USA > Illinois > Cook County > History of Cook County, Illinois : being a general survey of Cook County history, including a condensed history of Chicago and special account of districts outside the city limits : from the earliest settlement to the present time, volume II > Part 22
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In March, 1849, James H. Woodworth, elected mayor for a sec- ond term that year, suggested to the council the expediency of es- tablishing "The Mayor's court." The reasons set forth were sub- stantially that Chicago, being on the high-road between the East and West, a class of citizens found their way here who had no regard for the rights of property or the precepts of the law, and that such a condition called for a well regulated police force and court for the arrest and trial of violators of the ordinances. In accordance with this suggestion, the court was established and opened on April 26, 1849, under authority given in the charter. In 1851 this court fell into disuse, during the administration of Mayor Gurnee, but was revived in April. 1853, by Mayor Charles M. Gray, who had a room fitted up in the southeast corner of the courthouse. It is said that next to the old municipal court, the mayor's court was the most useful and best administered ever known in Chicago. The incumbent of the office made it a point to be just in all cases, and there were very few instances recorded where his decisions were reversed. The business of the court was carried on in a business-like way, for the mayor, personally and officially, en- forced a strict observance of judicial forms and would not tolerate the indecent language or ugly customs heard or followed in the other courts of the period.
The Recorder's court was established under the act of February 12, 1853, with the same civil and criminal jurisdiction as the Circuit court, except treason and murder, and cases where the amount in- volved exceeded $100. Robert S. Wilson was the first judge and, though his qualifications were questioned, after holding the position for almost a year, the Supreme court decided that his election and
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his service were valid. The Recorder's court disappeared many years ago, when its business was apportioned between the newer courts. Philip A. Hoyne, famous in later years as United States commissioner, was the first clerk. During the first two years of its existence there were 753 indictments disposed of and 140 criminals sentenced, while only one of its judgments was reversed. In 1855 the men indicted for participating in the beer riots of April 21 were tried. Three days were given to finding a jury and, this accom- plished, the so-called rioters were tried in a bunch, and on June 30 all except two were held not guilty. The act of the jury was set aside on July 11, 1855, when Judge Wilson granted the two men a new trial, believing, with the decent majority, that if they had any interest in the riot at all beyond that of curiosity they were the least guilty of all the men indicted. The second trial never took place, but the jury farce was looked upon so lightly that no attempts were made to abolish it, with that court in which the jurors displayed such blind ignorance and want of sympathy for exact justice and in which two innocent men were sentenced to short terms in the peni- tentiary. In April, 1862, Evert Van Buren succeeded Robert S. Wilson as judge and served until 1868, when William K. McAllister was commissioned, and served until the court ceased to exist, under the Constitution of 1870.
The Recorder's court was really abolished in 1870 by Section 26, Article VI of the Constitution, which merged it into "The Criminal court of Cook county"-a court without civil jurisdiction. The terms of the new court were to be held by one or more judges of the Circuit or Superior courts of Cook county, and such judges were ex-officio judges of the Criminal court.
In 1832, when General Scott arrived at Chicago, Dr. E. D. Har- mon was acting post surgeon and was physician for the settlement. He refused to obey the order of the general to confine his practice to the soldiers, but of this disagreement the military law did not take notice. This was the first attempt to regulate the practice of medicine at Chicago.
In June, 1834, a laborer, returning drunk to his cabin here, beat his wife so that she died from its effects. An autopsy was held by Doctors Harmon, Temple, Egan, Boyer, Maxwell, Turner, Vander Bogart, Clarke, Eldridge and Kimberly, the first held here under American law and the first referred to in history. The medical men reported that death was the direct result of the blows inflicted by the woman's husband, but owing to the circumstances surround- ing the case and the fact that the prisoner was indicted for murder, rather than for manslaughter, the murderer escaped the penalty due to his crime. .
