USA > Missouri > Cole County > Jefferson City > The Bench and bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and other Missouri cities : biographical sketches > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01053 3807
THE BENCH AND BAR
OF
St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City,
AND OTHER
2. MISSOURI CITIES.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES,
WITH STEEL ENGRAVED PORTRAITS.
Public Library NOV 1 9 1959 Dauus, Texas
ST. LOUIS AND CHICAGO: AMERICAN BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY. H. C. COOPER, JR., & Co., PROPRIETORS. 1884.
1940113
Bench and Bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City
Dallas American Biographers1884
H. C. COOPER, JE. & CO., PUBLISHERS, 107 MADISON STREET, CHICAGO.
.1
KNIGHT & LEONARD
HICh
R 911.8 BIST
PREFACE.
T HE difficulties in the way of achieving eminence in any calling are com- mensurate with its character. The law is no exception, and, as a profes- sion, ranks among the noblest. Law has to do with all the varied relations of men. " Her seat is the bosom of God, her voice is the harmony of the worlds; all things in heaven and earth do her homage, the very least as feeling her care, the great- est as not exempt from her power." What comprehensiveness! How noble the work, how great the responsibility, how sacred the trust committed to the law- yer! His it is rightly to comprehend, fairly to adjust and justly to administer that which secures man in the enjoyment of life, liberty and the pursuit of hap- pine'ss; and only when thus considered is there thrown around the profession of the law that dignity, and infused into it that moral force, which alone can inspire with an adequate and just conception of his duties and responsibilities, him who aspires to a place in its ranks. He who enters the legal profession solely because he discovers in it a means of money making, and uses it alone for pecuniary profit, can neither honor it nor be honored by it. The true lawyer sees in his pro- fession a noble science, worthy of his manliest effort, and he it is, who, bringing to it a mind cultured and richly stored with profound and varied learning, can be to it an ornament, and in his life reflect that honor which to the true lawyer, it cannot but impart. To attain the highest excellence, the lawyer must possess the most varied and opposite qualities With depth of understanding, there must combine acute discernment; learned in the subtleties of legal lore, he must also know men, and have tact to deal with them. He must be a student, and at the same time be able to leave the solitude of the study, and adapt himself to the every-day doings of men; able to command the respect of superiors, he must also be able to appeal to the weaknesses and infirmities of those less favored than himself: in fine he must be "all things to all men."
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PREFACE
In preparing this volume the publishers have aimed to faithfully represent the legal fraternity of the state of Missouri. The data have been secured by per- sonally interviewing those whose biographies are recorded, or their immediate friends, and by consulting records. The interest which many of the profession have shown in their undertaking has both been a source of gratification to them, and convinced them that the result of their labors cannot but supply an urgent need. That their work is faultless they do not presume; that it will meet with unqualified approval they dare not hope. They have conscientiously performed their task, and hope they have done it well. To those who read only to criticise they have no apology to offer, while for commendation they are willing to sub- mit the volume to the intelligent judgment of a fair-minded, liberal and gener- ous-hearted profession.
THE BENCH AND BAR
ST. LOUIS, KANSAS CITY, JEFFERSON CITY,
AND OTHER MISSOURI CITIES.
HON. SAMUEL TREAT. SAINT LOUIS.
MONG the factors which constitute the true greatness of a commonwealth, A and which are essential to its growth and prosperity, is its jurisprudence. In fact this is, as it has well been called, the corner stone of a stable government. One of the best examples of the jurist of untarnished character and eminent attainments in his profession is Hon. Samuel Treat, who has been on the bench of the United States district court since the administration of President Pierce. He has aided materially in giving character to the jurisprudence of the state, and is worthy of the most prominent place in this work.
Judge Treat is a son of Samuel Treat, Sr., and was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, December 17, 1815. He is a graduate of Harvard College (1837), and in Cambridge, Massachusetts, also commenced his law studies. Before com- pleting them he went to Genesco, Livingston county, New York, where he was engaged awhile in teaching in an academic institution, and where he finished his legal studies and was admitted to the bar, about 1839. He practiced a short time in western New York, and in 1841 settled in Saint Louis, At an early day in this city he devoted some time to journalism, being editor of the Saint Louis " Union."
