Home County: Howard
Term of service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: January 1855 - July 1857
Judge Abiel Leonard was born May 16, 1797, in Windsor, Vermont.[i] At the age of 16, Leonard was sent to Dartmouth College to study ministry.[ii] After just a short period, Leonard realized his passion lay with law, which he adopted as his course of study.[iii] In 1816, after leaving Dartmouth College, Leonard joined the law office of Gould and Still in Whitesborough, New York.[iv] He studied law there until 1818, when he became a licensed lawyer.[v]
After obtaining his license to practice, Leonard set out for Missouri. He arrived in St. Louis in 1819. He soon headed to Old Franklin in Howard County, Missouri.[vi] After briefly teaching, Leonard soon established his own practice in the area.[vii] By 1823, Leonard was appointed as circuit attorney of the district, following the departure of Hamilton Gamble, who previously held that position.[viii]
In 1824, Leonard was involved in a duel.[ix] As was the law of the day, Leonard was disbarred and restricted from holding public office.[x] So widespread and unified was public support for Leonard, however, the state legislature quickly rescinded its restrictions on Leonard, and he was allowed to return to his practice.[xi] In 1834, Leonard was elected to the state legislature, continuing his life as a public servant.[xii]
After his term expired, he focused on his practice and did not hold public office again until his appointment to the Supreme Court of Missouri after the resignation of Hamilton Gamble. Judge Leonard was elected to his post January 1, 1855, and took office January 31, 1855.[xiii] He served on the Court until the July term of 1857, when he returned to his law practice.[xiv] In 1861, he was forced to retire from the law, due to his health.[xv]
He died March 28, 1863.[xvi]
[i] L.C. Krauthoff, “The Supreme Court of Missouri,” Horace W. Fuller, ed. The Green Bag, Vol. III (Boston, MA: Boston Book Co., 1891), 178.
[ii] Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, 178.
[iii] Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, 178.
[iv] Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, 178.
[v] Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, 178.
[vi] Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, 178.
[vii] Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, 178.
[viii] Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, 178.
[ix] Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, 178.
[x] Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, 178.
[xi] Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, 178.
[xii] Horatio M. Jones, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Missouri Vol. XXV (St. Louis, MO: George Knapp & Co., 1858), 447. See also Dennis K. Boman, Abiel Leonard, Yankee Slaveholder, Eminent Jurist, and Passionate Unionist (Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2002), 199. See also William Ness Bay, “Abiel Leonard,” Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, (St. Louis, MO: F.H. Thomas & Co., 1878), 363.
[xiii] Hugh P. Williamson, “Abiel Leonard, Lawyer and Judge,” Journal of the Missouri Bar, No. 15, June, 1959, 271.
[xiv] Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, 178.
[xv] Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, 178.
[xvi] Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, 178.
Biographical information authored by Mr. Matt Orf, 2017, University of Missouri-Columbia.