USA > Missouri > Boone County > The bench and bar of Boone County, Missouri; including the history of judges, lawyers, and courts, and an account of noted cases, slavery litigation, lawyers in war times, public addresses, political notes, etc > Part 10
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PEYTON R. HAYDEN
One of the queerest men who practiced law in this county in early times was Peyton R. Hayden of Cooper county. Mr. Hayden was one of the last men to keep up the custom of wearing long hair, and he had it down his back in a queue. His clean shaven face made him not unlike a woman in appearance. Three lawyers finished their busi-
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ness in the Boone Circuit court, and started for Saline county, riding horseback, and just as they were leaving Columbia, Judge Todd told them to tell a certain lady who kept a small tavern at the cross-roads in Howard county that he (Judge Todd) and Mr. Hayden would be there two days later and would want a room for the night. Hayden had played practical jokes on all of these lawyers, and they were determined to get even with him. Accordingly, when they stopped at the tavern kept by that lady, they told her that Judge Todd had requested them to say to her that he would be along there with a "friend" in two days, and wanted a room reserved. The lady said that she would be glad to see the judge, and of course would reserve the room. The lawyers then hesitated, looked serious, and finally told the lady that they regretted to tell her, but felt it their duty to inform her that Judge Todd was traveling with a woman dressed up in men's clothes, and was passing her off for a man. The lady who was always anxious to hear all the gossip, thought that she saw an opportunity to make an example out of one who was thus acting, and show her contempt for the "double standard." Accordingly when she saw Judge Todd, at the appointed time, coming up to her house, in company with the supposed woman, and especially when she saw the long hair in a plat down the back, she hastened to the front door. She met the guests at the threshold and welcomed Judge Todd, but in the strongest terms she told the "old huzzy" not to come in her house. Both men were amazed, and Judge Todd tried to introduce Hayden as his friend, when the lady interrupted and said, "Yes, I suppose she is your friend ; may be my husband has such a friend, but he dare not bring her to my house." It was nearly supper time, but the indignant land lady would not allow such a person in her house, no not for one moment. So Todd and Hayden had to ride some miles farther on before they could find a place where supper and lodging could be provided for both of them; and they did not learn the cause of the rumpus till they caught up with their three lawyer friends in Saline county.
Mr. Hayden was fond of the study of law, but not of literature. During recess one day in the Boone county court house, a lawyer named Field from Lafayette county asked him what he thought of Lord Byron's "Child Harold". And Mr. Hayden replied, "Egad, sir, I did not know that Byron had a child named Harold."
SINCLAIR KIRTLEY
Capt. Sinclair Kirtley was not only well known in Boone and adjoining counties, but well known all over Missouri, and he was one of the great lawyers of the state. He represented Boone county in the
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General Assembly of 1833-35, was chairman of the judiciary committee, and was the first person to introduce a bill looking toward the estab- lishment of the State University. The bill did not become a law till 1839. Captain Kirtley lived in Columbia from 1825 till 1847, and his home was the center of society. He planted the first flower garden in Columbia, and he built the first ice house in Boone county ; and his orchard, which stood near where the Columbia Presbyterian church now stands, was one of the first planted in this county.
Captain Kirtley, though as gentle as a woman, was as bold as a lion, and his moral courage was far above fear or favor, so his daughter Mrs. Eliza Kirtley Royle writes. About 1835, a negro boy named Archie was charged with the murder of his master, a wealthy bachelor who was said to be cruel to his slaves ; and the whole county was stirred up over the homicide. Judge Todd appointed Captain Kirtley to de- fend the negro, and he did so with marked ability, making an argu- ment on the danger of circumstantial evidence that has rarely been equaled. But the feeling was so great that Archie was convicted and executed, though it afterwards developed that he was innocent, and that other slaves committed the murder. Threats were made against Captain Kirtley's life if he appeared to defend Archie, but he paid no attention to them, and discharged his whole duty to his client.
One of Captain Kirtley's clients had judgment rendered against him by default, as Captain Kirtley did not appear when the case was called for trial in the circuit court. A motion for a new trial was filed, and it was alleged, among other reasons, that the attorney "was detained on the farther bank of a certain creek called Roche Perche, in traveling to Columbia, on account of high water, and that the wolves were so numerous in that locality that he hesitated to sleep on the bank of the creek, but sought refuge in a farm house some miles beyond, thereby making it impossible for him to attend court on that day." The default judgment was set aside.
