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 12
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Mr. E. W. Stephens says that about 1865 he saw Major Har- binson engage in a fight in the court room with a woman; but that the woman did most of the fighting. It seems that the lady took offense at some remark made by Harbinson, and rushed at him and began to strike him with her fists. Harbinson defended himself as best he could; and, in the scrimmage, both of them fell to the floor. and the lady's hoops dropped off. As soon as the court officials separated the belligerents, Major Harbinson picked up that old style article of feminine apparel and said, "Your Honor, I offer this in evidence."
F. F. C. TRIPLETT
One of the most scholarly men of the Boone county bar was Captain F. F. C. Triplett, who was called "Old Trip" by close friends. Although a good lawyer and a student of politics, Captain Triplett was not a financier, and often said, "A man cannot eat his cake and have it too ; so I propose to eat mine."
At the first election for probate judge, which was in 1872, there were four candidates, Colonel John Hinton, as he then was called, Captain F. F. C. Triplett, Captain Henry N. Cook and Judge James A. Henderson. Two of them Hinton and Triplett, were Virginians,
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and they started their campaign with speaking in the court house. Captain Triplett, in his opening remarks, admitted that Colonel Hinton was a suitable man for any clerical or business position; but he insisted that a lawyer was needed to "hold the probate judgeship". Judge Hinton replied by telling a story that occurred in the "Old Dominion" at a horse race. It seems that one man, a Mr. Jackson, became excited and offered to bet one thousand dollars on the "little bay mare". Another gentleman accepted the bet, and the question arose as to who should hold the stakes. Mr. Jackson suggested that his friend Captain Triplett was a suitable man to hold the stakes, when the other gentleman replied, "Lord, Lord! Who will hold Captain Triplett ?"
Years after, being disgusted with politics, Captain Triplett said, "The mendicancy for public office is disgusting. Why, sir, if a new position should be established in the Fiji islands, I feel certain that at least three or four Boone county democrats would at once come to the conclusion that each one was well qualified for the place."
WELLINGTON GORDON
Wellington Gordon, universally known as "Wax" Gordon, was a lawyer in Boone county for many years, and a gentleman universally respected and admired by all. He died in 1908. Although he was a good lawyer and man of sterling integrity, Mr. Gordon was not a student of the Bible, as will be shown by the following which General Guitar told on himself and on Mr. Gordon.
"We were trying a case before James R. Shields, a justice of the peace, and were using every effort to win, so Mr. Gordon resorted to a scriptural quotation. I insisted that he did not quote the passage correctly, but he insisted that he did; and, after some discussion, I offered to bet a new hat that he could not correctly quote the first line of the Lord's prayer. The bet was accepted, and Mr. Gordon began, 'Now I lay me down to sleep.'"
It should also be added that General Guitar was so amazed at such familiarity with the Bible that he said, "Well,I didn't think you could do it." And Mr. Gordon got the new hat.
Mr. Gordon was a vigorous speaker, and when he warmed up to his subject, he spoke loud enough to be heard all around the court house. One day when he was addressing the court, in his usual loud tone of voice, E. M. Bass and Arch Bedford prepared a telegram, addressed it to Wellington Gordon and gave it to him in court. Mr. Gordon asked the court to excuse him a moment, thinking that he had
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a message of importance, and read it. It was as follows: "We were passing through Centralia on the Wabash train, heard your speech and enjoyed it."
Like many of the Gordons, Mr. Gordon was fond of a good dog. Knowing of this weakness, a man who had owed him a fee for a long time came to see him, and offered to settle up by giving him an extra good hunting dog. Mr. Gordon was glad of the chance; and he was even willing to pay ten dollars difference, in order to collect his fee and get such a valuable addition to his farm. The next day, a negro called and claimed that the canine had been stolen from him. Mr. Gordon declined to give up the dog, a replevin suit followed, the negro proved ownership of the animal, and judgment was rendered against Mr. Gordon for possession and five dollars damages.
Mr. Gordon was a kind-hearted man, and often allowed himself to be imposed upon by persons who sought his advice, but paid noth- ing. One young man, said to have been a University law student, visited Mr. Gordon's office and told him of a suit that had been brought against the young man's father, and said the father wanted to retain Mr. Gordon. He said it was a land case, discussed it in all of its details and made it out an important piece of litigation. Then the young man wanted Mr. Gordon to cash a check for ten dollars, which he did. Mr. Gordon's language regarding the matter was this: "By John, I never got a look at the young man again, don't believe he had any daddie and know he never had any law suit nor any cash in bank."
