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SUPREME COURT OF ILLINOIS

1818

ITS FIRST JUDGES AND LAWYERS

SHORT SKETCHES

BY

JOHN M. SCOTT

BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS
1896

COPYRIGHT BY

JOHN M. SCOTT.

1806

All Rights Reserved.

SUPREME COURT OF ILLINOIS

1818

ITS FIRST JUDGES AND LAWYERS

497293

NOTE.

The writing of this volume was undertaken as a mode
of employing the author's leisure time, and when it shall
be offered to the public, if it shall be found not to be of
much value it is hoped it may nevertheless afford a few
hours of pleasant entertainment to any one who may read
it. No originality is claimed for the work. It is not much
more than a re-writing of that which had before been
written by others. All published histories of Illinois and
all biographical sketches of prominent persons to which
access could be obtained have been examined. Indebted-
ness to such writings is acknowledged for all that is taken
from them in this way rather than by citing separately
each work consulted.

JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF ILLINOIS UNDER THE CON-
STITUTION OF 1818.

CHAPTER I.

The system of Courts provided for by the
4th Article of the Constitution of 1818 was
simple and quite well adapted to the condi-
tion of the state as it was then — being sparsely
populated. Under that constitution the judicial
power of the state was vested in one Supreme
Court and such other inferior courts as the Gen-
eral Assembly might from time to time ordain
and establish. It was provided the sessions of
the Supreme Court should be held at the seat
of government wherever it might be. It was
then at Kaskaskia. The Court was given ap-
pellate jurisdiction in all cases in law or in
equity, and original jurisdiction in cases relat-
ing to the revenue, in case of mandamus,
and in such cases of impeachment as the Gen-

6 Judicial System of Illinois

eral Assembly might require to be tried before
it. It was provided the Supreme Court when
organized should consist of one chief justice
and three associate justices — any two of whom
should constitute a quorum. The General
Assembly was given power in its discretion to
increase the number of justices of the Supreme
Court after the year 1824. Section 4, Article
IV, provided that the justices of the Supreme
Court and the judges of the inferior courts
should be appointed by joint ballot of both
branches of the General Assembly and be
commissioned by the governor. The tenure
of the offices of the first justices of the Su-
preme Court was to be during good behavior
or until the end of the first session of the
General Assembly to be begun and held after
the first day of January, 1824. It was made
the duty of the first justices of the Supreme
Court to hold circuit courts in the several
counties in such manner and with such juris-
diction as the General Assembly might provide
by law. After the year 1824 the consti-

Under the Constitution of 1818. 7

tution did not impose upon the justices of the
Supreme Court the duty of holding circuit
courts unless required to do so by law.
Judges of inferior courts were to hold their
respective offices during good behavior. But
of course the statute providing for their ap-
pointment might be repealed, and that would
oust them from office. The justices of the
Supreme Court and all inferior judges were
subject to be addressed out of office by a two-
thirds vote of each branch of the General As-
sembly for any reasonable cause, although it
might not be sufficient cause for impeachment.
A most wholesome provision in this connec-
tion was that when any judge or justice might
be addressed out of office, no member of either
house of the General Assembly, nor any per-
son connected with a member by consanguin-
ity or affinity, should be appointed to fill the
vacancy occasioned by such removal. The
justices of the Supreme Court, during their
temporary incumbency were given an annual
salary of $ 1,000 — payable out of the public

8 Judicial System of Illinois

treasury. After the end of the session of the
General Assembly begun and held after the
first day of January, 1824, the constitutional
provision was, the justices of the Supreme and
inferior courts who might be appointed there-
after should have "adequate and competent"
salaries, but which should not be diminished
during their continuance in office. Power was
given to the Supreme Court or to a majority
of the justices, and to the circuit courts or the
judges thereof, to appoint their respective
clerks. It was provided that all process,
writs, or other proceedings should run in the
"name of the people of the State of Illinois,"
and that all prosecutions should be carried on
in the ' 'name and by the authority of the peo-
ple of the State of Illinois," and conclude,
"against the peace and dignity of the same."
A clause of the constitution required that a
competent number of justices of the peace
should be appointed in each county in such
manner as the General Assembly might direct,
whose time of service, powers, and duties

Under the Constitution of 1818. 9

should be regulated and defined by law. When
appointed, all justices of the peace were to be
commissioned by the governor.

To further assist in the administration of
the laws of the State, it was provided by a
clause in the schedule to the constitution, that
an "attorney general and such other officers
for the State as should be thought to be
necessary" might be appointed by the Gen-
eral Assembly, whose duties should be regu-
lated by law. Under that power, the General
Assembly provided by law for the appointment
of an attorney general and circuit attor-
ney, or, as commonly known, "state's attor-
ney," for each judicial circuit of the State.
Later, it was provided, the circuit attorney
residing in the circuit in which the capital
was should act as attorney general for all
the State, in addition to his duties in the
circuit as prescribed by law. The attorney
general and the circuit attorneys were ap-
pointed by the General Assembly, and their
duties and compensation for official services

10 Judicial System of Illinois

defined and fixed by statute. During the
terrfi of the temporary appointment of the jus-
tices of the Supreme Court, and until their
successors were appointed in 1825, they held
the circuit courts of the State in addition to
their duties as judges of the Supreme Court.

It will thus be seen the judicial system
under the constitution of 1818 was a very sim-
ple one and yet a very valuable one. It was
inexpensive and was all the public exigency
demanded at that early day for the govern-
ment of a rural people without any considerable
trade or commerce. The great corporations
of today that require so much restraint, both
by legislative enactments and judicial decis-
ions, did not then exist.

The first appointees to the supreme bench
were Joseph Phillips, chief justice, and Thomas
C. Browne, John Reynolds, and William P.
Foster. The appointments were made on
joint ballot by both branches of the General
Assembly on the Qth day of October, 1818,
but of course their appointments did not be-

Under the Constitution of 1818. 11

come effective until the State was admitted to
the Union, on the 3rd day of December, 1818.
It is hardly accurate to allude to William
P. Foster as one of the first judges of the Su-
preme Court of the State, or indeed to men-
tion him at all as a "judge." He was not a
lawyer even, and perhaps never studied law at
all. Although he may have taken the oath of
office, he never attempted to hold circuit court
or to meet with the Supreme Court. It is
probable he resigned before any session of
the Supreme Court was held. It does not ap-
pear from Breese's Reports that any term of
the Supreme Court was held until December,
1819, and before that time Foster had re-
signed and William Wilson had been ap-
pointed in his stead. So in fact it may be
said William Wilson was one of the first four
judges of the Supreme Court of the State.
But inasmuch as William P. Foster was nomi-
nally a member of the Supreme Court of the
State for a brief term, a sketch of him may be
given because his ill-advised and improvident

12 Judicial Si/fifeni of

appointment to that exalted position by the
General Assembly teaches an important lesson
the people of the State ought to keep always
in mind.

The first four judges of our State Supreme
Court, viz : Phillips, Chief Justice, and Browne,
Reynolds, and Wilson, associate justices, were
the men who set the judicial machinery of the
State in motion. Some of them were men of
acknowledged learning and ability, and all of
them were men of pure character and of the
highest social worth. It was fortunate for the
State, such men were selected to lay the foun-
dations of our system of jurisprudence upon
which has since been builded that splendid
judicial system now so well and so ably ad-
ministered in the interest of the people of the
State. It is a desire common to all, when a
magnificent structure is seen, to want to know
as much of the builders as is possible to learn.
It is thought it might be a subject of some in-
terest to give brief sketches of the judges who
formed the ground-work of our judicial system

Under the Constitution of 1818. 13

and of some of the lawyers who in a technical
sense were officers of the court that co-ope-
rated with them in that great and important
work of administering for the first time the
laws of the State.

It would no doubt be profitable and inter-
esting to extend these accounts farther and in-
clude within them, notices of the judges of the
Supreme Court since 1819 and prior to 1870,
and of the lawyers of that time, but their lives
were not cast within the period it is now pro-
posed to consider. Many of them became
prominent in the civil and military affairs of
the nation. It was a glittering galaxy of great
men, whose lives would be well worth study-
ing. It would be a history of which Illinois
might justly be proud.

14 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

CHAPTER II.

WILLIAM P. FOSTER.
His Election — Neither Lawyer nor Judge.

Among the first appointments to the office
of associate justice of the Supreme Court of
the State was William P. Foster. The ap-
pointment was made on joint ballot of the
Legislature on the Qth day of October, 1818.
He was not a lawyer by profession and per-
haps did not claim to be. It is said of
him, he was a man of pleasing address, but
artful and designing. How it happened that
he succeeded in imposing himself upon the
Legislature, or by what artifice he induced
them to appoint him, one of the highest judi-
cial officers of the State, no one familiar with

Ms First Judges — Foster. 15

the history of that Legislature has ever ven-
tured an explanation. Even Governor Rey-
nolds, who was appointed by the same
Legislature, at the same time an associate
justice of the Supreme Court in his history of
that period, gives no explanation whatever as
to how his appointment was brought about or
secured.

All personal sketches of Foster are very
meagre. It was understood he was born in
Virginia, but when and where no one seems to
have known. He had only been in Illinois a
brief time, perhaps a few weeks or months at
most, before he was elected by the Legislature
a member of the Supreme Court. It is not
certainly known what his previous life or occu-
pation had been. He was simply an advent-
urer making the most out of whatever might
come in his way. After holding his office
until July 7, 1819, he drew his salary up to
that time and then resigned. He never met
with the Court and one reason for that may
have been there was no session of the Supreme

16 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

Court until the December term, 1819, and
that was subsequent to his resignation. A
circuit was assigned to him but he did not
hold courts in it. There may be another
reason why he did not meet with the Court.
He must have known he did not possess the
legal learning to enable him to discharge the
duties of the office, and, out of a sense of
decency and common honesty, he may have
declined to enter upon the work. If that is
so it is something to his credit, entitling him
to a measure of praise which ought not to be
withheld. All writers concerning that period,
that speak of him at all, say that his reputa-
tion was that of a man of unworthy private
character — in addition to the fact he had no
fitness for the office either on account of legal
learning or other necessary qualifications.

There has been some considerable discus-
sion recently in bar associations and in current
legal journals of the policy of an elective judi-
ciary. It is most generally disapproved. The
grounds of dissatisfaction with the system rests

Its First Judges — Foster. 17

on the supposed incompetency of the people
to make wise and suitable selections for judges.
That is a grave mistake as will clearly appear
in the history of an elective judiciary in this
State. No stronger argument is needed in
support of the elective system than the election
of Foster by the Legislature. It shows most
conclusively that of all systems or modes of
electing judges of the higher courts, that by
the Legislature is the most vicious. But if done
by the Governor, by and with the consent of the
Senate, or by the Governor alone, not much
better selections would likely be made. Since
1848 the people have elected the judges of the
Supreme Court and of all inferior courts in
this State, but no such grave mistake was ever
made by the people as was done by the
Legislature in the selection of Foster as one of
the judges of the Supreme Court. The con-
current testimony of every one that knew him
is to the effect he had no sort of qualifications,
either legal learning or moral fitness, for the
position. The opinion is ventured such a man

18 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

as Foster is represented to have been, never
could have imposed himself upon the people,
had he come before them for their suffrages.
In some way his want of fitness for the office
would have been detected. The discussion
that would have taken place in the canvass
would certainly and surely have developed his
true character, and if it was as bad as it is
said to have been he never would have been
chosen for a judge of the highest court in the
State. There is no matter connected with
local government in which the people have so
profound an interest as in the selection of
judicial officers. If judicial elections were in-
trusted to the good common sense of the
people, without the intermeddling of partisan
politicians, good and safe judges with rare
exceptions would be elected. It is a mistake
to believe that the common people do not
know who is the best lawyer in their commu-
nity, and who would be likely to make the best
judge of any of their courts. A stranger in a
city is quite as apt to obtain accurate informa-

Its First Judges — Foster. 19

tion as to who is the best resident lawyer by
inquiry of any common laborer whom he may
chance to meet on the street, as if he had
made inquiry of the highest officer of the city,
or even a high state officer. The common
people are not slow to take an accurate meas-
ure of the capacity of public; men living
amongst them. If any one is vain enough to
disparage their capacity in that respect let
him offer himself as a candidate for a judicial
office and his experience will be quite likely to
disclose to him his mistake. The experiment
of an elective judiciary in this State on the
whole has been satisfactory, and has certainly
demonstrated its superiority over former sys-
tems of electing judges by the Legislature or
by appointment by the Governor by and with
the consent of the Senate, or by the Governor
alone. In the latter systems politicians are
most generally chosen because they have
influence with the appointing power. One
reason in support of an elective judiciary is
that the discussion developed by the canvass

20 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

brings out and makes known the true character
of aspirants for judicial positions. It would
be difficult for any one possessing no qualifica-
tions for the office of judge to stand the
severe investigation consequent upon a can-
vass and when his true character is made
known in that way he would surely be rejected
by the electors. As a general rule the people
want judges best qualified by legal learning
and of the highest social worth to administer
their laws. The election of an unworthy
judge by the people or otherwise is a calamity
upon any people. A vicious and ignorant
judge has it in his power to do more mischief
in his official actions than perhaps any other
State officer. It is for that reason people are
always solicitous as to the selection of judges
and, if left to themselves, they would reject all
party political considerations in judicial elec-
tions. The history of judicial elections since
the elective system has been adopted in this
State supports these views. Instances are
very rare indeed where any very bad man has

Its First Judges — Foster. 21

been elected by the people to the office of
judge of any court of general jurisdiction. It
is not denied that in some instances judges
possessing no great legal learning have been
elected to the office of judge of the highest
courts, but uniformly they have been fair-
minded men and men of moral worth. In
this State the only judges against whom im-
peachment proceedings were ever instituted
have been judges appointed by the Legisla-
ture. It can not be doubted by any one at all
acquainted with our local history that the best
judges of our courts the State ever had, have
been judges elected by the people. It is not
an objection to an elective judiciary the tenure
of office is usually short which might result in
frequent changes of judges. There need be
no apprehension on that account. When a
judge has once been elected, if he proves him-
self worthy and competent to fill the position
he is seldom rejected by the people for another
term or more. If found to be unfit for the
place, he will surely be defeated if he offers for

22 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

re-election. But the good and capable judge is
usually kept in office as long as he may wish
to hold the place. This has been especially
true in respect to the judges of the Supreme
Court. Political considerations have heretofore
been almost wholly disregarded and ought
always to be in the election of judges of our high-
est courts. Happily for the State, the people,
irrespective of party affiliations with few ex-
ceptions, have united in the support of the
good judge. That is illustrated in an eminent
degree in the case of Judge P. H. Walker,
who was one of the very best judges of the
Supreme Court the State ever had. He was
re-elected (n the Central Grand Division under
the Constitution of 1848 over his opponent,
whose political views were in accord with the
dominant party and who was an able and
learned trial judge, when the political majority
against Judge Walker was many thousands.

It is now forty-six years since the system of
an elective judiciary was adopted in this State,
and during all that time only three judges of

Its First Judges — Foster. 23

the Supreme Court failed of re-election who
desired longer service. Two of them, — C.
Beckwith and D. G. Tunnicliff, — had heen ap-
pointed by the Governor to fill out the unex-
pired terms of less than one year of the former
incumbents. The Governor had no authority
to appoint unless for a term less than one year
in case of vacancy. Both men were excellent
judges but their terms of service had been so
short the people had not became acquainted
with them sufficiently to appreciate them as
their merits deserved. It is not improbable
some little prejudice existed against them in
the minds of the people because they had been
appointed by the Governor. One of them,
—Beckwith, — was not defeated by the popular
vote but in a convention of lawyers assembled
to select a candidate, and it may have been
done by some adroit management on the part
of the friends of the successful candidate.
The other judge of the Supreme Court that
failed of an election, — C. B. Lawrence, — had
served nine years. His defeat may be directly

24 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

attributed to an opinion written by him in the
case of the People vs. Shuman and Wilson.
A rule was laid upon defendants to appear and
show cause why they should not be adjudged
guilty of contempt of the Supreme Court.
The offense consisted in a brief editorial pub-
lished in the Chicago Evening Journal, of
which one of respondents was the proprietor
and the other was the managing editor.
Neither of respondents wrote the objectionable
article, and the proprietor, — Wilson, — never
saw it until after it was in print. The paper in
which the article appeared, upon which the
proceeding was founded, was published in
Chicago, eighty miles distant from the place
where the Supreme Court was in session.
The article was not seen by any member of
the Court for more than a week, perhaps ten
days, after its publication, and was then dis-
covered by mere accident; one of the judges,
who had a penchant for reading newspapers,
old or new, happened to pick up in the clerk's
office a much-torn copy of the paper contain-

Its First Judges — Foster. 25

ing the offensive article, that had been thrown
aside as waste. It was thought the opinion
written by Chief Justice Lawrence announced
doctrines dangerous to the liberty of the citizen
and to the freedom of the public press. The
doctrines declared were most distasteful to
the people of the entire State. A futile at-
tempt was made at the time by some of his
friends to account for the defeat of Judge
Lawrence because of an opinion written by him
in the case of the People vs. The Chicago &
Alton R. R., but the doctrines of that case
were not in the least degree received with
disfavor by the people. Every member of the
court concurred in the opinion and every one
of the concuring justices who desired to be,
was re-elected and it was not made a ground
of objection against any of them. During the
canvass made by Judge Lawrence for re-elec-
tion, nearly every newspaper in the State,
excepting those published in the city where he
resided and even many outside of the State,
were full of the severest criticisms upon the

26 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

opinion of the judge who wrote it. If the case
of the People vs. The C. & A. R. R. was
referred to at all it was simply as a make
weight to increase the dissatisfaction with the
doctrines of the objectionable case of the
People vs. Shuman and Wilson.

There is another consideration that may
in some degree have contributed to the defeat
of Judge Lawrence. He was not in sympathy
or touch with the people, in thought or habit.
He was called to be a candidate for re-election
only by the lawyers of the division in which
he ran, without any consultation with the
people or without any opportunity being af-
forded them to give expression to their wishes.
Probably that was construed as a distrust of
the people which they were easily persuaded to
resent. His opponent in the contest was one
of the people — being at the time a farmer as
well as a lawyer — and came before the people
confidently trusting to their good sense and
capacity to rule themselves, and won. His
election was not a mistake. Since then the

Its First Judges — Foster. 27

people have continued him in his high office by
repeated elections, notwithstanding the fact
the political party with which he was and is
connected has been constantly in the minority,
and notwithstanding the further fact he has
been opposed at every re-election by lawyers
of eminent fitness for the place who were in
sympathy with the dominant political party.

It is now nearly a half of a century since
the adoption of a system of an elective judi-
ciary in this State. It has had a full and fair
trial and there is no just reason to be dissatis-
fied with its workings. No system that can
be devised can in every instance secure the
election or appointment of the best judges.
That is not to be expected. It is high praise
to our elective system that at no time
since its adoption has it been possible for
such a grave mistake to have been made as
was the election of William P. Foster, by the
General Assembly. Had he been a candidate
for judge of the Supreme Court before the
people, does any one believe he would have

28 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

been elected? Another strong reason in sup-
port of an elective judiciary is it is much more
difficult to control the people by partisan poli-
tical reasons than it would be the Governor or
the General Assembly, in the selection of
judicial officers. Again, the elective system
affords better opportunities for the discussion
of the merits of the several aspirants for the
bench. There is no just reason why the fit-
ness of a candidate for a judgeship in the high-
est court in the State should not be the
subject of thorough discussion in a canvass to
be made. It is eminently proper it should be
done. But that opportunity for an inquiry
into the fitness of persons who seek judicial
positions is rarely afforded where the appoint-
ment is made by the Governor or the General
Assembly. Too frequently political or mere
personal consideration or persistent importun-
ity control. It is that fact that made it
possible for such a man as Foster is said to
have been to procure his appointment to a
position in the highest court of the State.

Its First Judges — Foster. 29

Another suggestion coming perhaps from
the same source with the one last mentioned is
that it is on account of inadequate salaries
that unworthy men like Foster get into high
judicial positions — that high salaries are in-
dispensable to secure the best talent and
learning on the bench and it is for that reason
so many able lawyers decline to go upon the
bench. The argument is not historically true,
nor is it true as a matter of fact. It may be
and is doubtless true that many able lawyers
will not take a judgeship at the salary attached
to it, but it is also true that many just as able
lawyers will and do take the place at the
salary fixed. Because one man may decline
an official position at a certain salary and
another may be willing to accept it at the
same compensation it does not follow by any
means that the one that declines is in any way
the superior of the one that accepts the place.
The constitution of 1818 contains a provision
that judges should be given ' 'adequate and com-
petent salaries. " That is just and right. All

30 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

salaries of public officers and of officers of corpor-
ations should be reasonable and no more. Some
persons can not be induced to do certain kinds
of work for any reasonable compensation. It
is for some personal reasons. But when one
undertakes to do official labor, judicial or
other, he must do it for a reasonable compen-
sation, or not at all. There are many persons
just as competent who are willing to do the
work for the same compensation another may
decline for reasons of his own. It is a public
wrong to give a man an extraordinary com-
pensation or salary for doing a work that
others equally competent would be willing to
do for a much less sum. It is seldom done,
however, except on grounds of favoritism.
Nor is it true that extraordinary wages secure
either better talent or better men for any
public or private service. Illustrations abound
and especially in judicial occupations. At the
same time Foster was elected a judge of the
Supreme Court there was also elected a
member of the same court, a man of good legal

Its First Judges — Foster. 31

learning and who was a classical scholar and
a man of the highest social worth. No man
in the State stood higher as a lawyer, a
scholar, and a gentlemen, and his services were
secured to the State for the same salary as
was to be paid to Foster. Under the consti-
tution of 1848, when the salaries of the judges
of the Supreme Court were only $1,200 per
annum, the State had some as able judges as
it ever had when the salaries paid were very
much higher. Had the salaries been ten
thousand dollars per annum, the service of no
abler judges could have been secured than
when the Supreme Court had on its bench
Judges Breese, Walker, and Beckwith. The
reason is obvious, for there were neither then
nor since any abler lawyers or better men for
judges in the State.

When Judge Beckwith went on the bench
of the Supreme Court at an annual salary of
$1,200, he was recognized as one of the ablest
practicing lawyers in Chicago or elsewhere in
the State. Had the salaries of the first judges

32 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

of the Supreme Court been $5,000, instead of
$1,000, it is quite as likely Foster would have
been as readily elected. Indeed at that date
a salary of $ i , ooo was equal to a salary of
$5,000 at a later date. Under the constitu-
tion of 1818 very low salaries were paid to the
judges of the Supreme Court, yet that Court
had on its bench some of the best lawyers the
State ever contained — among whom may be
mentioned Wilson, Breese, Lockwood, Doug-
las, Caton, Treat, and others equally distin-
guished for their ability and legal learning. It
was a brilliant galaxy of men of whom the
State may be justly proud. It is thus seen the
question of the amount of salary to be paid
has but little to do with securing the best
legal talent on the bench of the Supreme
Court. It certainly had nothing to do with
the election of Foster. His election is to be
attributed solely to the vicious system of com-
mitting the appointment of judges to the
General Assembly. The fact some of those
early judges were not among the best men for

Its First Judges — Foster. 33

the places may be attributed, also, to the same
unwise system. It was because political and
personal considerations controlled, and not at
all on account of the meagre salaries attached
to the office that unfit persons obtain positions
in the Supreme Court. When good men
offered their services to the State, vastly in-
ferior ones were sometimes chosen by the
General Assembly judges for the highest court.
That was exactly the case when Foster was
elected. The people now have the matter of
electing their judicial officers in their own
hands, and it is hardly probable a man of the
reputation Foster had will ever again succeed
in obtaining a seat on the Supreme Bench of
the State.

It is said that after Foster left the State
his private life was less praisworthy than
it had been. If the major part of what is
written of him or even if the minor portion is
true, his name ought not to be mentioned in
connection with the judges of that period. A
title of such honorable distinction as judge

34 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

should not be applied to him, and it has not
been done in this sketch. He never had any-
thing more than a mere nominal connection
with the Court. His appointment is only
mentioned as an historical fact to impress on
the public mind the necessity for observing the
utmost care and caution in choosing judges of
the highest courts of the State — a lesson that
should never be forgotten.

Its First Judges — Wilson. 35

CHAPTER III.

WILLIAM WILSON.
His Election — Judicial Services.

William Wilson, in fact one of the four
first judges of the Supreme Court of Illinois,
was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1795.
It is said he was a man of good, though not
of a collegiate, education, and of fair legal at-
tainments. He came to Illinois in 1817, to
make a new home for himself. The State
Government was organized the next year after
his coming to the Illinois Territory. When the
General Assembly came to select officers for
the new State soon to be admitted into the
Union, he was a candidate for the office of judge
of the Supreme Court. He was then a young
man, not quite twenty-four years of age. For
the position he sought, he received fifteen votes

36 IJlinow Supreme Court — 1818.

out of a possible vote of forty. That was a
very complimentary vote to a man so young
and one who had lived among the people
whose suffrages he asked, less than one year.
On the occasion of the next opportunity that
offered he was more successful, for on the yth
day of August, 1819, he was elected by the
General Assembly an associate justice of the
Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by
the resignation of William P. Foster. He im-
mediately entered upon the discharge of the
duties of -his office. It is said he was of a social
disposition, and mingled so modestly with the
people, he made friends of all with whom he
chanced to meet. So highly appreciated were his
official acts that he soon became the greatest fa-
vorite with the people of all the judges of that
high court. On the reorganization of the judici-
ary in 1825, he was, by the General Assembly,
elected chief justice of the Supreme Court, over
its former chief justice, Thomas Reynolds, who
was a candidate for re-election, and who was
a man of high character and of very decided

Its First Judge*— Wilson. 37

ability. It is said of him by his contempo-
raries that Chief Justice Wilson presided with
becoming dignity when holding the Supreme
Court. He held the office of chief justice as
long as the constitution of 1818 remained in
force, and went out of office on the first Mon-
day of December, 1848, when that instrument
was superceded by the new constitution of the
latter year. It will thus be seen he was chief
justice of the Supreme Court of the State for
a term of twenty-three years — a longer term
than any other person ever held that high
office in the State. Under the constitution of
1818, after the year 1824, the chief justice
held his office during good behavior, but under
the constitution of 1848 it was provided the
justice having the shortest term to serve
should be chief justice. Under that constitu-
tion the Supreme Court consisted of three
justices who held their offices for a period of
nine years. All three were elected by the
people at the first election for judges under the
constitution of 1848, but they were required to

38 Illinois Supreme Court — 181X.

cast lots so that one should go out in three
years, one in six years, and the other should
hold through the entire term for which he was
elected. Every three years thereafter a suc-
cessor to one of the judges would be elected
under that system. That of course made the
term of chief justice three years. By the con-
stitution of 1870 it is provided the Supreme
Court shall consist of seven judges, one of
whom shall be chief justice. Under that
provision the justices have since chosen one of
their number to be the chief justice. But it
was provided by that instrument the chief
justice in office when it took effect should
continue to serve in that capacity until the end
of his term, which was nearly three years. In
1873, and since then, the justices have chosen
one of their number to be chief justice. By a
rule of court the term of service is for one
year — each member of the court becoming chief
justice in rotation according to seniority. Thus
it is seen it was not possible under the consti-
tution of 1848, nor is probable under the con-

Its First Judges— Wilson-. 39

stitution of 1870, any one can or will serve
continuously as chief justice of the Supreme
Court for so long a term as did Chief Justice
Wilson.

The life of a judge of any court is generally
an uneventful one and especially is that true of
Judge Wilson. He was a judge and nothing
else. In no sense was he a politician. It is
not said of him that he was enough of a
military man to have ever trained in a militia
company under the State laws as corporal or
even as a private. It is therefore not strange
that during a term of service of nearly thirty
years there was nothing to call public attention
to him unless it was the opinion delivered by
him in the case of the People on the relation
of M'Clernand vs. Field. The Court then
consisted of four judges, viz. : Wilson, C. J. ;
Browne, Lockwood, and Smith, associate jus-
tices. The question in the case involved only
a construction of the constitution in respect to
the power of the Governor to remove a State
officer appointed by the Governor, by and with

40 Illinois Supreme C&urt — 1818.

the consent of the Senate, but the case took on
a partisan political phase in its public discus-
sion. When Governor Carlin came into office
in 1838 he found Alexander P. Field filling the
office of secretary of state, and had been since
1829. Governor Carlin was a pronounced
democrat and Secretary Field was equally as
strong a whig. The secretary was obnoxious
to the State administration and it was the
desire, the office should be filled by a demo-
crat— one fully in sympathy with the State
administration, which was intensely partisan.
Accordingly Gov. Carlin appointed Hon. John
A. M'Clernand — since become a distinguished
politician and was during the civil war an able
and efficient officer in the federal army of high
rank — to the office of secretary of state. It
was the intention by that act of the Governor
to remove Field from the office of secretary of
state, but the incumbent denied the existence
of any rightful authority in the Governor to
remove him, and therefore declined to sur-
render the office when demand was made upon

It* First Judges — Wilson. 41

him. Gen'l M'Clernand then commenced a
proceeding in the nature of quo warranto to
try the title to the office — whether it was in him
or in Field. The case attracted wide attention
and was discussed with much bitterness by the
public press. It was tried on the Circuit —
Judge Breese presiding. In that court the
decision was in favor of the relator, but on
the appeal of respondent, Field, to the Su-
preme Court the decision of the Circuit Court
was reversed. The decision of the Supreme
Court gave very great dissatisfaction to the State
administration and to the whole democratic
party, because the question involved had
become a party question. Much of the dis-
satisfaction with the decision arose out of the
fact a majority of the members of the court
were whigs, viz. : Wilson, C. J. ; Browne and
Lockwood, associate justices. Judge Smith
was then the only democratic member of the
Supreme Court, but he was an intense partisan
politician, as will shortly be made to appear.
The dissatisfaction of the democratic party

42 -Ulinois Supreme Court — 1818.

with the court was further intensified and in-
creased by the apprehension the court would
when the question should be presented, decide
another question in its nature political against
the views held by that party. It was a
question in relation to the rights of certain
persons of foreign birth residing in the State to
vote at all general elections to be held under
the laws of the State. It was expected all
that class of persons would vote the democratic
ticket and that was the interest that political
party had in the question. The excitement
was increased to a great degree by a statement
made public to the effect the court had in
advance before any case involving the question
was in fact ready to be considered, had passed
upon the question adversely to the views of
the democratic majority in the Legislature, and
had an opinion already prepared to that effect.
The accusation caused great indignation in the
minds of the whig members of the Supreme
Court and they demanded the name of the
author of the report. When his name was

Itti First Judges — Wilson. 48

made known it turned out it was Judge Smith,
himself a member of the Court. The criticism
upon the conduct of Judge Smith in that
respect became so bitter, so intense, and so
just he deemed it proper to join with
the other members in a written statement
that the report given out was untrue. The
case of Spragins vs. Houghton, that had been
pending so long in the Court was, however,
finally decided, but the question concerning
which a decision was most desired, was not
passed upon by the Court. Judge Smith de-
livered the most elaborate opinion and
reached the conclusion, under the law every
white male inhabitant having resided in the
State six months immediately before any
general election, and was above the age of
twenty-one years, was entitled to vote, although
he was neither a native nor a naturalized
citizen of the United States. That was the
view taken by the democratic party on that
question. But as to that question — and it was
the only one involved — the other judges, viz.,

44 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

Wilson, C. J., Browne and Lockwood, JJ.,
expressed no opinion. They concurred in
reversing the judgment of the trial court on
the sole ground it did not appear defendant
was guilty of the offense charged within the
meaning of the statute under which the action
was brought. Neither view taken of the case is
well sustained. The constitutional provision is
"in all elections all white male inhabitants
above the age of twenty-one years having
resided in the State six months next preceding
the -election shall enjoy the right of an
elector." The contention was the word "in-
habitant" as used in the constitution did not
mean he should be a native or a naturalized
citizen of the United States. That the con-
stitutional provision in this respect is bunglingly
written may be admitted, but whatever the
word "inhabitant" as therein used may mean
it is certain it is not used in the sense it is else-
where used in the constitution. The word
"inhabitant" is used in the schedule to the
constitution, but it is explained by the context

Its First Judges — Wilson. 45

to mean persons who were "actual residents
of the State at the signing of the constitution."
That meant that all persons residents of the
State for six months might vote on the ques-
tion of the adoption of the constitution and
nothing more. That imposed no condition
other than, the "inhabitant" fyad been a resi-
dent for the requisite length of time. But
does the other provision where the word ' 'inhab-
itant" is used mean the same thing? It will
hardly admit of the same construction. If it
would include an educated man from enlight-
ened Germany, it would by the same construc-
tion include a densely ignorant man from
' 'Darkest Africa" if he happened to be white.
It can hardly be the framers of the constitu-
tion intended to use the word ' 'inhabitant" in
that broad and extended sense that would
make voters out of ignorant and vicious white
men, no matter from what part of the earth
they might come, after a short "actual" resi-
dence in the State of six months. It could by
no reasonable construction mean persons then

4(5 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

living in foreign countries. It is a more nat-
ural construction, it included only persons
dwelling in our own country — and in that
sense it would mean citizens of the United
States. Roget in his Thesaurus of English
Words gives "citizen" as an equivalent of
"inhabitant." What is a citizen? It is a
resident of a commonwealth or municipality
having civic privileges. The constitution does
not say the elector must be an ' 'inhabitant" of
the State. The term is used in another
sense — that is anv "inhabitant" of the United
States — not of Ireland nor yet of the far off
Isles of the Sea. Understanding the word in
that better sense the constitution means any
"white male inhabitant" or "citizen" of the
United States of the age of twenty-one years
"having resided in the State six months pre-
ceding the election shall enjoy the right
of an elector. "

Nor is the opinion of the other judges
any more satisfactory. Defendant was sued
in a qui (am action to recover the penalty im-

Its First Judges — Wilson.. 47

posed upon a judge of an election who "shall
knowingly admit any person to vote not quali-
fied according to law." It was stipulated that
when defendant received his vote he did not
believe the voter was ' 'qualified according to
law." That would seem to be conclusive
against defendant. But the decision was
rested on the further provision of the statute
if a party offering to vote shall make an affi-
davit of his qualifications, his vote shall be
received unless other evidence is produced,
the affidavit is false. But the voter in this
case made no such affidavit and there was
therefore no prima facie case made that
would overcome the defendant's belief, he was
not a qualified voter. The question of the
guilt or innocence of defendant was not in-
volved. It was agreed in the case submitted
if the Court was of opinion the party whose
vote was received was not a qualified voter
according to the constitution and laws of this
State "then judgment was to be entered
against defendant, but if the Court was of opin-

48 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

ion the person whose vote was received "was
a qualified voter according to the constitution
and laws of the State, " then the suit was to be
dismissed. That was really the only question
in the case. The scienler was admitted so
that the principal question only might come
before the Court. Yet the three justices
who made the decision, dodged, shun-piked,
that question, which was the only point sub-
mitted as a controverted question of law.
Everything else was admitted, and there
was absolutely nothing else to be decided.
But all that did not satisfy the democratic
majority of the Legislature. It was deter-
mined to make it impossible for the Su-
preme Court, as it was then organized, to
decide any question in its nature political
adversely to the views of the State adminis-
tration. Accordingly, by the act of Febru-
ary 10, 1841, the judiciary of the State
was re-organized. The circuit judges were
legislated out of office and five justices were
added to the Supreme Court who were re-

Its First Judges — Wilson. 49

quired, together with the other members of
that court to hold the circuit courts as the
circuit judges had done. All the new justices
elected or appointed members of the Supreme
Court by the Legislature under that act, were
democrats and that, it was thought, would
give that party control of the Court in the decis-
ion of any disturbing questions that might there-
after be presented for decision. The action of
the Legislature in thus seeking to control the de-
cisions of the Supreme Court for partisan po-
litical reasons, was revolutionary in its charac-
ter and made a most dangerous precedent in
popular government. Such a measure now,
with such a purpose in view, would doubtless
produce great agitation, and in all probability
would result in violence. It would not be toler-
ated now by the people of any party, and
ought not to be. Impolitic as this measure
was, the odium attaching to it was greatly re-
lieved by the fact that all of the justices added
to the Supreme Court under that act of the
Legislature were men of eminent ability and

50 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

learning, and were all men of irreproachable
private characters. Among them were Judge
Sidney Breese, Judge Stephen A. Douglas,
and Judge Samuel H. Treat, all of whom af-
terwards became distinguished in the affairs
of the State and Nation. Chief Justice Wil-
son delivered the prevailing opinion of the
Court in the People vs. Field in which Judge
Lockwood concurred in a separate opinion.
Judge Browne did not sit in the case on ac-
count of some relationship to the relator.
Judge Smith did not concur, and gave expres-
sion to his views in a lengthy, dissenting
opinion. Because Chief Justice Wilson wrote
the principal opinion in the case, he was most
unreasonably criticised by that part of the
public press that sustained the action of the
Govenor in his effort to remove the secretary of
state. It is worthy of remark, however, that
in all that bitter controversy there were no
charges affecting the integrity of the members
of the Court other than the alleged indiscreet
conduct of Judge Smith in giving out informa-

/&>• First Judges — Wilson. 51

tion which he afterwards deemed proper to re-
tract because it was not true to the extent re-
ported. Intense as the excitement was for
the time, caused by the decision of the Supreme
Court of a question in its nature political, it
was not long before it ceased to create any
discussion. Thereafter there does not appear
to have been anything to direct public atten-
tion to the Supreme Court or its chief justice.
Daring his long incumbency of his high office,
Chief Justice Wilson seems to have discharged
his duties with such faithfulness and ability as
to secure public approval. There was perhaps
no adverse criticism of his judicial or private
character during the remainder of his extended
term of service. It is evident he must have
been a man of learning and ability and of the
highest personal character, otherwise he could
not have had and retained through his entire
term of service as chief justice the confidence
and respect of his associates, among whom
were Douglas, Breese, Lockwood, Treat,
Keomer, Caton, and others equally dis-

52 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

tinguished for their legal learning. There is
no place where the measure of a judge's men-
tal strength can be more accurately taken
than in the conference-room in daily contact
with his associates through a series of years.
Unless he is a man of legal learning, as well
as of natural ability, he can not long sustain
himself with any degree of credit in such a
position. It is a high testimonial to his fitness
for the position that Chief Justice Wilson had
the esteem and confidence of his brother judges
in so large a measure through nearly three
decades of years.

