John B. Minor - Law and University Career

Law and University Career

Minor began to practice law at Buchanan, in Botetourt county, and after six years moved to Charlottesville, where he formed a partnership with his brother Lucian, who later became Professor of Law at William and Mary. In 1845, when thirty-two years old, John B. was appointed Chair of Law at the University of Virginia, succeeding H. St. George Tucker, and remained the only instructor in that department until 1851. Upon the appointment of James Philemon Holcombe as Adjunct Professor of Constitutional and International Law, Mercantile Law and Equity, Minor’s subjects became Common and Statute Law, in both of which he became an authority. Of his monumental Institutes of Common and Statute Law, Senator Daniel said: “It cannot be surpassed as a vade mecum of the law; it is like a statue, solid, compact, clean cut; it contains more law in fewer words than any work with which I am acquainted.” The first and second volumes were published in 1875, and the fourth volume in 1878, while the third, which had long been used in pamphlet from by his pupils, was first published in complete form in 1895. In 1870 the professor began a summer course of law lectures, and his is believed to have been the first summer law school in the country. This became widely popular, enrolling more than a hundred students. As a teacher Minor was regarded with peculiar affection. Taking a personal interest in his pupils, he endeavored to develop their character as well as their minds. He continued to inspire and impress for fifty years until his death, July 29, 1895.

In addition to his Institutes, Minor published in 1850, The Virginia Reports, 1799-1800, and in 1894, the elaborate, Exposition of the Law of Crimes and Punishments, which long remained in general use. For his last forty-two years he was an Episcopalian. His religion “was the master chord in his life, the source of that rare union of sweetness and dignity, of gentleness with firmness, that helped to make up his charming personality.” For many years he superintended a Sunday school for slaves and also taught a Sunday morning Bible class composed of students, whose last meetings were in their revered teacher’s study, after he was unable to walk to the lecture room.

At Virginia, Professor Minor "a man of stern morality and firm conservative convictions" profoundly influenced James Clark McReynolds, who went on to be Attorney general of the united State and a justice of the United States Supreme Court.