USA > Washington DC > Eminent and representative men of Virginia and the District of Columbia in the nineteenth century. With a concise historical sketch of Virginia > Part 52
USA > Virginia > Eminent and representative men of Virginia and the District of Columbia in the nineteenth century. With a concise historical sketch of Virginia > Part 52
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William Strother Jones, also a native of Frederick county, Va., was born Octo- ber 7, 1783, and pursued the calling of a planter all his life. In 1806 he married Miss Ann Maria Marshall, daughter of Charles, who was a brother of Chief- justice John Marshall. This union was blessed will several children, among whom were Charles Marshall Jones; Frances M. A. M. Jones, who was married to David Barton, of Winchester, Va., and James Fitzgerald Jones, the father of Dr. Thomas Marshall Jones. Mrs. Frances M. A. M. Jones departed this life March 25, 1823, and two years later William Strother Jones married Carrie Randolph, who became the mother of two children, viz: Col. Frank Jones, who was educated at the Virginia Military institute and was in the Confederate army from 1861 until the battle of Seven Pines, where he was fatally wounded, his death following three days later. The second child was Bev- erley Randolph Jones, of Frederick county. William Strother Jones died engagements. His death took place in
James Fitzgerald Jones was born in Frederick county, Va., September 14, 1820. He was graduated in law from the uni- versity of Virginia and entered upon the practice of his profession in New Orleans, where he remained until his marriage, when he relinquished the law and settled on a farm in Fauquier county, Va., of which wealthy county he subsequently became magistrate. His marriage was solemnized January 2, 1845, with Miss Ann Lewis Marshall, a daughter of Thomas Marshall and granddaughter of Chief-Justice John Marshall. The union was blessed by the birth of eleven chil- dren, of whom nine grew to maturity and . were named as follows: Ann Cary, wife of Charles Marshall, of Fauquier county, Va .; Ann Lewis Marshall Jones, unmar- ried; Dr. Thomas M., of Alexandria, Va .; Fannie Barton, wife of Hugh McIlhanney, of Staunton, Va .; Rev. William Strother, of Fairfield, Conn., who first married Kate and secondly Minnie, daughters of J. D. Smoot, of Alexandria, Va .; James Fitzgerald, of Fauquier county, who mar- ried Jennie, daughter of Dr. R. L. Mc- Guire, of Fredericksburg, Va .; Fielding Lewis, of Colorado Springs, Colo .; Agnes Alexander, wife of Dr. W. W. S. Butler, of Roanoke, Va .; and Margaret Lewis Marshall, who died unmarried in 1883. James Fitzgerald Jones was a valiant sol- dier in the Confederate cause, having en- tered the army in its incipiency and doing active service until 1862, when he was placed on detached duty and given charge of the powder mills at Staunton, Va., with the rank of major. Here he formed a battalion of the men under him and took an active part in several severe
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1866, but his wife survived until April | After he had served his first term as a 26, 1880.
Dr. Thomas Marshall Jones was born in Fauquier county, Va., September 15, 1848, was prepared for college at Shenan- doah Valley academy, at Winchester, Va., received his medical education at the uni- versity of Virginia, and graduated in medicine at the university of Maryland in 1870; he then spent ten years in War- renton, Va., in lucrative practice, and in 1880 located in Alexandria, Va., where he has since remained. He is a member of the Virginia State Medical society and the Alexandria Medical society, and is recognized by the profession and the pub- lic as a most able practitioner. He was married June 23, 1880, to Bessie Winter Payne, daughter of Rice W. Payne, and to them have been born six children, as follows: Rice Winfield Payne Jones, Ann Lewis Jones, John Marshall Jones, Bessie Winter Jones, James Fitzgerald Jones, and Cora Shriver Jones.
WILBUR J. KILBY,
son of the distinguished lawyer, John Richardson Kilby, of Nansemond county, Va., was born in Suffolk, Va., April 18, 1850. He received his academic training at Randolph-Macon college, a Methodist institution located for many years at Boydton, Va., but removed to Ashland, Va., in 1868. In 1870 he entered the cele- brated law school of the university of Virginia, where he remained two sessions, standing among the foremost members of his class. He began the practice of the law in Suffolk in August, 1872, as a partner with his father, and at once en- tered upon a career which has distin- guished him as a lawyer of ability and great usefulness. In recognition of his sterling merits, his fellow-citizens elected him, in 1883, to the city council of Suffolk.
