USA > Virginia > Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V > Part 74
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tha Philadelphia Frances, Samuel Bedloe, Philip Daniel, William Asbury, Edward Dunscomb, Jonathan.
Edward Dunscomb Christian, son of Henry Asbury and Lucy Wood (Duns- comb) Christian, was born in 1823. He was a prominent lawyer of ante and post bellum days, practicing in the supreme court of the state, and in the city of Lynch- burg and its adjacent counties. He was also interested in newspaper work and founded the "Lynchburg News." He married Cor- nelia Burton, daughter of John Hudson and Margaret (Macon) Burton, a woman of rare charm, who endeared herself to the entire community through her broad sympathies and universal ministrations of service and love. Children: Edward Dudley, John H., Elizabeth D., Frank Patteson, Grace Cow- an.
Judge Frank Patteson Christian, son of Edward Dunscomb and Cornelia (Burton) Christian, was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, November 18, 1858. Through reverses of fortune caused by the Civil war, Judge Christian's father was unable to give him a college education, but his desire for knowl- edge made opportunity for its acquisition. At not quite twenty-one he was elected principal of Monroe School, and while teaching he studied law and attended two summer sessions of Professor John B. Minor's law class at the University of Vir- ginia. In 1887 he resigned his position in the public school and commenced the practice of law, succeeding in his profession from the start. In 1890 he was elected common- wealth's attorney of Lynchburg, and re- elected without opposition in 1892. He was chairman of the Democratic party in that year, when the city gave Mr. Cleveland the largest majority in proportion ever given a presidential candidate He resigned the office of commonwealth's attorney in 1894 when elected to the bench of the corpora- tion court of Lynchburg, to which office he has been elected four times without oppo- sition. When originally elected he was the youngest inan to have occupied that posi- tion in the state, and has served longer than any other incumbent. Study of the Bible and philosophy have made him a very suc- cessful teacher of a large number of men interested in the study of those subjects, and his Sunday morning class averages more than a hundred men from twenty to VIR-61
seventy years of age. He was, until his resignation, for many years a steward in the Court Street Methodist Episcopal Church, of Lynchburg, Virginia. Judge Christian is also one of the two oldest directors, in point of service, of the First National Bank. He is the president of the Imperial, Chris- tian, Lynchburg and Deitz Collieries in West Virginia.
Among Judge Christian's other direct immigrant ancestors are George Benton "Gent" of "Longuer Hall" Shropshire. Eng- land, emigrated 1608. Gideon Macon, Huguenot stock, emigrated from England, 1660, settled at "The Island" New Kent county, Virginia. William Claiborne emi- grated from Claiborne Hall, Westmoreland county, England, settled in Virginia, 1671. Chevalier Du Val emigrated and settled in Virginia.
Judge Christian married, in Lynchburg, January 28, 1890, Mary Lucretia Dearing, born August 27, 1864, daughter of General James Dearing (see Dearing) and Roxanna (Birchett) Dearing. Children : James Dearing, born February 16, 1891; Charles Lynch, born November 21, 1893; Frank Patteson, Jr., born February 24, 1896; Cor- nelia Dunscomb, born September 2, 1897 ; Harrison, born September 21, 1900.
(The Dearing Line).
The first Dearing of whom we have rec- ord of this branch of the family was Robert Dearing, who lived in Orange county, Vir- ginia, and died there in 1758. He married Elizabeth
Edward Dearing, son of Robert Dearing, took up land near Arnoldton, in what is now Campbell . county for hunting purposes. While on a deer hunting expedition with a party of gentlemen, he died suddenly at a spring near where the old Shiloh Church afterwards stood, where he sat down on a log to rest. This was between 1785 and 1790. He married Ann
Captain James Dearing, son of Edward and Ann Dearing, was born July 3, 175-, and died October 13, 1811. He was a cap- tain in the revolutionary war, serving un- der General Washington. He married, about 1785. Betsy Adams, daughter of Cap- tain Robert and Penelope (Lynch) Adams. Children : I. Nancy, married Jonathan White. 2. Sallie, married Marston Clay. 3. Elizabeth, married Stephen Clay. 4. Mil-
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dred, married John Guy. 5. Rosamond, born May 15, 1794, died June 16, 1836; married Howard Y. Bennett. 6. General William Lynch Smith, born April 7, 1796, died June 12, 1876; married (first) Mary Terry Har- rison, August 21, 1817; married (second) Mrs. Nellie McGregor in 1868. 7. Margaret, married John Black. 8. Colonel James Grif- fin, see forward.
