History

The legal profession has a long history in western Kansas and Ellis County, in particular.  Many attorneys, judges and interested friends of the Bar have contributed through the years to maintaining the Bar's rich history, including the late, Honorable Thomas L. Toepfer. 

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In addition to years in private practice in Hays, Judge Toepfer served as a judge of the 23rd Judicial District (including Ellis, Gove, Rooks and Trego Counties).  He wrote the following:

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"Lawyers made their first appearances in Ellis County in 1867, during the birth of Hays City.  The documents in this website include a short history of the early Ellis County Bar members and short biographies of many lawyers, now deceased, who practiced law in Ellis County from those beginning days in frontier Hays to the present.  Most of the biographies of the early lawyers were compiled and written by Mary Rowland, wife of former Ellis County Probate Judge Don Rowland, during her time as a history teacher at Hays High School in the late 1960's.  As one of her students, I had the honor of writing several of the biographies.  The information  in these articles was derived from various sources, including interviews of a number of people who shared their recollections of these deceased members of the bar.  In recent times, the Court has conducted special memorial hearings for newly departed bar members in which colleagues, family, or friends eulogize the bar member "on the record", which are preserved by transcripts filed in specially assigned cases."

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Judge Toepfer collaborated with James L. Forsythe to publish an article entitled "Volga German Attorneys in and from Ellis County," which can be viewed here.  And, Mary Rowland's "Bar History" can be viewed here.

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Memorials