member of that body and while he was serving his second term, the legislature of Virginia, in December, 1885, elected him to the position of county judge for Nansemond county. Having filled this office with distinguished ability and to the great satisfaction of the public for a period of six years, he was, in December 1891, again elected to the same office for another period of six years. As a trustee of Randolph-Macon college, a position he has occupied for a number of years, he takes a deep interest and active part in the large and growing educational enter- prises of that institution, now developing, in addition to the college itself, into large and superior preparatory academies for boys at Bedford city and Front Royal, Va., and a college for women at Lynch- burg, Va. He has taken an active and conspicuous part in the politics of his state and county, having been chairman . of his county democratic committee, member of state and other conventions, and being, in common with all the wealth and intelligence of the south, a democrat in his political affiliations. He has been an influential member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, south, the greater part of his life, and has filled various important positions in her councils. He has been twice married; first, in September, 1876, to Harriet L. Brownley, daughter of the late Joseph Brownley, of King and Queen county, Va., and next, in January, 1889, to Mary D. H. Finney, daughter of the late Dr. Crawley Finney, of Nansemond county, Va. Of the first union four children were born, of whom three, Brad- ford, John Richardson and Hilah, survive. The mother of these children died in November, 1887. Of the last union, there ! has been no issue.
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Mr. Kilby's father was John Richard- sions were reached almost by a glance. son Kilby, who was born at or near No man of his day had a stronger hold upon the confidence of a jury than Mr. Kilby. His acknowledged ability as a lawyer, and his great influence over men, because of his unsurpassed purity of char- acter, gained him clients far and near, and made his profession very lucrative. He represented Nansemond county in the general assembly of Virginia of 1851, '52 and '53. He was an elector for the state; served in state and national conventions; was president of the Commerical bank of Suffolk, Va., and filled these and other offices of trust with signal ability. The subject of this sketch attained honorable distinction as a professional man and as a citizen; but he was pre-eminent as a Christian. His life furnished abundant evidence that a man can sit at the feet of Gamaliel, and also sit at the feet of Jesus. He became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church in the year 1843. He laid all he was and all he possessed upon the altar of God. The church was loved above his chief joy, and, in turn, the church conferred upon him every honor she had to bestow. She sent him to her general conference, to her annual con- ferences, made him a steward, a trustee, a trustee of one of her colleges, president of a society for the relief of disabled ministers, and Sabbath school superin- tendent. A model church officer always, in no position did he illustrate his zeal and adaptation more beautifully and con- stantly than as superintendent of the Sabbath school. This mantle was never more worthily worn. In a word this man was a citizen-prince, and a prince in Israel. He lived not for him- self but for others. He had learned that 'it was more blessed to give than to re- Negrofoot, a short distance from the home of Patrick Henry, in Hanover county, Va., December 19, 1819. When John R. was a child thirteen years of age, his father died and he was taken to Suffolk, Va., to live with his uncle, John Thompson Kilby, who was at that time and afterward, until his death, in 1838, clerk of the courts of Nansemond county. His uncle sent him to the "old field schools" of that day, and afterward placed him in the clerk's office, as an as- sistant. Here he spent the days of the youthful period of his life, and acquired that experience and practical information which formed the basis of his eminent abilities and profound learning as a lawyer. Upon reaching his manhood he "farmed," as the saying was, the office of sheriff, first, in Nansemond county, dur- ing the years 1840, 1841 and 1842, and part of 1843, and then in Norfolk county, in the year 1844, filling the office with marked ability and success. Leaving this office in Norfolk county, he returned to Nansemond county, began the study of the law, and on the 9th of December, 1845, was licensed to practice. That most excellent literary paper, the Baltimorean, in a sketch of him, which appeared with his likeness, in its issue of February 1, 1879, says:
" Entering the legal profession in 1845. ceive.'"
he began a career, the success of which has excited the wonder and admiration He was also a member of the legislature of Virginia in 1849 and 1850 and took a leading part in the great revisal of the laws of his state in 1849. As a " Union" man he was elected by a large majority over his democratic opponent to repre- sent his county in the Virginia convention of 1861, which finally passed the ordinance of all who knew him. Almost alone and unaided, he explored the fields of legal lore, and became a workman who needed not to be ashamed in the presence of any judge or jury. He knew the law and few men surpassed him in comprehensive presentation of his case in the fewest words. Indeed, such was the keenness of his apprehension, that whilst most men were marshaling their logic, his conclu- [of secession taking the state out of the
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Union. His name appears as one of the ship" and with the prize had been cap- signers of that memorable paper, but not tured by the Resolution. He was on until President Lincoln's call upon Vir- board the latter ship in the chase, and it ginia for her quota of soldiers to oppress the south did he relent his opposition to the secession of the state. His position in the convention was one of marked con- servatism and ability. He died Decem- ber 5, 1878, and was buried in Cedar Hill cemetery, Suffolk, Va.