In 1897, John Hunt was convicted in the Boone circuit court of murder in the first degree. Mr. Wellington Gordon was interviewed by a representative of the "Columbia Herald", and stated that that was the first man who had been convicted of first degree murder since 1874, when he prosecuted an Irishman for murdering a woman near Centralia. In connection with this interview, there was a picture of Mr. Gordon in the "Columbia Herald". In the course of a few days, one of the St. Louis newspapers published an account of the conviction in Boone county, and also had this picture of Mr. Gordon and stated that he was the man who had been convicted and sentenced to be hanged.
CHARLES W. GORDON
Not only can Boone county boast of having had a German lawyer, an Irish lawyer, a Canadian lawyer, a Japanese lawyer, but also of having had a lawyer who was blind from his early infancy, Charles W. Gordon. As stated elsewhere, Mr. Gordon belonged to the extensive Gordon family, and lived in Columbia most of his life. He read law
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in the office of his brother, Hon. Jno. B. Gordon, also in the office of Genl. Odon Guitar, and was the owner of a copy of Blackstone, which was printed with raised letters, suitable for a blind person to use. Mr. Gordon, like all the rest of his lawyer kinsmen, was a fine speaker, and was much interested in his profession. Jas. W. Gordon, Dr. J. E. Jordan and other of his descendants still live in Columbia.
Mr. Gordon was specially fond of fishing and hunting, fox hunting and coon hunting, and it is said that he enjoyed hearing the dogs have a fight with a coon fully as much as his associates enjoyed seeing the fight. Mr. Gordon's sense of touch and smell were very acute; he could select an ash tree suitable for making boards, and could recognize many of his own articles of wearing apparel, his hat, shoes and gloves by smelling them. He was a great fiddler and played at as many dances in Columbia and Boone county as any man of his day.
The last time Mr. Gordon appeared in court was to defend a man charged with horse stealing; and he succeeded in acquitting his client. Mr. Gordon was thoroughly convinced that his client ought to have been convicted, so he gave up the practice of law.
Mr. Gordon was twice a candidate for representative, and he campaigned Boone county on horseback ; but he lacked a few votes of election.
SQUIRE TURNER
Col. Squire Turner was one of the most scholarly lawyers at the Boone county bar, and was able to make not only a logical speech, but one that possessed literary merit. Often his speeches contained a bit of sarcasm, due no doubt to his great zeal in his client's cause.
Col. Turner was quick to think and often turned the scales in favor of his client, in the midst of a trial. He brought suit on a note in the Boone circuit court, and the defendant claimed that he had made a large payment on the note, leaving only a small balance due. The defendant actually produced a receipt signed by the payee of the note, who by the way had died, and the signature did look like it was genuine. After two or three witnesses testified that the name signed to that paper was the signature of the deceased, Col. Turner held the paper up between him and the light, and saw that the water mark on the paper was dated two years after the receipt was dated.
Judge Burckhartt once asked Col. Turner if he represented a cer- tain defendant, then in jail; and the reply was, "Well, sir, I have been spoken to by the defendant, but not intelligently spoken to."
A gentleman met Col. Turner on the street, and asked what the law was on a certain question. After receiving an answer, the gentle-
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man said that he had spoken to three lawyers on the street that morn- ing, and recived a different answer from each one. When asked if he had paid them for their advice, the gentleman admitted that he had not. Col. Turner then said, "Well, you give them ten dollars apiece, and they will get together d- quick."
Col. Turner was such a polished writer that he was often selected to draft memorials, on the death of lawyers and judges ; and his papers were so well written that no one ever offered any suggestions or made any changes. He wrote the bar resolutions on the occasion of the death of Judge Burckhartt, Judge Hockaday and Major Rollins.
Col. Turner once heard the court and a certain lawyer in an argument over the decision that the court had just rendered, when the colonel said, "I think there ought to be a rule of this court to the effect that there shall be no post mortem arguments."
