Theodore Stanford Garnett, Jr.

GARNETT, THEODORE STANFORD, lawyer, was born in Richmond, Virginia, October 28, 1844, and is the son of Theodore S. and Florentina I. (Moreno) Garnett . His father was a civil engineer, and was distinguished for integrity, energy, and ability. Mrs. Florentina Garnett, wife of Theodore S., Sr., and mother of Theodore S., Jr., was the daughter of Francisco Moreno, a Spaniard, who settled in Pensacola, Florida, when Florida was still a Spanish colony.

The Garnetts are one of the most distinguished families in Virginia. The founder of the family in America was John, who settled in Gloucester county, Virginia, early in the colonial period. Some of John's descendants removed to Essex county, Virginia, where they became the progenitors of some of the most eminent Virginians, such as James Mercer Garnett, the famous agriculturist and rural economist; Robert Selden, the congressman; Richard B. and Robert Selden, Jr., prominent soldiers of the Southern Confederacy; Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett, a prominent political leader of the last generation; and James Mercer Garnett (his brother) one of the best living scholars of the present day.

In his childhood and youth, Theodore S. Garnett was active, healthy, and strong, fond of outdoor and athletic sports. He had no tasks except such as were entirely voluntary and afforded amusement. At ten years of age, he learned something of bricklaying, during a summer vacation — and he believes that every boy should be taught some form of manual labor. His elementary education was received at the Episcopal high school, of Virginia, and he took higher academic studies at the University of Virginia while studying law. In between these two periods of study, he gave four years of his life to the service of his state in the War between the Sections. At seventeen years of age he obeyed the call of Virginia, and enrolled himself in her forces. First he served in the Hanover artillery; afterward, he served as a private in company F, 9th Virginia cavalry; was a courier for General J. E. B. Stuart, and was promoted January 27, 1864 aide-de-camp. After General Stuart's death, he was reappointed first lieutenant of the Provisional Army Confederate States and assigned to duty on the staff of General W. H. F. Lee, and on March 1, 1865, was made captain and assistant adjutant general of General W. P. Roberts's North Carolina cavalry brigade, and served as such up to the surrender at Appomattox. In October, 1900, he was elected major-general commanding Virginia division of United Confederate veterans.

After the war, young Captain Garnett entered the University of Virginia, to complete his academic education and to study law. At that institution, he came under the influence of John B. Minor, the great law professor, and of William H. McGuffey, the famous professor of moral philosophy; scholars differing widely in mental characteristics and in methods of teaching, and yet both well fitted to influence a young man in the formative period of life.

After completing his course at the University of Virginia, Theodore S. Garnett was licensed to practice law, which was his profession through his own personal choice, influenced to some extent by the advice of his elder brother, and which he has pursued continuously in the state and federal courts since 1869. He served three years (1870-73) as judge of Nansemond county, Virginia. For over thirty years, he has practiced in Norfolk, Virginia, where he stands high with his colleagues at the bar and with his fellow-citizens in general.

Judge, Garnett is a member of the Virginia state library board, of the board of trustees of the Virginia Theological seminary and high school, a member of the Virginia bar association and of the American bar association. Recently he was elected to membership in the Phi Beta Kappa society of the College of William and Mary, a just recognition of his high attainments.

From his youth to the present time, Judge Garnett has “borne without abuse the grand old name of gentleman.” Fortunate in his parentage and rearing, fortunate in his early opportunities for study and reading, he has not only maintained the prestige of his family, but has earned personally high and honorable positions and reputation.

Judge Garnett has been twice married: first to Emily Eyre Baker, of Norfolk, Virginia; second, to Mrs. Louisa Bowdoin, of Northampton county, Virginia. His home is in Norfolk, Virginia.

SOURCE: Lyon G. Tyler, Editor, Men of Mark in Virginia: Ideals of American Life, Vol. 4, p. 134-6