Frederic R. DeYoung

Frederic R. DeYoung (September 12, 1875 – November 16, 1934) was an American jurist and politician who served as a judge on the Supreme Court of Illinois (1924–1934), judge on the Superior Court of Cook County (1923–1924), judge on the original Circuit Court of Cook County (1921), member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1915–1919), and the city attorney of Harvey, Illinois (1908–1919), among other public offices. DeYoung ran as a Republican for most of his political career. However, in his last campaign (his 1933 reelection to the Supreme Court of Illinois), he ran instead as a Democrat. While serving on the Supreme Court of Illinois, DeYoung authored more than 440 opinions. Among the more notable opinions which DeYoung authored was the opinion he authored for the City of Aurora v. Burns case which supported the constitutionally of zoning. This opinion was quoted at length in the opinion for the landmark United States Supreme Court decision Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., which upheld the national constitutionally of land use zoning. Early life and education DeYoung was born September 12, 1874, in Chicago, Illinois, to parents that had both immigrated as children to the United States from The Netherlands. At the time of his birth, his family resided in one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the city. However, when he was five years of age, DeYoung's family moved to the village of Roseland, Illinois, which was ethnically Dutch at the time. Several years later, his family moved to South Holland, Illinois, which was a main center of Chicago area's Dutch population. DeYoung was educated until leaving school at the age of twelve when his family returned to the West Side of Chicago in 1887. He never completed primary school or secondary school. In Chicago, he worked for a local jeweler. In 1890, when he was fifteen, he began working as a timekeeper at a Pullman Company factory near where he lived. He left this job to enroll at Bryant & Stratton Business College, but stopped attending after health issues prevented him from doing so. After this, DeYoung was sent to Europe by his father. Upon returning, he enrolled at Northern Indiana Normal School (which is today known as Valparaiso University), and graduated in 1895. After this, he enrolled at Northwestern University Law School, and received a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1897 at the age of twenty-two.