Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 88

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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known as "John of the Forest," born 1700, died in April, 1752. He had a plantation of twelve hundred acres known as "The For- est," on the Appomattox river, in Washing- ton parish, of Westmoreland county, and was captain of a militia company. His will mentions daughters, Sarah Lovell, Ann Smith, Lizzie Smith, Mary and Peggy ; and sons, Thomas, John, William and Abraham. He married, about 1722, Elizabeth Mark- ham, born about 1704, at Alexandria, Vir- ginia, died September, 1775, in Fauquier county, Virginia, daughter of John Mark- ham, of Curl's Neck.

Colonel Thomas Marshall, eldest son of John and Elizabeth (Markham) Marshall, was born April 2, 1730, in Washington par- ish, died June 22, 1802, in Washington, Mason county, Kentucky. He was a man of remarkably strong intellect and forceful character, a schoolmate of George Wash- ington, whom he was wont to assist in sur- veying expeditions. He was co-executor with his mother of his father's will, and re- ceived two slaves by that will. Soon after his father's death he removed to Fauquier county, settling near Germantown, and be- came agent for Lord Fairfax in handling the latter's immense property in that vicin- ity. In 1765 he purchased three hundred and fifty acres of land on Goose creek, which he sold in 1773, and purchased the plantation known as "Oakhill" or "The Oaks." Here he built a fine house, and in 1767 was sheriff of the county. He raised a company of Culpeper minute-men at the beginning of the revolution, and became major of a regiment commanded by Colonel Woodford, distinguishing himself at the battle of Great Bridge, the first of the revo- lution on Virginia soil. He was at Valley Forge, and commanded the regiment at Germantown, Pennsylvania; and received from the Virginia house of delegates a handsome sword in recognition of his gal- lant service at Brandywine, where his horse was killed under him. In 1779 his command was sent to South Carolina, and was cap- tured at Charleston in that state. Colonel Marshall was released on parole and in 1780 visited Kentucky, at which time he located his beautiful estate, "Buckpond," near Versailles. He was frequently a member of the Virginia house of delegates, and was a member of the convention which declared the

independence of the colony. About 1780 he was appointed surveyor-general of Kentucky, which was then a single county attached to the colony of Virginia, and when the county of Fayette was detached in 1781, he became surveyor of that county. He purchased land in Lexington in 1783, and in 1785 removed his family to Kentucky, by flatboats float- ing down the Ohio river. In 1787 he repre- sented Fayette county in the Virginia legis- lature, and in 1788 was a member of the convention that framed the Virginia state constitution. His last years were spent with his sou, Thomas, at Washington, Kentucky. His will mentions sons: John (chief jus- tice, previously mentioned, the subject of an extended biography in this work), Thomas, James M., Charles, William, Alex- ander K., Lewis, and daughters: Eliza- beth Colston, Mary Anne Marshall, Judith Brook and Nancy Marshall. A daughter, Lucy Ambler, died before her father. He married, in 1754, Mary Randolph Keith, born April 28, 1737, in Fauquier county, died September 19, 1809, in Mason county, Kentucky, daughter of Parson James and Mary Isham (Randolph) Keith, descend- ant of George Keith, born in Kincardine, Scotland, in 1685.

Charles Marshall, twin brother of Wil- liam, and son of Colonel Thomas and Mary R. (Keith) Marshall, was born January 31, 1767, at "Oakhill," and died in 1805, in War- renton, Virginia, where he long practiced law and was known as a learned, profound and eloquent advocate. He married, Sep- tember 13, 1787, Lucy Pickett, born May 12, 1767, died 1825, daughter of Martin Pickett. Both are buried in the Old Turkey church- yard at Warrenton.

Alexander J. Marshall, son of Charles and Lucy (Pickett) Marshall, was born Feb- ruary 21, 1803, in Warrenton, and died Feb- ruary 21, 1882, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was educated for the law, but was early elected clerk of Fauquier county and filled that position many years. During the Civil war he was a member of the Confederate States senate, and after that struggle moved to Baltimore. His generous nature led him to acts which cost him much of his inher- ited fortune. He was witty and popular among his fellows. He married (first) De- cember 6, 1827, Maria R. Taylor, born No- vember 30, 1808, daughter of Robert John-

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stone Taylor, died January 8, 1844. He married (second) Anna Robb, daughter of Charles Gartz Robb, who survived him.

