Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 42

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

USA > Virginia > Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V > Part 42

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Thomas Jefferson, born September 11, 1824, died in February, 1910; married Martha Smoot, of Scotland county, Missouri, a niece of William B. Downing, who reared her ; chil- dren : Edward, of Havre, Montana ; Thomas. William, deceased, John, Arthur, Harry, Mrs. E. T. Bogart, Peter Cooper, deceased. 8. Guy Lewis, born October 6, 1826; mar- ried, September 7, 1851, Marianna Davis; children : Edward, Thomas, Mrs. Fannie Elgin Alexander; Guy Lewis Broadwater resides in Oakland, California.

Arthur Broadwater, son of Charles Guy Broadwater, was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, and during the war between the states served as quartermaster under Gen- eral Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson, the famous Confederate leader. He married Catherine Bradley, who died in 1900, daugh- ter of Peter Bradley, and had children: 1sa- bel Fairfax, born in Fairfax, Virginia; Henry Arthur, born in Fairfax, Virginia; Richard Farr, served in the Confederate States army under Colonel Mosby; Guy, married Caroline Alford, and served in the same division of the Confederate army as his brother, Richard Farr; Charles Fox, of whom further. All living at the old home place, near Fairfax Court House, Virginia.

Charles Fox Broadwater, son of Arthur and Catherine (Bradley) Broadwater, was born at Fairfax, Virginia, June 30, 1870, and after attending private schools for a time finished his education in Bryant & Stratton's Busi- ness College. For three years after the com- pletion of his studies he was employed by the Theodore Weims Steamship Company, then became a traveling salesman for a house handling Texas coffee. He afterward changed his line to the sale of heavy hard- ware, in 1911 establishing in independent hardware dealings in Fairfax Court House, a venture which the three years just passed have plainly stamped with the mark of suc- cess. Mr. Broadwater fraternizes with the Junior Order of United American Me- chanics and the Masonic order, in the latter society belonging to Henry Lodge, No. 57. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he has been junior deacon. His polit- ical party is the Democratic. Mr. Broad- water is one of the substantial merchants of Fairfax Court House, his establishment having found public favor from the first. and in that pursuit he has prospered. He married, in October, 1910, Gertrude (Sill- man) Coe, widow of James E. Coe.

785

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

Samuel Cecil Bowen, M. D. The Bowens of Tazewell county, Virginia, trace their an- estry to Moses Bowen and Rebecca (Reese) Bowen, his wife, who emigrated to this country with a large company from Wales bout 1698, and settled in Massachusetts, rom whence they later removed to Mont- gomery county, Pennsylvania, where they pent the remainder of their days. A branch of this family came south at an early day, ettling first in Delaware, then in western Maryland and northern Virginia.

John Bowen, son of Moses and Rebecca (Reese) Bowen, was a man of considerable wealth for that day. He married Lilly Mc- Ilhaney, whose family emigrated from Ire- and, and they migrated to Augusta county, Virginia, about 1730, at that time a frontier settlement. They were the parents of twelve children: 1. Moses, died of small-pox while jerving in the Virginia Colonial army. 2. John, married Rachel Mathew. 3. Jane, married (first) a Mr. Cunningham, and (sec- nd) a Mr. Loring. 4. Nancy, married Archie Buchanan. 5. Rebecca, married a Mr. Whitley. 6. Henry, served in the revo- utionary war; married Anne Cunningham. . Arthur, married Mary McMurry. 8. Rob- rt, married Mary Gillespie. 9. Mary, mar- 'ied a Mr. Poston. 10. Charles, served in he revolutionary war, married Nancy Gil- espie. II. William, of whom further. 12. Reese, of whom further.

