History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 62

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875

USA > Illinois > Cook County > History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time > Part 62

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FIRST MURDER TRIAL .- In the fall of 1834, in an unfinished store, about twenty feet by forty, on Dear- born Street, between Lake and Water, another term of the Circuit Court was held by Judge Young. It was his last term here as Circuit Judge, and the last in Chi- cago, while Cook County remained within the Fifth Judicial Circuit. It is memorable for trying the first murder case in Chicago, and yet more for the resulting

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acquittal. An Irishman was arraigned for killing his wife; and his lawyer, James H. Collins, succeeded in getting Judge Young to instruct the jury that if they could not find him guilty of murder, as indicted, it was their duty to acquit, which they did. They were in- clined to bring a verdict of manslaughter, as there were circumstances which put the crime out of the grade of murder, but were misled by the instructions of the court and the wiles of the lawyer.

THE CIRCUIT-RIDERS OF THE LAW,-From 1831 to 1834, and indeed for several years afterward, a consid- erable part of the pleading and other law business of Cook County was done by the cirenit-riders of the pro- fession, of whom a few habitually accompanied the Judge from one county-seat to another, over the then sparsely-settled section of northern Illinois. They were residents of Galena, Peoria, Quincy, or other dis- tant points. The riding was on horseback, or by stage, buggy or wagon, over unimproved roads, running at intervals through miry swamps that were rendered pass- able only by the " corduroy " logs and saplings, loosely laid in the uncertain, yielding roadway, and across swollen streams unprovided with bridges.

"The practice of riding the circuit in those early days," says Judge Goodrich, " while it may be regarded as the knight-errantry of the profession, was an admi- rable training school to make ready and skillful prac-

titioners. The want of books compelled reliance upon reason and leading principles. I doubt if a class of lawyers can be found anywhere, as ready and skillful special pleaders as the early practitioners upon the country circuits."

What could not conveniently be determined by au- thority had to be decided by the processes of individual reason. The elementary books and the comprehensive principles of general law formed a solid foundation; and the superstructure was largely their own reflections and deductions, all the more available and serviceable as the tools of their craft, because fashioned by each one for himself. The result was a body of lawyers, with powers of discrimination well developed, always ready to give an account of the knowledge that was in them, not in their books.

A few years later the traveling members of the Chi- cago Bar had similar experiences in their semi-annual journeyings to the United States courts at Springfield, or to such county courts in the interior as business called them to attend.

" I have known the trip to Springfield," says Mr. Arnold, "to take five days and nights, dragging dreari-

Isaac N. Arnold

ly through the mud and sleet; and there was an amount of discomfort, vexation and annoyance about it. sufficient to exhaust the patience of the most amia- ble. But the June journey was as agrecable as the December trip was repulsive. A four-in-hand, with

splendid horses, the best of Troy coaches, good com- pany, the exhilaration of great speed over an elastic road, much of it a turf of grass, often crushing under our wheels the most beautiful wild flowers; every grove fragrant with blossoms, framed in the richest green; our roads not fenced in by narrow lanes, but with freedom to choose our route; here and there a picturesque log cabin, covered with vines; boys and girls on their way to the log schools, and the lusty farmer digging his fortune out of the rich earth. Everything fresh and new, full of young life and enthusiasm, these June trips to Springfield would, I think. compare favorably even with those we make to-day in a luxurious Pullman car .* But there were exceptions to these enjoyments. Some- times torrents of rain would, in a few hours, so swell the stream that the log bridges and banks would be entirely submerged, and a stream, which a few hours before was nearly dry, became a foaming torrent. Ford- ing at such times was never agreeable, and was some- times a little dangerous."

"The judge," says Mr. Arnold,* " usually sat upon a raised platform, with a pine or white wood board on which to write his notes. A small table on one side for the clerk, and around which were grouped the law- yers, too often, I must admit, with their feet on top of it. * * * There was, in those days, great freedom in social intercourse; manners were at times rude, but genial, kind, and friendly. Each was ready to assist his fellow; and as none were rich, there was little envy or jealousy. The relations between the Bench and Bar were free and easy; and flashes of wit and humor and per- sonal repartee were constantly passing from one to an- other. The court-rooms in those days were always crowded. At court were rehearsed and enacted the drama, the tragedy, and comedy of real life. The court-room answered for the theater, concert-hall, and opera of the older settlements. The judges and law- yers were the stars; and wit and humor, pathos and eloquence always had appreciative audiences. The leading advocates had their partisans, personal and political, and the merits of cach were canvassed in every cabin, school-house, and at every horse race, bee, and raising."

