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 59
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 59
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The doctor was married January 17th, pect was hardly encouraging for a young, 1867, to Alice Virginia Toomer, daughter of James G. Toomer, of Portsmouth, Va., and to them have been born nine children, of whom eight now survive, as follows: Charles Toomer, James Sheldon, Hugh Ferguson, George Ross, Gustavus Muston, Edmund John, Frederick Montgomery, sponse to every call, however troublesome, and Alice Toomer Parrish.
and experienced doctors, so that the pros- untried physician; but, with an unfailing self-reliance, and a determination to suc- ceed, he devoted all the energies of mind and body to the mastering of his science, and to a proper discharge of its impor- tant obligations. Making a ready re-
and treating all patients with the utmost care and attention, he soon won the con- RICHARD ARCHIBALD PATTERSON, fidence of the community. In two short the second son of Thomas and Susan G. years he had established a large practice, Patterson, was born in Caroline county, and, considering the territory, a lucrative Va., March 15, 1826. In 1834 the family one as well. A wide circle of genial, hos-
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pitable acquaintances and friends inade | could learn the practical operations under his situation peculiarly agreeable, and his control. nothing could have been easier than to drift along comfortably the rest of his days as a country doctor. Unwilling to accept such a fate, he had about decided to quit Manakin and join the medical frater- nity of Richmond, where a good opening awaited him, when an unexpected propo- sition was received. A. maternal uncle, Mr. James Thomas, Jr., doing an exten- sive business in the manufacture of plug tobacco, tendered him a situation as man- ager of his factory. We do not know why Mr. Thomas considered the young doctor specially qualified for such a re- sponsible position. It was entirely for- eign to his previous pursuits, and for that reason the proposition was all the more flattering; but so radical a change could not be made without a struggle. Indeed it seemed out of the question now, just when the difficulties and uncertainties of professional life were disappearing, and the fruits of laborious preparation were about to fall into his lap. The offer, at
With a salary of $1,000 per annum he was married in 1851 to Margaret L. Court- ney, and straightway commenced house- keeping. Their domestic arrangements were extremely simple, but proceeding on a strictly cash basis, and assisted by an occasional contribution of green groceries from the old folks in the country, they got along well and happily. Though expenses increased with this departure, he yet man- aged to save something out of his earn- ings, and, as opportunity presented itself, would "make a turn" in the markets. For awhile these ventures proved emi- nently successful, and, emboldened by such favorable results, he determined to join a friend in an enterprise more daring. The scheme was to buy largely of flour and tobacco for California shipment, and upon this hazard the two young men staked their all. It was the old story re- peated; an unfortunate speculation and everything gone! Severe as was this shock, it had two important consequences, first rejected, was renewed and pressed viz .: the gambling fever was checked, and upon him in yet more tempting shape, Dr. Patterson instantly resolved to work until he yielded. Thus, with real regret no longer upon a salary under any cir- and many misgivings the doctor became cumstances. He was going to start in a business man in the latter part of the business for himself; and, making known year 1850. Employed as a general su- this design to his employer, he soon after, perintendent, subject only to the direc- with a capital of only $800, proceeded to tions of Mr. Thomas himself, he at once execute the same. About this time an- other young man, who had likewise been connected with the establishment of Mr. Thomas, "struck out on his own hook." After working independently for about six months these two gentlemen came together, forming a co-partnership under realized the necessity of becoming famil- iar with his new vocation in all its details; but the variety of duties assigned to him was such that little time could be spared for particular study of the several de- partments. Office-work and banking matters, as well as factory-bossing, came the firm name of Patterson & Williams. within his province; and so it was only The junior member of this concern was by snatching odd moments in the dis- Thomas C. Williams, who afterward made charge of these engagements, that he a name for himself in the mercantile
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world, amassing a large fortune by honest |leaving four children, all sons, surviving enterprise alone. The firm soon took high rank with the trade for its correct- ness of business methods and the superi- ority of its goods. Fortune seemed to smile upon them, giving every assurance of a brilliant future, when suddenly the
