Paul Edward Darrow Research Paper

On April 15, 1880, Darrow and Jesse Ohl, a girl he had grown up with in Kinsman, were married. They immediately moved to Andover where they expected he could set up a law practice and make a living. He quickly realized that was not an easy thing to do and that he needed to make contacts and get his name known. One way to do this was to offer his services as a public speaker and another way was to become involved in politics. By 1883, he was a speaker in the Andover area and he joined the Democratic party. But by the end of 1883, Jesse gave birth to a son, Paul Edward Darrow, and that provided more reason to find a way to supplement his meager earnings from his law practice. Because of his developing political connections, he decided to run for the city solicitor position in Ashtabula, Ohio. He was successful, becoming city solicitor in April, 1885. Darrow quickly learned some things that would help determine his destiny. He enjoyed going to court and pleading for his clients. He found that this kind of work increased his self-confidence. But, he also discovered that he got immense satisfaction fighting hard and winning for clients, and, furthermore, he learned that he was at his best when he put his heart and soul in his client’s cause (Tierney, 1979). …show more content…
One of the first things he read by Altgeld was a short book entitled “Our Penal Machinery and its Victims.” Published in 1886, the book was an attempt to change prevailing attitudes toward crime, and although Altgeld rejected the current explanations that viewed crime as due to the innate sinfulness of criminals he also called for a closer examination of the causes of criminal behavior (Joshi, 2005). The book impressed Darrow and he would remember its influence on him for a long