USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Historical review of Chicago and Cook county and selected biography, Volume II > Part 5
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Becoming deeply interested in her husband's profession, Mrs. Bradwell commenced the study of law under his instruction, at first with no thought of putting it to any practical use. But with her prog- ress as a student, she became ambitious to use her knowledge, which resulted in the establishment of the Chicago Legal News in 1868. This was the first weekly law periodical published in the west, the first paper of its kind edited by one of her sex in the world, and it stands today as the best monument to her memory. Practical news- paper men and lawyers predicted its failure, but her masterly move in obtaining from the Illinois legislature special acts making all the state laws and opinions of the supreme court printed in her paper evidence in the courts, made the News of such practical authority and gave it such a standing before the bench and bar alike, as ·in itself to be an assurance of success. But this was but one of her saga- cious acts which eventuated in making her publication a standard legal authority throughout the country. In 1869 she commenced to publish the Illinois session laws, and as she always succeeded in get- ting out her edition ahead of all others, she thereby gained both pres- tige and patronage. In the midst of her total loss and indescribable confusion occasioned by the Chicago fire, she lost neither heart nor time, but hastened to Milwaukee and issued the News on the regular day of publication. Possessed in unusual measure of far-sightedness, bravery and enterprise, for twenty-five years she carried her project
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to a successful conclusion, whether considered from the professional or the financial standpoint.
In the meantime Mrs. Bradwell was fighting her way toward recognition as a practitioner. In 1869 she passed a most creditable examination for the bar, but was denied admission by the supreme court of Illinois upon the ground that she was a married woman. Later, through Chief Justice Lawrence, the court was forced to ad- mit, by her firm but courteous legal insistence that the refusal was solely on the ground that she was a woman. Thereupon, suing out a writ for error against the state of Illinois in the supreme court of the United States, Mrs. Bradwell secured the services of the bril- liant Senator Matt Carpenter, of Wisconsin, who argued her case be- fore that tribunal in 1871. Although in May, 1873, the judgment of the lower court was affirmed, Chief Justice Chase dissented.
Mrs. Bradwell was afterward the chief instrument in securing the passage of an Illinois law granting to all persons, irrespective of sex, freedom in the selection of an occupation, profession or employment, and although she never again applied for admission to the bar, the judges of the supreme court of the state, of their own accord, issued to her a license to practice law, and March 28, 1892, upon petition of Attorney-General Miller, she was admitted to practice before the supreme court of the United States. Thus vindicated personally, she also opened the way to the profession for the benefit of her sex. More than this. She drafted the bill giving a married woman the right to her own earnings, and through her efforts it was passed. She also secured the passage of the law giving a widow her award in all cases, and was the enthusiastic supporter of the bill granting to a husband the same interest in a wife's estate that the wife had in her husband's. While her husband was in the legislature she induced him to introduce a bill making women eligible to the office of notary pub- lic, and heartily supported Judge Bradwell's bill permitting women to act as school officers. Both measures became laws.
By her individual efforts, in 1869, Mrs. Bradwell obtained the signatures of all the judges in Cook county and many of the lawyers and ministers of the city to the call for the first great woman's suf- frage convention held in Chicago, was prominent in the Springfield convention of the same year, and took part in the gathering at Cleve- land, which resulted in the formation of the American Woman's
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Suffrage Association. After rendering valuable services at Wash- ington and elsewhere in obtaining the location of the World's Colum- bian Exposition at Chicago, she served on its board of lady mana- gers and was chairman of the committee on law reform of its auxil- iary congress.
Mrs. Bradwell was the first woman to become a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the Illinois Press Association; was a charter member of the Soldiers' Home Board, the Illinois Industrial School for Girls, the Washingtonian Home and the first Masonic chapter organized for women in Illinois; was a member of the Chi- cago Woman's Club, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Grand Army Relief Corps, the National Press League and the Wom- an's Press Association. To the last her activities were broad and un- tiring-the manifestations of her helpful, sympathetic spirit. Hand in hand with the bestowal of her services upon the public she bound together an ideal home, leaving, at her death, two of her four chil- dren, Thomas and Bessie, both lawyers, the latter the wife of Frank A. Helmer, also a member of the Chicago bar.
