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 48
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
When the war ended he was a veteran, although his education was not completed, and he therefore went to Illinois and entered Illinois College, at Jacksonville, where he remained for one year. His next step was to technically fit himself for some vocation or profession. The law was selected and he began its study, which was continued and completed at the University of Michigan, where he graduated in 1868. Returning to Southwest Missouri, he was admitted to the bar at Springfield in May of the same year. After the war and before graduation he taught two summer terms of school. He located at Ozark, that picturesque little town situated amidst the broken and beautiful ranges that lead up to the greater Ozark chain of mountains, and continued there until his removal in May, 1877, to Springfield, the metropolis of the southern part of the State. There hie at once entered, withi Hon. S. H. Boyd, into a partnership agreement which was continued for about five years.
Returning to his home from the contest for the supremacy of the Union and enter- taining a natural sympathy for the Union people, lie was for a couple of years affiliated withi the Republican party. He was a delegate to the Republican State Convention of 1870, and was one of those who bolted that body because of its proscriptive spirit toward the ex- Confederates and Southern sympathizers of the State, and its refusal to re-enfranchise these elements. The bolters withdrew and nominated for Governor B. Gratz Brown, who was elected. Being a staunch believer in its fundamental doctrines, lic has since affiliated with the Democratic party, and in the campaign of 1896 with its "Sound Money" element.
May 10, 1871, Judge Vaughan was united in marriage with Barbara A. Weaver, daughter of John R. Weaver, of Christian County. Mrs. Vaughan was born December 17, 1852, and has borne the Judge eight children, two of whom are dead. Those living arc Lena E., who is quite an accomplished musician; Annie C., a graduate of Chicago Female College; Charles and James, who are attending the Springfield schools, and Eleanor and an infant son named Robert Hatchett.
Pask Vaughan
Legal Puanshing Co. St.Louis
337
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
Judge Vaughan is rated as one of the most public spirited inen of his section of the State, and has contributed much to its development. Actuated by a disinterested civic spirit of patriotismn, he has always been a contributor to every movement of public benefit. But while he is this, he is recognized pre-eminently as a lawyer. The law has been his life work and he has been an honor and an ornament to his chosen profession. Being one of the most prominent men in his section of the State, and a member of the dom- inant political party, with a clean record behind him, he could doubtless have had almost any office to which he would have aspired, but the law satisfied his ambition, and excepting the position of County School Commissioner, he never held any office not in line with his profession. An office which belongs to the law, and is in reality a pro- motion from the ranks, is that of Circuit Judge. This office Judge Vaughan has held, having been appointed thereto by Governor Marmaduke. He presided over the Twenty- first Judicial District with dignity, fairness and ability, and with a display of judicial acumen and knowledge of the law that greatly increased the respect in which he was held by his brethren of the bar. Since retiring from the bench, Judge Vaughan has continued in practice at Springfield, and is considered one of the leading members of the bar of that part of Mis- souri. He is known among his neighbors as a inan of solid acquirements, who entertains no desire to be rated above his real inerit. While conscientious, and of strong convictions himself, he is yet tolerant of the just opinions of others. In his character and intellect he is strong, well balanced and practical; is most esteemed by those who know him best, and is universally regarded as one whose life has been made a success through honest effort and unquestioned ability.
ROBERT FRANKLIN WALKER, SAINT LOUIS.
R OBERT FRANKLIN WALKER, ex-Attorney General of the State of Missouri, was
born at Florence, Morgan County, Missouri, November 29, 1850. He is of mixed Scotch and Welsh stock, his paternal ancestors having left Scotland to settle in Virginia at a very early day. From that State his paternal grandparents, emigrated to Ohio about 1810, thence inoving still westward to Missouri in 1837. Mr. Walker's maternal grand- parents came direct from Wales and located in Ohio about 1805. In Delaware County, Ohio, both his parents (Belford S. Walker and Abigail L. Walker, nee Evans), were born, but came to Missouri with their respective parents in early youth. Belford S. Walker became a leading and influential citizen of Morgan County, and was one of its county officers for a number of terms. Both parents are now dead. They and their parents before them were plain, sturdy and pious people and contributed an honorable share in inore primitive days to the State's upbuilding and progress.
