Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 59

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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William Graham Gwatkin was born in Richmond, Virginia, May 18, 1866, and the greater part of his life was spent in that city, where his death occurred at his resi- dence, No. 400 Allen avenue, in the summer

of 1914. He was the recipient of excellent educational advantages, these being obtained at the Episcopal High School and the Vir- ginia Military Institute. Upon the comple- tion of his education Mr. Gwatkin formed a connection with the old wholesale dry goods firm of M. Millhiser & Company, and when this business passed into the hands of M. Cohen, Son & Company, Mr. Gwatkin re- mained with the new firm until its voluntary retirement from business in February, 1912. The public affairs of the city had always engaged more or less of his attention, so that when he was appointed a division dep- uty under Collector of Internal Revenue M. K. Lowry, on January 16, 1914, he was well fitted to assume the responsible duties of this position. In fact, so excellent was his performance of these duties that he was notified of his promotion to the office of deputy collector of internal revenue under the income tax appropriation, only a few days prior to his death. He had been ill but a short time, and his death came as a great shock not only to his immediate family and friends, but to the entire community, which had already had an opportunity of judging of his sterling worth. His body was in- terred in Hollywood Cemetery, and among the honorary pallbearers were some of the best known men of the city.

Mr. Gwatkin married, October 28, 1890, Carlotta E. Smith, born in Richmond, Vir- ginia, August 8, 1872, daughter of the late Isaac Tower Smith, granddaughter of the late Hiram M. Smith, and a niece of Hiram M. Smith Jr., of Richmond. Isaac T. Smith was a native of Richmond, Virginia, and was a member of the old firm of H. M. Smith & Company. He married Philomena Marie De Goulard (the Countess De Ver- vanse) born at Barcelona, Spain, died in the year 1902, aged fifty-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had eight children, four of whom are living at the present time (1914) : Carlotta E. Gwatkin, Rosalie Harris, Ru- dolph A. Smith, Natalie E. Goodwin, of Bal- timore, Maryland, wife of Percy H. Good- win. Mr. and Mrs. Gwatkin were the par- ents of two sons: James G. and Charles A.

Mr. Gwatkin was a man of noble char- acter and bearing. Dignified and reserved. he yet won the confidence and love of all with whom he came in contact by the kindly nature which was apparent in every word

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and action. In the highest circles of the business world, as well as in private and public life, his name was reverenced as being borne by one who could be trusted to the utmost in every direction.

Colonel Thomas Taylor Knox. Forty- eight of the sixty-six years of Colonel Thomas Taylor Knox have been passed in the military service of the United States. That the proud record he has erected in that department to the credit of the name of Knox is not to stand alone in government annals is already an accomplished fact, for in both branches of the service, army and navy, two of his sons have begun careers not only of brilliant promise but of present accomplishment, Lieutenant Commander Dudley Wright Knox, United States Navy, and Captain Thomas McAllister Knox, United States Army. Colonel Knox's active career includes service in the cavalry in the western and Pacific army posts, connection with the War Department at Washington, duty in the field in Cuba in the Spanish- American war, where he was wounded, and, since his retirement in 1903, with the rank of colonel, he has been identified in import- ant positions with the Soldiers' Homes of the United States. He is at this time Gov- ernor of the Soldiers' Home at Phoebus, Virginia, a position he has occupied since January 1, 1906.

Colonel Knox is a son of William Wal- lace Knox, his Grandfather Knox also hav- ing a military record, his service being that of the King of England. William Wallace Knox, born in 1815, came from his home in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1835, and located in Cincinnati, Ohio. In his native land he had obtained a good public school education and had been connected with the iron manu- facturing industry, and in his new home he resided for a time in Cincinnati, Ohio, then moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, later settling in Tennessee, making his home in Nashville until his death. He was a Whig in political sympathy and affiliated with the Protestant Episcopal Church. William Wal- lace Knox was a gentleman of character and principle, held in universal regard, and reared his family in paths of uprightness and honor. He died in 1879. His wife, whom he married in 1842, was Maria Seck- erson, born in 1821, died in 1897, and they

were the parents of: George R., connected with the Chattanooga and St. Louis Rail- road, married Geneva Johnson and resides in Nashville, Tennessee, the father of six children; William Wallace, Jr., connected with the Chattanooga and St. Louis Rail- road, married Eliza Dunnavant and has six children ; Thomas Taylor, of whom further; John S., a banker of Los Angeles, Califor- nia; Harry C., in the railroad service in Nashville, Tennessee.

Colonel Thomas Taylor Knox, son of Wil- liam Wallace and Maria (Seckerson) Knox, was born in eastern Tennessee in 1849, and when a child accompanied his parents to Nashville, where he became a student in the public and private schools. He took a law course of two years at the National Uni- versity, Washington, D. C., and a post graduate course of one year at the Colum- bian University (now George Washington University) and he has a license to prac- tice law before the supreme court of the District of Columbia. Obtaining an appoint- ment to the United States Military Acad- emy at West Point in 1867, he met all of the physical and scholastic requirements for admission to that institution and was duly enrolled as a cadet, graduating four years later. After graduation he became attached to the First Regiment, Cavalry, United States Army, and was assigned to duty on the Pacific Coast, remaining there for eleven years and in that time being promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, having entered the service as second lieutenant. At the end of this period he became assistant chief of the war records office of the War De- partment at Washington, remaining until 1893; in 1889 he was raised to the rank of captain in his old regiment, the First. Serv- ice in Arizona and Kansas preceded the call of the First for service in Cuba, whither the regiment was sent by way of Tampa, Flor- ida, at the beginning of hostilities between Spain and the United States. In the first engagement in which his regiment partici- pated, that at Lasguasimas, he was severely wounded in the body, was placed on a hos- pital ship and sent to the New York Harbor Hospital. His is the only recorded case of a complete recovery from such an injury, and the details of his case and its treatment have appeared in the leading medical journals of the world.

COL. T. T. KNOX

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Upon recovering from the effects of his wound he was promoted to the rank of major in recognition of his service in the field and was assigned to duty in the In- spector General's Department at Washing- ton, with which he was connected until he was retired as colonel in 1903.

At this time he accepted an appointment as Inspector General of the Soldiers' Homes of the United States, a position entailing the supervision of ten Homes in different parts of the country, with residents totalling ap- proximately thirty thousand. This post he filled until January 1, 1906, when he became Governor of the Soldiers' Home at Hamp- ton. Virginia, remaining as such until May 31, 1915. when he resigned. His success in the management of the Home was a matter of record, and those seeking the cause of the air of contentment and harmony that pervaded the Hampton Home during his incumbency as governor may find it in the ideal for which he ceaselessly strove and which he attained, genuine home atmos- phere with strict observance of the disci- pline required. Colonel Knox has many friends among the residents of the Home, and he labored diligently to provide the maximum of comforts for those under his care. Colonel Knox is popular in army circles, keeps in close touch with his com- rades of other days, and is a member of the Metropolitan Club, of Washington, District of Columbia. and the Manhattan Club, of New York City.

Colonel Knox married (first) Cornelia Grayson ; (second) Mary Clare Hodges. Children of his first marriage: Cornelia Butler ; Lieutenant Commander Dudley Wright, born June 21, 1877, married, in 1907, Lillie McCalla, and has a son, Dudley Sar- gent. born in December. 1909; Captain Thomas McAllister. Daughter of second marriage, Marguerite Stewart, married Max De Mott.

Lieutenant Commander Dudley Wright Knox was born in the state of Washington, and after attending the public and private schools of Washington, District of Colum- bia, entered the United States Naval Acad- emy at Annapolis, whence he was gradu- ated in 1896. From Cuba, where he was first assigned to duty, he went to the Philip- pines, where he was promoted to the rank of junior lieutenant and placed in command

of a flotilla of torpedo boat destroyers, later being made a full lieutenant. By special order of the secretary of the navy he re- turned to the United States and was at- tached to the ordnance office of the Pacific fleet, an appointment recognizing his unus- ually rapid rise in the service. He sailed with the United States fleet that circumnavi- gated the globe. Arriving at Hampton Roads on the return trip in March, 1909, and was subsequently raised to the rank of lieutenant commander and was appointed ordnance officer of the Atlantic fleet, serv- ing on the staff of the commander of the torpedo boat flotilla. In November, 1914. Lieutenant Commander Knox received his present appointment to the Naval Intelli- gence Office at Washington, District of Co- lumbia. He is a well known writer upon naval subjects and has received numerous awards for articles submitted in competi- tion as well as honorary life membership in several naval organizations. His writings are of such recognized technical and prac- tical value that they have been translated into a number of foreign languages.

Captain Thomas McAllister Knox was born in Idaho, May 13, 1881. As a boy he attended the public schools of Washington. District of Columbia, and when his father's calling took the family to Arizona and Kan- sas he continued his studies under private tutors, subsequently enrolling at the State College of Pennsylvania. In 1899 he became a private in the Twenty-seventh Regiment, Infantry, United States army, and within a month gained a promotion to a second lieu- tenantcy, assigned to duty in the Philippine Islands. He returned to the United States in 1901, then a first lieutenant in rank, and at this time changed from the infantry to the cavalry branch of the army, becoming a second lieutenant in the Second Regiment, Cavalry, United States army. Two years later he was raised to first lieutenant, and in March, 1913, received his commission as captain in the Fifth United States Cavalry.

