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The death of Judge Theodore S. Garnett, which occurrded on April 27 at his home, in Norfolk, Va., removes one of the most prominent and beloved of Confederate veterans. In addition to having served prominently in local and State Camps of the Confederate Veterans, Judge Garnett at the time of his death was in command of the Army of Northern Virginia Department, U. C. V., with the rank of Lieutenant General. Theodore Garnett was born in Richmond, Va., October 28, 1844, a son of Theodore S. and Florentina I. (Moreno) Garnett. His father was a distinguished civil engineer, and his mother was the daughter of Francisco Moreno, a Spaniard who settled in Pensacola, Fla., when Florida was still a Spanish colony. The Garnetts are one of the most distinguished families in Virginia. The founder of the family in America settled in Gloucester County, Va., early in the colonial period, and some of his descendants removed to Essex County, Va., where they became the progenitors of some of the most eminent Virginians, such as James Mercer Garnett, the famous agriculturist and rural economist; Robert Seldon, the Congressman; Richard B. and Robert Seldon, Jr., prominent soldiers of the Southern Confederacy; Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett, a prominent political leader of the last generation; and James Mercer Garnett (his brother), one of the best living scholars of his day. In his childhood and youth Theodore S. Garnett was active, healthy, and strong, fond of outdoor and athletic sports. He had no tasks except such as were entirely voluntary and afforded amusement. At ten years of age he learned something of bricklaying during a summer vacation, and he beloeved that every boy should be taught some form of manual labor. His elementary education was received at the Episcopal High School of Virginia, and he took higher academic studies at the University of Virginia while studying law. In between these two periods of study he gave four years of his life to the service of his State in the War between the States. At seventeen years of age he obeyed the call of Virginia and enrolled himself in her forces, serving first in the Hanover Artillery and afterwards as a private in Company F, 9th Virginia Cavalry. He was a courier for Gen. J. E. B. Stuart and was promoted January 27, 1864, to aide-de-camp. After General Stuart's death he was appointed first lieutenant of the provisional army of the Confederate States and on March 1, 1865, he was made captain and assistant adjutant general of Gen. W. P. Robert's North Carolina cavalry brigade and served as such to the surrender at Appomattox. After the war Captain Garnett entered the University of Virginia to complete his academic education and to study law, he served three years as judge of Nansemond County, Va. For over thirty years he had practiced law in Norfolk, Va., where he stodd high with his colleagues at the bar and with his fellow citizens in general. Judge Garnett was a member of the Virginia State Library Board, of the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Theological Seminary and High School, a member of the Virginia Bar Association and of the American Bar Association. He was elected to membership of the Phi Beta Kappa Society of the William and Mary College, a just recognition of his high attainments. From his youth Judge Garnett had "borne without abuse the grand old name of gentleman." Fortunate in his parentage and rearing, fortunate in his early opportunites for study and reading, he had not only maintained the prestige of his family, but had earned personally high and honorable positions and reputation. Judge Garnett had been married twice. His first wife was Miss Emily Eyre Baker, of Norfolk, and his second wife was Mrs. Louis Bowdoin, of Northampton County, Va., who survives him with a daughter and son, Theodore S. Garnett, Jr. of Norfolk.
SOURCE: Confederate Veteran Magazine, June, 1915.
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