John C. Pollock

JOHN C. POLLOCK. - The fine old Buckeye commonwealth has not only given its full quota of presidents to the United States but its contribution to the bench and bar of other commonwealths of the Union has also been specially noteworthy. That Judge Pollock, who claims Ohio as the place of his nativity, has attained to marked distinction as one of the representative legists and jurists of Kansas needs no further voucher than that offered in the fact that he has served as a member of the supreme court of this state and that he is now presiding on the bench of the United States district court. He has maintained his home in Kansas City, this state, since 1908, and has been a resident of Kansas for nearly a quarter of a century.

John Calvin Pollock was born in Belmont county, Ohio, on the 5th of November, 1857, and the place of his nativity was the old homestead farm of his father, in Union township, where his boyhood and youth were passed under the griacious influence pertaining to the great basic industry of agriculture. He is a son of Samuel and Jane B. (Scott) Pollock, the former of whom was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1818, and the latter of whom was born in Belmont county, Ohio. Jane (Scott) Pollock, while of but limited scholastic education, was in every true and just sense a most superior woman, strong of intellect, courageous of purpose, indefatigable of energy, and she presided over the affairs of her country home with that ease of manner, that dignity of carriage, that power and poise of mind which ever characterize the refined and modest wife, the estimable and loving mother, the good friend and neighbor. In the sacred family circle gathered at the old homestead, consecrated by such joys and sorrows, hopes and fears as this life brings to the average American family, alone was her true worth known and the loveliness of her character fully appreciated. Samuel Pollock was a boy at the time of his parents' removal from the old Keystone state to Ohio, where he was reared to maturity and where he continued to maintain his home until his death, in the fulness of years and well earned honors. He was constant in his allegiance to farming and stock growing and through this medium gained definite independence and prosperity. He was a man of sterling character and strong mentality, and his life was guided and governed by the highest principles of integrity and honor, so that he held as his own the unqualified esteem of those with whom he came in contact in the various relations of life. Both he and his wife continued to reside in Belmont county until their death and both were earnest and devout members of the United Presbyterian church. He was well fortified in his opinions and was a stalwart supporter of the principles of the Republican party. The lineage of the Pollock family is traced back to sterling Scotch origin, and the founder of the American branch was Samuel Pollock, who immigrated from Scotland prior to the war of the Revolution and who established his home in what is now Washington county, Pennsylvania. James Scott, the maternal grandfather of Judge Pollock, came from county Down, Ireland, to America, and eventually settled in Belmont county, Ohio, where he and his wife passed the residue of their lives and where he was a prosperous farmer for many years prior to his demise.

Judge John C. Pollock gained his preliminary education in the public schools of his native state and his ambition for broader education met with the hearty approval of his parents, who assisted him in every possible way. He turned aside from the plowshare and the smiling meadows to enter Franklin College, at New Athens, Ohio, in which he completed the classical course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1882, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the meanwhile the future jurist had formulated definite plans for his future career, and after deciding to prepare himself for the legal profession he began the study of law in the office of one of the leading members of the bar of his native county, at St. Clairsville, the judicial center of the county. He made rapid and substantial progress in his assimilation of the science of jurisprudence and continued his technical studies under such effective preceptorship until April, 1884, when he removed to Newton, Iowa, where he was admitted to the bar and where he continued in the practice of his profession until February, 1885, when he established himself in practice at Hartsville, the county seat of Wright county, Missouri. There he continued in the successful work of his profession until January, 1888, when he cast in his lot with Kansas, in which state he has since resided and in which his ability and well directed endeavors have gained to him distinguished precedence as one of the leading members of its bench and bar. In the year last mentioned Judge Pollock located at Winfield, the metropolis and judicial center of Cowley county, and this place continued to be his home until 1900, when, upon his appointment to the office of justice of the Kansas supreme court, he transferred his residence to Topeka, the capital of the state. His appointment to the supreme bench was made by the governor, to fill a vacancy, and at the expiration of the term, in 1902, he was duly elected as his own successor. On the 1st of December of the following year, however, he resigned this high office to assume one of still greater judicial responsibility and honor, as he had received appointment to the bench of the United States district court, a position of which he has since remained incumbent and in which he has added materially to his high reputation as a jurist of distinctive acumen and of broad and exact knowledge of law and precedent. He continued to reside in Topeka until March, 1908, since which time he maintained his home in Kansas City, an honored and valued citizen of the thriving metropolis of Wyandotte county.

Though never a seeker of official preferment outside the direct his profession, Judge Pollock has given yeoman service in behalf of the cause of the Republican party, of whose principles and policies he has ever been an uncompromising and effective advocate. He maintains the highest of civic ideals and is ever ready to lend his aid and influence in the furtherance of measures and enterprises advanced for the general good of the community, the state and the nation.

In the year 1887 was solemnized the marriage of Judge Pollock to Miss Louise Lafferty, who, like himself, was born and reared in Belmont county, Ohio. One child, Lucile Pollock, now twenty years of age, resulted from this union.