With the passing away of William M. Booth on September 7, 1904, the legal fraternity of Chicago suffered a real bereavement in the severance of another fast and fond tie which,
WILLIAM M. BOOTH. through father and son, had bound them to the cause of legal education and courteous practice in a community which not infrequently forgets them both. The late Judge Henry Booth, founder of the Union College of Law and for- merly judge of the circuit court, was looked upon as the professional father of hundreds of bright and noted practitioners, some of whom remained at the home of their studies, under his wise guidance, and others of whom had gone forth to carry to other communities the benefits of his training and his spirit of thoroughness and honor. It was to his son, however, that he passed in fine measure his spirit and his methods, and it was fondly believed that in the long years to come he would strengthen and perpetuate the noble memory of his vener- able father. But, although William M. Booth died at middle age, there still cling to his name the inspiration of a trained mind, a sturdy character and an unfailing kindliness and cheerfulness which ever covered his solid traits with a softened light which often broke into sunshine.
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At the time of his death Mr. Booth was one of the masters of chancery of the United States circuit court, which he had ably and faithfully held for ten years. He was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, September 26, 1856, and about three years later was brought by his parents to Chicago. As a sturdy Chicago boy he passed with credit through the public schools, graduated from the old city high school and advanced into the Northwestern University, with which his father had become so closely and prominently identified. As Mr. Booth combined those rare qualities of persistency, application and quick perception, his advancement was rapid, and what he acquired he retained. So that, while many college honors seemed to gravitate to him naturally, they were really earned at the expenditure of honest strength of mind and body.
In 1878 Mr. Booth graduated from the Northwestern University with the degree of A. B., which was followed three years later with his Master's degree. Entering as a student at the Union College of Law, at the same time he received the benefit of study under the tu- telage of Melville W. Fuller, and before his admission to the bar in 1880 he had been appointed chief clerk in Mr. Fuller's office. Until Mr. Fuller's elevation to the chief justiceship of the United States supreme court, Mr. Booth continued in his position of responsibility and enjoyed the most confidential relations with his distinguished su- perior. In September, 1888, he became a member of the firm of Gregory, Booth and Harlan, which succeeded to the practice of the chief justice, and although since dissolved by mutual consent, the members of the partnership always retained a firmly cemented friend- ship for each other. On June 9, 1894, Mr. Booth was appointed by Justice Harlan of the supreme court and the circuit judges of his district to the position of master in chancery of the United States circuit court, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John I. Ben- nett. The succeeding ten years proved in a marked manner the emi- nently judicial qualities of his mind, as he had previously demon- strated his ability as a practicing lawyer and a broad-minded and safe counselor.
In 1886 William M. Booth was united in marriage to Miss Ada Fenton Sheldon, of Chicago, who, with two sons, survives him. He was a member of the Chicago Athletic Association, and the Illinois. Douglas, University and Calumet Golf Clubs. In politics he was a
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Republican, but as has been well said "he belonged to the democracy of right-minded, clean-hearted, good fellowship."
Thomas Dent, senior member of the law firm of Dent and Jack- son, and who has practiced his profession actively and ably here for a period of more than half a century, is a native of Illinois, born in Putnam county, on the 14th of
THOMAS DENT. November, 1831. His parents, George and Com- fort (Ijams) Dent, were among the pioneers of that county, having settled there in the year named upon their removal from Muskingum county, Ohio, where the father was chiefly reared. Traced back for several earlier generations, Mr. Dent's ancestors are found to be sturdy pioneers of Maryland and Virginia, pursuing most creditable careers and holding positions of public honor and trust.
While residing in Putnam county, George Dent, the father, held such offices as clerk of the court of county commissioners, county recorder, clerk of the county court, master in chancery, county judge and member of the state assembly, and later in life, upon his re- moval to Woodford county, was there officially honored. He was evidently a man of broad information and varied practical abilities, traits inherited and strengthened by the son, who enjoyed the bene- fits of a thorough and systematic legal education.
