Crawford County IL Archives History - Books .....Chapter IV 1883
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Book Title: HISTORY OF CRAWFORD AND CLARK COUNTIES, ILLINOIS

CHAPTER V.*
   *By Hon.E. Callahan.

THE BENCH AND BAR—JUSTICE AND HER SCALES—FIRST COURTS AND WHAT THEY DID—SOME OF
THE EARLY JUDGES—DIFFERENT  JUDICIAL  DISTRICTS— THE FIRST RESIDENT
LAWYERS—KITCHELL, JANNEY, FRENCH, ETC.—THEIR LEGAL ABILITY AND SOCIAL
TRAITS-OTHER LAWYERS OF THE COUNTY—THE PRESENT BAR, ETC., ETC.

   "Let us consider the reason of the case. For nothing is Law that is not reason."
                                  —Sir John Powell.

"Wherethe law ends, tyranny begins."
                                  —Pitt.

   "The law is a sort of hocus pocus science that smiles in yer face while it
picks yer pocket, and the glorious uncertainty of it is of mair use to the
professors of it, than the justice of it."
                                  —Macklin.

THE first two of the above quotations are from men who, by lives of study and
toil, had acquired eminence in the world as lawyers and as statesmen. The last
is from one who knew nothing of the law; who was ignorant of its theory and
practice, and represents a common, but utterly mistaken view, both of the law
and its administration. The law has grown out of the struggles of nations,
states, classes and individuals against wrong and for the right. "All the law in
the world has been obtained by strife. Every principle of law which obtains, had
first to be wrung by force from those who denied it; and every legal right—the
legal rights of a whole nation, as well as those of individuals—supposes a
continual readiness to assert it and defend it. The law is not a mere theory,
but a living force, and hence it is that justice, which in one hand holds the
scales in which she weighs the right, carries in the other the sword with which
she executes it. The sword without the scales is brute force; the scales without
the sword, is the impotence of law. The scales and the sword belong together,
and the state of the law is perfect only where the power with which justice
carries the sword is equaled by the skill with which she holds the scales." No
men have more power, or are clothed with more responsibility, than judges and
lawyers who are the ministers of justice in society, and the history of a State
or a county would be incomplete which omitted to mention the men who have set on
the bench and practiced at the bar in its courts. The first court of record held
in Crawford County, as elsewhere stated, was held at the house of Edward N.
Cullom on the 10th day of September, A. D. 1S17, by the Hon. Thomas Towles,
Territorial Judge, from October 28, 1815, until the State was admitted into the
union. The term continued for two days, but all business was completed on the
first day. There is nothing in the record disclosing what members of the bar
were present. There were five civil cases on the docket, and four indictments
were returned, two were for assault and battery, one for selling whisky to
Indians, and one for "bringing home a hog without the ears." The first term of
court held after the State was admitted into the union was a special terra, held
on the 7th day of July, A. D. 1S19, by the Hon. Thomas C. Brown who was one of
the judges of the Supreme Court, from October 9th, 1818, until January 18th
1825. This was the term at which William Killbuck, Captain Thomas and Big
Panther, were tried for the murder of Thomas McCall. William Wilson was the
circuit attorney, and William Badger was sworn as his assistant. It does not
appear from the record who was counsel for the defendants, or what, if any,
attorneys were present at this term.

   Judge Brown held all the courts, until October, 1824, when William Wilson,
who was one of the judges of the Supreme Court from July 7th, 1819, to December
4th, 1848, held the court for a single term. The writer never knew Judge Wilson
until after his retirement from the bench, and can only speak of him from his
record as a judge and the traditions of him, that still exist among the older
members of the bar. As a judge his written opinions are short, clear, and
satisfactory. They are models of brevity, and generally contained nothing but
good law. His judicial record stands in the history of the State untarnished by
a single act that did not comport with the dignity of his office. Judge Wilson
was a great lover of stories, and would often entertain his listeners with
marvelous tales of great, herds of cattle and immense agricultural productions
which had no existence except in imagination. He resided in White County and
died several years ago, at a very advanced old age.

