Nodaway County, Missouri - Chapter 8: Bench and Bar of Nodaway County, 1910

Chapter 8: Bench and Bar of Nodaway County

In the history of every county, the legal profession - the lawyers and judges - has ever been of interest and great importance to the upbuilding of the commonwealth. The makers and administrators of law have gone hand in hand with true civilization, and while the bar may have had at times design¬ ing, tricky men who have sought to create litigation among the people, yet for the most part they have been above the average citizen in all their dealings with their fellow men. The best lawyers and judges have ever sought to make law simple and plain, and have endeavored, when possible, to make set¬ tlement "out of court/' and thus have been peace-makers.

It will be the province of this chapter to narrate some of the things con¬ nected with the Bench and Bar of Nodaway county, mentioning many of the earlier lawyers, together with a list of the present members of the bar in the county. In doing this, the author has taken the liberty to draw largely from the history of this county issued in 1882, in which is truly portrayed the prin¬ cipal traits of character which impelled these professional men in their laudable work among their fellow citizens. The history of these men was written by Judge Ira K. Alderman, one of the ablest and oldest members of the Nodaway county bar about 1880. for the publishers of the work just referred to.

The pioneer attorney of Maryville was James M. Dews, a Kentuckian by birth, who located in Nodaway county in 1848, at a time when there had as yet been but little litigation. In the summer of that year he taught the first school in the new county-seat town. His office was kept in the old log court house, which he also used as a school room. He was accounted a good lawyer, careful and painstaking, and one of the kind who seldom ever touched a case unless he was certain in his own mind that his client was largely in the right. His advice was sought in all parts of the new county and was usually considered sound and correct. He practiced five or six years, teaching school and practicing alternately, after which he sought out a better field for his legal career and moved to Glenwood, Iowa, where he soon acquired a lucrative practice. From that point he removed to Kansas City, where he was living in the early eighties, aged sixty-five years.

R. M. Stewart (once governor of Missouri) was among the very early limbs of the law in Nodaway county, and doubtless was the first law student in the county, for he is spoken of as coming here soon after the first settler (Hogan) arrived. He came with Richard Taylor and Daniel Hogan, follow¬ ing the Indian trails. He hired out to Joel Hedgepath and hoed corn at three shillings a day, and at odd times, rainy days and winters, read Blackstone and the Statutes of Missouri. He was admitted to the practice of law and later became a captain in the Mexican war from Missouri, and still later was elected governor of Missouri. Had it not been that he tarried long at the wine, he would have been an honor to the state.

Hon. Henry L. Warren

Henry L. Warren was born in Quincy, Illinois, about 1830; attended law school at Rochester, New York, and came to Maryville, Missouri, in 1858. beginning the practice of law as a partner of Hon. Samuel D. McEnery. In his youth he had the advantages of a college education. After remaining here two years, he returned to Quincy, and subsequently became a distin¬ guished member of the legal fraternity. He became a United States district judge in one of the far Western states, which position he was ably filling in 1883.

The law firm of Warren & McEnery will be remembered only by the older citizens of the county, for they practiced a half century ago here. Here they had their early struggles, but finally won their way to the forefront of dis¬ tinction and made a national name for themselves by their judicial rulings.

Hon. Samuel D. Mcenery

Samuel D. McEnery arrived in Maryville in the spring of 1858, from Louisiana, where he was born about 1835. Shortly before his coming he had graduated from the law school at Rochester, New York, after having first been well educated in one of the high educational institutions of the country. He was small in stature, weighed about one hundred and twenty pounds, but was very active and energetic. Possessing a warm heart and genial manners, he soon made many friends. He commenced the law practice with his part¬ ner, Henry L. Warren, of Quincy, Illinois, a friend and schoolmate, the part¬ nership existing until about i860, when he returned to his native state.

Mr. McEnery, although he practiced law here but two years, gave evi¬ dences of ability which has since distinguished him as a lawyer. He has filled many positions of honor and trust in Louisiana, being the governor of the state in 1882.

