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 33
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In 1880 there existed in the City of St. Louis a powerful gambling ring, whose influ- ence dominated in certain departments of the government and the members of which essayed to extend that influence to control in their interests the Legislature and certain prominent officials of the State. To confront this combination and if possible destroy its influence, Mr. Johson was induced, in the year 1880, to stand for election to the Legis- lature. He accepted a nomination on the Democratic ticket and was duly elected. After a determined and bitter opposition lie succeeded in passing the well known "Johnson Gambling Law," the provisions of which made the keeping of a gambling house or the set- ting up of a lottery, a felony. In the summer following, as soon as the law went into effect, he commenced his memorable fight against the gambling and lottery rings, which ended finally in their complete overthrow and destruction. After the close of the session Mr. Johnson again returned to his practice and has continued to give his almost undivided attention to it.
For many years he was in partnership with his brother, J. D. Johnson, who attended to the civil business of the firm. During the last twenty-five years, Mr. Johnson, now called Governor Johnson, has been on one side or the other of most every important criminal case in the City of St. Louis. Besides this lie has extended his practice throughout the State and been thic leading counsel in many important trials in Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa and other States. His reputation as an able criminal lawyer and powerful advocate has become national. A contemporary lias appropriately said: "Whether as a statesman advocating the welfare of the people; a lawyer pleading the eause of the weak or innocent; a public prosecutor arraigning criminals at the bar of justice; or a eitizen in the walks of private life, Governor Johnson has always been the same dignified, courteous gentleman, so demeaning himself as to command the respect and admiration of all who know him."
Governor Johnson is pre-eminently domestic in his tastes and habits. Twice married, liis first wife was Miss Estelle Parker, of Washington City. By her he raised four children, two sons and two daughters. Threc are still living. His second wife was Louise Stevens,
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daughter of a former respected merchant of St. Louis, by whom he has three children, two boys and one girl. He has seven grandchildren.
Governor Johnson, notwithstanding the arduous work of his profession, finds time to contribute quite frequently to the public papers and belongs to the faculty of the Washing- ton University, where he lectures on criminal law. Twice has the college where he attended honored him with degrees. First that of A. M. and second that of LL. D. His reminis- cences on the Criminal Practice in this volume will be found of interest.
HOUSTON WATSON JOHNSON, JONESBURG.
S ENATOR HOUSTON WATSON JOHNSON, of Jonesburg, Missouri, was born in
Pike County, Missouri, two and one-half miles southeast of Louisiana, near the site of the old Noix Creek Baptist Church, on Christmas Day, 1844. He comes of old Virginia stock, through which a military strain has run for generations, he being related to both the Johnsons and Johnstons, of Virginia, both families springing from the same source, although the names are spelled differently. Rev. Thomas Thornton Johnson, the father of Senator Johnson, was a native of Fauquier County, Virginia, and closely related to the Johnstons distinguished in the civil and military history of the Old Dominion. He was the son of Rev. Enoch Johnson and Elizabeth Thornton, the father being likewise a Baptist minister. When his son Thomas was still an infant his mother died, and his care and rear- ing fell to the lot of an old black "mammy." Shortly after the death of his wife, Rev. Enoch Johnson settled in Scott County, Kentucky, near Georgetown. There Thomas Johnson grew up and became the friend of Col. Dick Johnson, the reputed slayer of Tecumseh at the battle of Tippecanoe. In early manhood he taught at the Indian Academy at Crabb Orchard, and studied military tactics. Though reared in the famous Ashland District, when old enough he espoused the cause of Democracy, and it was always his boast, that although raised under the sound of Henry Clay's voice, he cast his first vote in 1824 for Andrew Jackson. From Jackson to Tilden, in a line broken only when he wore the shackles of disfranchisement under the Drake Constitution, he cast his votes "straight" for Democracy. In 1828 he removed to Missouri, and shortly thereafter opened the farm where our subject was born.
