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 56
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 56
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
cation at the university of Virginia, and adelphia, was surgeon in the United States was graduated from the Medical college army in the war of 1812-14, and was for of Virginia in 1876. He began his pro- many years quite famous for his success- ful treatment of his patients. He repre- sented Hanover in the state legislature several terms and was in all respects held fessional career in Powhatan county and soon built up an extensive practice. In 1881 he located in Richmond, Va., where he has been actively engaged in his pro- in high esteem by his fellow-citizens. He fession ever since, ranking among the married a Miss Mary L. Clarkson, of successful physicians of that city. He has Fauquier county, Va, and in his latter been president of the Richmond academy days moved to Richmond, where he died of medicine and surgery, vice-president about the year 1840.
DR. JACOB MICHAUX,
of the Medical society of Virginia, and is also secretary and treasurer of the medi- cal examining board of the state. Dr.
the well known physician, of Richmond, Michaux was formerly surgeon of the Va., was born in Powhatan county, Au- First regiment of Virginia militia. He is gust 31, 1851. He is the son of Will- a member of the Episcopal church, is a iam W. Michaux, also a native of Pow- Scottish rite Mason, a member of the hatan county, and an extensive planter, Royal Arcanum, the American Legion of who was born December 27, 1810, and Honor, the Progressive Endowment who died February 8, 1881. The latter Guild, the Royal Society of Good Fel- was the son of Major Jacob Michaux, a lows and the Phi Kappa Sigma college native of Cumberland county, a planter fraternity. by occupation. He was born in 1770 and Dr. Michaux was married, in 1876, to died in 1846. The American branch of Miss Willie H. Johnson, of Charlotte, Va., the Michaux family was founded by and is the father of two sons and one Abraham Michaux, a French Huguenot, daughter, William W., A. Stewart, and who married Susanne Rochette, also a Kate Cameron Michaux.
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THOMAS JEFFERSON MOORE, M. D., C., was brought up in Spartanburg dis- practicing physician of Richmond, Va., trict, S. C., and after receiving his col- legiate education he studied law and commenced the practice of his profession in the state. He subsequently moved to Madison county, Miss., where he soon rose to eminence in his profession, and died in 1839. The mother of Dr. Moore was Miss Mary A. Irwin, daughter of John Irwin, of Charlotte, N. C. After the death of Col. Thomas J. Moore she married the late Judge James W. Osborne, of Mecklenburg, N. C., and now resides at Charlotte, in that state.
was born in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, April 30, 1840, and is descended from Charles Moore, who settled in Spartanburg district, province of South Carolina, in 1762. Charles Moore was a gentleman of scholastic education and literary attainment, and exerted a wide and marked influence in the section of the province where he located. He had three sons: Andrew, Charles and Thomas Moore. Andrew Moore was the father of the late Gov.Andrew Barry Moore, of Alabama, who was first a circuit judge of that state and twice elected its governor. Thomas Moore, the third son of Charles Moore, was the grandfather of Dr. T. J. Moore; he was a soldier in the American
Dr. Moore received his academic edu- cation at the university of Virginia, and had just completed his college course at the commencement of hostilities between the states. He entered the Confederate Revolution, participating in the battle of States service as a private in the First Cowpens and other engagements in the North Carolina regiment, commanded by Col. D. H. Hill, which regiment formed a part of Gen. McGruder's command at the battle of Bethel. Upon the expira- tion of the term of service of the regi- ment Doctor Moore was tendered and accepted the position of aid-de-camp to Gen. D. H. Hill, was subsequently trans- province of South Carolina during its occupancy by the British troops under Lords Cornwallis and Rawdon; in 1800 he was elected to congress from South Carolina and served his state continu- ously in this capacity until 1812, when he resigned his seat to enter the military
service, as brigadier-general of state ferred to the regular staff and continued troops of South Carolina. In 1814 he in active service with Gen. Lee's army was again returned to congress and con -. tinued in this position until the time of his death in 1816. Gen. Thomas Moore was the maternal grandfather of the late John H. Evins of Spartanburg, who rep- resented the fourth congressional dis- trict of the state in the forty-sixth, forty-seventh and forty-eighth con- gresses of the United States and died while a member of the forty-eighth con- gress.
