History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 107

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358

USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men > Part 107

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" I, Bryan Mullanphy, do make and declare the following to be my last will and testament :

"One equal undivided third part of all my property, real, per- sonal, and mixed, I leave to the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, in trust and to be and constitute a fund to furnish relief to all poor emigrants and travelers coming to St. Louis on their way bona fide to settle in the West.

" I do appoint Felix Coste and Peter G. Camden to be execu- tors of this my last will and testament, and of any other will or executory devise that I may leave. All and any such document will be found to be olograph, all in my own handwriting.

" BRYAN MULLANPHY. [Seal]

" Witnesses who have all signed in presence of the testator and each other, and saw the testator sign in presence of them and each of them.

" ADOLPHUS WISLIZENUS. " JOHN WOLFF. " M. W. WARNE. " AUGUSTUS SCHNABEN."

This instrument was written on the first page of a shect of letter-paper, which was folded in letter form and sealed with three separate wafers, over each of which was written the word " wafer." On the outside it is indorsed as follows :

"ST. LOUIS, 31st August, 1849 .- I leave this document in the hands of the city of St. Louis by delivering the same to the mayor. It is not to be opened until after my death. It was left with the comptroller, the mayor being absent.

" BRYAN MULLANPHY."

June 19th, Judge Ferguson admitted this will to probate, and P. G. Camden was appointed exccutor.

The remaining two-thirds of his cstate he left by another will to be disposed of according to law. In 1855 the Republican remarked that no legal division of the cstate had then been made, though commis- sioners had been appointed, had completed their labors, and had valucd the estate at one million five hundred and sixty-one thousand one hundred and fourteen

dollars, or two and a half times the estimate placed upon it at the time of his death. In 1860 the liti- gation which grew out of this case was decided ; the heirs had appealed to the Circuit Court, hoping to ob- tain all, but were defeated, and took the case to the Supreme Court, where the judgment below was affirmed, thus securing to the city of St. Louis this trust fund. Hopes were then entertained that mat- ters would not be longer delayed, but in 1867 the committee still complained of the slowness with which the Mullanphy trust fund was being made available. At that time it amounted to over six hundred thou- sand dollars. The City Council created a board to take charge of the property, and so managed it as to produce a satisfactory annual income, to be spent in accordance with the donor's plan. Thus used the fund has become one of great usefulness, and hun- dreds of persons on their way to the vast Rocky Mountain region have experienced its benefits. It may here be noted that some of the most valuable gifts, in the way of real estate, libraries, and works of art, which American colleges and schools have received came from members of the legal profession, but no more generous gift than this of Judge Mullanphy is on record anywhere.

Charles B. Lord, who died in St. Louis Nov. 15, 1868, was the successor of Edward Bates as judge of the land court. At the time of his death he was one of the Circuit Court judges. He had held the important land court judgeship for two terms, begin- ning in 1855. Judge Lord was a native of Thomas- ton, Me., born in 1810, was educated in Onondaga County, N. Y., studied law at Buffalo, was admitted in 1833, and removed to St. Louis in 1843. Mean- while he had married Miss Wiley, of Philadelphia. His first law partner in St. Louis was Myron Leslie, and when the latter died, in 1848, he was associated with Isaac Kiem. From 1855, as noted, he lield judicial offices, and always with credit to himself. In the laws pertaining to real estate he was particularly strong. A leading journal, in announcing his death, said,-

" Judge Lord was a man of no ordinary qualities of mind. Even had he never occupied a public position, his eminence in his profession would have given him a reputation extending beyond local limits. But he was peculiarly fitted for the bench. Hc possessed a clear, analytical, unwarped judgment and a remarkable perception. We would not assert that his decisions as a jurist were invariably correct, but undoubtedly they were always based upon his best and most con- scientious interpretation of the law."

In court he was often severe towards young law-

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yers, but his uprightness and anxiety to deal out justice impartially were proverbial.

Abram Beck came to St. Louis from Albany, N. Y., in 1819, as a lawyer and land agent, and was associ- ated for a brief period with Josiah Spalding. He died Sept. 4, 1821, a young man, unmarried.

