History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 18

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084

USA > Illinois > Sangamon County > History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 18

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Mr. Herndon has always been a great reader, and the questions of political economy and the science of mind have ever been with him fa- vorite studies. The science of law has also been an interesting study to him. He always desires to go to the bottom of every subject, and wishes to reach it the quickest way possi- ble. The little quibbles of the shyster disgusts him, and the red tapeism of the law affords him no pleasure.

In the days of the old Whig party, Mr. Hern- don was an advocate of its principles, and the "hard cider campaign " of 1840, was the first in which he participated. Ile was always an op- ponent of slavery, and on the organization of the Republican party he became one of its strongest advocates.

Mr. Herndon has never been an office-seeker, and the public positions that he has held have come to him unsought. He has held the offices of City Attorney, Mayor of Springfield, Bank Commissioner for the State, under Governors

Bissell, Yates and Oglesby, besides other minor offices.

William H. Herndon and Mary J. Maxcy was married in Sangamon County March 26, 1840. They have had six children. Mrs. Herndon died August 18, 1860, and Mr. Herndon was married July 31, 1861, to Anna Miles, by whom he has had two children.

Personally, Mr. Herndon has the good will of everyone with whom he is acquainted In his life he endeavors to follow the golden rule.

Norman M. Broadwell, attorney-at-law, was born in Morgan county, Illinois, in 1825. Bax- ter Broadwell, his father, and Mary Lindley, both New Jersey people by birth, married near Cincinnati, Ohio, and were among the first set- tlers in Morgan county, where they died a num- ber of years ago. Judge Broadwell received his chief literary education in his native county ; came to Springfield and commenced reading law with Abraham Lincoln and William H. Herndon, in 1851, and was admitted near the close of the same year. He had begun the study of medi- cine and continued it some months previously, but not liking it, abandoned the idea. Upon being admitted to the Bar, Mr. Broadwell at once entered upon practice, which he has zealously and successfully prosecuted, with but slight interruptions, nearly a third of a century. He has had several law partners during these years, among them such eminent attorneys as Gov- ernor S. M. Cullom, General John A. McClernand and Hon. William M. Springer. The first cause he ever tried in a court of record, Abraham Lin- coln was opposed to him as counsel, and the last cause Mr. Lincoln ever tried in the Springfield courts, Mr. Broadwell was his associate counsel. Judge Broadwell has ever been an ardent de- votee of his profession, which he honors, and paid little attention to politics. He was, how- ever, elected to the State Legislature in the fall of 1860, from the Sangamon county district, on the Democratic ticket, being the only successful candidate of his party in the county that year. In 1862 he was elected County Judge, served three years, and was chosen Mayor of Spring- field in 1867, and re-elected in 1869. Judge Broadwell was united in marriage to Virginia Iles, in Springfield, in 1856. She is a native of Sangamon county, Illinois, and is the mother of four daughters and one son. Judge Broadwell is a Past Master in the Masonic Order.

William J. Conkling was born in New York City in 1826; emigrated to Ohio in 1831 and to McLean county, Illinois, in 1839. Attended Oberlin College for a time, but left in his junior

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year. Came to Springfield in 1853, read law for two years and was admitted to the Bar. For some years he had a lucrative practice, but of late years he has devoted himself more to the real estate business.

John E. Rosette, lawyer, is a native of Dela- ware, Ohio, born in 1823. He was educated in that city, and read law there with Hon. Charles Sweetzer, an ex-member of the United States Congress; was admitted to the Bar in Columbus, Ohio, in 1850, and located in practice in Find- lay, Hancock county, Ohio. During the several years of professional life in that place he was twice elected Prosecuting Attorney of the county. From thence he returned to Delaware; lived there nearly three years, was appointed Probate Judge of the county, and served the un- expired term of Judge Fuller, deceased. In 1855. npon the invitation of Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Rosette removed to Springfield, Illinois, and has been an active and prominent member of Sangamon County Bar for twenty-six years. Ile came to this county a Democrat in politics ; but from 1856 has been identified with the Republi- can party.

Mr. Rosette was united in marriage with Miss Mary Taylor, in Findlay, Ohio. She was born in Salem that State, and educated there in a convent. They have four daughters; two mar ried to Captains in the United States regular army ; the eldest, the wife of Captain L. H. Rucker; the second the wife of Captain F. T. Bennett, from Toledo, Ohio, who has also been Indian Agent at Fort Defiance, for several years, the only instance of a regular army officer hold- ing that office at the same time.

