Memories Of Judge Cooley

Hard Work the Secret of His Wonderful Success

The Great Jurist

Will Be Honored Tomorrow in the Annual Observance of Cooley Day

The annual observance of Cooley Day will take place today. It is well that the memory of the greatest jurist Michigan ever produced should be kept ever green. His life contained many lessons which all young men should ponder. It is hard for some of his old neighbors, who were familiar with his unostentatious nature, to realize what a really great man Judge Cooley was. As the writer of this article had the privilege of serving for something over a year as Judge Cooley's private secretary, he desires at this time to ass his testimony to the memory of the greatest man with whom he came in contact.

Judge Cooley was the most indefatigable worker. Hard work, faithful, painstaking work, was one of the great was one of the great secrets of his success. Judge Cooley had a poor voice for speaking, yet his utterances always commanded the closest attention. As a boy and a young man he was not picked out as a winner in the world's arena. His father-in-law at first declined to bestow his daughter's hand upon him on the ground that he would not be able to support her. And yet, steady, persistent work, the possession of a close analytical mind and clear reasoning powers brought Judge Cooley universal recognition before his death as the greatest living American jurist. His opinions alone were again and again quoted in the highest English courts as authority, which is all the more of a tribute when it is known how the English bench looks down upon the American bench.

Voluminous Writings.

Judge Cooley, previous to the time he went on the Inter-State Commerce commission did not employ a stenographer. All his voluminous writing were literally the product of his own pen and what a quantity of high quality material he produced. While dean of the law department he used to go to his office in the law building at 8 o'clock in the morning. He would begin writing at once. If some student called to see him, it did not interrupt his writing, which went steadily on, while the Judge's clear cut replies showed that he had understood every word uttered. At about half ten he ceased to glance over his Free Press and such of his letters as needed his personal attention. Then his writing went steadily on till noon. Promptly at 1 o'clock he resumed his writing and continued it until 6 o'clock. When he returned to the office at 8 o'clock the next morning he would bring a good sized roll of manuscript he had written at home the night previous. Wen he cited a case in point it did not mean cessation in the steady movement of his pen. Usually he knew the exact title of his case that went down on the paper, with a bank left for the volume and page. Without looking up he might remark: "Bring me Smith vs. Jones. You will find it about the 95th of Illinois." Wen the book was brought and left open at the case for him, he would pick it up, with a quick glance to see if what he remembered of the case was really a part of the case and not obiter dictum, of which he had a horror, and fill out the blanks left, and go on with his writing. His writing was at a steady rate of speed. It was not as with many men a hasty scribbling of sentences as they occurred with pauses in between to formulate the argument. He had apparently trained his mind and his pen to work in unison, and the result was a steady product of the pen. He occasionally interlined his manuscript, but the finished product was a masterpiece of reasoning. 

His law books differ from the most other law books in not being a mere compilation of cases. He had mastered the subject on which he was writing and developed that subject along his own original lines, using the law cases only as fortifying his position. In his decisions on the bench reasoning influenced him more than case law, and the lawyer who could trace the law back to its beginnings and knew the reasons for it and the reasons for its modifications was the one who could most closely command his attention.

With most men familiarity is said to breed contempt. Usually we find our great men, as we come to know them well, not very far above their fellows, but close familiarity with Judge Cooley only increased one's admiration for him. He was a great genius, and his genius was the genius of hard work and he had mastered his subjects thoroughly.