MONROE MCCLURG
03/19/1857 – 04/05/1925
Hon. Monroe McClurg was born in Carroll County, Miss., March 19, 1857.
His paternal great-grandfather, William McClurg, was a
native of Scotland, his maternal grandfather was a native of Ireland. A
great-great-uncle, James McClurg, was a member of the
convention that framed the Constitution of the United States, taking the place
of Patrick Henry, who, with Edmond Randolph, George Mason and George Wythe, all
of Virginia, declined to sign the constitution proposed, while their colleagues
George Washington, John Blair, and James Madison signed it. His grandfather,
William, came to Mississippi from South Carolina in 1820 and settled in Hinds
County, near Clinton, where his father, Yancey Crawford, was born, October 15,
1828. His father was names in honor of his mother’s people, who were closely
related to William L. Yancey, the great Alabama orator and statesman and to the
Crawford’s, a distinguished family of politicians, lawyers and statesmen of
Georgia.
His father was mustered into
the Confederate service at Jackson, Miss., 15th February, 1862, and
belonged for a while to Co. A, 28th Miss., regiment, J.T. McBee, captain Stark, colonel. He was then transferred to
Co. G, 1st Reg. of State reserve forces, J.C. Dennis, colonel, in
which he was second lieutenant. He was promoted to the rank of captain just
before the close of the war in 1865. The mother of the subject of this sketch,
Susan M. Cain, youngest daughter of Patrick Cain, died in August, 1874. In the
winter of 1875, his father married Miss Artimisha
Bagley, of Panola County, Miss. To the first marriage were born James, who died
young; Myles and Monroe, twins, the former dying young; Mary, the wife of J.S.
Tillman, a farmer in Carroll County; Martha, wife of J.B. Harrell of Oklahoma
City; William Herman, who died at the age of 24 years; John and Hubbard, twins,
the former, a druggist at Vaiden, of which town he has been twelve years Mayor,
the latter a merchant, at Ruleville, Miss.; Minnie, wife of T.A. Winborn, employee of the I.C.R.R. at Canton, Miss.;
Katherine Belle, a daughter by the second union, married Thomas Williams, a
farmer in Carroll County, and died a year later.
Monroe McClurg
married Miss Ida Blanche Williams, the second daughter of A.B. and Mary E.
Williams, at Vaiden, December 5, 1881.
Three children were born of this union, Mrs
Susie Mai Richardson, wife of Mr. Bonner Richardson; Mrs. Ada Maude McConnico,
wife of Mr. S.E. McConnico, Jr., and Monroe, Jr., all of Greenwood, Miss. Mr.McClurg also resides at Greenwood, Miss., and is senior
member of the law firm, McClurg, Gardner & Whitington.
He is a member of the
Presbyterian Church; was a delegate at large from Mississippi to the
inter-national Sunday school convention in Chicago in 1888; is a Past Grand
Master of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and represented the order four
years in the Sovereign Grand Lodge. His most important work in that order was the
organization of a plan for building a Widows and Orphans’ Home and the writing
of a history of the order in Mississippi for the Grand Lodge of the World. He
established, and published for two years at Vaiden, a newspaper called The Nucleus, now known as the Carroll News.
After completing his
high-school course at Louisville, Winston County, Miss., Mr. McClurg became at the same time deputy sheriff, deputy
circuit clerk, deputy chancery clerk and deputy assessor of Carroll County,
which positions he held until September, 1877. He then entered the law
department of the University of Mississippi, from which institution he was
graduated in June, 1878, in the first class taught by Prof. Edward Mayes. He
was admitted to the bar at Vaiden, in November, 1878, by Chancellor R.W.
Williamson. His first law partner was Hon. George Anderson, who afterward
removed to Vicksburg and represented Warren County in the Legislature, and
resigned to become circuit judge of the Ninth Circuit Court district. His next
partnership was with Hon. Thos. H. Somerville, beginning in 1880 and ending
with Mr. Somerville’s election as Professor of Law in the University of
Mississippi, in 1897. For seventeen years this firm was in almost every
important case in the County.
