, Vermont; his mother, formerly Alvira Williamson, also a native of Ver- 
mont. The Grinnell family is among the oldest and best families in the East. 
It may be traced back to its ancestral town of Grinnelle, now a considerable 
manufacturing town, just within the new fortifications eastward from Paris, 
17 



1 62 T1IK BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

France; the town named after the family. The monumental fountain there is 
also named from them. They emigrated to Wales, thence to this country, one 
branch settling in New York, where the name is a distinguished one, Moses 
Grinnell and others being descendants; another branch in Connecticut; a third 
in Vermont, and from this latter the subject of this sketch is descended, all fam- 
ilies of note. His early education was obtained in the common schools in his 
native town. He fitted for college in Potsdam Academy, St. Lawrence county, 
New York, and entered Middlebury (Vermont) College in 1862, and graduated in 
the fall of 1866, ranking high in his classes, and during his young manhood fore- 
shadowed future success in whatever profession he might engage, and his career 
up to the present time has been a fulfillment of this early promise. He chose the 
profession of law, and to that end engaged in studying (after he graduated) in 
the office of Hon. William C. Brown, in Ogdensburg, and was admitted to prac- 
tice by the supreme court of New York in 1868, and commenced practice in that 
city, which he continued two years; taught the Ogdensburg Academy one year, 
giving excellent satisfaction in that capacity. In December, 1870, he came to 
Chicago, and engaged in the practice of his profession, depending upon his own 
energy and abilities to obtain success. He was an almost entire stranger here, 
there being but two persons, so far as he knew, with whom he had had any pre- 
vious acquaintance. He had faith in himself, and in the future of Chicago, and 
trusted to his own efforts to attain success at this bar, contending with able and 
older practitioners. One of the decided characteristics of his nature is self- 
reliance, backed by decision of character, and the public accord him the credit of 
possessing integrity and sincerity. He has won a success few men of his age win. 

When the great fire came, and swept the main business portion of Chicago 
out of existence, he had scarcely gained a foothold in his practice, but in the 
reorganization and reestablishment of business, he was one of the number who 
had the force, courage and confidence in the rebuilding of the city, to assert him- 
self and resume practice with renewed energy. He has come to the front, and 
must be accorded a position at the bar among the foremost of young Chicago 
attorneys. 

In the municipal election of 1879 he was nominated by the democratic party 
for the important office of city attorney, over competitors older in years and 
time of residence in the city, which facts indicate his popularity with the people. 
At this time the democratic party was not in power, and the city largely repub- 
lican, but he was elected by a handsome majority, and served with such universal 
acceptance that he was renominated in 1881, and reflected by a still larger 
majority, indeed, led the ticket in point of number of votes, with the single 
exception of Mayor Harrison, and but a few votes short of his total. In this 
capacity he is acknowledged by all to be an efficient and vigilant law officer of 
this great city, with its multiplicity of interests, which the city attorney is 
expected to protect. He has discharged his duties well. He succeeds some of 
the oldest and ablest members of the Chicago bar, and has maintained the dig- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 163 

nitv and prestige of the office, and proven the equal of any of his predecessors, 
which is a deserved compliment, and carries with it its own significance. 

He married Miss Augusta Hitchcock, daughter of Dr. William Hitchcock, of 
Shoreham, Addison county, Vermont, October 5, 1869. They have two chil- 
dren, a boy and a girl, and a pleasant home. Mr. Grinnell is a gentleman of 
unexceptionable habits. In those walks of life in which intelligence, honor and 
manliness are regarded for what they are worth, he has, by the practice of these 
virtues, achieved an honorable and influential position in the community, and is 
respected by all who know him, either personally or by repute. He is in the 
prime of life, and has a future full of promise before him. 



HENRY M. MATTHEWS. 

HENRY M. MATTHEWS was born in Covington, Wyoming county, New 
York, April 16, 1845. His father, Isaac V. Matthews, was a farmer, and a 
prominent man in that county. His maternal grandfather, although not a law- 
yer, was one of the first judges of the county court of Genesee county, New York. 
His great-grandfather, David Brooks, a graduate of Yale College, was a clergy- 
man, but before he settled over any congregation, became an officer of the 
revolutionary army, and, after peace with England, served in several important 
civil capacities. 

Henry's preliminary education was obtained in the schools in and about his 
native place. During the civil war, he enlisted as a soldier in the I36th N. Y. 
Inf., and served to the close of the war. He was wounded at the battle of 
Resaca. His leisure hours in camp were spent in study, principally of mathe- 
matics, for which he had a liking. When he was mustered out of the service, he 
entered Union College at Schenectady, where he remained three years, when he 
went to Amherst College, and joining the senior class, graduated in 1869 among 
the few of first rank in his class. He was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi Fra- 
ternity. From college he went to the Columbia (New York) Law School, under 
charge of the eminent Theodore Dwight, after which he read law with Lanning, 
Fulsom and Willett, of Buffalo, New York, and was admitted to the bar in 1872, 
when he became managing clerk in the office of Dorscheimer and Lansing, of 
Buffalo. 

He removed to Chicago in 1873, a stranger, and engaged as a law clerk for a 
time, before commencing practice on his own account. By steady, hard work, he 
has attained to a business which will compare favorably, in extent and quality, 
with that of any of the younger attorneys at this bar. He has been successfuly 
engaged in some important corporation suits, notably that of the Singer and Tal- 
cott Stone Company vs. Wheeler; the Hinsdale Granite Company vs. Tilley and the 
city of Chicago; the Union Foundry Works case in United States courts, and 
others of importance. He is engaged in general practice. He is a pains-taking 



164 THE BENCH AND BAR Of CHICAGO. 

and reliable attorney and counselor, and has the confidence of a first-class client- 
age. Such, in brief, has been the career of Henry M. Matthews. What a man is, 
and what he accomplishes, are but the solidification and outcome of his real prin- 
ciples, directed and controlled by himself; an evolving of himself by himself. 
The man who attains success, having unlimited opportunities, and surrounded 
with the most favorable circumstances and conditions, is not entitled to the same 
credit as he who is obliged to make the circumstances, and submit to the condi- 
tions and surroundings, and make the most of them. To the latter class Mr. 
Matthews belongs. He had the capacity to comprehend and measure himself, 
and the conditions surrounding him, and has turned his abilities into the channel 
of his natural inclinations, and made the most of his opportunities, and developed 
in himself a true manhood. He is industrious in his profession, and is respected 
by the bar and the courts. He is now senior member of the firm of Matthews 
and Dicker. 



ALFRED S. TRUDE. 

A MONG the younger members of the Chicago bar who have within a few years 
L\. been brought prominently before the public is Alfred S. Trude, an illustri- 
ous example of self-made fame and promising greatness, possessing rare talents 
and all the qualifications which, with native genius, place him among the leading 
criminal lawyers of Illinois. He is of English descent, the son of Samuel and 
Sallie (Downs) Trude. The latter is of a family well known in British history, her 
father having been an officer of rank in the British navy and her brothers now 
being in that service. His parents were" natives of England, and there engaged in 
agricultural pursuits. They emigrated to the United States in 1847, and Alfred 
was born on shipboard April 21, while the vessel on which they made the journey 
was lying in quarantine off the New York port. After landing they settled in 
Lockport, New York, where Alfred first attended school. Subsequently he 
entered Union College, graduated at the age of 17; removed to Chicago, and 
entered the Union College of Law under Hon. Henry Booth, at the same time 
studying under the tuition of Mr. A. B. Jenks, and was admitted to the bar in 
1871, and at once entered enthusiastically into the work of his profession. 

Mr. Trude has always been a close student and zealous worker, always enter- 
ing into all his duties with his whole heart, body and soul. He has a thorough 
knowledge of the law, is well educated and read on all points, is quick of percep- 
tion and firm and imperative in his actions. He is a fluent speaker, powerful in 
argument, and possesses a peculiarly powerful magnetism which invariably makes 
him one of the most successful jury lawyers and a dangerous opponent on the 
merits of a case. Mr. Trude, by 'energy and perseverance, has become one of the 
most successful criminal lawyers, having conducted thirty-four murder cases, 
thirty-three men and one woman, all of which, with one exception, he tried 
alone, and in all, with the exception of three, he secured verdicts of acquittal. 
Some of these were the most noted cases of the kind now on record. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 165 

The most recent case of notoriety, in which there was displayed more talent 
and skill than in almost any other case on record, was that of the woman, Theresa 
Sturla, or the Stiles case, in which Mr. Trude defended the murderess against the 
strongest efforts of States Attorney Mills, who made a vigorous attempt for her 
conviction with death penalty sentence. Mr. Trude displayed great talent, 
research, perseverance and adaptation, almost accomplishing a complete victory, 
she being sentenced to only one year in the penitentiary. 

The first case of importance in which Mr. Trude appeared prominently before 
the public was the Linden divorce case, where Linden, a coachman, married the 
daughter of Mr. Hancock, a rich packer, Linden representing himself to be a 
British lord while in pursuit of his victim. In this case the question of marriage 
was discussed at great length, there being found a misrepresentation in the 
inducements to marry. The validity of the marriage was determined by the 
question of cohabitation and decided in favor of the husband, and a divorce 
denied. The question was as novel as it was delicate, and stands alone as a 
precedent in the wide domain of legal literature. 

Another was the defense of the Reno brothers, who were arrested at various 
places and finally at Seymour, Indiana. Mr. Trude first cleared Saul, who, on his 
acquittal, was seized by a mob and lynched, and afterward the other, who took 
refuge in the jail, but was sought after and treated in a similar manner. Another 
was the defense of Joe Tansey, alias Johnson, for killing Albert Gates, a well 
known case. Another was the defense and acquittal of William Gerbick, who 
was charged with arson and murder, he having been accused of setting fire to a 
house and burning his alleged mistress. Another was the defense and acquittal 
of Thomas Mangaw, indited for the killing of Kelly on St. Patrick's day. Another 
important case was the defense and acquittal of Maguire, McGarey and O'Brien 
for killing three Bohemians at a dance. He first obtained permission for a sepa- 
rate trial, and by a vigorous effort and strong fight secured the acquittal of 
McGarey, and after he was out of the reach of the law, and once in jeopardy, put 
him on the stand, and by his confession of the crime and evidence cleared the 
other two. Another case was the defense and acquittal of Father Forhan, a 
Catholic priest charged with stealing $3,600 from the parish of St. Mary. Another 
was the defense and acquittal of M. C. McDonald, who was charged under nine- 
teen different indictments, one of which was with intent to kill. Another was the 
defense and acquittal of Jim Martin, charged with killing St. James, on Clark 
street. He was also attorney in the 'Lizzie Moore diamond robbery case, when 
ex-Chief of Police Hickey was a supposed accomplice. He was also the attorney 
for a number of conductors in 1875 when they were charged with larceny from 
the railroad companies with which they were connected. He was also attorney 
for Clem Periolat and the county commissioners, better known as the " court- 
house ring crowd," all of whom were acquitted. He was also attorney for R. K. 
Turner and Howard Turner, in the celebrated land-forgery case, in which over 
three millions of dollars were involved, and for which he succeeded in obtaining 



I 66 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

an acquittal for both. He is the attorney for several railroad associations, and in 
connection with Pinkerton has conducted different noted cases in which persons 
were charged with various crimes against the railroads, with eminent success. 
He is now attorney for the Chicago City Railway Company, and is one of the 
attorneys for the Chicago and Alton Railroad Company. 

Mr. Trude has figured with a great many extradition cases, one of which was 
the "Newburg poker case," in which $150,000 was won from Weed by Scott and 
Hedges. The defendants' attorneys attempted by a writ of habeas corpus, in the 
circuit court of Cook county to procure the discharge of the defendants, but 
through the efforts of Mr. Trude they were remanded. In 1876 Mr. Trude became 
attorney for the Chicago "Times," and defended the editor, Mr. Wilbur F. Story, 
in the celebrated extradition case, when Mr. William Beck, chief of police of 
Milwaukee, appeared for the prosecution, together with his attorneys. In this 
case an effort was made to take Mr. Story to Wisconsin to answer to the crime of 
libel against the laws of that state. The point raised by Mr. Trude was that as 
Mr. Story had not fled from the requiring state under the act of congress relating 
to fugitives from justice, he could not be sent to that state without a plain viola- 
tion of the law. Gov. Beveridge, who was governor at the time, discharged Mr. 
Story, and the attorney general, Edsall, concurred. Mr. Trude has tried on behalf 
of the Chicago "Times" fifty-two libel cases, most of the verdicts being "not 
guilty," while others varied from one cent to a dollar, except in the case of Alice 
E. Early against Mr. Story, when a verdict was rendered against Mr. Story for 
$500. On a previous occasion, when Messrs. E. A. Storrs and Wirt Dexter 
defended, the verdict was $25,000, and it was immediately following this verdict 
that Mr. Trude became the attorney for the "Times." Two years ago Mr. Trude 
became attorney for the Chicago "Tribune," also, and has tried several cases for 
that paper with perfect success. 

Mr. Trude was married in 1868 to Miss Algenia D. Pearson, of Lockport, New 
York, a young lady of great musical attainments and of high social qualities. 



F. W. TOURTELLOTTE. 

MR.TOURTELLOTTE was born in Thompson, Windham county, Connecticut, 
in 1837; the son of Joseph Tourtellotte and Amy (Joslin) Tourtellotte. The 
family was prominent in that locality, the father and sons having held important 
positions of trust for a succession of years. Young Tourtellotte pursued his pre- 
paratory studies mainly at Providence, Rhode Island, and was afterward a student 
in Brown University, which he left in 1856, being among the foremost in his class. 
He then attended the Albany Law School, where he graduated, and was admitte 
to the bar in 1858. The following year he settled in Chicago and commenced 
the practice of law, in which he has since been constantly engaged, with the 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. l6j 

exception of a few months while in the military service as major of the I2;th 111. 
Inf., connected with the Army of the Tennessee. Mr. Tourtellotte has attained a 
wide reputation as a painstaking, safe, able and successful lawyer, and ranks high 
at the Chicago bar. During his practice he has been engaged in some of the 
most important cases that have come before the higher courts, notably the Craig- 
Sprague breach of promise case, in which the largest verdict ($100,000) ever 
obtained was given by the jury in favor of his client; also the noted meat canning 
case, which was won after laborious trials, in which the opposition employed some 
of the most distinguished counsel at this bar. Mr. Tourtellotte eschews politics, 
and devotes himself closely to his profession. He has a large and varied practice, 
both before the state and United States courts. He is a safe counselor and an 
earnest and convincing advocate, being an interesting and forcible speaker before 
court or jury. 

In 1861 he was married to Miss Julia Isabella Judson, only child of Dr. Judson, 
a wealthy citizen of Chicago, and has one son, Frederick Judson, about fifteen 
years of age. 

WILLIAM L. MITCHELL. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in Monroe county, New York, and is now 
fifty years of age. His family moved to Janesville, Rock county, Wiscon- 
sin, in 1846, where his father, who is now living, and widely known, formerly 
was engaged in the practice of his profession, that of a physician. William 
chose the profession of law, and to that end fitted himself by a thorough 
course of study, and was admitted to the bar in that city, where he practiced sev- 
eral years. He has always been a decided democrat in politics, but when the 
civil war broke out, he was a war democrat, and with Hon. Matt H. Carpenter, 
who then lived in Rock county, and was also a war democrat, he was active in 
urging enlistments, and made many speeches in support of the prosecution of the 
war for the suppression of the rebellion and the preservation of the Union. In 
1866 he removed to Chicago, and soon secured an extensive and lucrative prac- 
tice, mainly of admiralty or maritime law in the admiralty courts, and attained 
to a position among the foremost in this specialty. He has made some especially 
happy and effective arguments before the United States courts in the course of 
his practice in Chicago, notably his argument in what is known as the Kate 
Hinchman (name of a vessel) case in the United States circuit court, before Judge 
Drummond, in which he reviewed the opinion of Judge Bradley, of the United 
States Supreme Court, in the noted Lottawana case. The argument was at once 
able, unique, classical, clear and forcible, and attracted the attention of the court and 
those who heard it, and Mr. Mitchell was complimented by the court on account 
of it. He lost largely in the great fire, and after that disaster, and the succeed- 
ing financial crisis, this class of business declined to a degree that made it of 
little consequence, and Mr. Mitchell engaged in general practice. 



1 68 THE BENCH AND RAR OF CHICAGO. 

He is a man of literary taste and attainments, and an author and lecturer. 
His temperance lecture, " Chicago by Gaslight," was well received by the public 
and the press, both as to matter, and manner of delivery. He is author of a 
pamphlet, "Humors of the Times," a satire upon the political corruptions of 
1876-7; a play, "The Conscript," in six acts, founded upon Dumas' "Conscript," as 
to characters only; he contributes to the press, and evidences ability, humor and 
sarcasm in a measure which the majority of professional writers do not possess. 
His descriptions of scenes and events have been compared by the critics to some 
of the best efforts of Dickens. On the platform he is an actor as well as orator. 

Mr. Mitchell is a bachelor, and will probably remain so. He devotes himself 
to his profession, to the exclusion of politics, with an occasional venture in the 
literary field for recreation. 



JOHN M. GARTSIDE. 

JOHN M. GARTSIDE was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 24, 
1849. His parents, Benjamin and Caroline (Measey) Gartside, are both 
natives of Lancashire, England. They immigrated to the United States early in 
life, and for many years lived in Philadelphia, where the father became an adept 
in the delicate art of steel engraving, and for a number of years pursued that 
occupation. In order the better to provide for his growing family he removed to 
the West, and settled at Iowa City, in the state of Iowa. This was in 1855. Two 
years later came the financial crash that swept over the country. His means were 
limited; the change of climate and other causes incident to settlement in a new 
country, combining, so wrought upon his health, that during the succeeding year 
and a half he was prostrated upon a bed of sickness, leaving the care and support 
of his family to his devoted wife and oldest son, the subject of this sketch. The 
lot was a hard one; but young as the boy was, he faced it with a cheerful and 
brave heart, and during the six years that followed, chopped wood, worked on 
a farm, often filling a man's place and doing a man's work, and never allowing an 
opportunity to go unimproved, whereby he might contribute to the needs of the 
family. In 1861 the family removed to Davenport, Iowa, where John was, in a 
measure, enabled to gratify his ardent longing for an education. He at once 
obtained work in the merchant tailoring establishment of Mr. P. L. Cone, at one 
dollar per week, reserving a portion of his time for study. In this manner, for 
some four years, he worked and attended the public schools, and pursued a course 
in the high school of Davenport, and later attended the evening sessions of the 
Bryant and Stratton Business College of that city. He was a good scholar, with 
a clear, comprehensive mind, and a retentive memory; was fond of reading, and 
by economizing his time, and faithfully improving his opportunities, gained a 
good knowledge of the English branches, and a thoroughly practical business 
education. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 169 

He remained with Mr. Cone about seven years, and during that period was 
promoted from time to time, until at its close, in 1868, he had almost the entire 
charge and control of the business. 

During the next two years he was employed as book-keeper, cashier and office 
manager of the Davenport agency of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of 
Chicago. The change was to him most opportune, and the performance of the 
duties of his responsible position, in a marked degree, developed his latent abili- 
ties. The boy became a man. Catching glimpses of the busy world lying out- 
side and beyond the limits of that to which his life thus far had been confined, 
and discovering in himself a peculiar tact and skill to deal with men, he was 
unable longer to content himself in the narrow routine of clerical life, and 
resolved, at any cost of self-sacrifice or labor, to fit himself for the practice of 
law. He had formed several business acquaintances in Chicago, and knowing its 
importance as a commercial center, was attracted thither. Arriving October i, 
1870, with a well defined and determined purpose, he at once set about its accom- 
plishment. His desire was to place himself under the tuition of some able lawyer, 
where, in addition to the privileges of study, and the benefit of his preceptor's 
experience, he could, at the same time, receive a salary sufficient to defray his 
expenses. This he found after a week of weary and anxious searching, a week of 
anxiety such as those only can appreciate who have passed through similar expe- 
riences, in the law office of Dent and Black, his duties being to keep the books of 
the firm, and to perform other general office work, his salary being fixed at 
$7.00 per week. He went to his task with a will, and soon became a proficient 
law clerk. In addition to his law studies, he devoted his attention assiduously to 
other branches under private tutors, and thus early and late applied himself to 
study and work. In June, 1873, being thoroughly prepared, he went before the 
supreme court, sitting at Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and, passing a rigid examination, 
was admitted to the bar. He continued with Dent and Black until February, 
1876, as chief clerk of their office, and, being thoroughly qualified, was entrusted 
with many important matters in the courts, and during the last year of his clerk- 
ship received, aside from the privilege of practicing on his own account, a salary 
of $1,200. To most young lawyers this would have seemed most favorable and 
satisfactory; but Mr. Gartside, with characteristic independence, felt that he 
would rather devote his entire energies to establishing a reputation and practice 
for himself, and accordingly resigned his position, and opened an office on his 
own account. The decision proved a wise one in every respect. The few clients 
who had entrusted their business to him while a law clerk, continued with him, 
and brought others, and from the first he had a fair practice, which has gradually 
grown, each year exhibiting a marked increase of business. 

As a lawyer he shows thorough and careful professional training; readily 

analyses and comprehends the bearing of questions presented; quickly applies 

his knowledge, and in whatever he undertakes shows himself a skillful master of 

the situation. As a counselor his advice and opinions are reliable; as a special 

18 



I7O THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

pleader he excels; while as an advocate before court or jury, he ranks among the 
most successful. 

Personally, Mr. Gartside is amiable, companionable, genial and generous. 
Domestic in his tastes and habits, he finds his chief delight outside of his busi- 
ness, in the comforts and pleasures of his own home, and is a friend always and 
everywhere to be relied on. 

His wife, Annie Louise (Davis) Gartside, is a daughter of Levi and Elizabeth 
(Fory) Davis, of Davenport, Iowa; an intelligent, charming and thoroughly 
accomplished lady, who presides with dignity over her own home, and among her 
many friends and acquaintances is most highly esteemed. They were married in 
September, 1874, and have one child, Lillie Claribel, an interesting and charming 
little miss of five years. 



JUDGE JOHN C. CHUMASERO. 

THOUGH a late acquisition to the bar of Chicago, the subject of this sketch 
is a lawyer of long established standing and reputation. John C. Chumasero 
removed from New York with his parents to Rochester in 1832. He is descended 
from an old Dutch family. Being protestants, his ancestors were driven from 
Spain by the inquisition, during the dark days of the sixteenth century, finding 
for a time a refuge in Holland, but eventually going to England, whence descend- 
ants of these heroes of protestantism in its rise emigrated to America. He 
received his education in the public schools of New York, and at an early age com- 
menced to seek his own maintenance, entering a business house as clerk, where 
he remained until he attained the age of eighteen. His parents having moved 
to Rochester in 1832, and his tastes leaning toward professional life, he aban- 
doned business pursuits, and entering the office of Bishop and Sampson, began 
the study of law. He was admitted to ihe bar at Albany, October 8, 1838, and 
the same day was united in marriage to Miss Tryon, daughter of Moses Tryon, 
of Hartford, Connecticut. Mr. Chumasero at once started in practice in Roches- 
ter, forming with a Mr. Bishop a partnership which existed until the death of Mr. 
Bishop in 1843. In 1844 Mr. Chumasero was elected justice of the peace, which 
office he held four years. He was alderman of the city of Rochester from 1848 to 
1850, and was thereafter elected a member of the board of education, and later 
was appointed master in chancery, which latter appointment he held for four 
years. In the meantime Judge Chumasero had formed a law partnership with 
Joseph A. Eastman, and continued in practice until the year before the opening 
of the civil war. 

After the close of the war Judge Chumasero was appointed county judge of 
Monroe county, New York, and held office for ten years, and after his retirement 
from the bench, resumed the practice of his profession, and was referee in many 
important cases, where as well as on the bench, his decisions were marked by an 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 171 

acute grasping of the salient points in the matters at issue, and a clear and con- 
cise reasoning. In May 1879, his wife dying, Judge Chumasero removed to Chi- 
cago, and has been practicing here since then. He is a staunch republican, and 
was at the head of his party in Monroe county, New York, for many years. 

During the administration of the subject of this sketch, as judge of Monroe 
county, and while he at the same time occupied the positions of chairman of the 
war committee and drafting commissioners, in the arduous duties of which he was 
greatly assisted by the services and patriotic efforts of Hon. Addison Gardiner, 
lieutenant governor, and subsequently chief-justice of the court of appeals of New 
York, who was also a member of the war committee. Many thrilling incidents, 
illustrative of the soul stirring times of the great rebellion, and constituting part 
of its unwritten history, occurred. It will doubtless be remembered, that during 
the hottest period of the war, when bands of traitors, under the name of Golden 
Circles, were established in every northern city, meeting and concocting their 
nefarious and treasonable plans for the subjugation of the North in darkened 
rooms at midnight, and by all means within their power, embarrassing the admin- 
istration, and lending aid and comfort to its enemies, one Andrews, with a band 
of choice conspirators, had arranged the plan of firing the city of New York, and 
other northern cities, and laying them in ashes. Rochester was among those 
marked by the fiendish gang, and included in its destruction was the contem- 
plated massacre of the most prominent citizens, who were most conspicuously 
active in the support of the government and the Union. The conspirators met in 
secret, and marked for death on a scroll the names of their selected victims. 
Judge Chumasero, who was at that time president of the Union League, had, by 
by his active measures, officially and otherwise, entitled himself, in the opinions of 
Andrews and his colleagues, to a high place on the condemned list, and was marked 
for vengeance. He had in his service at that time an Irish girl as a domestic, 
who was strongly attached to the family, and proved herself, in this instance par- 
ticularly, to be a good and faithful servant. This girl happened to have for her 
sweetheart one who had been thoughtlessly drawn into the conspiracy, and whose 
humanity and good nature revolted at the crimes he was called upon to partici- 
pate in, and to her he disclosed the plot. She of course communicated the intelli- 
gence to the judge, and the whole thing was thus nipped in the bud. About this 
time, a traitor in the camp disclosed to Judge Chumasero, as president of the 
Union League, that there was to be a general rising of the supporters of the 
rebellion in Rochester, which was to involve the slaughter of the obnoxious ones, 
and the burning of the city. The Union League, at this time, consisted of 
five hundred members, who met together every evening for purposes of con- 
sultation, and perfecting themselves in drill and military discipline. They 
had been engaged in the service for months, and had been fortunate enough to 
secure as drill master and disciplinarian the noble Captain Gardner, of Fort 
Sumter fame. Under his tuition and instruction they had become in point of 
fact a well drilled band of soldiers, well able to cope with any mob, in case neces- 



I 72 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

sity might demand it. The occasion fixed upon for the contemplated rising was 
one evening when Senator Nye, of Nevada, was announced to address the people 
on the subject of the struggle, and to deliver one of his famous war speeches. The 
meeting was to be held in the open air, in the court-house yard. The wide spread 
reputation of the orator, and the intense excitement then prevailing, were expected 
to draw together an immense assemblage. The plan of the rebel sympathizers 
was, to mix up with the crowd, and at a given signal commence the riot, while 
their outside coadjutors were to fire the city at once in different places. The 
Union League assembled together before the time fixed for the public gathering, 
and it was resolved that each member, thoroughly armed, should attend the meet- 
ing as though nothing was known, and without any apparent concert of action 
but that the moment the court house bell tolled one, which was the signal agreed 
on, each man should leave the crowd and fall into rank, presenting a band of 
five hundred well armed, thoroughly drilled men, ready for any emergency, and 
prepared effectually to dispose of any unorganized mob of twice their number, on 
the shortest possible notice. But 

" The best laid schemes o' mice and men 
Gang aft aglee." 

Whether a traitor in our camp, or whether cowardice prevailed in theirs, 01 
whatever the cause was, we never knew, and all passed off quietly. Nye made a 
glowing speech, and true patriots imbibed new vigor and enthusiasm on the occa- 
sion. But it would require a large volume to portray all the thrilling scenes 
occurring even in Rochester and vicinity during the progress of the terrific strug- 
gle between treason and the Union, and the foregoing must suffice. 



HENRY McKEY. 

THE subject of this sketch is a rising Chicago lawyer, and a member of the 
well known firm of Doolittle and McKey. He was born December 8, 
1846, and is a son of the late Edward McKey, an enterprising merchant and 
capable business man of Janesville, Wisconsin. Upon the death of his father, 
which occurred at the time of Henry's early manhood, the business of settling a 
large estate was left to his charge, thus giving him large business experience. At 
an early age, he discharged the duties of his responsible trust with energy and 
faithfulness, and out of that and numerous other matters many thousands of 
dollars have passed through his hands by which he has gained the reputation of 
being a man of strict integrity and rare business talent. He graduated from 
Racine College in the class of 1867, and received the degree of A. M. from the 
same college in 1870. He pursued a course of law studies in the law department 
of the Michigan University, and graduated from that institution in the class of 1869. 
Five years later, in 1874, he commenced the practice of his profession in Chi- 
cago, associating himself with Hon. James R. Doolittle and J. R. Doolittle, Jr., 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 173 

both gentlemen of eminence in their profession. Mr. McKey has been employed 
in the settlement of several very large estates, and gives special attention to real 
estate and probate law and to chancery practice, in which he is an expert. He 
has the confidence of all who know him, and is held in high esteem by all of the 
members of the bar, who are favored with his acquaintance. He is a thorough 
lawyer, and a man of great industry, and energy of character, which, combined 
with his keen perception and unqualified integrity, render him a man in whom 
implicit confidence may be placed. He was married October 25, 1876, to Adella 
S. Parkhurst, daughter of William S. Parkhurst, an eminent lawyer, late of Rome, 
New York. 



M. A. DELANY. 

MARTIN A. DfiLANY was born of Irish parentage, October 4, 1844, in New- 
port township, Lake county, Illinois. His father, John DeLany, came to 
Chicago in the year 1840, while yet a young man; after working a short time as 
a laborer on the Illinois and Michigan canal, he went to Lake county, Illinois, 
then a part of McHenry county, and selected a tract of wild land, which he pur- 
chased from the United States government, when it came into market. Here he 
settled, and shortly afterward marrying, with his wife, whose maiden name was 
Maher, undertook the privations and hardships of a pioneer life, seldom seeing the 
outside world, except when they visited Chicago, some forty miles distant, for the 
purpose of securing their family supplies. In this pioneer home grew up a large 
family of children, of whom Martin A. was the second eldest, and who, as they 
advanced in years, took part with their parents in the work of clearing and devel- 
oping the land, by no means a light task. The settlement being new there were 
no schools; nor were there township or even county organizations, except so far 
as that territory was considered a part of McHenry county, and Mr. DeLany took 
an active part in all the preliminary movements which resulted in the creation of 
Lake county, and in the township and school district organizations. In his house 
was held the first meeting of settlers for the purpose of building a school house in 
that neighborhood, a work which was accomplished by voluntary subscriptions of 
small amounts of money and the joint labor of the people, the building being 
located on Mr. DeLany's farm some eight miles northwest of the present site of 
Waukegan, that place being then known as a steamboat landing and called Little 
Fort. In this school house the subject of this sketch obtained what education he 
could in the common branches, and at the age of eighteen commenced a course of 
study at an academy in Waukegan, which, however, he did not complete, as his 
services were required on the farm. Being of a studious mind he utilized all his 
spare time at home, eagerly reading all the books within his reach. At the first 
opportunity he returned to the academy, but soon left it to take charge of a dis- 
trict school, which he taught during two winter terms, in the meantime reading 
law from books borrowed from lawyers in Waukegan; after two years reading in 



174 THE BENCH A ^ D BAR OF CHICAGO. 

this way, he in 1866 entered the law department of Michigan University, and pur- 
sued the full course of study. Graduating in 1868, he went to Chicago, and in 
the spring of that year was admitted to the bar, after which he tried the practice 
of law in Elgin and St. Charles. Meeting with little success, he soon returned to 
Chicago, and opened an office on Dearborn street where he remained but a short 
time. His means being exhausted, he again resorted to teaching, this time at 
Libertyville, in Lake county, during the winter of 1868-69. In May following he 
returned to Chicago, and opened a law office, firmly determined to succeed. In 
the great fire of October, 1871, he suffered the loss of all his personal effects, but 
immediately after the fire reopened business, and up to the present time has been 
very successful, his practice being chiefly in probate, commercial and real estate 
law, and the law of contracts. 

In 1876 Mr. DeLany was elected to the Illinois state senate, from the sixth 
senatorial district, North Chicago, and served in that body during the sessions of 
the 3<Dth and 3ist general assemblies, being active as a democrat in the memora- 
ble struggle, which resulted in the election of Hon. David Davis to the United 
States Senate. He also took a prominent part in the passage of the laws estab- 
lishing the appellate courts in Illinois; and, besides being the author of the act 
creating the probate court, was chiefly instrumental in securing its passage. 

He was in 1879 appointed a member of the Chicago board of education, and 
after one year's service in that body, was elected its president, and at the expira- 
tion of one term of office was unanimously reflected to the same position. Dur- 
ing his term as a member of the board of education he was active in advocating 
all measures tending to the welfare of the public schools of the city, and a leading 
spirit in the movement which resulted in the election of Mr. George Howland as 
superintendent of schools in 1880. He is also a member of the Chicago bar 
association. As a lawyer he is faithful to his clients, and in all his dealings sus- 
tains the dignity and honor of his profession. Mr. DeLany was married in De- 
cember of 1870, to Miss Kate Wetzel, daughter of Nicholas Wetzel, of Waukegan, 
by whom he has three daughters. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church. 



COL. DAVID QUIGG. 

DAVID QUIGG was born in Litchfield, New Hampshire, December 17, 1834. 
His father was a farmer. He commenced his preparatory studies at the 
age of thirteen, and three years later entered Dartmouth College and graduated 
in the class of 1855. He soon afterward removed to the West, and studied law in 
the office of Swett and Orme at Bloomington, Illinois, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1857. At the opening of the war of the rebellion he enlisted in the 4th 
111. Cavalry, serving as second lieutenant until the summer of 1862, when he 
was made major of the i4th 111. Cavalry, of which regiment he subsequently 
became lieutenant-colonel, and with which he remained until the close of the war, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 175 

being mustered out of the service in July, 1865. Settling in Chicago, he became 
a partner in the law firm of Higgins, Swett and Quigg, and remained in that 
connection until 1873, when Mr. Higgins retired and the firm was dissolved. 
Mr. Quigg then formed a partnership with Cyrus Bentley, which continued 
until 1877. In 1878 he formed a partnership with Col. Richard S. Tuthill, which 
continues to the present time (1883). 

His army service was mainly in Tennessee. He was seven months a prisoner 
of war, held in Charleston and Columbus, South Carolina. 

As a lawyer he ranks high, and has a large and lucrative practice. 



MAJOR LUMLEY INGLEDEW. 

EMLEY INGLEDEW was born in Bradford, England, November 28, 1837, 
on the father's side of Scotch, on the mother's English, extraction. When 
he was eight years of age his parents came to this country and settled in West 
Troy, Walworth county, Wisconsin, engaging in farming. He worked on the 
farm until sixteen years of age, when he determined to obtain a better education 
than the schools in that vicinity afforded, and went to Milton (Wisconsin) College, 
where he graduated in 1861, working his way through college by teaching win- 
ters. Thence he went to Janesville, Wisconsin, and commenced the study of law, 
and was in the offices of the late Judge H. S. Conger and of Henry K. Whiton, 
after which, in 1863, he was examined and admitted to the bar in Madison. During 
the same year he was commissioned by President Lincoln commissary of subsis- 
tance, with rank of captain, and assigned to duty in the Army of the Cumberland, 
where he remained during the war, with the exception of nine months when he 
was prisoner of war under circumstances which would try the metal of any man. 
During three months of this time he was one of the six hundred Union officers in 
Charleston, South Carolina, who were placed by the confederate authorities, in 
buildings exposed to the fire of our own batteries, a stratagem resorted to by them 
for the purpose of deterring our batteries from opening fire on them, knowing the 
buildings to be occupied by their comrades. This was during the siege and bom- 
bardment of Charleston by the Union army. He was subsequently promoted by 
Mr. Lincoln to the rank of brevet major in the same branch of the service, in 
which he made an honorable and creditable record. He was mustered out in the 
fall of 1865, when he removed to Chicago, took a course in book-keeping in the 
Eastman Business College, and was subsequently principal of book-keeping and 
commercial law in that institution for eighteen months. In 1867 he engaged in 
the real estate and law business in Chicago, and has been so engaged since, doing 
an extensive business. He has won the confidence and regard of those who have 
had dealings with him, and established a reputation for honorable dealing, and 
won the respect of all as being a reliable and trustworthy gentleman. He has 
won this success by his quiet industry, energy, careful habits and application to 
business. 



176 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

In April, 1866, he married Ella E. Wheeler, then a teacher in the Janesville, 
Wisconsin, high school. While in Janesville he was one of the originators and 
promoters of the young men's literary society, and took an interest in whatever 
tended to improve and elevate. 



SIMEON W. KING. 

THE life history of him whose name heads this sketch, while possessing many 
points in common with that of every self-made man, has yet many charac- 
teristics peculiarly its own, and fairly illustrates what may be achieved by hard 
work in the prosecution of a determined and persistent purpose. 

His parents, Hiram Rogers King and Deborah (Woodrow) King, who were 
highly esteemed members of the Society of Friends, at the time of their marriage 
settled on a section of land in Penn township, Morgan county, Ohio, which the 
grandfather of our subject had given to his children, and which is still known as 
King's Section. Here Simeon was born, August 18, 1838. Both his paternal 
and maternal ancestors were descended from William Penn's colony, and all 
belonged to the Society of Friends. In this society Mr. King still retains his 
birthright, although early in life he identified himself with the Methodist Episco- 
pal church. When with Quakers he speaks their plain language, but when absent 
from them no one would suspect that he had ever seen a Friend. Aside from our 
subject, there were in the family two brothers and five sisters. The former, 
William Thomas and Hiram R., enlisted in their country's service in the early 
part of the war of the rebellion, one in the yth Maryland, and the other in the 
i goth Pennsylvania " Bucktail " regiment. Both were captured at Weldon Cross 
Roads, Virginia, whence they were taken to Belle Island and Libby prisons, and 
then to Andersonville prison, Georgia, of infamous memory, where William 
perished of starvation. Hiram was subsequently removed to Florence, Alabama, 
and there suffered the same unhappy fate, thus leaving Mr. King the only sur- 
viving brother. 

When Simeon was about five years old his father engaged in an extensive 
speculation in peaches, which ultimately caused his pecuniary ruin, owing to 
which misfortune the family was broken up and scattered, our subject being put 
in charge of his grandmother King, who lived at Little Britton, Pennsylvania. 
Two years later he was virtually cast upon his own resources, being put out to 
work for one Nathan Blake, a farmer, with whom he lived two years, attending 
school a part of the time. During the next three years he lived with an uncle on 
a farm, where he was privileged to spend a portion of the winter season in school. 
He was now twelve years old ; and with a thirst for knowledge, and an ambition 
to push his way in the world, he sought employment that would bring him some 
pecuniary compensation. With this purpose in view he went to work for Mr. 
Edwin Haines, at Rising Sun, Cecil county, Maryland, also a farmer, receiving 



THE BENCH AND BAK OF CHICAGO. I 79 

a year and his board, and buying his own clothes. He was thus em- 
ployed three years, and during that time attended school about three weeks 
of each winter, paying his own tuition. The dull monotony of such a life was 
wholly unsuited to his tastes, and finding in it little opportunity for acquiring an 
education, which he felt he must have at any sacrifice, he resolved to abandon it. 
Making known to his employer his decision, he received the small sum of money 
that was due him, viz., $30, and with his little bundle, containing all his earthly 
possessions, on his back, he set out barefooted and ragged for Wilmington, Dela- 
ware, some thirty miles distant. There he found employment during the summer, 
and in the fall entered the academy of T. Clarkson Taylor, a Friends School, 
where he spent two years, making rapid and permanent progress in his studies, 
and working for his board out of school hours. It was while here that he first 
determined to enter the legal profession, the desire to do so being awakened by 
listening to an eloquent address, delivered in a criminal case, by Hon. David Paul 
Brown, a celebrated lawyer of Philadelphia. With the hope of bettering his con- 
dition, and the determination to gratify this desire, young King, at the age of 
seventeen years, now started for the West, arriving in Chicago October 19, 
1855, with sixteen dollars in his pocket. In his search for employment his money 
became exhausted, and in addition he had contracted a board bill of $70, for 
which his note was accepted. He finally secured a temporary situation in 
the grocery house of George C. Cook and Company, and afterward was given 
employment in a planing mill, by a friend, Isaac P. Pointer, more from sympathy 
than anything else, at seventy-five cents per day, from which he was able, after 
paying his board, to save one dollar per week. Thus he struggled and met his 
obligation, with interest. In the midst of all he kept up a brave heart, never 
for an instant relinquishing his purpose to prepare himself for the legal profes- 
sion. Previous to this he frequently visited a free soup-house, then situated 
where now stands Marshall Field and Company's wholesale dry-goods house, and 
was only too glad to enjoy that privilege. Soon afterward he obtained a position 
as clerk in the office of Wilsee Brothers, sewer contractors, in addition to which 
he, in the following winter, with Rev. Robert Collyer and Miss Linda Gilbert, 
taught an evening school held under the auspices of the ministry at large. 
At this time he was borrowing law-books, reading the same and returning them 
with thanks. In the spring following he secured the privilege of studying six 
months in the office of a lawyer, but not admiring the manner in which he did 
business, left him, and soon after formed the acquaintance of William James, then 
coroner of Cook county, whom he found a true and sympathizing friend, and 
now mourns his recent death. 

Although too young, Mr. King, at the time the Lady Elgin was wrecked on 
Lake Michigan, involving the loss of hundreds of lives, was chosen by his late 
friend as one of the coroner's jury. The investigation lasted two weeks, and the 
compensation which he received for these sad services really gave him his start in 
life. He next secured a position, with a small salary, in the law office of Good- 
'9 



l8o THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

rich, Farwell and Smith, with whom he remained four years, occasionally attend- 
ing lectures at the Union Law College, and after passing a very creditable 
examination by the committee appointed for that purpose, April 4, 1863, was 
admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Illinois, and likewise was admitted 
to practice in the United States courts. 

During Mr. King's struggles with poverty, it may be added that he kept his 
purposes a secret from his relatives at the East, and when the news of his admis- 
sion to the bar and his subsequent appointment to office reached them, it found 
at first somewhat incredulous listeners, they saying, " It is only one of his jokes," 
but pleased with his success, and rejoicing with him to know that he was try- 
ing, under such adverse circumstances, to make himself a name. 

In the summer of 1864, by the death of Col. John A. Bross, a vacancy occurred, 
and through the kindness and influence of his preceptors, Goodrich, Farwell and 
Smith, Mr. King was appointed by Judge Thomas Drummond United States 
commissioner for the northern district of Illinois, being as was then stated, the 
youngest man ever appointed to that office. As an evidence of his fitness for this 
position, it need only be said that he still holds the office. He is, besides, com- 
missioner of deeds for every state and territory in the Union, commissioner for 
the United States court of claims at Washington, District of Columbia, United 
States passport officer at Chicago, and notary public. On November 20, 1882, 
Mr. King was selected as a commissioner of the court of commissioners of 
Alabama claims, a responsible office to which is attached great discretionary 
power, and on December 23, following, was appointed by President Arthur, unso- 
licited, commissioner of deeds for the District of Columbia, at Chicago, Illinois. 

During the war of the rebellion, Mr. King, as notary, swore into the United 
States service, without compensation, company after company with a "God bless 
you," while others insisted on having their pay. He was not able to enter the 
service himself, owing to his father and mother having departed this life and 
leaving a sacred duty devolving upon him, that of caring as best he could with 
the scanty means at hand for those wholly dependent upon him for support; but, 
although there was no draft in his ward, he employed, paid for and sent to the 
front a worthy representative, who was killed in the battle of the Wilderness. 
He, himself, while a student, in 1862, spent several weeks caring for the wounded 
after the terrible battle of Shiloh, and for his commendable service was appointed 
by Gov. Richard Yates a member of his staff. In politics he is a firm and uncom- 
promising republican, and ever since he has been a voter has taken an active 
interest in the affairs of that party. In this, as in every other department of work 
to which he has been called, his abhorrence of shams and pretenses, together with 
his loyalty to principle, have secured to him the highest esteem and admiration 
of his fellow citizens, who have rewarded him with many offices of public trust. 
The first elective office which he was called to fill was that of assistant supervisor 
of the town of South Chicago, which under the then law made him a member of 
the board of supervisors of Cook county. This was in 1866. In the following 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. l8l 

year he was reelected to the same office, and by the board of supervisors selected 
county attorney. In the fall of 1869 he was elected supervisor of the town of 
South Chicago, and became president of the board of auditors and treasurer of 
the town funds. He was also made chairman of the judiciary committee of the 
old county board of supervisors, and again chosen county attorney, filling that 
office three terms in all, of one year each. Mr. King has also served as clerk of 
the town of South Chicago, and besides has received from his party, unsolicited, 
the nomination for representative in the state legislature, and other honorable 
offices, which he declined. 

While Mr. King was serving in the county board he rendered valuable service 
toward organizing and perfecting the normal school system of Cook county, he 
being one of its first advocates and earnest supporters at a time when the project 
was not looked upon with general favor, but was frequently denounced by the 
press as being, in a manner, worthless and too expensive; but after much conten- 
tion and labor in the interest of education, this important educational system was 
first established at Blue Island, and afterward at Englewood, where the school 
and its management now reflect honor upon Cook county, and also speak well 
for those who had the foresight to establish such an institution for the benefit 
of the young, irrespective of sex, who may be desirous of becoming thorough 
teachers. 

A leading characteristic of our subject is his thought and care for others, and 
it must be said, to his honor, that while yet struggling with poverty, and after he 
had established himself in business, his care for his sisters prompted him to 
gather them together, educate them, and provide for their wants, one of them 
Mary, an idolized sister, being for fifteen years bed-ridden and a helpless invalid; 
after those long and weary years of great suffering borne with Christian fortitude 
and faith, she has but recently passed to her reward, in the blessed hope of an 
immortality and lasting peace, where pain and sorrow come not, and death is 
unknown ; yet her brother has not become reconciled to his loss, so deeply was 
and is the attachment for this loved one. He is a man of high social attainments 
and generous impulses, and in his professional or official capacity, prompt, ener- 
getic, conscientious and careful. 

Prior to the great fire of 1871, Mr. King had accumulated a handsome prop- 
erty, but came out of that dire calamity with nothing, save his fair reputation. 
His own life was providentially saved at the time of the fire; but for an un- 
accountable impulse to spend the night with friends in another portion of the 
city, he certainly would have perished in that awful conflagration, it being then 
his unbroken custom to sleep over his office, in furnished apartments he had for 
years occupied. The building in which were his rooms was destroyed early on 
that memorable morning of October 9, and lives lost. One of the earliest tele- 
grams that left the city that day for the East was the following, sent by Mr. King 
to his sisters : "Lost all, but saved." He afterward made favorable investments 
in real estate, and was on the eve of retrieving his losses, when the financial crisis 



1 82 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

of 1873 involved him, the second time, in the loss of all he possessed. In addition 
to his other misfortunes, he was, in 1876, made the object of a dastardly and 
unprovoked assault which so impaired his health that for several years he was 
unable to attend to his business, and from the effects of which he has but very 
recently fully recovered. 

Mr. King is a man of indomitable will; whatever he does is prompted by the 
most conscientious motives, and having well considered and entered upon the 
prosecution of any plan or purpose, nothing can change or swerve him. He began 
life with nothing save his own native talents, and by honest, persistent and 
unaided effort, has risen to an honest position in business, political and social 
circles. 

COL. LOREN H. WHITNEY. 

T OREN H. WHITNEY, an attorney at the Chicago bar, was born in Berlin, 
J ^ Erie county, Ohio, September 12, 1839, the oldest son of James W. Whit- 
ney who came from Yates county, New York, and settled in Berlin in 1825, 
and married Miss Betsey Harper, a young lady of fine natural abilities, a relative 
of the famous Harper Brothers, New York. In 1848 the family moved to DeKalb 
county, Illinois, where Loren H. received his early education, until he was about 
sixteen years of age, when, lured by the glowing representations made of the 
attractions and advantages of Mississippi, he joined a number of young men in 
his neighborhood in a resolution to go to that state and seek a fortune, but when 
the time came all changed their purpose excepting young Whitney, who started 
on foot with staff and carpet bag alone, with but $1.75 in his pocket. His father 
refused him assistance, hoping to deter him from going, but he was not " made 
of the stuff that yields " when he had once formed a purpose. In two and a half 
days he walked to Peru, seventy miles from home, and after paying for a meal 
he balanced his cash account and found but ten cents in his favor; something 
had to be done in the emergency. He offered his services to the engineer of a 
little steamer lying at the wharf, and about to move out; he represented that he 
could do anything and everything, and was engaged as a boy of all work, with 
the stipulation that he would be paid whatever his services were considered 
worth; continued in this employ five weeks and was paid $28 and promised $50 
per month to continue, but declined the offer and went to Bolivar county, Mis- 
sissippi, where he passed the winter. He contracted with a planter to throw up a 
levee on the banks of the Mississippi river and made a handsome amount of 
money on his contract perhaps the youngest contractor on record; this indi- 
cated his independent and self-reliant nature. He went to California in 1855 with 
a company of gold hunters, across the plains, and there worked a gold mine and 
made money enough to enable him to return and complete a college course, 
which was the object of his young ambition completing a four years' course in 
two years. He was a bright and apt student, always among the foremost in his 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 183 

class. He then entered the law office of the late Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut, Belvi- 
dere, Illinois, and subsequently attended Asbury University, Indiana, and still later 
was admitted to the bar, the committee which examined him complimenting him 
highly on his proficiency, though he had read law but one year. When the war 
broke out he was engaged in practice, but entered the army as captain in the 8th 
111. Cavalry, one of the best regiments in the Army of the Potomac, a fact largely 
due to his exertions. When McClellan advanced on Manassas, Capt. Whitney, at 
the head of Sumner's Cavalry, led the way. While sitting on one of the Quaker 
cannons at Manassas he conceived the idea of writing for the press, but before 
an hour's thought, concluded to write a full history of the war and carried this 
purpose into execution and his first volume was published in 1863. He served 
with valor and bravery in the Peninsular campaign and in the battles around 
Richmond, and was offered the position of major on Gen. Sumner's staff, but 
declined, to accept an offer of colonelcy, as he understood, of one of the new 
regiments of this state; but when he returned, it proved to be a lieutenant colo- 
nelcy that was intended, and he declined it, but was instrumental afterward in 
organizing two more regiments, which went to the field. During this time he 
wrote and published the first volume of his history of the war of the rebellion, 
a work which will compare favorably with the best of the many histories of the 
great conflict. It is a clear setting forth of the inciting causes and philosophy of 
the rebellion, and an accurate and full history of the facts and incidents attending 
its prosecution and culmination. Gov. Yates requested him to organize another 
regiment of infantry, which he did in three weeks' time, and, being made its 
colonel, led it to .the front in Mississippi. In 1864 he was put in command of a 
force sent out to intercept and drive away Gen. Forrest, who, at the head of a 
large force of cavalry, was committing depredations on our railroad and tele- 
graph lines, and destroying our communications, and Col. Whitney was not 
defeated in a single contest with the noted rebel chieftain, though he had many 
fights and skirmishes, and succeeded in driving him away. From there he went 
to Missouri with his command and was engaged against Gen. Price in 1864. 
During his service, he participated in twelve great battles and forty skirmishes, 
and was wounded twice. As an evidence of the appreciation of his bravery and 
of the estimate in which he was held as an officer and man, his officers and men 
presented him with an elegant sword, case of pistols and a field glass, the sword, 
blood-stained, is still retained as a reminder of the great conflict. 

When returning from Washington in 1866, where he had been to settle his 
accounts, he became acquainted with Miss Mary Munson, who was on her way 
home from college, and a year later married her. After leaving the service he 
settled at Chicago in the practice of his profession and has been successful, stand- 
ing well at the bar as an honorable and faithful attorney and counselor. In 
1875, on account of his wife's health, he went to Topeka, Kansas, and while there 
wrote a compendium of Kansas Reports, making an octavo volume of 900 pages, 
which added to his reputation as an able and thorough lawyer. He was solicited 



184 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

to run for congress while there, but declined. He returned to Chicago in 1877 
and resumed the practice of law and is now so engaged. He is a stalwart repub- 
lican, a fluent, ready, graceful and forcible speaker, and his voice is heard in 
advocacy of the principles and platform of that party in all important campaigns. 
He has a commanding presence, is six feet two inches in height the regulation 
height of a genuine Buckeye and is one who, even on first sight, leaves the 
impression of being more than an ordinary man in all respects. He stands well 
in the community and has the confidence and esteem of all who know him 
intimately. 

In July, 1882, he presided at the Cook county convention which elected dele- 
gates to the republican state convention, and was the following fall nominated 
for the legislature from the twelfth ward, but declined to be a candidate, 
although he received the largest majority of any one ever nominated in that 
ward. He is yet a young man, but his life work up to the present time, so far as 
it is known and read of men, is to his credit. 



ADOLPH MOSES. 

ADOLPH MOSES was born February 27, 1837, in Speyer, the capital of the 
Palatinate, Germany. He attended the public and Latin schools of his 
native city, until he immigrated to the United States, October 19, 1852, arriv- 
ing at New Orleans, Louisiana. Following the wish of his father, he intended to 
fit himself in his native country for the bar, but the disabilities prevailing against 
Israelites, were the moving cause for his emigration to America. After following 
the occupation of bookkeeping in Clinton, Louisiana, Mr. Moses felt an awaken- 
ing inclination to fit himself for the practice of jurisprudence, and for that pur- 
pose entered the law office of Francis W. Kernan, prominent at the Clinton bar, 
where he progressed far enough to enter the Louisiana University at New 
Orleans, where he finished his legal education under Randall Hunt, Christian 
Roselius and McCaleb, graduating in the month of March, 1861. He was finally 
admitted to the bar, by the supreme court of Louisiana, presided over by Chief 
Justice Merrick. During the presidential election of 1860, Mr. Moses took an 
active interest in behalf of Judge Douglas, and voted with the minority of 7,000, 
headed by Pierre Soule, ex-senator of the United States. Like all Southerners, 
Mr. Moses was drawn into the civil war, and served a time as an officer in the 
2ist La. regiment, but came north in 1863, and settled in Quincy, Illinois, where 
he resumed the practice of his profession. In 1869 he removed to Chicago, and 
engaged in an active and successful general practice. 

Mr. Moses is a prominent member of the Chicago Bar Association, and has 
been diligent in the prosecution of irregular members of the bar before the 
supreme court of Illinois, and has always stood up for a proper esprit de corps 
among the fraternity. Mr. Moses evinces a strong interest in the welfare of his 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 185 

profession, and is ardently devoted thereto, paying attention to the progress of 
jurisprudence, being a great reader of legal literature. 

Mr. Moses has never held a political office, but holds at present a directorship 
in the Chicago Public Library. His acceptance of this position, and his devotion 
to its duties, furnish added proofs of the public-spiritedness which has marked 
his entire career in Chicago. He is an active member of several benevolent soci- 
eties, and has done much for the advancement of music and the arts. The Beet- 
hoven Society in particular has found in him an ardent promoter and participant. 
Several public addresses delivered by Mr. Moses have produced a favorable 
impression of his literary and oratorical powers. 

Mr. Moses has an extended acquaintance among the various nationalities in 
Chicago, his familiarity with the leading foreign languages having become well 
known. The supreme and appellate court reports of this state show that Mr. 
Moses has long been a diligent and successful practitioner in cases, frequently of 
considerable interest and importance. He also practices in the Supreme Court of 
the United States, having been admitted to that court some years ago. Many 
creditable briefs and arguments have been filed by him in all these courts, some 
of which are among the collection preserved in the library of the Chicago Law 
Institute, of which body Mr. Moses is a member. 

While the bankruptcy law was in operation he had an extensive practice in 
the United States courts in that department, and it was generally conceded that 
no member of the Chicago bar was more familiar with the administration of that 
branch of the law in all its details. Although not restricted in the range of his 
practice, which is general and miscellaneous, Mr. Moses notably excels on ques- 
tions of commercial law and court practice. 

In the contests of the forum he is courteous and candid, more ready to sacri- 
fice some measure of his own right than to take any unfair or questionable 
advantage of his adversary. The bent of his mind is analytical and critical. 



HON. JOSEPH EMERSON SMITH. 

JOSEPH EMERSON SMITH was born in Augusta, Maine, in March, 1835; 
was the son of ex-Governor Samuel E. Smith. He graduated at Bowdoin 
College, in 1854, read law with Henry Ingalls, of Wiscasset, and after he was 
admitted to the bar became a partner with him in 1857. He was collector of 
customs of the port of Wiscasset in 1858-9. While holding this position he built, 
or supervised the building of the custom-house there, for which he received 
special credit for his faithfulness and efficiency in caring for the interests of the 
public. In 1864 he was one of the delegates from the third district of Maine 
to the national democratic convention in Chicago, which nominated Gen. Mc- 
Clellan for the presidency, and represented the state on the committee to notify 
him of his nomination. He sprang from a distinguished ancestry, and was a 



1 86 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

prominent man in Maine. In 1869 he removed to Chicago and formed a partner- 
ship in the practice of law with his cousin, Hon. Melville W. Fuller, which 
became one of the prominent and successful law firms of Chicago. In 1876 he 
was elected to the legislature of Illinois, and served his constituents to their sat- 
isfaction. While in the legislature he originated, introduced and carried through 
the bill appropriating $50,000 to build a monument to his distinguished friend, 
Stephen A. Douglas, to whose interests and success he was devoted when that 
statesman was alive. Through Mr. Smith's persistent efforts and direct super- 
vision this monument has been erected. Again he was candidate for judge of 
the county court the nomination having been urged upon him. He was, at 
the time of his death, jury commissioner of the federal courts for the northern 
district of Illinois. Mr. Smith was married three times; his first wife was the 
daughter of William Cooper, of Pittston, Maine, a well known shipbuilder; his 
second, a daughter of John Babson, of Wiscasset, now of' Boston, by whom he 
had three children; his third wife, and now widow an accomplished woman 
whom he married in 1877 is a daughter of Col. W. W. Bowie, of Baltimore, 
and a niece of the noted Gov. Bowie, of Maryland. He had an interesting 
family and a beautiful home on the south side of the city. The widow and two 
children survive him. 

Mr. Smith died suddenly June 16, 1881. He was a man held in high esteem, 
and his death was universally regretted. He was a genial and whole-souled com- 
panion, an excellent lawyer and a good citizen. 



WILLIAM S. FORREST. 

THE subject of this biography is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and was 
born July 9, 1852. As a boy he was energetic and industrious, fond of 
study, and among his companions a leader in their boyish sports. His native 
tastes inclined him toward the legal profession, and early in life he determined to 
prepare himself for its duties. After a careful and thorough preparation, William 
entered the freshman class of Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, where he 
pursued the regular classical course, of study, and graduated with the class of 
1875. In college he was popular among his fellow-students, ranked high as a 
scholar, and was honored with an election to the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. 

Soon after leaving college he began reading law in the office of Gaston, 
Field and Jewell, of Boston, Massachusetts, whence in 1878 he removed to 
Chicago, where, in October of the same year, he was admitted to the bar of Illi- 
nois. Although his professional career may be said to have only begun, Mr. 
Forrest has already attained a wide and worthy reputation at the Chicago bar. 
He has a clear, logical and judicial mind, and is a forcible and eloquent 
speaker. Although well versed in the various branches of American jurispru- 
dence, and thoroughly qualified and eminently successful in the general practice 




EGW.Uii-i-l 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 189 

of his profession, he has devoted his special attention to the study and practice 
of criminal law, and achieved, as the result of his efforts, a most satisfactory 
success. In this practice he has been called to defend men charged with almost 
every crime known to the law, and has carried to the supreme court of the state 
many cases that have been remanded for a new trial. Among the more impor- 
tant cases with which he has been identified as attorney may be mentioned that 
of The People vs. Charles Schank. This man was indicted for the killing of 
Fredrick Kandzia. The defense, which was interposed, and upon which the 
defendant was fully acquitted, was that the deceased came to his death not by 
the dagger of Schank, but by the malpractice of the surgeon after the stabbing. 
Another case exciting public attention was that of The People vs. Wing Lee, a 
Chinaman. Upon the trial of this case a plea of self-defense was interposed, and 
the jury, standing eight for acquittal and four for conviction, were discharged in 
the absence of the defendant, Wing Lee being at the time of their discharge a 
prisoner in the custody of the sheriff. When the case was again called for trial a 
plea of former jeopardy was interposed and sustained by the court, on the ground 
that the jury was illegally discharged and the trial unlawfully ended. Wing Lee 
was discharged. Mr. Forrest was also one of the attorneys for Mrs. Ada Roberts, 
on her application for discharge, under a writ of habeas corpus, from the insane 
asylum where she had been confined two years, having been adjudged insane and 
sent thither by the jury upon her trial for the killing of Theodore Webber. But 
a case which attracted perhaps as much public attention as any on the criminal 
calendar of Illinois was that of The People vs. John Lamb, who was indicted for 
burglary and for the murder of Albert Race, a member of the Chicago police 
force. Mr. Forrest was Lamb's attorney from the time of his arrest until his final 
acquittal, a period of three years. Lamb was first tried for murder, and con- 
victed and sentenced to be hanged, but upon appeal to the supreme court the 
case was remanded for a new trial. Lamb was subsequently tried for burglary, 
and acquitted. He was then tried a second time for murder, and acquitted. The 
prosecution in these cases was most vigorous and relentless. Public opinion was 
wrought up, a general belief prevailing that Lamb was the real murderer. A 
cloud of witnesses appeared for the state, two testifying that Lamb was the man 
who actually fired the fatal shot, one of them being an accomplice. Lamb him- 
self had been known to the detectives of the Northwest as a notorious character 
for twenty years. 

The case has a special interest to lawyers, from the fact that in their decision 
the supreme court passed fully and fairly on the extent of the liability of a con- 
spirator for the acts of a co-conspirator. 

Mr. Forrest is now in the full vigor and strength of manhood, and, with his 
present achievements, may hopefully look to the future. Untiring in his efforts, 
and zealous in all his undertakings, he cannot but attain a first rank in his chosen 
profession. He is a member of the masonic fraternity, and in politics adheres to 
the principles of the democratic party. He was married at Chicago, April 17, 
20 



i go 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO 



1879, to Miss Elizabeth Whitney, of Boston, Massachusetts, and daughter of the 
late Melvin Whitney, for many years a prominent merchant in New York city. 

Mr. Forrest is a man of fine social and personal qualities, and is known among 
his friends as a genial companion. He is domestic in his tastes, and with his 
native fondness for study and literary culture, finds in his own home the most 
pleasant and agreeable respite from his professional cares. 



CORNELIUS VAN SCHAACK. 

/CORNELIUS VAN SCHAACK is a member of one of the old Knickerbocker 
V^^ families, and is the youngest son of Hon. Henry Cruger Van Schaack, one 
of the oldest and most distinguished lawyers in New York, having been in prac- 
tice sixty years. He is also a grandson of Hon. Peter Van Schaack, LL.D., one 
of the most distinguished jurists this country has ever produced, and of whom 
the Chicago "Legal News" of March 4, 1882, thus speaks: 

"The statutes of New York were revised but once before the revolution, and 
Peter Van Schaack was appointed sole revisor of the same. The revised laws of 
Van Schaack were published in 1775, in two portly folios. A copy of the work, 
with the signature of Van Schaack on the title page, in the law library of Hon. 
Aaron J. Vanderpoel of New York city, is justly prized by him, for it was inherited 
by his wife from her grandfather, the revisor. Peter Van Schaack was a remark- 
able man, a learned and profound lawyer, an accomplished scholar, and is one of 
the worthies of New York legal history. While temporarily residing in London, 
he was designated by the attendants at his lodgings as 'the gentleman with a 
hard name.' 

"He was born in March 1747. At the age of fifteen years, he entered the 
Freshman class of King's (now Columbia) College, in the city of New York. It 
was there he formed an interesting and valuable acquaintance with John Jay, 
Egbert Benson, Richard Harrison, Gouverneur Morris, Robert R. Livingston, and 
many other illustrious men, whose enviable reputations now constitute the richest 
property of their country. Between the four first named individuals and the 
subject of this sketch, the greatest intimacy existed, and an uninterrupted friend- 
ship continued through life. 

"As an illustration of Mr. Van Schaack's friendship with Gov. Jay, the first 
chief-justice of the United States, no better evidence can be given than Jay's own 
letter penned at Paris, in 1782. It was while the latter was engaged on his mis- 
sion as one of the five commissioners to negotiate peace with Great Britain, and 
while the former was, with heroic fortitude, suffering from the fear of total blind- 
ness that constantly stared him in the face, that Jay wrote his old college chum: 
'While I have a loaf, you and your children may freely partake of it. Don't let 
this idea hurt you. If your circumstances are easy, I rejoice ; if not, let me take 
off their rougher edges.' Mr. Van Schaack's 'circumstances were easy,' but Mr. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 19! 

Jay had good reason to think otherwise, and it is certainly a rare instance of ele- 
vated and disinterested friendship. 

" Mr. Van Schaack survived his old friend three years, and Mr. Jay's epitaph 
fell from the blind man's lip. While at college he received several premiums for 
scholarship, and ranked first in his class, and sixty years after his graduation the 
following toast was drunk at the anniversary meeting of the alumni of his alma 
mater, and which deserves to be mentioned for its appropriateness and classic 
beauty: 'Peter Van Schaack, admired for his knowledge of the law, and for his 
classical attainments, and beloved for the virtues which adorn our nature. Quis 
jure peritior, quis virtute prcestantior ? ' 

"At the January term, 1769, of the New York supreme court, after a shorter 
period of study than was required by the strict rules of court, he was licensed to 
practice as an attorney. It was considered a very remarkable circumstance at 
the time, that three young gentlemen should have been admitted to the bar at 
one term. In November, 1770, the lawyers in the city of New York formed an 
association called The Moot, at which disputed points of law were formally 
debated for their mutual improvement. In these discussions, which were con- 
ducted with great regularity and order, the subject of this sketch took a conspic- 
uous part, and to him was intrusted the keeping of their records. Some of these 
are still preserved, and are matters of curious reference for a modern lawyer. 

" The deliberations of the club were rendered highly useful by the regular 
attendance of the elder members of the bar, who participated in the debates upon 
a footing of perfect equality with their juniors. And the names of those veteran 
lawyers, William Smith, Samuel Jones, John M. Scott, Richard Morris, William 
Livingston and Benjamin Kissam (not to specify others) need but be mentioned 
to prove that the debates in which they participated, could not have been barren 
of legal sagacity, or of profound research into the hidden wisdom of the common 
law. Among the junior members we find the names of John Jay, Egbert Benson, 
Robert R. Livingston, Jr., James Duane, Gouverneur Morris and Peter Van Schaack. 

