Men of mark in Virginia, ideals of American life; a collection of biographies of the leading men in the state

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Men of Mark in Virginia

Ideals of American Life

A Collection of Biographies of the
Leading Men in the State

LYON G. TYLER, LL.D.

President William and Mary College
Editor-in-Chief

VOLUME IV.

Illustrated with many Full Page Photo-Steel Engravings

MEN OF MARK PUBLISHING COMPANY
Washington, D. C.
1908

Copyright, iqo8

by

Men of Mark Publishing Company

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HENRY CLAY ALLEN

ALLEN, HENRY CLAY, was born in the county of
Pittsylvania, Virginia, on November 4, 1844, and his
parents were James Green Allen and Lavicia Forest
Vaiden. His father was a farmer noted for his honesty, his
painstaking and practical character, being a kind father and a
good neighbor. His paternal grandfather was Welcome Allen,
whose wife was a Burton, and his maternal grandfather was
Sylvester Vaiden, whose wife was a Chatten.

His early life was passed on a farm, and his mother being
left a widow he had to commence the active work of life at the
tender age of nine years. He plowed, went to mill and shop,
and did other farm work, when he was not at school. Never-
theless, he made the best of his meagre educational advantages,
and put in all his spare time on reading. He read history and
biography, and tried in every way to improve his mental powers.
Any aspirations for a collegiate education were blighted, how-
ever, by the breaking out of the War between the States. In
March, 1862, he enlisted as a private in the 38th Virginia regi-
ment, Pickett's division, and served three years and one month
till the close of the war.

He returned home, and renewed his labor on the farm, and
became one of the most successful tobacco growers in his county.
In 1893 he was elected a member of the board of supervisors, and
remained in that position for six years. In 1897 he was placed
on the Democratic ticket for the house of delegates by the county
executive committee to fill a vacancy just twenty days before the
election; and, though he made no canvass, he received several
hundred more votes at the polls than two of the regular candi-
dates nominated by the county convention. In the legislature he
distinguished himself by a resolution regarding the oyster indus-
try. The auditor's report showed that previous to the session of
1897-98 the oyster industry not only paid no revenue to the state,
but often brought the state in debt. Immediately after that
session the state began to receive a handsome revenue from this

VoL 4— Va.— 1

4 HENRY CLAY ALLEN

industry, which was due in large measure to legislation suggested
or drafted by the special committee appointed under a resolution
proposed by Mr. Allen and adopted by the house.

In 1903, Mr. Allen took an active part in perfecting a per-
manent organization of the tobacco growers of Pittsylvania
county as a branch of the Inter- State Tobacco Growers' Pro-
tective association of Virginia and North Carolina. At the first
meeting in Danville, against his protest and wishes, Mr. Allen
was chosen president, and while filling that office was very efficient
and active.

Other positions came to him unsought and unexpectedly.
For many years he has been connected with public and private
school work, and he is at present one of the directors of the
Chatham Savings bank, the oldest and strongest bank in the
county.

In his religious connections Mr. Allen is a member of the
Presbyterian church, and in politics he is a Democrat, who has
never changed his party ties nor failed to vote at every election
since he was twenty-one. Formerly he was a great hunter of
birds and other game, but at his present age he finds relaxation
in such amusements as checkers and croquet. Asked to offer
some suggestions to young men as to the principles, methods and
habits likely to strengthen the ideals of American life, and be
helpful to them in the attainment of true success, he replies:
" I have trained four boys, now grown men ; my greatest ambi-
tion was to instill into them the importance of honesty and
veracity, and of keeping the confidence of men, in which I have
been successful. My parents praised me from a small boy for
doing whatever I did well. I can offer no better suggestion to
young men commencing life." In estimating the strength of
the influences which have molded his life, Mr. Allen ranks
private study and contact with men of affairs as of most
importance.

He has been twice married — first to Elizabeth Taylor, on
November 7, 1867, by whom he had nine children, eight of whom
are living, and second, to Ora Graves, on December 3, 1901, by
whom he has had three children, two of whom are (1908) living.

His address is Dry Fork, Pittsylvania County, Virginia.

WILLIAM ROSS ALLEN

ALLEN, WILLIAM EOSS, was born in Botetourt county,
Virginia, January 22, 1869, and was the son of John
J. Allen and Elizabeth M. Allen, his wife. The names
of his earliest ancestors in America were Robert Allen and
Mary TValkenshaw, his great great-grandparents, who came from
Ireland to Pennsylvania about 1770 and thence to Virginia.
They belonged to the great army of Scotch-Irish emigrants who
filled the valley of Virginia with sturdy settlers not long before
the Revolution. His grandfather was John J. Allen, a promi-
nent jurist, who attained the high position of president of the
supreme court of appeals of Virginia, His father, John J.
Allen, second of the name, was a worthy son of a noble sire; he
practiced the profession of the law and was a member of the
Virginia house of delegates and judge of the county court of
Botetourt.

The subject of this sketch was brought up in the country,
and had no difficulties, outside of those inherent in the task, in
acquiring an education. When he grew to be a youth the dark
clouds of war and reconstruction had rolled awav from old

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Virginia and the times appeared suggestive of hope and pros-
perity. He was educated in a private school at home and at
Washington and Lee university. He studied law at Washington
and Lee university, taking the degree of Bachelor of Law in
1892. In the meantime, he had begun the active work of life
in 1890 as a Botetourt farmer; but the wishes of his father
directed his energies to the law, and consequently since about
1892 he has practiced law. In May, 1895, he was elected attor-
ney for the commonwealth and in May, 1899, he was reelected,
and again in November, 1903. His successive elections are a
guaranty of the superior order of his talents and the satisfactory
manner in which he has discharged his duties. In 1901, he
was elected a member of the house of delegates and served one
term.

In politics Mr. Allen has never swerved from the Democratic

6 WILLIAM ROSS ALLEN

faith in which he has been reared. He finds his recreation in
tennis, football, and rowing.

He married June 17, 1896, Eva B. Haney, and two children
resulted from the union, of whom one is now (1908) living.

His address is Fincastle, Virginia.

GEORGE KIMBROUGH ANDERSON

ANDERSON, GEORGE KIMBROUGH, lawyer, was bom
in Hanover county, Virginia, March 6, 1860. His father,
Matthew A. Anderson, was a physician of considerable
prominence, a man of energy, hospitality, and charity, one of
the noble " country doctors " of Virginia who cure sickness, or
at least mitigate it, by carrying sunshine on their faces and
scattering it through the room where the sick and suffering lie.
Dr. Anderson was a member of the county court of ante bellum
days, a justice of the peace.

Judge Anderson's mother was Ella Kimbrough, and from
her he gets his middle name. Though she died young, she lived
long enough to make a deep impression upon her boy; and what
he is to-day he owes largely to her training and her influence.
Besides setting his boyish feet in the paths of righteousness
and herself leading the way, she fired his ambition by urging
him to " be somebody " and to do something in the world. She
told him of her progenitors and his. She pointed him back to
the good and noble men that the family had given to the state,
and urged her boy to add his name to that roster of useful and
honored citizens.

Judge Anderson's first American ancestors were James
Goodwin, who came from England in 1648, and settled in York
county, Virginia; John Crawford, who was killed in Bacon's
Rebellion; John Yancey, who came from Wales to Virginia
about 1650; and Thomas Anderson, who came from England
in 1750 and settled in York county, Virginia.

Educationally speaking, Judge Anderson is a self-made
man. He attended no college; took no degree; received no
sheepskins. The limited schooling he got was in the ordinary
public schools of Hanover county, or small private schools.
This schooling he supplemented by private reading. All this
time, however, he was doing farm work and serving in a country
store, and keeping his eyes wide open, to see the world and all
things therein. This practical contact with life has proved of

8 GEORGE KIMBROUGH ANDERSON

inestimable benefit to him in a hundred ways. The experience
of those early years is worth more to him than parchments
and sheepskins.

The boy that had read voraciously to make up for lack of
collegiate training grew up into an ambitious youth. Along
with his yardstick and his cash book, he handles volumes of
Chitty and Blackstone. Later, he reads law in a lawyer's office.
In 1881, he hangs out his sign as " attorney-at-law."

In 1887 Mr. Anderson was elected commonwealth's attorney
for Louisa county. This office he filled with ability and fidelity,
until he left the county. Seeking a wider field of usefulness,
he removed to Clifton Forge, a railroad center and a growing
town in Alleghany county. In 1894, he was elected judge of
Alleghany, Bath, and Craig, and held that judgeship until the
county court system was abolished by the new constitution.
In 1901, he was elected to the Constitutional convention. In
the convention, Judge Anderson served on the several com-
mittees on cities and towns, on privileges and elections, and
on reporting and printing. Like all other thinking men of
his state, he was deeply interested in the suffrage question, and
did what he could to help towards the solution of that great
problem. Next to that, he felt interested in changing the then
existing judicial system, which, in his opinion, had outlived
its usefulness; and he aided in abolishing the county courts
instituted by the Underwood constitution, and in establishing
the present system of judicial circuits. He also helped to rid
the people of two great incubuses, the broken down county court
system and the free and unlimited coinage of ignorant, vicious
votes, which threatened the very existence of our social and
political institutions. In spite of poor health Judge Anderson
was a useful and higrhlv honored member of the convention,
and the memories of his useful labors will cheer him in his
declining years.

In 1904, George K. Anderson was elected judge of the nine-
teenth judicial circuit. In this distinguished sphere, he dispenses
justice to his fellow-citizens in a most important section of Vir-
ginia. He wears the ermine with becoming dignity, and wilh
credit to himself and his state. The county of Hanover, which

GEORGE KIMBROUGH ANDERSON 9

gave him birth, and the county of Louisa, which " discovered "
him and recognized his ability and character, are alike proud of
his name, and point to him as a distinguished son.

It was in the last named county that Judge Anderson
found a wife. At Louisa court-house, October 22, 1884, he
was married to Susie L. Gooch, a daughter of Stapleton Dabney
Gooch, of Louisa county. They have had four children, all
of whom are now (1908) living.

Judge Anderson's address is Clifton Forge, Virginia.

GEORGE WAYNE ANDERSON

ANDERSON, GEORGE WAYNE, lawyer, state senator,
and lately colonel commanding the 70th Virginia regi-
ment, was born at Edgehill, Albemarle county, Virginia,
July 10, 1863, and his parents were Edward Clifford Anderson
and Jane Margaret Randolph. On his father's side Col. Ander-
son is descended from George Anderson who came from the north
of England near Berwick on the Tweed, and settled in Savannah,
Georgia, in the eighteenth century. On his mother's side he is
descended from William Randolph, who settled in Virginia about
the middle of the seventeenth century and was the founder of the
eminent family of that name, which numbers among its members
such names as John Randolph, of Roanoke; Robert Edward Lee,
John Marshall and Thomas Jefferson. His father, who died
when George was a child, was by profession a banker. He was
distinguished for his intellectuality, integrity, piety and purity
of life. In the War between the States he was captain, major,
lieutenant-colonel, and colonel in the Confederate army and he
served as county commissioner of Chatham county, Georgia, and
alderman and member of the board of education of the city of
Savannah.

George Wayne Anderson was reared partly in the country
and partly in the city, living continuously in the country from
his thirteenth year until his graduation from the university.
The means of his father were ample, so he had no manual labor
to perform and encountered little difficulty in securing an educa-
tion. He attended Hanover academy and afterwards matricula-
ted at the University of Virginia where he was graduated in
several academic studies — moral philosophy, modern languages,
and historical science. During this period he developed a talent
for oratory and debate, and was awarded the debaters's medal
both at Hanover academy and at the university. This encouraging
circumstance, together with a natural inclination, determined him
to be a lawyer, and for two years he took the excellent course at
the university, graduating in 1888 with the degree of Bachelor
of Law.

GEORGE WAYNE ANDERSON 11

He soon after located at Richmond and entered upon the
active practice of his profession. He acquired the reputation
of an astute and industrious lawyer, and in 1899 he was elected a
member of the house of delegates from Richmond, for a term of
two years. At the end of this time he was elected a member of
the state senate for a term of four years. During his service in
the legislature Col. Anderson was counted as one of the leading
members and he had much to do with the important legislation of
that period. While he served on many important committees,
probably his chief service was rendered as a member of the com-
mittee to revise the laws of the commonwealth and as a member
of the committee to enlarge and renovate the capitol building.

Until recently Colonel Anderson commanded the YOth Virginia
regiment; and he had command of the state troops during two
very trying occasions. The first of these was when the street car
strike occurred in Richmond, which lasted for twenty-nine days
and greatly disturbed the public peace and order. The other
occasion was when the militia was sent to Roanoke to avert a
lynching in the trial of a negro. On both occasions, Col. Ander-
son displayed great courage and prudence, though he did not
escape severe and unpleasant censure.

While at college Col. Anderson was a member of the Alpha
Tau Omega fraternity, of which he was worthy master, and in
Richmond he is a member of the Westmoreland club, having been
a member of the board of governors and a member of the library
and house committee.

In church affiliations he is a Presbyterian, and in politics he
is a Democrat who has never changed his allegiance, though in
the Democratic primaries he opposed free silver coinage at the
arbitrary rate of 16 to 1, with great earnestness.

Col. Anderson has profited much by extensive reading and
the books he has found most helpful in fitting him for his work in
life were those used in the moral philosophy course at the univer-
sity, and historical and political writings, especially those relat-
ing to constitutional law. Indeed, his chief amusement is found
in reading biographies, political and constitutional history and in
war studies, to which he adds occasionally the sports of the field.

In reply to the question what suggestions his experience and

12 GEORGE WAYNE ANDERSON

observation offer as to the principles, methods and habits which
in his opinion will contribute most to the strengthening of sound
ideals in American life, and will help young men to attain true
success, he writes: "Singleness of aim and purpose; systematic
and persistent effort each day; temperate habits, avoiding vices
both great and small ; a clean heart, asking neither God nor man
to do for you anything that you have not tried to do for your-
self." He states that the influences which have been most potent
in his own life, rank in the following order: Home, private
study, school, contact with men in active life, and lastly early
companionship.

On December 21, 1899, he married Estelle Margaret Burthe,
and they have had four children, of whom three are now living.

His address is 123 North Lombardy Street, Richmond, Vir-
ginia.

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RICHARD DUNCAN APPERSON

APPERSON, RICHARD DUNCAN, president and gen-
eral manager of the Lynchburg Traction and Light com-
pany; president of the Petersburg Gas company of
Petersburg, Virginia; president of the Lynchburg Water Power
company; president of the Roanoke Railway and Electric com-
pany of Roanoke, Virginia ; president of the Montgomery Trac-
tion company of Montgomery, Alabama ; residing at Lynchburg,
Campbell county, Virginia, was born at Mount Sterling, Mont-
gomery county, Kentucky, on the 16th of August, 1863.

His father, Richard Apperson, was a judge of the circuit
court ; a member of the Kentucky state convention in 1850 ; twice
elected to the state legislature; assisted in organizing and build-
ing and was president of the Lexington and Big Sandy railroad ;
was a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, and in 1860 assisted
in organizing the Home guard in Kentucky and served as United
States commissioner in 1861 and 1862, and as collector of Internal
revenue in 1862. He is remembered as having been especially
helpful to young men who were making their way, assisting
several law students through the years of their preliminary study;
hospitable to all, and deeply religious. As a boy of fifteen he
left New Kent county, Virginia (the home of his father, Edmund
Apperson, who was of Welsh descent. With the horse which he
rode and a colored boy as his sole possessions, he made his way to
Madison county, Kentucky, where he took a position as clerk in
a dry-goods store and taught school while he read law. He was
married to Miss Mary Jarman of that county before he was
twenty-one. Later he removed to Montgomery county, Ken-
tucky, where he spent the rest of his life, dying in 1863. Richard
Duncan Apperson is the son of his second wife, Margaret Izora
Marshall a relative of Chief Justice Marshall of Virginia.

In his boyhood he was vigorous, and he has always known
excellent health. As a boy he was exceptionally fond of investi-
gating all mechanical devices and of looking into the construc-
tion of things. His father died in the year of his birth, and he

16 RICHARD DUNCAN APPERSON

owes much to the guidance and instruction of his mother; and
from early boyhood he delighted in making for himself such
duties and tasks as he thought would assist her. He writes, " I
was alwaj^s fond of work where I could see results." He was
in the public schools for a time, and for a time studied under a
private tutor; but necessity compelled him to work for his own
support when he was but twelve years old. The first book that
impressed him in his boyhood was one entitled, " Jack the Con-
queror, or Difficulties Overcome " — the record of an English
orphan boy who won success by honesty and energetic activity.
He writes, " I started in life without any cash capital. My only
asset was honesty, energy and the determination to succeed."

His first position as a boy of twelve was in the office of the
Pullman Palace Car company at New Orleans. He was then
placed in charge of the Little Rock street car system, without any
previous experience in connection with street car management.
On receiving the appointment, he wrote to the president stating
that he greatly hesitated to accept because of his total lack of
experience. The president answered, " If I have the confidence
to place you in the position, you should have enough confidence
in yourself to handle it." This confidence on the part of the
president determined young Apperson to make a success of the
work; and he did. He has been engaged in manufacturing, in
railroading, and in the organization and management of electric
works and gas works. He was with the Pullman Car company,
in 1875 ; with the Bell Telephone company of Missouri, at Kansas
City, from 1879 to 1881 as operator and manager of the central
office; with the Little Rock Oil and Compress Car company of
Little Rock, Arkansas, promoted to the office of superintendent
in 1887 ; and he acted as cashier of the Little Rock street railway
company and Citizens street railway company, until he became
superintendent as well as cashier in the same year. In 1890, when
the Little Rock properties were sold, he declined the superin-
tendency under the new ownership and became engineer and
general manager to construct a street electric railway at Staunton,
Virginia, for a New York banking firm. In 1898 he constructed
and supervised the operation of a gas plant at Staunton in addi-
tion to the Street railway and Electric system ; and he remained
in this position until June, 1901.

RICHARD DUNCAN APPERSON 17

In 1900, he became president and part owner of the Lynch-
burg Gas company; in the Spring of 1901 he and his associates
purchased the Lynchburg Electric Railway and Light company
and the Lynchburg and Rivermont street railway company and
consolidated the three companies into the Lynchburg Traction
and Light company, of which Mr. Apperson was at once elected
president and general manager, positions which he still retains
in 1907. In March, 1901, he purchased for himself and his
associates the Petersburg Gas company at Petersburg, Virginia,
and was at once elected president, still retaining that position.
In 1902 he was chosen president of the Lynchburg Water Power
company, continuing still in that office. In January, 1903, with
his associates, he purchased the Roanoke Railway and Electric
company, of Roanoke, Virginia, and was elected president, still
retaining that position. In 1905 he purchased for himself and
his associates the Montgomery Traction company of Montgomery,
Alabama, becoming president of that company.

In 1897, Mr. Apperson organized the Virginia Street Rail-
way and Electric association, including most of the street railway
and electric interests of the state; and he was chosen president
of the association.

On the 7th of September, 1886, he married Miss Lola L.
Garrett, daughter of James Alfred Garrett of Lexington, Ken-
tucky. They have had three children, all of whom are living
in 1907.

Mr. Apperson is connected with the Protestant Episcopal
church. In his political relations he is a Democrat. He is a
member of the Southern club of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; of
the Piedmont club of Lynchburg ; and of the Shenandoah club of
Roanoke, Virginia.

He has always advocated and enjoyed out-of-door sports;
and he has found his favorite forms of exercise and amusement
in hunting, fishing and driving an automobile.

The record of one who has made his way so steadily to execu-
tive management and leadership in the enterprises with which he
is connected, should serve as an incentive and encouragement to
every Virginia boy who is dependent upon his own resources. It
is worth while for such young Virginians to give especial atten-

IS RICHARD DUX CAN APPERS0X

tion to the advice which Mr. Apperson offers to them in these
words : " A young man should be straightforward, truthful and
not afraid to take hold and do anything needed; — he must not
feel that because he is employed as a clerk or a bookkeeper, or in
any other such position, he should not help in any other capacity
when he sees that such help will be of benefit to his employer.
He should always try to anticipate what the success of the busi-
ness calls for. and should not wait to be directed to do this or that
thing. He should always be looking for something to do that
will benefit his employer and the business. In this way he makes
himself so much a part of the business that it can hardly be con-
ducted without him."

THOMAS ROBERTS BAKER

BAKER, THOMAS ROBERTS, chemist and pharmacist,
was born in Richmond, Virginia, May 30, 1825, and was
the son of Hilary and Margaret Marshall Roberts Baker.
His father was a lawyer by profession, and was a man of strict
integrity and earnest piety. Mrs. Margaret Baker was a Vir-
ginia lady of the old school, intelligent, well-informed, and
withal " zealously given to all good works," and made an indeli-
ble impression upon her son's character.

The Bakers came from Germany, and settled in Pennsvl-
vania. Hilary, father of Hilary above named and grandfather of
T. Roberts, was mayor of Philadelphia after the Revolutionary
war, and died of yellow fever in 1793 during the famous
epidemic.

T. R. Baker was sent to the best schools of Richmond. In
1840, he entered the drug business, and learned that business
under Alexander Duval, one of the best known druggists of
Richmond. In 1850, Mr. Baker entered the Philadelphia College
of Pharmacy, from which he graduated in 1852, with the degree
of Ph. G. : in 1889, the college made him a Ph. M.

For some years before the War between the States, Mr.
Baker was an active member of the Richmond Howitzers, one
of the most famous military organizations in the country. In
1861, when the Howitzer battalion entered the Confederate army,
Mr. Baker enlisted, and was sent to the Peninsula, to join the
forces of General John B. Magruder. In July, 1861, he was
ordered by Surgeon General Moore to report to the medical
department of the army, and in that department he served to the
end of the war.

In 1865, Mr. Baker returned to Richmond and reentered
the drug business. With the late Richard H. Meade, he formed
the firm of Meade and Baker, which was for a quarter of a
century one of the best known drug firms in the country.

Mr. Baker served as vice-president of the American
Pharmaceutical association and as president of the Virginia

20 THOMAS ROBERTS BAKER

State Pharmaceutical association. He was the first president
of the Virginia State Board of Pharmacy. Another honor held
by him was the presidency of the Richmond Young Men's Chris-
tian association, which Mr. Baker formed in his earlier years.

In politics Mr. Baker was a Democrat, and he never changed
his party affiiliations. Though he did not always endorse the
whole platform of his party and did not always regard its candi-
dates as immaculate, he knew that both men and parties have to
be viewed charitably, and regularly voted the Democratic ticket.

Mr. Baker was not a club man. He found home the best place
to spend his evenings, and his family more agreeable than news-
papers and magazines. He was emphatically a domestic man.
He was also an enthusiastic Young Men's Christian association
man, and a church man. " At church, with meek and unaffected
grace his looks adorned the venerable place." For half a century,
he was a regular member of St. Paul's Episcopal church, and
was rarely absent from his seat in that historic building in
which many of the leaders of the South used to meet on Sunday
in the days of the '60's.

Mr. Baker passed the limit usually alloted to mortal man.
He reached an honorable and successful old age. We once
asked him to direct young Virginians to the haven of success,
to tell them his recipe for success. " Love God," he said, " and
keep His commandments. Be honest and strictly consien-
tious. Be charitable and unselfish. Be considerate for the feel-
ings of others on all occasions." This is what we might expect
from one sitting in the seat of the elders, and grown gray in
the service of his fellow-man.

In 1868, Mr. Baker married Maria G. Burgwyn. They had
one son, who is now (1908) living.

Since the above sketch was written Mr. Baker died at his
home in Richmond, on November 26, 1906.

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ROBERT SILAS BARBOUR

BARBOUR, ROBERT SILAS, is a native of Pittsylvania
county, Virginia, born January 26, 1858. His father,
William Newton Barbour, was a merchant and planter,
who entered the Confederate army in 1861, and was killed in
1862. He left a widow with four small children, three boys and
a girl. Their father's death and the disorder of the " war time "
left them small means and meagre resources. The little farm
was their only source of support; and the devastating progress
of the war made their prospects dark and gloomy.

Mr. Barbour was next to the oldest son; and had but limited
educational advantages. He attended an " old field school," and
that for only a few months in succession and while he was but a
small boy. As soon as he was old enough, he began regular work
on the farm, and thus aided in the support of the family. He
was fond of books, however, and spent much of his leisure time
in reading history, biography and the standard authors.

At a very early age he was thrown entirely upon his own
resources, and he left home with the benediction of his mother
and followed by her counsels began life for himself.

In 1885, Mr. Barbour located in South Boston, Virginia,
accepting a position as clerk and salesman in a hardware store,
at a salary of twenty five dollars per month. He afterwards
engaged in the insurance business and merchandising, in which
he succeeded quite well, and accumulated some money. In 1895
he became interested in the manufacture of carriages, buggies
and other vehicles, and was made president and general manager
of the Barbour Buggy company, a position he has since held.
This company, of which he is the chief owner, is incorporated,
with a capital stock of $400,000 and is one of the largest establish-
ments of the kind in the South. It has been developed chiefly
through the enterprise and business capacity of Mr. Barbour.

Beside the Barbour Buggy company, Mr. Barbour is pecu-
niarily interested in, and is an officer of, the following corpora-
tions : General manager of the South Boston Electric Light and

Vol. 4 -Va.— 2

24 ROBERT SILAS BARBOUR

Power company; director in the American National Life Insur-
ance company; president of J. A. Mebane company, manufac-
turers of electrical supplies ; president of the Farmers' Hardware
company, Virgilina, Virginia ; vice-president of the Century Cot-
ton mills, South Boston; member of the board of directors Bos-
ton National Bank ; formerly president of the Planters and Mer-
chants Bank, South Boston, Virginia; was president of the
Farmers' Hardware Supply company, South Boston, Virginia.

He is a member and a deacon of the South Boston Baptist
church, moderator of the Dan River Baptist association; presi-
dent of the Sunday School Association of Halifax county; trus-
tee of the Baptist Orphanage of Virginia, located at Salem, Vir-
ginia ; trustee of the Female institute, Chase City, Virginia ; and
also of Roanoke Female college, Danville, Virginia.

Mr. Barbour is an active temperance worker and a member
of the executive committee and committee on finance, of the Anti-
Saloon league of Virginia.

On March 18, 1890, he married Miss Bessie K. Stovall, a
daughter of the late William T. Stovall of Meadville, Halifax
county, and a granddaughter of the late Hon. Jonathan B.
Stovall who was at one time treasurer of the state of Virginia,
She is a lady of culture and possesses many noble and generous
traits of character that have won for her a large circle of devoted
friends, and she has proven herself, in every way, worthy to share
in the success and prosperity of her devoted husband, to whom
she has been a faithful helpmeet.

They have had five children, three of whom are living in
1907.

Mr. Barbour's residence is beautifully located on Upper
Main Street, and there he delights to welcome his friends most
hospitably.

While the care and responsibility of various industries and
important enterprises rest upon him, Mr. Barbour nevertheless
finds time to look after the interests of his church and Sunday
school ; and he gives time, effort and money to charity and phil-
anthropy. He is a liberal contributor to good works. He says :
" It always gives me pleasure to respond to every appeal for a
good cause. I believe to give of one's means to a deserving

ROBERT SILAS BARBOUR 25

object is always a good investment, that will in some way, or at
some time, come back as ' bread cast upon the waters '."

While Mr. Barbour takes a deep interest in public affairs,
he has never been a politician. The only public office he has
ever held, is the one he is now acceptably filling — supervisor of
his county, a position for which his business ability well qualifies
him. He is a Democrat in politics and is loyal to his party.

To the young men of Virginia, he says : " Success is within
the reach of all young men who are industrious, sober, economical
and honest; and who choose good associates. True success does
not consist simply in making money, but rather in building up
and maintaining a good character." Speaking of himself, he
says : " Whatever business talent I possess, was inherited from
my mother, who was a woman of strong mind, systematic and
economical, with quick perception in business affairs. She was
a Miss Cocke, whose ancestors came to this country as early as
1632, and many of the family became famous, holding important
positions, both in the army and in the council of state. The
motto of the Coat-of-Arms of the family is : " Prodesse quam
Conspici." — " To benefit rather than be conspicuous."

THOMAS H. BARNES

BARNES, THOMAS H., was born May 28, 1831, and his
parents were James Barnes and Elizabeth, his wife.
He is descended from very early emigrants to this
country, who settled in Hertford county, North Carolina, and
later moved to Nansemond county, Virginia. His father, James
Barnes, was by profession a farmer of Nansemond county, whose
character was marked by determination, resolution, stability and
fidelity. He was held in high esteem by the people, and for a
long time was magistrate and member of the county court, when
to hold such an office was indicative of honor and position in
society. The subject of this sketch grew up in the country, en-
dowed with good health and blessed with the watchful care of a
kind and indulgent mother, whose influence was particularly
strong on his moral life. He attended Kinsale academy in Nanse-
mond county, Virginia, and Buckhorn academy in Hertford
county, North Carolina, and in 1849 entered the University of
Virginia. Here he remained three years, after which he pur-
sued the study of medicine at the Medical college of Virginia,
graduating in 1853 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

This selection of a profession was in consequence of his own
personal preference, and he brought to his work in college and
after life the enthusiasm which is apt to accompany a labor of
love. He began the active work of his practice in 1854 and pur-
sued it uninterruptedly till 1888, having for his residence the
old homestead where he was born and reared. He very soon
achieved much reputation, and became probably the most widely
known physician of the Southsfde.

But it was not in curing the sick only that Dr. Barnes has
passed his time. He became popular as a politician as well. His
genial, hearty, cordial manners and strong "horse sense" attracted
the public attention, and for a long time he filled the office of
county chairman of the Democratic party. Then he served for
many years in the house of delegates and senate of Virginia,
where he had always a great influence, and an important place on

THOMAS H. BARNES 27

committees. Dr Barnes made few speeches, but he was by no
means a silent member. In committee work and social inter-
course among the members he could talk with the best, and his
coming was always like a great beam of sunshine breaking
through a cloud. His great height and impressive personal bear-
ing acquired for him the sobriquet of the "tall sycamore of
Nansemond." Dr. Barnes has also served for many years as a
member of the board of visitors of the Medical college of Vir-
ginia, and as a member of the board of visitors of William and
Mary college. But probably the most important office which he
has filled has been that of delegate to the Constitutional conven-
tion, which assembled in Richmond in 1901. In this body he was
chairman of the committee on county government, and was dili-
gent and faithful in the discharge of his duties.

Dr. Barnes in his younger days was fond of fox-hunting.

Dr. Barnes has never been ambitious for mere offices, else he
might readily have attained higher honors than he has. He has
several times declined to permit his friends to connect his name
with congressional aspirations. To young Americans who need
some expression of advice as to true success in life drawn from
his own experience, Dr. Barnes writes : " Cultivate the love of
excellence in morals, establish a character for integrity, stability
and fidelity, have a fixed? and definite purpose, be frank and sin-
cere in private and public life, eschew novels not of historic
order, and be temperate in all things."

Dr. Barnes has never married, and his address is Suffolk,
Nansemond County, Virginia.

ROBERT LEIGHTON BARRET

BARRET, ROBERT LEIGHTON, physician, was born in
Louisa county, near Louisa court-house, Virginia, Jan-
uary 6, 1834. His father was Thomas Johnson Barret, a
farmer of Louisa county, and a justice of the peace and member
of the county court bench for twenty-six years. His mother was
Lucy Ann Crawford.

Among the earliest of the Barret name known in America
was William Barret, who represented James City county in the
house of burgesses in 1644. A descendant of this William Barret
settled first in Hanover county and then in Louisa county; and
was the ancestor of Doctor Barret.

The youthful period of Doctor Barret's life was spent in the
country, where he was early sent to good schools, in which he
acquired his elementary and academic education. At the same
time he assisted in the work upon his father's farm ; and helped
in the management of his negro slaves.

As a boy he evinced an inclination for the study of medicine.
After leaving school he entered the medical department of the
University of Virginia, and thence went to the Jefferson Medical
college at Philadelphia, where he was graduated with the degree
of M. D. on March 13, 1854.

After graduation he began the practice of his profession at
Trevilians, Louisa county, where he remained for two years.
He then moved to Louisa court-house, where he has continued in
active practice up to the present time (1907) as a physician and
surgeon.

During the period of the War between the States, Doctor
Barret, who had enlisted in the beginning of the war as a private
in the Louisa Blues, was made an assistant-surgeon in the army
of the Confederate States.

Doctor Barret was one of the first members of the Medical
society of Virginia, in which body he has participated in the
discussions ; and he has written various essays and reports on mat-
ters of professional interest. One of the important results of his

ROBERT LEIGHTON BARRET 29

investigations is the discovery that, in its initial stage, typhoid
fever can be aborted by vaccination.

He is a member of the Christian Church; and is a master
Mason. In politics he is identified with the Democratic party,
from which he has never changed. He was a zealous advocate of
the free coinage of silver in recent presidential campaigns; and
made speeches in behalf of the Democratic platform and candi-
dates.

Doctor Barret has been twice married. His first wife, whom
he married in July, 1862, was Miss Hunter, daughter of D. M.
Hunter, clerk of the circuit court; and his second wife, whom he
married on May 6, 1879, was Miss Annie Keene, daughter of
Dennis Keene, of Vicksburg, Mississippi. He has had seven
children, of whom five are now living.

His address is Main Street, Louisa, Virginia.

LEWIS HARVIE BLAIR

BLAIE, LEWIS HARVIE, one of the most prominent
business men of Richmond, was born in Richmond, Vir-
ginia, June 21, 1834. His father, John G. Blair, was a
well-known bank cashier of Richmond, a courteous, refined, Vir-
ginia gentleman of the old regime. Lewis Harvie's mother,
Sarah Ann Eyre Heron, was a woman of great force of character,
and exerted a marked influence upon her son.

The Blairs came from the north of Ireland about the year
1700. They first settled in Pennsylvania, and afterwards re-
moved to Virginia. For more than a century the family has
been prominent and influential in Richmond; in fact, they have
been among the leading old families of that city, and have con-
tributed no little to make Richmond what it is. In various lines
of business, in good deeds, in philanthropic enterprises of every
kind, in intelligence, activity and thrift, the Blair family has had
few equals among the families of Richmond.

Among the present members of the family the subject of this
sketch is especially distinguished. As already, said, his father,
John G., was a well-known financier. John G.'s father was the
famous "Parson Blair," whose name is still a household one
among the old Richmond families. The Reverend John D. Blair
(" Parson Blair ") married Mary Winston, a descendant of Isaac
Winston, the colonist, who came from Yorkshire, England, in
1704, and settled near Richmond, Virginia. It will be clear,
therefore, that the Blairs are allied by blood to the old Winston
family, so prominent In the colonial, revolutionary, and subse-
quent periods of Virginia history.

Lewis H. Blair began active life at a very youthful age.
Owing to his father's death, he left school at seventeen, and en-
tered the United States government service. After four years
of that life, he served in a mercantile office ; later, in the engineer-
ing department of the United States light-house service on the
Great Lakes. He had just started out in business for himself
when Virginia called upon her sons to defend her from invasion,

LEWIS HARVEE BLAIR 33

and we find Mr. Blair from 1862 to 1865 a soldier in the Con-
federate army, doing duty for his state and people. He served
under Major-General Samuel Jones, Brigadier-General Hum-
phrey Marshall, Major-General William Loring, Major-General
William E. Jones, General John C. Breckinridge, and other com-
manders. In 1866, Mr. Blair returned to Richmond, and again
entered business. From that time until the present, he has been
very successful and he is now at the forefront of the practical,
wide-awake " makers of Richmond." For many years, Mr. Blair
confined himself principally to the wholesale grocery business;
but recently he has taken an active part in the wholesale shoe
business, having been associated with the late Stephen Putney
in the manufacture and sale of shoes, with headquarters in Rich-
mond.

In 1888, Mr. Blair entered the field of authorship. In his
" Unwise Laws," published by the Putnams, he very clearly and
forcibly expressed his views on many questions of national impor-
tance, such as the tariff, protection, currency, etc. As this book
is not very recent, we give Mr. Blair's views as given in a manu-
script fresh from his pen : " I believe in the civil equality of
every man regardless of race or previous condition, and that every
man should have a voice in the government under which he lives,
and which, when called upon, he must defend at the hazard of his
life. I believe that laws should bear equally upon all, and that
there should be no favoritism or discrimination against any one.
I condemn, therefore, all discrimination against the negro be-
cause he is a negro — I condemn protection in every guise, even
incidental protection, because incidental protection gives away
the whole question of protection; for it is a far cry from part
protection, which is incidental protection, to protection in full."

In politics Mr. Blair is a Democrat, but he claims that there
are various kinds of Democrats. He declares himself " a real
Democrat," and, in defining the phrase, uses the language just
quoted. He believes that the Democratic party has strayed away
from its true doctrines, and that, in some sections, democracy
means aristocracy and oligarchy.

Some of the views stated above were clearly and vigorously
expressed in Mr. Blair's second book, " The Prosperity of the

34 LEWIS HARVIE BLAIR

South Dependent upon the Elevation of the Negro." In this
volume, Mr. Blair took very advanced ground. The book, he
says, was not received with an ovation; and its views as to the
political elevation of the negro will never be popular south of
the Potomac, if anywhere among Anglo-Saxon races.

In religious matters, also, Mr. Blair differs with many of his
friends and neighbors. He does not hold any of the orthodox
creeds, but has a creed of his own, " of the school of Adam
Smith, Herbert Spencer, and Haeckel." He believes firmly in
the rights of man, and finds the truest religion in the Golden
Rule. " Respect your neighbor's rights " would be his version
of the Golden Rule and of the ten commandments.

Mr. Blair has been married twice. His first wife was Alice
TTayles Harrison, of Amelia county, Virginia; his second wife,
Mattie Ruffin Feild, of Mecklenburg county, Virginia. By his
first marriage, he had seven children, of whom five are now
(1908) living; by his second marriage, four, of whom all are
living. Mr. Blair is essentially a domestic man. Among the
influences that molded his character and shaped his career, he
places home influence first.

After time had deprived him of father and mother, he
found happiness and cheer in the home circle composed of wife
and children; and it is in this sphere that he finds most of his
social joy and relaxation. For general society, he has little taste.
Contact with the world at large has had little to do with the
making of his career. With men in general he deals pleasantly
and justly in business matters ; but their intimacy he rarely seeks.
Home is his social kingdom. Home is his realm of happiness.

Mr. Blair's address is 511 East Grace Street, Richmond,
Virginia.

•fz).

WILLIAM DABBS BLANKS

BLANKS, WILLIAM DABBS, was born in Clarksville,
Mecklenburg county, Virginia, April 3, 1864, and his
parents were James Matthews Blanks and Julia Frances
Dabbs, his wife. His earliest ancestor from England to Virginia
was Joseph Dabbs, and among his descendants of the name,
probably Richard Dabbs, a Baptist minister, who was imprisoned
several times for preaching without a license, was most distin-
guished. His father, who was a farmer and served as postmaster
and mayor of Clarksville, was a man of very genial disposition
and even temperament. His early life was passed in a village
and owing to his physical condition, which was very delicate, he
had no manual labor to perform. He attended the local schools
where he was prepared for college, but financial difficulties pre-
vented him from attending. Nevertheless he had a good and
loving mother whose influence was especially felt on his moral
and spiritual life, and fortunately he was fond of reading and
study. He read histories and autobiographies, and by this means
greatly enlarged his mental and intellectual powers. He also
studied law at home for several years and might have passed the
necessary examination for admission to the bar, but abandoned
the idea of being a lawyer, as he felt that he would always be
hampered by reason of his lack of a college education.

He, therefore, turned his mind to a commercial life, and in
1884 became confidential clerk and bookkeeper for Colonel
Thomas F. Goode, proprietor of the Buffalo Lithia Springs, in
Mecklenburg county, Virginia, in which capacity he served for
about two years, after which he was a merchant and tobacconist.
In 1892 he organized the Planters bank of Clarksville, Virginia,
and was cashier until 1903, when he was elected to the position he
now holds — that of president, During this period he also held
the public positions of justice of the peace and notary public.

Mr. Blanks is a Democrat and has always been true to the
party except when William J. Bryan was nominated for presi-
dent on a free silver platform. Nevertheless, while he would not

38 WILLIAM DABBS BLANKS

vote for him, he did not support the Republican nominee. He
has been a member of the Democratic county committee and a
delegate to numerous county conventions. In 1905 he was
brought forward by his friends as a candidate for the state
senate from the twenty-fifth district, but in the Democratic
primary he was defeated by F. B. Roberts, of Chase City, who
had a majority of fifty-nine votes. He is a Baptist and a mem-
ber of the Masonic fraternity. With true commercial instinct he
estimates the influences which have shaped his character in the
following ratios: Home forty per cent., private study forty per
cent., contact with men in active life ten per cent., and school ten
per cent.

Hunting and farming are the forms of relaxation which he
most enjoys.

He writes that his experience emphasizes the value of a col-
lege education, for he has always felt that he could have accom-
plished much if he had commenced active life so equipped.
In answer to the question what means he deems best calculated to
promote true success, he says, " a thorough education supple-
mented by a sound home training and employed with a noble
purpose. To this should be added a careful avoidance of degrad-
ing companionship, contact with men of strong character, abso-
lute truth and honesty under all circumstances."

On June 24, 1891, he married Julia A. Watkins. They have
had five children, three of whom are now living.

His address is Clarksville, Mecklenburg County, Virginia.

JAMES FENTON BRYANT

BRYANT, JAMES FENTON, was born near Bloomfield,
Southampton county, Virginia, and his parents were
James Deberry Bryant and Elizabeth Sugars Bryant.
His father was a farmer of large means in Southampton county,
who owned many slaves and was presiding justice of the county
and captain in the state troops. He was a man of inflexible in-
tegrity and quiet fearlessness. His earliest known ancestors were
Charles and Albriston Bryant, who were from Devonshire, Eng-
land, and came over in 1760.

The subject of this sketch was a boy of sound physical
health, a student by nature and training. He was born on a
large farm and had no manual labor to perform, but was a reader
of books and loved literature of all kinds. His early advantages
were good. He was prepared for college at the celebrated Brook -
land school, conducted by Professor William Dinwiddie, M. A.,
at Greenwood Depot, Albemarle county, Virginia. He entered
the University of Virginia in October, 1858, and remained there
until the outbreak of hostilities in 1861. In April of that year
he joined the Southampton cavalry, afterwards Company A.,
13th Virginia cavalry. His company was stationed in the neigh-
borhood of Norfolk, where he remained till the city was evacu-
ated in May, 1862, when he was detailed as courier and attached
to the headquarters of General Armistead. He served in this
capacity for several months and was then offered a staff position,
but preferring to rejoin his company he shared their campaigns
under Stuart and Fitzhugh Lee until the close of the war. He
was wounded at Brandy Station and at Five Points, and was
twice captured and each time escaped. At the time of the sur-
render he was at his home disabled by wounds. Hostilities hav-
ing ceased, he undertook to prepare for a profession, and
although his own preference was for the law he yielded to a dying
wish of his mother and chose the profession of a doctor. In
October, 1865, he returned to the University of Virginia, took
the medical course one session, and then went to New York,

40 JAMES FENTON BRYANT

where lie graduated with the degree of M. D. On June 24, 1867,
he began the active practice of a physician in the town of Frank-
lin, Southampton county, and this vocation he has ever since pur-
sued. His long service has won for him an enviable reputation
and no man in his section of the state stands higher as a physi-
cian. He has been surgeon of the Southern Railway company,
surgeon of the Seaboard Air Line Railway company, medical
examiner for various insurance companies, member of the board
of visitors of the Medical college of Virginia, fellow of the
Medical society of Virginia, member and past first vice-president
of the Seaboard Medical association, member and vice-president
of the Southside Virginia Medical society, member and past vice-
president of the Association of Surgeons Seaboard Air Line,
member of the Association of Surgeons Southern Railway com-
pany, and health officer of Southampton county. Great, how-
ever, as the work of Dr. Bryant has been in his chosen profession,
he has yet found time to make a reputation as politician and
educator. In the first capacity he has served for many years in
various offices, having been for sixteen years chairman of the
Democratic party in his county, for eight years chairman of the
Democratic executive committee of the second congressional dis-
trict, and for twenty years member of the central Democratic
committee for the state. In 1892 he was member of the Demo-
cratic National convention held in Chicago, and several times he
has been a prominent candidate for congress. As an educator
few men in Virginia have accomplished as much as Dr. Bryant.
He was appointed in 1870 first superintendent of schools for
Southampton county, and had, therefore, to perform the work of
introducing the public school system among his people. There
was a good deal of popular opposition to the system, but Dr.
Bryant took the matter up in good spirit and soon made it a
success, so far as his county was concerned. During the first
year (1870) the total enrollment of children was one thousand
two hundred and thirty-seven, but in 1890 the enrollment was
three thousand eight hundred and twenty-six, or more than three
times as great. Quite a number of young men and ladies of his
and neighboring counties have secured high school and collegiate
educations through his aid and influence, and he has been very

JAMES FENTON BRYANT 41

popular with his teachers, white and colored. He was one of
the founders and chief promoters in the building of the Franklin
academy, a regularly incorporated institution for the higher edu-
cation of boys and young men, and since its organization has been
president of its board of trustees.

Dr. Bryant is a Mason, and a Knight of Pythias, and has
served as past master of the one fraternal order and past chan-
cellor of the other. He has also served as past commander of
Urquhart Gillette Camp Confederate veterans, No. 11. He is the
author of many articles in the newspapers of a political, social,
educational and medical character.

In his politics he has never changed from the Democratic
faith; and in his religious affiliations he is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Hunting, and in later years
traveling, has been the form of relaxation which he has most en-
joyed. He thinks that modern life at the colleges is too extreme
in the matter of athletics. There should be fewer holidays, more
rigid discipline, the entire abolition of the game of football, and
a return to the old time interest in literary or debating societies.
He has an intense devotion for his state and is active in every
cause which tends to promote the growth and material develop-
ment of his town and county.

He has married twice — April 24, 1871, to Miss Gabrielle L.
Barrett, and December 12, 1888, to Miss Margaret Gunter. He
has seven children, five born to him by his first marriage and two
by the second marriage.

His address is Franklin, Southampton County, Virginia.

JOHN POIZELL BURKE

BURKE, JOHN POIZELL, of Harrisonburg, Virginia,
proprietor of one of the most important hardware houses
in the Shenandoah Valley, was born on October 14, 1861,
in New Market, Virginia — one of the prettiest of the villages
which lie in the heart of the beautiful and historic Shenandoah
Valley.

His father, John Harrison Burke, by occupation a mill-
wright, was a man of industry, ingenuity and mechanical skill,
who had married Miss Francis Hill Miles. His father, John
Burke, was born at Powell's Fort, in 1776 ; and he was the first of
the Burke family to settle in the Shenandoah Valley. He was
of Irish descent.

From his mother, John Poizell Burke inherited certain traits
which are thought to mark the German stock from which she
was descended. Her son remembers her with deep affection as a
woman of strong sympathy, great energy, and quick emotions;
and to her influence upon his life, he feels himself deeply
indebted. A boy of rather frail physique, but not easily fatigued,
he was early thrown on his own resources; for when the Civil
war, in the first year of which he was born, had ended with the
surrender at Appomattox, the impoverished condition of Virginia
which had resulted from the ravages of the Civil War rendered
plans for self-support by toil necessary for his father's family,
as for so many other Virginia families ; and John Poizell Burke's
opportunities for obtaining an education were restricted as a con-
sequence. He attended the public schools in his early boyhood;
and later he was for three sessions a student in the New Market
Polytechnic institute, under the teaching of Professors Joseph
Salyards and Benjamin Benton. When he left the tuition of
these experienced and successful instructors, although but six-
teen, he passed a successful examination for a position as teacher ;
and receiving a certificate, he taught for two sessions in the pub-
lic schools.

When he was eighteen, he took a place as clerk in a hard-

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JOHN POIZELL BURKE 45

ware store in Harrisonburg, Virginia ; and the business qualities
which have contributed to his success in later life, were discerni-
ble from the first. He remained with the firm which first en-
gaged his services, for a period of fifteen years. In 1894 he
became a bookkeej)er in the First National Bank of Harrison-
burg; but this position, was not well adapted to his spirit of
enterprise and to his executive ability and he soon resigned.
Buying the long established hardware store of A. Shacklett, in
Harrisonburg, he started a hardware business for himself. His
close application to this business, with the practical knowledge
of all its details which had come to him through his fifteen years
of experience as a clerk, his singleness of purpose and his enter-
prising spirit, led to the rapid development of this business ; and
his operations soon enlarged and began to extend themselves over
considerable territory. While he is cautious and conservative
in his business methods, and keeps his own counsel, he is strongly
aggressive in his maturely-formed plans; and within a compara-
tively short period he has built an important business, now
owing, managing and conducting one of the largest retail and
wholesale hardware stores in the Valley of Virginia. Mr. Burke
is sole proprietor of this large business; and he has for some
years been a " man of mark " in the commercial community.

On December 19, 1889, Mr. Burke married Miss Katie
Reagan, daughter of Daniel P. Reagan, of Harrisonburg, Vir-
ginia. Their home has been a center of happiness and hospi-
talitv.

By religious convictions, Mr. Burke is identified with the
Protestant Episcopal church, and he is one of the vestrymen of
Immanuel Church of Harrisonburg.

By political convictions he is a Democrat; and with that
solidity of character and unswerving uniformity of conviction
which he likes to think of as traits of the Teutonic character,
he has never departed from his allegiance to the political party
of his early choice.

Mr. Burke is a member of the Masonic order. He is past
district deputy grand master and a Knight Templar.

The early struggles which he encountered in making a way
to success for himself in the midst of the difficulties and disorder

Vol. 4— Va.-3.

46 JOHN POIZEKL BURKE

which immediately followed the Civil war; the obstacles he sur-
mounted, with but little encouragement or assistance from others ;
and the sound principles he has always held to in shaping a char-
acter which has made him a leader in his community, — all these
things render his record in many ways an inspiration to boys
and young men in Virginia who are hoping to win true success in
life.

His address is Harrisonburg, Virginia.

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GEORGE CAMERON

CAMERON, GEORGE, of Petersburg, Virginia, manu-
facturer of tobacco, and a partner in several of the
leading firms in that business at Petersburg, Virginia, at
Richmond, Virginia, and in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and
Brisbane, Australia, was born at Dreggie, near Grantown,
Morryshire, Scotland, on the 23rd of April, 1839. His father,
Alexander Cameron, was a merchant and farmer, and his mother
was Mrs. Elizabeth (Grant) Cameron.

In early boyhood, he attended school at Grantown. With
his parents he came to Virginia when he was but two years old,
and the family settled at Petersburg, Virginia, in 1849. He
returned to Scotland, to attend school, living with an uncle. The
fact that his older brothers were engaged in the manufacture of
tobacco with the late David Dunlop, was the occasion of his
becoming interested in that business when he returned to
America at the age of fifteen years ; and from that time to this,
Mr. Cameron has been actively interested in the development of
this important industry in Virginia. He was also among the
first to begin to develop the manufacture of tobacco in Australia.

Devoting himself persistently to the interests of the business,
he became a partner in the firm of Cameron and Crawford, in
1862 ; and later in the firm of William Cameron and Brother, at
Petersburg, Virginia ; and in the firm of Alexander Cameron and
Company, at Richmond, Virginia.

In 1865, his brother, William, visited Australia to re-arrange
their business, which had been severely interrupted by the Con-
federate war, Australia and India having been the largest con-
sumers of the brands of tobacco manufactured by the Cameron
concern. Upon Mr. William Cameron's return, in 1866, the fol-
lowing firms were established: William Cameron and Brother,
Petersburg, Virginia; Alexander Cameron and Company, Rich-
mond, Virginia ; Robert Dunlop and Company, Louisville and
Henderson, Kentucky; George Campbell and Company, Liver-

50 GEORGE CAMERON

pool and London; the firm consisting of William Cameron,
Alexander Cameron, George Cameron, Robert Dunlop, and
George Campbell, the last two being brothers-in-law of the
subject of our sketch. These firms did a full share of trade both
in leaf and manufactured tobacco in Kentucky and Virginia, for
export.

About 1870, at the solicitation of the Governor of Victoria,
Australia, the firm of William Cameron and Company, Limited,
in Melbourne, was established under government protection, and
with a rebate of twenty-five cents a pound on tobacco manu-
factured in that colony. In 1872, the Camerons opened a busi-
ness under the firm name of Cameron Brothers and Company,
Sydney, New South Wales, this being followed by a factory in
Adelaide, South Australia, and also one in Brisbane, Queensland.
These respective firms supplied about seventy-five per cent, of
the consumption of tobacco in the Australian colonies.

While Mr. Cameron has been thus steadily and prominently
identified with the industry of tobacco manufacturing, he did
not allow himself to be so engrossed in business as to forget the
interests of his state. During the Civil war, he enlisted in the
Confederate army as a private, joining Wolfe's company of
Archer's battalion. He was taken prisoner in the engagement
before Petersburg, on the 9th of June, 1864, and was carried to
Point Lookout, Maryland, as a prisoner. Later he was trans-
ferred to Elmira, New York; and from that place of detention
for Confederate prisoners by the Federals, he was paroled and
returned to his home, via Savannah, in October, 1864.

By religious conviction, Mr. Cameron is identified with the
Presbvterian Church* South.

In politics, he is a member of the Democratic party, and he
has never swerved in his allegiance to the principles and nominees
of that party.

On the 13th of March, 1861, Mr. Cameron married Miss Helen
Dunn, daughter of Thomas R. and Helen Spooner Dunn. He
was married a second time, on the 19th of July, 1886, to Miss
Delia Pegram, daughter of Captain Richard G. Pegram and
Helen Burwell Pegram. He has had twelve children, seven of
whom are living in 1908.

GEORGE CAMERON 51

Since he retired from the active cares and duties of business,
he has found his favorite form of exercise and relaxation in
superintending his greenhouses, grounds and farm at his home,
"Mount Erin," within the city limits of Petersburg, Virginia.

1 GEORGE CAMERON, JR.

CAMERON, GEORGE, Jr., of Petersburg, Virginia, since
January, 1905, president of the National Bank of Peters-
burg, since October, 1904, president of the Virginia Ware-
house company; president of the Security and Equity company;
and president of the Appomattox Trunk and Bag company, was
born in Petersburg, Dinwiddie county, Virginia, on the 10th of
April, 1866. His father, George Cameron, was a tobacco manu-
facturer, who is honored by his business associates and his towns-
people for his firm loyalty to principle and friends, combined
with tenderness and generosity. His mother was Miss Helen
Dunn, daughter of Thomas R. and Ella Spooner Dunn, of Ches-
terfield county, Virginia.

In boyhood he passed his summers in the country, and his
winters in the city. He was encouraged in all forms of out-of-
door exercises; but the circumstances of his family were such
that he did not engage in any forms of manual toil. The way
to the best preparatory schools was opened to him by his father,
and he studied for several years at the Phillips Exeter academy,
at Exeter, New Hampshire.

He did not go to college, but, returning to Petersburg, en-
gaged in business with his father, until June, 1904, when after
having taken a trip to Australia, to consider the prospects of the
trade in that part of the world, he sold his business to the British-
American Tobacco company.

As soon as he was free from the duties and responsibilities
of managing a large business, his business experience and ability
were sought by his fellow townsmen for the management of com-
panies and corporations in which the interests of many individ-
uals were combined. In October, 1904, he became president
of the Virginia Warehouse company. On January 1, 1905, he
became president of the National Bank of Petersburg, Virginia.
In February, 1906. he was elected president of the Security and
Equity company of Petersburg. He is also President of the
Appomattox Trunk and Bag Company, having been chosen to
that position in 1907. ,

:

GEORGE CAMERON, JR. 55

In addition to these business interests, Mr. Cameron has been
ready to undertake his full share of responsibility for the con-
duct of the public affairs of his city. In 1900, he was chosen a
member of the common council of Petersburg, and for three years
(until he voluntarily withdrew) he was chairman of the water
and claims committee of the city council. In 1903 he accepted
the chairmanship of the finance committee Of the common coun-
cil, and became president of its sinking fund commissioners. This
position Mr. Cameron held until June 15, 1907, when, against
the remonstrances, and vigorous but kindly protests of his fellow
citizens, he resigned from this presidency. One of the local
papers of his city declares that " during the time since he became
chairman of the finance committee, the city's finances have been
managed with consummate skill." And another local paper in
expressing the hope that Mr. Cameron may reconsider his inten-
tion of resigning, says : " The cheap reputation of a watch dog
of the treasury is easily achieved even by men of very small
abilities, but that is not enlightened finance. Taxes are levied not
to be hoarded into large balances, but to be judiciously expended
for the public good. The question is not how cheap the expenses
of the city can be made, but how much the comfort, the health
and the safety of the community can be promoted. In this
respect, Mr. Cameron has set for his successor a fine example."

In February, 1906, Mr. Cameron was appointed on the staff
of the governor of Virginia, with the rank of colonel.

On the 25th of April, 1888, he married Miss May Broadnax.
They have had four children, three of whom are living in 1907.

Mr. Cameron's business and social relations have not been by
any means confined to Petersburg. He is a member of the West-
moreland club of Richmond, Virginia, and of the Baltimore club
of Baltimore, Maryland; as well as of the Riverside club of
Petersburg, Virginia, of which he has been president; and of the
Petersburg club of Petersburg, Virginia.

By religious conviction he is indentified with the Presby-
terian Church, South.

In politics he is a Democrat ; but on the " free silver " issue
he voted for McKinley and against Bryan, declining to be com-
mitted to what he deemed to be the financial heresy of " sixteen
to one."

56 GEORGE CAMERON, JR.

To the young men of Virginia who are desirious of attaining
true success, Mr. Cameron addresses these words : " True success
consists in the development of character into strong, moral cour-
age, by active and righteous industry."

His address is at his residence, " Ravenscroft," Petersburg,
Virginia.

AS"

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no Ca

-

*^<- 0-

JOSEPH PRESTON CARSON

CARSON, JOSEPH PRESTON, was born at " Solitude,"
the estate of the late Colonel Robert Preston, in Mont-
gomery county, Virginia, August 2, 1861. His parents
were the Reverend Doctor Theodore M. Carson and Victoria
Ellen (Allison) Carson. His father, an Episcopal clergyman of
the highest type of Christian manhood, was at the time of his
death dean of the convocation and president of the standing
committee of the diocese of Southern Virginia.

The subject of this sketch in childhood enjoyed robust health.
His early life was passed at the home of his grandfather, the late
Judge Joseph S. Carson, of Winchester, Virginia. He attended
the Episcopal high school near Alexandria, and the University
of Virginia, where he spent several years in the academic depart-
ment. He began the study of law in 1882, but abandoned it
temporarily, and in 1883-84 took a special course in analytical
chemistry in New York; and in 1885 began the work of an ana-
lytical chemist. In 1895 he resumed the study of law at the Uni-
versity of Virginia. He stood the state bar examination and
was admitted to practice in 1896. He has practiced law in Rich-
mand ever since with marked success. He is president of the
Southern Plumbing and Electric Company, Incorporated; presi-
dent of the Ruehl and Cox Company, and vice-president of the
Holly Lithia Springs Company, Incorporated.

His liking for outdoor life induced him several years ago to
purchase " Dundee " in Chesterfield county, about three miles
from Richmond, from which he goes to his office in town every
day.

Mr. Carson is a Royal Arch Mason, and also a member of
several sporting and social clubs. His favorite forms of amuse-
ment are hunting, fishing, rowing and sailing, and he is fond
of all other forms of outdoor life. He has traveled extensively in
this country and abroad.

Of the influences which have determined his character and
life he ranks home as by " all odds " most potential.

60 JOSEPH PRESTON CARSON

In politics he is a Democrat and in religious preference a
member of the Episcopal church. On April 18, 1900. he married
Kate Valentine Montague, of Richmond. They have had three
children, all of whom are now (1907) living.

His address is 1103 East Main Street, Eichmond Virginia.

