[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 23, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1786-E1787]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     IN RECOGNITION OF NOTED CIVIL WAR HISTORIAN, HUGH D. McCORMICK

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 23, 1998

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I want to bring to the attention of our 
colleagues the following story from the September 22 Northern Virginia 
Daily honoring the life of Mr. Hugh D. McCormick, a noted lawyer, 
author and Civil War historian who was also a World War II veteran. Mr. 
McCormick passed away on Tuesday, September 15, 1998, in Front Royal, 
Virginia, which is in my district. He was 95 years old.
  In his book, Confederate Son, Mr. McCormick describes how his father 
and uncle participated in Pickett's Charge in the Battle of Gettysburg 
during the Civil War.
  We send our condolences to Mr. McCormick's widow Virginia H. 
McCormick and their family.
  Also included for the Record is a resolution honoring Mr. McCormick 
which was offered in a special session of the Circuit Court of Warren 
County, Virginia on September 21, 1998.

           [From the Northern Virginia Daily, Sept. 22, 1998]

           ``Confederate Son'' McCormick Given Legal Farewell

                            (By Donna Dunn)

       Hugh D. McCormick, called a ``true son of the 
     Confederacy,'' was honored Monday by the lawyers and judges 
     he influenced in a career that spanned a half-century.
       During a special session of Warren County Circuit Court, 
     members of the local Bar Association introduced a resolution 
     praising McCormick, a lawyer who died last Tuesday in Front 
     Royal at age 95.
       McCormick, who practiced into his 90s and was a Civil War 
     historian, author, World War II veteran and former Town 
     Council member, was remembered for his zest for life.
       Retired General District Judge John F. Ewell read the 
     association's resolution ``to perpetuate the memory of their 
     departed friend.''
       ``We gather to pay our respects to a self-sufficient, goal-
     oriented man,'' he read.
       McCormick, born Jan. 14, 1903, in Pittsylvania County, 
     received a bachelor's degree in 1927 and a law degree in 1947 
     from the University of Virginia. Between college and law 
     school, he worked for McCormick & Co. of Baltimore and served 
     in the Marines in World War II. He practiced law in Front 
     Royal from 1967 to 1995 and served as commonwealth's attorney 
     and town attorney. He also served eight years on the council.
       McCormick's wife, Virginia McCormick, and son, Hugh D. 
     McCormick Jr., attended the ceremony.
       The younger McCormick said his father's accomplishments are 
     impressive, but he would have wanted to be remembered for 
     something more.

[[Page E1787]]

       ``He would want to be remembered as honest, hard-working, 
     for his optimism and his enthusiasm for history,'' he said. 
     ``He always tried to show that optimism.''
       McCormick remained in good health until just a few months 
     before his death.
       Mrs. McCormick said she was ``lucky.''
       ``How can you grieve for a man who lived 95 years and 
     enjoyed life,'' she said.
       A past president of the Samuels Public Library, Bar 
     Association and Front Royal Rotary Club, McCormick also 
     organized the First Federal Savings and Loan Association and 
     Peoples Bank of Front Royal.
       Circuit Judge John E. Wetsel Jr. remembered McCormick ``for 
     his energy and intelligence.''
       ``He was literally a son of the South in the best sense,'' 
     he said.
       McCormick funded a teaching chair for the Civil War 
     Institute at Shenandoah University. He was an active member 
     of John S. Mosby Camp 1237 of Sons of Confederate Veterans 
     and served as its commander from 1962 to 1965. McCormick's 
     father, William Logan McCormick, served in the 38th Virginia 
     Infantry and charged the Union lines with Gen. George E. 
     Pickett at Gettysburg.
       Circuit Judge Dennis L. Hupp said he met McCormick early in 
     his legal career and found a friend in the older man.
       ``Hugh McCormick was a real son of the Confederacy and my 
     mother was a true daughter of the Confederacy. When I told 
     him this, he took a liking to me,'' Hupp said.
       McCormick published his memoirs, ``Confederate Son,'' in 
     1993 and gave the proceeds to the Civil War Institute.
       The 176-page book recounts McCormick's family heritage and 
     his own life, including his youth in rural Virginia and 
     success as a professional.
       Former Front Royal Mayor Robert Traister recalled in the 
     preface of ``Confederate Son'' his first meeting with 
     McCormick.
       The elderly lawyer's office was at the top of a steep set 
     of stairs. But Traister noticed that a motorized chair was 
     positioned at the bottom--for McCormick, he assumed.
       After climbing to the top-floor suite, Traister was greeted 
     by McCormick with a firm handshake and a rapid-fire 
     explanation of the lift.
       ``You should've called on the intercom and I'd of motored 
     you up to the top . . . I keep it there for my elderly 
     clients . . . don't use it myself . . . the walk up here 
     every day is good for my back . . . good for my golf game,'' 
     McCormick told him.
       Hugh McCormick Jr. said his father left the memoirs as his 
     legacy.
       ``He said he wanted to leave it so his family would 
     understand his life,'' he said. ``And it's an interesting 
     part of Americana.''
       Delivered into this world by a midwife who was a former 
     slave, McCormick respected all people, his son said.
       ``He liked people and met them wherever they were,'' he 
     said.
       In the epilogue to ``Confederate Son,'' McCormick shared 
     his philosophy on life:
       ``Do not fear the future. Whenever a challenge presents 
     itself, pursue it with all of the intelligence and energy at 
     your command. To do so guarantees success in any of its 
     myriad forms. To do less is not only abhorrently wasteful of 
     the human spirit, it is undignified.''


