Charles Laban Capen (1845–1927) was a prominent

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

. He was born in Union Springs, New York on January 31, 1845, the son of Luman Capen, a direct descendant of Bernard Capen, who was one of the 140 emigrants who left

Dorchester, Dorset Dorchester ( ) is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route. A historic market town, Dorchester is on the banks of the River Frome to the south of the Dorset Downs and north of the ...

to found

Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...

in 1630. Luman Capen was an ardent abolitionist and maintained a station of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

in Union Springs.David Felmley, "Charles L. Capen", ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society'', Vol. 20, No. 3 (Oct. 1927), pp. 487. A supporter of the short-lived Free Soil Party, in the wake of the

Kansas–Nebraska Act The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 () was a territorial organic act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It was drafted by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas, passed by the 33rd United States Congress, and signed into law by ...

, Luman Capen answered the call of the New England Emigrant Aid Company for abolitionists to settle in the

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

. Luman Capen thus moved his family to

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

, with the Kansas Territory in the middle of the Bleeding Kansas series of events. Shortly after arriving in Lawrence, Luman Capen saw Jim Lane shoot a man dead in the streets of Lawrence. Appalled by this violence, the Capens returned to New York. The family then moved west a second time, initially settling on a farm near

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city and the county seat of McLean County, Illinois, United States. It is adjacent to the town of Normal, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area. Bloomington ...

before moving into Bloomington in March 1856. As a boy of twelve, Charles L. Capen attended the founding meeting of the

Illinois Republican Party The Illinois Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Illinois founded in May 29, 1856. It is run by the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, which consists of 18 members, one representing each of ...

, held in Bloomington, where he heard Lincoln's Lost Speech of May 29, 1856. Charles L. Capen attended the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

of the

Illinois State Normal University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

, beginning in 1862. Capen graduated from high school in 1865, and then enrolled at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

.David Felmley, "Charles L. Capen", ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society'', Vol. 20, No. 3 (Oct. 1927), pp. 488. At Harvard, his teachers included

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

James Russell Lowell James Russell Lowell (; February 22, 1819 – August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that ri ...

, and

Francis Bowen Francis Bowen (; September 8, 1811 – January 22, 1890) was an American philosopher, writer, and educationalist. Biography He was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He was educated at Mayhew School, Boston, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Harvard ...

. Under Bowen's tutelage, Capen took special honors in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

political philosophy Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

. After he graduated from Harvard, Capen returned to Bloomington, Illinois, where he

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

at the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

of Williams & Burr. Capen was soon invited into the partnership, which, after the retirement of Burr a short time later, became known as Williams & Capen. Williams died in 1899 and Capen continued practice as a solo practitioner for the next twenty-five years. His firm's most important clients were the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...

, which it represented for fifty years, and the Chicago and Alton Railroad, which it represented for twenty-five years. In addition to practicing law, Capen taught classes at the

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

of Illinois Wesleyan College, and served for a number of years as dean of the law school. Capen was also active in the Illinois State Bar Association, serving as its president 1903-1904. Capen had married Ella Eugenia Briggs in 1875, and together, the couple had two children: Charlotte and Bernard. Capen died at his home in Bloomington on May 21, 1927.David Felmley, "Charles L. Capen", ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society'', Vol. 20, No. 3 (Oct. 1927), pp. 491.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capen, Charles 1845 births 1927 deaths Illinois lawyers People from Cayuga County, New York Harvard College alumni Illinois Wesleyan University faculty Illinois Republicans American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American lawyers