Francis Marion Black
Francis Marion Black (July 24, 1836 – May 24, 1902) was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri from 1885 to 1894.
Born in Champaign County, Ohio, Black attended a county school and attended Farmer's College. Soon after gaining admission to the bar in 1864, he moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and entered into the practice of law.[1][2]
He quickly developed a large law practice, and "figured prominently and creditably in a number of instances of exceedingly important litigation".[2] His first public office was as a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1875. In 1881, he was elected circuit judge, and was elevated to the state supreme court in 1885. As a justice, his opinions were described as "concise, expressed in terse and vigorous phrases, and manifest a decided inclination to follow adjudged cases". In one case, the court considered one of Black's own previous opinions from his tenure as a circuit judge. When it came before the Supreme Court, all the judges voted to affirm except Black, who filed a brief opinion dissenting from the opinion affirming his previous decision.[2] After his time on the court, he returned to private practice.[1]
Black died at his home in Kansas City at a time when he was planning to step away from his excessive workload.[1]
References
- "Judge Black Dead", The Ottawa Daily Republic (May 27, 1902), p. 4.
- L. C. Krauthoff, The Supreme Court of Missouri, in Horace Williams Fuller, ed., The Green Bag (1891), Vol. 3, p. 189.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Warwick Hough |
Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court 1885–1894 |
Succeeded by Waltour Moss Robinson |