The written opinions of Chief Justice
Wilson evince good ability and learning.
The early cases were of no very considerable
importance and there was no necessity to
elaborate the opinions in them. His opin-
ions are concise, and are clear and accurate
judicial statements. In that respect they are
the equal of any that have since been delivered
by that Court.

During his temporary appointment, Judge

Its First Judges — Wilson, 53

Wilson received a salary fixed by the constitu-
tion, of $1,000 per annum, but it is probable
that during the entire term of his service as
chief justice he did not receive more than
#1,000 per annum on an average. It was
sometimes more and sometimes less. The
act of January 18, 1825, did not purport to fix
their salaries, but simply appropriated $600
per annum, for the years 1825 and 1826 for
the chief justice and each associate justice of
the Supreme Court. The act of February 19,
1827, did fix the salaries of the chief justice
and associate justices each at $800 per annum,
payable quarterly. That salary continued
through a series of years. The constitutional
provision, the salary of a judge of the Supreme
Court should not be diminished during his con-
tinuance in office, did not prohibit the Legisla-
ture from increasing it. Accordingly their
salaries were perhaps raised from $800 to
#1,000 per annum. By the act of March 3,
1845, the salaries of the chief justices and as-
sociate justices were fixed at $ i , 500 per annum,

54 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

excepting as to justices appointed subsequent to
February 12, 1845, wno should each receive
$1,000. That salary continued to the end of
his service on the first Monday of December,
1848 — about three years — and was the high-
est salary he received at any time during his
incumbency of his high office. It is therefore
probable that for the entire term he served as
associate justice and as chief justice, through
that long period of nearly thirty years, he re-
ceived a sum less than thirty thousand dollars
for his life work in the Supreme Court of the
State. And yet it is conceded as the truth
is he was one of the best and ablest judges the
State ever had in its Supreme Court. It is
said he lived well and entertained his friends
generously and hospitably at his home. How
that could be done on the compensation he re-
ceived it is difficult now to understand.

Chief Justice Wilson discharged the duties
of his high office so quietly and so unostenta-
tiously, he was scarcely known outside of the
county where he resided and of the adjoining

Its First Judges — Wilson. 55

counties in which he held the Circuit Courts,
except by the lawyers of the State. The re-
mark is ventured that in the north part of the
State there are now — 1894 — but few lawyers
that ever knew where he lived or when he died.
His name is .nowhere found in any state or
national encyclopedia of biography, that the
writer has had an opportunity to examine, and
he believes it does not appear in any one. If
written, his biography would be: He was born
in Virginia, 1795, came to Illinois in 1817, was
a judge of the Supreme Court of the State
during the period intervening the years 1818
and 1849, went out of office with the determi-
nation of the first constitution of the State, and
died at his home near the little city of Carmi
in White county in the year 1857. That and
nothing more. His name has now perished
from all popular recollection — less than forty
years since his death — and if it had not been re-
corded in the judicial records and published in
the reports of the Supreme Court it would have
long since ceased to be known even to the legal

5*5 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

profession. It is a singular fact that although
he was a member of the Supreme Court for
nearly three decades of years his name appears
only in the nine first volumes of the reports of
the decisions of the Supreme Court. Judge
Walker's name, although a member of the
Supreme Court for a shorter time, appears in
ninety-three volumes of the reports as deliver-
ing opinions of that Court.

It is seen from what has been said of him
that Judge Wilson's professional life consisted
almost wholly of judicial labor. He had only
been at the bar about one year when he be-
came a member of the Supreme Court, and
perhaps never after his election to that office
did any labor outside of his official duties. It
is not probable he ever managed a half dozen
cases in the trial courts while he was at the
bar. No mention is made of him by any of the
earlier writers that he was ever a practicing
lawyer. He left no literary work other than
his judicial opinions, and, of course, they are
never read by the common people, so there is

It* First Judyes — Wilson . 57

nothing to keep his name in popular recollec-
tion. Because of his judicial life, little is writ-
ten of him by the earlier State historians.
Even Gov. Reynolds who was a member of
the Supreme Court with him scarcely does
more than to state the fact that at a certain
date he was elected or appointed by the Gen-
eral Assembly an associate justice of the
Supreme Court, and that at a later date he was
elected chief justice of the same Court. The
accounts given of him by other historians are not
much more elaborated. Little else is written of
him other than to record the date and place of
his birth, to state the title of the official posi-
tion he held — it was in fact but one — and to
make a brief note of the time and place of his
death. Brief and simple as is the biography
of Chief Justice Wilson, his life and official la-
bors have affected for good the affairs of State
to as great an extent, perhaps, as the life and la-
bors of any other man that ever lived in it. And
yet how little is known concerning him even by
the legal profession. But his life in that re-

5H lllmuiti Supreme Court — 1818.

spect accords with an acknowledged truth in
the history of the judiciary. It is that a judge
however learned and eminent he may have
been in his day has but little if any posthumous
fame. The great jurist and the just magistrate
toils and labors through a lifetime and dies
and all personal recollection of him soon fails
from the memory of all for whom he toiled
and labored. A generation does not pass be-
fore he is nearly or quite forgotten. It is known
some one rendered valuable services to the State
and builded a system of jurisprudence that
prevails to -protect the rights of persons and
property, but who it was and when it was the
great mass of the people neither know nor
care. The author of much that is good and
valuable in the jurisprudence of the State, with-
out which there can be no civilization or dwell-
ing together in safety in communities or in
municipalities, after the lapse of a few decades
of years is as unknown as though he had never
lived, although he may still be living in the
shadows and dimness of old age. Later there

//.s First Judges — Wilson. 59

will be in the public press a brief announce-
ment that he is dead, and that is the end.
So obscured by the failing memory of man
have his life and works become, the historian
will take but little notice of him or what he
did. On the contrary the mere politician who
had made much noise in his day, and who had
perhaps accomplished but little of any worth
to his state or nation, and the military chieftain
who had led men to conflict and to death are
accorded a fame that is endless in its duration.
Historians record their achievements as though
they constituted all that is worth the knowing
or of sufficient importance in individual, or
state, or national history to be written for the
study of mankind. The name of him who
silently accomplished most good for human-
ity and the public welfare perishes from the
memory of man. It is so with judicial fame.
For what is judicial fame? "It is even a
vapor that continueth for a little time and then
vanisheth away."

60 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

CHAPTER IV.

JOSEPH PHILLIPS.
His Election — a Judge, a Politician,

The first chief justice of the Supreme
Court of Illinois was Joseph Phillips. He was
appointed on the gth day of October, 1818, to
that high office on joint ballot by the Legisla-
ture then in session at Kaskaskia. That was
before the State was admitted into the Union.
Little was done at that session of the Legisla-
ture beyond electing the State officers to serve
when the State should be admitted into the
Union. Kaskaskia had been the capital of the
Illinois Territory since its organization in 1809,
and was the capital of the new State for a
brief time. There is much of romance in its

Its First Judges — Phillips. 61

history. It was the seat of empire during the
French and English occupation. Near by was
situated the historic fort known as ' ' Fort
Chartres. " When builded it was perhaps the
strongest fortress on the continent.

The capital house in Kaskaskia in which
all the sessions of the Territorial Legislatures
and some of the sessions of the new State
Legislatures were held was one of some pre-
tension, for that age. It was situated in a
public square not far from the center of the
village. It was builded of rough uncut lime-
stone, with gables and roof enclosed with
unpainted boards and shingles, and had dor-
mer windows. It was rather an imposing
structure for that age, builded as it was in the
midst of the wilderness. The rather ad-
vanced state of civilization at Kaskaskia at-
tracted to that little village many noted men
with their families. Rough builded as that
old capital house was, it contained within its
walls in the days of its splendor many brilliant
gatherings of gallant men and fair ladies — not

ti2 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

surpassed in gallantry and beauty by any
social assemblages elsewhere on the continent
at that period of American history. It was in fact
the "Centre of life and fashion in the West."
The glory of that classic village in which the first
capital of Illinois was located, and where the
first sessions of the Supreme Court were held,
has long since departed. Neither the capital
building nor Fort Chartres remain and the
village itself now — 1894 — consists of little more
than a few time-worn and much decayed small
houses. They, too, will soon perish and all
that will remain of that once famous village,
whose foundations were laid in the wild wilder-
ness where the cruel Indian roamed and mur-
dered where his savage will directed, will be,
its more than two centuries of history. But
that will be, when written, of most intense in-
terest. It was in that village and amid those
surroundings that Judge Phillips had his resi-
dence after his coming to the Illinois country.
He was always recognized as having that social
worth that gave him a position among the best

/^.s First Judges — Phillips. 6tt

and most refined people with whom he dwelt.
There does not seem to be any very full bio-
graphical account of Judge Phillips given by
any of the earlier writers, some of whom were
personally acquainted with him. It is said he
was born in Tennessee. It is certain, however,
he was a man of scholarly attainments — per-
haps had a classical education. His contem-
poraries always spoke of him as a dignified
and pleasant gentleman and as a man of the
highest standing as a citizen. It is said he
had been a captain in the regular army of the
United States and was in the service during
the war of 1812 — perphaps in Illinois a part of
the time. Later he was secretary of the Illi-
nois Territory. No one whose writings have
been examined mention his age nor anything
concerning his family. . It is evident from his
public services he must have been a man quite
well advanced in life when he was appointed
chief justice of the Supreme Court of the State.
It is the uniform testimony of his contemporaries
he was a man of talent, well educated, and of

64 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

unexceptionable private character. It is to be
regretted, more is not known of his personal
history. The private life of anyone assists
greatly in appreciating his public life and
services.

Chief Justice Phillips was not present at the
December term, 1819, of the Supreme Court
held at Kaskaskia, but he was present at the
July term, 1820, held at the same place. But
little business, however, was transacted at that
term of Court. He was also present at the
December term, 1820, of the Supreme Court
held at Vandalia. So far as appears from the
reports of cases determined in the Supreme
Court that was the last term of that Court he
attended. It is probable, however, he was
present at the sessions held in 1821, but there
is no report of cases during that year. No
cases are reported in Breese's Reports or else-
where where the opinions of the Court appear
to have been written by Chief Justice Phillips
during the entire time — nearly fouY years — he
was a member of the Court. This may be

Its First Judges — Phillips. 65

accounted for because of two facts: ist, It does
not appear who wrote any of the opinions prior
to the December term, 1822, and he had re-
signed before that time; and 2nd, No cases are
reported as having been decided between the
December term, 1820, and the December
term, 1822. Doubtless there were sessions
of the Court during this time and cases decided
in which opinions were written. It is known
a term of Court was held in December, 1821,
and one case was decided. It is said the opinions
filed at that term of Court were consumed in the
burning of the bank building at Vandalia where
the records of the Supreme Court were kept.
It is a matter of much regret, it does not ap-
pear what opinions were written by Chief Jus-
tice Phillips. They would aid in obtaining a
better understanding of his legal knowledge
and of his ability as a writer. All opinions
written in cases during his term of service were
by "The Court." Of course it can never be
known which one of the judges wrote any par-
ticular one of the published opinions of the

66 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

Court during the first four years of its exist-
ence. But the opinions written during that
time are a great credit to the Court as a body
and to the judges of whom it was composed.
Their opinions are brief and terse, and vigor-
ous statements, and are remarkable for the
accuracy of the propositions of law formulated.
Indeed, they are not much more elaborate
than are the agenda notes now made by the
judges of the Supreme Court when the case is
decided. A very large per cent of the opin-
ions of the Court during the time of Chief Jus-
tice Phillips are still recognized as sound law
and very few of them have ever been over-
ruled. Most of them are models of terse and
accurate statement. No doubt Chief Justice
Phillips wrote his full share of the opinions of
the Court delivered when he was chief justice
and if so they are highly creditable to him as
a lawyer and as a judge.

Judge Phillips was ambitious to become
distinguished in politics. Indeed, he had more
fondness for politics than for the law. In 1822

Itti First Judges — Phillips. 67

he became a candidate for governor of the
State. Before he commenced the canvass he
had the good sense and decency to resign his
office of judge which he did on the 4th day of
July, 1822. Judge Phillips ran on what was
then called the pro-slavery ticket. He was
beaten by Gov. Edward Coles — the anti-slav-
ery candidate. It is more than probable Judge
Phillips would have been elected had Judge
Thomas C. Browne, of the Supreme Court,
not been a candidate for governor at the same
election. It was said Judge Browne was
brought out as a candidate by the friends of
Judge Phillips under the belief his candidacy
would be of advantage to him. If so it was
a grave mistake. Judge Browne was also an
ultra pro-slavery man. He resided in Galla-
tin county, in that part of the State where the
pro-slavery sentiment was strongest. Judge
Browne proved to be a very popular candidate
and received a large per cent of the pro-slavery
vote. Indeed he received within a few hun-
dred votes of as many votes as Judge Phillips

Illinois HujtrfiiH' Court —

himself. Gen. James B. Moore was also a
candidate for governor at the same election.
What the effect of his candidacy was, can
hardly be ascertained at this late day, but it
is believed it was injurious to Judge Phillips.
All the anti-slavery vote was concentrated on
Gov. Coles and of course the votes cast for
Gen. Moore were in all probability so many
votes taken from Judge Phillips, who was the
leading candidate of the pro-slavery party and
the one that party expected to elect. Not-
withstanding all these adverse circumstances,
Gov. Coles was only elected by a plurality of
fifty votes over Judge Phillips. He was, in
fact, elected by less than one-third of the whole
vote cast at that election. The administration
of Gov. Coles was and is noted for the great
slavery agitation that occurred during his term
of office. An effort was made to call a con-
vention to amend the constitution that slavery
might be introduced and made lawful in all the
State as it had been in the old French villages.
Before it ended the contest became an in-

Itn Firxt Judges — Phillips. 69

tensely bitter one as all contentions are where
human slavery is involved. Judge Phillips
was an active and earnest advocate and sup-
porter of the measure intended by its friends
to make it possible to introduce slavery into
the State. Although a native of Virginia Gov.
Coles was a pronounced anti-slavery man both
in sentiment and in every act of his life. He
brought his slaves from Virginia to Illinois and
not only gave them their freedom but he pro-
vided homes for them. On account of his
humane acts in this respect he was relentlessly
persecuted and prosecuted at law by the pro-
slavery propagandists. His opposition to call-
ing a convention to amend the constitution to
admit the introduction of slavery has made
him famous in our State history and justly so
for he was a pure patriot and a man of most
resolute purpose for and in behalf of the right.
His defense of freedom and free institutions
was brave and heroic and worthy the highest
statesmanship. But after all that fierce bat-
tle of words and ballots, no matter what might

70 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

have been its termination, could not have af-
fected in any permanent degree the question
of human slavery in the State. It was really
a contest about nothing. Neither freedom nor
slavery was in fact involved. Back of all con-
stitutions of the States in the old Northwest was
the famous Ordinance of 1787, that interdicted
forever slavery in all the States to be carved out
of that territory. No matter how the people
of the State might vote nor how they might
amend their constitution, that beneficent ordi-
nance, having the sanction of an eternal compact
with all the old States of the Union, its interdic-
tion of slavery in all that broad domain, should
not be removed or suspended without their con-
sent, had before that time attached itself upon
land covered by its provisions and consecrated
it to freedom forever. It was not in the power
of the people of Illinois then or at any other
time to remove that impassible barrier to the
introduction of slavery into the State. The
benedictions of that sublime ordinance had
fallen upon that beautiful land with its forests

Its First Judges — Phillips. 71

and its rivers and its plains there to rest forever
and made it a land fit for the homes of freemen.
The only thing mentioned by the earlier
writers to the discredit of Judge Phillips is an
incident that occurred in connection with the
slavery agitation during the administration of
Gov. Coles and which was first related by Gov.
Ford in his history of Illinois. It is said that
on the night after the passage of what is known
as the "Convention Resolution" he joined
with the friends of that measure in a celebra-
tion of their triumph — a celebration that took
on the form of a great carousal. A procession
was formed consisting of the pro-slavery mem-
bers of the Legislature and other sympathizers
with the measure, that happened to be in Van-
dalia at the time. Among that most disorderly
crowd of noise-makers were Judge Phillips,
Judge Smith, and Judge Thomas Reynolds—
the latter then chief justice of the Supreme
Court of the State. They marched to the
residence of Gov. Coles, blowing tin-horns and
beating drums and tin-pans and by other wild

72 Illinois Sa/>i^iinj Court — 18 IX.

and disgraceful conduct manifested their grat-
ification at their triumph over Gov. Coles who
had opposed the passage of the " Convention
Resolution, " on grounds of public policy. Even
Gov. John Reynolds who labored for and voted
for Judge Phillips at the election when he was
a candidate for governor and who was himself
an ultra pro-slavery man down to the time of
his death, condemns this disgraceful manifes-
tation of disrespect to the governor of the
State in unmeasured terms in his "Life and
Times." The conduct of Judge Phillips on
that occasion was ill-suited to his otherwise
high and dignified character. Even his best
friends could find no apology for his unworthy
conduct unless it was to place it on the ground
he was controlled by that intolerant spirit of
slavery that sought to dominate all things in
State and National affairs that offered opposi-
tion to its progress. It is strange, but true,
that in respect to slavery, men would always
act and talk with less good sense than in re-
spect to any other matters that affect the pub-

Its First Judges — Phillips. 73

lie welfare. Happily for the peaceful order of
this country when that intolerant spirit of slav-
ery became most defiant and boastful of its
power in all political matters and attempted
to disrupt the Union of the States by a resort
to armed force, it was itself overthrown and
destroyed in that conflict when freedom as-
serted its right to rule in the Nation, and said
to the hateful spirit of slavery ' 'thy intolerance
and oppressions shall perish from the face of
the earth. " It is a matter of much regret that
Judge Phillips so far forgot his dignity of char-
acter as to take any part in that disgraceful
celebration of the passage of the ' 'Convention
Resolution. " It was all the more unbecoming
in him, because Gov. Coles had been his op-
ponent in the late election for governor.

Judge Phillips was much disappointed and
deeply chagrined at his defeat for governor. Mis-
sing the object of his highest ambition by only a
few votes produced great disappointment. It
cast a shadow over his political life out of
which he did not seem able to emerge. He

74 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

had lost his place on the bench of the Su-
preme Court of the State, which he could not
recover as it had then been filled by another
and that perhaps added much to his troubled
life. Within a few years after his defeat for
governor he left the State and went back to
Tennessee. It has not been practicable to ob-
tain any account of his subsequent history that
would be of any public interest. There is no
reason to doubt that his later life was as hon-
orable as it had been in this State. Had Judge
Phillips continued on the bench of the Su-
preme Court of the State and eschewed poli-
tics, his services would have been as valuable
and he would have builded for himself a repu-
tation equal to that of anyone that ever occu-
pied a seat in that high tribunal.

Its First Judges — Browne. 75

CHAPTER V.

THOMAS C. BROWNE.
His Election — Judicial Services.

Thomas C. Browne was one of the justices
of the Supreme Court of Illinois from the Qth
day of October, 1818, until the first Monday
of December, 1848. That period covered the
entire time the constitution of 1818 was in
force. It was an important epoch in the judi-
cial history of the State. It was a time when
our institutions were taking form and becom-
ing established. It fell to the lot of Judge
Browne, as it does to but few men, to be-
come a pioneer in the work of construct-
ing a judicial system for a new State. It
was his great privilege to assist in creating

7ti Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

that system of jurisprudence since become the
pride and glory of the commonwealth. Back
of his time there had been no State judicial
system. It had to be created anew. No pre-
cedents of our making existed to guide the
judges in their determination of causes sub-
mitted for decision. They had also to be cre-
ated. The work of precedent-making in the
new commonwealth was one of exceeding great
importance. Nothing affects so profoundly
the welfare of the State and to so great degree
as its jurisprudence. It is that which is to es-
tablish order and peace and give protection to
organized society. In a measure it was creat-
ing law for a new commonwealth. No grander
work ever engaged the thoughts and labors of
men. In that great work it may be said he
did his full proportion of the labor necessary
to establish precedents and rules of procedure
and principles that will endure through the
centuries, to assist in the pure and exact admin-
istration of the law from which comes right
and justice to the citizen.

Its First Judges — Brmvne. 77

No data at hand exists from which the date
of his birth can be ascertained with any degree
of certainty. Gov. Reynolds, although a mem-
ber of the Supreme Court with him, in the ac-
count given of Judge Browne in his pioneer his-
tory does not mention his age or date of birth.
He was a native of Kentucky. But little is
written of his ancestors or his early life and
education — not so much as it would be of in-
terest to know. He came to Illinois in 1812
and located at Shawneetown to make for him-
self a new home in the country in which his
life work was to be done. It is related of him
that before leaving Kentucky he had studied
law so that on his coming to this state he was
prepared to and did perhaps soon enter upon
the practice of his profession. All lawyers at
that early day seem to have had quite as much
if not more fondness for politics than for the
law. Judge Browne was no exception to that
general rule. Within two years after his coming
to the Illinois Territory he entered upon the work
of office seeking and office getting — a work in

78 Illinois Supreme Court— 1818.

which he was quite successful. He did not
practice his profession for any great length of
time. Office seeking seems to have been a
mania of that period and became a mad pas-
sion with all professional men — lawyers, doc-
tors, and even ministers of our holy religion
and other professional teachers — became at-
tracted within the maelstrom of politics. Then,
as now, political life was a checkered one. It
was crowded full of successes and failures.
Even success did not bring with it the satis-
faction anticipated. And the one to whom
failures came, most often went down in
a sorrowful life. In 1814 Judge Browne was
elected a member of the House of the Terri-
torial Legislature as a representative from
Gallatin county. In 1816 he was a member
of the Legislative Council of the Territorial
Legislature. That was the last Territorial
Legislature before the State was admitted
into the Union. He was appointed attorney
for the district in which Gallatin county is sit-
uated in 1815 and probably continued in that

Its First Judges — Browne. 79

office, whatever it was, until the State govern-
ment was organized. On the organization of
the State government in 1818 he was on joint
ballot of both Houses of the Legislature chosen
one of the associate justices of the Supreme
Court of the new State shortly to be admitted
into the Union. He was re-elected in the
same way a member of the same Court on the
igth day of January, 1825, and thereafter held
the office until the first Monday in December,
1848, when the old constitution was superceded
by the new one of the latter year. He then re-
tired to private life and nothing more was heard
of him. Later there was a brief announcement
of his death and nothing more. That was the
end of one whose life had been a benediction
to the State.

Writers concerning the period in which
Judge Browne lived speak very favorably of
him as a man of the highest personal integrity
and as a worthy judge for the time in which
he served in that capacity. On the circuit he
was a most valuable judge and administered

80 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

the law as he understood it, with the strictest
impartiality to all alike that had business in the
Court where he presided. In that respect his
character is without the slightest smirch or re-
proach. Of him a writer who knew him well
— Gov. Reynolds — says, ' ' honor, integrity,
and fidelity are prominent traits in his charac-
ter. " His acts in private life and the discharge
of his official duties in every position he held
had the approval of the public in as large a
measure as was accorded to the best men of
the same period. It was never claimed for
Judge Browne that he was a man of any very
great literary attainments or that he was a
very profound lawyer. But it is due to his
memory to say as the truth is, he was a good
judge on account of his integrity of character
and his valuable practical sense in all matters
of business. Good business sense in a judge
is a quality much more to be desired than very
great legal learning, and if either is to be left
out in the make-up of a judge, the man pos-
sessed of most common sense is always the

Its First Judges — Browne. 81

better judge. But it must not be understood
he was not a man of fair legal attainments.
In that respect he was superior to many of the
lawyers of his day then resident in the State.
A futile attempt was made in 1843 to im-
peach Judge Browne ' 'for want of capacity to
discharge the duties of his office" of judge of
the Supreme Court. It is now and was then
conceded, the institution of the impeachment
proceedings had not the slightest support in
fact. His prosecutors — or more properly his
persecutors — were utterly confounded by the
unanimity with which men of all political views
rallied to his support. Judge Browne was a
pronounced whig, but he found as many friends
among the democratic members of the Legis-
ture as among the members of his own politi-
cal faith. The prompt and nearly unanimous
concurrence of the members of the Legislature
irrespective of party affiliations in dismissing
the impeachment proceedings against him was
a most complete vindication of the character
of Judge Browne as a judge and as a citizen.

82 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

It was a splendid triumph for the good judge
and one of which he might well be proud.

An impression has somehow become quite
general that Judge Browne although a justice
of the Supreme Court for nearly or quite
thirty years, never, during all that time,
wrote an opinion of the Court. How such a
groundless accusation could ever have obtained
currency it is impossible to even conjecture.
Nothing can be farther from the truth. The
story is now told as though it was fact well
known. It has been so persistently and so
often repeated it has found a place in most of
the recent historical writings. The origin of
the story is as unknown as is the origin of tra-
dition and like tradition it comes out of the
unknown and will run on until there shall
cease to be any belief in the unascertainable.
Had it been said of Chief Justice Phillips ' 'his
opinions are not found in the reports" the
statement would have had apparent support
in the fact, no opinions do appear in his name
in the official reports — not one. But the sup-

Its First Judges — Browne, 83

port is more apparent than real. The ability
and legal learning of Chief Justice Phillips was
acknowledged by the bar and no one doubts,
he wrote his full share of the opinions ' ' Per
Curiam" — none others are reported during his
term — written while he was on the bench of
the Supreme Court. It is to be regretted, so
many eminent gentlemen who are known to
be most familiar with the legal history of the
State, should have given the sanction of their
names to establish this idle story. It was
done thoughtlessly, without any intention to
disparage the reputation of Judge Browne.
But it is time, however, to correct these in-
accurate statements, inadvertently made, so
hurtful to his reputation. In a brief address
made at a banquet given by the "Illinois
State Bar Association," Judge Trumbull who
practiced in the Supreme Court when Judge
Browne was on the bench and who was himself
afterwards a member of that Court, in speaking
of Judge Browne is reported to have said, "His
opinions are not to be found in the reports, I be-

84 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

lieve, and although he sat upon the Supreme
Bench for thirty years I do not recollect of but
one opinion of his appearing in the reports and
that, I believe, on an investigation that took
place in the Legislature, was proved to have
been written by somebody else." If he is cor-
rectly reported his utterance is a matter of sur-
prise. The statement sounds very strangely
to one at all acquainted with the earlier Illi-
nois Supreme Court reports. It was not the
intention of the speaker — and no such motive
is imputed to him — to speak unkindly of Judge
Browne. No such thought was in his mind
for elsewhere in the same address he speaks
beautiful words of highest commendation of
him. It is singular that one so familiar with
the early Illinois reports did not recall the fact
without any previous reflection that Breese's
Reports and also the first, second, and third
volumes of Scammon's Reports, contained quite
a considerable number of Judge Browne's
opinions. The first volume of Scammon's Re-
ports alone contains seventeen opinions written

Its First Judges — Browne. 85

by Judge Browne — at least the reporter so
states. In the same address this great jurist
unwittingly gave the weight of his reputation
in support of another silly story in relation to
Judge Browne, invented by some one with a
liveliness of fancy, to show that his brethren
regarded him as wanting in capacity to fitly
discharge the duties of a justice of the high
Court of which he was a member. The al-
leged incident related is, that when the chief
justice asked him his opinion touching a ques-
tion involved in a case being considered con-
cerning which the views of the members of the
Court were not in harmony, Judge Browne,
instead of giving his vote at once, picked up
his hat and was about to leave the conference
room, when the chief justice remarked to him,
' 'You may as well guess now as ever, Judge. "
It is hardly probable the remark was ever
made, but if it was, it must have been in a
playful sense and not intended to be either
disrespectful or offensive to Judge Browne.
There is no place where the amenities of life

86 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

are better or more scrupulously observed than
in the conference-room when the business of
the Court is being transacted. It is incred-
ible that either Chief Justice Wilson, or any
other member of the Court, would have been
guilty of such insolence as to have made the
remark to Judge Browne in the sense it is now
intended it should be understood. Chief Jus-
tice Wilson is represented to have been a modest
and rather diffident man and it is improbable
in the highest degree that he would ever have
assumed that superiority over Judge Browne,
or anybody else, that is implied in the remark
imputed to him. The story itself, as now
told, is derogatory to the high character of the
other members of the Court. It is doubtless
a sheer fabrication without the semblance of
truth in its support. In his work entitled the
"Bench and Bar of Illinois," Judge Caton,
who had himself been a member of the Su-
preme Court with him, repeats the same story
that Judge Browne never wrote an opinion of
the Court. After he had been on the bench

Its First Judges — Browne. 87

twenty-four years he says, ' ' During all that
time I have reason to believe that he never
wrote one opinion." The period to which he
makes reference must have been that which
intervened between his appointment in 1818
and the institution of the impeachment pro-
ceedings in 1843. It may be true Judge
Browne did not write as many opinions as
some other members of the Court during that
period. No one of them wrote very many
opinions for the obvious reason there were but
few to write. As elsewhere stated there was
a time when it did not appear from the reports
of the cases determined in the Supreme Court
who wrote the opinions. How many of the
opinions Per Curiam, Judge Browne may have
written of course can never be known. But it
does appear from the official reports of causes
decided and by whom the opinions were writ-
ten that during that period of twenty-five
years, Judge Browne is given credit for having
written at least as many as forty-three opinions
and the reporter in every case says "Browne,

88 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

justice, delivered the opinion of the Court."
That is some evidence — though not conclusive
— that he wrote the opinions appearing in his
name. In the absence of any contradictory
evidence it ought to be regarded as sufficient
proof of the fact. The opinions of Judge
Browne first appear in Breese's Reports and
are continued in the first, second, and third
volumes of Scammon's Reports. There may
have been satisfactory reasons why Judge
Browne did not write more during the years
to which reference is made. That he did not
write more opinions is not the slightest evi-
dence of want of capacity. Since his time
there have been judges of the Supreme Court
— excellent and able judges — who did not like
to write opinions, and it is no doubt true they
would have written but few opinions if they
could have avoided the work. One of the
best and most untiring workers in the confer-
ence-room the Court ever had, was most re-
luctant to do the labor of writing opinions.
Further mention will be made to him later.

Its First Judges — Brmvne. 89

It will be remembered that during the twenty-
four years next succeeding the organization of
the Supreme Court the number of cases sub-
mitted for decisions were inconsiderable — not
averaging more than perhaps thirty cases in a
year. The cases appear from the official reports
with few exceptions, to have been of no con-
siderable importance and no very difficult
questions arose for discussion and no doubt
any member of the Court who may have liked
the work could have written in all of them, sub-
mitted in any one year, in a brief time without
being overworked. It is quite certain the labor
of preparing all the opinions written by the
members of the Court in any year could have
been done by one man in the space of a month
or six weeks at longest. At the September
term, 1875, of the Supreme Court, there were
submitted for decisions five hundred and thirty-
two cases. In the agenda kept by Judge
Breese at that term there are brief notes of
the points decided in every case and with the
exception of a few cases the notes are all in his

yO Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

handwriting. Perhaps in three or four of the
cases the notes are in the handwriting of the
reporter and were doubtless written as dictated
by Judge Breese. The opinion is ventured
there was nearly as much labor, if not more,
done on the cases submitted at that single
term than upon all the cases submitted in any
period of ten years of the existence of the
Supreme Court prior to 1848.

