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 26
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In 1853, a number of interesting meetings were held in this building where by the county court, through the influence of Major James S. Rollins, Gen. Odon Guitar, and Col. Wm. F. Switzler, were induced to make an order submitting to the voters of Boone county, a proposition to give one hundred thousand dollars to the North Mis- souri railroad, provided it passed through Boone county. The propo- sition carried and the railroad was built and is now known as the Wabash railroad.
RALPH T. FINLEY
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ADDRESSES
Business of all kinds was transacted in and front of the court house. All land sales and the renting of land, the selling and hiring of negroes was held in front of the court house. At public outcry to the highest bidder, such sales, rentals and the hiring of negroes were usually held on the first day of January of each year, although numerous sales were held at other times.
In these days Columbia did not have an opera house, and but few traveling troups visited the town. The entertainments were fur- nished in the court house by local talent and were in the main better than the imported variety. Col. Samuel A. Young, Capt. Sinclair Kirtley, Gen. Odon Guitar, John F. Baker and B. F. Venable were the principal actors in those home talent entertainments, and Robert L. Todd and Col. Switzler were the leaders in the "Columbia Lyceum". which was the ante bellum debating club. The first public library in Columbia was kept in this old court house about 1855, and Warren Woodson was president of the association, and Thomas B. Gentry was librarian.
As there were few churches in the county, religious services were frequently held in the court house, and held by all the different de- nominations. Inspired and uninspired statutes have been considered and interpreted.
Politics of all kinds, town, county, state and national, all held full sway in the court house. Notably among these was the Mormon question, in which excitement ran high, and even preparations for war were made. But the most serious question of politics that was discussed in the court house, was the Kansas and Nebraska question. which grew to such an extent that actual preparations for war was made, and the county court was asked for an appropriation of five thousand dollars to defray the expenses of sending a company of men who had been organized and equipped by the citizens to Kansas to aid in putting down the abolitionists. The slavery question, however con- tinued to grow in interest, until it became the controlling issue in the presidential campaign of 1860, which resulted in the election of Abra- ham Lincoln, the abolition candidate. As soon as his election became known, a large portion of the South contemplated secession, and here again the court house was used as the meeting place to discuss what Boone county and the state of Missouri should do. Unfortunately, peaceful measures failed, and war was determined upon to settle the issue.
I am loath to part company with this building, where for more than a quarter of a century I have been learning and practicing law. Its associations cover the better part of my life. In bidding it good bye,
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I wish to say I shall always remember it pleasantly, and as one of the finest specimens of architecture of its kind in the west. And I am glad to know that its beautiful Tuscan columns are to be pre- served, and will stand as a monument to the achievements of the past, and will serve to connect it with the present and the future.
GORDON AND GUITAR
Address delivered at the Boone County Bar Banquet, at Gordon Hotel, Columbia, Mo., March 21, 1908, by N. T. Gentry.
It is eminently appropriate on an occasion like this for us to mention the names and recall the virtues of those of our number who have recently passed away. During the twenty years next month since I was admitted to practice in yonder old court house, we have lost by death many of our honored members, some of them holding judicial positions, while others were still in the active practice. In the former class may be mentioned Judges Philemon Bliss, Geo. H. Burckhartt, John Hinton, Alexander Martin and Jno. A. Hockaday ; and in the latter class may be mentioned W. A. Bedford, Wm. P. Coleman, Geo. H. Barnett, Jerry H. Murry, M. M. Jesse, Ev. M. Bass, Carey H. Gordon, J. DeW. Robinson, Wirt J. Warren and Squire Turner.
Since last we met around our banquet table in Columbia, death has claimed two of the leading members of this bar, and I might truth- fully say two of the leading lawyers of Missouri, Mr. Wellington Gordon and Gen. Odon Guitar. Seldom have we been called upon to mourn .the loss of two of our number in so short a time as that be- tween the death of Mr. Gordon, which occurred on March 3, 1908, and the death of Gen. Guitar, which occurred on March 13, 1908. At the time of his death, Mr. Gordon was seventy-two years of age, and Gen. Guitar was eighty-two. Gordon and Guitar were lawyers of the old school-the connecting link, as it were, between the past and the present in our profession. They were orators, and in their palmy days were worthy to contest with any of the sons of Blackstone. Each of them was conscientious, and of each it may well be said that honesty and fair dealing at all times were of first consideration.
