USA > Virginia > Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V > Part 34
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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
He was educated in the Virginia schools conducted by Horace W. Jones, William R. Abbott and Chapman Maupin. From these he went to the University of Virginia, where he studied 1876-78, and commenced the practice of law at the Orange Court House. Virginia, in 1881, and still resides there. He entered the political arena in 1888, and has miade a record of which any man may feel proud. He was twice elected by the Demo- crats to represent his county in the house of delegates, and was elected to the state senate in 1900. He was elected by the Vir- ginia legislature circuit judge of the ninth circuit and served from 1910 to 1915, when he resigned to engage in the general prac- tice of law. During the time he served in the senate. Mr. Shackelford was a member of various committees, among them being the finance committee, in which his services were of especial value. His father having died when he was thirteen years of age, he was dependent upon his own resources to secure the education necessary to make his mark in the legal profession, and may truly be called a selfmade man. At the age of fifteen years he was obliged to leave school. and until he was nineteen years of age, worked in a bank in order to accumulate the means for his university studies. Mr. Shack- elford has been a member of the board of visitors of the University of Virginia. On July 1, 1884, he married Virginia Minor Randolph, born at Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1859, a daughter of Dr. Wilson Carey Nicholas and Nannie ( Holladay) Randolph. Dr. Randolph was in charge of the hospital at Lynchburg during the civil war. The Randolphi family is well known in the his- tory of this country, and two of its mem- bers, Thomas Jefferson Randolph and Dr. Wilson Carey Nicholas Randolph, were rec- tors of the board of visitors of the Univer- sity of Virginia, before that institution had a president. Mrs Shackelford is the great- great-granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson. Mr. and Mrs. Shackelford have children : Virginius Randolph, whose name heads this sketch ; Nannie Holladay, born in Orange county, Virginia. 1887, married Karl M. Block; George Scott, Jr., born in Orange county, 1897, now at Woodbury Forest School; Margaret Wilson, born in Orange county. Virginia, in 1900.
Virginius Randolph Shackelford, son of George Scott and Virginia Minor (Ran-
dolph) Shackelford, was born in Orange, Virginia, April 15, 1885. He received his educational advantages under Professor H. R. Berkeley, and in the public schools of his native county and the Woodbury Forest School, near Orange, of which J. Carter Walker was principal, and matriculated at the University of Virginia in 1902. He was graduated from this institution in the class of 1907 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws. He was chosen a member of the Raven Society. Admitted to the Virginia bar in the same year, he has been engaged in active general practice in Orange since, and is assistant division counsel for the Southern Railway. He is a member of the Virginia Bar Association ; the Delta Psi fraternity ; Orange Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. His political support is given to the Democratic party, and he is chairman of the Orange County Democratic Committee, and a mem- ber of the Virginia Normal school board. In religion he is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. Mr. Shackelford married, November 10, 1910, Peachy Gascoigne Lyne, born in Orange county, Virginia, in June, 1887, daughter of William H. and Cassandra (Moncure) Lyne.
Norman Waller File, M. D. From Kent, England, in 1867, came Ashton File, a young man of eighteen years, born in Kent in 1849. He located in Buckingham county, Virginia, there married and pursued the life of an agriculturist, owning land and pros- pering. His wife, Ella Louise (Tucker) File, born in Prince Edward county, Virginia, in 1851, yet survives him, a resident of Buck- ingham county. She is the daughter of Henry and Lovina (McKee) Tucker, of an important Virginia family. Her brother, Waller Tucker, now an attorney-at-law in Fayetteville, West Virginia, is a Confederate veteran, having served four years in a Vir- ginia regiment and sustained injuries. An- other brother, Rev. Joel Tucker, is a minis- ter of the Baptist church, pastor of the For- est Hill Church, near Manchester, Virginia. Ashton File had sons: Norman Waller, of further mention; Ashton (2), married Frances Wiggins and has a son Ashton (3) ; William H., married Adelaide Lenair and has a daughter Adelaide H.
