USA > Texas > The bench and bar of Texas > Part 25
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
Before his term upon the bench had expired, Judge Gould was, without solicitation on his part, elected professor in the law department of the University of Texas, which position he now holds ; and. under the joint supervision of ex-Governor Roberts and him, the excellency of the law department of that institution invites attention from all parts of the country.
1
315
JOHN W. STAYTON.
JOHN W. STAYTON.
John William Stayton, an associate justice of the Su- preme Court of Texas, was born in Washington County, Ky., on the 24th of December, 1830. His father, Robert G. Stayton, and his mother, whose maiden name was Har- riett Pirtle, were both natives of that State, of which their ancestors were settlers.
In 1832 he removed with his parents to the southwest portion of the State, which was at that time an unsettled country. Having lost his father two years afterwards, his training devolved solely upon his mother, who was a woman of good culture and more than ordinary intellectual endow- ments, and who gave him the best educational advantages the new country afforded. After her death, which occurred when he was but fourteen years of age, he resided on a farm with a relative until he was seventeen years old, during which time he performed farm labor through the summer and attended the country schools in the autumn and winter.
Being sufficiently advanced he desired at this age to enter college, but his guardian did not sanction his wishes, think- ing it best not to expend the limited means of his ward in this manner. In consequence of which he declined to re- main longer on the farm, and at his own volition served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade until he was of age. During that time he continued a course of private study and general reading, which was perhaps of as much real ad- vantage to him as would have been the collegiate course which he desired to pursue. Having attained the age of twenty- one years, he began a more extensive course of studies, which he continued until the twenty-fourth year of his age, when, without an instructor, he began the study of law, which, prompted by the often expressed wish of his mother
316
BENCH AND BAR OF TEXAS.
. and by his admiration for the distinguished men of the pro- fession, had been his intention from early life. Having read the usual course and that prescribed in the University of Louisville, he afterwards entered the law department of that institution and graduated in March, 1856, with the de- gree of Bachelor of Laws. In April of the same year he was married to Miss Jennie Weldon, also of Kentucky, and to this noble lady he is greatly indebted for his remarkable success in life.
In October, 1856, he emigrated to Texas and was admit- ted to the bar of this State at La Grange, where he resided until the fall of 1857, and then moved further west and settled in Atascosa County. His steady habits, his close application, faithful devotion to the interest of his clients, his uniform consistency of life and kind and amiable disposi- tion gained him both personal and professional popularity, and his advancement was rapid. In 1858 he was elected district-attorney of the Eighteenth Judicial District and was re-elected to the same office in 1860, and served until the end of the term for which he was elected.
He had never taken any active part in political affairs, though feeling a deep interest in the great events which in the last days of 1860 cast their ominous shadows upon the national horizon. He was a staunch Southerner in his views and sentiments, and at the expiration of his second term as district-attorney, having removed his family to Sutherland's Springs, in Wilson County, he entered the Confederate service as a private, but was soon afterwards promoted to a captaincy, and remained in the army until the end of the war.
When the great issue was decided against his section, he accepted its natural sequences with the fidelity of a good citizen and with the determination of an unswerving devo- tion to law, order and civic duty, and, having settled at Clinton, in De Witt County, he engaged in teaching school in order to support his family until the courts should be reopened. In 1866 he resumed the practice of law in co- partnership with Samuel C. Lackey. In 1871 he removed to Victoria, and formed a copartnership with A. H. Phil-
317
JOHN W. STAYTON.
lips, and this place has continued since then to be his home.
His practice was now large and remunerative, and in- cluded all classes of legal business. He had as much as he could do, and his energy and dispatch were taxed to the utmost to perform the duties entailed by his extensive patronage. He permitted no abstraction of his attention from his professional labors, and, with the exception of serving as a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1875, persistently rejected every overture of political preferment. In November, 1881, he was appointed by Governor Roberts an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, and, in 1882, was elected to the same position by the people.
It has been said that the personal weight of no one can be depicted in the simple narrative of his achievements, and that the largest part of genius is latent. This silent and subtle quality whose impulses guide the actions of men, but whose counsels they can not divulge, constitutes essentially that which we call character. Achievement may obtain glory and a reputation among men, but character alone can confer the colors of noble purpose, and inspire the attainment of noble ends by noble means. To this principle Judge Stayton owes his success, and it may be truly said of him, as Sir James Mackintosh said of Mr. Grattan, " the purity of his life is the brightness of his glory."
