much more than a mere tithe, and while his personal charities went
unrecorded he impressed his character on his larger benefactions and
thereby made them the more useful. In Pana the public library, the
hospital, the Y. M. C. A. and churches, all acknowledged at some
time his liberality.
Captain and Mrs. Kitchell always cooperated in their philan-
thropies. Mrs. Kitchell's father lived at Rosemond near Pana, and
as a memorial to Mr. Little's interest in behalf of the Rosemond
Grove Cemetery Association, Captain and Mrs. Kitchell in 1901
gave to that organization a beautiful gateway for the cemetery
entrance. In 1903 they presented to the cemetery association a
soldiers' monument, consisting of a granite pedestal, surmounted
by a bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln. The statue, sculptured by
Charles J. Mulligan of Chicago, shows Lincoln with right arm
uplifted above his head and representing him in the act of deliver-
ing the last words of the Gettysburg address. Captain Kitchell
suggested this pose of uplifted arm, though Lincoln is known to
have been very sparing in the use of gestures, from his distinct
recollection that Lincoln employed this movement on three occa-
sions when Captain Kitchell heard him speak. In addition to these
gifts that so materially add beauty and interest to the place, Captain
Kitchell and wife deeded about fifty acres of land to the original
ten acres in the cemetery grounds.
Subsequently Captain Kitchell paid $20,000 for the old fair
grounds just south of Pana, and deeded it to the city as a public
park. One of the stipulations is that no entrance fee shall ever
be charged except for the Pana Chautauqua. This park has been
extensively improved and beautified, and the citizens showed their
appreciation of the gift by naming it Kitchell Park in honor of
both Mr. and Mrs. Kitchell, while the avenue leading to the beau-
tiful park gate, which was erected by Captain Kitchell, is known as
Kitchell Avenue. They also bought the land west of the park and
subdivided it into a restricted residence district, where the houses and
improvements must conform to the character of the park sur-
roundings.
Captain and Mrs. Kitchell also donated a tract of thirty acres,
lying just north of the city, to the state as a site for an agricultural
experiment station, partly for the benefit of the numerous Kitchell
tenants but also to serve the needs of the entire farming community
and as an auxiliary to the agricultural courses in the local township
high school.
For years one of the crying needs in Illinois has been good
roads, and there was no more practical friend of this movement than
the late Captain Kitchell. A few years ago he and his wife donated
790 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS
the coal rights under 1,600 acres of land, valued at $65,000, to
Pana Township to be used by the trustees in the construction of
hard roads. But this was not all. The last time Captain Kitchell
appeared in public was at the dedication in November, 1914, of the
Robert Little Turnpike, a paved roadway, three and a half miles
long, in Rosemond Township, passing the Rosemond Grove Cem-
etery. This highway, which cost $56,000 to build, is a memorial
to Mrs. KitchelFs father.
Captain Kitchell probably had too many important interests to
allow him to indulge his social nature with membership in clubs
and fraternities. His only fraternal connection was with Pope Post
No. 411, G. A. R., and he was always interested in the old soldiers.
He was a strong republican, was a delegate to the national con-
vention in 1892, and later a McKinley presidential elector. His
residence in a strong democratic district prevented his election to
Congress in 1874. Few Illinois lawyers of the last half century
have played a more effective part in the varied activities of their
profession, business, public affairs, and philanthropy, than the late
Captain John W. Kitchell.
FREDERICK S. POTTER. In the thriving little City of Henry,
Marshall County, on the I2th of January, 1903, occurred the death
of Frederick S. Potter, who for nearly forty years had held prece-
dence as one of the able and representative members of the bar
of this section of the state and who had long controlled a large and
important law business. He had served with distinction in the office
of state's attorney, was one of the leaders of the Marshall County
contingent of the republican party, and was a citizen whose intrinsic
worth of character brought to him the fullest measure of popular
confidence and esteem, the while his ability and achievement made
him one of the influential citizens of the county that long repre-
sented his home and in which he rose through his own efforts to high
standing as a lawyer and as a citizen of utmost loyalty and public
spirit. Virtually his entire life was passed in Illinois, where he was
a scion of a sterling pioneer family.
