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 61
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 61
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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
DR. R. H. POWER,
an able physician and surgeon now resid- given to the residents of his new home. ing at Newport News, Va., is descended from a long line of Virginia stock, ante- dating the Revolutionary war. He was born in Yorktown, Va., January 12, 1824, graduated from William and Mary col- lege, and subsequently attended Jefferson Medical college at Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1845. Returning to his home in York county he entered upon the active practice of his profession and at once became popular, both as a physician and a gentleman. In 1853 he was elected a member of the lower house of the state legislature, and so satisfacto- rily did he perform his arduous duties that in 1865 he was elected to the state senate. For twelve years, also, he was presiding magistrate of York county, and as president of the Yorktown Monument committee was largely instrumental in securing the erection of the monument commemorative of the surrender of Corn-
dered an immense amount of gratuitous service during the dark days of the Civil war, having been implored by the citizens of York county to remain with them rather than to serve on the field of battle. in 1868 the doctor was a delegate to the democratic national convention which nominated Seymour and Blair for the presidency and vice-presidency of the United States, and was also a member of the convention of 1872. From 1868 until 1885 he was chairman of the democratic county committee of York county, and in the latter year was appointed postmaster at Newport News. But he did not accept the office, preferring to devote his time and attention to the practice of his pro- fession, and from that year until the present his invaluable services have been
The doctor has been twice married -his first wedding having taken place May 16, 1848, to Miss Abbie M. Jencks. a daughter of Colonel E. B. Jencks, of Madison county, N. Y., and with her he happily passed the years until January 4, 1877, when she passed from earth at Glen- brook, York county, for a better land. This union was blessed with nine children, born in the following order : Robert El- mer Power, M. D .; Frederick D., now pastor of the Vermont avenue Christian church, Washington, D. C .; Edith May, wife of Judge G. W. Farthing, of James City county, Va .; Anna B., wife of James M. Curtis, treasurer of Warwick county, Va .; Frank Gardner, a civil engineer, now residing in Georgia; Lucy Nelson, Belle, Frances Cornelia, and Mary Eloise. In August, 1881, the doctor took for his sec- ond wife Miss Dorothea B. French; daughter of Dr. French, of Fredericks-
561
PERSONAL SKETCHES -STATE OF VIRGINIA.
burg, who still happily abides with him. above, was also named Robert Riddick Frederick Bryan Power, the father of Prentis. He was born in Suffolk, in April, Dr. R. H. Power, was born near Williams- burg, Va., in 1793, and was a physician of great renown in his day, having an exten- sive practice in York and Warwick coun- ties. He was also a member of the old county court, and succeeded to the office of high sheriff of York county. His mar- riage took place, in 1818, to Miss Lucy Brown, daughter of Colonel Brown, of Surrey county, Va., and of the family born to this marriage four lived to reach maturity, viz .: Dr. Frederick W., who died in 1870; Dr. R. H., now of Newport News; Lucy Frances, who died in 1863, the wife of elder W. W. McKenney, now also deceased, and Laura Brown, who was married to W. E. Wynne, and died in 1883 -- Mr. Wynne being also now de- ceased. The father and mother of these children passed away March 29, 1843, and June, 1848, highly respected and sincerely mourned by the members of the commu- nity in which they had lived.
ROBERT RIDDICK PRENTIS
was born at the university of Virginia, near Charlottesville, May 24, 1855, gradu- ated from the univerity of Virginia and was admitted to the bar in August, 1876. In January, 1879, he went to Norfolk, to practice law, but after remaining there one year he formed a partnership with A. C. Withers of Suffolk, which partnership continued until the death of Mr. Withers in May, 1883. Since that time he has practiced alone. Mr. Prentis was elected mayor of Suffolk in 1883 and served two years. He was democratic presidential elector in 1892. He was married on January 6, 1887, to Mary Allen Darden, a daughter of A. S. Darden of Suffolk. The father of R. Riddick Prentis, as
1818, and was educated at Amelia academy in Amelia county, and at the university of Virginia. He held a civil commission in the Confederate service. Was proctor of the university of Vir- ginia from 1853 until 1866, when he re- signed and engaged in the practice of law in Charlottesville, where he carried on a lucrative business until 1870. In that year he was elected clerk of the county court of Albemarle county, which position he held until his death in November, 1871. He was nominated, in 1869, by the democratic caucus for the office of clerk of the house of delegates and keeper of the rolls of Virginia, but was prevented from filling the office by the fact that his political disabilities had not been re- moved. Mr. Prentis, Sr., was married, in 1844, to Margaret A. Whitehead, daugh- ter of Elliott Whitehead, of Suffolk, and to them were born twelve children, of whom nine grew to maturity: Joseph, killed at the battle of Malvern Hill; Elliott, died in 1875; Henning W., of St. Louis; Richard W., died in Texas in 1874; Robert R., Peter B., of Washington, D.C .; John, of Kansas City, Kan .; Susan J., and Catharine L., wife of Nathaniel Beaman, of Norfolk. The grandfather of Mr. Prentis, Joseph Prentis, was born in Will- iamsburg, in 1783, and moved to Suffolk in his early manhood. He was educated in William aud Mary college and was a lawyer, practicing his profession until 1840, when he was elected clerk of the courts of Nansemond county, which office he held until his death in 185.1. He was a member of the Virginia constitutional convention of IS29. He married Susan Riddick, daughter of Col. Robert Rid- dick, an officer in the war of the Revolu-
562
PERSONAL SKETCHES -STATE OF VIRGINIA.
