USA > Missouri > Cole County > Jefferson City > The Bench and bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and other Missouri cities : biographical sketches > Part 42
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 42
USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > The Bench and bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and other Missouri cities : biographical sketches > Part 42
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JOHN W. ABERNATHY.
BUTLER.
JOHN WILLIAM ABERNATHY is a native of Putnam county, Illinois, and was born April 28, 1852, the son of William and Mary ( Lee) Abernathy, both of whom were natives of Ohio. Both his paternal and maternal grandparents were Virginians. William Abernathy, M.D., the father of our subject, removed to Illinois with his family in 1855, and engaged in the practice of medicine, con- tinning the same with marked success until 1808, when he settled on a farm and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. Here the son passed the remainder of his boyhood, receiving a good English education, and also engaged in school teaching during the winter seasons.
About 1873 he entered the law office of Brewer and Warner, of Prairie City, Illinois, and in 1875 was admitted to the bar of that state. During the same year he removed to Butler, Missouri, his present home, and, opening an office, soon gained a good clientage, and built up a lucrative practice, and established a rep. utation as an earnest, high-minded and thorough lawyer. He is a man of sound
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judgment and clear perception; possesses superior business talents, and is well read in his profession, to which, and to his industry and upright, manly dealing must be attributed his success
Although comparatively a young man, he has attained to a leading position at the bar, and may truly be said to honor his profession. As a counselor he is cautious and reliable ; as an advocate he has a style peculiarly his own, and with his ready command of language, his characteristic earnestness and force, never fails to impress himself upon those whom he addresses.
In May, 1881, Mr. Abernathy associated with himself in his business Hon. John D. Parkinson, and since that time it has been conducted under the firm name of Parkinson and Abernathy. In his political sentiments Mr. Abernathy is a democrat, and has always taken an interest in the success of the principles of his party, and generally engages actively in important political contests. He is also a Freemason.
In October, 18ko, he was married to Miss Katie B. Hereford, daughter of B. P. Hereford, a lawyer, of Covington, Kentucky.
HON. DANIEL O. GALE. WASHINGTON.
D ANIEL QUINBY GALE, the postmaster at Washington, Franklin county, and one of the oldest lawyers and most prominent men in the county, is a native of Essex county, Massachusetts, born at Amesbury, December 23, 1810. His father was Daniel Gale, a mechanic, and his mother, before her marriage, was Sarah Quinby, both born in the Bay State.
Our subject finished his education at the Amesbury academy; taught school one winter term; learned the machine t's trade, and worked awhile at Nashua, New Hampshire. Subsequently he went to Saco, Maine, read law with John Fairfield, afterward governor of Maine, and was admitted to the bar at Saint Louis in 1840.
Mr. Gale settled immediately in Washington, and for many years devoted his time very assiduously to the duties of his profession, being quite successful, and holding, meantime, various posts of honor. He was county judge four years, circuit judge eight years, and state's attorney eighteen years in succession, the circuit embracing nine counties. He made a very efficient and energetic prosecu- tor. As a judge he was fully up to the average, and when he retired from the
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bench the lawyers of the district held a meeting, and men of all parties were lavish in their praise of his excellent qualities, as shown while wearing the ermine.
Judge Gale is a republican, and in 1882 was appointed postmaster, to the duties of which office he is now giving almost his entire time.
He was first married in Saco, Maine, in 1830, to Miss Elizabeth Swain, who was the mother of four children, and died about 1857. Only one of the children is now living. Mr. Gale was married the second time in 1859, to Miss Abbie Quinby, a cousin, of Amesbury, having by her no children.
HON. ETHAN ALLEN PINNELL. STEELVILLE.
N () man in southwestern Missouri stands higher for uprightness and true manhood than the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. A native of Missouri, raised and educated in the vicinity of the place of his birth, he is enti- tled to the credit of being self-made. His birth occurred in Crawford county, November 17, 1831, the son of Wesley Pinnell, a native of Kentucky, who moved to Missouri in 1818. His paternal grandfather, Peter Pinnell, was a South Car- olinian, of French Huguenot stock, and served under General Nathaniel Greene, in the struggle of our forefathers for independence. His mother, before mar- riage, was Miss Eliza M. Marquis, a lady of French descent.