After the usual preparatory scholastic training, Mr. Walker entered the State Univer- sity at Columbia, Missouri, graduating therefrom in June, 1873. He taught country schools prior to entering the University and also while pursuing his studies. After graduation he entered the law department of the University, and pursued his studies until he received his diploma therefrom. Next he returned to Versailles, the county seat of Morgan County, and actuated by the purpose to become thoroughly proficient in the law, he took a post- graduate course of reading in the office of Hon. James P. Ross, one of the ablest lawyers of that section of the State. After being regularly admitted, the young lawyer went to
338
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
Texas, practicing his profession in Young County for the space of a year or more; however, lie became convinced that no State equaled that of his nativity, and he accordingly returned to Missouri early in 1876.
The people of Morgan County welcomed his return by electing him, in the following November, to the office of Prosecuting Attorney. That he made a inost acceptable official and served the people with fidelity is demonstrated by the fact that they three times re-elected liin. Such was the diligence he displayed in the discharge of the duties of pub- lic prosecutor, that he could probably have held thic office indefinitely ; but he had higher aspirations and therefore declined further honors of this kind. In 1885 his hopes were realized in his appointment to the office of Assistant Attorney General of Missouri, Hon. Banton G. Boone, being the incumbent Attorney General. Just at the close of his official terni, the Statutory Commission of 1889 was created by the General Assembly for the pur- pose of revising the Missouri Statutes. Statutory Revision was a subject to which Mr. Walker had devoted much time and study, and on account of his familiarity with Missouri law, he and W. A. Rothwell, of Moberly, Missouri, were appointed by the Commission to assist it in its labors. How well they performed their parts is best ascertained by reference to the preface to the Statutes of Missouri of 1889, in which the Chairman of the Commis- sion, the late Senator S. C. Major, commends them for their valuable assistance.
After the completion of the revision of 1889, Mr. Walker again engaged in the general practice until November, 1892, when he was elected as Attorney General to preside over the office in which he had acted as assistant. Aided by the practical training and knowl- edge of the details of the office he had obtained while assistant, he brought to the discharge of his duties an ability equal to that of any of the distinguished men who have ever occu- pied the position. Thus equipped it is not singular that he gave the State a generally sat- isfactory administration. On the expiration of his teri, January 11, 1897, lie removed to St. Louis, and opened law offices, forming a partnership with his former official assistant, Morton Jourdan, an association that still continues.
Socially, Mr. Walker is genial, popular and has hosts of friends. He is a member of the Baptist Church, stands well in Masonic circles, and is likewise a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Legion of Honor. He is a lawyer of ability, a gentleman of liberal culture, who reads and thinks above even the high level of his professional work, and the responsible offices lie has occupied is evidence of the confidence in which lie is lield by his fellow-men.
Mr. Walker has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Nannie A. Wright, of Fayctte, Missouri, to whom he was wedded September 20, 1877. Mrs. Walker died November 24, 1892, at Jefferson City, leaving two children to the care of the bereaved fatlıcr- Katlıerinc, aged fifteen, and Leland, aged cleven. September 28, 1895, Mr. Walker was married to Mrs. Geneva C. Percy, of Brooklyn, New York.
JAMES HENRY WHITECOTTON,
PARIS.
JAMES HENRY WHITECOTTON, of Paris, bears a name that is invested with an lionorable prestige in the legal and political history of Northeast Missouri. By thic paternal branch of his genealogical tree, Mr. Whitecotton is of French Huguenot extrac- tion. Intense lovers of religious and political liberty as they were, his ancestors, when
339
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
driven fortlı from France by intolerant persecution, naturally chose that one of the Amer- ican colonies of Britain, which although nominally an appannage of the English crown, had never given any but the scantest obedience to any element of foreign government, and was really free and independent. Reference is here inade to South Carolina, which from the earliest times was the refuge of all those strong and independent men who could brook no tyranny and who held life without liberty as worthless. The Whitecottons set- tled in that State near the Georgia line, and from there spread into Kentucky, and from Kentucky to Missouri. When that great contest for human liberty, the American Revo- lution, was precipitated, all of the Whitecotton name who could pass muster, shouldered their flint-locks and marched away to give courageous support to the cause, and it is a notable fact, that Mr. Whitecotton's maternal ancestors were also patriot soldiers in that struggle.
