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FOR five years after the organization of Macon county and the platting of Decatur, the
county had no lawyer it could call its own. The village probably had little appeal to a hustling young attorney.
Yet, in a new county, with new problems arising, with the population increasing, disputes to be settled, and not
to be forgotten - a brand new court house in which to practice - Decatur had need for a representative of the legal
profession.
Finally one came. He not only had the distinction of being the county's first resident lawyer, but he
proved to be the right sort for the beginning of the history of the bar in Macon county. That first lawyer
was Charles Emerson, native of New Hampshire.
Charles Emerson came to Illinois in 1833, attended Illinois college at Jacksonville one term, studied
law in Springfield, then chose Decatur for a location to practice his profession. He settled here in 1834,
and that was the beginning of a long and honorable career. He lived in Decatur and Long Creek township the
rest of his life, except three years from 1847 to 1850, when he resided in Paris.
CHARLES EMERSON
Mr. Emerson was elected to the legislature twice, served as circuit judge from 1853 to 1867, and in 1869
was elected to the constitutional convention. He attended part of the convention, but illness prevented his
remaining until the end. He passed away in April, 1870. Mr. Emerson had many admirable qualities
which brought him the respect and love of every one who knew him. He was a man of modest disposition, charitable,
unaffected, broad-minded and impartial.
Macon county's second resident attorney, who settled in Decatur in 1836 was Kirby Benedict, who afterwards
became associate justice of the territory of New Mexico, an appointment he received from President Franklin Pierce
in 1853. He served three years in that office, and then was appointed chief justice of the same territory.
Mr. Benedict was probate judge in Macon county from 1838 to 1843. He continued law practice here
until 1849, when he moved to Paris. His death occurred Feb. 28, 1874.
Joel S. Post was the first attorney admitted to the practice of law from this county. He came to
Decatur in 1839 and studied law with Charles Emerson. He was admitted to the bar in 1841. Mr.
Post served in the War with Mexico, attaining the rank of captain. In 1845 he was elected to the state senate
and served two terms. During his service in the senate he was instrumental in securing the passage of the
law establishing the state normal school at Normal, Ill.
Macon county's first state's attorney was Jonathan H. Pugh, a Springfield lawyer, who came here for the
first term of circuit court. He was a brilliant lawyer, and was one of the first in the state to advocate
the building of railroads. He served in the state senate, and in 1834 was in the race for governor of the
state, but was defeated by Joseph Duncan.
Samuel Drake Lockwood, who presided over the first term of circuit court in Macon county, was elected
associate justice of the Illinois supreme court in 1825 and held that office until 1848. In 1825 Judge
Lockwood revised the Illinois criminal code, and it remains largely the law today. Judge Lockwood
represented Morgan county in the constitutional convention of 1847.
Decatur court rooms have seen a brilliant array of lawyers in the hundred years of the county's history.1
Some were men who reached high places in the nation. The early custom of lawyers to "ride the circuit"
was responsible for bringing many of them to Decatur. Yet Decatur can be justly proud also of its long line
of resident lawyers, the men who established practice here and who built up reputations at home.
Stories have often been told of the days when Decatur was in the eighth judicial circuit and such men as Abraham
Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, Leonard Swett, David Davis, John T. Stuart, E. D. Baker
and other notable figures came here when court was in session.
It was customary then for the lawyers to travel from one county seat to another with the court. The county
seats thus had the privilege of entertaining some of the most able men of the profession.
CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES
During the first few years of Macon county's existence, it was teh requirement that judges of the supreme court
do circuit court duty. That is how it happened that Judge Samuel D. Lockwood presided over circuit
court in Macon county from 1830 to 1835. When a law was passed in 1835, which brought about the separation
of these two offices, Stephen T. Logan was elected to the office of judge of this circuit. Macon county
was then a part of the first judicial circuit.
As Illinois became more thickly settled and the population increased, changed were made from time to time in
the division of the state into judicial circuits. During these changes Macon county was a part of several
different circuits. Under the apportionment of 1897, when the number of circuits, outside of Cook county,
was increased to seventeen, Macon county became a part of the circuit it is in today, the Sixth. Other counties
in the Sixth circuit are Dewitt, Douglas, Moultrie, Piatt, and Champaign.
PRESIDED IN DECATUR
Judges who have held court in Decatur since 1830 have been:
| S. D. Lockwood, 1830-1835 |
|
Ferdinand Bookwalter, 1888-1897 |
| Stephen T. Logan, 1835-1837 (resigned) |
|
Edward P. Vail, 1888-1903 |
| Jesse B. Thomas, Jr., 1837-1839 |
|
Francis P. Wright, 1891-1897 (resigned) |
| Samuel H. Treat, 1839-1849 |
|
William G. Cochran, 1897-1910 |
| David Davis, 1849-1853 |
|
Solon Philbrick, 1903-1910 |
| Charles Emerson, 1853-1867 |
|
Franklyn H. Boggs, 1914 to date |
| Arthur J. Gallagher, 1867-1872 |
|
William C. Johns, 1903-1914 (died) |
| C. B. Smith, 1872-1885 |
|
George A. Sentel, 1915 to 1927 |
| W. E. Nelson, 1877-1879 |
|
W. K. Whitfield, 1914-1921 |
| Jacob W. Wilkin, 1879-1888 (resigned) |
|
James S. Baldwin, 1921 to date |
| James F. Hughes, 1885-1891 |
|
|
RESIDENT LAWYERS
A. Brower Bunn, native of Ohio, who came to Decatur in 1850, and who was considered one of the city's
best lawyers, was a man of the dramatic effects, swaying the emotions of his listeners with marked success.
