Mr. Condon is a democrat in politics. He is affiliated with the
Knights of Columbus.

In 1907, Mr. Condon married Miss Lucy Dalton, of Bloomington
and they have two children, Marian and Jane. His home is at 1512
Dearborn Parkway.

DWIGHT B. CHEEVER. Like numerous other leading members of
the Chicago legal profession, Dwight B. Cheever is a native of the
State of Michigan, and was reared in that state and there educated,
although his entire professional career has been spent in Chicago.
Since engaging in practice in 1896 his connection with some of the
leading cases tried in the courts in recent years has given him a
reputation as a specialist in trade-mark and copyright law in
Chicago.

Mr. Cheever was born at Ann Arbor, Michigan, February 23,
1868, and is a son of Dr. Henry and Laura E. (Bissell) Cheever.



574 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS

The father was a prominent physician and a professor in the medi-
cal department of the University of Michigan. After graduating
from the Ann Arbor High School, Mr. Cheever entered the Univer-
sity of Michigan where he took a course in mechanical engineering
and was graduated in the class of 1891 with the degree Bachelor of
Science. He then followed engineering with various firms until Sep-
tember, 1895, when he entered the Michigan Law School, finishing
in the class of 1896 with the degree Bachelor of Laws. In the same
year he was admitted to the bars of Michigan and Illinois. Mr.
Cheever began the practice of his profession in 1896 in the office of
Robert H. Parkinson, a Chicago patent attorney, and continued there
as chief clerk in the office until May i, 1901, when he opened offices
of his own, continuing in independent practice until November, 1904.
Since that time he has been senior partner in the firm of Cheever &
Cox, and the firm has been engaged in some very important litigation.

A few of the more important cases may be mentioned as follows :
W. F. Burns Company vs. Mills & Cunningham, 143, Federal, 325, a
case reversing the lower court; Thayer & Chandler vs. Wold, 148,
Federal, 227; Ajax Forge Company vs. Morden Frog & Crossing
Company, 164, Federal, 843; James H. Channon vs. Empire Com-
pany, 168, Federal, 705; Sheridan Company vs. Robert Law Com-
pany, 172, Federal, 223; Myers & Company vs. Fairbanks Morse &
Company, 194, Federal, 971. All these cases went to the Court of
Appeals.

Mr. Cheever is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, the
National Bar Association, the Chicago Patent Bar Association, the
Law Club and the Legal Club. Other club memberships of Mr.
Cheever are with the Union League, Hamilton, Homewood Country
and Kenwood clubs.

On September i, 1904, Mr. Cheever married Miss Arline H.
Valiette, of Pasadena, California, and they have one child, D wight
Martin. The city home of the Cheevers is at 5491 East End Avenue,
and they have an attractive summer place at Flossmoor, Illinois.

RALPH L. PECK. Both through his professional and through his
business and civic relations Mr. Peck has had a successful career
since taking up practice fourteen years ago. Mr. Peck is a Chi-
cago lawyer, with offices in the American Trust Building, but has
his home at Palatine, Illinois.

Ralph L. Peck was born near Springfield, Illinois, May 6, 1873,
son of Sanford and Susan (Stover) Peck. His father is a real
estate man, now residing at Barrington, Illinois. Ralph L. Peck
was educated in the public schools, spent one year as a student in
the Northwestern Academy, and graduated Ph. B. from the Uni-
versity of Chicago with the class of 1898. Mr. Peck took his law
course in the Columbian University Law School, and graduated
LL. B. in 1901.

Admitted to the Illinois bar the same year, he has since been



COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 575

identified with an increasing general practice in Chicago. At Pala-
tine, his home town, Mr. Peck has been president of the Board of
Education for the past ten years, president of the Township High
School Board since its organization, village and town attorney for
the last thirteen years, is president of the Township Republican Club,
and secretary of the Fifth District Republican Club. He is vice
president of the Mount Prospect National Bank, is the Cook County
civil service commissioner and is acting as receiver of the Wauke-
gan, Rockford & Elgin Traction Company by appointment of Judge
Baldwin of the Circuit Court and is interested as director and offi-
cial in various other active business organizations.

