USA > Texas > The bench and bar of Texas > Part 7
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
The bar of Nacogdoches was at that time noted for legal ability, and was justly regarded as one of the most distin- guished in the Southwest. It was adorned with such professional luminaries as Thomas J. Rusk, A. Pickney Henderson, K. L. Anderson, Royal T. Wheeler, O. M. Roberts, Thomas J. Jennings and others, whose genius elevated and embellished the jurisprudence of the Republic and State ; but Mr. Ochiltree was equal to the requirements of success, and to the severe test which a claim to eminence demanded, and was soon recognized as one of the most skillful and logical, as well as one of the most learned advocates at the bar. While he was deficient in general learning, his vigorous mind grasped and embraced the subtleties of law with an alacrity and comprehension which placed him in the first rank of the profession. His mind was always clear and ready, and his statement of facts was so plain, his application of law so lucid, that no ingenuity of argument, no skill of abstraction could pervert the meaning or obscure his position.
In 1842 he was appointed judge of the fifth district of the Republic, which made him ex-officio one of the judges of the Supreme Court. His decisions are reported by Mr.
6
82
BENCH AND BAR OF TEXAS.
Dallam, and though rendered at that early day, are not without interest, especially that in Titus v. Hardin, and in the Republic v. the famous Monroe Edwards.
In 1844 Judge Ochiltree was selected by President Jones as a member of his cabinet, and was appointed Secretary of. the Treasury, and in November, 1845, was transferred to the Attorney-General's office. In the former position he gathered the knowledge of finance, and in the latter, his familiarity with criminal jurisprudence, which made him afterwards distinguished as a financier, and particularly as a successful criminal lawyer.
Upon the annexation of Texas to the United States, he was elected a delegate to the Convention which framed the . Constitution of the State, and was an active and prominent member of that body. This convention was composed of the ablest men of Texas, and the result of their labors is an everlasting monument of their wisdom. The Constitu- tion with which the new State was launched into the Union has no superior in statesmanship in the history of organic law.
After the adjournment of the Convention he was appointed judge of the fifth judicial district, but soon returned to the bar, and for ten years devoted himself without inter- ruption to the practice of his profession. His practice was extensive, and it was during this time that he achieved some of his greatest professional triumphs. His popularity was great, and he received the familiar sobriquet of Buffalo Head, which was given him in consequence of the peculiar formation of that member, which was remarkably large and encephalic, indicating intellectual powers of the highest order.
In 1855 he was a member of the sixth Legislature, and was one of the most able and conspicuous members of the House. He was chairman of the judiciary committee, and his speeches upon measures affecting the public debt and the public lands were able and eloquent, and his views chiefly moulded the policy of the State in regard to those questions. His speech in favor of the civil-law doctrine of
83
WILLIAM B. OCHILTREE.
forced heirship, and against the adoption of the statute of wills, while not so effective, was likewise able and inter- esting.
As an orator Judge Ochiltree had few equals at the Texas bar, possessed of a clear and stentorian voice, his elocution was vehement and impassioned and swept the field of debate like a resistless tempest. The brilliant flashes of his genius and the sudden outbursts of his natural eloquence often surprised and confounded his opponents and charmed his audience into a sympathy with his views which gained him many a narrow success, both at the bar and in the halls of legislation.
In 1859 he removed to the town of Marshall, and in 1861 was chosen a member of the Convention whichi adopted the ordinance of secession, and was one of the signers of that instrument. He was elected as one of the delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States at Mont- gomery, and his ability gave him great influence in that distinguished assembly. When hostilities began he resigned his seat in order to transfer his services to the field, and, returning to Texas, soon raised a regiment of infantry which was attached to Walker's division, and which he led with conspicuous gallantry ; but owing to ill health he re- signed the command of his regiment in 1863 and returned to his home. His health continued to decline, and, while, he watched the progress and culmination of the strife with the most intense interest and anxiety, he was no longer able to participate in public affairs, and being aware of the fatal character of his decline he devoted his time to setting his house in order, became a member of the Episcopal Church and died in the faith of Christianity at Jefferson on the 27th of December, 1867.