Colonel James Griffin Dearing, son of Captain James and Betsy (Adams) Dear- ing, was born September 27, 1800, and died April 9, 1843. He married, March 5, 1834, Mary Anna Lynch, daughter of Anselm and Susannah (Miller-Baldwin) Lynch (see Lynch line). Children: I. Anselm Lynch, born December 23, 1834, died November 12, 1857, unmarried. 2. Susan Lynch, born March 6, 1838, died September 27, 1892; inarried, April 3, 1861, Robert Henry Ward, great-grandson of Patrick Henry. 3. James, see forward. 4. Mary Anna, born January 13, 1843; married, April 22, 1868, Thomas Fauntleroy, a descendant of Colonel Moore Fauntleroy, emigrant to Virginia in 1641. .
Brigadier-General James Dearing, son of Colonel James Griffin Dearing and his wife, Mary Ann (Lynch) Dearing, was born in Campbell county, Virginia, April 25, 1840. Ile was educated in Hanover Academy, Virginia, and in 1858 was appointed a cadet in the United States Military Academy at West Point. He resigned as soon as the adherence of Virginia to the Confederacy was determined upon, and entered the Con- federate army. He chose the artillery ser- vice at the outset, becoming a lieutenant of the Washington artillery of New Orleans, a fine organization which created much en- thusiasm on its arrival in Virginia. His brilliant service in the artillery led to his promotion to captain of a battery attached to Pickett's division. As a lieutenant and captain he participated in the principal battles of the Army of Northern Virginia until after Chancellorsville, when he was promoted to major and put in command of a battalion of eighteen guns in the reserve artillery of Longstreet's corps. He reached the battlefield of Gettysburg with Pickett's division and took part in the tremendous artillery duel which followed on the third day. Here he earnestly advocated a charge with artillery, but this being contrary to all precedent in warfare, his advice was not followed-subsequently it was recognized,
by high officers present at the battle, to have been born of genius.
In the winter of 1863-64, Pickett having been assigned with the remnant of his di- vision to the district of North Carolina, with headquarters at Petersburg, Virginia, found himself in need of cavalry, and collecting various companies of mounted men, he wrote to the secretary of war, "I shall as- sign them to the command of Major Dear- ing, and ask that he may be ordered to the command of these troops, with the tempo- rary rank of colonel. He is a young officer of daring and coolness combined, the very man for the service upon which he is going, a good disciplinarian and at the same time generally beloved by his men. I am not saying too much in his absence in assuring you that General Longstreet would strong- ly endorse his claims to promotion had he the opportunity." Dearing was at once given this command, though Lee wrote a few days later in ordering the Newbern ex- pedition, "I propose Major Dearing for the command of the artillery of this expedition." The appreciation of his service in the artil- lery was still further shown on April 5, 1864, when Lieutenant-Colonel Dearing was ordered to report to General Lee for assign- ment to command of the horse artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia, Dearing's service was, however, from the beginning of 1864 in the cavalry. The regiment col- lected for him by Pickett was called Dear- ing's Confederate Cavalry, and other cav- alry commands were put in his charge dur- ing the Newbern expedition in which he was notably distinguished. It was during the Newbern expedition that Dearing was at last able to test his theory of charging with artillery-the first such tactics adopted in military annals. He, in command of cav- alry, was charging a fort, when he recog- mized his old battalion of artillery and or- dered it to charge also. The artillery and infantry then charged with the cavalry, Plymouth was taken with a modicum of force and Dearing was promoted to briga- dier-general on the battlefield. He was the youngest officer of his rank in the Confed- erate service, and at the time of his fatal wound was just in receipt of a letter from General Lee saying the papers for his pro- motion to major-general were then in the hands of the secretary of war, adding "a promotion already too long delayed by reason
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of my inability to fill your present command of the Laurel Brigade."
Early in May he was called to the Peters- burg lines on account of the opening of Grant's campaign. At first stationed on the Weldon Railroad, and in command of a brigade consisting of his regiment, a Georgia regiment and two other North Carolina regiments of cavalry, a Virginia battalion and Graham's light artillery, he was soon called to the line of Swift's Creek and Drew. ry's Bluff to meet the advance of Butler. On June 9 his command engaged Grant's cavalry at Reservoir Hill, and drove the enemy from the field by an impetuous charge. On the fifteenth of June, Grant's whole army now being south of the James. Dearing's regiment made a gallant stand against the advance, which Beauregard re- ported as of incalculable advantage to his command. Subsequently he commanded a brigade of General W. F. H. Lee's cavalry, and later succeeded General Rosser in com- mand of the "Laurel Brigade." When dis- cussing with the latter, his successor, Gen- eral Robert E. Lee said. "I know of but one man suited to the command-Dearing-Jim Dearing-whom everybody loves."
