USA > Missouri > The history of the bench and bar of Missouri : With reminiscences of the prominent lawyers of the past, and a record of the law's leaders of the present > Part 17
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with the Republican party, and was regarded one of the leading Unionists of St. Louis. He was a man of great industry, a fine lawyer, genial and kind in his disposition and much beloved by his friends. He died in 1883.
Samuel Reber was born in Ohio in 1813 and removed to St. Louis in 1842. In 1856 he was made Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and afterwards became Judge of the Cir- cuit Court. In 1867 he resigned and engaged in the practice. At one time he was City Counselor. Judge Reber was a man of high legal attainments, reserved and dignified in manner and one in whom the people had great confidence on account of his sterling qual- ities. He died in Cincinnati in 1879.
Francis P. Blair, Jr., was born in Kentucky in 1821 and was adınitted to the bar in his native town of Lexington. Soon afterwards removed to St. Louis and entered into a part- nership with his brother-in-law, Montgomery Blair. He was a volunteer in the Mexican war and returned to St. Louis, where he was elected to the Legislature, where he served several terins and afterwards was elected as a member of the XXXVth and XXXVIIth Congress. His life was rather that of a statesman than that of a lawyer, although he was well grounded in the principles of law. He took a very active part in the stirring times of 1861 and was associated with General Nathaniel Lyon in the capture of Camp Jackson, and inany other measures taken by Union men to retain the State of Missouri in the Union. General Blair was prominent in the army, attaining the position of Major General, serving under General Grant and General Sherman. In 1868 he was nominated for Vice- President on the ticket headed by Horatio Seymour. In 1871 he was elected to the State Legislature. As a member of that Legislature the writer became well acquainted with General Blair and formned a very high personal regard for him. He was positive in his con- victions, genial and pleasant and kindly in his association with. his fellow inan. He had an analytical mind and was a positive and convincing speaker. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1871 to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Charles D. Drake. In 1860 I remember attending a meeting at Hannibal which was addressed by Frank P. Blair and Samuel T. Glover in behalf of the election of Mr. Lincoln. The hoodlum element tried to break up the meeting and the speakers were rotten egged. I remember the cool- ness and nonchalance and bravery of these two gentlemen greatly impressed mne at the time. At the interposition of some of the best citizens the mob was quieted and the speak- ers were permitted to finish their addresses. The whole career of General Blair was that of a brave, noble, conscientious man. He was a whole-souled, generous man, utterly unselfish and of strict uprightness and integrity. He died in St. Louis, July 11, 1875. His statue, as one of Missouri's great men, stands in the Capitol at Washington.
Charles B. Lord was born in Maine in 1810; received an academic education in New York; was admitted to the bar in 1835; practiced in Buffalo until he came to St. Louis in 1843. He succeeded the Hon. Edward Bates as Judge of the St. Louis Land Court. He was a successful lawyer and thoroughly acquainted with the law pertaining to real estate and industrious and painstaking in his profession. He died in St. Louis in November, 1868.
William M. Campbell was born in Lexington, Va., June 19, 1805. Graduated at Wash- ington and Lee University and in 1829 came to Missouri, and settled in St. Charles. Was elected a member of the State Legislature and State Senate and removed to St. Louis in 1844, where he took charge of the editorial department of the New Era, a Whig paper. Was sent to the State Senate from St. Louis and also to the State Constitutional Convention
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held in Jefferson City in 1845. He was a man of great personal popularity, a bold, ag- gressive speaker and a man of unusual evenness of temper and was very effective before a jury. He was exceedingly charitable to the poor and needy. He died December 30, 1849. Alexander J. P. Garesche, for a long while a familiar and conspicuous member of the bar of St. Louis, was born in Cuba in 1823. He studied law in the office of Col. Gantt and was admitted in 1845. In 1846 he was appointed City Attorney of St. Louis. While a public-spirited man, he devoted little time to politics and did not seek official positions. He was a man of positive convictions and of strict integrity and uprightness and a forceful speaker. He was quite prominent in the cases growing out of the requirement of the test oath by tlie Constitution of 1865, and was largely instrumental in having those provisions of the Constitution overthrown in the Supreme Court of the United States. He died in St. Louis in 1896.
