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 87
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Colonel Shanklin is a man of great public spirit and has been of immeasurable benefit to his town and county. He was President of the Chillicothe & Des Moines Railroad, and arranged its transfer to the Chicago & Southwestern Railroad Company, under terms which completed the road and made Trenton the location for machine shops and round houses and the end of a division. The line is now a part of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific. Since 1886 Colonel Shanklin, as trustee, has had full charge and control of the great railroad and highway bridge across the Missouri River at Fort Leavenworth; has made repairs at a cost of over $80,000, and handled over $200,000 of the funds of the bond-holders, and all his work in that direction has met with their full and complete approval. He is now
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President of the Grundy County Coal Company, the Trenton Handle Manufacturing Com- pany, Vice-President of the Grundy County Fair Association, and until its transfer of ownership, was President of the Trenton Gas and Electric Light Company. He is a prominent Odd Fellow, has filled all the principal offices in his lodge, and has acted a number of times as delegate to the Grand Lodge of the State.
FRANK TECUMSEH SHEETZ, CHILLICOTHE.
F RANK TECUMSEH SHEETZ was born in Clay County, Missouri, on September 19, 1851, his father, Samuel Sheetz, being a leading physician in that part of the State 1111til his deatlı. The Sheetz family were originally Virginians, who emigrated to Missouri early in the century. The maiden name of the mother of the present Mr. Sheetz was Car- oline Osborne, she coming of an old Indiana family, who, like the Sheetz family, settled in Missouri at an early period.
The educational training of Mr. Sheetz was carefully attended to, he obtaining his rudimentary knowledge in the common schools of Clay County, and then finishing his education in McGee College, at College Mound, Macon County, Missouri. Deciding to adopt the law as his profession, he entered the office of W. H. Woodson, at Liberty, Mis- souri, where he studied until September, 1873, when he was admitted to the bar in the same town, by Judge Lucas. He immediately began practicing, and shared Mr. Wood- son's office until 1875, when he located in Chillicothe, his present home, where he has practiced continuously since.
There are several and varied causes for the success of Mr. Sheetz as a lawyer, but the chief one is, perhaps, the determination he has always shown to be simply a lawyer, stifling all extraneous ambitions, that he might excel solely in his chosen profession. His accom- plishments are many, and his capacity to succeed in other walks of life are undoubted, but all his. native talents have been utilized in legal channels entirely.
He showed this, when for the three years, from 1876 to 1879, lie served as City Attorney of Chillicothe. He was then quite young, but managed the legal affairs of the municipality with a wisdom and firmness that would have been creditable to older and more experienced men. This early public recognition of his talents proved a stimulant to greater endeavor, and Mr. Sheetz has steadily advanced in his calling to a position which to-day is an honor to the city of his adoption. He is now in the prime of life and in the middle period of his professional career.
Notwithstanding a practice which makes him a busy man, lie has always found time to take a hand in public affairs and to act for the advancement and profit of the community. He has civic pride to a liigli degree, and on every occasion proves himself a model citizen. Politically he is a Democrat, and an advocate of the "sound money " doctrine. He has never been an office-seeker, however, preferring to serve in the ranks, and work as a private citizen in the interest of his party and of the people in general.
The wife of Mr. Sheetz was Miss F. B. Rucker, whom he married in Livingston County, Missouri, on May 7, 1873. She is the daughter of Edwin Rucker, one of the old settlers of that county, and a prominent farmer. The four children of Mr. and Mrs. Sheetz
Im Shirt
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make an interesting group. Edwin Rucker, the eldest, is a law graduate of the Michigan State University, at Ann Arbor; Samuel L., the second son, is also a law graduate of that university, and Flora B. is a student of music in St. Louis, while Nellie, the youngest, remains at home with her parents.
WILLIAM S. SHIRK, SEDALIA.
FEW legal gentlemen in the State are rated higher in their profession, or have a wider acquaintance in Missouri, and especially the central portion, than Judge William S. Shirk, of Sedalia. His judicial experience is a long one, and his record at the bar and on the bench has illustrated in a striking degree his sterling character, his high ideals of exact justice and his undoubted ability.