Matthew G. Rosebf.Rry

Matthew G. Roseberry was born in Adams county, Illinois, in 1833. He received his common school education in his native county, and afterwards took a course in the scientific department of what was then known as the Illi¬ nois College, at Jacksonville. From 1854 to 1856 he was a teacher under the school laws of Illinois. He then studied law with Hon. C. A. Warren, an eminent lawyer of western Illinois, and was admitted to the bar, after a thor¬ ough and searching examination by that eminent jurist, O. C. Skinner, of the supreme court of that state. He located in Maryville in 1857, beginning the practice of law with J. H. Richardson. Business being dull here, he returned to Quincy and entered into partnership, soon, with D. C. Johnston, at Rushville, Brown county. In 1859 he started for Pike's Peak; went as far west as Old Fort Kearney, and there turned around and headed for Adams county, Illinois, and in November. 1859. returned to Maryville. Missouri, where he ever afterward made his home. He built up a large and honorable practice. He and Judge Herren defended Amos Halsey for the murder of Lawrence, which was at that day a very celebrated case. Hon. Silas Woodson was the trial judge on the circuit at the time. In the year 1861, when the great Civil war came on, Mr. Roseberry, though reared a Democrat and having adhered to the principles of Democracy as expounded by Stephen A. Douglas, es¬ poused the cause of the Union, and early in 1863 was appointed provost mar¬ shal for Nodaway county. In his official capacity he was always kind and considerate with those with whom he had to deal, - those who were under the ban of disloyalty, - yet always doing his duty. Soon after he was out of this federal position, he formed a partnership with A. P. Morehouse in the prac¬ tice of law and the real estate business. He was foremost in educational affairs and took deep interest in the public school system in Missouri. In 1864-65, when a school tax was voted for the erection of a school house here, some of the citizens, not having been reared to the belief that schools were important, demurred at payment of taxes. Roseberry & Morehouse appeared for the school district. The case was one of vast importance and one in which the higher courts in Missouri had not yet passed upon. After the usual legal battle, the case was decided in favor of the school district and the building was erected - a big victory for Roseberry.

In 1868 Mr. Roseberry was nominated and elected to the state senate. He served on the committees of ways and means, of criminal jurisprudence and county boundaries. He was the author of the bill by which swamp lands ceded to Missouri by the United States were patented to the several counties. He championed the railroad consolidation bill that became a law in 1870.

In 1870 Mr. Roseberry founded the Maryville Republican , whose editor he was for two years. After the breaking out of the Civil war he was a mem¬ ber of the Republican party. On account of a difference of opinion over mat¬ ters within his political party, he was urged to establish the paper referred to. The constitutional amendments were at that date a troublesome question in the two parties. In church connection, he was of the Christian denomination. In all the walks of life, he was exemplary and broad-minded. Death claimed him November 19, 1888.

Hon. Berryman K. Davis

Berryman K. Davis was born in Pettis county, Missouri, in April, 1839. His father moved to Nodaway county in 1842, settling on the White Cloud. Here young Berryman acquired a good common school education. During the Pike's Peak gold mining excitement he took a trip to the mountains and followed mining one summer. The highest aim of his youthful years was Vo obtain a college education, but fate and circumstances seemed against his ac¬ complishing this laudable ambition. In i860 he was found attending school in Maryville. He then entered the law office of M. G. Roseberry, as a law student, but the country was at that time torn asunder by reason of the Civil war, so, instead of studying Blackstone and Kent, he buckled on a sword. He was elected major of the Forty-third Regiment Missouri Infantry, but his career as a soldier for the Union was of short duration, as his command was captured in the spring of 1864 by General Price, and he was not exchanged in time to enter into the service again.

Mr. Davis then took up law again and commenced to practice in 1866 and soon attained to eminence as a lawyer, in 1868 being elected as prosecuting at¬ torney for the twelfth judicial district. He held this position almost four years with much credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents.

In 1872 he was a presidential elector on the Republican ticket. He was prominently named for Congress in 1876, but he withdrew his name volun¬ tarily. Later, he accepted the nomination for state senator, but did not live to fill the office; he died in-November, 1876. Major Davis was a man of fine talents and strict integrity. After the death of his father, he had to be at the head of the family, and at his funeral, a sister remarked that "Berryman never spoke a cross word to one of us." At his funeral, Hon. Lafe Dawson de¬ livered a befitting eulogy on the life and character of this noble man, who was a great favorite with the members of the Nodaway county bar. The closing paragraph of the oration just mentioned reads as follows: "Although Berry¬ man Davis is dead, he still lives; lives by his example; lives in the hearts and affections of those who knew him best ; and our bereavement is only intensified because he was cut down in the vigor of his manhood, in the meridian of life, when his mind was undimmed, his intellect unclouded, and his usefulness un¬ impaired."

