THE LIFE OF JUDGE H.H. LOVETT
Part 6:
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Written by Justin Lamb
Following the completion of his term as County Judge, H.H. Lovett joined his uncle John G. Lovett as a partner at his law firm in mid-1926. Lovett & Lovett law office was located on Poplar Street in Benton where the Filbeck-Cann & King Funeral Chapel is today. Lovett’s first cases involved estates, deeds, and other matters of business law and in the early years he rarely had any involvement with criminal court. In a 1983 oral history interview, Lovett’s daughter, Brook Cross, stated that in his first years as a practicing attorney, Lovett and his uncle John G. Lovett were often pitted against one another in the courtroom in civil cases. “It’s a wonder they ever talked to each other after what the said to one another in the courtroom,” Cross commented. “But they knew it was just part of the job.”
Practicing law in those days didn’t earn much of a fortune and Lovett, like most of the lawyers in the county, was paid with pocket knives, eggs, vegetables, and other practical items. There were times that Lovett rendered his services free of charge because a client did not have the means to pay.
In one high profile case in 1936, Lovett represented Charley Jetter of the Glade community pro bono, who was charged with the murder of Lisher Darnall. Many of Darnall’s neighbors put pressure on the sheriff and county judge to prosecute quickly for the murder of Lisher Darnall or they would take the law into their own hands. Jeter was arrested by the sheriff and the county judge set the trial for the next day. Jeter claimed self-defense but had no money to obtain a lawyer for his defense and his family feared that he would be sent to prison because he couldn’t afford legal representation. A member of Jeter’s family went to see H.H. Lovett and he agreed to represent Jeter free of charge. After a lengthy trial and a failed attempt to get a change of venue, Lovett was not able to get Jeter acquitted, but was successful in getting his sentence reduced.
By the summer of 1927, Lovett was itching to return to public office and he entered the race for Commonwealth Attorney of the Second Judicial District which was composed of Marshall and McCracken Counties. According to Lovett’s grandson, James Cross, Lovett and former Republican County Judge Walter Prince both had their eye on the office of Commonwealth Attorney in 1927 and for the same reason—- to clean up corruption in the courthouse in Benton. The story goes that both Lovett and Prince planned to run for Commonwealth Attorney, but realized that if they won the nomination of their respective party, that they would face each other in the November General Election. Walter Prince remained in the race, but made a deal that if Lovett won the Democratic nomination the he would drop out and throw his support behind him because as a Democrat he had better shot at winning in the reliably Democratic district. The Democratic Primary for Commonwealth Attorney was hotly contested as several candidates jumped in the mix. However, the top contenders were Lovett and Charles B. Cox, the incumbent County Attorney of Marshall County.
Just two years prior, Cox had been elected County Attorney in a landslide over William W. English and had made a name for himself as a capable attorney. The Commonwealth’s Attorney race was tight up to the very end and Marshall County was evenly split with supporters for Lovett and Cox. The race quickly heated up as the Cox campaign took a negative turn in an effort to smear Lovett. Cox claimed Lovett, who had only been practicing law for two years, was woefully inexperienced and was not up for the job. Lovett countered by pointing to Cox’s record as County Attorney as proof he was soft on lawbreakers.
On Saturday, August 6, 1927, the voters went to the polls and Lovett carried both Marshall and McCracken Counties and narrowly defeated Cox. As promised, Walter Prince pulled out of the race and threw his full support behind Lovett. In November, Lovett faced no Republican opposition and he took the oath of office in January 1928.
Lovett’s term as Commonwealth Attorney propelled his reputation as a skilled trial lawyer. With the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office located at the McCracken County Courthouse, Lovett spent most of his time in Paducah. However, he broke a longstanding tradition held by previous Commonwealth Attorneys when he chose to keep his residency in Benton much to the approval of the Marshall County electorate.
Lovett’s time as Commonwealth Attorney was anything but exciting. His case load dealt with petty crimes such as robberies, assaults, public drunkenness, and chicken thievery cases. He also prosecuted several “moral cases” such as adultery, seduction cases, and there was one case where Lovett had to prosecute a man for not honoring the Sabbath.
By the autumn of 1929, the economic boom of the 1920s came to a screeching halt when on “Black Thursday,” the stock market crashed. Proclaiming that “prosperity was just around the corner,” President Herbert Hoover watched as the United States entered the Great Depression. Marshall County, already a very poor county, was hit especially hard. Many lost their homes and savings were lost. Farmers in the Jackson Purchase experienced the driest planting season in history in the summer of 1931 and they made little to nothing at all on their crops.
