Thomas F. Tipton

THOMAS F. TIPTON, Bloomington; was born in Franklin Co., Ohio, Aug. 29, 1833; hi.s father, Hiram Tipton, removed from the Buckeye State to Illinois, in the year 1844, and settled in the section now known as Money Creek Township. In March of 1845, his father died, Thomas at that time being but eleven years old; he continued to live with his mother until her second marriage, in 1847, when he cut loose from the parental roof-tree, and began life on his own account, and took his future into his own hands. At this time he is described as a boy, that, while he had no vicious habits, possessed a quick and retentive memory, a deep reverence for truth and honesty, and with a keen contempt for anything affected or snobbish. During the summer months, he worked on a farm, and, in winter, he went to school, thus obtaining knowledge under difficulties; this was continued until he had attained to his sixteenth year, when he began teaching, but in the winter going himself to school as a pupil, Mr. Tipton began the garnering of Ipgal knowledge in the law office of H. N. Keitly, at Knoxville, Ill., being a careful reader and a close, pains-taking student; at this time he was in the most robust health, being very strong and active, and excelling in all athletic sports. In the spring of 1854, young Tipton was admitted to practice, and, as a singular coincidence, attained his majority the same year. He began active law practice at Lexincrton, and continued there until Jan. 1. 18G2, at which time his lucky star directed him to lUoomington, and ia the spring of ISGo, lie formed a law partnership with Reuben M. Ik'tijamin. In.l.inutiry, ISJG, Gov. Oglesby appointed him State's Attorney for the Eighth.judicial I'irciiit, and for two years he discharged ihe duties of the othce with infinite satisfaction to the law-abiding people, and to the great annoyance of evil-does of high and low degree. In 18(50, the Hon. Lawrence Weldon becatue a partner, and the firm was then known as Weldon, Tipton & Benjamin; but, as his worth became recognized, Mr. Tipton was called higher up. In August, 1870, he was elected Circuit Judge, io fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation ofthe venerable Jno..M. Scott, who had been elected as a member of the Supreme bench ofthe State. When Mr. Tipton took his place on the bench, the new constitution had been but just adopted, making many radical changes, and opening up a vast field of unexplored legal work, thus making work on the bench necessarily slow, and much more laborious than formerly; he was rewarded for his fidelity to the interests of the people, and his efforts in behalf of equity, by an indorsement in the w.ay of a reelection for the term of six years. He remained on the bench until March 1, 1877, when he resigned to take a seat in Congress— another step higher. The ist of March. 1877, Mr. Tipton and John E. Pollock formed a law partnership under the style of Tipton & Pollock, as it now stands; previous to his election to the bench Mr. Tipton enjoyed a large civil ami criminal practice; it was as varied as litigation itself, and it was uniformly managed with good tact and acknowledged legal acumen; he was not a lawyer simply to bring from quibbles ami teciuiical obscurities th it justice which else he could never reach, but he sought to win upon the broad spirit of the law in its most elevated sense. He was elected to the Forty-fifth Congress as a Republican, receiving 1-3,229 votes; in Congress he favored the Silver bill; introduced a bill for postal savings banks; opposed the further contraction of the currency and the Wood Tariff bill; also opposed the William and Mary College bill, and the " Potter revolution" he opposed; he was against the transfer of the Indian Bureau to the War Department.

As printed in The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men (1879). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

THOMAS FOSTER TIPTON was born near Harrisburg, Franklin county, Ohio, about ten miles from Columbus, August 29, 1833. He is a descendant of the Tipton family, the parent stem of which located in Frederick county, Maryland, at a pre-revolutionary period and was composed of four brothers, Joshua and Sylvester Tipton; the names of the other two are unknown to the writer; they were of Scotch- Irish extraction and came originally from that sterling race of Highlanders whose representative was the famous John Knox of the Reformation. Sylvester Tipton, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, removed from Maryland, about 1790, to what was then known as the Northwest territory, but subsequently became the state of Ohio, settling temporarily in Chillicothe, Ross county, and later in what is now known as Franklin county. Here he followed the vocation of school teaching until he Ayas nearly eighty years of age. He was a man of very limited means, but had a fair education, and, better than all else, possessed a good name. He was small in stature, but had a good constitution and lived to a ripe old age, dying at the age of ninety years.

Joshua Tipton, the other brother, also removed from Maryland to eastern Tennessee at the close of the Revolution, where, April 18, 1793, he was murdered by the Indians. The support of the family was thus thrown upon the only son, John, then seven years old, who at the same time became imbued with the idea of revenging his father's death. In 1807 the family moved to Brinley's Ferry, Harrison county, Indiana, and settled on a farm of fifty-five acres, paying for it by splitting rails. In 1809 he joined the "Yellow Jackets," a military organization commanded by Captain Spier Spencer, and soon after became ensign, serving through the campaign that followed which terminated in the battle of Tippecanoe, November 7, 181 1. During this conflict he succeeded to the command of the company by the death of his captain, and later was elevated to the rank of brigadier-general of militia. During his life he was elected to the office of sheriff, representative in the legislature. United States Indian commissioner and United States senator, in many of which offices he served more than one term. He was also actively engaged in all public enterprises where the support of the community was essential to their progress, and took also a personal interest in the educational and philanthropic organizations in the state. The city of Columbus was located upon his land, and for a time was called Tiptonia in honor of him.