Our subject is the son of George A. Whitecotton and Mary Zerelda Paulding, his wife. George A. Whitecotton, the father, was a son of James Whitecotton, was a native of Ken . tucky, and came to Missouri with his father's family in 1835 and settled in Marion County. Years later he wooed and won Mary Zerelda Paulding, who was likewise a native of Ken- tucky, but who came to Missouri with her parents at an earlier date even that the White- cottons, as her parents settled in Ralls County in 1829. The mother was a granddaughter of Jolin Paulding, immortalized as an actor in one of the Republic's historical events, being one of the three young men who captured Major Andre.
Of the nine sons born to this couple, four became lawyers. James H. was the eldest son, and was born on a farm in Ralls County, June 9, 1854. The instruction of James H. was begun in the district school near his home, from where he progressed to Ren- saeller Academy, a locally famous institution of Ralls County a generation ago. Next lie took a thorough course at the State Normal at Kirksville, and then entering the law department of the State University, graduated in 1886. The attendance at the University Law School was somewhat in the nature of a post-graduate course, as lie had posted ahead of regular events, and by hard study had so far become proficient in the law that he was able to pass the prescribed examination, and was admitted to the bar in Worth County, April 27, 1881. In September following his graduation in June, 1886, he located at Paris, in Monroe County, where he has lived and labored ever since.
Though he has been in professional life little more than a decade, he enjoys a practice to-day that is the envy of many attorneys of larger experience. After locating at Paris, his brilliancy and evident ability were excellent passports to the favor of that people, and he inay be said to have at once sprung into a good practice. In 1888 the people elected him Prosecuting Attorney of Monroe County, and again in 1890 as his own successor. His official record is a good one, and tells in the most emphatic terms of the zeal and ability he brought to bear in the administration of the affairs of his office. During the four years he served the people as public prosecutor, of the numerous cases in which he appeared, he had but one that resulted in an acquittal in the Circuit Court, and of the various informations and indictments brought by him, he never had one that was either quashed or hield to be defective. In 1896 lie was elected to represent Monroe County in the Legislature, and by the members of the Thirty-ninth General Assembly was accorded a high position for a new member, being elected Chairman of the Special Steering Committee of the majority party, and left the impress of his individuality on much of the important legislation of that session.
340
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
Mr. Whitecotton is a fluent public speaker. He knows the strength of plain, simple logic and fact, and can employ them to the best advantage. When he has all the facts and right on his side, he presents them with vigor and boldness, and when his case lias elements of weakness, he employs his powers of persuasion with all the effectiveness of which he is master. He has admirable good judgment in adapting himself to conditions and circumstances, and thus as a campaign orator he is no less powerful and happy in his power of adaptation than in the court room. Although despite his youth, and the fact that he has achieved a position as one of the first lawyers of his part of the State, his eareer may be considered as only begun. He has made a splendid reputation as a criminal lawyer, and while he appears in almost every important ease of that nature in Northeast Missouri, the bulk of his practice is eivil. At this time he is attorney for the Burlington Railroad in Monroe County. As may be gathered from the foregoing reference to his career in the Legislature, he is a Democrat, and one, too, of the deepest convictions. He is a Knight of Pythias, and holds a membership in the lodge where he joined, at Stoutsville, Missouri.
Mr. Whitecotton has a most interesting family, consisting of a wife, two daughters and two sons. The names of the children are: Daisy M., sixteen years old; Tilden, fourteen ; Bessie, nine; and James H., six. The wife and mother was Miss Zora A. Wilson, an accomplished lady of Gentry County. She is a daughter of Dr. Andrew Wilson, who dur- ing his lifetime was a resident of Daviess County. Mr. and Mrs. Whitecotton were mar- ried May 18, 1879.