A son of the Old Dominion, who honored the best traditions of the courtly and cordial past, was Judge Henry Shurlds, born in Gloucester County, Nov. 21, 1796. He was educated at college, and had the ad- vantage of studying law at Richmond under the cele- brated William Wirt, then standing at the head of the Virginia bar. In 1819 this thoroughly-equipped young lawyer came to St. Louis, this year being, as the reader will notice, a time when the attention of many who afterwards won high reputation was at- tracted to the brisk, growing, and impetuous commu- nity being organized on the banks of the mighty Mississippi. Much has been said of the land litiga- tion in which many lawyers won fame, but it must not be forgotten that there were great lead, iron, and coal interests beginning to develop, and law cases in that connection were abundant. Potosi, Washington Co., was in the midst of the mines, and here Judge Shurlds settled, and in 1822 married Miss Jane Jami- son Bush, of that place ; in 1821 he had been ap- pointed circuit judge of that district, which office he resigned to become Secretary of State. In 1832 the General Assembly elected him secretary of the Senate, and the following year the Governor and Senate made him public auditor, which office he held till March, 1837. Meanwhile the State Bank had been organ- ized, and as the times were financially gloomy great caution and skill were needed to conduct it. Judge Shurlds became its cashier, and for fifteen years con- tributed greatly to its financial success. His death occurred in 1852 near St. Louis, and his only son Edward died in 1865. Of his five daughters one married G. W. Dent, of San Francisco, and the others were all united to gentlemen of position in St. Louis.

The early files of Missouri papers contain many in- cidental references in advertisements and brief notices which throw light upon the bench and bar of that time. One of the first to be found is an advertise- ment in the Gazette of May 3, 1810, which says, " William O. Allen, Esq., will continue to practice law in all the districts of this Territory except Ar- kansas, and he will also attend the Illinois General Courts." Four years later, October 24th, was an- nounced the death of Gen. Howard, Governor of the Territory, and a man thoroughly well versed in law, a summary of whose life is given elsewhere. Another of the well-known men of this era was Gen. Ruland,

a sociable and kindly man, who had hosts of friends. His death, which occurred March 1, 1849, was noted at the time as follows : " Gen. John F. Ruland was born in the year 1789, on the banks of the river Raisin, in what is now the State of Michigan. At the age of nineteen he entered the Northwestern army under the command of Gen. Harrison, and served with repu- tation for several years, as was proved by his having passed rapidly through several grades of military station. At the termination of his military career, and when twenty-eight years of age, Gen. Ruland removed from Detroit to St. Louis, and engaged in the business of surveying afterwards. He was the chief clerk in the office of the superintendent of Indian affairs in this city by appointment of Gen. William Clark. On re- tiring from this position in 1835 he was then elected clerk of the Circuit Court and recorder of deeds of St. Louis County for a term of six years, and being re-elected, was in office for more than twelve years, and was the incumbent at the time of his death."

David Thomas was brought to St. Louis from Maryland about the time the post was turned over to the United States, being then but three years old. His father died on the journey, and was buried by the wayside. His education was such as the city schools afforded. He practiced law some years, and about 1848 became county judge, filling the office with satisfaction to the public. He had much pro- bate business in later years. His death occurred in December, 1874. Another judge of the county court in early days was Peter D. Barada, born in 1798, and a pioneer of Carondelet. He served at various times as justice of the peace and member of the City Coun- cil. His death occurred in August, 1877.

The saddest chapter of a complete history of the bench and bar of any city would be that which tells how men fail in their early struggles and fall by the wayside. Every old lawyer crowned with deserved honors will remember many and painful instances. Usually, but not always, " the fittest survive." Prom- ising young attorneys came to the West full of ardent hopes that perished without fulfillment. The Gazette of Sept. 19, 1811, says, " Died at Cape Girardeau, after an illness of six days, George C. Harbison, attorney, aged thirty-one." July 16, 1833, the same paper says, " Died in this place, in the twenty-fifth year of his age, Charles T. Parker, a native of Boston, and a member of the Missouri bar." On the 30th of the same month it says, " Died, after a short illness, William F. Duncan, a member of the Missouri bar. Endowed with a highly-cultivated mind, he was gifted with all those endearing and social qualities which never fail to render their possessor an object

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of love and admiration." Jan. 12, 1833, the sudden death of Bethel S. Farr, a young member of the bar, called forth the following : " Resolved, That the death of Mr. Farr has deprived the bar of a member who gave every indication of future usefulness and bril- liancy."

The most notable loss of the bar in 1839 was that of Joseph M. White, October 19th. A bar meeting was called, Judge Bowlin presiding, and G. A. Bird acting as sccretary. The resolutions closed by saying, " The bar of St. Louis has lost one of its brightest ornaments, society one of its most valued members, and the country one of its most gifted and patriotic sons."

