One of the most important periods in the life of Abraham Lincoln was when he “rode the circuit” in central Illinois in the 1840’s and '50’s.
The Eighth Judicial Circuit is where Lincoln developed as a lawyer and evolved as a politician; here, too, he formed many of the personal relationships that became so important later in his life as president and commander-in-chief.
Many of the traditional Lincoln stories—tales exchanged with his friends and legal associates, anecdotes from the courtroom, and so forth - also date from this period.
Here are three of them from Anthony Gross's book, Lincoln's Own Stories.
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John H. Littlefied, a contemporary of Lincoln's, related this anecdote.
All clients knew that with Lincoln as their lawyer, they would win their case - if it was fair; if not, it was a waste of time to take it to him.
After listening for some time to a would-be-client's statement with his eyes on the ceiling, Lincoln swung around in his chair and exclaimed: 'Well, you have a pretty good case in technical law, but a pretty bad one when it comes to equity and justice. You'll have to get some other fellow to win this case for you. I couldn't do it. All the time while standing and talking to that jury I'd be thinking, "Lincoln, you're a liar," and I believe I might forget myself and say it out loud.'
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In addition to being brilliant, Lincoln was also a person who believed in "getting even" with his friends for practical jokes.
During jury selection for a trial, the opposing lawyer - and a friend of Lincoln's - objected to seating a juror because the juror "knew Lincoln". Since the objection was "technically" a prejudicial statement, Judge David Davis, the presiding judge, overruled it.
Lincoln, knowing the judge's ways in a courtroom, decided to return the "insult" to the other lawyer. He then proceeded to ask several jurors if they knew his opponent - but unlike his opponent - Lincoln did not object to their selection.
Davis, by now irritated with this line of questioning but missing the point of it, interfered. "Now, Mr. Lincoln," he said sternly, "you are wasting time here. The mere fact that a juror knows opposing counsel does not disqualify him."
"No, your honor, it surely doesn't", agreed Lincoln with a grin, "but I'm afraid some of the gentlemen may NOT know him, which would place me at a disadvantage."
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Abraham Lincoln’s gift for translating complicated law into simple stories was legendary on the Illinois circuit. Judge H.W. Beckwith recalled this moment from a case in Danville, where Lincoln defended a man charged with assaulting another man. [1] Opposing counsel opened his case, arguing that Lincoln’s client had struck without cause. When Lincoln rose to reply, he didn’t begin with statutes or citations. He told a story — one that made his self‑defense argument clearer than any legal brief could. His client, he said, was like a man walking along a country road with a pitchfork over his shoulder when a vicious dog rushes out from a farmer’s yard. In fending off the brute, the man’s pitchfork accidentally kills the dog. Then Lincoln added dialogue:
“What made you kill my dog?” the farmer demanded.
“What made him try to bite me?” the man replied.
“But why didn’t you go after him with the other end of the pitchfork?” the farmer asked.
“Why didn’t he come at me with his other end?” the man said.
At that moment Lincoln swung his arms as if holding a dog and thrust the imaginary tail toward the jury. The room broke into laughter — but the point was serious. By showing the dog’s tail, Lincoln made the farmer’s question physically absurd. For the man to defend himself with the blunt end of the pitchfork, the dog would have had to attack tail‑first. The aggressor chooses the terms of the fight, not the defender. Lincoln had just dramatized the old common‑law self-defense plea of son assault demesne — the idea that the other fellow brought on the fight, and the defendant used only the force necessary to protect himself. [Please see Sidebar below.]
Lincoln translated that antique legal term into a picture no juror would forget, and he won the case.
These courtroom stories are from the archives of Abraham Lincoln, Storyteller.
Mac
Sidebar: What “Son Assault Demesne” Means
Often mistaken for Latin, son assault demesne is actually Law French, a linguistic fossil from medieval English courts that carried into 18th- and 19th-century American legal pleadings and works like Blackstone’s Commentaries. The phrase literally translates to “his own original assault” (son meaning his, assault meaning assault, and demesne meaning own), and it serves as a specific self-defense plea in assault and battery cases. To successfully use this defense, a defendant must prove that the plaintiff attacked first and that the force used in response was strictly necessary; the defense fails if the reaction is disproportionate, a principle established in the 1705 case Cockcroft v. Smith, where biting off a finger was ruled an excessive response to being poked in the eye. (Source: Baker, J.H. (2019) An Introduction to English Legal History. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.)
📚 Works Cited
[1] Gross, Anthony (1912).Lincoln's Own Stories. New York City, NY: Harper Brothers Publishers. p. 26, pp. 35-36 and pp. 25-26.
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