River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1885-04-23
A LIBRARY IN HIS HEAD.
A Colored Man In Washington Whom kaw.
yers all Over the Country Know.

a 00AoIcu MAN III w dS4l1lR tOA W mum law
yers all Over the Country Know.
Opposite the winding staircase which
ascends to the rotunda, and directly
beneath the supreme courtroom, writes
Washington correspondent to the
New York Sun, is the finest law library
in this country, 1t contains 63, 600 vol
xaaes, and the annual additions amount
to about two Thousand volumes Though
nominally q part of the miscellaneous
library, and under the jurisdiction of
Mr.. Spofford, it has had for years
its librarian and separate accom-
modations. Within the portals
of this vast collection the profoundest
lawyers of the United States have la
boriously traced legal principles and
marshaled arrays of authorities. The
rule of silence is without breech. In
this legal reservoir there is that quiet
which rests upon the waters in whose
depths genuine tears alone are found,
Thelegal explorer meets with but one
annoyance. There is not gas jet or
lamp within the room. No employe
dare even carry match After the
fire in 1851, which proved so disastrous,
a statute was enacted prohibiting the
use of combustibles of any Kind within
the libraries. And thus, when dusk
prevents the eye from longer follow
| ing the studied text, the doors are
closed and, perhaps in the middle Of a
sustained argument which the reader
would fain pursue to conclusion, the
volume must be resigned.
The assistant law librarian, John
Francis Nicholas Wilkinson, is a col
ored gentleman He is the oldest at
| tache in either library. For twenty
| eight years he has been the familiar
purveyor of the law books, and in every
| leading office of the larger cities he
could find lawyer whom he knows.
No Authorizations of the law reporters
stagger him. He refers to no dictionary
TO discover the meaning of the initials
or condensed names used, but promptly
goes to the proper alcove and unerrlng-
| ly brings forth the desired report,
whether it be one of a musty British
series, or some earlier state collection
| of opinions whose editor sought to en-
| blazon his own name upon 1T rather
! than employ the modern convenience
of consecutive numbers. It is this per-
feet familiarity with the library which
impresses Mr.. Wilkinson upon the
visitor. The pages of the supreme court
| justices are momentarily coming down
| with acquisitions for authorities that
may range from the ancient Breton laws,
| French causes celebres, or reports of
the court de cessation to the whole do
main of American decisions With the
precision of a Swiss bellrinPer, Mr.. Will
| kinson draws out the required works
! from the shelves. But what is more re-
markable as feat OF memorizing is the
accuracy of his recollection of cases.
| He has no need of recourse to digests to
locate the leading cases of our jurispru-
dence. The library has grown during
Mr.. Wilkinson's incumbency from Is,
900 to 60, 900 volumes, but he has kept
pace with it.
For six generations back Mr..
Wilkinson's ancestors have been
free. He has African, Indian and
white blood in his veins. In 1881,
when the fear of a slave insur-
rection terrorized the south and the free
negroes were driven from Virginia,
| Wilkinson's father became resident of
/ Washin gton, where he was caterer to
the leading statesmen who messed to-
| gether there. The son was early placed
in brick yard, and followed brick
making until he was 90 years old, filling
the winter intervals with catering and
! playing in band. In 1857 he was en-
/ ployed as laborer to assist in cleaning
the general library. Congress made an
appropriation for an additional laborer,
and Wilkinson got the permanent job.
/ Wilkinson was soon detailed to the law
library, and there, through the grades
of laborer, messenger and assistant
librarian, he has served ever since. In
1862 Mr.. Lincoln removed John S.
Meehan, the law librarian, after thirty
one years service, and appointed Dr..
Stevenson of Terre Haute in his place.
The new appointee discharged every
employee except the younger Meehan.
! Wilkinson was told that it had been de-
cided to employ no colored help. But
he was restored in few months, and
the supreme court and Reverdy john
son, then on the library committee, re-
i L I