THE EARLY BAR .- At the close of 1834, while Chi- cago was still in the Fifth Circuit, the resident lawyers. though not yet formally associated as a Bar, had begun to assume respectable proportions. While the population was estimated all the way from four hundred to twelve hundred, the lawyers already numbered eleven-Hea- cock, Hamilton, Spring, Caton, Casey, Fullerton, Collins, James Grant, Grant Goodrich, Moore, and Morris. It is remarkable that so many of these should have risen to distinction, five having reached the Bench, and all having attained a respectable standing in the profes- sion, and as public-spirited citizens in civil life, noted for intelligence, integrity, and varied substantial service to the young and struggling' community. To none of them has there attached any taint of professional mis- conduct or neglect of duty, no venality as judge, or betrayal of client's interest as lawyer. The first two have already been noticed among the early settlers; and this is a fitting place to introduce such of the others as have passed away from earth, or removed from Chicago. Two members of the Bar of 1834, Judges Caton and Goodrich, still survive as honored citizens, and their lives will be sketched in a later volume. The only representative of the Bench of Chicago at this period was Judge Young.

. " Reminiscences of the Illinois Bar, Forty Years Ago."

+ " Recollections of the Early Illinois and Chicago Bar," by Hon. I. N. Arnold.

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RICHARD M. YOUNG, the first Circuit Judge who held court in Chicago, was born in Kentucky toward the close of the last century. He emigrated early into southern Illinois, residing at Jonesboro, Union County, before as well as after the organization of that county in 1818. He was admitted to the Bar September 28, 1817 ; and he represented Union County in the Second General Assembly, 1820-22. By an act approved De- cember 29, 1824, the State was divided into five judicial circuits, and he was commissioned Judge of the Third, January 19, 1825. This act was repealed January 12, 1827, and all judicial functions again devolved on the Chief Justice and the three Associate Justices of the

R. M. Young

Supreme Court, which abrogated Judge Young's office. Accordingly we find that "An act for the relief of Richard M. Young "-the payment probably of salary balance-was introduced in the Legislature Jan- uary 11, 1827, and approved the 2zd, by which 858.40 were appropriated for that purpose. And it was en- acted February 17, 1827, that he be paid "four State paper dollars a day " for sixteen days' service as clerk to an important committee of the House. In 1828 he was presidential elector on the Democratic ticket. By the judiciary act of January 8, 1829, a Fifth Circuit was created to include all that portion of the State lying north of the Illinois River ; and Mr. Young was chosen its judge on the 12th, and commissioned on the 23d. About that time he removed to Quincy, within his judi- cial district. His duties were arduous, not so much for the volume of business to be done in any particular county, as for the number of counties he had to serve, the dis- tance apart of the several county seats, and the absence of modern conveniences for traveling. He was in active correspondence with Governor Reynolds in April, 1832, in reference to the disturbed condition of north- ern Illinois, and urged the necessity of speedy and effective protection of the northern frontier against the Indians in the Black Hawk War. In the impeachment trial of Judge Theophilus W. Smith before the State Senate in the session of 1832-33, Judge Young was as- sociated with the future Judges Breese and Ford, for the defense. He held the earliest terms of the Circuit Court in Chicago. By an act approved January 7. 1835, a Sixth Circuit was established which included Cook County, and Judge Young had no further occa- sion to ride his blooded Kentucky horse to distant Chi- cago, though there still remained ample exercise for his equestrian skill within the Fifth Circuit. At the ses- sion of the General Assembly in 1836-37, Judge Young was put in nomination for United States Senator, and elected over five competitors, December 14, 1836, for the full term, 1837-43. Hle resigned the judicial office January 2, and took his seat as Senator Septem- ber 4, 1837. During his senatorial term he seldom made speeches, but was always ready to enforce a point or defend a principle in the interest of his constituents, such as the establishment of new post routes, the advo- cacy of pre-emption laws and the support of internal improvement measures. He was quite active and watch- ful on all questions likely to affect the State of Illinois; and his counsels were not without influence at home in directing the policy of the State toward the payment

