John B. Boatwright
| John Baker Boatwright | |
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| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 23 district |
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In office January 11, 1922 – January 1936 |
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| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 59 district |
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In office January, 1936 – 1960 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | November 27, 1881 Marion, Virginia |
| Died | March 28, 1965 Buckingham, Virginia |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Buckingham, Virginia |
| Alma mater | University of Richmond School of Law |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Baptist |
John Baker Boatwright (November 27, 1881 – March 28, 1965) was Virginia lawyer and member of the Virginia House of Delegates representing Buckingham, Appomattox and Cumberland Counties for 38 years beginning in 1922. A member of the Byrd Organization, Boatwright became a leader of its Massive Resistance to racial integration.
Boatwright was born in Marion, Virginia in 1881 to Baptist minister (and former Confederate chaplain) Reuben Baker Boatwright (1831-1913) and his wife Maria Elizabeth Woodruff of Cumberland County, Virginia. The family moved to Buckingham in 1894. His elder brother Frederick William Boatwright (1868-1951) eventually became president of the Richmond College where he served 51 years and for whom the main library is named. The Reuben Boatwright family also included at least three daughters.
John Boatwright married his wife Grace Nalle Jones Boatwright (1884 - 1965) in 1912, and the couple had five children, all of whom survived their parents (Grace died three weeks after her husband). John Boatwright Jr. (1915 - 1993) became a lawyer and secretary of the Gray Commission and later for the Virginia legislature helping it adopt uniform state laws. John and Grace Boatwright's children also included Frederick Boatwright (1921 - 1994), and daughters Louise Boatwright Broome (1913 - 2001) and Carolyn Boatwright Rice (1917 - 2002). His grandson John B. Boatwright III also became lawyer and federal public defender.
Boatwright was admitted to the bar in 1908 and worked for the U.S. State Department for several years. He began a general legal practice in Buckingham, Virginia in 1914. He was active in the state bar, as well as with the Baptist Church, Modern Woodmen fraternal benefit society, Ruritans society and local game conservation club. He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1921 from Buckingham and re-elected 18 times. He initially served the 23rd District, but after redistricting in 1936 represented the 59th district. Boatwright decided not to run for reelection in 1959, but remained secretary of the Buckingham County Democratic party until his death (after a brief illness) six years later.
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