Judge Ochiltree saw Texas through all the phases of her existence, save the last. He had seen her as an indepen- dent sovereign nation, as a prosperous State of the Union, as a gallant member of the Confederacy and as a conquered province, degraded by military rule, and it is a pity that he did not live to see her risen like Thebes from hor smould- ering ashes and clad in the robes of a new prosperity.
---
84
BENCH AND BAR OF TEXAS.
The public services of Judge Ochiltree were characterized by a patriotic devotion to the welfare of his State, and his ability and fidelity made a lasting impression upon every . sphere of his public duties, and elevated every position which he held. During a period of thirty years his name is closely connected with the history of Texas, and she will preserve it as of one of her truest and most useful citizens.
In social life he was generous and kind, courteous and affable in his demeanor to all classes and attracted the regard of all who approached him. He was greatly beloved by his family, esteemed by his neighbors and universally reverenced by his fellow-citizens.
1
85
ABNER SMITH LIPSCOMB.
ABNER SMITH LIPSCOMB.
This great and good man was born in Abbeville District, South Carolina, on the 10th of February, 1789. His parents were natives of Virginia, and emigrated to South Carolina prior to the war of the Revolution, in which his father bore a patriotic part. His early scholastic advant- ages were only such as the common schools of that period afforded. He studied law in the office of John C. Calhoun, and in the glare of his tutorship imbibed those beams of greatness which kindled the fires of genius that after- ward blazed along his own pathway. The inspirations of such a nursery and the impressions which he received from the master mind of his distinguished preceptor, blending with the impulses of ambition and natural endowments, wrought into the plastic mould of his mind qualities which afterward expanded into an illustrative type of true great- ness. He often referred to the beneficial and stamping in- fluences of his early associations, and cherished with just pride the memory of his tutelage.
In 1811, having obtained his license, he removed to St. Stephens, on the Tombigbee River, in Alabama, and entered upon the practice of his profession. His energy, fidelity and integrity soon commanded an extensive and lucrative business, while his steady and vigorous application gath- ered a knowledge of law which destined him for the highest judicial sphere. He was married in 1813 to Elizabeth Gains, daughter of a planter residing in the Mississippi Territory ; but patroitism shared his nature more largely than the sentiments of professional devotion, or even the tenderest conjugal affection, and he soon afterward broke away from the society of his young wife and the emolu- ments of his practice and responded to a call for troops to
86
BENCH AND BAR OF TEXAS.
quell the hostile demonstrations of the Indian tribes along the Southern frontier, excited by the war of 1812. When quiet was restored he returned to St. Stephens and resumed his practice, but was soon called again into public service of a different character, in which he spent the greater portion of his after life.
He had been a member of the Territorial Legislature, and upon the organization of the State government in 1819, he was appointed, when but thirty years of age, one of the circuit judges, who, sitting in banc, constituted the Supreme Court of Alabama. In 1823 he was made chief justice of the State and held that position eleven years. His opinions are presented in the first ten volumes of Alabama Reports.
In 1835 he resigned his seat upon the bench and removed to the city of Mobile, where he resumed his practice and increased the high reputation which he had already achieved at the bar. His superb social qualities and congenial dis- position made him popular with the people. He had always been a staunch and consistent Democrat, and in 1838 was nominated by the Democracy of Mobile as a candidate for the Legislature ; and so great were his personal popularity and the weight of his character that he was elected over the Whig candidate, notwithstanding that the latter party had an overwhelming majority in the city, and had been in the ascendent for many years.
As a legislator, his long experience upon the bench, his thorough knowledge of the law, and clear perception of the defects of the existing system, enabled him to effect many measures of reform in Alabama jurisprudence. Through his influence the common-law system of pleading was simplified and the judicature of the State rendered more uniform and expeditious.
