USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > The history of Nodaway county, Missouri, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens > Part 36
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The law firm of Warren & McEnery is well remembered by the older residents of Maryville, where they began the battle of life, and where was witnessed the beginning of that struggle which has at length resulted in giving to each a national reputation.
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HON. SAMUEL D. M'ENERY
came to Maryville in the spring of 1858, from Louisiana, where he was born about the year 1835. A short time before his arrival here, he was graduated by the law school of Rochester, New York, having previously thereto received an excellent education at one of the prominent literary institutions of the country. Mr. McEnery was a man of small stature, weighing not more than 120 pounds, but active and energetic. Possess- ing a warm heart and a genial disposition, young McEnery made many friends. He began the practice of law in Maryville with Henry L. War- ren, of Quincy, Illinois, a friend and school-mate, the partnership lasting until about the year 1860, when he returned to his native state.
Mr. McEnery, although he practiced here but about two years, gave evidences of that ability which has since distinguished him as a lawyer. He has filled many positions of honor and trust in Louisiana, being now the governor of that state.
MATTHEW G. ROSEBERRY.
Matthew G. Roseberry was born in Adams County, Illinois, in 1833. His early education was obtained in the common schools of his neigh- borhood. He afterward took a course in the scientific department, of what was then called the Illinois College, at Jacksonville. From 1854 to 1856 he was a teacher under the school laws of Illinois. He then studied law with Hon. C. A. Warren, an eminent lawyer of western Illinois, and was admitted to the bar, after a thorough and searching examination by that eminent jurist, O. C. Skinner, of the Supreme Court of that state. In 1857, he located in Maryville, and began the practice of law with J. H. Richardson, now a prominent lawyer of Quincy. Illinois. Business being dull here he returned to Illinois and entered into partnership with D. C. Johnston at Rushville, in Brown County.
In 1859, he started for Pike's Peak ; went as far west as old Fort Kearney, and there found a beautiful and level piece of ground on which to turn his team, and started for the states, returning to Adams County, Illinois, and in November, 1859, returned to Maryville, where he has since resided. In June, 1858, he was united in marriage with Miss Phobe E. Beal, of Maryville, who resided with his father in Adams County until his return from the plains, when she accompanied him to this place. After his return to Maryville in 1859, he engaged in the practice of law, and attained marked distinction in his profession. He and Judge Herren defended Amos Halsey for the murder of Law- rence, which was at that time a very noted case, Hon. Silas Woodson, being the circuit judge. In 1861, When the civil war broke out, Mr. Roseberry, though raised a Democrat, and having adhered to the doc-
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trines of the party as expounded by that prince of statesmen, Stephen A. Douglas, espoused the cause of the Union, and in the early part of the year 1863 was appointed Provost Marshal for Nodaway County. In his official capacity he was universally kind and lenient to all who were under the ban of disloyalty, extending to them every privilege consist- ent with the faithful discharge of his duty. Shortly after the abolition of the office, he formed a partnership with A. P. Morehouse in the prac- tice of the law and real estate business. He has already been spoken of as an educator, and it may be added that he has been an earnest friend and fearless advocate of our free school system. Under the school law of 1864-'65 a tax was voted by the citizens of Maryville for the erection of our public school building, and certain parties, who were not yet educated up to the importance of free schools, undertook by proceed- ings in court to enjoin the collection of the tax.
