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 13
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Yours very truly, JNO. M. SAMUEL.
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J. DEW. ROBINSON
One of the best constitutional lawyers that Boone county ever had was John DeWilton Robinson, who was elected prosecuting attorney in 1880 and again in 1890. Mr. Robinson was in many respects an interesting character, and he had a way of telling things different from any other living person.
In 1872, Mr. Robinson and Wellington Gordon were candidates for prosecuting attorney, and each was bragging on his record in the South- ern army, and belittling the record of the other. Mr. Robinson was a member of a company that was organized in the southern part of this state ; so none of his comrades lived here. Accordingly, Mr. Gordon was joking him about his record, and insisting that no one knew of his being in the army ; these thrusts at Mr. Robinson were made by Mr. Gordon in his speeches in different parts of the county. The last day of the campaign, public speaking was had at Jacobs' pasture, several miles east of Columbia ; and, to his extreme joy, Mr. Robinson met on the ground a Mr. Adcock, one of his old comrades. Mr. Robinson arranged for Mr. Adcock, who was a stranger in this county, to take a seat near a certain tree ; and to respond when called for by Mr. Robin- son. At the time when Mr. Gordon was asking who in Boone county ever knew of Mr. Robinson being in the Southern army, Mr. Robinson arose and said that a gentleman was present who knew he was there, and who fought by his side, Mr. Adcock. Mr. Gordon said he never heard of such a man in this county, and called for him to come forth. In the meantime, Wm. H. Jacobs and Jeff Rocheford pursuaded Adcock to leave the grounds, and Mr. Robinson was left in an embarrassing position, Mr. Gordon saying that he was trying to "trump up a fictitious person".
In one of Mr. Robinson's campaigns for prosecuting attorney, he attended speaking at Rocheport, and his attention was riveted on his race. He could talk and think of nothing else. He and others rode horseback to Columbia after the speaking was over, and in passing Moniteau creek, Robinson's horse stumbled and fell, throwing its rider on the gravel road. The fall was so great that Mr. Robinson was un- conscious ; and Judge John Hinton and others came to his assistance in a hurry. After lifting him up and bathing his head in water, Mr. Robinson began to come to, and said, "Judge, that fall came near killing a mighty good prosecuting attorney."
About 1876, Mr. Robinson was a candidate for prosecuting attor- ney, and, among other things, he said: "It is impossible to please every one, and especially is it hard to please my opponents. A few years ago, I was running for this office, and had been taking Jerry
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Dorsey's youth restorer, and my friend Wax Gordon said I was too young. Two years later, the grey hairs begin to appear, and I am again a candidate, and my friend Shannon C. Douglass says I am too old."
Judge Burckhartt fined Mr. Robinson five dollars for coming into the court room one morning, after Mr. Robison had had an encounter the night before in his chicken house with a pole cat.
About 1887, Mr. Robinson moved to California, arriving there when real estate was on the boom. He invested all his money, when property began to decline, and in a little while he was almost penniless. As he had no law practice, he worked for a while at the carpenter's trade. Not knowing that he was a lawyer, the sheriff summoned him to serve on a jury. When he came into the jury box, he rose and said, "Your honor, in Missouri, lawyers are exempt from jury service, be- cause no lawyer is willing to trust another." When the court asked him if he was a lawyer, he replied, "Yes, sir; but a lawyer whose ability has never been appreciated and never will be, but I know enough law to spoil me for jury service." Both sides agreed to excuse him. Mr. Robinson's friends loaned him the money, and he came home, in 1889, as he expressed it, "A poorer and a wiser man." He ever after- wards sounded the praises of Missouri.
During Mr. Robinson's last term as prosecuting attorney, he prose- cuted three men, all of whom were promptly acquitted by juries, and acquitted on the same day. He arose in the court room and said, "Judge, if these grand rascals will just plead guilty and stick to their pleas, I can send them to the penitentiary; but if they withdraw their pleas of guilty and stand trial in this court, a Boone county jury will surely turn them loose."