" The decisions made upon these debates acquired great authority, and the 
law on several points in particular, which had been thus discussed and decided, 
was considered as settled by the bar generally, and The Moot almost acquired the 
authority of a court of the last resort. 

"At an early period, Mr. Van Schaack gave evident proof that he was destined 
to become a profound lawyer. His ideas of business, and of the proper manner 
of doing it, were distinguished for precision and accuracy from the commence- 
ment of his professional career. In writing to a brother of the profession, he thus 
rebukes the carelessness of his friend: 'Permit me to observe that the deed 
drawn in your office was rather slovenly copied, and by its many alterations 
afterward looked rather out of the way. There was, besides, in several parts of 
it an etc., which I cannot think proper, as it is merely nugatory, and cannot, I 
think, make the deed better than it would otherwise be. Excuse the freedom of 
these hints, but we cannot be too attentive to matters of this kind. A lawyer's 



IQ2 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

reputation, like a woman's, is often lost by one error. If any part of my letter is 
exceptionable, point it out. Nothing clears difficulties like candid reasoning. By 
collision of sentiment, the truth is struck out like fire from flint and steel.' 

" He formed an early matrimonial alliance with the ancient and distinguished 
Cruger family, of New York city. His brother-in-law, Henry Cruger, the col- 
league of Edmund Burke, in the British Parliament, was the first American mem- 
ber of that most august assembly, having been elected with Burke in 1774, to 
represent the city of Bristol in the English House of Commons, while sojourning 
in England. Shortly after his admission to the bar, unlike most young attorneys 
he found a rapidly increasing business intrusted to his charge. Respected for his 
talents, and with an ambitious nature, and a reputation unsullied, bringing to the 
profession habits of industry, and a disciplined mind, and having also an exten- 
sive and influential family connection, the world looked bright upon the dawn of 
his professional career, and little he thought of the gloomy night of darkness in 
store for him. It is rare that a young attorney has entered upon his professional 
career under such flattering circumstances, but rarer still that human nature has 
met life's vicissitudes with such heroic fortitude. 

"In 1773 Peter Van Schaack was appointed to the important and responsible 
office of collecting and revising the statute laws of the colony of New York. The 
execution of the work was intrusted to him solely, and it was performed in a 
manner highly creditable to his judgment and industry. At this time he was 
only twenty-six years old. His revision embraced the legislation of the colony 
from the year 1691 to 1773, inclusive, being a period of upwards of eighty years. 
The assiduity with which he applied himself to this work had an unfavorable 
effect upon his vision, and he was always of the opinion that it was a leading 
cause of his subsequent blindness, with which he was threatened soon after the 
completion of this work, and the dread of which was ever before him. At an 
early day, his vision had become so much impaired as to render necessary the 
employment of an amanuensis. He continued, however, in the active practice of 
his chosen profession, for twenty years afterward, by which time the dreaded 
storm had overtaken him. But he still clung to the life boat, and lived up to his 
chosen family motto, ' superanda fortuna ferendo,' which was the philosophy of his 
life, and as interpreted in his own language, means ' that fortune is to be over- 
come by enduring it with patience and fortitude.' 

" During a good portion of his life he was totally blind, and occupied himself 
with training others for the profession which he had practiced for more than 
forty years. One of his pupils was Judge William Kent, the only son of the 
chancellor. Another is the venerable Frederic de Peyster, president of the New 
York Historical Society, and to whom he wrote in his eighty-third year: 'You see 
that like an old coachman, who loves the smack of his whip, I still have some pro- 
fessional regards ; indeed, I have some professional occupations, as I have two 
students on whom I bestow much of my time and attention, of which, I trust, 
they will enjoy the fruits.' 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 193 

" He continued to give counsel in his profession, and occasionally gave a writ- 
ten opinion in critical cases, until he had reached four score. He might be seen 
in his study, with his law students around him, imparting instruction nearly up 
to the time of his death. His blindness did not shorten his days, for he lived 
until September 27, 1832, dying at his native Kinderhook in the eighty-sixth year 
of his age. 

" Nearly a hundred young gentlemen were educated at the feet of this learned 
lawyer, including the sons of Theodore Sedgwick, William W. Van Ness and 
Ambrose Spencer. It was the latter who wrote to his son, while studying law 
with Mr. Van Schaack: 'It has been my pride to be marked with the friendship 
of such a man. I have never been his pupil, and yet I must acknowledge that I 
have caught much from him, and his example has materially influenced my legal 
attainments.' 

"To see him seated in his study, surrounded by his pupils, and imparting to 
them from the rich store of his knowledge, one was reminded of the lines of his 

favorite Pope: 

'Though blind, a boldness in his looks appears; 
In years he seera'd, but not impaired by years.' 

" Mr. Van Schaack was extensively familiar with English literature, and was 
probably the finest Latin scholar in the state of New York, and was extremely 
partial to the writers of the Augustan age of these Virgil was his favorite. He 
could repeat many of the Eclogues, and a great portion of the ^Eneid, and he had 
the minutest parts of the story at his tongue's end. So, also, he could recite large 
portions of the odes and epistles of Horace, and of the orations of Cicero in the 
original. His opinions and other papers on legal subjects were always drawn up 
with logical precision, and in a style of peculiar purity and elegance. These 
accomplishments, so rare in the legal profession, and so ornamental when pos- 
sessed, in connection with his profound knowledge of the law, procured for him 
from Columbia College the honorary degree of LL.D. It was said of Mr. Van 
Schaack, as a lawyer, by Egbert Benson, the first attorney general of the state of 
New York, that 'he never erred.' As a jurist, he was distinguished by the extent 
and depth of his learning, and Alexander Hamilton expressed his admiration of 
Mr. Van Schaack's manner of speaking, and of the soundness and accuracy of his 
views on all questions of civil jurisprudence. Hon. Henry C. Van Schaack, of 
New York, is his sole surviving child. This son has been in active practice as a 
lawyer for nearly three score years, and is one of the oldest lawyers in New York, 
and has frequently lectured before the historical societies of New York and Chi- 
cago. Cornelius Van Schaack, the grandson of the subject of this sketch, is a 
counselor-at-law of many years' standing in Chicago, and Henry Cruger Van 
Schaack, a great-grandson, is now a member of the Chicago Law School. There 
are also numerous other descendants of this distinguished jurist in this city." 

The subject of this sketch was born in Manlius, New York, August 18, 1842, and 
graduated at Hobart College, Geneva, New York, in 1863. He then entered the 



194 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

army, soon rising to the rank of captain, serving through the war under Sheridan, 
and was on the picket line with Gen. Custer at Appomattox Station the day before 
Gen. Lee surrendered. He was mustered out of the service at the close of the 
war, and having begun the study of law with his father, removed to Chicago, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1866, and has acquired a large and lucrative practice. 
During the same year he formed a partnership with Joseph P. Clarkson, which 
was dissolved by the death of Mr. Clarkson in 1877. Immediately thereafter, Mr. 
Van Schaack formed a partnership with William H. Barnum, which continued 
until 1879, when Mr. Barnum was elected to the bench, since which time he has 
been practicing alone. Mr. Van Schaack has been prominently connected with, 
and has been very successful in dramatic litigation, having been attorney alone, 
and in connection with his late partner, Mr. Clarkson, in most of the leading 
dramatic cases before the courts in Chicago. He inherits one trait that was 
very strongly marked in his illustrious grandfather, viz., accuracy and talent for 
preparing legal documents, and has no superior in this respect at the Chicago bar. 



GEN. ISRAEL N. STILES. 

T SRAEL N. STILES is an advocate who has few peers at the Chicago bar; a 
J. gentleman of excellent traits of character and of high personal worth. He 
has made his impress upon the times in which he has lived. He was born in 
Suffield, Connecticut, in 1833. His father, Anson Stiles, was a farmer and Israel 
worked at farming summers and attended public schools winters, and finally 
attended the Connecticut Literary Institute. When he was about nineteen years 
of age he moved to Lafayette, Indiana, where he studied in a law office, having 
read law one year before he came west. Later he engaged in teaching school 
near Lafayette, teaching singing school nights and at the same time pursuing his 
law studies. The following year he opened a private school and continued his 
law studies until 1854, when he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice. 
He soon attracted wide attention as a public speaker of rare oratorical qualities. 
About this time " Bleeding Kansas " was attracting public attention and sym- 
pathy, and Mr. Stiles made public speeches which astonished all who heard or 
read them. From that time he came rapidly into prominence as an orator, and 
is now ranked among the most eloquent, fluent and entertaining public speakers 
in the West. Running through his speeches and addresses is a vein of wit, 
humor and sarcasm, which cuts to the quick and lays bare fallacy and sophistry, 
and convinces his hearers of the merits of what he advocates. During the 
Freemont-Buchanan campaign he made a great number of effective speeches 
throughout the country to large and pleased audiences. He was prosecuting 
attorney two years, and a member of the Indiana legislature in 1857-8. 

When the war broke out he was engaged in successful practice, but was 
among the first to raise a company of soldiers; however, someone else was 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 



195 



elected to the captaincy, and he himself enlisted as a private, but was made 
adjutant of the 2oth Ind. Inf. He was taken prisoner at Malvern Hill and was 
confined in Libby prison six weeks, when he was exchanged. He was then made 
major of the 63d Ind. regiment and was rapidly promoted to the ranks of lieu- 
tenant-colonel, and colonel of the same regiment, and finally brevet brigadier- 
general for gallantry in battle at Franklin, Tennessee. These promotions were 
for bravery and merit as a soldier and officer. After the war closed he settled in 
Chicago, and practiced law alone until he formed a partnership with W. K. Mc- 
Allister in 1867; when the latter was elected to the bench the partnership was 
dissolved. In 1869 he was elected city attorney of Chicago and served as such 
until 1873, when was formed the partnership of Tuley, Stiles and Lewis, which 
was one of the strongest law firms, at the time, in Chicago. Mr. Tuley being 
elected to to the bench later, Mr. Stiles continued practice under the firm of 
Stiles and Lewis. He has always done a large, first-class law business, and is 
doing such now. 

Gen. Stiles has remarkable versatility, great energy and perseverance, and is 
studious and painstaking in his cases, leaving little undone which may enable 
him to win the cause of his client. He is an advocate of great power before 
court or jury the peer of any at this brilliant bar; logical and convincing, often 
humorous, again pathetic and always sarcastic. When he presents a case it is 
understood by the court, so thorough and accurate is he in presenting it. In his 
management of cases he is adroit and sagacious, and is seldom outwitted by 
opposing counsel; he has a power and quickness of repartee, and an ability to 
avail himself of emergencies, that are decidedly effective. He generally quits 
with a victory or ends with a salient point in which he gains an advantage, and 
wins so handsomely that each victory brings new clients. He is, withal, honora- 
ble in his methods and detests machination and trickery in practice. He knows 
how, to examine a witness and when, and does it artfully; he knows when to 
cross-examine, and above all when not to cross-examine. He is earnest and sin- 
cere; often brilliant and rhetorical; vivid and graphic in illustration, with a fund 
of anecdote and story a gifted advocate, clear, ringing and forcible; ready, flu- 
ent and logical, with an incomparable power of mimicry, pathos and sarcasm. 
His friends are loud in their praises of his studiousness and correctness of his 
habits, the quickness of his apprehension, the modesty of his demeanor, the 
firmness and decision of his character, stability and sagacity, which make him a 
leader in his profession. He has signalized himself by his achievements in liti- 
gation, as an advocate, and in his forensic efforts. He has the true elements of 
oratory seldom combined in a lawyer. 

In personal appearance he is slender, of medium height, with gray hair and 
beard, and keen, full dark eyes. He is much liked socially for his ready conver- 
sational powers, which are tinged with a flavor of satire, wit, humor and apt 
illustration which are enjoyable. He is liberal in his views of religion, politics 
or any other subject; is a polished and genial gentleman. 



196 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

He has been twice married. First, in 1860, to Jennie Coney, of Sag Harbor, 
New York, who died in Chicago in 1877; second, in April, 1881, to Miss Antoin- 
ette C. Wright. He has three children, one daughter and two sons. 



WILLIAM J. MANNING. 

A3 an example of what may be attained by persistent, hard work, the life- 
history of him whose name heads this sketch, is well worthy of a place 
among the prominent and successful members of the Chicago bar. A native 
of Waterloo, Seneca county, New York, he was born April 15, 1838. The son of 
Rockwell Manning and Sarah (Warner) Manning, the latter a daughter of Col. 
Seth Warner. 

His paternal ancestors were of English descent, and settled in this country at 
an early day, and for several generations prior to our subject's birth had lived at 
Waterloo. His father, a farmer by occupation, was a man of sterling worth, 
highly esteemed in his community, and for many years held the office of justice 
of the peace. In 1849 he removed with his family to Warrenville, in Dupage 
county, Illinois, where he was engaged in a general merchandizing business. 
William possessed a natural fondness for reading and study, and being fortunate 
in having good educational advantages, made the most of his opportunities. At 
Warrenville, he pursued the full course of study in the Warrenville Seminary, 
graduating in 1859, being then twenty-one years old. During the next two years, 
he was employed in his father's store, and having previously decided to enter the 
legal profession, devoted all his spare time to the study of law. At the age of 
twenty-three, he engaged in the dry goods trade on his own account, at Aurora, 
Illinois, and afterward removed to Chicago, and there continued the same line of 
business. During these years, still adhering to his determination to make the 
practice of the law his business, he kept up his legal studies, and in 1870, after 
graduating from the Union College of Law at Chicago, was admitted to the bar, 
and opened an office on his own account. 

For some three years after the great fire of October 9, 1871, besides attending 
to a large commercial business, which he had built up, he devoted much time to 
the adjustment of fire losses, insomuch that it became somewhat of a specialty, 
and gained him a fine reputation for proficiency in insurance matters. Since 
1874 his practice has been general in its character, and yearly increasing, and 
to-day he ranks among the ablest chancery and real estate lawyers at the Chicago 
bar. An important case with which Mr. Manning was actively connected, was 
that of the United States vs. Henry Feuerstein and Charles Pfluger. These par- 
ties were jointly indicted for defrauding creditors in violation of certain pro- 
visions of the bankrupt law, Mr. Manning representing the creditors. The trial 
of the case occupied four days, and resulted in the conviction of both the defend- 
ants, Feuerstein being sentenced to one year in the penitentiary, and Pfluger to 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. [99 

six months in the county jail. The case is worthy of mention, since it was the 
only case of conviction and sentence under the bankrupt law ever had in Chicago. 

Mr. Manning has always given especial attention to the collection of accounts, 
and numbers among those for whom he does business in this particular depart- 
ment, many of the leading firms of New York, and other eastern cities. As a 
lawyer, he honors his profession. Prompt, sagacious and watchful of a client's 
interests, he is withal upright and honorable in his dealing, careful and conscien- 
tious as a counselor, and firm in his adherence to honest conviction. His per- 
sonal and social qualities are of a high order, and have attracted to him a wide 
circle of warm friends, who esteem him for his genial manners, his gentlemanly 
candor and his true, manly merit. 

In politics he is an active, earnest republican, and for a period of ten years 
was a member of the Dupage county central committee. Although Mr. Manning 
was reared under Baptist influences he is not a member of any church organiza- 
tion. Liberal and generous in his views and opinions, he is ready to recognize 
the right and denounce the wrong, wherever he may find them and in his judg- 
ments of others, grants that same freedom of opinion which he asks for himself. 
Mr. Manning was married on August 15, 1877, to Miss Ellen P. Curtis, a daughter 
of N. B. Curtis, formerly a prominent banker of Peoria, Illinois. 

Although he has scarcely reached the meridian of life, Mr. Manning has 
achieved a most satisfactory success, and may justly be proud of his attainments. 
In the face of many obstacles, he persevered in the pursuit of a persistent pur- 
pose, and gained, as his reward, that success which inevitably follows continued 
application of honest effort to the accomplishment of an honest purpose. 



DAVID M. HILLIS. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in Decatur county, Indiana, February 15, 
1841, and is the son of David Hillis, and Patsy (McConnell) Hillis, both 
natives of Bourbon county, Kentucky. Their ancestors were from Virginia, and 
originally from England. His father was an early settler in Decatur county, and 
the early life of our subject was spent on a farm, working in summer and going 
to country school in winter, giving him early in life good physical and moral 
training. At seventeen years of age he entered what was then known as the North- 
western Christian University, now the Butler University, of Indianapolis, gradu- 
ating in the regular classical course in 1864. He stood well in his classes and 
high in the literary societies, and whenever a speech was to be made he was usu- 
ally chosen. He made and delivered the valedictory of his class on commence- 
ment day, and gained considerable notoriety as a speaker even at that earlv age. 
He then read law one year with Cumback and Bonner, at Greensburg, 
Indiana, and then spent one year at Yale College Law School. In November 1865, 
he went into the law office of Polk and Hubbell, at Des Moines, Iowa, and there 

21 



2OO THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

had the benefit of two years of thorough law practice. In January 1868, he 
opened an office on his own account in Chicago, where he has been in the general 
practice of the law ever since, doing an extensive business. 

Mr. Hillis is a lawyer of discrimination in his legal practice, a good judge of 
human nature, and an eloquent advocate. He has an excellent flow of language, 
and his arguments abound in logic and apt illustrations. His practice is largely 
in real estate matters, and in cases where the titles to real estate are in question. 
He has the utmost confidence of all who know him, and is entrusted with large 
estates involving millions, where parties depend upon his honor and strict integ- 
rity as a sufficient security to insure faithful performance in all matters, however 
large and important. He is a gentleman of fine presence, being of medium size 
and height, having a splendid physique and an intellectual countenance. 

December 28, 1871, he was married in Chicago, to Miss Dora E. Knights, an 
estimable lady, daughter of Darius Knights, one of the oldest settlers of Chicago. 

In religion Mr. Hillis believes in the principles of the reformation as promul- 
gated by Alexander Campbell, and is a member of the Disciples, or as otherwise 
known, the Christian church. 

In politics, when a boy, he entertained anti-slavery sentiments, and has always 
been a firm believer in the fundamental principles of the republican party, though 
not a partisan, and has never taken an active interest in politics. 



MYRON A. DECKER. 

MYRON A. DECKER was born February 21, 1837, in Livingston county, 
New York. His ancestors on the paternal side belonged to an ancient 
and eminent family in Holland, a branch of which about the middle of the seven- 
teenth century immigrated from Amsterdam and settled in New York on the 
Hudson river, from which branch his father, Henry Decker, descended. In 1816 
his father married and settled in the Genesee valley, in western New York, and 
was largely engaged in agriculture, and ranked among the ablest and most 
highly respected citizens of Livingston county. His mother, Martha (Mather) 
Decker, traced her descent through the Connecticut branch of the Mather family 
to the Massachusetts branch, and to Increase and Cotton Mather, whose history 
is a part of the early annals of New England. 

His mother died when Myron was fourteen years of age, and his father 
removed to Lima, where were located the Genesee College and Genesee Wes- 
leyan Seminary, in order that his family, of whom Myron was the youngest, 
might receive a liberal education at these popular institutions. Here Myron 
pursued his studies till he was nineteen years of age, when he resolved, owing to 
some financial embarrassments into which his father had fallen, to rely wholly 
upon himself, and from that time till the completion of his literary and legal 
studies he had to encounter and overcome difficulties which invariably prove the 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 201 

best school for training a youth to habits of sturdy self-reliance and confidence 
so essential to success in after life. 

In the spring of 1860, at the age of twenty-three, he was admitted to the prac- 
tice of law by the supreme court of New York, at the city of Auburn. He at once 
entered upon the practice of law at Lima, and met with flattering success for 
nearly two years, when the war of the rebellion began, and as legal business was 
generally suspended he accepted a position which was tendered him in the United 
States treasury at Washington, District of Columbia, where he remained till the 
war closed. When he left the department he held the highest grade and had 
charge of a division. During this period he pursued with untiring assiduity fur- 
ther legal studies, and in February 1865 was, upon motion of Senator Howe, now 
postmaster general, admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United 
States at Washington, District of Columbia. 

At the close of the war and the general resumption of business he resigned 
his position in the treasury, inspired by a laudable ambition to establish himself 
in the profession of his choice, and soon thereafter accepted a retainer to procure 
the setting aside of fraudulent titles procured from the United States to some 
large and valuable tracts of pine land in northern Wisconsin, and his success was 
such that he received numerous other retainers in the same line of business, 
which kept him in constant service for more than three years in Wisconsin and 
Washington, District of Columbia, and his success for his clients proved a finan- 
cial success for himself. 

Mr. Decker was married April 29, 1869, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Miss Kittie 
L. Knox, daughter of Hon. Thomas M. Knox, deceased, formerly judge in the 
city of Watertown, Wisconsin. 

Early in 1870 Mr. Decker removed to Chicago and entered upon the practice 
of his profession, and soon, by his energy and ability, acquired a lucrative prac- 
tice. In the great fire of 1871 his office and his library, with many valuable 
papers, were consumed. In 1873 Mr. Decker was prostrated by the extreme heat 
while in Baltimore, and shortly after, in New York city, met with an accident 
which caused internal injury. From these causes his nervous system, already 
severely strained by the cares and anxieties of his large practice, was for the time 
completely prostrated, and he was compelled to take a partner to meet the urgent 
demands of his increasing business. He therefore associated with himself in 
Chicago Henry Decker, then of Lima, New York, and the firm, under the name 
of Decker and Decker, continued for about two years, when Myron found that it 
was absolutely imperative that he should have complete relaxation from all busi- 
ness cares, and devote himself to the restoration of his health. He therefore sur- 
rendered his entire business to Henry Decker, and passed three years in travel 
and recreation. In 1879 his health was sufficiently restored to warrant his resum- 
ing the practice of his profession, and he again opened his office in Chicago, 
where his ability and integrity being fully recognized, he at once attracted to 
himself a large and lucrative practice, which he now enjoys. 



2O2 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Mr. Decker is an attorney of rare tact and sound judgment, fertile in resources 
and untiring in energy. These qualities, united with marked financial ability 
and an unusual skill in delicate negotiations, cause his services to be in much 
request by corporations and large companies, to which class of practice his time 
is mainly devoted. He is the owner of considerable improved city property, and 
with the requisite attention given to its management and to the interests of some 
eastern capitalists, the care of whose investments is entrusted to him, Mr. Decker 
finds little time for recreation. 

In politics he is a staunch republican, but has ever confined himself strictly to 
his profession, and whenever his name has been mentioned for any office or polit- 
ical preferment has invariably declined. Throughout all his business and pro- 
fessional engagements, involving frequently sums of great magnitude, he has 
ever sustained the highest character for integrity, veracity and unblemished 
honor. 

GEORGE WILLARD. 

S~* EORGE WILLARD was born in the village of Natural Bridge, Jefferson 
V_J county, New York. His mother's maiden name was Margaret Becker. 
She was a daughter of Conrad Becker, a native of Kinderhook, New York, but 
who for many years was a resident of the village above named. His father, 
Johnson Willard, was one of the pioneers of northern New York, he having moved 
from Worcester, Massachusetts, his native place, to the town of Le Ray, in Jeffer- 
son county, as early as 1805. Johnson Willard was fifth in the line of descent 
from Simon Willard, who was born in Horsmonden, Kent county, England, in 
1605, and immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1634. 

Mr. Willard removed from his native village to Chicago, arriving in 1858, and 
after a temporary absence in Wisconsin and Kansas, returned in 1861 and entered 
upon a course preparatory to the study of law. Two years later he became a 
student in the law office of Sanford B. Perry, and in 1864 engaged as a law clerk 
in the law office of Blodgett and Winston. He attended a course of lectures 
before the law school of the University of Chicago, graduated therefrom in 1865, 
and was admitted to the bar in that year. He remained with the firm until 1870, 
when he was appointed local attorney for the Chicago and North Western Rail- 
way Company, and in 1873 became assistant solicitor for the Pennsylvania Com- 
pany, operating the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago railway. He held both 
positions until 1875, and the latter, with slight intermission, until 1881, when he, 
in company with Mr. George Driggs, late assistant counsel for the Pennsylvania 
Company at Pittsburgh, were, under the firm name of Willard and Driggs, ap- 
pointed solicitors for the Pennsylvania Company and the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati 
and St. Louis Railway Company at Chicago. The business of the firm is not 
wholly confined to those two railway corporations, but includes attention to 
other corporate and individual interetss. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 2O3 

In the month of June 1864 Mr. Willard temporarily laid aside his books and 
enlisted as a private in Co. B, i32d regiment 111. Vol., under the ninety days' call, 
and served therein until the regiment was mustered out in October following. 
He was secretary and treasurer of the Western Railroad Association for five years, 
master in chancery of the circuit court of Cook county for six years, and was twice 
elected treasurer of the village of Hyde Park, where he has resided since 1868. 

On November 6, 1865, Mr. Willard was married to Miss Fannie J. Rodden, 
daughter of William and Margaret (Wiggins) Rodden, of Burlington, Vermont. 
They have four children, named respectively, George Rodden, William Blodgett, 
Bessie and Grace. William Rodden was a native of Belfast; immigated to Bur- 
lington, Vermont, when a young man, and made the latter place his home during 
the remainder of his life.- 

In politics Mr. Willard is republican, but has not taken any active part therein 
beyond recording his vote, his first vote being cast for the late Abraham Lincoln 
in 1860. 

JOHN T. DALE. 



JOHN T. DALE was born at Sandbach, in Cheshire, England, April 25, 1841, 
' and is the only son of Thomas and Jane Dale, the latter a daughter of an old 
and respected Cheshire family named Burgess. His father was a master machin- 
ist, one of those men endowed by nature with mechanical and mathematical 
genius, who, when in his prime, delighted to figure out and calculate the relation- 
ship of cogs, levers, fly-wheels and pinions to distances and powers. He was 
gifted with a fine musical ear, and when a boy of sixteen made a violin with the 
rude tools at his father's house, and learned to play upon it. While holding a 
responsible and lucrative position in a large manufacturing establishment, the 
reports from many friends who had emigrated to distant lands made him long 
for a broader, freer life, and he determined to remove to a foreign land. He at 
first thought of going to Natal in South Africa, but was influenced by friends in 
America to change his purpose, and in 1849 removed with his family to the then 
territory of Wisconsin, and settled in Salem, Kenosha county, where he purchased 
a farm. The community was composed mainly of intelligent people from the New 
England and middle states, who were interested in having as good a district 
school as their means and circumstances would allow. 

John lived at home until he attained his majority, working on the farm in 
summer and attending district school in winter. In the common school, together 
with a limited attendance at an academy in the neighborhood, he obtained a good 
practical English education, with some of the higher mathematics; but his higher 
education was obtained from books, he being intensely fond of literature. At 
fourteen years of age he gained the prize for the best English composition and 
recitation of the same. The production was a poem of considerable length on 
"The Glories of Ancient Greece and Rome"; and before he was sixteen he had 



2O4 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

read most of the English poets and many other standard works. His experience 
in early life was similar to that of most farmer boys, hard work and plenty of it ; 
but this did not prevent him from improving his leisure moments with study, and 
laying the foundation of a solid and firm character. As with others who have 
risen to eminence, the knowledge gained and imparted in teaching district school 
was of great advantage to him, and this he did for two winters. 

In the spring of 1863 he removed to Chicago with only a few dollars in his 
possession, without friends or influence, but with that energy, hope and courage 
that belongs to youth, and a determination to win. For about twelve months he 
obtained temporary employment in various ways, and in the latter part of 1863 
entered the law office of D. C. and I. J. Nicholes as a student and law clerk. He 
remained with them two years, and in the spring of 1865 was admitted to the bar. 
He afterward attended a course of lectures on real estate law in the Chicago Law 
School, given by Hon. Henry Booth, then professor in that institution. Out of 
that class of about fifty students many have become bright ornaments in their 
profession, and some have already obtained eminence in public life, among others 
Hon. Robert Lincoln, now secretary of war. In 1867 Mr. Dale formed a partner- 
ship with Judge E. S. Holbrook, a lawyer of ripe experience in chancery practice 
and real estate law, and continued that partnership till the great fire of 1871. 
Their practice was principally in real estate matters, besides which they conducted 
several important patent cases. In common with almost every other law firm in 
the city, they lost in the great fire their library and nearly all their papers, and as 
a result the partnership was dissolved. Some time after the fire Mr. Dale opened 
an office and formed a partnership with Sidney Thomas, which lasted for about 
one year, and since that time he has been alone in the practice. 

In 1870 he removed to Winnetka, a beautiful suburb within forty-five minutes' 
ride of the city, and identifying himself in the interests of the village was elected 
for two years president of the board of trustees, and for four years also was one 
of its most useful and active members. In 1864 he became a member of the inde- 
pendent order of Odd-Fellows. He is a member of the Congregational church 
He is, and always has been, a decided republican, but has not taken any very 
active part in politics. 

He was married in September 1880, to Miss Leila W. Graves, of Chicago, a 
young lady of fine musical tastes, who had spent several years in the best conser- 
vatories of Paris and Stuttgardt to acquire a thorough musical education. 

Mr. Dale is a man of fine literary taste and ability, and in 1876, after a visit to 
the centennial exposition in Philadelphia, wrote a book entitled "What Ben 
Beverley Saw at the Great Exhibition." The work was published by subscription, 
but owing to the embarrassment of its publisher, did not meet with the sale that 
was anticipated ; it, however, reached three editions of about 2,500 copies. As a 
lecturer, also, he has shown himself of no mean ability; his lecture on "The Rise 
and Romance of the Common Law," and other addresses on various subjects, he 
has delivered before various literary societies in Chicago. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 205 

Having faith in the future of Chicago, Mr. Dale has, by judicious investments 
and close attention to business, acquired a handsome fortune. He is a man of 
sterling qualities, fond of good companionship, generous and benevolent, and a 
worthy member of many charitable institutions. His aim in life has been to 
make the most of himself, and to reflect in all his acts the dignity and honor of a 
genuine manhood. He is a lawyer who honors his profession, and by his daily 
intercourse with men furnishes an example worthy of admiration and emulation. 



JOHN M. ROUNTREE. 

JOHN M. ROUNTREE was born February 13, 1836, at Plattville, Grant county, 
Wisconsin. His parents, Hon. John H. Rountree, and Mary Grace (Mitchell) 
Rountree, were early settlers in the West, and his father, who was one of the earliest 
and most distinguished pioneers of the Wisconsin bar, held many promnient offices 
during his professional career. John received his early education at Plattville 
Academy, and subsequently, at the age of seventeen, went to Hamilton College, 
New York. After finishing his collegiate education, he began the study of law at 
Galena, Illinois, under Hon. John M. Jewel, and when twenty-three years of age 
was admited to the bar of this state. In 1856, Mr. Rountree went to Milwaukee, 
and began the practice of his profession, in the office of Hon. H. L. Palmer, where 
he remained until November i, 1857, when he removed to Chicago. He at first 
entered the office of Scammon, McCagg and Fuller, where he remained until 
the spring of 1858, when he formed a copartnership with Alexander C. Car- 
penter, a well known member of the Chicago bar. This partnership continued 
until 1864, and during its existence Mr. Rountree was engaged in many very 
important cases, of which may be mentioned Kingsbury vs. Chicago and North 
Western Railway Company, involving the title of the river front and the depot 
ground, which was decided in favor of the railroad company, he at that time 
being their attorney. Mr. Rountree was president of the Chicago Law Institute in 
the years 1864 and 1865, and continued an active member of the bar until 1867 
when, by reason of impaired health, he was compelled to abandon his profes- 
sional labors, and under the advice of his physician traveled through various por- 
tions of the United States in search of a suitable climate. With proper care and 
respite from all labor, he was again restored to his normal, healthy and vigorous 
condition, and returned to Chicago, which has since been his home. Resuming 
his practice at the Chicago bar, he has met with even more brilliant success than 
before. Soon after his return to Chicago he was nominated and elected by the 
democratic party, to the state legislature, by a very satisfactory majority, and per- 
formed the duties of his office to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. In 
the fall of 1872 he was one of the committee on the revision of the statutes of Illi- 
nois, whose work was not completed until the season of 1873. In the fall of 1873 
Mr. Rountree was elected attorney for Cook county, for a term of four years. 



2O6 THK BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

During these years there was a vast amount of tax litigation, a branch of law 
in which Mr. Rountree displayed great skill and ability, as well as in other 
departments of work attaching to his office. At the close of his term of office he 
resumed the general practice of his profession, being the attorney for numerous 
large corporations, railroad companies, banks, etc. Mr. Rountree has always been 
a democrat, except in the Grant and Greeley campaign, when he supported the 
republican ticket. As a member of the Chicago bar, Mr. Rountree is recognized 
as an able lawyer, and a man of right purposes, who is governed in all his doings 
by a conscientious adherence to principle and manly dealing. 



WILLIAM P. BLACK. 

WILLIAM P. BLACK, a lawyer, residing and doing business in Chicago, 
Illinois, a member of the firm of Dent and Black, was born in Woodford 
county, Kentucky, November n, 1842. 

The family dates back in this country to ante-revolutionary times, when the 
Scotch ancestry found homes in the colonies; first in South Carolina, and, mov- 
ing thence, afterward in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. In the revolution- 
ary struggle they were on the patriot side, contributing their share alike of blood 
and their scant treasure to the cause of liberty. In those days the family was 
represented in Pennsylvania by Rev. John Black, a Presbyterian minister, whose 
son and great-grandson followed the same calling. The last mentioned, Rev. 
John Black, D.D., was the father of the subject of this sketch. Dr. Black, last 
named, passed his ministerial life mostly in the South, and closed a short but 
brilliant life in his thirty-eighth year, dying at that age, February 13, 1847, in 
Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, at which time he was pastor of the Fifth Presbyte- 
rian Church of that place. The maternal great-grandfather was William Findley, 
for twenty years a member of the United States senate and house of representa- 
tives from Pennsylvania ; a man of marked ability, and descended from the 
Scotch-Irish dissenters, the family removing to this country from North Ireland 
long prior to the revolution. 

Mr. Black's mother was, prior to marriage, a Miss Josephine L. Culbertson, 
of the family located at Culbertson's Row, Pennsylvania, whence her father 
removed and settled in Madison, Indiana, where they resided at the time of her 
marriage to Rev. John Black, in 1834. Born in 1813, this minister's widow was 
left, in 1847, with a family of four children, the eldest but eight, and William, the 
second son, then but little more than four years old. She removed the same year 
with her little ones to Danville, Illinois, and there in 1850 married Dr. William 
Fithian, an eminent and worthy gentleman, reputed an able speaker and politi- 
cian, and successful business man. To the care, affection and ability of his noble 
mother, aided by her husband, is Mr. Black indebted for much that is elevated 
and meritorious in his life. 





Eng by E. LJ Willi a m a 4 Br NY 



THE BENCH AND BAR Of-' CHICAGO. 2OQ 

From childhood he was a close and successful student, his zeal having to be 
held in check on account of delicate health and a frail body. He entered Wabash 
College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, an institution justly esteemed for its thorough 
course and honorable alumni, in the fall of 1860. He at once took a leading 
place in his class as a diligent and conscientious student, and in the societies as 
a clear, powerful and brilliant speaker, and was affectionately esteemed by all. 
At this time, having joined the Presbyterian church at fifteen years of age, he 
was studying with reference to entering the ministry. 

But the outbreak of the war interrupted the collegiate course, never to be 
resumed. April 15, 1861, Mr. Black enlisted, with about forty other students 
of the college, including his only brother, as a private soldier in Co. I, nth Ind. 
Zouaves, commanded by Col. (afterward Maj.-Gen.) Lew. Wallace. Sharing 
with this regiment in its three months' campaign, chiefly in western Virginia, 
he was mustered out as corporal, and at once engaged in assisting in the work 
of recruiting a company in Vermilion county, Illinois, for the three years' ser- 
vice, of which company he was elected captain, and which was mustered into 
the service as Co. K, 37th 111. Inf., at Chicago, September 18, 1861, the regi- 
ment then being known as Fremont Rifles, and his commission as captain, 
dated September i, 1861, being received by him before he had reached his nine- 
teenth birthday. This position he filled faithfully for over three years, sharing 
with his regiment in its marches, skirmishes and battles, chief among which may 
be mentioned Pea Ridge, Arkansas, Prairie Grove, Arkansas (where one-third of 
the federal forces were killed and wounded), the siege of Vicksburg, in the latter 
part of which Capt. Black held 'the responsible and most dangerous position of 
brigade picket officer, having charge of the rifle-pits of his brigade; the occupa- 
tion of Texas, and the observation of the empire of Maximilian. Of his military 
career it is enough to say that, undertaken not from choice but under an exalted 
sense of the duty he owed an imperiled and loved country, every service required 
was performed quietly, unostentatiously and thoroughly. He could always be 
depended upon implicitly, possessing that quality of courage which is the result 
of entire devotion to duty, even at the cost of complete self-sacrifice. 

Commencing the study of law in October, 1865, in the office of Arrington and 
Dent, Chicago, he was in about sixteen months admitted to practice, and returned 
to Danville to enter upon his professional career. There he remained for only 
a year, however, returning to Chicago in March, 1868, to form the association 
with Mr. Thomas Dent, which has since continued; Mr. Dent's former partner, 
the late Judge Alfred W. Arrington, having died December 31, 1867. Mr. Black's 
career as a lawyer has been unusually successful. The reputation of his firm is 
of the very best, both on the score of professional honor and ability, and also by 
reason of the spotless personal character of the individual members. Possessing 
varied gifts and powers, so that they admirably supplement each other, and 
governed in all their conduct, personal and professional, by the code of a pure 
Christianity, these gentlemen have secured one of the largest and most respecta- 



2IO THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

ble clientages in their city, while the records of all the courts in the city and of 
the supreme courts of Illinois and of the United States attest their large success. 

Mr. Black is an unusually clear, earnest and vigorous writer, and gives much 
attention to the themes of present vital interest. In 1881 he prepared and deliv- 
ered before the Chicago Philosophical Society a lecture on "Socialism as a Factor 
in American Society and Politics," which was published in the Chicago " Times," 
republished in pamphlet form, and extensively quoted and noticed in various 
parts of the country. It was a remarkably clear, interesting and philosophical 
consideration of the great question of the social relations of the wage classes in 
our growing republic. A year later he delivered before the same body a lecture 
on "Russia and Nihilism," which has since been delivered, by request, before the 
Liberal League of Chicago and the Industrial Reform Club of the same place, 
and which has been printed in the " Weekly Magazine," and reprinted in tract 
form. Concerning this lecture, and as evidencing the literary ability and style of 
Mr. Black, it may not seem out of place to print two short letters, which speak 
for themselves, one being from Wendell Phillips, the other from the pen of the 
versatile John Swinton, chief of the editorial force of the New York " Sun." Fol- 
lowing are the letters : 

123 EAST 620 STREET, NEW YORK, July 4, 1882. 

COMRADE, I feel especially obliged to you for favoring me with a copy of Col. Black's lecture 
on Russia. It it a masterpiece, and has given me profound pleasure. The comprehensiveness 
and accuracy of the author's knowledge, the elevation of his spirit, the charm of his love for truth, 
justice and man, the generosity of his sympathy, and the boldness and freshness of his manner, 
riveted me to his pages as soon as I had opened them 

Astonishment mingled with pleasure as I passed from sentence to sentence. It is a most wor- 
thy contribution from a man of whose existence in Chicago I am delighted to know. Copies of it 
should be sent to Vera Sassulitch, Lavroff, Krapotkin and Tchaikovsky, and to Dr. Orloff and 
Wendell Phillips and others, and to public libraries and newspapers, etc. 

I don't believe there is any sale for such a thing; it must be given away. 

I shall mail you a copy of my "Travels" and other of my things for Col. Black, asking you to 
mail them to his address. JOHN SWINTON. 

E. A. Stevens, 319 W. Randolph street, Chicago, Illinois. 

BOSTON, July, 1882. 

Mv DEAR SIR, Hearty thanks for your instructive and eloquent address on Russia and Nihil- 
ism. Such a masterly and logical summing up of the case against the Romanoffs must give our 
people pause, and make them think. Then we shall see a public opinion more worthy of our past 
and our national position among civilized states 

I have read and reread your statement, each time with fresh admiration, and added thanks that 
any American has been found ready to make it an honor to us and a service to the world. 

Yours with great respect, 
Col. W. P. Black. WENDELL PHILLIPS. 

Mr. Black is in no sense of the word a politician, though taking a keen inter- 
est in the affairs of the country, to whose service in the tented field he gave three 
and a half years of his life. In his views he is thoroughly independent, casting his 
vote and his influence always with what he believes the better side of every cause. 
In the summer of 1872 he devoted a little time to the advocacy of the Greeley 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 211 

movement, which he supported as opposed to the increasing corruption in public 
affairs. His speeches in this campaign elicited much praise, and added to his 
already high reputation as an earnest, logical and eloquent speaker, fearless in 
exposing and rebuking wrong. Prior to 1872 he had been a staunch republican, 
but since that time he has not been actively identified with either of the great 
parties, though usually working with the democratic. He took no part in poli- 
tics, however, after the campaign of 1872, until in 1880, when he made one speech 
near the close of the canvass in advocacy of the election of Gen. Hancock, which 
was published in full in the Chicago " Times," and which was very highly esteemed 
on account of its thoughtfulness and force. 

In the fall of 1882 Mr. Black became a candidate for congress upon the unso- 
licited nominations first of the anti-monopolists in their convention, then of the 
democracy, and afterward of the independent republicans. The campaign was 
short and vigorous, and although Mr. Black was defeated, it was yet only by 
treachery in the democratic camp, and then by a majority of less than 2,400, in a 
district that, two years before, had given his successful opponent a majority of 
over 6,000. Mr. Black's candidacy elicited unusual enthusiasm, and became the 
pivotal contest in his district, while it elicited some most remarkable tributes to 
his character and attainments. Among these may properly be mentioned a tract, 
written by Mr. Henry L. Turner, a prominent real estate dealer, and a lifelong 
republican, under the title, " Patriotism versus Party," and published by him anon- 
ymously. After opening with the question, " Shall I, a lifelong republican, born 
and reared amidst the ' most straitest sect ' of the abolitionists, so far step aside 
from my ancient allegiance as to vote for the democratic nominee for congress ? " 
and proceeding at length to state his objections to the republican candidate, he 
gives the following estimate of Mr. Black's qualifications and character: 

"Speaking from a personal acquaintance of years' standing, the writer, if asked, would say of 
Capt. William P. Black that he would bring to the legislative office a heart throbbing with a benev- 
olent love for his fellow-men, sympathetic with their misfortunes, and ambitious to be of service to 
them; a quick and enlightened conscience, with a profound sense of personal responsibility; an 
independence of thought and action almost phenomenal; an honesty deep seated as the earth's 
foundation; an incorruptibility absolutely unassailable; an intellect of great breadth and keenness; 
a mind well stored with a comprehensive knowledge of law and history; a ripe and widely varied 
experience; an eloquence at once dignified and impassioned, impressive and graceful; a patriotism 
strengthened and purified on the battle-fields of the rebellion, and a courage which cannot be 
daunted; a life so pure and spotless that the fierce breath of a bitter canvass has cast no mist upon 
it; a religious principle, which manifests a reverent regard for all the ways of righteousness; a 
widely gathered familiarity with the management of affairs, and a broad general culture; a splendid 
presence, and manners courteous, affable and polished." 

In 1874 Wabash College conferred on Mr. Black the degree of M.A., a graceful 
recognition of his professional success and his services as a man of letters. 

Mr. Black was married May 28, 1869, to Miss Hortensia M. MacGreal, of Gal- 
veston, Texas, a Christian lady of clear and strong intellect, ripe culture and deep 
enthusiasm of religious experience. She is the eldest daughter of the late Peter 



212 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

MacGreal, who was one of the leading lawyers of the Empire State of the 
Southwest. 

We close this sketch by a few words of personal description. Mr. Black is 
over six feet in height, dark hair, now freely intersprinkled with gray; of spare 
but graceful figure; a face strong and expressive; and a dark, bright eye, that 
kindles under emotion or excitement, but is always kindly; his voice is clear and 
strong; and these, added to an unusual flow of language, make him a speaker of 
great power and magnetism. 



GEORGE MILLS ROGERS. 

EORGE MILLS ROGERS, son of Judge John G. Rogers, of the Cook 
county circuit court, was born April 16, 1854, at Glasgow, Kentucky. He 
fitted for college in the Chicago public schools, and finally in Chicago University, 
and entered Yale College in 1872, graduating in 1876, when he returned to Chi- 
cago and studied law in the office of Crawford and McConnell and attended the 
Chicago Union College of Law; was admitted to the bar in June, 1878, and com- 
menced practice in the firm of McConnell, Raymond and Rogers, and is now of 
the firm of McConnell and Rogers. He is descended from a line of eminent 
judges on both the paternal and maternal sides, and is a credit to his ancestry. 
His abilities and character give promise that he will, if he lives, win the place in 
the affection and esteem of the people, which his father now holds. 



SAMUEL P. MCCONNELL. 

SAMUEL P. McCONNELL was born in Springfield, Illinois, July 5, 1849. 
He is of Scotch-Irish extraction, his grandfather immigrating to this country 
from Belfast, Ireland, in 1811, located in New Jersey and subsequently moved to 
Madison county, New York, and engaged first in the manufacture of powder and 
later in farming and raising fine stock. In 1840 he moved to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, and engaged in farming, being the first to introduce blooded stock in 
that county. Two of his sons now reside on the old homestead farm. Gen. John 
McConnell, father of the subject of this sketch, now resides at Springfield, and 
is well known in this state as having been a brave and daring cavalry officer in 
the late war. He was breveted brigadier-general for gallantry in several engage- 
ments, and received the highest commendation from his superior officers. 
Samuel P. was born on a farm and spent his youth there. He had the usual 
preparatory education and was fitted for college; graduated from Lombard Uni- 
versity at Galesburg, Illinois, in 1871, when he read law with the prominent law 
firm of Stuart, Edwards and Brown, of Springfield, was admitted to the bar, and 
came to Chicago in December, 1872, and commenced practice in the firm of 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 213 

McConnell and Lanphier, which continued until the spring of 1874, when he 
became a member of the firm of Crawford and McConnell, which was engaged 
largely in important corporation litigation. Mr. McConnell, though young, evi- 
denced a decided ability in this class of cases, and is still successfully engaged 
in that line of practice, and has won and deserved particular credit on account 
of his ability in that connection, as well as in general practice. In July of 1878 
the firm of Crawford and McConnell was dissolved, Mr. Crawford discontinuing 
the law business and engaging in railroad building and management, when Mr. 
McConnell formed a partnership with Henry W. Raymond, son of the late distin- 
guished Henry J. Raymond, and his brother-in-law, George Mills Rogers, son of 
Judge John G. Rogers, of the Cook county circuit court. Mr. Raymond subse- 
quently left the firm and is now one of the editors of the Chicago "Tribune," the 
law firm now being McConnell and Rogers. Samuel P. McConnell is one of the 
foremost of the younger attorneys of the Chicago bar; he is studious, industrious, 
and faithful to his clients, and a successful lawyer, highly respected by the pro- 
fession and those who know him. 

In February, 1876, he married Sarah Rogers, daughter of Judge John G. 
Rogers, chief-justice of the circuit court of Cook county. 



WILLIAM PRESCOTT. 

WILLIAM PRESCOTT, one of three children of William and Maria Pres- 
cott, was born March i, 1832, in Devonshire, England. His parents were 
natives of the same county, and were descendants of families which had for 
many generations belonged to the agricultural class of the country. In the year 
1848 Mr. Prescott's father and mother removed with their family to the United 
States, and on July 4 in that year, reached Mt. Vernon, Ohio, which they then 
intended to make their permanent home. Within a short time, however, the 
father died, and the family was divided and scattered, but was reunited in the 
fall of 1857, at Springfield, Illinois. 

Having previously read some of the elementary books of the law, the subject 
of our sketch entered the office of Hon. James C. Conkling of Springfield, and 
there completed his preparatory law studies. He was examined for admission to 
the bar in the spring of 1859, by a committee composed of the late Abraham Lin- 
coln, the late Stephen T. Logan and James C. Conkling, a circumstance which 
he has always regarded as a peculiar honor. Admitted to practice, he was imme- 
diately thereafter elected city attorney of Springfield, and held the office one 
year. At the beginning of the war he entered the army, and served continuously 
until July 1865, being successively first lieutenant and adjutant, captain and 
major. At the fall election of 1865 he was chosen judge of the county court of 
Sangamon county, and held that office four years. He then resumed the practice 
of his profession at Springfield, and remained there until October 1878, when he 



214 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

removed to Chicago. In the meantime, during the years 1873 to 1876, he held 
the position of register of the United States land office, succeeding Hon. C. S. 
Zane. In politics he has always been a republican, and until recently has 
taken an active part in all the principal campaigns of this state, beginning with 
the most memorable of all in the history of the country, that of 1859. 

In 1867 Mr. Prescott was married to Miss Lizzie Wallace, at Memphis, Tennes- 
see; he is a man of fine personal appearance, and is highly esteemed by a large 
circle of friends, for his many social and amiable qualities. His reputation has 
always been that of a man of sterling integrity and he has always been known 
as a careful and able lawyer. 



CAPT. CANUTE R. MATSON. 

CANUTE R. MATSON was born in Norway in 1843. In 1848 his parents 
V x immigrated to America and settled in Walworth county, Wisconsin, whence 
in 1851 they removed to Dane county in the same state. Canute had an ambition 
to obtain an education, and to this end attended the Albion Academy in Dane, 
and subsequently Milton College, and was an apt and studious scholar, and 
ranked among the best in his classes. He was in the latter college when the war 
broke out, and being descended from an ancestry which had fought for freedom 
and liberty, was very naturally prompted by patriotism and devotion to his 
adopted country to enlist in the Union army, which he did, though quite young, 
as a private in Co. K., i3th Wis. Inf., and went to the field as a private; was pro- 
moted to commissary sergeant in 1862; first lieutenant of Co. G, in 1863; was 
subsequently acting regimental quartermaster, and was such when mustered out 
in December 1865, with a clean and untarnished record in all the capacities in 
which he had served, and bears the reputation to this day of having been a brave 
and faithful soldier and officer. 

When he left the service he settled in Chicago, and attended a commercial col- 
lege a few months, when he received an appointment in the postoffice. During the 
time he published the " Postal Record," an official paper of the department in 
Chicago. In 1868 he was elected clerk of the police court, and reelected in 1871, 
having the appointment and supervision of the deputies. In 1875 he was appointed 
justice of the peace, and re-appointed in 1879, and was regarded one of the best 
and most reliable of the justices; in 1878 was admitted to the practice of law. 

In the fall of 1879 his friends put his name forward for sheriff of Cook county, 
and he proved to be the second strongest candidate before the republican county 
convention, but being barely defeated he reluctantly accepted the nomination for 
coroner of Cook county, which was made by acclamation, and was elected by the 
largest majority of any one on the republican ticket; evidencing his popularity in 
the city and county. He served in that capacity two years, and demonstrated the 
possession of the administrative ability requisite in the successful discharge of 
the duties of that office. In the fall of 1882 he declined a renomination for that 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 215 

office, and his name was again put forward for sheriff, and he proved the second 
time the second strongest candidate, but was defeated by the present incumbent, 
Seth F. Hanchett, who wisely made him chief deputy sheriff, a position which he 
now holds, 1883, giving full satisfaction to all who do business with sheriff's office. 
He has attained to position through his merits; always serving the public faith- 
fully and ably, he has the full public confidence. He is one of the most prominent 
of the Scandinavian leaders in this city and state, and is popular with all nation- 
alities and parties, as a man of excellent habits, good abilities and character. He 
is respected by all who know him, and esteemed by his friends and intimates. 



STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. 

QTEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS, son of the celebrated statesman, Hon. Ste- 
O phen A. Douglas, was born in Rockingham county, North Carolina, November 
3, 1850. His mother, whose maiden name was Martha Denny Martin, a daughter 
of Col. Robert Martin, was a native of the same county, and died in January, 
1853. The history of his father, who died at Chicago, June 3, 1861, is familiar 
to the American people. The last intelligible words uttered by him were a mes- 
sage to his sons, Robert and Stephen, then at college, to "obey the laws and 
support the constitution of the United States." 

After completing his preparatory education, our subject attended Georgetown 
College, District of Columbia, but left his studies during his senior year to look 
after his mother's estate, comprising several plantations in North Carolina, Mis- 
sissippi and Texas. This occurrence led him to engage extensively in the leaf 
tobacco business. While in North Carolina, Mr. Douglas found himself early and 
deeply absorbed in politics, growing out of the excited and threatening condition 
of the country, and his patriotic instincts led him to promptly ally himself with 
the party of freedom. In 1870, before he was twenty years old, he was made 
chairman of the republican county delegation to the state convention, and about 
the same time became editor in chief of the Raleigh " Standard," the organ of 
the republican party in North Carolina. In that same year he was appointed 
adjutant-general of the state, it being the incipient period of the ku klux troubles, 
when 2,000 troops were raised to protect the lives of the colored people and of 
republican leaders of all complexions. The condition of things at that time in 
North Carolina and some other southern states, together with Mr. Douglas' able 
leaders in the " Standard," led congress to consider the matter, and pass the ku 
klux legislation, when Mr. Douglas resigned his post of adjutant-general. 

In 1872 he was appointed a presidential elector, and, young as he was, made a 
thorough canvass of his district. Four years later (1876) he was again placed on 
the republican electoral ticket in North Carolina, and ran several hundred votes 
ahead of his ticket, making a full and vigorous canvass, speaking in at least 
fifty places. 



2l6 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

In November, 1876, Mr. Douglas entered the North Carolina Law School, under 
Hon. Richmond Pearson, chief-justice of that state, and was there admitted to 
practice in June, 1878. He opened a law office in Chicago in the following 
March, and almost immediately took an honorable position at the Cook county 
bar. In October, 1881, he was appointed master in chancery of the county court. 
He belongs to the class of irrepressible young men whose talents and energies, 
always wisely directed, place them in the forefront in every contest. He seems 
to have inherited not only the build, but in a large measure the force of character, 
mental powers and magnetism of his father, and he may or may not reach the 
rounds of fame on which his father proudly stood. He is quite as much a favor- 
ite of the republican party as his father was of the democratic party at thirty 
years of age. In 1880 he was quite active in the Grant movement, and was 
elected at the state convention at Springfield a delegate to the national conven- 
tion held at Chicago, but was unseated on defeat of the "unit rule." During the 
memorable campaign of that year, which resulted in the election of Garfield and 
Arthur, he canvassed nearly the whole state of Illinois, and aided, by his persua- 
sive eloquence, in securing an unusually large majority in Illinois for the repub- 
lican nominees. Since the close of that great political contest Mr. Douglas has 
been quietly practicing his profession in Chicago, being of the firm of Decker, 
Douglas and Kistler. Few young men of his age have made an equal amount of 
history. Mr. Douglas attends the Reformed Episcopal church, but is not a mem- 
ber of any religious association. 



EBEN F. RUNYAN. 

EBEN F. RUNYAN is a gentleman, modest and unassuming, but positive in 
his character, of great versatility of talent, who has gained a wide and 
excellent reputation, as a careful and pains-taking lawyer. He carefully exam- 
ines all the details of every case intrusted to his care, and never commences suit, 
except to win, and defends with a zeal and tact that invariably shows all there is 
in the case. He has a faculty of presenting a case to both court and jury, with 
clearness, conciseness and force, and has met with remarkable success. He is 
thoroughly read in his profession, and having a sharp and correct faculty of anal- 
ysis, a fertile mind and readiness of resource in argument, has attained great 
prominence as an advocate. 

Mr. Runyan was born in Victory, Cayuga county, in the state of New York, 
December 3, 1831, and lived in that town until the spring of 1838, when, by the 
death of his father, he was left an orphan, and compelled to care for himself. He 
had none of the advantages of an early education, and, with slight exceptions, 
had no regular teaching in schools, until the winter of 1848, but during all those 
years, and ever since, when not engaged in labor, he spent his time in reading, 
studying and thinking, and thus gained a valuable fund of practical knowledge, 
which is at all times at his command. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 2\"J 

In the spring of 1849, he entered the store of Capt. T. F. Comstock, father of 
E. F. Comstock, of Chicago, at Wilton, Saratoga county, New York, and remained 
there until the spring of 1850. Although he met with excellent success in his 
position, and gave entire satisfaction to his employer, and his customers, he was 
not satisfied, and sought other fields where there was a larger range for his active 
mind, and having faith in the West, in April, 1850, he started for Illinois, making 
most of the journey on foot. From June n of that year, until March, 1853, he 
was engaged during the summer months in McHenry county, Illinois, in farming, 
and in the winter months, in teaching school, one of his pupils being Hon. J. C. 
Knickerbocker, probate judge of Cook county. 

In the spring of 1853, he entered the Academy at Waukegan, Lake county, 
Illinois, then under the management of Hon. F. E. Clark, of that city, and soon 
after entered the law office of W. S. Searles, as a student at law, and remained 
with him until he was admitted to the bar, in the spring of 1855. He was a close 
student, never sought pleasure until his lessons were completed, and then only as 
a rest. He then and always believed that whatever was worth doing, should be 
well done, 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 the 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, he commenced the practice of law in Chicago, and met with 
excellent success. He was warm and magnetic in his feelings, and soon gathered 
around him a host of friends. January i, 1856, he formed a partnership with T. 
B. Brown, of Chicago, under the name of Brown and Runyan, and they con- 
tinued to practice law until the fall of 1859. Among those who have been asso- 
ciated with him in the practice are D. J. Avery, one of the masters in chancery 
of the superior court of Cook county, and E. F. Comstock, both of whom were 
students with him, and are excellent lawyers, and Hon. Mason B. Loomis, ex- 
judge of the county court. He has controlled a large business, and has had a 
vast experience in the general law, as well as other business. 

He was a member of the Board of Education of Chicago, from 1864 to 1874, 
and during the entire period, took an active part in everything connected with 
educational matters. He was once elected vice-president, and twice elected pres- 
ident of the board. Upon the organization of the Board of Park Commissioners 
for West Chicago, he was, by the governor, appointed one of the commissioners, 
and was connected with the board for about seven years, and took an active part 
in the location and improvement of the west parks and boulevards. He was 
auditor of the board during the entire period of his connection with it. In the 
summer of 1876, prior to his failure in business, he resigned his position in the 
Park Board, believing as he still believes, that a man who is unsuccessful in the 
management of his own finances, should not manage the finances of the people. 
He has been a man of great activity and enterprise, and done much to develop 
the resources of Chicago. 
23 



2l8 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

He is strictly temperate in his habits, and insists that it is just as easy to say 
" no" as "yes," and that no man thinks less of one, for refusing to drink with him, 
when he knows that the objection is a matter of principle. In all his counsels, he 
is conscientious and careful. He is a gentleman of refinement and culture, and 
affable and kind in his intercourse with all. He has conducted many important 
suits and interests, and won his way to the position of a leading lawyer in Chi- 
cago, by the exercise of energy, superior ability and legal attainments. He was 
married January 2, 1860, to Miss Flora R. Avery, of Waukegan, a most lovely 
woman, by whom he has six children. 



GEORGE W. COTHRAN, LL.D. 

A FTER all that may be done for a man in the way of giving him early oppor- 
L\. tunities for obtaining the acquirements which are sought in the schools and 
in books, he must essentially formulate, determine and give shape to his own 
character and future. He is mainly responsible for his own manhood, as a rule. 
This general proposition applies to George W. Cothran, now one of the foremost 
members of the Chicago bar. He was born February 25, 1834, on a farm in Roy- 
alton, Niagara county, New York. When he was four years of age, his father 
died, leaving his mother with a small and heavily encumbered estate, and a fam- 
ily of thirteen children, of which George was the youngest. In the fall of 1838, 
his mother sold the homestead, and moved with her family to Richland county, 
Ohio, where she remained till the spring of 1842, when the purchaser, having 
failed to pay for the homestead, reconveyed it to her, and she returned to it to 
live. George remained there with his mother, attending school and doing farm 
work, until 1850, when his mother again removed, with the four children remain- 
ing at home, to Lockport, New York, and the succeeding four years George 
devoted his attention to the mechanical arts, of which he was fond, and became 
proficient in several branches. He acquired a practical knowledge of the 
branches he pursued, and could to-day draw plans of, and build, almost any 
structure of wood, iron or stone, which knowledge has been of service to him in 
the practice of his profession, in the class of causes involving such questions. 
In 1854, at the age of twenty, he entered the law office of Phineas L. Ely, of Lock- 
port, and commenced the study of law, remaining three years, at the end of which 
time he was admitted to the bar to practice in all the courts of the state of New 
York, and at the examination, conducted by three judges in open court, he cor- 
rectly answered all of the searching questions, with a single exception. He had 
application, and power of concentration, which has always been a distinguishing 
feature of his mind, notwithstanding the fact that before he entered upon the 
study of law, he had wandered into the flowery paths of literature, science and 
art, and had contributed to magazine and periodical literature to quite an extent, 
and has since his admission to bar, especially illustrating the annals of the litera- 
ture of law and jurisprudence. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 2 19 

After his admission to the bar, he remained one year with his preceptor, 
when, in September, 1858, he opened a law office of his own in Lockport, and at 
once entered into a good practice. So successful was he that but one law firm 
had more cases on the court calendar than he had. He remained in practice 
until 1861, when he left his profession, organized Battery M, ist N. Y. Vol. Lt. 
Artillery, was commissioned its captain, and went to the front; and no volunteer 
battery achieved a better reputation in the Army of the Potomac than Cothran's 
battery. He served with Gen. Banks in the Shenandoah Valley campaign, under 
Gen. Pope during his inglorious command of the Army of the Potomac, from 
Cedar Mountain to the time he turned over the command to Gen. McClellan, 
then through South Mountain and Antietam. He was eight hours under fire in 
the latter battle. Then followed the brief and disastrous careers of Burnside and 
Gen. Hooker, and the more successful one of Gen. Meade. About the time of 
the Gettysburg fight, he was compelled to resign on account of ill health. Dur- 
ing the grand retrograde movement of Gen. Pope, after a severe artillery battle 
at Beverly Ford, on the Rappahannock, in consequence of exposure in an all- 
day and night's rain, he took cold, which culminated in sciatica-neuralgia in his 
right limb, from which he was a great sufferer for more than ten years, and has 
not yet fully recovered. 

After the battle of Antietam he was recommended to President Lincoln for 
promotion, for meritorious services in the field, by every commissioned officer in 
the eleventh army corps, including Gen. Banks, its late, and Gen. A. S. Williams, 
its then commanding officer. But the Harrison's Landing letter of Gen. McClel- 
lan, had been written, and the successor of President Lincoln became a matter of 
such great political importance at Washington that Douglas democrats were not 
appointed thereafter as readily or as frequently as in the earlier stages of the 
war, coupled with the fact that he would do nothing to aid his promotion. He 
remained with his battery, even when serving on Gen. Williams' staff as chief of 
artillery of the first division of the twelfth corps. He was offered promotion to 
the position of major or lieutenant-colonel by the adjutant-general of New York, 
but he declined, as the command of a battery is really the only responsible 
position in the artillery service. Many amusing anecdotes of the captain and his 
battery were printed in the Drawer in "Harper's Magazine," and in "Knicker- 
bocker" at the time. 

On leaving the army in 1863, he married the only surviving child of W. W. 
Mann, of Buffalo, New York, and in the fall of that year went to Buffalo to live, 
and commenced the practice of his profession. "There were giants in those 
days " in the Buffalo bar, a bar that had no superior in any city in the Union. 
The subject of this sketch, by perseverance, close attention to business, and a 
thorough mastery of his cause, soon took a place in the foremost rank of that cel- 
ebrated bar, and no lawyer of his age stood higher in the estimation of the New 
York court of appeals than he. While in the flush of successful practice in Buf- 
falo, in July, 1879, he came to Chicago to help his friend, F. E. Hinckley, in unrav- 



22O THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

eling the legal complications in which his railroads had become involved, and he 
it was, that preserved the Chicago and Iowa Railroad Company, and placed it in 
its present successful situation. He was soon after appointed the general solic- 
itor of the Chicago and Iowa Railroad Company, Chicago, Pekin and South- 
western Railroad Company, and the Chicago, Rockford and Northern Railroad 
Company, and the appointment has led to his permanent residence in this city. 

Mr. Cothran has never been much of an office seeker or office holder. In 
addition to his office of captain of artillery in the army, the only other office he 
has held was that of county judge of Erie county, New York, for one year. His 
appointment to that office was the first official act of Gov. Robinson, of New York, 
and was recommended by ex-Gov. Tilden, his intimate friend. At the end 
of his term, he declined to take a nomination, and continued his practice. It 
was nearly the unanimous wish of the bar that he should remain on the bench, 
but he preferred the active practice of his profession. On different occasions, he 
was suggested for nomination for judge of the New York court of appeals, but he 
invariably declined to enter the field. Having been nominated for judge of the 
superior court of Buffalo, he declined to run, but on a subsequent occasion, he 
permitted the use of his name for that office, but was defeated with his party at 
the polls. 

While engaged in the practice of his profession, he edited and published the 
sixth edition of the revised statutes of New York, in three massive volumes, con- 
taining 3,700 pages. The labor bestowed upon these volumes was immense, and 
for this work, and his high standing at the bar, he received the honorary degree 
of LL.D. He has also edited the latest editions of the Illinois revised statutes in 
one compact volume. It is the edition now used by judges and lawyers almost 
exclusively. The same evidences of careful preparation, which made his New 
York statutes so valuable, are observable in this later work. 

Judge Cothran is a great lover of books, and has pretty thoroughly traversed 
the whole range of literature. His private library is unique, and embraces a 
large collection of rare works on the origin, formation, and progress of religions 
and religious ideas. His law library is probably more thoroughly annoted than 
any other in the city. 

Art and music are his hobbies. His house, on LaSalle avenue, is literally 
filled with oil paintings by distinguished foreign and American artists. But his 
musical library, probably the largest private collection in America, is an object 
of curiosity, as well as of peculiar interest. It embraces all the choice editions of 
the great tone poets, as well as nearly all modern composers of any merit or 
celebrity, all conveniently arranged, and beautifully bound. It is envied by all 
musicians, many of whom avail themselves of it to consult rare works. 

His schooling was the schooling of practical life, resulting from the "struggle 
for existence " by a young man with no other means than brains and a determi- 
nation to achieve success. While not the graduate of any college, he has been a 
great friend of educational institutions, and was one of the founders of the Buf- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 221 

falo College of Physicians and Surgeons, and was its first president, and until 
after his removal to Chicago, occupied the chair of medical jurisprudence. 