It is also true that after the third volume of
Scammon's Reports — and only three are found
in that volume — Judge Browne's opinions cease
to appear and none others are thereafter re-
ported during his time of service. But there
is an excusable reason for his omission to write
opinions at that time. The opinions in 3d
Scammon's Reports are in cases decided in
1841 and in 1842. Judge Browne had then
been on the bench nearly twenty-four years
and it is probable he had then become quite
advanced in life. He had certainly reached
that age when men do not perform either
mental or physical labor with as much facility

Its First Judges — Browne. 91

as do younger men. It will be recollected the
Supreme Court was re-organized and five
judges added under the act of February 10,
1841. Most of the new judges added were
men of unusual ability and learning and per-
haps all of them were much younger than the
judges then on the bench. It is no doubt true
they were ambitious to write opinions and in
that way bring themselves into public notice.
At all events the new judges did write most of
the opinions from that time on until the Court
ceased to exist Even a mere casual examina-
tion will disclose that Wilson and Lockwood
wrote fewer opinions after the re-organization
of the Court under the act of 1841. Judge
Smith resigned about that time — December
26, 1842. It is traditional it was a struggle
with the new judges appointed under the act
of 1 84 1 as to who should get the cases to write
the opinions. That fact explains why the
older judges wrote so few opinions in the later
years of the existence of the Court under the
constitution of 1818.

92 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

It is a regretful matter, the "reason"
that induced the belief that "he"— Judge
Browne — "never wrote an opinion" during
the first twenty-four years he was on the Su-
preme Bench is not stated. It is, however,
said that Judge Breese testified before the
Legislature, "he wrote an opinion that ap-
pears in the reports to be credited to Judge
Browne." It would be a matter of curious in-
terest, at least, if it had been designated by name
or otherwise the case wherein the opinion it is
said, either ' 'Judge Breese" or ' ' somebody else "
wrote for Judge Browne among the consider-
able number that appear in his name. Who-
ever may attempt to do that will find that he
has undertaken a very difficult task. But who
wrote the other opinions for him ? Nobody
claims Judge Breese wrote all the opinions
that are reported as having been delivered by
Judge Browne and certainly there is not so
marked a difference in the expression or style
of composition as to induce the belief they are
the work of more than one writer. But aside

Its First Judges — Browne. 93

from that view, at the time it is said Judge
Breese testified before the Legislature, if there
had been the slightest suspicion that other
persons had written opinions for Judge Browne
the bitterness and malice of his accusers
would have discovered and presented the evi-
dence if any existed. It is known Judge Breese
served with him on the Supreme Bench from
February, 1841, until he resigned in 1842, and
if others had written opinions for Judge Browne
he would certainly have known it and the fact
could have been proved by him when he was
on the witness stand. But no such thing was
done or offered to be done. After all it is not
a matter that militates in any degree against
the judicial capacity of Judge Browne that one
opinion, credited to him by the reporter, may
have been in fact written by a brother judge
in the same Court with him. It has frequently
occurred that an opinion written by one mem-
ber of the Court appears in the reports in the
name of another. Many instances might be
cited in the Supreme Court of this State where

94 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

the opinion appears in the name of a certain
justice when in fact it was written by another
member of the Court. It is not intended to
intimate in the remotest degree, there was
anything improper in the publication of an
opinion in the name of one member of the
Court when in fact it was written by another
member of the same Court. Not at all. At
most it is not a matter of much consequence.
It is the opinion of the Court and it matters
little to what member of the Court is given the
credit of writing it. It is also known that in
the reports of the Supreme Courts of other
States opinions sometimes appear in the name
of one judge which were in fact written by an-
other. There have been members of the Su-
preme Court of this State other than Judge
Browne that did not like to write opinions. One
judge who came to the bench of the Supreme
Court late in life never seemed to acquire any
taste for writing opinions — and it is hardly
probable he would have written any, if other
members of the Court could have been induced

Its First Judges — Browne. 95

to do his work for him. Another member of the
Court is recalled who did not like to do any labor
that had to be done in the solitude of the pri-
vate study. He had a strange dislike to
working alone or even being alone. In the
conference room when his brethren were pres-
ent he would write opinions or anything else
to be written but so soon as they would leave
he would also leave. If is singular what a
difference there is in the mental peculiarities
of judges. No two members of the Illinois
Supreme Court were ever alike in their tastes
or habits or mental endowments. One of them
— Judge Walker — had a liking, amounting to
a passion, for writing opinions and at the time
of his death had written more opinions than
any judge who, before that time, had been a
member of the Court. Another one was re-
luctant to write opinions at all, and did not in
fact write many. Another never wanted an
opinion reported in his name. An idiosyn-
crasy that existed in the minds of some
members of the Court often led them to omit

96 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

their names and mark their opinions "Per
Curiam" Why this was done, no judge who
did it could rarely if ever assign any reason for
so doing that would be even satisfactory to
himself. An instance is, where Judge Schol-
field, who was one of the ablest judges the
Court ever had, wrote a most excellent opinion
and instead of attaching his name to it, marked
it "Per Curiam" and in that form it went into
the reports. It turned out to be considered by
the bar of this State and elsewhere to be one of
the ablest opinions he ever wrote, and it was
a matter he could never understand why he did
not have it reported under his own name.
As noted elsewhere, all of the first opinions
of the Supreme Court, on its organization,
were headed "Opinion by the Court." That
practice continued until Hon. Thomas Rey-
nolds became Chief Justice, on the resignation
of Chief Justice Philips. Even then it seems
to have been reluctantly abandoned by the
other justices. It is said that Chancellor Kent,
when he became a member of the Supreme

Its First Judges — Browne. 97

Court, introduced the practice of reducing the
opinions of the court to writing. Before that
time they had been delivered orally. The plan
did not meet with much favor. Some of the
judges did not like to write opinions. It is
said Chief Justice Kent wrote most of the
opinions of one term, but headed them "Per
Curiam" so that it might not appear to the
public that he wrote more than a due propor-
tion of the opinions of the court. It may be
the same reluctance to writing opinions existed
in the judicial habits of Judge Browne as in
other judges, and if so he should not be too
much disparaged on that account.

With the exception of Governor Reynolds,
who knew him best, state historians have not
always been quite just to Judge Browne.
Stories having no foundation in fact, told
of him intended to show want of capacity for
the judicial office he occupied through so long
a series of years, have been given a place in
their writings and much prominence has been
given to criticisms of his official acts made by

98 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

those unfriendly to him, without giving at the
same time matters that would apologize for
apparent blemishes in his judicial character.
A recent writer, in speaking of some of the
early judges of the State, in referring to him,
says he was ' 'laughed at and despised by many
lawyers." Among his contemporaries, Judge
Browne seems to have been held in highest
esteem for his personal worth. Such early
writers as Judge Caton, Governor Reynolds,
and others accord him highest praise as an
upright and faithful magistrate. Their testi-
mony in this respect is in pleasing contrast
with the imputation of unworthiness implied
in the conduct attributed ''to many lawyers."
Even the best friends of Judge Browne will
not insist his opinions show any great learning
or ability. But that is not at all strange. The
cases in which he wrote involved no questions
of law that require any display either of ability
or great learning to elaborate. His opinions
are plain, common-sense statements, and that
is all the cases demanded. Some of the prin-

It* First Judges — Browne. 99

ciples stated by him and some of the rules of
practice formulated by him remain the law to
this day and have not been departed from by
the Courts. Although Judge Browne wrote no
opinions after those appearing in 3rd Scammon's
Reports, yet on more than one occasion he ex-
pressed very many judicious views in dissent-
ing opinions. On reading the cases in the
light of a better knowledge of the law his views
are the better law than that expressed in the
prevailing opinion of the Court. Of him Judge
Caton said he ' ' had very distinct views of his
own on questions that came before him for de-
cision." Especially when questions of equal
civil rights before the law were involved,
Judge Browne always maintained the rights of
all persons whether white or black to the en-
joyment of these inalienable privileges. His
vote in the Court was always cast in favor of
freedom, right, and justice. That was a
crowning excellence in his character and one
that will be appreciated when others who may
have written more opinions than he did will
have been forgotten.

100 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

CHAPTER VI.

JOHN REYNOLDS.
A Student, a Lawyer, and a Judge.

The only one of the four persons appointed
to the office of judge of the Supreme Court of
Illinois on the 9th day of October, 1818, that
achieved any fame that is at all likely to be
enduring, was John Reynolds. That, it will be
seen, is not on account of his judicial labors,
but in consequence of his connections with the
civil and military affairs of the State and of
his literary work. His service on the bench
brought him no reputation either as a lawyer
or as a judge. It was the minor portion of
what he did. Had he done nothing more
than he accomplished during his brief judicial

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 101

career, his life work would have been a failure.
But in other fields of labor he achieved a suc-
cess that will make his name to be known and
be held in popular remembrance by the com-
ing generations. It is said of him, by one who
knew him well, "he was a unique character
and the most interesting figure in our State's
early history."

The subject of this sketch — John Reynolds
—was born on the 26th day of February, 1788,
in Montgomery county, in the State of Penn-
sylvania. Afterwards his father moved his
family to Tennessee and from that state he
•came to Illinois, perhaps in 1800. His father
and mother were both born in Ireland, and
after their marriage came to America in 1785.
Their religious affiliations were with the prot-
estants in their fatherland. It is most prob-
able they were Scotch- Irish — certainly his
mother, whose maiden name was Margaret
Moore, was of that race. His father — Robert
Reynolds — made it a matter of boasting that
his ancestors belonged to the ' ' Milesian race, "

102 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

and that not a drop of English blood flowed
in his veins. It was the opinion of the subject
of this sketch that his father may have been
mistaken and that in fact the Reynolds family
was of English origin. Be that as it may, it
seems certain his mother — Margaret Moore —
was Scotch-Irish. It is said she was a woman
of great mental vigor and was doubtless much
superior to the familyof her husband. In per-
sonal appearance Judge Reynolds much re-
sembled the Scotch-Irish and the blood of
that hardy and vigorous race that in all prob-
ability flowed in his veins, in some degree
dominated his whole character and gave it
that force that enabled him to achieve suc-
cess. He was tall, probably above six feet in
height — was stout and strong, and was what
would be called a muscular man — may be
an athlete. His hair was never very heavy,
yet there was no tendency to baldness, even
in old age. In color his eyes were blue,
rather restless, and wore a dreamy expression,
seldom indicating any emotion. Socially he

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 103

was always most interesting. A charm of his
life was his conversation — not so much on ac-
count of what he said as the manner in which
he said it. As an interesting conversationalist
he excelled most men. In all social coming
together and in all casual meetings he was the
one that attracted most attention by his cheer-
ful conversation and cordial and unaffected
manners. Everyone gathered near him to
hear him talk. And yet what he said and
even what he did was a strange mixture of
sense and nonsense. Perhaps, had his social
conversations been literally reported what he
said would have been regarded as little else other
than mere jargon. He was fond of anecdote
and related with greatest zest incidents con-
nected with his own and others' personal his-
tory. He liked a good story and relished it
none the less because he might be the subject
of its humor unless, however, the incident re-
lated might seem to reflect upon the integrity
of his character or upon his judicial conduct.
He was always the central attraction in every

104 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

group of friends in the midst of whom he
might happen to be. In his casual meeting
with persons on the street or elsewhere he al-
ways had a pleasant word to say to them, and
everyone seemed always glad to meet him.
He knew most persons he met and often called
them by their given names — especially his cor-
dial greetings of young people whom he might
chance to meet were greatly appreciated by
them. By persons of near his own age he was
most generally spoken of as the ' ' Old Ranger. "
That title he acquired while in the military or
"ranging" service in the war of 1812. By
younger persons he was always addressed as
"Governor." It is not recalled, he was ever
addressed by the title of ' ' Judge" in social in-
tercourse— if at all, it was seldom. Mingling
much with all classes of people and indulging
in pleasant fun-making with them, still he ever
maintained a dignified bearing. It was not
deemed necessary by him to be popular with
the people, to dress in a ' 'shabby" manner, or
to make a clown of himself. No one ever

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 105

offered to approach him other than in a re-
spectful manner. While uniformly friendly in
his feelings, he had that stateliness of bearing
that commanded consideration and forbade
any undue familiarlity, in speech or otherwise.
In his younger days he indulged in the
amusements common to that period — par-
ticularly in foot-racing and horse-racing, in
both of which sports he took a part with his
neighbors. The passion strongest with him
was for a fine horse and he took great delight
in testing his speed. Few persons of his day
were his equals in a foot-race. After he com-
menced to study law at Knoxville, Tennessee,
he ran a foot-race for a wager of one hundred
dollars and won the purse. Most fortunately for
young Reynolds, he was afforded better oppor-
tunities to obtain an education than were pos-
sessed by most other young men in the West
at that early day. As Judge Gillespie ex-
pressed it, his father did ' ' what is usual in
Scotch-Irish families, robbing all the other
members of the family in order to pile an edu-

I

106 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

cation upon the 'gentleman' of the household. "
It seems he began his school studies with a
friend at his father's house. Shortly afterward
he attended, perhaps, a very good school near
the present city of Belleville. At this school,
according to his own account of it, he must
have devoted nearly his whole time to the
study of mathematics, but upon a close anal-
ysis of the account given, it was really nothing
higher than common arithmetic. At a later
time, perhaps at a school in the same neigh-
borhood, he studied surveying, and may be
surveyed some, for anyone who wished to have
that kind of work done. Naturally he had an
ambition to acquire an education and to the
attainment of that end he bent all his energies.
A favorite maxim with him — one formulated
by himself — was, "Success or an ignominious
grave. " Whenever he was depressed by what
seemed to be the near approach of failure, he
strengthened his purpose to succeed by refer-
ence to this and other kindred maxims. On
an invitation from an uncle, residing at or near

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 107

Knoxville, Tennessee, he went there to attend
a school in the near vicinity. Great prepara-
tions were made to get him ready to depart to
attend what they, with pardonable vanity, call
a ' ' college. " The whole neighborhood assisted
in the preparations and when all was ready, he
set out to make the journey to Knoxville, on
horse-back. It was a great undertaking at
that day for a young man. Most of the way
he had to travel alone through what was then
little less, if any, than a wild wilderness. It was
a bold and somewhat hazardous undertaking,
and had in it much that was discouraging in
the extreme, but he sustained his courage and
purpose by frequent reference to his favorite
maxims. He needed their courage - giving
strength. This school to which he went to at-
tend he dignifies by the name of a "college."
It was situated a few miles out of the town of
Knoxville. Really, it was nothing more than
a small private school for boys or young men,
kept by the Rev. Isaac Anderson. The teacher
taught his school during the week and preached

108 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

in the vicinity on the Sabbath. Some of the
scholars boarded with the teacher in his home
in which his school was kept. Why this school
was called a ' 'college" is rather difficult to un-
derstand. The proprietor and principal of the
school was the only teacher or ' ' professor. "
No doubt it was a very good school but it had
none of the elements of a "college." Of what
the "curriculum" of this "college" consisted is
not discovered, but it seems young Reynolds
devoted much of his time to the study of Latin.
Evidently he read many of the text-books used
in the schools and colleges of that day. Other
studies were pursued and among them was
"Euclid's Elements of Geometry. " The crown-
ing achievement of his school days of which
he was proudest was that he had demonstrated
without much difficulty the fifth proposition
in Euclid sometimes called "Pans assinorum."
It is a simple proposition and presents no diffi-
culty, but his demonstration of it was regarded
by him as one of his ' 'college" triumphs.

It is probable from his account of his school

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 109

studies, that oratory was one of them. One
week every scholar was required to prepare
and read a composition on some subject prob-
ably chosen by the teacher, and on every al-
ternate week he was required to declaim a
piece he had committed to memory. This lat-
ter exercise was to young Reynolds a very
great embarrassment on account of what he
is pleased to term his " excessive modesty.''
He attended this school or ' 'college" two years
or two terms of probably ten months each.
Gen. Houston, afterwards of Texas, was at
this school with him. After leaving this school
for a time he again returned to it to review his
studies but only remained for a brief time.
Among other things he studied the ' ' sciences
and literature, " also ' 'geography and history, "
also "rhetoric and logic." He read "Blair's
Lectures," and "Dr. Paley's Moral Philoso-
phy. " He commenced the study of ' ' astron-
omy, " but did not 'make much advancement
and gave it up. What course of study he may
have pursued after he left the schools can not

110 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

now be definitely ascertained. His time was
so occupied with other matters it is hardly
probable he continued his school studies. But
if that which is stated constituted his whole
course of study it is evident his, was not more
than what is usually termed a ' 'common school
education." Many of his contemporaries,
writing about him since his death, speak of
Gov. Reynolds as a "classical scholar." Ex-
actly what is meant by the phrase ' ' classical
scholar, " may not be readily understood. One
writer says of him he was an accomplished
' 'Greek, Latin, and French scholar, " but fails
to say he was ever an " English scholar." It
is surpassingly strange that anyone at all ac-
quainted with Gov. Reynolds would write
such extravagant things concerning him. Had
such eulogies been written of him in his life-
time no doubt, he would have had much satis-
faction in them. His vanity was extraordi-
nary. Vain as he was of his learning he never
claimed to have studied Greek and never knew
one letter of the Greek alphabet from another.

Its First Judges — Reynolds. Ill

He does say of himself that when he left
college he "was a good Latin scholar." It was
a matter of much vanity with him of which he
frequently spoke that he was a ' ' good Latin
scholar," but he never mentioned having
studied Greek. That he was a fair Latin
scholar when he left school may be true, but
he never kept up his Latin readings and before
he entered public life he had forgotten most if
not all of the Latin he had learned at school.
It is true he studied the French language and
became so familiar with it that he was able to
and did speak it fluently in common conver-
sation and it may be he was able to write
it. His first wife was a French woman and
they spoke the French language in the
family. That is the extent of his ' ' French"
scholarship. It is simply absurd to assert, he
was an ' ' accomplished" scholar at all, either in
English or anything else. He claimed much
for himself, but his neighbors never gave him
credit for any great learning. The same writer
just quoted further says ' ' strange to say he was

112 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

ashamed of his collegiate education." That
excellent writer must have drawn largely on
his imagination for this statement. In the
first place he did not have a " collegiate edu-
cation" to be ' 'ashamed" of, and in the second
place he was boastfully proud of his scholastic
attainments, such as they were. It is seldom
writers of their own biography make so much
mention of their studies in the schools as
Gov. Reynolds did. Another writer that knew
him well says of him ' ' with more than ordi-
nary ability, considerable education, including
a smattering of the classics, he assumed dense
ignorance and courted the reputation of illiter-
acy. He successfully masked his natural
egotism and self-esteem in a disguise of hu-
mility and was singularly modest in speaking
or writing of himself. * * * * In later
years when he saw that he had outlived further
possibilities of political preferment and was
financially independent, he threw off the self-
imposed restraints of his previous active career
and became arrogant in his pretensions to

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 113

learning and literary attainments. " Again the
distinguished writer, last but one quoted, is
quite far out of the way in the remark, his
' ' dislike to appear to be educated grew out of
the contempt the early settlers had for 'book-
larnin'. ' ' The accusation, the people of that
epoch in the history of the State had a ' 'con-
tempt" for "book-larnin', " a phrase some
writers are fond of using as a synonym for
' ' education, " is scandalously untrue in its ap-
plication to the early settlers of Illinois. On
the contrary they had the highest appreciation
of education. In the beginning of their living
together in communities, they made great per-
sonal sacrifices to establish educational insti-
tutions. Next after erecting church buildings
for places of common worship they builded
houses for school purposes at, to them, a very
great and oppressive cost.

It is quite common with a class of modern
writers to impute to the ' 'early settlers" of the
state great ignorance and opposition both ot
education and religion. No greater libel was

114 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

ever written concerning the people who laid the
foundations of our state institutions. Nor is it
true, as a general rule, that persons of that
day used such expressions as ' 'book-larnin"
any more than they do now. It is quite time
to protest against this manner of writing about
that people. It may be, and doubtless is
true, there were some persons among them
that had been raised with and lived with slaves
all their lives that use such language. It is
absurd to suppose that was the language of
the mass of the people. Most of the people
spoke as good English then as they do now.
The remark is ventured there were as many
well educated persons in the Illinois country at
that time in its history in proportion to the pop-
ulation as there were in Massachusetts at that
date. It may be confidently asserted there
were then not more people in the Illinois that
could neither read nor write in proportion to
the population than in any of the older states.
It is quite time this romancing about the igno-
rance of the "early settlers" of Illinois and

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 115

their contempt of education and religion should
cease. Much of it is viciously untrue. No
doubt Gov. Reynolds did effect to depreciate
the technical learning of the law-books. It is
said that he construed before the people, the
maxim "caveat emptor" to mean to "flee from
the wrath to come." That was done as a little
bit of pleasant ad captandum fun-making. He
had but little knowledge of the technical learn-
ing of the law and indulged in this mode of talk-
ing at the expense of the lawyers. He knew
as well as anyone, the people much liked to
hear the lawyers ridiculed and he affected that
mode of speech to gratify that existing pas-
sion.

After finishing his course at college, he
commenced the study of the law with a prac-
ticing lawyer at Knoxville. He entered upon
his legal studies with unusual zeal and energy
— so much so that his health soon began to
fail, and by the advice of his physician he
gave up his studies for the time being and re-
turned to the Illinois country that he might by

116 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

field and out-door sports regain his health. It
was at this discouraging period of his life that
his favorite maxim, "Success or an ignomini-
ous grave" stood him most in hand. He had
other short phrases which were referred to
when necessary to keep alive his ambition —
among them was one, "Do or die." It is prob-
able at this crisis in his life he needed all the
courage and strength he could get from his
"maxims." Regaining his usual health after
an absence of about a year, he returned to
Knoxville to complete his law studies. That was
in 1812. It is probable he spent but little
time at Knoxville, ' 'completing" his law studies
for it is seen he was back in Kaskaskia in the
fall of the same year and after examina-
tion by two federal judges he was awarded
a license to practice law. It appears that in
all he studied in the office of a practicing law-
yer a little more than two years, but not con-
tinuously. The events then transpiring in the
country prevented him from entering upon the
practice of the law. His time and attention

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 117

was otherwise engaged so it was perhaps two
or more years before he made any attempt to
enter upon the practice of his profession.

Upon his return to the Illinois all was ex-
citement in regard to military affairs growing
out of the war with England. Young Rey-
nolds was soon aroused by the events transpir-
ing and he enlisted in the military service.
He joined a company raised and commanded
by Capt. William B. Whiteside. It is not
known how much fighting young Reynolds
did in that war, but if there was any to be
done, Capt. Whiteside would have had a hand
in it. Being a member of the company com-
manded by Capt. Whiteside it is fair to pre-
sume Reynolds was in the most perilous and
dangerous service of that war in the West.
He was knightly in his personal courage.
Most of the time of the war, he was in
what was called the ' ' ranging service. "
That was to protect the settlements from the
depredations and murderous attacks of the In-
dians. It was in that service he acquired the

118 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

soubriquet of the ' ' Old Ranger " — a title, it de-
lighted him to be called. He was in the war
and ranging service until 1814. In that year
he located in Cahokia and opened a law and
land office in company with his special friend,
Joseph A. Beard. Cahokia was then the
county seat of St. Clair county. It was the
oldest village in the Northwest and was then
regarded as one of the best business locations
in the Illinois. As has been seen, after finish-
ing his law studies at Knoxville, he had no
opportunity to continue his law reading, and
as a matter of course he was ill prepared to
commence the practice of the law. It does
not appear he had any business in the Courts
until after the county seat was moved from
Cahokia to Belleville, which was shortly after
he commenced to practice law. It was in the
latter place he made his first attempt to make
an argument in Court — Judge Jesse B.Thomas,
a territorial judge, presiding. It was regarded
by himself and his friends also as a very great
failure. A second effort in Madison county

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 119

was not more successful. But he applied one
of his many maxims as antidote to prevent
other failures in the future — "A savage self will
to succeed"— and maybe it strengthened his
purpose. He possessed an indomitable en-
ergy and that was the secret of his success in
after life. It is not probable he had much
business in the Courts. His partner, Mr.
Beard, was not a lawyer — only a business man
turning his hand to most anything that prom-
ised to yield a profit. With his partner he did
some business he called ' ' land commerce. "
He had some knowledge of surveying and that
enabled him to make selections of valuable
lands for persons who wanted to buy the same
from the government. In that way the firm
did quite a good deal of business — realizing
therefrom considerable profits. That was prob-
ably what he called "land commerce." In
the years intervening, the opening of his office
in Cahokia, in 1814, and his election as a judge
of the Supreme Court of the State in 1818, he
' ' speculated, sold lands, and bought two stores

120 Illinois Supreme Cvurt — 1818.

of dry goods, amounting to ten thousand dol-
lars." That would hardly be regarded as
practicing law at this day. But after his elec-
tion to the office of judge he ceased to trade in
lands and never afterwards resumed that busi-
ness. His law practice before his appointment
to the bench of the Supreme Court was very
little. It would now be considered none at all.
There are two reasons for his limited practice :
first, there was very little law business to be
done in the years of his residence at Cahokia;
and second, there were then in the county and
elsewhere in the near vicinity a number of
able lawyers that got all the legal business to
be transacted in the Courts that was worth
having. He advertised to give advice and at-
tend to legal business for the poor for nothing.
But that device brought him no clients. Peo-
ple do not want a poor lawyer just because his
services can be had for less than a good one
can be retained. One in need of the services
of a lawyer wants the best that can be had or
none at all. After he had been located in Ca-

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 121

hokia about three years — 1817 — young Rey-
nolds was first married. His wife was a Creole
and a native of the village where he resided.
A create is one born of European parents in a
French or Spanish colonial possession. Her
parents were French. Her maiden name was
Catharine Dubuque. She was a daughter of
Jean Baptiste and Susan Dubuque, once resi-
dents of that old village. It was her second
marriage. Her first husband was Michael La
Croix, to whom she was married in 1805.
With her first husband — Mr. La Croix — she
resided for a time at Galena, then at Peoria,
and finally returned to Cahokia. Mrs. Rey-
nolds was a strict Roman Catholic — was born
and educated in that church and adhered to
it as long as she lived, happy in the belief of
its holy faith. As before remarked, the par-
ents of Gov. Reynolds were protestants. It
is not known he ever united with any church.
It is most probable he did not. He contrib-
uted, however, to sustain the church to which
his wife belonged as liberally as he would have

122 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

done had they both belonged to the same
church. He had a high appreciation of the
Christian religion and its ministers, and yet h.e
would swear worse than our ' ' Army in Flan-
ders. " He was very fond of his wife and
treated her with the highest consideration and
kindness. After her second marriage Mrs.
Reynolds had no children. She had a son and
daughter — Rene La Croix and Mrs. S. B.
Chandler — by her first marriage, both of whom
had their homes in Belleville. Rene LaCroix
is not now — 1894 — living, but Mrs. Chandler
is, and is now a venerable and much respected
woman.

In the year 1818 events were transpiring
that affected vitally the after life of Gov. Rey-
nolds. New and more pretentious ambitions
were created in him and his whole after life
directed into new channels. It was a crisis in
his life and he was not slow to make the most
of it. The State government was being organ-
ized at Kaskaskia preparatory to the admission
of the State into the Union. The Legislature

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 123

was in session in the autumn of 1818. The
convening of that body had brought together
the most prominent men from all the settled
portions of the Illinois Territory, all strug-
gling and contending for places and power
under the new State government. Among
others came the young lawyer — Reynolds—
with new ambitions and with higher purposes
in mind. Not less than others he was pos-
sessed of an insane passion to become great in
the new State and as the prospect for success
seemed near at hand it created an excitement
akin to intoxication itself. His home was still
at Cahokia. He was then about thirty years
of age and at his best estate both as to men-
tal and physical strength. He affected not to
have any desire for office or official position.
That was akin to the old pretense of "sham-
ming sober" when one was drunk. It did not
then and does not now deceive any one. That
fiction of politics — "his friends" — controlled
him, and he was easily persuaded by them to
visit the Legislature in session at Kaskaskia.

124 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

The truth is he did not have friends enough to
keep him away. Shortly after reaching Kas-
kaskia he was inquired of whether he would
accept a judgeship if elected. "This," he says
in his biography, ' 'broke on me like a clap of
thunder. " It was then as it is now not very
difficult for one's "friends" to persuade a man
to accept an office, especially when he wants
it and is trying his best to get it. It was the
opportunity of his life to gratify his ambition
and of course he consented to allow his
' 'friends" to use his name in that connection.
There were men possessing eminent qualifica-
tions for the bench of the Supreme Court that
were candidates at the same time for the place.
In some way, the history of which has never
been and perhaps ought not to have been
written, Reynolds triumphed over them and
was by the Legislature elected an associate
justice of the Supreme Court. The term for
which he was elected was during good behav-
ior or until the end of the session of the Legis-
lature that should convene after the first of

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 125

January, 1824. If it is true, as Gov. Reynolds
says of himself, at first he had no desire for
public office, it is also true, as the sequel will
show, that after his first experience in public
life he became one of the most inveterate and
successful office seekers the State ever had.

Judge Reynolds was now to enter upon a
new field of labor — a work wholly and alto-
gether new to him and one for which he was
ill prepared, either by habit of thought or edu-
cation, legal or otherwise. That he succeeded
as well as he did — and that was none too well
—was perhaps a surprise to the people whose
laws he undertook to administer. It will be
recollected it was made the duty of the first
judges of the Supreme Court, in addition to
the other duties imposed upon them, also to
hold the Circuit Courts of the State. The en-
tire State was divided into four circuits, and one
of the judges of the Supreme Court was assigned
to each circuit. It fell to the lot of Judge Rey-
nolds to have the circuit in which the county

126 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

of St. Clair was situated, together with some of
the next adjoining counties. No one, not even
his most partial friends, will, or ever did, claim
for him any very great qualifications for judi-
cial work, either on account of his legal learn-
ing, or executive ability, or bearing as a judge.
His want of appreciation of the high office of a
judge of a court of general jurisdiction, was
conspicuously apparent at the opening of the
first Court he held. It was at Covington, in
Washington county, in the spring of 1819.
That was shortly after his election. When he
took his seat upon the bench, for the first time,
he permitted the sheriff, sitting astride a bench
without rising, to make proclamation of the
opening of Court by announcing, "The Court
is now opened, John is on the bench. " It
would have been better for the judge's reputa-
tion then and now had he administered to the
sheriff a severe rebuke and imposed upon him
a heavy fine as for contempt of Court. The
people in the midst of whom the Court was
held, would have entertained a much higher

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 127

respect for the judge and the majesty of the
law. A judge that permits any undue familiar-
ity or other unbecoming conduct in the pres-
ence of the Court when in session, soon be-
comes an object of contempt by the common
people. There is nothing that impresses them
more favorably than the orderly and dignified
transaction of the business of their Courts.
That, was the first Court ever opened in the
State of Illinois under the authority of its con-
stitution and it would have been becoming had
the judge observed that decorum that would
have accorded with the dignity and importance
of the occasion. That opening of the first
Court in the State under its constitution pre-
sents a painful contrast to the opening of the
first Court in the Northwestern Territory, un-
der the ordinance of 1787 at Marietta, Ohio.
It was attended by the principal men of the
territory, and fitting ceremonies — simple but
dignified — were observed. Before the formal
proclamation of the opening of the Court, the
judges standing, the venerable Rev. Dr. Cutler

128 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

envoked the divine blessing of Him whose
throne is "justice and judgment" and then the
high sheriff, standing erect holding an un-
sheathed sword in his right hand, proclaimed
that a Court was now open for the administra-
tion of equal and impartial justice to all alike
— to the humblest as well as to the most ex-
alted citizen. It was a simple, yet grand
and imposing scene — one that impressed all
beholders with the majesty of the law. A dig-
nified bearing on the part of a judge holding
Court is consistent with the simplest and kind-
est manners and is always becoming in a
judge. There is, perhaps, nothing more dis-
gustingly vulgar than a judge who respects
neither himself nor the office of the great mag-
istrate when he assumes to administer the
laws of the commonwealth. For such a
judge the people have no respect. Many im-
portant criminal causes were tried before Judge
Reynolds on the circuit. Some of them have
become causes celebres in this State. In 1819,
in St. Clair county, on a day when many per-

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 129

sons were assembled in Belleville, and were hav-
ing a symposion, it was proposed to have a sham
duel between Alonzo Stuart and William Ben-
nett. Whether Bennett knew the proceeding
was to be a mere sham is left somewhat in
doubt, by the accounts written concerning it.
It was well understood by all spectators and
most probably by both principals, the guns
were to be charged with powder only, but it
turned out Bennett's gun contained a leaden
ball, and on its discharge, the ball struck Stu-
art in the breast, killing him instantly. The
affair created a good deal of feeling in the
community. The seconds of the respective
parties — Jacob Short and Nathan Fike — were
indicted for the murder of Stuart. The trial
was had before Judge Reynolds in 1819. The
accused were prosecuted by Daniel P. Cook
and were defended by Thomas Hart Benton.
On the trial both defendants were acquitted.
Bennett, the principal in the duel, was also
indicted for the murder of Stuart. He fled
the country and was not captured until 1821.

130 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

His capture is said to have been effected by
disreputable trickery, unworthy of a people
assuming to be enforcing the law. With the
passing away of the years, there has come
down a sorrowful sympathy for the unhappy
fate of poor Bennett. His wrongful capture
and bringing back to the state was never sat-
isfactory to good people. It was treach-
erously and cowardly done. He was tried
before Judge Reynolds and a jury, was con-
victed, and afterward suffered the death-
penalty — that then being the only mode of
punishment for murder. The conviction of
Bennett was secured on the theory, he had
secretly put a bullet in his gun. That theory
was not thought to be sustained by any sat-
isfactory evidence — at least, many people were
of that belief. There were some who enter-
tained a suspicion that Short had, in some
way, for some reason, put the bullet in the
gun without Bennett's knowledge. There was
a tradition to the effect that when his gun was
discharged and he saw Stuart fall, Bennett threw

Its First Judges— Reynolds. 131

down his gun and exclaimed "D — n it, Short,
you put a bullet in that gun. " Short was Ben-
nett's second. But it may be there was no
truth in the tradition. It has long since ceased
to be remembered or told, other than perhaps
by a few of the oldest citizens of that locality.
Had Bennett not fled the country and had he
remained at home, and denied, as he after-
wards did, all guilty knowledge of how the bul-
let got into his gun, it is not probable he
would have been convicted. As it was, public
sentiment was much divided as to the justness
of the sentence pronounced against him.

In 1823, Eliphalet Green, in a quarrel with
a man by the name of Abel Moore, shot and
killed his antagonist. Green at first fled with
a view to conceal himself but afterwards vol-
untarily returned and surrendered himself to
the officers of the law. He was indicted for
the murder of Moore. On the trial before
Judge Reynolds and a jury in Madison county,
he was convicted and sentenced to be hanged.
That sentence was afterwards executed and

132 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

he suffered the extreme penalty of the law.
It was concerning the remarks of Judge Rey-
nolds in pronouncing the sentence of death
against Green that so many silly and untruth-
ful stories have been written to the effect that
when the accused was brought up to receive
sentence, the Judge told him that he wished
him and his friends to know ' ' that it is not I
who condemns you but the jury and the law,"
that he told him the law allowed him time for
preparation to meet his sentence, and that the
' ' Court wants to know what time you want to
be hung," and that the judge inquired of the
clerk of the Court whether "this day four
weeks comes on Sunday." There is not the
slightest doubt this whole story is a pure fab-
rication from beginning to end, and one of the
many apocryphical stories to be found in Ford's
History of Illinois. Judge Reynolds never
heard this story mentioned without manifesting
great displeasure. He always denounced it
as a vile slander on his judicial conduct. It is
a matter of surprise, so many writers have

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 133

continued to re-write this account of the sen-
tencing of Green as veritable historical infor-
mation, when upon the slightest inquiry, its
untruthfulness could have been ascertained.
But it will probably run through all future his-
tories, because people always want to hear
something ridiculous told of others. The story
is most unjust to the memory of Judge Rey-
nolds. It may be and is no doubt true he did
not observe on all occasions that orderly man-
ner of conducting the business of the Court,
that is always appropriate, especially in crim-
inal cases, but he was an honest magistrate
and did what he best could to do justice be-
tween the parties litigating before him. He
was conscientiously opposed to capital punish-
ment. The sentencing of Bennett and Green
to be hanged was a most painful duty — one
that he would have too gladly avoided had not
the statute imposed it upon him. It was re-
regretfully done in the deepest sorrow and with
profound sympathy for the persons to suffer
that punishment.

