USA > Missouri > Cole County > Jefferson City > The Bench and bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and other Missouri cities : biographical sketches > Part 32
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 32
USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > The Bench and bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and other Missouri cities : biographical sketches > Part 32
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During the late civil war he was in the confederate army.
His wife, Miss Tenie Worthington, is a daughter of Isaac Worthington, of Washington county, Mississippi, of one of the most prominent and influential families in that state.
Mr. Valliant is a lawyer of broad, comprehensive mind, a thorough student, and possessing an analytic mind. He is lucid and logical, and an excellent judge of human nature. As a citizen no man stands higher. He has the confidence of the courts before whom he practices, the good will of his brethren at the bar, and the esteem of all who are favored with his acquaintance.
THOMAS J. JOHNSTON. MARYEILLE.
M R. JOHNSTON has a legal mind of high order, original in its methods and strong in its grasp. He is learned in the law and a master of all the subtleties of his profession. A native of Illinois, he was born August 20, 1836, at Perry, Pike county, and is the son of David and Sarah (Day) Johnston. His father was a civil engineer and surveyor, and held the office of county surveyor. Ile was a native of Virginia and a cousin of General Joseph E. Johnston, but he left that state at the age of sixteen years. His mother was raised in Kentucky, but moved to Illinois at an early age with her parents.
Our subject was educated at Christian University, at Canton, Missouri. He read law with Colonel D. H. Gilmer, of Pittsfield, Illinois; was admitted to prac-
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tice by the supreme court at Springfield in the spring of 1860. He began prac- tice in partnership with Colonel Gilmer, which continued until the war broke out in 1861. The latter entered the volunteer service, and Mr. Johnston traveled over California and Oregon, Washington, Utah and Idaho territories, returning in the winter of 1863-64. He removed to Missouri, and settled at Milan in April, 1864, remaining there until 1870. He held the office of county attorney for Sul- livan county one year; was appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of judge of probate court, and was afterward elected to that office, and by virtue of that position was president of the county court, holding these positions four years. In November, 1870, he came to Maryville.
In 1879 a partnership was formed with C. A. Anthony, his present partner, and they are doing an extensive business.
In political sentiments Judge Johnston is a republican. In the spring of 1875 he was elected a member of the constitutional convention, and was considered one of the wisest men in that deliberative body; and in isso he was a candidate for judge of the circuit court. He was married in 1858 to Miss M. E. Cheno- with. They have one son.
THADDEUS A. LOWE. UNION.
TI HIE lawyer whose name we have placed at the head of this sketch is one of the most studious men of his class in Franklin county, and is growing in his profession. He is a native of Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, a son of Jesse and Rachel (Plotts) Lowe, and was born November 24, 1835. His father was a native of the same county, and his mother was born in New Jersey. She was a daughter of John Plotts, of the revolutionary army.
Our subject was partially educated in his native state, where he commenced teaching school at nineteen years of age, and also commenced reading law in the office of Judge Lewis, of Williamsport. In 1854 he went to Jones county, Iowa, where he completed his studies, including the higher mathematics and primary Latin; and he taught in Jones and in Linn counties, in all fourteen terms.
He continued teaching and studying the sciences, etc., until 1850, when he resumed the study of law in Linn county, and was admitted to the bar in the summer of 1862, at Marion, that county. A few months later, in the same year, he was admitted at Davenport, to practice in the supreme court of the state. In 1862 he went into the army, but his health failed and he left at the end of six months.
In 1863 Mr. Lowe came into this state, and was at Saint Louis until the spring of 1865, when he established an office at his present home, where he has made a good record at the bar. He was elected county superintendent of public schools in 1866, and held that position two years, the only office he has held in this county. He attends very closely to his professional duties, and is a progressive
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man. He is one of the best lawyers on the defense in the county: is an indefati- ggable worker for his client, clinging to his case with surprising tenacity, and sometimes winning when others thought this cause was hopeless. He is well posted in the law, is a logical and earnest speaker, and a successful advocate.
Mr. Lowe is generous to a fault, so much so, so kind-hearted, so extensive in his beneficent deeds, that he has always kept himself in moderate circumstances. This is a fault which leans strongly to virtue's side.
Several times he has been appointed special judge to try cases, and is at home on the bench as well as at the bar. He seems to be contented to stand as an ex- cellent lawyer, without any political aspirations. He was a delegate to the repub- lican national convention, which met at Chicago, in 1880. He will work with zeal to elevate a political friend of good standing to office, while keeping himself entirely in the background. He is a Blue Lodge Mason.
Mr. Lowe was first married in 1865, to Miss Helen V. Johnson, of Franklin county, she dying in 1870, leaving one son; and the second time in 1872, to Miss Sadie Black, of the same county, having by her two sons. She is a model mother.
Mr. Lowe has some taste for blooded stock, which taste he has gratified by raising a few first-class cattle of the Durham and Alderney breeds.
HON. GILCHRIST PORTER.
HANNIBAL.
T T IIIS eminent lawyer and jurist, who left the bench of the third judicial cir- cuit at the close of 1886, was born in Culpepper county, Virginia, November 1, 1817 His father was William Porter, a native of Fredericksburgh, Spottsyl- vania county. William Porter, a merchant, married Mary Macaulay Duncanson, daughter of Colonel James Duncanson, of Fredericksburgh. In 1835 the family came to this state, and settled on a farm in Lincoln county. Gilchrist soon com- menced reading law at Troy, the county seat; was admitted to the bar in 1837, and in the same year located at Bowling Green, in the adjoining county of Pike. In 1838 he was elected circuit attorney of the third judicial circuit; was reelected in IS po, and served six yous. la ig he represented Pike county in the state legislature, and occupied the whig side of the house. In 1850 Mr. Porter was elected a representative to congress from the second district. He was again elected in 1854, having, the year before, removed to Hannibal. In 1861 the sub- ject of this sketch, who was a firm Union man, was appointed by Governor Gamble to the bench of the sixteenth judicial circuit, and in 1863 he was elected to the same office. In 1867 he was appointed by Governor Fletcher judge of the third judicial circuit. Judge Porter was elected without opposition in 1868, and re- elected in 1874. His term expired with the year 188o. The judge is a model gentleman, whether on the bench or off, and exercised great patience and courtesy to the bar, to the younger as well as older members, and discharged his official
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duties with great punctuality, fidelity and diligence Early in 1881 Judge Porter returned to Hannibal; in April opened a law office, and he is once more engaged in the practice of his favorite profession, in which he distinguished himself at an carly day.
February 25, 1840, he was married to Miss Comfort Worthington Dorsey, of Pike county, where his father-in-law, Colonel Edward W. Dorsey, was a pioneer settler, coming from Carroll county, Maryland They have had twelve children, only seven of whom, four sons and three daughters, are living.
FREDERICK A. WIND. SHAT LOUIS
REDERICK ALEXANDER WIND was born of German parents, Charles and Mary (Taake) Wind, in Saint Louis, June 9, 1858, Ile received his edu- cation in the public schools and law school of Saint Louis, and was admitted to the bar in April, 1881. From early youth he has had a fondness for study, and while in the public schools was at the head of his class most of the time. While a law student his independence and self reliance led him to support himself by making collections, etc
The practice of Mr. Wind is wholly civil, and in three years, by his industry and his faithfulness, he has worked up a good business. He has an excellent class of clients, especially among commercial men, and by his prompt attention to business, his correct demeanor, and his honesty in all transactions, he has secured the confidence and good wishes of all who know him. In June, 1882, Mr Wind was married to Miss Nettie M. Blaydes, of Saint Louis, and they have one child.
THOMAS J. CORNELIUS.
T' [THE subject of this sketch was born in Montreal, Canada, August 7, 1838. He is a son of Thomas and Catharine (Purcell) Cornelius. He took a sci- entific course in the academy at Troy, New York, and studied law with John Moran, of that place; was admitted to the bar in Albany, New York, and com- menced practice at Troy in 1861. In 1862 he was elected one of the three judges i of the city court, and held that position three years. In February, 1866, he removed to Saint Louis, and resumed the practice of the law, and was married the same year to Miss Julia Frances Long, an estimable young lady of Alton, Illi- nois. They have had seven children, five of whom are living.
In 1872 he was elected to the Missouri legislature, and served two years. As a legislator he stood high, and during his second year was ranked among the leading members. He was considered a man of excellent judgment, whose argu-
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ments were listened to with close attention. Some of his efforts were mentioned as superb, and unsurpassed by any delivered in either house during that session.