His career upon the bench has been full of efficiency and faithful service, adorned with every feature which ability, uprightness and devotion can impress. His opinions bear the marks of indefatigable research, a conscientious and unswerving pursuit of law and justice, and are always well supported by reason, statute and precedent. Modest and retired in his deportment and manner of life, he detests notoriety, and shrinks even from the voice of approbation. But the records of the court, the confidence reposed in his integrity, and the esteem in which he is universally held by the Texas bar, proclaim at the same time his merits as a judge and his worth as a man. His opinions are numerous.
Æ
318
BENCH AND BAR OF TEXAS.
They are always clear, concise and direct, and leave no doubt as to the import of fact or the true bearing of prin- ciple. The following cases eminently exemplify the judicial traits which the author has endeavored to describe, and are leading adjudications in the State of some of the most intricate and important questions that can affect society : -
Statutory assignments, under the new statute - Blum v. Wellermuck, 56 Texas, 81; Blum v. Welborne, 58 Texas, 157; Denaho v. Tish Bros. & Co., 16. 165 ; Coffin v. Doug- lass, 61 Texas, 406; Keating v. Vaughn, Ib. 518.
Attachment, levy in, how made; constructive delivery, 57 Texas, 91 ; affidavit for, 56 Texas, 423.
Application of payments between the State and tax col- lectors, 57 Texas, 185 ; between parties, 60 Texas, 387.
Community property, what constitutes it, 57 Texas, 37. Rights of the survivor as to the homestead, 1b. 670. Pow- ers and duties of the survivor and the rights of a purchaser, 60 Texas, 96, and 61 Texas, 69.
Actions under the statutes for injuries resulting in death. By the mother, 57 Texas, 491; by the wife, 59 Texas, 435 ; by the father, want of consent, 60 Texas, 397 ; by the wife, where the train causing the death of the husband was in charge of employes of the railroad company, but operated for contraetors, 61 Texas, 527.
Condemnation of land for railway, who must institute proceedings under the statute ; rights of land owner, 59 Texas, 326.
Construction of constitutions and statutes, exemptions from taxation, Ib. 654 ; statute of mills, manufacture, 60 Texas, 230; validating informal acknowledgments, Ib. 360 ; invalidating land locations, Ib. 487; days of grace, 61 Texas, 437.
Duties of officers and their right to fees-District and county attorneys, 57 Texas, 307, and 56 Texas, 385: fraud- ulent trusts, Il. 110.
Homestead, when lost as a place of business, 57 Texas, 674; when lost as a home, 56 Texas, 315 ; limitation of, 61 Texas, 220 ; on property held by tenants in common, 58 Texas, 211; abandonment, part, 59 Texas, 32; right of wife
319
JOHN W. STAYTON.
to recover, 60 Texas, 209 and 235; contract to refuse the use of, 61 Texas, 233.
Injunction, judgment may be rendered on dissolution of, practice, 57 Texas, 129.
Joinder of parties and causes of action, opinion on re- hearing, 58 Texas, 191.
Land law ; rights of purchaser when patent has not been issued, 59 Texas, 427 ; purchaser of school lands, 60 Texas, 61 ; illegal location, 61 Texas, 629; mistake and accident, 16. 665.
Municipal taxation; local assessment, when valid, 56 Texas, 522 ; payment of, under protest, Ib. 486.
City taxing its interest in property of which it is a part owner, but which is controlled by another corporation, 5 Texas Law Review, 117.
Liability of master to servant, his duty to warn an in- experienced employe of unseen danger, 56 Texas, 301 ; who represents the master, defect in machinery, negligence in the employment or retention of servants, 58 Texas, 277; when the danger is known to the servant, 59 Texas, 10.
Municipal indebtedness, authority to contract, payment, 58 Texas, 463.
Insurance, usage, agents, 56 Texas, 234, and 59 Texas, 507 ; to whom the benefit of insurance accrues, Ib. 674.
Illegal contracts, 60 Texas, 379.
Negligence, of parents, can not be imputed to an infant, 59 Texas, 64.
Notice ; whether a promise can be notice, 60 Texas, 315.
Nuisance, owner of property liable for, 61 Texas, 133 ; when an agent is liable for, Ib. 177.
Negotiable interest, when it may be held as collateral se- curity, Ib. 365.
