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 21
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Soon after his location in Richmond to engage in private practice, he became one of the chiefs in the City dispensary, an institution fostered by the Medical college of Virginia ; and later he held the position of lecturer on materia medica and therapeu- tics, and assistant in surgery and obstetrics in the summer school
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CHRISTOPHER TOMPKINS
of the Medical college of Virginia. In 1880, he was elected professor of anatomy in the Medical college of Virginia, from which chair he was transferred to that of obstetrics in 1884. This position he filled wish distinction and success until 1899, when he was elected emeritus-professor of obstetrics. In 1893, he was honored by his colleagues in the Medical college of Vir- ginia by being elected dean of the college. For two years he was physician to the Richmond smallpox hospital, and for several years he served as surgeon of the 4th battalion of artillery in the Virginia militia, with the rank of major.
Dr. Tompkins has written on medical subjects, and is one of the ex-trustees, and a member of the staff in the obstetrical department of the Memorial hospital at Richmond. He is one of the founders, and an honorary member, of the Medical society of Virginia, and an ex-member of the judicial council of the American Medical association. For some time he acted as deputy coroner of the city of Richmond, and he was for many years secretary and treasurer of the old Richmond Academy of Medi- cine. In 1901, he was elected first vice-president of the Southern Surgical and Gynecological association, and has been signally honored in his election for six consecutive terms as president of the Southern Medical college association.
Dr. Tompkins now (1906) holds the position of state referee of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance company, of Newark, New Jersey.
Dr. Tompkins has been described as " a devoted and loving husband and father, a true, sincere and kind friend, a high- minded Christian gentleman, and the soul of honor."
The esteem in which he is held in the community in which he has spent his life and done his work, is evinced in the honors that have been conferred upon him and on his successful achieve- ments in his profession.
Dr. Tompkins is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Protestant Episcopal church.
He married November 1, 1877, Bessie McCaw. They have had eight children, six of whom now survive.
Dr. Tompkins's address is Richmond, Virginia.
JOHN RANDOLPH TUCKER, JR.
T UCKER, JOHN RANDOLPH, JR., was born August 13, 1857, and his parents were Dr. David Hunter Tucker and Elizabeth Dallas. Mr. Tucker's ancestry on both the paternal and maternal sides is very distinguished. The Tucker family was originally from the grand old county of Kent, in England, and two of the family were prominently identified with the settlement of the Virginia colony. These were Daniel and George Tucker, sons of George Tucker, of Milton, in Kent. The first of these, Daniel Tucker, sailed for North Virginia with Challons, in 1606, was a leading man at Jamestown from 1608 to 1613, was governor of the Bermuda Islands from 1616 to 1618, and died at Port Royal, February 10, 1625. The other, George · Tucker, elder brother of Daniel, was a member of the London company and had an interest in land in Bermuda as well. His son George, born in 1594, emigrated from England to Bermuda in the Civil wars between the king and parliament, and died about 1648, leaving George Tucker, eldest son, who married Frances, daughter of Henry St. George, knight of the garter, and principal king of arms. Their son was St. George Tucker, who was born in Bermuda, was member of the council there, and died in 1717. By his wife, Jane Hubbard, he had Henry, also of the council of Bermuda, born in 1683 and died December 14, 1734. He married Frances, daughter of John Tudor, of New York, and their son, Colonel Henry Tucker, was secretary of state for Bermuda. By Nancy Butterfield, his wife, he had Colonel St. George Tucker, of Williamsburg, Virginia, who married Frances Bland, widow of John Randolph and mother of John Randolph of Roanoke. They were parents of Henry St. George Tucker, president of the court of appeals of Virginia, who mar- ried Anne Evelina Hunter and had issue, among other sons, Dr. David Tucker, an eminent physician of Richmond, and father of the subject of this sketch. On his mother's side Mr. Tucker is the grandson of George M. Dallas, who was born in Pennsyl- vania, was senator of the United States for many years, and was
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JOHN RANDOLPH TUCKER, JR.
vice-president from 1845 to 1849. Mr. Tucker's early life was spent in Richmond, where he grew up with good health, and under excellent home influences. Nevertheless, as the family had lost nearly all their property by the war, the death of Dr. Tucker. which happened soon after, rendered the support and education of his children no easy matter for the widow. Young Tucker had the benefit of a refined social circle and attended several schools in Richmond, among which was a school conducted by his sister and the excellent academy of J. P. McGuire.
