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 24
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Among the elements of character contributing to his success in life, first and foremost is his own native ability, and then to be noticed are his remarkable grace of manner, attractive speech and tactful action, which render him universally popular. His dis- position received its strongest impress at home, where his father's example and conversation served to stimulate him to high pur- poses and noble achievement. Among the books which he has found most helpful in fitting him for his work in life are the Bible, and the works of Burns and Shakespeare. He is a mem-
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HARRY ST. GEORGE TUCKER
ber of the Phi Beta Kappa society, founded at William and Mary college, in 1776, and in religious preference is a Presby- terian. He has been identified all his life with the Democratic party, and although he has differed at times with its leaders he has always bowed to the will of the majority and supported the party nominations.
Mr. Tucker inherits the literary tendencies of his ancestors and, in 1899, edited the work composed by his father on the Con- stitution which was published in two volumes by Callahan and Company, Chicago, Illinois. The university at Oxford, Missis- sippi; and Columbian university at Washington, have conferred upon him the degree of LL. D.
For the benefit of young Americans who have the problems of life before them for solution, Mr. Tucker's advice is "Deter- mine early in life one's business or profession and stick to it."
Mr. Tucker has been twice married. His first wife was Henrietta P. Johnston, daughter of Colonel William Preston Johnston, by whom he had seven children, and his second wife, who still survives, was Martha Sharpe to whom he was married January 13, 1903.
Mr. Tucker's address is Lexington, Virginia.
SPARREL TYLER TURNER
1 URNER, SPARREL TYLER, merchant, farmer, stock- man and legislator, was born September 19, 1846, on a farm in Floyd county, Virginia. His father, Charles H. Turner, farmer, was an honest and industrious man. His mother, Violet A. Turner, was a strong influence for good in his life. His ancestry is probably Irish, but the early family records were lost.
His home has always been in the county in which he was born. As a boy he was healthy, strong and active, and was very fond of hunting and fishing. But his play time closed early, as his father died when he was only ten years old, and the burden of caring for his mother and seven sisters fell largely upon him. As a consequence he had very little schooling, though he was am- bitious to obtain an education. But he had grit and a desire to make money and be popular, and these qualities, when combined with industry, frugality and shrewdness, as was the case with Sparrel Turner, will go far toward securing success even where the knowledge of books is limited. His working chart was and still remains "Be honest, truthful and industrious; use ingenuity and be frugal; set your mark high and strive to make it.""
In 1864, before he was eighteen years old, he enlisted as a private in the Confederate army, and served with fidelity until the close of the war. When he left the army he returned to farming. As his means would permit he also engaged in stock raising, and by hard work, rigid economy, and careful manage- ment, he slowly but surely bettered his financial condition. Since 1883, he has also conducted successfully a general merchandising business, in Smart, Floyd county, and has built up an extensive trade and secured a business reputation that reaches beyond county lines.
He has been active in politcs as a Republican, and was elected to the Virginia house of delegates in 1893, and twice reelected, serving until 1898. Since 1902 he has been state senator for Floyd county. His party being in the minority during his en-
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tire service has prevented his name being associated with any successful legislation ; but among his colleagues he has earned the reputation of being a faithful and conscientious legislator, always ready to do his whole duty at the cost of any personal incon- venience or sacrifice. Among his constituents, most of whom have known him all his life, he is remarkably popular. He has never been defeated in a political contest, and has never failed in any business undertaking. His success has been fully deserved. On October 7, 1877, he married Flora Alice Thomas. They have had nine children, of whom eight are now (1908) living. His address is Smart, Floyd County, Virginia.
ALBERT HENRY TUTTLE
T I UTTLE, ALBERT HENRY, scientist and educator, was born at Cuyahoga Falls in Summit county, Ohio, Novem- ber 19, 1844, whence his parents moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in his eighth year. His father was Henry Blakeslee Tut- tle, a merchant of high integrity and fine executive ability, who declined to occupy public position, although frequently offered the opportunity by his fellow-citizens. His mother was Emeline Reed.
His earliest paternal ancestor in America was William Tut- tle, of New Haven, Connecticut, who emigrated from England to the New World in 1636; and on his mother's side his first ances- tor was also an Englishman, John Reed. Professor Tuttle counts among his ancestry a number of the leading men who made the New Haven colony.
