Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 60

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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Among the children of Benjamin and Sus- anna Grayson was William Grayson, who gained the military rank of colonel in the war of the revolution, a close friend of Gen. George Washington, and elected a member of the first senate of the United States of America to take seat under the newly adopted constitution, but died a few months after taking his seat in that honorable body. On November 1I, 1774, a military company called the "Independent Company of Cadets" was formed in Prince William county, Virginia, and William Grayson was chosen its captain. Mount Vernon and Dumfries were within easy visiting dis- tance, and in that day there was much social intercourse between the Grayson and Wash- ington families, while, in the diary of Gen- eral Washington, Colonel Grayson is fre- quently mentioned as a guest at Mount Vernon, often joining General Washington in his favorite recreation of hunting. Colo- nel Grayson was with General Washing- ton when he crossed to Brooklyn during the action in August, 1776, was afterward at the battle of White Plains. He was later one of a commission appointed to confer

with Lord Howe on the subject of the treat- ment and exchange of prisoners of war, and soon after a resolve of congress placed him in an administrative position as com- missioner of the board of war, succeeding Lieutenant Colonel Harrison. Colonel Grayson was elected a member of the Con- federate congress in 1784, and continued in membership therein until the articles of confederation were superseded by the con- stitution as now in force. On December 24. 1784. the commissioners of the states of Massachusetts and New York applied to congress for a court to decide certain dis- putes between them as to boundaries, and Colonel Grayson was named by congress as one of the commissioners, his appointment immediately accepted by the contesting states. Colonel Grayson was a member of the Virginia convention called to deliberate upon the adoption of the constitution and although he opposed such action the zeal, ability, patriotism and statesmanship that he had exhibited was such that after the final ratification of that code he was, with Richard Henry Lee, chosen Virginia's rep- resentative in the senate of the United States. He took his seat in the senate, May 21, 1789, and on that day his name was placed on the committee to define the crimes and offences cognizable under the laws of the United States and the penalty due. He died at Dumfries, Virginia, March 12, 1790, and was buried in the family vault on the Belle Air estate, the residence of his brother, the Rev. Spence Grayson. He mar- ried a sister of General Smallwood, former governor of Maryland.

From such an ancestry is descended John Brady Grayson, of this chronicle, son of George Washington and Mary Elizabeth ( Brady) Grayson, and grandson of Freder- ick William Spence Grayson. His father was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, and now resides at New Baltimore, Virginia. His lifelong occupation has been that of merchant, and in the war between the states he held the rank of sergeant in Company "C," Forty-ninth Regiment Virginia Volun- teer Infantry, Confederate States army, be- ing wounded in the action at Seven Pines. George Washington and Mary Elizabeth (Brady) Grayson had children: George Bennett, born May 3. 1.868; Thomas Keller, born November 3. 1880, married Mary San- ders and is the father of George Wallace

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and Delia ; Catherine Noel, married Thomas Smith Allison, and has one daughter, Mary ; Mary, married Richard R. Sanders ; Roberta, married George Sanders; Martha, married James Sudduth; Belle, married Oscar Lynn; Elizabeth, unmarried; John Brady, of whom further.

Besides the services of George Washing- ton Grayson to the Confederate cause in the years from 1861 to 1865, this line of the family was represented in that conflict by his brother, A. Bennett Grayson, a soldier of the Seventeenth Regiment Virginia Vol- unteer Infantry, killed in the battle of Wil- liamsburg, Virginia. There was still an- other brother, John W. Grayson, who did not participate in the war ; he died in Jeffer- son City, Missouri. So did this branch of the family send its full quota of men in patriotism and courage to the front, while the record of General John Breckenridge Grayson, United States and Confederate States armies, reflects further credit upon the family name, already so rich in memor- ies of devoted service to country.

John Brady Grayson, son of George Washington and Mary Elizabeth (Brady) Grayson, was born in New Baltimore, Vir- ginia, May 14, 1871, and in his youth at- tended the public schools of New Baltimore and Scottsville. After leaving school he was first employed as clerk in mercantile houses in the place of his birth and in War- renton, and in 1894 entered the United States Railway Postal Service. In 1903 he embarked in mercantile dealings in Warren- ton, a venture that from its inception seemed marked for success and in which he has prospered, his establishment holding posi- tion among the foremost in the place in point of favor with the public. Since 1907 Mr. Grayson has been postmaster of War- renton, appointed first by President Roose- velt, reappointed by President Taft, and holding office under President Wilson, his term to expire, July 8, 1914. His tenure of office was distinguished by no extraordi- nary incident, and the able manner in which he fulfilled the duties of his office brought general public satisfaction. Mr. Grayson affiliates with Mt. Carmel Lodge, No. 133, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Warrenton ; Warrenton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Warrenton Lodge, No. 27, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past grand; and the Royal Ar-

canum, of which he is past grand regent. His political party is the Republican, and he holds membership in the Baptist church.

