Abram Penn Staples Explained

Office:Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia
Term Start:October 7, 1947
Term End:January 15, 1951
Predecessor:George L. Browning
Successor:Lemuel F. Smith
Order2:24th
Office2:Attorney General of Virginia
Term Start2:March 22, 1934
Term End2:October 7, 1947
Governor2:George C. Peery
James H. Price
Colgate Darden
William M. Tuck
Predecessor2:John R. Saunders
Successor2:Harvey B. Apperson
State Senate3:Virginia
District3:21st
Term Start3:January 11, 1928
Term End3:March 22, 1934
Preceded3:R. Holman Willis
Succeeded3:Harvey B. Apperson
Birth Name:Abram Penn Staples
Birth Date:18 September 1885
Birth Place:Martinsville, Virginia, U.S.
Death Place:Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Party:Democratic
Alma Mater:Washington & Lee University
Spouse:Jean Duncan Watts
Signature:Abram Penn Staples signature.png

Abram Penn Staples (September 18, 1885 – March 21, 1951) was a Virginia lawyer, legislator and jurist. He served for eleven years as the Attorney General of Virginia, and four years as a justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Early and family life

Staples was born at Martinsville, Virginia in 1885 to Abram Penn Staples (1858–1913), a prominent Virginia lawyer and his wife. His grandfather, Samuel Granville Staples, was the elected clerk of the Circuit Court of Patrick County, Virginia and had signed the Articles of Secession in 1861. His uncle, Waller Redd Staples sat of the Virginia Court of Appeals from 1870 to 1881 and for three of those years also on the faculty of the Washington and Lee University School of Law. When young Abram was a child, his family moved to Roanoke, where he attended Roanoke High School. In 1904, because of poor health (and to facilitate his children's education), Abram Staples Sr. joined the Washington and Lee University law faculty, where he became a beloved law professor until his death in a Roanoke hospital in 1913.[1] Meanwhile, this Abram Staples studied as an undergraduate at Washington and Lee University, and received a Bachelor of Law degree in 1908.

Career

Entering into practice at Roanoke in 1908, Staples soon made a name for himself as an exceptional lawyer. In 1924, he was elected President of the Roanoke Bar Association and, in 1927, was elected to the Virginia Senate (a part-time position), and was re-elected in 1931.[2]

He was appointed Attorney General of Virginia in March 1934 to fill out the term of John R. Saunders (who had died in office). He won election to that office in 1937 against Republican Gerould M. Rumble. He was reelected in 1941 and 1945.

In August 1947, the Virginia General Assembly elected Staples to the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia. He served on that court until he retired in January 1951, because of failing health. Staples was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Delta Phi, and Omicron Delta Kappa.

Notes and References

  1. Web site:

    Faculty :: W&L Law School

    . 6 March 2017.
  2. Book: Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Virginia: Session 1928. 1920. Virginia State Library. Richmond.