her. In 1868 he took as his second wife Bettie A. DuVal, and not long afterward resumed the manufacture of tobacco, with Mr. James Thomas and Mr. Thomas C. Williams as silent partners, under the firm name of R. A. Patterson & Co. His in- Civil war came on with all its disastrous put was about $10,000 or $15,000, which results. Business being suspended, the had been saved by exporting a large doctor removed his wife and children to quantity of stock in anticipation of the the country and enlisted as a private in the Confederate army. He was subse- quently commissioned as surgeon, in which capacity he served until hostilities were over. In common with southern property owners generally, and Virgin- ians particularly, he sustained heavy losses by the war. war, the proceeds having been allowed to remain in the hands of his foreign agents until peace was restored. Starting in a modest way, with limited factory accom- modations and desk room in the office of another house, the new concern set about gaining a foot-hold in territory already occupied by well-established and enter- On returning after the surrender to his mother's home in Henrico, the outlook was gloomy enough; and, for the lack of some better occupation, he undertook to run the farm - a large, but not very fer- tile, tract of land which now remained as the only source of revenue for two fami- lies. The abolition of slavery had par- alyzed labor and brought confusion upon prising competitors. Many a kind friend came forward to suggest a thousand diffi- culties and to predict inevitable failure under the new order of things. But ignor- ing all such direful forebodings, and sus- tained by that same indomitable spirit which had brought success in ante-bellum days, Dr. Patterson soon made his pres- ence felt in the trade. A most desirable the agricultural industry; but, with such line of custom was secured, and brands precarious help as could be secured, he then adopted have since become known throughout the country. began work, determined at least to bring order out of chaos, if not restore things Soon after resuming the tobacco busi- to their former condition. Ice-getting ness, he bought the farm "Reveille," on was then a good business. The home which he has lived ever since. Contain- market was entirely dependent upon ing originally seventy-three acres, it has "country ice," and from two large ponds been enlarged from time to time until appurtenant to this property an abundant now it covers nearly two hundred acres harvest was usually gathered. Thus a in the western suburbs of Richmond. As comfortable living was insured. But, a citizen of Henrico, he has always taken though devoted to farming for its own a lively interest in the administration of sake, the prospect of doing much more
county affairs, and, even at a great sacri- than "make buckle and tongue meet" was fice of time and money, consented to so exceedingly unfavorable that the doc- serve several terms upon the board of tor determined to re-enter mercantile life. supervisors. Though frequently urged His first wife had died in the year 1866, to enter public life, he has persistently
55
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declined to become a candidate for any |law, practicing at the Richmond bar. By political office; but when called to other his second wife he has two children, a girl posts of honor or trust he has willingly and a boy, called respectively Elizabeth Garnett and Warren Pernett Patterson. A man of simple tastes and regular habits, the doctor has always enjoyed good health. He dispenses an open-handed charity, and responds most generously, though unostentatiously, to every deserv- ing call upon his benevolence. assumed the responsibility and faithfully discharged the duties pertaining to them. In the year 1883, he was appointed by the governor as a member of the board of directors of the state penitentiary. In 1888, he was made president of the Rich- mond tobacco trade. In the same year, he became a member of the Virginia ex- position executive committee. In 1889, CAPTAIN ALEXANDER DIXON PAYNE. he was elected president of the Savings Allusion will elsewhere be made to the ancient family of Payne, of the Clifton homestead in Fauquier county, Va., but the object of this sketch is simply to give bank of Richmond. Upon the incorpora- tion of his tobacco business, in 1889, he was elected president of the R. A. Patter- son Tobacco company. In all these a brief record of the life of the eminent positions he has shown signal ability. The Savings bank, organized only two counselor at law, Alexander Dixon Payne, a surviving representative at Warrenton. years ago, has now a surplus fund of He was born on the 30th day of Septem-
$10,000. Under his management the peni- tentiary was made self-sustaining for the first time in its history. His efforts con- tributed largely to the wonderful success of the Virginia exposition in 1888. As supervisor for the county, having charge of the roads in his district, he did a work which will stand as a lasting monument to his genius and fidelity. And, from the small beginning above mentioned, the R. A. Patterson Tobacco company has now an immense factory and central office in Richmond, with branch offices at Boston and Atlanta.
Devoted to the country, however, and passionately fond of farming, Dr. Patter- son spends a great deal of time, as well as money, in the improvement and culti- vation of his lands. The four children by his first marriage are Richard Fuller, Archibald Williams, James Thomas and Malvern Courtney Patterson. Of these, three are associated with him in business, while the second named is an attorney at
ber, 1837, and we trace his individual ca - reer down to the present time, giving his genealogy in the latter part of this sketch. He was educated at William and Mary college, Va., taking the degree of A. M. in 1856. Next he studied law in Winchester, Va., and at the university of Virginia, and commenced the practice of his profession in the town of Warrenton in the fall of 1858, where he resided until the breaking out of the war between the states in 1861. Early in April, 1861, full of patriotism, he entered the Confederate service as lieu- tenant in the " Black Horse" troop, was made captain of that cavalry in the fall of 1863 (it being one of the companies of the Fourth Virginia regiment of Fitzhugh Lee's division), and was in command of the Fourth regiment as its senior officer, present at the surrender of Gen. Lee's army at Appomattox C. H.