As a lawyer, he is distinguished by clearness and comprehensiveness of state- 
ment, and clearness of argument, preferring to solve a legal problem by argu- 
ment, and general principles of law, than by a mass of mere authorities, though 
he is exceedingly diligent and patient in research, when he depends upon author- 
ities. Candid, cautious, thorough in the study and evolving of facts and prece- 
dents, and clear in his analysis of the principles of law and equity, with a clear 
comprehension of the spirit and scope of jurisprudence, and the independence to 
lay his cause before the court, according to his best judgment of the law and 
equity of the cause he is advocating, a keen sense of honor, which Wordsworth 
says is the finest sense of justice and right, which the human mind can frame, 
he is still a student, quiet and studious in his demeanor and habits, and an inde- 
fatigable worker. He has arisen to eminence and success as the result of his 
own indomitable energy, and inborn ability directed into the channel it has been, 
and controlled by himself; in short, a self-made man. 



GEORGE E. DAWSON. 

GEORGE E. DAWSON was born June 23, 1847, at Loami, Illinois, where 
his parents, Charles H. Dawson, and Julia (Meacham) Dawson, resided at 
that time. His father, a blacksmith and plow manufacturer, was one of the first 
inventors of the gang breaking plow, and made several valuable improvements in 
double cultivators. When George was five years of age his parents removed to 
Jacksonville, Illinois, where his father continued business. Here he attended 
school until twelve years of age, when he again moved with his parents, settling 
on a farm for two years, and engaging in farm work, attending the county 
schools as opportunities offered, until 1861, when his father again moved and 
settled in Springfield, Illinois. Here George entered the high school, graduating 
in the English course as salutatorian of his class. The following year he spent in 
the employ of the provost marshal of the eighth district. Having determined to 
secure a college education, the year following was spent in preparatory studies 
under a private instructor. The usual preparatory course of three years in Latin 
and Greek was completed by him in one year, and in the fall of 1866 he entered 
the University of Michigan, pursued the regular classical course of four years, and 
in the summer of 1870 graduated with the degree of B.A. Subsequently he 
received his M.A. degree from the same institution. 

Upon leaving the university Mr. Dawson taught for one year as principal of 
the high school at Flint, Michigan. In the following year he went to Buffalo, 
New York, where he had charge of the department of Latin and Greek in the 
central high school, and remained there for three years, gaining an excellent rep- 
utation as a classical instructor. In the summer of 1874 Mr. Dawson wishing to 



222 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

obtain a more thorough knowledge of the modern languages, went abroad and 
spent two years in the study of German, French and Italian. Having studied 
these languages in this country, his study abroad enabled him to acquire a final 
command of them, both in reading and speaking. While abroad, Mr. Dawson 
traveled about the continent during the summer months, and spent the winter in 
hard study at the universities. The greater portion of his time in Germany was 
spent at Leipzig and Gottingen, at the former of which he attended lectures on 
the Roman law. He also attended lectures for a short time at the Collegio 
Romano, in Rome, and at the College de France, at Paris. 

After two years thus profitably spent in travel and study, he returned to 
America, arriving in Philadelphia May 9, 1876, the day prior to the opening of 
the Centennial Exposition. 

Mr. Dawson, having a decided preference for the West, returned to Springfield, 
Illinois, and for one year was principal of the high school where he had formerly 
been a pupil. Thence he went to Peoria, Illinois, and for two years was princi- 
pal of the high school there. In the summer of 1879, Mr. Dawson removed to 
Chicago, taking charge of the Washington school, where he remained two years. 
Having for several years devoted his leisure hours to the study of law, study- 
ing under the direction of a prominent law firm in Peoria, and in Chicago in the 
office of James Goggin, he passed his examination at Springfield in May, 1881, 
and was admitted to the bar of Illinois, beginning his practice July i, 1881. 

In the fall of 1882 he became associated with Mr. Isaac H. Pedrick, a well 
known attorney of Chicago, under the style of Pedrick and Dawson. With the 
unusually broad and deep foundation which he has laid, his perseverance and 
high literary talent and attainments, Mr. Dawson cannot but take a first rank in 
his profession. 

GEORGE DRIGGS. 

EORGE DRIGGS, a member of the legal fraternity of Chicago, is a native 
of Livingston county, New York, and was born at Mount Morris, May 18, 
1846. His parents were Elias Beach Driggs, a native of Connecticut, and Sarah 
(Rowell) Driggs, a native of Vermont. After the death of his parents, when only 
a lad, Mr. Driggs went to live with relatives at Fairlee, Vermont, near the New 
Hampshire line. In early years he attended the academy at Orford, New Hamp- 
shire, afterward continuing his studies under private instruction up to the time of 
his appointment to a position in the United States treasury department under 
Secretary McCullough. While in Washington he found opportunity to continue 
his law studies already begun, and was graduated from the Columbia Law School, 
in the class of 1868, immediately entering upon the practice of law in Washington, 
where he remained for about two years, when he went to New York city. In 
1871 Mr. Driggs accepted a position in the office of Hon. ]. R. Swan, at Colum- 
bus, Ohio, at that time general solicitor of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 221, 

*J 

Railway Company. He continued as the assistant of Judge Swan, and of his suc- 
cessor, Hugh J. Jewett, until the latter assumed the presidency of the Erie Rail- 
way Company early in 1875, when Mr. Driggs was appointed assistant counsel 
of the Pennsylvania company, and Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway 
Company, with headquarters at Pittsburgh, in which position he remained until 
he came to Chicago, February i, 1881, and formed a partnership with George 
Willard, of whom a sketch is given on another page. Willard and Driggs, in 
addition to a general legal business, are the solicitors for several railway and 
other corporations. 

Mr. Driggs is a firm republican in politics, entertains liberal religious views, 
and is a Knight Templar in the masonic order. 

In 1872 he married Miss Helen Griffmg, a native of Ohio; they have two chil- 
dren, a son and a daughter. 

JOHN CUTHBERTSON. 

JOHN CUTHBERTSON was born February 16, 1829, at Liverpool, England. 
J His parents were Jonathan and Winfred (Stanton) Cuthbertson, his father 
being of English origin, and mother descending from wealthy farmers of Ireland. 
His father, when a boy, ran away from home and joined a merchant ship as cabin 
boy, and followed a seafaring life for a number of years, attaining different posi- 
tions of rank, and encountering many dangerous voyages. He held the position 
of mate on the schooner Albion, which, when at sea in St. George's channel 
between the Irish and Welsh coasts, in the summer of 1814, was boarded by the 
American privateer, Princess, who took the greater portion of the cargo, and 
made prisoners of the crew, and then set fire to the ship, and carried the crew to 
Boston bay, where they were kept until the close of the war of 1812, when he 
returned to England, and soon after, at the age of twenty-one, was given com- 
mand of a vessel (of which the late Joseph Cuthbertson of Workington, grand- 
father of our subject, was the sole owner), and for a long time was engaged in 
traffic between Demerara and Liverpool. The ancestors of Mr. Cutbertson have 
held prominent positions under the English government, and some were seafar- 
ing men of wealth and good standing. 

When John was five years old his mother, by reason of ill health, removed to 
Westport, her native town in Ireland. Here John resided until 1853, when he left 
forChicago. He received his early education at Westport, and afterward studied at 
the academy of the Christian Brothers, under celebrated Latin and Greek tutors, 
and here began his study for his profession. After finishing his education, Mr. 
Cuthbertson, in the summer of 1848, went on a visit to his grandfather to Work- 
ington, England, and thence to Liverpool, his native town; here he entered the 
employ of a Mr. Barry (an old friend of his father's, and a wealthy ship owner), 
who sent him aboard the ship John Bolton to Quebec, to look after the cargo. 
The ship loaded square timber at Quebec, for Liverpool, and on September i, 



224 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

1848, proceeded down the gulf of St. Lawrence. When they had reached a point 
thirty-five miles southeast of the island of St. Paul, she fell in with a terrific 
gale, became waterlogged and unmanageable, and was abandoned. The crew 
were picked up by the bark Sarah Ann, and taken to Fleetwood, near the city 
of Lancaster, England. After arriving home Mr. Cuthbertson went to live with 
his father, who had retired from the sea and was engaged as a ship broker, and 
in emigration business. Here he made several trips with emigrants, and secured 
cargoes for home. 

In the spring of 1853 Mr. Cuthbertson left England for Chicago, where he 
remained for some time before engaging in any enterprise, visiting his friends, 
etc., until the spring of 1855, when he recommenced the study of law with John 
Mason, a celebrated criminal lawyer of Chicago, and after a creditable examina- 
tion, was admitted to the bar of Illinois, at Ottawa, October 12, 1857. He imme- 
diately formed a partnership with his preceptor, which continued for a period of 
two years, and between them a warm friendship always existed to the time of 
the death of Mr. Mason, in 1879. 

In 1862 he was elected justice of the peace, and served the full term of four 
years, to the satisfaction of the public. In politics Mr. Cuthbertson is a democrat, 
in religion a Roman Catholic. He married a lady of Chicago, and has a family 
of four sons and two daughters. He is a man of varied attainments and refined 
in his tastes and habits, and withal is an excellent performer on the piano and 
violin, with which he delights in amusing the home circles. The accumulated 
wealth of his grandfather and uncles is soon to be handed down to him and 
his father, who resides with him, and Mr. Cuthbertson expects soon to retire from 
the active duties of the Chicago bar, of which he has for years been an honored 
member. 

EDGAR L. JAYNE. 

EDGAR L. JAYNE is one of the most promising young lawyers of the Chi- 
cago bar. By strict attention to business and true fidelity to his clients, he 
has already attained high rank in his profession for a man of his age. He is a 
well read lawyer, a good advocate, and excels in the trial of cases. He is a care- 
ful counselor, and his foresight is so keen that he seldom fails in a case to which 
he has given his mature deliberation. Being a good judge of human nature, and 
naturally reticent, he has a faculty of discovering the hand of his opponent with- 
out showing his own. He never goes to trial without thorough preparation, and 
the zeal and energy with which he presents and advocates his client's cause usu- 
ally crowns his efforts with success. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and was 
born April 7, 1848, at Meshoppen, Wyoming county. He prepared for college at 
Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, and entered Cornell University in 
1869. In 1872 he left Cornell University and entered the University of Chicago, 
where he acted in the double capacity of tutor and student, and graduated in 1873. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 22"J 

The following fall he entered the Union College of Law, from which he graduated 
in 1875. Being admitted to the bar he at once began practice, and continued 
alone until 1877, when he formed a partnership with DeWolf and Young, under 
the name and style of Jayne, DeWolf and Young, which was dissolved in 1879, 
since which time he has been practicing by himself, with excellent success. Mr. 
Jayne, though independent of party influence, is a staunch republican, and takes a 
great interest in local affairs, but never to the injury or neglect of his professional 
duties. He is secretary of the Chicago Bar Association, having been elected in 
January 1882. He is a gentleman of fine presence, being of medium height, with 
a fine intellectual forehead and keen black eye. He is affable, refined and 
polished, and has a happy faculty of making friends. He is a gentleman of strict 
integrity, and has the confidence of the courts before whom he practices, the good 
will of his brethren at the bar, and the respect and admiration of his clients, 
whose interests he is ever ready to espouse with a becoming enthusiasm and zeal. 



FREDERICK A. HERRING. 

THE subject of this biography was born in the city of Elberfeld, Prussia, 
August 5, 1845, and is the son of Dr. Frederick Herring, now a prominent 
physician of Goshen, Indiana, and Amelia (Wolff) Herring. His maternal grand- 
father was John Wolff, an architect of considerable note, of Elberfeld, who drew 
the plans of several important buildings at that city. Adolf Schultz, a noted 
German poet, scholar and patriot, who died in 1860, married a sister of our sub- 
ject's mother. His literary works and poems were supposed by the government 
officers to be incendiary, and consequently were suppressed in 1848. The German 
literary societies of the Rhine valley erected a monument to his memory over his 
grave at Elberfeld, and extended the freedom of the German universities to his 
children. 

Mr. Herring graduated in 1863 in the classical course of Hillsdale College, 
Michigan. He then taught school four years, two years as principal of Cassopo- 
lis union school, and two years as principal of Mt. Clemens union schools, Michi- 
gan. During and before this time he studied law, and spent his vacations in 
the law office of Baker and Mitchell, of Goshen, Indiana, with whom he continued 
to study until he was admitted to the bar in September 1871. He removed to 
Chicago May i, 1872, and was admitted to the bar of Illinois on examination 
before the supreme court in September of that year. He then formed a copart- 
nership with Consider H. Willett, which continued until 1879, since which time 
Mr. Herring has been in business by himself. 

In political sentiments Mr. Herring is a staunch republican. He has been an 
earnest and zealous worker in politics, and has taken part in all political cam- 
paigns since 1868. He took the stump for Gen. Grant in Indiana and Michi- 
gan, and during the campaigns since then has stumped Illinois and Wisconsin, 
24 



228 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

speaking in both the German and English languages, under the direction of the 
state central committee, but has never sought or accepted political preferment 
for himself, finding in his professional work ample scope for the gratification of 
his highest ambitions. 

Mr. Herring is a very thorough lawyer and a safe counsel. He is an earnest, 
logical speaker and a good advocate, and especially valuable as a campaign 
speaker, being very fluent in German as well as English. He is a gentleman of 
integrity, stands well at the bar, and is an upright, honorable citizen. 

He was married in Chicago in 1875, to Miss Kate Lonergan, of Chicago. 



ARTHUR G. OTIS. 

THE subject of this sketch was born at Milo, Michigan, November 22, 1849, 
and is the son of Hon. Isaac Otis, ex-judge of the probate court of Barry 
county, Michigan, an old settler and a very extensive land owner. The mother 
of our subject was Caroline A. (Curtis) Otis. Both parents were Quakers and 
natives of the state of New York, and of English descent. Arthur G. commenced 
his education in the public schools, and then fitted for college. He entered the 
Michigan University in the literary department, and graduated from that institu- 
tion in 1871; studied law with Hon. D. Darwin Hughes, of Grand Rapids, Michi- 
gan, one of the ablest lawyers of that state; removed to Chicago in 1875 and 
entered at once into a successful practice of the law. Mr. Otis is a well read 
lawyer, a dilligent student, and an expert in office business. He is especially 
efficient in all branches of real estate matters, and is a safe and reliable legal 
counselor. He is a fluent speaker and a good trial lawyer. He is a gentleman 
of strict integrity and has the respect of all who know him. Courteous, cultured 
and refined, he is at the same time a social, genial companion, and has a large 
circle of friends. 



FRANKLIN P. SIMONS. 

THE circumstances under which a man is born and reared, do not to any 
great extent, shape the man's future. After all that may be done or left 
undone, the man must, essentially, formulate and give shape to his character. 
Ability or education derived from experience cannot be purchased with, or bar- 
tered for, money. What a man becomes, is but the outcome of his inborn princi- 
ples, an evolution of himself by himself. To form an estimate of a man, it is 
necessary to know what he has accomplished, and how he has accomplished it. 
Franklin P. Simons, the subject of this biography, was born in New York city, 
September 18, 1853. He was left motherless at the age of two years, and an 
orphan at the age of seven years, and at this early age was left to depend upon 
his own resources to make his way in the world. His parents were Americans. 



THE BENCH AJVD BAR Of CHICAGO. 22g 

His mother's maiden name was Henrietta Height, of an old family in the East ; 
his father was Nelson P. Simons, at one time cashier of the Mercantile Bank in 
New York, who will be remembered by the older settlers in Chicago, as the one 
who opened and managed the first amphitheater in Chicago, which was located 
on or near the site of the court house, and was also engaged in other enterprises 
there. He lost his health and property, and died of cholera in 1860, and his 
remains were taken to New York, in sole charge of Franklin, who arrived there 
fatherless, motherless and penniless. He was a courageous boy, and faced the 
situation with bravery, resolution and fortitude, and earned his living by doing 
whatever his willing heart and hands could find to do, selling papers, blacking 
boots, or anything honorable, and attending school when opportunity offered. 
When sixteen years of age, he went to Aurora, Cayuga county, New York, the 
home of those generous and beneficent men, E. B. Morgan and Henry Wells, the 
latter the founder of Wells, Fargo and Company's Express, and of Wells Female 
College, located there. These men, discovering his worth, took him by the hand 
kindly, and encouraged and aided him in getting an education, and pursuing 
whatever profession or vocation he might choose to follow in life. At the age of 
eighteen, he commenced the study of law, and continued it there for two years, 
as he could get time from other duties. In May, 1872, he removed to Chicago, 
completed his law studies, and was admitted to the bar in 1874, and commenced 
his career as a lawyer, without a law book, a client, or a dollar in money, and 
eight dollars in debt for the desk on which he wrote. Commencing the practice 
of law in this great city, in the midst of a sea of matured legal knowledge, and 
among much older and experienced men, with the expectation of success, would 
be to many young men a discouraging and almost hopeless undertaking ; but to 
him it was not a new experience, and he commenced the struggle for success in 
his profession, the same as he commenced that for a livelihood when a boy of 
seven years of age, with high resolves and purposes, and the determination and 
courage to consummate them. He has succeeded well thus far, which fact pre- 
supposes the possession on his part, of native ability, tact, energy and persever- 
ance, which have enabled him to meet, and master every emergency. The world 
is too full of well directed intellectual energy to admit of the thought that one, 
no matter how naturally brilliant, can float into permanent success without 
effort, vigilance, patient industry and energetic effort to which the success of Mr. 
Simons so far is attributable. He has attained to a high standing at this bar, 
and ranks among the first of the younger members of the profession here. As a 
speaker and advocate on the forum or before a jury, he is fluent, graceful, elo- 
quent and effective. 

While he is a general practitioner, he has developed a particular ability in 
criminal practice. In the case of Gary, indicted for murder in 1878, Mr Simons 
(on the advice and recommendation of a distinguished criminal lawyer, who had 
been retained to defend, and at a late day was compelled to withdraw from the 
case) undertook the defense, though he had but a short time in which to prepare, 



330 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

and this, his first trial of the kind, with the press and popular prejudice against 
him, and succeeded in securing a light sentence for his client. He was compli- 
mented by a great number of the members of the bar of this city, for the skill, 
ingenuity and ability he evidenced in the conduct of the case. In the same year, 
he successfully defended Mark Gray, who attempted the assassination of Edwin 
Booth, in McVicker's Theater, and who was sent to the insane asylum, and has 
since been released. Other cases could be cited, in which he has been successful, 
when the best legal talent at this bar was opposed to him. He is a man of integ- 
rity, and faithful to the interests of his client, and is held in high regard by his 
friends. 

JACOB NEWMAN. 

MR NEWMAN, although a young man, has already won a high position in 
the profession. He is emphatically a self-made man; one of a large family 
of children, he was born in Germany, November 12, 1851. Four years later his 
family removed to this country, settling in Butler county, Ohio. Possessing a 
precocity of intellect, and a thirst for knowledge beyond his years, the quiet, 
uneventful life on the farm presented for him few opportunities, and fewer attrac- 
tions, and at the early age of nine years, we find him starting out for himself. 
Unaided by the advantages of wealth or its accessories, but with that native 
independence of spirit and indomitable perseverance which have always charac- 
terixed him, he went to Noblesville, Indiana, where he remained some seven years. 
In 1867 he removed to Washington, Pennsylvania, and during the same year he 
removed to Chicago, which has ever since been his home. 

By his personal industry and frugality he was enabled, at the age of eighteen, 
to enter the University of Chicago, where he pursued a thorough course of study, 
and graduated with honors in 1873. He then entered the law office of Hon. James 
R. Doolittle, and was admitted to the bar of Illinois in 1875. He was fortunate in 
escaping the term of probation which usually falls to the lot of young lawyers, 
by securing at once a partnership with Judge Graham, then of Chicago, and 
immediately commenced the active practice of his profession. 

The removal of Judge Graham in 1877, to a western city, left Mr. Newman 
alone in business, but with a good clientage, which he was able not only to 
retain, but to increase. He remained alone until 1881, when he became associated 
with Mr. Adolph Moses, under the firm name of Moses and Newman. 

Possessed of a clear, vigorous intellect, and a metaphysical turn of mind, one 
secret of Mr. Newman's success as a lawyer, is a familiarity with the principles 
and ground work of the law as a science, and quickness to discover the salient 
points of a case, and readiness in applying the principles governing them, as dis- 
tinguished from what is commonly called a case lawyer. 

Mr. Newman is a Jew in religious belief, and is actively connected with several 
educational and charitable societies of that faith. In politics he is a republi- 




HCCoopar Jr 4 Co 




Enn by EGWJl.atns 4 Sro N Y 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 23! 

can. Brilliant, sagacious, and of strictest integrity, he maintains the honor and 
dignity of his profession. He is sympathetic and warm-hearted, faithful as a 
friend, generous to a fault, and has attracted to himself a large circle of friends, 
who esteem him for his ability, manliness and genuine worth. 



GEORGE A. MEECH. 

^EORGE APPLETON MEECH, son of Appleton and Sibyl (Brewster) 
V_T Meech, was born in Norwich, Connecticut, January 19, 1824. His father 
was captain of a war vessel, a privateer, during the war of 1812 and 1814, and 
afterward had command of a vessel engaged in the East India trade; his grand- 
father was Jacob Meech, a captain in the revolutionary war, a prisoner at one 
period, and afterward wounded in the battle of White Plains. His mother was a 
descendant of Rev. Wm. Brewster, of the Mayflower. 

Our subject is a graduate of Yale College, class '43; he taught one year at 
Norwich, Connecticut, after receiving the degree of A.B., reading law at the same 
time with Hon. Lafayette S. Foster, who was afterward president of the United 
States senate. He went to the South and taught two or three years, where he 
also read law with Mr. Manning, of Demopolis, Marengo county, Alabama, and 
then returned to New England. He finished his legal studies with Hubbard and 
Watts, and Hon. Robt. Rantoul, of Boston, and was admitted to practice in his 
native state in 1848. The next year he was appointed justice of the peace, and in 
1853 was elected judge of the probate court in the Norwich district, Connecti- 
cut, and in the autumn of the same year resigned that office and removed to the 
West, hoping thereby to improve his wife's health. He settled in Chicago, and 
soon had a good practice, finding here a wide field for the exercise of his legal tal- 
ents, and the exhibition of his excellent drill received at the East. In 1862 he 
was elected city attorney, the duties of which office he discharged with ability and 
to the satisfaction of the public. The next two years he served as city assessor of 
the south side, doing his work with the utmost faithfulness. From 1864 to 1875 
he gave his whole time to his profession, and had a very lucrative practice. For a 
long time he managed the celebrated Commodore Bigelow estate, a very import- 
ant trust, in which he displayed great ability and the highest degree of integrity. 

In the spring of 1875 Mr. Meech was selected by the judges as one of the jus- 
tices of the south side, and ,at the nomination of justices in the spring of 1879, he 
presented a monster petition for the consideration of the appointing powers. It 
was signed by all the bankers and business men, and embodied the signatures of 
every bank president in Chicago. The petition of the bankers was as follows: 

"The undersigned bankers of this city respectfully request of your honorable 
body the nomination of George A. Meech for reappointment to the office of justice 
of the peace of Cook county, for the public known reasons, that he has for four 
years filled that office with intelligence, and the dignity becoming a court of 
justice." 



232 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Similar petitions were presented by the underwriters and other business men. 

Mr. Meech received the unanimous vote of the judges. His office is located 
at 151 South Clark street, and is a model one in every respect. It is free from that 
class of vagrants who are usually found around a justice office, and in every 
respect presents a quiet and dignified appearance, being as orderly as the highest 
courts of the city. Mr. Meech is too neat in his tastes, too refined in his manners, 
too polished in mind to run a slip shod police court. As a lawyer he is well read 
and clear headed, and is a judge thorough in his investigations of the law, care- 
ful and deliberate in his opinions and honest in his decisions. 

Says a Chicago journalist: " As a citizen he is loyal and true, and has been espe- 
cially faithful to the community in which he lives. As a man he possesses most 
admirable qualities, warm and sympathetic in his friendships, courteous, affable, 
social and genial, he possesses that plain style and matter-of-fact directness of 
purpose, and that modest and unobtrusive manner, to be expected in one who, 
like himself, has an utter contempt for all shams and mere pretense." 

Mr. Meech is classed among the democrats, and during the civil war was pro- 
nounced as a war democrat; is a Royal Arch Mason and Knight Templar, a mem- 
ber of the Apollo Commandery, No. i, and in religious belief is an Episcopalian. 

He is a polished and high toned gentleman. Mr. Meech has a third wife; he 
first married in 1850 a daughter of Rev. Daniel Dorchester, of Norwich, Connec- 
ticut, who died in 1859. In 1861 he married a daughter of Hon. Milo Hunt, of 
Chenango county, New York, she dying in 1878, and in 1880 he married a daugh- 
ter of Capt. William Story, of Norwich, Connecticut, by whom he has his only 
living child, a son. 

The highest compliment that can be paid to Mr. Meech is the hearty endorse- 
ment which he has received at the hands of the bench, and by our better class of 
citizens generally. He has won and retains the esteem and confidence of the 
community, by his rectitude of purpose, and the faithfulness and honesty with 
which he has performed his duties as a public functionary. 



GEN. HAMILTON N. ELDRIDGE. 

A MONG the lawyers in Chicago who attained an honorable and noteworthy 
t\- prominence was Gen. Hamilton N. Eldridge. He was born in South Wil- 
liamstown, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and at the time of his death, which 
occurred November 27, 1882, was fifty-one years of age. He was the oldest 
son of Col. Reuben Eldridge, who was colonel of a regiment in the Mexican 
war, a man of generous instinct and beneficent character, and well known in that 
part of Massachnsetts. Hamilton fitted for college in East Hampton, Massa- 
chusetts, and entered Williams College in 1852, and graduated four years later, 
taking the first prize of his class for elocution, same class with the late President 
Garfield. He studied law with his cousins, the late Judge Ira Harris, and his 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 233 

brother Hamilton Harris, in Albany, New York, and graduated at the law school 
in the same place in 1857, and removed to Chicago the same year; was for a time 
in the office of Baker and Hyatt, after which he began practice for himself. In 
1858 he formed a partnership with.F. W. Tourtellotte, under the style of Eldridge 
and Tourtellotte, which continued until his death. 

In 1862 he entered the service as lieutenant-colonel of the izyth regiment 111. 
Inf., and during the same year was promoted to the rank of colonel. At the bat- 
tle of Arkansas Post he and his regiment were first inside the confederate works, 
and at the battle before Vicksburg in 1863 he distinguished himself by a valorous 
and brave act, for which he was made brigadier-general; after all the color-guard 
had been shot down he took the colors in his own hands and gallantly bore them 
himself, and led his regiment over the fortifications of the enemy. After his 
retirement from the army, he devoted himself closely to his profession, and was 
engaged in some of the most important and noteworthy cases before the higher 
courts in the West. He was a man of indefatigable industry, faithful to the inter- 
ests of his clients, and successful in his practice. He was of medium height, erect 
in stature, courteous and affable in manner, an effective and eloquent speaker, 
and a gentleman esteemed by all who knew him. 



EUGENE B. PAYNE. 

THE subject of this sketch was born April 15, 1835, in the village of Seneca 
Falls, New York. In the spring of 1837 his father and mother moved to 
Lake county, Illinois, and settled on a farm, where they now reside (1883). The 
paternal grandfather of our subject, Elisha Payne, moved from the state of Con- 
necticut to Hamilton, New York, which place he founded, and filled various 
offices during his life, among them being that of circuit judge. The wife of 
Elisha Payne, and the grandmother of Eugene, was Esther Douglas, a lineal 
descendant of the Douglases of Scotland, her eldest son now living being Thomas 
H. Payne, of Lake county, Illinois, the father of Eugene, and the second being 
Hon. Henry B. Payne, of Cleveland, Ohio, who was a member of the electoral 
commission of 1876. Young Payne was raised upon his father's farm in Lake 
county, receiving a good common school and academic education. At the age of 
twenty he commenced teaching school through the winters and reading law 
during the summer months. In the spring of 1859 he entered the law depart- 
ment of the University of Chicago, and graduated therefrom in July, 1860, and 
was admitted to practice at the same time by the supreme court of Illinois. 

In October, 1860, he hung out his sign at Waukegan, Lake county, Illinois, 
and practiced law until the firing upon Fort Sumter, when, his patriotism being 
aroused, he speedily raised a company of no men and started for Springfield, 
April 16, 1861, where he reported and was assigned to duty. After the three 
months' term he reenlisted his company as Co. C, in the historic 37th regiment 



234 T!fE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

111. Vol. Inf., or Board of Trade Rifles, as they were called, for three years or 
during the war. In the 37th regiment Capt. Payne was soon commissioned 
major, then lieutenant-colonel commanding regiment, and was afterward bre- 
vetted by the secretary of war as full colonel, and then brigadier-general, for 
brave and meritorious services at the battles of Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove, Vicks- 
burg and others. His health giving way, he resigned and came home in 
October, 1864, and the day after his arrival was nominated by the republican 
convention of Lake county for representative in the Illinois general assembly, 
and was elected by the largest majority ever received by any representative from 
Lake county. He served with such fidelity and zeal during the regular and 
special sessions of 1865-6 that he was reelected in 1867, and served until 1869. 
During the sessions of the assembly of 1867 and 1868 Col. Payne was chairman 
of the important committee on finance, and was recognized as a leader in the 
house. Finding that politics seriously interfered with his law practice, Col. 
Payne declined all proffers of political honors, and in 1868 resumed the practice 
of law in Chicago. He removed to South Evanston, his present home, in 1874. 
He is now, and has been since 1874, the attorney for the corporation of the 
village of South Evanston. 



JOSEPH O. GLOVER. 

AMONG the distinguished lawyers who were early at the Illinois bar, few have 
been more closely identified with its system of jurisprudence, or contributed 
more to determine the character and present position of the state than Joseph O. 
Glover. A man of strong intellect, with a nice sense of right and justice, and 
with characteristic virtues in professional and private life, whatever he did was 
strongly affected by these qualities. 

Mr. Glover was born in Cayuga county, New York, April 13, 1810. His father 
was Hon. James Glover, of New York, for many years judge of the Chenango 
county court of that state, and was appointed by Gov. DeWitt Clinton as one of 
the three commissioners who located and had charge of the construction of the 
Auburn penitentiary. Hon. George Rathbun, of Auburn, who was member of 
congress from the Cayuga district for several terms, was a brother-in-law of our 
subject. 

Mr. Glover was educated at the high school in Aurora, New York, and after- 
ward studied law fora short time with his brother, Justus S. Glover, a prominent 
lawyer in Penn Yan. Mr. Glover came west in 1835, without having decided 
upon the law as his profession, but having been obliged, on account of the illness 
of his father's attorney, to attend personally to a case in the land office at Ga- 
lena, involving a part of his father's estate, met with such success that he was 
immediately employed by strangers, in two similar cases. Thus he seems to 
have been led to take up the study and practice of law, and was afterward 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 237 

admitted to the bar, having completed the necessary period of study in the office 
of T. Lyle Dickey, now of the supreme bench of Illinois. He soon formed a 
partnership with Hon. B. C. Cook, which lasted over thirty years, with no other 
change than the admission of Geo. C. Campbell as a partner. 

This firm was for many years one of the leading law firms of northern Illinois, 
as is attested by the reports of the state, and it was only dissolved after Mr. 
Glover had been appointed United States attorney for the northern district of 
Illinois, Mr. Cook general solicitor of the Chicago and North Western Railway 
Company, and Mr. Campbell general solicitor of the Chicago, Rock Island and 
Pacific Railroad Company. 

Mr. Glover was evidently born to be a lawyer, and the accident which deter- 
mined his professsion was a happy one. He possesses great sagacity, is a keen 
observer and correct judge of human nature and human motives, and has seldom 
been deceived in his estimate of men; he has a thorough knowledge of the fun- 
damental principles and rules of law, and great familiarity with the principal text 
writers in the different departments. His main reliance, when authorities were 
needed, was on principles, rather than on adjudged cases, trusting to himself to 
apply the rule and its reason to the case in hand. 

While a man of strong convictions, tenacious and hard to be convinced that 
he is wrong, when once he has carefully concluded he is right, he is of a most 
genial disposition, and has, to an uncommon degree, the faculty of being not only 
upon speaking, but friendly terms with almost every one he meets; scarcely any 
one looks upon him as a mere acquaintance. His qualities were such that he 
naturally devoted himself more to litigation upon the law rather than the chan- 
cery side of the courts, and was always found to be a formidable antagonist, on 
account of the shrewdness of his examination of witnesses, his aptitude in illus- 
tration, and his faculty of avoiding any antagonism with the sympathies and 
modes of thought of those he is addressing. 

Mr. Glover married in 1837 Jeannette Hart, whose sister afterward became the 
wife of his partner, Mr. Cook, their father being Judge Orris Hart, of Oswego, 
New York, a member of the convention which framed the constitution of that 
state, and also one of the first superintendents of the Erie canal. Their children 
were three, Julia, the wife of Geo. C. Campbell, one of the leading members of 
the Chicago bar; Henry T., a member of the Chicago bar, and Otis R., a broker 
in New York city. 

In politics Mr. Glover was formerly a democrat, and was the associate of 
Stephen A. Douglas and other leading statesmen in the West. But when that 
party repealed the Missouri compromise and seemed to favor the introduction of 
slavery into the territories, he joined with others in forming the republican party, 
of which he has ever since been an earnest and active member. Few men have 
made more republican speeches in Illinois, and during the war his eloquence was 
heard throughout the state, rallying men to the support of the flag and the main- 
tenance of the Union. To him and his contemporaries belongs the credit of 
25 



238 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

shaping public sentiment before and during the war, thereby being greatly instru- 
mental in its happy termination. 

Mr. Glover, though an ardent politician when there was work to do, has never 
been an office seeker, but he has held several offices. He was a member of the 
legislature at an early day, and exerted a strong influence in determining the 
character of the state. Although the city of Ottawa, where he resided the greater 
portion of his professional life, was strongly democratic, he was elected its mayor 
by a very large majority. In 1868 Mr. Glover was a presidential elector. He was 
appointed United States attorney for the northern district of Illinois, by Presi- 
dent Grant, and reappointed at the end of the term. Since he has retired from 
active practice of law, he has been a canal commissioner of the state, now hold- 
ing the position, under a reappointment, for a second term, and during the whole 
period acting as president of the board. A prominent feature of Mr. Glover's 
character is his unwavering and never questioned integrity in every relation in life. 
This character well established caused him to be often selected for positions of 
special confidence, of which many wills and instruments of trust bear testimony, 
and gave him a completeness as a lawyer, which, wanting this, the brightest gifts 
would have failed to confer. 



JOHN W. BYAM. 

ONE of the most promising lawyers at the Chicago bar is John W. Byam. 
He is a gentleman of great versatility of talents, and extraordinary energy. 
He is very adroit in the trial and management of his cases, and has a power and 
quickness of repartee, and an ability to adapt himself to emergencies, that are 
singularly effective in his clients' interests, and destructive of the plans of oppos- 
ing counsel. Whenever he presents a case to the court, he is prepared with the 
authorities which support the legal proposition involved, and in this particular 
is always clear and complete in his preparation. As an advocate, he has much 
ability. He is always sincere, and as a public speaker, is ready, fluent and logical, 
and can tell an apt story with incomparable mimic effect. As he is yet a compar- 
atively young man, he has before him a future of great promise. In appearance 
he is of medium height, of stout build, with a light, clear complexion, with keen, 
blue eyes, and full, heavy beard. 

He is profuse in his illustrations, possesses a fine fund of anecdote and humor, 
and being a good conversationalist, is a most intelligent and enjoyable social 
companion. Our subject was born in the village of Warsaw, Wyoming county, 
New York, September 10, 1837, and is the son of Israel and Eudoxia (Smith) 
Byam. He was educated at Genesee College, Lima, New York, and studied law 
with George Davis, then of Geneseo, Livingston county, New York. He then 
entered the Albany Law School, and graduated therefrom in 1865, and was 
admitted to the New York bar the same year. He at once entered upon a suc- 
cessful career as a lawyer, at Livonia. New York. His talents were immediately 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 239 

recognized; his ability as an advocate soon gained for him a wide reputation, and 
his practice extended into the adjoining county of Ontario, and he was consid- 
ered one of the ablest and most learned lawyers in that part of the state. He 
served two terms as school commissioner of Livingston county, New York. 

In his practice his labors were so excessive, owing to the great amount of 
travel in attending the different courts, that he was finally persuaded by friends 
living in Chicago, to remove thither, where he has been engaged in quite an 
extensive practice, considering the time he has resided there, having moved to 
Chicago, in May, 1882. He was married November 26, 1862, to Miss Maria 
Horsford, an estimable lady, and the daughter of Hon. Jerediah Horsford, former 
member of congress from New York, and father of Prof. Horsford, of Cambridge. 



SEARS AND FOSTER. 

THIS firm is composed of two young men who give promise of rising to a 
prominent position at the Chicago bar. Nathaniel C. Sears is a graduate of 
Amherst College, of the class of 1875, and is now twenty-eight years of age, 
having been born at Gallipolis, Ohio, August 23, 1854. In 1875 he went to 
Europe and studied Roman and international law in the universities of Heidel- 
berg and Berlin. He returned to America in 1877, and going to Chicago entered 
as a student in the office of W. H. King, and was admitted to the bar in 1878. 

Henry A. Foster, the junior member of the firm, was born in Winona, Minne- 
sota, and is a grandson of Henry A. Foster, of Rome, New York, who is an old 
and very noted lawyer, and was at one time judge of the court of appeals of New 
York state. Mr. Foster was educated principally, in Canada, at the University of 
Toronto; leaving there in 1876, he settled in Chicago, and for a time was 
employed in the county treasurer's office. He was admitted to the bar in 1879, 
having studied law in the offices of Gardner and Schuyler, and of John M. Round- 
tree. He held the office of minute clerk of the probate court for some time, and 
consequently has a very large probate practice. The above partnership was 
formed in Mav 1881. 



FRANCIS W. S. BRAWLEY. 

THE subject of this biography, a native of Erie county, Pennsylvania, was 
born February 12, 1825, the son of John Brawley and Mary (Saltsman) 
Brawley. His father was for many years assistant judge of the court of common 
pleas, of Erie county, Pennsylvania. After acquiring an academical education, 
he commenced the study of law at Erie, with Hon. John Galbraith. In 1845, 
although he had not reached his majority, he was prepared for admission to the 
bar, and he thereupon removed to Chicago, where he remained two years; at the 
expiration of which time he removed to Freeport, Illinois, and returned to Chi- 



240 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

cago in 1869. He engaged for a time in teaching school, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1847. He took a prominent position in the profession, and for years 
was attorney for different railroad and insurance companies. 

During his practice he was associated with Hon. Martin P. Sweet, Hon. 
Thomas J. Turner and Hon. J. M. Bailey, all leading jurists in the Northwest, the 
last named being now a judge of the appellate court of Illinois. In early life, he 
was a staunch democrat, of the Stephen A. Douglas school, and enjoyed the per- 
sonal friendship and confidence of Senator Douglas. For a year or more, he 
edited the Freeport "Bulletin." He was twice elected county superintendent of 
schools for Stephenson county, and was for a long time a member of the board 
of education of Freeport, and prepared the special charter under which the pub- 
lic schools of Freeport are conducted. He was city attorney of Freeport, and 
postmaster from 1852 to 1858. He is a Knight Templar in Masonry, and a 
member of the Protestant Episcopal church. He was married in 1850 to Mary 
Reitzell, daughter of Philip Reitzell, of Stephenson county, Illinois. 



JUDGE CHARLES B. WAITE. 

/~*HARLES B. WAITE was born in Wayne county, New York, in the year 
V_x 1824. His father was Daniel D. Waite, an eminent physician. His mother 
was Lucy Clapp, daughter of Israel Clapp, one of the first settlers of Cayuga 
county. About the year 1825, Dr. Waite removed with his family to Cayuga 
county, where the subject of this sketch spent his boyhood and early youth. He 
was much of his time in school until twelve years of age, after which his educa- 
tional advantages were limited, the large family of his father making it necessary 
to devote to hard labor many of those years ordinarily devoted to educational 
pursuits. He early formed the habit of close application to study, which he has 
kept up during his whole subsequent life. 

In 1840 Dr. Waite, with his family, removed to Illinois, and settled near Chi- 
cago, a town, at that time, of only 4,500 inhabitants. He entered land adjoin- 
ing the present site of the village of Norwood, at government prices, which 
is now worth $1,000 per acre. Two years later he removed to St. Charles, 
Illinois, where he resided many years, highly respected by a large circle of 
acquaintances. He afterward resided in Chicago. At the age of nineteen young 
Waite studied Greek and Latin at Joliet, and commenced his law studies with 
William E. Little of that place. In 1844 he entered Knox College at Galesburg. 
Although he spent but one year in that institution, President Blanchard and the 
faculty, some ten years afterward, voluntarily conferred upon him the degree of 
A.M. In 1845 he went to Rock Island, where he continued his law studies, 
teaching classes and evening schools for support. 

In 1846 he published an anti-slavery newspaper. His mind had been early 
imbued with the principles of universal liberty and an intense hatred of American 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 24! 

slavery. His paper, the " Liberty Banner," was published at Rock Island. At 
that time there was but a handful of anti-slavery .voters in the whole county. 
The enterprise was a financial failure, but the spirit that prompted it remained, 
and was manifest in the many hard blows given during the memorable political 
struggles which followed. 

In 1847 Mr. Waite was admitted to the bar, and soon after entered into a prac- 
tice which was large and lucrative. Shortly afterward the law firm of Brackett 
and Waite was formed, which, with some interruptions, continued for more than 
twenty years. While in Rock Island, he acquired the reputation of being one of 
the most reliable real estate lawyers in the West. 

In 1848, though well known as a prominent anti-slavery man, he announced 
himself as an independent candidate for states attorney for that judicial district, 
composed of the counties of Rock Island, Henry, Lee, Ogle, Whiteside and Car- 
roll. To defeat him, the whig and democratic parties united. Even then Waite 
carried Henry county by a large majority, and Lee by a hundred votes. 

In 1853 he settled in Chicago, and in a short time was recognized as one of 
the most successful lawyers in the city. In the case of Taylor vs. Coffing, which 
had been argued by six or eight of the best lawyers of the state, Mr. Waite, hav- 
ing expressed a decided opinion that the supreme court had erred in deciding 
the case, was employed by Col. E. D. Taylor, of Chicago, to make an argument 
on the question involved. He spent nearly a month in the Law Institute library 
preparing his argument. A rehearing in the meantime having been granted by 
the supreme court, the case was again argued and a decision which had been 
twice rendered and published was proven to be erroneous. This was a result 
which has seldom been achieved. 

In the spring of 1854 he was married to Miss Catharine Van Valkenburg, of 
Iowa, a woman of great moral worth and superior mental attainments. For a 
time she was at Knox College, but graduated with honors at Oberlin, Ohio. 
Mrs. Waite is well known as a teacher and writer, and as a prominent advocate 
of the social reforms of the day. During her stay at Utah with her husband she 
wrote a work of great merit. It is often quoted by writers as being the only 
authentic history yet given to the public, of that strange people. As a friend 
she is invaluable; as a wife and mother she has few equals and no superiors. 

In 1862 Mr. Waite was appointed, by President Lincoln, associate justice of 
Utah territory. He was at that time thirty-eight years of age. He removed 
with his family to Salt Lake. Here his nobility of character soon made itself 
manifest. He could neither be coaxed nor intimidated. 

In the spring of 1863, he having prepared a bill for the purpose of enabling 
the federal judges to execute the laws, the Mormons took alarm, held a large and 
excited meeting, passed inflammatory resolutions and appointed a committee to 
wait upon the government judges requesting them to resign and leave the terri- 
tory. The answer of Judge Waite was characteristic. " To comply with your 
request," said he, " would be to admit either that I had done something wrong or 



242 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

that I was afraid to remain. I am not conscious of either guilt or fear. I can- 
not therefore accede to your request." This was during the civil war. Presi- 
dent Lincoln thought he could not support the judges by military force. Judge 
Waite, finding that the laws could not be enforced, resigned his position. During 
his stay in the territory every means was taken to intimidate him, and at one 
time his life was openly threatened. 

In 1863 he visited the mining regions of Idaho, which had been recently 
organized. The first political canvass of the territory occurred soon afterward 
in which Mr. Waite took an active part. His influence was felt and seen in the 
election of Wallace, the republican candidate, by a large majority. 

In 1864 he removed to Idaho City where he remained two years and a half. 
Here he had an extensive practice, and a portion of the time was district attor- 
ney of Boise county, where nearly all the business of the territory is transacted. 

He opposed and firmly resisted the vigilance committee which was organized 
in 1865-6. In doing so he ran the risk of personal violence, his life being fre- 
quently and openly threatened. 

Judge Waite returned to Chicago in 1866 and resumed the practice of his 
profession. 

In 1868 he was employed to go to Washington and make an argument before 
the committee of elections of the house of representatives in the Utah contested 
election case. His argument was a masterly one, being a thorough and able 
expos^ of the whole system of Mormonism in its relations to the people and to 
the government of the United States. 

About this time he became an advocate of woman suffrage, then compara- 
tively in its infancy in the Northwest. At Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit and other 
cities he made addresses on the subject, which commanded respect and turned 
people from ridicule to investigation. He also wrote for different journals and 
was recognized by the public as the ablest advocate of woman suffrage in the 
Northwest. 

The prominent feature in Judge Waite's character is his moral courage which 
has borne him onward through life until he has gained the respect of all who 
know him. He is a thorough, careful speaker, a good writer, modest in his 
deportment, warmly attached to his friends, and, all in all. a most valuable mem- 
ber of society. 

The winter of 1872-3 he spent in the Sandwich Islands. While there he 
studied carefully into the manners and customs and the social and political con- 
dition and history of the people. He also visited the great volcano on the island 
of Hawaii, accounts of which, with many other matters of interest, were pub- 
lished in the Chicago "Tribune." He hopes to spend much of the remainder of 
his life in travel and study, devoting his time to literature and philosophy, and 
paying particular attention to social and political science, to which subject he 
has already given much study and reflection. 

During the last five or six years he has spent much of his time in Washington, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 243 

D. C., engaged in making investigations of a literary character in the library of 
congress. One important result has been the publication of a work entitled "The 
History of the Christian Religion to the Year 200." The work was published 
in Chicago in January, 1881, and was very favorably received by the leading 
papers of the city, and by the press generally of this country, and has attracted 
much attention in Europe and other countries, and has received the highest com- 
mendations from European scholars. It is now in the third edition. Judge 
Waite is still engaged in investigations of a similar character the result of which 
he is publishing in the form of a quarterly entitled the " Record." 



JOHN GIBBONS. 

JOHN GIBBONS was born March 18, 1848, in Ireland. His parents were 
John and Cecelia (Carr) Gibbons. He immigrated to the United States in 
1866. He received his scholastic training at a private academy in Londonderry, 
at Broad Street Academy in Philadelphia, and Notre Dame University, Indiana. 
Thoughtful and apt as a pupil, he made good use of the keys of learning, which 
are all that the schools can give, and his alma mater at Notre Dame, in 1877, made 
him, by honorary degree, a master of arts. Reading law in the office of William 
H. Martin, of Philadelphia, he turned to the courts as the proper place to con- 
tinue and perfect himself in that study. He was admitted to the bar in 1870, and 
every hour that he has been a lawyer, he has been a student. He has been at 
once practitioner and pupil. The fact deserves recognition, as the method deserves 
praise. Seeing his capacity and his promise, his new legal friends at Keokuk, 
with that esprit i/e corps which makes the law the most magnanimous and admi- 
rable of professions, solicited and obtained for him, shortly after his coming to 
Keokuk, the appointment of assistant prosecuting attorney. He held the place 
until he resigned it, nearly five years later. From 1873 to 1876 he was also 
city attorney, kept in the place by the vote of both republicans and democrats. 
Some of the most noticeable and distinguishing work Mr. Gibbons ever did, was 
in this capacity. The city was a debtor, at once compromising and defendant. 
Many nice and intricate points under the law of contract and debt, complicated 
by intruding elements of federal law, were involved in or arose under these city 
cases, taxing alike the ingenuity of counsel, and the research of courts. Many 
of these points, at once practical and obscure, refined but germane, were enlight- 
ened by the originality, developed by the industry, and made cogent by the 
capacity of Mr. Gibbons. Elected to the legislature in 1876, as a member of the 
most brilliant, and probably the best, delegation Lee county ever had in the gen- 
eral assembly, he was put at a disadvantage at the outset by being, if not the 
youngest, the least known, and so at the start did not fare so well as his asso- 
ciates in the assignments to committee work. But the test of the work of a 
session showed the qualities of the man. Before the legislature adjourned, he 



244 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

was conceded to be the highest authority in the house, upon questions of consti- 
tutional law. The nourishment then given his influence by his ability, secured 
for him a year later the nomination of his party for the attorney generalship 
of the state. While in the legislature, Mr. Gibbons moved the following amend- 
ment to the state constitution: 

"That no public funds, moneys, or revenues whatever, shall be appropriated or used in the 
establishment, support, or maintenance of any school, seminary, college, or institutions of learn- 
ing or charity, unless the same shall have been established by the laws of the state of Iowa, and 
under its control; nor shall any institution established, supported and maintained at the public 
expense, be under the control of any religious denomination, nor shall sectarianism, atheism, or 
infidelity be ever taught therein." 

In January, 1880, Mr. Gibbons removed to Chicago, and has since that time 
practiced in that city. His practice is large and profitable, consisting mainly of 
corporation cases. Successful as a practitioner, it would yet seem a fair presump- 
tion that Mr. Gibbons' highest qualities and capabilities are judicial; that if he 
had opportunity he would win his highest possible distinction, and do his best 
work as a judge. 



JOHN I. BENNETT. 

JOHN I. BENNETT was born in Otsego county, New York, November 27, 
.' 1831. His father, Joseph Bennett, and his mother, whose maiden name was 
Lydia Birdsall, were both of Quaker parentage, and much of the time during the 
early life of the subject of this narrative was spent with his Quaker grandparents 
at Quaker Hill, in Delaware county, New York, a settlement which at that time 
consisted almost entirely of Quakers. His early impressions of life and society 
were received from the excellent people of this sect, and their teachings and prac- 
tice made a lasting impression upon him. 

At the age of twelve, he removed with his parents to Knox county, Illinois, 
where he resided for three years, when he returned with them to Davenport, Del- 
aware county, New York. Here, as before, he passed through all of the experi- 
ences incident to farm life ; performed labor of every character usual in carrying 
on the business of farming, including also the manufacture of lumber in a saw- 
mill, which his father owned and operated on his place. Here he was first made 
acquainted with Rev. Sanford I. Ferguson, then about to become principal of 
Charlotte Academy, now a Methodist minister in New York city. The boy was 
engaged in sawing the lumber for this academy, and Dr. Ferguson, on one of his 
business trips to the mill, having become attached to the boy, extracted a prom- 
ise from the father, that, when the academy was completed and opened, the sub- 
ject of this narration might become his pupil. 

And so it was that in 1849 he was transferred from the saw-mill to the acad- 
emy. His opportunities for education had been very limited up to that time, but 
no opportunities for improvement were lost from thenceforward. He rose rap- 




HCCccp.r Jr S Cn 




cX 




En; ^EG'Mlli.fH! S 3r N If 



THE BENCH AND BAR Of CHICAGO. 247 

idly and thoroughly through the earlier studies of the academic course, and 
within little more than a year from the time he entered the academy was chosen 
a teacher, and thereafter pursued his studies, and taught-at the same time. Here 
he continued until September 1851. In September, 1851, he entered the sopho- 
more class at Union College, and graduated from that college with the highest 
honors of his class in June 1854. 

The college was then at the height of its usefulness and reputation. The 
renowned Eliphalet Nott was its active president ; Drs. Hickok and Lewis and 
Jackson and Foster and Gillespie and Peissner were then there in the full vigor 
of their active, useful and eminent lives. The alumni of the Union were then 
warm to the heart of their alma mater. The year of his graduation was the semi- 
centennial of Dr. Nott's presidency of the college, and thousands of the alumni 
were at the commencement. During his three-year course, the record of the col- 
lege shows that Mr. Bennett pursued not less than three, and most of the time 
five or six studies, and that he did not fail to receive during all that time, except 
in one study during the first term, less than the maximum mark. He was 
awarded by the faculty the Latin salutatory at commencement, and chosen a 
member of the Phi Beta Kappa Fraternity. 

The money to defray his college expenses was borrowed upon his own note, 
though a minor, and paid out of his first earnings after graduation. From 
August, 1854, to July, 1857, he was principal of Liberty Academy, at Springfield, 
Tennessee. Here young men from nearly every southern state attended upon 
his teachings. Many of these to-day are actively engaged in the various profes- 
sions and callings through the southern states, and especially in Tennessee. In 
the summer of 1855, he married, at Henderson, Kentucky, Maria E. Reynolds, a 
companion of his early youth in Delaware county, New York. 

During his residence in Tennessee he purchased his own law boqks, and read 
the elementary treatise of the law. He closed his school in June, 1857 ; was 
admitted in the same month to the Tennessee bar, and removing to Galva, Henry 
county, Illinois, in July, 1857, was shortly after admitted to the Illinois bar, and 
practiced his profession at Galva, Illinois, until May 1872. He was admitted to 
practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, in January 1865. When the 
war of the rebellion broke out, he was appointed on Gov. Yates" staff, with the 
rank of colonel, and devoted much of his time, during the earlier years of the 
war, in recruiting men, and aiding the government, for which he never asked or 
received any compensation. In 1860 he was prostrated with typhoid fever. His 
life was despaired of by his friends, and his health was left permanently impaired, 
so that, although he desired to do so, he could not enter the service. 

In the campaign of 1864, he was chosen the republican elector for the fifth 
congressional district of Illinois, and stumped the district at his own expense. 
He was elected, receiving next to the highest number of votes of any of the 
republican electors. He was successful in his practice, took an interest in public 
matters, for two years supported and owned the Galva " Union," a newspaper of 
26 



248 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

his town, purchased, developed and operated coal mines at that place, was a can- 
didate for circuit judge against Hon. George W. Pleasant in a circuit composed 
of Henry and Rock Island counties, and carried his own county by over 1,000 
majority, but was defeated by a small majority by the vote of Rock Island city; was 
for many years a member of the board of education of the schools of that place. 

In May, 1872, he removed to Chicago, where he now resides. In 1878 he was 
elected a member of the board of trustees of the village of Hyde Park, of which 
board he was chosen president ; was reflected the succeeding year, and again 
was chosen president of the board. During these two years, the debt of the vil- 
lage was reduced over $250,000. He was also connected with the board of edu- 
cation in Hyde Park for several years. In 1879 he was appointed one of the 
masters in chancery of the United States, for the northern district of Illinois, 
which office he now holds. He is also in active practice of his profession, with 
his eldest son. 

The sturdy and successful attempts to secure an education, the boldness, the 
assurance, if you will, with which debt was incurred to insure that education, 
that is the sort of action that marks a heroic young manhood, and which is sure 
to bring forth fruit in achievement in the world. There is always ability in the 
boy who is determined, cost what it will, to get an education. It always pays to 
educate that boy. Of such stuff was Garfield made, and many, nay, every man 
who has gone to the front by his own exertions. This farm life, lying out beyond 
our cities, how it feeds the metropolis with its best blood. There is the rugged- 
ness of farm-life in this man. He meets obstacles and overcomes them as the 
ploughshare forces a furrow. 



ROSWELL B. BACON. 

AMONG the reputable lawyers of the Chicago bar is Roswell B. Bacon. He is 
a native of western New York, and was born near the village of Medina, 
Orleans county, September 28, 1838. He is the son of Allen Bacon, and Uianthia 
Bacon, both of whom were natives of Vermont, and good types of the early Ver- 
mont settlers. The father was a large and successful farmer, possessed of excel- 
lent judgment and sterling integrity, and whose advice and judgment were much 
sought by his friends and neighbors. He held numerous local positions of trust 
and honor, all of which he filled with credit and honor. He was of English 
descent. The mother was of Welsh descent, and before marriage was Miss Dian- 
thia Hulburd, and of an old Vermont family. Both parents were of the Puritan 
type in their religious and educational ideas. 

The subject of this sketch spent his early life upon the farm, and commenced 
his education at the common school. He subsequently prepared for college 
at Temple Hill Academy, at Geneseo, New York, and from there went to 
Williams College, where he graduated in 1862. After graduation he taught school 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 249 

for six or eight months. He then entered upon the study of the law, in the law 
office of Benedict and Martindale, in the city of Rochester, New York, and was 
admitted to the bar in that city in 1864. He removed to Chicago in the autumn 
of 1865, and from that time to May 1868 was connected in a clerical capacity with 
the well known firms of Gallup and Hitchcock, Gallup and Peabody, and Barker 
and Tuley. In May, 1868, he formed a partnership with Hon. C. M. Hawley, under 
the firm name of Hawley and Bacon, which after a year's duration was dissolved 
by the acceptance of Mr. Hawley of an appointment of United States district 
judge for the territory of Utah. Subsequently he formed a partnership with Jas. 
S. Norton, under the firm name of Bacon and Norton. This partnership was dis- 
solved in 1872. In May, 1873, he entered into partnership with his old college 
friend, Joseph E. Lockwood, under the firm name of Lockwood and Bacon. This 
firm lasted till 1875, when by the sickness and subsequent death of Mr. Lockwood 
it was dissolved. In the fall of 1875, he became a special partner with Hon. John 
V. Le Moyne, which connection lasted for about two years, since which time he 
has been alone, doing a general law business. His favorite branches of the law 
are those of real estate and chancery practice. 



CAPT. HENRY V. FREEMAN. 

A SCHOLARLY and polished member of the Chicago bar, is Henry V. Free- 
JT\. man. He is well read in the law, and continues to be a close student, 
in connection with the practice of his profession. As a good trial lawyer, a 
successful advocate, and a safe counselor, he has built up a good business by 
strict attention to his professional duties and fidelity to his clients. He has been 
engaged in important cases in which he has displayed marked ability, and won 
the confidence and respect of the courts. 

Mr. Freeman was born December 20, 1842, and is the son of Henry Freeman, 
who moved to Illinois in 1856, settling first in Freeport; thence in 1860 he re- 
moved to Rockford, where he now resides. The parents of Henry V. descended 
from some of the original settlers of Massachusetts. Edmund Freeman immi- 
grated from England in 1635, and settled in Plymouth Colony, and was afterward 
one of the founders of Sandwich, on Cape Cod. Two of our subject's ancestors 
have occupied seats on the bench of the court of common pleas in Massachusetts, 
one as far back as 1692. The latter was a son-in-law of Hon. Thomas Prince, 
governor of Plymouth colony for twenty years. 

The subject of this sketch prepared for college at Beloit, Wisconsin, and 
taught school in Illinois in 1859 and 1860. In August, 1862, he entered the 74th 
regiment 111. Vol. Inf. In 1863 he was promoted to the rank of captain. He was 
connected with the organization of the first regiment of colored troops in the 
Army of the Cumberland, and served on court-martial duty at one time for three 
months. He was also detailed as member of a board to examine officers for 



250 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

promotion in the regiments of colored troops. He took part in the battles of 
Stone River, Nashville, and others, in which that army was engaged, and was 
mustered out of service in July 1865. In September following he entered Yale 
College and graduated therefrom in 1869. He then settled in Chicago, and 
entered the law office of Rich and Noble, and afterward studied with King, Scott 
and Payson. After the great Chicago fire of 1871, he became principal of the high 
school at Charleston, Illinois, and taught there for one year. He then returned 
to his legal studies. He was admitted to the bar in 1870, but did not begin to 
practice independently until 1873, since which time he has been in continuous, 
active and successful practice. In 1878 Mr. Freeman was elected attorney of the 
village of Hyde Park. In political sentiments he is a republican, but does not 
take an active part in politics. 

He was married in 1873 to Miss Mary L. Curtis, daughter of Rev. W. S. Curtis, 
of Rockford, Illinois, who was for several years president of Knox College, at 
Galesburg, Illinois, and formerly a professor in Michigan University, and also in 
Hamilton College, New York. 



ROBERT S. CARROLL. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Massachusetts, and was born in New 
Bedford, November 20, 1845, and is the son of Robert and Meriban B. 
Carroll. The father died when his son was but twelve years of age. Robert S. 
was educated in the public and high schools, from which latter he graduated. 
The war of the rebellion then broke out, and, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted 
with Jones' Guard, under Capt. A. S. Cushman, in the Merchants' Guard, in the 
47th regiment Mass. Vols.. and was attached to Banks' expedition, and which was 
the only regiment left to guard the city of New Orleans during the fighting at 
Port Hudson, and other engagements in that vicinity during that season. He 
remained there eleven months, the expiration of his term of service; went up the 
Mississippi river and returned home. He then reenlisted in Co. E, 58th regiment 
Massachusetts veterans, and took part in the battles of the Wilderness, Spott- 
sylvania. Cold Harbor, Mine Run, the battles of June 17 and 18, before Peters- 
burgh, and the battle of the Crater, July 30, 1864, and at the explosion of the 
mine Mr. Carroll was taken prisoner and carried to Danville, Virginia, where he 
remained a prisoner of war, and endured the privations and suffering for the 
period of six months and twenty-one days, and was reduced from one hundred 
and sixty pounds, his weight when captured, to ninety pounds when paroled, 
February 22, 1865. He was sick and was sent to Parol Camp Hospital, Annap- 
olis, Maryland. He attended the grand review at Washington, and was mus- 
tered out in Massachusetts at the close of the war. Mr. Carroll entered the 
army a private, and was promoted from each of the non-commissioned offices suc- 
cessively to the office of first sergeant, which office he held at the close of the war. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 251 

He then went to Boston, and was appointed inspector in the Boston" custom-house, 
and also was appointed constable by the mayor of the city, and justice of the 
peace by the governor. 

He studied law, and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar, and at once 
entered upon a successful practice of the law in Boston, where he continued three 
years. He then removed to Chicago, where he has been in the successful prac- 
tice of the law ever since. Having devoted particular attention to mercantile law 
and the collection of accounts, he has, by prompt attention to matters entrusted 
to his care, acquired a good reputation. He has been engaged in several large 
cases, and has discharged the duties devolved upon him in a manner to gain the 
approbation of his clients and friends. 

November 20, 1879, Mr. Carroll was married to Miss Helene Erickson, an esti- 
mable lady of Chicago. 



FREDERICK S. MOFFETT. 

FREDERICK S. MOFFETT is the fourth of a family of five children, and 
is the son of Samuel Moffett, a blacksmith, and a native of New York, of 
Scotch descent. About 1840 he removed to Lucas, Ohio, and continued his business 
until his death, which occurred June 25, 1881. The mother of our subject was 
Rebecca (Switzer) Moffett, of Swiss parentage. She died in 1848. His paternal 
grandfather was of a large Scottish family, which left Scotland on account of 
religious persecution, a part going to England, others to Ireland, and the remain- 
der immigrating to America. 

Frederick S. is a native of Lucas, Ohio, and was born April 25, 1846. He 
attended the common school at Lucas, Ohio, until 1862. In his boyhood he had 
a desire to follow the footsteps of his father, and for a time worked in the shop. 
However, surrounding influences connected with his education changed his views 
in favor of a profession. After fully considering the matter, he decided in favor 
of the law. While at school he was a diligent scholar, and during vacations he 
clerked in the store of Ross, France and Company. In 1862 he left school, and 
in August of the same year, enlisted in Company B, izoth regiment 111. Vol. Inf. 
While in the army his career was adventuresome. Immediately after enlisting, 
his regiment was ordered south, and he took part in Sherman's expedition 
against Vicksburg in December 1862. He was at the capture of Arkansas Port, 
under Gen. McClernand in January 1863. In the following spring he partici- 
pated in the advances under Gen. U. S. Grant against Vicksburg, which resulted 
in the capture of that city, after which he was sent to the Department of the Gulf. 
During Bank's Red River campaign he was captured and held a prisoner until 
the close of the war, a period of nearly thirteen months. He then returned to 
Lexington, Ohio, and commenced the study of the law, which he afterward com- 
pleted at Mansfield, Ohio, and was admitted to the Ohio bar in July 1868. He 
immediately formed a partnership with Gen. Brinkerhoff. Having married that 



252 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

year, he found his wife's health so precarious that he was obliged to remove to 
Nashville, Tennessee, where she soon died, leaving one child. He was again 
married in 1871, to Miss Sue Mason, of Chicago, formerly of Mansfield, Ohio, 
whither he removed immediately after the great fire of that year. 

Although he was an entire stranger in Chicago, he soon gained friends, and 
by strict devotion to his profession he has built up quite a large practice. In 
politics, Mr. Moffett is a republican, but his devotion to his profession prevents 
him from taking any part in political matters except to vote. 



HENRY W. LEMAN. 

HENRY W. LEMAN was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, December 6, 
1851. His father was the captain of a vessel, engaged in the West Guinea 
trade. He was educated at various public and private schools in Massachusetts, 
and leaving school in 1868, entered a wholesale house, where he served for two 
years. In 1870 he removed to Chicago where, being wholly dependent upon his 
own resources, he maintained himself, and at the same time, began the study of 
law under Judge Knickerbocker. Soon afterward he was appointed a deputy 
clerk in the circuit court, which appointment he held until the fall of 1873. He 
then for a time studied in the office of Herbert and Quick, and afterward with 
Hoyne, Horton and Hoyne, and was admitted to the bar in September 1874. In 
January, 1875, he began practice. He was appointed trustee of the Sherman 
estate October 17, 1881, a trust estate consisting of the Sherman House hotel 
property, and to his able administration of the- affairs of that estate is due the 
fact that the heirs will now realize a large amount from it, instead of the whole 
estate going to pay mortgages. Mr. Leman is a lawyer of good abilities, and has 
already attained a success, which presages for him a first rank in his profession. 
He is a republican, and active in the affairs of his party. He was married in 1881. 



HON. CHARLES B. LAWRENCE. 

CHARLES B. LAWRENCE was born December 17, 1820, in Vergennes, Ver- 
V_x mont, now past sixty-two, nearly the span of life allotted by the prophet, 
but still comparatively hale and well; is one of those rare old New England gen- 
tlemen who seem to be preserved, and their existence continued, as a living and 
present example to the young man of what may be accomplished in a lifetime of 
industry and honest, conscientious and faithful work. He is not one of the many 
who have risen from obscurity into the full blaze of an ephemeral popularity, but 
has attained to eminence as a lawyer and jurist by a gradual but constant advance. 
His rise to position was not through detraction and malice, but his claims rested 
on his merit alone. Few have arrived at such honors with as few blemishes. So 




HC Caiipir Jr S C, 




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kyC CWillmm. i BrNV 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 253 

far as his public career is concerned every successive step has been wisely and 
happily taken, a career, which, as a whole, has been no less honorable to the indi- 
vidual than useful to those who come in contact with him. Throughout his life, 
his talents, his patriotism, his learning as a lawyer, and his clearness as a judge, 
have shone not dazingly, but with a steady and tranquil ray, that has survived the 
flash of cotemporary lights that blazed for a time to be quickly extinguished for 
all time. 

