USA > Illinois > Shelby County > Combined history of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 20
USA > Illinois > Moultrie County > Combined history of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 20
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7 6
HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
From 1848 to 1877, one circuit judge was elected in each judicial district of the state, and performed all the duties incumbent upon his office. In the latter year (1877), the legislature passed a law organizing appellate courts, and also enlarging the circuits by con- solidating two into one, and providing for the election of three cir- cuit judges in cach of the enlarged districts.
The first judge of the circuit embracing Shelby county was Theo- philus W. Smith, of the Supreme Court, whose term of office, as circuit judge, extended from 1828 to 1835. In the latter year, Thomas Ford, afterwards Governor of Illinois, presided, by request, in compauy with Sidney Breese.
The regular successor of Judge Smith was Sidney Breese, who presided from 1836 to 1841. Of this pure man aud eminent jurist our state may justly feel proud. He was born in Oneida couuty, New York, July 15th, 1800, aud, at the early age of eighteen, gra- duated, with distinction, in the full classical course, from Uuion College, Schenectady, New York. Soon after his graduation he immigrated to Illinois, and entered the law office of his old friend and school-fellow, Elias Kent Kane, then a resident of Kaskaskia. In 1820 young Breese was admitted to practice, aud commenced his professional career at Brownsville, in Jackson county, wlicre, in the conduct of a case before a jury, he was so unsuccessful that he re- solved to abandon forever the practice of law. In 1822, however, he was appointed attorney of the second cireuit, a position which for five years he filled with honor.
In 1831 he compiled Brecse's Reports of the Supreme Court's decisions, the first book ever published in the state. After beariug a conspicuous part as lieutenaut-colonel in the Black-Hawk war, he was in 1835 elected judge of the second circuit, which position he retained till 1841, when he was chosen one of the supreme judges of the state. In the following year he was elected for a full term to the United States Senate, upon the expiration of which he became a member (in 1850) of the State Legislature, and was chosen Speaker of the House.
In 1855 he was again elected circuit judge, and two years later, on the resignation of Chief Justice Scates, he was a second time chosen to the supreme bench, where, having filled the office of chief justice two terms, he remained till the time of his death in 1879. 'The following beautiful aud well-merited tribute to this remark- able man is from the pen of Hon. E. B. Washburn, late Minister to France : " The reports of the Supreme Court attest his profound kuowledge of the law, the ripeness of his scholarship and the pecu- liar grace of his diction. No judge that ever sat on the bench could touch the very heart and soul of a law-suit with more unerring cer- tainty, and his opinions will live as long as the jurisprudence of the state shall cxist."
Judge Breese was succeeded in this circuit by Samuel H. Treat, who presided over the courts in the district from 1841 to 1844. Judge Treat is a distinguished jurist of the olden type, aud is at present one of the United States district judges. In 1845 Gustavus Koerner was appointed by Governor Ford to fill a vacaucy in the supreme bench, and the same year performed the duties of circuit judge in this district. He was born in Fraukfort, Germany, Nov. 20, 1809, and after graduating with the degree of LL D. from the celebrated University of Heidelberg, he sailed with a party of friends for America, where he arrived in 1833, and during the same year settled in Belleville, Illinois. He attended law-school at Lexington, Ky., and in 1835 was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court, as he had been formerly to the same court of his native land. He commenced the practice of law at Belleville and soon rose to distinction. He has filled with marked ability the several offices of legislator, lieutenant-governor, colonel, Minister to
Spain, judge of the Supreme Court, and chairman of the Board of Railroad Commissioners. He is still a resident of Belleville, where he has a luerative practice, and enjoys the high esteem and confi- denee of all his fellow-citizens, than which no greater honor could crown his declining years.
From 1847 to 1849 Judge Treat was a second time called to pre- side over the courts in this circuit.
From 1849 to 1873 the circuit judges and their respective terms of office were as follows : From 1849 to 1853, David Davis; from 1853 to 1862, Charles Emerson ; from 1862 (May term) to 1864, Charles Constable ; from 1864 to 1867, Charles Emerson ; from 1867 to 1873, A. J. Gallagher.
Of these five representatives of the bencli it has been impossible to obtain sufficient data for extended notices. Judge Davis was on the Supreme Court up to the tinie of his election to the Uuited States Senatc, of which he is still a member. Judge Emersou, was a plain, unassuming man and a matter-of-fact lawyer. He went right to the facts of a case, and few of his decisions were ever re- versed. He was very kind and accommodating on the bench, especially to the younger members of the bar.
