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 90
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He is a Republican, and belongs to that class of inen who believe that the interests of party must be subservient to the interests of the country. He was an ardent supporter of the Union cause, and three times started to the front. In 1861 he raised a company and was ready to move when the order came to disband, for no more men were needed. At the request of the City Council he pitched a tent on the common and was raising a com- pany for the City of Worcester which word came from the Adjutant-General that the city had already furnished cight more than her quota of men. Under the call of the Govern- 111ent, in 1863, he was one of 300 Worcester volunteers, but the troops got only as far as Boston, when they were ordered to disband.
In thic West he was destined to enter upon a carcer of usefulness and success which would give him an opportunity commensurate to his ability; so in December, 1865, he located in Kansas City, Missouri, where he soon rose to take high rank among the lawyers of tlic State, a position which he has honorably maintained. In 1872 he was elected a member of the House in the State Legislature and was twice re-elected, (1874-1876). At one session he was the Republican candidate for Speaker. No better proof can be given of the high regard in which he was held by all parties, than the fact that in 1878 he received the appointment of Counselor of Kansas City from a Democratic Mayor, and was confirmed by a Democratic Council.
Seephone 6. Swiss
Legal Publistung Co. St Lou !:
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One of the inost trying positions in the country, requiring not only a thorough knowl- edge of law, but also a safe and impartial Judge, was open. He was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Utah, his term beginning January 1, 1881, an office which he held for a little more than four years. So well did he perform his duty, that after the election of President Cleveland in 1884, the Democratic Territorial Committee of Utah offered to use influence to secure his re-appointment, but he declined the honor, returned soon after to Kansas City and resumed law practice. His accurate judgment and interpretation of the Edmunds law against polygamy won for him the con- fidence of all parties, in a inost difficult and delicate position. Utah needed the integrity and clear interpretation of constitutional law which he possessed to an eminent degree, more especially at this critical period of her history, when a re-adjustment was de- manded to conform to modern civilized life. His official acts received merited recogni- tion, nor did the opposition fail to see that their interests were safer in the hands of an impartial Judge, who would always construe the law according to the clearly expressed intention of its framers, than they would be in the hands of one easily swayed by popular clamor. The Southern Utonian, of Beaver, Utah, a Mormon paper, though differing from him in policy on many questions, paid him a high compliment by saying-" If a petition asking him to remain, signed by every person in his district, will induce him to stay on the Supreme Bench in Utah, that petition can be secured." Some of his decisions will furnish the reader also a correct view of his ability as a jurist, and a few extracts from a report published by the Salt Lake Tribune, of court proceedings, in 1882, are therefore here appended :
" His Honor then delivered his charge to the Grand Jury, the general instructions being very explicit as to the specific duties and obligations imposed by law upon a jury of that class, defining every point in a very lucid inanner. One of the points was their duty to inquire into willfully corrupt misconduct in office of public officers of every description. He then adverted to the Edmunds law, making use of the following language: 'Within the last year, Congress has legislated with special reference to this Territory. It is my duty to call your attention to some of this legislation. The first section of the act of Congress, approved March 22, 1882, known as the Edmunds Bill, defines who is guilty of polygamy as follows: Every person who has a husband or wife living, who hereafter marries another, whether married or single, and any man who hereafter simultaneously or on the saine day marries more than one woman, is guilty of polygamy; and prescribes the punishment for this odious crime. The third section provides that if any male person hereafter cohabits with more than one woman, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor; and prescribes punishment for this offense. It is as much your duty to investigate violations of these pro- visions of law as any other. Your belief as to the injustice or justice of this law lias nothing to do with your duties as grand jurors. You cannot violate the oath you have taken simply because you may not believe the law is just or proper. The Congress of the United States is a law-inaking power which you and I, court and jury alike, are bound under the sacred obligations of our official oaths, to respect. The Constitution of the United States and the acts of Congress, duly passed in pursuance thercof, are the para- mount laws of the land, and when we are required in pursuance of official duties, in due form of law imposed upon us, under the obligations of the oaths we have taken, to cxecute them, we cannot, as good citizens, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States and well disposed to the peace and good order of the same, refuse to per-