In Judge Shirk's veins flows undiluted the blood of the German Fatherland, but such is the influence of environment operating through many years, that few would suspect that he were anything but an American of inany generations of development from the nearly related English stock. Even his family name has yielded to the influence of new con- ditions, and has changed from "Scherrick," the German spelling, to the shorter English "Shirk." Although the purity of the German descent has been preserved until now, its transplanting to American soil dates from the beginning of the century. Jacob Shirk, father of the subject of the present biography, was the grandson of one of three brothers of that name who came to America nearly an hundred years ago. His father was an old line Whig in politics, and on the organization of the Republican party, promptly transferred his allegiance thereto, in 1856. Into this party his three sons followed him as they grew up. The father was a miller and a farmer. The mother of Judge Shirk was born Susan Stouffer, and as has been stated, was also of German parentage. She was a woman domestic and home-loving in her tastes and inclinations and devoted to her household, her children and her church. She was an ideal mother and the best evidence of her influence for good is found in the children who have grown up to honor her.
The important events in the life of Judge William S. Shirk may be enumerated as fol- lows: Born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, August 24, 1843, he there passed his child- hood and conned his primary educational lessons in the common schools. While yet in his boyhood, he emigrated with his family to Illinois, where his common school education was finished. Naturally aspiring and ambitious, he became a devoted student and began the work of storing his mind with knowledge from every source that offered, his scholastic course being completed at the Mount Carroll (Illinois) Academy, a school of higher math- ematics and the languages. Next he entered a law office and began the study of law, and that the law is a profession to which he is eminently adapted, his successful career is abso- lute proof. His professional studies were completed at the celebrated Law School of Albany, New York, whose alumni reckons so many men of distinguished legal attainments. There he continued from 1863 until 1865, when he was admitted to the bar at Albany, New York. Soon after he was enrolled at Chicago on the list of Illinois lawyers, and in July, 1865, was admitted to the bar in Missouri.
It was during the war period that these legal studies were prosecuted, and that great upheaval which changed the course of so many lives, and ended forever the lives of so
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many more, might have had a profound influence on his, had it not been that physical dis- abilities made his acceptance as a soldier impossible.
In 1865 he came to Missouri, which just then was beginning to feel the invigorating influences of the stupendous changes and re-adjustment of forces caused by the war. He located at Warsaw, the county seat of Benton County, which in that day was of compara- tively greater importance than now. In the year following his arrival at Warsaw (1866), lie was appointed County Attorney of Benton County, and in 1868 he was appointed Cir- cuit Attorney of the Seventh Judicial District, then consisting of eight counties. On the expiration of his terin he was urged to again assume official duties, but withstood such pressure until 1874, when he became a candidate and was elected Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit. This office he administered with signal justice and fairness until 1878, in November of which year he resigned to practice law, entering into partnership with Judge James H. Lay, also an able lawyer and a distinguished publicist. This partnership con- tinned until 1879, when Judge Shirk removed to Sedalia, which was then rapidly justify- ing hier title as "Queen City of the Prairie," and there he has since resided.
In 1882 he formed a connection with the legal department of the Missouri Pacific Rail- way. That he has impressed that great corporation with the worth of his services is evidenced by the weighty legal responsibilities that have been placed upon him. For the six years past he has divided his time between Sedalia and St. Louis, in the service of the road.
The Judge could in nowise be called a politician, but his interest as a good citizen in the political affairs of the country and his marked ability have forced him to the front as one of the leaders of his party in Central Missouri. He is an active Republican and the fact that his opponents have always largely outnumbered his party, has not in the least cooled his ardor. In 1884 he was the Republican candidate for Congress in the old Sixth District, and the same year was a delegate to the National Republican Convention at Chicago. In 1892 he was a candidate on the State Republican ticket for Supreme Judge. His popularity in this case almost proved a winner, notwithstanding the odds, as he was defeated by only 981 votes.
