Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 9

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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ried Julia Chilton, a daughter of John Chil- ton, a captain of the Continental army, killed at the battle of Brandywine. Colonel Thomas Marshall, father of Chief Justice John Marshall, was also a relative of the Chilton family, of Virginia. Isham and Julia (Chilton) Keith had a son, Isham, a farmer of Fauquier county, Virginia, born September 9, 1833, died in September, 1902. He was a member of the Black Horse Cav- alry and later served in the Confederate army under Colonel Mosby. He married Sarah Agnes, daughter of William and Ann Gordon Blackwell, who also had two sons, James G. Blackwell, of Richmond, Virginia, and William (2) Blackwell, of Prince Wil- liam county.

Lucien Keith, son of Isham and Sarah Agnes ( Blackwell) Keith, was born in Fau- quier county, Virginia, now a lawyer of the bar and mayor of Warrenton, Virginia. He prepared for the profession of law, was admitted to the Virginia bar at Fairfax Court House in 1882, and at once began practice. He is a member of the Fauquier County Bar Association, the Fauquier Club, the Presbyterian church, and a Democrat in politics. He was elected mayor of Warren- ton, in September, 1911, served two years, and in September, 1913, was re-elected. Mr. Keith married, July 14, 1908, Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel and Charlotte (Haber- ton) Sharpless, of the well-known Sharpless family of Chester county, Pennsylvania.

Francis F. Marbury. Like his father, Francis F. Marbury has devoted many years of his life to railroad enterprises, although the work of the son began with practical construction and took him beyond the bor- ders of his country to the semi-civilization of Central America. The connection of the name with railroading ceased in 1900, when Mr. Marbury entered the field of real estate in his native city, contracting as well other business alliances. The parallel between father and son might be here continued, but the similarity that exists will appear in its proper consecution.

Francis F. Marbury, grandfather of Fran- cis F. Marbury, married a Miss Blacklock, and was the father of Frank A .; Leonard, of Virginia ; William Henry, of whom fur- ther : Montgomery, Thomas, Elizabeth and Maria.

William Henry Marbury, son of Francis

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F. Marbury, was born in Alexandria, Vir- ginia, in 1818, died in 1900. His business life was passed in connection with many of the important enterprises and undertakings of the day, and he was at one time cashier of a branch of the old Farmers' State Bank, of Richmond, Virginia, located in Alexan- dria, Virginia, also holding prominent place in railroading circles as treasurer of the Orange & Manassas Railroad and of the Virginia Midland Railroad. He subse- quently became associated with the South- ern Railroad in the capacity of assistant treasurer, so continuing for many years. Al- though he never joined the army of the Con- federacy, his sympathy and co-operation with the Confederate cause was so public a matter that during that conflict he was seized and imprisoned in Washington, Dis- trict of Columbia, so that the Southern cause would be deprived of his valuable service in securing funds to carry on the war and would lack whatever other assist- ance his staunch patriotism would induce him to lend. He was a man of deserved popularity among a wide range of friends. and there were those elements in his life that made intercourse with him not only a passing pleasure but a source of inspir- ation that endured for hours and days, so upright and exemplary was the course he trod. He married Anna Tyler, daughter of Thomas E. Baird, a descendant of the Tyler family that numbers among its members John Tyler, tenth president of the United States, and Dr. Lyon G. Tyler, president of William and Mary College. Children of William Henry and Anna Tyler (Baird) Marbury : 1. Alice Virginia, born in Alex- andria. married Thomas B. Browning, of New York, and has two daughters, Alice and Emma. 2. Anna T., born in Alexan- dria, unmarried. 3. Francis F., of whom further. 4. Leonard, born in Alexandria, state attorney, married Clara F. Davis, and is the father of William Henry and Leon- ard. 5. Eliza H., born in Alexandria, un- married. 6. Mary, born in Alexandria, mar- ried Warren P. Taylor, of Richmond, Vir- ginia.

