Eppa Hunton IV

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Eppa Hunton IV
A black-and-white photographic portrait of a middle-aged man from the shoulders up, wearing a suit, with a necktie, and eyeglasses
Portrait of Hunton, c. 1950s
Born(1904-07-31)July 31, 1904
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
DiedNovember 23, 1976(1976-11-23) (aged 72)
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Burial placeHollywood Cemetery
EducationUniversity of Virginia (BA, LLB)
OccupationLawyer
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Caroline Homassel Marye
​
​
(m. 1936; died 1962)​
Children3
FatherEppa Hunton Jr.
Eppa Hunton IV's voice
Arguing for Seaboard Air Line Railroad in the case U.S. v. Seaboard Air Line R.R. Co.
Recorded October 19, 1959
Signature
Cursive signature of Eppa Hunton IV

Eppa Hunton IV (July 31, 1904 – November 23, 1976) was an American lawyer. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he graduated from the University of Virginia and its law school before returning to his hometown, where, excepting his overseas military service in World War II, he resided the remainder of his life. The only son of Eppa Hunton Jr., in 1927 he joined the firm his father co-founded—Hunton, Williams, Anderson & Gay (now Hunton Andrews Kurth)—and practiced corporate law, eventually becoming a senior partner.

Hunton was an influential figure in Richmond society for nearly half a century. He was a longtime director of the First & Merchants Bank, was active in Democratic politics, served for many years on the boards of visitors of the Medical College of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University, including a period as rector of the latter, and held membership in a multitude of civic and cultural organizations.

Early life and family

An eight-month-old Hunton posing with his parents, Eppa Hunton Jr. and Virginia Semmes Hunton, in the spring of 1905

Childhood and education

Hunton was born on July 31, 1904, in Richmond, Virginia, the only son of the former Virginia Semmes Payne (1867–1941) and Eppa Hunton Jr. (1855–1932), a prominent local attorney.[1][2] The elder Hunton had moved south with his wife and father from Warrenton, Virginia, just three years earlier to found a legal practice with Beverley B. Munford, E. Randolph Williams, and Henry W. Anderson.[3] Both of the younger Hunton's grandfathers, Eppa Hunton and William H. F. Payne, were brigadier generals in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, and both served in public office after the war, the former in the Virginia House of Delegates and the latter in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate.[2] He was christened at St. James' Episcopal Church in Warrenton by Bishop Alfred Magill Randolph.[4]

Hunton matriculated at the private, all-boy Chamberlayne School in Richmond (today known as St. Christopher's) and Episcopal High School in Alexandria, followed by the University of Virginia, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1925.[5][6][7] He then attended the University of Virginia School of Law, earning a Bachelor of Laws in 1927.[8] Among the law school's professors at the time were Charles A. Graves, William Minor Lile, and Armistead Dobie. While in Charlottesville, Hunton was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, like his father, the legal honor society Phi Delta Phi, and the Eli Banana secret society.[2][7] He was an assistant manager of the university's football team during its 1923 season.[9][10]

Marriage

Hunton married Caroline Homassel Marye at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on September 28, 1936, in a ceremony officiated by Beverley D. Tucker Jr. and Arthur B. Kinsolving. Dr. Kinloch Nelson, a college classmate and the future dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, served as his best man. A reception followed at the home of the bride's parents on Monument Avenue, after which the couple sailed from New York City to Europe for their honeymoon.[11][12] They went on to have three children: Caroline, Virginia, and Eppa V.[1][13]

Career

Hunton in his office at Hunton, Williams, Gay, Powell & Gibson in 1960

Law, banking, and business

Hunton was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1926 and joined the law firm his father co-founded, then known as Hunton, Williams, Anderson & Gay, in September of the following year, shortly after his graduation from law school. He was promoted to partner in June 1934.[14][13] Other named partners included Thomas B. Gay and Lewis F. Powell Jr., before the firm adopted the name Hunton & Williams on April 1, 1976.[15]

