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 86
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
THOMAS SHACKELFORD,
GLASGOW.
THE name Shackelford is inseparably linked with the legal and public affairs of that T section of the State known as Central Missouri, and such connection is just and proper, for no family has contributed more to its progress and civilization than this. One of the most distinguished contemporary representatives of the name in Missouri is Thomas Shackelford, of Glasgow, than whom there is none more interesting as a man or more able and successful as a lawyer. He lias rounded out three-quarters of a century of life,
608
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
and yet he can boast that he is a native of the State in which he has lived so long and which he loves so well. Very few indeed are the lawyers of Missouri who, like him, must traverse back the long stretch of fifty-five years to reach the date of their admission to the bar. He is one of the few "grand old men" of the Missouri bar, held in the highest esteem of all who know him, and respected and venerated by the younger members of his profession, and his honored old age is the reward of a useful and upright life. He is a most likable and interesting personality. Having such an ex- tended career, le has a fund of fact and history to draw on that is practically inex- haustible, and having been a close and intelligent observer during his long life, to hear him talk is always both entertaining and instructive. Nor must it be concluded from the fact that he is seventy-six years of age and has practiced law for over half a cen- tury, that he is old, except in years; for his heart is as green as it ever was, his intel- lect as bright, and even his physical organization, builded by a life of temperance and right living, seems little touched by Time's heavy hand.
Thomas Shackelford was born on a farm near the town of Old Jefferson, Saline County, Missouri, February 6, 1822. The Shackelfords are of English origin, the family seat hav- ing been near the border of Wales in England. Thomas Shackelford, the father of our subject, was a native of Dumphries, Virginia, from where he went to Kentucky and became a partner of ex-Governor Metcalfe in the brick and stone-mason business, both Thomas Shackelford and ex-Governor Metcalfe being bricklayers by trade. The former impressed on the mind of all his children the high dignity of labor, and his son, whose sketch here appears, lias often been heard to say-" I am proud of my ancestors' calling and that they realized the fact that all honorable men must labor. I sometimes tell my children that I belong to the 'mudsill aristocracy.' "' In 1817 Thomas Shackelford was married at Nash- ville, Tennessee, to the mother of the subject of this memoir. She was born Eliza Chives Pulliam, she was a native of North Carolina and was of Huguenot extraction. The couple soon sought a home in Missouri, settling in Saline County, in 1820. Thomas Shackelford, senior, was one of the first County Judges of Saline County, and was one of the influential and leading citizens of the central part of the State. In 1835 he was called to St. Louis. It was his last earthly journey, as he caught the cholera, and lies buried in that city. His wife and helpmeet died in Saline County March 9, 1851.
Thomas Shackelford received his education in a private sehool at Fayette, Howard County, that was kept by Archibald Patterson, who founded at that town what is now known as Central College, one of the leading educational institutions of the State. He also studied law at Fayette, under the instruction of Judge Abiel Leonard, afterward Judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri, and one of that coterie of brilliant lawyers of the early days, whose memory the State cherishes. The young aspirant was admitted to practice at Fay- ette in 1842, and was at that time twenty years of age, there being no law then compelling legal neophytes to be twenty-one years old to obtain a license. He chose Glasgow, in Howard County, just across the Missouri River from his native county of Saline, as a loca- tion, and has lived and labored there ever since. During the long period of his residence there, his praetiee has been interrupted but once, and that for a year only during the trou- blons times of the war. During the period from 1861 to 1865 lie was a partner of Judge Washington Adams, afterwards Judge of the Supreme Court .*
. It may be of interest to the younger members of the profession to recall the fact that when Mr. Shackelford began practice, there were but eight volumes of Supreme Court Reports.
