Judge, Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
Stafford G. Whittle was born on December 5, 1849 at the family home "Woodstock" in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. He received his early education in Norfolk but, when the Civil War began, he continued his studies with a tutor at his father’s home in Botetourt County. Later, he attended Chatham Male Institute in Pittsylvania County and entered Washington College when he was eighteen. The following year, 1868, he studied law at the University of Virginia. In 1871, he was admitted to the bar and began practice in Martinsville, Virginia. Ten years later, February 1, 1881, he was appointed judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit. He served there until March 1882, when he was defeated by the Readjuster Party. In 1885, however, he was elected for the full term and served until he was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals in 1901. He became president of the court in 1917 and continued so until 1919 when he resigned. Returning to Martinsville, Whittle spent the remaining years with his family until his death on September 11, 1931.
Papers of Stafford Gorman Whittle in Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
© by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
1800s