The facts of the foregoing sketch have been gathered from the books mentioned and an
inspection of more than twenty volumes of law cases, pamphlets, magazines and newspaper pub-
lications, and in part from biographical notices in " Wilkie's Chicago Bar," " The Biographical
Encyclopaedia of Illinois," and "The Bench and Bar of Chicago."
T
WILLIAM S. FORREST.
CHICA GO.
HE subject of this biography is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and was born July 9, 1852.
As a boy he was energetic and industrious, fond of study, and among his companions a
leader in their boyish sports. His native tastes inclined him toward the legal profession, and
early in life he determined to prepare himself for its duties. After a careful and thorough prep-
aration, William entered the freshman class of Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, where he
pursued, the regular classical course of study, and graduated with the class of 1875. I n college
he was popular among his fellow students, ranked high as a scholar and was honored with an
election to the Psi Upsilon Fraternity.
Soon after leaving college he began reading law in the office of Gaston, Field and Jewell, of
Boston, Massachusetts, whence, in 1878, he removed to Chicago, where, in October of the same
year, he was admitted to the bar of Illinois. Although his professional career may be said to
have only begun, Mr. Forrest has already attained a wide and worthy reputation at the Chicago
bar. He has a clear, logical and judicial mind, and is a forcible and eloquent speaker. Although
well versed in the various branches of American jurisprudence, and thoroughly qualified and
eminently successful in the general practice of his profession, he has devoted his special attention
to the study and practice of criminal law, and achieved, as the result of his efforts, a most satis-
factory success.
In this practice he has been called to defend men charged with almost every crime known to
the law, and has carried to the supreme court of the state many cases that have been remanded
for a new trial. Among the more important cases with which he has been identified as attorney,
may be mentioned that of The People vs. Charles Schank. This man was indicted for the killing
of Fredrick Kandzia. The defense, which was interposed, and upon which the defendant was
fully acquitted, was that the deceased came to his death not by the dagger of Schank, but by the
malpractice of the surgeon after the stabbing. Another case exciting public attention was that
of The People vs. Wing Lee, a Chinaman. Upon the trial of this case a plea of self defense was
interposed, and the jury, standing eight for acquittal and four for conviction, were discharged in
the absence of the defendant, Wing Lee being at the time of their discharge a prisoner in the
custody of the sheriff. When the case was again called for trial, a plea of former jeopardy was
interposed and sustained by the court, on the ground that the jury was illegally discharged, and
the trial unlawfully ended. Wing Lee was discharged.
Mr. Forrest was also one of the attorneys for Mrs. Ada Roberts, on her application for dis-
charge, under a writ of habeas (orpus, from the insane asylum, where she had been confined two
years, having been adjudged insane and sent thither by the jury upon her trial for the killing of
Theodore Webber. But a case which attracted perhaps as much public attention as any on the
criminal calendar of Illinois was that of The People vs. John Lamb, who was indicted for burg-
lary and for the murder of Albert Race, a member of the Chicago police force. Mr. Forrest was
Lamb's attorney from the time of his arrest until his final acquittal, a period of three years.
Lamb was first tried for murder, and convicted and sentenced to be hanged, but upon appeal to
748 UNITED 'STATES BIOGK. /////< ,//, DICTIO.VAKY.
the supreme court the case was remanded for a new trial. Lamb was subsequently tried for
burglary and acquitted. He was then tried a second time for murder, and acquitted. The pros-
ecution in these cases was most vigorous and relentless. Public opinion was wrought up, a gen-
eral belief prevailing that Lamb was the real murderer. A cloud of witnesses appeared for the
state, two testifying that Lamb was the man who actually fired the fatal shot, one of them being
an accomplice. Lamb himself had been known to the detectives of the Northwest as a notorious
character for twenty years.
The case has a special interest to lawyers, from the fact that in their decision the supreme
court passed fully and fairly on the extent of the liability of a conspirator for the acts of a
co-conspirator.
