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 37
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Twice elected Prosecuting Attorney of Shelby County (once in 1888 and again in 1890) , without opposition in his own party at either election, he was given a testimonial of the high regard in which he was held by his fellow-citizens, of which he might well feel proud were that the only evidence of their esteem. But they conferred on him a higher honor still when, on the death of Congressinan R. P. Giles, of the First Missouri District, they chose Mr. Lloyd to fill his place in the Fifty-fifth Congress. This was on June 1, 1897, Mr. Giles having been elected in the preceding November, but dying before Congress met. The conspicuous feature of the election of Mr. Lloyd was the magnitude of the majority given to him, he carrying the district by a surplus of 5,651 votes, the greatest victory a Democrat was ever known to win in that district.
Mr. Lloyd has never laid as much claim to being a politician as to being a lawyer, still it would be well to repeat here a remark he made on entering upon his Congressional duties, which thoroughly illustrates his conscientiousness: "The people, " he said, "have a right to my service while they pay me to represent them in Congress, and I am going to give it to them." This means that he has virtually given up his valuable law practice while serv- ing his constituents at Washington, which can justly be termed a noble act of self-denial. Yet he will not be the loser by it eventually, as when he returns to his legal practice his devotion will not be forgotten, but rewarded by a double increase in business tendered him
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by his grateful and admiring neighbors. Meanwhile his training as a lawyer stands him in good stead in legislating for the nation's welfare, and his natural decisiveness of thought and action, and his evident ability, gave him a standing with his colleagues such as few new members of the House attain. His friends believe that his election to the high office lie at present occupies is but the beginning of a briliant and successful public career.
No enterprise projected in his section is considered liable to be successfully prosecuted unless lie lends it his helping hand. He is publie spirited to the furthest extent that could be expected of a citizen, and has done as much as any man in Shelby County to further the interests of Shelbyville and the surrounding region. Financially he is highly endowed with talent, as is evidenced by the flourishing condition of the two banks in which he is a stock- holder. As a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows his brethren did him lionor by bestowing on him the District Deputyship for a number of years and sending him as representative to the Grand Lodge of the Order, both of which positions he filled most acceptably.
Mr. Lloyd was married in Lewis County, Missouri, to Miss Mary B. Graves on Mareli 1, 1881, his wife being the daughter of Thomas A. Graves, a leading citizen of the same county. They have four children, Oliver J., aged fifteen; Thomas L., aged eight; Ethel Lee, aged five, and Willard P., aged one. They are bright and promising children.
GEORGE W. LUBKE, SAINT LOUIS.
O NE of the veterans of the St. Louis bar, and a leading lawyer of the metropolis is Judge George W. Lubke, who was born in St. Louis, February 22, 1845. Botlı liis parents came from Hanover, Germany, and met and were married at Louisville, Kentucky. His mother's maiden name was Catherine Penningroth. His father, William Lubke, fell a victim to the gold fever in 1849 and crossed the Great Plains, being given command of the wagon train, a position in that day which carried with it almost the same power wielded by the Captain of a ship at sea. Shortly after the departure of the husband and father, thie family was stricken with that terrible scourge, cholera. It decimated the family almost in a day, leaving only the subject of this sketeli and one sister. The former, too young to appreciate the greatness of the calamity that had befallen the family, was taken by an unele and aunt to their farm near Venedy, in Washington County, Illinois. He was four years old when taken to the country, and remained there until lie was nine, and with the exception of this period he lias spent the balance of his life in St. Louis.
At the Washington County farin lie received his first schooling, the minister of the German Lutheran Church at Venedy acting as his instructor, and on his return to St. Louis he proscented to completion his studies in the public and private schools of the city. He had, prior to the time lie left school, settled on the law as liis calling, and, therefore, at the earliest opportunity entered the office of Hon. Henry Hitelicock, and began the work of mastering the contents of the books in sheep-skin cover. September 13, 1864, lie was admitted to the bar and has been in constant practice, either at the bar or on the benchi, in St. Louis ever since.
During the fall of 1864, just after lie had become a full-fledged lawyer, he saw some active military service as a member of the Eleventh Enrolled Militia. It was during the last raid of
Jeo.w. Lubke
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Price, and Judge Lubke was one of those who marched with General Smith's Army Corps through Franklin County in the maneuvers to keep the Confederate raider out of St. Louis.
