Ephraim Brevard Ewing (1819 – June 21, 1873) was a justice of the

Supreme Court of Missouri The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...

from 1859 to 1861 and from January 1873 until his death that summer.

Early life, education, and political career

Born in

Todd County, Kentucky Todd County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,460. Its county seat is Elkton. The county is named for Colonel John Todd, who was killed at the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782 during t ...

, in 1819, Ewing was the son of Rev. Finis Ewing, a distinguished divine.L. C. Krauthoff, ''The Supreme Court of Missouri'', in

Horace Williams Fuller Horace Williams Fuller (June 15, 1844 – October 26, 1901) was an American lawyer and editor who served as the first editor of ''The Green Bag'', a late-19th- and early-20th century legal news and humor magazine. Life and career Born in Aug ...

, ed., '' The Green Bag'' (1891), Vol. 3, p. 180."The Late Judge Ewing", ''The Sedelia Democrat'' (June 24, 1873), p. 1. Ewing was educated at Cumberland College, and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1842. Ewing served as

Missouri Secretary of State The people below have served as the Secretary of State of the U.S. state of Missouri. List Gallery File:Warren E. Hearnes.jpg, Warren E. Hearnes File:James C. Kirkpatrick.jpg, James C. Kirkpatrick File:Rep Roy Blunt.jpg, Roy Blunt File:Matt ...

from 1849 to 1853, having been elected as a Democrat from

Ray County, Missouri Ray County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,158. Its county seat is Richmond. The county was organized N ...

. In 1857, he became

Missouri Attorney General The Office of the Missouri Attorney General was created in 1806 when Missouri was part of the Louisiana Territory. Missouri's first Constitution in 1820 provided for an appointed attorney general, but since the 1865 Constitution, the Attorney Gene ...

Judicial career

In 1859, Ewing he was elected to the Missouri Supreme Court. He was removed from the bench in 1861, along with William Barclay Napton and William Scott, for refusing to sign a

loyalty oath A loyalty oath is a pledge of allegiance to an organization, institution, or state of which an individual is a member. In the United States, such an oath has often indicated that the affiant has not been a member of a particular organization or ...

swearing allegiance to the Union in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

.Christensen, Lawrence O. ''Dictionary of Missouri Biography'', University of Missouri Press, 1999, pp. 568-569. Two months earlier a strongly pro-Union provisional government seized control of the state after Federal forces occupied Jefferson City, exiling Claiborne Jackson and pro-Confederate members of the state legislature. The provisional government then set about securing the loyalty oaths of those remaining.Phillips, Christopher and Pendleton, Jason L. ''The Union on Trial: The Political Journals of Judge William Barclay Napton'' (University of Missouri Press, 2005). The removed judges were replaced by the appointments of Barton Bates

William Van Ness Bay William Van Ness Bay (November 23, 1818 – February 10, 1894) was an American attorney and judge from Missouri. He was most notable for serving as U.S. Representative from Missouri from 1849 to 1851, and a judge of the Supreme Court of Missour ...

, and John D. S. Dryden; all three appointees were elected to their seats in 1863.'' Ewing returned to the bench in 1870, when he was elected as a judge of the St. Louis Circuit Court, and in the election of 1872, Ewing received 155,911 votes to win election as a Liberal candidate to one of two new seats established on the court."Politics", ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' (November 28, 1872), p. 4. Ewing assumed office in January 1973, but died suddenly in June of that year. In the term prior to his death, he delivered a number of noted opinions, including ''Newmeyer v. Missouri, etc., R. R. Co.'', 52 Mo. 81; ''Pier v. Heinrichoffen'', 52 Mo. 333; ''Ketchum v. American Express Co.'', 52 Mo. 390; ''Pacific Railroad Co. v. Cass County'', 53 Mo. 17; and ''Straub v. Soderer'', 53 Mo. 38.

Personal life

Described as "tall and exceedingly spare", Ewing had "a large family, a number of whom ecamewell known in public life". In July 1873, shortly after Ewing's death, his eldest daughter, Anna, married

Francis Cockrell Francis Marion Cockrell (October 1, 1834December 13, 1915) was a Confederate military commander and American politician from the state of Missouri. He served as a United States senator from Missouri for five terms. He was a prominent member o ...

, who would go on to become a United States Senator.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ewing, Ephraim Brevard Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri 1819 births 1873 deaths Cumberland College (Princeton, Kentucky) alumni Secretaries of State of Missouri Missouri Attorneys General People from Ray County, Missouri People from Todd County, Kentucky 19th-century American judges