Dr. Norman Waller File, of Covington, Virginia, was born in Buckingham county,
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VIRGINIA BIOGRAFHY
Virginia, September 1, 1884, son of Ashton and Ella Louise (Tucker) File. He pursued a full course of preparatory study in Buck- ingham county public schools and Rich- mond Academy, then began in 1904 a course of professional study in University College of Medicine at Richmond, Virginia, continu- ing until 1906. In the latter year he entered Baltimore College of Medicine (Baltimore, Maryland), whence he was graduated M. D., class of 1908. He continued medical study during the year 1910-1I, taking a post- graduate course at Johns Hopkins Univer- sity, Baltimore, Post-Graduate College and Bellevue College Hospital, New York City, then fully equipped, began practice at Stone- wall, Appomattox county, Virginia. He re- mained there but a short time, locating at Covington, Virginia, in January, 1912, and & there gaining high reputation as a thor- oughly capable and skillful physician. His many years of preparation and hospital ex- perience is being supplemented by the de- mands of a large and growing private prac- tice, and the reward of his faithful prepara- tion is found in his ready ability to diagnose, treat and heal. Dr. File is a member of Reedy Spring Lodge, No. 203, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, Campbell county, Virginia ; Covington Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in political faith is a Demo- crat.
Franklin Portlock. The family name Portlock is of English extraction and has been prominent in the Norfolk section of Virginia since Colonial times. The earliest representative in America of the Portlock family came from England in 1634 and lo- cated near what is well known as "Port- lock Estate," in the vicinity of the city of Norfolk.
(I) William Portlock, the first of the line here under consideration of whom we have definite information, was a planter and slave owner of Norfolk county, Virginia, in which locality his ancestors were prominent prop- erty owners and planters, holding title to a large tract of land between Berkley and Great Bridge. Among his children was Na- thaniel, of whom further.
(II) Nathaniel Portlock, son of William Portlock, was born in Norfolk county, Vir- ginia, succeeded to the ownership of the homestead. his birthplace, and there passed his entire life. Wealth, slaves and property
gave him leading position in the locality, and he was a justice of the peace, active in public affairs, and a vestryman of the Pro- testant Episcopal church. He married (first) Barbara Carson, and (second) Nancy Stokes. Children of first marriage: Mary Ann, Tapley, Nathaniel. Children of sec- ond marriage : Barbara, Franklin, of whom' further.
(III) Franklin Portlock, son of Nathaniel and Nancy (Stokes) Portlock, was born in Norfolk county, Virginia, January 18, 1826, died there, April 6, 1896. He received his education in the best private schools, and as a young man began the management of the homestead plantation, widening the scope of the agricultural operations conducted there- on, and prospering. Prior to the civil war he employed slave labor in his farming, and later became a manufacturer of bricks in Portsmouth, Virginia, a line of endeavor in which he was likewise successful. For many years he had been a public official, holding the position of school trustee at the time of his death ; he was one of the first members of the school board, serving many years, and during his regime the public schools of Norfolk county became noted among the best in the state. Mr. Portlock was a gentle- man of refinement, sterling integrity, marked individuality, and of a very social nature. He was exceedingly loyal to his friends, and a citizen who stood high in the estimation of his associates. He joined the Christian church at Providence, in August, 1860, and was a trustee of the same. He was seldom absent from the sanctuary and contributed liberally and freely in time and money towards the support of the gospel.
Mr. Portlock married, April 7, 1853, Eu- genia Herbert Tatem, born in 1832, daughter of Dr. William and Ann (Herbert) Tatem, of Norfolk county, Virginia. Children: I. William Nathaniel, a sketch of whom fol- lows. 2. Emily Argyle, born December 23, 1856. 3. Eugenia Tatem, born February 25, 1858 : married, in 1890, Thomas Webb Butt. and has one son, William Portlock, born February 16, 1893. 4. Frank Livingston, a sketch of whom follows. 5. Betty Beaure- gard, born September 2, 1861, died in 1864. ( :. Fanny B., born July 21, 1867; married. November 17, 1897, Charles Louis Young, and has children: Eugenia Catherine, born January 21, 1899, and Frances May, born September 22, 1900.
The large gathering of friends at the
Franklin Porttook
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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
funeral service of Mr. Portlock attested the high esteem in which he was held, and the bereavement felt in the community by his death. The following is an extract from the remarks of Rev. W. S. Long, pastor of the Providence Christian church :
I first met Brother Portlock in the year 1889, during the pastorate of Brother R. A. Ricks, who was serving Providence Church. Our friendship began at once, and when I came here as his pastor last September he greeted me kindly and extended to me what I most needed, a hearty, manly friend- ship which cheered me. For months I have been in his company almost daily and have thus had a good opportunity to know his worth as a man, and now that he is gone his memory is embalmed in my heart, a precious legacy. The people of God have this sweet assurance that the very moment in which any Christian's life shall close will be that which shall give his whole earthly existence its greatest capability of benefitting the race and promoting among men the knowledge of the Lord our Savior. No Chris- tian can desire more. Every Christian is sure that he shall not have less. No man dieth unto himself. Not by himself, not to himself, not for himself. The Christian dies unto the Lord. His death consecrates his whole life with all its influence to the Lord whom he served. He leaves that life and that influence to work for his Lord when he has gone, and when he goes to be forever with the Lord, enjoying the double immortality of perpetual influence on earth and everlasting work and happiness in heaven.