Mr. Forrest is now in the full vigor and strength of manhood, and, with his present achieve-
ments, may hopefully look to the future. Untiring in his efforts, and zealous in all his under-
takings, he cannot but attain a first rank in his chosen profession. He is a member of the
Masonic fraternity, and in politics adheres to the principles of the democratic party. He was
married at Chicago, April 17, 1879, to Miss Elizabeth Whitney, of Boston, Massachusetts, and
daughter of the late Melvin Whitney, for many years a prominent merchant in New York city.
Mr. Forrest is a man of fine social and personal qualities, -and is known among his friends as
a genial companion. He is domestic in his tastes, and with his native fondness for study and
literary culture, finds in his own home the most pleasant and agreeable respite from his profes-
sional cares.
HON. LESTER L. BOND.
CHIC A GO.
OF the many able lawyers in the Northwest who make a specialty of patent law and patent
causes, Hon. Lester L. Bond has no superior. Endowed by nature with a comprehensive
mind and great mechanical ingenuity, he has attained great proficiency in the arts and sciences
especially applicable to that branch of his profession to which he has given particular attention.
He is learned not only in mechanics, but also in chemistry and natural philosophy; he has, also,
a thorough knowledge of law and the general practice, being a good special pleader, conversant
with all of the rules of practice in both the state and United States courts. He is thoroughly
posted in all of the decisions of the courts in Europe and America bearing upon patent litigation.
He is a very able trial lawyer, a logical reasoner, and an excellent advocate.
The practice of his firm extends from Portland, Maine, to San Francisco, California. Mr.
Bond is often called into the courts in the eastern cities, where he has measured lances with many
of the ablest lawyers in America, and on such occasions has received high encomiums from both
bench and bar for his skill, profound knowledge of the law and depth of reason in his arguments.
In the United States supreme court at Washington, where he tries a large number of cases
every year, he stands very high, having, in addition to great legal lore and ability in his profes-
sion, a keen sense of justice, the principles of which. he is ever ready to uphold with a zeal that
reflects credit upon himself, and sustains the dignity and honor of his profession. Mr. Bond is a
gentleman Of fine presence, weighing over two hundred pounds; is over six feet high and is easy
and graceful in his movements. He is affable in his manner, and secures the friendship of all who
are favored with his acquaintance.
Lester Legrand Bond is a native of Ohio, and a son of Jonas Bond, of Ravenna, where our
subject was born, October 27, 1829. His father removed from Connecticut, and settled in Ohio
in 1824. His mother, before marriage, was Miss Elizabeth Story, a relative of the celebrated
jurist and legal author, the late Judge Story, of the United States supreme court.
Lester L. attended select school in his native town four years, and afterward entered Ellsworth
Academy. Leaving there at the age of eighteen, he assisted his father in farming and manufac-
turing in the summer, ami attended school during the winter months. During this period he
HC Connor Jr& i
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f'.V/77:/J STATl-.S BIOGRAPHICAL 1>1< TION/\KY.
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acquired a taste for mechanics, which in later years ass<-rt<-<l itself in his profession as a lawyer.
In 1850 he commenced the study of the law with Francis W. Tappen, in Ravenna, and afterward
continued his studies with Bierce and Jefferies, the senior partner of which firm, General Bi<-n >-.,
was considered one of the ablest criminal lawyers in northeastern Ohio. After completing his
studies^ he was admitted to the bar at Akron, in October, 1853. In October, 1854, he settled in
Chicago, and commenced the practice of the law. His means were limited, and he had but two
acquaintances in the city. His business, therefore, was for some time necessarily small, and in
the hope of bettering his circumstances he joined his name with that of a young man in the
commission business. His partner absconded, leaving him to settle the debts of the firm. This
occurrence was very embarrassing, but he struggled through it, and discharged all of his
obligations.
About the year 1859 some parties, knowing the natural taste of Mr. Bond for mechanical
studies, employed him to take charge of their patent interests, as well as to procure other patents
for their inventions. This soon led to considerable business, which continued to increase until
1869, when he concluded to withdraw from the general practice of the profession, and devote
himself exclusively to patent business, since which time the marvelous growth of manufactures,
and the steadily increasing reputation of Mr. Bond as a patent lawyer, had a tendency to fill his
office with business, and in 1864 he became associated with the law firm of West, Bond and Hris-
coll, he himself taking charge of the business pertaining to patents. The following year Mr.
