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 8
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Judge Hockaday was absolutely indifferent as to the verdict of the jury; he did what he thought was right, and he allowed the jury to do what it believed to be right. Two attachment cases against the same defendant were for trial on the same day in his court, and the first one was tried by a jury. While the jury was out, all parties agreed to try the second case before the court, on the same evidence and argument that the court had just heard in the first case. Judge Hocka- day promptly decided in favor of the defendant. In less than half an hour, the jury in the first case returned a verdict in favor of the plain- tiff. A motion for a new trial was filed in each case, and Judge Hockaday overruled both motions. He said, "There was evidence both ways, and the jury looked at it one way and I looked at it the other : and I acted as the jury in one case and twelve men acted as the jury in the other case."
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As before stated, Judge Hockaday was fond of fun, and was very quick witted. He tried a will case in Columbia, wherein it was claimed that the testator, who was an old man, was of unsound mind, and that he did many unusual things about the time of the execution of the will. One witness testified that the testator told him that he was a Chippewa Indian; and that the testator made a mistake and called his foot his hand; that at another time, the testator made a mistake in dressing himself, put his coat on first, then his vest over it and tried to put his arms through the legs of his pants. As soon as the witness finished his testimony, Judge Hockaday wrote on a piece of paper and handed to the attorneys the following :
"The old Indian came from Chippewa, He looked at his foot and called it his paw.
He put his vest on over his coat,
And buttoned his pants up around his throat."
Judge Hockaday was not given to exaggerating, but he did once and was excusable. He always came to Columbia by way of Centralia, and frequently complained about the rate of speed at which the Colum- bia train then traveled. After being delayed for an unusually long time, and, missing his dinner, he said, "The last time I traveled this branch road, a lady boarded the train at Centralia, and I noticed she had a baby in her arms, and when we reached Columbia that baby was old enough to marry."
Judge Hockaday was once a candidate for the democratic nomina- tion for governor, and lacked only a few votes of securing the nomina- tion. But some false reports were started on him at the last moment ; and it was too late to contradict them. He was also a candidate against Hon. Richard P. Bland for Congress, and although he had a popular man for his opponent, Judge Hockaday received a hand- some vote. In 1898, after the death of Mr. Bland, although not a can- didate for Congress, Judge Hockaday received the votes of the dele- gates from a number of counties in the eighth district.
JUDGE A. H. WALLER
Hon. Alexander H. Waller, a native Missourian, served two years as prosecuting attorney of Randolph county and mayor of Moberly. He was still living in Moberly in 1903, when he was appointed by Governory Dockery to fill the unexpired term of Judge Hockaday. He served as judge of this circuit till in 1909, when the legislature created the thirty-fourth judicial circuit, composed of Boone and Callaway counties. It was a matter of regret by all the lawyers of Boone and Callaway that Judge Waller would no longer have those counties in
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his circuit; but the court business justified the formation of another circuit.
Judge Waller, who was president of the Randolph county bar, had much to do with the organization of the bar association of that county, and with the good feeling existing between the members of the bar, and the courteous treatment by one lawyer of another. He always insisted that the law was one of the highest and noblest of professions, and that a lawyer should always treat his brother lawyer as a gentle- man.
Judge Waller tells a story on a justice of the peace lawyer, with whom he practiced some years ago. It seems that this gentleman was good at the trial of a case before a magistrate, but knew nothing of proceedings in the circuit court. Once he brought suit against the Wabash Railroad Company for damages; and, of course, was suc- cessful before the justice. When Judge Waller took an appeal to the circuit court, this gentleman was like a fish out of water; but he determined to do his best. The railroad had three experts to testify, and of course they had theories that were unanswerable, and they swore the ground from under the plaintiff. The lawyer tried to cross- examine one expert, but his cross-examination made matters worse : so he asked no questions of the other two. But, in his closing argu- ment, this J. P. lawyer said; "Gentlemen of the jury, there are three kinds of liars. First, there is the good-natured fellow who tells lies just to entertain the boys, not intending to injury any one. He is the harmless liar. Second, there is the fellow who tells mean stories on good men, and on good women ; and tells them for the purpose of caus- ing trouble. He is the vicious liar. Third, then there is the fellow who sits in a library or laboratory, in between terms of court, and studies up things to swear to; and he swears to it all in the name of science, and he will hang any man, or ruin any man for life. He is the expert liar."
