Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 99

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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his estate was appraised March 28 of that ycar at one thousand and sixty-three pounds ten shillings and three pence. He married, October 12, 1703, Judith, widow of William Beverley, and daughter of Colonel Christo- pher Wormeley, born May 25, 1683, in Middlesex. Their fourth son was William Robinson, born March 5. 1716, educated in England, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Oxford in 1740. He was ordained a priest in June, 1743, returned to Virginia the following year, and became rector of the parish of Stratton Major, in King and Queen county. In 1761 he was appointed commis- sary of the bishop of London, and died in 1767-68. He married a daughter of Benja- min and Alice Needler (probably named Alice), of King and Queen county, and had four children recorded in Middlesex county, namely: Christopher, Benjamin, Needler and Alice. Christopher Robinson, son of Commissary William Robinson, resided in Middlesex county, where his will made No- vember 20, 1784, was proved July 23, 1787. He had sons: William, Charles and Ches- ley, and daughters: Elizabeth and Nancy. Charles Robinson, son of Christopher Rob- inson, had a wife Ann, and sons William, born 1770, and Charles. The last named, son of Charles and Ann Robinson, married, in 1802, Elizabeth Wood, and they were the parents of Lewis Wood Robinson, who moved, when a young man, to Fluvanna county, Virginia. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Joseph Holt, of Hancver county, formerly of Hog Island, Surry ccun- ty, and they were the parents of Constan- tine Holt Robinson, who married Mary Ann Shepherd.

Clarence Welmore Robinson, son of Con- stantine Holt and Mary Ann (Shepherd) Robinson, was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, January 24, 1870, and educated in public and private schools, and Rivanna Academy. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1896, with the degree of Bachelor of Law, was admitted to the bar, and located in practice at Newport News. There he served as commonwealth's attorney from 1900 to 1908, and in the latter year was elected circuit judge, which posi- tion he now fills, with credit to himself and honor to the district. He served many years as a trustee of the State Female Normal School at Farmville ; is a member of the Vir- ginia Historical Society, the Virginia Bar

Q. 10. Rvenim

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Association, and the Newport News Bar Association. He is affiliated with the local Presbyterian church. By inheritance Judge Robinson holds membership in the Order of the Cincinnati, of which he may justly be proud. He married, October 21, 1896, Lila Perle Stearnes, daughter of Hon. L. P. Stearnes, of Newport News. Children : Mary Bentley, Julia Jackson, Ellen Lewis, Clarence Welmore Jr., Mary Patton and I.ewis Stearnes.

Kenneth Worsham Hudgins; Ashley Cooper Hudgins ; Henry Clay Marrow. Ken- neth Worsham Hudgins, of Hampton, Vir- ginia, a leading merchant of that city, rep- resents one of the old families of Virginia. which has been distinguished for moral worth, business energy and fidelity to stand- ards. The Hudgins family is an ancient one in Wales, and is traced to William Hudgins, whose wife, Charlotte (Houlder) Hudgins, was a representative of an ancient Welsh family, a daughter of Lady Charlotte How- ard, with a Norse connection in the Houlder family. William Hudgins left an estate of one hundred thousand pounds, divided equally among his four children, Thomas, Charlotte, Mary and Houlder. The first three removed to Nova Scotia, whence Thomas Hudgins returned to Wales. His children remained in Canada, and some of them found their way to Virginia after the Revolutionary war.

Houlder Hudgins, youngest son of Wil- liam Hudgins, founder of the family in Vir- ginia. was devotedly attached to his grand- mother, Lady Charlotte Howard, through whom he was related to some of the noblest families of England. His father, William Hudgins, was associated with the Houlders ir, the construction and operation of trading vessels that sailed about the world, and aid- ed in establishing the British maritime su- premacy. Houlder Hudgins came to New York in the spring of 1866, and after visit- ing his brother and sisters in Nova Scotia, he proceeded shortly after to Virginia, where he arrived in the autumn of that year. He selected a home site on the Piankitank river, in what was then Gloucester county, and this homestead he named "Clinton," after his father's home in Wales. Here he built a manor house in colonial style, which became the scene of many notable gather- ings. The section was inhabited by many

