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 16
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On account of the color of his hair, Col. S. Turner, who nicknamed most of the Boone county lawyers, called Mr. Stephens "Golden Rays of Sunset". Col. Turner gave to the other members of the bar the following names :
Odon Guitar : "An Ode to the Guitar"
Edward W. Hinton : "Prince Edward"
Wellington Gordon: "Duke of Wellington"
Wm. J. Babb : "Billious Babb"
Ev. M. Bass : "Old Billards"
J. DeW. Robinson : "Robinson Crusoe"
C. B. Sebastian : "Sebastiana"
N. T. Gentry : "The Deacon's Toddy"
N. T. GENTRY
N. T. Gentry was in 1900 the nominee of the republican party for judge of the Kansas City court of appeals, but was defeated ; and on this hangs a tale. Less than a year thereafter, an old acquaintance of his began loafing around his law office and staying there day after day till he got to be a regular nuisance. It was discovered that the visitor was gradually losing his mind, and perhaps was not responsible for anything that he did. After standing him for weeks, Mr. Gentry said to him, "Look here, my friend; I am always glad to have people
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come to see me; but I am also glad to have them go sometimes. By coming here so often and staying here so long, you interfere with my business." His visitor promptly said, "Well, well; I did not know that you had any business to interfere with." Mr. Gentry, with some indignation replied, "Well, sir; I will be the judge of that." And the insane man said, in leaving, "I knew you wanted to be judge, but I did not know that you were qualified."
Like many other young lawyers, when Mr. Gentry began to prac- tice, he had a number of notices printed, and he would put one on his office door every time he left his office. One card read as follows : "At dinner, will return in thirty minutes." Owing to the distance that he lived from his office, it was impossible for him to return in that time, but the card was a good advertisement, so he thought. An old man who knew him well, and had been compelled to wait much longer than thirty minutes, added to the card, the following :
"Of all the liars, great and small, The thirty-minute liar beats them all."
Mr. Gentry once represented a man, who lived near Rock Bridge and had a misunderstanding with his neighbor, regarding a horse trade ; and, as usual, the witnesses testified pro and con. An effort was then made to impeach the standing of Mr. Gentry's client ; and, in turn, an effort was made to sustain him. The client's mother-in-law was called on to testify to his general reputation for honesty and veracity. She qualified as an expert, having been married three times, and having five sons-in-law, and then said, "Well, Mr. Gentry, he is a good man ; but he is like all men, he will bear watching a little."
Mr. Gentry was attending the Missouri University when the law students were first called "mules", by which name they have ever since been known. Although he tried many mule cases, Mr. Gentry says that he has never owned a mule, but he came near owning one once. A client gave him a chattel mortgage on a pair of mules to secure a fee; but, after he had cleared his client, Mr. Gentry learned that one mule had been sold and the other was dead at the time the chattel mortgage was given.
William Jackson Gilmore, usually called "Babe" Gilmore, was known in and around Providence as the funny man; not because he wanted to be funny, but because he could not help being. In a case that Mr. Gentry brought against the M., K. & T. railroad for killing three horses shortly after the road was built, Gilmore was the witness as to the value of the animals, and Gentry's client assured him that Gilmore would put the price high enough. After stating that his name was Bill sometimes and Jack sometimes, Gilmore was asked regarding
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his knowledge of the value of the two sorrel horses. To the aston- ishment of Mr. Gentry the witness wanted to know which one he meant, the old one or the blind one. The witness then said, "Well, both of them was lame; if they hadn't been, the Katy train never would have cot 'em." Mr. Gentry then ventured to ask about the third, which was a dun horse; and the witness replied, "He was a mighty good horse, before he got sick, but he had been sick for some time, about a year and a half." During the noon recess that followed, Mr. Gentry agreed on a compromise with Geo. P. B. Jackson, attorney for the railroad.
Another story is told on Mr. Gentry and a man named Owen Ready, an Irishman who lived near Deer Park. After testifying in a case in which Gentry was one of the attorneys, Ready took a few drinks. He was a man of strong feelings and prejudices, and was usually active on one side or another. Some one told him that he must claim his attendance as a witness ; so he returned to the court room for that purpose. When asked whether he was summoned as a witness for the plaintiff or the defendant, his answer was, "I don't know which side I was on ; but I know I was against that man Gentry."