THOMAS HENRY CARTER

CAETEE, THOMAS HENRY, soldier and business man,
born at "Pampatike," the home of his father, in King
William county, Virginia. His parents were Thomas
Nelson Carter and Juliet Gaines Carter.

Colonel Carter's first colonial ancestor in Virginia was John
Carter, who was born in England, and emigrated to "Coroto-
man.'; in Lancaster county, in 1649. This John Carter was the
father of Eobert "King" Carter, in his day the richest and most
powerful of the Virginians. One of "King" Carter's daughters
married Benjamin Harrison, and was the ancestress of the Harri-
son presidents of the United States; while through the mar-
riages of other children and descendants of the emigrant, Colonel
Carter is related to many of the oldest and most distinguished
families in Virginia, including Armisteads, Burwells, Churchills,
Eandolphs, Byrds, Grymeses, Tayloes and Lees.

Colonel Carter's boyhood was spent in the country, where he
led the life of the Virginia boy of his day on "the old planta-
tion," learning with his daily lessons, " to ride, to shoot, and to
speak the truth."

When he grew older, he became a cadet at the Virginia Mili-
tary institute at Lexington, where he graduated, eighth in his
class, in 1849. From the institute he entered the University of
Virginia, and studied medicine, graduating in 1851 with the de-
gree of Doctor of Medicine. The opportunity for clinical in-
struction not being at that time offered at the university, where
the teaching was almost entirely confined to the theory of medi-
cine, he went, as was the custom of many of the graduates of the
medical school of the University of Virginia, to Philadelphia,
and matriculated in the medical department of the University of
Pennsylvania, graduating therefrom in 1852 with the degree of
Doctor of Medicine. He spent a year in Block] ey hospital in
Philadelphia; and though he had pursued his medical studies
with the purpose of making the practice of his profession his life-
work, in which he was deeply interested, he surrendered his

62 THOMAS HENRY CARTER

career as a physician, at his father's request, to take charge of the
latter's estate in Virginia upon the sudden and unexpected death
of Mr. Carter's overseer. This estate of "Pampatike" consisted
of twenty-two hundred and fifty acres of land, on which were
established one hundred and fifty negro slaves. Colonel Carter
took this over, and managed it for ten years, at a rental of five
thousand dollars per annum ; though for a portion of that period,
when he was in the Confederate army, the details of its manage-
ment were supervised by his wife, who was a woman of fine exe-
cutive capacity and business judgment.

Upon the breaking out of the "War between the States,
Thomas H. Carter entered the service of the Confederacy, and
held successively the positions of captain, major, lieutenant-
colonel and colonel of artillerv, and was for a time chief of Gen-
eral Early's artillery in the Valley of Northern Virginia. Col-
onel Carter's service as a soldier was as brilliant as it was con-
tinuous; and to it he gave his best energies and talents from the
beginning of the war to its close at Appomattox in 1865.

After the war, he retired for a while to his farm in King
William county, from which he was later called to be the first
railroad commissioner of the state of Virginia. In this position
he rendered valuable service; and his business capacity, his
attractive manners, and his engaging personality made him many
acquaintances among the business men of the new South. He
went from the post of railroad commissioner of the state to that
of arbitrator of the Southern Railway and Steamship association.
Then he became commissioner of that association, and again its
arbitrator, remaining with the association in one capacity or the
other for a period of sixteen years. In 1897, he was elected
by the board of visitors of the University of Virginia proctor of
that institution, to succeed Major Green Peyton, then recently
deceased ; and he held this office for a period of eight years there-
after, discharging its important and often difficult duties with
ability and success, and finally retiring from the position on
account of his health.

Colonel Carter is a member of the Episcopal church, and a
Democrat in his political belief and affiliation. During three
years of his residence in Atlanta, Georgia, while commissioner

THOMAS HENRY CARTER 63

of the Southern Railway and Steamship association, he was presi-
dent of the Virginia society of that city.

Colonel Carter married on November 7, 1855, Susan Eliza-
beth Roy, a daughter of William H. Roy, Esq., of "Green
Plains," Matthews county, Virginia, and his wife Anne Seddon,
sister of the Honorable James A. Seddon, secretary of war for
the Confederate States of America. Of this marriage were born
six children, of whom four are still living.

Colonel Carter's address is 205 West Franklin Street, Rich-
mond, Virginia.

GEORGE EDWARD CASSEL

CASSEL, GEORGE EDWARD, lawyer and judge, was
born near the town of Marion, in Smyth county, Vir-
ginia, April 28, 1856. His father was Jacob Cassel, a
farmer and grazier of that county, who was a member of the
bench of magistrates under the old county court system, and a
school trustee; and his mother was Nancy Campbell Henderlite.

Judge Cassel's great-grandfather, Michael Cassel, came to
Virginia in the eighteenth century and settled in Wythe county.
The father of Michael Cassel, who was the first of the name in
America, emigrated from Cassel, the capital of the electorate of
Hesse-Cassel, in Prussia.

Judge Cassel spent his early life in the country, growing up
on his father's farm, on which he worked when not at school. To
the work thus done by him in his youth he attributes the acquisi-
tion of vigorous physical health and strength and of the habit of
self-reliance. His early education was acquired in the public
schools of his neighborhood, and in the Marion high school. He
attended the last named institution for four years, riding to and
from the school, a distance of four miles, daily. After leaving
the high school he entered Emory and Henry college, at Emory,
Virginia, from which he graduated in 1878 with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts. Having determined to become a lawyer, he
studied law privately while teaching the high school at Marion;
and in 1882 he began the practice of his profession, in which he
has achieved success and prominence, in Montgomery county,
Virginia. He served as a school trustee of Montgomery county
for several years, and was largely instrumental in increasing the
efficiency of the public school system there. He also took part in
the establishment of the academy at Radford. In 1892 he re-
signed from the school board, in consequence of his election to
the office of judge of the hustings court of Radford, which posi-
tion he has since continuously held.

Judge Cassel is a member of the Presbyterian Church, of
which he has been an elder since 1002. He is a Democrat in

GEORGE EDWARD CASSEL 65

politics; and has never changed his political or party allegiance
upon any issue. He is prominent in the councils of the Demo-
cratic party of his congressional district; and in presidential
elections, and elections to congress, he has proved an active and
effective political speaker.

He has published a number of articles at various times on
subjects of professional interest in the legal periodicals of the
state.

Judge Cassel is a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows.

He married on May IT, 1881, Catherine Markham Hammett.
Of their union have been born five children, all of whom are now
living.

His address is East Eadford, Montgomery County, Vir-
ginia.

JAMES RANDALL CATON

CATON, JAMES RANDALL, lawyer and legislator, was
born in Fairfax county, Virginia, February 6, 1851. His
father was Samuel Francis Caton, and his mother was
Eliza Ann Caton. The former was a farmer, of good natural
sense and kind and generous disposition. The Catons were resi-
dents of Virginia long previous to the Revolution and belonged
to a race of farmers noted for their sturdy character. Mr.
Caton's grandfather on his paternal side was John R. Caton, and
his great-grandfather was Moses Caton. His paternal great-
grandmother's maiden name was Elizabeth Dermovel Maddox,
who married Enoch Grigsby and his paternal grandmother was
Eliza Grigsby who married John R. Caton. His maternal great-
grandfather was James Ferguson who married Eliza Marshall,
and his maternal grandmother's name was Sarah B. Ferguson,
who married James Brett. None of his ancestors held distin-
guished positions in life, but followed almost invariably agricul-
tural pursuits. Some of the descendants, however, have been
prominent in professional life.

Mr. Caton's parents removed to Alexandria in 1854, and he
has lived since that time entirely in that city. His career affords
a fine example of distinguished success won over great difficulties.
Physically he is not a strong man, and the war cut short his
opportunities for schooling. He spent two years at St. John's
Academy from 1859 to 1861, and almost a year and three months
at Alexandria academy, but he was not fortunate enough to have
the advantage of a college education. At the age of ten he be-
came a newsboy in the city of Alexandria, and in 1864 added to
this employment the duties of messenger boy in the clerk's office
of the county of Alexandria. This was the beginning of a con-
nection of twelve years with the clerk's office, during much of
which time he filled the office of deputy and acting clerk. In
1876 he was appointed assistant treasurer of the city of Alexan-
dria, and in 1888 was elected clerk of the common council. Du-
ring this time Mr. Caton was preparing himself for his profes-

JAMES RANDALL CATON 67

sion — that of a lawyer, and in 1880 was admitted to the bar.
Not long afterwards, while still assistant treasurer, he entered
the National University of Law at Washington, and in 1883, re-
ceived the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Laws.

At length in 1887 the decisive moment in Mr. Caton's life
arrived, and in the face of the responsibility of supporting a wife
and three children he resigned his office to devote himself entirely
to his chosen profession. He accepted the position of common-
wealth's attorney of the city of Alexandria under an appoint-
ment from the judge of the corporation court, and held this office
for eight months. After this Mr. Caton's law practice increased
and he became attorney for many companies and corporations.
While he was thus making his way to the foremost rank in the
legal profession, his success in politics was hardly less pro-
nounced. He has always been an earnest, sincere Democrat, and
in every campaign since 1880 he has taken an active part. He
has served as secretary and chairman of the executive committee
of his city, and won distinction both in the city council of Alex-
andria and the legislature of his state. The latter position
served to bring his unusual talents and ability to the notice of the
whole state, He took his seat in the latter body in 1901, and soon
became known as one of the most industrious lawyers and hard
working members of the legislature. When the general assembly
convened in the summer of 1902, after the work of the Constitu-
tional convention, Mr. Caton made an able and lumnious argu-
ment against taking an oath or otherwise recognizing the consti-
tution till it had been submitted to the people. He was in a
hopeless minority, and submitted to the will of the majority.
Such confidence was felt in his ability that he was appointed one
of the committee to revise the statutes to conform them to the
new organic law. This was a most arduous labor and well did
Mr. Caton perform his part. Perhaps his most notable and
arduous service has been in drawing the statutes putting the
corporation commission into effect. He was chairman of the
subcommittee which made the first draft of that work and cov-
ered the subject so thoroughly that but a few changes were neces-
sary therein. As a result Mr. Caton's name has been twice
brought before the people in connection with the office of lieu-

Vol. 4--Va.— 4

68 JAMES RANDALL CATON

tenant-governor, and there is no doubt that if elected he would
be, as presiding officer of the senate, an ornament to the state. A
graceful and pleasing speaker, a skilled lawyer who has figured
in the highest courts, a legislator who has left his impress upon
the best part of our code, Mr. Caton is a remarkable man. In
nominating him in the Democratic convention held at Roanoke
in 1897, Mr. Lewis H. Machen used the following eloquent lan-
guage: "He is preeminently the man of the people. He is a
living example of that good old Anglo-Saxon pluck that makes
our people the wonder of the world upon which he has risen to
success without the aid of inherited wealth, without the power
of the rich or great he has won his way to the front rank of the
bar of Northern Virginia. He has measured up to every obliga-
tion that has fallen upon him."

Outside of his purely professional reading Mr. Caton has been
a diligent student in history and philosophy, and his knowledge
of these subjects has been very helpful at the bar and on the hust-
ings. In his busy life Mr. Caton has had no time for regular
outdoor sports, but he is fond of walking and riding, and believes
in taking proper exercise.

On November 30, 1871, he married Annie Sophia De Haven
Greenaway. Seven boys and one girl were born to them but only
three sons survive. One is a physician, and two are lawyers
associated with Mr. Caton in his business. He is a member of
the Methodist Protestant church, and he has on several occa-
sions been elected to represent the Maryland conference in the
general conference of that denomination. He belongs to the
societies of the Odd Fellows and Masons.

In accounting for Mr. Caton's success, we must look to a
mother's influence and the man's own strong personal character.

"Honor and shame from no condition rise;
Act well your part, there all the honor lies."

His advice to young Americans is to have " a definite aim in
life and pursue it with perseverance, diligence, fidelity and a
strong Christian belief in the reality of the promise, 'ask and ye
shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened
unto vou.' "

His address is Alexandria, Virginia.

RUSSELL CECIL

CECIL, RUSSELL, D. D., Presbyterian minister, was born
in Monticello, Wayne county, Kentucky, October 1, 18535
and is the son of Russell Howe (Cecil) and Lucy Anne
Phillips Cecil. Russell H. was a merchant and farmer, a man
of energy, simplicity, and integrity. Mrs. Lucy Cecil was a
woman of unusual intellect and varied and accurate knowledge,
and exerted a profound influence over her son.

Dr. Cecil is descended from the English Cecil familv of
which Lord Burghley, the great minister of Queen Elizabeth
was the head. Samuel W. Cecil, the emigrant, left England near
the middle of the eighteenth century, and settled in Cecil county,
Maryland, where he married Rebecca White about 1750. The
American Cecils have not sought pubic office like their English
cousins, but have been distinguished for sturdy common sense,
thrift, and commercial success.

In boyhood, the subject of this sketch worked on his father's
farm, with great advantage to himself both physically and other-
wise. His elementary education was received in the public
schools ; and this he supplemented by copious reading, especially
in biography, Shakespeare, and the Bible. Thus equipped, he
entered Princeton college, where he took the A. B. degree in
1874. Impelled by a high sense of duty — what is known among
Christians as a call to the ministry — he entered the Theological
seminary at Princeton, from which he was graduated in 1878.
Later he took post-graduate work at the University of Edin-
burgh, and at the Free Church college at Edinburgh.

In August, 1879, the Rev. Mr. Cecil took pastoral charge of
the Presbyterian church at Nicholasville, Kentucky. After
serving there six years, he removed to Maysville, Kentucky,
where he remained three and a half years. His next charge was
in Selma, Alabama, where he remained eleven and a half years.
In 1901 he was called to the First Presbyterian church, of Rich-
mond, Virginia, so long filled by Rev. Dr. Moses D. Hoge.

Dr. Cecil has devoted himself almost exclusively to the regu-

70 RUSSELL CECIL

lar work of the ministry, being abundant in labors, unflagging in
his work as a shepherd of souls. He preaches the gospel as re-
vealed in the books of the Old and the New Testaments, and does
not seek notoriety by claiming special revelations of his own.

Dr. Cecil's receipt for young men is: (1) Faith in God
and in truth. (2) Purity in morals. (3) Spiritual ideals. (4)
Cheerfulness. (5) Fidelity.

January 19, 1881, Dr. Cecil married Alma Miller. They
have had six children, five of whom are now living.

His residence is Richmond, Virginia.

d~U/7^<x^u±,

CHARLES O'BRIEN COWARDIN

COWARDIN, CHARLES O'BRIEN, soldier, journalist,
late editor of the Richmond " Dispatch " was born in
Richmond, Virginia, October 23, 1851, and died on July
5, 1900, after an illness of three weeks with typhoid fever. He
was the son of James Andrew and Anna Maria (Purcell)
Cowardin.

Although his earliest American ancestors came from
Cheshire, England, in 1671, he was of Dutch and Spanish
descent, the family having been transplanted from those counties
to England several generations earlier. Abraham Cowardin, the
American progenitor of the family, settled in Kent county,
Maryland, and his son John subsequently went to Virginia, and
married, in Bath county, a descendant of John Lewis, the pioneer,
through his son Andrew. He is also descended from Jeremiah
Strother, who came to America in 1686, and whose son, William
Strother, was a life long resident of Stafford county, Virginia.

His father, James A. Cowardin, was the founder of the
Richmond " Dispatch," over a half century ago, and a brilliant
journalist. In 1853, he served as a member of the Virginia house
of delegates, but never afterwards aspired to political honors,
though, on several occasions, he was strongly urged to allow the
use of his name in connection with offices of dignity and influ-
ence. He was a man of great tenacity of purpose, intellectual
acumen, and keen sense of humor. It was said of him by one of
his contemporaries that he was " a very cultured and fluent con-
versationalist and a most interesting raconteur, in a word, as
accomplished as he was able, patriotic and good. He loved Vir-
ginia as a devoted son loves his mother, and no consideration of
personal profit could influence his conduct for one moment. He
was absolutely incorruptible. For more than a quarter of a cen-
tury he wielded a powerful pen and contributed as much as any
man of his time to the development of the Old Dominion."

The elder Cowardin married Anna Maria Purcell, sister of the
late John Purcell, by whom he had six children : John, James,

74 CHARLES O'BRIEN COWARDIN

W. Reynolds, Charles O'Brien, Alice, who married Clarence
Neale, of Baltimore, Maryland, and Aileen, who married Frank
Dammann, also of Baltimore.

Before the war, Colonel Cowardin's father owned a beautiful
country home near Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs, where
his family lived during the first part of the war. The advent
of the Federal troops, however was the signal for him to leave
his retreat in the mountains. He then purchased a farm on
Grove road, within a short distance of Richmond, where the
family resided until the war closed.

Under these conditions the boyhood and the early days of the
manhood of the subject of this sketch were spent in the country.
He was fond of manual tasks, and quite an experienced wood-
man at fifteen and developed many practical qualities. He de-
lighted in the freedom of the country as well as in its rustic
beauty and characteristic amusements. The songs of the birds
and the simplicity of the tillers of the soil were to his youthful
mind far above the plebeian sounds and the ceaseless toilers of
the city.

His education before the war was obtained largely at Weed's
school, a well-known educational institution of that time in Rich-
mond. Subsequently he entered Georgetown college, at Wash-
ington, District of Columbia, and was graduated in the classical
course, in 1872', receiving the degree of Master of Arts a few
years later. Immediately after he left college, he went into the
Dispatch office, and began his professional and business career
under his father's tutelage. His first tasks were in the editorial
rooms, but he soon turned his attention to the business depart-
ment of the paper. Before the death of his father, on November
21, 1882, he had already acquired his father's interest in the
paper, and upon the decease of his father he was made president
of the Dispatch company, which position he retained con-
tinuously until his own death.

Colonel Cowardin was never tempted by the emoluments and
attractions of public office. He felt that he should be free from
political entanglements and in a position which would allow him
perfect freedom of criticism. He was a systematic business man,
of the conservative school but with very positive ideas, and was

CHARLES O'BRIEN COWARDIN 75

the moving spirit of a large corps of assistants. All the attaches
of his paper, from the editorial writers to the galley-boys in the
composing rooms esteemed him in the highest degree. He had
the knack of making friends, and he was popular everywhere.
Probably no newspaper man in the South was better known and
certainly no one was more highly esteemed. Charles A. Dana,
the distinguished editor of the " New York Sun," once said that
" Cowardin was one of the brightest, as well as one of the sun-
niest, men " he had ever met.

His versatility was most exceptional. He was very fond of
music, and, at times, this fondness amounted to a passion. It
brought him joy and comfort, and there was no musical instru-
ment on which he did not attempt to play. For a number of
years he directed the choir of St. Peter's cathedral, in Kichmond,
and took an active interest in the organization of the famous
Mozart association and other local musical bodies. Besides, he
directed the production of a number of amateur opera companies
successfully.

Military life had an especial charm for him, although he
never saw active service save as a member of the governor's staff.
This interest was first awakened while he was a student in college,
where he served, in 1873, as senior captain of the Georgetown
college cadets. He was subsequently chief of staff for Governors
Lee, O'Ferrall, McKinney and Tyler. During the Spanish-
American war, when Adjutant-General Nalle was placed in
charge of one of the Virginia regiments, Colonel Cowardin, at
the solicitation of Governor Tyler, accepted the temporary
appointment of acting adjutant-general of the state of Virginia.
He continued in this position until the Virginia soldiers were
mustered out, and Adjutant-General Nalle resumed his position.

He was also a popular clubman, and for many years was an
active member of the Westmoreland club. He was president of
that noted club for two years and vice-president for a like period.

At the time of his death, the " Kichmond Leader " paid the
following tribute to Colonel Cowardin :

" Charlie Cowardin," as he was affectionately called, " loved
his friends with an intense devotion, but his affections were not
confined to his intimates alone. In a broader sense he loved

76 CHARLES O'BRIEN COWARDIN

Richmond, and Virginia and the South, and that was the domi-
nant force that directed his life. He was particularly loyal to
the city of his birth, and he was always found in the front ranks
of those public spirited citizens who labor together for the com-
mon weal. He was a man of strong intellect, of many talents, of
indomitable energy, and so he was not only willing but able to
give valuable service to every public enterprise of whatever
character. He was a man of good judgment, of keen perceptions,
of talent and grace — a well-rounded character and an all-round
public-spirited citizen. His labor for Richmond, for public
enterprises, for charity, for humanity, for party; for church, of
which he was a devout member, was not a perfunctory service.
It proceeded from no mere puritanical sense of duty ; it proceeded
from a heart that was full of love for God, humanity and
country."

Another contemporary spoke as follows : " In Richmond and
Gloucester, where he had his summer home, Mr. Cowardin was
universally beloved by his neighbors and friends, while through-
out the Old Dominion he was regarded with affectionate pride as
the head of his profession in the state. His duties and associa-
tions as a newspaper proprietor and his personal accomplish-
ments drew him outside of his own state a great deal, and he
everywhere commanded admiration as a type of the highest and
most chivalrous Southern manhood. His talents were most ver-
satile. He was not only an editor, but a musician, a raconteur, a
lecturer, and an after dinner speaker, and in every gathering the
genial Cowardin was surrounded by a delighted entourage of his
fellows. It may be said of him that he lived without selfishness,
and that his greatest pleasure was in the love and companionship
of his fellow-men. No Southern newspaper man, since the
lamented Henry W. Grady, has passed away so generally and so
genuinely mourned.'*

He was twice married, his first wife being Kate Spotswood
Evans, daughter of Colonel Thomas J. Evans, of Richmond, Vir-
ginia, who died February 19, 1886, leaving three children —
James, Charles, and Aileen. His second wife was Anna Moale,
daughter of Henry and Margaretta Moale, of Baltimore, Mary-
land, who survives him, with one son, Henry.

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JAMES FRANCIS CROCKER

CROCKER, JAMES FRANCIS, was born January 5, 1828,
at the Crocker home in Isle of Wight county, Virginia.
His paternal ancestors early settled in said county; and
the home at which he was born had then been in the possession
of his lineal ancestors for upwards of a century. His father was
James Crocker, the son of William Crocker and Elizabeth Wil-
son. William Crocker was a wealthy farmer and was major of
militia. Elizabeth Wilson was the daughter of Willis Wilson,
of Surry, and Sarah Blunt, of Blunt's Castle, Isle of Wight
county. Willis Wilson was a prominent citizen of his county,
a member of the committee of safety of 1776, and first lieutenant
in the company of which William Davies was captain in the 1st
state regiment of Virginia, commanded by Patrick Henry. He
was a grandson of Nicholas Wilson and Margaret Sampson, and
a member of the county court, sheriff, coroner, major of militia
and vestryman. Margaret Sampson Wilson received donations
from Lieutenant-Colonel James Powell and William Archer as
expressions of high esteem.

Frances Hill Woodley, the mother of James F. Crocker, was
the daughter of Major Andrew Woodley and Elizabeth Hill
Harrison. Her paternal immigrant ancestor was Andrew Wood-
ley, who settled in Isle of Wight in 1690, and, in 1693, bought
the tract of land, which became the ancestral home, known as
" Four Square," and which since 1693 has remained in the family.
Through her mother she is descended from Humphrey Marshall,
Thomas Hill, and the Harrisons of Isle of Wight.

James F. Crocker was only six months old when his father
died. He received his early education in the classical schools of
Smithfield, Virginia. He then entered Pennsylvania college, at
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and was graduated in 1850, being the
valedictorian of his class, He taught school — was professor of
mathematics in Madison college — studied law, and was admitted
to the bar of Isle of Wight in 1854. In 1855 he was elected to the
house of delegates from Isle of Wight county. In 1856, after

80 JAMES FRANCIS CROCKER

his service in the legislature, at the instance of mutual friends,
he moved to Portsmouth, to enter upon a co-partnership in the
practice of law, previously arranged with Colonel David J.
Godwin. The firm of Godwin and Crocker was eminently suc-
cessful, but the lawyer turned soldier in 1861, when Virginia
seceded from the union. He was enthusiastically with his state
in the resumption of her delegated rights, and gave the Con-
federacy patriotic service as a private and as adjutant of the 9th
Virginia infantry. He was desperately wounded at Malvern
Hill, and was wounded and taken prisoner in Pickett's charge
at Gettysburg.

After the war was over he continued his practice as a lawyer,
but on February 1, 1880, his partnership with Colonel Godwin
was dissolved by the latter becoming judge of the corporation
court of the city of Norfolk. He then practiced alone until 1896,
when he formed partnership with his nephew, Frank L.
Crocker, under the firm name and style of Crocker and Crocker.
This partnership was dissolved January 1, 1901, when he entered
upon the duties of the office of judge of the court of hustings for
the city of Portsmouth. He accepted this office at the urgent
instance of the bar and citizens of his city, and at the close of
his term declined reelection. On his retirement from the bench
he was honored by the bar of his court with the presentation of
a silver loving cup with the incription :

To
James Francis Crocker

Judge Court of Hustings 1901-1907.

Esteem and affection of the Bar of

Portsmouth, Va.

In politics he has always been an ardent Democrat of the
Jeffersonian states rights school, and maintains that in making
her defence, in 1861, Virginia was within her right and duty.
He has written and published three addresses touching his
experience and observation in the war : " Gettysburg — Pickett's
Charge," "My Experience in Taking up Arms and in the Battle
of Malvern Hill," and " Prison Reminiscences." These may be

JAMES FRANCIS CROCKER 81

found in the 33rd and 34th volumes of "Southern Historical
Society Papers." He also published a companion adddress to
them : " The Rights and Duties of Citizenship growing out of
the dual nature of our Government, Federal and State."

Among the positions he has held are the following: Mem-
ber of the city council; president of Portsmouth and Norfolk
County Monument association, which early erected the beautiful
Confederate monument in the city of Portsmouth ; commander of
Stonewall Camp, C. V., brigadier-general of the first brigade of
the Virginia division of the United Confederate veterans, state
visitor to Mount Vernon association, member of the board of
visitors of vVilliam and Mary college. Among the honors that
have come to him, he values most highly his recent election to
membership of the Phi Beta Kappa society of the mother college
of the society — William and Mary.

He is a member of Trinity Episcopal church, is one of its
wardens, and has, for several years, represented it in the diocesan
council of Southern Virginia.

On June 28, 1866, he married Margaret Jane Hodges, daugh-
ter of General John Hodges and Jane Adelaide Gregory. She
died July 25, 1896. Their only child, James Gregory Crocker,
died August 12, 1868, at the age of six months.

His address is Portsmouth, Virginia.

ISAAC DAVENPORT, JR.

I

DAVENPORT, ISAAC, Jr., wholesale grocer, promi-
nently interested in transportation by water and by
land, for years proprietor of a line of barks running
from Richmond to Pernambuco and Rio-de-Janeiro, Brazil, and
later the head of the banking and insurance firm, known as
Davenport and Company, was born in Hallowell, Maine, in 1813,
and died in 1896 at Richmond, Virginia, with which city and
state he had been prominently identified. Although of Northern
birth, he was in thorough sympathy with the state of his adop-
tion ; and more than once he took a place among the local troops
which were organized for the defence of Richmond; while after
the war he was one of the first to volunteer to go upon the bond
for bail of the Confederate Ex-President, Jefferson Davis.

His father, Benjamin Davenport, was a native of Massachu-
setts, but had removed to Maine before the birth of his son, Isaac.
His mother was a Miss Turner, and her mother, a Miss Gard-
ner— all New England families. Benjamin Daveport was for
years a successful merchant; but he failed in business in 1821.
One of his brothers, Isaac Davenport, Sr., was doing business in
Richmond, Virginia. This uncle sent for his namesake nephew,
Isaac Davenport, Jr., who made the trip from Maine to Rich-
mond in a sailing vessel, and in 1829 entered the service of the
firm of Davenport and Allen, of which his uncle was senior
partner. The junior partner, James Allen, came from New Bed-
ford, Massachusetts.

Remaining in the employ of this firm for some years, Mr.
Davenport formed a warm friendship for the late Robert Edmond,
a native of Vermont, who had come to Virginia to be in the em-
ploy of an uncle, Mr. Porter, who was the principal owner and
operator of stage lines from Washington, District of Columbia,
to New Orleans, and to other points in the South. This friend-
ship had a marked influence on the life and the business of Isaac
Davenport. Robert Edmond was a few years his senior, and
before he settled in Richmond had sailed before the mast to

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ISAAC DAVENPORT, JR. 85

almost all the important ports of the world; and his wide out-
look upon life and commerce, and his broad experience, made his
friendship stimulating and educative.

In 1834, Mr. Davenport and Mr. Edmond formed a partner-
ship, under the firm name of Edmond and Davenport, which
continued until the death of Mr. Edmond, in 1879. Their busi-
ness was for the wholesale of groceries; but as an important
adjunct to this business, with Mr. Boyd, of Lynchburg, Virginia,
they organized the James River Packet company, taking all its
stock. This company ran a line of canal boats from Richmond to
Lynchburg, and later to Buchanan, by which mail, freight, ex-
press and passengers were transported to various points on the
James river. They also became interested in stage lines, which
made connection with their packet boats, and ran to the various
Virginia springs, and to other parts of interest. Such lines as
these carried all the traffic of the time, since railroads had not
then come into the South.

The early endeavors of the firm were not very successful ; but
by patient, unremitting and intelligent efforts, the time came
when they were so successful that a still larger financial enter-
prise suggested itself, viz. : the shipment of flour and cotton
domestics to South America, and the investment of the proceeds
of the cargoes in sugar and coffee, which were imported to Rich-
mond. Thus originated a trade which did more for the growth
and prosperity of Richmond than any other interest before that
time had achieved. Such was the growth of this business that
the firm made a large fortune from it; and when the war broke
out in 1861, they owned a line of barks which ran regularly from
Richmond to Pernambuco, and Rio-de- Janeiro, Brazil, and to
other points in South America, — engaged in a trade which the
war-blockade diverted to Baltimore, Maryland. After the war,
the firm was never in active business, although Mr. Edmond
attended to the winding up of the James River Packet company,
and the other affairs of the firm.

During the progress of the Civil war, Mr. Davenport had
formed a banking and insurance firm, Davenport and Company,
which is still in existence although it has no partner by the name
of Davenport. He was also senior partner in the firm of Daven-
port and Morris ; and a partner in the firm of James G. Tinsley

86 ISAAC DAVENPOBT, JR.

and Company, which in connection with E. A. Saunders and
Sons, built the Chemical Works, in Richmond, Virginia.

Like his partner, Mr. Edmond, Mr. Davenport was always
greatly interested in problems of transportation; and when the
railway age began, he at once took an active interest in promoting
the construction and operation of railways, investing large sums
of money, using all his influence and his ability toward the suc-
cess of the old Richmond and Danville, and Virginia Central
railroads, now the Southern, and the Chesapeake and Ohio. He
was active in bringing about the consolidation of the small rail-
roads which gave birth to these two great systems of railroads.

Mr. Davenport's business ability and experience were called
into the service of other corporations and business enterprises.
He was president of the First National bank. He was also presi-
dent of the Union Bank of Richmond. Under his skillful man-
agement these institutions were made helpful in promoting the
business, and building up the best interests of the city ; and where
he had faith in the man and the scheme that needed the money,
he would lend his own money and give his own personal indorse-
ment to the enterprising man who was developing a new interest
for the city. This Mr. Davenport often did where the circum-
stances were not such as to make it proper for him to lend the
money of the bank to the entrepi^eneur.

His own personality was as interesting as his business
career. He was a liberal giver, but he gave unostentatiously.
No worthy cause was passed over by him. To his friends, he
seemed to possess in an unusual degree that "charity that thinketh
no evil;" and he was the kindest of men in his judgment of his
fellow-men. He bore no malice and he did not know the mean-
ing of hate; but he scorned deceit and falsehood. For his
friends, no service and no sacrifice was too great. He was always
ready to help with advice and substantial aid, worthy men who
were in need of either.

On the 20th of November, 1844, Mr. Davenport married Miss
Eliza Nye Allen, daughter of Gideon Allen, Esq., whose wife,
Betsy (Nye) Allen, was a direct descendant from a passenger on
the Mayflower. Of their four children, three are now (1908)"
living: Gideon A. Davenport, Mrs. Charles U. Williams, and
Charles Davenport. Mrs. Virginius Newton, another daughter,
died in 1899.

CHARLES HALL DAVIS

DAVIS, CHARLES HALL, lawyer, was born in Peters-
burg, Virginia, March 15, 1872. His parents were Wil-
liams Thomas Davis and Virginia Carolina Robinson.
His father was a teacher by profession, and organized, owned
and conducted the Southern Female college at Petersburg, from
1862 until his death in 1888. Prior to 1862, he had been one of
the faculty of the Petersburg Female college for a period of six
years. From 1851 to 1856, he had conducted a boy's school in
Petersburg, and had theretofore had charge of the preparatory
department of Randolph-Macon college. Charles Hall Davis
attended his father's school in Petersburg until he was old enough
to go to Randolph-Macon college, which he entered in 1886.
Here he remained until 1890, graduating with the degrees of
Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts. In the fall of 1890, he
entered the academical department of the University of Virginia,
and graduated in 1891 in the independent schools of English,
history, and moral philosophy. In the summer of 1892. he at-
tended Professor John B. Minor's summer law class at the uni-
versity; and in the autumn of 1892 he entered the law school of
the University of Virginia, where he remained for one session.
TVhile a student at the university, he achieved the honor of hav-
ing awarded him the medal for the best article in the university
magazine during the session of 1892-1893.

Mr. Davis began the practice of law in Petersburg in 1893.
Prior to that time he had established and conducted a school for
boys and girls at AVeldon, North Carolina, from which he retired
in the summer of 1891, to begin the study of law. Since the
summer of 1893 he has continuously practiced his profession,
first alone, and later as a member of the firm of Davis and Davis,
of which his older brother, Mr. Richard B. Davis, is the senior
member.

In addition to his work in connection with his legal business,
Mr. Davis is president of the Appomattox Trust company, which
he organized in 1900, and is secretary and director of the Vir-

88 CHARLES HALL DAVIS

ginia Consolidated Milling company, and director of the National
bank of Petersburg. When Messrs. Cleveland, O'Bryan and
Westinghouse were appointed to nominate the directors of the
Equitable Life Assurance society, and the policy holders were
requested to suggest parties for such position, a large number of
policy holders in Virginia, the Carolinas, and in the North,
recommended Mr. Davis for one of these directorships. Mr.
Davis is a director of the Jackson Coal and Coke company, the
Charles N. Romaine Fireworks Manufacturing company, and
numerous other corporations in and around Petersburg. His
firm, or its predecessor, is and has been counsel for the National
Bank and the Appomattox Trust company since their organiza-
tion, and has represented a number of corporations largely con-
trolled in the North and doing business in that section. Mr.
Davis has recently been elected a director of the United States
Trust company, of Washington, District of Columbia, which has
been organized with a capital of $1,000,000, of which Daniel N.
Morgan, the former treasurer of the United States under Mr.
Cleveland's administration, is president.

Mr. Davis, several years ago, organized the Young Men's
Business association of Petersburg, of which he was president,
and which was largely instrumental in obtaining from the
National government an appropriation of $200,000 for the diver-
sion of the Appomattox river and deepening the harbor. This
organization was subsequently merged into the chamber of com-
merce, and, in 1907, the chamber of commerce, as such, went out
of existence and a new chamber of commerce was organized, at
Mr. Davis' suggestion. The constitution of this new chamber of
commerce required that each member should invest one thousand
dollars of stock in the Petersburg Investment corporation, thereby
providing a company with ample capital for the development of
fhe city and its enterprises. The new chamber of commerce and
the Petersburg investment corporation are now in active opera-
tion, the Petersburg Investment corporation having paid in
capital of some $58,000, with a prospect of enlarging it immedi-
ately to $100,000. Mr. Davis is the first vice-president of both
institutions.

Mr. Davis was connected with the Southside Railway and

CHARLES HALL DAVIS 89

Development company (the local street railway company, which
was afterwards merged into the Virginia Passenger and Power
company) , at its organization until the merger took place, and for
a long time held the position of secretary of that company, his
firm being counsel.

Mr. Davis has recently entered into an arrangement for the
formation of a law partnership in the city of New York. This
arrangement is made simply to facilitate his law work in New
York, and will not affect his law practice in Virginia. The mem-
bers of the firm will be Messrs. Charles Oakes, Guy Van Am-
ringe, Carl T. Schurz and Mr. Davis, under the firm name of
Oakes, Van Amringe, Schurz and Davis.

He has held no political office, other than a membership in
the general assembly of Virginia, to fill an unexpired term; but
as there was no session of the assembly during the continuance of
his term, he did not see actual service as a legislator.

Mr. Davis is a member of the Southern Kappa Alpha college
fraternity, and was president of the Riverside Country club of
Petersburg and for many years was one of the directors of the
Petersburg club.

He is a Democrat in politics, and has never changed his
party allegiance.

On November 14, 1900, Mr. Davis married Sallie Feild
Bernard, and they have one son, now (1907) living.

Mr. Davis' address is Center Hill, Petersburg Virginia.

Vol. 4— Va.-6.

MIRABEAU LAMAR THOMAS DAVIS

DAVIS, MIR ABE AU LAMAR THOMAS, for over thirty-
eight years one of the most prominent business men in
Norfolk, Virginia ; since October, 1865, the head of the
important wholesale grocery house of Davis and Brother, later
M. L. T. Davis, and finally M. L. T. Davis and company ; promi-
nently identified with several of the most important corporations
of Norfolk; secretary and treasurer, and principal stockholder
in the Mecklenburg Mineral Spring company, of Chase City,
Virginia, was born in Surry county, Virginia, November 20,
1839.

His father, Thomas Davis, was a merchant. The ancestors
of the family came from England and settled in Virginia in
colonial days.

His early education was received in the country schools near
his home. As a boy he became familiar with the farm life of a
Virginia planter ; and he not only learned how work is done upon
the farm, but he had valuable experience in directing the work
of others. While still a very young man he was employed as
clerk in a country store; and from January 1, 1859, until 1863,
he was clerk in a wholesale grocery and provision store in Peters-
burg, Virginia.

At the outbreak of the Civil war, Mr. Davis's health was
such as to prevent his serving in the field; but in the later years
of the war he rendered material assistance to the cause of the
Confederacy by managing important contract business for the
government.

After the war, he established a wholesale grocery business in
Norfolk, Virginia, under the firm name of Davis and Brother.
This business steadily grew in importance under the successive
firm names mentioned above. It continued until 1904, at which
time Mr. Davis felt that after more than thirty-eight years of
very active business-life he was entitled to relief from the man-
agement of the company, and he retired from the business. At
that time, his firm was currently reported to be doing the largest
wholesale grocery business in the city of Norfolk.

.

m

MIRABEAU LAMAR THOMAS DAVIS 93

Those who have never looked into the statistics of the busi-
ness of raising and marketing Virginia and North Carolina
peanuts, have little idea of the importance of this trade. Mr.
Davis was the pioneer in the systematic marketing in the North
of Virginia and North Carolina peanuts, and the steady growth
of that business owes as much to Mr. Davis as to any man living.
Mr. Davis has been for many years a member of the Chamber
of Commerce, of Norfolk, Virginia, and one of its directors ; and
has been a leading member of the various mercantile organiza-
tions of the city. He is a director of the Norfolk National bank,
a director of the Norfolk Bank for Savings and Trust; and a
director of the Marine bank, of Norfolk. The Mecklenburg
Mineral Spring Company, of Chase City, owns a large and im-
portant sanitarium and hotel, and does an important business in
shipping mineral waters to various parts of the country. Mr.
Davis is secretary and treasurer, and principal stockholder in
this company.

While he has not given himself especially to politics, he
served for three or four years as a member of the city council of
Norfolk. He was one of the organizers of the public library
in Norfolk. He is a member of the finance committee of the City
Orphan asylum, and a member of the executive board of the
Seaman's Friends society. Mr. Davis was one of the organizers
of the Young Men's Christian association of Norfolk. He has
also been one of the principal supporters of the Protestant hos-
pital of that city, having early become a generous contributor to
its support and rendering important assistance in its establish-
ment. He has also been a liberal contributor to other charitable
institutions in his citv.

By religious convictions Mr. Davis is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South ; and he was for many years
superintendent of the Sunday school of his church at Norfolk.
He is also a member of the board of stewards of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South.

In his political affiliations Mr. Davis is a Democrat, and he
has rendered unswerving allegiance to the party and its nominees.

In June, 1870, Mr. Davis married Ann Eliza Norfleet,
daughter of Eev. W. J. Norfleet, of Edenton, North Carolina.

94 MIRABEAU LAMAR THOMAS DAVIS

They have had nine children, seven of whom are living in 1907,
In estimating the forces which have contributed to the build-
ing up of the business life and the sound social and political life
of Norfolk during the last half century, it would be hard to over-
estimate the influence of the life of a leading business man who,
like Mr. Davis, identifies himself with all the institutions of the
town which make life best worth living, and systematically sets
before the young people of his community an example of upright
dealing and business success.

The address of Mr. Davis is Norfolk, Virginia.

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RICHARD BEALE DAVIS

DAVIS, RICHARD BEALE, lawyer, was born at Hickory
Ground, Norfolk county, Virginia, February 5, 1845.
His father was Williams Thomas Davis ; and his mother,
Elizabeth Tayloe Corbin Beale.

On his paternal side Mr. Davis's ancestry was Welsh. His
emigrant progenitor from Wales came to Virginia in the early
half of the eighteenth century, and settled in Isle of Wight
county. On this side of his house Mr. Davis' ancestors were
ministers of the Gospel, distinguished for their integrity and
strong faith. On his maternal side Mr. Davis is descended from
Colonel Thomas Beale, a native of England, who came to Vir-
ginia in or before 1652. By a letter dated September 30, 1668,
King Charles II recommended him to the governor of Virginia
for the post of commander of the fort at Point Comfort, he being
a man of whose " ability and prudence the King had had long

t experience." Colonel Thomas Beale was a member of the coun-
cil from 1662 till his death. His son, Captain Thomas Beale,
settled in Richmond county, Virginia, where he died in 1679.
He married Ann, daughter of Major William Gooch. Their
son. Captain Thomas Beale, of Richmond county, commanded, in
1704, a company of militia in service against the Indians. He
married Elizabeth Taverner, and in his will, proved in Rich-
mond countv in 1729, he names his son. William Beale, who mar-
ried Ann Harwar. Their son, Robert Beale (born 1759, died
1843), entered the Revolutionary army as an ensign, served
through the war, was promoted to a captaincy, and was captured
at Charleston. He married Martha Felicia, daughter of George
Lee Turberville; and their daughter, Elizabeth Tayloe Corbin,
married Williams Thomas Davis and was the mother of Richard
Beale Davis. Through his mother's line, Mr. Davis is related to
the Turbervilles, Corbins, Tavloes, and manv other old colonial
families of Virginia.

Mr. Davis's early education was acquired in Branch and
Christian's school in Petersburg, Virginia ; and later he studied

98 RICHARD BEALE DAVIS

at Randolph-Macon college. At seventeen, Mr. Davis entered
the Confederate army, Company E, 12th Virginia infantry,
Mahone's brigade, Army of Northern Virginia, serving from
May, 1862 until the close of the War between the States, and the
surrender of the Confederate army under General Robert E.
Lee in April, 1865, at Appomattox. He was in all the battles of
that army, except such as occurred during his absence from the
ranks on account of wounds received in war.

After the war Mr. Davis entered the law school of the
University of Virginia, from which he was graduated in 1870
with the degree of Bachelor of Law ; and in the fall of that year
he opened an office in Petersburg, where he has since continually
practiced his profession. Mr. Davis, in choosing a profession,
had preferred that of civil engineering, but his older brother,
who was a student of law at the beginning of the war, having
died at Chancellorsville while a soldier in the Confederate ser-
vice, the younger brother, in filial response to his father's wish,
undertook the same profession. He has had a large and varied
general practice, which he has managed with success and dis-
tinction. For a term, from 1880 to 1882, he was city attorney of
Petersburg; and he has occupied the position of counsel for the
National bank of Petersburg continuously since 1886.

Mr. Davis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, and is a Democrat in politics. He has been a steward in
the Washington Street Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at
Petersburg, since 1876. He has been a trustee of Randolph-
Macon college at Ashland, Virginia, for a like period; and has
been a trustee of the Methodist Female Orphan asylum for about
the same length of time. He served for five or more years as a
member of the school board of the city of Petersburg, retiring in
1901 ; and he has also been a member of the board of visitors to
Mount Vernon.

Mr. Davis was a member of the house of delegates of Vir-
ginia from 1875 to 1877, and served again in the same capacity
from 1901 to 1903. During his last term he was a member of
the house committee to revise the statute law, so as to conform it
to the requirements of the constitution of the state made by the
convention of 1901-1902; and in the same session he was chair-

RICHARD BEALE DAVIS 99

man of the committee having in charge the erection of a statue of
General Kobert E. Lee in the capitol at Washington.

Mr. Davis is a Mason, and a member of the Chi Phi college
fraternity. He is a member of the Westmoreland club, of Kich-
mond, Virginia, and of the Riverside club, of Petersburg.

On April 20, 1875, Mr. Davis married Annie Warwick Hall ;
and of their marriage were born seven children, five of whom
are now, 1907, living.

Mr. Davis' address is 126 South Sycamore Street, Peters-
burg, Virginia.

5357B

JOSEPH SPENCER DE JARNETTE

DEJABNETTE, JOSEPH SPENCEK, M. D., since
March, 1906, superintendent of the Western State hospi-
tal at Staunton, Virginia, and for the last seventeen
years prominently and helpfully connected with that hospital,
was born at the ancestral Home of his family near Lewiston,
Spottsylvania county, Virginia, on the 29th of September, 1866.
His father, Captain E. H. DeJarnette, was a farmer, a large
slave owner, and a man of great energy, who left his studies at
the University of Virginia to volunteer early in the Civil war,
and became a captain, serving with distinction and bravery in
the Confederate army. At Antietam he was severely wounded.
His wife was Mrs. Evelyn May (Magruder) DeJarnette, to whom
the son feels himself indebted for much that is best in his life.
Dr. DeJarnette's maternal grandmother was descended from
James Minor, of Seminary Hill.

The earliest ancestors of the family in the United States were
the brothers Samuel and Joseph DeJarnette (originally DeJar-
natt) who were among the Huguenots who fled from LaEochelle
when the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, banished
from France so many of her most intelligent and most useful
citizens. These two Huguenot brothers brought with them to the
New World only a modest sum of money ; and it is remembered
as an illustration of the precautions necessary in that troubled
year when hundreds of thousands were leaving France, that all
their money was in gold coins which they had stitched between
the layers of the thick soles of their boots. They intermarried
with some of the best families of Virginia. Joseph DeJarnette
married Miss Mary Hampton and settled in Virginia in 1685.

Dr. J. S. DeJarnette's maternal grandfather was B. H.
Magruder, a prominent lawj^er of Albemarle and a member of the
Confederate congress. He was descended from the Magruders,
early settlers of Maryland ; and Dr. DeJarnette's mother's grand-
father Magruder, was a preacher of the Gospel who freed his
slaves. An uncle was the Honorable D. C. DeJarnette, member

"

& . sQ £^a<s\svL^OCt_

JOSEPH SPEXCEK DEJARXETTE 103

of the United States congress from Virginia. The family is
related or connected by marriage with the Colemans, Goodwins,
Tylers, and Hollidays of Virginia.

Passing his early life in the country, he was a sturdy, robust
boy, fond of reading, early forming studious habits, fond in his
boyhood, as he has always since continued to be fond, of simple
country life, and fond of home.

His mother, who was exceptionally well educated, and a
highly intellectual woma'n, was his chief teacher until he was
prepared to enter the medical college of Virginia, at Eichmond,
in 1886; and two years later he was graduated from this insti-
tution with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Passing the exa-
mination of the state examining board, he served as assistant
physician at the Soldiers Home in Eichmond, Virginia, for a
year, and in 1899, he began his connection with the Western State
hospital at Staunton, in the capacity of druggist and assistant
physician. He served as assistant physician having charge of
the male department of that hospital, from 1899 until March 8,
1906, at which time he was made superintendent of the hospital.

On the 14th of February, 1906, he was married to (Dr.)
Chertsey Hopkins.

Dr. De Jarnette writes, " My mother's teachings have influ-
enced me more than everything else in my life. She earlv taught
me to be a close observer of natural phenomena and of events
and happenings about me." When he began the discharge of his
duties at the Western State hospital, where he was at first
engaged temporarily for one month, he found himself drawn at
once and strongly to the thorough study of the diagnosis, path-
ology and treatment of the insane, and this has been his lifelong
study. Dr. DeJarnette was the first president of the Augusta
county Medical society in 1905. He is also a member of the Vir-
ginia medical society.

Identified with the Democratic party, he has never changed
his party allegiance. He is connected with the Presbyterian
Church, South.

His address is the Western State Hospital, Staunton, Vir-
ginia.

ALFRED ELIJAH DICKINSON

DICKINSON, ALFEED ELIJAH, D. D., was born
December, 1830, in Orange county, Virginia. He came
of a strong and sturdy stock who have played an im-
portant part in the life of Middle Virginia. His early life was
spent in the usual pleasures and pursuits of a Virginia boy. At
an early age he entered Richmond college and more than a half
century ago was graduated therefrom. He then attended the
University of Virginia for special courses. While in attendance
on the university he was interested in the Baptist church at
Charlottesville and at the conclusion of his course of study he be-
came pastor there. In this pastorate he was greatly blessed,
reaching and influencing many of the university students and
building up the church in every department of its work.

Later on he became superintendent of the Sunday school and
colportage work of the Baptist General association of Virginia.
In this position, which he held for nine years, he organized many
new Sunday schools, strengthened those already in existence, en-
larged their libraries, and improved their facilities for work.
During this period he was especially active and useful in col-
portage and missionary work in the Army of Northern Virginia.

After nine years of incessant and fruitful activity in this
field of labor Dr. Dickinson resigned to accept the pastorate
of the Leigh Street Baptist church in Richmond. This church
grew rapidly and steadily under his ministry.

In 1865, Dr. Dickinson formed a co-partnership with the
late Dr. J. B. Jeter for the purchase of the " Religious Her-
ald." This paper founded in 1827 had been published con-
tinuously every week except for occasional interruptions during
the War between the States. But the close of the war found it,
of course, greatly crippled in resources. Its constituency, too,
was greatly depressed and impoverished by the long and disas-
trous war. It was a bold undertaking to attempt the resuscita-
tion of the paper at such a time. The new owners, however, were
eminently fitted for their formidable task. Each was eminently

ALFRED ELIJAH DICKINSON 105

gifted in his own way and their gifts were mutually complemen-
tary. Dr. Jeter was judicious and sedate, Dr. Dickinson was
energetic, ubiquitous, enterprising. Dr. Jeter was an essayist of
rare skill and grace. Dr. Dickinson was a news gatherer and a
paragraph writer of uncommon piquancy and pith.

The paper under the guidance of these strong men soon en-
tered upon a prosperous career. Dr. Dickinson's editorial rela-
tion to it has continued since 1865 until the present writing.
This makes him in point of length of service the dean of Bap-
tist editors in the whole world. More than half of his long life
has been spent in this work and his editorial career extends over
more than one half the life of the venerable paper.

It would not be possible to give in so brief a sketch as this
must perforce be, more than a hint of the varied activities of his
long and useful life. His work on the paper and for it was only
one form of these activities. He was frequently engaged in
special meetings in which he was eminently successful. Churches
all over the state, seeking to rebuild their houses of worship and
to gather their scattered and disheartened membership sought his
help and never sought it in vain. Of robust health, with an iron
frame capable of almost any amount of endurance, he traversed
the state and often went beyond its borders in this sort of "mis-
sionary" work. His success in rallying the membership, in gath-
ering money, in infusing new courage and hope into depressed
and disheartened congregations, in enlisting the sympathy and
securing the help of generous persons outside of the State, made
him a notable, influential and useful figure in those trying days.

Later on after the death of Dr. Jeter, it was decided to erect
a building on the grounds of Richmond college to his memory.
Dr. Dickinson was chosen as the active agent in this movement,
and under his skillful and energetic leadership the movement was
speedily brought to a successful issue. At other times Dr. Dick-
inson was instrumental in bringing large sums into the college
treasury.

In the earlier years of his editorial career he was, as already
intimated, an indefatigable traveler. He visited the state meet-
ings of the denomination throughout the South and a great many
in the North. He visited repeatedly every section of Virginia.

106 ALFRED ELIJAH DICKINSON

His stalwart form was familiar in every district association. In
that period there was probably not a man in Virginia, in private
or public life, who knew Virginia so well or who was so well
known in Virginia. And wherever he went he was heard gladly,
as he pleaded for the great missionary and educational enterprises
of his denomination.

Socially, Dr. Dickinson has always been singularly attractive.
His varied and multiplied experiences supply him with an inex-
haustible fund of reminiscence and he is one of the most enter-
taining of companions. Of late years his health has been infirm
and his literary activity has been confined in the main to his
recollections of scenes and companions and labors of earlier days.
Of these he has written in charming fashion and at length.

In physical proportions Dr. Dickinson is notable. Of un-
usual height, broad shouldered, deep chested, with a massive head
he would command attention in any assembly. As a speaker his
style is colloquial and familiar. A keen sense of humor is a dis-
tinguishing trait and often serves to relieve the tedium of lengthy
and serious discourse. As a writer his style is plain and un-
affected, simple and lucid. He has written no volume but his
contributions to the " Religious Herald " would if gathered up
make many volumes of charming miscellany. He is the author
of a number of monographs, one of which attained a circulation
of over a million and has been reprinted in several foreign
tongues.

Dr. Dickinson has been married three times. His first wife
was the daughter of James B. Taylor, Sr., D. D., for many }7ears
a prominent and useful Virginia Baptist minister. Four chil-
dren of this marriage are now living. His second wife was Miss
Craddock, of Halifax county, Virginia, and of this union one
child was born who is now living. His third wife was Miss
Bagby, of King and Queen county.

Furman university, Greenville, South Carolina, conferred on
him the degree of D. D.

Dr. Dickinsons address is Richmond, Virginia.

"&"

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SIDNEY J. DUDLEY

DUDLEY, SIDNEY J., of Hampton, Virginia, lawyer and
judge of the county courts of Elizabeth City and War-
wick counties, was born in King and Queen county, on
the 12th of May, 1863. His father, Alexander Dudley, was a
lawyer and a railroad president — a man of ability and steadfast
perseverance. His mother was Mrs. Martha Ellen (Jackson)
Dudley, daughter of William Jackson and Ailcy (Roane) Jack-
son, of King and Queen county, Virginia. The family are de-
scended from Thomas Dudley, who came from England and set-
tled in Massachusetts in 1630.

His boyhood was about equally divided between residence in
the city and in the country. He knew excellent health. He was
fond of out-of-door sports and exercise, and also fond of study.
He attended the schools within reach of his home, until he was
fitted for college. Entering Vanderbilt university, he was grad-
uated from that institution in 1883, with the degree of B. S. He
passed one year in the academic department of the University of
Virginia, and one year in the study of law was passed at Wash-
ington and Lee university, from which institution he received the
degree of B. L., in 1885. He spent another year in the study of
law in the office of Daniel M. Fox and Son of Philadelphia. Al-
though a lawyer, Judge Dudley feels that the line of reading
which had been most helpful in fitting him for his work in life is
historical romance.

Believing that one who is to follow the practice of law would
be more likely to succeed in his profession if he learned some-
thing by experience of business-life before beginning the practice
of his profession, he took a position in business (in a tobacco
house) at Richmond, Virginia. This was followed by some years
of experience in a banking house in New York city. Returning
to his native state, in 1896, he settled at Hampton, for the prac-
tice of law. Since 1897, he has been judge of the county courts of
Elizabeth City county and Warwick county, Virginia.

While at college, Mr. Dudley was a member of the Beta

110 SIDNEY J. DUDLEY

Theta Pi fraternity. He is a member of the Elks fraternity. In
politics, he is a Democrat.

On the 26th of November, 1890, he married Miss Margaret
Atkinson, daughter of Henry A. Atkinson, of Richmond, Vir-
ginia. Of their five children, three have survived their mother
and are now living.

To the young people of Virginia who are ambitious to suc-
ceed in life, Judge Dudley offers this advice : " Learn self-re-
liance. Study the lives of great men, but do not attempt to imi-
tate any one. Be yourself. Be temperate and systematic in your
life and work. Think for yourself. Hold others to the same
privileges which you wish to claim for yourself. Be charitable
in judging your fellow-men."

The address of Judge Dudley is Hampton, Virginia.

ALV1N THOMAS EMBREY

EMBREY, ALYIN THOMAS, lawyer and judge, was born
in Fauquier county, Virginia, February 1, 1874. His
parents were W. S. Embrey and Sarah E. Embrey, and
his father was a lumber merchant, who was for many years a
member of the city council of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and
recorder of that city.

Judge Embrey 's ancestry is Xorman-French, with a strain
of Dutch.

He grew up in the country and city, with robust health, but
possessing no particular tastes or interests in any specific direc-
tion, save those of the average vigorous, normal boy.

He acquired his academic education at Locust Dale academy,
Virginia; and having determined upon the law as a profession,
he entered the law school of the University of Virginia, from
which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Law.
After graduation, he was admitted to the bar, and began in Octo-
ber, 1895, the practice of his profession, at Fredericksburg, in
which he has since continuously and successfully engaged until
his election to the bench of the corporation court of that city.
He has been commonwealth's attorney of Fredericksburg during
five terms of two years each, beginning July 1, 1896, and con-
tinuing up to April, 1904, when he resigned the office. He was a
member of the Virginia house of delegates during the sessions of
1897-1898, and 1899-1900, and also during the extra session of
1901. Since April, 1903, he has been judge of the corporation
court of Fredericksburg.

Judge Embrey is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and
is a past master of Lodge Xo. 4, of Fredericksburg, and district
deputy grand master of his district.

He is a Democrat, and has never changed his political or party
allegiance on any issue.

He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church.

Judge Embrey has been twice married. His first wife was

112 ALVIX THOMAS EZSIBREY

Janie "Wallace, whom he married in November, 1897, and who
died in August, 1899. His second wife was Lila E. T7inn, whom
he married in April, 1903. He has had two children, one of
whom, a child of the second marriage, is now (1907) living.

Judge Embrey's address is 501^ Hanover Street, Fred-
ericksburg, Virginia.

I

F

JOHN WALTER FAIRFAX

FAIRFAX, JOHN WALTER, was born June 30th, 1828
at {" Prospect Hill ?' overlooking Dumfries, the once
flourishing capitol of Prince William county, Virginia.

His father was Captain Henry Fairfax who, at a period
when the commerce of Dumfries exceeded that of Baltimore, was
one of the leading shipping merchants of the country.

In the early days of Dumfries's commercial supremacy the
northern counties of Virginia were but sparsely settled. Across
the Potomac, however, the western shore of Maryland was popu-
lous, and contained the descendants of what, Oldmixon declares,
were " the highest class of British colonists in America."

The four-mile expanse of water between the shores of Mary-
land and Virginia, opposite to the port of Dumfries, was tra-
versed in those days by the most important ferriage on the Poto-
mac, and thus it was that Dumfries became the gateway of
Maryland to the west, which, at that time, meant Virginia, clear
away to the Coast of the Pacific.

Naturally the aspiring youth of Maryland followed its trade.
By the middle of the eighteenth century, when Baltemore Towne
was merely a shanty village, Virginia was rapidly skimming
her sister colony's cream, and well before that century had ended,
Dumfries was a community of adopted Marylanders.

A list of Maryland families, in the County of Charles alone,
whose scions become distributed, via Dumfries, into Virginia, is
a scrap of sister-state history both interesting and instructive.