Measure of damages, proximate cause, Ib. 345.
Jurisdiction, county boundaries, 58 Texas, 228; of County Court over guardians, bond after discharge, Ib. 554 ; of District Court over injunctions in cases involv- ing less than five hundred dollars, Ib. 616; of contested elections, 60 Texas, 46 ; of probate of wills, Ib. 46.
320
BENCH AND BAR OF TEXAS.
Lis pendens, writ of error, 60 Texas, 556.
Stoppage in transitu, Ib. 278.
Testament, adoption, under the Spanish law, ancient in- struments, 61 Texas, 61.
Liability of municipal corporations for damages for injuries resulting from neglect. Posneimski v. City of Gal- veston, 62 Texas.
Liability of railway company for injuries arising from neglect of receiver while the road in his hands. Ryan r. I. & G. N. R. R. Co., Ib., and Hicks v. I. & G. N. R. R. Co., Ib.
Separate property of married woman, resulting trust, registration, liens upon, 60 Texas, 112.
Wills, powers, construction of, 62 Texas, 1.
In the beginning of the canvass of 1884 the people of the Seventh District desired that he should represent them in the Congress of the United States, and, while he had a distaste for political office and was devoted to his judicial duties, so ardent was the manifestation of this wish of the people that it was thought he would accept the nomination. This elicited the following communication from the bar, and his reply, as substantially published in the Austin Statesman : -
AUSTIN, TEXAS, June 4, 1884.
Hon. John W. Stayton, Austin, Texas -
SIR: The undersigned, members of the bar, now in Aus- tin during the session of the Supreme Court, believe we utter the general desire of the bar of the State in respect- fully requesting you not to resign your position as supreme judge of Texas in order to represent the district in which you reside in Congress. This request is made in view of what seems the general desire in your district that you shall become a candidate. We appreciate the anxiety of your local constituents that you shall go to Congress, but we re- spectfully suggest that you represent, as supreme judge, the entire State in a higher sphere of usefulness, and we hope you will agree with us in the belief that your highest
JOHN W. STAYTON. 321
duty is to the people and the bar of the entire State, who have already elected you.
-
M. R. STRINGFELLOW,
GEORGE W. RUSS,
L. H. VERNY,
GEORGE L. HILL,
CHARLES R. GIBSON,
B. R. WEBB,
J. H. ROBERTSON,
B. H. RICE,
L. J. STOREY,
Z. T. FULMORE,
JAMES R. DAVIS,
BETHEL COOPWOOD,
DANIEL GETTINS,
H. E. SHELLEY,
JOHN B. RECTOR,
W. J. MONTGOMERY,
T. A. THOMSON,
W. M. BROWN,
W. A. BLACKBURN,
JAMES A. MUIR,
J. W. CARTWRIGHT,
E. T. MOORE,
GARDNER RUGGLES,
A. H. GRAHAM,
R. H. WARD,
T. E. HAMMOND,
S. A. POSEY,
JAMES B. GOFF,
J. M. MORPHIS,
W. D. WILLIAMS,
FRED. CARLETON,
A. J. PEELER,
A. M. JACKSON,
A. M. JACKSON, JR.,
W. M. WALTON,
R. J. HILL,
N. S. WALTON,
G. S. WALTON,
T. S. MAXEY,
S. R. FISHER,
H. D. PRENDERGAST,
A. W. TERRELL,
OSCEOLA ARCHER,
F. G. MORRIS,
C. D. JOHNS,
JOHN W. ROBERTSON,
D. W. Doou,
A. S. WALKER,
N. P. JACKSON,
N. G. SHELLEY,
E. B. HANCOCK,
DAVID SHEEKS,
D. G. SMITH,
JAMES H. BURTS,
J. W. BAINES.
To this Judge Stayton replied that the subject had given him much concern, as, contrary to his oft-repeated desire, he could not close his eyes to the fact that it was the wish of many friends that he should become a candidate for
21
. T. T. GAMMAGE, ALVIN C. OWSLEY,
J. M. HARTFIELD,
C. EDMUNDSON,
DUDLEY G. WOOTEN,
J. W. LAWRENCE,
I. G. SEARCY,
D. G. CHALMERS,
322
BENCH AND BAR OF TEXAS.
