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 19
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On April 12, 1898, he married Emily Virginia Norfleet, and four children have been born to them, of whom three survive at the present writing.
His address is Franklin, Southampton County, Virginia.
WILLIAM MACFARLAND PATTON
P ATTON, WILLIAM MACFARLAND, soldier, civil engi- neer, professor of civil engineering at the Virginia Mili- tary institute from 1873 to 1882 and again from 1887 to 1889, from 1882 to 1887 chief engineer of the Mobile and Bir- mingham, and of the Louisville, St. Louis, and Texas railways, author of a "Practical Treatise on Foundations," and a "Treatise on Civil Engineering;" from 1894 to 1896, consulting engineer in the city of Chicago in connection with the great drainage canal; and from 1896 until his death, in 1905, professor of civil engineering at the Virginia Polytechnic institute and dean of the department of engineering from the creation of that office in 1904 until his death, was born in Richmond, Virginia, August 22, 1845, and died in New York city, May 26, 1905.
His father, Honorable John MacFarland Patton, was a lead- ing member of the Virginia bar, and had represented the Rich- mond district in the house of representatives at Washington. His mother was Mrs. Margaret (Williams) Patton, before her marriage residing at Culpeper, Virginia.
The youngest of a family of nine children, (eight sons and one daughter) William MacFarland Patton, with his three brothers, John M., George S., and W. Tazewell, became students at the Virginia Military institute; each of the three older broth- ers becoming a colonel in the Confederate States army; Col. George S. Patton was killed in the battle of Malvern Hill and Col. W. T. Patton, fell in Pickett's famous charge at Gettysburg.
In his early boyhood he attended private schools; and in 1862 he entered the Virginia Military institute. He was with the battalion of the institute at the battle of Newmarket. Two years after the close of the war he resumed his studies at the. Virginia Military institute; and he was graduated with the de- grees of E. M. and C. E. in 1869. Soon after his graduation, he went to Spanish America, and from 1869 to 1873 he was engaged in engineering work, chiefly in Cuba, San Domingo, and Central America. It will be easily understood that this varied expe-
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rience attained so early in his professional career was a great aid to him in his later work.
In 1873 he was made adjunct professor of civil engineering at the Virginia Military institute, and in 1874 he was made full professor, and as such he was commissioned by the governor as a colonel of the state militia, remaining in this position until 1882.
Interest in the practical work of his chosen profession, en- gineering and in particular bridge building, drew him strongly to the work of planning and supervising construction; and from 1882 to 1887 he was engaged in such work as the construction of the bridge of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad across the Sus- quehanna river at Havre de Grace, Maryland; the constuction of the Point Pleasant Bridge across the Ohio river at Point Pleas- ant, West Virginia; and he acted as engineer-in-charge of the bridges across the Schuylkill, Warrior, Tombigbee, and Mobile rivers. After serving for some years as chief engineer of the Mobile and Birmingham, and the Louisville, St. Louis and Texas railways, in 1887, he was reappointed professor of civil engineer- ing at the Virginia Military institute, remaining on duty two years.
During the seven years from 1889 to 1896, he gave his time and attention for the most part to the writing of two books upon which rests his professional reputation as an author: a " Practi- cal Treatise on Foundations," and a " Treatise on Civil Engi- neering." Published in 1893, the first of these books took rank at once among the standard text books on that subject. In the libraries of practical engineers this book has commended itself to the profession; while eminent critics of engineering literature have given it almost unqualified approval. Professor Patton's "Treatise on Civil Engineering," with a preface written in July, 1894, is a volume of nearly 1700 pages, filled with exceedingly valuable information on all branches of the engineer's profes- sion; and while it was written for use as a book of reference, it has been adopted as a text-book in many colleges and scientific schools, as filling a want long felt in engineering literature, since it attempts to cover in one volume all the various branches of civil engineering. It is not too much to say that hardly any other text-book upon that subject published in America attempts this task with anything like equal success.