Hon. William Herren was then circuit judge, and Vories & Vories, with B. K. Davis and L. H. Case, were employed by those resisting a collection of the tax, and Roseberry & Morehouse for the school district. A temporary injunction wa sissued by the county court on the prayer of petitioners returnable to the circuit court. To the petition of plaintiffs, the school district, through Roseberry & Morehouse, filed a general demurrer. The position of Mr. Roseberry in the argument before the court was, that the petition failed to show a proper case for equitable relief; that it the assessment was void, as alleged in the petition, it would not protect the officer in his levy, nor would his pretended sale divest plaintiffs of their property ; that the wrong, if any was done, could be fully compensated by law. He argued that it could in no sense work upon plaintiffs an irreparable injury, and that there existed no reason for transferring the jurisdiction in such a case from law to equity. It was insisted on the other side that equity should interfere and prevent a sale of property under the circumstances. The argument of Mr. Vories, for the plaintiffs, was based principally on the dissenting opinion of Judge Scott, of the supreme court, in the case of Dean vs. Todd, 22 Mo. After elaborate arguments on both sides, Judge Herren decided that plaintiffs showed no ground for extending the strong arm of equity in their behalf, and sustained the demurrer. The case alluded to was at that time the most important that had ever come before our circuit court. It involved legal questions with which the people were not familiar. The friends of free schools were deeply interested, as they regarded the prosecution as a direct attack on their favorite system, while those who inherited the dogmas incident to slavery regarded the fostering of free schools as an innovation on their traditional theories. The opinion of Judge Herren, however, was so clear and explicit that all acquiesced-the school house was erected, and hundreds have received liberal educations within its walls.
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
In 1868, Mr. Roseberry was nominated and elected to the State Senate by the citizens of this (first) senatorial district. He served out his term with marked distinction, being the associate and compeer of such intellectual and distinguished giants as James S. Rollins, James H. Burch, Jr., Reed Brockmyer. Harbine Wells, H. Blodgett, Headly, and others, of equal distinction. Perhaps the State of Missouri never had an abler senate than that of which he was a member. Whilst there he served on the committee of ways and means, of criminal jurisprudence, and county boundaries.
He was the author of the bill by which the swamp lands which the United States had ceded to Missouri, were patented to the several coun- ties, saving to the people thousands of dollars. Although not the author of, he was the champion of the railroad consolidation bill, which became a law in March, 1870. Prior to that time the people had experienced great inconvenience, and those engaged in the enterprise of building railroads were thwarted on every hand, because provision had not been made for the consolidation of extra territorial roads with the roads of this state. In 1869, he, in connection with others, organized the Q., M. & P. R. R. Company, in which he was for five years a director.
In 1870, he founded the Maryville Republican, whose editor he was for two years. In politics he has acted with the Republican party since the war, though not extreme in his views. He united himself with the Christian Church in 1870, and is a firm believer in the Christian religion. Mr. Roseberry's mind is rather of a judicial cast. His judgment is clear. He deliberates before arriving at a conclusion, and seldom makes a mis- take. He belongs to that class of lawyers who believe that the subtle technicalities of the law ought to be forever buried beneath the over- shadowing vail of pure equity and justice. In all the walks of life he is exemplary. The organ of hope is largely developed in him. He looks forward to the ultimate happiness of all people who deserve to be happy. He has been the protector of youth and innocence, a liberal giver to those in want, a friend of education, and one who mingles his joy with those who have prospered by their own exertions.
HENRY M. VORIES.
Henry M. Vories was a native of Henry County, Kentucky, where he received a very common education in the common schools of that state. He emigrated to Indiana, where he led a varied life for some years, engaged in merchandising at a small village, combining farming and trading generally, and especially trading in hogs in the Cincinnati market, in which last business he declared to me that he broke three times in one week. When, growing tired of these employments, which were bootless and abortive, he studied law with Oliver Smith, of Indiana,
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who afterwards became a United States Senator, and commenced the practice of law in a circuit abounding with good lawyers. Although he was only able to make a living, the contact with these men made him a sharp, ready practitioner, and a perfect master of the science of plead- ing under the old Chitty practice. He emigrated to Sparta, Missouri, in 1843 or '44, where he commenced the practice of law, in partnership with William B. Almond. I practiced with him in all the courts of Northwestern Missouri. We were often together and often opposed to each other. I may safely say he was the most unhandy man as an oppo- nent I ever met. His early vocations in life had rendered him perfectly familiar with the prejudices, the habits, and the peculiar tastes of com- mon people, and therefore in selecting and addressing a jury he was a very formidable advocate. He was quick, shrewd, always cool and self- reliant. When the testimony of a witness happened to be the reverse of what he expected, he never showed any mark or trace of his disap-
pointment in his face or manner. He remained in St. Joseph until 1855, moving there, I think, in 1846. He then removed to San Jose, Cali- fornia. He remained in California two years, and, although he succeeded well in his profession, he preferred St. Joseph as a permanent home. After his return, he built a handsome suburban residence in St. Joseph, in which he resided until his death, which occurred in 1876. After a most successful practice in St. Joseph for some years, he was elected a judge of the Supreme Court of the State, which office he held until just before his death. Judge Vories was essentially a lawyer. He had a lawyer's mind. Some members of the profession are good lawyers theo- retically, but never successful practitioners, and others are quite superficial as lawyers, but by tact and energy succeed very well. The world rates them as good lawyers. Judge Vories was good in theory and in prac- tice. He was a thorough lawyer and the most formidable practitioner . I ever met. He knew little of polltics and had but little taste for gen- eral literature.