Mr. Peck is a member of the Chicago, the Illinois State and the
American Bar associations, the Hamilton Club and the City Club.
His college fraternity is the Chi Psi, and he is also identified with
Palatine Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
Palatine Lodge A. F. & A. M., St. Elmo Commandery of the
Knights Templar and Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine.
March 12, 1904, Mr. Peck married Miss Caroline Kerkhoff of Oak
Park, Illinois. Their two children are Ralph LeRoy Jr., and Wil-
liam Sanford. Mr. Peck is a trustee of the Methodist Church at
Palatine.

HON. JAMES A. MCKENZIE. Of those men who adorned and
added prestige to the Illinois bar during the last century one of
the greatest was Hon. James A. McKenzie, of Galesburg. In
his death on December 17, 1901, not only Knox County but the
state lost one of the brightest legal minds. A record of his career
as seen through a lawyer's eyes adds an interesting chapter to
this publication.

James A. McKenzie was born April 27, 1837, at Spring Corners,
Crawford County, Pennsylvania, and death interrupted his life in
his sixty-fifth year. He was a son of Alexander and Deidama
(Hendryx) McKenzie. When he was a child his parents removed
to Knoxville, Illinois, from which place in 1854 the father and son
went across the plains to California, where they met indifferent
success and returned home in the summer of 1855. In 1856 Mr.
McKenzie entered Knox College at Galesburg, and in September,
1858, determined to apply for admission to both the junior and
senior classes. In each class were young men of excellent ability
and intelligence. At the close of the college year in June James
A. McKenzie was graduated with the highest honors, the acknowl-
edged leader of each class. The genius for consecutive, painstak-
ing, thorough labor, manifested in his college career, was the domi-
nant trait in his after life. In the consideration of any undertaking
it is said that he first ascertained the underlying principles, and
these determined he concentrated the remarkable energy of his mind
toward a performance which was never less than creditable. While



576 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS

in college he familiarized himself with Blackstone and Kent, devel-
oping special fondness for Kent.

In August, 1 86 1, Mr. McKenzie raised a company of volunteers
and went to the front as captain of Company H, Thirty-third Illi-
nois Infantry. For a time he filled the position of judge advocate
of a military commission, both at Reeves Station and Bentonville,
Arkansas, later was provost marshal of the division commanded by
General Steele at Helena, Arkansas, was subsequently transferred
to the staff of Major General Curtis as provost marshal general
of the Army of the Southwest. Failing health compelled him to
resign his commission, and he returned to Galesburg in 1863 and
entered upon the practice of his profession as senior member of
the law firm of McKenzie & Williams.

In November, 1864, Mr. McKenzie was elected state's attorney.
That fall the first political speech he ever made was delivered in
Dunn's Hall at Galesburg, and those who heard it spoke of it as
a masterpiece. He was reelected in 1868 and filled the office until
1872. The title of the office at that time was district attorney, and
his district comprised Knox, Henderson, Henry and Mercer coun-
ties. As a public prosecutor he proved able and fearless. His in-
dictments were known for their absolute correctness and none of
them were ever quashed for informality. Mr. McKenzie's record
as state's attorney added to his reputation as an attorney of re-
markable analytic power and knowledge of the law. As speaker
before a jury he had few equals. His power of illustration, his
ability to present the case in bold outlines, his quickness in detect-
ing deception and subterfuge, his wit and sarcasm, his skill in
explanation, his great ingenuity made him an opponent to be feared.
Few lawyers were so well known throughout the state or stood
so high with the Supreme Court. It is true of him that during
his entire career as state's attorney he never sought to convict an
innocent man. His contemporaries say of him that he was the
ablest prosecutor in this circuit during the past forty years. His
motto was : "Semper Paratus," always prepared.

He had a part in a large majority of the important cases tried,
and his personal strength and legal equipment gained him note-
worthy prestige. He 'of ten took cases in which successful prosecu-
tion seemed impossible, and yet gained a verdict. While conspicu-
ous in his work in open court, at the same time he compiled his
briefs and arguments with consummate skill and his legal docu-
ments were as clear as they were technically perfect. In the exami-
nation of witnesses his skill was seldom rivaled. He saw the meat
of issue, and could so turn his questions that the heart of matters
was developed to his satisfaction. His powers of discernment
quickly exposed a witness who had something to conceal. As an
orator he was not flowery, but rather convincingly effective, and
frequently swayed a jury to a decision not previously looked for.
He never exhibited surprise at the sudden and unexpected turn of



COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 577

a case, either in his favor or against it, and this very equanimity
frequently disconcerted his opponents.

