Judge Frank Ely Atwood

Home County: Carroll 

 Term of service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: January 1925 - December 1934

Judge Frank Ely Atwood was born on October 5, 1878, in Carrollton, Missouri.[i] He graduated from Carrollton High School in 1897.[ii] He attended the University of Missouri and then attended William Jewell College,[iii] where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree.[iv] Atwood was admitted to the bar in 1904.[v] In 1930, he received an honorary doctorate of laws from William Jewell College.[vi] From 1905 to 1911, he was practiced law at Lozier, Morris & Atwood.[vii] He was in solo practice from 1911-1914 and was a senior member with the firm of Atwood & Atwood in Carrollton from 1914 until he became a judge with the Court.[viii]

In 1914, Atwood served as the mayor of Carrollton before serving as the prosecuting attorney of Carroll County from 1915-1919.[ix] Later, Atwood enjoyed the distinction of representing his district in the Constitutional Convention of 1921-1922.[x] In 1923, he became the president of the Chamber of Commerce and served as the Assistant General Counsel for the Missouri Public Service Commission.[xi] On November 4, 1924, Judge Atwood was elected to the Supreme Court of Missouri for a ten-year term, beginning in January of 1925.[xii] He served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri from June of 1931, to November of 1932.[xiii]  Judge Atwood retired from the Supreme Court of Missouri in December 1934 at the conclusion of his elected term.[xiv]


During 1934, Judge Atwood was elected president of the Missouri Bar Association.[xv] Judge Atwood also served as president of the American Judicature Society and was a chairman of the American Bar Association.[xvi] Judge Atwood made many important contributions to the legal field, including authoring the court opinion that developed ethics and standards of the legal profession in Missouri and many other states.[xvii] Judge Atwood also wrote many articles published in the Missouri Bar Journal on the subject of strengthening the ethics of lawyers and bar members.[xviii] He passed away in Carrollton, Missouri, on March 5, 1943.[xix]

[i] Dwight H. Brown, compiler, Dwight H. Brown, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, For the Years Nineteen Thirty-Three and Nineteen Thirty-Four, (Jefferson City, MO: Midland Printing Company, 1934), 121, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on March 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/16961/rec/29 See also: Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to Judge Frank Ely Atwood, (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), June 16, 1944, 2. 

[ii] Dwight H. Brown, compiler, Dwight H. Brown, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, For the Years Nineteen Thirty-Three and Nineteen Thirty-Four, (Jefferson City, MO: Midland Printing Company, 1934), 121, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on March 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/16961/rec/29

[iii] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, For Years Nineteen Twenty-Five and Nineteen Twenty-Six, (Jefferson City, MO: The Hugh Stephens Press, 1926), 122, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on March 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/12559/rec/25

[iv] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, Official Manual, for Years Nineteen Twenty-Seven and Nineteen Twenty-Eight, (Jefferson City, MO: The Hugh Stephens Press,) 119, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed March 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/13540/rec/26

[vi] Dwight H. Brown, compiler, Dwight H. Brown, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, For the Years Nineteen Thirty-Three and Nineteen Thirty-Four (Jefferson City, MO: Midland Printing Company, 1934), 121, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on March 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/16961/rec/29

[vii] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for Years Nineteen Twenty-Nine and Nineteen Thirty, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz-Hugh Stephens Press, 1930), 117, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on March 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/15264/rec/27

[viii] Dwight H. Brown, compiler, Dwight H. Brown, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for Years Nineteen Thirty-Three and Nineteen Thirty-Four, (Jefferson City, MO: Midland Printing Company, 1934), 121, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on March 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/16961/rec/29

[ix] Dwight H. Brown, compiler, Dwight H. Brown, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for Years Nineteen Thirty-Three and Nineteen Thirty-Four, (Jefferson City, MO: Midland Printing Company, 1934), 121, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on March 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/16961/rec/29

[x] Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to Judge Frank Ely Atwood, Supreme Court of Missouri (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri, June 16, 1944), 2. Document located in Judge Atwood’s file in the Supreme Court of Missouri law library.    

[xi] Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to Judge Frank Ely Atwood, Supreme Court of Missouri (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri, June 16, 1944), 2. Document located in Judge Atwood’s file in the Supreme Court of Missouri law library. See also: Dwight H. Brown, compiler, Dwight H. Brown, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for Years Nineteen Thirty-Three and Nineteen Thirty-Four, (Jefferson City, MO: Midland Printing Company, 1934), 121, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on March 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/16961/rec/29

[xii] Perry S. Rader, Reports of Cases Determined by the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, vol. 306, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Co., 1925), iii. See also: Dwight H. Brown, compiler, Dwight H. Brown, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for Years Nineteen Thirty-Three and Nineteen Thirty-Four, (Jefferson City, MO: Midland Printing Company, 1934), 121, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on March 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/16961/rec/29

[xiii] Dwight H. Brown, compiler, Dwight H. Brown, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for Years Nineteen Thirty-Three and Nineteen Thirty-Four, (Jefferson City, MO: Midland Printing Company, 1934), 121, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on March 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/16961/rec/29

[xiv] Dwight H. Brown, compiler, Dwight H. Brown, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for Years Nineteen Thirty-Three and Nineteen Thirty-Four, (Jefferson City, MO: Midland Printing Company, 1934), 121, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on March 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/16961/rec/29 See also: Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to Judge Frank Ely Atwood, Supreme Court of Missouri, (Jefferson City, MO: June 16, 1944), 6. Document located in Judge Atwood’s file in the Supreme Court of Missouri law library.

[xv] Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to Judge Frank Ely Atwood, Supreme Court of Missouri (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri, June 16, 1944), 7-8. Document located in Judge Atwood’s file in the Supreme Court of Missouri law library. See also: Dwight H. Brown, compiler, Dwight H. Brown, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for Years Nineteen Thirty-Three and Nineteen Thirty-Four, (Jefferson City, MO: Midland Printing Company, 1934), 121, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on March 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/16961/rec/29

[xvi] Supreme Court of Missouri, “Memorial to Judge Frank Ely Atwood,” Supreme Court of Missouri (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri, June 16, 1944), 7-8. Document located in Judge Atwood’s file in the Supreme Court of Missouri law library.

[xvii] Supreme Court of Missouri, “Memorial to Judge Frank Ely Atwood,” Supreme Court of Missouri (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri, June 16, 1944), 7. Document located in Judge Atwood’s file in the Supreme Court of Missouri law library.

[xviii] Frank Atwood, “Objectives and Methods of Bar Integration,” Missouri Bar Journal 5, (January 1934), 21-22, 28-33. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library. See also: Frank Atwood, “Your Profession and Mine,” Missouri Bar Journal 5, no. 10 (October 1934), 147-148, 157-159. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[xix] “Frank Ely Atwood,” The State Board of Health of Missouri, Standard Certificate of Death, filed April 7, 1943, information courtesy of the Missouri State Archives website, Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1968 database, accessed on March 24, 201, available from: https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1943/1943_00009878.PDF
Copy of document in file in Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library. See also: Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to Judge Frank Ely Atwood, Supreme Court of Missouri (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri, June 16, 1944), 6. Document located in Judge Atwood’s file in the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

Biographical Information authored by Hannah Loera, 2021, Truman State University.

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