Judge Waller is still judge of the ninth judicial circuit, composed of Howard and Randolph counties, and the Sturgeon court of common pleas.
JUDGE N. D. THURMOND
Hon. N. D. Thurmond, who is a native of Callaway county, served as prosecuting attorney and representative from Callaway county ; also as city councilman and city attorney of Fulton. He was appointed judge of the thirty-fourth judicial circuit by the governor in April, 1909, and held that position for nearly two years.
While Judge Thurmond was prosecuting attorney of Callaway county, he prosecuted a man for petit larceny, the stealing of two bushels of speckeled corn, popularly known as "bloody butcher" corn.
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Three witnesses testified to the fact that the corn was taken and that they tracked the defendant by grains of corn that were dropped along the road all the way from the corncrib to the defendant's house, that they found the defendant in possession of and in the act of shelling the corn, and that the defendant admitted to them that he had stolen it. The constable testified to similar admissions made by the defendant to him. The case was tried before a magistrate at Readsville; and on the witness stand, the defendant admitted making the statements to the state's witnesses, as testified to by them; but the defendant denied his guilt. Three witnesses were then called, and all three of them testified that the defendant's general reputation for truth and veracity was bad. The jury retired and brought in a verdict of not guilty. When Judge Thurmond asked two of the jurors how they happened to acquit when the defendant had admitted his guilt, one of the jurors said, "Well, you proved that his reputation for telling the truth was bad; so we had to clear him."
Under the old law, an applicant for admission to the bar was examined by a committee appointed by the court, some times privately but usually in open court. Judge Hockaday once appointed Judge Thur- mond, who happened to be attending that term of the Boone circuit court, to examine a University student, who desired to be licensed to practice law. It should be stated that this examination occurred in November, 1900, just after the second McKinley-Bryan campaign, and Judge Thurmond had left the democratic party in 1896 and joined the republicans. When he asked the young gentleman about the statute of uses and trusts, and requested him to define a trust, he said, "Mr. Thurmond, I have heard a good many speeches during the last cam- paign, but I really don't know which political party is in favor of trusts, and which is opposed to them."
At the first term and on the first day of holding court in the new Boone county court house, Judge Thurmond delivered an address to the lawyers and visitors present, which address was appropriate and dignified. As soon as he had finished, a colored woman, who had previously been convicted of raising a check, and who wanted to be paroled, appeared inside of the bar. Judge Thurmond asked her what he could do for her; and her reply was, "I want to see the Judge, I want to be enrolled."
While Judge Thurmond was on the bench, the wife of an editor of this county was summoned as a witness, and expected to testify to some minor matter. Not being familiar with legal terms and feeling out of place in the court room and especially on the witness stand, she turned to the court and said, "Judge, you must excuse my blunders. This is the first time I was ever arrested in my life."
JUDGE JOHN HINTON
JUDGE WALTER W. GARTH
JUDGE LEWIS M. SWITZLER
JUDGE LAZARUS WILCOX
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JUDGE DAVID H. HARRIS
Hon. David H. Harris, who was born in Boone county, and edu- cated in Boone county, and who was the son of County Judge James Harris, was city attorney of Fulton and prosecuting attorney of Calla- way county for three terms each. He was chairman of the Missouri Statute Revision Commission of 1909. He was elected judge of the thirty-fourth judicial circuit of Missouri in November, 1910, and is still filling that position.
Judge Jno. F. Philips had a sister in Fulton, and she was about to have trouble with a tenant over the possession of a house. She wrote to her brother and stated her case, and finally came to see Attorney Harris. When Mr. Harris asked her if she had advised with any other lawyer, she told him that she had written to her brother all about her trouble. When Judge Harris asked what her brother had advised her to do, she said, "He told me to go and get some one- horse, jack-leg lawyer."
