USA > Illinois > McHenry County > History of McHenry County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 12
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The following lawyers were engaged in practice in the county be- tween its first settlement and 1844, and some of these continued in practice for many years succeeding the latter date: Milton Nixon. D. C. Bush, William Bloom, Col. Lawrence S. Church, Amos B. Coon, Henry W. MeLean, Anson Sperry, Phineas W. Platt, Col. Alonzo Platt, Amos Cogswell, Col. James M. Strode, Hon. Theodore D. Murphy, Charles M. Willard, Freman Van Wickle, Hon. M. L. Joslyn, Hon. William Kerr, H. S. Hanchett, P. B. Enos, S. R. Paynter, George A. Parrish, William JJackson, Hon. Ira Rozel Curtis, Hon. B. N. Smith, M. I .. Ellsworth, James II. Slavin, Hon. O. II. Gilmore, James M. Southworth, HIon. Richard Bishop, C. II. Donnelly, A. B. Coon, Jr., Albert E. Boone, C. P. Barnes, and J, F. Casey.
It doubtless will be of interest to many to learn some special facts concerning the lawyers who have practiced in the courts of Mellenry County in the days that are past. A former historical work of the county, as well as other books treating of the Bench and its members in Northern Illinois, have been largely drawn upon for the facts given below :
Ilon. Richard Bishop, a native of New York state, was born in 1824. llis father was killed by the falling of a tree when he was but seven years oldl. IIe soon became his mother's sole support, and worked for ten cents a day, at threshing grain with a flail, and he also eut cord
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wood, when a little older and stronger, for which latter work he re- ceived from twenty to twenty-five cents per cord. When he reached the age of twelve years, he was bound ont to a physician who owned a large "sugar bush," for which the boy was obliged to provide all the necessary wood, gather the sap from sixty-five trees and carry the sugar home by means of a yoke suspended from his shoulders. He subsequently learned the blacksmithing trade, receiving $105 for three years' work while mastering his trade. In the spring of 1844, having completed his apprenticeship, he bade farewell to his mother, and set out to seek his fortune in the much-heard-of west. After many ex- periences and some privations, he landed on foot at Mellenry village, having waded through swamps for miles on his journey. The date of his arrival was 1844, and he found plenty of employment, working until the subsequent spring, first at harvesting during the season, and then during the remainder of the time entting cord wood at fifty cents per cord. In the spring of 1845 he began working at his trade of black- smithing, and during the first year earned enough money to buy of the government, eighty aeres of land, for which he paid the entry fee of $1.25 per aere. He kept on adding to his holdings until at one time he owned 1,000 acres of MeHenry County land, and he was also the owner of a large wagon factory and grist-mill. In 1874 he embarked in the bank- ing business in Woodstock, and followed it for two years, when he bought a $1,000 law library, began studying law, and was later admitted to the bar. In 1874 he was elected to the State Assembly of Illinois, and he also served as county supervisor for fifteen or more years.
Albert E. Bourne, born at Kenosha, Wis., in 1849, was educated in the Wisconsin State University at Madison, Wis., from which he was graduated in 1872. He was then engaged in teaching school for several terms, when he became a law student, and in 1880 was admitted to the bar. At one time he served as captain in the Illinois National Guard. Ile was a well-known Mason, and in polities was a radical Republican.
D. C. Bush was the first lawyer to locate at Woodstock. He came here in the autumn of 1844, and remained until in December, 1552, when he removed to Madison, Wis. Possessing average legal ability, he had a fair practice for his day and generation.
Solomon Baird came from Kentneky to the village of MeHenry in 1843. but after two years of practice, returned to Kentneky.