During the Civil War, Col. Turner was a strong sympathizer with the South and so pronounced was he in his views that the federal authorities banished him to Indiana, where he remained for some time. On account of the influence of Maj. Jas. S. Rollins, who was Col. Turner's personal friend, although they differed politically, Col. Turner was released and allowed to return to Boone county. On the occasion of the bar meeting just after the death of Major Rollins, Col. Turner paid an eloquent tribute to the memory of Rollins and spoke feelingly of the above incident.
Col. Turner once represented a lady who sued the North Mis- souri railroad for damages, on account of a fall that she received at Sturgeon, while endeavoring to get off a passenger train, the train being started suddenly before she had time to alight. The train men, one after another, testified that the train was stopped at Sturgeon on this occasion much longer than the usual time; and that this was due to the large amount of express that was unloaded that day at that station. The defendant closed its case late in the afternoon ; and, thinking that there was reason to suspect something, Col. Turner asked Judge Burckhartt to continue the case till the next morning, which was done. Then Col. Turner had a subpoena issued, sent to Sturgeon and served on the express agent that night. The next morning, the agent was in Columbia with his books, and they showed that no express packages were received from that train. Col. Turner's speech in that case was unusually interesting.
As before stated, Col. Turner was an eloquent speaker, and he had a fine command of language. On the evening of the death of President Garfield, Col. Turner made a speech to a meeting of Co- lumbia citizens, assembled in the old court house. Mr. Robt. L. Todd
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also spoke at that meeting, and both speeches were considered good by all who heard them. Without any report of that meeting being telegraphed to St. Louis or elsewhere, the speech of Col. Turner appeared the next morning, in the form of an editorial in the "St. Louis Republican," now the "St. Louis Republic," and the speech of Mr. Todd appeared the next morning, in the form of an editorial in the "St. Louis Globe-Democrat." How that happened, no one ever knew.
Col. Turner was the author of some strong as well as some novel expressions. He had a great contempt for a sham, especially one who, under the guise of religion, did a mean act. In speaking of such a man, who had testified against his client, Col. Turner said, "He swore all the way from Dan to Beersheba. That fellow does a whole lot of meanness, but he does it all in the name of the Lord."
Col. Turner's given name was rather unusual, especially for a law- yer, and men as well as women were guilty of mistakes regarding it, and he grew sensative about it. Perhaps the most amusing error com- mitted was by Hon. T. A. Gill, for a number of years Judge of the Kansas City Court of Appeals. Judge Gill told the following :
While I was on the bench, Col. Turner was making an argument and I was much interested in it. Of course I knew his name and knew that he had a title, but I was thinking about what he was saying, and wanted to be certain that I understood him. So I said, "Do I under- stand you to say that so and so is the law, Squire?" As soon as I said that, I saw that I had made a blunder, but concluded that it was best not to interrupt him any further. During the noon recess, Col. Turner was asking Judge Jackson L. Smith about the number of years the different judges had to serve and when Judge Smith told him that I had ten years more to serve, Col. Turner said, "Well, by gad, sir, I thought he talked like a ten-year judge."
Col. Turner and Jas. M. Proctor were candidates for the Demo- cratic nomination for state senator in 1884, and Proctor was successful; but a change of fourteen votes in Rocky Fork township would have turned the scales in favor of Col. Turner. After the death of Judge Hockaday in 1903, Col. Turner was endorsed by the Boone county bar for circuit judge, and a delegation of his fellow citizens visited Governor Dockery and urged his appointment. Col. Turner was also a candidate for Congress, but withdrew before the primary election.
JNO. M. SAMUEL
While Jno. M. Samuel was not an active practitioner of law, yet as sheriff, collector, treasurer and clerk of the circuit court, he was. a familiar character in and around the Boone county court house for
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many years. Mr. Samuel was the best known member of the bar, and for a long time exerted more political influence than any man in the county. His ready wit made him interesting in any company, and he was rarely surpassed.
One winter, Mr. Samuel and some other lawyers were spending a month at Hot Springs, Arkansas, and as usual Mr. Samuel ยท enter- tained the crowd. Like nearly every other health resort, the visitors at Hot Springs got well acquainted with each other, and soon every one knew all about every one else. But one gentleman was an exception ; he was tall and dignified, wore a stove pipe hat and carried a cane. On account of his distant manner, no one knew how to get acquainted with him, and no one seemed able to find out a thing about him. Mr. Samuel said that he had never seen a man that he was afraid to tackle ; so he would try him. Just after dinner one day, as the dignified gentleman was walking down from the hotel, Mr. Samuel met him, held out his hand and said "How are you Bill?" The gentleman looked amazed, and stepped back; when Mr. Samuel assured him that he had seen him some where. The gentleman said, "It is quite likely, sir ; I have been the warden of three penitentiaries."