Another lawyer who already had made considerable reputation died in 1840. The Republican of No- vember 30th says, "Died, on Saturday last at his residence, George F. Strother, Esq., formerly of Cul- peper, Va. Mr. Strothier was a member of the bar, was a member of Congress from Virginia, and since his residence here has held several highly important offices, having served several sessions in the State Legislature as a representative from this county." In 1841, Stephen Lanhan, a justice of the county court, died at his residence near Manchester. The following year (September 23d) Joseph W. Walsh, clerk of the St. Louis Court of Common Pleas, died, aged thirty-two. In May, 1847, Judge Alonzo Man- ning, of the St. Louis Criminal Court, died. The Republican said, "Judge Manning had been for many years a citizen of St. Louis, and was endeared to those who knew him intimately by his many ex- cellent qualities. In his official capacity he was dis- tinguished by uprightness, firmness of purpose, and a desire to render strict and impartial justice."

July 4, 1849, a newspaper announces, " Russell Prentis, Esq., member of the bar, was buried yester- day." On the 15th of the same month it says, quite as briefly,-

" Died on the 14th instant, of the prevailing epi- demic, William K. Titcomb, Esq., aged twenty-cight years, a member of the St. Louis bar."

The same year, June 29th, the same journal spoke of Judge Schaumburg's death, saying that he " was a Creole from New Orleans, and thirty-nine years of age at the time of his death. After graduating with great éclat at the Transylvania University, in Ken- tucky, he studied law and was admitted to the bar of Louisiana. He was made a parish judge, and soon after married one of the fair daughters of our city and became a resident of St. Louis. All who knew him well acknowledged his fine talents, classieal educa- tion, and bland manners." Mareh 30, 1851, occurred

the death of D. N. Hall, for ten years an active and estimable member of the St. Louis bar.

Of an altogether different sort is a leaf from early St. Louis court records : "On the 7th day of May, 1827, Marie P. Leduc presented his commission as justice from Governor Miller, as also did Hartley Lanham, father of Judge P. J. Lanham. The court was opened by Robert Simpson, sheriff. At the next meeting Frederick Hyatt appeared as associate justice on the bench, and Marie P. Leduc was made presiding justice. The name in French, Marie, was frequently given to males as a premonition of good luck by the old French habitans. A large part of the business done at that time was connected with probate mat- ters.

Judge Marie P. Leduc was a distinguished character in the early history of the St. Louis bench and bar. Indeed, his may be said to have been an official life, for throughout the period of his residence in the village until his resignation, about 1839, of the position of judge of the county court, not a year elapsed that he did not occupy some important public station.

Judge Leduc was born in St. Denis, near Paris, France, from whence he came to this country and lo- cated in 1793 at New Madrid, Upper Louisiana. St. Louis being then the seat of government, Mr. Leduc removed here in 1799, and being a man of superior abilities, his influence in the affairs of the little vil- lage soon brought him into marked prominence. Early in November, 1799, Governor Dchault Delas- sus appointed him secretary of the province, which office Mr. Leduc held until the cession of Louisiana to the United States. On the 10th of March, 1804, he was appointed by Capt. Stoddard syndic of the town and within four miles of its vicinity. On the 1st of October of the same ycar he was appointed by Gov- ernor William H. Harrison judge of probate, recorder, and notary public of St. Louis. He was appointed translator of the Board of Land Commissioners on the 14th of December, 1805 ; in 1807 he was appointed by acting Governor Frederick Bates justice of the peace and notary public, and in 1810 to administer oaths of office. In 1812 he was reappointed justiee of the peace, judge of probate, notary public, recorder, and register of boatmen, and was also appointed clerk of the Court of Common Pleas.

In 1815 he was appointed clerk of the County Court, and in February of the same year clerk of the Circuit Court, which position he held with great ac- ceptability to his fellow-citizens until 1818, when he resigned, and received from the presiding judge a note expressive of " the great satisfaction with which the dutics of said office had been discharged." In 1818

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he was elected a member of the Territorial Assembly, and when Missouri was admitted into the Union he was re-elected, and again in 1822, but soon after re- signed. In 1825 he was commissioned by Governor Bates judge of probate for the county of St. Louis, and when that court was abolished and the county court created he was appointed presiding justice of the latter, and continued to serve in that capacity until he resigned about 1839. In all the various offices of high responsibility conferred upon Judge Leduc, he discharged his duties with eminent ability and to the general satisfaction. He said " he had no family until the year 1802."