C'ol. Lawrence S. Church, who died many years ago, was among the strong and capable lawyers and statesmen of this county. He was
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born at Nunda, N. Y., in 1820, and passed his early years on a farm. Possessing strong ambitions, he studied until he fitted himself to be a teacher, and during the winter months taught school, and with the money thus earned was able to attend institutions of higher learning during the other months of the year. Deciding upon the profession of law, he studied to that end, was admitted to the bar, and in 1813 came West, to Mellenry County, locating in the village of Melleury. Colonel Church made the long trip in a leisurely manner, riding by stage- coach a part of the way and walking the remainder. To defray the expenses of his different rides, he frequently stopped long enough in . the various communities through which he passed, to lecture on the Constitution of the I'nited States. Soon after his arrival at Mellenry, he went to Springfield, Ils., was there admitted to the bar of this state, and at once began to practice law. at MeHenry. When the seat of justice was moved to Woodstock, he went with it, and continued in active practice during the remainder of his life. During his earlier years he was a radical Whig, and so had no chance in this county for political preferment until 1856, when he, with so many of the former Whigs, gave his support to John C. Fremont, the first man to be can- didate for the presidency, of the Republican party. Mellenry County went strongly Republican, and Colonel Church was sent as a candidate of his party to the State Assembly. He at once became a noted repre- sentative of the people, was re-elected, and was made a leader in the stormy session which followed. Later he was a candidate for Congress, but was defeated at the polls by Hon. E. B. Washburn. Onee more he was returned to the Legislature, and was made chairman of the Judiciary Committee. With the outbreak of the Civil War, he dis- played great zeal in support of the Union, and aided in organizing the Ninety-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry of which he was made colonel, but his health failed, and he resigned. The strenuons exertions he had made in behalf of the cause had so undermined his health that he never recovered, and died in 1866. He was a man of sterling integrity and possessed of a clear, brilliant intellect.
A. B. Coon of Marengo, who in 1883, was accounted the oldest attorney then engaged in active practice in the county, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1815, the youngest of twenty-one children born to his parents. In 1835 he came to Mellenry County, opening his law office at the village of Marengo. For a number of years he was a surveyor, as well as lawyer, and from 1846 to 1862, was master-in-chancery in this county. During 1851-52 and 1860-64, he was state's attorney for
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the cireuit in which this county was then inelded. During 1863-65 he served as provost marshal for his congressional district, and at a later date was registrar-in-bankruptey.
J. P. Cheever practised law at Harvard, this county, for a period of twelve years, but in 1883 left this neighborhood for Dakota.
Ira Rozel Curtiss was born in New York state in 1836, of New Eng- land stock. His father died when he was only two years old, and his early life was a hard one, and spent on the farm trying to make a living for the rest of the family. At the age of sixteen years he rented a farm in the Genesee Flats, N. Y., and in this connection earned enough money to take him through a three-years' course in Antioch College. where he was under the preceptorship of Horace Mann. Subsequently he entered I'nion College, and was graduated therefrom in 1860, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In February, 1861 he located in Me- Henry County, taking up his residence at Marengo, where he continued to reside, becoming one of the honored citizens, successful lawyers and prominent business men of that place. During the Civil War he en- tered the Union Army, served for a year, but had to resign on account of poor health. Debarred from active service, he entered the provost marshal's office and remained there until the close of the war. Study- ing law, in June, 1865, he was admitted to the bar, began active practice, and was admitted to be an excellent lawyer. Ile developed into one of the strong political factors of his day, and in 1870 was elected as a representative from MeHenry County to the State Assembly, on the Republican tieket. The same party sent him to the upper house of the Legislature, in 1884, and in 1876 and 1880 elected him state's at- torney. He was a zealous Mason, a leader in the Grand Army of the Republie, and one of the best citizens of his day in MeHenry County.
M. F. Ellsworth, formerly one of the lawyers of Nunda, was born at Rochester, New York, in 1838. IFis parents moved to Mellenry Coun- ty in 1843, and here the father became an extensive stoekdealer, operating until his death which occurred in 1881. The mother died in 1851. M. F. Ellsworth came of distinguished ancestry, he being a direct des- vendant of Supreme Judge Ellsworth, who served under General Wash- ington while he was president; and his maternal grandfather, a soldier of the American Revolution, was wounded seven times during that war, and lived to the extreme old age of 108 years. Growing up in Mellenry County M. F. Ellsworth here received his educational train- ing but, after reaching manhood went to Kentucky, and was there sur- cessfully engaged in school-teaching until the outbreak of the Civil War,
Delia In Diener,
J. C. Diener
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at which time he enlisted in the Union army, and held various official positions until its termination. After his return home from military service, he studied law with Church & Kerr of Woodstock, and in the fall of 1866 entered the law department of the State University at Ann Arbor, Mich., from which he was graduated in 1868, and was admitted to the bar. For a short period thereafter, he was engaged in practice at New Hampton, lowa, and at Crete, Nebr., and then located per- manently at Nunda, now Crystal Lake, this county.