Turpin Kilby, the father of John Rich- ardson Kilby, was born in Hanover county, Va., May 13, 1794. He belonged to the old school of Virginia gentlemen farmers and spent all his life in his native county. He married Martha Glazebrook, March 6, 1817, and by her had several children, John Richardson being the eldest. He died December 29, 1832, and his estima- ble wife in February, 1878.
John Kilby, the great-grandfather of Judge Wilbur J. Kilby, was born in the town of Vienna, Dorchester county, Md., married a Miss Thompson after the war of the Revolution and settled in Hanover county, Va. He was in the service of his country during the war of the Revolution, first under Commander James Campbell, on the Sturdy Beggar, a small brig fitted out for service on the high seas, and then under John Paul Jones on the Bonhomme Richard. Sailing from Newbern, N. C., where the "Beggar" had been equipped several prizes with valuable cargoes, the Sturdy Beggar, in her flight from the Brit-
was thus that he escaped the fate of the Sturdy Beggar and her crew. He was imprisoned along with his companions on the "old Princess Amelia" nearly two months, and in Fortune jail, formerly the Queen Anne's hospital, twenty-two months. Having suffered the experi- ence of all prisoners of war during his in- carceration, he was, along with others, at length exchanged on French soil, where- in hope of "revenge, sometimes quite pleasing to man," as he says, he at once enlisted under John Paul Jones. He was with that famous fighter and his able first lieutenant, afterward commodore, Richard Dale, in the historic encounter of the Bon- homme Richard with the British ship Serapis, and in 1810 wrote a most inter- esting account of the engagement and his personal experiences under Jones, whom he calls the "brave, honorable John Paul Jones." The original manuscript of this narration is now in possession of Judge Kilby, who has preserved it as a valuable historical document.
JUDGE BENJAMIN WATKINS LACY.
This eminent jurist and brilliant attor- ney, judge of the supreme court of ap- peals of Virginia, was born at "Ellsworth," for her cruise, and after she had captured the family seat, in New Kent county, Va.,
January 27, 1839. His father, Hon. Rich- mond Terrell Lacy, only son of Benjamin
ish man-of-war, Resolution, foundered, Lacy and Ann Holt (née Terrell), was and every person on board, including her born and lived all his life in New Kent commander, was lost at sea in a storm county, Va., was graduated at the college which continued nearly fifty hours. Mr. of William and Mary in 1825, with the Kilby with a complement of men had been
degrees of A. B. and B. L., was a promi- transferred from the Sturdy Beggar to nent lawyer, was for many years a leading one of the prizes previously captured by politician in the Virginia legislature, and Campbell, in his own words, "to work the died in 1877. Mrs. R. T. Lacy (Ellen
-
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Green, née Lane) was born at "Vaucluse," taken into partnership by his father, suc- ceeded well from the first, and was em- ployed in every case of any importance where he practiced. In May, 1870, the law firm of Lacy & Son was dissolved by the elevation of the son to the bench of the county court, which at that time was in Amelia county, daughter of Col John Lane, a lawyer and politician of note, who was born at "Rose Hill," Rappahan- nock county, Va., and of Sally (née Eppes), daughter of Francis Eppes, and Elizabeth (née Wayles), of "Epping- ton," the latter a sister of Mrs. Thomas a court of general jurisdiction. In 1873, Jefferson, and daughter of John Wayles, a colonial lawyer of note, of the "Forest," in Charles City county, Va.
