Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Beckwith, Hiram W.

Died: 1903-12-22 Chicago, Illinois

Beckwith briefly attended Wabash College but left due to health issues. He then studied law as an apprentice in the office of Ward Hill Lamon, the Danville partner of Abraham Lincoln. He was admitted to the bar on May 27, 1854, after being examined by a committee that included Lincoln and Leonard Swett. During his career, Beckwith practiced law with well-known attorneys of the day, including Lincoln, Swett, and Stephen A. Douglas. He married Emily J. Reeder in 1857, in Vermilion County, Illinois, and the couple had four children, two of whom survived: William and Clarence. Beckwith retired from the law in 1876. Afterwards, he followed his passion for historical research and became an authority on Illinois history, publishing various works on local and state history. He was a member of trustees for the Illinois State Historical Library, and in 1897, he became president of the board of trustees. Beckwith also belonged to the Masonic lodge of Danville.

Illinois State Register (Springfield), 24 December 1903, 5:4; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Vermilion County, 24 March 1857, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; John J. Duff, A. Lincoln: Prairie Lawyer (New York: Bramhall House, 1960), 294; Edmund J. James, "The Life and Work of Honorable Hiram Williams Beckwith," Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society 9 (January 1904), 25-26; George W. Smith, History of Illinois and Her People (Chicago & New York: American Historical Society, 1927), 4:383. Illustration courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL.