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 43
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94
He was a delegate to the Mississippi River Convention that met in Louisville, Kell- tucky, in 1868, and in Washington, D. C., in February, 1884.
For five years he was President of the Hannibal Bible Society, formned of ten Protestant Churches, auxiliary of the American Bible Society, and is a Director and Attorney of the Home for the Friendless.
He is a Jefferson Democrat and lias never sought for office.
He takes great interest in the growth and prosperity of Hannibal, has aided largely in its development, is Vice-President of the Free Public Library, and is very proud of grand, imperial Missouri.
He is a Vice-President of the Missouri Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and by request delivered addresses at several of the annual meetings in St. Louis, and was a delegate to the National Congress of the order held in Washington in 1894, also in Bos- ton in 1895.
He was for several years a Vice President of the Missouri Bar Association. At the banquet of the Missouri Bar Association at Sweet Springs in 1887, by request, Mr. RoBards responded to the toast "The Judge." His effort elicited hearty encomi1111 from many present, among them Judge James Lindley. The Hannibal Journal sought the address for publication, and editorially added: "The Sedalia Bazoo says it is the best speech of the
303
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
occasion; and from a careful perusal of it the Journal is inclined to the same opinion from the fact that it is a masterpiece of diction, logic and good sense. The principles advocated ought to be those of every person elevated to the bench in a court of justice. The Jour- nal is proud of the address and its reception."
Colonel D. C. Allen, of Liberty, Missouri, wrote of the address: "The paper in its editorial notice did not say too much. It was carefully considered, exactly expressed, bril- liantly worded, and full of the soundest practical thought."
Judge James S. Pirtle, of Louisville, Kentucky, in a letter wrote: "The lofty senti- ments so handsomely expressed show that time has but served to strengthen and refine the character I have known you to possess since we were law students together in 1861. The ideal Judgeship you drew so beautifully has still some realizations and gives hope of the profession, but it is not to be denied that the position of the Judge and lawyer in the community is not as high as when we were ambitious boys. That we have per- sonally done nothing to degrade the profession and all that we could to maintain its excellence is a source of gratification."
He has since he first begun the practice ever been a zealous student of law in the hope of partially
" Mastering the lawless science of our laws, That codeless myriad of precedents, That wilderness of single instances."
He refused to take the infamous Drake iron clad oath on the grounds of its uncon- stitutionality when applied to the lawyers of Missouri.
A number of notable cases mark his success and professional triumph in the difficult and important questions of law in the legal arena. In the appellate courts few attorneys command so high a percentage of success. Among his legal victories are the following, viz: On the power of an administrator, Smarr vs. McMaster, admr., 35 Mo., 349; on statu- tory construction, Hewitt, Sheriff, etc., vs. Lally, 51 Mo., 93; on evidence, alteration of written instrument, forgery, etc., R. H. Stillwell, admr. of Amos J. Stillwell, vs. J. M. Patton, admr. of William Hubbard, 108 Mo., 352, the fruits of which judgment, beyond the money recovered, were to relieve the son, George Hubbard, of the disgrace and penalty of the alleged forgery, and to give John L. RoBards, plaintiff's lawyer, the gratitude of George Hubbard and his family; on equitable trust, Clayton vs. RoBards, 54 Mo. App., 539; on ejectment, evidence, equitable and legal title, etc., Hunt vs. Selleck, 118 Mo., 588; 011 mandamus to enforce a federal judgment, United States ex rel Harrison, vs. County Court of Marion County, et al., United States Circuit Court, 1894, Hannibal, Missouri; on hus- band and wife, curtesy initiate, RoBards vs. Murphy, 64 Mo. App., 90.
