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 56
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the opposing party, then it came with tremendous power. He argued his case from the standpoint of common sense.
One great reason of his power was his intimate acquaintance with mien. When out of the court house he was usually the center of a group of earnest listeners, and as his fund of anecdote was full, he seldom failed to interest his audience with the incidents and reminiscences of the early days of Missouri. His illustrations were apt and always to the point. His interest in his client's cause seemed to overtop every other consideration, so that sometimes he would unnecessarily overstep the bounds of prudence in his conduct toward the presiding Judge.
I witnessed an instance of this forgetfulness at the Circuit Court in Chariton County. General Clark was pressing a point of law before Judge James A. Clark, his brother. He had persistently risen at different times to urge a point on which he had been overruled. He was so persistent, indeed, that the Judge made an order fining him twenty-five dol- lars for contempt of court. This only added fuel to his vexation, which soon grew to hot anger. He jumped to his feet to again press his point and just as he turned to take his seat his brother spoke from the bench with a loud tone-" General Clark! Sit down!" With a sudden start he raised himself to an erect posture, and looking his brother full in the face, said: "You can fine me, but you have no right to order mnie to be seated. I will stand as long as I please." He thereupon carried his determination into effect, standing erect and looking at his brother. The latter peremptorily ordered the Sheriff to take Gen- eral Clark to jail for contempt of court, and General Clark, as the Sheriff appeared, said, "I yield to the law, as you have the power." He then followed the Sheriff out of the court house and the whole crowd followed, leaving only the Judge and Clerk in the room. I stood in the door and saw the crowd surrounding the Sheriff and the prisoner; many declared he should not go to jail. The General tried to abate the strong sympathy of his partisans and urged the crowd to be calin, that he was obedient to law and would peaceably submit. Then old Dr. Price, of Brunswick, rushed by me in the door, ascended the bench and had a few minutes' hasty conversation with the Judge, who sent the Clerk to ask the Sheriff to stay the order and adjourn court.
On the following morning one of the most touching scenes I ever witnessed occurred. Gen. B. F. Stringfellow addressed the Court in words of apology for General Clark, who then arose to state how his intense interest in his client's cause had caused him to step beyond the limits of prudence. He apologized to the Court, and with tears streaming down his face, took his seat and the great crowd that had assembled wept, the Judge wept, rescinded both orders and peace was restored. Is it any wonder that such a man was pow- erful before a jury ?
In the early days in Missouri nearly every lawyer was a politician. Gen. John B. Clark was no exception to this rule. In the early division of parties in this State, he was a Whig, and it was while a candidate for Governor on the Whig ticket that he had the con- troversy with Claiborne F. Jackson, which resulted in the General challenging Mr. Jackson to fight a duel. Jackson as the challenged party picked the place near Fayette and close rifles at sixty paces. Mr. Leonard, who was General Clark's second, refused to permit General Clark to consent to this arrangement because the law of this State severely pun- ished both principals and seconds for figliting a duel within its borders. General Clark held a commission in the Black Hawk Indian War, as well as in the Morinon War. When
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defeated in his political aspirations, General Clark used to say that although unsuccessful, he had the consolation of making his political opponents "roost lower."
General Clark was born in Estelle County, Kentucky, April 8, 1802, caine to Howard County, Missouri, in 1817, came to Fayette in 1823, and was licensed to practice law in 1824 and died in Fayette in October, 1885.
Peyton R. Hayden .- Peyton R. Hayden, to whom allusion has been made, was a most remarkable man. He possessed such a power of invective that when clients wanted an aggressive opponent rather than an advocate, Mr. Hayden was sure to be employed. He was a lawyer above the average and was well versed in the elementary works. He never would give a title to any of his brother lawyers. In the great political contest of 1840, a great many bets at large odds were made between the Whigs and Democrats and after the election many Democrats in Howard County refused to pay promissory notes put up on the result of the election. Mr. Hayden was employed to prosecute. Mr. Belt, a young Democratic lawyer, pleaded the general issue and attempted to plead the gambling act under that issue, to avoid putting on record the fact of the bet. I have never witnessed such invective and abuse at the hands of any man as that poured upon the heads of the men who attempted repudiation.