He was married in St. Louis, December 23, 1868, to Frances S. Hastain. Four chil- dren have blessed the union, the eldest, Miles Burdett, dying in infancy. The other three are Bessie S., Maud S. and William S., Jr. The oldest, Bessie S., is married to S. P. Johns, Jr., a lumber merchant of Sedalia.
Judge Shirk is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows societies, and has been connected with botlı for over thirty years. He is an honor to his profession, is a citizen universally respected, and his long and honorable career in Missouri entitles him to the success that is his.
LUTHER CLAY SLAVENS,
KANSAS CITY.
UTHER CLAY SLAVENS, the son of Hiram B. and Sarah (Holland) Slavens, was L born in Putnam County, Indiana, August 13, 1836. The name was originally "Slavin, " but for some cause, most probably because of the fact that those of the family who enlisted in the Revolutionary War were enrolled under the name "Slavens, " as it was even then frequently prononced, the name became changed to Slavens. His grandfather,
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Isaiah Slavens, was born in what is now Rockingham County, Virginia, but was then a portion of Augusta County. Isaiah's father, John Slavin, the great grandfather of the subject of our sketch, was a native of the North of Ireland. He came to America before he had attained his majority, settled in that part of Virginia above referred to, and there married Elizabeth Stuart, a member of a Scotch family.
A few years prior to the breaking out of the American Revolution, he removed with his family to a tract of land on the leadwaters of Jackson River, at a point a little west of Vanderpool Gap, in what is now Highland County, Virginia. On this farm his descendants still live, the land being owned and tilled by members of the fifth generation.
The family was a deeply patriotic one, and when the Revolution was waged, Isaiah Slavens, with others of the family, left the farin, shouldered his flint-lock inusket, and marched, suffered and fought with Washington. He served four campaigns in this war, and when the War of 1812 was precipitated, he enlisted, with three of his sons, the father serving one year. After the Revolution, he settled in Greenbriar County, Virginia, but in a short time concluded to push into what was then a western wilderness. Accordingly, in 1792 he settled in Montgomery County, Kentucky. It was in that State that Mr. Slavens' parents, Hiram B. Slavens and Sarah Slavens, nee Holland, were born and reared.
Luther Clay was reared on the Indiana farm where he was born. He completed his education at Indiana Asbury University, which is now known as Depauw University. There he graduated in 1858, from its classical department, and from the law department two years later, or in 1860.
Convinced that nothing is of greater assistance in life to any man than the sympathiy, help and love of a good woman, at the threshold of his career, January 8, 1861, he wedded Miss Sallie Boggs Shelby, daughter of Isaac Shelby, of Tippecanoe County, Indiana. Her grandfather, David Shelby, was reared in Rockingham County, Virginia, and was one of the early settlers of Pickaway County, Ohio. He was a man of influence, universally respected, and for over twenty years represented his county in the Ohio Legislature. His ancestors came to this country at a very early day from Wales, and settled near Hagers- town, Maryland.
Mr. and Mrs. Slavens have but three children, all daughters. The eldest, Lulie, married George L. McNutt; the second, Mattie, married H. W. Imnike, and the youngest, Dade, became the wife of John Slavens.
Soon after his marriage, Mr. Slavens removed to Covington, Indiana, where he opened an office and began practice. He continued to reside there until the close of the Civil War when, convinced of the greater opportunities of the West, he reinoved to Kansas City, Mis- souri, where he has steadily continued the practice of his profession.
He justly ranks with the best and ablest lawyers of the Kansas City bar. He is a man of strong character, uncommon self-reliance, and pronounced individuality. These quali- ties, together with a clear, logical mind and the courage of his convictions, have made him prominent in his profession.
He has never sought nor held political office, although at one time, 1889, he was appointed City Counselor of Kansas City, and served one year. He was a member of the National Republican Convention of 1880, and was one of the "306" who voted for General Grant to the end. On questions concerning political matters he is a inan of pronounced convictions, and of most rigid conscience. Althoughi, of course, a party man, he is devoted above all else to principle, and never lets party fealty interfere with what he believes to be
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right. Hc is a warmn sympathiizer with the people, and favors any political principle that is in their interest. Both he and his wife, as were their parents before them, are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
JAMES H. SLOVER, INDEPENDENCE.
