Ethelbert Callahan (17 December 1829 – 20 June 1918)Ethelbert Callahan
at findagrave.com 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 ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Biography

Callahan was born in

Licking County, Ohio Licking County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. At the 2020 census, the population was 178,519. Its county seat is Newark. The county was formed on January 30, 1808, from portions of Fairfield County. It ...

. As a boy, he determined to become a lawyer after watching an argument delivered by

Thomas Ewing Thomas Ewing Sr. (December 28, 1789October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate as well as serving as the secretary of the treasury and the first secretary of the interior. He is als ...

, but it would be a number of years before Callahan achieved his goal of becoming a lawyer. In 1849, he relocated to

Crawford County, Illinois Crawford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,817. Its county seat is Robinson. History Crawford County was formed in the Illinois Territory on December 31, 1816, out of Edw ...

, where he became a teacher. In 1853, he entered the world of political journalism as editor of the Wabash ''Sentinel''. A year later, he moved to

Marshall, Illinois Marshall is a city in and the county seat of Clark County, Illinois, United States, located approximately west of Terre Haute, Indiana. The population was 3,947 at the 2020 census. History Marshall was officially organized by William B. Arche ...

to edit the ''Telegraph'', a paper that supported the Know Nothing movement. He married Mary Barlow Jones on June 27, 1854. Callahan was elected as a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in 1857, and it was at this time that he began to

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 ...

. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1859. He opened his own

law practice In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professi ...

Robinson, Illinois Robinson is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,713 at the 2010 census, up from 6,822 in 2000. Geography Robinson is in the center of Crawford County at . Illinois Route 33 passes thro ...

in 1861. Over the next four decades, he built one of the most successful practices in southern Illinois. Callahan played a role in organizing the

Illinois State Bar Association The Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) is among largest voluntary state bar associations in the United States. Approximately 28,000 lawyers are members of the ISBA. Unlike some state bar associations, in which membership is mandatory, ISBA me ...

in 1877, and served as its president in 1889. Callahan was the first

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to speak in Crawford County. He was elected to four two-year terms in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

on the Republican Ticket.

McKendree College McKendree University (McK) is a private university in Lebanon, Illinois. Founded in 1828 as the Lebanon Seminary, it is the oldest college or university in Illinois. McKendree enrolls approximately 2,300 undergraduates and nearly 700 graduate ...

awarded Callahan an honorary

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

in June 1898. In 1883, Callahan gave a paper at the Illinois State Bar Association entitled "The Lawyers of the Bible." The work was widely copied, and in January 1911, he was invited to deliver the paper as an address at the Indiana University School of Law. This address was very well received and was therefore published the next year by Hollenbeck Press.

References

Biography from ''The History of Southern Illinois''

PDF of ''The Lawyers of the Bible'' from www.classicapologetics.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callahan, Ethelbert 1829 births 1918 deaths Illinois lawyers Members of the Illinois House of Representatives People from Licking County, Ohio People from Robinson, Illinois Editors of Illinois newspapers American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American lawyers