0. II. Gillmore, formerly county judge of MeHenry County, was born in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., in 1848. The family moved to this county in 1854, and here he attended the common schools, later entering the law department of the University of Michigan, after pre- paring himself by study under A. B. Coon and Ira R. Curtiss. He was graduated therefrom in 1873, and commenced practice that same year at Woodstock. He was elevated to the bench of Mellenry County in 1882.
Charles M. Willard located at Woodstock in 1851, and formed a partnership with Col. L. S. Church. This connection soon terminated by mutual consent, and Mr. Willard practiced alone for a time. Still later he formed a partnership with James H. Slavin, severing it in 1857, to locate permanently at Chicago, Ill. lle was an able lawyer.
Amos Cogswell first was engaged in legal practice at Hebron, where he settled in 1847, but three years later came to Woodstock, where he formed a partnership with Charles MeChre, and they enjoyed a large practice for several years. Later he moved away, he and Mr. MeClure going to Minnesota in 1859, and in the eighties he was known to be practicing his profession in Clark County, Dak. He was a man of dis- tinction, who, having studied law with Franklin Pierce, was by that statesman, after he was elevated to the presidency, appointed to a government position at Washington.
Col. James M. Strode was well known as one of the ablest lawyers of Northern Illinois during carlier years. He located at Woodstock in either 1850 or 1851, and at that time had already won his reputa- tion at the bar in both Galena and Chicago. From 1854 to 1857 he served as county judge of MeHenry County, but during the later year he moved to Missouri, and from thence to Kentucky, where he died. His was a logical and legal mind, and he was forceful in argument. It is claimed that as a story-teller he had but one rival in the state of Illi- nois, Abraham Lincoln.
Theodore D. Murphy, formerly circuit judge of this district, was
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born in Virginia, in 1>26. He came to MeHlenry County in Ist5, and settled at Woodstock in January, Is5l. where he entered upon the prac- tice of the law. He was subsequently elevated to the bench, and served as a judge for twenty-one years. For four years he was county judge, and then from 1862 until 1879 he was circuit judge. During the last three years he was chief justice of the appellate court of Cook County, District No. 1. It was he who formed the appellate court of that dis- triet, designed the seal, procured the books and completed all the ar- rangements for opening it. In each and every position to which he was called, Judge Murphy bore himself with dignified capability, and will long be remembered as one of the most distinguished men of this part of the commonwealth of Illinois.
Henry MeLean, lawyer and politician and early settler of HeHenry County, was born in Columbia County, N. Y., in 1808, a son of a Scotchman who came to America when a young man, and became a soldier of the American Revolution. Henry W. McLean was reared on a farm, but when he was twenty-two years old he began the study of law, and was admitted to the bar of his native state, in 1834, and he was there engaged in an active practice for two years. He then left New York for Illinois, and settled at MeHenry. In 1842 he was admitted to the bar of Ilinois. With the formation of the Republican party, he became one of its zealous supporters, and attained distinc- tion as a campaign worker. Mr. MeLean stood high among his fellow citizens and was recognized as an excellent and well-balanced lawyer.
Charles MeClure was admitted to the MeHenry County bar in 1840, and for a few months thereafter was engaged in practice at Me- Henry, but left that village for La Porte, Ind. Still later he became a minister of the Methodist Episcopal faith, but returned to the law, and coming back to MeHenry County, for about seven years was en- gaged in practice at Woodstock in partnership with Amos Cogswell. HIe then moved to Minnesota. An earnest, purposeful man, he attained to success in the law.
Calvin Searl, who was the fourth attorney to engage in practice in MeHenry County, settled at Crystal Lake in 1839, remained there until 1845, and then moved to Wisconsin.
Hamilton Nixon, a native of Vermont, was among the first of the attorneys of MeHenry County. He was possessed of brilliant intelleet, but died when but a little over thirty years of age.
