USA > Missouri > Cole County > Jefferson City > The Bench and bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and other Missouri cities : biographical sketches > Part 29
USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > The Bench and bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and other Missouri cities : biographical sketches > Part 29
USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > The Bench and bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and other Missouri cities : biographical sketches > Part 29
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Jacob attended at first a common and afterward a private school, his studies including the Latin and German languages He read law at Jefferson City with Lay and Belch, both now dead, and was licensed to practice by Judge George W. Miller, in May, 1876. He remained with his preceptors four or five years, and
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since then has been in company with Humphrey B. Hamilton, who is also no- ticed in this work. In the minute details of professional labor, which are often despised and sometimes neglected by members of the fraternity, Mr. Fisher seems to find delight. Born and reared in the country, he carly acquired those habits of industry and application which enabled him, unaided by the influences of for- tune and family, to gain an education and attain admission to the profession. By his integrity of character and studious habits, and faithfulness in the interests of his clients, he has gained the confidence of the community; and even at this early date he has taken an enviable position in the ranks of his profession.
Mr. Fisher has been city attorney the last four years, and in 1882 he was the republican candidate for prosecuting attorney for Cole county, and was defeated. The county is strongly democratic, but he ran far ahead of his ticket, coming within abont one hundred votes of being elected. He is a man of fine qualities, social, mental and moral, and is building on a good foundation of character.
Mr. Fisher was united in marriage September 24, 1878, to Miss Sallie A. Gross, of Jefferson City, and they have two children.
JOSEPH R. EDWARDS. JEFFERSON CITY.
JOSEPH RICHARD EDWARDS, mayor of Jefferson City, is a son of Judge J Edward Livingston Edwards, elsewhere sketched in this work, and was born in this city, August II, 1847. Particulars of the family may be found in the sketch of the judge. The son was educated at the Missouri State University, Columbia, leaving in the junior year on account of ill health. He read law with his father, and was admitted to the bar in 1869, since which date he has been in general practice in the first judicial circuit. He was city attorney in 1872 and 1873, and prosecuting attorney of Cole county from January, 1873, to January, 1879, being twice reelected, and making an energetic and popular prosecutor.
He belongs to one of the historical families of the state; is a man of a great deal of self respect, and of ambition enough to put forth his best efforts to advance in his profession. This he is doing. Hle is a sound lawyer, a candid and earnest advocate, and a true man in all the relations of life.
Mr. Edwards was an alderman from the first ward in 1875-1876, and in April, 1883, was elected mayor of the city. A native of Jefferson City, with all his inter- ests centering here, he naturally takes pride, as well as pleasure, in looking after its welfare, and in encouraging enterprises calculated to build it up. He has never voted any ticket but the democratic, in which party he is quite popular.
Mayor Edwards was married May 9, 1871, to Mary B., daughter of the late Robert R. Jefferson, of Jefferson City, and they have two children, a son and a daughter.
Mayor Edwards has been engaged in important trials, both in the United
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States and state courts, and while prosecuting attorney of Cole county assisted Attorney General Hockaday and Adjutant General Bingham in ferreting out what were known as the Crafton fraudulent militia claims, and thus saved thou- sands of dollars to the United States and the state of Missouri. He also prose- ented the Bond fraud, referred to in the proceedings of the constitutional conven- tion of 1875.
COLONEL FREDERICK MORSEY. WARRENTON
E FREDERICK MORSEY was born in Prussia in 1868, and came to America in 1833, and settled in Warren county in 1834. He was a graduate of one or two of the best institutions in Germany; was an accomplished surveyor, and ran and established many of the old lines in Saint Charles and Warren counties. He mastered the English language, and was admitted to the bar at Warrenton, where he had a lucrative practice for many years.
On the breaking out of civil war he cast his fortunes in the cause of the Union, and was colonel of the 10th Missouri cavalry, being in several engage- ments. He was at one period a director, claim agent and attorney for the North Missouri railroad.
After the war he went back to the bar, and was in active practice at the time of his death, which occurred in 1875. As a lawyer his opinion was universally sought, and as a close pleader he had few equals. Colonel Morsey was a pleas- ant talker, the German accent giving a charm to his words, and expressed his thoughts with great fluency. He lies buried near the home he settled, and a handsome marble monument, the free-will offering of his son, W. I. Morsey, marks his last resting place. The widow, a charming lady of mature years and polished manners, still survives him, as also his four children.
