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RALEIGH MARTIN SHAW,
In the march of the ages mankind is learning that the greatest heroes of the centuries to come are not the
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heroes of blood, but the heroes of utilitarian brawn, of indomitable character and of keen, purposeful brain. In connection with the last class, at least, one is prone to think of a young man whose comparatively brief life has shown some hint of what he may accomplish in the profession which he has chosen and perhaps in the service of a commonwealth not necessarily bounded by the limits of his county. For at the age of twenty-four Raleigh Martin Shaw gives promise of an unusually brilliant career.
The best blood of our land is that which has grown rich in red corpuscles and steady in its ebb and flow through the sane and wholesome life of the farm. Successful and well-to-do agriculturists are the parents of the young barrister who is the subject of this sketch. The father, Hutchins Shaw, first saw day in Union county, Ohio, on October 27, 1844. The same connty was the birthplace of Mary Alice Amrine, whose natal day was September 4, 1852, and who was united in marriage with Mr. Shaw on December 25, 1870. Their first home was in Sumner, Illinois, from which place they later removed to their residence in town which is still their home. They are people of general education, supplemented by marked intelligence. They ar'e members of the Christian church, of which congregation Mr. Shaw is an elder. He is a Democrat by political preference and a man interested in all progressive movements.
Raleigh Martin Shaw was born at Sumner, Illinois, on August 8, 1888. His education began in the rural schools of that community. His boyish ambition then led him to complete the course of the high school of Sumner. Desiring a practical training in the laws and customs of properly conducted business, he next sought the training to be gained from the commercial courses of Valparaiso University, at Valparaiso, Indiana. Five years of application of the technical knowledge thus gained have given the young man most valuable experience. But the deeper aspects of legal principles, the usefulness of a life frankly devoted to the highest legal interests and the opportunities it offers to one having both talent and preference for public life led Raleigh Shaw to a study of the law. His researches in this subject were pursued in the College of Law of the Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington, Illinois. His scholarship was throughout his course of a particularly high order and he was honored by his fraternity with the title of Justice. In 1912 he was graduated from this institution, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Since his return to his native community he has received the most signal honor of being made nominee for the office of prosecuting attorney.
Mr. Shaw is affiliated fraternally with the Modern Woodmen of America and is a member of the Phi Alpha Delta fraternity, the latter being emphatically a mark of his popularity and high standing while in college. The young lawyer 's many friends are extremely desirous of seeing him elected to the office for which he has been nominated, in which case he would be the youngest prosecuting attorney of whom Lawrence county has ever been able to boast. In any event it is easy to prophesy that Raleigh Martin Shaw has an exceptionally brilliant future before him.