JUDGE ROBERT SEMPLE. The career of a lawyer is a succession of contests, and the successes made in the legal profession are probably more than in any other calling in the life examples of the “survival of the fittest.” To become distinguished at the bar requires not only capacity, but also sound judgment and persevering industry, and these qualifications are admirably combined in Judge Semple. He was born in Wilkinson county, Miss., November 5, 1850, the fifth of ten children born to the second marriage of Robert Semple, whose father (ie. Robert Semple) was an officer in the United States army holding his commission from President Washington. His father (ie. Robert Semple) emigrated from Scotland about 1755, and settled in Cumberland county, Penn., where during the war of the Revolution he was sheriff. He was descended from the Kirk house branch of the noble Scottish family of Semple, who for over 600 years were barons of wealth and power in the west of Scotland in the barony of Renfrew and held large possessions in the counties of Lenark and Ayr. His mother was Francina Rosalthe Wade, daughter of Judge William Custer Wade, of St. Francisville, La., and his wife Olivia Lane. Judge Robert Semple draduated from the Virginia military institute in 1869, after which he took the degree of B. L. in Washington and Lee university, of Lexington, Va., being admitted to practice in Wilkinson county, Miss., in 1870. Soon after this he moved to northern Louisiana, where he began practicing law, after which he removed to Harrisonburg, where he remained two years. He next came to Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana, in which capacity he served with distinction for four years. In 1888 he was elected district judge of the Fifteenth judicial district, being the only democratic judge elected since the war. He is owner of an excellent plantation of 240 acres on the Mississippi river, on which he is now residing. The Judge is exceedingly kind hearted and humane, and in all his decisions leans toward those who need aid and sympathy and are deserving. He is shrewd and quick in grasping points of law and his decisions are usually ready to be given when the arguments are finished. He is careful in the preparation of his cases, and has the ability to present them in a concise, logical and forcible manner. He is an intelligent and interesting conversationalist and is prepossessing in personal appearance. He was married in 1872 to Miss Sarah L. Burruss, a daughter of Hon. John W. Burruss of Wilkinson county, Miss., and his wife, Sarah H. McGehee, daughter of George Edward McGehee, and to their union the following children were born: Robert, Sarah B., Catherine B., Mary B. and John B. The mother of these children is deceased. Judge Semple is a member of the A. F. & A. M. In religion, a firm believer in the tenets of the Episcopal church, and in politics a democrat. He has not remarried and resides with his beautiful and intelligent family at his home on the banks of the Mississippi river in the parish of Pointe Coupee, state of Louisianna.