A sketch of William I. Morsey, the oldest child, is found in this work.
SAMUEL T. GLOVER.
SAINT LOUIS.
S AMUEL T. GLOVER first came prominently into notice as a lawyer while a resident of northeastern Missouri. In the judicial circuit, which includes Marion county and the adjoining counties, there were, twenty and thirty years ago, and still earlier, as at present, several brilliant lawyers, some of whom have settled in Saint Louis, and others have gone before the Great Judge. Before set- tling in Saint Louis permanently the reputation of our subject as a very able attorney at law was fully established.
Mr. Glover was for years a partner of Judge John C. Richardson, who died in 1860, and latterly he has been of the firm of Glover and Shepley, which is one of
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the leading law firms in Saint Louis. The position of both men is in the very front rank. He won considerable distinction by his course in regard to the test oath. Though loyal himself to the core during the civil war, he did not like the feature of the so-called Drake constitution, which aimed at the citizens of Mis- souri who had sympathized with the confederates, debarring such citizens from certain inalienable rights. In the autumn of 1865 he made a test case in his own person; carried it finally to the supreme court, and in December, 1866, it was decided that the law of Congress, which imposed a retrospective oath of loyalty as a condition of being admitted to practice in the United States courts, Was unconstitutional.
Mr. Glover is thoroughly read in his profession; has great versatility of resources in conducting a case; is an eloquent speaker, a man of an emotional nature, and has wonderful power over a jury. More than one of his old associ- ates of the Saint Louis bar placed him at the head of that bar twenty years ago, and in their judgment he still stands there.
MICHAEL JOHN SULLIVAN. SAINT LOUIS.
M ICHAEL JOHN SULLIVAN, assistant circuit attorney of the city of Saint Louis and for the eighth judicial circuit of the state of Missouri, is a son of John D. and Catherine (Cunningham) Sullivan. He was born at Wash- ington, District of Columbia, June 24, 1852, and is of Irish and Scotch origin. He was educated chiefly at Rock Hill College, Ellicott Chy, Maryland; came to Saint Louis in the year 1869, and at once commenced the study of law in the office of Krum, Decker and Krum, a firm then engaged in a most lucrative and extensive practice. At the same time he attended the law department of Wash- ington University. In the year 1871 Mr. Sullivan was admitted to the bar, and in the following year received the degree of bachelor of laws from the University. He has ever since been engaged in the practice of civil and criminal law in Saint Louis, and has been very successful in the walks of the profession. He is well read, studious, very attentive to business, careful in the preparation of his cases, conscientious, thorough and eminently trustworthy.
In 1879 Mr. Sullivan was appointed reviser of city ordinances of the city of Saint Louis by Mayor Henry Overstolz. His labors in that position involved a revision of legislation, covering a period of ten years, and resulted in the produc- tion of a volume which will compare most favorably with anything of the kind in this country. He continued as reviser until the spring of 1882. In the early part of December of that year he was appointed, by Governor Crittenden, assist- ant cirenit attorney, to fill a vacancy created by the resignation and promotion of Judge E. A. Noonan to the bench. He still holds the latter position, the duties of which he discharges with great faithfulness and ability.
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Mr. Sullivan is a democrat in politics, always active during an exciting can- vass; is a Roman Catholic in religion, and he is prominently identified with many of the leading social and business organizations existing in Saint Louis, notably the Legion of Honor, which is very powerful and peculiar to, or rather does not extend beyond this city.
Mr. Sullivan was married, August 30, 1851. to Miss Genevieve A. Good, for- merly of Covington, Kentucky. They buried their only child in the month of July, 1883.
HON. ARCHIBALD V. MCKEE.