Frederick Storey Potter was born in New Haven, Connecticut,
on the 3d of November, 1837, the family of which he was a repre-
sentative having been founded in New England in the colonial days
and the lineage being traced back to stanch English origin. He was
a child of three years when his parents immigrated to Illinois and
established their home in Christian County, whence, six years later,
they removed to Beardstown, Cass County, where they passed the
residue of their lives, as honored pioneers of the State of Illinois.
At Beardstown Frederick S. Potter was afforded the advantages of
the village schools, and in 1853, at the age of sixteen years, he left
his home town and established his residence at Henry, Marshall
County, where he continued to niaintain his home during the
remainder of his long and signally useful life. At Henry he assumed
COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 791
a position as bookkeeper and clerk in the hardware store of Robert
Dawson, and after having been in the employ of Mr. Dawson three
years he engaged in the general merchandise business on his own
account, his success as a- merchant having been excellent but not hav-
ing satisfied his ambition, which was ever one of definite action. He
determined to prepare himself for the legal profession, and with
this laudable object in view he closed out his stock of merchandise
in 1862 and began reading law in the office and under the preceptor-
ship of the late Peleg S. Perley, a man of remarkably high intel-
lectual and professional attainments, one of the prominent early
members of the Marshall County bar and one with whom Mr. Pot-
ter was destined to be associated in the practice of law for a number
of years, ill health having finally compelled the removal of Mr. Per-
ley to a more genial climate and the closing days of his life having
been passed at Phoenix, Arizona, where he died in his sixty-ninth
year.
Prior to initiating the study of law Mr. Potter had manifested
his intrinsic loyalty and patriotism by zealous efiforts in recruiting a
company for service in the Civil war, but for some reason the serv-
ices of these men, about thirty in number, were not accepted, though
a company was recruited at Lacon, the county seat of Marshall
County, and became a part of the Eleventh Illinois Volunteer
Infantry.
With an alert and receptive mind, Mr. Potter made rapid prog-
ress in the absorption and assimilation of the science of jurisprud-
ence, and within two years he proved himself eligible for and was
admitted to the Illinois bar, in 1865. Soon afterward he formed a
partnership with his honored preceptor, Mr. Perley, and, as a local
paper has stated, "The law firm of Perley & Potter became one of
the institutions of Henry." Concerning. the career of Mr. Potter the
Henry Times gave an appreciative estimate at the time of his death,
and from the article are met, with certain paraphrase, the following
pertinent quotations:
"In 1872 Mr. Potter was elected state's attorney of Marshall
county, and the next summer the firm of Perley & Potter was dis-
solved. Mr. Potter established an office for himself, and this, with
an extensive practice and fine office business, he leaves to his son
Frederick W. Mr. Potter had a very high sense of duty and was
unbending in what he thought was right, his administration of the
office of state's attorney having made his name a terror to evil doers,
as he prosecuted without fear or favor. In the spring of 1897,
when the republican convention of this judicial circuit met to nomi-
nate the three judges, Mr. Potter received the unanimous vote of
the convention, by acclamation, but in the ensuing election was
defeated; the late Judge Thomas M. Shaw having been elected from
Marshall county.
"Mr. Potter was a man of much public spirit and was always
ready to aid with counsel, advice and definite co-operation in the
792 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS
furtherance of measures projected for the general good of the com-
munity. He gave long and efficient service as a member of the
board of education of Henry, and for years was president of the
board of bridge directors of Marshall county. His talents and
energies were recognized and always placed him in the front rank.
He was a useful citizen, a devoted husband and father, and his
death deprives the bar of Marshall county of its oldest and one of
its most prominent members."
In 1858 Mr. Potter wedded Miss Louisa V. Dawson, whose
death occurred in 1871, the four children of this union having been
Frederick, who died in early childhood ; Ellsworth S., who was a
resident of the City of Peoria at the time of his death ; Louise, who
became the wife of Daniel S. Schneider and is now deceased ; and
Mrs. Ida Lane, who resides in the City of Chicago. In 1874 was
solemnized the marriage of Mr. Potter to Miss Sarah Isabella
House, who survived him. Of the three children of this union the
eldest is Frederick W., of whom individual mention is made in
paragraphs immediately following this article ; Gertrude is the wife
of Carl F. Hallfarth, of Henry ; and Sarah Elsie. Mrs. Potter was
a zealous communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church until her
death, which occurred at Altadena, California, September 30, 1906.