     
                                  ____
     Virginia: In the circuit court of Warren County
     Re Special session of court in honor and memory of Hugh D. 
         McCormick, Esquire

                                 Order

       There will be a special session of the Circuit Court of 
     Warren County on September 21, 1998, at 4:00 p.m. in honor 
     and memory of Hugh D. McCormick, Esquire.
       A committee consisting of the following named persons shall 
     present a memorial resolution to the Court at that time, to-
     wit: Edward F. Greco, Esquire, Chairman; The Honorable John 
     F. Ewell, Judge, Retired; and John G. Cadden, Esquire.
       The Clerk of this Court shall forward copies of this Order 
     to the named committee members, post a copy of this Order in 
     his office and forward copies of this Order to the Clerks of 
     all Circuit Court in the Twenty-Sixth Judicial Circuit who 
     shall post these in their respective offices. The Clerks 
     shall further notify members of their respective Bars in the 
     manner they deem most expeditious and may also further 
     disseminate copies of this Order as they deem appropriate.
       Entered this 18 day of September, 1998.

                       Preambles and Resolutions

       Whereas, on the 16th day of September, 1998, Hugh D. 
     McCormick, Esquire, a former member of the Bar of this Court 
     departed this life; and,
       Whereas, Warren County has suffered the loss of an able and 
     distinguished lawyer, sportsman and citizen, and, members of 
     the Bar of Virginia who knew him, grieve the loss of a true 
     and loyal friend; and,
       Whereas, a brief Memorial of his life history is hereto 
     attached; and,
       Whereas, it is the desire of the members of the local Bar 
     of this Court to perpetuate the memory of their departed 
     friend and brother as a part of the records of this Court, 
     and to place in these records an expression of their love and 
     affection for him as a man, and of the admiration, respect 
     and esteem in which they hold his memory as an outstanding 
     person.
       Now, therefore, be it resolved, that the members of the 
     Warren County Bar do hereby express their profound grief and 
     their sense of the irreparable loss they have suffered in the 
     death of their friend and brother, Hugh D. McCormick, 
     Esquire; and,
       Be it further resolved, that for the purpose of 
     perpetuating his memory, this Resolution, with the attached 
     Memorial, be submitted to the Circuit Court of Warren County, 
     Virginia, accompanied by a Motion that they be made a part of 
     the permanent records of this Court and to have a copy 
     thereof sent to his widow, Virginia H. McCormick, and to the 
     local press.
       Presented by a Committee of the Warren County Bar on behalf 
     of the Warren County Bar Association.

                                Memorial

       Hugh DeWitt McCormick, Esquire, was born January 14, 1903 
     in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. The youngest of thirteen 
     children, he was the son of William Logan McCormick, a 
     Confederate veteran in Pickett's Division, and Louise Taylor 
     Farmer McCormick. Beginning his education in a one room 
     schoolhouse, he was a 1923 graduate of Chatham Training 
     School, now Hargrave Military Academy, and received a B.S. 
     degree in 1927 and went on to receive a L.L.B. decree in 1947 
     from the University of Virginia. Between college and law 
     school he worked for McCormick & Co., Inc. of Baltimore, 
     Maryland. He was a WW II veteran serving in the U.S. Marine 
     Corps and U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. He was appointed 
     Commanding Officer of Service Squadron-34, Marine Air Group 
     34, Third Marine Wing, Oak Grove, North Carolina. He rose to 
     the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring.
       Mr. McCormick practiced law in Front Royal from 1947 to 
     1995. He served as Commonwealth's Attorney and Town Attorney 
     and served eight years on the Front Royal Town Council. He 
     was past President of the Samuel's Public Library, was an 
     organizer of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association 
     and the Peoples Bank of Front Royal. He was past president of 
     the Warren County Bar Association and the Front Royal Rotary 
     Club, a member of the Unity Lodge 146 AF & AM, a Shriner, and 
     active in many other fraternal and civic organizations. He 
     funded scholarships at the University of Virginia School of 
     Law and at Campbell Theological Seminary in Buies Creek, 
     North Carolina. He also funded a chair for the Civil War 
     Institute at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.
       Mr. McCormick took a great interest in athletics and was an 
     accomplished athlete and a strong supporter of the University 
     of Virginia Alumni Association and the Athletic Association. 
     He played on the University of Virginia football team and was 
     a lifelong devotee of the game of golf which he played until 
     he was ninety-two years old.
       One of the last real Confederate sons, he had a great 
     interest in the history of the Confederacy. He was an active 
     member of John S. Mosby Camp 1237, Sons of Confederate 
     Veterans and served as its Commander from 1962-1965. He 
     published his memoirs ``Confederate Son'' in 1993 with 
     proceeds going to the Civil War Institute of Shenandoah 
     University in Winchester.
       The community, and particularly the Bar, wish to express 
     our deepest regret and sympathy to his family as we gather to 
     pay our respects to a self-sufficient, goal oriented man, a 
     colleague and a friend. All of us will do well to remember 
     his admonition in his Epilogue of ``Confederate Son'': ``Do 
     not fear the future. Whenever a challenge presents itself, 
     pursue it with all of the intelligence and energy at your 
     command. To do so guarantees success in any of its myriad 
     forms. To do less is not only abhorrently wasteful of the 
     human spirit, it is undignified.'' Hugh DeWitt McCormick 
     epitomized this worthy sentiment.
       Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Bar and citizens of 
     Warren County.

     

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