. The laws of Illinois on medicine and surgery are few and simple. The act of March 9, 1819, for the establishment of medical societies, with power to examine applicants, was found too stringent and was
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repealed January 3, 1821. In January, 1825, an act prescribing the mode of licensing physicians was approved, but that, too, was de- clared oppressive, and its repeal was recorded January 25, 1826. For almost forty-five years the profession in Illinois was in the con- dition in which the profession is found to-day in Ohio. The quali- fications for practice were nominal, so that anyone who pretended to understand the value of drugs or herbs could practice at will. In 1835 Dr. W. G. Austin advertised the fact that he had vegetable medicines for sale and practiced the botanic healing art, "which is not connected by ties of consanguinity to the Thompsonian system." The organization of the State Board of Health in 1871 and the act of 1872 led the way for the more thorough legislation adopted in the act of May 29, 1877, the act of June 26, 1885, and of June 16, 1887. The only case of importance carried to the higher courts under the act of 1877 was that of Chicago vs. Honey, reported in 10 Ill. App. (10 Brad.), 535. The decision simply denied to phy- sicians who did not possess genuine diplomas and the certificates of the State Board of Health power to recover fees for services as phy- sicians and surgeons. It is also denied to their patients or the heirs of their patients power to recover moneys paid as fees to such phy- sicians or surgeons. The act of June 16, 1887, regulating the prac- tice of medicine, gave a certain protection to legitimate physicians against the wiles of the mountebank and quack. The case of the People vs. Blue Mountain Joe, reported in 129 I11., 370, resulted in a declaration that the act was constitutional and that fraud, decep- tion, charlatanry and quackery in the practice of medicine clearly fall within its prohibition and subject the illegitimate medicine man to punishment.
In 1891 real estate men in Chicago became interested in the Torrens or Australian method of transferring land titles, and chiefly at their instigation a joint resolution passed the Thirty-seventh Gen- eral Assembly providing for the appointment of a commission "to make investigation of the present system of transferring land titles and to consider whether a more simple, expeditious and inexpensive system and one that will give greater security of title cannot be adopted, and especially to inquire into the practical workings of what is known as the Australian or Torrens system of registration of titles, and whether it can be adapted to the Constitution and laws of the State." Upon that commission were appointed, by Governor Fifer, the late ex-Attorney-General James K. Edsall, Willis G. Jackson, George W. Prince, Frank H. Jones, and Theodore Shel- don. The place of General Edsall on his death was filled by the ap- pointment of Harvey B. Hurd. In December, 1893, the commis- sion laid before the Governor a somewhat extended report. con- cluding with a recommendation that the essential features of the Torrens system be adopted and used in this State, and to that end a draft of a bill for the adoption in this State of the system of regis- tration of land titles accompanied the report.
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The bill so prepared received an unusually full discussion by the Thirty-eighth General Assembly. It passed the Senate by a vote of 28 to 4, but failed to pass the House of Representatives, receiving seven votes less than the necessary majority.
Much interest in the subject was awakened by the meetings of the World's Real Estate congress held in 1893 under the auspices of the World's Fair Auxiliary, at which the Torrens system was made the central point of deliberation.
In January, 1895, the bill prepared by the commission was again introduced in the Senate and House of Representatives, and with some slight amendments passed the former by a vote of 32 to 3 and the latter by a vote of 105 to 20. It received the approval of the Governor and took effect July 1, 1895. As enacted the law provides for its ratification before use by the people of each county. In Cook county such ratification was had at a general election held in November, 1895, and the measure met with a practically unanimous vote in favor of its adoption. The requisite steps were taken by the recorder of Cook county to put the system into practical operation. A fair trial of the new method soon determined all questions as to its efficacy. This system has been used with marked success in South Australia since 1858. Queensland adopted it in 1861, Vic- toria and New South Wales in 1862, Tasmania in 1863, New Zea- land and British Columbia in 1870, Western Australia in 1874, Eng- land in 1875, Manitoba in 1883, and Ontario in 1884. The Prussian land law of 1872 proceeds upon the same principle. Wherever it has been tried it has proved most satisfactory.
In Chicago the law of "liability over" slumbered after 1857 when the city instituted suit in the Court of Common Pleas of Cook county against one Robbins, which case was transferred to the United States Circuit court and thence to the United States Supreme court, wherein the action of the municipality was sustained.
Prosecution of personal injury litigation became a thriving in- dustry, and no reflection on the lawyers employed in the prosecu- tion of this class of cases is meant, for they did their duty as lawyers to their clients. But it is astonishing that the city did not resort to this form of protecion all these intervening years, and put a dam- per on the contractors, railway companies, property owners, and the like, who enjoyed special privileges from the municipality.
