USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > Kansas City, Missouri : its history and its people 1808-1908 > Part 36
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A meeting was held February 5, 1908, to discuss the advisability of erecting a new Charity building, and to devise ways and means to raise the necessary funds. The following committee was appointed with full authority to collect additional funds and to erect the building: Alfred Rothenberg, chairman; R. S. Crohn, secretary; Alfred Benjamin, Henry Flarsheim, Sol. Block, Julius Davidson, Sig. Harzfeld, and Jacob Billikopf. About $35,000 had been subscribed in September, 1908, the contributions ranging from $5 to $1,500. The site of the building was on Admiral boulevard and Harrison street.
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Most of the poor Jews of Kansas City live in two distinct sections of the city-in the so-called "North End," and in the neighborhood of McClure flats and Warden court. It was for these people that the Fresh Air fund evolved from a theory to a fact. The Fresh Air camp owes its idea to Miss Fanny Benjamin and its actuality to A. Rosenberg. Through the generous and unconditional loan of his 20-acre farm near Liberty, Mo., a regular out-door camp was made possible.
CHAPTER XX.
THE LEGAL AND MEDICAL PROFESSIONS.
Kansas City's first court of Common Pleas was established November 20, 1855. All of Kaw township was under its jurisdiction; it had the same original concurrent and appellate jurisdiction of civil cases within the town- ship as the circuit and probate courts had on those within the county. It was decided that the judge should receive a salary of $500 a year, one-half of which should be paid out of the state treasury and the other half paid from a special township tax. The judge was entitled to fees not to exceed $500, at the rate of $1.00 on each final judgment made in his court. All fees in excess of the $500 were added to the school fund of the township. A marshal to execute the processes of the law was also provided for by law. In a small building in the public square, W. A. Strong, its first judge, presided over the first sitting of the Kansas City Court of Common Pleas. James K. Sheley became judge of the court in 1859. Few sessions of the court were held during the Civil war, 1861-65, and for part of that period, by act of the Legislature, the court was suspended. From 1863 to 1867, Jacob S. Bore- man was judge. Later Judge Boreman was appointed a Territorial judge of Utah.
In 1871 the court of Common Pleas of Kansas City and the Probate and Common Pleas court of Jackson county were abolished. A criminal court was established in Kansas City about 1871, which had jurisdiction over all the criminal cases in the county. The probate business of the county was cared for by a Probate court, and a Circuit court also was established. The criminal judge was exofficio judge of the Probate court and received as judge of the two courts, a salary of $2,500 a year. The first judge under this arrangement was R. C. Ewing. Judge Ewing was succeeded by Henry P. White who died in 1892. John W. Wofford followed Judge White and continued in office until his death, February 25, 1907. Judge Wofford's suc-
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cessor on the criminal bench was William H. Wallace (who had won dis- tinction as an orator and as an attorney. Early in his term as judge of the criminal court, Judge Wallace attracted national attention by his efforts to enforce the laws prohibiting Sunday labor. In the meantime the criminal court had been separated from the probate court, and J. E. Guinotte became the Probate Judge. He was in office in 1908.
Samuel Locke, Sawyer of Independence was the first circuit judge of Jackson county. He was born in New Hampshire and was a graduate of Dartmouth college. He was one of the most eminent lawyers in western Missouri. After remaining on the bench about six years, Judge Sawyer resigned and Samuel H. Woodson, also of Independence, a man of very high character, succeeded him. Judge Woodson died in 1881, and was succeeded by Turner A. Gill of Kansas City. Judge Gill remained on the circuit bench until he became judge of the Kansas City Court of Appeals.
A court of law and equity was established in Kansas City, February 18, 1873. It held two terms annually in Kansas City, and two terms in Independence. Its judge during its entire existence was Robert E. Cowen, who came to Kansas City from Virginia at the close of the Civil war. The court ceased to exist, December 31, 1880. When the law and equity court was abolished litigation had so increased that it became necessary to have another circuit judge, and a law giving the county another one was passed. Francis Marion Black was elected. Judge Black came from Ohio to Kansas City when he was a young man, and before taking the position on the bench had become one of the foremost leaders of the Kansas City bar. As circuit judge he was one of the strongest and most capable men who had ever ad- ministered justice in Jackson county. He remained on the bench until 1885 when he became a member of the supreme court of Missouri and served as a member of that tribunal until 1894. During these years he established for himself a reputation as one of the greatest judges that Missouri had pro- duced. When his term as judge of the supreme court had ended, he came back to Kansas City and resumed his practice. Judge Black died, May 24, 1902. J. W. Dunlap who came to Kansas City from Virginia, was ap- pointed to Judge Black's position in 1885, but before taking his place or performing any official duties, he accidentally shot himself and James H. Slover, a native of Pennsylvania, became his successor.
