5/11/1875 Leroy Scott arrives in Indiana

May 11, 1875.  So when do you think the first novel appeared starring a female criminal attorney?  Did you guess 1912?  I didn't think so.

Leroy Scott was born on this date in Indiana.  He was a newspaper reporter, an activist and a social worker.  His fourth novel, Counsel For The Defense (1912), was decades ahead of its time.  One reviewer notes that the protagonist "secures the release of two innocent prisoners, overthrows a political ring, exposes a water-works conspiracy, elects a mayor and marries him."  Wow.

You can read the book here for free.

Source: James Alvin Huston.  A Hoosier Sampler: An Anthology of Indiana Writers.