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 25
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The wife of Mr. Drain came from Nodaway County, being a native of Maryville, and their marriage was consummated February 17, 1892. She is the daughter of George W. Turner, one of the most prominent merchants of Maryville, and before her wedding she was one of the popular young ladies of that section. One child is the result of this union, a boy, Benjamin Stanford Drain, who is a little more than one year old.
NAT CRAIG DRYDEN,
By A. J. D. STEW ART.
F there be one in the history of this commonwealth who deserves the glorifying title of I genius, and who should thereby merit a deeply graven epitaph on Time's monument, that meed of fame and of remembrance is surely the due of Nat C. Dryden; for he was one of those rare ones who "stood upon the heights," and was gifted with that clarity of vision to see and know things that are of other men unseen. He was one who received a spark of that Promethean fire, the divine gift that made him akin to gods. That the heavenly flame was frequently obscured by faults and frailties is true; that it was so, but served to show his humanity. The light brought from the gods to earth must, perforce, be set in a lamp of clay, and the coarseness of the vessel and its faults must of a verity be the more strikingly exposed by the vivid white light that burns above it. Dryden was indeed a wonderful man- how wonderful few understood. More might have known of his remarkable gifts had Ambition spurred him, but that may have made him less forgetful of self, and inight have hardened into inharmonious rigidity those finer chords of his being so responsive to the better and the higher things of life.
Though scarcely forty-seven when he died at St. John's Hospital, St. Louis, on the afternoon of August 26, 1896, he had won, seemingly with little striving on his part, a place among the two or three really great criminal lawyers of the State. He was without a peer in the conduct of a case, and he moved court and jury at will by his splendid eloquence. During the last few years of his life he was engaged in a number of celebrated cases, which gave full play to his genius and which served to add largely to a general knowledge of his great powers. One of these was the Vail case and another that of Duestrow. He also defended the son of Judge Wear for murder, and Dr. Hearne on the same charge at Bowling Green, his plea in the latter surprising even his friends who knew lıim best.
The salient points of his career may be summarized as follows: Born at Paliuyra, Missouri, in 1849, he was the son of Judge J. D. S. Dryden, Judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri and an able man. He came to St. Louis in 1865, graduated from the High School a year later, graduated from Washington University in 1870, standing first in a large class. Prior to this he had studied law in his father's office and was admitted in 1869. He took a course at Amlierst and returning to Missouri began practice. Mr. Dryden was a citizen of Missouri. Any oue of three or four addresses were liis, and he once jokingly said that he frequently lived in three or four places at once, when lie was not living in the country and staying in St. Louis. Almost anywhere in the eastern part of the State lie was at home, knew everybody aud everybody welcomed him.
Early in his career he married Nannie C. Pulliaui, of Warren County, and for a time he made his home at Warrenton. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney and earned the
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distinction of convicting the first white man ever punished for killing a negro in Mis- souri. About 1874 he moved to the adjoining county of Lincoln, was twice elected Prose- cuting Attorney there and refused a third term. In 1880 he began to be known in the larger field of State politics, being in that year a delegate to the National Convention which nominated Hancock for President. In 1884 he was one of the State's Presidential Electors; four years later he received a signal honor at the hands of his party, being made one of the four State delegates at large to the National Convention. At that Convention, which named Cleveland and Thurman as the bearers of Democracy's standard, Mr. Dryden was chosen to place the "Old Roman" in nomination, and did it with an eloquence long remembered by the thousands present. In the campaign of 1892 he did not take an active part, but in that of 1896 he was talked of for Congressman and his eloquence and ability would, beyond doubt, have had a strong bearing on that heated contest, but for his untimely death, which occurred at the beginning of the campaign.
Mr. Dryden's first wife strongly influenced his life. He loved her with a passion of which only a strong nature like his was capable, and he never ceased to grieve over hier death. She left him four daughters, who are now beautiful and accomplished young ladies. In 1895 Mr. Dryden married Alma Henning, whom he first met as a client, and who sur- vives him.