His contemporaries have said that he was probably the best
common law pleader at the Knox County bar. For years he was
employed in the majority of legal fights held in the county. One
case especially commented upon was one tried at Macomb in 1872
on change of venue from Henderson County. It was the trial of a
charge of murder, the committing of which grew out of a draft
riot. Pitted against Mr. McKenzie as prosecuting attorney was
Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, as chief counsel for the defense. The case
was hotly fought. Mr. McKenzie conducted the prosecution with
wonderful tact and force, and many who heard the trial expressed
with admiration the belief that his plea exceeded in strength and
eloquence that of the great orator who was his opponent, notwith-
standing the latter won the case. Another of the early important
cases in which Mr. McKenzie conducted the prosecution was one
taken on a change of venue from Knox County to Lewistown, the
home of Judge Shope. The judge supported the defense, and was
confidently supposed irresistible, but was overshadowed by the abil-
ity of the Knox County attorney who won the case. The trial of
Frank Rand, desperado and murderer, gave another opportunity
for the display of Mr. McKenzie's legal skill and generalship. He
was appointed by the county to assist J. J. Lunnicliff. In a trial
occupying a week, in which especially able lawyers were concerned,
he took a prominent part, and the closing argument, lasting four
hours, and not to be forgotten by any who heard it, has never been
excelled for power and eloquence at the Knox County bar.

But Mr. McKenzie was more than a lawyer. Outside of his
profession he was a very busy man. Idleness was foreign to his
nature. From boyhood he was intensely fond of mechanics. As
early as 1871 he is said to have conceived a plan for an air brake,
and when ten years later he showed his design to . Westinghouse,
the latter said : "You would have been successful with this if you
had pressed it." He was a great reader, and accumulated a fine
library, where all his spare hours were spent. His fondness was
especially for science and abstruse work, which he read with ease.
His knowledge on scientific subjects frequently surprised even his
friends.

All his life Mr. McKenzie was a stanch republican until the
monetary subject came up for decision. He then came out for
free silver and stumped the country for William J. Bryan during
the latter's first campaign. He made the introductory speech on
the occasion of Bryan's appearance at Galesburg. The late Mr.
McKenzie was a member of Post No. -45, G. A. R., of the Masonic
Fraternity, of the Beta Theta Pi Greek letter society and the Guoth-
antii Society of Knox College. He was also president of the Knox
County Bar Association at time of his death.

During his college career he formed the acquaintance and be-

Vol. II 10



578 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS

came affianced to Miss Harriet Smith, sister of Judge A. A. Smith.
They were united in marriage shortly after his graduation in 1859.
She died December 31, 1863, leaving a daughter Harriet, who died
in August, 1901. In October, 1865, Mr. McKenzie married Miss
Louisa Thomas, a woman of beautiful life and character, who died
in Galesburg, July 26, 1888. Of this union there is a daughter
Kate, now the wife of Andrew Harrington of Galesburg. July 23,
1895, Mr. McKenzie married Miss Sallie G. Sherrill, a lady of
Southern birth and rearing with whom he became acquainted while
she was attending Knox College. Two daughters came to them :
Genevieve, born July 5, 1896; and Gail, born November 12, 1897.
The older daughter is now a student of Knox College, and has
much of her father's ability as a student. The younger is a student
in the Galesburg High School, and is often called "Jim," her
father's nickname, because of her quick wit.

The esteem of his home city for tKe late Mr. McKenzie was well
expressed in an editorial in the Galesburg Evening Mail, with some
extracts from which this article will close : "In the death of Hon.
J. A. McKenzie Galesburg loses one of the ablest men who ever
made this city their home. Of magnificent mental endowment and
tireless energy, Mr. McKenzie mastered his profession as few men
have, and his ability as a lawyer has probably never been surpassed
at the Knox County bar. He completed his four years' college
course in three years with the highest honors, took up the law and
conquered its every detail and went out into the world to achieve
preeminence in his profession. Through a full, busy lifetime he
has lived and worked in this community, and left his stamp upon
it. The brilliant mind, the strong personality of Mr. McKenzie will
long be remembered and recalled here and elsewhere, for his reputa-
tion wag not bounded by the county line.