It includes the progenitors of the Boilings, the Bannisters,
the Monroes, the Tylers, the Semmeses, the Murrays, the Dula-
neys (of Loudoun), the Bartons, the Brookes, the Scotts, the
Herberts, the Graysons, the Harrisons of Harrisonburg, the
Brents of Brentsville, the Berrys of Berryville, the Rutherfords,
the Minitrees, the Clagetts, the Tripletts ; the Marshalls, forbears
of Virginia's great chief justice, and a double score of other
names familiar to all Virginians.

In this long train of Marylanders, whom Virginia adopted,

Vol. 4-Va.— 6

116 JOHN WALTER FAIRFAX

was William Fairfax, who invested in considerable property at
Occoquan and settled there in 1791. He was the grandfather
of Henry Fairfax of Dumfries.

The Fairfaxes who were then in Maryland were the earliest
bearers of their old English surname in an American colony.
The family was established there by John Fairfax, who, prior to
the year 1700, became a planter in Charles county.

In their Maryland generations, John Fairfax's descendants
intermarried with the families of Norris, Compton, Murray,
Scott, Philpott, Blanchard, Musgrave, Berry, Buckner, Booker,
"Wright, Calvert, Franklin, Hanson, Lloyd, and others.

Henry Fairfax was of the fifth generation of John Fair-
fax's descendants ; he was born in Charles county on the 29th of
September 1774, being the fourth, but only son who survived
the maturity of manhood, of Jonathan and Sarah (Wright)
Fairfax of " Goose Bay," near old Port Tobacco.

Jonathan Fairfax died in 1787, and, at seventeen years of
age, young Henry began his exploit of life at Dumfries. Shortly,
however, a shipping house in Baltimore, composed of his father's
friends, took him into their service and there he began the career
of a merchant. After several years of experience in commerce
with foreign ports, and backed by Baltimore friends, he returned
to Dumfries and established himself as an exporter of tobacco, in
which business he amassed a fortune.

In the War of 1812, both his fleet of vessels and private
means contributed to the cause of the country, and in that war
he held the rank of captain on the staff of Colonel Enoch Renno
in the 36th Virginia regiment.

Captain Henry Fairfax was married three times: Firstly,
to Sarah, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Triplett) Carter
of " Graham Park," near Dumfries; secondly, to Sophia, daugh-
ter of Jesse Scott of Dumfries, and thirdly, to Elizabeth, daugh-
ter of Thomas Lindsay, Esquire, of " The Mount " in Fairfax
county, Virginia.

John Walter Fairfax was the only son of this third mar-
riage. 'When twelve years of age, his parents entered him at the
well known preparatory school of Benjamin Hallowell in Alex-
andria. In 1847, he matriculated at the University of Pennsyl-

JOHN WALTER FAIRFAX 117

vania as a student of medicine. Within that year, however, his
father died, and, only two months later, he was summoned home
to the death-bed of his mother.

The responsibilities concomitant with the administration of
a large estate, obliged his relinquishment of the university, and,
in 1848, he married Mary, daughter of Colonel Hamilton Rogers,
of Loudoun county, and located in Alexandria. Three years
later, he purchased Oak Hill, the historic country seat of Presi-
dent Monroe, near Aldie, and made that splendid residence his
subsequent home.

The lavish hospitality of Oak Hill became famous far beyond
the borders of Virginia.

Prior to the political crisis of 1860, Mr. Fairfax was among
the Virginia advocates of manumission for slaves, but at the call
of his state to arms, he volunteered as aide to Major N. G.
Evans. After his first engagment in battle, which was at Bull
Run, he was invited by General Longstreet, commanding the 1st.
corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, to a position on his
staff. He accepted, and received the commission of assistant
adjutant and inspector general. On May 5, 1862, he was pro-
moted major, by the individual initiative of General Lee, for
gallantry, which occurred under the great commander's personal
observation, at the battle of Williamsburg.

On September 17th, 1862, he was made lieutenant colonel.
On May 5, 1864, he was commissioned full colonel and, as such,
he was the ranking officer on General Longstreet's staff until the
close of the war. As Colonel Fairfax has been repeatedly re-
ferred to in print, without his authority, as General Longstreet's
" Chief of staff," it may relevantly be observed here that no
such title as " Chief of staff " officially existed in the Confederate
States army.

When the curtain had fallen at Appomattox, Colonel Fair-
fax returned to his Loudoun home and began to gather the scraps
of a shattered fortune. Like many another defendant in the
Lost Cause, this was his severest battle of them all. His prop-
erty, Leesyl vania, on the Potomac, had been confiscated by the
Federal government, and, in time, his Oak Hill homestead passed
away, though, happily, to return into the ownership of his family,

118 JOHN WALTER FAIRFAX

through the Hon. Henry Fairfax, his oldest son. Subsequently
his Bellgrove property, at Leesburg, was disposed of, and having
bought back the confiscated Leesylvania, he retired thereto to
live. And there to-day 1907, overlooking the land of his fathers
across the Potomac, this venerable survivor of the olden type of
Virginian is spending his evening years, remembering more of the
phases of life that are past than of what he sees of the present.

Since the above sketch was put in type, Colonel Fairfax died
at his home, Leesylvania, on the Potomac, Prince William county,
Virginia, on March 22, 1908.

THOMAS FITZHUGH

FITZHUGH, THOMAS, educator, was born at " Long-
wood," Goochland county, Virginia, October 12, 1862.
He is the son of William Henry Fitzhugh, of Fredericks-
burg, Virginia, and Mary Anne Harrison, and on both his pater-
nal and maternal side is descended from and connected with the
oldest and most distinguished families in Virginia. From the
Harrison family have come two presidents of the United States,
a governor of Virginia, and a signer of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence ; while among the Fitzhughs have been many of the best
and ablest men in the colony and the commonwealth.

Thomas Fitzhugh went to school as a youth in the private
schools of Fredericksburg; and thence entered the academic de-
partment of the University of Virginia in 1879, from which he
was graduated in 1880 with the degree of Master of Arts. Du-
ring the session of 1881-1882, he was an instructor in Bingham's
school, at Hillsboro, North Carolina; and after his graduation
from the University of Virginia in 1883, he became professor of
Latin in Central university, at Eichmond, Kentucky. He re-
mained here for only a short time, becoming first assistant at the
Bellevue high school, Bedford county, Virginia, and continuing
at Bellevue in that capacity till 1889, when he was called to the
chair of Latin in the University of Texas, a position which He
filled with distinction and a growing reputation for scholarship
and ability as a teacher up to 1899. In the last named year, upon
the recommendation of Colonel William E. Peters, then profes-
sor of Latin in the University of Virginia, Mr. Fitzhugh was
elected, as his successor, by the visitors of the university, with
the understanding that Colonel Peters would retire from the
chair at the expiration of three years, and that Mr. Fitzhugh was
to be given a three years' leave of absence for study in Europe.
During the summer of 1890 he had pursued a post-graduate
course of studies in classical philology at Borne and Pompeii;
and from June, 1892, to August, 1893, he had been a student in

120

THOMAS FITZHUGH

the University of Berlin. Accepting the offer made by the visi-
tors of the University of Virginia in 1899, he returned in June
of that year to Berlin and renewed his studies in the university
there, remaining until March, 1902. From March to September,
1902, he traveled and studied in Greece and the Orient, impressing
upon his mind by personal contact and observation the histories
and associations of the ancient literatures, and laying the cap-
stone to that enlarged and catholic scholarship in " the glory that
was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome," which has caused
the great German professor, Huebner, of the University of Ber-
lin to say of him that no better man in America could be found
for the chair of Latin in the University of Virginia.

Returning to America he assumed the duties of his chair in
the University of Virginia in 1902.

Mr. Fitzhugh is a member of the American Philological
association of the Archeological institute of America; of the
Modern Language association of America; of the American
Dialect society; and of the Classical association of England and
Wales. He published in 1897 " The Philosophy of the Humani-
ties " from the University of Chicago Press ; and in 1900, " Out-
lines of a System of Classical Pedagogy," Mayer and Mueller,
Berlin. He has been a frequent contributer to educational and
philological journals.

Mr. Fitzhugh married on June 23, 1892, Miss Katharine
Lefevre, daughter of the Rev. Doctor J. A. Lefevre, of Balti-
more, Maryland, one of the most distinguished divines and
leaders of the Presbyterian church in America. Mrs. Fitzhugh
died at the University of Virginia, February 7, 1901. Mr. Fitz-
hugh was married again, at The Hague, in Holland, August 24,
1905, to Miss Gertrude Goldstuecker, of Berlin, Prussia.

The address of Mr. Fitzhugh is University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, Virginia.

■

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PURNELL FLEETWOOD

FLEETWOOD, PURNELL, farmer, merchant, banker, was
born on a farm near the village of Seaford, Sussex
county, Delaware, August 17, 1817, the son of William
and Mary Everals Fleetwood. He is of English lineage, and is
descended from a Purnell Fleetwood, who with two brothers, left
England just prior to the War of 1812, and after serving in that
war, settled in this country. His father, who was a modest,
generous and hospitable man, owned a small farm in the state of
Delaware, and when Purnell was about twelve years of age, he
moved with his family to Caroline county, Maryland. Here
Purnell grew to manhood. He worked on the farm during his
more mature years and received, in the meantime, a good common
school education in the public schools of Sussex county, Dela-
ware, and of Caroline county, Maryland.

At the age of twenty-two, Mr. Fleetwood was induced to
accept a clerkship in the store of a friend of his father's family
who had come to Virginia a couple of years previously, and had
located in Sussex county, Virginia, near Waverly. From this
time on, his career has been identified with his adopted state. He
retained his position in the old Blackwater store about two years
when his desire to develop an independent business led him to en-
gage in merchandising, in connection with farming, on his own
account. He started, at that time, with a cash capital of only two
hundred dollars, but with unlimited confidence in his ability to
achieve something worth while, and plenty of energy. As time
went along his business grew too large and too promising for a
cross-roads location and he moved it into Waverlv, in 1876.

At that time Waverly was a small village, with less than
one hundred inhabitants, and its future growth was largely due
to the developing interests of Mr. Fleetwood, the title of whose
firm was P. Fleetwood and company. This name was retained
from 1872 until 1903 when the business was incorporated under
the style P. Fleetwood company, incorporated, the sales mean-
while having increased from $10,000 per year to upwards of
$100,000 per year at the present time.

124 PURNELL FLEETWOOD

In 1890, The Waverly Peanut company was established and
incorporated, with Mr. Fleetwood as general manager. This con-
cern was an immediate success and its growth since has been
almost phenomenal, the annual business having increased from
about $75,000 to about a quarter of a million dollars. In the
same year, under his lead, the Bank of Waverly was established,
and he was elected its first president, which position he still
(1906) holds. After a career of six years, this financial institu-
tion, under Mr. Fleetwood's administration, has increased its
resources from $15,000 to $360,000. He is also director of the
Virginia National Bank of Petersburg, Virginia, and president
of the Waverly Telephone and Telegraph company, which was
organized in 1902 with a paid up capital stock of $25,000.

Besides the large business interests in which Mr. Fleetwood
has been the guiding and controlling spirit, he has given much
time and energy to the general welfare of the town of Waverly
itself. When the borough was incorporated he was elected first
president of the town council, and held that position for a period
of eighteen years, declining reelection on account of the pressure
of private interests. During that period and since, he has been
active in behalf of the educational facilities of Waverly, and, in
1890, accepted a place on the school board. The result of the
concerted effort by this body has been the erection of a fine pub-
lic school building, with all modern improvements ; and a seating
capacity for about two hundred pupils, and its delivery to the
citizens of Waverly free of incumbrance.

Mr. Fleetwood has alwavs been an active worker in the
ranks of the Democratic party, though he has never aspired to
office. More than a quarter of a century ago, he was elected and
reelected county supervisor of Sussex county, in which capacity
he served with distinct credit, but in later years he refused to
accept the nomination for state senator when it was equivalent
to an election. He has never failed to vote for the Democratic
nominee for president of the United States except when " Free
Silver" was made the issue, and then he refrained from voting
at all. He has never considered local government as an element
of party politics, but has considered it part of his civic duty to
help improve local conditions with whatever expenditure of time
and thought that it was in his power to bestow.

PUKXELL FLEETWOOD 125

He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and of
Astrea lodge, A. F. and A. M., No. 246, of which he has been
treasurer for more than fifteen years. Outside of active duties,
in which he takes keen delight, he is very fond of gunning and
the chase. Work to him has been a tonic and always an inspira-
tion. His own successes, too, have had their effect in firing his
ambition to proceed to other and greater successes. In a con-
versation with the writer touching the essential elements of
success in life he expressed himself as follows : " Be honest,
open and candid in all business transactions whether large or
small ; study yourself, and find out, if possible, the work or busi-
ness for which you are best fitted ; then take care that your best
energies and thoughts are directed to excel in it; other things
being equal, success will follow."

Mr. Fleetwood has been married twice. First, on November
24, 1874, to Sallie Bett Chappell, daughter of R. A. and E. E.
Chappell of Waverly, Virginia, who died in the summer of 1888,
leaving five children: Blanche Marguerite; Purnell; Harvey;
Lizzie May, and Sallie. His second marriage occurred on
November 13, 1890, to Nina Holt, the only daughter of Colonel
B. TV. L. Holt, of Mecklenburg county, Virginia. He has five
children living (190TJ by his first marriage and one, Holt Overby,
by his present wife.

His address is Waverly, Sussex County, Virginia.

F

ABEL MCIVER FRASER

ERASER, ABEL McIVER, D. D., minister of the Presby-
terian church, was born in Sumter county, South Caro-
lina, June 14, 1856, and his parents were Thomas Boone

Eraser and Sarah Margaret Mclver. His earliest known ances-
tor was Andrew Moore, who came from County Antrim, Ireland,
to Sadsbury, Pennsylvania, in 1723; another was John Fraser,
who came from Scotland to Georgetown, South Carolina, in
1745; and still another was Roderick Mclver, who came from
Scotland to Welsh Neck settlement, Darlington county, South
Carolina, previous to 1761. Probably his most distinguished
ancestor was Col. Andrew Love, who fought on the American side
in the battle of King's Mountain. Evander Mclver was a soldier
on the same side in the War of the Revolution.

In childhood and youth the subject of our sketch was well
and strong. His home was in a town of about four thousand
inhabitants, but he made frequent and extended visits to the
country. At the age of seven years he lost his mother, and when
the war closed he was only nine years old. The family was
without money or servants, and much of the household work de-
volved on the children. He had to keep his own room in order,
and to be useful in a way in domestic work. This experience
taught him never to be ashamed of any honest work and to re-
spect every man who works.

He had no difficulty in obtaining an education beyond that
inherent in the task and the trouble of weak eyes. He was pre-
pared for college by Thomas P. McQueen in Sumter county,
South Carolina, and having attended Davidson college, North
Carolina, for the usual time he received, in 1876, the degree of
Bachelor of Arts. Having, from his earliest years, felt the call
to preach, he attended the Columbia Theological seminary, South
Carolina, for three years, was graduated in 1880, and during the
same year he began the active work of life at Frankfort, Ken-
tucky. From 1881 to 1893 he was pastor of Mr. Horeb church in

ABEL M'lVER FRASER 127

Fayette county, Kentucky, and for a part of that time Walnut
Hill and Bethel churches in the same county were grouped with
Mt. Horeb under his care. From March, 1893, to the present
(1908) time he has been pastor of the First Presbyterian church
of Staunton, Virginia. He was moderator of the Presbytery of
West Lexington in September, 1881; of the Presbytery of Lex-
ington in October, 1894; and of the Synod of Virginia in Octo-
ber, 1903. He was also a member of the Southern Presbyterian
General assembly at Atlanta in 1882? and in New Orleans in 1898.
In 1904 he was elected coordinate secretary of foreign missions
for the Southern Presbyterian church, but declined the honor.
In 1896, he was given the degree of Doctor of Divinity by his
alma mater, Davidson college, North Carolina.

In 1901, Dr. Fraser received an invitation to the pastorate of
the first church of Macon, Georgia, but declined the call in defer-
ence to the wishes of his friends in Staunton. The following is
an extract from an article which appeared in the " Staunton
Daily News," January 20, 1901 : " Dr. Fraser has served the
First Church (of Staunton) about eight years, having been called
here from Kentucky, succeeding the late Rev. Dr. D. K. McFar-
land. Coming into the Lexington Presbytery and the Synod of
Virginia as a stranger he has gradually come to be one of the
most influential ministers in those bodies. His progress has not
been made by any self-seeking on his part, for it would be difficult
to find a man of greater modesty and humbleness, but it has been
due to his simple and lovable ways, coupled with marked ability
as a man and preacher. Presbyterians have found him a clear
expounder of the Scriptures of the old Scotch Covenanter type,
who has himself found in them consolation and been able to
bring it to others, without seeking new interpretations or casting
aside the old doctrines. His influence in the community in bring-
ing all dominations into close fellowship, whilst quietly and un-
ostentatiously exercised, has been very great. In his own con-
gregation this quiet force has produced results for good that are
incalculable and will prove lasting. In the county also affection
for Dr. Fraser is deep-rooted, and many tender expressions came
from county Presbyterians yesterday, who heard of the call."

128 ABEL M TVER FRASER

Dr. Fraser is chaplain of the Sons of Confederate Veterans
of Staunton, Virginia. His favorite relaxation is walking and
quiet home games. In politics, he is a Democrat who has, never-
theless, exercised the right of abstaining from voting for party
candidates, when he was convinced that they were unworthy.
Thus, not believing in free silver, he voted for Palmer and
Buckner in 1896.

In reply to the question what books he had found most help-
ful in fitting him for his work in life, he answers : " I read the
Bible through when I was thirteen years old. That impressed
me more than any other reading I ever did. Next to that in its
effect upon me was "Pilgrim's Progress." While studying
geometry, logic, and the evidences of Christianity, I felt an ex-
pansion of mind such as I have never undergone af any other
time."

Asked to state any lesson from partial failures for the sake
of helping young people, Dr. Fraser says : "A closer application
to study in my college days would have enabled me to attain to
greater success. I have very often been unable to avail myself of
opportunities for the lack of what I might easily have acquired
at college. Subsequent application has never satisfactorily re-
stored what I then lost." He has much that is valuable to say of
the best means of promoting sound ideals in American life:
" Belief in a personal God : a conviction of man's fall from a
primitive state of holiness and the possibility of restoration
through those divine arrangements known as The Plan of Salva-
tion; a sense of stewardship to God in all possessions (property,
position, influence, friendship, endowments of mind and body,
etc.) ; and appreciation of the illimitable opportunities for per-
sonal development and service afforded by voluntary surrender of
one's self to God and anticipation of the heavenly glory, supply
a motive power in human life with which nothing else can com-
pare."

Among the influences which have shaped his life he reckons
the influences of home as supreme — the home of his childhood
and that of his married life. The effect of early companionship
was partly bad, but for the most part negative. Hardly any

ABEL m'iVER FRASER 129

difference existed in the force of the influences of school, private
study and contract with men in active life — all of which were
distinct and strong.

On July 14, 1881, he married Octavia Blanding. Six chil-
dren were born to them of whom five survive at the present
writing.

His address is No. 16 North Coalter Street, Staunton, Vir-
ginia.

PETER MERIWETHER FRY

FEY, PETER MERIWETHER, was born in Richmond,
Virginia, March 21, 1856. His parents were Col. Wil-
liam H. Fry and Jane Margaret (Watson) Fry. His
ancestry begins with Joshua Fry, who was educated at Oxford
university and settled in Essex county, Virginia, between 1710
and 1720. He filled many public offices ; was master of the gram-
mar school at William and Mary college; professor of mathe-
matics; member of the house of burgesses, and presiding justice
and county lieutenant of Albemarle. With Peter Jefferson, the
father of Thomas Jefferson he made a most interesting map of
Virginia. In 1754 he was commissioned by Governor Dinwiddie
as colonel and commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces with
George Washington as major and next in command. He was
stricken with fever at Fort Cumberland, and Washington and
the whole army attended the funeral. On a large oak tree Wash-
ington cut the following inscription which can be read to this
day : " Under this oak tree lies the body of the good, the just
and the noble Fry."

Rev. Henry Fry was the second son of Col. Joshua Fry, and
the latter was father of Joshua Fry, the great grandfather of the
subject of this sketch. His grandfather was Hugh W. Fry, who
was in business for years in Richmond, was president of Holly-
wood cemetery company, and of the old Dominion Iron and Nail
works, and had a share in other business enterprises. His father,
Colonel William H. Fry, was in business in Richmond for years,
was captain of the Richmond light infantry blues and colonel of
the 1st Virginia regiment, and during the latter part of the war
was stationed in Richmond in charge of Camp Lee. He owned
an interest in several summer resorts, and was one of the best
known men in Virginia.

Peter Meriwether Fry, the subject of this sketch, spent his
time in early boyhood partly in the city and partly in the country.
While he had no regular tasks, he would assist on the farm dur-
ing the summer with many things. He had a private tutor until

■
Wat -"' 7-£~-

PETER MERIWETHER FRY 133

he entered the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical institute,
where he was graduated in agriculture in 1876. Mr. Fry read
a great deal of history and literature and put much time upon
the study of law, but never graduated or practiced the profession.

He began the active work of life as chief clerk at the Alle-
ghany Springs during the season of 1876, representing his father's
interest, liked the hotel business and determined to make the
work his profession. From 1876 to 1895 he was chief clerk at
the Alleghany Springs and the Greenbrier White Sulphur
Springs, and since 1895 he has been employed at the Jefferson
Hotel — the finest hotel in the South — first as chief clerk for one
year and afterwards as manager.

Mr. Fry is a member of the Hermitage Golf club, and presi-
dent of the Richmond Chapter of the V. P. I. Alumni associa-
tion. He has always been fond of athletic sports, preferably
base ball, but he has little time for such things at present.

In politics Mr. Fry, is a Democrat, who has never swerved
from his party allegiance. In religious preferences he is a mem-
ber of the Episcopal church. His advice to young men is never
to keep so busy as not to have a little time each day for exercise
in the open air.

On June 15, 1897, he married Miss Irene Virginia Hancock,
and they have had three children all of whom are now (1907)
living.

His address is the Jefferson Hotel, Corner Franklin, Jeffer-
son and Main Streets, Richmond, Virginia.

THEODORE STANFORD GARNETT

GARNETT, THEODORE STANFORD, lawyer, was born
in Richmond, Virginia, October 28, 1844, and is the son
of Theodore S. and Florentina I. (Moreno) Garnett.
His father was a civil engineer, and was distinguished for in-
tegrity, energy, and ability. Mrs. Florentina Garnett, wife of
Theodore S., Sr., and mother of Theodore S., Jr., was the daugh-
ter of Francisco Moreno, a Spaniard, who settled in Pensacola,
Florida, when Florida was still a Spanish colony.

The Garnetts are one of the most distinguished families in
Virginia. The founder of the family in America was John, who
settled in Gloucester county, Virginia, early in the colonial
period. Some of John's descendants removed to Essex county,
Virginia, where they became the progenitors of some of the most
eminent Virginians, such as James Mercer Garnett, the famous
agriculturist and rural economist; Robert Selden, the congress-
man; Richard B. and Robert Selden, Jr., prominent soldiers of
the Southern Confederacy; Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett, a
prominent political leader of the last generation; and James
Mercer Garnett (his brother) one of the best living scholars of
the present day.

In his childhood and youth, Theodore S. Garnett was active,
healthy, and strong, fond of outdoor and athletic sports. He
had no tasks except such as were entirely voluntary and afforded
amusement. At ten years of age, he learned something of brick-
laying, during a summer vacation — and he believes that every
boy should be taught some form of manual labor. His elemen-
tary education was received at the Episcopal high school, of Vir-
ginia, and he took higher academic studies at the University of
Virginia while studying law. In between these two periods of
study, he gave four years of his life to the service of his state in
the War between the Sections. At seventeen years of age he
obeyed the call of Virginia, and enrolled himself in her forces.
First he served in the Hanover artillery; afterward, he served
as a private in company F, 9th Virginia cavalry; was a courier

THEODORE STANFORD GARNETT 135

for General J. E. B. Stuart, and was promoted January 27, 1864
aide-de-camp. After General Stuart's death, he was reappointed
first lieutenant of the Provisional Army Confederate States and
assigned to duty on the staff of General W. H. F. Lee, and on
March 1, 1865, was made captain and assistant adjutant general
of General W. P. Roberts's North Carolina cavalry brigade, and
served as such up to the surrender at Appomattox. In October,
1900, he was elected major-general commanding Virginia division
of United Confederate veterans.

After the war, young Captain Garnett entered the Univer-
sity of Virginia, to complete his academic education and to study
law. At that institution, he came under the influence of John B.
Minor, the great law professor, and of William H. McGuffey, the
famous professor of moral philosophy; scholars differing widely
in mental characteristics and in methods of teaching, and yet
both well fitted to influence a young man in the formative period
of life.

After completing his course at the University of Virginia,
Theodore S. Garnett was licensed to practice law, which was his
profession through his own personal choice, influenced to some ex-
tent by the advice of his elder brother, and which he has pursued
continuously in the state and federal courts since 1869. He
served three years (1870-73) as judge of Nansemond county, Vir-
ginia. For over thirty years, he has practiced in Norfolk, Vir-
ginia, where he stands high with his colleagues at the bar and
with his fellow-citizens in general.

Judge Garnett is a member of the Virginia state library
board, of the board of trustees of the Virginia Theological semi-
nary and high school, a member of the Virginia bar association
and of the American bar association. Recently he was elected to
membership in the Phi Beta Kappa society of the College of Wil-
liam and Mary, a just recognition of his high attainments.

From his youth to the present time, Judge Garnett has
" borne without abuse the grand old name of gentleman." For-
tunate in his parentage and rearing, fortunate in his early oppor-
tunities for study and reading, he has not only maintained the
prestige of his family, but has earned personally high and honor-
able positions and reputation.

13ft THEODORE STANFORD GARNETT

Judge Garnett has been twice married: first to Emily Eyre
Baker, of Norfolk, Virginia ; second, to Mrs. Louisa Bowdoin, of
Northampton county, Virginia. His home is in Norfolk, Vir-
ginia.

VAN FRANKLIN GARRETT

GARRETT, VAN FRANKLIN, M. D., professor of
natural science in William and Mary college, was born
in Williamsburg, Virginia, July 31, 1846, and his
parents were Robert Major Garrett and Susan Comfort Winder.

Among his earliest known ancestors in America were Colonel
John Winder, who settled, in 1664, in Somerset county, Maryland ;
Sir George Yeardley, governor of Virginia, in 1619 ; and Samuel
Timson, a prominent merchant and planter, of York county, Vir-
ginia. Sir George Yeardley is one of the brightest names in Vir-
ginia history, for it was during his administration July 30, 1619,
that the first law-making body of representatives elected by the
people assembled at Jamestown.

The father of the subject of this sketch was a physician of
excellent reputation, who served as mayor of Williamsburg and
superintendent of the Eastern State hospital. His mother was a
woman of refinement and purity of character, and exerted a
strong influence on his moral and spiritual life.

The subject of this sketch was a strong, healthy boy, who
passed his early life in the small city of Williamsburg, where he
attended a private elementary school and a private academy.
During the War of 1861-65 he attended the Virginia Military
institute at Lexington. After resigning as a cadet, he became a
member of Thompson's Flying artillery. He took part in the
famous battle of New Market, where the cadets so bravely dis-
tinguished themselves. After the war, by the wish and advice of
his father, he determined to be a physician, and for that purpose
attended the University of Virginia for one session and after-
wards Bellevue hospital, New York, where he was graduated in
1868, as Doctor of Medicine.

In 1869, he began the active work of life as a teacher in Giles
college, Pulaski, Tennessee, but he soon returned home and en-
gaged in farming and in the practice of medicine.

In this work he continued until 1888, when on the reorgani-

Vol. 4-Va.— 7

138 VAN FRANKLIN GARRETT

zation of William and Mary college he was elected professor of
natural science at the college, a position which he still holds.

In the discharge of his duties, Doctor Garrett is conscien-
tious, diligent and high-toned, and he is greatly beloved by both
students and professors. In 1872 he received from the College of
William and Mary the honorary degree of Master of Arts, and
he has served for several terms as a member of the council of Wil-
liamsburg.

He is a member of the Delta Psi fraternity, and of the Phi
Beta Kappa society, and for many years has been vestryman and
church warden of Bruton Episcopal church in Williamsburg.
Chess is his favorite amusement during his leisure hours.

On April 29, 1896, Doctor Garrett married Harriet Guion
Xicholls, daughter of Governor Francis T. Nicholls, of Louis-
iana, and they have three children now living.

His address is Williamsburg, Virginia.

FRANK GILMER

GILMER, FRAXK, lawyer, was born in Albemarle county,
Virginia, January 29, 1857. His father was George
Christopher Gilmer, a prominent farmer of Albemarle,
who was noted for his energy and activity up to the period of his
old age, and who was a frequent and interesting contributor to
the agricultural papers and other publications of his day. He
had been a man of very considerable wealth before the breaking
out of the War between the States, owning more than a hundred
negro slaves and several thousand acres of land; but financial
misfortunes, consequent upon the changed conditions of life after
the war, caused the loss of his property. His slaves having been
freed, his farm on Buckeyeland creek in Albemarle was later sold
to foreclose a mortgage, when his son, Frank, became the pur-
chaser, in order that his father and mother might not have to
move in their old age from the home where they had spent the
larger part of their lives. The mother of Frank Gilmer was
Mildred Wirt Duke. She was a sister of the late Honorable R.
T. TV. Duke, of Albemarle county, who was distinguished as a
lawyer of his period, and as a Confederate soldier and colonel;
and was for many years commonwealth's attorney of Albemarle
county, and later a Democratic member of congress from Vir-
ginia.

Mr. Gilmer's first ancestor in America on his paternal side
was Doctor George Gilmer, who came from Scotland to Virginia
in 1731, and settled at Williamsburg. His son George Gilmer
moved to Albemarle county, and lived on an estate which he
acquired near Charlottesville, known as " Pen Park," which was
later for a time the residence of William Wirt, who married
Mildred Gilmer, Doctor George Gilmer's daughter, in 1795.
This marriage introduced Mr. Wirt to the acquaintance of many
persons of eminence, including Doctor Gilmer's neighbors and
personal friends, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James
Monroe, and thus greatly aided his ambition to achieve the dis-
tinguished career which Mr. Wirt afterwards accomplished. His

140 FRANK GILMER

wife, Mildred Gilmer Wirt, whose name Mr. Frank Gilmer's
mother bore, and whose kinswoman she was, did not long survive
her marriage; and is buried at "Pen Park," where a marble
tablet records her virtues in words composed by her gifted
husband.

Mr. Frank Gilmer's early life was spent on his father's farm
on Buckeyeland creek, where he went to preparatory schools, and
engaged in the sports of an outdoor country life. At thirteen
years of age he was sent to Hampden-Sidney college, where he
remained during the session of 1870-1871. The next session he
attended the classical school conducted in Charlottesville, Vir-
ginia, by Major Horace W. Jones, an accomplished and success-
ful teacher of the period, whose influence upon his pupils has
been illustrated in the subsequent prominent careers of very many
of them. For two years after his session with Major Jones, Mr.
Gilmer worked on his father's farm, saving up the money which
he made ; and in 1874 he went to Richmond college, where he re-
mained for one session. In 1878, having determined to study
law, he entered the law school of the University of Virginia,
then conducted by the late Professors John B. Minor and Stephen
O. Southall. Here he remained a session taking the law course,
and earning money to pay his way by keeping the postoffice at
the university. During this session at the university Mr. Gilmer
enjoyed the very unusual experience of having a personal
acquaintance with each of the large number of the students, the
opportunity for which was offered him by his connection with the
local postoffice. After this session at the university, he studied
for a summer in Professor John B. Minor's summer law school ;
and then opened a law office in the town of Charlottesville, where
he has since practiced his profession with ability and success.
In 1888 he was appointed commonwealth's attorney for Char-
lottesville, and in 1889 was elected to that office, which he con-
tinuously occupied by the votes of his fellow citizens up to Jan-
uary, 1906. His administration of the duties of commonwealth's
attorney was highly successful ; and during the seventeen years in
which he occupied the position he never had a case, which he had
prosecuted and prepared on appeal, reversed by the supreme
court of appeals of Virginia. He was the prosecuting attorney

FRANK GILMER 141

in the famous case of the commonwealth versus J. Samuel
McCue, former mayor of Charlottesville, for wife-murder, and
managed the case with signal ability, securing, with his asso-
ciated colleagues for the prosecution, Messrs. Mica j ah Woods, of
Charlottesville, and Richard S. Ker, of Staunton, Virginia, the
conviction of McCue, who was perhaps the most prominent,
influential, highly connected and wealthy criminal, ever judi-
cially executed in Virginia.

Mr. Gilmer is a Mason and a member of Widows Son lodge
No. 60, of Charlottesville, of which lodge he is a past master ; and
he is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
He is a Democrat in politics, and has never changed ; and he is a
member of the Protestant Episcopal church.

He married, in Columbia, South Carolina, March 17, 1886,
Miss Rebecca Singleton Haskell, a daughter of Judge A. C.
Haskell, of that city. Of their marriage have been born four
children, of whom two sons, George Gilmer and Frank Gilmer,
Jr., are now living.

Mr. Gilmer's address is 802 East Jefferson Street, Charlottes-
ville, Virginia.

WILLIAM WOOD GLASS

GLASS, WILLIAM WOOD, farmer and lieutenant colonel
of militia, was born in Frederick county, Virginia, March
14, 1835, and his parents were Thomas Rutherford
Glass and Catherine Wood, his wife. On his paternal side he
is descended from Samuel Glass, who came to Virginia with his
wife, Mary Gamble, from County Down, Ireland in 1736, and
settled at the head of Opequon creek in what is now Frederick
county. They and their descendants rest in the Opequon burying
ground at Kernstown. On his maternal side he comes from
James Wood, who was grandfather of his mother, Catherine
Wood. James Wood was a lieutenant in the British navy, as
learned from an original letter written by Robert Wood, a grand-
son, and came to America with one of the colonial governors,
probably Spotswood.

He was commissioned surveyor of Orange county by the presi-
dent and masters of William and Mary county in 1734, and in
1742 he was commissioned colonel of horse and foot. He
founded Winchester in 1752, and a map hanging in the clerk's
office there shows a large extension which he made to the town
a few years later. He was with Washington at Great Meadows,
and in his note-book recorded the death of Colonel Frye, with a
short account of the battle. Colonel Wood was the first clerk of
the court of Frederick county, which at that time extended over
a large part of the state of Virginia, and to the Ohio river. He
held the office from 1743 until his death November 6, 1759. His
records in his beautiful hand writing contain much matter of
great historical interest. While a court-house was being built
in the vard of his residence " Glen Burnie," he held the court in
his own house, and it was here that Lord Fairfax took oath of
office as proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia. At " Glen
Burnie," on the beautiful lawn, a large barbecue was held in
honor of Washington's first election to the Virginia house of bur-
gesses in 1758, Colonel Wood himself having been elected to the
office as proxy for Washington. Washington's letter of thanks

WILLIAM WOOD GLASS 143

to Colonel Wood acknowledging his services on this occasion may
be found in Ford's " Writings of Washington." Colonel James
Wood married Mary Rutherford, a member of a well known
Scotch family, and had bv her five children, all born at " Glen
Burnie." They were: (1) General James Wood, who was a mem-
ber of the Virginia house of delegates, president of the society of
the Cincinnati in 1789, and tenth governor of Virginia. He mar-
ried Jean Moncure of Richmond, Virginia, but left no children —
his only daughter having died in youth. Wood county, West Vir-
ginia, was named for Governor Wood, and at the present a
branch of the D. A. R. in West Virginia goes by his name : (2)
Dr. John Wood, who married Susannah Baker, and left many
descendants including the present Mrs. Lewis Nixon; (3) Robert
Wood, grandfather of William Wood Glass, who married Com-
fort Welsh, of Maryland, and left many descendants ; (4) Mary,
who married Honorable Alexander White, member of the old
congress and left no descendants; (5) Elizabeth, who married
Colonel Burr Harrison, of the Revolutionary army.

Thomas Rutherford Glass, father of the subject of this
sketch, was a farmer who served as lieutenant in the War of 1812,
and took part in the defence of Baltimore and Fort McHenry.
He was a talented conversationalist. His words were full of
wit and humor, and he possessed that rugged independence of
character and honesty natural to the Scotch-Irish stock from
which he came.

The subject of this sketch was in early life rather frail in
health, but like most country boys was fond of outdoor life and
field sports in general. While his mother died when he was only
eleven years of age, her influence, which took especially a religious
turn, continued to be felt throughout his life. He attended Win-
chester academy and afterwards matriculated, in 1853, at Wash-
ington college, now Washington and Lee university, but stayed
only one year. Soon after graduation he began the active work of
life as a farmer and has continued in that noble occupation ever
since. He lives near Winchester at " Glen Burnie," an estate
inherited from his aunt Julia Wood, last surviving granddaugh-
ter of Colonel James Wood, who patented it and built the pres-
ent house about 1730. At this old residence are preserved many

144 WILLIAM WOOD GLASS

valuable historic letters from Washington, LaFayette, Thomas
Jefferson, Nathaniel Greene, and others; and commissions from
John Hancock, John Jay, Thomas Nelson, Jr., and Governor
William Gooch.

Colonel Glass was a lieutenant-colonel in militia when the
war began in 1861, and saw active service for a short time, but
soon resigned from the army on account of ill health. He has
been indentified since the war with the Democratic party, and is
an elder in the Presbyterian church.

Colonel Glass has led the consistent life of a private gentle-
man, and with the exception of the office of school trustee he has
held no public positions. He is a man of the highest integrity,
and is held in the highest respect in the community in which he
lives, and he has brought up a large family of worthy and re-
spected men and women. He is a fitting exponent and represen-
tative of a long line of honorable ancestors.

Colonel Glass married twice — his first wife being Nannie L.
Luckett, of Loudoun county, whom he married in 1861 ; and his
second Nancy Rebecca Campbell, daughter of Robert Madison
Campbell, to whom he was married in January, 1865. They
have had seven children, all of whom are now (1907) living.

The address of Colonel Glass is Winchester, Virginia.

WILLIAM ST. CLAIR GORDON

GORDON, WILLIAM ST. CLAIR, was born at Raleigh,
North Carolina, March 28, 1858, and is the son of James
Gordon and Mary St. Clair Cooke. He is descended
from the two brothers Colonel James and John Gordon, who
came from Newry, County Down, Ireland, and settled in Lancas-
ter county, Virginia. (See sketch of Armistead C. Gordon for an
account of the Gordon family). James Gordon, the father of
the subject of this sketch, was a merchant distinguished by his
integrity, energy and philanthropy. William St. Clair Gordon
was rather a weakly child physically, but became strong and
healthy. His early life was spent chiefly in the city and did not
involve the necessity of manual labor. On both his intellectual
and spiritual being the influence of his mother was particularly
strong. He attended Thomas H. Norwood's University school
and afterwards taught for several years in schools and academies.
Later he studied medicine at the Medical college of Virginia.
He was graduated in 1879 and afterwards took special medical
courses in Jefferson college and in the University of Pennsyl-
vania. This choice of a profession was the result of his own
personal preference, and he was ambitious from early youth.
He began the active practice of his profession in Richmond in
1880 and soon attained success. He has practiced in that city ever
since. During this time he has been physician to the hustings
court and city prison, and professor of physiology in the Univer-
sity college of medicine, of which he was one of the founders.
For the past three years he has been professor of the practice of
medicine and clinical medicine in that institution.

Dr. Gordon is sociable in his feelings and is a member of
several prominent medical societies. While at college he joined
the Phi Delta Theta Greek letter fraternity, and he is now a
member of the Richmond Academy of medicine and surgery of
which he was president, the Medical society of Virginia, the Tri-
Association of Virginia and the Carolinas, and the American
Medical association. He is also a member of the Richmond
Educational society.

146 WILLIAM ST. CLAIR GORDON

Dr. Gordon is a writer of much force and reputation, and is
an investigator of great originality. He has written numerous
articles for medical journals, and his " Recollections of the Old
Quarter " is a literary production of much merit. He had made
a valuable study of typhoid fever, and he is at present interested
in the methods of preventing tuberculosis — that dread scourge
which has hitherto defied modern science. Dr. Gordon's favorite
forms of exercise and modes of relaxation are hunting, fishing,
boat-rowing and horseback riding. The books which he has
found most useful in life are the Bible, Shakespeare and the
works of Addison, Scott, Goldsmith, Thackaray, and the other
English classical writers. He read widely in youth, and biog-
raphy and history were especially interesting to him.

His religious affiliations are with the Presbyterian denomina-
tion, and he is an elder in Grace Street church, Richmond, having
been ordained March 15, 1903. In politics he is a Democrat.

Of the influences which have affected his life, the strongest
has been that of home. Next in strength has been the influence
of school, next that of private study; next that of companionship,
and lastly that of contact with men in active life.

He is of the opinion that the preservation of physical health
is one of the best means for strengthening ideals in American life.
To this, add the old time virtues of determination, perseverance,
obedience, truth, justice and tact.

On October 16, 1900, he married Katie B. Gordon, and five
children have been born to them, only two of whom survive.

His address is 5 East Franklin Street, Richmond, Virginia.

GEORGE GILMER GRATTAN

G RATTAN, GEORGE GILMER, lawyer, soldier, was
born on a farm in Rockingham county, Virginia, on
February 12, 1839, son of Major Robert and Martha
Divers (Minor) Grattan. His father was of Irish lineage, a
lawyer by education and farmer by occupation, known and re-
spected for his integrity, courage and charity, whose first Amer-
ican ancestor, John Grattan, came from Ireland in 1737, and
settled soon thereafter in Augusta county, Virginia. John Grat-
tan was an elder in the Presbyterian church and one of the origi-
nal trustees of Liberty Hall academy, Lexington, Virginia, now
Washington and Lee university. Dr. George Gilmer, of Wil-
liamsburg, Virginia, was the great-grandfather of both Major
Robert Grattan and Martha Divers Minor, and it may be truth-
fully said of him, as of John Grattan, that he was a man of
unusual intelligence and education for those times and wielded a
strong influence in his community.

The early years of George G. Grattan were spent in the
country where he had the advantage of outdoor life. He was not
physicially robust, but was, nevertheless, fond of vigorous sports
and had a natural predilection for reading. His preparation for
college, was largely obtained through private instruction, and
under the teachers provided by his father for the education of his
children. He entered the University of Virginia in 1857, and,
after pursuing an academic course there for two years, he went
to the University of Georgia (with the intention of settling in
that state for the practice of his profession) from the law de-
partment of which he was graduated, with the degree of LL.
B., in 1860. His uncle, Governor George R. Gilmer, of Georgia,
had previously advised him to take up the practice of law at
Lexington, Georgia, and after his admission to the bar, he fol-
lowed this advice and began his professional career in the same
year. Shortly thereafter, in May, 1861, he entered the Con-
federate army, as a lieutenant in the 6th Georgia regiment, with
which he served until appointed adjutant-general on the staff of

148 GEORGE GILMER GRATTAN

General A. H. Colquitt in the fall of 1862. He served in this
capacity until he lost a leg at Cold Harbor, in 1864, and was
compulsorily retired from further service.

After the war, Captain Grattan settled at Harrisonburg,
Virginia, to resume the practice of law, and he has continued to
reside there since 1866. He was appointed commonwealth's
attorney for the county of Eockingham by Judge C. T. O'Fer-
rall, in 1878, and was elected to that office at the next election for
the full term ending on January 1, 1883. In the last named
year he was elected a member of the Virginia house of delegates
from Eockingham county. In 1885, he was elected judge of the
county court of the same county and held that office for three
terms — relinquishing it when the court was abolished under the
new constitution.

In politics, Judge Grattan has always been a Democrat, and
in religion, a Presbyterian, of which church he has been an elder
since 1873. As a lawyer, as a soldier and as a jurist he has
gained a deserved eminence, and he has no less distinguished
himself in the more personal duties of private life. A man of
culture, refined instincts, patriotic zeal, legal acumen, and un-
doubted integrity — he has contributed of them all to the up-
building of his community and of his state. When asked his
opinion on the elements of true success he made this reply : " The
principles of the only true Teacher, grounded in love and faith,
and followed with diligence and perseverance, will always insure
the best development of true manhood and success in life." From
his ripe judgment these words have a peculiar significance for
every one who is formulating a life purpose and plan.

On October 18, 1870, Judge Grattan married Mary Ella
Heneberger, daughter of A. E. and Mary Heneberger, of Har-
risonburg, Virginia. They have had three children.

His address is Harrisonburg, Virginia.

JOHN JAMES GRAVATT

GEAYATT, JOHN JAMES, clergyman, son of John
James and Mary Eliza Gravatt, was born in Port Royal,
Caroline county, Virginia, May 14, 1853. His father
was a physician of Port Royal, who was graduated with distinc-
tion from "William and Mary college, and afterward took the
degree of M. D. at the University of Penns}dvania. Doctor
Gravatt was a man of the highest type, mentally and morally.
From both of his parents the subject of this sketch received such
training as fitted him to serve successfully in the ministry.

The Gravatts are lineally descended from Colonel Miles
Cary, of Warwick county, Virginia, who came from England
about 1645. He was a member of the council during Sir Wil-
liam Berkeley's administration, was escheator-general of Virginia,
and for a time served in the royal navy. Colonel Miles Cary's
son Miles, of Richneck, Warwick county, Virginia, was a mem-
ber of the house of burgesses, a " visitor " and " rector " of Wil-
liam and Mary college, and surveyor-general of Virginia. Other
distinguished ancestors of Rev. J. J. Gravatt are his great-grand-
fathers, Colonel Larkin Smith, of King and Queen county, Vir-
ginia, and Colonel John Ambler, of Jamestown, both distin-
guished in the Revolution.

The subject of this sketch made good use of the opportuni-
ties afforded by the schools in Caroline and then entered the
preparatory department of the Virginia Theological seminary.
Thence he entered the seminary proper, from which he was grad-
uated in 1876. The one great hope of his young manhood was
now realized. He was ordained to the office and work of a minis-
ter by the bishop of Virginia, and shortly thereafter was called
to St. John's church, Hampton, Virginia, one of the oldest and
most famous of the colonial churches now standing.

Of Mr. Gravatt's work in Hampton it is sufficient to say that
for seventeen years he preached the gospel " in season and out of
season," going in and out among his own people, and carrying his

150 JOHN JAMES GRAVATT

great message to the veterans of the Soldiers' home, and to the
Negroes and Indians of the Hampton Normal institute. His face
was familiar to all in and around Hampton, and his name was a
household word. In 1893, he accepted a call to the Bishop
Moore Memorial church in Richmond, now known as Holy
Trinity, where he has served with fidelity and success to the pres-
ent time.

Mr. Gravatt does some extra work as chaplain of militia and
chaplain in beneficiary or eleemosynary orders. He is a Demo-
crat, but does not take an active part in political affairs.

From his ancestors, Mr. Gravatt inherited noble aspirations.
In his home he had moral and religious training and lofty ex-
amples. By private study, he fostered the love of the true, the
beautiful and the good that was born in him.

April 29, 1879, Mr. Gravatt married Indie Wray Jones.
They have had three children, of whom two are now living.

Mr. Gravatt's address is 710 AYest Grace Street, Eichmond,
Virginia.

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JOHN MOREHEAD GWYN

GWYN, JOHN MOREHEAD, was born at Mt. Airy,
Surry county, North Carolina, and his parents were
Hugh and Rosamond Gwyn. The family came from
South Carolina to North Carolina, but it is believed to have
come first from Virginia; for Hugh Gwyn was one of the first
emigrants to that part of Virginia, now called Mathews county.
Gwyn's island at the mouth of the Pianketank river was named
after him, and it is famous as the place where Lord Dunmore
took refuge with his camp followers in the early days of the
American revolution. Mr. Hugh Gwyn, the father of the subject
of this sketch, was a farmer distinguished for his charity, hon-
esty, industry and morality, who at one time served as a repre-
sentative in the general assembly of North Carolina.

John Morehead Gwyn was a strong healthy boy, who from
his earliest days, except when he was at school, was actively
engaged in some rural employment. He received such an educa-
tion as could be obtained from the common schools of the coun-
try, but he was ambitiously eager to become self-supporting and
he began work on his own account in 1863, in Wythe county,
Virginia, as manager for Captain David Graham, a large stock
raiser in that section of the state.

He served in the Civil war, being commissioned second lieu-
tenant in the 21st regiment of North Carolina troops commanded
by Colonel W. W. Kirkland. When the war ended, nothing was
left to him but a small farm. Everything else was lost — either
destroyed in the conflict or rendered valueless by the results of the
war. Stern necessity was the inspiration of a renewed attempt on
his part to establish himself in life. He took up, with a courage
and an enthusiasm which insured success, the business of a
farmer, and live-stock trader; and by his large interests, in land
and in stock, he has done much for the prosperity of South-
western Virginia. He has been very successful. While thus
engaged in business he has also devoted time to the civil service
of his state. He has been for four terms county supervisor ; and

154 JOHN MOREHEAD GWYN ,

in 1897 he was elected a member of the house of delegates, in
which branch of the general assembly he served one term. He
showed himself deeply and intelligently interested in all legisla-
tive measures to promote enlightened agriculture and successful
stock raising in Virginia. Mr. Gwyn has always enjoyed excel-
lent health. He takes much exercise on horseback, riding about
the country and looking after the farms and his stock.

In politics he is a Democrat who believes in the principles of
his party and is loyal to his convictions. He believes that a wise
course for young men who wish to attain success in life, is to
" choose a business you will like, stick to it, and work hard."

On November 2, 1866, he married Miss Sallie Crockett, and
has had five children, of whom three (1908) survive.

Intelligent observers of the progress which is made, from
decade to decade, in securing to the farmers of our country and
to their families, their fair share of the increasing prosperity and
the greater physical comforts and conveniences in which com-
mercial prosperity expresses itself in the life of a nation, must
recognize as among our " men of mark," those enterprising men,
of whom Mr. Gwyn is a distinguished example, who by their
foresight, their enterprise and their personal energy make mar-
kets, and open the way to money-making, for the farmers of the
entire section of their state.

Mr. Gwyn's address is Chatham Hill, Smyth County, Vir-
ginia.

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JAMES THOMAS WATT HAIRSTON

HAIKSTON, GENERAL JAMES THOMAS WATT, of
Martinsville, Henry county, Virginia, was born in
Patrick county, Virginia, on the 25th of January, 1835.
Peter Hairston, the first American ancestor of that family name,
came to this country in 1747, settling in Campbell county, Vir-
ginia. He had followed the fortunes of the Pretender; and he
left Scotland after the battle of Culloden Moor. On his mother's
side, members of the Staples family came to America in 1638,
settling in Massachusetts ; and in 1666 John Staples had removed
to Virginia and married Miss Penn, of Patrick county, Virginia.
His father, Hardin Hairston, was a planter and a manufacturer
of tobacco in Virginia, and afterward a cotton planter in Mississ-
ippi, who served as quartermaster in the War of 1812 and was
afterward associate- justice of Patrick county, Virginia ; — a " man
of great energy, close attention to business, strict ideas, strong
prejudices, and constant in his friendships." His mother's family
(she was a Miss Perkins) had settled in Henrico county, Vir-
ginia, in 1620. Hardin Hairston married Miss Sallie Stovall
Staples, daughter of John Staples, of Henry county.

Their son, James Thomas Watt Hairston, passed his boyhood
on his father's plantation; and because his health in his early
boyhood was delicate, he devoted much time to athletic exercises
and out-of-door life, throughout his youth and in his early man-
hood. He attended the schools within reach of his early home;
and in them, with some assistance from private instructors, he was
prepared for a course in civil and military engineering. He pur-
sued such a course at the Virginia Military institute: and was
graduated in 1858. In January, 1859, he established himself as
a cotton planter, in Lowndes county, Mississippi, upon a planta-
tion, and with a working force of slaves, given to him by his
father.

In the Civil war he was in the Confederate service from
the taking of Fort Barancas and the Navy Yard at Pensacola,
serving as captain of the prairie guards. While the first Confed-

Vol. 4-Va.— 8

158 JAMES THOMAS WATT HAIRSTON

erate Congress was in session, he was appointed second lieutenant
in the Confederate States regular cavalry, stationed at Mont-
gomery, Alabama; and after this, he was employed by the state
of Mississippi, mustering in troops for the Confederate service.
On May 1st, 1861, he was mustered into the regular Confederate
service at Lynchburg, Virginia, and was commissioned captain of
Company E, 11th regiment Mississippi volunteers, and ordered
to Harper's Ferry. In the Summer of 1861 a severe attack of
fever, beginning July 2d, incapacitated him for field duty for four
months, and he asked for service which he could discharge until
he regained his strength. In October, 1861, he was made com-
mandant of Libby prison, in Richmond, Virginia, holding that
position until May, 1862. " The Blue and the GrajT," a journal
published at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, expressed high appre-
ciation of Commandant Hairston's treatment of the Federal
prisoners while he was in command of Libby prison.

When he had recovered strength for active service, in May,
1862, he was ordered to report to General James E. B. Stuart,
who was then operating on the Rappahannock. He was ap-
pointed inspector of outposts, and afterward inspector and acting
adjutant general of the division, remaining on General Stuart's
staff for nearly two years, for a part of the time acting as chief
of staff; and he took part in all the battles fought by General
Stuart during that time. Early in 1864, he suffered a severe
attack of rheumatism and was compelled to ask a transfer to a
point farther in the South; and there he served during the year
1864 and until the surrender of the Confederate troops there in
July, 1865.

Since the close of the war he has continued his business as a
cotton planter in Mississippi. His plantation, called " Hairston,"
which was named after and inherited from his father, is situated
near Crawford and contains about eight thousand acres of land.
He removed to Virginia in 1889, and located at Beaver Creek
where he has a fine farm of about four thousand acres, and is
largely interested in the cultivation of tobacco.

On the 24th of June, 1873, he married Miss Elizabeth Per-
kins Hairston, daughter of Marshall and Ann Hairston of Henry
county, Virginia. They have had two children, one of whom is
now (1907) living.

JAMES THOMAS WATT HAIRSTON 159

General Hairston has never held any political or civil office,
nor has he ever sought office. In his political associations he is
indentified with the Democratic party, and he never swerved
from allegiance to the party of his choice. By religious con-
viction as well as by early training, he is connected with the
Protestant Episcopal church. He is a Mason. He is a member
of the Elks. As a young man he was fond of athletic sports.
For the last fifteen vears he has been an invalid, and has found
his only exercise and recreation in driving a motor car.

To the young men of Virginia he offers this advice : " Truth-
fulness and honesty, with close attention to business, will insure
success for almost any man."

The address of General Hairston is Martinsville, Henry
County, Virginia.

J. CLEVELAND HALL

HALL, J. CLEVELAND, minister and rector, was born
in San Francisco, California, April 20, 1854; and his
parents were Thomas Jefferson Hall and Francesca
Cleveland, his wife. The Halls and the Clevelands were of
English stock who came to this country in the eighteenth century.
The history of pioneer settlements in New York, Pennsylvania
and Virginia and the history of the Revolutionary war and the
different wars that have succeeded it include the mention of the
family names, and always in honorable connection. Thomas
Jefferson Hall was a broker, who dealt in stocks, bonds and
cotton in New Orleans, and was president of the Mississippi
Valley Navigation company, and secretary of the Ship Island
Canal company. During the War between the States he served
in Harrison's brigade of New Orleans volunteers, and was first
lieutenant at the time of the organization and major at the close
of the war. At the time of his death he was a candidate for the
office of treasurer of the state of Louisiana. His marked char-
acteristics were business acumen, courage, old school courtesy,
and a genial and soldierly turn of mind.

J. Cleveland Hall, his oldest son, spent his early life in New
Orleans and exhibited a special taste for reading and literature,
mathematics and languages being his favorite studies. After
attending the local schools he was sent, in 1871, to the United
States Military academy, at West Point, New York, but resigned
before graduation to enter civil life, in which for fourteen years
he was engaged in active and successful business pursuits. He
was for some time in the life and fire insurance business in New
York, afterwards in the hardware business in New York, and
still later in the real estate and insurance business in Kansas
City, Missouri. In all of these vocations Mr. Hall met with
marked success, but, while in the latter city, he felt a call to a
more elevated and philanthropic field of labor. He took great
interest in Sunday school and mission work, and determined to
enter the ministry. He studied in 1888 at the Union Theological

J. CLEVELAND HALL 161

seminary, in Virginia, and soon after took charge of the Man-
chester, Virginia, Presbyterian church. In 1890 he resigned and
became a candidate for orders in the Protestant Episcopal
church. He was ordained by Bishop Whittle to the diaconate in
1891, and had charge of Zion church, Fairfax, Virginia, and
Falls Church, Virginia. The same year he was advanced by
Bishop Whittle to the priesthood at Berryville, Virginia. From
1892 to 1895 he was rector of Christ church, Roanoke, Virginia.
From 1895 to the present time (1907) he has been rector of
Epiphany church, Danville, Virginia, succeeding Rev. George W.
Dame, D. D., whose pastorate had lasted 55 years, he having been
the organizer and first rector of the parish.

He is a Mason, a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight Templar,
an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias, a member of the Junior
Order of American Mechanics, and a member of the Improved
Order of Red Men. He is past eminent commander of Dove
Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templar, Danville, Virginia, and
for eleven years, with the exception of the year he was eminent
commander, he was their prelate. For the past six years he has
been chaplain of the 70th regiment of Infantry, Virginia volun-
teers. In politics he is, as his father and grandfather were be-
fore him, a member of the Democratic party, whose principles he
loyally approves.

Mr. Hall's opinion of the relative strength of the influences
which have affected his life is interesting. To quote his words:
" My boyhood home settled and adjusted an unchangeable reli-
gious conviction. My West Point education gave me military
carriage, and personal pride and self-control. Private study and
constant reading have afforded a general view of affairs, histori-
cal, scientific, philosophical and literary. Making but few inti-
mate friendships in childhood and youth, men became my special
study on leaving West Point, and friendships were sought, and
the confidence of others sought and sustained. To the ensuing
and constant contact with men in active business, professions,
and politics, I attribute the greater part of my success." From
his own experience and observation he is of the opinion that the
methods best calculated to strengthen American ideals and to
promote true success are " Practical religion in the home,

162

J. CLEVELAND HALL

founded upon the Bible and the Christian religion; membership
in some Christian church; cleanliness of body and mind;
familiarity with human history, as recorded in books, and in the
making, as exemplified by modern movement and life; and a
determination to secure and maintain self control and self
mastery."

His address is 115 Jefferson Street, Danville, Pittsylvania
County, Virginia.

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RICHARD JOHNSON HANCOCK

HANCOCK, RICHARD JOHNSON, was born in Lime-
stone county, Alabama, March 22, 1838. His father,
Nathaniel Hancock, was born in Onslow county, North
Carolina, December 29, 1802, and was the eldest child of William
Hancock, who was born October 15, 1773. They removed from
North Carolina to North Alabama about 1820. Nathaniel Han-
cock married Elizabeth Hightower, daughter of Jordan J. High-
tower, of Mecklenburg county, Virginia, in 1824, and settled in
Limestone county, Alabama, where he was a farmer, merchant,
and cotton-broker. He removed from Alabama to Bossier
parish, Louisiana, in 1848.

Richard was left motherless at twelve and fatherless at six-
teen years of age, when he began work as salesman in a drygoods
store. By his industry and attention to business, he made
enough money to complete his education in a private school at
Homer, Louisiana, under Colonel David F. Boyd, later superin-
tendent of the Louisiana State university. He had taught school
and read law twentv months, when the War between the States
broke out, and, on the day on which his state seceded from the
Union, he volunteered in a local company, as a private of in-
fantry, but was elected third lieutenant June, 1861, and first lieu-
tenant, April, 1862. He served in the Confederate States army
throughout the war, and participated in many of the battles of
that tremendous struggle. He was at Cross Keys, Port Republic,
first Cold Harbor, Malvern Hill, Harrison's Landing, Bristow
Station, second Manassas, first and second Fredericksburg,
second Winchester, Gettysburg, Rappahannock Bridge, Mine
Run, Wilderness, Spottsylvania court-house, Hanover junction,
second Cold Harbor, Lynchburg, Monocacy, Washington city,
last Winchester, and was in many other engagements. He was
wounded in the neck near Groveton, at second Manassas ; and was
wounded severely in the hip and promoted captain at Gettysburg.
He was wounded in the chest and came near dying at the battle
of Winchester, Virginia, where he was captured. He escaped

166 RICHARD J0HXS0X HAXCOCK

from the Federal hospital at Winchester, and rejoined the Con-
federate army at New Market. He was again captured by the
enemy near Charlottesville, where he had been detailed as a mem-
ber of an army examining board ; but again escaped.