Capt. Payne, ever ardent, was in the following battles: First Manassas, Will- iamsburg, Seven days' battle around
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Richmond, second Manassas, Chantilly, after elected presiding justice of the siege and capture of Harper's Ferry, Antietam, Gettysburg, Brandy Station, Cold Harbor, Haw's Shop, White House, Trevilian Station, the Wilderness, Yel- low Tavern, Five Forks, and the contin- uous and daily small engagements from that time till the one at Appomattox, re- tiring with an unstained escutcheon. At the termination of the war, he resumed the practice of his profession in Warren-
county court, a position he held until the breaking out of the war. With the Hon. Robert E. Scott he was elected to the Virginia legislature in 1861 for the county of Fauquier, they being the first Confed- erate representatives to that body from that county. He married, in 1834, Alice Fitzhugh Dixon, the daughter of Turner Dixon and Maria Turner, his wife. Of this marriage there were born six chil- ton, where he has continued to reside dren, viz: William Winter Payne, Alex- ever since, meeting with much success. He was elected to the Virginia legislature in 1885, and in that honorable body rep- resented the counties of Loudoun and Fau- quier during the session of 1885 and 1886, and the extra session of 1887. He also was a delegate to the national democratic convention which met at Chicago in July, 1880, and nominated Gen. W. S. Hancock for the presidency. Beside this he has served three times as mayor of Warren- ton. These facts alone show the high estimation in which he is held by his fellow-townsmen. Capt. Payne married, in 1868, Ann Morson Scott, daughter of the Hon. Robert E. Scott of Fauquier county, Va., and a lineal descendant of
ander D. Payne, Elizabeth Winter Payne (now the wife of John R. Todd of Nor- folk), Agnes R. Payne, Mary Winston Payne (now the wife of Clarence A. Woodard of Norfolk), and Richards Payne, who died December 25, 1871. His father and the grandfather of Capt. A. D. Payne, was Daniel Payne, born in Westmoreland county in 1784. He mar- ried, about 1806, Elizabeth Hooe Winter, the daughter of Major Richard Winter and Catharine Taliaferro Hooe, his wife, of Charles county, Md., who was a lineal descendant of the first Earl Stirling. Daniel Payne had six children, as follows: Col. Winter Payne, born in 1807, who in early life emigrated to the state of Ala- Sir William Alexander, the first Earl bama, and represented a district from Stirling. Eight children were born of that marriage, three of whom died in in- fancy, and five are now surviving, as follows: Robert Eden Scott Payne, Alice Dixon Payne, Eliza Rives Payne, Ann Morson Payne, and Agnes Lee Payne.
that state in congress for several terms. Later in life he returned to Virginia and died in Warrenton in 1874; Richards Payne, the father of Capt. A. D .; John Scott Payne, who died unmarried in 1874; Elizabeth Hooe Payne, who married Mr. I. T. Meredith of Alabama and died in 1890; Major Rice W. Payne, born in 1818 and died in 1884; Dr. Abbar S. Payne,
The father of Capt. A. D. Payne was Richards Payne, born at "Granville," Fauquier county, in 1809. He read law at Judge Tucker's law school at Win- born in 1821 and died in July, 1891. Dan- chester, Va., and under Judge John Scott iel Payne died in 1860 and his wife in 1855; of Fauquier, and practiced his profession she was the aunt of Admiral Raphael in Warrenton, Va., until about 1850, when Semmes- the so-called " Pirate." he retired from the bar, but was soon | Capt. A. D. Payne's great-grandfather
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on his father's side was Capt. William | the year 1780; his only son, Daniel of Payne, born in Westmoreland county, Va., in 1755 and died in Fauquier county at "Clifton " in 1837. He was a Revolu- tionary soldier and commanded a com- pany known as the Falmouth Blues at Yorktown. He was married twice - first to Miss Susan Richards and secondly to Miss Marion Morson. The father of Capt. William Payne was George Payne of Lancaster county, born in 1716. His father was John Payne of Lancaster county, born in 1679, and his father was Richard Payne, born in 1633, and the father of the last mentioned immigrated from England in 1620. The maternal grandfather of Capt. A. D. Payne was Turner Dixon of Port Tobacco, Va., who married Maria Turner. Turner Dixon was the son of Edward Dixon, who mar- ried Miss Alice Thornton Fitzhugh, the daughter of John Fitzhugh of " Bellaire." Maria Turner was the daughter of Col. Thomas Turner and Jane Fauntleroy, his wife - who was the fourth in descent from Col. Moore Fauntleroy, one of the earliest settlers of Virginia, and a con- spicuous figure in early colonial times. The antiquity and standing of this family is here so plainly given that comment would be unnecessary.