In 1883 Judge Lubke was raised to the bench, being elected Judge of the St. Louis Circuit Court. This responsible office he filled with honor aud ability until 1889, when, on the expiration of his term, he returned to the ranks of the people. His popularity is undoubted and his personal acquaintance far extending, and he could have had in the past, and yet could have, almost any political office to which he chose to aspire, but success as a lawyer was of higher importance to him than uncertain honors of political life and he has accordingly devoted himself to his profession with results satisfactory in the highest. He is noted among his brethren as a lawyer of deep learning and with an experience that is worth volumes of theory. As a citizen he has always been ready to manifest his public- spiritedness or lend enthusiastic aid to any enterprise to the public good. He is a inan of much force of character and is honored and respected by all who know him. He has seen St. Louis grow from a goodly sized town into a metropolis, and as he has been an intelli- gent observer always, he is a mine of historical knowledge and reminiscence. There are few members of the bar that enjoy the public confidence to the extent it has been given him, and his name is a synonym of probity and honor. He is connected with a number of local societies and organizations, among others, the American Legion of Honor and the St. Louis Legion of Honor.
Judge Lubke was married at St. Louis, Missouri, September 10, 1868, to Miss Henri- etta Luttercord. Her father was a prominent St. Louis merchant. They had six children, five of whom survive. The oldest, a son, now twenty-eight years old, has followed in the footsteps of his father and is a rising member of the St. Louis bar. The two oldest of the four remaining children are daughters ; the two youngest sons, one being but five years of age.
GEORGE BENNETT MACFARLANE,
MEXICO.
HE Hon. George Bennett Macfarlane, Judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Mis- T souri, is a native of this State and was born in Callaway County, January 21, 1837. A student of nomenclature would at once conclude that the name caine from Scotland, and such an assumption is correct, for his father, George Macfarlane, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1796. He emigrated to America when still a young inan and in this country married Catherine Bennett, a native of Kentucky, and the mother of the subject of this biography. The elder Macfarlane followed farming after he came to America, but being a man of good education, taught school during the early period of his life. He died in 1866, just as his son was fairly launched on his legal career. From him the son inherits his high principles of truth and honesty with that inflexible strength of character which is a dis- tinctive trait of the Scotch, modified and softened by the graceful generosity and chivalry given him by his Kentuckian mother.
Judge Macfarlane passed his boyhood as did most farmers' boys of that day. Honesty, a love of truth and justice, strict habits of industry, absolute independence and the neces-
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sity of self-reliance were inculcated by precept and practice. He was impressed with the fact that whatever he desired must be attained by his own efforts; that Heaven helps him who helps himself, and as he earnestly desired an education, he set about the work of securing it. He obtained a good common school training by attending the district school in winter, and by hard work and economy was enabled to take the courses at Westininster College, Fulton. Then he secured a position as school teacher, and of nights and between times he read law at home, and then finished his studies in the office of Henry C. Hayden at Fulton. At the county seat of his native county he was also admitted to the bar. This was in 1861, a year memorable in history as the beginning of the greatest war of ınodern times. The war changed his plans, and instead of beginning practice, he returned to his father's farm, resuming the vocation of school teaching in winter and working on the farm in summer. In the fall of 1865 lie settled at Mexico, the county seat of Audrain County, and opened an office for practice. Several years after he located there, a young man entered the office to read law. He was J. McD. Trimble, now of Kansas City, and as soon as he was admitted to the bar, a partnership was formed between him and Judge Macfar- lane, and this arrangement continued through a term of twelve years.
The first office conferred on Judge Macfarlane was not of the highest judicial responsi- bility, but considering his age (twenty-nine years), it showed the confidence of the people in his honesty, conservatism and good judgment. This was the office of Justice of the Peace, to which he was elected in 1866 and which he held two years. Afterward he was elected City Recorder (Police Judge), and also held this office two years. During the first term of Gov. B. Gratz Brown, a vacancy having occurred in the Probate Judgeship of Audrain County, he was appointed to the post by the Governor, and in 1874, on the expir- ation of his teri, was elected to the saine office. In 1875 he resigned his place on the bench to again enter the practice of law, and continued in that line very successfully up to 1890, when he was again called upon to enter public service. A vacancy occurred on the Supreme Bench, and Gov. D. R. Francis did a wise act when he called Judge Macfarlane to fill the place. Under this appointment lie held the office two years, or until the general election of 1892, when he was returned to the office by the suffrages of the people, and he still occupies that position.