John Edwards, Eso

Among the conspicuous members of the Nodaway county bar there should not be omitted the name of John Edwards. He was born at \ralley Forge, Chester county, Pennsylvania, December 8, 1836, and when one year of age moved with his people to Highland county, Ohio. His father was of Welsh descent and named Robert Edwards, and his ancestors were .among the first immigrants to Berks county, Pennsylvania. Robert Edwards married Elizabeth Conrad, who was a direct descendant of Dennis Kunder, who was among the Quakers who settled at Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1682, com¬ ing from Germany.

John Edwards was reared on a farm and in 1856 attended the academy at South Salem, Ohio, entering as a freshman in September, 1858, the Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, from which he graduated July 3, 1862. While in that institution he was under the tutorship of Prof. David Swing, who later became known as the learned divine and literary scholar of Chicago. After graduation, he served as school superintendent at Hillsborough, Ohio, and as superintendent of the schools at Hamilton, from which position he resigned in 1867. During his three years' stay at Hamilton, he studied law under Hon. Robert Christy, and was admitted to the bar in 1867. He practiced at Hillsborough, Ohio, until 1868, when he moved to Maryville, Missouri, where during the winter of 1868-69 he filled the position of superintendent of schools. In July, 1869, he formed a partnership with Hon. Lafayette Dawson in the practice of law. This relation existed until January 1, 1877. In the autumn of 1876 he was elected prosecuting attorney for Nodaway county and held the same until January 1, 1879. As a lawyer, Mr. Edwards ranked among the brightest and best in northwestern Missouri. He was a forcible, logical speaker and conducted his cases with much care and showed marked ability in many respects. He was a ripe scholar and possessed a wonderful memory. He was fond of poetry and frequently wrote poems, some of which were in¬ deed gems of thought, expressed in beautiful verse and pleasing measure.

Among those widely published and greatly appreciated, may be named "The Deliverance," "Death," "The Battle of the Fens," and "Ode to The Mound Graves." The last named has for its opening lines :

Strange as it may seem, after a life of such eminence, in many ways, Mr. Edwards, in the nineties, committed suicide, thus cutting short a brilliant career and removing an honored member of the Nodaway county bar.

William Whittington Ramsay, Esq

The gentleman whose name heads this sketch was the great-grandson of Tosiah Ramsay, a native of Virginia, who in the colonial days was captured by the Indians in his childhood and remained with them seven years. Josiah Ramsay married and had children, including a son named Jonathan, born in 1774. He married in Tennessee, and he had a son named Josiah, Jr., born 1797. Jonathan Ramsey moved to Callaway county, Missouri, and died, aged eighty-six years, in June, i860. Josiah, Jr., took part in the southern campaigns of the war of 1812. and was at the battle of New Orleans, January 15, 1812.

Shortly after the close of this war, at Belle Fountain, Missouri, he mar¬ ried Martha W. Lockwood, daughter of Captain Lockwood, commander of the garrison there. In May, 1818, at St. Louis, was born a son of this union, named Lycurgus Lockwood Ramsay, father of the subject. Lycurgus mar¬ ried, in 1838, Elizabeth Jane Felton, and soon thereafter they settled in An¬ drew county, Missouri. To this worthy couple were born seven children, five sons and two daughters, the youngest being the subject. William Whit¬ tington Ramsay. He first saw the light of day in Andrew county, Missouri, April 6, 1850. The same year of his birth there was much excitement over gold discoveries in California, and the father caught the fever and in May of that year left his family upon the farm, which had been heavily mortgaged to procure funds for his journey, and went to California.

In childhood, young Ramsay attended the common school up to the time he was ten years of age. It was the desire of his mother that he continue his studies, but by this time the old homestead had been wrested from her under the terms of the mortgage, and the mother was compelled to rent land and move annually from place to place while the older children worked for the support of the family.