In June, 1865, Captain Hancock settled on his farm of
" Ellerslie ' in Albemarle county, where he has since engaged
successfully in the business of farming and stock-raising.
Among his horses have been many that have been conspicuous
upon the race-tracks, among them the celebrated Eolus, Eole,
Morello, etc.

On November 22, 1864, Captain Hancock married Thomasia
Overton Harris, daughter of John O. Harris, of " Ellerslie,"
Albemarle county, Virginia, where she was born. Of their
union have been born nine children, all of whom are living in
1907.

Captain Hancock is a member of the Presbyterian church :
in politics, he is a Democrat. His biography has been published
in "The Southern Planter and Farmer," (January, 1878) : and
incidents of his career are narrated in Vol. VI of the " Southern
Historical Papers" in an article by General Dabney H. Maury,

Captain Hancock's address is Charlottesville, Virginia.

JOHN NEWTON HARMAN

HARMAN, JOHN NEWTON, minister of the Gospel and
lawyer, was born in Bland county, Virginia, June 10,
1854. His parents were Robert Wilson Harman and
Cynthia J. Harman. His father was a farmer of Bland county,
whose marked and distinguished characteristics were honesty
and benevolence.

Mr. Harman is of German extraction, his emigrant ancestor
having come to America at an early date. His great-grand-
father, George Harman, and the latter's father, Henry Harman,
were of that hardy race of pioneers who opened up the wilder-
ness, and were of the advance guard of civilization in the then
new country of western and southwestern Virginia, Kentucky,
and Tennessee. They were both of local note as Indian fighters ;
and it is recorded of them in history that the two, father and
son, had a desperate battle with seven Indians on Tug river, in
what is now McDowell county, West Virginia, in 1784.

Mr. Harman's physique in childhood was somewhat frail;
but even as a boy he possessed a strong ambition and cherished
an early purpose to make a man of himself in the face of the
difficulties which confronted him. His fathers death devolved
upon him at the early age of fourteen the care and support of his
mother and four sisters; and in order to provide for them he
worked with his hands as a day-laborer for ten years, — from the
age of fourteen to twenty-four ; an experience which did much to
develop in him the energy, industry, determination and force
which have since characterized his career.

With strong longings for a literary life, and an ambition to
study and learn, he found himself faced not only with the neces-
sity of manual work to support those who were dependent upon
him, but with the inability to go to school for lack of time, and
the difficulty of obtaining books for lack of means. But these
adverse circumstances did not daunt him. He went, as he found
the opportunity, to the local free schools; and studied as he
could the Bible and such other books, chiefly religious, as he

168 JOHN NEWTON HARM AN

managed to get hold of. He became a minister of the church of
the Disciples of Christ, or Christian church, and began to preach
the Gospel at the age of twenty-one. He served as the state
evangelist of his church in Virginia in 1898-99; and he has
served as pastor at Tazewell, Virginia, Bluefield, West Virginia,
and Graham, Virginia ; also in several country pastorates.

Mr. Harman counts his beginning of the active work of life
from the time when he commenced to work as a dav laborer on a
farm in Bland county, at eleven years of age, for five dollars per
month and board. It goes without saying that it was dissatisfac-
tion with his condition of poverty, and his desire to help himself
and others to higher and better things, that were the potent
impulses and incentives which moved him to the accomplishment
of those achievements in life which he has made.

As a practitioner of the law, with no opportunity save his
own effort, he has held bv the votes of his fellow-citizens the
office of Commonwealth's attorney for Tazewell county, having
been elected in 1883, and again in 1887. He was honored with
an election in 1901 to the state senate in the general assembly of
Virginia, where he served as a member of the important com-
mittee on courts of justice, which, in the session succeeding the
adjournment of the Virginia Constitutional convention of 1901-
1902, had charge of the task of conforming the then existing
statute law of the state to the provisions of the new constitution.
He was the patron, in the general assembly of Virginia, of the
bill to establish private sanitariums in the state, to which persons
addicted to inebriety or the drug habit might be committed under
provision of law : and he was the author and patron of the only
prohibition statute ever enacted by the general assembly of the
state, whereby both the manufacture and sale of intoxicating
liquors were prohibited in the counties of Giles, Tazewell, Buch-
anan and Dickinson.

Mr. Harman is a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and belongs to Tazewell Lodge No. 62, A. F. and A. M.
He is also a member of O'Keeffe chapter, No. 26, and Clinch
Valley commandery, No. 20, Knights Templar. He has the dis-
tinction of having held the position of chaplain in each of the
Masonic bodies mentioned. He is a Republican in politics, hav-

JOHN" NEWTON HARMAN 169

ing left the Democratic party in 1884 on the issue of the tariff,
inasmuch as he entertained protectionist views on that question;
and it was as a Republican that he was elected to the state senate
of Virginia. He was nominated by the Republican state con-
vention, at Roanoke, August 8, 1905, for superintendent of public
instruction of Virginia, and made an active campaign. Like
the remainder of the ticket he was defeated, but he carried his
own (the ninth) district by two thousand four hundred majority;
and led his ticket bv four hundred and twentv-five votes.

Mr. Harman married, September 10, 1878, Miss Bettie
Hankins. They have had ten children, of whom seven survive
(1908).

His address is Tazewell, Tazewell County. Virginia.

PURNELL FREDERICK HARRINGTON

HAEEINGTON, PUENELL FEEDEEICK, rear-ad-
miral United States navy, was born at Dover, Kent
county, Delaware, June 6, 1844. His parents were
Samuel Maxwell Harrington and Mary Lofland. His father
was a distinguished lawyer of Delaware, and filled the highest
judicial offices of his state for a period of forty years, having
been both chief -justice and chancellor of Delaware. He was also
for a time president of the Delaware railroad.

Admiral Harrington's boyhood was spent in a country vil-
lage; and, under the influence and association of his father, his
tastes and inclinations lay in the direction of the legal profes-
sion. As a lad, he attended the public and private schools of his
neighborhood, and was then sent by his parents to the United
States Naval academy, which he entered as a midshipman Sep-
tember 20, 1861. He was graduated from the Naval academy
in 1863 ; and in October of that year was promoted ensign in the
naval service. From 1864 to 1868, he was attached to the United
States sloop-of-war Monongahela, and served with distinction
in the famous naval battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864, under
Admiral Farragut, in the War between the States. He partici-
pated in the Federal blockade of Galveston and the coast of
Texas during the war; and, after its close, was attached to the
Monongahela, then with the North Atlantic squadron, during the
epidemic of yellow fever on board ship, and at the time of the
tidal wave of November 18, 1867, at Santa Cruz, in the Danish
West Indies.

His promotion to the post of master on May 10, 1866, was
followed by his further promotion on February 21, 1867, to the
office of lieutenant. Thenceforward his advancement in the
navy was steady, and he has occupied many offices and positions
of honor and responsibility. He was made lieutenant-com-
mander March 12, 1868, and served as instructor of mathematics
in the Naval academy from 1868 to 1870. From 1871 to 1873,
he was the executive officer of the flag ship Pensacola in the

PURNELL FREDERICK HARRINGTON 171

South Pacific; and from 1874 to 1876 he was again in the faculty
of the Naval academy as instructor of navigation. He held the
post of executive officer of the flag ship Hartford at the Brazil
station from 1877 to 1880. He was promoted commander May
28, 1881, and was head of the department of navigation at the
Naval academy from 1881 to 1883. From 1883 to 1886, he was
in command of the Juniata on the Asiatic station, and from
1887 to 1889 served as head of the department of seamanship,
and commandant of cadets at the Naval academy. He was in-
spector of the fourth light-house district from 1890 to 1893, and
commanded the Yorktown in the South Pacific in 1893. He was
president of the steel board of the Navy department in 1894 and
1895 ; and was promoted captain in the navy March 1, 1895. He
commanded the Terror and the Puritan during the years from
1896 to 1898, and participated in the war with Spain in the last
named year, taking part in the blockade of the coast of Cuba;
and was in action in the attack on the Mantanzas forts in 1898.
In 1899 he was made captain of the Portsmouth Navy yard,
where he remained until 1902 ; and became in 1903 captain of the
New York Navy yard. On March 21, 1903, he was promoted to
his present rank of rear-admiral and is now commandant of the
Norfolk Navy yard, at Norfolk, Virginia.

Admiral Harrington has been a diligent student of the
branches of knowledge pertaining to his profession, and has
become highly proficient in them. He is distinguished no less
by his studies than by the practical experiences gained through
so wide and varied a career. In 1882, he wrote a text book on
navigation for use in the United States Naval academy; and
among his speeches and addresses is a very instructive one de-
livered by him at Norfolk, Virginia, in December, 1903, before
the Naval Christian association, on the present conditions of the
Naval service as compared with those of the ante bellum period.

Admiral Harrington is a member of the Protestant Episco-
pal church. Like many of his fellow officers both of the United
States navy and army, he is identified with none of the political
parties of the day. He holds membership in the United States
Naval Academy Graduates association.

On August 5, 1868, Admiral Harrington married Maria

172 PURNELL FREDERICK HARRINGTON

Nelthrop Kuan, daughter of the late Doctor John Euan, of the
Island of Santa Cruz, West Indies; and of their marriage have
been born four children, three of whom are now living.
Biographies of him have appeared in the " History of Dela-
ware," from the press of Henry C. Conrad, Wilmington, Dela-
ware ; in " Who's Who in America," and in other publications.

Admiral Harrington's address is the Navy Yard, Norfolk,
Virginia.

CHARLES ABRAM HEERMANS

HEERMANS, CHARLES ABEAM, soldier, lawyer, and
editor, was born at Scranton, Luzerne county, Penn-
sylvania, March 10, 1843. His parents were Sylvanus
and Martha (Thorp) Heermans. His father was a versatile
man who followed the occupations of farmer^ mechanic, and
merchant; who edited a country weekly newspaper; and who was
of sufficient prominence to be sent as a delegate from Virginia,
in 1852, to the Whig national convention which nominated Gen-
eral Winfield Scott for president. His mother was a woman of
excellent qualities of mind and heart, whose influence upon her
son was so strong and beneficent as to lead him to say that to her
" I owe all I am in life." The earliest known ancestors of the
family to locate in this country came from Holland and were
among the earliest of the Dutch settlers in Pennsylvania and
New York.

When Charles Heermans was four years of age the family
removed from Pennsylvania to Preston county, now West Vir-
ginia, and in 1855 went to Richmond, Virginia. The boy was
strong and healthy. He was taught that work was honorable
and he states that from his earliest recollection until he was
twelve years of age he worked on a farm. He learned to read
and while he was extremely fond of newspapers, the Bible was
his principal text book. Somewhat later in life he became
deeply interested in historical works. As his school attendance,
all told, did not exceed six months, it is evident that he had
great difficulties in acquiring an education.

The active work of life was commenced, when he was only
twelve years of age, as a newsboy on trains running out of Rich-
mond and it is said that he was the first railroad newsboy in the
state. On the opening of the Civil war he enlisted in the Con-
federate States army and he served therein until peace was re-
stored. He was in numerous engagements, was captured at
Hatchers Run, and for five months was held a prisoner at Point
Lookout. After the war closed he spent two years as a farm

174 CHARLES ABRAM HEERMANS

laborer. Then he became a shoemaker and while working at this
trade, and after he was married, he studied law under the direc-
tion of Walker and Baskerville, at Newbern, Virginia, and he
was admitted to the bar in 1877. From his boyhood he had
hoped to become an editor. This ambition was gratified when,
in 1872, without a dollar in the world, he established the " Vir-
ginia People," in Snowville, Pulaski county, which at once took
rank with the best weeklies in the state. Later he founded the
" Scott Banner," and in 1881 he revived the "Blacksburg News,"
changed its name to the " Southwest Republican " and made it
one of the most influential party organs in the state. After a
few years he sold this paper and retired for a time from the
newspaper field. During the presidential campaign of 1904 he
took the place of the editor of the "Virginia Daily News," who
was ill at the time, and performed the duties of the position
with great efficiency.

Since 1881 most of the time of Mr. Heermans has been given
to the practice of his profession, in which he has had a large
measure of success. He has, however, rendered various public
services of great value. From 1882 to 1885 he was treasurer of
the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical college, of Blacksburg,
now the Virginia Polytechnic institute. From 1886 to 1890 he
was state attorney of Montgomery county and in 1893 he held the
same position for six months, by appointment to fill out an un-
expired term. He has served as justice of the peace, as township
assessor, and in 1901 and again in 1903 he was elected a member
of the Virginia house of delegates. He was the Republican
candidate for state senator in 1894, for representative in congress
in 1898, and for speaker of the house of delegates in 1903. He
was also alternate commissioner to the World's Fair in Chicago.
Mr. Heermans is a member of the Knights of Pythias. In
politics he changed from the Conservative to the Republican
party on the tariff issue and " on broader lines than race or sec-
tion." His religious connection is with the Protestant Episcopal
church. To young people who desire to attain true success in
life he makes the following suggestions: "Aim high, and don't
be disappointed if you fail. Load and fire again. Love your
fellowman."

CHARLES ABRAM HEERMANS 175

Mr. Heermans was married, first, on February 14, 1868, to
Corley M. Haney, and second, on March 10, 1879, to Corinthia
A. Roberts. In 1908 two of the three children by the first mar-
riage and all of the five children by the second marriage were
living. The address of Mr. Heermans is Lynchburg, Virginia.

Vo\. 4— Va.-9

ROBERT RANDOLPH HENRY

HENRY, ROBEKT RANDOLPH, soldier and lawyer,
was born at Chester, Chester county, South Carolina,
April 26, 1845. His parents were William Dickson
Henry and Julia Hall. The former was a planter and cotton
merchant of Chester, and the latter was a native of Fredericks-
burg, Virginia.

Major Henry's great great-grandfather, James Henry, came
with a young family to America, from County Tyrone, Ireland,
in the year 1725, and settled near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
His wife was a Miss Swan. Most of the family were soon after-
wards murdered by the Indians. James Henry's son, William,
after spending several years in the Cumberland Valley, married
Margaret Cowan, and went to York district, South Carolina,
and settled near the foot of King's Mountain, where he obtained
an extensive grant of land. He there reared a large family.
He was a staunch Whig, and with four of his sons participated in
the battle of King's Mountain in the War of the American Revo-
lution. They were also at the battle of Ninety-Six, and at Huck's
defeat at Brattonsville, York county, South Carolina. Two of
his sons followed two of Colonel Ferguson's Tory messengers,
who were bearing dispatches to General Cornwallis, requesting
reinforcements, and pursued them with such relentless heat that
the messengers were compelled to conceal themselves by day and
to travel by night by a roundabout course, so that the message
did not reach Cornwallis until the morning of the battle, when
it was too late to send reinforcements and prevent the disaster.
This incident is related in Dr. Lyman Draper's " King's Moun-
tain and its Heroes."

A younger son of William Henry was Francis Henry, who
was the grandfather of Major Robert R. Henry. His wife was
Margaret Dickson, a daughter of Rev. William Dickson, who
was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was one of the earliest
and most influential Presbyterian ministers in upper South
Carolina. Mr. Dickson built " Dickson's Meeting House," the

ROBERT RANDOLPH HENRY 177

first church erected in York county, about the year 1750. This
church is now known as " Bethel."

Major Henry's maternal ancestor, Richard Hall, was born in
Warwickshire, England in 1634, and came to Maryland in 1647.
He acquired a large grant of land in Cecil county, and in 1670 he
built Mount Welcome, which has been the family home for gene-
rations. Major Henry's maternal great-grandfather, Dr. Elisha
Hall, who was a graduate of Dr. Benjamin Rush's school of
medicine in Philadelphia, and a first cousin of Dr. Rush on his
mother's side, married Carolianna Carter, daughter of Charles
Carter, of " Cleve," on the Rappahannock river, a son of Robert
(" King ") Carter and his second wife, Elizabeth Landon. The
wife of Charles Carter, of " Cleve," was Anne Byrd, daughter
of William Byrd, of Westover; and through this descent Major
Henry is related to many of the most distinguished of the old
colonial families of Virginia.

Major Henry's early life was spent in Chester, South Caro-
lina, until the death of his father in 1856. He then came with
his mother to Virginia, spending the remainder of his boyhood
in Fredericksburg and Petersburg. Just before the breaking out
of the War between the States, he entered Bloomfieid academy, a
famous school of that day in Albemarle county, Virginia, under
the management of Messrs. Brown and Tebbs. From Bloomfieid
he enlisted in the Confederate army at the age of sixteen years,
and served throughout the period of the war. He was first a
member of Company E, 12th Virginia infantry, and during the
last two years of the war was on staff duty — first with General
R. H. Anderson, and then with General William Mahone. Major
Henry was three times wounded in battle, and had five horses
killed under him in action.

After the war, he began the active work of life by teaching
a school in Rappahannock county, Virginia, in the fall of 1865.
Afterwards he studied law privately, and, obtaining a license to
practice, settled at Wise court-house, in Southwest Virginia, in
1872. Here he remained for three years, during which he filled
the position of commonwealth's attorney for the county. He
then moved to Tazewell, Virginia, where he has since resided and
practiced his profession. Since July 1, 1881, he has been asso-

178 ROBERT RANDOLPH HENRY

ciated with Judge S. C. Graham, with whom for several years,
beginning as early as August, 1873, he had been a partner in
other courts. The firm name is Henry and Graham, and it is
believed to be the oldest law firm now practicing in Virginia.

He is a Democrat, who has never changed his politics; and
was an elector on the Hancock and English ticket from the ninth
congressional district of Virginia in 1880. In 1886 he received
the Democratic nomination for congress from the ninth district,
but was defeated by the Republican nominee, Hon. Henry Bowen.

Major Henry is an Episcopalian. He is a member of the
Masonic fraternity; and holds membership in the Westmoreland
club, of Eichmond, Virginia, the Piedmont club, of Lynchburg,
Virginia, and the Southern club, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On December 19, 1869, Major Henry married Lucy Strother
Ashby, of Culpeper, Virginia; and of their marriage have been
born seven children, all of whom are living (1908).

Major Henry's address is Tazewell, Virginia.

DRURY ANDREW HINTON

HINTON, DEUEY ANDEEW, soldier, lawyer, and
judge, was born at Petersburg, Virginia, in the county
of Dinwiddie, and his parents were Erasmus Gill
Hinton and Jane Griffin Stith. His ancestry on both his pater-
nal and maternal sides, were English emigrants, who settled at
a very early date in Virginia. His earliest known paternal
ancestor was Abraham Wood, who at the age of six years sailed
with Captain Anthony Chester to Virginia, in 1621, in the
Margaret and John. This ship had a fight in the West Indies
with two Spanish men-of-war, which is accounted among the
most gallant exploits of the English people. The English ship
was one hundred and sixty tons burden and carried eight guns,
and in handling them the gunners were much embarrassed by the
emigrants and household goods, with which the ship was ladened.
The Spanish vessels were each three hundred tons burden and
carried in all thirty-eight big guns. And yet so gallantly did
the English conduct themselves that they drove off the Spaniards
and inflicted heavy damage upon them. During the fight the
passengers and sailors fought side by side, and Dr. Lawrence
Bohun, the physician-general of the colony, received a mortal
wound. Captain Chester embraced him and exclaimed : " Oh,
Dr. Bohun, what a disaster is this." The noble doctor replied:
" Fight it out, brave man, the cause is good, and the Lord re-
ceive my soul."

Little Abraham Wood reached Jamestown in safety, and in
March, 1625, we find him in the employment of Captain Samuel
Matthews at that place. The next we hear of him is when he
was sent as delegate from Henrico county, in 1644, to the gene-
ral assembly. In March, 1646, a fort was established in Charles
City county on the present site of Petersburg, which was called
Fort Henry; and to avoid the expense of maintaining it the
general assembly ceded it, in October, with six hundred acres of
land, to Captain Abraham Wood, who commanded at the place.
By subsequent grants Captain Wood's interest at the Falls of
Appomattox was increased to two thousand and seventy-three

180 DRURY ANDREW HINTON

acres. After this he represented Charles City county (which
then embraced Prince George county as well as the present
Charles City county) in the general assembly from 1652 to 1654.
In 1656 he was called to the governor's council, and in the same
year was made one of the revisers of the laws, and county lieu-
tenant of Charles City and Henrico counties; and subsequently
became one of the four major-generals of the colony. In July,
1652, he was authorized to undertake discoveries to the west-
ward and southward of the settlements, and he sent out several
companies between 1653 and 1672, who discovered several of the
tributaries of the Ohio and were thus the first white men to visit
Kentucky and Tennessee.

General Wood died in 1676, and his position at the Falls
was taken by his son-in-law, Captain Peter Jones. This Peter
Jones was doubtless son of the Peter Jones, who was living at
Flower dew Hundred, then called Peirsey's Hundred, in 1625,
aged twenty-three, and who visited England, but returned in
1635. He had at least two sons Peter and Abraham, the latter
of whom was a shrewd and successful business man, who opened
a trading station at the Falls of the Appomattox, which was first
called Peter's Point and subsequently changed in 1733, to Peters-
burg when William Bvrd and his " old friend and fellow-
traveler Peter Jones," the third of the name and then proprietor
of the site, were on their journey to Byrd's plantation in Caro-
lina called " the land of Eden."

Major Peter Jones had by Mary, his wife, six sons, namely:
Abraham Jones, Peter Jones, William Jones, Thomas Jones,
John Jones, and Wood Jones ; and four daughters : Mary, wife
of her cousin, Peter Jones, Jr., (the son of Abraham Jones), Ann
Jones, Margaret Jones and Martha Jones.

Of these, Peter Jones, the second son, was the founder of
Petersburg, but by 1748 Abraham Jones acquired much of the
land at the Falls willed to Peter Jones by his father, and in that
year Petersburg was officially established by act of assembly.

Abraham Jones married Sarah Ravenscroft, and of the two
children of this marriage Lucy and Peter, the former married
Benjamin Newsum, and had among other issue: Sarah Newsum,
who married Major Erasmus Gill, an officer of the American
Revolution. The daughter, Martha Newsum Gill, married Captain

DRURY ANDREW HINTON 181

John Hinton, of Hinton Hill in Lunenburg county, Virginia,
and who was the mayor of the city of Petersburg in 1816 and
1820, and was father of Erasmus Gill Hinton, father of the sub-
ject of this sketch.

On his mother's side, Judge Hinton is descended from Major
John Stith, who was a strong supporter of Sir William Berkeley,
in 1676, against Bacon, was a practicing lawyer and burgess for
Charles City county. He had a son Drury, who was sheriff of
Charles City county and first clerk and lieutenant-colonel of
Brunswick county. He married Susanna, daughter of Lancelot
Bathurst, and had among other issue: Drury Stith, who mar-
ried Elizabeth Buckner, and had among other children Drury,
third of the name, who was ninth clerk of Brunswick holding
office from 1781 to 1789, and among other children had issue:
Drury, who married Mary Ann McConnico, daughter of Chris-
topher McConnico, second mayor and first recorder of Peters-
burg and Ann Bacon, his wife. Their issue was Jane Griffin,
mother of the subject of this sketch.

Drury A. Hinton was born with an excellent physical con-
stitution, had the healthy tastes of childhood and loved outdoor
sport of all kinds. He attended Hanover academy for two
years under that excellent teacher, Lewis Minor Coleman. Du-
ring these two years Judge Hinton was an intense student, sleep-
ing less than five hours each night. Stimulated by the examples
of his great-uncle, Judge Griffin Stith, who was regarded as a
legal prodigy, and of his uncle, Judge John Hinton, of Mis-
souri, as well as to gratify the wishes of his father and mother,
he matriculated in October, 1859, at the University of Virginia,
but his health was so undermined by hard study and an attack
of typhoid fever that he was only able to remain parts of two
sessions. The third vear he undertook the law course, but the
class was broken up in the middle of the session by Professor
Holcombe being sent to Richmond as a delegate to the secession
convention. Mr. Hinton hastened home and assisted in organiz-
ing Company G, 41st regiment of Virginia infantry, of which he
was elected first lieutenant. This company with three others
was stationed at Sewell's Point in 1861, when Lieutenant Hinton
who was detailed as adjutant of that post (which was in range of
the enemies' shells) witnessed the whole fight between the Merri-

182 DRURY ANDREW HINTON

mac or Virginia and the Monitor, and shots were actually fired
from that post at the St. Lawrence. Subsequently he was made
adjutant of the 44th Virginia battalion, and was in all the fights
in which it took part. He served as volunteer aide to Colonel
(afterwards General) D. A. Weisiger commanding General
Mahone's brigade in the battle of June 22 and 23, and also the
battle of the Crater, when he was commissioned as aide-de-camp
to General Weisiger, and subsequently served with that brigade
until its surrender at Appomattox.

After the war, Captain Hinton continued his reading and
study of the law in the office of Judge William T. Joynes, and
in twelve months had acquired enough learning to be permitted
to qualify at the bar. He soon became a leading lawyer, and in
1874 was elected commonwealth's attorney of Petersburg, which
office he held till 1882. For a number of }^ears he held the posi-
tion of attorney for the city, and the duties of both offices he dis-
charged conscientiously and with great ability, with credit to
himself and satisfaction to the public. In 1882 he was elected
to the supreme court of appeals of Virginia, and remained a
judge for one term of twelve years. During his incumbency he
wras regarded as one of the ablest of the five judges of the court.
In 1894, he retired from the bench and resumed the practice of
the law in Petersburg, where he has ever since resided in the en-
joyment of the confidence and regard of his fellow-citizens.

Judge Hinton was at one time Master of Blandford Lodge
of Masons, but for some years has ceased to keep up his affilia-
tion with the order. He has alwavs voted the Democratic ticket,
and he is a member of the Episcopal church.

His favorite form of exercise, when a young man, was horse-
back riding. The books he has found most useful in life have
been works on history, mathematics, philosophy and law. From
his own experience and observation he gives this advice to young
men anxious to attain true success in life : " Be honest, first of
all; be truthful and just, cultivate self-introspection, be prompt
to correct your own faults ; have fixedness of purpose, and never
put off until to-morrow what you are satisfied it is your duty to
do to-day."

On December 22, 1870, Judge Hinton married Fannie
Howard Collier. Of their five children four are now living.

His address is Petersburg, Virginia.

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ALEXANDER RALEIGH HOBBS

HOBBS, ALEXANDER EALEIGH, of Disputanta.
Prince George county, Virginia, farmer, for twenty
years a member of the board of supervisors of his
county, from 1897 to 1898 a member of the house of delegates, of
Virginia, elected state senator in 1901, reelected in 1903, and at
the date of this sketch, in 1907, again a candidate for reelection to
the senate, and without apparent opposition; — was born in
Prince George county, on the 5th of April, 1852. His father,
Raleigh TV Hobbs, was a farmer, a soldier in the Confederate
States army, who had the esteem and respect of his fellow citi-
zens. His mother was Mrs. Caroline Virginia (Robinson)
Hobbs. daughter of Creath Robinson, of Greenesville county.
Virginia. The earliest known ancestor of the family was Wil-
liam Hobbs, who came from England and settled in Virginia,
about 1775.

His early life was passed on a farm in the country. The
circumstances of his family were such that he was not trained to
work with his hands in his boyhood. He attended the schools

%j

that were within reach of his earlv home: but the outbreak of
the Civil war when he was but nine years old, and the breaking
up of the usual order of life which attended and followed the
years of the war, interfered with his regular attendance at
school. He took a course of study at the Virginia Agricultural
and Mechanical college, at Blacksbn.rg, Virginia. While a stud-
ent, and in all his later life, his favorite lines of reading have
been in biography and history : and in the study of the political
questions of the day, he has found the best intellectual discipline
of his life.

He began the active work of life as a farmer in Prince George
county, on the old homestead. He is one of those Virginians,
who, though interested in public affairs, are quite content to de-
scribe themselves as farmers. The last time the late Honorable
Sydney P. Epes ran for congress the friends of Mr. Hobbs urged
him to become a candidate for the nomination. A few days be-

186 ALEXANDER RALEIGH HOBBS

fore the assembling of the convention he consented to the presen-
tation of his name, and, though he was defeated by Mr. Epes, his
choice by the citizens of his county to represent them in the state
legislature, and the work which he has done as a representative,
in the house of delegates for two years, and as a state senator for
three consecutive terms, since 1902, is evidence that his fondness
for the study of politics and history has given him an interest
in public matters and a breadth of view such as to lead his fellow
citizens to desire his services, term after term, in the state legis-
lature.

Mr. Hobbs has served for four years as captain of the Prince
George troop of cavalry. He is a member of the Masonic order.
In his political relations he is allied with the Democratic party;
and he has always supported its nominees and its party platform.

He is identified with the Baptist church.

On the 16th of December, 1875, Mr. Hobbs married Miss
Emma Gertrude Rives, daughter of Dr. George E. Eives, of
Prince George county, Virginia. They have had nine children,
four of whom are living in 1907.

H

JAMES LEWIS HOWE

OWE, JAMES LEWIS, professor of chemistry at
Washington and Lee university, was born in Newbury -
port, Essex county, Massachusetts, August 4, 1859.
His father, Francis Augustine Howe, was a prominent physician
in Newburyport, a man devoted to his profession and of great
breadth of view and toleration. His mother, Mary Frances
Lewis, was the daughter of James Lewis, a prominent lawyer at
Pepperell, Massachusetts. Both branches of Dr. Howe's family
are of Puritan extraction. His ancestors, among whom are John
Lyford, who came to Plymouth in 1623 and who died in Virginia
in 1629, and the Rev. Peter Hobart, first minister of Hingham,
settled in Massachusetts prior to 1640; and several of them took
part in the Colonial and Revolutionary wars.

Though not of robust constitution, Dr. Howe took upon
himself the tasks of his father's home, such as the care of the
furnace, the garden, and the stable — an experience which he has
found of inestimable value in later life; and, his taste for natural
science having developed at an early age, and being anxious to
collect specimens in the country near his home, he became a
great walker. Dr. Howe was thus physically able to pursue his
long course of professional training without interruption.

His attainments at Amherst college, which he attended after
preparatory study in the schools of his own town, led to a post-
graduate course abroad; and, on his graduation as Bachelor of
Arts in 1880, he proceeded to the Universities of Gottingen and
Berlin, where he gave special attention to the subject of chemistry
under Wohler, Huebner, Liebermann, and Liebreich, and took
the dee^ees of A. M. and Ph. D. in 1882.

Though undecided for some time as to whether he should
pursue medicine or continue his study of chemistry, he finally
chose the profession of teaching, and on his return to America,
commenced a successful career as instructor at Brooks Military
academy, Cleveland, Ohio. In 1883, he became professor of
chemistry at Central university, Richmond, Kentucky, his work

188 JAMES LEWIS HOWE

branching into the faculties of medicine and dentistry at Louis-
ville, of which faculties he was also dean from 1887 until 1894.
During his affiliation with Central university, in 1885, he was
honored by the hospital College of Medicine, of Louisville, with
the degree of M. D. While living in Louisville, he was also
scientist and lecturer to the Polytechnic society of Kentucky.
Since 1894, he has been professor of chemistry at Washington
and Lee university, Lexington, Virginia.

Dr. Howe's profound interest in chemistry has kept him in
touch with the societies taking part in investigations in this
science. He became secretary of the chemical section of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, in 1892;
secretary of its council, in 1894; general secretary in 1895; and
vice-president of the chemical section in 1900. He is also a mem-
ber of the American Chemical society, Society of Chemical in-
dustry, the German Chemical society, the Chemical society of
London, the Washington Academy of sciences, and the Deutsche
chemische Gesellschaft of Berlin. In his active professional
career, he has found time to deliver popular lectures and con-
tribute technical papers to the organs of the various societies;
and he has compiled a " Bibliography of the Metals of the Plati-
num Group" (1897). In collaboration with Francis Preston
Venable, author of " Inorganic Chemistry' (1907), he prepared
a text book on " Inorganic Chemistry according to the Periodic
Law " (1898) ; and has also translated R. Blochmann's " Prepara-
tion Work in Inorganic Chemistry" (1902). His greatest
scientific interest is in ruthenium, and he is constanly occupied in
the investigation of that element, and other chemical subjects.

In political preference, Dr. Howe is a Democrat. He is a
member of the Southern Presb^rterian church, in which he has
held the offices of deacon and elder, and which he has represented
at the Macon assembly. He is also a trustee of the United
Society of Christian Endeavor, since 1890.

His taste for the sciences and his desire for physical recrea-
tion unite to give him great pleasure in the present care of his
garden.

Dr. Howe attributes much of his success to the inspiration
gained from his professors at college, among them Elihu Root,

JAMES LEWIS HOWE 189

professor of physics. He holds firmly to the principle of truth
for truth's sake, and believes that success lies in learning to do
something that few others can do, becoming absolutely proficient
in one's own work, and in the meantime learning something of
the work of the man next above one.

December 27, 1883, Dr. Howe married Henrietta Leaven-
worth Marvine, of Scranton, Pennsylvania. They have had
three children, all of whom are now living.

His address is Lexington, Virginia.

WILLIAM EFFIAH HUBBERT

HUBBERT, WILLIAM EFFIAH, Lutheran minister,
educator and banker, was born at Peter's Creek, on the
Lynchburg turnpike, two miles from Salem, in
Roanoke county, Virginia, on October 23, 1844. His father was
Samuel Hubbert, a farmer; and his mother was Mary Andes, a
daughter of George Andes, of Shenandoah county, Virginia.

Mr. Hubbert's ancestry is German. He grew up in the
country, and much of his early life was spent in work on his
father's farm. When a youth his special interests and inclina-
tions lay in the direction of reading and study; and historical
subjects most attracted his attention. He acquired his primary
education at a country school, known as McCauley's school; and
later entered Roanoke college, at Salem, Virginia, from which
he was graduated in 1867 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
In 1872, he received in course the degree of Master of Arts from
Roanoke college, which was conferred on him for literary work
done elsewhere. After graduating at Roanoke college, he en-
tered the Lutheran Theological seminary in Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1871. The year
of his graduation at the seminary he was called to the chair of
ancient languages in North Carolina college, at Mt. Pleasant,
Cabarrus county, North Carolina. He remained here in this
capacity for five and a half years ; when he became pastor of the
Lutheran church at Blacksburg, Virginia, which position he
filled for twelve years. In 1892 he was made cashier of the
Bank of Blacksburg, which post he continues to occupy.

Mr. Hubbert saw long and active service in defence of the
South in the War between the States. He entered the army of
the Confederate States as a member of the Salem artillery, Com-
pany A, 1st regiment, Virginia artillery, in February, 1861, and
served to the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox on April
9, 1865. He was a non-commissioned officer during the period of
his military service.

Mr. Hubbert was the corresponding secretary of the North

WILLIAM EFFIAH HUBBERT 193

Carolina Evangelical Lutheran Synod for three years; and has
been the recording secretary of the Southwest Virginia Evan-
gelical Lutheran Synod. He has also served as a member of the
council of the town of Blacksburg, having received in the elec-
tion in which he was chosen to this office every vote that was cast
except two. He resigned from the council, owing to a pressure
of other business.

Mr. Hubbert was the editor of " Our Church Paper," a
Lutheran weekly newspaper, from its beginning in 1872 to its
combination in 1874 with another paper, from which a third
paper, " The Lutheran Church Visitor ' was formed. He has
been a frequent contributor to the magazines, reviews and daily
newspapers.

tHis biography has been published in Jenson's " Biography of
utheran Ministers."
Mr. Hubbert has been twice married. His first wife, who
lived only six months after her marriage, was Martha, daughter
of Colonel William and Mrs. Catherine Pettit. On April 20,
1873, he married Harriet Virginia Ribble, daughter of Dr. Henry
Kibble, a distinguished physician of Montgomery county; of
their marriage have been born six children, three of whom are
still (1908) living.

His address is Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia.

FLOYD HUGHES

HUGHES, FLOYD, attorney-at-law, was born at Abing-
don, Virginia, August 19, 1861, and his parents were
Robert W. Hughes and Eliza M. Johnston. The
Hughes family settled at an early date in Henrico county, which
in the course of time was subdivided into the present counties of
Henrico, Chesterfield, Goochland, Cumberland and Powhatan.
Seven members of the family were in one company during the
Revolutionary war. Robert W. Hughes, the father of the subject
of this sketch, was a very brilliant and talented man. He was
one of the editors of the " Richmond Enquirer," and exercised
much influence in the events just preceding the War between the
States. After the war he was United States district attorney and
finally United States district judge, serving in that capacity from
1874 to 1898.

His physical condition in youth was excellent and he was
fond of horses, hunting, and athletics. His early life up to ten
years was passed in the country, but he had no manual tasks and
did not experience any difficulties in acquiring an education.
He attended the excellent academies of Blackburn and Taylor, at
Alexandria, and of Doctor W. W. Gait, at Norfolk. In 1875
he attended William and Mary college and remained two years.
Afterwards he went to the University of Virginia, where he
remained from 1877 to 1883, graduating in four academic schools,
and taking a full course in law.

After leaving the university in 1883, he settled in Norfolk,
Virginia, for the practice of his profession. In 1884 he formed
a partnership with Judge F. M. Whitehurst, under the name of
Whitehurst and Hughes, which partnership continued until
1906. On February 10, 1907, he was appointed by the president
collector of customs for the district of Norfolk and Portsmouth
and, in connection with his law practice, he is still discharging
the duties of that office.

While a student at William and Mary college, he was a
member of the Phoenix Literary society, and while at the univer-

_~ ■_■

FLOYD HUGHES 197

sity he was a member of the Jefferson Literary society. Since that
time he has become a member of the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar
association, the Maritime Law association of the United States,
the Virginia State Bar association, and of various clubs — the Vir-
ginia club at Norfolk; the Norfolk Country club; the Richmond
club, at Ocean View, and the Atlantic club at Virginia Beach. He
has been president of the Norfolk German club for several years.

While at college he was very fond of athletics and gave much
attention to rowing.

In politics he is a republican; he has never held office, but
has always taken an earnest part in politics, having been his party
nominee for commonwealth's attorney of Norfolk, and for con-
gress for 2nd district of Virginia.

On April 8, 1885, he married Annie M. Ricks. She died in
1890. leaving one child, Floyd Hughes, Jr., who died in Decem-
ber, 1907. On April 15, 1893, Mr. Hughes married Virginia A.
Brock, and they have two children, Charles Brock Hughes and
Virginia Floyd Hughes.

His address is Norfolk, Virginia.

Vol. 4— Va.-lO

ROBERT MORTON HUGHES

HUGHES, EOBEET MORTON, was born in the town of
Abingdon, county of Washington, Virginia, September
10, 1855, and his parents were Robert William Hughes
and Eliza Mary (Johnston) Hughes. On his father's side Mr.
Hughes is descended from Jesse Hughes, who escaped from
France at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes and settled in
Henrico county. Robert W. Hughes, father of the subject of this
sketch, was eminent as a political writer, lawyer and judge. In
the first mentioned character he was associated, before and
during the war, with John M. Daniel as editor of the " Richmond
Examiner," when the press of Virginia exerted such a potent
influence in the affairs of the Union. From 1869 to 1873 he was
United States district attorney, and from 1874 to 1898 United
States district judge. His marked characteristics were those of
a journalist — quickness of apprehension and fluency of expres-
sion; and even when on the bench he never lost his liking for
newspaper writing.

On his maternal side Mr. Hughes is descended from John
Preston, who came over from Ireland in 1735 and who was the
progenitor in Virginia of the illustrious Preston family; and
from Peter Johnston who came over from Scotland in 1727 and
was ancestor of the Johnston connection. This includes Mr.
Hughes' grandfather, Charles C. Johnston, distinguished for his
oratorical talents; and Mr. Hughes' great-uncle, General Joseph
E. Johnston, of Confederate fame. . An ancestress in the John-
ston line was Lucy Henry, a sister of Patrick Henry. Another
sister of Patrick Henry, Elizabeth, married General William
Campbell, of Kings Mountain fame.

The subject of this sketch passed his early life on a farm,
where he enjoyed good health and grew up under the devoted
care of his father and mother, whose influence was particularly
strong on his intellectual, moral and spiritual life. He had no
regular tasks on the farm, but was always ready to lend a help-
ing hand if the occasion required. When not so engaged, he

ROBERT MORTON HUGHES 199

loved to spend his time in hunting and riding horseback; and
thus he grew up a strong, healthy boy of the country. He
attended private schools near Abingdon until he was fifteen years
old, but in 1870 entered William and Mary college, where, after
remaining three }-ears, he received the degree of Bachelor of
Arts. In 1873, he became a student of the University of Vir-
ginia and after a stay of four years received in 1877 the degree
of Master of Arts. During the last year of his University career
he took the law course as well as the academic courses necessary
to complete his Master's degree ; and during the ensuing summer
continued the study of law under Professor John B. Minor, but
did not take the professional degree.

In the fall of 1877 he went to Norfolk and began the prac-
tice of the law, which he has since continued with marked
success. He has held various offices in business corporations and
still is director in a good many such concerns. Mr. Hughes is
especially conversant with admiralty law on which he has written
a treatise, and he is also a professor of that branch of legal
science in George Washington university. When Mr. Hughes
selected the study of law as his vocation in life, he followed the
natural bent of his genius, which is remarkably systematic and
analytical. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar associa-
tion and in 1895 was its president. He is also a member of the
Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar association, the Maritime Law
association and the American Bar association. Besides his other
book on the law, he has published (1904) a " Treatise on Federal
Jurisdiction and Procedure."

Next to his labors in the legal profession Mr. Hughes' work
in history deserves to be favorably mentioned. Historical read-
ing has served him as a relaxation from anxieties incidental to
attendance upon courts and juries. Even as a boy he was very-
fond of reading histories; and consequently, as the habit has
been kept up through life, Mr. Hughes' acquaintance with classic
history, and especially American history, is very extensive. In
1893, he published a very creditable biography of General Joseph
E. Johnston, which was much complimented and widely read.
In recognition of his literary merit Mr. Hughes was made a
member of the Phi Beta Kappa society of William and Mary

200 ROBERT MORTON HUGHES

college, of which he has served as president. He is also a
member of the Pi Kappa Alpha college fraternity, of Owens
Lodge, No. 164, of the order of Free Masons; of the Virginia
club and other social organizations in Norfolk, and of the West-
moreland club in Richmond. He has taken much interest in old
William and Mary college, and, after a long service as a member
of the board, has in recent years been honored with the presi-
dency. In politics Mr. Hughes is a Republican, and as such has
been a candidate for congress, but was not elected. He has
always voted the Republican ticket, except occasionally in muni-
cipal elections when candidates and issues did not suit him. In
religious matters his connection is with the Protestant Episcopal
church, of which he has been a member for many years.

To the question what suggestions he had to make for the
benefit of young Americans in regard to the attainment of sound
ideals and true success in life, Mr. Hughes renders a character-
istic reply : " In addition to those rules of right and wrong
which go without saying, in my judgment the great lesson for the
young to learn is system. The preservation of the results of
study made for one purpose and easy reference to them multiply
manifold the amount of the work that one man can do."

On February 19, 1877, he married Mattie L. Smith, of Wil-
liamsburg, Virginia, daughter of Sydney Smith, a lawyer of that
place. They have had two children, Robert M. Hughes, who is
now (1907) his father's law associate, and Sydney S. Hughes,

who is twenty-three years of age.

The address of Mr. Hughes is Norfolk, Virginia.

~

■

._--._ - ■■

FRANK HUME

HUME, FRANK, of " Warwick," Alexandria county, Vir-
ginia, a prominent business man of Washington city,
District of Columbia, but always retaining his home
and citizenship in his native state, was born at Culpeper, Vir-
ginia, on the 21st of July, 1843. He was the fourth son of
Charles and Virginia (Rawlins) Hume. His mother was a
granddaughter of William Hansbrough, who was one of the
early enlisted men from Virginia in the Revolutionary army,
and she was also a first cousin of General John A. Rawlins,
General Ulysses S. Grant's adjutant-general, who was after-
wards secretary7 of war.

Mr. Hume's family was descended from the Humes or
Homes of Wedderburn, Berwickshire, Scotland, one of the oldest
and most distinguished of the border families of that county,
famous for centuries in its wars, literature and political history,
and renowned in song and story. The first of his ancestors of
the family name in America was George Hume, born at Wedder-
burn Castle, Berwickshire, Scotland, in 1698, who was the second
son of George Hume, Laird of Wedderburn, and with his father
took part in the uprising of 1715 for the Stuarts. Father and
son were captured at the battle of Preston, but after trial and
condemnation were pardoned, through powerful family influence,
by the government. In 1721 George Hume emigrated to
America, settled in St. George's Parish, in Spottsylvania county,
Virginia, and followed the profession of surveyor — his bond is
still on record at Orange court-house. Later he was associated
with George Washington in many surveys.

While Mr. Frank Hume was a young boy his father removed
from Culpeper to Alexandria, Virginia, where he resided for two
years, afterwards moving to Washington city, and for fourteen
years, until the time of his death in 1863, he filled an important-
position in the second auditor's office of the treasury department.
As a boy young Hume attended the schools within his reach,
and after the family removed to Washington, completed his
preparation for college at the preparatory school under the prin-

204 FRANK HUME

cipalship of Mr. Z. Richards, a well known instructor. While
still a boy he had shown an especial fondness for reading, par-
ticularly history and books of travel; but above all, he always
had a deep love of nature in all its material examples and subtle
expressions. Birds and their songs and habits, trees and flowers,
and the simplest forms of life, appealed to him, and his knowl-
edge of them was profound.

In the latter part of July, 1861, being just eighteen years of
age, espousing the cause of the South in the great Civil war then
being waged, he felt himself imperatively called to the support
and defence of his native state, Virginia. Quietly leaving Wash-
ington, he crossed the Potomac at Pope's creek and made his way
to Manassas to enlist in the Confederate army there, but learn-
ing that four of his cousins were together in a Mississippi regi-
ment he decided to join them, and enlisted in the Volunteer
Southrons (the company which Jefferson Davis had commanded
in the Mexican war), Company A, 21st Mississippi regiment,
Barksdale's brigade, Longstreet's corps. He served with courage
and fidelity until the end of the war, — declining promotion. He
took part in the engagements of Seven Pines^Savage Station,
Maryland Heights, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Marye's
Heights, Gettysburg (where he was severely wounded in the
hip), Chester Gap, Chickamauga, Falling Waters, Bunker's Hill
and others. He was also by general orders detailed for scout
duty by General J. E. B. Stuart, and while on this duty his
chief was mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern. He then re-
ported in person to General Robert E. Lee. His elder brother,
Major Charles C. Hume, Confederate States army, had shortly
before been killed while engaged in similar service. After the
surrender at Appomattox he decided to accept General Grant's
advice to " go home and make a crop," and for two years he en-
gaged in farming in Orange county, Virginia. The offer of a
position in a wholesale grocery house, in 1867, led him to return
to Washington and begin active life in the mercantile business of
that city, with whose interests he was so closely and prominently
identified for the last forty years of his life.

In 1870 he entered into partnership in a large wholesale
establishment, but after several years, assumed the entire busi-
ness. Not only did he manage his own firm in a way that

FRANK HUME 205

brought him financial success, while his reputation for integrity,
uprightness and public spirit was confirmed from year to year,
but he also held many positions of trust in business corporations,
civil life, and philanthropic institutions of his own state, Vir-
ginia, as well as at the national capital. As a member of the
Washington board of trade, he was chairman of the committee
on railroads; was president of the Independent Steamboat and
Barge company; was a director of the Safe Deposit Savings and
Trust company of Alexandria, Virginia, was a director of the
Firemen's Insurance company of Washington, and for a while
was a director of the National Metropolitan Bank of Washing-
ton. He was also prominently connected with the work of
financing the development, and placing on the market, of the
famous Mergenthaler type-setting machine, which has so largely
revolutionized the business of printing offices of the country.
He was one of the originators of the plan for opening the pro-
posed Mt. Vernon Avenue thoroughfare — the "Appian Way"
between Washington and Mt. Vernon, and he was also the origi-
nator of the Memorial bridge idea. He was deeply interested in
Providence hospital, and was a member of its board for twenty
years. He was also one of the original incorporators of the
Episcopal Eye, Ear and Throat hospital of Washington.

Mr. Hume was a Democrat, and took a deep interest in the
welfare of his party, which he repeatedly represented as a dele-
gate to state and national conventions. In 1889, and again in
1899, he was elected, by flattering majorities, from Alexandria
city and county, to the Virginia legislature — in each case de-
clining a reelection at the expiration of his term. In public
affairs he discharged every duty, as he did those of his home life,
with constancy and absolute unselfishness. For a number of
successive years he was chairman of the board of supervisors of
Alexandria county ; and beneficial reforms in the business of the
county are distinctly due to his influence and administration.

In 1894, at the time when Coxey led his host of petitioners
in that long march from the West, which resulted in the invasion
of the national capital by this army, many hundreds of poverty
stricken men, without employment or definite plans, were
"stranded" in Washington. Those who recall that sad e

206 FRANK HUME

in our political history will remember that these helpless fol-
lowers of Coxey were left absolutely without means, either for
their support at Washington, or to enable them to return to
their homes. During the days while others were merely criticiz-
ing or sneering at these homeless and helpless hosts, Mr. Hume,
not only went on Coxey 's bond for good behavior, etc., but was
quietly investigating their case and meeting the men in groups.
By his individual efforts, and advancing for the purpose a large
sum of his own money, he furnished them with needed food, and
provided baskets of food for them to take with them on their
return; and using his influence with the Chesapeake and Ohio
Railroad company, he secured transportation for them to their
homes. He thus succeeded in having Coxey's army removed
from the national capital without friction and without suffering.
For this unselfish service, he received the thanks of many in
official life, and the following resolution was adopted by the
board of commissioners of the District of Columbia :
Office of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia.

Washington, February 24th, 1897.
Mr. Frank Hume,

Dear Sir: — The Commissioners of the District of Columbia
beg to tender to you their sincere and grateful acknowledge-
ments for the very valuable services rendered by you to the peo-
ple of the District of Columbia upon the occasion of the visit of
the industrial army to this District, in the year 1894. Amid the
embarrassments and possible dangers which attended that gath-
ering of discontented men at the capital, you evinced a degree of
tact and public spirit in aiding the Commissioners to avoid
public disturbance during their stay, in providing for their sus-
tenance, and for their return to their homes, in a manner which
reflected credit upon yourself and which deserves the gratitude
of the people of the District of Columbia. The Commissioners
regard this recognition of your public service as justly due you,
and regret the delay which has attended their statement concern-
ing the same. Yours very truly,

(Signed) John W. Ross, President,
Board of Commissioners, District of Columbia."
Mr. Hume's personal interest in these needy, helpless men is

FRANK HUME 207

but one illustration of a spirit of true Christian philanthropy
which led him to discover the especial need of persons in distress,
and particularly of young men, and to furnish them with means
of relief, and often the means for a start in business, which
meant a successful career for those to whom he thus extended a
helping hand.

Sympathizing deeply with the Cubans under the oppression
of Spain, he served as treasurer of the National Cuban league;
and after all the debts of the league, and all claims against it,
had been fully paid, Mr. Hume forwarded the surplus fund by
direction of the league to General Gomez to be used for the
benefit of the sick and wounded Cuban revolutionists.

Although in business in Washington, Mr. Hume maintained
his residence in his native state, his home being at his country
place, " Warwick," Alexandria county, Virginia, where he dis-
pensed an old-fashioned hospitality. It was the frequent scene
of many notable gatherings of prominent statesmen, and of men
who had taken a foremost part in the cause of the Confederacy.
Here during the National Encampment at Washington in 1887,
he entertained the Memphis Merchant Zouaves and the Volunteer
Southrons of Vicksburg — the latter his old company.

Mr. Hume was a member of the Protestant Episcopal
church. He was also a Mason.

On the 22nd of June, 1870, he married Miss Emma Phillips
Norris, daughter of John E. Norris, a prominent lawyer of
Washington, District of Columbia. They had eleven children.
His widow and nine children survive him (1907).

After an illness of more than two months borne with a
patience and fortitude which witnessed to his Christian faith in
the love of his Heavenly Father, Mr. Hume died on the 17th of
July, 1906, at his residence on Massachusetts avenue, Washing-
ton, District of Columbia, where for the past number of years he
had spent the winter months. The funeral services were held at
the Pro-Cathedral Church of the Ascension, Washington, Dis-
trict of Columbia, the Rev. Clement Brown, D. D.. rector, and
the Rev. Thomas Worthington Cooke (son-in-law of Mr. Hume),
officiating. The interment was in the family lot at Ivy Hill
cemetery, overlooking Alexandria, and a short distance from his
country place, " Warwick."

FRANCIS BEATTIE HUTTON

HUTTON, FRANCIS BEATTIE, lawyer and circuit
judge, was born at Glade Spring, Washington county,
Virginia, on January 28, 1858. His father was Doctor
Arthur Dixon Hutton, a prominent physician of that county;
and his mother was Sarah Elizabeth Buchanan Ryburn.

Judge Hutton is a Scotch-Irishman on both the paternal and
maternal side. On his father's side John Hutton, and on his
mother's side John Beattie were born in the province of Ulster,
north of Ireland, and came to America at an early date in the
history of the colonies; and many of their descendants fought
on the continental side in the War of the American Revolution.
For more than a hundred years Judge Hutton's immediate an-
cestors have lived in the community where he now lives: and
they have always been distinguished for their firmness, adher-
ence to right, honesty and conservatism.

Judge Hutton grew up in the country, doing all kinds of
manual labor on the farm of his father, who took a great interest
in the boy's work, and was his " professor of agriculture." He
attended the public schools of his neighborhood; and afterward
went to Liberty Hall academy. Later he entered Emory and
Henry college, from which he was graduated with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts in 1877, and that of Master of Arts in 1880.

After leaving college he read law for one year in the office
of Judge William V. Deadrick, of Tennessee; and another year
with General A. C. Cuming. He then attended the law school
of the University of Virginia for one session. In the meantime
he taught school at Blountville, Tennessee; and again at Glade
Spring.

After acquiring his legal education, he opened an office for
the practice of his profession at Abingdon, Washington county,
Virginia. He achieved success and distinction in his law prac-
tice; and since coming to the bar has filled many positions of
importance in the line of his profession. He was elected judge
of the county court of Washington county in December, 1885, but

FRANCIS BEATTIE HUTTON 209

resigned the judgeship in October, 1886, in order to accept the
office of assistant district attorney for the Western district of
Virginia, to which he was appointed \>y President Cleveland.
This office he also resigned in June, 1888. In 1891 he was elected
attorney for the commonwealth for Washington county, and
served one term, covering the period from July 1, 1891 to July 1,
1895. He declined a reelection to this office. On February 12,
1903, he was elected judge of the circuit court of his circuit by
the general assembly of Virginia. He is president of the board
of trustees of the Stonewall Jackson institute, and a member of
the board of trustees of Hampden-Sidney college.

Judge Hutton is a member of the Democratic party, from
which he has never transferred his allegiance upon any issue.
He is a member of the Presbyterian church ; and is also a Mason.

He married on December 22, 1880, Jennie O. Preston ; and of
their marriage have been born six children, of whom five are now
living.

His address is 501 East Main Street, Abingdon, Washington
County^ Virginia.

MINTER JACKSON

JACKSON, MINTER, merchant and banker, was born in
Harrison county, then Virginia, now West Virginia, Sep-
tember 20, 1824. His father was Stephen P. Jackson, a
farmer and stockdealer of that county; and his mother was
Hannah Bailey.

On his father's side Mr. Jackson is of Scotch-Irish descent,
his first ancestor in America having come from the north of
Ireland in the eighteenth century. His great-grandfather was
settled in Harrison county as early as 1780, the records in the
clerk's office of that county showing a conveyance to him at that
date of a tract of land which has since then been continuously in
the Jackson family. Mr. Jackson's mother was of English
ancestry.

Minter Jackson's boyhood was spent on his father's farm,
where he early learned to work. The elder Jackson was a man
of moderate means ; and as he had a large family to support and
educate, Minter determined to go to work as soon as he could, to
make his own living. This desire for independence and purpose
to begin work resulted in his obtaining but a limited education,
although his father had been anxious for him to follow the pro-
fession of a lawyer. About 1845 the county of Gilmer was
formed ; and Mr. Jackson, then twenty-one years of age, decided
to begin his business career in the new county. With the assist-
ance of his older brother, and backed bv what credit his father
could give him, he embarked in the mercantile business at Glen-
ville, in Gilmer countv, and bv dint of economv, close attention
to business, and correct business methods, soon built up a sub-
stantial and successful business. Since that time Mr. Jackson
has pursued the career of a merchant, has dealt in real estate,
and has been from the time of its organization the president of
the Bank of Marion in Smyth county, Virginia.

Mr. Jackson had no special political aspirations, but in 1850
was elected to the general assembly of Virginia, to represent the
counties of Lewis, Gilmer, and Braxton. He did not serve, how-

MINTER JACKSON 211

ever, on account of the adoption of the Virginia constitution of
1850, and in 1851 he was elected from the counties of Gilmer and
Wirt, and served in the Virginia house of delegates during the
sessions of 1851-52 and 1852-53.

During the War between the States, Mr. Jackson served for
three years in the nitre department of the Confederate States
government, and for the last twelve months of the war he was a
private in the Saltville artillery, Captain King's battery.

Mr. Jackson is an independent Democrat, and, while gen-
erally acting with the Democratic party, refused to support Wil-
liam Jennings Bryan in 1896 on account of his position on the
silver question.

Mr. Jackson has been three times married. His first wife
was Mary K. Fell, whom he married at Glenville, October 28,
1850. Of this marriage were born two children, one of whom is
living. His second wife was Isabella Holt Beattie, whom he
married in Smyth county, Virginia, August 10, 1864; and of this
marriage were born two children, both of whom are living. His
third wife was Mrs. Mary L. Bailey, (nee Davidson), of Parkers-
burg, West Virginia, whom he married November 5, 1894.

Mr. Jackson's address in summer is Marion, Smyth County,
Virginia, and in winter, DeLeon Springs, Florida.

ROBERT BRUCE JAMES

JAMES, ROBERT BRUCE, physician, was bom at Axton,
Pittsylvania county, Virginia, January 14, 1861. His
father was Dr. John Craghead James, a physician and sur-
geon of that county, who served as a member of the board of
supervisors of Pittsylvania, and his mother was Angeline Rorer,
daughter of Captain Abram Rorer, an officer of the War of 1812.
On his father's side he is of English descent; and on that of his
mother his ancestry is Swiss.

Dr. James' early life was passed in the country, where he had
to perform regular tasks involving manual labor. After attend-
ing the preparatory schools of his vicinity, he entered as a cadet
the Virginia Military institute, at Lexington, Virginia, from
which he was graduated in 1883, taking the first Jack-Hope
medal of his class. After leaving the institute, he became a stu-
dent in the medical department of the University of Virginia,
from which he graduated in 1886 with the degree of Doctor of
Medicine. Later he entered the medical school of Columbia
university, New York, from which he was graduated in 1889.

He was a resident physician of the Hebrew Orphan asylum
in New York city from 1888 to 1890; and then settled in his
native county of Pittsylvania for the practice of his profession.
He later went to Danville, Virginia, where he has since practiced
medicine with success and distinction.