I Shackelford
609
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
Mr. Shackelford has been sent by his people to two State Constitutional Conventions, which, as is well known, were composed of the ablest and best men from all parts of the State. He represented Howard, Chariton and Randolph Counties in the Constitutional Convention of 1861, and was the representative of Howard, Randolph and Monroe Counties in the Convention which mnet at Jefferson City in 1875 and gave us our present Constitu- tion. In the Convention first named, his colleagues were Judge William A. Hall and Gen. Sterling Price. Prior to the war he was a Whig in politics, and on all the great questions that finally ended in bloodshed, was a thorough believer in the Union. After the war, he was in favor of a policy of conciliation toward the South, and thus it was, as one of the leaders of thought in his section, he was sent as a delegate to the Democratic Convention which co-operated with the "Claybank," or Liberal-Republican State Convention which met in 1870 and nominated B. Gratz Brown for Governor. Since then he has been a staunch Democrat, and although he has wielded a very marked influence in shaping the course of his party in this State and has an extended popularity, he has consistently refrained from ever asking the suffrage of the people for any office, though he has held honorary posi- tions too frequently to be enumerated. He has been a conspicuous figure in almost every State Convention since the war. He was an original silver man, was a delegate to the Pertle Springs Convention of 1896, and a delegate to the Sedalia Convention the same year and was Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions. He did his share toward mak- ing Missouri the leader of the States in a declaration for silver. It was he who inade among the first silver speeches ever delivered in Howard County.
Mr. Shackelford is very public spirited and has been a leader in many enterprises of a public or semi-public natitre. He assisted at the organization of the Glasgow Savings Bank, the oldest bank in that section of the State, having been in existence since 1872. He was the bank's first President and is still President. During the terrible panic of 1873, when so inany banks suspended, this bank weathered the storms safely and easily. Mr. Shackelford is one of the Directors of the Kansas City, St. Louis & Chicago Railroad, which is now leased and is the Kansas City division of the Chicago & Alton. For many years he has been the local attorney for a branch of the Wabash Railway. He is one of the oldest members of the Odd Fellow fraternity, and for a number of years has been the District Deputy.
June 17, 1851, Mr. Shackelford was inarried to Miss Sarah Elizabeth Harrison, daughter of John Harrison and Pemela Marr, his wife, both of Scotch derivation. The couple have three children, namely: Ida E., now the wife of Rev. C. C. Hemenway, Presi- dent of Pritchett College, Glasgow; Maud S., wife of James H. Denny, the present Prose- cuting Attorney of Howard County; and George Carlisle, who has just passed his twenty- first birthday.
DORSEY WILLIAM SHACKLEFORD, BOONVILLE.
T INDOUBTEDLY one of the most gifted sons produced by a family noted in Central Missouri for the virile characteristics and ability of its members, is Judge Dorsey William Shackleford. Though he is little past his fortieth year, he has achieved a reputa- tion as one of the most learned and accomplished lawyers of the Missouri bar, and now occupies the honorable and responsible position of Judge of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit.
610
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
Judge Shackleford was born August 27, 1853, on a farm near Sweet Springs, Saline County, Missouri, and is the son of William J. Shackleford and Amanda Harris, his wife. Both stems of his family tree are rooted deep in the soil of old Kentucky. William J. Shackleford was the son of Richard Shackleford, a son of William Shackleford, of Rich- 111011d, Kentucky. William J. Shackleford, the father of Judge Shackleford, was a native of Missouri, and thus it will be observed that the family as pioneers assisted in the foun- dation of two States. The father was married September 6, 1852, to Amanda Harris, likewise a native of Missouri, slie having been born at that flourishing town of early Mis- souri days, now known as old Franklin, and which was located in Howard County, just across the river from Boonville. Miss Harris was a daughter of Hezekiah Harris, an early settler of Central Missouri, who came to this State from Elizabethtown, Kentucky. She died in 1895, though her husband still lives.
Dorsey William, the eldest child of William J. and Amanda Shackleford, was educated in the common schools of Central Missouri, and from there entered the State Normal at Warrensburg. His education was completed at William Jewell College, at Liberty, Mis- souri. Like many of the men who afterward achieved distinction as members of the Mis- souri bar, Judge Shackleford in his youth taught school. It was by this means that he sustained himself while preparing for the bar, a profession he chose while he was yet a boy at school. Therefore, while acting as tutor in the daytime, he spent his evenings over his law books, and thus he was far advanced when he entered the office of Judge Richard Field, at Lexington, to complete his legal studies. He was there admitted to the bar by Judge William Wood in 1875, but it was not until 1879 that he opened an office at Boon- ville, where he has since resided and practiced.