134 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

Judge Reynolds was a member of the Su-
preme Court of the State nearly or quite six
years. His term of office expired by limita-
tion with the adjournment of that session of
the Legislature that convened late in the year
1824. The judiciary of the State was re-or-
ganized by that Legislature as it was permis-
sible to do under the constitution. Although
candidates before the General Assembly for
re-election to the same positions they had held,
both Chief Justice Thomas Reynolds and
Associate Justice John Reynolds were defeated.
It was a sore disappointment to them. Of
Chief Justice Thomas Reynolds, persons that
knew him, all bear the same testimony, he was
a very able and learned lawyer and made a
good judge. Many modern writers speak of
him as a younger brother and others as a
nephew of Judge John Reynolds. But neither
statement is correct. The fact is the Chief
Justice was in no way related tojusticejohn Rey-
nolds. Some years after his defeat, Chief Justice
Thomas Reynolds went to Missouri and perhaps

RK First Judges — Reynold*. 135

remained there until his death. Judge John
Reynolds had a brother Thomas Reynolds.
In early life he was a farmer. Later he
moved into Belleville, kept a livery stable for
a time and afterwards had a store for the sale
of dry goods. He died in that city.

It appears from the official reports, Judge
Reynolds was present at every session of the Su-
preme Court during his term of service and took
part in the proceedings of the Court. In that
respect he was one of its most faithful members.
During his entire term of six years, only
ten opinions appear in his name as the jus-
tice delivering the opinion of the Court. He
also wrote dissenting opinions in two cases.
In one case the opinion appears in the names
of Chief Justice Reynolds and Justice John
Reynolds. Of the opinions written in cases
decided at the December term, 1821, he must
have written his full share, for he was a labor-
ious man and accounted himself able to do any
kind of mental labor. Of the opinions "Per
Curiam, " written before the December term,

136 Jllinois Supreme Court — 18J8.

1822, it can not be known how many he wrote
but it could not have been many for the obvious
reason there are only sixteen reported. There
were only thirty-two cases in which opinions
were written by the several judges as appears
from the official reports during his term on the
bench, and in sixteen other cases the opinions
are Per Curiam, or as the reporter has it ' 'Opin-
ion of the Court, " making a total number of
cases decided in that long term of service of
which there is any report, forty-eight, exclusive
of the cases decided at the December term, 1821.
Only one case is mentioned as having been
decided at that term. Conceding there may
have been as many cases decided at the
December term, 1821 — and certainly there
were not more — as at other terms before and
subsequent, it is not probable more than
sixty — if that many — cases were heard and de-
termined by the Supreme Court during the
six years Judge Reynolds was a member of
that Court. Only thirty-two opinions were
written during that time in the names of the

Its First Jadyeti — Reynolds. 187

judges. Of these opinions, eighteen were
written by Chief Justice Reynolds, ten by Jus-
tice John Reynolds, two by Justice Wilson,
and two appear in the names of Chief Justice
Reynolds and Justice John Reynolds. No
opinions during that period appear in the
name of Judge Browne. If he wrote any it
must have been some of the opinions "Per
Curiam. " Judge John Reynolds wrote two dis-
senting opinions while he was on the bench.
The cases decided by the Supreme Court prior
to 1825, when the judiciary was re-organized,
were of no considerable importance. The
opinions written are very brief — covering not
more perhaps on an average than one-third of a
printed page of the reports. The opinions writ-
ten by Chief Justice Thomas Reynolds are most
elaborated. Those written by Judge Wilson
are the shortest. One of his opinions is a
model of conciseness. All of the opinions by
Justice John Reynolds would hardly make
more than six or eight printed pages of the
usual size in the reports. The work of doing

138 Illinois Supreme Court— 1818.

all the writing done by all the judges during
the time Judge John Reynolds was a mem-
ber of that Court, as it appears in the official
reports, could now be done by any good judge
inside of a few months without subject-
ing him to any great labor. It may be more
cases were decided and more opinions were
written than are reported, but at most the
cases heard and determined could not have
been any very great number. And yet it was
then a matter of complaint, the labor of the four
judges had been found to be "onerous" and
' 'even oppressive. " The work done by them
was insignificant in comparison with work
done by the Supreme Court in the current
year commencing in June, 1875. In that year
there were eleven hundred and thirty-three
cases on the docket. Of course all of them
were not submitted for opinions. Many of the
transcripts of the records in the cases submitted
during that year were immense and the writing
of the opinions in some of the cases involved
much labor — quite as much if not more than in

It* First Jufk/es — Reynolds. 139

all the cases submitted in any decade of years of
Judge Reynold's occupancy of the Supreme
bench.

The same complaint of ' ' overwork " is
still made by judges occupying the bench, and
with as little reason or fact in its support as when
made on behalf of the four first judges of the
Supreme Court. It is a chronic infirmity in
the character of many judges. It comes
mostly from judges who believe their tenure of
office is most secure and especially is it made by
judg'es whose appointments are for life. Many
of them in the larger cities hold Court but a
few hours a day with from three to five months
vacation in every year, during which time there
is absolute freedom from all thought of their
judicial duties and for which they continue
to receive a large compensation whether em-
ployed or not. Still this complaintful mur-
muring on account of "overwork" will be heard
as long as there are incumbents of official posi-
tions. The man that toils for bread, works un-
complainingly through ten hours of every work-

140 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

ing day of the year at a compensation of a few
dollars a week, and when he returns home on
Saturday night, weary and worn, kneeling
around the family altar with those for whom
he had toiled through the week, he thanks
God he has bread enough to feed his wife and
children until the morning of another week,
when he will recommence his ceaseless round
of toil. God pity the uncomplaining poor!
This pretense of "over-work" on the part of
official laborers, especially on the part of judi-
cial officers, is a hollow sham. If they really
believed, they were ' 'over-worked" they would
quit the public service. But it was never
known that one of those fault-finding judges-
one that is ever croaking about being "over-
worked" and the inadequate compensation he
receives — resigns on that account. Such men
are most anxious to secure judicial office and
are the last to give it up if possible to retain
it. Let them quit the public service — others
will gladly do the work without such constant
fault-finding. It is not now, and never was,

//* First Judges — Reynolds. 141

true that judicial officers in this country are
over-worked. As a general rule the compen-
pensation paid for judicial services is entirely
adequate and in many instances it is too high.
Too much distinction is made in the compen-
sation paid for professional or intellectual labor,
than for skilled manual labor in mechanics or
other departments of industry. Our economic
system in this respect works grevious wrongs.
It makes "hewers of wood and drawers of
water" of a greater number of the people for the
benefit of a lesser number who "toil not,
neither do they spin" within any true defini-
nition of the word labor. It is the toilers —
skilled and unskilled — in the multiplied in-
dustries that creates the wealth of a nation.

A summary of Judge Reynolds judicial ca-
reer is, while he was not a great judge, he was
a good judge— not learned in the law as writ-
ten in the books, yet he was a fair lawyer. Un-
dignified in his presiding on the bench and
always saying foolish things, yet his purpose
— an honest one — was to mete out equal and

142 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

impartial justice to all persons without distinc-
tion as to station in life, whether high or low,
white or black, bond or free, litigating in the
Courts held by him. That was the crowning
excellence in his judicial character. His opin-
ions in the Supreme Court are neither able nor
much elaborated, but are always concise and
usually accurate statements of the law. The
cases determined by the Court while he was
on the bench were so unimportant they ad-
mitted of no elaborate argument in support of
the conclusion reached by the Court. His
opinions, although not learned or great, reflect
no discredit upon him either as a judge or as a
judicial writer.

After Judge Reynolds left the bench early
in 1825 he pretended to enter upon the prac-
tice of the law. He attended Courts in his
own and in the adjoining counties with very
great regularity. In some of the counties he
picked up a few cases, but none of any con-
siderable importance. His ambition was now
turned into another channel. His purpose

Its First Judges— Ileynolds. 143

was to enter upon a political life — one for
which it will be seen later he was eminently
fitted. It was, no doubt, for that reason he
attended the Courts, more to become ac-
quainted with people that he might in that
way advance his political ambition rather
than in any hope or even desire to obtain
law business. After 1837 ne never had any
law business that was at all remunerative.
Of his practice in later life he says, "I prac-
ticed law in some peculiar cases for my amuse-
ment and recreation. " Those "peculiar cases"
were cases that nobody else wanted or would
have. Mostly they were for old friends who
really had no cause of action but wanted a
' 'lawsuit, " and he was willing to oblige them
by bringing an action. For that kind of prac-
tice it is not probable he either wanted or ex-
pected fees. One of his latest cases was de-
fended by Hon. David J. Baker. In that
connection a short story is told. The case
was an original one, and was brought in the
Circuit Court of St. Clair county. It was a

144 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

bill in chancery brought on behalf of one of his
old friends. It was one of his "peculiar cases"
and probably utterly devoid of merits. Hon.
David J. Baker, who then resided at Alton,
came down to Belleville to attend Court and
became engaged in the defence of the case.
Reynolds and Baker were about the same age
and had been young men together in pioneer
times. Both were politicians, as all lawyers
were in those early days. They were in some
measure rivals in law and in politics. That
fact made them playfully spiteful towards each
other. Neither was ever known to let an oppor-
tunity pass to give the other what an old Scotch-
Irishman would call a "good crack" and
especially if it could be done before a public
audience. Baker was a New England man
and when he came to Illinois he brought with
him quite a number of law books with which
he made some parade, by reading from them
in Court on all occasions. That was thought
to be putting on "airs" over the Illinois law-
yers and it was a great pleasure to the western

ltd Fir tit Judges — Reynolds. 145

lawyers to make him the butt of their humor
whenever occasion offered. In one of Baker's
cases, Reynolds was defending, he filed a de-
murrer to plaintiff's pleadings and that Baker
affected to think was a great piece of impu-
dence on the part of Reynolds. ' ' Though
the mills of God grind slowly yet they
grind exceeding small," and the judge's oppor-
tunity to retaliate would certainly come sooner
or later. Whoever undertook to run a tour-
nament of little mean things — not vicious —
just innocently mean little spats with Reynolds
always in the end got the worst of it. Baker
being a "Yankee" was not very popular with
the people and that gave Reynolds the advan-
tage in an encounter in any popular presence.
There were but few Eastern people in the Illi-
nois at that early date, while the great mass
of the population were of Southern birth
and most commonly intensely pro-slavery.
With many of them and especially with
those viciously opposed to abolitionists, a
"Yankee" was not much esteemed — certainly

146 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

he was not very popular. That prejudice
was wholly and altogether on account of
their anti-slavery sentiments. Some flippant
writers have undertaken to ascribe the local
prejudice against Eastern people to the fact
they were better educated than the peo-
ple they found here from other sections of the
country. As a matter of fact Eastern people
were not better educated than those they
found here. It is perhaps true Eastern
people affected a superiority for some un-
accountable reason over Western people.
Other things as well as water will "find their
level. " There was no place on the face of the
earth where a vain and boastful man would get
all undue conceit taken out of him quicker than
in Illinois in pioneer times. Neither Baker nor
Reynolds ever let pass an opportunity to dash
his rowels into the other. They did not fight
with "battle-axe and spear." But when
"Greek joins Greek then is the tug of war."
It was the first thing to be done by anyone
employed to defend an action at law or in

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 147

chancery brought by Reynolds to file a de-
murrer. It always proved to be a "dynamite
bomb" when interposed to any pleading by the
judge. ' 'Gilderoy's kite" was not higher nor
swifter his going up than would be one of
the judges cases when a demurrer was inter-
posed to any of his pleadings. It hardly
waited on its kiting for the decision of the
Court. When the judge's case in chancery
was reached on call, Mr. Baker interposed the
' 'usual defense" — a demurrer. At an oppor-
tune time, when the court-room contained most
people, Mr. Baker commenced the argument
of his case. This was one of the few instances
when Judge Reynolds was not at all disturbed
by the "usual defense" to his case and seemed
really to enjoy the argument. Apparently he
was confident in the justness of his cause and
in his strength to maintain it — at least he was
calm and cool as though he was ready for the
forensic battle. Of course the bill was obnox-
ious to the demurrer which was apparent to
anyone on a casual reading. But Mr. Baker

148 .Illinois 8u-i>r<-mr Court — 18J8.

argued his case fully, elaborating every imagin-
able question that could possibly arise on the
bill, and sustained his contentions by citations
from many of his best and favorite authorities.
His argument was really a very good one and
was well sustained both by sound reasoning
and authority. Having finished his argument
he sat down with that conscious pride of one
who had placed his antagonist ' 'hors de combat. "
That was the hour for which Reynolds had
been waiting in which he might have his tri-
umph. As soon as Mr. Baker took his seat
the judge arose and said to the Court he had
intended to dismiss his bill sooner but he dis-
covered his friend Baker had only that one
case in Court and as he knew he wanted to
make a speech before the people, he thought he
would afford him that opportunity. He then
dismissed his bill. That look of triumph on the
brow of Mr. Baker disappeared suddenly. The
judge laughed heartily and the people with
him. He had his victory at last and by the
people present it was regarded as a great
triumph.

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 149

One obstacle — more formidable than the
lion Samson met in the "vineyards of Tim-
nath" — that stood in his way in the practice
of the law, when he was for plaintiff, was
a demurrer to his pleadings. It "roared
against him." But if he could in any way
get by the demurrer and get to the jury
he felt he was out of all danger. It was, when
engaged for the defense, he was most suc-
cessful. There were then "no demurrers"
between him and the jury. In the defense he
was like the countryman's oxen — a little story
he was very fond of telling, and one that Judge
Gillespie has since told and written, until now
it has become quite well known. The man
was trying to sell his oxen and represented
them to be very strong. Some one standing
by remarked ' 'you don't pretend your oxen
are strong — they are too little ?" "Yes, I do
— they are strong in light work." The judge
was very strong on the defense of a case, es-
pecially if it were ' 'light work. "

The judge's later law practice brought him

150 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

neither money nor reputation. It would have
been better for his legal reputation had he
never undertaken to resume the practice of the
law. It made known his unfitness for the profes-
sion, either on account of want of natural ability
for forensic wrangling or the necessary legal
learning. While a judge is on the bench he
is comparatively free from undue criticism, but
as soon as he is off, and resumes the practice
of the law, he is mercilessly assailed by the
profession and especially by the younger mem-
bers. And the more publicly it is done, the
more it is relished by the one by whom it is
done. It is thought to be a great achievement
if a young lawyer can rowel a judge just from
the bench. No judge, if it can be avoided,
after leaving the bench should subject himself
to such indignity as will be too often cast upon
him — if he seeks to enter upon the practice
again — by young and flippant lawyers. Law-
yers of standing and character will always ob-
serve a respectful bearing towards their oppo-
nents— it is because it becomes them to do so.

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 151

It is only the low bred, that omit the amen-
ities of the profession. Entering a second
time upon the practice of the law seldom adds
anything to the reputation of a judge and
especially if he had been long on the bench.
But after all traveling with the Courts was not
unprofitable to Judge Reynolds. It was the
beginning of a successful political life and one
that was crowned with many splendid triumphs.
It was the school in which he was educated
for his later life work.

152 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

CHAPTER VII.

JOHN REYNOLDS.
In the Service of the State.

•

Now that the events of his life are all polit-
ical it will be most appropriate to refer to him
as "Gov. Reynolds." The title of "Judge"
never did seem quite appropriate to him nor
did it attach to him for any great length of
time. As soon as he began to be called the
' ' Old Ranger " — a soubriquet he liked much
— or "Governor," the title of judge was ever
thereafter omitted. Indeed, many young peo-
ple, even among his close acquaintances, did
not seem to know that he had ever been a judge.

However modest the governor may have
been- — or affected to be — when young, and

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 153

however little desire he may have had — or
affected to have — for public office, he got over
both infirmities during his occupancy of the
bench. Later he became one of the most
persistent office-seekers the State ever had.
As has been seen his traveling with the Courts,
from county to county, under the pretense of
practicing law, was simply a mode well adapted
to become acquainted with the people. It was
the school in which he was fitted to become a
politician. It is not believed by any one ac-
quainted with him, his law business on the
circuit paid his expenses. He had made up
his mind to become a politician and he took
that mode of introducing himself to the people
and in that way advance his chances of success
when he should come before them for their
suffrages. It was not long before an oppor-
tunity presented itself to make a venture in
political life. Only two years intervened his
leaving the bench and his election as a mem-
ber of the Legislature. His success increased
his political ambition and after that, he had an

154 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

insane passion for office. That passion never
left him so long as he could get anything to
gratify it. During the time Gov. Reynolds was
in politics the State contained many politicians
— some of them of considerable ability. There
was then much rivalry and jealousy among
them. It was as true then as it is now, poli-
ticians had not much love for each other.
Under a shallow pretense of friendship on a
casual meeting there was a deep seated hatred,
envy, and jealousy. At the beginning of his
public life the prominent politicians resided in
the southern part of the State and most of
them at Kaskaskia, Shawneetown, Belleville,
Edwardsville, and in the near vicinity of these
towns. Among them may be mentioned
Shadrach Bond — the first governor of the
State — Ninian Edwards, a Territorial gover-
nor; David J. Baker, Adam W. Snyder, Jesse
B. Thomas, Elias Kent Kane, John McLean,
Daniel P. Cook, William Kinney, Thomas
Ford, Samuel D. Lockwood, Thomas C.
Browne, Edward Coles, Sidney Breese, Joseph

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 155

Duncan, and others. Later there were Abra-
ham Lincoln — the man of the century, if not
of all centuries — Stephen A. Douglas — polit-
ically and intellectually great — William H.
Bissell, James L. D. Morrison, John J. Har-
den, Robert Smith, and many others, all of
whom except Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas,
later in life, lived south of Springfield. Being
intensely pro-slavery, he did not regard men
like Mr. Lincoln, who were intensely anti-
slavery, as being at all in his way, and he was
politically friendly with them for that reason.
It was only for those that stood in the way of
his success for whom he had a dislike. It was
among this group of able men and perhaps
others that Gov. Reynolds commenced his
political life. It took ability to win in any
contest with such men. Many of them were men
of acknowledged ability. Personal sketches
of many of them have been perhaps a little
overdrawn. One, a stranger to their real his-
tory on reading the accounts given of them by
the earlier and later historians would be led

156 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

to the belief, the Roman Senate in the time of
its greatest splendor contained no such states-
men and orators. Omitting Lincoln and
Douglas the history of the men of that time,
like the history of men in all past eras is too
eulogistic, and in many instances fabulously
so. The men of the time with Gov. Reynolds,
were of average ability with the men back in
the older States whence they emigrated and
nothing more. But ascribing to them such
greatness as is often done, is sheer nonsense.
There is no disposition and ought not to be to
detract from them anything that was great
and good in them, but all candid persons will
concede they were not greater in any respect
than men of the present day occupying similar
stations in life. Overdrawing characters back
in the dimness of the past is a fault altogether
too common with historians. For instance, if
the account given by Gov. Reynolds in his
"Pioneer History" of the "early settlers" in
the south part of the State prior to 1818, is
literally accurate it will be admitted there

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 157

never was such an aggregation of good people
in any country since the dawn of civilization.
But everybody knows his account of that peo-
ple was in part at least mere extravagant
panegyric. An instance of extravagant praise
is the account he gives of a pioneer whom he
says was a very ' 'honest and moral" man, be-
sides having many other excellent virtues, but
adds, when he left Connecticut to come to
Illinois he brought another man's wife with him.
That conduct in this precious pioneer, with
perfect nonchalance, he speaks of as " causing
somebody in Connecticut to feel bad, " and that
is all the criticism he makes on his conduct.
As good as that people really were as a body
it must be confessed they were not all good
and that among them were worthless charac-
ters no better than when they left the States
wrhence they emigrated. Transplanting them
to a new country made them no better than
they were before. On the other hand there
are writers that go to the other extreme and
represent them as a densely ignorant people.

158 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

These latter writers are farther from the truth
than is Gov. Reynolds in his extravagant eu-
logies upon them. There are good and bad
among all peoples and the worth of a commu-
nity is to be estimated by its value in the ag-
gregate— as a body.

It was in the midst of the slavery agitation
which occurred in the time of Gov. Cole's ad-
ministration in the years intervening 1822 and
1825 when Gov. Reynolds first became pos-
sessed of a passion to be a politician. Although
still on the bench, he could not keep out of
politics, and he began to prepare for the great
work which engaged his thoughts more than all
things else. Parties were then divided mainly
on the question of so amending the State con-
stitution as to permit the introduction of slavery.
To do that it was necessary to call a convention
to frame an amendment or a new constitution
omitting the slavery restriction. It seems it
was necessary to submit the resolution, calling
a convention, to the people for approval. Gov.
Reynolds was a pronounced convention man

Its First Judges —Reynolds. 159

and his influence was given in favor of calling
of the convention. He had no political liking
for anyone not in favor of the introduction of
slavery into the State. Personally he was as
friendly with them as with others. But there
were quite a good many others for whom he
had no political respect, who, like himself,
were in favor of the convention measure— not
because of their slavery views, but because he
thought they obstructed the realization of his
ambition. It was a singular contradiction in
his character that while in active political life
he hated all politicians who did not favor his
political aspirations, yet after that struggle was
over and his ambition satiated with more than
the usual success, in his historical writings he
speaks in terms of eulogy of most, if not quite
all of them. But that was a habit akin to a
trait inwrought in his character. In conversa-
tion he would say all manner of ill natured
things about persons whom he did not like
but if he wrote about them in the next mo-
ment, he would write nothing of them but

160 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

what was good. It must not, however, be sup-
posed he entertained no hatred to certain per-
sons that had incurred his displeasure. Even
then it was difficult to write ill-natured things
about them. He never liked Gov. Ford, but in
his "Pioneer History" he spoke in terms of
highest praise of him and of the expected
worth of his history of Illinois, then in manu-
script. It had not then been published. His
information was obtained from persons that had
seen it. After Gov. Ford's death his history
was published and was edited by his personal
friend, Gen. James Shields. It was not until
after its publication Gov. Reynolds wrote his
"Own Times." His comments in his later
work were very different from what he had
said about Gov. Ford in his "Pioneer His-
tory. " That which gave him most dissatisfac-
tion was the story told by Gov. Ford in respect
to what he said in pronouncing sentence upon
Green. That was thought to be a reflection
upon his capacity for judicial office, at which
he took serious offense. His latest account of

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 161

Gov. Ford's history is not so favorable as his
first mention of it. He had now become sat-
isfied, all history is not true or accurate. It
is probable he never had a very high appre-
ciation of Gov. Ford's life and public services
after the publication of his history.

In the years covered by the slavery agitation,
1 822- 1824, the state abounded in politicians — at
least with men that aspired to be politicians.
Among them were some men of marked ability
and personal worth — others of mediocre tal-
ents and of very much less personal worth.
Conspicuous among them for his learning and
ability and his great worth as a citizen, was
Elias Kent Kane. He was a near relative of
Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, of Arctic expedition
fame. Elias Kent Kane was one of the purest
and best men in the Convention party. While
he was not so noisy as many others, he was
really the most effective worker that party had.
It was because of his high character as a man
and as a citizen. There were two other mem-
bers of the Convention party that deserve

162 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

special mention on account of their ability and
social worth — John McLean and Jesse B.
Thomas — both of whom would take high rank
in any state wherever their lots might have been
cast. More violent and less influential, that
party numbered among its members Judge
Theophilus W. Smith, Samuel McRoberts,
Ex-Governor Bond, Alex P. Field, and oth-
ers still more noisy and less influential. Many
of these men were most unreasonable in their
advocating the propriety of calling a conven-
tion to amend the constitution so as to per-
mit the introduction of slavery into the State.
Most extreme and defiant in the advocacy of
that measure were Judge Smith and Judge
McRoberts — both of whom were ultra pro-
slavery. There was no reason in the posi-
tion taken by them on that question. Judge
Smith was a native of New York, and
Judge McRoberts was born in Illinois — neither
of them had ever lived under the direct
influence of slavery other than that limited
system that prevailed in Illinois. The-

Its First Judges— Reynolds. 163

ophilus W. Smith was a state senator during
the discussion of the convention measure and
was one of its violent supporters. Even after
he was elevated to the Supreme bench he was
not restrained by the proprieties of his exalted
position from plunging in the dirty pool of par-
tisan politics. Judge McRoberts was perhaps
the most extreme in his views and most defiant
in advocating the calling of the convention —
indeed, it was thought by many he allowed
some of his judicial decisions to be controlled
by his extreme notions in regard to slavery.
But for the violence with which he expressed
his thoughts on the questions of the times, he
would have been regarded as least in the con-
vention party. Gov. Reynolds was as pro-
nounced a pro-slavery man as any one of the
most extreme advocates of the convention,
but he was more politic for the time being in
the expression of his opinions — he was learn-
ing to be a politician.

The cause of freedom and free-soil was
defended by men equal in ability to the ablest

164 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

men in the convention party. They had one
advantage over their antagonists, that is they
stood for the right and were more intensely in
earnest as its defenders always are. The ac-
knowledged leader of the opposition to the
measure to introduce slavery into the State
was Edward Coles, then governor of the State.
His birthplace was Virginia where he had
grown up in the midst of slavery and had him-
self been an owner of slaves — whom he had,
from motives worthy of the highest humanity,
manumitted and furnished them with homes.
He was brave, bold, and heroic in the defense
of equal civil rights to all persons under the law
— whether white or black. It was fortunate
for the people so good and so brave a man
ruled in the affairs of State through that storm
of passion and prejudice that prevailed in all
the borders of the State. Next, perhaps, in
prominence in the anti-convention party was
Daniel P. Cook — a man of ability and of great
purity of character and personal worth. Morris
Birbeck, an English colonist residing in Ed-

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 165

wards county, rendered valuable services in
the cause of equal civil rights to all men under
the law. His opposition to human slavery
was inwrought in his very nature. He was a
worthy man and loved right and justice. Sam-
uel D. Lockwood, afterwards a justice of the
Supreme Court, was outspoken and fearless
in opposition to the calling of the conven-
tion. Sidney Breese, who became a most dis-
tinguished citizen of the State and held high
judicial and political offices, was in fact op-
posed to the convention, but as most of his polit-
ical friends favored that measure, he deemed
it wise to take no active part in the canvass.
Gov. Ninian Edwards also occupied nearly a
neutral position in those exciting times. It is
most probable he was opposed to calling the
convention — a measure that engaged public
attention to the exclusion of all other State
interests for the time being.

It was the opportunity for the clergy to
take part in a wrangle, in its nature political,
and they were not slow to avail of it. Both

166 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

parties had clergymen in the field doing ser-
vice for the causes they respectively espoused.
Considerations of humanity were involved in
the issues, of which their holy calling gave
them the right to speak. They were among
the most earnest advocates of the opposing
policies each respectively favored. Prominent
among the anti-convention clergymen was Dr.
John Mason Peck — a Baptist minister. At an
early day he was a missionary resident in the
State. His occupation made it necessary for
him to visit nearly every part of the State and
whether necessary or not he did visit every
important locality in all the settled portions of
the State. Although his legitimate work, to
which he was loyal, was preaching and dis-
tributing religious literature, he lost no oppor-
tunity to distribute among the people anti-
slavery pamphlets. One of the modes of
conducting a canvass at that day was by the
distribution of written papers in the nature of
pamphlets and handbills. Dr. Peck bravely
and earnestly uttered his views ' 'in season and

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 167

out of season" upon the evil effects of the in-
stitution of slavery to the white man himself,
and to the best interests of society. But while
he was opposed to human slavery in the ab-
stract he did not favor the views of abolition-
ists. Their purpose was the destruction of
slavery wherever it might exist under the
American flag, but Dr. Peck was more con-
servative. It was his belief, American slaves
were better off and even happier in many
cases, in a condition of servitude than they
would be if given their freedom. When in the
South he witnessed a scene that filled him ' 'with
indescribable emotions. " It was that of a slave
boy on the auction block being sold. As the
boy stood by the auctioneer he was "crying
and sobbing, his countenance a picture of woe. "
Even in the presence of that awful scene his
views of slavery did not seem to undergo any
marked change. He still adhered to his belief,
there are conditions "where the slaves are
truly better off than if they were set free."
Perhaps the most noted clergyman sup-

168 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

porting the convention measure was William
Kinney — afterwards lieutenant - governor of
the State. He was also a Baptist minister.
Gov. Kinney was a man of more natural abil-
ity than Dr. Peck, but was not so well edu-
cated. Few men in the State, in the pulpit
or at the bar, possessed more natural ability
than did Gov. Kinney. He was regarded as
a man of great wealth at one time and was
then recognized as a politician of as much in-
fluence as any in the State. He was one of
the most ultra pro-slavery advocates belong-
ing to the convention party. Until nearly or
quite as late at 1845, ne owned slaves and
kept them on his farm as field-hands and
house servants. Gov. Kinney was one of the
pro-slavery men that Gov. Reynolds did not
like, and figuratively speaking, he would have
been quite well satisfied if Kinney had been
ground to powder between the "upper and
nether mill-stone" in that fierce slavery con-
test. Kinney was very much in his way.
That was the secret of his dislike. It would

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 169

have been a satisfaction, no doubt, to Gov.
Reynolds had many of the politicians promi-
nent in that contest been relegated by its re-
sults to less prominent positions in public life.
But in that -hope, -if he indulged such an
one, he was fated to be disappointed. Al-
though the convention party was overwhelmed
with defeat at the election in 1824, it did not
affect the popularity of any of the supporters
of that measure in any great degree. Gen.
Jackson was then the rising national favorite
in politics. The convention men cast in their
lot with the friends of Gen. Jackson in that
way kept in touch and sympathy with that
party which soon became the dominant polit-
ical party in the State. Gov. Reynolds was
observant enough to ally himself with the
friends of Gen. Jackson. That he knew would
be the only road to success. Ever after that
he was always an intense and bitter democrat.
After it was seen the convention men were
not rendered unpopular by the result of the
election on that question, it is believed Gov.

170 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

Reynolds regretted he had not taken a more
prominent part in the canvass. Later and all
along the line others, and younger men, were
springing up and were obstructing his way to
political success. There were so many that
wanted the same offices he did, it made his
life a constant struggle for the supremacy. But
nothing gave him more delight than to over-
come one of his rivals in a political tourna-
ment. He regarded everybody that was not
for him as being against .him and, therefore,
his enemies — not personal, but political ene-
mies. Later Adam W. Snyder incurred his
political dislike by his continued and persist-
ent opposition. But Snyder did not like Rey-
nolds because he would not get out of his way ,
when he wanted an office the governor would
not willingly give up. Had Snyder had more
vigorous health and had he lived he would
have been one of the most prominent men in
the state. He died during his canvass for
governor of the State. Having received the
nomination of his party for the place he would

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 171

surely have been elected governor of the State
had he lived.

Another one of the younger politicians that
was troublesome to Gov. Reynolds was Robert
Smith, of Alton. He was in the same Con-
gressional district with the Governor. In some
way Smith had got into Congress when it was
the intention of the party managers, Reynolds
should have the place. That which annoyed
him most was that Smith would not get out of
the way at the end of his first term in Con-
gress that he might have the position. Judge
Douglas was not in the same Congressional
district with Gov. Reynolds and most prob-
ably there was not much antagonism between
them. In their politics there existed but lit-
tle, if any, sympathy. In later life Gov. Rey-
nolds had no appreciation of anyone in public
life who was not as ultra pro-slavery as he was
himself. Judge Douglas was more conserva-
tive on that disquieting subject. He was, in
fact, opposed to slavery in the abstract and
was opposed to its introduction into new ter-

172 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

ritory, but he believed its existence in certain
states had the sanction of constitutional guar-
antees and for that reason he was unwilling to
interfere with -it. When Judge Douglas was
a candidate for the presidency in 1860, Rey-
nolds bitterly opposed him. He was then
what was called a "Danite" in politics and
supported John C. Breckenridge for the pres-
idency. It was among these men — both great
and small — Gov. Reynolds had to fight his
way to success. It was to be the crowning
achievement of his life if he won and if he lost
all would be lost. No doubt his favorite
maxim, so often recalled in earlier life, "Suc-
cess or an ignominious grave" stood him well
in hand. The political arena was crowded
with political gladiators and the fight was as
earnest as the prize to be won was coveted.
Most of the men that antagonized him were
possessed of more ability and learning, but
Reynolds was the better educated in party
politics and the more adroit demagogue. His
specialty was as a "Friend of the People." In

Its First Judges — Reynold's. 173

the matter of playing the demagogue before the
people he was great. He had no equal in that re-
spect. Some of his opponents had equal dispo-
sition to play the demagogue, but they had not
the ability to make it a success. In the hands of
Gov. Reynolds it had a charm that made it a
splendid agency in the aid of his political aspi-
rations. It had such a fascination when em-
ployed by him, it became respectable in the
eyes of many who held it in detestation when
attempted to be practiced by others. With
him demagogism was a natural endowment
equivalent to genius of a high order and by it
and through it he " achieved greatness. "

Gov. Reynolds was now at his best es-
tate. Physically he was a strong, athletic
man, and mentally, he had many rare gifts that
fitted him to become a successful politician
among a rural people. As before remarked
the pretense of again resuming the practice of
law was a mere sham. He knew as well as
any one, he had no gifts that would enable
him to become successful in the legal profes-

174 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

sion. He had no ability as an advocate and
without the gift of oratory in some considerable
degree there is no such thing as any very great
achievements at the bar. There are no doubt
many good lawyers who have few if any of the
strange gifts of the advocate. Such lawyers
make good office lawyers and quite often make
the best judges. But when a lawyer is given
the reputation among the common people of
being a "powerful good judge of law but no
pleader" — by which they mean is not an advo-
cate— there is then no hope for his success at
the bar. If such an one can not secure a po-
sition as a "judge" he may as well abandon
the profession, save as to office work.

