Background
Frances Tilton Weaver was born in 1904 in Hays, Kansas.
Frances Tilton Weaver was born in 1904 in Hays, Kansas.
While in Valparaiso, Tilton attended the Valparaiso University School of Law. In 1925, she became the first female graduate in the law school"s history.
During her formative years, her family relocated to the midwestern town of Valparaiso, Indiana. Tilton was admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of Indiana in 1925, the Supreme Court of Illinois in 1927, and the United States District Court of Illinois in 1929. She was reported to be the youngest woman attorney to have licenses to practice law in the state supreme courts, and she was the first woman ever to practice law in Porter County, Indiana.
Tilton practiced law in Chicago until 1933, at which time she joined her father in practice in Valparaiso.
Tilton died in 2003. Being one of the first women to practice law in Chicago, Tilton was quoted many times as saying, "I"m here to cooperate, not compete.
She was a member of the Valparaiso Public Library Board, the Young Men’s Christian Association Board, the City Planners Commission, the League of Women Voters, and she was listed in the 1958 Marquis edition of "Who"s Who of American Women." During the 1930s, Tilton helped organize the Porter Memorial Hospital Guild. She was an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Kappa and the Valparaiso Women"s Club.