His youth, which was spent chiefly in a city, was charac- terized by a fairly good physical condition and state of health; and in spite of his urban surroundings he evinced from an early age a special fondness for nature study. There were no regular tasks devolved upon him which required manual labor, beyond the ordinary household duties of a lad in a well to do home.
He attended the Cleveland high school, in Cleveland, Ohio; and later the Cleveland institute. Then he became a student in the State college of Pennsylvania from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science, in 1868, and with that of Master of Science in 1870. After his graduation from the State college of Pennsylvania he pursued post-graduate studies at Harvard university from 1870 to 1872;and in 1882-1883, he was a post-graduate student in Johns Hopkins university.
Professor Tuttle entered upon his distinguished career as an educator in the capacity of a teacher of natural science in the State Normal school at Plattsville, Wisconsin, in 1868, and taught there for two consecutive sessions. From 1870 to 1872 he was an instructor in microscopy in Harvard college; and in 1872 he was professor of zoology and geology in the State college of
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ALBERT HENRY TUTTLE
Pennsylvania. In 1873 he was called to the chair of zoology and comparative anatomy in the Ohio State university, where he continued to teach until 1888, when he was elected professor of biology in the University of Virginia, a position which he has filled with ability and distinction, and which he now holds.
In the War between the States Professor Tuttle served for three months as a private soldier in the 8th battery of the Ohio National guard.
He has written and published an " Introduction to the study of Bacteria " (1895) ; and " Elements of Histology " (1898) ; and has contributed various articles and papers to scientific journals.
He is a member of the Nu Sigma Nu and Phi Kappa Phi fra- ternities. He is an independent Republican in politics, and is a Congregationalist in religious affiliation. His recreations in the past have been hunting and fishing. He is now a golf player.
Professor Tuttle married in Paris, France, August 7, 1873, Kate Austin Seeley; and of their marriage have been born three children, all of whom are now (1908) living.
His address is University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Vir- ginia.
JOHN NOTTINGHAM UPSHUR
U PSHUR, JOHN NOTTINGHAM, M. D., physician, sur- geon, and educator; was born February 14, 1848, in Norfolk, Norfolk county, Virginia. His father, George Littleton Upshur, M. D., physician and surgeon, was for many years one of the most prominent members of his profession in Virginia, and surgeon United States Marine hospital, Norfolk, and was noted for indomitable courage, energy, application, and the purity of his life, characteristics transmitted by him in a marked degree to the son; his mother, Sarah Andrews (Parker) Upshur, a woman of high intellectual attainments and spirit- uality, influenced his life strongly, both intellectually and morally. He is of full-blood English stock; and his first American ancestor, Arthur Upshur, came from England and set- tled in Accomac county, Virginia, about 1645. Among the more distinguished kinsmen of his name Judge Abel P. Upshur, was, besides being an eminent jurist, secretary of the navy and secre- tary of state in President Tyler's cabinet.
His early life was spent in Norfolk. As a boy he was ambi- tious, and, inspired by his admiration of the career and character of his father, and by his own inclination, and encouraged by the advice of an uncle, he decided to follow in his professional foot- steps. He received his primary education in the common schools of Norfolk; then attended Norfolk Military academy, and later the Virginia Military institute, Lexington, of which he was an honorary graduate in 1864. Lack of means, incidental to the ravages of the Civil war, kept him from school for eighteen months, but during this time he worked on a farm and studied medicine. During the session of 1866-1867 he was a student at the University of Virginia, and in the fall of the latter year he entered the Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, from which he was graduated M. D. in 1868. The following year he was resident interne at Howard's Grove hospital, Virginia, after which he began the practice of medicine in Richmond, where he speedily earned a place in the front rank of his profession.
