Judge John Turner White

 

Home County: Greene 

 Term of service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: January 1923 - December 1932

 

Judge John Turner White was born on April 22, 1854, in Greene County, Missouri.[i] White was the first student to enroll at Drury College, where he graduated in 1878.[ii] Afterward, White served as the principal for Springfield High School, while studying law.[iii] He was admitted to the bar in 1882.[iv]


White practiced law as a partner of Thrasher, White, and McCammon for many years.[v] After the retirement of Colonel Thrasher, White continued the law firm with McCammon until 1904.[vi] While maintaining his law practice, White also wrote as the Official Reporter for the St. Louis Court of Appeals from 1904 to 1909, while living in Springfield.[vii] Judge White was appointed as a Commissioner with the Court in 1917.[viii] Through his efforts, the Supreme Court of Missouri became up to date with their docket for the first time in almost twenty years.[ix] In 1919, Judge White was reappointed for a full term of four years, as a Commissioner with the Court.[x]


Judge White was elected as a judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri in November of 1922[xi] for a term that began in January of 1923.[xii] He served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri from August 13, 1928,[xiii] to January 18, 1930.[xiv] He retired at the expiration of his term on December 31, 1932,[xv] when he was 78 years old.[xvi] After his retirement from the bench, he stayed active in the Supreme Court of Missouri by serving as Reporter for the court for nine years, beginning on January of 1933.[xvii] He continued as Reporter with the Court until October 1941.[xviii] He passed away on December 11, 1947, at the age of 93.[xix]

[i] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, Official Directory of Missouri, for the Years Nineteen Twenty-Nine and Nineteen Thirty, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz-Hugh Stephens Printing Press, 1930) 115, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on April 12, 2021.

[ii] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, Official Directory of Missouri, For the Years Nineteen Twenty-Nine and Nineteen Thirty, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz-Hugh Stephens Printing Press, 1930) 115, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on April 12, 2021.

[iii] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, Official Directory of Missouri, For the Years Nineteen Twenty-Nine and Nineteen Thirty, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz-Hugh Stephens Printing Press, 1930) 115, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on April 12, 2021.

See also: Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to Judge John Turner White, (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), December 15, 1948, 2. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[iv] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, Official Directory of Missouri, For the Years Nineteen Twenty-Nine and Nineteen Thirty, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz-Hugh Stephens Printing Press, 1930) 115, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on April 12, 2021.

[v] Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to Judge John Turner White, (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), December 15, 1948, 2. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library. See also: Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, Official Directory of Missouri, For the Years Nineteen Twenty-Nine and Nineteen Thirty, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz-Hugh Stephens Printing Press, 1930) 115, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on April 12, 2021.

[vi] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, Official Directory of Missouri, For the Years Nineteen Twenty-Nine and Nineteen Thirty, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz-Hugh Stephens Printing Press, 1930) 115, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on April 12, 2021. See also:  Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to Judge John Turner White, (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), December 15, 1948, 2. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[vii] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for the Years Nineteen Twenty-Three and Nineteen Twenty-Four, (Jefferson City, MO: The Hugh Stephens Press, 1924), 117. See also: Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for the Years Nineteen Thirty-One and Nineteen Thirty-Two, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz Printing and Stationery Company, 1932), 119.

[viii] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for the years Nineteen Twenty-Three and Nineteen Twenty-Four, (Jefferson City, MO: The Hugh Stephens Press, 1924), 117. See also: Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for the Years Nineteen Thirty-One and Nineteen Thirty-Two, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz Printing and Stationery Company, 1932), 119.

[ix] Splendid Man for the Place-Judge John T. White,” The Farmington Times, (Farmington, Missouri), July 28, 1922, information courtesy of Chronicling America website, image provided by the State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO, accessed on April 16, 2021.

[x] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for the years Nineteen Twenty-Three and Nineteen Twenty-Four, (Jefferson City, MO: The Hugh Stephens Press, 1924), 117. See also: Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, compiler, State of Missouri, Official Manual, for the Years Nineteen Thirty-One and Nineteen Thirty-Two, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz Printing And Stationery Co., 1932) 119, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on April 12, 2021.

[xi] 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 Printing Press, 1930) 115, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on April 12, 2021.

[xii] Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to Judge John Turner White, (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), December 15, 1948, 1. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[xiii] Perry S. Rader, reporter, Reports of Cases Determined by the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, vol. 320, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Company, 1929), iii. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[xiv] Perry S. Rader, reporter, Reports of Cases Determined by the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, vol. 324, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Company, 1931), iii. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[xv] Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to Judge John Turner White, (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), December 15, 1948, 4. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[xvii] John Turner White, reporter, Reports of Cases Determined by the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, vol. 330, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Company, 1933), i. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library. See also: Supreme Court of Missouri, Presentation of Portrait: Honorable John Turner White (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), December 15, 1948, 1. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[xviii] John Turner White reporter and John M. Holmes, reporter, Reports of Cases Determined by the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, vol. 347, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publishing Company, 1942), i. Publication located in the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[xix] β€œIn Memoriam,” Journal of the Missouri Bar 4, (1948), 25. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library. See also: Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to Judge John Turner White, (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), December 15, 1948, 3. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

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

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