He was educated in Vermont; was in Middlebury College there, and subse- 
quently graduated at Union College in eastern New York, in 1841. His father 
was a merchant, a member of the Vermont state senate, held other important 
positions, and was much in public life. After Charles B. graduated he engaged 
in teaching in Alabama for two years; thence to St. Louis and read law in the 
office of Senator Geyer, one of the ablest members of the bar of that city, and was. 
soon after admitted to the bar. From there he moved to Quincy, Illinois, and 
commenced practice in the spring of 1845, soon attaining to a high position 
at the bar as an attorney, and gaining the esteem of the profession and the public, 
as any one will learn who visits and becomes acquainted with the people who 
then lived there; he will learn the depth and breadth of the regard in which he is 
held by his former neighbors. 

In 1856, on account of impaired health, he gave up practice and went to 
Europe, remaining two years, and returned much improved in health; bought and 
settled on a farm in Warren county, Illinois, and actively engaged in farming. 
Three years later the circuit judgeship of that district became vacant, and he 
was solicited to accept the nomination, which he did, and was elected to the 
place without opposition, which was a decisive expression of the confidence and 
regard of his neighbors, and their appreciation of his qualifications and fitness 
for the place. He remained on that bench until 1864, when he was elected to the 
bench of the supreme court of Illinois, and subsequently elected chief-justice of 
that court. On the bench his capacity was as conspicuous as his industry was 
untiring. The majesty of the civil law had in him as courageous a defender as it 
had able and clear exponent. As a judge he was the peer of any of the same 
grade in the Northwest. He has natural judicial ability, great legal learning ; 
purity of purpose and strict integrity, and maintained the purity of his ermine. 
His term expired in 1873, when he came to Chicago and engaged in practice, and 
has been here since, being the senior member of the able and widely known firm, 
Lawrence, Campbell and Lawrence, principally engaged in important railroad 
and corporation cases. He is regarded as one of the ablest counsels and advocates 
in this connection in the Northwest. 

Judge Lawrence is closely identified with and has ably illustrated the annals 
of the legal jurisprudence of this state at the bar and on the bench. His decisions 
and opinions will live as long as the jurisprudence of Illinois lives. He is clear 
and accurate in his investigations of important and intricate cases, and forcible 
in presenting them. He is one of the clearest, ablest and most thorough and reli- 



254 r//A " BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

able members of this bar. He possesses a comprehensive knowledge of law, a 
logical ability and great industry; has signalized himself by many notable suc- 
cesses in complicated and important litigation. His name has been suggested 
and urged for appointment to the bench of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, but he declines the honor. 

As a rule, in his social relations, he is rather reticent, never curt, and has that 
surest mark of one who is at once well-bred and kindly, his manners are the same 
to everyone; a model of benevolence, generosity, magnanimity and a worthy citi- 
zen, respected and honored by all; dignified but genial and agreeable, a gentle- 
man of the older type. His life work is written plainly in the chronicles of his 
time. 

SIDNEY THOMAS. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Calhoun county, Michigan. Born 
October 3, 1837, he is the oldest son of the late Rev. David Thomas, of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and a brother of Dr. H. F. Thomas, of Allegan, 
Michigan, state medical examiner for the Knights of Honor of the state of Michi- 
gan. His mother, whose maiden name was Mary Malissa Rhodes, was a native 
of Granville, Washington county, New York, and he is descended on both sides 
from New England stock. His father was for thirty years a member of the 
Michigan annual conference, and four of which a pioneer missionary to the Pot- 
tawatomie tribe of Indians in the Grand River valley. Young Thomas was 
subjected to the privations of a new country, and the disadvantages of an itin- 
erant life until his seventeenth year, when, having obtained a license as a school 
teacher, he entered upon a more regular course of study, teaching in the winter, 
and attending school in the spring and fall, first at Olivet, and then at Ann Arbor. 
In 1858 he commenced the study of law in the office of Brown and Greenough, at 
Marshall, and in 1859 joined the first class of the law department at Ann Arbor, 
after which he was admitted to the bar at Detroit upon examination before the 
supreme court. In 1860 he commenced the practice of law at Marshall, in his 
native county, and was soon after elected county judge, discharging the duties of 
the office to the satisfaction of both political parties. In 1864 he formed a part- 
nership with Wm. D. Adams, a young lawyer who had read law in his office, 
which continued until 1865, when, seeking a larger field of activity, Mr. Thomas 
removed to Chicago. Here he came, a stranger, and resumed business, where 
he has since remained, and by his own unaided efforts established a lucrative 
practice and acquired considerable property. Mr. Thomas has made no part 
of the law a specialty, and his cases ranging through the whole list of actions, 
are distributed among the various state and federal courts. By the great fire of 
1871 he lost everything, residence, furniture, office, library, save a few articles, and 
one law book which he buried in the yard. " When I opened my office on Harri- 
son street, after the fire," says he, " I had nothing but a bottle of ink, a copy of 
Stephens on Pleading, and a family on the streets looking for rooms to live in." 



THE BEh'Ca AtiD BAf OF CHICAGO. 257 

One of the first important suits be was retained in was the defense of die 
stockholders of the Kenosha County Bank, whom he successfully defended against 
an unjust claim of $50,000, being associated in the case with the late Hon. Matt. 
H. Carpenter. In the criminal cases in which he has been employed he has never 
been defeated. In the celebrated case of the People vs. Alrina McKee, where the 
defendant was charged with the murder of constable McElligott, the defense was 
intrusted to his care. Few cases in the annals of criminal jurisprudence have 
attracted more general attention. The defendant, a young- lady of rm4lmt char- 
acter, in a moment of desperation endeavored to protect the furniture of a single 
room from a landlord's seizure. The officer fell mortally wounded with the writ 
in his hand. The prosecution was urged on by the constables of the county, organ- 
ized for the purpose of conviction. Mr. Thomas not only secured her acquittal 
on the trial, but gained a professional triumph of scarcely less importance in recov- 
ering a verdict of $5,000 against the landlord in an action of trespass. 

Among the suits of general interest in which he is now engaged is the defense 
of Mary W. Blodget, who was expelled from the Old People's Home by the man- 
agers, in her eightieth year, and left in the streets without any provision for her 
welfare. This case involves the power of an eleemosynary corporation, as well 
as its duty, and is attracting very general attention. 

From the phrenological character of Mr. Thomas, given by Fowler and Wells 
at New York in 1864, we extract the following: 

You have a large brain, measuring twenty-three inches, and body enough to 
give it natural support. A man with as well balanced a bead-gear as yours ought 
to take a first-class rank in the world. You should study for one of the learned 
professions, and would succeed equally well in *ach. Yon are organized for a 
public speaker. Your moral organs are well developed. Yon incline toward 
elevating humanity to a higher standard. Your feelings lead you to the conclu- 
sion that the majority of the human race are worth saving, and that somehow 
God will arrange it to their advantage and happiness. Your hope leads yon to 
look on the favorable side of the future. Your firmness gives perseverence. Your 
self-esteem ought to be larger. You are genial, friendly, patriotic. You have 
force of character, and your destructiveness indicates executive ability, and when 
aroused you are like the express train, disposed to take the track and keep it. 
You care less for money than for knowledge. You like an intellectual life: moral 
labor. You believe that justice is the right thing, and are willing: to do as yon 
wish to be done by. and would never take the first advantage if treated fairly. 
Your spirituality leads you to admit of another life, and when your moral and 
religious faculties are awakened to activity it seems to you that the life that now 
is is only a vestibule to the life to come." 

Mr. Thomas has traveled extensively throughout the United States and 
Canada, visiting southern Tennessee and northern Al=*^"". in 1864. under a com- 
mission from Gov. Blair, just prior to the battle of Atlanta. In 1879 be went 
abroad, spending some time in Ireland and England, and reaching London in 
*J 



258 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

time to visit the historical courts of Westminster Hall, before their removal to the 
new law buildings on Chancery Lane. He also visited the principal places of 
interest on the continent, spending some two weeks in Paris. Mr. Thomas has 
always displayed a genius for literature, and his productions both in prose and 
verse have frequently appeared. His style is clear, rich and forcible, and in his 
best efforts rising to the height of the purest classical English, as may be wit- 
nessed in his address on the death of chief-justice Breese. He is also the author 
of a treatise entitled "Outlines of Practice in the Supreme Court." In 1872 he was 
a candidate for state attorney, for the liberal republicans, but was defeated in the 
joint convention by Hon. Thomas J. Turner, the democratic nominee. He was also 
a delegate from Illinois to the Cincinnati convention, which nominated Horace 
Greeley for president, and supported him on the stump by delivering some of the 
most powerful addresses of the campaign, which were published in full, in the 
Chicago " Tribune " at the time. 

In religious matters Mr. Thomas is most liberal, and the creed has not yet been 
written to which he can subscribe. With strong moral sentiments, with confi- 
dence in humanity, and with faith in the hereafter, he rejects dogmatic theology 
as useless and unwise. 

In 1860 he married Miss Alice Carrier, sister of Prof. O. M. Carrier, of Olivet Col- 
lege, and a daughter of a pioneer farmer of Calhoun county, Michigan. His family 
consists of his wife and two children, a son and daughter, and his mother who still 
lives to enjoy the fruit of his success. Mr. Thomas is physically of stout, well knit 
frame, though possessed of a native dignity which might be mistaken for aus- 
terity. He is genial and affable in conversation, warm in his friendships, and 
benevolent in character, often taking cases for the poor without hope of reward. 
He is a painstaking, thorough, conscientious lawyer, a logical and forcible advo- 
cate, a safe and cautious adviser, and devoted to his profession, and being in the 
prime of manhood he may look to the future for higher attainments in a useful 
and honorable calling in life. 



LOREN GREENE. 

T OREN GREENE is a native of New York, and is a son of Daniel Greene, a 
A j native of Massachusetts; by occupation a tanner and farmer, and a relative 
of Gen. Greene, of revolutionary fame. The grandfather of our subject, Henry 
Greene, a native of Rhode Island, was a soldier in the revolution, and of English 
descent. His mother was Elizabeth Haight, of Welsh and English descent, and 
a native of Poughkeepsie, New York. When Loren was two years old his parents 
removed to Akron, Erie county, New York, where he lived until nineteen years of 
age, attending common schools and Doolittle Institute, under Prof. Palmer. 
Later he pursued a collegiate course, and graduated in 1863. 

He studied law in the office of Bowen and Walker, in Batavia, New York, 
and was admitted to the bar of New York at Buffalo, November 23, 1865. He 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 



259 



at once entered upon a very successful practice of the law in Batavia, New 
York, by himself, and afterward formed a partnership with Hon. George Bowen, 
which continued until July i, 1881. He removed to Chicago on September 27 
following, and was admitted to the Illinois bar January 16, 1882, and to the 
United States circuit and district courts, northern district of Illinois, December 
1882, 12, and is engaged in a general civil practice. 

Mr. Greene is a republican, and formerly took an active part in political mat- 
ters. He attends the Episcopalian church. Mr. Greene is a lawyer of discrimi- 
nation in his practice, well read, able and successful; a gentleman of culture and 
refinement, and possesses urbane manners that win for him many friends. He 
belongs to the F.A.A.M. 

He was married July 6, 1863, to Miss Martha C. Ely, of Gainesville, Wyoming 
county, New York, an estimable lady, and has by her two children, Elizabeth B. 
and Willie E. 

STEPHEN S. GREGORY. 

QTEPHEN S. GREGORY is a native of Unadilla, New York; was born 
wj November 16, 1849, and is the son of J. C. Gregory, who came west in 1858, 
and settled in Madison, Wisconsin. He attended the public schools in Madison, 
and entered the University of Wisconsin in 1866, graduating in 1870. He then 
entered the law department of his alma mater, and graduated in law in 1871, and 
was admitted to the bar in Madison the same year. He began practice in Madi- 
son, remaining there until the summer of 1874, when he removed to Chicago, and 
formed a partnership with Mr. Chetlain, under name and style of Chetlain and 
Gregory, which lasted until 1879, when they joined and became merged into the 
firm of Tenney and Flower. He is now a member of the firm of Flower, Remy 
and Gregory, and has been very successful in the profession to which he has 
devoted his life. 

SAMUEL KERR. 

SAMUEL KERR was born in McHenry county, Illinois, in the year 1846. His 
father, Hon. Joseph Kerr, was a farmer there, and moved to Columbia county, 
Wisconsin, the same year Samuel was born, and there engaged in farming, 
and was active in securing railroad facilities for that part of Wisconsin; was 
vice-president of the old Milwaukee and La Crosse railroad; was member of the 
legislature, and held other prominent trusts. Samuel's grandfather ran for con- 
gress in the Chicago district against " Long " John Wentworth. Samuel attended 
the schools of his neighborhood during his youth and prepared for college, and 
graduated from Lombard University, at Galesburg, Illinois; read law there, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1870, when twenty-four years of age, and settling in 
Chicago, engaged in practice, and has been there since, most of the time alone, 
doing a successful business. 



260 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

He is modest and unpretentious, but has made an impression as to his ability 
and faithfulness as a lawyer; has been employed in many important cases in the 
higher courts. He is studious and industrious, and has gradually worked his 
way up to a position among the better class of the fraternity, and established 
himself in the confidence and respect of all with whom he has business relations 
at the bar and in the courts to an extent which requires the majority of men a 
much longer time to win. He carried to a successful termination the Bachelder 
will case, which is among the noted cases in the court records, and has been suc- 
cessful in many other intricate and important cases in the higher courts. He is a 
thoroughly reliable lawyer and an upright man. 



WILLIAM ARMSTRONG. 

WILLIAM ARMSTRONG was born near Vincennes, Indiana, January 17, 
1849, and is a son of John F. Armstrong. In 1868 he entered the State 
University at Bloomington, Indiana, and graduated both in arts and law in 1872, 
taking the two courses concurrently. He then entered the law office of Gen. 
Shackelford, at Evansville, Indiana, and began the study of law, and was admitted 
to the bar in 1872. He continued his studies in Gen. Shackelford's office until 1874, 
when he removed to Washington, Indiana, and then began practice, and remained 
until January i, 1881, when he removed to Chicago and opened an office on his 
own account. He was appointed in October, 1881, general solicitor of the Chi- 
cago and Eastern Illinois railroad, which office he now holds. Mr. Armstrong is 
a republican, and served four years on the state central committee of Indiana, 
and has always been very active in the interests of his party. 



HON. T. B. WAKEMAN. 

THADDEUS B. WAKEMAN was a lineal descendant of the well known 
Wakeman family of England, of whom Sir George Wakeman was a promi- 
nent member. The ancestry of the family had its origin in the Wakes of Somer- 
setshire, who were active participants in the War of the Roses, and who held great 
estates in the above named shire as a reward for their valor. Their ancient castle 
and hall, located at Clifton, Bristol's aristocratic suburb, the most distinguished 
ruins in the west of England, were consumed by fire in the autumn of 1882. That 
portion of the Wakeman family that came to this country (about 1764) settled in 
northwestern Connecticut. While many of their descendants have for a time fol- 
lowed agriculture, they have all eventually been engaged in professional pursuits. 
The subject of this sketch was born at Salisbury, Litchfield county, Connecticut, 
January 31, 1814. His death occurred at Chicago, July 13, 1880. His father, 
Seth, died in Salisbury; his mother, Sarah, died in Schuyler county, New York, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 26 1 

They were both Episcopalians. His brothers and sisters who lived to maturity 
were Alonzo, Edgar, Milner, George, William, Elmira and Mary. His early edu- 
cation was almost entirely gained under the tutelage of the late Bishop Janes, of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, previous to the latter's conversion to and enter- 
ing the ministry of that denomination. He began teaching school at Preble, 
Cortland county, New York, at the age of fifteen; continued this work until he 
was nearly twenty-five years of age; married Miss Hannah Bennett, of Preble, 
September 24, 1835; and having fitted himself for the practice of the law, in 1837 
he made the long, wearisome overland journey to the West, a journey accompa- 
nied by untold hardships. Mr. Wakeman lost one of his horses, and for over 
one hundred miles through northern Ohio harnessed himself beside the other, 
and assisted in dragging his wagon and household goods on the toilsome way. 
He halted for a few months at Valparaiso, Indiana, but finally settled near the 
site of the present city of Harvard, in McHenry county, Illinois, and there, as one 
of the pioneer farmers of the state, did heroic and generous work in helping the 
many other needy ones who came. His long cherished wish of entering upon the 
practice of the law was finally gratified in the following manner: Owing to some 
technicality in the law, by which it seemed probable he would be defrauded of a 
large land claim he had purchased, he resolved to try his own case, which he won 
despite the odds of having several skilled attorneys to oppose him. This was but 
one of many incidents illustrative to all who knew him of the clearness of insight 
and judgment, the keen discernment and the unvarying accuracy of his calcula- 
tions. A well known Illinois judge has said of him: " In his forty years' practice 
I don't believe he lost a half dozen cases. He was not a brilliant pleader. As a 
counselor he had no superior among the lawyers of Illinois." 

He was elected the first justice of the peace in McHenry county, and from the 
fact that he took a vow he would never buy another pair of boots or shoes until 
he had paid for his farms, which at one time covered several thousand acres, he 
became known everywhere in northern Illinois as " Squire Wakeman, the bare- 
footed justice." He was one of the most active, earnest and uncompromising 
abolitionists in northern Illinois, and gave substantial evidence of the faith that 
was in him by expending the greater part of his large fortune, both prior to and 
during the war, in the cause for which he had always so nobly labored. Mr. 
Wakeman had strong political affinities, but was more noted for helping others 
with the rare enthusiasm which distinguished him, than for securing his own pre- 
ferment. He was an ardent personal friend of both Yates and Lincoln, and was 
chiefly instrumental in securing the nomination of Hon. E. B. Washburne for the 
latter's first term in congress. He was a member of the Illinois state legislature 
two terms, in 1863 and 1867, and refused a third election. In 1868 he began the 
practice of law in Chicago, and his success was unsurpassed until the financial 
storm of 1873, which literally swept from him every vestige of his large proper- 
ties, and it is only proper to state that from this time until the date of his death 
the heart had gone out of his life and work altogether. 



262 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

His wife and five children, four, sons and one daughter, survive him. The 
daughter, Elmira, is the wife of Col. Elnathan S. Weeden, a well known attorney 
and capitalist. The sons are Rev. Alonzo Wakeman, a clergyman of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church; Edgar L. Wakeman, a well known journalist and littera- 
teur, for many years the northern representative of the Louisville " Courier- 
Journal;" B. T. Wakeman, an attorney, who succeeded to his father's practice; 
and the youngest son, Wilbur F. Wakeman, already somewhat known in journal- 
istic circles. 

HENRY K. GOODRICH. 

HENRY K. GOODRICH is a native of Rutland county, Vermont, and was 
born July 7, 1854; the son of Henry Butler Goodrich, who came to Illinois 
in 1856. Henry K. studied at Wheaton College, Illinois. Having early deter- 
mined to become a lawyer, he began his law studies December, 1878, with Perry 
A. Armstrong, of Morris, Illinois, and completed them, preparatory to examina- 
tion, in Chicago. He was admitted to the bar January 13, 1881, and has been 
in practice, with fair success, since that time. Mr. Goodrich is a young man of 
good abilities, enterprising and industrious, and by his own unaided efforts has 
overcome many obstacles, and prepared himself for the profession of his choice. 
Possessing independence of character, a clear, sound judgment, a good legal 
mind, and ability to apply himself to study and hard work, he may expect the 
realization of his highest hopes of professional standing and honor. 



HON. MELVILLE WESTON FULLER. 

MELVILLE W. FULLER was born February 1 1, 1833, in the city of Augusta, 
Maine; is from the best New England stock, the origin of which, in New 
England, dates back to the Mayflower. His parents were Frederick A. Fuller, 
son of Hon. Henry W. Fuller, of Augusta, and Catherine Martin, daughter of 
chief-justice Nathan Weston. His great-grandfathers, as well as his great-great- 
grandfathers, were distinguished citizens of that town. Melville W. fitted for 
college in Augusta, and graduated at Bowdoin, in the class of 1853, when he 
entered the office of his uncle, George Melville Weston, at Bangor, where he studied 
law, subsequently attending lectures in the law department of Harvard University, 
and commenced the practice of his profession in his native city in 1856, but devoted 
himself mainly to editorial duties on " The Age" newspaper, of which he was one of 
the editors. The followjrig year he was elected a member of the common council 
of Augusta, and was chosen its president, and to these duties were added those of 
city solicitor. In 1856 he resigned these official positions, and, seeking a wider 
field of action, removed to Chicago, and in this new field he at once attracted 
favorable attention, and soon acquired a lucrative business in his profession, and 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 263 

a reputation as an able and honorable lawyer. The larger part of the time he 
has been alone in business; the range of his practice has been very extended, and 
in all the departments of his profession he has proven himself proficient in the 
law. He has devoted his best energies to his profession, and in this field has won 
distinction as a faithful and reliable attorney and counselor, and ranks among 
the foremost at this bar. He has acquired a competency, and owns the block in 
which he has his office. From the time of his advent in Chicago he has held his 
own amid a sea of matured intellect and large experience, and proven the equal 
of the ablest and most successful. He has been connected with several cases 
which have attracted the attention of the general public in this and other 
countries; notably the case before the supreme court of Illinois, arising out of 
the prorogation of the legislature of Illinois by the late Gov. Richard Yates, 
which presented some most important questions of a political nature; also 
the defense of Rev. Charles Edward Cheney, who was tried before an Episcopal 
ecclesiastical tribunal for omitting words from the prayer book of the Episcopal 
church. He had in that as an opponent, the late distinguished Bishop White- 
house, himself a profound lawyer. The case was in litigation a long time, and at 
all stages of the trial, involving intricate questions, Mr. Fuller evidenced a pro- 
found research and knowledge of ecclesiastical law, rarely possessed by any 
lawyer, even a professional in that line of practice. His argument before the 
supreme court, when the trial terminated, was brilliant and able. 

He had a predilection for politics when young; not however, that he was 
ambitious for office, for he has persistently declined to allow the use of his name 
for any office, the performance of the duties of which would materially interfere 
with his professional and other business. He is a democrat of the Jeffersonian 
type, and unswervingly in favor of hard money, free trade and a strict construc- 
tion of the constitution of his country. His moderation, dignity of manner and 
high character invariably win the esteem of his political opponents who recognize 
in him an antagonist who fights fairly and in the open field. In 1861 he was 
elected a member of the constitutional convention in this state, and was among 
the foremost of its members and evidenced a thorough knowledge of constitu- 
tional law and conventions, and left the impress of his knowledge and views upon 
the instrument adopted by the convention. In 1862 he was elected to the legisla- 
ture, both elections in decided republican districts, and exhibited great skill in 
debate, and left his mark upon the legislation of that session. During the trying 
times of the rebellion he was a patriot, and vigorously supported measures for 
the suppression of what proved to be an inevitable war, to save the Union, and 
when peace had been restored he was equally earnest for the restoration of the 
Union. He has great influence in Illinois to-day, though his party is yet in the 
minority in the state. 

He was a delegate to the national democratic conventions of 1864, 1872, 1876 
and 1880. and grew to be one of the most conspicuous and influential members. 
He is an upright and reliable gentleman, an honest man; is esteemed by all who 



264 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICACO. 

know him for his many good qualities and high character as an individual and a 
citizen. He is a man of varied literary attainments of a high order, and learned 
in all departments of the law. His public speeches are characterized by elegance 
of diction, eloquence and clearly denned points. His address of welcome to 
Stephen A. Douglas in 1860, his eulogy in 1861, in commemoration of the death 
of his distinguished friend, and his address on Judge Breese before the State 
Bar Association in 1879, and other addresses may be pointed to as examples of 
brilliant and scholarly productions, and of eloquent and finished oratory. 

He has been twice married. In 1858 he married Calista O. Reynolds; and 
after her decease, and in 1866, Mary Ellen, daughter of the late distinguished 
financier and banker, Hon. Wm. F. Coolbaugh. 



OLIVER H. HORTON. 

C^ UCCESS in any walk of life is an indication of application, and more than in 
wj any other is success in the life of a professional man evidence of earnest 
endeavor, close application and faithfulness. In the hands of the lawyer are nec- 
essarily intrusted matters involving property, reputation and life, and upon his 
skill, patient and untiring toil and loyalty, the rich and poor, the strong and the 
helpless depend. The true lawyer counts it no honor that he can point to an 
unstained record, because the obligations of his profession are exacting, yet if he 
has through struggles, anxieties, temptations and labors, of which the outer world 
knows little, planted his feet upon the eminence of success in his profession, 
though he may take no credit to himself for doing his work as a man should, the 
world is better for his life. 

Among those who make no claim to honor, for having fulfilled the obligations 
of his profession, is the subject of this sketch. Oliver Harvey Horton was born 
in Cattaraugus county, New York, October 20, 1835. His father, Harvey W. 
Horton, a Baptist clergyman, was a native of Vermont. His mother, Mary H. 
(Choate) Horton, was a native of Connecticut, and a relative of Rufus Choate. 
Mr. Horton removed to Chicago in 1855, and was engaged in the lumber business 
for three years. He then went south for a time, returning in 1859. 

He began the study of law in 1860, in the office of Hovne, Miller and Lewis, 
and remained with this firm as student and clerk, until January 1864, when it was 
dissolved, and a new copartnership formed, under the name of Hoyne, Ayer and 
Horton, the partners being Hon. Thomas Hoyne, Benjamin F. Ayer and the sub- 
ject of this sketch. Mr. Horton was graduated in 1863, from the law school of 
the University of Chicago, then as now, presided over by Hon. Henry Booth, late 
judge of the circuit court of Cook county. He had, however, previously been 
admitted to the bar. 

In 1865 the firm of Hoyne, Ayer and Horton was dissolved, and the firm of 
Hoyne and Horton formed, and January i, 1867, it was changed to Hoyne, Hor- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 267 

ton and Hoyne, Thomas M. Hoyne having been admitted as a member. Since 
that date the firm has continued without change of name, and is now one of the 
oldest law firms in Chicago. 

Mr. Horton was for some time actively connected with the Young Men's 
Christian Association of Chicago. He held the office of vice-president for a num- 
ber of years, and was also chairman of the lecture committee. In religion he is a 
Methodist, and has been a trustee of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, of this 
city, for about fifteen years. He has held "every official position to which a lay- 
man is eligible in that church. In 1880 he was sent as a lay delegate to the Gen- 
eral Conference, which met in Cincinnati, and in 1881, was elected lay delegate 
to the Ecumenical Conference, which met in London, England. 

The compliment of such distinction, based as it is upon personal knowledge, 
is much greater than any political preferment, which is rarely obtained without 
solicitation. He is now an active trustee of the Northwestern University. In 
politics Mr. Horton is, and has always been, a republican, but has refused to be a 
candidate for office, though repeatedly requested to allow himself to be put for- 
ward politically. The events of Mr. Horton's eighteen years' labors at the bar, 
and his life, before and among the people, may be summed up in the word suc- 
cess, success as a lawyer, as a citizen and as a man. 



GEO. H. KETTELLE. 

GEO. H. KETTELLE is of French descent on the paternal side, his great- 
grandfather coming from Alsace, now a part of the German empire, and 
settling in Massachusetts before the outbreak of the colonies. The grandfather 
of George was born in Charlestow.n, in that state, and his father, Charles Kettelle, in 
Boston. The latter married Lucinda Dickinson, a native of Hadley, Massachu- 
setts, and a member of a very old family in that commonwealth. Her mother 
belonged to the Stockbridges of Massachusetts, and our subject strikingly resem- 
bles that family. 

A little less than fifty years ago Charles Kettelle emigrated to the West and 
settled in Peoria, Illinois, where George was born December 18, 1838. His father 
was county clerk and recorder of Peoria county, Illinois, for thirty years; lived 
on a farm in Woodford county until his death, March 14, 1882, and his mother is 
still alive. Mr. Kettelle was educated at the Hopkins Academy, Hadley, Massa- 
chusetts, where he fitted for college, designing to enter Amherst, but his plans 
were frustrated, and he spent several -years in his father's (county) office. At the 
same time he read law with Judge M. Williamson for preceptor, and was admitted 
to the bar in 1864, but he did not open an office until 1868, being induced to tem- 
porarily engage in mercantile pursuits. 

Mr. Kettelle commenced the practice of the legal profession at Metamora, the 
county seat of Woodford county, and six years afterward, in 1874, removed to 
28 



268 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Peoria, where he remained two years, holding the office of city attorney one 
term. In 1876 he settled in Chicago, where with his fine legal attainments he 
finds ample opportunity to display his talents. His practice is both civil and 
criminal, the latter largely predominating. Since practicing at the Chicago bar, 
Mr. Kettelle has been connected with many prominent criminal cases, including 
some forty in number, for murder, and in this branch of his practice especially, 
has met with marked success. An eminent jurist of Chicago thus writes in regard 
to him: 

" He is, in my opinion, a lawyer well grounded in the fundamental principles 
of law, ready and accurate in their application, and always frank and honest in 
his presentation of law questions to the court. He tries his case well, is courte- 
ous and gentlemanly in his manners to his opponent, and clear and pointed in his 
argument to the jury." 

Mr. Kettelle is a democrat of the independent stamp, and a Blue Lodge, Chap- 
ter and Commandery Mason. 

He married in February 1858, Miss Malina A. Keach, of Peoria, Illinois. 



EDSON J. HARKNESS. 

THE subject of this sketch is a lawyer of fine ability, who stands well in the 
community where he lives, and has the confidence of the courts before 
which he practices, and the good will of the members of the bar. Being a gentle- 
man of pleasing address and genuine worth, he has many friends. He is a native 
of New York, and was born in Ontario, Wayne county, August 31, 1843, and is the 
son of Southward Harkness and Harriet (Foot) Harkness. He commenced his edu- 
cation in the common schools and took a scientific and classical academic course, 
and was prepared to enter college when he entered the army, in 1862. He enlisted 
in the I38th New York Vol. Inf., which regiment was afterward transferred into 
the artillery branch of the service, and was designated and known as the gth New 
York Heavy Artillery. He remained in the regiment one year, and was then 
commissioned captain and assigned a command in the 6th United States colored 
troops, under Col. John W. Ames. He went up the James river in 1864 in the 
division commanded by Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, and participated in the succes- 
sion of battles that occurred there in 1864-5, ar| d was with Gen. Butler in his 
Fort Fisher expedition, and was afterward with Gen. Terry and participated in 
taking Fort Fisher and Wilmington, and went on to Goldsboro, North Carolina. 
He was at Raleigh, North Carolina, at the cjose of the war, and was mustered out 
of service at Wilmington, North Carolina, and thence returned home. 

He settled in Chicago in June, 1868, and entered the special assessment depart- 
ment of the board of public works, and has been in the employment of the city 
ever since that time. In 1873 he was placed in charge of the preparation of con- 
demnation gases, and in January, 1877, was admitted to the Illinois bar. Since 



THE BENCH AND BAR Of CHICAGO. 269 

that time he has had charge of the condemnation cases in court under the corpo- 
ration counsel. Mr. Harkness is careful in the preparation of his cases, and is 
a good trial lawyer and a safe counsel. He was married in January, 1870, to Miss 
Marianna Bates, of Rochester, New York. 



DUNCAN SHADE GOODING. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in Goderich, Canada, March 29, 1838, and 
is the son of William Fisher Gooding, a native of Canandaigua, New York, 
and Jane (Good) Gooding, a native of Ayrshire, Scotland. Mr. Gooding pursued 
a course in, and graduated from the grammar school of his native town, under the 
tuition and guidance of the worthy John Holdan, a noted educator. Having 
decided to fit himself for the legal profession, he entered upon the study of law 
with Ira Lewis, who is now Queen's counsel, and county crown attorney for the 
county of Huron, Canada; and was admitted to the bar of Upper Canada in 1860. 
Immediately thereafter he began the practice of the law, and continued doing a 
lucrative business in Canada until 1872, when he removed to Chicago. During 
his first year in Chicago he was associated in business with D. E. K. Stewart, at 
the end of which time he became connected with Shufeldt and Westover, and 
remained with them many years. He is not now connected with any firm. 

He was married June 17, 1859, to the youngest daughter of the late Capt. Wm. 
Wadell, who served under the Duke of Wellington, at the battle of Waterloo. 

In politics Mr. Gooding, though a democrat in principle, is independent in his 
views, and in no sense a partisan. He is a man of generous impulses, honorable 
and manly, and in all his relations and dealings with others, merits and receives 
their respect and esteem. 



FRANK OLNEY COOK. 

THIS subject is the son of Dr. John H. Cook, a native of Seneca county, New 
York, of English descent. His mother was Pamelia (Orth) Cook, of imme- 
diate German descent, but her ancestors belonged to the banished French 
Huguenots. She was born in the Catskill Mountains, in Sullivan county, New 
York. The parents of our subject removed to Ionia county, Michigan, in 
1855, Marshall, fifty miles distant, being then the nearest railway station. Dr. 
Cook's practice extended over a circuit of thirty miles or more, among the whites 
and Indians, and he was seldom at home. School privileges being extremely 
limited, Frank obtained the major part of his knowledge of the common English 
branches by private study at such odd times as he could get, and thus qualified 
himself to enter the Portland union school, a year and a half in advance, and 
was enabled to finish his course of study in that institution in one year's time, 



2 JO THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

which, with a total of thirteen months at district school, comprised his entire school 
days. He taught a district school four winters, but never considered himself a 
success, nor was he so regarded by the people in that line of business. 

At the age of sixteen years he united with the Christian church, in Sebewa, 
Ionia county, Michigan; and two years later was licensed to preach, by that 
denomination. He continued to preach, often to large congregations, and also 
lectured upon temperance extensively, in the state of Michigan, until after he 
was admitted to the bar. But his was a new denomination in a new county, 
whose inhabitants were mostly farmers of limited means. He was often obliged 
to resort to mannal labor, such as he could find in the vicinity of his preaching, 
to better support himself and to relieve his people from incurring heavy obliga- 
tions, and hence became an adept at numerous kinds of mechanical work. 

He entered into partnership with Mr. J. V. Mickle, of the "Grand River 
Herald," a republican newspaper published at Muir, Michigan, during the presi- 
dential campaign of 1876. It proved a disastrous enterprise. The block in which 
their office was situated caught fire, and the contents of their office were thrown 
into the street; the firm was then severely pressed by creditors, and the partner- 
ship was dissolved, and Mr. Cook, being unable to get any financial assistance 
from his partner, was compelled to assume and pay several thousand dollars 
partnership debts. 

He entered the office of Toan and Roof May 12, 1877, as a student, with only 
one suit of clothes to his back, twenty-five cents in his pocket, and in debt 
to the amount of $2,500, with no one to draw upon. He remained in that office 
doing small collections until the next spring, when he borrowed books to read; 
went home and assisted his father in clearing ten acres of timber land, and in the 
fall entered the office of Blanchard, Bell and Cagwin, of Ionia City, Ionia county, 
Michigan, as a student, and was admitted to the bar March 24, 1879. After 
remaining in that office a short time he opened an office for himself, in Blanchard, 
Isabella county, Michigan, when he at once established himself in a successful 
practice, making $160.00 during the first six weeks. Soon afterward the town 
was burned, by fire that raged in the pine woods. He then started for Chicago, 
with the expectation of finding a position as clerk, but being ill on his arrival, 
and unacquainted in the city, his money soon became exhausted. He commenced 
work as a carpenter, on Armour's elevator, at $2 per day, at which he continued 
through that summer, when he received an injury from a fall and was laid up, 
and again his money was exhausted, and he was compelled to pawn his watch. 
With courage undaunted, he opened a law office, and with the aid of what he 
earned in a printing office, working nights, he managed to meet his expenses by 
practicing great self-denial, until his business was sufficiently lucrative to sup- 
port him. He has continued in the business since that time until the present. 
He tried his first case in Chicago before Justice Cory, of the town of Lake, for 
nothing, and solicited the opportunity, and from that time his business has 
gradually increased, and he has already successfully conducted several important 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 2JI 

litigations committed to his care, and is rapidly taking a front rank among the 
members of the bar in this city. 

Mr. Cook is a very active man, fluent of speech, generous hearted, sociable and 
friendly. He is a hard worker, of good habits, and well disposed. 

He has been twice married. When he was twenty-one years old he married 
Miss Anna McEvers, who died six months and twenty-one days thereafter. His 
second marriage was January 3, 1880, to Miss Nellie M. Smith, daughter of Sid- 
ney M. Smith, of Sheridan, Michigan, a niece of Hon. Vernon Smith, judge of 
the eighth judicial district of Michigan. 



KIMBALL YOUNG. 

IMBALL YOUNG was born at Marshall, Illinois, January 27, 1853, and is 
the son of Timothy R. Young, an ex-member of congress and a prominent 
lawyer in central Illinois. He prepared for college at Dover, New Hampshire, 
and in this state, and entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1869, 
graduating in 1873. The succeeding two years Mr. Young spent in traveling, 
and in 1875 he began the study of law at Mattoon, Illinois, in the office of Charles 
Bennett, where he remained for a short time, and then removed to Chicago and 
entered the office of Gookins and Roberts. He remained with that firm for one 
year, during which time he attended the Union College of Law, and graduated 
in 1876, and was admitted to practice shortly thereafter. He was a clerk in the 
office of D. L. Shorey for a year, and in 1877 began the practice of law as a mem- 
ber of the firm of Jayne, DeWolf and Young, which partnership continued until 
1878, since which time he has been alone up to September r, 1882, when he 
formed his present connection with F. W. C. Hayes. Mr. Young is a democrat in 
politics, but takes no active part therein. 



GEORGE C. INGHAM. 

GEORGE COLLINS INGHAM is a native of Middletown, Butler county, 
Ohio; was born March 10, 1851, and is the son of Dr. Lyman E. Ingham 
and Susan M. (Hills) Ingham. His father, a graduate of the Western Reserve 
Medical College, of Ohio, was a physician of prominence. He died in July, 1855, 
at the age of thirty-three years, at Greenville, Ohio. He was a son of Thomas 
Harvey Ingham, a farmer by occupation, who still lives at Granville, Ohio, 
whither he removed in the early part of the present century from the state of New 
York. His father was a farmer, as was also his grandfather, who died a prisoner of 
war at New York city, on board an English prison-ship, during the revolutionary 
struggle. The mother of our subject is descended from an old New England 
family, and is a daughter of Reuben M. Hills, a merchant, who formerly resided 



372 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CfffCAGO. 

at Goshen, Connecticut, whence he removed to Virginia at an early age, and 
thence to Granville, Ohio, where the daughter became acquainted with him who 
afterward became her husband. To her training and example are in no small 
degree due the characteristic qualities of the son. She now resides at Covington, 
Indiana, the wife of Abraham Gish, a prominent banker, and one of the early 
settlers of that city. 

Soon after the death of his father, George, who was then little more than four 
years old, went with his mother to live with an uncle, Dr. R. M. Hills, a noted 
physician at Covington, Indiana, and there received his primary education in the 
public schools. As a boy he was modest, retiring and genial; a good scholar, 
and a constant and careful reader. He early formed the purpose of fitting him- 
self for professional life, and when sixteen years of age entered the preparatory 
department of Shurtleff College, at Alton, Illinois. Two years later, in Septem- 
ber, 1870, he entered upon the regular classical course in the freshman class of 
that institution, and at the close of that year was awarded the first prize for 
excellence in declamation. A similar honor was conferred upon him at the end 
of his sophomore year at a class contest in oratory. At the beginning of his 
junior year, Mr. Ingham, in company with several of his classmates, entered the 
University of Chicago, where, during the remainder of his college course, he 
maintained the same high standard of scholarship which had formerly character- 
ized him, and came to be known as a close student, a convincing debater, a prac- 
tical thinker, and an orator of superior merit. Here again he carried off the first 
prize at the junior oratorical contest, and during the following year was elected 
orator of his class. The Chicago "Times," in speaking of his class-day oration, 
said "it is an oration of which he may well be proud. It was pronounced by 
able judges the most finished effort they had ever listened to on any similar occa- 
sion." While in the university, Mr. Ingham became an honored member of the 
Psi Upsilon Fraternity. 

Having already decided to devote himself to the legal profession, he, while a 
student in college, devoted a portion of his spare time to the reading of Black- 
stone, and in the fall succeeding his graduation (1873) began a regular course of 
study at the Union College of Law, at Chicago, and also during that year acted 
as an instructor in his alma mater. He afterward entered the law office of 
Luther Laflin Mills, and immediately upon his admission to the bar in Septem- 
ber 1875, became junior member of the law firm of Mills, Weber and Ingham, and 
so continued until Mr. Mills was elected to the office of state's attorney for Cook 
county, Illinois, in the fall of 1876, when the firm was dissolved, and was suc- 
ceeded by the firm of Munn, Ingham and Pope. In June 1880, he was appointed 
to the position of assistant state's attorney. As a public prosecutor Mr. Ingham 
has won the highest esteem of the various judges who have occupied the criminal 
bench during the term of his office, for his legal knowledge and ability, his skill 
in the management of his cases, his high sense of professional honor, and his 
unqualified fairness in presenting the cause of the people against the prisoner at 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 273 

the bar. Among his professional brethren he is universally respected. Modest, 
unassuming and unostentatious, he is at the same time careful and exact, and 
seldom fails to detect a weak point in an opponent's position, or a fallacy in his 
argument. He excels as a cross-examiner. In his arguments or addresses before 
court or jury he has a style of oratory peculiarly his own, at once fluent, forcible, 
entertaining and convincing. Discarding mere flowers of rhetoric and the trap- 
pings of the actor, he clothes his thoughts in pure, plain English that cannot be 
misunderstood, and while exhibiting in his elegant and terse style a readiness 
and force that come only with familiarity with the subject, at the same time dis- 
plays good taste, and the possession of a vast reserve fund of varied and practical 
learning. 

As a lawyer Mr. Ingham is thoroughly devoted to his profession. A careful 
and constant student, his legal opinions are always supported by authorities, and 
reliable. He is at the same time social and domestic in his tastes and habits, 
genial and companionable, and in his varied social, professional or business 
relations maintains a character stainless and irreproachable. 

His wife, Lizzie (Gordon) Ingham, is a daughter of the late Hon. Alex. W. 
Gordon, for many years a prominent member of the Indiana state senate, and a 
leading dry goods merchant of Lafayette. Mrs. Ingham is an accomplished 
lady, and a worthy companion of her husband. They were married in December 
1880, and have one child, Gordon Ingham. 



WILLIAM H. SWIFT. 

ONE of the most worthy lawyers at the Chicago bar is William H. Swift, who 
has succeeded in his chosen profession, by adhering strictly to principles of 
integrity, and honest, upright dealing. He is a thorough lawyer in all depart- 
ments of the profession, being well trained in all of the details of the business. 
He is an expert in special pleading, and careful in the preparation of all legal 
documents. He takes particular pains in the preparation of his cases, and his 
foresight is so keen that he seldom fails in a suit to which he has given careful 
attention and investigation. 

William H. Swift is a son of Alexander and Susan (Coleman) Swift, and is 
descended from families largely sea-faring on both sides, and was born at Nan- 
tucket, Massachusetts, March 27, 1838. His parents belonged to old New Eng- 
land families. William prepared for college at the Nantucket high school, and 
graduated at Williams College in 1863, as valedictorian of his class. He taught 
school, while fitting for college, part of the time, and also after" receiving his 
diploma, his field of such labor being in Massachusetts and Louisiana, chiefly in 
the former state. He read law with Hon. S. W. Bowerman, of Pittsfield, Massa- 
chusetts, and at Harvard Law School, Cambridge; was there admitted to the bar 
in 1865 ; remained there in practice until 1870, when he settled in Chicago. He 



274 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

is of the firm of Swift and Campbell, a firm that ranks high with the courts, anil 
among the leading law firms of Chicago. 

Mr. Swift is a republican, but we cannot learn that his activity in politics 
extends beyond going to the polls on election day and voting. With him, law 
has the priority over everything else of a business character. He is a member, 
and one of the elders, of the First Presbyterian Church, of Chicago. He married 
at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, May i, 1867, Grace, daughter of George Campbell, a 
prominent manufacturer of Berkshire county, Massachusetts. 



ELLIS S. CHESBROUGH, JR. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Massachusetts, and was born in West 
Newton. He is a son of E. S. Chesbrough, a well known civil engineer, now 
of Chicago, and Elizabeth (Freyer) Chesbrough. Mr. Chesbrough was educated 
in the University of Chicago, and graduated from that institution in 1871. He 
then entered Harvard Law School at Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduating 
therefrom in 1873. Returning to Chicago, he continued his law studies in the 
office of Ayer and Kales, and during that same year was admitted to the bar of 
Illinois. Since that time he has been engaged in the general practice of the law 
in Chicago with good success. Mr. Chesbrough is a thorough student, well read 
in the law, and especially in preparing briefs, and possesses a happy faculty of 
presenting his cases before the court, clearly and well. His conduct of the case, 
Walker vs. Carlton, involving the questions of redemption from trustees' sale, 
reflects great credit upon him for careful preparation, and skillful management. 



HON. SAMUEL K. DOW. 

SAMUEL KNIGHT DOW is descended from English-Scotch ancestry. His 
paternal grandmother was a member of the celebrated noble family of Gor- 
don, one of whose representatives (Lord George Gordon) figured so conspicuously 
in the "no popery" riots, in the time of George III. On the maternal side his 
great-grandfather, for whom he was named, held a royal commission as surveyor 
from King George III in colonial times, a member of the family having emigrated 
from England in 1630 and settled in Durham, New Hampshire. Lorenzo Dow, 
the eccentric preacher, and also Neal Dow, the noted temperance reformer, sprang 
from this original stock. They serve to illustrate some of its prominent charac- 
teristics, such as rectitude of character and concentration of purpose. 

The subject of this sketch was born in the town of Hollis, Maine, in 1831, the 
son of Samuel and Sophia Knight Dow, and was reared on a farm, where he 
worked through all the vacations of his student life until he was eighteen years of 
age. He was educated in the common schools and academies of his native state, 
and is essentially a self-made man, 



THE BENCH AND BAK OF CHICAGO. 2"JJ 

In 1850 he commenced the study of law at Saco, Maine, and entered the Dane 
Law School at Harvard, Massachusetts, in 1852. He graduated in 1854 and 
received the degree of LL.B. He was admitted to the Suffolk bar, Boston, upon 
examination, on the motion of the late Hon. Rufus Choate, Chief Justice Shaw 
then presiding. The same year he removed to Chicago, and in the following year 
(1855) commenced the practice of law in that city, where he has since resided and 
devoted himself exclusively to the duties of his profession. 

During these twenty-five years of practice Mr. Dow has steadily advanced in 
his profession until he now ranks among the most prominent lawyers of the 
Chicago bar. It was a toilsome march, but its labors and anxieties have not told 
seriously upon his fine physique. In court he presents a very striking figure, 
being above the medium in stature, strongly built, erect, of proud bearing, and 
having a large head, well formed and balanced, long jet-black hair and beard, a 
deep olive complexion, prominent nose, slightly aquiline, and eyes very dark 
brown, in expression exceedingly gentle, but with a touch of firmness and daring, 
imparting to the entire physiognomy a leonine cast. It is doubtless to this dis- 
tinguished and imposing presence, joined to a fine insight into the motives and 
springs of human action, that Mr. Dow owes his great success in the trial of cases 
depending upon circumstantial evidence. As a cross-examiner he has few peers 
at the Chicago bar. 

All the political influences surrounding Mr. Dow in his youth were of the 
democratic school. His father was a Jacksonian democrat, but the son early 
embraced free-soil theories, and upon the organization of the new party of free- 
dom became a radical republican. Although always prominent in the councils 
of his party he never sought office. In 1872 he accepted with extreme reluctance 
a nomination to the state senate, and was chosen by a handsome majority. Dur- 
ing the first session of the winter of 1873 he took a decided stand against the 
radical measure prepared on the subject of state control of railways, opposing 
with all his force the act now known as the "statute prohibiting unjust discrimi- 
nation and extortion," even going so far as to file a written protest against its 
passage. He held that such legislation was hasty, the result of passion, of doubt- 
ful constitutionality, and that it tended to array in hostility different classes and 
interests of the community. During the second session (1873-4) Mr. Dow distin- 
guished himself by standing alone, against all his colleagues from Cook county, 
in opposition to a measure of vast consequence for good or evil to Chicago, known 
as the city incorporation bill. The bill passed the house without consideration 
merely on the strength of the representations of a lobby of prominent citizens of 
that city. When it came up in the senate he made a masterly analysis of the 
measure, showing its many glaring defects, and proposing a series of amendments 
changing its entire character. His onslaught was so powerful that as to some 
points it was simply irresistible, and the amendments were either accepted or 
forced through; but the most vital were lost, and he protested against its passage 
in its still imperfect state. When the bill went back to the house its supporters 
29 



378 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

found themselves so shaken by the exposure that had been made that it was 
impossible to get a vote of concurrence. In a word, the house followed Mr. Dow, 
repudiating its own previously considered action. Being appointed a member of 
the conference committee on the disagreeing votes, Mr. Dow succeeded in carry- 
ing every important amendment but one, that he had proposed, and the bill so 
perfected was passed by both houses. It is rare indeed that a single member has 
the force and tact to exert a commanding influence over the two houses of a leg- 
islative body. 

At the close of Mr. Dow's senatorial term he declined a reelection, and has 
constantly declined to stand for any office, and although he has been urged to 
accept a judgeship and a seat in congress he preferred the duties and pleasures 
of a private life. 

Mr. Dow was married in 1855 to Miss Francis Ellen Hill, daughter of Capt. 
Nehemiah Hill, of Biddeford, Maine, by whom he has had nine children, six of 
whom, one son and five daughters, are still living. Of pronounced domestic 
tastes, Mr. Dow finds in his own home, presided over by his estimable and accom- 
plished wife, that degree of social recreation, rest and repose essential to the 
healthful development of every faculty of head and heart. The aphorism, " the 
boy is father of the man," finds new illustration in the life of Mr. Dow. Coming 
of good stock, he inherited a disposition to rigid integrity and a great force of 
character. Born on the banks of the Saco, in a region of picturesque beauty, 
communion with nature formed in him the basis of a true aesthetic taste. Books, 
pictures, the infinite charm of social recreation, those have wrought their 
delightful impress upon an otherwise stern, serious character. A perfect picture 
of physical health, Mr. Dow is morally healthy. His mind is as upright as his 
body is erect. True as steel to every friend and to every engagement, he exacts 
equal fidelity ; but, profoundly observant of the frailties of human nature, he is 
generous to the erring and unfortunate. Bold as a lion, he is fit to lead, but if 
none follow he dares to stand alone in defense of cherished convictions. His 
rugged, strong manhood has always led him to take a prominent part in out-door 
sports and amusements, especially those of the turf, and here, as in other walks 
of life, have acknowledged ability and unswerving integrity led to his being called 
to occupy important posts of honor and trust. For the past three years he has 
been president of the Chicago Driving Park, a position which he has filled with 
honor to himself and in which he has done much to elevate the character of 
running and trotting races. As he never wagers a dollar upon a race, but patron- 
izes it solely from love of the sport and admiration of the highly bred horse, his 
presence in the judges' stand has been invariably accepted as a guarantee of hon- 
orable, upright management, and his decisions have always passed unchallenged. 
The same qualities that have caused his influence to be sought in support of the 
turf in his own city led to his having been twice chosen as first vice-president of 
the board of review of the National Trotting Association, which is a sort of court 
|of last resort for the settlement of disputed points of turf law and usage, and 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 



279 



which has from time to time numbered among its members several of the most 
eminent of American jurists; and here, as in all other positions to which duty or 
the suffrages of the public have called him, his commanding ability has been con- 
ceded on all hands, and his strict integrity has been unchallenged. 



E. L. KNOTT. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Pennsylvania, and was born in 1826, 
in Milford, Susquehanna county, and is the son of Sylvanus Knott and 
Martha M. (Kelley) Knott. He attended public and select schools in Pennsylva- 
nia, and also acquired much useful and practical knowledge by hard study out of 
school. At the age of seventeen he went to the state of New York to live with an 
uncle, and there attended school. Removing to Chicago in 1848, he was there 
engaged in teaching for a time, and also taught in Kankakee county, at that time 
a part of Will county, Illinois. Having decided to fit himself for the practice of 
law, he began his legal studies in 1849, with Hon. Calvin DeWolf, in Chicago, and 
for some four years thereafter continued his studies, in connection with teaching, 
by which he earned means to defray his expenses and maintain himself. He was 
admitted to practice in 1853. In 1855 he opened an office for the general practice 
of the law, and has devoted himself uninterruptedly to his professional duties 
since that time, well earning and meriting the reputation which he has of being 
an able and successful lawyer. 

Mr. Knott is a gentleman whose deportment is marked with kindness, and he 
has a faculty of putting at ease all who favor him with their calls. He is a good 
judge of human nature, and is a practical man, and sensible without ostentation. 
He married Miss Josephine King, of Chicago, and has by her two sons. 



RICHARD BIDDLE ROBERTS. 

THE subject of this sketch was born at Pittsburgh, August 25, 1825, and is the 
son of Edward I. and Elisa (Campbell) Roberts. He received a liberal edu- 
cation, and showed an aptness for the profession of law, upon the practice of 
which he entered in early life. In the years 1853 to 1856 he held the office of 
district attorney for Allegheny county, and was United States attorney for the 
western district of Pennsylvania from 1857 to 1861. In the year 1854 he was 
married to Miss Mary H. Anderson, a member of one of the old and esteemed 
Pennsylvania families. At the time of the rebellion, and when hostilities were 
declared, he lost no time in volunteering, and materially aided in raising the I2th 
Penn. regiment, in which he was commissioned captain, but was soon after pro- 
moted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, on the staff of Gov. Curtin. 

Upon the formation of the celebrated Reserve Corps, he was commissioned 



28O THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

colonel of its first regiment. In the opening engagement of the seven days' bat- 
tle on the peninsula, five companies of this regiment were the first to be attacked, 
but from the sheltered position which they finally assumed behind Beaver Dam 
Creek, and from which the united regiment fought, little loss was experienced, 
though the enemy was terribly scourged. At Games' Mill on the following day, 
Col. Roberts fought under the eye of Gen. Porter, in chief command upon the 
field, and won his approval by the gallantry and steadiness with which every 
order was executed. 

The Army of the Potomac was never in more imminent danger of rout and 
destruction, than at Charles City Cross Roads July 30, 1862. The Reserves' thir- 
teen regiments of infantry were drawn up in two lines across the New Market 
road, covering the Charles City and Quaker roads. The flanks, not connecting 
immediately with other troops, were exposed, and then the attack was pressed 
severely, but the valor of the Reserves was successful in breaking the force in 
their front until nightfall, when the battle ceased, and the foe retired from the 
contest, abandoning his cherished purpose of severing the Union army and beat- 
ing it in detail. 

Gen. McCall, who commanded the Reserves, says in his official report: "Coop- 
er's and Kern's batteries in front of the center were boldly charged upon, each 
time a regiment dashing up to within forty or fifty yards. They were then 
hurled back by a storm of canister and the deliberate fire of the first regiment. 
Col. Roberts, whom I had placed immediately in the rear of Kern's, and the ninth, 
Col. Jackson, in the rear of Cooper's. The contest was severe, and put the stead- 
iness of these regiments to the test. Both suffered heavy loss, but particularly 
the first regiment, whose gallant lieutenant-colonel (Mclntire) was severely 
wounded." 

Not less gallant was the conduct of Col. Roberts at South Mountain. The 
Reserves were the first to come up to Turner's Gap, where the rebel troops were 
strongly posted in the fastnesses of this great natural barrier. Far down on the 
breast of the mountain was a stone wall, behind which was the rebel skirmish 
line. Against this Col. Roberts led his men with unflinching bravery. The fire 
was severe, but undaunted he pushed forward, and scaling the rugged breast- 
work, and following up the advantage, wavered not until rock and steep acclivity 
were passed, and the enemy driven from his well chosen position. At the close 
of this campaign, Gov. Curtin called Col. Roberts again to his assistance. His 
executive and legal ability, with his knowledge of the special duties of the posi- 
tion, fitted him to decide the delicate questions involved in granting promotions, 
with rare tact. 

To this call he acceded, and having been discharged at the governor's 
request, at once resumed its duties. By the report of his department for the year 
1864, it appears that four thousand commissions were issued from his office. 
When it is remembered that for almost every one of these were several appli- 
cants, and that all the testimony in each case had to be considered, weighed and 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 28 1 

acted on, some idea can be formed of the amount of patient labor involved. 
Thirty thousand commissions had been issued previous to the year 1864. In 1869 
Mr. Roberts removed from Pittsburgh (where, after the close of the war, he had 
resumed the practice of his profession) to Chicago where he now resides, and has 
given his undivided attention to the duties of his profession, and with marked 
success. Although engaged in the general practice, much of his time is occupied 
with corporation and patent cases. He avoids specialties, and takes charge of 
any branch that may offer. He is a republican in politics, but takes no active 
part, but in his native state was very prominent. Previous to the war he was a 
democrat. Col. Roberts is president of the Bar Association of Chicago, and also 
president of the St. Andrew's Benevolent Society of Illinois. 



WILLIAM D. GATES. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in 1852, at Ashland, Ohio, and is 
descended from an old revolutionary family. His father, Simon S. Gates, 
who was at one time a member of the Massachusetts legislature, emigrated to 
Ohio in 1852. William was educated at Wheaton College, whence he graduated 
in June 1875. In the following fall he entered the Union College of Law at Chi- 
cago, remaining there about one year, when he was called home by the death of 
his father, and was engaged there attending to private business for about two 
years. In 1878 Mr. Gates returned to Chicago, and continued his studies at the 
law school, and in 1879 graduated and was admitted to the bar. He commenced 
the practice of his profession in the fall of the same year, and since that time has 
devoted to it his whole attention. Mr. Gates is a young man of promise, and 
with his professional and business abilities, together with his attainments and 
estimable personal qualities, may hopefully look for the realization of his bright- 
est anticipations. 

JOHN F. FLOWER. 

JOHN F. FLOWER was born at Colebrook, Ashtabula county, Ohio, January 
13, 1852, and was the son of James W. and Eliza Ann Flower. He is a third 
cousin of Adml. Porter, of the United States Navy, and a grandson of Zephraim 
Flower, who was a captain in the war of 1812. He is a second cousin of Hon. 
R. P. Flower, banker and member of congress, New York city; nephew of Col. 
Lloyd Wheaton, of regular army; first cousin of the wife of Col. Dent, of regular 
army, and Gen. U. S. Grant's nephew. Mr. Flower was educated at Fulton Col- 
lege, Fulton City, Illinois, and afterward pursued a course of legal study in the 
law department of the University of Michigan, and graduated therefrom March 
26, 1874. He is a self-made man, and at the early age of eleven years commenced 
his career by working on a canal boat running on what was then known as the 



282 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Erie, Pittsburgh and Extension canal, the products of his labor principally going 
to the support of his father's family, until he was seventeen years of age. His 
parents are deceased. His mother died when he was only two months old, and 
his father died at Willsburg, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1868. 

He removed to Chicago in the summer of 1869, and by industry and hard 
labor was enabled to keep himself at school until he was prepared to enter Fulton 
College. He made some money in speculations, and was enabled to pursue his 
studies without interruption at Ann Arbor until he graduated, after which he 
was admitted to the bar at Lansing, Michigan. He was admitted to the bar of 
Illinois at Mount Vernon, July 30, 1874, and has been in general practice of the law 
in Chicago since that time, and has been engaged in several important cases. At 
fourteen years of age he was baptized, and became a member of the Free-will 
Baptist Church of Wellsburg, Erie county, Pennsylvania. In 1876 he joined the 
Fulton Avenue Presbyterian Church, of Chicago. He was married December 27, 
1877, to Miss Clara Latitia Meyer, daughter of Berthold Meyer, of Burlington, 
Iowa, an extensive dealer in hides and furs, and large owner of real and personal 
property in Burlington and Chicago. Mr. Flower gives strict attention to busi- 
ness intrusted to his care, and merits the confidence of his patrons, by promptness 
and honorable dealing. He has devoted special attention to pension claims and 
to locating lands under the soldiers' homestead law, and is thoroughly versed in 
these branches, as well as in the general practice of his profession. 



RUFUS KING. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Ithaca, New York, and was born 
December 24, 1822, the son of John King, one of the first settlers of that 
part of the state, and Irene (Ely) King, a daughter of one of the first settlers in 
the town of Hector, New York. Her brother, Hector Ely, was the first male child 
born in that town. The grandfather of Mr. King was a revolutionary soldier 
from Maryland, who enlisted when he was sixteen years old, and served through 
the war. Rufus enjoyed the advantages of the common schools, and afterward 
took a scientific, classical, academic course. He studied medicine, and graduated 
from the University of the City of New York, in the spring of 1847. He practiced 
medicine a few years, but finding it unsuited to him, he abandoned it, and turned 
his attention to the study of law with F. O. Rogers, of Elmira, New York. 
Removing to the West in 1855, he settled at Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin, remain- 
ing there until 1862, when he enlisted in the jist regiment Wis. Vol. Inf. Early 
in 1864 he was appointed by President Lincoln, commissary of subsistence, with 
the rank of captain, and assigned to duty at Stephenson, Alabama, where he 
remained from May i, until the winter following. He was commissary for the 
army in the field, as it moved up the railroad as fast as it was repaired until it 
reached Greenville, east Tennessee, when Joe Johnson's army surrendered. He 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 283 

kept a depot of army supplies at Knoxville, through the fall of 1865, and then 
returned to Chattanooga. He was mustered out of the service, and arrived home 
in February 1866. Although government property passed through Mr. King's 
hands to the amount of millions of dollars, so careful and accurate was he in all 
of the details of his business, that he never had an account disputed. He 
removed to Chicago in 1866, but afterward went to Beloit, Wisconsin, and erected 
a block of stores in that place, and returned to Chicago, and formed a law part- 
nership with Allan C. Story. The firm was engaged in important litigation, and 
carried on an extensive business for several years. Since its dissolution, Mr. 
King has been doing business by himself. He is a good lawyer, having excellent 
practical judgment, whether in business affairs or the investigation of legal ques- 
tions. As a lawyer he is cautious and pains-taking, and especially able in the 
trial of cases. 

He is a gentleman of culture and refinement, has a fine presence, is always 
courteous and friendly, and maintains a character for uprightness and integrity. 
He has been married twice. His first marriage was to Miss Catherine Gardiner, 
daughter of George Gardiner, of Chemung county, New York. She died in 1863, 
while Mr. King was in the army, leaving one son and two daughters. He was 
again married in 1878, to Miss Lillie Cogswell, daughter of the late W. A. Cogs- 
well, a prominent citizen of Halifax, Nova Scotia. 



CHARLES A. DIBBLE. 

CHARLES A. DIBBLE was born January 31, 1842, in Salisbury, Herkimer 
county, New York, in which place his father was engaged in the lumber busi- 
ness. In 1849 the family moved to Columbia county, Wisconsin, where Charles 
received the greater part of his schooling. Being studious, he employed his leisure 
time in self-improvement, and in that way developed his abilities and manhood. 
When quite young he was qualified to teach school, and engaged in that occupa- 
tion until the outbreak of the war, when he enlisted as a sergeant in the 2gth Wis. 
Inf., Col. Charles R. Gill, and as a soldier, made a most creditable record. At the 
battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi, he received a wound which resulted in the loss 
of his left leg below the knee. As a soldier he signalized himself by his bravery 
and faithfulness to duty. When mustered out of the service he returned to 
Columbia county, Wisconsin, and resumed school teaching there and at Fox 
Lake, in Dodge county; thence he went to Milwaukee and attended the Markham 
Academy during the summer and fall of 1866, taking a partial course in law in 
addition to his academic studies. In the fall of 1866 he was elected clerk of the 
court of the ninth judicial circuit, and was reflected to two successive terms. 
During these terms of clerkship he read law under the direction of Israel Holmes, 
now of Chicago, and was admitted to the Wisconsin bar in the fall of 1871, when 
he resigned his clerkship and removed to Chicago, arriving there the day after 



284 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

the great fire ; commenced the practice of law, and has been so engaged ever 
since, with a more than average success in all respects. 

Owing both to his natural fitness and experience in public affairs his friends 
have enthusiastically urged his candidacy for several important public trusts. 
He takes an interest in all matters pertaining to soldiers, and is judge advocate 
of the Veteran Union League, vice-president of the Union Veteran Club, and 
senior vice-commander of Post 28, Grand Army of the Republic, and is an active 
and highly respected member of these organizations. He is an active member of 
the republican party, and identifies himself with political campaigns. He is a 
man of exemplary habits, and is respected as a lawyer, a gentleman and a citizen. 
In 1870 he married the daughter of Dr. Peter Winter, formerly of Horicon, Wis- 
consin, now of Chicago. 



GEORGE W. KRETZINGER. 

EORGE WASHINGTON KRETZINGER is a native of Scioto county, 
V_T Ohio, and was born August u, 1844, the son of Rev. Isaac Kretzinger, a 
clergyman of the United Brethren denomination. His paternal grandfather 
immigrated from Germany, and settled in the state of Virginia. George W. 
received a collegiate education, and during the years that he was pursuing his 
studies, by working on a farm and in other avocations, earned the means for 
defraying the expenses of his education, as well as of his personal maintenance. 
After his graduation- he went to Iowa, when he became a teacher in the Keokuk 
classical school, and also began the study of law, under the preceptorship of Hon. 
George W. McCrary, an ex-member of President Hayes' cabinet, and now (1883) 
judge of the United States circuit court for the district of Iowa. Mr. Kretzinger 
finished his legal studies with Henry Strong, now of Chicago, then of Keokuk, 
and at that time a leading railway attorney in Iowa, and was admitted to the bar 
of Iowa in March 1867. Soon after his admission to practice, he removed from 
Keokuk, and in the September following formed a partnership with Judge R. L. 
Hannaman at Knoxville, Illinois, which continued until 1873, when Mr. Kret- 
zinger removed to Chicago, where he formed a partnership with John I. Bennett, 
now master in chancery, of the United States circuit court. This partnership 
was dissolved by mutual consent, and Mr. Kretzinger has now associated with 
him his younger brother, under the name and style of G. W. and J. T. Kretzinger. 

