A Brief History of the
Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association The Florida State Bar Association, a voluntary membership organization, was founded in 1907. One of Pensacola’s most prominent attorneys of the day, W.A. Blount, was one of the founders. He became the fifth president of that association in 1911. Later, Mr. Blount became the first Florida lawyer to be elected President of the American Bar Association (920-21). In 1950, the Florida State Bar Association was succeeded by The Florida Bar. It was created by the Supreme Court of Florida as an integrated bar, membership in which is required as a condition to practice law in the state. Voluntary local bar associations have continued and they, as well as individual attorneys, now receive considerable assistance and encouragement from The Florida Bar. The first local bar association for lawyers from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties was the Society of the Bar of the First Judicial Circuit. It was chartered as a non-profit corporation by order of then Circuit Judge, Thomas F. West, dated July 25, 1929, with the following officers: President: Philip D. Beall, Sr. Vice President: L.L. Fabisinski (Escambia County) Vice President: R.A. McGeachy (Santa Rosa County) Vice President: T.R. James (Okaloosa County) Vice President: S.K. Gillis (Walton County) Secretary-Treasurer: John M. Coe These six, plus Purl G. Adams of Crestview, D. Stuart Gillis of DeFuniak Springs, and Sam Pasco of Pensacola were designated as the Executive Council. A total of 19 lawyers signed the Petition for Incorporation, one of whom was J. McHenry Jones, who was admitted to the Bar in 1923. The unique name selected for this early bar organization, The Society of the Bar for the First Judicial Circuit, attracted much statewide interest, and was frequently commented on favorably at legal meetings, in all sections of the state. When the “Society” was chartered in 1929, there were probably fewer than 75 lawyers in the entire First Judicial Circuit. Law office locations were confined to the four county seats. With some irregularity, monthly meetings were usually held at rotating locations among the four counties. The meetings were held with dinner, and included such locations as the old Florida Town Hotel, the Valparaiso Inn, the Walton County Country Club, and the San Carlos Hotel. Supreme Court Justices and other state officials were often available to be guest speakers at the dinner meetings of the “Society.”
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