An hour-long session of Beaufort County Superior Court on Friday morning was more about history and less about justice.

Superior Court Judge Wayland J. Sermons Jr. presided over a session during which five restored portraits, damaged a little more than 40 years ago, were unveiled. The event, held in the Superior Courtroom, was hosted by Sermons and Beaufort County Clerk of Court Marty Paramore. Numerous judges, retired judges and attorneys attended the session.

The restored portraits are of William Blount Rodman II, George Hubbard Brown, Stephen Cambreteng Bragaw, James Edward Shepherd and Edward Warren. Shepherd was a chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Bragaw was a Superior Court judge. Brown was a justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court.  Rodman was a noted lawyer. Warren was a lawyer and grandfather of Lindsay C. Warren, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“I am thrilled that we could do this. I want to thank Marty Paramore for making it happen and Nancy Scoble for doing the restorations,” Sermons said in a brief interview after the session. “For me, personally, it is one of the great benefits of being able to preside over a session in which we recognize our history and our heritage.”

Scoble spoke about her role as a technician in restoring the portraits.

“In this role, it is not my place to bring a muse or creativity to the task, and it’s my intent to be faithful to the artist’s original creation and do no further harm, and only to use the techniques that are fully reversible,” Scoble said.

“Then there is one hat I don’t wear. I am not a servant of justice like many of you here in the courthouse today or in days gone by. However, it has been my honor and a pleasure to do my part to service justice and bringing back some dignity to the men (and their) portraits,” said a tearful Scoble.

The damaged portraits had been long-stored in a closet under the stairs in the courthouse lobby. The portraits were among janitorial supplies.

The story behind the damage portraits was revealed by Jim Vosburg, former attorney and Superior Court judge. Vosburg was a lawyer involved in what turned out to be a particularly contentious child-custody case that was brought before Judge Hallet Ward.

“This was in 1968 or 1969, in the old courthouse,” Vosburg recalled. “It was a very, very vicious custody proceeding. Things got really unpleasant, and the court recessed for a two-hour lunch break.”

During the recess, the little boy who was at the center of the custody battle managed to get his hands on a handmade gavel that had been presented to Ward, Vosburg said.

“He took that gavel and threw it at every portrait in the courtroom, causing damage,” he said.

Several months after the damaged portraits were discovered, Paramore approached the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners about funds to restore them. The Beaufort County Board of Commissioners on July 7, 2008, approved spending no more than $3,000 to restore the portraits.

Jerry Langley, commissioners chairman, said in a rare show of cooperation, the commissioners voted unanimously to provide the funds to restore the portraits.

“I felt, as well as the other commissioners, that this was an excellent opportunity to spend tax dollars wisely,” Langley said.

Danny Moody, court historian for the N.C. Supreme Court Historical Society, talked about the importance of preserving and protecting portraits and other elements of the state’s court system.

“We are going to digitally record all the portraits in county courthouses,” Moody said.

“In this room, history has probably been made on a daily basis,” he said.