George Madill, the city of Madill's namesake

Most people of Madill know where the town got its name. However, few know anything about the man or how his name came to be used for the new town. Also, the record in one instance is incorrect regarding the town’s namesake.

Madill got its name from George Alexander Madill. Madill was a lawyer, judge, college professor and businessman. Yet, unlike the proclamation on the City of Madill’s website, Madill was never a lawyer for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway.

Madill was born on June 29, 1838, in the town of Wysox, along the upper Susquehanna River in the county of Bedford, Penn. He attended the Dick Seminary at Williamsport, Penns. where he graduated in 1858. He then entered law school at the Albany Law School in Albany, NY where he graduated in 1860. After a short returnhometoWysox,Madill then moved to Owego, NY where he began practicing law. In Owego, he joined a prestigious law firm and continued to practice law there until 1865. While in Owego, MadillmetandmarriedJulia A. Peck. Sadly, Madill ran into financial troubles while inNewYorkandheandJulia moved to Missouri looking for a new start.

Once in Missouri, Madill and his wife settled in St. Louis where he began practicing law. His professional career showed great promise and he began to experience unusual success. His reputation and ability for his legal skillsandunusualknowledge and grasp of legal principles grew among his associates in the St. Louis Bar. He soon became one of the most respectedlawyersinSt.Louis In 1870, a vacancy occurred on the St. Louis Circuit Court and a majority of the members of the St. Louis Bar selected him for the nomination for Judge of the Circuit Court. Madill accepted the nomination and he was elected without opposition.

Near the conclusion of his first term as Circuit Court Judge, Madill declined the renomination urged upon him by the members of the Bar. Madill would have run unopposed, but he declined the nomination. December 30, 1874, was Madill’s last day on the bench, and at the conclusion of his last hearing, the Bar Association presented him with a formal presentation and proclamation, signed by over 300 members of the St. Louis Bar. The proclamation stated: “Knowing that you are about to retire from the position of circuit judge, which you have so long occupied, we are unwilling you should leave the bench without an unqualified expression of our approval of your official career, which we now declare has been marked throughout by a dignified modesty, unquestioned impartiality, extensive learning and great ability; and we further bear cheerful witness that you have discharged the important, laborious and responsible duties of your high office in a manner beneficial to the jurisprudence of the State, with justice to all suitors, honor to your own head and heart, and with courtesy and kindness to your professional brothers. It is our earnest desirethatinyourretirement from the bench you will carry with you, for all times, the kindliest remembrances of our regard and esteem and with them our best wishes for your happiness and prosperity in the future.”

This was high praise for a judge who was retiring after only five years on the bench and at only 36 years old. Yet, they were well deserved as Madill was a lawyer and a man who never fell short of the praise given him.

As further evidence of his high professional standing, Madill was appointed a professor of real estate law at the St. Louis Law School at Washington University in 1869. He held this position as assistant professor until 1871 and then was promoted to full professor. In 1885, he was assigned the duties of the chair of the department and he then became professor of the study of Equity as well as Real Estate. Madill held these positions at the law school until his retirement in 1894. While at the St. Louis Law School, Madill established endowed chairs in the areas of real estate law, equity, contracts and commercial law by donating the funds necessary for the endowments.Theseendowed chairs remain at the St. Louis University Law School to this day.

After leaving the bench, Madillreturnedtotheprivate practice of law in 1875. During that time, his reputation and his practice increased until his retirement from the practice of law in 1896. During his time in private practice, his advice and services were sought out by some of the largest business and corporate interests in and around St. Louis. Also, during this time, he very involved in his community. In 1885, he was appointed as a director of Washington University. In 1889, he was part of organizing the Board of Trustees for the new Missouri Botanical Garden. He also served as an officer of the St. Louis Bar Association. Further,heservedonnumerous corporate or business boards including director of the Wiggins Ferry Company and the Laciede Gas Light Company. Then in 1894, he accepted the position of President of the Union Trust Company, a position of great trust and responsibility, which he held for the remainder of his life. Madill was also the Director of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, Chairman of the Finance Committee, and amemberoftheFineArtsand Educational Committees, all for the planning of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.

Madill’s first wife, Julia Peck died in July of 1893. Of that marriage, Madill had two sons, George A. Madill, Jr. and Charles P. Madill. OnFebruary13,1895,Madill married Elizabeth Walton in St. Louis. Of that union, Madill and Elizabeth had one daughter, Georgette Alexandra Madill, born on March 15, 1896.

Madill’s imprint on Marshall County began in 1896 when he was appointed to the Board of Directors to the newly re-organized, St. Louis- San Francisco Railroad. The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway was incorporated in Missouri on September 7, 1876. It was formed from the Missouri Division and Central Division of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroads. The railroad then received a land grant for one of two lines through Indian Territory. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, then bought one half interest in the St. Louis-San Frisco around 1883 to gain rights to build a line to the Pacific Coast. The Santa Fe owned one-half of the Frisco until the Santa Fe went through bankruptcy reorganization in 1893. As part of the bankruptcy reorganization, the Federal Bankruptcy Receiver divested the Santa Fe of the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway. After bankruptcy, the Frisco emerged as the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, incorporated on June 29, 1896. In a court ordered meeting in New York in July of 1896, Madill was appointed to the board of the new St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad. He served in that position until his death in 1901.