In 1868 Judge Macfarlane was married to Miss Alice F. Orear, a member of the noted family of that name of Boone County. Six children have blessed their union, three of whom they have lost. Of these two died in infancy, and one, William Lawrence, died in 1895. He had reached his sixteenth year, was a most promising youth, and his death deeply affected his father. Of the three living children, Charles R., a young lawyer of twenty-three, is just entering practice at Mexico; George Locke, twenty-one, is in the newspaper business and bids fair to developing into a successful career; Guy Orear, thirteen, is at school.
The mind of Judge Macfarlane is essentially judicial. It is a recognized fact among attorneys that some lawyers are especially gifted as judges, while others who are splendid advocates, are not cudowed with qualifications to fit thiem for the bench. While the Judge has proved liis fitness in both fields and has been very successful as a practitioner, it is on the bench that he has demonstrated his highest capacity. He is cool and patient, sincere and impartial. His reasoning is sound and practical and the opinions delivered logical and
Gro Amalan
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convincing. He is learned in the law and gifted as well witli rare common sense, if such a Hibernianism may be permitted. Politically, he is a Democrat. He stands high also in Masonic circles.
GEORGE A. MAHAN,
HANNIBAL.
G EORGE A. MAHAN was born on a farm near Palmyra, judicial seat of the county which has been the scene of his life labor. He first saw the daylight August 6, 1851. His father, George A. B. Mahan, was a native of Bourbon County, Kentucky, and came to Missouri in 1833, settling at Palmyra, in Marion County. He was of Irish descent and through him liis son inherits the sanguine temperament -that optimistic view of life which no adversity can extinguish and which is a chief prerequisite to success. Before the location of the elder Mahan at Palmyra, or about 1830, an estimable Kentuckian family named Griffithi had made settlement on a farm near that town. George A. B. Mahan there for the first time met Jennie, the handsome daugher of the Griffith household, and later wooed and won her. Their inarriage took place at the farm residence of Samuel Griffith, the bride's father, near Palmyra, in 1849. The subject of this sketch was the first child born of this union. The father died in September, 1872; the mother survives, and is still living on the old homestead near Palmyra, the object of her son's tender love and devo- tion. She is a woman of the noblest virtues, and her potent influence for good in mould- ing character aright, is exemplified in the manliness, integrity and ability of this son.
The foundation of Mr. Mahan's education was laid in the district schools of Marion County. He took the academic courses at Bethel College, Palmyra, and then went East, where he entered famed Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Virginia. At this institution he took the courses in English literature, history, Latin, philosophy and chem- istry, graduating finally in the class of 1870. It was perhaps during his days as a student in Washington and Lee that the tentatively held determination to adopt the law as a pro- fession crystallized into a well defined and settled ambition. His general education being completed, he at once returned to his home and took up the study of law in the office of Redd & McCabe, two of the most reputable lawyer of Marion County at that time. After a short period spent as a student "in chambers, " lie became convinced that he could pursue his studies more advantageously in a regular law school, and thus it transpired that in 1871 he went to Indiana, where in the law department of the State University at Bloom- ington, he completed the course, receiving his degree of Bachelor of Law, as a member of the class of 1872. In the winter of the same year he was admitted to the bar by Judge William P. Harrison, at Hannibal, and immediately opened an office in that city. This was in January, 1873, and he has continued to reside in Hannibal ever since, adding to his reputation as a lawyer at a constantly appreciating ratio. In 1885 Mr. Mahan formed a partnership with Judge William P. Harrison, some years after that splendid lawyer and well- loved man retired from the bench. This association in itself gives a hint of the reputation and standing as a skillful and able lawyer the younger practitioner had then achieved. The partnership was maintained to the satisfaction and profit of both principals up to 1892, when the increasing years of Judge Harrison made his complete retirement desirable. Mr. Mahan succeeded to the practice of the firm and since then has continued alone.
