Sangamon County, Illinois - City of Springfield 563, 1881 (part 5 of 25)

John E. Rosette, lawyer, is a native of Delaware, 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 Findlay, Hancock county, Ohio. During the several years of professional life in that place he M'as twice elected Prosecuting Attorney of the county. From thence he returned to Delaware; lived there nearly three years, w^as appointed Probate Judge of the county, and served the unexpired term of Judge Fuller, deceased. In 1855. upon 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. He came to this county a Democrat in politics ; but from 1856 has been identitied with the Republican party.

Mr. Rosette w^as 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 holding that office at the same time.

Charles S. Zane, Judge of tlie Nineteenth Judicial Circuit of Illinois, is a native of Cumberland county. New Jersey, born March 2,1831. Andrew Zane, bis father, was a farmer, and married 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 labor and attendance 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 113 a month. In the winter of 1852 he rode to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on horseback; returned the following spring, purchased a team, and spent the summer in breaking prairie. In the autumn of 1852 he entered McKendree College, and pursued 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 olfice of Hon. J. C. Conkling in July, 1856; completed the course and was admitted to the Bar in the spring of 1857, and opened an ofiice. He was elected City Attorney 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 partnership with William H. Herndon, former law partner of Abraham Lincoln, and did a successful business until 1869, when the firm was dissolved and he associated himself with Hon. Shelby M. CuUom and George O. Marcy. Tliis relation was continueduntil 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 Peovle vs. The Chicago and Alton Railroad Company^ in which it was sought to recover certain penalties incurred by a breach of the law of the State, authorizing Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners to fix maximum rates of freight and passenger tariffs, in which the attorneys for the defense made an effort to transfer the 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 interfere with the inherent judicial rights of the State, and that in assuming to take control of such causes it transcended its constitutional authority, 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 ^400 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 Maxcy in the spring of 1859. She is of Kentucky parentage, 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

John Alexander McClernand is the only child of Dr. John and Fatiraa 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 respectable 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 knowledge 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 jDublished in Shawneetown; 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 Duncan; and also advocated that mode of constructing 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 complimentary resolutions respecting his services were passed in a number of publ c meetings held at different points. In 1838 he was urged to become a nominee for Lieutenant Governor, but declined because under the Constitutional age - thirty years. At the same Democratic convention which offered him the nomination Mr. Mc- Clernand prepared and offered the following resolutions:

^'- Hesolved, That the Democratic principle is founded on an imperishable basis of truth and justice, and perpetually striving to sustain society in the exercise of every pow'er which can promote human happiness and elevate our condition; that, instead of warring against order and encroaching on the j^rivileges of others, the spirit of Democracy maintains an active principle of hope and virtue.

^^ Mesolved, 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

liesolved, That our just claim is to connect our party with the cause of intelligence and morality; to seek the protection of every rierht 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 embracing all improvements which can ameliorate our moral and political state."

In 1840 Mr. McClernand was again returned to the legislature from Gallatin county; was reelected in 1842; and as Chairman of the Committee on Finance introduced several measures to alleviate the existing financial troubles of the State, which he attributed to the defective 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 extensively published. In the second session of the same Congress, as a member of the Committee on Public Lands, he brought 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 holding elections had been changed, and Mr. McClernand was re-elected to Congress in 1844. He was one of the members who insisted with vehemence on the maintenance of the claim to fiftyfour degrees, forty minutes in the Oregon controversy with Great Britain. He 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 Twentyninth 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- 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 defended 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 chairman, he prepared the bill which passed both houses, Mr. McClernand being chairman ot 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 Affairs, introduced a paper for the regulation of the State Department. In 1851, declining reelection, he retired from Congress, after a flattering career of eight years, and moved to Jacksonville, 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, deprecating the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and predicting danger to the country as the consequence. In 1856 he removed to Springfield, Illinois, where he soon gained a prominent position as a lawyer in the State and F'ederal Courts. In 1859 he was elected Representative to Congress, 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" ancy of the Mormons, and the evils of polygamy- On the 14th of January, 1861, Mr. McClernand 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, ^nd before taking his seat, Mr. McClernand married Miss Sarah, daughter of Colonel Dunlap, of Jacksonville, Illinois.

Charles A. Keyes, Attorney and Counselor-at- Law, of the firm of McClernand & Keyes, Southwest corner Fifth and Washington streets, is a native of Springfield, Illinois, l>orn 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 SjDringfield. Charles attended the city schools, and graduated from Illinois College, Jacksonville, 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 formed 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. He was appointed Master in Chancery by Judge E. Y. Rice, in 1867, and was twice re-appointed by Judge B. S. Edwards and Judge J. A. McClernand, serving in all seven years He was a delegate to the National Democratic 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, William B. Brown, came from Kentucky and settled in Sangamon cotmty 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 Lexington, Kentucky, was admitted to the Bar in

1858. and in January, 1860, became a partner in the present firm, having been active in the profession until now. While he has been an earnest worker in the Democratic party, he has been a candidate for no political favor. Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Bettie, daughter of Major J. T. Stuart, of Springfield, in October, 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 Avhom he has a

Eugene L. Gross Avas born December 25, 1836, in Starkville, Herkimer county, New York, and came to Illinois Avith his parents in 1844. He received an academical education, and subsequently 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 partnership with Mr. Reynolds, which continued but a a few months. In 1858 he came to Springfield and opened an office, and here practiced his profession 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 presenting his case for the consideration of the learned judge, he alike usually convinced both that his position was right. He Avas logical in his reasonings 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 Avas his first literary Avork. In 1868, in connection with his brother. Colonel William L. Gross, with whom he had formed a laAv 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 LaAvs of the State. In 1869 a new edition of the General Statutes, including the laws of 1869, were published. During this year they also compiled and published an index to the Private and Special LaAvs of Illinois. In 1872 they compiled and published the second A'olume of Gross' Statutes. This ended the literary labors of Mr. Gross.

Eugene L. Gross and Susan L. Zimmerman Avere 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 NcAV Mexico and Texas, and returned by railroad in December of the same year. The trip failed to be of that benefit it Avas 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 office, being contented to folloAv the profession he had selected for a life work. In politics he was

Milton Hay Avas born in Fayette county, Kentucky, July 3, 1817, and emigrated Avith 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 intervals 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. Mathenj^ (noAV Judge Matheny) and others, he aided in forming the first society of a literary character ever formed in Springfield, the Springfield Lyceum, which Avas devoted to debating disputed questions and the reading of original essays. He studied law in the office of Stuart & Lincoln, and was licensed to practice in 184U. He begun practice at Pittsfield, Pike ocunty, Illinois, and there practiced his profession until the year 1858, Avhen he returned to Springfield, continuing the practice of his profession until January, 1881, when he retired fiom the actiA^e practice of his profession.

He was twice married. His first wife, Catherine, the daughter of James Forbes, of Pittsfield, 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. Tavo children survi\'e, born of this marriage, Kate and Logan Hay.

He was elected to the Constitutional CouA'ention of 1872, from the district composed of the counties of Logan and Sangamon, and, although not of the dominant party in the CouA^ention, Avas made Chairman of the Committee on ReA'- enue, and served on the Judiciary Committee. He actively participated in all the proceedings of that body, and in forming the new Constitution, which was subsequently adopted by the people. In 1874 he Avas elected as a Representative of Sangamon county to the legislature, and acted (after the death of Mr. Bushnell) both as Chairman of the Judiciary and Revenue Committees of that body. He AA-as one of the committee of five appointed by the legislature, to reA^ise, in conjunction Avith Mr. Hurd, the laws of the State, and this Avork was adopted at an adjourned session of the legislature. Other than as here stated he has never held office, preferring the practice of his profession to the pursuit of oflfice. In politics he is a Republican.

Hon. William M. Springer, present member of Congress from the Twelfth District of Illinois, 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 instructions of Dr. NeAvton Bateman, then teaching in the West District school of that city. He entered Illinois College, but owing to some difficulty 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 com})Osed 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. Returning home in 1870 at the close of a two-year's tour in Europe, for pleasure and the improvement 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 sessions were held during 1870-71 and 1871-72, and a complete revision of the Statutes of Illinois was made while he served in that body.

