Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Garnsey, Charles B 
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Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907

Charles B. Garnsey, deceased, was for many years one of the leading lawyers of 
Joliet. He was born in Livingston county, New York, October 25, 1842, and was 
a son of N. B. and Emily Garnsey. He obtained his literary education in the 
schools of the east and pursued his legal studies at the Union College of Law, 
now the Northwestern University Law School, from which he was graduated in 
1862. It was in May, 1859, that he came west and located in Joliet. When the 
country became involved in Civil war he enlisted, July 30, 1862, in the One 
Hundredth Illinois infantry and remained in the service until the close of 
hostilities. In 1865 Mr. Garnsey began the practice of law in Joliet and soon 
won distinction as one of the ablest members of the Will county bar. He was 
deputy collector of internal revenue from 1867 until 1871. The office of 
corporation counsel was created for him in 1876 and he was elected county 
judge in 1882, serving on the bench until 1890. In 1903 he was elected circuit 
judge and was filling that position at the time of his death, which occurred 
April 1, 1905. He acted as corporation counsel for the Joliet Iron & Steel 
Company from its organization and took an active and helpful part in its 
development until it became the Illinois Steel Company. He remained with the 
latter corporation as counsel until he went upon the bench in 1903 and was 
connected with the enterprise at the time Lord Leith was at the head of the 
Joliet Steel Company. He was also counsel for the defense in all of the 
important sanitary cases which were tried in this district and was secretary 
of the old Joliet & Lockport Railway Company. In fact, he was recognized as 
one of the ablest members of the bar in this part of the state and his 
opinions were received as authority on canal and water laws of this state. His 
mind was trained in the severest school of reasoning and investigation and few 
men had more intimate knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence. He 
prepared his cases with great thoroughness and care and his ability was 
manifest in his able handling of important litigation and in the excellent 
results which attended his efforts. On the 4th of November, 1867, in 
Wilmington, Illinois, Judge Garnsey was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. 
Henderson, a native of Herkimer county, New York. Her father, John D. 
Henderson, was a man of much prominence in Will county at an early day. He 
came to Illinois in 1846 or 1847 and was one of the engineers on the 
construction of the Jackson street dam in Joliet. He afterward removed to 
Wilmington, where for a long period he made his home, becoming one of the 
leading and influential residents of that section, leaving the impress of his 
individuality for good upon public thought and action. He was a brother of 
Judge Hugh Henderson and died in the year 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Garnsey had two 
sons, John H. and Charles B. Judge Garnsey was a member of Bartleson post, G. 
A. R.; of the Army of the Cumberland Society; of the Illinois State Bar 
Association; and in Masonry attained the EJnight Templar degree, being a 
member of Joliet commandery, No. 4. Endowed by nature with strong intellectual 
force, he developed his talents and energies with the passing of the years and 
won for himself a most favorable recognition as a representative of the legal 
profession in Illinois. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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