Mr. Gentry told of his experience shortly after he graduated from the law department of the State University. "I had finished Bliss on Code Pleading," said Mr. Gentry, "but I did not know a thing in the world about pleadings. My first case was a suit on a note in the justice of the peace court of W. S. Pratt, so I hunted up Constable Jno. C. Schwabe and learned from him how to bring the suit. My ignorance in such matters has perhaps been a benefit to others, for President R. H. Jesse heard of this incident, and obtained my permission to write an article on that subject, which he read to a gathering of law teachers and college presidents, and now the practice court in the law department is the result."
Judge Nick M. Bradley, of Johnson county, held one term of court for Judge Waller in 1908, and tried an insurance case, in which Mr. Gentry represented the plaintiff. At the close of the plaintiff's evi- dence, Messrs. E. W. Hinton and Boyle G. Clark filed a demurrer. In arguing the demurrer, the court said that there was no evidence to show any contract ; to which Mr. Gentry remarked that the court had overlooked the evidence of the plaintiff ; that the plaintiff testified to certain things. The court promptly replied, "I bet you ten dollars he did not." Attorney Hinton suggested that it was proper for counsel "to either put up, or shut up".
In 1892, Mr. Gentry, then a young lawyer, spent most of the sum- mer preparing a brief in a case in the court of appeals. He turned his
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manuscript over to E. W. Stephens, who then conducted a printing and publishing establishment just across Walnut street from the court house, and that evening Mr. Stephens' entire plant burned. From that time, Mr. Gentry has written his briefs in duplicate, and each evening he takes home a copy of his day's work.
Like some other lawyers and judges of Boone county, to-wit, Odon Guitar, Wm. F. Switzler, E. C. More, Squire Turner, Jas. M. Gordon and Ben M. Anderson, N. T. Gentry was a candidate for con- gress, and he was nominated by the republicans in 1914, but was de- feated by Judge D. W. Shackelford, of Cole county.
In November, 1914, the supreme court appointed Mr. Gentry commissioner to take testimony in one of Attorney General Barker's antitrust prosecutions.
WEBSTER GORDON
Webster Gordon, a member of the well-known Gordon family of Boone county, a family of lawyers, was usually very careful to acquaint himself with what his witness would swear to, before placing the wit- ness on the stand. But he made a mistake once.
Mr. Gordon once represented a farmer who claimed that the M., K. & T. railroad had damaged him by building a bridge across a creek, thereby causing the water to overflow the banks and injuring the soil. His client gave him the name of a river bottom land expert, who was well acquainted with the plaintiff's land; and the gentleman was placed on the witness stand at the trial. After drawing out from the witness the fact that he was well acquainted with land in the southern part of Boone county, Mr. Gordon asked him about this land. The witness replied, "Well, sir, that was what we called 'craw fish' land, and I sold it some years ago because I did not think it worth much." Mr. Gordon looked at his client in disgust; and his client assured him that the witness told him that he considered the land valuable, that it had been damaged and that he would so testify. Mr. Gordon said, "When you get hold of such a witness, the way to do is to make him write down and swear to his testimony, and then give bond that he will continue to swear to it in that way." During the adjournment of court following, Mr. Gordon and Mr. Geo. P. B. Jackson, attorney for the railroad, agreed on a compromise, which was a most unusual occurrence.
For some time after the M., K. & T. road was built, its track was not in good condition and its trains, especially freight trains, were com- pelled to travel slowly. Mr. Gordon and Mr. Jackson were sparring at each other in the justice of the peace court, and Gordon said that he
COL. FRANCIS T. RUSSELL
MAJ. A. J. HARBISON
CAPT. F. F. C. TRIPLETT
COL. JAS. H. MOSS
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was going to bring suit against the railroad for killing a valuable En- glish foxhound. Mr. Jackson quickly replied, "If you do, I will deny that he was an English foxhound because he was running a rabbit. Besides he was a trespasser on our right-of-way and chasing one of our valuable rabbits." Mr. Gordon as quickly retorted, "The only cir- cumstance against his being a full-blooded English foxhound is the fact that he did not run fast enough to get out of the way of one of your old trains."
Mr. Gordon was one of the attorneys who tried to break the will of John Carlisle, deceased, and to him was assigned the duty of cross- examining a certain maiden lady who testified that the testator was of sound mind. After asking her if she had ever studied medicine, and receiving a negative reply, Mr. Gordon wanted to know how she knew the old man's mind was sound. The lady replied, "Oh, I think his mind was as sound as any man's."
