service confined himself strictly to his profession. State Auditor
James J. Brady, on his election in 1912, appointed Mr. Harkin chief
bank examiner for Cook County, and the value of his services in
this office has been much appreciated.
Mr. Harkin is an active democrat, served in the Forty-first Gen-
eral Assembly of Illinois, and also served two terms as alderman
of the City of Chicago from the Fourteenth Ward, being elected in
1903 and 1905 ; is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the
Illinois State Bar Association, and the Knights of Columbus, also
a member of the Chicago Athletic Club. Mr. Harkin finds his rec-
reation in walking and reading. His office is in the Otis Building.
GEORGE C. HILLYER. As junior member of the firm of Lybarger
& Hillyer, leading attorneys of Bushnell, George C. Hillyer has the
same prestige as a lawyer in McDonough County which he formerly
enjoyed in Warren County, where he served as state's attorney.
George C. Hillyer was born at Brooklyn, Illinois, July 14, 1880,
son of George and Catherine (Dunlavy) Hillyer. The father, a
native of Ohio, and now residing at Rushville, Illinois, was a soldier
during the Civil war, serving in Company A of the Seventy-eighth
Illinois Infantry. He spent nearly four years in active service, and
at one time was captured by the Confederates and spent a period of
imprisonment at the notorious Libby prison. The Hillyer family
came from England and settled in Ohio, while the Dunlavys were
COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 641
from Ireland, and were early settlers in Kentucky. Mr. Hillyer's
mother was born near Louisville, Kentucky, and died in 1906.
There were three children: Thomas A., lives at Mayville, North
Dakota ; Luella, wife of C. A. Lantz of Rushville, Illinois ; and
George C.
Mr. Hillyer was educated in the district schools near his home,
attended public school regularly until eighteen, then taught for two
years, and in 1902 entered the University of Illinois in the academic
department, and in 1903 became a student in the law department.
Graduating in 1906 LL. B. he was admitted to the bar in October
of that year at Springfield, and began practice at Monmouth in
December. Six months were spent in the office of J. W. Clenden-
ing, and he then formed a partnership with Charles A. McLaughlin.
and that relationship continued until December, 1908. Mr. Hillyer
then entered upon his duties as state's attorney of Warren County,
and during the following four years made a record for efficiency
and honest administration of the law. On the expiration of his term
of office Mr. Hillyer joined the firm of Hanley & Cox, and prac-
ticed as Hanley, Cox & Hillyer until April, 1913. The following
year Mr. Hillyer spent on a vacation, visiting in the South and South-
west, and on May 6, 1914, came to Bushnell and entered partner-
ship with R. E. Lybarger under the firm name of Lybarger &
Hillyer. This firm enjoys a large law business, and among other
interests represents the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway.
Mr. Hillyer is a republican, a member of the Methodist Church,
and is affiliated with the Masonic order and the State Bar Associa-
tien.
JOHN H. LEWIS, JR. One of the leading attorneys of Galesburg
and Knoxville is John H. Lewis, Jr., whose practice as a lawyer
extends over a period of fifteen years. Mr. Lewis has his home in
Knoxville, and at the present time is serving as master in chancery,
with offices in the courthouse at Galesburg.
John H. Lewis, Jr. was born at Knoxville August 30, 1874, a
son of John Henry and Elizabeth S. (Russell) Lewis. His father
is one of the distinguished men of Central Illinois, now living retired
at Knoxville at the age of eighty-four. He served as circuit clerk of
Knox County during the Civil war, was also a member of the Illi-
nois Legislature, and represented his district in the National Con-
gress during the forty-seventh session.
John H. Lewis, Jr., received an exceptional training in prepara-
tion for his career. From the public schools of Knoxville he entered
St. Alban's Military Academy in 1890, graduating in 1894, was a
student during 1894-95 of Parsons College at Fairfield, Iowa, was
in the Armour Institute at Chicago in 1895-96, and in the fall of
the latter year entered-the law department of the University of Mich-
igan, and graduated LL. B. in 1899. Mr. Lewis was admitted to
the bar in March, 1899, ar "d began active practice at Galesburg and
Vol. II 14
642 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS
Knoxville. Some of his earlier studies for the bar had been pur-
sued in the office of the late Hon. James A. McKenzie and he con-
tinued as an assistant in the latter's office until his death in 1901.
