| Judge Scholfield
was born in Clark County, Illinois, August 1, 1834, where he has ever
since resided. He attended the law school at Louisville, Kentucky,
was elected State's Attorney in 1856, a member of the Legislature in 1860
as a Douglas Democrat, a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1870,
and a Judge of the Supreme Court in June 1873, which office he has held to
the present time. At the end of his present term he will have served
on the bench twenty-four years. two years he has been Chief-
Justice. In Linder's "Early Bench and
Bar of Illinois," it is stated that Judge Breese, speaking of Judge
Scholfield about ten years before his elevation to the Supreme Bench,
said: "He is one of the most promising young lawyers in America. I
have had a good opportunity of estimating his ability, and know of no
lawyer, old or young, that I can place above him." According to the
statements of the daily press at the time, which were doubtless true, he
was given an opportunity to refuse an appointment as the successor of
Morrison R. Waite, Chief-Justice. |
