DECATUR - The legal and political careers of Abraham Lincoln were inextricably linked, as the youthful state legislator practiced his oratory on the political stump and in the Illinois House of Representatives while studying to obtain his law license.

Lincoln won election to the state legislature on his second try in 1834. He was re-elected in August 1836, and on March 1, 1837, was admitted to practice before the Illinois Supreme Court, the final hurdle to becoming a lawyer.

"What the law was able to teach him was the whole issue of dispute resolution. He took problems people had and solved them," said John Lupton, assistant director of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, a project of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, the University of Illinois at Springfield and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

Lincoln used his career choice to hone his rhetorical skills, Lupton said. "His contemporaries said he was very good at arguing before a jury," he said.

The law also taught Lincoln how to be logical and how to develop his thoughts and think in different ways, Lupton said.

"The whole issue of the Civil War was a legal issue," Lupton said. "Did a state have the right to secede from the Union? Lincoln said, 'No,' but the South said, 'Yes.' "

"Lincoln was a good listener, the foremost quality of a good lawyer," said Tom Schwartz, Illinois state historian. "He had a logical mind, good at reasoning. He studied the legal books of the day. He was not merely improvising the law. He had an extensive knowledge of the law and of legal precedent."

Lincoln spent a great deal of time on his cases. He did not simply win people over with his folksy charm and humorous stories, Schwartz said.

In 1837, Lincoln moved to Springfield from New Salem and became a law partner of John Todd Stuart, a leading lawyer of the time.

"Everyone in New Salem knew Lincoln was different," Schwartz said. "He was writing out form documents that he filed with the justice of the peace and the county court before he was a lawyer. People knew he was a smart guy and went to him when they needed something done."

At one point, Lincoln struggled to decide whether he should become a lawyer or a blacksmith, an important occupation all the way into the late 1800s, Schwartz said.

Lincoln left Stuart in early 1841, and on March 1, he formed a new partnership with Stephen T. Logan that lasted until December 1844, when he set up his own law practice, eventually taking William Herndon as his junior partner. Schwartz said Logan is credited with teaching Lincoln the finer points of the law.

After serving one term in Congress, Lincoln returned to Springfield on March 31, 1849, and resumed his law practice. He followed a common practice of his day in riding the Eighth Judicial Circuit, going from county seat to county seat throughout East Central Illinois. That circuit varied over the years, from seven to 15 counties including Logan, Macon and Shelby.

David Davis, a Lincoln contemporary, mentioned in one of his letters that the eighth circuit was the size of the state of Connecticut, Lupton said. Lawyers rode horseback or in buggies and travel between county seats generally took about a day, he said. By the late 1850s, most county seats were accessible by train.

"Most attorneys practiced in their home county and in the counties surrounding it," Lupton said. "But Lincoln was one of the few attorneys that traveled the whole circuit."

Sessions of the circuit court were held in the spring and fall and, occasionally, a special summer session was held.

"What really strikes me is the volume of his career," Lupton said. "In 25 years in practice, he had about 5,100 cases, an extraordinary amount for that time. Especially at the appellate level, Lincoln made his mark. He argued about 20 cases a year."

Lawyers of that era were bound by the old common law structure, which was very strict and rigorous, Lupton said. The courts also were very dependent on case law, much as they are today, he said.

Schwartz said Lincoln's rise in the legal profession was fairly quick.

"It's clear he loved the practice of law," Schwartz said. "Lawyers today marvel at the extent of his legal practice."

Despite the advent of railroads, Lincoln continued to travel the circuit with a horse and buggy, a practice some historians think stemmed from a bad marriage. But Schwartz disagrees.

"One reason I believe he traveled the circuit was for pleasure and escape," Schwartz said. "Travel time was Lincoln's way of releasing and letting go and enjoying what was around him."

In notes written for law students, Lincoln points out that they should discourage litigation whenever possible and not use the courts as their first course of remedy, Schwartz said.

Lincoln wrote, "Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser - in fees, expenses and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough."

Ron Ingram can be reached at ringram@;herald-review.com or 421-7973.