In 1900, when the St Louis-San Francisco Railroad began building a line from Sapulpa to Sherman, Texas, the railroad needed to establish “stations” along the route. Those stations were necessary as trains of that day ran on steam and thus had to have sufficient stations to refill needed water and coal. Most if not all those stations were named by the railroad unless the stations were in existing cities or towns. Along the Sapulpa to Sherman line, there were over twenty stations established in Indian Territory. Of those, several went through existing towns, but there were nine stations established that were not placed in existing town sites. Usually, stations were established, towns immediately sprung up and took root. Madill was one of those sites.

The task of naming those stations, fell to the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad President and General Manager, B. F. Yoakum, who honored several of his intimate friends as well as several faithful subordinates, by bestowing their names upon the most promising townsites. Yoakum was quoted in the April 21, 1901, edition of the St. Louis Post Dispatch as saying, “I take this manner of giving the new towns distinction. Perhaps, in time, if they grow fast enough, they may serve to help perpetuate the fame of the gentlemen after whom they are named.”

In all, Yoakum named nine towns. They were as follows. Francis, in Pontotoc County, named for former Missouri Governor and St. Louis Mayor, David Francis (this townsite was owned by Madill resident, Isaac Overton Lewis.). Scullin, in Creek County, named after John Scullin, former street, railway and steel foundry owner and railroad builder. Winchell, in Creek County, named for Benjamin J. Winchell, president of the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad. Winchell had previously been an agent for the Frisco Railroad. Beggs, in Okmulgee, County was named for C.H. Beggs, vice president and assistant to the general manager for the Frisco Railroad. Hamilton, in Okmulgee County, named for S.H. Hamilton, secretaryandtreasurerofthe Frisco Railroad. Spaulding, in Hughes County, named for W. B. Spaulding, general claims agent of the Frisco Railroad. Gray, in Bryan County,namedforC.R.Gray, superintendent of transportation for the Frisco Railroad. Parkell, in Pontotoc County, for Julius B. Parkell, former advertising manager for the Frisco and Madill.

Madill asked Yoakum to allow his name to be used on one of the new towns. Yoakum then picked the station to bear Madill’s name. Of the nine towns to be named by Yoakum, only Madill, Francis and Beggs still exist in any formal respect today, and of those, Madill is the largest and most prosperous. From the beginning it was presumed that Madill had the best chance for growth and prosperity. Apparently, Yoakum was correct. It was a great honor for Madill to have the most successful town named in his honor.

Madill passed away on December 11, 1901. In one obituary, Madill was honored with high praise. The obituary stated, “Judge Madill was one of the most honored citizens of St. Louis, and an eminent member of the St. Louis Bar. The record he made on the bench thirty years ago, at the bar for many years subsequently, and in more recent years as the manager of great financial concerns, gave him a high standing, not only in the city butthroughoutthewest. The widespread respect for his character and his intellect added to his reputation in every connection. His name could not be used in any business enterprise that did not receive his constant and earnest attention. He was a conscientious and publicspirited citizen…” A few years after Madill’s death, his widow Elizabeth married Edward Scott Robert, who ironically had been a pallbearer at Madill’s funeral. That marriage ended when Robert passed in December 1911. Following Robert’s passing, Madill’s widow Elizabeth and daughter Georgette traveled to England for a few months to recover from the tragic passing of Robert. Accompanying Elizabeth and Georgette was Elizabeth’s niece, Elizabeth Allen, along Robert’s maid, Emilie Kruchen.

Following their stay in England, the four booked first-class passage back to the United States aboard he R.M.S. Titanic. The ship departedSouthampton,England on April 10, 1912. Then onApril15,theTitanicstruck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. As the Titanic began sinking, Elizabeth and Georgette along with their maid and Elizabeth’s niece made their way to Emergency Lifeboat Number Two. Of the twenty lifeboats to launch from the Titanic, Lifeboat Number Two was the fourteenth. Lifeboat Number Two launched at 1:45 a.m., just 35 minutes before the Titanic disappeared below the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

OfficerHenryTingleWilde was overseeing the boarding of lifeboats. When he got to Lifeboat Two, he found that it wasalreadyfilledwithalarge groupofmalepassengersand ship crewmen. He ordered them all out at gunpoint telling them, “Get out of there you damned cowards! I’d like to see every one of you overboard!” Sadly, Lifeboat Number Two then launched with only 18 survivors out of a capacity of 40. Lifeboat Number Two was under the command of Fourth officer Joseph Boxhall. When the Titanic sank at 2:20 a.., Boxhall suggested to the occupants that they should go back to pick people up from the water. However, they refused outright. Boxhall found this puzzling, as only a short time before the women had pleaded for their husbands to be allowed to accompany them, yet now they did not want to go back to save them. Lifeboat Number Two was the first lifeboat to reach the rescue ship, Carpathia, at 4:10 a.m. Thus, Georgette Madill survived the sinking of the Titanic. Officer Wilde was last seen standing on the Bridge of the Titanic as she slid under the waves.

Like Georgette Madill, the town of Madill has survived numerous trials and tribulations, tragedies and disasters,goodtimesandbad. Like Georgette Madill, the town of Madill is unsinkable.