During the trial of the Columbia waterworks case, Mr. Robinson was placed on the witness stand by Judge Alexander Martin and asked a few preliminary questions, first as to whether or not he had graduated at the State University and in what department. Mr. Robinson said, "Yes, sir ; I am an A. B. of 1853, and an L.L. B. of 1873, and I grad- uated under General Guitar in the Federal prison over there in 1863." Mr. Robinson claimed to know nothing of the gas company in Colum- bia, and Judge Martin asked if gas was not burned in Columbia, and Mr. Robinson assured him that he used coal oil lamps, but that he had under- stood some University teachers burned tallow dips. Judge Martin asked if gas was not burned on the streets, and Mr. Robinson said he did not know, that he did not go down town at night. Again Judge Martin asked if gas was not burned in the churches Sunday nights, to which Mr. Robinson replied that he did not go to church on Sun-
MAJ. JAS. S. ROLLINS
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day nights or any other nights. "Pray tell us where you do go of nights," asked Judge Martin. Mr. Robinson, with apparent indigna- tion, said, "I stay at home, where an honest man ought to stay."
Mr. Robinson was placed on the witness stand about 1895, and questioned by General Guitar, much to the amusement of everyone. The general first asked where he lived, and Mr. Robinson said, "I lived in Columbia a few years ago and practiced law, but I have recently moved to Missouri township, and am now making an honest living." The general then asked how long he had lived in Boone county, to which Mr. Robinson, in his own inimitable way, replied, "During the war, I acted the fool and went into the Southern army and busted up; and about ten years ago, I acted the fool and went to California and busted up. With the exceptions of the times, when I acted the fool, I have always lived in Boone county." He was again asked if he had ever sought any public office, and his answer was "Yes, sir ; I have been seeking office all my life, but I only get in once every ten years." Being further questioned as to whether or not he was well acquainted with the people of Boone county, Mr. Robinson said, "Yes, sir ; and the worst of it is the people of Boone county are well acquainted with me."
A lady and her daughter visited Mr. Robinson, while he was prosecuting attorney, and told their tale of woe. The daughter lacked a week or two of being eighteen and the man she married was her first cousin ; and the two had gone to another state to be married. In a day or two, the girl regretted what she had done. Mr. Robinson was of the opinion that, as they left Missouri for the sole purpose of evading the Missouri law, the marriage was null and void, and he so stated. This pleased both of them, and the daughter quickly asked if she could marry another man. Mr. Robinson said, "Yes, if you can get any one fool enough to marry you."
Mr. Robinson was a most careful pleader, and only once did the circuit court hold one of his informations or indictments insufficient. That was the case of State vs John Karnes, charged with disturbing the peace of the Methodist Sunday school at Centralia. Mr. Robinson appealed from the decision of the circuit court in quashing the informa- tion ; and the court of appeals sustained Mr. Robinson and reversed the circuit court.
Mr. Robinson dismissed several state cases, after he failed to secure a conviction; and this caused some criticism by the people as well as the press. In his campaign for re-election, Mr. Robinson justi- fied his actions by saying, "What the people need is a prosecutor who will know when to let loose as well as when to take hold."
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Mr. Robinson was outspoken, and never hesitated to say just what he thought. While prosecuting attorney the last time, he went to Stur- geon to prosecute seven cases ; and at Centralia by mistake took the fast train on the Wabash instead of the slow train, and passed through Sturgeon at the rate of thirty-five miles an hour. Though he pled with the brakeman and conductor, and threatened to prosecute nearly everybody on the train, he could not induce them to stop the train till it reached Clark, some seven miles beyond. Then he walked back to Sturgeon, reaching there after the slow train had passed, and learn- ing that all of his cases had been dismissed for want of prosecution. He grew eloquent, but what he said had better not be preserved in print. It was then noon, so he went to the hotel for dinner, and to add to his further disgust, the waiter brought him a piece of pie with a fork on the plate. That was too much, so he exclaimed, "Here, waiter, take that fork away, I never saw a man eat pie with a fork unless he was a darn fool or a grand rascal." At that time, W. J. McQuitty, of the "Roche- port Commercial," was fighting Mr. Robinson politically, and, after printing the above incident, it added, "Rock Bridge whisky will make even Wilt Robinson do strange things." He was not a drinking man, so the above item in the "Commercial" added fuel to the flames of Mr. Robinson's anger ; and, for a long time, it was said that any reference to either his Sturgeon trip or the "Rocheport Commercial" would make him mad enough to fight.