Mr. Bunn held at different times the offices of city clerk, city attorney, member of the legislature, and
assessor of internal revenue.
John W. Smith, native of Macon county, was not only an able lawyer, but a writer of considerable ability,
and it was he who gave us the first history of Macon county. He also wrote a number of law texts. Mr.
Smith, a graduate of the Albany law school in New York, began practice here as the junior member of the
firm of Emerson Clokey and Brice I. Sterrett. After he left Decatur he practiced law in Chicago.
Mr. Smith was deeply interested in books and collected for his library many rare volumes.
JOHN W. SMITH
Sheridan Wait became a resident of Decatur in 1852 and was a partner first of Charles
Emerson and later of R. J. Oglesby. During the war he was an adjutant-general, and he also
held the office of canal commissioner.
Colonel Nathan Tupper and Lieutenant-Colonel Ansel Tupper, brothers, came in 1854. They
are mentioned elsewhere, as is Richard J. Oglesby.
D. L. Bunn, who became a citizen of Macon county in 1855, read law in the office of Captain J. S. Post,
and in 1862 was granted license to practice law. From 1862 to 1868 he was state's attorney.
A. J. GALLAGHER
Judge Arthur J. Gallagher reached the highest rank at the bar. He was a man of great intellect
and was known for his fairness. He succeeded Charles Emerson as circuit judge, and he was well fitted
for that office. He was elected to the bench in 1867 and served until 1873. He was a member of the
law firm of Gallagher, Wait and Oglesby. Also, at another time he was in partnership
with Jerome R. Gorin.
Judge Gallagher came to Decatur in 1856 from Vandalia, where he had been practicing law. He studied
law with Lyman Trumbull, at Belleville. In 1852 he was elected to the legislature, and he also served
as register of the U. S. land office in Vandalia.
Judge Gallagher married Rachel Smith, the daughter of E. O. Smith, in 1865.
Coming in 1857, William E. Nelson all his life was a leading lawyer and civic worker. He was on
a state commission in 1869, a member of the legislature in 1871, circuit judge in 1877, county judge from 1886
to 1894.
Judge Anthony Thornton was one of the most able lawyers that ever practiced in Macon county. He
came here from Shelbyville, and after a few years residence in Decatur returned to Shelbyville.
Among other distinguished lawyers who practiced in Decatur were C. C. McComas, state's attorney; Hugh
Crea, known particularly for his attention to railroad law; K. H. Roby, partner of William E. Nelson;
S. F. Greer, county judge, member of board of education and member of city council; John R. Eden,
member of congress; Isaac A. Buckingham, city attorney, state's attorney, and in general practice for many
years; C. A. Ewing of the firm of Crea and Ewing; Isaac R. Mills, city attorney, state's
attorney, and district revenue collector, who was killed in a railroad wreck at Litchfield in 1904; E. P. Vail
and W. C. Johns, both of whom
WM. E. NELSON
served as circuit judge. Mr. Vail, who was on the bench form 1888 to 1903, left Decatur for Chicago
where he established a law practice. W. C. Johns was judge from 1903 until his death in 1914.
BAR ASSOCIATION
In the year 1902 the members of the Decatur Bar organized the Macon County Bar association, its object being
to maintain a law library and to promote fraternal spirit among the members. Judge W. C. Johns was
the first president and James S. Baldwin its secretary. The library established has been added to
from time to time and is now an extremely valuable collection of books valued at about $20,000. In 1923 the
association presented the library to Macon county, upon condition that the county assume care and control of it
and keep up the continuations. The library is now housed in the court house and is open to the public.
The Macon County Bar association was dissolved and the Decatur Bar association was then organized and is still
functioning.
------------------
1 In early days the court had an important officer that is not known
in present day life. He was the court crier. It was his business to call the witnesses and litigants
into court when their cases were called. John Moreland,
court crier for years, had a voice well adapted for the part. It was like a trumpet and could be heard for
blocks away. When some one was wanted, Moreland went to
the second story of the court house, leaned out of a window, and in stentorian voice called out the name of the
person wanted. This was his method: "W--J--Con-dell, W. J. Condell, W. J. CONDELL, COME TO COURT."
The custom of court crier was discontinued after Arthur J. Gallagher
became judge. He ruled that it was the business of litigants and witnesses to be at the court house when
their cases were called. Moreland ran a bus between the
Cloudas house and the depot. As an announcer of schedules
he could have given pointers on clearness to present day radio announcers.
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