Elhanan John Searle (January 18, 1835 – August 18, 1906)[1][2] was an American lawyer, soldier and jurist who served as an associate justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1871 to 1873.

[1][3] In 1861 Searle completed his study and passed the bar exam, however the same year the American Civil War broke out and he rushed to volunteer.

[1][4] Searle declined preferential treatment offered to him by President Abraham Lincoln, and on September 23, 1861, enlisted in Company H, 10th Illinois Infantry Regiment, at Springfield as a private.

He served as circuit judge until February 10, 1871, when he was appointed to a two-year term as one of the justices of the Supreme Court of Arkansas.

[2] On May 3, 1872, men claiming to be acting on behalf of supporters of Arkansas gubernatorial candidate Elisha Baxter hijacked a train from Memphis, Tennessee, and purported to arrest Searle and fellow justice John E. Bennett,[5] thinking that the Court would be unable to rule without a quorum of judges.

[2] In 1875 Searle moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he practiced law for a few years, taking part as counsel in a number of important cases, and taking an active part in the 1876 United States presidential election, filling nearly all the speaking engagements of John A. Logan, who was ill. Later, Searle practiced law for a time in St. Louis, and then in Pana, Illinois, till 1885.

He then spent two years in travel, and in 1887 retired to Rock Island County, purchasing the well known Rodman home, where he resided until his death.