In the following brief accounts of men who have been prominently connected with this Law School, no effort is made to enter into details further than to show something of their character and qualifications, and the nature of their work.
George G. Wright came to Iowa from Indiana almost immediately after the completion of his college course, and about the time Iowa was admitted as a State. Entering upon the practice of law, he achieved success in his profession, and was, in 1855, elected one of the judges of the Supreme Court, which position he held almost continuously until 1870, when he was sent to the Senate, where he was a member of the Judiciary Committee, and was made chair man of the Committee on Claims. In 1877, he returned to the active practice of law, and was president of the American Bar Association at its last annual session. Judge Wright was a professor in the Law School from its organization, until he entered the Senate. Since retiring from public life, he has been again connected with the School, delivering a course of lectures upon Professional Ethics, to which has since been added a course on Constitutional Limitations. As a lecturer, he is practical, active, and enthusiastic. From a wide experience, he gives counsel and warnings, which are so apt in themselves and so sympathetically conveyed, as to make a deep impression.
Chester C. Cole came to Iowa about 1859 from Kentucky. He was a member of the bar until 1864, when he became a judge of the Supreme Court, holding that position until 1876, when he resumed active practice, in which he is still engaged. He was professor in the School from its organization until 1875. As an instructor, he was alert and affable, guiding the students through the questions arising in the recitation, with ingenuity and skill.
William G. Hammond studied law in New York and there practised his profession for some years. Afterwards he studied abroad, and then came West and resumed practice in Eastern Iowa. In 1866, he published a digest of Iowa Reports, and immediately afterward removed to Des Moines, and became connected with the Law School there in the fall of that year. The success of the School during the fifteen years of Dr. Hammond's connection with it, must be largely attributed to his profound knowledge of law, and his skill as a teacher. The breadth and exactness of his learning was hardly to be appreciated by the novice, but the students could not but feel deep respect for his attainments; and the genuine sympathy and interest which he showed in them and their achievements, and his enthusiasm for the study of law, strongly attracted them. Many of them cheerfully attribute the love which they have for that which is noblest in their profession, and their success in it, to the inspiration of his labors. The most prominent feature of his method of instruction was the attention given to fundamental doctrines and the historical development of his subject. He seemed able to point out the lines of growth which would lead to the solution of new questions, as well as explain the results reached on questions already decided. The interesting and profound course of lectures which he has delivered several times during the past two or three years in different institutions, on the "History of the Common Law," was commenced and to a considerable extent elaborated, while he was connected with this School.
John F. Dillon studied law in Iowa, after having prepared for the practice of medicine. He had not been long at the bar before he became judge of one of the District Courts of the State, and while holding that position, prepared and published, in 1860, the first digest of Iowa Reports. In 1864, he became a judge of the Supreme Court, and was associated for several years on the bench of that Court with Judges Wright and Cole. During this period the Court attained a deservedly high reputation for ability, and its opinions pronounced during that period are frequently referred to with the greatest re-