About 1899, the secretary of the University sent out a circular letter to the alumni of that institution, asking various questions, and asking a return of the letter at once. Mr. Robinson received such a circular, and read it over, making one of his remarks while he and several others were talking on the street, as he read each question. "When and where were you born?" was one question. "Well," said Mr. Robinson, "I suppose I was there and knew a lot about it at the time, but I don't remember anything now." "State your name in full," was requested. To which Mr. Robinson said, "I would hate to tell all of the names I have been called by. Certainly I would not think of writing them on a paper and sending it through the mail." The other request was a statement of something unusual that the alumnus had done. And Mr. Robinson said, "My life has been one unusual, abnor- mal doing of something, and then undoing it in a different manner."
At one time, Mr. Robinson was a great crank on the subject of religion, and gave utterance to his religious views on many occasions. In the probate court room, he talked to a widow who was a devout Methodist till she began to cry ; then he left the court room. Seeing the lady in distress, Judge Switzler came down off of the bench and asked
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what was the matter, and she told him that Mr. Robinson had insulted her. With some indignation, Judge Switzler demanded to know what he had said, and the lady sobbingly replied, "He told me there wasn't any devil."
Mr. Robinson had a disagreement with another Columbia lawyer, named G-, and their differences were so great, that they quit speak- ing. Some months later, Mr. Robinson's wife died. As soon as Mr. G- saw Mr. Robinson after that, he walked up to him, held out his hand and said, "Mr. Robinson, I want to shake hands with you and tell you of my sympathy for you. And I want to say further that the lit- tle dispute that we had is past and forgotten, so far as I am concerned." Mr. Robinson shook hands with him and said, "Yes, G-, we did have a little fuss, but there never would have been any trouble, if you hadn't acted the dam fool."
A. F. DENNY
Although a citizen of Randolph county, Col. Alexander F. Denny often practiced in Boone county, and he was the attorney for relator in the case of State ex rel. Attorney General vs Warren Woodson ; the same being the contest between Cook and Woodson for the office of county clerk. Col. Denny, who was a Missouri University graduate, represented his district in the state senate in 1864 ; and he was appointed commissioner to revise the statutes of Missouri of 1865, which he did in a highly satisfactory manner. He was the nominee of the liberal republicans, and ran against Judge Burckhartt in 1868, but Judge Burck- hartt was successful. He was the republican nominee for supreme judge in 1876, but was defeated. Col. Denny served in the Union army during the Civil War; and at the close of the war, served as curator of the University. He was the father of Mrs. Marshall Gordon and the Misses Denny, of this county.
J. V. C. KARNES
Although he was a citizen of Kansas City for nearly half a century, Mr. Karnes was ever loyal to the county of his nativity, and always spoke of Boone county as "home". He was recognized as the leading citizen of Kansas City, and one of the leading lawyers of Mis- souri. He was noted for the interest that he took in young men and young women, aided many of them in obtaining an education and assisted hundreds of them in securing good positions. He was fond of writing letters, and was never too busy to take time enough to write a letter worth reading, and ever gave good advice. The following letter
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is characteristic of Mr. Karnes, and has reference to a young man in Columbia, now a Columbia lawyer :
Kansas City, Mo., March 20, 1888.
MR. R. L. TODD,
Columbia, Missouri.
My dear Mr. Todd :
Your valued favor of the 16th just to hand, and, finding me some- what at leisure this forenoon, I hasten to answer. I feel that you know full well my desire at all times to do anything that you would request of me. Your many kindnesses in the past have placed me under a debt of obligation I can never repay. I have often said this to you before, but I take pleasure in assuring you that I shall ever feel so. In addition to this, I am advised from other sources of the personal worth of your young kinsman, and I have a decided inclination, almost a weakness, to assist young men in their first professional struggle. And so both on your account, and for his sake, and that of his esteemed father and mother, I would greatly like to assist him in any way I can. In our office, we have all the assistance we can now use; and it has been my experience and observation that if you have more help in an office than is needed that it is demoralizing upon them all. Thus situated, I do not see my way now to take another man into the office. Should your kinsman conclude to come to Kansas City. I will take pleas- ure in aiding him in any way in my power.