Mr. Lewis practiced alone until 1905, for one year was in partner-
ship with Roy Marsh under the name Lewis & Marsh, and after Mr.
Marsh went into. the life insurance business his partner was R. B.
Robinson one year, and since then he has been alone.
Mr. Lewis served two terms as city attorney of Knoxville, and
since 1908 has been master in chancery, this being his third term.
He was for six years secretary and treasurer of the Knoxville Bar
Association. Mr. Lewis is a republican, and a member of the
Galesburg Business Men's Club, and the State Bar Association.
September 21, 1899, he married Miss Isabel, daughter of the late
William H. and Larissa Caldwell, of Galesburg. Her father was a
farmer, and her mother is still living in Galesburg. To their mar-
riage have been born two children : Marjorie, born January 13, 1903 ;
and John H. Ill, born June 10, 1904.
RUFUS E. LYBARGER. As senior member of the law firm of
Lybarger & Hillyer at Bushnell, Mr. Lybarger is at the head of
one of the firms now prominently participating in the legal busi-
ness of McDonough County and has a record of six years successful
individual practice behind him.
Rufus E. Lybarger was born at Adair, Illinois, July 9, 1876,
the third in a family of eight children, only three of whom sur-
vive, born to Milton C. and Sarah E. Lybarger. His father was
born in 1842 near Mount Vernon, Illinois, and the mother in 1854
at Adair. Milton C. Lybarger is a successful farmer and he and
his wife now live at Prairie City, Illinois.
Rufus E. Lybarger received his education in the district schools,
attended both country and village schools until the age of twenty-
one, was a student for a time in the Western Normal College at
Bushnell, and subsequently in high school. Mr. Lybarger, like many
men who have gained success in the professions of law and medicine,
was a teacher in the public schools for three years. He began read-
ing law with Cyrus A. Lamb in 1901, in 1905 entered the law depart-
ment of the University of Illinois, where he was a member of the
Honorary Fraternity, and was president of his class in his senior
year. He was graduated LL. B. in 1908. The same year came his
admission to the bar in Chicago, and he at once returned to Bush-
nell and opened an office. A little later Thomas B. Camp became
his partner under the firm name of Camp & Lybarger, but after a
year Mr. Lybarger practiced alone until the spring of 1914, when
George C. Hillyer became associated with him, making the firm
Lybarger & Hillyer. The senior member was elected city attorney
of Bushnell in 1910 and was re-elected in 1912 and again in 1915.
Mr. Lybarger was married in 1908 to Rilia M. Foster of Musk-
ingum County, Ohio. Their three children are : Elma F., five years
COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 643
of age, Milton F., three years old, and James E., aged one year.
Mr. Lybarger's ancestors came from Germany, first settling in New
York, and later moving to Illinois, after a brief residence in New
Jersey and Pennsylvania. His maternal ancestors came from Eng-
land, settled in Canada, and then came to Illinois. Mr. Lybarger
resides at 632 Dean Street in Bushnell. He is a Republican in
politics, affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and
is a member of the County Bar Association.
RANSOM C. HUNT stands next to Mr. Williams as the oldest
attorney in active practice in Knox County. He was admitted to
the bar more than forty-eight years ago, and has practiced with
rising reputation and a steady success at Galesburg since that time.
Mr. Hunt, while his practice has been general, has been most suc-
cessful in the criminal branch of law, and is regarded as one of the
ablest criminal lawyers in Central Illinois.
Ranson C. Hunt was born on a farm near Burlington, lov/a, Jan-
uary 24, 1844, and is the only surviving member of a family of three-
children. His sisters were: Clara, wife of W. T. Jeliff, and Lois
V., wife of Jesse Pickerell. The parents were John B. and Mary
(Love) Hunt, the former a native of Illinois and the latter of Vir-
ginia. John B. Hunt, who died November 14, 1904, at the age of
eighty-four years and six months, was an Iowa farmer for many
years, but subsequently moved to Illinois, and spent his last years
in Galesburg. The mother died in 1887 at the age of sixty-five.
Ransom C. Hunt was reared on the farm in Iowa, attended dis-
trict school, the city schools of Burlington, and was also a student
in a noted acadamy at one time conducted at Denmark, Iowa. He
was also in- the schools at Bushnell, Illinois, and during 1859-61, was
a student of Lombard College at Galesburg. When his father
removed to Macomb, Illinois, he took up the study of law in the
office of Hon. J. C. Thompson. The family in the fall of 1863
moved to Galesburg, but Ransom C. and his father remained in
Macomb until 1865. At Galesburg he read law in the office of Hon.
