USA > Virginia > Men of mark in Virginia, ideals of American life; a collection of biographies of the leading men in the state, Volume V > Part 14
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CHARLES TROTTER LASSITER
L ASSITER, CHARLES TROTTER, was born in Peters- burg, Dinwiddie county, Virginia, January 20, 1870, and his parents were Dr. D. W. Lassiter and Anna Rives Heath. His father was an eminent physician of Petersburg, who in addition to the arduous duties of his profession, held many offices, being a member of the board of the Medical college of Vir- ginia, of the board of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad company, of the board of the Petersburg Savings and Insurance company, and other corporations. He came of Huguenot ancestors, who settled in the early part of the eighteenth century at the mouth of the Roanoke river in North Carolina.
Mr. Lassiter's boyhood and youth were spent for the most part in the city of Petersburg, though he passed a great deal of his time at his father's country place near the city. He had ex- ceptional educational opportunities, and attended the celebrated academy of Captain W. Gordon McCabe in Petersburg, where he was well drilled in the classics and afterwards studied at the University of Göttingen and Ecolé de Droit in Paris. On his return from Europe, he attended the lectures of Noah K. Davis and R. H. Dabney at the University of Virginia, and greatly profited by their instructions in moral philosophy and history. He took the law course, and in 1892 graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Law. This choice of profession was due to the advice of Dr. Lassiter, as Mr. Lassiter himself had a leaning to medicine and would have preferred to walk in the footsteps of his father. Soon after returning from the University Mr. Lassi- ter began the active practice of his profession, and in 1896 was elected commonwealth's attorney for the city of Petersburg. At the expiration of his term in 1900, he was elected to the house of delegates and served during the long session 1901 to 1904. The latter year he was made presidential elector on the Democratic ticket. In 1905 he was elected to the state senate and is at pres- ent (1908) a member of that body.
Senator Lassiter is a very young man, but he has seen service
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in other fields in addition to his busy work as a lawyer and a statesman. In 1896 he enlisted in the Virginia militia, and when the war with Spain broke out he served as second lieutenant in the A. P. Hill rifles, afterwards Company K, 4th Virginia volunteer infantry, second division, Fitz Lee's corps, United States volun- teers.
Senator Lassiter is dignified when presenting his views, and he does not waste words. When speaking at the bar or in the legislature he always commands attention. At the University he became a member of the Delta Psi fraternity, and he is now a member of several other organizations, being a Mason of Blan- ford lodge, Petersburg, and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Petersburg.
When asked to tell what influences have affected him most in life, he writes that association with his father, who was to him " the greatest and best of men," had more influence than every- thing else combined. To young men who are beginning life he gives this advice: "I have believed for years that our young men should be encouraged to remain on the farm, and that by scientific, intensive farming, they can become assured of more independence and personal happiness than in any other way. Nothing could contribute more to the conservatism of sound ideals of American life and citizenship."
In politics Mr. Lassiter is a Democrat, and he is affiliated with the Protestant Episcopal church in his city. For relaxation he runs a dairy farm and takes much interest in promoting this enterprise, which has enlisted his attention for quite a number of years.
On January 15, 1895, he married Miss Sallie Alexander Hamilton. They have had three daughters, all of whom are (1908) living.
Mr. Lassiter's address is Petersburg, Virginia.
CLARENCE CHANDLEE LEADBEATER
L EADBEATER, CLARENCE CHANDLEE, merchant and pharmacist, was born October 9, 1866, in Alexandria, Virginia. His father, Edward Stable Leadbeater, drug- gist, was eight years alderman and member of finance committee of the city council of Alexandria; ten years chief engineer of fire department, which he raised to a high state of efficiency; twenty years a vestryman, twenty-eight years superintendent of Sunday- school, and many years senior warden of historic Christ (Pro- testant Episcopal) church, which was attended by George Wash- ington. His mother, Clara (Chandlee) Leadbeater, was a woman of high intellectual attainments and Christian character, and her influence upon his intellectual and moral life was powerful and lasting.