His convictions, however, were always strong and fearlessly expressed. He was a Democrat of the old school and an unflinching Union man during the whole war. He lived as nearly up to the golden rule as any man I ever knew.
JAMES B. GARDENHIRE.
James B. Gardenhire came to Sparta, Missouri, soon after the county seat was located there, from Tennessee. Commenced the practice of law as a competitor of Almond, Vories and Hall; was very modest and seemed to lack self confidence, and was of a sensitive nature. He impressed me as having acquired a rather superficial knowledge of the law hastily, but had energy and industry, which soon enabled him to overcome these deficiencies of his early education.
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I could form no estimate of his early education. He used good lan- guage-pure English-and seemed to have the ordinary literary acquire- ments of young men of that age. He was graceful in his manners and deportment, which evinced the fact that he had seen good society, but I never heard him speak of his early life, his advantages, or want of educa- tion. He soon became a good lawyer, and was really an orator, although he occasionally failed to come up to what his friends expected. I have heard him make as brilliant speeches as any man I have heard in the Platte country. Very effective in law arguments before courts, and as an advocate very effective before juries. He had considerable taste for politics and once represented Buchanan County in the legislature, and was once a candidate for congress. During his candidacy for congress I heard him make two speeches, remarkable for their brilliancy, and in one of these he drew a parallel between Marshal Ney and Colonel Benton. It was so thrillingly eloquent and pathetic that old men sobbed aloud. He became attorney general of the state, and finally died at the head of some bureau in Washington, under Mr. Lincoln's admin- istration.
Owing to his delicate health, his efforts were not always equal ; indeed, frequently dissimilar. When his physique was all right, his efforts never disappointed his friends. He was as delicately constructed as a sensitive plant, in relation to his honor.
WILLARD P. HALL
was born in Jefferson County, Virginia, at Harper's Ferry, in 18-, and is, therefore, sixty- --- years of age. He was educated partly in Balti- more, and graduated at Yale College. His education, of course, was very thorough and ample, coming from such an institution. The family (his father having died) removed, shortly after he graduated, to Randolph County, Missouri. He studied law, probably with his brother, Judge William Hall, Judge of the Circuit Court in Missouri. He was very industrious and energetic, and devoted his energies, physical and men- tal, to his profession. I am not aware that he ever practiced law before he came to Sparta He was then a very ripe lawyer for his age, and one of the best lawyers I ever met.
System and order and logical arrangement were natural with him. His eyes soon became diseased and annoyed him for some years. This, I always supposed, came from intense over-study, using his eyes too much by lamp or gas light. He succeeded at once. Plain and simple in his manners as a child, naturally frank and easy with everyone, he soon became' a favorite, and from his youthful appearance, even a pet with his older friends. He succeeded, I think, Governor Burnett, as prosecuting attorney, and was a very efficient officer. He prevented
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grand juries from presenting anything that could not be sustained and prosecuted with great energy those he believed to be guilty. He was as an officer very conscientious. In 1844, he was selected by the State Democratic Convention as one of the electors, and I was a candidate for elector on the Whig side. I met him often. He conducted the canvass with marked ability for one so young.