On the resignation of Judge Montgomery Blair, of the court of common pleas, our subject was appointed to fill his place. The next year he was elected to the same office, and before that term had expired, President Pierce called him to the bench, to fill the office of judge of the United States district court for the eastern district of Missouri, which office he has filled for nearly thirty years. His dis- tinguishing peculiarities as a judge are, great learning in the law as a science, quickness of perception, and readiness in applying principles to facts. These qualities of mind, together with a natural turn toward mechanics, and unusual knowledge on general subjects, have made him signally successful in administer- ing the law concerning patents. It is in this branch of the law, perhaps, that
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI CITIES.
Judge Treat has achieved his greatest renown as a jurist. In all other matters arising in the great range of litigation which has come before him as circuit and district judge, he has shown himself to be progressive and fearless. When the changed and changing conditions of business have required it, he has readily abandoned ancient precedents and decisions, and made his rulings and opinions conform to the demands of the age. In this respect he may truly be said to be a reformer in jurisprudence.
In the trial of a case Judge Treat is always direct and to the point. Despis- ing all subterfuge, sham and show, he quickly brushes them away, and directs attention to the real merits of the matters. With these qualities of mind and habits of work, he disposes of a great deal of business in a short space of time, . and in an eminently satisfactory manner. His opinions are clear and strong, and worthily receive great consideration at the hands of other courts. All in all, Judge Treat is not only an able, but a conscientious, discriminating and impar- tial judge. The above opinion of the status of our subject is given to the editor of this work by one of the leading jurists of Saint Louis, himself an honor to the bench.
Judge Treat is a democrat. During the civil war he was a firm friend of the Union, but since donning the ermine, he has kept aloof from active partisanship. He has a wife and one child.
HON. JOHN B. HENDERSON. SAINT LOUIS.
I HIE subject of this sketch is one of the most prominent members of the Saint Louis bar. He is a profound lawyer, well advanced in all of the theories and technicalities of his profession, and an advocate of remarkable brilliancy. He is lucid, logical and eminently practical in making application of the law to the facts, and his judgment is of a high order. His political speeches were often illustrated by rhetoric ; but in his legal discussions he is direct, pointed and strong As a statesman his fame is wide as the nation, and as a patriot he is one of the men who stood in the front rank, and never looked back until the dis- turbances that agitated our country were settled on an equitable basis. He is one of Missouri's brightest and most highly esteemed citizens, and is one of the nation's best men.
His birth occurred in Pittsylvania county, Virginia, November 16, 1826. He is the son of James Henderson, a native of Dandridge, Jefferson county, Tennessee, and Jane (Dawson) Henderson, of Pittsylvania county, Virginia, where his par- ents resided until 1832, when they removed to Lincoln county, Missouri. When John was nine years of age his parents died, leaving him in care of one brother and two sisters younger than himself. His facilities for an education were lim- ited, but he obtained a fair classical and scientific education, and by general read- ing and the aid of a retentive memory, he has accumulated vast stores of useful
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI CITIES.
information on many subjects. He engaged in the occupation of school teacher at an early age, which occupation he continued for several years, at intervals, studying law in the meantime. He was admitted to the bar in Pike county in 1848. In 1849 he entered at once upon a successful career as a lawyer at Louisi- ana, in that county, remaining there until i869.
He possessed a clear insight into politics from an early age, and was elected to the Missouri legislature from Pike county in 1848 as a democrat, and was also elected again in 1856, when he performed material service to the state in shaping its legislation, particularly in regard to the subjects of banking and rail- roads. He was nominated as a Union democrat for congress in 1860, but was defeated by a very small number of votes, by James S. Rollins, after a spirited canvass of over two months. The candidates traveled together, and engaged in joint debates throughout the district. Some of Mr. Henderson's speeches in this campaign have been mentioned as among the best specimens of forensic elo- quence ever delivered in the state.