From October term, 1873, to 1876, H. M. Vandeveer was the judge of this judicial circuit. He is a resident of Taylorville, Ill. Judge Vandeveer is a man of fine natural abilities, a most excellent judge of men, untiring aud aggressive, and a sound, practical lawyer. In both private and public life, and in every official capa- city, he has always been found faithful to trusts reposed in him.
In 1877, under the new law, Wm. R. Welch, of Carlinville, Charles S. Zanc, of Springfield, H. M. Vandeveer, of Taylorville, were elected judges of the enlarged district.
Judge Welch was born in Jessamine county, Kentucky, Jan. 22, 1828. He received a good education in the common schools and academies of the state, afterwards graduating with the degree of A. B. from the Transylvania University at Lexington. In 1849 he entered the law department of the same institution, and in 1851 gra- duated bachelor of laws. He soon afterward commenced practice at Nicholasville, Ky., where he remained until 1864, when he came to Carlinville, Ill., at which place he has since resided.
Ife coutinued the practice of liis profession at Carlinville until 1877, when he was elected judge of the fifth judicial district, and at the expiration of his first term in 1879 was re-elected without oppo- sition. He is a fine lawyer, a forcible and logical reasoner, and withal a man of great popularity, especially among the legal fra- ternity.
Judge Zane is a native of Cumberland county, New Jersey, where he was born March 2, 1831. His early education was obtained in the district schools of his native state. In 1850 he removed to Sangamon county, Ill., and in 1852 entered McKendree College, where he pursued a three-years' course of study. In 1856 he eutered the law office of Hon. J. C. Conkling, and having been admitted to the bar, he opened in 1857 an office at Springfield, Ill. He after- ward formed a partnership with Wm. H. Herndon, former partner of Abraham Lincoln, and did a prosperous business until 1869, when he associated himself with Hon. Shelby M Cullom and George O. Marcy. He was a member of this firm until 1873, when he was elected circuit Judge, which office he still holds. A conseientious judge and upright man, he has the confidence and esteeni of the bench and bar, as well as the public generally, throughout this por- tion of the state.
At the election in 1879 Judges Welch and Zane were re-elected, while Judge Vandeveer was succeeded by Gen. Jesse J. Phillips, of Hillsboro', Ill. Judge Phillips was born in Montgomery county, Ill., and is a distant relative of the celebrated Wendell Philips.
77
HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
He was educated at the Hillsboro' Academy, and having in early life formed a taste for the profession of law, he entered, at the age of 20, the law-office of Davis and Kingsbury, of Hillsboro, where for three years he devoted himself assiduously to preparation for his chosen profession. Having been admitted to the bar in 1860, he immediately opened an office in Hillsboro', and commenced practice. In 1861 he recruited a company for the war, and was soon afterward elected captain. His company was attached to the ninth Illinois Infantry, of which Captain Phillips was appointed major. On the '2d of December, 1861, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, took command of the regiment and retained that position until the close of its service. During his military career he had six horses shot under him, and was himself severely wounded five or six times. For distinguished services and daring valor during the war, he was, March 26, 1865, brevetted brigadier-general.
After retiring from the army he resumed the practice of law, and at the time of his election as circuit judge, was acknowledged to be one of the most able and popular lawyers in the state. Being thor- oughly conversant with all branches of the law he has already, by his impartial and accurate decisions, proven himself to be one of the most accomplished judges on the bench.
STATES ATTORNEYS.
In 1873 the Legislature enacted a law providinng for the election of a states attorney in each county, instead of one in each judicial circuit, as the law had required prior to that time.
Under the old system, the states attorneys for this district were as follows :-
Wm. H. Brown, (pro tem.) 1830 to 1837; Josiah Fisk, 1837 to 1840; Ferris Foreman, ( pro tem.) 1840 to 1845; Wm. H. Russell, 1845 to 1846; Harry Lee, 1846 to 1851; David B. Campbell, 1851 to 1852; David B. Campbell, 1852 to 1853; E. Rusk, 1853 t) 1856; N. O. Moore, 1856 to 1858; John R. Eden, 1858 to 1861; J. P. Boyd, 1861 to 1862; Wm G. Patterson, (pro tem.) 1862 to 1863; J. R. Cunningham, 1863 to 1865; D. L. Bunn, 1865 to 1869; M. B. Thompson, 1869 to 1873.
