The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-06-18
The Bar OF the State CaDital
By the Dean of the Profession.
Chief justice Chase Declared that the Raleigh Bar in
l8o7-l87o Would Do Credit to Any City in the Union.

81 -. the Editor: You ask me 20 give
81 he many readers of your popu-
al ..- touurnal, for one OF the first issues
.-.-. it, new and handsome quarters,
81 .-tcn Of the Raleigh Bar since the
81 .....uIng of my acquaintance with It;
III . as the request was made Of me
II because, though still young (for a man
81 Young as he feelS), | am the
s--.Jr member of that bar. both in
IL ..-r4 and from the date of nv Ii
81 -a.ee to practice law. / must comply, L
q E1rdIy know, however. how TO draw
p s<etch which would not either fiji
ii more Of your columns than you can
. devote to one subject, or be a dry list
.f names and dates, which would not
81 be edIfy1ng to our leaders and after
writing partial sketches of prominent
lawyers, who became members of the
Ealeigh bar after the year 1870, L
md that this article would be entirely
81 %. long if l did not confine what 1
have 10 say to those with whom | had
. date. OF the bar who were in active
81 practice when Chief Justice Chase
presided in the Circuit Court here. in
1861 and 1870. he asserted that it
would do credit to any city in the
Ia the summer and fall of 1858 1
Il spent a few months in Raleigh. before
u / began to practice in Anson: and in
the fall OF 1852. when L came from
81 the Confederate army. | became the
law partner of my brother, Kemp z.
Battle, and continued till he became
state treasurer in 1865. AS l have
practlced law in Raleigh ever since.
my association with its bar has been
Uninterrupted. except for about four
q Years, from 1883 to the present time
81 nearly half a century.
In the year last mentioned, the roll
u Of kaleigh lawyers was not a long one,
q but some Of them were men Of dis
81 tiEguished ability and reputation. This
Is the list as I recall it:
81 George E. Badger. Patrick H. Win
bton, ST., John H. Bryan, &. F. Moore.
George w. Haywood, Henry w. Miller,
81 Edward Cantwell. Sion II. Rogers,
quentin D. Busbee, Henry y. Badham.
Augustus M. Lewis. Ed. Graham Hay
wood. Daniel CT. FowIe. VIM. S. Ma
son. Kemp P. Battle. }. Kemp Narri-
oft, Robert CT. Lewis, VIII
liam j. saunders. Gov. Thomas
y Bragg began the practice here during
the War Between the States, as coun-
sci for the Confederate government,
upon his resignation as Attorney Cen
III cral in President Davis Cabinet.
II Samuel F.. Phillips made Raleigh his
8 professional home early in 1866. and
81 Joseph E. Bachelor in the latter part
# OF that year. Richard c. Badger,
# licensed shortly before the war and
elected county solicitor, reopened his
office for practice soon after he re-
m turned from the army IL 1865. Geo.
Y. Strong remove from Goldsboro IN
81 1868 or 1853 to become d partner Of
81 Governor Bragg. Augustus S. Merri-
mon came from Asheville and formed
a partnership with S. f. Phillips about
the last of 1868. VIM. II. Battle re-
moved from Chapel Hill about the
same time, his office as Supreme Court
Judge having been vacated by recon-
struction in July previous, and K. P.
Battles office as treasurer having also
been vacated, they. with me, who had
N been for nearly three years a part
# neT Of S. F. Phillips, formed the firm
s. Of W. II. Battle and Sons.
III 1858, when I had the opportu-
nifty Of seeing q good deal of Geo. +.
Badger he was in the zenith of his in
81 tellectual powers l had the advan-
tage of hearing him charge juries as
the presiding justice of Wake county
NJ court, and to observe his wonderful
81 learning and ~quickness in the admin
istTatiOn of law in that tribunal. 1t
was also my privilege to hear him In
an address to Judge and jury in A
ing old Col. Edward Marlborough, who
gave the name to the leading hotel
in Raleigh, and In the argument Of
important causes before the Supreme
Court. [ have no hesitation in saying
that of all the great men, with whom
7 have come in contact, not excepting
three Chief Justices of the United
States, Chase, Waite and Fuller. his
was the most lucid and logical intel
1ect, and his the greatest facility TO
express in forcible and perspicuous
language Il legal argument. He in
herited his talents from both parents,
his father. Thomas Badger, who died
III young, being a lawyer of much prom
Use, and his mother a daughter of
Richard COgdell a very intellectual
woman. He was born in New Bern
on April 18th, 1875. He died in 1856
after a stroke of paralysis, under
which he fingered from 1868. He was
admitted to the bar at New Bern be-
fore he was 81 years old, the rule as
TO age being suspended because his
services were necessary for the sup
port of his widowed mother and his
Younger brother and sisters. He was
recognized from the beginning as q
brilliant man, and entering the House
of Commons soon after he became of
age, made such an impression as a
deoater and lawyer that he became a
Judge at the age of 25. He served two
Years on the bench. and having moved
successfully to Hillsboro, Warrenton
LoUisburg and Raleigh, he became,
d when still a young man, the leading
figure ct the bar here, and he so con
tfnued till he was stricken down by
paralysis. He also commanded the
leading practice in the .. 5: Circuit
NOur at Raleigh, which was frequent
ly presided over by CHEZ Justice Mar
shall. Two incidents serve to show
his remarkable ability as a jurfst and
an advocate. He and VIM. Castor,
afterwards the distinguished Judge OF
the Supreme Court, were opposing
aounsel in great land suits in the Fed
III eraI court. presided over by CHIEF
Justice Marshall. Mr.. CASTOR
Who represented the plaintiffs
made an argument which the chief
ID Justice said nearly convinced him that
81 the plaintiffs were entitled to recov-
cry; but that after Mr.. Badger. VINO
represented the interests of the State
had spoken for two hours he con
GUIDED that he had not left his op-
Donent q leg to stand upon. The
rther incident involves a compliment
raid him by Mr.. Webster, when rs
Was at the zenith of his reputation
i'm the Supreme Court of the United
States. Mr.. Badger represented tht
oefendant in the case of Wilcox VS.
Runners Executor, in the United
states Circuit Court in Raleigh, anc
his client was SO much pleased WITT
IL arGIment below thai be aSksG