of the most notable families of Tidewater Virginia, including the Washington family. It was a splendid colony in which the best strains of English, Welsh, Irish and Scotch blood were blended. Houlder Hudgins in- vested his patrimony in land and slaves and brought from Liverpool the artisans who were needed to develop the resources of the country. He built and operated ships to and from the West Indies and British ports, sailing from Westville. now known as Mathews Courthouse. Of these vessels, the Lady Charlotte figured in the historical naval engagement in Milford Haven, which ended British rule in Virginia. This vessel was laid down and launched near the present site of the Newport News Shipbuilding plant, and named by Houlder Hudgins in honor of his grandmother, Lady Charlotte Howard. After the Revolutionary war Mat- hews county was set off from Gloucester, and Houlder Hudgins was chosen as magis- trate. He also represented the tidewater district in the legislature during practically the remainder of his life. He was born in South Wales, not far from Liverpool, Eng- land, in the year 1740, and died at his home in Elizabeth City county, Virginia, in 1814. He purchased twenty-two hundred acres of land near Old Point Comfort, on the Chesa- peake Bay, upon which he built a manor house, which he called "Lamington," and which is still a show place in that section. Every brick and timber came from England or Wales, and the house remains in an excel- lent state of preservation. After the Civil war it passed out of possession of the family. Besides this plantation, Houlder Hudgins owned several others in Elizabeth City coun- ty, and at the time of his death held about seven thousand five hundred acres of land. He left two hundred adult Negro slaves to- gether with their progeny, which were divided among his children. His will ex- pressed his displeasure with members of his family who did not marry to please him, but he nevertheless provided bountifully for them. In affectionate language he referred to his slaves, and provided for their mainte- nance and disposition. Houlder Hudgins married (first) Anne Cluverius, of Rich- mond, Virginia, who was the mother of three children. The second wife, Nancy ( Valentine) Hudgins, was also a native of Richmond, and was the mother of four chil- dren, of whom a record of two is found. The

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third wife was Harriet (Anderson ) Hudgins, of Bellefield, Mathews county, Virginia, a daughter of Colonel Robert Anderson, re- tired, of the British army. The elder son of the third wife, Robert Hudgins, inherited "Lamington" from his father. He married Harriet Jones, of King William county, a daughter of Thomas Jones, a wealthy plant- er, and thus two great fortunes were joined. Children : Benjamin Franklin, of further mention below; Ella, married James Dor- sey ; John ; Selena, married Sidney Nichols ; Annie, married Robert Drury, and Robert, who still lives in Hampton, and owns "Bloomfield," a plantation adjoining "Lam- ington," on Back river.

Benjamin Franklin Hudgins, son of Rob- ert and Harriet (Jones) Hudgins, was born November 12, 1831, in Mathews county, Vir- ginia, and attended a noted school taught by Colonel John B. Cary, at Hampton, and later the Virginia Military Institute. Fol- lowing this he was engaged in farming on a large scale, until the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1861 he was captain of the Hamp- ton Grays, which enlisted for service in the war, and was afterwards transferred to the Old Dominion Dragoons, in which he was a captain and aide-de-camp on the staff of General Pryor. He was very fortunate in his military service, escaping without any serious injuries after a four years' service. His brother Robert was also a soldier at the same time, in the Old Dominion Dragoons. Returning to his farm at Lexington, Benja- min F. Hudgins continued there until 1881, when he removed to the city of Hampton, and there engaged in the feed and fuel busi- ness until his death. He was a prominent man in the community, and active supporter of the Democratic party, served as a mem- ber of the town council, and was urged to be a candidate for mayor, which he refused. He was a faithful and influential member of the Episcopal church, in which he served nine years as warden, and later as vestry- man. He died at Hampton in 1894. He married, November 14, 1855, Rebecca Bland Worsham, who was born in March, 1831, in Dinwiddie county, Virginia, and died in 1885. Children: 1. Maria Bland, married, May 28, 1884, Henry Clay Marrow, and is the mother of Henry Franklin Marrow, born in 1886, in Hampton, educated at the Catholic College, Virginia Polytechnic In- stitute and William and Mary College; after

pursuing the study of medicine for two years, he was obliged to abandon it on ac- count of feeble health, and engage in out- door activities; he then became associated with his uncle, Kenneth W. Hudgins, in the fuel and builder's supply business, in which he has continued to the present time. 2. Benjamin Franklin, born May 9, 1861, at Lamington, where he attended the district school, and received instruction from a pri- vate tutor ; after a course in a business col- lege at Richmond, he went to Florida, where he engaged in cotton raising and the grow- ing of oranges and grape fruit ; he is now a prominent citizen of that state, a leading Democrat, and affiliated with his family with the Episcopal church; he married, in l'ebruary, 1890, Lulie Holliday, and they have children: Rebecca Bland, born No- vember 28, 1890; Birdie, May, 1892; Selena Maud, May, 1894; Laura, 1896; Fannie Worsham, November, 1899; Marie, 1901 ; Virginia, 1903; Franklin, 1905; Lelia, 1909; Holliday, August 30, 1910. 3. Kenneth Worsham, of further mention below. 4.

