Edgar Bronson Tolman was a prominent Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

.

Biography

Edgar Bronson Tolman was born in Nagaon

Nagaon

Nagaon , is a medium sized city and a municipal board in Nagaon district in the Indian state of Assam. It is situated east of Guwahati. An older spelling of the name is Nowgong.It is one of the fastest growing cities of the northeast.-History:...

 on September 5, 1859, the son of a missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

, the Rev. Cyrus F. Tolman and his wife Mary (Bronson) Tolman. His family returned to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1864. He was educated at the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

, receiving a bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in 1880 and a master's degree

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 in 1882. He concurrently attended Union College of Law (which is today Northwestern University School of Law

Northwestern University School of Law

The Northwestern University School of Law is a private American law school in Chicago, Illinois. The law school was founded in 1859 as the Union College of Law of the Old University of Chicago. The first law school established in Chicago, it became jointly controlled by Northwestern University in...

) while working on his master's, receiving a Bachelor of Laws

Bachelor of Laws

The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...

 degree in 1882.

While in grad school / law school, he also studied law with James Rood Doolittle

James Rood Doolittle

James Rood Doolittle was an American politician who served as a senator from the state of Wisconsin from March 4, 1857, to March 4, 1869. He was a strong supporter of President Abraham Lincoln's administration during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:Born in Hampton, New York,...

. He then joined Doolittle's law firm

Law firm

A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...

, with the firm becoming Doolittle, McKay & Tolman in 1889 (and later becoming Doolittle, Palmer & Tolman).

He served during the Spanish–American War (1898), seeing action at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba

Battle of Santiago de Cuba

The Battle of Santiago de Cuba, fought between Spain and the United States on 3 July 1898, was the largest naval engagement of the Spanish-American War and resulted in the destruction of the Spanish Navy's Caribbean Squadron.-Spanish Fleet:...

. He held the rank of major

Major (United States)

In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...

, and was thereafter commonly known as "Major Tolman" for the rest of his life.

From 1901 to 1902, he was attorney for Chicago's Board of Local Improvement. He was then corporation counsel

Corporation Counsel

The Corporation Counsel is the title given to the chief legal officer in some municipal and county jurisdictions, who handles civil claims against the city, including negotiating settlements and defending the city when it is sued. Most corporation counsels do not prosecute criminal cases, though...

 for the City of Chicago from June 12, 1903 until August 1, 1905.

After leaving government service, he was the senior member of his own law firm, Tolman, Redfield & Sexon. He served as president of the Illinois State Bar Association

Illinois State Bar Association

The Illinois State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the country. Approximately 30,000 lawyers are members of the ISBA. Unlike some state bar associations, in which membership is mandatory, ISBA membership is not required of lawyers licensed to practice in...

 for 1917-18.

He became editor-in-chief of the American Bar Association Journal

ABA Journal

The ABA Journal is a monthly legal trade magazine and the flagship publication of the American Bar Association. It claims to be "read by half of the nation's 1 million lawyers every month"...

in February 1921. He became editor-in-chief emeritus in 1946 and remained on the Journals masthead until December 1947.