Dr. James served by gubernatorial appointment as a member
of the board of directors of the Western State hospital for the
insane at Staunton, Virginia, from 1898 to 1902 ; and he is also
a member of the Virginia state board of medical examiners. Dur-
ing his stay at the Virginia Military institute he was a lieu-
tenant of cadets; and for one year after graduation he was sub-
professor in charge of the cadet corps.

In politics he defines himself as " a Bryanite," and has never
changed his political views or affiliations. He is a member of
the Protestant Episcopal church.

ROBERT BRUCE JAMES

213

Dr. James married on April 14, 1897, Annie M. Schofield;
and of their marriage have been born four children, of whom
three are now living.

His address is Number 803 Main Street, Danville, Virginia.

GEORGE WASHINGTON JONES

JONES, GEORGE WASHINGTON, was born in Pittsyl-
vania county, Virginia, June 1, 1832, and is the son of
James and Jane Thompson Jones. His father, like him-
self, was a farmer, who filled the office of justice of the peace —
an unpretentious man of sturdy colonial descent, who was known
far and wide in the rural community for his strict integrity.
His ancestors emigrated to Virginia from Wales, prior to the
Revolution. Nearly all of the male members of the family
served as sheriff, magistrate, or in other official capacity.

George W. Jones spent his early life partly in a village and
partly on a farm. His mother died when he was very young,
and at an early age his father secured for him a position in a
village store, where he performed the duties of errand boy and
learned how to " clerk." His education was confined to the " old
field " schools of the county, but he read much, and was a devoted
student of Shakespeare.

He enlisted as a private in Company I, 18th Virginia in-
fantry, Captain J. C. Luck, and upon the reorganization of the
company was elected to the office of first lieutenant. He parti-
cipated in the first battle of Manassas, and fought at Williams-
burg, in the battles around Richmond, and in the Gettysburg
campaign. At the latter battle he was wounded and left upon
the field, where he was captured by the Union troops and sent as
a prisoner of war to Johnson's Island, in Lake Erie, where he
was confined until near the close of the four years' conflict.

In 1901, Mr. Jones was elected a delegate to the Virginia
Constitutional convention held at Richmond during that year
and the next. At that time the " Washington Post," speaking of
his election, said, among other things: "Mr. Jones is a very
earnest Baptist and a man of fine practical sense. Like many
other delegates to the convention, he never was in politics
till his neighbors and friends nominated him for delegate with-
out his solicitation and quite to his surprise. This honor came
to him because of their knowledge of his incorruptibility in every

X

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JU&

^D

^v-<^

GEORGE WASHINGTON JONES 217

walk of life and of his wisdom in dealing with affairs." High
praise, this, of a man who writes of himself: "I am a plain
country farmer and make no pretensions to greatness. My
family have been in what is now Pittsylvania county since long
before it was established in 1780; they have held various offices
and have acted a prominent part in shaping the character of the
county; but none of them have distinguished themselves as men
of marked ability. We have tried to live honestly, pay our just
debts and do all we could to build up our county and state."

In the Constitutional convention Mr. Jones was a member of
the educational committee and the committee on corporations.
He also took a prominent part in the Baptist General association,
held at Richmond in November, 1901, where he astonished those
who did not know him by his stand in seconding Armistead R.
Long, of Lynchburg, in opposing the resolution of Doctor Haw-
thorne, calling on the Constitutional convention to embody in the
new constitution an excise measure known as the Quarles-Bar-
bour resolution.

As a farmer Mr. Jones has been eminently prosperous. His
first strong impluse in life, to win such prizes as have come to
him, he attributes to the desire to accumulate wealth. To his
aunt and uncle, with whom he lived as a boy after the death of
his mother, he gives credit for the moral influence which has
shaped his career.

In politics Mr. Jones is a Democrat, and has not changed his
party allegiance in any instance since the war. In religion he is
a Baptist, and is a prominent member of the Chestnut Level
Baptist church of Pittsylvania county.

"When asked for a few words of advice to the young, drawn
from his own personal experience, Mr. Jones replied : " My own
opinion is that if a young man will act honestly with his fellow-
men and attend closely to the business of his calling, he will be
certain to succeed."

He was married April 17, 1860, to Sarah F. Thompson,
daughter of Rawlev S. and Ann D. Thompson, and became the
father of seven children, four of whom are now (1908) living.

His address is Spring Garden, Pittsylvania County, Vir-
ginia.

Vol. 4-Va.-ll

PARIS VAN BUREN JONES

JONES, PARIS VAX BUREN, lawyer, was born near Mid-
way, Craig county, Virginia, September 28, 1851, son of
James A. and Mary C. Jones. His father was a farmer, a
man of industrious habits and positive opinions. His mother
was a woman of high character who exerted a strong and endu-
ring influence upon the life of her family and acqaintances.
The paternal ancestors settled in North Carolina, but removed to
Virginia about 1788. On the maternal side the first known ances-
tor to locate in this country came from England early in the
seventeenth century.

The early years of the life of Paris Jones were spent in the
country. His health was good and, with the exception of an
unusual fondness for books, his tastes and interests were those
of the average boy of his place and time. When not in school he
had regular work on his father's farm and here, he says, he
formed habits of industry and frugality which have proved of
great value to him in the practical work of life. His public
education was confined to the common schools and one term at a
small academy. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in
1873, and at once commenced practice in Newcastle, Virginia.
He has been successful in his profession, has served two terms as
attorney for the commonwealth, and has twice been elected county
judge. He has also served one term as superintendent of schools.

Mr. Jones states that his first impulse to strive for the prizes
of life was a burning desire to contribute something honorable to
the time in which he lived. The most helpful reading in his
earlier years was biography. He was especially interested in
Plutarch's " Lives " and the biographies of Jefferson, Jackson,
Clay, Calhoun, and "Webster. His own preference determined
the choice of his profession, and private study has been the
strongest of all the influences which have helped him to win suc-
cess. His favorite exercise is taken in the form of daily walks.
He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. In politics he has always
been a Democrat. His religious connection is with the Methodist

PARIS VAN BTTREN JONES 219

Episcopal Church, South. In reply to a request for suggestions
to young men just beginning their career, he states that, in his
opinion, " Industry, honesty, frankness and constant care in look-
ing after small matters and details " will most help young people
to attain true success in life.

Mr. Jones was married December 3, 1875, to Lizzie Ella
Hutchinson, and of their three children two are now living.

His address is Newcastle, Craig County, Virginia.

GEORGE GOODWYN JOYNES

JOYNES, GEORGE GOODWYN, teacher and school super-
intendent, was born at Onancock, Accomac county, Vir-
ginia, September 6, 1856. His father was Tully A. T.
Joynes, an Accomac planter of the old Virginia type, who was a
magistrate for twelve years under the ante-bellum constitution:
and who was later in life postmater at Onancock, which office he
held until the date of his death. Mr. Joynes' mother was Sabra
Polk Fitchett, a granddaughter of Captain William Polk, who
fought in the Revolution and was one of the leading men in Vir-
ginia in his day.

He grew up in the country until he was fourteen years old;
and after that time several years were spent in a country village.
He worked on the farm on Saturdays. The financial failure of
his father, consequent upon the losses that resulted from the War
between the States, prevented Mr. Joynes from completing his
collegiate education. He attended Dickinson college at Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, but left after his sophomore year. The college,
however, recognized the value and distinction of his later work
as scholar and teacher; and in 1896 he received at its hands the
honorary degree of Master of Arts.

He began the work of life as a teacher in an " old field " public
school in 1875. The desire on his j^art to help develop and
advance the recently adopted public school system in Virginia,
then quite unpopular with many of the people of his section, in-
duced Mr. Joynes to make teaching his life-work. From the first
he showed aptitude as an instructor and unusual disciplinary
power; and when it was determined to establish a graded school
in his native town of Onancock, he was selected to do the work.
He filled the office of principal of the Onancock high school for
twenty-five years; and gave up the position at the end of that
time to become superintendent of public school for Accomac
division.

Mr. Joynes is now (1908) serving his second term as super-
intendent of public schools of Accomac division, which embraces

■ ■

/

GEORGE GOODWYX JOYNES 223

one hundred and fifty-three public schools, and a school popula-
tion of ten thousand three hundred and fifty-three.

He has written and published a "Teacher's Handbook; A
Uniform Graded Course of Study for use in Public Schools,"
which has received the high commendation and endorsement of
the superintendent of public instruction of Virginia.

Mr. Joynes is a Mason, and was secretary of his lodge for
four years; and has written papers and delivered lectures on the
subject of Free Masonry. He is a Democrat in politics. He is a
member of the Baptist church; has served as superintendent of
his church Sunday school for five years, was for many years clerk
of the Accomac Baptist association, and was the founder of the
Accomac Educational association, which numbers one hundred
and twenty members.

When at school and college he was captain of the baseball
and football teams, and he was an enthusiastic supporter of those
games, in which he still finds his recreation and exercise.

Mr. Joynes married Xovember 25, 1880, Sallie Wright
Northam, daughter of Thomas A. Northam. They have had five
children — two boys and three girls — all of whom are now (1908)
living.

His address is Onancock, Accomac County, Virginia.

ISAAC PATRICK KANE

KANE, ISAAC PATEICK, for some years cashier of the
Bank of Gate City, Virginia, later president of that
bank; and the reorganizer of the First National Bank
of Gate City of which he has been president since 1904, was born
at Estilville (now Gate City) in Scott county, Virginia, on the
15th of March, 1862. His father, Henry Solon Kane, was for
some years a member of the state senate of Virginia, elected in
1849. In 1844 he had served as one of the presidential electors
for Virginia.

His father's father, Patrick Kane, came from Ireland about
1800 and settled in New York ; and from New York city he later
removed to Norfolk, Virginia. After several years of residence
there, he settled in the Southwestern part of Virginia (Scott
county) where he reared his family and died.

His mother, Mrs. Sarah A. (Anderson) Kane, was a daugh-
ter of Isaac C. Anderson of Scott county. Her ancestors were of
Scotch descent, having settled in Augusta county, Virginia, about
the middle of the eighteenth century.

Passing his youth in a village, he knew a strong and healthy
boyhood until he was sixteen when a severe attack of typhoid
fever followed by a violent relapse, so impaired his health that
he has never since been strong.

He entered Emory and Henry college, but about two months
before the close of the college year, 1886, a prolonged attack of
fever took him out of his class. Although he had expected to
return the next year for graduation, in the spring of 1887 he
accepted a position in business, and business cares since that time
have engrossed all his powers. In 1889 he was elected cashier of the
Bank of Gate City at its organization ; and nine years later he was
chosen president of the bank ; but after two years of service, poor
health again compelled him to alter his plans, and he spent two
years in active out-door life, to the great improvement of his
health. In January, 1904, with business associates he bought a
controlling share in the stock of the bank of which he had

ISAAC PATRICK KANE 227

formerly been president. It was converted into a National bank
in April, 1904, and he has been president of the First National
Bank of Gate City since April, 1904.

He was one of the founders of Shoemaker college, a literary
institution of Gate City : and he is now a member of the board of
trustees of that college. In 1904 he helped to organize the Wil-
low Shoals Lumber Company which is operating at Willow, Lee
county. Kentucky : and Mr. Kane still retains his interest in that
corporation. Mr. Kane also helped to organize the Seaboard
Coal Company of Richlands, Virginia, and is still one of its
stockholders.

Mr. Kane has never married. He remained at home after
his brothers and sisters married and devoted himself to the com-
fort of his widowed mother. His devotion to her since early
childhood, and specially his tireless care of her during her declin-
ing years, mark him as a man of pure and noble deeds worthy of
imitation by every young man.

In college he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
In his political relations he is a Democrat.

His favorite exercise is horseback riding.

To young Virginians, Mr. Kane commends : " honesty,
sobriety, firmness, truthfulness and faithfulness in service, as
contributing to true success in business, and to that highest aim,
a truly successful character."

His address is Gate City, Scott County, Virginia,

JOSEPH L. KELLY

ELLY, JOSEPH L., lawyer, of Bristol, Virginia, was
born in Smyth county, Virginia, on the 4th of March,
1867. His father, John A. Kelly, was a lawyer, and
was judge of the 16th judicial circuit of Virginia for twenty-five
years, from 1870 to 1895. Judge Kelly married Miss Martha
Peck, daughter of John and Elizabeth Peck, of Giles county, Vir-
ginia. His family is of Scotch-Irish descent.

His boyhood was passed in Marion and was divided between
town and country life. While still very young he was taught to
take a regular share in the work on his father's place. He
enjoyed the best of health; was very fond of athletic sports;
attended school faithfully, and liked school life. Having com-
pleted his preparation for college, he took the course at Emory
and Henry, and was graduated in June, 1886, with the degree of
B. A. After a year in his father's office, he entered the law school
at the University of Virginia, and in June, 1889, was graduated
from that institution with the degree of B. L. Subsequently the
degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by Emory and
Henry college.

In August, 1889, at Estillville (now Gate City), he began the
practice of law as an associate of General Rufus A. Avers. For
six years this association with General Ayers continued and he
feels himself to be under lasting obligations to that close friend
of his father, for advice, example and opportunity, in the early
years of his professional life. After practicing at Gate City
from 1889 to 1892, he removed to Big Stone Gap, and continued
the general practice of law at that place until the fall of 1898,
when he came to Bristol, where he now resides. Since 1895 he
has been a member of the law firm of Bullitt and Kelly, a firm
which has an extensive and varied practice in Southwest Vir-
ginia, maintaining two offices, one at Big Stone Gap in charge of
Mr. J. F. Bullitt and the other at Bristol under the management
of Mr. Kelly.

He is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and has never

JOSEPH L. KELLY 231

varied in his allegiance to the principles and the nominees of that
party; but he has never been actively engaged in practical poli-
tics, nor has he sought or held public office.

By religious preference Mr. Kelly is a member of the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church, South.

On the 29th of July, 1896, he married Miss Mary Eloise
Hull, daughter of Captain D. D. Hull, of Marion, Virginia.
They have had four children, all of whom are living in 1908.

He does not devote much time to recreation; but he is fond
of an occasional day's fishing; he drives often with his family;
and he takes interest in gardening and in a small farm near the
city. He is much attached to home-life, and his residence in
BristoFis one of the attractive homes of that town.

RICHARD STEVENSON KER

KER, RICHARD STEVENSON, was born in Staunton,
Virginia, August 4, 1866. His father was Heber Ker;
his mother, Mary E. Kinney. His father held suc-
cessively the positions of treasurer of the city of Staunton, mem-
ber of the city council, clerk of the supreme court of appeals, and
was, at the time of his death, chief deputy-marshal of the United
States court for the western district of Virginia. Mr. Heber
Ker's marked characteristics were application, and strict atten-
tion to the details of business. Dr. John Ker, the first American
paternal ancestor, came from Roxborough, Scotland, and settled
in Northampton county, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Among the distinguished members of Mr. R. S. Ker's family was
Abel P. Upshur, of President Tyler's cabinet, who was the uncle
of Mr. Ker's mother.

Richard S. Ker grew up to manhood in the city of Staunton.
He attended the public schools of the city, and the Staunton
Military academy. Thence he entered the Washington and Lee
university; later, the University of Virginia.

Richard S. Ker began the active work of life as a teacher,
and taught one year in Botetourt county, Virginia, and one year
at Humboldt, Tennessee. In 1888, he began the practice of law
in Staunton, Virginia. His close application to the duties of his
profession, and his recognized talent as a speaker and advocate,
soon brought him into public view ; and, when in 1899 he offered
himself as a candidate for commonwealth's attorney for the
county of Augusta, he was easily elected. During the four years
of his term, he established himself as a prosecutor, and his suc-
cess in securing the conviction of several notable criminals estab-
lished his reputation as a criminal lawyer; and, at the close of his
term, he was, without any serious opposition, reelected to the
same position. During this same period, Mr. Ker was elected
captain of a military company which had been organized in
Staunton, and which became later Company K, of the 2nd Vir-
ginia regiment. The Spanish- American war coming on, Captain

RICHARD STEVENSON KER 233

Ker's regiment was called out and was mustered into service in
May, 1898. His regiment was ordered to Jacksonville, Florida,
expecting to be called to the seat of war in Cuba. Their hopes,
however, were not realized; the war closed, they returned home,
and were mustered out in December, 1898.

On his return home, Captain Ker resumed the duties of his
office, which in his absence had been discharged by a friend under
authority of the court. His reputation as a criminal lawyer has
increased steadily. So well is he known that the commonwealth's
attorney of an adjoining county invited him quite recently to
assist in one of the most famous criminal cases on record in Vir-
ginia ; and his services to the commonwealth proved very val-
uable.

Captain Ker is in politics a Democrat; in church preference
an Episcopalian.

May 11, 1898, Captain Ker was married to Jessie S. McXeiL
of Staunton, Virginia. They have had four children, all of
whom are now living.

Captain Ker's address is Staunton, Virginia.

GEORGE ADAM LAMBERT

LAMBERT, GEORGE ADAM, farmer, stockman and
legislator, was born March 12, 1867, on a farm in Wythe
county, Virginia. His father, Joseph Lambert, brick-
mason, farmer and stockman, was noted for industry, energy and
sobriety. His mother, Katherine Lambert, a Christian woman
of high character, was a strong and lasting influence on all sides
of his life. His ancestry is English on the paternal and German
on the maternal side. The family was founded in America by
William Lambert, from England, and his wife, Mary Michaels,
from Germany, who settled in Fauquier county, Virginia, where
they reared a family.

George A. Lambert was reared in the country and was
healthy, strong and active. As a boy he was especially in-
terested in machinery and live stock of all kinds. He had to do
his full share of work on the farm from the time he was large
enough, as his father would not countenance idling. The habits
of industry thus acquired have played no small part in his suc-
cess in life. He attended the county public schools until he was
about nineteen. Then, having chosen the law for a profession,
and his parents consenting, he entered Emory and Henry college,
Virginia, but, owing to the death of his father, he was compelled
to drop out in his third year and take charge of the farm, instead
of graduating, and taking up the study of law, as he had planned
to do. It was a great disappointment, but he did not waste time
moping over what could not be helped. Instead, he turned all of
his large stock of energy into the work of the farm, and to study-
ing how to improve and increase its returns, both in crops and in
live stock. By untiring industry, careful and thrifty management
and the introduction of up-to-date methods he soon became one of
the most prosperous farmers and stock raisers of his section; and
by strength of character and purity of life one of the most re-
spected and esteemed citizens of his county.

In politics he is and has always been a Democrat, and as such
served one term in the Virginia house of delegates (elected in

Uu

GEORGE ADAM LAMBERT 237

1889), making a very creditable record, but he prefers the in-
dependence of private life and has since held no public office,
though, as he is a comparatively young man, his great popularity
may cause his fellow-citizens to bring such pressure to bear on
him that his personal preference may be forced aside in order
that he may again serve his county in a public station.

He has been, and is, a deep student, with a partiality for
history, political economy, surveying and engineering, which he
has found most helpful in fitting him for his successful career.
The strongest influences in his life, in the order named, have been,
home, school and private study. He is an active member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His favorite recreation is
bird hunting.

He thinks a young man seeking true success can have no
better chart by which to steer than the scriptural injunction:
" Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
all these things shall be added unto you."

On October 30, 1895, he married Let-tie Jane Xewland,
daughter of Preston M. Xewland, of Wvthe countv. She died
on February 2, 1900. One child by this marriage is now (1907)
living. Mr. Lambert's second wife, whom he married on Sep-
tember 30, 1903, was Sue M. Hale, daughter of Eli C. Hale, of
Grayson county. They have one child now living.

The address of Mr. Lambert is Rural Retreat, Wvthe

mi

County, Virginia.

FRANCIS RIVES LASSITER

LASSITER, FEANCIS RIVES, lawyer, congressman from
the fourth Virginia district, was born in Petersburg,
Virginia, on February 8, 1866, son of Dr. Daniel W. and
Anna Rives (Heath) Lassiter. He is of French Huguenot and
English lineage, and a direct descendant of Robert Lassiter, a
land-owner of Virginia in the seventeenth century. His father
was a physician of unusual attainments, known for his integrity,
generosity and love of knowledge.

Francis Rives Lassiter received his education in the public
and private schools of Petersburg and at the University of Vir-
ginia, from which latter he was graduated in Latin, chemistry,
moral philosophy and law, receiving the degree of B. L., in 1886.
He was admitted to the Suffolk bar, Boston, Massachusetts, in
1887, and to the Virginia bar in 1888, settling down to the active
practice of his profession at Petersburg. In the same year he
was elected city attorney of Petersburg. He was reelected for the
years 1890-92. From 1893 to 1897 he was United States attorney
for the eastern district of Virginia, and in the latter year was de-
feated for the Democratic nomination for attornev-£eneral of
Virginia. In 1899, he was supervisor of the twelfth United
States census, for the fourth district of Virginia, and at a special
election held April, 1900, was elected to the fifty-seventh Con-
gress from the fourth Virginia district. At the following con-
gressional election he was returned, but suffered defeat for nomi-
nation to the fifty-eighth Congress at the hands of Robert G.
Southall. He was nominated for the sixtieth Congress by the
Democratic party and was elected November 6, 1906, without
opposition. Since 1888, he has been a member of the Virginia
State Democratic committee, and has been influential in the
councils and policies of that party. In 1892, he served as presi-
dential elector on the Democratic ticket for Virginia.

From 1889-92, Mr. Lassiter commanded Company G, 4th
regiment, Virginia volunteers, and was subsequently elected
major of the same regiment. In addition to his legal work, he

FRAXCIS RIVES LASSITER 239

has devoted much time to the study of American history, and,
in 1901, published a brochure on "Arnold's Invasion of Virginia,
1781." He has also been a contributor to current magazines on
historical and political subjects.

On March 31, 1891, he married Fanny Page McGill,
daughter of John McGill, of Petersburg. His wife died on Jan-
uary 1, 1906. Both he and his wife were members of the
Protestant Episcopal church.

Mr. Lassiter's address is Petersburg, Virginia.

JOHN HOLLADAY LATANE

LATANE, JOHN HOLLADAY, was bom in the city of
Staunton, Virginia, April 1, 1869. He is the son of
Bishop James Allen Latane of the Reformed Episcopal
church, and his wife, Mary Minor Holladay.

Bishop Latane, who was born in Essex county, Virginia.
January 15, 1831, was a student in the law department of the
University of Virginia in 1851-1852; and two years later he en-
tered the Episcopal Theological seminary, at Alexandria, Vir-
ginia; becoming in 1856 a deacon in the Protestant Episcopal
church. He was successively Episcopal rector at Staunton and
at Wheeling, West Virginia; but in 1874 withdrew from the
Protestant Episcopal ministry and church, and entered the Re-
formed Episcopal church, declining a bishopric in that church
in 18T6, but accepting the office in 1879. In 1883 he was unani-
mously elected presiding bishop of the Reformed Episcopal
church of the United States. He was a man of exemplary piety,
of varied learning and of profound convictions ; and was greatly
beloved by those with whom he came into personal contact.

The emigrant ancestor of the Latanes in America was the
Rev. Louis Latane, who fled from France to England at the time
of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. He became a
student in the University of Oxford, and was later ordained to
the ministry of the church of England by the Bishop of London.
In 1701 he emigrated from England to Virginia and took charge
of South Farnham parish, in Essex county. He was married
once before he came to America, and twice afterwards; but noth-
ing is known of his first or second wife. His third wife was Miss
Mary Dean, by whom he had a son, John Latane, and five
daughters. Rev. Louis Latane died in Essex county in 1732.

John Holladay Latane, the subject of this sketch, lived suc-
cessively in a country town, in a city and in the country, during
the earlier years of his life. His tastes lay in the direction of
country life and nature ; and from an early date his favorite
reading was in biography and history. He attended the public
schools of Baltimore, Maryland; and thereafter became a student
in the Baltimore City college, graduating in 1889; and then in

JOHX HOKLADAY LATANE 241

the Johns Hopkins university, from which he graduated with
the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1892. He earned, by teaching,
a large part of the money which he expended in his subsequent
university career. He pursued a post-graduate course in the
Johns Hopkins university, from which he received the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in 1895.

During the session of 1895-1896 he was acting professor of
history and economics in the Baltimore City college. In 1896-
1897 he was master of history and English in the Military
academy at San Rafael, California. In 1898 he lectured on
American diplomatic history at Johns Hopkins university, and
from 1898 to 1902 he was professor of history and economics in
the Randolph — Macon Woman's college. Since 1902 he has filled
the chair of history in the Washington and Lee university at
Lexington, Virginia; and in the summers of 1902 and 1903 he
was a special lecturer in the United States Naval War college at
Newport, Rhode Island, on the subject of international law.

He was awarded the John Marshall prize in the Johns
Hopkins university in 1901 ; and he is a member of the American
Historical association, the American Political Science associa-
tion, the Phi Beta Kappa society, and the Kappa Alpha college
fraternity. He served for three years in the 5th Maryland regi-
ment ; is a Democrat in his political principles ; and is a member
of the Reformed Episcopal church.

Dr. Latane has written and published " Early Relations
between Maryland and Virginia," 1895 ; " Diplomatic Relations
of the United States and Spanish America," 1900; and he is now
writing for the historical series known as " The American
Nation," edited by Professor Albert Bushnell Hart, its twenty-
fifth volume, under the title : "America as a World Power."

In addition to the foregoing volumes, he has written a num-
ber of reviews and articles for periodical publications, chiefly on
the subjects of international law and diplomacy.

His biography has been published in " Who's Who in
America " for 1906-1907, and in the " National Cyclopaedia of
American Biography."

Dr. Latane married October 17, 1905, Mrs. Elinor Jackson
Junkin Cox.

His address is Washington and Lee University, Lexington,
Virginia.

Vol. 4— Va.— 12

JOHN JAMES LAWSON

LATFSON, JOHN JAMES, of South Boston, Halifax
county, Virginia, banker, for twenty years member of
the town council of South Boston, was born at Harmony,
Halifax county, Virginia, on the 27th of August, 1849. His
father, David Lawson, was a farmer, characterized by great
energy, strong common sense, promptness and thrift, and a high
sense of honor. His mother was Mrs. Jane (Bailey) Lawson.

Richard Lawson, who came from England, in 1654, is the
earliest known American ancestor of the family. Brigadier-
General Benjamin Lawson of the Revolutionary army, and his
brother, Hugh Lawson, both settled near Norfolk, Virginia, where
General Lawson remained. His brother, Hugh Lawson, went
to North Carolina, dying in Rowan county, North Carolina, in
1764, and leaving a son named John, who removed to Caswell
county, North Carolina, near the Virginia line. John Lawson,
the second, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born
in Caswell county, North Carolina. The family were thrifty
farmers and merchants, well' remembered for their good business
judgment and their strong common sense.

In his boyhood he had excellent health, and was fond of
hunting, fishing and other out-door sports. His school years
were passed in a thickly settled country neighborhood. His op-
portunities for attending school were limited to a few seasons
at country schools near his home, with one year's attendance at
Horner's School, in North Carolina, after which he returned to
his home, in 1865, to take a place in a country store; and he has
been actively engaged in business for the forty years or more
since that date.

On the 1st of October, 1865, he took a place as clerk in a
store at Harmony, Virginia, his pay to be fifty dollars for the
first year. He continued in that business until January 1st, 1871,
on which day he became a partner in the firm of J. J. Lawson
and Company. On the 1st of October, 1876, this company
changed its place of business from Harmony to South Boston,

A^M-y

JOHN JAMES LAWSON 245

Virginia. With his brother, R. W. Lawson, and Joseph Steb-
bins, he carried a general line of merchandise, under the firm
name of Stebbins and Lawson. Mr. John James Lawson at-
tended chiefly to the office work. They built up a large and suc-
cessful mercantile business, which grew in importance with the
rapid growth of the town of South Boston. Mr. Lawson was
actively interested in organizing and promoting the Bank of
South Boston, which opened for business on May 1st, 1887. Mr.
Lawson was elected cashier of the bank — a position which he has
held for over twenty years.

In the meantime his business ability and his sound principles
have been recognized by his election to numerous positions for the
direction of banks and business enterprises. On October 1st,
1906, he was chosen president of the Boston National bank.
He is a member of the wholesale dry goods firm of Stebbins, Law-
son and Spraggins companjr ; he is president of the South Boston
Electric Light and Power company ; he is a director of the R. W.
Lawson Grocery company; president of the Bank of Virgilina;
a director of the Barbour Buggy company; and a director of
the South Boston Ice company.

Mr. Lawson is interested in all that makes for the welfare
of his town; and the esteem in which his fellow citizens hold
him for his interest in public affairs, is well illustrated by the fact
that for more than twenty years he has been continuously a
member of the town council.

By religious belief he is identified with the Presbyterian
Church, South ; and for the last fifteen years he has been a deacon
in that church.

In politics he is a Democrat, and he has never swerved in
his allegiance to the principles and the nominees of that party.

Always interested in farming, he has bought and sold many
plantations. He has been fond of dealing in real estate, buying
largely for cash when prices were low, and never suffering prop-
erty to deteriorate upon his hands although he may have held it
for years. While banking has been his first interest, he has been
successful in raising horses, cattle, hogs, corn and grass.

On the 26th of September, 1883, Mr. Lawson married Miss
Eliza Jasper Craddock, daughter of Dr. John W. Craddock of

246 JOHN JAMES LAWSON

Black Walnut, Halifax county, Virginia. They have had eight
children, four sons and four daughters, all of whom are living in
1907.

Mr. Lawson in offering advice and suggestions to his fellow
citizens of Virginia urges the laying of greater stress upon the
home-life of our young people in order to conserve all that is
best in American life, and to develop still higher ideals of self
reliance, energy, sound morals and strong character.

i

^&z^

ROBERT WILLIAM LAWSON

LAWSON, ROBERT WILLIAM, was born in the village
of Harmony, Halifax county, Virginia, September 28,
1853. His father was David Lawson, a farmer of
Halifax county ; his mother was Jane Bailey.

Mr. Lawson's earliest known ancestor in America was John
Lawson, who was the first colonial surveyor general of North
Carolina, and who was burned at the stake by the Indians. A
later ancestor was General Robert Lawson, who was major of the
4th Virginia regiment in the War of the American Revolution,
and later its colonel, and who commanded a brigade of Virginia
troops under General Greene at the battle of Guilford.

Mr. Lawson's youth was spent in the country, where he
worked on his father's farm except when at school. He attended
the common schools of his county ; but, possessing no particularly
literary or scholastic inclination, he, after obtaining a common
school education, began the active work of life in 1870 as sales-
man in a country store at Harmony. To him contact with men
in the activities of life and a close observation of their methods
of success have always appealed as more educative than the study
of books ; and that he has made potential use of them as educa-
tional facilities is indicated in his successful business career.

Mr. Lawson has been a merchant, the president of the R. W.
Lawson company, wholesale grocers, the president of the South
Boston Electric Light and Power company, and a director in the
Bank of South Boston.

In politics, Mr. Lawson is a Democrat, and has never
changed his party affiliations. In church preference, he is a
Baptist, and takes great interest in the affairs of the congrega-
tion with which he is connected.

Though not a politician, Mr. Lawson has served on the town
council of South Boston. He has also served on the local school
board, and rendered useful service in furnishing educational
advantages to the children of his town.

On November 16, 1898, Mr. Lawson married Miss Mary E.

250 ROBERT WILLIAM LAWSON

Craddock, daughter of Dr. John Craddock, of Black Walnut,
Halifax county, Virginia.

Mr. Lawson is a director in the following companies: The
Century Cotton Mill of South Boston; the Boston National
Bank, of South Boston; and the J. A. Mebane Electrical com-
pany, as well as in the Boston and Houston Brick company. He
is interested in farming and stock raising. He is a stockholder
in the new South Boston Ice and Lumber company. He is presi-
dent of the Keystone Drug company of South Boston, manu-
facturing chemists and druggists, who do a business that extends
through fifteen states. He is a stockholder in the Barbour
Buggy company.

The business of Stebbins and Lawson, general commission
business, was started in 1876, the first business house of the kind
in South Boston. In 1892, the work of the firm was subdivided.
R. W. Lawson became president of the wholesale grocery depart-
ment ; J. J. Lawson became cashier of the Bank of South Boston,
and was later elected president of the Boston National Bank.
Joseph Stebbins, Sr., took charge of the wholesale dry goods
business under the firm name of Stebbins and Lawson, which in
1907 has become Stebbins, Lawson and Spraggins, which has
customers throughout the South.

•

■ _ L

{7

HENRY CLAY LESTER

LESTEE, HENEY CLAY, manufacturer, merchant,
farmer, and banker, was born on a farm in Henry
county, Virginia, February 25, 1838, son of William and
Frances H. (Stegall) Lester. His father was an honest, truth-
ful, hard-working farmer, of small means, in Henry county, who
had little to leave his sons except a good name and good habits.
His mother was a woman of deep religious feelings and domestic
tastes, and exercised a strong religious and moral influence upon
her children.

In his boyhood, Mr. Lester suffered serious drawbacks on
account of his feeble physical condition; yet he did his share of
the farm work as he grew toward manhood, and acquired habits
of industry, economy and moral rectitude. He was a close
student of the Bible and made the most of his opportunities to
secure a common sense education in the district schools. Beyond
his formal education, however, he possessed many sturdy quali-
ties of mind and heart that have been potent in bringing him the
honors and successes that he now enjoys. His character was
positive in its nature, he had a large stock of common sense,
and his judgment was well-balanced. He had what is known as
a practical turn of mind, which subsequently, under the stress of
wide experience, developed into one of keen business insight,
capable of handling large affairs.

Mr. Lester's independent career began at Figsboro, Henry
county, Virginia, as a manufacturer of tobacco. In conjunction
with this branch of business, he shortly carried on merchandising,
farming, stock-raising and milling, all of which seemed to thrive
and expand under the conscientious management he gave to them.
For almost half a century he has been one of the foremost figures
in the development of the county's largest interests, and at the
age of sixty he was one of its wealthiest property holders. At
•the present time (1907), though less active, he is identified with
many industrial and financial enterprises both within and with-
out his native county. He is president and director of the Dan-

254 HENRY CLAY LESTER

ville and New Eiver railroad ; director of the Virginia and North
Carolina Construction company; president of the Farmers bank
of Martinsville ; vice-president of the First National bank of the
same place ; and is associated directly or indirectly with a number
of lesser concerns.

Besides being a successful business man, Mr. Lester is a
zealous church worker, and has contributed munificently to the
Christian church of Martinsville, in which he holds membership.
In 1894, he constructed, at his own expense, a commodious church
edifice for the congregation, and, when it was completed, turned
it over to the governing board free of charge. His philanthro-
pies have been equally liberal to the poor, and the unfortunate,
and his hand has been in plain evidence in all movements for the
common good of his community.

The career of Mr. Lester is well worthy of emulation. He
early in life planted himself upon the sure foundation of an
unimpeachable credit, and on straight-forward, sober, honest,
truthful methods in dealing with his fellow man. To these he
added prudence, self-denial, fortitude, tenacity, singleness of
purpose, and a stubborn devotion to the end in view. He sur-
rendered very little to the allurements of politics, though he was
firm in his adherence to the principles of the Eepublican party,
and active in its councils. But he believed in business rather
than politics; in industry rather than speculation; in employing
the means at hand, rather than in waiting for something to
turn up. He felt that he possessed power to direct, and he
directed with excellent results — both material, and in the good
opinions of his friends and associates.

On August 10, 1871, Mr. Lester married Lucy Clark Brown,
daughter of F. E. and Elizabeth C. Brown of Franklin county,
Virginia.

His address is Martinsville, Henry County, Virginia.

THOMAS MULDRUP LOGAN

LOGAN, THOMAS MULDRUP, was bom in Charleston,
South Carolina, November 3, 1840. His father was
Judge George William Logan; his mother, Anna
D'Oyley Glover. George W. Logan was a lawyer and a rice
planter, became judge of the city court of Charleston, South
Carolina, and was a man of literary tastes, and author of a
" Record of the Logan Familv."

Thomas Logan's ancestors were of the Logan family of
Restalrig, Scotland, and the first to come to this country was
Colonel George Logan, of the British army, who settled in
Charleston, South Carolina, in 1690. Besides this distinguished
soldier there were among General Logan's ancestors, Robert.
Daniel, governor of South Carolina, in 1716; William Logan,
rice planter and merchant, and prominent in the affairs of the
colony during the Revolutionary war; Dr. George Logan, who
succeeded his father as physician of the city orphan asylum,
which position he continued to hold for forty years. He was a
prominent member of the Medical society of South Carolina, and
author of medical books, and for many years in early life he held
a commission as United States naval surgeon in charge of the
naval station of Charleston.

General T. M. Logan passed his youth on his father's plan-
tation in the country. He was healthy, and fond of country life,
but at the same time of studious habits. His mother died when
he was very young, and he was deprived of her influence; but he
was attentive to his duties at school, was well prepared for col-
lege, and was graduated from the South Carolina college at
Columbia, in 1860, taking the highest honor in a large and bril-
liant class. He acquired a taste for general literature, and for
philosophical and scientific books, which he has continued to
cultivate and has found very useful in fitting him for his life's
work.

Soon after leaving college, he enlisted as a private in the
famous Washington Light infantry of Charleston, and served

258 THOMAS MULDRUP LOGAN

with that batallion during the operations which culminated in
the capture of Fort Sumter by the South Carolina forces. Soon
after the fall of Sumter, the young soldier assisted in organizing
the company that became company A of the Hampton legion,
and was elected second lieutenant of that company. Hurrying
to Virginia, which was evidently to be, " the Flanders of the
war," the command reached Manassas just in time to participate
in the great battle of July 21, 1861, which resulted in a victory
for the Confederates and the rout of McDowell's army. For
conspicuous gallantry in this battle, Lieutenant Logan was made
captain of his company. After spending the autumn and the
winter in preparing himself and training his company for the
duties of the camp, the march, and the battlefield, Captain Logan
bore his full part in the brilliant campaign made by the Virginia
army in the summer and autumn of 1862. At the bloody battle
of Gaines' Mill, fought in front of Richmond, June 27, 1862,
Captain Logan was wounded while bravely doing his duty ; but,
although not fully recovered from his wounds, lie rejoined his
command in time to lead his men on the field of Second Manassas.
During the campaign of 1862, his regiment was attached to
Hood's famous Texas brigade, and its men showed themselves
worthy to touch elbows with those heroic fighters. In the battle
of Sharpsburg — (Antietam, it is called by Northern writers), he
displayed such gallantry that he was promoted on the field and
made major of his regiment. This regiment did conspicuous
service among those 33,000 of Lee's ragged, starved, heroes who
successfully resisted the 87,000 men that McClellan hurled
against them. After the battle of Sharpsburg, his regiment was
transferred to Jenkins's South Carolina brigade and bore its part
in the great Confederate victory at Fredericksburg on Decem-
ber 13. On the promotion of his lieutenant-colonel, Major
Logan was promoted to that grade, and served well in the Suffolk
and Black Water campaign of Longstreet. During the Gettys-
burg campaign his command was left with the troops for the
defence of Richmond; and, when General B. F. Butler was
threatening Richmond from West Point, Lieutenant-Colonel
Logan made a daring reconnoisance which enabled him to report
the force under Butler so accurately that General D. H. Hill, the

THOMAS MULDRUP LOGAN 259

commander of the department, moved down and drove him back
to the cover of his gunboats. His intelligent and gallant conduct
on this occasion led to his recommendation for promotion again ;
and, when Colonel Gary was made brigadier-general, Major
Logan was made colonel and put in command of his regiment. He
served with Longstreet in the Chickamauga-Knoxville campaign,
and distinguished himself on all occasions. His regiment was
furnished with horses, and attached to Gary's brigade as
mounted infantry.

In 1864, when General Lee checkmated General Grant in his
march from the Rapidan to the James, Colonel Logan and his
regiment did their full part in carrying out the plans of the Con-
federate commander. When Grant crossed the Chickahominy,
Colonel Logan, with his own regiment and the 24th Virginia
cavalry, was sent to impede his progress until Lee could take his
position for the defence of Richmond. This purpose he accom-
plished with great skill and gallantry, but at the close of the
movement was shot from his horse, severely wounded. In Decem-
ber, 1864, General M. C. Butler was made major-general, and
recommended that Colonel Logan be promoted and assigned to
the command of his old brigade. General Hampton, General
Longstreet, and General R. E. Lee cordially endorsed the appli-
cation— for they were familiar with the service of the heroic
young man — and accordingly Colonel Logan, though one of the
junior colonels of his state, was commissioned brigadier-general,
and was at that time the youngest brigadier in the army. Soon
after, he was sent with his brigade to join General Wade Hamp-
ton in resisting Sherman's march through the Carolinas. He
participated in the Confederate victory at Bentonville ; and, near
Raleigh, while in command of the rear guard of Johnston's army,
General Logan, at the head of Keith's battalion of his brigade,
made the last cavalry charge of the war. When General Logan
went with General Johnston to surrender to Sherman, it was
difficult to induce the Federal representatives to believe that the
slender, light-haired boy, as the subject of this sketch then
appeared, was indeed a brigadier-general in command of a
brigade, and General Sherman spoke of it several times. Thus
this young man who had, as a private soldier, heard the first gun

260 ■ THOMAS MULDRUP LOGAN

at Sumter, had now as a brigadier-general made the last charge
of the Confederate cavalry, and been present when the terms of
surrender of Johnston's army were arranged.

After the war, General Logan began the practice of law in
Richmond, Virginia. For about twelve years he practiced suc-
cessfully at the Richmond bar. In 1878 he gave up the practice
law and undertook to organize the system of railroads now repre-
sented by the Southern Railway system. He successfully or-
ganized various railroads and other enterprises, and subse-
quently the Gray National Telautograph company, of which he
is now president.

At the time that General Logan formed the syndicate of
Richmond and New York capitalists to consolidate various rail-
roads into a complete system, the Richmond and Danville com-
pany controlled about 300 miles of track; and, in less than two
years, this syndicate, under the lead of General Logan, had
secured for that company over 2,000 miles of railroad, and
formed the svstem which, as the Southern Railwav, is now one
of the great railroad properties of the country.

General Logan has been a lifelong Democrat, though he was
a pronounced " Gold Democrat " in the Bryan campaign. In
1879, he was chairman of the executive committee of the Demo-
cratic party of Virginia. He took an active part in organizing
the Gold Democratic party of Virginia in the first McKinley
campaign of 1896, and was elected chairman of its executive
committee. He could no doubt have attained high political pre-
ferment, but he never sought or consented to hold any political
office.

General Logan is a member of the Westmoreland club, of
Richmond, Virginia, the Commonwealth club, of the same city;
the Manhattan club, of New York, and the Southern society, of
New York.

He finds general reading and outdoor life in the country his
most congenial and helpful relaxation.

From his own experience and observation, he offers the fol-
lowing advice to young men : "As leading principles, self-con-
trol, truthfulness, and consideration for others; energy, concen-
tration, and perseverance in methods ; regularity and abstemious-
ness in habits."

THOMAS MULDRUP LOGAN 261

Modest and retiring, but genial and pleasant, General Logan
moves in the best social and business circles of Xew York and
Virginia, and is regarded as one of the most intelligent business
men, and desirable companions in his wide circle of friends. He
is a bright example of the post-bellum success of the Confederate
soldier, and an excellent illustration of the splendid morale of
the men who made " the great struggle for constitutional free-
dom," as General R. E. Lee always called it.

On May 25, 1865, General Logan married Kate Virginia
Cox, daughter of Judge James H. Cox, of Chesterfield county.
They have had eleven children, of whom four are now (1907)
living.

The address of General Logan is Algoma, Buckingham
County, Virginia.

SELDON LONGLEY

LONGLEY, SELDON, was born at Emory and Henry
college, Washington county, Virginia, on February 7,
1846. His father, Edmund Longley, was distinguished
for his learning and ability, and was for many years professor in
Emory and Henry college. A genial courtesy, charitableness,
and consideration for the rights of others won for him positions
of honor and trust. He was postmaster at Emory, Virginia;
trustee of Martha Washington college, and in 1867 was nomina-
ted as representative of his district in congress.

Mr. Longley is of English descent. His paternal great
great-grandfather, Edmund Longley, emigrated from England
in 1750 and settled in West Waterville, Maine, and his mother,
Mary Hammond, whose beneficent influence on his spiritual and
moral life Mr. Longley lovingly acknowledges, was grand-
daughter of William Hammond, who also emigrated from
England.

Born in the country, Seldon Longley spent his early days in
outdoor sports and occupations, acquiring a robust and healthy
constitution which stood him in good stead when the hardships
of the Civil war required from him work on the farm, with his
father's slaves, and, later, service in the army of the Confederacy.
At college he excelled in baseball, being the captain of the college
nine, and he was also an active participant in the exercises and
contests of the gymnasium. The love for nature and the open
air thus early instilled, Mr. Longley retains in an active interest
in his garden where he spends such hours of leisure as a busy life
affords.

The great civil strife interfered sadly with the youth's educa-
tion which was conducted largely under his father's guidance
and, for the most part, at Emory and Henry college. Aside
from the influences of his home, Mr. Longley attributes his suc-
cess as much to his contact with men in their active participation
in the duties of life as he does to his studies and school training.
It was in the midst of his course at Emory and Henry that the

SELDOX LOXGLEY 263

call to arms came to him, and at the age of seventeen he entered
the Confederate army as a private. He served first as a member
of Captain J. K. Rambo's company of Border Rangers; and after-
wards in Company F, 21st Virginia cavalry. Shortly after his
enlistment he was made an orderly sergeant and at the close of
the war was in command of his company. He then returned to
his books, prizing among them especially the Bible and Shakes-
peare. In a close study of the speeches of Edward Everett and
Horace Mann he laid the foundation for his later forensic suc-
cess and won the Robertson prize for oratory at Emory and
Henry college, in June, 1866. The bachelor's degree in arts was
awarded him in 1868 and after a year's successful teaching in his
alma mater, as professor of ancient and modern languages, his
college honored him with the master's degree.

In the choice of a profession the bar offered the greatest
attractions to Mr. Longley and in the face of great financial dis-
couragement, due to the distresses following the Civil war, he
attended lectures bv the law faculty of the University of Vir-

%> %J •/

ginia during the session of 1869-70. His success in oratory fol-
lowed him in the Washington Literary society of the university,
and the close of the college year found him "Final Orator." He
entered upon the active duties of his profession in the year 1871,
at Glade Spring, Virginia, and supporting actively the principles
of the Democratic party, the engaging personal qualities in-
herited from his father secured him the election, in 1873, as
member of the house of delegates, from Washington county.

Mr. Longley modestly disclaims any distinctive success in a
life largely devoted to the interests of others. From his expe-
rience, he concludes that the strictest integrity, the clearest truth-
fulness, the most untiring perseverance, a watchful care in the
choice of companions and, above all, the fear of God, are more
necessary for the success of a young man than any personal
attainments or any help from friends.

In religion Mr. Longley is a Methodist. In politics he has
been an unswerving Democrat. He has served as delegate to the
conventions of his state, and his powers of oratory have been ever
at the command of his party. He has been honored in the
councils of the Masonic order, of which he is a member, and

264 SELDON LONGLEY

i

while at college was initiated into the Greek letter fraternity,
Zeta Psi. To his early days in the country, his habits of tem-
perance in manhood and his duties in his garden, Mr. Longley
attributes his happiness in the work of his profession.

On December 24, 1873, he was married to Leona Howard
Jordan, daughter of Colonel W. J. Jordan, of Pulaski county, to
which county Mr. Longley moved in 1891. Of their four chil-
dren three are (1908) living. After a short residence in Pulaski
he was appointed by Governor Charles T. O'Ferrall, judge of the
county court, in which position he was confirmed by the general
assembly, in 1897, for the regular term of six years.

His address is Eadford, Montgomery County, Virginia.

CARTER MCKIM LOUTHAN

LOUTHAN, CARTER McKIM, soldier and lawyer, was
born at Millwood, Clarke county, Virginia, May 11,
1838. His father, John Louthan, was a son of George
Louthan and Lucy Drake of Frederick county. His mother was
Lydia Carter, a daughter of James Carter and Rachel Neil, also
of Frederick. George Louthan and James Carter were promi-
nent and influential planters; and the latter was also the pro-
prietor of the Red Bud Paper mills in his county.

John Louthan was married August 3, 1824, a few months
before he had attained his majority. With the inheritance re-
ceived from his father's estate, he began business, and it was not
many years before he was owner of the two large merchant flour-
ing mills at Millwood. In 1849, he sold his mill property and
purchased the beautiful " Milton Valley " estate near Berryville,
having a number of slaves to till it. By industry and good judg-
ment he became one of the most successful business men of Clarke
county. He was the father of twelve children, and at his home,
in the far famed Shenandoah Valley, eleven of them grew to
manhood and womanhood. His brothers, Henry and Walker
Louthan, moved to Missouri, where the latter left a number of
children.

Carter McKim Louthan was educated at private schools in
Berryville and at the University of Virginia. His chum
brother, William Page Louthan, a master of arts of the univer-
sity, was, in 1860-61. professor of Greek in Richmond college, but
died in August of the latter year, before he was twenty-five years
of age. Carter M. Louthan, on May 31, 1861 joined the army of
the Confederate States of America, and was a private in Com-
pany I, 2nd Virginia infantry, General Thomas J. Jackson's
brigade, when, at the first battle of Manassas, the name " Stone-
wall " was attached as a token of honor to the brigade and its
brilliant commander. He was with Jackson in his Bath and
Romney compaign in January, 1862, after which, owing to shat-
tered health, he received a discharge from the army. Seven

Vol. 4— Va.— 1 3

266 CARTEK M'KIM LOUTHAN

weeks later, however, he joined an artillery company — Brooks
battery, Poague's battalion — and was in this branch of the ser-
vice under General Robert E. Lee at the battles of Chancellors-
ville, Gettysburg, Bristow Station, and Mine Run. Shortly
after the latter engagement, he was captured and was a prisoner
of war for three months at Camp Chase, Ohio, and for seventeen
months at Fort Delaware, in Delaware Bay, not obtaining his
release until about two months after the surrender at Appomat-
tox. His cousin, Colonel James H. Drake, of the 1st Virginia
cavalry regiment, was killed while leading his men to battle at
Shepherdstown, in 1864, during Early's operations in the Shen-
andoah Valley.

With his tattered gray jacket and University training as
assets, he began life after the war. He taught school for about
four years, and then, having studied law privately, was admitted
to the bar at Berryville. Four months later, he was elected
commonwealth's attorney for Clarke, and held the office by suc-
cessive elections for nearly eight years, and, some time after this,
was appointed to fill an unexpired term of about a year. In the
fall of 1878, he resigned this office and went to Missouri, with
the view of locating there, but returned to Clarke in April, 1879.
The next year, he was chosen county superintendent of schools,
holding the position for five years. He has been a deputy col-
lector of internal revenue under the administrations of Harrison,
McKinley and Roosevelt.

In 1884, the legislature passed a law prohibiting certain state
officers, including judges and superintendents of schools, from
participating actively in politics. In order to test this law, Mr.
Louthan attended a political state convention in Richmond and
made a speech favoring the selection of certain gentlemen as
presidental electors. He was tried in Richmond and found
guilty of violating the law. He was fined fifty dollars and his
office as superintendent of schools declared vacant. His fight for
" liberty of speech " attracted attention all over the country. He
carried his case to the Virginia court of appeals and that body
declared the law unconstitutional. This case of Louthan against
the commonwealth is reported in the " Virginia and American
Reports " and cited in the " English and American Encyclopaedia

CARTER M'KIM LOUTHAN 267

of Law " as a leading case affecting liberty of speech in America
and England, being regarded, as it is, a victory for civil rights of
which any man would be proud.

He has long taken an active part in the political affairs of
Virginia. Prior to 1879, he was a Democrat, but became a He-
ad juster that year in order to help settle the state debt. Since
1884, he has been a member of the Republican party. He is an
exceedingly popular and effective speaker and has " stumped "
Virginia from one end to the other. He was an elector, in 1888,
on the Harrison and Morton ticket; a delegate to the National
Republican convention at Minneapolis, in 1892; and was an
elector again, in 1896, on the McKinley and Hobart ticket. He
is a ready writer, and while he has never written a book, yet if
his published articles were brought together, they would make
many spicy volumes.

He is a Baptist, and for several years was moderator of the
Albemarle Baptist association. For about thirty-five years, he
has been a master Mason.

Mr. Louthan was married, February 1, 1865, to Mary Ella
Brown, a daughter of Captain Charles Brown, of " Melrose,"
Rappahannock county, Virginia. They had five children, of
whom Henry Thompson Louthan, Alexander Doniphan Louthan.
and Mary Page Louthan are now living. He was married a
second time on November 15, 1892, to Sarah Edna Moncure Tyler,
of Albemarle county.

He lived in Clarke county until 1886, when he moved to
Madison, where he resided until 1901. Since then he has made
his home at Charlottesville, Virginia.

HENRY THOMPSON LOUTHAN

LOUTHAN, HENRY THOMPSON, minister and educa-
tor, was born November 5, 1866, at " Melrose," the
plantation home of his maternal grandfather, in Rap-
pahannock county, Virginia. His father, whose biography
appears in this volume, is Carter McKim Louthan, a son of John
Louthan and Lydia Carter, of " Milton Valley," in Clarke. His
mother was Mary Ella Brown, a daughter of Captain Charles
Brown and Ann Maria Kelly, of Rappahannock. Both of his
grandfathers were influential planters and slave holders. On his
father's side he is of Scotch and English descent, and on his
mother's Scotch-Irish.

His maternal great-grandparents were William Gideon
Brown and Mary Martin Wheatley, of Culpeper county; and
Alexander Doniphan Kelly, who represented his county in the
legislature, and Dinah Thompson of " Springhill " in Fauquier.
The Browns were orignally from Richmond county, and the
Kellys from Westmoreland, having settled there in colonial days.
His mother was a kinswoman of Colonel Alexander W. Doni-
phan, of Missouri, who commanded the United States troops at
the battles of Sacramento and Brazito in the Mexican war. He
is related to the Carters, Drakes, Louthans, Kerfoots, Browns,
Kellys, Thompsons, Starks, Moffets and Millers, of Northern
Virginia, among whom have been legislators, physician, educa-
tors, merchants, planters, soldiers and judges. As his father and
six of his uncles were Southern soldiers in the war of 1861-65, he
has a most excellent right to be numbered among the sons of
Confederate veterans. His brother, Rev. Alexander Doniphan
Louthan, M. D., is a medical missionary at Chengchow, China.
The boyhood of Henry T. Louthan was spent in Clarke
county, where his parents moved about five months after his
birth. Except for three years, he lived in the country until he
grew to manhood. When about fourteen years of age, he took
charge of the garden and dairy at his home, and, at the time of
wheat and hay harvest, often worked in the field. He considers

■

HENRY THOMPSON LOUTHAN 271

the home influence of his father and mother the most potent
factor in helping him to whatever success he has attained.

He was educated at the Berryville high school, Richmond
college, the University of Virginia, the Southern Baptist Theo-
logical seminary at Louisville, and at the University of Chicago.
Like the sons of so many families who lost their slaves and other
property as the result of the war, he obtained his early collegiate
education not without a struggle. Before he was seventeen^ he
began teaching a public school, located on the west bank of the
Shenandoah river, in Clarke, and taught there for three succes-
sive sessions. When nineteen, he became a colporteur and rode
horseback, with Clarke as headquarters, over the four counties in
Northern Virginia and the five in West Virginia, which com-
posed at that time the Shenandoah Baptist association. He was
in this work during three summer vacations. In October, 1891,
he became principal of the graded school at Washington, Vir-
ginia, and taught there for two sessions.

On July 31, 1892, he was ordained to the Baptist ministry at
F, T. Church, located in a valley, set like an emerald among the
mountains of his native county. This and the Baptist church at
Woodville in the same county, formed his first pastorate. His
other pastorates were at Mountain Plain and Hillsboro churches
in Albemarle, at Howard's Grove in Richmond, and at Williams-
burg, Virginia. Mr. Louthan is popular both as a minister and
as a teacher, and has friends in all parts of the state.

While pastor at Williamsburg, he was chosen, in June, 1903,
an instructor in Latin and Greek at the College of William and
Mary, which is the second oldest institution of learning in
America. The following June, he was elected adjunct professor
of Greek, French and German, and taught in these departments
for the next two sessions. In 1906, he was made adjunct profes-
sor of Latin and Greek, which position he now holds.

Mr. Louthan is a good speaker and a pleasing writer. When
at Richmond college, he won the best debater's medal of his
literary society and was twice an editor of the college magazine.
He was also on the editorial staff of the " Universitv of Vir-
ginia Magazine " and of the " Seminary Magazine," the latter
being published at Louisville, Kentucky. For five years, he

272 HENRY THOMPSON LOUTHAN

wrote " Virginia Sketches " for the " Richmond Dispatch," and
for the past nine years has written for " The Standard " of
Chicago such articles as "Do We Think in Language?," "The
Triple Cradle of the Republic," and " The Genesis of America."
In 1903, he edited " The American Baptist Pulpit," a volume
containing a sermon and the biography of a leading Baptist
minister from each state and territory of the United States. Of
this book, Doctor E. C. Dargan, of the Southern Baptist Theo-
logical seminary, says : " Mr. Louthan has done the Baptist
denomination, the cause of evangelical religion and the history
of preaching, a valuable service in the preparation of this work."

He is a master and chapter Mason, a member of the Society
for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, of the Phi Beta
Kappa society, of the Classical Association of the Middle West
and South, of the Virginia Historical society, and is Adjutant of
Magruder-Ewell Camp, Sons of Confederate veterans, at Wil-
liamsburg. He is an independent in politics, making it a rule to
vote for the man representing the best measures. For exercise
he plays lawn tennis and walks, liking especially to be in the
fields and woods.

Mr. Louthan married on March 25, 1903, Elizabeth Rowland
Hurt, a daughter of James Thomas Hurt and Anne Ewing
Thomas, of Caroline county, Virginia. They have two children,
Mary Tyler Louthan and Carter Thomas Louthan, both of whom
are now (1908) living.

His address is Williamsburg, Virginia.

JAMES GRAY MCALLISTER

MCALLISTER, JAMES GRAY, D. D., educator, was
born at Covington, Virginia, November 27, 1872. His
father, A. Addams McAllister, descended from that-
sturdy Scotch-Irish Presbyterian stock which came out of the
north of Ireland in the early part of the eighteenth century, and
settled the Cumberland Valley in Pennsylvania, and the Shenan-
doah Valley in Virginia, has been for many years one of the best
known business men in his section of the state. He was a mem-
ber of the board of visitors of the Western State hospital of Vir-
ginia at Staunton, president of the Citizens National bank of
Covington, Virginia, and is a leading Presbyterian elder, a
liberal supporter of the church at Covington, and a public school
trustee, aiding largely with both time and means in the forward-
ing of the cause of education. Mr. A. Addams McAllister mar-
ried Miss Julia Ellen Stratton, and the subject of this sketch was
the third son of their marriage.

The McAllister pedigree is traceable back to Hugh McAllis-
ter, who emigrated from Ireland about 1730, settling in Lancas-
ter county, Pennsylvania. His son, Hugh, was a soldier in the
expedition to capture Fort Duquesne, and later participated in
Pontiac's war: and in the Revolution he held successively com-
missions as lieutenant, captain and major.

A son of the second Hugh was Judge William McAllister, who
was a soldier in the American army in the War of 1812, and
later one of the judges of Juniata county, Pennsylvania ; and his
son, Captain Thompson McAllister, the father of A. A. McAllis-
ter, was captain of the 27th Virginia regiment, of the original
Stonewall brigade. Confederate States army, in the War between
the States, a friend of Stonewall Jackson and a gallant officer.

Dr. McAllister's childhood and youth were spent in the vil-
lage of his birth, where he grew up amid the surroundings of
river and mountain, engrossed alternately in the sports of boy-
hood and in pursuit of the knowledge that lies in books. His
tastes in a literary direction were early developed and at the age

274 JAMES GRAY MCALLISTER

of fifteen he began to write letters and articles for newspapers.
At seventeen he was assistant editor of a newspaper in an adjoin-
ing town; and a love of letters has characterized his life up to
the present. This literary tendency he attributes largely to his
mother, whose sincerity of nature and steadfastness in friend-
ship were potent influences upon his subsequent career.

