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Lunsford L. Lewis

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Lunsford L. Lewis
Oil on canvas portrait of Lunsford Lewis, by William G. Browne, Jr.
United States Attorney for the
Eastern District of Virginia
In office
1910–1912
Appointed byWilliam Howard Taft
Succeeded byD. Lawrence Groner
Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia
In office
November 10, 1882 – December 31, 1894
Appointed byWilliam E. Cameron
Preceded byRichard C. L. Moncure
Succeeded byJames Keith
Personal details
Born
Lunsford Lomax Lewis

(1846-03-17)March 17, 1846
Rockingham, Virginia, U.S.
DiedMarch 13, 1920(1920-03-13) (aged 73)
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Alma materUniversity of Virginia (LL.B.)

Lunsford Lomax Lewis (March 17, 1846 – March 13, 1920) was a Virginia attorney, judge and political figure.

Biography

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Lewis was born in Rockingham County, Virginia. His boyhood was spent in the valley of Virginia and he was educated at Center College in Kentucky and the University of Virginia. He graduated in 1867 with a Bachelor of Laws degree and was admitted to the bar.

He began practice in Culpeper, Virginia, and was soon designated by the United States Government as Commonwealth's Attorney for several counties in the northern part of the state. When he was only twenty-seven, Lewis was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. He was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals in 1882 and served on the court through 1894, becoming its president when the court convened in January 1883.[1] His term expired on January 1, 1895, and Judge Lewis resumed the practice of law in Richmond. Lewis was president of the Virginia Bar Association during 1900–1901.[2]

In December 1902, he was again appointed United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, this time being appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1905, he ran for Governor of Virginia, but was defeated, losing to Democrat Claude A. Swanson, and receiving 35.09% of the vote.[3]

From 1910 to 1912, he was U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District once again, but resigned and practiced law until a few months before his death.

References

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  1. ^ "Lunsford Lomax Lewis, November 10, 1882-December 31, 1894 (President, January 5, 1883-December 31, 1894)". Virginia Appellate Court History. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  2. ^ Lunsford Lomax Lewis, in Men of Mark in Virginia: Ideals of American Life, by Lyon Gardiner Tyler, 1907, p. 247-250.
  3. ^ "Our Campaigns - VA Governor Race - Nov 07, 1905". Retrieved May 1, 2016.
Party political offices
Preceded by
John Hampton Hoge
Republican nominee for Governor of Virginia
1905
Succeeded by
William P. Kent