Nansemond-Albemarle County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Prentis, Robert R., 1931 

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JUDGE PRENTIS IS CLAIMED BY DEATH THIS AFTERNOON 

President of the State Supreme Court of Appeals, Suffolk Resident And 
   Widely Known Virginian, Passes In Richmond. 

  RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 25. - (AP) - Chief Justice Robert R. Prentis, of the 
Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, died here this afternoon at 3:10 o'clock. 

  RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 24. - (AP) - Chief Justice Robert E. Prentis, of the 
Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, is seriously ill at his home here.  His 
condition today was critical. 

  Justice Prentis has been ill for almost a week and has been suffering from 
heart trouble for several years. 

  It became known here the first of the week that Judge Prentis was ill, but 
the nature of his illness was not announced.  Prayers were said for his 
recovery in St. Paul's Episcopal church, of which he has been a life-long 
member and frequently served as vestryman. 

  Several years ago the judge suffered a long and serious illness and for 
weeks his life was despaired of.  He finally recovered and returned to his 
active duties on the bench.  He has practically maintained his residence in 
Richmond since his former illness, only occasionally visiting his home city. 
News of his critical condition was received here today with many expressions 
of regret. 

****************************************************************************** 

PRENTIS FUNERAL HERE FRIDAY 

VIRGINIA'S CHIEF JUSTICE MOURNED IN OLD DOMINION 

Sudden Death of Distinguished Jurist And Leader In Public Affairs After 
   40 Years of Service Hailed With General Sorrow. 

WILL SLEEP IN CEDAR HILL CEMETERY HERE 

Last Rites To Be Held In St. Paul's Church At Noon Tomorrow To Be Attended 
  By Life-Long Friends And Visiting Dignitaries. 

BODY OF CHIEF JUSTICE COMES BACK HOME 

  The body of the late Chief Justice Robert R. Prentis, who died in Richmond 
yesterday, was brought to Suffolk at noon today and carried to his home at 
303 N. Main street, where it will lie in state until tomorrow just before the 
funeral services set for St. Paul's Episcopal church at noon. 

  The body was accompanied to this city by relatives.  Representatives of 
divisions of the State government and colleagues of Judge Prentis will come 
to the city tomorrow for the funeral service. 

  Suffolk paid a final tribute to its most distinguished citizen this 
afternoon as hundreds of people called at the home of the late Chief Justice 
Robert R. Prentis for a last glance at the bier of one whom they had known and 
respected for half a century. 

  The body was brought here at noon today and placed in state at the home, 303 
N. Main street, to await the funeral hour, noon tomorrow. 

News Shocks City 

  The city was greatly shocked yesterday when word came from Richmond that 
Judge Prentis had passed at 3:10 from a heart attack similar to the ailment 
which confined him to his bed for a long while several years ago.  The news 
spread over the city with rapidity and many expressions of regret occasioned 
by his death as well as universal praise of his worth were made. 

  Funeral arrangements were not completed early today.  R.W. Baker & Co., 
local funeral directors, were designated to handle arrangements and the 
service was set for St. Paul's at noon tomorrow with interment in the family 
plot at Cedar Hill cemetery. 

Among Surviving Relatives 

  Judge Prentis is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Nathaniel Beaman and Miss 
Susan Prentis, of Norfolk, and one brother, Bowdoin Prentis, of Washington, 
D.C.  A number of Suffolk families are related to the distinguished jurist, 
the Allens, Withers, Causeys, Miss Susan M. Riddick, Mrs. A.H. Baker and Mrs. 
J. Wesley Chapman.  A number of relatives of the family reside in other 
states. 

Forty Years In Public Service 

  Forty years in public office, advancing step by step from a deputy county 
clerk to Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, is the 
distinguished record of Judge Robert Riddick Prentis, who died in Richmond 
yesterday at 3:10 p. m., following a severe heart ailment which had been 
troubling him for years. 