In 1873 Mr. Cornelius was elected city attorney of Saint Louis, holding that office four years and two months, the longest time that any person ever held that office, being the last elected city attorney. In 1878 he was elected to the munici- pat assembly from the twelfth ward, and at the end of his two years' term he moved to the twenty -eighth ward, from which he was elected again to the municipal assembly
During his residence in Saint Louis Mr. Cornelius has enjoyed a large prac- tice, doing a general business. He is an advocate of good ability, being a fluent, logical speaker, and has succeeded admirably in practice in all of the courts, both state and federal.
EDWARD J. DELEHANTY.
E DWARD J. DELEHANTY was born in Dubuque, Iowa, June 3, 1844, and is the son of John and Honore (Powers) Delchanty. He was educated in the common schools and academies and a commercial college in Pennsylvania. He taught school at intervals from 1808 to 1872. He studied law with Frank Becker in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvama; came to Saint Louis in 1876; was admitted to the bar, and immediately commenced the practice of his profession, and has continued to the present time
Mr Delchanty is a genial, thorough lawyer, possesses good judgment, and is reliable and trustworthy. He is careful and attentive to business. He was mar- ried in Meadville, Pennsylvania, to Miss Tina Densmore, in 1874
HON. THOMAS C. FLETCHER.
() IF this able lawyer and brave soldier we shall only make brief mention, as the leading events of his life are chronicled m the annals of the state and nation. We but echo the sentiment of all who know Governor Fletcher, or who are familiar with his history, when we say that throughout his eventful life, either as a lawyer, a general in command of Union troops, on many a hard fought bat- de field, or as chief executive of the state during the fierce struggle of the late civil war, he has with great ability and true fidelity performed every duty incum- bent upon him.
Ile became one of the most learned and efficient members of the legal profes- sion, and attained the highest position in the gift of the people of the state.
Ile was born January 2, 1820, at Herculanean, Jefferson county, Missouri, and
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is the son of Clement B. Fletcher and Margaret S. (Byrd) Fletcher. His parents came from Maryland in 1819. At an early age he worked in the office of the dJerk of Jefferson county, where he remained until twenty-one years of age, when he was elected clerk of the same county He resigned that office, studied law with Phillip Cole, of Hillsboro, Jefferson county, was admitted to the bar in 1855, and commenced practice in Jefferson county.
He entered the Union army as colonel of the Best Missouri infantry, was pro- moted to brigadier general, and elected governor in 1864, which office he held from January, 1865, to January, 1809.
Since the latter date Governor Fletcher has been in the practice of the law in Saint Louis ; his business has been chiefly in the federal courts and the depart- ments at Washington.
WILLIAM KREITER.
SAINT LOUIS.
T HIE subject of this notice is a native of Saint Louis, born January 15, 1842. He is the son of Conrad and Elizabeth ( Buk) Kreiter. He was educated in the grammar and high schools of Saint Louis; afterward entered Cincinnati Law School; was graduated from that institution in May, 1863, and was admitted to the Saint Louis bar in 1804. He began practice immediately, and in 1866 was elected assistant circuit attorney for the eighth judicial circuit, including the city and county of Saint Louis. He was reflected to the same office in 1870. Since the expiration of his term in office he has been in the successful practice of the law. Mr. Kreiter is a thorough lawyer and a good advocate.
COL. PETER EDWARD BLAND. SAINT LOUIS
C OLONEL BLAND is a native of Missoni, and was born in Saint Charles county, March 20, 1821. being the son of Peter and Martha W. (Nash) Bland, both natives of Virginia. The paternal grandfather of our subject was in the first congress in America. His father was a lawyer, and Chancellor Bland, of Maryland, an eminent jurist, was of the same family, and a third cousin of our subject. The Nashes were a distinguished family in Virginia and the Carolinas.
Colonel P. E. Bland, in his youth, was placed by his guardian at the Illinois College, in Jacksonville, in iSpo, where he remained until his guardian became dissatisfied with the letters he received from young Bland on the subject of slavery, and removed him to the old Methodist college at Saint Charles, Missouri, from which institution he received his degree of bachelor of arts in 1846. He had been studying law previous to that time, which he continued up to 1848, when he was admitted to the bar. He immediately commenced practice in Saint Louis.