Sylvester Tipton reared a family of eight children — four sons and four daughters. His wife was a woman of more than ordinary strength of character. Her maiden name was Mary Stark, a niece of General Stark of Revolutionary fame. She was tall and dignified in appearance, and being unusually intelligent, occupied a conspicuous place in the communities where she resided. The sons were Captain Thomas, Jonathan, John and Hiram.

Of the immediate family Jonathan removed to Knox county, Illinois, in 1840, and in 1 85 1 moved to Washington county, Iowa, where his descendants still live and where his son Basil has represented his district in the legislature. Thomas secured an education and grew to manhood in his home vicinity, and during the war of 18 12 became a captain, in which he served with distinction. He died September 13, 1864, at Pleasant Ridge Farm, leaving an estate of one thousand acres, near Harrisburg, Ohio. John, the third brother, moved to Fulton county, Illinois, in 1841, where he lived until 1866, when he was accidentally killed by a tree falling upon him. The family later resided in Peoria.

Hiram Tipton, the youngest son, and who was the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Franklin county, Ohio, in 1802 and devoted his life to agricultural pursuits. In 1827 he was united in marriage to Deborah Ogden, daughter of Albert Ogden, of Fayette county, Ohio. In 1837 he removed to Pickaway county, Ohio, and in the fall of 1844 to McLean county, Illinois, and settled in what is now Money

Creek township, where the fa mil v resided several 3'ears after the father's death on March 20th, the year following their arrival, leaving his widow and three small children: Thomas P., subject of this sketch; John residing in Saybrook, and Jane, the widow of 'william S. Tuttle, also of Saybrook.

The subject of this sketch began life in an humble cottage constructed of poles and hatched with buck-wheat straw. He began his individual efforts in life at the early age of twelve years, living with his uncle, John Ogden, and devoting his time during the summer months to work on the-farm, while in the winter he was enabled to attend the district schools. Farm life was not congenial to young Tipton and whatever was done was not a labor of love. Reading books was more to his taste than plowing corn. At the age of sixteen he entered the school at Lexington under the tutorage of Col. Wm. N. Calor, where he remained until he was eighteen, when he entered the office of Dr. Lindley and began the study of medicine. At the end of a month he concluded that the study of medicine would be distasteful and he made ready to prepare himself for the study of that profession which his ambition had lead him to adopt for a life vocation. With some assistance from his guardian, James Vandolah, he purchased Blackstone and Kent's Commentaries, and began the study of law. Later he taught school for a year, and read law in the office of H. N. Keightley, a prominent attorney of Knoxville, Illinois, and was admitted to the practice of law, June 6, 1854, being then in his twenty-first year. He opened an office in Lexington at once, and entered vigorously upon the practice of his profession, retaining his residence in Lexington for seven years, and gaining no

Httle prestige by reason of his ability and determined efforts. In January, 1862, he removed to Bloomington, where a few months later he became associated with Judge R. M. Benjamin, one of the farmers of the constitution of 1870. In 1868 Hon: Lawrence "\'eldon, who afterward became one of the judges of the United States court of claims, was admitted to membership in the firm, which gained recognition as one of the ablest legal associations in central Illinois.

In 1866 Mr. Tipton was appointed by Governor Oglesby states attorney of the 8th judicial district, which he held for a term of two years. In 1870 he was elected judge of the circuit court (8th circuit), which he held until 1877, being re-elected to a second term in 1873. In 1876 he was elected to represent his district in the forty-fifth congress. His services in the halls of congress were characterized by that sterling wisdom he had shown so perfectly in his professional career, and was of that discriminating and faithful order which not only gained to him the endorsement of his constituents, but which gained also the recognition as an honest representative and a true statesman.

After his return from congress Judge Tipton became again actively engaged in the practice of law, until 1891, when he was elected circuit judge, for which he was so eminently qualified, both by natural ability and long experience in judicial functions and in which he continued until 1897, since which time he has been constantly in the practice of his profession, the firm being now Tipton & Tipton through the admission of his son, Thomas W., to a junior partnership.

To Judge and Mrs. Tipton seven children have been born, two of which number died in infancy. Harry V., died March 31,

1887, at the age of twenty-seven years; Belle E. is the wife of E. E. Van Schoick, of Hastings, Nebraska; Helen F. is the wife of William R. Bair, of Bloomington, Illinois; Thomas W., who married Miss Alice Searles, a daughter of Dr. Searles, of Omaha, Nebraska, and who now lives at Normal, Illinois; and Laura B., at home.

Judge Tipton as circuit judge was called upon to decide many intricate questions growing out of the construction of the constitution of 1870, which made many changes in the constitution of 1848. The case of the People ct. al v. The Chicago & Alton Railroad Company, the purpose of which suit was to determine whether or not the legislature had power under the constitution to regulate and control the rate of charges for freight and passenger on railways. This opinion, which was of great length, discussing the entire law on that subject, was published at the time throughout the press of the state and elsewhere and was published by the Illinois Railway and Warehouse Commissioners in the second volume of their reports and has ever been regarded as the law embodying that subject and it was afterward sustained in principle by our own supreme court and the supreme court of the United States in the Granger cases.

Judge Tipton has had an extensive practice in central Illinois and is well known throughout the state having held court and practiced law throughout central Illinois. He has tried either as circuit judge or as counsel forty-seven murder cases and many other important cases. Persons familiar with the Illinois Reports are necessarily familiar with the name of Judge Tipton, as he appears as counselor as the circuit judge who tried the cause in perhaps more cases than any other practitioner in the state.

As printed in The Biographical record of McLean County, Illinois (1899). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.