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JOHN NOTTINGHAM UPSHUR
In addition to his large private practice, he has filled the fol- lowing chairs in the Medical college of Virginia: acting and adjunct professor of medicine, 1882-1883; professor of materia medica and therapeutics, 1884-1894; clinical lecturer on women and children's diseases, 1884-1892, and professor of medicine, 1894-1899. He has written a book " Disorders of Menstruation," published in 1886, and many medical papers, all of which are recognized as authority upon the subjects of which they treat. He delivered the oration at the unveiling of the New Market monument, Lexington, in 1903. He was a member of the board of visitors of the Virginia Military institute, 1903-1906; presi- dent of the Richmond academy of medicine and surgery, 1897; president of the Tri-State Medical association of the Carolinas and Virginia, 1900-1901, and of the State Medical society of Vir- ginia, 1902-1903. He is honorary fellow of the Medical society of Virginia; the Tri-State Medical association of the Carolinas and Virginia, and of the Medical society of West Virginia. He was a member of the ninth International Medical congress, 1887, and of the first Pan-American Medical congress, 1893. He has in- vented two surgical instruments. He is a Mason, up to and in- cluding the Knight Templar degree, and thirty-second degree Scottish Rite. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. In politics he is a Democrat, but when finance was the supreme issue he sided with the gold wing of the party.
The most potent influence in his life has been contact with men, which aroused in him a desire to excel. He thinks every young man should be taught to have singleness of purpose and a laudable ambition to succeed, backed and sustained by purity of life; temperance in everything; total abstinence from alcohol in every form, tobacco and drug, and reverence for woman, and the Sabbath.
He has been married twice; first, November 19, 1873, to Lucy Tucker Whittle, daughter of Rt. Rev. F. M. Whittle, Bishop of Virginia; second, December 11, 1879, to Elizabeth S. Peterkin, only child of William S. Peterkin of Baltimore, Mary- land. Four children, one by first and three by second marriage, have been born to them, all of whom are now (1908) living.
His address is Richmond, Virginia.
Vol. 5-Va .- 22
GEORGE WILLIAM WALKER
W TALKER, GEORGE WILLIAM, professor of Latin in the Virginia Polytechnic institute at Blacksburg, Vir- ginia, was born in Berkeley county (then Virginia, now West Virginia) on the 5th of October, 1843. His father, James Thompson Walker, was a farmer, a man of ample means, of great firmness, integrity and industry, and keenly interested in giving his son the best opportunities for an education. His mother was Mrs. Eliza (Bowers) Walker.
His ancestors are Irish on his father's side and on the side of his mother, German. They came to Virginia just after the Revolutionary war. On both sides, the members of these families have been known for their religious character, their strong com- mon sense and their industrious habits.
James Walker had a hearty and happy boyhood. He was fond of observing natural phenomena, even in his early boyhood; and while still a young boy he took notable pleasure in listening to public speaking on political as well as religious themes. His father was wise enough to teach him to work upon the farm; and while he attended school, light duties were daily assigned him in connection with farm life. He was notably fond of the study of nature and literature; and while a boy working on his father's farm he used often to spend the whole evening in reading Virgil for pleasure after a hard day's work upon the farm.
He served in the Confederate army for three years during the Civil war. At the close of the war, his father furnished the means for him to prosecute his studies at college. Entering Hampden-Sidney college in 1865, he completed the full four years' course of study in three years, and was graduated with the degree of A. B., in 1868.
In the fall of that year he began a course in theology at Union Theological seminary in New York city, but his health failed him in 1869 and he was compelled to give up his theo- logical course and to spend some months in retirement at Pulaski county, Virginia, to regain his health.
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GEORGE WILLIAM WALKER
He began his professional work as a teacher while residing at Pulaski county, engaging in the work at first as a pastime, until he should be able to continue his theological studies. The work of teaching proved exceedingly attractive to him; and he soon decided to make it his life work. For eighteen years he conducted a private school of his own. In 1898 he was appointed to the chair of Latin in the Virginia Polytechnic institute at Blacksburg. Since 1905 he has been full professor of Latin. In addition to the work of his own department in the institute, Professor Walker has taken an active interest in other educa- tional institutions. For the last seven years he has been a trustee of the Farmville Female Normal school, having been appointed by Governor Tyler on November 26, 1901, and reappointed by Governor Montague on July 1, 1904, and by Governor Swanson on July 1, 1906. For four years he was president of the Vir- ginia State Sunday school association.
On the 6th of August, 1872, he married Miss Emma Wysor, of Pulaski county, Virginia. They have had eleven children, all of whom are living in 1908.
Professor Walker was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fra- ternity in college. He is a master Mason of his lodge. Of his political affiliations he writes, "I was born a Democrat, have lived a Democrat, and shall die a Democrat.
He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, South. For some years, Professor Walker found his favorite form of exer- cise in work upon a farm, and he still enjoys the work of garden- ing as relaxation and exercse.
