Willis: Anglo-American Law 
173 
Cooley (1824-1898). 8G Thomas M. Cooley was born at 
Attica, N.Y. ; removed to Michigan in 1843 and was admitted 
to the bar in 1846 ; was reporter of the supreme court in 1858 ; 
was professor of law in the University of Michigan from 
1859 to 1885; was justice of the Michigan Supreme Court 
from 1864 to 1885; and was a member of the Interstate Com- 
merce Commission under Cleveland. As a result of his law- 
teaching he published textbooks on Constitutional Limitations, 
Taxation, and Torts, all books of the first rank. As a judge 
he was in the same class with Chancellor Kent and Chief 
Justice Shaw. As a law writer he was in a class with Story. 
As a law teacher he gave the Michigan Law School a reputa- 
tion all over the Middle West. 
Dillon (1831-1914). 87 John F. Dillon was born in New 
York state, but in early life removed to Iowa with his parents. 
He graduated in medicine when about twenty, and, after de- 
ciding to study law, ran the business of a druggist while doing 
so in order to support a widowed mother. He was admitted 
to the bar in 1852, became prosecuting attorney, and soon 
enjoyed one of the largest law practices in the state. There- 
after he held the office of district judge, the office of chief 
justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa, and the office of federal 
circuit judge. Later he went into practice in New York City, 
became general counsel for the Union Pacific and for the 
Western Union, for three years was professor of law in 
Columbia University, and was honored with the presidency 
of the American Bar Association. He was the author of 
Dillon on Municipal Corporations , a legal classic, and founded 
and edited the Central Law Journal. At the time he lived 
there were not in the United States over three jurists his 
peers. 
Mitchell (1832-1900). 88 William Mitchell was born in 
Ontario; was educated at Jefferson College, Pa.; moved to 
Winona, Minn., and began the practice of law there in 1857; 
was a member of the state legislature one term; became dis- 
trict judge in 1874; and began his judicial career as a justice 
of the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1881, an office which he 
held until shortly before his death. He was a Democrat, and 
was continued in office by the sufferance of the Republicans, 
86 Mich. L. Rev. 309. 
87 23 Green Bag 447 ; 25 Am. L. Rev. 969 ; 45 Am. L. Rev. 588. 
88 4 Green Bag 171 ; 4 Minn. L. Rev. 377. 
