Dillon, John F. (John Forrest), 1831-1914

Prominent lawyer and judge from Davenport, Iowa, reaching the pinnacle of his career in New York.

Dillon was a self taught lawyer admitted to the Iowa Bar in 1852 after abandoning a career in medicine. He served as a judge of the District Court of the 7th judicial district of Iowa (1858-1863), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa (1863-1869), Justice of the U.S. Circuit Court for the 8th judicial circuit (1869-1879), professor of law at the State University of Iowa (1869-1879) and Columbia University Law School (1879-1882). In 1882 he resumed private practice in New York City serving as counsel for Union Pacific, Missouri Pacific, and Texas Pacific Railroads and Western Union Telegraph Company. He also served as counsel for the Goulds in their railroad interests and in matters pertaining to the estate of Jay Gould. He was elected president of the American Bar Association (1891-1892), was the Storrs lecturer at Yale University Law School (1891-1892), and in 1896 served as a member of the commission that prepared the charter for the formation of a Greater New York. In 1908 he was elected the first president of the New York County Lawyers Association.