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EDWARD C. KRAMER merits consideration in this publication by reason of his high standing as one of the representative members of the bar of his native state, where he has many and important professional connections, and also by reason of his influential position as a citizen of utmost progressiveness and public spirit. He served four years on the bench of the county court of Wayne county and since 1898 he has maintained his residence and professional headquarters in the city of East St. Louis, the metropolis of St. Clair county. He has gained more than local prestige as a corporation lawyer and is legal representative for a number of important railroad and industrial corporations. The Judge is a man of fine intellectual and professional attainments and stands as an exemplar of the highest ethics of the vocation in which he has achieved so much of success and distinction.
Edward Charles Kramer was born on a farm in Wabash county,
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Illinois, on the 1st of Febrnary, 1857, and is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of that county, where his parents, Henry and Martha Kramer, took up their residence in an early day, the father having there devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits until their removal to Wayne county, Illinois, in 1873, where they have since maintained their home, commanding the high esteem of all who know them. Like many another who has gained precedence in the legal profession, Judge Kramer found the days of his boyhood and youth compassed by the invigorating environment and discipline of the farm, but the basic industry of agriculture did not prove adequate to satisfy his ambition. He gained his preliminary education in the public schools of his native county and supplemented this by attendance in normal schools, in which latter he qualified himself for successful work in the pedagogic profession, to which he devoted his attention while preparing himself for that of the law. He prosecuted his legal studies under effective preceptorship and in 1882 was admitted to the bar of his native state. He initiated the practice of law at Fairfield, Wayne county, and in that county he continued to reside until his removal to East St. Louis, as already noted in this context. His energy, ability and ambitious efforts soon gained to him a substantial practice, and in 1886 he was elected to the office of judge of the county court of Wayne county, of which position he continued the incumbent until 1890, the while he also served as master of chancery for the county during the same period. He was a member of the board of commissioners of the Illinois penitentiary from 1893 until 1897, and in 1898 he removed to East St. Louis.
Judge Kramer controls a large and important practice and gives special attention to corporation law, in which connection he is attorney for the Terminal Association of St. Louis, the Southern Railroad Company, the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad Company, the Illinois Central Railroad Company, the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company, the Wabash Railroad Company, and The Wiggins Ferry Company. The Judge is a member of the directorate of each the Trenton Coal & Mining Company and the Southern Coal & Mining Company, for both of which corporations he is attorney.
In politics Judge Kramer is found aligned as a staunch and effective supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, though he has shown no predilection for office of political order. He is a member of the East St. Louis Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He has attained to the chivalric degrees in the Masonic fraternity, in which he is affiliated with the commandry of Knights Templars at Olney, Richland county, and in his home city he holds membership in the lodge of Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the St. Clair Country Club. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church of East St. Louis and he is chairman of its board of trustees.
On the 15th of September, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Judge Kramer to Miss Laura J. Ellis, of Grayville, White county, this state, and they have two children, Kenneth Edward and Pauline Ida.