A. C. Mason, who directed his studies until his admission to the bar
in June. 1866. Ransom C. Hunt formed a partnership in 1869 with
Mr. Mason, but for the past twenty years has practiced alone.
On May i, 1879, Mr. Hunt married Miss Irene Johnson, a native
of St. Paul, Minnesota. They have two sons and two daughters:
Beulah M., wife of Harold M. Holland, of Galesburg; Albert V.,
who was educated in Lombard College and now resides in Chicago ;
Harry C., who is in business at San Diego, California, both sons
being married; and Florence I., now attending Lombard College.
Mr. Hunt has for many years been a democrat, but aside from
a term as police magistrate from 1889 until 1896 has had little to
do with public office, and has never aspired to the official preferments
in the course of his long career. He has been devoted to his pro-
fession, has concentrated all his time and energy on his legal work.
644 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS
and his reputation as a lawyer has been well earned. Mr. Hunt
has served as a delegate to democratic state conventions, and for
a number of years has attended the national conventions of his party.
He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, belongs to the Knox
County and State Bar associations, and he and his family are mem-
bers of the Central Congregational Church. His home is at 848
North Broad Street, and his office at 45 S. Cherry Street.
HARVEY H. ATHERTON. Few of the younger members of the
Illinois bar who have confined themselves strictly to the work of
their profession have enjoyed more substantial success and stand
higher on the merits of their attainments than Harvey H. Ather-
ton, who was admitted to practice less than ten years ago and is
easily one of the most successful lawyers of Lewistown and of Ful-
ton County.
Harvey H. Atherton was born in Vermont Township of Fulton
County September i, 1881. He was the second in a family of five
children born to Kester W. and Amelia (Wise) Atherton. The
Atherton ancestors came from England, while the Wises were from
Germany. The records show that the Atherton family through its
various generations has been distinguished for the quiet industry
of farmers, merchants and professional men, and as lovers of peace
rather than of war. David and Ross Atherton were pioneer set-
tlers in Illinois and Ross Atherton located in Fulton County about
1844. Both Kester W. and Amelia (Wise) Atherton were natives
of Fulton County.
Until sixteen years of age Harvey H. Atherton lived in the
country and attended the district schools, and then took a course in
the high school at Ipava, graduating in 1901. At that time his mind
was definitely made up to study law, and for two years, while teach-
ing country school, he read law in the office of Lucien Gray. His
studies were continued in the law department of the University of
Michigan, from which he graduated LL. B. in 1905, was admitted
to the Illinois bar at Chicago in July of the same year, and then
returned to Lewistown and was employed in the office of Lucien
Gray, one of the leading lawyers and prominent as a jurist. At the
end of one year Mr. Atherton bought the law business of Mr. Gray,
and since that time has practiced as an individual. He has never
permitted himself to become a politician nor to accept any political
preferment. His large law business demands all his time and atten-
tion though he manifests a disinterested willingness to serve his com-
munity and for several years has been a member of the board of
education. His law library contains about 1,000 volumes.
Mr. Atherton was married September 20, 1905, to Edna V.
Lingenfelter, of Canton. They have two children: Lucien, born
January 6, 1907, and Keith, born April 19, 1912. Mr. Atherton
has his law offices in the Lewistown National Bank Building. He is
affiliated with the Masonic order, having attained the consistory
COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 645
degrees of Scottish Rite, belongs to the Mystic Shrine, and also the
Knights of Pythias, in politics is progressive and a member of the
Methodist Church. He is also a member of the State and County
Bar associations.
EUGENE WILLIAM WELCH. For thirty-six busy years Eugene
William Welch has been a member of the Galesburg bar and in his
private practice as well as in public office he is well known over
Knox County. A man of unswerving honesty, upright in thought
and deed, his legal learning was built on a sound foundation and
his professional success has been won along lines which have been
personally creditable and have dignified his calling. Urged by early
environment to become self reliant, he has been, in large measure,
the architect of his own fortunes, possessing but not needing the
prestige of honorable ancestry to open the doors of opportunity for
him when he reached the threshold of manhood.
