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 37
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In 1860, he was elected judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, in which position he gave universal satisfaction, and at the expiration of
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his term, with a most enviable reputation, again resumed the practice of law.
As a practitioner, he takes rank among the leading lawyers of the state, and his professional associates cheerfully concede his eminent ability in criminal cases. The vital interests of the largest corporations, the equally important rights of the humblest citizen, alike command his services, and whether the fee is a fortune or a farthing, he devotes his best abilities and his constant attention to the success of his client.
In August 1872, quite unexpectedly to himself, he was nominated by the State Democratic Convention as candidate for Governor of Mis- souri, and was elected to that office by a large majority, and served for two years with distinguished ability.
No blemish mars the purity of his private life. He is one of the few men, who, through a long public career, has never once neglected or betrayed any trust reposed in him. His motto is, and his action has always been, to do what right and justice demand, leaving consequences to take care of themselves.
He possesses an earnest nature, great energy and firmness, a clear judgment, with comprehensive and analytical mind, and a heart full of true charity and noble impulses.
GENERAL J. M. BASSETT.
J. M. Bassett was born in New Haven, Connecticut, February 7, 1817. He came with his father, when a small boy, to Ohio, and at the age of ten years, removed to Springfield, Illinois, where he completed his edu- cation. He read law with Governor Cailin, and was admitted to the bar by Judge Stephen A. Douglas. Afterward he opened an office in Quincy, Illinois, and, after several years of successful practice, came to Platts- burg, Clinton County, Missouri, in 1844, where he remained two years. While here he was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and came to St. Joseph shortly after the labors of that convention were closed.
He soon became one of the leading lawyers of the country. He served four years as prosecuting attorney of this judicial district, and was elected mayor of St. Joseph in 1855. At the breaking out of the war he espoused the cause of the Union, and did much to rally the loyal senti- ment of Northwest Missouri. He was captain of a company of militia, and was for two years provost marshal of this district.
General Bassett was a ready and powerful writer ; generous, pleas- ant, social and charitable. He was a fluent speaker and strong in argu- ment, and his success before juries and judges was proverbial.
Keen, cool, shrewd and cautious, his speeches in court often veined with glowing sarcasm, were not only models of terseness and force, but
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revealed a back-ground of study, reflection and special preparation, which stamped him as one of the foremost lawyers of Northwest Mis- souri. He seemed to rise with the occasion when the subject in hand demanded intellect and power. Then it was he would pour forth argu- ment and hurl invective and eloquent appeals to the jury, sweeping every- thing before him.
Whenever he devoted his full powers to a case, no client in the West had a more safe, competent and successful advocate. General Bassett died in 1871.
Among those who attended the first courts in this judicial district at Old Sparta and St. Joseph, was
BENJAMIN F. LOAN.
I first knew the late General Loan in Platte County. He was born in Hardensburg, Breckinridge County, Kentucky, in 1819. He remained in the old home in Kentucky until 1838, when he came to Missouri and settled in Platte County. He commenced reading law in Platte City with Isaac N. Jones, in 1842. After two years spent in close study, he obtained a license and located in Buchanan County. He was an active, industrious, painstaking and conscientious attorney He was a deep thinker and a ripe scholar in legal and political lore, and possessed great personal honor and integrity, and was admired by not only his brother attorneys, but no one spoke of him but to praise.
When the late civil war broke out he took an active part in military affairs, and was appointed brigadier general. In 1862, he was elected to a seat in the Thirty-eighth Congress, and served as a member of the Committees on Pacific Railroads, and Freedmen, and Debts of Loyal States, and other committees. During the Fortieth Congress he was chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions, and on that of Freedmen's affairs. In 1869, he was appointed visitor to West Point. He was the Republican candidate for congress in 1876, and was defeated by Hon. David Rea. These in brief are the salient points of one of the most popular and one of the ablest and best known lawyers in the " Platte Purchase."
