Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 1

Author: Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, 1853-1935, ed. cn
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 848

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GC 95.5 T97e v.5 1254226

M. L.

GENEALOGY COLLECTION

7 ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02390 3955

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ENCYCLOPEDIA

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF

LYON GARDINER TYLER, LL. D.

President of William and Mary College, Williamsburg; Author of "Parties and Patronage in the United States," "The Cradle of the Republic," "Williamsburg, the Old Colonial Capital," "England in America," "The Letters and Times of the Tylers," etc .; Vice-President of the Virginia Historical Society, Member of the Maryland Historical Society, and various other societies.

VOLUME V

NEW YORK LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY

1915

(51al.)

1254226 PUBLISHERS' NOTE

In volumes I., II. and III. of this work, "Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography," the editor, Dr. Lyon G. Tyler, acted as author, and undertook to cover the history of Virginia through biographies of its eminent citizens. He was candid in saying that he did not assume to set forth all the men of prominence that figured in that wide field of centuries of human effort. Probably this was impossible under any circum- stances. His labors are supplemented with volumes IV. and V., which will doubtless be generally regarded as a valuable adjunct to those which precede them. In regard to these volumes, Dr. Tyler has only acted as general editor, and is not responsible for any of the sketches, or facts contained in them. This department has been pre- pared in large part by our regular staff writers, written from data obtained from reli- able sources, or, in most instances, furnished by members of the family in interest. In all cases the sketch was submitted in typewritten form to the proper representative for inspection and revision.

The publishers desire to express their obligations, for encouragement and aid. to Dr. Lyon G. Tyler, and also to Capt. William Gordon MeCabe, president of Virginia Historical Society ; Hon. William E. Cameron, former governor of Virginia: Hon. Armistead C. Gordon, rector of University of Virginia, chairman of State Library Board of Virginia ; Hon. Wm. A. Anderson, member of executive committee of the Virginia Historical Society ; Hon. Rorer A. James, president of board of visitors of Virginia Mili- tary Institute ; Rt. Rev. Beverley D. Tucker, D. D., Bishop Coadjutor. Episcopal Diocese. Southern Virginia; Rev. C. Braxton Bryan, D. D., rector of Grace Church. Peters- burg ; and Prof. E. H. Russell, president of State Normal and Industrial School for Women. THE PUBLISHERS.

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Samuel Bascom, of whom further. 4. Mary Catharine, of whom further. 5. James Ab- ner, born February 20, 1848; married Sadie Norfleet, and has Lida, Samuel R., Augusta, Charles, Eliza, Norfleet, Peyton, Julia, Ab- ner and Hattie. 6. Charles Noah, born May 23, 1854, died February 26, 1894. 7. Ed- ward Everett, of whom further. 8. Claude W., born February 20, 1857; married (first) in 1884, Emily G. Gatling, born in 1866, died in 1894, and has Elizabeth Commander, born July 25, 1886, Claude Williard, born De- cember 11, 1889, married Margaret Dey, and has a son, Claude W. (3), born in May, 1914, and Emily Gatling, born August 11, 1891 ; Claude W. Harrell married (second) in 1896, Lena G. Southall, and has Lucille Marks, born in 1898, Charles Morgan, born in 1900, and Margaret Southall, born in 1909. 9. Emmette Engene, of whom fur- ther. 10. Estelle, married Rev. T. O. Ed- wards, and had Elizabeth and Mary Etta, the latter dying in infancy. 11. Octavius Claiborne, born May 6, 1863, died July 31, 1906 ; married Susie Williams, born October 5. 1869, and had Mary Vaughan, born Feb- ruary 29, 1892, died in October, 1903, and Kate Thelma, born March 3, 1897.

(III) Sarah Augusta Harrell, eldest of the eleven children of Samuel Riddick and Mary Elizabeth (Vaughan) Harrell, was born March 1, 1841, died December 21, 1912. She married, February 21, 1861, Dr. Henry Augustus Morgan, son of Seth Riddick Mor- gan. Seth Riddick Morgan was the owner of a large plantation and many slaves in Gates county, North Carolina, where he was an important and influential figure in pub- lic affairs. He married Sarah Willey, of that county, and had children: Margaret Ann, Henry Augustus, of whom further ; George, Seth, John W., James E., and Sarah Virginia.