In 1839, before the expiration of his term in the Legis- lature, he removed to Texas. His fame as a lawyer and jurist had preceded him, and he immediately commanded a large practice. Ile at first resisted all attempts to draw him into public life, but finally consented upon the earnest solicitations of President Lamar to accept the post of Secretary of State. under his administration. He warmly
87
ABNER SMITH LIESCOMB.
espoused the policy of annexing Texas to the Union, and brought all his influence to bear upon the accomplishment of that object. He was elected a member of the Conven- tion of 1845, and introduced the resolutions accepting the terms of annexation proposed by the government of the United States. These were adopted, and the convention proceeded immediately to form a Constitution for the new State. Here again his legai knowledge and judicial expe- rience enabled him to render most efficient service in the construction of the organic law, and those beneficent pro- visions in regard to homestead exemptions and marital rights which adorn the Constitution of Texas, and which excite universal admiration, are largely the work of his genius and influence.
The merit of his services in the Convention of 1845 was duly recognized, and upon the adoption of the Constitution by the people in 1846, he was appointed by Governor Hen- derson one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the State, and from this time his life was devoted to the devel- opment of Texas jurisprudence. He held the position of associate justice eleven years, and until the time of his death, which occurred at Austin during the session of the court, on the 30th of November, 1856.
His opinions are contained in the first seventeen volumes of Texas Reports. They are more numerous than those of either of his associates, and settled most of the questions of practice which arose during that time under the mixed system which obtains in the Texas courts.
The life and character of Judge Lipscomb are kindling incentives to that honorable ambition which finds its satis- faction only in the distinguished performance of high public trusts, to that patriotism which derives more happiness from the faithful discharge of public duties than from the attainments of the most coveted private ends, and to that rectitude which finds its reward in the commendation of all good men, and in the smiles of Heaven which mirror themselves upon the unruffled surface of a clear conscience.
When such men die, it behooves us to pause and contem- plate the instructive lessons which their lives have inscribed
88
BENCH AND BAR OF TEXAS.
upon the great chart of human existence, for the purpose of paying proper reverence to their memories, and to catch the noble inspirations which continue to emanate from the tracks of departed worth. To review and record the qual- ities of one who has reaped the highest esteem of his fellow-citizens, is a custom which finds its sanction through all ages, down to the very depths of antiquity, and to which we owe the preservation of the great lessons of virtue, the landmarks of greatness, and the beacons of fame which have given light to the generations of earth, and pointed mankind to a higher and nobler sphere.
Hence, to cite examples of the different features of greatness is by no means a difficult task, but to analyze and interpret the different measures and varieties of qualities which enter into its composition is a task of another im- port, and we will find ourselves met by insuperable barriers at the very threshold of the investigation. There we will find Genius, with its dazzling train, mocking at every effort to discover its source, and by its side Wisdom, peering far beyond the superficial scope of vulgar gaze. There Honor's helmet flashes an effulgence which, but for its rarity, would kindle a philanthropy that would glorify the world; and there is Charity, distilling its soothing drops into the hearts of the unfortunate, and healing the festering ulcers of human woes. Memory is there with its tablet of indelible inscriptions. Perception is there with the glare of its penetrating glance ; and there is Judgment, with the staff of reason in one hand and the plumb-line of justice in the other. There Virtue marshals her white-robed train, while hallowed Piety reigns the sceptered lord of all.
What pen can depict the characters of this gorgeous court? What embassador from the realms of metaphysics can penetrate its secret councils and describe its rivalries and harmonies? Surely, we must retire from the laby- rinthian threshold and await the denoument of the heralds of action. With this conviction let us return to the subject of this sketch, and confine ourselves to the contemplation of qualities whose sources we may not invade.
As a lawyer, Judge Lipscomb possessed every quality of
89
ABNER SMITH LIPSCOMB.