Colonel RoBards, as known to his friends, is a man of courtly, though commanding presence. With a genial disposition he unites a delicate sense of personal honor. His bearing is of that military type which is wont to challenge the attention of strangers. It is not in his nature to seek public position, and yet no citizen is more signally qualified for the higher honors of official station. Though hampered by the already mentioned misfortune to his vision he has never desisted from arduous application to professional toil. There is a strong pathos in his zealous and life-long devotion to the ethics of the law. He has been a close and constant student of legal science. No effort can surpass in tenacity or in fidelity his preparation of a brief, nor can any reverse impair his fortitude. His successes at the bar have proved illustrious as well as substantial. He enjoys a capacity
304
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
for infinite detail. No item escapes liis vigilance. After so many years of busy employ- ment he is never unready for account concerning any past transaction. Mount Olivet Cemetery, the principal adornment and the permanent pride of Hannibal, is his special work, as it will be his enduring memorial, and during a quarter of a century of noble cffort in moments of intermission from professional cares he has wrought his benevolence to a standard of admirable excellence. The finest trait in his character is his singularly, lofty and unfaltering devotion to his wife, his children and his domestic fireside. Conformably he is found richly endowed with purity of thought as well as of action. Remembered as a boy with ruddy countenance and flaxen ringlets trailing on his shoulders, known as a man who has readily and triumphantly breasted the buffets of life, he will transmit to yet later days the untarnished inheritance of a good name and a distinguished record.
GEORGE ROBERTSON, MEXICO.
G EORGE ROBERTSON, of Mexico, comes of Revolutionary ancestry, both branches of his house having located in this country while still a British possession. He is a natural born fighter, comes of a race of fighters, and perhaps, had warlike opportunity existed, his career would have taken a wholly different course to the direction it has taken. He is the son of James Register Robertson, who was born in Washington County, Tennes- see, January 22, 1822. The latter's father was George Robertson, a native of North Caro- lina, born on the family estate near Guilford Court House. He was a soldier of the War of 1812, while his father, Joseph Robertson, great grandfather of our subject, and also a North Carolinian, was a soldier of the Revolution and participated in many of the hot- test contests of that great war of liberation. Among the more important battles in which he fought, the two worthy of more especial mention are the battles of Cowpens and King's Mountain, as in the last named a great inany patriots named Robertson were engaged- more, in fact, than soldiers of any other name. Many of Mr. Robertson's ancestors were also active in the organization of the Wautauga Republic, which was the first protest that assumed practical shape in America against the tyranny of Great Britain. The republic had been organized and its inhabitants were rebels against the authority of England some time before the Declaration of Independence was written. The Wautauga Republic after- ward became the State of Tennessee, and for fuller information respecting it, as well as the prominent part played by the numerons Robertsons (all of whom were of the same line), in its institution, the reader is referred to "The Life of General James Robertson, " and "Ramsey's Annals of Tennessee." Mr. Robertson's mother was Margaret Barkley, who was born in Greene County, Tennessee, December 25, 1836. Hers was an excellent family of the highest standing. Her father, John Barkley, was a prominent man and was for ycars High Sheriff of Greene County.
'The suffering and danger undergone by the soldiers of 1812 was partially rewarded by land warrants. The one that fell to the Robertsons was located in Mahaska County, Iowa, but for many years subsequent to the birth of the republic, it lay too far away in the hicart of the wilderness, to make its settlement desirable. This warrant was given to our sub- ject's father by his father, and thus it befell that James R. Robertson, then recently mar- ried, removed to Iowa and began the improvement of the land given his forefathers by a
LegalPubl.shine on St.L.
。
305
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
grateful country. It is not easy to make wild land quickly productive and the settler from Tennessee increased his income by teaching school while he carried on the improvement of the farm. There George Robertson was born, June 2, 1852. His childhood was spent on the farm and there he acquired in the public schools the rudiments of an education. In 1865 the family returned to Tennessee and after a short residence, came westward again, locating in Randolph County, Missouri, in 1867. There George's common school educa- tion, which had been continued in Tennessee, was completed. Next he entered Wood's Academy, at Moberly, and then the State Normal, at Kirksville, where after he took a par- tial course, he began teaching school as the means whereby he hoped to achieve his ambition of becoming a lawyer. He taught different Audrain County schools for four years and then entered the office of W. O. Forrist, at Mexico, to complete his law studies. He was admitted to the bar, at Mexico, in October, 1876, but did not begin practice until the following April, since which date he has been located continuously at Mexico and has fol- lowed his profession with ever growing success. He has never had a partner, preferring to practice alone.