To his young fellow-citizens of Virginia he offers this advice for the attainment of true success in life: "Honesty in life and purity of character are the foundation virtues. In- dustry is invaluable. While intelligence is a powerful force for success, it is honesty in work and life that will most surely win success. Be thorough in whatever you undertake to do."
The address of Professor Walker is Blacksburg, Virginia.
GUSTAVUS MICHAEL WALLACE
W ALLACE, GUSTAVUS MICHAEL, son of Gustavus
Brown and Emily Travers Daniel Wallace, was born February 15, 1849, in Stafford county, Virginia. His earliest known ancestors in America were the following:
Dr. Gustavus Brown, who came from Scotland to Maryland in 1708 and settled at Rich Hill, Charles county. His ninth daughter Margaret, the daughter of his second wife, married Thomas Stone. Travers Daniel, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, a native of Virginia, married Mildred, the daughter of Thomas Stone.
Dr. Michael Wallace, who came from Scotland to Charles county, Maryland, in 1734. He married Elizabeth, the eighth daughter of Dr. Gustavus Brown, and settled at Ellerslie, in Stafford county, Virginia, where Gustavus Wallace now lives.
Colonel Joseph Ball, who was born May 24, 1649, in England and came, in his infancy, to Virginia. Here with his parents he lived at Epping Forest, in Lancaster county. From his daugh- ter Hannah, who married Rawleigh Travers, is descended Travers Daniel, grandfather of Gustavus Michael Wallace.
Gustavus Brown Wallace, father of the subject of this sketch, was a farmer, who in 1874 represented his county in the state legislature of Virginia. He was a man of fine judgment, and of unusual executive ability.
The early life of Gustavus Michael Wallace was passed in the country. Though slight in build, he was noted for agility and was fond of boyish sports and amusements. He was care- fully nurtured but, during and after the war, he, like so many other Southern boys, found manual labor a necessity. Through its practice, however, he developed energy which has contributed materially to his subsequent success. He was blessed with a good mother, who trained him for a life of usefulness. He attended the private schools of his neighborhood and, later, Richmond college. In 1870, he studied in the University of Virginia, and, in the following year, in the University of Maryland, from which institution he was graduated in 1871 with the degree of M. D.
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GUSTAVUS MICHAEL WALLACE
Circumstances, combined with the desires of his parents, led him to adopt the profession of medicine. Immediately after graduating he entered upon the work of a practitioner of medi- cine in Stafford county, Virginia, which he continued for a num- ber of years. Later, however, he abandoned medicine and be- came a farmer. In December, 1897, and again in December, 1901, he was elected a member of the Virginia state senate on the Democratic ticket.
On June 25, 1872, Mr. Wallace married Dora Ashby Green ; three children have been born to them, all of whom are now living.
His address is Falmouth, Stafford County, Virginia.
EDMOND WARE WARBURTON
W ARBURTON, EDMOND WARE, was born October 3, 1861, in James City county, Virginia, and his parents were Robert Warburton and Martha Ware, his wife. Both his father and mother came of families settled at a very early period in the colony of Virginia. His first ancestor on his father's side was Thomas Warburton, who patented 200 acres, in 1664, on Powhatan creek in James City county. John Warbur- ton, of James City county, a descendant, married about 1710 Frances Booker, daughter of Richard Booker, of York county, by Margaret Lowry, his wife, daughter of William Lowry, one of the magistrates of Elizabeth City county and Frances Purifoy, a granddaughter of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Purifoy, a member of the Virginia council in 1631, and who came of the Purifoy family of Leicestershire, England, one of whom was created a baronet in 1661. According to the family account, John War- burton, their son, married his cousin, Miss Barret, of Barret's Ferry, and had two sons-John Warburton, who was a member, in 1774, of the James City county committee of safety, and Ben- jamin Warburton, who married Mary Cary Higginson, daughter of Robert Higginson and Mary Cary, of Warwick. Robert Hig- ginson was a member of the committee of safety for James City county, in 1774, and was descended, it is believed, from Captain Christopher Higginson, " a near kinsman of the Bishop of Ely." Their son, John Warburton, married Miss Cowles, and their son, John Cowles Warburton, married Mary E. Harris, daughter of Samuel Harris and Mary Travis, daughter of John Travis and Judith Langhorne, of Warwick, and they were the parents of Robert Warburton, the father of the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Warburton's mother, Martha Ware, was daughter of William Walker Ware, of James City county, and Letitia Power Gregory, sister of Judge John M. Gregory, who was acting gov- ernor of Virginia in 1840. Among his ancestors on this side were Major Joseph Croshaw, a burgess for York county ; Dr. Henry Power, of whom a long pedigree reaching far back in England
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is preserved; and Ralph Graves, who is still represented in Vir- ginia by many respectable descendants of the name.