Ashley Cooper, of further mention below.

Kenneth Worsham Hudgins was born September 29, 1866, in Dinwiddie county, Virginia, where he was educated in the pub- lic schools and under private tutors, and was later a student at Washington-Lee Univer- sity and Colonel Carter's noted school in King William county, Virginia. On leaving school he engaged in farming until 1891, when he removed to Hampton, and engaged in the sale of fuel and builder's supplies, in association with his father, who had estab- lished the business in 1881. On the death of the father, in 1894, he formed an associa- tion with his junior brother, Ashley C. Hudgins, under the style of Hudgins Brothers, and continued this business until 1912, when he purchased the interest of his brother, and has since conducted the busi- ness under the name of K. W. Hudgins, carrying all lines of coal, wood, sand, gravel, cement and various builders' supplies. Like his ancestors, he gives consistent fealty to the Democratic party, and is affiliated with fraternal bodies, including the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 366, and the Royal Arcanum. He married, January 16, 1895, Mary Holmes Love; children : Elizabeth Love, born December 4, 1895; William S., April 12, 1897; Roderick Mal- colm, May 12, 1904.

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Ashley Cooper Hudgins was born March 25. 1871, in Elizabeth City county, Virginia, and was ten years old when the family re- moved to the city of Hampton. He attend- ed the public schools, the Virginia Military Institute, and William and Mary College, and was at the second session of the re- construction class of 1893. On leaving school he occupied for seven years a posi- tion in the Bank of Hampton, and from 1897 to 1912 was associated with his elder brother, K. W. Hudgins, in the trade of fuel, feed and builders' supplies. In 1913, in company with D. E. Granaway, he en- gaged in business as a building contractor, and they have constructed many of the roads in and about Elizabeth City and War- wick counties. He is a Democrat in politi- cal principle, is affiliated with the Episcopal church, is a member of Wyoming Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men, and of the Royal Arcanum. He married, January 7, 1898, Mamie W. Watkins, daughter of James A. and Mary B. Watkins, and has a daughter, Mary Watkins Hudgins, born May 19, 1901.

Charles K. Bryant. Charles K. Bryant, a leading architect of Richmond, Virginia, represents one of the oldest and most honor- ed of American names. There is little known regarding the origin of the name in Virginia, but it has been conspicuously honored in the medical profession, and is well worthy of a place in the annals of the state. The fam- ily seems to have been long located in Pow- hatan county, Virginia, and is supposed to have come from southern France early in the eighteenth century. Silas Bryant was a native of that county and was the father of Dr. James Wilson Bryant, and three others, all of whom came to distinction as medical practitioners. Dr. James Wilson Bryant was born in 1814, in Powhatan county, and died in November. 1898, at his home in Rich- mond. He was graduated from the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, and gave all his life to the practice of his profession in Powhatan county and Richmond, where his death was a sad loss to the city, and his many friends. He married Betsey Tinsley, a daughter of Dr. James Tinsley, a native of Amelia coun- ty, Virginia, now deceased. They were the parents of seven children : 1. James Wilson. married a Miss McConnoch, of Petersburg, Virginia, and had four children. 2. Wythe

Tinsley. 3. Trueheart, married a Miss Figg. 4. Stanhope, married a Miss Dicks. 5. Ju- han, unmarried. 6. Charles K., mentioned below. 7. Hattie E., married Herbert Mc- Nim.

Charles K. Bryant was born August 4, 1867, in Powhatan county, Virginia, and re- ceived his education in private schools of Richmond, and the public schools, includ- ing the high school. After completing his education, he was employed five years by Captain M. J. Dimmock, an architect of Richmond. Following this he spent six years in the service of the United States government as supervising architect of the treasury department at Washington, follow- ing which he worked at the profession of architecture in various offices throughout the country. He again spent two years in Washington in the government service, and was for three years a member of Colonel Ashby's Light Cavalry of Richmond, Vir- ginia. In 1905 Mr. Bryant located in Rich- mond, and has won for himself a most en- viable position in the profession of archi- tecture. Many handsome buildings in Rich- mond testify to his talent in designing, and also to the substantial basis of all his work. One of the most noted is the John Marshall High School, whose design was accepted from among thirty-two competitors from different parts of the country. Mr. Bryant not only stands high as an architect, but as a citizen, and is among the most esteemed residents of the capitol city. He is a mem- ber of the Protestant Episcopal church, and a thirty-second degree Mason, being past master of his lodge, and having acquired all the degrees in the York and Scottish Rite Masonry. In political affairs he acts with the Democratic party, and is ever ready to promote any undertaking calculated to bene- fit his home city and state, or to promote the general welfare of his kind.