While thus situated, James Ewing, principal of the North Prairie Farm¬ er's Institute, proposed to take the lad to the institute, without charge, and teach him all the branches taught there. So, in the autumn of i860, he entered that institution, and remained until it was suspended on account of the Civil war coming on. Here ended his school days for several years. In 1864 he left Andrew county and went to Nebraska City, and in the spring of 1866 he concluded to try his fortune in the West. Hiring as a teamster, for fortyfive dollars a month, he drove an ox team to Pike's Peak and back that sum¬ mer. In the fall of 1866 he, in company with his mother and one brother, went to Texas, where he spent a year. In 1867 he returned to Hamburg, Iowa. On the return from Texas, at North Fork, Indian Territory, he lost his mother, who fell a prey to the cholera.

During the winters of 1867-8-9 he attended the public schools at Ham¬ burg. Iowa, under Professor Beard. In the fall of 1869 he came to Nodaway county and commenced teaching school. He followed this and studied law, at intervals, until the spring of 1875, when he moved to Maryville and entered the law offices of Dawson & Edwards, and in July, 1875, was admitted to the bar. That fall he formed a partnership with Judge Andrew Royal, which continued one year, after which his partner moved to St. Joseph. He then practiced alone up to January 1, 1878, when he formed a partnership with John Edwards, Esq., and continued several years in such relation.

From 1876 to 1878, Mr. Ramsay was chairman of the Democratic central committee of Nodaway county. The fall of 1878 he was elected as prosecut¬ ing attorney, and was re-elected in 1880. In caucus, on the stump and every¬ where, he was well defined and sincere. He was fond of debate and fair with all. At this time he is in feeble health and pays but little attention to prac¬ tice, but still has a love for the profession of his choice.

Hon. Lafayette Dawson

This member of the bar of Nodaway county was born in McClean county, Illinois, May 13. 1839, a son of James R. Dawson, of Kentucky, and the greatgrandson of James Dawson, of Virginia, one of the pioneers of Kentucky, where he met death at the hands of the Indians.

Young "Lafe'' Dawson, as he was always styled, received his education in the common schools of his native county, after which he took an academic course at Lexington, Illinois. When aged nineteen, he went to Fort Scott, Kansas, where he followed school teaching. But having a strong desire to see more of the western country, he journeyed to New Mexico, thence to Colorado and returned to Kansas. In 1862 he came to Nodaway county. Mis- souri, located for a short time, then returned to Colorado, from which point he went to Illinois, where he remained until 1865, then settled permanently in Maryville. He soon became popular as a lawyer, both in civil and criminal cases. Among some of his early cases may be given the following: The State vs. Torrance, tried in Worth county; State vs. Bain, tried in Andrew county; State vs. Cornell; State vs. Wood; State vs. Fluegel ; State vs. Cox; State vs. Alexander; State vs. Talbott Brothers; State vs. Grant and State vs. Harmon, both in Gentry county. He was a presidential elector on the Demo¬ cratic ticket during the celebrated Tilden-Hayes campaign of 1876. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad and the Wabash line, both traversing this county, made him their local attorney. Dawsonville, on the Wabash line, in Nodaway county, was named in honor of him.

At the March term of the circuit court, in 1878, Mr. Dawson was elected judge of the court by the bar, that term lasting three weeks. He has long since been among the deceased attorneys of Nodaway county.

Hon. Cyrus A. Anthony

The subject of this notice was born April 29, 1839, at Hackettstown, New Jersey, a son of Francis Anthony, a native of Tyrone, Ireland. The father emigrated to America about 1818, settled in New Jersey and in 1852 came West, selecting as his home a beautiful farm in Stark county. Illinois, where he died in 1876, after a happy and useful career. The subject, Cyrus A., was reared on a farm in Stark county, Illinois, and attended a course of literary reading at Lombard University, Galesburg. Illinois. In 1861 he en¬ tered as a private soldier Company K, Fifty-first Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, remaining in the service until 1865. He was first quartermaster sergeant, then first lieutenant and finally promoted to captain of his company. He was engaged in service in Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.

