420 MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY 



from throwing up the independence of a numerous, in- 

 dividual clientage and placing myself where a railway 

 superintendent or board of directors of a single corpora- 

 tion might turn me out to commence life over again. And 

 so it was that I continued to put my nose to the legal 

 grindstone and watched the sparks fly in the practice of 

 Iowa. 



It is well understood that it is this kind of practice that 

 makes the best lawyers. The attorney whose business 

 compels him to take and study every kind of a case be- 

 comes an all-around lawyer. The specialist may become 

 very skillful in his work but he cannot be a broad lawyer. 



The best and most successful lawyers in the great cities 

 are those who have first traveled the hard and laborious 

 path of general practice in smaller places where special- 

 izing was impracticable. 



In 1865 I formed a partnership with my old schoolmate 

 and comrade of the Third Iowa Infantry, Win. E. Shep- 

 herd. The firm was Lacey & Shepherd. Unfortunately 

 for Mr. Shepherd he had had sufficient political influence 

 to secure the appointment of postmaster at Oskaloosa, 

 and though at first it seemed that the salary of the office 

 ($1600) was a considerable addition to the resources of 

 the firm, it soon became a disadvantage, for our business 

 rapidly grew, and Mr. Shepherd was compelled to attend 

 to his affairs in the postoffice and found it difficult to 

 keep up with the rapid growth of the business of the firm. 

 Our partnership was most pleasant and we kept it up till 

 1873 when Mr. Shepherd emigrated to California, selling 

 out to me, and my brother, Wm. R. Lacey, took his place 

 and the firm became John F. & Wm. R. Lacey. One of 

 the most interesting cases tried by me was that of the 

 State vs. Pleasant Anderson, tried in 1883. Anderson 

 was charged with a most brutal murder and was acquit- 

 ted. His neighbors near Blakesburg, Iowa, took him out 



