The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-07-25
DEATH OF JUDGE DICKEY.

rev men OI MS aye arc ihet 81 Wcii Pic'
served and in the apparent enjoyment OF
such robust health as Judge !. Lyle
Dickey was in March last. About that
time, however, he took bad cold, but
with his usual disregard of bodily all
mcnts he went on in the performance of
his laborious official duties until about the
list of June, when his physicians pcremp-
torily commanded halt. He concluded
to go to Atlantic City and recuperate by
rest and inhaling the sea breezes. His
ailments, however, were more serious
than he imagined. His strength would
not return, and instead of only bad cold
he was found to be suffering with q COM
plcaton of diseases, Of which the most
serious were heart troubles. His wife
was with him all the time, then his
daughter, Mrs. w. Ii. L. Wallace, was
telegraphed for, and finally his son, John
Jay Dickey, was summoned from Salt
Lake City, and other relatives were called.
Yet no sudden turn in the disease was an
ticipated until about II o'clock on Wed
nesday night, when he was taken with a
startling difficulty ofbreathing. The fam
lily gathered around him and in few
minutes, without struggle or even a
gasp, the spirit passed peacefully away.
The life Of Judge Dickey was an event
full one, and it is difficult to compress even
the brefest sketch of it within the space
at our disposal. He was born Oct. I'd.
1911, at Paris, Bourbon county, Ky. At
the age of 10 he entered the Ohio Univer-
sity, from which he graduated at 10. At
20 he was married to Miss Juliet Evans,
and the two taught school for several
years both in Ohio and Kentucky with
great success. In 1884 he moved to Nc
Donough county, ILL.,, and in the office Of
Judge Cyrus II. Walker studied law,
commencing to practice within a year az
forwards. lie resided few years at
Rushville, and then, in 1889, came to Of
tawa, ILL.,, which remained, off and on, his
home until he finally sold his homestead
here in March last. In 1916, when the
war occurred, he raised com.
pany at Ottawa, which became part of
the lst Illinois regiment, under Col. John
J. Harden. At San Antonio, in Texas,
however, he was taken with that scourge
Of the army, dysentery, and would have
died had not his physician and friends
driven him home. Soon after his return
he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court,
A position which four years later he re-
signed and resumed his law practice, as
less laborious and more remunerative. In
1854 he opened an office in Chicago,
though still regarding Ottawa as his
home. In 1858, for the first time, the
Judge became figure in politics, having,
though hitherto a whg, espoused the
cause of Douglas, in the great fight be-
tween Douglas and Lincoln, and it is ad-
nitted that his eloquence saved Tazwell
county to Judge Douglas, and the two
members from that county just suificed to
reflect him to the L. S. Senate.
When the rebellion broke out in 1861
he old war spirit seized the Judge, and
no raised a regiment Of cavalry, at the
head of which he took part in the capture
If FITS. Henry and Donelson, and in the
battle of Shiloh, at which his son-in-law,
Gen. w. L. Wallace, was killed. Gen.
Grant then made him his chief Of cavalry,
md as such his career was both active
md brilliant, engaging in number Of
operations.
In 1853 he resigned and came home, and
Iorming partnership with John b. Rice,
resumed his law practice. In 1868 he
was appointed assistant Attorney General
II the o. s., the duties Of which he dis