General Loan died at his home in St. Joseph on the 30th day of March, 1881, at the age of sixty-two years. The St. Joseph bar held a meeting on the occasion of his death, the proceedings of which we here give :
" The adjourned meeting of the Bar Association of St. Joseph was held in in the circuit court room yesterday afternoon at half-past four. General Craig, as chairman, called the meeting to order, and requested the chairman of the committee appointed to wait upon the family of General Loan to ascertain their desire as to the funeral arrangements, to
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report. Mr. Allen H. Vories then informed the meeting that General Loan's family had expressed their wish that the bar should take charge of the funeral, which was to take place at two o'clock this afternoon. Mr. Vories suggested that the bar should not monopolize the funeral arrange- ments, but should invite a number of citizens to assist in the obsequies.
It was moved and seconded that six members of the bar be appointed pall bearers, with authority to select four citizens to act with them in the same capacity.
Messrs. Vories and Vineyard were appointed by the chair to select the legal pall bearers, and ma le choice of the following gentlemen : Governor Woodson, General Craig, Judge Tutt, Governor Hall, John D. Strong, and A. H. Vories.
The committee on resolutions was then called upon to report, and did so through Mr. Benj. R. Vineyard, as follows :
WHEREAS, We have learned with profound sorrow of the death of our friend and professional brother, Hon. B. F. Loan ; and
WHEREAS, We deem it fitting that the living should suitably com- memorate the virtues of the dead, therefore
Resolved, That we, the members of the bar of St. Joseph, bear wit- ness that through the crucial test of a long and active practice in a pro- fession, which more than any other, tries and makes known to his fellows the real character of a man, Benjamin F. Loan has passed, without an imputation of the slightest neglect of a client's interest or of the courtesies and fair dealings due an opponent ; that his life is a noble illustration of the truth that untiring industry and unswerving honesty are the essential elements of real success in our own no less than in the other vocations of life ; and we direct the attention of every young man who would gain an enviable distinction in the legal profession to the course and career of the deceased as worthy of the highest emulation.
Resolved, That our departed brother was true to the interests com- mitted to him in all the relations of life ; that he was a faithful public servant, a steadfast friend, a devoted husband, an estimable citizen and an honest man.
Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased, we request the judge to adjourn the circuit court of this county, now in session, during the day of the funeral, and that the members of this bar attend the funeral in a body.
Resolved, That the secretary of this meeting furnish a copy of these resolutions to the press of the city for publication ; also a copy thereof to the family of the deceased, and also a copy thereof to Alex. D. Vories, by him to be presented to the judge of the Buchanan Circuit Court, with a request that they may, with other proceedings of this meeting, be spread in full upon the records of said court.
B. R. VINEYARD, JOHN S. CROSBY, W. H. SHERMAN, H. M. RAMEY, JAMES CRAIG, M. R. SINGLETON, WV. P. HALL, Jr.,
Com.
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RESOLUTIONS OF THE MERCHANTS' BANK DIRECTORS.
At a meeting of the directors of the Merchants' Bank, with which General Loan had long been identified, held yesterday, the following resolutions were adopted :
WHEREAS, It has pleased Almighty God, in His divine providence, to remove from our midst our valued friend and associate, the Hon. Ben- jamin F. Loan, therefore be it
Resolved, By the Board of Directors of the Merchants' Bank, that in the death of the Hon. Benjamin F. Loan, this board has lost a mem- ber whose counsels were of the utmost value to the interests of the institution, and that we, individually, have lost a friend and associate whose death is deeply and sincerely deplored ; and be it further
Resolved, That we sympathize most sincerely with the family and relatives of our deceased friend in this hour of their sad bereavement ; and be it further
Resolved, That these resolutions be spread at length upon the . minutes of the board, and that a copy, signed by the president, be sent to the family of our deceased friend.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo., March 31, 1881.
After reading the resolution, Mr. Vineyard said that it seemed strange to him to stand among his professional brethren and miss the form of General Loan. Only two days ago he was engaged in the active duties of his profession, and now he was no longer among us. Not very long ago General Loan had said to him that he would go soon, and go suddenly, and his foreboding had proved true. He had known the deceased since 1866, and had enjoyed his disinterested friendship. Of his military and congressional record he would let others speak, but as a lawyer he had found him frank, upright, and sincere. General Loan never made a promise to a brother lawyer that he did not faithfully keep. His zeal for his clients was unbounded, while he was ever an indefati- gable worker. To pronounce this eulogy was a sad task, not because the subject did not deserve it, but because he was no more.
