Biography - EDWARD LANE
A well-known jurist of
Illinois has said: "In the American state the great and good lawyer must
always be prominent, for he is one of the forces that move and control
society. Public confidence has generally been reposed in the legal
profession. It has ever been the defender of public rights, the champion of
freedom, regulated by law, and the firm support of good government. No
political preferment, no mere place can add to the power or increase the
honor which belongs to the educated lawyer." Judge Lane is one who has been
honored by and is an honor to the legal fraternity of Montgomery county. He
stands to-day prominent among the leading members of the bar of this portion
of the state, a position to which he has attained through marked ability.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, he was born on the 27th of March, 1842. His
father, John, Lane, also a native of Ohio, was a merchant and in his
political affiliations was a Democrat. He marred Catherine Barry, who was of
Scotch-Irish descent, and they became the patents of five children, but
Judge Lane is the only one now living. The father died during the infancy of
his son and the mother's death occurred during his boyhood.
Edward Lane was only sixteen years old when he came to Hillsboro, Illinois.
Here he worked at any occupation that would yield him an honest living.
Desirous of obtaining an education he entered the academy, in which he spent
five years as a student, meeting his expenses through his earnest,
persistent labor. Hardships and difficulties confronted him, but it is only
through the pressure of adversity and the stimulus of opposition that the
best and strongest in man is brought out and developed and the latent powers
of Judge Lane were called into use and the foundation of a self-reliant
character was laid. He pursued a full academic course, including languages,
and leaving that institution, he engaged in teaching for one term, but he
had become imbued with a desire to enter the legal profession and made
arrangements whereby he entered the law office of Davis & Kingsbury as a
student. In the fall of 1864 he was admitted to the bar and entered upon
practice with his former preceptor, Mr. Davis, this association being
maintained until the death of the senior member two years afterward. Judge
Lane then began practice alone, in which he continued until 1882, when he
formed a partnership with George R. Cooper, with whom he is still
associated. The political positions which he has filled have all been in
direct line with the law. In 1866 he was chosen as city attorney for a term
of two years, and when but twenty-seven years of age he was elected county
judge of Montgomery county, entering upon the duties of the office in 1869
for a four years' term. In 1886 he was elected to congress, where he served
for eight years, during which period he was a member of the judiciary
committee and was widely recognized as one of the most active working
members of that body. He gave close and earnest attention to every question
which came up for consideration and supported with unfaltering loyalty the
measures in which he believed. On his return from the legislative halls of
the nation he resumed the active practice of law in Hillsboro, where he has
since remained. This has been his real life work, and at the bar and on the
bench he has won distinction. His preparation of cases is most thorough and
exhaustive and he seems almost intuitively to grasp the strong points of law
and fact.
To other fields of activity Judge Lane has extended his efforts and with
equal success. He is an agriculturist, giving personal supervision to his
farming interests. He is also a director of the Hillsboro National Bank, of
which he was one of the organizers, and is a stockholder in the Montgomery
Loan & Trust Company. He likewise has a beautiful home in Hillsboro, which
is numbered among his valuable realty possessions.
In 1870 Judge Lane was united in marriage to Miss Tucie Miller, a daughter
of Samuel K. Miller, of Lawrenceville, Illinois. Mrs. Lane was born there in
1850, and is descended from a Kentucky ancestry. By her marriage she has
become the mother of two children: Guy C., who is a graduate of Yale College
and is now a practicing attorney connected with his father; and Bessie, the
wife of Howard Boogher, an attorney of St. Louis. Judge and Mrs. Lane hold
membership in the Lutheran church. He is a man of strong intellectual
endowments and of high character, standing at the head of his profession in
Montgomery county. In his habits he is temperate and disposition kindly, and
as a judge and statesman he made a reputation which ranks him with the
distinguished residents of central Illinois.
Extracted 11 Apr 2020 by Norma Hass from 1904 Past and Present of Montgomery County, Illinois, by Jacob L. Traylor, pages 12-15.
