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 6
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At the appointed hour, the combatants with their respective friends met in a little old barren field, surrounded by a dense pine forest. Belo and Cussons, having never met before, were intro- duced on the field, shook hands cordially, and entered into free and easy conversation about the latest war news, while the seconds were arranging the ground. Neither then nor after- wards was the faintest spark of personal animosity displayed.
Colonel Goldsby was second to Cussons, and Captain Townes to Belo. The " word " fell to Goldsby. Two shots were ex- changed without "satisfaction " to either combatant, and the guns were reloaded for a third fire, when a truce was called for by their friends and an amicable settlement agreed to. It was found that Belo had escaped with a ball through his shoulder, and that Cussons was unhurt. Cussons then accompanied Colonel Belo to his ambulance, where they exchanged a courteous and what proved to be a final adieu, for they never met again. Upon the death of Colonel Belo, who for a long period edited the Galveston " News," the captain contributed a magnificent floral offering to the bier of his former antagonist.
After the war, Captain Cussons settled in Virginia, and devoted himself to the improvement and beautifying of his splendid estate of about a thousand acres at Glen Allen, to which he has given the name of " Forest Lodge." Here he has led an ideal rural life, by opening roadways through the forest, making artificial lakes, and stocking a spacious deer park. Although his days of strenuous action are over, he is still vigorous in defence of the principles and the sentiments which dominated his earlier years. In this splendid retreat, much of his time has been given
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to the literary work which recounts his own experiences in attrac- tive form, and sheds a non-partisan light on various critical periods of our history. His "Glance at History," " United States History," "Passage of Thoroughfare Gap," and "Jack Sterry, the Jessie Scout," have elicited warm words of commenda- tion from the reviewers. His articles and addresses on Indian life and character are full of information at first hand, and are somewhat startling to those who have regarded the Red Man only as a savage and a public enemy. Captain Cussons is past grand commander of the Confederate Veterans of Virginia, and ex-chairman of the history committee.
" Colonel John Cussons," says Senator John W. Daniel, " was by instinct a Confederate, by adoption a Virginian, and performed rare deeds of 'high emprise.' Colonel and Con- federate veteran; scout, sharpshooter, staff officer, and soldier of the line; a captive who walked coolly out of prison under salute of the guard; a sleuth upon the trail or a leader of the forlorn hope, as occasion suggested; country gentleman, combing the wilderness around him into forms of beauty, with lawns and lakes and deer parks and gardens; author, puncturing the shams and conceits of 'some recent history ' with brilliant, trenchant pen ; man of affairs, creating an enterprise which has found develop- ment on both sides of the Atlantic-John Cussons is a character as solid as he is picturesque, as valiant as he is modest, as full of poetry as he is faithful to fact, and as gentle in manner as he is resolute of purpose.
" Had General Cleburne remained a sergeant in the British army he might have been flung into a trench among the ' unknown dead,' but his genius rose with his opportunities; his splendid achievements bore him from rank to rank, until, leading his hosts upon the ramparts of Franklin he fell, sword in hand, amid the plaudits and the lamentations of an army and a nation.
" Had propitious fortune borne John Cussons to the martial rank for which nature designed him, he, too, would have worn a general's wreath. Mayhap, too, it might have lain-like Cleburne's-upon a soldier's bier. It was only a star he wore, a major's star, in the great battles of Northern Virginia; but that star shone with a radiant light wherever danger challenged or honor wove its imperious spell."
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In 1864, he married Sue Annie Allen, daughter of Mosby Sheppard, and widow of Benjamin Allen. They have had no children.
His address is " Forest Lodge," Glen Allen, Henrico County, Virginia.
JOHN STAIGE DAVIS
D AVIS, JOHN STAIGE, M. A., M. D., professor in the University of Virginia, was born at the University of Virginia, June 24, 1866. His father, Dr. John Staige Davis, was a distinguished lecturer in that institution for nearly half a century, was a man of charming manners and spotless integrity, and was remarkably gifted as a teacher. The wife of John Staige, Sr., and mother of John Staige, Jr., was Caroline Kean Hill, a Virginia woman of that type so famous in tradition and literature. Both parents of Dr. John Staige Davis, Jr., were typical representatives of that beautiful civilization so much ridiculed in some quarters and yet the envy of millions that have never been able to approximate it.