Mr. Anthony was admitted to the bar in April, 1869, and in 1870 located at Maryville, Missouri, and at once entered actively into the duties of an at¬ torney. During 1875-76 he was county attorney for Nodaway county and the city attorney for Maryville during 1874-5-6. In 1882 he was serving as a member of the Missouri Legislature (lower house) from Maryville. Politi¬ cally, Mr. Anthony espoused the cause of Democracy, while in his religious faith he is connected with the Presbyterian church. On account of bodily afflictions, he has not been able to follow the law practice for a number of

Hon. Henry S. Kelley

Judge Kelley was bom in Hamilton county, Ohio, December 18, 1832, the son of Samuel Kelley, born in Ohio, a merchant and farmer. Judge Kelley was reared on a farm, received his education at the common schools and studied law, being admitted to the bar in 1853. From 1854 to 1856 he was prosecuting attorney of a district in Indiana and from 1856 to i860 was judge of the common pleas court, embracing the counties of Grant, Blackford and Delaware.

In 1861, during September, he moved to Dakota Territory, and in 1863 he went to Iowa. In 1866 he moved to Andrew county, Missouri, locating at Savannah, where he engaged in the practice of his profession, continuing until 1872, when he was elected judge of the twentieth judicial circuit. He was again re-elected in 1874 and in 1880.

Judge Kelley was the author of "Kelley's Treatise for Justices and Con¬ stables in the State of Missouri," published in 1869. a book containing eight hundred pages, and revised in 1880-81. He was also author of "Criminal Law and Practice," published in 1876, seven hundred pages, and author of the "Probate Guide," published in 1872, and other legal publications. After 1872 he lectured at various times on criminal law and practice in Missouri, at the State University. He also lectured on medical jurisprudence in St. Joseph's College of Physicians and Surgeons and was a frequent contributor to the Central Laze Journal of St. Louis. Politically, Judge Kelley was a Democrat until the organization of the Republican party. He is now practic¬ ing law at St. Joseph, Missouri.

Prominent among the citizens of Nodaway county is the name of Capt. I. V. McMillan, of Maryville, a member of the Nodaway county bar who had much to do in the incorporation of Maryville as a city, and was also an in¬ dustrious worker in the days of early railroad projects through this county. He was born in Belmont county, Ohio, May 13. 1842, a son of J. McMillan, a native of Pennsylvania. I. V. McMillan received the benefits of a good com¬ mon school instruction in his native state, after which he attended college at Haysville, Ohio, and upon the completion of his course, took up the study of law in his native county. He was admitted to the bar in the autumn of 1865, and soon after came to Missouri, at first locating at Mexico, hut in February,

1866, took up bis residence in Maryville. But few, if indeed any, men have been more closely connected with the interests of this county than this gentle¬ man. He has held the office of county attorney and public administrator, the former more than two years and the latter twice that time ; he was city attorney three years in the early incorporate history of the city.

In all these various trusts Captain McMillan was diligent and faithful, securing a high reputation for fidelity, liberality and courtesy extended to all. As a lawyer he has good oratorical powers, speaking with clearness and pre¬ cision. In politics, he is a Republican of no uncertain faith. But be it said to his credit, that he never allows the party lash to influence his thought or action. He is identified with the Masonic fraternity, being now a member of the higher degrees in Masonry. At this writing he is not in the active practice of law.

Hon. S. R. Beech

The present postmaster of Maryville, and an ex-mayor, and ex-sheriff and county official in different capacities, in the person of S. R. Beech, is an¬ other man who has adorned the bar of Nodaway county and proven his ability as an attorney and a capable county official. Mr. Beech is a native of Penn¬ sylvania, born in Crawford county December 25, 1846, a son of O. O. and Ruth (Baker) Beech, the former of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. The subject's father died when S. R. was but fourteen years old, and was one of the eight children in his parents' family. His educational advantages in youth were limited. In 1864 he tendered his services to the Union cause, en¬ listing in Company E, Eighty-third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer In¬ fantry. At the battle of the Wilderness he was dangerously wounded, one ball taking effect in the left arm, and passing through his body, also receiving a slight wound in one of his lower limbs. After a year's faithful service, he was honorably discharged and returned to Pennsylvania, and for a time at¬ tended an academy in Crawford county, after which he took a course at East¬ man's Business College, at Poughkeepsie, New York, Upon his return home he was appointed postmaster at Cambridge, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, held the office two years, resigned, and came to Missouri, where he engaged in farming pursuits ; also coal mining operations and devoted a portion of his time to school teaching.