In February, 1861, a convention was called in Missouri for the purpose of dis- cussing the question of secession, to which Mr. Henderson was elected as a Union- ist. In the several sessions which were held Mr. Henderson led the debate, and to the powerful arguments made from time to time by him, more than to the efforts of any other one man, it is due that Missouri remained in the Union, early setting the example to other border states. To his statesmanship and patriotism as much as to the efforts of any one man in the border states, can be ascribed the perpetuity of the Federal Union as our forefathers made it. Throughout the momentous struggle for national existence Mr. Henderson was the counselor and adviser of the great men of the country
He was commissioned by Governor Gamble in 1861 brigadier general of the state militia. He organized nearly two full regiments for the defense of the Union in the northern part of the state, but before completing his brigade he received an appointment from the then acting governor, Lieutenant Governor Willard P. Hall, as United States senator, to fill the unexpired term of Hon. Trus- ten Polk, who had been expelled. The appointment was confirmed by the legislature When that term had expired, March +. 1863, Mr. Henderson was elected to the senate for the full term, ending March 4, 1869. He was young when he entered the senate, but was soon advanced to a prominent position. He was placed on the committees of finance, foreign relations, postoffices and post roads, claims, contingent expenses of the senate, District of Columbia, Indian affairs and others. He is the author of the thirteenth amendment to the Fede- ral constitution, abolishing slavery, and immediately after its adoption he was among the first to propose the amendment which afterward took form as the fifteenth amendment, which granted universal suffrage.
In 1867, as chairman on Indian affairs, Senator Henderson organized a com- mission, consisting of Generals Sanborn, Terry, Harney, Sherman and others, who went among the hostile Indians of the plains and the upper Missouri River, effecting numerous treaties of peace, quelling expensive and disastrous wars, then
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI CITIES.
being waged . by the Kiowas, Cheyennes, Arrapahoes, Sioux and Comanches. Through his influence in the senate the state of Missouri was reimbursed for her war expenses from the federal treasury, and the state was enabled to resume its credit and restore its old-time condition of solvency.
Mr. Henderson gave every possible support to the Union cause during his term in the senate, yet he acted rather on his own judgment than on the declara- tion of any partisan gaucus. One of the most remarkable instances of his inde- pendence was when he voted with Fessenden of Maine, Trumbull of Illinois, and other republicans, against the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, and thereby defeated it. To this vote may be attributed the cause of his defeat for reelection to the United States senate by the Missouri legislature of 1869.
While a member of the senate in 1868 he was married at Washington, to Miss Mary Newton Foote, a daughter of Judge Elisha Foote, of New York.
Removing to Saint Louis in 1870, he resumed the practice of the law, which he has diligently pursued up to the present time, chiefly in the federal courts in Saint Louis and Washington, District of Columbia.
He was the republican candidate for governor in 1872, but was defeated by Silas Woodson. He was appointed United States attorney to aid in prosecuting what is termed the whisky ring, which was entirely broken up through the efforts of Mr. Henderson Mr. Henderson made some remark in a speech during the prosecutions which gave offense to General Grant, and he was dismissed from the service of the government in December, 1875. Since that time he has given his entire attention to the practice of his profession.
HON. JAMES O. BROADHEAD).
SAINT LOUIS.
O NE of the ablest members of the Saint Louis bar is the gentleman whose name appears above, and who has been in practice in this city since 1859, and in this state since 1842. He was born in Charlottesville, Albemarle county, Virginia, May 29, 1819, being the eldest son of Achilles and Mary Winston (Carr) Broadhead. His father was a captain of Virginia troops in the second war with England. His grandfather, Jonathan Broadhead, came from Yorkshire, England, and settled in Virginia while the first war with the mother country was progress- ing. The Carrs were from Scotland, and early settlers in the "Old Dominion."
Young Broadhead finished his education at the University of Virginia, but did not take a full course, supporting himself by his own exertions while pursuing his studies, and then commenced to teach in a private school in Baltimore, Mary- land. His father having meantime settled in Saint Charles county, this state, the son followed in June, 1837, and located in Saint Charles county, where he obtained a situation as tutor in the family of Hon. Edward Bates, whose sketch may be found in this work. Mr. Broadhead spent three years in the family of this great man, reading law at the same time with that eminent lawyer.
for 0.03 warhead
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI CITIES.