JNO. B. GORDON
Hon. John B. Gordon was said to have been one of the most eloquent speakers who ever practiced at the Boone county bar; he was a whig and represented Boone county in the Missouri legislature at the time when the State University was located. To Representatives Jno. B. Gordon and Jas. S. Rollins and Senator A. W. Turner are due much of the credit for Boone county's victory in 1839. Mr. Gordon further showed his interest in higher education by donating to the state the ground upon which the main building of the University was erected, and where the old columns still stand.
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During the session of 1838-9, Thomas H. Benton was a candidate for re-election to the United State senate, and a deadlock resulted. During the voting, to the surprise of every one, Gordon voted for Benton, and Benton was elected by one majority. That night, Benton's friends gave him a reception at a hotel and, among others, Mr. Gordon attended. When Gordon shook hands with Senator Benton and mentioned that he had voted for Benton, "Old Bullion" replied, "Yes, Mr. Gordon, and I am sorry for it. The people of Boone county will not approve of that vote, sir. You were elected as a whig and you owed to your people to properly represent them, or to resign, sir." And Gordon, quick as a flash, said, "Go to the devil." Instead of Boone county disapproving of Gordon's vote, Mr. Gordon was returned to the legislature several times thereafter. Col. Switzler said that Mr. Gordon was such a fine speaker that he could almost convince the people of Boone county that white was black.
During the 'forties, Mr. Gordon had the first law school in this county, and there graduated from it some of the best lawyers Boone county ever had. The school consisted of one class and one teacher, and the building used was Mr. Gordon's law office, a house made of logs and consisting of one room. It was situated in the yard at Mr. Gordon's home, two miles east of Columbia, on the south side of the Cedar Creek gravel road. Odon Guitar, Boyle Gordon, Chas. W. Gordon, Emmett Gordon and Jas. B. Persinger attended this law school.
Before leaving Madison county, Kentucky, Mr. Gordon had a similar law school, and several men of note attended it; among them was Samuel F. Miller, who moved to Iowa and became justice of the United State supreme court.
Like Jas. S. Rollins, David Todd, Sinclair Kirtley and other lawyers of the early days, Jno. B. Gordon had a law office in a room in his yard.
A picture of Mr. Gordon would certainly deserve a place in this book; but his relatives say that, as far as they know, no picture of him ever existed. A grandson of Mr. Gordon, Marshall Gordon, a highly esteemed farmer, still lives in this county ; and to him we are indebted for the pictures of the Gordon lawyers.
JAMES S. ROLLINS
No man in Boone county was better known than Major James S. Rollins, county official, state official, congressman, orator, lawyer, soldier in two wars and friend of education. On account of the great work that he did for the University and Agricultural College, he was
JUDGE PHILEMON BLISS
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honored by the name "Father of the University of Missouri", and well did he deserve that title. No man was more gifted in oratory, and no man could please his audience better than Major Rollins; and well and often did he use his powers of persuasion.
An eyewitness to the occurrence, who is still living, tells of a time when Major Rollins defended a man in the Boone county court house in 1853, when an angry mob tried to take the prisoner from the court room. A rope was thrown around the neck of the defendant, but Major Rollins knocked two men down and cut the rope with a knife. A second rope was thown around the neck of the defendant; and a second time this rope was cut by the fearless Rollins. The mob, which by that time had numbered several hundred, then overpowered the court, lawyers and officers, and the prisoner was taken out into the court house yard, and to the northwest part of Columbia, where an effort was made to hang him. While the poor victim was being raised up from the ground, the rope broke, as a result of having been partly cut in the court room. At this critical moment, Rollins spoke to a man named Palmer, and said, "Mr. Palmer, you are the smartest man in the state of Missouri. Now, I want you to take that prisoner and run with him to jail; you are the only man that can do it. Do it, sir, and children yet unborn will rise up and call you blessed !" Then Major Rollins mounted a stump and began to speak to the excited throng, urging them to desist in their murderous undertaking; and, while he was speaking, Palmer, who had been instructed what to do, grabbed hold of the prisoner, and ran with him in safety to the county jail, and the mob dispersed. And thus the disgraceful incidents con- nected with mob law were averted.