Neither his education — legal or otherwise
— nor his natural endowments fitted Gov.
Reynolds for logical and clear statements of
either, the facts of a case or of the arguments
in support of legal propositions. But he was
conscious he possessed faculties that would
render him conspicuous in political life. He
had studied the arts that make success in pol-

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 175

itics a certainty, and he was a master of such
arts. He was now the crown prince of his
party and was destined to succeed to power
and to fame. In 1826, within less than two
years after leaving the bench of the Supreme
Court, he was elected a member of the House
of the fifth General Assembly. Again in 1828
he was elected a member of the sixth General
Assembly and as in the former Legislature it
was to the House. There was not much in his
career at any session of the Legislature of the
State, of which he was a member, that is
worthy of special mention. During his term
of service in the latter Legislature he was ap-
pointed on a committee to complete a revision
of the laws that had been commenced at the
previous session of the Legislature. It is
hardly probable the governor did much of
the work himself, but it is certain he took a
hand in it. He let no such opportunity pass
to make suggestions and to have as many of
his notions engrafted into the work as it was
practicable to secure. The committee, how-

176 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

ever, employed men "learned in the law" to
do most of the work and it was a happy thing
they did — otherwise the work might not have
been so well done. That revision of the stat-
utes was a very valuable one,* and it has con-
tinued to be the basis of many laws since
enacted.

One purpose he always kept in view,
that was greatly to his credit — that is during
his whole term of service in the Legislature he
was the friend of and a promoter, of all measures
for establishing public schools. It was the one
subject always on his mind and was to him a
' ' pillar of cloud by day " and a ' ' pillar of
fire by night, " which he ever closely followed.
He was a pioneer in the great work of educa-
tion in Illinois. Another thing for which he
had an abnormal disposition, was to be always
tinkering with the laws in respect to the
Courts. Some of his measures were quite
valuable and others equally worthless. In the
session of 1827 he favored the repeal of the
act of 1824 under which the State had been

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 177

divided into circuits and a judge had been ap-
pointed in each one to hold the Circuit Courts.
The bill had his earnest support and it became
a law. By this repealing act the judges of the
Supreme Court were again required to hold
the Circuit Courts as they had done prior to
the act of 1824. He was the author of that
clause of the practice act of 1827 which pro-
vided, Circuit Courts in charging a jury should
only instruct upon the law of the case. This
act did not require instructions, even upon
questions of law, should be in writing. Prior
to this act it had been the practice for
judges of the Circuit or Trial Courts to in-
struct the jury orally both as to the facts
of the case and as to the law which should con-
trol. It seems he had a great aversion to per-
mitting Circuit Courts to instruct the jury
either as to the facts or the law in a common
law action. It was a wise measure, and a
much-needed reform. It was a vicious prac-
tice to allow a circuit judge to instruct upon
the facts involved in a trial. It was little less,

178 Illinois Supreme Court — IS 18.

than denying to the citizen his constitutional
right, to a trial by jury. On account of his
services in establishing that wise rule of prac-
tice he is entitled to a full measure of praise.
At a session of the Legislature in 1847, of
which he wa,s a member, he supported and
aided in the passage of a bill, that inhibited
judges of trial Courts from charging the jury
at all, unless in writing. In his "Own Times"
he expressed the opinion that under that act
— February 25, 1847 — judges of Circuit Courts
had no power to "qualify, modify, or explain"
instructions as asked by counsel to be given to
the jury, and all the Court could do, was to
mark all instructions asked by counsel either
"given" or "refused." It is understood he
thought the Court had no authority of its own
motion even to write an instruction to be given
to the jury, but had to leave that to be done
by the respective counsel. In all that matter,
he was clearly mistaken. The effect of that
act was simply-to provide that after the Court,
had "given" an instruction, it could not, there-

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 179

after, orally qualify, modify, or in any manner
explain the same to the jury." That was the
first statute of this state that inhibited judges
of the Circuit Court from instructing the jury
otherwise than in writing. It established a
wise and salutory rule of practice. Under the
act of 1827, it was permissible for the Court
to charge the jury orally as to the law of a
case but not in relation to the facts. The act
of 1847 established a different and better rule
which has remained in force ever since.

Gov.- Reynolds never regarded being a
member of the Legislature as a "great affair."
His explanation why he accepted the place is,
it was as much to ' 'gratify" his ' 'friends" and
the "people as himself." It was seen Gen.
Jackson was soon to become a national favor-
ite and Gov. Reynolds early espoused his
cause — perhaps in 1824. It was in 1828 par-
ties became known as "Whig" and "Demo-
crat" and ever after that he regarded himself
as an "humble member of the Democratic
party." His position in the Legislature had

180 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

enabled him to take a broader and more accu-
rate view of the political field. It had also
afforded him an opportunity to become ac-
quainted with the principal men of the State,
whose influence he wished to secure. All this
served to increase and intensify his ambition.
He had now gone through the curriculum of
the school of partisan politics and it must be
admitted he was an accomplished scholar in
that branch of learning. Looking out over the
field, soon to be occupied he made up his mind
to aspire to the high office of governor of the
State. It was during the session of the Legisla-
ture of 1828-29, he made up his mind to enter
the field against all competitors and make the
race for that office. As usual with him, it was
his "friends" that urged him to come out for
the office. The truth is otherwise. He hardly
had enough of "friends" anywhere in the
whole State, to keep him back. This matter of
one's "friends" compelling him to become a
candidate for public office is a supreme delu-
sion. Anyone who has ever been a candidate

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 181

for office, if he has a modicum of candor, will
admit he always had much difficulty to get his
friends to assist him in his canvass, after he
had brought himself out. The idea of the
' 'office seeking the man and not the man seek-
ing the office," is a fiction. It is not now, and
never was true. It is barely possible such
may have been the case in rare instances, but
it would be quite difficult to find the exact
case.

The canvass for governor upon which he
was about to enter proved to be one of the
most extraordinary that has ever occurred in
the State — especially in its duration. It con-
tinued through a period of well nigh eighteen
months. It was as earnest as its duration was
extended. The rival candidate for the same
office was William Kinney. In mere natural
endowments Kinney was the superior, but in
the art of electioneering Reynolds had no su-
perior, and hardly an equal in the State.
Both had talents of a high order but as vari-
ant, as were their personal characteristics.

182 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

Their habits and tastes bore no analogy to
each other. Their very natures were variant.'
Physically they resembled each other in no
respect. Kinney was a short, thickset man,
with a restless energy. Reynolds was tall and
muscular, with dreamy eyes and moved slowly
as with deliberation. Reynolds was the bet-
ter educated. Kinney knew more by intui-
tion. Both were Jackson democrats and both
were intensely pro-slavery. Kinney was a
Baptist clergyman. Reynolds professed no
religious belief. Kinney was not in principle
opposed to the use of social beverages and it
is a matter of profound regret, he indulged too
freely in the use of them. Reynolds was in
principle opposed to their use and perhaps
never tasted intoxicating liquors in his life.
Kinney was thought to be a man of consider-
able wealth. Reynolds was comparatively
poor in worldly riches. Both were ambitious
and both were fond of political life. The
whigs were so much in the minority they put
no candidate in the field for governor. The

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 183

battle was alone between these political gladi-
ators and was one of physical as well as men-
tal strength. From the time of the opening
of the canvass, eighteen months before the day
of the election, it was ' ' war to the knife and
the knife to the hilt." It was a knightly bat-
tle, and was gallantly fought. Both were in
the saddle from the opening until the last day
of the canvass. Both travelled the settled
portions of the State many times over. Elec-
tioneering was then mostly done by personal
meeting with the electors and by the use of
pamphlets stating briefly the claims of the re-
spective candidates. Both candidates availed
of these modes of conducting the canvass.
Finally both of them took to the stump, and
each one made speeches all over the State.
Kinney had more strength to endure the
fatigue of the campaign, and had it continued
much longer Reynolds would have been com-
pelled to succumb through mere exhaustion.
In the main the canvass was honorably con-
ducted but it is said both candidates resorted

384 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

to some practices, that were unworthy. Kin-
ney would treat his friends to intoxicating
liquors, and would himself drink with them.
Reynolds would also treat his friends in the
same way, but would not drink with them.
The canvass had its humorous as well as its
serious phases. Sometimes it became a
" Comedy of Errors." Both candidates em-
ployed persons to distribute their handbills.
In this connection a story is told that one of
Kinney's distributors stopped over night at a
hotel where one of Reynolds's distributors was
staying. Reynolds's man on the sly removed
the handbills from the saddle-bags of Kinney's
man and in their stead put in a lot of Rey-
nolds's handbills. It is said Kinney's man
went on several days before he discovered, he
was giving out Reynolds's handbills instead of
Kinney's. It is related of Reynolds as he was
passing along the highway late in the evening,
he saw in an adjoining field a "scarecrow"-
a stuffed man — and called out to it "How are
you, my friend ? Can I get you to distribute

ir«t Judge* — Reyn-oldx. 185

some of my handbills ?" It may be both
stories are apocryphal history.

The canvass grew in interest as the
weary days, weeks, and months came and
went. The friends of the respective candi-
dates became intensely anxious for the success
of their favorite. Kinney was most popular
with the ultra Jackson men. Reynolds was
also a Jackson man, but affected to be of a
milder type — not from principle, but through
mere policy — and was therefore less objection-
able to the "Whigs," who had no favorable
opinion of Jackson. It was for that reason
Reynolds got more of the whig vote than
Kinney did. When it was seen the end of the
canvass was near at hand, others were in-
volved in its struggles. Gallant men and fair
ladies took a part and that increased manifold
the anxiety of the contest. The efforts of the
respective candidates continued to the day of
the election with unabated energy. It was
not until the sun went down on that long-com-
ing day and until the last vote had been given

186 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

and recorded that either candidate or their
friends ceased to struggle for the victory.
Large sums of money had been wagered on the
result, and as the pecuniary considerations in-
creased, the interest in the out-come of the
election grew more earnest and still more in-
tense. The end came and the vote had all
been cast. Many weeks passed before the
result of the election was certainly known. It
was finally ascertained Reynolds was elected
by a decided majority. • An emotion tinged
with deepest sorrow is experienced in record-
ing the fact of the defeat of Gov. Kinney —
not because his opponent was elected — but for
the sad reason it was the end of his political
career. He was a man of many rare intellec-
tual gifts and high social qualities. He had
then reached his greatest strength, and it was
thought, he was far advanced toward an endur-
ing fame. But from that time on his prospects
and prosperity began to wane, both politically
and financially. It is true he was afterward an
unsuccessful candidate for governor against

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 187

Gov. Duncan, but he had then lost the fire
and vigor of his former days. At last when
his life went out, instead of being in the midst
of a beautiful and resplendent golden twilight
of a bright old age, it was under the deep
shadows of a darkened cloud arising out of a
troubled life. There was then rest — peaceful
rest, for a weary and much disappointed man.
It will be seen Gov. Reynolds came into
the office of governor of the State, during an
important epoch in its history. Institutions
and policies, had to be formed and adopted,
that would make for the best interests of the
State, in all coming time. It must be recog-
nized as a fact that accords with the history of
that period, his influence as governor was with
that which would promote the best interests
of the young commonwealth. With unusual
ken he seems to have forecast the future of
the State and beheld in the mirage of its there-
after history its wonderful increase in popula-
tion, and in all that constitutes the wealth and
grandeur of a commonwealth. But its pros-

188 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

perity came apace in advance of anything he
or anyone else ever imagined or anticipated in
their dreams of its coming greatness. Not
three-quarters of a century has elapsed, since
his induction into the office of governor, and
Illinois is now the third in population of the
States of the Union, and has within its borders
the second largest city on the American conti-
nent. If time is measured by the calendar it
is a short interval since he was governor of the
State, but brief as that space of time is, within
it the commonwealth has become great. In
its institutions — eleemosynary, educational,
and civil — it stands abreast with the greatest
States of the Union and acknowledges no
superior. In railroads, in mechanics, in man-
ufactures, and all other material interests of
the age her advancement has been swifter and
more sudden than anything not touched with
the imaginary wand of the magician. Free
schools for the people and colleges richly en-
dowed by the State or by private munificent
gifts of the charitable citizen, have been estab-

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 189

lished in the State in which is taught political
economy, law, theology, the sciences, and
everything else embraced in the education of
the best cultured peoples of the world. Hor-
ticulture and farm cultivation have advanced
to a degree that make them splendid indus-
tries— the greatness of which has astonished all
to whom the knowledge of it has come. The
land is full of plenty — and much to spare —
that comes from the multiplied industries of
the State. But this is not all. Behold the
history of the commonwealth ! It is a history
of which every Illinoisan is, and has a right to
be -proud. It is a record of splendid achieve-
ments and unexampled prosperity. It is the
history of a people heroic in their struggles in
the pioneer times of the State and great in
their achievements— of a people who have
builded great cities that are the marvel of the
age — that have planted villages in all its bor-
ders that make known the wealth and pros-
perity of the commonwealth — that have estab-
lished institutions of learning and bestowed on

190 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

them endowments that have been a surprise
to the old world and to the older States. It is
not mere panegyric nor an over-statement of
the truth of history to say that in all the events
of his day, that developed the resources of the
State and advanced it towards its present
greatness, with such extraordinary rapidity,
Gov. Reynolds bore an honorable part. No
man loved his State and country with a more
intense devotion than he did. He believed
himself to be and was in fact ' ' a friend of the
people." His faithfulness to their interests
was never doubted. The State has had no
public officer that advocated with more earnest
zeal, temperance, education, and all things
else that would best promote the happiness of
the people and the material prosperity of the
State, than did Gov. Reynolds during the years
of his State administration. Many of his ab-
surdities and foolish measures advocated by
him on the stump were put aside when he
came to administer the affairs of the State.
A man becomes greatest when opportunity

Its First Judges— Reynolds. 191

comes to him to control great events transpir-
ing around him. Transplanting him to a
higher plane of thought and activity he sud-
denly becomes great. It is then he rises su-
perior to his former environments and
establishes measures and policies that affect
the welfare of peoples — a work for which it
was not known before he had any fitness.

As the responsibilities of the affairs of
State increased upon him, he seemed to grow
in capacity to discharge them. Many of Gov.
Reynolds's friends were surprised at the ad-
ministrative ability he developed during his in-
cumbency of the office of governor. Better
notions of government and better measures of
policy that should control came to have the
approval of his judgment. On the stump,
during his canvass for governor, he advocated
from the beginning to the end the impracti-
cable doctrines of "free trade" — at least under
the present federal constitution. Yet, in his
first message to the Legislature in 1830, he
maintained the policy of a protective tariff,

192 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

internal improvements, and other cardinal
doctrines of the whig party. In respect to
the tariff he said in that first message, "all
articles which are necessary for our own use
and which we can raise and manufacture
within ourselves should be protected from for-
eign competition by adequate duties. A sys-
tem of protective duties on these principles
ought never to be abandoned. For laying out of
view the advantages of a home market created
thereby it will render us in fact, what we are
by right, an independent nation." About that
time the democratic party, not only in this
State, but in all the other States, were much di-
vided on the question of a protective tariff.
The first national democratic platform — indeed
the first national platform of any party, in
American politics — was adopted after the
nomination of Gen. Jackson for a second term
in 1832, by his friends at Washington and was
the one, on which the canvass was made. It
declared "that adequate protection to Amer-
ican industry is indispensable to the prosperity

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 193

of the country and that an abandonment of
the policy at this period would be attended
with consequences ruinous to the best interests
of the nation." The "Spectre of impossible
free trade" has been an apparition of ill omen
to the democratic party since that party was
first organized. It appears as often and is as
troublesome as the "ghost of Banquo" itself.
What affrights them most is it will not ' 'down"
at their bidding. As Mr. Webster phrased it
in one respect it is not like "Banquo's ghost"
— that only annoyed its "enemies," but this
apparition vexed most its "friends" as well. It
is not to be wondered at that Gov. Reynolds
was troubled by this apparition of "frightful
mien," to most democratic politicians. In re-
spect to measures of national policy as well as
some relating to state policy he was utterly
and strangely inconsistent. Indeed his whole
life was a curious admixture of good sense
and absurd non-sense. One who knew him
well has said of him, "He was a living para-
dox— a most consummate actor." In early

194 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

life he was an unwavering friend of the Fed-
eral Union. Among his speeches of that time
none are recalled — especially in his political
speeches — that did not abound in denunciation
of federalists. His argument ran, all federal-
ists are traitors, all whigs are federalists and,
therefore, all whigs are traitors and ought to
be hanged. About the time of the annexa-
tion of Texas and the war with Mexico, it is
probable he made no speech, whether on
political subjects or any other, in which he did
not publicly denounce whigs as federalists and
hence traitors. It was the warp and woof of
all his speeches. On the subject of the Fed-
eral Union he wrote grand words in his second
message to the Legislature — words expressive
of the highest and purest patriotism — when
he said "No dangerous doctrine of nullifica-
tion tending to dismember this happy con-
federacy ought to be countenanced or tolerated
by public opinion. This happy Union ought,
and I hope in God will, be sustained at all
hazards." It would have been better for his

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 195

fame had he maintained to the end of his life,
that high patriotic devotion to his country.
But it is to be regretted that in the evening of
his life he suffered a change in his patriotic de-
votion to the Federal Union. In the hour of
its greatest peril, his sympathies were all with
the enemies of that government for which he had
once expressed such devotion. It is said that
among the papers of the Southern Confederacy
there was found a letter from him to Jefferson
Davis, advising a resort to arms for resistance
to and for the dismemberment of the Union.
In all the darkest hours of the civil war,
when it was not known whether our govern-
ment could be sustained, or whether it would
at last go down, under the assaults of its ene-
mies, at home and abroad, he was a most vio-
lent and offensive disunionist. No doubt the
change in his patriotic Views in regard for the
Federal Union, arose out of his intense devo-
tion to slavery and his bitter hatred of abo-
litionists. Had it been practicable to have
saved the Union with slavery as one of its in-

196 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

stitutions having an eternal sanction in the or-
ganic law of the federal government, he would
no doubt have been satisfied, and would still
have regarded the Union as he expressed it in
his first message to the Legislature as the
' ' palladium of our political safety. " He was
insanely pro-slavery. That which would have
been a beautiful twilight in the evening of his
life, was obscured by the dark shadow of dis-
loyalty to his country that fell across his way
in his last days. It ought, perhaps, to be al-
lowed for the enfeebled powers of mind in old
age to extenuate in his behalf in this regard.
He had loved his country and had given the
service of the best years of his life to her in-
terests.

Turning away from this darkest phase of
his life, it is a more agreeable task to consider
his public official acts. It will be seen on an
examination, his messages to the Legislature
are of curious rather than instructive interest.
They are very brief and for most part, con-
sist of a jumble of independent sentences hav-

Ms- First Judye* — Reynolds.

ing no necessary connection with each other
and are ill expressed. Much contained in them
is very sensible, other matters are frivolous
and some things are untrue. In his first mes-
sage he congratulated the people of the State
on the fact they lived under a "Constitution
which secures to each citizen all his rights."
Whatever may have been the constitutional
provision in respect to equal civil rights,
the statutory law was otherwise. At that
time there existed an infamous statute which
had his unqualified approval that declared
"No Negro, Mulatto, or Indian" should give
testimony in any cause in which a white man
was interested. That security under the con-
stitution for all civil rights of which he was so
boastful was, in his opinion, intended only for
white men. He never regarded a negro as
having any civil rights.

In one of his messages he called attention
to an important matter — one in which the
people of the State were much concerned.
He informed the General Assembly the com-

198 Illinois Supreme Court— 1818.

mission to establish the northern boundary
of the State had made satisfactory progress.
Among other things he said they had made
many "celestial observations" to ascertain the
correct degree of latitude, so they might estab-
lish a monument ' 'to mark the true boundary
line," and which they did at a point on the
Mississippi River. The line then established
has ever since been recognized as the true
boundary line marking the division between
the adjacent States, although Wisconsin is
not now, and never was, entirely satisfied with
it. The insistence of that State was, the true
line is to the south of Chicago.

It is curious to note, he says, the receipts
into the State Treasury during the two years
ending November 30, 1833, amounted in even
numbers to $102,000 and the expenses within
the same period amounted to $91,000. The
latter sum included appropriations for the pen-
itentiary and internal improvements. Yet he
expressed his belief, the taxes levied upon the
people were oppressive and burdensome and

ft-8 First Judge*

advised the adoption of measures that would
afford relief in that respect. Had he lived at
this day when multiplied millions of dollars are
collected every year by the imposition of taxes
upon the property of the citizen over and
above special assessments constantly being
made by municipal corporations for alleged
local improvements, which aggregate an enor-
mous sum, it would have vexed his soul and
given him much trouble. It is to his credit he
always opposed the levying of taxes that would
be burdensome upon the people of whom he
believed himself to be one of the most oppressed,
by unreasonable taxation.

A favorite measure with him was the build-
ing of the State penitentiary at Alton — now
long since ceased to be used. In one of his
messages — perhaps the last one — he reported
to the Legislature its near completion. It then
had twenty-four cells nearly ready for use — a
number that would now be hardly sufficient for
a common jail in any larger county of the State.
That, was only a little more than sixty years ago.

200 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

But the event of most note that transpired
in the time of his administration was the
" Black-Hawk " war. In his message to the
Legislature of 1832-1833, he says not much
more than to state, the war had been brought
to a close. He gave no considerable account
of it — stating as a reason for such omission
it was not necessary at that time to discuss
the conduct of the war. By virtue of his
office of governor he was commander-in-chief
of the State militia. He was in the field most
of the time until the war was over. After the
militia had been called out by him they were
mustered into the service of the United States
and thereafter they were commanded by gen-
eral officers of the federal army — among whom
were Gen. Scott and Gen. Atkinson and per-
haps some others. It was always conceded,
that so far as the management of the war de-
volved on the governor of the State, he displayed
excellent executive ability and good judgment.
After the expiration of his term of office as
governor he became a member of the fifteenth

Its Firxf Judge* — Reynolds. 201

General Assembly which convened in Spring-
field in December in 1846. All he did at that
term of the Legislature, worthy of mention,
has been remarked upon. He was also a
member of the eighteenth General Assembly.
By that time he had become quite advanced
in life and out of compliment to him on ac-
count of his eminent public services he was
elected speaker of the House. As a presiding
officer over a deliberative body he possessed
.no abilities that fitted him for the position.
Electing him speaker of the House at that
session of the Legislature was a mere compli-
ment to one, that had been long in public ser-
vice of the State. It was a fitting thing to do
and in that act of courtesy the Legislature
showed its appreciation of his public services.
That, was the last public office he held under
the State government.

The Legislature of 1838-1839 authorized
the governor of the State to secure a loan of
four millions of dollars with which to prosecute
the work on the canal. Gov. Carlin appointed

202 Illinois Supreme Court— 1818.

Gov. Reynolds one of the agents of the State
to secure such loan. The duties of the agency
involved a journey to England. He affected
not to want to go. This appointment like all
positions he received, came to him as a ' 'great
surprise. " Yet while insisting he did not want
the place, he was much gratified on obtaining
it. He was a warm personal friend of Gov.
Carlin. They had been in the ' ' ranging ser-
vice " together and perhaps in the same com-
pany. That was a tie that bound them closely
together. On account of his appointment he
was very grateful to Gov. Carlin. In his
' ' Own Times" he speaks of him very favorably
both as to his executive ability and his natural
good sense. In his eulogy of him, which is in-
tended to be highly complimentary, he says
Gov. Carlin ' 'retired to private life with the de-
cided approbation of the people." Gov. Carlin
was a man of excellent good sense. He was
of Scotch -Irish extraction and was as brave as
any one of that noted race. In his younger
days he had no objection to a ' 'hand to hand"

Its First Judge* — Reynolrlx. 203

fight if anyone, in the slang phrase of that day,
"was a needin' of a dressing down." Indeed,
later in life it was not safe for anyone to offer
an affront to him. On his personal courage
there never was any discredit. It was a qual-
ity that rendered him very popular in that
early day and especially with the ' ' Old Ran-
gers" with whom he was in the service.

Hon. Richard M. Young, then a member
of the Senate of the United States, was
also appointed by Gov. Carlin an agent on be-
half of the State to aid in securing the loan
then so urgently needed. Gov. Reynolds at
once entered upon the business of his agency.
There was an immediate necessity for funds
to prevent a stoppage of the work being done
on the canal. At Philadelphia he met Gen.
Rawlings and Col. Oakley, fund commission-
ers for the State, and with their assistance he
effected a loan of a million of dollars from the
United States Bank of Pennsylvania. That
sum enabled the State to go on with the work
on the canal and perhaps other public works

204 Illinois Supreme Court— 1818.

that had been projected, and tided over the
impending difficulties in the prosecution of the
public improvements in process of construction.
Accompanied by his. wife, Gov. Reynolds pre-
ceded Judge Young to England and afterwards
met him in London. Exactly what he — Rey-
nolds— did in London, or elsewhere, in and
about securing a loan for the State, is a diffi-
cult matter to ascertain. His own account of
his transactions in his agency is very meagre.
Shortly after meeting with Judge Young in Lon-
don, Gov. Reynolds and his wife crossed over to
the continent and made quite a tour through the
country. Judge Young remained in London
and effected an arrangement for the desired
loan, at the time it was thought would be sat-
isfactory, but it eventually proved to be a par-
tial failure. Perhaps neither party adhered
strictly to the loan contract.

It seems whatever was done in and
about securing the loan for the State was
principally done by Judge Young — aided
doubtless by Gen. Rawlings and Col. Oakley,

ft* First Judges — Reynolds. 205

both of whom were in London at the time.
It is probable, Gov. Reynolds was on the
continent most of the time, negotiations were
pending in London in respect to the loan,
it was so necessary to obtain. He and his
wife visited and made quite a stay in Paris.
They traveled elsewhere on the continent with
a view to see everything of special interest.
After their return they visited the principal
localities of most note in England. All ex-
penses of his journey across the sea were paid
by the State except the sum of two hundred
dollars of his own funds which he used to de-
fray expenses. It was a matter of complaint
on his part, he never received one cent of the
two hundred dollars expended or anything for
his services from the State. It was the opin-
ion of many familiar with the history of his
agency, he received from the State all his serv-
ices were worth. Yet if it were agreed more
should be paid, it ought to have been done.
Shortly after he returned to Illinois he made
a report of his acts and doings in respect to

206 Illinois Supreme Court— 1818.

his agency, which was approved by Gov. Car-
lin. That was the last of his connection with
that particular branch of the public service.

One thing in connection with his service in
the State, ought to be mentioned. It is that
no office, he ever held under the State govern-
ment, had any considerable emoluments at-
tached to it. So that whatever estate he may
have acquired, it can not be said, it came from
taxation on the people as compensation for
office-holding.

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 207

CHAPTER VIM.

JOHN REYNOLDS.
His Congressional Career.

After the expiration of his term of office as
governor of the State, he still pursued, with
unabated zeal, the object of his highest am-
bition— political promotion. It had now be-
come a controlling passion with him. He
thought himself to be better qualified for poli-
tics than for any other profession or occupation
and for the remainder of his public life he
chose politics as his principal business. It was
his.own opinion, he was ' 'tolerably well informed
in the science of electioneering the masses. " Of
that, no one had the slightest doubt. In ca-
pacity for that work, he towered above all

208 Illinois Supreme Court— 1818.

others. It can hardly be said he had a peer
in the State in such a work. In 1834, he be-
came a candidate for Congress in the district
in which he resided. It was, in its territory,
a very large district extending from the Ohio
River north to include Macoupin county and
east from the Mississippi River so as to include
within its bounds with other counties further to
the south, Washington, Clinton, and Bond coun-
ties. There were then but three congressional
districts in the State. One of them extended
from the extreme south part of the State north
to a line, if extended east, just north of Ma-
coupin county.and embraced, all counties lying
between the Wabash River and the congres-
sional district, in which Gov. Reynolds resided.
The other district comprised all the remaining
portion of the State to the north, extending to
its extreme northern boundary. Many of the
most prominent men of the State then resided
in the district in which Gov. Reynolds became
a candidate. It perhaps contained more prom-
inent politicians than either of the other dis-

7/.s Fit-Ht Jmlffen— Reynolds. 209

tricts. His opponents in that canvass, were
Adam W. Snyder and Edward Humphries —
both pronounced democrats. The whigs being
in a hopeless minority, put forward no candi-
date for Congress in that year, so that all the
candidates belonged to the same political party.
It was all in the "family" and like all "family"
contentions, the canvass finally took on much
ill-natured strife. Of Adam W. Snyder, per-
sonal mention has been made earlier in
this sketch. He was a man of sprightly tal-
ents, a very pleasant speaker, and an adroit
politician. He was really the principal oppo-
nent of Gov. Reynolds in that contest. Mr.
Snyder conducted an able and vigorous cam-
paign— not always, however, devoid of some
bitterness. He was too honorable and dignified
in his bearing, to cope successfully with Gov.
Reynolds in the low arts of the mere politician.
Of Col. Humphries not much is known. It is
said he was an ultra Jackson democrat. Presi-
dent Jackson was still the national favorite, and
if one would be popular with the people, it was

210 Illinois Supreme Court— 1818.

not only necessary for him, to favor every
measure the president did, but he should love
everybody he did and hate everybody he did.
Not to do so, was to render him less a demo-
crat. Col. Humphries was at one time an
officer in the land office at Kaskaskia, but if
he held any other office, it is not now recalled.
No canvass ever made by Gov. Reynolds was
more enjoyed by him, than his first race for
Congress. It was more pleasure to him to
defeat Snyder than it would have been to de-
feat any other man in the State. Gov. Rey-
nolds was then at his best as a politician — he
rejoiced "as a strong man to run a race." He
was in excellent health and was full of that
hope that gives strength to do battle for suc-
cess. He was confident and went before the
people, with no other expectation than that he
would surely be elected. That confident expec-
tation was a strong and valuable element in his
character. It is always coupled with success in
life. His speeches in that canvass and also his
later ones bear a striking likeness to each other.

It a First Judge* — Reynolds. 211

Had they been literally reported it would have
been difficult by the closest reading to fix the
date or the occasion when delivered. His, was
what might be called a "rattling oratory." In
none of his speeches on the ' 'stump, "was there
any continuity of thought. Brief as they were
— never long — his speeches contained some-
thing in regard to every question involved in
the canvass. He discussed no particular sub-
ject separately or singly, but discussed all at
one and the same time — that is, he made
"hash" of them. And such an intermixture
of truth and error, of piety and profanity, and
of seriousness and levity, was seldom if ever
heard on this continent either before or since
his time. But it must be admitted his "polit-
ical hash" was much relished by the people
for whom it was prepared, for he was elected
over his competitors — one of whom, Snyder,
was a man of decided ability and of most fas-
cinating address.

Gov. Reynolds was a candidate for re-elec-
tion to Congress in 1836 but he was defeated

212 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

by his implacable opponent, Adam W. Snyder.
That was a sore disappointment to him. He
attributed his discomfiture to the fact he re-
mained in Washington until shortly before the
election and did not on that account, have an
opportunity to mingle with the people in the
canvass. There is doubtless much truth in
the reason assigned for his defeat. Had he
been among his constituents, the result in all
probability would have been different. But
Snyder was to him a veritable nemesis, fol-
lowing him always in his political life, that
boded no good. There was much satisfac-
tion to Snyder, in the fact he had inflicted
a little vengeance on his opponent, on account
of his former defeat, but for the further
reason the governor was always in his way.
It was thought his defeat would be an over-
throw to the governor, from which he would
hardly recover. But it was a grave mistake.
Politically he seemed to have as many "lives"
as "a cat" is said to have, and quite as tena-
cious of life. It was not easy to kill him off.

Its First Judges— Reynolds. 213

At the next congressional election, in 1838, he
was a candidate, and his opponent, as usual,
was Hon. A. W. Snyder. He was then among
his people and was invincible. It was useless to
oppose him when he was in the saddle, riding
his district over and making his own canvass.
At that election he was elected a member of
the twenty-sixth Congress, 1839—1841. He
was also elected a member of the twenty-
seventh Congress. That was his last term in
Congress. There was some dissatisfaction
with many, that wanted themselves to go to
Congress, with the governor's continuous can-
didacy. It was not the intention to defeat
him for re-election in 1843, but it was the in-
tention to set him back a little. It was thought
he had become so strong with the people he
would be a perpetual candidate. It is said, it
was the opinion of Snyder, the governor would
live forever, at least that he would outlive any
one then on the earth — even longer than "any
record" that was ever made. The convention
system or assembly of friends — a most vicious

214 Illinois Supreme Court — 1S1S.

invention — had then been adopted as a mode of
bringing before the people candidates for the
various offices. Before that time the race had
been ' 'free to all. " No more ill-advised plan of
getting a candidate on a ticket to be voted for
was ever invented than the present one, called
the "Australian ballot or system." It is a
snare and a delusion. The old " free to all "
race was much preferable — because less com-
plicated and more readily understood by the
people. On the coming together of the poli-
ticians— not the people — to select a candidate
for Congress, Robert Smith received the nom-
ination. How it happened that Smith was
selected as the candidate was not well under-
stood— certainly not by Gov. Reynolds and
his friends. Only politicians were present
and they were not all friends of the governor.
Had his friends — the people — been there, no
doubt the result would have been different.
A nomination was equivalent to an election
and Smith became a member of the twenty-
eighth Congress. Although it may not be cer-

Its First Judf/cs — Reynolfa.

tainly known how Smith obtained his first
nomination for Congress, it is known how he
succeeded in being twice re-elected to Con-
gress, to the great annoyance of the governor,
who was all the time anxious to get back to
Congress. It was done by the skillful use of
the appliances of party management — in which
Smith excelled most of his contemporaries.

Before that time Gov. Reynolds had be-
lieved himself to have been without a rival in
"electioneering the masses." But Smith
proved himself to be most adroit and skillful,
as a political manipulator of the "masses" — a
work in which he was no mean competitor for
the governor himself as will appear later. It
was not the intention of the politicians, Smith
should go to Congress at all. For some reason
it was proposed to give him a complimentary
vote, but he proved to be a stronger candidate
than was anticipated. But having once allowed
him to get into Congress, there was no way by
which he could be got out. He managed to
become popular with the people. Prior to his

216 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

first candidacy, Smith was a business man in
Alton, and was not regarded otherwise than as
a mere local politician. The recollection still
retained of him, is he was a man of slight build,
rather short in stature, of pleasing address-
not gifted with any great powers of oratory,
but a man of respectable talent, and of fair
scholarship. But after his first candidacy he
grew with extraordinary rapidity into a "ma-
chine politician." It was not long before he
became formidable to the older politicians, who
wanted to go to Congress, particularly to Gov.
Reynolds who had now become so advanced in
life he could not wait much longer for Smith to
get out of his way. It is said he promised the
governor if he could have one term in Congress,
he would leave the field thereafter open to
him so far as he -was concerned. However
that may be, he continued to offer for re-elec-
tion until the governor began to think there
would be no opportunity for him to have
another term in Congress. It was to illustrate
the governor's chagrin at Smith's conduct in

f(# First Judges— Reynold*. 217

this regard, Judge Gillespie often told a little
incident. It is that Smith was at a Court
where Gov. Reynolds happened to be and he
became very much annoyed at Smith's man-
ner of mingling with the people. He reminded
Smith of his promise to be satisfied with one
term in Congress, to which Smith replied he
was "Just around returning thanks." But the
governor knew better and retorted by saying,
"Your maneuvering looks to me a devilish
sight more like grace before meats than thanks
afterwards." But finally Smith overcome the
governor and so tired him out, he had to give
up forever his cherished hope to get back into
Congress. Unworthy as the feeling was, it
was some satisfaction to the politicians, both
old and young, to see the "Old Ranger" dis-
placed from the line of succession in Congres-
sional offices. In his discomfit they thought
there would be a sooner opportunity for them
to get to Congress. But it was also a satis-
faction to the governor that some of them, did
not get there. Although out of the fight on

218 Illinois Supreme Court — J8J8.

his own behalf, he let pass no opportunity to
deal severe blows to such of them as had been
particularly active against him.

