Lawyer; born in
Germany, in December, 1847; was brought to the
United States in infancy by his parents, who settled near
Mansfield, O.; received a public school education; entered the
Union army in 1863, and served till the close of the war. In 1869 he was admitted to the
Missouri bar; in 1874 was elected State attorney of
Andrew county, Mo.; in the following year removed to
Chicago; in 1886-91 was judge of the superior court of that city; and in 1893-97 was governor of
Illinois.
His action in pardoning (June 27, 1893)
Fielden,
Schwab, and
Neebe, who had been imprisoned for complicity in the Haymarket atrocity by alleged anarchists, excited strong and general criticism (see
anarchists;
Chicago). His publications include
Our penal machinery and its victims;
Lice questions;
Oratory;
Its requirements and its rewards (1901); etc.