Caldwell County MO Archives History .....SENATOR SETH YOUNG COMPARES GOING TO COURT IN 1875 AND 1934 
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SENATOR SETH YOUNG COMPARES GOING TO COURT IN 1875 AND 1934
	Narrator, Seth Young, 81, Hamilton

     Seth M. Young is probably the oldest active lawyer in Caldwell county.  
He still goes to his office, still attends court at Kingston, the county 
seat.  He has been at circuit court ever since 1875 and in that time has 
missed only three sessions.  Even when he was at Jefferson City as a member of 
the state senate, he came back for the sessions held during that time.
     He was admitted to bar at Gallatin 1876 and the next year he went to 
Kansas to teach school.  There was a popular emigration slogan of that 
time, "Young man, go west" but Mr. Young said he went west and did not grow up 
with the country as Horace Greely preached, but he went west and blew up.  He 
came back to Hamilton, where his father Chas. Young still was living, and 
began to practice law.
     He spoke of the changes since that year.  He could not recall any other 
man save himself who was in business that year and still is in business.  Of 
course, there are plenty of descendants of those business men either in their 
father's line or in some other business.  John Minger  restaurant keeper is 
followed by his son Robert, in the same business, excluding the baker part.
     Again, there is the matter of getting to Kingston.  In those early days 
of 1876, and later even, there was the bumping, jostling hack of Billy Dodge 
over rough roads, and now we have the smooth riding cars over highways.  At 
times, those days the roads were so bad between Hamilton and Kingston, that 
the lawyers used to get out of the hack and walk for the weight of our bodies 
made our hack sink deeper in the mire.  It took less time to get there than to 
wait till someone would drive the sticky mud out of the wheels every few 
yards.  Some people used to actually walk the whole distance, saying they were 
going by "The Foot and Walker" line.
     The time covering the distance too has changed.  It used to be normal 
trip of one and a half hours, but now you can make it easily in thirty 
minutes.  Of course, Mr. Young knew the covered bridge which stood this side 
of Kingston, over which all Kingston and Hamilton travel went.  He named 
several old hotels which used to keep lawyers during court week, one being the 
Chain house at Kingston, kept during the seventies by Hugh Chain and wife, 
parents of Miss Sarah Chain of this city.
     He recalled some of the old time lawyers, now gone; there was Crosby 
Johnson, father of the present Crosby Johnson lawyer, B.M. Dilley a brilliant 
lawyer who went to Oklahoma.  Judge Holliday, Cyrus McLaughlin (father of Mrs. 
Chas. Dovenspike of Hamilton).  Judge Wm. McAfee (father of Floyd McAfee of 
Hamilton) Winfield Miller who went to Indianapolis.  All went to circuit court 
at Kingston.
     Interview  1934


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