Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 3

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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Hon. John Lamb, of Richmond, Virginia, is descended from an old colonial family that was settled in Charles City county as early as 1650, at "Rural Shades," which was the ancestral home of the family for some two hundred years or more. That domicile is in the historic region early settled by English colonists, which later was made famous by its colonial mansions and is noted for the generous hospitality of its citizens. It was the birthplace and home of John Lamb, a descendant of the original founder of the family there, who tilled the broad acres of his estate, and lived as became a Virginia gentleman of a hundred years ago. He was a Whig of the old school ; and an independent man of affairs who had an opin- ion of his own upon all public questions. He married Mary Emory Moody, who had issue, as follows: Lycurgus Anthony, of whom further : John M., James.

(II) Lycurgus Anthony Lamb, son of

John and Mary Emory ( Moody ) Lamb, was born in 1813 in Charles City county, Vir- ginia, at Rural Shades, the old homestead of the Lambs. He was educated in the local schools of his native state: he was teacher. civil engineer, county surveyor, and magis- trate under the old county court system in Charles City county, Virginia. In politics he was a Whig of the Henry Clay type. Ile married Ann Elizabeth Christian, daughter of James 11. and Susan ( Hill) Christian, of Charles City county, Virginia. She was a granddaughter of Lieutenant Joseph Chris- tian, of Charles C'ity ; who served in the rev- olutionary war; a daughter of the Rev. James Hendricks Christian and Susan ( Hill) Christian, of Charles City, Virginia, who had issue, namely: James HI .. Isaac H., Anne Elizabeth, of whom above; America ; Susan Christian.

(III) John (2) Lamb, son of Lycurgus Anthony and Ann Elizabeth (Christian) Lamb, was born June 12, 1840, in Sussex county, Virginia. lle was educated per- sonally by his father, who was a teacher of private schools, until he was fifteen years old, when his father, dying, he continued his studies alone thereafter ; he toiled on the farm and studied civil engineering in the evenings and during spare time until he had mastered the elements of that study, but the civil war came on, just as he attained man's estate, he enlisted as a private in the Charles City troop, which afterward became Company D. Third Virginia Cavalry, at- tached to Wickam's brigade. Confederate States army. He served throughout the war, was several times wounded, twice se verely, and finally laid down his arms when General Lee surrendered at Appomattox. April 9. 1865, as captain of his company. which he had commanded for three years. The war being over, he returned to Charles City county, where he engaged in farming. and lived there until 1888, when he removed to Richmond, Virginia

In Charles City county he was elected sheriff soon after the war; and afterward served his people as county treasurer and county surveyor. He was chairman of the County Democratic Committee for several years, and was elected to the fifty-fifth. fifty- sixth. fifty-seventh, fifty-eighth, fifty-ninth. sixtieth, sixty-first and sixty second Con- gresses, as a Democrat from the Third Vir- ginia District, comprising the counties of

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Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, King William and New Kent, and the cities of Richmond and Manchester. Later the Congressional District was changed so as to include Charles City, Chesterfield, Gooch- land, Hanover, Henrico, James City, King William, and New Kent counties, and the cities of Manchester, Richmond and Wil- liamsburg. In all he served in Congress sixteen years, from March 4, 1897, to March 4, 1913; and he was in the public service of Charles City county twenty years prior thereto, a goodly record of faithful public service and devotion to the interests of his constituents. He is a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church.

Mr. Lamb married Mattie Redd Wade, daughter of Rev. Anderson and Mary Wal- ler (Clark) Wade, November 17, 1869, at Richmond, Virginia. She was born Febru- ary 10, 1849, at Martinsville, Henry county, Virginia ; her father was a Doctor of Divin- ity and minister of the Protestant Episco- pal church. Children of Rev. Anderson Wade : Mary G., Elizabeth Mildred, Mattie Redd, of whom above. Children of John Lamb and Mattie Redd Wade: 1. Anthony W., born June 27, 1873, at Green Yard, in Charles City county, Virginia ; married Alice Ar- cher, of Richmond; and has five children: Archer, Annie, Jacqueline, Wade, John. 2. John A., born August 6, 1875, at Green Yard, in Charles City county, Virginia, is a lawyer ; married Nannie Blair, of Richmond, Virginia; and has three children: Blair, Virginia, Martha Wade. 3. William C., born June 19, 1881, in Charles City county, Virginia. 4. Bessie, born January 23, 1885 ; married Hugh Woolfolk, of Richmond, Vir- ginia. 5. Frederick B., born April 10, 1888; is an electrical engineer.

