The Miller–Davis Law Buildings, known commonly as the Miller Davis Building, are located on Main and Front Street in the

McLean County, Illinois McLean County is a U.S. county in the east central region of Illinois, and is the largest county by land area in the state. According to the 2020 Census, it had a population of 170,954. Its county seat is Bloomington. McLean County is includ ...

city of Bloomington. The law offices served future

Supreme Court Justice The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of ...

David Davis and future

Illinois State Senator The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under th ...

Asahel Gridley. The buildings became a gathering place for local lawyers such as

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

and

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (né Douglass; April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. As a United States Senate, U.S. senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party (United States) ...

History

Even before the construction of the Miller–Davis Law Buildings in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

, the street corner of Main and Front Streets were a popular political rallying point.

and David Davis debated Congressional elections here in 1840. The Miller–Davis Law Buildings were the second and third brick buildings in Bloomington, completed in 1843. Future

Illinois Treasurer The Treasurer of Illinois is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Illinois. Seventy-four individuals have occupied the office of Treasurer since statehood. The incumbent is Mike Frerichs, a Democ ...

James T. Miller, a local businessman and land speculator, financed their construction. James Goodheart, William T. H. Miller and Squire Lawrence were tasked with its construction. They are the oldest buildings in the Bloomington Central Business District and the only examples of non-residential 1840s architecture in McLean County.Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
/ref> The offices buildings were used by some the state's most prominent lawyers. The first floor of the Miller building was used as a pharmacy while the second floor was used as law offices. David Davis financed an addition to this building for his own purposes. He practiced law here until he was named to the Illinois Circuit Courts in 1848. Asahel Gridley and

John M. Scott John Milton Scott (August 1, 1824 – January 21, 1898) was an American attorney, judge, politician and philanthropist from Illinois. Although he did not win election to the Illinois Senate from Bloomington, Illinois, he served on both the Illin ...

practiced in the Miller offices starting in 1848. Among the lawyers known to have met with Davis, Scott, and Gridley are Joshua R. and Jesse W. Fell, William W. Orme,

Ward Hill Lamon Ward Hill Lamon (January 6, 1828 – May 7, 1893) was a personal friend and self-appointed bodyguard of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Lamon was famously absent the night Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865, having be ...

, James T. Miller,

Leonard Swett Leonard Swett (August 11, 1825 – June 8, 1889) was a civil and criminal lawyer who advised and assisted Abraham Lincoln throughout the president's political career. Early life Swett was born in 1825 near Turner, Maine and educated at North Y ...

, Stephen A. Douglas, and

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller-Davis Law Buildings Buildings and structures in Bloomington–Normal National Register of Historic Places in McLean County, Illinois Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Law offices Legal history of Illinois