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form plain and well defined duties, simply because we may not approve, or are opposed to such laws. Your duties are of the utmost importance, and at times you may find them difficult. You stand between the people, the Governinent on one side and the accused on the other, and you are required to act with fairness to all. You have not only a power, but a trust is given you which you cannot afford to abuse. It may be your duty to refuse to find an indictment against an eneiny; it may be your duty to indict a friend; but be it friend or foe whose case you are investigating, you will not, I trust, be governed by personal feelings or inclinations of any kind whatever, either for or against any person. That you will enter upou and perforin the duties before you, guided by an intelligent conscience in the performance of all that the law and your oaths require of you, is my desire and expectation.' "'
In the case of Cannon versus Thomas, mnuch interest was felt in the Territory; especi- ally in Salt Lake City the excitement ran high. A mandamus in which Cannon, the relator, claimned the election of Delegate to Congress by a large majority, and on the Gov- ernor refusing him a certificate of election, asked that a peremptory writ be issued, direct- ing the Governor to give him the certificate. The writ was denied by the Court, and in a lengthy opinion the following statement was inade: "If the duty of the Governor in determining who has the greatest number of votes thrown by the qualified voters of the Territory, or is duly elected, is not a judicial act, it is far from being ministerial; it is at least an executive duty of a political character which may at times require the best and soundest discretion."
Of course the Mormon press fiercely attacked the opinion, while on the other hand the Gentile press warinly defended it. The Salt Lake Tribune said: "Of the decision itself, too much praise cannot be given. It shows with what conscientious desire to do exact justice Judge Twiss undertook to perform his duty and with what masterful ability he reached his conclusions. While the friends of Mr. Cannon are disappointed at the result, we do not see how any one who will read the conclusions of His Honor can fail to realize their absolute correctness. It takes a higher plane than ordinary decisions. It gives to even the ordinary reader an idea that the law is an exact science, and furnishes an example of a problem that could have but one solution." Mr. Cannon presented his claims to the House of Representatives, asking to be seated. In the discussions which followed, the correctness of this decision was not questioned, and some inembers took occasion to state that it was undoubtedly correct.
Judge Twiss is a large inan, weighing more than 200 pounds. He has a fine presence, and on the bench he presided with a dignity and grace pleasing to the lawyers and others in- terested in tlic proceedings of the court. His patience with others, his painstaking and care in the investigation of cases greatly involved in difficulties, made for him lasting friendship with very many, and inspired great confidence in the wisdom of his opinions.
Judge Twiss was married February 16, 1870, to Miss Louisa Woodbury Clark, daugh- ter of Rev. Nelson and Elizabeth (Gillian) Clark, at Somerset, Massachusetts. At that time her father was pastor of the Congregational Church at Somerset. Mrs. Twiss died in Kansas City about five months after the marriage. August 5, 1873, the Judge was again married. The union was with Mrs. Emiline Bidwell, widow of Alonzo F. Bidwell, and a daughter of Samuel Conklin, of Tecumseh, Michigan. They had one child whichi died in infancy.
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The Judge is possessed of very fine social qualities, is a genial, pleasant gentleman, and much attached to his friends. He hates injustice and wrong, the oppression of the weak, unfairness towards otliers, or any under advantage, and with all the strength of his manly nature he will espouse the cause of the oppressed. Like his Puritan ancestors, he loves integrity and uprightness and liates oppression and wrong. As President of the Board of Trustees of the Kidder Institute, Caldwell County, and as Trustee of Drury College, Spring- field, Missouri, he has shown a deep interest in the cause of Christian education. With broad and benevolent plans he is hoping for the time when Kidder Institute will be well endowed and an institution of great usefulness and promise for good.
He is a member of Kansas City Commandery, No. 10, Knights Templar. With his excellent wife he belongs to the Congregational Church, and while highly esteemed in his own denomination, his plans and sympathies embrace all the churches in every con- certed effort for the salvation of men.
