Draft:Rufus Pettibone

Rufus Pettibone (May 26, 1784 – July 31, 1825) was a justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri from 1823 to 1825, appointed from St. Louis County.

Born in Litchfield County, Connecticut to Giles and Margaret Holcomb Pettibone, he was the youngest of a large family of children, and it was generally understood in the family that Rufus was to receive a collegiate education.

"Rufus Pettibone succeeded Judge Cook, and died in 1825".

In 1801, he applied for and was admitted to Williams College, in northwestern Massachusetts, and passed four years of his life in diligent study at that college; and at its expiration, in 1805, was graduated with high honors. After he graduated he returned to his father's house to debate and advise with him as to the battle of life, upon the threshold of which he was about to enter.

Following the bent of his own mind, and conforming to the wishes and desires of his friends, he adopted law as his profession, and in the early part of 1806 began the study of law in the office of a lawyer of large practice, in Onondaga County, in the state of New York. He remained in this office for about two years, and then entered the office of Abraham Van Yeckten, a leading lawyer of that day in the city of Albany, in the same state. After remaining here for one year he was, after examination, admitted to the practice as an attorney and counselor. This was in the latter part of the year 1808, or the early part of 1809.

After looking around for a suitable location to practice his profession, he finally settled in the village of Vernon, in the western part of the large and wealthy county of Oneida, in the year 1810, and was elected in 1812 to represent the county in the lower branch of the State Legislature. While serving as a member of the Legislature he became acquainted with Louise Esther De Russey, to whom he was married in the same year. She was the daughter of Claudius Le Droit De Russey, who emigrated from France to the Island of San Domingo prior to the year 1791, but who during that year was fortunate enough to escape the insurrection by taking refuge on board a vessel that took him and his family to New York, in which state he settled.

In 1817 Rufus Pettibone concluded to, remove to St. Louis, in the then territory of Missouri, and cast his lot among the pioneers of that section; and accordingly, in May, 1818, reached St. Louis with his family, at that time consisting of his wife and three children. Upon his arrival he was offered a partnership in the practice of law by Colonel Rufus Easton, one of the most experienced lawyers then at the St. Louis bar. This he accepted. During the agitation of the question of the admission of the then territory as a state into the Federal Union, the subject of slavery was a most disturbing element in the settlement of the question of admission. A large number of the settlers in the territory of Missouri were opposed to the further spread of slavery, or its recognition in the then proposed Constitution. The persons who held to these views were in a great minority, but so earnest were they to give expression to their sentiments that a ticket with names of representative men thereon was presented to the people for their suffrages. On that ticket were John B. C. Lucas, Rufus Easton, Rufus Pettibone, Robert Simpson, and Caleb Bowles.

The election of state officers followed close on the adoption of the Constitution, which was in July, 1820. At the election Alexander McNair was chosen governor, and William H. Ashley lieutenant–governor. The representatives chosen from the several counties assembled in St. Louis in September, 1820, and organized the first State Legislature. The remainder of the year 1820 had nearly passed before every department of the state government was organized — especially was this the case in the judicial department. No courts were held under the state government until the year 1821. The senators chosen by the Legislature were David Barton and Thomas H. Benton, and were elected in the order here given.

Rufus Pettibone was appointed judge of the Second Judicial Circuit, which was then composed of the counties of Ralls, Pike, Lincoln, St. Charles, Montgomery, and Callaway on the north side of the Missouri River, and Gasconade County on the south side. After his appointment, Judge Pettibone removed to the town of St. Charles. His first court was held in Louisiana, Pike County, in February, 1821. He served the people of the circuit as judge, with credit to himself and acceptability to them, until 1823, when a vacancy occurred on the supreme bench of the state, which vacancy he was appointed to fill. He held the position of supreme judge of the state from the time of his appointment until July 31, 1825, when — in the prime of his power and usefulness — he died.

In the winter of 1824 to 1825 the Legislature of the state chose Hon. Henry S. Geyer (afterward a United States senator from the state of Missouri) and Judge Rufus Pettibone to revise the laws of the state, and to prepare the same for enactment by the Legislature.

"Rufus Pettibone". Missouri Courts. Retrieved June 24, 2023.

References

Category:1784 births Category:1825 deaths Category:Williams College alumni Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri

This open draft remains in progress as of July 5, 2023.