The number of circuit judges for Jackson county was increased to four in 1889. Other divisions were added; in 1908 the circuit court of Jackson county had seven divisions, six in Kansas City and one in Independence. The increase of court facilities indicates the growth of legal business. Manu- facturing interests, transportation companies, commercial concerns, banks and trust companies, involving vast financial operations have created an
JACKSON COUNTY COURTHOUSE
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additional demand for the best legal talent. The number of attorneys in Kansas City has increased greatly in the last quarter of a century.
The first attorney who came to Kansas City was Henry B. Bouton. He practiced law here from 1851 until his death in 1868. James M. Sheley, a Kentuckian, came from Independence in 1852. Several lawyers located in Westport in the '50s among whom were Thomas J. Goforth, in 1852; Park Lea and D. D. Woodworth, 1853; and 1855, A. M. Allen who, however, did not begin the practice of law until 1867. Philip S. Brown of Pennsyl- vania and M. D. Trefren of Trenton, N. J., came to Kansas City in 1858, and the next year John C. Gage came from New Hampshire. John W. Henry, afterward a circuit judge of Jackson county, located in Inde- pendence shortly before the war. Among the early law firms of Kansas City were: Ramage & Withers, Clayborn & Cato, Bolling & Hodgson, Rus- sell & Bell and Groome & Vaile. John C. Gage is the only one of the early lawyers who is in practice now (1908). William Holmes who had studied law and been admitted to the bar in 1839 at Palmyra, Mo., came to Kansas City in 1862. Mr. Holmes later became, a Methodist preacher at Shawnee mission. Samuel Locke Sawyer of Lexington, Mo., went to Independence in 1866 and became a partner of William Chrisman. William Douglass came to Kansas City from Boonville in 1865 and engaged in business with John C. Gage. More than thirty lawyers located in Kansas City in the five years following the close of the war, among them being William Warner, L. C. Slavens, Stephen Prince Twiss, Daniel S. Twitchell, C. O. Tichenor, J. V. C. Karnes, A. A. Tomlinson, Ermine Case, Jr., J. W. Jenkins, Henry N. Ess, Edward P. Gates, C. L. Thompson, J. H. Slover, Henry P. White, Robert W. Quarles, John K. Cravens, T. V. Bryant, J. W. Dunlap, Robert C. Ewing, John D. S. Cook, Gardner Lathrop, Wallace Pratt, Nelson Cobb, B. L. Woodson, Frank Titus, Benjamin J. Franklin, Wash Adams, R. H. Field, Jefferson Brumback, and Warwick Hough. Mr. Hough was in 1874 elected a judge of the supreme court of Missouri. Some of the lawyers admitted to the bar in 1868 were Sanford B. Ladd, Robert C. Cowan, R. L. Yeager, G. F. Ballingal, C. J. Bower and John I. Peak. Robert C. Cowan became a partner of Warwick Hough and John T. Crisp and later was judge of the Kansas City court of law and equity.
By U. S. statute of April 19, 1888, the United States Circuit court of the Western Division of the Western District of Missouri was ordered to hold its sessions at Kansas City beginning on the first Mondays of March and September of each year; and the District court for said division on the first Mondays of May and October. This was the first time these courts had been held at Kansas City. Arnold Kreckle was the first United States district judge of this western division. Judge John F. Philips, who is now
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on the bench (1908), succeeded Judge Kreckle. Samuel F. Miller, justice of the United States Supreme Court; George W. Mccrary, United States circuit judge for the Eighth district, Chief Justice Brewer, have all held court in Kansas City. For the purpose of forming a Law Library associa- tion, a number of Kansas City attorneys held a meeting on September 13, 1871. L. C. Slavens was chairman of the meeting and A. A. Tomlinson, secretary. The following thirteen men organized the Kansas City Law Library association, with a capital divided into 100 shares: Warwick Hough, E. W. W. Kimball, C. O. Tichenor, John C. Gage, J. V. C. Karnes, J. W. Jenkins, Wallace Pratt, F. M. Black, Ermine Case, Jr. John K. Cravens and William Simms. The officers elected were: John C. Gage president; Wallace Pratt, vice president; John K. Cravens, secretary, and Henry N. Ess, treasurer. The directors were: L. C. Slavens, John C. Gage, Wallace Patt, Warwick Hough, F. M. Black, Nelson Cobb, E. W. Kimball, J. W. Jenkins and A. A. Tomlinson. Work was begun by purchasing 3,000 vol- umes from the Hon. A. C. Baldwin of Pontiac, Mich., for $13,500. A com- plete set of American Reports with the accompanying statutes and digests were included in these books. James Gibson was chosen librarian, January 27, 1872. The library has been maintained by means of annual fees and subscriptions. Non-resident attorneys when introduced to the librarian by a stockholder, may have access to the library. The state gives to the library one copy of each of the reports of the Supreme court and of the Kansas City court of Appeals, and also of the acts of each session of the Legislature. The law library contains in 1908 about 5,000 volumes.