Mr. Bryant married, October 21, 1908, Mary Garland Berry, a daughter of Major Benjamin H. and Gay (Du Val) Berry ; no children. Mrs. Bryant graduated from the John Powell Institute for Young Ladies of Richmond, Virginia.

William Chilton Day, M. D. After a varied experience covering a period of forty years as college student, army surgeon, druggist and medical practitioner in Mis- souri and Virginia, Dr. Day in 1881 located

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in Danville, Virginia, where he has since been continuously in medical and surgical practice, honored, esteemed and prosperous.

Dr. Day is a descendant of James Day, whose will was proved January 9, 1700. He married Mary Bland, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Bennett) Bland, of London, and Mary (Bennett) Bland, after the death of her first husband, married (second) Luke Cropley. Children of James and Mary (Bland) Day: Elizabeth, married Nathaniel Ridley ; James, of further mention ; Thomas, William. James Day, whose will was proved in 1725, married and was the father of two sons: James, married Martha- -, chil- dren, Martha and Mary; and Thomas, of further mention. Thomas Day, whose will was proved October 3, 1752, married and was the father of two sons, Thomas, mar- ried and was the father of three children: James Bennett, Mary, Juliana ; and John, of further mention. John Day, whose will was proved in 1776, leaves a coat-of-arms to his son, Davis Day, a planter of Day's Neck, on the James river, Isle of Wight county, Virginia, the name originating with the ad- vent of the Day family in that section. His will was proved November 3, 1817. Davis Day married Priscilla Blount, of Southamp- ton county, Virginia, and had issue: Wil- liam Henry Bennett, of whom further ; Ava- rilla ; Francis; Virginia, married Colonel Willis H. Woodden ; John II., married Mary Meadow, of Nansemond county, Virginia, children: Richard Henry Blount and Vir- ginia; Richard H. B. Day, married Ida Wood, of Albemarle, Virginia, children: Ida and Leslie; Virginia, married Dr. Isaac White, of Virginia, surgeon in Confederate army, and resided, after the war, at Shaws- ville, Virginia, children : John D., married a Miss Murray, of Lynchburg, Virginia, and George W.

On the maternal side Dr. Day is a grand- son of William O. Chilton, born in Fauquier county, Virginia, a farmer, and his wife, Sarah Powell, of Loudoun county ; children : William, John, Elizabeth, Phoebe Scott and Ellen.

William Henry Bennett Day, son of Davis and Priscilla ( Blount) Day, was born in Isle of Wight county, Virginia, March 25, 1802, died March 27, 1867. He was a plantation owner near Smithfield, Virginia, a lawyer of high repute, and during the war 1861- 1864, a member of the Virginia state senate. He married (first) Phoebe Scott Chilton,

daughter of William O. and Sarah (Powell) Chilton ; she died in 1841, aged twenty-three years, leaving an only child, William Chil- ton, of further mention. He married (sec- ond) Amanda Fitzgerald Chambliss, of Vir- ginia, and had issue: Colonel Charles Fen- ton Day, deceased, married Virginia Jordan, children : Charles F., deceased; Lucy C., married United States Senator Thomas S. Martin, left two children: Lucy D. and Thomas S. Jr .; Grace R., married Henry Ralston. Henry Mason Day, deceased, for- merly a wholesale merchant of New York City, his widow, Emily D. Day, now resid- ing at No. 5 West Seventy-fifth street in that city; children of Henry Mason and Emily D. Day : Georgie W., Emily, Lucile, Mason and Garnett.

Dr. William Chilton Day, only child of William Henry Bennett Day and his first wife, Phoebe Scott (Chilton) Day, was born at Smithfield, Isle of Wight county, Vir- ginia, June 6, 1841. He attended Smithfield Academy, took the academic course at the University of Virginia, then entered the medical department, but before graduation entered the Confederate army ; was ordered from the field to the Chimbonzo Hospital in Richmond, put on night duty attending the lectures at the Medical College of Virginia during days, and was graduated Doctor of Medicine in March, 1864. Immediately after graduation he went before the army board of examiners, and after passing the required examination was appointed assistant sur- geon, Confederate States army, and was ordered to join the hospital department of the army of Southwestern Virginia and Eastern Tennessee, serving as assistant medical director of that department of the Confederate army. Prior to his college course, Dr. Day had been a cavalryman, en- listing in April, 1861, in Prince George Cav- alry, later Company F, Thirteenth Regi- ment, Virginia Cavalry (General J. E. B. Stuart's division). He was taken prisoner, December 13, 1864, together with seven other surgeons, in Bristol, Tennessee, by General Stoneman, and after his release continued his surgical work in the Confederate army.

