TWO CAPE GIRARDEAU MEN HAVE SERVED AS STATE CHIEF JUSTICES

S.P. Dalton and James A. Finch Jr. are described by those who knew them as two of the finest lawyers Cape Girardeau ever produced.

"They were just dignified and acted like you would expect Supreme Court judges to act," said former Missouri Gov. Warren Hearnes of Charleston, Mo.

Dalton and Finch were the first two Cape Girardeau men to serve as chief justices of the Missouri Supreme Court. On Sunday, Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. will become the third member of that select group when he begins his term as the state high court's top judge.

Limbaugh said he feels a sense of legacy being in company of Dalton and Finch, both of whom were close family friends of Limbaugh's father and grandfather.

Limbaugh and his two predecessors share some similarities in their careers. All were partners in prominent local law firms and held the post of Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney prior to being appointed to the bench.

And they shared another thing in common, Limbaugh pointed out. They all were members of Centenary Methodist Church.

A lawyer's lawyer'

Sidna Poage Dalton was born Nov. 16, 1892, on a farm in Vernon County. He graduated from Westminster College in Fulton in 1913. He earned his law degree from the University of Missouri in 1918, a year after he was admitted to the Missouri Bar, a common practice at the time.

He began practicing law in Cape Girardeau in 1919, and a short time later partnered with Albert M. Spradling and Russell Lee Dearmont, a state senator and unsuccessful candidate for the 1932 Democratic nomination for governor.

Dalton served three terms as county prosecutor, from 1927-28 and 1931-34. In 1939, he was appointed commissioner of the Supreme Court, a position in which he assisted judges in writing opinions. The position later was eliminated.

Among his other interests, Dalton engaged in the first serious study of a type of spear point that dated as far back as 10,000 B.C. The type was named a Dalton point after the judge.

Democratic Gov. Forrest Smith appointed Dalton to the high court in 1950. Dalton served on the bench for 15 years, until his death on April 26, 1965. He was chief justice from 1956-58.

Albert M. Spradling Jr. knew Dalton well, both as the son of the judge's law partner and a state senator while Dalton was on the bench.

"He was a very fine judge, a strict constitutionalist," Spradling said. "He was considered by most lawyers as a lawyer's lawyer," closely following the letter of the law.

Party line crossed

James Austin Finch Jr. was born in St. Louis on Nov. 13, 1907, but attended school in Fornfelt and New Madrid. He attended former Southeast Missouri State College and the University of Missouri, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1930 and a law degree in 1932.

Finch had a private practice in Cape Girardeau before becoming county prosecutor in 1943. He resigned the post before completing his term to serve as a major in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. His father, James A. Finch, was appointed to replace his son as prosecuting attorney.

After the war, Finch returned to private practice and served a term as president of the Missouri Bar Foundation. He was a member of the University of Missouri Board of Curators from 1951-65.

In December 1964, Democratic Gov. John Dalton of Kennett -- Judge Dalton's brother -- appointed Finch to the Supreme Court. The selection was notable because Finch was a Republican.

Spradling, who served in the Senate as a Democrat, said Gov. Dalton consulted him on the appointment.

"I told him everyone from Southeast Missouri would think he'd be a great judge," Spradling said. "He had the greatest bipartisan support of anyone I know who ever went on the bench."

Although a Republican, Finch was "a little more liberal than Judge Dalton, who was a Democrat," Spradling said.

Finch "had the best law practice in Cape Girardeau," Spradling said, and to Finch's credit was willing to give up his lucrative business to serve on the court.

Finch joined the court in January 1965 and briefly served with Dalton until Dalton's death four months later.

By the time Finch assumed the bench, Hearnes was governor. Hearnes joked that the only time Finch got a decision wrong was when he disagreed with Hearnes. A prime example of that was when Finch joined the majority in declaring unconstitutional a law championed by Hearnes authorizing the state to build a system of toll roads.

After 13 years, Finch, who was chief justice from 1971-73, retired from the court in 1978. He died April 1, 1988, in Jefferson City.

Hearnes said Finch and Dalton established high standards for subsequent generations of Missouri jurists in both their legal opinions and comportment.

"Their legacy and impact was they set the examples for judges to follow," Hearnes said.