In 1874, Mr. Springer was elected Representative to Congress for the Twelfth District, composed of the counties of Cass, Christian, Menard, Morgan, Sangamon and Scott, and re-elected in 1876, 1878 and 1880, being nominated the first time on the first ballot, and each subsequent time by acclamation, the delegations from each county being instructed to support him. This, in the face of the fact that Sangamon county has furnished the Representative from this district for twenty years consecutively, speaks well for the popularity of the present incumbent. In the Forty-fourth Congress, Mr. Springer was a member of several important committees. When the bill was introduced, in that session, to grant a million and a half dollars by the Government to the Centennial Commissioners, Mr. Springer offered an amendment, that upon the close of the Exposition and the sale of the property, the Government should be reimbursed by that amount from the proceeds before any dividend could be made to the stockholders. The bill became a law, as amended. The Centennial

Board attempted to evade the payment of the money into the United States Treasury, through a supposed defect in Mr. Springer's amendment clause, but he, being selected by the Attorney- General to prosecute the cause, fought it through the United States Supreme Court, and obtained a verdict sustaining the act, and recovering to the Government fifteen hundred thousand dollars. For this valuable labor he has not, as yet, received a dollar compensation, though he has asked Congress to allow him to go before the Court of Claims and prove the value of his services.

In the Forty-fifth Congress Mr. Springer served on several prominent committees, among them the Potter Election Committee and the committee to investigate Mr. Seward's official records while Minister to China, and which reported twelve articles of impeachment against him. In the same Congress Mr. Springer bolted the caucus nomination of his party and supported General Shields against Mr. Field, the party nominee.

He was the only Democratic member from the Northwest who voted against the Birchard and Hardridge resolutions, declaring that neither the courts nor Congress possessed the power to disturb Mr. Hayes' Presidential title, his action creating great excitement at the time. Mr. Springer believed that a wrong had been done in giving Mr. Haj^es the Presidency, while he opposed all revolutionary measures, thought the Government had the power to right that wrong. Mr. Springer was the Chairman of the Committee on Elections in the Forty-sixth Congress, and opposed the majority of his party in their effort to unseat Representative W. D. Wash burne, of Minnesota, and substitute Ignatius Donnelly in his stead. Lie thought the claim of Mr. Donnelly unjust and the proceedings dishonest; and although great pressure was brought to bear, through threats and slanderous charges of bribery, from which he was triumphantly vindicated, to coerce him to support the measure, he persistently opposed it, and was conspicuous in its defeat. The object of the movement was to secure a Democratic majority in the House, so that the party could elect the President in 1880, in case it shoi;ld be thrown into the House of Representatives.

Mr. Springer married the daughter of Rev. Calvin W. Ruter, a prominent Methodist clergyman of Indiana. They have but one child, William Ruter Springer, aged eighteen years, who was graduated from a private military academy in Virginia in 1880. Notwithstanding her deli- cate health, Mrs. Springer is an author of recognized ability. The most noted productions of her pen are "Beech Wood," which appeared several years ago, and "Self," published in 1881, both fropi the press of Lippincott, of Philadelphia. She has also contributed a number of jjoems to the columns of current magazines.

William E. Shutt, Attorney, of the law firm of Palmers, Robinson & Shutt, was born in Waterford, Louden county, Virginia, May 5, 1840. His parents, Jacob and Caroline (Leslie) Shutt, moved to the city of Springfield in November, 1842, They were natives of Louden county, Virginia. Father died here in 1866, mother in in 1865. Mr. Shutt was educated in the city schools, and read law with Judge James H. Matheny, and was admitted to the Bar in 1862, commencing practice immediately. In 1864 he was elected City Attorney on the Democratic ticket; was chosen Mayor of the city in 1868, by the same party In 1874 he was elected to the State Senate, for four years ; and was re-elected in 1878, his official term expiring in 1882. The law firm of Robinson, Knapp & Shutt was formed July 1, 1869, composed of Hon. James C. Robinson, Anthony L. Knapp and Mr. Shutt; and has existed until the death of Mr. Knapp, in May, 1881, after which Robinson & Shutt formed a partnership with J. M. and J. Mayo Palmer, under the firm name of Palmers, Robinson & Shutt.

Robert L. McGuire of the firm of McGuire, Hamilton & Salzenstein, is a native of Missouri, and was born in 1833. He graduated from the Missouri University at Columbia, in the class of 1857. Subsequently he followed the calling of a teacher. In 1861 he came to Springfield, read law and was admitted to the Bar in 1862. He formed a partnership with James H. Matheny in 1866, previous to which time he practiced law alone. This partnership continued until 1874. In May, 1878, he formed a partnership with L. F. Hamilton, and later Mr. Salzenstein was admitted, forming the present firm.

Leonidas H. Bradley, of the firm of Bradley & Bradley, Lawyers, 117^ South Fifth street, was born in Galia county, Ohio, July 23, 1841. He is one of a family of four sons and a daughter, of Lewis and Nancy C. Bradley nee Knox, of New Y^ork, and the State of Delaware, respectively. In 1852 they moved to Clark county, Illinois, where the senior Bradley died in March, 1880, and where the widow and several of the family now reside. Leonidas was educated at Marshall, Illinois, and Ohio Wesleyan University, in Delaware, from which he was graduated in the classical coui'se in 1861, being less than twenty years of age. He at once commenced the study of law with Judge Charles H. Constable, in Marshall, Illinois; in August, 1862, enlisted as a pi-ivate in the 130th Illinois Infantry. Upon the consolidation with the 77th regiment he was made Quartermaster Sergeant and filled that oftice till discharged after the close of the war. In October, 1865, Mr. Bradley married Miss Abigal L., daughter of Hon. Uri Manley, an early settler and prominent lawyer of Marshall. Soon after retiring from the army Mr. Bradley w^as admitted to the Bar, settled in Springfield and formed a partnership with W. P. Olden, which continued till June, 1872, when Mr. Olden retired and Isaac K. Bradley took his place. Mr. Bradley has been ai-dently devoted to his profession, paying little attention to politics, but was elected a member of the Board of Supervisors in 1871, and in 1872 chosen to the City Council; was a candidate, against his wish, for County Judge on the Republican, ticket, but the county being strongly Democratic, was beaten. He was appointed Assistant United States District Attorney in 1869, did efficient service in prosecuting fraudulent distillers in this district; resigned in 1S71. He enjoys an extensive practice in the Chancery and LTnited States Courts. His marriage with Miss Manley has resulted in a family of three sons and three daughters, one of the latter deceased.

Isaac K. Bradley was also born in Galia county, Ohio, and is a little more than thirty-two years old. He attended school at Marshall and at Lebanon, Illinois, completing the classical course in 1869; read law with Messrs. Bradley & Olden, in Springfield; was admitted in May, 1870; began practice as a member of the law firm of Bradley, Olden & Bradley, in 1871. Since Mr. Olden's retirement, the following year, the brothers have continued under the present firm title, and have a large law business in the several courts.

Thomas G. Prickett, lawyer, is the second of five children of Hon. David and Charlotte G. Prickett, and was born in Springfield, December 23, 1837. He was educated at Charlottsville Seminary, from which he graduated in 1858; entered the army with the rank of Captain, in 1862; served about two and one-half years on General McClernand's staff; read law under the preceptorship of General John A. McClernand; graduated with the title of Bachelor of Laws, from the law department of Michigan State LTniversity, in 1865; was admitted to the Bar in March, 1865; was elected City Attorney in 1866, and again in 1868. Mr. Prickett was elected

The two brothers and two sisters own and reside in the old homestead, opposite the Slate Capitol, erected by Hon. George Forquer over fifty years ago. The premises include three acres of land, beautifully situated on the corner of Capitol avenue and Second street.

Norman L. Freeman is the present Reporter of the Supreme Court of Illinois, which office he has held, by appointment from that court, since April, 1863,

He is a native of Livingston county. New York, and was born May 9, 1823. His parents, Truman Freeman and Hannah Down, were natives of New Hampshire, and prior to their removal to the State of New York, had for many years been residents of the city of Concord. After the death of the father, in 1824, the mother, with the younger members of her family, moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she resided many years. While a mere boy, young Norman entered the store of David Cooper, a leading merchant of Detroit, where he remained about three years. Leaving Detroit, he spent a few months in Cleveland, as a clerk, and then entered an academy near that city, from which he passed to Ohio University, at Athens, at which institution he completed his literary education. Upon leaving the university, he went to Kentucky, and for several years taught school in the vicinity of Lexington. While still a teacher he pursued his law studies, and in the winter of 1845-6 entered the law office of Kirtland & Seymour, at Waterford, New York, and in the spring of 1846 returned to Kentucky, was admitted to the Bar at Lexington, and began practicing his profession in Morganfield, Union county, in that State. In 1849 he was married to Miss Tranquilla Richeson, daughter of Alfred Richeson and Elizabeth Dabney Williamson. To them were born five children, four of whom survive, three daughters and one son. In 1851 we find him practicing his profession at Shawneetown, Illinois, where he remained until his removal to Springfield in 1864. In 1855 he published his Digest of the Illinois Reports, in two volumes, a work which went far to establish his reputation as a lawyer and law writer. During the time he has held his present office, he has issued sixty-six volumes of reports - a greater number, it is believed, than has been issued by any other American reporter.