This is a city which attracts to it an army of young men from the east, seeking western homes, and hence desirable places are eagerly sought after and often engaged months in advance. So that it is by no means easy to secure a desirable situation. In view of this, I have made it a rule to discourage young men from coming here, unless they are willing to starve, or had made enough to carry them along. I am not much in favor of a young man's going into an office if he is ready for work. It is a shelter for him. He will rely upon his superiors. Far better it is to take his own office, sweep it out, make his own fires, live economically, sleep with his books, and slowly make his own friends and build up his own business. This gives professional mus- cularity, which is extremely useful in the after conflicts. The handsome furniture, the carpeted offices, easy chairs, etc., are the curse of the young city lawyer. No man ought to enter the law unless he is willing to fight his way, and, feather beds never were intended for soldiers. Feeling this way, my advice to the young man will be to come here, if he is determined to, take an office and little by little build up a practice. He can do it if he has the metal. It will be hard, often discouraging; but success will in the end be more appreciated.
THOMAS MILLER
COL. SAMUEL A. YOUNG
JUDGE ROBERT B. TODD
ROBERT L. TODD
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With kindest remembrances and wishing for the young lawyer the greatest success in the greatest profession, I am,
Faithfully yours, J. V. C. KARNES.
HIRAM C. PIERCE
While Judge Burckhartt was on the bench, he and Captain Pierce were fond of playing whist, and frequently spent an evening together. One evening while they and others were playing, luck seemed to be against Judge Burckhartt, and his mistakes caused the others to enjoy themselves. Every time Judge Burckhartt would lose a point, Captain Pierce would say, "Now, Judge, you are gone where the woodbine twineth and the woodpecker roosteth." This expression was used so often, and there was so much occasion for using it, that it became very funny. The next morning, when circuit court opened, the first case called was one in which Captain Pierce's client was suing a man for cutting timber. After offering in evidence the deed to the land, Cap- tain Pierce placed his client on the stand and asked him the number of acres of land that had had timber cut off, and the number was given. Then Captain Pierce wanted to know what damage he had sustained by reason of that timber having been removed ; and to his amazement. his client testified that it had not been damaged, but benefited. Judge Burckhartt could not refrain from saying a few words ; he leaned over his desk and said, "Now, Pierce, it looks like you are gone where the woodbine twineth and the woodpecker roosteth."
JNO. H. OVERALL
One of Boone county's lawyers who achieved distinction as a city lawyer was Mr. Overall, and he was recognized as an authority on mu- nicipal, township and county bonds ; also in municipal law and contested election cases. Mr. Overall was perhaps the only Boone county law- yer, who graduated from the Missouri Univeresy and also from the Harvard Law School. Returning to Missouri, he opened an office in Macon, was elected circuit attorney of the circuit composed of Macon, Randolph, Howard, Boone and Callaway. He then moved to Columbia, where he taught in the Missouri University Law School, and thence to St. Louis. Mr. Overall enjoyed an extensive practice in the Federal courts, was a law writer of ability and was one of the few lawyers who made money in the practice. He was specially fine in questions of the conflict of jurisdictions between state and Federal courts, which were continually coming up for some years after the Civil War. Mr. Over-
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all was actively employed in the organization and building of the Mer- chants' Bridge, at St. Louis, and the connecting railroads, and in the laying out of the towns of Madison and Granite City.
Mr. Overall was one of the attorneys in the noted St. Louis whisky ring conspiracy case.
JAMES H. MOSS
Colonel James H. Moss, a native of Boone county, was de- scended from a Virginia family distinguished in private and public life previous to and during the Revolutionary era. He was a graduate of the State University, and soon after graduation married Miss Susan A., daughter of Judge Warren Woodson of Columbia. Almost immedi- ately after his marriage he entered upon the practice of law in Liberty, Clay county, at one of the most interesting and exciting periods in the history of Western Missouri. The bar of that section comprised some among the most illustrious lawyers in the history of the state. Doni- phan and Atchison and Woodson and Craig and Norton and Hall and Wilson and Sawyer and Chrisman and many others of kindred spirit were those with whom he was closely associated and held an honored place.
Eloquent, well versed in the law, chivalrous and magnetic, he at once rose to a front place in his profession and outside of it, for he was in demand for political preferment, having been the nominee of his party for congress and being selected as a member of the celebrated state convention which met in St. Louis in 1861 to consider the pro- priety of Missouri's seccession from the Union.