tion, to which union were born several of the school board and trustee of the children, of whom five grew to maturity, First Presbyterian church of Norfolk, of as follows: Margaret S., wife of Dr. which he is a devout and exemplary R. H. Webb, of Suffolk, both deceased; member, and director of the Marine bank, Marianna, deceased wife of R. H. Rid-
a position he still holds. He would have dick, deceased; Peter B., deceased; he been called to fill political offices, but he was for many years clerk of Nansemond has steadily declined such promotion, making it a rule of his life to accept no office which would divert his attention from his life business. In personal
county and also served some years as judge; John B. Prentis, deceased; and Robert R., the father of the subject of this sketch. The great-grandfather was appearance he is tall and spare, well Joseph Prentis, born in Williamsburg in preserved and of a quiet but impres- 1750. He was judge of the old general sive presence. He is genial in his court of appeals for many years, and was companionships and is bright, interest- on the bench during most of his life. He ing, and instructive in conversation. He was one of the revisers of the code of is temperate in his habits and appetites Virginia of 1792. He married Maria Bowdoin. The great-great-grandfather, William Prentis, was born in England in the early part of the last century. He lived in Richmond, having removed there when the city was in its infancy. He married Mary Brooke. never using tobacco and partaking of wine but sparingly. March 17, 1825, he was married to Lucretia Nash, daughter of Cornelius Nash of Norfolk county, and eight children were the issue of the mar- riage. Their names are Susan E., widow of Benjamin C. Gray of Richmond, Va., Charles H., died in 1872; Lucretia N., CHARLES REID wife of Rev. Dr. Armstrong of Nor- folk; George Cornelius, Harriet C., wife 1800. He is the son of George and Eliza- of James E. Spence of Baltimore, Md .; Rebecca F., wife of Col. C. E. Thorburn of New York - a colonel in the Confed- erate army; Robert S., of Norfolk, and James T. S. Reid of the same city. At a reunion of the family, April 4, 1891, on Mr. Reid's ninety-first birthday, there were present at his residence his seven children, forty-six grandchildren, and twenty-nine great-grandchildren and many other friends and relatives. The mother of this family died in August, 1868. As an instance of his fine parental feeling and affection, he is in the habit of corre- sponding weekly with his absent children,
was born in Forfar, Scotland, April 4, beth (Taylor) Reid, who brought him from Scotland to Norfolk, Va., in August, 1801. His business training was under the direction of his uncle, Robert Soutter, one of the ablest and most successful of Nor- folk's early merchants. At the age of twenty-one (1821) Mr. Reid engaged in business for himself, and has pursued the mercantile trade for over seventy-two years with marked success and won the respect and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact. Mr. Reid has been honored by his fellow- citizens by being chosen magistrate, councilman, chief engineer of the fire each of whom responds, with a like punct- department, chairman of the board uality, to his affectionate missives. He of harbor commissioners, chairman has lived to see the American republic,
563
PERSONAL SKETCHES -STATE OF VIRGINIA.
rising from an exhaustion of a seven years' | parents, the family settling in Norfolk, revolution, encounter another struggle with the mother country, pass through a short but sharp encounter with Mexico and experience a more terrible and gigan- tic ordeal of civil war; and what is better he has seen the country reunited, at peace with all nations, and blessed with a growth and prosperity unexampled in the history of the world. Probably no man living at this day has seen and taken personal cog- nizance of so long and so interesting an era in the history of civilization.