In appearance General Dearing was strik- ingly handsome and a magnificent physique, standing six feet and two inches in his stockings. He possessed a most winning personality and was a typical Southerner in his dash and daring. His comrades claimed for him the distinction of being the best rider in the Confederacy.
While leading the "Laurel Brigade" in a brave charge at Rice's Depot, on Lee's re- treat from Petersburg, he fell, shot, like the great Jackson, accidentally through the lungs by one of his own men. A few weeks later, on April 22, he finished his brief, brave and brilliant, young career, and, enshrouded in the flag which records such as his im- mortalized, was laid in peace among others of his people, whose hands had helped to carve the destiny of a nation-all as great, if less victorious.
General Dearing married Roxana Birch- ett, daughter of Peter and Lucretia (Har- rison) Birchett, and had one daughter, Mary Lucretia, born August 27, 1864, who mar- ried Judge Frank Patteson Christian (see Christian line).
(The Lynch Line).
The Lynch family traces its ancestry in unbroken line back to Pepin, founder of the Carlovingian dynasty of France in the sev- enth century. They are said to have taken their name from Lintz, an ancient capital of Upper Austria. A Lynch, or Lintz, was a high military officer under Emperor Charle- magne, and distinguished himself in the wars of that time. Descendants of Lynch found their way into Ireland when it was an independent kingdom, and became a powerful and prominent family. Sir John Lynch who flourished in Galway just prior to the conquest of Ireland by England, was said to have imitated the Roman Brutus in voting for the sentence of the death of his own son, he being a judge, and his son hav- ing been concerned in an attempt to over- throw the government of his native land. In later years the Lynches seem to have leen noted for a generosity too nearly akin to extravagance. They kept open house, hunted and drank until their immense pos- sessions melted away. and in the eighteenth century they were masters of only the pa- triarchal mansion and comparatively a few surrounding acres. Then it was, about 1715-20, that one of them, a youth of fif- teen, sought America and became the pro- genitor of the present family in Virginia, the immediate cause which actuated him having been a punishment received at school. Meeting soon thereafter with the captain of a ship who was on the eve for sailing for America, young Lynch was easily pursuaded to avail himself of the opportu- nity of embarking on the Atlantic in quest of a far distant home in the western world. When he was finally landed in Virginia the captain apprenticed him for his passage to Christopher Clark, a wealthy tobacco planter, of what is now Louisa county, who received him as a member of his family, and eventually bestowed upon him the hand of one of his daughters, Sarah Clark. Some of the silver which was her marriage portion, in 1733, is still in the Lynch family. Mrs. Frank P. Christian, of Lynchburg, fell heir to two spoons of uncommon weight and prizes them greatly.
The first Charles Lynch settled on a plan- tation called Pen Park in Albemarle county. Late in life he moved to a place on the James river, about a mile below the present
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city of Lynchburg, called "Chestnut Hill," and there he and his wife are buried. He took up large tracts of land, thousands of acres, both on the James and Staunton rivers and many other parts of Virginia. He represented the county of Albemarle in the house of burgesses in 1748 and was elected to this honorable office without his knowl- edge. He was also justice of Goochland county, later justice of Albemarle county, and in 1749-51 served as sheriff of Albe- marle. In 1745 he was appointed captain. Sarah, his wife, commenced the meeting of Friends at South River (Lynchburg), by sitting alone with her children for Divine worship, which afterward grew into a large Quarterly Meeting; but she was disowned for "marrying out," when she became the second wife of Major John Ward, on De- cember 17, 1766. She was, however, re- ceived back into membership in 1773. She had no children by her second marriage. Children of Charles and Sarah (Clark) Lynch: 1. Penelope, born about 1734; mar- ried, about 1750, Captain Robert Adams. 2. Charles, see forward. 3. Sarah, born 1738, died 1773; married, 1754, Micajah Terrell, one of the first justices of Campbell county. 4. John, born 1740, died 1820; married, 1768, Mary Bowles; he was a member of the So- ciety of Friends and was the founder of the city of Lynchburg. 5. Christopher, born about 1742; married, 1765, Anne Ward, daughter of Major John Ward. 6. Edward, born about 1744, died young, unmarried.