His valorous spirit made him a central figure in the exciting events attending the border troubles between Missouri and Kansas and at an early period caused him to enlist as a soldier in Doniphan's celebrated expedition to Mexico during the war with that country. He was second lieutenant in the company of his brother, Capt. O. P. Moss. History has already assigned to that campaign a high place among the memorable and remarkable feats of American arms. It has been declared that the march of Doniphan and his gallant young Missourians across the burning plains of the southwest, through the cactus deserts and moun- tain fastnesses of brigand-infested Mexico for 6000 miles without the loss of a man has no parallel in heroism, endurance and achievement.
Colonel Moss returned from this strenuous experience with an impairment of health from which he never fully recovered. But at the beginning of the Civil War he again yielded to his impulse for mili- tary life, and accepted the colonelcy of a regiment of militia organized
F. W. NIEDERMEYER
EMANUEL V. DAVIS
GUITAR BUILDING, ERECTED IN 1912 All Columbia Lawyers, Except Four, Office in This Building
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THE LAWYERS
to protect his country from the depredations of lawless desperadoes who for a long period were a terror and a curse to that section.
Afterwards he removed to New York, and to St. Louis, whence he went to Columbia where he lived until his death at the comparatively young age of forty-nine, in 1873.
He possessed a charming personality which drew to him troops of admiring and loving friends. In social life he was most attractive, possessing a humor that was infectious and which was a source of delight in every circle. His brilliant eloquence on the stump and at the bar, his affectionate spirit, and his self-sacrifice for those he loved made him a unique and attractive and delightful character, whose memory is cherished with love and admiration by all who knew him.
Colonel Moss was opposed to secession ; and he often told it after- wards that the first person he met attending the State Convention of 1861 was his father-in-law, Judge Warren Woodson ; and Judge Wood- son was a delegate from Boone county, in favor of secession, and was carrying a shot gun. Col. Moss, at the time of his death, was a law partner of Col. S. Turner of Columbia.
E. C. MORE
Colonel Elawson C. More was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, December 27, 1837, and died in Peoria, Illinois, July 24, 1902, in his 65th year. His father was a native of Danville, Kentucky and his mother was born in Arkansas. He was highly educated. He first attended school in Little Rock, and Shurtleff, Illinois, and afterwards in France, Germany and Spain. He then returned to America, and spent two years at Yale College, graduating there in 1858. He thus possessed a finished culture, to which he added a naturally high artistic temperament. He spoke several languages fluently and had a polished refinement which was unusual, and which made him an attractive figure in every sphere.
Colonel More was educated for the profession of law in the law school at Lebanon, Tennessee. He next went to St. Louis and en- tered the law firm of Lackland, Cline & Jamison. In 1865 he located in Helena, Montana, where he formed a copartnership in the practice of law with Col. Alexander M. Woolfolk. In 1866 he traveled ex- tensively in Oregon and California and Central America. He then returned to Missouri and engaged in the practice of law three or four years in Columbia, after which he retired from the law and engaged in farming near Columbia. He erected a beautiful home upon his farm near the northern corporate limits of Columbia, and there with his
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accomplished wife, formerly Miss Elizabeth Hunton, daughter of Judge Logan Hunton of St. Louis, for several years had his home. The de- lightful hospitality of this beautiful home, the culture and attractive- ness of its host and hostess, made it the center of a social life whose generosity extended far beyond the limits of the community which so much enjoyed and honored it. Near his residence, Col. More con- structed More's Lake, which was not only one of the beautiful things to be seen near Columbia, but it was well supplied with fish and boats and furnished entertainment for Columbians and their visitors at all seasons of the year. This lake also furnished Columbia's water and ice supply for many years.
Col. More was appointed in 1886 by President Cleveland consul- general to Mexico and he filled that responsible displomatic post with honor to himself and credit to his country.
He was several times enthusiastically supported by the people of his district for congress and was defeated by only a small majority.
He was of commanding presence, of courtly bearing and most genial spirit. His lovable qualities were widely known and admired and drew to him hosts of friends far and wide. His gifts of conversa- tion, his aesthetic taste, his broad culture, his oratorical powers and his democratic and affable nature combined to render him a distinguished personality which, wherever he was known left an abiding impress and in the community which so sincerely loved him is a precious memory.
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