of the commission from its inception until his death in 1910. George
H. Miller was appointed as his successor on the board, and his work
in that connection well deserved the tribute above quoted from the
resolution passed by his fellow associates. While this service was
given without compensation, he made its duties paramount to all
his other engagements. Many have recalled his impartiality as a
judge when city employes were before him for trial.

Mr. Miller was a director of the Country Club, a member of
the Chicago Union League Club and the Chicago Law Club, and a
short time before his death had resigned from the Evanston Golf
Club and the Evanston Club. He is survived by his mother, his
sister, Miss Alta, and a brother, Donald C.

While his attainments as a lawyer were such as to justify his
mention in a work on the Illinois Courts and Lawyers, he was also
distinguished for his personality and companionable qualities. With
reference to this, phase of his character the editor of the Evanston
News-Index said : "He had a rare charm of manner that made
his society eagerly sought by both men and women. Athletic, of
fine figure and handsome face, he excelled in sports and was equally
at home in the woods with a party of men as in the clubs of the
city. Successful as a lawyer, with a well balanced mind and attain-
ments much above the ordinary, he was especially remarkable for
his high ideals and chivalrous bearing. He never forgot that he
had a mother and sister. He was wholesome, upright and high
minded, and had the respect of all classes and their cordial liking
to a very remarkable degree."

HARRY PUTNAM PEARSONS is one of the younger members of
the Chicago bar and one who has made admirable progress in the
years of his activity thus far. He was elected mayor of Evanston,
Illinois, April 6, 1915, on the independent republican ticket, having
won the election in a field of four candidates and with a plurality of
1,492 votes from the largest vote ever polled in Evanston.

Mr. Pearsons is a son of Henry A. and Catherine J. (West)
Pearsons. Henry A. Pearsons was the founder of the firm of
Pearsons & Taft, now the Pearsons-Taft Land Credit Company,
the oldest farm mortgage house in the United States. He was a
soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and rose to the rank of first
lieutenant in his regiment, the Eighth Illinois Cavalry. His service
was with the Army of the Potomac, and he was an active partici-
pant in ninety engagements, including many of the important bat-
tles that marked the four years' struggle between the North and
South. He was one of the soldiers assigned as special escort to
the remains of President Lincoln from Washington to Chicago,
where the body lay in state at the courthouse of Cook County before
being taken to its final resting place at Springfield. Three times
was Lieutenant Pearsons wounded in battle, but at no time was

Vol. 1115



658 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS

he long incapacitated for active service. When the war ended he
returned to his Illinois home, and here he has since been active in
business life.

In Evanston Harry P. Pearsons had his early schooling, and
finishing his attendance at an academy there, he entered Northwest-
ern University, in the Liberal Arts department. His studies there
at an end, he entered the Law School of Columbia University, in
New York City, where he was a student during 1895-6. He com-
pleted his law course in Northwestern University, and was gradu-
ated with the class of 1898, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws.
In 1901 he was admitted to the bar of Illinois, and from then until
1905 was attorney and secretary of the Pearsons-Taft Land Credit
Company. He then engaged in general law practice in association
with George P. Merrick and later with Hon. Leroy D. Thoman,
formerly a member of the United States Civil Service Commission.
Judge Thoman died in April, 1909, but his name is still retained
in the firm of Thoman, Harnwell & Pearsons, Mr. Pearsons' associ-
ate being Frederick W. Harnwell.

Mr. Pearsons is a member of the Chicago, Illinois and American
Bar associations, also of the Chicago Law Institute and Law Club.
He has served in Evanston as alderman from the Seventh Ward.
His social ties are with the University Club, the Evanston Country
Club and the Evanston Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks. He also retains membership in his college fra-
ternities, the Beta Theta Pi and the Delta Chi. By virtue of his
father's war record he is a member of the Military Order of the
Loyal Legion of the United States. He is a companion of the
second class in the order, and his father is a companion of the first
class in Illinois Commandery.

Mr. Pearsons was married February 8, 1900, to Miss Frances
Keyes, of Kenilworth, Illinois, and they have one daughter, Frances.
Mr. Pearsons has membership in the First Methodist Episcopal
Church of Evanston, where he has his home and where both he
and his wife take their part in the social activities of the community.