FREDERICK W. POTTER. In a profession that was signally digni-
fied and honored by the character and achievement of his father,
the late Frederick S. Potter, a memoir to whom immediately pre-
cedes this article, the subject of this review is well upholding the
prestige of the name which he bears, and he is one of the repre-
sentative members of the bar of Marshall County, which has been
his home from the time of his nativity. Here he was associated
in active general practice with his honored father until the death of
the latter, in 1903, since which time he has continued in control of
the large and important law business in which they had been coad-
jutors and to the scope of which he had added by his ability and
effective efforts. Mr. Potter is one of the progressive and popular
citizens of the thriving little City of Henry, which has been his
place of abode from the time of his birth, which here occurred on
the 5th of August, 1877. He continued to attend the public schools
of Henry until he had completed the curriculum of the high school
and finally he entered the law department of the great University
of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in which he was graduated as a member
of the class of 1900 and from which he received his degree of
Bachelor of Laws, with virtually coincident admission to the bar of
Illinois, where he appeared before the Supreme Court, at Springfield,
in June of that year, and by that tribunal was thus recognized as
eligible for the practice of his chosen profession. His novitiate in
his profession was served at Chicago, this state, where he remained
until September, 1902, and on the ist of the following month he
entered into professional partnership with his father, an association
COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 793
that was soon to be terminated, as his honored sire was summoned
to the life eternal on the I2th of the following January, leaving to
the son the control of the large and substantial law business which
he had controlled for many years. Mr. Potter had proved his
resourcefulness both as a trial lawyer and well fortified counselor,
and in the spring of 1903 he was elected city attorney of Henry, a
position of which, by successive re-elections, he has continued the
valued incumbent to the present time, except for an interim from
1908 to May i, 1910. He was president of the board of education
of Henry in 1912-13 and takes a vital interest in all that touches
the civic and material welfare of his native city and county. His
allegiance is given without reservation to the republican party, and
he is affiliated with Henry Lodge, No. 119, Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons, as well as with the Delta Chi law fraternity of the
University of Michigan.
The nth of June, 1908, recorded the marriage of Mr. Potter to
Miss Mary Tray Harney, who was born in Henry Township, Mar-
shall County, and they have four children Frederick W., Jr., Helen
M., Ned, and a baby girl not yet named, born June 4, 1915.
CHARLES TROUP. The part taken by Charles Troup in the
affairs of Danville has been that of an able and conscientious law-
yer, whose affiliations have always been straightforward and honor-
able, and.who during the last ten years has handled many cases with
masterly skill. Mr. Troup is one of the most popular members of
the Danville bar.
Charles Troup was born near Paris, Edgar County, Illinois,
January 6, 1879. His parents were Palestine and Amanda (Neeley)
Troup, the former a native of Lawrence County, Kentucky, and
brought to Illinois in 1856 by his father, Jacob Young Troup. Pales-
tine Troup grew up as a farmer, was a soldier in the Union army
with the Fortieth Indiana Infantry for eighteten months, towards
the close of the war, returned home to civilian life, and has since
followed the vocation of farming.
Charles Troup, like many men who have made a success in the
professions in the cities, spent his boyhood days on the farm, devel-
oped a hard and enduring constitution, at the same time attended the
public schools and the high school at Paris, began the study of law
in that city, and finished his professional education in the University
of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Mr. Troop was admitted to the bar
December 22, 1903, and a few months later, on May i, 1904, began
his practice in Danville. He was alone until 1905, when he became
associated with the firm of Buckingham & Dysert, a relationship
which continued until March, 1906, when the firm of Buckingham
& Troup was formed. In 1908 Mr. Buckingham removed to Chi-
cago, and since that time Mr. Troup has been alone. Mr. Troup is
in love with his work, is a close student, a keen reasoner, and makes
an effective presentment of arguments before a court or jury, and
794 COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS
outside of his professional work has never found time nor desire
for public office. He is a member of the Vermilion County Bar
Association, and his offices at Danville are in the Adams Building.