William Nathaniel Portlock. William Na- thaniel Portlock, eldest son of Franklin and Eugenia Herbert (Tatem) Portlock, was born on the farm that he later owned, the old Portlock homestead, May 7, 1854, died June 17, 1910. He was a student for several years at Bethel Military Academy, located in the hills of the Blue Ridge in Piedmont, Virginia, which academy has had as its pupils men who have figured prominently in the affairs of the state.
On July 1, 1887, he was elected clerk of the circuit court of Norfolk county, an office which he held for seven years, and at the same time he served as deputy in the courts of Portsmouth City for a period of six years, and was also commissioner in chancery, commissioner of accounts, and treasurer of Norfolk county and Portsmouth ferries. He afterwards entered the law department of the University of Virginia, was admitted to practice in all courts, and at once established himself in the practice of his profession in the city of Norfolk. He attained a high de- gree of success as a councillor. He was elected to the Norfolk county circuit court judgeship, January 1, 1892, and seldom missed a session of his court, over which he
presided with conspicuous ability, and he was reelected to the same position, without opposition, in the year 1898 and served until November, 1909, when he resigned from the bench, on account of failing health. Judge Joseph T. Lawless was appointed as his suc- cessor. Many important cases were tried before Judge Portlock and he always won the highest encomiums from the bar by his fair and fearless rulings. He possessed a comprehensive knowledge of law and its principles, and his impartial decisions as judge gained for him the confidence and esteem of the citizens of the county. In 1901 he was nominated by acclamation and elected without opposition to the constitu- tional convention from Norfolk county con- vened at Richmond, Virginia, taking his seat as a member, June 12, 1901. He represented his county with distinction. Although at times in a hopeless minority he became ex- ceedingly popular in that body by his marked ability in debate and his uniform courtesy. The official census of the state demonstrates that he represented in the con- stitutional convention a larger and more powerful constituency than any other mem- ber of that body. He was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, and has always evinced an interest in its personnel and welfare. From boyhood until his death he always enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the people of his county, who conferred upon him many positions of trust and emol- ument.
Frank Livingston Portlock. Frank Liv- ingston Portlock, youngest son of Franklin and Eugenia Herbert (Tatem) Portlock, has a record of public service in his native county that extends over a period of a quar- ter of a century, continuing at this time in his relation to the United States depart- ment of agriculture as local agent of the farmers' cooperative demonstration work. Early in life a follower of the pedagogical profession in Norfolk county, he afterward filled the offices of road commissioner and road engineer, the former for eighteen years, the latter for four, and is now associated with the Federal department of agriculture in the capacity above mentioned. During this time he has contracted numerous pri- vate business relations, has dealt extensively in real estate, and, both through his private interests and his public offices, has acquired a most intimate and accurate knowledge of
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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
the topography, resources and agricultural possibilities of Norfolk county, information largely gained by travel thereover with chain and transit. Church, school, and home interests complete the activity of Mr. Portlock, a highly regarded citizen of South Norfolk, Norfolk county, descendant of an honored line.
Frank Livingston Portlock was born in Norfolk county, Virginia, September 6, 1859. As a boy he attended the public schools, and after hnishing his studies in these institu- tions became a teacher, at the same time continuing his advanced studies, and was thus engaged for nine years. Upon appoint- ment to a four years' term as road commis- sioner of Norfolk county, Mr. Portlock re- signed his position as teacher, and served through three successive reappointments, being in 1906 reappointed for the fourth con- secutive term. While serving under this last commission the law was changed which abolished the office and created the position of road engineer. Under the new law Mr. Portlock received the appointment as road engineer, holding that office until 1913. In this year he was appointed to his present position of agent of the farmers' cooperative work. The work consists of taking to the farmer, on his own farm, the improved meth- ods and explaining to him the right applica- tion of the fundamental principles in agri- culture. This work which Mr. Portlock is doing is an arrangement whereby the Fed- cral government cooperates with the state and local governments in his service to the farmer.