ANGUS ROY SHANNON. Admitted to the bar in 1896, the cred-
itable work and attainments of Mr. Shannon have since given him
a high rank in the profession. He is the attorney for the Chicago
Board of Education.

Born in Rochester, New York, March 27, 1873, he is a son of
Michael and Margaret (McKenzie) Shannon. His father was a
merchant, and during the Civil war was captain of the i4Oth New
York Volunteers in the Army of the Potomac. The family came
to Chicago in the years immediately following the war and in that
city Angus R. Shannon acquired his education in the public schools,
at Armour Institute, and in 1896 was graduated LL. B. from the
University of Michigan. In the same year he was admitted to
the bars of Michigan and Illinois and began the practice of his



COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 659

profession in Chicago alone. He has built up a large clientele as
a general practitioner, has made a specialty of real estate law, but
much of his time and service has been given to the Board of Edu-
cation. At first he served as an assistant attorney to the board, but
for many years has been its attorney, and in all has been connected
with the legal department of the Chicago public school system for
sixteen years. Mr. Shannon is a member of the Chicago Bar
Association, the Illinois Bar Association and the American Bar Asso-
ciation ; also of the Law Club, the Chicago Society of Advocates, the
University Club, the Chicago Athletic Club and the City Club. He is
a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and the Masonic order, and
in politics is a democrat. His home is at 5758 South Park Avenue,
and his office at 35 North Dearborn Street. November 5, 1909, he
married Turbie D. Taft, of Chicago. His two sons are McKenzie
and Angus.

CORYDON DELOS HENDRYX. Not only one of the leading but
one of the oldest practicing attorneys of Knox County is Corydon
Delos Hendryx, now devoting himself to a general law practice
at Galesburg, but for many years one of the leading criminal law-
yers of this section of Illinois. For thirty-one years he has been
an honored resident of this city and a member of her bar, and in
professional as well as private life has won public regard and
personal esteem.

Corydon D. Hendryx was born in Fulton County, Illinois, Feb-
ruary 2, 1841, and is a son of William and Lucinda (Day) Hendryx.
The father was born at Pen Yan, New York, and the mother in
Vermont. William Hendryx and wife settled on the old tarm
in Fulton County, Illinois, in 1837, and there reared their family
of eleven children, Corydon D. being the eighth in order of birth.
The ancestry on the paternal side is traced to Holland, from which
country came colonists who settled and helped to name and found
New Amsterdam, New York. Grandfather Benjamin Hendryx
served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. On the maternal
side the ancestors came to America from Wales and settled in
Vermont before the War of the Revolution, Ephraim Day being
the grandfather of Mr. Hendryx. All were people of sturdy stock
and moral worth and after the early wars probably followed the
peaceful pursuits of agriculture. When William Hendryx located
in Fulton County he had to contend with pioneer conditions and
trie management and cultivation of his land entailed hard work.
Therefore, when his son, Corydon Delos, under other conditions
and in a better settled section of the country, would probably have
been sent regularly to school, here had to assume a man's tasks on
the farm when only sixteen years of age, having had, in the mean-
while, but meager opportunities, during three months of the year
attending the Virgil District School, in the neighborhood of his
home. For four years he gave his father help on the farm, but



660 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS

when the Civil war was precipitated, began to make arrangements
to enter the army should hostilities continue. On September 2,
1862, he enlisted as a private in Company D, One Hundred and
Second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and remained in the service
until the close of the war, when he was honorably discharged, with
the rank of first lieutenant, and was mustered out at Chicago, July
13, 1865. He had seen hard service, and although he was ever at
the post of duty and participated in the battles of Chattanooga,
Missionary Ridge, Nashville and others in which General Sherman
was the commander, he was never sick, wounded nor taken pris-
oner. Although no iron cross nor other decorative medal was pre-
sented by his commander, he needed no such incentive in times of
danger, but found his courage equal to every demand when he
saw his duty before him but, he, with the other eight surviving
members of his old company, perhaps have a still more fervent
love for the old flag than has the younger generation, for he knows
how it, as an emblem, has been preserved. Mr. Hendryx is the
sole survivor of the number recruited for Company D at Galesburg.