The first American Davis, Andrew, came from Wales to Middlesex county, Virginia, in 1717. About the same time the first American Hill, Humphrey, came from Alveston, England, to King and Queen county, Virginia. One of the most distin- guished of the earlier Virginia Davises was J. A. G. Davis, professor of law in the University of Virginia early in its history.
The subject of this sketch attended private schools in Char- lottesville; thence advanced to the University of Virginia, from which he received the M. A. degree in 1888, and the M. D. degree in 1889. The next three years he spent in post-graduate medical study ; first two at Tulane university and Charity hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana; the third, in Europe, principally at Berlin and Vienna. In 1892, he began the practice of medicine in New Orleans, and served as assistant in the department of nervous diseases and pathology at the Charity hospital. In 1893, he was elected demonstrator of medical biology and pathology in the University of Virginia. In 1894, he was elected adjunct-pro- fessor of pathology and hygiene. In 1900, he was made full professor of pathology and the practice of medicine.
Dr. Davis is a member of the Virginia State Medical society, the American Medical association, and the American Academy of Medicine. He is the author of an " Abstract of General Patho-
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logy," and of various medical papers, especially " Antitoxic Serumtherapy."
In politics, Dr. Davis is a Democrat; in church preference, an Episcopalian.
On December 27, 1893, Dr. Davis married Volumnia Hunley Staples, of Mississippi. They have had three children, all of whom are now (1907) living.
His address is University Station, Charlottesville, Virginia.
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CHARLES WILLIAM DICKINSON
D ICKINSON, CHARLES WILLIAM, county superin- tendent of public schools, was born in Goochland county, Virginia, September 15, 1846. His father was Charles Grandison Dickinson, who was a teacher and farmer, and who filled in his county the offices of justice of the peace and school trustee; and his mother was Sallie Ann Winston.
Mr. Dickinson is of English descent. His paternal grand- father was Charles Dickinson; his maternal grandfather, Smelt Winston.
He grew up and spent his early life in the country. His father was the owner of a number of slaves, and consequently it was not regarded necessary that the son should perform manual labor.
He acquired an elementary education in the local schools; and when a mere boy, at the age of seventeen, entered the Con- federate States army in May, 1864, and remained therein until the close of the War between the States. He was a member of Company I, 6th Virginia cavalry, Payne's brigade, Fitz Lee's division, Army of Northern Virginia, and participated in nine engagements, and had a horse shot under him at Appomattox on April 9, 1865.
Mr. Dickinson returned home from the surrender at Appo- mattox with the determination to obtain an education; and with this end in view, he worked on a farm, raising tobacco for two years. His earnings as a farmer he spent in paying his expenses at school. After studying at Sunnyside academy, he began the active work of life in 1868 as a teacher in Bedford county, Vir- ginia. He followed the career of teaching for seven years. He was professor of mathematics in a female college at Tuskegee, Alabama, from 1869 to 1871, and taught in a boys' school at Meridian, Mississippi, the session of 1871-1872. In 1872, he began the business of a druggist and pharmacist at Cartersville, in Cumberland county, Virginia, in which business he has con- tinued to the present time. Since 1901, he has been superin-
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tendent of public schools for Cumberland county, and since 1905 has held the same official relation to the schools of Goochland county.
Mr. Dickinson is a Baptist, and since 1882 has continuously been the clerk of his local church. He has occupied the office of trustee on the county school board. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and has been worshipful master and treasurer of his home lodge.
He is a Democrat in his political creed and association, and has never varied in his allegiance to his party's principles or organization.
Mr. Dickinson married, September 21, 1877, Mildred Adelaide Kent. They have had four children, all of whom are now (1906) living.
His address is Cartersville, Cumberland County, Virginia.
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WILLIAM LOGAN DUNN
D UNN, WILLIAM LOGAN, physician, was born at Glade Spring, Washington county, Virginia, September 15, 1839. His father was Doctor Samuel Dunn, a country doctor of high standing.
Dr. Dunn's first ancestor in America was William Dunn, a native of County Dublin, Ireland, who came to this country in the early part of the Revolutionary war, reaching Massachusetts in time to take part on the Continental side, in the battle of Bunker Hill. He served later in the American army as a lieu- tenant in Wayne's brigade; and at the close of the war settled in Washington county. Another revolutionary progenitor was Major William Edmiston, who commanded a body of American soldiery at the battle of King's Mountain in 1780, and who was a Marylander by birth.
