Leffingwell, William E.

LEFFINGWELL

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Date: 2/18/2003 at 09:53:37

Among the early lawyers of Clinton County, with whom I became acquainted in 1867, widely known for his strongly marked characteristics and his conspicuous talents as a lawyer and forensic orator, was William E. Leffingwell, then in the prime of his strength and manhood. He and Aylett R. Cotton were the two first lawyers of general prominence in Clinton County. Mr. Leffingwell located at Dewitt in 1845, subsequently removing to Lyons and thence to Chicago. He was prominent all along the line and became as distinguished in Chicago as he had been in Iowa. On the occasion of his death, which I think occurred along about 1885, there was a general meeting of the Chicago bar, in which many of its eminent members and judges paid tributes of a high order to his great ability. Like proceedings were held in the Supreme Court of Iowa. On this latter occasion Judge George G. Wright and Lyman Ellis made glowing tributes to his memory and talents.
The remarks of Judge Wright I thought among the finest I had ever heard, and afterward wrote him for a copy of the same. I have before me his reply, dated July, 1885, in which he states he is unable to find the paper or notes on which his remarks were predicated. In 1882 I had James W. Woods, familiarly known as "Old Timber," come to Ottumwa where I lived, for the purpose of giving me as full and detailed information as he might be able concerning the early lawyers of Iowa. He was the first to practice in its courts at Burlington from the time of its first settlement, and while we were a part of Wisconsin. Mr. Woods remained with me a month. He was considerably past eighty, but his recollection of early lawyers and public men was remarkable, and from him I obtained much information, most of which appears in portions of his narration attached to and made a portion of his sketch. Most of Mr. Woods' narration was taken down in shorthand and transcribed, but in addition thereto he wrote for me at his leisure some independent sketches. Among them was one of Mr. Leffingwell, which I give word for word as it was written:  
William E. Leffingwell, or "Bill" Leffingwell, as he was usually called, was not only an early lawyer but an early settler in Clinton County. He was admitted to the bar when very young. He soon came to the first rank in his profession, both as a jurist and an advocate. He was a born orator and at that time had no superior either as a lawyer or public speaker. He was quick and ready at all times and armed at all points. I will give you an illustration of his quick wit: Henry O'Connor, the Iowa Irish orator, politician and lawyer, was a Whig Presidential elector (this was before the formation of the Republican party) and Leffingwell was the Democratic elector. Both were very convivial to the extent of sometimes drinking too much. Leffingwell had been in the country making speeches, took an overdose, lost control of his team which ran away and threw him out of the buggy. He placed himself with his back to a tree. A countryman came along and asked him what he was doing there. Leffingwell said, "Don't you know me?" "No," said the countryman. "Don't you know Henry O'Connor, of Muscatine?" said Leffingwell. "No," says the countryman again. "Well," said Leffingwell, "I am Henry O'Connor, of Muscatine, and I am stumping the State for Fremont." The countryman was a teetotaler and the result was O'Connor lost nearly all the votes in that precinct. Leffingwell was several times elected to the Legislature and was the Democratic leader there. He was President of the Senate in the session of 1852. He was elected Judge of the District Court of his district and was an able and impartial jurist. He removed to Chicago, where he took first rank among the ablest lawyers of that Bar and was engaged in some very important suits in which he received large fees. He was a man of commanding appearance, very popular and as an attractive orator had no superior in Iowa. 
The foregoing brief, but personally graphic description renders it unnecessary for me to add anything in that behalf, except to confirm from my own observation what Woods had said concerning the fine abilities of Mr. Leffingwell, and I shall content myself with giving some principal events relating to his public life. He was a Democrat in politics, and for many years one of its most active leaders and persuasive orators. His gifts as an orator, his superior mental activities, combined with his good fellowship to bring him into public notice at an early age. After the admission of Iowa as a State, he was elected by the people of Clinton County to represent them in the House of the First Legislative Assembly that was held under the State organization, which convened at Iowa City on the thirtieth of November, 1846.
He served in both the regular and the extra session, which convened January 3, 1848. In 1850 he was elected by the people of Clinton and Scott Counties to represent them in the State Senate, and served in the Third General Assembly, which convened at Iowa City, December 2, 1850. In 1852 he was chosen to represent the people of Clinton and Cedar Counties in the State Senate, and served in the Fourth General Assembly. He had become so strongly popular that he was elected President of the Senate. In 1858 he was a Democratic nominee for Congress in the Second Congressional District--there were then but two Congressional Districts in the State--but was defeated by the Republican candidate, William Vandever, by a majority of 739.(*) The long rule of the Democrats had come to an end. In 1868 he was again the Democratic nominee for Congress, but was defeated by William Smyth, the Republican candidate. In 1870 he was again the Democratic nominee, but was defeated by his old professional associate, Aylett R. Cotton. In 1872 he was again the Democratic candidate against Cotton, but was defeated by a small majority, 175, according to Mr. Fairall's Manual, referred to in the note.
To go back a little: In 1852 he was one of the Presidential electors, and cast his vote for Franklin Pierce for President. In the fall of 1852 he was elected Judge of the Eighth Judicial District and served a term with ability and general satisfaction. An amusing incident throwing some light on Mr. Leffingwell will be found in the article of Judge P. M. Casady, entitled The Naming of Iowa Counties, appearing in Vol. II, Annals of Iowa, third series, 200. One of the counties named in the bill before the Legislature was named Wright. "While the bill was pending," says Casady, "Senator W. E. Leffingwell moved to strike out the name of Wright, stating that it had been suggested in honor of Senator George G. Wright, who was still a young man, and that we did not know what he might yet be guilty of. One senator suggested that it was named for Silas Wright, of New York; a member of the committee stated that the County was named for Gov. Joseph A. Wright, of Indiana. Mr. Leffingwell then remarked that he would withdraw his motion, that he understood the County would not be settled for fifty years." 
A. J. Leffingwell was a brother of the highly distinguished William Leffingwell, whose sketch will elsewhere be found. He was born at Sag Harbor, Long Island, in 1832, and when seven years of age, in 1839, came with his parents to Muscatine County. He was educated in the public schools of that County, and in Page 952 what was then known as the Iowa State College. He studied law with Henry O'Connor, of Muscatine, was admitted to the bar there in 1861, and became a partner of Mr. O'Connor. This partnership continued until 1867, when he formed a partnership with his brother, Wm. E. Leffingwell, and removed to Lyons, Clinton County, Iowa. This partnership continued, I think, until the removal of his brother to Chicago. In 1883 he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court and served with efficiency until that Court was abolished, when he was elected Judge of the District Court, and served in that position until his sudden death, which occurred after an illness of only three days, in December, 1887. I became acquainted with him while he was associated with Henry O'Connor, and afterwards met him at the sessions of the Supreme Court, and elsewhere. He did not possess the oratorical gifts and brilliancy of his brother, William, but he was, nevertheless, a sound lawyer, a pure and able judge, a noble citizen, who left a durable impression on the jurisprudence of the State.
(*) Fairall's Manual Iowa Politics, vol. 2, 22.
Source: Recollections and Sketches of Notable Lawyers and Public Men of Early Iowa. Author: Edward H. Stiles. Des Moines. The Homestead Publishing Co.,1916