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Stafford G. Whittle

American lawyer (1849-1931)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 18, 2026
Entity authorityQ7596622 ↗
Source-derived summary

Stafford Gorman Whittle (December 5, 1849 – September 11, 1931) was born at the family home Woodstock in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. His early education was received in Norfolk but, when the American Civil War began, he continued his studies with a tutor at his father's home in Botetourt County. Later, he attended Chatham Male Institute in Pittsylvania County and entered Washington College when he was eighteen. The following year, 1868, he studied law at the University of Virginia. In 1871, he was admitted to the bar and began practice in Martinsville, Virginia. Ten years later, February 1, 1881, he was appointed judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit. He served there until March 1882, when he was defeated by the Readjuster Party. In 1885, however, he was elected for the full term and served until he was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals in 1901. He became president of the court in 1917 and continued so until 1919 when he resigned. Returning to Martinsville, where Whittle had a long association with Christ Episcopal Church, Stafford Gorman Whittle spent the remaining years with his family.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Stafford G. Whittle” is american lawyer (1849-1931). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Stafford, Whittle and American, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1849, 1931, 1868, 1871—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1849-12-05. For this dossier, Stafford, Whittle and American is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “american lawyer (1849-1931)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7596622. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1849, 1931, 1868 and 1871.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Stafford G. Whittle”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Stafford G. Whittle primary sources, Stafford G. Whittle archive and Stafford research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Stafford G. Whittle”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Stafford G. Whittle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.