USA > Missouri > Cole County > Jefferson City > The Bench and bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and other Missouri cities : biographical sketches > Part 36
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 36
USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > The Bench and bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and other Missouri cities : biographical sketches > Part 36
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In 1870 Judge Wright removed to Clinton, and in February, 1873, he was once more placed upon the bench of the circuit court, this time of the twenty- second circuit. He has twice been a candidate of the democratic party for judge of the supreme court of the state, and each time received a very strong vote in that part of the state where he is best known.
In ESSt he moved to the capital, where he is practicing in the supreme court of the state, and in the United States circuit and district courts. In every posi- tion in which he has ever been placed, he has been very faithful to his trusts, and has reflected credit on his office. Says a writer in one of the state papers: " Whether presiding as judge, or contending as counsel, he has always been kind, courteous and dignified, and especially has he always been the friend and coun- selor of the young and inexperienced members of the profession."
Judge Wright was married August 29, 1837, to Miss Nancy Jaqueline McClan- ahan, of Greenville, South Carolina. Her mother was an Earle, daughter of Con- gressman Elias Earle, who was in that body for many years, and her grandmother was a sister of Chief Justice Marshall. Mrs. Wright is the mother of eleven chil- dren, of whom six are living, and all settled in life All are married but the youngest son. Judge and Mrs. Wright are in excellent health, and although in
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the period of the "sere and yellow leaf," they are young in spirit, and have in their buoyancy the elastic bound of middle lite. They are growing old gracefully, as everybody has the privilege of doing. They have long been members of the Christian Church.
JAMES S. MCLEAN. SED.A.I.I.
JAMES STAFFORD MCLEAN is a son of Elijah and Mary ( Stafford) McLean, and was born in Washington, Franklin county, Missouri, January 22, 1859. His father is a physician, born in Kentucky, and is living at Washington, in his eightieth year. His mother was a native of Illinois. She died in 1871. James was educated at the Washington University, Saint Louis, going through the junior year; the law department of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, where he spent one year, and the Saint Louis law school, where he spent two years, and was graduated in June, 1881. He received a thorough equipment for professional life, and immediately opened an office in Sedalia, where he has worked up a fair clientage for one so short a time in the profession. He was in company with Orastus A. Crandall the first year, and has been alone since. Ilis business is in the civil courts only, his preference being for that class of litigation. He is studious, painstaking in all his legal work, and is a rising young man.
Mr. McLean belongs to the order of the Knights of Pythias, and the Presby- terian Church. He has laid a good foundation for success in character as well as in literary and legal education.
ALBERT B. LOGAN.
A' LBERT BOYD LOGAN, one of the leading members of the Johnson county bar, and for several years assistant attorney of the Saint Louis, Kansas City and Northern railway, is a Buckeye by birth, first seeing the light in the town of Poland, Mahoning county, March 29, 1842. His father, William Logan, a builder and contractor, was a native of Virginia, and married Mary Ann MeNabb, of Ohio, in 1828, Albert was the fourth child in a family of seven chil- dren. Both parents are still living in Mahoning county, Ohio.
Our subject received most of his education at the Poland Female College, the curriculum including the higher English branches and latin. At nineteen years
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of age, civil war raging in the land, Mr. Logan enlisted, June, 1861, in company E. 23d Olio infantry, which was ordered to West Virginia, and was under com- mand of General Rosecrans, then colonel of that regiment. " Upon his promo- tion. Colonel E. P Scammon assumed command, Hon. Stanley Matthews being lieutenant colonel, R. B. Hayes, late president of the United States, major. Mr. Logan participated in all the engagements in West Virginia. In 1862 his regi- ment was sent to the army of the Potomac, and took part in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam In 1863 he was stationed at Charleston, West Virginia. guarding the confederate prisoners; in that year he was promoted to sergeant major of his regiment, and afterward to first lieutenant. He commanded the advance guard in Hunter's raid on Lynchburgh, Virginia, and the rear guard in the retreat to the Kanawha Valley, and was thence transferred to the Shenandoah Valley, under General Hunter, and afterward under General Sheridan, the com- mand participating in all the engagements of those brave leaders. He was after- wand attached to the 8th army corps, under General Crook, where he remained until the close of the war, being mustered out in Cleveland, Ohio, August 6, 1865. He thus served his country over four years, with honor and true manly courage.'