MONG those lawyers selected because of learning, purity of character and general A worthi to occupy positions of responsibility on the bench, none is better known than Judge James H. Slover, of Independence, as none is better qualified to discharge the duties of tliat exalted office. Firmness of purpose, uniform courtesy, a clear and discriminating intellect and an unfaltering adherence to his convictions of right and of justice have char- acterized his actions throughout life and have been cast into a stronger relief and their value made more certainly apparent by their application in the many years he has administered the law from the bench.
The nanie Slover comes from that little country reclaimed from the sea by its sturdy and admirable inhabitants- Holland; and the strong and surviving Dutch, perhaps did more than any other people outside of those who came from the insular "Three King- doms," to reclaim this vast American empire from a state of nature. The ancestors of Judge Slover were of this fearless band who were the pioneers of the Republic. The American record of the family begins with our subject's great great grandfather, who came from Holland and made a settlement in the beautiful and fertile Mohawk Valley in New York. The family established itself near Schenectady, and there, through many genera- tions, the homestead passed from father to son, each rearing a family and passing from the scene of action. There Judge Slover's great grandfather, his grandfather and father were born and dicd. The men of the name were of a strong, brave and intensely patriotic strain. 'The great grandfather was an ardent supporter of the Colonies, and gave faithful service to his country as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and his son was a soldier in the " War of 1812."
Jacob J. Slover, the son of the soldier of the War of 1812, and father of the subject of this biography, removed from the old homestead shortly after his marriage to Christiana A. Potter, and settled at Towanda, Pennsylvania, where their son, James H. Slover, was born, on the last day of the year 1838. The lad's comnon school education was begun in 'Towanda and completed at Chicago, to which place his parents removed in 1848, when he was in his tenth year. The family did not remain long in Chicago, however, coming to St. Louis in 1852. 'Twelve years were passed in St. Louis, and then, March 31, 1864, the young man removed to Independence, Missouri, which has ever since been his home.
It was about this time-thic date of his settlement at Independence-that he inade up his mind to enter the profession of the law. To that end he entered the Union College of Law at Chicago, and taking the regular course was graduated in June, 1866. The year 1866 is an important one in the life of Judge Slover. As previously stated, he was grad- uated in June of that ycar; in the following September lie successfully passed his exam- ination, and was admitted to practice at Independence by Judge Tutt of the Sixth Judicial Circuit; in November hc was clected Justice of the Peace, and in the closing month of the year, the crowning event of all occurred -his marriage to Miss Mary A. Howe. Miss
AServan .
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Howe was born in Independence and was the daughter of William Howe, one of the ear- liest merchants who carried on trade with the Mexicans and Indians of the great Southwest. He died at Independence in 1849. Her mother, at the age of fourteen, came from Bards- town, Kentucky, with her uncle, Colonel Davy, a noted Mexican trader of his day, and in 1836 settled in Independence, where she has since resided. To this marriage of Judge Slover and Miss Howe was born one child, Mary Howe Slover.
The election of the young lawyer as Justice of the Peace in 1866 did much to help him in gaining a foothold as a practitioner. He held the office four years, and at the end of that time was enjoying the proceeds of a flourishing business. After his admission to the bar he followed his profession continuously until he entered upon his judicial career. He has always been a staunch friend of education and at various times has acted as a mem- ber and Treasurer of the School Board of Independence. In 1868 he was elected Mayor of that town, serving until 1870. He is a pronounced Democrat, and was one of the leaders of that party in Western Missouri for years, representing it in various capacities. He was a member and Chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Committee for a great many years, and while in that position, was recognized as one of the most active opponents of the proscriptive "Drake Constitution." On account of his earnest and intelligent opposi- tion to this instrument he was one of the three persons selected by Jackson County to organize the opposition to this measure by the creation of lodges belonging to a State society. On a platform calling for the removal of all disabilities growing out of the Civil War, B. Gratz Brown was elected Governor in 1870, and this resulted in the calling of the Convention in 1875, which repealed the Drake Constitution and drafted the present Con- stitution.
