Introduction: The Legend of Lincoln the Lawyer -- PEOPLE versus HENRY B. TRUETT, October 13, 1838 -- PEOPLE versus WILLIAM FRAIM, April 23, 1839 -- PEOPLE versus SPENCER TURNER, May 23, 1840 -- PEOPLE versus ARCHIBALD AND WILLIAM TRAILOR, June 18, 1841 -- Various Criminal Cases, 1845-46 -- PEOPLE versus JAMES AND GEORGE DENTON, June 12, 1846 -- Various Criminal Cases, 1850-53 -- PEOPLE versus MOSES LOE, May 19, 1853 -- PEOPLE versus DAVID LONGNECKER, June 3, 1856 -- Lincoln's Pardon Practice -- PEOPLE versus JANE AND THEODORE ANDERSON, November 28, 1856 -- PEOPLE versus ISAAC WYANT, April 4, 1857 -- PEOPLE versus JOHN BANTZHOUSE, October 2, 1857 -- PEOPLE versus MELISSA GOINGS, October 10, 1857 -- PEOPLE versus DUFF ARMSTRONG, May 7, 1858 -- PEOPLE versus TOM PATTERSON, April 21, 1859 -- PEOPLE versus PEACHY QUINN HARRISON, September 3, 1859 -- The Legacy of Lincoln the Lawyer.
Summary:
"The conventional wisdom says that most of Lincoln's practice involved collecting debt and representing railroads; that he only practiced law as a platform for his political career; that criminal law was only a minuscule part of his practice; and that he was particularly bad at defending homicide cases. A survey of Lincoln's murder cases demonstrates that he was first and foremost a trial lawyer, that the trial of criminal cases was an important part of his practice, and that he was not only a very good criminal trial lawyer, he was very capable of defending murder cases. Dekle devotes a chapter to each of Lincoln's well-documented criminal cases, paying particular attention to homicide cases. He consolidates cases for which we have little reference material into a single chapter and ends with an overall assessment of Lincoln as a criminal trial lawyer"-- Provided by publisher.
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