USA > Virginia > Rockingham County > Rockingham County > A history of Rockingham County, Virginia > Part 28
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Mr. Jones had five children, one of whom died in infancy. One daughter (Margaret) married Col. John Harvie; another married John Lewis, of Fredericksburg; the third married a Mr. Hawkins, of Kentucky. His son, William Strother Jones, born March 21, 1756, was a student at William and Mary, a captain in the Continental Army, and later a colonel of militia. His wife was Fanny Thornton, of Fredericksburg.
Mr. Jones was the first lawyer for Augusta, and the first
the famous Indian fighter of the Ohio Valley, was also a native of Rock- ingham. His father, Capt. John Wetzel, born in Switzerland, 1733, was brought to what is now Rockingham in 1740. Here were born John Wetzel's sons, Martin, Lewis, Jacob, George, and John. About 1769 John Wetzel moved west, settling on Wheeling Creek .- See Thwaites and Kellogg's Frontier Defense on the Upper Ohio, 1777-1778, page 296. - The Wetzel name is still familiar in Rockingham.
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also for Rockingham, in which he lived from its organization in 1778 (see pages 65-69). He held the office of common- wealth's attorney in Rockingham till 1795, when he resigned and was succeeded by David Holmes. He represented Au- gusta in the House of Burgesses in 1757, 1758, and 1771. In 1788, he, with his brother-in-law, Thomas Lewis (page 127), was a member of the Virginia convention, and zealously favored the adoption of the Federal Constitution. He was a little man, of great integrity and explosive temper. His difficulty with Henry Brewster (page 73) would indicate as much. Dr. Waddell tells of another incident, which probably occurred at Woodstock. Hugh Holmes, opposing lawyer, sharp and witty, made old Mr. Jones angry, and he exploded. It happened again. The court of justices refrained from inter- fering as long as possible, but finally they put their heads together, and then, after due consideration, the presiding justice announced that the court would send Lawyer Holmes to jail if he did not quit making Lawyer Jones swear so.4
In 1778 George Rootes was admitted to the practice of law in Rockingham (see page 71). Michael Bowyer took the oath of an attorney in 1779 (page 73). The following were admitted to the Rockingham bar on the dates indicated:
Lewis Wolf, May 23, 1797. John Monroe, April 23, 1798.5 Daniel Smith , December 16, 1800. Robert Gray, June 18, 1805. George W. Harrison, April 22, 1807.
4. See Waddell's Annals of Augusta, pp. 81-84; Wayland's "German Element," pp. 55, 66, 73, 86, 223, 224, 271; and an article in the W. Va. Hist. Mag., April, 1902, entitled, "The Lawyer," by R.T. Barton. Mr. Barton, who lives at Winchester, is a descendant of Gabriel Jones. The Rockingham Register of Dec. 7, 1822, contains Chas. Lewis' announce- ment of the Jones sale.
5. Mr. Richard See, Jr., writing from Warsaw, Mo., May 20, 1911, says: "My grandfather on my mother's side, who is now dead, was Judge Joseph Monroe. He was born and raised in Rockingham Co., Va .; moved to Benton County, Mo., many years ago; was a soldier in the war with Mexico, also in the civil war."
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Daniel Smith, "a learned, pure judge and good man," was born at or near Harrisonburg, in 1779, son of John and Margaret Davis Smith, grandson of Justice Daniel Smith (pp. 54, 68); he married Frances Strother Duff, June 10, 1809; children, Margaret, Elizabeth, Lucius, Frances, Marie, John, Daniel; he died Nov. 8, 1850. In 1805 he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates; from 1804 to 1811 he was com- monwealth's attorney for Rockingham; on April 10, 1811, he was appointed a judge of the General Court, and from the same date till his death (1850) he was judge of the circuit superior court for Rockingham County. He succeeded Judge Hugh Holmes, and was succeeded by Judge Green B. Samuels. His portrait now adorns the Rockingham County court room. Judge John Paul said of him:
No judge, perhaps, who ever presided on the Circuit Court bench in Virginia exerted a better or more lasting influence on the people within his jurisdiction. He was not only a great man intellectually, but he was great in the moral attributes necessary to the prefection of judicial character.