Mr. Troup was married December 25, 1906, at Homer, Illinois,
to Miss Mary A. Helm, daughter of George and Alice (Babb) Helm.
Mr. and Mrs. Troup have a hospitable home at 1008 North Walnut
Street in Danville. His fraternal affiliations are with the Knights of
Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in
politics he is a republican.
ARTHUR W. DESELM. In this comprehensive record concerning
the courts and lawyers of his native state, Judge DeSelm is eligible
for representation under each of the two postulates designated in
the title of the publication, for not only has he achieved distinct
prestige as an able attorney and counselor at law but he also served
three consecutive terms on the bench of the County Court of Kan-
kakee County, and he is known and honored as one of the loyal
and public-spirited citizens of the City of Kankakee. At a special
election July 28, 1914, he was elected circuit judge to fill the vacancy
caused by the death of Judge Campbell in the Twelfth Judicial Dis-
trict, and on June 7, 1915, at the regular election together with
Judges Dibbell and Hooper he was re-elected without opposition for
the full term.
Judge Arthur Wilkins DeSelm was born at Wilmington. Will
County, Illinois, on the 6th of October, 1875, and is a son of John B.
and Maria (Wilkins) DeSelm, the latter now deceased. His
father, John B. DeSelm, is a veteran of the Civil war, and his
grandfather, Jacob DeSelm, was a veteran of the Mexican war and
also a drummer boy in the war of 1812. His great-grandfather,
Jesse, was a Quaker. The family is descended from the French
Huguenots and the paternal ancestor came from France and settled
on the east short of Maryland long prior to the American Revolu-
tion.
The public schools of Kankakee afforded to Judge DeSelm the
major part of his preliminary educational discipline, and after com-
pleting the curriculum of the high school he was enabled to follow
the line of his ambition and initiate the preparation for the profes-
sion of his choice, and that under the most favorable of auspices.
He entered the law department of the celebrated University of
Michigan, also doing extra work in the literary department, and in
this institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1896,
his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws making him also
eligible for admission to the Michigan bar, a distinction that became
his at the time of graduation. Returning forthwith to Illinois and
gaining admission to the bar, he engaged in the general practice of
law in the City of Kankakee, where he soon built up a substantial
law business. He continued to devote close attention to practice,
with continuous and well ordered study of the involved science of
COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 795
jurisprudence, until he was called from his work as a private prac-
titioner to give service on the bench of the County Court, to which
he was elected in November, 1902, and of which office he has con-
tinued the able incumbent until the present time, by re-election in
1906, 1910 and 1914. His rulings on the bench have shown the
excellent judicial timbre of his mind, as well as the breadth and
accuracy of his knowledge of law and precedent. The Judge served
as a member of the Kankakee Board of Education for two terms,
from August, 1907, until August, 1913, during all of which time he
was president thereof, and the exactions of his judicial office caused
him then to refuse to become a candidate for re-election.
Judge DeSelm is one of the appreciative and valued members of
the Kankakee County Bar Association and has the unbounded
esteem of his professional confreres in this section of the state.
He is a republican in politics and is affiliated with the Kankakee
lodges of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On the ist of September, 1904, was solemnized the marriage of
Judge DeSelm to Miss Lina B. Mead, who was born in Wisconsin,
and they have two children H. Mead and Charles Bernard. Judge
DeSelm is a member of the official board of the First Methodist
Episcopal Church of Kankakee.
HON. DAVID H. GLASS. Pride in the notable achievements of
ancestry is commendable and often justifiable, but the quiet satis-
faction that comes from the realization of the success won by per-
sonal effort, must be far more compensating than any reflex glory of
kindred long since passed away. To bravely face an indifferent
world with empty pockets, on the threshold of manhood, and to be
obliged to seek every opportunity for financial and educational
advancement, has been the situation confronting many an Amer-
ican youth, who, later in life, has been able to look back along a
path of difficulty from a position of acknowledged eminence that
has been secured by his own perseverance and industry. A self-
made man in every respect is found in Hon. David H. Glass, who,
for many years has been active in the practice of law at Rushville
and for twelve years was state's attorney of Schuyler County, and
at present is serving as mayor at the county seat.