GEORGE CORNELIUS REID,
merchant, was born in Norfolk, Va., Sep- tember 18, 1839, and educated in his native city. He left school at the age of sevententeen and went into business with his father in Norfolk, with whom he has ever since continued. In 1862 he was Confederate army, and located at Peters-
Va. Mr. Reid's grandfather's name was George, born in Forfar, Scotland, in 1760; he came to this country in August, 1801, after a ten weeks' voyage, settling in Norfolk, Va., where he engaged in mer- cantile business, which he carried on the early years of his life. In 1816 he aban- doned the mercantile pursuits and made a two years' visit in Scotland. On his re- turn he purchased a farm in Norfolk county, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1849. Mr. Reid's great- grandfather, William Reid, was born in Forfar, Scotland, and died early in 1700, at the advanced age of ninety years.
CAPT. ROBERT G. SCOTT,
of Richmond, Va., was born in that city January 4, 1820, the son of Hon. Robert G. Scott, a distinguished lawyer, of Rich- commissioned as quartermaster in the mond. Robert G. Scott, Jr., is a brother of Hon. Charles L. Scott, ex-congressman burg, Va., from 1862 till the latter part of from California and ex-United States minister to Venezuela, who now resides
1864, at which time he was assigned to duty as quartermaster in the Georgia in Alabama, and he is the grandson, ma- cavalry, commanded by Col. Griffin, and ternally, of Bishop James Madison, for- served as such during the last six months of the war. At the close of the war he returned to Norfolk and resumed busi- ness, which he has ever since followed. Mr. Reid is a director in the Citizens' bank of Norfolk. He was married, in 1853, to Bessie C. Williams, daughter of Charles B. Williams, of Richmond, Va. Two children have been born to them: Alice, wife of W. Lane Kelly, and Annie, wife of A. H. Grandy, of Norfolk, both
merly president of William and Mary college, and cousin of James Madison, president of the United States. Mr. Scott was educated in William and Mary col- lege, graduating from that institution in 1839. He also pursued while there the study of law, being admitted to the bar in 1841. He at once began the practice of his profession in Richmond, and in 1845 was the counsel for Hon. John Winston Jones in the celebrated case of Jones vs. daughters residents of Norfolk. Mrs. Botts, and it is no more than just to Mr. Reid died April 24, 1890. In 1871 Mr. Scott to say that he gained the case. In Reid was appointed Danish vice-consul at December, 1846, he entered the service Norfolk. His father, Charles Reid, was of the United States in the Mexican war, born in Forfar, Scotland, in 1800, and as captain of Company A, First regiment came to America while an infant, with his of Virginia voluneers, being the senior 57
564
PERSONAL SKETCHES - STATE OF VIRGINIA.
captain of the regiment, which contained | fourteen companies. He served until the close of that war, after which he resumed the practice of law in Richmond. Since this war, Mr. Scott has served as vice- president of the association of Mexican Veterans. In 1855 he was appointed, by President Pierce, consul to Rio Janeiro, as successor to his father, and he served in that capacity during the remainder of Pierce's administration, all of Buchanan's admisistration and during part of Presi- dent Lincoln's term. While there he met Miss Annie Thompson, of Maine, whom he married in 1859. After the election of Mr. Lincoln as president, Mr. Scott resigned the consulship, but continued to act in that office until July, 1861. His long stay in Rio Janeiro after his resigna- tion was to some extent due to the fact that he had received assurances from home that he would be reappointed to represent the Confederate government in the same position. For some reason, however, the appointment was not made, and in the latter part of 1861 he returned to the United States, and from 1862 to 1870, he resided in the state of Alabama, Monroe county, devoting his attention to the practice of law and farming. In 1868 he served as a delegate from the Mobile district to the national democratic conven- tion which met at New York, and nominated Seymour and Blair. In 1870 he returned to Richmond, where he has since devoted his attention to the prac- tice of law. Capt. Scott has two chil- dren living, a son and a daughter. He and his wife rank among Richmond's best people.
HON. ROBERT TAYLOR SCOTT,
the distinguished attorney-general for the commonwealth of Virginia, was born March 10, 1834, at Warrenton, Fauquier the county seat of Fauquier.
.
county, Va. In 1851 he entered the uni- versity of Virginia, and was graduated from this institution in 1856. At once he began the study of the law under the di- rection of his father, and was admitted to the bar at the close of the following year. Entering upon the practice of his profes- sion he continued uninterruptedly and with encouraging success until 1861, when, with the coming on of the war between the states, he assisted in raising and or- ganizing a company which was assigned to the Eighth Virginia regiment volun- teers. He was made captain and served until the fall of 1862, when he was ap- pointed on the staff of Major-General George E. Pickett, as chief quartermaster of Pickett's division, and with this com- mand served until the close of the war. His position was no sinecure, and he per- formed his duty with earnest purpose and well directed effort, with faithfulness and courage, being always at his post of duty. Resuming the practice of the law at the close of the war, he entered upon what has proven a successful career as a lawyer, securing the esteem and confidence of the people as well as popular favor. In 1867 he was elected to the state convention from the counties of Fauquier and Rap- pahannock. He was called again into the service of his country in 1881, then elected to the general assembly, in the lower house of which he served one term. In 1889 he was elected to the office he now holds, at- torney-general of the state, in which he has given general satisfaction to his people.