until the surrender at Appomattox. In 1866 he entered the university of New York for the purpose of completing his medical education; he graduated in the spring of 1868, and delivered the vale- dictory of his class. He then passed into Bellevue hospital and served the regular term as one of the house physicians of that institution. Returning in 1870 to his native state, he then settled at Charlotte, where he practiced his profession for twelve years; he soon rose to prominence
Thomas Jefferson Moore, the father of Dr. Moore, and the son of Gen. Thomas and became one of the leading physicians Moore, was born in Washington city, D. in that section of the state. He removed
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to Richmond, Va., in February, 1882, hav- | for publication in the transactions of the ing married, in 1878, Miss Julia Grant, congress. Dr. Moore has been president of the Richmond Surgical society and is now serving as president of the Richmond Academy of Medicine and Surgery. Dr. Moore is considered one of the most learned men in his profession in the state, and enjoys a degree of confidence and esteem amongst his medical brethern that is rarely attained. He by no means has confined himself to medical culture, but is extensively read in science and literature. He wields a ready pen and is gifted in both conversation and oratory. daughter of the late James H. Grant, of that city. Since his removal to Rich- mond he has applied himself most assid- uously to the practice of his profession and is meeting with the legitimate results attendant upon energy, perseverance and industry. During his residence in North Carolina he was elected secretary of the Mecklenburg Historical society in 1875, and continued to serve in this capacity up to the time of his departure from the state; in 1876 he was elected to the state senate from the Mecklenburg district, and has been honored on many occa- CLAUDIUS WALKE MURDAUGH. sions by offices in the gift of his medical The distinguished Murdaugh family traces its residence in Virginia back to 1690, at which time mention is made of the ancestor of the Portsmouth branch, who was John Murdaugh, born in Nan- semond county that year. Claudius Walke Murdaugh was born December 28, 1828, in Portsmouth. He was educated at William and Mary college and at the university of Virginia, no pains nor money being spared to complete his education, and at an early age he exhibited all the sound mental qualities which character- ized the family. He early prepared him- self for the legal profession and com- menced the practice of the same in 1850, at Portsmouth, where, for a period of over forty years, he has been recognized as one of the most distinguished lawyers of eastern Virginia. In recognition of his sterling qualities of head and heart, Mr. Murdaugh was elected to the legisla- ture in 1855 and served with signal ability as a member of that body until the break- ing out of the war. In 1861 he raised a company in Norfolk, of which he was elected captain, and was assigned for duty brethern; in 1880 he was appointed essayist by the North Carolina State Medical society; in 1881 he was elected its first vice-president, and in 1886 was made an honorary fellow of that society. Upon his removal to Virginia he became a member of the local medical societies at Richmond and joined the State Med- ical society in 1884, at wich time he was chosen as essayist for the year 1885; at the meeting of 1888 he was elected orator for the ensuing year. He was appointed . as a member of the medical examining board (for the state at large) in 1885, and after serving until the expiration of the term was, with other members of the board, unanimously re-elected; after con- tinuing in office a few months, he re- signed. The section of the army and navy in the World's International Med- ical congress, which convened in Wash- ington city, D. C., in September, 1889, requested him to read a paper upon pene- trating gunshot wounds of the abdomen. This he complied with, and it was not only considered as an able exposition of the subject, but the paper was requested to the Sixty-first Virginia regiment, and
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PERSONAL SKETCHES -STATE OF VIRGINIA.