"His splendid and varied abilities and broad tastes worked along
many lines, and the very brilliancy of his talents seemed to make
it difficult for him to confine and direct them in any one channel.
Yet the law was always his chief diversion, as well as means of live-
lihood, and the position he attained in its practice is only a sample
of what he might have accomplished along any other line had he
so chosen. The swift intuition, the unerring judgment, the marvel-
ous comprehension, the great fund of knowledge, the persuasive
eloquence, the thorough knowledge of human nature, the boundless
energy, the strong will and broad experience of the man gave him
a most remarkable power. His interesting personality and kind-
ness of heart won for him many friends. His was a bold and
striking figure which to see and know was never to forget."

JOHN E. NORTHUP. It has been Mr. Northup's persistent and
skillful handling of many notable cases during his term as assistant
state's attorney of Cook County and as special prosecutor in election



o

ffi

TJLi





COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 579

fraud cases that has made him best known in Chicago, where his
career as a member of the bar began in 1899.

Mr. Northup had an individual practice the first five years, and
in 1904 became associated as a member of the firm of Pringle,
Northup & Terwilliger, a relationship of two years' duration. In
1906 John J. Healy appointed Mr. Northup one of his assistant
state's attorneys, and he continued to serve through the administra-
tion of the late John E. W. Wayman until December, 1912. Out
of the mass of litigation and prosecutions handled by him during
that time, there were a number of cases which attracted unusual
interest. One of these was the case of Doctor Cleminson, who was
convicted of chloroforming his wife ; the case of Jennings, a colored
man, who was convicted of murder, an important element in his con-
viction having been a coincidence of finger prints, the first case of
the kind in the country of any marked importance, and the first of its
kind in Cook County. He also prosecuted several homicide cases,
and tried a number of conspiracy and graft cases. Since leaving
the office of assistant prosecutor, Mr. Northup has been engaged in
private practice and as special state's attorney in investigating the
election frauds perpetrated in Cook County in November, 1912. In
19.14 Mr. Northup was one of the strongest candidates on the repub-
lican ticket, being the candidate of his party for the office of county
judge. He is now practicing as senior member of the firm of
Northup, Arnold & Fairbank, with offices at 139 North Clark Street.

John E. Northup was born on an Iowa farm in Marshall County,
August 28, 1868, a son of James E. and Lettie (Eastman) Northup.
He attended the country schools, and in 1891 he graduated with
the degree of A. B. from Drake University at Des Moines. Mr.
Northup was a school teacher for several years, spent two years
in post-graduate work at the University of Chicago, and during
three years spent as principal of schools at Elmhurst, Illinois, pur-
sued the study of law. He subsequently took a course in the Illi-
nois College of Law, and after passing his examination was admitted
to the Illinois bar in October, 1899. Mr. Northup is a member of
the American Bar Association, the Hamilton Club, the Chicago
Association of Commerce, and in Masonry has affiliations with
Union Park Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Cicero Chapter, R. A. M., Siloam
Commandery, Knights Templar, and Medinah Temple of the Mystic
Shrine, and also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at
Austin, the Royal League, the American Union.

Mr. Northup belongs to the Austin Athletic Association and the
Glen Oak Golf Club and is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Northup resides at No. 161 North Menard Avenue with his wife
and daughter, Miss Dorothy. Mrs. Northup was formerly Miss
Elizabeth Chisholm, of Chisholm, Iowa.

JAMES JAY SHERIDAN was bora in Virginia City, Nevada, when
that city was at its zenith as a great gold-mining camp, to which



580 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS

place his father had gone from Marshall, Michigan, as a pioneer
gold seeker. He was yet a young child when the family made its
way back to Michigan, and in that state he grew to young manhood.

Mr. Sheridan was born on August 16, 1868, and is a son of
James C. and Bridget (Crawley) Sheridan. He spent his boyhood
days in the town of Marshall, Calhoun County, Michigan, there
attending school, and in course of time entered the University of
Michigan, concluding his studies there and being graduated from
the law department as a member of the class of 1894, with the
Bachelor of Laws degree. He thereafter did post-graduate work in
the Yale law school and finishing his studies there, in 1895, was
admitted to the bar of Illinois. Since that time Mr. Sheridan has
been commendably engaged in the practice of his profession in
Chicago, and the passing years have been marked by ever increas-
ing advancement in legal circles.