   On the division of the State into circuits in 1824, James O. Wattles was
elected judge of the fifth judicial circuit, which included the county of
Crawford. He was commissioned January 19, 1825, and legislated out of office by
the act of January 12, 1827. Nothing is known, or can be gathered from old
citizens, of the personal history or character of Judge Wattles. James Hall,
judge of the fourth circuit, held the November term 1825, but was never one of
the judges elected to hold the courts in Crawford County. On the fourth day of
January, 1835, Justin Harlan, of Clark County, was commissioned as judge of the
fourth circuit, which then included this county, and continued to hold the
courts until the year 1859, when the twenty-fifth circuit was created, and
Alfred Kitchell, of Richland County, was elected judge in the new circuit. He
was succeeded in 1861 by James C. Allen, then a resident of this county. Judge
Allen resigned in December, 1862, having been elected to Congress, and Aaron
Shaw, of Lawrence County, was elected to fill the vacancy.

   Judge Shaw is a native of the State of New York, but came to Illinois while a
young man and resided at Lawrenceville until about the year 1870, when he
removed to Olney in Richland County. His reputation has been that of a criminal
rather than a civil lawyer. He has always had a large practice and has been a
successful lawyer. He is impulsive and often stormy at the bar, but on the bench
he was always courteous, dignified and impartial. He has been a member of
Congress and is now the member elect from the 16th congressional district of
Illinois.

   In the year 1865 the county was again placed in the fourth circuit, and Hiram
B. Decius, of Cumberland County, was elected and commissioned on the first day
of December, A. D. 1865. He was re-elected and re-commissioned on the 27th day
of June, A. D. 1869. Judge Decius, was a native of the State of Ohio, but came
to Cumberland County when a boy. His opportunities for acquiring an education
were very poor, but he improved them to the best possible advantage, and read
law after he reached his man-hood. He was a successful practitioner and during
bis lifetime acquired a large estate. He was a rough, but vigorous thinker and
talker. In politics he was a democrat, and one who clung to the doctrines and
traditions" of his party. In religion he was a liberalist of the broadest gauge.

   After the adoption of the constitution of 1870, Crawford County was again in
the 21st circuit, and James C. Allen was, on the 2d day of June, 1873, elected
judge for a term of six years.

   James C. Allen was born in Shelby County, Ky., on the 22d day of January, A.
D. 1822, and removed with his father to Parke County, Indiana, in the year A. D.
1830. He lived *on a farm until 1840, attending the public school in the winter
season and then spent two years at the county seminary in Rockville. He then
entered the law-office of Howard & Wright, of Rockville, Ind., and pursued his
legal studies until January, A. D. 1844, when he was admitted to the bar. He
located at Sullivan, Ind., and in 1845 was elected State's attorney for the
seventh judicial circuit of the State. At the end of his term of office he
removed to Palestine, Illinois, and sought health in farming, not, however,
abandoning his profession. He formed a partnership with Franklin Robb, Esq., of
Robinson, which continued until his election to Congress in 1852. In November,
1852, he was elected to the State Legislature, and obtained notoriety by his
opposition to what was known as "State Policy." This policy opposed the
chartering of any railroad which terminated at or near any city outside of the
State of Illinois, or that would tend to carry the trade of the State beyond its
own borders. It was an extreme phase of the doctrine of State rights. Men look
back now and wonder that it should have been advocated by men of the brilliancy
of Linder and the ability of Palmer. The Vandalia line and the Ohio and
Mississippi Railroad Company were seeking charters to build roads to terminate
at East St. Louis. The advocates of State policy were determined to defeat them
unless they terminated at Alton. Mr. Allen held that railroads should be
chartered and built wherever the business interests of the country at large
required, and was the leader in the house of this liberal policy. His attack
upon State policy was able, earnest and successful, and was heartily indorsed by
his constituents. He was also opposed to the system of banking established by
the Legislature in 1852, which has since resulted in disaster to the business
interests of the country.

