The faculty of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law are truly world class scholars and teachers. Historically the school has employed some of the sharpest minds in American jurisprudence. The deceased faculty listed here represent just a small percentage of the exceptional individuals who have served as faculty members of the Maurer School of Law.
Arrangement is by year of birth. To search for a specific former faculty member, use the search box in the upper left-hand corner of this screen.
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Morton Carlisle Campbell
Morton Carlisle Campbell was born on June 19, 1876 in Cambridge, Ohio. He earned his A.B. from Washington and Jefferson College in 1896. He then attended Harvard Law School, receiving his LL.B. cum laude in 1900, and his S.J.D. in 1915. He was an assistant professor of law at Tulane University in 1915 and 1916. He became a full professor of law at the Indiana University, Bloomington School of Law in 1916. He was officially a member of the law faculty for four years, but when the United States entered World War I, he left the law school and enlisted the army as an infantry major. After the war, he was a visiting faculty member at Harvard Law for one year, and then in 1920 he became a full professor of law, a position he would hold at Harvard for 22 years. In 1942 he was appointed Professor Emeritus. His teaching expertise centered on suretyship, mortgages, and bills and notes. He also was devoted to the missionary work of his long-time church home, the Park Street Church of Boston.
Professor Campbell died at his home in Watertown, Massachusetts on September 17, 1952. He was interred in his home town of Cambridge, Ohio.
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Milo Jesse Bowman
Milo Jesse Bowman was born on July 1, 1874 in Madison, Indiana. He attended Hanover College, graduating in 1896, and then studied law at the Indianapolis Law School, earning his law degree in 1902. He practiced law in Indianapolis for several years while teaching at the Indianapolis College of Law. He was dean of the Valparaiso University Law School from 1909 to 1928, during which he also served for a short time as the interim President of the University. In 1928, he joined the faculty of the Indiana University School of Law, where he would remain for the rest of his life.
Professor Bowman professional life was one of “great distinction.” Upon his death, the Indiana Law Journal published a tribute to his life and work. The Journal stated, “Few, if any, surpassed Mr. Bowman in legal scholarship. He read very widely and he taught almost every course in the curriculum. … Other legal scholars have won greater fame; few surpassed him in knowledge or wisdom. Other teachers enjoyed greater reputations; few equaled Mr. Bowman in the soundness of instruction, and none drew greater satisfaction from the work of the classroom.”
Professor Bowman died on January 30, 1948 in Porter County, Indiana. He was interred in the Graceland Memorial Park in Valparaiso, Indiana.
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Benjamin Franklin Long
Benjamin Franklin Long was born in Cass County, Indiana, on January 31, 1872. He was a graduate of Logansport High School (1891). He taught school for several years after his graduation, before attending Indiana University in the fall of 1893. After two years at IU, he left to become a high school history teacher at Logansport High School, a position he held for three years. He then returned to IU and completed his studies, receiving both his A.B. and his LL.B in 1901.
He began a law practice in Logansport in 1902, but when Herdis F. Clements retired from teaching, Long took his place as an Assistant Professor of Law at the Indiana University School of Law. He taught at the law school through the 1902/03 academic year before returning to the firm that would become Long and Yarlott in Logansport. Long practiced law in Logansport for 32 years, with occasional tenures as city attorney and deputy prosecuting attorney of Cass County. From 1915 until 1936, Long was a trustee of Indiana University.
Benjamin Franklin Long died on December 27, 1940 at age 68.
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Herdis Frederick Clements
Herdis Frederick Clements was on born on December 6, 1871 in Cynthiana, Indiana. He attended Central Normal College (Danville, Indiana) and Valparaiso University, before receiving his law degree from the Indiana University School of Law in 1896. Clements served as a state senator during the 1899-1900 term, before joining the faculty of IU School of Law in 1900. Clements was a member of the faculty through 1903, at which point he became the Mayor of Mount Vernon, Indiana.
Clements became judge of the Posey County Circuit Court in 1909 and remained in that position until his retirement in 1946. Once retired, he practiced law in Posey County at the firm he founded, Clements and McClelland. Judge Herdis Frederick Clements died on October 24, 1962, at the age of 90.
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Amos Shartle Hershey
Amos Shartle Hershey was born on July 11, 1867 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He earned his A.B from Harvard in 1892, his Ph.D. from Heidelberg in 1894, and he studied in Paris as a Harvard fellow in 1895. In 1895, he joined the faculty of Indiana University, Bloomington with an initial appointment as assistant professor of political science. In 1900, he was promoted to associate professor of European history and politics, in 1905 junior professor of political science, and in 1907 professor of political science and international law. In 1914, the Indiana University Board of Trustees created a separate Department of Political Science with Dr. Hershey as the chair.