Eugene William Welch was born at LaSalle, Illinois, October
28, 1852, and is a son of Dr. William Wallace and Jane (Chad wick)
Welch, the fourth born in the family of nine children. The mother
was of New England birth and ancestry, born in July, 1827, at Wind-
sor, Kennebec County, Maine. The father was born at Albany,
New York, in September, 1821. He became a student of medicine
and was graduated in Rush Medical College at Chicago in 1846.
During the Civil war he served three years as a member of the Fifty-
third Illinois Volunteer Infantry and after the close of his term
of enlistment, re-entered the service and served as acting staff sur-
geon with headquarters at Vicksburg, until the close of that war.
For a number of years the family resided at LaSalle but in 1868
came to Knox County and settled at Wataga. At that time Eugene
W. Welch was sixteen years of age and had been attending St. Pat-
rick's Academy, and after coming to Knox County spent a short
period in the public schools and later on attended the Galesburg
High School for two years, and Knox College. He taught school
for eight consecutive winters in district schools of Knox County.
The home farm, however, claimed a large amount of his time and
energy and he became very familiar with all the wearying tasks that
make up the laborious life of a farmer, without finding enjoyment
in them because of his inclinations in an entirely different direction.
He began to read law in June, 1875, his law books being his recrea-
tion after his daily duties as a schoolmaster were over. He con-
tinued his reading under the direction first of the law firm of Lan-
phere and Brown and later with the firm of Douglas and Harvey,
and was admitted to the bar in June, 1877, by the Supreme Court
then sitting at Mount Vernon, Illinois. Through the winter fol-
lowing he taught school but on March 26, 1878, opened a law office
at Galesburg and here has continued in the practice of his profes-
sion, always as an individual, and thus unhampered has been able
to decide for himself the class of law business with which to iden-
646 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS
tify his name. He early took a foremost place at the local bar, his
capacity for close, logical reasoning making him a peculiarly force-
ful and effective advocate and qualifying him for professional posi-
tions of responsibility. In the spring of 1889 Mr. Welch was elected
city attorney of Galesburg and was re-elected in 1891 and held the
office until 1893. In the meanwhile, in the fall of 1892 he was
elected state's attorney of Knox County and assumed the duties of
that office in December of that year, his efficiency and fearlessness
during his first term securing re-election and he served eight years.
During this period he prosecuted and sent to prison more breakers
of the law than were sent from any other county with the exception
of Cook, and out of 700 cases that came under his jurisdiction in
6 l / 2 years, but one indictment was quashed. In the cause of
the people he was relentless as his office demanded and during
his entire eight years of service not once was he accused of acting
otherwise than according to the soundest of legal and equitable
principles. At the termination of his second term as state's attor-
ney, Mr. Welch resumed private practice and in much of the im-
portant litigation in the courts of the county he still appears on one
side or the other. He has several times served as a delegate to state
conventions. He maintains his office at No. 50 South Cherry Street,
Galesburg, his residence being at No. 363 West Tompkins Street.
Mr. Welch was married June 24, 1879, to Miss Ida I. Spooner,
who was born November 2, 1858, and died March 17, 1908. She
was a daughter of Alfred A. Spooner, a prominent farmer of Knox
County. To Mr. and Mrs. Welch four children were born: Nellie,
who is the wife of J. N. Canfield, of Los Angeles, California, and
they have one daughter, Helen ; Frank A., who is now reading law
in his father's office, is a graduate of the Galesburg High School
and of Brown's Business College; Bessie, who is the wife of Roy
E. Bignall, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Sidney Post, who
was born February 22, 1895, and was accidentally killed by the street
cars in Galesburg, July 8, 1906, a domestic tragedy from which his
mother never recovered. Mrs. Welch aside from her admirable
qualities as wife and mother, was possessed of characteristics and
talents that widened her circle of usefulness and made her an influ-
ence for the betterment of society in many directions. As a writer
she had rare descriptive powers and was well known in literary pub-
lications. She was deeply interested in many charities and belonged
to such organizations as the Woman's Relief Corps, the Ladies of
Maccabees, the Ladies' Auxiliary to the Young Men's Christian
Association, and the Mothers' Club. Mr. Welch has long been a
valued member of the State Bar Association, is also identified with
the Masons and the Elks, and with true public spirit promotes the
laudable efforts of the Galesburg Business Men's Club.