Until the disorganization of that party, Mr. Freeman was a Henry Clay Whig, but since that time his political affiliations have been with the

Richmond Wolcott is a native of Illinois, and was born in Morgan county, January 10, 1840. He was educated at Jacksonville, where his parents moved at an early day, and graduated from Illinois College in the Class of 1859. In 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Tenth Illinois Infantry; was promoted to First Lieutenant, and then Captain. He served until September, 1864, when he resigned and returned to Jacksonville, and resumed the study of law, which he commenced before he entered the army. In June, 1865, he was admitted to practice, and at once located in Springfield, since which time he has actively engaged in the practice of his profession. He married Jennie Salter, July ll, 1865, by whom he has had two daughters. In politics, Mr. Wolcott is a Republican.

Thomas C. Mather, of Scholes & Mather, has been practicing law in Springfield since the spring of 1865, and has been a member of the present firm since 1871. He first read law with Hay, Cullom & Campbell, and then attended the law department of Michigan State University, where he completed the course of studies in that institution, in the spring of 1864. He then entered the office of a law firm in Chicago, where he remained until the spring of 1865, when he was admitted to practice in the courts of this State, and at once returned to Springfield. Mr. Mather received his literary education in the schools of Springfield, and a partial course in Illinois College, at Jacksonville. His parents dying in his infancy, he was reared by Colonel Mather, since deceased. He is now thirty-nine years of age, and since infancy his home has been in Sangamon county,

Clinton L. Conkling, Attorney and Counselor at law, is a native of Springfield, Illinois, born October 16, 1843. He was educated in Yale College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1864. Clinton studied law in the office of his father, Hon. James C. Conkling, of Springfield, and was licensed to practice in the courts of Illinois, November 23, 1866, and the United States in January, 1867. After practicing a few years he turned his attention to the manufacturing business, but in 1877 resumed the duties of his profession to which he now gives his whole time, devoting special attention to chancery and real estate law, and to the settlement of estates. For some years Mr. Conkling was secretary of the Lincoln Monument Association, and has been an active member of the fraternity of (Jdd Fellows in Central Illinois, besides being identified with other and similar benevolent societies. He has also been a member of the Board of Su|)ervisors of the county, two terms. In his real estate practice he represents large land interests in this and other States.

In 18G7 Mr. Conkling united in marriage with Miss Georgie Barrell, and they now have a family of two daughters, Georgie B. Conkling, and Kate Conkling, aged eight and six years respectively.

Lloyd F. Hamilton, of the firm of McGuire, Hamilton & Salzenstein, is a Kentuckian by birth, but was raised in Tazewell county, Illinois, his mother having emigrated to that county while he was yet an infant. His father died before they came to this State. He began to study law in 1864, with Judge Schotield,of Marshall, Illinois, and the following year entered the Law Department of Michigan University, where he remained one year. He then entered the Law Department of the Chicago University, wdiere he graduated in 1866. During the same year he passed a successful examination before the Supreme Court of Illinois and was admitted to practice. Selecting Springfield as a home, he moved to that city and opened an office and has since continued to practice here. In 1872 he was elected States' Attorney and served four years, and was highly successful as a prosecutor. Previous to this, during the municipal year of 1869-70, he wasCit)^ Attorney of Springfield. Mr. Hamilton has studiously devoted himself to the practice of his profession and stands well with the Bar.

James W. Patton was born February 1.5, 1840, near Auburn, Sangamon county, Illinois. "When but eight years old his father died, leaving his mother with two other children younger than himself. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth A. Moore, and she now resides upon the family homestead near the place of his birtli. His grandfather, James Patton, was among the first settlers of Sangamon county, having emigrated from Christian county, Kentucky, in the spring of 1820.

Mr. Patton remained with his mother on the farm until he was sixteen, when he spent two or three years away from home at school. Upon his return he was engaged in teaching for a while. In 1860 he entered the law firm of Messrs. Hay & CuUora, of Springfield, with whom he studied until admitted to the Bar. After that he was engaged with his brother, Matthew Patton in merchandising at Auburn.

At the Presidential election of 1864, he was elected one of the Representatives of Sangamon and Lfjgan counties to the legislature. In^April 1866, he located in Springfield, and commenced the practice of his profession.

December 9, 1869, he was married to Francine E. daughter of Hon. Charles H. Lanphier, of Springfield. Mr. Patton has devoted himself to the practice of his chosen profession, in which he has been successful.

Samuel D. Scholes, of the firm of Scholes & Mather, is a native of Peoria county, Illinois, and was born in 1841. He was educated in Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, and began reading law with Johnson & Hopkins, of Peoria. When the war commenced he enlisted and served as Orderly Sergeant in the three months' service, and afterwards as First Lieutenant in the three years' service, in the 1-Jth Illinois Infantry. At the close of the war, in 1865, he again returned to his law books, and in January, 1866, was admitted to the Bar, and commenced practice in Springfield. In 1875 he received the appointment of Master in Chancery, which oflftce he continues to hold. Since 1871 the present law firm has been in existence. Politically, Mr. Scholes is a Republican, but he has never been actively engaged in politics.

Alfred Oi-endorif, Attorney-at-law, was born in Logan count}^, Illinois, 29th July, 1845. Joseph Orendorff, his father, was a North Carolinian by birth, but came to Illinois with his parents about 1819. Christopher Orendorfl^, his father, settled on Sugar creek, north of Springfield, in what was then Sangamon, now Logan county, and built the first water-power gristmill in that part of the country, making the burrs of boulders obtained in the vicinity of the mill. Joseph Orendorff married Elizabeth Stevens, a native of Henderson county, Kentucky. He died when the subject of this biography was a lad of ten summers, and his widow removed to Lincoln, Logan county. ' Alfred enjoyed the common schools, and subsequently attended the Wesleyau University at Lincoln, a year, and the military school at Fulton, Illinois, a short time. In the spring of 1866 he graduated from the Albany Law School, and spent the succeeding winter in Texas. Returning to Springfield in tlie autumn of 1867, he engaged in the practice of law in the oftice of Herndon & Zane; and u])on the retirement of Judge Zane from tbe firm, the law partnership of Herndon & Orendorff was formed, and continued for a number of years. June 22, 1870, Mr. Orendorff united in marriage with Miss

Julia, daughter of Colonel John Williams, an early settler and pronainent l)usiness man of Springfield. In 1870 Mr. Orendorff was nominated by the Republicans for the State Senate, but the "Democrats being largely in the majority, he was beaten by their candidate, lion. Alexander Starne. In 1872, he was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention, and supported Hon. Lyman Trumbull for the Presidency. In 1873 he was chosen by the Liberals as candidate for Representative to the General Assembly of Illinois. The choice being ratified by the Democrats, he was elected, and was made a member of the Judiciary Committee in that body, and took an active part in framing the Revised Statutes, made necessary by the adoption of the new Constitution. Mr. Orendortf joined the Odd Fellows in 1874; has filled the various offices in the subordinate lodge; was chosen Rep resentative of No. 465 to the Grand Lodge, held in Peoria in 1875; was elected Grand Master of the State in 1878, and is now Representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge I. O. O. F. of the World.

The law firm of Orendorff & Creighton was formed in 1879. It has an extensive business, and its members are recognized as among the most successful practitioners at the Springfield Bar.

Henry S. Greene, Attorney for the Wabash, St Louis and Pacific Railway Company, and member of the late prominent law firm of Hay, Greene & Littler, was born in Ireland in 1833. At six years of age he crossed the Atlantic, and grew to manhood on the shore of Lake Ontario in the Dominion of Canada. In 1857 he came to Illinois, read law in the office of Lawrence Weldon, at Clinton, and was admitted to the Bar in January, 1860. Having previously arranged to become a law partner with Hon. C .H. Moore, of Clinton, Mr. Greene entered into and remained in that relation six years. Three years after his admission he was appointed Attorney for the Chicago and Alton Railroad Company for the counties of Logan and McLean, which position he resigned upon moving to Springfield in 1868, since which time, his law firm has been counsel for the company in Sangamon county, he still retaining that relation. Ill 1860 Mr. Greene associated himself with Mr. D. T. Littler in the practice of law, and upon the dissolution of the firm of Hay cfe Palmer by the election of the latter to be Governor, Hon. Milton Hay became a partner, the firm title changing to Hay, Greene & Littler. This partnership ceased by dissolution January 1, 1881.

For a number of years this firm has had charge of the legal business of the Wabash Railway Company in this part of the State. Some time previously, and since their separation, Mr. Greene has been the General Counselor for the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway Company for Illinois, where it owns and controls by lease 1,300 miles of railroad lines, and Consulting Counsel for the outside business of the company, controlling in all 3,000 miles of road.

