Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 71

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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Richard Henderson, son of Samuel Hen- derson, was born April 20, 1735, in Hanover county, Virginia, and was but ten years of age when he went with his parents to North Carolina. There he read law with his cousin, Judge William, was admitted to the bar, and rose to the highest ranks in the profes- sion. He was appointed judge of the Su- preme court, and soon after, in 1774, formed a company with several others to buy the lands of the Cherokee Indians, which were offered by that tribe for sale. A fair bargain was made with the Indians and their lands purchased at a proper compensation, em- bracing a large portion of the present states of Kentucky and Tennessee. The governors of North Carolina and Virginia declared this purchase illegal, but those states subse- quently gave to the company two hundred thousand acres each. In 1779 Judge Hen- derson opened an office at French Lick, now the city of Nashville, for the sale of these lands, and after a few years returned to his home in Granville, North Carolina, where he died January 30, 1785. He married Eliz- abeth Keeling, who survived him but a few years, and they had children: Fanny, born 1764; Richard, July, 1766; Archibald, Au-

gust, 1768; Elizabeth, 1770; Leonard, of further mention below ; John ; Lawson, 1778.

Leonard Henderson, son of Judge Richard and Elizabeth (Keeling) Henderson, was born October 6, 1772, on Nut Bush Creek, in Granville county, and achieved greater dis- tinction than his worthy father. He attend- ed the country schools, read Latin and Greek with the Presbyterian clergymen in his district, studied law with Judge John Williams, and after admission to the bar be- came clerk of the district court of Hillsboro. He was elected judge of the superior court, and after eight years' service resigned be- cause of the inadequate compensation of judges, and resumed private practice. Sub- sequently the judicial system of the state was remodelled and a fair salary was fixed for its judges. Mr. Henderson was again elected to the superior court, December 12, 1818, and served many years with distinc- tion. During his career he instructed many students in the law. His wife was a Miss Farrar, and their children, were Archibald Erskine; Dr. William Farrar ; John ; Fanny, married Dr. William V. Taylor, and lived in Memphis; Lucy, married Dr. Richard Sneed.

Archibald Erskine Henderson, eldest child of Judge Leonard Henderson, was born at Granville, North Carolina, and after study in the public schools and with private tutors read law, and graduated at the University of North Carolina. He engaged in agricul- ture on a large scale, producing great quan- tities of cotton, corn, tobacco and wheat, em- ploying a large number of slaves. He was a magistrate and a very prominent man of his time, and founded the town of Henderson, North Carolina, where his descendants have since resided. He married Anne, daughter of Richard Bullock, and they were the par- ents of two sons and five daughters.

Richard Bullock Henderson, son of Archi- bald Erskine and Anne (Bullock) Hender- son, was born February 11, 1832, in Gran- ville county, North Carolina, and after studying with private tutors entered the University of North Carolina. Subsequently he pursued the academic course at William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia. On the death of his father he took charge of the latter's estate, in whose management he continued several years. The old plantation was known all over the country as one of

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the most beautiful, productive and best man- aged properties in the South. At the out- break of the war betwen the states, Mr. Henderson enlisted as a private in General Scales' North Carolina regiment, and con- tinued in active service until the close of the struggle, rising through the various grades to the rank of captain. When peace came he resumed the management of the paternal farm, and was among the most active in the organization of the Patrons of Husbandry. He married, May 24, 1861, Betty Martin, born March 31, 1842, daugh- ter of Nathaniel and Susan (Gilmour) Mar- tin, of Richmond, Virginia. Children: I. Sue Gilmour, married Edward Hines, and was the mother of two children: Sue Hen- derson, now the wife of J. Pinkney Scales, and Bessie H. 2. Nathaniel, married Minnie Buchan, and has children : Henderson, Sue, Estes, Harlee and Walter. 3. Lucy Farrar, married W. T. Estes, and had children : Henderson, Gilmour and Triplett. 4. Rich- ard Leonard, of further mention below.

