In 1848 to 1862 judge David Davis served as circuit judge, often visiting Metamora; Adlai E. Stevenson started his law practice and became a resident in Metamora for a time; Robert G. Ingersoll, perhaps the most gifted orator in the United States, was admitted to practice there in 1854, and Abraham Lincoln traveled the circuit, visiting Woodford County frequently. Often these itinerant lawyers hired a three-seated spring wagon to travel from court to court. There was much that was uncomfortable in riding such long distances, but there was much that was interesting. The freedom of the long days spent in travel made days of entertainment to Lincoln and the other lawyers riding the old Eighth Circuit.
The state was new and the settlers in the new county of Woodford were few and far apart in the 1840's. As Miss Ida Tarbell relates, the courts were not very busy, and "the cases were of the common sort to a new country, litigation over bordering lines and deeds, over damages by wandering cattle, and over broils at country festivities. Few of the cases were of large importance." The lawyers had no newspapers, libraries or other means of entertainment or study, so when they were not busy, they held jumping contests, pitched horseshoes or played catch until summoned by the judge for their case. Because of the idle time and slow pace of events, story telling became an art; when darkness fell, Lincoln was usually one of the group found sitting under the trees in the park on a summer night. Uncle Billy Jenkins, El Paso pioneer, enjoyed one of those sessions one evening as a listener visiting from Kickapoo.
In 1849 the commissioners' court was changed to the county court, and Welcome P. Brown, the first county judge, in recounting his qualifications mentioned that he had read the volume of Illinois State Laws, the one and only book in the law library of Stephen A. Douglas. As previously stated, lawyers had few books and often none were obtainable on the circuit. Arguments were of a practical nature and suits were sometimes disposed of in a manner which would amaze any lawyer of the present day. Thus, Melissa Goings disappeared during her trial in 1849 for murdering her husband, by the simple expedient of walking away from the Metamora courthouse during a recess. When last seen she was conferring with her counsel Abraham Lincoln. The way old time Woodford County lawyers later told the story, bailiff Robert T. Cassell accused her counsellor of "running her off." Lincoln said "I didn't run her off. She only asked where she could get a drink of water, and I told her they had mighty good water in Tennessee." Since Melissa was never seen again in this county, her case ended abruptly, and her bondsmen finally escaped penalty also. In many cases tried in these early courts, there was no Illinois law to be used as precedent for argument.
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