pre-eminence. He was thoroughly familiar with the funda- mental principles of law, and skilled in all the details of the profession. It was the study of his life, and he traced every legal principal to its source. He loved the law as the grandest edifice ever erected by the mind of man, and as the receptacle into which has flowed the wisdom of ages. He recognized the truth of the saying of Sir Henry Finsh, that " the sparks of all the sciences in the world are raked up in the ashes of the law," and he adopted the maxim of Lord Kenyon, that melius est petere fontes quam sectari rivos ( it is better to seek the fountains than to intercept the streams). On the bench the career of Judge Lipscomb would have adorned the ermine of any country, and in any age. As conscientious and upright as Sir Matthew Hale, he possessed much of the penetrating vision and brilliant perception of Lord Mansfield, the equitable poise of Eldon and the intui- tive judgment of Hardwicke. His decisions are delivered in a neat, plain and lucid manner. His style is pure without ostentation, his sentences forcible without verbosity, and his judgments fixed immovably upon the firm foundations of law. His quotations of authority are never profuse, but always go straight to the point of issue. While he had due reverence for established precedent, he took care to test it in the retort of his own logic, and to pass it through the crucible of his own judgment. His comprehensive and acute knowledge of general principles enabled him with or without precedent to apply the law with unerring hand to the vindication of justice. But these comments may be useless, if not tedious to the professional reader. The de- cisions of Judge Lipscomb speak for themselves. They are the best monuments of his genius ; the brightest and most durable urn of his greatness. They glare with im- mortal splendor upon the pages of Texas jurisprudence, and to them let the professional reader address himself for the great lessons which they teach - lessons inculcating the example of an able lawyer, an honest. man and a learned and upright judge.
Judge Lipscomb was a Christian, both in faith and in manner of life, and as a biblical scholar he had few supe-
90
BENCH AND BAR OF TEXAS.
riors. He delighted in social intercourse, and his gentle and agreeable manners and instruetive conversation made him a welcome guest in every circle. If his countenance sometimes wore an expression of gravity, it was but the re- flection of intense thought, and was dispersed at the least interruption of bis meditations. He was a man of warm attachments and tender sympathies. He was twice mar- ried. He lost his first wife in 1841, and in 1843 was mar- ried to Mary P. Bullock, daughter of Dr. Thomas Hunt, of Austin, who survived him.
The home circle was to him an altar of pure devotion, from which continually arose the incense of domestic fe- licity. Hospitality and charity were among his most prom- inent qualities, and the best side of his character was turned away from public gaze. While these may perish with the hearts which they warmed and with the memories upon which they were inscribed, the legislative and judicial rec- ords of two great States bear everlasting testimony to his patriotism as a citizen, his ability as a judge, and his worth as a man.
"Fruits of a genial morn and glorious noon, The deathless parts of one who died too soon."
91
ROYAL T. WHEELER.
ROYAL T. WHEELER.
Chief Justice Wheeler was born in the State of Vermont in 1810. While young he removed with his father's family to Ohio, and there obtained a respectable education and prepared himself for the bar. Having obtained his license and being thrown upon his own resources, he emigrated in 1837 to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and became the partner of William S. Oldham, who was subsequently a judge of the Supreme Court of that State, and a Senator from Texas in the Confederate Congress. In 1839 he was married to Miss Emily Walker, an accomplished young lady of Fay- etteville, and soon afterwards removed to Nacogdoches, in Texas, and formed a law copartnership with Kendreth L. Anderson, the Vice-President of the Republic. In 1842 he was elected district attorney, and in 1844 was promoted to the district bench, which made him also a judge of the Supreme Court, as that was then composed of the district judges sitting in banc.
When the State government was organized, in 1845, the sagacity of Governor Henderson discerned the ability and merit of the young jurist, and he was appointed one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court, and in 1851 was elected to the same position by the people. In consequence of an increase in the salaries of the judges in 1856, he re- signed, in company with his associates, and was re-elected under the new system of emoluments ; and upon the resig- nation of Chief Justice Hemphill, in 1838, to accept a seat in the United States Senate, Judge Wheeler was chosen chief justice of the Supreme Court, and held that position with distinguished ability until the time of his death, which occurred in Washington County, Texas, in the spring of 1864.
92
BENCH AND BAR OF TEXAS.