Henry Augustus Morgan, M. D., was born in Gates county, North Carolina, September 9. 1829, and died November 10, 1901. As a youth he attended the public schools and the private school maintained by Professor Henry Riddick. This excellent teacher, with a scholar's passion for the classics, never advanced a pupil without the most thorough grounding in elementary subjects, and under his tutelage Henry Augustus Morgan gained a preparatory education that was an enduring foundation for his future VIA-36

wide studies. For a time he taught school, during part of this period associated with Martin Kellogg, and through his peda- gogical labors supplied the funds to defray his college expenses. Entering the Rich- mond College of Medicine, he was thence graduated with the degree M. D., and then returned to Gates county, North Carolina, to establish in practice. Here he was well- known and liked, his family connections of the best, and from the beginning of his professional activity his clientele increased with steady rapidity, and he gained pro- fessional prestige of a most enviable char- acter. His judgment in matters of business and finance were of the best, and he invested the fruits of his professional success care- fully and wisely, accumulating a large for- tune. He was chairman of the board of com- missioners of Gates county, North Carolina, for many years, until moving to Virginia. At the time of the civil war his services were so much in demand as a physician, there being no other physician in an area of fif- teen miles, that he remained at home, labor- ing ceaselessly for the cause, offering his professional talents and in every conceive- able manner rendering loyal and patriotic support to the Confederacy. However, he later passed the examination as a surgeon and was ready to go when called, but soon after peace was declared. In 1890 Dr. Mor- gan retired from private practice and moved to Suffolk, Virginia, although in the case of the illness of a friend he gladly forsook his personal comfort and for the sake of other days attended at the sickbed.

Dr. Morgan was secretary and treasurer of the Central Land Company, retaining his interest in this company after he had severed many of his other business connections. He administered estates for many people. He was a lifelong Democrat, and was a steward of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. Sunbury, North Carolina, and chairman of the board of stewards ; he was also a steward of the Main Street Methodist Church, Suf- folk. Virginia.

He was a gentleman of pronounced and cultivated literary tastes and his reading covered a wide field, ranging from the Eng- lish classics to history and metaphysical treatises. He was essentially the student. and from his deep delving into the works of the best of writers acquired a literary

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style that was easy, exact, and graceful, so that his professional writings lost the burdensome, didactic form that so often marks such composition and became papers of literary as well as of medical value. One of his professional treatises, read at a con- ference of one of the medical associations with which he was identified, won wide recognition and high praise, and admitted him into the most select circles of scientific writers.

The bearer of much good to suffering humanity through his medical skill and knowledge, he touched almost as great a number who needed his help through his gifts to charitable institutions and enter- prises. His wealth he would have held as of little value had it not been the medium through which he was enabled to lift those less fortunate than he, to ease pain that de- fied his doctor's skill. Those who knew of his freely bestowed gifts to eleemosynary projects loved him for the brotherhood he thus displayed, and in this beneficent action he gave the completing touch to a life of purity and goodness, lived manfully among men in such a manner as to hold their last- ing respect. At his death Suffolk lost a citizen whose concern for her welfare sur- mounted any obstacles of inconvenience, a professional man who stood high among scholars and his medical brethren, and a philanthropist whose generosity was produc- tive of good beyond computation.

Children of Dr. Henry Augustus Morgan and his wife, Sarah Augusta Harrell : Henry Aubrey, died aged eighteen months, and Sarah Lizzie, a resident of Suffolk, Virginia. (III) William Preston Harrell, eldest son and second child of Samuel Riddick and Mary Elizabeth (Vaughan) Harrell, was born in Gates county, North Carolina. After completing his education, part of his aca- demic training being received under the tutelage of Professor Kellogg, he engaged in agricultural pursuits upon a large scale, so continuing during his active years. He long filled the magistrate's office, was a member of the local school board, and was a steward in the Methodist Episcopal church, passing his years in the enjoyment of many friends. William Preston Harrell married, in February, 1874, Annie Hines, born in 1853, and had children: I. Lellie Hines, of whom further. 2. Eugenia Au- gusta, born in November, 1876; married, in

June, 1903, James R. Shaw, and has Mar- jorie and Eugenia. 3. Mary Elizabeth, born in February, 1878; married Frank N. Cross, and has Frank Norfleet, Hattie, William P., Elizabeth and Dorothy. 4. William Pres- ton (2). 5. Beatrice Lorens, married Frank Leslie Pierce, and has a son, Harrell. 6. Forrest.

(IV) Lellie Hines Harrell, daughter of William Preston and Annie (Hines) Har- rell, was born February 25, 1875. She mar- ried, June 6, 1895, J. Travis Edwards, brother of Rev. T. O. Edwards, who mar- ried her aunt, Estelle Harrell. Children of J. Travis and Lellie Hines (Harrell) Ed- wards: Lellie Louise, born January 15, 1899, and Catharine Truitt, born February 28, 1903.

J. Travis Edwards, son of Rev. John Jo- seph and Louisa Georgietta (Esher) Ed- wards, was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and was educated in the public schools and Randolph-Macon College. He was for a time engaged in manufacturing, afterward forming his present connection with the Norfolk and Western railroad, being at this time one of the oldest em- ployees of that road in point of service. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, the Modern Woodmen of the World, the Junior Order of United Ameri- can Mechanics, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. His church is the Methodist Epis- copal and he affiliates with the Democratic party

(III) Samuel Bascom Harrell, third child and second son of Samuel Riddick and Mary Elizabeth (Vanghan) Harrell, was born in Sunbury, Gates county, North Carolina, in 1845, and was educated in a private boarding school taught by Martin Kellogg. In 1863 he enlisted in Company I, Sixty-eighth Regi- ment North Carolina Volunteer Infantry, in which company he served until the close of the war, with the rank of sergeant-major, at which time he entered into the mercan- tile business in Gatesville, North Carolina, and so continued until August, 1869, when he moved to Perquimans county, North Carolina, and began agricultural operations, which he conducted for four years. For the fourteen following years he was engaged in the mercantile business in New Hope, Per- quimans county, North Carolina, coming to Norfolk, Virginia, on April 5, 1887, and at once began dealings in cotton. Retaining

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his connections in this business, Mr. Harrell in 1891 became associated with Samuel Ferebee, his son-in-law, in coal and ice deal- ings, and with him formed the Norfolk Coal and Ice Company, of which Mr. Harrell is now president. He is also president of S. B. Harrell & Company, cotton brokers, and is the active head of both prosperous concerns.

Mr. Harrell is a loyal Democrat, and his religious denomination is the Methodist Episcopal. Holder of an important place in the business world of Norfolk, his posi- tion in other spheres of civil life is no less worthy, and he is a citizen of many inter- ests. He is a gentleman of pleasing address and personality, and by straightforward and honorable business methods has won many friends among his associates.

He married, August 25, 1869, at Durant's Neck, North Carolina, Susan Grizzelle Leigh, daughter of Edward A. and Mar- garet Stephenson (Jacocks) Leigh. Mr. and Mrs. Harrell have one daughter, Mar- garet Jacocks, who married (first) Samuel Ferebee. (second) F. S. Sager. By her first marriage she is the mother of Samuel H. Ferebee, a student in Columbia University. New York: Leigh Cason Ferebee and George E. Ferebee, both students in Nor- folk high school.

(III) Mary Catharine Harrell, fourth child and second daughter of Samuel Rid- diek and Mary Elizabeth (Vaughan) Har- rell, was born February 12, 1847. She mar- ried, February 16, 1871, Jonathan Henry Jacocks, and has children: 1. Grizzelle Leigh, born January 11, 1877. 2. Henry Morgan, born December 31, 1878: married, November 14, 1906, Helen Davenport Miller, and has Jonathan Davenport, born March 1, 1908, Henry Morgan, Jr., born July 17. 1910, and Alfred Miller, born November 29, 1912. 3. Jonathan Wilbur, born Deccm- ber 21, 1880. 4. Estelle Augusta, born Jani- ary 24, 1884. Grizzelle Leigh and Estelle Augusta are unmarried and reside with their parents.

Jonathan Henry (2) Jacocks, son of Jona- than Henry (1) and Grizzelle Pointer (Copeland) Jacocks, was born at Nag's Head, North Carolina, August 7, 1841. His father was a native of North Carolina, and follower of agriculture all his life. Jona- than II. (1) Jacocks was a loyal Whig, and was several times elected to represent his district in the state legislature, always,

whether in public or private life, striving for the welfare of county and state. He was a member of the constitutional convention, and was long known as General Jacocks. that being his rank in the state militia. Ilis religious activity was as a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and although the nearest house of worship of that denomi- nation was eighteen miles distant from his home, he was one of the most regular at- tendants of the congregation. Ile was the father of six children, one of whom is living at this time, Jonathan H., of further men- tion. Grizzelle Emily, deceased, married E. A. Lee.