Robert Warburton, his father, was a man of marked energy and will power, and his occupation was that of a farmer and lumber merchant. The son was born in the country, was healthy and strong, and his amusements in childhood and youth were hunting and fishing. Owing to the war his education was con- fined to the country schools, which he attended till his nineteenth year. While thus engaged, he also assisted his father in farm work and in the lumber business.
At twenty-one years of age he began work on his own account, and, believing that the lumber business was both lucra- tive and interesting, he devoted himself chiefly to this pursuit. His strong practical good sense soon achieved a great success, and it was not long before he was regarded as one of the leading lum- ber men of the Peninsula. Since 1900 he has been president of the Virginia Cordwood association, and since 1903 vice-president of the Peninsula Bank of Williamsburg. In 1905-1906 he was president of the Williamsburg Knitting Mill company, and at the present writing he is president of the Williamsburg board of trade.
Mr. Warburton has been a faithful supporter of the Demo- cratic party, having filled numerous local political offices. He was for a long time a member of the James City school board; from 1899 to 1904 he was a member of the Williamsburg city council; and at the present date he is mayor of that ancient city, a position to which he has been twice elected.
He is a member of the Westmoreland club in Richmond, and past master of Williamsburg Lodge No. 6, A. F. & A. M.
While not a member of any religious denomination, he pre- fers the Episcopal church in Williamsburg, of which he has been vestryman. He is fortunate in having a business that affords him plenty of exercise and amusement, but sometimes he resorts for special relaxation to fishing and hunting-the sports of his youth. He tells young men that the secret of success in life is " to stick to one's purpose," " select the business you like most and never give up." In estimating the influences which have most determined his success in life he puts, as first, contact with men
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in active life, as second, early companionship, as third, home sur- roundings, and, as fourth, school.
On January 27, 1887, he married Rosa L. Jones, of James City county, who died February 3, 1896, leaving four children, who still (1908) survive.
His address is Williamsburg, Virginia.
JOHN S. WEBB
W EBB, JOHN S., of Disputanta, Prince George county, Virginia, civil and mining engineer, railroad construc- tion engineer, and inventor and patentee of the Com- bined Rail-Joint and Chair, was born in Prince George county on July 24, 1848. His father, Samuel Gibson Webb, is a farmer, a merchant and a dealer in real estate, who served as postmaster at Disputanta before the war and as postmaster of Chuckatuck, Nansemond county, after the war; was chairman of the Read- juster party; and, in all that he undertook, was characterized by energy, promptness, sound judgment of men and efficient manage- ment of business affairs. His mother was Mrs. Catherine (Heath) Webb. Among his ancestors, the Heaths came from England and the Bairds from Scotland. Sir Robert Heath; Major Henry Heath of General Washington's staff; and Edwin Baird were among his prominent ancestors of colonial days on his mother's side; while on his father's side are Hardman Webb who came from England before the Revolution, and Judge John Robinson of Greenville county, Virginia, a captain in the War of the Revolution. The Heaths and the Bairds have had in suc- cessive generations numerous descendants along the coast of Vir- ginia through Dinwiddie and Prince George counties, Peters- burg, and in Richmond, Virginia.
Born and reared in the country, John Samuel Webb in his early boyhood suffered from "every sickness incident to child- hood." As he grew older, his health improved. He was excep- tionally fond of horses in his boyhood, and throughout his life has been a noted horseman and a good judge of horses. Apt at figures, his father, who was his first teacher, was inclined to pass over to the boy even before he was in his teens some of the responsibilities and duties of the two offices which he held, acting postmaster, and dispatcher and agent of the Norfolk and Western railway. The women teachers of the school he early attended were not exceptionally good in mathematics, and at twelve years he was taken out of the school room, and before he had ever seen
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