Clarence Seward Darrow was born to Amirus and Emily Darrow in Farmdale, Ohio, on April 18, 1857.  Clarence and his seven siblings were taught philosophy, classic literature, free thought, and Darwinism at an early age. 
Clarence attended school, although, these tutoring sessions came from his father.  These teachings where to stay with Clarence forever as life lessons which influenced his thought and philosophy. 
   Clarence attended Allegheny College and the University of Michigan Law School.  He attended both schools, each for only a year.  He did not graduate from either school, yet he was accepted as a member of the Ohio bar when he was twenty-one. 
   Clarence was married April 15, 1880 to Jessie Ohl, a close friend that he had known from Kinman. They had a son, Paul Edward, on December 10 of 1883.  Jessie and Clarence were to stay married until 1897, when Jessie could no longer handle the fast pace of Chicago, nor her husband. 
   In 1887, at the age of thirty, Clarence and his young family moved to Chicago, Illinois.  Clarence set up a law office and became involved in local politics.  Chicago is also where Darrow would participate in over 2,000 debates and lectures.  His topics ranged from capital punishment, prohibition, pacifism, heredity, religion, free will, evolution, socialism, prison reform, and labor unions.  With honesty, loyalty, and proud convictions, Clarence also began his life long project to defend the weak, the poor, and the sick, in over 2,000 court cases. 
   Darrow became famous for defending some of the most unpopular cases and people of his time.  Whether it was the case itself, or Darrows captivating words that made his cases famous, is debatable.  One of Darrows most famous cases is U.S. vs. Debs, 1895.  In this case Darrow was defending Eugene V. Debs, the president of American Railway Union, during the Pullman Strike of 1894.  Idaho vs. Haywood, 1907, was a similar case, where Darrow defended William “Big Bill” Haywood, America’s most radical labor leader, for ordering the assassination of former governor, Frank Steunenberg.  California vs. McNamara, 1911, was yet another labor case defending brothers, James and John McNamara, for the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building, during a strike.  California vs. Darrow, 1912-1913 stemmed from the McNamara case, Darrow was accused of jury bribery.  Illinois vs. Leopold-Loeb, 1924, nicknamed, The Crime of the Century, was the most stressful of Darrows cases.  He successfully defended two confessed murderers, Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, from receiving death sentences.  Tennessee vs. Scopes, 1925, coined, The Trial of the Century, is by far Darrows most celebrated trials.  In this case he defended John Scopes for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution to his high school class.  Michigan vs. Sweet, 1925-1926, or the Sweet Family Trials, was one which Darrow defended a black man on trial for murder. 
 Although Darrow was a brilliant and dedicated defense lawyer, and a resplendent lecturer, he had other talents and interests.  He wrote essays on art and literature.  He wrote short stories and novels, including: Resist Not Evil, 1902; Farmington, 1904; An Eye for an Eye, 1905; Crime: Its Cause and Treatment, 1922; and his autobiography, The Story of My Life, 1932. 
   On March 13, 1938, at the age of eighty, Clarence Seward Darrow died in his Chicago apartment, which he had shared with his second wife Ruby for thirty years. His body was on display for two days and nights to accommodate all that wanted to give their final respects to such a brilliant and inspiring man.  At his funeral Judge Holly preached the oration saying: “ It is a magnificent thing that Clarence Darrow lived. In Clarence Darrow’s heart was infinite pity and mercy for the poor, the oppressed, the weak and the erring- all races, all colors, all creeds, all humankind.”