University of Virginia Library

JUDGES OF THE COURTS.

SUPERIOR COURT OF LAW.

JUDGE PETER JOHNSTON.

1811-1831.

The subject of this sketch was a son of Peter and Martha Johnston, of
"Longwood," Prince Edward county, Virginia. He was educated at Hampden-Sidney
College, receiving a classical education. At the age of seventeen
he ran off from his home and joined Lee's Legion. Was made a lieutenant.
In 1782 he resigned from Lee's Legion, joined the Light Corps formed
by General Greene, and was adjutant, with the rank of captain. Upon the
close of the Revolutionary war he returned to his father's home, studied
law, and practised his profession in Prince Edward and the adjoining counties.
He was elected a member of the Virginia House of Delegates several
times, and was a member at the time of the celebrated resolutions of 17981799,
and the speech that he made upon this occasion was considered so able

that it was published in full in the Register, then the leading paper in the
United States. In 1811 he was elected a judge of the General Court and

Judge Peter Johnston.

assigned to the Prince Edward Circuit, but he exchanged
circuits with Judge Wm. Brockenbrough,
who had been assigned to the Southwest Virginia
Circuit, and came to Abingdon to live, and for
twenty-one years lived at "Panicello," one-fourth
of a mile east of Abingdon, and presided over the
Superior Court of Law for this district with distinguished
ability for more than twenty years. He
died December 8th, 1831, and was buried near his
home, in this county. He was commissioned a
brigadier-general by the Legislature in early life,
and left a distinguished family of children. His
wife, Mary Johnston, was the daughter of Valentine
Wood and Lucy Henry, his wife, a sister of Patrick Henry and a
woman of distinguished ability. The names of his descendants were John
W. Johnston, Peter Carr Johnston, Edward Johnston, General Jos. E. Johnston,
Beverly Randolph Johnston, Chas. C. Johnston, Benjamin Johnston,
Mrs. Jane C. Mitchell and Algernon Sidney Johnston.

CIRCUIT SUPERIOR COURT OF LAW AND CHANCERY.

BENJAMIN ESTILL.

1831-1852.

The subject of this sketch was the son of Benjamin Estill and Kitty
Moffett, who settled upon 1,400 acres of land that they purchased from

Benjamin Estill.

Colonel Wm. Christian at Hansonville (now in
Russell county, Virginia,) on January 1st, 1779.
Benjamin Estill, Jr., was born on this farm on
the 13th day of March, 1780. He received an academic
education. Studied law, was admitted to
the bar, and settled in Abingdon. He became the
Attorney for the Commonwealth for this county,
and filled the position with distinguished ability
for many years. He was elected a member of the
Legislature from Washington county; proposed
and advocated the formation of the county of
Scott, and gave to the county its name. He was a
great admirer of Winfield Scott, with whom he
agreed in politics, and thus sought to honor him.
To the new county seat was given the name of
Estillville (now Gate City). Such was the popularity of Benj. Estill that
in the year 1825 he was elected to the Nineteenth Congress of the United
States from this district, receiving nearly every vote cast, and serving from
1825-1827. Upon the reorganization of the courts of the Commonwealth,
in the year 1831, he was elected a member of the General Court and assigned
to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, composed of the counties of Lee,
Scott, Russell, Washington and Tazewell, and served with distinguished
ability in this capacity until the year 1852, when he resigned his office and
moved to a farm in Oldham county, Kentucky, where he died and was
buried, his death occurring on July 14th, 1853. Judge Estill was six feet
four inches in height, broad-shouldered and of striking appearance, and is
said to have been the most eloquent man this county has produced in its
history. Persons now living make the statement that the citizens of Abingdon
would close their business houses and crowd the courthouse on the first
day of his court to hear him deliver his charge to the grand jury, such was
his eloquence and attractiveness. While judge of the Circuit Court he lived
in the residence now occupied by Thos. W. White, on Main street, Abingdon,
Virginia, until 1844, and subsequently thereto on a farm about one mile west
of Jonesville, Virginia, on the Mulberry Gap road, and now owned by Judge
Morgan. Fifty years have passed since Judge Estill ceased to move among
the people of Southwest Virginia, still his strong and powerful mind, his
piety, patriotism, eloquence, gentle manners and transcendant legal abilities
are fresh in the memory of our people, and the position attained by him in
the front rank of the men of Southwest Virginia has not been questioned
with the passing of the years. Of him it may be truly said:

What better evidence of the true merit of the man? What a tribute to
his memory.

JUDGE SAMUEL V. FULKERSON.