Chester Harding was born in Massachusetts in 1826. Studied at Harvard and came to St. Louis in the early part of 1847; returned to the law school at Harvard and graduated in 1850 and became the partner of John M. Krum in 1852. In 1861 he entered the army as Colonel and was assigned to the staff of General Lyon. He served in the war with dis- tinction and after the war resumed his practice in St. Louis. He was a man of upright- ness, integrity and great strength of character, and his discussions of legal questions were clear and logical. In the language of the resolutions of the bar at the time of his death, he was a man of "distinguished purity, candor and justice in all his private relations, and for the honest, persevering and intelligent discharge of his public duties and engagements." He died in 1875.
Samuel H. Gardner was born in western New York in 1824 and moved to St. Louis in 1847. In 1856 he was elected as a representative to the State Legislature; in 1862 was appointed by Mr. Lincoln Collector of Internal Revenue for the St. Louis District. He was a man of good judgment and practical common sense and stood well with his brethren of the profession. He died December 24, 1864.
Samuel T. Glover was born in Kentucky in 1813. His father served in the War of 1812 under General Harrison. Samuel T. Glover removed to Knox County in 1835. In 1837 he began the practice of law at Palinyra, Marion County, Missouri, and practiced in that and neighboring counties until 1849, when lie removed to St. Louis and formed a partnership with John I. Campbell, and afterwards with John C. Richardson, which part- nership continued until 1857, when Mr. Richardson became a Justice of the Supreme Court of this State. Shortly afterwards Mr. Glover formed a partnership with John R. Shepley, which continued up to the time of liis death. Mr. Glover was thoroughly acquainted with all branches of the law: criminal law, real property, commercial law and constitutional law were all thoroughly understood by him. For many years lie stood at the head of the St. Louis Bar. His industry was very great, and the careful preparation which he bestowed on liis cases, together with his quick perception and resourceful intellect and great learning would have won for him a commanding position at any bar. I was associated with him in perhaps the last case that he tried in the Supreme Court of the United States. Although he had thoroughly prepared himself in the case long before he left St. Louis, lie devoted ahnost the entire time on the train to further preparation, taking notes from the record and his brief for his argument. Arriving at Washington the day before the case was set for hearing we occupied adjoining rooms and Mr. Glover sat up till 11 o'clock in further prep- aration. I persuaded him to retire. Long before day the next morning he arose, and
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when I awoke he was seated in a room without fire, and it was quite cold, wrapped in a large shawl which he carried, working away at his case. The result was manifest. When the case was called for he made one of the most powerful arguments I ever heard and easily won victory. Although he was frequently brusque and positive in his manner, no man was more kind of heart or more self-denying than Mr. Glover. He was deeply attached to his friends and would go any length to serve them. In argument he was clear, concise and convincing, and at times thrillingly eloquent. He was the soul of honor and integrity and scorned sham, and despised mean acts. During the war he was the most intense Unionist, was one of Mr. Lincoln's trusted advisers and took an active part in all measures for the perpetuation of the Union. After the adoption of the Constitution of this State, in 1865, which required test oaths of loyalty from ministers, teachers, lawyers and others, although he could easily have taken the oath, he gave notice to the Grand Jury of his intentional violation of the provision of the Constitution requiring these oaths, as he deemed it contrary to the Constitution of the United States. He was indicted for practicing law without taking the oath, demurred to the indictment, carried the case to the Supreme Court of the United States and won a triumphant victory. Mr. Glover devoted his time entirely to the practice of law, never having been a candidate for an office but once, when he aspired to the United States Senate, but was beaten in the Democratic Caucus for the nom- ination by General Blair. He was a man of unusual literary attainments and of great courtesy to his professional brethren, especially to the younger members of the bar. There are few members of this bar who were beginning to practice during Mr. Glover's time who do not remember with pleasure his kindly intercourse with them. He died Jan- uary 22, 1884, in St. Louis. In the memorial adopted at a largely attended bar meeting was the following: "The bar of Missouri is unanimous in believing that in the death of Mr. Glover it has lost a man not only endowed with genius, but genius combined with that conscientious application, that unsparing industry which would have insured even to ordinary abilities a most respectable rank in any profession; whose learning was profound and accurate; whose grasp of legal principles was sure; whose moral integrity was of the loftiest and most unbending nature; whose courage, moral and physical, was dauntless; and whose kindness and courtesy seldom failed to add affection and love to the admiration which his abilities inspired."
