History of Norfolk County, Virginia : and representative citizens, 1637-1900, Part 84

Author: Stewart, William H. (William Henry), 1838-1912
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1054

USA > Virginia > City of Norfolk > City of Norfolk > History of Norfolk County, Virginia : and representative citizens, 1637-1900 > Part 84

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Mr. Holland is one of the most influential citizens of Tanner's Creek, and is always in- terested in the advancement of the community. He is a member of the Methodist Church.

E. KRISE, whose residence in Nor- folk dates back over a period of but 10 years, easily takes rank among the leading financiers of the city. He is president of the City National Bank of Norfolk, one of the safest and most sub- stantial banking institutions in this section.

The City National Bank was established in 1892, with a capital stock of $200,000, and was safely piloted through the financial sea, which was ruffled by depression in business, bank failures and panics, in 1893. Careful and capable management has characterized this in-

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stitution from its inception, and the state of its finances is excellent. It has paid in divi- dends $78,000, and placed to the account of surplus. $50,000, and to undivided profits, $25.529.95. The officers of the bank are, A. E. Krise, president ; Captain John L. Roper, vice-president : B. W. Leigh, cashier ; and F. A. Porter, assistant cashier. Its directory includes many of the most prominent business men of the city, as follows; John L. Roper; Barton Myers; R. A. Dodson: C. W. Fentress ; Floyd Hughes; S. L. Foster; S. Q. Collins: W. T. Simcoe: W. H. Minor; John Sheridan; D. F. Donovan; A. E. Krise; and B. W. Leigh. The City National Bank is a United States deposi- tary: City depositary and United States Court depositary. Its principal correspondents are the Chemical National Bank of New York, the Independent National Bank of Philadelphia. and the Drovers' & Mechanics' National Bank of Baltimore. The bank occupies its own building on Main street, which is most complete in its arrangements for carrying on this line of business. The safes are probably the largest of their kind in the city, weighing 16,000 pounds. They are of special construction, consisting of four distinct safes within a safe, each having its individual safe lining. and so divided that each is independent of the other. There are also four large valuits for the deposit of silverware and other valuables.

D LAWRENCE GRONER, an attor- ney-at-law, of Norfolk, Virginia, has been unqualifiedly successful in the practice of his profession, and has es- tablished a reputation for himself as a lawyer throughout the State. He was the Re- publican nominee for attorney general of Vir- ginia in 1901, and added greatly to the strength of the party ticket. He comes of a distin- guished family of Virginia, being a son of Gen- eral Virginius Despeaux Groner, whose sketch appears on another page of this book, and a

grandson of the late Judge John A. Campbell, formerly one of the justices of the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Groner was born in Norfolk, Septem- ber 6, 1872, and received his early education in old Hanover Academy. He then attended Washington and Lee University for three ses- sions, after which he spent two years in the city of Chicago in an important position in the World's Fair of 1893. Returning from Chica- go, in 1893, he entered the University of Vir- ginia and completed the course in law. He has since been engaged in practice in Norfolk, and in his clientage are many prominent residents and business firms, both of his own and other cities.

Although Mr. Groner has always taken a deep interest in politics and in the success of the Republican party, he has never accepted the nomination for any office except in the line of his profession. During various campaigns he has "stumped" the State and is exceedingly popular with all classes. He is possessed of ability as an orator, never failing to impress his hearers by his earnest and convincing manner.

On April 11. 1898, Mr. Groner was united in marriage with Anne Reed Vaughan, a daughter of Col. John N. Vaughan, of Nor- folk.

ON. F. M. WHITEHURST, a native of Princess Anne County, Virginia, descended from Richard Whitehurst, one of its first settlers, was born De- cember 1, 1835.

He was educated in the schools of the coun- ty and the city of Norfolk, and was taking the law course at the University of Virginia when the war between the States broke out. Upon the secession of Virginia, he immediately en- tered the service by enlisting in Company F, 6th Regiment, Virginia Infantry, and serving as private. then as first lieutenant, commanding a company until the springing of the mine around Petersburg. The last year of the war he spent in prison.

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Since the war he has pursued his profes- sion, except for six years, when he was judge . of the court of his native county. At present, and since 1884 he has been the senior member of the firm of Whitehurst & Hughes, of Nor- folk, Virginia.

EN. VIRGINIUS DESPEAUX GRONER, one of Norfolk's most distinguished citizens and business men, served with high honors throughout the Confederate War. He was born in Norfolk, Virginia, September 7, 1836, and is a son of George Groner.