JOHN ALLOWAY WHITESIDE,
KAHOKA.
THE ancestry of John Alloway Whiteside can be traced to Kentucky, Ireland and Scot- T land, which in a measure accounts for the eloquence, integrity and enterprise found in his character as a lawyer and a citizen. He was born and raised, like many another Missouri lawyer, on a farm. He is a Missourian and hails Lincoln as the county of his nativity, having first seen the light near the little village of New Hope in that county. His father, Isaac Whiteside, who was also a native of Lincoln County, Missouri, was one of the most progressive spirits in his community, and came of good stock, being a son of William Whiteside, who was a Kentuckian born and bred, and of Irish extraction. William Whiteside died in Lincoln County in 1894 at the venerable age of ninety years. The mother of the present Mr. Whiteside was Mary E. Alloway, her marriage to the father occurring in Lincoln County, Missouri, February 22, 1854. She was a native of Kentucky and a daughter of Jolin Alloway, after whom the subject of this memoir was named at baptism. Jolin Alloway was a Kentuckian by birth, and of Scotch descent, his death occurring in Lincoln County, Missouri, in 1851. Six children, three sons and three daughters, resulted from the union of Isaac Whiteside and Mary Alloway Whiteside, Jolın A. being the second child and second son.
After a thorough rudimentary training in the common schools of Lincoln County he pursued his studies at the Lonisiana Baptist College, in Louisiana, Missouri. He com- pleted his course at this college in 1878. There was an interval between the time he left the common school and the time he entered the Baptist College, which he filled by teaching school in Lincoln County. After quitting college the pedagogic spirit asserted
341
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
itself again, and he once more taught school. Then he studied law in the office of Judge Elijah Robinson and E. T. Smith, a prominent legal firm in Bowling Green, Missouri, Judge Robinson's fame as a jurist being one of which his State is proud. Completing his readings the young aspirant was admitted to practice in 1881, at the September term of the Pike County Circuit Court by Judge Elijah Robinson. He began the practice of law at Kahoka, Clark County, in March, 1882, and as an instance of his legal ability it would be well to mention here that he has been enrolled a member of the bar of the United States District Court and the Supreme Court of the United States, the latter high priv- ilege being granted in December, 1893. He is still in practice at Kahoka.
From the general public's point of view, Mr. Whiteside is a successful man on account of the largeness of his practice, but he naturally takes more pride in his ability, which is undoubted, than in his success. Eloquence inay be spoken of as one of Mr. Whiteside's distinguished characteristics as a lawyer, his native capacity for forsenic utterances being illustrated in the fact that he does not prepare his speeches, but delivers them extempo- raneously. He does not even seek the aid of making notes, and as an extemporaneous speaker he is recognized as among the best in Northeast Missouri, his best efforts having been made on the impulse of the moment.
He served two terms as Prosecuting Attorney of Clark County, from 1891 to 1895, and acquitted himself with an ability which redounded with credit to himself and with benefit to the county. In this position he exhibited the traits of which one becomes possessed who has not only learned himself, but has taught others. That is to say, he has learned to combine humanity with wisdom and mercy with justice. In the case of Clark County versus the Keokuk & Western Railway Company, which involved $300,000, due to Clark, Scot- land and Schuyler Counties, he was counsel for Clark County, and the cause was carried to the Supreme Court of the United States.
He is an Odd Fellow, belonging to the Kahoka Lodge, and is also a Knight of Pythias, being a member of Kahoka Lodge, No. 198, of which body he was the first Chancellor Commander. He is a leading member of Hiram Lodge, No. 362, A. F. and A. M., and also belongs to the Memphis (Missouri) Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons. His brethren in Masonry have appreciated him to the extent of making him hold the chairs of Senior Warden and Worshipful Master. Born and raised a Democrat, he has constantly advocated the tenets of his party, and so broadly and wisely that his observant neighbors, who are always on the lookout for a good man politically, have frequently urged him to become a candidate for Congress.
He was married May 20, 1896, at Napton, Saline County, Missouri, in the Baptist Church, to Miss Ida C. Lawless, the daughter of T. R. Lawless, one of the best known farmers and stock-raisers of Saline County. They have one child, a daughter, Elizabeth Mary, who was born June 30, 1897.
