The courses available in the college are the academic, the collegiate, business and stenographic, which are presided over by twenty-two professors, and in which are 300 students. St. Benedict’s is one of the finest Catholic institutions in the West. CHAPTER XVIII. BENCH AND BAR. EARLY MECCA OF LEGAL TALENT—ORGANIZATION OF JUDICIAL DISTRICT—EARLY JUDGES—PROMINENT PIONEER LAWYERS—MEMBERS OF THE ATCHISON COUNTY BAR. Atchison county has always been particularly proud of the high order of talent that has graced its bench and bar. From the very earliest days of its history, the legal profession has been well represented here. Men who have reached a high order of distinction in the profession have had their beginning at the bar of this county. In fact, this county has been somewhat unique in this respect, for there is perhaps no other county in Kansas that has furnished a greater number of distinguished representatives of this noble profession, who have shed their luster upon the fair name of the State. For a long period, indeed, Atchison seemed to be the Mecca towards which the best legal talent from all quarters of the country gathered, and it was the Atchison bar that furnished three chief justices of the supreme court of Kansas, one United States district judge, an attorney-general, a governor, a United States senator, and a general counsel for a large railroad system. No attempt will be made in this chapter to give a complete roster of names of the many lawyers who have successfully practiced their profession here. The list is too numerous, but reference will be made to a number of conspicuous leaders, whose names stand out prominently in the history of the State, and whose careers have enriched the story of success and achievement.