The eighteen years of Judge Shackleford's professional career have been marked by inany triumphs- not sensational and conspicuous, but nevertheless important achievements because they constantly increased the fame and prestige of the young lawyer. He holds to the theory that one only of the most exceptional and versatile qualifications can succeed in both politics and law at the same time, and while he takes the interest of the good citi- zens in politics, he has chosen the law as the vocation best suited to his inclinations and talents. Therefore, he has only accepted honorary distinctions of his party, or those offices where his talent as a lawyer is demanded. At the beginning of his professional career, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Cooper County, and was only permitted to retire from the office when lie had served three terms. In 1892 he received the signal honor of an election to the Circuit Judgeship of the Fourteenth District, of which he is still incumbent, and will, perhaps, succeed himself.
Judge Shackleford is a Masou and a member of several fraternities of that order. He is a Democrat, and holds to his principles with the calin steadfastness of one who has reached his conclusions through earnest thoughit and close investigation. His party lion- ored him in 1896 when it made him an alternate delegate-at-large to the Democratic National Convention at Chicago.
December 7, 1887, Judge Shackleford married Miss Florida Hall, of Saline County, Missouri. She comes of that fine old family which has been so closely connected with the history and development of Central Missouri. Judge and Mrs. Shackleford have two briglit children, a boy and a girl, named respectively, Hall, aged 9, and Agnes, aged 7.
Judge Shackleford is to-day considered one of the most erudite lawyers of his part of the State, and has won no less honor as a Judge than lie achieved fame as a lawyer. He
611
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
is richly endowed with that judicial instinct which weighs the equities of a case, and his broad and deep knowledge of precedents and authorities enables him to also employ the measurement of the law in dealing with any proposition. He is a man of interesting per- sonality and his bearing cannot fail to impress one with his honesty and sincerity. His inclinations are scholarly, and he has read widely on a great variety of subjects, which has given him that liberality of mind which enables him to view life from many sides. He cultivates the higher amenities of existence and his aspirations are such as have raised man to his present position.
JOHN H. SHANKLIN,
TRENTON.
N influential and able member of the bar of the northern part of Missouri is Col. A John H. Shanklin, of Trenton. Colonel Shanklin is one who has risen by his own efforts and is in every respect a self-made inan. His early surroundings were those of most of the men who because of intellect, character and strength are the leaders of our day. He lived in the log house, ate the wholesome fare provided on the farm, and amidst the primni- tive, simple and honest people of a pioneer day, learned the lesson of self-reliance and the worth of good character and right living.
Colonel Shanklin was born November 2, 1824, in Monroe County, Virginia (now West Virginia), and there spent his boyhood days on his father's farm. The latter, Absalom Shanklin, was born in Botetort County, Virginia, and married Nancy Luster, a native of Campbell County, Virginia. To the couple were born six sons and four daughters, of whom John H. was the eighth child. The lad was educated in the log school house of that day, and notwithstanding that the terms were held only during the winter months, such limited opportunities inspired in the boy a great thirst for knowledge, which he attempted to satisfy by borrowing and reading all the books to be found within iniles of his home. He taught two terms of school during his minority, and the summer after he attained his majority, worked a farm "on shares" with a brother-in-law in an adjoining county. By this season's work, by close economy, he was able to pay his expenses to the West. Filled with the brilliant hopes to be realized in that land so pregnant of every possibility, he made the start from his ancestral home, March 4, 1846, and after many days of travel on foot, by steamboat, through land where no railroad had yet come, finally reached Platte County, Missouri. After spending a few days there and a week in Buchanan County, he arrived, April 10, 1846, at the little town of Trenton, Grundy County, which has been his home ever since.
During the summer of 1846 and the succeeding winter, he taught school at a point twelve miles north of Trenton. During the summer of 1847 he began a school near Tren- ton, but in August hired a substitute to fill his place as teacher and enlisted in Company A, (Capt. John C. Griffin), Missouri Volunteers, Indian Guard Battalion, for service during the war with Mexico. Under Col. Williamn Gilpin the command spent the following winter along the Arkansas River. In the spring of 1848 young Shanklin was promoted from pri- vate to Quartermaster and Commissary Sergeant, serving as such until mustered out in the fall of 1848. On matters pertaining to the settlement with the Department at Washington, he was sent during the winter of 1848-49, by his chief, on a mission to St. Louis and back.
-
612
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
For this purpose lie rode the chief's "war inule, " crossed the Missouri River at Rocheport on the ice and traveled down the river through Jefferson City to St. Louis. He returned via St. Charles and Columbia, and reached home during a blinding snow-storm in March.