In the campaign of 1880, Mr. Samuel was a candidate for county treasurer, but was shrewd enough to see that his chances were doubtful. It was told that Mr. Samuel, who lived in Columbia, belonged to the "Columbia clique", and to some people that argument was sufficient. At Rocheport, however, his opponent said that Samuel belonged to the "Columbia ring", and Mr. Samuel saw his opportunity. He replied by saying, "Yes, fellow citizens, we have lots of rings in Columbia ; there is the court house ring, the University ring, the whisky ring, and the anvils ring. The boys play marbles in a ring, the race horses trot around the ring, the cooks ring the chickens' necks and then ring the dinner bell. On Sunday morning, the church bells ring; and the ladies, God bless them, wear rings on their fingers. And in time of conflagration the fire bells ring. Yes, if you will go out at night, in that awful town of Columbia, you will see that the moon has a ring, and also see a ring around the raccoon's tail."
This Rocheport speech resulted in the re-election of Mr. Samuel by a small majority.
INTERESTING LETTER
In 1885, Col. Wm. F. Switzler (then editor of the "Missouri Statesman") wanted President Cleveland to appoint him chief of the bureau of statistics, Col. E. C. More wanted to be appointed minister to France, Col. C. T. Worley wanted to be appointed United States
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marshal, Jno. M. Samuel wanted to be appointed United States collec- tor and Col. Eli Hodge wanted to be appointed postmaster at Colum- bia. These gentlemen visited Washington, D. C., about March 1, 1885, and attended the inaugural of the President, and the title of the "Colum- bia Colonels" was given them. Mr. Samuel was the author of the expression, "What are we here for?" While in Washington, Mr. Samuel wrote a letter to Robt. L. Todd, which is typical of Mr. Samuel. It must be remembered that Mr. Samuel and Mr. Todd, although they differed politically, were warm personal and business friends. The letter is as follows :
Washington, D. C., March 3, 1885.
ROBT. L. TODD, Esqr.,
Columbia, Missouri.
Dear sir :
The glowing twilight, indicative of the final extinction and decay of the radical party, dawns on apace. A few more hours, and the G. O. P., like the glory of the Chaldea excellence, will have gone into its eter- nal darkness, unhonored, unswept and unsung. The deceased will be buried at midnight, and the funeral will be attended only by a few of ghoulish, jackal, night-prowling family, who waiting till the glorious sun has set behind the western skies, then seeking out the newly made grave, feast and fatten upon dead men's bones. I know that your fine- haired theorists and special pleaders tell us that millions of the human race spend their lives, then die, yet live in those that come after them. But that is not true of the radical party. It was born under peculiar circumstances, has lived a life that has been a total failure, and now its last curfew is soon to be sounded. That settles it ; its Gabriel dies with it, and there will be none left to blow it to the resurrection. Sic semper tyrranus.