Mr. Gordon represented a plaintiff who compromised a damage suit without his consent, and then suit was brought to set aside the compromise, on the ground of fraud and misrepresentation. It came out in evidence that the plaintiff was induced to make the settlement by reason of a statement made to her by the defendant to the effect that plaintiff's attorney, Mr. Gordon, "had the face of a convict and the heart of a goat". The court set aside the settlement.
While Webster Gordon was justice of the peace, a case was tried before him, and Wellington Gordon was attorney for the plaintiff, and Carey H. Gordon was attorney for the defendant, and Scott D. Gordon was foreman of the jury.
THOS. S. CARTER
Thomas S. Carter, editor, court official and city official of Stur- geon, was one of the best known and most useful men in the northern part of Boone county. He took an active interest in politics, held im- portant clerkships during several sessions of the Missouri general assembly and was twice a candidate for the democratic nomination for representative.
Mr. Carter was often employed as attorney for petitioners or re- monstrators in road cases arising in Bourbon, Rocky Fork and Perche townships. At the January term of the county court one year, he apologized for appearing in another road case, saying, "I made a re- solve at the beginning of this new year not to accept of employment in another road case; but like a good many other new-year's resolutions, I have broken it. And here I am, today, belly deep in three road cases."
12
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Mr. Carter told of a tie chopper from near Harrisburg, who once wanted to employ him to defend an attachment suit before a justice of the peace. The amount involved was so small, the weather so disa- greeable and the roads so bad, that Mr. Carter told his client that there was no use to have a lawyer in that court, as the justice would of course decide for the plaintiff ; but he could take an appeal. Accordingly Mr. Carter prepared a plea in abatement, had the defendant sign and swear to it, and instructed him to file it with the justice the day the case was called. When the justice opened court at the school house, the plaintiff and his witnesses were on hand, and the defendant told the justice that he did not have any lawyer nor any witnesses ; but wanted to file a plea in abatement. The plaintiff, who had no lawyer, was very much surprised, and asked the justice what that meant. The justice replied, "I don't know what it is, but it knocks thunder out of your case. Judgment for the defendant."
Mr. Carter was one of the attorneys in the Hombs & Barnett cases, which were attachments against some Harrisburg merchants by St. Louis wholesale houses, with a bank and some individuals as interpleaders, an alleged fraudulent deed of trust, etc. The cases were on the court docket for ten years, one case went to the supreme court and another to the court of appeals. Finally, after the death of one trustee, the resignation of another trustee, and an innumerable num- ber of other complications, the cases were compromised. Mr. Carter then said that he felt like that compromise had destroyed the source of a large part of his income.
Mr. Carter brought suit in the circuit court in behalf of Greene and Fountain, two live stock shippers, against the Wabash railroad for damages, on account of delay in the shipment of cattle. The case was tried once, but at the close of the evidence, a nonsuit was taken. Another suit was brought by Mr. Carter in behalf of the same two men, and another trial was had. After making out what he thought was a strong case, just before closing, Mr. Carter placed one of his clients on the stand, and accidentally it came out in his testimony that these cattle belonged to four men, Greene, Fountain, Boothe and Bartee. Of course the railroad attorney was ready with a demurrer to the evidence, and stated that he was taken by surprise. Mr. Carter said, "Yes, I suppose the defendant and the defendant's attorneys are taken by surprise, and I suppose the court is taken by surprise, but no one in or about this case is half as much surprised as I am. I have had forty talks with my clients about this case, and this is the first time I ever heard of Boothe and Bartee having an interest in these cattle."
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Mr. Carter usually carried a little grip when he attended court, and also from town to town during the county campaign. He made one race for the legislature against Capt. J. W. Kneisley, who was good at poking fun at his opponents, especially a lawyer. One statement made by Kneisley was challenged by Carter, who went down into this little grip for a document to prove his side. But he failed to find the document, and that gave Kneisley a chance to come back. He said that he had often heard of a lawyer being called on to prove his character, but this was the first time he ever heard of a lawyer carrying his character around in his carpet bag.
During this speaking, which was in the court house, the evening was very warm and Mr. Carter frequently took a drink of water. Cap- tain Kneisley, in his reply, said that Mr. Carter had the first wind mill ever run by water power.