As a lawyer Judge Wheeler was thoroughly versed in the learning of his profession. He was a close, attentive and apt student, and his knowledge was rooted in the very depths of the science, while the natural bent and quality of his mind led to a comprehension of the minutest features as well as the grandest outlines of jurisprudence. While at the bar of Arkansas he had made himself an efficient special pleader under the strict system of the common law practiced in the courts of that State, and he was quick to discover the points upon which the merits of a case hinged. His mind was too matter of fact in its bent and too exact- ing in its candor to indulge in the mere visions of imagin- ation, and he disdained all its " flower-decked plats and blooming parterres." He was not distinguished as a rhe- torician, but he knew how to command the minds and hearts of men, and had great power before a jury. These quali- ties seemed to have designed him especially for a great criminal lawyer, and his knowledge of criminal jurispru- dence was pre-eminent. His mind seemed particularly con- stituted for sifting and weighing the circumstances which form the qualities of guilt and the varied ingredients of crime. But, notwithstanding these prominent characteris- tics, so full-orbed and luminous were his legal attainments that it is difficult to assign superiority to his knowledge in any particular department. He possessed a vigor of intel- lect, an inquisitiveness of mind, and a practicality of dis- position which led him to look beyond the existence of the statute to an inquiry into the origin and reason of the law, and he had traced the principles of every branch to their source.
As a judge, Chief Justice Wheeler planted himself firmly upon principles and fundamental truths, and from these his mind, armed with the lance of acute penetration, clad in the mail of a sound judgment, and disciplined by a severe training and correct association, penetrated every combina- tion of circumstances and defied every challenge of emer- gency. He detested fallacy and showed it no quarter, while his plain logie intersected ambiguity with the straight path of truth. As Sir Richard Steele said of Lord Chief
93
ROYAL T. WHEELER.
Justice Holt, "he always sat in triumph over, and in con- tempt of, vice; he never searched for it, or spared it when it came before bim. At the same time he could see through the hypocrisy and disguise of those who have no pretense to virtue themselves, but by their severity to the vicious." He was a close observer, quick to read the hearts of men, to interpret their motives and to detect the springs of human action.
These accomplishments can not be said to be the work of genius, for Judge Wheeler was not thus indebted to nature for his gifts. They were the fruits of unceasing effort, of vigorous systematic application, a rectitude of purpose and a determination which nothing short of the achievement of the highest and noblest ends could satisfy. He commanded success and he deserved it.
Judge Wheeler possessed a kind and amiable disposition, and sought the attainment of justice by the most charitable means. The warp of his justice was woofed with leniency, and he tempered the rigorous requirements of law with the gentle mandates of equity, yet his vindication of right and truth was always prompt, pronounced and unequivocal.
His professional traits were fashioned in the mould of law, his moral in the cast of rectitude. The simplicity of his virtues admitted no vanity or affectation, and he enjoyed with like modesty the honors of his high office and the venera- tion of society ; and while he was capable of strong prejudices when quickened by perverse opposition, a habitually serene temper asserted the benevolence of his nature. The quali- ties of his heart were not strained but flowed in gushing torrents from deep and unfailing fountains, and their exercise found among his friends and associates a reciprocity which hut intensified their character.
The venerable Judge Robert S. Walker, a long and intimate acquaintance of Judge Wheeler, speaks of his private character in the following graphic terms : -
"Judge Wheeler was a man of a singularly rare combina- tion of character. His presence was benign, and his manner frank and open, inviting approach, and cordial and
94
BENCH AND BAAR OF TEXAS.
.
affable to all, but it forbade coarseness, levity or undue familiarity .
" He carried about him an atmosphere of purity and culture so marked in his countenance and conversation that it was felt as a living presence. In his intercourse he was free and congenial ; his conversation was full of variety and interest, and free from frivolity; and he was always severely independent and sincere in the expression of his sentiments. He never allowed the forms of politeness or silence on his part to be construed as an apparent indorse- ment or seeming approval of a sentiment that was false in morals, but he never failed to leave the impression of his unequivocal opinion as to the right and the truth. His warm, confiding social qualities drew around him a wide circle of devoted friends composed of the purest and best -
of all classes and professions. He never pursued the acquirement of wealth, nor sought influence for the purpose of advancing himself. He coveted neither. His aspirations were far above the former, and his ambition was too high to be gratified through the agency of the latter. Success with him was nothing, if not achieved by merit rather than by the doubtful schemes of contrivance."
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.