B. Gratz Brown was born in Kentucky in 1826; received a classical education, grad- uating at Yale in 1847 and at the Louisville Law School in 1848, and emigrated to St. Louis in 1849, where he entered into the practice of law and became an advocate of Ben- ton's Free Soil party. In 1852 he was elected to the Missouri Legislature and in 1854 became the editor of the Missouri Democrat. He was re-elected to the Legislature in 1856. In 1861, when the war broke out, he championed the Union cause and was among the first to organize a regiment. In 1863-4 he and the Hon. John B. Henderson were elected to the Senate. He declined re-election to the Senate. Mr. Brown was one of the leaders of the Liberal Republican party and was nominated for Governor by the bolting Republican Convention in 1870 and elected over McClurg, the Radical Republican candidate. In 1872 he was nominated by the Liberal Republican party for Vice-President on the ticket headed by Horace Greeley for President. Governor Brown possessed a logical mind and an unusual accuracy of diction. He was a clear, analytical writer, and being perfectly fearless, was a natural leader of men. His executive ability was great. He was not an eloquent speaker in the ordinary acceptation of the term, but extremely strong in debate. He was a man of
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great dignity, strict integrity, practical sense and high culture. The writer became acquainted with him in 1871, when he was inaugurated Governor. He was uniformly courteous and polite, yet very positive in the expression of his opinions. The acquain- tance then begun continued in St. Louis until Governor Brown's death. He was universally beloved by all who knew him and died in St. Louis December 13, 1885.
Samuel Miller Breckenridge was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1828. His father was the Rev. John Breckenridge, D. D., one of the most prominent ministers of the Presbyterian church. His grandfather, the Hon. John Breckenridge, was one of the first Representatives of Kentucky to the United States Senate and was Attorney General under President Jeffer- son. Samuel M. Breckenridge was educated at Central College, Kentucky, and Princeton, N. J. He studied law at Transylvania University, in Kentucky, and was admitted to the bar at the age of eighteen. He practiced at Lexington, Ky., for two years and came to St. Louis in 1850. In 1854 he was elected to the State Legislature of Missouri. In 1859 was elected Judge of the Circuit Court of St. Louis. Was a member of the State Conven- tion of Missouri which sat in 1861 to 1863. In 1866 he was appointed Surveyor of Cus- toms at St. Louis and served for three years. After that he devoted his time entirely to his profession, and became the counsel for a number of leading corporations. Judge Breck- enridge was a man of unusually high sense of honor and of uniforin courtesy and polite- ness, springing from his genuine kindness of heart. He was the inost . generous and unselfish man I ever knew. His devotion to his friends was proverbial. He was a sound lawyer, and a man of quick perceptions and great common sense. He was exceedingly eloquent, and his speech and conversation sparkled with wit and humor. His great cour- tesy and admirable tact drew to him his professional brethren and a host of those outside with whom he associated. Perhaps no man at the St. Louis bar had inore warin, devoted friends than Samuel M. Breckenridge. He was an earnest Christian and was an elder of the Second Presbyterian Church from 1871 to the time of his death. He died on May 28, 1891, in his sixty-third year. He had been elected a Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church and was a member of its Committee on Theological Seminaries. He was called upon to explain the legal phases of the question in hand, which then excited universal interest, and finished his remarks with these words: "I have endeavored to do my duty in this matter faithfully, and I hope I may be excused from further speech," and then fell dead. At the largely attended bar ineeting, one who knew him well said, "He was a man of princely manners, a Christian gentleman and a lawyer of acknowledged ability and a loyal, true, and public-spirited citizen."
John C. Richardson was born in Kentucky in 1817 and educated at Transylvania Uni versity. He came to Missouri in 1840 and settled in Booneville. In 1850 he moved to St. Lonis. Afterwards became a partner of Samuel T. Glover, which firm did a large business and enjoyed the highest reputation. In 1853 he was City Counselor of St. Louis. In 1857 was elected to the Supreme Court but resigned in 1859 and returned to St. Louis and again entered into partnership with Mr. Glover. He was an argumentative and impressive speaker with a clear cut, analytical mind. He was a man of a high sense of honor, gentleness and geniality and was much beloved by all who knew him. He died in September, 1860.