While road commissioner of Norfolk coun- ty, Mr. Portlock, to increase his efficiency in his position, took up the study of surveying and civil engineering, and was thus enabled to give his personal supervision to much of the work coming under his department that it would have been otherwise necessary to delegate to subordinates. Under his ad- ministration the condition of the roads of the county was vastly improved and miles of new highway were constructed, Mr. Port- lock directing their building in all parts of the county. He could usually be found, when especially important work was in operation, or when difficulties were en- countered. Such was the service he rendered to his native county, ceaselessly active. He is a dealer in real estate upon a wide scale. and has been particularly successful in the
conversion of suburban farms into resi- dential districts, choosing well his locations in regard to accessibility and attractiveness, and he has founded several popular home centers. He was instrumental in having the Berkley Street railway extended to Money Point, a manufacturing suburb of the city of Norfolk. He had the roads widened by procuring the land for the right of way. The extension of this railway has resulted in building up home sites and greatly en- hancing the values of all properties along its line. Mr. Portlock is himself the owner of a large farm, cultivated under his direction, in addition to the property he holds as in- vestments. Mr. Portlock is president of the Mutual Benefit Fire Insurance Association, insuring country property only on the as- sessment plan. The association comprises the territory of Norfolk, Princess Anne and Nansemond counties. He is a notary pub- lic, and was for several years a member of the Norfolk County Board of Education. He was for twenty years secretary of the Providence Christian Church, his devotion to which he inherits from his honored father. He formerly affiliated with Hickory Ground Lodge, No. 180, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he was master, but is now a mem- ber of Berkley Lodge, No. 167.
The work in which Mr. Portlock is en- gaged in cooperation with the agricultural department is one fully worthy of his talent and ability, for it is one that has as its aim the universal adoption of modern scientific methods in best conserving the natural wealth of the soil while at the same time ex- tracting therefrom its richest yield. Agri- culture as practiced by our fathers has passed to join other practices and institu- tions which have outlived their usefulness, and in the establishment of a new era in Norfolk county, Virginia, Mr. Portlock is playing an important part. His wide ac- quaintance and universal popularity facili- tate accomplishment in this line, and he has devoted himself thereto with the energetic faithfulness that has unfailingly character- ized his public service.
He married, November 2, 1898, Marion West. born in 1876, daughter of Leroy M. and Marion Lee (Hunter) West, of Nor- folk county, Virginia, and has children: Marion Hunter, born May 30, 1900; Eugenia Herbert, born February 4, 1906; Frank Liv- ingston, Jr., born July 18, 1908.
O . LPortock
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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
Clarence Jackson Campbell. The land on which Clarence Jackson Campbell, of this narrative, was born, in Amherst county, Vir- ginia, has been the property of the Campbell family for more than two centuries, three thousand acres in Rocky Creek Valley hav- ing been granted to Joel Campbell, the immigrant ancestor of the line, who came tc America from Scotland, the homeland, in the history of which country no name plays a more conspicuous part than that of Camp- bell. Here lived and died Lewis Campbell. the son of Joel Campbell, who received the estate upon the death of his father. Lewis Campbell married a member of the Monroe family to which President James Monroe be- longed, one of his sons being Joel Henry, of whom further, father of Clarence Jackson Campbell.
Joel Henry Campbell, son of Lewis Camp- bell, was born on the homestead in Amherst county. Virginia, in 1820, died there in 1887. Throughout his life he managed the old estate, engaged in the cultivation of its acres, and when war between the states broke out recruited a company in the vicin- ity, being elected its captain, and entered the Confederate service. He later fought in this conflict under Colonel Mosby. Joel Henry Campbell married Maria Louise, born in Amherst county, Virginia, daughter of Wil- liam A. Staples, a farmer and merchant of Amherst and Lynchburg, his wife dving in 1882. aged forty-eight years. Children of Joel Henry and Maria Louise (Staples) Campbell : Clarence Jackson. of whom fur- ther : Roxanna, married John Monroe Camp- bell, a first cousin, and resides in Roanoke, Virginia.