In 1872 Mr. Beech was elected sheriff of Nodaway county by the Re¬ publican party and at the end of his first term in office was re-elected, being the first time in the history of the countv that a sheriff was allowed to be his own successor. He had many tough characters to cope with in his official duties, but was always equal to the emergency. While he was sheriff, he also found time to study law and in the spring of 1877 he was admitted to the Nodaway countv bar. In this new role he was highly successful and soon had built up a lucrative legal practice. He appeared on one of the two sides in many noted cases in this county. Among the trials in which he won laurels may be named the Otto Sharp murder trial and the celebrated Dr. Talbott patricide case.

Republican in politics, in 1878 Mr. Beech was made chairman of the Republican central committee and held the position several years. He was city attorney and secretary of the school board. In 1880 he was elected mayor of Maryville and made a splendid official record as a municipal officer.

In 1905 he was appointed postmaster of Maryville, under President Roosevelt. Mr. Beech has held numerous official positions in this city and county and always to credit to himself.

Hon. T. J. Johnston

In 1882 the following was said of another member of the Nodaway county bar: "Hon. T. J. Johnston was born in Pike county, Illinois, August 20, 1836, a son of David Johnston, of Virginia, and who was of Scotch de¬ scent. Mr. Johnston's youth was spent on his father's farm, in the vicinity of which he attended the common schools of his county and later he attended the Christian University at Canton, Missouri. He then chose law as his pro¬ fession and entered the law office of O. H. Gilmer, of Pittsfield, Illinois, and fully prepared himself for the duties of his profession. In i860 he was ad¬ mitted to the bar and in 1864 removed to Milan, Sullivan county, Missouri, where he engaged in the active practice of law. While residing there, he was elected judge of the probate court. In 1870 he moved to Maryville, Missouri, where he was soon looked upon as among the leading lawyers at the Nodaway county bar. He is a safe counselor, always preparing his cases with great care, and, being thoroughly conversant with the law and its proper application to the questions at issue, he rarely fails of success. He was married in 1859. to Mary E. Chenowith, of Illinois. They have one son, J. B. Johnston.''

Judge Silas Woodson

Judge Woodson was elected judge of the twelfth judicial district in i860, and always gave the utmost satisfaction, and at the expiration of his term, with a most enviable reputation, again resumed the practice of law. As a practitioner he ranked among the leading lawyers of Missouri. In criminal cases he was eminent. The vital interests of the largest corporations, the equally important rights of the humblest citizen, alike commanded his atten¬ tion and services, and whether the fee was a fortune or a farthing, he ever devoted his best abilities and his constant attention to the success of his client.

In August, 1872, quite unexpected to himself, he was nominated by the Democratic state convention as a candidate for governor of Missouri. He was duly elected by a large majority, serving with distinguished ability. No blemish ever marred his private character; he never once neglected or be¬ trayed any trust imposed in him. His motto is known to have been to do what was right and what justice demanded, leaving the consequences to take care of themselves. He possessed an earnest nature, great energy and firmness, a clear judgment, with a comprehensive and analytical mind, and a heart full of true charity and noble impulses. He is now practicing law at St. Joseph, Missouri, w here he has attained much eminence.

Judge Henry M. Vories

Judge Vories was a native of Henry county, Kentucky, where he received a very ordinary education in the common schools of that state. He emigrated to Indiana, where he led a varied life for some years, engaged in merchandis¬ ing at a small village, combining farming and trading in hogs in the Cincinnati market, in which business he declared that he "broke three times in one week." When growing tired of these employments, which were bootless, he studied law with Oliver Smith, of Indiana, who afterwards became United States senator, and commenced the practice of lawT in a circuit abounding with good lawyers. He emigrated to Sparta. Missouri, in 1843, where he commenced to practice law7, in partnership with William B. Almond. He was quick, shrewd, always cool and self reliant. When the testimony of a witness happended to be the reverse of what he had expected, he never showed any mark of surprise or disappointment. He remained at St. Joseph until 1855, moving there about 1846. He then moved to California, remained two years, and re¬ turned to St. Joseph as his permanent home. He erected a beautiful man¬ sion and there died in 1876. After a most successful career as an attorney at St. Joseph, he was elected to a seat on the bench of the supreme court of the state, which office he held until a short time before his death. He wras an earnest man ; a fine lawyer. He was good in both theory and practice. He knew little, and cared less, for politics, and had but little taste for general literature. His convictions were always fearlessly expressed. Politically, he was a Democrat of the old type, and yet an unflinching Union man during the whole of the Civil war period.

