Paul Farthing (April 12, 1887 – December 2, 1976) was an American jurist. Born in

Odin, Illinois Odin is a village in Marion County, Illinois, United States. The population was 935 at the 2020 census, down from 1,076 in 2010. History Odin originally was settled chiefly by Scandinavians. The village was named after Odin, a god in Germanic m ...

, Farthing was blinded in a hunting accident when he was twelve years old. Farthing went to the Illinois School for the Blind. He then received his bachelor's degree from

McKendree University 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 ...

in 1909 and his law degree from University of Illinois Law School. Farthing practiced law in

East St. Louis, Illinois East St. Louis is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois. It is directly across the Mississippi River from Downtown St. Louis, Missouri and the Gateway Arch National Park. East St. Louis is in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. Once a b ...

. He served as master in chancery of the city court in East St. Louis, Illinois and as

St. Clair County, Illinois St. Clair County is the oldest county in Illinois; its western border is formed by the Mississippi River, bordering Missouri. It is a part of the Metro East in southern Illinois. At the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 257,400 ...

judge. From 1933 to 1942, Farthing served on the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five ap ...

and from 1937 to 1938, served as chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. Farthing died in Belleville, Illinois.'Undaunted by Blindness,' second edition, Clifford E. Olstrom, Perkins School for the Blind: 2011, Biographical Sketch of Paul Farthing

Notes

1887 births 1976 deaths People from East St. Louis, Illinois People from Marion County, Illinois McKendree University alumni University of Illinois alumni Illinois state court judges Chief Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court Blind politicians 20th-century American judges Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court {{Illinois-stub