Louis Keppler. Richmond. Virginia, is the place of birth and death of Louis Kep- pler, born October 23, 1871, died October 1, 1909. He was a son of Philip and Josephine (Fahr) Keppler, his father for about thirty years a business man of Richmond, where his death occurred when he was forty-eight years of age. The wife of Philip Keppler,

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Josephine, also died aged forty-eight years, her husband surviving her a short time. Of the seven children of Philip and Josephine (Fahr) Keppler three, Charles B., Josephine and Philip, live in the family home in Rich- mond.

Louis Keppler was educated in Squire's School in the city of Richmond, and when a youth of eighteen became connected with real estate dealing in his native city in the capacity of clerk for F. H. Plumacher. This business he afterward abandoned to engage in agricultural pursuits, farming with good success for a number of years, his land located on the Bowling Green Road. Throughout his entire life, which his un- timely death cut short at the age of thirty- eight years, he was a sturdy supporter of the Democratic party. He married, in Washington, District of Columbia, Septem- ber 4, 1899, Emma Belle Johnston, born in Charlotte county, Virginia, December 2, 1871, daughter of Joseph and Emma (Moore) Johnston, her father born in Ire- land in March, 1848, her mother a native of Newcastle, Pennsylvania, born in 1848, died July 7, 1907. Joseph Johnston was a lad of sixteen years when he left the land of his birth and came to the United States, settling in Pittsburgh and there becoming a clerk in the railroad employ, marrying when twenty-one years of age. Children of Joseph and Emma (Moore) Johnston: William, Joseph, Emma Belle, of previous mention, married Louis Keppler ; Mary, George, Nel- lie, David, Jennie. Mr. and Mrs. Keppler had children: Philip Johnston, born Janu- ary 21, 1904; Janice Elaine, born July 5, 1905. Mrs. Keppler is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Edward Carrington Mayo. Born and edu- cated in Richmond, Mr. Mayo there began his business life and has spent his adult years closely identified with the large tobacco interests of his city. He is a de- scendant of Major William Mayo, an Eng- lishman, who came to Virginia from the Barbadoes in 1723, and who ran the bound- ary line between Virginia and North Caro- lina, and of William Randolph, who came direct from England in 1673. Mayos and Randolphs have ever been prominent in Vir- ginia history, these names having been held also by men of the highest national reputa-

tion. By the intermarriage of his ancestors Mr. Mayo traces to many of the families whose representatives have made glorious the pages of Virginia history.

Edward Carrington Mayo was born in Richmond, Virginia, December 5, 1860, son of Edward Mayo, born May 19, 1831, died May 14, 1883, and Katherine Isham (Ran- dolph) Mayo, his wife. Edward Mayo was a son of Edward Carrington Mayo, born 1791, died June 5, 1852, and his wife, Ade- line (Marx) Mayo. Katherine Isham Ran- dolph was a daughter of Robert Randolph, born 1809, died 1839, and his wife, Mary Louisa (Carrington) Randolph. On the ma- ternal side he is descended from William Randolph, of Turkey Island, councilor and man of wide fame.

Edward C. Mayo was educated in Rich- mond schools, and after completing his studies entered the tobacco business, in which his family were interested. He be- came thoroughly conversant with this busi- ness, and from 1890 to 1899 was secretary and treasurer of the large tobacco firm, P. H. Mayo & Brother, Incorporated. With the formation of the American Tobacco Company, P. H. Mayo & Brother was ab- sorbed by that corporation, and since 1899 has been operated as a branch department of the American Tobacco Company, with Edward C. Mayo as business manager. The company handles vast quantities of leaf tobacco, their warehouses in Richmond being veritable storehouses of wealth.

In earlier life a devotee of outdoor sports, particularly fond of rowing and life on the water, Mr. Mayo yet retains his love of out- of-doors, indulging in golf at the Country Club of Virginia and in recreation trips to forest and stream. He is also a member of the Commonwealth and Westmoreland clubs of Richmond. Through his colonial and revolutionary ancestry he is eligible to the patriotic societies, holding membership in both the Society of the Colonial Wars and Sons of the American Revolution. He is an Independent in politics, and his choice of candidates lets fitness rather than political bias determine. In religious faith he is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church.