He had the criminal law, and especially the statutes of the state, at his fingers' ends, and could readily refer to them in a moment's time. During this canvass Governor Hall's speeches would greatly astonish those who have only known him in the past twenty years. He then, not without success, essayed the higher realms of oratory ; and, although he occasionally let the eagle loose, he was clear, bright, logical and concise. For the last twenty years his style has been but little more than conver- sational, still marked with even more of its original terseness, vigor and logical conciseness. He never thinks of indulging in pathos, or poetry or mere decoration. He gained a very high rank during the canvass, of which I have spoken, as a public speaker and as a well informed politician. To this, added to his high reputation as a lawyer, he was indebted for his first nomination for Congress, over many older and able politicians of his party. This was in the spring of 1846, and during the canvas Col. Jas. H. Burch (late Judge Burch,) was his opponent as an Independent Dem- ocrat. Governor Hall volunteered as a private in the First Regiment of Missouri Cavalry. This he was induced to do, because he had been a strong advocate of the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican war hav- ing grown out of that annexation, he was taunted as not being willing to incur the consequences which his course and that of his friends had brought on the country.
He went with us as far as Santa Fe, New Mexico, doing duty as a private faithfully. Soon after we arrived in Santa Fe, I received a letter from my father-in-law, Colonel Thornton, giving a sufficient number of the returns to ensure the election of Mr. Hall by a very large majority. I showed that letter to Mr. Hall and to General Harney, and General Harney at once, as a matter of courtesy, and as he should have done, released Governor Hall from all involuntary duty. General Harney, having orders to go to New Mexico with a part of the troops, in the dis- charge of an order he received from Washington, to devise temporary laws for the people of that territory, requested Governor Hall and myself to prepare laws for that territory to conform to the conditions of the territory, and to be in conformity with the civil institutions of our own country. We organized a legislature consisting of Governor Hall and myself, and about six clerks, and the work of legislation was never more `rapidly performed, each of us frequently dictating to two or three clerks at a time. In a few days we were able to present to General Harney a code of laws, which he was kind enough to approve, sign, as military
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Governor, and promulgate for the government of the people. It is aston- ishing, considering the short time we had been there and our limited means of information, that we should have written a code that Congress, after the annexation of the territory, re-enacted, and which after thirty- five years I found still in vogue in 1881. Governor Hall determined not to return to the states until after he had seen more of the west, so that he might be more capable to legislate for its wants.
Colonel Philip St. George Cook, having been left by General Kear- ney, when he started to California, to take command of a battalion of 5co Mormon soldiers and conduct them to California as soon as they arrived and were outfitted, now took up the line of march and Hall accompanied Colonel Cook to the Pacific Ocean, going by the route of the Heyla River. He came back with Kearney the next spring to the states. It is a fact not generally known that the first gold discovered in California was discovered by two of the soldiers under Cook's command at Sutter's Mills. Hall returned and took his seat in Congress in the winter of 1847, and remained there till March, 1853, having been elected three times.
He made a very industrious, efficient and popular representative of his district, and at the end of his third term declined to become a can- didate for re-election. He remained in private life, devoting himself assiduously to the study and practice of his profession, and attained as high a reputation as a lawyer as any man in the state.
In February, 1861, he was elected to the state convention, which convention was called by an act of the general assembly for the pur- pose of ascertaining the position the state should take in reference to the secession of the cotton states. He was elected and took his seat as an avowed Union man, and after Governor Jackson had abandoned the state, that convention proceeded to form a provisional government, and proceeded to elect state officers. Hamilton R. Gamble, of St. Louis, was elected Governor, and Willard P. Hall, Lieutenant Governor. Gov- ernor Gamble died during his term and the office of Governor was filled by Mr. Hall. Times were exceedingly exciting, as the war was still raging in Missouri, as well as elsewhere, and much trouble and anxiety necessarily devolved upon the Governor. It is impossible to give any detail of his acts while Governor, as any one month of which would more than fill this sketch.
His administration was as satisfactory as it could have been to all conservative men. At the expiration of his term of office, he resumed the practice of law in St. Joseph, which he has followed ever since. He has been employed in all the important cases since his return to the practice, and has added greatly to his well earned reputation as a lawyer before the war. He has sought no office or position since. On the con- trary, Governor Hardin told me that he had twice offered him the posi-
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tion of Supreme Judge since the death of Judge Vories, but that Mr. Hall had declined both times.
