Shepard Barclay

[1] Elihu H. Shepard directed the first studies of his young namesake and brought the latter with him to the Kaolin farm where many years of Barclay's childhood were passed.

[1][4][5] In 1872 he returned home and in June of that year he began the practice of law,[2][4] gaining a reputation for being "exceedingly thorough in the preparation of his cases".

[5] He was also engaged professionally as editorial contributor upon the St Louis daily press for nearly a year after his return but retired from journalism after marrying in June 1873.

[4] In 1888, after six years as a circuit judge,[2] the bar of that city strongly urged his candidacy to the supreme bench.

[5] In August 1888, he was nominated by the Democratic convention at Springfield for a ten-year term in a seat on the state supreme court left open by the retirement of Chief Justice E. H.

[1] Barclay "donated much time to educational work for the benefit of young men", teaching for twenty years classes in business law in the YMCA, delivering lectures in the School of Law at Kansas City, and conducting classes in medical jurisprudence in the medical department of the St. Louis University.

The following year, Barclay suffered a stroke of apoplexy in the Security National bank in St. Louis, at 5:15 in the afternoon, and died immediately, at the age of 78.