TROY
A RCHIBALD V. MCKEE, one of the leading lawyers at the Lincoln county
bar, was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, November 6, 1831. His father, Archibald Mckee, belonged to an old Virginia family, and was engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits, dying in Indiana in 1856; and his mother, whose maiden name was Lilly MeClure, was a native of Boone county, Kentucky. She died in Iowa in 1871. In i84o our subject went to Hanover College, Indiana, where he was graduated in 1851. He read law at Greenburgh, same state; attended law lectures at the Indiana State University, and was licensed to prac- tice at Indianapolis in 1853. He opened an office at Troy, and is now the oldest attorney still in practice in this county, and has made a success in his profession. He is a fine judge of law, and a prudent, safe counselor. In general knowledge of the law he stands at the head of the Lincoln county bar. He is regarded as one of the best lawyers in his judicial circuit.
Mr. McKee has held by appointment the offices of city attorney and county attorney, but has not sought office. He was a member of the last constitutional convention (1875), and was a member of the special committee to revise the new constitution, and prepare an address to the people. He was married, July 15, 1862, to Miss Clara S. Wheeler, daughter of the Jate Captam Otis Wheeler, of Lincoln county, Missouri, and they have four children.
HON. CARTY WELLS. TROY.
A MONG the men who were prominent at the bar and on the bench of Missouri twenty-five and thirty-five years ago, was Carty Wells, a native of Prince William county, Virginia. He was born in February, 1805, and five years after- ward was taken to Shelby county, Kentucky, where he received a good English education, and commenced the study of law. In 1827 he came to Missouri, finished his studies at Saint Charles, and was licensed to practice in the autumn of 1828, when he opened an office in Saint Charles. Five or six years later, when
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Warren county was organized, he was appointed clerk of the circuit and county courts, holding that office a few years, and then resigning and moving on a farm near Troy, but continuing his practice. In isto be represented Lincoln county in the legislature. From about 1843 to 1847 he resided at Palmyra, and while there served one term in the state senate. He was appointed judge of the Lin- coln circuit in 1851, and held the office until 1857, and then returned to his farm in that county. He died in Troy in 1860
In the autumn of 1883, the writer of this sketch had occasion to visit Troy, Bowling Green and Palmyra, and whenever the name of Carty Wells was men- tioned, the older class of attorneys were warm in praise of his talents and the geniality of his nature. He was intimate and cordial with everybody, and had in his day a host of friends. As an advocate, he rarely aimed to be oratorical, but he appealed to the understanding of a jury, and his candor, clearness and logic seldom failed of success.
JOSEPH B. WELLS, a younger brother of Carty, read law with his brother, and practiced at Warrenton, Saint Louis, and San Francisco, California. While a resident of Warrenton he was circuit and county clerk, and a member of the legislature. He went to California for his health, and died at Troy, this state, while on a visit to friends. He was a brilliant lawyer.
URIEL WRIGHT.
O N a recent tour through northeastern Missouri we often heard the praise of Uriel Wright on the lips of the older class of lawyers still in practice there, though he did not end his life in this state. According to the judgment of his old associates in Marion, Lewis and Pike counties, he had no peer in the manage- ment of a lawsuit, especially in the criminal courts. He had great gifts of lan- guage; was a powerful whig orator, witty and spicy, as well as eloquent, prodigal and always happy in illustrations, and a rare entertainer in any circle, public or private, in which he was thrown. He had the gift of being a good listener as well as talker, and one jurist declared that he could even be eloquent in his silence.
Mr. Wright was born in Virginia in 1805; received a partial education at West Point; studied law with Hon. Philip P. Barbour, once a noted politician; was graduated at the Winchester Law School, and after practicing in his native state a few years settled in Palmyra, this state. He added strength to the Marion county bar, which has long been very strong. Those who consult these pages will see that it is strong to-day, notwithstanding the number of legal lights which have left that bar and are now in Saint Louis or in the spirit world.
Mr. Wright represuted Marion county one term in the legislature (1836-37). He bad bad luck financially in land speculation about that time, and went to Saint Louis, where he shone as a star of the first magnitude. The scintillations
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of his eloquence are still well remembered in this city. He was called the orator of the Mississippi valley
When the civil war broke out he was a delegate to the state convention which met to consider the relations of Missouri to the federal government, and in which he took a patriotic stand for his country: but at a second session he went over to the confederate side. He joined the army, rose to the rank of major, settled in Winchester, Virginia, and was there in practice until his death in 1869.
HON. ARMSTED M. ALEXANDER. PARIS.