James R. Lackland was born in 1820 in Maryland; came with his family to Missouri in 1828. He studied law with the Hon. Charles D. Drake and was admitted to the bar in 1846. He was elected Circuit Attorney and was a very successful prosecutor. His prose- cution of the Montesquieu case and of other prominent criminal cases gave him a wide
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reputation as a lawyer. He was elected Judge of the Criminal Court and afterwards of the Circuit Court, which he held till 1859. He added greatly to his reputation in the defense of the celebrated case of Effie Carstang against Henry Shaw, in which, with his co-counsel, he obtained a verdict for defendant where a previous jury trial had awarded her $100,000 for breach of promise of marriage. Judge Lackland was a strong, logical speaker and thoroughly acquainted with men and was a terror to witnesses on cross-examination. He was a man of strict integrity and high sense of honor. His health was not good for some time previous to his death and he died October 9, 1875. The writer remembers him as a member of the firm of Lackland, Martin & Lackland and once heard him try a case in the Circuit Court and was impressed with his power, both in cross-examination of witnesses and the address to the jury, although he seemed weak and moved slowly as if in pain. He was regarded by his brethren of the profession as a sound lawyer and a strong advocate.
Fidelio C. Sharp was born in Kentucky in 1821; came to Missouri in 1843 and located at Lexington and in 1857 removed to St. Louis. He formed a partnership with the Hon. James O. Broadhead and the firm of Sharp & Broadhead for many years took front rank at the bar. He was a man of great legal ability and integrity and was pre-eminently a busi- ness man. In the trial of his cases lie showed thorough preparation and acquaintance with the law involved and was always alert, resourceful and powerful in the presentation of his case either to court or jury. He died in 1875.
N. C. Claiborne was born in Virginia in 1822. He came West and engaged in business, but returned to Virginia in 1845 and took an active part in politics; in 1847 was elected to the Legislature of Virginia by the Democrats and re-elected for four years. In 1850 he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of Virginia; in 1850 was elected Prose- cuting Attorney of Franklin County, Virginia. In 1847 he removed to Missouri and settled in Kansas City and in 1860 was elected to the Missouri Legislature from Jackson County. He moved to St. Louis in 1861. In 1870 he was elected to the Legislature from St. Louis. It was during the session of this Legislature that the writer became very well acquainted with Colonel Claiborne and formed a high opinion of him. He was courteous and polite and a fluent, pleasing speaker and very popular with the members. He was quite successful as a practitioner in St. Louis, devoting most of his time to the criminal practice.
William B. Napton was born in New Jersey in 1808; graduated at Princeton in 1826. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in Virginia in 1832. He removed first to Colum- bia, Mo., and then to Fayette, where he engaged in editorial work. In 1836 was appointed Attorney General, and in 1838 was appointed as Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri, which he held till 1851. He was again elected to the Supreme Bench in 1857 and served till 1861. In 1863 he removed to St. Louis and engaged in the practice and was very suc- cessful as a counselor. In 1873 he was again appointed to the Supreme Bench, re-elected in 1874 and served till 1881. Judge Napton was a man of great ability and his opinions on the bench stamp him as thoroughly acquainted with legal principles. His opinions were forcible and discriminating and impartial, and he is remembered by all who knew him as one of our best Judges. He died in Saline County in 1883.
Ephraim B. Ewing was born in Kentucky May, 1819. Received a thorough classical education; removed to Missouri-and was admitted to the bar in 1842. Was elected At- torney General in 1856. Resigned in 1859 and was elected Judge of the Supreme Court. In 1864 he removed to St. Louis, where he practiced until he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court in 1869. Resigned in 1872 and was again elected to the Supreme Bench. He
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was a thoroughly educated lawyer with a good legal mind and unexceptionable habits. He was not an eloquent man, but his arguments were forceful and direct. He was dignified and reserved in his association with his fellow inan, but all had confidence in his integrity and honesty. He died in June, 1873.
James J. Lindley was born in Ohio in 1822; read law at Palinyra, Mo., with Anderson & Dryden and admitted to the bar in 1845. Removed to Monticello, Lewis County, Mo. In 1848 was elected Circuit Attorney. Was twice elected to Congress in 1853 and 1855. In 1857 removed to Iowa and formed a partnership with John P. Cook and Judge John F. Dillon. In 1863 hie removed to Chicago, and in 1864 settled in St. Louis. Formed a partnership with Judge John D. S. Dryden and in 1871 was elected Judge of the Circuit Court, where he served for twelve years. Judge Lindley was a mnost companionable man, full of wit and humor, and of industry. At both the bar and on the bench he won the confidence and admiration of the profession and of the public. He was an eloquent talker and very successful in the trial of cases. He dicd in 1889.