Mr. Hayden's integrity was unquestioned and I must relate a bit of his advice to me in the beginning of my career. He said, "young man, let me give you some advice. Do not under any circumstances ever use the money of any client that may be placed in your charge." I, being inexperienced, asked if it was common for lawyers to follow such a course. He replied that it was only too frequently done and said the custom was full of temptation and likely to lead to dangerous embarrassments.
His literary acquirements were not great. I remember an instance, in Saline County, when a young man named Field, then a resident of Lexington, afterwards of St. Louis, was entertaining some of us young lawyers by quotations from the poets. He turned to Mr. Hayden, saying, "Mr. Hayden, what do you think of Byron's 'Childe Harold?'" Mr. Hayden replied, "Egad, sir, I did not know Byron had a child Harold."
Mr. Hayden was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, February 8, 1796. He was licensed to practice law in Kentucky by Judge Jolın Tremble and Benjamin Jolinson. Locating in old Franklin iu 1818, he taught school, removed to Boonville and died there December 26, 1855.
Among the frequent visitors to the bar of Howard County from Columbia, Boone County, were St. Clair Kirtly, James S. Rollins, John Gordon and James M. Gordon, wlio was Circuit Attorney. St. Clair Kirtly was regarded the most amiable member of the pro- fession.
James S. Rollins. The first time I ever saw James S. Rollins was when he defended Chapman, indicted for murder. He was convicted on circumstantial evidence, alone. Major Rollins' appeal to the jury surpassed, in my youthful opinion, anything I ever heard. His impassioned address still lingers in my memory. In the closing part of his speech he endeavored to impress on the jury the result of a conviction on circumstantial evidence, when in the future time it might become apparent that the prisoner was innocent. " Gentle- men," he said, "you may destroy the life of thic sprig of growing green, but alas, no power on earth can restore life to the withiered plant."
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James M. Gordon,-James M. Gordon was recognized as one of the best prosecutors in the State. I know little of his brother John, never having seen him but once.
Charles H. Hardin .- Charles H. Hardin, of Callaway, served as Prosecuting Attorney after Gordon. His earnestness and integrity of character inade him a successful pros- ecutor. He was afterwards Governor of Missouri.
John Wilson .- John Wilson, another lawyer resident of Fayette, became prominent as a dealer in Spanish and New Madrid claims. While he was a diffuse pleader, and I have heard it remarked that in many cases his pleading was ncither sequent or connected, yet before he was through, all necessary points and facts were incorporated.
It was this same man who wrote me the letter copied into Switzler's "History of Missouri," in reference to slavery in Missouri, page 222, and I should here, perhaps, acknowledge my indebtedness to Colonel Switzler and his excellent history for some facts connected with the early settlement of Howard County.
Joseph Davis. Another lawyer who achieved prominence in Central Missouri was Col. Joseph Davis. Emphatically a self-made man, without the opportunity to acquire an extended education, he was yet so persistent and studious that he became one of the most successful lawyers in that section of early civilization. He was not only a successful law- yer, but one of the best farmers in the county. He prided himself on this last acquirement and it is related of him that in passing by the home of Mr. Leonard, he twitted the foreman of the latter (a colored man), for permitting his corn to become so grassy. "Huh, Mastah Joe, " the black man said, "We makes ouh livin' by de law and not by fahmin'." The cloud on the life of Colonel Davis was that he felt it necessary to take the life of Colonel Owen in self-defense.
Colonel Davis was born in Chester County, Kentucky, January 14, 1804, came to Mis- souri when eight years old, settled in the vicinity of Fayette, and died October 7, 1871.
William B. Napton. Howard County claims another distinguished jurist, whose pro- fessional character was first forined within her borders-Judge William B. Napton, who first became prominent as the editor of the Boonslick Democrat (not the Boonslick Gazette, as stated in the committee's report copied into 76 Missouri Reports). I have a copy of the paper before me, dated August 23, 1836. Col. J. O. Broadhead will, perhaps, deal witli this distinguished jurist in his account of the Judges of the Supreme Court, but I consider it meet and proper that I make this allusion to one who who commenced liis professional career in Howard County, and has stamped the impress of his judicial mind so indeliby on the judiciary of the State.
