John Woodruff Simpson

John Woodruff Simpson (October 13, 1850 – May 16, 1920) was a founding member of law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, then titled Simpson, Thacher, & Barnum.

Early life Simpson was born and raised in East Craftsbury, Vermont, a son of James W. Simpson and Jean B. ( Walker) Simpson. He attended the State Normal School at Johnson, Vermont.

He attended Amherst College, and graduated from Columbia Law School in 1873. He served as a law clerk at the old-line firm Alexander & Green.

Simpson was one of the founding members of the "good government" organization the City Club of New York.

Simpson was a presidential elector in the 1904 presidential election.

Personal life On May 15, 1889, Simpson was married to Kate Seney (1868–1943), the youngest daughter of New York City banker, art collector, and benefactor, George I. Seney and Phoebe Augusta ( Moser) Seney. Together, they were the parents of:

Jean Walker Simpson (1897–1980), who never married; she returned to his hometown, founded a library, and organized community Shakespeare productions.

Simpson died May 16, 1920. He left an estate appraised in 1922 at $2,665,894 (equivalent to $ million in ). Simpson's widow Kate died in 1943. For reasons unknown the gift was refused, and Thomas Nelson Page, a University of Virginia alumnus who was active in his college's Alumni Association, stepped in to secure the gift of the statue to the University of Virginia instead. The final sculpture, entitled Blind Homer With His Student Guide, was completed in 1907, and is currently installed on The Lawn, in the grass to the north of Old Cabell Hall.

Simpson's daughter, Jean, commemorated him by establishing the John Woodruff Simpson Memorial Library in East Craftsbury.