Driscoll was elected city attorney, which made it necessary for him to withdraw from the firm,
and the business was continued under the name of West and Bond.
On account of the large experience acquired by Mr. Bond in patent cases, and also his
familiarity with mechanics, he has been intrusted with very important cases, and at an early period
in his practice was frequently called upon as an expert in important trials, in matters relating to
patents. Among the cases in which he has been engaged as counselor may be mentioned those
of the Babcock Fire Extinguisher, the Evarts Shingle Mill, the Tubular Lantern, the Marsh Har-
vester, the Keystone Corn Planter, the Kenyon Cultivator, and numerous other cultivator cases.
He defended the Moline Plow Company in its numerous contested cases, also the Furst and Brad-
ley Manufacturing Company, was connected with the Barb Wire Fence cases, and was on one
side or the other, usually on the defense, in nearly all of the agricultural implement cases that
have been tried in the seventh United States circuit.
His skill, which was so evidently manifested in these and other cases, has placed him at the
head of his profession in this department.
In politics he has been a republican since he has had a vote, his father having joined the free-
soil party in 1844. His first experience of political position was in 1852, when he was sent as a
town delegate to the Pittsburgh convention, which nominated John P. Hale for president.
In 1863 he was elected alderman from the eleventh ward of the city of Chicago, and was in
1864 reflected for two years, and at the expiration of his term was again tendered the office from
both parties, but on account of the pressure of the business was compelled to decline.
In 1867 he was elected to the state legislature, and reflected in 1869. During this session he
was chairman of the judiciary committee, the most important in the house. In his first term he
was a member of the committee on internal improvements, and aided largely in procuring the
passage of the act for the improvement of the Illinois River.
Contrary to his wishes, in 1871, just after the great fire, he was placed on the ticket for alder-
man of the tenth ward, and was elected.
In 1873 Hon. Joseph Medill obtained leave of absence for the remainder of his term as mayor,
on account of ill health, and Mr. Bond was elected by the council to fill the place for the remainder
of the term. The following November he was nominated for mayor (or two years, and although
he received the large number of eighteen thousand five hundred votes, was defeated by Mr. Col-
vin. During Mr. Bond's short term of the office of mayor the panic occurred, and he, with
others, taking a decided stand against the issue of scrip, the credit of the city was maintained.
73
752 UNITKD STA'/'KS IUOGKA 1'IIICA L DICTIONARY.
He also reorganized the fire department so satisfactorily that the organization was not afterward
disturbed, and settled the long-standing claims of the gas companies on a basis that has since
been followed.
Mr. Bond was for four years a member of the board of education, and in 1872 was presidential
elector for the second congressional district of Illinois. In all these various positions he has dis-
tinguished himself for his energy, prudence and faithfulness.
He was married, October 12, 1856, to Miss Amie Scott Aspinwall, daughter of Rev. Nathaniel
W. Aspinwall, of Peacham, Vermont, a lady of excellent womanly qualities, and an affectionate
wife. They have one daughter. They are both members of the Centenary Methodist Episcopal
Church of Chicago.
GEORGE DRIGGS.
CHICAGO.
EORGE DRIGGS, a member of the legal fraternity of Chicago, is a native of Livingston
county, New York, and was born at Mount Morris, May 18, 1846. His parents were Elias
Beach Driggs, a native of Connecticut, and Sarah (Rowell) Driggs, a native of Vermont. After
the death of his parents, when only a lad, Mr. Driggs went to live with relatives at Fairlee, Ver-
mont, near the New Hampshire line. In early years he attended the academy at Orford, New
Hampshire, afterward continuing his studies under private instruction up to the time of his ap-
, pointment to a position in the United States treasury department under Secretary McCullough.
While in Washington he found opportunity to continue his law studies already begun, and was
graduated from the Columbia Law School, in the class of 1868, immediately entering upon the
practice of law in Washington, where he remained for about two years, when he went to New
York city. In 1871 Mr. Driggs accepted a position in the office of Hon. J. R. Swan, at Columbus,
Ohio, at that time general solicitor of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Saint Louis Railway Company.