he retired from the bench, and was elected to the legislature by the demo- crats in a district heretofore largely re- publican, overcoming the 400 republican majority and carrying the county by over 300 majority - one of the strongest evidences possible of his popularity. In the legislature, to which he was re-elected four terms, comprising eight years, he was always a member of the committee of courts, until he was chosen the speaker of the house of delegates. In 1880, he was elected to the bench of the circuit court by the legislature, receiving every vote cast in the house over which he pre- sided, and every one in the senate, ex-
Judge B. W. Lacy was reared on the old homestead, "Ellsworth," and was taught, by his talented and accomplished mother, in English, Latin and mathemat- ics, until prepared for entering the acad- emies in Piedmont, Va., in preparation for the university of Virginia, where his scholastic education was completed, when he entered the office of his father, where he devoted his time to mastering the principles of law; but these studies were interrupted by the breaking out of the late war. With manly ardor and enthu- siasm he volunteered in the Confederate cepting two. The democratic party army, April 19, 1861, as a private in the having divided on the debt settlement, he New Kent cavalry troop, of which his had sided with the Riddleberger bill, and father had been captain, and which com- what was known as the readjuster wing, and opposed the McCulloch bill, which was advocated by the wing known as the funders. In 1883, he was elected to the supreme court of appeals of Virginia. His opinions are to be found in all the official reports from volume 77, Virginia reports, to the present time. He was more than ordinarily distinguished in the practice of the law and in his legislative service by industry and diligence, traits which have been of good service to him in this court, where he found an old pany had won distinction in the war of the Revolution, and in the war of 1812, and had never been out of commission. He was soon elected first lieutenant, and eventually came to command his com- pany. Valiantly and faithfully he served until the fatal day at Appomattox C. H., and participated in all the battles of the army of northern Virginia, except when absent from disabling wounds, of which he sustained several, and still bears three ugly scars resultant therefrom.
When the war ended Captain Lacy docket several years behind, but the went back to his books, and in the office court has long ago cleared away all of his father, who was still in active prac- arrearages, and never adjourns without tice of the law. June 26, 1866, he was completing the docket before it. He
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married Miss Sadie R. Osborne, daugh- Miss Sarah Elizabeth, the daughter of ter of Rev. Michael Osborne, deceased, a Thomas Llewellyn, of Elizabeth City prominent and distinguished Presbyterian preacher, of Prince Edward county, Vir- ginia. They have three children living, one daughter, and two sons of unusual promise who, under the care of a private tutor, at the home of their parents, are rapidly preparing for college, and to
county, Va., and they have had nine children, of whom two died in infancy. The names of those surviving are: John Braxton, Julian Stronge, now at the Vir- ginia university, Frank Hume, George Adams, Mary Louise, Fanny Llewellyn and Lucile Cleveland Lake. The name enter the profession of their father. The of Mr. Lake's father was John Lake, born family are Episcopalians from the earliest in Washington in 1812. He located in date, and move in the highest circles of social life in the state of Virginia.
Virginia about the year 1840, and was engaged in the mercantile business at Hampton for a number of years, or to JOHN BRAXTON LAKE, the time of his death in 1847. In 1845 he a well-known and successful business man, was married to - Miss Mary Louise was born in Hampton, Va., November 26, Stronge, daughter of a Capt. Stronge of 1846. He was educated at Hampton Mili- Norfolk, captain of a line of steamers. tary academy, being in attendance on They had only one son, John Braxton, that institution when the war broke out, named above.
at which time he fled with other refugees to a place of safety in the country not far from the academy, and there remained until hostilities ceased. When the war was over he went with his parents to Nor-
WILLIAM SYLVESTER LANGHORNE.
