Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky, by H. Levin, editor, 1897. Published
by Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago.  Reprinted by Southern Historical
Press.  p. 224.  Jefferson County.

JOHN GRAHAM SIMRALL, one of the ablest representatives of the Louisville
bar, was born in Fayette county, March 18, 1840.  His grandfather,
Colonel James Simrall, raised his own regiment in Shelby county, fought
in the war of 1812 and was promoted as general on the battlefield for
gallant conduct.  His grandmother, Rebecca Graham, was a descendant of
the Grahams of Scotland, a younger branch of the Claverhouse family, who
took refuge in this country from persecution for the religious beliefs.
     His father, John Graham Simrall, was a noted Presbyterian divine.
His mother was the daughter of Walter Bullock, a prominent farmer of
Fayette county, who came of the same sturdy stock.  She was noted for her
great firmness of character and unchanging sense of duty, combined with a
lovely disposition.  With such heredity and environments he would
naturally take a high place even in the bar of his native state, which
has always been conspicuous for its superior talent and profound thinkers.
     At the age of fourteen he became a student at Center College, at
that time one of the foremost educational centers of the country.  At
seventeen he graduated with second honor in his class of forty-seven
members, delivering his oration in Greek.  Too young to commence the
study of his chosen profession, his father placed him under Judge George
Robertson, of Lexington, for a course in reading, history, law, etc.
Judge Robertson, who was the most distinguished jurist of Kentucky,
thoroughly drilled him for two years and left an impress upon Simrall's
young mind that has followed him through life.  He then entered the
senior class of the Louisville Law School and graduated with honor in
1861.  Within six months after finishing his law course he was offered a
partnership by Judge William S. Bodley, one of the most ablest and most
distinguished members of the Louisville bar.  He accepted the offer,
which partnership continued, under the firm name of Bodley & Simrall,
until Judge Bodley's death in 1878.  Judge Simrall then took his former
partner's son, Temple Bodley, into partnership with him under the name
of Simrall & Bodley, which firm has continued until the present time,
with the exception of the interim, when Judge Simrall was on the bench,
making it the oldest law firm in Kentucky.
     In 1882 Mr. Simrall was appointed by Governor Blackburn vice
chancellor of the Louisville chancery court.  In 1884 he was elected, for
a six year's term, the first judge of the law and equity court.  The high
standing of Judge Simrall is shown by the fact that he had no opponent
for the office, either in the ranks of the Democratic or Republican party.
He served for three years and then resigned in order to resume the private
practice of law with its richer emoluments and wider fields of usefulness.
Upon his resignation one of the largest bar meetings ever held in Kentucky
adopted resolutions of regret, endorsing him as one of the ablest and most
upright judges the state has ever had.  These resolutions were communicated
to him in a very highly complimentary letter by ex-Attorney General James
Speed, who presided over the meeting.
     During the visit of Chief Justice Coleridge, of England, to the
United States, he visited Louisville and occupied the bench of the law and
equity court with Judge Simrall during the trial of a case, and
complimented Judge Simrall upon the administration of justice in his court,
and subsequently they had a very important correspondence in regard to oral
instructions to juries in the federal courts of this country and in the
courts of England, as compared with the written instructions given by our
state courts.  They were warm personal friends until the death of Justice
Coleridge.
     Judge Simrall has not confined himself to the practice of law, but
has been deeply interested in the educational interests of the state. He
was one of the members of the first board of managers of the Agricultural
& Mechanical School at Lexington, and rendered efficient service in
making that one of the best institutions in the south.  He was also one
of the board of managers of the Colored Normal School at Frankfort, and
has been untiring in his efforts to elevate the colored people of his
native state.
     In 1895 Judge Simrall was prevailed upon by his friends to become
a candidate for the court of appeals.  As stated in a former biography
of Judge Simrall, "he was an independent Democratic candidate, but it
was not a Democratic year, and he could not stoop to modern
electioneering methods, believing that a high judicial office should not
be trailed in the dust by political intrigue, so he cheerfully submitted
to honorable defeat.  It was an instance in which politics triumphed over
the better judgment of the people.  The acceptance of the office would
have required great personal sacrifice on the part of Judge Simrall."
     Judge Simrall married his cousin, Cornelia Smith, daughter of Thomas
P. Smith, one of the oldest officers of the Louisville chancery court, and
Cornelia Smith, a descendant of the old Graham family.  Notwithstanding
Mrs. Simrall has always been a very prominent society leader, in her home
she has given her personal attention to the education of her daughter.
She has been the organizer of several charitable societies, etc.
     Judge and Mrs. Simrall have only one child, Nellie, who was educated
partly in Europe, and, with her literary tastes which she naturally
inherited from father and mother, married a short time ago Lindley S.
Keasby, professor of the science of government at Bryn Mawr College.

Simrall Graham Robertson Bodley Coleridge Smith Keasby Claverhouse
Speed Robertson
=
Shelby-KY Fayette-KY Scotland England

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