He continued as the assistant of Judge Swan, and of his successor, Hugh J. Jewett, until the
latter assumed the presidency of the Erie Railway Company early in 1875, when Mr. Driggs was
appointed assistant counsel of the Pennsylvania company, and Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Saint
Louis Railway Company, with headquarters at Pittsburgh, in which position he remained until
he came to Chicago, February i, 1881, and formed a partnership with George Willard, of whom
a sketch is given on another page. Willard and Driggs, in addition to a general legal business,
are the solicitors for several railway and other corporations.
Mr. Driggs is a firm republican in politics, entertains liberal religious views, and is a Knight
Templar in the masonic order.
In 1872 he married Miss Helen Griffing, a native of Ohio; they have two children, a son and
a daughter.
JAMES ENNIS.
CHICAGO.
JAMES ENNIS was born at Enniscorthy, County of Wexford, Ireland, March 27, 1837. His
father, Lawrence Ennis, died on his son's fifteenth birthday, and James, together with his
mother and five sisters, immigrated to America. His father had been what is known as a gentle-
man farmer, and James had received a good education in the ordinary branches. On reaching
America his mother purchased a farm in Lake county, Illinois, but James, with his delicate health,
was not born to be a farmer. With little difficulty he secured the position of teacher in a neigh-
boring school, and taught for some time, when he fell sick with a dangerous fever, and his life
was for weeks despaired of. In 1854, on a bitter cold day in winter, accompanying a neighbor
farmer, who with an ox team was hauling a load of produce to Chicago, James walked to the city,
which destiny chose for the place in which he was to achieve success, and pass the remainder of
UNITED .STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 753
his days. With a five-dollar bill in his pocket, and great expectations, he reached the city of his
hopes, without a single acquaintance in the great metropolis. He soon secured a situation in a
clothing store, but as the proprietor did not see fit to pay him as agreed upon, he left the store
one day and went out on the street without any definite purpose, when a sign "justice court,"
attracted his attention. As he was seeking justice he entered the office, and met Calvin DeWolf,
a citizen well known to the people of Chicago, and who has been a justice of the peace for many
years. After a long conversation with Mr. DeWolf, the result was that James was hired by him
as clerk, and commenced the study of law, and also the study of German, as he foresaw that
the knowledge of that language would be of great aid to him in Chicago, with its large German
population. January n, 1856, although not yet of age, he was admitted to practice law, and
November 3, 1858, he married Mary A. Sexton, a native of Chicago, and a daughter of one of the
original Chicago settlers, Stephen Sexton.
In 1861, the civil war breaking out, Mr. Ennis, who was a stanch Douglas democrat, was
eager to enlist, but on account of the delicate state of his health his friends, after a hard struggle,
kept him at home, as his physician said that the exposure incidental to the campaign would kill
him, as he was then suffering from lung troubles. He had built his home on North La Salle street,
north of Division street, where most of his children were born, and had his office for several years
at 109 Madison street. In May, 1871, however, he furnished two elegant offices at the new Open
Board Building, 145 Madison street, in a most complete and magnificent manner, and they were
said to be by the bar, and commented upon by the press as, two of the finest law offices in Chicago.
His law library alone was valued at seven thousand dollars. A few months later, in October of
the same year, the ever-memorable fire swept away his offices, his home, and his houses on the
North Side, and he lost in twenty-four hours twenty-five thousand dollars of property which he
had worked for long and industriously. His real estate, his wife and seven children, together
with a house on West Randolph street, remained. All his personal property, save an album of
family pictures and a horse and buggy, had been swept away. His property had been insured in
a home company, which paid but three mills on the dollar, but with his characteristic energy he
furnished his West Side house, opened his law office in the parlor, and proceeded after only a
week's delay with his law business.
In 1872 he moved his office to room 22, Metropolitan Block, where it remained up to the time
of his death, aifc is now occupied by his son and successor in business, Lawrence M. Ennis. The
panic which swept the country in 1873 cost him forty thousand dollars. He had purchased a
large tract of Chicago real estate, and owing to the depression in business, was unable to meet
his payments, and lost the whole tract. August n, 1876, his loving wife died, leaving nine chil-
dren, the eldest of which was sixteen years of age, and the youngest a mere babe. This was the
heaviest loss of all, and he never seemed to recover from it. A couple of years later he married
again, and had one child by his second wife. November 9, 1880, after a two days' illness, he died
of heart disease at his residence, aged forty-two years, seven months and twelve days, and two
days later, in the presence of sorrowing friends, relatives, clients and neighbors, he was buried in
Calvary Cemetery, and his short but busy life was over. A few days after, a large meeting of
the Chicago bar was held, attended by the judges and lawyers, and long resolutions were drawn
up and adopted to his memory.
