of stare deeisis have any application in the case referred to, nor in any other case found in the so-called 42 Miss. The opinions found in that volume are the utter ances of a tribunal appointed by a military satrap who then ruled in a prostrate com monwealth, and have no other binding au thority upon us than that each case therein must be regarded as res adjudieata .'" Ephraim Geoffrey Peyton was born near Elizabethton, Kentucky, in 1802. His an cestors were from Virginia. He was sent to college at Gallatin, but left school at the age of seventeen and came toNatchez, Mississippi, with an older brother. There he obtained employment as a printer, and later secured a small school in the forests of Wilkinson county where he began and prosecuted the study of law. In 1825 he obtained his li cense from the supreme court then in ses sion at Natchez. He thereupon filled his saddle-bags with law books and went into the interior to practice. He located at Gal latin in Copiah county, and, with his earn ings, soon thereafter established a large mercantile house at Grand Gulf in Missis sippi. He served one session in the legisla ture and »then " persistently refused to com pete for any political office." In 1839 he was elected district attorney and served with fidelity and ability. He was a zealous Whig in politics and earnestly opposed the policy of secession. His antipathy to the measures of democracy led him into affilia tion with the Republican party after the war. He was appointed to the supreme bench by General Ames, and upon the reorganization of the court under the constitution of 1869, was again appointed by Governor Alcorn. In 1870 he became chief justice, and held the position until the Democrats came into power in 1876. He was an accomplished lawyer and an able and impartial jurist and enjoyed the respect and esteem of the pro fession to the end, regardless of party fealty. Under the constitution of 1869 the judges were selected by appointment of the
governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The first bench thus constructed consisted of Chief Justice Peyton, above mentioned; Jonathan Tarbell and Horatio F. Sim rail, associate justices. Mr. Justice Tarbell was from Washington city. He served from the date of his ap pointment in "1870 until 1876 when he re turned to Washington and resumed his practice. Horatio F. Simrall was born near Shelbyville, Kentucky, February 6, 18 18. He attended a select school at Shelbyvillc and, at the age of seventeen, entered Hanover College (Ind.). He afterwards became a tutor in the school at Shelbyville, and in connection with his work, prosecuted the study of the law, his chosen profession. In 1838 he attended the law school of Tran sylvania University, and later obtained his license at Frankfort. In 1839 he settled at Woodville, Mississippi, where he enjoyed a large practice. He was a member of the legislature from 1846 to 1848. In 1857 he accepted the chair of law in the University of Louisville and filled it until the beginning oi the civil war. In 1861 he returned to his plantation in Wilkinson county. In 1867 he removed to Vicksburg and continued the practice of law with success. He defended many persons who were under prosecution in the court martial over which Gen. Adelbcrt C. Ames, afterwards governor of the State, was the presiding officer. In 1870 the governor, impressed by the learning and skill which Mr. Simrall had manifested, tendered him a seat upon the supreme bench, and Judge Simrall, at the earnest solicitation of leading members of the bar of the State, accepted the commission and served nine years with marked ability and integrity, being chief justice much of the time. In 1870 he was appointed one of the trustees of the University of Mississippi by Governor Alcorn. In 188 1 that institution conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. He is at present one of the lecturers of the law