Charles S. Zane, Judge of the Nineteenth Ju- dicial Circuit of Illinois, is a native of Cumber- land county, New Jersey, born March 2, 1831. Andrew Zane, his father, was a farmer, and mar- ried Mary Franklin, whose father was a relative of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. Mr. Zane's paternal grandfather, with two brothers, emigrated from England in early life. Mr. Zane's boyhood and youth were passed on his father's farm, the time being divided between laborand attend- ance at the district school. In April, 1850, he came to Sangamon County, Illinois, and in the employ of Rev. Peter Cartwright, engaged in brickmaking and farming, at $13 a month. In the winter of 1852 he rode to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on horseback; returned the fol- lowing spring, purchased a team, and spent the summer in breaking prairie. In the autumn of 1852 he entered MeKendree College, and pur- sued a course of study for three years, passing

the vacations in teaching, which he continued after leaving college while reading law. Mr. Zane entered the law office of Hon. J. C. Conk- ling in July, 1856; completed the course and was admitted to the Bar in the spring of 1857, and opened an office. He was elected City At- torney in the spring of 1858, and re elected in 1860 and 1865, each term being one year. In the spring of 1861 Mr. Zane formed a partner- ship with William H. Herndon, former law part- ner of Abraham Lincoln, and did a successful business until 1869, when the firm was dissolved and he associated himself with Hon. Shelby M. Cullom and George O. Marcy. This relation was continued until Mr. Zane was elected Circuit Judge in 1873, since which time he has worn the judicial ermine with distinguished ability. He rendered a famous decision in May, 1874, in the cause of The People vs. The Chicago and Alton Railroad Company, in which it was sought to recover certain penalties in- curred by a breach of the law of the State. au- thorizing Railroad and Warehouse Commission- ers to fix maximum rates of freight and passenger tariffs, in which the attorneys for the defense made an effort to transferthe case to the United States Court, claiming lack of jurisdiction in the State courts, and in which he ruled that it was not the province of the Federal Courts to inter- fere with the inherent judicial rights of the State, and that in assuming to take control of such causes it transcended its constitutional au- thority, and held that the rights and powers of the States and the people, not transferred by the Constitution to the United States, are just as sovereign and sacred as are those of the United States. Judge Zane refused to order the papers certified to the Federal court, and proceeded to try the cause, by jury, who rendered a verdict of 8400 against the defendant.

Judge Zane's religious views are liberal and tolerant, nearly identical with the doctrines of the Unitarian Society. He is a great admirer of the school of philosophy of which Herbert Spencer and Mr. Tyndall are able exponents. Politically, the Judge favors a bi-metalic money standard, a free banking system, and a tariff upon the luxuries for revenue.

Judge Zane married Miss Margaret Maxey in the spring of 1859. She is of Kentucky parent- age, born in Springfield in 1835. They are the parents of eight children, six living. The eldest daughter, Mary Farnetta, is the wife of William Hinkle, chief clerk in the State Auditor's office. The eldest of their four sons, Charles W., is preparing for the legal profession, as is also the

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second son, John Maxcy Zane, now in Michigan University.

John Alexander McClernand is the only child of Dr. John and Fatima McClernand, and was born in Breckenridge county, Kentucky, in 1812. Four years later his father died, and young Mc- Clernand, being made of that stern stuff that overcomes difficulties and surmounts obstacles, had succeeded in placing himself in a respect- able position and practice in the legal profession, at the early age of twenty. Meantime, in 1830, he had moved with the family to Shawneetown, Illinois. In 1832, before attaining his majority, he volunteered as a private in the Black Hawk war, and served honorably to its close. This service kindled a taste for, and gave him a knowl- edge of military tactics, and of the character of men, which proved important factors in his later career.

In 1835 Mr. McClernand established the first Democratic journal ever published in Shawnee- town; and the same year re-commenced the practice of law, which continued with success until he was elected to U. S. Congress in 1843. In 1836 he was elected to the Illinois Legislature from Gallatin county. During this session he successfully vindicated President Jackson from charges brought against him by Governor Dun- can; and also advocated that mode of con- structing the Illinois & Michigan Canal known as the "Deep Cut" plan, which was finally adopted. Mr. McClernand was chosen, by the legislature as commissioner and treasurer, which duties he so faithfully discharged that compli- mentary resolutions respecting his services were passed in a number of public meetings held at different points. In 1838 he was urged to be- come a nominee for Lieutenant Governor, but declined because under the Constitutional age- thirty years. At the same Democratic conven- tion which offered him the nomination Mr. Mc- Clernand prepared and offered the following resolutions:

" Resolved, That the Democratic principle is founded on an imperishable basis of truth and justice, and perpetually striving to sustain soci- ety in the exercise of every power which can promote human happiness and elevate our con- dition; that, instead of warring against order and encroaching on the privileges of others, the spirit of Democracy maintains an active prin- ciple of hope and virtue.

" Resolved, That we recognize no power but that which yields to the restraints of duty and is guided by mind; that we only seek to obtain influence by means of free conviction; that we

condemn all appeals to brute force and the ex- ercise of violence; and that our only means of persuasion are reason and truth.

" Resolved, That our just claim is to connect our party with the cause of intelligence and morality; to seek the protection of every right consistent with the genius of our Constitution and the spirit of the age. We desire to extend moral culture, and to remove, as far as possible, all inequalities in our human conditions by em- bracing all improvements which can ameliorate our moral and political state."

In 1840 Mr. McClernand was again returned to the legislature from Gallatin county; was re- elected in 1842; and as Chairman of the Com- mittee on Finance introduced several measures to alleviate the existing financial troubles of the State, which he attributed to the defect- ive banking system. These measures were all adopted. In 1843, while still a member of the legislature, he was chosen Representative to the Twenty-eighth Congress. The first speech he made in that body was on the bill to refund the fine imposed upon Gen. Jackson by Judge Hall. During the same session he delivered a speech on the Rock Island controversy, which was ex- tensively published. In the second session of the same Congress, as a member of the Com- mittee on Public Lands, he bronght forward a comprehensive report, accompanied with a bill for a grant of land to aid in the completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.

By an act of the legislature, the time for hold- ing elections had been changed, and Mr. McCler- nand was re-elected to Congress in 1844. He was one of the members who insisted with vehe- mence on the maintenance of the claim to fifty- four degrees, forty minutes in the Oregon con- troversy with Great Britain. lIe voted to sustain the President in the prosecution of the Mexican war, by granting the requisite men and means; and portrayed the beneficial results of that war in a speech delivered in Congress in June, 1846. In the first session of the Twenty- ninth Congress he prepared with great labor and introduced a bill to reduce and regulate the price of public lands. In the ensuing session, as chairman of the same committee, he introduced a bill, which became a law, to bring into market the mineral lands, lying around Lake Superior. During the same session he was called upon by the Jackson Monument committee to present their memorial, which he did, and his eulogium upon Jackson was highly esteemed. In 1848 Mr. McClernand was again elected to Congress, but not without opposition. In 1849, as a mem-

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ber of a select committee on certain charges preferred against President Polk, for having established a tariff of duties in the ports of the Mexican Republic, Mr. McClernand de- fended the President in an able argument. In 1850, at the instance of other leading men, he prepared and offered the first draft of the famous Compromise measures of that year. But the same subject being taken up in the Senate by the committee of which Mr. Clay was chair- man, he prepared the bill which passed both houses, Mr. MeClernand being chairman of the committee of the whole during its passage through the House. He delivered an elaborate speech on the subject during that session. He also during that session drafted the bill granting a quantity of land in aid of the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad and its Chicago branch. His colleague, Senator Douglas, being furnished a copy, introduced it in the Senate, and, with amendments, it passed both houses and became a law. During the same session he, as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Af- fairs, introduced a paper for the regulation of the State Department. In 1851, declining re- election, he retired from Congress, after a flat- tering career of eight years, and moved to Jack- sonville, Illinois. The following year he was chosen Presidential Elector for the second time in his life, and supported Pierce and King. In 1856 he made a powerful speech at Alton, de- precating the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and predicting danger to the country as the con- sequence. In 1856 he removed to Springfield, Illinois, where he soon gained a prominent po- sition as a lawyerin the State and Federal Courts. In 1859 he was elected Representative to Con- gress, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Major T. L. Harris. In 1860 he introduced a bill repealing the law organizing the Territory of Utah and merging that Territory into others. This being his plan for overcoming the ascend- aney of the Mormons, and the evils of polygamy.