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After serving for two years as a consulting engineer in the city of Chicago, in 1896, Col. Patton was called to the chair of Civil Engineering at the Virginia Military institute. For eight years, and until his death, he discharged the duties of this office with a faithfulness, a skill in imparting instruction, and a sympa- thetic interest in the life and the plans of his students which won for him not only the respect and love of his colleagues, but also the deep affection of the student body. It seems appropriate to insert in a sketch of this kind the following extract from the College Annual of the Virginia Polytechnic institute, published by the students of the institute soon after Colonel Patton's death, and dedicated by the students of the Virginia Polytechnic insti- tute to the memory of Colonel William MacFarland Patton :"
" COLONEL WILLIAM MACFARLAND PATTON, DISTINGUISHED AS AN EDUCATOR, ENGINEER, AUTHOR, HONORED AS PATRIOT AND CITIZEN ; BELOVED AS A MAN WHOSE GENEROSITY WAS EQUALLED ONLY BY HIS HONESTY; WHOSE COURAGE WAS SURPASSED ONLY BY HIS TENDERNESS ; AND IN WHOSE HEART GENTLE COURTESY REIGNED AS UNDISPUTED QUEEN OF ALL HIS VIRTUES."
At the time of Colonel Patton's death a new text book on civil engineering, condensed by him from his other treatise, was in the hands of the publishers, as was also the manuscript for a revised edition of his " Treatise on Foundations." He had also prepared a valuable collection of data to be used in the writing of a projected "Hand-book of Civil Engineering." His last work in practical engineering was the installation of the Blue- field, West Virginia, sewer system. He was also called into con- sultation upon the design of the gas plant at Dubuque, Iowa; and he supervised the work on the dam, the lake, and the roads and bridges, for the Sweet Briar institute.
Colonel Patton's work was completed at so recent a date, and through his writing he is still so potent a personality in shaping the lives of students of engineering in his own state and in other states, that it has been deemed natural and right by the advisory board and publishers, to include his name among the men of mark who are now shaping the life of Virginia.
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His funeral cortege was attended by deputations from his colleagues on the faculty of the institute, from the corps of the entire student body, from the students in his own department, and also by the entire faculty and corps of cadets of the institute as well as by many of the faculty and students of Washington and Lee university; and when he was laid to rest in the historic old town of Lexington, very near to the monument of his well loved commander, Stonewall Jackson, and within sight of the walls of his alma mater, the Virginia Military institute, it was felt by all who knew him that the life-work for Virginia of Colonel William MacFarland Patton was not yet ended, indeed could not yet be regarded as at its maximum; for the influence of his life, through what he had written as well as through the example of his every achievement and his high character, will, for years to come, influence alike professors and students in many institutions of learning.
WILLIAM ELISHA PETERS
P ETERS, WILLIAM ELISHA, LL. D., scholar and educa- tor, was born in Bedford county, Virginia, August 18, 1829. His father was Elisha Peters, a farmer and planter, of Bedford county. He was a man of indefatigable energy and industry, incorruptible integrity, and high sense of duty-which means that he was a Virginian of the old ante- bellum type, a man whose word was as good as his bond. Elisha Peters never aspired to public office, but lived the life of a quiet, unassuming Virginia planter. The father of Elisha Peters was the Reverend William Peters, a minister of the church of Eng- land, who came from England to Virginia in 1750, and died in 1773. Elisha Peters married Cynthia Turner. Professor Peters has been twice married: first, in 1858 to Margaret Sheffey; his second wife was Mary Sheffey, to whom he was married in 1873. He has had three children, all of whom are now (1908) living.