Colonel Charles Marshall, son of Alex- ander J. and Maria R. (Taylor) Marshall, was born October 3, 1830, in Warrenton. He received a liberal education. In 1850 he was appointed professor of mathematics at Indiana University, and three years later removed to Baltimore, where he engaged in the practice of law. He served on General Lee's staff throughout the Civil war, and re- sumed practice at Baltimore after peace was restored, attaining very high standing as a lawyer. He married (first) December 18, 1856, Emily Rosalie Andrews, daughter of General T. P. Andrews, of the United States army, and his wife, Emily Snowden. He married (second) December 12, 1866, Sarah R. Snowden, daughter of Thomas and Ann Rebecca Snowden, of Maryland. His chil- dren were: Emily, married Judge Somer- ville P. Tuck ; Hudson Snowden, mentioned below ; James Markham, mentioned below ; Robert Edward Lee, Harry Taylor, Charles Alexander.

Hudson Snowden Marshall, son of Colo- nel Charles and Sarah R. (Snowden) Mar- shall, was born January 15, 1870, in Balti- more. He prepared for college in private schools of that city and Ellicott City, Mary- land. Entering the University of Virginia, he was graduated in 1890, and subsequently pursued a law course at the University of Maryland Law School, from which he re- ceived a degree in 1894. He was admitted to the bar at Baltimore in 1894 and at once began practice there. For two years, 1894 to 1896, he was assistant United States at- torney there, and resigned at the end of that period to engage in private practice in New York City, where he has since remained. For two years he was associated with Se- ward, Guthrie & Steele and later with the firm of Weeks & Battle, consisting of Bar- tow S. Weeks and George Gordon Battle, two very prominent attorneys of New York at the present time (see Battle). This firm was later Battle & Marshall, H. Snowden Marshall being the junior partner. Subse- quently James A. O'Gorman, now United States senator, became head of the firm, which is now O'Gorman, Battle & Marshall. For the last ten years Mr. Marshall has been very actively engaged in the trial of cases

before the courts, since May, 1913, in the capacity of United States district attorney. The above named associations naturally in- dicate his sympathy with the present na- tional administration and place him politi- cally. He is a member of the City Bar As- sociation and the New York County Law- yers' Association, and is affiliated with sev- eral clubs, including the Calumet, St. Nich- olas, New York Athletic and Lawyers'. With his family, he attends St. Timothy's (Protestant Episcopal) Church.

He married, February 27, 1900, at Savan- nah, Georgia, Isabel Couper Stiles, a native of that city, daughter of Robert and Mary (Couper) Stiles, and granddaughter of Wil- liam Henry Stiles, minister to Austria be- fore the Civil war. The Stiles family is one of the most noted in Georgia.

James Markham Marshall. James Mark- ham Marshall, son of Colonel Charles and Sarah R. (Snowden) Marshall, was born August 1, 1871, in Baltimore, and received his primary education in private schools of that city, and in Virginia. After two years at Bellevue, Virginia, high school, he entered the University of Virginia, grad- uating from its academic department in 1893. In June of the following year he was graduated from the law department and was immediately admitted to the bar in Baltimore. He continued in practice in that city until 1903, when he removed to New York City. In 1906 he located on Broad street, in that city, as a member of the law firm of Underwood, Van Vorst & Hoyt, which is now the firm of Van Vorst, Marshall & Smith. The firm carries on a large general practice, making a specialty of corporation law. Mr. Marshall is a member of the Association of the Bar of New York, and of the New York State and American Bar associations. He is also a member of the University Club, the St. Nicholas, Mid- day and Ardsley clubs. His home is in Man- hattan borough, and with his family he at- tends the Protestant Episcopal church. While an earnest Democrat in political prin- ciple, and acting in support of its policies. he has never sought or desired any political preferment. He married, February 15, 1911, Helen Denison, a native of Baltimore, daughter of John M. and Augusta (Pearce) Denison.

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Jefferson Monroe Levy. Jefferson Mon- roe Levy, author, lawyer, and legislator, was born in New York, and is the son of Captain Jonas Philip Levy and Fanny Mitchell, his wife. The family is traced from 1660 in New York. Jonas Philip Levy was distinguished in the Mexican war, commanding the ship, America, and com- manded the fort at Vera Cruz after its cap- ture. He died in 1886. Fanny (Mitchell) Levy was born in New York in 1828, and died in 1890, the daughter of Abraham and Esther (Allen) Mitchell.

