Emlin McClain was born in Salem, Ohio in 1851 and moved to Tipton, Iowa with his parents in 1855. He graduated from the State University of Iowa's Law Department in 1873. In 1879 he married Ellen Griffiths. McClain continued his legal studies with Judge George G. Wright of Des Moines, becoming his private secretary after Wright was elected to the U.S. Senate. McClain began practicing law in 1877, continuing until 1887 when he became Vice-Chancellor of the Law Department at the State University of Iowa. In 1890 he was made Chancellor, serving until 1900 when he received the nomination for Judge of the Iowa Supreme Court. After his retirement from the court he moved to California to teach law at Leland Stanford Jr. University. In 1914 he returned to Iowa City to serve again as dean of the State University's Law Department. He died in Iowa City in 1915. McClain was a prolific law writer, contributing to many law journals and authoring numerous legal textbooks. He was the compiler and editor of the code of Iowa published in 1880 known as McClain's Annotated Code and Statutes of the State of Iowa. In 1894 he was selected by the Senate of Iowa as one of the Code Commissioners charged with formulating a revised code which was published in 1897.
From the description of Emlin McClain papers, 1844-1915. (Iowa Sate Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 57312801