The early days of our subject were spent on a farm, and at school. He attended such private schools as were within his reach, and finished his educa- tion by hard study and close application to books, being principaly self-taught. But his untiring energies enabled him to overcome all obstacles. Hle soon became quite proficient in all of the branches taught in the schools, and at the age of twenty-one he commenced teaching school, which occupation he followed until 1861, when he entered the confederate army. He was made captain of company 1, 8th Missouri confederate troops. He participated in the battle of Prairie Grove in northwestern Arkansas, and in the battles in the Red River Val- ley, under Generals Kirby Smith and Dick Taylor, in which General N. P. Banks was defeated.
The last battle of any importance in which he was engaged was on Saline River, and was familiarly known as the battle of Jenkins' Ferry, under Generals Smith and Price, and the federal forces were commanded by General Steele. It
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was a bloody battle, considering the number engaged - about seven thou sand on each side. He was under General Kirby Smith when he surrendered, June 7, 1865, at Shreveport, Louisiana. He returned home, and remained about two months, and then went to Pike county, Illinois, and worked on a farm. He returned to Missouri and remained with his brother-in-law, P. W. Burchard, a lawyer residing in Gasconade county, one year, where he read law. He then followed the occupation of a school teacher about four years, and in his leisure moments read law. He went to Caba. Crawford county, in 1872, where he taught school one year. In 1873 he was admitted to the bar in Steelville, and immediately opened a law office at Cuba, where he remained until September, 1882, doing a good business. He removed to Steelville, and in November of that year he was elected judge of probate for Crawford county.
Judge Pinnell is a good lawyer, methodical, systematic and well posted in his profession, and has what may be termed a judicial mind, capable of hearing evidence on both sides of a question, and drawing correct conclusions. He is a logical reasoner, and has excellent judgment. He is highly prized as a citizen and a friend.
He was married, September 3, 1871, to Miss Frances Esther Collier, a native of Letcher county, Kentucky They have four bright and interesting children, Jone son and three daughters.
JOHN C. H. STEVENSON. SAINT LOUIS.
T HIS young lawyer and fine scholar is a native of Franklin county, this state, born in Union, October 20, 1853. Both parents, John D. and Hannah (Letcher) Stevenson, were natives of Virginia His father, who is assessor and collector of Water rates in Saint Louis, was a captain in the United States army in the Mexican war, and a general in the federal service during the civil war. His mother is a cousin of Governor John Letcher, of Virginia. Both of his grandfathers were in the second war with England
Young Stevenson is a graduate of the Saint Louis high school, class of 1873; of the Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, class of 1877, and of the Saint Louis law school, class of 1879, he having previously read law in the office of Judge George A. Madill. His legal studies did not end with his entrance upon the practice of his profession; he is seemingly as studious as ever, and evidently knows that to succeed and to rise at the bar, he must not abate at all of his
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diligence at his books. His practice is in both the civil and criminal courts, and growing from year to your.
Mr. Stevenson trains in the republican ranks, being very decided in his politi- cal and other views. He is a young man of independent cast of character, of no inconsiderable refinement of mind as well as polish of manners, and of unexcep- tionably good habits; hence there is strong hope of his progress in his profession.
BENJAMIN F. RUSSELL.
STEELVILLE.
B ENJAMIN FRANKLIN RUSSELL is a grandson of Benjamin Russell, who was a soldier in the continental army, and was captured by Indians, The name Russell is a corruption of the Norman Du Rozel. Hugh Du Rozel came over with William the Conqueror into England in rood, and to him the various branches of the distinguished house of Russell now in England trace their ori- gin. The great-grandfather of our subject was a descendant of this ancient house, through one of its younger branches, He immigrated to America at a very early day, and settled in the colony of Massachusetts Bay, in the territory of the present state of Maine. The father of Benjamin F. was a native of Massachif- setts, and his mother, before marriage, was Miss Mahala Wright, of Andover, Massachusetts, a lady of Scotch descent, of rare intellectual attainments and highly accomplished.
