North Carolina Civil War Supreme Court Judge’s Legacy
By Keshia Horn
Situated at the end of a long driveway in East Bend, North Carolina is a place filled with Civil War history. One of the most notable people from North Carolina history once called Yadkin County home. North Carolina Chief Supreme Court Justice Richmond Mumford Pearson lived and worked in what is known as Richmond Hill. During the spring and summer months, Judge Pearson would turn his country estate into a law school. For thirty year, from 1848 to 1878, hundreds of students would make from Raleigh to East Bend to be taught by one of the most revered judges in North Carolina and arguably, the nation.
Chief Justice Pearson was a man who upheld the law. He felt it was his civic duty to not delay a ruling or to be unjust. According to Pearson, justice delayed was justice denied. As a lawman, he was stern and hard to read at times but he was fair. He would not make a ruling on any case unless he had heard and understood all the facts. Pearson was patient and attentive when it came to presiding over court cases; he would also give his associates the benefit of his reflection and learning. However, it would be Chief Justice Pearson’s stance on the Confederate cause that would land him in the national press.
Pearson was no stranger to the Southern way of owning slaves. Pearson owned many slaves but he upheld the constitutional supremacy of the federal government. Therefore, he was strongly opposed to the succession of the Southern States. Pearson became widely known throughout the states for his rulings on the conscription of men into the Confederate Army. His most notable ruling came in 1862 when he ruled that the Governor of North Carolina had no authority to use state militia to enforce Confederate conscription laws. Ultimately, his decision was denounced by Confederate civil and military authorities but Governor Zebulon Vance would uphold his ruling. Pearson didn’t see the Confederate States as a legitimate governing body. To Pearson, this meant that they could not force civilians to fight against the constitution.
The home was used by the Chief Justice and his second wife, Mary McDowell Bynum, from about 1859 until Chief Justice Pearson’s death in 1878. It then began the process of being passed from one owner to another until it was left unoccupied for years. In the 1970s, a group from Yadkin County began the slow process of restoration. Now the Pearson Home has been turned into the Richmond Hill Law School & Nature Park that features two picnic shelters, walking trails, and a museum of Pearson Family items. The park can be used at anytime but prior notice is needed to use picnic shelters. The Law School is open every third Sunday from 1 to 5, March to November.
© 2011 Keshia Horn