JUDGE FREDERICK A. SMITH. As judge of one of the branches
of the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, at Chicago, Judge
COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 647
Frederick A. Smith fills a place of distinction and important public
service. He is one of the oldest members of the Chicago bar in
active standing, began the practice of law soon after the close of
the war, in which he was a soldier, and has sat on the circuit and
appellate bench since 1903. His record of service classifies him
as a fine type of modern judge. Judge Smith has the experienced
judgment of one who has known all sorts of men, is a discriminat-
ing observer of character and motives, and the humanitarian spirit
has always characterized his work.
Frederick Augustus Smith was born at Norwood Park, in Cook
County, Illinois, February n, 1844. His parents, Israel G. and
Susan (Pennoyer) Smith, were both born in 1816, the former in
New York and the latter in Connecticut. While Chicago was still a
village on the lake shore, in 1835, Israel G. Smith moved to Cook
County and selected a tract of prairie land in what is now the
northwestern section of the city, and paid for it the usual govern-
ment price. That is one of the oldest homesteads about Chicago.
Judge Smith grew up on a farm, at that time situated a con-
siderable distance out of the city, but has been familiar with the
growth and development of Chicago for sixty years or more. From
the public schools he entered the preparatory department of the old
Chicago University in 1860. In 1862 he became a student in the
collegiate department, and in 1863 left school to become a private in
Company G of the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Illinois Infan-
try. He saw active service in campaigns in Missouri and Ken-
tucky, and was mustered out in 1864. On his return to Chicago he
resumed his studies in the University, and was graduated Master
of Arts in 1866. He had already chosen the law for his life work,
and in 1867 received the degree LL. B. from the old Union College
of Law. Thus his membership in the Illinois bar dates from 1867,
a period of more than forty-five years. Early in his practice he was
associated with C. C. Kohlsaat under the firm name of Smith &
Kohlsaat until 1872. He then conducted an individual general
practice, and in 1890 became senior partner of the firm of Smith,
Helmer, Moulton & Price, and was with that firm until his elevation
to the bench.
In 1898 Judge Smith was republican candidate for judge of the
Superior Court, but was defeated. In June, 1903, he was elected
a judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, for the term ending
in June, 1909. He was re-elected in the latter year for another term
of six years, and in June, 1915, was re-elected for a third term.
Since December, 1904, Judge Smith has been assigned to the Appel-
late Court, and was one of the presiding judges of one of the Appel-
late Courts sitting in Chicago. As a judge he possesses the dignity,
impartiality, broad knowledge and unbending integrity which have
always made his decisions respected and have kept his record unsul-
lied. As candidate for re-election to the circuit bench in June, 1915,
Judge Smith received such endorsement as his previous record had
648 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS
earned, and his re-election for the term of six years following June,
1915, assures Cook County of the services of one of its most cap-
able jurists.
Judge Smith has sustained many active relations with his home
city and is also well known to the Illinois bar. He was elected
president of the Chicago Law Club in 1887, and in 1890 was presi-
dent of the Chicago Bar Association. He is a former president of
the Hamilton Club, and a member of the Union League and the
Chicago Literary Club. Since the beginning of the present Uni-
versity of Chicago he has been a factor in its growth and advance-
ment, and is a trustee of both the University of Chicago and Rush
Medical College. Judge Smith was married July 25, 1871, to Miss
Frances B. Morey, daughter of Rev. Reuben and Abby (Clemons)
Morey, of Merton, Wisconsin. Mrs. Smith died December 26, 1910.
FRANK M. Cox. In the past ten years it is probable that no
Chicago lawyer has handled a greater volume of trial cases than
Frank M. Cox, whose business has been more and more developed
as a corporation and insurance attorney. This enviable position as
a member of the Chicago bar shows the efficient industry and solid
ability of a man whose career began in comparative obscurity as a
blacksmith's apprentice.
'A son of Ulysses S. and Lydia A. (Myers) Cox, the former a
blacksmith, Frank M. Cox was born at New Vienna, Clinton County,
Ohio, October i, 1856. The public schools of his native county
provided his early and only education, and his first means of self-
support was farm work and assisting his father in the blacksmith
trade. He also worked as a brick maker for a year, and then was a
farm hand until past his majority.
In 1878 he took up the study of law at Vandalia, Illinois, with
E. M. Ashcraft, who later became one of the prominent members of