Captain William Bowen, son of John and Lilly (McIlhaney) Bowen, gained his title y service in the revolutionary war. He narried Mary Henley Russell, daughter of General William Russell, by his first wife, Tabitha (Adams) Russell, his second wife having been the widow of General William Campbell, the hero of Kings Mountain, and before her marriage was Elizabeth Henry, ister of Patrick Henry. Children: 1. Colo- el John H. Bowen, who was a noted law- er and a representative in congress from Tennessee for several years. 2. Catherine, narried David Campbell, brother of Gov- rnor Campbell, of Virginia, and their son, William Bowen Campbell, was elected gov- rnor of Tennessee, serving from 1851 to 853.

Captain Reese Bowen, son of John and illy (McIlhaney) Bowen, served in the evolutionary war, there earning his title nd rank. He was one of the first settlers f Tazewell county, Virginia, locating at VIR-50

Maiden Spring, about 1772, where he owned a vast estate, which is still in the possession of his descendants, having been owned by a Reese Bowen for five generations. He was killed at the battle of Kings Mountain, Oc- tober 7, 1780. He married Levisa Smith, and they were the parents of eight children : I. Reese, married his cousin, Rebecca Bowen, no children. 2. Nancy, married Major John Ward; left a large family. 3. Peggy, mar- ried Thomas Gillespie; left a large family. 4. Rebecca, married a Mr. Duff. 5. Tilly, married a Mr. Hildreth ; they went to Ken- tucky, where many of their descendants are residing at the present time. 6. Louisa, mar- ried William Thompson ; left a large family, and many of their descendants reside in Tazewell county, Virginia, at the present time. 7. John, married a Miss Gillespie, and left one daughter. 8. Henry, of whom fur- ther.

Colonel Henry Bowen, son of Captain Reese and Levisa (Smith) Bowen, was an officer of a Virginia regiment during the second war with Great Britain, 1812-14, and also served his state in the legislature and state senate. He married Eleanor Tate, niece of General William Campbell, and they were the parents of five children: I. Ellen, married a Mr. Taylor. 2. Jane, mar- ried Captain Edmundson. 3. Louisa, mar- ried Dr. John W. Johnston, a brother of General Joseph E. Johnston, of the Con- federate army, and they had one son, Judge John W. Johnston, who was United States senator from Virginia, and who married Nicketi Floyd, daughter of Governor John Floyd, brother of Governor John B. Floyd, and they were the parents of five children : Dr. George Benjamin Johnston, ex-presi- dent of the American Surgical Association ; Joseph E: Johnston; Lavalette Johnston, who married a Mr. McMullin; Sallie John- ston, who married Captain Henry Lee, brother of General Fitzhugh Lee; William Johnston. 4. Henry, who gained the title of colonel, married a Miss Black, of Mont- gomery county, Virginia; no children. 5. Reese Tate, of whom further.

General Reese Tate Bowen, son of Colo- nel Henry and Eleanor (Tate) Bowen, was one of the most distinguished members of this family of distinguished men. He served his state as a member of the house of dele- gates, as state senator and as congressman from the ninth Virginia district. He served

786

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

in the Mexican war and in the war between the states, obtaining the rank of general. He owned and operated an extensive stock farm in Tazewell county, Virginia and was a man of great influence in that section of the state. He married Louisa Peery, of Tazewell county, Virginia, and they were the parents of six children: [. Reese Tate, of whom further. 2. Captain Henry, ex- United States congressman from the ninth Virginia district. 3. Thomas P., who served as major in the war between the states. 4. Hattie, who became the wife of John G. Watts. 5. Jane, who became the wife of a Mr. Gruver. 6. Louisa, who became the wife of Jerome P. Kroll.

Reese Tate (2) Bowen, son of General Reese Tate (1) and Louisa (Peery) Bowen, was born on the old Bowen homestead, in Tazewell county, Virginia, and is residing there at the present time, a prosperous stock farmer of that famous "Blue Grass" region. He entered the Confederate army at the age of sixteen years, was twice wounded, once in the side and once in the head. He mar- ried Mary A., youngest daughter of Hon. Thompson Crockett, of Wythe county, Vir- ginia. Children: 1. Sallie L., became the wife of S. J. Thompson. 2. Henry S., mar- ried a Miss Mustard. 3. Thompson Crock- ett, a lawyer of Tazewell county, Virginia ; married a Miss Hoge. 4. Reese Tate, mar- ried a Miss Ward. 5. Samuel Cecil, of whom further. 6. Mary, became the wife of H. A. Bowen, a lawyer of Tazewell, Vir- ginia. 7. Rachel, unmarried. 8. Jane Mc- Donald, became the wife of Senator J. P. Royall.

Dr. Samuel Cecil Bowen, son of Reese Tate (2) and Mary A. (Crockett) Bowen, was born on the old homestead in Taze- well county, Virginia, May 15, 1881. He was from the age of eight years taught pri- vately at home by a tutor, preparing in that manner for college. He entered Hampden- Sidney College in 1898, where he remained for two years, winning the prize scholar- ship in 1899. He attended the Ohio State University, session of 1900-01, entered the Medical College of Virginia in the fall of 1901, and was graduated Doctor of Medi- cine, class of 1905, taking high honors and during his senior year was president of the student body. Immediately after his gradu- ation he became resident physician at the Memorial Hospital, Richmond, continuing there eighteen months. He was then asso-

ciated in practice with Dr. George Ben Johnston, surgeon, and later spent three years at the New York Eye and Ear In- firmary, New York City, where he served in the capacity of house surgeon. He then returned to Richmond, and in association with Dr. R. H. Wright began the special practice of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He was instructor of ophthalmo- logy and otology at the Medical College of Virginia, 1912-13, and since the amalgama- tion of the University College of Medicine with the Medical College of Virginia has been associate professor of laryngology. Dr. Bowen has devoted himself with all his energy to mastering the difficult features of his profession, and is one of the rising young physicians of Richmond, already well estab- lished in public favor. He is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Tri- State Medical Society, the Medical Society of Virginia, the Richmond Academy of Medicine, Tazewell County Medical Society, Kappa Sigma and Pi Mu fraternities. Dr. Bowen is unmarried.

James Ashby Moncure. James Ashby Moncure, a well-known business man of Richmond, is descended from an early Vir- ginia family, long identified with Stafford county, where the home of the family has continued down to the present time. By various intermarriages its blood has been mingled with many other old and promi- nent families of the state. The founder of the family in this country was Rev. John Moncure, a native of the parish of Kinoff, county Mearns (now county Kincardine), Scotland. He was born about 1709-10, came to Virginia in 1733-34, and was a teacher in Northumberland county, Virginia. He pur- sued the study of theology, and in 1737 re- turned to England, where he was ordained to the Protestant Episcopal priesthood. In the same year he came to Virginia, and was made assistant to Rev. Alexander Scott, rector of Aquia Church, Overwharton, Staf- ford county, Virginia. Within a short time the rector died, and Mr. Moncure was in- stalled as his successor. He died early in March, 1764, and was buried under the chancel of Aquia Church, Stafford county. He married, June 18, 1741, Frances Brown, born July 29, 1713, daughter of Dr. Gus- tavus and Frances (Fowke) Brown, of Rich Hill, Charles county, Maryland. The last- named was a daughter of Colonel Gerard

James ashby Mouture

787

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

and Sarah (Burdet) Fowke, and grand- daughter of Roger Fowke, of Gunston Hall, Stafford, England.

Rev. John Moncure and wife were the parents of five children, of whom the second was John, born January 22, 1747, at "Dip- ple," in Stafford county. He resided at "Clermont," in the same county. He mar- ried, about 1770. Anne Conway, born about 1750, daughter of George and Ann (Heath) Conway, of Wicomico, Virginia. George Conway was a great-grandson of Edwin Conway, of Wigon, county Worcester, Eng- land, who came to Virginia about 1640, and died in Lancaster, 1675. His wife Martha was a daughter of Richard Eltonhead, of Lancashire, England. Their son, Edwin, was the father of Edwin Conway, whose son was George Conway, above-named.

