LEGAL HISTORY
Tribute honoring Judge R.C. Vaughn on his 90th birthday
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“Judge Vaughn has served the Grayson County community in significant and numerous ways continuously from shortly after the end of World War II.”
David E. Bryant and Randolph BryantThe history of the Grayson County, Texas Bar is colorful and populated by excellent and interesting lawyers and judges. The subject of the history of the Grayson County Bar will be revisited frequently. Among the most remarkable personalities were David E. Bryant and Randolph Bryant, father and son, who were appointed and United States District Judges in the Eastern District of Texas. In the entire history of Grayson County, there have only been three men from Grayson County appointed as U.S. District Judge and the Bryants were two of those. Paul Brown of Sherman, Texas was the third person. Judge Brown assumed senior status on April 1, 2001 and has since retired. When Judge Brown was appointed by President Reagan on September 11, 1985 to a newly created seat. Judge Leonard Davis succeeded Judge Brown.
The Federal judges sitting the area covering Grayson County, Texas and their dates of service as U.S. District Judges have been:
John Charles Watrous (1846-1870, resignation)
Judge Watrous (1901-1874) was the first Federal judge in Texas, appointed May 26, 1846 (9 Stat. 1), and held court in Galveston, Texas, with state-wide jurisdiction. On February 21, 1857, Texas was divided into 2 districts, Easterna and Western (11 Stat. 164) , with Judge Watrous continuing to serve in the Eastern District. Interestingly, Judge Watrous (and his counterpart in the Western District, Thomas H. Duval, did not resign during the Texas secession, but they resumed their duties after the Civil War. These two men were the only two U.S. judges in states that seceded who did not resign.
Joel C.C. Winch (1870-1871 nomination not confirmed)
U.S. Grant nominated Joel Winch (1835-1880) on October 11, 1870 in a recess appointment, after the seat was vacated by resignation of John C. Watrous. On March 3, 1871, the Senate failed to approve his nominationa and thus, Judge Winch’s service terminated.Amos Morrill (1872-1884, retirement)
Judge Morrill (1809-1894) served in the Eastern District from 1872 to 1884. Nominated by U.S. Grant on January 18, 1872, and was confirme don February 5, 1872. Morrill’s service as U.S. District Judge concluded on October 18, 1883 upon retirement.
Chauncey B. Sabin (1884-1890, death)
Chauncey Sabin (1824-1890) was nominated by President Chester Arthur on March 25, 1884 and was confirmed April 5, 1884. He served until March 30, 1890 due to death.
David E. Bryant (1890-1910, death)
Gordon J. Russell (1910-1919, death)
Gordon Russell (1859-1919) was nominated by President Taft on May 27, 1910 and died in office on September 14, 1919. Russell lived in Van Zandt County, Texas and was U.S. Congressman at the time of his nominated to the Federal bench.
Lee Estes (1920-1930, death)
Lee Estes (1870-1930) practiced law in Texarkana, Texas when nominated by Woodrow Wilson to the Federal bench on February 14, 1920. He served for 10 years, until June 14, 1930, on account of death.
Randolph Bryant (1930-1951, death)
Joseph W. Sheehy (1951-1967, death)
Judge Sheehy (1910-1967) was nominated by President Harry Truman on May 15, 1951 and confirmed June 7, 1951. Judge Sheehe’s service ended on his death on February 23, 1967).
William Wayne Justice (1968-1998, retirement)
Judge Justice (1920-2009) was appointed by Lyndon Johnson on April 25, 1968. He assumed senior status on June 30, 1998. Judge Justice was U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District from 1961-1968.
T. John Ward (1999-present).
Judge Ward (1943-present) was nominated by President Clinton on January 29, 1999, and was confirmed July 13, 1999.
David Ezekiel Bryant lived from 1849 -1910. Son of Anthony Murry and Clarissa Young Bryant, was born in LaRue County, Kentucky on October 19, 1849, some four years after Texas entered the United States. When David was two years of age, in 1851, he moved with his family to an area southeast of Sherman, near Whitewright, Texas. An extraordinary fact about David Bryant was that, after he attended local schools, he attended college in Durham, North Carolina, at Trinity College, which is now known as Duke University. That a small town Texas boy could attend college was notable in and of itself, but to travel far away to college to a prestigious college is extraordinary for the time.
David Bryant graduated with honors from Trinity College in 1871 at age 22 years of age. With the Civil War having ended in 1865, David appears to have just been too young to be considered for military service in the War. Further, attending college in the deep south, during the reconstruction period, was probably difficult in ways not obvious.
After his graduation from college, David studied law in McKinney, Texas with a notable group of lawyers, including J. W. Throckmorton and T.J. Brown. These men were later slated for prominence. Throckmorton was later Governor of Texas and Brown Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. After reading law for a time, Bryant was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1873. T.J. Brown later moved to Sherman and Bryant accompanied him and together, Brown and Bryant formed a partnership. Bryant later formed a partnership with Frank C. Dillard, a man who would also achieve considerable prominence.
David Bryant started a family in Sherman. In 1879, at age 30 years, he married Arizona Thompson, and together they raised four children. When his son Randolph Bryant was born in 1893, David was 44 years of age. Bryant quickly rose to prominence in Sherman. From 1873 to 1890, he served on the Board of Directors of the Merchants & Planters National Bank of Sherman, the leading bank.
On May 3, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison appointed David E. Bryant to become U.S. District Judge of the Eastern District of Texas, at age 41 years of age. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 27, 1890, some three weeks after his appointment, Bryant remained on the bench until his death on February 5, 1910, at age 61 years of age. He died in a hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.
William Randolph Bryant, Sr. was born May 2, 1893 in Sherman, Texas. He was educated locally. When his father, David, died in 1910, Randolph was 17 years of age. He and attended the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a B.A. in 1913 and a law degree in 1916. Having graduated during WWI, Randolph Bryant served in the U.S. Army, as a Captain, from 1917-1919. For two years after the war, from 1919-1921, Randolph Bryant practiced law in Sherman, but was appointed in 1921 as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Sherman. He served as U.S. Attorney for 10 years until 1931.
Randolph Bryant married Julia Hoard in 1918. Among their children was a son, William Randolph Bryant, Jr. (January 22, 1919-July 14, 1979), who became a prominent attorney in Sherman.
On December 3, 1930, when Randolph was 37 years of age, Herbert Hoover nominated him to the U.S. District Bench, and was confirmed January 13, 1931. Bryant served as U.S. District Judge until his death on April 24, 1951, at age 60 years..
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