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From The Green Bag (1891), Vol. 3, p. 175-76:
John Ferguson Ryland. He whose life and deeds are now to be noticed embodied in his character all the graces and elements which go to make a Christian gentleman. Pure in every thought and deed of his long life, with a heart responsive to the sufferings of others, a mind richly stored with learning, and a nature most pacifically disposed, Judge Ryland was peculiarly adapted to judicial functions. He was born in Essex County, Virginia, Nov. 2, 1797. In 1811 his father moved to Jessamine County, Kentucky, where he died in the following year, leaving a widow and eight children, of whom John F. was the eldest. He manifested a deep interest, approaching a passion, for the classics, and at an early day was an adept in Greek and Latin. He taught school for a number of years, and read law in his leisure hours. In 1819 he came to Missouri, and like many others settled at Old Franklin. As the Missouri River continued its encroachments on this historic site, Mr. Ryland removed to Fayette. In 1830 the Legislature created a new judicial circuit, composed of the entire western portion of the State and extending from Iowa to Arkansas. Judge Ryland was appointed as its judge on Jan. 18, 1831, and filled the position until 1849. He removed to Lexington in 183 1 , and lived there during the remainder of his life. In 1849 he became a member of the Supreme Court, and continued as such until 1857, retiring after twenty-seven years of continuous judicial service. He resumed the practice of his profession, and lived to a ripe old age, dying Sept. 11, 1873. While on the Supreme Court bench he wrote a number of important opinions, especially in criminal cases. His long experience as a circuit judge had familiarized him with this branch of the law, and he contributed greatly to the formulation of rules for which his opinions are widely cited as authority. Judge Ryland was exceedingly popular, both in the profession and with the people at large. Lawyers admired him for his uniform courtesy and modest dignity; the people for his kindness and generous impulses; and all classes loved him for his unbending integrity and great learning. Through life, Judge Ryland was a Democrat of the Jackson, Benton, and Douglas schools; and during the war remained a steadfast Union man. Though a slaveholder, he believed the institution to be a detriment to the South. With the close of the war, Judge Ryland was an earnest advocate of restoring peace in fact as well as in name, and of extending a fraternal recognition of the Southern States and their people. He yielded to the wishes of his fellow-citizens, and accepted an election to the Legislature in 1866. The bitter and proscriptive views which dominated that body jarred his mild and equable nature, and he retired to private life. He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, and in 1851-1852 served as Grand Master of the State. In 1838-1840 the western portion of Missouri underwent a period of great excite ment by reason of what is called the Mormon War. The criminal prosecutions resulting from it came before Judge Ryland, who exercised so much good sense and displayed so great a degree of calmness that peace was restored in the community. In every relation of life, Judge Ryland was exemplary. His love of justice, his catholicity of spirit, his patriotism and self-sacrificing devotion to duty all combined to earn for him the tribute of one who knew him well : "One of God's noblemen, whose whole life was spent in doing good to his fellow-men, whose mind was a store house of varied learning, and whose bright judicial career has done so much to adorn the jurisprudence of our State."