After his return from St. Louis he again secured a school, teaching in Trenton dur- ing the winter of 1849-50. It was during this term, or more exactly, January 22, 1850, that he was married to Kittie Ann Collier, daughter of William and Susan Collier, natives of Kentucky, who resided for many years at Fayette, Missouri, and moved to Trenton in the early 'forties. The marriage was celebrated on the bride's twentieth birthday. Of this union five children were born, three of whom-two boys and a girl-yet survive, are married and comfortably settled near the old folks.
Soon after his marriage, Colonel Shanklin was appointed Probate Judge of Grundy County. This necessitated a knowledge of law, which he at once set about obtaining, and (to use his own words), "from that time on I was a law student for near forty ycars." Too modest and retiring to scheme for place or power; too honest and con- servative to descend to the dead level of partisan politics; remembering always that he was an American citizen before he was a Democrat, he has not occupied the high public stations to which his eminent abilities, high standing and character so eminently fit him; yet, in the few public stations he has filled he has always acquitted himself with such cour- age, courtesy, patriotism and ability as to call forth nothing but praise.
He was admitted to the bar in 1851, and in 1853 formed a partnership with Jacob T. Tindall, Sergeant Major of the command in which they both served during the Mexican War. Colonel Shanklin resigned his office and entered actively into practice, which in that day consisted largely of making collections for the wholesale firms of the large cities. The firm had tens of thousands of dollars in notes for collection, involving trips often of from twenty-five to fifty miles. Commissions were large and the lawyer in that day had but little difficulty in keeping the wolf from the door. Colonel Shanklin took charge of the office and liome work, the preparation of briefs, etc., while Major Tindall rode the circuit, then con- sisting of eight or ten counties. In 1859 the firm took in James Austin as a partner, and was continued thus until the breaking out of the war in 1861.
In 1861 Major Tindall organized the Twenty-third Regiment, Missouri Volunteers, and as Colonel of his command, fell at Shiloh. The firm of Shanklin & Austin was still main- tained, and about this time added banking to its law practice. In 1876, while still contini- ing as a partner of Mr. Austin in the bank, Colonel Shanklin formed a law partnership with M. A. Low, now of Topeka, and H. C. McDougal, now of Kansas City, which existed under the name of Shanklin, Low & McDougal for about ten years. During these years Colonel Shanklin was a frequent contributor to the Central Law Journal, and perhaps other legal publications. All his legal writings werc marked by strong, clear, vigorous state- ment, close analysis and logic, and his conclusions therefore seemed almost irresistible. In 1882-3 he was President of the Missouri Bar Association, and his annual address at the meeting held at Sweet Springs, July 25-26, 1883, was one of the best ever delivered before that distinguishicd body. The subject of our biography retired from law practice about 1890, being convinced that his long service and success entitled him to a quiet life the bal- ance of his days.
While Colonel Shanklin has always been a clear thinker and strong writer and talker, yet perhaps his fame as a lawyer rests more largely upon his untiring industry, profound knowledge of the law, and his great power and skill in presenting his arguments to court
THE ME DEY OF THE BENCH AND DAL | MISSOURI,
po Hetde the Thief's "war mule, ' crossed the Mb . River at Rocheport as the the wavelet down the river through Jefferson City to St. Louis. He returned de grades . Combir and reached home during a binding snow-storm in March.
At room from 5 Dans le ocur secured a school. Leaching in Trenton dur- 0 miles 1 -1-50 I was den This term, or more atly, January 22, 1850, . he wy mini Kittie And Coffee, daughter of Willing and Susan Collier, natives of Eintrick,, vil se ided for many years of Fayette, Missouri Med moved to Trenton in the rady Jones. The marriage was celebrated on the bride's twentieth birthday. Of Im anser & - children were born, three of whom-two boys and a girl-yet survive, os moved ved comfortably scaled near the old folks.
Se wer his marriage Colonci Shanklin was appointed Prob ve Judge of Grundy IDIS neces it Med of knowledge of law which be a anset about obtaining, mx vs ho own words), "from that tinke on I was the sement for neal for Det and retiring to scheme for para or pover too honest and con- Dentify to descend to the deal level of partisan politics; remembering always most he wenn American citizen before he was a Democrat, he he . occupied the high public . ich his eminent abilities, high standing and character so eminently fit him; So in the new public Restions i bas filled he hes alvery acquitted himself with such cour- are courtesy, patriacom and soy as call forth nothing but prane.
