2004 Year in Review

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Ludens, et al

Ludens, Potter, Burch, and Melton 1868

Just like a family, a long-standing business can trace its genealogy, or line of precedence. This photograph acknowledges the current members of the law firm of Ludens, Potter, Burch, and Melton, one of the two oldest firms in Whiteside County. In the front row are Bob Potter, Gladys Ludens (representing her husband Lawrence A. Ludens), and Bill Burch. In the back row are Tom Potter, Stan Steines, Tod Melton, and Mike Melander.

This law business was started in 1868 by Frank D. Ramsay. In 1895 he formed a partnership (called Ramsay and McCalmont) with Samuel M. McCalmont, a native of Ustick Township, who had practiced law for three years in Fulton. Ramsay was elected circuit judge in 1897. Two years later his son, Luther R. Ramsay, joined the newly-titled firm of McCalmont and Ramsay. W. Douglas Little joined the firm in 1929; he died in 1935.

That was the year Mason Bull of Chicago joined the firm of McCalmont, Ramsay, and Bull. McCalmont died in 1937, and Ramsay died in 1939. The firm was continued through the years of World War II by Mason Bull until 1952. Then, the firm of Bull, Ludens, and Potter was formed: Mason Bull, Lawrence A. Ludens (son of the late Judge Harry Ludens), and Robert H. Potter.

Robert H. Potter retired in 1982. Mason Bull and Lawrence A. Ludens died in 1983 and 1990, respectively. Today the law firm is managed by partners William A. Burch, Thomas J. Potter (son of Robert), and M. Tod Melton with offices at 409 N. Cherry Street. Michael J. Melander is an associate, and Stanley B. Steines is of council to the firm. The “attorney family” of Ludens, Potter, Burch, and Melton has resided in Morrison for 136 years and continues to serve the community.

by svavra
2004-11-23 10:52:48