Charles LeGrand Kirk. Charles LeGrand Kirk, a worthy representative of one of the oldest Scotch families, now identified with one of the leading industries of Richmond, was born August 1, 1857, in Troy, New York. His father, John Moore Kirk, was a native of New York state, for many years, engaged in the clothing trade at Rochester, New York, He served as first lieutenant in the old Thir- teenth . Regiment New York Volunteers, throughout the Civil war, and was with General. Grant at the battles of the Penin- sula and Manassas, and all of that noted general's campaigns thereafter. He was severely wounded in action, and never re- covered from the effects of his injury, which caused his death at the age of forty-eight years, in Rochester. His wife, Cleopatra (Churchill) Kirk, also a native of New York state, survived him, and died in 1898 at the age of sixty years. They had five children, of whom three are now living, namely: Ida M., wife of John H. Acker, of Roches- ter; Charles LeGrand, of further mention ; Henry K., of Rochester. Two daughters, Lillian and Ella, died in early life.

Charles LeGrand Kirk was one year old when his parents settled in Rochester, where he grew up and was educated. At the early age of fifteen years he became identified with the manufacture of shoes, entered the cutting room of E. W. Wright & Company, of Rochester, with whom he continued sev- eral years, following up the various branches of the work, and earning steady promotion until he became a foreman. Subsequently he was employed in that capacity by Cowles Curtis & Company, large shoe manufactur- ers, continuing four years, after which he engaged in the business of manufacturing on his account, as junior member of the firm of Weaver, Thomas & Kirk. This concern conducted a very successful busi- ness for a period of three years, when its plant was destroyed by fire, causing a very heavy loss. Mr. Kirk then removed to New York City, where he established a factory, which was ultimately removed to Lynn, Massachusetts, one of the great seats of the shoe industry in the United States. He located at Richmond, Virgina, February 19, 1900, becoming superintendent for the firm

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of Thatcher & Company, who conducted a factory at the State Penitentiary. Mr. Kirk is now manager of the Virginia Shoe Com- pany, a very successful concern of Rich- inond, with whose organization and estab- lishment he was actively connected. He is a member of the great Masonic fraternity, and also a communicant of Holy Trinity (Protestant Episcopal) Church, of Rich- mond. He is an enthusiastic golf player, and has been identified with various or- ganizations for the promotion of this health- ful and manly sport. He was three times elected president of the Hermitage Golf Club of Richmond, is a member of the Com- monwealth Club of that city, was four years vice-president and two years president of the Country Club of Virginia. He has been twice president of the Virginia State Golf League, and is at present president of the Middle Atlantic Golf Association, an or- ganization comprised of the country and golf clubs of Wilmington, Delaware, Balti- more, Maryland, Washington, D. C., Nor- folk, Hampton and Richmond, Virginia. In these various associations Mr. Kirk is brought into contact with many of the lead- ing and most aristocratic citizens of the various states, and his election to the posi- tion of leadership in the various organiza- tions testifies to his standing and popularity.

He married, in Rochester, New York, De- cember 31, 1895, Edith Charlotte Griswold, a native of Connecticut, who was reared in Rochester. She is a daughter of the late H. P. Griswold, for many years a leading dentist of Rochester, and his wife, Belle Griswold, who now resides in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Kirk have a daughter, Beatrice Griswold, born March 30, 1896, now the wife of Horace K. Dickson, a prominent lumberman of Norfolk, Virginia.

Charles Jackson Billups. The paternal ancestors of Charles Jackson Billups, fun- eral director of Richmond, Virginia, came from England, his great-grandfather settling in Mathews county, where his son Richard was born. Richard Billups became a wealthy planter, owning many slaves and was largely interested in vessels and shipping trade. He married Mary Elizabeth Risbee, also born in Mathews county.