   The reputation which he had acquired in the State Legislature resulted in his
election to congress in the 7th district in November, 1852; he was re-elected in
1854, and was then elected clerk of the House of Representatives that met on the
first Monday of December, A. D. 1858. Over this house he presided during the
memorable contest for the election of a speaker, which resulted in the election
of Mr. Penington, of New Jersey. This was at a time when bad blood was at fever
heat, and the difficulties of his position as the presiding officer of an
unorganized body of excited men were very great. But he so discharged the duties
of his position as to receive a unanimous vote of thanks at the end of the
contest. In 1860 he was the candidate of the democratic party for governor of
Illinois, and made a canvass which commanded the admiration of both his
political friends and opponents, but was beaten by Hon. Richard Yates. ?In 1862
he was elected to Congress for the State at large, as a "war democrat" over Eben
C. Ingersoll, a brother of Hon. Robert G. Ingersoll. During this term in
Congress he possessed the confidence of President Lincoln, and voted for every
appropriation of men and money which was asked by the administration to
prosecute the war. Mr. Lincoln tendered him the command of a brigade, to be
known as the Kentucky brigade. This position he declined on the ground that he
had not the military experience or training necessary to fit him for so
responsible a position. He was re-nominated for Congress for the State at large
in 1864, but was defeated by Hon S. W. Moulton, the republican candidate. In
1879 he was elected, without opposition, a member of the State constitutional
convention, which get in January, A. D. 1870, and framed the present State
constitution. In this convention he was chairman of the committee on the
Legislative Department, and is very largely the author of the legislative
article in the constitution which was adopted as it came from the committee. In
June, 1873, he was elected judge of the Circuit Court, which office he held
until 1879. In 1877 after the Appellate Court was created he was appointed by
the Supreme Court, one of the Appellate Judges for the fourth district, and
until 1879 discharged the duties of an Appellate Judge in addition to his
service on the circuit bench. In the fall of 1876 he removed to Olney in
Richland County, where he still resides. After he left the bench he resumed the
practice of his profession, and is still engaged in it. Judge Allen is a man of
rare natural endowments, a splendid physical organization and a commanding
presence supplemented with a voice that is equally musical in telling a story or
singing a song, makes him a welcome guest, in any and every circle. He has been
too much in politics to make what is called a close lawyer, but his knowledge of
the fundamental principles of the law is thorough, and both as a judge and as a
lawyer he uses this knowledge to the best possible advantage. He is largely
gifted with that kind of sense which enables him to grasp readily and correctly
the common questions of life and controversies of. business. This often serves
him better than the learning of books. He is an able advocate before a jury:
often eloquent, and always impressive, ardent, and impulsive, he sometimes
strikes blows that seem uncalled for, but is ever ready to undo a wrong. As a
judge he presided with dignity, unless overcome by something funny or ludicrous.
He was sometimes accused of scolding the bar to amuse the laity. His uprightness
and integrity were unquestioned; in politics he is a traditional democrat; in
religion, a Presbyterian.

   Alfred Kitchell was born at Palestine in the year A. D. 1820. His education,
excepting three terms at the Indiana State University, was such as could be
obtained in the common schools. He was admitted to the bar in December, A. D.
1841, and in 1842 entered the practice at Olney in Richland County. In January,
1843, he was elected State's attorney for the fourth circuit, and was reelected
in 1845. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1847, and in 1849
he was elected county judge of Richland County. In 1859 he was elected to the
circuit bench in the twenty-fifth circuit. He assisted to establish the first
newspaper ever published in Olney. In politics he was an anti-slavery democrat,
and naturally opposed the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the extension of
slavery. His principles led him out of the democratic party, and in 1856 he
assisted in the organization of the republican party, with which he acted until
his death in November, A. D. 1876. He was an active promoter of the Ohio and
Mississippi Railway, and was opposed to what was then called "State policy."

  Judge Kitchell was at the Crawford County Bar for many years, and is
remembered by its older members as one of the most pleasing and gentlemanly of
lawyers. He was always courteous in his intercourse with others. As an advocate
he was clear and practical rather than eloquent. His standard of honor and
integrity was a high one, and he lived well up to it.

   Though he left the county before he was admitted to the bar, the fact that he
was born and lived to manhood in the county, and then returned to it, both as a
lawyer and a judge, entitles him to a place in its history.