The law of "liability over" affords adequate remedy. It so ap- pealed to Edward J. Brundage upon his being inducted into the office of corporation counsel. He immediately assigned one of his assistants in the city attorney's office to the task of looking up the law, which was productive of the assistant submitting a very ex- haustive brief on the subject. A number of suits followed, the first one to come up for hearing being the City of Chicago vs. Scully Paving Co., a corporation, Municipal court No. 9790, tried before Judge Arnold Heap, resulting in a judgment for the city for
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1 $407.26, representing judgment costs and interest which the city had to pay in the suit of Richard Farrell against the city for in- juries sustained by reason of negligence of the said Scully Paving company in leaving Loomis street in disrepair without barricade or lights to guard against persons driving upon the dangerous street.
The limitation on actions "over" is five years, and the city is vig- orously prosecuting the collection of damages against the parties at fault. Alfred O. Erickson is the assistant city attorney who pre- pared the brief on "Liability Over," and he is in direct charge of this litigation for the municipality.
On the 29th day of November, 1884, eighteen gentlemen met at room 64, Honore building, 204 Dearborn street, pursuant to the fol- lowing notice :
"All members of the Chicago bar who practice patent law are requested to meet at the above office on Saturday next, November 29, at 2 p. m., to consider the advisability of organizing a Patent Bar association for Chicago and to consider another suggestion re- quiring, if any, immediate action. All attorneys-at-law who make patent litigation or soliciting a specialty of their practice are in- vited, and the recipient of this circular letter is requested to extend this invitation accordingly.
"GEORGE PAYSON, J. H. RAYMOND,
L. L. BOND, E. A. WEST,
L. L. COBURN, C. K. OFFIELD."
Mr. Payson was elected chairman, and, after a lengthy confer- ence, a committee, consisting of J. H. Raymond, W. G. Rainey, and John W. Munday, was appointed to further consider the matter and report at a subsequent meeting. On December 2, 1884, the committee reported that-
"Such an association, rightly conducted, would add to the dignity and reputation of this branch of the legal profession; would be instrumental in promoting the interests of its individual members and the professional and social relations which exist or should exist between them; in aiding reforms in the administration of the patent office; in assisting to make more definite, uniform, and convenient the rules of practice in the courts; in taking associate action to pre- vent unwise amendments to the patent law; in discussing such other matters hereafter to arise as may be of common interest, and in affording an example which will be followed by the organization, in other cities, of similar associations having like objects, the ac- tions of which, in connection with the proposed associations, will make national the higher standard and reputation, the amenities, the reforms, and the rules of practice referred to."
Pursuant to the recommendation of the committee, the chairman called a meeting to consider its report, which meeting was held on the 6th day of December, 1884, at the office of the Western Rail- way association. There were present at this meeting : George Pay-
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son, chairman; L. L. Bond, P. C. Dyrenforth, M. E. Dayton, J. W. Munday, C. C. Linthicum, J. H. Pierce, E. Banning, C. T. Brown, J. G. Elliott, J. M. Thatcher, H. S. Towle, T. E. Brown, Edmond Adcock, T. E. Banning, J. H. Raymond.
The report of the committee was considered at length, and several amendments made in the proposed articles of association. Messrs. Thatcher and Towle were added to the committee, and the report was recommitted to be revised in accordance with the amendments suggested.
At an adjourned meeting held on the 12th day of December, 1884, the committee reported back the articles of association and they were unanimously adopted. Those present at the meeting were : George Payson, chairman; J. H. Raymond, secretary ; J. H. Pierce, L. L. Bond, J. W. Munday, W. H. Dyrenforth, C. C. Linthicum, H. S. Towle, T. E. Brown, C. T. Brown, George R. Cutler, and E. Ban- ning.
The articles of association provided that the affairs of the asso- ciation should be directed by a board of seven managers, of which the president and secretary should be members ex-officio. Mr. L. L. Bond was elected president, Mr. J. H. Raymond secretary and treasurer, who, with E. Banning, M. E. Dayton, J. M. Thacher, H. S. Towle, and J. W. Munday, composed the first board of man- agers. The articles of association stated the objects of the associa- tion to be-
"Such associate action and social intercourse as shall aid reform in the administration of the patent office, to assist in making more definite, uniform, and convenient the rules of practice in the patent office and in the courts, to take associate action to prevent unwise amendments to the patent law, and to aid such reforms therein and salutary amendments thereto as may be deemed expedient, and to hold discussions concerning and to take action about such matters hereafter to arise as may be of common interest."