Senator Johnson's mother was Margaret Ann Watson, daughter of Houston Watson and Elizabeth Carr, his wife, the Carr family having played a conspicuous part in the liis- tory of Kentucky and Virginia. Margaret Ann Watson and her elder sister, then a child, were brought from Kentucky in 1817. The former was then a babe of two months, and was carried all the way from Kentucky to Missouri by her mother on horseback. This would be considered a most formidable undertaking in these days, but in those days nothing was thought of it, although the distance between Kentucky and Missouri in 1817 must have been an almost unbroken wilderness. But the men and women of those days were sturdy, brave and inured to hardships, and especially did this adventurous couple seem exception- ally endowed with the spirit of pioneer daring. It is related that Houston Watson, the grand- father of Senator Johnson, even excelled the daring of brave Israel Putnamn, for while the Revolutionary hero crawled into a wolf's lair and killed the animal, Houston Watson entered a dark cave in Pike County and killed a huge panther. Senator Johnson yet has
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in his possession the bounty certificate issued his grandfather for the scalp of this ferocious animal. This daring pioneer and his wife landed on Grassy Creek, in Pike County, Mis- souri, on Christmas Day, 1817. Shortly afterward they removed to Big Noix Creek, to a place forinerly settled by David Watson, the father of Houston Watson. About two and a lialf years after reaching Missouri the courageous mother and wife died, and three daughters were taken by their aunt, Mrs. Rowena Gurnsey, of Pike County, to rear. Both the Wat- sons and Carrs are very numerous in Pike County and have had a potent influence on the development of that part of the State. On June 15, 1836, Rev. Thomas Thornton Johnson was married to Margaret Ann Watson, at the home of David Gurnsey. The couple resided on Rev. Thomas T. Johnson's farm until October 4, 1856, when they removed to Mont- goinery County. This union was blessed with seven children, of whom our subject was the fourtl. All the children grew to maturity excepting the first born.
The mother of this family was a woman of great force of character, but lovable and womanly withal. The work of the father as a pioneer preacher often called him to distant points and he was much of the time away from home, and hence the labor of rearing this large family devolved largely on the mother. In this shie succeeded admirably. At the day of her death - October 6, 1884 - her boys were all grown, sober, industrious and well-to- do men, and her girls good, true, useful wives. The father was one of those sturdy, virile, courageous, honest, hospitable, neighborly pioneers who resulted from the peculiar condi- tions of early days. He would have made an intrepid soldier had he not been preacher, school teacher and farmer. As it was, his soldierly instincts constantly cropped out and in the good old muster days he organized a company and was created Captain. He gave the best years of his manhood to the cause of Christ-a cause that then demanded real sacri- fice and little reward. He was a natural orator and possessed a rare vein of humor.
Houston Watson Johnson, the worthy offspring of such noble parentage, spent his boy- hood on his father's farm, there being impressed with the honor and dignity of labor. He was a youth of determination, anxious to succeed, bright, quick, and a born organizer, and soon became, when his father was absent, the leader of the farin work, although there was a brother older than he. His boyhood ambition was to do what a man could do. At tlie age of ten he could do almost any kind of farm work and at fourteen he "made a full land." No man on earth is prouder of his youth on the farm than the Senator, and lie firmly believes that it is the place of all others to surely and safely build good, solid, sturdy, manly character. He fully subscribes to the Biblical injunction, that "in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, " etc., and boldly proclaims that the only contented, happy people are those who work always. In labor only is independence to be found. The boy early learned economical habits, and his bold independence was such that never would he consent to work for a salary. Later in life, during his days of greatest struggle, he was offered the splendid salary of $125 per month, but refused it, for he preferred to remain his own mas- ter. Hc proved successful as a farmer, and was making a good start in agriculture and stock raising which he left the farm. This event occurred in 1865, when his father, having purchased a half interest in a steam and grist mill at Trixton, the family removed there, and our subject for some time looked after his father's interest in the mill.
'The education of Senator Jolinson was acquired chiefly in the common schools, but he afterward diligently studied the higher branches on his own account. In 1866 lie taught a term in the Truxton high school, and then for a time worked in the chief mercantile estab- lishment in that town. For some time he had contemplated the law as a profession, but
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was deterred by his limited pecuniary resources, but in 1867 he boldly determined to launch forth in that direction and began to read such books as he could procure from his limited salary as clerk. By much self-denial he secured the coveted training, passed his examina- tion and was adınitted to the bar by Judge Gilchrist Porter, at Troy, in September, 1868.