After the war was over, Mr. Hendryx returned to his father's
farm in Fulton County, but shortly afterward began the study of
law under Attorney Enos N. Boynton, of Prairie City, Illinois, and
remained in the latter's office for two years as a student, and then
was admitted to the bar at Springfield. For the two following years
he practiced law at Prairie City and then came to Galesburg, where
he entered into partnership with James A. McKenzie, remaining
in that connection for two years, and then was a partner of C. C.
Craig until the latter was elected to the bench. Mr. Hendryx
then admitted James E. Davis to a partnership and they engage
in a general law practice. For many years his legal responsibilities
as a successful criminal lawyer were heavy and the court record
proves how continuously he was concerned on one side or the other
of notable cases, but for some years he has confined himself largely
to office practice, finding his usefulness in no way diminished, for
his reputation rests on a very firm foundation. He is a member of
the state and county bar associations.

Mr. Hendryx was married July 4, 1858, when but seventeen
years of age, to Miss Sarah J. Hulick, who was born in Fulton
County and still survives. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Hendryx : Lucinda, who is the widow of David Copela'nd, of
Avon, Illinois, has five children; William R., who has wife and
four children, is connected with the C., B. & Q. Railroad at Gales-
burg; Ruth A., who married Jasper Rand, of Galesburg, and they
have five sons ; Martha J., who is the wife of Arthur Harrison, of
Galesburg, and they have three children; Mark A., who is in busi-
ness at Beardstown, Illinois ; Clyde S., who is a resident of Gales-
burg; Corydon D., Jr., who is a resident of Galesburg, has wife
and two children ; and Bertha, who is the wife of Lee Adams, a con-
ductor on the C., B. & Q. Railroad, residing at Galesburg.



COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 661

In his political views Mr. Hendryx is a republican. So admir-
ably qualified is he for the administration of public office that repeat-
edly he has been urged to accept the same, but has always declined,
having no ambition in that direction. He is, however, one of the
city's most alert and interested citizens and lends his influence to
every movement toward stable government and substantial progress.
He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, but this is the only
organization in which he takes an interest, and neither does
Mrs. Hendryx care to identify herself with the clubs and societies
which occupy the time and attention of many of the women of
today. Old-time hospitality prevails, however, in the comfortable
home of Mr. and Mrs. Hendryx, their residence standing at No. 619
Harvey Street, and once within its cheery portals, outside attractions
may easily be forgotten.

OSCAR W. BRECHER. The senior member of the well-known
law firm of Brecher & Chindblom, Oscar W. Brecher has been
actively connected with the Chicago bar for twenty-two years,
during which time he has gained a substantial reputation among
the general practitioners of the city as a capable lawyer and a
reliable and public-spirited citzen. From the time of his admission
to the Illinois bar, just after having attained his majority, he has
advanced steadily in his profession, and his name has become well
and favorably known.

Mr. Brecher is an Illinoisan by birth and training. He was born
in the village of Sandwich, DeKalb County, December 5, 1871, and
is a son of Gustave and Barbara (Woelfel) Brecher, natives of
Germany, who came to the United States in the '405 and settled
in DeKalb County, the father being for many years a well-known
and prominent citizen of Sandwich. Oscar W. Brecher received his
early education in the graded schools of Chicago, and following his
graduation from Lake View High School entered the Chicago Kent
College of Law. In December, 1892, he was admitted to the Illinois
bar, and at once entered upon the practice of his profession, being
associated with several firms at various times until 1910, when
occurred the formation of the present firm of Brecher & Chindblom,
with offices at Nos. 167-169 West Washington Street. This associa-
tion has proven an eminently satisfactory and successful one, and
the firm is justly accounted one of the strong combinations in gen-
eral practice. Mr. Brecher has allied himself with the various
organizations of the law, including the Chicago Bar Association, the
Illinois State Bar Association and the Law Institute. He is also
interested in civic work and is a member of the City Club. In
politics a republican, he has taken an active interest in political
campaigns and is known as one of his party's earnest supporters.

On October 21, 1896, Mr. Brecher was united in marriage with
Miss Dora Brauckmann, of Chicago, and of this union there have
been born two children : Helen Georgine, who is seventeen years



662 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS

of age; and Paul Welford, aged eleven years. The family resi-
dence is at No. 516 Briar Place. Mr. and Mrs. Brecher are mem-
bers of the Wellington Avenue Congregational Church, of which
Mr. Brecher is now a member of the board of trustees.