of its debt. February 1, 1841, in his place in the Sen- ate, he said : "The march of Illinois is forward ; and if her legislative guardians at home shall promptly dis- charge their duty in the preservation of her credit at home and abroad, who cannot foretell that her destiny is no less than that of an empire State ?" And, on the question of internal improvements he thus defined his position on the 26th of the same month: "I am willing to promote the interests of the West and South, the East and North, but I wish them to go hand in hand. Let them all go together !" With ex-Gov- ernor Reynolds, he had been appointed State agent by Governor Carlan in 1839 to negotiate the sale of State bonds, with a view to push forward the internal im- provements so ardently desired by the people of Illinois. He made a journey to Europe for that purpose, but he failed in his financial mission and returned to the dis- charge of his duties as Senator. Failing of re-election to the Senate, he was chosen an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, January 14, 1843, and commissioned February 4th. He held the office until January 25, 1847, when he resigned. During this period he fre- quently held court in Chicago, and was favorably re- garded by the Bar as well as by the Press and people. In 1847, he was appointed commissioner of the general land office, succeeding General Shields, and being suc- ceeded by Justin Butterfield, June 21, 1849. In 1850-51, he was clerk of the House of Representatives at Wash- ington. " For a number of years before his death," says Ballance,* he was a claim agent in Washington City. But for some time before his death he was con- fined in an asylum for maniacs. * * If the

story is true, he passed away many a day and night in a dungeon, under the torturing hands of fiends in human shape, in the great capital of the Nation ; and yet for a long tinte so secretly, that a brother living in that city had no suspicion of it." Physically Judge Young was a tall, fine-looking man, large of stature and of dignified and attractive bearing. His intel- lectual ability was equal to filling any office respecta- bly, although not with eclat, and coupled with his in- dustrious and methodical habits made his legal and po- litical attainments above the average of his day and his opportunities. His manners were gentle, courteons and entertaining: his feelings generous and sympathetic; his disposition amiable and unaggressive; and altogether he was eminently fitted to win and retain popular favor. His more able associates were often distanced when they became his competitors; although he never reached the highest position as a lawyer, judge or senator, he always commanded the respect and confidence of his constituents and the public. Of excellent personal habits and refined tastes, whatever he may have lacked in brilliancy was amply compensated for by his steady attention to duty, and his carnest purpose to promote the prosperity of the State. He had two daughters, of whom the elder, Matikla, was married at Washington, to R. A. Matthews, of Georgia, July 29. 1852.

GILES SPRING was born about 1807. in Massachu- setts, whence he emigrated when a young man to the " Western Reserve" in Ohio. Having studied law at Ashtabula under the firm of Giddings & Wade-the historic Benjamin F. Wade and Joshua P. Giddings-he removed to Chicago in June, 1833. Here he practiced his profession until raised to the Bench, sixteen years later. Judge Caton thus refers to those early days : "Clients were scarce, but as there were but two of us to do the business the only rivalry between us was as to who could must zealously serve his client, with the

· History of Peoria, p. 64.

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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY.

