Jefferson County Illinois Biographies

Source: The Bench and the Bar of Illinois: Historical and Reminiscent 
By John McAuley Palmer
Submitted By: Cindy Ford

Lewis F. Casey, deceased, for almost thirty years was prominently connected 
with the most important litigation that was heard in the courts of his section of the state. 
His high legal attainments won him eminence among his professional brethren and his upright 
life and kindly manner secured him the respect of all. 
A native of Jefferson county, Illinois, Mr. Casey was born on the 23d o April, 1821, and 
died in Centralia on the 20th of May, 1891, his span of life covering the Psalmist's three-score 
years and ten. His parents were Green P. and Margaret P. Casey, the former a native of South 
Carolina, who emigrated to Illinois before the admission of the state into the Union. He was 
thus actively identified with its progress and development and is numbered among its honored 
pioneers. Born in Jefferson county at an early period in the history of Illinois, Lewis F. Casey 
watched the substantial growth of the commonwealth, and: as a public spirited citizen contributed 
to its advancement in all possible ways His literary education being completed, he resolved to 
devote his life to the practice of law and pursued his preparatory studies under the preceptorage 
of Hon W. B. Searls, of Mount Vernon, a celebrated jurist who ably directed his reading until his 
admission to the bar in 1848. Soon afterward Mr. Casey was elected county surveyor of Jefferson 
county and filled that office for eight years. In 1846 and 1847 ne was a member of the state 
legislature from that county, and from that time until his removal south ward was engaged in the 
practice of law, with moderate success. In 1852 he went to Texas, where he resided for fourteen 
years. In 1854 he was elected prosecuting attorney in that state, and was twice re-elected to 
that office for the third judicial district, which comprised seven counties. The number of criminal 
cases on the docket at that time was very large and he won considerable fame as a prosecutor. 
From 1860 until 1864 he served as state senator from Shelby. Sabine and Panola counties, Texas, 
and then continued in the private practice of law in the Lone Star state until 1866, when he 
returned to Illinois, locating in Centralia. Here he entered into partnership with Hon. S. L. Dwight, 
a grandson of Governor Casey, of Illinois, and at the Centralia bar his success was marked and 
immediate. An extensive and important clientage rewarded his efforts. In his profession he was 
an untiring worker, preparing his cases with the utmost regard to the detail of fact and the law 
involved. He never lost sight of even the most minor point which might advance his client's interest, 
and at the same time gave full weight to the important point upon which the decision finally 
turns. His argument was incisive and logical, his enunciation clear and decided, and his delivery 
strong. He viewed his case from every possible standpoint and lost sight of no vantage ground or 
of any available point of attack in an opponent's argument. He stooped to no questionable methods, 
was fair and just to the opposition, and had the sincere respect of the members of the bar. 
Mr. Casey was united in marriage to Miss Mary J.. daughter of ex-Governor Casey, of Illinois. He 
was a man of domestic tastes, and the pleasures of home were more to him than the enticements of 
society. • It must not be inferred, however, that he was a man of unsocial nature. On the other 
hand he was kind and generous and ready in appreciation of good qualities in any individual, no matter 
what his station in life. In manner he was ever courteous and genial, his deportment 
at all times bespeaking the character of the true gentleman. 



 


 



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