In the celebrated case of the National Bank against Steinbergen and others, involving over half a million of dollars, he gave a decision on Saturday in favor of the plaintiff; on Monday morning following he came into court and announced from the bench that he had erred in his former conclusions, and proceeded to reverse his decision. 6
I have been told that Judge Smith's residence was a short distance northeast of Dayton, near the Shrum brick factory.
Robert Gray was born in Ireland, Nov. 1, 1781, but his family settled in the Shenandoah Valley about 1787. He was educated at William and Mary and at Princeton, and in 1805 located at Harrisonburg to practice law. Soon he married Isabella, daughter of Dr. Asher Waterman, and about 1812 built Collicello. (See page 192, 220.) He was a lawyer
6. See Judge John Paul's address, made Oct. 15, 1896; Boogher's Gleanings of Virginia History, pp. 339,340; Waddell's Annals of Augusta, pp. 150-152; Compton's Rockingham Register sketches, No. 21.
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JUDGE DANIEL SMITH (Page 352)
From oil portrait in Rock. Co. Court Room. Photo by Morrison.
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of profound learning, an advocate and prosecutor of great eloquence. He wrote the proverbially bad hand of the lawyer (of his day). Once when he gave a check for several thousand dollars on a Winchester Bank-there were probably no banks nearer then than in Winchester-the payee had to ride back the 67 miles to Harrisonburg, the cashier having refused to cash the check, declaring the signature a forgery, because it was legible. He died Dec. 17, 1859, accounted the wealthiest citizen of Rockingham County. He had four sons, Algernon, Jouett, Douglas, and Robert (1826-1887).
Algernon S. Gray, eldest son of Robert Gray, was a lawyer with his father's gifts of eloquence, and a colonel of militia for his county, but he was most of all a philanthropist. In the Virginia convention he tried all measures to avoid secession, moving the assemblage to tears as he depicted what would be the "most mournful Iliad in the history of the world," but he did not withstand the action of the majority, or disregard the final peremptory orders from his constituents. During the war he gave much to feed the soldiers and provide for their families,-even took off his own shoes in the street to give to a Confederate soldier whose feet left bloody prints in the snow. He went to Richmond in behalf of the non- combatant Dunkers and Mennonites, of whom there were many in Rockingham. After the murder of John Kline it was said, "Colonel Gray next," and he finally yielded to the entreaty of his daughters, going with two of his brothers to Baltimore. After the war he returned to Rockingham, where he used his influence for education and progress. For a number of years he was U. S. Marshal for the western district of Virginia .- See pages 131, 132, above.
John Kenney, born in Augusta, 1791, located at Harrison- burg about 1817. He was commonwealth's attorney, in the circuit court, 1847 to 1852, and circuit judge, 1852-60. He was also a member of the Virginia constitutional convention of 1850. He died in Harrisonburg, 1873, at the home of his son, Judge James Kenney .?
7. See sketch of John Kenney in the Register of Feb. 21, 1873.
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A HISTORY OF
Mrs. Carr says: "The lawyers of that day [about 1820] were Robert Gray, David Steele, and Thomas Clark, and some younger ones I do not remember."-See Chapter 27.
Isaac Samuels Pennybacker, one of the most distinguished sons of northern Virginia, was born at Pine Forge, near New Market, Shenandoah County, Va., Sept. 3, 1805. From 1837 to 1839 he was a representative in Congress from the 16th district of Virginia, composed of the counties of Rock- ingham, Shenandoah, Page, Warren, Hardy, Pendleton, and Bath. Later he was judge of the U. S. District Court, and a regent of the Smithsonian Institution. From 1845 till his death, January 12, 1847, he was a U. S. Senator from Virginia. It is said that he was offered the Attorney-Generalship of the United States by President Van Buren.