His blood is English and Welsh. The founders of the American branch of the family were on the paternal side, Wil- liam Leadbeater, his great-grandfather, from Leicester, England, who settled in Occoquan, Virginia, in 1830, and Edward Stable, fourth of the same name from Edward Stable, Lord Mayor of York, England, who settled in Alexandria, in 1792, in which year he established the business, which has since been contin- uously conducted by the family, and who was a distinguished preacher of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, and a man of unusual culture and eloquence. On the maternal side the founder was Thomas Lloyd, a descendant of King Edward I. and King Edward III. of England, who came from Wales and was asso- ciated with William Penn in founding the colony of Pennsyl- vania, and was virtually its first governor.
His inclination was to make science his lifework, but the wishes of his parents and circumstances ontweighed his inclina- tion, and he was educated for a business career, to follow in the footsteps of three generations of his forefathers. That he accepted the situation cheerfully was fully proven by his having graduated from the Potomac academy, Alexandria, Virginia, when just midway between seventeen and eighteen, and at once
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entering the drug and chemical establishment founded by his great-grandfather in 1792, to master the business. Not being satisfied with merely a counting-room knowledge of the business he took up the study of pharmacy, and was in 1887 given a diploma as a registered pharmacist by the Virginia State board of pharmacy. In 1890, at the age of twenty-three, he took the management of the business, which is now (1908) a corporation under the old firm name, of which he is president. During the eighteen years since he has been in full charge of the business it has increased more than twenty-fold, growing from a local or at most a state concern into one that fills a place in the front rank of the commerical world, and doubtless the profits have kept pace with the growth.
Though few men have led a busier life than Mr. Leadbeater, he has never been too busy with his private affairs to give the benefit of his sound judgment and successful business experience to every movement for the advancement of his native city and state. As a business man he is thoroughly wide-awake and pro- gressive; as a citizen, liberal, patriotic, and public-spirited ; and as a man, he is genial, companionable and popular. Since 1899 he has been a vestryman of Christ (Protestant Episcopal) church. He has served as Virginia vice-president of the Travelers Pro- tective association, and as president of Post F., the Alexandria branch of the same organization. In politics he has always been a Democrat, but on the money issue he bolted the Bryan ticket and supported Palmer and Buckner. His favorite relaxations are golf and foreign travel; next in favor are studies, mostly those having a scientific leaning.
On Januay 17, 1906, he married Miss Lillian M. Alexander, daughter of Milton Alexander, a lawyer and banker of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
His address is Alexandria, Virginia.
DAVID HARRIS LEAKE
L EAKE, DAVID HARRIS, lawyer and statesman, was born July 13, 1875, on a farm in Goochland county, Vir- ginia. His father, Judge Andrew Kean Leake, was for years one of the leading members of the Virginia bar; his mother, Juliana E. L. Leake, was a woman of grace, refinement and culture. His family is of English descent. The founder of the American branch, William Leake, came from England, in 1785, and settled in Goochland county, Vir- ginia. Among his distinguished American ancestors were Walter D. Leake, grandfather, member of Virginia house of delegates, Constitutional convention, 1860, and the secession convention, 1861; General David B. Harris, grandfather, chief of engineers, General Beauregard's staff Confederate army; Andrew Kean, great-grandfather, famous physician and close personal friend of Thomas Jefferson. Walter Leake, governor of Mississippi, and Shelton F. Leake, member of Congress from Virginia, were also connections of the family.
His preparatory education was obtained at Charlotte Hall school, Maryland, from which he was graduated. He afterward attended Washington and Lee university and the University of Virginia. He studied law in his father's office, was admitted to the bar in 1897, and at once began the practice of his profession.
In less than two years after he began practice he was elected commonwealth's attorney for Goochland county, and made a fine record as such from July 1, 1899 to January 1, 1904, when he became judge of Goochland county court, a position he held until February, 1904, when the county courts went out of existence, under the terms of the new state constitution. He was a member of the Virginia house of delegates during the regular session 1901-02 and the extra sessions of 1902-03-04, and took a con- spicious part in the legislation that was considered by that body. As a member of the committee on privileges and elections he wrote the reports in the contested election cases of Lambert and Bibb versus Whitehead and Woodward and led the fight on the
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floor that resulted in the adoption of the reports. He also led the fight against the removal of Judge Campbell of Amherst county, and as a member of committee on courts of justice, he was one of the drafters of the present game laws of the state. He was a supporter of the bill providing for special grand juries to investigate elections, which passed the house but was defeated in the senate, and the introducer of the house bill to establish the Torrens system of land registration. He is a contributor to the Virginia " Law Register."
