Edgar Bronson Tolman

Edgar Bronson Tolman

Edgar Bronson Tolman (b. 1859) was a prominent Chicago lawyer.

Biography

Edgar Bronson Tolman was born in Nagaon on September 5, 1859, the son of a missionary, the Rev. Cyrus F. Tolman and his wife Mary (Bronson) Tolman.^[1] His family returned to the United States in 1864.^[2] He was educated at the University of Chicago, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1880 and a master's degree in 1882.^[3] He concurrently attended Union College of Law (which is today Northwestern University School of Law) while working on his master's, receiving a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1882.^[4]

While in grad school / law school, he also studied law with James Rood Doolittle.^[5] He then joined Doolittle's law firm, with the firm becoming Doolittle, McKay & Tolman in 1889 (and later becoming Doolittle, Palmer & Tolman).^[6]

He served during the Spanish–American War (1898), seeing action at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.^[7] He held the rank of major, and was thereafter commonly known as "Major Tolman" for the rest of his life.^[8]

From 1901 to 1902, he was attorney for Chicago's Board of Local Improvement.^[9] He was then corporation counsel for the City of Chicago from June 12, 1903 until August 1, 1905.^[10]

After leaving government service, he was the senior member of his own law firm, Tolman, Redfield & Sexon.^[11] He served as president of the Illinois State Bar Association for 1917-18.^[12]

He became editor-in-chief of the American Bar Association Journal in February 1921.^[13] He became editor-in-chief emeritus in 1946 and remained on the Journal's masthead until December 1947.^[14]

References

1. ^ The Book of Chicagoans, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago, 1911), p. 674
2. ^ The Book of Chicagoans, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago, 1911), p. 674
3. ^ The Book of Chicagoans, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago, 1911), p. 674
4. ^ The Book of Chicagoans, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago, 1911), p. 674
5. ^ The Book of Chicagoans, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago, 1911), p. 674
6. ^ The Book of Chicagoans, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago, 1911), p. 674
7. ^ The Book of Chicagoans, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago, 1911), p. 674
8. ^ The Book of Chicagoans, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago, 1911), p. 674
9. ^ The Book of Chicagoans, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago, 1911), p. 674
10. ^ The Book of Chicagoans, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago, 1911), p. 674
11. ^ The Book of Chicagoans, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago, 1911), p. 674
12. ^ List of ISBA presidents
13. ^ "A.B.A.J.: The First Fifty Years", ABA Journal, Jan. 1965, p. 56
14. ^ "A.B.A.J.: The First Fifty Years", ABA Journal, Jan. 1965, p. 56