Robert Franklin Walker (November 29, 1850 – November 19, 1930) was an American lawyer, jurist, and professor of law who served as

Missouri Attorney General The Office of the Missouri Attorney General was created in 1806 when Missouri was part of the Louisiana Territory. Missouri's first Constitution in 1820 provided for an appointed attorney general, but since the 1865 Constitution, the Attorney Ge ...

from 1893 to 1897, and as a Missouri Supreme Court justice from 1913 until his death in 1930, and twice as Chief Justice, from 1919 until 1922 and 1927 until 1928.Supreme Court Judge Died in Jefferson City
, ''The Sedalia Democrat'' (November 20, 1930), p. 1, 10.

Early life

Robert F. Walker was born in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Morgan County, Missouri Morgan County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,006. Its county seat is Versailles. The county was organized January 5, 1833, and named for General Daniel Mo ...

, in 1850 to Belford Stevenson Walker and Abigail Lewis Walker (née Evans). Walker spent the first 12 years of his life in and around Florence. In August 1862, his father, a captain, volunteered as company commander of the Forty-third Enrolled Missouri Militia, Company K. A short time later, he resigned and moved his family to

Versailles, Missouri Versailles ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Morgan County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,539 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Versailles, after the royal palace in France, has been in operation since 1835 ...

. His mother died in 1864, shortly before Walker's 14th birthday.

Education and career

Walker graduated from

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

in 1873 and from the

University of Missouri School of Law The University of Missouri School of Law (Mizzou Law or MU Law) is the law school of the University of Missouri. It is located on the university's main campus in Columbia, forty minutes from the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. The s ...

in 1875.Is Popular Candidate For the Supreme Bench
, ''The Mexico, Missouri, Daily News and Intelligencer'' (August 2, 1912), p. 1. Walker was admitted to the Missouri State Bar in

later that same year, and commenced the practice of law. In 1876 he was elected as the Morgan County prosecutor. Walker held that position until 1885, when he was appointed Assistant Attorney General of Missouri by Attorney General Banton G. Boone. In 1892, Walker ran for on the Democratic ticket for Missouri Attorney General and was elected with 49.5% of the vote. Walker did not seek reelection in 1896, and moved to St. Louis where he worked as a judge and attorney. During this time he was counsel of the St. Louis Merchants' Exchange, in 1907 he was elected President of the Missouri Bar Association, and he traveled and spoke at different events and universities. One such event was an address to the Current Topics Club in St. Louis, at which Walker criticized then president

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

, for inviting

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

to the White House. Walker commented, "Teach the negro honesty and industry, but do not try to take a companion of him, or lead him to think that he is worthy of a white man's table or a white man's bed." He also claimed, " he President wasan enemy to individual liberty and a disgrace to his own race." The same year, Walker spoke at the Old Settler's Association of Morgan County, his address was transcribed and filed in the Library of Congress.

Supreme Court

In 1912 Walker received the Democratic nomination for a seat on the Missouri Supreme Court. He was elected to a ten-year term, and was elected to a second term in 1922. As a justice, Walker was "known on the bench for his liberal views and frequent opinions dissenting from the majority".

Personal life, illness and death

Walker was married twice, first on September 20, 1877, to Nannie A. Wright, until her death in 1892, and then on September 28, 1896, to Geneva C. Percy until her death in 1929. At the time Walker died, newspapers reported he had been in poor health the previous two years and had undergone a major operation the year before and was hospitalized the last ten days of his life. His death certificate states the cause of death was due to

Interstitial nephritis Interstitial nephritis, also known as tubulointerstitial nephritis, is inflammation of the area of the kidney known as the renal interstitium, which consists of a collection of cells, extracellular matrix, and fluid surrounding the renal tubules ...

, an inflammation of the area of the kidney, an issue he had dealt with for about six months.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Robert F. 1850 births 1930 deaths Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Missouri Missouri attorneys general 20th-century American lawyers 19th-century American lawyers Missouri lawyers University of Missouri School of Law alumni People from Morgan County, Missouri Missouri Democrats College fraternity founders