John Woodruff Simpson (October 13, 1850 – May 16, 1920) was a founding member of

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, then titled Simpson, Thacher, & Barnum. He and his wife were known as avid art

collectors Collector(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Collector (character), a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe * ''Collector'' (2011 film), a 2011 Indian Malayalam film * ''Collector'' (2016 film), a 2016 Russian film * ''Collec ...

, with many pieces from their estate eventually going to the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Biography

Simpson was born and raised in East Craftsbury, Vermont. He attended

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

, and graduated from Columbia Law School in 1873. He was formerly a law clerk at the old-line firm Alexander & Green. Along with his fellow former clerks

Thomas Thacher Thomas Thacher (May 3, 1850 – July 30, 1919) was an American lawyer. Life Thomas Thacher was born in New Haven, Connecticut on May 3, 1850. He was a descendant of the Rev. Peter Thacher, the rector of St. Edmonds, Salisbury, England; and of hi ...

and William M. Barnum, they organized their new law firm on January 1, 1884.Firm Website, History
/ref> Simpson was one of the founding members of the "

good government Good government is a normative description of how government is supposed to be constituted. It has been frequently employed by various political thinkers, ideologues and politicians. Thomas Jefferson and good government Thomas Jefferson often r ...

" organization the

City Club of New York The City Club of New York is a New York City–based independent, not-for-profit organization. In 1950, ''The New York Times'' called the City Club of New York "a social club with a civic purpose""CITY CLUB TO MARK 50TH ANNIVERSARY,"
''New York Times'' (May 10, 1942). In the early 1900s Simpson commissioned a bronze sculpture by Moses Jacob Ezekiel in the likeness of the blind poet

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

(accompanied by a student guide), as a gift for

, his alma mater. For reasons unknown the gift was refused, and

Thomas Nelson Page Thomas Nelson Page (April 23, 1853 – November 1, 1922) was an American lawyer, politician, and writer. He served as the U.S. ambassador to Italy from 1913 to 1919 under the administration of President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. In his ...

, a

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

alumnus who was active in his college's Alumni Association, stepped in to secure the gift of the statue to UVa instead. The final sculpture, entitled '' Blind Homer With His Student Guide'', was completed in 1907, and is currently installed on

The Lawn The Lawn, a part of Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village, is a large, terraced grassy court at the historic center of Jefferson's academic community at the University of Virginia. The Lawn and its surrounding buildings, designed by Jefferson, dem ...

, in the grass to the north of Old Cabell Hall. Simpson was a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

in the 1904 presidential election. Simpson died May 16, 1920, and is buried in East Craftsbury. He left an estate appraised in 1922 at $2,665,894 (equivalent to $ million in ). Simpson's widow, Kate Seney Simpson, died in 1943. Simpson never forgot his origins, and is commemorated in the John Woodruff Simpson Memorial Library in East Craftsbury.John Woodruff Simpson Memorial Library
libraries.org; accessed 2017.08.17

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, John W. 1850 births 1920 deaths Columbia Law School alumni Amherst College alumni New York (state) lawyers Simpson Thacher & Bartlett People from Craftsbury, Vermont American art collectors 19th-century American lawyers 1904 United States presidential electors