Before going into the army Mr. Logan had the law in mind, as his profession, and had read one year at Poland During the war he also dipped into his law books as opportunities presented themselves, and on coming out he entered the office of Hon. Charles E Glidden, late judge of the ninth judicial district of Ohio, with residence at Poland. He was admitted to the bar in 1866, and after practic- ing at Sharon, Pennsylvania, two short years, he came to Missouri, and settled at his present home. He was city attorney of Warrensburgh from 1872 to 1874, and in 1870 was appointed assistant attorney of the railway already mentioned, a road between five and six hundred miles long He had charge of all the law cases on that thoroughtare, outside of Saint Louis, for three years, being much of the Time at Saint Louis or on the road
January 24, 1865, Mr Logan was married to Miss Ella P. Cress, daughter of George Cress, deceased, formerly of Warrensburgh, and they have three children, two sons and one daughter. The elder son is named Glen Hayes, in honor of his first major, afterward president of the United States. The other two children are Minnie La Una and George William. The family attend the Methodist Church, ot which most of them are members. In politics Mr Logan is a thorough-going republican
He makes a partial specialty of criminal litigation, in which branch of the law he has usually had a fine success. With one exception ( while he was in Saint
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Louis) he has been connected with every trial for murder in Johnson county, since be settled here He is a good trial lawyer, and being a smooth, easy and persuasive speaker, his impression on a jury of his peers is admirable. His prae- tice extends into a dozen counties or more, and he is usually a very busy man.
SAMUEL P. SPARKS.
WARRENSBURGH.
S AMUEL PRESTON SPARKS is descended from an old patriotic North Carolina family, his grandfather, Joel Sparks, being in the second war with the mother country, and his great-grandfather in the first, both from that state. He, likewise, is a native of North Carolina, being born in Surrey county, January 1, 1844. His parents were William W. Sparks, a school teacher, and Lucretia Cornelia (Pryor) Sparks, both, also, North Carolinans by birth, the mother being born at Guilford Court House. William W. Sparks moved with his little family, wife and son, to this state in June, 1844, when Samuel was under six months old, and settled in Johnson county, where his wife died in September following. He himself died in 1876.
Samuel P. Sparks was educated at McKendree College, Lebanon, Saint Clair county, Illinois, and was graduated in 1870, full classical course, after five years' residence. He taught school before going to college, and during vacations while in his college course; read law at Warrensburgh with Hou. Russell Hicks; was admitted to the bar in 1874, and then spent one year in study at the Saint Louis law school. In 1875 he formed a partnership with his Warrensburgh preceptor, and the firm of Hicks and Sparks was dissolved by the death of Judge Hicks, in 1870 Mr Sparks then became a partner of Garrett C. Land, and that firm con- tinned until the death of Mr. Land, im 1882. Since March, 1883, Mr. Sparks has been the semor member of the firm of Sparks and Campbell, his associate being Levin H. Campbell. Their practice is miscellaneous and large, and they have an excellent standing at the county bar.
Mr. Sparks is a man of indomitable energy, and a zealous worker in his pro- fession. He takes hold of a case determined to work it up thoroughly, and to win if his client is in the right; and no man ever lost a case because of his ina- bility to do it justice. He is a well read, well balanced man, and equally good as a court and as a jury lawyer. He is clear and strong in argument, and usually successful. In the supreme court of the state his success has been second to that
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of no other lawyer in his part of Missouri. He is very careful about all minor details, and leaves no opportunity for a snap judgment
Mr Sparks was clerk of the county court from 1870 to 1874, and represented the eastern district of Johnson county in the thirty-first general assembly, being elected by his democratic constituents to fill a vacancy. He has proved himself faithful to every trust confided to him. He is a Knight Templar in Freemasonry. and master of the Warrensburgh lodge of the same order.
Mr. Sparks has been twice married: first in 1871, to Miss Myra Curtis, of Clinton, Henry county, this state, she dying only a few months afterward; and the second time in April, 1874, to Miss Nannie R. Cunningham, of Little Rock, Arkansas, having by her two sons,
DEE REESE.
