The Papers of John Barbee Minor, Jr.

John Barbee Minor, Jr., son of the distinguished law teacher of the same name, was born 5 September 1866 at the University of Virginia. Mr. Minor’s mother, Anne Jacquelin Fisher Colston, was the daughter of Thomas Marshall Colston and Eliza Jacquelin Fisher. Through his maternal line, he was a great-nephew of Chief Justice John Marshall.

He was educated at private schools and at the University of Virginia, where he graduated from the Law School in 1890. He was an instructor in the Law School for three years, and in 1893 made his home in Richmond, where he began a successful career in the practice of his profession. His brother, Randolph Colston Minor, who had been practicing law in Richmond, returned in 1893 to the University of Virginia, where he became a member of the law faculty and continued there until his death. In a sense, the two brothers exchanged places.

In 1895, the year of his father’s death, John B. Minor was appointed a professor of law in the T. C. Williams School of Law at Richmond College. He continued to be a member of their faculty for a decade. In 1905, he became secretary-treasurer of the Virginia State Bar Association, and filled that office until 1923. He held membership in this Association from 1894 until his death, possibly a record of continuous membership that has not been surpassed. In 1920, he was president of the Richmond Bar Association.

From 1915 to 1933, he served as president of the Virginia Board of Law Examiners. For some years he was associated with the late E. B. Thomason in the practice of law under the firm name of Thomason and Minor.

In 1921, Mr. Minor accepted appointment as Commissioner of Accounts of the Chancery Court of the City of Richmond and, until his resignation became effective October 1, 1951, he devoted himself largely to performing the duties of that office.

During his long residence in Richmond, Mr. Minor was active in civic work and as a churchman. For some years he was a member of the City’s Board of Aldermen, and during World War I served as a member of the local legal advisory board and of the draft board.

In 1907, Mr. Minor was married to Mrs. Mary Scott Johns, the daughter of Colonel John Scott, C. S. A. of Fauquier County. Her death occurred in 1938, and several years later he married Sara Wychoff Bonnell, of Arlington, who survived him. He was also survived by a daughter of his first marriage, Mrs. Whitney Stone of New York.

This information comes from the biographical sketch written on June 2, 1952, by John T. Wingo by request of George S. Shackelford, Jr., Esquire, Chairman of the Committee on Memorials of the Virginia State Bar Association located in the papers of John B. Minor, Jr.

This was a gift of Mrs. Whitney Stone in 1980