James Overton Broadhead

BROADHEAD, JAMES OVERTON

James Overton Broadhead was born May 2, 1819, in Charlottesville, Virginia. He attended the University of Virginia from 1835 to 1836, studied law in St. Louis, Missouri, and received his license and established his law practice in Bowling Green,Missouri, in 1842.
In 1845, Broadhead began his political
career as a member of the Missouri Constitutional
Convention. In the following year he
participated in the Missouri House of Representatives,
and in 1850 became a member of the
Missouri Senate, serving until 1853.
Broadhead returned to the PRACTICE OF
LAW, becoming a partner in a St. Louis firm in
1859.
During the pre-Civil War era, Broadhead
participated in activities that opposed the
Southern cause. He was instrumental in the formation
of the Committee of Safety, which
restricted the influence of pro-Southern factions
in St. Louis, and in 1861 was a member of the
Missouri Constitutional Convention, which
declared the loyalty of Missouri to the Union.
In 1875, Broadhead attended the Missouri
State Constitutional Convention, and in 1876,
he gained prominence as government counsel
for the Whiskey Ring cases, which involved
BRIBERY and dishonesty in the collection of
exorbitant liquor taxes.
From 1883 to 1885, Broadhead represented
Missouri in the United States House of Representatives,
and was a member of the Judiciary
Committee. During his later years, he served
abroad, acting first as special commissioner to
France in 1885, and later as minister to Switzerland
for a two-year period.
Broadhead died August 7, 1898, in St. Louis.