Fwd: [STONE-CAMPBELL] Studying Law in the 1850s in Kentucky and Illinois
Jim McMillan
From: Alan Highers <ahig...@charter.net>
Date: Fri, Jan 7, 2011 at 7:32 PM
Subject: Re: [STONE-CAMPBELL] Studying Law in the 1850s in Kentucky and Illinois
To: stone-c...@acu.edu
Cc: Tom Olbricht <tom-ol...@comcast.net>
Tom is right. The most common meathod of studying law in earlier years was to "read law" as a part of a lawyer's office. When I came to the bar, there were still several practicing lawyers who had "read law" under the tutelage of some able lawyer. These had never attended law school a day in their lives, yet they were very capable lawyers.
As law schools began, there were two methods of teaching law. One was known as the "Hornbook" method where the principles of law were taught by "blackletter law." The other was the "case method," in which one read various appellate cases and distilled the points of law from the cases. Nearly all law schools today use the case method. Since I write appellate decisions, one of my cases occasionally shows up in law schools.
I do not know about the "academies" where Sweeney might have studied. I doubt they were law schools as such; more likely, he studied law under the guidance of some lawyer while he was in school.
Alan Highers
---- Tom Olbricht <tom-ol...@comcast.net> wrote:
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Jim,
I don't know much about the specifics, but the greatest likelihood is that at that date Sweeney studied under the apprenticeship of a experienced lawyer. See the below history that establishes that few law schools existed at that time. The same was true of medical schools and schools of theology. The first that had more than one professor was Andover Theological Seminary founded in 1809. Training for the professions was guided study under a seasoned professional.
History
Until the late 19th century, law schools were uncommon in the United States. Most people entered the legal profession through reading law, a form of independent study orapprenticeship, often under the supervision of an experienced attorney. This practice usually consisted of reading classic legal texts, such as Edward Coke's Institutes of the Lawes of England and William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England.[7]
In colonial America, as in Britain at the time, law schools did not exist. Within a few years following the American Revolution, some universities such as the College of William and Maryand the University of Pennsylvania established a "Chair in Law".[8] Columbia College appointed its first Professor of Law, James Kent, in 1793. Those who held these positions were the sole purveyors of legal education (per se) for their institutions-though law was, of course, discussed in other academic areas as a matter of course-and gave lectures designed to supplement, rather than replace, an apprenticeship.[9]
The first institution established for the sole purpose of teaching law was the Litchfield Law School, set up by Judge Tapping Reeve in 1784 to organize the large number of would-be apprentices or lecture attendees that he attracted.[10] Despite the success of that institution, and of similar programs set up thereafter at Harvard University, Yale University (1843) andColumbia University (1858), law school attendance would remain a rare exception in the profession. Apprenticeship would be the norm until the 1890s, when the American Bar Association (which had been formed in 1878) began pressing states to limit admission to the bar to those who had satisfactorily completed several years of post-graduate instruction.[11]In 1906, the Association of American Law Schools adopted a requirement that law school consist of a three year course of study.[12]
Tom Olbricht
14 Beaver Dam Road
South Berwick, Maine 03908
----- Original Message -----
From: Jim McMillan
To: stone-c...@acu.edu
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 8:02 PM
Subject: [STONE-CAMPBELL] Studying Law in the 1850s in Kentucky and Illinois
This is a question for those on S-C list who have studied law. My research interest, J S Sweeney studied law in Kentucky at age 19 (1850 or so) at a place called Hancock Academy. (After he moved to Illinois circa 1853, he also studied law.) I've also located some information on JSS attending a place called Sanders Academy in Kentucky, but all of the information so far points to these academies as being "boys schools."
In your law schools, did any of your courses touch upon the history of "law schools" or the changes (from 1850 to 1900) in the educational requirements to practice law? Are you aware of the word "academy" being used to describe a "law prep" school?
Thanks for any recollections/references that may help!
Jim
--
Jim McMillan
Research Interests:
- John Steele Sweeney
- Stone-Campbell Movement Bibliography
- Indexing of Stone-Campbell Movement Publications
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Jim McMillan
Thanks again for the recollections and insights.