Page 17 - NC Triangle Vol 7 No 3

TRAVIS SASSER, PHILIP SASSER AND CORT WALKER AT OAKWOOD CEMETERY IN RALEIGH.
The sta at Oakwood Cemetery is used to visi- tors sauntering around-especially on warm mornings in early spring-but not necessarily to having four men in suits with a camera- man in tow, heading up to the old section near
the Civil War graves. A dignitary from the o ce hustles out. Questions are posed. Answers are given. Hands are shaken and the good feelings native to warm mornings in spring are restored.
ey stand at the grave of A.W. Sha er and Cary bank- ruptcy lawyer Travis Sasser explains its signi cance. “Shaf- fer was an o cer in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was a carpetbagger who moved to North Carolina a er the war and, among other things such as ghting the KKK, served as the Bankruptcy Registrar in Raleigh during the temporary Bankruptcy Act that existed from 1867-1878.
e Bankruptcy Registrar position was an earlier iteration of the Bankruptcy Judge. Once that act expired, he did other things for 20 years. But when the next bankruptcy law came back in 1898, he was the attorney that represent- ed the rst debtor in Raleigh to le under the new law.”
“I think an appreciation and knowledge of history adds to our understanding and enjoyment of bankruptcy prac- tice.” Travis serves on the bankruptcy court’s history com- mittee and recently completed a lengthy paper about why, unlike the rest of the United States, North Carolina and Alabama, are not part of the United States Trustee Pro- gram. Travis also appreciates that the bankruptcy court is headquartered in the Century Station Building in Raleigh. “It has the best exterior edi ce and trial courtroom in Ra- leigh.”
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