In 1858 Mr. Scott was married to Miss Fanny S. Carter, eldest daughter of Major Richard Henry Carter, of Glen Welby. He has three children living, one son and two daughters; their home is Warrenton,
565
PERSONAL SKETCHES - STATE OF VIRGINIA.
Mr. Scott's parents were Robert Eden |from his father, William Willoughby Scott and Elizabeth Johnston Taylor, the Sharp, an eminent lawyer who succeeded daughter of Robert I. Taylor, a distin- in 1821 to the great practice of Littleton guished lawyer who resided in Alexan- Waller Tazewell, and retired in 1861. dria, then in the District of Columbia, William Willoughby was the son of Colonel William Sharp, a man of great and he is their only child.
Robert E. Scott was born in 1808; his influence and popularity, who commanded, father, Judge John Scott, of Fauquier county, was a son of Rev. John Scott, of in the war with Great Britain, the Ninth and Fifty-fourth Virginia regiments Gordonsdale, who was a minister in the under Generals Robert B. Taylor and Wade Hampton. He was also descended from Hon. James Sharpe, of county Kent, England, who immigrated to the colony of Virginia in 1621, and was one of the earli- est members of the house of burgesses. The wife of Colonel Sharp was the lovely Mary Willoughby, a trace of whose an-
established church of England, a man of learning and prominence in his day, and chaplain to Sir Robert Eden, governor of Maryland. Judge John Scott was judge of the circuit court of Fauquier county, on the court of appeals of Virginia, and a member of the great convention of 1829-30. Robert E. Scott was educated cestry is found in the following extract at the university of Virginia-a member from "Virginia and Virginians," by Dr. of the first class of this now renowned R. A. Brock, of Richmond: "Captain and famous institution of learning. He John Smith, the father of the colony, who chose law as his profession, in which he had served on the staff of General Lord held the foremost place. For many years he was commonwealth's attorney for Fau- quier, and represented that county in the general assembly of Virginia. He was elected to the state conventions held in 1850 and 1861; the latter passed the ordi- nance of secession. Elected to the provis- ional congress of the Confederate states, Mr. Scott took active part in the affairs of government. In May, 1862, he was killed by a deserter from the Union army, one of a band of marauders he was attempting to arrest, and his untimely end deplored by friend and foe. Willoughby in the Netherlands, brought to Virginia Thomas Willoughby (then a boy of fourteen) founder of the fa my in the colony. By royal patent this Will- oughby acquired 12,000 acres of land on the southern shore of Chesapeake Bay. From him a number of Norfolk families have sprung-among others the de- scendants of General Taylor, who still hold the manor-estate on Willoughby Bay. In 1767, Henry Willoughby of Vir- ginia became the seventeenth Lord Will- oughby of Parham, recovering the barony and manors in a contest before the house CHARLES SHARP, of lords." Mr. Charles Sharp - though like his father, never consenting to be a for the last fifteen years a member of the candidate for office - has devoted much widely known firm of Sharp & Hughes, attention, as a writer and public speaker, has practiced law in Norfolk, since 1851, to public questions; being also a pro- except during the term of the war. He has nounced democrat and a stalwart pro- enjoyed exceptional advantages, having moter of conservative ascendancy in his inherited an important array of clients state. He was born in 1829, and in 1856
1
566
PERSONAL SKETCHES - STATE OF VIRGINIA.
married Lucy S., daughter of Hon. Val- | sketch, was born in Warrenton, Va., No- entine W. Southall, of Albemarle, whose vember 8, 1808. He attended Judge Tucker's law school at Winchester and was duly admitted to the bar, at which he achieved an enviable success. grandmother was that sister of Patrick Henry who produced the noble mother of General J. E. Johnston and of eight other gifted children.