At the time of his death Senator Pennybacker's family was living in Harrisonburg, where he had resided for some time preceding. Some years later suit was brought in court for possession of the Waterman house, south side of the Harrisonburg public square, the same that is now occupied by Dr. R. S. Switzer and his sister, Mrs. Burkholder, with the lot whereon it stands. In the report of the said suit the following passage occurs:
The plaintiff alleges in his bill that Isaac S. Pennybacker, his father, died about the year 1848, intestate, possessed of this lot, "leaving as his only heirs-at-law his widow, Sarah A. Pennybacker, and three infant children-John D., Isaac S., and your orator J. Edmund Pennybacker- to whom said lot of land descended"; 8
This would appear to fix the place of Sen. Pennybacker's residence in Harrisonburg.
Senator Pennybacker's wife was Sarah A. Dyer, daughter of Zebulon Dyer, of Pendleton County. She died in Franklin, W. Va., June 17, 1891, aged 75. His sons, John D. and J. Ed., were both men of prominence, the former having served in the State senate, from Rockingham, from 1859 to 1863 .- See pages 282, 295, above. Ex-Gov. S. W. Pennypacker, of
8. See 75th Va., page 672.
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Pennsylvania, is a relative of the family. Miss Kate Penny- backer, of Linville Creek, is a grand-daughter of Sen. I. S. Pennybacker, and possesses an excellent oil portrait of him.
In 1844 the Rockingham Register contained cards of the following Rockingham lawyers:
Herring Chrisman Jacob P. Effinger
F. L. Barziza
E. A. Shands
In 1854 the following were advertised in the same paper: Allan C. Bryan & John C. Woodson
E. A. Shands & S. M. Sommers
J. C. C. Brettell
J. N. Liggett
Allan C. Bryan, born at Edom, was a brother of Daniel Bryan, the poet. Pendleton Bryan, lawyer, who died in Har- risonburg, Aug. 30, 1906, was a son of A. C. Bryan.
John C. Woodson, who died in Harrisonburg, Apr. 25, 1875, aged 52, had represented Rockingham in the legislature, etc. The Register of Apr. 29, and May 6, 1875, contained sketches of his life.
Jacob N. Liggett was born in Harrisonburg, January 2, 1829, the son of Samuel and Romanzy Nicholas Liggett. He graduated in law from the University of Virginia. During the civil war he served in various commands; and among his papers is a note written by Ashby, commending his courage and service. In 1860 he was a Presidential elector on the Douglas and Johnson ticket. Following the war he repre- sented Rockingham in the Virginia House of Delegates, and was elected to the convention that drew up the Underwood Constitution in 1868. From the latter body he was expelled by a partisan vote, because he did not hesitate to express his unvarnished opinion of the body and its proceedings. He was a lawyer of ability, a writer and reader of discrimination, and an orator of no mean powers. In 1852 he married Evelyn Winfield of Rockingham; following her death in 1884 he married Isabella Spence of Westmoreland County, who survives him. He died in Harrisonburg, May 8, 1912.
John Francis Lewis, born near Port Republic, March 1, 1818, came of the family of which Gen. Andrew Lewis and
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Col. Charles Lewis were earlier representatives. (See page 127, note.) He was a planter for many years. In 1861 he was one of Rockingham's delegates to the State convention, and the only member east of the Alleghanies who refused to sign the ordinance of secession. (See pages 131-3. ) In 1865 he was an unsuccessful Union candidate for Congress, but in 1869 he was elected lieutenant-governor (Gilbert C. Walker, governor) by 20,000 majority. In the same year he was chosen U. S. Senator for Virginia, serving in that capacity till March 4, 1875. In 1881 he was again elected lieutenant- governor of Virginia (W. E. Cameron, governor). In 1872 he was mentioned as a possible candidate for the Vice- Presidency, on the Grant ticket. He died in September, 1895. John F. Lewis, of Lynnwood, is his son, as was also the late Daniel Sheffey Lewis (pages 334, 335).9
John Thomas Harris, for many years a distinguished citizen of Rockingham, well known throughout Virginia, and conspicuous in many national issues, was born in Albemarle County, Va., May 8, 1823, the son of Nathan Harris and Ann Allan Anderson. When he was five years old his parents moved to Augusta County, his early education being received in Albemarle and Augusta schools. At the age of 20 he taught school in Augusta, studying law in the meantime. Having graduated from the law school of Judge Lucas P. Thompson, he was licensed and admitted to the bar in 1845 by Judges Baldwin and Smith, and located in Harrisonburg.