In 1890 he was elected as a
delegate from Carroll County to the Constitutional Convention, and was next to
the youngest member of that body; was appointed on the committee on franchise,
election and apportionment, and on printing. He supported and signed the
constitution finally adopted by the convention.
He was elected to the
Legislature in 1896 from Carroll County and was appointed chairman of the
committee on education; a member of the judiciary and other committees. He
nominated Hon. Hernando D. Money for the United States Senate, to succeed
Senator J.Z. George. In December, 1896, he moved to Greenwood and formed a
partnership with Hon. S.R. Coleman and practiced law there until January, 1900.
Mr. McClurg
was elected Attorney General of the State in 1899, and was installed along with
the “Longino Administration,” January 15, 1900. He
was a member of the commission that purchased 14,000 acres of land in Sunflower
County for a State penitentiary farm, and, with the commission, examined the
land and thereafter passed upon the abstracts and titles to the same. He was a
member of the State House Commission and drew the contracts for building the
new State Capitol, and was the adviser of the commission and attended its
meetings. His name appears on the tablet at the entrance of the building. He
was a member of the penitentiary Board of Control, of the Board of Election
Commissioners, of the Board of Public Contracts, of the State Board of Public
Education and of some other minor boards and commissions, He examined and
passed upon the legality of nearly 1,000 charters, and more than 500
applications to have taxes, erroneously collected, refunded, and about 50
applications for certificates of exemption from taxation.
He appeared before the
Supreme Court in more than 360 criminal appeals and in more than 40 civil suits
in which the State or a political subdivision thereof was interested. More than
75 per cent of these cases were affirmed, a record not before made. In the
circuit and chancery courts of Hinds County and in the Federal courts at
Jackson he appeared in many important cases for the State. He filed written
briefs in more than 350 cases. Among the most important of them are the
following:
Dinkins’ Case, 77 Miss., 874;
Arnold’s Case, Ibid., 463; The Judiciary Amendments, Ibid., 543; Lena
Wilkinson’s Case, Ibid., 705; Straight’s Case, Ibid., 693; Allen vs. Leflore
County, 78 Miss., 671; Woodberry vs. McClurg, Ibid.,
831; The State vs. Cotton Oil Company, 79 Miss., 203; Caffey’s Case, 78 Miss.,
645; Holt’s Case, Ibid., 631; Auditor Cole vs. Humphreys, Ibid., 163; The
Mississippi Railroad Commission vs. The Gulf and Ship Island Railroad Company,
Ibid., 750; Kirby’s Case, Ibid., 175; Klyce’s Case,
Ibid., 450; Seymour’s Case, Ibid., 134; The Industrial Institute and College
Case, 81 Miss., 174; Hayden’s Case, Ibid., 291; Conrad’s Case, 80 Miss., 229;
Eaton’s Case, Ibid., 588.
He delivered more than 300
written opinions, besides many given daily to State officers and State
institutions. Some of the more important are:
To the Governor, advising him
that a pardon signed by Governor McLaurin and left with his secretary to be
delivered to a convict was effective if accepted; defining “vacancy in office,”
and advising the governor to recall his writ of election issued to the newly
created eleventh circuit court district to elect a district attorney (Brewer).
To the State Treasurer,
advising that he could not pay “Alcorn Money,” nor the bonds issued to retire
it, without special legislation.
To the Secretary of State,
advising that charter fees should be fixed by the maximum of authorized
capital; that foreign corporations doing business in this State must file a
copy of charter and pay the fee fixed by law. These two opinions brought many
thousands of dollars into the treasury.
To the Auditor of Public
Accounts, advising what factories were exempted from taxation; that mutual
insurance companies must report to his office (this caused many fraudulent
organizations to go out of business); not to pay the “Wineman Claim,” because a
forgery had been committed in passing the law under which it was claimed.