The articles of association as adopted made solicitors of patents and experts in patent causes, as well as attorneys-at-law who made patent law a specialty of their practice, eligible to membership.
During the first year of the existence of the association meetings were held monthly at the offices of the different members; but there- after this practice was abandoned, and the meetings were held quarterly at the down-town clubs. A banquet was made a feature of each meeting. The membership is $5 and the annual dues $10, and out of these proceeds all expenses of the association, including banquets, printing of papers read at its meetings, etc., are paid.
The Chicago Evening College of Law was organized in the fall of 1887. During the year of 1889, at the request of the trustees of the Lake Forest University, it became the law department at that institution. At this time it remodeled its course and organization and changed its name to the Chicago College of Law. Its sessions
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were held each weekday evening between the hours of 7 and 9 o'clock, its object being to give a large number of young men and women, qualified for the study of law but engaged in law offices, an opportunity to pursue a regular course of law studies under proper and competent instruction during the evening hours, and to obtain a legal education equal to that to be gained from institutions where the sessions are held during the day. The law office affords to the law student a practical drill that is indispensable and must sooner or later be secured. The objection to law schools that has been strongly urged in the past was that they taught the theory of the law, but gave little knowledge of the application of the principles in actual practice. This institution gave the student an opportunity to obtain a knowledge of the general routine of office and court work while attending law school, and in this manner combined to the fullest extent the theoretical and practical elements of a legal education Its curriculum was divided into two courses, consisting of an under-graduate course of two school years and the post-grad- uate course of one school year.
The Union College of Law was opened in the fall of 1859 as the law department of the first University of Chicago. The founda- tion of the school was due to the efforts of the Hon. Thomas Hoyne, who gave to the school an endowment of $5,000. At Metropolitan hall, on September 1, 1859, the Hon. Thomas Drummond presided at the dedicatory exercises of the law school and the late David Dudley Field delivered an address. The future of the school was foreshadowed by the distinguished orator of the occasion when he said that "whatever light is here kindled will shine through town- ship and village from the Allegheny to the Rocky mountains." But this prophetic vision failed to perceive that the influence of the - school would, before the close of the century, be wider even than he prophesied. There were but three law schools west of the Alle- gheny mountains at the time this school was founded. One of these was in Cincinnati, one at Louisville, and one at Lebanon, Tenn. The law department of the University of Michigan was established in the same year as this school.
In 1865 the board of trustees of the first University of Chicago granted to St. Mary's University the privilege of a partial participa- tion in the benefits of the law department. Of the exact nature and duration of this connection no record has been obtained. October 6, 1873, the law department of the University of Chicago passed under the joint patronage of the Chicago and of the Northwestern universities and assumed for the first time the name "Union Col- lege of Law." The law school continued under the joint manage- ment of the two universities until 1886, when the first University of Chicago suspended instruction and was practically dissolved. The Union College of Law was incorporated April 4, 1888. In 1891 the Union College of Law was consolidated with North-
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ROBERT F. CARR.
GEORGE R. CARR.
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western University by agreement between the two corporations, and the school became known as the Northwestern University Law school.
This law school was incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois by the name of the Kent Law School of Chicago, July 18, 1892, by the following named gentlemen as incorporators :
Marshall D. Ewell, LL. D., M. D .; Russell H. Curtis, B. S .; William H. Dyrenforth, LL. B .; Alfred D. Eddy, A. B., LL. B .; Fred A. Bangs, LL. B .; Hon. George F. Sugg, LL. B .; Thomas E. D. Bradley, LL. B .; Willard M. McEwen, LL. B .; Milton O. Naramore, A. M., LL. B .; Frederick G. O'Connell, LL. B .; Ga- briel J. Norden, LL. B .; John C. Everett, A. B., LL. B .; George N. Morgan, B. L., LL. B .; Samuel B. King, LL. B .; George W. Ross, B. S., LL. B .; Max A. Drezmal, LL. B .; Ephraim C. West- wood, LL. B .; Samuel J. Lumbard, LL. B .; Hervey Sheldon, LL. B .; Joseph W. Errant, LL. B .; Hon. John Gibbons, LL. D.
