Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 47

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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Mr. Millar married, October 2, 1882, Ber- tha Riedel, born in Heidelberg, Germany, December 25, 1857, daughter of Jacob and Susanna (Krahm) Riedel. Children of Sam- uel Rolfe and Bertha ( Riedel) Millar: Susan Bertha, born May 1, 1884; Florence Millar, born in Leipsic, July 12, 1887 ; Samuel Rolfe, Jr., born in Leipsic, Germany, February 12, 1889, B. A. and B. L., Washington and Lee University ; Bertha, born August 5, 1893. His daughters are members of the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution and Colo- nial Dames, securing membership through the services of their ancestors in the Indian and Revolutionary wars.

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Campbell Bascom Slemp, M. C. From page to congressman is not unknown in American politics, but such a record is rare. The entire political record of Congressman Slemp, however, is unusual, he being first elected to congress to fill a vacancy caused by the death of his father, Campbell Slemp, who served in the fifty-eighth, fifty-ninth and sixtieth congresses, dying in office. The father was an officer of the Confederate States army and gave his best to the cause. The Slemps were early settlers of Lee coun- ty, Virginia, three intermarrying with the Garwoods and Reads of old Virginia ancestry.

Campbell Slemp, son of Sebastian Smith and Margaret (Read) Slemp, was born at Turkey Cove, Lee county, Virginia, De- cember 2, 1839, died October 13, 1907. He was educated in private schools until 1856, when he entered Emory and Henry College, attending that institution until his gradua- tion in 1859. He became a farmer and real estate dealer, but gave much time to the public service. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confedcrate States army, a captain of a com- pany of the Twenty-first Virginia Battalion, and became lieutenant-colonel, later was commissioned colonel of the Sixty-fourth Regiment, Virginia Infantry and Cavalry combined. He served until the surrender at Appomattox, then returned to his farm and business in Lee county. He was a Repub- lican in politics and in 1879 was elected to the Virginia legislature and reelected in 1881, but was defeated in 1883. In 1889 he was a candidate for lieutenant-governor of Virginia on the Mahone ticket, in 1888 was a presidential elector on the Harrison ticket, and on the Mckinley ticket was elector in 1896. He was one of the leaders of his party in Virginia, and in November, 1902, was the successful candidate for congress from the ninth congressional district of Vir- ginia. He took his seat, March 4, 1903, as a member of the fifty-eighth congress, and served with such acceptability that he was returned to the fifty-ninth congress and again to the sixtieth, but only served in the latter body from March 4, 1907, until his death at Big Stone Gap, Virginia, October 13, of that year. He was a man of culture, gifted in mind and speech, highly respected by even his opponents, and left behind him a name without reproach. He married, in 1864, Nanny B., daughter of Morris and Margaret Cawood ; children : Campbell Bas- com, of whom further ; Jennie.

Campbell Bascom Slemp, only son of Campbell and Nanny B. (Cawood) Slemp, was born in Lee county, Virginia, Septem- ber 4, 1870. He obtained his early edu- cation in private schools, entered Virginia Military Institute at age of sixteen years and was graduated therefrom in the class of 1900. He was commandant of cadets at Marion Military Institute for one year and adjunct professor of mathematics at Virginia Military Institute resigning the latter posi- tion in 1901. He studied law at the University of Virginia and has since his admission to the bar been actively engaged in legal prac- tice connected principally with coal lands and real estate. While a boy he had served as page in the Virginia house of asembly during the session of 1881-82. In 1905 he was elected chairman of the Virginia Re- publican state committee having been active in political work and having displayed qual- ities of leadership that rendered his services valuable. He continued at the head of the state committee until by unanimous con- sent reelected in 1908 and was again unani- mously chosen March 12, 1912. On Decem- ber 17, 1907, he was elected representative from the ninth Virginia congressional dis- trict to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his father, Campbell Slemp, and he took his seat in the sixtieth congress, January 6, 1908, and after serving out the term was elected to succeed himself. He served dur- ing the life of the sixty-first congress, March 4, 1909, to March 4, 1911, was again chosen to succeed himself in the sixty- second and the sixty-third congresses. He has gained honorable distinction as a national legislature, has been honored by his party leaders with important congressional assignments, and is a tower of strength to his party in his own state and in the nation. Mr. Slemp is president of the Slemp Coal Company, president of the Hamilton Realty Company, and has other important business interests. He is a member of the board of visitors of the United States Naval Acad- emy, member of the Army and Navy Club, and of the Country Club of Washington. He married Roberta, daughter of E. H. Bar- ton, of Louisiana. The family home is at Big Stone Gap, Virginia.