SOLOMON L. LEONARD
was one of the early immigrants to the Platte country. He had been engaged in teaching school at the time of his coming. He was in mod- erate circumstances, indeed might be termed poor, but he had pluck and perseverance enough for two men, but succeeded rather slowly at the practice of law. He lived on a small farm two miles from Platte City, about twenty acres of which he cleared and cultivated. From these two sources he made barely a comfortable subsistence. In 1843, I think, the state was entitled to 500,000 acres of public land, and Solomon L. Leon- ard was appointed a commissioner to select land for the state. The compensation he received for the same enabled him to purchase the land on which he resided and on which his wife now resides, east of St. Joseph.
In 1844 or 1845, he was appointed judge of that circuit to fill a vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Henderson Young, who had been judge for about one year after General Atchison's resignation. He continued in office until 1852, when he declined being a candidate for re-election. In most respects he was a model judge ; commencing court every morn- ing early, at the very moment to which it was adjourned. Every day he got through the docket of that day, if it could be done by dark.
Lawyers had to work hard, and those who were not fond of hard work found fault. I always found him courteous and respectful to all members of the bar. The hard work imposed on the bar was not the result of any arbitrary feeling on his part, but a determination and an honest purpose to subserve the interest of the public properly. It would be better for the bar and public if more judges would follow the same course.
After he retired from the bench he formed a partnership in the prac- tice of law with General Bela M. Hughes. It was a very able firm, and while it continued it had as much practice as it could attend to. Judge Leonard's wealth gradually increased, and the property he left made all of his family rich. The increase of his property, and the business conse- quent upon it, induced him to abandon the practice almost entirely.
During the first year of the war, in 1861, he went south, whether to carry his negroes south or to engage in the Southern cause, I do not know. He was drowned at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, in Grand River, in that year.
Judge Leonard had as much will-power as any man I ever knew, and a large volume of brain power. He was a man of strong prejudices-his enemies could hardly do right, and his friends could scarcely do wrong. He was aware of these prejudices, and brought his strong will-power to
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HISTORY OF NODAWAY COUNTY.
control them on the bench, which he did successfully. He was devoted to his family, and educated his daughters with a great deal of care, regardless of expense. Rather impatient by nature, yet he was fond of legal and logical discussion, and listened with patience to lawyers of any ability. We were warm personal friends, and I deemed him a just and able judge.
SILAS WOODSON.
My first acquaintance with Silas Woodson was at Plattsburg, in the fall of 1854. I was then attending court, and was employed to assist Hughes and Leonard and General Loan in the defense of William Langs- ton, charged with murder. The case had been pending some time in Buchanan County, and finally had been taken to Clinton County ; but 1 was only employed in the case at the time at which it was tried. Gov- ernor Woodson had recently emigrated from Knox County, Kentucky, to St. Joseph, and some of the citizens of St. Joseph had employed him to assist in the prosecution of Langston. We had been several days engaged in examining the testimony and had closed on both sides. While I was writing some instructions in my room, General Loan and Judge Leonard came in and told me Mr. Woodson complained of being sick, and desired to make the closing argument in the case instead of the opening. I told them that I had an invariable rule that I would not depart from, that the circuit attorney must make the closing argument in every criminal case in which I was engaged. In a few minutes after they left Mr. Woodson came in, and told me he was not well, and being a stranger did not like to address a jury under disadvantageous circum- stances. It was a strong appeal to my courtesy, and I felt somewhat inclined to accede to his request, but I had read the trial of Dr. Baker, who was tried and convicted for murder in Kentucky, and a Mr. Wood- son had been the prosecuting attorney. It occurred to me that he might possibly be the man. I asked him if he had been prosecuting attorney when Dr. Baker was tried. He said he had. I said, "Mr. Woodson, a prosecutor who was able to meet and gain a victory over the most eminent attorneys and advocates in the Union, is able to pros- ecute against such lawyers as Langston has, even though he is sick. I regret that my duty to my client compels me to be apparently discour- teous. You cannot make the closing argument in this case." An hour afterward, the instructions had been given by the court, and Mr. Wood- son commenced his address, which for ability, brilliancy and pathos I have never heard equalled. I regret that I have not language that will convey even the faintest idea of this torrent of eloquent invective.
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