  In attaining the most exalted public office ever held by a citizen of 
Suffolk, an office which came to him by gubernatorial appointment on November 
16, 1916, when Governor Henry C. Stuart named him to the Supreme Court of 
Appeals, Judge Prentis realized an ambition, both a personal ambition and 
one for which thousands of Virginians had entertained for him as a fitting 
culmination for his long and honorable career as a judge of the circuit court. 

From Family of Lawyers 

  Judge Prentis was the fourth of a direct line of lawyers in the Prentis 
family who have been leaders of the Virginia bar since the birth of the 
nation.  His great-grandfither, Judge Joseph Prentis, whose father, William 
Prentis settled in Williamsburg in 1725, coming from Norfolk county, England, 
succeeded George Wythe in the Virginia Convention of December, 1775, was judge 
of the first admiralty court in Virginia, speaker of the House in 1788 and 
judge of the general court from 1789 to his death in 1809.  His grandfather, 
Hon. Joseph Prentis, was a member of the bar in Suffolk, sat in the convention 
of 1829-30 and for many years was clerk of Nansemond county.  His father, 
Robert R. Prentis, was trained for the legal profession, but engaged in other 
vocations, serving as proctor of the University of Virginia, clerk of 
Albemarle county and collector of internal revenue for the Confederate States 
of America. 

Overcomes Obstacles 

  Although descended from a prominent family, the future chief justice was at 
an early age thrown on his own resources to advise a widowed mother and help 
provide for a large family.  Born to R.R. Prentis and Margaret Ann Whitehead 
Prentis, May 24, 1855, at the University of Virginia while his father was 
serving as proctor, young Robert had not completed his preparation for college 
when his father died.  He at once secured a position as deputy clerk of 
Albemarle county and, with the small salary earned, maintained himself and 
helped his family.  Working and studying at the same time, he was enabled to 
complete the law course at the University of Virginia in a single year, 1876. 

  For three years he practiced law at Charlottesville and then for ten months 
at Norfolk.  In November, 1879, young Bob Prentis moved from Norfolk to 
Suffolk, where he had relatives, and entered practice of his profession as a 
partner of the Hon. A.C. Withers, a kinsman.  In 1883 he was chosen mayor of 
Suffolk and served as head of the town government until 1885.  For the next 
ten years R.R. Prentis devoted his energies to the practice of his profession, 
earning a reputation as an attorney of considerable ability and sound 
judgment.  His practice was almost entirely in civil matters, having neither 
desire nor inclination to engage in criminal practice.  During this decade of 
active legal practice, he interrupted his affairs only once to engage in 
public matters, running as presidential elector on the Democratc ticket in the 
national election of 1892. 

  In 1895 Judge Prentis was generally regarded as the most suitable man in the 
district for the judgeship to be filled by the legislature.  Urged by many to 
become a candidate, he consented and was duly elected.  From this election in 
1895 followed 36 years of continuous public service. 

  After five years on the bench of the Norfolk circuit, which embraced 
Nansemond and Southampton counties, a vacancy occurred on the Supreme Court of 
Appeals and Prentis, who had gained a big following in Eastern Virginia, was 
put forward as the candidate of Tidewater, which demanded representation on 
the court.  Some estimate of the esteem with which Judge Prentis was held is 
shown by the resolutions of endorsement adopted by the bar associations of 
Norfolk, Portsmouth, Nansemond, Southampton, Isle of Wight, Princess Anne and 
other counties of the area and organizations interested in the election.  The 
resolutions adopted resolved, "that this association unanimously recommend to 
the legislature of Virginia for appointment to this high office the Hon. 
Robert R. Prentis, judge of the first judicial circuit of the state, 
recognizing in him the highest qualifications for this honorable and important 
position - in character, dignified, firm and impartial; in intelligence, a 
desire always for the right, and that power of close discrimination, free from 
mental idiosyncracy, which carries him right; right and enthusiasm for right, 
and capacity - the ideal standards of the judge." 

