By: Barbara Grzincic

As the country marks the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts notes that the four-year battle also took its toll on the federal judiciary, “tearing at the very fabric of American justice.”

In the first installment of a promised series highlighting the personal stories of judges on both sides, the AOC borrows from William Robinson Jr.’s 1941 book, Justice in Grey, to tell the tale of U.S. District Judge Andrew Magrath of South Carolina.

Magrath, who had been appointed in 1856, kept his seat for precisely one day after Abraham Lincoln was elected president in November 1860, Robinson wrote. At the end of the day, Magrath made a brief speech about his duty and the wishes of his state before tendering “the resignation of the office which I have held.”

“With that, Magrath tore off his robe and left the bench,” the AOC says. “Many who were present in his courtroom wept. Six weeks later, South Carolina seceded from the Union and declared its national independence.”

Well, we all know how that turned out. Magrath was also the last Confederate governor of South Carolina, serving less than a year – but don’t feel too bad about his career path. After the hostilities ended, he practiced law in Charleston for nearly three more decades until his death in 1893.

I was unable to find a cause of death, but he was 80. And the date was April 9 — the anniversary of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.