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Lawyers' impact widely felt for 175 years
Ten bucks meant a lot more in those days, in 1832, but the significance of Steers vs. Dawson is it's the oldest known verdict in McLean County. It's the first on the books for the first courthouse. Since then, significant law and significant lawyers have elevated the community, say those recognizing the 175th anniversary. Darrell Hartweg is among lawyers heading the study and celebration of McLean County law. What stands out to him is the impact lawyers have had outside the legal profession. Lawyers have played a pronounced role in development of the cities and county and, at times, in national affairs, noted Hartweg. He currently is president of the McLean County Bar Association and he just passed the chairmanship of the 175th anniversary committee to Alan Sternberg. It makes a degree of sense, said Sternberg, that those fascinated by law also would want to make it and become involved in politics. But he said lawyers are in a position to advocate and lead, and they will do so for unpopular causes. And then, some lawyers are just famously unpopular. Asahel Gridley, Bloomington's first millionaire, gets the most attention in the early records. A landowner, lawyer and shop proprietor, he was continually suing or getting sued, said Steve Simkins, a lawyer who researched the legal history. Gridley's attorney, Abraham Lincoln, is said to have called Gridley the most unpopular man in Bloomington. But Gridley also is credited with securing Bloomington's spot on railroad lines. It resulted in a sprouting of railroad-related industry. In terms of jobs per capita, the railroad industry to Bloomington in the 1800s was what State Farm is to it today. Despite his personal infamy, Gridley ranks as a prominent figure in what Simkins and others identify as the first of two eras in which Bloomington's law community is elevated in stature far above its population. Jesse Fell and Circuit Judge David Davis are central to the group in that they groomed Lincoln, himself a local law practitioner, for a run for national office. Davis is widely credited with cobbling together a coalition to nominate Lincoln during the 1860 Republican National Convention. That same year, another circuit-riding lawyer who practiced in Bloomington -- Stephen Douglas -- ran as a Northern Democrat. Historian Greg Koos detects a federalist influence among those from the Bloomington circuit, both during the Civil War when the Republicans opposed expansion of slavery and backed Lincoln, and post-war, when judges like Reuben Moore Benjamin were ruling that government can regulate corporations. "The legacy of Lincoln and those people plays out after the Civil War," said Koos. Benjamin's decisions on railroad monopoly are credited with helping establish the Interstate Commerce Commission. In Danvers, a school board tried to set up separate but equal schools. In Chase vs. Stevenson, the local court called the racial segregation plan a fraud on the taxpayer. Two McLean County lawyers emerged out of the post-War period to be governor: Joseph Fifer (1889-1893) and John Hamilton (1883-1885). So did U.S. Vice President Adlai Stevenson (1893-1897) and an Illinois Supreme Court justice, James Scott (1880s). Also in the post-War period, a School of Law opened at Illinois Wesleyan University. The law school, closed in 1928, had among its 1,000 graduates Scott Lucas, U.S. Senate majority leader during Harry Truman's administration; Idaho Gov. H. Clarence Baldridge; Wyoming Gov. Lester Hunt; University of Arizona President J. Byron McCormick; and Sigmund Livingston, founder of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith; and Antoinette Funk, famous suffragist. The 20th century lacks golden eras for local lawyers, in terms of capturing national attention. But practitioners of business law have been notably strong. The county bar association counts the State Farm Insurance Cos. legal department as the largest firm in Illinois outside of the Chicago area. Two current lawyers are among 10 depicted in a painting commissioned by the county bar group to mark the 175th anniversary: • Elizabeth Robb, current chief circuit judge. She is the county's first female judge. • Richard T. Dunn, now retired. He was accomplished as a lawyer but also famous as the National Guard general who helped restore calm in Chicago after police-protester riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The painting is hanging on the second floor of the McLean County Museum of History. The building was the county's fourth courthouse, and the McLean County Law & Justice Center, currently in use, is the fifth. The seating area in the Fifer Courtroom at the museum is sprawling compared to modern courtrooms. Koos sees the capacity as an indication of the public's fascination with law drama even before mass media but also as a reminder that courts in a free society must be public. The courtrooms today still are a place of life drama. But there are a lot fewer witness bombshells and assorted other surprises because of mandatory disclosure of records to an opposing party, pretrial depositions and other pretrial preparation, Hartweg noted. Before the establishment of McLean County and its court system, litigants would have to travel to Pekin for court. When the courthouse opened here, law still was a part-time undertaking for most lawyers. Traveling attorneys like Lincoln would come to town to settle the docket. A case could go to court within a day, or hours, after an attorney's first discussion with his client, Hartweg said. "It was kind of a mystery," he said. "You never knew what the other person would say on the stand." It also was a time of precedent, he said, as a young nation and a young state transitioned from English law to American and Illinois law. The rulings of those days sometimes still resonate. On Aug. 17, Jose Padilla was convicted at trial of involvement in terrorist plotting. That he had a trial at all has something to do with Judge Davis. Padilla, a U.S. citizen, initially was held without legal recourse as an "enemy combatant." A key case in Padilla's fight for court access is called "Ex Parte Milligan," and it is the most famous case written by Davis after Lincoln appointed Davis to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the case, decided in 1866, the court determined that a civilian accused of secessionist plotting must be taken to civilian court rather than through a military justice process. 175 yearsThe McLean County Bar chose to commemorate 175 years of law practice in the county with a documentary DVD, produced with the time and expertise of State Farm Insurance Cos., and a painting depicting local lawyers of distinction. Documentary DVD Title: "Law and McLean County: A 175-year Partnership" Length: 26 minutes Cost/availability: To be given gratis to schools and libraries. Available for purchase for $10 from the McLean County Bar Association, P.O. Box 4002, Bloomington 61704 or McLean County Museum of History, downtown Bloomington. Proceeds: Offset costs for the bar's 175th anniversary celebration. Commemorative painting Artist: Randy Souders of Fort Worth, Texas Display: Second floor of the McLean County Museum of History. Signed and numbered reproductions available for purchase for $75 through the bar association. Here's what the McLean County Bar Association says about the lawyers depicted in the painting: • Abraham Lincoln: Active in McLean County law and found groundswell of political support here. Tried more cases in McLean County than in any other county except Sangamon. • Ward Hill Lamon: Accomplished lawyer, friend of Lincoln and bodyguard for Lincoln during his presidency. • Leonard Swett: McLean County defense lawyer and Lincoln contemporary known for successful use of an insanity defense, which was novel at the time. • David Davis: A circuit judge who engineered Lincoln's nomination at the Republican convention. Lincoln appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court. • Jesse Fell: Considered Bloomington's first lawyer. He became famous as a land developer. • Elizabeth Robb: The current chief judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit and McLean County's first female judge. • Richard T. Dunn: Now retired from law practice, one of three military generals who were McLean County lawyers. • Joseph Fifer: A governor of Illinois who practiced law before and after serving in Springfield. • Antoinette Funk: Graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University's law school in 1989. Became a nationally prominent suffragist. • Adlai Stevenson: Practiced law with cousin James Ewing before becoming vice president of the United States in 1893. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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