Granville Philip Parks. Probably the greatest compliment that can be paid to a man is that he made himself an honor to his nation in that sphere of life to which he

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was called, and that compliment can be paid in full measure to the late Granville Philip Parks, of Virginia. He was rigidly honest in his dealings with the business world, and in fact in all his relations with life, and through his geniality and sociabil- ity he acquired numerous friends. All his actions were influenced by kindly considera- tion for others. He was a man who was ever striving upward, never satisfied with the smaller things of life, but always com- bining his talents and perseverance to help him reach a higher goal. His family was one of the old ones in this country. There was a Parke or Parks among the early set- tlers of Tazewell county, Virginia, and from him all of those bearing the name at the present time are descended. In association with a friend named Burke, he settled at what is now Burke's Garden, which was named in honor of this friend. Tradition has it that they bartered their land for a few horses, and were subsequently slain by the Indians.

Martin Parks, a descendant of this early settler, was born November 16, 1768, and died March 16, 1840. He was the proprietor of a plantation and a number of slaves in Amherst county, Virginia, and his entire life was spent on this landed estate. Mr. Parks married, October 27, 1801, Nancy O. Goode, of Charlotte, North Carolina, who was born August 17, 1781, and died Febru- ary 21, 1855. They became the parents of children as follows: 1. William Henry, born October 27, 1802; married and moved to Texas; died in March, 1862. 2. Samuel Goode, born March 14, 1804, died January 19, 1872; married Amanda Burks and had three children. 3. Mary Collier, born July 4, 1805, died unmarried, November 26, 1883. 4. Elizabeth Gaines, born May 10, 1807. 5. Waldin Burwell, born March 21, 1809; mar- ried and moved to Texas. 6. John Martin, born March 19, 1812, died in March, 1862; married and moved to Texas. 7. Sarah Ann Susanna, born April 24, 1814, died May 27, 1859; married Whiting Davis and had three sons and four daughters. 8. Lucy Amanda, born January 9, 1816; married Richard Jones and had three sons: Richard, John and Thomas. 9. Milton M., born April 17, 1818. 10. Gaines Winslow, born May 7, 1820. II. Caroline T., born December 27, 1821, never married. 12. Nancy Margaret, born June 7, 1824, died young. 13. Gran- ville Philip, of further mention.

Granville Philip Parks was born on the Parks homestead, in Amherst county, Vir- ginia, August 8, 1829, and died there, Janu- ary 19, 1872, in the prime of life. As the management of all the property was en- trusted to him by his mother after the death of his father, he found it advisable to remove to the home plantation with his family, so as to be able to make personal supervision whenever necessary. A large portion of his time was devoted to the cultivation of tobacco, in which enterprise he was very successful. In addition to this he became greatly interested in railroad contract work, and was extensively identified with this for some years prior to his death. Upon the outbreak of the civil war Mr. Parks enlisted in the Confederate army, and was an active participant in many of the most important battles of this momentous struggle. He married, in December, 1850, Laura Fulton Ogden, and they had children: I. Lucy Armstead, born April 8, 1853; married, De- cember 1, 1870, W. J. Cooper, deceased. 2. Nannie Goode, born in June, 1856; married, in 1882, Henry B. Jennings, and had: An- drew, Laura, Henry B., Parks, Nannie, Frank, Lottie, Ethel and Strube. 3. Frank Oscar, born January 9, 1858; married Cleopatra Douglas, and had : Robert, Laura, Jessie and Frank O. 4. Granville Beaure- gard, born May 7, 1861; married Lizzie Burks. 5. Mary Frances, born in 1863. 6. William J., born September 2, 1866, now de- ceased. 7. Georgie A., born October 25, 1870; married Edward Carrington Beasley and had: Bessie Bane, who married D. Stewart Carter, of Roanoke, Virginia ; Henry Carrington and Mary Fulton. The line of descent of Mrs. Parks is as follows :

John Ogden was a wealthy farmer, who owned a large amount of land. He married Coppage, and they had children : Walter, James, William, Lunsford, Arm- stead Haden, of further mention; Sarah, Louise, Harriet, Lizzie.

Rev. Armstead Haden Ogden, son of John and - (Coppage) Ogden, was a Bap- tist preacher of considerable note. He lived on a fine farm in Amherst county, and culti- vated this throughout the active years of his life, his death occurring at about the age of eighty years. He married Martha A. White, who survived her husband a num- ber of years. They had children: William, who died young ; John, James and Paul, also died young ; Silas, twin brother of Paul,

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married Dollie Davis; George, died in the Confederate service during the civil war; Frances, married Oliver P. Jones; Laura Fulton, married Granville Philip Parks, as above mentioned ; Lucie Ann, married John Tompkins; Mary Jane, married William Noell; Katherine Ellen, married William Alexander Mathews; Sophia Amanda, mar- ried John Norfolk.

James Gaston Dunsmore. James Gaston Dunsmore, the distinguished educator of Staunton, Virginia, whose name has been associated longer than that of almost any other with the teaching of business methods in the United States, the founder of the Dunsmore Business College, Inc., is of Scotch origin. The first form of the name is stated to have been "Dinsmoor," after which appear the variations, Dinsmore, Dinsmuir, Dunsmore, and yet another vari- ation, sometimes found in Scotland, Dun- mure.

The Dunsmore family history, in so far as it is known, dates back to about 1600 Rev. Dr. John W. Dinsmore, D. D., of Bloomington, Illinois, gives as the probable origin of the patronymic: "I have no doubt but that the original ancestor wrote (if he could write) 'Dunsemoor' (dunse, a little hill, and moor, heath). He probably lived on, or by, a little hill at the edge of the heath or moor." The first known man to whom reference can now be made lived in the south of Scotland, near the river Tweed, bore the name Dinsmoor, and was known as the Laird of Achenmead. His youngest son, John Dinsmoor, born about 1650, be- came the ancestor of the family settled in the parish of Ballywattick, Ballymoney, county Antrim, Ireland, from whom all the American families of Dinsmore and Duns- more are descended. This original Irish settler lived to the great age of ninety-nine. He gained high standing in his community as a man of good morals, strong sense and a pious life. A description of the coat-of- a1ms, written by Robert Dinsmore, of Bally- wattick, on August 12, 1794, to his kinsman, is given as follows: "A farm laid down on a plate, of a green color, with three wheat sheaves set upright in the centre, of a yellow color," all emblematical of husbandry and agriculture.

John (2) Dinsmoor, son of John (1) Dins- moor, was born in Ballywattick, Ireland, about 1671, and in 1723, accompanied by his

family, came to this country. After going through long hardships, being taken pris- oner by the Indians, and having numerous adventures, he located in the Scottish settle- ment of Londonderry, New Hampshire, being acquainted with many of the settlers there. Being a stonemason, he built for himself a stone house in that part of the town which is now known as Windham.

Robert Dinsmoor, son of John (2) Dins- moor, was born in Ireland in 1692, married Margaret Orr in Ireland, and with his wife and four children came to New Hampshire in 1730. He was prominent in the affairs of the town in which he located, and filled various public positions. He died October 14, 1751, and his wife died June 2, 1752.

James Dunsmore, probably related to the above ancestry, was a native of Ireland, and settled at Sinks Grove, Monroe county, Vir- ginia, in the earlier years of 1700. He mar- ried and was the father of three sons : James, Joseph, William.

James (2) Dunsmore, son of James (1) Dunsmore, was married twice, and of the first marriage there was one child, who died in infancy. His second wife, Margaret (Reed) Dunsmore, bore him seven children : Elizabeth, John, Margaret, Hannah, George Washington, Andrew Lewis, Mary Ann. The sons were all farmers, and the daugh- ters all became farmers' wives, and the en- tire family connection settled in the imme- diate neighborhood where James (1) Duns- more located.

George Washington Dunsmore, son of James (2) Dunsmore, was a prominent farmer, and held for many years the offices of justice of the peace and county super- visor. He married Amanda Melvina Crews, and they were the parents of two children : James Gaston, and Mary Martha, who be- came the wife of James W. Ellis, of Wolf Creek, West Virginia, and of this marriage there were two children: Lula Elner and Mabel. Mrs. Ellis died in 1892.

James Gaston Dunsmore, son of George Washington Dunsmore, was born October 22, 1848, at Sinks Grove, Monroe county, Virginia, now West Virginia. His child- hood was spent on his father's farm, where he performed the work of a farmer's boy be- tween the times given to education. This was obtained at the Rocky Point Academy of his native town, where he employed his time to such advantage that at the age of sixteen he was given a position as assistant

