Alfred P. Thom

Alfred Pembroke Thom (December 15, 1854 - 1935) was a railroad lawyer, a civic leader of Norfolk, Virginia, a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1901, and a president of The Virginia Bar Association.

Thom graduated from the University of Virginia and began practicing law in 1876.cite book
last = Tyler
first = Lyon G., ed.
title = Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography
publisher = Lewis Historical Publishing (accessed via Google Books)
date = 1915] In 1878, Thom fought a duel. He was wounded; his opponent, Major Sidney Pitts, was killed. [cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9902E4DC143EE73BBC4950DFB5668383669FDE|title=THE LATEST VIRGINA DUEL|publisher=The New York Times, March 31, 1878|accessmonthday=April 12 |accessyear=2008] [cite web|url=http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/eshore/showPageTopic.php?xml=/db/eshore/news/nl/nl1878/nl.1878.03.30.xml&showpage=&page=0&pagesize=10|title=A DOUBLE TRAGEDY. TERRIBLE STREET-SHOOTING AFFAIR AT EASTVILLE ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF VIRGINIA. One Man Instantly Killed and Another Dangerously Wounded|publisher=University of Virginia|accessmonthday=April 12 |accessyear=2008] In 1883, Thom formed a law partnership in Norfolk with his brother-in-law, Richard B. Tunstall. Thom and Tunstall were among the founding directors of the Norfolk Company, which developed what is now the Ghent Historic District. [cite web|url=http://www.norfolk.gov/Planning/comehome/Ghent_History.asp|title=Ghent Neighborhood History|publisher=City of Norfolk|accessmonthday=April 12 |accessyear=2008] One of the streets in Ghent is named after Thom. [cite web|url=http://www.npl.lib.va.us/history/history36.html|title=Pages from Norfolk's Past - Ghen|publisher=Norfolk Public Library|accessmonthday=April 12 |accessyear=2008]

Beginning in 1901, Thom represented Norfolk at the Virginia Constitutional Convention. [cite book
last = Brenaman
first = Jacob
title = A History of Virginia Conventions
publisher = J.L. Hill Printing Co.(accessed via Google Books)
date = 1902] He created a sensation in the early stages of the Convention, when he proposed that the delegates should begin by taking the oath from the Underwood Constitution of 1870, which the Convention was assembled to amend. Thom's proposal was voted down, 69-14. [Goode, John. Recollections of a Lifetime, Neale Pub. Co. (1906).] Commenting on the legality of the Convention's purposes, Thom said: "We come here to sweep the field of expedients for the purpose of finding some constitutional method of ridding ourselves of [black enfranchisement] forever; and we have the approval of the Supreme Court of the United States in making that effort." [cite book
last = Wallenstein
first = Peter
title = Blue Laws and Black Codes: Conflict, Courts, and Change in Twentieth-Century Virginia
publisher = University of Virginia Press (accessed via Google Books)
date = 2004
ISBN = 0813922615]

Thom was one of the founders in 1898 and the first president of the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association. [cite book
last = Bryson
first = William Hamilton
title = Virginia Law Books: Essays and Bibliographies
publisher = DIANE (accessed via Google Books)
date = 2000
isbn = 0871692392] Thom also served as president of The Virginia Bar Association in 1904-1905.cite web|url=http://www.vba.org/history.htm|title= VBA History and Heritage|publisher=The Virginia Bar Association|accessmonthday=April 12 |accessyear=2008] In 1913, Washington and Lee University conferred on Thom an honorary doctor of laws degree.cite web |url=http://ir.wlu.edu/factbook/academicaffairs/honors/honorarydegrees/dateofaward.htm|title= Honorary Doctorate Degrees Conferred|publisher=Washington & Lee University|accessmonthday=April 12 |accessyear=2008]

Thom was Virginia counsel to the Southern Railway, and later relocated to Washington, D.C., as he became general counsel to the Association of Railway Executives, which made him a spokesman for railroad interests before Congress and in the national press during and after World War I.

Notes and references