The subject of this sketch has made a special study of corporation law, and 
his business, which is very extensive, is largely confined to that branch of prac- 
tice. Since 1877 he has been general solicitor for the Chicago and Iowa Railway 
Company, and" has represented various other railway companies in some of the 
most important legal controversies which have arisen since 1873. 

Mr. Kretzinger has a keen and logical mind, a tenacious memory and mental 
operations of remarkable quickness and accuracy. He is full of resource, and 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 287 

fertile in invention, and possesses a tireless energy, which renders him almost 
invincible, when once fairly aroused and thoroughly interested. As a lawyer he 
posesses a powerful reason, comprehends the scope of a complicated case with 
great clearness, and analyzes the legal propositions involved, with accuracy. As 
a speaker, he is vigorous, logical and terse, and does not strive so much for ornate 
diction, or well rounded periods, as to set forth succinctly, forcibly and clearly, 
the legal propositions upon which he relies, and to arrange and present facts to 
which the legal principles involved are applied. Mr. Kretzinger was married 
August 29, 1878, to Miss Clara J. Wilson, of Rock Island, and has one son. 



JOHN JOHNSTON, JR. 

r I ""HE subject of this sketch is a native of Illinois. He was born in Knoxville, 
.L April 3, 1843, and is the son of John Johnston, one of the first settlers, and a 
well known and successful business man in that part of the state. His mother 
was Annie (Mitchell) Johnston. His paternal grandfather, John Johnston, was an 
Episcopal clergyman, who lived in Belfast, Ireland. 

Our subject attended the high school at Peoria, Illinois, for several years; he 
was one year in Kenyon College, at Gambier, Ohio, and graduated from Yale 
College in 1863. He attended Albany Law School, and graduated from that 
institution late in 1864. He afterward continued his legal studies in the office of 
Thomas G. Frost in Galesburg, Illinois, and later in the offices of Emery A. 
Storrs, Cyrus Bentley, and W. C. Goudy, of Chicago, and was admitted to the 
bar of Illinois in 1865. He practiced law in Chicago until 1879, since which time 
he has retired from active practice in the courts, and devoted himself to the care 
of his property, and that of his family, together with other real estate interests. 

Mr. Johnston was married in 1871, to Miss Elizabeth C. Gay, by whom he has 
one son. 

MILO M. FASSETT. 

MILO M. FASSETT is a native of Champlain, New York, and was born 
January 19, 1819. His grandfathers, Jonathan Fassett and Ephraim Smith, 
were both revolutionary soldiers, and fought bravely at the battle of Bennington. 
The father of our subject, Moses Fassett, was a prominent citizen, and a friend 
of education, who devoted considerable time to its cause, and was one of those 
whose influence caused the establishment of the free-school system of Canada. 
His mother's maiden name was Lucy Smith. Milo M. received a very thorough 
education in the common schools, and in St. Lawrence Academy at Potsdam, 
New York. Later, he taught school some six years, and justly earned the reputa- 
tion of being one of the best educators in the state. He afterward read law with 
Geo. R. Rich, at Auburn, New York, and was admitted to the New York bar. He 
3 



288 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

then went to Red Creek in Wayne county, New York, and practiced law with 
good success for one year, after which he enlisted and served three years in the 
war of the rebellion. He took a conspicuous part in the battle of Williamsport, 
West Virginia; was also in the battles of Monocacy Junction, Maryland, and 
Morefield, West Virginia. He was a brave soldier, fearless in battle, and ever 
attentive to duty, both in camp and in the field. 

After the close of the war he settled at Valparaiso, Indiana, and there resumed 
the practice of his profession, with a degree of success that gained for him the 
distinction of being an able lawyer. He removed to Chicago in 1867, and has 
become well and favorably known as a skillful and successful practioner at the 
bar of this city. 

Mr. Fassett suffered materially in the great fire of October 9, 1871, but man- 
fully meeting his misfortune, applied himself with characteristic energy and vigor 
to make good his losses. He is a man of fine qualities; social, generous and 
genial, and with his rare fund of knowledge gained from his varied experiences, 
and his conversational powers, is a most agreeable companion. As a lawyer he 
has the respect of his professional brethren, and the fullest confidence of his 
clients. 

Mr. Fassett was married April 30, 1849, to Miss Elizabeth Lynn. Of the five 
children that have been born to them four are living. Their second son lost his 
life in attempting to save the goods of his employer in the fire of 1871. 



JAMES FRAKE. 

JAMES FRAKE was born at the town of Loughborough, in the county of Lei- 
cester, England, March 29, 1841. He is a son of George Frake, who emigrated 
to this country in the year 1844, and in October of that year settled on a farm at 
Wheeling, Cook county, Illinois, but did not long survive his arrival there, dying 
in March, 1846. 

James worked on a farm with his step-father (his mother having again mar- 
ried) till he was eighteen years of age. He then started out for himself by entering 
the preparatory school connected with the Northwestern University at Evanston, 
from which latter institution he graduated, July 12, 1866, with degree of B.A. 
During the entire period of his education he supported himself, and in order to 
bring down his expenses to the lowest point, he, with other students, kept bachelor's 
hall. He passed through college successfully and with honor, and was at the 
head of his class. Unfortunately, during the whole of his academic career, his 
health at times was very bad, and continued in a precarious condition for five 
years after he commenced practice, but he is now apparently in the enjoyment of 
good health, but still not of a strong or robust nature. 

James Frake is, and always has been, of quiet, temperate and studious habits, 
which fact probably led to his choosing the legal profession as being suited to 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 289 

his temperate and studious nature. After graduating, he was principal of Bloom 
Academy for one year; then went abroad for the following year. On his return 
he attended the Chicago Law School, from which he graduated in 1869, and 
obtained his license to practice law from the supreme court in May of that year. 
In June, 1874, he was elected trustee of the Northwestern University, being the 
first alumnus elected to that position. For several years he has been on the joint 
board of management of the Union College of Law in Chicago. He was also a 
member of the board of education for an unexpired term of two years, which 
position he filled with ability and also credit to himself. 

Mr. Frake has traveled somewhat, having made four trips to Europe, and 
being a careful observer, has gained from that source a rare fund of practical and 
valuable information. He is an exemplary Christian, and is connected with the 
Centenary Methodist Church, of Chicago, being one of its trustees and also a 
devoted teacher in its Sunday-school. In politics he has always been a republi- 
can, but takes no active part therein. Mr. Frake has been twice married. His 
present wife was Evelyn M. Allen, of Elk Grove, daughter of the late John Allen, 
formerly of Vermont. 

MAJ. FRANK J. CRAWFORD. 

FRANK J. CRAWFORD was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, July 
12, 1834, and is the son of J. W. Crawford. The family is of Scotch extrac- 
tion, and descended from a family of that name that settled in Pennsylvania dur- 
ing its early history. The subject of this sketch resided in Pennsylvania until he 
was thirteen years of age, working on a farm and attending school. He then 
moved to western Maryland, where he attended the common schools, and finished 
his education in Allegheny College at Meadville, Pennsylvania. He afterward 
taught school a number of years in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Illinois. He 
moved to Illinois in 1855, and settled in La Salle county, and read law in the office 
of Leland and Leland, the former of whom, Hon. Edwin S. Leland, was for many 
years judge of the ninth judicial circuit, and was afterward one of the judges of 
the appellate court. The junior member of the firm also has occupied a judicial 
position. Mr. Crawford was admitted to the bar in 1858, having been examined 
by the old committee, consisting of Judges Beckwith, Peck and Mr. Judd, and 
devoted himself to the practice of the law until the opening of the war of the 
rebellion, in 1861. Responding to President Lincoln's call for volunteers, he 
enlisted in the 5jd regiment, 111. Vol. Inf., as a private, and passed through all of 
the different gradations, to the rank of captain, and was breveted major for mer- 
itorious services in the field. He served in western Tennessee and rose to the 
rank of first lieutenant, and November 10, 1862, was appointed by the president 
commissary of subsistence, with the rank of captain. 

Gen. J. G. Lauman, in his official report of the battle of Hatchie River, says: 
"To Capt. Scofield, my assistant adjutant-general, and Lieut. Frank J. Craw- 



290 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 



ford, my aide, I tender my most sincere thanks for the valuable assistance they 
rendered me. I can truly say they were the right men in the right place." 

Maj. Crawford was in active service all of the three years and eight months he 
was in the army; and in the field all of that time, except one year when he was 
stationed at Port Hudson, Louisiana. During the Vicksburg campaign, and 
until after the capture of Jackson, he was on the staff of Maj. -Gen. Alvin P. 
Hovey, of Indiana, and was afterward on the staff of Maj. -Gen. Geo. L. Andrews, 
who since the war has been one of the faculty of West Point. 

At the close of the war Maj. Crawford returned to Illinois and resumed his 
profession. He removed to Chicago in 1871, since which time he has been con- 
nected with much important litigation. 

In his political sentiments Maj. Crawford is a republican. He cast his first 
ballot for Gen. Fremont, and since that time has uniformly supported the repub- 
lican party. 

He was married in 1865, to Miss Max Fyffe, daughter of the late Gen. E. P. 
Fyffe, of Ohio. In his profession Mr. Crawford maintains a high standing, as an 
able, upright and thorough lawyer, and by devotion to his duties and faithfulness 
to his clients, has established a large practice and a most enviable reputation. He 
is a man of excellent social qualities, and is the center of a wide circle of friends, 
who esteem him for his genuine manliness. 



UZZIEL P. SMITH. 

T TZZIEL P. SMITH was born in Orange, Massachusetts, December 18, 1836, 
\J and was the eldest son of Humphrey and Sophronia A. Smith. He received 
his primary education at the high school in Townsend, Vermont, and afterward 
went to college at Oberlin, Ohio, where he studied about one year. He then 
entered Harvard Law School and commenced the study of law, graduating in 
1858. The same year he was admitted, he was admitted to practice in the supreme 
court at Boston. Coming west Mr. Smith settled in Des Moines, Iowa, where he 
entered into partnership in the practice of law with Judge Bates. In the fall of 
1859 he removed to Chicago, and entered the office of Messrs. Scales, McAllister 
and Jewett, where he continued until the fall of 1861. Afterward, in September, 
1862, he entered the office of Messrs. Walker and Dexter, and in 1863 became a 
partner in that firm, under the name and style of Walker, Dexter and Smith. 
Subsequently, on the retirement of Mr. Walker to take the presidency of the 
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad, the style of the firm became Dexter 
and Smith, and so continued until January, 1878. After that time Mr. Smith was 
out of practice for about two years, but resumed practice in the spring of 1881 in 
connection with his brother, Abner Smith, and J. M. H. Burgett, under style of 
Smith and Burgett, which firm now exists. 

In .September, 1861, Mr. Smith recruited what was known as McAllister's Bat- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 2Q I 

tery ist 111. Light Artillery, and was appointed second lieutenant. He was quar- 
tered with his battery during the winter of 1861-2, and joined the Army of the 
Tennessee in February, 1862, being with the land forces operating in support of the 
gunboats in the attack on Fort Henry, and also participated in the attack on Fort 
Donaldson. The health of his wife failing, and not being able to obtain leave of 
absence, Mr. Smith resigned his commission in the army and returned to his 
home in Chicago. 

Mr. Smith has been and is prominently connected with building enterprises in 
Chicago, and is in the truest sense a public spirited man. Among the many 
improvements which the city owes to him is what is known as Aldine square, 
located on Vincennes avenue, in the southern limits of the city, and built by him 
in 1875 and 1876, and which is one of the beauty spots in this the Queen City of 
the West. 

Mr. Smith is a republican, but takes no active part in political matters. 



MICHAEL W. ROBINSON. 

MICHAEL WALLER ROBINSON was born October 13, 1837, near Fulton, 
Missouri ; the son of an enterprising and successful farmer and stock 
raiser. Mr. Robinson attended the public and high schools in Fulton, and in 
1854 went to Georgetown College, Kentucky, where he remained only one year, 
when he entered Yale College in the junior class, and graduated with the rank 
of orator in 1857. On his return to Missouri he was chosen professor of Latin and 
Greek in the William Jewell College at Liberty, Missouri, which position he held 
for three years, during the last year of which term he was acting president of the 
college. In the meantime he had been studying law under the direction of Gen. 
A. W. Doniphan, and was admitted to the bar of Missouri in 1859, and resigning 
his professorship he went to Harvard Law School, where he graduated in 1861. 
He then returned to Fulton and began practice in partnership with Gen. John A. 
Hockaday, late attorney general of Missouri, and remained there until October 
1864, when he removed to Chicago. For one year he was associated with Norman 
C. Perkins, then for nearly a year with J. P. Clarkson, and then with Judge Lam- 
bert Tree from 1866 (in which year he was married) until Judge Tree was elected 
to the bench of the circuit court in 1870. Thereafter he formed a connection with 
John V. Lemoyne, which lasted for about three years, and from 1876 until 1878 he 
had associated with himself L. V. Ferris, and since that time A. W. Green. 

Mr. Robinson is a democrat, and has for years been actively identified with the 
workings of the democratic party. He represented Callaway county, Missouri, 
in the state legislature from 1861 to 1863, and was a director of the state lunatic 
asylum at Fulton, and curator of the State University at Columbia, Missouri. He 
was a delegate to the democratic national convention of 1864, held in Chicago, 
which nominated McClellan for President, and it was during that visit that he 



292 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

decided to remove thither. In 1875 Mr. Robinson was elected to the state senate 
from the seventh senatorial district of Illinois, and served in the 3oth and 315! 
general assemblies, and was president of the democratic state convention of 1878. 

Mr. Robinson has a large general civil practice. He is notable for good judg- 
ment and sagacity, and experience and skill in conducting business negotiations; 
for sound judicious counsel, and for a certain forcibleness in presenting cases to 
juries. 

As attorney of the town of Lake View he began and has conducted through all 
their stages to final success in the supreme court, the suits against the North 
Chicago City Railway Company, involving the question of the right of the muni- 
cipality to prohibit the use of steam motive power in streets. The validity of a 
slave marriage and the rights of inheritance of a child born of slave marriage 
were established in a case tried by Mr. Robinson, which was the first case of the 
kind in Illinois. He has been giving some attention to real estate investments 
with considerable success, and is a permanent resident of Lake View, and some- 
what actively identified with the municipal affairs of that suburb. 



HON. MASON B. LOOMIS. 

MASON B. LOOMIS was born in Harrisville township, Medina county, 
Ohio, in 1838. His father, Milo Loomis, was a tanner. His mo.ther's 
maiden name was Lucy Ann Greenly. Mason attended the village school until 
fifteen years of age. During his sixteenth year his father and mother died, leav- 
ing him to make his way in the world without parental care. Shortly after this 
he went to Oberlin College, Ohio, and from there came west, and was in differ- 
ent places clerking and bookkeeping until he was twenty-one years of age, when 
he returned to Ohio in 1859, and married Mary Ellen Ainsworth, a native of the 
same place he was. 

He commenced reading law in Wooster, Ohio, with Bliss and McSweeney. 
The latter, John McSweeney, is the noted criminal lawyer, and Mr. Bliss is also a 
noted lawyer in Ohio. During the spring of 1861 he was admitted to the bar 
and, returning to Illinois, settled in Kankakee in practice, remaining there until 
June, 1870, doing a successful business. During that time, .in the fall of 1868, he 
was elected state's attorney for the then twentieth judicial district, comprised of 
the counties of Livingston, Iroquois and Kankakee. He was elected for four 
years, but resigned the office and removed to Chicago in June, 1870, and became 
a member of the law firm of Runyan, Avery, Loomis and Comstock, in which con- 
nection he remained until January, 1874, when he withdrew and formed a part- 
nership with Hon. Charles H. Wood, late judge of the former twentieth judicial 
circuit, the partnership being continued until the fall of 1877, when he was 
elected county judge of Cook county for four years, and served five years, an 
amendment to the constitution of the state extending the term one year. His 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 293 

term expired in the fall of 1882, when he resumed practice in partnership with 
Mr. Needham, the firm being Needham and Loomis, which is already enjoying a 
good first-class practice. 

In his judicial capacity Mr. Loomis stood high in the esteem of the bar and 
the public as a conscientious, impartial and painstaking judge. He was studious, 
quick of apprehension, independent and upright, doing what he considers exact 
justice to those who come before him. He possesses the same qualities as a 
lawyer. He is a pleasant and genial gentleman, and held in high estimate by all 
who come in contact with him in any capacity. 



WALTER M. JA.CKSON. 

WALTER M. JACKSON was born in the city of Quebec, Canada, February 
2, 1847, and is the son of Alfred Jackson, who has been for many years 
one of the most prominent physicians in that city, where he still resides. His 
education was principally received in the common and grammar schools of Que- 
bec. In 1867 he removed to Chicago, and was engaged in mercantile pursuits up 
to the year 1877, when he commenced the study of law in the office of J. W. 
Bennett, and also at the Union College of Law, from which institution he gradu- 
ated. Continuing his studies up to 1881, he began the practice of his profession, 
opening an office in this city. He takes no active part in politics, and being 
an " independent," is not tied down by party lines. He is a young man of enter- 
prise, able and studious, and with his talents and attainments may take a promi- 
nent position in his profession. 



JOHN W. MARSH. 

JOHN W. MARSH was born in Woodstock, Vermont, in 1845, and is a son 
of Hon. Charles P. Marsh, a member of the late widely known firm of Wash- 
burn and Marsh, of that place. He was fitted for college under the influences of 
the excellent associations that surrounded his father, and entered Amherst Col- 
lege in the autumn of 1862. But in 1863 he left college and entered, as a private, 
the 3d Vermont battery, and served actively with it until the close of the war of 
the rebellion, during which time he was promoted successively to the ranks of 
ist sergeant and 2nd lieutenant. 

The battery joined the Army of the Potomac at the battle of the Wilderness, 
and served actively with that army until the close of the war, forming a part of 
the 9th, and afterward of the 6th corps. 

In one of the many engagements before Petersburgh, he was wounded by a 
shell while commanding a section of the battery. He was mustered out of ser- 
vice in June 1865, resumed his studies in Amherst College in 1866, and graduated 



294 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

therefrom in 1868. In his earlier life Mr. Marsh had familiarized himself with 
the principles of law in connection with his father's office and business, both 
by observation and a faithful improvement of his spare moments in study, and 
after graduating from college entered the office of Washburn and Marsh, as a 
a student, and in the year following, 1869, was admitted to the bar. He soon 
afterward went to Springfield, Vermont, and engaged in the practice of the law, 
and remained there until the autumn of 1870. During this period he was 
appointed secretary of civil and military affairs for Vermont, by Governors Wash- 
burn and Hendee. 

He was married October 9, 1872, to Miss Annie S. Porter, daughter of Hon. 
Frederick W. Porter, of Springfield, Vermont, and granddaughter of Judge Porter 
of that state. He began his professional career in Chicago in 1870, and in the 
spring of 1871 formed a partnership with L. H. Bisbee, with whom he continued 
until after the great fire of that year. He afterward formed a partnership with 
J. S. Grinnell, now city attorney of Chicago, which continued several years. 

Mr. Marsh being able to control a large amount of capital in the East and 
elsewhere, has for several years past, in connection with his law business, been 
engaged in loaning money on real estate securities, and is so engaged at the 
present date, 1883. He has established a large and successful business; is a gen- 
tleman of high character and integrity, and is much esteemed in social and busi- 
ness circles. 

LAWRENCE M. ENNIS. 

THE majority of mankind are imitators who follow the lead of others, because 
they lack the aggressive element which makes them originators. A man 
who possesses this element will naturally stem the tide instead of drifting with 
it, and thus, coming into collision with the masses, he produces commotion and 
becomes in his degree a leader. 

The subject of this sketch, a Chicagoan by birth, is a young man of marked 
ability, whose motto is a characteristic one : "In the bright lexicon of youth 
there is no such word as fail." 

Mr. Ennis was born November 3, 1859. His mother, also a native of Chicago, 
was Mary A. (Sexton) Ennis, and was of Irish descent, and his father, James Ennis, 
who was often known as the German-Irish lawyer, was one of the old practitioners 
of the Chicago bar, a native of Ireland, settling in Chicago in 1854. His career as a 
member of the fraternity is found elsewhere in this work. Lawrence received his 
early education in the public schools of Chicago, and from private instruction, 
when he continued the study of the languages, graduating from the high school 
July 27, 1877. Immediately after leaving school he entered his father's office and 
began the study of law, where he remained until the death of his father, Novem- 
ber 9, 1880. At this time, although but one week over age, he entered into part- 
nership with F. W. Walker, but a few years older than himself, and together 




J iyeOWill,.-., R. -JV 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 297 

they took immediate charge of his father's business, which was very large, and a 
great portion of which was among v the Germans, whose language Mr. Ennis 
speaks fluently. 

On November 16, 1880, young Ennis made application, and was examined 
before the appellate court. The judges, understanding the circumstances, gave 
him permission to practice until the convening of the supreme court January 12, 
"1881, when he was formally admitted as a member of the Illinois bar. Mr. Ennis 
succeeded in retaining his father's clients, and at once began the active duties 
of his profession, and although engaged in active litigation he did not try his first 
jury case until March 1881, when, before Judge Anthony, he had the opportunity 
to display his talents and ability, his address to the jury moving the entire panel 
to tears, and gaining his case. Mr. Ennis, being so young in appearance, was 
regarded by some as not a very dangerous antagonist, but during his first year at 
the bar, in which he tried over one hundred jury cases, and several in the supreme 
and appellate courts in which he was successful, he dispelled the opinions, and has 
proved that he is well qualified in his profession, although the youngest attorney 
in the state who has an active practice. Mr. Ennis favors advocacy and as an 
advocate wins his success; he is essentially a jury lawyer. His personal appear- 
ance is striking, he being six feet, one and one-half inches tall, having prominent 
features, indicative of his restless energy. On account of his power of observa- 
tion, his ability to discern the motives of men, and his unusual foresight since his 
boyhood, he has often been known among his comrades as Lynx Eyed Ennis, a 
nom de plume which he accepted, and he has written many articles over the signa- 
ture " Lynx Eye." 

Mr. Ennis, at the death of his father, was the oldest of ten orphans, six boys 
and four girls, his mother having died some year previous. This was a consider- 
able stimulant to his energies, as his father's estate, although large, was mostly 
unimproved property, yielding no income, and was not available without consid- 
erable trouble and delay, therefore Mr. Ennis has been obliged to be the support 
of the family ever since. 

In politics he is an active democrat. In June 1880, although not yet of age, he 
was called upon by the democratic state committee to stump the state, and during 
the campaign he made sixty-seven speeches for Hancock, English, and Trumbull, 
making an enviable record as a campaign orator, and was one of the original 
eighteen who organized the " Iroquois Club," a democratic social organization, 
well known throughout the Northwest. In October 1881 Mr. Ennis was tendered 
the nomination, as clerk of the criminal court of Cook county, by the democratic 
convention, which he peremptorily declined, wishing to devote his entire time 
and energy to his profession. 

Mr. Ennis is well known in the political, educational, military and social circles 

of Chicago. At the age of thirteen he entered a literary and debating society, 

and for eight years devoted himself to literary work, and was during that time 

the president of thirteen different literary societies in Chicago. He was the 

3' 



2Q8 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

organizer of the literary society in the north division high school and at various 
other institutions. Remembering his alma mater he sends a gold medal each year 
to the north division high school, to be awarded to the best essayist in the 
graduating class. It is known as the Ennis Essay Medal. 

Mr. Ennis while in the high school published a small daily manuscript paper, 
and after that became editor of the " Literary Review," a journal devoted to the 
Chicago literary societies, and has done much work in journalism. 

As a speaker Mr. Ennis is successful, being very enthusiastic and convincing, 
entering into his subject with his whole heart. During the campaign he was 
known as the boy orator of Chicago. 

His religion is Roman Catholic, and he is an active worker in the church of 
his faith. 

GEORGE SAWIN. 

THE subject of this biography is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and was 
born April 14, 1834. He is the fourth son of John and Charlotte (Lash) 
Sawin, the former of whom was of Scotch and the latter of Welsh ancestry. 
During his boyhood George attended school at Chelsea, Massachusetts, where 
his parents resided for many years, but subsequently graduated from an institu- 
tion of learning on Mayhew street in the city of Boston, under the instruction of 
William D. Swan. He was fond of study and reading, and early decided to 
enter the legal profession. Accordingly, after closing his studies in school, being 
then about eighteen years of age, he entered the law office of Samuel E. Guild 
and Hon. George S. Hilliard, both prominent at the Boston bar. He remained 
there for about two years, at the expiration of which time, and before being 
admitted to the bar, he was compelled, by reason of failing health, to abandon 
his studies for a time. He thereupon made an extensive trip through the south- 
ern and western states, and finally, in 1854, settled in Chicago, where he has since 
made his home. 

In 1855 Mr. Sawin accepted a position in the mercantile house of W. W. and 
L. H. Mills, as credit man for the states of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. In 
1856 he associated himself with Adam Carlyle in a real estate enterprise, and 
laid out the town of De Soto on the Mississippi river, in Bad-axe county, Wiscon- 
sin, where he invested all his possessions in a saw-mill, warehouse, ice house and 
other buildings and improvements. The prospect seemed most favorable at the 
opening, but the financial panic that swept over the country in 1857 proved dis- 
astrous to the enterprise, and involved Mr. Sawin in the loss of all that he pos- 
sessed. Returning to Chicago, he took a position in the dry goods house of 
Stacy and Thomas, which he held until 1859, when the firm went into liquida- 
tion, and he took a position in the postoffice at Chicago, under Hon. Isaac Cook, 
postmaster. Being on the night service, he had some time during each day for 
study. This he carefully employed in the law office of Hon. James P. Root, and 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 299 

by hard work completed his course of study, fitted himself for examination, and 
was admitted to practice in both the state -and federal courts. The opening of 
the war of the rebellion, however, deterred him from at once engaging in his 
profession. 

He enlisted in the 58th regiment 111. Vol. Inf., November i, 1860, and in the 
following February left Chicago for Ft. Henry as quartermaster of that regiment, 
and with the exception of a short time spent in Springfield, upon the reorganiza- 
tion of his regiment after being liberated from Libby prison, he was constantly 
in the field. He participated in many of the most important and bloody battles 
of the war, of which may be mentioned Shiloh, Corinth, Pleasant Hill and Nash- 
ville, serving a greater portion of the time on the staffs of Generals Smith, Mor- 
row, Dodge and Sweny. 

After the close of the war Mr. Sawin returned to Chicago and established 
himself in the practice of his profession, and has since continued it uninterrupt- 
edly, and achieved most satisfactory success. As a lawyer he is enterprising, able 
and upright, a careful and conscientious counselor and adviser, a good advocate 
and an honor to the profession. As a business man he enjoys the confidence of 
all with whom he has to deal, and for upright, manly dealing bears a character 
above reproach. He possesses a vigorous and robust body, and with his fine 
mental attainments and unspotted record may confidently and hopefully look 
forward to future achievements. 

Mr. Sawin was married in 1855 to a most estimable lady, Miss Carrie L. Rust, 
daughter of Elijah C. Rust, of Jamesville, Onondaga county, New York. 



CHARLES ARND. 

/^~*HARLES ARND was born at Bernhard's Bay, Oneida county, New York ; 
V_^ on the 26th day of January, 1855. His father, B. Frederick Arnd, and his 
mother, Caroline (Baxter) Arnd, are of German origin, their ancestry dating back 
about three hundred years. His father took an active part in the service during 
the late civil war, and his immediate ancestors have held prominent public posi- 
tions in science, literature and theology; a grand uncle was abbe in Germany, 
another was professor of Astronomy, Mineralogy and Botany, and another was 
architect of the palaces constructed for the Prince of Hesse, and Edward Arnd, 
the author of the continuation of Becker's History of the World, from 1815 to 
the present, being a distant relative. 

Charles received his early educational training at Bath, Steuben county, New 
York, and after being fully prepared, entered Amherst College, Massachusetts, 
and pursuing a full course of studies, graduated with honor, but having a 
thirst for knowledge which carried him beyond these acquirements, he traveled 
abroad throughout Europe, and from the universities of Berlin, Heidelberg and 
Paris, gleaned what he could from the lectures on law, history and languages. 



T.OO THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

\J 

Returning to America, he continued for a time the study of law in the office of 
McMaster and Parkhurst, in Bath, New York, but Charles, seeing the superior 
advantages offered in Chicago, removed to the West in November, 1877, and pur- 
sued a course of study with Hon. William H. King, and Thompson and Bishop, 
and was admitted as a member of the bar in April, 1878, and practiced with suc- 
cess until December, 1880, when he was appointed justice of the peace of North 
Chicago. Having obtained a great many friends, he became a member of the 
young men's auxiliary club, and was elected secretary of the same, in the fall of 
1879. He assisted in the organization of the Zach Chandler mass meeting, held 
in Chicago on the night previous to Mr. Chandler's death, and in the organiza- 
tion of public mass meetings, held during the Garfield campaign, and was dele- 
gate from the eighteenth ward of Chicago to the Farwell Hall presidential con- 
vention during the Garfield campaign. His learning and experience have fully 
equipped him for the active duties of the position which he now occupies as jus- 
tice of the peace, and a member of the Chicago bar. 



COL. JOHN W. BENNETT. 

JOHN WESLEY BENNETT was born in Westmoreland, New Hampshire, in 
the year 1837. His father, Rev. John G. Bennett, was a teacher in the semi- 
nary at Newbury, Vermont, and one of the old circuit preachers of the Methodist 
church. Col. Bennett is the oldest of a large family of children, and when quite 
young he went to live with Judge Jackson, who owned and conducted a large 
farm in Cornish, New Hampshire, and was judge of the district court there. 
While with him John worked on the farm and in a saw mill, etc. In his youth he 
evinced the possession of will-power, self-reliance, independence and decision of 
character. He is essentially self-educated. Later while working on the farm he was 
studious as well as industrious; it was his custom to study from four to six o'clock 
in the morning, work until six in the evening, during the summer season, and 
continue his study and reading until nine in the evening, when he retired, and in 
the morning resumed the same routine for the next day. By this course were devel- 
oped both mind and body. Later he attended the academy of Meriden, New 
Hampshire, at West Brattleboro, and at Newbury, Vermont, and was among the 
best scholars in his classes. He was fitted to enter the sophomore class in any 
college. Being the oldest of a large family, he determined to, and did make his 
way without material assistance from any source. He engaged in teaching school 
and at the same time continued the work of self-improvement. He was not only 
a student of books but of men and things, and laid up a fund of practical and 
useful knowledge, such as he could not have obtained in the colleges, so far as 
practical knowledge is concerned. He was a young man of studious habits, and 
energetic, with firmness and stability of character, as a foundation upon which to 
build. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 30! 

At the outbreak of the war he was among the first to offer himself in the three 
months' service, but was not accepted because of an injury he had sustained in his 
right foot. He was disappointed but not discouraged, and was determined to 
get into the service and believed he would succeed, as he had heretofore suc- 
ceeded in accomplishing what he had determined upon. Hearing of a recruiting 
officer for the cavalry near Bradford, Vermont, he, with three other young men 
went there and was accepted. Being an entire stranger to the remainder of those 
who had enlisted in the same company, he could not expect to get a commission, 
made no effort to that end, but he drilled a squad of men, and made so favorable 
an impression on his comrades that he was unanimously elected first lieutenant of 
Co. D. When a regiment was filled and organized it was mustered as the ist Vt. 
Cavalry, and ordered to Annapolis for drill, where it remained several months, 
during which time Gen. John P. Hatch, commanding the brigade, appointed him, 
unsolicited on Lieut. Bennett's part, brigade-quartermaster, commissary and aide- 
de-camp on his personal staff. He performed all of his duties in an efficient and 
satisfactory manner, and when he rendered his final accounts, preparatory to tak- 
ing the field, they, were found correct to a cent. He had had no previous experience 
in these capacities, hence the appointment and the outcome were decidedly cred- 
itable to the young soldier, and indicated the estimate in which he was held by 
the commanding officer. Gen. Hatch was then ordered to join McClellan (Ben- 
nett remaining on his personal staff as aide-de-camp), which he did, but was 
immediately afterward ordered to join Banks in the Shenandoah Valley, and his 
command then participated in the disastrous retreat down the valley. He served 
on Hatch's staff until that officer was succeeded by Gen. John Buford, and con- 
tinued to serve on the staff of the latter. He was soon promoted to the rank of 
captain, and later to major, when at his own request, he rejoined his regiment, 
marched with it to Gettysburg, was attached to Kilpatrick's command, and partici- 
pated in fifteen battles in sixteen days, in that memorable campaign. Subse- 
quently he was in the battles of the Wilderness, where he was wounded, and with 
Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, in all which he exhibited bravery, gallantry, 
cool and calculating daring, and, above all, strategy in the way of accomplishing 
what he was commissioned to, with the smallest possible loss of men and material. 
He had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and was in command of his regiment 
when, with five hundred men, he made the brilliant advance cavalry charge at Cedar 
Creek, capturing forty-five rebel artillery pieces, the largest capture of artillery 
by that number of men, in a single charge, of which history gives any account. 
He won and received from his superiors much of the credit and many of the 
honors attached to that decisive blow in the final engagement which resulted in 
the checking of the rebel movements and the final overthrow of the cause in that 
valley. It was thought by his friends that his brilliant and successful achieve- 
ments there entitled him to a brigadiership. 

In the latter part of 1864 he returned to Vermont and took command of the 
Canada frontier, after the rebel raid, with headquarters at St. Albans; he was 



3O2 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

subsequently mustered out of service, leaving in history a record any one could 
justly be proud of. He was in most of the great engagements of the eastern 
army; was under fire over one hundred times. When mustered out he returned 
to Brattleboro, Vermont, and resumed his law studies with Field and Tyler, one 
of the ablest law firms in the state, the latter having been representative in con- 
gress for two or three terms. After he had been examined and passed, he went 
to the Albany Law School to get the general advantages that school affords, and 
graduated in 1867, and came west in the fall of that year. After traveling for a 
time he settled at Chicago, in practice, and has been there ever since, doing a 
successful business. Having a thorough knowledge of law and its bearing upon 
facts and conditions, he makes an able and reliable counselor; painstaking and 
sedulous in forming an opinion in the case presented by his client. He is a man 
of thorough integrity, entirely responsible as a lawyer, a man, or in a commercial 
sense. He has been engaged in many important cases, and always to his credit. 

In politics he is an active republican, and takes part in the more important 
campaigns. His friends put his name forward for congressman and came very 
near securing his nomination, and he has often been urged to allow the use of his 
name for different positions, but has persistently declined, as his business requires 
his entire time, though he has accepted positions of trust, which did not materially 
interfere with it. He is a forcible and interesting public speaker, and his voice is 
often heard when important issues arise. 

In 1870 he married Harriet E. Frink, youngest daughter of the late John 
Frink, well known in the West as the Vanderbilt of the stage business in the time 
of stages. Mr. Bennett is one of Chicago's best citizens, and a gentleman of 
many excellent qualities. 

HENRY W. CLARKE. 

HENRY W. CLARKE was born at Whitestown, Oneida county, New York, 
March 15, 1815. His father, Dr. Henry Clarke, was a surgeon in the army, 
during the war of 1812, and on retiring from the army settled in Otsego county, 
New York, and practiced medicine and surgery. He was a skillful physician and 
surgeon, and a warm-hearted, genial man, and died in 1853 at the age of sixty 
years, having risen to considerable distinction in the medical profession. 

Henry W. attended the academy at Bridgewater, New York, and in 1829 
entered Oneida Institute, where he graduated in 1832. In May of the same year, 
he began reading law in the office of George C. Clyde, at Burlington, New York, 
and afterward, for two years was a student in the office of the distinguished Judge 
Gridley, judge of the fifth circuit of New York, and was admitted to the bar of 
the supreme court of New York, in July 1836. He began practice in Herkimer, 
New York, as a partner of Judge Aaron W. Hackley, ex-member of congress, 
which partnership continued until June, 1838, when Mr. Clarke removed to Chi- 
cago, where he has been engaged in the practice of his profession to the present 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 303 

time. He is a man of ability, and high standing in the community ; is genial and 
social in his manners, and scholarly in his tastes. 

Mr. Clarke was city attorney of Chicago for two terms. In politics he is a 
republican, and has been for many years a member of the Methodist church. He 
married, in 1839, Miss Harriet R. Crumb, daughter of Silas Crumb, of Otsego 
county, New York, and has two children living: Frederick W. Clarke, a merchant 
in Chicago, and a daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Underhill. 



HERBERT B. JOHNSON. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in Kendall, Orleans county, New York, 
September 5, 1844, and is the son of Dr. Caleb C. Johnson, a well known 
physician and surgeon of forty years' practice in western New York and Hills- 
dale, Michigan, and a son of one of the pioneers of western New York. The 
mother of Herbert B. was Julia, daughter of Capt. Henry W. Bates, also one of 
the pioneers of western New York. Both parents were descended from New 
England ancestry. 

Herbert entered Genesee Seminary, at Lima, New York, at an early age, and 
in 1867 graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York. He then spent 
two years as principal of the Lowell, Michigan, union school. Later he pursued 
a course of study at the Albany Law School, entering in 1869, and upon his grad- 
uation therefrom, in June, 1870, removed to Chicago. In 1874 he received the 
honorary degree of A.M. from Hillsdale College, Michigan. At the time of the 
great fire, in 1871, Mr. Johnson was in partnership with the late Col. R. W. Ric- 
aby, and suffered a considerable loss in that disaster. Since 1872 he has been in 
the successful practice of his profession by himself. He has conducted many 
important cases, involving interesting questions of law, and established a fine 
reputation as a careful, able lawyer. Mr. Johnson is a man of sound, practical 
judgment, well read in his profession, and discriminating in his practice. 



ISAAC HARWOOD PEDRICK. 

THE subject of this sketch is a son of Richard and Susanna B. Pedrick, and 
was born January 10, 1845, at Richmond, Indiana. His ancestors were of 
the Society of Friends or Quakers, for more than two hundred years, and of the 
Puritan order. Soon after the restoration, they took proprietary grants, the 
deeds of which Mr. Pedrick now has, for lands in New Jersey, then called Nova 
Cesarea. They left London, England, and settled in 1672 on the left bank of the 
Delaware, nearly opposite Wilmington, State of Delaware, where some of the 
family are now living. Roger Pedrick or Peddrick, as the name was then 
spelled, was a dissenter, whose views and estimates respecting the value of civil 



304 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

and religious liberty, caused him and his family, as history states, to immigrate 
to America. His house having been burned soon after its erection, he lived 
opposite for a while, on the right bank of the Delaware River. While there he 
was a member of the first grand jury assembled in Pennsylvania, and his daugh- 
ter, Hannah (according to Smith's history of Delaware county), was the first child 
born of English parents in that state. 

Isaac H. Pedrick was educated at the University of Michigan, and was gradu- 
ated in the year 1870. He then commenced the practice of law in Chicago, and 
has remained here ever since. He was first led to take an interest in the study of 
law as a profession, when he was eleven years old, through hearing a speech 
delivered by Salmon P. Chase, at Richmond, Indiana, during the celebrated polit- 
ical campaign of 1856. 

In November, 1882, he entered into partnership with George E. Dawson, 
under the present firm name of Pedrick and Dawson, their specialties being real 
estate law and commercial law. In these branches both have attained much dis- 
tinction and success, through faithful and close application to the trusts commit- 
ted to their charge, and though a comparatively young firm, their prospects for 
a long and successful career are most promising. In politics Mr. Pedrick is a 
republican, but does not take any very active part beyond voting regularly with 
his party. His religious proclivities are Congregational, but he is considered 
very liberal in his views. In manner and speech he is somewhat retiring, and is 
universally esteemed and appreciated by all who have the pleasure of his 
acquaintance, for his many amiable and social qualities. 



CHARLES S. CUTTING. 

THE subject of this sketch was born at Highgate, Vermont, March i, 1854, 
the son of Charles A. Cutting, a hotel keeper, and Laura E. (Averill) Cutting, 
daughter of a member of the legislature in that state. When Charles was nine 
years old, his parents removed to Maquoketa, Jackson county. Iowa, thence to 
Sterling, Illinois, and from there to Hastings, Minnesota, where he attended high 
school five years. He then removed to Salem, Oregon, and attended college at 
Willamette until the junior year. Being then but seventeen years of age, he was 
made assistant editor of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, "Times," in which capacity he 
acquired considerable celebrity as a writer. After continuing in this employment 
a year and a half, he was elected principal of the Palatine public schools in Cook 
county, Illinois, a position which he held six years. During this time and after- 
ward, he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1878. Immediately there- 
after he began the practice of his profession in connection with R. S. Williamson, 
continuing until the fall of 1880, when Judge Williamson was elected to the 
bench of the superior court of Cook county, and he formed a partnership with 
A. N. Tagert, his present partner, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 305 

Mr. Cutting is a very thorough lawyer for a man of his years, and a gentle- 
man who is liberal and sociable among his associates. Careful and accurate in 
all of his business transactions, he is a safe counselor, and a confiding and true 
friend. In political sentiments Mr. Cutting is a republican. He was married 
June 27, 1876, to Miss Annie E. Lytle, and has by her one child. He resides in 
Palatine, Illinois. 

CHESTER KINNEY. 

HESTER KINNEY was born July 15, 1827, in Onondaga county, New York. 
His father, Ethel P. Kinney, a well known ship-builder in New York and 
Canada, and his mother, Lavinia (Porter) Kinney, were well known citizens of 
different portions of the state. Chester received a thorough education. He pur- 
sued his preliminary and preparatory studies at Clinton Liberal Institute, Oneida 
county, and Fally Seminary, Oswego county, and afterward entered Hamilton 
College one year in advance, and graduated at the end of a three years' course, 
when he was twenty-three years of age. After leaving college he taught school 
for four years in Liverpool and Baldwinsville, small towns in central New York, 
and at the same time studied law with Noxon, Leavenworth and Comstock, of 
Syracuse, and was admitted to the bar of New York state January 2, 1854. Mr. 
Kinney began the duties of his profession in Syracuse, and remained there three 
years, at the end of which time, in 1857, he removed to Middleport, then a small 
town in Iroquois county, Illinois, which is now known as Watseka. Here he prac- 
ticed with success for eight years. In 1865 he moved to Chicago, and has since 
been an active member of the Chicago bar. 

March 26, 1857, Mr. Kinney married Miss Louisa L. Spencer, daughter of Col. 
J. C. Spencer, and niece of Judge John C. Spencer, both well known citizens of 
Syracuse. Mr. Kinney has given his entire attention to his profession, and enjoys 
a good, profitable business, and is a well known member of the legal fraternity. 



DANIEL C. NICHOLES. 

DANIEL C. NICHOLES was born March 17, 1817, in Caldwell, Warren county, 
New York, at the head of Lake George, and is a son of Daniel and Dianthe 
(Hawley) Nicholas. After completing his preliminary studies he fitted for college 
at Wyoming village, Wyoming county, New York, and afterward completed a full 
classical course at Union College, Schenectady, and graduated with honors from 
that institution. He studied law two years while in college, and continued the 
same one year after graduating, and was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1847 
at Ithaca, New York. Immediately thereafter he established himself in business 
at that place, and there remained, meeting with good success, until July 3, 1848. 
Having determined to settle in the West he closed his affairs, and removing to 
32 



306 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Chicago, formed a partnership with his brother, Ira J. Nicholas, which was con- 
tinued until 1854. During the succeeding two years he was associated in business 
with John T. Wentworth, now a circuit judge on the bench in Wisconsin. From 
1856 to 1861 he was connected with William McKinley, under the firm name of 
Nicholes and McKinley, after which he was again associated with his brother 
under the style of D. C. and I. J. Nicholes. This firm existed until 1857, when 
Thomas Morrison was taken into the business. After the great fire of 1871 
Mr. McKinley became again connected with the business, and the name of the 
firm was changed to Nicholes, McKinley and Morrison, and so remained until 
1875, when D. C. Nicholes withdrew and formed the partnership with his son, C. 
W. Nicholes, which still exists. From 1857 to 1867 the attention of the firm 
was devoted entirely to law practice, but during the remainder of the time 
referred to the business has pertained especially to real-estate matters and to 
loans. This firm was financially successful, and has been identified with the 
growth and prosperity of Chicago. D. C. and I. J. Nicholes founded the town of 
Englewood in 1852, and the prosperity, rapid growth and development of that 
suburb is due largely to the liberality and enterprise and business sagacity of 
these gentlemen. 

Mr. D. C. Nicholes is a man of profound learning, sound practical judgment 
and business sagacity, and well merits the reputation which, throughout his long, 
active and eventful life, he has sustained for honorable, upright and conscientious 
fair dealing. He is one of Chicago's honorable and honored business men, well 
deserving that esteem and respect universally accorded him. 



CHARLES W. NICHOLES. 

THE subject of this sketch is junior member of the law firm of D. C. and C. W. 
Nicholes, combining the benefits derived from association in the extensive 
business heretofore conducted by his father and the polish and culture afforded 
by a thorough classical education, together with fine native endowments, a genial 
temperament and a high sense of honor, he is at once a good lawyer, a conscien- 
tious and successful business man, a high-minded gentleman and a generous, 
whole-souled companion. He is the son of Daniel C. Nicholes, and was born in 
Chicago, December 17, 1853. 

After passing the public schools of Chicago he prepared for and entered the 
University of Chicago, and graduated from that institution with the class of 1875. 
In college he not only maintained a high standard of scholarship, but among his 
classmates and college companions was known for his genial, jovial disposition, 
his courteous, amiable manners, and general good-fellowship, as an evidence of 
which it need but be stated that he was honored by an election to the Psi Upsilon 
Fraternity. Having early determined to enter the legal profession, he pursued a 
course of study in the Union College of Law, at Chicago, being at the same time 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 307 

associated with his father in business, and after graduating in June, 1877, passed 
a rigid examination before the supreme court at Ottawa, Illinois, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar of the state. 

Although well read in the various branches of the law Mr. Nicholes, since 
engaging in practice, has devoted his principal attention to real-estate matters 
and loans. He is a young man of careful and close business habits, and in what- 
ever he engages is characterized by fairness, frankness and unswerving integrity, 
and with his liberal culture, temperate habits and practical views, together with 
an ability to apply himself to hard work, cannot but realize his most cherished 
expectations. 

LEVI M. COMSTOCK. 

EIVI M. COMSTOCK was born February i, 1832, in Mayville, Chautauqua 
county, New York, and is the son of Jedediah and Harriet (Miller) Corn- 
stock. He was left an orphan at the tender age of two years. He received his 
early education in the common schools of Chautauqua, but when sixteen years of 
age went to the town of Troy, Ohio, and worked as a cabinet maker and^carpenter, 
and thus obtained means with which he paid his way at the select schools, Free- 
dom and Benton academies, where he prosecuted his studies about four years. 
In 1851 he borrowed books of William O. Forrest, and commenced the study 
of the law, and during the same year became a law student in the office of 
Hon. Ceberry Ford, at Burton, Ohio. In the fall of 1852 he went to Allegan, 
Michigan, where, seven years later, in 1859, he was admitted to the bar. Thence 
he went to Ottawa county, Michigan, and practiced law three years, after which 
he went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and practiced law until the spring of 1882, 
when he moved to Chicago, and on June 15, following, was licensed by the 
Illinois supreme court to practice in all of the courts of the state. Mr. Comstock 
is the author of a work on mechanic's liens, published in Milwaukee in 1878; he 
is now (1883) engaged on a work on the same subject, designed to be a complete 
work on the laws and practice in the United States, and to contain a complete 
digest of the American law on the subject. Mr. Comstock is a clear and concise 
writer, and possesses a happy faculty of citing cases, peculiarly and forcibly to 
his subject. He is also something of a journalist, and has been a correspondent 
for some of the leading journals. He has seldom given his attention to politics, 
and has always refused to allow his name to be used in that connection with a 
single exception. In the year 1862 he was prevailed upon to accept the office of 
school inspector at Allegan, Michigan, and held that position one term, giving 
universal satisfaction. He is very liberal in his religious views, and is inclined to 
the Episcopal forms and service. 

He was married in June 1853, to Miss Lydia G. Miller and has by her five 
children, three of whom are living. His son, Clayton E., now twenty-three 
years of age, was educated in Michigan, and learned the printer's trade. He 



308 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

went to the Rocky mountains in 1880 and formed the acquaintance of and mar- 
ried a beautiful young lady, an heiress, who was born and raised in the Rocky 
mountains, and the one thing remarkable about the matter is she has not yet ven- 
tured to leave her mountain home. Mr. Comstock's daughter married William 
H. Willard, who, together with his son Clayton and wife, own a joint one-third 
interest in the celebrated Willard-Burgess-Comstock group of five mines near 
Breckinridge, Colorado, said to be among the richest mines in that state. His 
son, G. O. Comstock, sixteen years of age, attended school at Grand Haven, Michi- 
gan, eight years, and has since graduated from the Spencerian Business College 
of Milwaukee, and is now acting as clerk in the office of his father in Chicago. 



D. HARRY HAMMER. 

THE subject of this biography is a native of Springfield, Illinois, and was 
born December 23, 1840; the son of John Hammer and Eliza (Witner) 
Hammer. His parents settled at Springfield in 1837, the father having formerly 
been a merchant and manufacturer at Hagerstown, Maryland. The mother was 
a native of Maryland, and a daughter of John Witmer, a soldier of the war of 
1812. In 1842, when Harry was about two years old, his family removed to Ogle 
county, and there he passed his boyhood and youth in attending the district 
schools, and in the ordinary routine of a farmer boy's life, and also during this 
period of his life learned the harness and saddlery trade, and during several win- 
ters employed his time in teaching. Possessed of a native taste for study and 
literary culture, he made the best use of his time, and at the age of seventeen 
began a course of study in the Rock River Seminary, at Mount Morris, Illinois. 
After graduating from that institution, having determined to devote himself to 
the legal profession, he pursued a course of study in the law department of Mich- 
igan University, graduating in the class of 1865. He afterward spent some time 
traveling through the several western and northern states, and finally established 
himself for the practice of his profession at St. Louis, Missouri. Owing, however, 
to the unsettled state of affairs after the close of the war, he met with little success, 
and conseqently abandoned the law and began work at his trade. He continued 
thus employed until the following year, when he was compelled to leave St. Louis 
by reason of the cholera epidemic. 

About this time Mr. Hammer formed the acquaintance of Benj. F. Taylor, of 
the Chicago " Evening Journal," who was lecturing through the West, and- fol- 
lowing his advice, removed to Chicago and resumed his profession. The move 
was a most happy one, and marked the turning point in his life. Entering with 
all the vigor of his young manhood into the work of his profession, with a deter- 
mined purpose to succeed, he soon made for himself a name at the Chicago bar, 
and built up an extensive and lucrative practice. 

In 1879 Mr. Hammer was appointed, by Gov. Shelby M. Cullom, one of the 




H.C.CoQperJr t CD. 




E.PI; by F. WiJIum-j tBro NY 



THE BENCH AND BAR Of CHICAGO. "MI 

*J 

justices of the peace for the city of Chicago, for a term of four years, and in 
1883 he was reappointed by Gov. John M. Hamilton for another term. The office 
is one to which he is well adapted, both by his judicial mind and his practical 
knowledge of the law, and to these, together with his great popularity, may be 
attributed his almost unparalleled success, he having, since his appointment, dis- 
posed of about four thousand cases each year. Aside from his professional 
duties, Mr. Hammer has always kept himself well posted on matters of public 
interest, and besides being an able and successful lawyer, has always been known 
as an enterprising and public spirited man. 

He is a gentleman of cultivated tastes and fine literary attainments, and takes 
an active part in all movements tending to advance the interests of art and lite- 
rary culture in the community where he resides. His private library, comprising 
some five thousand volumes, is one of the finest and most select collections of 
books in the city of Chicago. 

In political sentiment Mr. Hammer is and always has been a republican. He 
is married to Emma L. Carpenter, of Athens, Ohio, and has two daughters, 
Maude, aged sixteen years, and Hazel Harry, born July 4, 1881. Although he 
has scarcely reached the meridian of life, Mr. Hammer has accumulated an ample 
fortune, and lives in the enjoyment of all the comforts of a happy and cheerful 
home. Domestic in his habits, and social in his tastes, he is a most genial com- 
panion, and in nothing takes more delight than in dispensing to his many friends^ 
a generous hospitality. 

Mr. Hammer is an active member of Chevalier Bayard Commandery of Knights 
Templar, and other societies. He is also a member of the Calumet and Union 
League Clubs, of Chicago. 



SAMUEL A. FRENCH. 

SAMUEL A. FRENCH was born in Steuben county, New York, April 8, 1832, 
and is a son of Joshua French, one of a family of considerable prominence in 
the state of New York. He first attended school in the public school of his 
native county, and his father having moved to Illinois in 1844, he two years later 
entered the high school at Jackson, Michigan. In 1847 he left school, and began 
clerking for M. P. Potter of Algonquin, McHenry county, Illinois, where he 
remained until 1854, when he went into business for himself with Luther Kim- 
ball, opening a general store at Algonquin. He remained in business there until 
1867, when he removed to Elgin, Illinois, and engaged extensively in business, 
his operations extending to the states of Iowa and Michigan. In 1871 he sold out 
his entire business and removed to Chicago. In Chicago, Mr. French entered into 
the wholesale paint and oil business with Thomas Todd, under style of French 
and Todd. In 1875 he retired from business and began the study of law with 
Rogers and Appleton, and was admitted to the bar in 1878, and began practice at 



312 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

once, as a member of the firm of Decker and French. This firm dissolved July i, 
1881. Since then he has been alone. Although comparatively brief, his profes- 
sional career has been reasonably successful, and he has evidenced good legal 
talent, and an ability to take a prominent position among his professional breth- 
ren. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, having organized 
several very prominent lodges in this state, and organized and was for two years 
commander of Bethel Commandery, No. 36, Knights Templar. He also, in 1861, 
enlisted and equipped, at his own expense, a company of the i5th 111. Inf. for the 
war, but was prevented by press of business from accompanying them. 



MILTON R. FRESHWATERS. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in Brooke county, Virginia, in 1844. His 
father, George Freshwaters, was a member of one of the oldest families in 
that part of the state, the family having settled there early in the eighteenth cen- 
tury. Having received his primary education at Allegheny College, at Meadville, 
Pennsylvania, and at Hopedale Seminary in Ohio, Milton entered Bethany Col- 
lege, in the junior class, in 1864, and graduated in 1866. He at once began the 
study of law in the office of Joseph Pendleton, at Wheeling, West Virginia, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1869. He began practice in Wheeling, forming a part- 
nership with Nathaniel Richardson, a prominent criminal lawyer, which partner- 
ship was six months later dissolved, on account of the election of Mr. Freshwaters 
to the office of state's attorney, of Brooke county, which office he held for two 
years. He was also elected county superintendent of education. In 1872 he 
removed to Chicago and opened an office, and eschewing politics, has devoted 
himself entirely to his profession. 



WILL H. MOORE. 

WILL H. MOORE, one of the active younger members of the Chicago bar, 
was born at Buena Vista, Ohio, November 28, 1850. His parents were 
Charles W. and Sallie Moore. His mother was the daughter of Jacob Traber and 
the sister of a notable family of brothers, five of whom are merchants, two prac- 
ticing attorneys, and one a circuit judge in Ohio. From this branch of his 
ancestry Mr. Moore inherited his personal characteristics, the most prominent of 
which are, energy, quick perception, a tendency to the practical and business 
ability as distinguished from the scholar or philosophical thinker. 

His first six years were spent in tin Ohio village, and the next ten on a fron- 
tier farm in western Illinois, near excellent schools, which he attended during 
the^winter months, and so availed himself of such advantage that his seventeenth 
and eighteenth years were spent in teaching, mostly in charge of a department 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CfffCAGO. 313 

of the Keithsburg, Illinois, schools, he having been granted one of the only seven 
first-grade teachers' diplomas issued in that populous and intelligent county. 

He then began a college course of study, but by reason of financial inability 
was compelled to forego a full classical education and graduating honors. Dur- 
ing the two years after leaving school, spent in a Davenport, Iowa, store as 
bookkeeper and in the county recorder's office, he strove to quiet his strong 
desire to enter the legal profession, but read elementary legal works and became 
familiar with laws of conveyancing. His judgment and plans tended toward a 
business career, and his idea was that as a lawyer any business talent he might 
have or develop would be lost. But with experience and observation his ideas 
radically changed and he idealized a lawyer, who by natural disposition and 
actual experience, with study, should combine legal learning and business 
ability; a lawyer competent to advise, not only as to the law, but as to policy and 
business advantage; not only to win a case in court, but in negotiation, investi- 
gation and honorable strategy, an expert. He became also a believer in " special- 
ist " lawyers, who, while being generally intelligent in legal learning, might be 
thorough masters of some special branch thereof. Deciding finally, at the age of 
twenty-one, to try and attain, in some degree, his ideal and to specially devote 
himself to a thorough study of the law of realty, and qualify himself as an 
expert adviser in all that pertains to real estate, he removed to Chicago without 
money or acquaintances, and set about the prosecution of his plans. He at once 
entered the office of an extensive and prosperous dealer in real estate, where, 
during three years while continuing his studies, he enjoyed the business experi- 
ence and contact his plans required, and proved an adroit and successful mana- 
ger of his employer's and others' large interests. He then entered the law 
office of Fuller and Smith, and for three years received the benefit of their 
counsel, and a limited participation in their large practice, since which time 
alone, year by year, Mr. Moore has not only more nearly realized his ideal as a 
lawyer, but has had his labors liberally rewarded by an extensive clientage. 

He is not a litigious lawyer and takes few of his clients into court, and can- 
not be classed as a proficient trial lawyer or technical pleader, but as a negotia- 
tor of settlements of complicated issues, his activity, alertness and knowledge of 
human nature have enabled him to become an adept. As a counselor, his advice 
is practical and generally covers the case both as to the law and policy. 

His principal study, advice and practice pertain to real estate titles and pro- 
ceedings in regard thereto, and also in the values of Chicago real estate, present 
and future, he is unusually well posted. 

He sinks professional pride before business success and his clients' welfare, 
and often openly employs for his clients other attorneys, expert in the special 
line required. He is an ardent and consistent advocate of professional courtesy, 
especially in the trial of a cause. In national politics he is a republican, but on 
local issues votes for men instead of party. He takes no active part in politics 
except always to vote. He was married in 1875 to Miss Fannie Curtis, of Chi- 



314 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

cago, and his delightful home life seems to be the height of his social ambition. 
He has a taste for rural life and spends his non professional hours in his attrac- 
tive and semi-rural home on the Grand Boulevard, and his vacations on his cattle 
farm in southwestern Nebraska. 



RICHARD WATERMAN. 

ICHARD WATERMAN was born in Providence, Rhode Island, January 20, 
_L\. 1841. His father's name is Rufus Waterman; his mother was Elizabeth 
B. (Greene) Waterman, now deceased. She was a descendant of the distinguished 
Greene family of Potowhomut Manor, in Warwick, Rhode Island. This estate 
was bought from the Indians in 1736 by James Greene, who came to this country 
with Roger Williams, and was the ancestor, on the mother's side, of the subject of 
this sketch. Between 17^0 and 1770 he built the homestead on the property, 
which still stands, and is occupied by the family. Gen. Nathaniel Greene, of rev- 
olutionary fame, was the great-uncle of Richard Waterman, and Col. Christopher 
Greene, also of the revolution, was his grandfather. His great-grandfather mar- 
ried a niece of Benjamin Franklin. His ancestor, Col. Richard Waterman, on 
his father's side, was also one of the Roger Williams colony. The old homestead 
of the Waterman family, which originally adjoined the burying ground, on the 
site of which the family monument now stands, in the heart of the city of Provi- 
dence, on the corner of Waterman and Benefit streets, is still standing. It will 
be seen that Richard was descended on both sides, from old and notable New 
England families. 

He was educated in New England ; in 1853-4 was a student in Phillips Acad- 
emy at Andover, Massachusetts, and in 1855-8 was in Lyon Brothers' school in 
Providence. In the fall of 1858 he entered Williams College, remained one year, 
and in the fall of 1859 entered Brown University, where he remained until April 
1 6, 1 86 1, when the war broke out, and Gov. William Sprague, having tendered 
the government one thousand infantry and a company of artillery for immediate 
service, called for volunteers. Mr. Waterman was among the first to enlist as a 
private in the ist R. I. Inf., under Col. (later Maj.-Gen.) Ambrose E. Burnside. 
A full regiment was enlisted in forty -eight hours, equipped and started for Wash- 
ington within a week's time. Having enlisted for three months only, the time 
expired just before the first Bull Run battle, but the regiment remained in the 
service, and participated in that battle, and did good fighting. In September, 
following, he again offered his services to the government, and was appointed first 
lieutenant in the ist New England Cavalry, and detailed in the recruiting ser- 
vice. The regiment was soon filled up, changed to ist R. I. Cavalry, mustered in 
December 14, 1861, commanded by Col. R. B. Lawton, and the following year by 
Col. A. N. Duffie, and served as independent cavalry in the Pope campaign in 
1862, aiding in covering the retreat of our army at the second Bull Run fight. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. -MS 

\J J 

His regiment took a prominent part at Cedar Mountain, Groveton and Chantilly. 
On December 5, following, he resigned on account of a long and severe attack of 
typhoid fever, and left the service. 

In May, 1863, he went to California, and engaged in farming to recruit his 
health; remained there until the fall of 1864, when he returned home; he entered 
the Harvard Law School in the spring of 1865, from which he graduated in 1867, 
and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in Boston; was subsequently employed for 
eighteen months in the law office of Brooks and Ball, prominent lawyers in Bos- 
ton. In the fall of 1868 he moved to Chicago, and spent six months in the law 
office of J. L. Stark, when he was admitted to the Illinois bar, and commenced 
practice. In April, 1870, he formed a partnership with Henry I. Sheldon, under 
the firm name of Sheldon and Waterman. This firm was dissolved December i, 
1877, since which time Mr. Waterman has been alone in practice. He is a general 
practitioner, but gives much attention to real estate business. He is regarded as 
a faithful and reliable attorney, and a conscientious, upright man. June 21, 1865, 
he married Virginia P. Rhodes, of Providence, Rhode Island. Of the three chil- 
dren that have been born to them, two are living. 



GEORGE A. HAWLEY. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in Rochester, New York, in 1848. His 
father, Capt. Charles E. Hawley, was proprietor of canal boats on the Erie 
canal. When George was about a year old, his father moved with his family to 
Michigan, and engaged in farming. There the boy lived and worked on the 
farm until 1864, when he enlisted as a private in the ist Mich. Cavalry. He parti- 
cipated with his regiment at the battle of Five Forks, and wherever the regiment 
was engaged, up to the surrender of Richmond, when it, with the Michigan cav- 
alry brigade, was sent to the plains to fight the Sioux Indians. In November 
following, the regiment reached Salt Lake City, where it remained in quarters 
until March, 1866, and was there mustered out. He then went to California for 
pleasure and recreation, and returned in the summer of the same year to Michi- 
gan. Having saved some money during the service, he determined to obtain an 
education and prepare himself for the profession of law. To this end he attended 
school in Ionia, Michigan, for two years, supporting himself by doing whatever 
his hands found to do. In the fall of 1868 he went to Ann Arbor and prepared 
for college, and thence into the country and engaged in teaching school, until the 
spring of 1870, when he commenced the study of law with Mitchell and Marble, 
in Ionia. The winter following he went to Detroit, and entered the law office 
of Dickinson and Dickinson. Finishing his studies in May, 1873, he was admitted 
to the bar by the supreme court of Michigan, and in June following removed to 
Chicago, and took a position as clerk with the then law firm of Tenney, Flower 
and Abercrombie. In the spring of 1875 he became a member of the firm, and 
33 



316 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

remained such until January, 1878, when he formed a partnership with Mr. Aber- 
crombie. A few months later he went to Gunnison City, Colorado, where he 
spent two years engaged in mining. In 1882 he returned to Chicago, and resumed 
the practice of his profession. His practice has been mainly in commercial law, 
which is his specialty. He is a self-made young man, and exceptionally success- 
ful as a commercial lawyer. He stands well at the bar, and commands the respect 
of his professional brethren as an honorable and reliable attorney. 



LORIN C. COLLINS, JR. 

THE subject of this biography is a son of Rev. L. C. Collins, a Methodist 
minister who was one of the first men who withdrew from connection with 
the Methodist Episcopal church on account of disbelief in the doctrine of eternal 
punishment. Lorin C. was born in Wapping, Connecticut, August i, 1848. His 
father moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1852, and was at the time of his with- 
drawal from the church a member of the Minnesota conference. The son pursued 
a preparatory course of study at the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, 
after which, in 1868, he entered the Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, 
and graduaded in 1872. He began the study of law in the office of Clarkson and 
Van Schaack, of Chicago, and was admitted to practice in September, 1874. 

Mr. Collins is a prominent member of the republican party and a rising young 
man. Beginning with 1878, he has for three successive terms been elected to 
represent the seventh district in the general assembly of Illinois, and is at the 
present time (1883) speaker of that body, being the youngest man who has ever 
held that position in the state, an honor which is all the more complimentary 
since it was conferred without any bartering on his part. 

As an attorney he is well and favorably known, while as a member of the 
legislature he has made his influence felt as an effective speaker, a ready debater, 
a skilled parliamentarian and a shrewd party leader. 



HENRY WALLER. 

THE subject of this sketch, Henry Waller, was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, 
November 9, 1810. His father was Hon. William S. Waller, who was 
cashier of the Bank of Kentucky for forty-four years. Young Waller was edu- 
cated at the private academies in Frankfort, and at the celebrated school of 
Dr. Louis Marshall, in Woodford county; thence, in 1829, he went to West 
Point, from which institution he graduated in 1833. He then commenced the 
study of law in Kentucky, and went through the law department of Transyl- 
vania University at Lexington, Kentucky. He was admitted to the bar and com- 
menced the practice of his profession in Maysville, Kentucky, in 1835. He 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 317 

remained there until 1855. In 1845 he was elected a member of the legislature, 
where he served until 1847. From 1851 to 1854 he was president of the Maysville 
and Lexington Railroad Company. He removed to Chicago in 1855 and com- 
menced the practice of the law, and has remained there ever since. In that year 
was formed the copartnership of Waller, Caulfield and Bradley, which continued 
a few years until the retirement of Mr. Bradley. The firm of Waller and Caulfield 
was continued until 1863. In 1864 the firm of Waller, Stearns and Copeland was 
formed, from which the junior member shortly retired, and the firm of Waller and 
Stearns was continued until 1867, when Mr. Stearns died, and Mr. Waller contin- 
ued the practice of the law alone. In July 1876, he was appointed master in 
chancery by Judges Williams, Farwell, Rogers, Booth and McAllister, which office 
he still holds. His wide and long experience at the bar peculiarly fits him for the 
position of master in chancery. His decisions are marked by unusual wisdom and 
clearness and knowledge of the law, and are respected by bench and bar. 