Dr. Hershey’s expertise and knowledge of international law was such that President Woodrow Wilson had him accompany the U.S. delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference after World War I as a technical advisor. Prior to the war, he had traveled extensively in Europe and the Orient on the Kahn fellowship. After his service at Versailles, he taught at Harvard, and then in 1923, he took a seven-month leave to travel in the Near East and Mediterranean. In 1928, he took another leave of absence he traveled throughout Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. He continued to teach at Indiana University until his retirement in 1932, and he was still working on a book right up to his death.
Dr. Amos Hershey died on June 12, 1933 in Madison, Indiana. Upon his death, the tributes poured in from newspapers around Indiana. The Indianapolis Star eulogized Dr. Hershey, saying, “The state lost one of its most eminent scholars and authorities in the field of international law and diplomacy in the death of Dr. Amos S. Hershey. … He was the type of faculty member who confers distinction on the institution he represents. His eminence in political science was recognized throughout the educational and diplomatic world.” The Bloomington Evening World said, “The passing of Amos S. Hershey removes from the campus a personage who brought fame and international honor to Indiana University. His brilliant mind and his power of analysis of diplomatic procedure made him invaluable to the United State government, and the recognition given him by President Wilson in the all-important treaty negotiations in Paris after the World War bespeaks the confidence which the great war president had in him. Those students who sat at his feet during the many years he was a part of Indiana University will always revere the memory of Dr. Hershey. He has gone to take his place with the Wylies, the Maxwells, the Jordans, and the Eigenmanns, for he earned the right to be among Indiana’s great.”
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Charles Andrew Rhetts
Charles Andrew Rhetts was born in Salem, Indiana, on November 22, 1866. He attended Salem High School (class of 1883) and then entered Indiana University in Bloomington. Rhetts graduated from IU in 1889, after taking a year off to teach school. After college, Rhetts moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked first for the United States Census Bureau and later for the War Department. While in Washington, he received his law degree (1892) from the Columbia Law School. He briefly returned to Salem to practice law, before attending Harvard University where he received his A.M. degree in 1895.
Upon his return to Salem, Rhetts was nominated by the Republican party to run for Joint Senator representing the counties of Washington and Floyd. He initially accepted but resigned when he was offered an appointment as Associated Professor of Law, beginning in September 1895, at the Indiana University School of Law.
His hometown newspaper noted Rhetts’ appointment in an October 1895 article, which stated, “The career of this young man has just begun, and this last appointment (at IU) will afford a rare opportunity for his advancement. Salem feels proud of her son “Charley” Rhetts, and all good citizens, irrespective of party, take pleasure in remarking that his professional and personal character are of the highest type.” Sadly, Charles Rhetts promising career came to an abrupt end when he contracted Typhoid Fever and died in 1898.
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William Henry Beeler
William Henry Beeler was born on February 2, 1864 in Madison County, Indiana. He earned his LL.B. from the Indiana University, Bloomington School of Law in 1903, and he immediately joined the law faculty. He was a professor of law at the Indiana University, Bloomington from 1903 to 1917. He then began his practice of law in Vermillion County, Indiana, eventually serving as Judge. Upon his death, the Vermillion County Bar Association issued a resolution honoring his long service to the bar of the Vermillion County Circuit Court and his practice of law.
Judge Beeler died at his daughter’s home in Terre Haute, Indiana on June 5, 1948. He was interred at the Mendon Cemetery in Pendleton, Madison County, Indiana.
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William Elsworth Clapham
William Elsworth Clapham was born on June 2, 1862 in Pennsylvania. He graduated from Indiana State Normal School (now Indiana State University) in 1889. He then attended Indiana University, receiving his A.B. in 1894 and his LL.B. in 1896. He practiced law in Fort Wayne and was a lecturer on Medical Jurisprudence at the Fort Wayne College of Medicine and Surgery from 1895 to 1898. He then joined the faculty of the Indiana University, Bloomington School of Law, serving until 1904. He then returned to Fort Wayne to resume his law practice.
William Clapham died in Fort Wayne, Indiana on May 5, 1941. The Allen County Bar Association stated that Mr. Clapham was “a profound lawyer” to whom “the Bill of Rights was more than an expression of an ideal—it was a code of ethics and a way of life which he always stood ready to defend and preserve with all his energy.” He was buried in the Old Monticello Cemetery, Monticello, White County, Indiana.