John William Ebert, M. D. The family of which John William Ebert, M. D., of Win- chester, Frederick county, Virginia, is a member, is of German origin, founded in this country by Martin Ebert, who came to Pennsylvania when he was eight years of age, later making his home in Virginia. His wite was a Miss Myers, and the descent to Dr. John William Ebert is through their son, William Henry, father of Martin Pultz Ebert.

Martin Pultz Ebert, father of Dr. John William Ebert, was born in Frederick county, Virginia, June 15, 1854, and has all

of his life been an agriculturist and fruit- grower. He married Mary Elizabeth, born in Frederick county, Virginia, October 17, 1853, daughter of John F. Rutherford. John F. Rutherford, a nephew of the John F. Rutherford previously mentioned, was a soldier of the Fifty-second Regiment Vir- ginia Infantry, Confederate States army, and was taken prisoner by the Union troops, being confined at Elmira, New York.

Dr. John William Ebert, son of Martin Pultz and Mary Elizabeth (Rutherford) Ebert, was born at Stephenson, Frederick county, Virginia, June 13, 1887. In his youth he was a student in the public schools, grad- uating from high school in 1905. He at- tended the Shenandoah Academy for two years, and in 1908 matriculated at the Uni- versity of Maryland, whence he was gradu- ated M. D. in 1912. He was for six months an interne in the University of Maryland Hospital, and on January 1, 1913, estab- lished in the practice of his profession in Winchester, Virginia. Here he continued until January 1, 1915, and in addition to the general practice that had come to him he became a member of the staff of the Win- chester Memorial Hospital. He was also inedical examiner for the Modern Woodmen of the World and the Sarah Zane Fire Com- pany. Dr. Ebert's reception into the ranks of medical practitioners in Frederick county was most cordial, and there he found a pleasant field for his professional labors, which had an auspicious beginning. As be- fore stated he practiced his profession until January 1, 1915, then he gave up his prac- tice to take up post-graduate work and eventually take up his abode in Minnesota.

Dr. Ebert is a communicant of the Pro- testant Episcopal church, and is politically allied with the Democratic party.

Dr. Ebert married, September 29, 1909, Louise, born in Baltimore, Maryland, July 23, 1890, daughter of Louis and May H. (Hundley) Bowly. Children of Dr. John William and Louise (Bowly) Ebert : Doro- thy Whiting, born in Winchester, Virginia, October 18, 1910, died September 30, 1912 ; John William Clayton, born in Winchester, Virginia, April 3, 1913.

Louis Bowly is a son of Franklin Bowly, who married Eliza, daughter of J. E. Jack- son. Franklin Bowly was a son of Daniel Bowly, who was elected, May 18, 1775, a member of the committee of observation for

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Baltimore, Maryland, and was later a sol- dier in the American army in the revolu- tion, in March, 1777, being an ensign in Captain John Sterrett's company of Mary- land militia, and on September 21, of that year, joined the command of General An- thony Wayne. Through his military ser- vice and through the honorable records of other lines of her ancestry, Mrs. Ebert is eligible to membership in the various pa- triotic societies of the country. The pa- triotism and loyalty of the Bowlys again found expression in the war between the states, when two of the sons of Franklin Bowly, Devereux and Henry Bowly, served in the army of the Confederate States.

The name Bowly is of French derivation, the original form, which was carried into England in the hosts of William the Con- queror, being De Beaulieu. Through con- tact with the harsher tongue it became changed to its present form through several different spellings, and the ancestor of this branch of the American family, long promi- ment in the colony and state of Maryland, is found in Daniel Bowly, a member of the Gloucestershire, England, family. There is an interesting story, worthy of narration in this place, concerning Daniel Bowly and his immigration to America. He was born in 1695, and when but a lad was walking one day along the beach near his English home, carrying a cup in his hand. He was accosted by a gentleman in the uniform of a naval officer, who asked him if he would like to see his ship, which rode at anchor in the harbor. Receiving an affirmative reply. the sea captain led the youth abroad the vessel, and, taking him below, pleased him with a thorough display of the interior of the ves- sel, but when the pair returned to the deck, the ship had gotten under way, doubtless at the command of the captain. The lad was in no way alarmed, rather rejoicing at the prospect of the voyage and the view of new lands. The vessel on which he was making his involuntary voyage collided with an- other at sea, but was able to make the American shore, although her original des- tination had been Jamaica. Years after- ward Daniel Bowly visited England, and. walking near the spot where he had been kidnapped, found the cup which he had held in his hand at the time. This was the found- ing of the line of Bowly in America.

