Henry Carroll Timmonds
Encyclopedia
Knoxville, Iowa
Knoxville is a city in Marion County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,731 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marion County. Knoxville is home of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum located next to the famous dirt track known as Knoxville Raceway.-History:The site for...
, on May 12, 1853, less than a year after his parents moved there. Most of his life was spent in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, growing up in Lamar
Lamar, Missouri
Lamar is a city in Barton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,474 at the 2011 census. It is the county seat of Barton County. Lamar is well known as the birthplace of President Harry S. Truman.-Geography:...
and the general Barton County area where he was “Principal of Public Schools” for one term (seemingly at the young age of only 19 or 20), then marrying Katherine Faust in 1873 and moving to neighboring Cedar County
Cedar County, Missouri
Cedar County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2000, the population was 13,733. Its county seat is Stockton.- Origin of name :...
, where he became editor (and printer) of the “Stockton Journal” from 1873 to 1878.
Even prior to his marriage and work as a journalist, H. C. Timmonds (called “Carroll” by his friends) had been interested in the law, and had “read” law under a local Lamar attorney. He continued to study the subject while producing the newspaper and while Superintendent of Stockton Schools for two years. Finally, after reading under Judge D. P. Stratton, he was admitted to the Stockton bar in 1880, becoming a lawyer. (His third child, the first after his being admitted to the bar, was Reba Stratton Timmonds, presumably so named as to honor Judge Stratton.) After passing the bar, Henry Carroll Timmonds moved back to Lamar
Lamar, Missouri
Lamar is a city in Barton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,474 at the 2011 census. It is the county seat of Barton County. Lamar is well known as the birthplace of President Harry S. Truman.-Geography:...
, and set up legal offices with several other local attorneys, becoming Prosecuting Attorney for Barton County for two terms. After a few years, he entered politics, running as a Democrat for the office of Representative to the State Legislature from Barton County, to which he was elected in 1887. He served in the thirty-fourth General Assembly, and was on the Judicial Committee. Several years after his career as a legislator ended he was elected Judge of the Twenty-sixth Judicial Circuit, a position he held for about five years. After that time he was usually called Judge Timmonds.
During his years as a judge, Henry Carroll Timmonds tried one case which involved much local and even some national interest, one of the so-called “boodle” trials. These cases involved several state senators who had solicited “boodle” or bribe money in exchange for their votes. Oddly, this was not contrary to any Missouri statute at the time. Judge Timmonds, though, found Senator W. P. Sullivan guilty under the common law, and the senator was convicted and fined, thus setting a significant precedent.
Judge Timmonds moved to Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, in 1905, becoming a law partner of U. S. Senator William Warner
William Warner (Missouri)
William Warner was an American lawyer and politician from Kansas City, Missouri. He represented Missouri in both the U.S. House and Senate. He was mayor of Kansas City in 1871-72....
. He was injured in a carriage accident that killed his wife, Katherine "Kate" Faust, in 1909, but remarried the next year, to Anastasia Murray. He died on July 4, 1913.
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| Katherine Faust Timmonds | Reba Stratton Timmonds |