Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Warren, Calvin A.

Born: 1807-06-03 New York

After a public school education, Calvin A. Warren secured employment as a composer with a newspaper in his native state, where he worked for a time with Horace Greeley. He also began to read law. He continued to work in the print trade in New York until 1832, when he moved to Hamilton County, Ohio, to concentrate on his law studies. In 1834, he completed his legal education at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. Earning admission to the bar in Ohio, he commenced practicing law in Batavia with Senator Thomas Morris. In 1836, he moved from Ohio to Quincy, Illinois. In that same year, he laid out an addition to Warsaw in Hancock County. In 1837, he moved to Warsaw, becoming one of the town's first practicing attorneys. After two years, he returned to Quincy, entering into partnership with James H. Ralston. In subsequent years, he partnered with George Edmonds, Jr., Onias C. Skinner, and other prominent attorneys in Adams and Hancock counties. In June 1845, he became prosecuting attorney, pro tem., of Hancock County, and served as prosecuting or states attorney in 1853, 1855, 1856, 1857, and 1860. In addition to his legal practice and prosecutorial duties, Warren engaged in business and commerce, building and operating a large furniture factory in Quincy. By 1860, he owned real estate valued at $20,000 and a personal estate of $2,000. He was a Democrat.

Th. Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois (Chicago: Chas. C. Chapman, 1880), 240, 275, 329, 413, 418, 452, 454, 455, 637, 638; Obituary, The Quincy Daily Whig (IL), 22 February 1881, 8:2; Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, eds., Biographical and Memorial Edition of the Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois (Chicago: Munsell, 1915), 1:577; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 5, Quincy, Adams County, IL, 304; David F. Wilcox, ed., Quincy and Adams County: History and Representative Men (Chicago and New York: Lewis, 1919), 1:158-59.