On the 14th of January, 1861, Mr. MeCler- nand delivered a speech in the House, on the Union and the phantom, "No Coercion," that for historical research, comprehensiveness and exhaustive argument, has few equals in the annals of parliamentary literature.

In 1843, after his first election to Congress, and before taking his seat, Mr. MeClernand married Miss Sarah, daughter of Colonel Dun- lap, of Jacksonville, Illinois.

A sketch of the emminent services rendered the Government by General McClernand during

the war for the Union will appear in the military chapter.

Charles A. Keyes, Attorney and Counselor-at- Law, of the firm of McClernand & Keyes, South- west corner Fifth and Washington streets, is a native of Springfield, Illinois, born in 1832 His parents, James W. and Lydia (Spickard) Keyes, were natives of Virginia, and came to Sangamon County, Illinois, in 1831, and are both living on their farm, four miles northwest of the City of Springfield. Charles attended the city schools, and graduated from Illinois College, Jackson- ville, in the class of 1854 ; read law with Elliott B. Herndon, and was admitted to the Bar in 1856. They were partners at one time for two years. With that exception Mr. Keyes practiced alone until the present co-partnership was form- ed about eight years ago. In the spring of 1856 he was elected City Attorney and re-elected in 1857. In 1862-3 he served as Representative in the legislature, from Sangamon and Logan counties. Ile was appointed Master in Chan- cery by Judge E. Y. Rice, in 1867, and was twice re-appointed by Judge B. S. Edwards and Judge J. A. MeClernand, serving in all seven years He was a delegate to the National Dem- oeratic Convention that nominated Seymour for President, in 1868. Mr. Keyes was united in marriage with Elizabeth Lauman, of Xenia, Ohio, in 1868. Her parents were early settlers in that city. The fruit of this union is two daughters and one son.

Christopher C. Brown, Attorney-at-Law, of the firm of Stuart, Edwards & Brown, the oldest law firm in Illinois, was born in Sangamon county, now a part of Menard county, Illinois, on the 21st of October, 1834. His father, Wil- liam B. Brown, came from Kentucky and set- tled in Sangamon county in 1832. He died in 1850. C. C. Brown attended the Springfield schools, and at Greensburg, and the Lutheran College at Hillsboro. He read law with his brother, David A. Brown, in Springfield, then attended the Transylvania Law School in Lex- ington, Kentucky, was admitted to the Bar in 1858, and in January, 1860, became a partner in the present firm, having been active in the pro- fession until now. While he has been an earn- est worker in the Democratic party, he has been a candidate for no political favor. Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Bettie, daugh- ter of Major J. T. Stuart, of Springfield, in Octo- ber, 1859. She died in March, 1869, having been the mother of three children, one deceased. Mr. Brown married Carrie, daughter of John E Owsley, of Chicago, in 1872, by whom he has a

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son and daughter. His eldest son, Stuart Brown, was graduated from Princeton College, in June, 1881.

Eugene L. Gross was born December 25, 1836, in Starkville, Herkimer county, New York, and came to Illinois with his parents in 1844. He received an academical education, and subse- quently read law in the office of H. G. Reynolds, in Knoxville, Illinois, and was admitted to the Bar in 1857. In that year he formed a partner- ship with Mr. Reynolds, which continued but a a few months. In 1858 he came to Springfield and opened an office, and here practiced his pro- fession until his death. As a lawyer, he was regarded by both the members of the Bar and the public, as one of more than ordinary ability. His legal attainments were quite diversified, and whether pleading before a jury, or present- ing his case for the consideration of the learned judge, he alike usually convinced both that his position was right. Ile was logical in his rea- sonings and drove home his ideas with great force.

In 1865 he revised the City Ordinances of the city of Springfield, by direction of the Common Council. This was his first literary work. In 1868, in connection with his brother, Colonel William L. Gross, with whom he had formed a law partnership, he compiled and published the General Statutes of the State, then in force. In January, 1868, they compiled and published a Digest of the Criminal Laws of the State. In 1869 a new edition of the General Statutes, in- cluding the laws of 1869, were published. Dur- ing this year they also compiled and published an index to the Private and Special Laws of Illinois. In 1872 they compiled and published the second volume of Gross' Statutes. This ended the literary labors of Mr. Gross.