He was julmitted By 2551, and in 1853 formed a partnership with Jas, T. "Emi'll 5-Cuit Major wo Me som oof iu which they both served during the Mexican War. Colonel Strongly resolve ofice and enter d actively into practice, which in that nositel largely af ations for the who'sile firms of the large cities. The
i notes for collection, involving trips often of front were very large and the larger in that day had but little amor . Being the wolf les the door Colonel stalin tal charge of the office and '00 6 90% Far pegaration of hetis, to., while Major Till rode the circuit, then con- moral con orta centies, In IM5) the firm took i . Jan's Austin as a partner, and Que 00 bộ Thon Đối the breaking out of the war in 1851.
Lo DI WanThal organized The Twenty-third Regua mt, Missouri Volunteers, and ' Welt Shiloh. The firen of 50. 010 & Austin was still muain- Simba aload pod banking to its tw practice In 1976, while still continu-
can HI C MEDgoal pot of Times City which exited Low & 3. Degal for Duidi tes y During these years
www. wevwdet contribufor so itu ermed Low Jornal, and perhaps other
paldiestiam
vigorous tate- gent his condie on toppedore seemed almost irresistible. Mischi Thị Vezloim, and bis annual address at the my 3 2. 200 . a one of the best ever delivered before 1047 6 oss loods phy recicl from My practice about wice and swecess citit d him to a quiet life the bal-
wwwve been o dent tinker anl mods writer and talker, Mutope largely myon bis untiring industry , profound to presenting his arguments to count
.
IK Shanklion
613
THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
and jury. Whether addressing the farmers on a jury in the "Grand River Country," or speaking to the highest courts in the land, his arguments were equally clear and convinc- ing, and no one ever listened to one of his powerful pleas without being thoroughly convinced, from face, voice and manner, that Colonel Shanklin believed implicitly in the truth of every proposition of law and fact which he was laying down and enforcing.
Colonel Shanklin saw service during the War of the Rebellion, and in that contest won his title. In 1861 he was made Division Inspector of State troops by Governor Gamble, with the rank of Colonel. As such he mustered in Colonel Tindall's Twenty-third Mis- souri Volunteers and two battalions of Missouri Militia. He also helped organize the Third Regiment of Missouri State Militia, of which he was commissioned Lieutenant- Colonel.
In 1862 he organized the Thirtieth Regiment, Enrolled Militia of Missouri, of which he was commissioned Colonel, and with such part of his command as was necessary, was on duty at Chillicothe until the close of the war. During his incumbency of his responsible military office, he still transacted such civil duties as the troublous times would permit, attending the courts on the circuit, etc. He became Colonel Tindall's successor in the Convention called to consider "Missouri's Relation to the Union," and as such showed his statesman-like qualities at its sessions in 1862 and 1863. He was likewise, in 1875, a member of the Convention which framed the present State Consti- tution, being a member of the important Committee on the Legislative Department.
Shortly after the opening of Oklahoma Territory, Colonel Shanklin was appointed as the Democratic member of the Town Site Commissioners, No. 1, of that Territory, and assigned by the Secretary of the Interior to the City of Guthrie. The Board was composed of D. J. McDaid, of Iowa; William H. Merriweather, of Kansas, and Colonel Shanklin. For about thirteen months following the early summer of 1890, Colonel Shanklin, being the only lawyer upon the Board, was assigned to write nearly all its opinions, and these opinions settled the title of the claimants of lots in Guthrie and the smaller towns of Mul- lıall, Stillwater and Perkins. Under the law the Commissioners made a list of all lots in the cities or towns within their jurisdiction, appraised their valnie, set a day for filing claims to the various lots, there often being many claimants to the same piece of prop- erty. The land was patented by the Government to the Board, and after hearing all claim- ants, the Board deeded the lot to the person whom they decided, under the proof, to have been the first actual settler. In all these contested cases, a written opinion was filed deal- ing with law and facts as in the Supreme Court. The opinions of Colonel Shanklin for the Board practically settled the titles to all town sites and town lots within their jurisdiction. Colonel Shanklin regards that as the hardest work of his life, but it has proven of incalcu- lable value to the people of Oklahoma.
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.