Home County: St. Louis
Term of service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: February 1898 – March 1906
Judge William Champe Marshall was born November 13, 1848, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He was a grandson of Chief Justice John Marshall of the United States Supreme Court. Marshall studied law in 1867 and 1868 at the University of Virginia, from which he graduated with a bachelor of law degree. Marshall also attended the University of Mississippi.
Marshall was admitted to the bar in November 1869 at Vicksburg, Mississippi. In January 1870, he moved to St. Louis and began his legal practice. In 1874, he and Shepard Barclay formed a partnership, named Marshall & Barclay, and worked with the firm until 1882, when Barclay was elected as a circuit judge. Marshall then practiced law on his own until May 1891, when then-St. Louis Mayor E.A. Noonan appointed him city counselor. In 1893, Marshall served as treasurer of the Missouri State Bar Association. In 1895, he was chosen as president.
On February 22, 1898, then-Gov. Lon V. Stephens appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court of Missouri to fill the vacancy left by the death of Judge George Bennett Macfarlane. In November 1898, voters elected him to a serve a full 10-year-term on the Court. In April 1905, Marshall and Judge James David Fox, his fellow member on the Court, were named to the state building commission to oversee what is now the current Supreme Court of Missouri courthouse.
Marshall resigned from the Court on April 1, 1906, to return to private practice in St. Louis. He continued to serve as chairman of the building commission until the building officially opened in October 1907.
After he returned to St. Louis, Marshall formed a law firm with Henry Whitelaw Bond (who previously had served as a judge with the St. Louis Court of Appeals, a Supreme Court of Missouri commissioner, and then a Supreme Court of Missouri judge). He practiced as a partner with the firm Bond, Marshall & Bond until June 1910. Marshall then formed a legal practice with William W. Henderson (who had previously been a St. Louis probate judge) called Henderson & Marshall and practiced law there until the time of his death.
Judge William Champe Marshall died October 10, 1921, in St. Louis. He was 72 years old.
Biographical information by Grace Cunningham, 2024, University of Missouri-Columbia.
Sources used (a copy of each is on file at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library):
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), 440 and 506, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed March 19, 2025.
A.J. D. Stewart, ed., The History of The Bench and Bar of Missouri, (St. Louis, MO: The Legal Publishing Company, 1898), 266, information courtesy of Google Books, accessed June 11, 2024.
“Bond, Marshall & Bond Dissolve to Form New Firm,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (St. Louis, Missouri), June 11, 1910, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed June 25, 2024.
“Cornerstone of Supreme Court Building is Laid, Impressive Ceremonies Observed by Missouri Lawyers at Jefferson City,” Saint Joseph Gazette, (St. Joseph, Missouri), Wednesday, October 25, 1905, information courtesy of SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed March 19, 2025.
“Firm Changes,” The St. Louis Republican, (St. Louis, Missouri), January 1, 1874, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed June 11, 2024.
“Former Supreme Judge W.C. Marshall Dies,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (St. Louis, Missouri), October 10, 1921, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed June 25, 2024.
“Grandson of John Marshall. Missouri’s New Supreme Court Justice Has a Famous Ancestor,” Kansas City Journal, (Kansas City, Missouri), February 25, 1898, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed June 11, 2024.
Historical Catalogue of the University of Mississippi, 1849-1909, (Nashville, TN: Marshall & Bruce Company, 1910), 150, information courtesy of Google Books, accessed June 11, 2024.
Joseph Van Holt Nash, Students of the University of Virginia, A Semi-Centennial Catalogue, with Brief Biographical Sketches, (Baltimore, MD: Charles Harvey & Co Publishers, 1878), 103, information courtesy of Google Books, accessed June 11, 2024.
“Judge Marshall Resigns,” The Albany Capital, (Albany, Missouri), March 22, 1906, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed June 25, 2024.
“Judge W.C. Marshall Is Dead,” The Kansas City Times, (Kansas City, Missouri), October 11, 1921, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed June 25, 2024.
“Latest Edition After the Battle, Noonan Beats Butler 1606 Votes in the Police Returns,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (St. Louis, Missouri), Wednesday, April 3, 1889, information courtesy of the SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed March 19, 2025.
Michael K. McGrath, ed., Michael K. McGrath, Secretary of State, 4th ed. Official Directory of Missouri For 1883, (St. Louis, MO: John J. Daly Stationery and Printing Company, 1883), 162.
“Missouri State News. State Bar Association.” Centralia Fireside Guard, September 6, 1895, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed June 11, 2024.
“New Supreme Court Building, Corner Stone Laid During Heavy Downpour, Under Auspices of Masonic Lodge,” The Jefferson Republic, (De Soto, Missouri), October 27, 1905, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed June 11, 2024.
“Noonan’s Slate, The Long-Looked for List of Appointments Sent to the Council,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (St. Louis, Missouri), May 2, 1891, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed June 11, 2024.
Perry S. Rader, reporter, Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri Between February 23 and April 20, 1898, vol. 143, (Columbia, MO: E.W. Stephens Publisher, 1898), iii.
“Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Missouri State Bar Association,” June 27, 1893, The American Lawyer, vol. 58, February 1893, (New York, NY: The American Lawyer, 1893), 31, information courtesy of Google Books, accessed June 11, 2024.
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), 224, 414 and 467, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed March 19, 2025.
Sam B. Cook, compiler, Sam B. Cook, Secretary of State, Official Manual of the State of Missouri For the Years 1903-1904, (Jefferson City, MO: Tribune Printing Company, State Printers and Binders, 1904), 567.
“Supreme Judge Resigned,” Weekly Citizen Democrat, (Poplar Bluff, Missouri), March 15, 1906, accessed June 11, 2024.
“Testimony Is Taken In Hearing University City Hearing,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, (St. Louis, Missouri), September 19, 1907, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed June 25, 2024.
“The New Court Building,” The Albany Capital, (Albany, Missouri), August 1, 1907, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed June 25, 2024.
“The New Supreme Judge,” Springfield Leader and Press, (Springfield, Missouri), February 23, 1898, SHSMO Digital Newspaper Project, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri website, accessed June 11, 2024.
“William Champe Marshall,” Missouri State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death, Missouri State Death Certificates, 1910-1973 Collection, courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed June 4, 2024.