McLean County Bar's 175th gala adds to local history

The McLean County Bar Association continued the observance of its 175th anniversary with a gala celebration dinner on Sept. 15 in the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.

A highlight of the event was presentation of an original oil painting of the historic county courthouse to the McLean County Museum of History, which now occupies the building.

Commissioned by the bar association and painted by Texas artist Randy Souders, the depiction includes ghostly figures of a dozen lawyers who helped shape the history of the 11th Circuit.

The practice of law in McLean County dates back to September 1832, when a decision in favor of the plaintiff in a trespass matter, Steens v. Dawson, became the first recorded case.

Bar President Darrell L. Hartweg provided “A Short History of the Last 175 Years of the Practice of Law” during the dinner and called attention to lawyers who made significant contributions.

“The McLean County Bar has produced three chief justices of the Illinois Supreme Court, one justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, two vice presidents of the United States, several governors of Illinois,” he said, “and numerous other attorneys who have contributed to the rich and diverse history.”

Other speakers were ISBA President Joseph G. Bisceglia of Chicago, Appellate Justice James A. Knecht of the 4th District, and Alan Sternberg, who chaired the celebration committee.

Sternberg, the past president, had first displayed the painting during the bar association's Law Day luncheon on May 2.

Among the individuals depicted are 11th Circuit Chief Judge Elizabeth A. Robb, the county's first female jurist, and retired attorney Richard T. Dunn, one of three generals who practiced in Bloomington.

Others are President Abraham Lincoln, who tried many cases in McLean County; David Davis, a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court who was president of the Illinois State Bar Association in 1884, and Adlai Stevenson, U.S. vice president in 1893.

Former Illinois chief justices in the picture are Robert C. Underwood and John M. Scott, as are Joseph Fifer, Illinois governor in the 1880s; Ward Hill Lamon, Leonard Swett, Jesse Fell and Antoinette Funk.

The original painting, titled “Law and McLean County: A 175 Year Partnership,” hangs in the second-floor rotunda area near the Jesse Fell Room, named for the county's first lawyer.

Prints, 22 by 28 inches, may be purchased for $75, payable to the McLean County Bar Association, P.O. Box 4002, Bloomington, IL 61704.