It was told by Major Rollins that the first term that the Missouri legislature was held in Jefferson City a young lawyer was elected from Boone county to the lower house, so-called, and that on the day of the opening of the session he appeared in the senate, and, when the secretary called the name of his county. he walked forward and presented his credentials. As soon as the secretary looked at the docu- ments, he told the young lawyer that he had been elected to the other branch of the lawmaking body, and he asked where that body was in session. The secretary told him in the room below. "Well," said the young lawmaker, "I went down there, and I seen them fellows down there, and they was such a noisy set that I thought that was the bar- room."
Major Rollins was the whig nominee for United States senator in 1848, and twice the whig nominee for governor ; but was defeated, once by a very small majority. While in congress, he was the author
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of and advacated the bill for the building of railroads from Missouri to the Pacific Ocean, and later on President Johnson appointed him a director in the Union Pacific railroad. While in the Missouri legisla- ture, he was the author of the bills establishing the State University, Kirksville Normal, State Hospital for Insane at St. Joseph, School for Deaf at Fulton, School of Mines at Rolla and Lincoln Institute.
At the time of the Centralia battle during the Civil War, Major Rollins and several other men were passengers in the Columbia stage, on their way to Mexico, and reached Centralia just before the shooting of twenty-two Federal soldiers by Bill Anderson's men. Several of Anderson's men met the stage as it entered Centralia, and took from the occupants all of their money and valuables. Major Rollins gave his name as Johnson, said he lived near Columbia and was a Methodist preacher. One of Anderson's men was about to take a shirt out of Rollins' carpetbag, when the latter begged so earnestly for a clean shirt to wear the following Sunday, that the man finally yielded. For- tunately, the man could not read and write; if he had had an educa- tion, which Major Rollins earnestly advocated all should possess, he could have read on the lower part of the shirt bosom, "James S. Rollins." Jas. H. Waugh, then sheriff of the county, was in the stage with Major Rollins, and some papers were taken from his pocket, which gave away his name and official character, but he told the guerilla that they were copies of his grandfather's will.
While Major Rollins served as president of the board of curators, a petition was presented to that body. Major Rollins wanted to ignore it, but some of the members thought it was of value, as it had been extensively signed. Major Rollins said, "Gentlemen, a petition amounts to almost nothing. There is Dr. H. W. Dodge, the Baptist minister in Columbia, and every one knows that he is one of the best men in town; yet I can go out on the street, and get a majority of the men of Columbia to sign a petition asking to have Dr. Dodge hanged. Some will sign it just in order to get rid of me; some will sign it because I have signed a petition for a sidewalk or road for them; and some will sign it because I trade with them."
A. W. TURNER
Hon. Archibald W. Turner was one of the early lawyers of Boone county, moving here like so many others from Madison county, Ken- tucky. Mr. Turner was elected a member of the lower house of the state legislature in 1836, and had much to do with framing the ad- ministration law of Missouri. He afterwards served for many years as public administrator of Boone county, settling up during that time
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a number of very large and complicated estates. He was state senator at the time of the passage of the act providing for the State University in 1839, and in connection with Representatives Jas. S. Rollins and Jno. B. Gordon, performed a service of lasting value to Boone county. Then in the contest for the location of the University, Senator Turner was one of Boone county's active workers, and contributed fifteen hun- dred dollars.
Senator Turner was an extensive farmer and breeder of fine stock, and owned a farm out east of Columbia. He took an active part in the Boone county grange in the early 'seventies, and was secretary of the first county fair, which was given in Columbia in 1835.
Like many others in this county, Senator Turner was a whig till the beginning of the Civil war, when he became a democrat, and ever afterwards voted with that political party.