The chairman here suggested that the youngest member of the bar be selected to present the resolutions to the circuit court. The sugges- tion was adopted.
Mr. R. T. Davis then addressed the meeting and recalled his last conversation with General Loan. It was the opinion of the deceased that young lawyers should stick to their practice and avoid politics. He had such a high appreciation of the bar of St. Joseph that he told the speaker that nothing could induce him to reside away from this city. Free passes to Chicago and New York, a large income and nothing to do, would have no temptation to him, compared with the society of his friends, if he had to give up the latter to enjoy the former.
Mr. Allen Vories next addressed the meeting : General Loan's death had not been altogether unexpected by him, but by that death he
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had lost his most confidential friend, and he could not reconcile himself to his loss. For thirty years a close friendship had existed between him- self and the deceased. If ever there was an honest man General Loan was that min. Ever faithful to his clients, he was the soul of honor in his dealings with all men. Among the members of this bar he had not one enemy. Outside of his professional career he had no enjoyments, and was so attached to the members of the St. Joseph bar that he had determined to spend all his days among them. Of his proficiency as a lawyer it was not necessary to speak. The harder the case the better lawyer General Loan proved himself to be. His courtesy to other attor- neys was remarkable. "By his death," concluded Mr. Vories, "I have lost my best friend.
Mr. Thomas had known General Loan for eleven years, and had fre- quently, as a young man, applied to him for advice, and had always found him gracious and courteous. Whether opposed to him or associated with him, he always exhibited a courtesy which was extended to all the attorneys with whom he came in contact. His loss will be greatly felt. Mr. Thomas endorsed the sentiments of the resolutions.
Mr. H. K. White said that General Loan had attained the high degree of philosophy which enabled him to endure differences of opinion with- out giving up personal regard. In his adherence to the ideas of the past upon legal matters, General Loan had many sharp conflicts with the rising generation, but from these antagonisms an unkind personal feeling had never once been developed.
Mr. John S. Crosby, as a younger member of the bar, paid an earnest tribute to the friendliness toward young members of his profession, which characterized General Loan. He also referred to. the strong domestic affections of the deceased, which he had had occasion to witness. Carry- ing with him a heavy and constant burden of disease and suffering which would have made most men morose, he was always cheerful and good natured.
Mr. P. V. Wise said that he had so long associated with General Loan that he did not consider it inappropriate on his part to make a few remarks. The deceased was a man who took for his motto "deeds not words." He acted justly from a principle of right and not from the hope of future reward. He was satisfied to practice the golden rule. Not- withstanding the industrious habits of the deceased he enjoyed philo- sophical contemplation, and believed that the best of all lives was to so live here that when the great change came there would be nothing to repent of. He fulfilled William Cullen Bryant's noble lines :
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" So live that when thy summons come to join The innumerable caravan which moves To that mysterious realm where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night, Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams "
The chairman then said that he first knew General Loan thirty-five years ago, when he was struggling to earn his first town lot. In those days he had traveled the circuit with him; had observed his course during the war, and known him intimately as a Congressman, and he had always found him honest. During the days of political corruption that followed the war, no man had ever dared to say that General Loan had taken a dollar that was not his own. His home life was full of tender affection, one long honeymoon. It has been said that he was not with- out a presentiment of his approaching end, and on Tuesday called at the bank, and transferred some bonds from his own name to that of his wife. In all the relations of life he (General Craig) had never known a better man than Benjamin F. Loan.
Mr. J. F. Pitt said he was with the deceased in his last labors, and gave some details of his sudden illness.
Mr. Mossman paid a brief tribute to the worth of General Loan, and the meeting adjourned.
HON. BERRYMAN K. DAVIS.