David H. Glass was born in Ripley County, Indiana, April n,
1854, and is a 'son of John and Ann (Major) Glass. Both parents
came to Indiana 1 in youth, the father from Pennsylvania and the
mother from Ireland. They married in Ripley County and passed
the rest of their lives there, respected and esteemed by all who
knew them. John Glass was a farmer and continued in this industry
all his active life. He died in Ripley County in 1872, when aged
seventy years, having survived his wife seven years, her death
occurring in 1865, at the age of fifty years. Of their family of five
children, David H. was the first born.
796
Reared on the home farm, David H. Glass attended the district
schools and later had better advantages in the city schools at Craw-
fordsville, Indiana. For some years he was so circumstanced that
he was unable to make much progress along the line of his ambi-
tion, the study of law, but later became a student in the Iowa Uni-
versity, at Iowa City, and was graduated from the law department
in 1878. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in the same year and
immediately established himself in practice at Rushville, and this
city has ever since remained his home. In the practice of his pro-
fession he soon became a recognized factor as to ability and in 1884
he was elected state's attorney of Schuyler County, in which office
he served until 1896, during the entire course of his administration
showing the same indomitable energy and resolution that had trans-
ported him from the farm to the school room and thence into public
affairs and high official position. His attitude in relation to civic
affairs caused his fellow citizens to choose him for the office of
mayor, and they have made no mistake, for, with his progressive
ideas, many measures have been adopted for the betterment of
Rushville along every line.
Mayor Glass was united in marriage in December, 1881, to Miss
Sarah Whitenton, of Rushville, who is a daughter of Dr. R. M.
Whitenton, of this city. They have had two children, Ruth and
Charles. The former survives but the latter died in 1903. Mayor
Glass belongs to the Masonic fraternity. He is a man of sterling
character and in every relation of life commands respect, his faith-
fulness to duty in public life being equally commended with his
loyalty in affairs of private citizenship.
JUDGE FRANK D. RAMSAY. Formerly one of the justices of the
Appellate Court for the Third District, Frank D. Ramsay has had
an active service on the circuit bench since 1897.
Frank D. Ramsay was born at Prophetstown, Illinois, September
27, 1846, the son of Luther B. and Caroline M. (Smith) Ramsay.
His sister is Lucy R., the widow of the late George B. Adams of
Chicago.
Judge Ramsay acquired his early education in the public schools
of Prophetstown and the seminary at Dixon, and at the age of
twenty took up the study of law in the office of Frederick Sackett
of Sterling, being admitted to the bar in 1868. He began active
practice at Morrison, and has been continuously identified with the
Whiteside County bar upwards of fifty years, with the exception of
two years spent in practice at Kansas City. From 1895 to 1897 he
was associated with Samuel K. McCalmont under the firm name of
Ramsay & McCalmont. In 1897 Mr. Ramsay was elected judge of
the Circuit Court, and in 1905 the Supreme Court assigned him to
the Appellate Court for the Third District, where he remained for
about four years, when he resigned to return to the circuit work.
In 1872 he married Miss Louisa McKenzie, daughter of William
COURTS AND LAWYERS OF ILLINOIS 797
R. and Harriet (Martin) McKenzie. There are two sons, Luther
R., an attorney at Morrison, now associated with Mr. McCalmont ;
and Robert M., of Chicago. Judge Ramsay is affiliated with the
Masonic fraternity.
WILLIAM WILBERFORCE WRIGHT, SR. In Central Illinois three
men have borne in succession the above name, and always with an
honorable distinction that comes from success in a calling and wise
and efficient public service. For nearly half a century the name
has been identified with the Stark County bar, and since the death
of the late Judge W. W. Wright his son of the same name has con-
tinued practice at Toulon.
Judge William Wilberforce Wright was born at Canton, Illinois,
September 10, 1842, and died at the age of seventy years on Septem-
ber 30, 1912. He was the second son of Captain William Wilber-
force and Anne Matilda (Creighton) Wright. The Wright family