Mr. Gordon, everywhere known as "Wax" Gordon, came of a family of lawyers, and well did he maintain that family's standard of legal excellence, both in his private practice and while he served Boone county as prosecuting attorney. The old citizens of this com- munity have often told me that his father, Hon. John B. Gordon, was a natural-born political leader and an orator, whose eloquence
LEE WALKER
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not only captivated juries and voters but swayed legislators in five general assemblies of our state. His brother, Hon. Boyle Gordon, jurist, legislator and law instructor in the Missouri State University. was his partner in the practice of law for many years, and his partner in confidence throughout life. Had he searched the land through he could not have found a more congenial partner, or a better counselor in life's conflicts than Judge Boyle Gordon. Another brother Carey H. Gordon, whose loss we mourned less than three years ago, was also a lawyer; and served his country as an officer in the state militia during the Civil War, and afterwards as prosecuting attorney for three terms, with credit to himself and with satisfaction to his people. And I will also mention another lawyer member of his family, his uncle, Hon. James M. Gordon, county judge, state senator and circuit attorney, whose picture for many years past has appropriately adorned the walls of our county court room. Wellington Gordon was a kind- hearted man, too good to others to be a successful financier. Time and time again has he given legal advice and appeared in court to rep- resent persons, who never paid him a cent, and from whom he never expected any fee. When I was a young lawyer, he stated to me on one occasion that there was something else in the practice of law besides making money out of it; and this seemed to be the motto of his professional life. Mr. Gordon was a student of law, and carefully investigated all the authorities pertaining to every case. As a result, when the time came for argument and for the presentation of in- structions, he had a "thus saith the court" on every point connected with the case. He had a great knowledge of the law, and was able readily to apply its principles. He was also a good speaker, and was ever ready with a familiar and taking illustration. When he was in good health and interested in the case, his argument was pointed and winning. Never did he forsake a client, not even those who mistreated him. For many years, he was the honored president of this associa- tion, and his relations with us and our visiting brethren were of the most friendly character. When he was convinced that any person was his friend, Wax Gordon remembered that friend, and remembered him till death. His word was as good as his bond; and, in all my practice with him, I never found it necessary to have an agreement with him reduced to writing. He always did what he promised to do, in business, in law and in politics. When selected, as he was a num- ber of times, as a delegate to the democratic state, congressional and judicial conventions, he supported the choice of his people, and voted for that choice first, last and all the time. Briefly stated, he was an old-fashioned honest man, who acted his part in life with becoming modesty.