Richard Leonard Henderson, fourth child of Richard Bullock and Betty (Martin) Henderson, was born May 1, 1870, in War- ren county, North Carolina, and was about ten years old when the family removed to Henderson, North Carolina. He attended private and public schools, and the Ells- worth Military Academy, where he was a student for two years. He began his busi- ness career in the employ of a firm of to- bacco brokers, handling leaf tobacco. In 1891 he entered the service of the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company at Newport News, and during the business de- pression of 1893-94, when its force was re- duced from thirty-five hundred men to three hundred men, he again found employment in the tobacco business. In 1896 he became chief clerk in one of the principal depart- ments of the shipbuilding company, and continued in that capacity until 1912, when he was elected cashier. This position he has since filled, with credit to himself and

to the satisfaction of his employers. He is an active member of the Presbyterian church, a member of its finance committee, and has for two years represented his ward in the board of aldermen of Newport News. Mr. Henderson is not a member of any clubs, and devotes all his leisure time to his home and family. As a means of diversion he VIR-60

rears game chickens, in which he has been very successful. A cultured and genial gen- tleman of the true Southern type, with affable manners and pleasing address, the number of his friends is limited only to those who have had the fortune to meet him. He is a worthy son of worthy sires, and well represents the traditions and prin- ciples of those who went before.

Mr. Henderson married, April 11, 1900, Anna Virginia Robinson, a daughter of John A. and Annie (McNulty) Robinson, the for- mer a native of Adams county, Pennsyl- vania, and the latter was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Robinson was an attorney, practicing his profession in the state of Pennsylvania ; about 1893 he took up his residence in Newport News and here became the editor and publisher of the first daily newspaper. To Mr. and Mrs. Hender- .son have been born three children: Vir- ginia Robinson, born May 31, 1905; Rich- ard Leonard, May 25, 1907 ; Anne Marshall, January 12, 19II.

Christian Kreider Weaver. Christian Kreider Weaver, a manufacturer of New- port News, is a native of Pennsylvania, reared in Virginia, and descended from a very old Swiss family of the Keystone State. The immigrant ancestor, Hans Weber (in English, John Weaver), was a native of Switzerland, came to America in 1717, and settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he secured a tract of three hundred and seventy acres of land in what is now West Lampeter township, one mile north- east of Lampeter Square, which had been deeded by William Penn to John Rudolph Bundley in 1711. He cleared and improved the land, and upon his death left the prop- erty to his only son, Jacob Weaver. The greater part of the original estate is still in possession of the family. Many changes have been made by division and subdivision, and upon the original property now stand eleven residences and a school house. The land is fertile and in place of the forest trees are now found fields of waving grain and lush meadows, upon which sleek cattle browse.

Jacob Weaver, the son, married Magda- lena Barr, and they were the parents of four children: Jacob and John (twins) ; Magdalena, who married Jacob Rohrer, and

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Barbara, wife of Abraham Herr. John Weaver, one of the twins, married Ann Landis, and died in 1832.

Jacob Weaver, son of Jacob and Magda- lena (Barr) Weaver, was born July 4, 1750, and died July 25, 1824. He married Esther Neff, born September 27, 1756, died Febru- ary 2, 1817, daughter of Jacob and Ann (Brackhill) Neff. They had a large family of children: John, born October 3, 1777; Susannah, November 23, 1779; Jacob, Sep- tember 12, 1780; Samuel, March 8, 1782; Ann, March 28, 1784; David, November 25, 1785; Martha, May 16, 1787; John, of fur- ther mention below; Rev. Joseph, April 5, 1792; Elizabeth, March 10, 1794; Nettie, April 5, 1798. The family was identified with the Reformed Mennonite church.

John Weaver, eighth child of Jacob (2) and Esther (Neff) Weaver, was born June 12, 1789, and died August 24, 1869. He re- ceived by inheritance a portion of the orig-" inal farm settled by his great-grandfather, and there engaged in the pursuit of agricul- ture until his death. He married Elizabeth Kreider, born January 23, 1797, daughter of Christian and Ann (Harnish) Kreider. She was the mother of nine children, and died May 26, 1886, having survived her husband nearly seventeen years. Children: Martin, born August 6, 1820; Christian, of further mention below; Amos, May 22, 1825; Eliz- abeth, May 2, 1827; Ann, March 25, 1829; John K., March 15, 1832 ; Cyrus J., March 2, 1835 ; Francis J., April 7, 1838; Dr. Jacob G., April 9, 1840. All were reared in the Re- formed Mennonite church.

Christian Weaver, second son of John and Elizabeth (Kreider) Weaver, was born May 14, 1823, in West Lampeter, died October 15, 1913. He was educated in the public schools adjacent to his home, was a very quiet man, devoted to the Mennonite re- ligion, opposed to war, and devoted to his family. In 1869 he removed to Gloucester county, Virginia, where he engaged in farm- ing and in the lumber business, and con- tinued until he retired from active life. He purchased standing timber and operated saw mills; he acquired a handsome com- petence. He married, November 6, 1849, Rebecca Brubaker, born February 14, 1831, daughter of Samuel and Esther (Stehman) Brubaker. Children: 1. Ezra J. (single). 2. Anna Elizabeth, married William S. Heath, and was the mother of Maud Heath,