William E. Peters grew up on a farm, a stout, hearty country boy, of robust physique and fine constitution. From his earliest days he was interested in matters of education, and in early youth developed a taste for classical authors and for general literature. He was sent to the New London academy in Bedford county, one of the old ante-bellum schools in which young Vir- ginians like W. E. Peters and John Goode were trained for col- lege. From this school, he went to Emory and Henry college, Virginia; thence to the University of Virginia, where he took the M. A. degree. From 1856 to 1858, he heard lectures at the University of Berlin, where he pursued the study of Latin with great zeal and assiduity. After his graduation at the University of Virginia, he was elected professor of Latin in Emory and Henry college. Here he taught from 1851 to 1861, with the ex- ception of the two years spent in European study. In 1861, when Virginia seceded and called all her ablebodied sons to maintain her cause, Professor Peters entered the Confederate army as a private. We soon find him a captain, then lieutenant-colonel, then colonel; and it is as Colonel Peters that he is known in
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university circles. Colonel Peters was a fine soldier, and served the Confederacy with all the ardor of his young manhood. He was one of the many prominent teachers and professors who closed up their schools or their lecture rooms to fight for their states, to which they conscientiously believed their paramount allegiance was due. Probably the most generally known military act of Colonel Peters's career is his refusal to burn the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. As an act of retribution for out- rages on the part of some Northern generals, General Jubal A. Early determined to burn Chambersburg, and directed Colonel Peters to give the necessary orders. This he refused to do, say- ing that he would stand trial by court-martial and be punished to the extent of military law, rather than burn the homes of women and children. For this act, the public sentiment of the Southern people has always upheld Colonel Peters, while not condemning General Early very severely, in view of the very great provocation that he had.
After "the war," Colonel Peters was elected professor of Latin in the University of Virginia, a position which he filled with great distinction for thirty-seven years, (1866-1902). Among students of Latin in the South, Professor Peters's name was a household word. A diploma from him was a high literary honor. With that and a diploma in Greek from his colleague, Basil L. Gildersleeve, a young man could apply successfully for a position in any school of any college in the South. Professor Peters's senior final examination was the great test of a young man's fitness to teach Latin in any reputable school. To pass that examination was like Hannibal's crossing the Alps; it was a feat worthy of special record in the family Bible. As a teacher, Professor Peters has few equals and no superiors. Along with Cabell in medicine, Minor in law, Gildersleeve in Greek, and Venable in mathematics, he will always be known as one of the bright galaxy of university professors in the period when separate diplomas in many departments were high academic honors, and when the A. M. degree was probably the greatest academic honor in this continent,-a position which, in this day of specialties, no A. M. degree can possibly hold.
Professor Peters has published two books of high authority ;
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viz: "Syntax of the Latin Verb," and " Latin Case Relations." Both have long been used by the Latin classes of the University of Virginia. He is still carrying on his studies, and investigating some principles of the Latin language which, in his opinion, are not yet settled. While not engaged in professional work, Colonel Peters retains his seat and votes in the faculty, having been made professor-emeritus when he resigned in 1902. Though volun- tarily leaving the duties of the lecture-room to a younger man, he still feels a deep interest in the Uinversity to which he has devoted the most fruitful and vigorous years of his life. His retirement caused profound regret in University circles. The board of visitors, in accepting his resignation at his request, resolved that they desired to record their profound appreciation of the zeal, success, and thoroughness and power with which Colonel Peters has discharged through thirty-seven years the high and respon- sible duties of his professorship; of the contribution that he has made to the fame of this seat of learning; and to express especially their gratitude for the inflexible standards of scholar- ship maintained throughout his administration of the School of Latin.
As a professor, Colonel Peters commanded the respect, the esteem and the confidence of his classes. As " old Pete," he was their infallible authority on Latin. Moreover he was their guide, their friend, their counsellor; and he followed them into life, and watched their career with fatherly affection. That such teachers have to get old, retire, die, is a great misfortune for the cause of higher education. Scholars can be had for pay; but the great teachers like Minor, Peters, Cabell, are less plentiful.
The degree of LL. D., was conferred upon Professor Peters by Emory and Henry college, Virginia. In honoring him, this college honored herself.
In politics, Colonel Peters is a Democrat. In the free-silver campaigns, when Mr. Bryan was the Democratic candidate, Colo- nel Peters was a " Gold Democrat," as were most of the college and university professors of Virginia. In religious preference, he is a Presbyterian.
Since the above sketch was written Professor Peters died on March 22, 1906.
WILLIAM BEVERLEY PETTIT
P ETTIT, WILLIAM BEVERLEY, lawyer, was born in Fluvanna county, Virginia, October 10, 1825. His father was Overton Baker Pettit, a farmer of Fluvanna county ; and his mother was Mary Woolling.