Judge Leduc resigned his last position on account of declining health, and continued to linger until his death, at the residence of Hypolite Papin, " about five miles west" of St. Louis, on Monday, Aug. 15, 1840, aged seventy years.

Another old volume of court records contains the " marks and brands," commencing February, 1831. The first entry is :

" John B. Bavnet, a farmer of St. Louis township, adopts for his brand the letters J. B. B., and for his ear-marks of cattle, logs, sheep, and goats a crop of left ear and two notches under the same and nothing on right ear." The clerk of the county court at that time was Henry Chouteau, and the writing has the appearance of print.

Another book contains a list of free negroes and mulattoes licensed by the county court of St. Louis County, as all such were required to register. The name, age, height, and occupation are given; the first entry December, 1841, and the last entry May 1, 1863.

The salaries paid in those days in St. Louis County werc liberal enough, all things considered. In 1846 the State Legislature abolished the fee system, which had made some offices enormously lucrative, and fixed salaries as follows : Sheriff, per annum, $7000; clerk of Circuit Court, $3500; clerk of Common Pleas, $3000; clerk of Criminal Court, $2500; clerk of County Court, $3000; marshal, $2500; law commis- sioner, $1500; each justice, $1200; each constable, $1500.

Some of these clerks were lawyers themselves and deserve mention. We will advert to a few in this place and this connection, without attempting to ar- range them in chronological order. Joseph V. Gar- nier was born in France and emigrated to San Do- mingo. He came away from there at the insurrection of the negroes in 1793 to New York, where he was for a number of years in the employment, in some fiduciary capacity, of Col. Livingston. He came out

to St. Louis about the period of the transfer in 1804. At the incorporation of the borough town of St. Louis in 1809 he was appointed by the trustees the first town clerk, and also filled the office of clerk of the Superior Court of the Territory. Subsequently he was a jus- tice of the peace and notary. He came to St. Louis a mason, and was the first secretary of St. Louis Lodge, No. 111, and subsequently a member of No. 12 and No. 1. His widow survived him, living beyond ninety years of age, and his only child, Harriet, married the Hon. John Hogan.

Col. Thomas Fiveash Riddick was born at Suffolk, county-seat of Nansemond County, Va., on June 5, 1781. He removed to St. Louis about the time of the transfer of the country to the United States, and during the first fifteen years of his residence filled at various periods a number of public offices of trust, as follows : 1807, July 9th, appointed by Frederick Bates, secretary of the Territory and ex officio acting Governor, to the office of assessor of rates and levies for the district of St. Louis; 1807, July 10th, appointed by same to the office of clerk of the Courts of Common Pleas, Quarter Sessions, and Oyer and Terminer for the district of St. Louis; 1807, August 20th, appointed by the same a justice of the peace for the township of St. Louis ; 1808, May 7th, also appointed by " Fred- erick Bates, recorder of land titles under the board of land commissioners, about to be absent from St. Louis on official business connected with his duties, his deputy recorder, to act as such in his absence ;" 1812, December 10th, reappointed a justice of the peace by acting Governor Bates; 1813, March 1st, reap- pointed by Secretary Bates to the office of clerk of the before-mentioned courts ; 1815, January 2d, ap- pointed by Governor William Clark a justice of the peace for four years ; 1817, when the old " Terri-

. torial Bank of Missouri" was chartered, lie was one of the first directors of the same; and in the year 1820 succeeded Col. Augustc Chouteau, its first presi- dent, in that office, which position he held until the collapse of the bank in the summer of 1822. Col. Riddick was for twenty years an active and efficient business man of St. Louis. Subsequently he removed to the Sulphur Springs, in Jefferson County, where he continued to reside until his death on Jan. 15, 1830, at the age of forty-ninc, leaving a widow, a sister of Judge William C. Carr, and four children, two sons and two daughters, who subsequently became the wives of Charles J. Billon and Edward Brooks.

Ewel Baker came from Winchester, Va., in 1824, a nephew of the Gambles, and during his few years' residence in St. Louis he was a clerk in the office of his uncle, Archibald Gamble, circuit clerk.