In 1848 he was a canvasser for Cass and Butler, and four years later rendered effective service in Pierce's campaign. The same year (1852) he was elected commonwealth's attorney for Rockingham County, holding the office by re-election till 1859. In 1856 he canvassed Virginia as a Presidential elector for James Buchanan, and the next year was appointed a member of the board of visitors to the Virginia Military Insti- tute. In 1859, after a memorable campaign, in which the
9. Biographical sketches, etc., of Sen. Lewis appeared in the Rocking- ham Register, Oct. 28, 1869; Jan. 14, 1875; Sept. 6, 1895.
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field at the start was against him, Mr. Harris was elected to Congress from the 9th district of Virginia, then composed of the counties of Highland, Bath, Rockbridge, Augusta, Rock- ingham, Shenandoah, Hardy, and Pendleton. He was re-elected in 1861.
Although opposed to secession, Mr. Harris promptly followed Virginia when she withdrew from the Union, and served two terms in the General Assembly during the war. From 1866 to 1869 he was judge of the 12th judicial circuit of Virginia, which included Rockingham (see pages 161-163, above). In 1870 he was elected again to Congress, this time representing the 7th district, and was continuously re-elected till 1880. In 1881 he resumed the practice of law, devoting himself chiefly to contested election cases, for which his long experience in Congress had given him special fitness. In 1888 he, with Richard F. Bierne, was an elector at large on the Cleveland ticket, and the following year was a rival of P. W. Mckinney for the Democratic nomination for the Governorship. Later he was appointed by Gov. Mckinney one of the commissioners for Virginia to the World's Columbian Exposition, and as a member of the executive committee took a prominent part in the great celebration. He died at his home in Harrisonburg, October 14, 1899.
On May 29, 1854, Mr. Harris married Miss Virginia M. Miller. The following children were born of the union: Anna H. Heard, 5908 Cabaune Ave., St. Louis; Emma H. Mac- Queary, 6809 McPherson Ave., St. Louis; Virginia O. Beall, St. Regis, St. Louis; Graham H. Harris, 1438 N. State St., Chicago; John T. Harris, Harrisonburg; Hatton N. T. Harris (died 1905); Edith Harris (died 1904) ; and Clement C. Harris, who died in infancy. Hatton Harris was a surgeon in the U. S. Navy; Graham H. Harris and John T. Harris are prominent lawyers.
For many years, beginning with or before the war, one of the prominent citizens of Rockingham, and for some time an influential member of the legislature, was Dr. S. H. Moffett. During the war he was a director on the board of
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the Western State Hospital, at Staunton. The Register of Nov. 17, 1881, and Aug. 7, 1896, contained interesting accounts of him as a politician and statesman. The same paper, in 1863, contained cards of John W. G. Smith, E. T. H. Warren, and John C. Woodson, Rockingham lawyers.
The following list, for 1866 and 1867, is made up from several copies of the Register, compared with a copy of the Old Commonwealth of Oct. 10, 1866.
