Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-07-21
THE CLARKSVILLE BAR.
Speech of Hon. G.. A. Henry
Before the ClarkSVilIe Bar
at Their Annual Picnic
July 4th, 1917.

The task assigned me, to give &
sketch of the ClarksvilIe Bar so fal
as | know it from personal Observa
tiOn for the last fOrty-four years
and its traditional reputation fol
years before | became a member OF
it, is rather curious way of cele.
brating the one hundred and first an.
niversary of American Independ.
ence.
The law under which we live to-
| day is supreme, and obedience is not
matter of choice, but of necessity.
The common law of this court and
! however a close and mysterious con-
nectiOn and dependence, theOneupOn
the other; that is to say every man
/ here has the liberty of doing Just
what he pleases provided he sub
mltS without a murmur to the iuriS-
/ diction and orders of this court,
which like the theme | have select
ed, or rather has been selected for
me, take a very wide range, and
carries me back to a very remote an
tiquity and to the historic delinea-
ton of men who lived, and of things
which are supposed to have trans
piTed in that dim and distant period
whereof the memory of man run
meth not to the contrary. If / were
to enter upon q minute examination
of the traditiOnary history of the
Clarksville Bar I could not finish
before the close Of the present centu-
ry, and perhaps I might be found
sitting here reading to you, or as
many Of you as may perchance sur
ViVe. at the next centennial anniVer-
sary of American Independence. AS
captivating as / may make this adj
dress, / could hardly expect an audi
ence then unless you could have
perfect assurance that the mint crop
would not fail. | shall therefore be
forced to give very rapid sketch of
men and things, and in giving you
just here little and there little, l
shall be fortunate indeed if rescue
from Oblivion such "reminiscences of
the past generations of lawyers and
their sayings and dOings as will in
terest, and | may say improve those
who have in charge the temporal
ark of the covenant of Honor, the
purity of the legal profession, to
preserve it and defend it if necessry
with ther lives, lest the Philistines
capture it and desecrate its altars.
From 1914 to 1917 the Hon. Ben
net w. SearCy was the Circuit Judge
of this judicial district, and resided
in Clarksville. He was succeeded
by Alfred NJ. Harris, who continued
till 1921, when the Hon. Parry w.
Humphreys became the Circuit
Judge of this district and continued
to discharge the duties of the office
till 1886. 1t becomes necessary for
me to refer to the judicial system
that prevailed from 1896 for the final
decision of causes. 1t was called
the district or superior court system,
and was adopted when Tennessee
was admitted into the Union in 1876,
and had three judges. This system
continued to 1907, when Il fourth
Judge was added to the court. 1t
was not until January 1910 that a
court of Errors and Appeals was
established, consisting of two judges,
and in 1915 was increased to three
and in 1922 to four and in 1924 to
five Judges and shortly afterwards
reduced to four again and this con-
tinued to be the judicial system of
Tennessee till the courts were reOr-
ganized under the Constitution of
1884. During the entire time from
1896 to 1881 the judges were of equal
grade, without any Chief Justice or
presiding officer. In 1881 Judge Ca
trOn was elected Chief Justice by the
Legislature. BY the Constitution of
1884 the court of last resort was
called the Supreme Court, and that
is repeated in the Constitution Of
1870, which directs the iugeS to deS-
ignate one of their number to pre-
side as Chief Justice, the court to
consist at first OF six judges, two
from each grand division Of the
State, with the power to sit i'll two
separate sections in the same divis-
ion of the State and hear and
determine causes in each at the same
time. The first vacancy occurring
after January 1878 is not to be filed
and the court now consists of five
Judges, one of whom is ChiefJustice.
In 1907 the Hon. Parry w. Hum
phreVS was one of the District or
Superior Judges of the State. The
court then consisted of four judges
and was the court for the final de-
cisiOn of causes and continued to act
as such till 1910, when the court of
errors and appeals was established
as before stated.
Judge Humphreys was a member
of the Congress of the United States
from 1913 to 1S15-a period that COW
cred two years of the last war be-
tween the United States and Great
EI1pI +hn p4i1an nf
Judge of the Superior Court for
three years, representative in Con-
gress for two years, he was after
wards appointed one Ofthe commits
sioners to settle the disputed line
between the two sovereign States of
Kentucky and Tennessee and finally
was Circuit Judge of this judicial
district for fifteen years. During
the whole Of this long term of pub
lie service as Superior Judge, mem=
ber of Congress, Commissioner to
settle a cOntrOVerted boundary line
between sovereign States and Cir
cult Judge, embracing period of
nearly thirty years, he gave perfect
satisfaction to the country, and was
distinguished for thejustice, wisdom
and purity of his conduct in all, and
for the courtesy and urbanity of his
deportment to the bar and every
officer of the court. He was the
father of Judge West II. Humph-
revs, OF Nashville, and of our own
r.. w. Humphreys, of ClarksVille.
Nv knowledge of him began in 1888;
and being a stranger in ClarksVille
at the time and unuSed to the forms
and order of Tennessee courts, / am
n living witness to establish his uni
form courtesy to the bar, his digni-
fed department and unsullied repu-
tatiOn. Few men in the State have
held so many high offices and so
honOrably discharged the duties per-
tanning to them and left public life
with a brighter escutcheOn and a
nurer private character. This brings
me back to the consideration of the
members of the Clarksville Bar.
James b. Reynolds, an Irishman by
! birth, who carried his heart in his
hand, whose couruy manners gain
ed him the sobriquet of Count
REYNOLDS, was prominent among
/ the early lawyers of the ClarksVille
! Bar. He Was more however Il
politician than a lawyer, and soon
| became suitor for the smiles Of the
people, and was elected to Congress
! rs successor to Judge Humphreys
from 1915 to 1917 and from 1898 to
| 1925.
I 7 + - Il ms