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Collection Overview
Title: Henry Clay Whitney Legal Papers, 1854-1860
Collection identifier: 393
Primary Creator: Whitney, Henry Clay
Extent: 60.0 items
Subjects: Champaign County (Ill.), Champaign County--Urbana (Ill.), Courts, Law, Vermilion County (Ill.), Whitney, Henry Clay, 1831-1905
Forms of Material: Legal records, Professional papers
Abstract
Henry Clay Whitney was an Illinois Lawyer on the 8th Circuit. The collection relates to civil litigation handled by Whitney, illustrating routine legal procedures in his day.
Scope and Contents of the Materials
This collection relates to civil litigation handled by Whitney and illustrates routine legal procedures of his day. Many of the items were endorsed by one of the clerks of the Champaign or Vermilion county circuit courts. There are no documents to or from Abraham Lincoln in the collection, although it contains ten items that were part of cases in which he was involved. Those documents are available in The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition (2000).
Collection Historical Note
Henry Clay Whitney (1831-1905) was an Illinois lawyer, who made the rounds on the 8th Circuit at the same time as Lincoln did. He was highly regarded by Lincoln as a young lawyer. He was born in Detroit, Maine, but settled in Urbana, IL. Whitney supported Lincoln’s campaign for president, and successfully petitioned Lincoln for a government office during the Civil War, after which he moved to Chicago. After being shot by the wife of a client, Whitney retired from the courtroom, and published a book, Life on the Circuit with Lincoln, which sold poorly.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
Illinois History and Lincoln Collections
Acquisition Source:
The library purchased the collection in 1985 from Charles Apfelbaum, a dealer in Valley Stream, New York. He had in turn acquired the collection at the King Hostick auction in Chicago.
Box/Folder List
URL:
https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/ihlcsfa/whitney-henry-clay.pdf
PDF finding aid
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