elected to the State Senate of Illinois and served four years as a member of that body. He was recognized as an able and influential legislator, and he has been a successful and popular politician; nevertheless he finds in the active practice of the law the

employment best suited to his tastes and inclinations, and since his retirement from the State senatorship he has not allowed himself to become a candidate for any office.

HOWARD LOUIS CONARD.

SOMETHING like two hundred and fiity years ago, when the New Netherlands figured as one of the political divisions of the American continent, Philip Pieterson Van Schuyler-the first of the name in this country-was among the Dutch immigrants who settled where the city of Albany, the capital of the Empire State, is now located. Some of the second generation of Schuylers had grown to manhood before King Charles II. presented the New Netherlands-immigrants, natives and all-to his brother, the Duke of York, and sent an English fleet across the Atlantic to call Governor Stuyvesant's attention to the fact that he was expected to acquiesce in that arrangement.

After the territory had passed into the hands of the English claimants and its name had been changed to New York, in honor of its royal proprietor, the Schuylers continued to figure prominently in the conduct of colonial affairs; and in 1686, when Albany became an incorporated city, it was a Schuyler who was made the

first mayor of the town, and held the office for eight years. It was Peter Schuyler, the first mayor of Albany, who was afterward president of the King's Council in New York, acting governor, a member of the New York assembly, and commissioner of Indian affairs. Officiating in the capacity of Indian commissioner, he acquired almost unbounded influence over the controlling spirits of the Five Nations, and while the contention between the French and English over the Iroquis country was going on, for the purpose of "impressing the Indians with the greatness of the English nation. and detaching them from the French," he took five of the Iroquis chiefs with him to England, where he succeeded. in convincing them that it would be vastly to their interest to aid the Americans in driving the Frenchmen out of the country.

The next member of the Schuyler family to render important services to the American people was General Philip Schuyler, who became one of the leading spirits in the great strug

gle for national independence. As soldier and statesman, he was equally prominent during the revolutionary period. As a general in the field, a member of the Continental Congress, and, later, as one of the first United States Senators from New York, he was conspicuous for his devotion to the cause of liberty and the building up of an American Republic. He was especially noted during the later years of his public life for his advocacy of the development of the resources of the country, through a system of internal improvements, and a distinguished historian has styled him "the father of the canal system of the United States."

The Schuylers who are now scattered throughout the States of New York and New Jersey, and those who have found homes in the States further west, are the descendants of the illustrious colonist of the same name. It was a branch of the Albany family which located, some time before the Revolution, near Newark, N. J.; and it is to this branch of the family that Daniel J. Schuyler, of Chicago, belongs.

His father was John Jacob Schuyler, who married Sally A. Davis, of Huguenot ancestry on the mother's side, a woman of fine mental endowments and unusual force of character, who was born in New York State and lived near the village of Minaville, Montgomery county, N. Y., at the time of her marriage.

When the country along the Mo

hawk river, in eastern New York, was a wilderness, the grandfather of John Jacob Schuyler settled on a tract of land within three miles of what afterward became the town of Amsterdam. His son and some of his grandsons grew to manhood on this farm, and it is still the property of his descendants.

It was on this farm that Daniel J. Schuyler was born February 16th, 1839. He was born to a rich inheritance, as we look upon inheritances in this country, although it was not one the value of which could be estimated in "coin of the realm." From his father he inherited the sturdy physique, the industry and integrity of the Schuylers, and from his mother a correspondingly healthy, vigorous and active intellect.

While the father looked after his physical training in the early years of his life, and took care that he should have plenty of healthful exercise of the kind which contributes, at the same time, to the physical development of the country youth and the revenues of the farm, the mother watched with jealous care his mental development, and missed no opportunity of aiding him to add to his store of knowledge.