Thomas Dent obtained his early education in the district schools near his home, his boyhood life, outside of the school room being largely spent on the paternal farm, which was operated in connection with the almost continuous official duties which fell to him as a result of public confidence in his abilities and honor. In his thirteenth year Thomas Dent obtained his first practical experience in legal proceed- ings by an irregular attendance at the clerk's and recorder's offices, and when his father assumed these offices himself, the youth (then sixteen) became more continuously connected with the work. While thus engaged he commenced his professional studies, and as he was assisted by having the benefit of assistance from able members of the bar with whom he daily came in contact when he was finally ad- mitted to the Illinois bar, in 1854, he was far better qualified to prac- tice than most young men of his age. Soon after his entrance into the profession he was entrusted with the management of a variety of important causes at home and elsewhere in the state. In addi-
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tion to his regular practice, at this period, he became a legal expert in the compiling of indices to the land records.
In 1856, after practicing in Hennepin for two years, Thomas Dent came to Chicago, and has since practiced continuously in this city. Soon after becoming a resident of Chicago he formed a part- nership with Hon. Martin R. M. Wallace, whom he had known at Ottawa, Illinois, and who afterward became prominent as a general of the Civil war and as a member of the bench. After a short ab- sence in Peoria, Illinois, during which he opened an office there, he returned to Chicago, and in 1860 formed a partnership with Hon. Alfred W. Arrington and, under the name of Arrington and Dent, a profitable and noteworthy professional business was conducted until the death of the senior partner in December, 1867. A few months later he associated himself with Captain William P. Black, the firm of Dent and Black continuing to strengthen the reputations of its members during the eighteen years of its existence. Since that time Mr. Dent has been, successively, a member of the firms of Dent, Black and Cratty Brothers; Dent and Smith (Edwin Burritt) ; Dent, and Whitman (Russell) ; Dent, Whitman and Eaton, and Dent and Jackson.
Personally Mr. Dent has had a broad and varied experience in many legal lines, involving the trial of causes in various courts of the northwest, as well as in the supreme court of the United States. He has served as president of the Chicago Law Institute, the Chi- cago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association. At the age of twenty-one he was a nominee for county judge of Putnam county, and in 1879 the Republicans made him their nominee for the judgeship of the state supreme court, seventh district of Illinois. Mr. Dent's practice has always been marked by earnest preparation, keen analysis of testimony and forcible promulgation of principles, evinc- ing an extensive knowledge of legal principles and their wise and ready application.
In 1857 Mr. Dent was united in marriage with Miss Susan Strawn, and they have had one child, Mary, who died in 1882. The family residence is at 1823 Prairie avenue. Besides having a leading identification with the professional organizations mentioned Mr. Dent belongs to the Union League, Chicago Literary and Twentieth
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Century clubs. In view of his pioneer citizenship he has always been deeply interested in the successful efforts being made by the Chicago Historical Society to preserve interesting and valuable documents and memorials connected with the great events of the city and the north- west. Of that organization he is now vice president, and has con- tributed valuable papers to the literature which it encourages and collects.
John Rush Newcomer, a judge of the municipal court and well known as father of the Juvenile Court Law of Chicago, and for his
JOHN R. connection with the state's attorney's office, is a na-
NEWCOMER.
tive of the Keystone state, born on the IIth of
August, 1863, in the town of Quincy. His parents were Dr. John and Catherine Newcomer, his mother being also a native of that place, where she was married to Dr. Newcomer in 1855. During their residence there they were both prominent in the work of caring for wounded soldiers, as they were located in the fighting zone of the Civil war. Soon after its close, when John R. was about two years of age, they located at Mount Morris, Illinois, where the boy was raised upon a farm and attended the country school. The husband died in 1872, leaving the widow and four small children. Those of the latter who survive are Dr. J. S. New- comer, of Geddes, South Dakota, and Judge John R. Newcomer. The sister, Bertha, died in Chicago in 1896 and the other brother, Harvey L., was killed by the cars in 1884 at Leaf River, Illinois: Mrs. Catherine Newcomer, the mother, who spent the last days of her life with the Judge in Chicago, died in May, 1907, at the age of sixty-eight years, the remains being taken to Leaf River for burial.
After finishing a high school course, Judge Newcomer entered the Teachers' Training School at Oregon, Illinois, and then taught for a number of years, returning to the prosecution of his higher studies at Jennings Seminary, Aurora, Illinois, from which he gradu- ated in 1887. He received his professional education at the Univer- sity of Michigan, graduating from its law department in 1891 and dating his practice from December of that year. Shortly afterward he formed a partnership with William H. Dellenback, under the firm name of Newcomer and Dellenback, which continued until 1900. He had already served one term in the legislature, being elected in 1898,
John Pnewcomer
THENEWYORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
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THENEWYORK TUELIC LIBRARY
ISTOR, LENAX MID ILDEN PO 'NO TO .