T NIE derk of Benton county, whose name we have placed at the head of this sketch, is a son of the late Judge Addison Reese, who was a native of Har- rison county, Kentucky, and a prominent lawyer and judge in northeastern Mis- souri for more than a quarter of a century, and for sixteen of seventeen years of . that period was on the bench of the circuit court, dying in Saint Louis in 1882. His wife was Margaret Huner before her marriage She was born in Albany, New York, and died in Canton, Missouri, in iso3.
Our subject was born at Monticello, the judicial town of Lewis county, Feb- mary 2. 1843, and was educated at Canton, in the same county, being a graduate of Christian University, class of 1861 The next year be devoted to study in the Saint Louis University, after which he read law with his father and M. C. Haw- kins, of Canton, and was licensed to practice in 1864 by Judge James Ellison.
Mr. Reese practiced one year at Alexander, Clarke county; in the spring of 1865, settled in Warsaw, and took the office of county attorney, which he held one term. In 1872 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the county, and held that office the same period. In 18;4, though barely of the required age, he was nominated by the democratic party for the office of judge of the (then) seventh judicial circuit. He was elected to his present county office in 1878, and re- elected in 1882. He is a democrat, living in a republican county, and had a fair majority at each election, being quite popular in the county. He seems to be a favorite of his party where he is well known, and at the time of writing -- winter
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of 1883-84 -- is talked of for the democratic nominee for the forty-ninth congress. The " Missouri Enterprise," of Warsaw, thus speaks of him:
" Benton county has a son whom she will honor and expect to be nominated to wear the next congressional mantle. Benton county will present the name of Der Reese to the next convention, and will urge his claims on the ground of his abilities and eminent fitness for the place; and with Reese in congress, the sixth district will have an able and popular representative "
Mr. Reese is reported to be one of the best political canvassers on the demo- cratic side in this part of the state. In oratory he stands at the head of the Benton county bar. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
The wife of Mr. Reese was Jenny A. Hastain, daughter of Daniel M. C. Has- tain, of Warsaw, and sister of P. D. Hastain, prosecuting attorney of Benton county, elsewhere mentioned in this book. They were joined in marriage in November, 1867, and have three daughters
HENRY STUBENRAUCH.
KINDS CIFY.
H ENRY STUBENRAUCH was born April 18, 1848, at Mayence (or Mentz), on the Rhine, Germany, the same city in which Johannes Guttenberg, the inventor of the art of printing, was born. Henry received his education at the Gymnasium of Mayence, and having, by study and observation, acquired a predilection for a republican form of government, and following his impulses in that direction, he immigrated when eighteen years old, alone, without friends or relatives, to the United States, leaving loving parents, sisters and brothers behind. He landed at New York, November 14, 1866. After having followed several vocations, especially the drug business, in different cities of the Union, in order to gain a livelihood, and save a little money, he began the study of law in 1871 at Saint Louis, attending among others, the law department of the Washington University.
In the spring of 1872, perceiving the advantages of a young and growing western city, he came to Kansas City, where he continued his studies at the law office of John K. Cravens; was admitted to the bar in 1873, and has since fol- lowed the practice of law at Kansas City without interruption. In May, 1876, he formed a partnership with Wash Adams, a prominent attorney of that city, under the firm name of Adams and Stubenrauch, which is one of the leading law firms
It
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ยท of Kansas City to-day Mr Stubenrauch is also a commissioner of the United States circuit court for the western district of Missouri
Hle was married, in 1876, to Gertrude Haefner, a daughter of Joseph Haefner, un old and respected citizen of Kansas City. Mr Subenrauch is prominently identified with the German element of Kansas City, holding various positions of honor and trust in German societies and organizations.
LEONARD WILCOX.
EONARD WILCOX is endowed by nature with faculties admirably adapted - to his profession, to which he is wedded with a devotion that insures suc-
cess. He is a native of the Old Granite State, a location noted for its salubrity of climate, majestic scenery, purity of its mountain streams, and the high eleva- tion of the mental and moral standard of its inhabitants. He was born in Oxford, Grafton county, and is the son of the late Leonard Wilcox. He was educated in Dartmouth College, a graduate of the class of 1865. He came to Saint Louis and studied law in the office of Hon. John M. Krum; attended Saint Louis Law School, and was admitted to the bar in March, 1868. He tries his cases with skill, and makes an excellent brief. He has what may be styled a judicial mind, one capable of hearing both sides of a question and deciding without bias or prejudice. He reasons naturally from cause to effect, but his discourses are often enlivened with similes and anecdotes. In 1870 he entered into a partner- ship with Judge Warren Courrier, which continued two years.
