Harold B. Singleton
Harold Brown Singleton was an American lawyer, fourteen-year member of the Virginia [House of Delegates] and for years judge in Lynchburg and Bedford and Amherst Counties.
Early and family life
Harold Singleton was born to Harry Middleton Singleton and his wife, schoolteacher Mary Leighton Nance at his grandparents' home in Boonsboro, Bedford County, Virginia on April 19, 1906. He attended the Bedford County Schools, then E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg. He then studied at Lynchburg College and graduated with an A.B. degree.He married Catherine Cecilia Lacy. He was active in his church and college alumni association, as well as the Lynchburg Lions, Elks, Odd Fellows and the Tau Kappa Alpha and Sigma Tau Delta honor societies. In addition, Singleton was active in the local Democratic Party and also held several offices with the Amherst Ruritan Club.
Career
In 1937 Harold Singleton ordered a set of law books from an advertisement on the inside of a matchbook cover found in a Lynchburg restaurant. He studied the books for one year and passed the Virginia State Bar exam on his first attempt. In 1938, Singleton began practicing law in Amherst, Virginia with Lucien Schrader. In 1941, he was elected as a Democrat to the Virginia General Assembly to represent Amherst County, with the district expanded two years later to include Lynchburg. He was re-elected six time, and served 14 years in the House of Delegates. He helped revise the Virginia Code in 1950. As Massive Resistance began Singleton was succeeded as delegate by fellow lawyer Earle M. Brown.Legislators elected Singleton a judge of the Circuit Court in Lynchburg in 1964, and in 1967 he became judge of the regional juvenile and domestic relations court, later becoming Chief Judge of that court in the 24th Judicial Circuit until his retirement in 1980. He then practiced law as the firm of Massie & Singleton until retiring in 1991.