Draft:Thomas G. Shearman, Gilded Age Lawyer and Political Economist

Thomas G. Shearman, Gilded Age Lawyer and Political Economist

Tom Shearman came to the United States from England as a young child in 1844. He left school at age 13 and never attended a college or law school. However, he authored two important legal treatises early in his career. And he litigated cases that are still written about today. He co founded a law firm that celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2023. And he was a leading voice on many public issues. He is particularly remembered for speaking out against tariffs and excise taxation in the United States as an unjust burden on the poor.

Early Life

Thomas Gaskell Shearman was born in Birmingham, England in 1834, the youngest of five children of John and Sarah Price Shearman. He came to the United States with his family in 1844 and settled in New York. Because the family had very limited resources, Shearman left formal schooling at age 13. He worked as a clerk in various businesses until 1857. He then began reading in the library of young lawyer friends. To support himself he found work digesting court decisions and other legal materials for lawyers involved in special projects and in writing treatises. He was admitted to the bar in 1859 based on "reading the law", rather than attending law school. An abolitionist, he tried to enlist in the Union Army at the outbreak of the Civil War but was rejected because of poor eyesight.

Lawyer

Among Shearman's first clients was David Dudley Field, a preminent lawyer in his time and a leader in movements to reform the law. Courtroom practice was then largely based on the complex English pleading system that required all claims to fit within established categories. Shearman was initially hired to work on one of Field's many law reform projects. Field subsequently hired Shearman as his firm's Managing Clerk in 1864. And in 1868 Shearman became the third parner in the newly renamed firm of Field & Shearman. The firm, whose only other partner was Field's son Dudley, had a thriving practice. For example, in 1866 Field argued and won two politically sensitive cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, Ex parte Milligan and the Test Oath cases. And the firm represented Field's brother Cyrus in his transatlantic cable venture that finally met with success in 1866 after more than a decade of effort.

An anonymous article critical of certain New York judges affiliated with Tammany Hall, appeared in a prominent national magazine in 1867. It did not name the judges criticized but they were easily identifiable from the information in the article. The article was then and has been widely attributed to Shearman. It was apparently written shortly before the Field firm began to represent Jim Fisk and Jay Gould in 1868. Gould is still remembered as among the most widely reviled of the "Robber Baons" of the time. as managers of the Erie Railroad, Fisk and Gould sought advice in connection with their defense against a Vanderbilt takeover of the Erie. Part of the Fisk-Gould defense included putting Tammany's Boss Tweed on the Erie Board. After extended and intensive maneuvers, a settlement eas reached that left Fisk and Gould in control. In this matter Shearman was required to seek orders from some of the judges he criticized in the article. Later in 1868, Fisk and Gould became active traders in Erie stock and again found Vanderbilt as their primary adversary. A year later, Fisk and Gould tried to take over the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad and merge it with the Erie. That attempt failed. Together these three efforts are often referred to as the "Erie Wars".

In the summer of 1869 Fisk and Gould became involved in an effort to corner the Gold Market. That effort, still referred to as "Black Friday" bankrupted many and resulted in hundreds of lawsuits against them. Field & SHearman acted for Fisk & Gould on these claims. Later in 1869, Field & Shearman defended Boss Tweed who had been indicted for misappropriating New York City funds. Tweed's trial ended in a "hung jury". Soon thereafter, Gould became involved in the ownership and operation of the Union Pacific and other railroad properties, with the help of Field & Shearman. Despite this intense activity, the firm remained small, as was the custom in those days.

In 1873, after the Tweed trial, David Dudley Field withdrew from the vpractice of law and relocated to Europe for a year to try to bring his procedural reforms to the law there. The Field & Shearman partnership was dissolved. Shearman chose John W. Sterling as his new partner and the firm of Shearman & Sterling was formed. Sterling was the newest and only other non-Field family partner in Field & Shearman. Many Field & Shearman clients, including Gould, opted to use Shearman & Sterling rather than Field's son, who continued in practice. Shearman & Sterling's initial engagements included many Gould cases cases remaining from Black Friday.