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In the spring of 1861 he was commissioned colonel of the 6th Missouri infantry; was ordered to Tennessee, and joined General Grant's army just before it reached Corinth. He was in the front, and engaged in several skirmishes, and was at Sherman's memorable assault upon Vicksburg, and few have sacrificed more for the good of the country. He was taken sick with rheumatism, and laid up nearly a year, and was mustered out of service in 1864
He settled in Memphis, Tennessee, in the practice of the law, where he re- mained until 1868, when he returned to Saint Louis He always conducts his practice in accordance with a high standard of professional ethics.
Colonel Bland was married in 1845 to Miss Virginia Clark, who died twelve years'ago. She had four children, three of whom are still living.
HON. WASHINGTON ADAMS.
BOON VILLE.
W TASHINGTON ADAMS, who died at Boonville, May 7, 1883, was one of the very prominent and truly noble men of this state. He was born in Christian county, Kentucky, in 1814, his parents being Virginians by birth. They came to Missouri in 1816, and settled in Howard county. The son had an academic education, including the Latin and Greek languages; read law at Boonville, with Peyton R. Hayden; was licensed in 1835, and was in practice at Boonville until his death, except when serving in some official capacity. In December, 1871, he was appointed by Governor Brown to fill a vacancy on the supreme bench; in November of the next year he was elected to the same office, and resigned in October, 1874 His opinions may be found in nine volumes of the supreme court reports -- forty-ninth to fifty-eighth. He was a member of the last constitutional convention (1875), where his sound mind and fine legal talents were of great service. As a lawyer, a law maker and a jurist, his status is among the foremost men of the commonwealth in the last three" lustrums. He left a widow and three children.
OZRO B. GIVENS. 1
SAINT LOUIS.
O ZRO BINGHAM GIVENS, who belongs to the younger class of Saint Louis lawyers, is a native of Dodge county, Wisconsin, being born at Juneau, the county seat, April 5, 1848. His parents, Samuel and Jerusha (Williams) Givens, were born in New York state, and are members of the farming community.
The subject of this notice was educated in the public schools of his native county, the Normal School at Whitewater, Wisconsin, and the law department of the State University at Madison, receiving the degree of bachelor of laws in June, 1874. He taught school a few terms in his native state while pursuing his literary
t
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and legal studies. On leaving the university, Mr. Givens came directly to Saint Louis, and opened a law office, limiting himself to the civil courts. He does something in real estate, but his business is largely in commercial law. He is thoroughly devoted to his profession; is very assiduous in attending to its duties, and is eminently trustworthy
Mr. Givens has never been in politics, and gives his whole time to the study and practice of his profession. He votes the republican ticket, and is a member of the Legion of Honor, an order to which many of his class of young men belong
CHARLES F. JOY. SAINT LOUIS.
C HARLES F. JOY is a lawyer of fine abilities, and is very successful in his practice. He descended from New England ancestors, his parents being natives of New Hampshire, who removed to Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1839, where Mr. Joy was born, December 11, 1849. He is the son of Charles and Georgiana (Bachelder) Joy His parents were possessed of all the sterling qualities and energy of the early New Englanders, his father, who died in 1864, having become a very prominent citizen of his section of Ilinois. Mr. Joy is a nephew of Hon, James F. Joy, the great railroad lawyer of Michigan. He was graduated from the academical department of Yale College in 1874 with distinction, and .two years afterward, in May, 1876, was admitted to the bar in the state and United States courts in Saint Louis, and immediately entered into practice in partner- ship with Joseph R. Harris
Mr. Joy has obtained a fine standing at the bar of Saint Louis, and enjoys a good practice. In 1879 he was married to Miss Arabel Ordway, of Salem, Con- necticut, who died in December of the next year.
EDWARD NEUENHAIIN.
HERMANN.
T THE subject of this notice is the prosecuting attorney of Gasconade county. and although a young man, has considerable prominence at the bar of his county. He is a native of Hermann; a son of August Nenenhahn, and was born September 3, 1854. His father was from Saxony, Germany. Edward devoted nine or ten years to study in the public schools of his native village, and then worked a few years in a wine cellar in the same place. He read law with Rudolph Hirzel, now of Saint Louis, and was admitted to the bar in the autumn of 1878. His practice is general and good, extending over the ninth judicial circuit.
Mr. Neuenhahn was elected prosecuting attorney of Gasconade county in the autumn of 1882, and is serving his first term in that office. He is yet under thirty
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years of age, and considering the short period that he has been at the bar, he makes a good prosecutor, and is doing well in his profession. He votes the re- publican ticket.
