Home County: Pemiscot
Term of Service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: April 1964 – April 1978
Judge Fred L. Henley was born October 25, 1911, in Caruthersville, Missouri.[i] He received his law degree from Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1934, and was admitted to The Missouri Bar the following year.[ii]
Upon his law school graduation, Henley returned to Caruthersville and practiced law beginning January 1, 1936.[iii] Later that year, he was elected as the city attorney, was reelected in 1938 and, in 1939, was appointed the city counselor.[iv] From October 1955 to February 1960,[v] he served as the judge of the Thirty-Eighth Judicial Circuit, which covered Pemiscot and New Madrid counties.[vi] In 1960, the Thirty-Eighth Judicial Circuit became the Thirty-Fourth Judicial Circuit.[vii] Judge Henley was engaged in private practice and formed the firm, Henley & Fowlkes, until his appointment to the Supreme Court of Missouri in 1964.[viii]
Then-Governor John M. Dalton appointed Henley to the Supreme Court of Missouri on April 27, 1964, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Frank Hollingsworth.[ix] During the 1966 general election, he was retained for a 12-year term on the Court.[x] He served as the chief justice from 1969 to 1971.[xi] Although his term was set to expire December 31, 1978, Judge Henley retired in April of 1978.[xii]
Henley was a member of various professional organizations throughout his legal career such including The Missouri Bar, the American Bar Association and the Thirty-Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association.[xiii] In 1945, he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.[xiv]
Judge Henley died December 31, 1994, in Jefferson City, Missouri, at the age of 83.[xv]
[i] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1977-1978, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1978), 194.
[ii] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1977-1978, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1978), 194.
[iii] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1977-1978, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1978), 194.
[iv] Honorable Ike Skelton, “Tribute to Justice Fred L. Henley,” Congressional Record, Volume 141, No. 16, Thursday, January 26, 1995, E185-E186, accessed February 19, 2019, available from www.govinfo.gov. Paper copy of document in permanent file in law library. See also: News Tribune Staff, “Obituaries-Henley,” Jefferson City News Tribune (Jefferson City, MO: January 1995).
[v] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1967-1968, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc.,), 1968), 200.
[vi] Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1955-1956, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann, Press, Inc., 1956), 254 and 261. See also: Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1959-1960, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1960), 258.
[vii] Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1959-1960, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1960), 258.
[viii] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1967-1968, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc.,), 1968), 200.
[ix] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1977-1978, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1978), 194.
[x] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1977-1978, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1978), 194.
[xi] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1977-1978, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1978), 194.
[xii] News Tribune Staff, “Obituaries-Henley,” Jefferson City News Tribune (Jefferson City, MO: January 1995).
[xiii] Honorable Ike Skelton, “Tribute to Justice Fred L. Henley,” Congressional Record, Volume 141, No. 16, Thursday, January 26, 1995, E185-E186, accessed February 19, 2019, available from www.govinfo.gov. Paper copy of document in permanent file in law library.
[xiv] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1977-1978, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1978), 194.
[xv] News Tribune Staff, “Obituaries-Henley,” Jefferson City News Tribune (Jefferson City, MO: January 1995).
Biographical information authored by Ms. Chloe Shoemaker, 2019, University of Missouri,-Columbia, Missouri.