Francis F. Marbury. son of William Henry and Anna Tyler ( Baird) Marbury, was born in Alexandria, Virginia, Novem- ber 5, 1853. He attended private schools in his native city, and with his preparatory studies completed accepted a position in the

engineering department of the Lynchburg & Danville Railroad. He then went to Central America as a member of the engi- neering corps of the Costa Rica Railroad, and after spending four years in that coun- try returned to Virginia, in 1872, taking a special course of study in Roanoke College. In 1874 he entered upon a twelve year term of service as paymaster of the Virginia Midland Railroad, leaving that employ when the road changed hands. Since 1900 Mr. Marbury has conducted real estate dealings in his native city and has also been interested in retail trade in coal and wood in the same place. realizing profitable re- turns from both lines. His father's death causing a vacancy in the board of aldermen of Alexandria, the younger Marbury was elected to that position, and two years later became president of the board, an office that had previously been graced by William Henry Marbury. Mr. Marbury's term of office expired on September 1, 1914. The worthy example of the first of the name to hold membership in this body has been a guiding light for the second, and although difference in conditions has brought a dif- ference in problems and in the presentation of duty, the right has ever been the stand- ard to which both have clung. Mr. Mar- bury's fraternity is the Masonic order, in which he belongs to Washington-Alexan- dria Lodge, No. 22, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and he is also a member of Alexandria Lodge, No. 758, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. During the Spanish-American war he was first lieuten- ant in Company F. Third Regiment Vir- ginia Volunteer Infantry, and has again been a member thereof since 1903. His church is St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal, and politically he has always been an ad- herent of the Democratic party.

Julian Ruffin Beckwith, M. D., of Peters- burg, is descended from one of the most ancient English families, as well as one of the oldest in America, and is a grandson of a physician. The origin of the Beckwith family has been traced to Ilugh de Male- bisse, a knight under William the Con- queror at the battle of Hastings. His son Ilugh married Emma. daughter of William de Bray and Adelaide de Tonbridge, and they were the parents of Sir Simon de Male- bisse, Lord of Cowton in Craven. 11e mar-

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ried a daughter of John, Lord of Methley. Their son, Sir Hercules, married Lady Beckwith Bruce, daughter of Sir William Bruce, and heiress of an estate named Beck- with. Sir Hercules retained the Malebisse escutcheon, but took the name of his wife's estate. His son, Sir Hercules de Beckwith, married a daughter of Sir John Ferrers, of Tamworth. Nicholas de Beckwith, son of Sir Hercules, married a daughter of Sir John Chadworth, and was the father of Hamon Beckwith, who dropped the particle de (signifying of). He married a daughter of Sir Philip Tydney, and was the father of William Beckwith, who married a daugh- ter of Sir Gerard Usfleet. Their son, Thomas Beckwith, resided at Clint, and married a daughter of John Sawly, of Saxton. Adam Beckwith, son of Thomas Beckwith, was the father of Sir William Beckwith, who married a daughter of Sir John Baskerville. a descendant of English and French royalty traced to Charlemagne. Sir Thomas Beck- with, of Clint, son of Sir William Beckwith. died in 1495. He married a daughter of William Heslerton. John Beckwith, third son of Sir Thomas Beckwith, married a daughter of John Radcliff, of Mulgrave. Robert Beckwith, son of John Beckwith, was living in 1468 at Broxholm, and was the father of John Beckwith, living in 1469. Robert Beckwith, son of John Beckwith, inade his will October 6, 1536, and died be- fore the following March. He was the father of Marmaduke Beckwith, of Dacre and Clint, Yorkshire. He was twice mar. ried, and had nine children by the first mar- riage. It has been claimed by some author- ities that he was the father of Matthew Beckwith, mentioned below, ancestor of the American family of that name. If so, he must have been a child of the second wife.

Matthew Beckwith, first of the family in America, was born about 1610, probably in Yorkshire, England. He appears in Hart- ford. Connecticut, as early as 1645, in which year he purchased a homestead. A few years later he was at New London and Lyme, his land lying in the two towns, and provided well for all of his sons. He was killed by a fall in the darkness of night over a ledge of rocks, October 21, 1680. His widow Elizabeth married Samuel Buckland, and died before 1690. Matthew (2) Beckwith, son of Matthew (I) and Elizabeth Beck- with, was born 1637, and was a freeman of