James H. Birch .- Col. James H. Birch, another lawyer, but rather more of a poli -. tician, first commenced life's history in Howard County. As a boy I remember him as one of the most eloquent men I ever heard. He was afterwards Judge of the Supreme Court and wrote the first opinion on that subject and the one which settled the law with regard to the manner of calculating interest in this State.
Washington Adams. I come now to speak of those of my contemporary associates at the bar who have passed away. The one who was pre-eminently and entirely a lawyer, was Washington Adams, of Boonville, a brother-in-law of Peyton R. Hayden. He was after- wards Supreme Judge, and will have a fitting notice, no doubt, from Colonel Broadhead. He was a man very much in earnest and without a particle of humor in his composition.
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J. D. Draffin. Another, J. D. Draffin, of Boonville, whom we familiarly called "Duke," lived near Boonville in Cooper County. Without being a brilliant speaker, he was always considered a safe adviser and a good lawyer.
Joseph L. Stephens. I now come to speak of Joseph L. Stephens, whom I first knew as the partner of George G. Vest. He soon quit the active practice and devoted himself to banking. He was one of the most successful bankers in the State, and is the father of the present Governor of Missouri.
John G. Miller .- John G. Miller, of Boonville, who with a lawyer named Stewart, com- posed the firm of Miller & Stewart, was a brilliant speaker and one of the best advocates in Central Missouri, while his partner was regarded as one of the most skillful pleaders in that part of the State. Miller was subsequently elected to Congress and seldom appeared at the bar afterwards. Benjamin Tompkins was also a good lawyer, but was, I think, elected a Probate Judge and thus was lost sight of as a practitioner of law.
Robert T. Prewitt. Of the Howard County bar, Robert T. Prewitt was pre-eminently one of the ablest of my contemporaries who have passed away. Beginning the practice right under the shadow of the influence of Judge Abiel Leonard, who seemed to impress his individ- uality upon all young men with whom he came in contact, it is not strange that R. T. Prewitt became one of the leading lawyers in Central Missouri. I considered it always a high privilege to hold converse with him on abstruse propositions of law.
A few years before his death I traveled with him and John V. Turner from Keytesville to Glasgow, in the month of November. Riding along the road, the fading leaves were falling in our patlıway, the sun was just sinking below the western horizon- a pensive and silent hour. We were riding slowly, conversation had in a measure subsided, when Mr. Prewitt began and repeated with great pathos and effect the whole of Bryant's "Than- atopsis," and now, after these many years, I recall this incident and feel that thus my friend fully realized in his death the last lines of this beautiful poem :
"So live, that *
*
* * *
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night, Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave Like one that draws the drapery of his couch About him and lies down to pleasant dreams."
And now as memory recalls these beautiful lines as they fell in that silent hour from the lips of my friend, it seems to me that lie was reciting his own epitapli.
Mr. Prewitt was at one time the most successful Circuit Attorney in the State. He was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, August 1, 1818, and came to Missouri while quite a boy, and died on his farm near Fayette, September 16, 1873.
John V. Turner. Jolın V. Turner, to whom allusion is made, also located first at Kcytesville, Missouri, and then at Glasgow. He was emphatically a student, and lie mastered all the law that was applicable to the case. He was as timid as a woman, and this timidity was often an obstacle to success.
William Davis .- William Davis studied law in Fayette and commenced practice in Keytesville, Chariton County, and deserves mention first among thie Chariton County law- yers as one of the most studious and painstaking practitioners at the bar. A brilliant career was cut short by his untimely death in early life.
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Samuel C. Major. Among my contemporaries none ranked higher as a criminal lawyer than Samuel C. Major. Others will doubtless do justice to the character of this remark- able lawyer, but I can not forbear giving this notice of one who, though much younger than myself, treated me uniformly with so much courtesy, while others felt the keenness of his satire. For some reason I never had occasion to feel the temper of his Damascus blade.