George Groner was born in Germany and came to the United States in 1827, landing in New York City. He shortly afterward came to Norfolk, Virginia, where he spent the re- mainder of his life engaged in mercantile pur- suits. He married Eliza Newell, who came of a prominent old family of Virginia. Her brother served as a member of Capt. Arthur Emmerson's company of light artillery, in the repulse of the British at Craney Island, during the War of 1812. Her grandfather, Captain Robert Newell, commanded a privateer in the Continental service during the Revolutionary War.

General Groner was reared in Norfolk and educated at the Norfolk Military Academy, from which he graduated with honor in 1853. He was admitted to the bar, but soon after went to Texas with the intention of purchasing a ranch, bearing letters to Gov. Samuel Hous- ton, by whom he was received with courtesy, and was induced to abandon his project. He was appointed by the Governor to Colonel Bay- lor's command of Texas Rangers. He served as such for a period of five months and then. after the election of President Lincoln, started on his return to Virginia. He visited Jackson, Mississippi, and was commissioned by Gov- ernor Pettus to go to New York and su- pervise the shipment of rifles to Mississippi from Springfield, Massachusetts. After per-

forming this service he returned to Norfolk to prepare for the coming conflict. He received several communications from Gov- ernor Pickens, of South Carolina, and then engaged in organizing a regiment of vol- teers for the purpose of aiding in taking Fortress Monroe. For advice in regard to this enterprise he visited Governor Letcher dur- ing the session of the Virginia Convention, ac- companied by Adjutant-General Richardson, and bearing a letter from ex-Governor Wise. Governor Letcher proposed to submit their views to the convention, but fearing that such a course would furnish information to the Fed- eral authorities, he declined to pursue the en- terprise. He again went to Jackson, Missis- sippi, and reported to Governor Pettus. He then visited President Davis, and was com- missioned, the commission being confirmed by the Provisional Congress, as assistant adju- tant-general, with the rank of captain in the regular army. He was assigned to duty at Montgomery, under L. Polk Walker, the first Secretary of War. Among his first duties was the arrest and imprisonment of Captain Wor- den, U. S. Navy, who had been permitted to visit the defenses at Pensacola, on promising to give no information, and to report to the Confederate authorities on his return, but in- stead had attempted to proceed directly to Washington. Captain Groner had the distinc- tion of transmitting the telegram from the Sec- retary of War to General Beauregard, ordering the opening of the attack on Fort Sumter. Up- on the removal of the seat of the Confederate government to Richmond, Captain Groner was assigned to duty in the War Department as as- sitant adjutant general, and discharged im- portant duties in connection with the organi- zation of troops. In the fall of 1862, he en- tered active service in command of a North Carolina regiment of cavalry, being stationed on the Blackwater River, in Virginia, where he had several skirmishes with the 11th Regi- ment, Pennsylvania Cavalry. During his first Maryland campaign he commanded the 61st Regiment, Virginia Infantry, with headquar-

A. J. PHILLIPS.

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ters at Warrenton, Virginia. Upon the return of the army to Culpeper Court House he held Warrenton, in command of his own regiment, a regiment of Mississippi infantry, and two batteries, until the advance of Mcclellan com- pelled his withdrawal, when in obedience to orders he moved to the Rappahannock. oppo- site Falmouth. Here he observed the advance of the Federal Army. Informing General Lee of the situation, he was ordered to hold the ford if he could, and if not, to rejoin the army on the line of the North Anna. The Rappahan- nock was very high, and consequently the Northern Army was greatly delayed. Lee con- centrated his forces at Fredericksburg and held that line many months, two of the great battles of the war being fought there. Colonel Gron- er's regiment became a part of Mahone's Bri- gade, and upon the promotion of the latter to be a major-general. Colonel Groner, on many occasions, commanded the brigade. After the final surrender at Appomattox Court House. he rode to Richmond and was the recipient of kind attention from Generals Ord and Patrick. At Norfolk, however, the general in command treated the Confederate officers with such in- dignity that Colonel Groner reported his con- duct to General Grant, who promptly retired the offender from command. At this time be- gan his friendship for Grant, which continued with unabated warmth until the latter's death.