The eldest son of John and Anne Mon- cure was John Moncure, born November I, 1772, at "Dipple." He was justice of the peace in 1796, sheriff in 1798, a vestryman, treasurer and lay delegate of the Protestant Episcopal church, in which he was a very active member. He married, February 21. 1792, Alice Peachy Gaskins, born 1774, died at "Chestnut Hill," Stafford county, May 9, 1860, daughter of Colonel Thomas and Han- nah (Hull) Gaskins, of Wicomico. The Gaskins family is of French origin, coming from Gascony, France, where the name was spelled Gascoyne. The immigrant came to Virginia as early as 1636. Colonel Thomas Gaskins was a very prominent citizen of Stafford county, where he served as justice of the peace and sheriff.

John (3) Moncure, son of John (2) and Alice P. (Gaskins) Moncure, was born De- cember 24, 1793, at "Clermont," and be- came a very prominent man in Stafford county. He served in the war of 1812, in Captain John C. Edrington's company, Forty-fifth Regiment of Virginia Militia. Stafford county. In 1834 he was elected a member of the Virginia state legislature. and in 1837 was a presidential elector for his state, voting for Martin Van Buren. He was also the founder of the Fredericksburg & Falmouth Marine and Fire Insurance Company, in 1833. He married (first) Octo- ber 28, 1818, Esther Vowles, born 1795, died June 11, 1833, daughter of Colonel Harry Vowles, of the revolutionary army. He mar- ried (second) July, 1834, Frances Daniel, born 1797, died September 11, 1871, daugh- ter of Travers and Mildred (Stone) Daniel

George Vowles Moncure, father of James Ashby Moncure, was the third son of the first wife, and was born July 31, 1826, at Som- erset, Stafford county, resided at "Chelsea," in that county, and died in August, 1904. He was a farmer and a prominent man in the county, being sent to the state legislature for four terms. He married, November 29, 1849, Mary Ashby, daughter of Turner and Dorothea (Green) Ashby, of Rosebank (now Markham Station), Fauquier county, where she was born January 26, 1830, sister of General Turner Ashby, of Confederate fame. She died in December, 1897. The Ashby family descends from Edward, son of Ed- mund Ashby, who settled about 1700 in what is now Fauquier county, Virginia. His second son, Robert Ashby, born about 1710, died in 1792, in Fauquier county, sur- viving his wife. He resided near Delaplane and was the father of Captain John Ashby, born about 1750, in Fauquier county, who served in the Third Virginia Regiment of the Continental line throughout the revolu- tionary war. His wife was a Turner, and they were the parents of Colonel Turner Ashby, who resided at "Rosebank," Fau- quier county, Virginia, and commanded a regiment in the war of 1812. He was born August 3, 1789, at "Belmont," in Fauquier county, and married, October 26, 1820, Dorothea Farrer Green, daughter of James and Elizabeth P. Green, of Rappahannock county, Virginia. They were the parents of Mary Ashby, wife of George Vowles Mon- cure. To this couple were born fourteen children, six of whom died in infancy. The names of those who survived are as follows : Turner Ashby, born March 26, 1851, now of Bakersfield, California ; John, February 14, 1853, a farmer in Stafford county ; George, August 26, 1855, married Elizabeth Ford, and is a farmer in Stafford county ; Robert Stribling, March 1, 1857, married Elizabeth Dexter, and is also a farmer in Stafford county ; James Ashby, of further mention ; Bettie Ashby, born June 27, 1862, married Michael Wallace Moncure, of Stafford county ; Richard Ashby, February 4, 1864, a California rancher ; Walter Raleigh Dan- iel.