The Kansas City school of law was chartered in 1895. Its object was educational and it was organized without capital stock. The faculty was composed of Francis M. Black, Oliver H. Dean, Edward L. Scarritt, John W. Snyder, Elmer N. Powell, Edward D. Ellison, William P. Borland, R. P. Ingraham, James H. Harkless and Edward H. Stiles. Judge Black was elected president; Mr. Dean and Judge Scarritt, vice presidents; William P. Borland, dean, and Edward D. Ellison, treasurer. A two-years course was established, resulting in a degree of Bachelor of Arts. The first class of twenty-seven members was graduated from the school in June, 1897.
The General Assembly of Missouri, in 1897, so amended the statutes of the state in relation to the admission of attorneys to practice as to provide that graduates of the Kansas City School of Law be admitted without further examination. The school has grown steadily since, its foundation. The first years of its existence the students were confined to Kansas City and its immediate vicinity. In later years the school had students from several different states. Beginning with the school year, September, 1899, there
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was added to the curriculum, a post-graduate course of one year, leading to the degree of Master of Laws. This course has met with much favor.
The Kansas City School of Law is conducted on the plan now common to schools situated in large cities, that of having the lectures and classes held in the evening, after the close of the business hours of the day. Many of the students are employed in law offices during the day, or are connected with such offices as students. Many young men, also, who are employed in other lines of business, or who are compelled to earn their own way in whole or in part, thus are enabled to have the advantage of a legal education. But the greatest advantage of a night school, as pointed out by Justice Brewer, is that its students have the benefit of instruction under leaders of the bar and judges who could not under any other plan devote their time, or their talents to the work of legal insruction.
The Kansas City School of Law was founded as a lawyers' school and has always remained true to its traditions. Its faculty is entirely composed of active members of the profession who freely give their time and talents to the work at great personal sacrifices. The only ones receiving compen- sation are the minor officials who attend to the purely business details of the organization. The school has no endowment, and such funds as it de- rives from tuition have been devoted exclusively to promoting the efficiency of the school and enlarging its sphere of influence.
The school requires that applicants for admission, who are to be candi- dates for a degree, shall have a good English education equivalent to a high school course, exclusive of the classic branches. Students who are not can- didates for a degree may attend the school as special students without any preliminary requirements, and derive such benefit as they may from the course or any part of it. The students have the use, without extra charge, of the law library.
The Missouri Bar association was organized in Kansas City, December 29, 1880, and the following officers were elected: Willard P. Hall of St. Joseph, president; W. H. H. Russell, of St. Louis, secretary, and M. T. C. Williams of Kansas City, treasurer. The first annual meeting was held in St. Louis, Mo., December 27-8, 1881, when a constitution was adopted and a vice president appointed for each judicial circuit in the state. The as- sociation has been a powerful factor in the creation of various courts and commissions in the state and in procuring the enactment of salutary legis- lation.
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The early physicians of Independence, Westport and Kansas City were pioneers and they were the guardians of a widely dispersed population. Aside from their professional duties they contributed their full share to the
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material development of a newly opened country. Some were men of culture who had gained their medical education in college; the greater number were of limited educational attainments, whose professional knowledge had been acquired in the offices of established practitioners of more or less ability. Of either class, almost without exception, they were practical men, of great force of character, who gave cheerful and efficacious assistance to the suffering, daily journeying on horseback scores of miles, over a country almost destitute of roads, and encountering swollen, unbridged streams and destitute of water- proof garments or other now common protections against weather.