Mark Bird Wunder. This family is Ger- man in descent and was founded first in Pennsylvania. The Virginia ancestor of the line was Henry Wunder, and his son was Charles Sawyer Wunder, father of Mark Bird Wunder, born near Germantown, Philadelphia, in August, 1813, died July 21, 1891. Ile was a merchant during all of his business life. Hle married Elizabeth Mary Moore, born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, in January, 1823, died in January, 1877, daughter of Reuben and Sarah ( King- ree) Moore. Children of Charles Sawyer and Elizabeth Mary (Moore) Wunder: 1. Mary Il., married William A. Pence, a sol- dier in Company K, Seventh Regiment Vir- ginia Cavalry, Confederate States army, who was at one time taken prisoner and confined at Fort Delaware. 2. Ilenry S., a soldier in Company K, Seventh Regiment Virginia Cavalry, Confederate States army, now a farmer of Mount Jackson, Virginia. 3 Reuben Moore, was for one year a mem- ber of Chew's battery, Confederate States army, serving one year until the close of the war, being then but seventeen years of age. 4. Charles S. 5. Mark Bird, of whom fur- ther. 6. Virginia 7. Milton Moore.

Mark Bird Wunder, fifth child of Charles Sawyer and Elizabeth Mary ( Moore ) Wun- der, was born in Shenandoah county, Vir- ginia, May 23, 1857. After preparatory study it! the public and private schools of the vicinity of his birth, he entered the Poly- technic Institute at Newmarket, Virginia. remaining there for three years. In Octo- ber, 1875. he matriculated at the University of Virginia, and after a classical course of four years in length was for two years a student in the law department, that insti- tution awarding him a B. 1. degree in t881. Ile was granted admission to the bar of Virginia in 1882, and at once began general practice, for several years following his pro- fession as a member of the law firm of Alex- ander & Wunder, a firm that had a success- ful and profitable continuance. Vier the dissolution of this association Mr. Wunder returned to independent practice, and in the years that he was in the legal profes- sion he made an honorable record. Abont 1800 he engaged in the building and loan business which was later formed into a Loan & Trust Company and continued until too5. Mr. Wunder was then elected clerk of Shen-

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andoah county, Virginia, and six years later was reelected to that office, of which he is the present incumbent. The many and varied responsibilities of his position are performed by him with ability and skill, and in the ex- act and careful discharge of his duties he repays the public trust expressed in his elec- tion.

Mr. Wunder's professional and public af- fairs have so nearly required his entire time that he has been unable to pursue other lines of activity, although for five years he was secretary and treasurer of the Shenan- doah Loan and Trust Company, of Wood- stock, Virginia. The deep study and vigor- ons mental exercise required in the practice of law have made that profession most con- genial to him, for he is a man of scholarly tastes and habits, finding in that calling room for their full indulgence. His poli- tical beliefs are Democratic, and he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, holding the office of steward in its organi- zation.

Mr. Wunder married, October 18, 1883, Caroline Mary Newman, born in Shenan- doah county, Virginia, July 17, 1862, daugh- ter of Benjamin P. and Elizabeth (Hick- man) Newman. Children of Mark Bird and Caroline Mary (Newman) Wunder : Charles Newman ; Walter Henry, married Nell Lo- gan ; Elizabeth Mary, married Harold N. Corman, one child, Mark Wunder; Edgar Douglas.

Abraham Roberts is a member of an old English family representative of the best type of the strong middle class of that domi- hant race, which today, after centuries of sturdy resistance to the oppressive acts of a government and institutions which tended to absolutism, have gained not only politi- cal independence at home, but have formed the social foundation for the great republic of the Western Hemisphere, upon which in safety has been built up the most complex population the world has ever seen.

For three hundred years or more the Rob- erts family can be traced back in their Eng- lish home, among the bold hills of Corn- wall, that long arm which runs out westward from England as though her bulwark against the stormy Atlantic, and for three hundred years the members of this family have been miners. For the major part of this long period they had been content to

remain in the old home, around which had grown up the associations of centuries, and engaged in the same hardy occupation which their fathers had followed, from time immemorial.

It was not until the time of Abraham Roberts Sr., the father of Abraham Roberts, of this sketch, that that more enterprising spirit came amongst them which has im- pelled so many of their fellow countrymen to abandon the security and certainty of home for the hazards and fortunes of the New World. Abraham Roberts Sr. was of this character. He was born in Cornwall, England, the ancestral home of his family, June 30, 1835, and there passed his child- hood and early youth, gaining there his education and learning the occupation of his fathers. But while he was so engaged, the ambition to see the world and try himself in new lands and amongst strangers, and to take advantage of the golden opportunities which report had it were to be found abroad, grew gradually in his mind until it domi- nated all other considerations, and he de- termined to take the step. In 1854, when only nineteen years of age, he sailed for the United States, and reaching his destination without mishap, settled in New York state, and there resumed for a time the hereditary trade of his family. The same enterprising spirit which moved him to leave the old home, urged him to see a new occupation, however, and accordingly, when the occa- sion offered, he abandoned mining and es- tablished himself in a mercantile business at Calumet, Michigan, a venture in which he prospered greatly. The move to Michigan which Mr. Roberts made occurred in the year 1864, in which state he settled, making the town of Calumet his home. Here he resided for the remainder of his life, finally dying August 13, 1907, at the age of seven- ty-two years. He married, in December, 1865, in Eagle River, Michigan, Alice Uren, also a native of Cornwall, where she was born in 1845. Mrs. Roberts was a daughter of Richard Uren, a pioneer of the "Copper Country" of Northern Michigan. He was born in Cornwall in 1817, died sixty-seven years later. To Mr. and Mrs. Roberts Sr. there were born eight children, as follows : Abraham, of whom further ; William Thomas, now a resident of Seattle, Wash- ington; John Quincy, a resident of Mar- quette, Michigan ; Frank Vivian and Rich-

abraham Nheits

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ard Cromwell, both residents of Asheville, North Carolina; James, who lost his life by drowning when but nine years of age ; Phil- lip and Elizabeth, both of whom died in in- fancy.

A glance at the way in which this large family of brothers has become distributed to all parts of the United States. their homes ranging all the way from Washington state to North Carolina, will show clearly enough that the adventurous spirit and the desire to see the world, which seemed to have en- tered the Roberts family with their father, was transmitted by him to the succeeding generation. And yet withal, the steady industry of their lives bears evidence of the possession in full measure of those more quiet virtues, the heritage of their ances- tors, as exemplified in the life of their grandfather, William Roberts. Thus gentle- man, who was born in Cornwall in 1795. and lived to be seventy-five years of age, worked for fifty long years as a miner in his native land, without losing so much as a single day through all that period.

Abraham (2) Roberts, the eldest child of Abraham (1) and Alice (Uren) Roberts, was born October 8, 1866, in Keweenaw county, Michigan. While still very young his father removed to Houghton county in the same state, so that from five years up his childish associations are with the latter place. It was in the local schools of Hough- ton county that he received his education. They lived at Calumet in Iloughton county for a number of years, and here the elder Mr. Roberts kept a store, doing a business in general merchandise. When the younger man came of age to enter the business world and had completed his education, he secured a position in the Tamarack Co-operative As- sociation of Calumet, the largest and most successful concern of the kind in the United States. He remained in that employment continuously for fifteen years and more, and during that period familiarized himself with every detail of the business, and gained a large experience of the same, experience which has since served him well, and brought him to the responsible post which he now holds. Ile continued with the Tama- rack Co-operative Association until 1906, and then received an offer to become general manager of the co-operative store at Lake Linden, a town in the same county and state. Ilis alert mind and a natural apti-

