John Finis Philips

John Finis Philips (December 31, 1834 – March 13, 1919) was a United States representative from Missouri and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. He was born on December 31, 1834, in the historical community of Thralls Prairie in Boone County, Missouri. Philips attended the common schools of the area and later studied at the University of Missouri. He then enrolled at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1855. After college he read law, completing his legal studies in 1857.

Philips was admitted to the bar in 1857 and entered private practice in Georgetown, Missouri, where he practiced law from 1857 to 1861. His early public service included membership in the Missouri state constitutional convention of 1861, convened as the state confronted the secession crisis at the outset of the American Civil War. With the outbreak of the war, he entered the Union Army and served from 1861 to 1865 as a colonel commanding the Seventh Regiment of the Missouri Volunteer Cavalry. During the Battle of Westport in October 1864, when his superior, Brigadier General Egbert Brown, was placed under arrest by Major General Alfred Pleasanton for failing to attack promptly at Byram’s Ford, Philips was placed in command of a brigade. After successfully taking the ford, his brigade played a key role in the Union victory at the Battle of Mine Creek two days later. According to his diary, he sustained an irritating wound to his right eye during these operations.

At the close of the Civil War, Philips resumed the practice of law in Sedalia, Missouri, where he practiced from 1865 to 1880. He became a prominent figure in local and state Democratic politics. He served as mayor of Sedalia and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1868. That same year he was a candidate for election to the United States House of Representatives for the 41st Congress from Missouri, though he was not successful. His growing legal reputation led to his participation as a member of the defense team in the notable 1883 Gallatin, Missouri, murder trial of Frank James, brother of the outlaw Jesse James.

Philips’s national political career began when he was elected as a Democrat from Missouri’s 7th congressional district to the United States House of Representatives of the 44th United States Congress, serving from March 4, 1875, to March 3, 1877. A member of the Democratic Party, John Finis Philips contributed to the legislative process during this term in office, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents during a significant period in American history following Reconstruction. He returned to the House when he was elected again from Missouri’s 7th congressional district to the 46th United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Alfred M. Lay. In this second period of service he served from January 10, 1880, to March 3, 1881. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1880 to the 47th United States Congress, concluding his two terms in Congress, which spanned from 1875 to 1881.

After leaving Congress, Philips resumed private practice in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1881 to 1882. His judicial career at the state level began when he was appointed a commissioner for the Supreme Court of Missouri, serving from 1883 to 1885. He then served as a judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals in Kansas City from 1885 to 1888, further solidifying his reputation as an able jurist and legal scholar within the state.

Philips entered federal judicial service when President Grover Cleveland nominated him on June 19, 1888, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, vacated by Judge Arnold Krekel. The United States Senate confirmed his nomination on June 25, 1888, and he received his commission the same day. As a United States district judge, he presided over a wide range of federal civil and criminal matters during a period of rapid economic and social change in Missouri and the broader region. His service on the federal bench continued until June 25, 1910, when he retired from judicial office.

Following his retirement from the federal judiciary, Philips again returned to private practice in Kansas City, where he practiced law from 1910 to 1917. In his later years he remained a respected figure in Missouri’s legal and political circles, noted for a career that had encompassed military service in the Civil War, local and national elective office, and both state and federal judicial responsibilities. John Finis Philips died on March 13, 1919, in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was interred at Mount Washington Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.