Clarence Jackson Campbell, son of Joel Henry and Maria Louise (Staples) Camp- bell. was born in Amherst county, Virginia, on the Campbell homestead, May 31, 1863. His home was on the farm until 1890, and he obtained his education in the Amherst high school (Kenmore), the Sunny Side high school at Bradford, and the Lexington Mili- tary Institute, whence he was graduated in 1884. He was then for three years a school teacher in the Amherst high school, where he had previously been a pupil, and for the eleven following years was surveyor of Am- herst county. While teaching school he had begun the study of law, gaining admission to the bar in 1894, and since that time has been engaged in practice with such regu-
larity as his public duties and business con- nections have permitted. In 1890 he became owner and editor of the "Amherst News," and is now rounding out a quarter of a cen- tury of successful ownership of this pros- perous journal. Mr. Campbell was elected to the Virginia legislature in 1891, holding a seat in that body until 1894, three years later being returned to that body and par- ticipating in the sessions of 1897 and 1898. During his latter term he was a member of the staff of Governor Tyler, and later re- ceived an appointment as judge of Amherst county, serving thus for five years. In the year that he was first elected a member of the Virginia legislature, Mr. Campbell was also elected to the constitutional convention, being present at all of the important delib- erations of that body. Mr. Campbell holds at: important position in the life of the county, exercising, personally and through the periodical of which he is owner, con- siderable influence, which has always been cast on the side of the right. As a public servant he has been willing and efficient, giving to the position or office of which he was the incumbent the best of his energies, talents and abilities, while in his business and professional enterprises he has been uni- formly successful. He is the owner of a farm extending to the corporate limits of Amherst, and he there resides, his home comfortable and attractive. He is a mem- ber of the Order of the Mystic Shrine, the Modern Woodmen of the World, and affili- ates with the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Campbell married, November 26, 1884, Sarah Freeman, born in Amherst, Vir- ginia, daughter of Captain Thomas W. and Sarah (Smith) Parr. her father an officer of the Confederate States army, her mother dying when her daughter was three years of age. Children of Clarence Jackson and Sarah Freeman (Parr) Campbell: Fannie Evelyn, died in infancy ; Moncure, post- master of Amherst, Virginia, under appoint- ment by President Wilson ; Mary L., mar- ried W. R. Pendleton, deceased, and resides with her brother at Amherst. Virginia ; Addie F., married H. R. Mills, associated with Mr. Campbell in the publishing of the "Amherst News:" Thomas Parr, local edi- tor of the "Amherst News:" Marguerite, married Edward Jones, of Lynchburg, Vir- ginia : Annie, lives at home ; Bland Massie. lives at home.
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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
Isaac Eldridge Huff, M. D. Isaac El- dridge Huff, a distinguished physician and citizen of Roanoke, Virginia, is a member of a Virginian family, and was born May 26, 1866, in Floyd county in that state. He is the son of Isaac and Addie E. (Kitterman) Huff, and a grandson of Isaac Huff, of Floyd county. To Isaac Huff, the father of Isaac E. Huff, and Mrs. Huff, were born six chil- dren besides our subject, as follows: G. B., a farmer ; Thomas B., a traveling salesman ; P. K., a farmer; Elizabeth, residing at the old Huff homestead with her mother; Julia A., now Mrs. Hurt, of Roanoke; Sallie, now Mrs. Knowland, also of that city.
Isaac Eldridge Huff obtained his educa- tion, first at the Oxford Academy, Virginia, under the tutelage of Dr. J. K. Harris, and later at the Glade Spring, Virginia, Acad- emy. Having completed his general educa- tion at these two institutions, he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Balti- more, from which he graduated with the class of 1892, taking the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Thereupon, after passing the examination of the state medical board, he returned to his native county and estab- lished himself there in the practice of his profession, continuing the same for eleven years, and for a major portion of that time served on the county board of health. In the years 1901 and 1902 he sojourned in the north, while he took a course of post-gradu- ate work at the New York City Polyclinic Hospital School, and in the latter year re- turned south and located in Roanoke, where lie has since carried on a large and lucrative practice. He is a member of the staff of the Roanoke City Hospital. He is the presi- dent of the Roanoke Academy of Medicine, which numbers the most prominent mem- bers of the profession in the city on its staff. Besides these offices directly connected with his practice, Dr. Huff is affiliated with a number of professional organizations, being a member of the Southwest Virginia Medical Society, and the Virginia State and Amer- ican Medical associations. He is a very conscientious student and practitioner and stands well in the front rank of his pro- fession, as well as in the social world of Roanoke. His prominence is not, however, confined to the medical circles of the city, and he has some very important financial interests there, being a member of the board of directors of the Roanoke Bank of Com- merce, and of the board of trustees of the
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