In the summer of 1906, the city of San Francisco was struggling to recover from a disastrous April earthquake, and the Chicago White Sox and Cubs were streaking toward their only World Series confrontation as league champions.

A century ago in July, Finland established a unicameral parliament after becoming the first European nation to give suffrage to women. A French court exonerated Alfred Dreyfus that month of his wrongful conviction for treason.

And on July 14, 1906 – in Chicago, where Clarence Darrow and Edgar Lee Masters were law partners – future Illinois attorney John Arthur Gross was born.

Almost one hundred years later, the Glenview resident is still registered with the ARDC as active and authorized to practice law, although he hasn't had to pay the annual fee for a quarter-century.

“The changes in the practice of law and in society in general which have occurred during your lifetime are, I am sure, enough to fill volumes,” Supreme Court Justice Mary Ann G. McMorrow wrote to Gross.

“What interesting memories you must have,” she said in extending hearty congratulations and best wishes that Gross continues to enjoy “the opportunity to accumulate many more memories.”

A 1932 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, Gross had a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois, was a registered professional engineer, and had been an assistant patent examiner in the U.S. Patent Office from 1928 to 1930.

Recently of counsel to Hill, Steadman & Simpson in Chicago (formerly Hill, Van Santen, Steadman, Chiara & Simpson), he was president of the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago in 1968. He is also a member of the American Chemical Society and the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Friends and family of the soon-to-be centenarian plan to help him celebrate next month. Among them will be his son, Northbrook attorney Dennis A. Gross.

Colleagues of the bench and bar can send appropriate greetings to J. Arthur Gross, 609 Surrey Lane, Glenview, Ill. 60025.