James Ashby Moncure was born at "Chel- sea," Stafford county, Virginia, February 24, 1861. He obtained his education in pri- vate schools and later at the Fredericks- burg Military Academy. After leaving school. he obtained a position as clerk with

788

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

J. B. Ficklen & Sons, merchant millers of Fredericksburg, and here he remained two years. Upon the expiration of this time he removed to Richmond, and there, in 1882, became the shipping clerk for H. M. Smith & Company, later going with J. C. Shafer. In 1888 he became a wholesale grocer on his own account. In 1897 Mr. Moncure and three of his business associates established the Richmond Guano Company, of which he became secretary and treasurer, but in a few years assumed entire charge of this successful firm. This business, under Mr. Moncure's capable management, has grown from the most modest beginnings until it is now one of the largest of its kind in the South. Mr. Moncure's business and finan- cial associations are many and varied, and besides the Richmond Guano Company, he is a director and stockholder in the Rich- mond Structural Steel Company and Rich- mond Trust & Savings Company and the Fidelity Loan and Savings Company. He was appointed, in 1915, when this system was organized, by the secretary of the United States treasury, one of the three directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, district No. 5, and deputy Fed- eral reserve agent, the appointment having been made without solicitation on his part or his previous knowledge. Mr. Moncure has been active in public affairs for a num- ber of years. He is a Democrat, was elected an alderman for six years on that ticket. He married, in Richmond, October 28, 1897, Maria Gray, a native of that place, a grand- daughter of the late William Gray, a very successful tobacconist of Richmond, and. a daughter of Herbert and Sue (Flippin) Gray. Herbert Gray died in 1906, at the age of fifty-five, and is survived by his widow, who is now a resident of Richmond. To Mr. and Mrs. Moncure have been born four children, as follows: James Ashby, Sep- tember 15, 1899; Julia Gray, December 15, 1901; Maria Ashby, September 23, 1903; George V., November 22, 1907. Mr. Mon- cure and his family are communicants of St. James Episcopal Church, of which he is a vestryman. He is a member of the West- . moreland Club and at this writing (1915) is its vice-president.

Massie Family. The Massie family of Vir- ginia is one of the distinguished old houses of that state, whose name has become in- separably identified with its history and

tradition, and with the stirring record of the long years of struggle with the wilderness which resulted in the successful coloniza- tion of this land of ours, and the no less bitter conflict with the oppressive powers ranged against us in the land of our origin, culminating in the revolution, the birth of a new nation and the brilliant and inspired yet painstaking development of the young republic's institutions during our early days. As a family, indeed, the Massies have a longer history in the old world than in America. long as is the latter, and may be traced back to one Hamo de Mascie, who came to England from Normandy in the train of William the Conqueror. The name has been variously spelt during its long de- scent ; Mascie, Massey, Massy, etc., down to its present form, preserved with tolerable uniformity in this country, and in the Massies of Coddington, a branch of the family still to be found in Cheshire, Eng- land. Hamo de Mascie was evidently a man of considerable importance among the Con- queror's followers, and was accorded the overlordship of some ten or twenty cities after the overthrow of the Saxons and the establishment of Norman sovereignty in England. From this time onward, we come upon the name frequently in the old chron- icles, and always representing a family of blood and lineage. One of the most dis- tinguished men of the name was the cele- brated General Massie of the civil wars in England, a son of John Massie and Anne (Grosvenor) Massie, of Coddington. It is not the purpose of this sketch, however, to follow the career of this distinguished line in England, a very interesting account of which may be found in Ormerod's "History of Cheshire." The Massie arms are de- scribed by Burke in his work on heraldry in the now almost unintelligible language of that gentle science, as "Ar. a pile, quarterly gu. & or .; in the field quarter a lion pass. of the field. Crest-Between two trees a lion salient ar."

(I) The first member of the Massie fam- ily to appear in the new world was Alex- ander Massie, who set sail on the good ship "Primrose" from Gravesend and bound for the colony of Virginia, July 27, 1635. This is according to Hotton's "List of Emi- grants," and is about all we know of this Massie save that a grant of land was made him, or a son of the same name, on Febru- ary 23, 1663, hy Sir William Berkeley, the

789

VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

governor of Virginia. This grant consisted of four hundred acres in Accomac county in reward for his service to the colony in trans- porting a party of immigrants thither. "The said land being due to the said Massy by Transportation of Eight persons."