Eugene L. Gross and Susan L. Zimmerman were united in marriage April 17, 1860. Four children were born to them-Leighla, Fred, Susie, and Bessie.

In June, 1873, finding his health impaired, Mr. Gross started on horseback from Springfield and traveled through the Indian Nation, thence to New Mexico and Texas, and returned by railroad in December of the same year. The trip failed to be of that benefit it was hoped. That relentless destroyer, consumption, had fixed its hold upon him, and on the 4th day of June, 1874, he breathed his last.

Mr. Gross was never an aspirant to public of- fice, being contented to follow the profession he had selected for a life work. In politics he was

always a thorough-going Republican, and an earnest advocate of the principles of that party.

Milton Hay was born in Fayette county, Ken- tucky, July 3, 1817, and emigrated with his father's family to Springfield, Illinois, in the year 1832. Until arriving at age, he labored at different avocations for his father, attending the common schools at intervals, and receiving such education as such schools afforded at that day. He was fond of reading, and devoted the inter- vals of time when not at school or at labor, to the reading of such books as the scanty libraries of the time afforded. With James H. Matheny (now Judge Matheny) and others, he aided in forming the first society of a literary charac- ter ever formed in Springfield, the Springfield Lyceum, which was devoted to debating dis- puted questions and the reading of original essays. He studied law in the office of Stuart & Lincoln, and was licensed to practice in 1840. He begun practice at Pittsfield, Pike ocunty, Illinois, and there practiced his profession until the year 1858, when he returned to Springfield, continuing the practice of his profession until January, 1881, when he retired from the active practice of his profession.

Ile was twice married. His first wife, Cath- erine, the daughter of James Forbes, of Pitts- field, died in 1857, leaving two children, both of whom died in infancy. In 1861, he married Mary Logan, eldest daughter of Judge Stephen T. Logan. She died in 1874. Two children survive, born of this marriage, Kate and Logan Hay.

He was elected to the Constitutional Conven- tion of 1872, from the district composed of the counties of Logan and Sangamon, and, although not of the dominant party in the Convention. was made Chairman of the Committee on Rey- enne, and served on the Judiciary Committee. He actively participated in all the proceedings of that body, and in forming the new Constitu- tion, which was subsequently adopted by the people. In 1874 he was elected as a Represent- ative of Sangamon county to the legislature, and acted (after the death of Mr. Bushnell) both as Chairman of the Judiciary and Revenne Committees of that body. He was one of the committee of five appointed by the legislature, to revise, in conjunction with Mr. Hurd, the laws of the State, and this work was adopted at an adjourned session of the legislature. Other than as here stated he has never held office, pre- ferring the practice of his profession to the pursuit of office. In politics he is a Republi- can.

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Hon. William M. Springer, present member of Congress from the Twelfth District of Illi- nois, was born in Sullivan county, Indiana, 30th of May, 1836. When twelve years old he moved with his parents to Jacksonville, Illinois. There William prepared for college under the instruc- tions of Dr. Newton Bateman, then teaching in the West District school of that city. He en- tered Illinois College, but owing to some diffi- culty with the faculty was dismissed from the institution, and went thence in the spring of 1856, to the State University of Indiana. In 1858 Mr. Springer returned to Illinois, and after studying law nearly three years in Lincoln, was admitted to the Bar in 1860. The same year he was a candidate on the Democratic ticket for Representative in the State Legislature, for the district composed of Logan and Mason counties, but was defeated by Colonel Robert B. Latham. In 1861 he settled in Springfield, and soon formed a law partnership with Hon. N. M. Broadwell, and Gen. John A. McClernand, the latter of whom retiring some years after, the firm continued as Broadwell & Springer. Re- turning home in 1870 at the close of a two-year's tour in Europe, for pleasure and the improve- ment of his wife's feeble health, Mr. Springer was elected to represent Sangamon County in the legislature. That being the first after the formation of a new Constitution. Several ses- sions were held during 1870-71 and 1871-72, and a complete revision of the Statutes of Illi- nois was made while he served in that body.

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History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 18

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company Number of Pages: 1084

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084