The Hon. Jefferson Monroe Levy inher- ited from his uncle, Commodore Uriah P. Levy, United States navy, and now owns, the home of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, Virginia, which has been in the Levy fam- ily since the death of Thomas Jefferson. Uriah Phillips Levy, the uncle of Jefferson Monroe Levy, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1792, and died in New York City, March 22, 1862. He entered the United States navy in 1812, and was an of- ficer of the brig Argus, which, escaping the blockade, took out William H. Crawford as minister to France and destroyed in the English channel twenty-one vessels, one of which had a cargo worth six hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. On the cap- ture of the Argus he was made prisoner and retained for two years. He became lieu- tenant, March 5, 1817, commander, Febru- ary 9, 1837, and captain, March 29, 1844. His last cruise was made as flag officer of the Mediterranean fleet, ending at the out- break of the Civil war. He was active in the movement to abolish flogging in the navy. He became the owner of "Monti- cello," the house of Thomas Jefferson, of whom he was an ardent admirer, and this vast estate, with his stock, dwellings, pic- tures, etc., was confiscated during the Civil war by the Confederates in consequence of Levy's sympathies with the national govern- ment. He published a "Manual of Internal Rules and Regulations for Men-of-war." The Levys are an old colonial family, kin- dred forms of the name being Leavy, Levey and Dunlevy.

Jefferson Monroe Levy studied law under the late Clarkson N. Potter, and was ad- mitted to the bar in New York City, where he engaged in practice. He agitated for and caused the reform of surrogate's practice in the county of New York. He organized the

Democratic Club of New York, represented the thirteenth district of New York in the fifty-sixth congress during the term from 1899 to 1901, and was leader of the Gold Democrats in that congress. He aided in defeating the Nicaraguan Canal scheme by making a speech in the house of represen- tatives which was used as a text for oppo- sition to the Nicaraguan Canal and after- wards for the purchase of the Panama Canal. Mr. Levy has made other notable speeches in the house ; one on investigation of the secretary of the treasury on repeal of the war tax, and a bill for fixing and defining the rank of officers in the revenue service. He offered resolutions tor repayment of money expended by the United States gov- ernment in behalf of Cuba ; a bill to provide for international notes, and the Levy Loan- Shark bill. He is one of the original authors and advocates of the present reserve bank- ing law. Mr. Levy is a member of the Sons of the Revolution and the Sons of the Amer- ican Revolution. Among clubs he belongs to the Manhattan, Democratic, New York Yacht, Meadow Creek Country, Sandown Park and Keswick Hunt, of Virginia. Mr. Levy has been in law practice in New York City since 1873, and represented the thir- teenth district of New York in the sixty- second congress, and the fourteenth district in the sixty-third congress. He is unmar- ried. He has a brother, Louis Napoleon Levy, born in New York City, married Lily Wolf, of New York, and has four daughters.

Robert Franklin Leedy. In the first thirty years of the eighteenth century there came to America something like fifty thou- sand Germans, probably thirty thousand of these settling in eastern Pennsylvania.

The valley of Virginia was then unknown country. The Germans, always good judges of land, continually prospected in advance of settlement, and in 1722 one of these Penn- sylvania Germans rode through what is now the valley of Virginia. In the meantime, a young man had come from Germany by the name of Adam Mueller (now Miller). This Adam Mueller is said to have been born in Schreisheim, Germany, about 1700. With his young wife and an unmarried sister, he came to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, probably about 1725. Looking around for a choice bit of ground on which to settle, he heard of a location in Virginia between the

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Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies, and this led him to visit Williamsburg, Virginia. The reports he received there were so favorable that he went on into the valley, and in 1726 ot 1727 settled on the Shenandoah river, and was the first white settler in the lower val- ley of Virginia.

Mueller was followed by Jacob Stover, a Swiss, who was one of the most enterpris- ing land agents of his generation. Stover would have made a stirring real estate agent in our own day. In June 17, 1730, he se- cured a grant of ten thousand acres of land on the South Fork of the Shenandoah. He took this up in two tracts of five thousand acres each-one between Luray and Elkton, and the other higher up between Elkton and Port Republic. In these grants the location is defined as being in Massanutting town. Mueller had secured no title to his land, being merely a squatter, so probably in 1730, and even before Stover had secured his title, he bought land from Stover. The condition of Stover's grant was that he was to put at least one family on each one thousand acres inside of two years.

On May 15, 1732, William Beverley, son of Robert Beverley (the historian), of Vir- ginia, secured a grant of fifteen thousand acres on Shenandoah river at Massanutting, which, however, was not to conflict with any previous grants. On December 12, 1733, Beverley took out a caveat against Stover, claiming that the lands held by Stover of right belonged to him. Prompt action was had upon this case, and in the same month Stover's title to his ten thousand acres of land was confirmed. This was probably largely due to the petition of Adam Muel- ler and seven associates, which recited that they had bought five thousand acres in Mas- sanutting from Stover about four years be- fore, paying him four hundred pounds ster- ling for the land, and naturally if Beverley's claim was sustained they would be home- less. These men were all Germans, and presumably all Germans from Pennsylvania.

Among these early settlers was the Harnsberger family, of which family Robert Franklin Leedy, of Luray (the subject of this sketch), is descended in one line, and which.family, among numerous other promi- nent families of that section, claimed par- tial descent from Jacob Stover.

Colonel Robert Franklin Leedy was born at Leedy's Pump, near Harrisonburg, Rock-

ingham county, on July 28, 1863, son of John and Saran Ann (Mauck) Leedy. John Leedy was a farmer, son of Daniel and Eve (Brower) Leedy, the former named also a farmer, and son of Samuel. The Leedy fam- ily came to the valley from Pennsylvania at a date which cannot now be definitely stated-but it was prior to the revolutionary war. According to the family tradition, the original immigrant was a German baron, who came over with Baron Steigle, and that a son or nephew of this first immigrant served in the revolutionary war as a lieu- tenant-colonel.

Daniel Leedy, Colonel Robert F. Leedy's grandfather, was born in Virginia in 1795, on a part of the "Dutch Lord" tract in Rockingham county, which tract of land is said to have been granted by George III. This, however, does not appear on the rec- ords, though several small tracts in Rock- ingham county are described as having been parts of the "Dutch Lord" tract. Colonel Leedy thinks, and this is probably the true explanation, that the turbulent conditions existing in the early revolutionary period caused individuals to lose sight of the im- portance of having their titles recorded in Williamsburg, as the records there show none after 1774.

The Leedys were among these old Ger- man immigrants to Pennsylvania. The cor- rect spelling of the name was probably "Leidy," but on the old records which we have we find four or five different spellings. The first census of 1790 shows in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, Daniel and Andrew Ledy, as heads of families; in Northamp- ton county, Pennsylvania, Leonard Lidy, in Montgomery county, Conrad and Jacob Leyde ; and again in Montgomery county, Jacob, Jacob, Jr., and John Leydey. This was after the Virginia branch of the family had migrated from Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania family has given to America one of its greatest (if not the great- est) naturalist in the person of Dr. Joseph Leidy, born in Philadelphia in 1823, and died there in 1891. He was a graduated physician, but after two years of practice he resigned to devote himself to teaching. He was professor of anatomy at the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, and later at the Frank- lin University. He resigned to go abroad, and for years was engaged in foreign travel and the collection of specimens. In 1853 he

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was again elected professor of anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1871 was elected professor of natural history in Swarthmore College. He became one of the greatest authorities in his line of work, was lionored by two scientific societies, and left behind him some very valuable works which had been published during his lifetime. An- other member of this family was Paul Leidy, of Pennsylvania, school teacher, lawyer, dis- trict attorney and a Democratic member of the thirty-fifth congress. A much later figure than this was John W. Leedy, of Kansas, who served in the congress during the last decade of the nineteenth century, and was later governor of the state.

Colonel Robert F. Leedy comes of that all-conquering German race which is fast- cning its ideas upon the modern world, and which, in its beginning points in our coun- try, eastern Pennsylvania and the valley of Virginia, has set an example of improved farming which has made garden spots of tliese sections and been of priceless value to the whole country.

John Leedy, father of Colonel Robert F. Leedy, was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, in 1826, died in 1889. He was a sergeant in a Rockingham county militia company and served with them until Com- pany C of the Tenth Regiment was or- ganized when he enlisted in that company and when war broke out between the states he served one year. He was then detailed by the Confederate government to conduct farming operations for the benefit of the army, serving in that manner until the war closed. He was a member of the local school board, and a man of high standing in his community. He married Sarah Ann Mauck, born in Rockingham county, Vir- ginia, in 1830, died at Luray, Virginia, in 1896, daughter of John Mauck.