Mr. Robertson has been accorded many honors at the hands of his people, and has discharged the public duties laid upon him always with the greatest fidelity and ability. He has served three terms as City Attorney of Mexico, having been elected in 1877, 1878 and 1880. From 1880 to 1884 he held the office of Public Administrator of Audrain County, and in 1885 was appointed Prosecuting Attorney of the county by Gov. John S. Marmaduke, to fill out an unexpired term. He has been a member of the Mexico School Board for six years and has contributed no small share toward making the public schools of that city the finest and most advanced in the State.
No man has contributed more to the material prosperity of his town than Mr. Robert- son. In fact, he is one of the owners of "Woodlawn Place," one of the most beautiful additions to the City of Mexico. He was one of the organizers, is a director and has always acted as the attorney for the Mexico Building and Loan Association, one of the staunchest and most flourishing institutions of the kind in the State, and which has contributed greatly to the growth of Mexico. For a number of years he has been the attorney for both the Wabash and Chicago & Alton Railways.
Mr. Robertson is a Master Mason, a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight Templar and a mem- ber of the Mystic Shrine, belonging to the St. Louis lodge, which places him among the most adept of that fraternity in Missouri. Outside of his membership as a Shriner, he maintains a relationship to St. Louis professional and business men through his member- ship in the city's leading club-the Mercantile. In politics he has always affiliated with the Democracy, and in the disagreement in that party over the financial issue in 1896, he espoused the gold cause and at once assumed a position as a leader of that element in the State. He was one of the delegates-at-large from Missouri to the convention of the National Democrats, at Indianapolis, and was also a member of the National Democratic State Convention. Prior to that he served as a member of the Ninth District Democratic Congressional Committee.
As a lawyer, Mr. Robertson is considered one of the ablest of his profession in the State. His combativeness and love of contest stand him in good stead in the practice of law, and if a case of his is lost it will not be because he failed to make an energetic and able fight to win. Two interesting suits with which he was connected, were the case of Wade versus Ringo, and Thompson versus Bunton. The first was a matter involving a pat-
306
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
ent right and was of the first importance. Mr. Robertson appeared for Ringo, and won every decision, from the State Circuit to the United States Supreme Court. The decision in the last named case is of consequence because it put an end to a species of slavery in Missouri. Under the old vagrant law, Thompson had been arrested and convicted under this law, and was about to be sold by a constable named Bunton for a certain term of months. In the habeas corpus proceeding that followed, Mr. Robertson appeared as Thompson's attorney, and carrying the case up to the Supreme Court, secured a decision declaring that the law under which Thompson was condemned to sale was in conflict with the Constitution of the State and United States, prohibiting human slavery.
Mr. Robertson is of robust physique, square-shouldered and of frank and open counten- ance. The physiognomist would conclude rightly that there is nothing of the artful, crafty or designing in his nature. He is wholly open and manly in all his actions, and he is without pretense or hypocrisy. If he be the enemy of any man that man will know it, and conversely, if he is your friend, there is no room left to doubt the genuineness of that friendship. He is a person of great courage and high principle, and being such, subter- fuge is something he scorns to employ. In appearance, he would be considered inucli younger than he really is. He has led a temperate, healthful life, and thus the years sit lightly on him.
A friend of Mr. Robertson gives the following estimate of his character: "The dis- tinguishing characteristics of the life of George Robertson, like those of almost every man, can be couched in few words. Persistency, courage, justice-these are the ruling attri- butes of his character. In addition to the many virtues, such as energy, fidelity and gen- erosity, which characterize the lives of all good citizens, he possesses these traits to such a degree that they dominate his life and mark the man. They are the resultant of two forces - natural temperament and environment. From childhood he has been possessed of a strong will, an aggressive disposition, and an ambition to succeed. The circumstances of his life have been suclı that he has had to make his way unaided and alone. The success which he coveted was of highest degree, and his struggle to accomplish it developed those great traits of tenacity of purpose, indomitable courage and love of justice, without which 110 success can be substantial or enduring. The fields of law and politics became attract- ive to him in early life, and have furnished a splendid arena for the development and dis- play of his powers. While he is, perhaps, best known in his community as a successful practitioner of the law, he is at the same time a devout student of political philosophy and is deeply learned in the theory and history of government. This is his mental pleasure ground.