Katie Barnett plead guilty to raising a check, was sentenced and paroled. At a subsequent term of court, she appeared for the purpose of making proof of good conduct. After she had taken the witness chair, Judge Harris said, "Well, Katie, how are you getting along?" Not intending to be outdone in the matter of politeness, Katie said, "Very well, thank you, sir, how's yourself?"
A negro man plead guilty to bootlegging, and Judge Harris agreed to parole him. In releasing him, the judge was admonishing him to be a good citizen, obey the law and make an honest living. He said to the defendant, "Now, here you are in trouble, does it pay you to violate the law?" In all seriousness, the defendant said, "Yes, sir ; this paid pretty well."
When Judge Harris called the case of State vs. Nelson, charged with bootlegging, he asked the defendant who was his attorney, and the defendant said that he had no attorney, but admitted that he was able to employ one. The court said, "If you are able to employ an attorney, the court connot appoint one for you." The defendant in- sisted that he was not guilty, so the court said, "Well, the court will have to represent you, and your trial is set for day after tomorrow." As soon as Nelson heard that the court was going to defend him, he changed his mind and entered a plea of guilty.
Judge Harris was the owner of an automobile, and he occasionally drove it to Columbia. In June, 1915, he attempted to make this drive, but the heavy rains made it impossible for him to reach Columbia till one p. m. It therefore became necessary for Deputy Clerk Pollard to
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explain to lawyers, jurors and witnesses that Judge Harris, who usually insisted on everybody being present at nine a. m., was unavoidably detained.
In a divorce suit, Judge Harris awarded the custody of a small child to the mother, giving the father the right to visit and see the child once a month. The first time the father attempted to visit the child, the mother declined to allow him to see the little one. When told that the court made an order to that effect, she said, "I don't care what the court said, you can't see this child till the law says so."
In 1915, the lawyers of Boone and Callaway counties endorsed Judge Harris for the position on the supreme bench made vacant by the death of Judge John C. Brown.
JUDGE P. H. McBRIDE
Hon. Priestly H. McBride was the only judge of the Boone county court to become judge of the supreme court ; and perhaps he was the only county judge in Missouri to be thus honored. He was also secretary of state and judge of the circuit court of Monroe and Marion counties.
After Judge McBride retired from the supreme bench, he practiced law for a while in Boone county, living on a farm on the Two-Mile Prairie. He was arguing a case one day in the Boone circuit court, and the opposing lawyer read a supreme court decision, which laid down the law directly opposite to the position that Judge McBride was then taking. After listening to the reading of the decision, Judge McBride asked who wrote such an opinion as that; and was told that the opinion was by Judge McBride. "Well," said Judge McBride, "that was written when I had the last guess."
JUDGE PHILEMON BLISS
The founder of the University Law School and its first dean was Judge Philemon Bliss, the popular Christian gentleman, the able jurist and the faithful teacher. His was a life of untiring industry, pre-eminent usefulness, full of years and honors. Whether working on a farm, clerking in a land office, serving in congress, practicing at the bar, wearing the supreme judicial ermine of two states, writing textbooks on law, or presiding for seventeen years over the University's law school and teaching therein, he graced, honored, dignified, elevated each and all. Having honor as the keynote of his character, untiring industry as his key to success, Judge Bliss made his life a model for rising youth ; and his success is an inspiration to every one.
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Judge Bliss was a friend of the University boys, and was ready to assist them at any and all times. As. a neighbor, he was always agreeable and made one feel better by having a talk with him. He had a theory that a gentleman was never excusable for showing his temper ; and he lived up to that theory. He was greatly afflicted with bronical trouble for thirty years, and he also suffered serious financial reverses in his advanced years, but he paid his security debts in full and was ever the same affable gentleman. It is not surprising that his students almost worshiped him.
On account of the illness of Judge Burckhartt, Judge Bliss held one term of the Boone circuit court. At the trial of a case at that term, a little girl was offered as a witness, and the opposing lawyer objected, as the child was too young to testify. Judge Bliss then allowed the lawyer to question her, as to her intelligence, religious belief, etc. Not being acquainted with either the Bible or the Statutes, the lawyer asked her if she knew where she was going when she died. The timid little one replied that she did not; and then the lawyer pressed his objection. Judge Bliss said, "The objection is overruled, because you do not know where you are going, and I do not know where I am going."