With a suit of ordinary jeans clothing, cut and inade by his sister, Martha Ailsłe, a cheap cashmere suit for Sunday, a half dozen law books and fifty cents in money, he left liomne to embark on his professional career. Few inariners could have found the courage to put forth on an unknown sea so scantilly equipped, but the young lawyer came of a race of pioneers and soldiers, and his strong heart felt no fear. He knew that if industry, perseverance and self-denial would win, success was his, and he left home to locate at Jonesburg. Illustrative of his devotion to his purpose, it is related that when he first went to Jonesburg he determined to economize by sleeping in his office. He had no bed, and though he could doubtless have obtained one on credit, the bete noir of his life has been debt, and therefore he spread a few quilts over a pile of straw in the corner of his office, and thus slept until he had saved enough to buy himself a feather bed and a bedstead. During his days of early struggle, many of his young professional friends visited him, and at different times shared his unique bed. Among these was E. M. Hughes, now Judge of the Eleventh circuit, who was then passing through very similar experiences. It was indeed a thorny road they traveled, but the young men inade light of its hardships, and both now look back to the time they occupied the Senator's straw bed with the conviction that happiness is, after all, a subjective and not an objective quantity.
Mr. Johnson came to Jonesburg early in the 'seventies and began the practice of law, and by close application and hard labor soon becaine interested in some of the most important litigation of this part of the State, and soon built up a lucrative practice. Ex- Senator Johnson is well known throughout the State. He first made his debut in Missouri State politics in 1876, at which time he was elected a member of the State Democratic Committee from the Ninth District, and took an active part in that memorable campaign, which rolled up the largest Democratic majority for Tilden and Phelps and the largest Democratic vote cast since the organization of the party. In 1878 he declined a re-election, though the position was unanimously tendered him. He was also unanimously tendered the Chairmanship of the State Democratic Committee, but declined both of these places, preferring to apply himself to his profession, the law, in which he liad had remarkable suc- cess, having gone through all the courts in many important cases, and stands to-day in the front rank of his profession.
In 1879 Senator Johnson and Judge E. M. Hughes formed a partnership. This was maintained five years, or until Mr. Johnson was elected to the Legislature, in 1884. In 1887 he formed a partnership with Hon. G. P. Smith, of Montgomery City, and A. H. Drunert, of Jonesburg. This association continued until 1892, when Mr. Smith withdrew, and the firm is now known as Johnson & Drunert.
In 1884 he was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives, and was by a reso- lution of the House placed on the Committee on Railroad Legislation. He prepared and procured to be reported the bill which passed the House at that session, and which in the campaign following was almost literally incorporated in the Democratic platform and became an issue.
In 1886 he was elected to the Missouri Senate from the Tenth District, and by reason of his prominence and labor in the House, was made the ranking member of the same
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committee in the Senate at the session of 1887. At the extra session called by Governor Marmaduke, the chairinan of the regular session having died, Mr. Johnson was placed at the head of the Committee on Railroads, the only committee appointed at the extra ses- sion, and led the memorable fight at that session to a successful issue. He became the leader of the Marmaduke administration, and was the confidential and trusted friend of the Governor. At the 1889 session he was elected President pro tem, and as the Lieutenant Governor was then, by reason of the death of the Governor, the acting Governor, the President pro tem of the Senate became the acting Lieutenant Governor. In this capacity he served for two or three weeks, until the Lieutenant Governor was inaugurated. In the ineantime he presided over the joint Assembly at the inauguration of Governor Francis and at the election of Senator Vest by the joint Assembly.