Upon the close of the war General Groner turned his attention to business affairs, and in the time which has since elapsed has fostered and promoted many enterprises which have brought him prominently before the public. He served as one of the two Virginia commission- ers at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, in 1893. About 1888 he purchased of the W. E. Taylor and Camp estates several acres of land. with water-front on Elizabeth River, extending from Avenue B. in Atlantic City Ward. He erected a bridge over a space of water out to a point where there is naviga- tion and there built several oyster houses. The shells from these houses have been used to fill in a roadway to the mainland, and are fast

making the foundation for a large area of prop- erty. It is General Groner's intention to make this one of the finest wharfs in the South and when it is completed he will have a half mile of fine dock surface. From the mainland, he has 700 feet of private dock, then 800 feet along the Elizabeth River, 600 feet on Tarrant Creek, and then on the east side he will have from 800 to 1,200 feet, according to the extent of future construction. This seems like a gigantic enter- prise, but it is only a matter of a few years be- fore large buildings will appear where water, mud and shells are now seen. General Groner has filled in with wrecked vessels, the water- soaked wood making a fine foundation for terra firma. The oyster industry at Groner's wharf has grown to enormous proportions, and the demand for shells has raised the price to anywhere from 134 to 21/2 cents per bushel. About 300,000 bushels are sold yearly, in ad- dition to those which are used for filling in.

General Groner married a daughter of John A. Campbell, late justice of the United States Supreme Court, and they have three son1s.

J. PHILLIPS, a leading merchant of Portsmouth. Virginia, where he owns a handsome, large dry goods store and enjoys a splendid patron- age, and is prominently identified with the growth, progress and development of Norfolk County.

Mr. Phillips was born in the city, which has ever been his home. 47 years ago and received his scholastic training in the public schools of Portsmouth. At the age of II years he was employed by the Confederacy as a messenger boy in the Navy Yard at Richmond, Virginia. At the early age of 17 years he entered the real estate business and is still connected with the principal development companies of his section. He has been a promoter and an active member of all of the Pinner's Point companies, being at the present time vice-president of two of

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them, and president of two or three others. He was also instrumental in securing the location of a shipyard at that point. He is one of the early stockholders of the Cotton Manufactur- ing Company, and is president of the Ports- mouth Dime Savings Bank, of which he was one of the prime organizers. He is also sec- retary and a director of the Norfolk, Ports- mouth & Newport News Railway Company, and is a member of its executive committee.

Mr. Phillips entered the dry-goods business in the building now occupied by the Ports- mouth Dime Savings Bank, in partnership with W. C. Nash, under the firm name of Phillips & Nash. This firm conducted, with marked success, a large retail dry goods business for seven years. Mr. Phillips then withdrew from the business, selling his interest to Mr. Nash.

Shortly afterward Mr. Phillips found a more desirable location and opened a similar business of his own. The business increased so rapidly that it became necessary to have more store room and better accommoda- tions, and in 1894 he removed to his present building, located at Nos. 302-304 High street. This store is among the largest, handsomest and most commodious to be found in the city and is regarded as one of the most important mercantile features of Portsmouth. The building occu- pied is three stories high, and is well stocked with dry goods, notions, etc. Eight clerks are employed and are under the efficient manage- ment of Mr. Parker, who sees that everything is carried on without friction.

Politically Mr. Phillips is closely allied to the Democratic party, and has served as a mem- ber of the City Council. He was united in marriage with a daughter of the late O. B. Sherwood, a pioneer resident of Norfolk Coun- ty, and for many years a business man of prominence in Portsmouth. Mrs. Phillips has one brother, C. S. Sherwood, a jeweler of the same city. Mr. Phillips and his estimable wife have an interesting family, consisting of two

sons and five daughters. One son, C. S., is a reliable bookkeeper in the Bank of Commerce.

Fraternally Mr. Phillips is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Royal Arcanum, Im- proved Order of Red Men and several other organizations. The large and successful bus- iness he has built up forms the most substantial monument to his energy, and proves his talent for correctly judging the needs of people, and his superior ability in catering to their wants. He is recognized as a man of great personal en- terprise, and of commendable and most heip- ful public spirit. It may be said of the various enterprises with which he is connected that to his wise counsel and energetic management is due much of the success they have attained. As an active member of the Portsmouth Bus- iness Men's Association, Mr. Phillips endorses every movement calculated to advance the in- terests of Portsmouth and is justly regarded as one of her foremost citizens. His portrait accompanies this sketch.

