Eugene Satterwhite Blease

Eugene Satterwhite Blease (1877-1963) was the chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court from 1931 to 1934.

Eugene Satterwhite Blease
Chief Justice of South Carolina
In office
January 14, 1931 – October 8, 1934
Preceded byRichard C. Watts
Succeeded byJohn G. Stabler
Associate Justice of South Carolina
In office
January 14, 1926 – January 14, 1931
Preceded byJohn Hardin Marion
Succeeded byMilledge Lipscomb Bonham
Personal details
BornJanuary 27, 1877
DiedDecember 27, 1963 (1963-12-28) (aged 86)
Newberry, South Carolina
SpouseUrbana Neel
Alma materNewberry College

Blease graduated from Newberry College in Newberry, South Carolina and then worked as a teacher. In 1899, he was admitted to the South Carolina bar. Blease practiced law in Saluda and was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Saluda county in 1901 and 1902. He was Saluda County's state senator in 1905 and 1906. In September 1905, Blease shot and killed his brother-in-law, and was imprisoned until his acquittal on April 11, 1906.

After moving to Newberry, he was the mayor of Newberry in 1920 and 1921 and then served in the House from 1922 until 1924. In 1926 he was elected as an associate justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court and was elevated to Chief Justice in 1931.[1][2] Because of his health, he issued a letter of resignation on March 28, 1934, as effective October 8, 1934.[3] In 1942, he returned to politics but lost in a close election for the United States Senate to Burnet R. Maybank. He is buried at the Rosemont Cemetery in Newberry, South Carolina.

References

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  1. ^ "Join Assembly Selects Blease". The State. January 15, 1926. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  2. ^ "BLEASE NAMED CHIEF JUSTICE BY LARGE VOTE". The Item (Sumter, SC). 14 Jan 1931. p. 1. Retrieved 1 Mar 2023.
  3. ^ "Chief Justice Blease Resigns". Spartanburg Herald. Spartanburg, South Carolina. March 29, 1934. p. 1. Retrieved November 24, 2014.