CAPT. WILLIAM PAYNE,
an old Revolutionary officer, died at his residence, "Clifton," in the year 1837. He was fourth in descent from John Payne the immigrant, who with his brother William came to the colony of Virginia in the year 1620. A third brother, Sir Robert, a member of the London Charter company, remained in England. Capt. William Payne was twice married; his first wife was Susan Richards, whom he married about
Granville, married Elizabeth Winter of Effton Hills, Md., about the year 1806, This lady was the daughter of William Winter, and his wife, Catherine Taliaferro Hooe. She was also third in descent from Richard Hooe and his wife, a Miss Alex- ander, a descendant of William Alexan- der, the first Earl of Stirling, and fourth in descent from Col. Rice Hooe of “ Barn- field," who married, 1698, Lady Frances Townshend, a daughter of Robert Towns- hend of England, and a relative of Lord Charles Townshend, prime minister to George I; fifth in descent from Col. Rice Hooe and Catherine Taliaferro; sixth in descent from the immigrant Rhinys Hooe, who married Jane Seymour, an English lady, in 1630. The children of Daniel Payne and wife, Elizabeth Win- ter, were William Winter, Richards, Rice, Alban and Scott. Richards Payne mar- ried Alice Fitzhugh Dixon, about the year 1834. This lady was the daughter of Turner Dixon, of Port Tobacco, Va., and his wife, Maria Turner, of Walsing- ham, King George county, Va. On the paternal side she was third in descent from John Fitzhugh, of Bellaire, and his wife, Alice Conway Thornton. On the mother's side she was second in de- scent from Col. Thomas Turner, of Leedstown, and wife, Jane Fauntleroy, of Nailor's Hold, Richmond county, Va. Among the children of Richards Payne and wife are two married daughters, Mrs. Lillie Todd and Mrs. Mary Wood- ard, both residents of Norfolk, Va. A son, Capt. Alexander D. Payne, mar- ried Anne Morson Scott, a daughter of Hon. Robert E. Scott, of Oakwood, and his second wife, Anne Morson of Holly- wood, Stafford county, Va. This lady (Mrs. Payne), was second in descent from
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Hugh Morson and his wife, Anne Alex- here having antedated the revolution and ander, of Preston, Va., a lineal descend- its members having yielded "yoeman's ant of Sir William Alexander, first Lord service" in the days that "tried men's Stirling in the peerage of Scotland, to souls." William Henry Fitzhugh Payne, whom James I of England granted Nova one of the survivors of this noble and Scotia and other provinces in North valiant stock, was born at the family America. The children of this marriage are Robert Eden, Alice Fitzhugh, Nan-
homestead of Clifton, in Virginia, Janu- ary 27, 1830, and has ever been an honor nie Morson, Lizzie Rives and Agnes to the family name as well as to the state Lee. Capt. William Payne's second wife in which he was born. He was educated was a Mrs. Love, née Morson. His only |at the university of Virginia, which insti- son, Arthur Morson of Belle Vue, was married in 1830 to Mary Mason Fitzhugh of Fenton, Fauquier county, Va. This lady was the daughter of Judge Nicholas Fitzhugh and wife, Sarah Ashton. She was also on the maternal side third in descent from Alexander Spotswood and wife, Elizabeth Washington, a niece of the general. The eldest son of this mar- riage, Gen. William H. Payne, married his cousin, Mary M. Payne; another son married Virginia Brooke, a daughter of Hon. James V. Brooke, descended on her paternal side from Miss Cumming of Sluie house, Scotland, a branch of the old historic house of that name. Sir Ber- nard Burke, in his "General Armory of Great Britain" mentions a baronetcy of Everens existing in the family, which be- came extinct in 1804. He is also author- ity for the statement that the family is of old Norman extraction. The family crest is a lion's jamb.