afterward transferred to the Sixty-first monwealth's attorney at Portsmouth for Virginia infantry, serving with gallantry and distinction until the close of the war. He was engaged in all the campaigns around Richmond and participated in the battles of Chancellorsville, Salem Church and McCarthy's farm, and was wounded
many years. His wife was Mary Red- dick, daughter of Micajah Reddick, of Gates county, N. C. There were three children of this marriage, of whom two died in infancy. The grandfather of Claudius Walke Murdaugh was Joseph at Salem Church. His military, like his Murdaugh, born in Nansemond county in professional career, was untarnished by 1770; he was a distinguished lawyer, and the slightest stain of dishonor, and dur- ing the time he bore arms in behalf of what he believed to be a noble and a righteous cause, he made a soldier's rec- ord of which any gallant son of the Old for many years was a member of the Nan- semond county court, and died in 1818. The great-grandfather of Claudius Mur- daugh was Josiah Murdaugh, born in Nansemond county in 1744. He was an Dominion state might feel deservedly extensive and wealthy land owner and a proud. Mr. Murdaugh was married in captain in the Revolutionary war. The 1856 to Miss Eugenia Dickson, daughter great-great-grandfather mentioned in the of John Dickson, Esq., and to them were beginning of this sketch was an extensive born fourteen children, of whom four died farmer, the records showing that he was in infancy, and one, James, died in 1888, given large land grants by the king. aged thirty years. The following chil- survive: Eugenia D., wife of Thomas BARTON MYERS Baine; Claudius, Jr .; Marion D .; Geor- was born in Norfolk, Va., March 29, 1853. His education was acquired in his native iam C. and Josiah. Immediately after the city, but at the age of thirteen years he removed to his father's farm in Fauquier county, remaining there until he arrived at the age of manhood, when he returned to Norfolk and engaged in mercantile business, which he has since continued. In 1877 he was appointed by the British government as vice-consul at Norfolk, and gia; John W .; Ellie H .; Bessie M .; Will- close of the war Mr. Murdaugh was elected commonwealth's attorney, served ably in this office for two years, and in 1883 was elected judge of the hustings court of Portsmouth. He held the latter position for a period of six years, and as judge earned the reputation of being
painstaking and impartial, clear in the in the same year was appointed vice-con-
enunciation of his opinions, just and fair sul for the Netherlands, and Brazil. He was elected mayor of Norfolk in 1886, serving in that office one term, having previously served as president of the common council of the city for four years. In politics, he is a democrat. In his busi- ness relations Mr. Myers is president of several land and improvement com- panies. He is also interested in many in his rulings, and but few of his decisions ever met with reversal at the hands of the higher courts. The father of C. Walke Murdaugh was James Murdaugh, of Nansemond county, Va., where he was born in 1799. He was a graduate of Will- iam and Mary college, and located in Portsmouth in 1832, where he practiced law until his death in 1871. He was local companies and enterprises looking also a member of the legislature, and com- to the improvement of Norfolk, and the
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advancement of its material interests. tion of President James Monroe. In his Mr. Myers was married December 27, time he entertained at his residence many 1882, to Miss Kate Mackay Baldwin, of the prominent men of that day, includ- daughter of Dr. Robert F. Baldwin, of ing President Monroe, Gen. La Fayette, Winchester, Va., and they have four chil- Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay. He dren - Robert Baldwin, Kate Barton, died in 1832. In the war of 1812, John Louisa Marx and Caroline Barton.
and Myer Myers, great-uncles of Barton Moses Myers, father of Barton Myers, was born in Pensacola, Fla., April 5, 1815, Myers, were both engaged, the first hold- ing the rank of colonel, and the second during a visit of his parents to that city, of lieutenant-colonel. Col. John Myers and was for many years a prominent mer- was on the staff of Gen. Robert Taylor, chant in Norfolk, engaged in the foreign and was an intimate friend of Commo- export and shipping business; in later life dore Barron, who fought the famous duel he retired to Fauquier county and engaged with, and killed, Commodore Decatur. The pistols used in the duel were loaned to Commodore Barron by Col. John My- ers, and these weapons are now in the in farming. January 14, 1851, he married Miss Julia G. Barton, daughter of Richard and Alcinda (Gibson) Barton, of Winches- ter, Va. Mr. Barton was a lawyer in Win- possession of Mr. Barton Myers.
chester and represented that district in 3 On the mother's side, Mr. Myers' an- congress in 1842. Alcinda Gibson's mother, cestors, the Bartons, were of English ex- Elizabeth Winn, was a sister of Gen. Stone- traction. They came to America before wall Jackson's grandmother, Judith Winn. the war of the Revolution, and settled in Mr. and Mrs. Moses Myers had seven Philadelphia, where the Rev. William children, three of whom are living: Bar- Barton, a clergyman of the church of ton, Louisa and Georgianna. Mr. Myers' England, married, in 1750, a sister of the father died March 13, 1880, and his mother, distinguished David Rittenhouse. Their December 2, 1883. His paternal grand- son, Richard Peters Barton, removed father was Samuel Myers, a native of thence to Petersburg, Va., where, in 1780, Norfolk, and a lawyer by profession. The he married Martha Walker, daughter of great-great-grandfather of Mr. Myers was Mr. David Walker, and removed thence Hyam Myers, born in Amsterdam, Hol- to Winchester, Va., where representatives land. He emigrated to New York city in of the family yet reside.