Phineas W. Platt came to Woodstock in March, 1845. He was a native of Pennsylvania, who studied law in Indiana, and commenced
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his practice at Woodstock. It is said that he was one of the best lawyers who ever tried a case in Mellenry County. His strength lay in his logical mind and forceful manner, rather than in his eloquence, and his evident sincerity was very convincing to a jury. Ile formed a partnership with Alonzo Platt and they operated as Platt & Platt and did a large business. Although possessed of the same surname, there was no relationship between them. Alonzo Platt went to California during the period of the first gold excitement, but Phineas W. Platt remained in Woodstock until 1851, when he went to Texas, and there died several years later.
Col. Alonzo Platt was engaged in the practice of law in Mellenry County in partnership with Phineas W. Platt, they having their offices in the historie "Rat Hole" Building on the Square. Going to Cali- fornia in 1850, he had many experiences, and died at Virginia City, Nev., in 1862. He was an excellent lawyer. a strong Democrat, and fine campaigner. His birth took place at Danbury, Conn., in 1816. from whence he later went to Wisconsin, where he served in the State Assembly in 1844. Studying law. he was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of his profession at Woodstock. During the time he lived here he served as state's attorney, and was accounted an ex- vellent lawyer and able man.
Anson Sperry, who practiced law at Marengo, was born in Ver- mont in 1824. His father was an attorney, who, at an early day moved to Plattsburg, N. Y. In 1841 Anson Sperry came to Illinois, and be- gan the study of law under Judge Skinner, and was admitted to the bar in 1845. He continued with Judge Skinner for two years, and then, May 7, 1847, arrived at Marengo, being the second lawyer to locate there. In the autumn of 1848 he was elected magistrate in a political contest between the northern and southern part of Marengo Township. About the same time he was appointed postmaster of Ma- rengo, and held that position until 1861. In 1853, in company with Cornelius Lansing, he opened a banking house at Marengo, and carried it on until 1863, when he was appointed paymaster in the Army of the Cumberland, during the Civil War. In 1865 he was transferred to Chicago, III. Ile was still a resident of Mellenry County late in the eighties.
Freeman Van Wickle came from New York to MeHenry County about 1852, and for about nine years was one of the lawyers of this neighborhood. For a time he was associated in a legal partnership
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with M. L. Joslyn. During the period of the Civil War he moved to Michigan.
Merritt L. Joslyn, for many years one of the foremost lawyers of Northern Illinois, was born in New York, Livingston County, in 1827, and resided in that county until after 1839. He was a Democrat, and an elector for James Buchanan for the presidency. Later on he united with the Republican forces, and became a recognized leader among the stalwarts of this party. During the Civil War he served as cap- tain of the Thirty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. During 1864-65 he represented the district of which MeHenry County was a part. in the State Assembly, and in 1876 was elected to the State Senate by a majority of over 3,000. He was recognized as a man capable of hold- ing high and important positions. In the eighties this appreciation took still more practical form in his appointment to the office of as- sistant secretary of the interior department at Washington, by Presi- dent Arthur, July, 1882.
William Kerr, now deceased, was born in Delaware County, Ohio, in 1819. In 1839 he came to Illinois, and for a time resided in Boone County. Always from his youth, he had evinced a liking and aptitude for legal matters, and while still in his teens helped to settle many a neighborhood dispute, without charge. In 1857 his friend, L. S. Church, induced him to come to Woodstock, and become his partner in his law business. Mr. Kerr made an excellent lawyer, and was serving his second term as county judge, when, July 26, 1866, he died very sud- denly, his demise being a great shock to the community, for not only the members of the bar, but the people at large, had great faith and esteem in and for this truly excellent man.
HI. S. Hlanchett, a lawyer of fair ability, came to Woodstock in 1857, and was a partner of M. L. JJoslyn until 1862, when he went into the Union army, during the Civil War, and being subsequently captured and confined at Andersonville, there met his death, it is claimed from starvation.
Flavel K. Granger, of MeHenry, was another early attorney, although he was even better known as a business man. He was born in Wayne County, N. Y., in 1832, and remained on a farm until he was fifteen years old, at which time he entered the Wesleyan Academy at Lima, N. Y. At the age of eighteen years he commenced teaching school, and in the spring of 1853, migrated westward, and immediately began the study of law after reaching Waukegan, Wis. In the fall of 1855 he was admitted to the bar, but owing to ill health did not at once begin practic-
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ing his profession, for some years thereafter being engaged in stockbuy- ing and farming in and about MeHenry. As the years passed and he regained his health, he began to put to practical use the legal knowledge he had gained, but continued to look after his other interests as well. In 1870 he was elected county supervisor from his township, and was the first Republican to be elected from it. In 1872 he was elected as a representative to the Illinois State Assembly, and was re-elected for three terms withont opposition. During the last two terms he was made speaker of the House, being the first to preside in the new state house.