His father, himself a man of great energy of mind and body,
taught his boys the nobility of labor from their earliest years;
and the sports and reading of Dr. McAllister's youth were accom-
panied by a healthy development of character no less than of
physical strength, in the tasks which were incident to life in the
suburbs of his native village, of looking after the stock and
carrying fuel for the family use.

He attended first a private, then a public school; and later
went to Hampden-Sidney college, where he was graduated A. B.,
with honor, in June, 1894. After leaving Hampden-Sidney he
founded in August, 1894, a weekly paper " The Bath News," at
Warm Springs, Virginia, which he edited till October, 1895,
when he became business manager of the " Central Presbyterian,"
Richmond, occupying that position until October, 1898, when he
entered Union Theological seminary, Richmond. He was grad-
uated from that institution in 1901, with the degree of B. D. ;
and continued there in post-graduate work, during the session of
1901-1902, holding the Hoge Memorial fellowship. On the con-
clusion of this course he filled for one year, in the absence of the
professor in Europe, the chair of Hebrew and Oriental Litera-
ture in the seminary, then for a year served the congregation of
the Presbyterian church at Farmville, Virginia, as minister. His
love of letters and his scholarship had in the meantime attracted
attention; and in May, 1904, he was elected adjunct professor of
Hebrew and Oriental Literature in Union Theological seminary,
from which he had graduated and which he had previously
served. He was holding this position when, in August, 1895, he
was elected president of Hampden-Sidney college, Virginia, of
which institution he is now the head.

Dr. McAllister is a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha college
fraternity, of which he was for some years general secretary;
and is a member of the Sons of Confederate veterans. In the

JAMES GRAY m'aLLISTER 275

latter organization he has also been prominent, having been for
a year on the staff of the commander-in-chief, and later chaplain
on the staff of the commander of the Virginia division. He has
written and published various pamphlets and articles; and his
amusements he includes under the heads of " tennis and reading."

He married, May 18, 1904, Meta E. Russell, daughter of
Isaac W. Russell, of Winchester, Virginia.

His address is Hampden-Sidney, Virginia.

ALLEN WASHINGTON MAGEE

MAGEE, ALLEN WASHINGTON, vice-president of the
First State Bank of Clarksville, Virginia, proprietor
of Magee?s storage and leaf tobacco warehouse and
Magee's chlorinated lithia springs, was born on a plantation in
Prince George county, on the 31st of May 1842, the son of Joseph
Magee, a farmer and wood and lumber merchant.

His boyhood was j>assed on the farm of his father. He at-
tended a county school until he was fifteen, when he removed,
with the family, to Petersburg, Virginia. After a year in school
at Petersburg, he began to assist his father in the management of
the wood and lumber business until the outbreak of the Civil war.
Enlisting in the Confederate States army as a member of Com-
pany C, 12th Virginia regiment, he was stationed at Norfolk,
Virginia, until that city was evacuated. Transferred to the
South Side of Richmond, in the lines opposed to McClellan's
army, he was engaged in the following named battles: Seven
Pines, Frasers Farm, Malvern Hill, Second Manassas, Crampton
Gap, Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, the "Wilderness, Chancellorsville,
Fredericksburg, Spottsylvania court-house, (where he was
wounded) ; Reams' Station, Burgess Mill and other engagements
near Petersburg.

For meritorious conduct, in May 1864 he was promoted from
a private to the rank of lieutenant and ensign of the 12th Virginia
regiment, Mahone's brigade, which office he held until the Con-
federate congress abolished this rank, consigning the flag to the
care of a sergeant, and at the same time granting the ensigns a
sixty days furlough.

He was at his father's house in Petersburg, Virginia, on the
2nd of April, 1865, enjojdng his furlough. Hearing distant firing
he went out to render what assistance he could, and approaching
the line near Fort Mahone, he discovered that his own command
was stationed on the opposite side of Appomattox river. An
officer in charge of an ordnance wagon, in a ravine near by, asked
Mr. Magee to assist him in taking ammunition to the front.

(J.}f^J(«-^

PU

— J

ALLEN WASHINGTON MAGEE 279

There they found the Federals in possession of the left of the
line of Fort Mahone. Volunteers were called for, to retake Fort
Mahone. With fourteen others, Ensign Magee volunteered and
they made the charge. Scaling the walls they found that the
Fort was held by three officers and sixty men, who immediately
surrendered; and taking the Captain's sword, he marched the
prisoners hurriedly across to the Confederate lines.

Returning to Petersburg, and learning that the city was
about to be evacuated, he provided himelf with rations, and join-
ing three members of the 12th Virginia regiment, who were out
on a twelve hours leave, he made his way across the Pocahontas
bridge, which was burned but a few hours afterwards. They
bivouaced for the night on a little hill so close to the Federal
troops, that the playing of the bands and the shouting at the
Federal victory reached their ears; and the next day they made
their way to the Eichmond and Petersburg railway; marching
along its line toward Richmond to join their command. They
advanced until they were stopped by a line of " blue coats ' a
little ahead of them on the railroad. Rushing through the woods,
due west, they reached the road to Chesterfield court-house, over-
took the rear guard of the Confederate troops, but a party of
four of them delaying a little were surrounded by Federal troops
and taken prisoners. The lieutenant in charge of the Federals
demanded Mr. Magee's sword and in handing it to him he said
that it was a sword he had captured from a Federal captain the
day before, and he pleasantly remarked that " fair exchange is no
robbery." On the night march that followed Lieutenant Magee
and one of his fellow prisoners by a quick assault disarmed their
two Federal guards and made their captors, in turn, their prison-
ers. They took these two Federal prisoners with them and
rejoined the Confederate troops at Appomattox where the final
surrender of General Lee's army was made.

Returning to his father's home and family in Petersburg,
Virginia, in the spring of 1865, without a dollar in the world,
and finding the family greatly reduced in circumstances by the
devastation of four years of war, Lieutenant Magee realized the
seriousness of the situation but did not despair. Seeking employ-
ment, he secured a place as clerk in a store and continued in this

280 ALLEN WASHINGTON MAGEE

position for a year and a half. Borrowing money from friends,
he then embarked in the mercantile business for himself, estab-
lishing the firm of Reid and Magee. After two years, his health
beginning to fail, he followed the advice of his physician in
seeking a less confining business. Selling his interest in the firm
of Reid and Magee, he established a tobacco business in Peters-
burg, Virginia. After two years he removed to Clarksville,
Mecklenburg county, Virginia, where he continued the tobacco
business, and there built a large storage and sales warehouse for
the sale of planters tobacco. This business has been successfully
maintained since 1879.

After the construction of the tobacco warehouse, in the search
for a reliable supply of drinking water for the town, he followed
a small stream to its source and found it flowing from a solid
rock. The situation of the spring and the appearance of its
source led to a careful chemical analysis, and to experiments to
test the medicinal qualities of the water. The properties of this
spring water have led to its being bottled and sold quite generally
throughout the country, under the name of " Magee's Chlorinated
Lithia Springs."

On the first of January, 1873, Mr. Magee married Miss
Janette Cunningham Taylor, daughter of William Taylor. They
have had ten children, three of whom, Stewart Leigh, Emmette
Franklin, and Archibald Preston, are living in 1907. Mr. Magee
has never sought political office. He is a director and vice-presi-
dent of the First State Bank of Clarksville, Virginia, proprietor
of Magee's Storage and Sales Warehouse, and Magee's Chlori-
nated Lithia Springs.

He is a Mason; an Odd Fellow; and member of the Royal
Arcanum.

He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church, South. By poli-
tical conviction he is a Democrat. He has found his favorite
forms of amusement and exercise in fishing and hunting.

EDWARD MAY MAGRUDER

MAGRUDER, EDWARD MAY, physician, was born in
Charlottesville, Virginia, November 27, 1858. He is
the son of Benjamin Henry Magruder and Anne
Evelina (Xorris) Magruder. His father, a lawyer and promi-
nent politician, was a member of the Virginia legislature, and
was also elected to the Confederate congress, but the war ended
before he took his seat. Among his paternal ancestors, Doctor
Magruder counts Alexander McGregor, of Scotland, who settled
in Calvert (now Prince George) county, Maryland, prior to
1652; Colonel Xinian Beall, of Scotland, who settled in Calvert
county, Maryland, in 1658 ; Colonel Henry Ridgely, of England,
who settled in Maryland in 1659; and Captain Edward Brock,
who settled in Maryland prior to 1681.

After attending a private country school and the academic de-
partment of the University of Virginia, and then teaching a
private school for three years, Doctor Magruder took a course of
professional study, at Bellevue Hospital Medical college, in
1882-83; at the University of Virginia, from which he was grad-
uated with the degre of M. D., in 1883-84, and at the New York
Polyclinic, in 1884-85.

He began the active work of life at Charlottesville, Virginia,
in 1885, in the practice of medicine. Since that time he has been
clinical instructor in medicine at the University of Vrginia, and
member of the Virginia state board of medical examiners. He
is now (1907) instructor in physical diagnosis at the University
of Virginia; local surgeon at Charlottesville, Virginia, for the
Southern Railway company, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Rail-
way company; and is a member and is serving for one year as
president of the Piedmont Medical association. He is a member
of the Virginia State Medical society, of the Association of
Southern Railway surgeons, and is vice-president of the board
of directors and consulting physician of the Hill Crest sanita-
rium, near Charlottesville, Virginia, and a member of the medi-
cal staff of the University of Virginia hospital. He is the author

282 EDWARD MAY MAGRUDER

of a " Guide to Physical Diagnosis," which was published in
1897 and of which a second edition, revised and improved, is
now going through the press. He was first lieutenant of the
Albemarle light horse, Troop K, Virginia volunteers, at its re-
organization in 1892, and served with his troop when it was sent
to Pocahontas, Virginia, to control the strike of the miners.

In politics, Dr. Magruder is a Democrat; in religion, a
Presbyterian.

On December 16, 1896, he was married to Mary Cole
Gregory. They have had five children, of whom three are now
(1907) living.

His address is 1 "West Jefferson Street, Charlottesville, Vir-
ginia.

JOHN E. MASON

MASON, JOHN E., circuit judge, was born at Edge Hill,
Albemarle county, Virginia, July 11, 1854. His
father was Charles Mason, of Alto, King George
county, Virginia, and his mother Maria Jefferson Carr Mason
(nee Randolph) who was a daughter of Thomas Jefferson Ran-
dolph and Jane Nicholas Randolph, of Edge Hill, and great-
granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson. His father was an intelli-
gent and successful farmer and a prominent citizen, representing
his district in the Virginia senate in the good old ante bellum
days when Virginia's best men filled her public offices. His
marked characteristics were great will power, indomitable
energy, and sound judgment.

Judge Mason numbers among his ancestry such distinguished
men as Thomas Jefferson, Archibald Cary, Thomas Mann Ran-
dolph, Governor Nicholas, and others who bore an important
part in the history of Virginia and of the country.

With such a distinguished ancestry, it is no wonder that
Judge Mason has taken so high a stand among his people. In
early childhood and youth he had great fondness for boating,
hunting, and horses. He had a taste for reading, especially
poetry and light literature, but little inclination for hard study
until he was seventeen years old. He was reared in the country,
but had no occasion for manual labor. His accomplished mother
had great influence on his intellectual, moral, and spiritual life.
He found most helpful in fitting him for his work in life the
reading and study of the Bible, Shakespeare, the English and
American poets, Macaulay, and translations of ancient classics.
Judge Mason has, of course, as an active lawyer made the law his
constant and laborious studv, and has devoted most of his time to
that, other reading and others pursuits being merely incidental.
He has thus become " learned in the law," and is regarded as a
high authority on the most difficult legal questions.

Judge Mason's elementary education was received at Bethel
Military academy in Fauquier county, Virginia, and at Locust

284 JOHN E. MASON

f

Dale academy, Madison county — two of the best academies in
the state. In 1874, he entered the University of Virginia and
took law for one year under the great law teacher Dr. John B.
Minor. In 1878, he graduated with the degree of B. L. at the
law school of Columbian university, Washington, District of
Columbia, now the George Washington university. His own
feelings and wishes prompted him to choose the law as his pro-
fession, and he began its practice in King George county, Vir-
ginia.

John E. Mason's first strong impulse to strive for such prizes
in life as he has won came to him at school in contests for prizes
there ; and ever afterwards he has had the same strong ambition
to be in the front rank in whatever he undertook. Home, school,
early companionship, private study, and contact with men in
active life, all have exerted strong influence upon his success in
life, but the influence of home has predominated.

Judge Mason has devoted himself enthusiastically to the
practice of his profession as a lawyer, ever since his admission to
the bar in September, 1878. He was elected three times common-
wealth's attorney of King George county, and discharged the
duties of that office with great ability.

His popularity among his own people was fully evinced by
the fact that, though he has always been an ardent and enthu-
siastic Democrat, he was elected three times to the Virginia
house of delegates (serving from 1889 to 1895), and then to the
Virginia senate, in a district that was strongly Republican. In
1898, he resigned his seat in the senate to accept the judgeship of
the tenth circuit, to which he had been elected; and in the reor-
ganization of the judicial districts of the state under the new
constitution, he was elected judge of the fifteenth circuit without
opposition.

As member of the legislature, he was industrious, efficient and
reliable, served on some of the most important committees, and
was always regarded as one of the most useful members of the
body. As a judge, he has commanded the highest respect of the
bar and of the people, and his decisions have been generally con-
firmed by the court of appeals of Virginia.

He has thus been, and is, one of the most useful citizens of

JOHN E. MASON 285

Virginia, and is the center of a large circle of admiring friends
and fellow citizens. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal
church, a vestryman of St. John's church, King George? and an
active layman.

Judge Mason suggests to young Americans as necessary to
the highest success in life, " Sobriety, honesty, energy, and high
moral and religious training." Our young men may well take
Judge John E. Mason, the descendant of a long line of illustrious
ancestors and worthy of his forbears, as a model for their study
and imitation.

On November 24, 1885, Judge Mason married Kate Kearney
Henry. They have had three children, two of whom are now
living.

Judge Mason and his family reside in Fredericksburg, Vir-
ginia.

Vol. 4— Va.— 14

OTHO FREDERICK MEARS

MEARS, OTHO FREDERICK, was born near Keller,
Accomac county, Virginia, June 4, 1862, and the name
of his father was Benjamin W. Mears and that of his
mother Emma S. Mapp. Farming was the profession of his
father, who also held the offices of road surveyor and public
school trustee. He was a man noted for his industry, aggressive-
ness and integrity, and who valued truth above all things. The
ancestors of Otho Mears are identified with the history of the
Eastern Shore, where they settled at a very early period.

The subject of this sketch was a child of delicate health, but
brought up on a farm his physical condition improved. He
began outdoor labor at ten years of age, and when about twelve
worked constantly in the fields, plowing and following other
manual occupations. This, of course, was in the intervals when
he was not at the public school which was taught, however, only
five or six months during the year. "When he was fifteen-and-a-
half years of age, his father sent him to school at Onancock
academy, Onancock, Virginia, where he continued three-and-a
half sessions. Then he studied two years at Randolph-Macon
college, at Ashland, Virginia, after which he returned to the
Eastern Shore and taught school for two years at Accomac court-
house, 1883-1885, in order to make some money to take a law
course. This selection of a profession was mainly the work of
his father, who always said, " he intended to make a lawyer of
him;" and attendance upon courts and reading biographies con-
firmed the son in the choice thus early determined. While per-
forming the duties of a teacher, he helped on the farm during
vacation, and did ordinary farm work, any labor, in fact, that
came to hand.

At length, in 1885, Mr. Mears was enabled to attend the cele-
brated law school of John B. Minor and James H. Gilmore at the
University of Virginia, where in a single session he completed the
course and graduated June 30, 1886, with the degree of B. L.,
since which time he has been actively engaged in the practice of
law.

L*£

B

BM„w_-_ -J

OTHO FREDERICK MEARS 289

After a short period of practice in Accomac he formed a
partnership with the late Thomas C. Walston, and located in
Eastville, Northampton county. In December, 1887, Mr.
Walston died, and his practice fell to his partner, who from that
time was considered one of the leading lawyers on the Eastern
Shore. On the fourth Thursday in May, 1895, Mr. Mears was
elected to the office of commonwealth's attorney, and after four
years was again elected for another term. At neither election did
he encounter any opposition, and he would have been elected for
the third time, had he not declined to accept a nomination.
Since 1904 he has confined himself wholly to his own private pur-
suits as a lawyer.

The books which Mr. Mears has found more helpful to him
in his labors of life have been the Bible, Shakespeare, and
biographies of eminent men. The spirit, however, of the old
days still lingers with him, and he finds relaxation from mental
work in farming and witnessing athletic games — especially base-
ball. From his own experience the virtues most worthy to be
cultivated and, in fact, most profitable from a mere commercial
standpoint, are " strict regard for truth, hard work, sticktoitive-
ness, and square dealings." He writes : " I would advise that
one should not be too anxious to obtain wealth, and should by all
means avoid get-rich-quick schemes. The attainment of the
greatest wealth does not mean the greatest success."

In politics Mr. Mears is a Democrat, who has never deserted
the colors of his party, and in religious preferences he endorses
the tenets of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He is a
director in the L. E. Mumford Banking company, and in the
Eastern Shore of Virginia Fire Insurance company. He is a
member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, and of the Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons, Lodge 234.

On November 19, 1890, Mr. Mears married Florence R. Hol-
land, daughter of N. L. Holland. They have had seven children,
of whom six are now (1908) living.

His address is Eastville, Northampton County, Virginia.

J. JUDSON MONTAGUE

MONTAGUE, J. JUDSON, was born in Norfolk county,
Virginia, on the 4th of September, 1838. His father,
the late William Valentine Montague, was a planter
and a man of broad and extensive travel. His earliest ancestor
in this country was Peter Montague, of Buckinghamshire county,
England, who came to Virginia in 1621, was a planter and a
member of house of burgesses, and died in Lancaster county in
1659.

Mr. Montague's early boyhood was passed in the country
amid the happy surroundings of the ante bellum days, but before
attaining his majority the practical work of an unusually active
business life was begun in the city of Norfolk. After a brief
period in mercantile business the foundation of his real life work
was started by a four years' course in architecture and applied
mechanics in Pennsylvania, which was interrupted by the out-
break of the Civil war.

At the very commencement of hostilities Mr. Montague re-
turned to his native state and promptly enlisted in the 19th Vir-
ginia artillery. During the first three years of the war he saw
active duty in the field; the last year he was detailed on special
duty in the Naval Ordnance department, was captured in 1865
and was paroled with the Army of Northern Virginia at the close
of the war.

Mr. Montague at once established a lumber and manufactur-
ing business, which still bears his name, and which is to-day one
of the largest and best known industries of its kind in the South.
He is also president of the Lyon and Montague Wholesale Lum-
ber company, and it has been to the development and advance-
ment of this line of business that his talents and ability have been
mainly devoted until he has come to be regarded as one of the
foremost experts in the state.

His efforts and experience, however, have by no means been
confined to one class of industry. As vice-president of the South-
ern Biscuit works, president of the North Birmingham Building

Was '

I

•

J. JUDSOX MONTAGUE 293

association, vice-president of the Peninsula Water company,
president of the Clifton Forge Water company, and vice-presi-
dent of the William R. Trigg Shipbuilding company, his expe-
rience has been wide, and the prominent positions which he has
held and still occupies in the various branches of industry, testify
to the esteem and confidence with which he is regarded, as well as
to the reliance which is placed in his business judgment and per-
sonal integrity. He was one of the charter members of the
Richmond Locomotive works, and at the time it was consolidated
with the American Locomotive company, and for years prior
thereto, was its vice-president.

For the past twenty-five years Mr. Montague has been
officially connected with the Planters National Bank, of Rich-
mond. A director in this institution during the entire period, at
one time its president and now its vice-president, he has of late
years devoted much of his time and thought to financial matters
and has attained a position in the banking circles of his city
scarcely second to that which he occupies in the lumber world.

He is a blue lodge Royal Arch and Knight Templar Mason,
and a member of various social organizations. As a Democrat he
has been unswerving in his party allegiance. He is a member of
the Baptist church.

Out of door life has always held for Mr. Montague the
attractions which proved so alluring to Virginians of the ante
bellum days. His horses, his dogs, his rods and his guns have
of late years become more intimate friends than when in the rush
of active business life he was compelled to lay them aside.
Rarely now a season passes that he does not have a try at the
trout and the deer in the woods of Maine and the fish and the
partridge in Virginia and North Carolina.

On the 26th of November, 1867, Mr. Montague was married
to Miss Kate S. Warren, daughter of the late Thomas P. Warren,
of Norfolk.

When one reviews the life of a man who for forty years and
more, since the war, and during that troublous time, has occupied
positions of such prominence in the business and social life of the
capital city of Virginia, he is led to believe that honest effort,

294 J. JUDSON MONTAGUE

indomitable will, and a determination to succeed, will produce
most gratifying results.

Mr. J. J. Montague is a gentleman of the " old school,"
exemplifying all that the term implies, and such men fill a very
significent place in the roll-call of " Men of Mark in Virginia."

His address is Richmond, Virginia.

JAMES WILLIAMS MORTON

MOKTON, JAMES WILLIAMS, lawyer and jurist, was
bom in Orange county, Virginia, November 8, 1843.
His father was Doctor George Morton, a physician of
that county; and his mother was Elizabeth Williams.

Judge Morton is of English extraction; and the American
line of Mortons is said to begin with George Morton, who is de-
scribed as a merchant of York, England. He was at Leyden in
Holland with John Robinson's company, and it was there that he
married Juliana Carpenter of Bath, England, June 23, 1612.
Eleven years later, with his wife and five children, he came to
America in the ship Anne. The first free public school in
America is said to have been established by John Morton at Ply-
mouth, Massachusetts, in 1641. Members of the family appear
to have come South ; for it is stated that under the early colonial
system of government in Carolina devised by Locke, Joseph
Morton, who settled there in 1682, became a landgrave, or noble-
man, and was given some fifty thousand acres of land to support
his title. A George Morton appears on the public records of
Spottsyl vania county, Virginia, as early as 1743.

Among the distinguished kinsmen of Judge James Williams
Morton, of the Morton name, were the two brothers of his father,
Jackson Morton, United States senator from Florida, and Jere-
miah Morton, member of the United States house of representa-
tives from the eighth Virginia district. Jackson Morton, who
was born in Spottsylvania county, Virginia, and moved to
Florida, was elected to the LTnited States senate as a Whig in
1848, and served from 1849 to 1855. During the War between
the States he was a member of the Confederate congress.
Through his influence in securing the appointment of a Secretary
of legation at Madrid, about the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury, Senator Morton is said to have been the means of acquiring
the very valuable series of manuscripts on the subject of the
Spanish history of Louisiana and Florida, which were later pub-
lished by the Bradford club.

296 JAMES WILLIAMS MORTON

James Williams Morton grew up in the country, where like
many Virginia country bred boys of his time, he found great
pleasure in hunting and horseback riding. He had no set tasks
involving manual labor but worked on his father's farm, and
received compensation for his services. His earlier education
was obtained in the " old field schools " of that period ; and later
he attended, for a short time, Randolph-Macon college.

In the War between the States Judge Morton served for
several years as a private in Company K, 2nd Virginia cavalry,
and was severely wounded May 8, 1864, in the battle of Spottsyl-
vania court-house.

After the close of the war he determined to study medicine.
He entered the medical class of the University of Virginia in the
fall of 1866, and graduated in the summer of 1867. Determining
later to give up medicine, and follow the law, he studied law
privately ; and in 1869 was admitted to the bar and began practice
at Culpeper. He served as attorney for the commonwealth for
Culpeper county for some five or six years, first by appointment
of court, and afterwards by election by the people. In 1879 he
purchased a farm in Orange county; and in 1883 he moved to
Orange court-house. In 1887 Judge Morton was elected to the
house of delegates in the general assembly of Virginia. He
served one term in the legislature and declined to accept a re-
nomination. In 1891 he was elected judge of the county court
of Orange county, and served as such from 1892 to 1904, when
the county court system was abolished by the new constitution of
Virginia.

Judge Morton is a member of the secret order of the Knights
of Pythias. He is affiliated with the Democratic party and is a
member of the Protestant Episcopal church.

On November 29, 1876, he married Emily D. Harper. Of
their marriage have been born eight children, of whom five are
now living.

His address is Orange, Virginia.

JAMES MADISON MULLEN

MULLEN, JAMES MADISON, lawyer, jurist, was born
in Pasquotank county, North Carolina, September 10,
1845, son of James W. and Susan Williams (Clary)
Mullen. His father was a well-to-do farmer of sterling integrity,
of English and Irish descent, whose forebears were natives of
North Carolina for a number of generations. In 1849, he re-
moved to Hertford, the county seat of the adjoining county of
Perquimans, and here the early life of the son, James Madison,
was passed. He attended the village public schools and Hert-
ford Male academy, and, but for the breaking out of the Civil
war, would have entered the sophomore class of the University of
North Carolina, in September, 1861. He was thoroughly
possessed, however, by the war spirit of the time, and in Feb-
ruary, 1862, after earnest and repeated solicitation, he was per-
mitted by his parents to enlist in the service of the Confederate
states. He served until October, 1863, in the Virginia batten7 of
Captain S. Taylor Martin, Bogg's battalion of light artillery;
was then transferred to Captain L. H. Webb's North Carolina
batterv of the same battalion, with which he served until the
close of the war, and was mustered out as corporal or gunner.

After the war, Mr. Mullen taught school for some time, and,
in 1866, was appointed register of deeds for Perquimans county,
which latter office he held for a little over two vears. While hold-
ing this position he devoted his leisure hours to the study of law,
was admitted to the bar in 1869 and located for the practice of
his profession in Halifax county, North Carolina. Here he gave
his time unremittingly to the law, and speedily reached a place of
prominence at the bar. In January, 1885, he took his seat in the
state senate of North Carolina, as a member of the county of
Halifax, where he served one term. In July, 1886, he changed
his residence to the city of Petersburg, Virginia, where he has
since lived in the pursuit of his profession and in the discharge of
official duties. In May, 1888, he was elected commonwealth's
attorney for the city of Petersburg for the term beginning July

298 JAMES MADISON MULLEN

1, of that year, and held that office continuously until July 1,
1894. In September of the latter year, he was appointed by
Governor Charles T. O'Ferrall, judge of the hustings or corpo-
ration court of the city of Petersburg, to fill the vacancy caused
by the death of the late Honorable D. M. Bernard. On the
expiration of Judge Bernard's unexpired term, he was reelected
by the legislature to the same position and is the present in-
cumbent.

In politics Judge Mullen is a Democrat, in religion, a mem-
ber of the Protestant Episcopal church, and fraternally a non-
affiliating member of the Masons. His public and private career
has been characterized by regular methods and habits, faithful
performance of duty, and a thoughtful consideration of the
rights of others. For this reason he is held in high esteem by his
fellow-townsmen and a widge range of acquaintances through-
out the state.

On October 13, 1875, he married Evelyn A. Grigg, daughter
of Wesley and Augustina F. Grigg. They have four children
now (1908) living, three boys and one girl.

The address of Judge Mullen is Petersburg, Virginia.

JOHN SINCLAIR MUNCE

MUNCE, JOHN SINCLAIR, since 1885 general eastern
agent for Kingan and Company, Limited, packers, of
Indianapolis ; for several years a director of the Rich-
mond chamber of commerce, in which he helped to organize the
traffic bureau of the chamber; since 1902, secretary and treasurer
of the Union Theological seminary in Virginia, and since 1907,
chairman of the finance committee of that seminary— a citizen
prominently connected with many of the leading enterprises of
Richmond, was born in Donegal County, Ireland, on the 8th of
August, 1860.

His father, David Munce, was a civil engineer, of marked
ability in his profession, " kind, genial and generous." His
mother was Mrs. Mary (Lockhart) Munce, of whom her son says
that he counts the strongest influence for good in his life to have
been that of his early home, presided over by " a godly mother,
refined and cultivated, gentle and loving in heart and disposition,
who trained her sons to fear God and love their fellowmen, and
was herself beloved by all who knew her." His early studies
were carried on at first under his mother's guidance; and it was
her earnest wish to have her son receive his business training
under God-fearing business men of integrity and ability which
led to his first business engagement with the firm of J. and T.
Sinclair, of Belfast, Ireland, with whose business interests he has
ever since retained a connection.

As a boy, he had sound, vigorous health, and his boyhood
was passed partly in the city of Belfast, Ireland, and partly in
the country. He entered into his first business engagement when
he was but thirteen years old ; but he went on with regular study
in evening classes until he was nineteen. This habit of evening
study along lines which interested him he has continued through-
out his life, at first under the influence and guidance of his
mother, and later in the companionship of his wife, who shares
his tastes and his love of books.

On the 17th of April, 1888, he married Miss Lelia Gilliam,

302 JOHN SINCLAIR MUNCE

daughter of George W. Gilliam, a prominent tobacco manu-
facturer, of Richmond, Virginia. They have had four sons, three
of whom are living in 1907.

For the eleven years from 1873 to 1884, Mr. Munce filled
various clerical positions with the firm of J. and T. Sinclair,
merchants, of Belfast, Ireland, advancing steadily in the rank of
the positions which he held. In 1884, acting on the advice of Mr.
Thomas Sinclair, he came to America, to take a position with
Kingan and Company, Limited, packers, at Indianapolis,
Indiana — a corporation in which the Messrs. Sinclair have large
interests. After a year spent in Indiana, in 1885 he came to Vir-
ginia, to open up the business of that company through the South-
eastern states; and for the last twenty-two years he has had the
general supervision of their business interests in the Atlantic
coast states. His entire business life has thus kept him in the
closest association with the same people with whom he began as a
junior clerk at the age of thirteen.

Mr. Munce deems himself fortunate in having had as his
early employers men of strong religious character, who were
champions of righteousness both in business life and private life
— men whose strict integrity was known by all, whose word was
counted by all men as good as their bond, who were truthful, just
and honest in little things as well as in the greater things of life,
and carrying their religion into their daily business, and living
in the fear of God, were in every sense of the word successful
business men.

On coming to Richmond, Mr. Munce presented letters of per-
sonal introduction to that beloved Presbyterian pastor and
preacher, the Rev. Moses D. Hoge, D. D. Dr. Hoge gave to him
personal friendship, exceptional in its intimacy between men who
differed so much in age, and rich in its influence for good over the
younger man.

The associations of his early home, the example of the busi-
ness men who formed his standards in business life, and the
steadfast purpose of Mr. Munce himself, have all tended to make
him a public-spirited man of business, deeply interested in all
that concerns the most honorable and efficient civic life and busi-
ness methods, as well as the church life and the public morality

JOHN SINCLAIR MUNCE 303

of the city of his adoption and residence. While he has been
steadily engaged in organizing and developing new business, and
has known the intense pressure of engagements which is involved
in successful work of that kind, he has not hesitated to take time
from his own business for such service of the city and the church,
as he has felt that he might be able efficiently to render.

He was for several vears a director of the Richmond cham-
ber of commerce ; and, as already indicated, he was exceptionally
efficient in organizing the traffic bureau of that chamber. He has
written various articles, at the request of the local newspapers,
upon the development of various business interests of Richmond
and upon the advantages of Richmond as a business center. In-
deed, he has taken an active part in most of the special move-
ments and new enterprises connected with the development of
trade and commerce in Richmond for the last twenty years.

He does not forget the interests of employees; and in 1894
he started the movement for the general adoption of the Saturday
half -holiday in Richmond, advocating it from the platform and
in the press, and after considerable opposition succeeding in
securing the general observance of Saturday afternoon as a legal
half-holiday in the business of Richmond.

Mr. Munce is a member of the Presbvterian church and has
been for years an elder in the Second Presbyterian church at
Richmond and the superintendent of its Sunday school. He has
taken an active part in city mission work; and he helped to
organize the Hoge Memorial church. He was a delegate to the
General Asspmbly of the Presbyterian Church, South at its meet-
ing at Atlanta in 1900. He there made a speech in favor of rais-
ing a fund to support the aged and infirm ministers of the church ;
and the outcome of that speech was the organization of the
Ministerial Relief Fund of the Presbyterian Church, South,
which is doing a beneficent work.

Mr. Munce has also taken an interest in the Young Men's
Christian Association of Richmond ; and he has three times been
offered the presidency of that institution; but other demands
upon his time prevented his accepting the position.

Mr. Munce has been a member of the Presbyterian Com-
mittee of publication, and has rendered efficient service as the

304 JOHN SINCLAIR MUNCE

chairman of its business sub- committee. He is a member of the
executive committee of the Western Alliance of the churches
holding the Reformed Faith, (the Pan-Presbyterian Council).

From 1902 to 1907, he served as secretary and treasurer of
the Union Theological seminary in Virginia; and since he re-
signed these offices, on account of the pressure of other duties, he
has continued to be chairman of the finance committee of the
seminary.

He has been, since 1901, a trustee of Washington and Lee
university. He is a member of the Westmoreland club, and of
the Hermitage Golf club of Richmond ; and also of the Southern
club of Philadelphia. He has always found his favorite forms
of exercise and relaxation in travel and reading.

His address is 5 West Main Street, Richmond, Virginia.

BEVERLEY BLAND MUNFORD

MUNFORD, BEVERLEY BLAND, was bom in Rich-
mond, Virginia, September 10, 1856, and his parents
were John D. Munford and Margaret X. Copland.
His father was a lawyer and farmer of character and energy, and
his ancestors were among the most prominent people in Virginia.
Robert Munford, of Prince George county, married, in 1701,
Martha Kennon, daughter of Richard Kennon, of Bermuda Hun-
dred, on James river and Elizabeth Worsham, his wife, daughter
of William Worsham. Richard Kennon was the first of that
name in Virginia, was a prominent merchant, and was justice
and burgess of Henrico county. Robert Munford and Martha
Kennon his wife, had a son named Robert, who married Anna
Bland, daughter of Colonel Richard Bland, of Jordan's Point,
and Elizabeth Randolph, daughter of Colonel William Ran-
dolph, of Turkey Island. The second Robert Munford was a
member of the house of burgesses, and Robert Munford, his son,
the third of the name, was county lieutenant of Mecklenburg
county, and member of the house of burgesses, who married
Anna Beverley, daughter of William Beverley of Essex. Among
his children was William Munford, who studied law at William
and Mary college under Chancelor Wythe, and was the compiler
of Munford's reports and the author of a translation of Homer's
Iliad, which ranks with Pope's as one of the best of its kind.
He married Sarah, daughter of William and Mary (Winston)
Radford, and had issue John D. Munford, father of the subject
of this sketch.

His early life was passed on a farm immediately adjacent to
the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, and he had the usual duties
of the period immediately succeeding the War between the States
of a Virginia boy on a farm. In obtaining an education he had
to encounter many difficulties resulting from the dire poverty of
the country. He attended William and Mary college, but did
not stay long enough to graduate. He was fond of books, how-
ever, and was a great reader of history and biography, and his

306 BEVERLEY BLAND MUNFORD

mind was naturally receptive of literary information. The fact
that his father and grandfather were lawyers, and the natural
bent of his own mind, determined him to be a lawyer also, and he
spent some time at the University of Virginia preparing for the
bar. In 1878 he began the practice of his profession at Chatham,
in Pittsylvania county, and his extraordinary powers soon
brought him into notice. His brilliant mind and versatile tal-
ents commanded success, and it was not long before he was sent
from Pittsylvania county and the City of Danville as delegate to
the legislature, where he continued by successive elections six
years. In 1884, he was an elector on the Cleveland and Hen-
dricks electoral ticket. In 1888, he moved to Richmond, where
he formed a partnership with Judge Waller R. Staples and did
an extensive law business. Here he was soon sent to the house of
delegates and afterwards to the senate.

On the death of Judge Staples, about ten years after the
partnership was first formed, he associated himself with Henry
W. Anderson; and two years later established a new firm under
the name of " Munford, Hunton, Williams and Anderson," with
Eppa Hunton, Jr., Edmund Randolph Williams and Henry W.
Anderson as his partners. The business of this firm consists
largely of corporation practice, being the retained counsel for
many railroads, street cars, insurance companies, banks and other
corporations.

Mr. Munford has always been interested in insurance com-
panies and banks and was one of the founders and the first presi-
dent of the South Atlantic Life Insurance company, of Rich-
mond, Virginia. He was also a member of the first board of
directors of the Virginia Trust company and of the Richmond
Trust and Safe Deposit company, and he is now a director of the
Merchant's National bank and the Bank of Richmond, both
located at Richmond, Virginia.

Mr. Munford has made many addresses before literary
societies, and is the author of a charming book entitled " Random
Recollections," which shows very attractively the finer qualities
of his mind. In recognition of his literary tastes he was elected
a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society, and he is also a mem-
ber of the executive committee of the Virginia Historical society.

BEVERLEY BLAND MUNE0RD 307

He is a delightful conversationalist and very sociable in his
nature, and while at college was a member of the Pi Kappa
Alpha fraternity, and is now a member of the Westmoreland club
of Richmond. In politics, he is a Democrat who has been loyal
to the party, and in religion he is a Protestant Episcopalian,
being one of the vestry of St. Paul's church in Richmond.
Horseback riding, golf and walking are his favorite forms of
relaxation. Asked to offer some suggestions to young men cal-
culated to strengthen their ideals and to aid them in attaining
true success, he advises the studv and imitation of the lives and
sentiments of great Americans like Washington, Jefferson, Madi-
son, Franklin, Marshall and Robert E. Lee. Finally, in estimat-
ing the relative weight of the influences that have molded his life,
he savs " Home and contact with men in active life have exerted
greater influence upon me than any other agencies."

On Xovember 22, 1893, he married Mary Cooke Branch, of
Richmond, and thev have had two children, both of whom are
living at the present (1908) writing. Mrs. Munford is a charm-
ingly refined lady of unusual intelligence and ability, and to her,
as one of the most active members of the Co-operative Education
association of Virginia, is due much of the credit for the in-
creased interest in education which now prevails in Virginia.

Mr. Munford's address is Xumber 503 East Grace Street.
Richmond, Virginia.

Vol. 4— Va.— 15

JOHN HENRY NEFF

NEFF, JOHX HEXRY, physician, was born near New
Market, Shenandoah county, Virginia, October 11,
1843. His father was Daniel Neff, who was a farmer,
and a member of the German Baptist, or Dunkard church, whose
creed forbids the holding of office, the ownership of slaves, or
the bearing of arms by its members. Dr. Neff's mother was
Elizabeth Garber.

Dr. Neff is fourth in lineal descent from Dr. John Henry
Neff, a native of Switzerland, who came to America in 1720, and
settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, whence he emigrated
to Virginia in 1749, and bought twelve hundred acres of land in
the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Lord Fairfax. This land
is still nearly all owned by the descendants of the emigrant doc-
tor, either in the male or female line.

Dr. NefF grew up in the country, with a vigorous and
healthy physical constitution, and with a strong inclination as a
boy for mental work. He was required to do set tasks at home
before and after school hours; and in vacation he worked in the
fields. He has found that this regime of his early life was a
fit schooling for life's later duties.

He attended the country schools until 1861, when he entered
the arnry. After the war he took an academic course at Roanoke
college. He then went to the University of Virginia, from
which institution he was graduated in 1870. In 1873, he began
the general practice of medicine in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in
which he has been continuously and successfully engaged.

He has been a member of the Virginia state board of health
since 1894. From 1885 to 1892 he was a member of the medical
examining board of the state; and he has been a director of the
First National bank of Harrisonburg since 1898. He has been
chairman of the board of trustees of the Harrisonburg public
schools since 1893. He is a member of the Virginia Medical
society and of the American Medical association.

In the War between the States, Dr. Neff was a soldier in the

JOHN HENRY NEFF 309

army of the Confederate states for nearly four years, serving
the latter part of that period as third lieutenant in Rice's battery.

He is a Democrat; but voted for McKinley for president on
the money question. He is a member of the Protestant Episco-
pal church. He married November 1, 1883, Brownie Morison, of
Martinsburg, West Virginia. Of their marriage were born six
children all of whom are now living.

His address is Harrisonburg, Eockingham County, Virginia.

HARMAN NEWBERRY

-V T EWBEERY, HARMAN, farmer and dealer in cattle, of
^ Bland court-house, Bland county, Virginia, was born on
the 13th of September, 1826, near the town where he
still resides. His father, Allen Taylor Newberry, was a farmer;
and his mother was Mrs. Elizabeth (Bogle) Newberry, daughter
of Robert and Rachel Dunn Bogle, of Bland, Virginia. His
mother's grandfather, Ralph Bogle, came from Ireland to Vir-
ginia. On his father's side the family are also of Irish descent.

Born in the country, he has always resided where he now
lives ; and in his boyhood and during his manhood he has known
perfect health. He can hardly remember the time when he was
not able to ride and manage horses ; and as he early became fond
of trading in live stock and horses, he has ridden in the saddle
over a very large part of his native state. While a boy, he
worked to earn money to pay his expenses while he studied at
college. He received a good English education at Emory and
Henry college, at Emory, Virginia.

During his business life he has been successfully engaged in
farming, grazing large numbers of cattle and trading in the
same. He is also an extensive and very prosperous dealer in
mineral lands. During the Civil war he acted as deputy sheriff
and after the war he was elected to that position.

His earlier political affiliations were with the Democratic
party ; but coming to believe in the policy of protection by tariff,
he became a Republican under President McKinley's administra-
tion; and since that time he has been identified with the Repub-
lican party. Mr. Newberry became a Mason, in 1862.

Through family associations he is identified with the Metho-
dist Eiriscopal Church, South, although he is not himself a mem-
ber of that organization.

His favorite form of recreation and amusement has always
been exercise in the saddle ; and so fond is he of horse-back riding
that he feels that a large part of his active business life which he

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HARM AH NEWBEKRl 313

has spent in saddle exercise has been in itself a recreation and
a means of health.

On the Sth of May, 1855, Mr. Newberry married Miss Mary-
Ann McDonald, daughter of William and Maria McDonald, of
Oceana. Wyoming county, West Virginia. Of their seven chil-
dren, four are living in 1907.

FRANK GUY NEWBILL

NEWBILL, FRANK GUY, lawyer, was born in Essex
county, Virginia, December 1, 1872. His parents were
William Jeffries Newbill, and Annie Elizabeth Cau-
thorn. His father is a physician by profession, and is a man of
prominence and influence in his community, having filled a num-
ber of positions of dignity and importance, including among
others that of county magistrate, public school trustee, chairman
of the Democratic county committee, and member of the Lan-
caster county board of health. He is also a surgeon in the marine
hospital service of the United States.

Mr. Xewbill's great-grandfather on the paternal side was
William Newbill, who came to Virginia from England in the
eighteenth century, and settled in Essex county.

Mr. Newbill grew up in the country with a robust and vigor-
ous constitution, and with the liking of the healthy country boy
for hunting and for outdoor sports. His early education was
acquired at Aberdeen academy, in King and Queen county;
Virginia, and at the Chesapeake academy in Lancaster county;
after which he attended Randolph-Macon college, at Ashland,
Virginia, from which he was graduated in 1893 with the degree
of Master of Arts.

After leaving college Mr. Newbill taught school in the
Chesapeake academy at Irvington in Lancaster county, of which
he was principal; and while a student at Randolph-Macon, he
was assistant professor of mathematics in the college.

In 1895 he entered the law school of the Universitv of Vir-
ginia, where he remained for two sessions, graduating in 1897
with the degree of Bachelor of Law.

He was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of his
profession in Lancaster county, where he has since continued in
its pursuit. In 1904 he was elected commonwealth's attorney
for Lancaster county, which office he now (1907) holds.

Mr. Newbill is a member of the Phi Kappa Sigma college
fraternity, and of the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity. He is
also a Mason, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel-

FRANK GUY NEWBILL 315

lows and a member of the board of trust-ees of the Odd Fellows'
home at Lynchburg, Virginia.

He is a Democrat, and has never changed his party allegiance
on any issue. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, and is unmarried.

His address is Irvin^ton, Lancaster County. Virginia.

™ 7 «/ 7 O

WILLIAM WHITEHURST OLD

OLD, WILLIAM WHITEHURST. was born in Princess
Anne county, Virginia, November 17, 1840. and his
parents were Jonathan Whitehead Old and Anne Eliza-
beth Whitehurst. On his father's and mother's side he is de-
scended from old Virginia ancestors, who settled in the country
in the infancy of the colony. In the county life of Princess
Ann the Whitehursts and Olds held a prominent part, and
Thomas Old, who was one of them, was a member of the com-
mittee of safety of Princess Anne county during the Revolution.

William W. Old was first educated in the county schools of
Princess Anne, but, coming to Norfolk in 1855, he attended
Southgate's school and also the Norfolk Military academy
in that city. In the early part of 1856 he entered the
Albemarle Military institute managed by Colonel John B.
Strange, in Charlottesville. Virginia, where he continued till
February. 1858. He then went to Brown and Tebbs' school till
the ensuing July, and finally entered the University of Virginia
in the fall of the same year. At this great seat of learning he
continued three years and in July. 1861, graduated with the
degree of Master of Arts.

In the meantime, howeyer, the great Civil war broke out
between the North and the South, and before the end of the year,
Mr. Old joined the University yolunteers and was elected second
lieutenant. After this, for oyer four years, his life was spent in the
camp and on the march, varied occasionally with skirmishes and
battles. He seiwed with Wise's legion until December. 1861,
when the company was disbanded. Afterwards he joined the
14th Virginia regiment and took part in the battle of Seven
Pines, where he received a severe wound. In August. 1862, he
was appointed assistant quartermaster and was stationed at Bat-
tery Number 9, near Richmond. In May, 1863, he was appointed

WILLIAM WHITEHURST OLD 317

on the staff of Major Edward Johnson, and served in the Gettys-
burg and other campaigns until December of that year, when he
resigned his commission as quartermaster and was made aide-de-
camp. After General Edward Johnson was captured at the
Bloody Angle, May 12, 1864, Mr. Old was transferred to the
staff of General Ewell, and served until that officer was relieved
from the command of the second corps in June, 1864. He then
served on the staff of General Jubal A. Early through the Valley
and Maryland campaigns until August 12, 1864, when he re-
sumed his position on the staff of General Johnson, who had
been exchanged and was now assigned to the army of General
Hood in the West. In this connection he served until October
30, 1864, when he was wounded at Florence, Alabama, and dis-
abled from further service during the war. After a period of
suffering in the hospital, he returned to Richmond in February,
1865; and when the city was evacuated he attempted to join
Johnson's army in North Carolina, but he did not reach it be-
fore the surrender to General Sherman.

Returning to Princess Anne after the war, he taught school
in 1865 and 1866, and studied law. In 1867, he engaged in farm-
ing for a year, and in February, 1868 began the practice of the
law in Norfolk. In 1869 he formed a partnership with John S.
Tucker, and subsequently was for many years law partner of the
late Richard Walke, who was very prominent at the Norfolk bar,
and died in 1901. In 1870 Mr. Old was commonwealth's attor-
ney of Princess Anne county. He has been very successful, and
ranks high in the esteem of the legal fraternity of the state. He
is a member of the Norfolk Bar association and of the Virginia
State Bar association. His literary character has been recog-
nized by an election to membership in the Phi Beta Kappa society
of William and Mary college, established in 1776.

In church preference he is an Episcopalian and serves as
member of the vestry of Christ church, Norfolk. For many
years he has represented his church in the diocesan councils of
Virginia and Southern Virginia, and as a delegate to the general
convention of the Episcopal church.

318 WILLIAM WHITEHURST OLD

On June 23, 1870, he married Miss Alice Herbert, and six
children have resulted from this union. They are Dr. Herbert;
William W., Jr., a member of the present house of delegates;
Anne, wife of Lieutenant Charles Webster, of the United States
navy; Dr. Edward H. H., now assistant surgeon, United States
navy; Margaret Nash; and Ellen Alice Old.

His address is Norfolk, Virginia.

JOHN NEWTON OPIE

OPIE, JOHN NEWTON, soldier, lawyer and legislator,
was born in Jefferson county, Virginia, March 14, 1844.
His father was Colonel Hierome Lindsay Opie, a
planter, a member of the senate of Virginia and a representative
of the district composed of the counties of Jefferson and Fred-
erick in the Virginia convention of 1829-1830, which framed the
second constitution of the state, and the personel of whose mem-
bers was illustrious for patriotism and ability. His mother's
maiden name was Annie Locke.

Captain Opie's emigrant ancestor in his paternal line was
Thomas Opie, who came from England at an early period of the
colony, and settled in Northumberland county, Virginia. Among
his other ancestors of the colonial era was the Rev. David Lind-
say, minister, of Northumberland county, whose tombstone, still
standing, attests him one of the county's earliest settlers, and who
is believed to have been of the noble family of the Lindsays of
Crawford and Balcarres in Scotland.

In 1856, Colonel Hierome L. Opie, who was one of the most
prominent men of his time in his immediate section of Virginia,
moved with his family from Jefferson county to Staunton, Vir-
ginia, by wagon up the Valley Turnpike; and purchased the
estate known as " Selma " on the northern border of the town,
where he built a handsome residence, in which he was residing
at the outbreak of the "War between the States.

John N. Opie received his early education at the old
academy school in Staunton, which he left at the age of seven-
teen years, upon the first sign of hostilities between the North
and South, to enlist with the local military company, the West
Augusta guard, which he accompanied to Harpers Ferry. For
conspicuous gallantry at the first battle of Manassas, he was pre-
sented with a medal, by the colonel of his regiment, William S.
H. Baylor. Soon after this battle, acquiescing in the earnest
wish of his father, he left the field to enter the Virginia Military
institute as a cadet. He remained here, however, only a short

V

20 JOHN NEWTON OPIE

time. The voice of the conflict, which was ever irresistible to
him, called him again to the front; and leaving the institute he
joined the afterwards famous Clarke cavalry, of the 12th Vir-
ginia regiment, Stuart's brigade, which was then in service in his
native county of Jefferson. He distinguished himself in many
battles in which his command was engaged ; and was wounded at
Brandy Station, and sent home. His wound having somewhat
healed, when Staunton and the adjacent territory were threat-
ened by the Federal army, he raised a large company of home
guards for Davis' battalion, composed of old men and boys and
disabled soldiers, and putting himself at their head, he covered
the retreat of the Confederate forces that had suffered defeat and
the loss of their leader, General Jones, at the battle of Piedmont,
in Augusta county, near Staunton, on the Port Kepublic road.

In the winter of 1864, while scouting near Charlestown, in
company with Lieutenant Carter Berkeley, his friend and com-
rade-in-arms, he was captured and sent to Elmira prison, New
York, where he was detained until after Appomattox.

When the war was ended he returned home to beat his sword
into a reaping-hook, and took up the work of a farmer in the
vicinity of Staunton. In 1885, he pursued a law course at the
University of Virginia, under Professor John B. Minor; and
opened an office for the practice of his profession in Staunton,
in which he continued until the failure of his health which re-
sulted finally in his death.

In the meantime he took an active interest in politics ; and
was frequently the nominee of the Democratic party of his
county for public office. He represented Augusta county in
1883-1884 in the house of delegates; and was a member of the
state senate from 1896 to 1904. He was an energetic and popu-
lar canvasser, outspoken in his opinions, and unhesitating in his
convictions, ready and aggressive in debate, and possessed of a
sincerity and kindliness that won him many friends, and made
him a formidable political adversary.

Captain Opie was twice married. His first wife, whom he
married in October, 1866, wTas Miss Isabel Harmon; and his
second wife, whom he married in September 1878, was Miss Ida
Fletcher; and his living children are twelve in number.

JOHN NEWTON OPIE 321

He published in 1899 a volume of personal reminiscences
entitled "A Rebel Cavalryman with Lee, Stuart and Jackson,"
which illustrates the facility of his pen and his wide reading of
history no less than an intelligent observation of men and things.
The ease of its stvle, its wealth of anecdote, and the charm of its
humor combine to make it one of the most readable of the war
stories.

Captain Opie died in Staunton, Virginia, January 26, 1906.

ROBERT LEWIS PARRISH

PARRISH, ROBERT LEWIS, lawyer and banker, was
born in Covington, Alleghany county, Virginia, October
29, 1876. His parents were Robert Lewi's and Margaret
(Care) Parrish. His father was a major in the Confederate
States army, a man of high attainments, unswerving integrity,
and great force of character, and was by many of his associates
considered the ablest lawyer in Western Virginia. His grand-
father, John G. Parrish, was a minister in the Christian church,
a captain in the Confederate States army, and editor of the
" Christian Intelligencer," and " Christian Examiner," and was a
man of fine character, steadfast purpose, energetic and cour-
ageous, and a preacher of great ability. On the paternal side the
ancestors of Robert Lewis Parrish came from England about
1780 and settled in Gloucester county, Virginia.

In laying the foundation for his education Robert Parrish
was unusually fortunate. His father, as has been stated, was a
man of education and character and his mother was a woman of
rare intellectual and spiritual endowments whose influence upon
her son was strong and enduring. Both parents took a deep in-
terest in his reading and studies and they so wisely directed his
efforts that when he entered McCabe's University school at
Petersburg he was fully prepared to begin the efficient work
which he there performed. From this school he entered the
University of Virginia in which he studied law. In July, 1899,
he was admitted to the bar and at once formed a partnership with
his father which continued until the death of the latter, July 13,
1904.

Although he is still a young man Mr. Parrish has gained the
confidence and esteem of a very large number of personal and
business friends and has won an honorable position in his profes-
sion. He is president of the Covington National bank; counsel
for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway company in Virginia, west
of the Blue Ridge mountains; and is general counsel for the Low
Moor Iron company, of Virginia; the Alleghany Iron and Ore

ROBERT LEWIS PARRISH 323

company ; the Chapman Iron, Coal and Coke company ; and the
Longdale Iron company. He is a member of the Westmoreland
and Commonwealth clubs of Richmond; the Piedmont club of
Lynchburg, and the Beverley club in Staunton, Virginia. His
political affiliation has always been with the Democratic party.

On January 16, 1907, at Spray, North Carolina, Mr. Parrish
was married to Miss Gray Morehead, daughter of Major J.
Turner Morehead and Mrs. Lily (Conally) Morehead, grand-
daughter of the late Governor John M. Morehead, of North
Carolina.

The address of Mr. Parrish is Covington, Alleghany County,
Virginia.

EDMUND CASH PECHIN

PECHIN, EDMUND CASH, lawyer, business manager and
farmer, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Decem-
ber 9, 1834. His parents were John Christopher and
Margaret (Cash) Pechin. His father, who for a long time held
a position in the Philadelphia custom house, was a man of refined
tastes and strong religious convictions. The first known ances-
tor in America was John White, who came from England and
settled in the western part of New Jersey in 1677. He was a
signer of the first constitution for the government of the
" Provence of West Jersey " and later held important positions
in Pennsylvania under the administration of William Penn.
Another ancestor was Cabel Cash 2nd, who was one of the
founders of the noted " State of Schuylkill " now known as the
" Schuylkill Fishing Company ' ' and which is claimed to be the
oldest social organization in the world.

The boyhood and youth of Edmund C. Pechin were spent in
a city. His health was good and he had no tasks to perform that
interferred with his taste for books. There were no marked
difficulties to overcome in obtaining an education. From the
Episcopal academy in Philadelphia he entered the University of
Pennsylvania and was graduated from the last named institu-
tion in 1856. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in Novem-
ber, 1859, and practiced his profession in Philadelphia until 1868
when he became president and manager of the Dunbar Iron com-
pany, Connellsville region Pennsylvania, which position he held
for eight years. He was then for two years assistant general
manager of the Southern States Coal, Iron and Land company
in Tennessee ; afterward he was vice-president and general mana-
ger of the Cincinnati, Portsmouth and Eastern Railroad com-
pany, and from 1888 to 1892 was general manager of the Vir-
ginia Development company at Eoanoke, Virginia. In 1892 he
retired from active business to his country place, " Greyledge
Farm," near Buchanan, Virginia, where he has continued to re-
side. When not prominently connected with either of the com-

EDMUND CASH PECHIN 325

panies above named he was engaged in examining and reporting
on mineral properties, especially iron ores and coal.

Mr. Pechin was married June 16, 1863 to Mary Lemen Shel-
ley. They have had three children all of whom are now living.
He is a member of the Phi Kappa Sigma college fraternity; of
the National Geographic society; American Forestry association,
and an original member of the American Institute of Mining
Engineers, of which body he was vice-president five terms. He
has never given attention to athletics, or any system of physical
culture. His principal relaxation has been found in books and
on the farm. In politics he was formerly a Democrat but be-
cause of dissatisfaction with the policies and management of
that party, and especially with its attitude on the tariff ques-
tion, he has been a Eepublican since 1884. In religious matters
he is an agnostic. The influence of home, and especially that of
his mother, was very strong upon his intellectual and moral life.
The books which he has found most helpful are works on history
and general literature. In the choice of a profession he followed
his own inclinations. He has written many articles for technical
and trade journals, and various papers for the Institute of Min-
ing Engineers. He has never taken out a patent, but was the
first to devise and apply cooling plates to the bosh of the blast
furnace.

Mr. Pechin earnestly advocates the development of the
agricultural resources of the state, the building of good roads,
the improvement of the common school system, the liberal sup-
port of the State Agricultural college; and the exclusion of all
illiterates, of whatever description, from the right of suffrage.
In reply to a request for suggestions which would help young
people to attain true success in life, Mr. Pechin writes : "A good
education is essential. A collegiate or technical education is an
enormous help to success in any profession or trade. The
primarily important thing is the inculcating into the minds of
youth of both sexes, altruism, and not egoism. The altruist,
even when making mistakes, is always trying to do the right
thing and to help others."

The address of Mr. Pechin is Buchanan, Botetourt County,
Virginia.

Vol. 4-Va.— 16

BENJAMIN SCHUYLER PEDIGO

PEDIGO, BENJAMIN SCHUYLER, in his early life a
teacher, later a lawyer, from 1887 for twelve successive
years commonwealth's attorney, since 1899 county clerk
of Floyd county, and since 1904 president of the Floyd County
bank, was born on the 17th of November, 1855, in Patrick county,
Virginia, and removed to Floyd county when he was ten years of
age.

His father, Albert G. Pedigo, was a farmer, and from 1889
to 1903 postmaster at Vinton, Virginia ; — he is still living — a man
who is revered for his independence, his devotion to hard work,
and his exceptional fondness for reading, especially for the read-
ing and study of history. The family is descended from French
immigrants. The first known ancestor in America was Edward
Peregoy (whose name was later changed to Pedigo) who, when a
boy, left his home in France and came to Virginia about 1775.

The subject of this sketch was born and reared in the
country, and early learned to take part in and enjoy all forms of
farm work. His physical condition as he grew to manhood was
excellent. He inherited from his father a taste, which he has
always indulged and developed, for reading good literature, and
especially poetry. As a boy he was fond of hunting; and since
he became a man, hunting, fishing and " horse-trading " have
been favorite forms of amusement with him.

When he was eighteen years old, his father became involved
in business relations, acting as surety for friends, and lost most
of his property. The son, who had studied in the common
schools near his home, and at an academy known as Little River
institute, did not make his way to college. He studied law at
home and in the office of John Merritt, Esquire, at Floyd court-
house. For self-support, he undertook teaching in the public
schools of Floyd county; and later for some years he taught in
Roanoke and Montgomery counties. Even after he had studied
and commenced to practice law, he taught in the public schools
for several winters.

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BENJAMIN SCHUYLER PEDIGO 329

Becoming connected with debating societies, and desiring a
broader field for the logical and rhetorical impulse which he felt
strong within him, he began the study and practice of law.

He served as United States commissioner from 1883 to 1885.
He was deputy collector of internal revenue from January, 1885,
to July of that year. In 1887 he was elected commonwealth's
attorney, and he was reelected for twelve successive years. In
1899 he was chosen county clerk of Floyd county for a term of
six years; and in 1905 was reelected; and he now (1907) holds
that office.

