Home County: Buchanan
Term of Service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: January 1907 – November 1925
Judge Archelaus M. Woodson was born January 30, 1854, in Knox County, Kentucky. In October 1854, when he was nine months old, his family moved to Missouri. They first settled in Lafayette County and, in 1855, moved to Buchanan County, where Woodson attended the public school. In 1869, his family moved to Platte County, near Camden Point. Woodson later attended Plattsburg College in Plattsburg, Missouri, then graduated in 1877 from Washington University Law School in Saint Louis.
Woodson practiced law with Elijah Stone, at the St. Louis firm Stone & Woodson, for seven years before moving back to Buchanan County to continue his practice. Woodson was a member of the Buchanan County bar and was a partner in a St. Joseph law firm with his brother, Benjamin J. Woodson.
On December 18, 1890, then-Governor Francis appointed Woodson to the Buchanan County circuit court fill the unexpired term of Judge O. M. Spencer. Woodson was elected to the circuit court in 1892 and reelected in 1898.
In November 1906, voters elected Woodson to a 10-year term on the Supreme Court of Missouri, beginning January 1, 1907. He was reelected in 1916 for a second 10-year term expiring December 31, 1926. Woodson served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri from January 1, 1915, until November 11, 1916. He served a second time as chief justice from November 11, 1922, until April 24, 1924.
Judge Woodson died November 15, 1925, in Kansas City, Missouri. He was 71 years old.
Biographical information by Dylan Powers-Cody, 2024, Truman State University.
Sources used (a copy of each is on file at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library):
A Catalogue of the Officers and Students in the Several Departments of Washington University, with Courses of Study, For the Academic Year, 1877-78, (St. Louis, MO: C.R. Barns Printer, 1877), 130.
“Archelaus M. Woodson,” Missouri State Board of Health, Certificate of Death, filed November 16, 1925, Missouri Death Certificates Database, 1910-1973, information courtesy of Missouri Death Certificates Database, Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed April 12, 2024.
“Archelaus M. Woodson of St. Joseph,” The St. Louis Republic, (St. Louis, Missouri), July 19, 1901, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed April 12, 2024.
Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, State of Missouri, Official Manual of the State of Missouri, For Years Nineteen Twenty-three and Nineteen Twenty-four, (Jefferson City, MO: State Printer), 115.
Cornelius Roach, compiler, Cornelius Roach, Secretary of State, Official Manual of the State of Missouri, For the Years 1911-1912, (Jefferson City, MO: The Hugh Stephens Printing Company, 1912), 68.
“Endorses Judge Woodson,” The Lexington Intelligencer, (Lexington, Missouri), November 7, 1903, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed April 17, 2024.
John E. Swanger, compiler, John E. Swanger, Secretary of State, Official Manual of the State of Missouri, For the Years 1907-1908, (Jefferson City, MO: The Hugh Stephens Printing Company), 62.
“Judge A.M. Woodson Dies: End Here to Justice of the State Supreme Court,” The Kansas City Times, (Kansas City, Missouri), November 16, 1925, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed April 19, 2024.
Perry S. Rader, reporter, Reports of Cases Determined by the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, Between December 18, 1906 and March 5, 1907, vol. 201 (Columbia, MO: E. W. Stephens Publishing, 1907), iii.
Perry S. Rader, reporter, Reports of Cases Determined by the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, Between July 3, 1916 and February 2, 1917, vol. 269 (Columbia, MO: E. W. Stephens Publishing, 1917), iii.
Perry S. Rader, reporter, Reports of Cases Determined by the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, Between June 19, 1922 and December 9, 1922, vol. 295 (Columbia, MO: E. W. Stephens Publishing, 1923), iii.
Perry S. Rader, reporter, Reports of Cases Determined by the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, Between March 4, 1924 and June 5, 1924, vol. 303 (Columbia, MO: E. W. Stephens Publishing, 1924), iii.
Sam B. Cook, compiler, Sam B. Cook, Secretary of State, Official Manual of the State of Missouri, For the Years 1901-1902, (Jefferson City, MO: Tribune Printing Company, State Printers and Binders, 1902), 470.
“Stone & Woodson, Elijah F. Stone and A.M. Woodson,” Gould’s St. Louis Directory For 1879, vol. 8, (St. Louis, MO: David B. Gould Publisher, 1879), 74, information courtesy of University of Missouri-St. Louis Digital Library, accessed April 17, 2024.
W.M. Paxton, “Benjamin J. Woodson,” Annals of Platte County, Missouri, From Its Exploration Down to June 1, 1897 with Genealogies of Its Noted Families, and Sketches of Its Pioneers and Distinguished People, (Kansas City, MO: Hudson-Kimberly Publishing Company, 1897), 968 and 969, information courtesy of Google Books, accessed April 18, 2024.
“Woodson Named. Gov. Francis Appoints Judge Spencer’s Successor,” The St. Joseph Weekly Gazette, (St. Joseph, Missouri), December 25, 1890, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed April 17, 2024.