When aroused he was absolutely overwhelming in anathema. I did not always write very legibly, and one of his colleagues in a suit asked him what a certain word was in my pleading. He asked, "what ought it to be?" His colleague said it ought to be so and so. He said, "then it is so and so; go and answer."
I can not give a better epitome of his character than is embodied in the resolutions of the bar on the occasion of his death, reported by myself:
"Death has again invaded our ranks. As we enter the Temple of Justice, no more will we greet the genial face and friendly smile of our lost friend, Samuel C. Major. It is with no ordinary emotion your committee contribute humble testimony to the character of our departed friend and brother. Men ordinarily judge their fellow-inen from outward appearances. True manliood can only know men from intimate association; it is only as we enter into the inner recesses of the heart (often a sealed book to the ordinary observer) that we forin a right estimate of character. That our brother had faults, none will deny, but true friendship requires that the mantle of charity be thrown around his faults, while we exalt his merits. For, 'How full of dread, how full of hope cometh inevitable death. Of dread, for all have sinned; of hope, for One hatlı saved. The dread is drowned in glory, the hope is filled with immortality.' Perhaps none of us have escaped, in the heat of the contests in the courts, the power of invective as the coininanding form with the force of a tornado overwhelmed his opponents. But, oh, how inuch oftener have we in the social circle been entranced by the genial smile and winsome inanners that made him the central figure among his friends. It is only those who have been intimately connected with him in the practice of his profession that can forni a truc estimate of his ability as a lawyer or his true worth as a man. No more shall we hear that clarion voice as it pleaded for mercy for his client (for liis instincts were ever on the side of mercy), but now our friend himself stands before another bar, before which we must all sooner or later stand. 'For men and angels, good and ill, have rendered all this witness.' The trial is over, the jury arc gone in and none can now be heard; well are they agreed; it is the verdict; it is just and fixed and final."
This remarkable man was born in Fayette, Howard County, on November 24, 1840, was the first graduate of Central College, admitted to the bar in 1860, married Lou Talbot in 1866, died April 12, 1894, having had seven children, of whom Samuel C., a son and namesake, is now a member of the bar of Howard County.
Saline County did not boast of many resident attorneys, as the county seat was migra- tory. The first judicial seat was old Jefferson, then Jonesborough, then Arrow Rock, and lastly Marshall, the present county seat. A man named McNutt was the first local attorney, and he mingled agriculture with the law, residing on a farm. He was a fine speaker, soon entered politics and was lost sight of as a lawyer.
Ramage and Bryant .- Lewis Ramage and John W. Bryant next enter upon the scene. The first removed from Saline County soon afterwards, and the last died a few years ago, at an advanced age. He was a prominent lawyer while engaged in active practice and as a speaker ranked above the average.
Thomas W. B. Crews .- Thomas W. B. Crews commenced a brilliant career, but soon removed to Franklin County, where he married, and gained a fine reputation as a lawyer.
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William D. Muer .- William D. Muer, of Boonville, will ever be remembered as a genial, pure-spirited lawyer, who died in the prime of manhood, having earned a fair rep- utation and promised to become one of the most successful lawyers in Central Missouri, though for a time he practiced in St. Louis.
John F. Williams .- John F. Williams, whose career commenced in Howard County, de- serves a notice here. He was a Prosecuting Attorney of the circuit, but early in the begin- ning of a long and successful career he moved to Macon County and will doubtless be included in the records of Northeast Missouri.
THE BENCH OF CENTRAL MISSOURI.
I have purposely left for the conclusion of this article a notice of the Circuit Judges in Central Missouri, and purpose here to give my impressions of them as men and as Judges. The first Judge, David Todd, was noticed in the beginning of this article as the victim of political animosity.
William Scott .- The first Judge whom I remember in Saline County was Judge William Scott. He was holding court at Jonesborough in an upper room of a small house, whose location was pointed out to me a short time since. Jonesborough occupied very nearly the present site of Napton. Judge Scott was regarded as a fine Judge and his subsequent elec- tion to the Supreme Bench gave him occasion to verify the opinion formed of him as a Circuit Judge.
W. B. Morrow. The next Judge of Saline County was W. B. Morrow, who had read law before he came to Missouri, but never practiced before his appointment as Circuit Judge. As Saline was soon attached to another circuit, I knew little of him as a Circuit Judge.