In connection with the practice of his profession, he has been
a commissioner in chancery, a notary public, and special com-
missioner in many cases.

Mr. Pedigo married Miss Lelia Coleman Kirby, daughter of
Andrew Jackson Kirby, on the 26th of April, 1893. They have
had two daughters, both of whom are living in 1907. Mr. Pedigo
is a Republican in his party relations, and he has never varied in
his allegiance to that party except that he acted with the Read-
justee while that organization endured. He is a Mason, and has
held numerous offices in that order.

He urges the young people of Virginia to " find constant and
regular employment in the country; to keep out of towns and
cities; and to read the newspapers and all valuable books which
come within their reach."

The address of Mr. Pedigo is Floyd, Virginia.

JOHN GARLAND POLLARD

POLLARD, JOHN GARLAND, was born in King and
Queen county, August 4, 1871, and is the son of John
Pollard and Virginia Bagby Pollard. His earliest
known ancestor in Virginia was Joseph Pollard, who was born
about 1701 in King and Queen county. The family was promi-
nent in the early history of the state. John Robinson, speaker of
the house of burgesses ; John Taylor, of Caroline, a distinguished
author and United States senator; and Judge Edmund Pendle-
ton, first president of the supreme court of Virginia, were all
connected with the family by marriage. Mr. Pollard's father,
the Rev. John Pollard, A. M., D. D., is a well-known Baptist
minister, who has served as professor of English in Richmond
college, was president of the Maryland Baptist union, and presi-
dent of the Virginia Baptist state mission board. His marked
characteristics are the strict and punctual performance of every
duty, however small.

The physical condition of young Pollard was very poor in
childhood, and he had a special distaste for books and study, — a
distaste, however, which did not continue in after life, when his
ambition to excel was once aroused. He attended the public
schools in Richmond, and in 1887 entered Richmond college,
where he remained until 1890. In 1891 he accepted a position in
the department of ethnology in the Smithsonian institution,
Washington, District of Columbia, where by the direction of the
authorities he studied the history and present condition of the
Pamunkey tribe of Indians and wrote a monograph setting out
the result of his investigations, which was published among the
Smithsonian contributions to knowledge.

Mr Pollard received his legal education at Columbian
university in Washington, supporting himself by legal and
literary work. In 1893 he was graduated with the degree of
LL. B., and then returned to Richmond, where at the age of
twenty-one he was admitted to the bar, and during the fourteen
years of his practice he has won extensive reputation. He was

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JOHN GARLAND POLLARD 333

formerly a partner of his uncle, Honorable Henry R. Pollard.
In 1901 he received the signal distinction of an election to the
Virginia Constitutional convention, and was one of the three
members of the convention under the age of thirty. While a
candidate for the convention he inaugurated a movement against
the unrestricted expenditure of money in political campaigns
which was the beginning of the agitation that resulted in the
passing of the Virginia pure election law. As a member of the
convention he served on the committee on education and rendered
valuable service in drafting that part of the present constitution
relating to the public school system. It was upon his motion that
the state library was made a part of the educational system of
the state and its management vested in a board so constituted as
to remove the institution as far as possible from partisan con-
trol. He was the author of the provision in the present constitu-
tion postponing the operation of statutes until ninety days after
the adjournment of the general assembly, thus correcting the long
standing evil of laws becoming effective before the courts and
the people became acquainted with their existence. He was also
author of the constitutional provision requiring representation
in city councils to be upon the basis of the voting population,
thereby correcting a system under which some of the cities of
the state were controlled by the minority.

Mr. Pollard is a Democrat, and has rendered service to the
party on the stump during every national campaign since he left
college. In 1904 he was a member of the electoral college from
Virginia and cast his vote for Alton B. Parker for president.
From 1903 to the present date he has been chairman of the Vir-
ginia commission for the promotion of uniform legislation in the
United States, and as such has taken part, in the drafting of the
uniform laws on "sales" and on "divorce."

Mr. Pollard is well-known to the bar of the state through
the many law books he has edited. In 1898 he published a
" Supplement to the Code of Virginia." He was for two years
editor-in-chief of the " Virginia Law Register ' and edited
Volumes 10 and 11 of that series. But by far his greatest service
to the bar is his "Annotated Code of 190-1," now in general use

334 JOHN GARLAND POLLARD

in the state. This latter work is pronounced to be the best edition
of the code ever published in the history of the state.

Mr. Pollard has been prominent in literary, religious, and
philanthropic movements. He was foremost in establishing in
Richmond an annual course of lectures on literary and scientific
subjects. He is a member of 'the board of trustees of the
Woman's college, at Richmond. He is now president of the
Children's Home society of Virginia, an organization which has
already rescued five hundred children from destitute or vicious
surroundings. He is a member of the board of directors of the
chamber of commerce of the city of Richmond, and is chairman
of its committee on legislation.

In the brilliant career of this young man the influence by far
the most potent in bringing about the results was that of home.
He had a pious father and mother who inculcated noble lessons
of morality and truth. He is identified with the Baptist denomi-
nation, and is active in church work.

On August 10, 1898, he married Miss Grace Phillips, only
daughter of Captain C. T. Phillips, clerk of the courts of Ports-
mouth, Virginia. He has had four children born to him of
whom three are (1907) living.

His address is Richmond, Virginia.

^-^^^^^

ROBERT SIMMONS POWELL

POWELL, ROBERT SIMMONS, physician, was born in
Brunswick county, Virginia, October 23, 1834. His
parents were Robert Simmons Powell and Martha Ann
Powell ; and his father followed the occupation of a farmer.

Dr. Powell is of Welsh descent. His paternal ancestor came
to America, in the seventeenth century, from Wales. He settled
in York county, where he was a very large land owner.
Among his relatives of the name who have been prominent as
men of affairs were Dr. Thomas S. Powell, president of the
Southern Medical college, and Dr. T. O. Powell, superintendent
of the Insane asylum at Milledgeville, Georgia.

Dr. Powell's health in early life was not good, and he was a
sufferer from asthma. He grew up in the country, and up to the
time he was eighteen years of age worked on his father's farm.
He attended in the meantime Hollv Grove academv: and later
was at Emory and Henry college, Virginia, for one session. He
left college on account of poor health, when he was a member of
the junior class ; and later entered the medical department of the
L^niversity of Virginia, from which he was graduated in 1857, at
the head of his class, after one session.

He began the practice of his profession in Brunswick county
December 7, 1857, and he has continued in its pursuit up to
the present (1906) time, combining with it the business of farm-
ing, milling and merchandizing. He has also been vice-presi-
dent of the Bank of Brunswick.

He served with fidelity and gallantry as a soldier of the Con-
federate army in the War between the States, in the capacities of
lieutenant and assistant surgeon.

Dr. Powell is an active Democrat, and as the nominee of his
party has represented Brunswick county in five sessions of the
general assembly of Virginia. He has been prominently men-
tioned in connection with the Democratic nomination for con-
gress from his district. His adherence to the principles and
organization of Democracy has been unfaltering.

338 ROBERT SIMMONS POWELL

Dr. Powell finds his recreation and amusement in driving
about the country, and looking after his farms, mills and other
business interests.

He married June 6, 1856, Ellen V. Huff, daughter of Colo-
nel Daniel Huff, of Brunswick. They have had eleven children,
of whom nine are now (1907) living.

His address is Woodview, Brunswick County, Virginia.

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SAMUEL HUTCHINGS PRICE

PRICE, SAMUEL HUTCHIXGS, was born near Cham-
blissburg, Bedford county, Virginia, and his parents were
Hutchings B. Price, of Pittsylvania county, Virginia,
and Fannie J. Rice, of Bedford county, Virginia. His father
was a farmer, of marked integrity and great executive ability,
who served as captain of a military company from 1848 to 1850,
and as sheriff of Pittsylvania county, and died October 25, 1851.
His great great-grandfather, Robin Mitchell, came from Pennsyl-
vania to Virginia, in 1752, and settled in Bedford county. His
great-grandfather was Rev. James Mitchell, who like other mem-
bers of the family lived to a great age.

His life was spent in Bedford and Campbell counties, where
he performed a good deal of manual labor till eighteen years of
age. He then entered a country store as salesman and served as
such at several other stores till he was twenty-two years of age.
After the war schools .were few and far between and Mr. Price
employed special tutors and paid up the tuition fees after-
wards. The advice of his uncle, Dr. William R. Rice, directed
his attention to medicine, and he studied for that profession at
the University of Virginia, where he graduated in 1875. He
then studied at Bellevue Hospital Medical college in New York
and graduated in 1876. The same year he began the practice of
medicine at Montvale, Bedford county, and met with much suc-
cess. His health failing he quit the practice, in 1883, and opened
a general merchandise and drug store, which he still controls.
In 1888 he resumed the practice of medicine, and is still practic-
ing. He also managed a cannery which is now leased to other
persons. In 1894 he was appointed treasurer of the company
and has been elected for each succeeding term to the present time.
He is vice-president of the Southside Telephone and Telegraph
company, and for several years has been vice-president of the
Bedford Mutual Insurance company. From 1891 to 1897, he
served as member of the county board of supervisors. He is also
examiner for several insurance companies.

342 SAMUEL HTTTCHINGS PRICE

Dr. Price is of a sociable nature and is a member of the
Masonic order, having held all the positions in the Blue Lodge
by election. He is a member of the State Medical society, and
president of the County Medical society.

In religious matters he is a Presbyterian and since 1884 he
has been an elder in the church at Montvale. In politics he is a
Democrat, who has never changed his party allegiance. He has
written many articles for medical journals and papers.

Environment and observation seem to have influenced him in
early life more than books and reading. He was surrounded in
his family by preachers and doctors. He then took up the stand-
ard medical authors and literature till he entered college. Of
an ambitious and energetic character home influence molded his
moral side, and training in the store at New London the business
side.

For the benefit of young men desirous of strengthening their
ideals of life he writes: "Ambition, temperance, scrupulous
honesty, and energy will make something of any mind that will
cultivate and practice those attributes."

He has been twice married: First, to Miss Fannie Ross
Harris, daughter of William E. Harris, of New London, Vir-
ginia, on November 14, 1878 ; and second, to Mrs. Lelia D. Ruff,
formerly Wood, daughter of Davis M. Wood, of Botetourt
county, Virginia, on May 24, 1899. By the first marriage he had
six children, of whom four, three sons and a daughter, are now
(1907) living.

His address is Montvale, Bedford County, Virginia.

MANN SATTERWHITE QUARLES

QUAKLES, MANN SATTERWHITE, banker, born in
Richmond, Virginia, July 31, 1845, is the son of Thomas
Delaware and Mary Ann (Mosby) Quarles. Thomas
D. Quarles was engaged in the mercantile business in Richmond
for more than half a century, and was a man of energy, benevo-
lence, and piety; and a devoted member of the Christian
church. With such a father and a Christian mother, Mann S.
Quarles had a rearing which went far towards putting him
among the most reliable business men of his native city.

Mr. Quarles's paternal great-grandfather, Colonel W. Holt
Richeson, served in the Revolutionary war, and was given grants
of land in Ohio and Kentucky. His paternal grandfather, Ben-
jamin Quarles, served in the War of 1812, in the 87th Vir-
ginia regiment. The family history goes back to the earliest
period of colonial Virginia, and traces the family to the distin-
guished Wests, one famous as Lord Delaware and another as
Governor Francis West; and both West and Delaware have long
been family names.

On the mother's side Mann S. Quarles is descended from the
two old Virginia families of Mosby and Winston, eminent for
their intellect and their patriotism, the two most distinguished
representatives being Colonel Peter Winston and Patrick Henry.

He attended private schools in Richmond, Virginia, where
he acquired the fundamentals of a practical English education.
A good part of his time was devoted to general reading. At
home he heard his older brothers discuss the banking business,
in which they were engaged; and the desire to become a banker
made a deep lodgment in his boyish mind. At fifteen he entered
the Traders Bank of Richmond, at sixteen years of age he was a
teller, and served in that capacity for more than three years.
In 1864, he became a teller in the Confederate States treasury,
and remained in that position until the collapse of the Confed-
eracy (1865). For the next five years, he held the same position
in the First National bank, of Richmond. Then he was elected

344 MANN SATTERWHITE QUARLES

cashier of the Planters National bank, which he helped to make
one of the strongest banks in the country. In 1892, the Vir-
ginia Trust company made him its executive head, and he is now
serving in that honorable and responsible position. He was
one of the organizers of the Virginia Bankers association, and
served as its president.

Mr. Quarles is one of the most prominent business men of
Richmond. The corporation of which he is head does a very
large fiduciary business; and his name is a tower of strength to
that great trust company. Besides a good name which a great
Book says is better than riches, Mr. Quarles possesses great busi-
ness capacity, promptness, fidelity, and executive ability. His
advice to young men is to be attentive to business; to avoid
liquor and cigarettes; to avoid gambling and shirking; and to
keep out of debt. " He that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing,"
said Poor Richard; and every wise man of our day agrees with
Benjamin Franklin that debt — which means spending more than
one makes — causes the ruin of thousands of men who might have
been ornaments to society and pillars in the commercial world.

Though strictly attentive to business, Mr. Quarles spares
some time for works of philanthropy and benevolence. For some
years, he has served as vice-president and chairman of committee
of schools of the Virginia Mechanics institute, which has done
more than words can tell for the educational uplift of the work-
ing men of Richmond. He is a member of the Westmoreland
club, of the Masonic order, of the Knights of Honor, and of the
Royal Arcanum. A part of his evenings he spends with his
friends and brethren in these social and beneficiary orders.

In politics, he is a Democrat, but when his party advocated
free silver, he " bolted," and voted for William McKinley. Dur-
ing the stormy years of the 60's, while serving as teller in the
Treasury department, Confederate States army, he was a mem-
ber of the department battalion, and was occasionally called out
to the defence of the Confederate capital.

October 26, 1871, Mr. Quarles was married to Ann Hite Hill,
daughter of Lewis Hill, of Richmond, Virginia. The}' have had
four children, of whom three are now living. Mr. Quarles re-
sides at Number 216 Shafer Street, Richmond, Virginia, where
he dispenses a kindly hospitality to many warm friends.

-

ABRAM DAVID REYNOLDS

REYNOLDS, ABEAM DAVID, was born at Kock Spring,
Patrick county, Virginia, August 13, 1847. He is the
son of H. W. and X. J. Reynolds. His father was a
farmer and manufacturer of tobacco. The father was averse to
public life; he never would offer himself for any office and he
advised his son to imitate his example. He was marked by won-
derful foresight into the future. The earliest known ancestors
of the Reynolds family in Virginia, the great-grandfather of
Abram David Reynolds, himself a Reynolds, emigrated from
England and settled first in Henrico county, and later removed
to Patrick county, Virginia.

A. D. Reynolds was reared in the country. He enjoyed
sound physical health and was early trained to toil. He worked
in every department of his father's tobacco factory, and served
as a regular hand until he became general manager and one of
the proprietors.

His character, especially on the moral and spiritual side, was
much influenced by his mother but the greatest influence exerted
upon him was that of home. He declares that he has never been
much of a reader, and that contact with men has been his best
book. His education was seriously interfered with by his early
entrance into the army, in which he enlisted at the age of sixteen.
However, he studied in Edgewood academy, Henry county, Vir-
ginia and in the Virginia Military institute at Lexington. After
the war he entered the Bryant and Stratton Commercial college
at Baltimore, Maryland, from which institution he was graduated
in 1867.

On March 1, 1863, Mr. Reynolds enlisted in the Confederate
army as captain of Company I, 3rd Virginia reserves. In the
following May, he was promoted major in the same regiment.
His entrance upon the active work of civil life may be dated from
his engaging in the tobacco business immediately after the war.
This work was entered upon with great energy and with the
determination to make up the years lost in the war. At this
time, Mr. Reynolds was greatly encouraged by the gift from his
father of an interest in the business.

In addition to his connection with the tobacco business, Mr.

348 ABRAM DAVID REYNOLDS

Reynolds has been president of the Holston National Building
and Loan association, an institution still doing business, and
director in the first National Bank of Bristol, Tennessee.

For many years Mr. Reynolds has been identified with the
Prohibition party, his political allegiance having been changed
upon the issue which, to his mind, was one of ethics and sound
public policy, and he has given liberally of time and money to
promote the temperance cause.

Mr. Reynolds is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South. His relaxation is taken in horseback riding.
During the summer months he spends considerable time at his
Bon Air farm, near Elk Park, North Carolina. This farm,
which is used almost exclusively for grazing, has an elevation
of over four thousand five hundred feet.

In regard to his ambitions Mr. Reynolds declares that his
first was to be a soldier. The extent to which this ambition was
gratified is shown by the fact that, before he was seventeen years
of age, he was commissioned major. His next ambition was to
assist his father in recovering his fortune which was lost by the
emancipation of his negroes. The success attained by the family
in their endeavor to improve their finances is shown by the
acquisition, before the father's death, of sufficient property
to have enabled them to purchase every slave they had lost, even
though paying the highest price which could have been obtained
in the market before emancipation.

Major Reynolds states that his present ambition is to give
the farmers of his section an object lesson in the way of improving
the soil and at the same time making the business profitable, but
that the crowning ambition of his life is to demonstrate that a
business man can live a consistent Christian life. One of his
most fondly cherished hopes is that he may live to see the liquor
business abolished.

To the young, Major Reynolds commends sobriety, energy,
persistence and honesty; these virtues will, in his judgment, ac-
complish anything in reason for which a young man may strive.

On October 1, 1872, Major Reynolds was married to Senah
A. Hoge, daughter of Joseph H. Hoge of Giles county, Virginia.
They have had eight children, seven of whom are now (1907)
living.

The address of Major Reynolds is Bristol, Sullivan County,
Tennessee.

JAMES GREGORY RIDDICK

RIDDICK, JAMES GREGORY, physician, was born at
Stony Creek, Sussex county, Virginia, June 10, 1861.
His father was the Eev. James A. Riddick, a minister
of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; his mother was Judie Anne
Gregory.

James G. Riddick was a youth of vigorous health and
physique, and grew up in the country, evincing at an early age
a strong liking for natural history and chemistry. After attend-
ing the country schools of his neighborhood, he was sent to the
famous classical and mathematical school conducted for so long
a period, and with an unexcelled distinction, by William Gordon
McCabe, at Petersburg, Virginia. From McCabe's University
school he went to Randolph-Macon college, and after graduating
in some of the courses, in 1881 he went to Baltimore, where he
entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, remaining there
until 1883, when he was graduated with the degree of doctor of
medicine.

He settled in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1883, and has practiced
his profession there since that date — though holding in the mean-
time some of the prominent local offices, and engaging in some
strenuous political battles, of which he has borne the brunt. In
1902 Dr. Ridclick was elected mayor of Norfolk ; and in 1904 he
was reelected for a term of four years under the new constitu-
tion. He served as a member of the board of health of Norfolk
and as health officer, for a number of years, until he resigned.
The principal public services rendered by Dr. Riddick are con-
sidered by him to be those rendered " in reforming the condition
of Norfolk, and in fighting an epidemic of smallpox."

Dr. Riddick is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South. He is a Democrat in his political creed and affiliation,
and has never changed his political or party allegiance on any
issue. He is a member of various secret societies and organiza-

850 JAMES GREGORY RIDDICK

tions, including those of the Masons, the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Red Men.

Dr. Riddick married Sallie Yates Councill. They have had
three children, two of whom are now (1908) living.

The address of Dr. Riddick is 323 Duke Street, Norfolk,
Virginia.

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GEORGE MAXWELL ROBESON

ROBESON. GEORGE MAXWELL, machinist and inven-
tor, was born at Sarepta, near Belvidere, New Jersey,
March 21, 1852. His parents were A. B. Robeson and
Ellen C. Robeson, the first named having been a contractor and
farmer.

Mr. Robeson's colonial ancestors were Andrew and Mary
Robeson, who came to America from Scotland about 1700, and
settled near the mouth of the Wissahickon river, in the vicinity
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Robeson is the pioneer in
Virginia of that name and his own family is the only one of the
name in the state.

Mr. Robeson spent the first seven years of his life in the
country. After that he lived for three years in a village and at
the age of ten went to Philadelphia, where he resided up to th.Q
time of his majority. Prior to the age of seventeen, he did no
manual work. His tastes from boyhood lay in the direction of
mechanics; and after having attended school at the Broad street
academy in Philadelphia for four years, and the Belvidere, New
Jersey, seminary for one year, he began a night course in
mechanical drawing at the Polytechnic college in Philadelphia,
which he continued from 1870 to 1873. During this period he
served time as an apprentice to the machinist's trade with G. C.
Howard, of South Eighteenth street, Philadelphia, and also
attended night lectures at the Franklin institute in that city.

Mr. Robeson began the active work of life in 1873 as fore-
man of the Howard Machine works in Philadelphia; and coming
South, on account of the financial panic of that year, he entered
the service of Mr. L. M. Blanton in March, 1874, in the manage-
ment of a plow-handle factory, which Mr. Blanton was then
starting. In 1878 Mr. Robeson acquired an interest in the busi-
ness, which was moved to Farmville, Virginia. Later he be-
came sole owner, and then sold a one-half interest to Colonel J. P.
Fitzgerald. At Colonel Fitzgerald's death, Mr. Robeson bought
his interest in the concern, which is now conducted in the asso-
ciated ownership of Mr. Robeson, his son, Mr. G. C. Robeson,

VoL 4— Va.— 17

354 GEORGE MAXWELL ROBESON

and Mr. W. N. Wilson, under the style of the Farmville Manu-
facturing company.

Mr. Robeson is the inventor, designer, constructor and
operator of the system of plow-handle machinery in use in this
factory.

He is a member of the society of Hoo Hoos and of the Inde-
pendent Order of Heptasophs ; and is treasurer of the local lodge
of the last named organization. He is a member of the Plow-
Handle Manufacturers' association, and of the Hardwood Manu-
facturers' association.

He is a warden in the Protestant Episcopal church; and in
politics is a Democrat.

He married on June 27, 1876, Anna M. McConnell. Of their
marriage have been born four children, three of whom are now
living.

His address is Farmville, Prince Edward County. Virginia.

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CHARLES WILLIAM RODGERS

RODGERS, CHARLES WILLIAM, M. D., one of the
most popular and well-known physicians of his section,
was born at Williamsville, Bath county, Virginia, on
January 21, 1862. He is the son of William G. and Rachel R.
Rodgers. His father's ancestors came from England; his
mother's, from Scotland. The latter belonged to the Campbell
clan. Both families landed in the year 1750 and soon afterward
found their way to the Valley of Virginia. William G. Rodgers,
in his earlier life, engaged in the mercantile business in Monterey,
Virginia, the county seat of Highland. There his energy and
his fidelity to duty won him success in business. He then moved
across the mountains to a grass farm on the head waters of Jack-
son river, in the same county, and became a successful grazier
and agriculturist.

It was in this quiet country home, among green pastures and
lofty mountains, that the subject of this sketch grew to manhood,
his character influenced and molded by his energetic father and
his pious mother. The influence of the latter upon both his
intellectual and his spiritual life was particularly strong.

Young Rodgers, being possessed of a healthy physical con-
stitution, became an interested student of nature as he labored on
the farm or herded his father's cattle in the mountain ranges,
and learned to admire the grand and beautiful in nature, while
he acquired the habits of close observation peculiar to mountain
peoples. The study of the Bible, and the reading of such books
as Shakespeare's and Bums' poems, and works on natural science,
were helpful in forming his character and fitting him for his
life's work. In 1884, with mind and character of remarkable
maturity, he entered the University of Virginia to study medi-
cine. He graduated in 1886 with the degree of Doctor of Medi-
cine, served for eighteen months as interne in a Richmond hos-
pital, and in 1888 began to practice at Barterbrook, Augusta
county, Virginia.

In order to make himself still more proficient in his chosen

358 CHARLES WILLIAM EODGERS

profession, Dr. Rodgers took a post-graduate course in the Poly-
clinic school in New York city in 1901 and 1903.

Since 1897, Dr. Rodgers has been a very active member of
the Virginia Medical Examining board, and, for several years,
a member of the Augusta County Medical society, of which last
named organization he was, in 1905, elected president. He is
also a member of the American Medical society and of the Medical
Society of Virginia.

Doctor Rodgers, to gain relaxation from the absorbing cares
of a large practice, occasionally retires, with a few chosen friends
of similar tastes, to familiar haunts along the mountain streams,
to pitch camp and fish. He does not approve of athletic con-
tests but believes rather in physical culture regulated to suit
the requirements of the individual.

Though he himself neglected to complete a University aca-
demic course, Dr. Rodgers advises young men to lay a broad
foundation before undertaking a specialty or a profession.

Being asked for his advice to young Americans anxious to
become honored and useful citizens, he replied that both young
men and women should be taught that to build a home and bring
up children properly is fulfilling nature's highest law, and per-
forming the greatest possible service to the state.

Having, in ten or twelve years, acquired a large practice in
the country around Barterbrook, Dr. Rodgers a few years ago
removed to Staunton, the county seat, where he at once established
himself in a large practice. He ranks among the "men of mark"
in that section of the state.

On September 20, 1892, Dr. Rodgers married Margaret Lynn
VanLear, of Augusta county, Virginia. They have had three
children, all of whom are now (1907) living.

His address is Staunton, Virginia.

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JOHN GILMOUR RODGERS

RODGEKS, JOHN GILMOUR, civil engineer in railroad
operations and general superintendent of the New York,
Philadelphia and Norfolk railroad, residing at Cape
Charles City, Northampton county, Virgnia, was born in Phila-
delphia, on the 14th of November, 1862. His father, Samuel
Maurice Rodgers, was a manufacturer in Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
vania. His mother was Mrs. Isabelle (Gilmour) Rodgers. The
first known American ancestor of his family was John Taylor,
who in 1673 acted as agent for the Duke of York (afterward
King James, Second) in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Born in Philadelphia and living in that city until he was
eleven, he spent the next six years in a village. His health in
boyhood was excellent. He early developed a taste for natural
science and mathematics; but he enjoyed thoroughly and heartily
the active sports of boyhood.

After studying at the Lewiston academy, he took a four
years' course of civil engineering under special tutors; and this
was followed by courses in bridge designing and political
economy, as well as by special instruction in biology, mechanics
and anthropology. In recent years he has followed, as his special
diversion in reading, specialized courses in the study of American
history and natural science.

He began his active work in railroad engineering in 1882, at
the age of twenty, acting as roclman in the engineering corps of
the Pennsylvania railroad. He was led to choose this work by
his natural tastes and inclination. He was successively promoted
from the position of rodman to that of assistant to the chief engi-
neer of the Piedmont and Cumberland railroad. Entering then
upon the work of railroad operation, he became supervisor and
assistant engineer of the Pennsylvania railroad, and more recently
he has held the position of general superintends of the New
York, Philadelphia and Norfolk railroad.

Since 1901 Mr. Rodgers has been president of the school
board of Cape Charles City. He has contributed numerous

362 JOHN GIL3IOUR RODGERS

papers on technical subjects to engineering and railroad periodi-
cals. He is the inventor of two track appliances which have
proved practically useful and have been successfully introduced
upon various railroads.

On the 6th of February, 1901, Mr. Rodgers married Miss
Agnes Piatt Barney, daughter of Mr. E. E. Barney, of Dayton.
Ohio. They have had three children, two of whom are now
(1908) living.

Mr. Rodgers is a member of the Historical society of Phila-
delphia, of the Academy of Natural Sciences, of the American
Anthropological society and of the Society of the Sons of the
Revolution. He is a member of the Rittenhouse club of Phila-
delphia, of the Virginia club, of Norfolk, of the Engineers' club,
of New York city, of the New York Railroad club, of the
American M. W. association, and of the American Railway
association.

In state politics, Mr. Rodgers is a Democrat; in national
politics, a Repubican. He is identified with the Presbyterian
denomination. He finds his favorite forms of exercise and re-
creation in lawn tennis and golf. Although his youth was
passed in another state, Mr. Rodgers for many years has been
heartily and most helnfnllv identified with the interests of the
State of Virginia.

CHARLES SMITH

SMITH, CHAELES, was born at Eastville, Northampton
county, Virginia, April 13, 1832. His parents were Wil-
liam Gilmor and Elizabeth Upshur (Bowdoin) Smith.
His father was a physician whose marked characteristics were
piety, honesty and sobriety. He often received the endorsement
of his countrymen and served as a justice of the peace, when that
office was one of dignity and character. The ancestors of Charles
Smith were English and French Huguenots. His great grand-
father, Francis Hopkinson, was one of the signers of the Declara-
tion of Independence.

Charles Smith was reared in the country, and was a real boy
of the Virginia fields — healthy, strong and robust. He attended
the country schools and next entered the Virginia Military insti-
tute from which he graduated July 4, 1850. He then studied
medicine at the University of Virginia in 1851-52, and was
graduated Doctor of Medicine at Jefferson college, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, in 1853. In his college days, Dr. Smith was very
fond of athletic sports, and the influence of his parents was par-
ticularly strong on his intellectual and spiritual life. By read-
ing medical and agricultural books he adapted himself to the
occupation which he has chosen — that of a country doctor; and
is greatly esteemed.

When in 1861 Virginia summoned her sons to her defence.
Dr. Smith was one of the first to respond to the call. He was
commissioned in May, 1861, by Governor Letcher as colonel of
the 39th Virginia regiment of infantry with orders to enlist the
regiment. Accordingly, Colonel Smith enlisted and mustered
eleven companies, one of which was a company of artillery, but,
owing to the invasion and occupation of the Eastern Shore by the
Federal troops in the fall of 1861, the regiment was broken up,
and only about two hundred escaped across the Bay of Chesa-
peake, then blockaded. In crossing the Bay in small open boats
at night, the men ran very great risks as the boats were too small
to carry more than five to ten persons, could show no lights nor

364 CHARLES SMITH

steer by compass. The boat Colonel Smith was in landed before
daylight in Lynnhaven bay. It contained six persons — all the
boat was capable of carrying. They went to Norfolk that morn-
ing and reported to General Huger. Owing to the small number
who escaped across the bay, his regiment was mustered out by
order of the secretary of war and his men all reenlisted. Colonel
Smith was then commissioned as surgeon in the Confederate
States army, and rendered efficient service to his country in that
capacity for three years.

After the war Doctor Smith returned to Northampton
county, where he resumed the practice of medicine with much
success. In 1893 he was elected to the house of delegates, and
served till 1904, during four successive sessions. He had a share
in much important legislation and was the author of a bill to
increase the public school fund, and of a bill to decrease the
criminal expenses. He was chairman of the committee of the
Chesapeake and its tributaries, and was greatly interested in all
fish and oyster legislation.

Dr. Smith has genial and pleasant manners, and is a member
of the Odd Fellows, and of the Masons, with which he has been
connected for more than forty years, and in which he has served
as master of the blue lodge for several terms. He is a Democrat
and he has never changed from the faith, and in his religious
preferences he is an Episcopalian. He offers the following sug-
gestion to young men as most promotive of sound ideals and true
success in life : " Pay strict attention to business ; be temperate
and polite to all."

On November 7, 1865, he married Maggie Wilson Jacob,
daughter of T. W. Jacob, of Northampton. They have had seven
children.

The address of Dr. Smith is Franktown, Northampton
County, Virginia.

■

ELLISON ADGER SMYTH, JR.

SMYTH, ELLISON ADGEK, Jr., since 1891, professor
of biology in the Virginia Polytechnic institute at
Blacksburg, and since 1902, dean of the faculty, was
born at Summerton, Clarendon county, South Carolina, on the
26th of October, 1863. His father, James Adger Smyth, for
years a prominent cotton merchant, for two successive terms of
four years each mayor of the city of Charleston, South Carolina,
and president of the Charleston chamber of commerce, was well
known for his executive ability and his integrity as a business
man, and was well loved for the geniality of his temperament and
his fine capacity for friendship. His mother was Mrs. Annie
R. (Briggs) Smyth. Among his earliest ancestors in America
was William Ellison, who came from County Antrim, Ireland,
to Pennsylvania in 1744; whose son, Robert Ellison, removing
to South Carolina in 1761, became an officer in the Revolutionary
army and was in prison with Colonel Hayne. Mr. E. A. Smyth's
great grandfather, James Adger, came from Dunean, County
Antrim, Ireland, in 1793, and in South Carolina marrying a
daughter of Colonel Robert Ellison, became a leading merchant
of Charleston and established the first steamship line from Char-
leston to New York. His daughter, Margaret, married Thomas
Smyth, who came from Belfast, Ireland, in 1830, an eminent
Presbyterian minister and a voluminous writer on theological
themes. He was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch.
In his boyhood and youth, the proclivities and the interests
which have marked the professional work of Professor Smyth
were early manifested. Birds and butterflies awakened a pas-
sionate interest in him, when he was a very small boy. Fond of
all out-of-door sports, and especially boating and shooting, while
a boy of fourteen he taught himself to stuff and mount bird-skins.
Passing his boyhood in the city of Charleston, his summers were
uniformly spent on the sea-coast, at Sullivan's Island, and on the
old family plantation in Clarendon county. While he attended
school regularly, his father believed in training every child to

368 ELLISON ADGER SMYTH. JR.

undertake some regular duties which involved manual labor ; and
the son recognizes his lifelong debt to the training in the use
of his own hands which was thus given him early in life.

Entering Princeton college in 1880, he was graduated with
the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1884. The next winter, he
passed in study at Columbia college in New York city. In 1887
he attended the summer law school of the University of Virginia.
In 1890 he was engaged in work in the biological laboratory at
Woods Holl, Massachusetts. It may interest boys and girls of
South Carolina who have a taste for biology to note some of the
books which professor Smyth says he found exceptionally pro-
fitable in awaking interest or supplying information in his own
student days, and since he gave himself to investigations and
teaching in biology. He writes ; " In early youth, 'Audubon's
Birds of America' ; Abbot and Smith's Insects' ; The biographies
of eminent naturalists in Jardine's 'Naturalists' Library,' to-
gether with such books as Wallace's 'Malay Archipelago,' Bates's
Naturalist on the Amazon'; all books of travel which deal with
natural history, such as those of Du Chaillu, Sir Samuel Baker,
etc; local Revolutionary history, such as Simm's novels, and
Southern war history; Scott, Dickens, Clark Russell's sea tales;
and all of Kipling's books." This list shows that Professor
Smyth's reading was not limited exclusively to technical lines.

In 1885, he became a clerk in the law firm of Smyth and
Lee, at Charleston, South Carolina ; but his four years' excursion
into the study and practice of law was undertaken only for family
reasons. Love of biology was already too strong to be resisted.
As a boy of ten years, he had begun collections of his own in
the study of insects and of birds ; and in 1888, then a partner in
the above named law firm, he definitely left the law to take up
his life's work in biology the innate love for which had been
stimulated by the friendship of such older men of science as Dr.
Gibbes and Dr. G. E. Manigault, of Charleston.

In 1889, he was made adjunct professor of biology in the
University of South Carolina ; in 1891 he resigned that position
to become professor of biology in the Virginia Polytechnic insti-
tute at Blacksburg, Virginia — a chair which he has filled for the
last fifteen years. During the absence of the president in the

ELLISON ADGER SMYTH, JR. 369

academic year, 1905 to 1906, Professor Smyth shared with Pro-
fessor T. P. Campbell the duties of the executive.

Professor Smyth is the author of various articles in the
"Entomological News"; of bulletins on the economic relations of
birds of prey, and on grasses, etc ; and on birds and bird life.

He has discovered and named two new species of butterflies
and moths, and he has determined by breeding experiments the
identity of three species of moths, hitherto considered distinct;
and this work of Professor Smyth's has been recognized in
Europe.

He received the degree of A. M. from Princeton university
in 1887 ; and in June, 1906, the University of Alabama conferred
upon Professor Smyth the honorary degree of LL. D. He is a
member of the New York Entomological society, one of the
original members of the Entomological Society of America, and
an associate member of the Ornithological union.

He married Miss Grace Allan, daughter of James Allan
of Charleston, South Carolina, on the 29th of December, 1897.
They have had three children, two sons and a daughter, all of
whom are living in 1907.

As to his religious convictions, Professor Smyth is an elder
in the Presbyterian church at Blacksburg and says, "I have always
been a Presbyterian, as were my Scotch-Irish ancestors before
me." He is a Democrat. He finds his favorite forms of amuse-
ment and exercise on the salt water, in boating, sailing and fish-
ing; and in collecting, observing, and studying birds, insects and
marine life, in forest, field and on the shore; and in sketching
and painting, as well as in music.

It will be seen that this is the life-record of one of the younger
liberally educated and thoroughly trained scientists, loyal sons
of Virginia, who have improved their opportunities for study in
other states, and who are endeavoring to build up the intellectual
and moral life of the youth of Virginia by teaching, through
books and lectures and through the example of their own lives,
the value and the delight of devotion to the study of natural
science.

NASH PERKINS SNEAD

SNEAD, NASH PEEKINS, physician, was born in
Fluvanna county, Virginia, September 22, 1872. His
father was Dr. George H. Snead, a practicing physician
and minister of the Gospel, who was a man of unusual energy,
and of unfaltering fidelity to duty. His mother was Virginia
Perkins.

Dr. Snead's early life was spent in the country, where he
grew up with a strong love for life on the farm and for hunting.
His father was the owner of quite a large landed estate; and the
son spent much of his vacations from school in the performance of
various farm duties. In acquiring his primary education in the
local schools, he sometimes had to travel considerable distances,
walking or riding. He attended the Palmyra high school, where
his academical education was obtained; and, having since early
boyhood had access to his father's medical library, and being
impelled to the study of medicine both by his own inclination
and the knowledge of his parent's wishes, he in 1891 entered the
medical department of the University of Virginia, and, after
studying one session there, he passed the medical examining
board of the state. In 1892 and 1893, he pursued his further pro-
fessional studies in the Medical college of Virginia, at Richmond;
and, having obtained his degree of Doctor of Medicine, he im-
mediately began the practice of his profession at Cartersville,
Cumberland county, Virginia, where he has since successfully
continued in its pursuit.

Dr. Snead owns a farm, and combines farming with the prac-
tice of his profession; he raises the usual crops of his section,
grazes cattle, etc. He takes much interest in his herd of high-
class registered Shetland ponies which is the largest in the state
and perhaps the largest in the South. He is the physician to the
convent of St. Francis de Sales and to the Belmead Industrial
school ; and he is a member of the board of directors of the James
River Valley Telephone company, and of the board of directors
of the Columbia bank of Virginia.

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NASH PERKINS SXEAD 373

He holds membership in the Medical society of Virginia,
and in the Alumni societies of the University of Virginia and the
Virginia Medical college.

Dr. Snead is a Democrat in politics and has never changed
his political views or party association. His religious affiliation
is with the Baptist church. In farming and hunting he finds his
principal diversion and recreation.

He married October 22, 1895, Janie E. Minor, daughter of
E. C. Minor, of Richmond; and of their marriage have been born
six children, all of whom are now living.

His address is Cartersville. Cumberland County, Virginia.

JOSEPH WELLS SOUTH ALL

SOUTHALL, JOSEPH WELLS, legislator and educator,
was born in Prince Edward county, Virginia, March 4,
1833. His parents were Philip Turner and Elizabeth
(Webster) Southall. His father was a physician and planter; a
man of good education and an excellent conversationalist. The
earliest known ancestors of the family in America were Major
Stephen Southall, of the Revolutionary army and Lucy Henry,
sister of the illustrious Patrick Henry.

In childhood and youth Joseph W. Southall lived in the
country. He was strong and well and was fond of country life.
He had no regular tasks involving manaul labor but, except dur-
ing vacations, was kept in school. He had no difficulties to
encounter in acquiring an education. Good private schools, in-
cluding the one kept by the brilliant Henry Anderson, were
attended until he was sufficiently advanced to enter Hamp-
den-Sidney college where he remained one year. He then went
to William and Mary college from which institution he was grad-
uated in 1855, and then took a professional course of study at the
Virginia Medical college, and was graduated therefrom in 1860
with the degree of M. D. He commenced the active work of life
as a physician and farmer. At the opening of the war he be-
came a surgeon in Jackson's Valley command and served at
Manassas and other points. Later he joined the Amelia cavalry
but suffered such inconvenience from a partial loss of hearing
that he finally was compelled to quit the service in the field. He
then resumed the practice of his profession, in which he was very
successful, and in connection therewith he attended to his impor-
tant agricultural interests. In 1891 he was elected to represent
the counties of Amelia, Prince Edward, and Cumberland, in the
Virginia state senate. His services were highly appreciated by his
constituents and by reelections he held the office for eight years.
In 1898 he was elected State superintendent of public instruc-
tion. His term of office expired in 1906.

He is a member of the State Medical examining board and
of the venerable Phi Beta Kappa society, at William and Mary

JOSEPH WELLS SOUTHALL 375

college. Before the war he was a Whig in politics; since that
time he has been a Democrat. He became a Democrat because he
believed that party to be friendly to the South and her institu-
tions and interests. His religious affiliation is with the Protest-
ant Episcopal church. His principal mode of relaxation when
young was fox hunting; in later years he finds his relaxation in
strolling over his farm and seeing that everything about the
estate is kept in good condition.

The choice of his profession was largely due to the influence
of his father who owned a large number of slaves and desired to
have his son look after their health — which was not entirely to
his liking. In reply to an inquiry as to the relative strength of
certain specified influences he said : " I owe more to private
study under my accomplished father who catechized me at each
meal on the studies of the day and to association with active men
in public life than to any other sources." Among the books which
he has found most helpful in fitting him for the work of life, he
names a full course of history, ancient, mediaeval and modern,
and the writings of the great poets, of all ages. In reply to a
question as to what his own experience and observation has led
him to believe will contribute most to the strengthening of sound
ideals of American life and will most help young people to attain
true success, he says : " I think there is in this day a great de-
cadence of public virtue and recommend general education and
the influence of our holy religion."

On February 27, 1866, he was married to Miss Rosa
Hatchet.

His address is Jetersville, Amelia County, Virginia.

JAMES HARRISON SPENCER

SPENCER, JAMES HARRISON, of Martinsville, Henry
countjr, Virginia, merchant, manufacturer of tobacco, at
one time vice-president of the Roanoke and Southern rail-
way, president of the Farmers Bank, of Martinsville, Virginia,
and from 1901 to 1905 a member of the executive committee of
the Democratic party of the State of Virginia, was born at Spen-
cer, Henry county, Virginia, on the 8th of March, 1858. He
follows the business of his father, David Harrison Spencer, who
was a leading citizen of his county, an ardent churchman of
generous public spirit, and was at one time President of the Dan-
ville and Western Railroad company. His mother was Mrs.
Mary Waller (Dillard) Spencer. His great great-grandfather,
James Spencer, was of English descent, born in Westmoreland
county, Virginia. He removed to Loudoun county, then to Pittsyl-
vania (now Henry county) ; and his son, James Spencer, who
died in Henry county, in 1783, was a soldier in the Revolutionary
War, and a man of considerable means, owning twenty-nine
slaves. His son, William Spencer, was the grandfather of the
subject of this sketch. On the maternal side, Mr. Spencer's great-
grandfather, Colonel John Dillard, came from Amherst county
to Pittsylvania county, before the Revolution. He was a lawyer,
and was colonial counsel for that part of Virginia. His son,
Colonel Peter Dillard, was a colonel of the militia after the Revo-
lution. It was on his estate, " Valley Plain," on the Dan River,
in Rockingham county, North Carolina, that Miss Mary Waller
Dillard, mother of James Harrison Spencer, was born. Her
mother was Elizabeth Redd, daughter of Major John Redd, an
officer of the Revolutionary War, who came from Orange county
to Henry county, 1771. His wife was Mary Carr Waller,
daughter of Colonel George Waller, of the Revolutionary Army.
As a boy, James Harrison Spencer had the best of health and
enjoyed most thoroughly the sports of boyhood. Residing on his
father's place in the country, and looking forward to commercial
pursuits, in his boyhood when he was not at school he worked in

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JAMES HARRISON SPENCER 379

his father's store and factory, and early became familiar with the
business. He had private instructors to prepare him for college ;
and he attended for a time the Patrick Henry academy. He
entered Roanoke college, at Salem, Virginia, but he did not com-
plete the course of study for a degree. At the age of twenty,
after a course of study at Bryant and Stratton's Business college,
at Baltimore, Maryland, he was graduated from that institution,
in 1878. While he has always been very fond of reading history,
his especial study has been books on manufacturing and on com-
mercial life.

In 1883, he began business life for himself as a merchant, in
Martinsville, Virginia. In 1885 he began the manufacture of
tobacco, at Martinsville ; and since that time he has followed that
business with ever increasing success.

On the 18th of April, 1894, he married Miss Mary Blanch
Williamson, daughter of Captain James N. Williamson and Mary
Holt Williamson, of Graham, North Carolina. They have had
five children, four of whom are now (1907) living.

The activity of Mr. Spencer has not been limited to his own
business. As a director and for some time vice-president of the
Eoanoke and Southern railroad, (now a division of the Norfolk
and Western), as a member of the common council of the town
of Martinsville for the last ten years; as president of the
Farmers bank, of Martinsville, he has been identified with the
business interests of many residents of the state. He is a Mason,
a Knight Templar, a member of the Society of the Sons of the
American Revolution, and a member of the Virginia Historical
society. At Roanoke college he was a Phi Delta Theta. He is
prominently identified with the work of the Democratic party,
in Virginia, and for some years he was executive member for the
Democratic party of the state of Virginia.

By religious convictions and associations he is connected with
the Church of the Disciples.

To the young men of Virginia who would succeed in life, he
commends : " Sound loyal character as a foundation ; industry,
and all the education they can acquire."

Vol. 4— Va. -18

JOSEPH STEBBINS

STEBBINS, JOSEPH, merchant and banker, was born in
Petersburg, Virginia, June 14, 1850, and is the son of
Joseph and Mary Elizabeth (Grundy) Stebbins. His
father was a merchant, and was a man of strict integrity and
absolute truthfulness — one of the old school. From his mother,
also, Mr. Stebbins imbibed lofty principles, her influence upon
both his intellectual and his moral development being very great.

Mr. Stebbins' earliest American ancestor was Rowland Steb-
bins, who came from Ipswich, England, in 1634, and settled at
Northampton, Massachusetts. A distinguished member of the
family was Colonel Joseph Stebbins, of the Continental army.
Mr. Stebbins' maternal grandfather, George Grundy, served
gallantly in the War of 1812, and was a member of the heroic
band that won for Petersburg the sobriquet of the " Cockade
City."

In boyhood and youth Mr. Stebbins' ambition was kindled
by reading Smiles' " Self -Help " and Watts' " On the Improve-
ment of the Mind." His education was received in private
schools of Richmond, Virginia, but, owing to the death of his
father, his education had to stop when he was thirteen years of
age. At fourteen he entered life as salesman in a country store
at Black Walnut, Virginia. At fifteen he was bereft of parents,
brothers and sisters, and found himself almost alone in the
world. This, with the fact that he bore his father's name,
strongly impelled him to lead a useful and honorable life. In
the country store referred to, he settled down to hard and earnest
work, formed systematic business habits, and learned to do his
duty day by day.

Mr. Stebbins has for many years engaged in the mercantile
business at South Boston, Virginia. There he has won the respect
and the confidence of his neighbors and associates. When the
Bank of South Boston was organized, he was made one of its

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JOSEPH STEBBINS 383

directors; later its president. Meantime his mercantile interests
have greatly multiplied, and he is now president of the important
wholesale dry-goods house of Stebbins, Lawson and Spraggins.

Mr. Stebbins served in the town council for some years. In
1901, he was elected to the Constitutional convention from
Halifax county. He served on the committees on permanent
organization, on county government, and on finance, taxation, and
corporations. The last named enlisted his warmest interest and
the record of the convention showed that he rendered valuable
service to the state in drafting the taxation and corporation
clauses of the new constitution. In fact, we make bold to say
that Mr. Stebbins deserves no little of the credit for the creation
of the corporation commission, one of the greatest additions to
the fiscal and economic system of Virginia. On this subject, Mr.
Stebbins was very zealous and enthusiastic, and his experience in
mercantile matters added practical wisdom and suggestiveness to
his enthusiasm.

Personally, Mr. Stebbins was one of the finest men of the
Constitutional convention. His colleagues saw in him a man
of spotless integrity, high ideals, and noble purpose. His address
to the convention on the eve of its adjournment sounded like a
voice from the great-past of Virginia, when all her sons were
men of incorruptible integrity, and when money could not
influence legislation.

Mr. Stebbins wished to study law. It is a good thing, how-
ever, for the commonwealth that some of her ablest sons enter
mercantile and fiduciary departments of life. She needs brains
and character in such pursuits. Prominent among the able and
high-minded business men of Virginia stands the subject of this
article. He has long since come to believe that his vocation was
chosen for him. He believes, with " the Melancholy Dane," that

" There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will."

When asked what advice he would give to young Americans
desiring to win success, he replied : " Character is more than
gold; religion is more than a system of morals — it is a life.
Live righteously, think independently and act honestly." "We

384 JOSEPH STEBBINS

rejoice that men with such philosophy are sitting in our banks
and guarding our property. We hope that they will long repre-
sent us in the halls of legislation and draft our constitutions.

Mr. Stebbins was married, July 24, 1872, to Willie S.
Fourqurean. They have had four children, of whom two are
now (1908) living.

The postoffice address of Mr. Stebbins is South Boston, Vir-
ginia. In that busy town he dispenses a cheerful hospitality to a
large circle of friends and neighbors, who admire him for his
business talents and for his sterling qualities.

WALTER HERRON TAYLOR

TAYLOK, WALTER HERRON, soldier, author, and
financier, was born in Norfolk, Virginia, June 13, 1838.
His parents were Walter Herron Taylor and Cornelia
Wickham Taylor. His father was a man of sterling character,
a successful merchant, public spirited, a devoted churchman and
zealous of good works. The Taylor ancestry came from Eng-
land to Virginia in earliest colonial days. The line is traced
through: Sir George Yeardley, Argall Yeardley, Frances
Yeardley to Adam Thoroughgood, Colonel John Thoroughgood,
John Thoroughgood, Margaret to Thomas Walke, Margaret to
John Calvert, Elizabeth to Richard Taylor, Walter Herron Tay-
lor, Colonel Walter Herron Tavlor.

The old Norfolk academy and the Virginia Military institute
furnished Colonel Taylor his preparatory, collegiate and military
training. There was nothing noteworthy in his school life ex-
cept industry, which has been the dominant trait of his life. In
this the boy was the man.

He began his active career in Norfolk in 1855, first as a rail-
road clerk, and then as a bank officer. Norfolk being one of the
first cities to feel the shock of war in 1861, all business was at
once paralyzed and young Taylor's brilliant business career was
cut short. From the quiet and peace of a bank office he passed
at once to the stirring scenes of the tented field. Into " the
avocation of war " he flung himself with the characteristic ardor
of the Southern youth. His gentle birth, courteous bearing,
quick perceptions and military training attracted the attention
of General Robert E. Lee, who called him at once as one of the
most trusted of his personal staff. From 1861 to 1865, he acted
as aide-de-camp to General Lee, and adjutant general of the
army of Northern Virginia, and closed his service at the surren-
der with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Perhaps no man ever
stood so near the great Southern commander, and knew so much of
his inner life during those four years of the uneven conflict. It
was a rare and coveted experience to be one of the intimate mili-

386 WALTER HERRON TAYLOR

tary family of General Eobert E. Lee. Out of his experience
Colonel Taylor has written one of the great books of the war —
" Four Years with General Lee." The matter of this book is first
hand. The author waited long enough after the conflict for
jDassions to cool, and for events to mellow in the soft light of a
true historic perspective. This work of Colonel Taylor's will
therefore remain as the book of last reference to verifv facts.

■J

Colonel Taylor returned to Norfolk, in 1865, and took up
the broken threads of commercial life. Since that time he has
been engaged with his usual success in mercantile pursuits.
From 1869 to 1873, while the Conservatives were in the majority
in the legislature, he participated in the turbulent scenes of re-
construction as a Conservative state senator. In this he did his
state signal service. The most important legislation of that
period, so far as Norfolk was concerned, was the consolidation of
the Norfolk and Petersburg, Southside, and Virginia and
Tennessee railroads, making the present trunk line of the Nor-
folk and Western, Norfolk to Bristol. He was chairman of the
senate committee on roads and internal navigation and led in the
senate in the advocacv of General Mahone's scheme for consolida-
tion. Since then, though often solicited, he has not been in
public office except as commissioner of the sinking fund of the
city, which position he has continuously held since 1882. For
more than twentv vears Colonel Tavlor has been one of the most
active and useful members of the board of directors of the Nor-
folk and "Western railroad. His esteemed position in that direc-
torate is not by virtue of his large stockholdings but because of
his business sagacitv. Colonel Tavlor's life work, however, has
been as the president of the Marine bank, of Norfolk. He took
charge of this institution in 1877 when the stocks of all financial
institutions in the South were below par. This stock is gilt-
edged to-day and quoted at about three hundred. President
Taylor may be classed as ultra conservative in banking circles,
but his institution is solid, and safe beyond question, and the
stock of the Marine bank is first. He gives his personal atten-
tion to everv detail. Not a clerk in the establishment works
harder than the president. Many have grown old in its service,
and his kindness and consideration for his employees is tender
and beautiful in practical consideration.

WALTER HEREON TAYLOR 387

Colonel Taylor is the fiduciary of many trust funds, and
estates placed in his hands by wills and by the direction of the
courts. He is also one of the pioneers of building associations in
this section, which have enabled many men of small means, and
wage workers, to become owners of their homes. He has been a
vestryman in the Protestant Episcopal church for many years.
He is a Mason, and a gold Democrat.

On April 3, 1865, Colonel Taylor was married to Miss
Elizabeth Selden Saunders. They have had eight children, all
of whom are now living, and are successful and popular members
of the professional, commercial and social circles of their native
city. Colonel Taylor has a happy home where hospitality is
genuine and generous without ostentation. He is the ideal Vir-
ginia gentleman of to-day, in whom are happily combined the
best elements of both the old and new schools.

His address is Norfolk, Virginia.

RICHARD HENRY TEBBS

TEBBS, RICHARD HENRY, lawyer, was born May 10,
1855, in Leesburg, Loudoun county, Virginia. His
father, Charles Binns Tebbs, lawyer, commonwealth's
attorney for Loudoun county for many years and lieutenant
colonel of the 8th Virginia regiment of infantry in the Civil war,
was noted for courage and rectitude. His mother, H. Fanny
(Cockerille) Tebbs, a refined and highly cultured woman, was
a marked influence in his life. His ancestry is Scotch and French
(Huguenot) on paternal, and English on maternal side: There
have been many distinguished members of the family in America.
He traces his right to membership in the Sons of the Revolution
to no less than five persons.

He was reared in Leesburg, which has practically always
been his home, though when young he spent several years in
Louisiana. As boy and youth his physical condition was good
and he took the average boy's active part in games and sports,
and was noted for brightness and aptitude. He acquired his
primary and preparatory education at the Leesburg academy,
going thence to Randolph-Macon college, Ashland, for one year
and then to the University of Virginia for two years, graduating
in mathematics, Greek, Latin and French. In the fall after leav-
ing college he began life on his own account as professor of Latin
in the University of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, and remained there
one year. It was not his intention to make education his life-
work, as he had decided when quite young to follow in the pro-
fessional footsteps of his distinguished father. After returning
to his native state, which he had never thought of leaving per-
manently, he returned to the University of Virginia, Charlottes-
ville, where he took the law course in one year and was graduated
B. L. in 1879. He was immediately admitted to the bar and be-
gan practice in his native town, where his ability, high social
standing and personal popularity soon gave him a fine practice.
While he was yet a young man he made a place for himself among
the leaders of his profession, which he has retained throughout
his successful career.

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RICHARD HENRY TEBBS 391

In 1885, he became judge of the Loudoun county court and
served as such more than eighteen years, until the county courts
passed out of existence, February 1, 1904, under the new state
constitution. During his career on the bench he presided over
the trial of many important cases and made a record that will
compare favorably with that of any county judge in the state.
There was only one way to win a case in his court, to have the
law and the evidence on your side. His thorough knowledge of
law and broad-minded views of justice and equity made reversals
of his decisions by the higher courts " few and far between."

His private practice is and has always been of the best. He
has never soiled his hands with a dirty case. He has been a con-
tributor to the "Law Register" and other papers, and his writings
have attracted the attention and received the favorable comment
of the bar of the state. He is a Mason, a Knight Templar, a
member of the Knights of Pythias, and of the Phi Kappa Psi
Greek letter college fraternity. His religious affiliation is with
the Protestant Episcopal church of which he is a member. In
politics he is a Democrat. As a citizen he ranks with the leaders
and he has always been an active participant in every movement
for the betterment of his town, county or state.

On October 13, 1885, he married Lillian Lynch, daughter of
Captain William B. Lynch, of Loudoun county, Virginia. They
have had four children, all of whom are now (1907) living.

His address is, Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia.

WILLIAM THOMAS TILLAR

TILLAR, WILLIAM THOMAS, of Emporia, Virginia,
treasurer of the Ashby Cotton mills, treasurer of the
Emporia Cotton mills, treasurer of the Home Invest-
ment company, and in 1897 appointed by President McKinley
postmaster of Emporia, was born on the 20th of June, 1874, at
Emporia, Greenville county, where he still resides.

His father, Benjamin D. Tillar, was the president of the
Atlanta and Danville railway, and at the time of his death in
1887 was a member of the Virginia legislature. He had received
numerous political honors from his county ; he was regarded as a
progressive and active business man who became a railway presi-
dent at thirty and continued in that position until the time of his
death, at the age of thirty-four. He had married Miss Sallie
Jones, daughter of Doctor Richard Jones, of Brunswick county,
the mother of the subject of this sketch. Through his mother
Mr. Tillar traces his descent from the Sims and Drumgool fami-
lies, and on his father's side he is descended from the Duprees.

William Thomas Tillar inherited an excellent constitution;
and from his early boyhood showed himself strongly drawn
toward a business training and business activity. He was ex-
ceptionally serious in his boyhood, and he early began to assist
his father in his business as president of a railway. His boy-
hood was passed in his native town. He took an academic course
at schools; and not planning to take a professional course of
study, he went into business while quite young. He has always
had a marked taste for reading, however, and he keeps himself in
touch with current events and with the best of current literature.

Leaving school in 1889, at the age of fifteen, to take a posi-
tion in Norfolk with the Norfolk and Carolina railway, he re-
mained with that corporation until 1903, when he started a hard-
ware business at Emporia. In 1906, this business having largely
increased in volume and importance, he incorporated the business
of William T. Tillar as the " Tillar-Smith Hardware company ;"
and relieving himself of much of the detail of the business, was
enabled to devote himself to the cotton mills in which he was in-
terested, and to other important business enterprises.

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WILLIA3I THOMAS TILLAR 395

In speaking of his choice of a business life, he says that he
was drawn toward it by his early love of commercial business,
and by the training which he received even in early boyhood from
his father. He adds : " The influence of home in my boyhood
was always a restraint for good. My early companions were
usually men older than myself, and I always preferred contact
with older, settled men, — men of stability and character; and
their companionship has had a marked influence over me."

In 1897, when but twenty- three years of age, he was
appointed by President McKinley postmaster of his native town.
Beside directing the business of the Tillar-Smith Hardware com-
pany, of which he is president, he has done a successful
business in real estate and he is the active financial man for
several important corporations, acting as treasurer of the Ashby
Cotton mills, treasurer of the Emporia Cotton mills, treasurer of
the Home Investment company, and a director of the Greenville
bank. He is also a director in several other corporations, and is
conneated with most of the leading enterprises of his town and
countv.

Mr. Tillar has interested himself in the militia of Virginia
so far as to have served a year as captain of Company M, of
Emporia, Virginia, at the time of its organization and for a year
afterward, resigning that position when the company was well
organized and on a solid basis.

