John Finis Philips

Background

He was born on December 31, 1834 in Boone County, Missouri, United States. His parents, John G. and Mary (Copeland) Philips, were Kentuckians who went to Missouri in 1817.

Education

After graduating in 1855 from Centre College in Kentucky, he read law in the office of Gen. John B. Clark, a leading lawyer and politician of central Missouri.

Career

In 1857 he commenced practice at Georgetown, Missouri, attaining a large and lucrative business and devoting considerable time and attention to politics and to the Whig party.

His career was interrupted by the Civil War which shattered the social, professional, and political life of the state, and forced a decision for or against secession. Philips soon decided, and put at the disposal of the Union his ability and his fine eloquence. He was elected a member of the state convention which governed Missouri from 1861 to 1863.

Governor Gamble commissioned him colonel of the 7th Regiment of the state militia, a cavalry regiment. He commanded it with courage and skill until the close of the war, seeing service in several western campaigns. Philips moved to Sedalia in 1865 and formed a law partnership with George G Vest. The test oath and registration system were responsible for his defeat as Democrat for Congress in 1868. When the Democracy regained control in 1874, he became one of the "Big Four, " sharing with Vest, T. T. Crittenden, and F. M. Cockrell the leadership of the party in Missouri.

Nominated for Congress in 1874, after 691 ballots were taken, Philips was elected and served during the critical years 1875-77. A member of the committee to investigate the election of 1876 in South Carolina, he ably exposed the shocking and grotesque character of the government there. He was elected in 1880 to the Forty-sixth Congress, to fill an unexpired term.

He became a commissioner of the state supreme court in 1882, three years later being appointed a member of the Kansas City court of appeals. He liked appellate work and won recognition for his thoroughness and discrimination.

At the instance of his former law partner, Senator Vest, he was named by Cleveland in 1888 to the federal bench for the western district of Missouri. He occupied this position until his retirement in 1910. He practised law after retirement from the bench until his sudden death in 1919.

Achievements

• During the Civil War John Finis Philips, commissioned colonel, commanded the brigade, that played a key role in the crushing victory at Mine Creek. Later he was appointed judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri by President Grover Cleveland. As a judge, Philips was essentially conservative in his economic and social point of view, was a member of the defense team for the 1883 Gallatin, Missouri, murder trial of Frank James.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Administrations of governors of Missouri

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Politics

He was an opponent of secession, consistently supported the provisional state government and the Lincoln administration. In common with many former Whig leaders, who opposed the rule of the Radical Republicans in the state and nation, he became a Democrat.

Familiar with conditions in the depressed South and debtor West he urged that the tariff be sharply reduced and that the government "do something for silver. "

Personality

He was a master of the technical side of the law and of judicial detail, being seldom reversed by a higher court. Lawyers and laymen alike admired and respected his ability and sense of justice.

He was a man of striking personal charm, whose wit and eloquence won him a large number of friends. His formal speech was effective and adorned with classical allusions.

Connections

In 1857 he married Fleecie Batterton of Kentucky.

Father:

John G. Philips

Mother:

Mary (Copeland) Philips

Spouse:

Fleecie Batterton

tutor:

John B. Clark

Partner:

George G Vest

coworker:

Vest, T. T. Crittenden

coworker:

F. M. Cockrell