Tuesday, 23rd March 1915: Judge Roan Is Dead At New York Hospital, The Atlanta Journal

Noted Georgia Jurist Dies in the New York Polyclinic Hospital Following an Operation

Judge L. S. Roan, former Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals and former Judge of the Criminal Division of Fulton Superior Court, died at 4 o'clock Tuesday morning in the Polyclinic Hospital in New York City, following an operation. Judge Roan, whose Christian name was Leonard Strickland, was born February 7, 1849, in Henry County, six miles from Griffin, Ga. His father was a wealthy planter and influential citizen. In his early boyhood, the family moved to Hampton, Ga., and there he received his early schooling. Later, he attended school at Fayetteville Seminary, Fayetteville, Ga., which was conducted by G. C. and Morgan Looney, famous educators of their time. After graduating from the Seminary, he went to school for one year to the late Peter Francisco Smith, who was subsequently a citizen of Atlanta and a prominent lawyer at the local bar.

His schooling finished, Judge Roan entered the Griffin Law Office of Cincinnatus Peeples and John D. Stewart to study law. Mr. Peeples, ranked as one of the ablest lawyers in Georgia, was the father of Henry C. Peeples, the Atlanta lawyer, and T. J. Peeples, cashier of the American National Bank of Atlanta. Mr. Stewart represented his district in the United States Congress.

PRACTICED AT TWENTY.

In 1869, Judge Roan was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty years, and in 1870, he opened a law office at Fairburn, Ga., which was his home, with various intermissions, to the time of his death. During the administration of the late Governor Joseph M. Terrell in 1902, Judge Roan was appointed Judge of the Stone Mountain Circuit, which judgeship included the Criminal Division of Fulton Superior Court. This office he held continuously until his appointment to the State Court of Appeals by Governor Slaton in the fall of 1913.

As a Judge of the Criminal Division of the Fulton Superior Court, Judge Roan presided over practically all the criminal trials in this county from 1902 until 1913. Among the notable trials he conducted were those of Mrs. Daisy Opie Grace, Mrs. Callie Scott Applebaum and Leo M. Frank. In October 1913, Judge Roan went to the State Court of Appeals under appointment by Governor John M. Slaton, and Judge Ben H. Hill, of the Court of Appeals, came to the Criminal Division of Fulton Superior Court under similar appointment, this division having been taken out of Stone Mountain Circuit by Act of the legislature in 1913 owing to the great increase in business and made a part of Fulton Superior Court with a judge assigned exclusively to preside thereover.

ON APPELLATE BENCH.

Judge Roan served on the Court of Appeals until July 1914, when, his health having commenced to fail, he went North on a vacation. At the end of his vacation, he was unable to return to his duties and in the election for State Court of Appeals Judges that year he did not stand for election to the full term, because of his failure to regain his strength. Since July, 1914, he devoted all his time to rest and medical attention in the hope of recovery but in spite of careful treatment and his own iron determination, he grew worse instead of better, and the end came as the result of an operation which he underwent two weeks ago last Saturday in the Polyclinic Hospital.

Judge Roan was married in 1875 to Miss Willie Strickland, of Fairburn, a granddaughter of the late Henry Strickland, one of the leading men of Campbell County and a citizen of Atlanta for some years. They had eight children of whom five are still living, as follows: Benjamin S. Roan, Palmetto, Ga.; W. E. Roan, Atlanta; Leonard S. Roan, Jr., Atlanta; Mrs. A. W. Stubbs, Banning, Ga.; Mrs. Henry Mc Curry, Fairburn.

ABLE LAWYER.

Among lawyers who practiced before him, he was known for his exercise of common sense in the conduct of criminal trials. He had that profound grasp of the law which enabled him to make it simple. A close student of criminology, he believed there is some good in every man, no matter how violent his offense against society, and it is said of him that in passing sentence, he was never known to speak a harsh word to a criminal, but always tried to appeal to the best there was in them and inspire them with a determination to become good citizens.

So constant was his study that it probably shortened his life. He was absorbed in the progress of thought and science. Often, he would surprise even his intimates by his knowledge of complicated subjects. He was true to every obligation, a man of scrupulous integrity, a gentleman of the highest ideals, respected and loved by all who knew him.

JUDGE L. S. ROAN, prominent Georgia jurist, who died Tuesday morning in a New York hospital. While on the bench, he presided over many famous criminal trials. For months, he had been in failing health.