The dry details of his career are matters of comparatively small consequence; the man himself, his peculiarities, his characteristics, his strength and his weaknesses, comprise the subject of supreme interest; and his individuality becomes more interesting when it is understood that much of himself, the higher and stronger attributes of his nature, never found expression in fullest measure in the acts and events of his career. That any reference should be made to his faults and weaknesses, may be deemed ill-advised by some, but this purports to be a true estimate of himself as the writer saw him, and without these defects of character he would not be Nat C. Dryden, and we should have loved him less. Of a highly attuned nervous organization, of sunny and genial temperament, a lover of the softer and more luxurious things of life, with social instincts highly developed, it is not strange that his peculiar nature should have led him to excesses of conviviality. But he transgressed only against himself, and even in his sinning there was no trace of the coarse and brutal. Such errors on his part doubtless lessened his value to his fellow-man, but the heroic struggles he made against his unfortunate habits, broadened and developed him; he suffered, and without pain no life may reach its completeness. Such battles as he fought to achieve mastery over self were such as men of smaller and restricted range of feeling, emotion and capacity can not understand. Nor was it a warfare without victories, and when he was triumphant the world was given a glimpse of his superb powers.
One of his characteristics was his extreme earnestness when conducting a case. Such was the depth of his feeling and sympathy, that the accused's own mother could not have been more sensitive to his client's danger than was the attorney. Merry and light-spirited at most other times, while defending a man for his life, a half glance would reveal his sol- emn earnestness. He seldom gave play even to his scintillant wit on such occasions, for he charged himself with the solemn obligation of saving a human life, and with one or two exceptions, he always did it. He was not a successful prosecutor, for his sympathies were too tender, and thus it was, in later years, that he seldom appeared elsewhere than on the side of the defense. He really convinced himself of his client's innocence, for trouble or sorrow never failed to touch his heart, and the heart thus convinced, led the inind.
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His appearance alone would impress any audience. Of strong and heavy build, of great and leonine head, a resemblance increased by the thick curling locks like the mane of the "king of the desert," he was calculated to impress men no less than the lion impresses the balance of the brute kingdom. His strong features and his magnificent voice, which from a veritable roar of denunciation could traverse the phonal scale to words of wistful pleading, "soft as the lute-note of Andalusian lover," further deepened the likeness. When he arose to address a jury, it needed no telling to convince it of the fact that here at least was one man who believed absolutely in the innocence of the accused. They saw it. When he had made his magnificent plea, deftly touching every chord of the human heart and brain, appealing, by turns, to the common sense, the justice, humanity, generos- ity, sympathy, feeling and vanity of the men before him, they also felt it, and it was sel- dom that his intense earnestness and eloquence did not win them, whether it were possible to convince them or not.
The nature of Nat C. Dryden was dual. The "eternal feminine" was a marked element of his nature, as it has been the balancing factor in all the men who have been given to see and to know that which to the multitude is dark, in all the ages that have passed. In his physical being he was every inch the man, of manly build and voice and manner, strong, vigorous and with a personal courage that feared nothing, he yet had the heart and many of the instincts of the woman. Of powerful intellectual grasp and a con- vincing reasoner, yet his feelings and sympathies largely governed his life. He knew the defects of humanity and was in fact a man of the world, but his credulity was altogether feminine. He was loth to believe ill of anyone, and a thousand years of contact with the world could have made him neither skeptic or cynic. His faith in most things was that of a child, and the experiences of the inan never seemed to cause its freshness to fade. The music, lights and ceremonial of the Catholic faith appealed to his senses and he became a communicant of that faith, for though a inan of superb mind he was swayed by the senses. Here again is to be noted the triumph of the feminine part of himself, for he was reared in a creed more cold and rigid.