T HE new member of congress from the second district was born in Clark county, Kentucky, May 26, 1834, being a son of John and Eliza J. (Ragland) Alexander. His parents were also born in Kentucky. In 1841 the family immi- grated to this state, and settled in Monroe county. The father died in 1844; the widow is still living. Armsted spent two years in the classical department of the University of Virginia, and one year in the law department, and finished his legal studies at home, being admitted to the bar in 1862. Civil war being in progress, he did not open an office until it was over. For some time he has stood at the head of the bar of Monroe county.
Mr. Alexander was prosecuting attorney for six or eight years; was a member of the constitutional convention in 1875, and chairman of the committee on fran- chise and elections; and in the autumn of 1882 he was elected to congress, where he is yet to make his history. He was a delegate to the national democratic con- vention which met in Saint Louis in 1876.
He is a member of the Encampment in Odd-Fellowship, and of the Christian Church. In 1858 he married a daughter of Thomas Vaughn, of Paris, and they have two children.
HON. FRANCIS M. BLACK.
JUDGE BLACK is very popular in western Missouri, and deservedly so. He is eminent as a lawyer and judge; he has great power of concentration; his mind is clear and analytic, and powerful in its grasp. He is considered one of the strongest men in this part of Missouri, and is celebrated for his fairness and candor. He was born July 24, 1830, in Champaign county, Ohio, the son of Peter and Maria (Hillard) Black. His father was a farmer, and young Black spent the early part of his life laboring on the farm and attending school. He attended the agricultural college at Cincinnati; studied law with General John H. Young, ot Urbana, and was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Ohio in 1864. He removed to Kansas City the same year, and soon commenced practice. He
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was a delegate to the last constitutional convention held at Jefferson City (1875). and his wisdom was acknowledged and counsel sought in that convention. In 1881 he was elected judge of the twenty-fourth judicial circuit, which position he holds to the satisfaction of the bar and people of his circuit.
Judge Black, when off the bench, unbends from official dignity with great facility, and has a faculty of placing at case all who approach him. He is of medium size and height, well proportioned, with a robust constitution; his com- plexion is dark, hair black sprinkled with grey, and blue eyes; his forehead is high, broad and massive, and his features well defined.
He was married in 1867 to Miss Susie B Geiger, an amiable and accomplished lady, the daughter of Doctor A Geiger, of Dayton, Ohio.
HON. EDWARD WHITE.
SAINT LOUIS
T THE gentleman with whose name we head this sketch comes of patriotic Vir- ginia stock, his grandfather, Henry White, being one of those brave men who fought for the independence of the colonies. His parents were William H. and Amanda (Bailey) White, the former a native of Virginia; the latter, of Penn- sylvania. He dates his birth at Fredericksburgh, February 22, 1840, and was educated at several schools and academics in Virginia; his course of studies in- cluding the classic and higher branches of the mathematics. After leaving school he taught two years, and was thus engaged when the civil war began. He en- listed as a private in the goth Virginia infantry, and eventually became adjutant general, with the rank of captain of Clingman's (North Carolina) brigade, and served four years, surrendering at Greensboro, North Carolina, May 1, 1805.
On leaving the service, our subject connected himself with the law school at Winchester, Virginia, and was admitted to practice in 1866. He opened an office at Berryville, Clark county, in his native state, where he remained five years, holding for two years the office of judge of the county court, which bad at that time the same jurisdiction as the Missouri circuit courts.
In 1871 Judge White resigned that office and came to Saint Louis, and has since been practicing in her civil courts, making a specialty of life-insurance law, and doing a well paying business, reaching into the federal as well as state courts.
One of the judges of the circuit court of Saint Louis writes as follows in re- gard to the subject of these brief notes:
"In reply to your favor concerning Edward White, who has his law office on Pine street, in the Ferguson building, and who is better known as Judge White, because of his having been on the beach of Virginia, it gives me pleasure to be able to say that I formed his acquaintance soon after he located here; that I have known him well ever since; that I regard him as a well read and able lawyer, and that I have such confidence in his ability, integrity and reliability, that I would
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not hesitate to intrust him with any legal business, no matter how difficult or important the same might be "
Mr. White is a democrat, a Master Mason, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and a man of excellent standing in the community.
