State

Ош* First Wo an Lawyer Slu* was .Miss T. A. lloHon. «Inu^litcr of a Caiiilforil County Method!»! ininistor. anil slit* obtained her license to practice during the early part of 1878. IMAGINE, if you can. the utter amazement of five North Caro¬ lina Supreme Court Justices 71 years ago when a sprightly young Greensboro girl walked in and ap¬ plied for a license to practice law. It took Chief Justice William Nathan Harrell Smith, of Hertford County, and Associate Justices Reade, Rodman. Bynum and Fair- cloth several minutes to catch their breath on that historic morn¬ ing of January 7. 1878, when Miss T. A. Holton, the daughter of a Guilford County Methodist minis¬ ter became the state’s first woman lawyer and North Carolina became the first Southern state to admit a woman to the bar as a practicing attorney. In those days women lawyers were unheard of in most of the states. Вс be-ribboned and under several layers of stiffly- starched petticoats, most of them stayed demurely at home and at¬ tended to their knitting. But when a trim little brunette of medium height and neatly dressed, ap¬ peared before the State’s highest tribunal with her unusual request Judge Tour gee. of the Guilford County bar. introduced her to the astonished justices explaining apol¬ ogetically that she had no idea of practicing law in North Carolina By EARL ВЕЛЯ but wished to secure a law license as she planned to move to Kansas where there were already a num¬ ber of female lawyers doing a lu¬ crative business. In that state. Judge Tourgee pointed out. two years residence was required by statute before a law license could be issued, whereas a licensed practitioner from another state would be admitted to the bar at once. "Besides." the young lady spoke up. “I regard a license from the state of North Carolina as a safe passport into almost any court of law and invaluable as a certificate of merit." The five Justices, who were nat¬ urally flabergasted, retired to consider the case privately for a few minutes. Then 66-year-old Judge Smith sent for the young lady applicant. He questioned her at great length as to her qualifica¬ tions; asked her about many ob¬ scure points of law that might have slumped many a brilliant veteran lawyer and she answered correctly every time. Justice Smith also found out she could speak four foreign languages fluently. Miss Holton explained quietly that when she first started study¬ ing law she didn't like the idea of being the first woman to apply for a license to practice in North Caro¬ lina because she felt it would make her too conspicuous. When she reached Raleigh, she said, she very nearly gave up the idea entirely but every time she thought of the many weary hours of hard study she had pul into reading law books borrowed from Greensboro attor¬ neys she was more determined than ever to do it or die. She had waited patiently for the winter term of the Supreme Court to open in 1878, never once doubting that she would win her first case before the state’s highest tribunal. Later the justices said they ad¬ mired this little woman’s pluck but could say little as to her judg¬ ment in picking law as a profession in those days when a woman’s place was definitely in the home, not in the courthouse. Nevertheless she was awarded her license to practice law, and when she walked out of the Supreme Court room in Raleigh 71 years ago she was the first woman member of the North Carolina bar. entitled to all the rights and privileges of the pro¬ fession. HOW TO HAVE A NICE GREEN LAWN MR. W. C. Mercer, who works for the Thomas-Yclverton Funeral Home in Wilson, is an ingenious sort of an individual. There's a lawn out in front of the home and he has been looking after it. The lawn has interested quite a number of passers-by during the last few summers because of its beauty and fine texture. Quite frequently people stop in and want to know how it is kept looking so nice. The lawn consists of common wire grass, or Bermuda grass, and the secret of its beauty lies in the care and attention that is given it. Of course it dies on the surface THE STATE. January 29. 1949 during the winter months, but it comes out again the following spring. That drab-colored grass worried Mr. Mercer, however, and the other day he decided to do something about it. He got hold of a spray-gun and purchased several cans of green quick-drying enamel from a local hardware store. Then he started spraying, and today the lawn is just as pretty a thing as you can possibly imagine. He says that the grass will re¬ main green until spring. The color will not fade, and the enamel will not reach the roots of the grass and cause it to die. When spring comes along, he’ll cut it with a lawn-mower and the fresh, live grass will reappear. Maybe other folks will latch on to Mr. Mercer's idea. If the color of green doesn’t appeal to them, we might remind them that the enamel also comes in bright yel¬ low. lavender, purple and cerise. You can take your pick. An airman had to lake lo his para¬ chute owing to engine trouble. On his way through space he met an old lady floating up. "Hey!" he shouted. "Have you noticed n Spitfire going down?" "No." replied the old lady. "Have you seen a gas stove going up?" .11