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Ernest Wilson Huffcut
Ernest Wilson Huffcut was born on November 21, 1860 in Kent, Connecticut. He attended Cornell University where he was a member of Theta Delta Chi and received his B. S. degree in 1884. Huffcut was a member of the first class of the Cornell Law School, receiving his law degree in 1888. He practiced law in Minneapolis for two years, as well as serving as Minnesota's Judge Advocate-General, before joining the faculty of the Indiana University School of Law. He was a member of the IU Law School faculty for two years (1890-92) and then spent a year teaching at Northwestern University’s Law School (1892-93). In 1893, Huffcut was appointed Professor of Law at Cornell University and in 1903 became that school’s Director of the College of Law and Dean of the Law Faculty.
Huffcut’s published writings include American Cases on Contracts (1894), Element of the Law of Agency (1895), Cases on the Law of Agency (1896), Elements of Business Law (1905) and Anson on Contracts (editor, 1906).
In 1906, New York Governor Frank Higgins appointed Huffcut to the position of Counsel to the Governor of the State of New York. In January of 1907, Governor Charles Evans Hughes (also a former Cornell Law faculty member) reappointed Huffcut to the same position. A few months later, (May 3, 1907) while traveling by steamboat between Albany and New York City, Huffcut ended his life by shooting himself in the head. He is buried in Ithaca, New York.
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Woodfin D. Robinson
Woodfin D. Robinson was born on January 27, 1857 in DeWitt County, Illinois. At age 8, Robinson’s family moved to Gibson County, Indiana. Robinson worked on his parent’s farm while attending country schools in the Owensville area. He attended Owensville High School before attending Indiana University. Robinson received his A.B. degree from IU in 1879, whereupon he became the Principle of Schools at Cynthiana, Indiana. Two years later, he returned to Owensville where he was placed in charge of the Owensville schools.
Robinson began his legal studies privately while he was teaching, but in 1881 he moved to Charlottesville, Virginia to study law at the University of Virginia. He completed his legal studies at the University of Michigan School of Law, where he received his LL.B. degree in 1883. Robinson was admitted to the Indiana bar later that year and entered into practice at Princeton, Indiana. Robinson was elected, and served in the Indiana General Assembly during the 1895 term. From 1895 to 1898 he served as a Trustee of Indiana University. Robinson was elected to the Indiana Appellate Court in 1896 and served in that position for 10 years. Judge Robinson taught law and the Indiana University School of Law during the 1906-1907 academic year. He then moved to Evansville and formed the partnership Robinson and Stilwell
Judge Woodfin D. Robinson died of heart attack on May 16, 1930 at the age of 73.
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Jesse Jennings Mills LaFollette
Jesse Jennings Mills LaFollette was born on September 12, 1846 on the family farm Jay County, Indiana. He was educated in the county schools, and then began the study of law. When the Civil War commenced, he volunteered and served in Company E of the 139th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. When the war ended, he returned to Jay County and resumed his law practice in the county seat, Portland. In 1894, Republican Party nominated him for joint Senator from Adams, Jay, and Blackford counties. The book The History of the Republican Party of Indiana says “his personal popularity throughout the district was such that while the general vote of the district was heavily Democratic he was elected and served his term of four years in the Senate.” On August 1, 1897, he was appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney for the district of Indiana. Then in 1908, he joined the law faculty at the Indiana University, Bloomington School of Law.
Professor LaFollette would remain as a member of the law faculty in Bloomington until 1935, one year before his death at the age of 90 on October 6, 1936. He was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, next to his wife Annie, who died in 1927.
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Cyrus Finley McNutt
Cyrus Finley McNutt was born on July 29, 1837 in Johnson County, Indiana. He attended local schools and in 1854, he enrolled at Franklin College, Franklin, Indiana. After three terms, he had to return home to run the family farm after the death of his father. Eventually he was able to read for the law and attend law school in Indianapolis, and it 1860 he was admitted to the bar. He began his law practice in Franklin, and in 1862 he open a law office in Martinsville, Morgan County, Indiana. In 1875, he joined the law faculty at Indiana University, Bloomington. Unfortunately, the law department closed in 1877 due to a cut in funding by the General Assembly. That fall, McNutt moved to Terre Haute to resume his law practice. In 1890, he was elected as Superior Court judge for Vigo County, serving for four years. In 1896, he retired from his law practice and moved to Los Angeles, California.
Although it was his intention to retire upon his move to California, he eventually formed a law partnership with two other attorneys and continued to practice law. Cyrus McNutt died on May 31, 1912 and was buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles. The book History of California and an Extended History of Los Angeles and Environs said “his life record was one on which rests no shadow of wrong or injustice. Loyalty and integrity characterized his every thought and action, and he commanded the confidence and esteem of all who knew him.” In 1916, his grandnephew Paul Vories McNutt joined the law faculty at Indiana University, Bloomington, became Dean in 1925, and elected Governor of Indiana in 1932.
