. Lincoln, the lawyer. , and droveto the nearest county-seat on their route. Attimes his Honor traveled alone, but frequentlysome member of the bar occupied a seat in hiscarriage, and the other lawyers made their wayto the rendezvous as best they could, three ormore often clubbing together and hiring a con-veyance for the trip. Lincoln sometimes trav-eled with these small parties, but after the firstyear or so he maintained a horse and buggy ofhis own, both of which were pretty wobblyaccording to Judge Weldon, with whom theywere left when their owner took to the iron steed. But Illinois railro
. Lincoln, the lawyer. , and droveto the nearest county-seat on their route. Attimes his Honor traveled alone, but frequentlysome member of the bar occupied a seat in hiscarriage, and the other lawyers made their wayto the rendezvous as best they could, three ormore often clubbing together and hiring a con-veyance for the trip. Lincoln sometimes trav-eled with these small parties, but after the firstyear or so he maintained a horse and buggy ofhis own, both of which were pretty wobblyaccording to Judge Weldon, with whom theywere left when their owner took to the iron steed. But Illinois railroads connected only the cen-ters of population in the early fifties, and thecounty-seats on the Eighth Circuit were notmuch more than villages. Each bore a familyresemblance to the other, and all were stronglysuggestive of the typical New England hamlet. 170 LIFE ON THE ILLINOIS CIRCUIT The settlement almost invariably clusteredaround a public square of generous dimensions,in the center of which stood the court-house, a. Drawn by Harry Fenn from a photograph Old court-house at Metamora, Woodford County, IllinoisLincoln practised in this building, which is now used as a town hall substantial building of brick or stone. Thesquare itself was guarded from the highroad bya series of wooden hitching-rails, and teams of allsorts nosed this fence from the opening to theclosing of the term; for business and pleasureboth demand the attendance of the whole county 171 LINCOLN THE LAWYER on court-days, and shelter for the horses andwagons was frequently unobtainable. Even thelawyers had difficulty in finding accomodationsfor their animals; and as the supply of labor wasextremely limited, those who traveled in privaterigs often had to be their own hostlers. The stable facilities, however, were not infre-quently superior to those of the hotels. Some-times the tiny taverns which attempted to housethe visitors boasted only one habitable room, andas this was invariably reserved for the judge,the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectlawyers, bookyear1912