GEORGE C. CAMPBELL. 

WHILE many lawyers have gained distinction by giving attention to a spe- 
cialty, the subject of this sketch has attained very high rank at the Chicago 
bar by thoroughly mastering all of the details in every branch of the profession. 
He is a student in the most comprehensive sense of the term; industrious and 
persevering, he has accomplished herculean tasks, subjecting himself to mental 
strains that have once or twice seriously threatened his health. He is frank, gen- 
erous, honest and open hearted; his manner is such that he gains one's confidence 
at once, and always retains it. He sees clearly and quickly, and grasps his subject 
comprehensively, having an analytic logical mind and a well balanced judgment, 
and is always cool, calm and courageous. He is a formidable opponent, yet he 
harbors no animosity, bitterness or revenge. He has a good command of lan- 
guage, and always presents a case clearly, pointedly and comprehensively, making 
every point that the case contains. Although Mr. Campbell is without guile, he is 
a shrewd manager in a law suit; his foresight is remarkable, and he seldom fails 
in a cause to which he has given his deliberate attention. He is equally at home 
either in the preparation of cases for trial, the trial of causes, or as a special 
pleader. His long association with his senior partner, the able jurist and lawyer, 
Judge Lawrence, has had its influence in ripening him into the mature lawyer 
that we find him. 

George Cook Campbell was born at Ira, Cayuga county, New York, May 3, 
1833, and is the son of Charles Campbell, who was the fifth in descent from 
Robert and Janet Campbell, who were members of a Scotch colony that settled 
the town of Voluntown, Connecticut, in the year 1723. His mother before mar- 
riage was Miss Eliza Cook, sister of Hon. B. C. Cook, of Chicago. She was a lin- 
eal descendant from Henry Cook, who immigrated to this country from England 



318 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

about the year 1600, and settled at Salem. He was a brother of Francis Cook, 
one of the Mayflower pilgrims. His father moved to Ottawa, La Salle county, 
Illinois, in 1835, and was a merchant in that place for years. In 1839 he returned 
to Cayuga county, took up his residence at Aurora, and continued to reside 
there until his death in 1869. Our subject prepared for college at the Cayuga 
Academy in Aurora, and in the fall of 1849 entered the sophomore class of Ham- 
ilton College, at Clinton, Oneida county, New York, and was graduated in July 
1852, at the age of nineteen. In order to support himself while he pursued the 
study of the law he became professor of mathematics in Ithaca Academy, at Ithaca. 
Tompkins county, New York. His health becoming somewhat impaired by in- 
door life, in the summer of 1854 he entered the employ of the state of New 
York, as a member of the corps of civil engineers, on the Erie canal enlargement, 
and was stationed at Rochester, New York. In the spring of 1856 he was 
appointed first assistant engineer under Ely S. Parker, who was state resident 
engineer at Rochester, and who was appointed chief engineer of the Chesapeake, 
Albemarle, and Currituck ship canal, and accompanied the engineering corps to 
Norfolk, Virginia, and was employed upon that work until the spring of 1857, when 
he resigned and went to Ottawa, Illinois, where he commenced the study of the 
law. In 1859 he was admitted to practice in the supreme court of the state of 
Illinois, and in 1861 became a member of the firm of Glover, Cook and Campbell, 
and practiced law as a member of that firm at Ottawa, Illinois, until the spring of 
1869, when he was appointed general solicitor of the Chicago, Rock Island and 
Pacific Railroad Company, and removed to Chicago, where he has resided since 
that time. In October, 1872, he resigned the office of general solicitor of the rail- 
road company, and since that time has been engaged in the general practice of 
his profession in Chicago. In 1869 he was admitted to practice in the Supreme 
Court of the United States. He became a member of the firm of Winston, Camp- 
bell and Lawrence. In 1874 Hon. C. B. Lawrence who had just retired from the 
bench of the supreme court of the state, became the senior member of the firm, 
and soon after Mr. Winston withdrew, and the firm name became Lawrence, 
Campbell and Lawrence. 

He was appointed special United States attorney for the prosecution of what 
was known as the custom-house case, and tried that case in the federal courts 
with marked ability. The firm of Lawrence, Campbell and Lawrence have been 
engaged in many important cases, and for the last two years have been largely 
occupied in the somewhat notable litigation in regard to the Chicago and Western 
Indiana railroad, and were also employed in the extensive Riverside litigation, 
and the litigation between the city of Chicago and David A. Gage and his sure- 
ties, also in the case of the United States vs. Jacob Rehm. Their practice is 
largely made up of railroad, real estate and corporation cases. This firm has no 
superior in point of talent, and for integrity it is especially noted. 

Mr. Campbell was married July 9, 1862, to Julia Hart Glover, only daughter 
of Hon. J. O. Glover and Jeanette Hart, his wife, at Ottawa, La Salle county, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 319 

Illinois. Mr. Glover now resides in Chicago, and a sketch of his life may be 
found in the foregoing pages. They have two daughters, Gertrude Eliza, and 
Jeanette Hart. 

Mrs. Campbell, who is still living, is a lineal descendant, on the paternal side, 
from Charles Glover of Salem, who emigrated to America about the year 1600, and 
upon the maternal side descended from Deacon Stephen Hart, who immigrated 
from England to Newtown (now Cambridge, Massachusetts), about the year 1600, 
and afterward removed with Rev. Thomas 'Hooker's church to the Connecticut 
valley, where the town was named after him Hartsford, now Hartford. 



ROBERT EDWIN JENKINS. 

WHILE the United States bankruptcy law was in force, the practice under 
that law was a profession by itself. Of the lawyers whose practice was 
largely in the United States bankruptcy court, the subject of this sketch was, by 
far, the most prominent, nearly one-third of the cases before that court having 
been placed in his hands. 

The subject of this sketch is one of the younger members of the Chicago bar, 
having been born in Clark county, Missouri, February 6, 1846. His mother hav- 
ing died when her son was but eight months old, he was sent to Fairfield, Iowa, 
where he spent his early boyhood under the care of his aunt. Here he attended 
the common school until he was twelve years old, when he went back to Missouri 
to his father's home. 

His life on his father's farm was that of a farmer's boy, doing the rugged farm 
work in the summer, and attending school in the winter; the life that has built 
up so many robust professional and business men, for physique must back brains 
in order to insure the best success in life. 

At the age of nineteen young Jenkins entered the Jacksonville, Illinois, Col- 
lege, intending to take the full course, but circumstances compelling him to 
change his plans, he removed to Chicago and entered what is now known as the 
Union College of Law; took the full course and graduated with the class of 1867, 
and was soon after admitted to the bar by the supreme court of the state. 

After graduation, he entered the law office of Haines and Story, where he 
remained for about a year, when he accepted a position in the office of Lincoln 
Clark, register of bankruptcy. The unequaled opportunities here afforded to 
master the intricacies of the law were not neglected by young Jenkins He is 
one of those men who enter the door of opportunity when it swings on its hinges, 
and that is success. After a year spent in the register's office he opened an office 
for himself; in slang, legal phrase, hung out his own shingle, for the general 
practice of the law, but with the intention of giving his special attention to the 
bankruptcy cases. That he had mastered this branch of the profession was soon 
made evident, for contrary to the usual experience of young lawyers, his rooms 



32O THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

were soon thronged with clients, it having become generally known that his 
knowledge of the ins and outs of the law was more reliable, his judgment surer 
than, and his fidelity to his client's interest at least as great as, that of any of his 
brethren giving attention to the same branch of the law. As before said, nearly 
one-third of the cases before the bankruptcy court were entrusted by the clients 
to this one man, and when it is remembered that the great fire, and the panic 
which swiftly followed, gave Chicago a large share of these cases, some idea of 
the enormous business done by Mr. Jenkins during these years may be gained. 
So great was this business, indeed, that although the law was repealed in 1878, 
Mr. Jenkins is even now engaged in settling some of the cases which came in 
with such a wild rush during the last hours of its existence. 

It is pleasant to be able to say that while millions of dollars passed through 
Mr. Jenkins' hands, no one, of a class quick enough to see injustice, ever accused 
him of unfair dealing, and that no lawyer at the bar more thoroughly enjoys the 
esteem of his professional brethren or of the public at large. Mr. Jenkins was 
never a specialist, in a narrow sense, and after the repeal of the bankrupt law, as 
soon as he could get in a measure released from the crush of business which the 
culmination of the law gave him, he gave his attention to the care and manage- 
ment of real estate and the general practice of the law, and his well-earned repu- 
tation in the earlier field has brought deserved success to him in the new line of 
practice. 

It is not often that a man finds himself, at the age of thirty-five, in a com- 
manding position in the world by his own unaided efforts, and when this has 
been achieved in a hand-to-hand struggle before the bar, it is success indeed. 
Such has been Mr. Jenkins' achievement. 



HENRY T. STEELE. 

HENRY THORNTON STEELE was born in East Bloomfield, Ontario 
county, New York, July 8, 1821. His father, Rev. Julius Steele, a Presby- 
terian clergymen, graduated at Yale College in 1811, and settled in East Bloom- 
field in 1814, and was directly descended from one of the oldest Puritan families, 
being the sixth generation from John Steele, who came from the county of Essex, 
England, in 1631, to Cambridge, then Newtown, Massachusetts. John Steele was 
also one of the first company that went from Newton with Hooker in 1635, and 
settled Hartford, Connecticut, was a leader and magistrate, and was for nearly 
twenty years recorder of Hartford. 

The subject of this sketch in early life worked on his father's farm, and 
received much of his primary and preparatory education from his father who 
tutored him in his classical studies principally; later he attended the Geneva 
Lyceum, New York, and entered the branch of the University of Michigan, located 
at White Pigeon, whither his father had moved in 1838, where he studied until 1841. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 321 

During the winter of 1838-9 Mr. Steele taught a district school, and after leaving 
college in 1841, taught for one year the languages and higher mathematics at La- 
Grange Collegiate Institute, near Lima, Indiana. In 1842 he entered Yale Col- 
lege, and graduated there in 1846, and from that time until 1848 was preceptor 
in the union school at New London, Connecticut, and then for two years in Bacon 
Academy, at Colchester, Connecticut. 

In 1849 he returned to Michigan; was admitted to the bar at Jackson, July 4, 
of that year, and began practice at Constantine, Michigan, where he remained until 
1856, when he removed to Chicago. After settling in Chicago, Mr. Steele was asso- 
ciated in practice with A. D. Rich, under the name and style of Rich and Steele, 
which connection lasted two years; he afterward formed a partnership which 
lasted three years, with W. A. Porter, who later was on the bench of the supreme 
court, and died in 1873. Mr. Steele then practiced alone until 1878, when he 
formed, with J. B. Jones, the present firm of Steele and Jones. He has a large 
general civil practice, has made a specialty of chancery practice, and has been very 
successful. He was a member of the board of education of Chicago from 1860 
to 1866, and has been master in chancery of the superior court since January 1873. 

Mr. Steele is a republican, but takes no active part in politics, but devotes 
himself entirely to his profession. 

He was married November 5, 1851, to Miss Rebecca Knox, of Carlisle, Penn- 
sylvania, and has five children: four sons, three of whom are married, and one 
daughter. 

PLINY U. HASKELL. 

PLINY U. HASKELL was born on a farm in North Bloomfield, Trumbull 
county, Ohio, August 1845. He attended the district schools of his neigh- 
borhood, and after completing his preliminary studies, entered the Western 
Reserve College in 1866, where he remained during the freshman and sophomore 
years, when he accepted the principalship of the high school in his native town, 
which he taught one year. He then entered the junior class of Amherst (Mass.) Col- 
lege, and graduated in 1871 with high standing in scholarship. After graduating 
he was immediately appointed superintendent of schools of the village of Hyde 
Park, Chicago's largest suburb, in which capacity he served that intelligent peo- 
ple and their excellent schools until 1876, during which time he fitted several 
students for college in the classics, and in general preparation. He then resigned 
and engaged in the study of law, first in the office of Ayers and Kales, and 
subsequently with Leonard Swett, in the meantime pursuing a course in the 
Chicago Union College of Law, where he took his degree. He was admitted to 
the bar in November, 1877, and became associated with Leonard Swett, and has 
been with him since, for the past two years as partner. While yet young in 
years, and in practice, he has evidenced marked ability as a thorough and close 
student of law, having prepared several elaborate briefs in important cases, some 



322 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

of them of national repute ; notably the Charter Oak Life Insurance Company 
case, in defense of Furber and others criminally indicted ; the Sidney Meyers and 
other cases well known in the court annals. He is a gentleman of scholarly 
attainments ; a member, since its organization, of the Chicago Literary Club, and 
keeps bright his literary pursuits, while he devotes himself assiduously to his 
profession. 

In 1880 he married Clara A. Stolp, daughter of J. S. Stolp, of Aurora, widely 
known as a manufacturer, and an enterprising business man. He is a brother-in- 
law of Rev. Dr. Sidney H. Marsh, founder of the Pacific University of Oregon, 
and late president of that institution. 



HON. IRUS COY. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in Chenango county. New York, July 25, 
1833, and is the son of John and Almira (Pierce) Coy. His father was a 
soldier in the war of 1812. Our subject received his primary education in the 
district schools, and afterward entered Central College in Courtland county, New 
York, and graduated from that institution in 1853. He attended the New York 
State and National Law School at Poughkeepsie, New York, and was admitted to 
the bar in Albany in the spring of 1857. During that same year he removed to 
Kendall county, Illinois, and entered at once into the successful practice of the law, 
doing a large business. He at once became the leading lawyer in that section of 
the state. His counsel was sought by clients far and near, and his eloquence at 
the bar gave him a widespread reputation, and he was engaged in nearly every 
trial of importance in the circuit court that was tried in Kendall county during 
his residence there. In 1871 he removed to Chicago, and has been attorney for 
the Union Stock Yards and Transit Company since that time. 

Mr. Coy represented Kendall county in the state legislature in 1869 and 1870, 
and in that body attained to a high rank, his counsel was sought by his associates 
in all matters of importance, and he soon advanced to the position of a leader, 
and was considered by many as the ablest debater in either branch during those 
sessions. He was alwavs found at the post of duty, and worked untiringly in the 
interests of his constituents. He guarded faithfully the interests of the state, and 
no important measure could be carried without his influence, and some of his 
speeches were the most eloquent of any ever delivered in the Illinois legislature. 
Mr. Coy was one of the presidential electors who voted for Gen. Grant in 1872. 
In political sentiments he is a republican. Personally he has many elements of 
popularity, being courteous, liberal, and possessing ease and grace in his manners. 

As a lawyer Mr. Coy is thoroughly conversant with the statute law and the 
decisions of the state and federal courts. He is an eloquent advocate, having an 
excellent voice; his enunciation is clear and distinct, and he possesses physical 
power and personal magnetism excelled by none; his arguments are logical, his 




"CCo.pir Jr S Cc 



u 



InE GWX,,;,t BrUY 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 325 

language pure and elevated. He has a fine presence, being six feet in height and 
weighing two hundred and fifty pounds, and stands erect. His gestures are easy 
and graceful. Few men wield the influence over both court and jury that Mr. Coy 
is accustomed to do. Combining with his eloquence and legal lore a character 
for uprightness and true manhood unsurpassed, he sustains his own reputation 
and the dignity and honor of his chosen profession. 

Few young men set out in life under more discouraging circumstances than 
our subject. Depending entirely upon his own energy and industry for success, 
the next day after leaving Central College he entered the hayfield as a laborer, 
and worked through haying and harvesting to procure means to come West. In 
the fall of that year, with $50 in money and both hands blistered, he started for 
Illinois, where he found employment as clerk in a dry goods store, and by care- 
fully saving his earnings, accumulated sufficient means to defray his frugal ex- 
penses in the law school. After being admitted to the bar he returned to Illinois, 
and on taking an inventory of his effects found that he had only thirty-five cents 
in money, the suit of clothes he had on at the time, and a few text books he had 
used in the law school ; with this capital he entered the field to compete with the 
skill and experience of the profession. 

Mr. Coy was married in 1859 to Miss Julia A. Manchester, a highly educated 
lady, accomplished and refined, the daughter of Asa Manchester. They have four 
bright interesting children, two boys and two girls. 



HENRY C. NOYES. 

HENRY C. NOYES is a native of Vermont, and was born January 22, 1846, 
at Derby Line, in Orleans county, and is the son of Adam S. Noyes, a 
banker, who in 1858 settled at Rockford, Illinois, but returned to Boston in 1867. 
Our subject belongs to a 'patriotic family, five brothers and a brother-in-law 
having served in the Union army during the war of the rebellion. Henry C. 
entered the army in 1863, and served until he was mustered out at the close of the 
war. He was six months in the i34th 111. Vol. Inf., under Capt. Mulligan, and 
was for a time connected with the 7th 111. Vol. Cavalry. 

He commenced his education in the public schools, and afterward entered 
Beloit College. In 1866 he entere 1 the law department of Michigan University, 
at Ann Arbor, and graduated therefrom in the spring of 1868, and was admitted 
to the bar. He then removed to Chicago and entered at once upon a successful 
career as a lawyer. He has given special attention to railroad law, and is an 
expert in that branch of legal practice. He is attorney for the Belt Line railroad, 
the Fox River Manufacturing Company, and the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insur- 
ance Company, and the American Cable Car Company. Mr. Noyes is a thorough 
lawyer, a good advocate, and a gentleman highly respected for his integrity and 
upright dealing. He is urbane in his manner, and a gentleman of refinement. 
34 



326 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Mr. Noyes has succeeded admirably, pecuniarily as well as professionally, and is 
one of the wealthy members of the Chicago bar. 

In politics Mr. Noyes is a republican, but does not take an active part therein. 
He was a candidate for probate judge in the autumn of 1877. 

He was married June 19, 1873, to Miss Angelia A. Elmer, formerly of Belville, 
Ontario. They have two children, a son and a daughter. 



WOLFRED N. LOW. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Canada, and was born May 22, 
1846, in Mariposa, Victoria county. He is a son of Charles Low, late of 
Shabbona Grove, De Kalb county, Illinois, and Lanor Low, still living. 

Charles Low entered the British army at the age of seventeen, and at the age 
of twenty seven had attained the rank of captain, when he resigned, married Miss 
Lanor Richardson, and soon commenced the life of a farmer. He was an ardent 
reformer in Canadian politics, and in common with his cousin, Dr. Wolfred Nel- 
son, of Montreal, who was a cousin of the British Admiral Nelson, took part 
in the Canada rebellion, which proved disastrous to the reformers. After having 
sentence of death passed upon him, and witnessing the execution of Cols. Lount 
and Matthews, he was pardoned through the instrumentality of Lord Durham, 
resumed his agricultural pursuits, and during the remainder of his residence in 
Canada, almost continually held some office under the Canadian government. The 
paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch was a native of Aberdeen, Aber- 
deen-shire, Scotland; was a captain in the British navy, and had command of the 
British gunboats on the lakes, with headquarters at Quebec, where he died at a 
good old age. 

In 1856 Charles Low, with his family, removed from Canada and settled upon 
a farm at Shabbona, De Kalb county, Illinois, where he died in 1862. Before he 
was sixteen years of age Wolfred N. Low commenced teaching school at $1.00 per 
day, for the purpose of obtaining money with which to pay off indebtedness exist- 
ing upon the home farm. Three of his brothers served in the Union army during 
the war, one in Battery G, 2nd 111. Lt. Artillery, and two in the io5th 111. Inf., 
one of the latter dying from exposure on the field of battle, and at a little past 
seventeen vears of age the subject of this sketch also enlisted in Battery G, 2nd 
111. Lt. Artillery, served under Gen. A. J. Smith, in the i6th army corps, was 
engaged in the fifteen days fight at Spanish Fort, Fort Blakey, and capture of 
Mobile, the last battles of the war, and after doing garrison duty at Montgomery, 
Alabama, during the summer of 1865, was mustered out of the service at Spring- 
field, Illinois, September n, 1865. 

Upon his return from the army he devoted all his savings to paying off the 
incumbrance on the farm, and then commenced a literary course of study at the 
seminary at East Paw Paw, De Kalb county, Illinois, attending school, springs and 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 327 

falls, supporting himself by teaching, winters, and graduating in the spring of 
1871. One year more was devoted to teaching, to get means with which to take a 
legal course, and in the fall of 1872 he entered the law department of Michigan 
University at Ann Arbor, from which he graduated in March, 1874, spending the 
seven months of the summer vacation as a student in the law office of Runyan, 
Avery, Loomis and Comstock, of Chicago. Shortly after his graduation he was 
admitted to the bar of the State of Illinois, and in June, 1874, came to Chicago 
with $100 and plenty of grit for his capital, without acquaintance or influence, 
and established himself in the practice of his profession, where he has been doing 
a successful business ever since. In the spring of 1875 he formed a partnership 
with L. H. Gault, under the name of Gault and Low, which has been continued 
ever since. 

November 10, 1880, Mr. Low married Mrs. Kate Pickrell, a native of Shelby- 
ville, Kentucky, and daughter of A. J. Fry, of Mexico, Missouri. 

Mr. Low has received no assistance from any source, nor has he been aided by 
any influence whatever, since he entered upon his professional career, all that 
he has accomplished being the result of his own individual exertions. He is 
active and prompt, although firm, is courteous and kind, and has a pleasing 
address that wins many friends, and is respected and esteemed by all, as a well 
read and honorable member of the bar. 



LOUIS KISTLER. 

EUIS KISTLER was born June 25, 1835, at Strasburg, Germany; the oldest 
son of Mary and Andrew Kistler. His father had distinguished himself 
by his bravery during the Napoleonic wars, but in consequence of exposures 
and several wounds received in the conflicts, after years of suffering died in 
1847, at the early age of fifty-seven, leaving his son, a lad of only twelve years. 
During the following year young Kistler formed the purpose of seeking his for- 
tune in, and becoming a citizen of, the great Republic of the West. Arriving at 
that early age in the city of Rochester, New York, among strangers, without a 
knowledge of the language of the country, he applied himself to the task of mas- 
tering the elements of the English tongue. He afterward resolved to pursue a 
thorough, classical course of study, with the purpose of ultimately entering upon 
the practice of the law. His desire for a classical education was finally realized, 
he graduating in the year 1858. Thereafter he was appointed teacher of the 
classics in the Greenwich Academy, Rhode Island, a position which he held until 
1862, when a strong desire to revisit the old world prompted him to sever his 
relations with the institution. After two years of diligent study at the University 
of Berlin, under the direction of its eminent professors, he returned to the coun- 
try of his adoption, and was at once called to a professorship in the Northwestern 
University, at Evanston, Illinois, which position he held continuously for fourteen 



328 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

years, when he resigned to enter upon the active practice of the law, for which 
he was eminently fitted. 

Mr. Kistler is one of the few men of German birth who have acquired the art 
of speaking the English language with a faultless accent. He can use it with 
effect both in the forum and on the platform whenever the occasion demands. 
His pure and spotless life has gained him the respect of all classes, and he is 
highly esteemed by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. In the year 1861 
he married Miss Frances Dow, a New England lady of refinement and culture, 
the fruit of which union was three boys and two girls, all of which, with the 
exception of one lad of thirteen years, have died. His son is a bright, smart 
youth of great promise. In the year 1878 he suffered an almost irreparable loss 
by the destruction of his large and valuable library, in the burning of his resi- 
dence, comprising not only his law books, but the literary work of his previous 
years, and even manuscripts ready for publication. 

Mr. Kistler is a republican in politics, and in years past has rendered valuable 
service to the cause, but of late years his profession and love of literary work have 
absorbed all his time and energies. Mr. Kistler is in the prime of life, and sin- 
cerely attached to his domestic and social duties, in which he is thoroughly happy 
and content. 

JARVIS BLUME. 

JARVIS BLUME was born May 6, 1842, in Baden, Germany, and was the son 
of Joseph Blume, who emigrated to America in 1848, having become obnox- 
ious to the government on account of his political opinions, his cousin, Robert 
Blum, the noted political martyr, having been shot in Austria for holding like 
'opinions. Joseph Blume died of cholera in Cincinnati, where he had settled, in 
1850. By his death the family were left dependent on their own efforts for their 
support, and the son Jarvis went to work for his uncle, with whom he remained 
until he was twelve years of age, when he ran away and hired out as a bell boy 
in a hotel in Cincinnati, where he remained two years. He then obtained employ- 
ment in a wholesale hardware store, where he remained until 1861, when he 
entered the army. In the meantime he had attended a night school during two 
winters, which was the full extent of his scholastic education. He served through- 
out the war and was in many of the important engagements of the Armies of the 
Cumberland and Ohio, and was, during the last year of the war, on detached 
duty as chief clerk of the provost-marshal-general's office at Nashville. He was 
mustered out of the service in 1865, after which he lived in various southern 
cities until 1867, when he returned to Cincinnati. Early in 1871 Mr. Blume went 
to Boston and began the study of law, entering the office of his brother, Andreas 
Blume, who is an eminent lawyer of that city, and also attended the regular two 
years' course at the law school of Boston University. In 1876 he was admitted 
to the bar, and removing to the West settled in Des Moines, Iowa, and began 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 329 

practice, and married Miss Olivia A. Little, of that city. In the spring of 1877 
he removed to Chicago, and, resuming his profession, has since that time devoted 
to it his undivided attention. In politics he is an ardent and active republican. 
Mr. Blume has, for ten years past, been a contributor to various periodicals, 
among them the Boston " Advertiser," and '' Post," Chicago " Tribune," and 
"Alliance." His articles in relation to the battles of Shiloh, and Chickamauga, 
and various sketches of the leading Union generals, published by the " Tribune " 
during the last three years, being highly commended for their accuracy and 
vigor. A series of twenty-five "Sketches of Celebrated Men and Women," pub- 
lished in the "Alliance," have been widely copied east and west, and are remark- 
able evidences of literary ability. Among these are the biographical sketches of 
Edwin Forrest, Charlotte Cushman, Webster, Clay, Edgar A. Poe, Andrew Jack- 
son, Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and Henry Ward 
Beecher. Mr. Blume has also published a series of papers in the " Alliance " 
upon social and moral subjects, the most elaborate of which may be mentioned, 
"Husband and Wife," "Marriage and Divorce," "The Abolition of the Saloon," 
"The Abolition of Poverty," "Success and Failure," "Music," "The Drama," 
"Gambling," "The Depravity of Man." 



FRANCIS W. WALKER. 

T^RANCIS W. WALKER was born in Chicago, October 12, 1856. His father, 
J. Lucas B., and mother, Lucinda (LeSeur) Walker, were natives of New York 
state, and his father was at one time a commission merchant of Chicago. Frank 
received his early education in Chicago, entering the high school at the age of 
thirteen years, and after graduating therefrom, attended Dr. Dyrenfurth's college 
for one year. Having determined to become a lawyer, he entered the office of 
Luther Laflin Mills, and there devoted three years to study, -at the same time 
attending the Union College of Law, from which he graduated in June 1877. 
After being admitted to the bar, he practiced alone for three years, until Novem- 
ber, 1880, when he entered into partnership with Lawrence M. Ennis, under the 
firm name of Ennis and Walker. Mr. Walker is a member of the Iroquois Club 
and an active democratic politician, and took a prominent part in the campaign 
of 1880. He, at an early age, entered into literary work and won a reputation as 
a fine debater and deep argumentative speaker. He is a close student of history, 
both general and political, and, possessing clear and profound reasoning faculties, 
has paid much attention to metaphysics and science. 

In law, as in general literature, he has the faculty of grasping the theories upon 
which jurisprudence is based, and has acquired a knowledge of the fundamental 
principles, rarely attained by a young lawyer. Both he and his partner, Mr. 
Ennis, soon after beginning to practice, earned a general reputation as jury law- 
yers and able speakers. Mr. Walker's success is an assured fact, and no young 
lawyer practicing at the Chicago bar has brighter prospects, 



330 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Mr. Walker is unmarried. He has one sister; and his parents, although 
beyond the prime of life, are still hale and hearty. The firm of Ennis and 
Walker has before it a most promising future. Its members have been compan- 
ions from childhood, and are bound together by nearer ties than merely those 
of business. Both are young men of brilliant associations, talents, devoted to 
their profession, and already maintain an honorable rank among the younger 
class of lawyers now practicing at the Chicago bar. 



FRANK S. WEIGLEY. 

FRANK S. WEIGLEY was born in Galena, Illinois, April 4, 1854, and is a 
son of Wellington Weigley. His father was a lawyer in Galena for forty 
years, and had a very large and lucrative practice, and was a partner of both 
John S. Jewett and the late E. A. Small, of the Chicago bar. The subject of this 
sketch attended the common schools in Galena, Illinois, and Dubuque, Iowa, and 
for two years, 1871 and 1872, studied at Hamilton College. He at once, after 
leaving Hamilton, entered his father's office as a law student, and after remaining 
there one year, moved to Omaha, Nebraska, and studied in the office of E. F. 
Smythe, a prominent lawyer there, and was admitted to the bar of Nebraska in 
the fall of 1874. He then removed to Chicago, and was admitted to the bar of 
Illinois, and was employed as a short-hand reporter in the courts until 1876, when 
he began practice. He was assistant to the county attorney in 1876-7. He has 
a very extensive practice for so young a man, and is one of the rising young men 
of the bar. 

He married in 1879, a daughter of the late Dennison Card, of Rochester, New 
York, who for several years, during Mr. Lincoln's administration, served as a 
diplomatic agent of the United States, in South America. 



WILLIAM S. JOHNSON. 

WILLIAM S. JOHNSON was born in Albany, New York, June i, 1850. His 
father, James Johnson, removed to Chicago in 1863, and will be remem- 
bered as one of the best of departed capitalists and citizens. From 1863 the 
family have resided in Chicago, one of the sons, Rev. D. S. Johnson, D.D., having 
for a number of years been the pastor of the Hyde Park Presbyterian Church. 
The subject of this sketch at an early age entered Phillips Academy, at Andover, 
Massachusetts, and spent three years there in preparation for college. When 
eighteen years of age he entered Williams College, Massachusetts, where he 
remained two years, and until his father's death. Not returning and finishing 
his collegiate course after his father's death, he began the study of the law in 
Chicago, in the office of Hon. James P. Root. Having been admitted to the bar 



THE BENCH AND BAR Of-' CHICAGO. 331 

in 1875, he entered the law office of Hon. Emery A. Storrs in that year. Upon 
his father's death, in 1870, Mr. Johnson came into possession of considerable 
property, and for some time thereafter enjoyed the many comforts that wealth 
affords. In the panic of 1872-3-4 he lost everything except the educational capi- 
tal he had, with which, as a foundation, he accepted the situation bravely and 
began life anew. 

Mr. Johnson has been very successful in his practice, and has been employed 
in several important matters before the courts of Chicago. Though not address- 
ing any especial attention to criminal practice, still he has been employed in some 
of the most important criminal causes of the last few years, notably the Stern 
murder case, in which he defended the prisoner, Arthur B. Stern. 



BENJAMIN F. CUMMINS. 

BENJAMIN F. CUMMINS was born in Green county, Pennsylvania, Septem- 
ber 4, 1856; the youngest son of Thomas L. and Sarah B. Cummins. He 
was educated at the Carmichaels Academy,,in Pennsylvania, which institution he 
attended until November, 1875, when he removed to Chicago. In Chicago Mr. 
Cummins began the study of law in the office of McClellan and Cummins, the 
junior partner of that firm being his brother. In the April term of 1878 he was 
admitted to the bar, and January i, 1880, became the junior member of the firm 
of McClellan, Tewksbury and Cummins. He was married January 17, 1880, to 
Helen H., daughter of John J. McClellan, his own partner. Mr. Cummins has by 
his own exertions raised himself to his present position, being entirely self-edu- 
cated and self-made, and is one of the rising young men of the bar of Chicago. 



L. VERNON "FERRIS. 

THE subject of this sketch is a rising Chicago lawyer. He is a native of New 
York and was born in Lawrenceville, St. Lawrence county, July 15, 1843, 
and is the son of Lemuel P. and Anna P. (Hall) Ferris. Mr. Ferris was a student 
in Lawrenceville Academy, and entered Middlebury College, Vermont, in 1863, 
and graduated from that institution in 1867. He taught school during winters 
in Vermont and was principal of Windsor high school from 1867 to 1871, reading 
law in the meantime. 

He was married in 1870 to Miss Anna M. Stone, a daughter of Samuel Stone, a 
prominent citizen of Windsor, Vermont. From 1871 to 1874 he was superintendent 
of the Troy (Ohio) public schools, giving general satisfaction, and, having pre- 
pared for examination, was, in the spring of the last named year, admitted to the 
bar of Ohio. In the following fall he removed to Chicago, and has been engaged 
in the general practice of the law since that time. Mr. Ferris is a good trial 



332 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

lawyer, being quick of perception, apt and ready, with a faculty of applying his 
knowledge when it is needed. He is also a good advocate. Conscientious and 
painstaking, he prepares his cases with the utmost care, and possessing rare dis- 
crimination, that enables him to select decisions in point, he has a happy faculty 
of presenting the law in a clear and forcible manner. His judgment is good, and 
he is always true to his clients. As a citizen, Mr. Ferris has rightfully gained the 
reputation of being a high-minded, honorable gentleman, in whom all who know 
him have implicit confidence. 



WILLIAM C. WILSON. 

WILLIAM C. WILSON was born in Champaign county, Ohio, February 
1836; the son of Hon. Thomas H. and Mary (Neal) Wilson. His father, 
a farmer by occupation, was one of the pioneers of Noble county, Indiana, settling 
there in the fall of 1836. He afterward became a member of the legislature of 
Indiana, and an associate judge of Noble county. Mr. Wilson completed his educa- 
tion at Fort Wayne College, Indiana, and began the study of law with his brother, 
Hon. H. D. Wilson, of Columbia city, Indiana, and was admitted to the Indiana 
bar at Goshen city in 1863, when he began his practice. In 1868 he was nomi- 
nated, against his will, for the office of prosecuting attorney, but was not elected. 
Since that time he has positively declined to take any active part in politics, more 
than to perform his duties as a citizen. 

December i, 1869, Mr. Wilson married Miss Anna E. Fussey, an accomplished 
young lady, a graduate of Jennings Seminary, Aurora, Illinois, and daughter of 
John Fussey, a well known citizen of Chicago, who emigrated from England to 
Canada, and thence to Chicago, in 1841. In 1874 Mr. Wilson settled at Evanston, 
and at the same time opened an office for the practice of his profession in Chi- 
cago, continuing alone in business until the organization of the present firm of 
Wilson and Zook. The business of the firm is general in its scope, and under 
careful management has been eminently successful.. 



GEORGE AARON GIBBS. 

AMONG the more prominent of the younger class of lawyers practicing at the 
Chicago bar is George Aaron Gibbs. He is a son of one of the early pio- 
neers of Chicago, Aaron Gibbs, who is well known both there and in Connect- 
icut. His mother's maiden name was Catherine Gulliver. George was educated 
in Chicago, and at Cornell University, and after completing a collegiate and law 
course, graduated in 1872. He also studied law in the office of Waite and Clarke, 
of Chicago, and was admitted to the bar under certificate from New York state, 
in 1872. Among the more important cases in which Mr. Gibbs has been inter- 
ested, and which he conducted to a successful issue in his client's behalf, was the 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 



333 



celebrated Snydam case, which caused some excitement at the time of the trial; 
he was also retained to assist H. M. Monroe, one of the ablest lawyers in this 
city in the Joell Henry Wells case against the Northern Insane State Hospital. 

Mr. Gibbs is a young lawyer, possessing a sound legal mind, and when any very 
technical point has been under consideration he has in all instances exemplified 
that he was competent to deal with it in a masterly manner; genial and gentle- 
manly in disposition, possessing all the business alacrity and aptitude, which are 
the characteristics of his profession, he not only possesses the good will of his 
confreres generally, but outside that circle is held in the highest regard and 
esteem. 

He married in June, 1881, Miss Smith, youngest daughter of James P. Smith, 
an old resident and merchant in Chicago. 



DANIEL J. AVERY. 

THE subject of this sketch comes from New England parentage, and is a 
direct descendant of John Alden and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden, whose mem- 
ory has been immortalized in the "Courtship of Miles Standish." His parental 
ancestors were among the very earliest settlers of Norwich, Connecticut. His 
father was Ebenezer W. Avery, and his mother Tryphenia T. (Davis) Avery. The 
Averys were, during the revolutionary struggle, staunch rebels, and rendered 
their country valuable service on many a well fought field. It is said that thir- 
teen bearing the family name, all brothers and cousins, fell in one battle, and 
were buried in one grave. His eldest brother is Dr. Samuel J. Avery, of Chicago, 
and his youngest brother, born at Avon, Lake county, Illinois, in 1849, is John A. 
Avery, now editor of the Lake county " Republican." 

Daniel was born in Brandon, Vermont, December i, 1836. His father was an 
earnest friend of education, and would gather his own and his neighbor's chil- 
dren at his own home, and during the evenings give them their early instructions. 
The celebrated Stephen A. Douglas was in those days one of his pupils, and 
received his earliest instruction and the necessary flagellation at his hands, in 
Brandon, Vermont. 

In 1843, Ebenezer W. Avery, with his wife and family of seven children, of 
whom Daniel was next the youngest, came west, by way of the Erie canal and the 
lakes. They landed in Racine, Wisconsin, in October, and at once preempted a 
quarter-section of land in what is now Avon, in Lake county. Their nearest 
neighbor was three miles distant, and no schools in the town. Daniel was pres- 
ent when the first school-house was erected in his district. It was a log house, 
and the neighbors each furnished his quota of logs to erect it. Daniel attended 
school until about eighteen years old, working with his father on the farm, sum- 
mers, and going to school, winters. He studied the higher branches at home 
evenings, under parental instruction, and furnished himself with books by selling 
35 



334 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

quails, at twenty-five cents per dozen, which he caught during the winter. At 
the age of eighteen he attended the village academy of Waukegan, then under 
the management of Francis E. Clark, the present county judge of Lake county. 
There he remained for six terms, preparing for college, but abandoned his purpose 
of pursuing a collegiate course, and decided instead to fit himself for the legal 
profession. At the age of twenty he entered the office of Hon. J. B. Bradwell, of 
Chicago, and became a member of Mr. Bradwell's family, and worked for his 
board and washing. At the end of one year, however, he went to the law office 
of Brown and Runyan, where he pursued his legal studies until June 30, 1859, 
when he was admitted to the bar. His examiners were Judges Beckwith, Judd 
and Peck. After his admission to the bar, he practiced his profession until 
July i, 1862, when he enlisted as a private in the ii3th regiment 111. Vol. Inf., and 
on October i following was promoted to second sergeant. He was in the reserve 
corps at the battle of Chickasaw Bluff, December 29, 1862; fought in the battle 
of Arkansas Post, January u, 1863. About January 22, he moved with Sherman's 
army down to Young's Point, opposite Vicksburg, and awaited the cutting of 
a channel across that point by command of Gen. Grant. In December, 1862, 
he was accidentally poisoned while temporarily in the regiment's hospital, at 
Memphis, Tennessee, and in March, 1863, was sent to Lawson, general at St. 
Louis, and was honorably discharged from the service, October 12, 1863. He 
immediately returned to Chicago, and resumed the practice of law. In 1864 the 
firm of Runyan and Avery was formed, which continued until 1867, when Mr. 
Comstock was admitted to it, and in 1869 Judge Loomis, who remained till 1873, 
when he retired and was followed by Mr. Runyan soon afterward. The firm was 
then known as Avery and Comstock, which was dissolved in 1877. 

Mr. Avery conducted the extensive chancery business during the whole his- 
tory of the firm, and acquired an enviable reputation in that line of business, and 
in December, 1880, was appointed master in chancery of the superior court of 
Cook county, which office he now holds. 

He has always been an active republican in politics, and served his party as 
chairman of the Cook county republican central committee, and other useful 
positions, but has never aspired to office, and never been a candidate before the 
people. 

In 1866 he was made Master Mason, and for three years was master of Hespe- 
ria lodge, No. 411, and for the past eight years has filled the office of district 
deputy grand master for the second district of Illinois. He was one of the thir- 
teen members who constituted the masonic board of relief organized after the 
great fire, and did his fellow citizens efficient service in that capacity. In July, 
1874, he assisted in the organization of the Northwestern Masonic Aid Association, 
and was elected president, and has been successively elected to that position every 
year since. This is one of the most successful cooperative benefit associations in 
the country. Its membership now numbers more than fifteen thousand, and it 
has disbursed in the eight years of its existence over $800,000 to beneficiaries. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 335 

In 1867 Mr. Avery married Miss Mary Comstock, of Wilton, Saratoga county, 
New York, who died January n, 1873, leaving two children. May 29, 1874, he 
married his present wife, who was Miss Kate Ellis, of New York city. 

Like many others, Mr. Avery allowed his better judgment to be controlled by 
his feelings, and became surety for a friend. The venture failed, and in 1867 he 
lost everything except the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens. 

In person Mr. Avery is substantially built, tall, well proportioned, and of com- 
manding presence. In complexion he is a blonde, with a pleasing expression, 
very approachable, and a genial companion. He is very proficient in his profes- 
sion, and is regarded as a fluent speaker, and a close, logical reasoner. 



ROBERT E. MORRISON. 

THE subject of this sketch is a son of A. L. Morrison, the present United 
States marshal of New Mexico, but who formerly was a prominent citizen 
of Chicago. He was well known in political circles; was at one time a member 
of the state legislature of Illinois; was a police magistrate and West Town col- 
lector in Chicago, and held many other positions of trust. 

Robert E. was born in Chicago, July 13, 1856, and received his preliminary 
education in the public and high schools of that city. After deciding to devote 
himself to the legal profession, he began his studies in the law office of Hon. J. 
C. Knickerbocker, now judge of the probate court in Chicago. This was in 1873. 
Later, he attended the Union College of Law of Chicago, and graduated from that 
institution in 1878, and in July of the same year was admitted to the bar of Illi- 
nois. Entering at once into active practice on his own account, he met with good 
success, and so continued until forming a partnership with M. C. Kneip, the well- 
known marine lawyer, under the firm name of Kneip and Morrison. He is a 
young man of talent, and a well read, competent and successful lawyer. 



EDWIN F. ABBOTT. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Wisconsin. He was born at Janes- 
ville, May 4, 1851, and is the son of Nathan W. Abbott, an eminent physician 
of this city, who served during the war as surgeon of the 8oth 111. Vol. Inf. 
His mother was Sarah Yates, and belonged to an old New York family. When 
Edwin F. was but a year and a half old his parents removed to Dixon, Illi- 
nois. He spent two years at the State University at Champaign, Illinois. He 
afterward, in 1873, graduated from the law department of Michigan University, 
at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and, settling in Chicago the following June, was ad- 
mitted to the Illinois bar. He then commenced the practice of the law in the 
office of Sleeper and Whiton, and remained in that office until 1874. He has 
since then practiced law by himself with good success. Mr. Abbott is a well 



;;6 THE B-ENCH AND BAR OF CHIC A CO. 

\J \J 

read lawyer and a gentleman whom to know is tp respect. In political senti- 
ments, he is a republican; in religious matters, is thoroughly liberal and indepen- 
dent. By all who know him he is esteemed as an upright, honorable man, and 
a lawyer conscientious and high minded in his practice-. He is a worthy member 
of F.A.A.M. and R.A.M. 



HON. BURTON C. COOK. 

BURTON C. COOK, a native of Monroe county, New York, was born May n, 
1819; the son of Rev. Chauncey Cook and Almirah (Hollister) Cook, his 
wife. After receiving his preparatory edecation, he entered Rochester Seminary. 
Later he pursued the study of law, and, in r835 removing to Illinois, entered 
.upon the practice of his profession, May i, 1840. Settling at Ottawa in 1840, he 
there won a high reputation as a successful and skillful attorney, and as a man of 
unimpeachable character. In 1846 he was elected state's attorney for the ninth 
judicial district, a capacity in which he served until 1852, when he was elected to 
the state senate. During his service of eight successive years as a member of 
that body, he took an active part in its doings, and rendered most efficient ser- 
vice.- Early becoming identified with the anti-slavery movement, he turned his 
whole influence against the institution of slavery, and upon the repeal of the 
Missouri compromise, with Hon. Norman B. Judd and many others, left the ranks 
of the democratic party. Being at that time in the state senate, he, with N. B. 
Judd and J. M. Palmer in the senate, and Messrs. Baker and Allen of the house, 
and others, joined with the whigs under Abraham Lincoln, and succeeded in 
sending Hon. Lyman Trumbull to the United States senate. In the peace con- 
vention held in Washington in February, 1861, he represented the state of Illinois, 
and there strenuously opposed the recognition of slavery, or protection of it by 
the national government, in the territories; and in connection with ex Gov. Wood, 
of Illinois, caused his protest to be entered on the journal against the vote of the 
majority of the delegates from his state, favoring the resolutions adopted by the 
convention. 

During his service in yie state senate he aided in preparing, and in that body 
had charge of, the first bill establishing a state system of free schools, to be sup- 
ported by taxation. This measure has ripened into the present school system of 
the state. The first legislative act of this state recognizing the right of married 
women to hold separate property in this state was prepared and its passage 
secured by Mr. Cook. This act was the germ of the present liberal law of Illinois 
in relation to the property rights of married women. 

In 1864 he was elected to the thirty-ninth congress from the sixth congres- 
sional district of Illinois, ad during his term served as a member of the judiciary 
committee of the house, and originated the statute passed protecting the officers 
and soldiers of the army from" suits for damages done while on military duty 
during the war. Being returned to the fortieth congress, he served as a member 




.. 




THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 339 

of the committee on elections, and chairman of the committee on roads and 
canals. From this last named committee he reported a bill authorizing the build- 
ing of a postal and military railroad from Washington to New York, a measure 
which he supported with an able speech, delivered February 3 and 4, 1869, in 
which he maintained that the power to charter the proposed line of road was 
derived from the constitution of the United States, providing that congress shall 
have power " to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the. several 
states." He claimed that such power was not limited to any special branch or 
instrument of commerce, and that it had power to build railroads as well as to 
deepen rivers. From the committee on election, also, he prepared and made 
several valuable reports on various contested cases. His report respecting Beck, 
member-elect from Kentucky, and others, was important as laying down princi- 
ples to govern the action of the house, where persons were elected to congress 
who were disqualified by having taken part in the rebellion disloyally, disqualify- 
ing for membership. He also reported a resolution establishing a basis on which 
southern members were admitted. He was reflected to congress in 1868, and 
again in 1870, when he served as chairman of the committee on the District of 
Columbia, and as a member of the judiciary committee. The report of the judi- 
ciary committee upon the memorial of the legislative assembly of Utah, praying 
for the repeal of the act of congress punishing polygamy, was prepared by Mr. 
Cook, in which the relation of the family to the state was carefully considered. 
Resigning his seat in congress in 1871, he removed to Chicago, whither he had 
been called to accept the office of general solicitor of the Chicago and North West- 
ern railway, a most honorable and responsible position, which he still holds. 
Possessed of the highest order of legal talent, he has become an especial authority 
on all matters pertaining to railroad laws. 

Mr. Cook was married in 1848, to Miss Elizabeth Hart, daughter of Judge 
Orris Hart, of Oswego, New York, and by her has one child, Ellen E., wife of 
Charles H. Lawrence. 



MOSES S. BOWEN. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Niagara county, New York, and was 
born August 18, 1 830, the son of George W. Bowen and Phebe (Courser) Bowen, 
formerly of Bennington, Vermont, later of Middleport, Niagara county, New York. 
He was educated at Wilson Collegiate Institute, New York, and graduated from that 
institution in 1851; he studied law with Levant C. Rhines, of Battle Creek, Mich- 
igan, and was admitted to the bar of that state in 1858, and two years later was 
licensed to practice in the United States circuit court. While at Battle Creek he 
established a good name as a lawyer of ability, and upon leaving there settled 
at Coldwater, Michigan, where he acquired a large practice, and added to his 
already established reputation. He removed to Chicago in 1874, and resumed 
his practice there, and since that time has been successfully and uninterruptedly 



340 THE BENCH AND RAR OF CHICAGO. 

engaged in the same. Mr. Bowen has a vigorous, analytical mind, and readily 
comprehends the law. He is thoroughly conversant with the civil and criminal 
practice, and is recognized as especially able and skillful as a trial and jury law- 
yer. Faithful to his clients, and true to his friends, he is held in high esteem by 
all, as an honest man and a genial gentleman. 

He was married September 28, 1858, to Miss Mary Helena Sawyer, a daughter 
of W. E. Sawyer, of Battle Creek, Michigan, and by her has one son and one 
daughter. 

JOHN D. STORER. 

JOHN D. STORER is a native of Maine. He was born May 10, 1837, in Car- 
thage, in the county of Franklin ; eldest son of Harrison Storer, a prominent 
citizen of that county, having been elected to numerous offices of trust and honor, 
and who is highly respected for his intelligence and purity of character. The 
mother of John D. is Naomi J., daughter of Capt. Jotham Bradbury, of Farming- 
ton, Maine, who is still living (in 1883). He is active and bright at the advanced 
age of ninety-two years. His paternal grandfather was John Storer, a prominent 
business man, who was a member of the Maine legislature the same session in 
which Simon Greenleaf, afterward Dean professor of the law department of Har- 
vard College, was a member, and enjoyed the intimate friendship of that gentle- 
man. Mr. Storer's ancestors back several generations were all American, while 
his remote progenitors were Scotch and English. Among his relatives he num- 
bers several prominent lawyers and judges, and those who have distinguished 
themselves in literature and music ; in the last mentioned art his father, brother 
Albert, and sisters Emma and Laura, the latter deceased, have been considered 
eminent. 

John D. worked on his father's farm during the spring and summer months, 
and attended school winters. He taught school at intervals for several years. 
He received a fine education, and commenced the study of the law in the 
office of Isaac Randall, in Dixfield, Maine, in the spring of 1855. He after- 
ward continued the study of the law with great assiduity in the office of Hon. 
Timothy Ludden, and after Mr. Ludden's decease, in the office of Hon. Charles 
W. Walton, now an eminent judge of the supreme court of Maine ; after a 
four years' course of study he was admitted to the bar in Maine, May 4, 1859, 
and was afterward admitted to the United States district court at Portland. He 
; then opened an office in Monson, Maine, where he made an excellent beginning 
in the practice of the law. But, desiring a larger field, he came west, and after 
prospecting for a while he opened a law office in Shakopee, Minnesota, but, his 
health failing, he returned to his native state. After recruiting his health he 
returned west, and entered the army in the 49th Wis. Vols., and for the greater 
part of his term of service was engaged in clerical work at headquarters. He 
was mustered out of service at Madison, Wisconsin, November 8, 1865. He 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 341 

removed to Chicago, and was for a short time in the office of Scales, Bates and 
Towsley. In the spring of 1866 he removed to Maine, and devoted his attention 
to divers kinds of business, and finally opened an office at Wilton, Maine, where 
he practiced law with excellent success five years. He then removed to Lewis- 
ton, Maine, where he practiced law seven years, doing an extensive business. In 
the spring of 1881 he turned his face toward the west again, went to Cleveland, 
Ohio, where he practiced law and acted as associate editor of the " Marine 
Record." But not being satisfied with his prospects in that city, he removed to 
Chicago the following summer, where he has resided ever since. 

Mr. Storer is a careful, painstaking lawyer, having a well-balanced judgment, 
and is good counsel. He has a retentive memory, and is a diligent student. His 
examination of a subject is exhaustive, and when once begun he never tires until 
he has fathomed its depths. He compares conflicting decisions with keen analy- 
sis, and has great power of condensation. He usually comes into court with a 
few well selected leading cases directly in point, and is usually successful. He is 
an excellent judge of human nature, which is of great assistance to him in the 
trial of causes, in which he is an expert. As an advocate, he speaks with preci- 
sion, earnestness, and to the point. He rises with his subject and the occasion, 
and is a formidable opponent. He naturally reasons from cause to effect, and 
often enlivens his discourses with apt illustrations and comparisons. He sees his 
subject clearly, and is enabled to express his thoughts clearly. Being endowed 
by nature with great fluency, and polished by an intimate acquaintance with the 
best authors, he has attained a style of composition remarkable for its pure 
English. 

He was married September 3, 1863, to Miss Cornelia Todd, an estimable lady 
of Galion, Ohio, daughter of the late Joel Todd, a gentleman of fine scholarship 
and excellent mental powers. They have five children : Harry, Meade, Blanche, 
Elsie, and Lula. 

MATTHEW P. BRADY. 

MATTHEW P. BRADY was born June 5, 1849, in Liverpool, England, and 
is the son of Owen J. Brady, who emigrated to this country about 1865 
and settled in Cass county, Illinois, where he now resides. He studied under pri- 
vate masters in Liverpool, notably for six years with Martin A. DeLaney, a man 
celebrated for his classical learning, and one of the most celebrated graduates of 
Carlow College, in Ireland, and after Mr. DeLaney's death, with Jerome Kelly. 
He then, up to the time of his coming to America, attended the institute of St. 
Phillip Neri, at Mt. Pleasant, near Liverpool, one of the classical institutions of 
the oratory, at the head of which His Eminence Cardinal Newman presides. In 
1865 Mr. Brady came to America, having an uncle in Chicago who, being desirous 
of educating his nephew for the legal profession, had persuaded him to remove 
thither. His uncle dying shortly after his arrival, Mr. Brady was thrown upon 



342 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

his own resources, but remained faithful to his uncle's purpose. He secured a 
deputy clerkship in the superior court, and held that position till the spring of 
1868, during which time he continued his former studies, adding to them that of 
law. He entered the law department of the University of Chicago, and gradu- 
ated therefrom in 1870, and was admitted to the bar in the summer of 1871. Mr. 
Brady then became associated with Grant and Swift as special pleader until May, 
1880, when he was taken into partnership under style of Grant, Swift and Brady. 
He is a republican in politics, but takes no active part therein. He was mar- 
ried in May, 1882, to Cordelia A. Hansen, of New York city. 



GEORGE G. BELLOWS. 

WHAT there is of a man, so far as the public knows, is evidenced by what 
appears on the surface. It is often the case that the true inwardness of a 
man is not known to the public, and his better qualities are hidden, and he goes 
down to history under an incorrect estimate for this reason. George G. Bellows, 
the subject of this mention, has had a conspicuous career. He was born in 
Boston, Massachusetts, in the year 1832. His father was a prominent merchant 
and president of a leading bank there, and retired to the country while George 
was young; he was a man well known, and often entertained the distinguished 
men of his time at his home, and young George had the advantages of such associ- 
ations, and the good sense to profit by them, and to this day has a vivid recollec- 
tion of many distinguished men who were foremost in law and statesmanship. His 
preliminary education was obtained in Cambridge and New York city, and he was 
in Harvard College' two years, when he withdrew and commenced the study of 
law with Judge Vose, in Walpole, one of the leading lawyers in New Hampshire; 
remained one year and went to New York and completed his studies with the 
then distinguished firm of Hall, Butler and Evarts; was admitted to the bar and 
engaged in practice. During the years immediately preceding the war he took 
an active part in politics, being recognized as one of the eloquent public speakers 
in the state of New York, advocating knownothingism up to the time of the 
nomination of Mr. Lincoln, when he entered the campaign in his behalf, and was 
an efficient factor in securing the electoral vote of that state for him, and has 
since been an advocate of the principles of the republican party. 

At the outbreak of the rebellion he was active and earnest in urging enlist- 
ment in the service of the Union, and was instrumental in raising a regiment for 
Col. Fardella, one of Garibaldi's old officers. He went to the front with it, but 
after being in the army eighteen months was obliged to resign on account of ill 
health and disease contracted in the Chickahominy swamps, and returned home 
and came West, and for one year engaged in lecturing in Wisconsin in further- 
ance of the interests of the United States sanitary commission, of which his emi- 
nent brother, Rev. Dr. Henry W. Bellows, was president, and did effective work 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 343 

there in this connection by his eloquent and effective appeals to the people to aid 
in that philanthropic and charitable work. Thence he returned to New York, and 
soon after moved his family to Chicago, and has been here since, engaged in the 
practice of his profession. 

He has been engaged in the courts in important cases, with some of the ablest 
men at the Chicago bar, and has proven the equal of the best. He is a forcible, 
logical, fluent and impressive advocate, a sound and safe counselor. He is a 
cousin of Hon. Henry Bellows, a distinguished lawyer and chief-justice of the 
state of New Hampshire, since deceased. 



JOHN M. H. BURGETT. 

JOHN M. H. BURGETT is descended from old New England stock, and was 
J born in Hartland, Vermont, April 28, 1850, the third son of Daniel A. and 
Adeline Burgett, who moved to Illinois, in 1854. He received his primary educa- 
tion at the high school at Lewiston, Illinois, and in 1868 went to the Michigan 
University, at Ann Arbor, where he took the degree of Ph.B. in 1872. He at 
once began the study of law in the office of R. B. Stevenson, in Lewiston, and 
was admitted to the bar by the supreme court at Mount Vernon, Illinois, in June, 
1875. In September, 1875, he settled in Chicago, and began the practice of law, 
and April i, 1877, went into partnership with Abner Smith under the style of 
Smith and Burgett. 

EDWIN S. METCALF. 

FEW men in any calling or profession have had more varied experiences than 
the subject of this sketch. He was reared among the green hills of Vermont, 
where pure air, mountain streams and a salubrious climate stimulate youthful 
vigor. He is a son of Gilbert C. Metcalf and Elmira (Dewy) Metcalf, the latter 
a daughter of Dr. Thomas Dewy. Both parents were of English descent. Edwin 
S. was born March 25, 1842, in Washington, Orange county, Vermont. He entered 
the high school at Rutland, Vermont, and in 1861 he enlisted and served for three 
years in the Union army. He participated in the engagements around Harper's 
Ferry, but was on detached duty during the greater portion of his term of ser- 
vice, which expired in 1864. After he was mustered out he proceeded to La 
Crosse, Wisconsin, where he remained but a few months, and then settled in 
Boston, Massachusetts, and there pursued the study of music under Prof. B. F. 
Baker. In 1867 he was supervisor of music in the public schools of Cambridge, 
and while there was musical director of several church choirs. To further im- 
prove his musical education he went to Europe in 1869, and settled in Leipsic. 
He entered the university, and took a course in music, and graduated therefrom 
at the end of two years, and received a diploma. In 1871 he went to Paris, where, 
36 



344 THE BENCH AN & BAR OF CHICAGO. 

April 22, he was married to Miss Ada Philbrook, of Boston, Massachusetts. From 
Paris he went, by way of the Mediterranean, to Florence, where he remained 
about one year, perfecting himself in music, and studying the Italian language. 
In 1872 he returned to Boston, and was connected with Petersilea's music school. 
During Gilmore's great musical jubilee of that year, Mr. Metcalf had the honor to 
be one of the bouquet of artists, besides being conductor of several of the choir 
societies. He removed to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1873, and opened a conserva- 
tory of music, which he conducted until 1879. While at Salem he took an active 
part in political matters, and was a delegate to the prohibition convention which 
nominated Judge Pitman for governor. In 1878 he "took the stump" for Gen. 
Butler, and was actively engaged in that campaign, speaking in one instance 
twelve nights in succession. 

For many years Mr. Metcalf had devoted his spare time to the study of law, 
and upon his removal to Chicago, where, in 1879, he opened a school of music 
and art, he entered the Union College of Law, and was admitted to the bar in 
March, 1881, since which time he has been engaged in active practice. In former 
days he was a contributor to many of the political and musical journals of the 
East, and at one time he was editor and publisher of a musical edition called the 
" Clarion." 



JAMES H. FELCH. 

THE history of him whose name heads this sketch fairly illustrates what may 
be accomplished by perseverance combined with a clear intellect, in follow- 
ing a determined purpose, even under adverse circumstances. The man who is 
truly self-educated, who overcomes the obstacles that hamper him in his youth, 
first by mastering the thorough preparatory course of study required to enter 
eastern colleges; then the course of four long years in the study of science and 
literature before graduation; then assiduously applying himself to the study of 
his profession, until thoroughly prepared to pass an examination and gain admit- 
tance to the bar, without pecuniary aid, shows more energy, power of self-denial, 
and true manhood, than many display in accumulating a fortune or winning a 
victory on the battle field. 

James H. Felch is a native of Maine, and was born in Limerick, York county, 
June 28, 1834, and is the son of John and Susan Felch. John Felch was of Welsh 
descent, and a soldier in the war or 1812, and in the Aroostook war; he afterward 
received a government pension for disability. The mother of our subject was a 
sister of Gov. Felch, of Michigan. James prepared for college at Andover, Mas- 
sachusetts, and entered Dartmouth College in the class of 1858. 

He entered the employ of the United States government in 1856, as a surveyor, 
at the head of Lake Superior, to assist in surveying the state of Minnesota. He 
afterward went to St. Paul, Minnesota, and there assisted in surveying additions 
to St. Paul and Minneapolis. He then went to Dunleith, Illinois, and taught 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 345 

school four months; thence to Uubuque, Iowa, where he read law in the office of 
Lowell, Adams and Lowell, and was admitted to the bar in that state in 1858. 
Thence he went to Amboy, Illinois, and at once entered into the successful prac- 
tice of the law, and continued there until the spring of 1860, when he removed to 
Yorkville, Kendall county, Illinois. In 1869 he removed to Chicago, where his 
health became impaired to such an extent that he did not entirely regain it until 
the spring of 1882. 

Mr. Felch is an able lawyer, well read in his profession, and discriminating in 
his practice. He is an eloquent advocate, an excellent trial lawyer, and a good 
counselor. With a keen sense of justice he is ever zealous for the best interests 
of his clients, and maintains his views of the right with an energy that reflects 
credit upon himself, and upholds the dignity of his profession. 

He has a fine presence, is of medium height and commanding, with a broad, 
intellectual forehead, and sharp, black eyes. A gentleman of refinement, he is 
courteous and affable to all, and bears the impress of a liberal minded man. 

He was married, January 12, 1871, to Mrs. F. M. Barclay, an estimable lady of 
fine accomplishments. 

In political sentiments Mr. Felch was a democrat up to 1876, since which time 
he has been independent in his views. 



THOMAS H. GAULT. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in the county of Antrim, Ireland, August 
2, 1842, and is the son of John Gault, and Martha (Adams) Gault. John 
Gault immigrated from Ireland in 1847, and lived in Monroe county, New York, 
until 1852, when he removed with his family to Wisconsin, where the subject of 
this sketch spent his youth and early manhood on a farm, receiving the rudi- 
ments of his education in the schools of Waukesha county. August 15, 1862, he 
entered the 28th regiment Wis. Vol. Inf., and went at once to the front. His first 
battle was an engagement with the rebels under Gen. Bragg, near Hindman's 
Station, in the vicinity of the boundary line between Tennessee and Mississippi. 
He then returned to Columbus, Kentucky, and assisted in building a fort at that 
place. His command was then ordered to Hickman, on the Mississippi River, 
where an engagement was had with the enemy, which resulted in the taking of 
six pieces of ordnance and a large amount of military stores by the Union forces. 
Returning to Columbus, he remained there but three days, when he joined the 
White River expedition under Gen. Steele at Helena. About five hundred rebel 
prisoners were captured, with ordnance and munitions of war. They then fol- 
lowed the enemy through Arkansas in search of the rebels, who were led by Mar- 
maduke and Price. Mr. Gault was in the assault at Fort Pemberton and at 
Vicksburg. He was in the battle at Marks' Mills, and at Helena, Arkansas, July 
4, 1864. He was in the Alabama campaign under Gen. Canby, at the capture of 



346 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Mobile and the battles of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley, where fifteen hundred 
prisoners were taken. Mr. Gault was mustered out of service at Brownsville, Texas, 
August 15, 1865, but he was about two months reaching his home in Wisconsin, 
when his friends celebrated the event of his return. During his three years' ser- 
vice, he was sick about six months, but the remainder of the term was able, and 
at all times ready, to do service for his country as a brave soldier. 

Soon after returning home, he began his literary course at Monmouth College 
in Warren county, Illinois, and graduated from that institution in 1870. Three 
years later, 1873, he graduated from the law department of the University of 
Michigan, and was admitted to the bar in Illinois the same year. Forming a 
partnership with A. M. Martin, he entered at once upon the practice of his pro- 
fession. This partnership being dissolved, he continued the practice of law alone 
until the formation of the present partnership with Hilfred N. Lowe in 1875. 
Mr. Gault is a popular man among his professional brethren, and enjoys the rep- 
utation of being a high-minded, honorable gentleman in the community where 
he is best known, holding a high position socially. He is a good trial lawyer, 
apt and ready ; he prepares his cases well. 

Mr. Gault is a leading member and trustee of the United Presbyterian Church 
of Chicago, also superintendent of the Sabbath school, and a member of the 
church choir. In politics he is a staunch republican. He was married August 
23, 1870, to Miss Mary E. Boyd, an estimable lady, daughter of McNair Boyd, of 
Waukesha, Wisconsin. 

BANNING AND BANNING. 

THE members of this law firm are brothers and both natives of Illinois, and 
were born in McDonough county. The elder, Ephraim, was born July 21, 
1849, and the younger, Thomas A., January 16, 1851. They are the sons of the 
late Ephraim and Louisa C. (Walker) Banning, their mother being a sister of 
Judge Pinkney H. Walker, of the supreme court of Illinois. They were both 
raised on a farm and enjoyed the benefits of a common-school and academical 
education. Ephraim studied law in Missouri and Chicago nearly three years, and 
was admitted to practice in Chicago in 1872. Thomas A. studied law in the 
states of Missouri and Illinois, and was admitted to the bar in the latter state, 
in September, 1875. He acted as assistant corporation counsel in Chicago, while 
Judge T. Lyle Dickey held that office, for one and a half years. They have both 
been actively engaged in practice in Chicago ever since they were admitted to 
the bar, and have had an extensive practice for men of their age, with a reason- 
able portion of important business. By reason of favorable decisions in cases in 
which the brewers all over the United States were interested, and in litigation 
involving the patents of certain agricultural machinery, the firm of Banning and 
Banning as successful patent attorneys became widely known, to which fact was 
in large measure due the rapid increase of their business. They give patent law 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 347 

and patent litigation special attention, and rank among the first in this city in 
that line of practice. They also have an office in New York in charge of Hubert 
A. Banning, another brother, and one of the editors of " Banning and Ardens' 
Patent Cases." They are both exemplary men and members of the Presbyterian 
church, and are both republicans in political sentiments. 



CURTIS H. REMY. 