Waterford, Connecticut, in 1658, one of the founders of the church at Guilford, residing there and in the adjoining town of Bran- ford, and died at New London, June 4, 1727. His wife's name was Elizabeth, and their son, John Beckwith, born February 4, 1669, in Branford, lived in New London, where he married, August 12, 1700, Naomi de Wolf, born 1676, in Waterford, died in Lyme, 1736. Their son, John (2) Beckwith, born 1703, in Waterford, died in Lyme in 1768; married, November 8, 1744, Elizabeth Dart, born August 30, 1716, in East Haddam, Connecticut, died in Lyme. Their son, John (3) Beckwith, born October 19, 1754, in Lyme, died in Poughkeepsie, New York, September 12, 1834. He was a Continental soldier of the revolution, and married, Jan- uary 27, 1780, Chloe Bosworth, born No- vember 5, 1759, in Washington, Connecti- cut, died at Poughkeepsie, October 9, 1834. Their son, John (4) Beckwith, born July 31, 1785. in Poughkeepsie, was a prosperous physician, locating in 1808 at Newbern, North Carolina, later at Raleigh and New- ton, same state. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, and practiced many years at Petersburg, Virginia, dying in 1870, in New York. He married Margarette Stanley, and they were the parents of Thomas Stanley Beckwith, their eldest child, born 1814, in Raleigh, practiced medicine in Petersburg, Virginia, where he died in 1884. He mar- ried Agnus, daughter of Edmund Ruffin, Sr., a native of Virginia. Their eldest child, Julian R., was a Confederate soldier, killed at the battle of Seven Pines, June 1, 1862; the others were: Margaret Kate, Matilda E., Thomas S., Edmund R., a druggist of Petersburg, married Mary J. White, of Warrenton, North Carolina; John, married Kate, daughter of J. E. Edwards, of Charles- ton, South Carolina; Susan, married R. Gil- lam, of Petersburg; Agnus, married J. R. Cary, of Gloucester, Virginia, and Charles M.

Thomas Stanley (2) Beckwith. second son of Thomas Stanley (1) and Agnus (Ruffin) Beckwith, was born in North Caro- lina, and came with his father to Petersburg at an early age. From the age of fifteen years he was engaged in the stationery trade in that town. and has conducted a store on Sycamore street for many years. He was a soldier of the Confederate army, and made a prisoner. He married Emma

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Cary, born in Gloucester county, Virginia, daughter of Dr. Samuel B. Cary, who prac- ticed through his active life in Gloucester, and died in retirement at Petersburg, at the age of eighty-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Beckwith are the parents of five children, all living, as follows: Rev. Samuel Cary Beckwith, pastor of St. Peter's Church, Charleston, South Carolina ; Julian Ruffin, of further mention; Thomas Stanley and Emma Cary (twins), both residing on the old homestead on Market street; Anna Fisher, also residing there, unmarried.

Dr. Julian Ruffin Beckwith, son of Thomas Stanley (2) and Emma (Cary) Beckwith, was born January 10, 1873, in Petersburg, where he has always resided. After preparing for college in excellent schools near his home, he entered the Uni- versity of Virginia, from whose medical de- partment he was graduated with the de- gree of M. D. in 1899. Following this he spent nearly a year and a half in the Has- kins Hospital at Wheeling, West Virginia, as an interne, and was subsequently nearly two years in the House of Relief in New York City, as interne. He began his pri- vate practice in Petersburg, and has met with the success due to careful preparation and excellent judgment in the practice of his art. Dr. Beckwith has continued to keep in touch with the progress of medical science, and his membership in the State, County and City Medical associations tes- tifies to his standing in the profession. With his family he is affiliated with the Protes- tant Episcopal church. He married, in An- niston, Alabama, June 11, 1908, Louise Cameron, a native of Texas, daughter of John Cameron, of Scotch ancestry. Chil- dren : John Cameron, born March 25, 1910; Julian Ruffin, December 28. 1912; Louise Fraser, July 18, 1914.

Elisha Keen Jones. Connected with the tobacco interests of Danville for many years, Mr. Jones as head of E. K. Jones & Company, dealers in leaf tobacco, occupies a prominent position in the trade. His for- bears have for many generations been prominent in Virginia, his great-grand- father, Dr. Benjamin Jones, and his grand- father, Thomas Jones, operating a farm in Henry county. Thomas Jones, a prosper- ous farmer, married Miss Lyle, of Scotch ancestry, who bore him eight children in-

cluding a son. Bartlett Washington Jones, father of Elisha Keen Jones, of Danville, Virginia.

Dr. Bartlett Washington Jones was born at the Jones Creek homestead, Henry county, Virginia, and there died in 1858, aged forty-four years. Although a graduate of a Philadelphia Medical College he only practiced a short time, then became a farmer and tobacco manufacturer. He mar- ried (first) Elizabeth Ann Keen, born in Pittsylvania county, Virginia, died in 1854, aged thirty-nine years. He married (sec- ond) Pauline Henry, a granddaughter of Patrick Henry, the famous Virginia states- man and orator, who bore him a child, Cabell Henry Jones, now residing in San Francisco. Children by first marriage : Gus- tavus and Adolphus, twins, died in infancy ; Elisha Keen, of whom further; Witcher, Bartlett, Thomas and Keen, deceased ; John, died in infancy: Anna Maria, wife of Dr. John James, of Danville, she and her brother. Elisha Keen, being the only living children of their parents.