"There is 110 truer saying than that a man may be fairly judged by the character of the pleasure he secks. Knowing as I do the nature of the books and associates to which this man turns in his leisure moments for pleasure and diversion, I have no hesitancy in saying that the ruling passion of his mind is the love of the study of government, which is little more than the science of justice. For a long time he has been a special student of the origin and history of our Federal Constitution, and has gone to the very sources of information on that subject. He is familiar with the conditions out of which the Constitu- tion sprang, and the objects and motives which inspired the men who gave that instrument to the world. He appreciates to the fullest extent the meaning of American constitutional liberty. He knows the unseen foundations of our social fabric. The Constitution was the pole star in one of the critical periods of his career. When the Chicago platform of 1896
307
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
was adopted he felt constrained to sever his connection with the regular organization of the Democratic party, with its ties and affiliations, because he felt that instrument, in its last analysis and logical results, to be an attack upon constitutional government in this country. Democracy had been dear to him, not on account of its organization, but its principles, and when the time caine to decide between the two, he did not hesitate to adhere to what he considered the true principles of the party. In the political arena, as at the bar, he defends his position with a directness and force that makes him dear to his friends and terrible to his enemies."
On September 3, 1879, Mr. Robertson was married to Miss Laura Hiner, of Mexico, Missouri. To this marriage have been born five children, namely: Madge, sixteen; David H., fourteen; George T., eleven; Laura, eight; James Graham, six. Mrs. Robertson is the daughter of Capt. David A. Hiner, of Mexico, who for many years commanded steam- boats on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and is still running the river in the Mississippi River trade. His father, whose name was also David Hiner, was a resident of Cincinnati and was one of the most influential river men of his day. He served both in the Mexican and Civil War, and in the last named conflict, piloted the "A. C. Tyler" in the fight at Pittsburg Landing. He was likewise pilot of the same boat in her battle with the "Arkansas Ram" at the mouth of the Yazoo River, when the ram was destroyed.
CLINTON ROWELL, SAINT LOUIS.
THE life-history of Clinton Rowell is exceptional in its legal aspects, in that few have pursued their profession closer and few legal careers are less unbroken by extraneous or unrelated circumstances. The history of his legal practice is a story of gradual growth, of attainment through effort and of success earned by merit. Such has been his devotion to the law, that he has never permitted the alluring by-paths, the invitation to political honors or the promise of other rewards, to lead him far away from his mistress. "Atten- tion," which Dickens maintained was the key of his success, seems also to describe in one word the means by which Mr. Rowell has reached his present position. That attention has been concentrated on the law, and has reached results, to gain which any lawyer may well strive. He is of New England blood and birth, a type whose attributes have found their greatest expansion, their highest expression in the broad and invigorating West where the artificialities of civilization have not served to warp things from their natural intent and where the real and the true, not the false and meretricious, are measures of manhood. Of a race of men who realize the serious aspect of life, and believe that labor is not so much a curse descended from Eden as an imperative duty, he early imbibed those lessons of indus- try and application without which no man can hope to succeed.
Clinton Rowell is the son of Guy and Clarissa (Rankin) Rowell and was born at Con- cord, Essex County, Vermont, November 12, 1838. The families of both his father and mother are well known in New England and have borne an honorable part in the history and development of that section. Although born in Vermont, Mr. Rowell was really reared in the adjoining State of New Hampshire. There his father engaged in agriculture, and on the farm and in attending the near-by public school his son spent his youth. When qualified, he was given the advantage of several academic courses and finally completed
308
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
.
lis education at Dartmouth. Like so many of the youth of his native section, he was filled with the desire to be an actor in the shifting scenes of the growing West, and full of hope and ambition left the paternal homestead to go and lay the foundation of liis fortune in that new land. His destination was Bloomington, Illinois, and shortly after reaching that town he is found installed as a law student in one of the leading law offices of that city. In good time he qualified, passed his examination and was admitted to practice.