Mr. Mayo married, November 17, 1906, Kate, daughter of Alfred T. (2) and Julia C. Hathaway, and granddaughter of Alfred T.

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and Katherine (Brander) Hathaway, a de- scendant of Captain Thomas Harris, who came from England to Virginia in 1611.

Robert Stevens Ingersoll, M. D. Dr. In- gersoll descends from English forbears who on coming to the United States settled in the state of New York. Dr. Ingersoll's grandfather, Jonathan E. Ingersoll, was born in the city of Elmira, New York, and died about the year 1900, aged seventy-five years, his wife, Maria -, also a native of New York state, died the same year.

Cyrus Birtis Ingersoll, son of Jonathan E. and Maria Ingersoll, was born in Hills- dale county, Michigan, December 11, 1848, died in 1900. He was a dairyman and gen- eral farmer, and a member of the Seventh Day Adventist church. He married, Octo- ber 17, 1872, Ida Susan Nichols, born in the same county as her husband, October 17, 1855, who survives him, a resident of West Olive, Michigan. She is the daughter of Aaron Nichols, a farmer, born in New York state, died in Michigan in 1861, and his wife, Susan (Monroe) Nichols, born in Hillsdale county, Michigan, died in 1880. Children, now living: Robert Stevens, of whom further ; Harlow Herbert, born May 24, 1876, now a building contractor in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Susan M., born December 13, 1885, died April 17, 1912; Lottie O., born June 4, 1891, now living with her mother at West Olive, Michigan.

Dr. Robert Stevens Ingersoll, eldest son of Cyrus Birtis and Ida Susan (Nichols) Ingersoll, was born at Adrian, Michigan, January 12, 1874. His early and prepara- tory education was obtained in the public schools of Adrian and Hillsdale High School; his professional education at the medical department of the University of Michigan, Rush Medical School, Chicago, Guyes Hospital, London, England, and the University College of London. He was graduated Doctor of Medicine from the Uni- versity of Michigan in 1898, and for a few months thereafter practiced in a sanitarium at Battle Creek, Michigan. He then ac- cepted an offer to go to Calcutta, India, where for eight years he had charge of a medical and surgical sanitarium. He re- turned to the United States where for seven months he pursued a post-graduate course at Rush Medical School in Chicago. He

then went abroad and for a year was in Lon- don, England, doing post-graduate work at Guyes Hospital and University College of Medicine, becoming a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of London. He re- turned to the United States on a call, and for two and a half years was medical su- perintendent of the Takoma Park Sanitar- ium at Washington, D. C. In 1911 he located at Richmond, Virginia, where he established at 210 East Grace street the Virginia Sani- tarinm. He is a Democrat in politics and a member of the Seventh Day Adventist church.

Dr. Ingersoll married, at Hillsdale, Michi- gan, June 23, 1898, Olive Grace Perry, born in that city, April 16, 1873, only child of David Perry, a harness manufacturer, and his wife, Sarah J. (Wells) Perry. Mrs. In- gersoll is a graduate of the medical depart- ment of the University of Michigan, Doctor of Medicine, class of 1898, and is associated professionally with her husband in the Vir- ginia Sanitarium. Their children are : Sarah Ida, born August 1, 1900; Birtis Perry, born February 18, 1905; both attending the Sev- enth Adventist Day Church School on Mor- ris street, Richmond.

William Samuel Murray. William Sam- uel Murray, for so many years a business man of the city of Richmond, was a de- scendant of John Murray, Earl of Dun- more, the last of Virginia's colonial gov- ernors. He was a son of Samuel Miller Murray, who owned the Murray home- stead farm three miles northeast of Rich- mond, and there lived until the destruc- tion of the home by fire. He then moved to Richmond and became famous locally as an artistic carver in hardwoods, much of his work yet being preserved in the old homes of the city in the form of exquisitely carved cabinets of mahogany and rosewood. The family possessions were largely lost during the Civil war which necessitated the rising generation engaging in business, al- though reared to lives of luxury and ease. William Samuel Murray was born at the Murray homestead, then owned by his father, May 31, 1843, died in Richmond, June 29, 1908, son of Samuel Miller and Flora Virginia (Holmes) Murray. He spent his boyhood upon the home farm and was educated in private schools, Dr. Frazier's

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School in Richmond and Randolph-Macon College. The severe loss of property sus- tained by his father during the war com- pelled him to enter the business world, and coming to Richmond with his parents after the destruction of the homestead, he entered the employ of W. W. Baldwin, hardware merchant on Main street. He remained with Mr. Baldwin nine years as accountant and secretary, then for twenty-one years was associated with James McGraw, in the ca- pacity of chief accountant and salesman. The confinement of store and office life told upon his health and for several years he was a commercial traveler, covering terri- tory in Virginia, West Virginia, North and South Carolina for the Richmond house of H. C. Sims. He was recognized as an able and capable man of business and main- tained most confidential relations with the firms with which he was connected. He was a member of lodge and chapter of the Masonic order and held both a past masters and a past high priest's jewel, also serving both lodge and chapter as secretary for many years. He was a communicant of St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, and a Democrat in politics, but he never sought or accepted public office, his home and his business being his great interest.