By 1932, Marshall County like the rest of the nation was looking for a leader to lead them out of this Depression. New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt gained the Democratic nomination for President of the United States and captured the support of the nation. Unlike President Hoover, Roosevelt was charming and optimistic. He gave the people hope that America would be prevail but immediate action needed to be taken. Back in Marshall County, Commonwealth Attorney H.H. Lovett became one of Roosevelt’s earliest backers in western Kentucky. In November 1932 Franklin Roosevelt defeated President Herbert Hoover in a landslide victory. Democrats also captured the United States House of Representatives and Senate and Paducah native Alben Barkley won his second term as United States Senator. Many believed recovery was on its way.
As Commonwealth Attorney and a leader in the Democratic Party, Lovett often hosted several state dignitaries while they were visiting western Kentucky. On one occasion in the early 1930s, Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon was visiting western Kentucky and was scheduled to have dinner with the Lovett family at their home on Walnut Street. Mayme Lovett fixed a big meal for the governor, but as supper time approached, the governor had not arrived. The family waited anxiously for several hours and as the evening dragged on, the Lovetts finally gave up on the Governor and to keep the food from spoiling, Mayme called in the family to eat the meal.
After the late supper, Mayme cleared the table and put everything away and the family prepared to for bed. Not long after a knock came at the door and when Lovett answered it, it was Governor Laffoon. The governor apologized for his tardiness and explained he had been caught up in a meeting. Lovett asked the governor if he had eaten supper to which he replied no. With no leftovers from the supper, Mayme cooked the governor bacon and eggs which he ate without complaint.
After his meal, Governor Laffoon and Lovett sat around the table and discussed several things from politics to sports. Governor Laffoon was never accused of being a very attractive man and he knew it. During the entire visit, Lovett’s youngest daughter, Jane, stared curiously at Governor Laffoon. Finally Governor Laffoon looked at Jane and asked, “I must be the ugliest man you have ever seen?” Jane nodded her head in agreement and replied, “Yes you are.” Throughout his career, Lovett loved to tell the story when his daughter told the Governor of Kentucky that he was indeed the ugliest man she had ever seen.
By 1933, Lovett’s term was up for re-election as Commonwealth Attorney and he was contested in a three-way Democratic Primary by M.E. Gilbert of Marshall County and Holland G. Bryan of McCracken County. The race was extremely close and for the most part very uneventful. Lovett narrowly carried Marshall County, but he lost the more populated McCracken County to Bryan. With two Marshall County natives in the race, the Marshall County vote was split which gave Bryan the advantage to narrowly beat Lovett.
With his defeat as Commonwealth Attorney, Lovett returned to practicing law and established his own law firm after the retirement of his uncle in 1934. On March 11, 1936, John G. Lovett passed away at the Illinois Central Hospital in Paducah after a brief illness with pneumonia. Lovett was eventually joined in the law firm by his oldest son, Henry H. Lovett, Jr. following World War II. The Lovetts built a new law office on East 12th Street after their law office on Poplar Street was destroyed by fire in 1948.
Sometime in the late 1940s, a rather amusing incident happened to Lovett one afternoon after trying a case in the old Marshall County Courthouse. H.H. Lovett was chatting with the other attorneys and courthouse officials in the courtroom when a man walked up and slugged him in the jaw. The man took off running down the stairs while everyone including Lovett was puzzled as to why the man who no one seemed to know had punched him without provocation.
It was later discovered that the man’s wife was divorcing him and Henry Hardin Lovett, Jr. was handling her divorce in court. However, the man had his Henrys mixed up and hit H.H. Lovett, Sr. instead! Lovett was home recovering from his broken jaw when one of his relatives asked him what had happened and he told the relative jokingly, “The man slugged me in the jaw but didn’t even give me a chance to turn the other cheek!”
In another amusing incident in the early 1950s, Paducah attorney Thomas S. Waller and Lovett were opponents in a highly publicized case at the Marshall County Courthouse. Shortly before the court broke for dinner, the two longtime friends became embattled in a fierce fight over a legal matter. Words were thrown and insults were spewed as the spectators in the courtroom thought the incident might come to blows. When the court reconvened after noon, the case was settled, and with it being early in the day, Mr. Lovett suggested that he and Mr. Waller go fishing in nearby Kentucky Lake. The two men drove down a narrow, gravel road which had been covered on both sides by the lake. Once they arrived, the men got out of the car, turned their backs on each other and with their cane poles stuck their line in the water. After several minutes of silence, Mr. Lovett asked, “Tom, can you swim?”
“I can’t swim a lick,” Waller answered “Well you be extra careful not to fall out here and drown,” Lovett replied. “Folks who heard us arguing back there in that courtroom would swear I’d murdered you and I would get the electric chair for sure!”