Very sincerely OG Densmore,

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teacher in the academy. In 1872 he accepted the position of principal of the same institu- tion, but shortly after gave up teaching to take a course in the Eastman National Busi- ness College at Poughkeepsie, New York, from which he graduated with the degree of Master of Accounts. The post-graduate degree of Fellow of the Institute of Ac- counts of New York City was also con- ferred upon him in April, 1896. His inter- ests were completely enlisted in the pro- fession and he determined upon it as his life work in spite of the opposition of his parents. He taught for some time in the public schools of Monroe, and founded at Sinks Grove, February 22, 1872, the Duns- more Business College. Here he remained for eight years or until the spring of 1880, when he removed to Staunton, Virginia, and there reestablished his commercial school. It was incorporated by the legislature of Virginia and its charter approved by Gov- ernor Cameron, November 29, 1884, and re- incorporated by the department of the state corporation commission, February 20, 1914, as the Dunsmore Business College, Incor- porated. With the ever growing impor- tance of the industrial and commercial ele- ments in the life of to-day, the business col- lege is coming to occupy a larger and more conspicuous place in the educational world, and among such schools there are few older and none with a higher or more deserved reputation for high ideals and efficiency than The Dunsmore Business College, In- corporated.

Mr. Dunsmore is a Presbyterian in re- ligion, and a Democrat in politics. He is prominently affiliated with the Masonic order, being a member of the Blue Lodge, No. 13; Union Chapter, No. 2, Royal Arch Masons, of Staunton, and Stevenson Com- mandery, No. 8, Knights Templar. Mr. Dunsmore is also a member of many edu- cational associations and learned societies. He has done considerable traveling, and is a member of the National Geographic Society.

Mr. Dunsmore married (first) February 8, 1872, S. E. Nickell, and they were the par- ents of eight children; she died April 19, 1890. He married (second) September 8. 1892, Mrs. M. J. McClung, granddaughter of Robert Sitlington, deceased, daughter of J. W. Alexander, deceased, both prominent farmers of McDowell, Highland county, Virginia, and a half-sister of the late Pro-

fessor J. R. S. Sterrett, deceased, who held the chair of post-graduate Greek and Archaeology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, at the time of his death, June 15, 1914.

William Alexander Thom, M. D. On the narrow peninsula lying between the Atlan- tic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, two miles from the sea and about forty-five miles from Norfolk, lies the town of Eastville, capital of Northampton county, Virginia, the birth- place of Dr. William A. Thom and the scene of his early struggles as a practitioner of medicine. The experience there gained was the foundation upon which he built a won- derfully successful and varied career, one pursued amid scenes far from his native state and in foreign lands and one ending in distinction in the city of Norfolk, not far from his native town.

Dr. William Alexander Thom was born in Eastville, Virginia, in 1852, died in Nor- folk, 1894. His early life was spent in his native town and there he began his years of study that terminated at the Virginia Military Institute. After completing his studies at the latter famed institution he began a course of professional study at Richmond Medical College, whence he was graduated Doctor of Medicine. Returning to Eastville after graduation he there began practice, but later went west, locating in Los Angeles, California, there spending sev- cral years in successful practice. Induce- ments were then offered him, which were so attractive that he closed up his interests there and went to Peru, South America, where he served in the capacity of head physician of a large hospital in one of the principal cities of that country. Finally he returned to his native state, locating in Norfolk, where he established a private practice that steadily grew until his death in 1894 at the early age of forty-two years. His varied experience in different climes brought him in contact with every form of disease and he attained a personal knowledge that far transcends that of the physicians whose experience is gained in one locality. Norfolk, being a port open to the ships of every nation, required such a man to safeguard the health of her citizens and Dr. Thom was appointed health officer of the city. He fought contagion in every form and during his incumbency in that office kept the city from serious epi- demic, notwithstanding its exposed situa- tion. His private practice was large, yet he

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gave much time to the charitable institu- tions, being especially interested in the Girl's Orphan Asylum and in the Turney Home for Boys. He lived not for himself alone, but his great heart went out to all who were in distress and he spared no effort to relieve suffering. He was a member of the Masonic order, was a communicant of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, belonged to the various medical societies of the city and state, and was held in the highest esteem among his professional brethren.

Dr. Thom married (first) Kate Baylor, who bore him two children: Anna Parker and Lucy Lattane, the latter married, Janu- ary 3, 1912, Charles A. Neff, and has a son, Charles A. (2), born in October, 1912. Dr. Thom married (second) Frances Maria Myers, only child of Frederick and Clara (Samuel) Myers, of Savannah, Georgia, and grandchild of Mordecai Myers, an eminent lawyer and rice planter, owning two planta- tions worked by slave labor. He had seven sons, all of whom served in the Confederate army. Dr. Thom by his second wife had a son, William Alexander, born 1894, who at the time of his death was a most prominent young man, a student at Virginia Military Institute.