WHEN JEFF WOODS ACTED AS HORSE
Judge Burckhartt told the following, which is a good story on him as well as his brother lawyer. "It was about 1840," said the judge, "and I was a young lawyer, a bachelor, going from county-seat to county-seat, 'riding the circuit' and of course I visited Columbia, where I was usually entertained at the home of Judge Todd. Jeff Woods, a Columbia boy, was a tall, picturesque and eccentric character. He was such an athlete that if living now he would certainly be a football player. He was a favorite in society, although he had a penchant for playing jokes on acquaintances, female as well as male. During a deep snow, he engaged one of the Columbia belles to take a sleigh ride with him. This young lady, by the way, was one in whom I was considerably interested; in fact, Jeff and I were rivals. At the appointed hour late one afternoon, Jeff drove a one-horse sleigh to her father's residence, then on Broadway between Fifth and Sixth streets, and disengaging the horse from the shaves, hitched him to a fence around the corner, leaving the sleigh on the street near the front door. As soon as Jeff entered, he saw me in the parlor talking to the young lady, and he at once invited both of us to take a sleigh ride with him. After wrapping up, we took a seat in the sleigh, adjusted the buffalo robe for the ride, supposing of course that Jeff would get the horse and buckle him to the shaves. But instead of this, he jumped between the shaves himself and "played horse" by running with the sleigh and the two frightened occupants down the streets in the direction of Flat branch. He ran and galloped and
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laughed with all his might, until, when near that little stream, he passed by a blacksmith shop, pretended to become frightened at the sparks then flying from the anvil, ran away with the sleigh and turned it over, buffalo robe, pretty girl, bachelor lawyer and all into a deep snow drift in the bottom of Flat branch.
"The joke was on me, and there was nothing left to do but to shake the snow off, escort the young lady home and pretend I enjoyed the joke."
CANDIDATES FOR SUPREME JUDGE
In 1851, there were three sets of candidates for judges of the supreme court, there being at that time three vacancies to fill. The whig candidates were Hamilton R. Gamble, William T. Wood and Peyton R. Hayden ; the Benton democrats were Jno. F. Ryland, Philip Williams and Charles Jones; and the anti-Benton democrats were Priestly H. McBride, William B. Napton and William Scott. Six out of the nine candidates, Gamble, Hayden, Ryland, McBride, Napton and Scott, practiced in Boone county ; and Judge McBride, who had already served a term on the supreme bench, then lived in Boone county. The voters of Missouri showed their independence, as well as their desire to have a court free from political control, by electing one man on each ticket, viz., Judge Gamble, Judge Ryland and Judge Scott.
JUDGE GORDON'S ADVICE
Shortly after the Civil War, an Englishman, who had been born in Ireland, moved to Boone county and visited Columbia every Satur- day. He was an odd-looking individual, wore a blouse, knee trousers and a cap with brass buttons on it. He also enjoyed a drink of liquor, and one day while so enjoying himself he was arrested in Columbia for riding his horse on the sidewalk. He went in company with the marshal to see a lawyer and met Judge Jas. M. Gordon, then advanced in years, plain, sensible and unassuming, and a man who always said just what he thought. He told Judge Gordon that he had been charged with violating a city ordinance, and desired to retain a lawyer. As soon as Judge Gordon looked at the queer man with the unusual costume, he said, "You don't need a lawyer. Plead insanity, sir, and you will surely be acquitted."
Oil portraits of Judge Jas. M. Gordon and Judge Alexander Persinger were presented by their friends in the year 1870 to the county court, and they have ever since adorned the county court room. Col. Wm. F. Switzler made the presentation speech, and the court
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ordered the pictures placed on the walls just over the bench (see county court record book "S" page 87). Illustrations made from those portraits may be seen in this volume.
JNO. B. CLARK
Although he was a citizen of Howard county, General Clark was well known in Boone county, and practiced here a great deal; he frequently shed tears before the jury, when arguing a difficult case. He was an officer in the Southern army, and made use of his military service in appealing to the prejudices of a Boone county jury, as will be seen by the following account of the slander case of Pulliam vs McKinney, which was tried in 1867, in the Boone circuit court.
General Guitar was attorney for Pulliam, and General Clark was attorney for the defendant, Jno. C. Mckinney, who lived in the Model Farm neighborhood, near the present village of Woodlandville. In his opening argument, General Guitar criticised Mckinney for slander- ing a poor farm tenant ; and called Mckinney "a lean, hungry, Cassius- looking individual"; saying that such a looking man was never as reliable as a round, plump person, such as General Guitar's client was. In reply, General Clark pathetically admitted that his client was not only lean and hungry looking, but was actually hungry ; and gave as a reason that he had not had any beef to eat since General Guitar's soldiers took all of his cattle during the Civil War. But in spite of the fact that there was still a strong Southern feeling at that time in the minds of Boone county jurors, General Guitar's power of elo- quence and skill as a lawyer won for his client a judgment for five hundred dollars.
