History of Lee County, Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY 69
Mr. Dixon has held the following positions: alderman of the
first ward in 1898-99; mayor of Dixon in 19U3-04; and referee in
bankruptcy for the northern district of Illinois from 1899 to the
present. He was a member of the North Dixon board of education
for two terms of three years each and in politics he has always been
a democrat.
HIRAM A. BROOKS.
Concentrating his energies upon the general practice of law,
Hiram A. Brooks has advanced step by step in his profession
until his position is an enviable one. His clientage is large and
important and his work in the courts is recognized as of solid
worth. He has comprehensive knowledge of the principles of law
and is seldom, if ever, at fault in the application of a legal pruiciple,
owing to the thoroughness and care with which he prepares his
cases. A native of Lee comity, Mr. Brooks was born in Marion
township, in September, 1868, and is a son of Benjamin F. and
Susan 0. (Morris) Brooks, the fonner a farmer by occupation,
devoting his entire life to that pursuit.
The early experiences of Hiram A. Brooks were such as usually
fall to the lot of farm lads. His preliminary education was
obtained in the pul)lie schools and later he entered Dixon College,
then the Northern Illinois Normal School, in which he pursued his
more speeifieall}' literary course and was graduated with the class
of 1890. Upon this as a foimdation he began his law course, studying
under William Barge of Dixon, and after thorough preliminary
reading was admitted to the bar in 1893. The following year he
took up the practice of law and has since been constantly active
in his profession. For two years he served as city attorney, but
almost the entire time has been given to private practice, which
constantly becomes more and more important in character and
greater in volume. His ability to solve intricate law problems
is now widely recognized. His mind is analytical, logical and
inductive. With a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the
fundamental principles of law he combines a familiarity with
statutory law and a sober, clear judgment which makes him not
only a formidable adversary in the courts but also a wise and safe
counselor. At no time has his reading ever been confined to the
limitation of the questions at issue. It has gone beyond and com-