  Despite this unanimous support of the bar of Tidewater and the press of 
Eastern Virginia, Judge Prentis was not yet to realize the worthy ambition of 
becoming a member of the state's highest tribunal.  The Democratic caucus on 
the eve of the legislative session settled on Judge Whittle as the choice, and 
the Suffolk jurist was destined to wait 16 years before his turn came.  These 
years of waiting were far from idle, however, and so increased his knowledge 
of law and ripened his judgment that in 1916 he was recognized over the entire 
state as the best-fitted man to fill the vacancy occuring at that time. 

  Judge Prentis remained as presiding officer over the first judicial circuit 
until 1907, when he resigned to accept the appointment as chairman of the 
State Corporation Commission.  During his nine years as chairman of the 
commission before elevation to the court of appeals, Judge Prentis served as a 
member of the Tax Commission in 1910, member of the Advisory Board on Taxation 
1916, president of the Association of Railway Commissioners 1915-16, and as a 
director of the Confederate Soldiers' Home 1907-1916. 

  Judge Prentis' 15 years on the Supreme bench, six of them as Chief Justice, 
were years filled with complete occupation with his judicial duties.  The 
outstanding achievement of this period was his service in 1927 as chairman of 
the Commission on Revision and Amendment of the Constitution during the Byrd 
administration.  In 1929 he was chairman of the Virginia Judicial Council. 

  In his home town of Suffolk Judge Prentis was widely known for his 
humanities as well as his distinctions.  He was a member of the vestry of St. 
Paul's Episcopal church of years and was one of the most generous financial 
supporters of the parish.  He was always counted upon to give when giving was 
needed for worthy causes. 

  Among the professional, historical and social clubs in which Judge Prentis 
held membership were: American Bar Association, of which he was chairman of 
the judicial section in 1926; American Law Institute, Virginia Bar 
Association, Virginia Historical Society, Virginia Society Colonial Wars, 
Phi Beta Kappa, Chi Phi, Westmoreland, Commonwealth, University (Richmond).

[photo, headed] 
Career Ended

[photo, captioned] 
           -Photo by Hamblin. 
  Late Chief Justice Robert Riddick Prentis, whose funeral will be held here 
at noon tomorrow from St. Paul's Episcopal Church. 

****************************************************************************** 

STATE LEADERS JOIN FAREWELL TO JUDGE PRENTIS 

TRIBUTES PAID JUDGE PRENTIS 

Prominent Local Men Who Knew Late Chief Justice As Fellow Citizen and 
   Public Officer Express Regard. 

  Three tributes paid the memory of Chief Justice R.R. Prentis by Suffolk 
citizens reveal the high regard with which he was held in his home city. 

  Judge James L. McLemore said: "I considered Judge Prentis one of the 
outstanding supreme court judges of this country, and I think it will be 
exceedingly difficult to repair the loss which his death has caused the 
judiciary of the state." 

  Col. J.E. West, expressing the opinion of private citizens of Suffolk, said: 
"Suffolk, the State and Nation sustained an irreparable loss in the death 
Chief Justice Prentis.  He was not only a most eminent judge but a great man 
and one of our most distinguished and beloved citizens." 

  Lee Britt, president of the local bar association, said: "Many years of 
personal friendship and professional contact with Judge Prentis have left an 
indelible impression.  Eminently fitted for the high office he filled with 
distinction, he combined qualities of mind and heart which earned and kept the 
esteem of members of the bar who practiced in his court.  Virginia has lost a 
really great man in death of Chief Justice Prentis." 


[photo, headed] 
Attends Rites

[photo, captioned] 
  Governor John Pollard, led state dignitaries who attend Prentis funeral here 
today. 


DIGNITARIES OF STATE PAY CHIEF JUSTICE HOMAGE 

Leaders of Virginia's Government, Headed By Gov. Pollard, Highest Tribunal 
  Led By Judge Campbell, Attend Last Rites. 

HIGH AND LOW JOIN IN OBSEQUIES TODAY 

Large Concourse Sorrowing Co-Workers Mingle Their Grief With His Neighbors 
   At Bier of Suffolk's Distinguished Citizen. 