Field and Shearman individually drew harsh publc, bar and judicial criticism arising from their defense of their clients in the Erie Wars. Their defense was that unpopular, even bad, clients were entitled to legal representation. The critics questioned the tactics of Field and Shearman, although conflicting court orders were obtained by both sides. A committee of the newly formed Association of the Bar of the City of New York met to condider a censure of Field and a New york judge threatened him wuith contempt. These threats continued for more than a year with Field vigorously disputing them. No censure or other charges were ever made nor was contempt imposed on either Fiels or Shearman. National ethics rules were first proposed by the American Bar Association in .

Churchman and Defender of His Minister

Just months before the formation of Shearman & Sterling, Shearman began to take a leading role in defending his friend and minister, Henry Ward Beecher, both in and out of court. Over several years Shearman counseled and defended Beecher against accusations of adultery with the wife of a friend both of whom were parishioners. Beecher was probably the most famous preacher and orator in the United States. The trial involved 110 court days and received unprecedented newspaper coverage. The case ended with the jury finding for the defendant, Beecher

Throughout his life, Shearman was deeply committed to his religion. Beginning in 1857, when the family moved to Brooklyn, he attended Plymouth Church, where Beecher was the minister. Over the years, he served as Clek, Trustee and deacon of the Church. for many years he was Superintendent of its Sunday School.

Political Economist

Shearman took public psitions on the great issues of the day, even as he practiced law. He was an abolitionist, a free-trader, a friend to oppressed groups everywhere. He lectured and wrote articles on the many issues that attracted his interest.

At the center of his attention regarding public issues was taxation in the United States. The first permanent income tax was enacted in 1913. Before that the U.S. government was financed based on tariffs and excise taxes. He considered these taxes unjust because they burdened the poor and favored the rich.

The post-Civil War period brought remarkable economic growth for the country. But those who worked on farms and in factories did not share in the economic benefits. For them, the Gilded Age was marked by depressions, unemployment and bloody strikes. The 1873 depression lasted until at least 1877. The 1880s brought mass demonstrations and labors entry into the political arena. Strikes spread across the country in 1894. The depression of 1893 lasted until 1897.

Henry George became a major figure in the 1880s with the publication of his book, "Progress and Poverty".He advocated a new tax on the value of all land (but not the improvements on it) to replace tariffs and excise taxes. The new tax came to be referred to as the "single tax" at Shearman's suggestion. He believed that this new revenue stream would also change the dynamics of the economy and lift the workers of the nation out of poverty.The book sold over 2 million copies and is probably the all time bestseller for a book on economics.Shearman met George when George came to New York in 1880 to publicize his book. He became a fervent supporter of the George tax proposal and made time to became a leader in efforts to publicize and enact it.

Shearman gradually began withdrawing from the practice of law in the 1890s and he become more deeply involved in political economics. In 1889 Forum, a magazine of national circulation,published Shearman's article" The Owners of the United States". In it, bsed on the rudimentary statistics available at the time he concluded that much of the collective wealth of the country was in the hands of a small number of families. A historian of U.S. taxation referred to the article as "one of the most respected surveys" of the deep divide that had formed between rich and poor as the U.S. became industrialized.

Shearman's book, Natural Taxation, was published in 1895. It went through several editions. In it he supported George's ideas although he viewed the single tax mainly as a fiscal matter rather than on a philosophical basis. The book provided a factual basis to supplement George's theoretical arguments. Shearman was a major force in organizing the New York Tax Reform Association in 1891. The now universal practice of assessing the value of land and improvements separately arose from the efforts of the Association. And Shearman took a leading role in failed efforts in 1895 to enact the single tax into law in Delaware. To this day, the single tax hasits adherents although the costs of government could no longer be supported solely by that tax.

Shearman Remembered

Shearman died on September 29, 2000. He was survived by his wife of 41 years, Ellen partridge Shearman. They were childless. The New York times obituary hailed him as a "Well Known Lawyer and Political Economist". A eulogy by Beecher's successor at Plymouth Church saw Shearman as "by profession a lawyer, by temperment and nature...a reformer"