JOHN FORREST DILLON. THIS truly eminent lawyer, jurist and author was born on Christmas day, 1831, at Northampton, Montgomery county, New York. He resided there with his parents for seven years, who then removed to Davenport, Iowa, at which place Mr. Dillon remained until 1879, a period of forty-one years. From here he removed to New York City, where he has since resided. Like all men who have risen to eminence, in his boyhood he evinced an unconquerable love for the acquirement of knowledge, and that persistent industry which has always been such a marked characteristic of his useful life. His first selection of a profession was that of medicine, which he commenced to study at the early age of seventeen, and soon afterward was graduated, and recieved his diploma. He found, however, that the practice of medicine was not suited to his tastes, and He read earnestly, soon abandoned it for the law. grasping the theory of the law with his naturally judicial mind, and when he reached his majority, was admitted to the Bar. This is one of those instances where the court sanctions admission at an early age, although the history of the Bar in the United States records some, who were permitted to enter the practice before attaining majority. Shortly after he was admitted to the practice he became a partner in the law firm of Cook & Dillon, afterward Cook, Dillon & Lindley, which grew to be one of the leading firms in the State of Iowa. The same year |