What is the most desirable to review in the history of one's life, is a course which has contributed through all the years to the public good; in all the purposes of life, in the plans laid and honorably carried out, and the example set for others to follow; an inherit- ance of noble virtues inore enduring than earthly treasure, and that which will make wealth where possessed, a sacred trust. Such in an eminent degree has been the char- acter of Judge Twiss. Now as the evening shadows are deepening, he has retired largely from business, but he keeps an office open more especially for his friends. When the day's work is over, he retires to his spacious residence, 425 Independence Boulevard, where with Mrs. Twiss they entertain their friends.
DANIEL S. TWITCHELL,
KANSAS CITY.
A SUCCESSFUL advocate, a man of liberal inind, ardent and of great physical and mental energy, is the Hon. Daniel S. Twitchell, of Kansas City, who was born near Ann Arbor, in the township of Scio, Michigan, April 11, 1834. Mr. Twitchell was reared on a farmi and in the healthful influences of rural occupation were born the aspirations, the hopes and the resolves on which his future success was to rest.
He is the son of Jonas Twitchell, a native of Vermont, who with his wife settled in Washtenaw County in 1832, in a neighborhood called the "Vermont Settlement." The father in later years removed to Minnesota to be near his son, Dr. R. W. Twitchell, who was the eldest of the children then living, and there died in 1880, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. His wife, the mother of the subject of this article, was before marriage Sarah Weekes, of New York parentage, the daughter of Refine Weekes, a distinguished Quaker, and a noted poet, historian and scholar of his day. The daughter, and in fact all the children, inherited many of his gifts, all being noted for their talent and intellectual acumen. Their father was a leading and influential member of the Society and of his writings, "Weekes' Poems," "Lectures to Young Men" and ""The Life of William Penn," best sustain his reputation.
In the teachings of an educated, noble, Christian inother is to be found the solid foundation on which rest the principles and aspirations that have governed the life of her son Daniel. She it was who encouraged and fed his early thirst for knowledge, surrounded
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him by good books, and in fact started him in the way he should go. There were five children in the Twitchell household, three sons and two daughters, and of these Daniel was the youngest. The school house was but one mile distant from the old homestead in Michigan and there the lad imbibed the knowledge imparted by the State, assisting with the farm work at odd times. Later he worked on a neighboring farin at $12 per month, and by strict economy had saved, by the time he was ready to quit the common school, the sum of $65. In these fin de siecle days the youth would be appalled at the idea of start- ing out to get an education with only such a sum; but this lad was built of sterner stuff, the stuff that compels success, and therefore with his hoard, which to him then represented considerable wealth, lie started for Oberlin, Ohio, undaunted, hopeful and buoyant. At that town he entered the college and by working at night and at odd times was enabled to sustain himself. So hard did he work and such progress did he make that he was soon a competent teacher, and from thence on his way was easier. He was at Oberlin four years and when he left it was to enter upon the study of law. He is next heard of at Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he entered the office of Hiram J. Beakes. This was in 1856, and two years later lie was regularly licensed as an attorney. He began practice, and a year later, fortified by having already passed the required examination to be admitted to the bar, and with the experience of one year of actual practice as a lawyer, he entered the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, in 1860, and was graduated with ligh honors, in 1861, as a member of the first law class of the Michigan State University.
On the breaking out of the war he raised a company and was commissioned Captain, but the illness of his wife (he in the meantime having married) compelled his resignation, and he afterward did duty in the Department of the Provost Marshal. In 1859, prior to becoming a student of the college, he was elected City Recorder of Ann Arbor, and in 1860 Circuit Court Commissioner for his county, and later its Prosecuting Attorney. He filled these offices most capably, but at the same time pursued his studies and attended to the law practice that was beginning to come to him.
Dissatisfaction is the incentive to success, the moving cause of all progress, and although he was doing well, the young lawyer was dissatisfied. The West seemed to pre- sent a more encouraging field, and therefore in 1865 he moved to Kansas City, and the suc- cess that has since then crowned his efforts has more than justified the change. His young wife and two sons, Ralph E., who is now a successful lawyer at Las Vegas, New Mexico, and Wirt B., now a resident of El Paso, Texas, soon followed him to Kansas City, and there the home was established. There also the wife and inother died in 1867, within a year or two after she reached the city. Mr. Twitchell at once entered the lists, with undaunted courage, a clear head and ability as his capital. That he has been successful in his profession every resident of Kansas City knows.
