Lincoln's first partnership has 180-year history

By Stephen Anderson

Abraham Lincoln's first law partnership in Springfield lasted only four years, but traces of the firm have endured for 180 years. It has been known as Brown, Hay & Stephens since 1921.

The firm's genesis occurred Oct. 25, 1828, when John Todd Stuart arrived in Sangamon County. He had studied law in Kentucky and was licensed to practice there in 1827.

As related in "One Hundred Fifty Years of Law," published in 1978 by Brown, Hay & Stephens, John Stuart had six cases on the docket of the circuit court when it convened on April 27, 1829. Two were dismissed, and four were held over for the fall term.

Stuart practiced solo for five years before joining Henry E. Dummer in an 1833 partnership that lasted until April 12, 1837. On that day, establishment of the practice of "J. T. Stuart and A. Lincoln" was announced in the Sangamo Journal.

Stuart and Lincoln had been elected in 1834 to the state legislature, and they became close friends during the winter session in Vandalia. Stuart took Lincoln in as a junior partner soon after he was admitted on March 1, 1837.

It wasn't long before Lincoln was handling the business side of the practice. Stuart became a congressman in 1838, defeating Stephen A. Douglas by 36 votes, and he left for Washington in 1839.

After the number of Illinois circuits increased from five to nine, Sangamon County became part of the new 8th Circuit in 1839. Lincoln started riding the circuit, and on Dec. 3, 1839, was admitted to practice in the federal courts.

With Stuart preoccupied in politics, and Lincoln handling the law practice while maintaining a troublesome relationship with Mary Todd, it seemed inevitable that the partnership would not last. In fact, Lincoln wrote to Stuart that he preferred to work with Stephen T. Logan.

So on April 14, 1841, the partnership was dissolved after four years and two days, and Lincoln became a partner with Logan.

Balancing life and law

While concentrating on successful development of his professional career, Lincoln was plagued by contrary situations in his personal life that are described in Dale Carnegie's 1932 book, "The Unknown Lincoln."

Ann Rutledge, his first love, had died in August 1835. Lincoln, distraught and potentially suicidal, walked five miles each day to her grave, weeping and mumbling incoherently.

He was still grieving two years later when, in the state legislature, he told a colleague that he was so depressed he was afraid to carry a pocket knife.

Today, such a melancholy man might not pass character and fitness for admission to the bar, but that was the Lincoln who became a practicing attorney in Springfield in 1837.

He met Mary Todd in 1839, and so did Stephen Douglas. Both men courted her, but she became determined to marry Lincoln. She believed he was the best prospect to become president – apparently her main criterion.

They became engaged in mid-1840 and set a wedding date of Jan. 1, 1841. In that interim, however, Mary became so critical of her future husband's crude appearance and shoddy apparel that she nagged him continuously.

Lincoln began to see himself and his betrothed as complete opposites and unfit for each other. He became more depressed each day as the scheduled marriage approached.

By 7 p.m. on New Year's Day, guests were assembled in the Ninian Edwards mansion. The minister and bride were ready for ritual. But Lincoln was not there. By midnight, friends were searching for him.

They found him at daybreak in his office, once again incoherent and suicidal. The Todds thought he was insane. Colleagues kept watch over him, and a doctor urged him to begin attending sessions of the legislature.

Lincoln made a few short appearances before being secluded in the home of Joshua Speed's mother. On Jan. 19, his "illness" was announced to the Illinois House by John J. Hardin.

Lincoln recovered gradually and although determined never to marry Mary Todd, he proposed to her again on Nov. 4, 1842 – her 24th birthday. They married that evening.

Stuart firm evolves

After Abraham Lincoln's departure, John Stuart practiced solo from 1841 to 1843. Benjamin E. Edwards joined him then, and stayed as a partner until 1886. Christopher Columbus Brown became the first Brown in the firm in 1860 and remained until 1904.

The partnership of Stuart, Edwards & Brown came to an abrupt end in its 25th year. John Stuart died Nov. 28, 1885. Benjamin Edwards, who at the time was president of the Illinois State Bar Association, died Feb. 4, 1886.

Christopher Brown's son, Stuart, joined him in 1886, as did William J. Allen, changing the partnership briefly to Allen, Brown & Brown. But Allen became a federal judge after the death of Samuel H. Treat.

The next partner was Samuel P. Wheeler, and Brown, Wheeler & Brown practiced together for 10 years. Wheeler was ISBA president in 1893. In 1897, the firm became Brown, Wheeler, Brown & Hay.

The arrival of Logan Hay created an irony. He was the grandson of Stephen Logan, the second law partner of Abraham Lincoln after he left John Stuart in April 1841.

Hay also was a brother-in-law of Stuart Brown. During his 45 years with the firm, he was ISBA president in 1920-21.

The subsequent sequence of firm names was Wheeler, Brown & Hay (1904); Brown & Hay (1906); Brown, Hay & Hand (1912); Brown, Hay & Creighton (1914), and finally, Brown, Hay & Stephens (1921).

The name partners at various intervals included Fred H. Hand, John T. Creighton and R. Allan Stephens.

Stephens hailed from Danville. He became interested in the state bar association, chaired its membership committee and edited its quarterly bulletin.

When John F. Voight of Mattoon resigned as ISBA secretary in 1916, Stephens replaced him, and the ISBA headquarters relocated to Danville.

Stephens came to Springfield in 1918 as appointed secretary of the new Illinois Public Utilities Commission. When Logan Hay completed his term as ISBA president in 1921, he invited Stephens to become a partner in the law firm.

A son, Robert A. Stephens Jr., joined the firm in 1931, became a partner, and practiced until his death in 1976. Two of his sons became partners, as did a great-grandson of John Stuart.

Stuart Brown died in 1924. Hay and Stephens died within two months of each other in 1942. But the name of their firm, in which Abraham Lincoln was a partner 167 years ago, has not changed in 87 years.

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