greatest courtesy and kindness to each other." The Justices of the Supreme Court did circuit duty in those days, and exclusively in the portion of the State south and east of the Illinois River. When, therefore, a young lawyer desired a license, it became necessary to make a pilgrimage to one or two southern county-seats and be examined by two Justices, and thus get authority to practice. It was not until January 24. 1835,* that Mr. Spring was entered on the records of the Supreme Court as licensed, though he advertised location as a lawyer in the fourth number of the Chicago Democrat, December 17, 1833. He had, however. been admitted to the Bar in Ohio, and only required to have his papers sent forward for record. He early obtained a good share of the Circuit Court as well as Justice Court prac- tice; and was generally on one side or the other of all the more important early cases. In February, 1836, he formed a partnership with Grant Goodrich, which con- tinued until his election to the Bench. By a rather singular coincidence the partners wedded life-partners on the same day, Sunday, July 24, 1836, at Westfield, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., Miss Levantia Budlong be- coming Mrs. Spring. In the winter of 1836-37, Mr. Spring was in Vandalia, prosecuting the case of Har. rington z's Hubbard before the Supreme Court. This was the first important land case in this county, involv- ing the title to the south forty-seven acres in what was called the Harrington tract in Section 32. It was specially important to Mr. Spring, because being paid with about a dozen acres of that land, it laid the foun- dation of his modest fortune. Mr. Spring was a prom- inent Whig, and for years at every convention received the nomination to the best of offices, and being person- ally popular always ran ahead of his ticket. In the spring of 1843 he was the Wbig candidate for represent- ative in Congress of the Chicago district, against the Democratic nominee, John Wentworth, whom he beat in the city by fifty-one votes, only to be overwhelmed in the district by a majority of one thousand six hundred and twenty-one for his opponent. Had his party not been in a condition of chronic minority, he would doubtless have attained to high political preferment; but it would probably have added nothing to his fame; for he was essentially a better lawyer than politician. In 1848 he was chosen City Attorney, and was a delegate to the Free-Soit convention of that year in Buffalo. In 1849 he was elected Judge of Cook County Court of common pleas, and held the office until his premature death, May 15, 1851, Several of his contemporaries have borne witness to his merits as a lawyer, Judge and citizen, all agreeing, with varied phraseology, in the fol- lowing tribute by his former partner, Judge Goodrich, delivered thirty-two years afterward before the Chicago Historical Society :

"Spring was a phenomenon, a natural born lawyer. His education was quite limited, and he paid little re- spect to the rules of grammar ; yet he could present a point of law to the court, and argue the facts of a case to the jury with a clearness and force seldom equaled. He seemed sometimes to have an intuitive knowledge of the law, and mastery of its profoundest and most subtle principles. His brain worked with the rapidity of lightning, and with the force of an engine. In argu- ment he possessed a keenness of analysis, a force of compact, crushing logic which bore down all opposition. His language though sometimes homely was always forcible and strongly expressive of his thought. He was firm in attack but not often offensive. But his most

· There is often an Interval of months, and sometimes of years, between the date of actual license to practice and that ol record on the rolls of the Su- preme Court.

astonishing powers were exhibited when some new question arose in the progress of a trial. However sud. denly it might be sprung, and however grave or ab- struse in character, he would instantly and seemingly by a flash of intuition, grasp it with a skill and mastery of legal learning which seemed possible only to the most skilled preparation. His resources appeared exhaust- less. * * It would be misleading to assume that these rare powers were the mere flashes of genius or intui- tion, for few men studied their cases, or the law involved in them, with more careful assiduity. His memory fas marvelous ; his discrimination searching and accurate. His method of studying a case made him complete master of all the law applicable and kindred to it, the reasons upon which it was based, and all the distinctions to be observed. He first consulted the elementary books, and made up his mind what the law ought to be, and then studied the cases in which the principles had been applied. Though he was not an orator. yet before a jury he rarely failed to carry them with him, in a case of anything like even chances. It was, however, in the argument of legal questions before the court, where his comprehensive knowledge of the principles of law, his clear sledge hammer logic, and his wonderful mental endowments shone most conspicuous. * * * * He was devoted to his clients and honorable in his practice, respected and admired by his professional brethren. As a Judge he was scrupulously impartial, upright and able. In some of his decisions, his genius and legal learning burst out in opinions so luminous and profound as to extort the admiration of the Bar. * * * His faults were of that character which excited commiseration, while they did not destroy admiration for his virtues. He died I believe without an enemy. Colonel Linder, in his 'Reminiscences' says of him, and surviving con- temporaries confrin the testimony -. He was a man of childlike simplicity of manners, as tender-bearted as a wonran, and would have stepped aside to keep from treading on a worm.' He was, unfortunately, a victim to the free use of intoxicating liquors, which exercised upon him a peculiarly baleful influence, besides some- times interfering with bis official duties .* He regarded himself as inextricably involved in the toils of his evil habit, and bewailed his misfortune, apparently uncon- scious of his power to remove it. He died at the age of forty-four, many years being lost of a life otherwise useful-another instance of the disastrous results of stimulating a brain and nervous system that were much better when left to more natural invigorants."