Well, the clans are gathering. The democrats are coming, or rather I should say that the patriots are coming, yes, they are coming to Washington from every state, county, city and hamlet in America. They came like the wolf on the fold; like the Huns and Vandals came down on ancient Rome. They are here, with their sisters, their cousins and their aunts by the dozens; their wives' relations will be here next week. The patriotism of the country is developing to a wonderful and an alarming extent. Each transport on the Potomac brings a fresh supply of patriots, and every train on every railroad adds to that num- ber ; while some of the Maryland and Virginia democrats come in the truly democratic style, the former on horseback, the latter in ox wagons. There is the spindle-legged yankee from Massachusetts, with a two- story hat, inclined at an angle of forty-five degrees toward Cape Cod,
JUDGE JAS. M. GORDON
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with his confiding Jerusha Jane holding to his arm, indicative of the tender vine clinging to the sturdy oak, and wholly obvious of the "blue laws" of New England, which prescribed proper conduct in public. As the two go marching side by side up Pennsylvania Avenue, every movement seems to say, "Here we are, look at us!" Then there is the patriot from New York state, which happens to be the state from which Mr. Cleveland hails ; hence the importance of the New Yorker. Now these New York democrats seem to think that the whole world revolves around them, and they are continually mentioning the fact that President Cleveland could not possibly have been elected without that eleven hundred majority given him by New York. Then there is the tall hidalgo from the Southland, with his black mustache whose waxed tips extend beyond his ears. He comes "from Mississippi, sur, and my father came from old Virginia, sur, and all of my ancestors were gentlemen, sur." He is a Colonel, of course, in fact all of his family are Colonels, except a few of them who were Generals. Then comes the broad-brimmed sombrero from the Lone Star state, evidently with his eye on the spoils. We next meet the patriot from the Blue Grass regions, who is gallantry personified ; his wife is the most charm- ing of the women, his niece is as beautiful as Jeptha's daughter and his horse is the swiftest that ever entered the Lexington trots. He will tell you, incidentally, that his father was raised on a farm adjoining Henry Clay, and that Dr. Dudley was the family physician. And finally come the practical politicians from the middle West, who make up in force what they lack in quality. The procession of patriots, thus formed, marches from one end of Washington to the other ; but should the war bugle be suddenly sounded, it would be a question for the Almighty to decide how much patriotism would be left in this capitol city. But it remained for Missouri, for the county named for the great hunter, and for the town named for the great discoverer to present to the nation the "Columbia Colonels", whose reputation now extends from ocean to ocean. Of course I refer to More, Switzler, et al.
By the way, speaking of Col. Switzler, perhaps you may remem- ber him, a fossilized specimen of Saxon beauty of the olden type. Some of you Boone county people thought he came on to Washington to get. office. Nix, you had might as well let a change come over the vision of your dreams. He does not want any office ; he simply called to pay his respects to the President ; he may perhaps call again.
Now, when Colonel Switzler was an infant, shortly after wearing his first suit of clothes, he was sent to a pedagogue in Howard county, whose name happened to be John T. Cleveland, a second cousin of
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President Cleveland. And strange to say, Switzler will not allow the President to forget that fact, no not for one single moment. Well, the aforesaid pedagogue, when trying to develop the youthful mind and teach the ideas how to shoot, placed in the hands of the aforesaid youth a copy of Webster's blueback spelling book, which naturally gave Switz- ler a Websterian turn of mind. And later on, when Daniel Webster made his immortal speech in defense of the wood chuck, and startled the world with his oratory, that settled it. Switzler became a Webster unabridged, with marginal notes.
You are now prepared for the last act in this remarkable drama. What I am now about to relate is told in the strictest confidence; tell it not in Gath, breathe it not in Ashkalon. But it illustrates the value of early teaching. Train up a child in the way it shall go and when it is old it will not depart from it. As I was walking through the dome of the capitol on yesterday, there passed me a lady of the most transcend- ent beauty ; as fair to look upon as the Queen of Sheba, with the image of Juno and Venus stamped upon her face, with the voluptuousness of Cleopatra, and the "kiss me quick" expression of Lillie Lantry. Being a widower, I naturally regretted by inability to meet and get acquainted with such a real beauty, when I was suddenly and ruthlessly seized by the arm, and looking around was confronted by the castiron countenance of the "Statesman" man. If you can imagine the terror that filled the mind of Belshazer, when he saw the handwriting on the wall; if you have any idea of the feelings, of the members of parliament when the dynamiters were having their little Fourth of July celebration in the basement; if you can conceive of the fear that was experienced by Shakespeare's noted character, when he exclaimed, "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" you can to some extent appreciate my feel- ings. But before I could regain myself, he said, "Colonel Samuel, allow me to introduce my very particular friend, Mrs. Webster." I was struck dumb, yes speechless, and, not having three aces in my hand, I passed. After that, Switzler explained to me that he had just found out that this Mrs. Webster, a widow, was his cousin, his long lost cousin, with the strawberry mark on her arm. Now, what do you think of that for cheek? Oh, the cheek of the Columbia Colonel is something wonderful; its reputation has already passed the most sacred precincts. and it will soon penetrate the White House doors. In fact, the Secre- tary of the Navy has heard of it, and he wants to get some of it to use as plating for his ironclad war vessels. So mote it be.
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