Under the new system Capt. Lloyd B. Stephenson has held the office since 1873. On November, 2, 1880, Wm. C. Kelley was elected for the ensuing term.
THE BAR.
Non-resident Lawyers .- Many were the privations and hardships that surrounded the early bar of Illinois. At that time, owing to the small amount of litigation, attorneys, in order to gain a liveli- hood from the practice of their profession, found it necessary to follow the court from county to county. Nevertheless, some of the most illustrious legal lights that the state has produced lived in those days. Among the distinguished men that came to practice at the Shielby county court in that early day were: Abraham Lin- coln, whose name was destined to become immortal throughout the world; E. D. Baker, the Cicero of America, the gallant com- mander of a regiment in the Mexican war, the brilliant United States senator from Oregon, the brave general who sealed his patriotism with his life's blood at the battle of Ball's Bluff; Gen. James Shields, sub- sequently the hero of two wars, and United States senator from three states ; U. F. Linder, witty and eloquent, eminent as a criminal lawyer and adroit politician ; O. B. Ficklin, a profound lawyer, and leader in the national congress ; Judge Joseph Gillespie, a distinguished lawyer and pre eminently a self-made man ; Col. A. P. Field, (from 1837 to 1845) of Vandalia, who afterwards removed to New Orleans; Charles Emerson, whose sketch has been given in a former para- graph ; J. R. Edlen, an able man and good lawyer ; A. B. Bunn, a fine criminal lawyer; Gustavus Koerner, whose sketch will be
found in the list of the circuit judges ; James A. McDougal, after- wards United States senator from California; Gen. John A. Mc- Clernand, who now resides at Springfield.
Former Resident Lawyers .- WN. A. RICHARDSON, one of the earli- est members of the bar of Shelbyville, was born in Fayette county, Ky., and commenced his educational career in the log school-house at that time so common to his native state. He afterward spent three years at Walnut Hill, preparing for college. From there hc was transferred to Centre College, Danville, Ky., whence shortly afterward he entered the Transylvania College, at Lexington.
Having finished his junior year, he became a student in the law office of Allen & Simpson, and was admitted to practice March, 1831. In 1831 he removed to Illinois and located at Shelbyville. During the following year he opened a law-office at Rushville, Schuyler county, whence he removed to Quincy in May, 1849. In 1836 he was elected to the legislature of Illinois, and met, as mem- bers of the same body, Lincoln, Douglas, Hardin, Shields, Moore, French, Baker, most of whom have become illustrious in the na- tion's history. In 1838 he was elected to the state senate, and at the outbreak of the Mexican war in 1846 he raised a company of men, which he as captain led to the battle of Buena Vista and other important engagements. At the expiration of his military service he returned home, and in 1847 was elected to congress, and in 1848 was re-elected by nearly one thousand majority. He con- tinued a member of that body until 1856, when he resigned his seat to make the gubernatorial race of Illinois, in which he was defeated by only four thousand votes. He was shortly afterward appointed by President Buchanan territorial governor of Nebraska, and in 1860 was again clected to congress, and in 1863 was chosen United States senator by the legislature of Illinois. At the expiration of his term as senator in March, 1865, he returned to Quincy, where he resided until the time of his death, December 27, 1875, aged sixty-five years.
In 1835 ANTHONY THORNTON, from Kentucky, came to Shelby- ville, where he became one of the prominent members of the Shelby county bar. He was chosen a member of the thirty-ninth congress from this district, and was subsequently elected one of the supreme judges of Illinois. In 1879 he removed to Decatur, where he still resides. Judge Thornton is a man of eminent legal ability, and one of the noted men of the state .*
DANIEL GREGORY practiced here from 1835 to about 1852 He was appointed by President Pierce receiver of the land office at Vandalia, where he died a few years ago. He was a fair lawyer and a man of good character.
JOHN R. EDEN came from Indiana to Shelbyville, where he prac- ticed law a number of years. He was for several terms member of congress from this district, and always took an active part in the deliberations of that body. He is an excellent lawyer and a man of commanding influence.
ENOCH A. MCGREW, a young lawyer of great promise, died a member of this bar in 1879.
ANTHONY T. HALL, nephew and partner of Judge Thornton, came to Shelbyville in 1858, and continued the practice of law here until the time of his death in 1873. He was a young man of fine scho- larly attainments, immensely popular, and possessed all the ele- ments of a most successful lawyer.