To the State Land
Commissioner, advising with reference to leasing of the public lands and to
prevent depredations, and as to handling of escheated estates. By a suit in the
Hinds County chancery court, he recovered 80 acres of land containing the
quarry from which the stone was taken to build the old State House and turned
the land over to the Land Commissioner, Hon. E.H. Hall.
To the State Revenue Agent,
advising that the term of County treasurers ran from the first Monday in
January to the first Monday of the next and that commissions should be so
computed; also, with reference to solvent credits not returned to assessors,
not being protected by approval of the assessment roll; advising how back taxes
to the amount of more than a million dollars collected should be distributed.
To the Superintendent of
Education, defining “exchange, introduction and permanent supply of school
books,” and advising that it meant dealings with the patron and not the school
book dealer.
To the Railroad Commission,
advising that it had power to order necessary spur-tracks put in; that it had
jurisdiction to regulate switch charges independently of inter-state commerce;
in the Southern and Mobile and Ohio Railroad merger, that the Southern must
become a domestic corporation in the State; that the Commission had
jurisdiction over steamboats plying the Mississippi river as to intra-state
freight; defining interstate commerce and advising the powers of the commission
with reference thereto.
To the State Board of Health,
that it had no power to regulate street car service.
To Public Institutions,
advising the Industrial Institute and College; that is appropriations were
available only through the State Treasury; and the Agricultural and Mechanical
College, and the Deaf and Dumb Institute that their trustees had no power to
sell their lands, and advising the use of appropriation and insurance money in
rebuilding the latter institution after its destruction by fire.
To the Warden of the
Penitentiary, advising that the County should bear the expenses of responding
to a writ of habeas corpus as testificandum for a
convicted witness.
Some opinions of importance
were given to district attorneys. Among them, one to Hon. J.W. Barron, advising
as to the duties of that office and expressing doubt as to whether he should
receive a fee to prosecute in a justice of the peace court in his district.
To the Boards of Supervisors
many opinions of importance, such as advising them that they had the power to
furnish County officers with typewriting machines, stamps and stationery, and
that circuit and chancery judges had authority to make allowance for clerical
help to their clerks in term time. Every opinion that he gave that was tested
in the courts was held to be correct.
During the first two years of
his term Mr. McClurg had no assistant. The last year
that he held the office he had one, as provided by the Legislature of 1902. He
appointed Hon. Walter L. Easterling who resigned in
June, when he appointed Hon. Wm. Williamson. The new codification of the
statute laws of the State, now being prepared by a commission appointed by
Governor Vardaman, namely; Chief Justice Albert H.
Whitfield, Judge W.H. Hardy and Hon. Thomas C. Catchings,
was recommended by Mr. McClurg in his report to the
Legislature and adopted by that body. Some other recommendations of minor
importance were also adopted by the Legislature.
Mr. McClurg
has been engaged in several cases of considerable importance since going back
into private practice. One very interesting case is that of the Board of Trade
of the City of Meridian against the Alabama & Vicksburg Railroad Company,
in which he is leading counsel for the Board of Trade. The suit involves a
large reduction of tariffs on grain and grain products between Meridian and
Vicksburg. He secured from the Railroad Commission an order making the
reduction. The railroad company then enjoined the commission from the
enforcement of the order. The injunction was dissolved by the chancery court of
Hinds County and an appeal taken to the Supreme Court where the case is now
pending.
He was admitted to practice
in the United States Supreme Court, January 12, 1903, when he presented to that
court the demurrer of Mississippi to the original bill of complaint filed
against her by Louisiana. After resigning the office of Attorney General,
Governor Longino retained him to assist Gen.
Williams, his successor, in this case. This employment was relinquished when
the Legislature failed to make an appropriation to pay the fees and costs of
defending the suit. Later, Governor Vardaman employed
him in the case again.