He is counsel for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway com- pany, and president of the Goochland Telephone company; is active in politics, and was chairman of the Goochland county Democratic committee for three years. He is a Mason; an Odd Fellow ; a member of Modern Woodmen of American; the Com- monwealth club, Westmoreland club, Deep Run Hunt club, Rich- mond, Virginia; of the Richmond Chess club, and the Virginia Bar association. His religious connection is with the Presby- terian church.
His address is Goochland, Goochland County, Virginia.
Vol. 5-Va .- 13
FITZHUGH LEE
L EE, FITZHUGH, first a major-general in the Confederate army, then a brigadier-general in the United States army and major-general of United States volunteers during the Spanish-American war, was one of the most striking examples of that noble body of true-hearted American patriots who were utterly loyal to the Union although in earlier years they went with their states through the fiery trial of secession and war against the Union.
He was born in Clermont, Fairfax county, Virginia, Novem- ber 19, 1835. His father, Sydney Smith Lee, was a captain in the United States navy, afterward in the Confederate States navy. He was a brother of General Robert E. Lee; and he is described by his son as a man "of charming personality and grace of manner, handsome in person and possessing goodness of heart and nobility of character." He says of his mother, Anna Maria (Mason) Lee (who was a daughter of General John Mason and sister of James M. Mason, formerly United States senator from Virginia, and granddaughter of George Mason, author of the Virginia Bill of Rights) that she strongly in- fluenced him in the development of his character toward intel- lectual and moral achievement. Richard Lee whose will is dated 1663, came to this country from Shropshire, England, and is his earliest known ancestor on this side of the water. Fitzhugh Lee was a grandson of General Henry Lee, known as "Light Horse Harry," of the Carolinas, during the Revolutionary war.
His early life spent in the country confirmed his health and strength, which have always been good. His tastes even in childhood were military; and after an excellent preparation for the course, he was graduated from West Point military academy in 1856.
He was detailed at once to Carlisle barracks, Pennsylvania, and appointed instructor of war recruits in horsemanship. As a lieutenant of the 2d United States cavalry, he accompanied his regiment to Texas to subdue the hostile Comanches on the fron-
Men of Mark Publishing Company Washington, D. C.
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tier. On May 14, 1858, he was wounded in the lungs by an In- dian arrow; and he had several personal encounters with mounted Indians, one of these engagements, January 15, 1860, being particularly severe. He was instructor in cavalry tactics, at West Point from 1860-61. In the latter year he resigned his commission in the United States army, when the people of his native state had confirmed the act of secession; and returning to Virginia he was commissioned assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of captain in the Confederate army; and during the Civil war, he rose to the rank of major-general, commanding the cavalry corps of General Robert E. Lee.
His record in the Confederate army began with the first battle of Manassas, in which he served on the staff of General Ewell. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Virginia cavalry, Colonel J. E. B. Stuart commanding, in 1862. Suc- ceeding General Stuart in the command of the regiment, he took part in the raid around McClellan's army and in all the battles of Northern Virginia, 1861-62. He was commissioned brigadier- general, July 25, 1862, and was in command of a brigade of Vir- ginia cavalry in the second battle of Manassas, August 29 and 30, 1862, in which he made an attack on Pope's army at Catletts Station, taking Pope's headquarters and nearly making a pris- oner of the commanding officer. He participated in the engage- ments of South Mountain, Crompton's Gap, Sharpsburg, Fred- ericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, from September 14, 1862 to July 3, 1863. He was commissioned major-general, Sep- tember 3, 1863. He met Custer and Kilpatrick, October 19, 1863 in a cavalry engagement; and he commanded a division of cavalry in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna River, Hawes Shop, Cold Harbor, Trevillian Station and Cedarville, from May to August, 1864. At Winchester, Sep- tember 19, 1864, he had three horses shot under him, and being severely wounded he was obliged to give up active service for several months. He maintained his position against the Federal army, at Five Forks, Sailor's Creek and Farmville, and he pre- pared the way for the retreat of the Confederate army to Appo- mattox court-house; but advancing toward Lynchburg, his army was cut off from the main body, and he surrendered to
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General Meade, at Farmville, retiring to his home in Stafford county, Virginia.
For a number of years after the close of the war, he pre- ferred retirement to public life. His memorable address at the Bunker Hill Centennial in Boston, in 1874, was the occasion of his appearing again before the people. The patriotism and eloquence of his speech at that time aroused the enthusiasm of the country. It was an effort to bring together on some common ground of national interest the hitherto divided people of the North and the South and it did much to allay the irritation which had followed the conflict of 1861-65.
During the winter and spring of 1882-83, he made a trip through the South to promote the interest of the Southern His- torical society. In 1884 he was appointed by the president visitor to West Point. For four years, from 1886-90, he was (the 39th) governor of Virginia. President Cleveland ap- pointed him (1893-96) collector of Internal Revenue at Lynch- burg, Virginia. For two years prior to the outbreak of the Spanish war he was consul-general at Havana, Cuba. This post was an extremely difficult and responsible one, at this time; and General Lee most wisely met the situation arising from the cruel tyranny of the Spanish and the excited uprising of the Cubans against their oppressors. He was calm and judicial in his de- cisions, and he protected with a firm hand and strong will, American interests. Under General Weyler and again under General Blanco, the conditions required diplomacy and tact, and yet called for immediate and strong measures of resistance to the arbitrary sway of these officers. General Lee's record was patriotic and brilliant. His life was threatened and yet he would not accept our government's offer to protect him by war vessels. The Maine was already on its way to Cuba, when he asked to have the vessel recalled. It was becoming dangerous for Americans to stay in Cuba by reason of the excitement in the island. The Spanish government asked for the recall of General Lee, but the request was refused by the United States government. On April 5, 1898, all consuls were recalled and many American residents of Cuba came home to the states at the same time.
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When the government declared war against Spain, he was one of the six major-generals of volunteers appointed by Presi- dent Mckinley, May 4, 1898; was given command of the 7th army corps and was selected by the president to lead the attack on Havana, Cuba, during the Spanish-American war in case an assault should become necessary. He was not ordered to Havana with his corps, however, until December 12, 1898; and on January 12, 1899, he was appointed governor of the provinces of La Habana and and Pinar del Rio. The four provinces in Cuba, La Habana, Pinar del Rio, Matanzas and Santa Clara having been consolidated in March, 1900, into the single department of Habana, he was appointed governor of the new department. At the expiration of that official term, he was put in command of the department of Missouri, United States army.
General Lee wrote the life of General Robert E. Lee, his uncle, in the series of "Great Commanders" published by D. Appleton and Company. He was a member of the Democratic party. His reading was most largely historic and biographic. He was a communicant of the Episcopal church. Driving and riding were his favorite modes of relaxation, and he gave especial attention to athletics. The wishes of relatives coincided with his personal preference for the military life.
To young people he said, " duty is the sublimest word in the English language. Let our young Americans do it always."
He was married April 19, 1871, to Miss Ellen Bernard Fowle. They had seven children.
General Lee died at Washington, District of Columbia, April 28, 1905, while holding the position of president of the Jamestown Tercentennial exposition, the success of which he greatly promoted.
HENRY EDWARD LEE
L EE, HENRY EDWARD, lawyer, was born in Lunenburg county, Virginia, July 10, 1871. His father was Hender- son Lewis Lee, who was a lawyer, and commonwealth's attorney of Lunenburg county, and a major in the 38th Virginia infantry, Confederate States army, in the War between the States. His mother was Lucy Scott.
Mr. Lee is of the distinguished family of Lee in Virginia. His grandfather was the Rev. Henderson Lee, whose father was Ambrose Lee, a descendant of Hancock Lee, of the Lees of "Ditchley." The Rev. Henderson Lee combined the business of a planter with the profession of a minister, and was successful in both; and his son, Major Henderson Lewis Lee, was an able law- yer and a gallant soldier.
