Frank Doster (January 19, 1847 – February 25, 1933) was a chief justice of the

Kansas Supreme Court The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Marla Luckert, the court supervises the legal profession, administers the judicial branch, and serves as the sta ...

from January 11, 1897, to January 12, 1903.

Early life, education, and career

Born in

Morgan County, Virginia Morgan County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,063. Its county seat is Berkeley Springs. The county was formed in 1820 from parts of Hampshire and Berkeley Counties and named i ...

in 1847, Doster spent most of his childhood on a farm in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. At the age of just 15 he enlisted for the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

as part of the Eleventh Indiana Cavalry. After he served in the

then returned to Indiana and started to study law.

Judicial service

Doster was elected district judge for

Marion, Kansas Marion is a city in, and the county seat of, Marion County, Kansas, United States. It was named in honor of Francis Marion, a brigadier general of the American Revolutionary War, known as the "Swamp Fox". As of the 2020 census, the population ...

in 1872, and served for multiple terms, having been elected as a Republican. His views progressed and he evolved to other affiliations such as the Greenback Union Labor, People's, and the Bryan wing of the Democratic parties. He was considered a prominent "champion of liberal ideology" within Kansas. He has been attacked as a socialist and an anarchist due to his views on individual property rights. While still a district judge he had stated his belief that "the rights of a user of a thing are paramount to the rights of the owner". However, when running for the supreme court he claimed the quote was a misrepresentation of what he had said, and that it was applicable to only such situations as the rights to public utilities such as the railroad. In 1896 Doster was elected to the position of Chief Justice of the

for a six-year term. As a liberal he was elected as the 7th Chief Justice of the court by the Populists, Democrats and Free Silver Republicans. He was more radical in his thoughts and statements than in practice and his term as chief justice was characterised by a strict adherence to the common-law tradition. He was re-nominated in 1902 but even if elected would not retain the position due to a new Act to expand the court including a provision that the senior member of the court,

William Agnew Johnston William Agnew Johnston (July 24, 1848 – January 23, 1937) was a Kansas State Representative in 1875, Kansas State Senator, justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from December 1, 1884, to January 12, 1903, and chief justice from January 12, 1903, ...

, would become the chief justice.

Later life

After his term as chief justice in 1902 he remained in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...

becoming the assistant general attorney for the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

. He attempted to return to political office in 1914 but failed to obtain the nomination as the Democratic entry for the senate. He continued to be interested in reform and championed issues such as industrial regulation and woman's suffrage, while opposing imperialism, prohibition and judicial nullification of social and economic legislation. He continued to follow Populism and in the 1920s championed internationalism, and was defensive of the Russian move to communism while denouncing child labor, prohibition, intolerance, fundamentalism, and the union of church and state. He retired from active practice well before his death but continued in cases of those too poor to pay for legal services.

Personal life and death

Doster married a girl from Illinois, and passed the bar exam in the same state. They then moved to Kansas where he started practising law in

. He had a son, Captain Wade Doster, who was killed March 1920 by his wife. She was accused of shooting him, and then attempting unsuccessfully to kill herself. Doster died at his home in 1933, at the age of 84, after having a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

, being struck with paralysis while visiting John H. Riddle the day before. He died survived by his wife, two sons and one daughter, with just one of his sons not being present at his death.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doster, Frank 1847 births 1933 deaths Chief Justices of the Kansas Supreme Court People from Morgan County, West Virginia