From 1875 to 1885 Judge Slover's time was given to his practice as a member of the firm of Comingo & Slover, and later of Philips, Comingo & Slover, a combination of three of the strongest lawyers of the State. During the year last named, Judge Slover was appointed Judge of the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Division No. 2. In 1886 he was nominated as his own successor, without opposition by his party, and was elected. In 1892 he was again nominated and elected by a large majority. His present term expires in 1898.
While Judge Slover has achieved high rank as a practitioner, lie is above and beyond all a Judge. It may be truly said that he possesses to a high degree the judicial temper- ament. First of all, it is his earnest wish in every case to do exactly what he thinks is right between man and man. He is not possessed of the idea that he knows all the law and is always a patient, attentive listener to the arguments of counsel. In a trial of a cause he keeps his inind in a state of equipoise until the entire evidence has been heard, and has little patience with refinements and technicalities. He is a firm believer in the doctrine that courts are established to administer justice and everything is subordinated to that end. On the bench he talks but little, has no iron-clad rules, often inconveniences himself to accommodate lawyers and litigants, and as a result there is no friction in his court and it is rare that an acrimonious word is spoken. To this unusual personal fitness for judicial work, he has brought a thorough study of the law and is especially familiar with the statutes and decisions of his own State.
It is needless to say that such qualifications make Judge Slover most popular with the legal profession. He has been twice solicited by the entire bar of the county, irre- spective of party, to make successive races for the Judgeship, and should he desire to
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remain longer in his present position, no doubt he will be again chosen in 1898 practi- cally without opposition. His life work, so far, may be summed up in saying that he has bravely, conscientiously and efficiently discharged every duty that has devolved on him and has earned the love and esteem of his family and friends and the confidence and grat- itnde of his fellow-citizens. Such men live as benefactors, and dying, leave behind thein cherished memories.
JACKSON LEONIDAS SMITH, KANSAS CITY.
JUDGE JACKSON LEONIDAS SMITH is a native Missourian. He was born in Cal- laway County, the "Kingdom" which has produced so many sons of merit and ability. He is the son of Richard and Eliza (Waggoner) Smith, and January 29, 1837, was the date on which he first saw the light of day. He was educated in the Masonic College at Lex- ington, Missouri, and at the University of Missouri at Columbia. When his course was completed in the latter, he returned to his home and shortly afterward began the study of law at Jefferson City, within sight of the place of his birth. He had an excellent precep- tor in the person of Gen. M. M. Parsons who, when the war broke out, joined the Confed- erate Army and rose to the rank of Brigadier-General. The young legal aspirant, after studying in his office, was regularly admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court at the State Capital, September, 1861.
He had, while yet a student, determined to make Jefferson City his regular abiding place, and therefore he opened an office there as soon as equipped with the necessary mem- bership at the bar. He soon impressed the people of Cole and Callaway Counties, as well as prominent men from every part of the State, who by reason of Jefferson City being the State Capital, naturally centered there, not only that he was a young man of marked strength of character and broad understanding, but that he was one eminently endowed with the elements on which are builded eminence and success in the law. The firm of Ewing & Smith was long known as one of the ablest and most successful in the State. In 1876, Judge Smith was made the nominee of the Democratic party for Attorney General, and was elected by a large majority. As the then recently adopted Constitution presented' many problems of difficulty, his duties were unusually onerous and responsible. His ad- ministration of the office was distinguished by the highest honesty and ability. On the expiration of his term, in 1881, he resumed the practice of law, continuing until 1888, when he was elected one of the Judges of the Kansas City Court of Appeals, and became its Presiding Judge. This is an honor that is only second to an election to the bench of the Supreme Court. The acceptance of this office necessitated his removal to Kansas City, where he lias since resided and where he has assumed the regular functions of a citizen and a voter, although he still holds his beautiful homestead in Jefferson City and owns other property there. He was re-elected in 1892, for a full term of twelve years, by the largest majority ever recorded in that judicial division.
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