Noah Haynes Swayne

“ It is also claimed that the legal status of Alonzo Redman, at the time of his death, is to be determined by the civil and not by the common law; and it is insisted, that by the provisions of the civil law legitimate and illegitimate children stood upon a footing of equality. We have not deemed it necessary to examine the provisions of the civil law referred to, because, in our judgment, they have no application to the subject. When Alonzo Redman died, the common law of England was in full force in the State of Illinois. ”

“ The Wills act of 1829, section 47, that of 1845, section 53, and the act of 1853, all, by the clearest implication, recognise the heritable disabilities of the illegitimate in the absence of enabling statutes. Such is also the theory of the act of 1857.
By the rules of the common law, terms of kindred, when used in a statute, include only those who are legitimate, unless a different intention is clearly manifested. This is conceded by the counsel for the defendant in error. The proposition is too clear to require either argument or authority to sustain it. ”

“ The ordinance of 1787 guaranteed that 'judicial proceedings' in the Territory should be 'according to the course of the common law.' In 1795, the Territorial governor and judges adopted that law for the Territory. ”