Edgar Bronson Tolman (b. 1859) was a prominent Chicago lawyer.
Edgar Bronson Tolman was born in Nagaon on September 5, 1859, the son of a missionary, the Rev. Cyrus F. Tolman and his wife Mary (Bronson) Tolman.[1] His family returned to the United States in 1864.[2] He was educated at the University of Chicago, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1880 and a master's degree in 1882.[3] He concurrently attended Union College of Law (which is today Northwestern University School of Law) while working on his master's, receiving a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1882.[4]
While in grad school / law school, he also studied law with James Rood Doolittle.[5] He then joined Doolittle's law firm, with the firm becoming Doolittle, McKay & Tolman in 1889 (and later becoming Doolittle, Palmer & Tolman).[6]
He served during the Spanish–American War (1898), seeing action at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.[7] He held the rank of major, and was thereafter commonly known as "Major Tolman" for the rest of his life.[8]
From 1901 to 1902, he was attorney for Chicago's Board of Local Improvement.[9] He was then corporation counsel for the City of Chicago from June 12, 1903 until August 1, 1905.[10]
After leaving government service, he was the senior member of his own law firm, Tolman, Redfield & Sexon.[11] He served as president of the Illinois State Bar Association for 1917-18.[12]
He became editor-in-chief of the American Bar Association Journal in February 1921.[13] He became editor-in-chief emeritus in 1946 and remained on the Journal's masthead until December 1947.[14]