General Clark was a lawyer of the old school, and often wept before juries, and often wept with juries. At one time, he was defending a man in the Boone circuit court, and of course had the defendant's wife and all of his children sitting in front of the jury. One child was a baby, and, during General Clark's speech, the youngster began to cry. He made so much noise that Judge Hall ordered the sheriff to take the child out of the court room. At this Clark broke down completely, and said : "Your honor, take the defendant's lawyer away from him, take all his friends away from him, yes, take all of his rights away from him, but for God's sake don't take his crying infant away from him." Not only did General Clark cry like a child, but nearly every one in the court room cried; and an eyewitness to the occurrence, who is still living, said it was enough to bring tears to the eyes of a bronze statute. Result : verdict of not guilty on the first ballot.
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WM. A. ROBARDS
Hon. Wm. A. Robards was the only Boone county lawyer to serve as attorney general of Missouri, although two others, Odon Guitar and N. T. Gentry, were candidates for that office at different times. The attorney general then had no assistant, and he was ex officio reporter of the supreme court, and also circuit attorney of the circuit where the state capitol was located. General Robards died of the cholera in September, 1851, while living in Jefferson City, having served only a part of his term. He was first appointed adjutant general, but resigned in order to accept the appointment of attorney general. He was an able lawyer, a democrat, and made an active campaign in 1848, at the time of the election of Governor Austin A. King.
General Robards is buried in the state lot in the Woodland Ceme- tery at Jefferson City, and a suitable monument was erected to his memory by the state. Some of General Robards' descendants still live in this county, and one son lives in St. Louis. An effort has been made to procure a picture of the general from them, but they have lost their only picture of him.
WM. F. SWITZLER
Col. Wm. F. Switzler was the only member of the Boone county bar to be appointed secretary of state of Arkansas, which position he held for a short time during the Civil War. He also served as chief of the bureau of statistics under President Cleveland from 1885 to 1889.
Col. Switzler was three times a candidate for congress, and twice he claimed that he was elected. He made such vigorous contests that, although unsuccessful, he won for himself the title of "The Great Contestor".
Col. Switzler and Col. E. C. More were candidates for the democratic nomination for congress in 1880, and they agreed to submit their claims to the people of Boone county, both to abide by the decision of the home county. In his speech in the court house, Col. More grew poetic and quoted from Shakespeare, William Tell, etc. In reply Col. Switzler said, "My opponent tells you a great deal about William Tell and William Shakespeare, but before this campaign is over he will have a great deal more to tell you about William Switzler." In that race, Switzler carried Boone county, but was defeated at the congres- sional convention by Jno. B. Clark, Jr., of Howard county.
Although most of his life was spent as a journalist, Col. Switzler also practiced law and did a good deal of patent, pension and land
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warrant practice. Col. Switzler was also a historian, was the author of a Boone county history and a history of Missouri.
As an editor and writer, Col. Switzler (who was really not a colonel) was very accurate. So careful was he in all that he printed that when the county court once had trouble ascertaining at what term of court a certain order had been made, some one visited Colonel Switzler's office and procured a copy of the "Statesman", which showed the term at which that order was said to have been made; the court declined to look any further, saying that paper, during the administra- tion of Colonel Switzler, was always correct.
Col. Switzler never hesitated to correct one who was in error, especially if the error was in history. A suit was tried in the Boone circuit court in 1901 and the object sought was to set aside a deed on the ground that the grantor, W. A. Baxter, an old man, was then of unsound mind. It so happened that Colonel Switzler was a witness in the case, and remained in the court room during the arguments of counsel. The plaintiffs' attorneys insisted that the deed should be set aside because the grantor must have been of unsound mind, he then being seventy-five years old. Counsel for the defendants argued that his advanced age was no proof of unsoundness of mind; that Colonel Switzler had a good mind and memory, yet he was a very old man, in fact no one knew just how old he was, as he was the only survivor of those who sailed up the Mississippi river with De Soto. Colonel Switzler spoke up and said, "That is a mistake, sir; De Soto did not sail up the Mississippi ; he simply sailed across the Mississippi." From that time on, Colonel Switzler was jokingly called "De Soto."
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