His congressional career was quite honor-
able and useful although marked by no great
achievements in legislation. It is to his credit
his life and conduct in Congress left no stain
upon his personal or official character. He
was a most industrious member of Congress
and did what he could to advance the interests
of the people of the State whom he, in part,
represented. Early in the first session of
Congress he attended, he introduced a resolu-
tion to the effect that in all elections by
the House, for officers, the vote should be
taken viva voce. Among the prominent mem-
bers of the house that opposed his measure
was Millard Filmore, of New York. Upon
that resolution he made his first speech in
Congress. It was much more elaborate than
the importance of the subject demanded. It
was much like his speeches at home— devoted
largely to the interests of the people. The

It ft First Jwtyes — Reynold.*. iMi»

rule he advocated was finally adopted and
since then that practice has controlled in all
elections in the House of Representatives.
Although it was a matter of no special impor-
tance, he regarded the passage of his resolution
as quite a triumph because it was the first
measure he had introduced and advocated.

A bill of grave importance received his
watchful attention. It was the bill introduced to
fix the boundaries and establish a government
for the territory of Wisconsin. It did not fix the
southern boundary with sufficient definiteness
to be satisfactory to him. There was then and
has ever since been some disagreement in re-
gard to the true line between Wisconsin and Illi-
nois. There are few questions that occasion
more disquieting and vexatious-disputes than
division lines whether between private persons
or states or nations. It was a question from
which future difficulty might well be appre-
hended and it was thoughtful on his part to
have it settled at once and forever if it were
practicable to do so. Accordingly he moved

220 Tirnwis Supreme Court— 1818.

an amendment to the bill to the effect, the
southern boundary of the territory should be the
line in 42° 30'. That is the same line established
by the commission during the time of his ad-
ministration as governor, of which mention has
been made. His amendment was opposed
by John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, but
it had strong support in the .favorable advo-
cacy of Mr. Pinney, of Pennsylvania; Mr.
Harden, of Kentucky, and Mr. Vinton and
others, of Ohio. It was on this amendment
he made his second speech in Congress. The
amendment was adopted and with the bill, it
became the law. Gov. Reynolds is entitled
to much credit for procuring the settling of that
most disquieting question before it could become
a matter of ill contention between the ad-
jacent States. At the time Gov. Reynolds was in
Congress there were many distinguished mem-
bers both in the House and the Senate. In
his "Own Times" he gives interesting personal
sketches of a number of them. Among them
was Tristram Burgess, of Rhode Island. Mr.

Its First Judges — Reynold*. 221

Burgess was then quite advanced in life but it
is said of him he still possessed all the fire and
force of young manhood. Especially he was
noted for his powers of invective and denunci-
ation. His speeches were short but the gov-
ernor adds, ' 'he used most chaste and classical
language as if he desired the death of his ad-
versary to be caused by a golden ball." In
comparing Mr. Burgess with Lord Brougham
whom he often heard in the House of Lords
when he was in England, he said, ' ' Burgess
seemed to mix honey with his language, but
Brougham kneaded his with brick-bats and
macadamized stones."

Other than what is before mentioned, but
little else occurred in his congressional career
that is worthy of being specially remarked
upon. It need hardly be said and especially
to anyone who was ever personally acquainted
with him, during all the time he was in Con-
gress he was a consistent and persistent demo-
crat and upon all political measures he voted
with that party. As before noted he was an

222 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

ultra pro-slavery democrat and whenever and
wherever the institution of slavery was in any
way involved he was one of its strongest sup-
porters in Congress either from the South or
the North. His whole term of service in Con-
gress covered a period of seven years — that
is three full terms and the unexpired term of
Hon. Charles Slade that remained after his
death. At his first election to Congress he was
not only elected for a full term, but for a short
term, to fill out the unexpired part of Mr.
Slade's term. That explains why his term in
Congress was seven years. His office of gov-
ernor had not quite expired when the time ar-
rived for him to take his seat in Congress as
the successor to Mr. Slade. He therefore re-
signed his office of governor that he might at
once enter upon his congressional duties. On
his resignation Hon. William L. D. Ewing,
president of the Senate and acting lieutenant-
governor became governor for a brief time-
about sixteen days — until the inauguration of
Gov. Joseph Duncan. It is a curious fact, Gov.

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 223

Duncan was the only whig governor the State
ever had, and he had only become a whig shortly
before his election. Had the fact been known,
he had become a whig, it is hardly probable he
could have been elected. Since then there have
been governors that had been whigs in the
time of that party, but before either of them
became governor that grand old party had dis-
banded.

Gov. Reynolds desired and was anxious
for longer service in Congress but he could not
secure a re-election. It was a matter of griev-
ous disappointment to him. His retirement
from Congress was a detriment to the public
service. Political life, of which he was very
fond, was better suited to him than any other
occupation in which he ever engaged, and he
had better qualifications for politics than for any-
thing else. No man in Congress from this State
either before or since his time was ever more
constant in his attendance on the sessions of
Congress. It is said he rarely, if ever, missed
attending for a single day in any session of

224 JWnf>i* Supreme Court— 1818.

Congress, either on account of sickness or
other cause. On the whole, he was a respect-
able and most valuable member of Congress.
At all times he was watchful of the interests
of the State. And more than that, he was
very efficient in securing favorable legislation
for his State and for his constituents. Regret-
ful as it was, Gov. Reynolds was retired so
early from useful public and political life, it had
its compensation in another field of labor. It
enabled him to do an historical work that will
be of the greatest value to the people of the
State in all the coming centuries. Long after
his political labors — valuable as they were—
shall have been forgotten by all the living and
shall have ceased to be even mentioned in
history, his writings of the history of the State
and of the people among whom he lived, will
yet endure to make known what a grand
people did, in building a great commonwealth
in a new country where there had before been
neither civilization nor government. In that
work he achieved a success that will make him
famous in history.

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 225

CHAPTER IX.

JOHN REYNOLDS.
His Literary Work.

When it became apparent to him his pub-
lic life and official labors had about come to a
close, Gov. Reynolds began to cast around
for something upon which to employ his time.
Up to that time his life had been a most active
one and it would not have been agreeable to
him to retire into a life of mere idleness. The
shadows of the evening of life were beginning
to fall across his path and it was necessary to
select a work suitable to his advancing age and
yet a profitable work. It was his desire
always to do something that would be of
advantage to the age in which he lived. From

226 Tllinoi* Supreme Court— 1818.

his enforced retirement from public life he
came forth only once and that was to become
a member of the State Legislature in which
he served as Speaker of the House, 1852-1854.
At first after his return to private life he de-
voted most of his time to study in his library.
He made some pretense of practicing law but
it was only in that character of business to
which reference has been made. Occasionally
he may have tried an unimportant case for an
old friend who was unable to employ a lawyer but
that was all. He had quite a good private li-
brary for that early day, and to it he had re-
course to occupy his time. Near the central
part of the city of Belleville, on Illinois street,
was situated his home place. In one corner
of the lot where his dwelling house was, he had
a little office. Some of his books were kept in
that office, and in it he spent much of his
time in thought and study preparatory for the
literary work he was yet to do. He also
had in that office a small hand printing press
and some much worn type. It is probable

7ts First Judges — Reynolds. 227

he sometimes set up articles he had written
using that old type and then printing them
on that old press — doing all the work him-
self. It was only done by way of a pleasant
employment.

It is a singular fact, but a general truth,
when a man becomes advanced in life and
gives up all active labors that once engaged
his attention, he becomes reflective and natur-
ally turns back to reconsider the past. Often
he becomes impressed with a desire to
write concerning what he recollects that had
transpired in the years through which he had
passed. Writing the "Recollections of a Life-
time," is the normal work of an old man. It
is well it is so — otherwise much that is valu-
able in history would fail with the death of
him who writes it. It is a source of profound
regret, many of the old pioneers did not record
more of the passing events of their times. Had
they done so, what a charm it would have had
for the generations how living and yet to come.
A symposium of such papers would be of the

228 niinoi* Supreme Court— 1818.

greatest interest. No epic poem would sur-
pass it, in entertaining reading. It would pre-
sent pioneer life in all its reality, with all it
was and with all that was fascinating in that
strange life in the wilderness, as truly as
the mirage presents the beautiful landscape
it lifts to the view of the beholder. It
was that work of the ' 'old man, " Gov. Rey-
nolds now began to think about and soon
began to write concerning. The "Pioneer
History" of Illinois was his first and is his
greatest work. It was written before his last
term in the State Legislature and was pub-
lished in 1852. It is a work of unusual merit
and every page has a strange and even weird
interest. It is inartificially written. There is
neither system in its arrangement nor order in
its make-up. Many sentences — it may be
most of them — are inaccurately expressed.
Events are noted on the same page where a
century intervened their happening. Poli-
tical matters of grave State importance and
the biography of an obscure pioneer are noted

Its First Judges — Reynold*. 229

and written in the same chapter. Descriptions
of a fearful Indian massacre and of a French
fliorrmrtare given in close connection. It would
seem, he wrote on separate sheets of paper and
when he had finished one it was thrown aside
to mingle in an unassorted mass and when the
printer wanted ' 'copy" he was told to help him-
self. It would be difficult to account for the
confusion in the recitals of incidents and events
he brought together on any other hypothesis.
It matters little how inartifically the work is
written, or how ill-assorted his materials may
be, or how much disorder there may be in
putting them together, nothing of all that is
seen on its first reading. These blemishes —
if they are blemishes — detract nothing from
the value and interest of the work. To one who
had ever been personally acquainted with the
author, it is one of its charms. It was so
natural with him and is so much like his con-
versation it brings the reader into his very
presence and he seems to hear his simple and
unadorned story of persons and events of his

230 lUinniK Suj>rcine Court— 1818.

times as it falls from his lips. No re-writing
of the text by the most scholarly historian
would improve it. It would rather detract
from it. Even a new edition lacks much of
the charm of the "old volume." A feature
of his pioneer history that makes it so delight-
ful to all older readers is, it is so like the author
—and they like it most because it is like him.
One thought will impress even the casual
reader, and that is, after excluding the sketch
of the French and the French occupancy of
the Mississippi Valley, the materials gathered
are original and are the author's own. It is
idle and even absurd for any one to claim, he
obtained the facts for his history of the pioneers
of Illinois from any one's library, for the obvi-
ous reason they were not to be found in any
book, in any library. The truth is they are not
now found anywhere else other than in his own
work except as they have been transcribed by
recent writers. The facts recorded are the
original materials out of which history is woven.
He found them where the gatherer searches

It* Firxt Judges — Reynolds. 231

for the purest diamonds, in the field where
they had their origin. Where no one had
ever prospected before him, he looked for and
found the facts he recorded as history. The
best was obtained because it was there for his
use. In his historical researches he left so
little ungathered, no one has since thought it
would be profitable to glean after him. In his
chosen field of historical labor he was and is a
solitary toiler. The work he did was under-
taken at a most opportune time. It could not
have been done much sooner and certainly at no
later period. The knowledge of the facts he
has preserved would soon have failed from the
memory of the living, and would soon have been
lost by the death of those possessed of the in-
formation so important to be secured. The
original source of knowledge of that singular
people would soon have been closed forever to
all searchers after their unwritten history.
Most fortunate it is that Gov. Reynolds was
pre-eminently fitted for the work -he undertook
and to him a debt of gratitude is due for what

23:2 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

he accomplished. Few writers, if any, ever
possessed the fitness for such a work as he
did. It is in pioneer biography what Boswell's
life of Johnson is in individual biography.
His biographer, Boswell, and other writers
introduce us to Dr. Johnson when he is yet
a young man, and from thence on to the
close of his life, we are permitted to be in his
company — in the privacy of his home and with
him in the midst of his friends. He seldom
uttered a word, we are not permitted to hear,
whether serious or playful. We are given the
opportunity to see him as he was. We see his
great unusual head, his large eyes, his smooth-
shaven face, and his short, rotund body. We
are permitted to hear even the tones of his
voice, louder and stronger than that of any of
his friends, and when he spake others were
made to hear whether they would or not.
Nothing he said or did but seems to be in our
presence until we become as familiar with him
as was Boswell himself. We are in his com-
pany with his friends when he is as cross as a

/to First Judges— Reynold*. 238

Scotch- Irish school master with his scholars,
slapping one and boxing another, and among
others the good and gentle Goldsmith whose
heart was sometimes nearly broken with his
rudeness. At other times we are given the
privilege to be with him and see him when he
is as gentle as a lamb by the side of the little
streamlet in a summer pasture. Often we are
astounded by the utterances of his ponderous
sentences as they fall from his lips, containing
thoughts and wisdom that thrill all hearers.
Again we hear him talk with as little sense as
anybody else. We are made to know his life
as well as he knew it himself. At one time in
the stillness of his private chamber we see
him indicting most devout prayers. At another
time we see him as he gets up and is off at 3
o'clock in the morning for a "frisk" with his
young and rather wild friends, Beauclerc and
Langton. We are taken to meet him at the
' 'tavern" with his friends, Sir Joshua Reynolds,
Oliver Goldsmith, Beauclerc, Langton, David
Garrick, and others, and best of all, we are

Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

permitted to hear his and their conversation.
As the story of his life is traced to its end
every incident that happened, whether great
or small or whether of momentous interest or
of no interest at all, has become as familiar to us
as if we had lived with him and in his presence
all our lives. That is biography in its best
sense.

With less literary ability but with equally as
much vividness, Gov. Reynolds has written the
biography of a people among whom he lived. It
is the biography of the pioneers of Southern Illi-
nois prior to the close of the year 1818. It is
the story of the pioneers, French, English, and
American in their discovery and early settle-
ment of that country that is told. And a
strange story it is. If we go with him he will
introduce us to them as a people and as individ-
uals. We will see them as he saw them and
know them as he knew them. We will know
their names and where and how they lived and
we will become as well acquainted with them
as if we had lived among them from the be-

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 235

ginning. What an intense interest it gives to
live over again with them their pioneer life.
We will learn who they were and from whence
they came. The author makes us to mingle
with them in their social gathering and rela-
tionships. We are told how they dressed and
of what their clothing was made and who made
it. We are permitted to sit at their hospit-
able tables and hear what passes in the sacred
relations of the family — to learn what they ate
and under what difficulties it was obtained,
until we come to know the household as well
as the child did, who was born in it. We are
permitted to witness their sports and joy-mak-
ing in the field and in the home. We are
gathered with all the families of the settlement
in the block house when assailed by the red
warrior of the forests and we see brave men
go forth to do battle with them. We see
yet braver women defend their homes and
children when attacked by those merciless foes
of the pioneers. We are given the privilege
to mingle with that pioneer people, to hear the

236 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

expression of their thoughts on every subject
that concerned them, relating to home and
country, religion and politics, and all else that
interested them in their mode of living to-
gether. We are made acquainted with every
effort of that heroic people to establish schools
and churches and all else that is indispensable to
the growth of the commonwealth, they had come
to build in the wilderness. We attend with him
their weddings and their funerals and we re-
joice with them when they are glad and weep
with them when they are sorrowful. He takes
us to their religious meetings and so real is the
scene reproduced, we almost hear their songs
of praise and their prayers for the blessing of
our common Father to rest upon them. He
makes us to know the good things they did
and he shows us all that is wrongful in their
conduct as well. Finally he portrays to us
with a vividness that makes the whole scene
pass before us, their progress from the rude
beginning onward and upward to a splendid
civilization. The wish is to dwell longer with

Its First Judyes — Reynolds. 237

that people and the regret is the story of what
they were, of their hopes and fears, of their
joys and sorrows, of their grand purposes and
heroic achievements, is so soon ended. Unpre-
tending as this little volume is, it will yet make
the name of its author — John Reynolds — im-
mortal as a writer of pioneer biography.

Perhaps the next writing that engaged his
attention was a work of fiction. It is a little
story entitled "John Kelly." It has no plot
and is ill-executed in details. It was in-
tended to teach lessons of morality and tem-
perance. The public did not appreciate it, so it
had neither sale nor any considerable reading.
The author thought more of it himself than
any one else did. It would be difficult now to
find a copy of it elsewhere than in some unused
closet or garret where rubbish is stored away
in the home of an old pioneer to whom he had
presented it with his compliments.

Descriptive of a brief journey to the east
in our own country is, a little pamphlet he
wrote and had printed. It was written and

238 flUn-aift Supreme Court— 1818.

printed more for his own entertainment than
for the public. It is probable he set up the
type and printed it himself.

The next work he undertook was the
writing of his "Own Times" or as it is
expressed on the title page, ' ' My Own
Times, Embracing also the History of My
Life." This work comes down in its nar-
rative of events to a period later than that
covered by his Pioneer History. Still it con-
tains much that is embraced in the same
period over which the latter work extends.
Read as a supplement to his "Pioneer His
tory" it is a most valuable and interesting
work. In some respects it is a continuation of
his history of the pioneers of Illinois prior
to 1818. Without his "Own Times" his first
history would not be entirely complete. The
two works read together give a most graphic
and fascinating account of that early period—
a history nowhere else to be found. Indeed,
his writings in these two volumes furnish the
principal facts in the biography and other his-

l/x Fiffif Judges-— Reynolds. 239

tory of the pioneers referred to by most later
writers. But his ' 'Own Times" is itself a most
valuable contribution to Illinois history and as
the years come and go its value will be more and
more appreciated. The literary merit of this
later work is not much greater than that of his
Pioneer History. It is nearly as ill put to-
gether. There is the same mingling of
sketches of grave matters and of things of
trifling importance. Events that had occurred
at times far apart are recorded in close proxim-
ity. No order in arrangement of his materials
is observed — everything seems to have come
together without respect to the time of the oc-
curring of the events mentioned or their con-
nection with each other. But after all, as is
the case with his Pioneer History, this want
of system and this confusion of matter do not
detract from the interest of his work.

Later he wrote and published a brief sketch
of the life of Rev. Dr. John Mason Peck. It
is a small volume, not much larger than the
usual pamphlet, but is divided into twenty-five

240 Tllinoifi Supreme Court — 1818.

chapters. In diction and style of composition
it is very little improvement on any of his
other writings. That same confusion of sub-
jects found in his other writings is also seen in
this little volume. Dr. Peck and the author
were very fond of each other. ' 'Damon" and
' 'Pythias" were not much better friends. Yet
in most respects they were wholly unlike.
One was a very religious man, and the other
was just as irreligious — one would swear and
the other would pray — one devoted the best
years of his life to the work of establishing
Sunday-schools, and the other was, perhaps,
never in a Sunday-school in his life — one was
anti-slavery in principle and the other was
intensely pro-slavery — one was a whig and the
other was a democrat — one was a minister of
the gospel and preached its holy teachings and
the other was a politician and rarely ever heard
a sermon — one was a typical Western man
and the other was a typical New England man.
There were, however, a few things in which
they were in accord. Both were in favor of

7/.s Firxt Judges — Re-i/)i<iM*. ' 241

establishing and maintaining common schools
and also seminaries and colleges — both were
out-spoken temperance men — both abstained
from the use of intoxicating liquors and per-
haps neither one of them ever tasted whisky,
unless taken as medicine — both were opposed
to the emancipation of the slaves in the South
—both thought colored people were better off in
slavery than in freedom — both were quite well
satisfied with their natural endowments and
their attainments — both were exceedingly fond
of what they were pleased to call literary labor
and both indulged their tastes for writing —
Dr. Peck wrote his "Journal" and also letters
and Gov. Reynolds wrote history and pioneer
biography — Dr. Peck's conversation was phil-
osophical and logical and Gov. Reynolds was
rattling and incoherent. Clashing as they
were in sentiment and thought and even in
action, they were strangely fond of the society
and conversation of each other, although
neither rarely ever entertained the other or
any one else, at their respective homes. The

242 Illinois Supreme Court— 1818.

author calls his little book "Friendship's Of-
fering" and that is about all it is. It is so
fulsome, it was unpleasant to many of his
most partial friends. It is in no sense a biog-
raphy of Dr. Peck, nor is it a just analysis of
his character, except in a few particulars.
The character drawn of him in many aspects
would hardly be recognized by his oldest and
nearest neighbors. Two phases of his charac-
ter as presented are recognized as correct by
the common understanding of his near friends:
ist, his lack of care for his family and home af-
fairs ; and 2d, his passion for engaging in the ser-
vice of the public in all religious matters. The
author says of him "he was only a small
fraction of the time at home, and when he was
there he was so absorbed in the study of liter-
ature, theology, and the distribution of the
bible, and such labors that he had no time to
attend to the farm or domestic concerns. On
account of his want of attention to the educa-
tion of his family, the best friends of Dr. Peck
complained." Dr. Peck, as the author repre-

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 243

sents him, was a man of ability and learning,
although he never had much advantage from
the schools. The honorary degree of doctor
of divinity was conferred upon him by Har-
vard College. His character was unique, and
in many respects, most singular. His life
was a useful one — not especially to his
family or to his immediate neighborhood,
but to the country at large — particularly to
the West and Northwest. A singular feature
of his character was a penchant for doing
something to better the condition of any
people dwelling far away — and the farther
away they were, the more solicitous he be-
came for their education and conversion
to Christianity. He had little or no concern
about anything near at hand. Whatever en-
gaged his greatest solicitude was neither at his
home nor in his neighborhood. As the author
expresses it, "he seemed to give himself to
the public and almost to forget that he had a
wife and family," and he adds, "but remiss-
ness of the education of his own children when

244 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

he was so active and energetic in the educa-
tion of all the other children 'of the rest of
mankind' is a problem difficult of solution."
It must not be inferred from what the author
says, Dr. Peck was wanting in natural affec-
tion for his wife and children. Such was not
the case. The peculiar traits of character
mentioned by the author arose out of mental
idiosyncrasies that gave rise to many eccen-
tricities in his life and conduct, some of which
could not be accounted for in any other way.
He was a religious enthusiast. No Jesuit ever
had more zeal for the evangelization of the
"Great Northwest" than did Dr. Peck. He
seems to have thought of nothing else. His
soul was on fire with zeal for that great work
—the evangelization of the heathen in all
countries — to which he had devoted his life.
He was oblivious to everything else around or
about him. In Babcock's biography of Dr.
Peck, is given an incident on the authority of
Dr. Jeter, it is thought illustrates this phase of
his character. Dr. Peck lived near the great

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 245

thoroughfare leading from the East to St. Louis
and over which the stage coach of that day
passed, carrying passengers from the East
to St. Louis. After Dr. Peck had been in
Philadelphia many months as the secretary of
the "American Baptist Publication Society,"
he returned by this stage route and was deliv-
ered at his home by the way-side. On alight-
ing he entered his house unobserved by any
member of his family or anybody else. That
was early in the forenoon. He immediately
went to his study and finding there a great
number of letters and papers that required his
attention, he commenced at once to examine
them. It was not until late in the afternoon
one of his children by mere accident discovered
him in his study. Dr. Jeter does not vouch
for the entire accuracy of this story, but he
added, that of all men he ever knew it was
most likely to be true of Dr. Peck. Exam-
ples of men and women who give no sort of
attention to home and neighborhood charities
and yet who are over zealous for the educa-

246 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

tion and christianization of cannibals and
heathen in the isles of the sea and in "Darkest
Africa" have been seen in all countries and in
all ages. Our own country is to-day full of
"Jellybys" who can discover no subjects for
their Christian and charitable offices "nearer
than Africa." Notwithstanding the criticisms
the author makes upon the character of Dr.
Peck, his little biographical sketch was intended
to be, and is, very eulogistic — indeed it was
written for no purpose other than to exalt his
character and to make known to all who might
read it, his reputation for ability, learning, and
piety. The little book had no sale. Nobody
wanted either to buy it or read it. He could
hardly give it away.

The last work he prepared was a little book
entitled, "An Inquiry Into the Right of Ameri-
can Slavery. " On account of some reason not
understood, he printed the legend, "The Balm
of Gilead" above the title of his work. It was
written in 1860 during the presidential canvass
of that year when slavery as it then existed in

Its First Judges — Jteynvlils. 247

the United States was the all absorbing topic
of the campaign. It was written in the midst
of the exciting scenes of that canvass which
culminated in abolishing slavery in the United
States — the ultimate effect of which was to
change the organic law of the land in regard
to slavery. It was not a time for the calm and
thoughtful consideration of that question, which
at all times is a most exciting one. Evidently
the author partook largely of the prevailing
excitement and wrote under its influence. The
author was always an unreasonable pro-slavery
man and the public discussion and denuncia-
tion of his favorite institution, so freely in-
dulged in by all political speakers, was more
than he could patiently tolerate. It was to
him a "red-flag" that caused him to become
suddenly defiant and fierce to enter the strife
of battle. This little book is better written
than any of his other works, but the subject
matter is positively ill natured. His other
writings are all kindly in spirit and are
calculated to leave a pleasant and gentle

248 ////'// o/.s- Sujireiite Court — 1818.

influence upon the reader. In all his previous
writings there is scarcely a single unkind
thought or word. But a malevolent spirit per-
vades this entire little book. One familiar
with his kindly and even gentle mode of writ1
ing about everything— people as well as polit-
ical matters, are reluctant to believe he is its
author. At most it is an impotent effort to
justify human slavery on the ground it is abso-
solutely right under both human and divine
law. His proposition is "America slavery is
founded on virtue, justice, and morality." The
argument in support of this absurd proposi-
tion, so far as there can be said to be any ar-
gument in his manner of treating the subject,
is that as the negro is mentally inferior to the
white man, therefore the latter race may of
right reduce the former race to slavery and may
rightfully buy and sell them as they would
stock and chattels in the open market. But
the question discussed has lost all its interest
other than that which is historic, since the in-
stitution itself perished amid the appaling

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 249

events of the civil war. That which is to be
most regretted is the author's willingness —
perhaps his desire — that is apparent in the
entire little book is, the government itself
should be destroyed 'unless slavery could be
maintained. In the proem to his book he
utters a fervent prayer for the preservation of
the constitution and the maintenance of the
Union but it sounds like a hollow mockery
when read in connection with the text. The
line of thought pursued, ill accords with his
views 'expressed in earlier life as to the value
of the American Union. In all his speeches no
matter upon what subject he exalted patriot-
ism and magnified the worth of the Union under
the constitution. That he might emphasize
his own love of the Union he let pass no occa-
sion to denounce federalists and whigs as trait-
ors to our common country. It is a matter of
regretful sorrow with all who loved Gov. Rey-
nolds personally and who value his writings,—
and there are untold numbers of them, — this
little book was ever written. It is the only

250 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

thing that obscures the brightness of a good
and useful life. Happily, since slavery has
now no existence in the land, it will soon be
forgotten by his friends and it will not be re-
membered he ever wrote it. The subject of
human slavery was the only one about which
he could neither talk nor write fairly or kindly.
But concerning slavery he had a prejudice akin
to insanity itself. It is hardly probable this
little volume was published for sale. It was
doubtless intended for gratuitous distribution
— a mode adopted to get his views on that
question before the people in the pending pres-
dential canvass. But whatever may have
been his purpose, his book produced no more
impression than the falling of a leaf in autumn.
Great events were transpiring that were lead-
ing on to momentous results. John Brown, of
Osawatomie, a friend of the slave, had been
hanged in Virginia and all Americans had
reached an unalterable conclusion. No one
wanted to read anything in support of the
"right of American slavery." The time for
action — not reading — had come.

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 251

Other than the books noticed, he wrote
nothing worthy of special mention. His other
writings consisted only of a few little stories —
fiction — of no value, and perhaps a few mono-
graphs. But he had now become more than
three score and ten years of age and the even-
ing of life had come to him, when he could do
no literary or other labor. His life work, was
done.

252 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

CHAPTER X.

JOHN REYNOLDS.
"As a Tale That is Told."

The life of even a great man is often as
soon forgotten as is ' 'a tale that is told. " Build
high as can be done, a monument of stone to
perpetuate the name and fame of one that is
dead, the time will come when that pretentious
column, will tell to the curious enquirer passing
that way, nothing of him whose grave it marks.
Its crumbling ruins will mock at the vain ef-
forts of man to make anything endure forever.
Should the name of the great dead be written in
history, a time will come when even that record
will become illegible, and thus will perish all, it
was intended should render his name immortal.

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 253

The life of Gov. Reynolds, in the years
in which he lived, abounded in much that
was good and true. Its worth to his State
and country in his day can hardly be over-
stated. It had its achievements and its
triumphs. Yet it was not all a benediction,
even unto himself. There was light on his
heart and there was shadow also. Such is
life at its best. Painfully sad it is, his last
days were rendered inexpressibly unhappy by
a dread disease, it was evident from the begin-
ning would be a mortal sickness. After many
weary months, the ' 'angel of death" came to that
chamber of suffering and the end of a journey
of near four-score years was reached.

"Tired, he sleeps, and life's poor play is o'er."

Affectionate in private life he loved his
home and all that was in it and around it. He
was twice married, and with each wife he lived
happily because both were kind, loving, and
true. As elsewhere stated, his first wife was
a widow when he married her. Her name was
Catherine Dubuque LaCroix — a native of Ca-

254 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

hokia and a French Creole. She died in Belle-
ville in 1834. She was buried in the ' 'church
yard" at Cahokia, near that old church — 1765
— where she had worshiped in her youth, and
around which all her best and holiest affections
clustered. Over her grave there was erected
a tomb not much adorned by architectural
work, but in its day a rather pretentious mon-
ument. As originally built it was oblong and
constructed of a gray colored stone taken
from the "bluffs" not far away. Its support-
ing columns were square pillars about two feet
in hight, with smooth panels between them,
and upon which a large stone covering the en-
tire structure, was placed. It was underneath
that monument, the body of Mrs. Reynolds
was deposited, there to remain until the morn-
ing of the resurrection when all burial places
will give up their dead. It was sacred then
and is sacred now because of its contents.
The history of a life when written on stone is
simple and always brief. It consists of a few
lines stating name, date of birth, and date of

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 255

death of him or her that once lived, and some-
times is added a sentence expressing tenderest
hope. That is all and that endures not many
decades of years — at longest not many cen-
turies. Such is the brief history of a life as
written on the great stone that covers her
grave :

C-D

UNDER THIS TOMB

, REPOSE THE REMAINS OF

CATHERINE DUBUQUE,

CONSORT OF JOHN REYNOLDS,

BORN IN CAHOKIA, 18 SEP., 1789,

AND DIED IN
BELLEVILLE, 5 NOV., 1834.

MAY HER SOUL REST

IN PEACE,
i « "

In the representation given of the original
on the tomb, the oval as seen above the

256 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

inscription was countersunk, leaving the cross
in cameo. It was a fit place in which
to lay away the beloved dead, and the
tomb erected, when done, was worthy of the
affection, her husband bore to her. But
like all structures reared by man it is falling
away — some of the words carved upon it
are now so worn as to be almost illegible —
and unless soon repaired, the whole tomb
will be much despoiled by the ceaseless action
of the elements upon it.

He was again married in 1836, during his
first term in Congress. His second wife was
Sarah E. Wilson — a native of Maryland. It
is probable they were married either in Wash-
ington or Georgetown in the District of Co-
lumbia. He became acquainted with her in
Washington. He never had any children by
either wife. A step-daughter, Mrs. Samuel
B. Chandler — a daughter of his first wife, Mrs.
LaCroix — is the only member of the family
now — 1 894 — living.

Its First Judges — Reynolds. 257

On a plain but substantial monument in
the cemetery near the city of Belleville there
are simple inscriptions to the memory of Gov.
Reynolds and his wife. On one side are
carved on the stone, letters it is hoped
may endure through the coming centuries :
"Gov. John Reynolds, born Feb'y 28, 1788,
in Pennsylvania, and died May 8, A.D. 1865."
On the opposite side appears written on the
stone the name of his last wife — "Sarah E.
Wilson, of Maryland, born Feb'y the 1 4th, A.D.
1811 ; died July 17, 1865." On the base of the
monument is the following affectionate inscrip-
tion, "An offering of an only sister." The
"only sister" who erected this monument of
stone to perpetuate the memory of her beloved
dead, was a sister of the last Mrs. Reynolds.
It will be seen only a brief time intervened
the death of Gov. Reynolds and the death of
his wife. They walked close to each other in
life and rest near each other since their death.
As a lifelong friend who loved them has ex-
pressed it, they now lie in that old cemetery

258 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

"side by side taking their final sleep." But
Gov. Reynolds needed no inscription upon a
monument of stone to perpetuate his name
and fame. In his works and in his writings he
has a monument that will outlast any that
could be wrought of stone or bronze.

Its First Lawyers — Jones. 259

CHAPTER XI.
LAWYERS IN TERRITORIAL COURTS.

The early lawyers of Illinois may, with most
convenience, be considered in two groups:
First, the lawyers practicing in the territorial
court, and second the lawyers practicing in
the state court, during the temporary incum-
bency of the first four judges of the Supreme
Court — a period of about six years. It will
not be practical to do more than to make brief
mention of only a few of the most prominent
lawyers constituting either group.

The distinction of being the first practicing
lawyer in the Illinois Territory belongs to John
Rice Jones. He came to Kaskaskia in 1790

260 Illinois Territory before 1818.

and after remaining for a brief time, he went
to Vincennes. Afterwards he became a citizen
of Missouri and was at one time a member of
the Supreme Court of that State. All writers
that knew him when he resided in the Illinois
Territory, speak rather favorably of him as
a citizen, as a scholar, and as a lawyer.
It seems he was born in Wales, in 1750,
and was therefore forty years of age when
he arrived at Kaskaskia. He was educated
in England before coming to this country.
Highest praise is bestowed on him by many
early writers — much of it no doubt is mere ex-
travagant eulogy. It seems to have been a fault
with most writers of that period to read, both
the history and the biography, they recorded,
through strongly magnifying lenses — certainly
the tendency was to discover a very unusual
number of giants in those days. A portrait of
Mr. Jones — at least one that purports to be of
him — has been preserved and is printed in some
of the later histories of Illinois. The expression
it bears, does not confirm very many of the com-

Its First Lawyers — Jones. 261

plimentary things written of him. It gives the
idea of a man small in stature, with small dark
eyes and thin lips closely pressed together. It
shows his hair very black and parted in the
middle — a style rarely seen in his day. It is
said as a speaker ' 'his capacity for invective
under excitement was extraordinary." One
would get that notion from looking on his por-
trait. It may not be a correct likeness and
may not do him justice. But as given, his por-
trait shows a rather pinched up face — not
giving many indications of either gentleness
or charity in his character. In that lawless
plundering of the Spanish traders residing
in the Indiana Territory when they were de-
spoiled of their goods and whatever else they
had, contemporary writers represent him
as a leader among the most active spoliators.
It is said he was a good lawyer and a
successful advocate. Doubtless, he was a
vigorous and defiant antagonist in any forensic
contest, with a purpose to overcome all op-
position. Unless the indications from his por-

262 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

trait are misleading, he evidently had a dis-
position to crush all opposition that stood in
his way to success at the bar or elsewhere.
He seems to have been a man of most deter-
mined and positive character.