wife of Percy A. Wrenn, and mother of William Wrenn. 3. Christian Kreider. of further mention. 4. Ira B., married (first) Olivia Camper, and (second) Maud Cam- eron ; there are two sons of the first mar- riage: Ira and Willie, and four daughters of the second: Madge Gordon, Rebecca Elizabeth, Maud, Christine. 5. Alpheus, married Mary Armistead Williams, and has children : Herman, Grace, Alpheus, John, Fred and Daisy. 6. B. Frank, married Susie May Jennings. and has children: William and May. 7. Harry S., married (first) Clara Davis; (second) Rosina Beatrice Yingling ; children by first marriage: Helen and Wil- lis; and by second marriage: Ruth, Naomi and Vivian. 8. John Willis, married (first) Jeannette Nash, (second) Mary Wingfield ; children by first marriage: Evelyn and John Willis, Jr .; child by second marriage, John Christian.

Christian Kreider, second son of Chris- tian and Rebecca (Brubaker) Weaver, was born March 11, 1857, in Pennsylvania, and was about twelve years of age when he re- moved with his parents to Virginia. In his native state he attended school. and after removal to Virginia was actively occupied in his father's lumber business. In 1879, at the age of twenty-two years, he went to Clay Bank, Gloucester county, Virginia, to take charge of the B. R. & C. Steamship Company's property, of which he had full control for twenty-two years. He was able, industrious and made himself very valuable to his employers, transacting the business of the company at that point. In 1900 he removed to Newport News, where in asso- ciation with his brother, B. Frank Weaver, he established the firm of Weaver Brothers, manufacturers of sash, doors, blinds and all kinds of building lumber. They employ a large force of workmen, and do an exten- sive business in supplying builders in that section of the state. He is a director of the Colonial State Bank, of Newport News, a staunch and progressive citizen, active in business, widely known and respected, and much devoted to his home and family. Like his ancestors he does not mingle in public affairs. Liberal in religion, he is a regular attendant of the Baptist church of New- port News, to whose work he gives liberal support. He married Elton Ann Smith, daughter of William and Sarah (Freeman) Smith, of Gloucester county, Virginia.

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Their children are: Malvin Curtis, Eliza- beth Elton, Milton Kreider, Hazel Jane, Mary Olivia and Christian. The second daughter is the wife of Dr. J. W. Reed, and mother of James Weaver Reed.

Thomas Ernest Edgecumbe Pearse. Thomas Ernest Edgecumbe Pearse, civil engineer of Newport News, is descended from a very ancient English family which has become identified with Virginia in com- paratively recent times. The family origi- nally came from Hatherleigh in Devonshire. Their sons and grandsons scattered through Devonshire and Cornwall. Captain John Pearse was granted a coat-of-arms and armorial bearings by Henry VIII. for doughty deeds which he performed. There are effigies of this John Pearse and his wife Jane in Bigbury Church. Bigbury is be- tween Dartmouth and Torquay, on the South Devon coast. The inscription on the tomb is as follows :

Here lie the corpes of John and Jane his wife Surnamed Pearse, whom Death bereaved of life, Oh! lovely Pearses; until Death did them call, Their objects were to live in generall. Living they lived in Fame and Honestie Dying they both left to their Progenie; Alive and Dead always this Charitie. Hath, doth and will help less povertie. By nature they were two, by love made one By death made two again with mournful moan. Oh cruel death for turning good to even Yet blessed death in bringing both to Heaven. On Earth they had one bed, in earth one tomb, And now their souls in Heaven enjoy one room. Thus Pearse being pierced by death doth peace obtain,

Oh happy Pierce, kind Peace is Pearses gain. John died 10th day of Decr 1660, Jane died 28th day of Octr, 1583

John and Jane Pearse were the parents of John Pearse, born in 1532, whose son, Thomas Pearse, born 1557, had a son, Rob- ert Pearse, born 1585. His son, William Pearse, born 1618, was the father of John Pearse, born 1643, whose son, Robert Pearse, born 1662, was the father of Robert Pearse, born 1700. The last named had a wife Elizabeth, whom he married at Hather- leigh, Devon, and their son, Robert Pearse, was born there in 1730. He married, Feb- ruary 29. 1752, in Hatherleigh Church, Grace Edgecumbe. They were the parents of fourteen children, of whom the eighth, William Pearse, was born October 6, 1766, at Hatherleigh. He married, July 2, 1788,

