The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-07-08
THOMAS S. BOWEN, ESQ.
IN MEMORIAM,

La Sale county bar in reference to the late
death of THos S. Bowen, Esq, a member of
said bar, were formally presented to the Court
by NJ. T. MoLoNEY, Esq, prefaced by the
following remarks:
| If the Court please, wish to perform sad
duty, feeling in which | am sure equally
with me, your Honor and every member or
this bar deeply sympathlzes, namely, the pre.
sentation to this honorable Court of the resolu.
tons of respect heretofore adopted by the
members of the bar to the memory of our de.
ceased brother, THOMAS S. Bowen. It IA
painful at any time to be called on to perform
this most sorrowful duty of our profession:
but when the deceased, as in the present ia.
stance, was dear and esteemed friend, it be-
comes doubly so. He was my friend, and I
felt honored in that friendship for it was pure
and unsullled l knew HIM intimately and
well, for the past few years associated as I
was with him in the common labors of opr
profession, and can truly say that never
nobler or more generous heart pulsated than
that which lay enshrined in the bosom of
| Thomas S. Bowen
He is gone. No matter, your Honor. what
might say; no matter what words MIGHT
use on this occasion; no language, either
ancient or modern contains a vocabulary
sufficient to express anything like the intense
feeling of regret which thrills one frame ar
knowing he is performing the last solemn act
for one whom 10 know as friend was to love
as a relation. The deceased was born in this
county about thirty-.hree years ago. His
early years were spent on his fathers farm,
with no greater facilities for Improvement
than those which fall to the lot Of farmers
sons in fair circumstances. Ii was only when
his country's existence was imperiled, when
Sumter's heights were wrapped in flame and
smoke, that he, a mere boy, about seventeen
years old, left his country home. his every
| pulse beating with patriotic devotion, which
was ever characteristic of his great and noble
soul, and buckled on his armour in defense
of that old flag he loved so well, ready 10
dare and die. How we'll he bore himself
through those terrible campaigns, his person
ever afterwards attested On his return home,
having lost his right arm at Missionary Ridge,
untitled for manual labor, and possessed of
mind too active to be confined to the sedate
life Of an agricuturalist, he at once deter
mined TO enter our profession as more con-
genial to his taste. Since then we all have
known him. 1t would perhaps be lnappro-
pirate for me, associated with him as | was,
to venture any expression as to his legal &C
qulrements Yet think no one that knew
him will doubt but he was close student,
possessed of an original, broad and compre-
great fundamental principles of the law and
readily applying them to the facts as they
would arise IN each case. He made no part
of our profession specialty-hc was equally
versed in ali. Surely, had he lived, he would
have attained tire goal Of his ambition, that
of having climbed to the highest step on the
ladder of his profession, the peer of any law.
yer in the land. In the practice OF his pro-
fession, he kept always before him one lead.
ing idea as his rule o f liie-as beacon light
to direct his footsteps, namely to act honorably
in all things This cardinal virtue never de.
serted him. His conduct towards this Court,
towards his fellow-members of the bar in the
trial of suits, was always marked by extreme
courtesy. Though ever ready to accommo-
date, he wasnever to give up or allow one jot or
title of the rights of his clients to be infring
ed. Never INDUCING in tricks in order to
obtain an undue advantage, he scorned all
petty WEAKNESSES and spurned them from him
as he would some loathsome thing, yet al
ways guarding with jealous care the interests
entrusted to him. His requirements were
varied. He by no means confined himself to
the dry study of the law. He loved to read
and study every subject from which he could
Gull choice flowers with which to store his
mind with useful knowledge, knowing full
we'll that without them he was like the bird
with but one wing, deprived of those auxil-
iarles which are Indispensable to the accom-.
plished lawyer But your Honor, above and
beyond everything. 1t was that kind, sympa'
thetic nature of HIS that endeared him to US
all; that made his acquaintance desirable,
his friendship to be cherished and grasped
to the heart with hooks of steel. Stoies may
despse and condemn these benevolent fea.
lures which were the chief traits OF this grand
character. Let them. They, unlike him,
,ol 4 thn mi Il nf
kindness unlike him. never did their heart
strings thrill arising from the consciousness
of good act we'll done, andilf, as is said, IN
those Elysian fields to which his spirit wing
ed its flight, rewards are lavishly bestowed on
the ylrtuous, then THOMAS 5. BOWEN, pos
sessed of merit the most unconscious, pat.
riolism of the purest and highest order and
honor the most unsullied, must be forever
supremacy blessed.
Following are the resolutions
WHEREAS, Thomas S. Bowen, lately win
US, brother OF our profession, has been TAKEN
from this life ami his place at the bar lett Va
cant; therefore we, surviving members y,
the bar of La Sale County, feeling II our sau
yet pleasant duty to perpetuate upon inc rec
orGs Of our courts the memory OF our uePaiE
ed brother, have
Pesolred-FIrst: That we mourn the early
nparently-untimely death Of our
brother, a Young man full OF vi gor and at the
very bcrinninc of bright and useful profes-
sional lite With an enthusiastic love Tor his
nrofession, with very bright prospects before
him and with more than ordinary intellect
uaI endowments, it was within his power
TO attain very high position as lawyer
and scholar. Possessing kind and gener-
ons heart he was capable of filling an admir-
snie nosltion IN his social relations with the
har and with his neIghbors. He has gone
from earth. His future is with the Author of
his being He is with US no more save in
recollections of the past. We miss him and
deplore his early death.
Second: That we express our high appre-
citation of his ability as lawyer, his devo-
ton TO his profession, his kind and generous
disposition and his upright and courteous
learning toward the court and bar IN all his
professional relations, and especially do we