James Kenney10 Allan C. Bryan
Geo. G. Grattan
Jno. C. Woodson
J. S. Duckwall
Wm. B. Compton12
F. A. Daingerfield11
Huston Handy
Wm. H. Effinger
G. S. Latimer
J. N. Liggett
A. M. Newman
Chas. A. Yancey
Wm. S. Rohr
Thos. L. M. Chipley
J. Ed. Pennybacker
G. W. Berlin
Pendleton Bryan
Warren S. Lurty
John Paul
B. G. Patterson
Granville Eastham (1834-'95) 13
Chas. E. Haas
J. S. Harnsberger
Charles Triplett O'Ferrall was born in what is now Berkeley County, W. Va., Oct. 21, 1840, and died in Rich- mond, Va., Sept. 22, 1905. He was a Confederate cavalry officer, and rose to the rank of colonel. After graduating in law, in 1869, he located at Harrisonburg, and had his home there until December, 1893, when he moved to Richmond. From 1874 to 1880 he was judge of the Rockingham County court, and from 1894 to 1898 he was governor of Virginia. For twelve years of the interim he was a member of Congress from the 7th district of Virginia. Although not regarded as
10. Sketch of in the Register of Oct. 19, 1894.
11. See page 319; also, McDonald's History of the Laurel Brigade, pp. 379, 380.
12. Sketch of in the Register of July 29, 1898.
13. Sketch of in the Register of March 22, 1895.
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HON. CHARLES T. O'FERRALL (Pages 358, 359)
Photo by Morrison
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY
a profound lawyer, he was an efficient judge, and as a popular orator in political campaigns he had few equals.
Governor O'Ferrall's mother was Jane Laurens, born in Fauquier County, Va., in 1817. She died in Bridgewater in May, 1891, having lived there several years preceding. Her grave is in Woodbine Cemetery, Harrisonburg. She had the Spartan spirit and the tender devotion of the lady of Shunem. Few stories are more touching and stirring than the brief account Col. O'Ferrall gives of her journey to his bedside, after he had received what was supposed to be a mortal wound, near Upperville, in June, 1863.
In 1862 Col. O'Ferrall married Annie McLain; his second wife, whom he married in 1891, was Jennie Knight Danforth.
In addition to numerous political essays and speeches, he published an autobiographical volume entitled "Forty Years of Active Service" (see page 326). In this he has a number of interesting things to say of Rockingham, her people in general and his colleagues in particular. For example, he says of George E. Deneale, who was his colleague in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1871-3, "He was called 'the old man eloquent.'" In telling of the famous Lawson trial of 1877, he gives graphic descriptions of John Paul and John Roller, as follows:
The Commonwealth's Attorney who prosecuted in these cases was John Paul, who afterwards served a term in Congress and was then appointed United States District Judge for the Western District of Virginia. He was one of the ablest prosecuting attorneys I have ever known; his con- gressional service was creditable, and his career as Judge from 1883 to 1902, when he died, was marked with ability and with an honesty and uprightness of purpose that drew plaudits from the bar of his district, and stamped him as a just, impartial, and incorruptible judge.
The leading attorney for the defense was John E. Roller, and well did he act his part and do his duty. Astute, cautious, and watchful, never tiring, never lacking in quickness to object to what he conceived to be an improper question, and then maintaining his position with great force; searching and severe in the cross-examination of opposing wit- nesses, and drawing most skilfully from the witnesses for the defense every point favorable to his clients. Between the two-Paul and Roller -it was indeed a battle royal and a fight to the finish. They were
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both young men, neither forty-the latter, who was the junior, not more than thirty-five. * * * * * * * *
A distinguished and highly-esteemed member of the county bar
. . Colonel Robert Johnston, was elected as my successor.14
John Paul, statesman and jurist, was born near Ottobine, June 30, 1839, the son of Peter Paul and his wife, Maria Whitmer. He was commonwealth's attorney for Rockingham County, 1871-7; in 1880 he was elected to Congress; and in September, 1883, he was appointed U. S. judge for the western district of Virginia, in which capacity he served with distinction for 18 years, -till his death, Nov. 1, 1901.15 His wife, whom he married in November, 1874, was Miss Kather- ine S. Green (see pages 326-7). One of his sons, John Paul, Jr., is now Virginia senator from Rockingham.