During the last two years of its existence, he was retained as counsel for the American Union Telegraph Company in its extensive litigation with the Western Union Company, previous to their consolidation. In none of the large legal business which Mr. Greene has done for corporations, has he received a stated salary, but simply a fee for the professional labor performed. In view of the great demand upon his time and energies in attending to the legal matters of these companies, he has withdrawn almost entirely, of late years, from general court practice at the Bar. The rapid growth of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Company's, by absorption and construction, in the last few years, has created a large volume of legal business, and ext^ended his duties until they are larger outside of the State than in it.

In 1863, Mr. Greene was appointed District Attorney, by Governor Yates, for the Eighth Judicial District, composed of the counties of DeWitt, Logan and McLean, and was subsequently elected to the same position, but resigned to take his seat in the legislature, in 1867, in which he served one regular and two special sessions; and upon moving from the district, resigned before the close of his term of ofiice.

In the fall of 1854, before leaving Canada, Mr. Greene married Miss Elizabeth Ilogle, born in that country, of New Hampshire parentage. Their family consists of one daughter and one son. In politics, Mr. Greene has always been a firm and active, but not radical. Republican.

A. N. J. Crook is a native of Tennessee, but was reared in Indiana, his parents removing to that State in his childhood. In 1856 he came to Peoria county, Illinois, and from there to Sangamon county in 1862. He spent two years in Pike's Peak, Colorado. After reading la-w for a time with Herndon & Zane, he was admitted to the Bar and commenced practice in Springfield. In 1869 he was elected County Judge and served four years. He also served as a member of the 32d General Assembly from Sangamon county. He is a staunch Democrat and an active worker in its interests.

James C. Uobinson, of the lirm of Palmers, Robinson & Shutt is a native of Edgar county Illinois, where he was born in 1824. Jlis father, Richard Robinson was a North Carolinian, and married Sally Dixon, and moved to Clark county, Illinois, in 18l!0, but removed to Edgar county shortly after. Subsequently he returned to Clark county where James was brought up and educated. Mr. Robinson read law in Clark county, and was admitted to practice about 1850, and followed his chosen profession in that county until 1869, when he settled in Springfield.

Like many other lawyers, of a past Decade, Mr. Robinson became somewhat of a politician, and in 1858 was elected from the Clark county District, a member of Congress. He was reelected in 1860 and 1862. In 1868, he was placed in nomination by liis party, the Democratic, for the office of Governor, in opposition to his present law partner - John M. Palmer, but was defeated. In 1870 he was nominated for Congress from the Springfield District and triumphantly elected, and re-elected in 1872.

Soon after his settlement in Springfield, Mr. Robinson formed a partnership with A. L. Knapp, and subsequently William L. Shutt was admitted a member of the firm. The firm continued in existence until the death of Mr. Knapp in the summer of 1881. Soon after this a partnership was effected with John M. and John Mayo Palmer, under the firm name of Palmers, Robinson & Shutt, the firm being one of the strongest in the State. The new firm now enjoys, as the old one did for many years, an extensive practice, especially in the upper courts. Mr. Robinson is recognized as an excellent jury-lawyer, and as a stump sj^eaker has few equals.

James A. Kennedy, attorney at law, is a native of Huntingdon - now Blair - county, Pennsylvania; was born in 1833. David Kennedy and Mary A. Miller, his parents, w^ere also of that State. They came to Illinois about 1840, and settled in Calhoun county, where Mr. Kennedy died soon after. They had three children, of whom James is the only one alive. Soon after his father's death, the family moved to St Louis, Missouri, and he was tliere reared and educated, completing a course in the St. Louis LTniversity in 1852. He then went south and engaged in teaching school in New Orleans and interior Louisiana, until 1857. Returning, he remained in St. Louis till the following year, then located in Waterloo, Monroe county, Illinois: read law Avith Hon. William R. Morrison, and was admitted to })ractice in 1859. He was elected (.-ounty Superintendent of schools in 1860, and filled the office by successive elections, eight yeffrs. He was appointed jNIaster in Chancery about the same time, and held that position till he moved to Sangamon county in 1870. Here he taught the first year as assistant in the city high school, at the close of which he opened a law office; was elected city attorney on the Democratic ticket in 1874; the following year was chosen Justice of the Peace to fill a vacancy, was re-elected in 1877, and served till May, 1881. Upon retiring he resumed the practice of law. Mr. Kennedy is now serving his second term as supervisor from Capitol township; was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, first term, is now at the head of Committee on Pauper and Poor Accounts. In January, 1879, he, with several others, printers, issued the "Catholic News," a weekly publication, which was suspended about six months later, from lack of proper support. In 1858 he married Miss Clara Vanderburgt, a native of Belgium, Europe, but came to America at ten years of age. They haA^e two adult daughters, Mary E. and Emma. Mr. Kennedy is a member, and for several years was successively President and Secretary of the Union of the Irish Catholic Benevolent Societies, of Springfield.

Charles Philo Kane, late of the firm of Hazlett & Kane, is the son of Rev. Andrew J. Kane, who came to Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1830, and Caroline M. Beers, Avhose parents, Philo Beers and Martha Stillman, settled in this county in 1820, and are believed to have been the second couple married in Sangamon county. Charles was born in Springfield, December 25, 1850, graduated from the city high school in

1869, with Messrs. Hay, Greene & Littler, and was admitted to the Bar, June 13, 1871. May 1, 1874, he opened a law office in company with his late partner, Robert H. Hazlett. In the spring of 1878, Mr. Kane was elected to the office of City Attorney, and re-elected in 1879 and i 880, retiring from the oftice May 1, 1881. He is a Mason, a Past Master in St. Paul's lodge. No. 500, is a member of Springfield Chapter No. 1, Royal Arch Masons, and has been tAvo years Hecorderof EhvoodCommandery No. 6, Knights Templar.

Springfield High Scliool. Studied law with Robinson, Knapp & Shutt and with Morrison & Patton. Admitted to the Bar July 4, 1871. Practiced in Chicago three years. Went into partnership with James W. Patton in January, 1875, firm of Patton & Lanphier. Mai'ried April 11, 1877, to Miss Susie C. Young, at St. Louis, Missouri.

Henry H. Rogers is a native of Ohio. He came to Illinois in 1869, and settled in Lawrence county. In 1872 he was admitted to the Bar, and commenced practice. In 1875 he caire to Springfield and opened an office. For about two years he was a partner of Henry B. Kane, the partnership being dissolved on the election of Mr. Kane to the office of Justice of the Peace in the spring of 1881.

John C. Snigg, lawyer, 220 South Sixth street, was born in New Hampshire in November, 1849; came to Springfield, Illinois, in the fall of 1850. His parents were Edward Snigg and Margaret Murphy. His education was chiefly attained in the printing office, he having never attended school more than six months in his life. Mr. Snigg entered the office of the SpringfiekVRegister as an apprentice boy in 18(52, and worked in that and the Journal office until 1871. He began reading law in May of that year, in the office of Robinson, Knapp & Shutt, and carried newspapers meantime to defray current expenses. Passed his first examination in Michigan, in 1873, and received license to practice law; passed another examination before the Supreme Court of Illinois in June of the same year, and commenced practice in Springfield. He was elected (^ity Attorney in 1875, and re-elected in 1876 and 1877. During the last term he revised the city ordinances, after thirteen years without revision. In the fall of 1878, Mr. Snigg was elected Representative to the legislature on the Democratic ticket, for its thirty-first session.

Robert li. Hazlett, State's Attorney for Sangamon county, Illinois, late senior member of the law firm of Hazlett tfe Kane, is the second child and eldest son of a family of six children - three of each sex - of William P. and Zerelda Hazlett, nee Haggard, and was born in Christian county, Illinois. His grandfather Hazlett came from Western Virginia, and settled in Spryigfield in 1828, his father being then but seven years of age. Some years later the family removed to Christian county. There his parents married and remained until 1860, when they returned to Sangamon county and settled where they now reside, four miles west of Springfield. Robert labored on the farm until twenty^ years old, enjoying the educational advantages of the city schools andtwoyears attendance at the State Industrial L^niversity at Champaign, Illinois. He read law in the ()ffice of Herndon & Orendorfi^ in Springfield, and was admitted to the Bar, March 6, 1873. He served as Deputy Clerk in the office of the Supreme Court for a time; and in May, 1874, he formed a law partnership with Charles P. Kane, and opened an office for practice. In 1876, Mr. Hazlett was elected State's Attorney for Sangamon county, and reelected in 1880. In politics he is Democratic, and was elected on that ticket.

William L. Gross is an Attorney-atLaw, in the active practice of his profession in the city of Springfield, Illinois, in conjunction with Clinton L. Conkling, under the firm of Gross & Conkling. Mr. (iross is a native of the State of New York, and Avas born in Fairfield, Herkimer county, on the 21st of February, 1839. His father, Rev. Alba Gross, a minister in the Baptist Church, and his mother Alathea Smith Gross, were born in Courtland county, New York. Ti e family came to Illinois in the spring of 1844, making the journey in a movers' covered wagon. They first settled in Canton, Fulton county, and afterwards, in 1848, moved upon a farm in Knox county.

At the age of seventeen years, William, the subject of this sketch, having passed through the public schools and the Academ}', engaged in teaching, and while so engaged he prosecuted his law studies. He was admitted to the Bar in Springfield on June 27, 1862, and at once entered into pratice in that city in co-partnership with his brother, Eugene L. Gross, Esq.

In August, 1862, Mr. Gross entered the service of the Government, and in September, 1863, was appointed Superintendent of Military Telegraphs in the Department of the Ohio. Immediately following this appointment, on October 27, 1863, he was appointed l)y President Lincoln, a Captain and Assistant (Quartermaster of Volunteers, and, under command of General Anson Stager, was assigned to duty in the Department of the Ohio, as Military Superintendent Telegra])hs. In the discharge of this duty he was engaged till Johnston's surrender in the spring of 1865, when he was transferred to the Department of the Gulf, relieving Colonel W. G. Fuller, and took control of Military Telegraphs in that entire department. While in this latter department he was a member of General Phil H. Sheridan's military family, and a member of his staff. He was twice breveted, once as major and afterwards as lieutenant colo-

From that time till February, 1868, he was engaged in the civil telegraphic service, succesively as Auditor of the Southwestern Telegraph Company, at Louisville, Kentucky, as financial agent of the Western Union Telegraph Company for the district west of the Missouri, and as Superintendent of the Tariff Bureau of that company in New York City.

Resigning that position in February, 1868, he returned to Springfield, and, resuming his business relations with his brother, E. L. Gross, became an active member of the Law and Law Publishing firm of E. L. & W. L. Gross, so well known throughout this State. In 1868 the firm issued the first volume of Gross' Statxxtes of Illinois, a work accepted by the courts and Bar as authority, and specially legalized by an act of the legislature. The following year a second edition was issued, including the laws of 1869; and the firm also issued an Index to all the Laws of Illinois, a work of gi'eat research, minute detail and merit. In 18'72 the second volume of Gross' Statutes appeared, and the following year the firm was dissolved by the retirement of the elder brother on account of ill healtli. The publications of the firm were continued by the subject of this sketch, and in 1874 appeared the third volume of Gross' Statutes. Of these publications it is not too much to say that they were acceptable alike to the courts, the Bar, and the people, and will long remain models of their kind.

He was elected Representative from Sangamon county to the Thirty-First General Assembly, upon the Republican ticket, and served during that session.

Upon the organization, in January 1877, of the Illinois State Bar Association, Mr. Gross was elected its Secretary, and by successive elections still holds that important position.

In 1864 Mr. Gross Avas married to Miss Althea Livingstone, of Poughkeepsie, New York, and to them have been born two children, Edgar S. and Louise.

to Christian county, Kentucky, Avhere he remained until 1831, when, in company with his parents, he came to Illinois and settled in Madison county. At this time he was in his fourteenth year, with but little education, and only such as was derived from the common country schools of that day. About two years after, his mother died and the family was broken up. The old college at Alton, commenced on the manual labor plan, was started at this time, and he determined to avail himself of its privilegeu. For one year he arose at daylight, built the fires, swept the floors, and did other chores until school hours, when he prosecuted his studies.

Some four years after (in 1838), while traveling as a clock peddler, he stopped all night at a hotel in Carthage, Hancock county. A friend accompanied him to the hotel, and the two were assigned a room with two beds. Late in the night they were aroused by the landlord, who ushered in two strangers. "Sorry to waken you, gentlemen," said he, "but here are two strangers who want a bed. You two must sleep together, or share your beds with them." Palmer turned over, rubbed his eyes, and saw before him a short, spare man, with broad, expansive forehead, and large, luminous eyes. The other was taller, fine-looking, and had the appearance of being a college professor. The tab man inquired about their politics. "Well," replied Palmer, " My friend's a Whig, and I am a Democrat." "You take the Whig, and I'll take the Democrat," said the short man. They got into bed, and all were soon sound asleep. The next morning Palmer inquired the name of his bedfellow. It was Stephen A. Douglas, the Little Giant of the West. His fellow-traveler was John T. Stuart.

In 1839, Mr. Palmer went to Carlinville, and entered the law office of John S. Greathouse, and commenced the study of law. In December of the same year he went to Springfield to apply for license to practice. The court appointed Judge Douglas and J. Young Scammon to examine him. His examination was satisfactory, Mr. Douglas remarking, "You may not now be able to take charge of important law cases, but from the cut of your features and set of your clothes, you soon will be." In the evening Mr. Palmer took a stroll around town, and into a church used as a State House, where a tall, long, bony man was entertaining a crowd with a speech that was full of anecdote, logic and common sense. He inquired his name, and was informed that it was Abe Lincoln. The next day he was introduced to Mr. Lincoln, and from that

Retuniing to Carlinville, he at once commenced the practice of law, and, although he was not a g'ood speaker, he soon commanded a lucrative practice. In 1840 he supported Van Buren for the Presidency, taking an active part in the canvass.

On the 20th of December, 1842, he was united in marriage to MelindaAnn Neeley. Two weeks after marriage the couple went to housekeeping. The wliole cost of furniture and everything necessary to go to housekeeping, was less than fifty dollars.

While a strong Democrat, Mr. Palmer was always an anti-slavery man, and when the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854 became the issue, he sided with the Anti-Nebraska Democrats. He was elected to the State Senate this year, which contained four Anti-Nebraska Democrats. A United States Senator was to be elected in place of General Shields. The Anti-Nebraska Democrats held the balance of power. Palmer offered to go into the Democratic caucus, provided fealty to the Kansas-Nebraska act was withdrawn. His offer was refused. Shields was nominated by the Democrats, Lincoln by the Whigs, and Palmer ]>ut Lyman Trumbull in nomination as the representative of the Anti-Nebraska Democrats. Trumbull was elected. Douglas labored hard with Palmer to get him to vote for Shields, and both in the wordy contest lost control of their temper. Doug as taunted him with goingover to the Abolitionists, and said he could titl his place with plenty of good Whigs. Palmer grew hot and retorted, " So help me God, I'll never vote for Shields. You know how warmly I have supported you. You now tell me you are willing to part with me, and that you can fill my place with your life-long enemies. You demand that I shall surrender my personal independence and manhood, and threaten me if I refuse. From this time forward I will fight you, and will never speak to you until you are beaten, and lose your power to make and unmake men." The friendship was severed and not renewed until 18(31, when the Governor of Illinois sent Palmer to Washington as a member of the Peace Conference. The morning after his arrival Douglas sent a card to his room requesting an interview. The great statesman came in, and, offering his hand, said: "Well, Palmer, the time has come when, by your own limitation, we are to be friends. I beat you a long time ago, but it has taken you a long time to beat me. I'm glad to see you." "Yes, Judge," said Palmer, "You were a thundering hard man to beat." Doiiglas then said: "You have always misunderstood me. Years ago I saw that Davis and others meant disuni'n. I sought to force the issue upon them in the Lecompton controversy, and would have done so if Buchanan had not proven false. Then, there was Union feeling enough even in the South to crush them. They have since had two years to educate the South into secession." Then rising, and, in a solemn, prophetic voice, he said: "And now you will see millions of men, in arms before the question is settled."

The campaign of 1856 was the first in which figured the newly organized Eepiiblican party. Palmer gave his adhesion to that party. In i 860 he did much service in the election of Lincoln to the Presidency. When the war broke out. Palmer raised the 14th Illinois Infantry, and by brave and gallant deeds was promoted to Major General, given command of a corjjs, and afterwards a department.

After the close of the war he returned to the practice of law, and in 1868 was elected Governor of the State, serving four years with marked ability. On the expiration of his term of office, he located permanently in Springfield, and is now an active, honorable member of the Sangamon County Bar.

John Mayo Palmer, of the firm of Palmers, Robinson & Shutt, was born in Carlinville, Illinois, March 10, 1848. He is the son of John M. and Melinda A. (Neeley) Palmer. Young Palmer, preparatory to his collegiate course, attended the public schools of his native city. He then entered Blackburn University, and subsequently Shurtleff College, Upper Alton, Illinois, where be remained four years. Desiring to be with his father during the war, he left college before graduating, and never returned. After, the close of the war he read law with his father, and was admitted to the Bar in the summer of 1867, He then entered the law department of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in June, 1868, graduated with the degree of LL B. He next returned home and commenced the practice of law in Carlinville, where he remained until September, 1872, when he moved to Springfield and formed a partnership with his father, and has since been an active member of the Sangamon County Bar. During his legal practice in Carlinville he served as City Attorney one year. After his removal to Springfield he served as a member of the City Council, from 1874 to 1877. At the general election in 1876, he was elected a member of the Illinois Legislature by the Democratic party, with which he affiliates. John Mayo Palmer and Eilen Robertson, daughter of Dr. W. A. and Nannette {Holliday) Robertson, were united in marriage in Carlinville, Illinois, July 7, 1869. Three children have resulted from this union - John McAuley, born in Carlinville, April 23, 1870; Robertson, born in Carlinville, July 5, 1872; Oeorge Thomas, born in Springfield, March 5, ]875. Mrs. Palmer completed her education at Monticello Seminary, Godfrey, Illinois. She is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

George W. Murray, attorney-at-law, was born at Covington, Miami county, Ohio, July 7, 1839. David Murray, his father, was a farmer, residing near Dayton. George was educated in the city, and taught school four years before beginning the pursuit of law. He read law in the office of General Moses B. Walker, in Dayton, in 1859 and 1860; was admitted in June, 1861, and commenced practice in that city. Was several years a member of the City Council while there. In 1874 Mr. Murray moved to Springfield, Illinois, and has since been an active member of the Sangamon County Bar. In April, 1881, he entered into co-partnership with Noah H. Turner, which relation still exists. At the age of twentyone, in October, 1860, he married Miss Emma Neisbert, of Dayton, Ohio.

Robert W. Maxwell was born in Springfield, Illitiois, December 13, 1845. He read law and graduated from the law department of Michigan University, in March, 1874. In June following he was licensed to practice in the courts of Illinois. In 1875 he vs^ent to Decatur and remained over three years in the practice of his profession. Returning to Springfield, he opened an office, and in June, 1879, formed a partnershi|f with Judge Robertson. He affiliates with ttie Democratic party, and has been somewhat active in local politics, but was never a candidate for office save that of City Attorney in 1881, but was beaten by a combination of Republicans and citizens.

George A. Sanders, Attorney-at-law, of the firm of Sanders & Williams, National Bank building, was born in Berkshire county, Mass., July 4, 1836; graduated from Williams College in 1861; came to Illinois; read law with Messrs. Sweet & Orme in Bloomington, and was admitted to the Bar in 1864. He practiced his profession five years in Centralia, Illinois. In 1868 he was chosen one of the Electors for General Grant for the Presidency. In the winter of 1869-70 Mr. Sanders became Assistant State Treasurer, which position he filled six yeai-s; and since retiring from that dcparLinent, he has been in active law practice in Springfield. He entered into co-partnership with Frank P. Williams, January 1, 1881. Mr. Sanders has always affiiliated with the Republican party and been an active worker in its interests,

James H. Matheny, Jr., is a "native to the manor born." He was born in Springfield, Illinois, in 1856, and is the third son of James H. Matheny, the present County Judge of Sangamon county. He was educated in the city; read law from 1874 to 1876, and was then admitted to the Bar. In 1877 he opened an office in Springfield, and has since devoted himself closely to his profession.

Henry A. Stevens, Lawyer, office 110 North Sixth street ; was born in Shefford county, in the Dominion of Canada, July 17, 1847. John M. Stevens was a native of New Brunswick, and married Sibyl Goddard, a Canadian lady The subject of this sketch is one of their family of ten living children, five of each sex. Three of the sons are lawyers, and one a physician b}' profession. Henry was educated in C-anada and Vermont. Came to the United States in 1865, to Logansport, Indiana, in 1868, and to Springfield in 1869. The next four years he spent in teaching school and reading law. From the fall of 1873 till 1877, he practiced law in Monona county, Iowa, and since that time has been an active member of the Springfield Bar. In the spring of 1870, Mr. Stevens was made a Mason, in Williamsville, Sangamon county, and is noAv a member of that fraternity. He married Miss Laura South wick, m Springfield, in the spring of 1873. Her parents, William and Louvicy South wick, settled in Sangamon county, in 1819, and still live on the old homestead, entered by his father, Jessie, in Woodside township, about seven miles southeast of the city. Mr. and; Mrs. StcA^ens have one daughter, aged seven years, and a son five years old. Mr. Stevens' parens immigrated to Illinois in 1866, and now reside in Shelby county.

James E. Dowling, Attorney at Law, was born in Pine Grove near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in April, 1844, and is the only living son of a family of three boys and five girls, of Patrick J., and Ann Dowling, who were born and married in Ireland, and crossed the Atlantic when Mr. Dowling was twenty-three years of age. When James Avas thirteen years old, the family moved to Freeport, Stephenson county, Illinois, where he was chiefly educated, graduating from tiie high school in that place in I860. After reading law with Thomas J. Turner, of Freeport, two years, he attended the Albany Law School, New York, from which he was graduated May 20, 1864. He located in practice in Petersburg, Illinois, was chosen Secretary of the State Senate for tbe session of 1865-6, at the close of which he moved to Athens, Menard, county, and there practiced law eleven years, in 1877 he removed to Springfield where he has been active in the profession since. In politics Mr. Dowling is Republican, and A^as quite active in the canvass in Menard county, previous to General Grant's last election to the Presidency. He married Miss Savilia, daughter of James G. Davis, one of the early settlers of Menard county, in October, 1865. They have a family of three sons and six daughters. Mr. Dowling is a member of Capital City Lodge No. 38, of Ancient Order of United Workmen.

James A. Creighton, lawyer, of Orendorff & C'reighton, northeast corner Washington and Fifth streets, was born in White county, Illinois, and is thirty-five years of age. He was graduated from Southern Illinois College, at Salem, in June, 1868; read law w^ith C. A. Beecher, in Fairfield, Illinois, and was admitted to the Bar in March, 1870. After practicing law in Fairfield until April, 1877, he located in Springfield, forming a co-partnership with Mr. A. Orendorff, wdiich still exists. The firm has a fine legal business.

John M. Creighton, Mr. C.'s father, was also a native of White county, Illinois, born in 1821; passed his whole life in this State, and died in 1869. His mother was born in Illinois in 1824, and is still living. His paternal ancestors were North Carolinians, and his maternal ancestors from Virginia.

George A. Wood, lawyer, office corner Washington and Sixth streets, is the youngest of a family of six children, three of each sex, of Adolphus Wood and Catharine Carpenter, and was born in January, 1858, in Springfield, Sangamon county, Illinois. Adolphus Wood was a native of York State, came to Sangamon county in an early day, married Miss Carpenter, who was born in Sangamon county iu 1820 - her parents, William and Margaret Carpenter having settled here that year. Mr. Wood died January 12,1861. His widow still survives and resides in Springfield. The subject of this article having completed a course in the city schools, attended the law department of Michigan State University, from which he graduated in 1877, and was admitted to practice in that State the same year. Spent a year in Chicago, was admitted to the Bar of Illinois in 1878, and at once opened a law office in Springfield where he

Thomas Sterling, City Attorney, and member of the law firm of Sterling & Grout, was born in Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio, February 21, 1851; is the son of Charles and Anna (Keslar) Sterling, natives of Ohio. They moved to McLean county, Illinois, in 1855, which is still their home. Thomas was graduated from Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, in June, 1875. While teaching as Principal of the schools of Bement, Illinois, in 1875-6, he read law in the office of Judge W. G. Cloyd; came to Springfield, June 1, 1877, and entered the law oflftce of Hay, Greene & Littler; was admitted June 11, 1878, and commenced practice of his profession in company with his present partner, J. M. Grout. In April, 1881, Mr. Sterling was elected City Attorney on the Republican and Citizens' tickets. He married Miss Anna Dunn, of Bement, Illinois, in October, 1877. He is a Master Mason in St. Paul's Lodge No. 500.

Joseph M. Grout, Attorney and Counselor at Law, corner Washington and Sixth streets, is one of two sons of Joseph M. Grout, a native of Massachusetts, and Priscilla Thompson of Kentucky, and was born near Mechanicsburg, Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1855. Joseph M. Grout, Sr., was one of the pioneer Presbyterian clergymen in Sangamon county, and died of the cholera in 1855, before the subject of this sketch was born, and his mother died when he was but ten weeks old. He was taken by an uncle to Massachusetts, where the first eight years of his life were passed. Returning to Illinois, he was graduated from Illinois College, in Jacksonville, in the class of 1876; came immediately to Springfield and commenced the study of law in the office of Hay, Green & Littler; was admflted to the Bar in 1878, and in the fall of that year entered into co-partnership with Thomas Sterling, his present partner, with whom he read law, and was admitted in the same c'ass. Mr. Grout is Republican in politics, but has never been a candidate for any office. He was united in matrimony with Miss Flora Grubb, of Springfield, in 1879.

William Henry Colby, Lawyer, of the firm of Herndon & Colby, was born in Orange county, New York, September 14, 1849. James Colby, his father, moved his family to Illinois and settled near Chicago the same year of William's birth. His father died there in 1858, and his mother in 186:i. William cqme to Springfield in March, 1863, with a single suit of clothes and twenty-five cents in his pocket, which he paid for his night's lodging, retiring supperless. He sought and obtained employment witli George Bergen, a farmer near the city, for whom he worked nine years, the first eight months at $6 per month, which was increased in after years to per month. Prior to beginning the practice of law, he leased and carried on a part of Mr. Bergen's farm. At the age of twenty-tive years, he married Henrietta Cantrall, of Sangamon county. He commenced reading law in the otRce of Patton & Lanphier in January, 1876, and was admitted in January, 1878, in the class with his present j^artner, William F. Herndon. They were schoolmates and law students together. Mr. and Mrs. Colby have two children, Charles P., five years of age, and Henrietta, three years old.

William F. Herndon was born in DeWitt county, Illinois, in 1848; is the eldest of three sons and five daughters of Archer G. Herndon; was educated chieiiy in Springfield; taught school about ten years; read law in the office of CuUom, Scholes & Mather in 1875 and 1876; was admitted to the Bar in January, 1878, and has since been in practice in Springfield.

In September, 1871, he married Mary H. Bryant, of Sangamon county, who has borne him one son, Edgar B. Mr. Uerndon's parents have resided in Rochester township, Sangamon county, many years.

Henry B. Kane was born in Springfield, Illinois, January 17, 1855. His father. Elder A. J. Kane, is one of the oldest ministers of the Christian Church, in this county. His mother is the daughter of Philo and Martha (Stillman) Beers, supposed to be the first couple married in the county. Mr. Kane graduated in the Springfield High School, in 1872. In 1873, he was appointed one of the mail carriers in the city, and served three and a half years, and on account of ill-health resigned. He read law during that time, utilizing his spare hours for that purpose, and in January, 1878, was admitted to the Bar. He then entered the office of N. W. Branson, Register in Bankruptcy, as his deputy, and remained with him until the law was repealed about a year after. Subsequently he formed a partnership with H. H. Rogers, in the practiiie of law, which continued until he was elected Justice of the Peace, in 1881.

Frank H. Jones was born in Pike county, Illinois, in 1854, and is the son of George M.Jones, Clerk of the Appellate Court, in Springtield. He entered Yale College in 1871 and graduated in the class of 1875. Returning to Pike county, he read law one vear in Pittsfield, then spent a year in the Law Department of Columbia College, and a year in tne Chicago Law School. He was admitted to the Bar in the spring of 1878, and immediately opened an office in Pittsfield, where he remained one year, and then came to Springtield.

John A. Chestnut, attorney and Justice of the Peace, was born in Kentucky, in January, 1816. James Chestnut, his father, was a native of South Carolina, of Irish descent, and married Elizabeth Stevenson, a North Carolina lady. They settled near Waverly, Morgan county, Illinois, in 1826, where Mr. Chestnut died in

1849, and his widow in 1833. John was principally educated in the common schools of Kentucky; read law in the office of P. H. W^inchester, Carlinville, Illinois, and was admitted in December, 1837, to practice in the Illinois Supreme Court, and in 1841, to the United States Courts. He practiced in Carlinville from 1837 till 1855, Governor John M. Palmer being his chief competitor. He then abandoned the law, and engaged in the real estate and banking business in that place, which proved so successful that he retired in a few years with a comfortable competence, and came to Springfield. Here Mr. Chestnut made some investments in real estate that proved unprofitable, and he lost considerable. In 1867, he was made cashier of the Springfield Savings Bank, holding the position till May, 1872. After spending a year in the office of Stuart, Edwards & Brown, he opened a law office and resumed practice in 1879. In the spring of 18sl, he was elected Justice on the Republican and Reform tickets. From 1838 to

1850, he filled the office of County Clerk in Macoupin county; was three times nominated on the old AYhig ticket for the legislature, but the party being in the minority, failed to elect their candidate. He declined the nomination for Congress in 1860. Mr. Chestnut has been twice married, first to Sarah A. Blair, of Greene county, Illinois, in 1844, who died; and in 1854 he married Kate N. Corbett, of Jersey county. He has one daughter, Leonora, by the first marriage, now Mrs. Tingley S. Wood, of Leadville, Colorado. Mr. C. is a member of the M. E. Church.

Thomas J. Thompson, Justice of the Peace and Attorney-at-law, is the son of John and Margaret Thomjison, nee Coleman, of Irish nativity, and was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1853. During his childhood they moved to Dayton, Ohio, where Thomas attended the public school, after which he took a course in Williams College, Massachusetts, graduating in the class of 1874. He tauffht as Prin- cipa,! uf ihe V\ liliaiustowu Academy one year; then returning to Oliio, read law in the office of Samuel A. Brown, of Springfield. He came to Springfield, Illinois, in December 1878, and was admitted to the Bar in tlie spring of 18 79, since which time he has divided his attention between professional practice and stenographic reporting of court proceedings, until elected Justice in the spring of 1881, on the combined vote of the Citizen's and Democratic tickets. Mr. Thompson served as Secretary of the Democratic State Central Committee during the political campaign of 1880. When a lad in school, young Thompson received an injurv through the rough conduct of a fellow pupil, which rendered him a permanent cripple, resulting in the shortening of the right leg some three inches. He posseses adaptation both by nature and culture for the legal profession, and gives promise of a snccessful career at the Bar.

Winfield S. Collins, lawyer, is the son of Horace W. Collins, a native of Champaign county, Ohio, and .Julia E. Sattley, born in Sangamon county, Illinois. Her father, Robert H. Sattley, settled in the count}^ in a very early day. The subject of this sketch was born in Champaign county, Ohio, March 30, 1848. In 1855 his parents moved to Johnson county, Iowa, where he labored on the farm till twenty one years of age, then set about earning means with which to obtain a more complete education. He taught school twelve terms: took a course in Iowa Agricultural College, from which he was graduated in civil engineering in theclassof 1876, with distinguished honors as a draughtsman, having won the prize for the finest i^iece of mechanical drawing at a State exhibition. In the spring of 1877, Mr. Collins came to Springfield, Illinois, read law with Robert L. McGuire and was admitted to practice in the courts, in May, 1879. He immediately opened an office in the city, and began the business of his profession. June 1, 1881, he formed a partnership with Martin Sprague, which still continues.

William A. Vincent is a native of West Virginia, and came to Sangamon county with his parents in 1868. He received a literary education in the Ohio Wesleyan University, and graduated from the Law Department of Columbia College, New Jersey, in May, 1879. Returning to Springfield the same month, he passed an examination before the Supreme Court of this State, and at once commenced the practice of his profession in Springfield.

Jersey, in 1877; read law in Chicago, and was admitted to the J3ar in the fall of 1879, and has since been in active practice in Springfield.

Alexander II. Robertson is a native of Kentucky and a graduate in both the Literary and Law Departments of Transylvania University, in that State. His father was George Robertson, for many years Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Kentucky, and Professor in the Law Department of Transylvania University, and acknowledged as one of the ablest lawyers of his time in that State. In 1853 Alexander came to Illinois and located in Jacksonville, in the practice of his profession. Subsequently he returned to Kentucky, where he remained until 1862, during that time serving as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, of Lexington, to which office he was elected shortly after his return. Coming back to Illinois, he remained for a time and again returned to Kentucky to look after his interests in that State. In 1879 he came to Springfield, and at once became an active member of the Sangamon County Bar. Judge Robertson, during the civil war, was a decided Union man, and incurred many of the perils and disadvantages without any of its benefits. His father was also outspoken, with tongue and pen, in defense of the Union against secession. On coming to Springfield, Judge Robertson formed a partnership with R. W. Maxwell, which still continues.

William T. Houston was born in Sangamon county, his parents moving here in 1828. He read law with John B. Jones, Taylorville, Christian county, and was admitted to the Bar in 1878. In the fall of 1880, he came to Springfield and opened an office. He served in the army as a member of the 114th Illinois Infantry.