Berryman K. Davis was born in Pettis County, Missouri, in April, 1839. His father removed to this county in 1842, and settled on the White Cloud, near the farm now owned by Isaac Cox. Here Berryman grew to boyhood. The family moved to Nebraska sometime about the year 1852. Young Berryman acquired a good common school educa- tion. During the Pike's Peak gold fever he took a trip to the mountains and mined one summer. He always had a great longing for a collegiate education, and the height of his ambition was to go to college. But cir- cumstances were against him, and his desires were never realized. In 1860, we find him in Maryville attending school. He entered the law office of M. G. Roseberry in 1862, and commenced the study of law. But the country was torn and distracted by civil war, and we imagine it was hard work to study amid the excitement of those times. We think the young student found it so, for we find that in the spring of 1864, he threw down Kent and Blackstone and took up the sword. He was elected Major of the Forty-third Missouri Infantry. His career as a soldier was short, as his regiment was captured by General Price in the summer of 1864, and he was not exchanged in time to again enter into active service.
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He again took up the study of law and commenced to practice his profession in 1866. He immediately took high rank as a lawyer. In 1868, he was elected to the responsible position of prosecuting attorney for the Twelfth Judicial District. This position he held almost four years, and filled it with honor to himself and to the satisfaction of the public.
Major Davis was married to Miss Sarah Broyles, February 16, 1868. His marriage was a fortunate one, and his domestic relations have been of the most happy character. The fruits of this union have been four children, two of whom are dead.
In 1872, Mr. Davis was a presidential elector on the Republican ticket. His name was prominently mentioned in 1876 as a candidate for congress, and it was only withdrawn at his own request. He was then tendered the nomination of state senator from this district, which he accepted. But the accident which proved fatal prevented him from taking any part in the canvass. He died in November, 1876. Had Major Davis lived, there is no doubt but that a most brilliant career was before him. He was a man of fine talents and of strict integrity. His morals were of the purest character, and he delighted in the enjoyments of the home circle. He was a model husband and father. Since the death of his father, in 1875, the family looked to Berryman for guidance. Said one of his weeping sisters : "Berryman never spoke a cross word to one of us." He left one brother and four sisters to mourn his loss. They are : Mr. George Davis, Mrs. H. H. Geiger, Miss Lucinda Davis, of Mary- ville, and Mrs. J. C. Wiswell and Mrs. Burwell Spurlock, of Nebraska. Mrs. Davis is a sister of the wife of Joseph Jackson.
The bar of Nodaway County met at the court house in Maryville, Monday evening, November 20, 1876, to take appropriate action on the death of Major B. K. Davis, one of its most honored members. Hon. M. G. Roseberry was called to the chair. A committee was appointed to draft appropriate resolutions. Hon. Lafe Dawson then pronounced a most touching and beautiful eulogy on the deceased. It will be found below.
The committee on resolutions then reported, and one after another of his brothers at the bar arose and said a few words in commendation of him who had gone. It was a touching and beautiful scene. The feelings of some of the gentlemen who spoke entirely overcame them, and manly tears coursed down their cheeks. Such scenes give one a better idea of human nature, and shows that the world is not as cold and heartless as many would have us believe. Judge Kelley was present and added his testimony to the worth of the departed. The resolutions were then passed and the meeting adjourned.
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MR. DAWSON'S REMARKS. 1
NI .. President and Members of the Bar: The occasion of our meet- ing this evening is one of peculiar sadness. At the last term of this court a voice was heard in this room, which is now hushed in death. We see before us an empty chair, in our midst a vacuum. For ten years and more I have met the deceased at this bar. At each recurring term of this court his stately form has moved among us, and his stentorian voice has been heard within these walls. But, alas, when least expected, when in the prime of his manhood, when his intellectual powers were just maturing, he was overtaken by an accident which has terminated his earthly existence. Having known him so long, so intimately, and so favorably, I cannot, in justice to his memory let this occasion pass without adding my feeble testimonial to his moral worth.
When it became apparent to him in the prosecution of a case that the evidence did not warrant a conviction, he would invariably shrink from the task of urging it. I have often heard him remark that he wanted the loss of no man's liberty or good name chargeable to him. On the other hand, if the evidence showed a case of guilt, that individ- ual right had been ruthlessly violated, that society had been outraged and the laws set at defiance, no one was more energetic in prosecuting the moral and legal delinquent than he. But even then his duties were performed with such a degree of fairness as to command the respect and admiration of his adversaries. After having faithfully performed the duties of his office for nearly four years, he retired to the civil practice in this place, and every member of our bar will bear me witness that in this branch of his profession his conduct has ever been charac- terized by that fairness and candor which entitled him to our lasting respect. It has been said that he was ambitious, but his ambition was always subordinate to those great fundamental maxims of equity which he learned in his first lessons of the law to which he was such an earnest devotee. Who does not admire such ambition ?