Congress in the Seventh District. He realized the right of the people to have the services of any citizen, and it had been a difficult thing to determine his duty in the premises. The people of the Seventh District had bestowed many kindnesses upon him, and, were he not already in the ser- vice of the State, he should deem it his duty to sink his own personal desires and preferences, and accept a nomi- nation for Congress if tendered by the people. Having accepted another position at the hands of the people, he felt that he was under an implied obligation to hold that office and discharge its duties to the best of his ability. He had not encouraged the association of his name with the nomi- nation, but had said frankly that if he could see clearly that his services were essential to the welfare of the dis- trict he might possibly consent to become a candidate, at the same time requesting that his name be not urged before the people. He had never believed the services of any one man to be essential to the welfare of the Seventh District. There were those who could do more effectual service in Congress than he. He regretted that his name had been mentioned for the place, but returned thanks to those un- selfish friends who had so complimented him. He felt it his duty to the people and himself to state that he could not accept a nomination for Congress, in order that his candidacy might not be expected, and that others who might be willing to accept the place might be entirely unembar- rassed. He closed by thanking the members of the bar for their kind expressions of confidence and esteem.
323
CHARLES S. WEST.
CHARLES S. WEST.
It will be observed in this work that the State of South Carolina has furnished many ornaments to the Bench and Bar of Texas. The patriotism, love of liberty, and heroic spirit of the young Republic and State were congenial to the sentiments which the nurseries of that State inspired in the minds of genius and ambition, and many of its sons cast their lot early in life with the destinies of the Lone Star ; among these were Rusk, Hemphill, Lipscomb, the two Jacks, Roberts, Brewster, and the subject of this sketch ; men who largely shaped the proud career of Texas and adorned and elevated its jurisprudence.
Charles Sherman West, one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court of Texas, was born in Camden, South Carolina, on the 24th day of September, 1829. Here his father, John C. West, a native of North Carolina, long lived a respected and honored citizen, and died in 1855. He served two terms as sheriff of Kershaw District, and was for many years teller in the old bank of Camden. His mother, Nancy Clark Eccles, who was connected with the Thorntons, Eccles, Clarks, and other old Carolina families, was educated in the then famous Moravian School at Salem, North Carolina, and was a lady of literary taste and superior culture. She was often a contributor to the Augusta Mirror, and prided herself in efforts to establish a State literature that would foster and encourage Southern genius.
Her son, the subject of this sketch, enjoyed the best early advantages and was thoroughly prepared for college under the instruction of noted teachers in his native town. In 1845 he was sent to Jefferson College, at that time a noted Presbyterian institution, at Cannonsburg, Pennsyl-
324
BENCH AND BAR OF TEXAS.
vania, and under the supervision of the celebrated divine, Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge, of Kentucky. In 1846 he returned to his native State and became a student in the College of South Carolina, which was then presided over by the famous scholar and orator, William C. Preston, and in which Francis Leiber, the well known writer on political economy, was a professor, and he graduated at this insti- tution in 1848.
On leaving college Mr. West returned to his native town, and finding himself in needy circumstances engaged, during the years 1849-50, as a teacher of a small school in the Boykin family at Pleasant Hill, a few miles from Camden, and during that time devoted his spare hours to the study of law under the guidance of James Chesnut, who was afterwards United States Senator, and during the civil war a member of President Davis' staff. This accomplished gentleman took great interest in the young student, encour- aged and aided him in many ways, and to his precepts and the sentiments which he inculcated, Judge West owes more than to any other person the reputation and eminence which he has attained at the Texas bar as one of the ablest practitioners and thorough lawyers in the State.
In the spring of 1851 he was admitted to the practice of his profession at Columbia, and located at Camden, but the litigation in those times being generally on a large scale and legal patronage being confined for the most part to experienced practitioners who had served their vigenti an- norum lucubrationes and established their reputation, he met with but little immediate encouragement, and chafing under the restraints of an arbitrary custom he determined to leave his native State and seek other fields.
In the fall of 1852 he immigrated to Texas and settled at Austin, where, on his arrival, he had but seven dollars and fifty cents in his pocket, which he had borrowed, and was really without a dollar of his own in the world. During the first two years of his residence in Austin his success was limited, but in 1851, Colonel HI. P. Brewster, a South Carolinian, who had come to Texas under similar circum- stances, sympathizing with the efforts of his young fellow-
325
CHARLES S. WEST.
statesman, took him into copartnership, and from that date, starting with a moderate practice, the star of his professional eminence took its way toward the zenith.