He was licensed in 1842 by Judge Hunt, of Bowling Green, Pike county, in which county he located and practiced his profession, until he came to Saint Louis at the date already mentioned. The writer of this sketch has recently visited all the counties in northeastern Missouri, where he found the older class of lawyers lavish in their praise of Mr. Broadhead, because of his splendid record as an attorney in that judicial circuit. Thirty and forty years ago the bar of Pike, Marion, Lewis and other counties there contained several legal lights, whose brill- iancy it was difficult to match anywhere in the state outside of Saint Louis, and with that class Mr. Broadhead was often pitted, frequently coming off victorious.
While in Pike county he held various civil offices, and seems to have been a favorite of the whig party, to which he then belonged. He was a member of the constitutional convention in 1845, represented Pike county in the legislature in 1847-48, and was state senator from 1851 to 1855. In his legislative career we are told that be proved to be an accomplished debater, and that he established an enviable reputation as a gentleman of excellent character and much worth.
On his removal to this city, Mr Broadhead formed a partnership with Fidelio C. Sharpe, and they were in successful practice together when civil war burst upon the land, and Mr. Broadhead promptly arrayed himself on the side of the old flag. A pretty full account of his history during that painful strife may be found in "The History of Saint Louis City and County," by J. T. Scharfe, pub- lished in Philadelphia in 1883. It must here suffice to say that Mr. Broadhead was one of the first men in this city taking steps to prevent the state from join- ing the confederation; that to that end he was a member of the committee of safety; that he was a member of the constitutional convention which met early in the year 1861; that he was chairman of the committee which, in July, 1861, reported in favor of vacating the state offices of those who had followed Governor Jackson in joining the confederates; that the report was adopted, and a provis- ional government established; that in the same year he was appointed United States district attorney for the eastern district of Missouri; that he resigned a few months later to become provost marshal general for the department embrac- ing Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, the Indian territory and southern Iowa; and that in every position which he held he showed himself the alert patriot and a very capable man.
Colonel Broadhead was a member of the constitutional convention in 1875; and was quite efficient in that body, where his ripe judgment and great legal attain- ments were shown to the best advantage. In the autumn of 1882 he was elected to the forty-eighth congress, on the democratic ticket, and is now serving in the council halls of the nation, where his splendid talents can have ample scope for their display. In 1876 he was the choice of the Missouri delegation of his party for president of the United States, a good indication of his standing where best known.
Colonel Broadhead was married in 1847, to Miss Mary S. Dorsey, a native of Maryland, and they have three children, one son and two daughters, the son, Charles S. Broadhead, being a lawyer in practice in this city.
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI CITIES.
"As a lawyer and statesman," writes an old acquaintance of our subject "Colonel Broadhead stands in the front row in Missouri, alike in ability, in integrity, and in all the elements which make up the sterling man; and it is not unlikely that he may yet be called to higher posts of honor than any which he has yet occupied."
HON. E. L. EDWARDS. JEFFERSON CITY.
E DWARD LIVINGSTON EDWARDS, judge of the first judicial circuit, and one of the oldest men now on the circuit bench of this state, was for years a prominent practicing lawyer at Jefferson City, and throughout the judicial cir- cuit over whose courts he now presides. While at the bar he showed himself to be well posted in the law, and quite prompt in bringing to his aid any principle required to strengthen him in his position.
Judge Edwards was born in Rutherford county, Tennessee, March 17, 1812, and is consequently a little past seventy years of age. He has a tenacious mem- ory, running back to any case or cases tried in the courts of this state thirty and forty years ago, this faculty of his being far above the average of men of his years. On the bench he is able to discriminate and determine very clearly what principles of law apply to a case and what do not; in other words, when lawyers engage in splitting hairs, he can quickly decide which lawyer has the right part of the hair. When they cannot succeed in the splitting, he can go through the process for them.