Judge Henderson Young, who lived in Lexington, succeeded Judge Morrow, as Saline was included in the same circuit as Lafayette County. I knew little of him as a lawyer or Judge, but I think he was regarded as a jurist of accomplishments.
John F. Ryland .- John F. Ryland was Circuit Judge a short time before his elevation to the Supreme Bench. I remember him as a Judge of great suavity of manner, and while he was deciding against you, made you feel that he did so with regret.
Russell Hicks. I have come to notice the most remarkable man who ever sat on the Circuit Bench - Russell Hicks-a man, by birth an Irishman, who, when he first came to Saline County worked as a common laborer in digging ditches around turf fences, then very common for want of rails. He studied law and practiced in Independence, and afterward lived on a farm in Jackson County.
His appearance was singular. He had red hair which he colored black, a large head, and usually shaved his temples and forehead, and when the red bristles stood out when the shaving process had been neglected for a few weeks, he presented a savage appearance. Wlien on the benchi lie presented such an impassive countenance that none ever knew where his sympathies had been enlisted; if at all.
I remember once in trying a murder case before him. I was of the defense, and my client was acquitted. The Judge told me as we walked to our boarding place that he would have set the verdict aside if iny client had been convicted. He was a fine lawyer, but I lieard him reprove a young lawyer for attempting to read Blackstone before him, as author- ity. He was a bachelor and had little regard for the amenities of polite society. I remein- ber rooming with him during court and our room had curtains in it. He wished the light .
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to shave by, and tying up the curtains in a knot, remarked that he never could see the sense of people building houses and putting in windows for light, and then stopping out the light with curtains.
Just before the war he was holding court in Saline County, and while he was trying a criminal for an assault on a woman, a mob entered the court house and took the prisoner from the Sheriff, likewise took two other prisoners from the jail, and lynched them in a grove near by. He followed the mob, calling on the Sheriff to summon a posse to protect the prisoner, but all in vain. After dinner he arose in his seat and adjourned court, declaring he would never hold court in Saline County again. He resigned soon afterwards, and returned to his farm, where he was continually annoyed by Kansas Jayhawkers, who robbed him of all his money and personal property. The excuse urged for taking his money was that it had the name of Claib F. Jackson upon it, alleging that the name mnade the bills a proper subject of confiscation.
I afterwards met him in St. Louis in 1864; found him living in a small upper room, where he slept, cooking his own meals. He said he was so straitened in his finances that he lived on ten cents a day. Here he read novels and played chess with friends who would call. After the war he returned to the farm, where he soon after died.
William T. Wood .- Judge William T. Wood succeeded Judge Hicks, but when he was a candidate after serving a term, he secured a majority of the votes, but was counted out, and Judge Townsly seated in his stead. Townsly was a stranger in Missouri and had no familiarity with our laws, but he was a man of good sense and was beginning to make a fair Judge, when Judge Wood instituted proceedings to oust him, which was done and Judge Wood took the bench again. Judge Wood was now getting well along in years, but none could ever say that he was other than a zealous, just and upright Judge. His long practice in Missouri had made him familiar with her laws, and his knowledge was of the higliest value to him in the administration of justice.
A scene once occurred in his court that is indelibly impressed upon my memory. William T. Kelly, a lawyer of strong prejudice, of the Calhoun school of politics, was suing to set aside a sale of his lands, made during the war. I was acting as one of his attorneys and was sitting beside him. The opposing counsel was making severe strictures against him for waiting too long before bringing suit. The old man was deeply moved, so deeply, in fact, that he slid down from his chair and died in a few moments. Judge Wood was so greatly affected that he adjourned court and the case was afterwards removed from his court.
Judge Wood was defeated in a nominating convention by John P. Strother, who held the office a few years and resigned, I believe, and soon after removed to California. Judge Strother was regarded as a good Judge and a good lawyer. He was succeeded by the pres- ent incumbent, Richard Field, whose fearlessness and impartiality in making his decisions, coupled with his studious habits, is causing him to be regarded as a model Judge.
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