Holden Bovee Schermerhorn

Biography

When Robert W. Withers, the first Bradford Professor at Washington and Lee, resigned in 1914, Holden B. Schermerhorn was selected to take his place. Born in Massachusetts in 1868, Schermerhorn held both a Bachelor of Philosophy degree (from the Wharton School) and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Pennsylvania. During the years 1893-1914 he practiced law in Philadelphia and taught law at Temple University. He received a Master of Laws degree from Temple in 1914.

Schermerhorn had many interests outside the law. He was proficient in art, music, and acting, and he wrote articles for architectural journals. His legal scholarship centered on conflicts and torts. He taught neither of these at W&L which may have influenced his decision, after only two years, to accept a position on the law faculty of Vanderbilt University. Excepting the years 1918-1920, when he represented Coudert Brothers in Paris, Schermerhorn was a member of the Vanderbilt faculty until his death in 1935.