After the war ended Dr. Day located and practiced his profession at Hicksford (now Emporia), Virginia, continuing five years. He then decided upon a complete change of location, selecting St. Louis, Missouri, as his scene of activity and there practiced two years. He then returned to Virginia, asso-

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ciating with his father-in-law, Samuel E. Dove, of Richmond, and for three years en- gaged in the drug business. In 1881 he located in Danville, where he quickly be- came prominent in his profession and has ever since resided. In 1886 he was appoint- ed surgeon for the Danville district of the Richmond & Danville, now the Southern railway, and is now president of the South- ern Railway Surgeons Association. He is an ex-president of the Virginia State Med- ical Association and ex-president of the Dan- ville Academy of Medicine, and is held in high esteem by his professional brethren. He is a member of Roman Eagle Lodge. Free and Accepted Masons, is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Protestant Episcopal church.

Dr. Day married. February 21, 1872, at Richmond, Virginia, Maie, daughter of Dr. Samuel E. Dove, of Richmond, and a grand- daughter of Dr. John Dove. a prominent physician of Richmond and the author of Dove's Masonic Manual. Dr. Samuel E. Dove married Ann Eliza Ricks, of South- ampton county, Virginia. Dr. Day has two children, three having died, Leslie in in- fancy, Marie Dove, and Samuel Edwin in youth ; William Chilton (2), born October 17, 1877, now manager for the Liggett Myers Tobacco Company, at Parkersburg. West Virginia ; he married Maie Lila John- son, of Raleigh, North Carolina ; children : William Chilton (3), Richard Edward and Virginia ; Henry Fenton, born October 26, 1885. a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a chemist, but now proprietor of the Waddill Printing Company, Danville ; he married, Mary Elsie Saunders, of Eving- ton, Campbell county, Virginia.

Henry Llewellyn Daingerfield Lewis. Henry L. D. Lewis, member of the New York Stock Exchange, is descended from many old Virginia families, including the Washington and Custis families. He was born at Berryville, Clarke county, Virginia, son of Henry Llewllyn Daingerfield and Carter Penn (Freeland) Lewis, natives of Virginia, and members of well-known fam- ilies. The Lewises were among the earliest settlers in the colony, the first generation being represented by General Robert Lewis, who came with his wife Elizabeth from Gravesend, England, and located in Glouces- ter county, Virginia. His son John, born about 1645, married, in 1666, Isabelle, daugh-

ter of Captain Augustine Warner, a Welsh- man, as was General Robert Lewis. Captain Warner was a member of the house of bur- gesses and of the royal council, and John Lewis named his home Warner Hall in honor of this family. Captain Warner's son, Augustine Warner also, was known as Speaker Warner, to distinguish him from his father. He also served in the house of burgesses and in the royal council. The elder Augustine Warner married Mary, daughter of George Reade. George Reade was a younger son of an English family, of noble birth, and was one of the first an- cestors of George Washington who came to America, and from him Washington re- ceived his Christian name. George Reade was secretary of the colony and acting gov- ernor for some time, also a member of the house of burgesses and of the King's coun- cil. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas Martian, born in 1591, who came to Virginia about 1620 and served as justice in York county and member of the house of burgesses. He left no male issue. Speaker Augustine Warner and wife had a daughter, Elizabeth, who became the wife of her cousin, John Lewis. John, son of John and Isabelle Lewis, was a major in indian wars and served in the Virginia council. He was born in 1669 and died in 1725. John and Elizabeth (Warner) Lewis had sons: John, Robert, of Belvoir, and Charles, of the Byrd. John Lewis (3) was born in 1694. and in 1718 married Frances, daughter of Henry Fielding, of Queen county, who was major in 1731, colonel in 1734, and member of the council in 1751. A son of this marriage, Colonel Fielding Lewis, in 1746 married (first) Catherine, cousin of George Wash- ington, whose lineage is given in a succeed- ing paragraph in this article, and (second) Betty, sister of George Washington. Dur- ing the Revolution, Colonel Fielding Lewis superintended the manufacture of arms for the use of the army. His twelfth son was Lawrence Lewis, who was the adopted son and executor of the will of General Wash- ington. He lived on a fine estate at Wood- lawn, which was located on the Alexandria Pike, in lower Fairfax county, and which was formerly a part of the Mount Vernon estate. This was given to Eleanor Parke Custis, daughter of John Parke Custis, upon her marriage to Lawrence Lewis. General Washington gave the beautiful bride away at the wedding ceremony, and Lawrence

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Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume V, Part 99

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