Judge Edwards grew up on a farm near Murfreesboro, in his native state, with the usual opportunities for schooling afforded in a country school in the winter season. At nineteen he engaged to teach in a new institution started in William- son county, but his mind was on the West, and in the autumn of 1831 he resigned and came to Jefferson City. Here he studied law with his older brother, Hon. John Cummins Edwards, then secretary of state, and afterward governor of Mis- souri; and in February, 1835, he was licensed to practice. In that year he was elected clerk of the circuit court and county court, the offices then just become elective. In 1837 he was elected brigadier general of the first brigade, sixth division of the Missouri militia, and soon resigned.
In 1838 he tried his hand at journalism, by starting the "Jefferson Enquirer," in company with John McCulloch, a democratic paper which expired for lack of support at the close of the campaign of 1840.
In that year he was married to Miss Ann Ivy Dixon, daughter of Warren Dixon, from North Carolina.
In 1841 Governor Reynolds appointed our subject circuit attorney of the four- teenth circuit, but for personal reasons the office was held but a short time. He now commenced in earnest the practice of his profession, and while thus engaged, in 1846, he was elected to the state legislature, and two years afterward he was
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI CITIES.
sent to the upper house of the same body. While in the senate he introduced a bill, which became a law, materially changing the civil practice in courts of justice. The bill had been prepared by Judge Wells, by whose request the judge introduced it.
In 1858 Judge Edwards discontinued his legal business, and went on his farm in the Osage Valley. But he was intensely interested in politics, and in 1860 became the editor in chief of " The Examiner," published at the capital, a strong democratic organ. At the end of a short year he returned to his farm, and civil war was upon the land. His sympathies were with the confederates, but he took no active part.
In 1863 he once more left the farm, and resumed the practice of law. In 1874 he was again elected to the legislature, to fill a vacancy in the Cole county dele- gation, and in May, 1879, he was elected to the bench, as already mentioned, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Judge George W. Miller. He was reelected in November, 1880, and his present term will expire with the year 1886, should he live thus long.
We believe the judge has never connected himself with any Christian church, but he is a supporter of such organizations, and a well-wisher to every good cause. He has the highest respect of his neighbors, and of the people generally who know him.
The judge has three children living, and one of them, Joseph R. Edwards, is mentioned on other pages of this work. John Warren is on the farm in the Osage Valley, and Sallie E. is at home. One son died many years ago.
HON. JACKSON L. SMITH. JEFFERSON CITY.
JACKSON LEONIDAS SMITH, late attorney general of the state of Missouri, J and one of the eminently successful men at the Missouri bat, early exhibited a great fondness for books, and luckily had a father who encouraged him in his studies. This was Richard Smith, a native of Tennessee, who married Eliza Wagner, also a native of that state, and came to Callaway county, Missouri, where Jackson was born, January 29, 1839. Subsequently the family went to . Howard county, where our subject had some experience at an early age in farm life, attending school during the winters. Subsequently he was sent to a select school at Pisgah; thence to the University of Missouri, Columbia, and finally to Masonic College, Lexington, where he was graduated in 1858.
In the summer of that year Mr. Smith commenced the study of his profession at Jefferson City, with General Monroe Parsons, and was licensed to practice by the late Judge Ephraim W. Ewing in September, 1860. He was in company with his preceptor until the latter was killed, toward the close of the civil war. He then became a partner of Henry C. Ewing, and the firm of Ewing and Smith did
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI CITIES.
business in the supreme court of the United States and in all the local courts, their practice being extensive and quite lucrative.
Mr. Smith was elected attorney general of the state on the democratic ticket in 1876, and served the full term of four years. During that period his fine talents and legal attainments were seen to good advantage.
Mr. Smith resumed practice in 1881, and is now of the firm of Smith and Krauthoff, whose business extends into all the courts, state and federal. Mr. Smith has been attorney for the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company at Jefferson City for fifteen or sixteen years, and he is also, with his partner, attorney for the Chicago and Alton road. Mr. Smith has probably prepared more briefs in cases in the supreme court of the state than any other lawyer now practicing in Mis- souri, and the confidence of the courts and of litigants in his ability and his integrity seems to be almost without limit. A man of the closest application and perseverance, his industry has been liberally, not to say amply, rewarded.
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