Elisha Keen Jones was born near Stony Mills, Pittsylvania county, Virginia, Janu- ary 18, 1849, on his father's farm known as "Aspen Grove." He was left an orphan at an early age, was taken by his uncle, Colo- nel E. F. Keen, and grew to manhood at the latter's farm at Cottage Hill. He was edu- cated in the public schools, and until 1860 worked on his uncle's farm. In that year he went to southwestern Georgia and for four years worked on a cotton plantation. He then went to Texas on a cattle ranch. He was with the cowboy outfit that col- lected the herds and later with them drove the cattle north to Kansas and Nebraska shipping points. In 1874 he located in Dan- ville, Virginia, where he was manager of a tobacco warehouse four years. then ob- tained an interest with his brother, Witcher Jones, and also had an interest in the Bur- ton Tobacco Company. In 1881 he organ- ized the leaf tobacco firm of E. K. Jones & Company, later taking Mr. A. D. Keen into the company, and as dealers in leaf tobacco this company is well known and prominent in the trade. The warehouse of the company is at Craghead and Newton streets, Danville, where they handle about five million pounds of tobacco annually. The firm buy tobacco at public warehouse sales and sell to manufacturers throughout

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the United States and Europe. With steam drying mill plant, improved mechanical ap- pliances, storage facilities and both partners expert judges and buyers, the firm occu- pies a good position and has attained lead- ing rank in their particular field. Mr. Jones is a progressive Democrat in politics, a member of the Danville Country Club and the Tuscarora Club, and is senior warden of Epiphany Protestant Episcopal Church. He is highly regarded in business and social circles, and is interested in all that means progress or improvement.

Mr. Jones married, in Danville, January 21, 1880, Annie Hunt Robinson, born in Danville, daughter of Dr. Robert R. Rob- inson, a physician of Leaksville, North Carolina, a surgeon in the Confederate army, and a merchant of Danville, now many years deceased. He married Agnes Dillard, also deceased. Children of Elisha Keen and Annie Hunt (Robinson) Jones : Agnes, born July 31, 1883, married D. P. Withers, a lawyer of Danville; Bartlett Kyle, born November 1, 1886, associated with his father in business as an assistant ; Grace, born October 17, 1888; Elisha Keen, Jr., born January 3, 1892, graduate of Uni- versity of Virginia, Master of Arts, class of I9II.

Robert Brooke Albertson was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, December 6, 1889, a son of John W. Albertson, an at- torney, and his wife, Bertha Hamilton (Vaughn) Albertson ; a grandson of Frank and Annie (Scott) Vaughn, and of John W. Albertson. Robert Brooke Albertson re- ceived the degrees of B. C. and Bachelor of Laws at the Norfolk Academy, and was graduated from the University of Virginia a member of the class of 1912. He is a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, Phi Delta Phi, and the "Raven" of the University of Vir- ginia. He is an attorney at law at Ports- mouth, Virginia.

James Hay, M. C. The records of the Congress of the United States show many instances in which men have entered that body and, after a brief term as a member thereof, slipped from the country's service, public life knowing them no more. Doubt- less no small number of these have been men of talent and ability, who, called upon in a crisis, gave their best and were finished,

while it may have been that fleeting su- premacy in politics made their careers thus meteoric, but there are among the members of the United States senate and house of representatives those whose records leave 110 room for speculation of any kind, whose length of service and whose activities claim for them the gratitude and respect not only of their constituents but of the country at large. To Virginia has been granted not a few of these faithful servants, and to this list in the past two decades has been added the name of James Hay.

James Hay descends from a distinctively Virginian family, his American ancestor, William Hay, landing at Norfolk upon his arrival from Scotland, whither he came in 1774. He married (first) Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Miles Cary, (second) Elizabeth Thompkins, a cousin of his first wife. From him the line descends through James Hay and his wife, Eliza Burwell, to William, who married Emily Lewis.

