John Hosea Kerr (1844-1924)

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The Bee (Danville, Virginia) 20 August 1924 (Page 2)

Judge J. H. Kerr Is Dead at Age of 80

A long distance telephone message from Yanceyville, N. C., yesterday evening announced the death at his home there of ex-Judge John H. Kerr, subsequently clerk of the curt there and one of the oldest and most honored men of North Carolina. Judge Kerr sustained a stroke of paralysis last Thursday, since then little hope of recovery at his age had been entertained. His end came peacefully at 3 P. M., with his loved ones around him.

Judge Kerr has spend [sic] practically all of his long and useful life in Caswell county, save the period he followed the Stars and Bars in the war of the ‘60’s. Entering the Confederate Service at the age of 17 or 18, he served as a soldier throughout that long struggle until wounded seriously and had a fine record. He lost a leg in the service.

Illness Was Brief

Returning to this native county after the war, he prepared for the bar and later was made probate judge, a position in which he served for many years. His health had continued unusually good as the years advanced until the fatal seizure last week. A gentleman of the old school, he exemplified in his life and character the lost traditions of the times in which he was raised. Probably no man was so universally known in Caswell and adjoining counties and few so widely esteemed.

Judge Kerr is survived by his wife and __ children, these being Hon. John H. Kerr of Warrenton, N.C., representative in Congress; A. Yancey Kerr, of Yanceyville, and Graves Kerr of Lynchburg, Va., Mrs. W. O. Spencer of Winston-Salem, N. C.; Mrs. F. [S.] A. Malloy of Yanceyville; and Mrs. A. H. Motz of Milton, N. C.

Funeral services will be held at the Yanceyville Baptist church this Wednesday afternoon at 5 o’clock.

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