Lafayette Washington Billups, son of Richard and Mary Elizabeth (Risbee) Bill- ups, was born in Mathews county, Vir-

ginia, May 1, 1824, died in Richmond, Vir- ginia, July 14, 1893. He became an expert cabinetmaker and was for several years en- gaged in business in Portsmouth, Virginia. He located in Richmond in 1851, working at his trade, also as an undertaker for ten years for others. In 1861 he established in business for himself as undertaker and funeral director, continuing alone until joined by his son, Charles J., a few years prior to his death in 1893. During the war between the states he was employed by the Confederate government and was also captain of a company of home guards. He was an upright, honorable man, well known and respected. He married, in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1851, Elizabeth Frances Glenn, of North Carolina, who died in 1904, aged seventy-six years, daughter of Dr. Thomas Washington Glenn, born in Virginia, and his wife, Penelope (Jones) Glenn, born in North Carolina. Children: Walter, George and John, all died in infancy ; Mary Alyce, residing with her brother in Richmond; Charles Jackson, of whom further.

Charles Jackson Billups, only surviving son of Lafayette Washington and Elizabeth Frances (Glenn) Billups, was born in Rich- mond, Virginia, May 15, 1863. He was educated in the city public schools, and is a graduate of the high school, class of 1880. He immediately engaged in business with his father, in the undertaking line, at 1514 East Franklin street, and on the death of the latter in 1893 succeeded him in the busi- ness. He is now well located, and estab- lished at 1505 East Main street, and worth- ily conducts the business established by his father in 1861. Mr. Billups is a prominent member of the Masonic order, holding the thirty-second degree, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite ; belongs to lodge, chapter and commandery of the York Rite, and to Acca Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He holds numerous other fraternal member- ships, including the Knights of Pythias, In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, Druids, Royal Arcanum, Heptasophs, Woodmen of the World, and the Junior Order of Amer- ican Mechanics. He is a communicant of Leigh Street Baptist Church, and a member of the Rotary Club of Richmond.

Mr. Billups married (first) in 1890, Lillie P. Figg, who died in 1891. He married (second) February 19, 1896, Lettie Lee Scott, of Pittsylvania county, Virginia, born

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October 1, 1876. Children : Charles Scott, died in infancy ; Morton, born November 23, 1897; Stuart, born August 18, 1900.

Samuel Tilden Atkinson. As manager of the Hotel Richmond, Mr. Atkinson is known not only to the people of Richmond, but to the traveling public generally who in their migrations have partaken of the good cheer and hospitality of that greatly famed hos- telry. He is a son of John Atkinson, and a maternal grandson of William and Sarah (White) Wood. John Atkinson was born in Buckingham county, Virginia, in 1828, and married Addie Detroit Wood, born in Bedford county, Virginia, July 30, 1841. Children : Celeste, John Marshall, Ilia Penn, Frederick William, Daisy Estelle, Samuel Tilden.

Samuel Tilden Atkinson was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, October 30, 1876. He was educated at Hampden-Sidney College, Prince Edward county, Virginia. He has been connected with the hotel business in Richmond since 1892. For ten years he was manager of the Lexington Hotel, succeed- ing to the management of the Hotel Rich- mond in 1904. He continued in this posi- tion until the hotel passed to the Hotel Richmond Corporation in 1910, when he was elected vice-president and treasurer of the corporation, and he is now its general man- ager. He is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to Metropolitan Lodge, No. II, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Lafay- ette Chapter, No. 43, Royal Arch Masons ; St. Andrew's Commandery, Knights Temp- lar, all Richmond bodies ; and Acca Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, located at Richmond. He is also a member of Mc- Carthy Council, No. 486, Royan Arcanum. He belongs to the Business Men's Club of Richmond and the County Club of Vir- ginia. In political faith he is a Democrat, and in religious preference a Presbyterian. Mr. Atkinson married, in Washington, D. C., June 3, 1908, Edna Margaret Falconer, born July 1, 1879, in Washington, daughter of Joseph Hamilton and Katherine (John- son) Falconer, who have sons, Walter J. and Joseph Hamilton (2).