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Рах. Н. Дергеех
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and while there he introduced, championed and finally succeeded in having passed, on the last night of the last day of the session, the Juvenile Court Bill, the first measure of the kind to become a law in the United States. This was the culmination of a long period of tireless, able and disinterested work commenced long before his elec- tion, and as Judge Newcomer's sole object in becoming a member of the legislature was to endeavor to pass such a law he may be par- doned a mingled feeling of pride and deep satisfaction at what has been accomplished by it in this city. At the present time about twenty states have incorporated legislation into their laws which is largely based upon the bill which owes its existence in great measure to the persistency and wisdom of Judge Newcomer.
In December, 1899, Governor Deneen appointed Judge New- comer assistant state's attorney, and five years later John J. Healy. the head of the department, named him for the same position. He was in court as one of the trial lawyers of that office constantly for more than seven years. Many important and difficult cases were successfully handled by him, and his record there materially assisted him in his election to the municipal judgeship
Joseph Holton Defrees, senior member of the law firm of Defrees, Brace and Ritter, of Chicago, was born in Goshen, Indiana, April 10, 1858. His ancestors were French Huguenots who
JOSEPH H. DEFREES. came to this country prior to the war of 1812, in which conflict the family was represented. His parents were James Mckinney and Victoria ( Holton) Defrees. They died during the childhood of their son Joseph, who was, accordingly, reared by his grandfather, Joseph H. Defrees, a prominent citizen of Indiana and member of Congress from the state during the recon- struction period. His brother, John D. Defrees, was the founder of the Indianapolis Journal and was public printer under Presidents Lincoln, Grant and Hayes.
Having laid his educational foundation in the public schools of his native state, Mr. Defrees continued his studies in Earlham College, at Richmond, Indiana, and later in Northwestern University, at Evans- ton. At the age of eighteen becoming a law student in the office of Baker and Mitchell, at Goshen, Indiana,-for many years the most prominent law firm in northern Indiana,-upon the election of Mr.
Vol. II-4
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Mitchell to the state supreme bench, Mr. Defrees became a partner of Mr. Baker, under the firm name of Baker and Defrees, while later the firm became Baker, Defrees and Baker.
In 1888 Mr. Defrees came to Chicago, where he has made a speci- alty of corporation and real estate law and gained a large clientele in these lines. He was a member of the firm of Shuman and Defrees, later with Aldrich, Payne and Defrees and now senior member of Defrees, Brace and Ritter. Mr. Defrees has been a practicing lawyer since he was twenty-two years old, and industry and ability have given him high professional rank.
Mr. Defrees married, October 4, 1882, Miss Harriet McNaughton, of Buffalo, New York. Donald Defrees, their one child, born in 1885, attended Princeton-Yale school at Chicago, the St. Paul school at Concord, New Hampshire, and after graduating from Yale University in the class of 1905, entered Harvard Law School.
Mr. Defrees is a member of the Union League, Hamilton, City, Law and Chicago Clubs, Midlothian Country Club, and the Chicago Bar Association. He is an earnest Republican, but not active for political honors.
Kenesaw M. Landis, United States judge for the Northern Dis- trict of Illinois, was born in Millville, Ohio, November 20, 1866, and is, therefore, one of the youngest members of the
KENESAW M. LANDIS.
federal bench. His boyhood, youth and early man-
hood were spent in Indiana to which state the family removed in 1876. Judge Landis completed his law studies at the Union College of Law, Chicago, from which he graduated and was admitted to the bar in 1891. Two years later he received the ap- pointment of private secretary'to Judge Walter Q. Gresham, who had been named by President Cleveland as his secretary of state, and held that position until 1895. Mr. Landis then returned to Chicago and resumed the practice of his profession, which he continued until his elevation to the bench of the United States district court in March, 1905. The most famous cases which have come before him for adjudication are those which the government brought against the Standard Oil Company. Judge Landis imposed fines aggregating $29,240,000. His action was reversed by the higher court. and the appeal of the government from such reversal is now (October, 1908) about to be ruled upon by the court of appeals.