John D. S. Dryden was born in Virginia in 1814. With his father he emigrated to Montgomery County, Mo., acquired an English education in Boone County and studied law with Judge Mathias McGirk and established himself in the practice at Palmyra, where he became associated with Colonel Thomas L. Anderson, and afterwards with Colonel Lips- conib. In1 1862 Judge Dryden was appointed by Governor Gamble one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of this State, and in 1863 he was elected to the same position. An ordinance of the Constitutional Convention of 1865 vacated all of the offices in the judicial department of the State government, and among them Judge Dryden. He then reinoved to St. Louis and for several years was associated with Judge Lindley, and afterwards with his son, John W. Dryden. He was a lawyer of very high attainments. While at the Palmnyra bar he was thrown in contact in the trial of cases with such inen as Uriel Wright, Samuel T. Glover, James L. Green and Thomas L. Anderson, and others of great ability, and he held his own among them as a lawyer. He was not an eloquent man, but his industry and careful, candid statements of his cases rendered him very successful before both court and jury. He was a inan of dignified and courtly manners and of uniform kindness to his professional brethren. His opinions as Judge of the Supreme Court were terse, conscientiously and carefully written and reflected great credit on him as a lawyer. He was an earnest Christian and an upright and honorable inan. He died in 1887.
A. W. Slayback was born in 1838 in Marion County, Mo. Was educated at the Masonic College at Lexington, Mo. Was admitted to the bar in 1857. Practiced law for a while in St. Joseph. Entered the Confederate Army in 1861 and served during the war and attained the rank of Colonel. After the war he went to the City of Mexico with General Shelby and returned to the United States in 1866 and opened a law office in St. Louis, where lie fornied a copartnership with R. H. Spencer and afterwards with H. A. Haenssler. He devoted his entire time to his practice and was emphatically a self-made inan. His great forte was in the trial of jury cases. A contemporary said of him that " The style of his eloquence is peculiar and strikingly characteristic. With earnest force and persuasion he speaks to the heart and feclings as well as to the sober reason of his hcarers. Enkindling with his sub- ject lic becomes animated and rapid. His illustrations are most felicitous and his logic thus embellished rarely fails to please and convince." Knowing Colonel Slayback inti- miately frou1 1873 to the time of his death, I was often impressed at the quickness of his perceptions and the soundness of his legal knowledge. His speeches were frequently replete
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with wit and ridicule, and on one occasion in which we were engaged on opposite sides of a case in the Supreme Court of the United States, Mr. Slayback convulsed the Court with his ludicrous descriptions of my client. Frequently one or two of the Justices of the Supreme Court may laugh at a witty joke or quick repartee, but it is seldom that the whole Court forgets its dignity; but Slayback on this occasion upset the gravity of the whole Court. It must have been quite effective, for we lost the case. He was a very kind-hearted, generous man as well as courageous and brave. I have seen him weep at the pathetic song of a little girl, and launch a most terrific invective against a witness or a party who he thought was defrauding or injuring his client. His success before juries was phenomenal and grew out of his emotional nature and his earnestness and thorough knowledge of men. He was killed October 13, 1882, by John A. Cockerill, editor of the Post-Dispatch, in a controversy which grew out of the publication of a libelous newspaper article. His great popularity and sensational death caused an out-pouring of the people to attend his funeral such as was seldom seen in St. Louis.
Edward A. Lewis was born in 1820 in Washington, D. C. He came to Missouri in 1845 and began the practice in Richmond, Mo. He devoted several years of his life to the newspaper business, but returned to the practice in 1853. In 1856 he removed to St. Charles. In 1874 he was appointed to fill the unexpired terin of Judge Wash Adams on the Supreme Court. He was first appointed Judge of the St. Louis Court of Appeals in 1875, and was afterwards elected to the same office. Judge Lewis was a inan of upright character, retiring in disposition, positive in his convictions and of a generous and sym- pathetic nature, and at the bar and on the bench won the universal and well merited respect of the profession. He died in St. Louis in 1889.
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