If and when Lincoln practiced law, which field was he in?

stuthehistoryguy

Law was not as segmented a field in Lincoln's day as it is now, so The Great Emancipator's cases stretched over many fields. That said, he did tend to specialize in business and property cases, representing the Illinois Central Railroad on more than one occasion. http://www.lib.niu.edu/1995/ihy950247.html Lincoln did try one murder case. The accused was the son of his old friend, Jack Armstrong. Rather notoriously, Lincoln discredited the prosecution's key witness, who testified that he saw the accused commit the crime in the light of the full moon. Lincoln consulted an almanac verifying that the moon was in its first quarter and low on the horizon at the time of the murder. Young Armstrong was acquitted, though many armchair historians feel he may have been guilty. http://www.almanac.com/lincoln-almanac-murder Jan 16 13, 6:43 PM