Weymouth Kirkland

Kirkland's father worked as superintendent of the shops of the Grand Trunk Railway in Port Huron, Michigan.

Kirkland was raised in Fort Gratiot until he was fifteen years old, at which time he moved to Chicago and attended public schools.

When McCormick established the New York Daily News in 1919, Kirkland handled the legal work involved.

Kirkland argued that constitutional guarantees on freedom of the press should prevent governments from suing private citizens for libel; the Supreme Court of Illinois was persuaded and ultimately ruled that the common law doctrine of "libel on the state" had no place in a free republic.

Mayor Thompson later brought a second lawsuit against the Tribune, alleging that the newspaper had accused him of having pro-German leanings during World War I.

Kirkland won a major battle for freedom of the press in the Supreme Court of the United States with Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 (1931).

In that case, the United States Department of Justice had successfully brought antitrust charges against 46 oil companies and individuals.

Kirkland ultimately convinced Judge Patrick Thomas Stone to throw out all of the convictions against Standard Oil Company (Indiana).

In 1933, Kirkland headed a syndicate that purchased the National Bank & Trust Co. and thereafter sat on that company's Board of Directors.

Kirkland died on February 3, 1965, at Wesley Hospital, close to his long-time home at 209 East Lake Shore Drive.