James Hay, son of William and Emily (Lewis) Hay, was born in Millwood, Clarke county, Virginia, January 9, 1856, and as a youth attended private schools in Virginia and Maryland. He was afterward a student in the University of Pennsylvania, completing his education by a law course in Washington and Lee University, whence he was graduated B. L. in June, 1877. He was admitted to the bar in the year of his grad- nation from Washington and Lee Univer- sity, and for the two following years was a legal practitioner in Harrisonburg, Vir- ginia, then locating in Madison, Virginia, where he was ever afterward located. His public life began with his election to the office of attorney for the commonwealth in 1883, to which he was thrice successively re-elected, in 1887, 1891, and in 1895. While the incumbent of this office he was, in 1885, elected to the Virginia house of delegates, being returned to that body in 1887 and 1889, in 1893 being placed in a seat in the upper house of the Virginia legislature. He has ever been a prominent figure in political matters throughout the county and state, and for four years was a member of the State Democratic Committee, in 1888 being a delegate to the Democratic National Con- vention. Becoming a member of the fifty- fifth Congress of the United States in 1897, Mr. Hay has since been the representative of the Seventh Virginia Congressional Dis-

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trict in the national government, and be- came the choice of his district for the sixty- third Congress by an overwhelming vote which was more than double the combined vote of his opponents. His activity at Wash- ington has been of the highest order, and his has been a leading part in much of the legislation enacted during the seventeen years that he has been a Congressman. He was elected chairman of the Democratic caucus of the house of representatives in the fifty-sixth, fifty-seventh, and fifty-eighth Congresses, and has always been included in the councils of the party leaders. Mr. Hay is a man of marked ability, which he has displayed on the floor of the house as he has previously shown it in the less im- portant positions that he was called to fill in county and state. The attributes of the trained speaker are his, his words carrying the conviction felt by the man and unfail- ingly impressing his audience. His long experience as a lawmaker lends efficiency to his services, and the trust that has been repeatedly reposed in him by his people contains nothing of flattery, but recognition of worth and merit so intelligently applied as to produce the most enduring and valu- able results. He is now chairman of the committee on military affairs; is author of the bill consolidating the supply depart- ments of the army, of the bill creating the service corps of the army, also of the de- tached service law, the aviation law, and the law for increasing the efficiency of the vet- erinary corps of the army; all of which measures have greatly increased the effi- ciency of the army.

Mr. Hay married (first) October 1, 1878, Constance Tatum, of Harrisburg; (second) June 9, 1891, Frances B. Gordon, daughter of Colonel W. W. Gordon. By his first marriage he is the father of two children, James and William, and by his second two, Ellen and Frances.

David Lemuel Harrell, M. D. Mr. Har- rell's branch of this old family is one that has been long seated in Virginia, although many bearing the name in this state trace to the family of Gates county, North Caro- lina. Wesley Harrell, grandfather of Dr. David Lemuel Harrell, was the owner of a large and fertile plantation in Nansemond county, Virginia, and there his six children VIR-38

were born: Elkano, Lee, Joshua, of whom further, Thomas, Mary, married Daniel Wilkins, and Martha, married Frank Roundtree.

Joshua Harrell, son of Wesley Harrell, was born in Nansemond county, Virginia, int 1843, and after a private school educa- tion began agricultural operations in a gen- eral manner, although the principal products of his acres were cotton and corn. He was long prominent in local public affairs, was justice of the peace for fifteen years, and member of the school board for twenty years. In religious work in his community he also played an important part, a com- municant of the Christian church. He ex- ercised influence of no small power among his fellows, and was ever allied with the right. He married, in 1870, Evelena, daughter of David and Martha (Price) Brown, and had issue: David Lemuel, of whom further : Clarence, born in 1875. mar- ried Maggie Simpson; Theodore Curtis, born in 1877, married (first) Ruth Brinkley, (second) Ruth Jones ; Vivian Brown, born in 1879, married Olelia Vaughan, and has David Brown and Virginia ; Floyd Wesley, born in 1882, married Ruth, daughter of James R. Saunders, Jr. ; Lillian' Augley, born in 1885, deceased; Martha, born in 1887. married Hunter Smith, and has a daughter, Lucille; Joshua Byrd, born in 1889, deceased; Coleman, born in 1892.

Dr. David Lemuel Harrell, son of Joshua and Evelena ( Brown) Harrell, was born in Nansemond county, Virginia, in 1873. and after attending Professor Williams' private school for a time went to Littleton, North Carolina, one year later accepting a position as a school teacher. After one term he abandoned this profession and en- tered the University of Virginia, studying in the medical department of that institu- tion during 1893 and 1894. subsequently enrolling in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Baltimore, Maryland. receiv- ing his M. D. from this college. For six months he performed interne duty at the Bay View Hospital, Baltimore, and in 1896 successfully took the examinations of the State Medical Board. He then returned to the county of his birth and began active prac- tice in his profession. In 1907 Dr. Harrell became a member of the medical fraternity of Suffolk, Virginia, and there has since re-

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Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 9

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