A man of Mr. Twitchell's character and decision cannot remain politically passive, and it is not surprising therefore to know that he takes a warm interest in all affairs of a public or political nature. He is a Republican, and that party honored him by an elec- tion, in 1869, to the thien important office of City Attorney and Counselor, and during 1881-2-3 also le filled, by appointment, the office of City Counselor. In1 1876 lie was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Cincinnati, and was made Assistant Secretary of that body. In 1872, 1876, and again in 1890, he was the nominee of his party for Congress in what is now known as the Fifth Congressional District of Missouri, and in 1874 hie consented to sustain the dignity of his party as its nominee for Attorney-General. He
J.S Jutchell
Legal Thionshing Co.St.Louis
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THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
made a canvass of the State in company with Hon. Carl Schurz, but the odds were too great against him. On the stump he is an eloquent and forcible speaker, and in his con- tact with men is suave and congenial.
Mr. Twitchell is a Mason, a Knight of Pythias, belongs to the Order of Elks, and is prominent in the councils of each.
On April 13, 1869, he was united in marriage to the beautiful and accomplished Mary Benjamin, daughter of Mrs. Emeline Boullt, and a descendant of one of the best families of Eastern New York. Mrs. Twitchell, with her rare attractions of personal grace and dig- nity of character, is specially distinguished for the fullness of her mental gifts as well as the culture and discipline received from a full course of collegiate education, and by care- ful reading and mental exercise. As a writer of prose and verse the metropolitan press of the State has confessed her excellence. Her chief life work, however, has been devotion to her husband's interests and the education of her two sons, and her labor is being rewarded by their reverence and love, and their success in life. As a member of Grace Episcopal Church of Kansas City she has done inuchi to sustain its services, its charities and its pastoral work, and lier wonderful enthusiasm and great energy of character are resistless forces in the accomplishment of whatever she undertakes in the field of woman's work.
EDMUND GUSTAVE VAUGHAN, KANSAS CITY.
B EFORE a inan reaches his thirtieth year his character may be said to fairly indicate
what may be expected of him and what he is destined to accomplish. Deduc- tions froin data from this period and the sterling qualities, the energy and ambition of Edinund Gustave Vaughan, of Kansas City, assure to his friends a most successful future. Just on the threshold of his career his spirit, enthusiasin, natural ability and the will to register it in effective attainment, has been recognized. He is our youngest representative from his city.
Edmund Gustave Vaughan was born in Kansas City, January 14, 1867. The Vaughans are of English derivation, and their American history begins with Meredith Vaughan, one of the early settlers of Maryland, who was descended from the O'Neils of Scotland. From Maryland the family may be traced to Virginia, where William A. M. Vaughan, the father of Edmund, was born, and thence to Kentucky, where he was reared. He (the father) was carried to Fayette County, Kentucky, when five years old, and removed with his mother and family to Missouri in 1835. Of bold and adventurous spirit, his life was replete with stirring events and inoving incidents. He became a trader with the Pawnee Indians of Nebraska, and later was on the frontier of Kansas for four or five years, and was elected a ineniber of the Second General Assembly of the young State. In 1861 he cast his fortunes with the Confederacy, and served under Gen. Sterling Price to the end. When peace was declared, he moved to Kansas City, and was there actively engaged in business until 1886, when he retired. In 1865, near the time of his location in Kansas City, he married Mar- garet Patton Skinner, of Platte County, Missouri, daugliter of Phineas Skinner, a Virginian, who was a prominent man in his day in Northwest Missouri.
Edmund G. Vaughan's primary education was secured at public and private schools in his native city. Afterwards he entered Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Vir-
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ginia, from which place he went to New York City, and was there graduated from the Colum- bia Law School with the degree of LL. B. Returning to Kansas City, he was admitted to the bar in November, 1889.
