Isaac N. Arnold

Isaac Newton Arnold (November 30, 1815 – April 24, 1884) was an American politician who made his career in Chicago. He served two terms in the United States House of Representatives (1860–1864) and in 1864 introduced the first resolution in Congress proposing a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery in the United States. After returning to Chicago in 1866, he practiced law and wrote biographies of Abraham Lincoln and Benedict Arnold.

Early life, education, and career

Born on November 30, 1815 in Hartwick, New York, Arnold was the son of Sophia M. and Dr. George Washington Arnold, natives of Rhode Island who had migrated to New York after the Revolutionary War. He attended common schools, followed by the Hartwick Seminary in 1831–1832. There he joined the Philophronean Society, who debated the issues of the day, including the abolition of slavery.

From 1832 to 1835, Arnold taught school in Otsego County. He studied law with Richard Cooper, and later with Judge E. B. Morehouse of Cooperstown. He was admitted to the bar in 1835 (at the age of 20) and became a partner of Morehouse.

Migration west and early elected offices

Excited by other possibilities, in 1836 Arnold moved to Chicago, a small village developing as population migrated west after completion of the Erie Canal in New York, which connected Great Lakes shipping to the port of New York City. He became a law partner of Mahlon D. Ogden. In his practice of law, Arnold dealt with cases before Northern Illinois and the Illinois Supreme Court. When arguing before the Supreme Court, he twice was the opposing counsel of Illinois attorney Abraham Lincoln, who he became acquainted with and befriended. When Chicago was incorporated the following year, and Arnold was elected its first city clerk while in 1837 Ogden was elected its first mayor. Arnold left office in order to focus on his legal practice.