Our subject was born in the town of Greenwood, October 26, 1844. In the autumn of 1871 his parents removed to Texas county, Missouri, where both died the following October, and were buried in the same grave, From his mother Mr. Russell inherited fine literary tastes and habits of thought. His early days we're spent on his father's farm, and attending school winters. He entered the preparatory class in Gould's Academy, Bethel, Maine. The next spring he enlisted in the roth Maine infantry, and served two years, participating in the campaigns of the Shenandoah Valley, and in the battles of Winchester, Falling Waters, Front Royal and Cedar Mountain, where he was wounded, lying on the battle field all night, but was removed to the hospital at Washington next day, and recovered in time to join his regiment just after the battle of Antietam. After his return home at the expiration of his term of enlistment, he wrote and published a history of his regiment, which received very favorable notices from the press. He then returned to Gould's Academy the following summer. He
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then enlisted in the 3d Massachusetts cavalry, and was promoted to first lieuten - ant for meritorious conduct, under General Banks, in the famous Red River expedition. He was afterward under Sheridan in the Shenandoah, but the war being at an end, he was sent with his command to the plains, and mustered out of service at Fort Riley. He afterward engaged in mercantile pursuits, and finally turned his attention to literary pursuits, gaining considerable notoriety as a contributor to literary magazines and newspapers.
He came to Texas county, Missouri, in 1871, with the intention of providing a home for his parents, He engaged in farming. After the death of his parents he published the " Western Success" at Salem, Missouri, and contributed largely to the general press. He then took the local editorship of the " Texas County Pioneer," which he held one year. He then purchased the Crawford " Mirror," which he removed from Cuba to Steelville, where he continues its publication. Mr. Russell is liberal in his religious sentiments, and in politics is a republican. He is active and attends all of the conventions of the party. He is the present mayor of the city of Steelville, and stands high throughout southwest Missouri, and he possesses superior literary talents, He was admitted to the bar in Texas county, by Judge Hill, in 1874. He was married, in 1880, to Miss Bessie I .. Millsaps, a lady of fine accomplishments and highly educated.
ROBERT F. WALKER.
VERSAILLES.
R OBERT FRANKLIN WALKER, who is serving his fourth term as prose cuting attorney of Morgan county, is a native of that county, born Novem- ber 29, 1850. His father, Belford S. Walker, was born in Delaware county, Ohio, and was a descendant of an English family, who settled at first in Virginia. moving thence to Ohio; and his mother, before her marriage, was Abigail 1. Evans, whose parents were from Wales, and who settled in Ohio. They were remotely related to Rev. Christmas Evans, the eminent Welsh Baptist minister.
Robert was educated at the state university, at Columbia, being graduated from the collegiate department in June, 1873, and from the law department in 1874, having studied his profession one year before entering the latter school. He taught before entering the university, and some while pursuing his studies. Prior to this time, from fourteen to seventeen years of age, he worked in print- ing offices at Versailles and Kansas City
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On receiving his license, Mr. Walker went to Young county, Texas, where he practiced his profession between one and two years, returning to Missouri in the autumn of 1876, and opening an office at Versailles, the seat of justice of Morgan county In that same autumn he was elected prosecuting attorney of the county by his democratic constituents, and he has been reflected at three successive elections. He is one of the most popular young men in the county; is unusually well read in the profession for a lawyer of his age; is active and energetic as a prosecutor, and is one the best criminal lawyers in this part of the state. He is faithful and trustworthy, and good in every branch of the law. He is also asso- ciate editor with John A. Hanney, of the " Weekly Gazette," published at Ver- sailles. He writes with a sharp pen.
Mr. Walker was married September 20, 1877, to Nannie A., daughter of Hon. Leland Wright, once receiver of the United States land office at Fayette, Howard county, and they have one child.
GEORGE J. DAVIS. SAINT LOUIS.
G EORGE J. DAVIS is an able lawyer. of keen perceptions, possessing a logical mind, great energy and physical power. He is practical in all his thoughts, plans and actions, and possesses shrewdness and legal acumen that few attain. He is a gentleman of strict integrity, who conducts all of his profes- sional business according to a high standard He has the faculty of grasping the pivotal points of a case with great case, and his judgment is usually correct.
Mr. Davis is sixty years of age and is a native of Cattaraugus county, New York. He is the son of Jonathan Davis and Sally ( Farwell) Davis. His father was a soldier in the war of 1812 19 Our subject was educated at Dartmouth College and was graduated in 1848. He read law in Geneseo, New York, with Scott Lord and William II. Kelsey, both of whom have been members of con- gress from that state. Mr. Davis was admitted to the bar in September, 1851. and immediately commenced practice at Geneseo, remaining there until January, 1866.
