John Forrest Dillon (December 25, 1831 – May 6, 1914) was an attorney in Iowa and New York, a justice of the Iowa Supreme Court and a United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit. He authored a highly influential treatise on the power of states over municipal governments. Education and career Born on December 25, 1831, in Northampton, (then part of Montgomery County, now part of Fulton County), New York, Dillon received a Doctor of Medicine in 1850 from the University of Iowa. He read law in 1852. He entered private practice in Davenport, Iowa from 1852 to 1853. He was county attorney for Scott County, Iowa from 1853 to 1858. He was a Judge of the Iowa District Court for the Seventh Judicial District from 1858 to 1862. He was a justice of the Iowa Supreme Court from 1862 to 1868. Federal judicial service Dillon was nominated by President Ulysses S. Grant on December 9, 1869, to the United States Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 16 Stat. 44. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 22, 1869, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on September 1, 1879, due to his resignation. Scholarship and notable ruling While on the federal bench, Dillon wrote Municipal Corporations (1872), one of the earliest systematic studies of the subject. He also authored Removal of Cases from State Courts to Federal Courts and Municipal Bonds, both in 1876. On February 17, 1876, during the Whiskey Ring graft prosecutions, Justice Dillon ruled Ulysses S. Grant's deposition for Orville E. Babcock was admissible in court. Later career Following his resignation from the federal bench, Dillon was a Professor of law for Columbia University from 1879 to 1882. He resumed private practice in New York City, New York from 1882 to 1914. He was the Storrs Professor of law at Yale University from 1891 to 1892, during which time he wrote The Laws and Jurisprudence of England and America: Being a Series of Lectures Delivered Before Yale University. He died on May 6, 1914, in New York City. Memorial A memorial fountain to Dillon was erected in downtown Davenport in 1918, carved of Indiana limestone in Romanesque style, by sculptor Harry Liva. Family In 1853, Dillon married Anna Margery Price (born 19 June 1835). They had two