OSEPH R. IVES & COMPANY, real estate dealers of Norfolk, Virginia. Some of the most enterprising citizens of the city of Norfolk are engaged in the real-estate business. They are men of energy and ability and the great increase in population, trade and natural development is in large part due to their efforts.

Joseph R. Ives, of the firm of Joseph R. Ives & Company, stands in the front rank of the younger and more active dealers in real es- tate in this section, and is also treasurer of the Norfolk Land & Trust Company, and di- rector in several other companies. Mr. Ives possesses all the talents necessary to a success- ful career. He received ample business educa- tion and careful training in real-estate opera- tions.

The firm is thoroughly reliable and trust- worthy and deals largely in city and suburban

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properties and makes a specialty of farming, trucking and timber lands. This firm values properties and negotiates loans on all kinds of securities.

Mr. Ives first saw the light of day near Hickory Ground in Norfolk County and if nat- ural ability. fair dealings and strict integrity count for anything his record will be an honor to his native country and his state.

HARLES. A. STEWART comes of a distinguished family of Virginia, and is a son of William Charles and Catharine Matilda (Garrett) Stew- art. The records of the family go back on the paternal side to Charles Stewart, great-grandfather of the subject of this bio- graphy. a sketch of whom is embraced in that of Colonel William H. Stewart on another page of this volume. A maternal ancestor was William Moseley, a justice of the County Court from 1650 until his death, who came to Norfolk County from Rotterdam, Holland, in 1649. Blandinah Moseley, who married Rev. John Braidfoot, a chaplain in the Revolution- ary War, was the great-granddaughter of Will- iam Moseley through his son, Arthur, and grandson. Arthur, and was the great-grand- mother of the subject of this sketch. After the death of Mr. Braidfoot, his widow married Willis Wilkins, and her daughter by this union was the grandmother of Charles A. Stewart.

Mr. Stewart obtained his education in the common schools, at William R. Galt's school. Norfolk, Virginia, Eaton & Burnett's Business College, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Colum- bian University, Washington, D. C., where he studied law. In 1878 he printed and published a small weekly paper at Wallaceton, and after- ward worked on the reportorial staff of the Portsmouth Daily Times, as local editor, a po- sition which he resigned in the fall of 1879. to take the management of "Beechwood" farm. He was a delegate to the Democratic Congres- sional Convention at Virginia Beach in Sep- tember, 1884, and the Democratic Guberna-

torial Convention at Richmond, in 1885, which nominated Fitzhugh Lee.

September 1, 1886, he was appointed to a clerkship in the United States Treasury De- partment, at Washington, D. C., and was as- signed to the office of Comptroller of the Cur- rency, having successfully passed an examina- tion before the United States Civil Service Commission in March of that year. Since en- tering the Department he has been promoted a number of times and at present holds a re- sponsible position in that branch of the service which has charge of the affairs of insolvent National banks. After locating in Washington Mr. Stewart took a deep interest in the Dis- mal Swamp Canal traversing Norfolk County, and by a series of newspaper letters, published in Philadelphia and Washington papers, as- sisted in no small degree in drawing attention to this neglected water-way, which has recently been reconstructed, and is now one of the finest canals on the Atlantic coast. Mr. Stewart's legal residence is Norfolk County, but at pres- ent he resides at the suburban town of Falls Church. Virginia, where he is a vestryman of "The Falls ( Episcopal) Church," built in co- lonial times, George Washington having been connected therewith as vestryman.

Mr. Stewart is a member of the Virginia Society, Sons of the American Revolution. His military record is three years service in the National Guard of the District of Columbia. He intermarried with Mary Isabella Tabb, a daughter of Dr. Robert B. Tabb, of Norfolk County. December 6, 1887, and they have two daughters and one son, namely: Elizabeth Tabb, born March 6, 1890: Catharine Maud, born November 23, 1891 ; and Charles A., Jr., born July 30, 1900.

AJ. A. MYERS, one of Norfolk's most prominent and progressive citizens, is manager of the Equita- ble Life Assurance Society of the United States. This is one of the greatest, strongest and most progressive life

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insurance companies in the world, and under the efficient management of our subject com- mands a leading patronage in the city of Nor- folk and this section.

Major Myers is a Confederate veteran of rank and honor, bearing an excellent record for service during the Confederate War. He was a staff officer and his military title has clung to him throughout the years that have elapsed since the war. He was a merchant during his early days. but after the war entered the real- estate business, a keen foresight and good judg- ment pointing out to him a new leasehold on proseperity in the South. His wisdom was soon made apparent, and by energetic and well directed efforts he established a large business in Norfolk, doing much to advertise the ad- vantages of the community in distant cities and States. The natural result was a great in- flux of people which has been of incalculable benefit to Norfolk.

