Local beginnings of a judicial giant
Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941) was a U.S. Supreme Court justice from 1916 to 1938. His stay in Lafayette Square was a short one, just seven months. During that time in 1878, the 22 year old Brandeis practiced law with James Taussig at 505 Chestnut Street. His salary at the time was $50.00 per month.
A plaque is fixed into an exterior wall at 101 North Broadway, downtown. It was the approximate site of Taussig’s practice, and commemorates his young associate.
The Taussigs were an accomplished St. Louis family in their own right. James Taussig’s brother Dr. William Taussig, bought a house at 1554 Mississippi Avenue. Stephen Barlow had it built in 1866 for John F. Hume, in the French Second Empire style. It was redesigned to create a trendier Italianate look during 1885.
Dr. William Taussig
Taussig made a major mid-course career correction. He came from his native Prague to St. Louis as a chemist and physician. William treated victims of the 1849 cholera epidemic, became the first mayor of Carondelet in 1851, and personally raised funds to create two Union regiments for the Civil War. This was a reflection of his deep abolitionist stance.
After the war, James Eads named William the chairman of the St. Louis Bridge and Tunnel Company. Taussig delved into regional rail development, taking additional board positions on several railroads. He was instrumental, as president of the Terminal Railroad Association, in bringing various lines into convergence at his planned St. Louis Union Station. Taussig oversaw completion of what was then the largest rail station in the country, in 1892. He also managed to co-found the St. Louis Ethical Society with Walter Sheldon in 1886.
Meet me in St. Louie, Louie.
Brandeis’ Lafayette Square connection took the form of young lawyer and Louisville native Louis briefly boarding there. He was the guest of his sister Fannie and husband Charles Nagel at 2044 Lafayette Avenue.
There must have been interesting conversations around the dining table at the Nagel’s. Charles received his law degree in 1872, and was elected to the Missouri House in 1881.He presided over the St. Louis City Council from 1893 through 1897, and served as corporate attorney for Adolphus Busch. President Taft chose Nagel to be his Secretary of Commerce and Labor from 1909 – 1913. He later co-founded the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
A quick ascension
Brandeis made friends easily, and was socially active within St. Louis society. His intelligence and ambition resulted in boredom with the practice of general law. He left St. Louis for a clerkship with the chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court.
Woodrow Wilson tapped Brandeis to sit with the U.S. Supreme Court. It was a contentious confirmation process in the Senate, as Louis would become the first Jewish justice to serve on the court. It was the start of a two decade tenure, from 1916 though 1939, in which he opposed big business and monopolies, while championing civil rights, privacy, and many New Deal reforms.
History often distills down to quotes from notable people. They attempt to encapsulate a big thought in a few words. Louis Brandeis was eminently quotable, and several of his maxims still reverberate today. Perhaps you’re already familiar with one or more:
Regarding political transparency: “Sunlight is the best of disinfectants.”
Democracy and Inequality: “We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both.”
Reform: “ If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.”
Ethics: “Our government teaches the people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.”
Summary
America could use a little more Brandeis and a lot less chaos in its government. This essay is posted as a gentle reminder that we get what we choose in our leadership. That decision carries a lot of weight and affects the course of history itself. To sit out a vote is to leave the future to those most aggressive in dominating it. The result of apathy is that change happens to us, not just around us. We have to live up to the principles that have carried us through 250 years, if there’s to be anything beyond this semiquincentennial worth celebrating
Notes and Resources
An extensive and well-written biography of Louis Brandeis appears in Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Brandeis
Today’s Sheldon Theater in the Arts District was originally built (1912) as home to Taussig’s St. Louis Ethical Society. The League of Women Voters held its first meeting in the Sheldon’s Green Room that same year. https://www.thesheldon.org/about/our-history
Robert Cohn wrote an excellent short bio of Louis Brandeis in 2011 for the St. Louis Jewish Light. https://stljewishlight.org/opinion/cohnipedia-justice-brandeis-and-st-louis-a-short-history/
A 2025 review of Louis Brandeis’ early career in St. Louis is also from the St. Louis Jewish Light. Jordan Palmer wrote an article entitled Old Courthouse reopening shines light on Louis Brandeis’ early legal career in St. Louis. https://stljewishlight.org/news/news-local/louis-brandeis-old-courthouse/
A letter from Louis Brandeis, recalling his early days in St. Louis is here: https://mohistory.mobiusconsortium.org/repositories/2/archival_objects/47813
Photo of William Taussig from Missouri Historical Society
James Taussig (1827 – 1916) came to St. Louis, like so many other Germans, to escape political persecution resulting from the German-Austrian revolution of 1848. He was a lawyer for four decades, and was a political power in Republican politics.
James Taussig’s obituary is at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat of January 24, 1916.
An interesting report from James Taussig in the June 10, 1863 St. Louis Republic relates to a trip Taussig took with Emil Preetorius (editor of the Westliche Post newspaper) and Roderick Rombauer (a judge with the St. Louis Circuit Court.) It was a professional visit to President Lincoln to share concerns that St. Louis Germans had regarding conduct of the war and emancipation. If interested, drop me a line at mike@lafayettesquarearchives, and I’ll email you a copy.
An earlier essay from this series depicted the newspapermen of Lafayette Square. All three of German background, and influential in politics beyond St. Louis. https://lafayettesquarearchives.com/1857-1898-the-german-newspapermen/
