Date Died: April 24, 1973

Place Buried: Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, NC

Emery Byrd Denny was born on November 23, 1892 in Surry County, NC, the son of Rev. Gabriel Denny and Sarah Delphina (Stone) Denny. After attending the public schools of Surry County, he studied at Gilliam's Academy from 1910 to 1914 and at the University of North Carolina School of Law from September 1916 to December 1917, when he joined the aviation section of the Signal Corps, U.S. Army.

During World War I, Emery Byrd Denny held the ranks of private, corporal, sergeant, and master electrician. He returned to the University of North Carolina Law School from June to August 1919. The honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by the University of North Carolina in 1946 and by Wake Forest College in 1947.

Admitted to the NC bar in 1919, Emery Byrd Denny practiced law as a member of the firm of Denny & Gaston from 1919 to 1921. From 1921 to 1930, he was associated with Mangum and Denny. He had his own private law practice from 1930 to 1942.

On December 27, 1922, Emery Byrd Denny married Bessie Brandt Brown, daughter of Jeremiah Moses Brown and Catherine Clementine (Krider) Brown of Salisbury, NC; they had four children.

From 1924 to 1926, Emery Byrd Denny was Chairman of the Gaston County Board of Elections. From 1926 to 1928, he was Chairman of the Gaston County Democratic Executive Committee.

From 1927 to 1942, Emery Byrd Denny was County Attorney for Gaston County. In the meantime, he was also Mayor of Gastonia, the county seat of Gaston County, from 1929 to 1937.

From 1936 to 1941, he was President and Director of Ranlo Manufacturing Company.

From 1937 to 1938, he served as Attorney for the North Carolina Railroad (NCRR).

From 1940 to 1942, he served as Chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Executive Committee.

From 1941 to 1943, he served as Trustee for the University of North Carolina.

During the General Assembly of 1941, he served as Special Counsel to Governor Joseph Melville Broughton, Jr.

On February 3, 1942, Governor Joseph Melville Broughton, Jr. appointed Emery Byrd Denny as an Associate Justice on the NC Supreme Court, replacing Associate Robert Heriot Clarkson, who had just died on January 27, 1942. He was elected in his own right in November of 1942, then re-elected in 1950 and 1958.

From 1956 to 1962, he was Chairman of the North Carolina Judicial Council.

On March 9, 1962, Governor James Terry Sanford appointed Emery Byrd Denny as Chief Justice of the NC Supreme Court, replacing Chief Justice John Wallace Winborne, who had just retired on March 8, 1962. He was elected in his own right in November of 1962. Chief Justice Denny retired on February 5, 1966 and qualified as an emergency justice of the supreme court, a position he held until his death.

In 1968, Governor Daniel Killian Moore appointed Emery Byrd Denny as Chairman of the State Constitution Study Commission.

Emery Byrd Denny was also a Trustee of the North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Winston-Salem; of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina; and (except for one year, from 1950 until his death) of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, where he also served as a member of the executive committee and chairman of the board of trustees.

On April 24, 1973, Emery Byrd Denny died, and he was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, NC.

In 1967, the retired Chief Justice chaired a state constitutional study commission, the work of which eventually led to the new North Carolina Constitution of 1971.

Denny was a longtime supporter of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where a building was named in his honor.

Private, Corporal, Sergeant and Master Electrician in Aviation Section, Signal Corps - World War I.

Admitted to practice law in 1919. Member of law firm of Denny & Gaston 1919-1921; Mangum & Denny 1921-1930; practiced alone 1930-1942.

Chairman - Gaston County Board of Elections 1924-1926.

President - Gastonia Chamber of Commerce 1925.

Chairman - Gaston County Democratic Executive Commitee 1926-1928.

Attorney for Gaston County 1927-1942; Attorney for the North Carolina Railroad 1937-1938.

Mayor of Gastonia 1929-1937.

Chairman - Board of Trustees of Garrison Memorial Hospital 1934-1939.

Chairman - Board of Trustees of the Gaston County Memorial Library 1935-1942.

President and Director of Ranlo Manufacturing Company 1936-1941.

Chairman - State Democratic Executive Committee 1940-1942.

Trustee - University of North Carolina 1941-1943.

Special Counsel for the Governor during the General Assembly of 1941.

Member of the American Legion, Phi Delta Phi, Watauga Club, Raleigh Executives Club, The Newcomen Society in North America, Holland Memorial Lodge No. 668, A.F. & A.M., Gastonia Chapter No. 66, Royal Arch Masons, Gastonia Commandery No. 28 Knights Templar, and St. Titus Conclave No. 72, Red Cross of Constantine, Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of N.C., A.F. & A.M. Baptist, Trustee, North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Winston-Salem, NC, member Board of Trustees of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary at Wake Forest, NC.

Appointed Associate Justice Supreme Court of North Carolina by Governor Joseph M. Broughton on February 3, 1942 to succeed the late Associate Justice Heriot Clarkson. Elected in November 1942, re-elected twice.

Married Bessie Brandt Brown of Salisbury, NC on December 27, 1922. Children: Emery B., Jr., who lives in and practices law in Chapel Hill, NC; Betty Brown, a teacher in Raleigh, NC; Sarah Catherine (now Mrs. Bailey P. Williamson of Raleigh, NC); and, Jean Stone (now Mrs. Wallace Ashley, Jr. of Smithfield, NC).

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