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One of the best of real estate lawyers was R. M. Field, who died in July, 1869. He was born in Newfane, Wyndham Co., Vt., in the year 1807. At fifteen years of age he was graduated at Middle- bury College, and at eighteen was adınitted to the bar. His legal and literary career was marked by great ability and determination, even before he left his native State. In 1839 he came to St. Louis. Field's name was associated with coadjutors or oppo- nents in nearly every important lawsuit in the State during twenty-five years. His profound studies led to the most keen and acute judgment, whether in law or literature. He was familiar with the literature and language of France, Spain, and Germany, and in the ancient classics seemed ever to be as proficient and ready as in his college days. Mr. Field had few inti- mate companions but many friends, by whom the genial warmth of a generous nature was known and appreciated. To the world he perhaps appeared aus- tere, but it was the austerity of a profound intellect and a deeply thoughtful nature. His success as a lawyer in his native State was in every way unusual. He practiced law fourteen years in his native county, and represented it in the Vermont General Assembly. Judge Story declared some of his special pleas to be masterpieces. From 1832 to 1835 he was State's attorney for Wyndham County. But an event which occurred in 1838 was the leading motive of his leav- ing his native State. Miss Mary Ann Phelps was engaged to one Jeremiah Clark, but secretly married Mr. Field. She returned home the same day, and soon after told her family, wrote to Mr. Field, de- siring to rescind her action and refusing to see him, and in a few days married Clark. Clark and his wife then filed a bill to declare the marriage with Field null and void. The Chancery court so ruled, and the Supreme Court strongly supported this view. After Mr. Clark's death his widow visited St. Louis to bring about a reconciliation with Mr. Field, but he refused to sec her. This episode in his life necessarily had a marked effect upon his character, and for many ycars he avoided society. He finally married Miss Frances Reed, a relative of C. W. Pomeroy, of St. Louis, who died a few years later, leaving two sons, one of whom entered journalism.

At one time Mr. Field's partner was Myron Leslie, also a native of Vermont, and a very gifted man. He was born near Bennington, and had little educa- tion, but his abilities were far beyond the average, and he picked up enough law to pass an examination. By 1834 he was building up a lucrative practice in Central Illinois, and by 1837 was in St. Louis, in partnership with F. W. Risque, who afterwards re-

moved to Washington. He then joined forces with Mr. Field, and the firm took high rank immediately. About 1842 he became circuit judge for that district, held the office two years, and then went to the State Senate. In 1845 he was a member of the Constitu- tional Convention. He succeeded Judge Bowlin as attorney of the old State Bank. As a speaker, he was full of energy and almost invincible when aroused, though often he seemed slow and indolent. In later years his health failed, and he died in 1854, mourned deeply by all his associates.

Judge E. B. Ewing, a prominent lawyer and judge of the Supreme Court, was born in Todd County, Ky., in 1819. His father was Rev. Finis Ewing, one of the founders of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He immigrated to Missouri about 1820. He was educated at Cumberland College, Caldwell Co., Ky. Studying the law, he was admitted to the profession at the Ray Circuit Court in 1842, and soon acquired such influence and reputation as to bring him prominently before the people of Missouri. In 1848 he was appointed to the office of Secretary of State, the duties of which he performed for four years. Again, in 1856, he was elected attorney-gen- eral, and performed the duties of that office until his election, in August, 1859, to the Supreme Bench, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge Richardson. This position he occupied until 1861, when he resumed professional practice at the bar, first at Jefferson City, and then at St. Louis, until liis election as one of the judges of the St. Louis Circuit Court in 1869. The labors of this office so severely taxed his energies that in 1872 he was induced to accept the nomination for judge of the Supreme Court, to which station he was elected, and he took his seat at the January term, 1873, but his death occurred in June of that year. Pleasant, winning, and earnest in his manners, though often reserved, his uprightness won him the implicit confidence of the public, and though never brilliant, his lucid and well-developed decisions were always to the point, were usually sustained, and commanded the respect of his brothers of the bar. Rev. Dr. Linn, of the Methodist Church, preached his funeral scrmon, and the usual resolutions of regret were passed by his professional brethren. One of the interesting epi- sodes of his life was when, in 1856, his brother, Robert C. Ewing, also an able lawyer, was nominated for Governor, in the great triangular contest of that year, but E. B. Ewing was running for attorney-gen- eral on the Polk ticket. The brothers were political antagonists, but the ticket headed by Trusten Polk was elected.

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History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 107

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898 Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1358

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358