The subject of this sketch was the son of Abram Fulkerson and Margaret
Vance, and was born at his father's farm (now the John E. Burson farm),

Judge S. V. Fulkerson.

in the lower end of this county, in the year —, but
was principally reared in Grainger county, Tennessee.
He enlisted as a private in Colonel McClelland's regiment
in the Mexican war, and served throughout the
war with distinction. Studied law and began the
practice of his profession at Estillville in 1846. Was
elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of
1850. Was elected judge of this circuit, defeating
Jos. Strass, of Tazewell county, in the year 1856, and
served until the spring of the year 1861, when he was
elected and commissioned colonel of the Thirty-seventh
Virginia Regiment of Infantry, and commanded
this regiment until June 27th, 1862, when he
fell mortally wounded whilst gallantly leading the Third Brigade in a bold
and splendid charge upon one of the enemies' strong positions on the Chickahominy.
He died on the following day, and his remains were interred in
the Sinking Spring Cemetery, Abingdon, Virginia. His career, in the words
of another, was bright, brief and useful, and his name deserves to be inscribed
in the catalogue of the names of the gallant men who died for their
country. Judge Fulkerson was never married.

JOHN A. CAMPBELL.

The subject of this sketch was the son of Edward Campbell. Was born
at Hall's Bottom, in this county, in the year 1823. Educated at the Abingdon

John A. Campbell.

Academy, Emory and Henry College and Virginia
Military Institute. Studied law, and was
licensed in 1846. Was a Whig candidate for the
Legislature from Washington county in 1852.
Member of the Secession Convention of 1861. Commissioned
colonel of the Forty-eighth Virginia Regiment
of Infantry in 1861. Wounded at Winchester,
Virginia, in 1862. Was elected judge of this circuit
in 1863, and served till 1869 with distinguished
ability. Was president of Board of Trustees of
Emory and Henry College for seventeen years. He
was a patriot and the peer of any lawyer that practised
at this bar during the many years of his life.
He married Mary Branch, daughter of Peter Branch, and died without issue
June 17th, 1886.

JUDGE JOHN A. KELLY.

The subject of this sketch was born in Lee county, Virginia, June 23d,
1821. He spent his early life carrying the mail and acquiring an education.
At the age of sixteen he was employed in the clerk's office of Russell county,
and with the assistance of the Rev. James P. Carroll, clerk of the Russell
court, he attended Emory and Henry College. He taught school in Smyth

Judge Jno. A. Kelly.

and Giles counties, and while teaching in the latter
county he studied law under Samuel Peck, with
whom he afterwards formed a partnership. Was admitted
to the bar in 1843. Was cashier of the Northwestern
Bank of Virginia from 1854 until after the
war. After the war he removed to Smyth county and
formed a partnership with Judge Robert A. Richardson,
and enjoyed a lucrative practice. Was elected a
member of the Legislature from Smyth county in
1869; in February, 1870, was elected judge of the
Sixteenth Circuit; assumed this office on April 23d,
1870, and continued to discharge the duties thereof
until 1894, when he declined a reëlection. Judge
Kelly was excellently fitted for the duties of this office, and for nearly
twenty-five years was diligent, upright and learned in the discharge of the
duties of his position. He died at Marion, Virginia, November 17th, 1900.

JUDGE JOHN PRESTON SHEFFEY.

The subject of this sketch was the son of James White Sheffey and Ellen
Fairman Preston, his wife, and was born at Marion, Virginia, December
12th, 1837. He graduated at Emory and Henry College in June, 1857.
Studied law at the University of Virginia 1858-'59, and began the practice

John P. Sheffey.

of law in 1859. Enlisted in the Confederate army,
served as second and first lieutenant, and was elected
captain of Company "A," Eighth Regiment of Virginia
Cavalry, at the reorganization in 1862; was taken
prisoner at Moorefield, Virginia, August 7th, 1864, and
confined in Camp Chase, Ohio, until February, 1865;
was exchanged, and afterwards joined his company at
Appomattox. He resumed the practice of his profession,
and continued until January 1st, 1895, when he
assumed the duties of judge of the Sixteenth Circuit of
Virginia, to which position he had been elected by the
General Assembly of Virginia. Was a member of the
Legislature from Smyth county 1893-'94, and several times a member of
the Council of Marion, Virginia. Was married June 19th, 1863, to Miss
Josephine Spiller, and has seven children, all living.

JUDGE FRANCIS BEATTIE HUTTON.

Was born two miles south of Emory and Henry College, this county,
January 28th, 1858. Is a son of Dr. A. D. Hutton. Was educated in the
public schools of the county, Liberty Hall Academy, and Emory and Henry
College, graduating therefrom June, 1877. He read law under Judge Wm.
V. Deadrick, Blountville, Tennessee, and General A. C. Cummings, Abingdon,

Francis B. Hutton.

Virginia, and at the University of Virginia.
Was admitted to the bar in 1880, and has practised
his profession in Abingdon, in partnership at
first with Professor Jas. H. Gilmore, of Marion, and
afterwards until the present time with Martin H.
Honaker. Was elected judge of the County Court
in December, 1885, which position he resigned in
October, 1886, to accept the position of Assistant
United States Attorney for the Western District of
Virginia, to which position he was appointed by
President Cleveland. He resigned this position upon
the election of President Harrison, and was elected
Commonwealth's Attorney of Washington county in May, 1891, by 2,700
majority. He was elected judge of the Twenty third Judicial Circuit of
Virginia February 12th, 1903.