EDWARD W. CASEY, a native of New Hampshire, was in the order of arrival the fifth member of the Chi- cago Bar, and was deputy to R. J. Hamilton in 1833- He acted as secretary to him in his capacity of school commissioner at the sale of school lots, October 20 to 25, 1833. Early in the next year his literary, legal and clerical powers were brought into requisition by his townsmen in drafting a petition to the Postmaster- General, asking better mail facilities for the uneasy little town on the Chicago River, which even then was unwilling to be ignored, and eager "to push things. Mr. Casey was appointed corporation attorney August 18, and its clerk and collector December 19, 1834. His name appears on the Supreme Court register of lawyers licensed to practice, under date of January 7, 1835. It was while acting as attorney for the town that he prose- cuted Richard Harper for vagrancy. The personal habits of the lawyer furnished occasion to the accused to make the demurrer, whether one vagrant could law-

. "*Court Is adjourned from day to day " says the Chicago Democrat of February 9, 1839, " by a spree of Judge Spring."

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fully prosecute another. Mr. Casey formed a partner- ship with Buckner S. Morris August 7, 1835, and was clected Justice of the Peace two days latter, but does not appear to have served long in that capacity. That Morris & Casey did a fair share of the law business of the period may be inferred from the frequency with wl.ich their names recur in the scant records of those early years. Mr. Casey took an active part in the meet- ings and deliberations of November, 1836, which led to the petition for a city charter. The firm was dissolved on of before December 1, 1836, and Mr. Casey con- tinued to practice here alone until some time in 1838, when his friends induced him to return East. In those early days the excessive use of liquor was almost uni- versal. Here and there a professional man stood aloof from the mad whirl of excitement, but a large propor- tion of the young and brainy fell victims to the spirit of the times in their personal habits. Among them was Mr. Casey, whose life, however, happily teaches an im- portant lesson in this regard. For no sooner had he broken with the associations of the frontier, and with- drawn to the parer atmosphere of a New England farm, than he corrected those mistakes of immature life and became a respectable and self controlled citizen. In the 2 Scam. he is said to have been residing at Con- cord, New Hampshire, in 1841, and in the Times of - October 3, 1875, at Newburyport, Mass. "He was," says Judge Goodrich, "a thorough lawyer, a fine scholar a most amiable man, and a polished gentleman. Though he had acquired a good practice and had before him the highest promise of professional success, he abandoned his profession, returned to his Eastern home, and en- gaged in farming."

JAMES GRANT, born in North Carolina, December 12, 1812, was the sixth member of the Chicago Bar, was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of Illinois, March 26, 1834, and arrived here "on the 23d of April" of that year. He was appointed State's Attorney, Jan-

James Grant ,

uary 1, 1835. As early as January 30, 1836, he repre- sented large real estate interests here, advertising for sale at that date 7,000 acres at the terminus of the Illi- nois & Michigan Canal, which belonged to Arthur Bronson of New York. About March 30, 1836, he formed a law partnership with Francis Peyton, and the firm, Grant & Peyton, continued until 1838. Mr. Grant removed to lowa in 1839, where he rose to the position of Judge, and where he still survives, at Davenport, an honor to the Bar and Bench of two great States. Of late years he makes an annual pilgrimage to Chicago, to the reception of old settlers by the Calumet Club ; but the fuller history of his life belongs to the State of his later adoption.

ALEXANDER N. FULLERTON was a native of Ver- mont, and there admitted to the Bar, arrived here be- tween July and November, 1833, but nothing is known of his pursuits until 1835. Early in June of that year he was in partnership with Grant Goodrich ; on the 19th he became a member of the first board of health, and three weeks later was appointed clerk of the board of Town Trustees. The firm of Fullerton & Goodrich was dissolved February 22, 1836, and after a year or two of little more than nominal connection with the profession, he finally drifted into commercial business, and was as

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History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 62

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas Number of Pages: 875

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875