HON. A. H. LIVINGSTON. There are many lawyers in West Plains, but there are very few left who were members of the bar of Howell County, Missouri, twenty-two or three years ago. One such is the gentleman whose name is mentioned above. A. H. Livingston was born in Kentucky December 24, 1850, and comes of a prominent Tennessee family. His father, Thomas E. Livingston, was a native of Tennessee, but came to Missouri and settled in the north part of Howell County in 1868. There he resided for a number of years, following the blacksmith’s trade.
Our subject passed his early life in Saline County, Illinois, and in 1868 he came to this county, where he learned the black-smith’s trade of his father. He secured a fair education in the common schools and followed his trade until after marriage, when he began the study of law by the light of the forge. He was admitted to the bar in October, 1871, began practicing in West Plains, and has since practiced in all the counties in south Missouri. His career at the bar has been one of honor and success, and his high standing is but the legitimate reward of the earnest and sustained endeavor to succeed, which has been the rule of his professional life. In 1872 he was appointed circuit attorney of the Thirteenth Judicial District, and two years later he was elected prosecuting attorney of Howell County. In 1876 he was elected to represent this county in the Legislature. In politics he supported the principles of the Democratic party up to 1894 and has ever taken an active interest in the success of his party. In 1890 he was a delegate to the Chicago Convention, and has held many prominent offices. In 1886 he was a candidate for Congress and only lacked one vote for the nomination. In 1894 he became a Populist, and is an active one. In following his profession he has been engaged on many important cases and has defended over 100 murder cases. He is one of Missouri’s most successful and able attorneys. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M. and the I. O. 0. F., and a worthy member of the Missionary Baptist Church. Mr. Livingston was married in this county to Miss Elizabeth Gully, daughter of Judge P. N. Gully, of this county, and eight children have been given them: Mary (now Mrs. Patton), Anna (Mrs. Newton), Nora, Lee H., Cary E., Charles C., Rena and George V. Mr. Livingston was a delegate to the Mississippi River Convention, held at St. Louis in 1880. He has given his life to the law and to political matters, beginning the study of law before marriage and becoming an attorney before twenty-one years of age.
His father was a cousin of Gov. T. E. Bramlet, of Kentucky, and his mother, whose maiden name was Mary Smith, and who died in this county in 1894, was a sister to John Smith, of Kentucky. Our subject is a member of the Baptist Church.