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Mr. Mahan's standing in Northeast Missouri has for many years been such as to entitle him, in the estimation of the people, to official honors. He was first elected City Coun- selor of Hannibal. This was in 1875, and on the expiration of his term, he was in 1878 elected Prosecuting Attorney of Marion County, an office he held three consecutive terms. So well did he perform his duty that his prestige was greatly increased, and he obtained a secure place in the hearts of the people who were his constituents. In 1887 he was elected to represent Marion County in the Thirty-fourth General Assembly, and served his constituents with fidelity and ability during his incumbency. That he was rated by the House as one of its most valuable and able members is illustrated by the fact that he was placed on the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Mahan is now, and has been for many years, special solicitor of the City of Hall- nibal. He is also a director in the Hannibal Mercantile Free Public Library Association ; is director and attorney of the Bank of Hannibal, and holds the same relations to the Hannibal Mutual Loan and Building Association. He is a Royal Arch Mason and a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias. He is a Democrat in politics and is one of the influential members of this the dominant party of his section.
On May 24, 1883, he was married to Miss Ida Dulany, daughter of the late Col. Daniel Dulany, the wholesale lumber dealer and banker of Hannibal, who was President of the Bank of Hannibal at the time of his death in 1897. Mr. and Mrs. Mahan have one child, a son named Dulany Mahan, born May 25, 1884.
In estimating the character of Mr. Mahan, it may be claimed with justice that his dis- tinguishing trait is his finesse, his diplomacy in the affairs of his profession and the various relations of life. He is easy, graceful, smooth and polished in manner-traits that have won the confidence of many a witness to his final undoing. He is a fluent conversation- alist and an interesting one as well. As a public speaker he is forcible, yet smooth and convincing. He is both popular and influential in the State, and his professional brethren hold him in the highest esteemn.
A member of the bar who has, perhaps, engaged in the trial of a larger number of cases than any other with or against him, and who has also been most frequently concerned in other of his important professional engagements, says of him:
" Mr. Malian is an accomplished lawyer. The diversity of his talents is such as to fit hiim almost equally for the varied duties of the attorney and those of the barrister. But per- haps liis greatest strength lies in the trial of law cases at the bar. Here he is always a proved foeman worthy of the best tempered blade. Resolute, watchful and resourceful, lie presses the fight with gallantry and fervor, and with a confidence born of conscious strength. And possessing forensic powers of a high order, and with an intuitive perception of the strong and salient points of his case and the vulnerable ones in that of his adversary, tlic presentation of liis cause to court or jury is always forceful, eloquent and convincing. He is an eminent type of the all round lawyer."
ELLIOTT WOOLFOLK MAJOR, BOWLING GREEN.
A LAWYER who is notable because of his legal accomplishments, who is also known for his statesman-like qualitics, and is appreciated for liis splendid service in behalf of thic people, is Elliott Woolfolk Major, of Bowling Green, State Senator from the
-
Ellier Is mayor
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Eleventh District. He is one of the rising young men of his part of the State, and is one of the interesting and talented lawyers of the Missouri bar.
Senator Major is a native of Lincoln County, Missouri, and was born October 20, 1864. It should here be noted, that he is a remarkably young man to have attained the Senatorial toga. He is of that virile, highly-developed stock which settled the counties of Audrain, Lincoln, Pike and Marion early in the century, and whose vitality persists and expands to the present day. Mr. Major's father, James R. Major, came from Virginia and settled in Lincoln County. His mother was Sarah T. Woolfolk, a native of Kentucky, who bore the name of a family no less well known in her native State than in Missouri. Both parents are yet living.
Eighteen years ago the subject of this sketch moved to Pike County, his life prior to that time having been spent in Lincoln and St. Charles Counties. At Watson's Seminary, at Ashley, in the county first named, he was principally educated, and later studied law with Champ Clark, the distinguished Congressman, at this time, from the Ninth Missouri District. Mr. Clark is able, no less as lawyer than as statesman, and thus the young man had the best of preceptors. He was admitted to the bar at Bowling Green, in 1885, and at once settled down to practice at that place.
