Home County: Jackson
Term of service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: January 1885 - December 1894
Judge Francis M. Black was born in Champaign County, Ohio, on July 24, 1836.[i]
Judge Black attended public schools then attended Farmer’s College, near Cincinnati, Ohio.[ii] In 1864, he relocated to Kansas City, Missouri.[iii]Black was a member of the Missouri Constitutional Convention of 1875, representing Jackson County.[iv] In 1880, he was elected as a Circuit Judge of the Twenty-fourth Judicial Circuit.[v] Judge Black served as a Circuit Court judge[vi] until he was elected in November 1884[vii] to the Supreme Court of Missouri for a ten-year term.[viii] He began his duties, with the Court in January 1885.[ix] Judge Black served as Chief Justice with the Court from January 1893[x] until December 1894.[xi] Judge Black served with the Court until his term with the Court expired on December 31, 1894.[xii]
After Judge Black left the Court, he continued to practice law in Kansas City.[xiii] He became the first president of The Kansas City School of Law.[xiv]
Judge Francis M. Black died in Kansas City, Missouri, at his home, on May 26, 1902.[xv]
[i] Michael K. McGrath, ed. Michael K. McGrath, Secretary of State, Official Director of Missouri, for 1881, 3rd edition, (St. Louis, MO: John J. Daly &Co., Stationers and Printers, 1881), 143, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on February 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/142/rec/3
[ii] Alexander A. Lesueur, compiler, Alexander A. Lesueur, Secretary of State, Official Manual of the State of Missouri, for the Years 1893-94, (Jefferson City, MO: Tribune Printing Company, State Printers and Binders, 1893), 393, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on May 17, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/2579/rec/9
[iii] Alexander A. Lesueur, compiler, Alexander A. Lesueur, Secretary of State, Official Manual, State of Missouri, for the Years 1889-90, (Jefferson City, MO: Tribune Printing Company, State Printers and Binders, 1890), 209, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on May 17, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/1904/rec/7 See also: Alexander A. Lesueur, compiler, Alexander A. Lesueur, Secretary of State, Official Manual of the State of Missouri, for the Years 1893-94, (Jefferson City, MO: Tribune Printing Company, State Printers and Binders, 1893), 393, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on May 17, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/2579/rec/9
[iv] Michael K. McGrath, ed., Michael K. McGrath, Secretary of State, Official Directory of Missouri for 1883, 4th edition, (St. Louis, MO: John J. Daly Stationery and Printing Company, 1883), 140, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on February 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/309/rec/4
[v] Michael K. McGrath, ed. Michael K. McGrath, Secretary of State, Official Director of Missouri, for 1881, 3rd edition, (St. Louis, MO: John J. Daly &Co., Stationers and Printers, 1881), 143, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on February 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/142/rec/3
[vi] Michael K. McGrath, ed., Michael K. McGrath, Secretary of State, Official Directory of Missouri, for 1883, 4th edition, (St. Louis, MO: John J. Daly Stationery and Printing Company, 1883), 164, image courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on May 17, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/333/rec/4
[vii] F.M. Brown, state reporter, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the state of Missouri, vol. 83, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens, Publisher, 1886), iii. Publication located in the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library. See also: Michael K. McGrath, ed., Michael K. McGrath, Secretary of State, Official Directory of Missouri for 1885, 5th edition, (St. Louis, MO: John J. Daly Stationery & Printing Company, 1885), 32, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on May 17, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/653/rec/5
[viii] Michael K. McGrath, ed., Michael K. McGrath, Secretary of State, Official Directory of Missouri, for 1885, 5th edition, (St. Louis, MO: John J. Daly Stationery & Printing Company, 1885), 117 image courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on May 17, 021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/738/rec/5
[ix] F.M. Brown, state reporter, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the state of Missouri, vol. 83, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens, Publisher, 1886), iii. Publication located in the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[x] F.M. Brown, official reporter, Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, vol. 115, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens, publisher, 1893), iii. Publication in the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xi] F.M. Brown, official reporter, Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, vol. 126, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens, publisher, 1895), iii. Publication located in the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xii] F.M. Brown, official reporter, Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, vol. 126, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens, publisher, 1895), iii. Publication located in the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xiii] “Judge Black Steps Down, Goes Back to Kansas City Practice Law,” Rolla Herald, (Rolla, Missouri), December 27, 1894, Missouri Digital Newspaper Project, image digitized by the State Historical Society of Missouri, Missouri State Historical Society, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed on May 17, 2021, available from https://shsmo.newspapers.com/image/128309317/?terms=Judge%20Black%20steps%20down&match=1
[xiv] “To Graduate Sixty-Seven, The Kansas City School of Law to Hold Commencement Exercises,” University Missourian, (Columbia, Missouri), April 29, 1912, image digitized by the State Historical Society of Missouri, information courtesy of the Chronicling America website, available from https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89066313/1912-04-29/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1912&index=0&rows=20&words=Black+Francis&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=Missouri&date2=1912&proxtext=Francis+black&y=5&x=8&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1
[xv] “Judge Francis M. Black Dead,” Phillipsburg Herald, (Phillipsburg, KS), May 28, 1902, image digitized by the Kansas State Historical Society, information courtesy of the Chronicling America website, available from https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85029677/1902-05-28/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1902&index=0&rows=20&words=Black+Dead+Francis+Judge+M&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1902&proxtext=Judge+Francis+M.+Black+Dead&y=14&x=10&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1
Biographical information authored by Mr. John “Jack” Ries, 2021, University of Missouri, Columbia.