His judicial opinions appearing in the re-
ports of the Supreme Court of Missouri, are
well written and evince learning and ability.
Perhaps they are elaborated to a greater
extent than the importance of the questions
discussed required. His positive character
and belligerent nature found expression in very
many dissenting opinions during the time he
was a member of that court. He was then past
seventy years of age — a time of life when most
men cease contention, both personally and
intellectually. It seems, he wrote more dis-
senting opinions than opinions of the court —
certainly during the first years of his incum-
bency of the bench. Only two opinions of the
Court appear in his name at the March term,
1821. No opinions of his, are reported after
November term, 1823. It is probable his
death occurred early in 1824.

Its First Judges — Darneille, Edivards, McLean. 263

The second lawyer in the Illinois Territory
prior to 1800, was Isaac Darneille. It is said
of him he was a man well educated in litera-
ture and in the law, and of most fascinating
address, but had no fitness for the practice of
the law. He came to Cahokia in 1794, and
lived there for a time. He was quite a char-
acter in early Illinois history, but not as a
lawyer. It is said he dwelt too much in the
"wilderness of sin."

Gov. Ninian Edwards was one of the early
territorial lawyers, but it is hardly probable
he practiced law in the courts of that time.
He had been chief justice of the Supreme
Court of Kentucky. After coming to Illinois
to become Governor of the Territory, his
later life was nearly or quite altogether de-
voted to politics and to business, and in the
latter he was quite successful and amassed
a considerable fortune.

Perhaps quite as prominent as any of the
lawyers of territorial times was John McLean, of
Shawneetown. He had very few superiors at the

264 Illinois Territory before 1818.

early bar. Not only an educated lawyer, but
he was a man of unusual natural endowments
and of the highest and purest private character.
No man in territorial times, nor since, sus-
tained a higher character for integrity and
honorable conduct than did John McLean.
Gifted with rare eloquence, he was a man of
great force and influence, both at the bar and
on the hustings. As a token of the regard in
which he was held by the people of the State,
the county of McLean was named after him.
In the later years of his life he was much more
of a politician than a lawyer. At the session
of the Legislature in 1824-5, ne was elected
United States senator to fill out the unex-
pired term of Senator Edwards, who had
resigned. Afterwards he was elected senator
for a full term but died before the expiration of
his term. He was held in high esteem by the
people of the State, without regard to party
affiliations.

Distinguished much more than most other
territorial lawyers was Nathaniel Pope. He

Its First Lawyers — Pope. 20")

was a native of Kentucky, but came to Illinois
from Missouri, and perhaps practiced law in
the Territorial courts of Illinois, while yet a
resident of St. Genevieve. He was a very
plain man in his appearance and was not very
tidy in his dress. Gov. Reynolds, in speaking
of him in connection with John Scott, also of
St. Genevieve, said "these two young men
were the choice fruits of nature, possessing
great strength of intellect and much energy."
Not much is known about Mr. Scott as he
never lived in Illinois, but the eulogy so far as
it applied to Judge Pope, was well bestowed.
He was a good lawyer and a man of uncommon
good sense. He studied law in the schools
and learned it as something applicable to the
affairs of the State. Strictly a lawyer and
eschewing politics in the main, he became em-
inent in his profession. Perhaps the only
political offices he ever held, were secretary of
Illinois Territory, and afterward a delegate to
Congress. On the admission of the State in-
to the Union he was appointed a federal judge

266 Illinois Territory before 1818.

for the district of Illinois, which office he held
until his death which occured in 1850. The
character of Judge Pope is worthy to be
studied by all young lawyers that are ambiti-
ous to succeed in their profession. He was a
scholar and not a pedant, a judge and not a
politician, and a faithful and uncomplaining
toiler in all that fell to his lot to do. He had
that learning and mental strength, it was not
difficult for him to discharge the duties of his
office, and for that reason he was not like one
of those less vigorous judges that is always
complaining of being overworked. Another
quality added much to his worth — that is,
he was a modest judge. For more than three
decades of years, he not only administered the
laws of the people among whom he lived, but
what was of infinitely more value to them, he
administered "right and justice."

Another territorial lawyer that will always
have a favorable mention in the history of the
Northwest was Jesse Burgess Thomas. He
was born at Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1777.

Its First Lawyers — Thomas. 267

The claim is made on his behalf and perhaps
correctly, he was a lineal descendant from Lord
Baltimore. Be that as it may, he certainly
came from one of the oldest and most respect-
able families of Maryland. It matters little
who his ancestors may have been, nor what
their station in life may have been, he made
an honorable name for himself in the age and
among the people with whom he lived. At an
early age — perhaps when a mere child — he
was taken to Kentucky. It was there he was
educated and grew to manhood. Recent
writers of biography and even many historians
have adopted, a most excellent plan of giving
portraits of distinguished persons whose history
is written. It is a valuable part of biography
and aids the student very much in obtaining a
more exact idea of the men of the period,
than he could otherwise get. It brings the
student in the very presence as it were, of the
person whose character he is studying and in
that way, he seems in a measure to become
personally acquainted with him. A portrait

268 Illinois Territory before 1818.

— presumably a correct one — of Judge Thomas,
has been preserved and has been published in
some recent histories and biographical sketches.
It gives the idea of a stalwart man — in fact he
was more than six feet high and weighed over
two hundred pounds. It shows a large head
with pleasant features, but not at all striking
— smooth shaven as the style was in those
days and dark eyes without any notable ex-
pression. Looking upon his portrait one gets a
most accurate idea of the man as he really was
and with it an impression of him that lingers
upon the mind. That impression is of a man
of solid worth, rather than of any great bril-
liancy in thought or otherwise. Such was
really his character. It is said he studied law
in Kentucky. On the organization of the
Indiana Territory he located in Lawrence-
burgh and commenced the practice of the law.
It was not long before he became prominent
in all public affairs of the territory. After-
wards he was a resident of Vincennes for a
short time. He was twice married, but died

Its First Lawyers — Thomas. 269

childless. Personally and politically he was a
warm friend of Gen. Harrison, and was one of
his earnest supporters for the Presidency in
1840. In politics he was a Whig, and in
religion he was an Episcopalian. Both in
public and private life his character was with-
out reproach. Patriotic in his devotion to his
country he served it in all official stations to
the best of his abilities. He was a delegate
from the Indiana Territory in Congress and
assisted in setting apart and in establishing the
Illinois Territory in 1809. In the appointment
of officers for the latter territory he was named
one of its judges, which office he held until the
State was admitted into the Union. After his
appointment as Territorial judge for Illinois he
changed his residence to Kaskaskia, and later
to Cahokia. In 1818 he was chosen by the
electors of St. Clair county a member of the
convention to frame a constitution for the State
and became president of that convention. By
the first Legislature, assembled under the
Constitution of 1818 he was elected United

270 Illinois Territory before 1818.

States Senator for the term of five years and
in 1823 he was elected his own successor for a
full term of six years. That was perhaps the
last official position held by him under any ap-
pointment from this State. After his election
to the United States Senate, he changed his
residence to Edwardsville, and after the expir-
ation of his term in the Senate he moved to
Mt. Vernon, Ohio, where he died in 1853, at
the age of seventy-five years. The services
rendered by him in the Senate of the United
States not only affected the welfare of the
State of Illinois, but in a degree the nation
at large. One measure with which his name is
connected has become famous in the history of
this country. It is said he was the author of that
measure known as the "Missouri Compro-
mise" of 1820. In that way he connected his
name with an act, predestined from the begin-
ing to be one of the most momentous events in
the history of the American nation. It was not
intended — for he was not especially a friend of
the negro — to be a benediction to the slave race

Its First Lawyers — Thomas. 271

whose unhappy condition it would affect, but
rather to continue yet longer upon them their
chains of oppression. But "God reigneth" and
rules among the nations. Its sequence com-
ing in the fullness of time, was a measure of
which another Illinois Senator — Douglas —
was the author, to repeal that famous ' 'compro-
mise"— once thought to have had the pledged
faith of the nation to its perpetual duration.
But that, too, was an event in the providence
of God that must need come within the ap-
pointed time. That repealing act was one of
the causes that hastened the coming of the
civil war in which perished that system of
human slavery that through the centuries had
cursed the land with blood and tears, shed
through scourgings, most cruel. Had these great
Illinois Senators done nothing else other than
to have been the promoters of these acts of
Congress, it would have secured the mention
of their names in all histories of their country
yet to be written. With the expiration of his
term as senator, came also the end of his

272 Illinois Territory before 1818.

official relations with the State. It was a
relative of his, of the exact name — Jesse Bur-
gess Thomas — that was afterwards a judge of
the Supreme Court of the State for a short
time. Few, if any, among that group of ter-
ritorial lawyers rendered more valuable services
to the State than did Judge Thomas. It is not
written of him, he was a great scholar either in
law or literature, nor an orator, but he was
a man of exalted private and official worth.
Upon the State and its institutions he left the
impress of his character. It was for good.

As the space allotted to sketches of territor-
ial lawyers is limited, it will not admit of
personal accounts of all that properly belong
to that period. Nothing more can be done
than to give the names of a few of the most
noteworthy. Hon. John J. Crittenden — later
a senator from Kentucky — was for a short time
attorney general for the territory, but did not
remain long enough to be regarded as a perma-
nent resident. It is a matter of surprise there
were so many lawyers in the Illinois Territory

Its First Lawyers — Doyle and Others. 273

prior to 1818. Even a partial list of the terri-
torial lawyers will show a surprisingly large
number in proportion to the population. Other
than those already spoken of, there were among
them, Benjamin Doyle, John Rector, William
Hears, John Eddy, A. P. Field, R. A. Mc-
Laughlin, P. H. Winchester, Thomas Rey-
nolds, A. T. Hubbard, James H. Whitney,
Charles S. Hempstead, Ralph P. Day, Elias
Kent Kane, Daniel P. Cook, Richard M. Young,
William H. Brown, Robert P. Karris, and
many others. Most of these lawyers had their
residences either at Kaskaskia, Shawneetown,
or Edwardsville. It is hardly probable such a
great number of lawyers among a sparse rural
population where no considerable commercial
business was transacted could have made a
living by exclusive professional labor. It is
written "in the sweat of thy face shalt thou
eat bread." But it is not probable there was
enough legal business in the country to have
enabled that number of lawyers to have earned
much in that way. A short account of how

274 Illinois Territory before 1818.

they did in fact make their living will be given
in a later chapter. Afterwards quite a number
of these territorial lawyers became distinguished
men, both as lawyers and as politicians. Some
of them-will be noticed in the group composing
the lawyers of the first Supreme Court.

Its First Lawyers — Number and Character, 275

CHAPTER XII.
LAWYERS IN SUPREME COURT.

It has been seen there were an unusual
number of lawyers in Illinois when the Supreme
Court was organized in 1818-1819. The notion
of coming west had before that time prevailed
as much as it has since, with young lawyers that
wished to become great with the country, and
especially with such as had a desire to become
politicians. Some of them were well edu-
cated and were of unusual ability, and others
were illiterate with no fitness for the profession.
This latter class soon fell out of the ranks of
the profession, and have since been lost to
public view. It was not found to be so easy to

276 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

make a living by practicing law in the west as
they had expected to find it. Many of them
that professed to be lawyers were mere pre-
tenders— imposters. It did not take long then
or at any time since for the people of the west
to take a pretty accurate measurement of a
man that offered them his professional services.
When "weighed in the balances and found
wanting" they were cast aside as worthless. It
was possible for an unworthy person to impose
himself upon the people in some instances, but
the same one never did it a second time. It
ought not to be claimed, all persons aspiring to
be lawyers in that early time were either men
of ability or learning, in the law. Such was not
the case. There were shysters then and there
are shysters now. It may be thought, too
much eulogy is indulged in these sketches of
lawyers of that period. A sufficient explana-
tion exists in the fact, only worthy lawyers are
mentioned, while no notice is taken of the ig-
norant and unworthy. It is historically true,
there were lawyers even at that early day in

Its First Lawyers — What They Did. 277

Illinois that were the equals in professional
ability with the best lawyers at any bar else-
where in the United States. And why should
there not have been? They were young men
of the best abilities and had been educated in
the best colleges and law schools before com-
ing west. It is certain, coming to the west
where the greatest activities prevailed and
where there was conflict and friction, de-
tracted nothing from them. It is a matter of
curious inquiry how so many lawyers managed
to sustain themselves among that rural people
having very little commercial or other business.
The fact is they did not and could not do it
by strictly professional labor. There could
have been but little legal business in the courts
at that time. What there was consisted of
matters of no grave importance, for which,
clients could not pay much. Most important
of all litigation in the courts, was the criminal
business. But there was not much of that and
if one Jawyer had gotten all of it, not much
would have been added to his exchequer by way

278 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

of fees, but when divided among so many it was
a mere trifle. But with the law they connected
always the vocation of politics and quite often
a general business in trading, otherwise they
would have had a scanty support. All lawyers
of that day seem to have had quite as much
liking for politics as for the law. Every one that
could, secured some office from which emolu-
ments might be derived. But a very large per
cent of them combined with the law and poli-
tics, also a general trade in anything that
promised any profit. Gov. Edwards, during
the time he was territorial governor, devoted
much time to business from which he realized
quite considerable wealth. Judge Thomas
built at Prairie Du Pont the first "Carding
Machine" in the territory. It was a mill simply
for making wool into rolls. Before that time it
had been done by hand on "cards." It was
not called a "wool mill" because wool was
neither spun nor wove in it. Like other lawyers
he speculated in anything from which profit
might be realized. George Forquer purchased

Its First Lawyers— What They Did. 279

a piece of ground within the limits of what is
now Monroe county and afterwards he and
Hon. Daniel P. Cook laid out the town of
Waterloo upon the same tract of land. Gov.
Reynolds amassed what was in those days re-
garded as a considerable fortune in trading in
dry-goods and speculating in lands. Later he
lost much of it in an ill advised undertaking to
build a railroad from Illinoistown —now East
St. Louis — across the American Bottom to a
point at the "Bluffs" called Pittsburg. The
purpose was to carry coal to supply the St.
Louis market. The road turned out to be a
failure and occasioned heavy losses to the pro-
jectors. David Blackwell and Robert Black-
well both engaged in the printing business, and
David Blackwell was at one time State printer.
Judge Breese published the first volume of
Illinois Reports, and perhaps did some work in
setting the type for it. Many lawyers became
interested in publishing newspapers. In that
work there was a two-fold purpose, one was for
the money that might be realized and the other

280 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

was the political influence that might come
from the publication of the paper in their
interests. The press was then as it is now a
powerful agency in advancing the cause of a
politician. Many of the profession developed
great aptness in the doing of anything "to turn
an honest penny" into their coffers. It was a
matter of necessity with some of them. The
group of lawyers it is now proposed to notice
may be sub-divided and classified as those
whose names appear in the official reports as
practicing in the Supreme Court, and other
lawyers whose names do not appear but who
were prominent in the courts during the tem-
porary incumbency of the first judges of the
Supreme Court in the years intervening 1818
and 1825 — period of about six years. That
was really the first Supreme Court of the State.
Much of the legal history of that period has
been lost or perished because- never written,
when it could have been done. It is now very
difficult to gather much of it together and
weave it into any form that will be at all

Its First Lawyers— What They Did. 281

interesting. It is a work that ought to have
been done many years ago, and had it been
done it would have been a profitable and most
interesting history. A fact that may account for
the barrenness of the legal history of that period
is that out of that great multitude of lawyers so
few achieved such distinction as made it neces-
sary for early writers to say much concerning
them. But such history as the bar as a body
made, ought to have been put in such form it
would have endured.

It is known Judge Breese was the reporter
of the first volume of the decisions of the Su-
preme Court. That was in 1831. He had
then been among the lawyers of that period,
certainly as much as thirteen years, and in all
probability had become personally acquainted
with every lawyer that had any distinction at all
at the bar. It is a matter of regret, he did not
give in his report of cases, the names of more of
the lawyers appearing in the Supreme Court at
that early day. Prior to 1822 very few of the
names of lawyers trying cases in the Supreme

282 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

Court are given, and when given only the sur-
name is stated, so it can not always be known
what lawyer was meant. In the first case re-
ported in which the names of counsel appear-
ing in the Supreme Court are recorded it is
simply said ' 'Kane for Appellant" and ' 'Win-
chester for Appellee. " That was at the Decem-
ber term, 1819. Counsel for appellant was Hon.
Elias Kent Kane. Elsewhere in these sketches
mention is made of him as a prominent sup-
porter of the "Convention Measure" to so
amend the constitution as to admit of the intro-
duction of slavery into the State. He came from
a distinguished family in New York, closely
connected with the great Chancellor of that
State — James Kent. But he was not indebted
to any ancestry, however distinguished, for his
great name and reputation. By his own un-
aided efforts he wrought a name and reputa-
tion for himself. It is said of him he was ' 'tall,
florid, and of kindly expression. " It is probable
he was slender — certainly he was not robust.
There was probably a tinge of melancholly in

Its First Lawyers — Kane 283

his temperment. The same thing in other
members of the family was called "Kane mo-
ments," by which was meant periods of de-
pression. It was that in his temperment that
made him seek to avoid all large assemblies of
people. He said of himself, when everybody
was going to hear the President deliver his in-
augural address, he remained in the Senate
chamber. He was a thoughtful student and
his retiring habits may have arisen in a meas-
ure from a wish to be apart from others that
he might commune much with himself. All
sensitive minds are given to much reflection
in the study away from all observation. This
trait in his character, however, may have come
in part at least from that strange desire that ex-
ists in some delicate mental organizations to
dwell much in solitude for its own consolations.
What that mysterious feeling is or what its na-
ture is, no one knows unless it is a part of his own
being. It admits of no definition. A graduate
of Yale college he was a scholar in literature
and later become learned in the law and able in

284 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

statesmanship. At the bar in the trial of a
cause he was successful because he had prac-
tical common sense and had an understanding
of human nature. In his advocating either
before the court or a jury he was logical, forci-
ble, and often eloquent. Among the many
official positions held by him in territorial times
probably the most important was as a member
of the convention to frame a constitution for
the State, in 1818. It is understood he framed
that instrument together after its several parts
had been selected and approved by the com-
mittees having in charge the several divisions.
The work done was much more one of selec-
tions from other constitutions than of original
construction. Many of its provisions were taken
from the constitution of Kentucky Doubtless
other constitutions were examined and may
have been used so far as it was practicable to
be done. After the State was admitted into
the Union he continued to practice law in the
State courts. It appears from the official re-
ports he had more cases in the Supreme Court

Its First Lawyers — Winchester. 285

than perhaps any other lawyer practicing at
that time in that court, unless it was Henry
Starr. Had he remained at the bar no doubt
he would have become one of its most dis-
tinguished members. It is probable he would
have lived longer had he confined his labors to
the law. In addition to his legal engagements
it was too great a tax on his physical strength
to enter upon the wrangling of a political life.
That, often puts to the test, the strongest
constitutions and especially when the candidate
is expected to make his canvass on the ' 'stump. "
But he had a strong inclination for political life,
he could not overcome. In 1825 he was elected
to the senate of the United States from Illinois
for a full term of six years. Afterwards, in 1 83 1 ,
he was elected his own successor for another
term in the United States Senate, but died in
1835, before the expiration of his second term.
That was the end of a useful and valuable life.
' 'Winchester" named as counsel for appel-
lee in the same case was evidently P. H.
Winchester — a territorial lawyer. It has not

286 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

been practicable to find any account of him
other than the mere mention of his name as
one of the lawyers of that time. That seems
to have been his first and his last appearance
in the Supreme Court so far as the official re-
ports show. It is the last historical mention
of him. It seems he was unfortunate with
his case in the Supreme Court. In the trial
court the judgment was in favor of his client,
but on appeal Judge Reynolds, who heard the
case on the circuit, did not sit with the other
justices. The judgment of the trial court was
reversed by the Supreme Court by a palpably
erroneous decision — but it was three against
one and the majority controlled. It was num-
bers and not legal learning that prevailed — that
perhaps is not very unusual in legal history.

In the next case reported, a new name ap-
pears as counsel for appellant — it is that of
Henry Starr, one who had been a member of
the territorial bar. Of him not much is written
— indeed nothing that gives any satisfactory
account of him and yet he was by far the

Its First Lawyers — Starr, Smith. 287

ablest and most brilliant lawyer then at the
bar of the Supreme Court. His home was at
Edwardsville. He was a close personal friend
of Gov. Coles and appeared for him as his
counsel in the Supreme Court in one of the
cases brought against the Governor by the
county of Madison, for the violation of a stat-
ute, inhibiting the bringing of negroes into the
State, unless under certain conditions. The
fact, Mr. Starr was the trusted personal friend
of Gov. Coles and had his confidence, is a high
testimonial to his character as a lawyer and as
a citizen. His name appears in the Supreme
Court Reports as counsel for one party or the
other more frequently than that of any other
lawyer of his time. Indeed after the Supreme
Court was re-organized in 1825, he appeared
in that court very often and in many of the
most important cases. Later he changed his
residence to Cincinnati, where he became
known as a very able lawyer.

Another lawyer whose name is given as
appearing as counsel in the Supreme Court at

288 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

that date was "Smith." It was Theophilus
W. Smith — afterwards himself a member of
that court. Mention has been made of him in
connection with the slavery agitation of 1822-
1824. It is the testimony of all his contempo-
raries, he was a good lawyer and made an able
judge, but he was so much a partisan politician,
it depreciated his usefulness as a lawyer and
as a judge. It is conceded by his friends and
his enemies — and he had many of both — he
was a man of learning and ability.

The names of but few lawyers are given
who appeared as counsel for the respective
parties in the cases reported prior to the No-
vember term, 1823. At that term, however, a
number were present to argue causes whose
names had not before been mentioned. Promi-
nent among them and perhaps greatest of all
was Samuel Drake Lockwood. He was born in
1789, in the State of New York. It is said he
studied law and practiced in that State before
coming to Illinois. On his way to this State
he fell in with Judge Breese at a point on the

Its First Lawyers — Lockwood. 289

Ohio river, perhaps at Shawneetown. That
was in the autumn of 1818. Both were endeav-
oring to reach Kaskaskia overland. They
started together or may be joined each other
on their journey, but before reaching their
destination they parted company. It is not
quite certain they ever did at any time there-
after come very near each other in social
relations. Judge Lockwood was the senior of
Judge Breese by eleven years and made his
way to the front in politics and in law much
in advance of him. That may or may not
have been the cause of a slight unfriendly feel-
ing that is said to have existed between them.
But one who knew him many years makes
the statement, he never heard Judge Breese
say an unkind word concerning Judge Lock-
wood, although he did not recall, he had
ever heard him say anything complimentary
of him. Judge Lockwood at an early day
turned his attention to office seeking and office
getting. But that as has been seen was a
mania with all lawyers at that day. He was

290 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

quite successful. In 1822 he was appointed
attorney general of the State. Afterwards he
was secretary of State for a short time. He
was a warm political and personal friend of
Gov. Coles. Thoroughly anti-slavery in prin-
ciple, he was an anti "convention" man and
supported the policy of the administration
of Gov. Coles with zeal and ability. No one
rendered a stronger or more helpful support to
Gov. Coles through the troublous times of his
administration. Ever after coming to the
State, Judge Lockwood was constantly engaged
in some way in the public service. Finally on
the re-organization of the Judiciary in 1825, he
was elected by the General Assembly one of
the associate justices of the Supreme Court.
The tenure of the office of judge of the Su-
preme Court after 1825, under the constitution,
was for life or during good behavior, so that he
held the office of judge until 1848, when the
constitution of 1 8 1 8 was superseded by the new
constitution just then adopted. After his elec-
tion as judge of the Supreme Court, he aban-

Its First Lawyers — Lockivood. 291

doned politics and his lifework thereafter, was
judicial labor except so as it was proper for him
to engage in the charitable work of the State.
As trustee for some of the State charitable in-
stitutions he rendered the State valuable
services. Shortly after his election as judge of
the Supreme Court he changed his residence
to Jacksonville and resided there during his
entire judicial term. In his capacity as circuit
judge he was regarded as an excellent judge as
well as upon the Supreme bench. It is said
he was the author of the first criminal code
adopted in the State. That is not true in the
sense, he drafted it as an original instrument.
Doubtless he had much to do with putting it
together for which he is entitled to much credit,
but the code itself when done was in no sense
original in its definitions and provisions. It
was copied in a large part from a Kentucky
statute on the same subject which had itself
been taken from the criminal codes of Virginia,
North Carolina, and Tennessee. It is also true,
he assisted in preparing other important stat-

292 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

utes and in that way rendered valuable services
to the commonwealth. It is seldom, if ever,
the State had as one of its officers a better or
purer man than Judge Lockwood. His private
character was of the highest worth. Although
on the bench of the Supreme Court for more
than twenty-three years, there never was dur-
ing all that time, any criticism on his official
conduct that called in question his integrity of
character or his personal honor. Opportuni-
ties came to him that come to few judges to
assist in establishing as an original creation
a judicial system for a great commonwealth.
When he came to the bench our system of
jurisprudence was still imperfect — it was in
its infancy. It required much legal learning
and intelligent labor to bring it up to the high
standard, it has since attained. In that great
work Judge Lockwood bore an honorable part.
His opinions delivered from the bench of the
Supreme Court are accurate expressions of the
best principles of the law, and will aid through
all coming time in the administration of the

Its First Lawyers — Blackwells. 293

law in its highest and best sense. It is a
graceful tribute the historian — Judge Moses —
pays to the worth of Judge Lockwood, that
' 'among all those who served under the first
constitution the name of Judge Lockwood
stands out conspicuously as that of the beau ideal
jurist. Tall and spare in form, graceful in
bearing, with hair turned nearly white before
he was fifty, although he lived to be eighty-
five, with high forehead and features strongly
marked with lines of thought, care, and feel-
ing, his aspect was at once benevolent, vener-
able, and intellectual. His appearance on the
bench was the very personification of dignity,
learning, and judicial acumen."

There was also present at the same term of
the Supreme Court a Mr. Blackwell, who was
associated with fudge Lockwood in the argu-
ment of a cause. It is probable it was Robert
Blackwell. There were two lawyers by the
name of Blackwell — Robert and David — both
of whom were rather prominent in public af-
fairs of the State. Both of them were con-

294 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

nected with the printing business, and David:
Blackwell was at one time State printer. JRob--
ert Blackwell was perhaps most prominent as
a lawyer and it is for that reason it is supposed
he was the Qije that appeared at that term of
the court. David Blackwell was a lawyer but
not of so much prominence. He was also a min-
ister in the Methodist Episcopal church. But
his principal occupation was that of a printer
and publisher. Robert S. Blackwell who was
later, a lawyer of some note in the State was a
son of David Blackwell. There was one thing
that contributed very greatly to give the
younger Blackwell the reputation, he had as a
lawyer — it was his habit of citing an unusual
number of authorities to sustain every imagin-
able proposition he could suggest as likely to
arise in the case. It was thought by many it
showed great familiarity with the adjudged law,
but that is not always the fact. It rather shows
diligence in looking into the digest of cases.
It is not a practice to be commended. In a
case in the Supreme Court, counsel cited an

Its First Lawyers — Blackwells, Me Roberts. 295

unusual number of cases in support of his con-
tention. On examining the cases cited it was
seen, only two or three of them had the slight-
est application and they were authorities
against his position.

Another lawyer of some note that appeared
at that term of court as counsel for defendant
in a cause pending, was simply mentioned by
the reporter as "McRoberts. " It was Samuel
McRoberts — born, February, 1799, in what is
now Monroe — then Randolph — county. He
was of Scotch — perhaps Scotch-Irish extrac-
tion. After receiving instruction in the local
schools he was at an early age sent to a college
at Lexington, Kentucky, where he was gradu-
ated in the literary and law departments of that
school. On leaving the school he was still a
very young man, but he at once entered upon
the practice of the law with a measure of suc-
cess. Public offices either came to him or they
were thrust upon him in rapid succession. In
that day it seems the lawyers had pretty much
all the public offices, worth the having, but if

296 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

there were any, no lawyer wanted, they were
given to non-professional men. In 1821, Mc-
Koberts was elected clerk of the Circuit Court
of Monroe county and from that time on he
held some official position — resigning one office
that he might take another and better one.
Under the act of 1825, he was appointed one
of the circuit judges of the State. But of course
he did not hold that office very long, for the
act under which he was appointed was soon
repealed and that put an end to his office. In
1828 he was elected State senator. Shortly
later he was appointed, by President Jackson,
United States district attorney for Illinois.
That office he resigned to accept the appoint-
ment of receiver of public moneys at the land
office at Danville, tendered to him by Presi-
dent Van Buren. In 1839 he was appointed
by President Van Buren solicitor of the gen-
eral land office at Washington. This position
he also resigned and shortly thereafter he was
elected by the General Assembly of this State
a member of the United States Senate. That

Its First Lawyers — McRoberts. 297

was in 1841. He only served through the 2/th
Congress. He died at Cincinnati in March,
1843, from the effects of a cold contracted while
coming over the mountains on his way home
after the adjournment of Congress. It is thus
seen, he constantly occupied some official posi-
tion from a time soon after he quit the schools
up to the day of his death. He was a man of
scrupulous integrity in all financial matters. It
is said when he settled his accounts as receiver of
public moneys, the government owed him $1.65,
which was afterwards paid to him. Governor
Reynolds in speaking of Judge McRoberts be-
stowed upon him extravagant praise. But the
governor did so much of that in respect to so
many persons it came finally not to mean much.
It is just, however, to say of Judge McRoberts,
he was a man of fair ability but nothing more.
He had an iron will, that would brook no
opposition and that enabled him to achieve
such phenomenal success in office getting. As
a citizen he was much respected. But he
would have been held in much higher esteem

298 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

when living and his memory much more hon-
ored since his death, had it not been for his
extreme views in respect to slavery. On that
subject he could neither talk nor act with any
fairness or with any toleration for the views of
others who did not agree with him or his no-
tions. About other matters he was a reason-
able and fair man. No "fire eater" in the
South was ever more indiscreet and even fool-
ish in his advocacy of slavery than was Judge
McRoberts. He was one of the most blatant
advocates of the "convention measure," in-
tended to make it possible to introduce slavery
into this State.

While Judge McRoberts was on the circuit
bench he tried two cases, that have since be-
come causes celebres in legal history. One of
them was the People vs. Solomon H. Winches-
ter, in the circuit court of Madison county.
Defendant was charged with the murder of
Daniel Smith. The trial created a good deal
of local excitement. Defendant belonged to a
highly respectable family and had many influ-

Its First Lawyers — Me Roberts. 299

ential friends. The case was ably prosecuted,
and was defended by Felix Grundy, of Ten-
nessee. It was a fierce struggle, but de-
fendant was acquitted. The other case was
the County of Madison vs. Edward Coles. The
action was to recover the penalty imposed by
an old and cruel statute, to prevent persons
from bringing slaves into the State for the
purpose of emancipating them without first
giving bonds, they should never become a
charge on the county. The prosecution and
the trial were a travesty on justice and reflected
no credit on the judges trying the case. It
was first tried on the circuit before Judge John
Reynolds and a jury, when a judgment was
rendered for two thousand dollars against de-
fendant. The motion for a new trial went
over to the next March term, 1825, of the
Court. Judge Reynolds was then out of office
and Judge McRoberts had come to the bench.
On coming to hold the circuit court in which
the case had been tried he found the motion
for a new trial still pending and at once over-

300 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

ruled it. In the meantime the legislature had
passed an act releasing Governor Coles from
the judgment on his complying with certain
conditions. To enable defendant to avail of
the act, the Court was asked to vacate the ver-
dict and judgment that he might plead it puis
dartien continuance, but Judge McRoberts de-
nied the motion and refused to allow the plea
to be filed. On an appeal to the Supreme
Court, the judgment was reversed and the Cir-
cuit Court directed to allow the plea to be filed,
which was done and the judgment set aside as
to defendant. The trial was never thought to
be creditable either to Judge Reynolds or to
Judge McRoberts. It was common belief
their rulings were in a measure at least con-
trolled by their extreme views in regard to
slavery. In a publication, Governor Coles made
some criticism upon the rulings of Judge Mc-
Roberts, and it is said the judge so far forgot
the dignity of his office as to go in person be-
fore the grand jury of the court in which he
presided and procured an indictment against

Its First Lawyers — Baker 301

Governor Coles for libel and afterwards brought
a personal action against him for damages.
Neither case was ever tried. It is a matter of
some interest, Judge McRoberts was the first
native Illinoisan that represented the State in
the United States Senate. Since then only
one other native Illinoisan — General John A.
Logan — has represented the State in that
branch of the national government. It is a singu-
lar fact also, no citizen born in it has ever yet
been governor of the State. Prior to 1870 no
citizen born in the State had ever been a mem-
ber of its Supreme Court. In that year one
was elected and since then three others have
been elected and that court now has only two
members who were born in the State. It is
quite time the State was raising its own United
States senators, governors, and judges of its
Supreme Court.

Another lawyer appearing at that term of
court as counsel in a cause pending was Hon.
David Jewett Baker. He was born at East
Haddam, Conn., in 1792. At first he made

302 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

his home at Kaskaskia, but subsequently
changed his residence to Alton, where he died
in 1869. Attending the best schools he be-
came a fine scholar in all the branches of a
liberal education. He was admitted to the bar
in 1819, and commenced the practice of his
profession at Kaskaskia. Thoroughly anti-
slavery, he opposed the ' 'Convention Measure"
of 1822-4 with great earnestness and zeal.
Parties at that time were sharply divided on
the slavery question which gave rise to much
bitter strife and sometimes resulted in un-
friendly relations. Judge Baker maintained
his views on that disturbing question with great
courage and ability. In the defense of equal
civil rights before the law for all whether white
or black he rendered services to the State
worthy the highest statesmanship. No one had
any doubt as to his position in that crisis. He
stood for all that was best for both races. For
a brief time he was a member of the United
States Senate from this State. It is said he
made a most useful senator during his short

Its First Lawyers — Baker. 303

term of service and proposed a land reform
that was valuable to all western people. For
quite a number of years he was United States
District Attorney for Illinois and made a good
officer. It is not recalled he ever held any
official position after going out of the office of
district attorney. He practiced law some after
he retired from public life, but perhaps no
great deal. Judge Baker came to Illinois
when he was a young man and cast his lot with
her people. He lived among them a pure and
upright life. Neither upon his private character
nor upon his official conduct was there ever
the slightest touch of smirch. Through his
long and useful life he had in a full measure
the confidence and respect of all good people.
At the November term, 1 824, of the Supreme
Court, which was the last term held by the
first judges, no lawyers other than those of
whom short sketches have been given, were
present so far as the official reports of that
court show. In a literal sense, those men-
tioned were the lawyers of the first Supreme

304 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

Court. It was a body of able men, some of
whom would be recognized as lawyers of
acknowledged ability and learning at any bar
in the United States at that period in the
history of our country.

Its First Lawyers — Some Were Great. 305

CHAPTER XIII.
SHORT SKETCHES OF OTHER LAWYERS.

It is not to be understood, the lawyers no-
ticed in the preceding chapter constitute the
entire group that were at the bar during the
time of the first Supreme Court, although
the names of no others appear in the official
reports of the decisions of that court. There
were other prominent lawyers and it is a matter
of surprise the names of some of them at least
do not appear as practicing in the Supreme
Court. Judge Breese was the reporter and
had he had cases in the Court during that time
it is strange he did not report his own cases.
It will now be the purpose to become better

306 Illinois Supreme Court — ISIS.

acquainted with the other members of the bar
of the first Supreme Court. It is not over-
stating historical truth to say that some of
them were great men, and surely it will be
both pleasant and profitable to learn all that
can be concerning them. Judge Breese was
the last survivor of that body of lawyers.
There are yet living, persons who had a close
acquaintance with some of them and such per-
sons wish always to recount everything con-
nected with them — in the doing of which there
comes to them, who are themselves far ad-
vanced in life, many recollections that bring
thoughtfulness with them. The wish is, to
dwell with them again, but as that can not be,
all that can be done is to repeat some of their
history and in that way, live over with them a
portion of their lives. It will be the purpose
also to give younger people a better knowledge
of a few of the men who were most prominent
in public affairs during that period of our State
history. A half hour spent in the study of
their lives and characters ought to be both at-
tractive and profitable.

Its First Lawyers — Hall. 307

Among the names of territorial lawyers,
Gov. Reynolds gives the name of James Hall.
That is not correct. He did not come to the
State until 1820. With little fondness for the
law, he exhibited only fair ability in the prac-
tice of the profession. At the earliest oppor-
tunity he sought official position. The legis-
lature at that time was the hot-bed of the
State for the producing of office-holders. He
made friends with that body and procured
himself to be appointed a judge of the circuit
court under the act of 1825. After he was
legislated out of office by the repeal of the
act under which he had been appointed, he
devoted most of his time to literature. He
became much better known as a writer of liter-
ature than as a lawyer or as a judge. He wrote
what he called the "Romance of Western
History," "Legends of the West," and other
works descriptive of pioneer life and times.
Some of his writings are valuable and quite
interesting. At the time of their first publica-
tion, they were very popular but they are not

308 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

now much read. The present money-getting
generation is not very greatly interested in that
class of literature. The transition from the dim
"early candle light" civilization to a brighter
and higher state of civilization is not the en-
chanting story it once was. Before another
century shall have passed, it will have still
fewer readers. It will hardly have the charm
of a legend. Judge Hall changed his residence
to Cincinnati and perhaps thereafter devoted
his time exclusively to literary labor and earned
for himself quite a reputation.

One of the greatest lawyers of the period
being considered was Daniel P. Cook. Re-
cent writers give very full personal descriptions
of him, which read in connection with his por-
traits recently published give a very accurate
idea of him. He was small in stature and frail
in health, but mentally he was among the
strongest men of his day. Yet withal he was
a modest and diffident man. There is an ex-
pression in his portrait that gives the idea of a
refined and elegant gentleman. His style of

Its First Lawyers— Cook. 309

dress was faultless and charmingly neat. On
his face there was an expression of gentleness
with a slight tinge of sadness that attracted
every one to him. Clean shaved, with large
dark eyes, expressive of thought and purity —
a man more attractive in person was rarely ever
seen. Intellectually he was greatest and most
admired. His educational advantages were
limited, but he made a scholar of himself both
in law and in literature. He was a Kentuckian
by birth— born in that State in 1793, but had
rather the appearance of an eastern man. In
the locality where he lived, his name is never
spoken even at this day with other than the
highest respect. He was one of the few men
in public life against whom nothing unkind was
ever said. On coming to the west — then only
eighteen years of age — he located at St. Gene-
vieve, on the Missouri side of the Mississippi
river, nearly opposite Kaskaskia. While there
he was employed in a store. He was poor in
purse, but rich in intellectual resources. Un-
aided by influential friends or the power that

310 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

comes from wealth, he forced his way by mere
personal effort up to a position in law and poli-
tics not inferior to that of any man of his time.
A youth, infirm in health, an employe in a
store, in an obscure village far off in the west,
among a strange people, most of whom spake
only creole French — a patois he did not under-
stand, he made his way up from that humble
station to the honorable position of a member
of the American Congress, where he was recog-
nized as an equal among that body of dis-
tinguished statesmen. No character in all
western history illustrates better the possibili-
ties that await the American young man who
has an ambition to make a name and fame for
himself. His life and achievements are worthy
of being made a study. He was gentle, he was
honest and he was true in all the relations of
life. Although his life was a short span, only cov-
ering thirty-six years, yet it was crowded with
events, it usually requires three score and ten
years to accomplish. He came from St. Gene-
vieve across the river to Kaskaskia and studied

Its First Lawyers — Cook. 311

law with Judge Pope. That was in 1813.
Shortly afterwards he was admitted to the bar,
and from that time his career was one of rapid
successes. At the bar his progress was phe-
nomenal, soon surpassing most older lawyers
of that locality. In 1817 he went to Washing-
ton and was appointed bearer of dispatches to
Minister John Quincy Adams at the court of
St. James. Ever after that Mr. Adams was
his warm personal friend. Early in 1818 he
was appointed a territorial judge for the west-
ern circuit of Illinois — the duties of which
office he discharged with marked ability. The
same year he was an unsuccessful candidate
for Congress, but his canvass was a brilliant one
and won him many friends. At the next elec-
tion he was elected a member of Congress over
John McLean, who was acknowledged to be
one of the greatest men in the State and one
of the most effective orators on the hustings.
He was several times re-elected to Congress,
and was a member at the time of his death,
which occurred on the i6th of October, 1827.

312 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

During the last session he was in Congress he
was chairman of the committee of ' 'ways and
means." The State never had a better or
purer man in its service than John P. Cook.
The people honored him by electing him to
official positions, and he honored the people by
his valuable public services. The impress of
his worthy character will remain upon the-
State forever.

His wife was a daughter of Gov. Edwards.
She made for him a beautiful home and put in
it all that makes a home sacred. A touching
incident is related of him in connection with
the last days of his pure life. His health was
fast failing. After his return to Illinois from
Cuba, where he had gone under a mistaken
expectation, it might benefit his health, he re-
mained a short time with his family, and when
it became evident the end of his life was nigh
at hand, he went back to his native State — to
the place of his birth. In his old home, where
his mother had so often rocked him in his
cradle into restful sleep, he was laid in his coffin

Its First Lawyers — Field. 313

to take a yet longer sleep. His death teaches,
the impressive lesson that the "cradle and the
coffin" stand nearer each other than the bright
anticipations of youth will admit. It shows
how vain and of little moment are all our am-
bitions and struggles for place and power, so
soon are they to come to an end. Life is a
short span.

Prominent as a lawyer and as a politician
in territorial times and also during the term of
the first Supreme Court, was Alexander P.
Field He was a man that would attract much
attention on account of his splendid physique.
Tall, well proportioned, with expressive feat-
ures, he made a splendid appearance when
speaking at the bar or on the platform. In the
legal profession he was most distinguished as a
criminal lawyer, in which capacity he had no
superior at the early Illinois bar. That which
obscured the brightness of his life was follow-
ing the phantom of politics. Others as great
as he was, came to the end of life under dark
shadows of sorrows, as he did. Had he let

314 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818,

politics alone and confined himself exclusively
to the practice of the law, he would have be-
come much more noted in his profession. Po-
litical life had a fascination for him that nothing
else had, and he followed its delusions to the
end of his life. It brought him neither wealth
nor fame. His last years were spent in Louis-
iana, and there as elsewhere he was in politics.
During the slavery agitation in Illinois in
1822-4 ne was an extreme pro-slavery man and
supported the ' 'convention measure" with great
zeal and ability. But it is recorded as an im-
perishable honor to his memory that in the
hour of its greatest peril he was outspoken and
bravely loyal to our government, and that, too,
in the midst of a people madly intent on its
destruction. He was a whig and always a
loyal man, even when the avowal of his patri-
otic devotion to his government put his life in
peril. The few now remaining that knew him
personally, remember him with a respect akin
to affection.

Its First Lawyers — Snyder. 315

Adam Wilson Snyder was one of the law-
yers of recognized ability and worth that con-
stituted the early bar of the Supreme Court.
Of German extraction, he was born October
6, 1799, in Pennsylvania. It is not probable
his early environments were at all favorable to
the development of his natural abilities. That
was done by his own energies with not much
aid from the schools — certainly with very little
patronage from persons of influence in high
places. It is probable he had more encour-
agement from Judge Jesse B. Thomas than
from any one else, He trod the walks of
penury alone. Yet unassisted as he was, he
achieved distinction at the bar in law and in
advocacy. On his arrival at Cahokia in April,
1818 — not then nineteen years of age — his
first employment was as tender to the stone
masons engaged in building a wool "carding
machine" at Prairie Du Pont for Judge Jesse
B. Thomas — carrying mortar and other ma-
terials as a common laborer. After it was
completed he operated the mill for a while,

316 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

but perhaps for no great length of time. Later
he studied law with Judge Thomas, and it is said
by his son, he was ' 'shortly afterwards admitted
to the bar. " It must have been in 1 8 1 9 he com-
menced his law studies, for Judge Thomas did
not long reside at Cahokia after he was elected
United States Senator — he changed his resi-
dence to Edwardsville. Mr. Snyder, as he was
then called, was married in 1824, and it seems
certain he was admitted to the bar quite a while
before that time, but the date of his admission
does not seem to be definitely known. His
wife was Adelaide, daughter of Jean Francois
Perry. She was born in Prairie Du Pont.
On her mother's side, Mrs. Snyder was con-
nected with one of the oldest and most respect-
able families living in the French villages in
the American Bottom. After their marriage
Mr. and Mrs. Snyder moved to Belleville and
that city was thereafter their home until their
death. It was a better location for Mr. Sny-
der in which to practice law and to engage
in politics for which he had a liking. Of

Its First Lawyers — Snyder. 317

all the prominent men of his time no one was
more active in public affairs than Adam W.
Snyder. As early as 1830 he was elected to
the State Senate. When the ' 'Black-Hawk"
war broke out he volunteered in the military
service of the State, as a private in Capt. Win-
stanley's company. Afterwards he was ap-
pointed adjutant of his regiment. Near the
close of his term of service he was made captain
of a company organized from soldiers then in the
field, to serve only a short time in a special serv-
ice. In the company commanded by him were
many of the prominent persons of the State,
among whom was Gen. Samuel Whiteside — one
of the most noted Indian fighters of the west.
He was Scotch-Irish, and wherever there was
any Indian fighting to be done, Gen. Whiteside
was always ready to take a brave part in it. He
was as courageous a man as ever lived. The
company commanded by Capt. Snyder was en-
gaged in one skirmish with the Indians near
Dixon. Some members of the company going
to hunt for water for a disabled soldier were

318 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

fired upon by a small body of Indians in am-
bush, and that brought on the engagement. It
did not last long. The Indians fled as soon as
resisted — probably without loss. After the
war, he was usually called Capt. Snyder —
sometimes colonel, but that was probably a
courtesy by brevet. Capt. Snyder had many
qualities that fitted him for politics. Perhaps
he had more fondness for politics than for the
law. In 1834 he was a candidate for Congress,
but he was defeated by Gov. Reynolds. Be-
tween the two there was a constant rivalry.
The contest was renewed in 1836, when he
overcome Reynolds and was elected a member
of Congress. But Gov. Reynolds did not give
up the battle, and at the next election he de-
feated Snyder, who was a candidate for re-
election. That was perhaps their last political
contest. In 1841 Mr. Snyder was nominated
by the democratic convention for Governor of
the State, and would without doubt have been
elected had he lived till the time of election.
Notwithstanding he was so much engaged in

Its First Lawyers — Snyder. 319

political and business affairs, he still practiced
law with a good measure of success. Perhaps
the last legal argument he ever made was
made in the old court-house in Belleville, ren-
dered notably famous by the description of its
location given by Mr. Dickens in his American
Notes — which, by the way, is as meanly untrue
as anything he ever wrote — barring what he
said as to the local pronunciation of the word
prairie. There never was any one in that
part of the country, so densely stupid as to
pronounce it "paroarer." The remark, that
"mode of pronunciation" was '-the most in
favour," was unpardonable in Mr. Dickens.
The only excusable reason that can be sug-
gested is, some one had been guying him.
When Mr. Snyder was making his last argu-
ment in that old court-house, that had been
the scene of many of his triumphs, his very
appearance is still remembered by a few con-
temporaries that yet survive. It was not
long before his death. Ill-health had before
that time so impaired his strength, he had

320 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

given up the general practice of the law.
Much attention was attracted by his personal
appearance. Standing in the presence of the
Court, much debilitated by long sickness, it
was evident to every one who heard him, he
was making his last legal argument and that
fact, coupled with a high personal regard,
caused him to be heard with unusual interest.
The end of his life came soon. He was not
perhaps regarded as an eloquent advocate, but
his arguing before a Court or to a jury was
logical, concise, and forceful and that gave him
a measure of success at the bar.

Gov. Thomas Ford and his half brother,
George Forquer, were members of the bar
of 1818-24. Both of them were born in Penn-
sylvania. Neither of them had any advan-
tages from the schools other than from the
local or common schools of the country, and
yet both of them became good lawyers and
prominent in State affairs. Each was en-
dowed with strong natural abilities. Gov.
Ford was born in 1800, and was brought to

Its First Lawyers — Fwrd. 321

Illinois when he was about four years old.
Although he died at the early age of fifty years,
he lived long enough to make a name and fame
among the people with whom he lived. The
photogravure portrait, recently published, gives
the student of history a very exact idea of him.
It shows very kindly features, and his face bears
an honest expression. In stature he was below
the medium size. He was slender in person,
and is described by a writer as having "thin
features, deep-set gray eyes, with an aquiline
nose," but in fact his portrait shows a very
comely face, with rather full eyes, regular feat-
ures, and with a pleasing expression. That is
a correct idea of him. Looking upon his face
as it appears in the photogravure, that is seen
which commands respect and admiratiofi. It
is intelligence, courage, honesty, and an iron
will — all of which elements entered into the
make-up of his character. With limited edu-
cation, he began the study of the law with
Hon. Daniel P. Cook, who was ever his faithful
friend. It is probable he commenced to study

322 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

law in 1823. Not endowed with the gift of
oratory, he was never a successful advocate at
the bar. It was in his judicial life, he had his
greatest success. For a judge he had rare and
unusual qualities. The State seldom ever had
a better nisi prius judge. Upon the bench of
the Supreme Court his services were very val-
uable to the State. It -is to be regretted he
did not remain in the Supreme Court. Emi-
nently adapted to judicial labor, he had few if
any elements of a successful politician. On
the death of Hon. Adam W. Snyder he was
given the nomination of the democratic party
for governor of the State. That was a strange
nemesis, under the spell of which he came after
accepting the nomination for Governor. Be-
fore that time he had known a good degree of
prosperity. He was elected Governor, but from
that day his fortunes began to fail, until at last
his life went out in a sorrowful ruin of all that was
expected to make him comfortable in his last
years. When he came into the office of Gov-
ernor the affairs of the State were in a disturbed

Its First Lawyers — Ford. 323

and most unsatisfactory condition. The State
not only had a large bond indebtedness, ag-
gregating many millions of dollars, but it was
in arrears for current expenses, perhaps to the
extent of several hundred thousand dollars. The
people were restive under the burden of taxa-
tion. Even how to raise funds for the ordinary
expenses of the State was a problem, difficult
of solution. Auditor's warrants on the State
treasury were not worth more than fifty cents
on the dollar. Everything that was annoying
and unpleasant seems to have arisen at the
very beginning of his administration. Many
in his own political party openly and boldly
advocated repudiation of all State indebted-
ness. A resolution to that effect was intro-
duced into the convention that had nominated
Mr. Snyder, whom Gov. Ford succeeded.
That resolution was not even voted down, but
was laid on the table, so that the convention
might express no opinion on the question. But
most troublesome of all questions that arose to
vex him, were the Mormon difficulties — cul-

324 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

minating in the murder by assassination of
Joseph Smith — the Mormon prophet — and his
brother, Hyrum Smith. Disturbing events
thickened in his way, and he was worried be-
yond measure by them. Even a politician of
large experience would have found difficulty in
controlling them. Ever before that time he
had been accustomed to the calm order of
judicial labor, and when the storm of political
events gathered about him he was powerless to
control it. It was then he needed most the
support of friends. But those who had pro-
fessed to be his friends proved faithless and
even treacherous when their support would
have been most valuable to him. Not only as-
sailed by the press of his own party as well as
by the press never friendly to his political views,
he was denounced by those that owed him
much and who ought to have sustained him in
his hour of trial. That hurt him most of all.
It was wounding him in the house of his
friends, where he had a right to expect kind
treatment. Later, however, he had a meas-

Its First Lawyers — Ford. 325

ure of satisfaction in that he wrote in history
words that will burn in the reputations of
some of them, through all the years to come.
The end of his administration came none
too soon for him. It was an honest adminis-
tration, yet it was not altogether satisfactory
to his party friends. The result of the Mor-
mon difficulties was far from being satisfac-
tory even to himself. When relieved from
the cares of State matters, a great burden was
lifted off his weary mind. The office of Gov-
ernor was the last official position he ever
held. He was only forty-seven years of age
when he retired to private life, never to come
forth again. In the seclusion of his retirement
from the active duties of life he began to think
upon the past, and soon began to write. The
work he did was writing the history of Illinois
from 1 8 1 8 to 1 847. That period comprised his
active public life. He had lived in the midst
of the transpiring events of that time, and was
certainly as familiar with them as any man in
the State. But the writing of his history was

326 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

commenced at a most inopportune time — at a
time when he was broken in health, broken in
fortune, and broken in spirit. Besides that he
had just come out of a period of bitter political
wrangling, with many intense prejudices against
a great number of his contemporaries about
whom he was to write. He wrote much, as
unkindly as he felt towards some persons-who
had, as he thought, betrayed his confidence. It
was his opportunity to be avenged on his ene-
mies, and he availed himself of it. His work
is, however, in many respects, a very valuable
contribution to State history. It was no doubt
written, in part at least, to justify his admin-
istration of the State government. But that
does not detract from its worth. He gathered
many things in reference to the recent history
of the events and men of his time that would
otherwise have been lost. If re written it would
be a most valuable history of the period it
covers. Even a review of it in the light of a
better understanding of the events of that time
would be a fascinating and most interesting

Its First Lawyers — F&rd. 327

work. Later it will be authority for many
things in Illinois history when it shall come to
be rewritten by other historians.

Personally, Judge Ford was highly esteemed.
He ought not to have been Governor of the
State, and his friends always regretted he came
to that position. He possessed in a large meas-
ure those sterling qualities that make up the
best character — honesty, courage, and fidelity.
No man in the State ever had a higher repu-
tation for honorable conduct than did Judge
Ford. But he was a judge and nothing else. He
was not even an advocate at the bar. He could
do nothing from which money could be earned
other than as salary. He could neither spec-
ulate nor trade, and he accumulated little or
nothing from his life work. Not a dollar ever
come to him that he did not earn — he obtained
nothing dishonestly. When he left public
office for the last time he had very little salary
or other estate left. His last years were full of
disquiet, because he had so little with which to
secure the comforts of home for himself and his

328 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

family. Solicitous even in his last days for his
family, he laid upon his true and faithful friend,
Gen. Shields, the obligation to have his history,
then in manuscript, published for their benefit.
His needs became pressing, and charity, to
conceal the idea of alms-giving, came to him
acknowledging the indebtedness of the people
on account of his public services, and made — not
gifts — but payments to him. What beautiful
forms charity takes on when it ministers to the
soul. It conceals all it does, even when be-
stowing most. Only the recording angel is
permitted to note it.

Of the lawyers of 1818-1824 the one that
in after years became most distinguished as a
jurist and as a politician, was Sidney Breese.
He was born in New York in 1800. Closely
connected, were the families of Livingston,
Morse and Breese — families of the highest re-
spectability in New York. Young Breese
graduated at Union College with high honors
— then only eighteen years of age. Perhaps
he began the study of the law before he left

Its First Lawyers — Breese. 329

New York. In the autumn of 1818, on the in-
vitation of his personal friend, Hon. Elias K.
Kane, he came west and made his home at
Kaskaskia, where he completed his law studies
with his friend on whose solicitation he had
come to Illinois. He was admitted to the bar
when he was only twenty years of age, and
from that time for a period of nearly three score
years he was prominent in both the legal and
political history of the State. Writing his
biography would be the history of the State
during his active life. That is not now the
purpose. Only the historian can do that work.
Nothing more will be attempted, other than to
state a few of the most distinctive features of
his character and to note some of the incidents
of his life. A few of his contemporaries are
still living, and they most like to remember
him as he appeared to them when he was at
his greatest strength after the full development
of his physical and mental powers. The por-
traits of him, and from which the public now
get their impression of his personal appearance,

330 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

seem to have been taken late in life. None
have been published that give any idea of his
appearance when he first became prominent in
public affairs. It was then he looked best and
most like a great man, as he really was. There
is always a desire to know, how persons who
are regarded as great men looked and what
were their habits and manner of life in the pri-
vacy of home. It gives the idea of a personal
acquaintance and gives the privilege to meet
them in social relations. All men, whether
great or otherwise, are most natural in the
family, and the truest idea of what they really
are, is obtained from learning how they act and
what they do when they are in the privacy of
their homes. It is to be regretted more of his
private life cannot be known. Judge Breese
was great in intellectual endowments, in learn-
ing, in the office of judge, and in the Senate of
the United States. The writer of his complete
biography will give an account of his public
services. But that is not all it is desired to
know of him. The wish is to become person-

Its First Lawyers — Breese. 331

ally acquainted with him so far as that can be,
to see him as he really appeared, and to learn
his conduct in friendly social gatherings. It is
now many years since his death, but the recol-
lection of him is, he was in stature rather short,
being somewhat below the medium height, of
stout build, with large head, and with an un-
usually large and deep chest. His eyes were
neither very large nor very small, but always
had a pleasant expression. Of a bronze com-
plexion, his features were bright and clear.
Being near-sighted, he always wore glasses —
set in bows, never the small frames for wearing
on the nose — except when reading. Early in
life he was clean-shaven, and his hair, which
was dark, was cut short. That style became
him very much. This view of him has not
been preserved in any portrait seen of him.
After he had become quite advanced in life he
wore a long, full beard, which was rather heavy,
and suffered his hair, which was also rather
heavy, to grow to a great length, falling down
over his shoulders, giving him a venerable

332 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

appearance, and perhaps causing him to look
older than he really was. It is this view that
is observed in all recent photographs of him.
He dressed as became one in his station, and
with the utmost care and neatness. In this
respect, it may be said, he had a good deal of
vanity. It is by no means true women have
more vanity in regard to dress than men. It
was seldom known, Judge Breese ever went
from the conference room to the bench without
first going to the looking-glass to observe
whether his hair and wardrobe were well ar-
ranged. On the bench he always wore
black, and it was a matter of some annoy-
ance to him if any brother judge went on the
bench when court was in session, no matter
how hot the weather might be, wearing light
colored clothing. No judge ever observed the
proprieties of the bench with more exactness
than he did.

But no one ever knew the full social worth
of Judge Breese who did not have the op-
portunity to hear his private conversation.

Its First Lawyers — Breese. 333

In that respect he excelled most of his con-
temporaries. He had the rare gift of en-
gaging his friends in conversation with him,
and he possessed in a high degree that civility
that afforded them an opportunity to do so. It
is not believed, he was ever guilty of that most
offensive and vulgar habit of interrupting with
his own conversation, another when essaying to
speak. In regard to persons and incidents of
the early history of the State, his conversation
was most entertaining and profitable. But care
had to be observed, not to suggest matters of
the long ago, as a topic of conversation. His
answers would be as brief as civility would
permit — not an extra word would he add. Ex-
tremely sensitive as to his age, any inquiries
concerning early happenings in the State
seemed to him to imply, he knew something
that had occurred so long before, no one else
knew it. A statue, if interrogated, would
hardly be less communicative. It was only
when he commenced the conversation on such
long-past subjects of his own motion, he would

334 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

talk freely, and it was then, he was most in-
tensely interesting. A romance wrought into
story would not be more delightfully entertain-
ing. Of a highly social nature, he was fond of a
story if it were well told and free from vulgarity.
But for one with a repertoire of stale stories,
from which he selects a number for telling on all
occasions, he had a very great dislike. It was
a rare thing he ever undertook to relate an inci-
dent for the wit there might be in it. He had
a liking for some of Mr. Lincoln's — for whom
he had an exalted opinion — stories, and would
sometimes try to tell one of them, but he would
quite as likely leave out the only point in it
that would make it mirth-provoking. His
memory was phenomenal, and what is strange,
it suffered no perceptible failure in his last days.
It was seldom he forgot anything he had ever
read. In the last years of his life he could re-
peat, when he chose to do it, choice speci-
mens of the classic both in Latin and in
English, which he had not read in the books
in a score of years. He had a penchant for

Its First Lawyers — Breese. 335

reading newspapers, and that habit enabled
him to become well acquainted with the current
events of the times. It seems he knew some-
thing interesting of everybody and everything.
That was an element in his conversation that
made it so fascinating.

Of his literary labors not much remains
other than his judicial opinions, a few speeches
in Congress and elsewhere, and what has since
his death been published as the ' -Early History
of Illinois." It is hardly probable the latter
work was written for publication. What he
said about it to his friends warrants the belief,
it was never his intention it should be given to
the public under the pretentious title of an
"Early History of Illinois." It was prepared
for a lecture upon the French occupancy of the
country in that period intervening their first
settlements and 1763. There was then no
State, and it could hardly be said it was a
"history of Illinois." The fact is, he never
called it a history, and it is not believed
he ever expected it would be so designated.

336 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

It was written with a graceful and ornate
rhetoric that made it pleasing to a popular
audience, but it lacks that stately impressive-
ness that belongs to historical writings. It is
an entertaining account of the French people
in that epoch prior to 1763, but it is in no
just sense a history of "early Illinois." It
was due to his memory an explanation of
the true purpose in its writing, should have
been given with its publication. It was a
matter of some surprise to the public, no other
writings were found among his papers after his
death. But those best acquainted with him
did not expect any would be found. On a
little slip of paper found in his library in his
own handwriting he mentioned three distinct
and important epochs in Illinois history, and
stated concisely what each one embraced.
That would perhaps indicate he may have had
it in mind to enter upon the work of writing a
history of the State, but it is much regretted —
he never commenced even to gather the ma-
terial for such a work.

Its First Lawyers — Breese. 337

Judge Breese was eminent in the political
as well as the judicial history of the State. It
is not generally so understood, but it is a fact,
he had much more liking for politics than
for the law. His political career was short,
but it was brilliant and abounded in results
that come only from the highest statesman-
ship. It is more than probable, if opportunity
had offered to gratify his political aspirations,
he would at any time have given up his judi-
cial office for that, to him, more agreeable field
of labor in politics. His ambition led him to
hope for high positions even in national poli-
tics, and nothing gave him more pleasure than
to see his name mentioned in the public press
for a high office. A little incident occurred
when an old friend visited him at his private
room in the Supreme Court building, that illus-
trates this phase of his character. It was at a
time when the democratic party, to which he
belonged, was casting about for a presidential
candidate, and finally selected Mr. Greeley.
About that time there had been quite frequent

338 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

mention of the judge's name in the newspapers
as a possible candidate of his party for President.
It was very gratifying to him. His friend was
from the same part of the State with the judge
and knew him so well he made free to speak to
him on any subject. After the interview was
about over, on rising to leave, his old friend re-
marked to him, he had seen his name mentioned
as a candidate for President. Evidently much
pleased by the allusion to the fact, the judge
replied with apparent indifference, it did not or
would not amount to much. But his friend
replied, "I don't know about that, Judge, the
democratic party is mighty hard up for timber
just now for a candidate for President." It was
thought the Judge would not like the remark,
but it was otherwise. He joined heartily in the
laugh at the simplicity and candor of his farmer
friend. That which relieved the incident of any-
thing offensive was the connecting of his name
with the presidency. It is an error to suppose
the gentler sex are more sensitively affected by
delicate compliment, than are most men.

Its First Lawyers — Breese. 339

Notwithstanding his fondness for politics,
Judge Breese had very little ability for con-
ducting a canvass. His style of speaking was
ill adapted to the "stump" — it was not popular
with the people. He was too stiff and dignified
in his bearing. He was too honorable to go
down into the unbecoming work of the partisan
politician. An obscure writer, in his ' 'reminis-
cences of the bench and bar of Illinois," in the
mention he makes of him, revives the stale story,
Judge Breese circulated what were known as
"Jackson Coffin Hand-Bills." But nothing
can be farther from the truth. The story had
been discredited more than a half a century
before as unworthy of belief. He was incapa-
ble of such conduct. While he contended
vigorously with his opponent, he was honorable
in his mode of attack and would stoop to
nothing unworthy of a gentleman. He was a
member of the General Assembly of the State,
but that position afforded him no opportunity
to give any evidence of his ability as a legis-
lator in the higher sense of the term. During

340 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

his one term in the United States Senate he
took high rank among the distinguished men
of that body. The remark is ventured, no
other senator from this State — unless it was
Senator Douglas — ever originated more meas-
ures so important and so far-reaching in their
effect, not only upon the State, but upon the
whole country. He was the primary author of
the scheme to build the Illinois Central rail-
road— a work that did more than any other one
thing to develop the resources of the State. It
may be, Senator Douglas framed the bill that
finally became a law, but the honor belongs to
Judge Breese of originating the great enterprise
of constructing the Illinois Central railroad, and
it was his agitation of the subject that led up to
its adoption by Congress. But that is not all
that is worthy of high statesmanship in his
senatorial services. His report on a petition
presented for a grant of public lands to aid in
the construction of a railroad from Lake Mich-
igan to the Pacific ocean was the first argument
in support of that stupendous undertaking. It

Its First Lawyers — Breese. 341

was elaborate and written with remarkable
ability — indeed it became the source of all the
best suggestions in favor of the adoption of the
measure by Congress, as was afterwards done.
Judge Breese never had the credit, it is his due
for his promotion of the building of that grand
highway across the continent. A statue point-
ing to the way west over the plains and over
the mountains to the Pacific coast ought to be
erected to Senator Breese of Illinois, rather
than to any other American Senator. Few
men in the United States Senate at any time
spake or wrote with a more graceful diction than
did Judge Breese. His reply to Senator Cal-
houn on one phase of the Mexican war, is an
ornate and splendid specimen of political litera-
ture. It has a classical finish not often seen in
the best writings of the schoolmen.

But it was in the legal profession, Judge
Breese had his greatest success. In the prac-
tice of law he was not specially eminent. He
did not have the gift of popular oratory that
was necessary to make him successful in advo-

342 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

cacy at the bar. Yet his services as a trial
lawyer were engaged in many important cases
arising in his time when practicing at the bar.
It was because of his learning and ability. He
was the leading counsel for the defense of
Judge Smith when on trial before the Senate
on articles of impeachment. It is, however,
from his services on the bench of the Supreme
Court of the State that will come his longest
enduring fame. His term in the Supreme
Court comprised a period of nearly or quite
twenty-three years. Few jurists ever im-
pressed so much of their learning and ability
upon the jurisprudence of the State as did
Judge Breese. No one did more to perfect
our judicial system. He came into the Court
when our jurisprudence was not yet matured
into a perfect system. He built well on the
foundations others had laid. As specimens of
elegant judicial statements his opinions deliv-
ered in the Supreme Court will lose nothing in
comparison with the best opinions of the most
distinguished jurists of this country and Eng-

Its First Laivyers — Breese. 343

land. The work done by him during the
years, he was on the supreme bench was simply
enormous. Its magnitude seems greatest when
contrasted with that done by others. Chief
Justice Marshall was on the bench of the Su-
preme Court of the United States thirty-four
years. His opinions, with those of the other
members of that Court, are contained in thirty
volumes. Judge Breese was a member of our
Supreme Court a little less than twenty-three
years, yet his opinions, with those of the other
judges of the Court, fill seventy volumes. As
a judge of the Supreme Court he wrote on
almost every conceivable question that could
affect the welfare of the commonwealth, and
his opinions will be leading authority on the
principles discussed through all coming time.
Long after his political history shall have failed
and ceased to be read, his judicial opinions will
remain as precedents by which all future
magistrates may be guided in the administra-
tion of the law of the land.

344 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

In his last days, the sunshine of his char-
acter made beautiful everything on which it
fell. All shadows, if any ever rested on it,
had passed off, and nothing but light remained.
A cheerfulness unusual made social relations
with him pleasant to all who were close to him
in his affections or in his respect. There never
was at any time in his life the slightest trace
of asperity in his character. Asperity has in
it elements of sourness of temper, or morose-
ness, as in one disappointed in his ambitions.
In earlier years, and perhaps in the days of his
greatest strength, he was proudly imperious,
often rigidly exacting, sometimes dogmatic, and
always positive. Yet there was neither rough-
ness nor harshness in manifesting such quali-
ties. These severities that had been seen in
his character gave way before the end of life
came, and in their stead came those "beauti-
ful graces that make old age so lovely. " With
an attractive venerableness, full of honors and
crowned with a measure of success that comes
to but few, it came "to pass in that day, the

Its First Judges — Other Epochs. 345

light shall not be clear nor dark" — it was then
he fell asleep.

There were other contemporary lawyers
worthy of special mention, but the space set
apart in which to notice that group of lawyers
is now full, and it is a matter of regret no
sketches can be given of them. It may be
noted, there were two other epochs in the legal
history of the State, it would be of the greatest
interest to study. One extended from the re-
organization of the Supreme Court in 1825 to
1848, during the time the constitution of 1818
was in force, and the other covered that period
intervening 1848, when the Supreme Court was
a second time reorganized under the constitu-
tion of that year, to 1870, when the Supreme
Court was a third time reorganized under the
constitution of the latter year. No one has
written the legal history of either period. If
done it would be a work of surpassing interest
and value. In both epochs lawyers distin-
guished for their learning and ability were at
the bar and on the bench. They were devel-

346 Illinois Supreme Court — 1818.

oping our system of jurisprudence. It is a
splendid work they did. But some of the
toilers in that field of labor were themselves
great. In the time of the first epoch Abraham
Lincoln was at the bar and Stephen A. Douglas
was on the bench — names that will ever be
great in State and national history. There
were other able lawyers in both epochs. It
was the bench and bar of these later periods
that completed the system of jurisprudence
projected by the bench and bar of the first
Supreme Court, and builded on the founda-
tions laid by them a splendid temple of justice,
massive and grand, and all beautiful in its pro-
portions, in which the laws of the State shall
be administered with equal and impartial ex-
actness, and in which "no right shall be sold
or delayed or denied" to the citizen.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA

923.4SC08S C001

SUPREME COURT OF ILLINOIS BLOOMINGTON