Mr. Henry E. Lee grew up in the country with a special apti- tude and taste for farming. He had no regular set tasks to per- form; but his interest in farming operations led him to cultivate and handle small crops of tobacco while he was still a boy; an occupation which his father fostered and encouraged.
His early education was acquired from private tutors, in his father's family. Later he attended Bethel Military academy in Fauquier county, Virginia, and while a student there he taught a public school near by in order to pay for his education and buy his books. While he studied at Bethel and taught this school, he also read law privately, with the determination to make of himself a lawyer. He also studied at the Montgomery academy at Christiansburg, Virginia; and at the age of seventeen years began the work of life as a farmer in Nottoway county, Virginia. He left the farm in 1892 to go to Bethel academy; and having been later admitted to the bar, he began the practice of his pro- fession in the town of Crewe, in Nottoway county, where he has since continued its pursuit with success. He has been the mayor of Crewe, serving a term of four years and resigning in May, 1904. In 1904 he was elected a member of the house of delegates of Virginia to fill an unexpired term of the Hon. Robert G.
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Southall, who had been elected to the United States congress; and represented the counties of Nottoway and Amelia in the en- suing session of the general assembly. He is now (1908) serving his second term as commonwealth's attorney of Nottoway county.
Mr. Lee is a Democrat, and has never changed his political allegiance. He is a member of the Presbyterian church; and is unmarried.
His address is Crewe, Nottoway County, Virginia.
BERNARD FARRAR LIPSCOMB
L IPSCOMB, BERNARD FARRAR, D. D., was born in Richmond, Virginia, February 16, 1851, the son of Cor- nelius B. and Pocahontas Farrar Lipscomb. The elder Lipscomb was by occupation a coal dealer; he was of marked affability and integrity, and for some years served as a member of the Richmond city council, representing Marshall ward. Reu- ben Lipscomb, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, removed to Richmond from King William county during the childhood of Cornelius B. Lipscomb.
Bernard F. Lipscomb, in childhood and youth, was of deli- cate constitution ; he was always fond of books, and, brought up . in the city, did not pursue the vigorous outdoor exercise cus- tomary with country lads. He met with difficulties in procuring an education, and at the present time lays stress on the influence exerted by his mother on his moral and spiritual life. To the course in English literature at Randolph-Macon college, under the late Thomas R. Price, of Columbia university, then filling the chair of English and Greek at that institution, he gives credit for the line of reading which was most helpful in fitting him for after life.
As a boy he attended Jefferson Male Academy, in Richmond. He then entered Randolph-Macon, but was unable to remain there long enough to secure a degree, entering in 1874 and leaving two years later. The degree of D. D. was, however, conferred upon him by his alma mater in June, 1903.
The first position held by Doctor Lipscomb was that of clerk in his father's office. In speaking of the circumstances which led to his eventual choice of a profession, he says: "It was not so much the force of circumstances as my personal choice at first; and this was strengthened by a sense of duty. I was filling the position of bookkeeper is the State Bank of Virginia, at Rich- mond, when I felt called to the ministry and resigned my position to seek preparation for that work."
Asked as to the relative strength of the influences which
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brought about his success in life, Doctor Lipscomb replied: "It is difficult to discriminate; but my impression is that the influ- ence of home ranks first, followed by that of private study and contact with men in active life."
He held the position of bookkeeper during the years 1872-74, entering Randolph-Macon college the latter year. In November, 1876, he entered the Virginia conference of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South, and has been preaching the Gospel ever since.
Until 1902 he remained in the pastorate; but from August of that year until December, 1903, he served as secretary and treasurer of Randolph-Macon college at Ashland. He was appointed presiding elder of Petersburg district, Virginia con- ference, in November, 1903, where he served for four years. At the expiration of this term he was appointed presiding elder of the West Richmond district which position he now (1908) holds.
Doctor Lipscomb was editor of the Danville " Methodist " for several years, and since 1888 has edited the "Virginia Con- ference Annual." He served as chairman of the Virginia con- ference delegation in the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which met at Dallas, Texas, in May, 1902.
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