E. W. HINTON
Edward W. Hinton was the only Boone county lawyer to grad- uate in the Missouri University and also at the Columbia University Law School; he also studied abroad one year. After enjoying a gen- eral practice, and as attorney for the Wabash and Burlington rail- roads, he was made teacher, then dean of the Missouri University Law School. He served often as special judge of the circuit court of Boone, Callaway and Cole counties. He was appointed referee in some im- portant cases, notably the suit against the bondsmen of the treasurer of State Hospital at Fulton. He is now a teacher in the Chicago Univer- sity Law school.
In 1910, there was a vacancy on the supreme bench of Missouri a short time before the November election, and it became necessary for the political parties to nominate candidates. Dean Hinton was sup- ported by a number of his friends, and he secured some votes from the democratic committee ; but the nomination was given to Judge H. C. Timmons, of Kansas City.
Judge Hinton and Mr. Webster Gordon once brought suit against a man for slander, to-wit, accusing the plaintiff of stealing nineteen turkeys. They placed a witness named Brown on the stand, and he proved to be an unfriendly witness for the plaintiff. He was asked if the defendant stated, in his presence, that the plaintiff had stolen his turkeys, and Brown replied, "Not exactly. He simply detailed the cir- cumstances, and I formed my own conclusion." The jury found for the defendant.
In 1906, Judge Hinton presided at the trial of the slander suit of Sam B. Cook v. Pulitzer Publishing Co. A severe thunder storm in-
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terrupted the trial and caused a delay of half an hour. A few min- utes after the trial was resumed, two or three yards of plastering, which had been loosened by the elements, fell from the ceiling with a crash and came near striking Judge Hinton, Stenographer Chamier and Clerk Boggs. Another recess was declared till all parties recovered from fright and coughing.
Judge Hinton was given a banquet by the Boone county lawyers at the Virginia Grill in Columbia, a few evenings before he left for Chicago. On this occasion, Jas. S. Rollins, Jr., acted as toastmaster, and M. R. Conley, L. T. Searcy and Jas. L. Stephens responded to toasts. Judge Hinton was then called on, and spoke feelingly of his long and friendly relations with the Boone county bar.
A. W. TURNER, JR.
Archibald W. Turner, Jr., is the third generation of that noted Boone county family to become a lawyer, and he served two terms as city attorney of Columbia. Afterwards, Mr. Turner desired to serve Boone county as its prosecutor, and ran a good race. It was told on Mr. Turner that he visited a farmer near Midway, who was almost too busy following his plow to stop and talk politics. In order to get him interested, Mr. Turner told the farmer that he too was a farmer, and had spent many a day in hard toil. He asked the farmer to rest a few minutes while he plowed some furrows around the field. This made a fine impression for a while, but either Mr. Turner was not then an expert plowman, or the horses were unusually contrary. The result was an encounter with a stump, a broken plow and some corn destroyed. It is said that Mr. Turner lost several votes in that neighborhood.
Mr. Turner's first case in the circuit court was by appointment. He defended one Emmitt Cave, colored, against whom there was a charge of obtaining a mule under false pretenses from James Turner. The state proved that the defendant made statements to Turner that he had a horse, a valuable horse, that he would give Turner for the mule, that Turner gave him the mule, and Cave sold the mule and went to Kansas City. The state claimed that the defendant never had a horse, and put the father-in-law of the defendant on the stand to prove it, and he was unfriendly to the defendant. Attorney Turner tried to tone down the testimony of the old negro, and tried to get him to say that what he meant was that he did not know of any horse that defendant owned, but defendant might have had a horse. After he saw what ingenious counsel was seeking to do, the old negro said, "I say he never had no hoss; now you get somebody to say that he had one." Failing to find such an one, the defendant was convicted.
WELLINGTON GORDON
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YASAKUNI NAKAJIMA
Fortunately, the writer of this book does not have to pronounce the name of the above lawyer. He was a native of Japan, graduated from the Missouri University Law School in the same class with Judge E. W. Hinton, and both were admitted to the bar in Boone county at the same time. Mr. Nakajima remained here a very short time. He is now a teacher of law in a school in Japan.