tude at mastering new problems, together with a great power of concentration and un- usual industry, had at length attracted the attention of others besides his employers, and won as they could not fail to win recog- nition. Hle accepted the offer from Lake Linden, and held his position as general manager for five years, or until 1911, when a project was broached to him that he go to Seattle, Washington, and there organize a co-operative store. there being no one bet- ter fitted to undertake this enterprise than he. It is probable that Mr. Roberts would have fallen in with this proposal. but for the fact that, just at this time, the general man- ager of the large store at Calumet, where he had received his business training, died, and Mr. Roberts was called upon to take his place. He managed the business of the Tamarack Co-operative Association for two years. His next move was to Newton. Kan- sas, where he had been offered the manage- ment of a large department store, which he accepted. While he was thus occupied at Newton, Kansas, his reputation as a man- ager and as an advertising man grew apace. and spread over a very large area. In this way he came into touch with the Union Stores Incorporated, of Richmond, Virginia, the great concern with which he is now as- sociated, and on January 1. 1914. he moved to Richmond, and took over his new duties as general manager of the Union Stores In- corporated. It is an enormous co-operative association situated on Seventh and Frank- lin streets, Richmond, with a capital of one million dollars, and numbering among its officers and directors some of the largest and most substantial business men of the city. Its president is W. D. Duke, the three vice- presidents are T. O. Sandy. W. J. Whit- lock and C. P. Cadot, respectively, and the secretary and treasurer is C. D. Coleman These men, all astute financiers, were quickly impressed by Mr. Roberts' abilities from their preliminary dealings with him. and spared no pains to secure those abilities in permanent service for their corporation. Mr. Roberts has been with the new concern for but a few months at the present writing. but already the business shows response to bis active and able management, which is even more than meeting the expectations of the officers of the concern.

Mr. Roberts, however mich he may be interested in the conduct of his business, and

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however great the demands made by it upon his energy and time, does not therefore shut himself off, as so many of our successful business men are prone to do, from all other departments of life and activity. On the contrary, he is ever an interested observer of, or participant in all that goes to make up the life of his adopted community, a keen critic of political conditions, and an ardent supporter of all policies which meet with the approval of his judgment, and of all wise propositions for the development and in- creased prestige of the city. He is a promi- nent member of two fraternities, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Masonic order, and is generally active in the social life of the place.

Mr. Roberts has been twice married. His first wife was Mary Hannah Bennett, whose wedding with him was celebrated November 27, 1892, in Calumet, Michigan. Mrs. Rob- erts was a native of England, and to her and Mr. Roberts were born five children, all of whom survived her death in 1904. They are: Victor Phillip, born October 6, 1893, a resident of Seattle, Washington ; Raymond Bennett, born March 20, 1896, a resident of Richmond, Virginia ; Alice Mary, born Feb- rurary 22, 1898, a charming girl, who lives at home with her father; Frederick Sleigh, born May 27, 1900, who also lives with his father ; Herbert Abraham, born January 10, 1903. Mr. Roberts' second marriage was celebrated May 27, 1905, to Beatrice Maude Hicks, a native of Houghton county, Michi- gan, where she was born October 21, 1884. The ceremony took place in Calumet, the home of Mrs. Roberts' parents. Mrs. Rob- erts is the daughter of Richard and Louisa (Davey) Hicks, natives of Cornwall, Eng- land. Mr. Hicks is now connected with the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company of Calumet.

Mr. Roberts' religious affiliations are with the Methodist church, attending, with his family, the Monument Avenue Church of that denomination in Richmond, contribut- ing materially to the support of the many benevolences in connection therewith. He has reared his children in the same persua- sion.

Lunsford Hoxsey Lewis, M. D. Lewis is one of the oldest names in English his- tory and one of the most numerous and dis- tinguished in that of America. Known as

Louis in France, upon the migration of some of its members to the British Isles it as- sumed the form Lewis, those bearing it be- coming one of the most numerous families of Wales. This country was the home of the line claiming Lunsford Hoxsey Lewis as a present day member, whence emigrated four brothers, Samuel, William, Robert and John. It is through the two marriages of a descendant in the fourth generation of this Robert Lewis, who settled in Glouces- ter county, Virginia, Colonel Fielding Lewis, that the family gains its connection with the line of General George Washing- ton. Colonel Fielding Lewis married (first) Catherine, daughter of John Washington, Catherine Washington being a cousin of George Washington; (second) Bettie, daughter of Augustine Washington, and sister of George Washington. A chain, used by General George Washington during his career as a civil engineer, is now in the possession of John F. Lewis, who lives on the old family estate "Lynnwood," Rocking- ham county, Virginia.

William Lewis, one of the brothers pre- viously mentioned, married a Miss McClel- land, and died in Ireland. He had one son, Andrew, who married Mary Calhoun, and had two sons, John and Samuel. John Lewis was born in Ireland, and immigrating to Virginia he settled near the present city of Staunton, being one of the first magistrates appointed in Augusta county by the gov- ernor. He was an Indian fighter of noted bravery. The marble slab marking his grave bears this inscription.

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Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 3

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