The Shadow
Richard Stokes was eight years old when his family moved from Amherst County to Covington in 1891. His father, the Rev. Colin Stokes, had been called to serve as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. Richard was the oldest of the family’s three children.
A stellar student with a quick mind, Stokes graduated from Covington High School in 1898 at age 15. He studied chemistry at Hampden-Sydney college in Lexington, where he was president of the athletic association, stage director for the drama club and a medal-winning orator. After
working at the mill for a year, he studied law at Washington and Lee University. Upon receiving his degree and passing the bar in 1905, Stokes, now 22, opened a law office in Covington.
Glimpses of his early career, now more than a century past, appear in newspaper archives.
In June 1907, Richard Stokes married Lula May Rinehart, his childhood sweetheart. She was the daughter of William A. Rinehart, a wealthy Covington railroad executive and bank president.
The Covington Sentinel wrote, “These young people are among the most prominent of the town and no wedding has taken place in Covington in a long time that excited more interest.” Their daughter Bessie was born in 1908. A second daughter, Anna, followed in 1913.
In 1911, Stokes, now twenty-eight, was asked to give the keynote speech at the dedication of the new Covington Court House. He delivered an eloquent hour-long address, sprinkled with scholarly and classical references, which is preserved at the Covington Library.
In 1914, the Covington Sentinel wrote that Stokes, “has a large general practice and is very popular in all circles” and added, “His attainments reach beyond the law into the literary and dramatic, and his successes in both fields are many and brilliant.”
In 1919, the Staunton Daily News Leader described Stokes’ closing argument as the defense attorney in a high-profile legal case as “one of the greatest ever heard in local court rooms” and noted that those attending were “at times moved to tears.”
Starting in 1922, complete online archives of the Covington Virginian offer a much more detailed view of the life of the city. Stokes was appointed that year to the staff of Virginia Governor E. L. Trinkle, earning the honorary title of Colonel. Trinkle and his family visited Covington at least twice during his four years in office, each time staying at the Stokes home.
During the next quarter of a century, Richard Stokes seemed to be everywhere. He was the Covington city attorney; the first president of the Rotary Club; Vice president of and later attorney for the Peoples Bank of Covington; Vice president and later president of the Chamber of Commerce; and Vice-regional director of Shenandoah Valley, Inc., the group that created the Shenandoah National Park. During World War II, he even arranged for the Duke of Windsor to speak at an Army fundraiser in Covington. Stokes was a faithful member of the First Presbyterian Church, serving as a deacon and trustee and teaching the men’s Sunday School class. He was often mentioned in the paper as a sponsor or leader of charitable efforts.
However, Stokes appeared most often as an event host or speaker. As a gifted orator with an off-beat sense of humor, he was perfect for the job. He spoke at political rallies; school reunions; Red Cross, Savings Bond, and military fundraisers; meetings of the Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club, and Chamber of Commerce; church and charity events, and much more throughout the region.
When a lady in the audience fainted during one speech, a reporter suggested in jest that “the impressive gestures made by the Colonel while delivering his address” had been to blame. On other occasions Stokes appeared in disguise as a foreign dignitary, removing his wig after his speech to the surprise and delight of the audience. Newspaper reports of these many events universally praised his eloquence, his dramatic presence, and his sense of humor.
In 1943, Stokes ran for the Virginia House of Delegates seat for Alleghany County and Clifton Forge. Stokes was a Democrat, but he opposed the New Deal as exceeding the government’s legitimate authority. In an extraordinary show of unity, the Republican Party nominated him for the seat as well. Stokes served two terms in the House, earning a reputation for eloquence and wit, and for his steadfast refusal to support any bill that raised taxes on the citizens.
In 1948, now 65 and in declining health, Richard Stokes retired from public life. He and Lula May sold their big house overlooking Covington and moved to a smaller home in Rosedale. In a family photograph from Christmas 1952, Stokes looks tired, but his quirky humor is still in evidence: he is wearing a gigantic tie that hangs below his knees. It was his final Christmas. Richard Stokes died on August 8, 1953. During his memorial service at the Alleghany County Circuit Court, the attorney was remembered as “one of the most popular men ever to plead in the courts of Virginia.” His generous donations of free legal services to the poor were praised, and his famous addresses to juries were described by a fellow professional as “consummate art.”
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote that a man “should share the passion and action of his time at peril of being judged not to have lived.” Richard Stokes did that, and quite a bit more.
Stokes family photo 1924