MICHAEL E. MAHER. The life of a successful man is always
interesting, because it shows strength and purpose, and particu-
larly so when its achievements have been secured in the face of such
great competition as prevails in every profession and industry in so
crowded a city as Chicago. He has other claims to prominence,
having been active in politics and a member of the State Senate for
four years, representing the Third Senatorial District.

Michael E. Maher was born in the City of Chicago, October
31, 1871, and is a son of Patrick and Mary (Corcoran) Maher.
They were of Irish parentage, but were born in the United States.
The public schools of his native city provided young Maher with
his youthful educational advantages and as he was ambitious he
took advantage of the opportunities afforded by the night schools
conducted by the Young Men's Christian Association. Subsequently
he entered as a student the Chicago Kent College of Law, from
which he was graduated with his degree of LL. B in 1895, and in
the same year was admitted to the Illinois bar. Mr. Maher has
chosen independence in practice and thus alone has built up his
clientele and through his individual ability has won his successes.
It is almost inevitable in these days when public questions command
so large a part of public attention that men of education should
give serious thought to the best methods of solving great and per-
plexing questions and such men are the best qualified to assume
official responsibilities and have the authority given them to bring
about changes and reforms. Practically all his life a resident of
the Fourth Ward, Chicago, Mr. Maher early became interested per-
sonally in its welfare and at present is serving as chairman of the
ward organization in the interest of the democratic party. In him
his party found one who could unite many differing elements, and
in 1902 he was elected to the State Senate from the Third Senatorial
District. During his four years at Springfield he served usefully
as a member of some important committees, being a member of
the committee which furthered the passage of the charter bill, and
was a hard worker on the practice commission bills which were
framed by the Illinois commission. Upon his return to private
life he resumed general practice in the civil courts, and in 1911
was honored by Judge McKinley by appointment as master in
chancery in the Superior Court and has served ever since in this
capacity. Mr. Maher is a member of the Chicago Bar Association,
the Illinois State Bar Association and the Illinois Lawyers' Asso-
ciation. He' maintains his office in Suite 1420, Unity Building,
Chicago, and his residence at No. 3257 Emerald Avenue. Mr. Maher
is a member of the Roman Catholic Church.



COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 663

AMOS C. MILLER. In twenty-three years of active law practice
in Chicago Amos C. Miller has made a name for himself in pro-
fessional circles, while he has built up a substantial practice as
a result of his labors. Not alone as a practitioner has he won place,
but in the educational field of his profession has he gained prom-
inence. He is at the head of the well-known firm of Miller, Gorham
& Wales, with offices in the New York Life Building.

Amos C. Miller was born at Marshalltown, Iowa, on December
16, 1866, and is a son of Wells W. and Mary (Caswell) Miller.
When he was yet a child the family took up its residence in San-
dusky, Ohio, and there he had his early schooling. His high-school
work was followed by entrance at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio,
and he was graduated with the class of 1889 with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts. In order to fit himself for the law in the fur-
therance of his plans he came to Chicago and entered Chicago Kent
College of Law in the same year of his graduation from Oberlin
and in 1891 he was graduated with the B. L. degree. Admission to
the Illinois bar followed immediately and he began his career in the
position of assistant attorney for the Chicago & Eastern Illinois
Railroad Company, in whose service he continued until 1893. In
that year he engaged in private practice of his profession in Chicago.
Two years later he became associated with the law firm of Lackner,
Butz & Miller, which partnership continued for seventeen years.
In 1912 he became senior member of the firm of Miller, Gorham &
Wales. Mr. Miller is giving valuable service in connection with
his work as instructor at the Northwestern University Law School,
and his lectures on legal tactics are much esteemed. He is a mem-
ber of the Chicago and Illinois State Bar associations, and other
professional connections are with the Chicago Law Institute, the Law
Club and the Legal Club. He is also a member of the Union
League, the University Club, the City Club and the Riverside Golf
Club, and he is a member of Riverside Lodge, Ancient, Free and
Accepted Masons. He is vice president and a director of the
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and president of the United
States Motor Truck Company. He is also a trustee of Oberlin
College, his alma mater.

