USA > Virginia > Men of mark in Virginia, ideals of American life; a collection of biographies of the leading men in the state, Volume III > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
265
POLK MILLER
November 29, 1871, he was married to Maude Lee Withers, and there have been born of this union three children, all of whom are now (1906) living.
Mr. Miller's address is Richmond, Virginia.
FRANK CARLETON MOON
M OON, FRANK CARLETON, lawyer, was born near Scottsville, in Albemarle county, Virginia, August 10, 1860. His father was John Schuyler Moon, a lawyer by profession; and his mother was Elizabeth Tompkins.
The Moon family is said to have sprung from a colonial settler of that name in Isle of Wight county, Virginia, who came from England. Woods, in his " History of Albemarle County," says that " two brothers, Jacob and William, settled in the county in early times. *
* William bought a thousand acres from Hardin Burnley on the lower Hardware. When this purchase was made is not known, but the fact is stated in a conveyance of part of the land made by Moon to John Lewis in 1760. He died in 1800. His wife's name was Elizabeth." Among the children of this William Moon was a second William, who married Charlotte Digges, of Nelson county, Virginia. A son of the second William was John Digges Moon, who married Mary E. Barclay. He died in 1869. One of his sons was J. Schuyler Moon, who was the father of Frank Carleton Moon.
Mr. Moon's early life was passed in the country; and he frequently performed manual labor on his father's farm, although he was not required to do so. His earlier education was received from tutors at home; but upon the death of his father, when the son was about sixteen years of age, he went regularly to work on the farm for the purpose of making money in order to . continue his education. By this means he went for one session to Bethel academy in Fauquier county, where he studied law, leaving the school in 1879. He afterwards became a law student in a lawyer's office; and in 1880 opened an office of his own and began the practice of his profession at Scottsville, where he has been quite successful. In 1894, he opened a branch office at Lynchburg, where he spends a part of his time and has con- siderable practice.
Mr. Moon is a Democrat in politics, and has never found cause to change his allegiance either to party principles or can-
Men of Mark Publishing Co Washington, D. C.
7. C. Moon
269
FRANK CARLETON MOON
didates. He was the nominee of the Democratic party as state senator from the eighteenth senatorial district of Virginia in 1902. He was elected and served out his term.
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is affiliated with the Scottsville lodge of Masons. He is also a member of the James River lodge of Odd Fellows at Lynchburg, Virginia. His religious affiliation is with the Baptist church, of which he is an active member.
He finds his chief amusement and relaxation in gardening and fruit-raising, in which pursuits he is greatly interested.
Mr. Moon has never married.
His address is Scottsville, Albemarle County, Virginia.
JOHN BARCLAY MOON
M OON, JOHN BARCLAY, lawyer, was born in Albe- marle county, Virginia, July 20, 1849. His father was Robert Barclay Moon, who was a civil engineer, sur- veyor and farmer; and his mother's maiden name was Mary Massie, he being their only child.
The first member of the Moon family in Virginia is said to have been Johr Moon, master of a vessel trading between the Colony and England, who settled in Isle of Wight county and was a member of the Colonial house of burgesses. Mr. Moon's first ancestor in Albemarle county was Jacob Moon, who settled at an early date on the Hardware river, Albemarle, where he owned a large tract of land and was paymaster of the 19th Virginia regiment during the Revolutionary war. His wife was Mildred Cobbs. He had a son, William Moon, who married Charlotte, daughter of John Digges, of Nelson county. Their oldest son was John Digges Moon, who was a magistrate of Albemarle county, and died in 1863. He married Mary E. Bar- clay. His son, Robert Barclay Moon, was the father of John B. Moon, and died in 1891.
On his mother's side Mr. Moon is descended from the Massies, the earliest one of whom in Albemarle county was Charles Massie. His home was in the southwest part of the county on Lynch's creek, where he owned a plantation known as " Spring Valley," which he purchased in 1768. A son of his was Charles Massie, who had several children, and among them Nathaniel Massie, who moved to Augusta county, and was a successful merchant there in the village of Waynesboro. Nathaniel Massie's first wife was Susan Woods; and they were the parents of Mary Massie, who married Robert Barclay Moon, and was the mother of John B. Moon.
Mr. Moon's youth was spent in the country, where he worked for two years on his father's farm-an experience which con- duced to his physical health and development. He attended the preparatory school of Mr. D. P. Powers, near Scottsville, and at
- San 3d Mark Publishing Washington, D.C.
John B. Morn
273
JOHN BARCLAY MOON
an early age entered Washington college, now Washington and Lee university, at Lexington, Virginia, where he was a student from 1863 to 1868. After leaving college, he worked and studied for two years in a lawyer's office; in 1871 he commenced the active work of life as a lawyer in Charlottesville, where he has continued to practice his profession with marked distinction and success up to the present time.
Mr. Moon is one of the most widely known and prominent men of his generation in the public life of Virginia; and has rendered conspicuous public service as a legislator. He has represented his county in the Virginia house of delegates for three terms, having been elected in 1881, in 1883, and in 1893; and during his service in the general assembly he has occupied the important positions of chairman of the Finance committee and the Railroads committee of the house. He was the com- missioner for Virginia to settle the direct tax with the United States government refunded to Virginia in 1892-1893; and he has been since 1895 to the present time (1906), chairman of the commission for the settlement of the debt of the original state of Virginia with the state of Virginia, a question involving the liability of West Virginia that was contracted prior to the erection of West Virginia into an independent commonwealth.
Mr. Moon is a Democrat, who has never changed his political allegiance, and who has been active in his service to democracy, and prominent in the councils and management of his party. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and has served as master of the two lodges with which he has been affiliated, namely, the lodge at Scottsville, and that at Charlottesville. He is also a member of the Elks' organization. He was also chairman of the board of supervisors of Albemarle county for ten or twelve years. He has been for a number of years chair- man of the county Democratic committee.
On March 20, 1878, Mr. Moon married Miss Marion Gordon Dabney, a daughter of Mr. William S. Dabney, of " Dunlora," Albemarle county, who was distinguished for his ability and character in the management both of his own affairs and matters of public concern which were entrusted to him by his fellow- citizens. Mr. Dabney's wife, the mother of Mrs. Moon, was Miss Vol. 3-Va .- 13
274
JOHN BARCLAY MOON
Susan Fitzhugh Gordon, who was of the prominent family of that name founded in Virginia by the two brothers Samuel and Basil Gordon, of Lochdougan in Kirkcudbrightshire, Galloway, Scotland. Two of Mrs. Moon's brothers were Professor William Cecil Dabney, of the medical department of the University of Virginia, and Professor Walker Davis Dabney, of the law department of the same institution of learning, both of whom are now deceased.
Of the marriage of Mr. Moon and Miss Marion Gordon Dabney have been born eight children, seven of whom are now (1906) living.
Mr. Moon resides in Albemarle county; and his address is Number 36 Court Square, Charlottesville, Virginia.
SAMUEL JOHNSTON CRAMER MOORE
M OORE, SAMUEL JOHNSTON CRAMER, lawyer and soldier, was born June 29, 1826, in Charlestown, Jeffer- son county, Virginia (now West Virginia). His father, Thomas Alexander Moore, lawyer, deputy clerk of Jefferson county court fifteen years and clerk of same forty-nine years, until his death, in 1889, was noted for wit, activity, industry and fondness for social life. His mother, Jane T. (Cramer) Moore, died when he was very young; his stepmother, Myra (Likens) Moore, a devoutly pious woman of high character, was a strong and lasting influence in the formation of his character. His an- cestry is English and Irish. The family was founded in America, on the paternal side, by his great-grandfather, Harry Moore, from England, who settled, about 1750, in Prince George county, Mary- land, but soon removed to Alexandria, Virginia, where he reared a family, and on the maternal side, by his grandfather, Am- brose Cramer, from Belfast, Ireland, who married Miss Johnston of Belfast, and settled in Frederick county, Virginia, in 1800.
He was raised in his birthplace; was healthy, strong and active, fond of country life and especially of athletic sports; his tasks as a boy were gardening, and outdoor household chores; and he thinks he owes no little of the robust health he has en- joyed during his long life to that early training and work. He was educated at the local academy in Charlestown and at the age of sixteen became deputy clerk of the court, under his father, remaining in the office seven years. While there he became im- bued with the legal atmosphere of the place and determined to become a lawyer. He borrowed books from a friend and read law alone, but to such good purpose that, in 1847, he passed the examination for admission to the bar, and at once began practice, though he remained in the clerk's office until 1849. Early in the fifties he removed to Clarke county, Virginia, where he has been very successful in his profession for more than half a century. Looking back over his long career, he said: "I have accom- plished more than I had hoped to do, considering the disadvant- ages under which I have labored and the obstacles I have had to overcome."
276
SAMUEL JOHNSTON CRAMER MOORE
His Civil war record was exceptionally brilliant. He entered the Confederate service, April 18, 1861, as first lieutenant, in the 2nd Virginia regiment of infantry, of the famous "Stonewall Brigade; " and on November 1, 1861, was promoted captain for meritorious conduct; later to assistant inspector-general of the second corps, and finally to adjutant-general of the Valley army, in which position he served until April 9, 1865, a day ever memor- able in the history of the country.
He was commissioner in chancery for Clarke county from 1857 to 1861; in 1870 was appointed commonwealth's attorney to fill a vacancy, and declined to be a candidate for the office at the following election. From January 1, 1898, until February 1, 1904, when under the new state constitution the county courts went out of existence, he was judge of the Clarke county court; and since April 14, 1904, he has been bail commissioner for the county. In all of these responsible positions, as well as in his private practice, he has measured up to the requirements, both as man and as lawyer, and no man in his county enjoys or deserves to enjoy the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens to a greater extent. With favoring conditions he might have been a great author, as he had always had a leaning toward literature and has written much, but has only published a little of his work in newspapers. The three most potent influences in his career have been, home, private study, and contact with men in active life. His advice to the young is: " Be truthful and honest; use method in all undertakings; be diligently persevering in your calling and, above all, remember that from God no secrets are hid."
He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and a Mason. In politics he was a Whig until 1856, when he voted for Buchanan and has since been a Democrat. He is fond of music and of a good theatrical performance; for ordinary indoor relaxation he enjoys chess and light literature; and for outdoor exercise or recreation he prefers horseback riding, walking and gardening.
On December 12, 1850, he married Eleanor G. Scollay, and on February 16, 1858, Ellen Kownslar; seventeen children have
1
277
SAMUEL JOHNSTON CRAMER MOORE
been born to them, three by first and fourteen by second marriage, seven of whom, one by first and six by second marriage, are now (1906) living.
His address is Berryville, Clarke County, Virginia.
HAYNES LAWRENCE MORGAN
M ORGAN, HAYNES LAWRENCE, cattle-raiser and legislator, was born at Marion, Smyth county, Vir- ginia, May 28, 1866. His father was Vincent Shelton Morgan, cattle-feeder and grazier, who held the office of sheriff of Smyth county, and who represented that county in the Vir- ginia house of delegates; and his mother's maiden name was Mary Jane Blessing.
Mr. Morgan comes of distinguished lineage, being a great- grandson of the famous Revolutionary patriot and soldier, Colonel Haynes Morgan. He was reared in the country and in a country village, and worked as a youth upon the farm-an experience which he believes to have been of greater benefit to him in his subsequent career than any other of his youth. He obtained his earlier education at the Marion high school, from which he went to Emory and Henry college, Emory, Virginia, and later to the University of Virginia. He studied law in the law department of the last named institution during the sessions of 1888-1889 and 1889-1890. After leaving the univer- sity, he practiced law for a period of three years, but, owing to his father's death, abandoned that profession, and took charge of a large landed estate inherited from him, upon which he has been highly successful in breeding and feeding cattle.
Mr. Morgan is a Democrat in his political creed and asso- ciation, from which he has never varied, and has held prominent positions in his party. He was a member of the house of dele- gates from Smyth county for the session of 1895-1896, and declined a renomination for that office. Since 1903 he has been a member of the general board of state hospitals.
Mr. Morgan is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon college fraternity; and of the Masonic order, in which organization he has taken the Blue Lodge, Chapter, and Knight Templar degrees. Though not a member of any church, his religious preference is for the Missionary Baptist denomination.
On September 20, 1893, Mr. Morgan was married to Mary
War Nock Publishing Co Mington, I. C
yours Very Truly Haynes L. morgan
281
HAYNES LAWRENCE MORGAN
R. Gwyn, of Smyth county, Virginia. They have three children living in 1906.
His address is Saltville, R. F. D. Number 1, Smyth County, Virginia.
GEORGE WATTS MORRIS
M ORRIS, GEORGE WATTS, was born in New York city, December 13, 1857, and his parents were George Washington Morris and Alice Matilda Watts, of Roanoke county, Virginia. His father was a doctor and rice planter of South Carolina, who died at the early age of twenty- seven years, just before the birth of the subject of this sketch. George Watts Morris came of very distinguished ancestry, and was descended from Lewis Morris, who emigrated with his brother, Richard, from Monmouthshire, England, in 1674, and settled in Westchester county, New York, at Morrisania. Among the distinguished members of the family, may be mentioned Lewis Morris, appointed first governor of New Jersey; his son, Lewis Morris, judge of the high court of admiralty and one of the judges of oyer and terminer of New York, who died in 1762; and his son, Lewis, one of the signers of the Declaration of Indepen- dence. The last was half brother of the celebrated Gouverneur Morris. His mother's family, the Wattses, removed to South- west Virginia from Elizabeth City county, where they had been settled for many generations.
Mr Morris grew up under the influence of his mother, which was particularly strong on his moral, spiritual and intellectual life. He was a strong healthy boy, fond of all outdoor and boyish sports. About six years after the death of his father, his mother married Judge W. J. Robertson, the eminent lawyer of Albemarle county, Virginia, and since that time his home has been in Charlottesville, where his stepfather resided. He was reared in comfortable surroundings, always enjoyed physical exercise, and was not, more than the average boy, averse to study. Of general reading he was very fond, and he " dipped " into a little of everything. He loved to read novels which con- tained action; stories of adventure, of battle, and travel were especially interesting to him.
He attended the excellent preparatory school in Charlottes- ville of Major Horace W. Jones, and in 1874 entered the
1
283
GEORGE WATTS MORRIS
academic department of the University of Virginia. He remained at his studies in this department three years; and, though he took no degree, graduated in several of the university schools. As his stepfather, Judge Robertson, was one of the great lights of the law, ambition to follow him probably led Mr. Morris to enter the legal profession. At the session beginning in October, 1878, Mr. Morris attended the celebrated law school of the university, conducted by John B. Minor and Stephen O. Southall, and after two years received the degree of Bachelor of Law. Since that time the principal business of Mr. Morris has been that of a lawyer. He is now known as Judge Morris, as he was elected judge of the corporation court of Charlottesville in 1901, and still holds that office. In the celebrated murder case of Commonwealth versus McCue, Judge Morris won great repu- tation for the high powers of intellect which he displayed. His unerring mind enabled him to solve successfully all the com- plicated questions which arose in the course of the trial, and he was sustained by the supreme court on every point. For eight years Judge Morris served as state senator for the Albemarle district, and was an active and efficient member of the general assembly. Among the bills with which he was prominently connected was one to rebuild the University of Virginia after the fire of October 27, 1895, and another to enlarge the state peniten- tiary, whose crowded condition imposed great hardships upon the inmates confined. Judge Morris was a patron of the university bill, and he has lived to see the institution fully restored and take on a nobler and more flourishing life than ever.
Law and politics, however, have not been the only fields in which Judge Morris has attained prominence. He was for five years a member of the Monticello guards, and at the time of the Spanish American war was elected captain of a company organized for the war, though the company was not actually called out. Judge Morris is a man of great dignity and rather reserved and distant in his manners, but he is, nevertheless, of exceedingly sociable nature. At the University of Virginia he became a member of a Greek letter fraternity called the Alpha Tau Omega and of the Eli Banana social fraternity, and since that time he has been a member of the local club called "The
284
GEORGE WATTS MORRIS
Red Sand Club." He is fond of taking long walks, of horseback riding, of playing billiards and hunting game. He has always enjoyed athletics, and at school and college played baseball and " rowed some," but in those days there were no modern systems of physical culture.
In politics Judge Morris has been a loyal member of the Democratic party, and has supported the nominees at all times. He is not a church member, but prefers the doctrines and ritual of the Episcopal church. Speaking of failures in life he says that " his own experience has taught him that they are largely due to the over-indulgence of parents, who should assist their children, but never do everything for them. A boy who is educated wholly at the expense of others seldom appreciates the opportunities which are afforded him." From his own observa- tion the lesson to be impressed upon the young man is to cultivate a high and delicate sense of honor, and an appreciation of, and the ability to see, the rights of others. The young men should be taught an early knowledge of the value of memory, and be trained in an ability to look facts in the face independent of the personal equations.
Judge Morris has never married.
His address is Charlottesville, Virginia.
Men of Mark Publishing Company
Washington D C
JOHN MURPHY
M URPHY, JOHN, capitalist was born in County Cork, Ireland, February 15, 1842, being the son of Peter and Margaret Murphy. From his father, who was an enterprising and successful contractor, he inherits, no doubt, much of the power of initiative and the indomitable will and energy which he has exhibited in carrying through to a successful culmination the great enterprises that won for him the respect and the admiration of the business world.
When the Civil war broke out, John Murphy had not turned his twentieth year, but the martial spirit of the day stirred him, the cause of the Confederacy appealed to him, and in April, 1861, he was marching to the front with the 15th regi- ment of Virginia volunteers, having enlisted for one year. The following year he reënlisted, but this time chose the artillery branch of the service, joining Letcher's battery of the famous Pegram battalion. He was slightly wounded at Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862, but it was not until he reached Warrenton Springs, two months later in the campaign, that he was dangerously hurt, receiving a wound that he carries to this day. From the artillery he went to the cavalry, joining Morgan's command at Wytheville, Virginia. He had been in action in all of the three branches of the Confederate army, when he was captured at Dublin, Virginia, and sent to Camp Chase, Ohio. There he was held prisoner until the close of the war. When he received his discharge, he left the prison, to learn that his home in Virginia was swept away, having been in the path laid waste by the storm of fire and sword following the evacuation of the capital of the Confederacy.
The great West was at that time the Mecca of young men with enterprise and stout hearts, and Colonel Murphy was attracted to it. Like many other soldiers of the Confederacy, he was glad to accept the first employment that offered, which was in the service of Holladay and Carlisle, who owned and operated a line of stage coaches that formed the Overland express from Missouri to California. He was with his employers only a few
288
JOHN MURPHY
months when he was offered the general management of the supply train system at a salary which was considered handsome in those days; but his heart had never left his adopted home city of Richmond, and the year 1866 found him back there struggling for fortune in a city just rising from its ruins. In 1872 he was in a position to establish himself in business, and his first venture was on the site now occupied by the hotel that bears his name. In 1886, he built Murphy's hotel, a structure boasting only thirty rooms and from time to time the building has been enlarged, remodeled, and improved until it has expanded to what it is to-day, the largest and most widely known hotel in Virginia. Colonel Murphy's success has been phenomenal, and he now finds it necessary to build an annex of 100 rooms, to meet the growing demand of the traveling public.
Colonel Murphy has been identified for more than a quarter of a century with every movement for the advancement of Rich- mond and its business interests. His name is prominently asso- ciated with a score of commercial, social, patriotic, civic and military organizations of that city and of the state.
While devoted to the Confederate veteran cause, Colonel Murphy is almost as well known among the Grand Army force, and in recent years has been a guest of honor at various celebra- tions conducted under the Grand Army organization north of the Mason and Dixon line.
In 1890 Colonel Murphy was made a director of the Virginia State Agricultural society, and for two years filled the office of vice-president. In 1898, Governor J. Hoge Tyler appointed him a member of the board of directors of the Virginia penitentiary. In 1886, his comrades of the " Lost Cause " chose him for com- mander of R. E. Lee Camp Confederate veterans, the principal veteran organization of the state. He was for eight years presi- dent of the Richmond Whist club, was for eighteen years a member of the board of directors of Lee Camp Soldiers' Home. He has been a director of the Broad Street bank since that financial institution was founded in 1902. Despite the multi- plicity of his business interests, he is an active member of numerous social and fraternal organizations.
In politics Colonel Murphy has always been a staunch
289
JOHN MURPHY
Democrat; in religious preference, he is a Roman Catholic. As with all men who have attained marked success, his counsel is often sought and his advice solicited. He evinces at all times a keen interest in the welfare of the young men of his community. The favorite maxims he always lays down for their guidance are: "First, let intoxicating liquors severely alone; second, avoid speculation; third, own your own homes."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.