His wife was Gertrude Douglass, daughter of Judge I. R. Douglass, of Jeffer- son county, Virginia, their union taking place December 11, 1867. They have six children.
LOUIS R. TATUM. SAINT LOUIS.
T HIS industrious young lawyer is a native of the city of Saint Louis, and a son of the late David Tatum, who was for years a well known wholesale merchant here, and Sophia (Anderson) Tatum. The latter is a native of Illinois, the former of New Jersey. Louis R. Tatum was born December 18, 1852, and re- ceived the benefits of the excellent schools of this city. After going through the high school he read law at first with his brother, Joseph T. Tatum; then with Hon. W. H. Horner, now of the circuit bench of this city, and finished his legal studies in the law department of Washington University. He was admitted to the bar in May. 1875, while still a student at the university, at which he was graduated in 1870.
Mr. Tatum practices in the civil courts exclusively, and mainly in the com- mercial branch, and considering the time he has been at the bar he has a very encouraging clientage. He is studious, careful, honest and energetic, and has the fullest confidence of the bar and the community. He is endowed with the genuine fire and spirit of his profession; is very tenacious in a case of litigation, and has won more than one suit after it had assumed the appearance of a forlorn hope.
He is democratic in his political leanings, and a member of the Legion of Honor.
Mr. Tatum was married December 18, 1870, to Miss Aleda C. Wilkinson, daughter of George W. Wilkinson, of Saint Louis, and they have one son.
GIVEN CAMPBELL.
G IVEN CAMPBELL is a native of Livingston county, Kentucky, born De- cember 1, 1835. His parents were Judge James Campbell and Mary (Given) Campbell. His paternal grandfather was from Scotland, and settled in Peters- burgh, Virginia. His maternal grandfather was from South Carolina. Mr. Camp- bell was educated at Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, and the University of Virginia, finishing his legal studies in 1858. He was admitted to the bar in the
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same year, and practiced in Saint Louis until the spring of 1861, when he went into a confederate regiment, and served through several gradations of rank as an officer, until paroled in June, 1805.
Returning to Saint Louis, he was prevented from resuming practice on ac- count of the constitutional test path of the state, and in December, 1865, he went to New Orleans, where he spent between seven and eight years, and built up a large and highly remunerative practice. In 1873, on account of the poor health of his family, Mr. Campbell came back to Saint Louis, and for ten years he has been in successful practice in the civil courts, largely in the United States courts. When one of the Saint Louis judges was questioned as to the status of Mr. Camp- bell as a lawyer, the reply was: " I can hardly say too much in praise of Given Campbell as a man or an attorney, for I regard him as not only one of the best lawyers in Saint Louis, but in the West. He is a thorough student, strong rather than eloquent, a close reasoner, a dangerous debater either before court or jury, and a man of the very purest character."
The political affiliations of Mr. Campbell are with the democratic party. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He was married in January, 1865, to Miss Susan E. Woods, of Saint Louis, and they have three children.
EDWIN SILVER. JEFFERSON CITY.
S OME men are said to be born poets, others inventors, still others professional men, and if the subject of this notice was not born a lawyer, he had by intu- ition a strong tendency in that direction. Happily be early had an opportunity to be guided by his instincts or taste, and is now one of the rising young men at the Cole county bar.
Edwin Silver was born in Dublin, Harford county, Maryland, December 6, 1850, being the son of Henry and Hannah Jane (Galbraith)- Silver, both also natives of Maryland. His father, who is still living, was a farmer and merchant, a member of the Maryland legislature in 1856 and 1865, and in 1867 of the con -. stitutional convention, which framed the present constitution of that state.
Mr. Silver received his literary and legal education at the University of Vir- ginia, at Charlottesville, receiving the degree of bachelor of laws in 1871, when twenty-one years of age. In December of that year he came to this state; was in practice at Saint Louis until the summer of 1873, and then went to Mexico, the seat of justice of Andrain county. Ile was the private secretary of Governor Hardin from the first of January, 1875, until the close of his administration.
Mr. Silver then concluded to remain in Jefferson City, and he formed a part- nership with General John A. Hockaday, ex attorney general of the state Sub- sequently he was a partner of James E. D Belch, until the latter's death in 1883. taking the place of Hon Alfred M. Lay.
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