The General Assembly did itself credit in bestowing its highest honor upon Judge Warner E. Settle, of the Kentucky Court of Appeals. This is the fifth time that a layman has been called to the Moderator's chair. The first layman to receive this honor was Judge John Frizzell; the next was Chancellor Nathan Green; then the Hon. Edward E. Beard; the fourth was General H. H. Norman.

Judge Settle comes from an old Cumberland Presbyterian family. He represents the best tradition of the church. He was born in Green county, Kentucky, in 1850. He entered upon the practice of law at Bowling Green at the age of twenty-one. He at once united with the Cumberland Presbyterian church of that city, which at that time was under the pastoral care of Rev. Jesse S. Grider, D.D. Five years later the young lawyer was made a ruling elder.

The local church, the presbytery and the synod all have enjoyed the support and service of this faithful, competent layman. He was among the first who were named by the last General Assembly for service on the important Committee on Presbyterian Fraternity and Union. He was the lay member of the sub-committee of that committee was charged with drafting the basis on union which is now being considered by the General Assemblies at Buffalo and Dallas. It is an open secret that he bore a very conspicuous part in all the negotiations leading up to the adoption of the basis of union.

After serving sixteen years on the circuit court bench, Judge Settle was elected, in 1902, a member of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky. Already he has made a name for himself in adjudicating a number of celebrated cases that have come before that high tribunal.
[Source: The Cumberland Presbyterian, May 26, 1904, page 643]