Mr. Miller was married on December i, 1891, to Miss Jeanne
Gilbert, of Cleveland, Ohio, and they have three children Gilbert
A., Wells W. and Norman.

WILLIAM COWPER BOYDEN. Among the general practitioners
of the Chicago legal fraternity, few are held in higher esteem and
regard than William Cowper Boyden, of the firm of Matz, Fisher
& Boyden, who for a quarter of a century has maintained his posi-
tion as one of the city's progressive and successful lawyers.

Mr. Boyden is a native of the Prairie State, having been born at
Sheffield, April 6, 1864, and is a son of Albert W. and Ellen (Webb)
Boyden. He was graduated from Harvard University in 1886



664 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS

and from the Harvard Law School in 1889. In the same year
Mr. Boyden was admitted to the bar of Illinois. After eighteen
months of clerkship in the office of Charles H. Aldrich. in 1891 he
formed a partnership with Frank Hamlin and John F. Holland,
under the firm style of Holland, Hamlin & Boyden. This con-
tinued until October i, 1897, when Mr. Boyden joined the firm of
Matz & Fisher, which became Matz, Fisher & Boyden. The firm
has offices in the Corn Exchange National Bank Building. Mr. Boy-
den's practice is broad and general in its lines, not being confined to
any one specialty. Mr. Boyden maintains membership in the vari-
ous organizations of his profession, including the Chicago Bar Asso-
ciation, of which he was formerly vice president ; the Law Club,
of which he was president in 1902 and 1903 ; and the Illinois State
Bar Association. He is a member of the University Club, of which
he was president from 1905 until 1908, is ex-president of the Har-
vard Club, and holds membership in the Chicago and City clubs.
At the present time Mr. Boyden is an overseer of Harvard Univer-
sity, a position to which he was elected in 1911. He is a director
in the Central Trust Company of Illinois, and has a number of
other business interests. As a citizen, Mr. Boyden has been active
in many movements for civic and municipal improvement, and has
given freely of his time, abilities and means in assisting beneficial
enterprises.

On April 13, 1893, Mr. Boyden was united in marriage with
Miss Mabel G. Burlingham, of Chicago. Their residence is at
Winnetka, in the environs of Chicago.

HUGH O'NEILL. A scholarly Chicago lawyer, whose attain-
ments are recognized both in the law and as a writer and lecturer,
Hugh O'Neill has been a member of the Illinois bar more than
twenty years, and since 1894 has been associated with Mr. L.
Bastrup, under the firm name of Bastrup & O'Neill, with offices in
the Reaper Block.

Hugh O'Neill is a native of Ireland, born in County Derry,
October 5, 1867, a son of Hugh and Ann (Smyth) O'Neill. His
early education came from the schools and colleges of Ireland, and
after coming to this country he was both a student and a professor
in the University of Notre Dame at South Bend, an institution from
which he received the degrees A. B., B. L., LL. B. and LL. M.
For one year he was an instructor in the university. Mr. O'Neill
was admitted to the bar in 1892.

Besides attending to a large general practice as a lawyer,
Mr. O'Neill has paid much attention to study and research along
the lines of his profession and on historical and national subjects.
He is author of lectures read at the celebrated University of Lou-
vain, Belgium, and of articles on America, Irish problems and other
subjects. Mr. O'Neill is a republican, a member of the Catholic
Church, belongs to the Chicago Bar Association, the American Bar




HENR.-V VAN



COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 665

Association, and the Hamilton, the Charlevoix and Irish Fellowship
clubs. He was married at Creston, Iowa, September i, 1898, to
Regina O'Malley. They have one daughter, Regina Bernadetta.
Mr. O'Neill and family reside at 1117 Albion Avenue.

HON. HENRY VAN SELLAR. One of the oldest practicing attor-
neys of Eastern Illinois was the late Henry Van Sellar, of Paris.
Admitted to the bar soon after the close of the Civil war, in which
he played a brilliant part as a soldier and reached the rank of
colonel, he began practice at Paris, and from that time on had more
than a nominal membership on the roll of local attorneys, having
looked after a large and complicated law business many years, and