Jonathan Henry (2) Jacocks was, as a youth, a pupil in the academy at Elizabeth City, and after attendance at other institu- tions, among them the Horner School at Oxford, completed his academic studies in the University of Virginia. Soon after leav- ing the university he returned to his home and enlisted in the Confederate service. In the early part of his soklier's career he was taken prisoner at Roanoke Island, and after a two weeks incarceration was paroled. sub- sequently serving with gallantry and dis- tinction for the remaining three and one- half years of the war. The resumption of peace found him engaged in farming in his native state, and in January, 1882, he moved to Berkley, Virginia, his present home. llis first business venture in this place was in real estate, which he abandoned for com- mission dealing, two years later entering his present business, coal, building material and feed. Mr. Jacocks is the owner of two farms, which he rents, and aside from his private business operations, is a stockholder and director of the Merchants' and Planters' Bank, of Berkley, a trustee of the Berkley Permanent Building and Loan Association, and a trustee of the Chesapeake Building and Loan Association. For five years, end- ing in 1901, Mr. Jacocks was a member of the Berkley council, attending to his duties in that body with fidelity and public spirit. lle holds membership in the Protestant Episcopal church, his wife a communicant of the Methodist Episcopal church, while his fraternal relations are with Lee Lodge, No. 48. Knights of Pythias, in which he is master of the exchequer. Mr. Jacocks' suc- cessful career has its easy explanation in his perseverance and industry, and the pros- perity that has attended his labors is his just

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reward. His son, Henry M., was graduated from Blacksburg College in 1900, took a post-graduate course in mechanical engi- neering and mining in the same institution, and is now associated with the Mathieson Alkali Works, at Saltville, Virginia; his other son, Jonathan W., was graduated from Blacksburg College, likewise in the class of 1900, took post-graduate studies in chemis- try, and was for three years employed by the Woodstock Iron Works, as chemist ; in 1904 he returned to Norfolk and entered into business with his father.

(III) Edward Everett Harrell, seventh child and fifth son of Samuel Riddick and Mary Elizabeth (Vaughan) Harrell, was born in Gates county, North Carolina, No- vember 27, 1855, and died in Norfolk, Vir- ginia, July 8, 1914. Early in life he assumed the responsibilities of maturity, and when nineteen years of age was in full charge of the home farm, directing all of its operations and supervising its cultivation in person. He was also in the mercantile and cotton gin business in Sunbury, North Carolina, his calling until 1907, when he moved to Nor- folk. He was a member of school board in North Carolina, and was commissioner of roads for many years. In this city he en- tered real estate business, which he followed until his death. He allied himself with the Democratic party, and was a devoted and energetic member of the Methodist Episco- pal church. He married, May 25, 1882, Mary Elizabeth Gatling, born January 7, 1853, and had issue: Charles Lydon, of whom further ; Mary Estelle, born June 17, 1886; Edward Bascom, born July 10, 1889, died June 3, 1891 ; John Gatling, born June 13, 1892, died June 29, 1905.

(IV) Dr. Charles Lydon Harrell, eldest of the four children of Edward Everett and Mary Elizabeth (Gatling) Harrell, was born on the home estate in Gates county, North Carolina, March 19, 1883, and after a course that extended through the high school near the place of his birth entered Randolph-Macon Academy. Here he pre- pared for college, and was at Randolph- Macon College two years. In the fall of 1905 he entered the University College of Medi- cine, Richmond, Virginia, graduated in class of 1909. During 1909 and 1910 he was resident physician in Virginia Hospital, Richmond, Virginia. Subsequently he spent a short time in the New York Post-Gradu-

ate Hospital, then came to Norfolk and in that city established in general practice. Dr. Harrell's studies have been to a certain de- gree specialized, and specialization is his aim for his later practice. His professional standing is unusually high, in consideration of his brief career, and his medical connec- tions and associations are such as would be creditable to a physician of much wider ex- perience. For three years Dr. Harrell as- sisted Dr. Grandy in conducting a treat- ment of tuberculosis and is at this time assistant on the medical staff of the Pro- testant Hospital, also State Examiner for the Catawba Sanitarium for Tuberculosis, and associate medical director of the Old .Dominion Life Insurance Company, and a member of the board of directors. He holds membership in the Norfolk County and Virginia Medical societies, was secretary and treasurer of the latter organization in 1911-12-13, and also belongs to the Ameri- can Medical Association. His fraternal so- ciety is the Modern Woodmen of the World, and he is a member of the official board of the Methodist Episcopal church, politically being identified with the Democratic party.

Dr. Charles Lydon Harrell married, Oc- tober 29, 1911, Ethel Toone, daughter of Lewis R. and Anne T. (Cooksey) Toone; she was born September 5, 1888. They have one son, Edward Everett, born August 14, 1914.