the early days of its settlement and became, prominently identified with its mercantile BENJAMIN H. NASH interests. His son, Moses Myers, in 1786, was born in Powhatan county, Va., on removed to Norfolk, Va., and built the. April 7, 1835, and received a classical edu- house now occupied by his son, Barton cation at the Wigwam academy, Amelia, Myers. He established himself in the Va., and at the university of Virginia, importing and exporting business on where he studied law. In 1855, at the Commerce street, in the old warehouses age of twenty years, he began the prac- still owned by his great-grandchildren, tice of the profession in his native county; Misses Louisa and Georgianna Myers. He within the same year he located in Man- was a whig in politics, and served as col- chester, Va., where he pursued with activity lector of the port during the administra- the practice till the fall of 1860, when he
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PERSONAL SKETCHES - STATE OF VIRGINIA.
was elected to the state senate, to fill an |Mattie M. Freeman, daughter of Mr. unexpired term, and subsequently was E. A. and Mrs. Martha S. Freeman, be- coming his wife. Her mother was a daughter of Robert Bolling of Petersburg and a lineal descendant of the original Robert Bolling, who first married the descendant of the Indian Princess Poca- hontas, and secondly married Ann Smith, from whom Mrs. Nash's ancestors are descended. three times elected senator from the eighth senatorial district, composed of the counties of Chesterfield, Powhatan and Cumberland. During the war he did field service, first, as captain of company B, Forty-first Virginia infantry, in Mahone's brigade, Anderson's division, army of northern Virginia, and then as A. A. G. of Mahone's brigade. After participat- Major Benjamin H. Nash is a descend- ant of an old and well known Virginia family of English descent. His father was Judge John W. Nash, born in Fauquier county, Va., in 1792, died in Pow- hatan county in 1859. Judge .Nash was a member of the Virginia senate for six- teen years, and president of the same. He was made judge of the second judicial circuit in 1848, and was assigned a mem- ber of the special court of appeals when that court existed. He was judge of the second judicial circuit at the time of his death in 1859. His father was Travis Nash of Fauquier county, Va., and his mother, Eleanor W. Nash, née White. Major Nash's mother, who died in 1837, was English, daughter of Benjamin Hatcher, who was the first president of ing in the battle of the Wilderness and all the battles of the campaigns of 1864, in- cluding the Crater and other engage- ments, he resigned (in January, 1865) from the army to resume his seat in the state senate. On the night of April 2, 1865, Mr. Nash, together with the other members of the Virginia legislature, left Richmond; but the war being ended, he returned May 16, 1865, and resumed the practice of law, in which he has continued with such success as has placed him among the most able of the profession in the state. During the years 1886-87 he was commonwealth attorney for the county of Chesterfield, by appointment of the county court of that county, although he re- sided in the city of Richmond; this office he held until the general election of the Farmers' bank of Virginia. county officers of that county, but not be- ing eligible to the office by election, he CHARLES REID NASH, was not a candidate. Mr. Nash at pres- a prominent business man of Portsmouth, Va., of which city he is a native, was born June 29, 1849. He received his education in Portsmouth, but left school at the age of eighteen years and entered a commis- sion house in Norfolk as a clerk, remain- ing there six years. For nearly a year longer he engaged as a clerk for another house in the same city, after which he studied law for a year, but did not engage in the practice of it. In 1878 he embarked ent is the general counsel for the Rich- mond & Petersburg Railroad company, which position he has held since 1869. He is, also, general counsel for the Manches- ter Railway Improvement company, which position he has held since its organiza- tion. He is prominent as a Mason, and is both a popular and esteemed citi- zen, an able lawyer and advocate and enjoys an increasing clientage. He was married January 27, 1869- Miss in the ice business at Portsmouth, which
Herbertellehast
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he still continues to pursue. He is presi- 1841, was married to Mrs. Ann Lucretia dent of the River View Land company of Collins, widow of Dr. Woodley, of Ports- Radford, Va., and secretary of the North mouth. By his second wife Mr. Nash Norfolk Land company. He was elected had born to him five children, as follows: justice of the peace in 1885, and is now Sarah L., widow of Richard D. Hume, serving his third term in that office. late of Portsmouth; Ann Cooper, William From 1882 to 1890 he was a vestryman in Collins Nash, a Confederate soldier; Trinity church, and as a member of the Charles Reid Nash, and Fairlie Patton common council of Portsmouth in 1883-4 Nash. June 24, 1884, Mr. Nash died, was untiring in behalf of the city's inter- greatly lamented by all who knew him. est by promoting much needed municipal Some days after his death the board of legislation. November 20, 1878, Mr. Nash police and fire commissioners held a meeting, at which some highly eulogistic resolutions were adopted expressive of the high regard and esteem in which he was held by his fellow-citizens. Cornelius Nash, the grandfather of Charles R. Nash, was a native of Norfolk county and followed the occupation of farming. The ancestors of the Nash family were English.