He had the rarest possible vein of humor, and was inost sensitive to the absurd and ridiculous in life. When he presided over the "Third House" at Jefferson City, its pro- cecdings almost eclipsed the transactions of both the other staid and sober bodies. He could relate stories hour after hour, in a way that was inimitable, and he always joined in the langh, but the langhter was 110 unseemly applause of his own inerits as a raconteur, but was excited solely by the humor of the situation lie related. His humor was essentially masculine, but he could shed tears like a woman over the death of a friend. His splendid fidelity and friendship were truly Pythian and virilc, but the disposition to act by instinct sprung from the other side of his nature. Like all beings of highly developed and finely attuned nervous organizations, his range of feeling was great. He could enjoy fully and suffer intensely. His spirits often fell from the highest level of happiness to a profound depth of melancholy. Such a nature as this, either in its higher degrec of elation or its 1110111ents of great disgust with all things, is peculiarly subject to temptations. Who is he, then, who condemns for such errors, but understands not?
Mr. Dryden's nature was inherently chivalrous; he was reckless of all consequences at times and would have been the most admirable of that band of knights who sat at Artlınr's "Round Table" had he lived in that day. He was a lover of sunshine, softness, light, luxury, and all the good things of life. He was essentially a poet, and the finer and softer
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elements of existence appealed to hin1. He was a lover of all the writers of verse, and his remarkably retentive memory enabled him to repeat, when he chose, hundreds of lines from their works. The best trait of his character was his broad and all-inclusive unselfishness. Though he was sensible of his own powers, he was not an egotist. Had he been possessed of greater self-love he might have achieved a wider fame. There was not a sordid streak in his soul. He was generous to a fault, and would divide his money with any who appealed to him in distress, though he may have suspected the unworthiness of the applicant.
It is not possible in this space to give other than an imperfect sketch of this splendid character. It may appear eulogistic in places, but account of his shortcomings has been taken, and in his stronger and better self, if any inan was deserving of admiration and praise that man was Nat C. Dryden. When his death was announced the sorrow of thous- ands in St. Louis was poignant and sincere. It is doubtful whether the death of any other person in that city could have so shocked men, who had no other interest in him except that they loved himn. In some quarters where the possession of money is the supreme test of success, his life may have been considered a failure, for he was an idealist and a dreamer, and believed there were things in life worthy and admirable outside of cold cash. He made much money, but he could not keep it, and while his life may have fallen short of success in the ability to accumulate worldly goods, to have been Nat C. Dryden and to have lived the forty-seven years of his life, were worth more to the world and to self, than a thousand years of narrow, sordid existence with ignoble coin as its sole desire.
DAVID HENRY EBY,
HANNIBAL.
NE whose reputation as an accomplished lawyer has been earned and is fully merited, is David Henry Eby, of Hannibal, who is a native of the city in which his life work has been laid. Born on the last day of the year 1852, on a farm which was then in the suburbs of Hannibal, but is now a part of the city itself, he has seen the place of his nativity develop from a little river village to one of the most important second-class cities of the State, and has grown and expanded with it.
Mr. Eby's ancestors came from points farther north than did those of most of the peo- ple who inhabit that part of the State, as through the paternal branch of his house he can trace his origin back to New York and through New York, more remotely, to Canada. Joseph Eby, the grandfather of David H., was of French-German blood. From the Dominon he went to New York State and married a Miss Hershey, a native of Pennsylvania, who bore him ten children. One of his sons, David S., the father of our subject, was born near Westfield, New York, and as a boy came West with his father, when he with his family left New York to settle near Rock Island, Illinois.
David S. Eby, the father, left home before he had attained his majority, to enter a store in St. Louis. From that city he went to Hannibal some time between 1840-4, where in course of time he became one of the leading business inen of that city, engaging at dif- ferent times in the mercantile, real estate and insurance business. At Hannibal, in 1844, he married Mary C. Williams, a native of Virginia, who died in 1858, having borne her husband seven children. Of these but two now survive: Mary V., the wife of Warren E. Payne, and the subject of this memoir. About 1870 the elder Eby moved to a farm in
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Ralls County and later, after a short residence in Colorado and again in Hannibal, removed to St. Joseph, where he died in 1891, being at that time engaged in the real estate and insurance business.