/~*URTIS H. REMY was born near Hope, in Bartholomew county, Indiana, 
V^x April 29, 1852. His father, Allison C. Remy, is a descendant of an old 
French family, and his mother is of German descent. His father was left wholly 
dependent on himself at the age of ten years, and is entirely a self-made man, 
and one of the most prominent citizens of Marion county, Indiana, where he now 
resides. Mr. Remy was sent to Nazareth Hall School, in Pennsylvania, when 
fourteen years of age, and afterward graduated from Transylvania College, at 
Lexington, Kentucky, and from the law school there. Later he graduated from 
the law department of the Northwestern University, at Indianapolis, Indiana. 
He first read law, however, in the office of Judge Elliott, now of the supreme 
bench of Indiana, and afterward with Gen. Thomas M. Browne, then United 
States district attorney at Indianapolis. Mr. Remy practiced law at Indianapolis 
from 1872 to 1876, when he removed to Chicago and opened an office. In the fall 
of 1879 he associated with himself Judge J. C. Chumasero, then lately of Roches- 
ter, New York, under the firm of Remy and Chumasero, a firm which existed 
until May, 1882, when he became a member of the firm of Flower, Remy and 
Gregory. Mr. Remy was married October 27, 1875, to Miss Fanny Wheeler, and 
has one child. In politics he has always been a republican. 



GARDNER G. WILLARD. 

ARDNER GOODRICH WILLARD was born in Metamora, Illinois. From 
V.JT 1857 until 1861 he attended Washington University, St. Louis. In the sum- 
mer of 1862 he enlisted in the Chicago Mercantile Battery, and served until the 
following spring. In 1865 he entered Harvard College, graduating in 1869. 
From 1869 to 1870 he taught school in Cincinnati, meantime reading law, and 
attending law lectures at the Cincinnati Law School. Returning to Chicago, he 
continued his law studies at the Chicago Law School; graduated, and was ad- 
mitted to the Illinois bar in 1871. At the time of the great fire he gave up the 
law practice, begun immediately after admission, to assist his father, then in very 
poor health, in arranging and settling the affairs of a large business, thrown into 
great confusion by that event. In 1872 he became junior partner of the firm of 
Willard, Bacon and Company, of Chicago, wholesale grocers, from which he 
withdrew in 1874. In 1876 he resumed the practice of his profession, and has 
been in continuous practice ever since. 



348 THE BENCH AND BAK OF CHICAGO. 

Mr. Willard's father, P. H. Willard, a resident of this city since 1861, was born 
in Lancaster, Massachusetts, and went from Lowell, Massachusetts, to St. Louis, 
in 1835. He was a merchant, and when in active business was well and favora- 
bly known through the northern Mississippi valley, and nearer western states. 
His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Osgood Goodrich. She was born in 
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and went from Pittsfield, Vermont, to St. Louis, in 1839. 
She died in 1873. During the last twenty years of her life she was widely known 
as a frequent and earnest writer for various journals and periodicals, and as the 
author of several works in behalf of her sex, to the amelioration and advancement 
of whose conditions these years were chiefly given. 

Mr. Willard's first ancestors in the new world were, on his father's side, Maj. 
Simon Willard, a Kentish soldier, who settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 
1635, and who was for over thirty years a commander of the colonial militia dur- 
ing the Indian troubles; on his mother's side, William Goodrich, who settled in 
Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1639. 



LUMAN ALLEN. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Virginia, and was born November 6, 
1845, on Greenwood Plantation, near Winchester, a place that has become 
noted since the war of the rebellion on account of its becoming the property of 
Byrd Washington. He is a son of Dr. Luman Allen, of Baltimore, Maryland, and 
Alvernon (Greene) Allen, daughter of Dr. John Greene, of Virginia. Mr. Allen is a 
direct lineal descendant of Gen. Ethan Allen, of Fort Ticonderoga fame, and of 
Gen. Israel Putnam, of the revolution. He received his education in private schools 
and academies in Virginia, taking a classical and scientific course, and modern 
languages. Entertaining, with his father, strong Union sentiments, he left Vir- 
ginia soon after the opening of the war of the rebellion, and enlisted in the 2d 
regiment Ohio Vol. Inf., in 1862, but after a short term of service in Kentucky, he 
was compelled to retire, greatly against his wishes, in consequence of being pros- 
trated with camp fever. He entered the law office of Judge A. F. Perry, of Cin- 
cinnati, a recent member of congress, and at the close of his legal studies was 
admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Ohio. He was afterward admitted 
to the bar of Illinois by the supreme court of that state, and has been enrolled in 
several federal court districts. From April, 1869, to 1871 he was private secretary 
to Hugh J. Jewett, at Columbus, Ohio, then president and director of a number 
of railroad lines. In December, 1872, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he 
engaged in the practice of railroad law. During the year 1873 he made an exten- 
sive trip through the western territories, and returning to Cleveland in 1874, 
became corporation attorney for several corporations, whose legal business was 
of such magnitude as to wholly engross his time and abilities, to the exclusion of 
all general practice. Mr. Allen is an able lawyer, and having established himself 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 349 

in Chicago, expects to devote himself to the general practice of his profession. 
He is a man of rich learning and literary tastes and habits, and the author of 
several works, including an epic poem in heroic verse, entitled " The Sage of 
Mentor," a work which was highly complimented at the time it was issued by the 
press throughout the country. Our space forbids more than a brief quotation: 

"A great assemblage met upon the shore 

Of fair Columbia's fairest inland lake; 
And there were gathered those who proudly wore 

Fame's coronet, the Nation's laws who make, 
Men of renown from every sov'reign state, 
An august body to deliberate 

On the vexed question of a ruling chief. 

Judges these were, astute and learned, who sate 
Observant, 'voiding every rock and reef; 

Grave councilors, and wise in such debate : 
A glittering roll, each name evoked acclaim, 
A people's tribute paid to honest fame, 

By each brief phalanx stood a blazoned shield, 

Bearing a word of great or feeble power, 
And sonorous thro' the rafter'd temple pealed 

The potent speech of some great orator, 
Urging the merits of his chosen chief, 
With hands outspread to grasp the laurel leaf." 

Mr. Allen has been a correspondent of the Cleveland " Leader " for many 
years, and is known as " Pea Green." As a writer he is fluent, graceful and easy. 
He is a well-read lawyer and a reliable counselor. Mr. Allen is married to Julia 
(Ellis) Allen, of Cincinnati, who is descended from the family of Sir William 
Hamilton, of England. Mrs. Allen is a lady of fine talents, education and refine- 
ment, and was a conspicuous member of the Shakespeare Club, of Cincinnati. 
They have one son, a bright boy of nine years. 



CAPT. PLAYER MARTIN. 

THE subject of this sketch, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, was born in 1847, 
and is the son of a prominent physician, Dr. R. C. K. Martin, of that city. 
He was educated at Nashville University, but left that institution before com- 
pleting his course, in 1861, and entered the confederate army as a lieutenant and 
aide-de-camp to Gen. Gideon J. Pillow, under whom he served until Gen. Pillow 
took charge of the conscript bureau. He then enlisted as a private in the pth 
Tenn. Cavalry serving under Gen. Forrest, and soon rose to the rank of captain. 
He was made adjutant of the regiment, in which capacity he served until the close 
of the war. He was wounded while leading his men in the thickest of the fight at 
Resaca, Georgia. He surrendered with Gen. Forrest at Gainesville, Alabama, and 



35O THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

was paroled May 8, 1865. He then returned to Nashville and commenced the 
study of the law in the office of D. T. Wilkin, and being admitted to the bar in 
1869, immediately entered upon a successful career as a lawyer. He was elected 
city attorney of Nashville in 1871, which position he filled with marked ability 
for three years, giving universal satisfaction. 

In 1874 Capt. Martin removed to Chicago, where he opened an office, and has 
since devoted himself exclusively to his profession. He has secured quite a large 
clientage, considering the length of time he has been in Chicago, and is laying 
the foundation for a profitable business. 



ABNER SMITH. 

A5NER SMITH was born in Orange, Massachusetts, August 4, 1843, and is the 
fourth son of Humphrey and Sophronia A. Smith. He was educated at 
Middlebury College, Vermont, and graduated in 1866. After graduating he was 
engaged as teacher in the Newton Academy, at Shoreham, Vermont, until 1867, 
when he removed to Chicago, and entering the office of J. L. Stark, commenced 
the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1868. He was married, Octo- 
ber 5, 1869, to Miss Ada C., daughter of Sereno Smith, of Shoreham, Vermont. 
Mr. Smith, though a republican, is rather inclined to be independent in politics. 
He has taken no active part in political affairs, having devoted himself fully to 
his profession, and as a consequence has been rewarded by a most satisfactory 
success. 



LORIN GRANT PRATT. 

AS an example of self-reliant, independent and successful manhood, no one 
1~\. deserves more honorable mention among the self-made men of Illinois than 
the subject of this biography. He was a native of Chenango county, New York, 
and was born near Binghamton, December 5, 1828, and was the son of John and 
Clarrisa Pratt. As a boy he possessed undaunted courage, self-reliance and untir- 
ing energy, and, with a native instinct for study, early developed a love for literary 
pursuits. He attended the public schools of his native place, and although 
deprived of the opportunity of pursuing a course of classical study in college, by 
a faithful employment of his time he gained a practical knowledge of men and 
books, which was, perhaps, of more real value to him in his active life. When 
fifteen years of age he was thrown upon his own resources, and during the ensu- 
ing five years turned his hand to various kinds of employment, devoting all his 
spare hours to reading and study. His mind was early turned toward the legal 
profession, by being brought into contact with such men as David S. Dickinson, 
and other eminent lawyers of his native state, and he determined to fit himself 
for its duties. With this purpose in view he, in 1848, removed to the West, and 





Will, am. iBi-NlT 



THE BENCH AND BAR Of CHICAGO. 353 

settled at Peoria, Illinois, and there, in the office of J. K. Cooper, began studying 
for the profession in which he afterward won most satisfactory success. Three 
years later, in 1851, he was admitted to the bar, and forming a partnership with 
William F. Bryant, immediately began the practice of his profession. This 
partnership continued about one year, and during that time Mr. Pratt made the 
acquaintance of Judge Norman H. Purple, an able lawyer and jurist of Peoria, 
who was associated in business with a Mr. Sanger. Judge Purple being attracted 
by the ability and lawyer-like qualities of the young attorney, proposed that he 
become one of the firm, an offer which was accepted, and our subject became the 
junior member of the firm of Purple, Sanger and Pratt. This relation continued 
until 1857, and during that time the business of the firm was more extensive than 
that of any law firm outside of Chicago doing business in the state. Mr. Pratt 
was not possessed of a robust constitution, and close application to study and 
work had so impaired his health that he was forced to abandon his profession for 
a time, and devote himself to other employment. An opportunity soon opened: 
Purchasing an interest in the Peoria Plow Works, he gave his attention to the 
business of the concern, with Tobey and Anderson, until the opening of the 
rebellion in 1861, when he bought out his partners, and became sole proprietor of 
the business, and continued it until he had amassed a fortune of some $200,000. 
It had been well if he had stopped there; but his ambition and enterprise prompt- 
ed him to extend his business to other cities, which necessitated the association 
of other partners, the result of which was the loss of a large part of his accumu- 
lations. This occurred in 1871. It was at such a crisis that his true character 
asserted itself. Although the management of his extensive enterprise had fallen 
upon him, he had kept himself posted in matters pertaining to the law, carefully 
watching the decisions of the supreme court, and being almost daily in the office 
of Alexander McCoy, drawing bills in chancery and attending to matters pending 
in court, so that he was thoroughly qualified to resume the practice of the pro- 
fession to which he was devoted. Accordingly, in 1872, he removed to Chicago, 
and became one of the well known firm of Harding, McCoy and Pratt. Three 
years later, Geo. F. Harding withdrew from the business, which had become very 
extensive, and the name of the firm changed to McCoy and Pratt, and so con- 
tinued until Mr. Pratt's death, which occurred at Chicago, September 23, 1881. 

At the time of his death Mr. Pratt had attained an enviable reputation as a 
corporation lawyer. He had for some years been the general solicitor of the 
Chicago, Pekin and Southwestern Railroad Company, and was frequently re- 
tained as counsel in the most important railroad litigation by other railroads. 

As a lawyer, Mr. Pratt was careful and conscientious, and honored his profes- 
sion. Far-sighted and shrewd in the management of business matters, he pos- 
sessed a high degree of honor, and in all his dealing was a man of uncompromising 
integrity. He was a man of fixed principles and decided purpose, and as a 
speaker possessed the happy faculty of saying the right thing at the right time, 
and that, too, in a manner to carry conviction to those whom he addressed. 
37 



354 rHE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Though strong in his likes and dislikes, and quick to resent a wrong, he was 
a genial and social companion, and a true friend. 

Mr. Pratt was married July 9, 1851, to Mary E. Ireson, daughter of E. A. 
Ireson, a Methodist clergyman of Boston, Massachusetts, and Mary (Goodwin) 
Ireson. In his home life and domestic relations Mr. Pratt was kind, gentle and 
true, and .here were displayed many noble qualities of the man which were best 
known by his nearest friends. Though never possessed of a strong and robust 
constitution, he was a great worker, and by persistent effort, in the face of many 
discouragements, pushed his way upward to an honorable position in his pro- 
fession, making for himself a name that cannot but be respected by all who 
knew him. 



OWEN F. ALDIS. 

THE subject of this sketch was born at St. Albans, Vermont, June 6, 1852. 
He was a son of Judge A. O. Aldis, of the supreme court of Vermont, and a 
grandson of Chief-Justice Asa Aldis, of the supreme court of the same state. His 
health not being good, he was unable to go to school regularly, and at the age of 
thirteen went to Europe, hoping to gain strength in traveling. After remaining 
abroad for six years he returned home, at the age of nineteen, much improved in 
health, and having pursued a course of study privately, in 1871 entered the sopho- 
more class at Yale College, and graduated in 1874. He then attended the Colum- 
bian Law School for one year, and settled in Chicago in 1876. He was admitted 
to the bar in the fall of the same year, and began practice. In 1880 Mr. Aldis 
formed a partnership with A. F. Hatch, under the style of Hatch and Aldis, which 
dissolved in the spring of 1883. He is a republican, but is not tied down to any 
party lines. 

HON. WILLIAM W. O'BRIEN. 

WILLIAM W. O'BRIEN was born in Leitrim county, Ireland, May 22, 1834. 
He received a national school education, and emigrated to the United 
States in the spring of 1854. After traveling over many of the states of the 
Union, he reached Peoria, Illinois, in the month of May of that year. In Sep- 
tember, 1856, he entered the law office of Hon. C. C. Bonney, who was then in 
the active practice of his profession in Peoria. He was admitted to the bar in 
the winter of 1859, and soon thereafter commenced the practice of his profession, 
with not only unusual but extraordinary success. He was elected city attorney 
of Peoria in 1861, and reelected three different times. In the fall of 1862 he was 
elected to the legislature of Illinois. He was twice nominated for congress by 
the democracy in his own district. In 1868 he was unanimously nominated by 
the democratic state convention for congressman from the state at large, as the 
opponent of Gen. John A. Logan, and made a thorough canvas of the state; but 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 355 

the republican majority in the state at that time was over 50,000, and while Mr. 
O'Brien ran over 4,000 ahead of his ticket, yet of course he was defeated. 

In the practice of his profession at Peoria, Mr. O'Brien's success was very 
remarkable. He at once took a front rank as a lawyer at the bar, and in an 
incredibly short time became famous as one of the most successful advocates in 
the state. His practice extended throughout the states of Illinois, Iowa, Wiscon- 
sin, Michigan and Indiana. In the fall of 1874, Mr. O'Brien moved from Peoria 
to Chicago, where he has since resided, and continued to practice his profession. 
His success in Chicago, and particularly in the trial of criminal cases, has been 
simply remarkable. It is needless for us to state, where Mr. O'Brien is so well 
known, that he has been engaged in very many, if not most, of the important 
cases tried in Chicago during the past seven years. He has tried more capital 
cases in the last fifteen years than any lawyer now living in the United States. 

Blessed by nature with an excellent physical constitution, endowed with great 
intellectual power, now in the prime of life, in robust health, with great expe- 
rience, an indomitable will, and exhaustless mental resources, he has before him 
a splendid career for future usefulness and honor. 



JAMES LANE ALLEN. 

THE subject of this sketch was born near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1848, and 
is the son of Albert Allen, a prominent breeder of Durham stock there. 
He is a nephew of Hon. Mat. C. Johnson, a celebrated Kentucky lawyer, and 
of the late ex-Gov. George W. Johnson. He received his primary education 
in the schools of his native county, and was prepared for college by a private 
tutor, and entered the sophomore class of Bethany College, Virginia, when only 
sixteen years of age and graduated in 1867, at the early age of nineteen, taking 
class honors and distinguishing himself in his examinations in a very marked 
manner. Pres. James A. Garfield and Judge Jere. S. Black advising him to such a 
course, Mr. Allen taught school for some years after graduation. His parents had 
intended him for the ministry, but his own heart and mind were bent on the pro- 
fession of the law. He was offered and accepted the position of principal of the 
Williamsville Classical Institute, near Buffalo, New York, and remained there one 
year. Subsequently he was called to Waukegan, Illinois, and was principal of the 
high school for about two years. In the meantime Mr. Allen had been studying 
law, principally with Judge H. W. Blodgett, of the United States court, and his 
partner, Judge Upton. After leaving Waukegan, Mr. Allen went to Omaha, 
Nebraska, where he was admitted to the bar and practiced about two years, dur- 
ing which time he published "Allen's Hand Book of the Nebraska Code," which 
was in general use at the time. In 1872 he settled in Chicago, and has, by his 
brilliant qualities of mind and superior natural endowments, coupled with unre- 
mitting energy, attention to business and unswerving integrity, raised himself to 



356 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

a prominent position at the bar. He has been, since his coming here, connected 
with Hon. Thomas Hoyne, and also in partnership with Hon. Theodore H. 
Shintz, ex-mayor of Chicago, but is now practicing alone and has achieved 
many marked successes in practice. Mr. Allen is a member of the board of 
directors of the public library, and very active and earnest in his efforts on behalf 
of that growing institution. He is the originator of the grand and commend- 
able scheme of erecting a magnificent memorial building as a monument of grati- 
tude to the world for its generosity to Chicago at the time of the great fire, and 
as a home for the public library, gallery of art, etc. The success of this scheme 
is not yet assured, but will be in all probability in the near future.. 

Mr. Allen is a gentlemen of refinement and culture and bears the impress of a 
liberal education. He is courteous and kind in his intercourse with all, having a 
fine presence, being over six feet high, well proportioned and graceful in his 
movements. He has a well-shaped, intellectual forehead, with keen hazel eyes 
and classic features. He sustains a character for strict honesty and personal 
integrity, which he has inherited from his ancestry. He is known as an able and 
finished orator, and those who have heard him repeatedly pronounce him a most 
accomplished and fertile speaker. 

He was married, December 29, 1870, to Miss Josephine A. Fenkell, a lady of 
refinement and culture, with excellent attainments and marked beauty. They 
have one child living Arabella Lane. 



HENRY W. WOLSELEY. 

THE subject of this sketch was born November 3, 1849, in Liverpool, England, 
and is of a distinguished family. His father, Rev. R. W. Wolseley, who 
is now rector of a parish in London, is a first cousin of Gen. Sir Garnet Wolse- 
ley, of the British army, and a grandson of Sir Clement Wolseley, who distin- 
guished himself at the battle of the Boyne, in Ireland, and was created a baronet 
by King William III for his services to the country. 

Mr. Wolseley's education was chiefly received at St. Peter's College, York, 
England, but when only fourteen years of age he went to sea, chiefly with a view 
to the recovery of his health. Finding a seafaring life agreed with him, and also 
from love thereof, he determined to study seamanship and the science of navi- 
gation, sailing for years in vessels engaged in the China tea trade. By industry 
and study and close attention to his work he secured promotion, and at the early 
age of twenty was first mate on board a vessel plying between Boston and the 
Cape of Good Hope. In 1871, being then twenty-one years of age, Mr. Wolseley 
gave up sailing, and, removing to Chicago, went into the office of Perkins and 
Truman, and began the study of law. He was admitted to practice in the 
supreme court at Mount Vernon, Illinois, in June 1874, and at once commenced the 
practice of his profession, to which he has since devoted his entire attention. By 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 357 

his study, industry and integrity he has gained the confidence and esteem of his 
clients and the members of the bar, and his success in business committed to his 
charge proves that such confidence and esteem are well deserved. He is a repub- 
lican, and although he has never held or sought a political office, still he takes an 
active interest in the success of his party. 

Mr. Wolseley was married January 15, 1880, to Miss Ella Williams, of Lincoln, 
Nebraska, and has one child, a daughter. 



FREDERICK WILKINSON. 

FREDERICK WILKINSON is a native of England, and was born at Birming- 
ham, August 15, 1836. He is the son of William and Hannah (Woodbridge) 
Wilkinson. He immigrated at an early age to this country, and received his edu- 
cation in the common schools, Michigan University, and in Kalamazoo College, 
Michigan, and graduated from that institution in 1857. With a view of entering the 
ministry he studied theology in the Kalamazoo Theological Seminary, and com- 
pleted his course in that institution in 1860. In the spring of that year he went to 
the Rocky mountains, and was elected a delegate-at-large to the Nebraska legisla- 
ture which convened at Omaha, and in the councils of which he took front rank. 
In the fall of 1861 he was appointed on a committee to draw the boundary lines of 
what is now the state of Colorado, and on the report of this committee a memo- 
rial and petition was sent to congress which resulted in the enactment of the law 
under which a territorial government for Colorado was established. In the spring 
of 1861 Mr. Wilkinson returned to Michigan and was married to Miss Amanda M. 
Cahill, intending to return to Colorado immediately after his marriage, as he had 
accumulated quite a handsome property in that territory. His plans, however, 
were changed by the breaking out of the war of the rebellion, and responding to 
a sense of duty and patriotism, he abandoned cherished plans, bid adieu to his 
young bride, and enlisted as a private in Co. K, zd regiment Mich. Vol. Inf. His 
regiment was immediately ordered to the front, and he took part in the battles of 
Bull Run, Yorktown, Williamsburgh, Seven Pines, seven days' battle before Rich- 
mond under Gen. McClellan, Malvern Hill, the second battle of Bull Run and 
Fredericksburgh. His regiment was then ordered to Newport News, whence, 
after doing guard duty several weeks, it was ordered to Kentucky for the purpose 
of checking the movements of Gen. Morgan and his band of marauders. After 
driving them out of Kentucky his regiment was ordered to Vicksburg, where he 
participated in the siege of that stronghold and witnessed its surrender. In the 
meantime he had been promoted through the different grades of non-commis- 
sioned officers, and in 1862, just before the battle of Fredericksburgh, he was com- 
missioned second lieutenant. At Bailey's Cross Roads, near the city of Washing- 
ton, while on picket, he was severely wounded in the head, the shot carrying 
away his hat and laying open his scalp. After his wound was dressed he refused 



358 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

to remain with the wounded, as advised by the surgeon in charge, but heroically 
marched to the front and participated in all of the engagements of his valiant 
regiment. Upon the surrender of Vicksburg, such was his disability hernia, pro- 
duced by excessive marching that he was compelled, greatly against his wishes, 
to resign his commission and return to civil life. After regaining his health, 
he commenced studying law in the office of Stewart and Edwards, of Kalamazoo, 
Michigan, and after completing his preparatory legal studies removed to St. John's, 
Clinton county, Michigan, when he was admitted to the bar, and immediately 
entered upon the practice of his profession. 

He came to Chicago during the great fire of 1871, for the purpose of visiting 
his brother-in-law, Edward Cahill, who had been burned out. Being pleased 
with the city and the superior business advantages which it offered, he decided to 
make it his home, and accordingly formed a partnership with his brother-in-law 
and C. Worden Dean, under the style of Cahill, Dean and Wilkinson. Afterward 
Mr. Dean retired, and the business was continued under the firm name of Cahill 
and Wilkinson. Finally Mr. Cahill returned to Michigan, and Mr. Wilkinson has 
continued the business, a general practice of the law, ever since. 

Mr. Wilkinson is an ardent republican, and being a ready and effective speaker, 
while a resident of Michigan, became noted as a stirring stump orator. He is a 
member of the F.A.A.M. and of Burnside Post, No. 109, G.A.R., South Chicago, 
and president of the Citizens' League of Hyde Park and vice-president of the 
Citizens' Association. He is a member of the Baptist church, and an earnest 
Christian and Sunday school worker. 



JOHN H. HAMLINE. 

JOHN HENRY HAMLINE is a grandson of Bishop Hamline, of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, who was prominently identified with the separation of the 
churches north and south in 1844. Leo P. Hamline, father of our subject, was a 
physician, but his son chose the profession of law, which his grandfather had 
chosen and practiced before entering the church. He was born in Schenectady, 
New York, March 23, 1856. He received his primary education in the public 
schools of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, to which place his parents had moved shortly after 
his birth, and where they remained until 1865, when they removed to Evanston, 
Illinois. There he prepared for college, entering the preparatory school in 1868, 
and seven years later, in 1875, graduated from the Northwestern University with 
the degree of A.B. He then commenced the study of law in the Columbia College 
Law School of New York, where he graduated in 1877. He was immediately 
admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Illinois, and at once entered on the 
practice of his profession. In the spring of 1880, Mr. Hamline was elected attor- 
ney of the village of Evanston, and now (1883) holds that position, having been 
elected annually ever since. In the spring of 1882 he revised and compiled the 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 359 

village ordinances. Besides acting as counsel for said village, he is actively 
engaged in general practice in this city. He is a young man of sterling quali- 
ties, energetic, ambitious and faithful, and as a lawyer, is thoroughly devoted to 
his profession. He is a clear thinker, rich in scholarship and independent in 
all he does, and gives every promise of a most successful professional career. 

He was married May 19, 1880, to Miss Josephine Mead, a daughter of Henry 
Mead, of Norwich, New York. They have one child a daughter. 



LOUIS SHISSLER. 

f OUIS SHISSLER was born on June 30, A.D. 1834, in Wilmington, Delaware. 

1 j With his parents he came to Galena, Illinois, in the spring of 1841, and 
attended the public schools of that city until 1849. In November, 1849, he 
entered the Western Military Institute, then located at Georgetown, Kentucky, 
and remained with it on its change to Blue Lick Springs and to Drennon Springs, 
Kentucky. He graduated in June, 1853, with the degrees of A.B. and L.L.B., 
having studied law during his senior year in college in the law department, then 
presided over by Hon. Thomas B. Monroe, judge of the United States district 
court. In September, 1853, he entered Harvard University, and graduated in the 
law department in June, 1854. He pursued his legal studies at Harvard University 
in 1855 and also in the office of Sohier and Welch, in Boston, in 1856. In Janu- 
ary, 1857, he returned to Galena, Illinois, commenced the practice of law and 
continued in active practice until November, 1881, when he removed to Chicago, 
and is now engaged in the practice of his profession in this city. In 1866 he was 
elected mayor of the city of Galena, and was reelected in 1867. After filling 
that office during two terms, he declined a reelection. On June 25, 1861, he 
married Rose Porter, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, daughter of the late Gov. 
George B. Porter, of Michigan. 



DAVID K. PRENTICE. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Genesee county, New York, and was 
born August i, 1854, the son of John and Sarah (Randall) Prentice. David 
K. -faithfully improved the advantages afforded by the common schools of his 
native town, and at an early age entered Le Roy Academical Institute, where he 
attended eight years, making great proficiency in all of his studies, in the mean- 
time employing his vacations in teaching. He studied law in the office of Ran- 
dolph Ballard, of Le Roy, New York, and was admitted to the bar. A part of 
the following year he spent in the office of the late Hon. Matt H. Carpenter, at 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and there, under the example of that great man, became 
more thoroughly than ever impressed with the idea that success at the bar depends 



360 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

greatly upon a thorough preparation of cases for trial. Mr. Prentice is a close 
student, a careful observer, and has a clear, strong mind, capable of grasping and 
retaining a subject, and gives fair promise of becoming profoundly learned in the 
law. After leaving Milwaukee, he went to Washington, Kansas, and was elected 
city attorney, and practiced there with excellent success for about a year, after 
which he settled in Chicago and associated himself in business with his present 
partner, Henry L. Rexford. Mr. Prentice is a good trial lawyer, is careful and 
conscientious in his practice, and maintains the confidence of his clients, and the 
respect and esteem of his professional brethren. 



GEORGE W. STANFORD. 

EORGE WILSON STANFORD was born February 21, 1833, at Wheeler, 
Steuben county, state of New York, the son of Charles and Jerusha (Chad- 
wick) Stanford. His father was a farmer of good standing and reputation in his 
county. George W., at an early age, had to do what many other leading mem- 
bers of the profession did, work hard on the farm and secure what education was 
attainable in the interims of a busy farming life, by attending the best schools in 
the neighborhood. This he availed himself of to its fullest extent, and laid the 
groundwork of a thorough and sound education, which shows the results now 
while in the prime of his manhood and professional career. At the age of twenty- 
one he quitted farm life, and went into a more systematical and thorough train- 
ing for the profession he had chosen for his life work. In 1854 he went to St. 
Paul and commenced the study of law with a noted practitioner at that time, 
and now one of the justices of the supreme court, remaining one year. Re- 
moving thence to Kenosha, he entered the law office of Orson S. Head, contin- 
uing with him till June, 1856, at which time he was admitted, and then came to 
Chicago and commenced practice on his own account. At the end of two years 
he formed a partnership with Jasper D. Ward, since member of congress from 
Chicago. This continued till 1876, when Mr. Ward removed to Colorado. This 
period of Mr. Stanford's life was a remarkably busy one, the practice of the firm 
assuming large proportions. Since that time he has continued his practice alone, 
and is now reaping the reward of his early active work. 

In 1869 Mr. Stanford was elected president of West Chicago Park Commis- 
sioners Board at its organization, and continued as such till his resignation in 1877, 
and conducted all the litigation of the park commissioners during that time, with 
marked success. Mr. Stanford has stuck very close to his work, never having 
been far from it, twice to California on professional business being about his 
most extended travel. 

He is a republican in politics, but is not a strong partisan, and does not take 
any active position beyond voting for his party. Mr. Stanford has been twice 
married, first in 1857, to Martha P. Allen, of Herkimer county, New York, and 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 361 

again in 1870 to Lydia C. Avery. He is a man of fine presence, looking some- 
what older than he really is, standing six feet high, and is of a most amiable and 
pleasing disposition, greatly esteemed for his social qualities, conversational pow- 
ers and all that goes to make up the true gentleman. In his professional life, he 
is no less thought of. His abilities and strict conscientious principles have won 
for him the respect and admiration of all classes with whom he is brought into 
contact in his profession. 



WILLIAM MILLS. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in Detroit, Michigan, November 7, 1840, 
the son of William Mills. He was educated at Goderich, Canada, and 
removing to Chicago in 1871, was that year admitted to the bar of Illinois. He 
soon acquired a flourishing business, which, however, was suddenly terminated 
by his death, of small-pox, which occurred May 23, 1882. Mr. Mills was a person 
of cheerful disposition, fond of company, companionship and good cheer, and 
always contributed his share to the enjoyment of every occasion. He was a 
warm-hearted, true friend and a kind husband, and made many friends in his 
social intercourse. His wife is a daughter of the late Daid Swaney, of Pres- 
ton, Iowa, a gentleman who, during his lifetime, was honored and respected by 
all who knew him. He was one of the pioneers of Iowa, and the whole commu- 
nity mourn his loss. 

HON. W. B. CUNNINGHAM. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in western Pennsylvania, June n, 1838. 
His father. Hon. Joseph Cunningham, was one of the judges of the court of 
common pleas of that state. He was educated by funds earned by himself by teach- 
ing school. When commencing the practice of law in his native town, Newcastle, 
Pennsylvania, in 1861, the war broke out, and he enlisted in the service and 
served in the Army of the Cumberland until 1864. At the close of the war he 
settled in Tennessee, but remained there only one year, when he removed to the 
state of Mississippi. On November 3, 1865, he engaged in cotton planting, in 
which business he is still to some extent engaged. 

He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1868, that formed the 
present constitution of Mississippi, and was presidential elector for the state at 
large twice, during the last Grant and Hayes campaigns. He has been an active 
republican since his boyhood. He was twice elected to the legislature of Missis- 
sippi, and while serving his second term was elected judge of the probate court 
of Madison county. Having served one term in that capacity, he was elected 
judge of the circuit court, in which position he served six years, presiding with 
great ability and fairness, giving universal satisfaction, and justly gaining the 
'38 



362 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

reputation 'of being a judge who could hold the scales of justice with an even 
hand. 

He is well posted in- statute law, and is familiar with all of the leading cases 
heretofore decided in the state and' federal courts, and is familiar with all of the 
rules of practice in the several courts. Judge Cunningham is a gentleman of 
culture and refinement. He is courteous -and obliging, and wins many friends by 
his urbane. manners. As a lawyer he stands high, and has established an. exten- 
sive practice. He is an eloquent advocate, having fine descriptive powers, a cool 
judgment and an analytic mind. As a citizen, all respect and honor him for his. 
manly, honorable and upright dealing. He has been a member of the Presbyte- 
rian church in good standing, and an active Sabbath-school worker. 



W. H. RICHARDSON. 

WILLIAM H. RICHARDSON was born near Buffalo, New York, about the 
year 1840, and was educated at Andover and Harvard, Massachusetts. At 
the breaking out of the war in 1861 he entered the army, but was subsequently 
compelled to retire on account of illness. Having partially recovered his health, 
he removed to Chicago in December 1861, and commenced reading law in the 
office of Knox, Eustace and Reed, and was admitted to the bar in 1863. Judge 
. Eustace in the meantime, having removed to Dixon, Illinois, and Gen. Knox hav- 
ing been appointed state's attorney by Gov. Yates, Mr. Richardson, who remained 
with Knox and Reed, necessarily had to look after most of their civil business. 
About the year 1865 Gen. Knox's term of office expired, and on account of his 
advanced years he determined to retire from the further practice of his profession, 
and'ehjoy the rest he had so richly earned. Mr. Reed'was elected his successor, 
and at once formed a partnership with Mr. Richardson, which continued for sev- 
eral years, and as all of Mr. Reed's attention was engrossed in criminal busfness, 
Mr. Richardson naturally found himself at once in the midst of a very extensive 
civil law practice, which has ever since remained with him, and to which immense 
additions have constantly been made, so that it is entirely within bounds to say, 
that to-day he has as large and lucrative a clientage as any lawyer in Chicago. 
Mr. Richardson is a most indefatigable worker, and while his ability is far above 
the average, his success is largely due to the fact that he never gets discouraged, 
or seems to have learned the meaning of the word failure; in fact it sometimes 
seems as if he works harder and to better advantage in the face of what, to others, 
would seem sure defeat. He is a man of wonderful resources, and preeminently 
practical, and has the happy faculty of utilizing all of his forces, and at a 
moment's notice. HeiS'* close observer of men and reads them, like an open 
book; this faculty coupled with an extensive acquaintance, and knowledge of the 
peculiarities of. so large a number of Chicagoans, often gives him a great advan- 
tage, his friends seem to be just as numerous as his acquaintances, and the last 







THE BENCH AND BAR Of CHICAGO. 363 

time he ran for a municipal office, even his political opponents were only nomi- 
nally so, for they took as active a part in his reelection as did those of his own 
political faith, and his election was almost unanimous. .Several years ago Mr. 
Richardson found himself drawn into a most extensive criminal practice, in 
which line he was wonderfully successful, and his reputation as a criminal lawyer 
was second to none, but finding this bra/ich of the law was requiring so much of 
his time that he must either drop it or his civil practice, he decided to^ retain the 
latter, and for several years has had little to do in defending criminals. Mr. 
Richardson's success is indeed well deserved, for his reliability and fidelity to his 
clients can never be questioned, his ability, industry and generous disposition 
could not help but make him popular, and the cherished and appreciated friend 
of all who are so fortunate as to know him. He seems to prefer office work, and 
his cautious conscientiousness .and thorough investigation -ever get his clients 
into useless litigation, and they seem to have learned this, for th,ey never hesitate 
to follow his advice implicitly, and experience has taught them they may well do 
so, but when occasion requires, and the courts must be resorted to, no honorable 
expedient is overlooked which .may in any way tend to success. His clients well 
know that nothing will be left undone, and that their matters are in the hands of 
one who requires no prompting or instructions, that their case will be thoroughly 
understood, prepared and tried. 

Mr. Richardson was married in 1872, to Miss Barnard, daughter of R. H. Bar- 
nard, of Genesee county, New York. They have one child, a daughter. 

He is a member of the Episcopal church, and in politics is a staunch republi- 
can, and at one time took considerable active interest therein, but latterly has 
preferred attending more closely to his profession. Mr. Richardson is a member 
of the ^asonic order, and also of the Knights .of Pythias, in both of which socie- 
ties he has attained to the -highest eminence possible, and is universally esteemed 
by the brotherhood. 

J. B: THOMAS. 

THE subject of this sketch is preeminently a self-made man. He is a native 
of Ohio, and was born in Drake county, June 29, 1848, and is the son of 
John Thomas and Abigail (Carter) Thomas. His opportunities for an education 
were limited. He commenced his education "in an old log school-house, and 
spent many a night in clearing, studying his books by the light of the blazing 
fires. His father settled near Union City, Ohio, near the western boundary of 
the -state, when the country was a howling wilderness; when the scream of the 
panther and the crack of hunters' rifles were familiar to the ears of the dwellers 
in these forests. But J. T5. Thomas was a youth who overcame difficulties. Per- 
severing, he sought and found private teachers who instructed him in a classic 
and scientific course, and being quick of apprehension, he soon became efficient 
in the branches which at first seemed bevond his reach. As soon as he was able 



364 T H R BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

to do so, he followed school teaching for a short time, and soon gained the dis- 
tinction of being one of the best educators in that part of the country. He 
commenced the study of law at eighteen years of age, with Judges Allen and 
Meeker, of Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in Ohio and Indiana in 1869, enter- 
ing at once upon the practice of his profession in Union City, Ohio. He prac- 
ticed in the courts of Indiana and Ohio with good success until January, 1873, 
when he removed to Chicago and resumed his profession. He was appointed to 
the office of police magistrate at the Union Stock Yards, April 10, 1879, for one 
year, and gave good satisfaction, and was afterward elected to the same office for 
a term of four years. The office, though one of responsibility, is one to which 
Mr. Thomas is peculiarly adapted. A lawyer with -quick perception and steady 
understanding, he is at the same time a man, generous, sympathetic and open- 
hearted, and while maintaining the dignity of his office, "tempers justice with 
mercy," and holds the scales of justice with an even hand. He was married Feb- 
ruary 16, 1870, to Miss Mattie Hall, of Springfield, Ohio. 



HON. HENRY S. AUSTIN. 

HENRY SEYMOUR AUSTIN, a native of Otego, Otsego county, New York, 
was born August 29, 181 1, the son of Thaddeus R. Austin, and Bethiah (Fair- 
man) Austin. He traces his paternal ancestry back to Anthony Austin, one of 
the earliest settlers of Suffield, Connecticut. In " Rees' Cyclopaedia," an old Eng- 
lish work, the genealogy of the family is traced back to the sixth century, when 
the name was changed from Augustin to Austin. The coat of arms, brought from 
England by Anthony Austin, and bearing the motto " Dens regnat" is now in pos- 
session of the subject of this sketch. His mother had three brothers, engravers; 
one of whom, Col. Gideon Fairman, of the well known firm of Fairman, Draper, 
Underwood and Company, was considered in his day, fifty years ago, the best 
engraver in the United States, and for many years engraved for the Bank of 
England. 

In the year 1810 the parents of our subject settled in Otsego county, New 
York, and there, during a period of over forty years, the father was engaged in a 
successful and extensive mercantile business, and in his long business career never 
allowed a note to go to protest. He was universally esteemed as an upright, hon- 
orable, intelligent man. Kind, indulgent and charitable, he was never known to 
take advantage of another's necessity, and the poor, the unfortunate, the dis- 
tressed, always found in him a true friend. He died in 1852, at the age of seventy- 
five years. After his death the mother of our subject removed to Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin, where she resided with her daughter, Mrs. H. A. Nichols, and died in 
1865, in her eighty-fourth year. 

Henry received his preparatory education at Hamilton' Academy, in Madison 
county, New York, and in 1831 graduated from Union College, Schenectady, then 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 367 

under the charge of Dr. Nott. After graduating, he began the study of law with 
James Clapp, of Oxford; he afterward studied with Charles P. Kirkland and 
Judge Bacon, of Utica, and in July, 1834, was admitted to the bar in New York, 
and began practice in Otsego county. Desiring a wider field of operation, and 
drawn by the inducements which it offered to young men, he removed to the West 
in 1835, and settled at Farmington, Fulton county, Illinois. 

Two years later he was appointed agent of the Des Moines Land Company, 
which owned most of the half-breed land in southern Iowa, upon which the old 
Fort Des Moines was located, when the troops left in June 1837. Here, in addi- 
tion to his other duties, Mr. Austin was appointed postmaster, and also held the 
fort and supplies for the Sac and Fox Indians until they were removed up the 
Des Moines river. As agent of the Des Moines Land Company, composed of 
Hon. Edward C. Delavan, of Albany, George P. Shipman, William E. Lee, Sam- 
uel P. Marsh and others, of New York, he laid out the town of Montrose, upon 
the site of Fort Des Moines, at the head of the rapids, and Keokuk, at the foot of 
the rapids, on the Mississippi. 

In May, 1837, he was married to Miss Mary Aiken, of Peoria, Illinois, and in 
1839, in consequence of her declining health, was induced to leave Iowa; and 
returning to Farmington, Illinois, again engaged in his profession, and also for 
many years acted as civil magistrate. 

His legal practice was general in its character, and he became widely known 
as a skillful and successful attorney, and in 1847 was elected by the citizens of 
Fulton county to the general assembly of the state. Removing to Peoria in 1852, 
he there continued the practice of his profession until 1866, when he removed to 
Chicago, his present home, having in the meantime represented Peoria county in 
the state legislature. 

Politically, Mr. Austin was formerly a democrat; but at the opening of the 
civil war in 1861, believing that party was giving aid and comfort to the enemy, 
he abandoned it, and has since been a hearty supporter of the republican party. 

During the years 1861 and 1862 he was grand master of the Independent Order 
of Odd-Fellows of this state (Illinois), and previous to that time was grand repre- 
sentative in the Grand Lodge of the United States. While performing his duties 
as grand master he was often called upon to exercise the iron hand of power, but 
was always fortunate in having his acts and decisions sustained by the Grand 
Lodge of the state, and the Grand Lodge of the United States. He has also 
taken a prominent stand in the Masonic order, having for several years, in Chi- 
cago, held the office of grand master of the Lodge of Perfection, in the A. and A. 
S. rite. He has made the subjects of Odd-Fellowship and Masonry a careful 
study, and many of his addresses and lectures on these and other subjects have 
been published. 

In his religious communion Mr. Austin is identified with the Episcopal church, 
and was for twenty years a representative in the Episcopal conventions of Illinois. 

As a business man he is methodical, careful, prudent, and conscientiously 



368 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

prompt in keeping his engagements and business contracts. He has aspired to 
the name of an honest, honorable, upright man, and the best evidence of his suc- 
cess is the universal esteem in which he is held. 

Generous and liberal, he has lost thousands of dollars in assisting those who 
won his confidence only to betray him, and yet by industry, economy and fair 
dealing has accumulated an ample fortune, and lives now in the enjoyment of a 
happy home. 

His first wife having died, he in 1840 married Miss Catherine J. Barnard, for- 
merly of Troy, New York, a graduate of Madam Willard's Seminary. They had 
three sons and one daughter, of whom two sons graduated from Union College 
in the class of 1863. The second son died in 1878. 

The subject of this sketch was one of the first appointees under the constitu- 
tion of 1870, of the state of Illinois, to the office of justice of the peace, of the city 
of Chicago, and served for four years in said office, and then declined to petition 
for reappointment. He was universally considered a just, upright and compe- 
tent judge, doing exact justice in every case, without prejudice, fear or favor. 



WILLIAM W. STEWART. 

W r ILLIAM WALLACE STEWART was among the earlier members of the 
Chicago bar. He is the son of Capt. Alanson C. Stewart and Sabrina 
(Wallace) Stewart, and was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, December 14, 1827. 
Capt. Stewart was one of the earliest pioneers of the West, and was identified with 
nearly all of the early internal improvement works of New York, Pennsylvania, 
Michigan and Illinois. He was with his elder brother, Gen. Hart L. Stewart, 
building the tunnel of the canal, which leads into Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and 
known as the Allegheny Tunnel, and was living on the banks of that canal when 
his son William Wallace was born. In the fall of 1829 our subject with his father's 
family, settled on a large farm at White Pigeon Prairie, St. Joseph's county, Mich- 
igan, which his father and Gen. Stewart had entered with other lands in that 
county. Owing to the continued absence of Capt. Stewart from home while con- 
structing the Illinois and Michigan canal, young Stewart was left at the early age 
of twelve years to look after the affairs at home. He assumed the care of the 
farm and family of his parents, and managed all to the entire satisfaction of the 
family, and to the universal approbation of his farming neighbors and friends. 
Thus he continued on the old farm, attending the winter terms of the district 
school, held in the red school house, located on the west end of his father's farm, 
until he was eighteen years of age. When the state university of Michigan had 
established a branch of its school in White Pigeon village, under the direction of 
Rev. Charles Newberry and Prof. Gray, he attended two terms of that school, and 
one term under the direction and tuition of Rev. Jonathan Chaplin, who succeeded 
Profs. Newberry and Gray. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 369 

In 1844 and 1845 young Stewart, with the assistance of his father, who was a 
prominent and official member of the Methodist Episcopal church, procured a 
scholarship in the Methodist Episcopal school, located at Albion, Michigan, and 
attended there six months, defraying his own expenses with money realized from 
the sale of produce which he himself worked to raise. He commenced a thorough 
classical course of study, and at the end of the term was fully prepared to enter 
the University of Michigan. Among his classmates at Albion, were Prof. L. R. 
Fisk, Gen. C. B. Fisk, Seymour Egleston, Col. Babcock, James Crippen, Theo- 
dore Doty and Prof. Crane, all celebrated men. Mr. Stewart was very desirous 
of taking a complete collegiate course at Ann Arbor, including a course in the law 
department. But accepting an advantageous offer from his uncle, Gen. Hart L. 
Stewart, who was at that time postmaster at Chicago, he removed thither, and 
attended to the duties of assistant to the postmaster for about three years. In the 
meantime his father had removed his family to New Buffalo, near the head of Lake 
Michigan, where he was engaged in building the Michigan Central railroad to 
Michigan City, on its destined way to Chicago. The occasion of his first visit to 
the new home of the family was rendered extremely painful and sad by reason of 
the death of a dearly beloved sister, Sarah Sabrina, and the severe illness of his 
brother, Hart L. and mother, who were suffering from the malarial diseases 
which were incident to that new place. Several weeks were passed at home, and 
Mr. Stewart informed his father that he had decided to adopt the profession 
of the law. Having saved about $400 while in the postoffice, he deposited the 
same with his uncle, Gen. Stewart, to be used as he should need from time to 
time in the prosecution of his studies. 

From 1849 to 1852 Mr. Stewart was the clerk and law student of Chancelor 
J. H. Collins, and of the later firm of Collins and Williams (the last named was 
Judge E. S. Williams), and from these distinguished and profound lawyers 
he received his instruction in the science and practice of the law. Having been 
examined in 1852 by Col. R. J. Hamilton and Judges Buckner S. Morris and 
Grant Goodrich, he was by them recommended as a worthy, competent can- 
didate for legal honors. He was admitted to the bar of Illinois, Hon. J. D. 
Caton, chief-justice of Illinois, affixing his name to the young attorney's commis- 
sion. He also received a commission about that time as one of the five notaries 
of Cook county. He at once opened an office in Chicago, and, although clients 
came slowly, had an abundance of business as a notary, for the banks, bankers, 
and land speculators of the growing city increased rapidly, which occupied nearly 
all of his time and attention for the succeeding ten years, to the exclusion of 
active practice in his profession. 

In 1853 Mr. Stewart was married to Miss Angeline Stewart, of Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, only daughter of Francis L. Stewart and Sarah Ann (Davis) Stew- 
art, one of the oldest families of that city. The fruit of this union has been five 
children, two of whom, Clarence and Isabel!, died in early youth in Chicago 
William Francis, Charles Watson and Grace still survive. 



370 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

In 1863, upon the death of Henry A. Clark, of Chicago, Mr. Stewart was des- 
ignated as trustee for Sanger, Camp and Company, contractors for and the owners 
of the early Ohio and Mississippi railroad, running from St. Louis to Vincennes, 
and was put in charge of the lands and town property often or twelve towns along 
the line of that road which had become the property of the contractors during its 
construction. 

In politics Mr. Stewart was a Douglas democrat, and upon the breaking out of 
the civil war he adhered to the principles of his friend, Senator Douglas, as pro- 
claimed from the platform, when he had made his name and fame perpetual by 
the declaration of ardent and enduring love for the democratic republican gov- 
ernment and union of states, and his startling announcement " that the quickest 
road to peace was by the most stupendous preparations for war." Mr. Stewart 
was found an active supporter of the war, and was known and recognized as a 
war democrat through all that trying period. 

About this time he became somewhat actively interested in real estate matters, 
and during the years from 1863 to 1868, was of great assistance to his friends and 
clients, in negotiating sales and exchanges of large landed interests, in Illinois, 
West Virginia, and other states. Having become personally interested in 
realty in southern Illinois, and having in some measure impaired his health by 
too close and long continued office labors, he, in June, 1867, moved his family to 
Flora, a pretty town on the Ohio and Mississippi railroad, and was associated in 
the practice of the law with Hon. Aaron Shaw, of Olney, Illinois, each residing 
in different counties, and attending courts in the counties of Clay, Richland, Law- 
rence and Wayne, where he was greatly benefited by his experience in varied 
methods of professional business, and also in his health, by change of climate. 

Immediately after the great fire of 1871, by reason of his parents' death, Mr. 
Stewart returned to Chicago, and as executor, assisted in settling their estates. 
He also determined to remove his family back to the city so that he could the 
better educate his children. From 1873 to 1876 he resided near the schools of 
Evanston and the city, in the beautiful suburb of Wilmette, on the shore of Lake 
Michigan. 

In 1876 he changed his place of residence to Oakland, just south of the city 
limits, in the village of Hyde Park, and continued the practice of the law. By 
reason of the varied and imperative demands which the changes of residence, 
locations and trusts have imposed upon Mr. Stewart, he was not allowed to 
devote his time and talents to any particular branch of the profession. He was 
always regarded by his friends and clients as well versed in the elements and 
principles of the science, a ready and impressive speaker, a cautious and careful 
adviser and counselor, and prompt in the disposition of business in hand, and as 
a man cordial, genial and affable. He has commended himself to a large circle 
of friends and acquaintances in Chicago and its suburbs, who recognize in him a 
worthy citizen, and an honest, upright lawyer, a cultured, genial gentleman, and 
Christian man. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 371 

Since his residence in Hyde Park he has taken an active part in the public- 
affairs of the village, and in all matters of public interest and progress. In the 
spring of 1882 and for several years prior thereto, Mr. Stewart was actively- 
identified with the citizens' association of the village, in all of its efforts for the 
establishment of reform and economy in the public methods and service, and for 
the development and improvement of Hyde Park and its surroundings. In recog- 
nition of his services and his fitness for the position, Mr. Stewart was elected pros- 
ecuting attorney for Hyde Park in April, 1882, which position he now holds; his 
residence being in Pullman. 



CHARLES E. POPE. 

S E. POPE was born in Saline, Michigan, August u, 1847. His 
great-grandfather, Edward Pope, was judge of the court of common pleas 
of Massachusetts, and was collector of the port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, 
during Washington's administration. His grandfather, Thomas Pope, settled in 
Washington county, Michigan, about the year 1837, removing there from New 
Bedford, to which latter place he returned at the close of his life. His father, 
George G. Pope, settled in Chicago about 1858. The family is descended from 
an old Plymouth Rock family, who came to that place about the year 1631, and 
a member of which afterward moved to New Bedford, from whom the New 
Bedford branch of the family sprung. Mr. Pope received his primary education 
at Newport, Rhode Island, and in 1865 entered Harvard University, where he 
graduated in 1869. He then returned to Chicago, and studied law with W. E. 
Furness, and was admitted to the bar in June 1871, and began practice at once. 
He was elected village clerk and comptroller of the village of Hyde Park in 1873, 
and held that office two years. In politics Mr. Pope is independent in his views 
and actions. He is a member of the firm of McCoy, Pope and McCoy, consisting 
of Alexander McCoy, Charles E. Pope and Charles B. McCoy. 



AUSTIN A. CANAVAN. 

AUSTIN A. CANAVAN was born November 5, 1850, in Philadelphia, and is 
the son of Anthony Canavan, formerly a wholesale grocer in that city, but 
who removed in 1859 to Illinois, where he has been engaged principally in stock 
raising. Mr. Canavan was educated at St. Viator's College, in Kankakee county, 
Illinois, being four years a pupil, and afterward a " pupil teacher" in that institu- 
tion until he graduated in June, 1874. He then entered the Yale College Law 
School, and graduated with honors of the class of 1876, and was admitted to the 
bar of Connecticut. Returning to Chicago, he began practice in September of 
that year, and has continued the same uninterruptedly since. By strict attention 
39 



372 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

and devotion to his profession, he has succeeded in building up a large and lucra- 
tive practice, and is one of the few prominent Irish Catholic lawyers in Chicago, 
He is attorney for Kankakee county in the suit concerning their liability on rail- 
road bonds in a case where the road was not constructed as per charter. In De- 
cember, 1881, he married Miss Emma Valliguette, of Chicago. Although a young 
man, his professional career has been eminently successful, and with his fine 
native abilities, learning and devotion to his chosen profession, is destined to 
take a high stand among its leading and honored members. 



GEN. ROBERT W. SMITH. 

THE subject of this biography was born in Hanoverton, Ohio, September 4, 
1824, the son of P. W. Smith, a farmer who entered the land on which this 
subject was born, and lived on the same fifty-four years, and paid for the land by 
teaching winters and making brick summers, and received a patent therefor 
signed by James Madison, President of the United States. The subject of this 
sketch entered Williams College in 1846, supported himself by teaching during 
vacation, and graduated therefrom with high honors in 1850. He afterward 
entered the office of Luther Day, at Ravenna, Ohio, as a law student, and 
made rapid progress in the rudiments of his profession. He was a friend of the 
late lamented President James A. Garfield, who was a youth at that time pre- 
paring to enter college. He remarked to Mr. Smith at one time, in the office of 
Mr. Day, that he wished to go to Bethany, a college under the control of his relig- 
ious sect (the Disciples). Mr. Smith replied that Bethany was a young college, 
and it might die at any time, and that he had better attend an established insti- 
tution with a reputation, and at the same time furnished him with a catalogue of 
Williams College. Young Garfield acted upon his suggestion, and wrote to Dr. 
Hopkins, the president of that institution, who responded in happy terms, and 
the embryo president became a student there. Who can say that the advice of Mr. 
Smith given at the right time was not effectual in giving a turn to the life of James 
A. Garfield that materially influenced his future career? After completing his 
legal course, Mr. Smith was admitted to the Ohio bar by the supreme court in 
bane at Columbus, in January 1853. He then removed to Rock Island, Illinois, 
and commenced the practice of the law with excellent success. He was soon 
elected to numerous municipal offices, and in the fall of 1860 was nominated on 
the republican ticket to represent Henry, Rock Island and Mercer counties in the 
legislature, and ran four hundred votes ahead of Abraham Lincoln, and was 
elected. He was a very influential member, whose judgment was considered sound 
in all matters of importance, and whose advice was often asked by his associates 
when intricate subjects were up for consideration. He gave his time and atten- 
tion to the interests of his constituents, and was of great value to the state, and 
particularly to the district which he represented. 



THE BENCH AND BAR Of-' CHICAGO. 373 

Immediately after the adjournment of the legislature he removed to Chicago 
and entered at once upon the practice of the law, doing a large business. In 
the spring of 1862, Mr. Smith entered the United States service, in the i6th regi- 
ment 111. Vol. Cavalry, as lieutenant-colonel. In the fall of 1864, for meritorious 
conduct, he was promoted to the rank of colonel, and March n, 1865, was breveted 
brigadier-general. He was at the siege of Knoxville, East Tennessee, and par- 
ticipated in the battles that followed up the Virginia valley and was in all of the 
engagements in Gen. Sherman's Atlanta campaign, and also was in all of the 
engagements in Gen. George H. Thomas' Nashville campaign. He was mustered 
out of service in August, 1865. Gen. Smith was an efficient officer, always lead- 
ing his men in the thickest of the fight. No braver man ever faced a foe than 
Gen. R. W. Smith. His orders, though mildly given, were always obeyed, and 
he was held in high esteem by the men of his command. 

Since leaving the army, Gen. Smith has been in the general practice of the 
law in Chicago, in which he has been eminently successful. He has a first-class 
common law and chancery practice and an excellent clientage. As a counselor, 
he is learned, able, safe and reliable. He is a gentleman of refinement and taste; 
is courteous and obliging, and sustains a high reputation for honor, uprightness 
and true manhood. He is of fine presence six feet high, with an erect carriage; 
weighs two hundred and ten pounds and is well proportioned; has a well shaped 
head, covered with a luxuriant growth of hair, which was once dark brown, but 
is now somewhat silvered. His eyes are blue and his features of a classic mould. 
He is the Worshipful Master of the Oriental Lodge of Masons and a member of 
La Fayette Chapter. 

He was married to Miss Mary B. Wilson, of Salem, Ohio, a noble lady, of fine 
education, very charitable, and beloved by all who knew her. They had three 
children, two of whom survive her. 



EDWIN K. SMITH. 

THE subject of this biography is a self-made, prosperous member of the 
Chicago bar, who, by diligence, perseverance and close attention to busi- 
ness, has been both rewarded in a pecuniary sense and gained the reputation of 
being a man of strict integrity, who loves to be upright, that he may reap the 
rewards of an approving conscience, for, notwithstanding he has accumulated a 
handsome property for a man of his age in the practice of the law, yet he can 
truthfully say that he has never wrongfully taken from any person a dollar. 

Edwin K. Smith was born June 22, 1852, at Somerville, Somerset county, New 
Jersey, and is the son of Hulet and Margaret (Cramer) Smith. The paternal 
ancestors of our subject immigrated to this country in the Colidonia. Both of 
his grandfathers were soldiers in the revolutionary war. Edwin was educated in 
Marengo, Illinois, and graduated from the high school in that place. He studied 



374 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 



law with Hon. Ira R. Curtis, of Marengo, Illinois, and was admitted to the bar 
in January 1877. He served in the capacity of first assistant circuit clerk in 
McHenry county, Illinois, about one year. 

He commenced the practice of the law in Chicago in 1878 by himself, and 
thus continued about eighteen months, when he formed a partnership with Col. 
Robert Rae, a prominent admiralty lawyer, well known in Chicago and other 
commercial cities. Mr. Smith is a well read lawyer, especially in real estate law. 
He is an eloquent and very successful advocate, and must some day occupy a 
high position at the bar. 

He married Miss Lillian E. Pratt, a lady of fine attainments, with great skill 
as a musician and artist. He has one child, Helen E. Smith. 



EDWARD R. WOODLE. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, March 8, 1853, 
and is the son of the late Isaac Woodle, a well known lawyer of that city. 
After completing his preliminary education, he pursued a course of study at Racine 
College, graduating from that institution in 1873, and in the year following com- 
menced the study of the law, entering Madison University. He graduated there- 
from in 1875. He then went to New York city and engaged in business, but 
returned to Chicago at the end of six months, and entering the office of Isham 
and Lincoln, remained there two years. He then entered into the employment 
of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, in the law department, in the office of 
B. F. Ayer, general solicitor. In political sentiments, Mr. Woodle is a liberal 
republican, and in religion a liberal Episcopalian. He is a thorough lawyer, per- 
severing in research of authorities, and for a young man succeeds well in the 
trial of cases. He is honorable, upright and trustworthy, and has justly earned the 
reputation of being a man of much promise. 



PHILIP BARNARD. 

THE subject of this sketch was born in Chicago, December 12, 1852, and is 
the son of Martin and Elizabeth M. (Wernrick) Bernhardt. He was educated 
in private schools in Chicago, and afterward entered Cornell University, at Ithaca, 
New York, and graduated therefrom in 1878. He then studied law and was 
admitted to the bar of Illinois, March 16, 1881, and at once commenced the practice 
of his profession. Mr. Barnard is a thoroughly self-made man. When a boy he 
learned the art of wood engraving, and being compelled to rely upon his own 
efforts to support himself in college, turned his knowledge and skill in that art to 
good account, and found it a source of considerable profit and a great help in 
pursuing his studies. He was married September 4, 1879, to Miss Hattie E. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 375 

Chapin, by whom he has two children. Mrs. Barnard is an estimable lady, of 
refinement and culture, and traces her paternal genealogy back to the Pilgrim 
fathers, who came to this country in the Mayflower in 1620. In political senti- 
ments, Mr. Barnard is an independent republican. As a lawyer, he is energetic 
and persevering, and has met with good success in whatever he has undertaken in 
his profession. He is careful and reflective, a constant student, and is known as 
an honorable, courteous and dignified gentleman. While in college Mr. Barnard 
was honored with an election to the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. 



CHARLES B. HOSMER. 

/~*HARLES B. HOSMER was born in Columbia, Connecticut, in 1812, and 
>^> was the son of Stephen Hosmer, a very active merchant of that place. He 
entered Yale College, and was graduated in 1838; having begun the study of law 
concurrently with his literary course, under the direction of Silas Mix, of New 
Haven. He soon after graduating from college went to Syracuse, New York, and 
studied under Gen. Jas. R. Lawrence, and in the fall of 1839 removed to Chicago, 
where he was admitted to the bar. Removing to Naperville, Du Page county, in 
the fall of 1839, he practiced his profession there until the fall of 1848. He then 
returned to Chicago, and began practice there, and the following year entered into 
partnership with Ebenezer Peck, which continued until 1861, when Mr. Peck was 
appointed judge of the court of claims in Washington. Mr. Hosmer then prac- 
ticed alone about ten years, but is now, and has been since 1871, in partnership 
with his son, E. D. Hosmer. Their business is largely confined to real estate and 
loans. 



MICHAEL J. DUNNE. 

MICHAEL J. DUNNE was born in Tully, Kildare county, Ireland, October 
2, 1839. His father, William Dunne, a native of Queen's county, was a 
person of considerable property, and was held in high esteem for his honorable 
and upright conduct through life, and filled many local positions of trust and 
honor. In consequence of disastrous losses in business, and from a desire to 
escape the oppressions under which his native land was groaning, in the year 
1850 he immigrated to the New World, with a view of retrieving his fortunes 
and of opening a wider and freer field in life for his children. Undeterred by 
the difficulties to be encountered in a new state, he settled in the same year in 
Chicago, then in its infancy, and engaged in the brewing business. He and his 
surviving children sustained an irreparable loss in the death of his wife, a most 
estimable lady, and a loving wife and mother, and also four children who were 
stricken by the hand of death in the summer of 1850. He survived her many 



3/6 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

years, and died in Elgin, Illinois, in 1879, at the ripe and honored age of eighty- 
six years. 

Michael received the rudiments of a good education, at the University of St. 
Mary of the Lake, in Chicago, and in 1854 removed to Elgin, where he commenced 
the study of the law, and completed his studies in the office of Irvin and Snow- 
hook, in Chicago. 

On his admission to the bar in 1861, he engaged in practice in Elgin, and was 
soon afterward elected city attorney of that city, but animated by the martial 
ardor that filled the hearts of the patriotic people of the North, he abandoned his 
books and briefs, and enlisted in the 6pth regiment 111. Vols., then aided in raising a 
company for the 1415! regiment, III. Vols., and subsequently another for the i53d 
regiment; in the two latter of which regiments he held the rank of first lieutenant, 
and remained in the military service until the close of the war of the rebellion. 
During the last year of his service he acted as assistant inspector-general on the 
staff of Maj.-Gen. R. W. Johnson, who commanded the district of middle Tennes- 
see. At the termination of the war he resumed the practice of his profession, in 
Chicago, and has acquired a reputation as a well read and successful lawyer, and 
a fair and honorable practitioner, and enjoys a lucrative and growing practice. 

In youth Mr. Dunne was very fond of reading, and eager to learn what the 
books, in every branch of literature, contained, and his studious habits did not 
cease with youth. Besides, he was a close observer of men and things, and as a 
consequence gained a large fund of practical knowledge, that he employs for the 
benefit of himself and his clients. 

M. J. Dunne was, in his youth, a warm admirer of Stephen A. Douglas, and 
following his teaching on the question of the supremacy of the constitution, was 
a war democrat, and has since been a consistent and staunch democrat, but, not 
prejudiced in his partizanship, is always willing to acknowledge the good quali- 
ties and principles of his political opponents. 

In 1874 he was elected representative of the fifth senatorial district, in the 
Illinois legislature, and was chairman of the committee on rivers and canals, and 
was an earnest advocate of the improvement of the canal and Illinois river, so as 
to enlarge their capacity as a water way for the transportation of our grain pro- 
ducts to eastern markets. 

The democrats of his district renominated and elected him as their represen- 
tative in 1876, and he took an active part in the famous senatorial contest which 
culminated in the defeat of Gen. J. A. Logan, and the election of Judge David 
Davis to the United States senate. In 1878 he was nominated for the state sen- 
ate, but in the general defeat that overwhelmed the democracy in his county in 
that year, he was defeated. 

Mayor Harrison appointed Mr. Dunne in the spring of 1880, a member of the 
board of education, in which body he until lately held the position of vice president; 
and during his membership he has manifested a warm and zealous interest in the 
progress and success of our common-school system, and in all educational matters. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 377 

The great fire of 1871, which desolated so many homes, and destroyed so 
many hopes, prevented Mr. Dunne from fulfilling a matrimonial engagement, 
which he had contracted, and designed to consummate the following month. But 
undaunted by that casualty, in which he suffered a considerable loss for a young 
man, he only allowed his happiness to be delayed a few months, and on June 3, 
1872, he was married at Montreal, to a refined and accomplished lady of that city, 
Ellen, daughter of James McShane, an old and respected resident. They have 
three children. 



AZEL F. HATCH. 

AZEL F. HATCH was born September 6, 1848, in Lisle, Du Page county, 
Illinois, the son of James C. Hatch. He received his primary education at 
the public schools in Lisle, and in 1867 entered Oberlin College, Ohio, where he 
studied until the year 1870, when he entered the senior class of Yale University, 
and graduated in 1871. He was then appointed principal of the high school at 
Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where he remained one year. Settling in Chicago in 1872, 
he entered the office of Shorey and Norton, and began the study of law. Two 
years later, in September, 1874, he was admitted to the bar, and in December fol- 
lowing began the practice of his profession. During the first years of his practice 
he was associated with Norton and Hulburd, under the style of Norton, Hulburd 
and Hatch, but in 1880 formed, in connection with O. F. Aldis, the firm of 
Hatch and Aldis recently dissolved. He is now practicing alone. 