On December 31, 1894, its corporate name was changed to Kent College of Law. It opened its doors to students September 15, 1892, with 137 students in attendance, its success thereby being assured from the very outset. At its first commencement it gradu- ated a class of 64. During the second year of its existence it had in attendance 163 students and graduated a class of 39; the third year of its existence it had 181 students and graduated a class of 64.
The Chicago Bar association was organized in 1874 for the pur- pose, as stated in its constitution, of maintaining the honor and dig- nity of the profession of the law, to cultivate social intercourse among its members, and to increase its usefulness in promoting the due administration of justice.
The first president was William C. Goudy. The association en- tered actively and at once upon the work of securing the ends indi- cated above, and has successfully accomplished much in these directions.
The Law club, organized early in the '80s, claims its constitu- tional number of members. The secretary reported the condition of this legal association to be first class. The club has grown with its years, and advanced so quietly that even the city directories make no mention of the organization under the above title. The membership is limited to 150, each of whom must be under forty years of age. . A member who is reported absent at three consecu- tive meetings must be dropped from the rolls but a valid excuse may save him. Informal meetings were held at various club houses, at 6:30 o'clock in the evening, when a short paper was read and dis- cussed. After the discussion dinner was served, and then adjourn- ment. The club was a mixture of mind and matter.
The Lawyers' Club of Chicago was organized June 17, 1894. with William H. Condon president. The rooms of the club were Vol. II-15.
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well known to the members of the bench and bar, for they were open to lawyers on the occasions of lectures or addresses on legal sub- jects.
The charter giving legal countenance to the Chicago Law Insti- tute is dated February 18, 1857. It was modeled on the charter of the New York Law Institute, for at that time Chicago aimed to follow rather than lead the town on Manhattan Island. The amendatory acts of February 14, 1863, and February 23, 1867, countenanced a few radical departures from the original charter and extended the privileges of the association. The progress made in the collection of books was phenomenal, Illinois and other States contributing statutes and sundry law works. Chicago lawyers were most generous, several of them robbing their home libraries to build up a central one; so that, within thirteen years, the institute became a storehouse of law books and a pleasant rendezvous for lawyers.
On that Saturday of October, 1871, preceding the Sunday of the great fire, there were 7,000 volumes in the library. Before three o'clock on the morning of October 9 the books were destroyed, with the courthouse, and $30,000 worth of law literature, with records and valuable documents, were lost to the institute.
COUNTRY TOWNS
P REVIOUS to 1850 Evanston and vicinity was included in the old Gross Point district, but at that date when the town- ship of Ridgeville was organized it was made to include the present territory where Evanston and Lake View stand. Thus it remained until Evanston township was organized in 1857. At that date the Ouilmette reservation was added to Evanston town- ship. In 1859 the territory thus added was detached from Evanston and made a part of New Trier.
Among the first settlers in this portion of the county were Abraham Hathaway and Philip Rogers, who located there as early as 1836. Mr. Rogers located in Sections 31 and 32, built a log house and began the business of burning charcoal. He lived where Rogers Park now stands. Mr. Hathaway located near the present park at Evanston and opened a tavern soon after his arrival. A little later James Carroll and Edward H. Mulford settled in that vicinity.
About 1837 Samuel Rohrer located at Rosehill, but did not re- main long. In about 1838 James and John Carney located in Sec- tion 18 which is now a portion of the most thickly populated part of Evanston. In 1839 Otis Munn located there, and John Zembder came about the same time. Paul and George Pratt were there at an early date, and Peter Schmitt settled at Rogers Park, probably in Section 31. Edward Murphy was an early settler in that vicinity. He served as county supervisor for many years. O. A. Crain lo- cated at South Evanston about the year 1840, and soon afterward his brother, Charles A. Crain settled there. About this time George W. Huntoon located in Section 19. He afterward became quite prominent in the affairs of Cook county. He served at one time as constable of Chicago. Jacob Phillips located in this vicinity early in the '40s, as did also John O'Leary and Edward Davlin. Other early settlers were David Hood, Joseph Clein, Peter Bletsch, John Beck, John Tillman, Henry Fortman, Michael Britt, Henry Reinberg, Peter Munn, Frank Schmitt, and Peter Rinn. In early times there was a divide called the Ridge extending between Rose- hill and Evanston. Along this Ridge many of the first settlers located to keep clear of the water which about half the year rested over a portion of the low lands adjacent.
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