David H. Eby was given a good education, the foundation of which was laid in the public schools of Hannibal. He next entered Central College at Fayette, Missouri, where he completed his course and received his degree as Bachelor of Science, as a member of the class of 1872. After communing earnestly with himself and asking the advice of his father and friends, he decided to adopt the profession to which he has since been an ornament. Being scarcely ready to enter on the work of preparation when he completed his literary education, lie accepted a position which was offered him as assistant teacher in the Plattsburg High School. A year later he entered the law department of the State University at Columbia, and owing to the fact that he had prosecuted his studies in law at odd times for two or three years, he was enabled to complete both the junior and senior courses in one year and graduate with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1874. He returned to his native town and was admitted to the bar by Judge John T. Redd, and in 1874 opened an office for practice. Compelled to suffer the trial of patience that is peculiar to the beginning of most young lawyers, Mr. Eby after three years practice at Hannibal con- cluded to change the scene of his labors to new and developing Colorado. On locating at Colorado Springs, he found that school teaching in a time and place where good teachers were scarce and commanded good salary, was likely to prove inore remunerative than the law, he accordingly resumed the. calling he followed immediately on completing liis college course. During his two years' residence in Colorado he was successively teacher, clerk in a hotel, manager of a general store, school director and Justice of the Peace, acquiring a fund of experience while there that has been of value to him since. In the fall of 1877 he came back to Missouri and settled down to the practice of his profession at Hannibal, where he has been very successful.
Like most men of well defined convictions and robust mental constitution, Mr. Eby has always felt a deep interest in all affairs of a public nature. He is a Democrat in politics, and is one of Hannibal's most able champions of that party. He has been honored fre- quently withi public position by his fellow-townsinen, and in every instance has acquitted himself of the trust reposed in him in a manner to win the still more complete confidence of his constituents. For almost a decade lie was an official of Hannibal, and during that time took advantage of the opportunity to thoroughly familiarize himself with the mnodus operandi of corporations and the laws relating thereto, with the result that his knowledge of municipal law is most inclusive and accurate. Mr. Eby held his first office in 1881, when he was elected City Recorder. In so far did he popularize himself with the people that he was twice re elected liis own successor. In 1884 he was elected City Attorney, and also held that office three terms. Then after an intermission of three years he was again elected to the last named office and on the expiration of that term was again re- elected, and has served the city in that capacity altogether five terms. In 1892 his practice had grown to the proportions where he considered it wise to decline further municipal office and he has since then devoted himself wholly to his profession; but there are people who say that his public career is only begun, and that higher rewards await him in the political field should he conclude to direct liis energies in that direction.
Mr. Eby is agreeable in manner and of attractive personality. He is very popular with the people of Northeast Missouri, and does not himself know the full extent of the public
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regard, as his influence has never been tested fully at the polls. As a lawyer he is careful and painstaking, has a considerable gift of oratory and is an impressive speaker. His practice is both civil and criminal.
In 1880 Mr. Eby was united in marriage to Sarah E., daughter of Benjamin F. and Emily (Gilman) Eby. The union has been blessed with four interesting children, named respectively, Jeannie G., Hattie F., Notley F. and Elizabeth B.
HENRY LITTLETON EDMUNDS, SAINT LOUIS.
JUDGE HENRY LITTLETON EDMUNDS, yet a young man, but notable as one of the learned jurists of the St. Louis bar, comes of one of the best families of the Old Dominion; a family active in the development of Virginia both as Colony and State. His father was Sterling Edwin Edmunds, and his mother (born Mary Jane Claiborne), was a lineal descendant of William Claiborne, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Vir- ginia and Treasurer for life. She was likewise a lineal descendant of John West, Gov- ernor of Virginia from 1635 to 1637.