His great-grandfather was William Pettit, who about the middle of the eighteenth century, lived in Louisa county (then Hanover), Virginia. William Pettit was a school-master and surveyor; and was sprung from that vigorous stock of French Huguenots which made its mark wherever it went from its native country, whether in Great Britain or America.
Mr. Pettit obtained his early education in the "old field" schools of Fluvanna and at Salem academy; and it may be said of that early education that it formed the foundation for the subsequent acquisition by him of a facility of expression in his mother-tongue that was equalled by few of his contemporaries and excelled by none. His printed briefs in the courts of appeals, and his contributions on legal subjects to the journals of his pro- fession in the state remain to attest the vigor and clearness with which he gave form to his ideas, and to illustrate his mastery of English prose as a vehicle of accurate statement.
After leaving school, like many men who have achieved prominence in the professions and in politics, he was a school teacher. Then he studied law; and having been admitted to the bar, began the practice of his profession in his native county, where he continued it with ever increasing honor and success up to the end of his long life, save for the period of the War between the States, during which he was a gallant soldier in the Army of the Confederacy. He enlisted almost immediately after the news of the secession of Virginia from the Union, as a private in the Fluvanna artillery; became its first sergeant, and finally rose to the rank of first lieutenant. In 1864 he was called back to his county to fill the office of commonwealth's attorney of Fluvanna; and from that time he was reëlected to the position continuously up to 1872. In 1869, upon the formation of what
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was then known as the Conservative party, which subsequently became the Democratic party of Virginia, he was made the county chairman of its local committee; and continued to serve in that capacity for a number of years. In 1879 he was nomi- nated for state senator, but was defeated by the nominee of the Readjuster party. A few years later he was again called to the chairmanship of the Democratic county committee, and con- tinued to give to his party in that capacity the benefit of his ex- perience, ability and wisdom until 1900, when, feeling that he had earned the right to retire from this service, he declined to hold the position longer.
His long and intimate association with the organization of his party in his county and in the state, his wide knowledge of its leaders and prominent members, and his skill and courage as a political leader, combined to give him a commanding influence in Democratic councils in Virginia. But beyond all else Mr. Pettit was a lawyer; and it was to his profession that he gave his best thoughts and energies. His studious industry, his wide reading in the law, and his ability as a debater placed hm in the front rank of the lawyers of his time in the commonwealth; and in some directions, notably in his knowledge of the principles of the common law, he had no superior among his contemporaries. This particular branch of his legal equipment was conspicuously illustrated in the able discussion which took place in the sessions of the State Bar association, soon after its formation, over the proposition to abandon the English system of common law pleading in favor of the Code procedure. In these debates and in the various contributions to the newspapers and legal press which they provoked, Mr. Pettit showed himself an opponent worthy of the steel of the doughtiest of his adversaries; and the cause which he espoused was successfully maintained.
In 1898, he was elected president of the Virginia State Bar association; and his inaugural address on "Law Reform: the duty of the Bar," was one of the most admirable in a long series of able inaugurals by the presidents of that association.
In 1893, Mr. Pettit was a prominent candidate for a judge- ship on the Supreme court of appeals of Virginia, and came within a few votes of receiving the nomination. He was a mem-
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ber of the Constitutional convention of 1901-1902; and was especially conspicuous for the vigor and ability of his fight to restore the Virginia Bill of Rights, that had been mutilated by the Underwood convention, to the original form in which it came from the brain and pen of George Mason.
Mr. Pettit was a Virginian of the old school, and in the finest sense of the word. He was saturated with a knowledge of the history of his state, and imbued with a patriotic and pas- sionate devotion for her welfare.
No sketch of him would be complete which failed to speak of his striking appearance that attracted attention wherever he went. He was of a spare build, very erect, something more than six feet in height, and wore his silvery hair long on his neck after the ante-bellum fashion. It has been said of him that "in correspondence with his towering bodily presence was the emi- nence of his intellectual and moral endowments. He deserves to go down to posterity on the roll of Virginia worthies, a chivalrous and devoted son of the commonwealth to whom her children may point with pride, and an example whom the rising generation may for all future time admire and emulate."
Mr. Pettit married July 15, 1851, Arabella E. Speairs, of Cumberland county, Virginia; and of their union were born seven children, Pembroke Pettit, of Fluvanna, Dr. Wiliam B. Pettit, of Buckingham, Mrs. N. C. Harris, of Louisa, Vera Pettit, of Fluvanna, L. O. Pettit, of Big Stone Gap, Paul Pettit, of Fluvanna, and Mrs. W. P. Bugbee, of Fluvanna.
Mr. Pettit died at his home near Palmyra, Fluvanna county, Virginia, on January 11, 1905. His mortal remains are buried in the soil of the home he had made, in the land and among the people he loved so well, and close beside those of his devoted wife, who, in perfect health at the time of his death, survived him but forty days.
ROBERT PORTNER
P ORTNER, ROBERT, capitalist, banker, corporation di- rector, and man-of-affairs, is a notable example of the German-American citizen, who by industry, thrift and administrative ability has won an enviable position in business and financial circles. He was born at Rahden, in the province of Westphalia, Prussia, March 20, 1837, the son of Henry and Henrietta (Gelker) Portner. His father was a German barris- ter, a judge, and an officer in the German army, who served with distinction in the Russian campaign, and under Marshal Blucher at Waterloo. In the battle of Jena he especially distinguished himself, and in recognition of this service the King appointed his several sons to the military school at Annaburg.
The childhood and youth of Robert Portner were spent in his native country, where he remained until he was sixteen years of age. His education was acquired in the village schools of Prussia, and at the military school of Annaburg, Saxony. In 1853, he emigrated to America. After his arrival in this country, he was variously employed until 1861, when he located in Alex- andria, Virginia, and, in partnership with an acquaintance, started a small grocery business. This was the first year of the War between the States, and the firm did quite an extensive busi- ness, selling supplies to the sutlers of both armies during their operations in the immediate vicinity. Soon a small brewing plant was constructed by the firm and met with success during the war period. At the close of the struggle, the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Portner retained the brewing business which in 1883 was incorporated under the name of the Robert Portner Brewing company, of which he became president; and later he became vice-president of the Nationl Capital Brewing company, of Washington. Mr. Portner also became interested in artificial refrigeration; and to his genius we are indebted for the first successful machine, with direct ammonia expansion, ever used for this purpose. This invention was made in 1878, and has since been improved in many ways.
Alen of Mark F .. .-
yours truly Pokut Partner
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Mr. Portner has been prominently identified with many business enterprises. He organized three building and loan asso- ciations in Alexandria, of which he was president; he originated the Alexandria ship yards for the building and repair of vessels; he organized the German-American Banking company, of which, also, he was made president, and which is now known as the German American bank. He was president of the Capital Con- struction company, president of the German Building associa- tion, and a director in the following corporations: The Ameri- can Security and Trust company, of Washington; Riggs Fire Insurance company, of Washington; National Bank of Washing- ton ; Virginia Midland Railway company; Washington and Ohio Railway company; National Bank of Manassas, Virginia; Port- ner Brown Stone company; Loula Cotton Mills; and a number of other lesser enterprises.
In 1881, Mr. Portner took up his residence in Washington, District of Columbia, retaining his citizenship in Alexandria, of whose board of aldermen he was at one time a member, and where he had large property interests. He became one of the largest real estate investors in Washington, and he proved him- self a citizen of marked public spirit and enterprise. His summer residence was at Manassas, Virginia, and was named "Anna- burg," in honor of the military school at which he was educated. The tract contains 2500 acres. It includes most of the battle field of Bull Run; and on it are to be found traces of many forti- fications of the Civil war period. "Annaburg" is one of the handsomest estates of the Old Dominion, and one of the most in- teresting historically.
Mr. Portner was a member of the Masonic order. As a further relief from business cares, he frequently threw himself into the life of the farm at Manassas, and indulged his love for horses and horseback riding. Personally, Mr. Portner was a man of engaging manners, and yet of shrewd business instincts. He had good executive ability and rare poise of judgment. These qualities, together with strict probity of character and great energy of mind, brought him well-deserved success.
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