In addition to holding official roles as a rotating member and, later, as chair of the firm's executive committee from 1960 to 1974, Hunton was described by Powell as the firm's "social chairman."[16] He was widely adored as a unifying force in the firm and as the custodian of its social traditions.[15] A friend said that, in the courtroom, he relied on "soft persuasion and a gracious manner of the Old South to get the jury to go along with him," and a fellow partner opined that "he would fit into the scene of the last century much more easily than most of us."[17] Clients he managed included the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, the Life Insurance Company of Virginia, Stewart-Warner, and the Virginia Hospital Association.[8][18][19] He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States on May 27, 1935, and argued a case before the Warren Court on behalf of Seaboard Air Line in 1959.[20][21]

Hunton was, from 1932 until his death, a director of the First & Merchants National Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in the state, and, from 1968, a director of the First & Merchants Corporation.[8][18][22] He was a vice president and counsel of the Boulevard Bridge Corporation.[23]

Civic life

In 1933, Hunton campaigned as a Democrat for one of Richmond's six seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, running on a liberal platform that included support for the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[8][24] Despite a respectable showing in the crowded party primary election, besting around three-quarters of the other 29 candidates, he was unsuccessful in securing a spot on the November general election ballot.[25] He was elected to the Richmond City Democratic Committee from Lee Ward in August 1939, receiving more votes than any other candidate.[26] A year later, he tendered his resignation to chair Robert T. Barton Jr., citing his disapproval of Franklin D. Roosevelt's campaign for a third term in the 1940 presidential election but expressing his commitment towards seeing down-ballot Democratic candidates elected.[27]

Representatives of the Medical College of Virginia at the groundbreaking for the school's second dental building in 1967. Hunton is second from the left.

Hunton was long associated with the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He was first appointed to the board of visitors of MCV in 1932 by Governor John Garland Pollard, in the place of his deceased father, and served until 1951.[28] During World War II, he served as an adjutant in North Africa and Italy with the United States Army's 45th General Hospital, a unit staffed by MCV faculty. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and was discharged with the rank of major. During his service, he contracted an eye disease, which caused him to lose almost all vision in one eye.[15] He was later reappointed to three further four-year terms on the MCV board: from 1954 to 1958, from 1959 to 1963, and from 1964 to 1968.[29] He was chair of the board from 1960 to 1963.[13][30][31]

In 1967, Hunton served on Virginia's Commission to Plan for the Establishment of a Proposed State-Supported University in the Richmond Metropolitan Area, known unofficially as the "Wayne Commission", which recommended the merger of MCV and the Richmond Professional Institute to form VCU.[32] Once the school was established, he was appointed to its board of visitors by Mills Godwin.[13] Virginius Dabney was appointed the first rector of the university and faced student protests due to his association with the Byrd Machine and massive resistance; he ultimately resigned on July 31, 1969.[33] Hunton was appointed to succeed him and served until his own resignation in September 1970, citing conflicts of interest arising out of his firm's representation of the school over the years.[34][35]

Hunton served for many years on the boards of the Confederate Memorial Literary Society and Confederate Memorial Association. In 1946, he helped oversee the merger of the latter with the Virginia Historical Society; he was a member of that organization's board from then until his death and was its president from 1966 to 1969.[8][22][36] In 1933, he was appointed a member of the Founders Committee of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.[37] He was a member of the American and Virginia Bar Associations, the Society of the Cincinnati, the Commonwealth Club, and the Country Club of Virginia.[13][7] He was a longtime vestryman and senior warden of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.[1][23]

Hunton receiving VCU's Wayne Medal in 1971. From left to right are: Edward A. Wayne; Robert A. Wilson, university rector; Hunton; and Dr. Warren W. Brandt, university president.