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Baskin Eply Rhoads
Baskin Eply Rhoads was born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, on May 1, 1834. When he was 2, his family moved to Indiana, settling first in Rockville and later in Waveland. His early education was at the Waveland Academy. In addition to his formal education, Rhoads was trained in the art of tanning. Eventually he attended and graduated (1860) Wabash College. Before and after college, Rhoads taught school in Montgomery, Vermillion, and Clinton counties. He also served as a Professor of Natural Science at the Clinton Institute (Vermillion County), as well as the Superintendent of the Rockville public schools. During this period (1860-1862) he was also studying law under Judge Samuel Maxwell of Park County.
Rhoads was admitted to the state bar in 1862 and quickly setup a law practice in Newport, Indiana. In 1864, Rhoads was chosen Representative of Vermillion County. Baskin Rhoads served just one term in the General Assembly, but he became known as a passionate advocate for public education. As a legislator, he was instrumental in the creation and drafting of the bill that led to the establishment of the Indiana State Normal School (Indiana State University) in Terre Haute. In 1868 he was elected Professor of Greek at Indiana University, but declined preferring to continue his law practice. That same year he was elected a Trustee of Indiana University, a position he accepted and held until 1872. While a Trustee, Rhoads joined the faculty of the Indiana University School of Law where he taught real property and contracts (1870-1877). He served as Vigo County superior court judge (1881-82) and as a member of the first board of trustees of Coates College of Women in Terre Haute.
In addition to his career as a educator and lawyer, Rhoads tinkered in science. In 1862 he unearthed a stone which contained a never before seen fossil. Upon examination by experts at the Smithsonian Institute, the fossil was named in his honor, Eupachyerinus Tubereulatas Rhoadsü
Baskin Eply Rhoads died on January 15, 1895 in Terre Haute, at the age of 60.
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Ambrose Bolivar Carlton
Ambrose Bolivar Carlton was born in Bedford, Indiana, on December 18, 1825. His education was highlighted by private instruction from the legendary Hoosier lawyer/politician/Secretary of the Navy, Richard Wigginton Thompson. Carlton served in the U.S. Army (1846-47) during the Mexican-American War, before returning to Indiana and enrolling at Indiana University. He graduated from the Law Department in 1849 with a LL.B. degree. After graduation, Carlton returned to his hometown to open up a law office. In addition to practicing law in Bedford, Carlton served as Prosecuting Attorney and Judge of the Common Pleas Court. Carlton returned to Bloomington in 1856 where he was appointed Professor of Law Pro Tem, for the 1856-57 academic year, while James Hughes took a one-year leave of absence.
After teaching at IU, Ambrose would go on to have a long career in the law as an attorney in private practice, as a judge in various courts, and as a politician (including service in the Indiana House of Representatives in 1877). Despite his strong connection and service to the state of Indiana, Carlton’s name is perhaps most associated with the state of Utah. In 1881, President Chester Arthur appointed Carlton to the U.S. Commission for Utah. The controversial (at least in Utah) commission imposed registration requirements which prohibited parties of plural marriage from voting. Reappointed to the commission six times, Carlton and his family spent his entire commission tenure living in Utah.
Carlton wrote a book about the work of the commission entitled, The Wonderlands of the Wild West: with Sketches of the Mormons (1891). He also wrote the legal treatise, The Law of Homicide (1882). Carlton returned to Terre Haute, Indiana after his time in Utah. He died there on September 5, 1901.
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David Walter LaFollette
David W. LaFollette (sometimes spelled La Follette) was born in Floyd County, Indiana, on September 13, 1825. His childhood was spent on the family farm where he was born and in local public schools. His first career was a teacher, but in 1847, he began reading law with Judge W. A. Porter in Corydon. He then attended the Indiana University Law Department and graduated in 1849.
Little is known of the details of LaFollette’s legal career, but what is known includes his positions as Prosecuting Attorney for the Court of Common Pleas in Corydon (1852), practicing attorney in New Albany with James Collins (1855), Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Floyd County (1858), Attorney of New Albany, President of the Board of Public Education (New Albany), Prosecuting Attorney for the district of Floyd and Clark Counties (1872), and Professor of Law at Indiana University (1873-1874). After leaving the University, he returned to New Albany and opened a firm with Colonel W. W. Tuley (Lafollette & Tuley)
David Walter LaFollette died on March 21, 1888 at the age of 62. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery in New Albany.