038 Page – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

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Here is the translated text as follows:

6 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.

January 20.

Mr. Coalter asked for a continuance, which was refused. The following jurors were then selected, after Judge Stone had ruled that the opinion formed from rumor, in order to disqualify a juror, must be of such a fixed character as to enlist the feelings of the juror either for or against the prisoner and create, in the language of the statute, a bias or prejudice.

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**Coalter, John D. (1818-1864).** Born in South Carolina, he came with his parents to Missouri when they settled in St. Charles County. He was sent to the College of South Carolina to be educated, and on his return, he studied law in St. Louis and was admitted to the bar. He practiced law in St. Charles and was very successful. He represented his county in the Legislature for several terms and was a delegate to the Washington, D.C., Convention to devise means to preserve peace in 1860. He eschewed office and never accepted any public position that he could consistently decline. He made no pretensions to oratory, yet was a forceful, clear, and lucid speaker and impressed a jury most favorably. It is questionable if he ever had an enemy, while his friends could be numbered by thousands. He obtained the title of General through services rendered in the State Militia. (Bay, W. V. N., 468.)

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**Bay, William Van Ness (1818-1894).** Born in Hudson, N.Y., both his grandfather and father were lawyers in New York, the former a partner of Ambrose Spencer, sometime Chief Justice of the State. His great-uncle, Elisha Hall Bay, was a justice of the Supreme Court of South Carolina and was tendered by Jefferson a seat on the Supreme Bench, which he declined. His brother, Samuel M. Bay, after studying law with Judge Swayne of Columbus, Ohio (afterwards a justice of the United States Supreme Court), settled in Union, Missouri, in 1833. He was elected to the Legislature, became Attorney General of the State and Supreme Court Reporter, and died of cholera in St. Louis in 1849. William V. N. Bay joined his brother in 1835, studied law with him, and was admitted to the bar in 1837. He was a member of the State Legislature (1842-1846) and a Representative in the 31st Congress (1849-1851). He was a Democrat and made but one speech in Congress, which a writer of the day describes as follows: "It treated of slavery and the admission of California to the Union. It is a powerful plea for its admission as a free State, according to her overwhelming vote. It is a severe indictment against the Whig administration and a masterful example of a Unionist pleading with the North to desist from aggressions upon the South and a clear notice that his affection for the Union of the States surpasses his ties of union with his brethren of the South." In 1854, he removed to St. Louis, was appointed by Governor Gamble to the Supreme Court, and on June 14, 1865, he, with his colleague, Judge John D. S. Dryden, was forcibly removed by the military.

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