He was district attorney for Livingston county from 1863 to 1800, and was reflected in the fall of 1865 for the term of three years, but resigned and came to Saint Louis, crossing the Mississippi River on the ice in January, 1800, and has been in the active practice of the law ever since that time, doing an extensive business. His business has been largely in insurance cases and corporation
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THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI CITIES.
practice. Mr. Davis has been a member of the Saint Louis municipal assembly three years and has always held the office of United States commissioner and assignee in bankruptcy. Mr. Davis is a courteous gentleman and stands high socially. He has been twice married, first, in September, 1850, to Miss Orches- tra Metcalf, who died in 1853, leaving one son. He was married again, in 1855, to Miss Cornelia Smith, daughter of the late Judge Albert Smith, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a granddaughter of the late James W. Stevens, judge of the court of common pleas, of Genesee county, New York They have two sons who are promising members of the Saint Louis bar In political sentiments Mr. Davis is a democrat.
WILLIAM S. RELFE.
SAINT LOUIS.
W ILLIAM S. RELFE came to this city from the southeastern part of the state in 1877 to take charge of the insurance department of Missouri, bringing with him a good reputation as a lawyer and a high-minded citizen of this commonwealth, of which he is a native. He was born at Caledonia, Wash- ington county, July 9, 1840, being a son of James HI. and Mildred (Duff) Relfe. His father, who was a native of Virginia, and a soldier in the war of 1812-14, came to Missouri about 1822, and was a prominent physician and a representative in congress. The Duffs were also a Virginia family.
William is a graduate of Arcadia College, Iron county, class of 1858, and afterward taught one year in the same institution. He commenced reading law at Potosi, in his native county, with Judge Carter, and completed his legal studies in California, where he was admitted to the bar in 1865.
Mr. Relfe returned to Missouri in that year, located at Potosi, and was not Jong in building up an excellent business in southeastern Missouri. He was hold- ing the office of circuit attorney of his circuit when the law was changed, and he was then elected prosecuting attorney for Washington county, holding the two offices, in all, four years. Mr. Relfe was elected by his democratic constituents to the legislature in 18744, and in the session following was chairman of the com- mittee on claims, and on the committees on the judiciary, criminal jurisprudence, and two or three others.
In 1877 Mr. Reffe was appointed superintendent of the insurance department of the state, and settled in Saint Louis, faithfully attending to the duties of that office for the period of four years On leaving that position he resumed the
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practice of his profession. Says a good judge of the status of our subject: " Mr. Relfe is a cool-headed, safe counselor, an earnest advocate, and is regarded as one of the most honorable and industrious members of the Saint Louis bar."
He belongs to the Legion of Honor and the Knight Templars, and is secre- tary of the Masonic Mutual Benefit Society of Missouri.
He was married in September, 1870, to Miss Alice 1. Wallace, of Potosi, and they have three children.
ALONZO W. SLAYBACK. SAINT LOUIS
A LONZO W. SLAYBACK was born July 4, 1838, at Plum Grove, Marion county, Missouri, the homestead of his maternal grandfather. He was a direct descendant on his mother's side of the Countess Susanna Lavillon and Bartholemi Dupy, royal guardsman of Louis XIV, whose tragic prosecution, marvelous escape from France and safe arrival on the shores of Virginia are familiar to the lover of history. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes gave birth to the romantic career of these two renowned Huguenots, Bartholemi Dupy, and Jacques de la Fontaine.
On reaching Virginia in 1700, Bartholemi Dupy joined the Fontaines and Tra- bues, friends who had preceded him, settling in Manakin town, on the banks of the James River, where he resided until his death. When dying he bequeathed to his eldest son, Jacques, the triangular sword which had served him in fourteen battles in Flanders, and his son at Guilford Court House, and it still remains a legacy in his family in Virginia.
The maternal grandparents of Alonzo W. Slayback were Jeremiah A. Minter (who still lives at the age of eighty-six) and Sallie (McDowell) Minter, both of Kentucky. Sallie McDowell's father was a son of Colonel Samuel McDowell, an officer of the American army, in the war of the revolution. The McDowells were of Scotch descent. His paternal great-grandfather, Solomon Slayback, was a soldier under Washington, one of the Jersey recruits from near Princeton, New Jersey. Originally the Slaybacks were from Amsterdam, Holland. Doctor Abel Slayback, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was the son of Solomon Slayback, and father of Alexander Lambdin Slayback, of whom our subject was the oldest child.