   In 1877 the judicial system was so changed as to create the State into
thirteen circuits and provide for the election of one judge in each circuit, to
hold until the year 1879, when three judges should be elected in each of the
thirteen circuits. Under this change John H. Hally, of Jasper County, was
elected in the second circuit, and held the courts of this county during his
term of office. Judge Hally is a Virginian by birth, and resided, until near the
close of the war, in the south. He was "subjugated" before many of his comrades
in the southern army, and came north to avoid the final catastrophe. His
literary and legal education are both liberal, and when aroused he is a
formidable adversary in a lawsuit. He is eminently social and loves the sports
of a Virginia gentleman. The music of his splendid pack of hounds falls
pleasantly on his ear, and he joins in the chase with the utmost eagerness. He
justly enjoys a large practice, and is held in high esteem by those who know
him, both as a man and a lawyer.

   On the 16th day of June, 1879, Chauncy S. Conger, of White County, Thomas S.
Casey, of Jefferson County, and William C. Jones, of Crawford County, were
elected judges in the second circuit. Since that time the courts in this county
have been held by Judge Jones, excepting when changes of venue called in one of
the other judges.

   Judge Jones was born at Hutsonville, July 15th, 1848. His father, Caswell
Jones, Esq., was a successful merchant, and died in March, 1853. His mother was
married to E. Callahan, in June, 1855; in 1861 Mr. Callahan, removed to Robinson
and opened a law office. Young Jones, of his own choice, went into the Monitor
newspaper office, and for near one year performed the duties of the youngest
apprentice. In 1863, he entered as a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University,
where he remained for three years. In 1867 he read law in the office of Messrs.
Callahan & Steel, after which he attended a course of law lectures at the
Michigan State University at Ann Arbor. He was admitted to the bar May 9th,
1868, and in June formed a Copartenship [sic] with Mr. Callahan which continued
for ten years. On the 25th of November, 1869, he married to Mary H. Steel,
daughter of James H. Steel, Esq., then a member of the Crawford County Bar. In
November, 1870, he was elected member of the 27th General Assembly. In November,
1877, he was elected judge of the County Court, which office he filled with
entire satisfaction to all parties until June 1879, when he was elected to the
circuit bench. He has brought with him into the judicial office that unflagging
industry, and energy, and high sense of justice and right, which have made his
life a success. He is still a young man, and one of whom his friends expect much
in the future. He resides in Robinson and takes a lively interest in the affairs
of his town and county. He is a democrat in politics, and has always been
elected as a partisan candidate. He belongs to no church, but believes in the
Bible and the doctrine of the Christian religion.

   It is impossible to notice the lawyers of the bar in the order in which they
properly stand, and all that can be done is to give them severally such mention
as the writer has been able to gather from the data at his command.

   Wickliffe Kitchell was born on May 21st, 1789, in the State of New Jersey. He
was descended from Robert Kitchell, who came from England in the year 1639, and
was the leader of a community of Puritans who settled at Guilford Colony of
Connecticut, Robert removed to Newark, New Jersey, in 1666, where many of
descendants still reside. Early in the present century Asa Kitchell, the father
of Wickliffe removed with his family to what was then the "far west," and
Wickliffe reached his majority in the vicinity of what is now Cincinnati, Ohio.
School privileges were in those early days, extremely limited, and the time
spent by him at school, according to his repeated statement, did not exceed two
or three months; but between the hours of labor, and by the fire-light at night,
he succeeded in obtaining a fair English education, sufficient for the practical
duties of life. On the 29th of February, 1812, he married Elizabeth Ross, with
whom his early childhood has been passed, and who, with her parents, had
emigrated from New Jersey in company with the Kitchell family.