At seventeen years the necessities of the family required him to stop school and go to hard work, first in a cotton factory in Manchester, and then on the Richmond and Danville railroad. Some years later he attended Washington and Lee university, and in 1881-1882 went to the University of Virginia, and took a course of law under John B. Minor. Not long after, he began the prac- tice of the law in Richmond, where he remained for several years, and then moved to Bedford county, Virginia. While a resident there he was, in 1898, elected by the legislature of Virginia judge of the circuit court and continued in that honorable office till by the reorganization of the circuits by the Constitutional conven- tion of 1901-02, he lost his position, and returned again to the practice of the law, in which he is still engaged in Bedford county.
Judge Tucker has a fine legal mind, which he has much improved by the extensive study of the Bible, Bacon's works, and books on government and law. His mother's influence was particularly strong on his moral and spiritual life, and to talents inherited from his distinguished ancestors he adds a dignified bearing and a courteous and affable manner, which are especially pleasing and attractive. He is a man singularly free from egotism or conceit, and is frank enough to say that " all he has failed to accomplish is due most to failure to work;" from which he draws this advice to young men beginning the struggle of life : "Aim high and let industry and honest methods guide you in your profession or work. Fear God and obey his commandments, and love your fellow man in sincerity and truth." No words could be wiser, and no advice could be better expressed.
In politics Judge Tucker is a member of the Democratic
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JOHN RANDOLPH TUCKER, JR.
party, which he has served well for many years with his eloquence from the stump. In his religious affiliations he is a member of the Protesant Episcopal church. He is also a member of a num- ber of social orders, such as the Beta Theta Pi, and order of Elks. He has never married.
His address is Bedford City, Virginia.
ROBERT POORE VALENTINE
V ALENTINE, ROBERT POORE, merchant and manu- facturer, was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, Febru- ary 22, 1852. His father was Thomas J. Valentine, a merchant of Charlottesville, who was also connected at one time with one of the local banks; and who was greatly esteemed for his integrity and high sense of honor and for his amiable char- acter and disposition. He was a descendant of David Valentine, a citizen of King William county, Virginia, in the days of the colony. Mr. R. P. Valentine's mother was Virginia Green Poore; and was a daughter of Major Robert Poore, and his wife Anne Banzers Poore, of Richmond, Virginia.
Mr. Valentine's mother died when he was a small boy; and during his childhood and youth he was trained by a de- voted aunt, Mrs. R. B. Cleland, who bestowed upon him a degree of care and affection which was but little less than maternal. He acquired a primary and academical education in the schools of Charlottesville, where, although not especially inclined to study, he illustrated even in his early years the fidelity to duty and the characteristic energy and determination which have since contributed so largely to his success in life.
Like many other Virginians of his era, Mr. Valentine's father found himself, at the close of the War between the States, practically bereft of his former possessions; and the son, with a laudable desire to aid his father in caring for his family, at the age of sixteen years began the active business of life as a clerk in a retail store in Charlottesville, a position whose duties he discharged assiduously and faithfully for three years. In 1872, he engaged in business on his own account, and by the same energy and fidelity in its pursuit, he soon achieved a suc- cess which has since continued to characterize his business career.
In 1876, he extended the field of his activities by entering the journalistic arena as business manager of the " Jeffersonian," an influential weekly newspaper of Charlottesville; and in 1887 he inaugurated and carried into successful operation, in the face
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ROBERT POORE VALENTINE
of adverse prophecy, an enterprise in the shape of a local street railway, which has proved to be of great convenience and importance. In 1894, Mr. Valentine sold his franchise in the street railway; and while still continuing his large wholesale wood, coal and lumber business, has since been also interested in a number of important enterprises. He was one of the organ- izers of the electric lighting system now operated in Charlottes- ville; and he is the vice-president of the Charlottesville Woolen Mills, which is an old-established and highly successful local manufacturing plant; and of the H. C. Marchant Manufactur- ing company.
Among other enterprises of a business character which the resourcefulness and energy of Mr. Valentine have established in his home city may be mentioned the Southern Business col- lege of that place, which he organized some years ago.