Mr. Ennis was tall, slim in figure, with a strikingly intellectual countenance, with coal black
hair and eyes; his face, saving a black mustache, was kept clean-shaven, and he looked to be no
more than thirty-three or thirty-four years of age. Owing to the fact that he neglected to have
his photograph taken since his early youth, we are unable to preserve an engraving of him in this
work. His eldest son was often taken for his brother by those who did not know that he was
brotherless. He was a deep student. Science, histflry and the study of German and Latin were
his recreations. He was a hospitable host, but despised parties and society generally. He was a
man of firm convictions, and with sufficient energy to carry his projects into effect. In religion
he was a Roman Catholic, and his wife and children are of the same faith. In politics he was a
754 UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
life-long, active democrat. Although often tendered nomination for different offices by his party,
he always answered, "Wait till Lawrence (his eldest son) is old enough to take care of my prac-
tice, but not now." His son, Lawrence, inherited his father's politics, and was of age November
2, 1881, the day of the presidential election. Father and son cast the same ticket for Winfield
Scott Hancock, and one week later the father died, leaving Lawrence just old enough to carry on
his business. He spoke German so fluently that his nationality was often discussed and doubted,
and there is many a good old German in Chicago to-day, who, if you tell him that James Ennis
was not a German, will shake his head dubiously, but, if you dare go further and say that Ennis
was an Irishman, you will receive a very emphatic denial to your statement.
As an advocate Mr. Ennis was at his best. He was a clear, logical, convincing speaker, and
with his ready Irish wit, remarkable memory, teeming with droll and witty stories, was a success
before a jury. The history of the Chicago bar can never be completely written without a page
devoted to him. He was honest, able, capable and the soul of honor, and in his twenty-four
years' practice never forgot his duties as a gentleman and a lawyer. He was very successful
before the supreme court of the state, as the reports will show. He was remarkable for his clear
perception of principles of law pertaining to any litigation with which he was connected. He
appreciated by intuition the character and motives of litigants, jurors and witnesses; was persua-
sive and convincing in argument, and achieved success, not only by his eloquence, but by clear and
terse presentation of truths as applied to the common interests of society.
His practice was large and lucrative, and at his death he left about twenty-five thousand dol-
lars' worth of real estate to his children. His love of Latin can be seen in some of their names,
which are as follows: Lawrence M., James I., Callistus S., Lullus J., Susie M., Felicia A., Stephen
F., Agnes M., Laura G. and Juventius T. James I. Ennis has an important position in the Mer-
chants' Loan and Trust Bank. Callistus is with J. V. Farwell and Company. Lullus is with a
prominent board of trade firm, the four eldest being graduates of the Chicago high school. The
remainder of the children are attending school. They all bear many of their father's characteris-
tics, and possess a marked family individuality, and although their father was the last of his name,
it will undoubtedly be some years before the family name dies out in Chicago.
HON. LYMAN LACEY.
HA VAN A.
CMAN LACEY, for years a prominent lawyer in Mason county, and now judge of the circuit
and appellate courts, dates his birth May 9, 1832, at Dryden Four Corners, Tompkins
county, New York, at the celebrated mineral springs, then owned by his father, John Lacey, who
was a native of New Jersey. His mother, Chloe (Hurd) Lacey, was a native of the Empire State.
In 1836 the family came as far west as Macomb county, Michigan, near Rochester, and the next
year settled in Fulton county, this state, where John Lacey engaged in farming, and where he is
still living. His wife died in 1879.
The son had a fine opportunity to develop his muscle and harden his constitution by hard
work on the farm, till twenty years of age, and he no doubt owes his excellent health to his early
physical training. He is/a graduate of Illinois College, class of '55; studied law with Hon. Lewis