Alonzo entered the preparatory department of Masonic College, at Lexington, Missouri, in 1849, and the freshman class in 1852, and was graduated therefrom in 1856, with the highest honors of his class.
Ile afterward engaged in the occupation of a teacher, studying law during
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his spare time at Saint Joseph, Missouri At this place he enjoyed the friendship of Res. A. V. C. Schenck and General Bela M. Hughes, men of very wide differ. ences in characteristics, but of extraordinary talents of a marked character. They had considerable influence in shaping the mind and mental nature of the boy. He was admitted to the bar by Judge Norton, then of the circuit court, but now of the supreme court of Missouri He tormed a partnership with Hon. Joseph P. Grubb, now judge of the Buchanan county circuit. His second partner in law business was Samuel Ensworth, which continued but a short time.
At the breaking out of the war in (sor, we find him in the confederate service, under General Price, in the Missouri state guard. In 1861, immediately after the battle of Lexington, he was elected colonel of a cavalry regiment, and served during the term of his enlistment. He then enlisted as a private in the regular confederate service for three years, or during the war. He was soon after appointed on the staff of General Martin E. Green, with the rank of captain of ordnance. After the skirmish at Farmington he was recommended for duty in the line and for promotion. He reported to General Hindman and was sent to the cavalry front under General John S. Marmaduke, with whom he remained about a year after the confederate forces were driven into Arkansas, participating in many battles and skirmishes In the spring of 1864 General E. Kirby Smith sent him as a bearer of special dispatches to Richmond. Mr. Sedden, confeder. ate secretary of war, ordered General Smith to assign Captain Slayback to duty in the line, and by the order of that general he recruited a regiment in southeast Missouri, called the Slayback Lancers, of which he was elected colonel. This reg- iment was attached to Shelby's old brigade, where it remained to the close of the war, after which, forty-eight of this regiment, mostly officers, organized a com- pany, chose Colonel Slayback captain, and joined General SHelby's expedition to Mexico. They were disbanded in the city of Monterey, the general commanding that department being jealous of all Americans Colonel Slayback then visited the city of Mexico, and was the guest of El Senor General Don Tomas O'Horan, Prefect of Talapan, at his headquarters, where he spent several months studying the Spanish language and Mexican military tactics. At the carnest solicitation of his mother he returned to the United States. She went as far as Havana after him. He met her there and returned home with her, after five years of absence.
In August, 1866, he settled in the practice of the law at Saint Louis. He soon formed a partnership with R. H. Spencer, which was dissolved in 1870, when I. A Haenssler became his law partner; this partnership continued until December, 1870, when Colonel Slayback resumed practice alone.
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Politically Colonel Slayback was a democrat. He was a delegate to the dem- ocratic presidential convention of 1870, from the second congressional district of Missouri. The same year he was democratic nommer of that district for congress, but owing to an unhappy division in his party a republican was elected over the two democratic candidates. Colonel Slayback was made a member of the firm of Broadhead, Slayback and Haenssler, August 1, 1878. He was engaged in several important cases, tried in the different court of Saint Louis, where he early won considerable distinction as an advocate. He continued in this connection up to the day of his tragic death, which occurred in the " Post Dispatch " office in Saint Louis, October 13, 1882. During a heated political campaign of that season, in which Colonel Slayback took part, certain personal articles relative to him appeared in the " Post Dispatch," and while engaged in conversation with the managing editor of that paper he was shot through the heart, and died instantly.
Colonel Slayback was a man of generous impulses, great energy, and fluency of speech; his oratory was of that style which pleases the multitude. He was quick at repartee; wit and anecdote played a conspicuous part in his political speeches. He was very successful as an advocate before a jury, and he was searching in his examination of witnesses. He had cultivated quite a taste for literature, and was socially a congenial, pleasant gentleman
Ile married Miss Alice A. Waddell, an estimable lady, daughter of the late WV. B. Waddell, of Lexington, Missouri. They had six children, all of whom sur- vive him.
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