Silas Woodson

SILAS WOODSON, descended from English ancestors of Dorsetshire, was born on May 18, 1819, in the mountain area of southeastern Kentucky, in Knox County. As a boy, he worked on his father's farm and attended the local log schoolhouse. His hardy, outdoor life developed the physical stamina to sustain his active career. When he was eighteen, in 1837, he left the farm and served as clerk in a country store. He devoted all the time he could to reading and study, especially the law. In 1839, at the age of twenty, he was licensed to practice law and he opened a law office in the county seat, Barbourville.

In 1842, when he was twenty-three, he was elected to the General Assembly of Kentucky. At the expiration of his term he was appointed circuit attorney for the Twelfth Judicial District, and at the end of four years he was reappointed. In 1849 he was elected a member of the Kentucky Constitutional Convention, in which he took an active part. In 1853 he was again elected to the Kentucky legislature. At the expiration of that term he decided to move to the active frontier of western Missouri.

Silas Woodson came to St. Joseph in August 1854, when he was thirty-five years old. He opened a law office, and when Samuel Ensworth arrived, also from Barbourville, Kentucky, in 1857 they joined in partnership. In 1860 Woodson was elected judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. During the Civil War he remained a staunch Union man and served on the staff of Governor Willard P. Hall. Conditions in St. Joseph during the war years were difficult and unsettled;Judge Woodson often held court at the risk of his life. But his integrity and fairness as judge achieved him an enviable reputation, and at the end of his term he returned to what became a very successful law practice. In 1872 Silas Woodson was sent as a committeeman to the Democratic Party Convention in Missouri for the purpose of making nominations for the post of governor and the other state officials. Woodson was not a candidate, so he was elected chairman of the convention. Four candidates for the governorship were strongly supported by their followers, but no one could command a majority. The chairman then made a strong speech, calling for compromise and unity for the good of the party. The convention was so moved by the high level of his appeal that Woodson's name was placed in nomination for the governorship and he was supported unanimously. He was elected governor by a large majority. During his term of office he was able to cut state spending and taxes by about one-half. He was regarded as one of the most successful Missouri governors. At the expiration of his term, he returned to St. Joseph in 1876 to resume his large legal practice.

In 1885 Mr. Woodson was appointed judge of the Criminal Court of Buchanan County. He held this post for ten years, serving with efficiency, dignity, and honor. He retired because of poor health in 1895. He died October 6, 1896, and is buried in Mt. Mora Cemetery.

Silas Woodson was married three times. In 1842 he married Miss Mary Jane McRoberts in Knox County, Kentucky. She died in 1845, leaving a son, Miller Woodson. In 1846 Silas married Miss Olivia Adams who died in 1856, leaving no children. In 1866 he married Miss Virginia Juliet Lard, daughter of the Reverend Moses E. Lard, a minister of the Christian Church in Kentucky. A daughter, Alice, was born in 1870 and twins, Silas Salmon and Virginia, were born in 1875. Governor Woodson's last residence in St. Joseph was at 3315 Frederick Avenue, still standing and now occupied by the superintendent of the state hospital.

In 1920, Henry K. White, in his recollections of the St. Joseph Bar, wrote: "There towered Silas Woodson, of unusual physique, fervent and imaginative in his diction, magnetic in his oratory, careful in the preparation of his cases, his services being sought from afar. Triumphantly elected Governor of Missouri in 1872 and afterwards first Judge of our Criminal Court, he was a man of unblemished personal character, a powerful advocate, a great statesman, and an incorruptible Judge.'