Colonel Charles Lynch, son of Charles and Sarah (Clark) Lynch, was born in 1736. He married, January 12, 1755, Anna Ter- rell, daughter of Henry Terrell and his wife, Anna (Chiles) Terrell, he being nineteen and she sixteen years of age. Colonel Lynch served in the house of burgesses for Bedford county in 1769-74-75. He was one of the signers of the Non-Importation Agreement, and advocated that the taxation of the colony, trials for treason, felony, etc., should be in the hands of the burgesses ; and he was one of those noble patriots who formed the convention that met in St. John's Church, Richmond, in August, 1775, when the eloquence of Patrick Henry immortal- ized himself, and incited his associates to "Liberty or to Death." During the war of the revolution Colonel Lynch was promi- nent in the defense of his country. serving on the staff of General Green in his south-
crn campaign. At the battle of Guilford Court House he held a position on Green's right flank, and according to Howe "behav- cd with much gallantry." Lee also extols the "noble conduct" of this command. When at one time during the war a combination of Tories and outlaws infested the moun- tain region of Virginia, Colonel Lynch with cther prominent Whigs resorted to sum- mary methods of repression. These gentle- men seized objectionable persons of this class, and after a speedy trial at which Colo- nel Lynch acted as judge-a title attached to him during the remainder of his life- swung up the malefactors, if found guilty. to the limb of a walnut tree of Colonel Lynch's, administered nine and thirty stripes and compelled them to give three cheers for "Liberty." The refrain of the ballard sung by Captain Lynch's men was:
Hurrah for Colonel Lynch, Captain Bob, and Cal- loway!
They never let a Tory rest, 'till he cries out for "Liberty."
Thus it was that a term, "lynching" had its origin in acts necessary to preserve the country in its struggle for liberty, and as justifiable as any battle fought during the war. To protect Colonel Lynch and his as- sociates from prosecution or annoyance, an act was passed by the general assembly at its October session in 1782. He retained his command of militia until peace with Great Britain was fully established, and did not assume his duties as justice of the county court until February 5, 1784, on which date he took the oath of office. Not far from the walnut tree on which the Tor- ies were whipped, and which is still flour- ishing, Colonel Lynch lies in the family graveyard of his "Avoca" estate. A simple granite stone marks his resting place with these lines inscribed :
In Memory of Colonel Charles Lynch A zealous and active patriot of the Revolution Died Octo. 29th 1796. Aged sixty years.
Children of Colonel Charles Lynch and his wife, Anna (Terrell) Lynch: I. Charles, married his first cousin, Sally Adams, and moved to Kentucky; his son, Charles, be- came governor of Mississippi. 2. Anselm, see forward. 3. John (called "Staunton John" to distinguish him from his uncle,
Eugene Cescthere
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the founder of Lynchburg), married his first cousin, Anna Terrell, and moved to Ten- lessee. 4. Christopher, died young, unmar- ried. 5. Sallie, married, March 3. 1789, Cap- tain Charles Lynch Terrell, her first cousin.
Anselm Lynch, son of Colonel Charles and Anna (Terrell) Lynch, was born June 8, 1764, and died February 18, 1826. He married, November 24, 1799, Mrs. Susan- Dah Baldwin, widow of Zebulon Baldwin, and daughter of John and Mary ( Moorman) Miller. She died in 1858. It is said of An- selm Lynch that when only eighteen years old he slipped away from home without permission and followed his father to North Carolina, reaching there on the eve of the battle of Guilford Court House, in which he was wont to boast that he too killed his "Red Coat." In after years he like his father became prominent in his county and state, and served several terms in the legislature. Children : 1. Charles Henry, born Novem- ber 3, 1800, died March 24, 1875. 2. Mary Anna, born June 23, 1802, died February I, 1892; married, March 5, 1834, Colonel James Griffin Dearing (see Dearing line). 3 John Pleasant, born December 25, 1803, died December 31, 1865. 4. Sarah Miller, born January 17, 1806, died June 18, 1866 5 Susan, born May 8, 1808, died October 3, 1837.
Eugene Withers. The Withers family were early settlers in Virginia, first in Staf- ford, then in Fauquier county, where lived Thomas Withers, who had nine sons who scattered to other parts of Virginia and adjoining states. Eugene Withers, of Dan- ville, is a descendant of Thomas, through his son, William Withers, this branch set- tling in North Carolina. Eugene Withers is a son of Elijah Benton, and a grandson of Elijah Keen Withers, a planter of Caswell county, North Carolina, who died in 1870, having been born with the century. He was a man of prosperity and influence, held in high esteem. He married Mary Lawson, Forn in Rockingham county, North Caro- lina, the mother of three sons and five daughters.
