Harold H. Purcell
Harold H. Purcell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Virginia Senate from the 25th district | |
| In office January 8, 1964 – January 12, 1966 | |
| Preceded by | Edward O. McCue Jr. |
| Succeeded by | John Galleher |
| Member of the Virginia Senate from the 26th district | |
| In office January 28, 1959 – January 8, 1964 | |
| Preceded by | Benjamin T. Pitts |
| Succeeded by | John Alexander |
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates for Fluvanna, Goochland, and Louisa | |
| In office January 14, 1948 – January 28, 1959 | |
| Preceded by | Henry S. Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Matt G. Anderson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Harold Hidmore Purcell February 7, 1920 Louisa, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | July 14, 2007 (aged 87) Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Virginia Omohundro (m. 1942) |
| Alma mater | University of Virginia |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Harold Hidmore Purcell (February 7, 1920 – July 14, 2007) was an American lawyer, judge and politician affiliated with the Byrd Organization who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly representing his native Louisa County and adjacent counties (1948-1965), and later as Circuit Judge for what was then the 16th Judicial Circuit (1966-1979)(also covering Louisa County).[1]
Early and family life[edit]
Born in Louisa County, his father was a prominent banker. He had a brother and attended a private preparatory school, then college and law school, as well as served as Captain in the U.S. Army during World War II.[2]
Career[edit]
Purcell (and later his son) were farmers and real estate investors in Louisa County, at one point owning tens of thousands of acres.[3]
Louisa County voters, together with those from nearby Goochland and Fluvanna Counties, first elected Purcell to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1947 and continued to re-elect him to that part-time position until Purcelll resigned following the end of the turbulent 1958 session, to assume a seat in the Virginia Senate as discussed below.[4] Thus Purcell served for a decade, from January 1948 until the end of March 1958, as a delegate. Purcell was first elected to the state senate (another part-time position) in a special election following Benjamin T. Pitts' resignation due to ill health.[5] However, that senatorial district (numbered the 26th until the census and court-decision based reapportionment of 1964, when it became the 25th) dropped Fluvanna County to the south and added the more northern counties of Orange and Spotsylvania, as well as the city of Fredericksburg.[6] Purcell's personal friendship with Virginia Governor and later U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd (for whom the Byrd Organization is named) and of Governor Miles Godwin, who led Virginia as Massive Resistance to the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in Brown v. Board of Education (which included a companion case from relatively nearby Prince Edward County and produced discord in the 1958 and several subsequent legislative sessions), as well as relationships with fellow legislators led to Purcell's election as Circuit Judge for Louisa County in 1966.[7]
However, Senator Byrd also died in 1966, and while his son succeeded him in the U.S. Senate, continuing federal enforcement actions of judicial decisions, as well as voter disenchantment led, to the Byrd Organization's collapse. Purcell effectively still continued to lead Democrats in Louisa County after becoming a Virginia judge, but in the November 1969 election, 49.4% of Louisa County voters (and a majority in the Commonwealth) elected Republican Linwood Holton as governor.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ Slayton, Jeremy (July 17, 2007). "Former state legislator Harold Purcell dies". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
- ^ Brian Balogh (2024). Not in My Backyard: How Citizen Activists Nationalized Local Politics in the Fight to Save Green Springs. Yale University Press. pp. 46–48. ISBN 978-0-300-253788.
- ^ Balogh p. 47
- ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond, Virginia State Library) pp. 691, 696, 701, 706, 712, 719
- ^ Slayton, Jeremy (July 17, 2007). "Former state legislator Harold Purcell dies". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
- ^ Leonard, pp. 722, 728, 733, 739
- ^ Balogh p. 46
- ^ Balogh p. 46
External links[edit]
- Harold H. Purcell at The Virginia Elections and State Elected Officials Database Project, 1776-2007
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