Judge Henry Whitelaw Bond was born January 27, 1848, in Brownsville, Tennessee. In 1864, he came to Missouri to study at City University in Saint Louis, where he received his high school education and some college training. He then studied at Harvard University from 1865 to 1866, After which he returned to Tennessee and studied law with Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Freeman. In 1870, Bond was admitted to the bar to practice law in Tennessee in 1870. He was in the private practice of law with William R. Leigh, at Bond & Leigh in Brownsville, Tennessee, for nine years. 

In April 1879, Bond returned to St. Louis, was admitted to the state bar in Missouri, and opened a legal practice. In 1880, he formed a law partnership with Judge J. J. Lindsley until the later moved to Kansas. He then formed a legal partnership with Sir Charles Gibson and Gibson’s son with the firm, Gibson, Bond, & Gibson, which focused on civil corporate law.

In 1892, Bond was elected to a 12-year term as a judge of the Saint Louis Court of Appeals, for a expiring December 31, 1904, but he resigned October 1, 1901. He returned to St. Louis to practice law and served as a member of the advisory and examining board of the St. Louis Law School at Washington University. On April 10, 1911, the Supreme Court of Missouri appointed Bond to a four-year term as a commissioner with the Court. He served as a commissioner until 1912, when he was elected by voters to a 10-year term as a judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri. In June 1918, Bond became chief justice.

While still serving as chief justice of the Court, Judge Henry Whitelaw Bond died September 28, 1919, in Jefferson City, Missouri. He was 71 years old.

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Alexander A. Lesueur, compiler, Alexander A. Lesueur, Secretary of State, Official Manual of the State of Missouri, For the Years 1899-1900, (Jefferson City, MO: Tribune Printing Company, State Printers, and Binders, 1900), 181.

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Cornelius Roach, compiler, Cornelius Roach, Secretary of State, Official Manual of the State of Missouri, For the Years 1915-1916, (Jefferson City, MO: The Hugh Stephens Printing Company), 169.

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The Harvard Alumni Directory, compiler, Harvard Alumni Directory, (Boston, MA: The Harvard Alumni Association, 1919) 66, information courtesy of Google Books.

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“Henry W. Bond,” Missouri State Board of Health, Certificate of Death, filed September 29, 1919, Missouri Death Certificates Database, 1910-1973, information courtesy of Missouri Death Certificates Database, Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed March 29, 2024.

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“Hon. Henry Whitelaw Bond,” Missouri, The Center State, vol. iii, (St. Louis, MO: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1915), 68, information courtesy of Google Books.

“Judge Bond Resigns,” Poplar Bluff Citizen, (Poplar Bluff, Missouri), October 10, 1901, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed March 29, 2024.

“Judge H. W. Bond,” Rolla Herald (Rolla, Missouri), July 7, 1892, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed March 29, 2024.

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“Supreme Court Commissioners,” Rolla Herald, (Rolla, Missouri), April 20, 1911, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed March 29, 2024.