Mr. Murray married, April 13, 1880, Lucy Frances, daughter of William T. and Lucy Frances (Rowe) King, granddaughter of Rev. George Rowe, a minister of the Baptist church of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Mrs. Murray survives her husband, a resident of Richmond. Her only child, Frances, was married, November 6, 1912, to James H. Headen, born in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Their child, Frances Headen, was born January 27, 1914.

George Berry Williams. Descendant of an old New York state family, born in the state of Illinois, and a Virginian by adop- tion, Mr. Williams may lay claim to being cosmopolitan. He came to Richmond, April I, 1903, as assistant auditor of the Virginia Passenger and Power Company.

George Berry Williams is a son of George Williams, born in New York state, March 31, 1823, died in Carmi, Illinois, March 8, 1900, having lived beyond the scriptural "three score years and ten." George Wil- liams was a son of Joseph Williams, who was the pioneer ancestor of the family, com-

ing here from Londonderry, Ireland; his wife, Serena (Graham) Williams, was a native of Belfast, Ireland. On their arrival they settled in New York City. George Williams was a merchant of Carmi for many years, spending his latter days in honorable retirement. He married Frances Chinn Crebs, born in Shenandoah Valley of Vir- ginia, daughter of Berry Crebs. He was born August 9, 1803, died September 8, 1884, married Lucy Jones Wilson. The children of George and Frances Chinn (Crebs) Williams were: George Berry, of whom further; John Montgomery, of In- dianapolis, Indiana ; Elam Stewart, of Terre Haute, Indiana; Joseph Fleming, of Carmi, Illinois ; one child died in infancy.

George B. Williams was born in Carmi, Illinois, February 25, 1870, the eldest son of his parents. He attended public schools in Carmi until sixteen years of age, then entered business life as clerk in a dry goods store in his native town. He remained five years in that store, then having reached the legal age he left home, entering the employ of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company at St. Louis, Missouri. He remained with that company from June, 1891, until 1903, re- ceiving several promotions. He resigned the position to accept the post of assistant auditor of the Virginia Passenger and Power Company, entering upon the duties of his office with the latter road April 1, 1903. In 1909 the road was reorganized as the Virginia Railway & Power Company, Mr. Williams being advanced to the position of assistant secretary and treasurer. In 1912 he was elected secretary-treasurer, which position he now holds.

Mr. Williams married, in Greenville, Illi- nois, June 1, 1903, Edith May Clarkson, born in Greenville, now the residence of her widowed mother, Elizabeth (McDowell) Clarkson. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have a daughter, Elizabeth Clarkson, born June 26, 1904.

John Brady Grayson. The first of the Graysons in America of whom there is any record at hand was Benjamin Grayson, who, with his sister, emigrated from England or Scotland to Westmoreland county, Vir- ginia, afterwards settling on the Occoquan river near the spot which later became Col- chester, his immigration finding its date in the early part of the seventeenth century.

John B. Grayson,

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In his new home he became a merchant. trading largely in tobacco, and by great industry and the judicious management of his affairs acquired a large estate. He left Westmoreland county about 1715, settling in Dumfries, Prince William county, Vir- ginia, and engaged extensively in mercantile business and shipping. Benjamin Grayson married at Dumfries a wealthy widow, Mrs. Linton, whose maiden name was Susanna Monroe, sister of Spence Monroe, of West- moreland county, father of President James Monroe, an ancient and distinguished Scotch family. After his second marriage, to a Mrs. Ewell, he built a residence on a large tract of land that he owned near the Occoquan and Potomac rivers, naming the estate "Belle Air," the name of the former home of his second wife. The residence was a handsome mansion, built in manorial style, with massive carved oaken doors, wainscotted throughout, and with lofty columned front, and there he died in 1757. The first husband of Susanna Monroe was a Mr. Tyler, of the stock of the family of Presi- dent Tyler. The sister of Benjamin Gray- son married a Harrison, a member of the family of that later produced President Har- rison.

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Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 59

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