To North Carolina Supreme Court Justice, Thos. Ruffin

Addressed in ink to Hon. Thos. Ruffin, Graham, Alamance Co., N.C., with 10 cents Jeff Davis postage stamp, tied on with a red, Raleigh, N.C. postmark. Stain spot at lower left corner, otherwise very fine.

Thomas Ruffin: (1787-1870) Born in Virginia, he graduated from Princeton, studied law in North Carolina, and commenced practice in Hillsborough, N.C. He served several terms in the North Carolina House of Commons; served as N.C. Superior Court Judge, 1816-18, and 1825-28; served as North Carolina Supreme Court Justice, 1829-52, being elected Chief Justice in 1833. He wrote the decision in the case of N.C. v Mann which sanctioned "the absolute power of a master over a slave." He retired to his plantation in Alamance County, N.C. in 1852, but the legislature called him back to serve one more year. He was also an innovative farmer and President of the state's Agricultural Society, 1854-60.