Michael Schenck
Michael J. Schenck (December 12, 1876 – November 5, 1948)[1] was a North Carolina lawyer and judge who served as a justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1934 to 1948.
Early life, education, and civil service[edit]
Born in Lincolnton, Lincoln County, North Carolina to David and Sallie (Ramseur) Schenck, the family had roots in that city going back to the 1790s.[2] Schenck attended high school in Greensboro, North Carolina, and received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina in 1895. After working for a time in the Wilmington offices of the Atlantic Coast Line Railway, he served as a member of the United States insular civil service in Cuba for three years. He received his law degree from North Carolina State University in 1903,[2] and gained admission to the bar in Guilford County, North Carolina, the same year.[1][3]
Schenck entered the practice of law in Hendersonville, North Carolina, and the following year was elected to a two-year term as the city's mayor, serving from 1907 to 1909.[4] In 1913, Governor Locke Craig appointed Schenck solicitor of the 18th judicial district, to which office Schenck was re-elected the following year. In 1918, he resigned in order to serve in the United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, attaining the rank of major.[2][4] He then returned to private practice.[2]
Judicial service[edit]
On November 10, 1924, Governor Cameron A. Morrison appointed Schenck to a seat on the 18th judicial district court vacated by the death of Judge J. Bis Ray.[2][5] He was reelected to an eight-year term in 1926.[2]
On May 23, 1934, Governor John C. B. Ehringhaus appointed Schenck to a seat on the state supreme court vacated by the death of Justice William J. Adams.[2] Schenck was easily reelected to the seat for an eight-year term in November of that year.[6] Schenck ran unopposed for reelection in November 1942,[7] and resigned from the court due to illness in January 1948, ten months before his death.[1]
Personal life and death[edit]
On November 15, 1909, Schenck married Rose Few of Hendersonville, with whom he had a son and two daughters.[2]
He died at his home in Raleigh at the age of 71,[1][4] after a lengthy period of illness.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d "Judge Schenck Dies Here", The Raleigh News and Observer (November 6, 1948), p. 1.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Schenck Elevated To Supreme Court", The Hendersonville Times-News (May 23, 1934), p. 1, 3.
- ^ "The New Lawyers", The Farmer and Mechanic (September 8, 1903), p. 8.
- ^ a b c d "Judge Schench Dies After Long Illness", The Charlotte Observer (November 6, 1948), p. 15.
- ^ "Judge Michael Schenck", Asheville Citizen-Times (November 9, 1924), p. 19.
- ^ "Dems Win By Landslide In N.C.", The Burlington Daily Times-News (November 7, 1934), p. 1.
- ^ "Supreme Court Unopposed", The Raleigh News and Observer (November 3, 1942), p. 12.