Mr. Neuenhahn was married November 20, 1881, to Miss Thersa Waldmann, of Gasconade county, and they have one daughter.
HON. JOHN J. O'NEILL. SAINT LOUIS.
I T is said of William Roscoe, author of the " Life of Lorenzo de Medici," etc., that apart from his very early instruction, " his education was his own work; he formed his own tastes, habits and pursuits, and in the formation of his character and future reputation, he became his own mentor. Nature had done much for him, but he did more for himself." The same is true, to a considerable extent, with the subject of this sketch, who has taken care of himself since twelve years of age, and who, in youth and early manhood, plucked fruit from the tree of knowledge, scientific, legal and political, as best he could. As in the case of Roscoe, whatever he has accomplished has been done by the aid of energies that never tire, and by the force of a will that it may be difficult to match among the new members of the forty-eighth congress.
John J. O'Neill is a son of Martin and Margaret (Quinn) O'Neill, who came to Saint Louis from heland about 1843, the father being from Galway; the mother from Castlerea. Here the son was born June 25, 1846; here the parents died, and here he has struggled up from a store boy to a seat in congress.
In 1862, when hardly sixteen years oldl, Mr. ('Neill went into the United States service as a clerk in the provost marshal's department, Saint Louis, where he remained during the civil war, coming out as chief clerk. Subsequently he was in the city comptroller's office, which he left in 1807. The next year he started a gold-pen factory, believing, no doubt, with Samuel Patch, who jumped the Genesee Falls, that "some things can be done as well as others;" so Mr. O'Neill manufactured gold pens nold January, 1871. White thus engaged, the political bee began to buzz around his head; and in the autumn of 1870, when but twenty-four years old, he was the liberal candidate for the legislature on the Gratz Brown ticket, and was counted out. In 1872 the liberals and democrats combined on him for the same office, and he was elected by a large majority. He was reflected in 1874, and again in 1876
In April, 1879, Mr. O'Neill was elected to the house of delegates of the city of Saint Louis, for the twentieth ward. In the same spring he was admitted to the bar by the supreme court, a step in life which he has been contemplating for several years. While a member of the legislature, he distinguished himself as the champion of the working classes; he was the author of the laws to protect laborers and servants in their wages, household exemption, sewing machine bill,
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employment agency bill, etc .; over twenty-five radical changes in the laws for the better protection of the weak against the strong are the result of his genius. The public-school library to-day owes its existence to his efforts, and the colored high and normal school is one of his legislative creations. After the adjourn- ment of the twenty-ninth general assembly, his name was prominently mentioned for congress, and he was induced to enter the race, and subsequently withdrew in the interest of harmony, a bitter quarrel having developed in the district. He was reflected to the house of delegates in April, 1881, and distinguished himself as the champion of public improvements. His last step was to " walk over the course " in the autumn of 1882, having been selected by the unanimous vote of the democratic convention as its candidate for congress for the eighth district, and enter congress. His history there is yet to be made; his political friends who elected him have great confidence in his energy and ability to distinguish himself. should be be kept in congress long enough.
Mr. O'Neill was married in October, 1871, to a daughter of S. H. Robbins, a prominent citizen of Saint Louis, and they have four children. The family are members of the Roman Catholic Church.
GEORGE F. PUTNAM.
KIVS.IS CITY
O F the many able men produced by the old Granite state, George F. Putnam is worthy of mention. He was born at Croydon, November 6, 1841, the son of John and Almira (French) Putnam. His father was a prominent business man, and out of one of the oldest families in New Hampshire. His grandfather, David Putnam, was one of the first settlers of that town, and a soldier of the rev- olution. His brother, Captain John W. Putnam, of the 6th New Hampshire infantry, served with distinction throughout the war of the rebellion. His brother, the late Rev. James W. Putnam, was a prominent Universalist clergyman, of Danvers, Massachusetts, and his brother, Nathaniel F. Putnam, is rector of the. Episcopal Church at Salt Lake City.
Our subject commenced his education in the public schools. He began teach- ing winters, at the age of seventeen, and followed that vocation at intervals while he was obtaining his education. He fitted for college at the academy at Thetford, Vermont; entered Norwich University, a military school, and was grad- uated in 1863. In 1870 he was honored with the degree of master of arts, by Dartmouth College.
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