Col. Winter Payne moved to Alabama early in life, and was a member of the state house of representatives a number of sessions; Richards Payne, Gen. W. H. Payne, and Capt. Alexander D. Payne were members of the state legislature at different periods.
GEN. WILLIAM HENRY FITZHUGH PAYNE.
The Payne family is one of the oldest in the state of Virginia, its settlement
tution of learning he entered in 1848. In 1850, he went into partnership with Sam- uel Chilton in the practice of the law at Warrenton, and in 1856, at the age of twenty-five years, he was elected common- wealth attorney, which onerous office he filled until 1869, with the exception of the time he was doing valiant duty for the Confederacy during the Civil war. This service he entered in April, 1861, at the first call of his country to arms, and as a private saw his first active service at Har- per's Ferry. There, a week or two later, he was promoted to a captaincy in the " Black Horse" cavalry and held that rank from April 26, 1861, until September 17 of the same year, when he was raised to the rank of major and appointed to the Fourth Virginia cavalry. On the second day of the battle of Williamsburg (in May, 1862), while in command of this regiment, he was badly wounded and left on the field for dead. His capture followed, and he was held as a prisoner of war until an ex- amination was effected in July or August following, when he was released on pa- role. He returned to duty early in Sep- tember, 1862, and was made lieutenant- colonel, and took command of the Second North Carolina regular cavalry and held Warrenton, Va., with about 3,000 wounded Confederate soldiers until October of that year, capturing a number of Federal sol-
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diers and equipping his command with | He was held a prisoner a month and then guns from the enemy, although he had sent to Johnson's Island, where he was confined until the close of the war. The general has also "done the state some service " in a civil capacity, having served in the legislature in the session of 1879-80. not, at that time, fully recovered from his wound. In November he was ordered into the hospital at Lynchburg, but applied for and was given command of the troops at that place. He remained The marriage of Gen. William Henry Fitzhugh Payne was solemnized in May, 1852, with Mary Elizabeth Winston Payne, a daughter of Col. W. Winter Payne, a member of congress from 1841 to 1848 from the Sumter district, of . Alabama. Her mother was Minerva Winston, a daughter of Col. John J. Winston, and Mary (Jones) Winston. To this happy union of Gen. Payne and his bride were born ten children, of whom eight survive, as follows: William Winter Payne, who married Mary Moore; Arthur Morson Payne, who married Betty Gilliam; Henry Fitzhugh Payne; John Winston Payne; John Daniel Payne; Charles Bland Payne; Erza Winston Payne, who married Eppa Hunton, Jr., of Warrenton, Va .; and Vir- ginia Semmes Payne. Reverting to the pedigree of this ancient Virginia family, it is necessary to state that Gen. Payne's father was Arthur Alexander Morson Payne, who was born at "Clifton," Fau- quier county, Va., in 1804, and was edu- cated in the high school taught by Rev. William Williamson, at Middleburg. He was a great horse fancier and breeder, and raised many fine horses, among them " Passenger." He lived in Fauquier county, Va., until 1856, when he removed to Missouri, where he died in 1867. He was married in 1829 to Mary Conway Mason Fitzhugh, daughter of Judge Nicholas Fitzhugh of the District of Columbia, whose wife was Sarah Wash- ington Ashton, daughter of Col. Burdette Ashton, of King George county, and Ann Washington, daughter of Augustine at Lynchburg until February, 1862, when he resumed command of his old regiment (the Fourth Virginia) in the absence of the colonel, and retained com- mand of that regiment until March 20, 1863, when he resumed command of the Second North Carolina, and continued in command until June 8, when the colonel of the regiment returned and assumed the position. On the next day, during the battle of Brandy Station, the colonel (Sol Williams) was killed, and Fitzhugh Payne was again given command, which he continued to hold until July 1, 1863, when he was wounded in the side with a saber at the combat in Hanover, where his horse was killed under him and he fell into the hands of the enemy. He was transferred as a prisoner to Johnson's Island, from which place he was released and resumed the command of the Fourth Virginia regiment. He was with Gen. Early throughout the valley campaign, during which time he was made brigadier- general. He was next transferred to Richmond, and remained there until the last of March 1864. At the battle of Five Forks, April 1, 1864, he was again badly wounded, and sent to Richmond to rejoin the army, but failed to reach the corps, and took refuge near his old home, where on April 14, the night President Lincoln was assassinated, he was captured and sent to Washington, getting into that city Sunday morning, where, with four other comrades, he very narrowly escaped lynch- ing at the hands of the infuriated mob.
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