He had not occupied an office long ere his ability began to impress the people among whom his lot was cast, and though in competition with experienced and accomplished law- yers, of whom Pike County is so prolific, he has in little more than a decade built up a splendid practice. The practice of the profession is of course not specialized in the country as in the large cities, and to such a field the young lawyer is well adapted, as he is richly endowed with versatility. He has appeared in many of the important cases that have recently come before the court on that circuit, and was one of the lawyers in the noted trial of Dr. Hearne for the murder of Amos Stilwell, the wealthy pork packer, of Hannibal. In fraternal circles he is influential, being a member of the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen and the Odd Fellows.
The Democrats of the Eleventh Senatorial District, composed of the counties of Lincoln, Pike and Audrain, did a wise thing, when, in their convention of 1896, they nom- inated Mr. Major to represent the district in the State Senate. In less than three months after the election he was conspicuous as one of the able men of the Upper House. He stood in the front rank of those opposed to the lobby and corruption, and inade a fight that earned him the gratitude of the people of the whole State. In that session, when rumors of corruption and treason to the people were rife, Senator Major stood unsullied as one to whom no taint of suspicion could attach. An intense sympathizer with the people always, and with high ideals of the purposes of government, he brought an ability and talent to bear in behalf of his principles that were 110 less a suprise to the dishonest lobby than a source of gratification to his constituents. That session, short though it was, enabled Mr. Major to win the admiration and confidence of the people of the entire State, and, when the term adjourned, he wore the laurels as champion of the people's cause. He was their consistent friend throughout, and as bitterly fought every measure intended to benefit pri- vate parties at their expense, as he ably espoused every cause in their interest. Men of experience in public affairs believed his first public position was a mnost auspicious opening of a political career which would finally carry him to an exalted place, and men of discrim- ination who know him personally feel satisfied that he is endowed with those attributes and characteristics which will compel success in any field. He is popular and he is able, few
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inen have made the reputation he did during their first term as Legislators, and he may be justly considered one of the coming men of the State.
Mr. Major is married and has one child, Miccah Florine, aged eight years. The lady who became Mr. Major's helpmeet was Miss Elizabeth Myers, an accomplished young lady of Bowling Green. They were married in 1887.
WILLIAM CHAMP MARSHALL, SAINT LOUIS.
W ILLIAM CHAMP MARSHALL, City Counselor of St. Louis, and one of the well-known contemporary authorities on municipal law, comes of a race of lawyers and bears a name illustrious in the judicial history of the Republic, because of John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States, who was a second cousin of his father. Mr. Marshall is tlie son of Thomas Alexander Marshall and Letitia Miller, his wife, both of whom are dead. The Marshalls were of Virginian origin, and our subject's great grandfather, Rev. William Marshall, was a Baptist minister, a powerful pulpit orator and one of the noted men of his day. His father, Thomas Alexander Marshall, was a lawyer, and was one of the publishers of "Swedes and Marshall's Mississippi Reports." The maternal branch of Mr. Marshall's family is of Irish origin, but his mother, Letitia Marshall, nee Miller, was a native of Louis- ville, Kentucky, and a daughter of one of the first United States Marshals of Mississippi. Our subject was born at Vicksburg, Mississippi, November 13, 1848.
The latter received his higher education at the University of Mississippi, and from there passed, in 1867, to the University of Virginia. His career as a student was notable. He was elected President of one of the literary societies of the University, defeating for tlie place the afterward celebrated Henry W. Grady. He left the University with a finished legal education, and returned to his home in Vicksburg, but was not admitted to the bar until January 1, 1870, on account of not having attained his majority. It was his intention to locate in New York City, but after looking over the field, he decided that it was no place for a young man, and accordingly in January, 1870, just after receiving his license as a lawyer, he came to St. Louis. But misfortune awaited him in his new field, as two weeks after reaching that city he was stricken with typhoid fever and was under the care of the doctor for more than six months. When sufficiently recovered, hic began practice, practicing alone until November, 1873, when he formed a partnership with Judge Shep- hard Barclay. This association lasted until Judge Barclay was elected to the Circuit Bench in 1882, after which he practiced alone until April, 1891, when Mayor Edward A. Noonan appointed him City Counselor to serve four years. Although a Democrat, with such ability, dignity and impartiality did he administer his office, that on the insti- tution of a Republican regime under Mayor Walbridge, the latter, in April, 1895, reap- pointed him, and he still continues as City Counselor under Mayor Zicgenlein.
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