He drew the charter of
incorporation of the Mississippi Division of the United Sons of Confederate
Veterans and represented that organization in securing an acceptable conveyance
from Mrs. Varina Jefferson Davis to “Beauvoir,” the
last home of the President of the Southern Confederacy, for a soldier’s home.
Mr. McClurg
resigned the office of Attorney-General, February 4, 1903, when it was almost
certain that he would have no opposition for reelection. He declined to become
a candidate for Governor of the State, when it was generally conceded that his
prospects for the election were good. Governor Longino
at once appointed Mr. McClurg’s assistant, Hon. Wm.
Williams, Attorney General to fill the unexpired term, and General Williams,
appointed for his assistant Hon. James N. Flowers, of Carroll, a former partner
in the law firm of Somerville, McClurg and Flowers.
Before Mr. McClurg left Jackson, the State officers, assistants,
clerks and employees gathered in the Governor’s office and presented to him a
cane suitably engraved, as a token of their friendship and esteem. The
Governor, Judge Calhoon, General Williams, Railroad
Commissioners A.Q. May, Superintendent H.L. Whitfield, Secretary of State J.W.
Power, Auditor W.Q. Cole, Revenue Agent Wirt Adams, and others made short
speeches. The surprise to Mr. McClurg was complete.
The Board of Supervisors of
his County, Leflore, have appointed him on the building committee, charged with
erecting a new $100,000.00 courthouse in the city of Greenwood. – Editor
Bibliography: Publications
of the Mississippi Historical Society.
Edited by Franklin L. Riley, Secretary, Vol.
VIII. Oxford, Mississippi. Printed for the Society, 1904. pp. 293-300
Career Recap:
At 18 years, he was made deputy sheriff, deputy chancery and circuit court
clerk and deputy assessor of Carroll county and by age 20 (in 1877), he had
money for his law course
1878 – graduated with L.L.B.
degree. A member of Judge Mayer’s first class – admitted to the bar in November
of this year. According to Goodspeed, he began business in Vaiden in 1879 and
immediately formed a partnership with George Anderson and began to practice.
1896 – formed a partnership with S.R. Coleman for 3 years at Greenwood, MS
1900-1903 – Attorney General of Mississippi
1903 – Head of partnership – McClurg, Gardner and Whittington
Now he entered a more
mature phase of his career, and it was during these next few years that he won
his reputation as a great lawyer. Jan
12, 1903 – admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court –
presented a demurrer of State of
It was Mr. McClurg who drew the charter of incorporation of the Mississippi Division of U.S.C.V. and who handled the conveyance of Beauvoir.
He has served consistently as alderman and as mayor ex-officio in Vaiden; in the legislature (1896); while he was attorney general he examined the land and passed on abstracts and titles for fourteen thousand acres in Sunflower county for a state penitentiary farm; closely-connected with building the new state house; he sat on the penitentiary board of control, board of election commissioners, board of public contracts, of state education…he delivered more than 300 written opinions, besides many from day to day; appeared before the State supreme court in three hundred and fifty criminal appeals --- When he resigned it was almost certain there would be no opposition to his re-election. He refused to run for governor, though his prospects were good. The spontaneity of his co-workers’ good will was touching and convincing.
Who’s Who in Mississippi
Member of Masons, Odd Fellows, Elks, American Bar
Association, Conference of
Commissioned as judge for the Fourth District
In memoriam tribute paid him at the 1925 State Bar Meeting at Laurel
Member of Franchise, Apportionment and Elections Committee of the Constitutional Convention of 1890
His 2nd wife, Helen, was president of the Mississippi Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and was active in many functions in the State.
Monroe McClurg
and 2nd wife Helen Webb Drane
McClurg are buried at the IOOF
(Independent Order of Odd Fellows) Cemetery in Greenwood, MS. Monroe’s 1st
wife, Ida Blanche Williams McClurg, is buried in the Vaiden Cemetery in
Vaiden, MS. At his death, Monroe was 68 years 0 months 17 days old.