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General Guitar was a familiar character in central Missouri for over fifty years. He too was president of the Boone county bar. He was a man with a warm heart, but of strong convictions, and never tried to get on the popular side of any public question. As a lawyer, a political leader, a citizen, and a soldier in two wars, he had no superiors; and few, if any, equals. Many years at the annual reunion has he entertained the Mexican War veterans (he being one of them) with interesting and thrilling stories and reminiscences of the hardships and victories connected with General Doniphan's wonderful expedition. And at the annual encampment of the G. A. R., he was ever a welcome member, and his comrades have alternately wept and laughed and his audience has applauded as he described the military achievements of the famous Ninth Missouri regiment, which regiment was fortunate in having him for its commander. It has been my great pleasure to hear General Guitar deliver addresses to the old settlers of Boone county, to Missouri University alumni, of which he was one, and to the people of Columbia, on many occasions, when he vividly told of the trials and triumphs of our pioneer ancestors. He gloried in the farsightedness and patriotism of our forefathers, and many, many times has he paid them eloquent and merited tributes. As a legislator, as provost marshal of western Missouri during the Civil War, as mayor of Columbia for many years, as president of our school board, as a member of the state republican committee, as chairman of the county republican committee, as the nominee of his party for attorney general and as the nominee of his party for con- gress in two campaigns, General Guitar convinced the people that he was a statesman, and a political leader of ability and integrity, as well as a conscientious and public-spirited servant of the people. But the greatest work done by our departed brother was at the bar, which work he seemed to thoroughly enjoy. I regret that my time is so limited, for I would like to talk to you on this part of his life for hours. Interesting and amusing incidents connected with his practice in Boone and adjoining counties, if collected, would easily fill volumes. In the statement of his case to the jury, in the cross-examination of the witnesses and in the final argument, General Guitar had no parallel in his profession. Especially was he fine in criminal cases, and in cases involving the question of fraud. He always entertained the court, the jury, opposing counsel as well as the other listeners in the court room and his arguments invariably brought to his clients a favorable verdict. Such logic, wit and sarcasm as his speeches fre- quently contained were seldom heard in any court room; and his pathetic appeals have brought tears to the eyes of jurors and specta-
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tors alike, and have saved many an erring brother. He was an aggres- sive man, did not know the meaning of the word "surrender" and possessed a constitution that never seemed to tire. Not only did General Guitar entertain auditors and convince jurors by his almost magic power, but, by the delivery of the same argument, he has more than once captivated judges of the court of appeals, and judges of the supreme courts of our state and of our nation.
It is a circumstance worthy of mention that Mr. Gordon and General Guitar were first cousins, and were associated together in the trial of cases a great many times. Never were two lawyers better suited to and for each other; the one was the complement of the other. And while neither one has been engaged in the active practice for some time past, old age and ill health having prevented, yet we older lawyers well remember the sterling qualities possessed by both of them. Another feature of the character of these men is worthy of mention. It is this: They were never jealous of the young lawyer, who gradually worked into the practice and eventually secured their clients. On the contrary, they encouraged the youthful competitor and assisted him in every way. Let us, tonight, as we recount their long and useful careers, resolve that we will imitate the good in them, and try, as they continually tried, to uplift the legal profession and to be charitable to all men. Gentlemen of the bar, because of their worth and -unselfishness, because of their prominence and the deeds which they accomplished, the name of Wellington Gordon and the name of Odon Guitar will not and should not soon be forgotten, either by the people of Boone county, or by the people of Missouri. With propriety, therefore, may we say of each of them, "Tried, true, trustworthy friend, we respect, we love, we honor thy memory."
JUDGE JNO. A. HOCKADAY
Address delivered in circuit court, January, 1910, at the presenta- tion of picture, by Hon. F. G. Harris.
Since the erection of this magnificent court house, which cer- tainly is a credit to the people of our county, friends and relatives have presented, and had suspended from these walls, portraits of men who have been honored by the people of this county and whose lives are a part of its history, as follows :
Peter Wright and Geo. E. Flood, who served the county as sur- veyor ; James M. Gordon, Alexander Persinger, David Gordon, Wm. F. Roberts, W. S. Wilson, C. C. Turner, S. N. Woods, and Jno. S. Bedford, who served the county as judge of the county court; War-
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ren Woodson and General Joseph B. Douglass, who filled the office of clerk of the county court ; R. B. Price, who filled the office of treasurer ; Roger North Todd, and Robert L. Todd, who served as clerk of the circuit court, and David Todd, who was the first judge of this circuit court. We are here today to present, on behalf of the family of the late Judge Jno. A. Hockaday, a portrait of him. In doing so, I desire to say that I became personally acquainted with Judge Hockaday when I began to try to practice.law in 1898, and from the time I first knew him personally, I admired him as a lawyer, as a judge and as a citizen above most of the men of my acquaintance. He was more than liberally endowed with that fund we are want to term common sense, a great lawyer, an industrious student of law, and believed in the administration of justice without malice and without favoritism. He was thoroughly and highly educated, and to these things he had added the benefits derived from a much varied experience, for his was a busy life. He was a man whose whole life was devoted to his family, his home, his church, and the best interest of his state. He was a citizen of the highest type; he never shirked from duty, never shrank from responsibility, but was ever ready and willing to give his time, his tireless energy and his thought to the service of his state and nation.