It is generally conceded by those who are familiar with his career that his native city of Charlottesville owes no small measure of its progress and prosperity to the sound judgment, the restless energy, and the fine business capacity of Mr. Valen- tine, who has devoted these qualities unstintingly to the uses of the public no less than to his own personal interests. A con- spicuous illustration of his public spirit was his organization, years ago, of the Charlottesville Improvement company, whose membership included many of the leading business men of the place, and whose work under Mr. Valentine's presidency ac- complished much in the direction of advancing the material de- velopment of the city.
Mr. Valentine is a Democrat in his political affiliations. He is an elder of the Presbyterian church, and takes an active inter- est in its work. He is also prominently identified with the Char- lottesville Young Men's Christian association, of which he has been president for two years.
He married Ida M. Payne, a daughter of William and Anne Payne of Fluvanna county, Virginia, and a granddaughter of Colonel James Payne, who served with distinction in the War of 1812 with Great Britain, and was for several years a delegate from his county to the general assembly of Virginia. The children of their marriage have been five in number, of whom four are now (1906) living.
His address is Charlottesville, Virginia.
GEORGE KEESEE VANDERSLICE
V ANDERSLICE, GEORGE KEESEE, physician and surgeon, was born at Malvern Hill, in Henrico county, Virginia, November 12, 1870. His father was the Rever- end (eorge Curtis Vanderslice, D. D., a distinguished minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and a man of indomi- table energy and great unselfishness. His mother was Nannie Sue Pettitt.
Dr. Vanderslice's emigrant ancestor in the paternal line to America is believed to have been Rhinehart Van der Sluys, who came to the colony of Pennsylvania in 1692, from Dortrecht, in Holland.
Dr. Vanderslice spent his boyhood and youth in city and country. He possessed excellent health, and was strong and active, with an early developed taste for reading and writing. During his life in the country, he worked on the farm in summer, doing the set tasks that were required of him, and gaining from this experience a knowledge of the value of labor both to body and mind.
His primary education was acquired in the public schools; and later he attended the famous University school which was conducted for many years in Petersburg, Virginia, by Captain W. Gordon McCabe. His classical and mathematical education ended at McCabe's, for lack of means and through the necessity which he felt of acquiring as soon as possible a profession, and of beginning the active work of life. In 1889 he entered the medi- cal department of the University of Virginia, from which he was graduated, after remaining three sessions, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1892. During the following year he served as a resident interne in St. Vincent's hospital at Norfolk, Vir- ginia ; and in August, 1893, he opened an office and began the practice of his profession at Phoebus, Virginia.
He has served as surgeon to the Dixie hospital at Hampton, Virginia, and has been coroner of Elizabeth City county since 1903. He was the president of the Elizabeth City County Medi-
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GEORGE KEESEE VANDERSLICE
cal society for two terms, during 1900-1901 and 1904-1905; and has been a member of the county board of health since 1897.
Dr. Vanderslice is a director in the Bank of Phoebus, and a member of the executive committee of the bank. He is a mem- ber of the Phi Theta Psi college fraternity, of the Elizabeth City Medical society, of the Seaboard Medical society, of the American Medical association, and of the University of Virginia Alumni association of Elizabeth City county, of which last named body he is the president.
He is a Democrat, and was opposed to the free-silver plank in the Democratic platform in recent presidential elections. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
Dr. Vanderslice has always been a diligent reader and stu- dent; and has found his greatest help in those books of essays and history which teach "an earnest untiring search for the truth." He is an advocate of athletics and the gymnasium; but finds his chief relaxation from the labors of his profession in reading, and is especially interested in the history of Virginia and of the United States.
He married December 20, 1899, Annie Ross Phoebus, eldest daughter of the late Harrison Phoebus, of the Hygeia, Old Point Comfort, Virginia; and of their marriage have been born three children, all of whom are now (1906) living.
His address is 116 Mellen Street, Phoebus, Elizabeth City County, Virginia.
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Men ul Mark Publishing Co. Washington, DC.
yours Truly Is & Vincent.
GORDON LINWOOD VINCENT
V INCENT,GORDON LINWOOD, son of John Harvey and Caroline E. Pollitt Vincent, was born September 3, 1867, at Worcester, Maryland. Both his grandfathers were born in America. His father was a farmer noted for his determination of character.
Gordon Vincent was brought up in the country on the farm. Here, in the midst of wholesome surroundings, he lived an out- door active life; naturally, he enjoyed robust physical health, and was trained to work. Until fourteen years of age he attended school in the country three months each year, his school days being thus limited by the need of his services on the farm. His reading was confined largely to the daily papers, of which he was very fond. At the same time he enjoyed excellent home influences, being the son of pious parents and taught by them to choose good companions; fortunately for him he in early life knew no others. Later, he was brought into association with good, active business men, who have aided him materially in acquiring the viewpoint and habits which have contributed to his success.
When twenty-one years of age, Gordon Vincent began work in the log woods at Bosley, Gates county, North Carolina, as a day laborer at the munificent wage of one dollar a day. Notwithstanding this untoward introduction, he imbibed a fondness for the lumber business. For about five years he worked on a salary, but in 1894 he took a contract to cut and deliver on the cars a lot of lumber owned by the Watkins Lumber company, receivers, at Dahlia, Virginia. In 1895, he formed a partnership with W. F. Deal, purchased the entire assets of the receivers, and successfully ran the business under the style of G. L. Vincent and Company. In 1897, he bought out W. L. Davis' sawmill; with his partners he then incorporated his busi- ness and was made president and general manager. Since then, he has been and is still (1906) connected with the following com- panies, in the capacities indicated: Emporia Manufacturing
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GORDON LINWOOD VINCENT
company, vice-president; Truitt-Vincent company, Jarratts, Virginia, vice-president and general manager; Weldon Lumber company, Weldon, North Carolina, vice-president; Flat Rock Lumber company, a corporation whose business is in Lunenburg county, Virginia, but whose principal office is in Emporia, Vir- ginia, president; Greenville Lumber company, with business in Surrey, Sussex and Isle of Wight counties, and offices in Emporia, Virginia, president; James River Railway and Lum- ber company, office in Emporia, Virginia, vice-president; Emporia Machine company, president; Merchants and Farmers bank, Emporia, Virginia, director; Greenville Waterpower com- pany, Emporia, Virginia, director ; Sale and Exchange company, Emporia, Virginia, director; Emporia Cotton mills, stock- holder; Emporia Investment and Realty company, Emporia, Virginia, president.
All the above businesses are now (1906) in existence and in a prosperous condition. Mr. Vincent, however, is always more successful in the lumber than in any other business, this being the occupation in which he is most interested. In addition to the numerous lines above indicated, Mr. Vincent is also inter- ested in milling.
Mr. Vincent was a member of the late constitutional con- vention of Virginia, having been elected from Greenesville and Sussex counties. This is the extent of his political life. In politics he has, through life, been a Democrat; he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. His numerous busi- ness activities he varies at times with hunting and driving.
To the young Mr. Vincent says: " Consecrate your life to God; be honest, regardless of results; make up your mind as to what you prefer to do-at least as to what you feel you can do-then determine to do it; never be contented unless you do this work as well as, or better than, anyone you know who is occupied in a like vocation; and, in the midst of all, never lose sight of the fact that God is the author and giver of all good gifts."
On October 31, 1893, Mr. Vincent married Eugenia Clem- entine Goode. They have had six children, four of whom are now ( 1906) living.
His address is Emporia, Greenesville County, Virginia.
Men at Morh Publishing L'o Washington,D.C
Jos. A. Waddell
JOSEPH ADDISON WADDELL
W ADDELL, JOSEPH ADDISON, LL. D., clerk of the supreme court of appeals of Virginia, at Staunton, and commissioner in chancery, was born in Staunton, Augusta county, Virginia, March 19, 1823. His father was Dr. Addison Waddell, a prominent physician of Staunton, and his mother was Catherine Ann Boys.
The paternal grandfather of Mr. Waddell, was the Rev. James Waddell, D. D., famous in Virginia, and in the Presby terian church in America, as " The Blind Preacher " whose elo- quence is graphically described by William Wirt in “ The British Spy." The parents of the Rev. James Waddell were Thomas and Janet Waddell, who emigrated from County Down, Ireland, in 1739, and, coming to America, settled in eastern Pennsylvania, near the Delaware line. Thomas and Janet Waddell had four children, William, Robert, James, and a daughter Sally. James, the grandfather of Mr. Joseph Addison Waddell, was born on shipboard on the Atlantic ocean, during the voyage of his parents to America, and according to tradition among his descendants, was called by the sailors " the child of the Ship and Star." Wil- liam and Robert Waddell, the elder sons of Thomas Waddell, removed to the western part of Pennsylvania, near the Ohio river, where their descendants remain. James Waddell came to Vir- ginia, where he first taught school in Louisa county, in the family of the Rev. Mr. Todd. Here he had access to a fine library and studied theology. He was licensed as a probationer at the Stone Presbyterian church, in Augusta county, Virginia, April 2, 1761, by the old Presbytery of Hanover. In October, 1762, he accepted a call to the churches of Lancaster and Northumberland counties, in the Northern Neck of Virginia, having been ordained at Prince Edward in June of that year. He remained in the Northern Neck until May, 1776, when he became pastor of the Tinkling Spring church. The latter years of his life were spent on his farm, "Hopewell," in Louisa county, near the Orange and Albe- marle lines, where he died September 17, 1805. During his resi- Vol. 3-Va .- 20
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JOSEPH ADDISON WADDELL
dence in Lancaster, the Rev. James Waddell married Mary Gordon, daughter of Colonel James Gordon, of that county, who was a prominent merchant and planter, and his wife Mary Harrison, a daughter of Nathaniel Harrison, of Surry county, Virginia. Colonel James Gordon was of the family of Gordon, of " Sheepbridge," in the barony of Newry, County of Down, Ireland, seated there since 1692.
Mr. Joseph Addison Waddell's father, Dr. Addison Waddell, was born at "Hopewell," in Louisa county, on April 19, 1785. He was educated at Hampden-Sidney college, Virginia; grad- uated in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadel- phia; located in Staunton, for the practice of his profession, in 1809; and married Catherine Ann Boys in 1813. Dr. Addison Waddell had four brothers, Nathaniel, James Gordon, Lyttleton, and Harrington ; and five sisters, Mary, Elizabeth, Jannetta, Ann and Sarah. He died in Staunton in 1855. The children of his marriage with Catherine Ann Boys were Mary Ann, Cornelia, James Alexander, John Lyttleton, Joseph Addison, Nathaniel Sylvester, Catherine, and Legh Richmond.
In his maternal line, Mr. Waddell is descended from Captain Nathan Boys, of the Pennsylvania navy in 1775, who was city commissioner of Philadelphia from 1793 to 1797, and at one time represented Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania legislature. His only son, John Boys, who was born at Chester, on the Delaware river, came to Staunton in 1789, and embarked in the mercantile business. He married January 18, 1790, Anna St. Clair, daughter of Alexander St. Clair; and their daughter, Catherine Ann Boys, was the wife of Dr. Addison Waddell and mother of Mr. Joseph Addison Waddell. John Boys died November 20, 1798, in Philadelphia, of yellow fever. Through his mother, Mr. Waddell is descended from Alexander Breckinridge and Robert McClanahan, pioneer settlers of the Shenandoah Valley, from the north of Ireland, in the first half of the eighteenth century.
Mr. Joseph Addison Waddell's early life was spent in Staunton, then a country village, where he grew up with a healthy boy's fondness for physical exercise, and a hearty love of reading. He avers of himself at that period of his life, that he " hated to study," and " often worked voluntarily on his father's
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farm." The favorite line of his reading has always been in the direction of history; and he did not inherit from his father the latter's devotion to metaphysical study.
His early education was acquired at the Staunton academy. Later he spent one session at Washington college, now Washing- ton and Lee university, at Lexington, Virginia; and afterwards attended the University of Virginia. He then studied law in the law school of the late Judge Lucas P. Thompson, in Staunton ; and began the active work of life as a practicing attorney in his native town. He continued the practice of law for several years; but it was not to his taste, and he became interested in the pub- lication of a newspaper, " The Staunton Spectator," of which he was co-editor and co-proprietor for nearly twelve years, up to 1860. He was then appointed by Judge Thompson, who was then the circuit court judge of Augusta county, to the office of commissioner in chancery of his court. This position he has filled continuously to the present time; and it is probable that few commissioners in Virginia have occupied the office for so long a period, or made as many reports as has Mr. Waddell. He has also been for many years the commissioner of accounts of Augusta county. Soon after the close of the War between the States, he was elected clerk of the supreme court of appeals of Virginia, at Staunton, and has occupied that position contin- uously to the present day, save for an interval during the incumbency of what is known in Virginia as " the Readjuster Court."
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