In 1866 he came to St. Louis and since that date has there practiced his profession uninterruptedly. He reached that city just at a crisis in its history. It was just at the beginning of the era of rapid development that followed the war. Periods of develop- inent, expansion and change are always prolific in litigation. It was the "tide " in his affairs, which he had the sagacity and wisdom to take "at its flood," the "lead on to fortune " being his reward, as it is of all inen who properly combine ability and oppor- tunity. Shortly after his arrival in St. Louis lie formned a partnership with Daniel D. Fisher, the firm of Fisher & Rowell being maintained up to January, 1889, a dissolution then being made necessary by Mr. Fisher taking the place to which he had been elected on the Circuit Bench. After Mr. Fisher became Judge, Mr. Rowell entered into partner- ship with Franklin Ferriss, and under the style of Rowell & Ferriss the firm still continues.
Mr. Rowell is a member of the St. Louis and Mercantile Clubs and also of the Mer- chants' Exchange. He has always been one of the city's mnost public spirited citizens and has been identified with many measures to promote the public welfare. He was one of the delegates to the convention held in Washington in 1893, to urge the repeal of the Silver Purchasing Act, and made one of the most eloquent speechies of the session.
Mr. Rowell's ability is no less certain than the esteem in which he is hield is fully deserved. He has the splendid head, the commanding presence, the flexible voice and mastery of language which must be reckoned as the traits of the natural orator. His words have that force and directness that proceed only from simplicity and clearness of ideas, and spring from an earnestness and sincerity that carries conviction. He inakes liis client's case liis own, and his extreme solicitude and earnestness of purpose perhaps reveal the secret of the splendid percentage of causes won by him. He was a practitioner in the courts when cases were fought openly and a outrance, no quarter being expected or given. He witnessed the gradual change of procedure to the present condition when verdicts are reached by adjustment aud compromise. As a fighter in the open courts, or as a diplomat in the consultation room, lie has been equally successful, and always, in every incident and crisis of his professional life has been the trained lawyer, the learned advocate, the eloquent pleader and the honest, fearless and sincere inan.
Politically, Mr. Rowell is a Democrat of strong convictions; and while political and public affairs must always possess an absorbing interest to a man of his pronounced con- victions and active intelligence, he lias always resisted every persuasion to enter the field as a candidate for office. His popularity would in such event give a winning prestige, but he knows the Law is a jealous mistress aud will perunit no division of attention. The con- clusion must not be drawn from such statements that lie is a man of one idea or is devoted wholly to a single purpose. He has read munch and has a mind stored with a great variety of general information. While he finds the law practical, he lias not allowed that fact to make of him a subject governed by hard routine or moved wholly by inflexible method, but he has found time to cultivate the ideal and is a lover of the beautiful. His beautiful
Clinton Rowell
1
309
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
home near Forest Park is ample evidence of his refined taste and his domestic inclination. Here he can find solace from his cares and rest from professional duties, surrounded by an interesting family consisting of a wife and two children. The former was Miss Carrie M. Ferriss, sister of Mr. Rowell's law partner. The fortunes of Mr. and Mrs. Rowell were joined in 1868.
THOMAS A. RUSSELL, SAINT LOUIS.
THE subject of this sketch was born in Virginia, and sprang fromn good stock on both sides of the house. His father, John Russell, was the son of Thomas Russell, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. His mother, nee Rebecca Buffington, was the daughter of Colonel Buffington, who acquired his honorable inilitary title by valiant service in the same great struggle. Colonel Buffington's wife, the grandmother of the subject of this memoir, was related by blood to John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States. Our subject's father, John Russell, inherited the military spirit of his ancestry, and though quite young at the outbreaking of the second war with Great Britain (1812), promptly enlisted and served his country with patriotic fidelity to the close of the conflict. On being inustered out of service he returned to liis farin, now a part of the site of Huntington, West Virginia, and resumed the peaceful life of a farmer. Here Thomas A. was born, and here he lived until grown to be a lusty lad, receiving such education as the academnies of that section could supply, alternating agreeably and healthifully his periods of mental appli- cation with such rural employments and diversions as were congenial to his taste.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.