HON. FRANCIS LEE SMITH,
now one of the most prominent and suc- cessful lawyers on the Old Dominion, was born in Alexandria, Va., October 6, 1845, and was educated at the Virginia Military institute. In May, 1864, with the other cadets, he entered the Confederate serv- ice, and went with General Breckinridge into the battle of New Market, where he was wounded twice. On his recovery he returned to Alexandria, Va .; was there admitted to the bar in 1870, and then spent two years in Richmond as counsel for the Richmond & Danville railroad company, and in 1876 returned to Alex-
So illustrious were the ancestors of Hon. Francis Lee Smith and so closely identified with the ancient as well as modern history of Virginia, we feel it to be our duty to trace the family genealogy from its earliest settlement in the col- onies down to the present time, without comment.
First generation (in Virginia) .- Rich- ard Lee, known as " The Emigrant," came to Virginia in 1641; married Anna, and had children given in the following order in his will, dated 1663: John, Richard, Francis, William, Hancock, Betsey, Anne, Charles.
Second generation .- Richard, second son of Richard Lee and Anna, born 1647, andria, Va. He was elected to the state died March 12, 1714; married Lettice Corbin, daughter of Henry Corbin, gen- tleman. She died October 6, 1706, aged forty-nine. Children, Richard, Philip, Francis, Thomas, Henry, Mary.
senate in 1879, as a debt payer, and was a very prominent leader in that august body, doing good work and serving four years. He has also served two years on the board of aldermen in Alexandria, Va.,
Third generation .- Philip, second son and several years as city attorney. He of Richard and Lettice Lee, was twice is counsel for the Baltimore, Potomac & Washington southern branch of the Penn- sylvania railroad line, the Western Union telegraph company and the Adams ex- press company. Mr. Smith was married November 21, 1871, to Jennie Lindsey Sutherlin, daughter of Major W. T. Suth- affluent circumstances. The children of erlin, of Danville, Va., and to them was married. He went to Maryland in 1700 and died in 1744. His youngest brother, Henry, was the progenitor of Gen. Robert Lee. The historians relate that Philip Lee was one of the proprietors' council, and died leaving a numerous family in Philip are given in this order in his will, born one daughter. Jennie Sutherlin dated March 20, 1743; Richard, Thomas, Philip, Corbin, Hancock, Arthur, Francis, George, Eleanor, Anne, Alice, Hannah, Peggy, Letitia, Eliza.
Smith. The domestic felicity, however, was of short duration, as the estimable wife died August 24, 1876, which bereave- ment the husband has never sought to Fourth generation .- Letitia Lee mar- ried, first, James Wardrop, merchant of repair. Francis Lee Smith, the father of the gentleman whose name opens this | Upper Marlborough, in the province of
567
PERSONAL SKETCHES -STATE OF VIRGINIA.
Maryland; second, Dr. Adam Thompson, of Upper Marlborough, in the province of Maryland; third, Col. Joseph Sim, of Prince George's county, Md. By her first and third marriages she had no children; by her second she had two daughters, Alice Corbin Thompson, and Mary Lee Thompson. Letitia Lee is said to have been a very beautiful and attractive woman. Her portrait is now in the pos- session of her descendant, Mrs. Francis Lee Smith, of Alexandria, Va. She died possessor of a large fortune bequested by Mr. Wardrop and Dr. Thompson. Dr. Adam Thompson was a distinguished physician of Prince George's county, Md. He discovered a formula by the use of which the effects of inoculation were very much mitigated. "Dr. Thompson's cel- ebrity in this procedure was such as to in- duce the profession and laity to call for his assistance whenever an epidemic of small-pox, of more than usual severity, prevailed." [See notice by Dr. J. R. Quinane on " The Introduction of Inocu- lation and Vaccination into Maryland," published in the Maryland Medical Journal of June 23, 1883].
Fifth generation .- Alice Corbin Thompson married Captain John Hawk- ins. She died July 14, 1817, and was buried at Buckland, Prince William county, Va. Children; Eliza, Adelaide, Maria Love, Emily Sprigg.
Capt. John Hawkins was a descendant of Admiral Hawkins of the British navy, whose coat of arms he bore, viz: a bound Moor, with motto, Nildesperandum. Capt. Hawkins was a distinguished officer in the
troops. He was adjutant of the Third Virginia regiment, commanded by Lieu- tenant-Colonel William Heth, Septem- ber, 1777.
Sixth generation .- Maria Love Hawk- ins married John A. W. Smith of Warren- ton, Va., February 2, 1806. She died July 18, 1826, aged thirty-seven years, and was buried at Buckland, Prince William county, Va. Children: Elizabeth Eleanor Hawkins, Francis Lee, Mary Scott, Har- riett Emily, Juliana Hanson, John Thomas, Robert White, Eliza Adelaide Storer Chapman, Emily Sprigg, Marshall, Joseph, Thomas Seddon.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.