Robert F. Leedy's schooling was obtain- ed in the common schools of his native county, followed later by a course in the summer law school carried forward by the distinguished Dr. Minor at the University of Virginia. In his early youth Colonel Leedy farmed on the old home place where three generations of his family had been born and reared, including himself, remain- ing there until he was twenty-two years of age. He spent the next three years mining and railroading, returning to the farm when he was about twenty-five and remaining

there two years, when he went to Basic City, which was one of the boom towns which sprang up in Virginia in the early nineties of the last century. He engaged in the business which was obsorbing every- body at Basic City, real estate, combined with mercantile pursuits, and read law at the same time that he was prosecuting these interests actively. He was admitted to the bar in 1893, and has been in the active prac- tice of his profession from that time to the present, the last nineteen years of that per- iod having been spent in Luray, of which place he is now one of the foremost citizens. He practiced in Luray until 1899, as junior member of the firm of Weaver & Leedy and then continued alone until 1908 when the partnership of Leedy & Berry was formed and so continues. Colonel Leedy has been retained in many celebrated cases, both criminal and civil, among the latter many important railroad suits. He bears a splen- did reputation as a lawyer of learning, force and eloquence, his fame extending far be- yond local limits. Judge Harrison was assailed in the celebrated Bywaters case (murder) by "Colliers Weekly," for opin- ions rendered and Colonel Leedy made a reply defending Judge Harrison, which re- ceived mention in all the leading papers of Virginia. Shortly after "Collier's Weekly" published these letters in their weekly per- icdical without comment.

While a resident of Basic City he served as a commissioner of revenue. In 1892 he was elected mayor of the town, and re- elected in 1894. He resigned when he moved to Luray in 1895. At the present time he is serving as a member of the house of delegates of the general assembly of Vir- ginia, representing Page and Rappahannock counties. A successful lawyer, he is almost as keenly interested in military matters as I:e is in the legal profession. He has been identified with the Virginia Volunteers ( National Guard) for fifteen years. In Sep- tember, 1902, he was made a captain. In June, 1905, he was promoted to lieutenant- colonel of the Second Infantry, and in Au- gust, 1905, was promoted to colonel of the same regiment, which position he is filling at the present time. He is a keen student of military affairs, and regards "Henderson's Science of War," which is included in his preferred reading, as the greatest military book ever written His religious affiliation

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is with the Baptist church. He is a Free Mason, having gone through all degrees to and including the "Shrine."

He was married on March 27, 1890, in Rockingham county, to Emma Cathrine Keister, who was born in Pendleton county, West Virginia, on November 25, 1870, daughter of Martin and Elizabeth Keister. Their children are Nina Coleman Leedy, who is a graduate of the Woman's College of Richmond, Virginia; Thelma Hudson Leedy, now in the high school ; John Robert Leedy and Lillian Dare Leedy, the next two, are also in the high school; Rolfe Miller Leedy and Beverley Berrey Leedy, the younger children, have not yet entered school.

Colonel Leedy's reading takes a wide range. He delights in Washington Irving, Dickens, "The World's Best Oratory" (by Brewer), "The World's Best Classics (by Lodge), the Roxburgh Classics, Jefferson's Papers and Writings, the Messages of the Presidents, Gibbon's "Rome," Henderson's "Life of Stonewall Jackson," and above all the Bible. This by no means exhausts his reading, but it gives an idea of the diver- sity of his tastes, though it is quite evident from this list that governmental questions appeal strongly to him.

To those not familiar with the valley of Virginia it would be a surprise to travel there, and to see to what extent the German blood is in evidence. Colonel Leedy's pa- ternal grandmother was Eve Brower, daughter of Daniel Brower, of Augusta county. His maternal grandmother was Margaret Harnsberger, a daughter of Con- rad Harnsberger. She was a great-grand- daughter of Robert Harnsberger and of Adam Mueller, both of whom were asso- ciated in the transactions with Jacob Stover-Adam Mueller being the first settler in that section.

Colonel Leedy has a very interesting heirloom in his possession in the shape of an old family clock which is eight feet high and still running. The lettering has be- come quite indistinct from great age, but when he was a boy he made out the in- scription upon it to be "Elisha Burk" (the maker's name) "York Town" (meaning York, Pennsylvania). The date was either 1785, 1765, or 1735. Some twenty years ago Colonel Leedy had it repaired, and the clock-maker, in enameling the face over VIR-66

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Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 88

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