He briefly worked a law office in Memphis, Tennessee before establishing a series of practices in Chicago, Illinois.

In 1885, he was elected to the Supreme Court of Illinois, where he wrote the decision denying the appeal of the Haymarket affair anarchists.

Magruder then attended the University of Louisiana at New Orleans Law School and graduated as valedictorian in 1858.

Joseph Gary, a former partner of Bailey, appointed Magruder Master in Chancery for the Superior Court of Cook County in 1868.

[1] Upon the death of Theophilus Lyle Dickey in 1885, Magruder was elected to fill his position in the Supreme Court of Illinois.

His tenure on the court is best known for his decision in Illinois vs. August Spies et al. in 1887 to uphold the convictions against the Haymarket anarchists.