T. B. Wakeman located in what was then the little hamlet of Alden, in 1839, and is the only member of his profession to make it his place of residence. In 1859 he moved to Harvard, and after a few years went to Chicago, where he died in 1882. In 1868 Mr. Wakeman's son, Thaddeus Wakeman, a graduate of the University of Michigan, beeame associated with him in his law business.
John A. Parrish, born in New York in 1825, was a member of a well- educated and highly-cultured family. He attended the New York Nor- mal School at Albany, N. Y., and then became a school-teacher, following that calling until his health failed him, in 1859. He had come to Illi- nois and attained distinction in scholastic circles at Aurora and Wood- stoek, and at the same time had studied law. Soon thereafter he was admitted to the bar and was engaged in a general legal practice at Me- Ilenry until his death in 1882. Ile was highly esteemed at the bar, but on account of his weak lungs, was not a successful jury lawyer, but as an office attorney was excellent. Mr. Parrish was also very successful as a pension agent and as an attorney in insurance cases. Ile amassed considerable property.
William Jackson was born in Connecticut in 1808. He accompanied his family to Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1832. In 1843 his father came to MelIenry County, Ill., where he lived until his death at the age of seventy-seven years. After obtaining an excellent education in the com- mon schools, William Jackson engaged in lumbering, but in 1828 began reading law with Judge Fisbie, but was not admitted to the bar until 1859. First loeating at Algonquin, in 1838, he lived in that village until he moved to Nunda, now Crystal Lake, where he was engaged in a gen- eral practice, and for sixteen years served as a justice of the peace. Twice he was elected associate judge. and later was appointed judge vice JJudge Carr, deceased. Politically he was a Democrat, and for fifty years he was a consistent member of the Christian Church.
Benjamin N. Smith, a native of MeHenry County, was born in 1838,
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a son of Nathaniel Smith, one of the pioneers of the county. He received an academic education at various educational institutions of Illinois and Wisconsin. In 1864 he enlisted in Company E. Ninety-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War, and continued to serve until the termination of the conflict. In April, 1866, he was graduated From the law department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. Mich., and immediately thereafter opened a law office at Woodstock, and was there engaged in practice for many years. In 1869 he was elected county judge, and held that office for more than a dozen years, and for four years was a master-in-chancery. He was a zealous Mason, belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and lived up to the ideals of all these organizations,
John M. Southworth, another practicing attorney at Woodstock dur- ing its earlier period, was born in Vermont in 1839, settled in MeHlenry County in 1858, and became one of its useful citizens. In April, 1861. five days after Fort Sumter was fired upon by the Confederates, en- listed in the Seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Later he re-enlisted in another infantry regiment, serving for a period of over five years, and leaving the service with the rank of major. He was elected sheriff of Mellenry County in 1866, and clerk of the circuit court, in 1868. In 1873 he began the practice of law at Woodstock, but during the eighties was an attorney of Chicago. In August, 1873, he was appointed commissioner of the Illinois penitentiary.
James HI. Slavin ranked among the best lawyers of his day and generation. He was born and reared in MeHenry County, and after practicing here for fifteen years, on February 6, 1875, he passed away, aged thirty-eight years. He was a self-made man, and rose to a high position among his fellow men. He had a logical mind, a fine diserimi- nating power, and a most excellent memory. Although interested in state and national affairs, he kept out of polities, and oftentimes refused nomination for office, preferring to devote all of his time and energy to the law.
STATE'S ATTORNEYS
Alonzo Huntington, 1837-40; Edward G. Regan, 1840-43; James Cur- tiss. 1843-44; William A. Boardman. 1845-49; Alonzo Platt, 1850-51; Amos B. Coon, 1852: M. M. Boyce, 1853-57; Edward S. Joslyn, 1857- 61; Amos B. Coon, 1861-63: M. M. Boyce, 1864-69; Charles Kellum,
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