in Launceston, Elizabeth Dymond. Their son, Thomas Pearse, was born December 27, 1799, and was identified with the Man- ganese Iron Mines of Cuba, with Parish & Company. He was very successful in his undertakings, and became wealthy. The second child of Robert and Elizabeth Pearse, a sister of Robert who married Grace Edgecumbe, was born November 18, 1754, in Hatherleigh, and christened Eliza- beth. She became the wife of Richard Edgecumbe, who was closely related to the Earl of Mount Edgecumbe. Their daughter. Margaret Edgecumbe, married Henry Ni- colls, and their daughter, Margaret Nicolls, was married, October 11, 1827, to Thomas Pearse, of the Cuban iron mines. Their fifth child, Edgecumbe Pearse, was born March 14, 1836, in Kent House, Liverpool, England, and was twenty-five years of age when he accompanied his father to Cuba. Subsequently he came to the United States, and took up land in the present state of Kansas. During the Civil war he was a member of the Home Guard of that state. Subsequently he removed to Chicago, Illi- nois. Thence he proceeded to Peterbor- ough, Ontario, Canada, and soon became a clerk in the city treasurer's office, later be- came clerk and treasurer, which positions he filled for thirty-five years, until his death in 1892. He married, April 21, 1864, at St. John's Church, Peterborough. Ann Sarah, eldest daughter of the Rev. John Shilton, late of Perth, Canada. Children: Thomas Ernest Edgecumbe, of further mention ; Charlotte, wife of Ernest Sherwood ; Edith, deceased : Lillie ; William, deceased.

Thomas Ernest Edgecumbe Pearse, son of Edgecumbe and Ann Sarah (Shilton) Pearse, was born April 1, 1865, and baptized September 24 following, by the Rev. W. R. Beck, rector of St. John's Church, Peter- borough. He was educated under private tutors and at the Collegiate Institute at Peterborough, after which he was employed in the office of a chief engineer of the Mid- land division of the Grand Trunk Railroad, from 1887 to 1892. In 1892 he entered the service of the Canadian government, in charge of topographical work on prelimi- nary sewerage on Trent Valley Canal. In 1893 he joined a firm of engineers in New York City, and this association continued until 1898, when he settled at Newport News, Virginia. He became resident engi-

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neer in charge of sewer construction, and after the completion of this work he was elected city engineer. With the exception of two years he has served continuously in this position. Mr. Pearse has ever been a student, and he is today one of the recog- nized authorities on engineering problems. He is earnestly absorbed in this line of work, and is said to have "a head full of figures." While a most busy man during business hours, Mr. Pearse has a well de- veloped social instinct, and is identified with many fraternal and social organiza- tions of Newport News, including the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Order of Owls, Fraternity of Eagles, and the Royal Arcanum. He retains the religious affili- ations of his fathers for many generations, and is a faithful adherent of the Protestant Episcopal church. Politically he acts with the Democratic party, and is generally es- teemed for his manly qualities, his social nature, and broad and fraternal sympathies. He married Mrs. Lillie Bell (Irwin) Watts, daughter of James and Sarah (Huffman) Irwin, of Bedford county, Virginia. By her first husband she had: Joseph D., Maud, Lillie, Estella. By her second husband she had: Thomas Edgecumbe and Herbert Randolph.

James McPherson Cumming. James Mc- Pherson Cumming, of Hampton, Virginia, is descended from a substantial and worthy Maryland family, of Scotch origin. Mem- bers of this family came very early to the United States, and are found among the pioneers of New England, where the final "s" was quickly added to the name. In Great Britain it is widely disseminated, and various branches have adopted the spelling Cummins, Comins and many other forms. It appears early in France under the spelling Comyne, and on this side of the At- lantic are several families between whom no relationship is known to exist. Perhaps the most numerous family in America is that descended from Isaac Cumming, of Ipswich and Topsfield, Massachusetts, from whom more than ten thousand descendants had been traced in 1903. Tradition has it that many of the name were descendants of the famous Red Comin, of Badenoch, in the southeastern part of Invernesshire, Scotland. It is not known whether the

Irish family is distinct from the Scotch and English, but there is no doubt that those coming from the north of Ireland are of Scotch origin.