JOHN GABRIEL WOERNER, SAINT LOUIS.
JUDGE JOHN GABRIEL WOERNER, distinguished jurist, writer and scholar, has had a varied and interesting career. Born at Moehringen, Stuttgart, Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, April 28, 1826, seventy-two years ago, his parents came to Amer- ica in June, 1833, when he was seven years old, and settled at Philadelphia. In 1837 they
342
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
imoved to St. Louis and in that city the son acquired his education at the common schools. He became proficient in both the English and German languages, and made the beginning of that course of study and investigation which, though he has passed David's allotted period of life, he still continues.
In 1841, being then in his sixteenth year, he went to Springfield, Missouri, where he entered a store as clerk, and a year later went to Waynesville, Missouri, where for two years he followed a like vocation. Returning then to St. Louis he entered the office of the German Tribune, to learn the printer's trade, serving successively as devil, pressman, compositor and foreman, and acquiring a fund of practical information which he does not consider the least valuable part of his education. He was still working in the Tribune office when the Revolution of 1848 broke out in Germany. The young printer sympathized with this bold stroke for liberty, and being desirous of returning to his native land, he made arrangements whereby he went to the seat of war as the correspondent of the New York Herald and the German Tribune. After spending two years abroad he returned to St. Louis and took editorial charge of the paper on which he had begun as devil. In a short time he purchased the paper outright, changed its political color from Whig to Inde- pendent, and then to Democratic. As such it supported, in his memorable campaign, the great statesman, Benton, whom the young editor warmly admired. In 1852 young Woerner sold the paper to a syndicate, ran a job printing office for a while, and then entered the office of C. C. Simmons. He there studied law and was admitted to the bar by Judge Alexander Hamilton, in 1855.
While fitting himself for his profession, he was appointed Clerk of the Recorder's (Police) Court, and this may be considered his first public position. He served two years and was next elected Clerk of the Board of Aldermen. In 1857 he was elected City Attorney, re-elected in 1858, in 1860 was elected for a term of two years a member of the City Council, and in 1862 was elected as his own successor. In the same year (1862) he was elected to the Missouri Senate, and on the expiration of his term in 1866 was returned to the Senate for another four years' terin. In 1870 he was elected Judge of tlie Probate Court of St. Louis, and held the office continuously until 1896, being elected thereto six times. It will thus be seen that froin the time he began the study of law until near the present day-a period of forty years-he has been almost continuously in the public service.
The "Law of Administration," as it is called, has been his life study. As a conse- quence he has reached a position of commanding knowledge in that department, and his opinions on all probate matters arc accepted without question. In fact, he is considered one of the highest authorities and is accorded the high respect such great achievements deserve. He is known as a jurist rather than as a practitioner, but the experience gathered from the occupancy of the Probate Bench for a quarter of a century and thic knowledge obtained from diligent study of such questions for an equal lengtli of time, give him an advantage possessed by no other before the Probate Court. He is the author of a book known as "The American Law of Administration," which is received as an absolute author- ity among members of the profession in Missouri, as well as throughout the country. Under the same title he has contributed an article to this work, which will be found of interest to the layman as well as the professional.
For years Judge Wocrner has been a contributor both to the standard law journals and the general press. He has also made excursions into the realms of fiction, and of the
٥
J. G. Woerner.
343
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
drama. In 1850 he wrote a serial in German, entitled "Die Sklavin," which was pub- lished in the German Tribune and afterward in book forin. Under the same title, but with different plot and action, he wrote a play which achieved success on the German stage.
The Judge is a gentleman of metaphysical and philosophical bent of mind, and was one of the founders and promoters of the Philosophical Society of St. Louis. Though he has held public office so long, it was not by power of the arts of the politician, but by a general recognition of his merit, probity and ability that he achieved such honors. Though he has never mingled much with the masses, being too strongly inclined to spend every spare moment with his books, he still has always maintained an active sympathy with the people, and is a man of generous and humanitarian instincts.
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.