Judge Solomon L. Leonard

Judge Leonard was one of the pioneers in Platte county, Missouri. He was in moderate circumstances, but by pluck and energy succeeded in building up a fair law practice. He resided on a small farm two miles out from Platte City, about twenty acres of which was cleared and cultivated. From these two sources he made out to make his actual living expenses for a time. It was about 1843 when the state was entitled to five hundred thousand acres of public land, and he was appointed a commissioner to select lands for the state. In 1844-45 he was appointed judge of the circuit in which he lived to fill a vacancy and he continued in such position until 1852, when he declined being a candidate for re-election. In most respects he was a model judge; commencing court every morning very early, at the very moment at which it had been adjourned to. Every day he got through with the docket set for that particular day. Lawyers had to work hard, and those who were not fond of hard work found fault.

After the judge retired from the bench, he formed partnership with Gen. Bela M. Hughes, which made a very strong law firm. Judge Leonard's wealth increased and when he died he left a handsome competency to his fam¬ ily. During the first year of the Civil war, in 1861. he went South, whether to carry his negroes south or to engage in the Southern cause it was not known to his friends in the North. He was drowned in Grand river at Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, in that year.

The Judge had great will power and a large brain force. He was a man of strong prejudices - his enemies could hardly do right and his friends could scarcely do wrong. He was aware of this peculiar nature and brought his will power to war against it as much as possible. He was greatly devoted to his family, and educated his daughters with great care, regardless of ex¬ pense. Rather impatient by nature, yet he was fond of logical discussion and listened with patience to lawyers of any ability. In short, he was a just and able judge.

Judge William B. Almond

Judge Almond first settled in Platte City, and then removed to Sparta. Buchanan county, in 1839. By birth he was a Virginian, from Prince Edward county, and a graduate of Hampton Sidney College. He and Gen. Sterling A. Price were from the same county, and graduated at the same time from the same institution. He was educated with some care for the Presbyterian min¬ istry, but, being of an adventurous disposition, he went with the old fur com¬ pany of Smith, Sublett & Jackson to their depot in the Rocky mountains, at the headwaters of the Yellowstone. With the wages he received, he returned to Virginia and studied law. He then returned to Missouri, and as soon as the Platte country was annexed to the state, he settled in Platte county. He had a very good practice for a few years, and in 1844 he formed a law part¬ nership with Henry M. Vories, later judge of the supreme court of Missouri, which relation existed until 1849, when Almond went to California, and while there, through the influence of Governor Burnett, of that state, he was ap¬ pointed judge. He remained in California several years, and accumulated twenty thousand dollars and then returned and permanently located in Platte City, Missouri. He was elected judge of that circuit, comprising the "Platte country," in 1854. After a short time, he resigned and returned to California to look after his estate there. After his second return from California, he practiced law in Platte City and Leavenworth until his death, about 1861. He died suddenly, while at the breakfast table. He was a fluent speaker, without proximating eloquence. He was a fair lawyer, and, while not an orator, was an honorable and successful advocate.

