Spooner, John Coit

Spooner, John Coit

(1843–1919) U.S. senator; born in Lawrenceburg, Ind. A Civil War veteran and lawyer, he won fame for the railroad litigation cases he successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. Elected to the U.S. Senate (Rep., Wis.; 1885–91, 1897–1907), he was author of a bill authorizing construction of the Panama Canal. The rise of the progressive Republicans drove him out of office and he went into private practice in New York City.