LEWIS B. THORNTON, cousin of Judge Thornton, was for a while a resident attorney of Shelbyville. He came here from Virginia, and prior to the war of the rebellion removed to Alabama.
LEVI HIGHIT practiced here between 1840 and 1850. He was a young man of fair ability and promise.
* A biography of Judge Thornton is given in another part of this work.
78
HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
W. R. REED commenced the practice of law here in 1860, and soon afterward died. He was a fine business lawyer.
In 1850, MORRIS R CHEW was a member of the Shelbyville bar, but he soon afterward retired from practice, and has since died.
In the same year, EDWARD EVY was also a practicing attorney here, but in 1852 he removed to California, where he now resides.
For the following biographical sketch of Geo. R. Wendling, formerly a prominent attorney of this place, we are indebted to the pen of another :
" MR. WENDLING was born in Shelbyville, Illinois, on the fifteenth day of January, 1845, and until his recent removal to St. Louis, lived all his life, except his years at college, in his native town. At the Chicago University, he won, at the age of eighteen, the declama- tion prize competed for by the entire Freshmen class, and at this early day in his career, the Chicago press predicted for him a bril- liant future, notably the Chicago Times saying in its issue of June 29, 1864, ' he bids fair to rank high as an orator.' At home he studied a year under the private tutelage of a highly educated clergyman of the Episcopal church. He then returned to Chicago, and took the law course in the law department of the University, and returned in 1866 to his home, where he has since practiced with signal success, his profession of the law, his chief triumphs being won in that branch of the practice requiring the skill, address and powers of an advocate.
" In public life he is widely known as one of the very finest political orators in the West. He was the youngest member of the Constitutional Convention which framed in 1870 the present Con- stitution of Illinois, and was regarded by the press of Illinois as the most brilliant orator of that body.
" In January, 1878, he was invited by a large number of the leading citizens of St. Louis to deliver a lecture at Mercantile Library Hall. He chose for his subject, ' A Reply to Ingersoll from a Secular Standpoint.' The result is known. He at once achieved a national reputation, and yielded to the very large offers made him to enter the lecture field. In that field he will doubtless remain for several years, and doubtless, too, will verify the predic- tion of a noted Eastern journal : ' He bids fair to become king of the American platform.'"
PRESENT MEMBERS OF THE BAR.
HON. SAMUEL W. MOULTON was born in Hamilton, Mass. in 1823, and after receiving a common school and academic education, hc went in 1843, to Mississippi, where he remained until the fall of 1845, when he removed to Illinois.
After acquiring a legal education in law offices, he was admitted to the bar in 1847, and commenced the practice of law in Moultrie county.
In January, 1850, Mr. Moulton established his residence in Shelby county, and is still in full practice as a member of the firm of Moulton, Chafee and Headen, Shelbyville. He has always had a very large practice, and has been engaged in some of the most important cases in this part of the state. He held the office of school commissioner of Shelby county for eight years, was elected a member of the legislature in 1853, and for three successive terms. During his first term he was chairman of the committee on educa- tion, drafted and introduced the first bill for free schools in the State of Illinois.
This bill became a law. On the establishment of the board of education in 1857, Mr. Moulton was appointed one of the original trustees of the board, and has been continued in said trust until the present time, he being the only original member now remaining. For sixteen consecutive years he was president of the board, and
was one of the most active advocates of the free school system. In 1856, he was a Buchanan presidential elector, and in 1860, sup- ported Douglas for the presidency. During the Rebellion he took strong grounds in favor of the government, and acted with the Union party. In 1872, he returned to the Democratic party. In 1864, he was elected to Congress from the state at large, by about forty thousand majority, over his competitor, Hon. J. C. Allen. On November 2, 1880, he was again elected to Congress from the fifteenth district, by a handsome majority. He has one of the finest law libraries in this part of the state ; it contains all the re- ports of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, Massa- chusetts, the United States and part of the reports of Ohio ; also, all of East's reports ; all of the American reports ; all of Moak's re- ports ; all of the United States digests ; Bacon's Abridgements of Common Law, and many other miscellaneous law books.
WILLIAM CHEW was born in Martinsville Clinton county, Ohio, in 1836. He received his literary education in the classical depart- ment of the Lutheran University at Springfield, Illinois. He com- nieneed the study of law in the office of Moulton and Chafee in the year 1868, and was admitted to the bar in 1871, and has since con- tinued the practice of law at Shelbyville.