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It has always been a disputed question, how far temperament goes in the determination of personal destiny; but it is an accepted fact
CHRISTIAN C. that where education, training and experience run KOHLSAAT. parallel with individual inclination, the combination is irresistible in its impetus. Neither does it require keen observation to recognize intellectual temperament, when the general personality is large and strong. For years before Christian C. Kohlsaat commenced his ascent from bench to bench, it was gen- erally admitted both by his fellow practitioners and the judges before whom he conducted his cases, that although successful as an advo- cate he was even more eminent as a counselor-that he possessed in a marked degree the judicial temperament.
The present occupant of the United States circuit bench is a na- tive of the state which he has honored, being born near Albion, Ed- wards county, Illinois, January 8, 1844. He laid the groundwork of his literary and professional education in the public schools and academy at Galena, that state, and subsequently became a student in the University of Chicago. His degree of LL. D. he received from the Illinois College. While engaged in his legal studies he became a law reporter for the Chicago Evening Journal, and after his admis- sion to the bar acted as minute clerk of the county court. Judge Kohlsaat was admitted to practice in 1867, and at once assumed a good standing among his fellow attorneys. In 1880 he was appointed a member of the board of west park commissioners, serving thus for six years, or until January, 1890, when he was selected by Governor Fifer as probate judge of Cook county to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Knickerbocker. In the same year he was elected to that bench, and re-elected in 1894 and 1898. In 1899 he resigned the pro- bate judgeship, only to accept his appointment to the United States district bench for the northern district of Illinois, which he filled with ability, impartiality and dignity from February 28, 1899, until March. 1905. At the latter date he assumed his present duties as judge of the United States circuit court, and in the prompt and wise perform- ance of them he has demonstrated that he is equal to the responsi- bilities of any judicial elevation which may come to him.
Aside from his judicial functions, Judge Kohlsaat has an active identification with important charitable and educational institutions. He is a trustee of the Y. M. C. A. and president of the boards of trus-
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tees of both the Lewis Institute and the Mary Thompson Hospital for Women and Children. His social membership embraces the Un- ion League Club (of which he was president in 1896), and the Chi- cago, Athletic and Illinois clubs. Married in June, 1871, to Miss Frances S. Smith, he has become the father of four children, and his domestic life is in keeping with his upright and kindly character.
Not a few lawyers of foreign birth have attained very high stand- ing in Chicago, both as attorneys and jurists, and among them none have obtained greater eminence than Axel
AXEL Chytraus, present judge of the superior court, who
CHYTRAUS. has been an incumbent of that bench since his first election in November, 1898. He was born in the province of Werm- land, Sweden, son of Gustav E. and Maria (Johnson) Chytraus, on the 15th of September, 1859. On the paternal side the ancestral line is traced to the fourteenth century, beginning in Germany and em- bracing several noted theologians. Later, it was established in Swe- den, the family numbering not a few well-known civil engineers.
Judge Chytraus came to Chicago with his parents when he was ten years of age, and had, therefore, received some schooling in Swe- den. He finished his education preliminary to his professional train- ing in the public schools of this city, and as he has never enjoyed a collegiate education, his rapid progress in his calling is all the more remarkable. At the age of thirteen he entered the office of Howe and Russell as an all-around boy, and there he remained engaged in work and subsequent study until about a year before his admission to the bar. After the death of F. S. Howe he remained for some time with the surviving partner, E. W. Russell, and in 1880 left his employ and became connected with the office of Francis Lackner. Upon his ad- mission to the bar November 7, 1881, he formed a partnership with Mr. Lackner's brother-in-law, George F. Blanke, under the firm name of Blanke and Chytraus, this connection continuing for a number of years prior to the admission of Charles S. Deneen into the business. The firm of Blanke, Chytraus and Deneen was dissolved upon the election of Mr. Blanke to the bench of the superior court in 1893, and the partnership of Chytraus and Deneen until the elevation of the former to the superior judgeship in November, 1898. In the mean- time Mr. Deneen had been elected state's attorney, and since, gov- ernor of the state. Judge Chytraus's record was so unimpeachable
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