Home County: Cape Girardeau County
Term of Service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: January 1950 – April 1965
Judge Sidna Poage Dalton was born November 16, 1892, on a farm in Vernon County, Missouri.[i] He graduated from Nevada High School in 1909, before enrolling at Westminister College, to earn his bachelor of arts in 1913.[ii] He was valedictorian of his graduating class and graduated cum laude.[iii] He also attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, from which he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Education, a Master of Arts degree and a Life State Teacher’s Certificate in 1914.[iv] He taught at Flat River High School in Flat River, Missouri, for the 1914-1915 school year.[v]
Dalton returned to the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1915 to pursue his law degree.[vi] He was a member of Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity and Phi Delta Kappa educational fraternity.[vii] He was admitted to The Missouri Bar in 1917[viii] before he graduated with his Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B) in 1918,[ix] when he was honored with membership in the Order of the Coif.[x]
Upon receiving his law degree, Dalton served as an assistant in the enforcement division/legal department of the United States Food Administration.[xi] He left that position in February 1919 to engage in the general practice of law in Cape Girardeau, where he remained for the next 20 years.[xii] In 1922, he joined the law firm of Spradling and Dalton, which in January 1933 became Dearmont, Spradling and Dalton.[xiii] In 1926, Dalton was elected the Cape Girardeau prosecuting attorney.[xiv] He was reelected for two additional terms from 1931 through 1934.[xv]
After over two decades of private practice, Dalton entered a higher service on the bench of the Supreme Court.[xvi] He was appointed April 12, 1939, for a four year term as commissioner of the Supreme Court and was reappointed in 1943 and 1947.[xvii] On January 3, 1950, then-Governor Forrest Smith appointed him judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri under the nonpartisan court plan.[xviii] On November 4, 1952, he was retained by the people of the state and served a term of 12 years ending December 31, 1964.[xix] Judge Dalton was retained again on November 3, 1964, for a second twelve year term.[xx] He served as chief justice from November 20, 1956, to July 4, 1958.[xxi]
Dalton was a member of various professional organizations throughout his legal career including The Missouri Bar, the American Bar Association, the American Judicature Society and the Academy of Political Science.[xxii] He was a member and past president of the Cape Girardeau County Bar Association as well as a member and secretary of the Law School Foundation of the University of Missouri.[xxiii] Westminister College awarded him the alumni achievement award on October 20, 1956, and an honorary doctor of laws on June 5, 1961.[xxiv] He also received the distinguished service award of the University of Missouri law alumni association April 29, 1960.[xxv] In addition to his legal memberships and awards, Who’s Who in America included biographical information about Judge Dalton since 1950.[xxvi]
Judge Dalton passed away while a judge with the Court, on April 26, 1965.[xxvii]
[i] Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1951-1952, (Kansas City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printers, 1952), 229.
[ii] Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1951-1952, (Kansas City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printers, 1952), 229.
[iii] Supreme Court of Missouri, “Presentation of the Portrait of the Honorable S. P. Dalton,” (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), April 7, 1967, 8, 9 and 13. See also: Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1951-1952, (Kansas City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printers, 1952), 229.
[iv] Warren E. Hearnes, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1963-1964, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, 1964), 215.
[v] Warren E. Hearnes, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1963-1964, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, 1964), 215.
[vi] Supreme Court of Missouri, “Presentation of the Portrait of the Honorable S. P. Dalton,” (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), April 7, 1967, 6. See also: Journal of Missouri Bar Staff, “Judge S. P. Dalton: 1892-1965,” Journal of Missouri Bar vol. 21 (1965), 417.
[vii] Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1951-1952, (Kansas City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printers, 1952), 229.
[viii] Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1951-1952, (Kansas City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printers, 1952), 229.
[ix] Supreme Court of Missouri, “Presentation of the Portrait of the Honorable S. P. Dalton,” (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), April 7, 1967, 9. See also: Journal of Missouri Bar Staff, “Judge S. P. Dalton: 1892-1965,” Journal of Missouri Bar vol. 21 (1965), 417.
[x] “Presentation of the Portrait of the Honorable S. P. Dalton,” Supreme Court of Missouri (Jefferson City, MO: April 7, 1967), 9. See also: Warren E. Hearnes, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1963-1964, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, 1964), 215.
[xi] Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1951-1952, (Kansas City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printing, 1952), 229.
[xii] Journal of Missouri Bar Staff, “Judge S. P. Dalton: 1892-1965,” Journal of Missouri Bar vol. 21 (1965), 417. See also: Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1951-1952, (Kansas City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printers, 1952), 229. See also: Warren E. Hearnes, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1963-1964, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1964), 215.
[xiii] Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1951-1952, (Jefferson City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printers, 1952), 229.
[xiv] “Presentation of the Portrait of the Honorable S. P. Dalton,” Supreme Court of Missouri (Jefferson City, MO: April 7, 1967), 9.
[xv] “Presentation of the Portrait of the Honorable S. P. Dalton,” Supreme Court of Missouri (Jefferson City, MO: April 7, 1967), 9. See also: Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1951-1952, (Kansas City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printers, 1952), 229.
[xvi] “Presentation of the Portrait of the Honorable S. P. Dalton,” Supreme Court of Missouri (Jefferson City, MO: April 7, 1967), 11. See also: Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1951-1952, (Kansas City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printers, 1952), 229.
[xvii] Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1951-1952, (Kansas City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printers, 1952), 229.
[xviii] Warren E. Hearnes, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1963-1964, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1966), 215.
[xix] Journal of Missouri Bar Staff, “Judge S. P. Dalton: 1892-1965,” Journal of Missouri Bar vol. 21 (1965), 417. See also: Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1953-1954, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, 1954), 203.
[xx] James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., “Vote for Judges Elected Under Nonpartisan Court Plan at General Election, November 3, 1964,” Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1965-1966, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1966), 1286.
[xxi] Journal of Missouri Bar Staff, “Judge S. P. Dalton: 1892-1965,” Journal of Missouri Bar vol. 21 (1965), 417.
[xxii] Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1951-1952, (Kansas City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printing, 1952), 229.
[xxiii] Walter E. Toberman, Secretary of State, Walter H. Toberman, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1951-1952, (Kansas City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printing, 1952), 229.
[xxiv] Warren E. Hearnes, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1963-1964, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1964), 215.
[xxv] Warren E. Hearnes, Secretary of State, Thelma P. Goodwin, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1963-1964, (Jefferson City, MO: Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1964), 215.
[xxvi] “Presentation of the Portrait of the Honorable S. P. Dalton,” Supreme Court of Missouri (Jefferson City, MO: April 7, 1967), 8.
[xxvii] Journal of Missouri Bar Staff, “Judge S. P. Dalton: 1892-1965,” Journal of Missouri Bar vol. 21 (1965), 417. See also: “Presentation of the Portrait of the Honorable S. P. Dalton,” Supreme Court of Missouri (Jefferson City, MO: April 7, 1967), 14.
Biographical information authored by Ms. Chloe Shoemaker, 2019, University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri.