USA > Virginia > City of Norfolk > City of Norfolk > History of Norfolk County, Virginia and representative citizens, V.2 > Part 15
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Merrill married Sarah Watson and had 10 children, and hence the great number of Mer- rills since found in Connecticut .
Our subject. George W. Merrill, is a de- scendant of the Connecticut branch of the Mer- rill family. His portrait accompanies this sketch.
ICKLIFFE J. BOHANNAN, who is captain of the steamer "Ala- bama," is a well-known resident of Norfolk. He was born in Mathew's County, Virginia, in 18.19, and is a son of Joseph and Jane ( Ainslie ) Bohannan. Joseph Bohannan was born in Mathews County. Virginia, in ISIo. and died there in 1893. aged 83 years. He was a tailor by occu- pation, and owned a good farm. He received the appointment of postmaster of Mathews Court House in 1850. and held that office under the Federal government until 1860. He was appointed by Jefferson Davis. President of the Confederate States, to fill that office, and con- tinued to do so until the close of the war. He was well-to-do up to the time of the war. in : which he lost everything but his farm. Re- ligiously, he was a member of the Christian Church. He married Jane Ainslie, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and died in 1897. at the age of 84 years. She was a daughter of Peter Ainslie, a native of Scotland and a minis- ter of the Christian Church. They had eight children, as follows : Eliza. who married Henry Taurman, a farmer by occupation ; Ariannie, who married William Barker. a min- ister of the Christian Church, and who is now dead; Edgar, who lives at Fairmount. Ken- tucky ; L. Kate, widow of Marshall Williams, now residing in Baltimore: Christopher, de- ceased, who was an attorney-at-law of Rich- i mond, Virginia; Wickliffe J .. the subject of this biography; Alice, who married Albert Williams, a farmer of Mathews County, Vir- ginia ; and one who died in infancy.
Wickliffe J. Bohannan attended the private
schools of Mathews Court House, and after leaving school was appointed deputy sheriff of Mathews County. He first went to sea about 1870, as a sailor before the mast. in the coast trade. He was a common sailor for about three years. He was made mate on the sailing vessel "James Baymore." plying between Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York and other ports. He then went on the "Surprise" as sec- ond mate, and two months later was ship- wrecked near Cape Henry ; the vessel was lost, but all the crew were saved. He entered the employ of the Bay Line of steamers in 1872, as quartermaster on the "George Leary." He then became lookout and gradually worked his way up to the command of a vessel. He was successively in command of the "Roanoke." "Seaboard," "Westover." "Gaston," "Vir- ginia," '"Carolina." "Georgia," and "Ala- bama," becoming captain of the last named upon its completion, in 1893. He has had great experience in every department of work on a steamer, and his services are highly valued by the company for which he works.
Captain Bohannan was joined in marriage, in 1878, with Columbia Bray, who was born in York . County, Virginia, in 1856, and is a daughter of George and Mary Bray. They have had two children, one dying in infancy. and the other. James, dying at the age of five years. Religiously. the Captain and his wife are members of the Christian Church. Frater- nally, the former is a member of Mystic Circle Lodge, No. 109, A. F. & A. M .; Jerusalem Chapter, No. 9, R. A. M .; Royal Arcanum : Heptasophs : and Rescue Harbor, No. 14. Mas- ters' & Pilots' Association, all of Baltimore. He is a Democrat in politics.
M. LLOYD, a partner of Charles W. Priddy, and secretary and treasurer of the Pocomoke Guano Company. is one of Norfolk's representative citi- zens. He was born in Pocomoke City. Maryland, January 27, 1865, and is a son
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. of Christopher C. and Anna Grace (McMas- ter) Lloyd, both natives of Maryland, and members of old families of that State.
Christopher C. Lloyd is one of the most influential citizens of Pocomoke City, Mary- land, and is engaged in the drug business. He was sheriff of his native county two terms, and takes an active interest in all important enter- prises. He is one of the pillars of the Epis- copal Church of that city, and one of its most active workers. His wife, a daughter of Hon. S. S. McMaster, died in September, 1898. Of seven children born to this union, but five are living, among whom are Mrs. E. B. Freeman, the wife of a prominent citizen of Norfolk; and S. M., whose name heads this sketch.
S. M. Lloyd underwent his mental training at Pocomoke City, Maryland ; and after finish- ing school he embarked in the fertilizing busi- ness, which he has continued up to the present time. He located in Norfolk in 188r. and since that time he has devoted his time to many enterprises which are for the good of the city in which he lives. He is a man of splendid business ability, conscientious and possessed of good judgment, and has met with much suc- cess.
February 7, 1893. Mr. Lloyd married Effie Payne, a daughter of W. T. Payne, who is for- eign freight agent for the Norfolk & Western Railway Company at Norfolk. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd have three children, -- McMaster, Walter P. and Catherine. Mrs. Payne is a member of St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church of ! Norfolk.
ILLIAM W. SIMPSON, a well- known farmer of Norfolk Coun- ty, Virginia, was born at Cape Charles, Virginia, October 15. 1835. and is a son of John A. Simpson. John A. Simpson was a shoemaker by trade, and died in 1838.
William W. Simpson spent 13 months in the army, serving in General Mahone's Bri-
gade. He was slightly wounded at one time, but never disabled from duty. At the time of his marriage, which occurred January 15, 1862, he had but 10 cents in money, and owned 110 property. By depriving himself of much, and enduring many hardships, through sheer thrift and energy he soon got a good start in the world, and at the present time owns con- siderable real estate in Norfolk, besides his farm, which is one of the best in the county. He is a self-made man, in every sense of the word. and deserves much credit for his per- severance and pluck.
Mr. Simpson married Rebecca Yealdhall. They were blessed with six children, namely : William Leonard, a farmer by occupation, who married a daughter of George Congdon. from Chesterfield County, Virginia ; John Randolph. who married Lillian Backus, a daughter of Quincy Backus, a truck farmer: Elijah Ben- ton, who married Rose Foreman; Edgar Lloyd, who married Anna Baldwin : Olin, who married William Dey, and is living in Bram- bleton, Norfolk County ; and Marsula, who re- sides with her parents.
B ENJAMIN F. GIBSON, who is much interested in agricultural affairs in Norfolk County, Virginia, and is re- siding upon his farm of 97 1/2 acres, a few miles south of Berkley, is a na- tive of North Carolina. He was born Decem- ber 22. 1847, and is a son of P. H. Gibson.
P. H. Gibson was born in North Carolina. and was a farmer by occupation. He died in 1898, and his death was sincerely regretted by all who knew him. He located in Norfolk County in 1851, and lived on a farm near Great Bridge for five years. In ISor he en- listed in the army, and served for four years. Losing all he possessed during the trials of that war, he removed with his family to Norfolk at its close, and later settled upon a farm near that of his son. There his death occurred.
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JOHN HOWARD SHARP.
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He married Virginia Trafton, who was born in North Carolina, and they reared the following children, namely: Benjamin F., the subject of this sketch; Virginia, deceased; and J. L .. a farmer living near Benjamin F. P. H. Gibson married. secondly, Virginia Busten. and they reared three children, namely: Anna (Mc- Cloud) ; Maggie, deceased; and Lilly.
Benjamin F. Gibson lived in Norfolk during the last two years of the war. From his father he learned to farm, and in July, J884, he bought his present farm. This is a finely improved piece of land, and is kept in excellent condition. There is a comfortable nine-room, two-story house of brick on the place, and this greatly adds to the value and appearance of the property. Mr. Gibson is a man of thrift and enterprise, and he has worked conscientiously for many years. He is well deserving of success.
He married Lizzie Lewelyn in 1874. She is a native of Norfolk. They are the parents of four children, namely: Lura (Doughty) : Harry, a resident of Norfolk: Alice; and Charles, also a resident of Norfolk.
Mr. Gibson is a Democrat in politics. He and his family are members of the Christian Church.
OHN HOWARD SHARP, a gentle- man of prominence in railroad circles, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, is treasurer of the Seaboard Air Line Railway Company, and is located at Portsmouth, Virginia. He was born December 3. 1837. and is a son of William Willoughby and Mary Ann Lewis ( School- field) Sharp. He comes of a distinguished Virginia family, many of its representatives having served in high offices of public trust, and the record of all its members having been a. credit to the State and county in which they lived.
William Sharp, of County Kent, England, was the first of the family to come to the
Colony of Virginia. He landed at Curl's Neck. Charles City County, Virginia, in 1620, from the "Harr."
Col. William Sharp, grandfather of John Howard Sharp, was a man of great influence and popularity. He studied law in Judge Wythe's office in Richmond, and his fellow pupil was Hon .. Henry Clay. In the War of 1812. he was in command of the 9th and 54th regiments of Virginia, under Generals Robert B. Taylor and Wade Hampton. Colonel Sharp is described as being tall and erect, with piercing black eyes, and as a fine specimen of physical manhood and soldierly bearing as a commander. After the war with Great Brit- ain, he was chosen as the first clerk of the bor- ough of Norfolk. His wife was the beautiful Mary Willoughby, a trace of whose ancestry is found in the following extract from "Vir- ginia and Virginians," by Dr. R. A. Brock of Richmond: "Captain John Smith. the father of the Colony, who had served on the staff of General Lord Willoughby in the Netherlands, brought to Virginia Thomas Willoughby (then a boy of 14), founder of the family in the Colony. By royal patent. this Willoughby acquired 12,000 acres of land on the southern shore of Chesapeake Bay. From him a num- ber of Norfolk families have sprung, among others the descendants of General Taylor, who still hold the manor estate on Willoughby Bay. In 1767, Henry Willoughby of Virginia be- came the 17th Lord Willoughby of Parham, recovering the barony and manors in a contest before the House of Lords." In 1813, during the war of that period, the British landed a force from their fleet in Lynnhaven Bay, and captured 400 negroes from Mr. Willoughby.
William Willoughby Sharp, father of Jolin Howard Sharp, was born in Norfolk and died in 1871, aged about 70 years. He was an emi- nent lawyer, who in 1821 succeeded to the great practice of Hon. Littleton Waller Taze- well, and retired in 1861. He married Mary Ann Lewis Schoolfield, and they had the fol- lowing children: Captain William: Charles, an attorney of Norfolk; John Howard, the
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subject of this biography : Rev. Henry T .. pas- tar of the Walbrook Protestant Episcopal Church of Baltimore, Maryland: Walter. an officer in the Portsmouth Water Works: Mrs. Claudia Wilson ; Mrs. Eliza F. Southall : Vir- sinia Margreeta, wife of Rev. T. M. Ambler. who died in 1871, leaving a daughter. Mary Cary, wife of fudge Thomas H. Wilcox, of Norfolk; and Evelyn, who was born in Nor- folk about 1840, and who died in 1898, un- married.
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Captain William Sharp. eldiest brother of John Howard Sharp, was born March 26, 1826. He entered the United States Navy on September 9, 181, having been appointed a midshipman by. President Tyler, who was a neighbor of the Sharps in Charles City Coun- ty. He went to sea from Norfolk, January 9. 1842, and spent three years on the frigate "United States." In December. 1844. he was on board the "St. Marys." bound for Mexico, and in January, 1845. was sent to the "James- town." going to the coast of Africa. He re- turned by way of the West Indies. arriving in Boston in August, 1846. In that year he went to the Naval School in Annapolis, and gradu- ated in the summer of 1847. In September, 1847, he left Norfolk on the frigate "Brandy- wine," and arrived at Rio de Janeiro October, 16, 1847. December 6, of that year, he was sent to the United States brig "Perry." which he left on February 10. 1849, and arrived at Norfolk April 5, 1849. on the store-ship "Re- lief." He was then on the coast survey of Al- bemarle and Pamlico sounds. In March, 1851. he was on board the "San Jacinto," going to Europe and the Mediterranean. April 20, 1853, he was transferred to the "St. Louis," and in August to the "Cumberland." He re- mained on the Mediterranean Sea until June, 1855. He was ordered to the Norfolk Navy Yard, where he remained until the fall of 1857. and then went from Boston to the Pacific Ocean, on the "Merrimac." He was passed midshipman form IS47 to 1855. In the spring of 1858, he was transferred to the "Vandalia in the Pacific. and in the fall of 1839 returned
on the "Merrimac" to Norfolk, arriving in February, 1860. He was then stationed at the Norfolk Navy Yard. He served in the capacity of lieutenant from 1855 to 1861, when he re- signed. He was appointed a lieutenant in the Confederate States Navy, and for three months was stationed at the Naval Hospital under Com. Charles F. McIntosh, drilling troops. He was sent to Richmond and assigned to the naval department under Commodore Sanmiel Barion, on the Sounds of North Carolina, with a view to closing up Newman. In the fall. the Federal fleet attacked Hatteras Inlet forts. Commodore Barron going ashore and taking charge of the forts on the second day. Before noon of the next day, they surrendered and the garrison was captured. Lieutenant Sharp was taken aboard the "Minnesota" and carried to New York under Commander Stringham : he landed at Governor's Island; where he was imprisoned for three months. He was then sent to Fort Warren, and two weeks later was sent with others to Hampton Roads. where. nine days later. he was exchanged for John L. Worden, who afterward commanded the "Monitor." Lieutenant Sharp was sent to Richmond, and then became a member of the board of examiners at Mobile. Charleston. Savannah, Wilmington and Richmond. Then he went with Commodore Samuel Barron. to : Nashville, Tennessee, to blockade the Tennes- see and Cumberland rivers. The battle of Murfreesboro (Tennessee) prevented any ac- tion, and they returned to Richmond. Captain Sharp was then for two years in command of the gunboat. "Beaufort." and from that was transferred to Kinston, North Carolina. where he superintended the building of the gunboat "Neuse," in the spring of 1864. In the sum- mer of 1864 he was appointed naval ordnance officer at Charleston. South Carolina, and re- mained there until the early winter. In 1865. he was relieved from duty at Charleston, just after the surrender of Lee. He has been en- gaged in various business pursuits since the war, and resides at No. 200 Freemason street.
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Norfolk. In 1856, he was united in marriage with Eliza D. Willianis, a daughter of John Williams, who hell the position of Clerk of the Court of the City of Norfolk, for a number of years. She was a descendant from the New- tons and Armisteads, whose history is given elsewhere in this volume. They became par- ents of the following children : William Wil- loughby, who is a member of the well-known firm of Sharp & Bryan, Exchange Place, New York, and whose success in business in that connection has been well merited : Walter New- ton, the well-known financial writer of the New York Sun; and Julia A .. who married Captain Willoughby Walke, of the United States Light Artillery, stationed at Fortress Monroe.
Charles Sharp, second son of William Wil- loughby Sharp, was born October 18, 1829. and graduated with distinction at the Uni- versity of Virginia. At the age of 21 years, he commenced the practice of law in Norfolk. Virginia, which he continued alone for years, with marked success. During the war be was a member of the United Artillery Company, of Norfolk. He became a member of the firm of Scarborough, Duffield & Sharp, after the war. Subsequently. severing connection with them. he became the senior member of the celebrated admiralty law-firm of Sharp & Hughes. Some years ago, Mr. Sharp decided to withdraw from that firm, and has since practiced alche, although his health is not of the best. He mar- ried, in 1857, Lucy Southall, a daughter of Hon. Valentine Southall, of Charlottesville. Virginia, and they have two children living, namely: Florence, wife of Lieutenant Con- mander Albert W. Grant, U. S. Navy, and W. W. Sharp, a resident of Norfolk County.
Walter Sharp, youngest son of William Willoughby Sharp, married Mary Reardon, a daughter of H. B. Reardon of Norfolk, and she died within a year after their marriage. He formed a second union, wedding Susan Holi- day, of Baltimore, Maryland, and they have the following living children: George I. of New York City; Louisa of Norfolk; Walter D. of
Norfolk ; Lewis of Atlanta, Georgia ; and Etta, Mary and Tilghman, of Norfolk.
Claudia Sharp ( Wilson), eldest daughter of William Wiloughby Sharp, was born in Norfolk, Virginia. She married George Rid- dick Wilson, a son of George Wilson, who at one time was presiding justice of the Norfolk County Court. The issue of this union was: Bird, who died young; William Sharp, who perished when but 21 years of age, on board the California steamer "Bienville." when it was burned at sea off San Salvador: Mary Wil- loughby, who married, at Annapolis, Lieuten- ant Commander Hugo Osterhaus, U. S. Navy, by whom she has two children .- Ensign Hugo, U. S. Navy, and Carl, a student at the Uni- versity of Virginia; and Evelyn, who died about 1896, was the wife of Lieutenant Alfred Miles, U. S. Navy, who died of yellow fever aboard the United States steamer "Nypsic." in New York harbor. Lieutenant Miles and his wife are survived by two children,-Claudia Wilson Miles of Annapolis, Maryland; and Alfred Miles of Norfolk, Virginia. Mrs. Claudia Wilson survives her husband ( who died about 1889), and resides at Annapolis.
Eliza F. Sharp ( Southall), second daugh- ter of William Willoughby Sharp, married James Cocke Southall, LL. D., formerly editor of the Richmond Enquirer and the Central Presbyterian, and an author of some note, who was the eldest son of Valentine Wood Southall. The Southall family is one of prominence in Virginia. In 1825. Valentine Wood Southall married Martha Cocke, a singular conjunction here, as both parties were descended in a double line from Richard Cocke (1), the first of the Cocke family in America. Martha Cocke (7), daughter of James Powell Cocke (6), was descended through James Powell Cocke (4), from Thomas Cocke (2). eldest son of Richard Cocke (I). Through her mother, Lucy Smith, she was descended from William Cocke (2), father of Mary Cocke (3). wife of Obadiah Smith. Valentine Wood Southall was descended from Martha Cocke
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(4), who married Henry Wood, in 1724. She was a daughter of William (3). son of John (2), who was a son of Richard ( I). This was his maternal line. His grandfather, Colonel Turner Southall, married Martha Vandewall, who was the daughter of Martha ( Cocke) Pleasants, who was the daughter of Martha Cocke (3), who was the daughter of Richard Cocke (2), son of Richard Cocke (I). Thus the pair trace their descent to four of the five sons of Richard Cocke (I), and Richard Cocke, the younger, of Charles City, alone is not represented. Col. Turner Southall, pater- nal grandfather of Valentine. Wood Southall, was a very prominent figure in Henrico Coun- ty, Virginia, in the last quarter of the eight- eenth century. He represented Henrico Coun- ty in the House of Delegates from 1778 to 1784, and was a member of the State Senate in 1790, at the time of his death, from the sena- torial district of Henrico, Goochland and Louisa counties. He was colonel commandant of the County of Henrico, and was very active during the Revolution. He was a member of the Committee of Safety in 1774-1775, and was appointed on a commission to erect the new capitol building in Richmond, and to lay off the streets of the new city: was a director of public buildings, and one of the trustees to im- prove the navigation of the James River. In 1785, he was vestryman, with Peyton Ran- dolph and Bowler Cocke, of Henrico Parish. He was connected with every important public movement in Henrico County, from 1770, to 1790. Maj. Stephen Southall. of Henrico County, who served as a lieutenant throughout the Revolutionary War, was the father of Val- entine Wood Southall, and made his home in Richmond. Valentine Wood Southall was for many years a leading member of the bar of Al- bemarle County ; for many years he represented Albemarle County in. the House of Delegates, of which body he was speaker. He was a mein- ber of the Constitutional Convention of 1850- 1851 ; attorney for the Commonwealth, of Al-
bemarle County, for many years ; a member of the State Convention of 1861. and acting presi- dent of that body after President Janney's sick- ness. The children of Dr. James C. and Eliza F. (Sharp) Southall are,-James P. C., pro- fessor in the Alabama School of Technology at Auburn, Alabama; and Evelyn H., of Nor- folk, Virginia. Mrs. Southall is a widow and now resides at No. 456 Fremason street, Nor- folk, Virginia.