Out of necessity the pioneer physician developed rare quickness of per- ception and self-reliance. The specialist was then unknown, and he was called upon to treat every phase of bodily ailment, serving as physician, surgeon, oculist and dentist. His books were few, and there were no practi- tioners more able than himself with whom he might consult; his medicines were simple, and carried upon his person, and every preparation of pill or solution was the work of his own hands. The services of the pioneer physi- cians were fittingly recognized in Sedalia, Mo., in 1896, at the annual meeting of the Missouri Medical association. The president, Dr. Lester Hall, addressed a special invitation to this class, and nearly thirty attended. Speaking to them in behalf of the association, Dr. Hall said: "To the men of your class we owe much for our present knowledge and lightened burdens, of which you knew nothing in the days of your activity. You blazed the way for us through pathless forests and unmarked prairies, and we desire to demonstrate our gratitude and love for your noble life-work."
Among the early physicians of Independence was Dr. Leo Twyman, who removed from Kentucky in 1827, locating at St. Charles, Mo. In 1844 he went to Westport, and late the same year to Independence, where he practiced until his death. He was one of the most accomplished practitioners of his day. Dr. Joseph Boggs, a native of Kentucky, a brother of Governor Boggs of Missouri, located in Independence in 1847. He was a capable practitioner, and a strong, manly character. He afforded instruction to a number of young men who became excellent physicians, among them Dr. John McMurray, who entered upon practice in the same place and afterward died in Kentucky; and Dr. Alfred B. Sloan, who in later days became one of the most successful physicians of Kansas City. Dr. Boggs removed to California in 1850, and afterward returned and died in Westport. In 1849 Dr. J. P. Henry, a Ken- tuckian, while journeying to California, was called to attend a case of cholera at Independence, and that led to his making a permanent residence there. Dr. J. W. Bryant came from Kentucky to Independence in 1850. The first physician to locate on the site of Kansas City was Dr. Benoist Troost. He came in 1847. He was a native of Holland, and had been a hospital steward
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in the army of Napoleon. He built the first brick hotel, which, during the border troubles, became known as the Free State Hotel.
Dr. Isaac M. Ridge was the first graduated physician to locate in Kansas City. He came in June, 1848, when he was twenty-three years old, just after his graduation from Transylvania University. He took a post-graduate course in St. Louis University in 1853-54. Dr. Ridge opened an office on the corner of Main street and the levee. By his kindness and skill toward the Wyandotte Indians, he won their friendship and gained great influence over them. When roving red men were a part of the life of the great west, Dr. Ridge was hon- ored by the Indians at one of the great corn feasts by being made a member of their tribe, and given the soubriquet of "Little Thunder," for his positive manner and direct speech.
About 300 Belgians, men women and children, came to Kansas City in the spring of 1849 and settled in the East bottoms, expecting to make perma- nent homes there. They had journeyed by steamboat from New Orleans, and soon after reaching their destination cholera appeared among them in a malignant form and about one-half their number died. The disease was com- municated to the residents of the town, resulting in practical depopulation ; nearly one-half of the 400 residents died, and most of the remainder fled. During the epidemic Dr. Isaac M. Ridge ministered continually to the people. At the outset his labors were shared by Dr. Oliver Fulton, a native of Ohio. Dr. Fulton died from the disease and was buried in what is now known as "Shelley Park." Dr. Ridge afterward was the only practitioner who fear- lessly performed professional duty.
Dr. Ridge, after fighting the plague two or three weeks and waiting on numerous patients, without regard to nationality or position, was a victim of the scourge, being taken suddenly ill with it while on a visit to his friend, W. H. Chick. Dr. Charles Robinson, who was then 110 miles from the river on the Santa Fe trail, was summoned at the special request of Dr. Ridge and to the treatment which he administered Dr. Ridge attributed his recovery. Later in the Civil war this favor was reciprocated when Dr. Ridge became the means of saving the life of his friend, then governor of Kansas, who was a prisoner under sentence to be hanged. Dr. Ridge died in Kansas City, May 7, 1907.