Major Myers served in the City Council and as a member of the House of Delegates of Virginia. representing his constituents accept- ably in both offices. He is also a prominent Thirty-second degree A. A. Scottish Rite Ma- son; an Hon. Grand Cross of the Court of Honor, a member of Grice Commandery, No. 16, Knights Templar and Acca Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and enjoys the confidence of his fellow citizens to a marked degree.

K ENNETH A. BAIN, attorney and counselor-at-law, is a son of Robert T. K. and Amelia ( Benson) Bain, and was born in Portsmouth, Norfolk County, Virginia.

After a preparatory course in the schools of Portsmouth and elsewhere in the State, he attended the University of Virginia, from which he was graduated with the degree of Master of Arts and where he then prosecuted liis legal studies.

The first years of Mr. Bain's business life were devoted to teaching, and in that vocation

he occupied important and responsible positions in some of the most noted high schools and academies of Virginia. He has been engaged in the practice of law in his native city since 1896, and now has an office at No. 408 Court street.

Mr. Bain is a man of scholarly attainments, a deep student, and possessed of sound judg- ment and good business perceptions. His abil- ity as a lawyer is recognized wherever he is known.

LEXANDER E. WARNER, born in the city of Portsmouth, Virginia, was admitted to the bar in 1888.

ILLIAM A. FISKE, the proprietor of the principal printery, bookbind- ery and blank book manufactory in Portsmouth, Virginia, is the sec- ond son of the late David Dodge Fiske and Elizabeth Bryant Stevens, his wife, and was born in that city May 9, 1840.

The business was established by his father in the "thirties" and continued by him uninter- ruptedly ( except for a few months during the yellow fever epidemic in 1855), until the break- ing out of the war between the States in 1861. when the subject of this sketch joined the Con- federate Army as a private in Company B. 3rd Regiment, Virginia Infantry, while a younger brother, Melzar Gardner Fiske, in his 16th year, entered Company K, 9th Regiment, Virginia Infantry, and was mortally wounded at the battle of Malvern Hill. Mr. Fiske served with Company B throughout the strug- gle : was wounded and captured at the battle of Five Forks; removed to the Federal prison at Point Lookout, and released from there at the close of hostilitiies.

The business was abandoned soon after the beginning of the war, all the practical printers in town having joined the Confederate Army.

DR. FRANK ANTHONY WALKE.

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and the plant, including the equipment of The Daily Transcript newspaper, confiscated by the Federal military forces when they occupied Portsmouth.

Soon after his release from prison Mr. Fiske, together with his father, re-established the business with an entirely new plant, in- cluding newspaper outfit. The newspaper, not proving remunerative, was soon discontinued and the energies of the firm devoted entirely to the other branch of the business, of which Mr. Fiske has been in full control since the death of his father. in July, 1870.

Mr. Fiske is inclined to be quiet and retir- ing in disposition. He is a Democrat in poli- tics; represented Portsmouth in the Virginia House of Delegates, session 1876-77, and was appointed postmaster of Portsmouth by Presi- clent Cleveland during the latter's first adminis- tration. In his younger years Mr. Fiske was active in the Masonic order, and has filled all the principal chairs in the several Masonic bodies : he is also a Pythian and past exalted ruler of the Portsmouth Lodge, B. P. O. E.

Mr. Fiske is still actively engaged in busi- ness at No. 108 High street, where the plant has been located for the past 35 years. Al- though handicapped by unfavorable conditions and circumstances he has, by hard work and close application, built up a business which is a credit to Portsmouth and speaks well for him.

D R. FRANK ANTHONY WALKE, one of the leading members of the medical profession of Norfolk, Vir- ginia, whose portrait appears here- with, comes of a very prominent Vir- ginia family. He was born in Princess Anne County, Virginia, October 1, 1831. and traces his ancestry back to Sir Thomas Walke. an admiral of the Dutch Navy, who landed on the shores of Chesapeake Bay in the immediate vicinity of Norfolk. in 1632. There were three members of

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History of Norfolk County, Virginia : and representative citizens, 1637-1900, Part 84

Author: Stewart, William H. (William Henry), 1838-1912 Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1054

Author: Stewart, William H. (William Henry), 1838-1912
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1054