   About the year 1814 he removed to southern Indiana, upon White River. That
portion of the country was then an almost unbroken wilderness and was largely
occupied by tribes of hostile Indians, and he and his wife and family, with
other families, were often compelled to seek shelter and security in the forts'
and block-houses that existed here and there in the thinly settled region. He
was elected sheriff of the county in which he resided (presumably Jackson
County), and was, of course, thrown much in contact with lawyers and others in
attendance upon the courts, and he determined to read law. He obtained
possession of a few text-books, and these he read by the light of log fires and
during rainy days. While clearing ground about his Indiana cabin he cut his foot
with an ax so severely as to lame him for life; and this accident served to
strengthen his resolution to continue in his course of reading, and he was
eventually admitted to the bar. In 1817 he removed to Palestine, Illinois, where
he resided until in the year 1838. He was a soldier in the Black Hawk war, but
was compelled to return before its conclusion on account of the lameness of his
foot. He thought the war was cruel and unnecessary, and never failed to comment
severely upon the manner in which it was prosecuted. He was a member of the
lower house of the General Assembly of 1820-21 from Crawford County. In the
spring of 1838 he removed to Hillsboro, Montgomery County, Illinois, in order to
give his children the advantages of the excellent schools then flourishing at
that place. He was again elected a member of the Legislature from Montgomery
County in 1841. He held the office of State's Attorney for several years. In
1839 he was appointed Attorney General of the State and held that office for one
year. In 1847 he moved with the remnant of his family, to Fort Madison, Iowa,
remaining there for seven years, and again returned to Hillsboro, Montgomery
County. He had the true pioneer spirit, and only declining years prevented him
from going to the Pacific coast. After the death of his wife, October 5th, 1862,
having ceased to practice his profession, he spent the remainder of his days
with his children, who were settled at different places in Illinois and Indiana,
and mostly with his youngest son, John W., at Pana, Christian County, Illinois,
and where he died on the 2d of February, 1869, at the ripe age of 80 years.

   From the time of its organization until 1854 he was a member of the
democratic party. In that year, objecting strongly to the ground taken by the
party on the slavery question he abandoned the organization forever and took
strong, anti-Nebraska ground. He was present as a delegate at the first
Republican State Convention held at Bloomington, Illinois, and was a zealous
supporter of that party and its policy until his death. He retained to a
remarkable degree his activity of mind and habits of physical labor.

   Eldridge S. Janney was born July 12th, 180_, in Alexandria, Virginia. His
father was Thomas Janney, a wealthy, merchant, and ship owner of that city. Mr.
Janney was a graduate of Nassau Hall College, Princeton, New Jersey, and
continued his reading of classic literature in the original languages until the
shadow of total blindness fell upon the pages of the old authors, and hid them
from him forever. He read law with Thomas Hewitt, Esq., and in 1827, immediately
after his admission to the bar, came to Crawford County, and began the practice
of his profession. He was a careful, painstaking lawyer; a good special pleader.
His address to a jury was terse and forcible, rather than eloquent. He was a
member of the State Legislature in the sessions of 1844, and 1846.

   Governor Ford, in his history of the State of Illinois, pays a high
compliment to Mr. Janney, for his action on the canal loan question, which
resulted in saving the State from the disgrace of repudiation. In 1853 his sight
had so far failed him, that he was compelled to abandon his profession. He
removed to Marshall, in the county of Clark, and engaged in a woolen-mill, which
he carried on until his death on the 17th day of December, A. D. 1875. In
politics he was a democrat; in religion, a liberalist; in all the relations of
life, a gentleman.

   William H. Sterrett was born in Nova Scotia, and read law with the Hon.
Lucius Case, of Newark; Ohio. He came to Robinson, about the year 1845, and
engaged in the practice of his profession, and was continually in practice until
1858, when he was elected county judge. His health was already failing, and he
abandoned practice, and shortly after the expiration of his term as county judge
he returned to Nova Scotia and died. He was a member of the lower House in the
eighteenth, General Assembly. As a lawyer he was positive in his positions when
taken. He was not an orator, but an earnest and zealous advocate of the cause of
his client. As a judge he was willful and arbitrary, and took but little counsel
beyond that of his own will. He administered the law as he understood it.

   Elihu McCulloch was a native of South Carolina and a graduate of Columbia
College. He removed first to Gibson County, Indiana. In the year A. D. 1846 he
located in Robinson and engaged in the practice of the law and continued until
in the fall of 1849 when he died. He was a brother-in-law of Hon. Franklin Robb,
a member of the present Crawford County Bar. He was a democrat in politics. A
man of industry and deeply learned in the science of law. He gave promise of a
career of usefulness to the public and honor to himself.