Gustavus Millhiser. Born and educated in Richmond, Mr. Millhiser began his busi- ness life in his native city and so continued all his life. He is a son of Moses Millhiser, born in Bavaria, Germany, March 24, 1825,

died in Richmond, Virginia, April 25, 1898. He came to Richmond in youth, and was there employed as a merchant. He was a member of the Reformed Jewish Church. He married, in Richmond, March 25, 1849, Rosalie Obendorfer, whose grandparents were of different religious views, the grand- father being a Jew, and the grandmother a Christian, but both of German origin. Children of Moses Millhiser: Gustavus, of further mention; Amelia, born July 28, 1852; Emanuel, September 23, 1854; Philip, January 28, 1860; Clarence, March 12, 1866. Gustavus Millhiser, eldest child of Moses and Rosalie (Obendorfer) Millhiser, was born in Richmond, Virginia, March 5, 1850. After completing his school years he became engaged as a wholesale dry goods merchant, but in a few years retired from active par- ticipation in that field, and has since devoted his business life to manufacturing enter- prises, in which he has been very success- ful. He is president of the Richmond Cedar Works, the Bedford Pulp and Paper Com- pany, the Wilts Veneer Company, and treasurer of the Gulf Red Cedar Company. His club is the Commonwealth. Mr. Mill- hiser's religious attitude is best expressed in his own words: "Regarding (as I do) all dogmatic religions as detrimental to the achievement of the highest aims of society, and furthermore not subscribing to the idol- atrous idea of a God (a Supreme Being) or Gods-I attend no church. These views class me with the Rationalists. As yet, Rationalists have no organization, except in a few of the metropolitan cities of the world."

Edward Adam Stumpf. Born in Wald- michelbach, Hessen, Germany, August 23, 1860, Edward A. Stumpf has been a resident of Richmond, Virginia, since 1875. He is a son of Adam Stumpf, a quarry owner and stone contractor, born in Germany in 1824, died in 1864, and his wife, Marguerite (Knapp) Stumpf. He was educated in St. Mary's Institute, and the Gymnasium at Mayence, a high graded school that he at- tended until coming to the United States in 1875. Mr. Stumpf is secretary and treasurer of the Merchants Cold Storage and Ice Man- ufacturing Company of Richmond, and since 1904 he has also been manager of the com- pany. For twenty-five years he has con- ducted a restaurant at Eighth and Main

very truly your Faktgerald 0

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streets of that city, and in 1909 opened Stumpf Hotel which he enlarged in 1913. He was president of St. Mary's Social and Bene- ficial Union, president of the Gesang Verein, of Virginia, and a member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks. In poli- tics he is a Democrat, and in religion a Catholic. He married Bertha, daughter of Julius and Frederika Schumann. Children : Edward Adam (2) and Maria Louise.

Riverside & Dan River Cotton Mills, In- corporated. In this age of great achieve- ment and marked advance in the industrial world no industry has advanced more rap- idly than cotton manufacturing, and no part of the country has shown greater develop- ment in recent years than the South. In Danville the great prosperity of the people comes from its manufacturing establish- ments and in all the great industries of that city none are of greater importance than the Riverside and Dan River Cotton Mills which were consolidated in 1909 with the Riverside Mills, the parent company. The Fitzgeralds, father and son, have been con- nected with it since its inception in 1882. The father, T. B. Fitzgerald, was the first president of the company, his associates in founding the enterprise being J. H. School- field, J. E. Schoolfield, and R. A. School- field. The company, known as Riverside Mills, began in a modest way in 1882, and under President Fitzgerald's wise manage- ment and through the foresight, untiring en- ergy, and devoted interest of himself and associates, the mills have ever prospered. President Fitzgerald continued at the head of the enterprise until 1899, then retired to liis farm at Byrdville, but continued as di- rector in the company to which he had de- voted so much of his time and energy.

President Fitzgerald was succeeded by F. X. Burton, who had a large interest in the Morotlock Mills, taken over by the River- side Mills at a slightly earlier date. Presi- dent Burton died April 3. 1904, and was suc- ceeded by R. A. Schoolfield, who as secre- tary and treasurer had borne an active, con- spicuous and valuable part in the manage- ment of the company. With his elevation to the presidency, H. R. Fitzgerald, son of T. R. Fitzgerald, the former president, be- came secretary and treasurer, which re- sponsible position he now holds. He has been connected with the mills since leav-

ing college, and during his twenty-two years of service has filled important positions in various departments. In 1909 the Dan River Mills were amalgamated with the Riverside Mills and a corporation formed, the Riverside and Dan River Cotton Mills, Incorporated. There are seven large mills in the Riverside division, at the Dan River division four mills, the united plants con- stituting the largest textile manufactories of the South and is among the most im- portant individual cotton manufacturing es- tablishments in the United States.