Mr. Sheridan is a republican and has always been active in the
party cause. Even as a university student he showed his political
spirit by encouraging republican clubs among the student body. In
1904 he was a member of a convention that assembled for the pur-
pose of formulating a new city charter and in many ways has
shown his enthusiasm in a civic way, always along progressive
lines.

Mr. Sheridan in 1903 was elected to the presidency of the Ham-
ilton Club, one of the most prominent and influential in Chicago.
During his administration his policies resulted in bringing to the
club a large increase in membership of the most desirable order.
He is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, the University Club
and the Phi Delta Phi college fraternity.

On March 25, 1911, Mr. Sheridan was married to Miss Ger-
trude Sands.

JOHN M. RANKIN. Since 1904 a member of the Chicago bar,
Mr. Rankin has rapidly gained recognition as an able and thoroughly
equipped lawyer, and was for a number of years a member of the
firm of Davis & Rankin. In November, 1914, he became asso-
ciated with Eugene A. Moran, a son of the late Judge Thomas A.
Moran, in general practice under firm name of Rankin & Moran.

John M. Rankin was born on a farm in Fulton County, Illinois,
June 9, 1873, a son f J onn an d Anna (Dobson') Rankin. His
father came from Ohio to Illinois in 1846, settled in Fulton County,
and spent his active career in farming.

Educated in the country schools, and living on a farm until the
age of eighteen, John M. Rankin then took a teacher's course at the
Western Normal College, spent three years as teacher in rural
schools, and the first important break in this routine came with the
beginning of the Spanish-American war. He was a member of the
Sixth Illinois Volunteers who were sent to Porto Rico, and he was
absent in the army for about seven months. On his return to Fulton



COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 581

County Mr. Rankin in the fall of 1898 was appointed deputy county
clerk, and while looking after the duties of that position studied law
for three years. Mr. Rankin came to Chicago in 1903, and after a
year in the Chicago Kent College of Law was admitted to the Illinois
bar in 1904. His first connection with actual practice was as clerk
in the office of Erode B. Davis, and eventually he was admitted as
a partner under the name of Davis & Rankin. This firm continued
under that title until March, 1913.

Mr. Rankin is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, the Illi-
nois State Bar Association, is affiliated with Covenant Lodge No.
526, A. F. & A. M. In 1908 he married Miss Alice M. Flathers, of
Chicago. They reside at 3964 Ellis Avenue.

PAUL O'DoNNELL has been actively identified with his profes-
sion in Chicago since his admission to the bar in 1909, with offices at
109 North Dearborn Street.

Paul O'Donnell was born at Vincennes, Indiana, acquired his
early education in the parochial and high schools of that city, en-
tered Notre Dame University at South Bend in 1902, and from 1903
to 1909 was in the University of Chicago, where he acquired his
degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Jurisprudence.

Mr. O'Donnell is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, of
Calumet Council of the Knights of Columbus, of the Irish Fellow-
ship Club, and the Delta Sigma Rho. He is a companion in the
Medal of Honor Legion by inheritance from his grandfather,
Menonen O'Donnell. Mr. O'Donnell is an officer in the First Cav-
alry of the Illinois National Guard. He has membership in the
Reynolds Club of the University of Chicago and the Assemblers
Club. His home is at 1368 East Sixty-second Street.

MICHAEL D. DOLAN. While many men achieve a degree of suc-
cess along many lines there can be no doubt but that Nature endows
more generously in one direction than another, and when marked
success follows earnest effort, special qualities have been a heritage
that fortuitous circumstances have made adaptive. When choice
of a career is possible and the law is chosen, a young man enters a
profession that offers him a recompensing field for his efforts, for,
unmistakably it is from the law that emerge the strong, vital men
who influence, guide and regulate in the greater affairs of public life
and leave indelible their impress on their day and generation. Aside
from natural inclination, however, a practitioner of the law who
advances beyond his fellows, must be far more thoroughly educated
than in other callings in life, and must be far more industrious than
his emoluments, at first seem to warrant. Whatever line of practice
he may select a field will be open at long as human nature is as at
present. The American Bar Association, the most representative
body of the profession, has expressed its opinion in regard to mem-
bers of the bar, urging that lawyers remember that their highest



582 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS