Ambitious educated eastern lawyers migrated west seeking fortune

Evidence

A taste for the frontier was not limited to sons of the poor. Almost all of the thirty-​six members of Harvard’s law class of 1835 were natives of New England and the Middle Atlantic States, mostly middle class and above. One-​third of them (twelve) ended their careers in another part of the country: Michigan, California (two), Ohio (two), Louisiana (two), South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Illinois, and Missouri. The idea of seeking a fortune in the West was no doubt romantically appealing, but the main reason for migration was probably ambition rather than wanderlust. It was not always easy to eke out a living in new soil. But for many young lawyers, the West seemed like a land of golden opportunity. In Fayette, Missouri, in 1841—​a tiny little town—​one resident complained that lawyers “spring up like mushrooms.” In 1845, there were 131 lawyers in St. Louis, a town of about 35,000. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1833

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Western lawyers pursued politics, land, and litigation as fortune routes — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1828; Frontier lawyers were peripatetic, moving frequently between boomtowns — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3702

Broader Connections

• Western lawyers pursued politics, land, and litigation as fortune routes #expands (0.85) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1828
• Frontier lawyers were peripatetic, moving frequently between boomtowns #exemplifies (0.75) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3702