(III) Rev. Emmette Eugene Harrell, ninth child and seventh son of Samuel Rid- dick and Mary Elizabeth (Vaughan) Har- rell, was born in Gates county, North Caro- lina, April 22, 1858, and died July 15, 1909. He obtained a broad academic education in Randolph-Macon College and Vanderbilt University, receiving both his A. B. and his A. M. from the former institution in 1881 and 1882 respectively, and after finishing his studies entered the ministry of the Metho- dist Episcopal church as a pastor of the Vir- ginia conference. His first charge was in the King and Queen circuit, where he re- mained for one year, and he was transferred in the fall of 1884 to the Chatham circuit, there being stationed for two years. His subsequent changes of pastorate were as follows: In 1886 to the south of Dan circuit, in 1887 to Newsome, in 1892 to Wakefield, in 1893 to Dorchester, Maryland, in 1895 to Keller, Accomac county, Virginia, in 1897 to Rocky Mount, Virginia, in 1899 to South

On Smith

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Boston, Virginia, in 1904 to Trinity Church, Norfolk, in 1905 to Princess Anne circuit, in 1907 to Readville, Virginia, and finally Crittenden, in which place his death oc- curred.

The above brief outline of Rev. Harrell's ministry can at best but give an imperfect and insufficient indication of his activities as a minister of the Gospel. Those with whom he passed these years, although his stay in any one place was short, can tell of the ease with which he won his way into their hearts and love, of his tender consider- ation, of his patience with their shortcom- ings, and of the devotion that marked his ministry. Young in spirit from youth until his death in middle age, he brought much of the strength and cheer of that spirit to the pleasure and enjoyment of the sick and aged among his parishioners, the beautiful verses of the New Testament supplying him with his inspiration to service of this kind, for which he is tenderly and lovingly re- membered by many. Rev. Harrell made a universal appeal to all the classes that com- prised his congregations, and it would have been vain to have attempted to identify him with one set of persons or interests more strongly than with another. Just as he shared equally in the labor and burden of the different departments of church work. so did he rejoice with the fortunate, condole with the miserable, enjoy the plenty of the wealthy, and share his private resources with the poor, living his life and giving his strength to the glory of God and the ad- vancement of His kingdom. He established in his home and taught his children a re- ligion simple, adequate, and satisfying, and walked always the path that he strove to make plain to his people. Rev. llarrell fra- ternized with the Masonic order.

Ile married, November 24, 1885, Lauren- tina Lewis, born November 21, 1865. daugh- ter of Rev. William B. and Alice Lane (Jones) Lewis, her father a minister of the Mississippi conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. The children of this mar- riage received all of their early education at home, afterward entering the higher grades of school. Children : 1. Bryant Eugene, born November 14, 1886, in Pittsylvania county ; attended school in South Boston, Virginia, for one year, in 1900 entering Randolph- Macon Academy at Bedford City, Virginia, whence he was graduated in 1903: three

years later he took his A. B. from Randolph- Macon College, and for the four following years taught school, subsequently entering Johns Hopkins University, graduating therefrom M. D. in 1914; he is now con- nected with the Jefferson Hospital, of Roa- roke. Virginia. 2. Mary Alice, born in Southampton county, Virginia. April 25, 1880; was educated in the public schools and the Blackstone Female Institute, grad- uating from the latter place in 1908, at the close of a four years course; for one year she was a school teacher in Readville, Vir- ginia, and after a two years course in the Randolph-Macon Women's College, at Lynchburg. Virginia, accepted a position as teacher of geography and English in the Robert E. Lee School, of Norfolk, where she has been employed for the past four years. 3. Charles Adair, born in Sussex county. Virginia. August 1. 1803 : until 1904 he was a student in South Boston, Virginia, and was then for one year in the public schools of Norfolk and two years in the same insti- tutions of Princess Anne county ; he was graduated \. B. from Randolph-Macon College, class of 1914, and is now, although but twenty-one years of age, principal of the high school at Mineral, Virginia, hav- 4. ing upon his faculty six assistants. Henry Lewis, born December 18. 1896 5. Leighton Ernest, born November 10, 1900. 6. Frank Everett, born February 6, 1904. died July 20, 1904. 7. Laurie Evelyn, born March 22, 1906.

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Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 1

Author: Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, 1853-1935, ed. cn Publication date: 1915 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 848

Author: Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, 1853-1935, ed. cn
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 848