   Augustus C. French, came from New England to Edgar County, and represented
that countv in the Legislature of 1836. In 1839 ha removed to Palestine, having
received an appointment in the land-office at that place, a position he filled
for about three years. He was a man of business as well as law and purchased
lands south of Palestine which he afterward converted into a beautiful country
seat which he called "Maplewood." In the fall of 1846 he was elected Governor of
the State, and was re-elected in 1849 at the election held under the
constitution of 1847, and was governor until January, 1853, when he was
succeeded by Joel A. Matteson, of Will County. Governor French was a man who was
little understood by the mass of the people. His rigid economy in affairs of
business was called stinginess, and many stories are still current in regard to
his habit of gathering and saving in small things. When it is known that all his
care and saving was to feed, clothe and educate younger brothers and sisters who
were dependent upon him, and that all he made and saved for many years was
religiously devoted to that purpose, it presents his character in a fairer
light, and a more charitable judgment than has been usually accorded to it. His
administration of the affairs of the State was eminently successful. He never
afterward entered actively into the practice of law, but after a few years of
leisure at Maplewood, he removed to Lebanon and took charge of the law school at
McKendree College. He died several years ago, respected by all who knew him, as
an honest man. Politically he was a democrat. In religion he was a Methodist.

   George W. Peck, one of the brightest ornaments of the Crawford County Bar,
was born at Salem, and educated at Greencastle, Indiana. He was twenty-one years
of age when he located in Robinson in the summer of 1853. Old lawyers at once
recognized his worth and accorded to him a high position in the profession. He
rapidly obtained a practice which steadily increased until he entered the army
in 1861. He was a good special pleader, and his address to a jury was always
clear, logical and often eloquent. His mental and physical organization were
both of very fine texture and eminently fitted him for a high rank in the legal
profession. He was a delegate to the national convention which nominated Mr.
Lincoln for President. He was a great admirer of Mr. Lincoln personally and
politically, and entered into the campaign for his election with all the
enthusiasm of his ardent nature. He organized and commanded the "wide awakes"
and in this showed a capacity for organization and drill that was extraordinary.
His speeches during this campaign ranked with those of the best orators of the
party.

   At the commencement of the war he raised a company of men and repaired to
camp at Mattoon. This company became company I in the 21st regiment of Illinois
volunteers, commanded by Col. U. S. Grant. During the campaign in Missouri he
was much exposed and contracted bronchitis, from which he never recovered. He
remained with his regiment and participated in every battle in which it was
engaged, and when Col. Grant was made a general, Captain Peck was made Lieut.
Col., and after the death of Col. Alexander he commanded the regiment until he
was too feeble for duty in the field. He was then detailed for duty as Provost
Marshal at Louisville, Ky., and discharged the duties of that position with
honor to himself and the service until his constitution broke down entirely and
compelled his resignation, and he returned to his mother at Salem, Indiana, to
die. He had that rare courage that enabled him on all occasions to act as duty
prompted, reason guided and conscience dictated. Though he died young he lived
long enough to win reputation as a lawyer and fame as a soldier.

   James N. Steel was born in Philadelphia, and removed to Crawford County in
his boyhood. He was several years clerk of the county court, and on his
retirement from that office read law, and on the thirteenth day of July, A. D.
1857, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice. His large acquaintance
and perfect familiarity with business gave him at once a large business. His
first view of a legal question was generally correct, while further reasoning
often led him into doubt. He was a fine special pleader and very quick to detect
faults in the pleadings of his adversary. He had a clear, intellectual face and
a pleasant conversational voice. His address to court or jury was usually clear
and logical, and was addressed to the judgment rather than to the passions. As
an office lawyer he has had no equal at the Crawford County Bar. His social
qualities were of a high order. He was successful in business and left a
handsome property to his children. He was among the first to unite with the
republican party in the county, and was a zealous advocate of its principles.
His health failed and he retired from practice, and died in Robinson on second
day of December, A. D. 1872.

   Wiliiam Clendennin Dickson came to this county from Indiana as a physician
and practiced medicine for several years in Montgomery and Honey Creek
Townships. He was known as an active democratic politician and speaker. At the
election of 1861 he was elected County Judge and held that office four years. He
had previously read law and was now regularly admitted to the bar, and during
his life time continued to practice. He came to the bar too late in life and
lived too short a time to acquire either a large practice or reputation as a
lawyer. He died at Robinson in the year A. D. 1872.

   Alfred G. Lagow was a member of the Crawford County Bar in its early history
when the courts were held at Palestine. The writer has been unable to learn the
date of his admission to the bar or the date of his death. From the court
records it would appear that his practice was not large or very long continued,
but papers prepared by him still remaining on file show care and legal skill. He
was a son of Wilson Lagow, one of the oldest settlers of the county, and those
who remember him speak of him as a kind, pure-hearted gentleman.