(II) Peter Massie seems to have been the head of the house in this country, in the generation succeeding Alexander, unless we count the Alexander, who received the four hundred acres just referred to as the son of the emigrant. But of Peter Massie we know even less than of his predecessor. Nothing in short, save that on October 23, 1690, and on November 6, 1700, he was the recipient of two grants of land of eight hundred and fifty-five and three hundred acres respec- tively, in the one case for the transporta- tion of eighteen persons, and in the other of six persons, to the colony of Virginia. Indeed the records of these first American Massies are most inadequate and serve little more than to establish with comparative certainty the order of descent, and to dis- close to us the fact that they were already people of prominence in the colony, actively engaged in colonization and becoming large landowners in consequence.

(III) Of Captain Thomas Massie, who appears to have been the son of Peter Massie, just referred to, we have a much larger fund of information. The date of his birth we do not know, but he rose to great prominence in the colony, and left his name attached to a number of records and docu- ments which throw considerable light on his person. He was, it would seem, one of the great rural gentleman who collectively formed a sort of aristocracy of blood and culture, one of the most benign aristocracies the world has ever seen, and which was among the most determined of all the peo- ple of Virginia in resisting foreign tyranny, and contributed to the cause of freedom some of the greatest democrats who ever lived. This aristocracy, if so it may be called, has scarcely even to-day passed away in Virginia, and is perhaps one of the most potent factors in preserving in that state. more than elsewhere, the associations and traditions of a generous age that is gone, in a form so vital as to exercise an instant influence in forming the character of the present generation. Thomas Massie not only owned a large landed estate but, like his forebears, added greatly to it by grant and purchase, his total additions amount-

ing to upwards of twenty-eight thousand acres. The dates of the grants were as fol- lows: November 13, 1721; November 2, 1726; October 13, 1727. He purchased, May 19, 1727, from John Woodson, four hun- dred acres. His home was apparently in St. Peter's Parish, New Kent county, and he was vestryman of that church in 1704 and a church warden in 1726. That he was a man of parts and well thought of by his neighbors, is shown by the fact that he was elected in 1723 to the Virginia assembly or house of burgesses for New Kent county, the first elective body in the United States and the prototype of so much to follow, and served until 1726. His death, according to the St. Peter Parish records, occurred March 2, 1731. He married, March 23, 1698-99, Mary Walker.

(IV) William Massie, Colonel William Massie as he is generally known, was born May 28, 1718, died 1749. He was not quite so conspicuous a member of the community as was his father. He is recorded in the St. Peter's parish records as having succeeded his father as vestryman of the church, on the latter's death, and was elected church warden, November 13, 1744. It is obvious from the records that he continued to reside all his life in his father's old home in that parish, as his death is noted there. He was burgess of New Kent county, 1748. He was married to Martha Macon, born August 12, 1722, died August 8, 1759, a daughter of Colonel William Macon, born November II, 1694, married Mary Hartwell, September 24, 1719, and died November 1, 1773, and thus introduced into his family the blood of a French family not less distinguished than his own. The earliest mention of the Macon name occurs in the account of the knight- ing of one Jouserand de Macon in the Saone- Loire country of France, where they seem to have originated. A little later there is also mention of one Louis de Macon and Gabriel, his son, who were evidently the possessors of large estates, although the exact location of these does not appear. The connection between these members of the old French aristocracy, and the Macon fam- ily of Virginia, is somewhat hazy, but the balance of evidence is in favor of a direct line of descent. The family of Macon be- came Huguenot in belief at some period not ascertained, and it is only in the seventeenth century that we reach an ancestor, from whom the present house is directly trace-

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 42

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