The Langhorne family is a very nu- merous one in Virginia and will be en- countered very frequently in various folk, Va., remaining there about a year, parts of the state, but wherever met the and then returned to Hampton, where he embarked in the mercantile trade and devoted his time to the management of bearers of this name will be found among the representative people of the old com- monwealth. For this reason it is known his largely accumulated real estate in- that this family sprang from one family terests. By his energy and enterprise he tree among some of the upper class of has done much to aid the development of early English immigrants. Many of the resources of his native city and has this family are found recorded in the fairly entitled himself to the respect and Queen of England's Blue Book; among gratitude of his fellow-citizens. He has them will be found, Rev. Thos. Lang- been for several years a member of the horne, LL. D. 45, Scarsdale Villas, Kens. W .; A. G. S. Langhorne, Esq., 26 Norland board of supervisors, and still retains that office. He was one of the organizers of square, Notting Hill, W. The great- the bank of Hampton, and was instru- grandfather of W. S. Langhorne was born mental in securing the erection of Hamp- in Warwick county, Va., in the year 1762. ton bridge, and the remodeling of the His grandfather, William Langhorne, the court house. He had been for years the son of Maurice and Patsy Langhorne, treasurer of the Baptist church at Hamp- was born at Indianfields in Nansemond ton. In 1865, Mr. Lake was married to county, April Ist, 1790, and was married
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to Miss Charlotte Wilson June 20th, 1820, ber 9, 1862, when he was discharged at in Portsmouth, Virginia. He moved to Portsmouth in early life, where he was elected clerk of the courts, holding that office until his death. He died January 24, 1825. At the time of his death he was captain of the Portsmouth Grays, a mi- litia company which received La Fayette on the occasion of his visit, in 1824, to Portsmouth, and made one of the wel- come addresses on this occasion. He served in the war of 1812 as a member of the Nansemond Guard, for which service his widow was receiving a pension at her death in 1880. W. S. Langhorne's father's name was Maurice Blow Langhorne, who was born in Portsmouth, Va., June 20, 1823; he was educated in his native city, was a lawyer of prominence and large practice, and died in 1854. At the time of his death he was colonel in the state militia. He was married June 4th, 1844, in Portsmouth, Va., to Miss Lucrece P. Bilisoly, daughter of Joseph A. and Eliza Bilisoly, of Portsmouth, to which union were born five children; two died in in- fancy and three survive, as follows: William S., Mary Anna, widow of James W. Reddick, who was a gallant captian in the Confederate army, and Lucrece, wife of Col. H. C. Hudgins, of Portsmouth, Va.
William Sylvester Langhorne, whose name opens this sketch, was born in Portsmouth, Va., August 7, 1845, and re- ceived his educational training under Prof. N. B. Webster, at the Virginia Collegiate institute in his native city. Early in 1862 he enlisted in the Old Do- minion Guard, which was afterward at- tached to the Ninth Virginia regiment, Armistead's brigade, Pickett's division, Gen. R. E. Lce's army, C. S. A., with which command he served until Septem-
Frederick, Md., by an act of the C. S. con- gress, releasing all persons from military duty under eighteen years of age. He again volunteered and enlisted in the signal corps at Petersburg, Va., February 10, 1863, and remained on duty around that city until August, 1864, when he was detailed on special service and sent to Wilmington, N. C .; he was then appointed signal officer of the blockade-running steamer Stormy Petrel; said steamer was engaged in carrying cotton to Nassau, New Providence, Bahama islands, and bringing in supplies for the Confederate armies, The Stormy Petrel was wrecked near Fort Fisher, N. C., on December 4, 1864. After the loss of the Stormy Petrel Mr. Langhorne was ordered to duty on the steamer Banshee and made a suc- cessful voyage to Nassau, carrying 1,200 bales of cotton for the Confederate government. While in port at Nas- sau, N. P., the news was received of the capture of Wilmington, N. C., by the Federal forces. The Banshee was then ordered to proceed to Galveston, Tex., for a load of cotton, and, although the entrance to this port was guarded by ten armed steamers, the Banshee passed successfully through them in broad day- light, in the face of a heavy fire from the fleet. Whilst in Galveston the news reached there of the surrender of Genls. Lee and Johnston, and it then became manifest that the war must soon end. Mr. Langhorne, being determined to cast his lot with his country, resigned his posi- tion on the Baushee and reported to Gen. J. B. Magruder for duty. He was as- signed to service in the signal department of Texas and was surrendered by Gen. E. Kirby Smith to Gen. Gordon Granger on June 6, 1865; he was then furnished
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transportation to his home in Portsmouth, Va., which he reached on July 10, 1865, being the last member of a large family to return from the war. He served with his commands in the battles of Seven Pines, Cold Harbor, Malvern Hill, second Manassas, Warrenton Springs, and many battles around Petersburg.
After his return from the war and in the face of many difficulties Mr. Lang- horne laid the foundation of the prosper- ous drug business which he now carries on. He is serving his third term as a member of the city electoral board, is a member of the city police commission, director of the Portsmouth Insurance company, quartermaster of Stonewall camp, Confederate veterans, and vice- president of the board of trade.
He was married November 22, 1871, to Rosalia Bilisoly, daughter of Charles and Rosalia Bilisoly, both of whom died in the yellow fever epidemic of 1855. There have been born to this union four children, one of whom, Lucrece, died in May, 1888, aged fifteen. The other children are William, Maurice and Rosalia. There are four generations of Mr. Langhorne's ancestors buried in and around Ports- mouth city.
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