  Dignitaries of the state government, led by Governor John G. Pollard, 
members of the supreme court of appeals, led by Chief Justice Preston W. 
Campbell, jurists, prominent members of the Virginia bar and others from a 
distance joined with his homefolks in paying their final farewell to the late 
Robert Riddick Prentis, for fifteen years chief justice of Virginia. 

  The funeral party left the home, 303 N. Main street, for St. Paul's 
Episcopal church at noon where funeral services were conducted by the Rev. 
Herbert N. Tucker, rector of the church, the Rt. Rev. A.C. Thomson, bishop of 
the diocese of Southern Virginia, and the Rev. Dr. Beverly Tucker, rector of 
St. Paul's, Richmond.

Governor Leads Cortege 

  As the funeral party arrived, the flower-laden casket was carried through 
lines formed from the curb to the entrance to St. Paul's by honorary 
pallbearers, with Governor Pollard and Chief Justice Campbell at the head. 

  During the reading of the Episcopal burial service a vested choir sang two 
hymns which had been favorites of Judge Prentis during the half-century of 
his membership in the congregation, "For All Thy Saints," and "How Firm a 
Foundation."  As the casket left the church the choir chanted, "Nunc 
Dimittis." 

  In addition to the large number of out of town people here for the services, 
Suffolk friends of the late chief justice turned out in great numbers, more 
than filling the church.  Even more attended the brief rites at Cedar Hill. 
Rev. Herbert N. Tucker read the committal service. 

  Three truck-loads of flowers were banked about the burial plot and the 
mound. 

The Pallbearers 

  Active pall-bearers were close personal friends and family connections of 
Judge Prentis, Simon Lawrence, Col. John B. Pinner, John P. Pinner, Dr. Peter 
Causey, Bradford Kilby, J. Thornton Withers, Melville Withers and Joe Webb. 

  Honorary pall-bearers included: Governor Pollard, Chief Justice Preston W. 
Campbell, of Abingdon, Justices Henry W. Holt, of Staunton, Louis E. Epes, of 
Blackstone, Edward W. Hudgins, of Chase City, and George L. Browning, of 
Orange, of the supreme court of appeals, H. Stuart Jones, clerk of the supreme 
court; H.H. Wayt, clerk and librarian of the supreme court at Staunton; Lloyd 
M. Richards, librarian of the court, Edwin L. De Raisne, assistant librarian; 
Capt. Joseph B. Johnson, tipstaff of the court, M.B. Watts, secretary to the 
court. 

  Attorney-General John R. Saunders, Edwin H. Gibson, asst. Atty-Gen.; Lester 
H. Hooker, chairman of the State Corporation Commission; J. St. Clair Brown, 
speaker, of the House of Delegates, Thomas W. Ozlin, former speaker; Col. R.L. 
Brewer, former speaker; Col. J.E. West, former Lieut. Governor; Senator E.E. 
Holland and Senator John Lesner, of Norfolk; Judge James L. McLemore, Judge 
J.W. Chinn, member of special court of appeals and Judge Allen R. Hanckle, of 
Norfolk. 


Robert Riddick PRENTIS, Chief Justice, VA Supreme Court of Appeals, 
   former Mayor of Suffolk, 
b. 24 May 1855, Charlottesville, d. 25 Nov 1931, Richmond, 
interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery (Block C, Lot 71*), Suffolk, 27 Nov 1932, 
"Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 9, No. 210, Wed., Nov. 25, 1931, p. 1; 
"Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 9, No. 211, Thurs., Nov. 26, 1931, pp. 1 & 6; 
"Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 9, No. 212, Fri., Nov. 27, 1931, pp. 1 & 5 

*Additional information: 

D.Cert. 26052 (Richmond #2563) 

Cedar Hill list, an extension of the 
   Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/cedar_p.txt 

His photographic portrait & a biographical sketch - added by pMcP - and 
   a photo of his wife's gravestone - added by Allison Stec Bell - 
   are posted with Find a Grave Memorial #59772036. 

His mother (1826 - 1910) is buried in Block D, Lot 33. 

His father (1818 - 1871) is buried in the UVA Cemetery, Charlottesville. 
   He had been the Confederate Collector of Internal Revenue. 


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