William Cumming, born in Stranraer, Scotland, came to America in 1819, and set- tled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he re- sided until his death in 1852. He was a farmer in his native land, and after his ar- rival here. He married, in Stranraer, in 1812, Margaret McLean, born at Kircolm, Scotland, died in Baltimore, 1864. They had children : William, Mary Ann, James, John and Daniel James. The last named was born 1825, in Baltimore, and died in 1898, at Waycross, Georgia. Much of his life was spent in teaching. He studied for the ministry, but because of frail health re- turned to his father's farm, in whose man- agement he was associated while his father lived, and which he conducted several years after the latter's death. Subsequently he engaged in teaching, was a noted Bible student, a member of the Scotch Covenanter Presbyterian Church, active in church and Sunday school work. He married, in 1855, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Emma Bas- sett, born 1832, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, daughter of George Bassett, who was born 1805, in Bristol, England. He came to Amer- ica in 1829, residing two years in Philadel- phia, whence he removed to Pittsburgh, and continued there until his death, in 1877. He was a decorator by occupation. He mar- ried, in England, Elizabeth Butler, a native of Bath, England. Children: George, Wil- liam, Emma, Frederick John, James, Wash- ington, Albert Edward and Marion Amelia. Daniel J. Cumming and wife had children : I. George Bassett, a farmer and school teacher ; married, in Baltimore, 1883, Mary Purvis. 2. Margaret Christina, married, December 28, 1887, George A. Mullen, of Baltimore. 3. William, a minister of the Presbyterian church, who served parishes in Baltimore, Staunton and Blacksburg, Virginia, and Winchester, Kentucky; he married, April 5, 1897, Lelia Stokes, of Prince Edward county, Virginia. 4. James McPherson, of further mention below. 5. John Crawford, died in infancy. 6. Eliza- beth Russell, married, in Baltimore, 1894, A. Frank Hess, and resides in California. 7. Emma Alice, died in childhood, in Balti- more.

James McPherson Cumming, was born

Jas H. Cumming

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August 21, 1861, in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was educated, and as a youth served an apprenticeship in the printing office of the John Ryan Type Foundry, in his native city. In 1882 he engaged in business on his own account, making a spe- cialty of newspaper and magazine printing. To this he devoted himself most assidu- ously, and in 1888 his health failed on ac- count of over work. While recuperating he was invited to go to Hampton, Virginia, to help organize the Hampton Young Men's Christian Association. In September of 1888 he visited Hampton, accepted a call as general secretary of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association, returned to Baltimore, and disposed of his business, and on October I, 1888, was in charge of the association at Hampton. In 1890 Mr. Cumming purchased the Hampton "Monitor." a weekly news- paper, and re-entered newspaper work. In 1902 he established the Newport News "Ad- vance," which was published at his printing office in Hampton. Subsequently the two papers were combined in the "Monitor-Ad- vance," and in 1903 Mr. Cumming began the publication of a daily newspaper in Hamp- ton, which continued for seven months, long enough to satisfy the editor that Hampton. would not support a daily paper. In 1896 he engaged in the real estate and insurance business, still continuing the pub- lication of his paper, but sold out the news- paper and printing office when the "Daily Press" of Newport News entered the field. He first began making a specialty of city subdivisions in August, 1897, when he pur- chased a large tract, which was sold off in city lots, and his enterprise was marked with success from the first. A year later he opened a branch office in Phoebus, Virginia, and. seeing the necessity of advertising that section, purchased the entire plant of the West Point "Virginian," which he moved to Phoebus. There he began the publica- tion of a weekly newspaper, called the Phoe- bus "Sentinal," making the first issue. March 4, 1899. Through his executive abil- ity and influence the Phoebus Business Men's Association was organized in his office, and the Bank of Phoebus was also organized in his office, where were held the meetings of this association, which resulted in the incorporation of the town of Phoe- bus, in which Mr. Cumming took an active part. He has taken an active interest in

every movement looking to the development and uplifting of Hampton and the surround- ing country. In January, 1907, he disposed of his insurance business in order to give his entire time to the development of a pro- posed railroad connecting Old Point and Washington, and to look after his interests in the Peninsula Pure Water Company, of which he was president, and the Public Service Corporation of Virginia (which sup- plies Hampton with gas), of which he was vice-president. The financial panic of 1906- 07 swept away the financial agents of all these companies, and Mr. Cumming again resumed the real estate business, handling only his own properties. He is interested in agriculture, and has a large farm on the outskirts of Hampton. His winter home is on South King street, in Hampton, while the summers of the family are passed at his country place on Ware river in Gloucester county, Virginia. He is now guardian of the heirs of the large estate of the late James S. Darling ; has served several terms as a member of the Hampton town council, di- rector of the Bank of Phoebus, and treas- urer of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation. He has been superintendent of the Hampton Presbyterian Sunday school, chairman of the Civic League of Elizabeth City county, secretary and treasurer of the Hampton Educational Association, and sec- retary of the Greater Hampton Association. He is interested in sports of all kinds, and is secretary and treasurer of the Deal's Island Ducking Club, Incorporated.

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Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 71

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