JUDGE ALEXANDER MARTIN
Judge Alexander Martin was an active practioner in St. Louis county, where he lived, and in St. Louis city, where he had an office for so many years. He was associated with the firm of Lackland & Martin, and had an extensive practice in the appellate courts of the state and of the nation. He was commissioner of the supreme court of Missouri, and dean of the law school of the University of Missouri. He understood law as a science, was a clear and forcible writer, and made a most logical presentation of his case.
Judge Martin told the following, as his experience in taking his first appeal from the circuit court. "My client thought he was injured and aggrieved, and so did I; but I did not know the difference between the motion for a new trial and a writ of error. Accordingly, I ad- vised with the circuit clerk, who was my personal friend. He said that there was no use to file a motion for a new trial, as he had been clerk of the court for a number of years, and he never knew of such a motion being sustained. He advised me to file an affidavit for appeal, and 'take up the case.' I did so, and the supreme court wrote an opinion, the shortest I ever saw ; it was just about one inch long. And the result was my client still thought he was injured and aggrieved ; and he was never my client after that."
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Judge Martin was usually very cool-headed and even tempered, but he lost his temper once. One senior law class had given him a good deal of trouble, put a pin in his chair and otherwise acted ugly. It was reported that a certain man, who was graduated from the law de- partment some years ago was to be hanged in Carroll county; so the members of the senior class, as a joke, announced that the class would celebrate the occasion. When Judge Martin learned that, it is said that he grew eloquent with indignation.
Judge Martin was president one term of the Missouri Bar Asso- ciation.
JUDGE JAS. D. FOX
While Judge Fox was not a citizen of Boone county, yet he visited Boone county when he was a candidate for judge of the supreme court in 1902, and made a short speech in the court house. Judge Fox then told three stories on himself, which pleased the crowd so much that he received the support of the Boone county democrats at the judicial convention, which later on nominated him for the supreme court. The stories are as follows :
I have served as judge of the circuit court of Madison, St. Fran- cois and Bollinger counties, and I have always tried to be one of the people, and to serve the people. One day just before the law per- mitted killing wild turkeys, I could not wait any longer, so took my gun and went on a little hunt; and killed a fine gobbler. As I was carrying him home, I met a man named Turner, who had just been selected by the county court to serve on the grand jury, which was soon to convene in my court. I said, "Mr. Turner, I was not expect- ing to meet you, but I do not want you to let any feeling of friendship for me prevent you from doing your duty when the grand jury is in session." Later on, I appointed Mr. Turner foreman of the grand jury, and gave that body a special charge about violations of the game law. In due time, the grand jury made a final report and asked to be discharged ; but no indictment was returned against me. After dis- charging them, I saw my friend Turner, and said, "Mr. Turner, I told you to do your duty, and not to shield me." He replied, "Yes, judge, and I did; I told the whole story to the grand jury, but I could not get a man on the jury to believe that you killed that turkey."
I have a goodly portion of Irish blood in my veins, and I have never been ashamed of it. A few years ago, an Irishman was indicted in my court for stealing a watch, and the evidence against him was purely circumstantial, but very convincing. He had no money and no friends, so I appointed two good lawyers, Moses Whybark and R. B.
JUDGE JNO. F. MURRY
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Oliver, to defend him; and, while they had no evidence to offer, they certainly made fine arguments. After some hours deliberation, the jury brought in a verdict of guilty, fixing his punishment at three years in the penitentiary. When I asked the defendant if he had anything to say why sentence should not be pronounced against him ; he replied that he had. Then he said, "Your honor has given me a fair trial, and I am obliged to you. You have appointed two of the best lawyers in the state to defend me, and I am obliged to you and also to them. In fact, I have received so much consideration in court, that I would like for your honor to cut my punishment down to two years, so I can get out of prison in time to vote for you when you run for re-election."