During this session he distinguished himself in the fight for bills known as the Mont- gomery County Court Bills, which he introduced and which contemplated holding terms of the Circuit and Probate Courts at Montgomery City, thus virtually removing the county seat froin Danville, a little village seven miles from the railroad. The forces were very evenly divided on this question, but with such splendid activity and ability did the Senator inanage his campaign, that Montgomery City won and is now in reality the judicial seat of Montgomery County, although it nominally divides that honor with Danville, the former county seat. Gen. E. B. Ewing, one of the best posted politicians of the State, and a close observer of men and events, often said the passage of this bill, though of local significance, was one of the greatest legislative achievements he ever witnessed. After the passage of the bills, the Senator returned home and joined with the other friends of the measure in building a splendid court house at Montgomery City, by private contribution.
Mr. Johnson attained prominence as a lawyer early in life. His accurate knowledge of legal principles, close attention to business and his strong common sense, have added continually to his professional reputation. His common sense is in fact one of his most conspicuous traits, and this factor he has found of value in the practice, as law is, after all, but an attempt to give expression to common sense. He is now recognized by the pro- fession as one of the most formidable antagonists in his portion of the State.
In 1889 the Senator began the erection of his beautiful home, situated on a fine thirty-five acre plat of ground on the northern suburb of Jonesburg. This mansion hc called "Celibate Harbor" and it became noted for its elaborate entertainments and splen- did hospitality.
On the sixteenth day of January, 1896, the Senator was married to Mrs. Willie H. Berry. The marriage took place at two o'clock, p. 11., at the Second Presbyterian Church, St. Louis. The ceremony was performed by Dr. Samuel J. Niccolls, assisted by Dr. John D. Vincil, in the presence of a large and distinguished audience, and thus "Celibate Har- bor" capitulated and the Senator's life of celibacy ended.
Mrs. Berry, whose maiden name was Honey, is an educated and cultured lady, an accomplished musician, a graduate from Lindenwood College, St. Charles, Missouri, and a post-graduate of Hardin College, Mexico, Missouri. She was the only daughter of the late William Honey, for whom she was named, who was born and raised in St. Louis. Her father in early manhood went to Huntsville, Arkansas, and engaged in the mercantile business, in which he was very successful and soon amassed a small fortune. Soon after lie went to Huntsville he married Miss Ophelia Polk, a daughter of Judge Polk, a District or Circuit Judge of Arkansas, and a lineal descendent of President James K. Polk. Soon
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after Mrs. Johnson's birth her father died. Shortly thereafter Mrs. Johnson was taken by her aunt, Mrs. Arthur H. Gale, a sister of her father and wife of Arthur H. Gale, of the Scudder-Gale Grocery Company, of St. Louis, by whom she was raised and who had the care of her education. Mrs. Johnson is also a great-niece of Mrs. Governor Thomas C. Fletcher, and has a large and influential relationship in St. Louis.
On January 6, 1897, a baby boy was born to Senator and Mrs. Jolinson, which the good wife of the Senator very appropriately namned Houston Watson Johnson, Jr. He is a well developed, bright and healthy little fellow, and promises much pleasure to his par- ents. The Senator and his estimable wife, of course, think he is the only baby in the world, and to them of course he is. To him this history of his father is especially dedi- cated, with the hope that he may grow up a good, true and useful man.
JOHN DAVIS JOHNSON, SAINT LOUIS.
A ST. LOUIS lawyer of fine ability, but modest withal, is John Davis Johnson, who for many years has been associated with his brother, Hon. Charles P. Johnson, the great criminal lawyer, in the practice of his profession. He was born at Belleville, Illinois, April 19, 1844, and is therefore now at the zenith of his intellectual and professional powers. The blood of the pioneers of both Virginia and Pennsylvania flows in his veins, as in the former State the maternal branch originated, while the father, Henry Johnson, was a native of Philadelphia. The mother, born Elvira Fouke, came of a family of strongly pronounced pioneer proclivities, and thus at a very early day, the grandparents of our sub- ject left Virginia to seek a home in the midst of the untraversed prairies of the West. They settled at Kaskaskia, now noted as the oldest town in Illinois, and there Elvira Fouke was born. She was a woman of noble breadth of character, great energy and fortitude, and her sons are said to have inherited her high qualities.