   Edward S. Wilson, of the Richland County Bar, is a native of this county, and
entered the practice in Robinson about the year 1860. In 1862 he was appointed
State's attorney for the circuit and for several years discharged the duties of
that office with ability. During his official term he removed to Olney, where he
still has a large practice, and stands among the foremost members of the bar in
that county.

  Henry C. Firebaugh, now a member of the San Francisco Bar, is also a native of
this county. He read law in the office of Mr. Callahan and was admitted to
practice in 1864, and remained a short time in the county when he went to
California, where he has been rewarded with a very large measure of success.

   In the olden time when judges and lawyers "rode the circuit" together, such
men as Gen. W. F. Snider, Hon. O. B. Ficklin, Judge Charles H. Constable, Joseph
G. Bowman, William Harrow, Senator John M. Robinson, John Scholfield and E. B.
Webb were often seen at the bar of this countv and tales are still told by the
"old settlers" of the contests that took place between these giants of the law
in courts where there were but few books, and plausible speeches were of much
more value than they are at the present time in winning verdicts from either
court or jury. The limits of this chapter forbid more than a mere mention of the
names of these old men, the most of whom have been summoned to a "bench and bar
beyond the murky clouds of time."

   The present bar of Crawford County con-ists of the following members:

   The Hon. Franklin Robb who was born February 15, A. D. 1817, in Gibson
County, Indiana, and was licensed to practice law in Indiana in January, A. D.
1843. Licensed in Illinois in the year 1847, and began practice in Robinson in
1851.

   Ethelbert Callahan was born in Licking County, Ohio, December 17, A. D. 1829.
Admitted to the bar in 1860, and practiced in Robinson since 1861.

   Jacob C. Olwin was born December 6, 1838, near Dayton, Ohio, and admitted to
the bar in 1864, and has practiced in this county since that time.

   George N. Parker was born April 9, 1843, in Crawford County, Illinois, and
was admitted to practice in the State Courts June 18, 1870, and in the Supreme
Court of the United States December 9, A. D. 1878.

   Presley G. Bradbury was born in Crawford County, Illinois, October 6, 1847,
and admitted to the bar in Illinois on the 4th day of July, 1876, and in Indiana
in November, 1878.

   James O. Steel was born in Crawford County, Illinois, on the 7th day of
January, 1848, and admitted to the bar in January A. D. 1873.

   John Calvin Maxwell was born in Crawford County, Illinois, on the 26th day of
September, A. D. 1847, and admitted to the bar on the 7th day of January, A. D.
1876.

   Singleton B. Allen was born in Parke County, Indiana, on the 7th day of
September, A. D. 1840, and admitted to the bar in the State of Illinois, on the
29th day of January, 1863.

   Mathias C. Mills was born in the State of Indiana on the 22d day of February,
A. D. 1838, and admitted to the bar in the State of Indiana March 17, A. D.
1861, and in the State of Illinois Sept. 27, A. D. 1882.

   Alfred H. Jones was born in Crawford County, Illinois, on the 4th day of
July, A. D. 1850, and admitted to the bar in Illinois on the 14th day of June,
A. D. 1875.

   Joseph B. Crowley was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, on the 19th day of
July, A. D. 1858, and admitted to the bar in Illinois on the 15th day of June,
A. D. 1882.

   Enoch E. Newlin was born in Crawford County, Illinois, on the 22d of
February, A. D. 1858, and was admitted to the bar in Illinois in June, A. D. 1882.

   Lucian N. Barlow was born in Crawford County, Illinois, on the 1st day of
November, A. D. 1854, and admitted to the bar in Illinois on the 17th day of
June, A. D. 1882.

   The present bar of Crawford County will compare favorably with the bar of any
of the surrounding counties, both in legal ability and personal character. The
majority of its members are young men with the larger part of their professional
life yet before them. So far they have done well and their present standing
gives promise that the high character of the county bar in the past will be
maintained in the future.


Additional Comments:
Extracted From:

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD AND CLARK COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
EDITED BY WILLIAM HENRY PERRIN.

ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO: O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS,
LAKESIDE BUILDING.
1883.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/crawford/history/1883/historyo/chapteri6ms.txt

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