Judge Fox also told of a stuttering man, who was in his court, and testified that another man had a good reputation in the neighborhood in which he resided. On cross-examination, the lawyer sought to test his knowledge, and asked him what was the meaning of "the neighbor- hood in which a man resided ;" and the stuttering man replied. "It is just as fur as a man can go to borrow a sack of meal."
JUDGE WARREN WOODSON
One of the most efficient county officials was Warren Woodson, who was county clerk for nearly forty-one years; and justice of the peace and first probate judge of this county, and a member of the bar. During his term, practically all of the probate business was attended to by him, and it was done in a highly satisfactory manner. Judge Woodson was one of the best scribes who ever served the county, and his records are models of accuracy and neatness, all written with a quill. He was a courteous man. In the opening of each day's record, he would write: "Court opened pursuant to adjournment ; present Peter Wright, Anderson Woods, and Lazarous Wilcox, Gentlemen Justices of the County court."
At the conclusion of his term in 1860, having served thirty-nine years and declining to run again, Judge Woodson wrote and read to the county court a most interesting paper, which he termed his "Valedic- tory," and which was so highly prized by the court that it was spread on the court records (see county court record, book "N," pages 270-5). The court also entered of record a statement of its high appreciation of his services to the court and to the county. This farewell address of Judge Woodson's is certainly worthy 'of preservation; and it will pay all of our lawyers, county officials and citizens generally to read it and to remember it.
Warren Woodson was one of the original subscribers to the fund that secured the location of the State University in Boone county, and
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actively assisted in raising that fund. He was one of the first curators of the Missouri University, and was a member of the building com- mittee that had in charge the erection of the main building in 1840 and 1841. He was president of the board for a number of years, and served the University without any compensation, at a time when that institution was struggling for an existence. He was one of the first trus- tees of Columbia College, the institution which preceded the State Uni- versity : and he was a curator of Columbia Baptist Female College, afterwards known as Stephens College, and was first secretary of its board. He was one of the organizers and first directors of the Colum- bia & Providence Plank Road Company, and liberally aided in the construction of a plank road connecting the county seat with the Mis- souri river.
Although he stated in his valadictory that thirty-nine years in one office was "glory enough for one man," yet in 1866, Judge Woodson, having lost nearly all his property in the war, again entered the race for clerk of the county court. He received the certificate of election ; but his opponent, Capt. Henry N. Cook, contested his election; and the supreme court of Missouri, by a divided court, decided in favor of Cook. An appeal was taken to the United States Supreme Court, but before the case was reached by that court, Judge Woodson died, in October, 1868. He was one of the few Boone county officials who died in office, and the Woodson-Cook contest was the only election contest the county has ever had. On the death of Judge Woodson, the governor appointed Henry N. Cook clerk of county court.
Like most of the early officials of Boone county, Judge Woodson was a whig until the beginning of the Civil War; and from that time on he was a democrat.
JUDGE JAS. A. HENDERSON
Judge Henderson was the only Boone county lawyer to serve as judge in this county, and then to serve as judge of the same court in another county. He was judge of the probate court of Boone county, then moved to St. Louis county, where he was elected judge of the probate court of that county. While in Boone county in 1870, he prepared the first abstract books in this county; and was one of the first lawyers here to realize that an abstract of title was an important document. Judge Henderson afterwards moved to the city of St. Louis, and became the attorney for the public administrator of that city. His son, Hon. Wm. W. Henderson, was judge of the probate court of that city.
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On April 1, 1872, the legislature passed an act establishing probate courts in eight counties, Boone being one of them. The act was to take effect June 1st, and at the following November election a judge of that court was to be elected. The governor appointed Jas. A. Henderson judge of the probate court, but the county court refused to recognize him and refused to deliver to him the books and papers per- taining to probate business. Judge Henderson thereupon instituted ouster proceedings in the supreme court, and that court decided that the act creating the probate court was constitutional, that there was a vacancy in the office of judge of that court, as soon as the act went into effect, and that the action of the governor in appointing a judge was legal (State ex rel. v. County Court, 50 Mo. 317).
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