Dr. Thomas B. Lester began practice in Kansas City in 1854; he became one of the most successful men in the profession. He also was a capable writer on professional topics. Dr. Joseph M. Woods, often called the "Father of Surgery in the West," came from Liberty, Mo., in 1858 and practiced his profession, particularly surgery, with a success that gave him a wide reputa- tion in the West. He was an unusually large man, being six feet four inches tall and weighing 250 pounds, a man of few words but quick to act when the
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occasion demanded. Other physicians who began practicing medicine in Kansas City previous to 1861 were Johnston Lykins, E. D. Ralph, W. W. Harris, J. T. Herndon, G. B. Wood, R. R. Hall, G. N. Woodward, A. L. Schoen, J. T. Rice, A. W. Bonham, G. M. B. Maughs and Theodore S. Case. Dr. Case did more writing on the subject of medicine than he did practicing. Dr. Lykins, a gentleman of integrity and merit, had been agent to the Indians and his practice was mostly among them and his old acquaintances in Kansas City and its vicinity.
The call to arms in the Civil war took most of the physicians away from Kansas City, leaving the greater part of the practice to Dr. I. M. Ridge and Dr. Thomas B. Lester. The services of the two stay-at-home doctors was needed not only in towns, but at considerable distances in the surrounding country. Notwithstanding the fact that the territory adjacent to Kansas City continually was harassed by predatory bands, the two physicians were so well known and were held in such great respect that they suffered no serious molestation while on their errands of mercy.
Dr. Joshua Thorn and Dr. Peter Arnoldia became residents of Kansas City in the Civil war, but they were connected with the government hospital, and attended few except the soldiers committed to their care. When peace came they engaged in private practice. About the same time Dr. Joseph M. Wood and Dr. Theodore S. Case returned and resumed their professional duties. Dr. Case, an able man in the profession, soon abandoned it to engage in literary pursuits and politics. Soon after the close of the war a number of physicians located in Kansas City, many of whom had performed services in one or the other of the contending armies, having been attracted here by the encouraging prospects of the young city. Among these were Dr. A. B. Sloan, a capable practitioner, and an excellent writer on professional topics; Dr. H. F. Hereford, a capable man in the profession, who began practice in Westport in 1851; Dr. S. S. Todd, Dr. Alfred B. Taylor, Dr. J. H. Bennett, Dr. Samuel Milligan, Dr. Joel Morris, Dr. D. Y. Chalfant and Dr. D. R. Porter. Dr. G. W. Tindall, the pioneer dentist, came to Kansas City in 1855. With increas- ing population came more physicians, many of whom, if without the rich practical experience of their predecessors, had been more highly favored with educational advantages.
The Jackson County Medical Society was organized in 1874. No records are extant and it is only known that its membership embraced nearly all the resident physicians of that period. In 1881 a reorganization was effected, with Dr. C. B. McDonald president, Dr. Joshua Miller as vice-president and Dr. C. W. Adams as secretary and treasurer. Meetings are held semi-monthly. The object of the society is to advance the professional lines through the medium of discussions and interchange of opinions. A small library is main-
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tained. The Kansas City District Medical society was organized in 1874, its membership being derived from the counties of Jackson, Clay, Ray, Cass, Platte and Lafayette. Dr. J. M. Allen was the first president, and Dr. E. W. Schauffler the first secretary. Meetings are held quarterly.
The first medical college in Kansas City was organized in the summer of 1869, when Dr. S. S. Todd, Dr. A. B. Taylor and Dr. F. Cooley obtained a charter for the Kansas City College of Physicians and Surgeons. Almost simultaneously other members of the profession secured a charter for the Kansas City Medical College, the leading spirit in the movement being Dr. A. P. Lankford, a young and energetic surgeon, aided by the well known surgeon, Dr. J. M. Wood. From these events dates the founding of the first medical college west of St Louis, the claim for priority resting with the Kansas City Medical College, which opened in October, 1869, while the College of Physicians and Surgeons did not open until the following December.
The two colleges were maintained separately until the fall of 1870, when they combined under the name of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, with the following faculty: Drs. S. S. Todd, J. M. Wood, E. W. Schauffler, A. P. Lankford, A. B. Taylor, T. B. Lester, D. R. Porter, D. E. Dickerson, T. J. Eaton, W. C. Evans, I. B. Woodson and S. C. Price. Some of those omitted in the consolidation of the two colleges with others then organized the Kansas City Hospital Medical college, with the following faculty: Drs. Franklin Cooley, Joseph Chew, J. O. Day, E. Dunscomb, J. C. Richards, G. E. Hayden, A. L. Chapman. This school is different from the one founded under the same name some years later. It did not long exist nor exert any marked influence. In 1880 in order to more closely identify the college of Physicians and Surgeons with the rapidly growing city which was its home, the faculty secured a new charter and it was thereafter known as the Kansas City Medical college. A charter was obtained in 1891 and the new college was reorganized.
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