Elijah Benton Withers was born on his father's farm in Caswell county, North Carolina, December 31, 1836, and died in Danville, Virginia, April 23, 1898. He grew up on the home farm, was given a good education, and became a lawyer. At the
outbreak of the war between the states he enlisted in the Thirteenth Regiment, North Carolina Volunteer Infantry, and rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was wounded at the battle of South Mountain, but recovered from his injuries, and after the war resumed the practice of law in his native state. In 1876 he moved to Danville, Virginia, was admitted to the Virginia bar, and practiced in all state and Federal courts of the district until his death in 1898. He was a man of lofty principles, a lawyer of learning and ability, and stood high both as a lawyer and citizen. In 1874 he was a member of the legislature of North Caro- lina, and in 1875 was a delegate to the con- stitutional convention that framed a new constitution for the state of North Caro- lina. He bore a prominent part in the pub- lic affairs of North Carolina during the re- construction period, as he had previously borne a soldier's part in the field, and did all in his power to bring order and peace out of the chaotic conditions that existed under "carpet bag" rule. Colonel Withiers married Mary Ann Price, born in Caswell county, North Carolina, in 1847, died there in January, 1869, daughter of Daniel Smith Price, born in Caswell county, in 1801, died in August, 1872, a farmer. Daniel S. Price married Eliza Frances Stokes, born in the same county, died in Danville, Virginia, in May, 1887, aged seventy years. Children of Elijah Benton Withers: Eugene, of whom further: Daniel Price, died in in- fancy. Colonel Withers married (second) Lemma Price, December, 1875, and had four children by this marriage: Daniel Price, Mary W. Starling, Elijah Benton, Jr., Ger- trude W. Fogle. Mrs. Lemma P. Withers died November 5, 1907.
Eugene Withers, eldest son of Lieutenant- Colonel Elijah Benton Withers, was born on his grandfather's plantation in Caswell county, North Carolina, January 22, 1867. He was nine years of age when his father moved to Danville, Virginia, having lost his mother and only brother at the birth of the latter in January, 1869. He was early educated and prepared for college under private instruction at Danville, then at the University of North Carolina, whence he was graduated from the academic depart- ment in 1888. He was a student at the University of Virginia the session of 1888- 89; then returned to the University of
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North Carolina the session of 1889-90. He had in these two institutions prepared for the practice of law, and in 1891 was ad- mitted to the Virginia bar, beginning prac- tice that year in Danville, in association with his honored father as Withers and Withers. After the death of his father, the firm became Withers & Green, then Green, Withers & Green, so continuing until 1908, when Mr. Withers withdrew and has since practiced alone. The law has been to him a jealous mistress, and he has devoted himself entirely to her service, standing high in his profession and commanding a large prac- tice in all state and Federal courts of his district.
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Withers has given much time to the public service, and has been for years a dominant figure in state politics, bringing to the service of his con- stituents the trained legal mind and the enthusiasm of a patriotic partisan, for par- tisan he is to the core, but eminently fair and honorable to his opponents both in law and politics. He was a member of the Vir- ginia house of delegates in 1893 and 1894, and state senator in 1895-96-97-98. In 1900 he was presidential elector, and in 1901 and 1902 member of the Virginia constitutional convention, and from 1907 until 1910 city attorney of Danville. In both branches of the legislature Mr. Withers held important positions on committees, and was one of the strong men of that law making body. He has never sought personal advancement, but has worked with an honorable ambition to be of service to the state that adopted him. There is a close parallel between his career and that of his distinguished father in North Carolina-the peculiar problems that the father faced not existing for the son, nor the latter day questions that the son has faced, appearing to perplex the father. Yet both bore well their part, and each rose to power in public life and to a commanding position at the bar. Mr. Withers is a member of the Masonic order, is president of the Tuscarora Club of Dan- ville, and a supporter of the Christian re- ligion.
He married in Danville, December 6, 1905, Daisy Hancock, born in Danville, April 15, 1878, daughter of William B. and Eleanor (Robinson) Hancock, the former born in Franklin county, the latter in Bed- ford county, Virginia, and both now resid-
ing in Danville, he being a traveling shoe salesman. Child of Eugene and Daisy Withers: Margaret Vernon, born October 23, 1906.
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