In spite of the impressive body of scholarly writing devoted to the legal history of Wisconsin, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the development of the Wisconsin legal profession in the nineteenth century. Biographies have been written of individual lawyers like William Ryan and Robert LaFollette; there have been studies of particular law firms and of legal education; but there has been little written on the bar as a collective body.
In this regard, the records of the United States Census contain a rich treasure of information pertaining to the legal profession. The Bureau of the Census began collecting occupational data in 1850. In 1870, it began to publish detailed information pertaining to the personal characteristics of those included in specific occupational groups. From the census records, it is possible to construct a composite picture of the Wisconsin bar from 1870 to 1900.