Frederick Myers was born in Savannah, educated under private tutors and began business life as a cotton broker. Later he became a banker and rose to wealth and prominence in his native city. He married (first) Clara Samuel, the mother of Mrs. Frances M. (Myers) Thom. He married (sec- ond) Caroline Philips, of Washington, D. C., who bore him four children: Eugenia M., married Isaac Mini, children, Isaac (2) and Caroll; Gratz C., married Mary Appleton, children, George, Frederick and Gratz C. (2); Frederick (2), married Claire child, Randolph ; Henrietta.

Mrs. Frances Maria (Myers) Thom sur- vives her husband, residing in her beauti- ful home, 700 Stockley Garden, Norfolk, de- voting her life to the alleviation of suffer- ing and the relief of the poor. Her bene- factions are many and her work tireless. She is president of the board of managers of the Turney Boys' Home, president of the Needle Work Guild and member of many societies, church and social. The institu- tions in which her honored husband was in- terested are her chief concern, yet no call upon her sympathy is unheeded.

Edwin Cabell Palmer. A native of Meck-

lenburg county, Virginia, Mr. Palmer has for the past hiteen years been a resident of Emporia, the capital of Greenesville county, Virginia, where as a lawyer and citizen he has taken high rank. He is a great-grandson of Colonel William Palmer, grandson of Luke Palmer, and son of Wil- liam Palmer, the latter born in Brunswick county, Virginia, April 6, 1846, died on Christmas Day, 1913. Joseph Palmer en- listed in Company G, Ninth Regiment Vir- ginia Cavalry, Confederate States army, and served as a private until the war closed. He spent his after life engaged in merchan- dising and farming, rating as one of the successful men of his day and one held in high esteem wherever known. He married Fanny Ogburn, born in 1846, who survives him, a resident of Brunswick county, Vir- ginia. She is a daughter of Charles and Jane (Hatchett) Ogburn, of Mecklenburg county, Virginia. Her half-brother, Louis Hite, was a comrade of Joseph M. Palmer in the Ninth Virginia Cavalry, serving dur- ing the war between the states. Children of Joseph William and Fanny (Ogburn) Pal- mer: 1. Edwin Cabell, of further mention. 2. Charles L., a student of William and Mary College, graduate Doctor of Medicine of the University of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia, now practicing his profession in Lawrenceville, Virginia; Dr. Palmer mar- ried Fanny Lucy Ogden, of Mecklenburg county, Virginia. 3. Joseph William, a farmer on the "old homestead" in Mecklen- burg county, Virginia ; married Mary Good- rich, of Brunswick county, Virginia. 4. Fitz Lee, a manufacturer, secretary and treas- urer ; married Rena Tunstall, of Emporia, Virginia. 5. David Hunter, a farmer of Brunswick county, unmarried. 6. Sarah Haynie, married W. Withers Miller, of Rich- mond, Virginia. 7. Susan, married Robert Buford, of Lawrenceville, Virginia.

Edwin Cabell Palmer, eldest son of Joseph William and Fanny (Ogburn) Palmer, was born in Mecklenburg county, Virginia, Jan- uary 24, 1876. Until fourteen years of age he attended the local public schools, then spent two years at Brunswick Preparatory School. In 1892 he entered William and Mary College as a state student, continuing there two years. He then became principal of a graded school, taught two years, then in 1897 entered the law department of Wash- ington and Lee University, whence he was graduated Bachelor of Laws, class of 1898.

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He was admitted to the Virginia bar the same year, and in February, 1899, located at Emporia, the county seat of Greenesville, one of the southeastern counties of Virginia, bordering on North Carolina. He began practice there in association with E. C. Treadwell, later was a partner with A. P. Buford, of Lawrenceville, Virginia, for a short time, then he began practice alone and so continues. He is highly regarded as a lawyer, practices in all state and federal courts of the district, is a member of the Virginia State Bar Association, and con- ducts a general successful practice.

He is also well known in the world of Virginia journalism as the owner and editor of the "Emporia Messenger," one of the pro- gressive Democratic newspapers of Virginia and Greenesville county. Mr. Palmer has been active in politics all his life, was a dele- gate to the national convention held in Bal- timore in 1912 that nominated Woodrow Wilson for president, is town attorney for Emporia and by personal work as a cam- paign orator and through the columns of the "Messenger" champions with vigor the cause of Democracy. He is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to "Widow's Son" Lodge, No. 152, Free and Accepted Masons, Royal Arch Masons, Appomattox Com- mandery, Knights Templar, of Petersburg, and Acca Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Richmond, Virginia.

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Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 47

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