Norfolk City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Land, Walter Henry October 1945
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Diane Renfrow dianel14@gmail.com November 21, 2013, 4:56 pm

Norfolk Journal and Guide, Saturday, Oct 13,1945
Norfolk - Walter Henry Land of 523 Cumberland street, dean of colored lawyers in
Tidewater, VA, who practiced in this city for 47 years, died at Norfolk General
Hospital at 4:15 a.m., Tuesday in his 75th year.

Mr. Land,widely-known throughout Virginia, North Carolina, and other parts of
the country, had been ailing since March last.  His death came while he was in
the hospital for the third trip since that time.

A native of Norfolk, the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Land, one of this
states historic Negro families, Walter Land, as he was best known, made an
eminent success in the practice of law, which he began here in 1898, soon after
graduating from Howard University Law School in June of that year.

From his birth his opportunity to gain an education was assured.  His father was
a pioneer realtor, and property owner having virtually developed most of the
Barboursville section of Norfolk.  Also the elder Land taught in the public
schools, became a city magistrate and a member of the city school board during
the Reconstruction era.

The son, Walter H. after finishing the public schools, entered Virginia
Collegiate Institute, now Virginia State College, at Petersburg, from which he
graduated.  He next began the study of law at Howard.  For a period of 14 years
he was the only Negro lawyer practicing in the city, and at the time of his
death was the oldest man of his race in the legal profession in this section. 
He was the first president of the Norfolk Colored Bar Association.

Mr. Land was a prominent member of the First Baptist Church, Bute street, where
before his health began to decline, he served as a member of the choir.

A man of striking physical appearance, the lawyer was an outstanding sportsman.
 He was a founder of the famed Tidewater Fair of Suffolk, VA, chairman of its
board of directors and starter of the horse races up until the Fair in October,
1944.  He also aided materially in the establishing of the Ahoskie, NC, Fair and
served as starter of the races in that annual event.  A devoted huntsman, in his
more active years he regularly took to the forest and fields with gun and dogs.

Incidentally, with Mr. Land’s death, the last of that group of far-sighted men
who founded the Tidewater Fair has gone to the grave.

Formerly the deceased was a member of some of the city’s most prominent social
clubs such as the Acme, and the Orioles, and was for some time a member of the
Philharmonic Glee Club.  For several years up until the time of his death, Mr.
Land was grand lodge officer in the IBPOE of W., being grand master of social
session.

The survivors include three daughters,  Mrs. Vera Land Brown, Mrs. Bernice L.
Hawkins and Mrs. Lola Land Riddick;  two sons, Walter H. land Jr., and Branch C.
Land, the latter of Atlanta, GA;  two sisters, Mrs. Marcella Land Paige and Mrs.
Ella Land Faulkner, and one brother, Russell N. Land of New York.

Funeral services for Mr. Land will be held at 3 p.m. Friday at First Baptist
Church, Bute street with the pastor, the Rev. R. H. Bowling, officiating.

The body of Mr. Land will lie in state at the church Friday, from ten to three
o’clock.


Additional Comments:
Calvary Cemetery

LAND, WALTER H 471 Section 15, Block 15, Lot 9, Space NW 76 M 01/01/1945

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