Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-04
IOWES PIONEER LAWYER
RecOllectiOns Of Judge James Grant
"a Model American"
HAwKEYE FOR HALF CENTURY
Participant I'm the Making ~ Terri
tory and state-DistinRuished
as Lawyer and Railroad
President.


PresiSent.
James Grant, a model American" a
pioneer Of the legal profession in Iowa,
"one of the most sterling, worthy, helpful.
interesting and delightful characters that
ever ornamented the profession Of law, or
blessed any commonwealth by his work
and labors."
These glowing, appreciative words intro
duces a character sketch Of Judge Grant
in a late issue Of the Green Bag. Judge
John #. Dillon supplied the inspiration for
the sketch Of his old-time but departed
friend, to whom he paid this hearty tribute
in the dedication of his second volume Of
Circuit Court Reports For five and
thirty years We have lived in the same
town, and during the latter half Of that
period much of my time was spent in your
library! 1t gives me pleasure to avail my
self of a graceful usage to record my high
regard for you as a lawyer and a citizen,
and my sincere attachment to you as a
friend"
The formative period Of the west brought
to the front the best qualities of men of
every vocation. Courage, backed by brain
and Drawn, was a prime requisite for the
primitive conditions of pioneer days. Pro-
fessions were incidental of winning a iiv-
ing from the soil. When settlements spring
up and towns took shape, men Of profess
sional training, tested in the crucible Of
hardship and privation, were by character
and training, fitted to give direction to
pioneer ideas and shape the destinies Of
cities and states. Judge Grant, accord
ing to his biographer. doomed large in this
class of men. A pioneer of Iowa when
oaNNI,walnNa zoe % NHA ATfggfggfnnf WHrrnW
were mighty scarce, he saw the region or
ganized into a territory. participated in the
making Of It's laws, assisted in It's de-
velopment into a state helped TO draft the
constitution, served six years as Judge
in the days Of judicial circuit riding, was
one Of the early presidents OF the Rock
Island railroad, and left a record as a
lawyer second to none in the galaxy of
distinguished pioneers of the Hawkeye
state.
Bound for the Northwest.
Judge Grant was a North Carolinian,
born December II, 1872. He graduated from
the University Of Chapel Hill, high up in
the class Of 1881, and especially dis
tinguished in mathematics and the classics.
At q, delicate health and an aversion for
slavery, caused him to set out on horse
back for the northwest, with Chicago in
his minds eye. Here he landed at the
end of eighty days and was licensed to
practice law in a community of 500 in
habitants and a future. That was in 1894.
The "justly celebrated" lake breeze was
doing business in those early days and
playing havoc with delicate constitutions
Young Grant was obliged to move back
into the high lands and dry lands, crossing
the Mississippi in 1888, and settled down as
a farmer near what is now Davenport.
Shortly afterwafd Davenport was born,
and Grant moved into the young town that
was destined to be the scene Of his labors
for the next half century.
1t was part of his plan Of life, says the
biographer, to posses all the implements
Of his profession and to have them easily
at hand. He seemed to realize that truth
of Sharswood's maxim, that the lawyers
difficulty sis not so much to know the
law as where to find it," Therefore h,
commenced to accumulate law books anC
in the course of time possessed the larges
and most satisfactory library in the stat,
Of Iowa 1t was indeed the largest law Ii
brary in the northwest and contained NOR,
than 5000 volumes, which were accumulateC
at an expense. since most of the volume
were extremely rare, OF something like $50,
900. This library was offered to the prac
Using attorneys of its owners acquaintance
and many Of them freely consulted his book
when working up cases against him. Con
corning this library, Judge Dillon relate
the following interesting fact:
when the legislature required a term o
the supreme court Of the state to be hsl,
twice a year at Davenport, it was made
condition that 1t should be without cost t
the state, a species OF economy, by tn
way, hich has nothing to recommend II
The better to accommodate the court an,
the bar, Judge Grant fitted up a room 70
the use OF the court above his library, an
set 1t apart for them for several years
neither receiving nor expecting compensa
ton. The judges and bar OF the state can
not but feel how much they are indebtet
to him for access to a library which wa
until recently the only one in the state a
all complete"
Worker and Helper.
He was a great and systematic worker
It was his habit to rise early, sometime
as early as 4 o'clock, and he was oftel
found. by members of his household, delv
ing into books by candle light. The wonde
is that he had time to study so many thing
and become thorough in them. 1t is surel
a great task for any man to master tn
profession OF law, but he became, as W
shall presently see, a master Of railroad
ing and mining and smelling also. II
was not and experimenter in anything, bu
he was a schooled and graduated expeT
in law, metallurgy and railroading.
One would think that his time was a
devoted to work. but It was not so. Unde
the roof OF his Davenport home, after tn
war, he had a household such as ha
seldom been seen in this or any othe
country. The following account OF It wa
given by his nephew, Hon. whitaker N
Grant, "When I went to his house In 1866
the family consisted Of himself and wife
his mother-tn-law. three OF his wife
nephews and nieces and two Of his own;
made three. Within a year he had tire
more OF his own and one OF HIS wife's ar
besides these he had three more of his ow
off at school, who some part of that tim
were at the house" All Of these nephew
and nieces were under age, and the eldes
was II. Judge Grant had surely assume
a great task in undertaking to care fc
and educate these children. He had. I
h. awack fmapfv-fottr panhauus ana pfaof