Mr. Hatch, though not a partisan, is a republican in political sentiment; he 
however takes no active interest in politics, more than to perform his duties as a 
citizen, being devoted to his profession. 

He was married in 1880, to Grace H. Greene of Lisle, Illinois. 



RUDOLPH D. HUSZAGH. 

RUDOLPH D. HUSZAGH was born in New York city, August 30, 1854, the 
oldest son of Julius G. and Elizabeth Huszagh, the former of Hungarian and 
the latter of German descent. His father always placed a high value upon educa- 
tion, and early sent Rudolph to school. Until his thirteenth year, he attended the 
public schools of Brooklyn and New York, and then was sent to a military academy 
at Nazareth, Pennsylvania. He afterward attended the Bryant and Stratton Busi- 
ness College at Brooklyn. At the age of seventeen, he entered the employ of a 
treasurer and secretary of several Michigan copper mining companies as book- 
keeper, where he remained until the spring of 1873, when he removed with his 
father's family to Chicago, where he shortly after entered the employ of a whole- 
sale grocery house. A mercantile life not suiting his tastes, he went into the real 
estate business, and thereby necessarily being drawn into the company of lawyers, 



378 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

and obtaining occasional glimpses of litigation, he imbibed a strong love for the 
legal profession, and finally, in 1875, decided to become a lawyer, and in the fall 
of 1877 he entered the Union College of Law of Chicago, and graduated from 
that institution in 1879, receiving a prize for an essay on a legal topic delivered 
before the graduating class. June 14, 1879, he became a member of the bar, 
and at once entered into active practice. Having made many friends while in the 
real estate business, and being conversant with the German as well as his native 
tongue, he met with immediate and unusual success. 

His religious views are very liberal. During the Garfield campaign he was 
president of a young men's republican club in Chicago. As a speaker, Mr. Hus- 
zagh has a ready command of language, and seldom fails to impress his listeners 
by his earnest and dignified address, and with his scholarly attainments, and clear 
perception of legal questions, and keen appreciation of professional honor, 
together with his native energy and business tact, cannot but take a high stand- 
ing at the bar. 

JOSIAH H. BISSELL. 

JOSIAH H. BISSELL was born June i, 1845, in the city of Rochester, New 
York, his family being for many generations of well known New England 
lineage. His father, Col. Josiah W. Bissell, served with distinction in the rebellion 
as colonel of engineers in the West, and was prominent in the capture of Island 
No. 10, in the Mississippi river, April 7, 1862. His mother was a daughter of 
Horace Hooker, of Rochester, New York. Josiah was prepared for college at 
Rochester, entering the University in September 1861. In the following year he 
left college, and accepted a position as lieutenant in the engineer regiment of the 
West, and was engaged in most of the engineering operations of the army until 
after the fall of Vicksburg. He had the satisfaction of being engaged in plant- 
ing the first battery ever erected against that stronghold, and afterward of 
engineering a fortification which withstood the attacks of Forrest's division when 
they reentered Tennessee. He then resigned and entered the same class at Yale 
College, graduating in 1865, and delivering the second oration at commencement. 
Having selected the law as his future profession, he became a student in the office 
of Hon. H. R. Selden, of Rochester, ex-judge of the court of appeals, and who 
has ever since been his personal friend. In December, 1867, he was admitted to 
the bar, and immediately entered upon a successful career as a lawyer in that 
city. He removed to Chicago in January, 1869, where he still continues his pro- 
fessional duties. 

He is a lawyer of great promise, being very adroit in the management of 
cases, and has a power and quickness of repartee, and an ability to avail himself 
of emergencies, that are singularly effective in his clients' interests. Whenever 
he presents a case to the court he is always prepared with the authorities which 
support the legal propositions involved. He has a sincerity of manner that wields 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 381 

a most effective power. He is fluent, lucid, luminous and logical, while for true 
manhood and exemplary conduct no man stands higher. In July, 1870, he was 
appointed by Hon. David Davis and Hon. Thomas Drummond the official reporter 
for the United States circuit and district courts for the seventh judicial circuit, 
embracing the states of Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. He has published ten 
volumes of these reports, many of the cases being accompanied with foot-notes 
and references, which give them an additional value. His acquaintance with 
chancery and real estate law led to his engagement by leading law publishers to 
write a work on partition, a subject with which he is specially conversant. Aside 
from his legal attainments, Mr. Bissell has traveled extensively, both in this coun- 
try and in Europe, and has an extensive knowledge of scientific and literary sub- 
jects, and for many years he has contributed largely to that class of publications. 
His articles, and also his papers before literary and philosophical societies, have 
received high encomiums, and he is rapidly gaining celebrity as a writer of great 
merit. 

WILLIAM J. DONLIN. 

WILLIAM J. DONLIN is the son of John H. Donlin, of Chicago, and was 
born here, March n, 1859. He was educated at St. Ignatius College, 
Chicago, and after being graduated in 1877, commenced the study of law in the 
office of Monroe, Bisbee and Ball. He was admitted to the bar in June, 1880, 
but continued his studies in the office of Rae and Smith until December, 1881, 
when he went to New Mexico. Mr. Donlin opened an office in Raton, New Mex- 
ico, but practiced there only about six months, when he returned to Chicago. 
He has formed a partnership with Frederick S. Baker under the name of Baker 
& Donlin, and is engaged in the practice of his chosen profession. 



WILLIAM A. MONTGOMERY. 

WILLIAM A. MONTGOMERY inherits his tastes for the legal profession, 
his father, John R. Montgomery, having been an old and leading lawyer 
in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and his grandfather, also, a lawyer of considerable 
eminence. He was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, June 21, 1838, and his early 
education was received at Washington College in his native state. In 1856, Mr. 
Montgomery left Washington College, and entering the senior class of Beloit 
College graduated in 1857. He at once began the study of law in the law 
school of Louisville, Kentucky, and remained there one year, when he returned 
to Wisconsin and completed his studies in the office of the late Judge Hopkins, 
of Madison, who was afterward judge of the United States district court. Hav- 
ing been admitted to the bar in Madison, in the spring of 1860, Mr. Montgomery 
removed to Chicago, but had been practicing his profession but a short time when 
40 



382 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

the war broke out, and he entered the i5th Wis. infantry, in which he rose to the 
rank of captain, and participated in all the principal engagements of the Army of 
of the Cumberland, to which his regiment belonged, until he was mustered out in 
1865. He then returned to Chicago and resumed the practice of law, and was for 
some time a member of the firm of Wilson, Martin and Montgomery, and later of 
Montgomery and Waterman, but is now and for a number of years has been 
alone. In politics Mr. Montgomery is a republican, but has devoted his life prin- 
cipally to his profession, and has had his share of success. 



HENRY T. HELM. 

THE subject of this sketch is a very able lawyer. A native of Tennessee, he 
was born in Carter county, May 4, 1830. He is a son of John C. Helm, an 
eminent physician, who was widely known and highly respected during his life- 
time, in east Tennessee and in the state of Indiana. He was a native of Virginia, 
and a relative of Hon. John L. Helm, ex-governor of Kentucky. The mother of 
our subject was Amy Hampton, a daughter of Capt. John Hampton, who served 
in the regiment of east Tennessee, and took a prominent part in the battle of 
Horse-Shoe Neck, under Gen. Andrew Jackson. The paternal grandfather of 
our subject was a teacher of considerable renown, while his uncles and cousins 
are all physicians. 

Henry T. lived in Tennessee until five years of age, and then removed with 
his parents to Ohio, where he lived until he was fourteen. He then removed to 
Miami Reserve, and lived among the Indians until twenty years of age. He 
entered Miami University, and graduated from that institution with the highest 
honors in the class of 1853. He studied law with Hon. John U. Pettit, ex-judge 
and member of congress, and removed to Chicago in 1854, and was there admit- 
ted to the Illinois bar, and entered at once upon the practice of his profession, 
forming a partnership with George K. Clark, under the firm name of Helm and 
Clark. The business of the firm increased to large proportions in a very short 
time, exceeding that of any other firm of lawyers then doing business in Chicago, 
in the number of cases. Mr. Helm was successively associated with E. S. Taylor, 
A. M. Pence, Hon. Kirk Hawes, Walter Howland and John L. Manning, under 
the following firm names: Helm, Taylor and Pence; Helm and Hawes; Helm 
and Howland ; Helm and Manning. 

Mr. Helm is a man of great energy, activity and industry, who never shrinks 
from any duty, however arduous, His name often appears in the Illinois Reports, 
his briefs being always elaborate and carefully prepared. He is especially able 
as an advocate, either before the court or jury, being quick of apprehension, and 
having a rare power of analysis and a ready flow of words. Mr. Helm has a fine 
presence, being tall and commanding, but kind and courteous, and a gentleman 
of culture and refinement. He has a large circle of friends, who admire him for 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 383 

his manly honor, truthfulness and intellectual endowments. Of late he has given 
almost his entire attention to mining matters, but at the same time is connected 
with important chancery cases in different states of the Union. In political sen- 
timents Mr. Helm is a democrat, and was one of the presidential electors on the 
McClellan ticket in 1864. 

He is an elder in the Eighth Presbyterian Church, of Chicago, and was a 
member of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, held in Buffalo, 
New York, in 1881, and was placed on the committee of foreign missions, being 
an active worker in all matters tending to advance the interests of the church 
and its members. Mr. Helm was married, in 1856, to Miss Julia F. Lathrop, of 
Oxford, Ohio, a lady of fine accomplishments, highly educated, being a graduate 
of Oxford, Ohio, Female Seminary. She is a member of the Woman's Presbyte- 
rian Board of Missions for the Northwest, and President of the Illinois Synod. 
They have two sons and three daughters. One son, Lynn Helm, is an able and 
prominent lawyer, of Chicago; the other, Scott Helm, is a graduate of Rush 
Medical College of great promise, only twenty-one years of age, who by peculiar 
native gifts and education, seems destined to maintain the medical reputation, 
which is already very high in the Helm family. 



JOHN J. McCLELLAN. 

ONE of the most successful commercial lawyers in Chicago is John J. Mc- 
Clellan, of the law firm of McClellan and Cummins. He was born in Living- 
ston, Columbia county, New York, September 5, 1833. His father, a physician, is 
of Scotch extraction; his mother, whose maiden name was Catharine Garner, was 
of Dutch descent, and her ancestors settled in Columbia county in 1793, an ances- 
try combining the qualities of two sturdy and vigorous peoples, both character- 
ized by intelligence, good common sense, energy and sagacity. John J. spent his 
youth in school in Columbia county until 1845, when the family removed to 
Kenosha county, Wisconsin, where his father practiced his profession and 
improved a large farm. He took a deep interest in the political and material 
interests of the then new commonwealth; was member of the first constitutional 
convention of Wisconsin, and prominently identified with the framing of the con- 
stitution; was subsequently elected to the state senate. John J. worked on the 
farm, attending school during the intervals of labor, until seventeen years of age, 
when he entered a higher school in Kenosha, where he remained two years, prior 
to commencing the study of law, in the office of E. W. Evans, then a prominent 
lawyer in Kenosha, and late of the Chicago bar. In 1855 he entered the law 
department of the Albany University, graduating in 1856, and was admitted to 
the bar and commenced practice in the fall of the same year, in Oconto, in north- 
ern Wisconsin, and did a successful business in that then newly settled country. 
In the spring of 1857 he was elected district attorney, under a new county organ- 



384 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

ization, and by successive reelections, continued to hold that office until January 
1862, when he was appointed assistant attorney general of Wisconsin, under Hon. 
James H. Howe, attorney general, and afterward, under Mr. Howe's successor, 
Winfield Smith, and was acknowledged by all parties to be an efficient and able 
officer in that capacity. In March 1863, he resigned this office and moved to 
Racine and resumed the practice of his profession. In May 1864, he was 
appointed, by President Lincoln, assistant quartermaster of volunteers, with rank 
of captain, and placed in charge of Johnson's Island, Tallahassee, Florida, and 
other posts; remained in this service until 1866, when he left it with a clean balance 
sheet and a record which evidenced faithful and honorable service. He then 
settled in Chicago, and resumed the practice of the law; first taking charge of 
the legal affairs of the great dry goods house of J. V. Farwell and Company; sub- 
sequently he engaged in general practice (though largely in the department of 
commercial law) with different associates, with a success almost unexampled in 
Chicago. He has so continued in practice until a few months ago when he organ- 
ized the firm of McClellan and Cummins, which is engaged in general practice, and 
is strong, reliable and responsible. It was said of him by a well known judge who 
had known him intimately, and before whom he had had many important cases: 
" He has an active, vigorous mind, an accurate and extensive knowledge of law; 
patient and persistent industry, and is the soul of honor." This is a brief but 
truthful summary of his character and qualities, which all who know him can 
verify. He has been successful, won success by force of his native and acquired 
abilities, his energy, integrity and faithfulness to those who entrust their interests 
to his care. 

In 1 86 1 he married Julia G. Wheldon, of Racine, Wisconsin. They have two 
children, a daughter about nineteen and a son about fifteen years of age. 



CHARLES K. OFFIELD. 

/"^HARLES K. OFFIELD is a native of Lewiston, Fulton county, Illinois, and 
> ; was born in 1845. His father, Franklin Pike Offield, built the county build- 
ings of Fulton county, and was connected with that county in an official capacity 
for many years, and was also one of the incorporators of the town of Canton, Illi- 
nois. While a mere child the subject of this sketch lost his father, and was left 
to the care of his mother, who is now Mrs. E. O. Thompson, of New Haven, 
Connecticut. He attended the seminary at Aurora, Illinois, and also the North- 
western University, and in 1864, in his freshman year, served for nine months in 
Kentucky and Missouri with a company from this latter institution as sergeant, 
in the i34th regiment, 111. Vols. In 1867 he entered the law department 
of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, graduating in 1869. He then 
settled in Chicago, and was admitted to practice in 1870, and continued his 
studies in the office of Goodwin, Larned and Towle. When, in 1874, E. C. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 385 

Larned dissolved his connection with the above firm, Mr. Offield took his place, 
and the firm was Goodwin, Offield and Towle until the death of Mr. Goodwin, in 
1879, when the firm became Offield and Towle. Patent litigation and soliciting 
is a specialty with this firm, and has been for many years, and they have a large 
and excellent as well as lucrative practice. Among their clients are embraced 
some of the largest and wealthiest corporations in the country. Mr. Offield is 
looked upon by the legal profession generally, and those who know him, as, for 
his years, one of the strongest and best men in his branch of the profession in the 
United States. He is a man of great force of character and mental strength, 
untiringly and unceasingly industrious and energetic. He discourages needless 
litigation, and is a man of unquestionable integrity and probity of life and 
character. 

In politics Mr. Offield is a republican, but he does not give more attention to 
politics than is the duty of every good citizen. He married, in 1875, Miss May 
R. Munson, of New Haven, Connecticut, and has two children. 



BENNETT H. VARY. 

BENNETT H. VARY was born in Onondaga county, New York, August 18, 
1842. His parents were Richard H. and Deborah (Foster) Vary. His father 
was born July 4, 1776, and spent the greater portion of his life in agricultural 
pursuits, and when Bennett, his youngest son, was three years of age, he moved 
to Gouverneur, St. Lawrence county, New York, and there remained until his 
death. Bennett, being at that time but twelve years old, was left to care for his 
mother, and her three other children. Shortly afterward, when fourteen years of 
age, he began teaching, and continued in that occupation during the winter 
months, studying during the summer, until the age of twenty-one. By carefully 
economizing and improving his time, he acquired a good education, and a valua- 
ble fund of practical information, and having decided to enter the legal profes- 
sion, now began the study of law under C. G. Myers, of Ogdensburg, New York, 
subsequently attorney general of the state. He remained there for six years, 
until the fall of 1853, when he was admitted to the bar. Settling down at once 
to the practice of law, he made for himself an enviable reputation as a successful 
lawyer, and established at Ogdensburg a large and lucrative practice, which he 
left in the spring of 1882, when he moved to Chicago, being engaged as attorney 
for several large corporations, and Chicago being more of a center of his 
business. 

In 1860 Mr. Vary was elected district attorney for St. Lawrence county, and 
continued in that position for nine years, giving universal satisfaction throughout 
the county, and conducting over five hundred cases, some of which were very 
desperate. Mr. Vary, having always been somewhat engaged in mining litiga- 
tion, has traveled throughout the states and spent considerable time in the 



386 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Rocky mountains, in the interests of that branch of his business. He married 
Miss Emma A. Wetherll, of New York state, in 1853. In politics he has always 
taken a very active part with the republican party, and in every presidential cam- 
paign since 1860, has been on the stump with the leading New York politicians. 
Throughout his professional career, Mr. Vary has been an active and leading 
man wherever he has been, and in all his relations with his fellow-men has 
exhibited an independence of character, a manly frankness, and an unqualified 
integrity that have secured for him the esteem and respect of all with whom he 
has been associated or had to do. Being early thrown upon his own resources, 
he has made his way, unaided, in the face of many difficulties, and richly merits 
the honorable and honored position which he maintains at the bar. 



HENRY L. REXFORD. 

THE subject of this sketch was born October 6, 1854, in Blue Island, Cook 
county, Illinois, and is a son of the late Stephen Rexford, who settled 
in Cook county, Illinois, as early as 1833. The mother of Henry L. was formerly 
Elvira R. Barber, who belonged to a highly respectable and intelligent family. 
Henry L. was educated in the Blue Island high school. As a boy he was fond of 
study, and early acquired a taste for literature and literary pursuits, and deter- 
mined to fit himself for the legal profession; accordingly he entered the law office 
of Geo. H. Leonard, of Chicago, where he spent three years in careful prepara- 
tion, and also pursued a course of study at the Union College of Law, graduat- 
ing in 1879; and during the same year received his license to practice at the 
Illinois bar. 

In religious sentiments Mr. Rexford is somewhat liberal, and in politics a 
republican. He is a young man of clear, vigorous mind, a good student, a con- 
scientious worker, and as a lawyer, has before him a bright future. 



CHARLES DRANDORFF. 

CHARLES DRANDORFF was born in Plau, Grand Dukedom, Mecklenburg- 
Schwerin, Germany, August 19, 1825. By the death of his father Charles 
was left at an early age to meet the struggle of life. Starting out with youthful 
vigor, he devoted himself earnestly to study, intending to become a clergyman, 
but after a full course of public school and collegiate study, preparatory to enter- 
ing the University, he abandoned the project, and, securing a position in the pos- 
tal service in the old country, continued in it about seven years, and then 
sailed for America, arriving in New Orleans October, 1851. After a few days 
rest, he came directly to Chicago, and for a brief period was employed on a farm. 
In March, 1852, Mr. Drandorff removed to Chicago, and entered the employ of 



TRE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 387 

Hon. Francis A. Hoffman, of the law firm of J. Breck, Jr., and Hoffman, and there 
devoted himself to the study of law until 1854, when the firm dissolved, Mr. Hoff- 
man going into the banking business, and he, Mr. Drandorff, going with him as 
clerk and cashier. He held that position for several years. At the close of the 
civil war he accepted a clerkship in the postoffice at Chicago, which he filled for 
one year, at the expiration of which time he became associated with William 
Church, clerk of the circuit court. Resigning this position, after filling it credit- 
ably for a considerable length of time, he was elected by the republican party, 
supervisor of the North Town, an office which he held for three years. In 1867 
Mr. Drandorff was elected justice of the peace, and held that office for about six 
years, and during that time, in August, 1870, was admitted to the bar of Illinois, 
and when his term of office expired he commenced the practice of his profession, 
and has since been an active attorney of the Chicago bar, conducting a general 
and somewhat extensive practice. 

Mr. Drandorff has always been a staunch republican, and an earnest worker 
for his party. 

He was married about 1853 to Miss Caroline Mohr, and has a family of chil- 
dren, all of whom are grown up, and one son is a member of the bar. 



JAMES SAGER NORTON. 

THE late Henry F. Durant, who was at one time the leading criminal lawyer 
of Boston, once said to Col. T. W. Higginson, " law is the most narrowing 
of all the professions." The tendency of all professions is doubtless to narrow 
the mind. The physician is prone to be nothing but a physician, and the success- 
ful lawyer is apt to be nothing but a lawyer. But whether a profession narrows 
a man or no, depends a good deal upon the man. If he has breadth of mind no 
profession can limit him, no range of thought can confine his mind. His profes- 
sion certainly has not narrowed the subject of this sketch. Although one of the 
most eminent and successful of the younger members of the Chicago bar, he is 
much more than a lawyer. He is a man of affairs, a thinker, a student withal. 

He was born in Lockport, Illinois, December 6, 1844. He attended the com- 
mon and select schools until 1860, when he entered the preparatory department of 
Kenyon College, at Gambier, Ohio, and in 1861 entered the college itself. In 
1863, at the end of the sophomore year, he left Kenyon and went to Yale as a 
junior. He graduated from Yale with the class of 1865. He then went to Europe 
for a year, and returned in 1866, and entered Columbia Law School, where he 
remained for a year. In 1867 he removed to Chicago, and continued his law 
studies in the office of Scammon, McCagg and Fuller, and in 1868 was admitted 
to practice by the supreme court. After his admission to the bar he opened an 
office for the practice of his profession, and thereafter for three years was in 
partnership with R. B. Bacon. In 1872 he formed a copartnership with D. L. 



388 THE BENCH AND BAK OF CHICAGO. 

Shorey, which lasted until 1874. He then entered the firm of Norton and Hatch, 
in which he continued till 1877, when he formed the partnership with John N. 
Jewett, which still exists. 

Mr. Norton has been engaged in many cases of public interest, but his settle- 
ment of the Mahlon D. Ogden estate, encumbered as it was by mortgages, and 
including, as it did, so much real estate property, has perhaps furnished the best 
evidence of his ability. 

CORNELIUS R. ADAMS. 

THE subject of this sketch is a son of Cornelius B. Adams, of Fairfield, Con- 
necticut, who was of English parentage, and a lineal descendant of John 
Quincy Adams. The father, when but fifteen years of age, established the New 
Haven "Daily Palladium," serving in the dual capacity of editor and publisher, 
and was also the New Haven correspondent of the New York " Tribune." Upon 
severing his connection with the above papers, he went to Washington to practice 
law, and while there, in 1855, married Miss Martha B. Loonis, daughter of Gen. 
Lewis Loonis, of Colebrook, New Hampshire, while she was acting as preceptress 
in a seminary. At the time of their marriage, Miss Loonis was at Georgetown, 
engaged as preceptress in a young ladies' seminary, while he held the position of 
librarian to the house of representatives. 

In September, 1856, Cornelius R., the subject of this sketch, was born. He 
graduated from Dr. Hanson's Classical Institute, in Waterville, Maine, in 1877, 
and afterward studied a year at the university at Lewistown. On leaving school 
in 1879, he removed to Chicago and entered the office of H. S. and F. S. Osborn, with 
whom he remained one year. He then removed to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 1880, 
and was there admitted to the bar of that state. He returned to Chicago in 1881, 
and in the following year, 1882, was admitted to the bar of Illinois, and entered 
upon his profession. In politics Mr. Adams is an earnest republican. 



HUGH L. MASON. 

ONE of the younger and more promising of the attorneys who practice at the 
Chicago bar is Hugh L. Mason. He was born in Lancaster, Garrard county, 
Kentucky, in 1853; his father, James B. Mason, was a merchant there, and served 
several terms in the legislature of that state. Hugh obtained his early education 
in Kentucky, and his legal education in the University of Georgetown, District of 
Columbia, where he graduated in 1873, and was admitted to practice. He removed 
to Chicago in 1875, to make his fortune and a permanent home, and is in a fair 
way of realizing his expectations; doing a first class, paying law business, and 
being senior member of the firm of Mason and Mitchell. Mr. Mason is a successful 
lawyer, and ranks high at the bar, as an honorable attorney and a true gentleman. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 389 

The Masons tire lineal descendants of the Virginia stock, the original ancestor in 
this country being Col. George Mason, the contemporary friend and adviser of 
George Washington; his seat was at Gunstan Hall, near Mount Vernon. He 
was a man of the first order of wisdom among those who acted on the theater of 
the revolution; a profound man, and especially learned in the lore of constitu- 
tional law and conventions. He was the framer of the constitution of Virginia, 
and was a member of the convention which formed the federal constitution, but 
did not sign it, but in conjunction with Patrick Henry, opposed its adoption in 
the Virginia convention. He was a decided opponent of the slave trade. He 
died in 1792. His descendants are scattered over various parts of the central 
states. 

BENJAMIN HASKELL. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Southbridge, Massachusetts, and was 
born September 23, 1825, and is the son of William Haskell and Sylvanie 
(Williams) Haskell. Benjamin was a student at Brown University, of Providence, 
Rhode Island, and graduated from that institution in 1842; he then attended the 
Harvard Law School, under the instruction of that learned and celebrated jurist, 
Judge Story, and after graduating therefrom, and being admitted to the bar in 
1846, he formed a copartnership with Robert Rantoul, Jr., a celebrated lawyer of 
Boston, Massachusetts. He continued in business in Boston until 1856, when he 
removed to Lacon, Illinois, and forming a partnership with Samuel Flemming, 
and Hon. Silas Ramsey, conducted a very extensive practice for two years. Mr. 
Haskell removed to Chicago in 1858, and formed a partnership with Hon. Daniel 
McElroy, with whom he was associated in business for several years. He then 
opened an office by himself, and has since remained in general practice of the law. 



JAMES PATRICK McELROY. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of New Brunswick, and was born at 
St. John, August 30, 1835, tne son of Edward and Rose (McKenna) McElroy, 
both of Irish descent. His father was a blacksmith by trade, and also engaged 
in farming up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1881. James received 
his early education at Elmore, LaMoille county, Vermont, whither his family had 
moved when he was a child, and in 1853 entered the Morrisville (Vermont) Acade- 
my, where he studied two years. 

In 1855 he entered the law office of Thomas Gleede, of the same place, with 
whom he remained until his admission to the bar in 1858. He then commenced 
the practice of the law in Waterville, Vermont, which he continued until 1862, 
when he enlisted in the gth regiment Vt. Vol. Inf. He spent three years in the 
Union army, mostly on detached duty, but taking part in the engagements of 
41 



39O THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

Harper's Ferry, Fort Harrison and several others. His term of service expired 
with the close of the war in 1865, when he commenced anew the practice of the 
law in Bakersfield, Franklin county, Vermont, where he remained until 1872. 

During this time Mr. McElroy had gradually become dissatisfied with the East, 
and believing that in the West he should find a broader field for the exercise of 
his talent, removed thither and settled in Chicago. He then formed a partner- 
ship with Col. S. Park Coon, which continued until 1876, when he connected him- 
self with C. Stewart Beattie, with whom he practiced until 1879. Since that time 
he has been in practice by himself, doing a general business and meeting with 
good success. Mr. McElroy was married in 1861 to Miss Amy Carpenter, of 
Waterville, Vermont, by which union he has had two children, Charles and 
Edward, both of whom are connected with the Chicago postoffice. In religion, 
Mr. McElroy was brought up a Catholic, and still adheres to that faith. 



ADOLPHUS W. GREEN. 

FROM its earliest settlement Boston has enjoyed a widespread celebrity for 
scientific and literary advantages. Abounding in extensive libraries, both 
public and private; with conservatories of art; the center of science, art and 
literature in America; ever the home of eminent scholars, poets, statesmen, ora- 
tors, learned lawyers and philosophers; abounding in universities of learning that 
have graduated for a century ripe scholars and philosophers; with its historic 
associations, its statuary, granite and marble columns, gilded domes and lofty 
spires; with a salubrity of climate and a moral atmosphere second to none "the 
modern Athens." Such is Boston, Massachusetts, the birthplace of our subject, 
who is a worthy son of that honored and renowned city. Adolphus W. Green 
was born in 1843, and is the son of a worthy gentleman John H. Green. 
Educated in Harvard University, he graduated from that institution with the 
highest honors in 1863, after which he was engaged in the occupation of a school 
teacher at Groton, Massachusetts. From 1868 to 1870, he was librarian of the 
Mercantile Library Association of New York city, which position he filled with 
unqualified satisfaction to all. 

He studied law in the office of Evarts, Southmayd and Choate, of New York 
city, where he made rapid progress in the rudiments of his profession, both gaining 
an extensive knowledge of the theories of practice under the tuition of his able 
preceptors, and also enjoying the benefit which a student always receives in an 
office where an extensive business is carried on. He was admitted to the New 
York bar in 1873, and 'in 1874 removed to Chicago and opened an office for the 
practice of his profession. Success attended his efforts from the first, and in 1879 
he formed a partnership with M. W. Robinson, an eminent lawyer, since which 
time their business has constantly increased, and they now enjoy a very extensive 
patronage and have a first-class clientage. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 39! 

Mr. Green is a well read lawyer; is an eloquent advocate and enjoys the repu- 
tation of being an excellent trial lawyer. He is discriminating in his practice, 
and in all office business, including special pleading and the examination of 
abstracts of title, is an expert. He is a gentleman of refinement and culture, and 
bears the impress of a liberal education. He is a man of fine presence; is cour- 
teous toward all, and sustains the highest reputation for uprightness of character, 
truthfulness and honor. He is deliberate and cautious, but yet quick of discern- 
ment, and enters at once upon what he considers his path of duty, and pursues 
it with a zeal and firmness commendable alike to himself and his profession. In 
political sentiments, Mr. Green is a democrat. 



ELBRIDGE HANECY. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Trenton, Dodge county, Wisconsin, 
and a son of William Hanecy. After receiving his preliminary education he 
pursued a course of study at the Milwaukee Academic Institute. Closing his 
studies in school in 1868 he removed to Chicago, and for a time was employed by 
Field, Leiter and Company, and afterward in the dry goods house of J. V. Farwell 
and Company. Having decided to enter the legal profession, he, in 1872, began 
his law studies in the office of Hervey, Anthony and Gait. Two years later, in 
1874, he was admitted to the bar, and at once opening an office began the practice 
of his profession, to which he has achieved good success. He is a careful, pains- 
taking lawyer, a clear reasoner, and a safe, reliable counselor. 

Mr. Hanecy is a republican in political belief, and has taken a somewhat active 
interest in the politics of his ward. 

He was married March i, 1876, and has three children. 



HENRY DECKER. 

HENRY DECKER was born in Livonia, Livingston county, New York, De- 
cember 4, 1832. His ancestors on the father's side were among the earliest 
settlers on the Livingston Manor, on Hudson river. Henry Decker (the father) 
settled in Livingston county in 1795, and was a farmer of means and influence. 
He was a soldier in the war of 1812. His mother's (Martha Mather) ancestors were 
among the first settlers of Connecticut, and her father was a pioneer in Ontario 
county, New York. The subject of this sketch received his early education at 
the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, in Lima, New York. Afterward he went to 
Genesee College, now known as the Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, 
where he spent three years. Afterward he entered Williams College, where he 
graduated in 1854. Immediately thereafter he entered the law school of the 
Albany University, at Albany, New York. He was admitted to the bar in 1856. 



392 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 



The same year, in company with his brother-in-law and partner, Col. George B. 
Goodwin, now a distinguished lawyer in Milwaukee, he removed to Menasha, Wis- 
consin, and entered upon the practice in that village. Here he was quite success- 
ful, but failing health caused him in 1859 to return to his old home in New York. 

Having finally recovered his health, Mr. Decker began again the practice in 
his native county. Here he was immediately successful, and became widely 
known as one of the best lawyers in that section. He was engaged in most of 
the large cases in that locality, notably the Genesee College case, in which it was 
sought to remove that college. He was retained by the citizens of Lima and 
vicinity to prevent the removal, in which he was triumphant. He also became 
widely known as a criminal lawyer, in which capacity he was called to Towanda, 
Pennsylvania, to prosecute Henry Ward for the murder of Wesley E. Shader, the 
murderer being a man of large means and his victim of high social and business 
standing. This case is one of the 'causes celebres in the criminal annals of Penn- 
sylvania. In 1873, Mr. Decker removed to Chicago. Here again he became 
almost immediately successful, but in a year or two his health again failed, and 
for two years he was almost entirely unfitted for work in his profession. Regain- 
ing health, he again started out to build up a practice in that stirring city, in which 
he was practically a stranger. In 1880, he formed a partnership, under the name 
of Decker and Douglas, with Stephen A. Douglas, Jr., the youngest son of the 
great Illinois senator, who had then just moved to Chicago from North Carolina. 
This partnership still continues, and in it Mr. Decker is rapidly winning his way 
to a deserved position at the head of his profession. 

In politics, Mr. Decker is a republican. In his religious faith, he is a Presby- 
terian, in which church he is a communicant and in whose Sunday schools he 
teaches a bible class. He is a student and a worker, a man of brains and charac- 
ter, who is most highly estimated by those who know him best. 



HARRY HARRISON. 

HARRY HARRISON was born March 24, 1849, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is 
descended from the same Virginia family as Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison, 
being the son of C. S. Harrison, who for twenty years was a contractor in Cin- 
cninati. He is now a resident of Chicago. Mr. Harrison was educated in the 
schools of Cincinnati, and leaving the high school in 1867, began the study of law 
in the office of L. D. Champlin, and also entered the iaw school of Cincinnati Col- 
lege, where he graduated in 1870, but continued his legal studies unt'il he became 
of age, when he was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of his profession. 
In the fall of 1870 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he formed a partner- 
ship with Judge Horace H. Harrison, ex-member of Congress, and ex-supreme 
judge of Tennessee. Mr. Harrison was appointed assistant United States district 
attorney for the middle district of Tennessee, in the fall of 1871, and served in 




HCCn.p.r J, t C, 




i IBrNV 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 



395 



that capacity until 1875, when he resumed his practice in Nashville. In 1879 he 
removed to Chicago with a view of devoting himself exclusively to patent litiga- 
tion. In the fall of 1880 he organized the National Scientific Association, which 
is represented by some 1500 attorneys in the United States, and has offices in 
nearly all the principal cities of the Union, and is devoted to patent soliciting and 
litigation. Mr. Harrison is president and general solicitor of this association, and 
directs its general management and development, and its success is chiefly due to 
his efforts. In politics he is a democrat, but takes no active part therein. 



SIMEON STRAUS. 

SIMEON STRAUS, a native of Wisconsin, was born in Milwaukee, November 
21, 1855, and is a son of Samuel Straus, one of Chicago's early settlers, and 
well known lawyers. He received his preliminary and preparatory education in 
the public schools of Chicago, and when but sixteen years of age, entered Yale 
College, and graduated therefrom with an honorable record as a bright and 
promising student. In 1874 he was admitted to the bar in New Haven, Connect- 
icut, at nineteen years of age. After leaving college he was associated with his 
father in Chicago until May, 1875, when he was retained as attorney for the Greene- 
baum banks, exclusively, the same being the German National Bank, the Ger- 
man Savings Bank, and the banking house of Henry Greenebaum and Company, 
and was so retained up to the time of their failure in December 1877. 

Although a young man, he has shown marked ability in the conduct of impor- 
tant cases, and proved himself worthy of that implicit confidence which has been 
imposed in him by his intelligent and constantly growing clientage. 

Mr. Straus was married February 24, 1880, to Miss Adelaide Eisendrath, of 
Chicago, and has had by her two children. 



JOHN W. WAUGHOP. 

JOHN W. WAUGHOP, of this state, was born April 28, 1823, in Portsmouth, 
Virginia, and was the son of James F. Waughop, who served in the war of 1812, 
and held the contract to build the first railroad in Virginia, from Portsmouth to 
Roanoke, which was the second charter for a railroad issued in the United States. 
The family moved to Illinois in 1835 and settled in Tazewell county. Mr. Waughop 
settled in Chicago in 1843 without means, and attended school, working nights 
and Saturdays, thereby supporting himself and paying for his education. In 
1846 he entered the law office of Spring and Goodrich, and remained there two 
years, when he was admitted to the bar. In the fall of 1848 he married a daugh- 
ter of A. Bigelow, of Chicago, and began the practice of his profession at 
once, and has continued actively in practice ever since. He was twice (in 1854 



396 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

and again in 1856) elected county superintendent of schools of Cook county. 
He has always taken an active part in the affairs of the Methodist church, and 
has been, since 1856, a trustee of the First Methodist Church. He is an active 
republican, having been president of the third ward republican club during 
the Garfield campaign. He has been successful in his profession and has been 
prominently connected with public improvements. He was appointed by Gov. 
Yates bank commissioner. He was in the state convention which nominated 
Mr. Bissell for governor, and has been very prominent in the republican party in 
Chicago. 

JOHN E. DALTON. 

JOHN E. DALTON was born in the city of Detroit, in 1847; the son of Michael 
Dalton, an early pioneer in the state of Michigan, who at one time owned a 
large amount of land in Detroit and vicinity, and who died in 1849. John's 
mother dying a few years after his father's death, left him at an early age with- 
out the care of his parents, and almost entirely dependent on his own resources. 
He lived with and worked for his uncle, Francis A. Goodbody, on his farm in 
Lake county, Illinois, for six or seven years, during part of which time he at- 
tended school at Lake Forest, Illinois. Later he returned to Detroit, and 
attended the Detroit College and the Christian Brothers' Academy, in that city. 
In 1868 he began the study of law in the office of Runyan, Avery, Loomis and 
Comstock, in Chicago, graduated at the Law University of Chicago, and was 
admitted to the bar in June, 1871. He began practice immediately after 
the great fire, and has continued in practice constantly since, meeting with good 
success, having built up a large and lucrative practice, chiefly in real property 
and chancery law, of which he makes a specialty. Mr. Dalton is a prominent 
democrat, being now a member of the city council from the thirteenth ward. He 
is almost entirely a self-made man, much respected by all who know him, as a 
man of unswerving integrity, and in his profession, diligent, conscientious and 
able. 

CHARLES WESLEY MONROE. 

THE subject of this biography was born June 7, 1850, at Alden, Erie county, 
New York. He is of Scotch descent, and the son of John Monroe and Cla- 
rinda (Dunning) Monroe. His father was a prominent citizen, and served for 
many years in the several positions of justice of the peace, supervisor of schools, 
and town treasurer. His paternal grandfather was a captain in the war of 1812, 
and was killed in battle. Charles Wesley attended the district school until four- 
teen years of age. He then entered Clarence Academy, and pursued a scientific 
and classical course until 1864, and then attended Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at 
Lima, New York, one year. During the following two years he taught school, 
and returning to Lima, attended the seminary another year. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 397 

He entered Oberlin College in the fall of 1870, and graduated from that insti- 
tution in 1873. September of the same year he entered the law school at Mad- 
ison, Wisconsin, where he made rapid progress in the study of law, and graduated 
June 17, 1874, with the degree of LL.B. Establishing himself at Fort Howard, 
in Brown county, Wisconsin, he entered at once into a large and profitable prac- 
tice, in which he continued until June i, 1881. While at Fort Howard he helped 
to organize the Fort Howard Zouaves, and was connected with that organization 
two years. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, and for two terms was 
Worthy Chief Templar of Temple of Honor. Mr. Monroe is a very thorough 
lawyer, well posted in the statutes and decisions of the courts, both state and 
federal. He is an excellent trial lawyer, being an eloquent advocate, and possess- 
ing a well balanced mind, clear, accurate and discriminating. He has a fine 
presence, being of medium height, rather stout, with a high, broad forehead and 
keen black eyes. He is a gentleman of refinement and culture, and his deport- 
ment is always courteous and kind. He has many elements of popularity, and 
must some day occupy a high position at the bar. He is a man of strict integrity 
and has the universal respect of all who know him, for his true manhood and 
intellectual attainments. 

In political sentiments Mr. Monroe is a republican. 

He was married August 4, 1881, to Miss Clara Blesch, a lady of fine accom- 
plishments, a highly educated lady of refinement and taste, and a daughter of 
Francis Blesch, a capitalist and well known business man of Fort Howard, who is 
now deceased. 

HENRY F. VALLETTE. 

HENRY FRANKLIN VALLETTE was born at Stockbridge, Berkshire 
county, Massachusetts, in the old farm house which, for more than two 
generations, has been the home of the Vallettes, on November i, 1821. He is a 
son of Jeremiah and Abiah (Mott) Vallette. Jeremiah Vallette was one of the 
most highly respected farmers in Berkshire county, whose opinions on both agri- 
culture and politics were considered the best authority, and so clear and compre- 
hensive were they that Theodore Sedgwick, author of a valued work on political 
economy, frequently sought his opinions while preparing that work; but at length 
wearying of the toil of cultivating the rocky eastern soil, he, with his family, 
came west to the fertile prairies of Illinois, and settled near the site of the pres- 
ent town of Wheaton, in Du Page county. Henry was at this time seventeen 
years of age, had previously attended the public school of Stockbridge, and 
afterward the Stockbridge Academy. There being at that time comparatively 
few schools in the West, he was compelled to take charge of his own education, 
but by persistent effort at different intervals, managed to get a good general 
knowledge of the common branches, together with a thorough insight into the 
science of surveying. In 1846, he attended the Mount Morris Academy, and in 



398 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

1848 commenced the study of law. He was also during the year last named mar- 
ried to Miss Abbie A. Dinsmore, a daughter of Rev. Alvin Dinsmore, a learned 
divine of De Witt, Iowa. She has been a noble and devoted wife and mother. 
They have four children. In 1849, Mr. Vallette was elected treasurer of Du Page 
county, an office which he held eight years, being reflected four times. In 1851, 
he was admitted to the bar, and with the exception of the time spent in the army, 
has been practicing ever since. In 1862, he entered military service as lieutenant- 
colonel of the io5th regiment 111. Vol. Inf. He was a faithful and conscientious 
officer, but resigned in 1864, and in 1867 resumed the practice of law in Chicago 
with Gen. B. J. Sweet and Judge Isaac Wilson. He is now in practice in Chicago. 

Col. Vallette has always been very successful in his professional labors. He 
is a man of great firmness and decision, energy and tenacity, an instance of which 
was exhibited in the manner in which he fought for the removal of the county 
seat of Dn Page county, the legal contest lasting over six years, and finally termi- 
nating successfully for his' clients. He is a fluent speaker, self-collected, deliber- 
ate and dignified. His style of arrangement is direct, clear and forcible. He is 
careful in taking his positions, and seldom fails to carry conviction of their cor- 
rectness. 

Col. Vallette is a republican as regards his politics, but has never sought 
political distinction, which, in these days of political corruption, is really refresh- 
ing. Through all his life his motto has been, " An honest man's the noblest work 
of God." Liberal in his views, he has always shown his faith by his works. The 
Universalist denomination has always received his support and hearty cooperation. 
His four children are all settled in life. With the wife of his youth he lives in 
the enjoyment of the fruits of his labor the results of industry, perseverance 
and integrity. Du Page county may well be pardoned a little commendable 
pride in this, one of her representative men. 



MARVIN BLANCHARD. 

MARVIN BLANCHARD is a native of New York, and was born in Center- 
ville, Allegany county, December 3, 1827. He received his education in 
the common schools and in Genesee College, at Lima, New York, and left that 
institution in 1850, having sustained himself through his course of studies by 
teaching school. He read law in Le Roy, New York, with Skinner and Bissell, and 
also in Buffalo, New York, with Wadsworth and Cameron, and was a fellow stu- 
dent of Hon. Angus Cameron, now United States senator from Wisconsin, who was 
then reading law with his brother. In 1852, Mr. Blanchard went to Cincinnati, 
Ohio, and engaged in the insurance business, but after a year thus spent, resumed 
the study of the law with Tilden and Rariden, of that city. In 1854, he removed 
to La Salle, Illinois, and during that year was admitted to the bar at Ottawa, and 
immediately entered upon the practice of the law in La Salle county, where he 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 399 

continued until the spring of 1859, when he settled in Chicago, where he has 
established a lasting reputation as an able and successful lawyer and reliable 
counselor, and has established a large and lucrative practice. 

He has been engaged in chancery practice to a very considerable extent, and 
is especially expert in drawing chancery pleadings. He is persevering and pains- 
taking in research for authorities, and has prepared, on a new and improved plan, 
a digest of the Illinois reports, which is designed as a ready and exhaustive ref- 
erence book. 



GEORGE C. CHRISTIAN. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Todd county, Kentucky. He was 
educated at the Jefferson Male Academy of Elkton, Kentucky, and after- 
ward pursued a course of law studies under the tuition and guidance of Hon. 
F. M. Bristow, father of Benj. H. Bristow, and was admitted to the bar of Ken- 
tucky in 1860. Three years later he removed to Bloomington, Illinois, and until 
the spring of 1865 was engaged in editing the Illinois "Central Democrat," of 
that place. Removing thence to Metamora, he took up his profession and soon 
established a reputation as an able and successful lawyer. Owing, however, to 
financial reverses, a change of location seemed desirable, and accordingly in 
1868 he removed to Chicago, and there resumed his professional labors, in which 
he is still (1883) actively and successfully engaged. He has established a good 
practice, and a fine professional reputation, and is known as a generous, public- 
spirited man. Mr. Christian was one of the founders of the well known Bennett 
Medical College, of Chicago, and to his executive and financial ability, his earnest 
devotion and wise counsels, is largely due the success and high standing of that 
institution. Having been called to its chair of medical jurisprudence, he still fills 
it with ability and credit. He is a man of excellent qualities, a genial companion, 
warm in his sympathies and a true friend. He was married in 1866. 



CHARLES F. WHITE. 

CHARLES F. WHITE was born March 19, 1845, at Shullsburg, Wisconsin, 
>^ and is the son of Hon. Joshua White, who was a member of the constitu- 
tional convention which formed the first constitution of that state, and who 
moved to Chicago about the year 1847 and afterward to Ogle county, Illinois, 
where he has been prominent in business and political circles, having repre- 
sented that county several times in the state legislature. Mr. White prepared for 
college at the high school at Rockford, Illinois, and entered Beloit College, Wis- 
consin, and graduated there in 1870. He then entered the Albany Law Uni- 
versity, and graduated there in 1872, and was admitted to the bar of New York. 
Thence he went to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he began practice, and remained 
42 



4OO THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

there until November, 1873, when, seeking a larger field, he removed to Chicago. 
On coming to Chicago, Mr. White entered into partnership with D. H. Fletcher, 
under the name and style of White and Fletcher, and shortly thereafter became 
associated with Hon. J. Y. Scammon. This latter connection still continues. In 
1878 Mr. Fletcher withdrew from the firm, and Mr. White organized The Western 
Law and Collection Association, associating with himself in that branch of his 
business Mr. William A. Coleman, under the style of White and Coleman. 

In practice he makes a specialty of chancery and patent law, and has been 
very successful, having a large and lucrative business. For several years he has 
been retained as attorney, in connection with Mr. Scammon, in some of the most 
important real property and insurance cases that have occupied the attention of 
the courts of this state. He is also attorney in a number of important cases 
which involve the question of the stock liability of the stockholders in The 
Marine Company of Chicago and other similar corporations. In politics, Mr. 
White is a republican, but takes no very active part therein. 



JOHN LING. 

JOHN LING, the subject of this sketch, is a native of England, and was born 
in Lincolnshire, April 10, 1842, the son of John and Rebecca (Lee) Ling. His 
pajernal ancestors followed the honorable business of farming, and those on 
his mother's side were millers. His parents came to America in 1851, and settled 
in Rome, New York. They removed thence to Batavia, New York; thence to 
Clinton county, Iowa, where they now reside. He commenced his education in 
the parish school in England, which was continued in the public schools in 
America. He worked on a farm summers until he was eighteen years of age, 
devoting his spare moments in the meantime to study. He taught school about 
six years, and in 1861 entered Wheaton College, Du Page county, Illinois. In 
1863, he entered Bryant and Stratton's commercial college, studying Latin and 
German under a private teacher. After graduating from that institution, he com- 
menced reading law with A. B. Tyrrell, of Clinton, Iowa. In the winters of 1866 
and 1867 he was principal of the graded school at Camanche, Iowa. He studied 
law at that place until the spring of 1869, and then came to Chicago and entered 
the law office of Scoville, Bailey and Brawley, Mr. Bailey having since that time 
been elevated to the bench of the appellate court, and Mr. Scoville having gained 
great notoriety in connection with the trial of the assassin of the late President 
Garfield, and was admitted to the Chicago bar in March 1870. He immediately 
commenced a successful career as a lawyer, but in the great conflagration of 
1871 he lost all of his books and papers and office furniture; but being a man of 
great energy of character, he immediately thereafter commenced to repair his 
lost fortunes, and soon succeeded in establishing himself again in business, and 
by true fidelity to his clients' interests and strict attention to business, has sue- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 40! 

ceeded remarkably well for a man of his age in the practice of the law. Mr. Ling 
is a careful, painstaking lawyer, discriminating in his practice, and thoroughly 
posted in the law. He tries his cases well, is a good reasoner, and sustains an 
unsullied reputation as a man of integrity and uprightness. He is a careful, con- 
scientious counselor, and never advises his clients to commence suit unless he is 
confident their causes are just, and that the law will support them in their 
demands. Mr. Ling is a refined gentleman, friendly and social. He has a fine 
presence, is of medium height, well proportioned, and active in both mind and 
body. He has a well-shaped head, high forehead, and auburn hair. Mr. Ling's 
antecedents are democratic, and he has acted with the democratic party, and was 
what was known as a "war democrat " during the war of the rebellion, and was 
zealously in favor of maintaining the union at all hazards. In religious matters, 
he is decidedly liberal. He was married in 1877 to Miss Anna B. Hall, of Chi- 
cago. They have two children. 



GEORGE S. WILLITS. 

~ EORGE S. WILLITS, one of the most successful of the younger attorneys 
at the Chicago bar, was born in Monroe, Monroe county, Michigan, in 1857. 
He is a son of Hon. Edwin Willits, a prominent lawyer there and late member of 
congress from that district. He received his preliminary education in the high 
school in Monroe, and fitted for college in Ypsilanti, where he graduated from the 
Normal School, also; subsequently entered Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, and 
after taking a four years' classical course, incidentally attending lectures in the law 
department, graduated in 1877, after which he read law for a time in his father's 
office, when he took a course in the Georgetown (District of Columbia) Law Col- 
lege, when he returned to Monroe and continued his reading and was admitted 
to the bar, and practiced in Michigan until September, 1879, when he came to Chi- 
cago, and has been engaged in practice here since, alone in business most of the 
time. He has done a successful and lucrative practice, second in point of income 
to that of none of the younger members of this bar. He has done a first-class 
business, having been the attorney and counselor of a prominent railroad official, 
now deceased, having a large estate, and whose business he has managed skill- 
fully, successfully and to the satisfaction of those interested: has also done a 
good deal of law business for railroads and other corporations, and has conducted 
other important litigation in the higher courts and has been complimented by 
judges and clients on his success. He has had a large chancery and probate 
court practice, in which he has succeeded against older and more experienced 
lawyers. As a counselor he is safe and reliable, as a lawyer painstaking and 
assiduous in guarding and defending the interests of his clients. He is accurate, 
industrious and studious, which, with his training in youth and his natural abili- 
ties, give a guarantee of a continued, permanent and solid success for the future. 



4O2 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

He is a young man of exemplary habits, with the bearing and address of a 
gentleman, independent in thought and action, is self-reliant, and possesses the 
elements of manhood. It is seldom that a young lawyer comes to Chicago a 
stranger and attains to such success by his own efforts, unaided by influential 
friends or wealth, but attained by his own energy, perseverance, industry and 
faithfulness to his clients. 



JOHN H. BATTEN, JR. 

JOHN H. BATTEN, JR., is a native of London, England, and was born July 
16, 1850, and is the son of John H. Batten, formerly clerk of the superior court 
of Cook county, a gentleman widely known and highly respected for his intelli- 
gence and integrity. He emigrated from England in 1854, and came directly to 
Chicago. The subject of this sketch commenced his education in the public 
schools of Chicago, and finished his scientific and classical course in Racine Col- 
lege, Wisconsin. He commenced the study of the law in the office of Dent and 
Black in 1869, and after examination was admitted to the bar by the supreme 
court in 1872. He remained with Dent and Black as an assistant until 1877, and 
on September i of that year went into business by himself, and has continued in 
the successful practice of the law up to the present time. 

Mr. Batten is prepossessing in his personal appearance, and is a social and 
congenial companion. He is a good advocate, and gives every promise of attain- 
ing to a high position at the bar. He is a good trial lawyer, a gentleman of 
integrity, and a member of the Episcopal church. In political sentiments he is a 
republican. He was married August 26, 1874, at Naperville, Illinois, to Miss Ida 
Haight, an accomplished lady, highly educated and refined. They have three 
children, Marion, Percy Haight and Ralph Ellsworth. 



CHARLES T. BROWN. 

THE subject of this sketch is a native of Vermont, born at Sharon, May 3, 
1849, and is the eldest son of Jonathan M. and Susan S. (Turner) Brown. His 
grandfather, on the mother's side, was a farmer, living in Orange county. Jona- 
than M. was born in Centre Harbor, New Hampshire, his father a farmer also. 
On both sides of the family the old Puritan stock is represented. In 1853 the 
family removed to Manchester, New Hampshire, and with two brothers and two 
sisters Mr. Brown received a thorough education in the graded schools of that 
place. After graduating at the high school, Manchester, he went to Philadelphia 
and attended the Polytechnic Institute, and then followed the profession of rail- 
road and civil engineer for six years. Since 1873 he has practiced shorthand law 
reporting, and also studied law, and been admitted to practice in the Chicago 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 403 

bar, after the usual thorough examination before the appellate court. Mr. Brown 
gives particular attention to patent law, for which his scientific training and abil- 
ity to make copious notes, together with a natural taste for mechanics, specially 
fit him. 

His wife, Flora L., the younger daughter of the late John O. Haynes, M.D., 
an eminent practicing physician of Manchester, New Hampshire, and Hannah M. 
(Eaton) Haynes, is also a successful shorthand law reporter, and is associated with 
Mr. Brown in his business of law reporting. 



MOSES D. BROWN. 

MOSES DAKEN BROWN, a native of Appleton, Waldo county, Maine, 
was born May 22, 1829, the son of Benjamin Brown, and Deborah (Jame- 
son) Brown. His father was a farmer, and by trade, a shoemaker. The boy 
found little in the narrow routine of farm life to gratify his ambition or even suit 
his tastes, but by force of circumstances was compelled either to settle down on 
the farm, or begin the battle of life on his own responsibility, unaided except by 
his own native energy, perseverance and determined purpose. He chose the lat- 
ter. His desire was to prepare himself for professional life, and with this pur- 
pose in view, he by dint of hard work completed a course of preparatory studies, 
and in 1849 entered Waterville College. The undertaking was an arduous one, 
and accomplished under trying difficulties and at great sacrifice, for he was com- 
pelled to earn the means wherewith to support himself, and at the same time 
defray his expenses in college, a task which would have disheartened one less 
determined. 

Having taken the best advantage of the three years' course at Waterville, he 
left there, and by one year of close application graduated at Dartmouth College. 
Still wishing to continue in the path of science, he taught two years in the acad- 
emy at Randolph, Vermont, and afterward, in 1855, with a view to finding a 
larger field of action, removed to Chicago, and was admitted to the bar in the 
fall of that year, and at once began the practice of the law. As he had been 
taught to depend on his own resources from his youth up, he continued alone. 
In the fall of 1857 Mr. Brown married Miss Henrietta White, a woman of exem- 
plary Christian piety, and daughter of D. N. White, the well known editor and 
proprietor of the Pittsburgh "Gazette." Mrs. Brown died July 9, 1878, leaving 
of the five children that had been born of this union, two, Ella M. and Arthur 
Lincoln. In January, 1880, he was married to Miss Alice Wilcox, a handsome 
and accomplished lady much younger than himself, and a loving and devoted 
wife, and by whom he has one son, Milton Dudley. 

Mr. Brown has a large practice at the Chicago bar. He is a thorough lawyer, 
well versed in all of the branches of his profession, and has been engaged in a 
great variety of cases. At the first he engaged largely in the conduct of criminal 



404 THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

cases, but now devotes his attention more particularly to civil business, and has 
built up a large chancery practice. He is a gentleman who bears the impress of 
the culture and refinement bestowed by a liberal education ; is courteous and 
kind in his intercourse with mankind, and sustains a firm character for integrity 
and sobriety. He has a fine presence, being above the average height, a broad, 
intellectual forehead, with large, expressive blue eyes, and classic features. He 
is a man of social habits, and enjoys the society of his friends, of whom he has a 
large circle, who esteem him for his intellectual attainments as well as moral 
worth. As an advocate, he is fluent in the use of choice language, and presents 
his cases to the jury with excellent effect. He is an excellent trial lawyer, and 
makes a strong logical argument, and his efforts before juries have been crowned 
with great success. 



CAPT. JOHN L. TAYLOR. 

I^HE subject of this sketch is a native of Pennsylvania, and was born at Car- 
bondale, Luzerne county, August 24, 1844. He is of Irish parentage, and a 
lineal descendant of George Taylor, the old Irish patriot of independence fame. 
He lived in and about the coal mines of Luzerne county until about twelve years 
of age, when he went with Dr. H. M. Treat to Milledgeville, Carroll county, Illi- 
nois. His early opportunities for obtaining an education were few, being con- 
fined to the public schools during the winter months. In the summer of 1860 he 
went to Jones county. Iowa, and there enlisted as a private in Co. L, 2d Iowa 
Vol. Cav., August 24, 1861, and served three years and three months, participat- 
ing in nearly all of the important battles and engagements in which the regiment 
was engaged during the war of the rebellion. He was taken prisoner at Rienzi, 
Mississippi, August 26, 1862, but made his escape from the enemy the same day. 
He was afterward severely wounded in a cavalry charge near West Point, Missis- 
sippi. February 22, 1864, he was detached from his regiment to the headquar- 
ters of the i6th army corps, Gen. S. A. Hurlbut, commanding, at Memphis, 
Tennessee, and afterward with Gen. C. C. Washburn, commanding district of 
West Tennessee. He was mustered out of service October i, 1864, at Daven- 
port, Iowa. August 10, 1865, he was married to Miss Bell C. Searle, a lady of 
culture and refinement, and daughter of George C. Searle, a prominent business 
man of Chillicothe, Ohio. From 1866 to 1873 he devoted a large portion of his 
time to the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in February, 1874, at 
Vermillion, Dacotah Territory, before Hon. J. P. Kidder, associate justice of the 
supreme court of Dacotah Territory. In 1869 he moved with his family to Ver- 
million, Dacotah Territory, and was engaged in the practice of law until 1881. 
He went thence to Washington, District of Columbia, and remained until Sep- 
tember, 1881, when he settled in Chicago, and entered upon the general practice 
of his profession. Capt. Taylor has held various offices of trust and honor, among 
which were the offices of prosecuting attorney of Clay county, Dacotah, and dep- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 405 

uty United States marshal of Dacotah. He was the leader in the first organiza- 
tion of the republican party in the southern Black Hills of Dacotah, in 1880, 
serving as chairman of the central committee. 

As a lawyer, the chief-justice of the supreme court of Dacotah has been 
pleased to speak of him as one of the brightest of the Dacotah bar. He is pre- 
eminently a self-made man. He set his mark high, and has worked perseveringly, 
assiduously and conscientiously to attain it. He is a thorough lawyer, an upright, 
loyal citizen, and an honest man. 



HOWARD HENDERSON. 

HOWARD HENDERSON was born in Chicago in 1847. He is the son of 
Rev. Abner W. Henderson, a well known divine of the Presbyterian church, 
who came to Chicago in 1843 and established the Chicago Female Seminary, the 
first young ladies' school of a high grade in the city. Rev. Mr. Henderson was an 
eminent classical scholar and linguist, and was prominently identified with the 
cause of education. His son, Howard Henderson, prepared for college at Profs. 
Dwight and Holbrook's preparatory school, at Clinton, New York, and went from 
there to the University of Heidelberg, Germany, where he gave particular attention 
to the study of civil law concurrently with his other university studies. After 
a course at Heidelberg, he attended the University of Edinburgh, and upon 
his return to America immediately entered the Albany Law School, from which 
he graduated in 1870. The same year, he was admitted to the bar of New York, 
and returning to Chicago began practice. He first formed an office connection 
with Miller, VanArman and Lewis, and after remaining with them a short 
time, opened an office for himself. Mr. Henderson is a republican in politics, 
but is chiefly devoted to his profession. He is a close student, and has a large 
and successful general practice. 



OREN W. TURNER. 

OREN W. TURNER is a native of Fredonia, New York, and was born May 
10, 1830, the son of Marcus Turner, and Sarah (Stevens) Turner. He is 
preeminently a self-made man. Enjoying only the privileges of a common- 
school education, he has worked his way up to his present position unaided and 
alone. After determining to fit himself for the legal profession, he read law two 
years with John Galbraith and Casson Graham, and afterward continued his legal 
studies about two years longer, being for a considerable portion of that time in 
the office of N. W. Griswold, of Erie, Pennsylvania, where he was admitted to 
the bar in 1856. Soon after receiving his license to practice, he removed to Illi- 
nois, where on beginning his practice, he was for a short time a member of the law 



406 THE BENCH AffD BAR OF CHICAGO. 

firm of Miller, Taylor and Miller. In 1860 he went to Clinton, Rock county, Wis- 
consin, where he held several offices of trust, and was of the firm of Hamilton 
and Turner, who published the newspaper called the Clinton " Enterprise,'-' prac- 
ticing law in the meanwhile until 1873, and then he removed to Chicago, which 
has since that time been his home and place of business. When Mr. Turner first 
settled in Chicago, he was favored with quite an extensive practice, and he has 
done a reasonable amount of business, and met with good success. He is well 
versed in legal lore, has a clear, comprehensive mind, and is at once a safe, relia- 
ble counselor and good advocate. As a man and citizen, he has the esteem and 
respect of all who know him. 



CHARLES HITCHCOCK. 

/CHARLES HITCHCOCK was born at Hanson, Plymouth county, Massachu- 
V_^ setts, April 4, 1827, and was descended from Luke Hitchcock, who emigrated 
from England and settled in New Haven about 1644. Among his ancestors were 
several distinguished and highly educated persons. He was the son of Charles 
and Abigail (Hall) Hitchcock. His early life was spent on his father's farm, at 
Hanson and Pembroke, and in attending the public schools, where he excelled in 
English studies. He entered Phillips Academy in the spring of 1846, where he 
devoted himself almost exclusively to classical studies. Here, as elsewhere, what- 
ever he studied he learned accurately and with the greatest facility. 

In the fall of 1847 he entered Dartmouth College. On leaving college he 
remained at Hanover one year, studying law in the office of David Blaisdell. In 
the fall of 1852 he went to Washington, and was engaged for a year in teaching 
Latin and Greek in one of the academies and in giving lectures upon scientific 
subjects, and gained r a high reputation in literary circles. In the fall of 1853 he 
entered the senior class of the Dane Law School, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
where he finished his preparatory legal studies. In the fall of 1854 he was 
admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Chicago. In a few 
years he established a large and lucrative practice, but always retained his habits 
of study. At the office his leisure time was given to the study of the law; at 
home, to literature. Mr. Hitchcock held but two public offices. For a brief 
period after the memorable fire of October, 1871, he held the office of county com- 
missioner. He was president of the convention of 1870 which framed the present 
constitution of the state, and where he displayed great knowledge of parliamentary 
practice. 

Mr. Hitchcock was married to Miss Annie McClure, of Chicago, July 10, 1860, 
and most of his married life was spent in the beautiful home at Kenwood, where 
he died May 6, 1881. The union was made happy by mutual respect and affec- 
tion. With him all friendships and affections were held subordinate to his devo- 
tion to the wife, who in equal degree made their home a place for the domestic 
affections and a center of refined and generous hospitality. 



'f 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 409 

At a bar meeting held in the United States circuit court room high encomi- 
ums were pronounced, and resolutions of condolence to his bereaved family were 
spread upon the records of the several state and federal courts in the city of 
Chicago. 

He had a judgment of the 1 highest order, and his mind was what is styled a 
judicial mind, capable of an impartial survey of both sides of a question. He 
was faithful to his clients, to his professional brethren and the courts. The courts 
justly relied upon the accuracy of his statements. He had the faculty of grasp- 
ing the pivotal points of legal questions with great ease; was discriminating and 
profound, with a retentive memory. He could enforce his views by luminous, 
logical, cogent argument. His ambition in life was purely professional, and was 
formed upon the highest conception of what a great lawyer ought to be, and his 
ambition was achieved. He had large sympathy with the younger members of 
the bar, and had a high sense of personal honor, and was remarkable for equa- 
nimity of temper, being always calm and unruffled. His kindness of heart 
endeared him to his sadly bereaved family, his professional brethren and a large 
circle of admiring friends. His is the true fame; not lying in broad rumor nor 
in the glittering foil set off to the world, but that fame based upon good works, 
upon duty done, and a life beyond reproach, which grows and blossoms in immor- 
tal soil. 

JAMES H. FAIRCHILD. 

JAMES H. FAIRCHILD was born June 15, 1842, in London, Ontario, Canada. 
His father, John H. Fairchild, was a large land holder there, and moved with 
his family to Michigan in 1844, settling in Lexington and engaging in the lum- 
bering business, and later, in 1847, removing to Detroit. His grandfather, Ben- 
jamin Fairchild, was surveyor-general of Canada. Mr. Fairchild prepared for 
college at Ypsilanti, Michigan, and entered the University of Michigan at Ann 
Arbor, and taking the law course, graduated in 1863 and was admitted to the bar. 
He then entered the navy, and was attached to the paymaster's department of 
that branch of the service. After serving about eighteen months in the navy, 
Mr. Fairchild entered the office of Hon. H. H. Emmonds, of Detroit (late circuit 
judge), and continued his legal studies, and in 1865 began practice independently 
in Detroit, but after a brief interval removing to Niles, Michigan, where he con- 
tinued in practice until 1872. In 1867 Mr. Fairchild had assisted in the organiza- 
tion of the United States Law Association, then the only law association in this 
country, and was one of the first directors thereof, and still holds that position. 
In 1872 he moved to Chicago, and established himself in practice, and in the fall 
of that year formed a partnership with Judge Blackman, then on the bench of the 
second judicial circuit of Michigan, which partnership still exists. Commercial 
law is a specialty with this firm. They have a very extensive practice, and have 
been very successful. Mr. Fairchild has a very fine library, and one of the most 
43 



4IO THE BENCH AND BAR OF CHICAGO. 

perfect law offices in the country. System and order is the rule with him, and no 
detail is overlooked that would add to the completeness of his office as a law 
office. In politics he is a democrat, but does not aspire to any political office or 
preferment, simply devoting himself to his profession. He was recorder of the 
city of Niles, Michigan, from 1869 to 1871. He married a resident of Ypsilanti. 
Michigan, in 1866, and has t