He is a Mason. In his party relations, he is a Eepublican.
He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, South. He has all
his life been fond of all forms of out-of-door exercise, and he
finds recreation also in travel.

On the 25th of April, 1894, he married Julia F. Bailey,
daughter of Honorable David F. Bailey and Mrs. Eleanor Pres-
ton Bailey, of Bristol, Virginia. They have had five children,
four of whom are now living (1908).

Mr. Tillar's advice to the young people of his state who are
seeking true success in life is given in these words : " Have high,
sound morals, strict integrity, good habits. Seek the good will
and respect of older persons, and pay due regard to the opinions
of older people. Live such a life and attend so closely to duty
as to win the respect and admiration of those whose opinion you
value. Build on sound principles, which in the end will win."

STONEWALL TOMPKINS

TOMPKINS, STOXEWALL, educator, and scientist was
born near Scottsville. in Albemarle county. Virginia,
January 15, 1866. His father was Charles Gilmer
Tompkins, who was a lawyer and farmer, and his mother was
Augustina T. Poore.

Mr. Tompkins* paternal ancestry is of English origin: and
Woods' ''History of Albemarle County" gives as the earliest, of
the name in that county Giles Tompkins, who purchased land
on Totier creek in 1765. uHe died*' says Mr. Woods, "in 1795,
leaving at least three children. William. Elizabeth and Sarah.
William lived in the same neighborhood on an estate called
Whitehall. He died in 1824. His wife's name was Elizabeth,
and his children were John, William; Elizabeth, the wife of
Peter White: Catherine, the wife of James Minor: Samuel W. ;
Ann, the wife of Thomas Staples: Edmund, Robert and James.
Samuel was a physician, and practiced in the vicinity of Earlys-
ville. and afterwards near Scottsville. He married Sarah, daugh-
ter of George Gilmer, and his children were Elizabeth, the wife
of J. Schuyler Moon; Jane, George, Junius, Samuel, Martha,
Charles, Luev and Catherine."

mi

Mr. Tompkins lived during childhood in the country, except
for about two years and a half, when he resided in Charlotte-
ville, working for more than a year of that period, from January
1, 1876 to April 1, 1877, in a printing of^ce. When he lived in
the country, he was strong and vigorous, and fond of active out-
door life : but he found the close confinement of the printing
office, where he worked nine hours a da v. and sometimes longer.
injurious to his health. His country experience of work embraced
all kinds of farm labor; and the necessity for work prevented his
going to school, until in 1879 he entered the Miller manual labor
school of Albemarle county. After graduating from the Miller
school, he studied for a session in the engineering department of
the University of Virginia. In 1886, he became superintendent
of shops in the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Arkansas.

O t Tr^ul^rCL^(^ (J<n<riAi<

STONEWALL TOMPKINS 399

i

He has always been fond of machinery, and had the ambition to
become an electrical engineer; and he got his start as a teacher
in this line by his election to the superintendency of shops at
the Miller school. From September 1, 1890 to July 1. 1891 he
was instructor in mechanical engineering in the University of
Virginia. From July 1, 1891 to July 1, 1897 he was general
manager of the Charlottesville, Virginia, Electric Light and Gas
company. From July, 1893 to July 1, 1897 he was professor of
mechanical and electrical engineering at Clemson college, South
Carolina. From July 1, 1897 to September 1, 1901 he was direc-
tor of engineering and manual training in the Miller school ; and
during this period he again studied for the session of 1898-1899
in the engineering department of the University of Virginia.
From September 1, 1901 to September 1, 1903 he practiced the
profession of engineering in Houston, Texas. From Sep-
tember 1, 1903 to November 1, 1905 he was again director
of engineering and manual training at the Miller school.
From the last named date until September 1, 1906, he was the
acting superintendent of the Miller school. Mr. Tompkins' work
has been chiefly that of teaching in the line of shopwork and
mechanical and electrical engineering; and secondly in the com-
mercial practice of mechanical and electrical engineering.

He had conferred upon him the degree of Master of Mechan-
ical Engineering by Clemson college, South Carolina, in 1900.
In 1893 he was appointed one of the judges of award in the
department of electricity of the World's Columbian exposition
at Chicago, and served from July of that year until the work of
the commission ended in 1894.

Mr. Tompkins has invented a water wheel governor, a trans-
mission dynamometer, improvements in cotton-cleaning machin-
ery, and an automatic gear cutter.

He is a member of the American society of mechanical
engineers, of the American association for the advancement of
science, and of the Franklin institute. He is a Mason, and has
been treasurer, junior warden and senior warden of his lodge.
He is a Democrat, and has never changed his party allegiance.
He is a member of the Presbyterian church, in which he is an
elder.

4:00 STONEWALL TOMPKINS

On October 13. 1892, Mr. Tompkins married Josephine Ham-
mond Vawter; and of their marriage have been born four child-
ren, of whom three are still (1907) living.

His address is Miller School, Albemarle County, Virginia.

-

ROLAND GREEN TURPIN

TUEPIN, EOLAND GEEEN, farmer, stockman and legis-
lator, was born December 15, 1844, in Big Island, Bed-
ford county, Virginia. His father, Eoland Green Tur-
pin, farmer and school trustee, was noted for kindness and hospi-
tality and success; his mother, Eliza (Wilson) Turpin, a refined
and cultured woman of high character, was a strong and lasting
influence on all sides of his life. His ancestry is English on
the paternal side, and Scotch-Irish on the materal side. His
great-grandfather Turpin emigrated from England, and settled
in Chesterfield county, Virginia, about the middle of the eigh-
teenth century; and his grandfather, Thomas Turpin, moved to
Bedford county about the close of the War of the Eevolution.

He was reared in the country ; was healthy, sturdy and active,
with a strong natural taste for farming and stock-raising and
a thirst for knowledge of all sorts ; did his share of work on the
plantation, in the management of the stock, and in other labor,
which developed his self-reliance and purposefulness. He had
various difficulties in getting his education, the chief of which
were due to the Civil war, which began while he was a student
at the Blue Eidge academy. Though under the enlistment age,
his parents had trouble in preventing his entering the Confederate
army during the first year and a half of the war, so strongly was
his patriotism stirred by the fighting. In 1863, he would no
longer be kept back and enlisted in Company G, 2nd. Virginia
regiment of cavalry, in which he served gallantly until the close
of the war, participating in many of the most important cavalry
movements.

A few weeks after the war ended he began farming and
stock-raising on his own account, in Bedford county, and by hard
work and careful and intelligent management, he attained a high
degree of success. From the reconstruction period he has taken
an active part in politics. He has always been a Democrat.
His strong interest in the welfare of the county, and subsequently
of the state, gave him his first strong impulse to strive for success

404 ROLAND GREEN TURPIN

in life. He was deputy treasurer of the county in 1873-74;
county supervisor from 1886 to 1895, and a member of the Vir-
ginia house of delegates 1895-1898 and 1901-1904. He made a most
creditable record in the legislature. He was the pioneer advocate
of legislation authorizing the employment of convicts on public
roads, and was a member of the committee that perfected and
reported the bill for the creation of the corporation commission
under the new constitution and framed the laws for its regula-
tion. He was made an honorary member of the Richmond cham-
ber of commerce in 1896.

The books most helpful in fitting him for his career were
history, especially as told in the lives of such men as Washington
and Franklin. The three strongest influences in his life have
been, in the order named; home, contact with public men, and
private study. He advises young men to cultivate habits of
sobriety, honesty, promptness and a strong desire to serve their
generation. He is a member of the Baptist church. He is a
Mason, and is past master and warden of his lodge. His favorite
recreation is horseback riding.

On February 27, 1884, he married Dora A. Lavell, daughter
of A. Lavell of Rockbridge county. Six children have been born
to them, two of whom, Mary E. and Ralph Essex, are now (1907)
living.

His address is Big Island, Bedford County, Virginia.

A .

WESLEY H. WALLACE

WALLACE, WESLEY H., son of John and Janet John-
son Wallace, was born Xovember 9, 1868 in Jefferson
county, New York. His earliest known ancestors in
America were his grandfather Wallace, and his great-grandfather
Johnson. These came from Belfast, Ireland, to Canada some
time in the forties. The Johnson family located in Ogdensburg,
New York; while Mr. Wallace, the grandfather, lived on the
line separating Xew York from Canada. Both the maternal
and paternal families were partly Scotch. The great-grand-
father, James Wallace, was distinguished as an aggressive leader
of the Orangemen society in Ireland.

Wesley Wallace's father was a farmer; he was very fond of
reading and, especially, of history.

Like his father, Weslev Wallace was also verv fond of his-
tory and literature in general. He was brought up in the coun-
try, where he enjoyed remarkably good health. So long as he
remained at home he had to do farm work, and the memory of
those early days of trial and discipline he still cherishes as one
of his most valuable personal assets.

Unhappily for him his mother, from his earliest recollection,
was a confirmed invalid, and hence was unable to bring to bear
upon him the influence which she might otherwise have exerted.
He accomplished much, nevertheless, in the way of reading. Be-
fore he was fourteen years of age he had read most of the works
of Dickens and Scott: in addition, he had devoured "Welling-
ton's Campaigns." a " History of the Holy Land," and a part of
Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." He had also
familiarized himself with the writings of Longfellow. Bryant
and Whittier. He eaoferlv absorbed all the different school his-
tories and books of travel that came within his reach but he finds
it difficult to specify the books which impressed him most.

Wesley Wallace attended the public rural schools of Xew
York and Ontario. Beyond this his academic training came
through home study and from private tutors. Thus he made the

Vol. 4— Va.— 19

406 WESLEY H. WALLACE

acquaintance of the Latin classics and German, on which base
his medical education was builded.

From 1896 to 1899 he attended the Medical college of Vir-
ginia, graduating from this institution in 1899 with the degree of
M. D. During his summer vacations he continued his medical
work in a charity hospital in New York.

The life of Dr. Wallace has not been unmarked by vicissi-
tudes. He was but fourteen years of age when, as a cabin boy,
he went to sea. At twenty he was the second officer of a large
ship and at twenty-two he was a chief officer in the merchant
service. In 1892 he left the sea. During recent years he has
been a practicing physician. In his judgment the first strong
impulse he received to make something of his life came from his
youngest sister, who, through many years of her youth, believed
in him and encouraged him by her stalwart faith and hope. His
determination that this hope should not be disappointed went
far to make of him a man. In addition to this he was, in the
quiet of home, an earnest student; developing, through his obscure
industry, habits of labor which have continued with him through
life. In addition, he had been privileged to associate, in different
parts of the world, with men of character and force, and these
have left their impress upon him.

Dr. Wallace's positions have included those of health officer
of Prince George county, and, from 1899 to 1901, physician to
the county almshouse. In the line of his professional duties he
has insisted upon the observance of the principles of public and
private hygiene; he has also pressed for reform in the conditions
at the poorhouse, which, prior to his intervention, were a dis-
grace to the community. In 1906 he traveled extensively in the
West, did post-graduate work in Chicago, and in the fall of that
year settled in Brooklyn, New York.

Dr. Wallace has written several papers for medical publica-
tions; he has also busied himself with the attempt to work out
a rational explanation of hypnotism. He is a member of the
American [Medical association, the Virginia State Medical society,
an ex-president of the South Side Virginia Medical association,
a member of the Kings County Medical society, and the New
York State Medical association. In politics he has always been

WESLEY H. WALLACE 407

a Republican. His religious affiliation is with the Episcopal
church. He finds his principal amusements and recreation in
swimming, boating, lawn tennis and horseback riding.

While his home studies have, unquestionably, proved of value
to him, Dr. Wallace is convinced that he made a serious mistake
in depending too exclusively upon such study; for, in so doing,
he has missed the systematic training which might have been
received in school or college, and thus has been led to waste much
valuable time.

To the young, who may be helped by his life and experience,
Dr. Wallace offers the following suggestions: "From my own
experience, I would say to all, ' keep digging.' From a boy of
fourteen I have never had a cent of monev I have not earned, or a
suit of clothes except such as were purchased with money I had
earned. By my own efforts I earned and saved money enough
to enable me to obtain a degree in one of the noblest of the pro-
fessions."

On October 24, 1900, Dr. Wallace married Ida Darling,
daughter of John and Janet Darling of Canada, formerly of
Ayrshire, Scotland. Three children have been born of this mar-
riage, two of whom still (1907) survive.

The address of Dr. Wallace is 176 Prospect Park West,
Brooklyn, New York.

THOMAS LEONARD WATSON

WATSON, THOMAS LEONAKD, Ph. D., professor of
economic geology in the University of Virginia, prac-
tical geologist, and author of numerous State Survey
rejDorts on economic geology, and of some fifty other papers on
geological subjects, was born at Chatham, Pittsylvania county,
Virginia, on September 5, 1871. His father, Fletcher B. Watson,
lawyer and educator, was the district superintendent of schools for
Pitts}dvania county. His mother, Mrs. Pattie B. (Tredway) Wat-
son, was as deeply and actively interested in the education of her
son at home and in school, as was his father. His family on both
sides are descended from Scotch-English ancestry and have been
identified with the life of Virginia since the early part of the
eighteenth century.

His early life was passed in a village. He was educated in
the public schools of Chatham, Virginia. Throughout his boy-
hood he was fond of out-of-door exercise, and perhaps by reason
of this he had good health during his boyhood and youth. Al-
ways deeply interested in the phenomena of nature, and fond of
nature studies, he was led by this early interest in the natural
history of the world about him to choose the profession of geo-
logist. In September, 1886, he became a student at the Virginia
Agricultural and Mechanical college, (now the Virginia Poly-
technic institute, in which he held a professorship from July
1904 to July 1907) . He was graduated with the degree of B. Sc.
in 1890; and he received the degree of Master of Science from
the same institution in 1893, after he had passed a part of the
academic year 1891 and the summer as a graduate student at the
University of Virginia. He held a fellowship in geology at Cor-
nell university at Ithaca, Xew York, in 1896 and 1897 ; and he re-
ceived from Cornell the degree of Ph. D., on the completion of an
advanced course of post-graduate study in geology and allied
subjects at that university, in June, 1897.

The very nature of his chosen profession renders it an advan-
tage to the geologist that as a student of the present condition

wfO

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XP CJ\sCs cn«y

Mm tamm mm

•J

THOMAS LEONARD WATSON 411

and the history of the earth's crust, his professional work should
take him to different places and should render him familiar with
different geologic formations as they can be studied in different
parts of his own and other countries. The many positions to
which Dr. Watson has been appointed and in which he has
served effectively have given to him, through the faithful dis-
charge of his duties in these successive places, a breadth of out-
look and a fullness of equipment of his chosen work which can-
not be secured without wide travel, and investigation and study
in different places.

From 1891 to 1895 he acted as geologist and instructor in
geology and mineralogy at the Virginia Agricultural and Me-
chanical college. After receiving his doctor's degree at Cornell,
he was made assistant geologist in the State Geological Survey
of Indiana (1897), and from 1897 to 1898 he was a research
worker in geology at the United States National Museum, at
Washington, District of Columbia. For three years from 1898
to 1901 he was assistant state geologist for the state of Georgia,
and during these years of service he laid the foundation for those
reports on the granites and gneisses, and on the banxite deposits,
and ocher deposits of Georgia which were published in 1902,
1904, and 1907. For the next three years, from September, 1901
to 1904, Dr. Watson was professor of geology at Dension uni-
versity, Granville, Ohio. In July, 1904, he assumed the duties
of professor of geology at his alma mater, now known as the
Virginia Polytechnic institute; and in August of the same year
he was appointed geologist-in-charge of the Geological Survey
of Virginia which was under the control of the Virginia Poly-
technic institute and the State Board of Agriculture. He has
served as field assistant on the United States Geological Survey,
as assistant geologist in the North Carolina Geological Survey
(1903) ; and in 1896 he was a member of the Cornell university
party of geologists on the sixth Peary Expedition to Greenland,
for research work in glacial geology. In March, 1907, Dr, Wat-
son was elected professor of economic geology in the University
of Virginia.

Besides the reports on the State Geological Survey of Georgia
already referred to and of North Carolina and Virginia, Dr. Wat-

412 THOMAS LEONARD WATSON

son is the author of some fifty papers and reports on geology
which have been published in the various geological journals in
America and the State Geological Surveys of Georgia, North
Carolina, and Virginia and the United States Geological Survey.
These papers and reports, in addition to their value as investiga-
tions in the science of geology, have contained investigations in
numerous subjects connected with the economics of geology.
Many of them have been especially designed to further the
material interests, the manufacturing processes and the com-
mercial prosperity of the states where these investigations have
been conducted.

Dr. Watson is a member of the honorary scientific society,
Sigma Xi, ("A" chapter, Cornell university) ; he is also a Fellow
of the Geological Society of America; and a member of the
American Institute of Mining Engineers. He is a member of the
Greek Letter College fraternity, Kappa Sigma. He is a Mason.

In his political affiliations, he is connected with the Demo-
cratic party. By religious convictions and preference, he is a
member of the Baptist church. He has found his recreation, re-
laxation from severe study, and most profitable and pleasant
amusement, in traveling.

On February 8. 1899, Dr. Watson was married to Adelaide
Stephenson, of Atlanta, Georgia. They have had four children,
three of whom are living in 1907. A sketch of Dr. Watson's life
and scientific work is to be found in Volume IV. of "Who's "Who
in America," and in "American Men of Science."

His address is Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia.

JUNIUS EDGAR WEST

~\ \ 7EST" JUNIUS EDGAR, of Suffolk, Xansemond county,
V/V Virginia, head of the large insurance agency firm of
"West and Withers, president of the Interstate Fire In-
surance company of Suffolk, and from 1902 to December, 1906,
half-owner and one of the editors of the " Suffolk Herald," was
born near Waverly in Sussex county, Virginia, on the 12th of July,
1866. His father. Henry Thomas West, was a farmer, school trus-
tee, and member of the county school board — a man of remarkable
West and Withers, president of the Interstate Fire Insurance
company of Suffolk, and from 1902 to December, 1906, half-owner
and one of the editors of the " Suffolk Herald," was born near
Wayerly in Sussex county. Virginia, on the 12th of July, 1866.
His father, Henry Thomas West, was a farmer, school trustee,
and member of the county school board — a man of remarkable
energy, of unflagging interest in the work of public education,
and a leader in the Sunday school and church work of his locality,
and most warmly interested in both the secular and religious
education of his children and of the young people of his section.
The ancestors of the family came from England and were
prominent among the early settlers in Virginia in colonial days.
Passing his boyhood in the country, fond of books and music,
and from his earliest years taking a marked interest in local and
state politics, by a lameness which troubled him from the time he
was two years old until he was twelve he was shut out from many
of the sports of boyhood and was prevented from doing as much
of manual labor as was expected and required of his brothers.
After studying at public and preparatory schools (from 1880 to
1882 at the Suffolk Collegiate institute, Suffolk, Virginia), he
entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North
Carolina ; but poor health compelled him to withdraw in the
spring of 1884, his sophomore year. He became a student of law
at the Washington and Lee university, at Lexington, Virginia, in
the spring of 1887 and graduated in constitutional and inter-
national law. In the fall of 1887 he entered the law department
of the University of Virginia : but after a short time poor health
compelled him to discontinue his work there.

During his earlier years, and throughout the years of his

416 JUNIUS EDGAR WEST

study at college and university, his favorite lines of reading were
biography, political economy, constitutional law and the history
of American politics.

"When he was but eighteen years old he began to teach in a
public school in Sussex county, Virginia ; but lack of good health
which had compelled him to discontinue his law studies, rendered
it impracticable for him to discharge the duties of a teacher where
absolutely regular hours and unfailing punctuality were
demanded. This led him to choose the business of fire insurance
for which he has since proved himself to be exceptionally
adapted, and in which he has won a prominent place.

In January, 1889, he began a general insurance business at
Waverly, under the firm name of J. F. "West and Brother. In
October, 1890, he removed to Suffolk and established the insurance
firm of Harper and W7est, which later became the firm of West
and Withers, now one of the most important insurance agencies
of the state. In May, 1906, Colonel "West became president of the
Interstate Fire Insurance company. He was a member and presi-
dent of the town council of Suffolk from July, 1897, to July,
1S99. He was appointed superintendent of schools for Sussex
county, Virginia ; entering upon the duties of the office in July,
1899, and resigning when he removed to Suffolk in October, 1890.
Since February 1, 1906, Colonel Wrest has been a member of the
staff of Governor Claude A. Swanson.

By his political convictions he is allied with the Democratic
party, and he has served for four years as chairman of the execu-
tive committee for Nansemond county. In 1896 he was a delegate
to the National Democratic nominating convention at Chicago.
He has repeatedly been the delegate of his party to county and
state conventions, and has contributed to the press of his state
articles earnestly opposing the election of United States senators
by the people.

On the 17th of February, 1903, Colonel WTest married Miss
Olive Margaret Beale, daughter of the Reverend E. WT. Beale, a
minister of the Christian church, and granddaughter of Honor-
able Cheslev Faucett, of Alamance county. North Carolina.

The " Christian Sun," published at Elon college, North
Carolina, in its issue for November 20, 1901, spoke in the highest
terms of the usefulness of Colonel "West to his denomination, of

JUXIUS EDGAR WEST 417

his earnest participation in the campaign for the Twentieth
Century fund for Elon college, and of his generous gifts to the
home missions of his church.

Colonel West's name was prominently mentioned for the
position of state senator, early in 1907 ; but he refused to allow his
friends to use his name as that of a candidate for the position.
The comments of the local paper at the time showed the high
esteem in which Colonel West is held by the people of his county.

Deeply interested in all that makes for the welfare of his
community and the uplifting of mankind, Colonel West is not
only active in the affairs of his own church but is now chairman
of the committee to solicit funds for securing a building for the
Young Men's Christian association in his town.

'While he has been successful as a teacher, and as a superin-
tendent of schools, and has won for himself a name as one of the
editors of the " Suffolk Herald," he has made the main business
of his life the effort to master insurance in all its branches, from
the standpoint of the local agency. His efforts to do this had so far
succeeded as to give him an excellent reputation throughout his
state and beyond its limits, when the capitalists of Suffolk invited
him, in 1906, to accept the presidency of the Interstate Fire
Insurance company; and in the management of this corporation
his knowledge of the fire insurance business and his personal
energy and activity will find full scope.

Colonel West is a Mason, a Mystic Shriner, an Odd Fellow,
and an Elk; and has held prominent positions in the lodges of
these orders. His religious convictions led him to unite himself
early with the Christian church ; and he has an active part in all
its denominational work. He is a trustee of Elon college, North
Carolina. He finds his favorite exercise in walking and driv-
ing.

To the young people of his state, he commends that " exem-
plary Christian character which includes love for one's fellow-
men and devotion to the cause of Christ; entire abstinence from
the use of intoxicants and tobacco; faithfulness to business,
fidelity to the interest of your employer, and proper consideration
for those whom you may employ; and the strictest intergity,
with a high sense of personal honor."

The address of Colonel West is Suffolk, Virginia.

GABRIEL COLVIN WHARTON

WHARTON, GABRIEL COLVIN, was born in the
county of Culpeper, Virginia, July 23, 1824, and his
parents were John Wharton and Eliza Hansbrough
Colvin. The emigrant Wharton is said to have come from
Westmoreland county, England, and settled in Westmoreland
county, Virginia, at a very early date. When a portion of
Westmoreland county was added to King George county, the
Whartons seem to have resided in King George, where there are
many wills and deeds of the family on record in the clerk's office.
Samuel Wharton, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch,
was a soldier of the American Revolution and was wounded and
made a cripple for life on October 17, 1781, in the last attack at
Yorktown. His son, John Wharton, was a farmer of Culpeper
county, noted for his high integrity and strict attention to busi-
ness. His grandson, the subject of this sketch, was a strong
healthy boj of the country, who loved the sports of the field and
the chase and entertained the old English weakness for fox hunt-
ing. He had a watchful mother who influenced him for good,
and when not at school he had to do light work about the house
and on the farm. He received his first strong impulse to strive
for the prizes of life from the stimulating example of his grand-
father, the old Revolutionery hero. He attended Blunt Hill
academy near Culpeper court-house and Warren Green academy
in Warrenton. He finally entered the Virginia Military insti-
tute, whence he was graduated July 4, 1847. After graduation
he taught school for one year, and then began the active work of
an engineer, being guided to this choice of a profession by his
own natural inclinations. For a time he was engaged in making
military roads for the government in the far West, and for four
years was inspector of the general land office of the Western
states. When the War between the States broke out, he entered
the Confederate , army as second lieutenant of engineers about
May 4, 1861, and in July, 1861, he was elected major of the 45th
regiment of infantry. A month later he became colonel of the

'

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^_, 6t A_ £x<- C<^l^,

GABRIEL COLVIN WHARTON 421

51st regiment, which he led through the western Virginia cam-
paign under General Floyd during the summer and fall of 1861.
He accompanied Floyd to Kentucky early in 1862, fought at Fort
Donelson, and escaped with his regiment when the fort was sur-
rendered. He then returned to Virginia, where he was employed
in the Kanawha valley and Southwest Virginia and defeated a
Federal regiment at Pensacola, May IT, 1862. When General
Sam Jones was ordered in July to send soldiers to Lee's army,
Wharton was detached and Jones sent word to Lee : " He is an
admirable officer, has commanded a brigade for eighteen months.
Let him command my troops until I come." He was stationed at
Winchester and was temporarily in charge of the valley district.
He was soon afterwards promoted brigadier-general and in
August, 1863, he was returned to his former station on the Vir-
ginia and Tennessee railroad. Later, he was transferred to Gen-
eral Longstreet's command in East Tennessee until April, 1864,
when he was ordered to report to General Breckinridge. In
command of his brigade of veterans he took a conspicuous part in
the defeat of Sigel at New Market, and served with honor in the
Confederate lines at Cold Harbor. Eeturning toward the south-
west for the defence of Lynchburg, he took part in the pursuit
of Hunter down the valley and the expedition through Mary-
land to Washington. During the Shenandoah campaign he com-
manded a division comprising the infantry brigades of the old
army of Western Virginia. After suffering severely during the
Valley battles of 1864, the division was badly cut up in the fight
at Waynesboro, March 2, 1865.

After the surrender of the Southern armies General Whar-
ton settled at Eadford, in Montgomery county, and assisted in
placing war trodden Virginia on her feet again. He served for
six years in the legislature of Virginia and while a member
secured the location of the Virginia Agricultural college, now the
Virginia Polytechnic institute, at Blacksburg, in Montgomery
county. He also secured during his service the passage of an act
granting a charter for the New River railroad, which has opened
up the coal fields of the Pocahontas section.

On May 14, 1863, he married Ann E. Eadford. They had
one son who is now living.

422 GABRIEL COLVIN WHARTON

In 1847 he joined the Masonic fraternity, and was worship-
ful master ten terms and of four different lodges. In politics he
was a Democrat and in religion he belonged to the Episcopal
church.

As General Wharton was too old to serve in the Spanish-
American war, his son represented him and became captain of
the 10th United States volunteer infantry.

General Wharton died on May 11, 1906, and was buried in
his Confederate uniform, with the battle flag under which he had
fought wrapped about him. Some of his old troops to whom
" old Gabe," as he was affectionately termed, was a hero to the
last, attended ; and the exercises were conducted by the Confede-
rate veterans, assisted by the Masons. The Virginia Polytechnic
institute sent a guard of honor, and all places of business, even
the saloons, were closed. The colored people in mass meeting
passed resolutions of regret, and thousands followed the remains
to their resting place.

WILLIAM HENRY WHITE

WHITE, WILLIAM HENRY, was born in Norfolk
county, Virginia, April 6, 1849, and his parents were
William White and Henrietta Kemp (Turner) White,
of King William county, Virginia, representatives of old Vir-
ginia families settled at an early date in this country. His
grandfather, William White, served with distinction in the War
of 1812, and his father, Dr. William White, was a member of the
secession convention of 1861, and colonel of the 14th regiment of
Virginia infantry, which was a portion of Pickett's division in
Lee's army in 1861-1865. The marked characteristics of Colonel
White were energy, unselfish assertion, consideration for others,
cheerful temperament and masterful ways generally.

The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm in Norfolk
county, and as a boy and youth, was tall and slim, and
fond of hunting, fishing and riding. He was educated in the
private schools of Norfolk county and of Richmond, Virginia,
from which he went to Randolph-Macon college and to the Vir-
ginia Military institute, where he was a member of the celebrated
cadet batallion that distinguished itself at the battle of New
Market. After the war was over he decided to become a lawyer,
but as his father's estate was destroyed by the war he was forced
to borrow the money necessary to attend the university. He
took but a part of the law course and left then after one year in
the summer of 1867, and began the practice of law in Portsmouth,
Virginia. In 1870, he became commonwealth's attorney of Nor-
folk county, and opened an office in Norfolk, Virginia. Shortly
thereafter he was elected commonwealth's attorney for the city of
Norfolk, and served in that capacity for several terms. In 1873
he was a member of the firm of White and Garnett, his partner
being Judge Theodore S. Garnett. This partnership continued
for more than twenty years.

In 1900 Mr. White was appointed United States district
attorney for the Eastern district of Virginia. He then became a
member of the firm of White, Tunstall and Thorn which was for

4:24: WILLIAM HENEY WHITE

some years one of the leading law firms of the South. It dis-
solved in consequence of the acceptance by Mr. Thorn of the
general counselship for the Southern Railway company, at Wash-
ington, District of Columbia. The firm then became known as
White, Tunstall and Willcox.

He is a member of the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar associa-
tion and the Virginia State Bar association. He was for a num-
ber of years a member of the board of visitors of the Virginia
Military institute at Lexington, and is now, and has been for some
years, a member of the board of visitors of the University of Vir-
ginia. He is at present president of the Richmond, Fredericks-
burg and Potomac railroad and of the Washington and Southern
Railway company.

Asked to state the reason of his choice of law as a profession,
Mr. White declares that he was actuated partly by inclination;
but principally by the necessity to enter some pursuit that did
not require cash. Beyond the influence and care of loving
parents, a mother of unusual ability, and " the spur of necessity '
little else, he says, has shaped his course in life. In politics, he
has always been a Democrat, but, because of his currency views,
he declined to vote for William J. Bryan for president. His
success has resulted from practicing the advice which he gives to
young men : " Select a congenial occupation, work incessantly,
and throw your heart in the work to lighten and give tonic effect
to it."

He is a member of the college fraternity of Delta Psi, and
of the Virginia club of Norfolk city, and the Lotos club, of New
York city.

On November 4, 1869, he married Lucy Landon Carter
Minor, by whom he has two children : Eloise Isabelle, the wife
of O. G. Hinton, Esq., of Petersburg, Virginia, and Dr. W. H.
Landon White, of the University of Virginia. His second wife
was Miss Emma Gray, of Richmond, Virginia, whom he married
on March 10, 1880, and by whom he has two children : William
H. White, Jr., a graduate in law of the University of Virginia,
and Emma Gray White.

His address is Richmond, Virginia.

■ ' ■'"■

i ;

. ..■.'< t

JAMES ANDERSON WILKINSON

WILKINSON, JAMES ANDERSON, manufacturer and
wholesale dealer in lumber, and sole owner of one of
the largest export and domestic hardwood lumber in-
dustries in the South, residing at Bristol, Washington county,
Virginia, was bom in Carroll county, Virginia, on the 20th of
April, 1863. His father, Thomas Wilkinson, was a captain in
the Civil war, a man of energy, with a natural aptitude for
mechanics, and possessed of marked skill and executive ability in
managing labor and conducting public works. His mother was
Polly Ann (Alley) Wilkinson of Virginia. The family trace
their descent from Laurence Wilkinson, who came from England
in 1852, settling in Providence, Rhode Island. He was a descend-
ant of Lancelot Wilkinson, of Durham, England. William Wilk-
inson, the grandfather of James Anderson Wilkinson, lived near
Richmond, Virginia, and represented his district in the state
legislature in 1810.

Born in the country, he had a healthy and happy boyhood;
and when still very young, he took the keenest interest in planning
and building toy machinery, and in taking to pieces and recon-
structing all machines on which he could lay his hands. He was
early taught to work; and from the age of fifteen until he was
twenty-one he did a man's work for his father, in the iron and
lumber business, driving a yoke of cattle, hauling and working in
the coaling grounds, making charcoal; and later he served as
foreman in his father's business, at the same time doing much
hard work himself. His opportunities for securing an education
were limited, and to enjoy even these opportunities he had to
surmount many difficulties. Aside from country schools near his
home in his boyhood, he was able to attend the Asbury high
school, in Wythe county, Virginia, for two years, and his expenses
during these years he paid for, a year or two later, by savings
from the money which he earned. Busily as he was engaged in
home labor during most of the years of his youth, he had a keen
appreciation of the importance of a thorough education; and he

428 JAMES AXDERSOX WILKINSON

studied regularly and severely, " when he could command the
time to attend school." When he did attend school in his early
years, he had to walk four miles to and from school, and could
attend but four months of the year.

In 1884, at the age of twenty-one, he began business life at
Hillsville, Virginia, as a sawyer and general manager for his
uncle, Stephen Wilkinson. In 1886 and 1887, he was general
manager of lumber camps for Captain Hale, of Syracuse, New
York, who was operating a lumber business in the mountains of
Virginia, with headquarters at Meadow View, Washington
county. He served in the same capacity with J. J. Giesler, at
Meadow View, in 1888. In 1892 he became manager of a lumber
business for J. W. Pendleton, of Chilhowie, Virginia. In the
following year he purchased this business with money which
had been earned by his own efforts and he established a mill and
yards at Meadow View, Virginia. In the spring of 1903 he re-
moved to Bristol, Tennessee- Virginia, in order to secure more
ample facilities for his growing business.

After he became an independent manufacturer and dealer in
lumber, his enterprise and business capacity were shown in the
rapid growth of his business. He has not allowed himself to be
discouraged when he has met with serious losses by fire. On the
loth of March, 1906, his yards and mills, representing one of the
largest industries in Bristol, were destroyed by fire. He very soon
rebuilt the mills and reestablished the business on a larger scale.
A few years since he bought out the entire holdings both in tim-
ber and lumber of the Deep Water Lumber company, of Blue-
field, West Virginia, merging that business with his own. He
has visited Europe to investigate the manufacture and sale of
lumber in England and other countries, and has secured consider-
able contracts abroad. At one time, in Xorth Carolina, he made
£ purchase of some seventeen million feet of lumber, largely oak
and poplar, at a total cost of nearly a half million dollars. When
his mill and vards were reestablished in Bristol the satisfaction
through the state and the congratulations of the board of trade
were exceptional in their unanimity and heartiness. For his
exhibit of white oak and poplar lumber at the Jamestown Expo-
sition, 1907, Mr. Wilkinson was awarded a gold medal.

JAMES ANDERSON WILKINSON 429

On the 9th of April, 1885, he married Miss Mary Victoria
Thomas, daughter of M. H. and Sarah J. Thomas, of Virginia.
She was descended from the Hampton family of Virginia, whose
most distinguished member was General Wade Hampton, of
Charleston, South Carolina. Mrs. Wilkinson is reputed to be
the possessor of excellent business judgment and executive ability.
Her husband's success is business has been very materially helped
by the constant and intelligent interest and cooperation of his
wife. They have had four children, two of whom, Minnie
Blanche Wilkinson, and Ellis Hale Wilkinson, are now (1907)
living.

Mr. Wilkinson has always identified himself with the Demo-
cratic party. In church relations, he is a member of the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church, South. As a boy and young man his
favorite forms of exercise and relaxation were hunting and fish-
ing. In later years, the management of his business, involving
as it has much of out-door life, has kept him in excellent health
without the need of giving thought to especial forms of exercise.

While Mr. Wilkinson is still a comparatively young man, he
offers this advice to his younger fellow citizens in Virginia : " If
you would be truly successful in life, never doubt that the right
will win. It is very important for a young man to make a clear
decision as to the occupation he will follow. Let it be a kind of
work that suits your temperamenf — one that you like; and then
stand by your decision! Do not change your business, but
specialize along a certain line of business. Abstain from all
strong drink and the use of tobacco. Constant application to
business will win for vou succes~s."

His address is 810 Cumberland Street, Bristol, Virginia-
Tennessee.

Vol. 4 -Va.— 20

CHARLES URQUHART WILLIAMS

WILLIAMS, CHARLES URQUHART, was bom at
Montrose, Henrico county, December 27, 1840, and his
parents were Charles Bruce Williams and Ann Mercer
Hackley. His ancestry goes back to early settlers in Virginia,
and includes many prominent names — such as Philip Pendleton
of Caroline county. William Williams, Edward Duncanson and
James Hackley of Culpeper county ; and James Bruce and George
Stubblefield of King George county. His father, Charles Bruce
Williams, was an editor and farmer, distinguished for his self
control and repose of mind and manner.

The subject of this sketch passed the years from 1850 to 1855
at school in Richmond. Then for nearly two years he was at
school in Culpeper county, attending for one session the school
of Mr. David Turner. He was then engaged for a year in the
mercantile business. Though urged by his relatives to seek the
ministry, he had a natural desire for the law, and in October,
1860, he attended the law school at the University of Virginia,
but left the following April for the Confederate States army
without graduation. During the war he served for nearly a year
as a private in the Richmond Howitzers, and afterwards as lieu-
tenant and drill master. When the army left the vicinity of
Richmond, Mr. Williams accompanied Brigadier General D. R.
Jones (who had been appointed, but not at that time confirmed,
a major-general) as volunteer aide-de-camp. In every engage-
ment with the enemy, from Rappahannock to Sharpsburg, he
rendered valuable and efficient service, acting as an assistant
chief of artillery. After the death of General D. R. Jones, in
July, 1863, till the close of the war, Lieutenant Williams was on
the staff of General M. D. Corse, first as aide-de-camp and subse-
quently as assistant adjutant and inspector-general.

At the close of the war he was admitted to the bar in Rich-
mond, in October, 1865, and since that time has been in constant
practice. He served one term in the Virginia legislature, 1875-
1877, and has been a member of both branches of the Richmond

CHARLES URQUHART WILLIAMS 433

city council. He is also affiliated with various clubs and socie-
ties— being a member of the Delta Psi fraternity, ex-president of
the Westmoreland club, and of the Sons of the American Revolu-
tion ; member of the Sons of the American Revolution, past com-
mander of E. E. Lee Camp of Confederate Veterans No. 1, and is
a member of the Society of Foreign Wars.

In politics Mr. Williams is a Democrat, though he did not
Tote for William Jennings Bryan when nominated on a free
silver platform.

On August 27, 1867, he married Alice Davenport. They
have had five children, of whom three are now (1907) living.

His address is Richmond, Virginia.

EDWARD VICTOR WILLIAMS

WILLIAMS, EDWARD VICTOR, manager of the Allen
and Ginter branch of the American Tobacco com-
pany of Richmond, Virginia, was born in the city of
Richmond, February 6, 1864, his parents being John H. and
Elizabeth Victoria Williams.

At the time of the birth of the subject of this sketch, John
H. Williams was a prominent and successful merchant. In his
early youth, during the gold craze of 1849, he went to California,
making the six month's trip around Cape Horn in a sailing
vessel. He established himself in San Francisco, and finally
became a member of the well-known firm of W. T. Coleman and
Company, of San Francisco and New York. He amassed a con-
siderable fortune and returned to his home. Though at the time
of the Civil war he lost heavily by real estate investments, he later
became a member successively of the prosperous firms of Harvey,
Armistead and Williams; Harvey and Williams, and John H.
Williams and Company.

The mother of Edward Victor Williams is the daughter of
Hiram Moore Smith of Richmond, Virginia, a well-known manu-
facturer and inventer, to whom the South is indebted for many
of the agricultural implements in use to this day. Reared in an
atmosphere of wealth and culture, educated in the famous Emma
Willard seminary of Troy, New York, Mrs. Williams is a woman
of great strength of character and personal attractions, who has
given to her children high ideals and an example of great courage
under the stern fire of adversity.

Edward Victor Williams, the subject of this sketch, was the
youngest of three sons. His boyhood was passed in Richmond,
and his education was chiefly obtained at McGuire's school of
that city. When he was about fifteen years of age, his school
days were cut short by financial reverses that came to his father,
and he was obliged to go to work. Through the influence of
Major Lewis Ginter he entered the service of the then small firm
of John F. Allen and Company as an office boy, on barely a living

EDWARD VICTOR WILLIAMS -137

salary, upon which he lived however, being possessed of no other
means. It was during this period of his life that the beautiful
influence of his mother made itself felt in his career and did much
to mold his character.

He went to his work with the firm determination to make
himself of some use in the world, and to restore to his family the
position which they had enjoyed.

To do this however required hard work, and feeling the
effects of his interrupted education, Mr. Williams attended night
school for three years, probably avoiding by his extra work the
contracting of bad habits and extravagant tastes. At this time
Mr. Williams was also a member of the Alpha Literary society,
an organization of the young men of the city who had been
denied a college education, and from whose membership many
prominent men have sprung.

Mr. Williams after entering the employ of the firm of John
F. Allen and Company has remained with them twenty seven
years, rising from office boy to manager of the present business,
through the following changes; John F. Allen and Company;
Allen and Ginter; Allen and Ginter, Incorporated, until 1890
when the business was absorbed by the American Tobacco com-
pany.

His success in life has been largely due to his friend and
employer, the late Major Lewis Ginter, who, while exacting in
his demands during business hours, was a true friend and adviser
in many hours of trial, and it was always Mr. Williams' delight
and pleasure to spend as much time as possible in the company
of Major Ginter and his genial friends.

From his boyhood, he has been exceptionally fond of history
and the biographies of prominent men. He has served for eight
years in the State Volunteer militia. In his political relations,
Mr. Williams is identified with the Democratic party, although
he voted against the Bryan free-silver platform and nominees.

Bv religious conviction and training, Mr. Williams is identi-
fied with the Protestant Episcopal church.

He has great faith in the advantage to a man, physically and
mentally, of exercise which keeps one in the open air. Walking
is his favorite form of exercise. To the young people of Vir-

438 EDWARD VICTOR WILLIAMS

ginia he offers these suggestions : " Make up your mind to be
successful. Do thoroughly everything which you undertake.
Give particular care to the little details of your life and your
work. Choose carefully your associates, and try to learn some-
thing from everyone with whom you come in contact, and above
all avoid cultivating extravagant habits and tastes."

He is a member of the Commonwealth, Lakeside and Hermi-
tage clubs, and secretary and treasurer of the Richmond Auto-
mobile association.

On the 23rd. of April, 1907, Mr. Williams married Miss Kate
Burwell Williams, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John G. Williams,
of Orange. Virginia.

His address is Richmond, Virginia.

^

<C£j£c-

JOHN EDWARD WILLIAMS

WILLIAMS, JOHX EDWARD. Ph. D., since 1903 pro-
fessor of mathematics at the Virginia Polytechnic
institute, was born in Charlotte county, Virginia, on
the 17th of September, 1867.

His father, Albert Henry Williams, was a farmer whose
grandfather, John Williams, came from Wales to Virginia in the
latter part of the eighteenth century. His mother was Mrs.
Matilda Ann (Berkeley) Williams.

Born in the country, and living upon a farm, he was early
trained in farm work, and in his boyhood he felt the keen delight
of hunting, and enjoyed all athletic sports. He earned a part
of the money to pay his way through his college course at Hamp-
den-Sidney college, from which institution he was graduated
with the degree of B. A., in 1892. In that same vear he became
principle of the public school in Boydton, Virginia. These two
earliest years of his work in teaching made for him an enviable
reputation as a teacher, and many friends. After spending a year
in charge of the public schools of Roanoke, Virginia, he returned
in 1895 to take charge of a private school at Boydton. He
entered the University of Virginia in the fall of 1S96, to pursue
advanced work in mathematics, and in 1S9T he was appointed a
licentiate in mathematics at the university, especially authorized
bv the university authorities to coach students and to teach
mathematics. While a student at this university he was awarded
the John Y. Mason fellowship two years in succession. For six
years he maintained classes in mathematics at the university
which seem to have been quite exceptional in the breadth and
thoroughness of the work done and in the uniform success with
which Mr. Williams qualified his students for advanced work
and for success in examination. In 1899 Mr. Williams received
the degrees of M. A., and Ph. D. from the University of Virginia,
upon the completion of a prolonged course of study, with mathe-
matics as his major subject, and physics and astronomy as his
minor electives. He also took a large part of the engineering

442 JOHN EDWARD WILLIAMS

course at the University of Virginia without seeking or receiving
a degree for this special work.

In 1903, when the Virginia Polytechnic institute was about
to establish an additional professorship in mathematics, mem-
bers of the faculty of the University of Virginia nominated Doc-
tor John Edward Williams for the new professorship, in letters
which were exceptional in their terms of commendation. A
gentleman of the very highest character, of untiring energy, and
a mathematician of extraordinary ability, Professor Williams is
doing his work successfully. As a coach, he taught all classes
of men on all subjects in mathematics, from algebra to calculus.

Since 1903, Doctor Williams has discharged the duty of pro-
fessor of mathematics in the Virginia Polytechnic institute.

Doctor Williams has not as yet published any books of his
own. In the preface to Professor Echol's Calculus, his assistance
is acknowledged; and he prepared for the press- a new edition
of " Pattern's Foundations " — a text-book in engineering applied
to the construction of all kinds of foundations.

On the 28th of August, 1905, Doctor Williams married Miss
Sallie Taylor Patton. They have had one child, who is living in
1907.

Doctor Williams while at the University of Virginia was a
member of the O. F. C. society and of the Lambda Pi fraternity.
He was also a member of the Philosophical society. He is a
member of the American Mathematical society. By political
preference and party affiliation, he is a Democrat.

He is a member of the Presbyterian church. Those who are
familiar with his work as an instructor credit him with having
exerted an influence for good to an unusual degree upon the boys
and young men who have come under his instruction.

Doctor Williams' address is the Virginia Polytechnic Insti-
tute, Blacksburg, Virginia.

'

•

A'

i

^xh

WILLIAM BISHOP WILSON

WILSON, WILLIAM BISHOP, since 1891 a resident of
Cape Charles, Virginia ; an active member of the Cape
Charles Ice and Lumber company, proprietor of a
department store, and organizer and president of the Farmers
and Merchants bank, in the town of Cape Charles, was born in
Northampton county, Virginia, on the 31st of January, 1847.
His father, James Bishop "Wilson, was a farmer, honorable and
upright, respected for his integrity, his straightforward dealings,
and his high conception of the duty of self-control and obedience
to law. His mother was Mrs. Annie Hunt (Brickhouse), daugh-
ter of Thomas and Nancy Brickhouse, of Northampton county,
Virginia.

His early boyhood was passed on a farm; and among his
earliest recollections are the feeling of interest and fondness with
which he began to care for the live stock on the farm. It was a
part of his home education that he should discharge certain
dailv duties in connection with the farm work and the home life ;
and he early learned how to work with his hands, and how to
share in and direct the work of others. This led to his becoming
a farmer and the overseer of his father's farm, while still very
young. He attended the rural public schools until the troubled
times of the Civil war broke up their regular sessions. His cir-
cumstances did not permit him to enjoy the advantages of a col-
lege education ; but for a year he attended the Margaret academy,
in Accomac county.

In 1870 he rented a farm, and in the same year he bought a
small general store at Bay View, Northampton county, Virginia,
continuing together the business of farming and general mer-
chandising. But he had early felt an ambition to get in touch
with larger numbers of men. and to do his full share of the
world's work among men of affairs. After some vears of resi-
dence at Bay View he started business at Sunnyside (now known
as Cheriton). In 1890 he began business at Cape Charles, Vir-
ginia, where he has since resided. Beside the lines of business

446 WILLIAM BISHOP WILSON

enterprises which are recounted in the first sentence of this
sketch. Mr. Wilson has been for years one of the managers of the
large estate of W. L. Scott, of Erie, Pennsylvania, the property
lying in Northampton county. In addition to his department
store and his active interest in the business of the Ice and Lum-
ber company, he has given his time and attention to the organiz-
ing of the Farmers and Merchants bank, of Cape Charles, Vir-
ginia, of which he was elected president in 1907, at its organi-
zation.

Mr. Wilson has never cared to connect himself with clubs or
social organizations, but has been a member of the Northampton
lodge, number 234, of Masons, since his early manhood, and he
served for some time as master of the lodge.

By political conviction and party preference he is a Demo-
crat; nor has he ever departed from his allegiance to the princi-
ples and the nominees of that party. Although he is not a mem-
ber of any church, he has always attended and contributed to the
support of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in the
places where he has resided.

On the 14th of November, 1871, Mr. Wilson married Miss
Sallie Fisher Nottingham. Some time after her death, he mar-
ried, on August 5, 1902, Miss Jennie S. Ames. By his first wife
he had ten children, eight of whom are living in 1907.

Mr. Wilson has always found pleasure and recreation in
supervising the work and management of one or more farms.
Since his boyhood, he has been fond, too, of well-bred and speedy
horses; and of driving about the country and over his farms,
giving some supervising attention to the rearing of poultry and
of live-stock, and making himself familiar enough with all the
animals on his farms " to keep on good terms with the inhabi-
tants of the barnyard." The various important business enter-
prises in which he has been and is still engaged have called for a
large part of the activity, physical and mental, of Mr. Wilson;
but he has not been forgetful of the public interests of the com-
munities in which he has lived; and the confidence imposed in
him by his neighbors and his fellow-townsmen is shown in their
ready choice of him for positions of trust and executive duty
which called for the supervision and direction of the property
and the interests of many others as well as of his own interests.

EUGENE WITHERS

~\ \ 7TTHERS, EUGENE, lawyer, was bom on a farm in

\f \ Caswell county. North Carolina. January 22, 1867. His
parents were Elijah Benton and Man' Ann (Price)
Withers. His father was a prominent lawyer, a gallant soldier,
and an able legislator, who served as lieutenant-colonel of the
13th Xorth Carolina infantry in the Confederate States armv;
was a member of the general assembly of North Carolina : and a
member of the Constitutional convention of that state in 1875.
He was noted for temperance, coolness, courage and fidelity.
The mother of the subject of this sketch, a woman of fine mind
and kindly disposition, died when her son was only two years of
age.

Eugene Withers spent his youth partly in the country and
partly in Danville, Virginia, and early developed strong tastes
for travel, reading and study, which he has retained ; his favorite
books were history, geography, essays, and orations of great men.
His hereditary inclination was for the law as a profession, but
he did not choose it definitely until old enough to be satisfied that
his capacities were such as to promise success, if diligently cul-
tivated. His father did not urge him in that direction in the
least, further than by example, though he was much gratified
when he knew that his professional footsteps were to be followed.
He received his primary and preparatory education at home
and in private schools, then became a student at the Universitv
of Xorth Carolina, where he was graduated Ph. B.. in 1888: fol-
lowing his graduation he took the law course at the University
of Virginia. Charlottesville. Virginia. 1888-89. Having been
admitted to the bar. he began the practice of law. in Danville.
Pittsylvania county. Virginia, where he has built up a success-
ful practice. Incidentally he also took an active part in politic-.
a« a Democrat, and his talent as a public speaker and readiness
in the rough-ancl-tnmble debate of the stump speedily took him to
the front. He represented his town in the Virginia house of
delegates. 1903-04. and made such a creditable record in a single

448 EUGENE WITHERS

session of the legislature that he was elected to the state senate,
where he served with distinction, 1895-1899. In the national
campaign of 1900 he was one of the Virginia Democratic electors,
and in 1901-02 was a member of the state Constitutional conven-
tion. He has fully demonstrated his fitness for an eminent
public career, and, unless the greater financial prizes of his pro-
fession allure him to abandon his ambition in that direction,
there are probably higher political honors awaiting him than
he has yet secured.

In his home town and county, and in Richmond, he occupies
a prominent place, professionally and socially, and he is widely
and favorably known in other sections of the state. He is a
master Mason ; an Elk, and an Odd Fellow ; also a member of the
Beta Theta Pi college fraternity. As a citizen he ranks with the
most patriotic, wide-awake, and progressive, and as a man he is
affable, courteous, and deservedly popular.

He is fond of all forms of outdoor recreation, being an ar-
dent lover of nature, especially of picturesque mountain regions,

He was married December 6, 1905, to Daisy Hancock.

His address is Danville, Virginia.

Wf&shzriq-farz r7 /~

&-tstsW

DOC ROBERTSON WOOD

WOOD, DOC KOBERTSON, financier and educator, was
born February 1, 1877, in Turtle Eock, Floyd county,
Virginia. His father, Kichard J. Wood, farmer and
justice of the peace, was a man of the strictest integrity and
noted for staunch faithfulness to every duty. His mother,
Judith Wood, a good woman of thrifty and industrious habits,
was a marked influence in his life. His ancestry is English, but
owing to loss of early family records, the date of the arrival of
the founder of the American branch of the family is not known.
He passed his early life in the country. He was healthy,
robust and active and, like the average boy, more anxious to
engage in some game or sport, of which he was very fond (and
still is), than to do chores around the house and farm, though,
being an obedient boy, he did all the work at home that was re-
quired of him. His first school was the Oxford academy, Floyd,
Virginia. He then entered William and Mary college, Wil-
liamsburg, where he discovered that his tastes were com-
mercial rather than classical. Then he transferred to the
National Business college, Koanoke, Virginia, where he found
himself in his true element. While attending the last
named institution, he was offered a place as teacher in its
English department and, in 1900, accepted it, and in 190*2 became
its principal. He was strongly attracted toward banking and
in order that he might be properly qualified to engage therein he
carried his studies along this line beyond the requirements of
the college course. In 1902 he became cashier of the Floyd
County bank of Floyd, Virginia, where his successful work fully
justified his choice of a vocation, proved of great benefit to the
bank, and earned for him an enviable position among the finan-
ciers of his state. He held this position until the summer of
1907, when he became cashier of the Union Bank and Trust com-
pany of Bluefield, West Virginia.

452 DOC ROBERTSON WOOD

He is a Democrat, but as business demands most of his time
he is not an active politician.

On February 18, 1908, Mr. Wood was married to Miss Ger-
trude Christian Howard, daughter of the late Peter L. Howard
and Belle L. Howard, of Floyd, Virginia.

His address is Bluefield. TV7est Virginia.

List of Full Page Portraits

VOLUME IV.

FACING PAGE

Allen. Henry C 3

Apperson, Richard D 15

Barbour. Robert S 23

Blair. Lewis H 30

Blanks, William D 37

Burke. John P 42

Cameron, George 49

Cameron, George, Jr 52

Carson, Joseph P 59

Cowardin. Charles O'B.. 73

Crocker. James F. 79

Davenport. Isaac, Jr 82

Davis, Mirabeau L. T 90

Davis. Richard B 97

De Jarnette, Joseph S. . . . 100

Dudley, Sidney J 109

Fairfax, John TV 115

Fleetwood. Purnell 123

Fry. Peter M 130

Gwyn, John M 153

Hairston. James T. W.. . . 157

Hancock. Richard J 165

Hobbs, Alexander R 185

Hubbert. William F 190

Hughes. Floyd 194

Hume. Frank 203

Jones. George TV 214

Joynes. George G 220

Kane. Isaac P 224

Kelly. Joseph L 228

Lambert. George A 234

Lawson. John J 242

Lawson. Robert TV 249

FACING PAGE

Lester, Henry C 253

Logan. Thomas M 257

Louthan, Henry T 2G8

ALagee, Allen TV 270

ALears, Otho F 286

Montague. J. Judson 290

ALunce. John S 301

Xewberry, Harm an 310

Pedigo, Benjamin S 326

Pollard. John G 330

Powell. Robert S 337

Price. Samuel H 341

Reynolds. Abram D 347

Robeson. George AT 353

Rodgers. Charles TV 357

Rodgers. John G 361

Smyth, Ellison A., Jr. . . . 367

Snead, Xash P 370

Spencer. James H 376

Stebbins. Joseph 380

Tebbs, Richard H 388

Thlar. TVhliam T 392

Tompkins. Stonewall . . . 396

Turpin. Roland G 403

TVatson. Thomas L 40S

TVest. Junius E 415

TVharton. Gabriel C 418

Wilkinson. James A 427

TVilliams. Charles U 130

Williams, Edward V 434

Williams, John E 411

TVilson. William B 44r>

TVood, DocR 451

Index of Biographies

VOLUME IV.

l'AGH

Allen, Henry C 3

Allen, William R 5

Anderson, George K 7

Anderson, George W 10

Apperson, Richard D 15

Baker, Thomas E 19

Barbour, Robert S 23

Barnes, Thomas H 26

Barret, Robert L 28

Blair, Lewis H 30

Blanks, William D 37

Bryant, James F 39

Burke, John P 42

Cameron, George 49

Cameron, George, Jr 52

Carson, Joseph P 59

Carter, Thomas H 61

Cassel, George E 64

Caton, James R 66

Cecil, Russell 69

Cowardin, Charles O'B.. 73

Crocker, James F 79

Davenport, Isaac, Jr 82

Davis, Charles H 87

Davis, Mirabeau, L. T. . . . 90

Davis, Richard B 97

De Jarnette, Joseph S. . . . 100

Dickinson, Alfred E 104

Dudley, Sidney J 109

Embrey, Alvin T Ill

Fairfax. John W 115

Fitzhugh, Thomas 119

Fleetwood. Purnell .... 123

i'AGJi

Fraser, Abel Mel 120

Fry, Peter M 130

Garnett, Theodore 8 134

Garrett, Van F 137

Gilmer, Frank 139

Glass, William W 142

Gordon, William ;5t. C . . 145

Grattan, George G 147

Gravatt, John J 149

G wyn, John M 153

Hairston, James T. W.. . . 157

Hall, J. Cleveland 10U

Hancock, Richard J 165

Harman, John N 167

Harrington, Purnell F.. 170
Heermans, Charles A. . . . 173

Henry, Robert R 176

Hixton, Drury A 179

Hobbs, Alexander R 185

Howe, James L 187

Hubbert, William E 190

Hughes, Floyd 194

Hughes, Robert M 19S

Hume, Frank 203

Hutton, Francis B 208

Jackson, Minter 210

James, Robert B 212

Jones, George W 214

Jones, Paris V. B 218

Joynes, George G 220

Kane, Isaac P 224

Kelly, Joseph L 228

Ker, Richard S 232

456

INDEX 0I? BIOGRAPHIES

PAGE

PAGE

Lambert, George A 234

Lassiter, Francis E 238

Latane, John H 240

Lawson, John J 242

Lawson, Eobert W 249

Lester, Henry C. 253

Logan, Thomas M 257

Longley, Seldon 262

Lotjthan, Carter McK. . . 265

Louthan, Henry T 268

McAllister, James G 273

Magee, Allen W 276

Magruder, Edward M 281

Mason, John E 283

Mears, Otho F 286

Montague, J. Jtjdson .... 290

Morton, James W 295

Mullen, James M 297

Munce. John S 301

Munford. "Beverley "B. . . . 305

Neff, John H 308

Dewberry, Harman 310

!Newbill, Frank G 314

Old, Wh.liam W 316

Opie. John N 319

Parrish. Robert L 322

Pechin. Edmund C 324

Pedigo. Benjamin S 326

Pollard. John G 330

Powell, Eobert S 337

Price, Samuel H 341

Quarles, Mann S 343

Reynolds, Abram D 347

Eiddick, James G 349

Eobeson, George M 353

Eodgers, Charles W 357

Eodgers, John G 361

Smith, Charles 363

Smyth, Ellison A., Jr. . . 367

Snead, Nash P 370

Southall. Joseph W 374

Spencer, James H 376

Stebbins, Joseph 380

Taylor, Walter H 385

Tebbs. Eichard H 388

Tillar. William T 392

Tompkins, Stonewall . . . 396

Turpin. Eoland G 403

Wallace, Wesley H 405

Watson, Thomas L 408

West. Junius E 415

Wharton, Gabriel C 418

White William H 423

Wilkinson. James A 427

Williams, Charles IT 430

Wn/LiAMS, Edward V 434

Williams, John E 441

Wit son. William B 445

Withers, Eugene 447

Wood. Doc E 451

>y

w 10 1939