History Top Pic Bobbitt

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The Charlotte Inn is named for a distinguished member of the Mecklenburg County Bar who concluded his career on the North Carolina Supreme Court, William Haywood Bobbitt. Justice Bobbitt was born in Raleigh, N.C. in 1900. His grandfathers were Methodist ministers; his father was a pharmacist who developed patent medicines.


Justice Bobbitt attended the University of North Carolina where he was Phi Beta Kappa, Order of the Golden Fleece, and an outstanding debater. He was a classmate of Jonathan Daniels who became the publisher of the Raleigh News and Observer, Luther Hodges who became Governor of North Carolina, and Thomas Wolfe, the renowned novelist. During World War I he accepted an appointment at the U.S. Naval Academy. After the war he read law at the offices of Stewart & McRae and took the bar receiving the highest score at that time.

History Bottom Pic Bobbitt  In 1992 he argued, and lost, his first case before the N.C. Supreme Court. It involved the manufacture of spirituous liquors. He later practiced with John J. Parker who became a U.S. Circuit Court Judge and John McRrae who was a candidate for Governor. He served for sixteen years on the Superior Court bench, ran for the Supreme Court, lost, and was later appointed to it by Governor Umstead. He ended his career on the N.C. Supreme Court as Chief Justice.

He was remembered for his "great mind" and "merry twinkle." When the Charlotte Inn was founded, noted Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Frank Snepp proposed that it honor the memory of Justice Bobbitt by naming the local chapter after him. The proposal was unanimously adopted.

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