He was a lawyer of profound ability ; an able, fearless, unbiased. conscientious and merciful circuit judge ; and in all a Christian gentle- man. In his removal from the circuit bench, our county and our cir- cuit sustained an irreparable loss. But he lives in the hearts of the people of this county today, and in our hearts and minds he will ever live.
As state senator, as attorney general of Missouri, as curator of the state University and as circuit judge, Judge Hockaday left a record that is excellent. As a citizen of Callaway county, as presi- dent of the board of trustees of Westminster College, as a member of the board of managers of the state deaf and dumb institute, as a dele- gate to the national democratic convention, and as one of the Missouri presidential electors in 1888, Judge Hockaday showed himself to be the friend of education, and a philanthropist of the highest type, and a good citizen always interested in good government.
So I think it fitting and eminently proper that a portrait of him should be suspended from these walls, and on behalf of the family of Judge Hockaday, it gives me much pleasure to present to the people of this county and in this court where he presided with so much distinc- tion, this portrait of him in whose memory and honor we speak today.
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D W. B. KURTZ, JR.
279
ADDRESSES
Shortly after the death of Judge Hockaday, Col. S. Turner used the following appropriate language: "The state has lost a great public servant ; society, a mainstay and an ornament; the bench and bar, one of their chief exemplars; his family, a model husband and father, uncle, brothers and all human kind a friend. His sun has set, but its golden twilight will linger long. for
'Were a star quenched on high For ages would its light, Still traveling downward from the sky Shine on our mortal sight.
'So when a great man dies For years beyond our ken The light he leaves behind him lies Upon the paths of men.'"
JUDGE ALEXANDER PERSINGER
Extract from address delivered before old settlers association of Boone county in 1898, by Col. Squire Turner.
Perhaps Judge Alexander Persinger had the strangest, the most unique life as well as an illustrious career upon the bench and as a legislator. Judge Persinger never knew what his family's real name was, and thereby hangs a romance.
Way back in 1757, when a party of Virginians had surprised a tribe of the Shawnee Indians in the French and Indian War, it was found that among the defeated red men was a mere boy, a white boy at that, who had been so long among the Shawnees that he was to all intents and purposes an Indian. The Indians either did not know or would not tell who he was. The boy manifested his preference for his Indian friends and would doubtless have been permitted to stay with them if Jacob Persinger, a man of substance and reputation in Botetourt county, had not ended all discussion by adopting him. Jacob Persinger gave the Indian-white boy his family name. The boy grew to manhood, prospered, became influential, bore a promi- nent part in the Revolutionary War and in 1790 became the father of Alexander Persinger, who after a long, honorable career, died in Columbia on September 12, 1875, at the home of his daughter, the late Mrs. James E. Johnson.
Judge Persinger left Virginia in 1811 and went into the Kentucky- Tennessee region. When the call for troops came in the war against
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England the next year he was one of the first to volunteer. He served through the two and a half years of the war with distinction and soon after peace was declared, went to the Indiana and Northwest terri- tory. Judge Persinger left Illinois, at that time a part of that territory, in 1815 for what is now Montgomery county, Mo., where he lived for twenty years. He was the first county judge that Montgomery county ever had, if not the first legally appointed or elected county judge in Missouri, having been appointed to that position by the governor in 1821. He also represented Montgomery county in the state legisla- ture.
In 1835, Judge Persinger removed to Boone county where all the rest of his life was spent. He served the county eighteen years as presiding judge of her court and never once ran for office. He also represented the county twice in the legislature.
Judge Persinger's only daughter married the late James E. John- son, of Columbia, who lived to the advanced age of ninety-three, and was always an active business man. Mrs. Johnson left behind her two daughters, Mrs. Annie Quarles and Mrs. Luther H. Rice, who are the only lineal descendants of the man whose origin has been one of the mysteries of American history.