Dr. Dunn's boyhood was spent in the country. He worked in the field with his father's slaves, and thus acquired habits of industry and self-reliance. He was educated in the "old field schools " of his period, and later attended Emory and Henry college. After leaving the latter institution, he studied medicine at the Jefferson Medical college in Philadelphia in 1859, and at the Richmond Medical college in 1863.
When Virginia seceded and called for troops, Dr. Dunn was one of the first to volunteer-joining what was later Com- pany D, 1st Virginia cavalry, General W. E. Jones's old com- pany, J. E. B. Stuart's old regiment. At the end of his enlisted year, he was, at his own request, exchanged to the medical staff on which he served as assistant surgeon and later as surgeon. The ability and energy which he displayed during the term of his military service won for him high commendation from his commanding officers.
Since the war Dr. Dunn has been a successful and prominent practitioner of his profession, and is well known throughout Southwestern Virginia for his skill and acquirements. Since 1895, he has been local surgeon for the Norfolk and Western
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railroad, and he is an ex-president of the Abingdon, Virginia, Academy of Medicine. He has been a frequent contributor to various medical journals. He is a member of the Virginia Medical society and of the American Medical association. He is also a member of the W. E. Jones Camp and the Mosby Camp of United Confederate veterans, both of which camps he has served as surgeon, and is a past master of the Masonic fraternity.
Dr. Dunn is a Jacksonian Democrat; and in 1896 was largely instrumental in carrying Washington county for McKin- ley for president.
Dr. Dunn's biography has been published in " Sketches of Confederate Military History," and in " Virginia and Vir- ginians;" and reference has been made to his life and work in the Philadelphia " Weekly Times " of May 7, 1881, and in the " American Medical Weekly," of Louisville, Kentucky, of Jan- uary 2, 1895.
On June 25, 1889, Dr. Dunn married Lou Reid.
They reside at Glade Spring, Washington County, Virginia.
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JOSEPH WILLIAM EGGLESTON
E GGLESTON, JOSEPH WILLIAM, dentist, was born in Switzerland county, Indiana, August 12, 1844. His father was Joseph Cary Eggleston of Amelia county, Virginia, a lawyer and graduate of the college of William and Mary in 1829, who settled in Indiana, and died in his thirty- fourth year while a member of the Indiana state senate. His mother was Mary Jane Craig.
Doctor Eggleston's first ancestor on the paternal side in the colony of Virginia was Richard Eggleston of " Old Pow- hatan " near Jamestown, emigrant from England in 1634. Doctor Eggleston's great-grandfather, William Eggleston, mar- ried Judith Cary, and moved from James City county about 1728 to what was then Prince George county, and is now Amelia. His grandfather was Edward Eggleston, born in 1752, who was a lieutenant in the Virginia militia, and was at the battle of Yorktown. He was a presiding magistrate of the old county court of Amelia county in 1830. He married Betsy Booker, a niece of Governor William B. Giles.
Doctor Eggleston's maternal great-grandmother was a sister of Robert Emmet, the Irish patriot, who married a Lowry, and in 1798 emigrated to Southern Indiana; and his mother's father was George Craig, famous as an Indian fighter.
Doctor Eggleston's birthplace was on the Ohio river. As an infant he was carried to Vevay, Indiana, where his father died when he was two years old. When he was five, his mother married the Reverend Williamson Terrell, D. D., after which he lived in New Albany, Vevay and Madison, Indiana, successively. In 1857 his mother died; and he came to Virginia, and made his home with his uncle, Edward W. Eggleston, at " Locust Grove," the old family homestead in Amelia.
From four years of age he was kept in the best obtainable schools. He began Latin at ten and Greek at twelve; and had completed the college course in Latin and was well on in the classes in Greek and mathematics when the breaking out of the
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War between the States interrupted his education. He enlisted in Company H, 44th Virginia infantry on June 15, 1861. He served in the Rich Mountain campaign and the subsequent terrible retreat. He was transferred to the Nelson light artillery, first under Captain Woodville Latham, and later under Captain James M. Lamkin. He was made sergeant at seventeen years of age in August, 1861. He served in the Army of South Carolina coast, and was in the battle of James Island or Seces- sionville. On October 22, 1862, he was in two battles in one day, one at Yemmassee Creek and the other at Old Pocotaligo, where he was wounded. His battery returned to Virginia from the South in 1863 and became Company B, Haskell's battalion of artillery, 1st corps, Army of Northen Virginia-which for lack of horses fought as infantry from the Wilderness to Petersburg, and then became the famous mortar battery at the Crater. On September 29, 1864, the battery was moved to Chaffin's farm, and took part in the assault on Fort Harrison. On the retreat they lost all of their guns and most of their men; and five of the members, including Dr. Eggleston, then joined the first Richmond Howitzers, and served until the surrender at Appomattox.
