John Shaw Dawson (June 10, 1869 – February 9, 1960) was a Scottish-born Kansas attorney who served as

Kansas Attorney General The attorney general of Kansas is a statewide elected official responsible for providing legal services to the state government of Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of ...

, and as a justice of the

Kansas Supreme Court The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the U.S. 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 t ...

from January 11, 1915, to January 11, 1937, and chief justice from January 11, 1937, to January 8, 1945.

Early life, education and career

Born at

Grantown-on-Spey Grantown-on-Spey () is a town in the Highland Council Area, Counties of Scotland, historically within the county of Moray. It is located on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairngorms, Cairngorm mounta ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, to James J. and Annie (Shaw) Dawson, his father spent the greater part of his life in railroad work in Great Britain, but in his later years followed merchandising in Scotland and was postmaster of his village. Dawson was primarily educated in the public schools, later attending the

Robert Gordon's College Robert Gordon's College is a co-educational private school for day pupils in Aberdeen, Scotland. The school caters for pupils from Nursery through to S6. History Background Robert Gordon, an Aberdeen merchant, made his fortune in 18th cent ...

, at

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. His father wanted him to enter the ministry, but Dawson objected and was allowed to move to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, where he had relatives residing.William E. Connelley,
A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans
' (1918). From 1884 to 1887 he worked as a farmer in Illinois, primarily with relatives, and in March 1887 moved to Kansas. He taught country schools in Western Kansas, and during this time also attended the normal school at Salina. In 1889, he moved to

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

, becoming a bond clerk in the office of the state treasurer. While in Western Kansas he became principal of the Hill City schools, where the president of the school board was attorney Henry J. Harwi, who also provided Dawson's early legal training.

Legal and judicial career

On March 1, 1898, Dawson gained

admission 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 ...

WaKeeney, Kansas WaKeeney is a city in and the county seat of Trego County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,799. History James Keeney, a land speculator in Chicago, purchased land at the ...

. He served in the office of the state treasurer for four years, and was chief clerk in the office of the attorney general from 1903 to 1904. From 1904 to 1908 he was assistant attorney general and for six months in 1909 was private secretary to Governor Walter R. Stubbs. He resigned from this position to become an attorney for the

Kansas State Railroad Commission Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. In 1910 he was elected

, and re-elected in 1912. During his four years of service in that office, he devoted much attention to the enforcement of alcohol prohibition laws, the anti-trust laws, and to bringing public service corporations under the control of the state government. He served as president of the

National Association of Attorneys General The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of state and territory attorneys general in the United States which therefore means that the United States Attorney General in the federal government is n ...

in 1914. In 1914, Dawson was elected to the supreme court succeeding the incumbent Alfred W. Benson. He remained on the court for thirty years, including eight years as chief justice."Funeral Today For John S. Dawson", ''The Ottawa Herald'' (February 20, 1960), p. 1.

Personal life

On January 1, 1896, Dawson was married to Mary E. Kline, of Goshen, Kansas, with whom he had two children: Circea Ellen and Hubert Alonzo. Dawson was a Republican "with progressive tendencies", but keeping his activities "within the ranks of his party". Dawson died at his home in

, at the age of 90.

References

External links

Photograph of John Shaw Dawson
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, John Shaw People educated at Robert Gordon's College Justices of the Kansas Supreme Court Chief justices of the Kansas Supreme Court 1869 births 1960 deaths People from Highland (council area) Kansas attorneys general Scottish emigrants to the United States 20th-century Kansas politicians