born March 9, 1815, Cecil county, Md., U.S.
died June 26, 1886, Bloomington, Ill.
U.S. jurist.
He earned a law degree from Yale in 1835 and established a law practice in Bloomington the following year. He was elected to the Illinois legislature in 1844. As a state circuit-court judge (184862) he became a close friend of Abraham Lincoln , and he worked assiduously for Lincoln's election as president in 1860. In 1862 Lincoln appointed him to the Supreme Court of the United States (186277). He resigned his seat on the court to accept election to the U.S. Senate (187783).