was married to Rebecca Frances, daugh- ter of F. Lewis Marshall, and great- granddaughter of Chief Justice Marshall, who presided as chief justice of the United States supreme court from 1801 to 1835. She is also a granddaughter of ex- congressman Richard Coke. Two daugh- ters were the result of this marriage: Rebecca Coke and Nancy Collins Nash. John Nash, the father of Charles R. Nash, was born in Portsmouth, July 21, 1805. He was educated in the schools of Nor-
HERBERT M. NASH, M. D.,
was born in Norfolk, May 29, 1831. He is folk county, and about 1821 went into the the son of Thomas and Lydia Adela mercantile business in Portsmouth, hav- ing prior to that time been engaged as a clerk in a wholesale grocery house in Norfolk. Just after the close of the war he retired from business. He served for a term of two years as mayor of Ports- mouth, his term including 1861-2. He the university of Virginia, June 29, 1852, was a member of the city council from (Herbert) Nash, of Welsh ancestry, who settled in Norfolk county (St. Bride's parish) in 1661. His early education was obtained in the schools of the city, prin- cipally at the Norfolk Military academy. He was graduated doctor of inedicine at and settled in practice in his native city 1881 to 1884; also served as presiding in the fall of 1853. During the war be- magistrate in Norfolk county, and at one tween the states, he was in the medical service of the State of Virginia, and of the Confederate States, serving as assistant surgeon of the Ninth Virginia infantry, as time he was treasurer of Portsmouth. John Nash was twice married; first, to Miss Edwards, by whom he had four children, viz .: Thomas E., deceased; surgeon of the Sixty-first regiment of John E., deceased; Mary, deceased wife Virginia infantry, surgeon of Poague's battalion of artillery, and later, in the
of Dr. J. R. Woodley, of Portsmouth; Virginius W., of Portsmouth; he was a capacity of chief surgeon of the artillery soldier in the Confederate army. The of the Third army corps (A. P. Hill's) of first wife dying, Mr. Nash, on August 21, the army of northern Virginia, and was
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present with that army in all its active the old Continental army, and performed movements and battles, from May, 1862, signal service in Lee's legion, in General Greene's southern campaign. Another brother, Tarpley White, was taken pris-
until it surrendered at Appomattox Court House, May, 1865,
He is one of the original members of oner at Charleston, at the surrender of the Norfolk Medical society, and has General Lincoln, and after his discharge several times been its president; was for a period the president of the Norfolk board of health; was for several years the quarantine medical officer of the district of the Elizabeth river. He is a member of the American Medical association; of the American Public's Health association; of the Southern Surgical and Gynecologi- cal association, and is at the present time the president of the Medical society of Virginia. He is now the only survivor of that body of medical men who faced the fearful epidemic of yellow fever which
again entered the army of Virginia, un- der the command of General La Fayette. In 1806, John W. Nash, then fourteen years of age, was sent by his parents to the county of Cumberland, for the pur- pose of attending what was then consid- ered one of the best grammar schools in the state. He here lived with his eldest brother, Thomas Nash, and pursued his studies with great industry for four years, when he returned home, and commenced the study of law under John Love. Esq., a gentleman distinguished in his profes- prevailed in the city of Norfolk in the sion in Prince William county. He en- summer of 1855, and which destroyed about 2,200 of the 6,000 people who re- tered upon his legal studies with that undauntable energy and fixedness of pur- mained in the city during its prevalence. pose which so strongly marked his char- In February, 1867, he married Mary A., the daughter of Nicholas Parker, Esq., of Norfolk.
JOHN W. NASH,
acter through life. He was licensed in 1813, and commenced his career in Cum- berland, when he earnestly espoused the cause of the war, and gave Mr. Madison's administration a hearty support. This the eccentric John Randolph, of Roanoke, then the leading politician of that section of the state, and in that memorable con- test between the Hon. John W. Eppes and Mr. Randolph for congress, in the spring of 1817, he warmly advocated and aided in the election of Mr. Eppes. To
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