Not a great scholar, still he was a man of fair education, a close stu- dent and a most diligent searcher for the right. He was a man of great common sense, possessed of an analytical mind, and anxious always after reading a principle to ponder and philosophize over it, and by bringing his great reasoning powers into requisition, satisfy himself why it should be so. In his intercourse with his fellows he was urbane, courteous and affable, having a kind word for all. In his intercourse with his brothers at the bar and with our courts, he was dignified and candid, but always most pleasant, and would treat the most calamitous defeat in a philo- sophic manner, and take the blame, if blame there was, upon himself, rather than attribute it to others. In his investigation of cases he inva- riably sought for the truth and possessed the moral courage to inform his client of the result of that investigation even though it blasted the hopes of his client. He was an earnest seeker for the truth, and was always anx- ious to know the motives which prompted men to litigation. He practiced law upon the great principle that while lawyers depend in the main upon the contentions and woes of others, still they must maintain their own integrity. And when our deceased brother was overtaken by that terrible accident which resulted in his death, he exhibited the calm, deliberate judgment which characterized his professional career. He cal-
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culated the chances against him, and convinced in his own mind that his end was near, he uttered not a word of complaint. Although his suffer- ing had been intense, his bodily pains of the most excruciating character, still he bore all with a fortitude and heroism which commanded the admiration and enlisted the sympathies of all. When informed of the probable result of the surgical operation, to which he submitted, he resigned all to that Omniscient Being whose power he believed was suffi- cient to save. What an example ! A man who for years had been engaged in the busy strifes incident to his profession, with a bright future before him, surrounded by family and friends, yet when the summons came he yielded without a murmur. Napoleon Bonaparte, when overtaken by the delirium of death on the Isle of St. Helena, was heard to mutter discon- nected words of command and battle which showed that his turbulent spirit was still struggling in imaginary conflicts. But milder spirits gathered around the death- bed of our departed brother. While no doubt his contests at the forum and the victories of his youth crowded upon the mind of their dying votary, still that equilibrium so character- istic of the deceased was undisturbed even in death.
Although Berryman Davis is dead, he still lives ; lives by his exam- ple ; lives in the hearts and affections of those who knew him best ; and our bereavement is only intensified because he was cut down in the vigor of manhood, in the meridian of life, when his mind was undimmed, his intellect unclouded, and his usefulness unimpaired.
JOHN EDWARDS, ESQ.
The subject of this sketch traces his ancestry, on his mother's side, as far back as 1682, at which date one Dennis Kunder arrived from Ger- many with the first company of religious settlers who fixed their residence at Germantown, now the city of Philadelphia. At his stone mansion in Germantown, being probably the largest at the time, the Society of Friends, of which, however, he was not a member, held their first meet- ing during the year of his arrival. His friendly disposition toward the Quakers, or Friends, is mentioned in Ploud's History of Pennsylvania. He was a large contributor to the fund for the erection of the first Friends' meeting house erected in Germantown. The lot upon which stood his stone house is now the property of Jacob Burns. Part of the walls of the large, fine two-story house now on the premises, was the original exterior wall of the stone house of Dennis Kunder. The name Kunder was anglicized to Cunrad, then to Conrad, and lastly to Conard. Mr. Edwards' great great grandfather on the maternal side, was named Cornelius Conard. He was a direct descendant of Dennis Kunder. His son, Everard Conard, settled near Doylestown, in Berks County, Penn- sylvania. Cornelius Conard, a son of Everard Conard, married Susanna Chalfont, in the year 1790. They lived in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Their daughter, Elizabeth Conard, the mother of Mr. Edwards, was born in the year 1802, and is still living. She was married to Robert Edwards iu 1827. Mr. John Edwards was the fourth child of this marriage, and
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