Later life and death

In 1971, Hunton was awarded the inaugural Edward A. Wayne Medal for distinguished service to VCU. Wayne was chair of the Wayne Commission and a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.[38][14] On May 15, 1976, at VCU's spring commencement, Hunton and Virginius Dabney were awarded the school's first honorary degrees: a Doctor of Laws for Hunton and a Doctor of Humane Letters for Dabney.[39]

On November 23, 1976, at approximately 7:00 pm, a truck collided with Hunton's car on River Road, close to his home in Henrico County. He was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond, where he died at 7:50 pm of injuries caused by the accident.[1][35] Following services at St. Paul's Church, he was buried in Hollywood Cemetery, alongside his wife, who preceded him in death fourteen years earlier, his parents, and his paternal grandparents.[22][40]

The year after his death, Hunton & Williams established the Eppa Hunton IV Memorial Book Award at the University of Virginia School of Law, which is presented annually to a third-year student "who has demonstrated unusual aptitude in litigation courses and shown a keen awareness and understanding of the lawyer’s ethical and professional responsibility".[41] In 1989, VCU named the First Baptist Church building Hunton Hall (now the Hunton Student Center) in honor of Hunton and his father for their many years of service to MCV and VCU.[42]

In 1996, Hunton's former residence at 6705 River Road, designed by William Lawrence Bottomley, was moved from Henrico to the campus of the University of Richmond, where it is now the centerpiece of the Jepson Alumni Center.[43]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Eppa Hunton IV Is Crash Victim". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vol. 126, no. 329. November 24, 1976. pp. A1, A2. Retrieved September 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c History of Virginia. Vol. 5. Chicago/New York: American Historical Society. 1924. pp. 2–4. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Hon. Eppa Hunton To Practice Here". The Richmond Times. Vol. 16, no. 208. October 8, 1901. p. 3. Retrieved September 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Hunton, Eppa (1933). Autobiography of Eppa Hunton. Richmond: William Byrd Press. pp. 231–235. Retrieved August 16, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ "Chamberlayne School's Ninth Session Comes To End; Annual Address by Jennings C. Wise". The Richmond News Leader. No. 7275 (Home ed.). June 14, 1920. p. 2. Retrieved September 11, 2022 – via Virginia Chronicle.
  6. ^ "Society". The Richmond News Leader. No. 7305 (Home ed.). September 16, 1920. p. 6. Retrieved September 11, 2022 – via Virginia Chronicle.
  7. ^ a b c "Advance Guard of Young Lawyer Members". American Bar Association Journal. Vol. 15, no. 3. Chicago: American Bar Association. March 1929. pp. 157–158. Retrieved September 11, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Candidates Who Will Offer for Office Here Tuesday in the Democratic Primary". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vol. 88, no. 209 (City ed.). July 28, 1933. p. 8. Retrieved August 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Corks & Curls. Vol. 40. Charlottesville: University of Virginia. 1927. p. 108. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  10. ^ Written at Charlottesville, Virginia. "Managers Are Named For Teams At Virginia". The Evening Star. No. 28758. Washington, D.C. January 24, 1923. p. 24. Retrieved September 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Homassel Marye, Eppa Hunton IV To Marry Today". The Richmond News Leader. No. 12241 (Home ed.). September 28, 1936. p. 18. Retrieved August 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Miss Homassel Marye Wed To Mr. Eppa Hunton 4th". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vol. 86, no. 273. September 29, 1936. p. 12. Retrieved August 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b c d e Who's Who In America: Bicentennial Edition. Marquis Who's Who In America. Vol. 1 (39th ed.). Skokie: Rand McNally & Co. (published 1976). 1976–77. p. 1542. ISBN 0837901391. Retrieved September 4, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  14. ^ a b "Eppa Hunton IV Receives Medal For Service". The Medicovan. Vol. 24, no. 9. Richmond, Virginia: Medical College of Virginia. December 1971. p. 6. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  15. ^ a b c Freeman, Anne Hobson (1989). The Style of a Law Firm: Eight Gentlemen from Virginia (1st ed.). Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books. pp. 121, 163, 189–190, 207, 252. ISBN 0945575254. Retrieved August 28, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  16. ^ Jeffries, John C. Jr. (1994). Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 187. ISBN 0684194503. Retrieved August 21, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  17. ^ Andrews, Robert M. (June 17, 1960). "Hunton Is a Retiring, Old-Style Gentleman". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vol. 110, no. 169. p. 6. Retrieved August 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b St. John, Stephen Craig (May 1974). Power, Elitism, and Lawyers: An Examination of the Richmond Legal Establishment and Its Impact on the Making of Social and Economic Policy Within the Commonwealth of Virginia (BA Hons thesis). University of Richmond. pp. 34, E2. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  19. ^ "Charter Changes". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vol. 82, no. 113. April 22, 1932. p. 19. Retrieved September 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Monday, May 27, 1935" (PDF). Journal of the Supreme Court of the United States. Supreme Court of the United States (published October 8, 1935). 1934–35. p. 228. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  21. ^ Rossman, George (January 1960). "Review of Recent Supreme Court Decisions". American Bar Association Journal. Vol. 46, no. 1. Chicago: American Bar Association. pp. 84–85. Retrieved September 4, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  22. ^ a b c "Hunton Rites Set Friday". The Danville Register. No. 31206. Richmond, Virginia. Associated Press. November 25, 1976. p. 8A. Retrieved August 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ a b Gay, Thomas B. (1971). The Hunton Williams Firm and Its Predecessors, 1877–1954. Vol. 1. Richmond: Lewis Printing Company. p. 380.
  24. ^ "Voters Are Given Opportunity to Study Platforms of Candidates for House". The Richmond News Leader. No. 11251 (Home ed.). July 31, 1933. p. 13. Retrieved August 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Our House Delegation". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vol. 88, no. 214 (City ed.). August 3, 1933. p. 6. Retrieved August 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "How Democrats in Richmond Cast Their Ballots Yesterday, by Wards and Precincts". The Richmond News Leader. No. 13128 (Home ed.). August 2, 1939. p. 3. Retrieved August 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "City Democratic Committee Loses Support of Hunton". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vol. 90, no. 245. September 1, 1940. p. 6. Retrieved August 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Eppa Hunton, IV On College Board". The Richmond News Leader. No. 10819 (Home ed.). March 9, 1932. p. 4. Retrieved August 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "Four New Members Named to Board of Visitors". The Medicovan. Vol. 12, no. 6. Richmond, Virginia: Medical College of Virginia. September 1959. p. 1. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  30. ^ "Eppa Hunton IV Named Chairman Of MCV Board". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vol. 110, no. 154. June 4, 1960. p. 5. Retrieved August 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Eppa Hunton, IV, New Chairman of Board of Visitors". The Medicovan. Vol. 13, no. 5. Richmond, Virginia: Medical College of Virginia. June 1960. p. 1. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  32. ^ Report of the Commission to Plan for the Establishment of a Proposed State-Supported University in the Richmond Metropolitan Area (Report). Richmond: Commonwealth of Virginia. November 1967. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  33. ^ "Hunton Elected To Succeed Dabney As Rector". The Medicovan. Vol. 22, no. 6. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia Commonwealth University. September 1969. p. 3. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  34. ^ "Hunton resigns as Board rector". The Commonwealth Times. Vol. 2, no. 5. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia Commonwealth University. September 24, 1970. p. 1. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  35. ^ a b Written at Richmond, Virginia. "Prominent Attorney Dies After Accident". Daily Press. Vol. 81, no. 328. Newport News, Virginia. United Press International. November 25, 1976. p. 35. Retrieved August 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ "Richmond time capsule bears insights into past". The Free Lance–Star. Richmond, Virginia. May 16, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  37. ^ "Gov. Pollard Names Founders Committee for Arts Museum". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vol. 88, no. 127. May 7, 1933. p. 11. Retrieved September 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ "Wins Award". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vol. 121, no. 321. November 19, 1971. p. 10B. Retrieved September 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ^ "1st VCU Honorary Degrees To Go to Dabney, Hunton". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vol. 126, no. 121. April 30, 1976. p. B8. Retrieved September 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ^ "Mrs. Hunton Funeral Set Tomorrow". The Richmond News Leader. No. 21167 (Late Home ed.). July 16, 1962. p. 22. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  41. ^ "Annual Law School Awards, Fellowships and Honors". University of Virginia School of Law. April 27, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  42. ^ Lepley, Pamela DiSalvo (January 25, 2007). "Hunton Student Center grand reopening honors VCU's history". VCU News. Richmond, Virginia. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  43. ^ Mullen, Betsy Powell (March 9, 1996). "The Bottomley House". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vol. 146, no. 69 (City ed.). pp. E1–E2. Retrieved September 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
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