The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1886-01-21
FAMOUS NORTH CAR0LNItNS
SOME EMINENT MEN NORTH CAR
OLINA HAS PRODUCED
Judge Hayw wood, VIM. Hooper. samuel
johnston. Jas. ITedel, Nash. Avery.
Alfred Moore and Nm. X. Davis

Shttch begun last week. written hN the
late Judge Battle, the subj. q Of which was
Judge Haywood and His Contempora-
ries. EDITOR
II was 10 a bar thus adorned and Illus
trated by a bright array Of great advocates
that Mr.. Haywood came 10 seek fame and
fortune. We have briefly alluded - some
Of the disadvantages under which he Ia
bored, but they We're not all. against which
he had To contend. His opponea.s haG
not only age genius, eloquence scholarly
accomplishments, elegance of person, and
gracefulueSS OF manners, on their side.
but they had great deeds Of patriotic ser
vice, performed in the council and field
TO recommend them TO the patronage of
their FELLOW T-cOuntrymen. y young +nan
coming forward. without any of these ad-
VaitageS, TO enter the lists against such
intellectual giants might we'll have Quailed
before the unequal conflict, and have con
tented himself to move in an humber, but
more secure walk of the profession. Not
50, our young aspirant to professional fame
and distinction He had a powerful and
intrepid mind, and he determined TO march
boldly on, and TO overcome the effect Of
all his deficiencies, by making himself the
most learned and profound lawyer Of his
day; and he did It. We are told that at
first Mr.. Hooper did all he could to sustain
him in the unequal contest; but it was 10
his own lndOmitable energy, and to his labo-
rlouS attention to all the duties Of his pro
feSSlOn that his success was due. ''IIc soon"
(as Mr.. Murphey says III the Address to
which we have alluded) acquired repu-
tation that placed him at the head of his
profession in this State. and gave him
rank among The ablest common lawyers in
the Union" Chief Justice Marshall ad
ded the weight of his great authority to
this estimate of Mr. Haywood, by saying
that he had often heard him at the bar,
and that he was ''unquestionably among
the ablest lawyers of his day
The eminent and complete success of
Mr.. Haywood was soon manifested by his
appointment to high office. In the wear
esmbly, Attorney General of the State, the
peculiar dignity and Importance of which
at that period, we have already noticed.
1t had been previously filed, and its highly
responsible duties most ably discharged
successfully by Messrs Avery, Iredell and
Moore, of whose great abilities We have
already spoken. That the office suffered
no disparagement in the hands of Mr..
Haywood we are assured in the recorded
testimony of distinguished Judge Of the
Supreme Court given under all the solemn
ity of a judicial opinion. In Spier's case
decided in 1923 (see Dev. Rep. 1866 Judge
Hall, in reference to al opinion pronounc-
ed by Mr.. Haywood after he became Il
Judge, says: 81 may add that that opin-
ion drew after it the appreciation of the
profession, and l believe ! shall not treat
with disrespect the memory of the dead,
or the pretensions of the living, when |
say that a greater criminal lawyer than
Judge Haywood never set upon the bench
in North Carolina" He held the Office of
Attorney General until the winter of 1894
when he was elected Judge to supply
the vacancy caused by the death of Judge
Spencer That he made a very able Judge
we well know. In the reports of the cases
decided during the time he remained on
the bench, we have some of his opinions
given at length; and we hesitate not to
say that for extensiveness of research, for
logical precision, and conclusiveness of
reasoning, they will compare favorably
with those of any other Judge i'll this
country, or in England.
In the spring of 1900, he resigned his
office, having been induced thereto, 1t is
said, by large retainer to defend Mr.
James Glasgow, against a criminal charge
of having issued fraudulently certain false
land warrants whilst he was Surveyor of
the State. The trial took place before a
Court specially appointed for the purpose
and the defendant was convicted and no
doubt properly convicted, but when we
notice the wonderful astuteneSS of his
counsel, in assigning errors on a motion to
arrest the judgment for alleged defects in
the bill of indictment, we cannot resist
the conclusion that there was no want of
skill and ability in the defence. (See Conf.
Rep 3S). After his return to the bar Nj.
Haywood continued to practice with great
success until his removal from the State
in the year 1906. We have heard it stated
that he was induced to take that step in
consequence of the unpopularity which he
incurred in the State by the resignation of
his seat on the bench, under the peculiar
circumstances in which it was made He
was named as one of the Judges in the
special commission under which the court
was to be held. The commencement of
the term was fixed for the 10th day of
June 1900, and his resignation was sent in
on the 31st day of May, eleven days only
before that time. AS the commission au-
thOrized the then four Judges, or any two
of them, to hold the court it was in fact
held at the time and place appointed, SO
that the resignation of Judge Haywood,
did not impede nor delay the regular ad-
ministration of justice, but as he resigned
for the express purpose OF defending the
accused his conduct, whether right OF
wrong, incurred degree of odium. from
which he never recovered, and which
finally prompted him to leave his native
State, and to seek a new field in Tennes-
see for the display of his great abilities.
Go where he might his success was Ger
tain; and in his adopted State he, accord
ingly, took rank with her ablest advocates
at the head of whom, at that time, was
the celebrated Jenkin Whiteside. He con
| tinued at the bar until the year 1916, wher
he was elevated to the supreme court bench
in the place of Judge Cooke, deceased, anC
! he remained on that bench until his deatf
in December 1926.
| Judge Haywood found time, notwith
! standing his asduous labors and multiplied
| engagements at the bar ard on the benci
| to adventure into the field of authorship
While residing in this State he prepared
and published Treatise on the duty anc
office of Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs
the laws OF North Carolina" and two vol
umes of reports The two first namet
works were found TO be very useful, wer
great favorites with the public; and eacl
went through as many as three or fOu
editions The Manual embraced th
statutes laws only, arranged under dis
tinct heads, in alphabetical order, wit
reference from one head to another, whel
a subject is mentioned in any other par
of the book than under the distinct heat
to which it belongs" 1t furnishes the hin
! for the nlaO unon which the first yolum