WILLIAM D. STEELE.
ST:D) 11.1.1.
W ILLIAM DULANEY STEELE is one of the best educated young men in his profession at the Sedalia bar, and is studious, painstaking and pro- gressive. He is a native of Henry county, this state, born at Windsor, April 24, 1855, being a son of William and Frances Elizabeth ( Dulaney) Steele. His father was a native of Charleston, West Virginia, a lawyer by profession, and died at Windsor, Missouri, in 1871; and his mother was born in Kentucky, being a grand- daughter of Captain Baylis, of the revolutionary army. William read law at Clinton. Henry county, with Colonel Banton G Boone, and was there licensed to
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practice by Judge Foster P. Wright, in August, 1876 Not fully satisfied with his legal attainments, and desiring a more thorough preparation before commencing to practice, being, moreover, only twenty -one years of age, Mr. Steele spent a year at the Saint Louis law school.
Early in the summer of 1879 he opened an office in Sedalia, and was not long in getting a fair amount of practice, extending into both civil and criminal courts, and evidently has a preference for criminal litigation, in which his business is un- usually good for a man only four of five years in active practice. Persons who have known Mr. Steele from his early youth, regard him as a sound lawyer and a careful business man of the highest integrity A more reliable man cannot be found at the Pettis county bar.
WARREN B. MCINTIRE.
W ARKEN BEAUFORT MENTIRE is a son of George Mentire, a native of Kentucky, and Mary Rood, a native of Ohio, and he was born in Adams county, Illinois, February 28, 1844. Warren was educated in the public schools of his county, the high school in Quincy, and attended one term in the Quincy College, being reared on his father's farm until about eighteen years old. He also attended a commercial college to fit himself for commercial life. He taught school six terms in the township of Fall Creek, Adams county, and several terms in other towns, part of them in Missouri
Mr. MeIntire was a merchant in Quincy for three years, and afterward in Saint Louis. Subsequently he farmed four years in Audrain county, where he now lives; was then a merchant at Mexico. During these years Mr. Mentire paid considerable attention to the study of law, and in 1875 was admitted to practice, in which he is now engaged He is one of your sprightly men, doing everything with promptness and care; and he labors very earnestly for his clients. He is strictly honorable in all his dealing, legal and otherwise, and has many friends in the county.
Mr. Mentire is a first-class civil engineer, and has held that office in connec. tion with the corporation of the city of Mexico. To him surveying is a recrea- tion, as well as an official duty. With compass in hand, and out under the open sky, he is as happy as a woodchuck in a clover field.
Mr. MeIntire is a member of the democratic party and of the Christian or
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Disciple Church. He is a man of good standing in society. He was first married in November, 1868, to Miss Mary Abney, of Quincy, Illinois, she dying in October, 1873, leaving one child; and the second time in April, 1876, to Miss Sarah W. Criswell, of Mexico, by whom he has two children.
EDWARD L. GOTTSCHALK. SAINT LOUIS.
T THE subject of this sketch is a native of Kentucky; he was born April 24. 1852, at Frankfort, and is the son of Frederick and Susan ( Holeman) Gottschalk. He removed in infancy to Dubuque, lowa, where he went through all of the grades of the public schools He removed to Saint Louis in 1867, attended the Saint Louis law school, from which he was graduated in 1873, and was immediately admitted to the bar. He then went to San Francisco, Califor- nia, where he practiced law with excellent success. Hle formed a partnership there with Cameron H. King, and among the many important trials in which he was engaged may be mentioned the famous murder trial of Maybridge, in which he procured his acquittal. He returned to Saint Louis in 1876, and formed a part- nership with his father, which was dissolved in iso. He then practiced law for a time by himself. In July, 1882, he became associated in partnership with Gideon D. Bants, his present partner.
Mr. Gottschalk is a fluent speaker, a good advocate before both court and jury. He tries his cases well. .
He married Amelia, the daughter of John Bolland, a well known Saint Louis jeweler. They have two children, Florence and William.
HON. ELIJAH ROBINSON. BOWLING GREEN.