Judge Edmunds' father, Sterling Edwin Edmunds, was the son of a mother who was the daughter of Col. William Morton, of Charlotte County, Virginia, who was a member of the Committee of Safety for that county in the troublous times between 1776 and 1777. He (Sterling Edwin Edmunds) was the grandson of Capt. Thomas Edmunds, of the Revolutionary Army, 1776-1781; the mother of Capt. Thomas Edmunds was Martha Eldridge, daughter of Thomas Eldridge and Martha Bolling; Martha Bolling was the daughter of John Bolling, the son of Robert Bolling and Jane Rolfe; the latter was a daughter of Thomas Rolfe, who was the son of John Rolfe and Pocahontas, the Indian Princess. Thus can Judge Edmunds trace his relationship to the savior of Capt. John Smith in distinct and unbroken line.
Judge Edmunds was born April 2, 1853, at "Birchland," the ancestral residence, situated in Halifax County, Virginia, lying centrally on the southern line of the State. Receiving his elemental schooling at a private school near his home, he at fifteen entered Belleview High School, near Lynchburg, and then in the fall of 1869 became a student of the University of Virginia. Taking the academic course, he entered the Law Department of the University and in 1873 graduated. Shortly after he had passed his twentieth year he was admitted to practice at Halifax Court House, in July, 1873, and began practice in his native county. He remained there less than a year, as in May of 1874 lie canie to St. Louis, being induced to take this step by Col. N. C. Claiborne, a near and dear relative of the young lawyer's mother. Col. N. C. Claiborne was a brother of Col. Bob Claiborne, also of St. Louis, and who will be remembered by inany Missourians as one of the brilliant meinbers of that bar. In the month following his settlement in St. Louis the young Vir- ginian was admitted to practice in the Missouri courts by Judge William B. Napton of the Supreme Court.
In November, 1892, Judge Edmunds was elected Judge of the St. Louis Criminal Court for a term of four years, his term expiring January 3, 1897. In November, 1896, he was a candidate for Judge of the Circuit Court of St. Louis for the six years' term, but was defeated, as was likewise the entire Democratic ticket. His popularity and the high esteem
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in which he is held by the people were shown by this vote. He received the most votes of any inan on his ticket, running about 15,000 ahead of the National ticket and only failing of election by a small margin. His magnetic personality was to some extent responsible for this mnost flattering testimonial of the good will of the people, but the more important reason which determined for him the minds of many suffragans at the polling places was his splendid record on the bench. No man who ever sat thereon left it with a fairer or inore unblemished record. Not only was his official career characterized by integrity in its high- est conception, but he brought to the administration of this responsible office a high order of ability, and displayed an exceptional fitness in the discharge of its peculiar duties. It is to be noted that while his capability as a practitioner is testified by his success as such, it was in the greater office of a Judge that his talents were most conspicuous. His learning is unquestioned; he is a reasoner and a thinker, and his peculiar judicial faculty enabled him as Judge to weigh questions presented to his consideration, as nearly without prejudice or bias as may be possible to human nature. Therefore, he was the representative of Jus- tice in fact, being blind to every consideration that did not enter legitimately into the case. His judicial qualifications were brought prominently to the front in such cases as that of Kaiser and Henze, Fitzgerald and Thompson, tried for capital offenses; the French arson trial and the Balch robbery case, all of which were tried before him.
The law, its study and practice, is almost a passion with him, and no interest of a character not pertaining strictly to his profession has ever possessed an influence sufficient to divert him therefrom. He is a professional, not a business man, and he is convinced that a diffusion of interest results in a diffusion of energies, and therefore his whole power is concentrated on one object-the law. Although devoted to his profession, Judge Edmunds accords proper deference to the amenities of life, and his genial sociability and never-failing gentility make him an appreciated member of any circle. This popularity is, perhaps, responsible for the fact that he is a member of a great many societies, clubs, etc., fraternal, social and otherwise. He is a member of the Virginia Historical Society, of the Sons of the Revolution, and of the Society of Colonial Wars. He is also a Mason and a Knight of Pythias. Of the strictly local organizations on whose membership roll liis name appears, may be mentioned the St. Louis Club, the St. Louis Country Club, the Jefferson Democratic Club and the Jackson Club.
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