W.M. W. HESS was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1837, and re- ceived a common school education in the public schools near that city.
He completed his literary education at Granville, Ohio, and took a scientific course at the Dennison University. He studied law in the office of Swayne and Baber, and in 1859, entered the Cincinnati law school, graduating the same year. He commenced practice in Columbus, Ohio, and in 1866, having removed to Shelbyville, re- sumed practice as a member of the law firm of Hess and Stephenson. He was appointed master in chancery in 1874, and in 1876, was elected judge of the county court, which office he still holds.
WM. J. HENRY was born in Richmond county, Ohio, in 1823, and received his early education in the public schools of that state.
He studied law in an office at Millersburgh, Ohio, and in 1847, commenced practice at Worcester. After a residence of seven years in Iowa, he removed in 1860, to Shelbyville; where he continued the practice of his profession until 1873. He then removed to Danville, Illinois, where he remained until 1877, in which year he returned to Shelbyville, where he now resides, making real estate and corporation practice a specialty.
Mr. Henry has given his almost exclusive attention to corpora- tion law, and in the management of that class of cases has been very successful. He is also the author of a work entitled 'Ecclesi- astical Law and Rules of Evidence, with special reference to the Jurisprudence of the Methodist Church," which is regarded as a standard of authority upon that subject, and has received the en- dorsement and been put in course of study by the Bishops of that church. In 1864, he wrote and compiled a digest of Illinois reports.
H. S. MOUSER is a native of Marion county, Ohio ; he received his education in the common schools and in the Wesleyan Univer- sity, from which institution he graduated in 1867. He immediately came West, and soon after entered the law office of Henry and Reed, and pursued his studies until 1869, when he was admitted to practice. He subsequently formed a partnership with W. C. Kelley, which still continues. In 1877, Mr. Mouser was elected county superintendent of schools. He is a clear, forcible reasoner, good speaker, and possesses in a high degree the elements of a suc- cessful lawyer.
LLOYD B. STEPHENSON was born in Loudoun county, Va. He received his literary and scientific education in the preparatory school of the University of Virginia, and afterwards entered the law
79
HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
department of the University of Virginia, (founded by Thomas Jeffer- son), from which he graduated in 1861. He was a captain in the Con- federa e army until 1865. In 1866, he was examined and admitted to the bar in Virginia, and in the fall of the same year, having re- moved to Shelbyville he commenced the practice of law here in 1867. In 1872 he was elected state's attorney, which office he held until December, 1880.
HOWLAND J. HAMLIN was born 1850, in St Lawrence county, New York. He was educated at the state normal and training school at Potsdam, and having removed to Shelby county, Illinois, studied law from 1872 to 1875, in the office of Thornton and Wend- ling. IIe was examined before the supreme court at Mt. Vernon, in June, 1875, and admitted to practice.
He practiced for a short time at Sullivan, Moultrie county, Illinois, and in 1876 removed to Shelbyville, where he is still en- gaged in his profession.
He is a man of fine ability and scholarly attainments. He is a forcible and vigorous speaker, and exhibits great tact in the man- agement of his cases. He possesses in a high degree the elements of a successful lawyer.
TRUMAN E. AMES is a native of New York, having been born in that state in January, 1850.
He received his literary and scientific education in the state nor- mal and training school at Potsdam, graduating in 1870. In 1871, lie removed to Windsor, Shelby county, Illinois, where he afterward became principal of the graded school of that town. Having pur- sned the study of law for some time in the office of Moulton and Chafee, lie, in 1875, entered the law department of the Michigan University, from which he graduated in 1877, and in the same year was admitted to the bar. He commenced the practice of law at Windsor , where he remained until May 1, 1880, when he removed to Shelbyville.
J. WILLIAM LLOYD was born in Springfield, Illinois, Marchi 15, 1841. He received his early education in Sullivan Academy, Moultrie county, and in 1859 came to Shelbyville, and in 1860 com- meneed the study of law in the office of Thornton and Hall. In 1869, he was elected eounty elerk of Shelby county, which office he retained eight years. He afterwards formed a partnership with Wm. A. Cochran, in real estate, abstract and insurance business. In May, 1880, he formed a partnership with Truman E. Ames, for the general practice of law.
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