While he was laying the foundation. of his education in the country school of the neighborhood in which he lived, he developed a rather remarkable. fondness for literature, and after reading all the books which could be found in the home library, he drew on the

village library of Amsterdam to the full extent of its capacity, thereby familiarizing himself with the contents of a political history of New York, Irving's works, Cooper's novels, Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico," Harper's Library of Travel, Biography and History, and a few other literary works of less consequence. A little later he won some local renown as a writer of poetry and editorial matter for the village newspaper, and when he delivered a stirring address on the effect of John Brown's crusade against slavery, soon after the famous old abolitionist ended his career at Charlestown, he began to be looked upon as a young man of a good deal more than average literary and oratorical ability.

When he was seventeen years of age, he spent six months in attendance at an academy situated near Schenectady. Then, after an interval of work on the farm, he continued his studies at the Amsterdam Academy, and later at the academy at Franklin, Delaware county, N. Y.

After leaving the last-named institution, he entered Union College, at Schenectady, as a member of the sophomore class, and remained there until the spring of 1861. Having at this time made up his mind to adopt the profession of law, he was anxious to begin the study at once, and left college for this purpose, within a few months of his graduation, to become a student in the law office of Hon. Francis Kernan, of Utica, the distin

guished New York lawyer and politician, who defeated Roscoe Conkling for Representative in Congress in 1872, and served with him as a member of the United States Senate from 1875 to 1881.

Mr. Schuyler pursued the study of law, under Mr. Kernan's preceptorship, until 1864, when he was admitted to the bar. Immediately afterward he came west, to enter upon the practice of his profession, and became a member of the Chicago bar in January of 1864. It is, therefore, twentysix years since he first made his appearance in a Chicago court, and his entire professional life has been spent in this city. He came here in the flush of a promising young manhood, to achieve the distinction which genuine ability, industry, honesty and integrity have never failed to win at the bar of this city. He had selected his profession with a due regard for his natural qualifications, so far as he was himself able to judge of those qualifications; had pursued a careful and systematic course of study under the preceptorship of one of the recognized leaders of the American bar, and when he entered upon the practice of law, his success was only a question of well-directed effort and the proper application of his theoretical knowledge to the practical business of the legal profession. Like all young men who enter professional life, he had to place himself upon trial before the public and await for a time the popular verdict as to the

extent of his ability and the measure of his trustworthiness.

This verdict-always unerringcame along very early in his professional career, and was a strong endorsement of his fitness for the calling which he had chosen. It was to the effect that he was honest as well as able; conscientious as well as clever; upright as well as courageous; high-minded as well as sagacious, and, all things considered, a lawyer who could be relied upon to advise clients wisely and to guard their interests carefully under all circumstances.

The judgment which the public passed upon Mr. Schuyler in the early years of his practice has never been set aside or in any degree modified. It has, on the contrary, been emphasized by his careful conduct of important litigation, his candor and fairness in the presentation of cases, his zeal and earnestness as an advocate, and the generous commendation which he has received from his contemporaries of the legal profession, who unite in bearing testimony as to his high character and sterling integrity.

"The law," says an old maxim, “is an exacting mistress, and he who would become one of her votaries must give her all his time and attention." This seems to be the view which Mr. Schuyler has taken of the profession, and he has devoted him

self diligently and assiduously to the duties of active practice. Politics has had for him no attractions, and judicial honors-which have been within. his grasp in several instances-have failed to tempt him to abandon his high position at the bar.

In 1872 Mr. Schuyler became associated in practice with the late Judge George Gardner, and this partnership continued until Mr. Gardner was elected one of the judges of the superior court of Chicago, in 1879. A partnership was then formed between Mr. Schuyler and Mr. C. E. Kremer, and the firm, as thus constituted, has continued in existence up to the present time; the senior member of the firm, Mr. Schuyler, engaging in general practice, and the junior member paying special attention to the admiralty practice.

Still in the prime of a vigorous manhood, with a knowledge of law and litigation, broadened by an experience of more than twenty years of active practice at the leading western bar, Mr. Schuyler is one of those admirably equipped lawyers who command respect in any court and whose utterances attract attention under any circumstances.

He is not less esteemed as a citizen of Chicago than as a member of the bar, and his kindly impulses and charming cordiality of manner have rendered him exceedingly popular among all classes of people. He was