A lawyer from Pennsylvania was once in Columbia attending to some business, and a public function was given, at which Judge Per- singer made a speech. His talk was so sound and his personality so great that the lawyer said to a number of people: "If we had such a man as Alex. Persinger in Pennsylvania, we would send him to Con- gress and keep him there the rest of his life."
In writing about Judge Persinger, Dr. W. T. Lenoir said : "Young men of Missouri, whenever, with uncovered heads, you look upon the portrait of Judge Alexander Persinger in the Boone county court house and think of his long useful life, his spotless reputation and pure character, may you be possessed with a hungrying and thirst- ing after right living and a firm resolve to emulate his many virtues."
On September 5, 1860, Judge Persinger made a farewell address to the county court, which was considered so appropriate it was or- dered spread upon the record of the court and published in the "Mis- souri Statesman" (see county court record Book "M", pages 463-5). In this address, Judge Persinger tells something of his father's early life and captivity, as well as his own official career.
JUDGE JAMES HARRIS
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JUDGE DAVID TODD
Address delivered in circuit court on January 10, 1910, at the presentation of picture, by Hon. E. W. Stephens.
As a people advance in the scale of civilization and progress they memoralize on canvas or in marble those who have shed luster upon their history. We are approaching the close of the first century of this county and it has been determined to follow the example of more ancient sections and to preserve in perpetual honor those who have dis- tinguished themselves in public service, who are entitled to an illustrious place on account of their achievements. It is proper that, with the com- pletion of this handsome new court house, we should begin to pay tribute in some substantial and appropriate form to those who have contributed to the honor and glory of our people.
There is an eminent appropriateness that the first contribution to this list of memorials should be the portrait of the first judge who presided over this court and who for twenty years held that position with a fidelity and an ability that gave his name to history as one of the many great men who have shed luster upon the jurisprudence of Missouri.
The presentation of this portrait recalls those pioneer days the history of which is a thrilling story of romance and courage and adventure. The portrait which I have the honor to present is that of Judge David Todd, and the presentation is made by his descendants some of whom yet survive, and are honored residents of Missouri.
Judge Todd was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on March 28, 1786, and came of revolutionary stock, his father having been Levi Todd who was a general in the Revolutionary War; and Judge Todd was himself a soldier in General Harrison's army in the War of 1812. In 1817, when he was but thirty-one years of age he removed to Mis- souri, then a territory, and located at Franklin, that marvelous pioneer city situated in Howard county opposite Boonville and whose popula- tion contained so many men of culture and ability who afterwards be- came distinguished in various spheres of life.
Soon after his removal to Missouri he was appointed territorial judge by President James Monroe, and upon the admission of Missouri into the Union he was appointed by Governor Alexander McNair, judge of this circuit, which then extended from St. Charles to the present western limits of Ray county. At that time Missouri contained only 70,000 inhabitants, and all this region was a sparsely settled one, the abode of wild beasts, and of a hardy, intrepid, and in some respects, a turbulent population. Those were perilous and thrilling times and the administration of justice required the exercise of the highest cour-
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age and the most strenuous qualities. Judge Todd "rode the circuit" and shared the privations of that primitive period. Such was the ability and acceptance with which he discharged his duties that he held this office till 1837, and he made a record of ability and devotion to duty which form a bright page in the judicial history of our state.
He held his first court in Boone county soon after the county's organization on April 2, 1821, under the branches of a spreading sugar tree in the town of Smithton, now a suburb of Columbia just a mile west of the site of this structure. Overton Harris was the sheriff, and Hamilton R. Gamble, afterwards governor of Missouri, was the circuit attorney. John F. Ryland and Abiel Leonard, afterwards judges of the supreme court, were in attendance upon this first term of court. Roger North Todd, his brother, and the grandfather of our fellow townsman N. T. Gentry, was circuit clerk; and Peter Bass was fore- man of the grand jury. Judge Todd held court after the removal of the seat of justice to Columbia in the first court house erected here, and which stood just in front of this building.
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