O NE of the youngest lawyers in the state of Missouri, recently placed on the bench of the circuit court, is Elijah Robinson, of the third judicial circuit, he being elected when thirty-one years old. He was born in Lincoln county, this state, February 9, 1849, his parents being Owen C. and Elizabeth (Salmons) Rob- inson. He finished his education in the Watson Seminary, Pike county; read law at Troy, in his native county, with Archibald V. McKee; was admitted to the bar in 1869, and at twenty years of age commenced practice at Bowling Green,
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Pike county. In February, 1870, he was appointed county attorney; was elected prosecuting attorney in the autumn of 1872, and reflected in 1874, holding the office four years, and leaving a brilliant record as a prosecutor.
Judge Robinson was elected to his present office in the autumn of 1880, his circuit being composed of Pike, Lincoln, Audrain and Montgomery counties. He excels in the framing of charges, they being models of brevity, directness and lucidity. He is a rising man.
The affiliations of Judge Robinson have always been with the democratic party, though he is not a bitter partisan, and since going on the bench has kept aloof from the political arena. It is safe to say that no young jurist in the state has a better idea of the dignity of his position, or maintains it with more becom- ing modesty.
The wife of Judge Robinson was Lcha Harris, daughter of the late Hon. William A. Harris, formerly a member of congress from Virginia, and at one period minister to Buenos Ayres, South America They were married October 5, 1876, and have one son.
THOMAS F. RYAN. SAINT JOSEPH.
T HIE subject of this sketch was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, December 26, 1850, son of Michael and Mary (Brown) Ryan. His parents immigrated to America in 1851, and settled in Pennsylvania. They came to Saint Joseph, Missouri, in 1858, where they lived a short time, and then removed to Andrew county, and engaged in farming. Thomas remained on the farm until 1873. He began his education in the district school and afterward entered Christian Brothers College, Saint Joseph, graduating in 1871. He read law under private instruction two yours, and in 1873 came to Saint Joseph, and entered the office of Judge Pike, as a student, and was admitted to the bar in May, 1874. In November following his admission to the bar, he was elected a justice of the peace, serving as such for some time, but his law business increased to such an extent that he could not afford to hold that office; resigned, and has since devoted himself to the practice of his profession.
In November, 1882, he was elected prosecuting attorney for Buchanan county, which position he has filled since that time with marked ability.
Mr. Ryan is a thorough lawyer, well versed in all the technicalities of the pro- fession; is a cogent reasoner, possesses great fluency, and is an able advocate
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before both court and jury. He possesses a peculiar aptness for the trial of causes; his mind is subtle and refined He sees a point clearly, and is able to express himself in a lucid, forcible manner He is a democrat and takes an active part in politics
FRANCIS A. SAMPSON.
F RANCIS ASBURY SAMPSON, of the Sedalia bar, is a Buckeye by birth, and was born in Harrison county, February 6, 1842, his parents being Fran- cis and Margaret (Griffith) Sampson Ilis father was from Ireland, and his mother from Wales The former died in 1867; the latter is living, being past eighty years of age.
The subject of this sketch is a graduate of the College of the City of New York, class of 1865. He taught school in Ohio two or three winters before going to New York, and while in college taught in the public night school for three years, having the largest adult class in that city, upward of a hundred scholars in attendance at the same time, some of them being nearly fifty years of age.
He read law with Lowton and Shepard, of Cadiz, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in that state in 1867. Returning to the East, he attended the law school of the University of New York one year, and was graduated valedictorian of his class. During that year he taught in the evening school of the Cooper Institute, his branches being the integral and differential calculus for the graduating class.
After being graduated and admitted to the bar in New York, Mr. Sampson came to Sedalia in September, 1868, and since that date has been in practice in the several state and federal courts, principally the home courts and civil branch. He held, by appointment, for some time the office of United States commissioner, the only civil of political office, we understand, that he has ever held, being thoroughly devoted to his profession. He stands high in legal attainments, and as a classical and scientific scholar has very few peers at the Pettis county bar. We have given above the biographical data of Mr. Sampson, and, at his request, make no comments and offer no words of commendation of him as a lawyer.
Mr. Sampson has a good share of public spirit, and interests himself in local enterprises calculated to build up his adopted home. He is president of the Sedalia Foundry Company, which gives employment to about forty men. He affiliates with the republican party; is a Knight Templar in Masonry, being recorder of the commandery; a member of the Methodist Church, and secretary of its board of trustees.
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