Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. Studies Law in Mansfield—Assistant in County Clerk's Office—Is Admitted to the Bar—Opens an Office and Begins Practice—Forms a Partnership with His Old Preceptor—Prepares Cases for Trial— Cases all Well Prepared—Marries Jane Clark—Elected Prosecuting Attorney—Successfully Tries a Murder Case—Three Atlorneysin the Case Become Cabinet Ministers—Forms a Partnership with Barnabas Burns—Farewell by the Bar of Richland County—Elected to the Constitutional Convention—Extracts from Speeches There. Bidding good-by to all previous occupations, in the year 1841, at the age of twenty-eight, he went to Mansfield, and entering the office of Thomas W. Hartley commenced a two years' study of law. One of the questions that was puzzling him in the contemplation of these two years' professional study was the obtaining of funds to pay his board bills and meet other necessary expenses during that term. At this time Dr. E. W. Lake, a personal friend and afterward a resident in Iowa City and Marion in this State, was the clerk of the courts in Richland county, and not wishing to confine himself to official work in the office, young Barnabas Burns was his deputy, on whom most of the duties of the clerk devolved, and arrangements were soon made by which young Kirkwood got work enough writing in the clerk's office with the deputy to realize nearly money enough to meet his necessary expenses. This was a most excellent opportunity, for, in addition to furnishing him means to pay his way, the work gave him an introduction to, and familiarized him with, all the legal forms in a law practice, and to the legal machinery by which the court was run and the law administered. No better avenue could have been opened to a young law student than this. Completing his law studies and obtaining the ne...