Home County: Jackson
Term of service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: January 1875 - December 1884
Judge Warwick Hough was born January 26, 1836, in Loudoun County, Virginia.[i] Hough’s parents moved their family to Missouri in 1838, and established themselves in the state capitol Jefferson City.[ii] Hough was educated in Jefferson City during his younger years, and in 1854, graduated from the University of Missouri, Columbia, then known as the State University.[iii] In 1859, he was admitted to the bar and in 1860, “formed a law partnership with J. Proctor Knott, then Attorney-General of Missouri, which continued until January, 1861, when he was appointed Adjutant-General by Governor Claiborne F. Jackson.”[iv]
Prior to the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War, Mr. Hough served as a, “clerk in the office of Secretary of State, and he was Secretary of the State Senate during the sessions of 1858-59, 1859-1860, and during the critical and eventful sessions of 1860-61.”[v] After the Civil War, Warwick Hough practiced law in Memphis, Tennessee until 1867.[vi] In 1867, Hough moved to Kansas City and practiced law there until he joined the Supreme Court of Missouri.[vii]
In November of 1874, Judge Hough was elected by the people of the state as a judge with the Supreme Court of Missouri, for a ten year term, beginning in January of 1875.[viii] He served with the Court until December 31, 1884.[ix] Judge Hough’s opinions, were recorded in twenty-six volumes of the Supreme Court reporters.[x] He became Chief Justice with the Court on January 1, 1883[xi] until the end of his term with the Court on December 31, 1884.[xii] In, 1883, while a judge with the Court, “the State University of Missouri conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws.”[xiii]
After his retirement in 1884 from the Supreme Court of Missouri, Judge Hough moved to St. Louis and formed a law practice of Hough, Overall, and Judson, with John H. Overall and Frederick N. Judson.[xiv] After that partnership concluded in December of 1889, Judge Hough was then, “associated with his son, Warwick M. Hough; and also for a time with Hon. Robert F. Walker.”[xv] In November of 1900, Judge Hough was elected to the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, for a six year term.[xvi] After the conclusion of his term, Judge Hough practiced law with Judge Jacob Klein, and his son, Warwick M. Hough, until his death.[xvii]
Judge Hough passed away on October 28, 1915, in St. Louis.[xviii]
[i] Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri, Vol. 267, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxii.
[ii] Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri, Vol. 267, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxiii.
[iii] Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri, Vol. 267, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxiii.
[iv] Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri, Vol. 267, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxiii.
[v] Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri, Vol. 267, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxiii.
[vi] Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri, Vol. 267, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxiii.
[vii] Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri, Vol. 267, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxiii.
[viii] Missouri General Assembly, Laws of the State of Missouri, Passed at the Adjourned Session of the Twenty-Sixth General Assembly, “Resolutions,” (Jefferson City, MO: Regan & Edwards, Public Printers, 1872), 4. See also: The Bench and Bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and Other Missouri Cities, (St. Louis, MO: H.C. Copper Jr. & Co., 1884), 15, information courtesy of Archive.org, accessed on June 26, 2019, available from https://archive.org/details/benchandbarstlo00compgoog/page/n28 See also: Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri, Vol. 267, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxiii.
[ix] Howard L. Conard, ed., Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, A Compendium of History and Biography for Ready Reference. Vol. III. (St. Louis, MO: The Southern History Company, Haldeman, Conard & Co., Proprietors, 1901.), 305. See also: Perry S. Rader, reporter, Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri, Vol. 267, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxii.
[x] Perry S. Rader, reporter,” In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxiv.
[xi] Thomas K. Skinker, reporter, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, Vol. 76 (St. Louis, MO: Gilbert Book Co., 1883), Judges of the Supreme Court during the Time of These Reports page.
[xii] F.M. Brown, reporter, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, Vol. 83, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens, 1886), Judges of the Supreme Court during the Time of These Reports page. See also: Michael K. McGrath, ed., Michael K. McGrath, Secretary of State, Official Directory of Missouri, for 1883, (St. Louis, MO: John J. Daly Stationery and Printing Company, 1883), 12, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on June 26, 2019, available from http://cdm16795.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/bluebook/id/370/rec/1
[xiii] Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxvi.
[xiv] Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxvi.
[xv] Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxvi.
[xvi] Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxvi.
[xvii] Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916), xxxvi.
[xviii] Perry S. Rader, reporter, “In Memoriam,” Reports of Cases Determined by the State of Missouri (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1916.), xxxvi. See also: “Warwick Hough,” Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1962, information courtesy of Ancestry.com website, accessed on June 28, 2019, available from https://search.ancestry.com
Biographical information authored by Mr. Maxwell Beffa, 2019, University of Missouri-Columbia.