J. Samuel Harnsberger, the son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Harnsberger, was born in the eastern part of Rock- ingham County, near Conrad's Store, now Elkton, November 17, 1839. In 1861, while a student at the University of Virginia, he entered the Confederate army, serving under Gen. Henry A. Wise in West Virginia; later he was a member of Co. F, 12th Virginia Cavalry, organized by Major Harry Gilmore, and afterwards commanded successively by Clarke, Figgett, and O'Ferrall. In 1862 he was a special aide to Stonewall Jackson, just preceding the famous Valley cam- paign. After the war he returned to the University to study law, and then located at Harrisonburg to practice his profes- sion. About 1904 he was appointed U. S. Commissioner for the Western District of Virginia, and held this position till death, which occurred at his home in Harrisonburg, May 2, 1912. In 1871 he married Carrie V. Harnsberger, who, with two sons and a daughter, survives him. The sons are George S. Harnsberger, Harrisonburg, and Gilbert M. Harnsberger, Shenandoah City, Va. The daughter is Mrs. Bartow Jones, Point Pleasant, W. Va. During the last years of his life
14. See pages 206, 207 of "Forty Years of Active Service."
15. See "John Paul, 1839-1901," by John T. Harris.
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JUDGE JOHN PAUL (Pages 359, 360)
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY
Captain Harnsberger collected a large amount of material towards a history of the Harnsberger family.
Within the years 1876 to 1881, the following were among the lawyers of Rockingham:
Edwin C. Bruffey
G. F. Compton (pages VI, 319)
R. S. Thomas
Geo. A. Roszelle
Robt. B. Ragan (died 1881)
Henry V. Strayer (died 1900)
John A. Cowan
O. B. Roller (1855-1912) 16
William Shands
In 1905, Winfield Liggett, a well known member of the bar, died.
George Bernard Keezell was born near Keezletown, July 20, 1854, son of George Keezell and his wife, Amanda Fitzallen Peale. He was an only child, and his father, who married late in life, died when his son was eight years old. He was educated in private schools and at Stuart Hall, a collegiate institution, in Baltimore. At the age of 16 he took up farming, residing with his mother at the home built by his grandfather in 1794. Shortly after he was 21 he was elected a justice of the peace; and in 1883 he was elected to the State senate, being re-elected four successive terms from 1895 to 1911. His senatorial service was the longest of any man in this generation. He was always in the thick of every fight, and was regarded as an authority on financial matters, having served as chairman of the Finance Committee a number of years. He resigned from the senate in 1910 to accept appointment as treasurer of Rockingham County, and served one year of an unexpired term. He has always been a Democrat in politics, and for 25 years was chairman of the party organization of his county. In 1901 he was a member of the Virginia constitutional convention, and was a presi-
16. See pages 173, 178, above.
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dential elector in 1904. He has served on the State Board of Fisheries by appointment of four successive governors, Tyler, Montague, Swanson, and Mann.
Senator Keezell has always taken an active interest in education, serving many years as local school trustee. In the senate he was on the committee for Public Institutions and Education, and was patron of the bill establishing the State Normal and Industrial School at Harrisonburg. He was also a member of the committee which made the prelimi- nary report favoring such schools, and was especially active and influential in locating the Normal at Harrisonburg. Since its establishment he has served as chairman of the Board of Trustees. In 1912 the "Schoolma'am," the 200-page annual published by the student body, was dedicated to him, with the characterization: "A Progressive Farmer, A Virginia Statesman, A Patron of Education, and A Friend of Virginia Teachers."
Mr. Keezell's grandfather, George Keezell, was the founder and patron of Keezletown (see pages 193, 194); his father, George Keezell, was a soldier in the War of 1812. In 1886 Mr. Keezell married Miss Kate M. Hannah, who died in 1902, leaving four sons and two daughters; in 1903 he married Miss Belle C. Hannah, one of the best known teachers of Rockingham.
Many of the men who have gone out from Rockingham to other counties and States have become eminent; a few examples are given.
William Taylor, born in Alexandria, began the practice of law in Rockingham; was elected a representative for Virginia to the 28th and 29th Congress; he died Jan. 17, 1846, in Washington.
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