November 20, 1895, Mr. Vaughan was married in New York City to Permelia May Jarvis, daughter of Samuel and Priscilla (Wear) Jarvis. Mr. Jarvis is President of the North American Trust Company of New York and London. He and Mrs. Jarvis came of old Virginia and Kentucky stock.
Mr. Vaughan is a member of the Sigma Chi Society, and maintains an active interest in its affairs. He was commissioned by Governor Francis, First Lieutenant, Company B, Third Regiment, National Guard of Missouri and served for one year. He has been Treasurer of the Kansas City Bar Association and a member of its Executive Board.
From 1893 to January, 1898, he was in the practice of the law with Gen. Milton Moore, as Moore & Vaughan. At the date last named, he became associated with Messrs. William C. Scarritt, John K. Griffith and Elliott H. Jones under the firm name of Scarritt, Vaughan, Griffith & Jones, which business relation now continues.
Mr. Vaughan's practice is largely corporate in its character, and it is along this line of the profession that he is particularly conspicuous. He is Treasurer and member of the Managing Committee of the Northeast Electric Railway of Kansas City; Secretary and Director of the St. Joseph Stock Yards Company of St. Joseph, Missouri; President of the Ottawa Waterworks and Light Company of Ottawa, Kansas, and also on the managing boards of many important companies throughout the West.
His firm is counsel for extensive interests throughout the country, including the North American Trust Company of New York and London and other investment and trust com- panies, water, light and paving companies, street railways and irrigation companies, besides large land and bond interests in which Eastern and foreign capital has found investment.
BENJAMIN R. VINEYARD,
SAINT JOSEPH.
ENJAMIN R. VINEYARD is a native of Missouri, having been born near Weston, in B Platte County, July 31, 1842. His father was Jesse Vineyard, and the maiden name of his mother was Mary S. Owens. Both parents, now dead, were natives of Kentucky. Mrs. Vineyard, as Mary Owens, was courted by Abraham Lincoln, who offered his heart and hand in marriage, but the proposition was declined by the maiden. Her son, the sub- ject of this biography, has now in his possession a number of the love letters written by the Martyr President to his mother. Some of these have been published in various biographies of Lincoln.
Benjamin R. Vineyard received his education in the schools of the State, and at Pleas- ant Ridge College, in Platte County, finishing at William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri. He was raised on a farm, as have been so many of the men who become conspicuously suc- cessful in the citics. When a boy of fifteen his father, because of failing health, went with his family to Kentucky, where after spending a year, removal was made to Texas, where they also lived a year. With the exception of these periods, Mr. Vineyard has lived wholly in Missouri.
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THE HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF MISSOURI.
In 1864 he located at St. Joseph, and soon after took up the study of law. During the time he was instructing himself in the intricacies of the profession he taught school at St. Joseph for a term of six months. In 1866 his studies had been completed, and in April of that year he was regularly admitted to the bar, and since then has been engaged con- tinuously in practice at St. Joseph.
Mr. Vineyard has been honored by appointment to the office of City Counselor, hav- ing had charge of all the corporation's litigation in the Circuit and Appellate Courts for a term of two years, from the beginning of 1876 to the end of 1877. He is a staunch sup- porter of the public school and is thoroughly convinced that education is the foundation on which rests the hope of the civilization of the future. He has been active always in pro- moting the cause of education, and it is not surprising therefore that he should now be one of the six School Directors of his city. As a citizen he has always been identified with every measure contemplating the public weal, and has been especially active and ready in promoting all enterprises beneficial or promising advantage to St. Joseph. In politics he has always been a Democrat, but, except the judicial and educational offices spoken of, has never been ambitious to use the law and his evident popularity as stepping stones to polit- ical preferment.
Emma B. Hoagland was the name of the lady to whom he was married, May 19, 1868, just about the time he began to well establish himself in practice. She was a daughter of one of the leading families of Northwest Missouri, and her father, George T. Hoagland, was at the time of her marriage, President of the Buchanan Bank. Mr. and Mrs. Vineyard have had three children, two daughters and one son, all living.
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