Judge Robert P. Dick
District Attorney, a member of the State
Senate, t. S. District Judge and a member
of f he Supreme Court of North Carolina, he
was a man of strong convictions which wore
not always popular.
NK of the ablest
Ш.П
wlo~-
name has graced the annals of
the bench and bar of our state
(dgp Robert P. Dick of lim n.-
boro, who became distinguished not
only n« n lawyer and as a inctiiher of
our highest courts, both state and
federal, bill who was one of the out
standing leaders upon the Held of
statesmanship in the most dilKeult
period in the history of our state, lie
was also the founder of one of the
most famous law school, within our
border».
Judge Dick's father, Judge John
M. Dick, was several times a inemlter
of the Senate from Guilford County,
and for more than twenty years tilled
with conspicuous ability the office of
Sujierior Court Judge of the Greens¬
boro district, at which place his fa¬
mous son. Judge Robert P. Dick, was
born in 18J3. Young Dick «a* pre¬
pared for college at the fain on. acad¬
emy of Rev. David Caldwell, follow¬
ing which he matriculated at the I'ni-
vorsity, where he graduated with high
distinction in the class of I > III. lie
then read law under Judge IVar-nii
at “Richmond Hill" and lieing nd-
mitted to the bar in 18-15, lie soon
settled ut Greensboro where hi- life
was spent.
Appointed District Attorney
His ability was so pronounced, hi»
gift» for leadership so obvious that
in 1853 although he had been at the
bar hut eight years, he was appointed
by President Pierce as I'nitud State-
District Attorney for .North Caro¬
lina; an office which In- tilled with
tact and sympathetic understanding
during the trying i«cri«»l prior to the
Civil War, when it was inanife-l that
North and South were drifting fur¬
ther apart, and when political feeling
arrayed neighbor against neighlsir.
Finally, in February ls61, when it
became manifest that war was in¬
evitable, Mr. Dick resigned hi- office
under the Federal government.
He Udonged to that wing of the
Democratic party which favored the
election of Senator Stephen A. D»ug
la» (hi* relative bv marriage) the
By
К.
C. I-AW Kt\(i:
"Little Giant” from Illinois, to the
Presidency, and lie wn» a delegate to
the Democrat ie National Convention
which met at Charleston in 1800,
where he cast the Vote which gave to
Senator Dougin» a majority in that
convention. No nomination being then
po--ible. tile convention adjourned to
meet in Haiti more at a subsequent
date, but before the adjourned meet¬
ing could be held, it became appar¬
ent that public sentiment in this state
favored the Hell- H reek in ridge ticket,
and therefore when the Haltiinorc
convention was held, no delegates
from North Carolina appeared save
Mr. Dick. Courageous as always, put¬
ting what be believed to be principle
above expediency, and being more¬
over a strong believer in the Federal
I'nion, be not only participated in the
Haltimore Convention, but served as
F.lector-at- Large for the Douglas-
Johnson national ticket; and also as
a member of the National Executive
Committee of that wing of the party.
lie held strong convictions that the
Civil War was ill-advised and that
the South could not possibly right her
wrongs through «erosion. Moreover,
as a matter of Constitutional law he
did not believe a state possessed a
legal right to secede. Ilis position was
that the troubles between the sections
should, and could, 1“' adjusted within
the I’nion. Ili« views were well known
and were approved by the people of
Guilford, as lie was elected as a dele¬
gate to the convention of 1861 which
adopted the Ordinance of Sec-s-ion,
which he signed after making a strong
Verbal protest, and after he made
several ineffectual efforts to have the
< 'oust it ut ion of the Confederacy sub¬
mitted to a Vote of the people.
On the Council of State
While he was pronounced in hi»
advocacy of the I'nion, vet so high
was his character, and so well known
was his patriotic devotion to the state,
that although they differed jiolili-
oally, Mr. Dick served as a member of
the Council of State during the nn-t
of the administration «if Governor
Vance.
The hitter part of the war found
him an ailvocate of peace and in favor
of restoring the state to the I’nion
upon the best terms possible; and on
this platform he was elected to the
Senate from Guilford in I •*'64. In
1 865 when, as he had foreseen, the
< onfederacy co!lap.-ed. he wn» one of
the few North Carolinians invited to
Washington by President Johnson to
discus, the conditions on which the
-tut . . lie restored to the I'nion.
At thi.» conference he strongly advo¬
cated its restoration under the old
< Constitution with only such changes
as were made necessary by the aboli¬
tion of slavery; and he also earnestly
sought a general amnesty for all those
who had takeu a part in the Civil
War whether in military or civil life.
The recent assassination of President
Lincoln, however, had so iullniucd
public feeling in the North that a
general amnesty could not then lie
obtained.
District Judge
In May 1865, Mr. Dick wn. up-
poiuted by President Johnson as
United States District Jmlge f«ir
North Carolina, a position which he
held but a short time when be re¬
signed, In-cause he refused to take the
"iron chid test oath" required by a
then recent act of < 'ongl'css to he
taken by all Federal officers. Itinucdi-
n tidy he was elected as a delegate from
Guilford to the Constitutional Con-
vention of 1865, in which he favored
the measures which be believed ware
the beat terms that could then be ole
tained from the Federal government
for the read mission of the state to the
Union.
The Constitution submitted to the
people by this Convention was not
adopted, and another Constitutional
Convention was held in 1868 which
made far-reaching changes in the law
theretofore in force. Prior to 186-s
law ami equity were administered in
-i parat.- courts, and the common law
(Continued on page twenty-six)