At the close of the war Doctor Eggleston essayed journalism as a reporter in New York city, but abandoned it on account of its uncertainty as a means of support for a young and growing family. Then he studied dentistry; and in 1871 began to prac- tice his profession at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, New York. Since that time he has pursued the practice of dentistry at Fishkill and in Richmond, Virginia, where he has resided for many years.
Doctor Eggleston is a member of Lee camp, Number 1, Confederate veterans of Richmond; and is a member of the Masonic fraternity. In the last named organization he is a member of one lodge, and an honorary member of another. He has served four terms as master of his lodge, two terms as dis- trict deputy grand master; and has served as grand junior warden of the state. He is a chairman of the committees on jurisprudence and on foreign correspondence; and is writing the history of a lodge dating back to 1792, of which he is not a member.
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He has written and published many magazine and news- paper stories and articles. His published volumes include " Tuckahoe, an Old-Fashioned Story of an Old-Fashioned People " (1903) ; and a " Masonic Life of Washington " (1899).
Doctor Eggleston is a Democrat; but voted for Mckinley against Bryan in the presidential campaign of 1900.
He married on November 17, 1864, Lucy A. Jefferson of Amelia county, Virginia ; and of their marriage have been born thirteen children, of whom ten are now (1906) living. Doctor Eggleston has four grandchildren.
His address is 509 West Grace Street, Richmond, Virginia.
BRANCH JONES EPES
E PES, BRANCH JONES, jurist, was born in Nottoway county, Virginia, August 13, 1832. His parents were Travis H. and Elizabeth B. (Jones) Epes. His father was a farmer by occupation, and was one of the best known and most highly respected citizens of Southside Virginia. Among the various offices which he held were those of presiding justice of the county court, member of the Virginia legislature for many years, colonel of the State militia, trustee of Hampden- Sidney college, presidential elector on the Bell and Everett ticket (1860), and an elder in the Presbyterian church.
The earliest known paternal ancestor to come to America was Francis Epes, who emigrated from Kent county, England, and settled on the James river in the early history of the colony. Three sons, John, Thomas, and Francis accompanied him. Francis Epes was a member of the house of burgesses in 1625, 1631, 1632 and 1639, and he also served as a member of the colonial governor's council. He patented 1,500 acres of land at City Point and it is upon a part of this tract that the family of Dr. Richard Epes now reside. Another member of the family, John W. Epes, married Martha, daughter of Thomas Jefferson. He was a member of congress and was elected over a no less personage than John Randolph. Sydney P. Epes and James F. Epes, of Nottoway county, cousins of Judge Epes, were mem- bers of congress. The grandmother, of Judge Epes on his father's side was a Campbell of the Argyle family in Scotland. His grandfather on his mother's side was Major Peter Branch Jones, who served in the War of 1812.
In childhood and youth Branch Epes enjoyed good health. He had no regular tasks to perform which involved manual labor. His special tastes at this time were for reading, the study of mathematics, and participation in outdoor sports. He studied at Nottoway academy, from which he entered Hampden-Sidney college. Afterwards he took a law course at the University of Virginia, where he studied two years. In 1853, he was admitted
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yours truly Bitches
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to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Dinwiddie county, Virginia, where he remained until the opening of the Civil war when, with two companions of about his own age, he raised a company of artillery, of which he was elected captain, and entered the field. He served in the Confederate States army from July, 1861, to March 1865, when on account of ill health he resigned his office and retired from military service. Before he left the army he was elected by the people of his county, attorney for the state. This office he held, with only brief inter- ruptions, until 1884, in which year he was elected judge of Dinwiddie county. He was reelected to this office for successive terms until his resignation in 1904. At the first election after his resignation as county judge he was again elected attorney for the commonwealth, which office he now (1906) holds. In 1901, he was elected a delegate to the constitutional convention of Vir- ginia (1901-1902), and served in that body until its final adjourn- ment. He was the author and mover of that clause in the con- stitution which empowers the legislature to authorize the county and city authorities to levy an additional capitation tax for public school purposes; was strongly opposed to a permanent " understanding " feature in the suffrage clause, and was active in assisting in the adoption of the present suffrage clause, and he also favored submitting the constitution to the new electorate.
Judge Epes was married to Lula M. Doyle, October 12, 1886. They have had three children all of whom are now (1906) living. He is a member of the Philanthropic society of the Hampden-Sidney college; the society of the Alumni of the same institution; the Jefferson society of the University of Vir- ginia; the University chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity; and the society of the Alumni of the University of Virginia. His political affiliations are with the Democratic party.
In the choice of a profession Mr. Epes was allowed to follow his own inclination. The first strong impulse to strive for advancement he traces to a desire to be independent. Of the books which have helped him in his life work he names those on mathematics, mental and moral philosophy, ethics and law; and of the influences which have been especially helpful he mentions contact with men in active life as paramount.
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Judge Epes is a man of impressive personal appearance and pleasant manners, popular among his friends, influential in the large circle of his acquaintances, and highly honored by his professional brethern and by the people of the state. In reply to a request for a few words of advice to young people who desire to succeed in life, he says: "Do not yield to the temptation to indulge too often in pleasure seeking."
The address of Judge Epes is Dinwiddie, Dinwiddie County, Virginia.
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JOHN CHOWNING EWELL
E WELL, JOHN CHOWNING, lawyer, ex-county judge, was born November 17, 1842, in Lancaster county, Vir- ginia, and his parents were James Ewell and Mira A. Chowning, his wife. Judge Ewell is descended from many of the prominent settlers of the Northern Neck of Virginia-such as Charles Ewell, who came from England to Lancaster county about 1690, and Thomas Gaskins, who was among the first settlers of Northumberland county. Charles Ewell married Mary Ann Bertrand, the daughter of John Bertrand, a clergyman of the Church of England. John Bertrand married Charlotte, daughter of Comte de Jolie. John Bertrand and Comte de Jolie left France, and went to England during the persecutions of Louis XIV. Among his distinguished forbears may be mentioned his grandfather, Major James Ewell, his great-grandfather, Colonel Thomas Gaskins, both officers in the American revolution, and Colonel John Chowning, who served with distinction in the War of 1812. His father, James Ewell, who was a successful farmer of Lancaster county, noted for his religious character, served as a soldier in the latter war.
John Chowning Ewell was, despite his rearing in the country, a boy of delicate constitution, who was very fond of reading novels and history. He had good educational advantages and attended a school near his house and one at Lancaster court- house. He afterwards spent one year at Bloomfield academy in Albemarle, and, in 1859, he matriculated at Randolph-Macon college. In his second year at college the War between the States broke out and young Ewell responded to the call of his beloved state and enlisted in the first company that left Lancaster for the front. He served throughout the war with credit and distinction, was slightly wounded twice, and in one engagement was shot through the body. After the war he followed for nine years the profession of land surveyor, but meantime studied law and entered upon the practice of the profession in 1874. He won the confidence of the people of Lancaster and, in May, 1883, was
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elected commonwealth's attorney and served three years, when he was made by the state legislature judge of the county courts of 'Northumberland and Lancaster counties, and served for eighteen years. When the county courts of the state were abolished by the Constitutional convention of 1902, a mass meet- ing of the bar and citizens of his county adopted resolutions eulogistic of his conduct as a judge, and expressions of their sorrow at losing him from the bench. Judge Ewell has held many positions of honor and distinction. Since their respective organizations he has been a director in the Northern Neck Tele- graph and Telephone company (organized in 1887) ; president of the Northern Neck Mutual Fire association (organized in 1896) ; president of the Lancaster National bank, Irvington, Lancaster county (organized in 1900), and commander of the Lawrence Ball camp of Confederate veterans (organized in 1894). For some years he has been assistant inspector general in the grand camp of Confederate veterans of Virginia, and he has served on the staff of General Stith Bolling. On October 26, 1906, at a meeting of the Grand camp of Confederate veterans in Roanoke, he was elected third lieutenant grand commander.
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