Around these mills has grown up the vil- lage of Schoolfield, practically a part of Danville, but not within the corporate limits, although nearby and connected by an electric railway. The village covers six- teen hundred acres, has a population of be- tween four and five thousand people, with churches, school, fire department and all the requirements of modern American village. No intoxicants are sold, all interests are carefully safeguarded by the company, and nowhere does there exist a more thrifty, prosperous community, dependent upon one industry. That this is so reflects greatest credit upon the company responsible for the foundation of the village and for its main- tenance. The company, capitalized at eight and one-half million dollars, pays out in wages an average weekly sum of thirty- seven thousand, seven hundred and fifty dollars, and never for a single week have the mills been shut down, nor has business of the community ever been disturbed by the withdrawal of this large income upon which the business houses depend.

The Riverside Mills are operated by water and steam power, the Dan River plant by electricity and steam. The entire works have a floor capacity of two and a half mil- lion square feet and the plants are complete, bleacheries, dye houses, finishing plants, completing the operations from raw cotton to finished products. These products are known to the trade as plaids, chevoits. chambrays, fancy dress ginghams, bleached and brown sheetings, and sheets and pillow cases in all sizes. The goods are standard and sold to wholesalers and jobbers all over the United States, and are exported to foreign lands.

Over this great plant stands an execu- tive board and a directorate, all but two residents of Danville and men of the high-

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est standing, financial position, and unques- tioned ability. The president, R. A. School- field, and the vice-president, J. H. School- field, have both been connected with the business since its inception, the president having ever been one of the strongest pillars of its support. H. R. Fitzgerald, secretary and treasurer, has spent nearly a quarter of a century with the company and ably admin- isters the duties of his department. The directors are: J. H. Schoolfield, James I. Pritchett, J. C. Jordan, D. A. Overbey, J. Pemberton Penn, R. A. James, Captain Wil- liam H. White, W. B. Hill, T. B. Fitzger- ald, E. T. Lamb, R. A. Schoolfield and H. R. Fitzgerald. To these men and to the wise policy of the executive, to the enlight- ened modern methods, and to the friendly relations existing between the employers and the employed is due the remarkable prosperity and growth of the company. The enterprise is a model one and the pride of its owners. It was founded, is largely owned, controlled and operated by Danville people who regard it with pride as a home industry. Its more than five thousand em- ployees contribute largely to Danville's prosperity as well as to the slightly nearer village of Schoolfield.

John Henry Hinchman, M. D. Of Penn- sylvania and Virginia ancestry, Dr. Hinch- man, born in Richmond, Virginia, has passed his entire life in his native city, where for thirty-five years he has been ac- tively and honorably engaged in the prac- tice of medicine; also being a graduate of a Richmond school-the Medical College of Virginia.

He is a son of George Washington Hinch- man, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, died in Richmond, Virginia, at the age of sixty-five years. He was an expert stair- builder and settled in Richmond when com- paratively a young man. He enlisted in the Confederate army and served during the war. He married Martha Frances Jones, born in Suffolk county, Virginia, died in Richmond, in 1862, aged forty-two years. Children: Virginia and Rebecca, both de- ceased; Martha F., Georgia Ann and Wil- liam T., all living in Richmond, and John Henry, of whom further.

Dr. John Henry Hinchman was born in Richmond, Virginia, February 4, 1852. He obtained his academic education in the old

Lancasterian School and Seamen's Bethel School, both of Richmond, and was var- iously employed until his twenty-fifth year. In 1877 he began the study of medicine at the Medical College of Virginia, and was graduated M. D. with the class of 1879. He at once began practice in Richmond, and so continues, honored and respected as a professional man, as a man of business, and as a good citizen, friend and neighbor. He is president of the Capital Building and Loan Association, and for twenty-five years has been medical director of the Mutual Benefit Association, both of Richmond. He is a Democrat in political belief and is now chairman of the election board. His father and uncles were soldiers in the Confed- eracy ; an uncle, William, served in the Union army, was captured at Bull Run, where the brothers faced each other in the hostile armies. Dr. Hinchman is a member of the professional societies of his city, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Heptasophs, and is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church.

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Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 60

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