Judge Ira K. Alderman

Among the well known, sturdy and ever-to-be-counted-upon members of the Nodaway county bar, may be named Judge Alderman, who was born in Morgan county, Ohio, May 23, 1841, a son of Asahel A. Alderman, native of the same state. He was reared mostly in the Buckeye state, spending his boyhood days on the farm, receiving a good common school education. When seventeen years of age, he commenced teaching school, and made all prepara¬ tion to attend college, when the Civil war broke out in all its terrible fury. He hastened to the front, enlisted in Company B, Thirty-sixth Ohio Regiment, under Gen. George Crook. He served over three years and was in the thickest of the great engagements of that prolonged civil conflict. He participated at the battles of Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga and others. Constant exposure caused his health to fail him, but he pressed onward with his comrades until the time of his enlistment had expired and was discharged at Columbus, Ohio, September 14, 1864. He spent two years at home in regaining his normal health and then moved westward, landing at Savannah, Missouri, April 22, 1866. The latter part of December, the same year, he came to Maryville, where he en¬ gaged in teaching school. His health having materially improved, in the summer of 1867 he returned to Ohio and July 31, 1867, was united in mar¬ riage to Hallie S. Lallance, a worthy lady of French-American parentage, born in Ohio. The place of her birth was in Meigs county and the date was May 12, 1843. In October, 1868, Mr. Alderman returned with his wife to Mary¬ ville, Missouri, where he gave attention to mercantile pursuits until the autumn of 1870, when he was elected judge of the Nodaway county probate court, which place he held for four years with much credit to himself. While in Ohio, he begun the study of law and was admitted to the Nodaway county bar in 1871. Four years later he engaged in the active practice of law at Mary¬ ville, and in August, 1879. formed a partnership with L. Isham White. The firm soon took front rank among the legal lights of Nodaway county.

Politically, the Judge is a staunch Republican and in his religious faith is a Methodist Episcopal and has served years as Sunday school superintendent. He is still actively engaged in the practice of law, but is greatly handicapped by reason of being afflicted with deafness.

(The facts for this sketch are gleaned from the "Bench and Bar" of Mis¬ souri, published several years since, and is not included in his own writings on the Bar of Nodaway county.)

Another member of the Nodaway bar, whose name should not be omitted in this chapter is Hon. A. P. Morehouse, who practiced a number of years, then went into the real estate business and was a partner of N. Sisson. He was lieutenant-governor and became governor by reason of the death of Gen. John S. Marmaduke, the governor of Missouri. He never practiced law after early in the seventies. Pie began his law practice with Col. Amos Graham at Maryville. He was elected to the Missouri Legislature in 1876 and from that step went forth until he was seated as governor of his state. He was a bright, far-seeing man and possessed of much financial ability, but for some unknown cause finally ended his own life, casting a gloom over the community in which he had resided so long. He passed from earth in the autumn of 1891.

Another disciple of Blackstone was B. P. Duffy, who practiced law and conducted a newspaper in Maryville during the eighties. He failed at both because he allowed one to interfere with the other, as is related by the writer of the press chapter of this county.

Still another who will be remembered by the citizens who resided in Mary¬ ville in the eighties, was Frank Griffin, who edited a newspaper here and was a radical temperance man, - that is, wrote sensational articles against saloons and drug stores. He, knowing the libel laws, managed to keep out of the

The following were practicing law in Nodaway county in the spring of 1910 : At Maryville there were, Ira K. Alderman, J. C. Growney, J. S. Shinabargar, Alvin Bingaman, L. C. Cook, I. V. McMillan, John M. Dawson, T. A. Cummins, F. W. Armstrong, George P. Wright, M. E. Ford, Ellis G. Cook, W. C. Frank, W. W. Ramsay, W C. Frank, P. L. Growney, C. E. Stillwell, William E. Wiles, W. G. Sawyers, M. A. Peery, Joseph FI. Saylor, R. L. Mc- Dougal, G. B. Roseberry, John M. Duncan, A. I7. Harvey, B. R. Martin, Charles McCaffrey, W. H. Crawford, James B. Duncan, G. E. Fleming, W. A. Blagg, S. R. Beech, M. G. Tate, W. L. Johnson, George R. Ellison, John Newman. Outside of Maryville, in Nodaway county there were the follow¬ ing attorneys in 1910: Jesse F. Robertson, Burlington Junction; S. E. Browne, Hopkins; P. J. Hainey, Barnard; W. M. Howden, Skidmore; S. B. Fargo, Skidmore.

This makes a total of forty-two attorneys in the county at this time. Sketches of several of these gentlemen will be found in the biographical vol¬ ume of this work.

The attorneys of this bar have the advantage of a large law library that is continually being added to. This is kept in the court room, convenient for reference for the judge and lawyers, and is well preserved, being, as it is, within a modern book case set of shelving.

The court room walls are an interesting study, for on. their surface mav be seen hanging many portraits of former and deceased judges and other court officers. Up to the present year the first and second floors of the build¬ ing afforded ample room for all court purposes, but at this time plans are ma¬ turing by which witness rooms will be provided, especially for ladies; this set of rooms will doubtless be on the third floor.