Referring to the maternal ancestry of John Howard Sharp, his grandfather was Dr. Jo- seph Schoolfield, U. S. Navy. The School- field family came with Lord Baltimore to Maryland, one part remaining in Maryland and the other settling in Virginia. One Joseph Schoolfield was born August 5, 1722, and was a son of John and Hannah Schoolfield. Dr. Joseph Schoolfield was born in Worcester. Maryland, and died in Portsmouth, September 26, 1850. He entered the navy in ISor, and was stationed at the Naval Hospital at Ports- mouth. He was surgeon in that institution at the age of 25 years and continued there until ISog, when he resigned just after his marriage. He then practiced in Portsmouth until his death. He married Mary Ann Lewis, who was born January 28, 1781, and was a daughter of John and Frances Dalton (Dunn) Lewis. Her mother was a daughter of Nathaniel and Re- becca (Harrison) Dunn, the mother of Mrs. Dunn being a Bland. Mrs. Schoolfield died November 30, 1862. As a result of her union with Dr. Joseph Schoolfield, she had eleven children, of whom the following grew to ma- turity: Mary Ann Lewis; Hannah Frances ; Louisa; Rebecca Parham; Joseph N .; Ira Chase : and William Dunn. Mary Ann Lewis Schoolfield was born July 21, 1809, in Ports- mouth. She was united in marriage with Will- iam Willoughby Sharp, on December 23, 1824, in Portsmouth. Hannah Frances, who was born March 26, ISHI, married John Mason Wyche of Sussex County. Louisa, born Sep- tember 8, 1812, married Lieutenant Gordon C.
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Ashton. U. S. Navy, June 6, 1831. Her hus- band died at sea, and she afterward married Tolin D. McGill, of Middlesex County. Rebecca Parham, born February 1. 1816, married Col- onel David G. Potts, of Petersburg. Joseph N., born September 21, 1819, married Mary S. English of Georgetown, D. C. Ira Chase, born January 18, 1821, married Parmelia Branch of Petersburg. William Dunn, born March 3, 1828, married Miss Riddick of Ports- mouth. The coat of arms of the Schoolfield family was received from the heraldic office, 25 Cranbourne street, London, and was given the family for services rendered in the Crusades. The motto is: "Omne bonum desuper."
John Howard Sharp entered the classical school of that distinguished educator, William R. Galt, and also attended ilie Norfolk Mili- tary Academy. He finished his educational career at the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington. The war of 1861 found him en- gaged in commercial pursuits, but he was one of the charter members of Company F, a mili- tary company raised at Norfolk after the John Brown Raid, and subsequently acquired quite a reputation as Company G. 6th Regiment of Virginia. Mr. Sharp went to Craney Island with this company, and subsequently was ap- pointed a lieutenant in the Virginia Army, and ordered to report to Colonel F. H. Smith, at Craney Island. He was placed in charge of the quartermaster's and subsistence department there. Some months later, the Army of Vir- ginia was disbanded, and a commission' as cap- tain in the army of the Confederate States was forwarded to Mr. Sharp, with orders to con- tinue at his post. He declined to accept the commission, and after putting his office in or- der resigned and turned it over to Captain George Chamberlaine. Mr. Sharp then pro- ceeded to Richmond, Virginia, and was one of the charter members of the light artillery com- pany known as Otey's Battery, of Richmond. He followed its fortunes and shared its honors until 1864, when he was detailed to serve as a
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