Albert Salzenstein, of the firm of McGuire, Hamilton & Salzenstein, is a native of Sangamon county. After graduating in the Springfield High School in 1876, he was Assistant Clerk of the Supreme Court about eighteen months, at the same time pursuing the reading of law. He then entered the office of L. F. Hamilton, and continued his studies. He passed examination before the Supreme Court in July, 1880, but being a minor, he could not be admitted. In September following, he attained his majority, and opened an office in Springfield. In April, 1881, he was admitted a member of the present firm.

Frank R. Williams, of the firm of Sanders & Williams, is a native of New York, and was educated in Cazinovia Seminary, in that State. He afterwards entered the law department of

Michigan University, and graduated in 1880. He was admitted to the Bar the previous January, and came to Springtield and commenced practice. The firm was formed January 1, 1881.

Noah II. Turner comes of good old Irish ancestry and a long-lived race, and was born in Sangamon county. He read law with L. F. Hamilton, and was admitted to the Bar in 1880. He formed his present partnership with George W. Murray in April, 1881.

Edwin C. Haynie, son of the late Adjutant- General Haynie and Elizabeth (Cooper) Haynie, was born in Salem, Marion county, Illinois, June 27, 1856. He is a graduate of the Springfield High School, of the class of 1873; Phillips' Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, with the class of 1875; Yale College, New Haven, Connecticut, in the class of 1879; Yale Lavv^ School, in 1881. On graduating, he secured a license to practice, and is now a member of the Bar of Sangamon county. Mr. Haynie was married in New Haven, Connecticut, September 14, 1881, to Minnie Pierpont Hall, daughter of Lucius W. Hall, a prominent merchant of that city, and Elizabeth (Shepherd) Hall, both natives of Connecticut. Mrs. Haynie is a graduate of a classical institute of Philadelphia, in the class of 1877.

Walter B. Wines was born in Boston, Massachusetts, October 10, 1848. He is the son of Enoch C. and Emma S. Wines, natives of New Jersey and New York respectively. He entered Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Massachusetts, at an early age, preparatory to a course in Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, in which institution he graduated in the classical course. After graduating at Middlebury College, he entered the Law Department of Columbia College, in New York, and graduated in the class of 1871. In March, 1871, he was admitted to the Bar, and commenced practice in New York city, whei'e he continued until March, 1879, when he moved to Springfield and became identified with the Bar of Sangamon county. At present he is the Special Agent of the United States Census Oftice.

Walter B. Wines and Annie E. Thornton, of New York, were married March 16, 1869. Mrs. Wines is the daughter of Isaac and Bridget (Harrington) Thornton, the foi-mer a native of England and the latter of Ireland. Three children have been born unto them - Annie Gertrude, Walter Enoch and Edith Mary. Mrs. Wines was educated in the convent in Burlington, Vermont. Mr, and Mrs. Wines are members of the Catholic Church.

The Fisher Murder Case

It has become a proverb that "truth is stranger than fiction." This was never more fully verified than in the events here related, concerning three brothers, who became victims to one of the most remarkable cases of circumstantial evidence on record. William, Henry and Archibald Trayler, were each born in Greene county, Kentucky, and who came to Illinois about the year 1829. William settled near Greenbush, Warren county, about one hundred miles northwest of Springfield. Henry settled at Clary's Grove, Menard county, but which was then a part of Sangamon county. Archibald settled in Springfield, and engaged in business as a car penter and builder. He owned a lot on the corner of Adams and Third streets, and built thereon a dwelling house. Being a bachelor, he rented the house to his partner, Mr. Myers, and boarded with him. The three brothers were each sober, industrioufi and retiring men, there being nothing in their actions that would give rise to any remarks, or a suspicion that they would be guilty of any wrong-doing.

Archibald Fisher, a man about fifty years of age; taughtschool in Monmouth, Warren county, and vicinity. When not regularly employed in teaching, he worked at odd jobs, living in the families of those who employed him. He was unmarried, economical, and had saved up a few hundred dollars, and, at the beginning of the events here related, he was boarding at the house of William Trayler.

Desiring to enter some land, Mr. Fisher, in company with Mr. Trayler, started together for Springfield, arriving at the house of Henry Trayler on Sunday evening. The next morning, all three came to Springfield, arriving there about noon, Monday, June 1, 1841, and stopped at the house where Archibald Trayler boarded. After dinner the three brothers and Fisher left the boarding house, in company, lor the purpose of looking about the town. At supper time the three brothers returned, but Fisher, having stepped aside as they were passing along a foot-path among the trees in the northwestern part of the city, did not appear. After supper, all the others went in search of him. One by one they returned as night approached, but with no tidings of Fisher. The next morning the search was continued, but up to noon was still unsuccessful.

William and Henry, having expected to leave early that morning, expressed their intention of abandoning the search and returning home. This was objected to by Archibald and those boarding with him at Mrs. Myers', as it would leave Fisher without any means of conveyance. They, therefore, continued the search the remainder of the day; but at night, William, who evidently was greatly disappointed at being detained so long, unknown to Archibald, hitched up his buggy and started home. Missing him, and learning what had been done, Archibald followed him on foot, and over<.ook him just as he was entering the water at Hickox's mill, on Spring creek, near where the Ohio & Mississippi railroad now crosses. Remonstrating with him against going home before the mystery was cleared up, William turned 'round in the water, and they both returned to Springfield. Noiwithstanding all this, William and Henry started home the next day.

Up to this time, the mysterious disappearance had attracted but little attention. Three or four days later, Henry returned to Springfield for the purpose of continuing the search, and with his brother Archibald, and some of the boarders, another day was spent in the search, but without avail, when Henry concluded to cease further efforts.

On Friday, June 12, James W. Keyes, the Postmaster at Springfield, received a letter from Mr. Tice, postmaster at Greenbush, Warren county, stating that William Trayler had re- turned home, and was circulating the report that Fisher was dead, and boasting that he had willed his money to him, and that he had gained about fifteen hundred dollars by it - a much larger sum than Fisher was supposed to possess. Mr. Tice requested the Springfield postmaster to give him all the information on the subject that he could. The contents of that letter were made public, and the excitement became widespread and intense. Springfield had now a population of about two thousand, and had the year previous adopted a city charter. William L. May was Mayor, and together with Josiah Lamborn, Attorney-General of the State, headed the movement to ferret out the mystery, A large company was raised and formed into squads and marched about in every direction, so as to leave no spot unsearehed. Examinations were made of wells and every conceivable place where a body might be concealed.

In the search, a club was found with some hair attached to it. and it was confidently believed that the murder had been committed with that weapon, but it was afterwards demonstrated that the hair was from a cow. This seai'ch was continued until Saturday afternoon, when it was determined to arrest William and Henry Trayler, and officers started for them on Sunday 7iiorning. Henry, being nearest, was brought to Springfield on Monday. The Mayor and Attorney-General took him in hand, and used every device to elicit information of the supposed murder, but he protested his innocence of any knowledge on the subject. He was reminded that the circumstantial evidence was so strong that he, with his two brothers, would certainly all be hung, and that the only chance to save his own life was for him to become a witness on the part of the State. He withstood all the pressure until Wednesday, the seventeenth of the month, when, protesting his own innocence, he stated that his brothers, William and Archibald, without bis knowledge at the time, had murdered Fisher, by hanging him to a tree; that they had temporarily concealed the body; that immediately preceding the departure of himself and William from Springfield, on the second or third of June, William and Archie communicated the fact to him, and engaged his assistance in making a permanent concealment of the body; that at the time he and William left, ostensibly for home, they did not take the direct road, but, wending their way through the streets, entered the woods at the northwest of the city, and that on approaching, where the body was concealed, he was placed as a sentinel.

He then entered into a minute description of the murder, going into the smallest details. He said that his brothers entered a thicket of underbrush, where the body was concealed, placed it in the buggy, moved off with it in the direction of Hickox mill-pond on Spring creek, and soon after returned, saying they had put it in a safe place; that Archibald went back to town, and that William and himself found their way to the road, and proceeded to their homes.

Until that disclosure was made, the character of Archibald was such as to repel all suspicion of his complicity in the matter, but he was at once arrested and hurried to jail, which was probably the best thing that could have been done for him, for he was in great personal danger from the infuriated populace. Search then commenced anew for the body. The thicket was found, and indications of a struggle under a small tree, bent over as though the hanging might have been done there. A trail was also visible, as though a body had been draigged to where the tracks of a buggy were to be seen, tending in the direction of the mill pond, previously spoken of, but could not be traced all the way. At the pond, however, it was found that a buggy had been down into the water and came out again. Hundreds of men were engaged in dragging and fishing for the body. Becoming impatient, the dam was cut down on Thursday morning, the eighteenth of June, and the water drawn off, but no body found.