The Fifth Annual George S. Prugh Lecture in Military History: Joseph Holt: Lincoln's Judge Advocate General

AuthorSusan B. Dyer
PositionWas educated at Western Kentucky University with a B.S., M.A., and Rank I in Education
Pages299-315
2012] FIFTH ANNUAL GEORGE S. PRUGH LECTURE 299
FIFTH ANNUAL GEORGE S. PRUGH LECTURE IN
MILITARY HISTORY
JOSEPH HOLT: LINCOLN’S JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL1
SUSAN B. DYER*
Thank you for all of the kind words. It’s an honor to be here today,
and I have enjoyed the touring and seeing the beautiful grounds of the
University of Virginia and the JAG School and these memories will
forever be pressed in my heart as I return to my small rural community
and share them with everyone I see. Thank you so very much.
* This is an edited transcript of a lecture delivered on April 27, 2011, by Susan B. Dyer
to the members of the staff and faculty, distinguished guests, and officers attending the
59th Graduate Course at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School,
Charlottesville, Virginia. The chair lecture is named in honor of Major General George S.
Prugh (1920–2006).
Born at Fort Knox, Susan Dyer was educated at Western Kentucky University with a
B.S., M.A., and Rank I in Education. Formerly a Language Arts teacher, Susan has been
included numerous times in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.
Ms. Dyer lives in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, with her husband. They have two
sons. Undertaking two projects at the same time, she has written the sensational story of
Judge Joseph Holt, Judge Advocate General under President Lincoln, while working with
various groups to save and restore Holt’s boyhood home as part of the Lincoln
Bicentennial Celebration.
Susan has received the following honors in relation to her work with the Judge
Joseph Holt House: Outstanding Citizen of the Commonwealth, Kentucky House of
Representatives, 2008; Volunteer of the Year, Breckinridge County Chamber of
Commerce, 2008–2009; Cooperative Hero, Kentucky Living Magazine, March 2010; and
most recently, an Ida Lee Willis Memorial Foundation 2010 Service to Preservation
Award.
Susan Dyer, supporter of the Judge Joseph Holt House, serves on three committees
for the house: The Holt House Steering Committee, The Friends of the Holt House, and is
Vice-Chair of the Kentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail Alliance. Dyer is a featured speaker
of the Speakers Bureau of the Kentucky Humanities Council.
Recent reviews and articles have appeared in the Kentucky Civil War Bugle Book
Review, January–March, 2011; Bernson’s Corner: A piece of American heritage Fox41-
TV; Fall Kentucky Humanities Magazine Holt Article, and an interview on Wave 3TV.
Susan continues advocating for the preservation of the Judge Joseph Holt House in rural
Breckinridge County to educate others about his legacy and role in President Lincoln’s
administration. On July 14, 2010 the second printing of Lincoln’s Advocate was released
by Acclaim Press and the book is in major book stores across Kentucky. Susan B. Dyer,
Lincoln’s Advocate: The Life of Judge Joseph Holt (Morley: Acclaim Press, 2009).
1 SUSAN B.DYER, LINCOLNS ADVOCATE: THE LIFE OF JUDGE JOSEPH HOLT (Morley:
Acclaim Press, 2009).
300 MILITARY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 211
I am not a lawyer, but what I am is a person who one day decided
that the story of this most forgotten man deserved to be told; and in the
process of researching that man’s life, I began to pursue not only his
history but his loves and his interests as well. This is a story put on my
heart by God that has led to unpredictable rebirth and fresh discovery, so
let’s go on a voyage of discovery concerning Joseph Holt and see where
it takes us.
During the time of the Civil War, most Americans knew the name
Joseph Holt; however, his history has been mostly suppressed and
overlooked at times by historians and writers for the past 150 years. Only
recently has Holt’s history been reclaimed.
So who is this man? Understandingly, his grandfather and his parents
quickly influenced him. Joseph Holt was raised in rural Breckinridge
County, Kentucky, on the banks of the Ohio River, and his parents
encouraged him at an early age to pursue his education. He had a
wonderfully devoted mother, Eleanor, who prepared all of her children
for the classics. Early childhood exposed him to loving relatives who
helped him to develop strong character, self-pride, and honor. Once he
walked seventy-five miles home when one of his college professors
shared a work of Holt’s in class and caused embarrassment to him
because it was read without his permission. Later, he joined the debate
team at Centre College, located in Danville, in central Kentucky. He
excelled there excellently. Debating proved to be one of Holt’s most
favorable experiences because he had a talent for speaking and he could
make words come to life. He also had ambition and he worked harder
and longer and more tireless than most.
He soon chose law as his profession. A case study done by Jim
Gordon about mid-19th century lawyers in Kentucky shows that Holt’s
associates in the Kentucky Bar in the 1850s were all white males , most
native born, with an average age of thirty-four, and half of them owned
slaves. Most of them who could afford slaves owned more than one. A
sizeable majority owned enough property to qualify them as substantial
landowners, and most members of the Bar had received their legal
education either in offices of established lawyers and some had pursued
the curriculum at universities like Transylvania, in Lexington, Kentucky.
At that time, the American Bar was open to men of talent from all
social backgrounds. It was democratic. It was demanding. In a society of
limited entertainment, people flocked the courtrooms to watch and to

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