WM. P. COLEMAN
About 1890, the Farmers' Alliance was organized in Boone coun- ty by Hon. U. S. Hall. It attracted attention, and secret meetings were held in the court house; and the organization bid fair to exert a great deal of political and commercial influence. Many local poli- ticians courted favor with them, and endeavored to be one of them; but the alliance refused to permit any one to join, except a bona fide farmer. Wm. P. Coleman said that a committee from that organiza- tion once waited on him, and informed him that he had been elected a member. Mr. Coleman expressed surprise, saying that he did not know that a lawyer was permitted to join. The chairman replied, "Well, we did not think that you were much of a lawyer."
During his campaign for probate judge, Mr. Coleman was in Centralia and he desired to use the long distance telephone. By a mis- take, he got into a saloon, thinking it was the central office ; and he met Thos. S. Carter and others on the side-walk in front of the saloon. Mr. Coleman mentioned that he went into the saloon, but that he was simply looking for the telephone office. Mr. Carter said, "Well, I have heard it called by a good many names, but this is the' first time I ever heard Old Bourbon called 'telephone office' ".
Mr. Coleman's death so soon after he began practice, and when his career seemed to be so promising, was a matter of great regret to all his friends; and he had many of them in all parts of the country.
JAS. C. GILLESPY
Hon. Jas. C. Gillespy, who claims "Terrapin Neck" as his home. during campaign years, is now the oldest attorney in the county; and the best posted lawyer on the judicial history of the county. But as well acquainted with human nature and with the people of the county as Judge Gillespy is, he occasionally makes a mistake. About 1895, Judge Gillespy was trying a divorce suit, in behalf of the husband, and a religious crank was called to testify in regard to the wife's general
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reputation for telling the truth and for virtue. He replied, "General reputation depends on whom you associate with; and the Savior, him- self, associated with one woman who had seven husbands and another woman who had seven devils." He was interrupted by counsel, and told to answer the question. He replied, "General reputation also de- pends on what people say about you ; and that is very uncertain. For John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and the people said he had a devil. And the Son of Man came both eating and drinking, and the people said he was a winebibbler and the friend of publi- cans and sinners." Counsel again interrupted him, and asked that he answer as to the woman's general reputation. The witness started off thusly : "General reputation depends on what people think about you, and that is very uncertain. One day they hailed the Savior with hosan- nahs and palm branches, and the next day they wanted him crucified." At this stage, Judge Hockaday came to the rescue, and told the wit- ness to give a little more evidence, and quote a little less scripture. The witness replied, "Well, all right, Judge ; but I was in hopes that a little leaven might leaven the whole lump."
Judge Gillespy was a merchant and farmer, and was not admitted to the bar till late in life. He is the only Boone county lawyer, who engaged in the active practice for any length of time, who served as sheriff and deputy sheriff. During the Civil war and shortly after the war, he rendered valuable service to Boone and other counties, by his vigilance and fearlessness. Some lawless men, horse thieves and rob- bers, undertook to disregard the law and the officers of several coun- ties, but Sheriff Gillespy pursued and captured them. Then, when the officers from another county undertook to mistreat the prisoners, Sher- iff Gillespy protected them. Mr. Gillespy followed one man to Texas and brought him to Boone county for trial, and he followed another man to Colorado, and returned with him. He never failed to arrest a man, for whom he had process, and often boasted that he never re- ceived any reward for arresting a prisoner. He always refused a re- ward, saying he did not care to be paid for doing his dtuy.
Judge Gillespy extends a standing invitation to his brother law- yers to join him at his Providence home and go fishing ; and he catches fish there like those shown in one of his pictures printed in Sunday's "Globe-Democrat."
O. H. AVERY
Senator O. H. Avery, of Lincoln county, often practiced in Boone county, and was a good lawyer and a good speaker. In a suit where a young lady sued a man for accusing her of larceny, Senator Avery
ARTHUR BRUTON
HENRY G. SEBASTIAN
EDWIN M. WATSON
CURTIS B. ROLLINS, JR.
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represented the defendant, and Gen. Odon Guitar represented the plain- tiff. In his speech, Senator Avery said, "The evidence shows that this young lady advised with her mother, and the mother told her to drop the case. The mother is the daughter's best friend, at all times and under all circumstances. It is said that on one occasion, an angel came down from heaven, in search of the most beautiful thing on earth. He found three things that were so beautiful that he could not decide between them, a lily, pure and white, a baby's smile, and a mother's love ; so he plucked all three and started upward. But ere he reached the pearly gates, the flower had faded, the baby's smile had turned to a frown, but the mother's love was stronger and more beautiful than ever."
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