John Segar Gravatt (February 26, 1909 – December 9, 1983) was a Virginia lawyer and trial judge. He is often known as J. Segar Gravatt, although this is also the appellation of his youngest daughter, Jacqueline Segar Gravatt, who was the first woman ordained as an Episcopal minister in Virginia. He drew national attention for defending the Massive Resistance policy of the Prince Edward County, Virginia School Board to the United States Supreme Court decisions in Brown v. Board of Education and Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, its companion case. Also in Griffin v. School Board of Prince Edward County. Early life and education Gravatt was born at "Birdwood" in Blackstone, Nottoway County, Virginia. He was the eldest son of William Moncure Gravatt (1883-1961) and Rebecca Dupuy Epes Gravatt ("Birdie") (1882-1959). He had an elder sister, a brother, and three younger sisters. He attended the local public school, then Episcopal High School. After graduation, Gravatt attended the University of Virginia and the University of Virginia Law School, receiving an LLB degree in 1933. He was a member of The Eli and Imp Societies, Delta Kappa Epsilon, and the University's Board of Visitors from 1948-1958. During high school and college, he also earned letters in four sports. During the Great Depression, Gravatt lived with his parents and at least two of his siblings. When he gained a financial footing, he married Isbell Turnbull (1918-1997), daughter of Judge Needham Stuart Turnbull. They had three daughters, Mary Rebecca and the twins, Isbell Stuart Turnbull and Jacqueline Segar Epes, all of whom outlived their parents. Career After his admission to the Virginia bar, Gravatt established a private legal practice with his father. He briefed and argued dozens of cases before the Virginia Supreme Court and in federal courts. He continued his legal practice until his death in 1983, and he was also heavily involved in Rotary club. For 35 years Gravatt was also a part-time trial judge in Nottoway County, after his election to the position by the Virginia General Assembly. He also served in Nottoway Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Gravatt represented Dinwiddie and Nottoway Counties and the City of Petersburg in the limited 1956 Virginia Constitutional Convention, held between March 5 and March 7, 1956. He handily defeated Wyatt T. Walker, whom Gravatt referred to as a "negro of the City of Petersburg", and who later became Executive