With a public school education as a basis, our subject completed his training at Belle- ville and McKendree Colleges, and then, in 1858, came to St. Louis. He continued his schooling in that city, and for a time worked for Gent. Robert F. Wingate and his brother, Charles P. Johnson, with them, at the same time, prosecuting his legal studies. Then the war came on and he was a warm and patriotic partisan of the Union. He was at first a member of the Nineteenth Missouri Infantry, but as this regiment was never mustered in, he enlisted with Battery F, of the Second Illinois Artillery, entered the service with it in 1861, and remained until the summer of 1863. He was then inustered out to accept a com- mission as First Lieutenant of the Thirty-eighth Missouri Infantry. After three years of military service he returned to St. Louis in 1864 and began the study of law, acting as his own tutor. In November, 1864, he was married and afterward accepted a position as clerk in the department of Quarterinaster Metcalfe. Next he served for a short time as Deputy County Marshal. Following this he was appointed Deputy Clerk of the Court of Criminal Correction, occupying this position until 1871, when a change of administration let him out.
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In the meantime he had perfected himself in the law and had been admitted in Octo- ber, 1870, at St. Louis, by Judge David Wagner of the Supreme Court. After ending his terni as Deputy Clerk, he took a montli to look about and decided to begin practice. In that year (1871) he took an office with Hon. Charles P. Johnson and Judge William C. Jones, in the Temple Building, in St. Louis, and has occupied an office in and practiced from that building continuously ever since- a period of twenty-seven years. His long estab- lishment in one building, perhaps, gives a hint of liis character, a dominant peculiarity of which is its conservatism and dislike of change. Shortly after beginning practice, Mr. Jolinson formed a partnership with Judge William C. Jones, which continued until the latter was elected to the Criminal Bench in 1874. His next partnership was with his brother, Charles P., and Joseph G. Lodge. When two years had elapsed, Mr. Lodge with- drew, and the firin became C. P. and J. D. Johnson and so continued until July 1, 1896, when the business association was dissolved by mutual consent, and since then each brother has practiced alone.
Mr. Johnson is a member of the Legion of Honor, and of the G. A. R., Frand P. Blair Post. He has never cared to meddle with affairs political, for this profession has been to hiin all sufficient. His life effort has been to perfect himself in the law, and thus his time has been so fully occupied that he lias never been seen in the political lists. However, he appreciates the importance of good government, and has in nowise neglected his political duties as a citizen. He is a strong Republican.
Mr. Johnson has devoted his talents exclusively to the civil law. While in partnership with his brother, he attended to the business in this branch and the Governor took care of the criminal cases. John D. Johnson in his department has become as proficient as any man in the profession, and has now achieved the benefits of a splendid practice: He is unsurpassed in the general management of a case, and is especially respected for liis powers as a cross-examiner of witnesses. His examination of a witness is a full dissection of the case, his series of questions resulting in bringing out every atomn of truth in the remotest degree helpful to the cause of his client. Nor is he less logical in his address to a jury than skillful in examination. He is a tireless worker and to every detail of a case he gives especial attention. His briefs show great care and undivided attention to the question under consideration and are inodels of excellence. He is very domestic in his habits, of quiet demeanor and would strike one as a man of great reserve force. He lias been married three times, and has three grown children and two small ones. His eldest so11, Loomis Johnson, is a promising young lawyer in his father's office.
BRECKINRIDGE JONES,
SAINT LOUIS. B RECKINRIDGE JONES was born October 2, 1856, near Danville, Boyle County,
Kentucky. His father was Daniel William Jones, who married, October 18, 1842, Rebecca Robertson Dunlap. He was a merchant and extensive farmer and trader in Cen- tral Kentucky until the breaking out of the Civil War.
He was outspoken in his sympathies for the South, and therefore, in November, 1861, was indicted for treason in the Federal Court, at Frankfort, Kentucky. His health pre- vented him from enlisting in the Confederate Army, but his well-known Southern sym- pathies forced him to remain away from his home, and further South, ahnost throughout
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the war. At the close of the war he took his family to New York City, where, for two years, he was a banker and broker in Wall Street. While there, his home was on Staten Island, from which his son, Breckinridge, during the session of 1866-7, attended the well- known school of George C. Anthon, New York City.
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