In 1855 he was elected a member of the Sixth Legisla- ture of Texas, as the representative of the Capital District, and participated prominently in the discussion of the impor- tant questions of the day. His speeches in defense of General Rusk, on the public debt bill, on the questions which at that time agitated the South, and other subjects, attracted public attention and gained him popularity.
In 1856 he formed a copartnership with Hon. John Han- cock, and the firm became one of great celebrity. For many years they did the leading practice in their section of the State, including many counties of Central Texas. They were particularly noted for their extensive land practice, their large business in the Federal courts, and for their suc- cess as the attorneys and representatives at Austin of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad.
In 1861 Mr. West was elected Secretary of State under Governor Lubbuck, but in 1862 he entered the Confederate service and was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General, with the rank of Captain, on the staff of General Hebert, and subsequently served in the same capacity on the staff of General Magruder. At the battle of Galveston he was on the staff of General Scurry, and both that officer and Gen- eral Magruder gave him complimentary mention for valuable services and good conduct in their reports. During the last year of the war he served on the staff of General E. Kirby Smith, in the Adjutant-General's department, and was with the command of General Scurry when that officer was killed in the battle of Jenkins' Ferry, on the Sabine River, in Arkansas. He was promoted for gallantry in this action to the rank of Major, and was assigned to duty as Judge- Advocate in the Trans-Mississippi department, and held this position until the close of the war.
At the termination of hostilities Judge West returned to Austin and resumed his copartnership with Judge Hancock, and the business of the firm soon became equal to that of any in the State in all the branches of the profession. In
326
BENCH AND BAR OF TEXAS.
1874, he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, and argued before that court, among others, the very important case of Connett v. Williams, which increased his reputation as an advocate and learned lawyer. In 1876, under an act passed in pursuance of the requirements of the new Constitution, he was appointed by Governor Coke one of the first commissioners to revise the Code of the State. He was made chairman of the com- mittee, and devoted, in conjunction with his colleagues, all his energies and learning to the compilation of the present Revised Statutes of Texas, which attest in the highest de- gree the eminence of its authority.
He also represented Travis, and a number of adjoining counties, in the convention which framed the Constitution of 1875, and was chairman of the important committee on general provisions. He was not satisfied with the draft of the constitution when it was presented to the convention, and opposed its adoption as being, in his judgment, defec- tive, but voted for it at the polls as being far superior to the existing organic law.
In December, 1881, he was elected an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and holds that position at the present time. His learning and integrity, his powers of research, his calm patience and courteous dignity, eminently fitted him for this elevated position, and he forms one of a trio of judges whose qualities and ability revives the " old court " of other days.
As a lawyer, Judge West was particularly noted for being a most consummate pleader, and an excellent practitioner, and was considered one of the ablest chancery and Federal court lawyers at the Texas bar. He prepared his cases with great care and research, and maintained his side in argu- mentation with the skill of a thorough dialectician. The merits of his cases lacked nothing which labor and learning could impart to them, and conscientious fidelity to the in- terest of his clients endowed his efforts with confidence and satisfaction, and success crowned his professional virtues.
As a judge his opinions are noted for their clearness and precision, and have the special merit of adducing all
:
:
:
327
CHARLES S. WEST.
the former decisions of the court upon the question at issue, and sifting from them every analogy and application to the merits of the case at bar, and laying down clearly the views of the present court, so that no conflict can arise between the assertion of a general principle and a particular state of facts.
In private and social life, Judge West is somewhat re- served in his manners, but he is a generous, courteous and kind-hearted man, and his personal qualities are staunchly subsidiary to his professional attainments. He was married in 1859 to Miss Florence Randolph Duval, eldest daughter of Hon. Thomas H. Duval, who so long and satisfactorily occupied the position of United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas. Her grandfather was Hon. William P. Duval, the first Governor of Florida, and the Ralph Ringwood of Washington Irving's " Tales of Brace- bridge Hall," whose intimate friendship he enjoyed. Mrs. West was a highly accomplished lady, a charming vocalist, and would have been an ornament to any society. She pos- sessed a rare poetic taste and genius. A small volume of her poems have been published for private circulation only, and they are of superior literary excellence. Judge West is not a member of any religious denomination, but has a predilection for the Protestant Episcopal Church, and for thirty years has been a regular attendant upon the services of that communion.
.
328
.
BENCH AND BAR OF TEXAS.
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.