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 3
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ALEXANDER BROWN
In 1895, he published "The Cabells and their Kin," a most valuable thesaurus of genealogical facts about many of the old families of Virginia. In 1898, he published " The History of our Earliest History." In addition to these books, Dr. Brown has published articles in various periodicals, and anything from his pen always commands attention.
Some Virginia writers and students of history regard Dr. Brown as somewhat iconoclastic. They do not like, for instance, his attack upon the Pocahontas story, and rather resent his saying that Pocahontas did not save the life of Smith. We may say, however, that Dr. Brown is not the only historical investigator in Virginia to doubt the statements of the worthy Captain; some others think that he " shoots with a long bow." We ourselves are great champions of Captain Smith, but we also believe that history must not be gagged, and that, if the beautiful story of Pocahontas's saving Smith be a mere myth, we should let it go and not pass it off as real history. At all events, we have no word of criticism to utter against Dr. Alexander Brown. If he should happen to "explode" the "Pocahontas myth," he will give us enough new real history to make up for the loss of that pretty story.
Dr. Brown is a member of the Historical society of Virginia, of the American Historical association, of the Historical society of Tennessee, and of the Society of American Authors.
In politics he is a Democrat; in religious preference, an Episcopalian.
The Virginians have not overlooked Mr. Brown. Some years ago, he was elected to membership in the mother chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at the College of William and Mary. In 1901, the same institution made him a Doctor of Laws (LL. D.). The University of the South had already given him the degree of D. C. L. Among the scholars of the South, he stands preeminent. Among the historical investigators of the country, he has few equals and no superiors.
Dr. Brown has married twice : first, Caroline Cabell; second, Sara Randolph Cabell. He has no children.
Since the above sketch was written Dr. Brown died at his home in Nelson County, Virginia, on August 25, 1906.
THOMAS BROWN
B ROWN, THOMAS, merchant, farmer and educator, was born December 1, 1846, in Hague, Westmoreland county, Virginia. His father, Col. Thomas Brown, farmer, member of the state legislature, and superintendent of schools for Westmoreland county, was a man of high character and rigid integrity, and was noted for good sense and sound judgment. His mother, was Sarah S. (Cox) Brown, a woman of earnest piety, strong intellect and high character, who had a powerful and lasting influence upon his life. His ancestry is English ; one of the founders of the American branch of the family, Richard Lee, colonial secretary of Virginia under the governship of Sir William Berkeley, came from England in 1641 and settled in Northumberland county.
His boyhood was passed in the country. He was strong, active, and fond of the vigorous, health-giving outdoor sports of country boys. He was educated entirely by private tutors and study at home. Before he was eighteen, his love of his state and section was thoroughly aroused by the stirring events of the Civil war, so much of which was fought on the soil of the Old Dominion; and he put aside his books and took up a sabre and carbine, to do his share of fighting for home and fireside. On March 1, 1864, he enlisted as a private in Company C, 9th regi- ment Virginia cavalry. He participated in most of the cavalry movements of that last memorable year, serving until the sur- render of General Lee, and making a gallant record.
In May, 1865, he started a general mercantile business in Hague, and successfully conducted it for years, earning a wide reputation for business sagacity and fair dealing. He served most acceptably as justice of the peace from 1872 to 1883; he was deputy collector of United States Internal Revenue from 1893 to 1897. For most of his adult life he has been a successful farmer. In 1900 he was appointed superintendent of schools for Westmoreland county-a position long held by his father; and his administration gave such general satisfaction that in 1901 he
-De- of Mach Sub hi- Wishing !----
yours truly
2
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THOMAS BROWN
was elected for a four year term; and he was reelected for another term in 1905.
He is a good citizen who can be depended upon to do his full duty conscientiously in any position he may assume. He enjoys the esteem and respect of all his fellow-citizens; and his many good qualities have made him many friends.
In politics he is and has always been a Democrat. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. His favorite recre- ation is hunting.
He married Charlotte E. Claybrook.
His address is Hague, Westmoreland County, Virginia.
Vol. 5-Va .- 3
PHILIP ALEXANDER BRUCE
B RUCE, PHILIP ALEXANDER, son of Charles and Sarah Seddon Bruce, was born at Staunton Hill, Char- lotte county, Virginia, on March 7, 1856. He received his first education from tutors at the family home, and there also enjoyed the advantage of the finest libraries in Virginia :
He was sent to Norwood School, Nelson county, and after- wards entered the University of Virginia, where he paid special attention to English studies, and was for some time one of the editors of the magazine published by the students. He also won the debater's medal of the Jefferson society. Later he passed two years at Harvard university, from which institution he was graduated as Bachelor of Laws. About 1890 he became associate editor of the "Richmond Times." Two years later he was chosen corresponding secretary of the Virginia Historical society, which position he held for six years, resigning to continue his colonial researches in England.
In 1907 Mr. Bruce received the degree of Doctor of Laws from William and Mary College. He is the author of "The Plantation Negro as a Freeman," "Economic History of Virginia in the Sev- enteenth Century," "Social Life of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century," "Rise of the New South," "Short History of the United States," "Life of General R. E. Lee," and of numerous articles in American and English reviews and magazines.
In 1896 Mr. Bruce married Mrs. Betty Taylor Newton, of Nor- folk, Virginia, daughter of Captain John Saunders Taylor, who was killed on the field of Sharpsburg, Maryland.
The address of Mr. Bruce is Clarkton, Halifax County, Vir- ginia.
Me
yours very Truly Je Buford
ALGERNON SIDNEY BUFORD
B UFORD, COLONEL ALGERNON SIDNEY, most prominently and most honorably connected with the development of the Richmond and Danville railroad, of which he was elected president in 1865 when the road had but one hundred and forty miles of trackage and of which he con- tinued president for twenty-two years, turning over to his suc- cessor in the presidency a line of more than three thousand miles; representative, first of Pittsylvania county and later of the city of Richmond in the Virginia legislature; one of the most active members, and for four years president of the Virginia Agricul- tural and Mechanical society; and chief of the Virginia board of managers of the Columbian exposition at Chicago in 1893 ;- is of Virginia parentage, and has been a Virginian throughout his life, although he was born (January 2, 1826) in Rowan county, North Carolina. His father was William Buford, of Lunenburg county, Virginia, a grandson of Henry Buford of Culpeper county, Virginia, of Revolutionary times; and his entire colonial ancestry were strong adherents to the interests of the American colonists. His mother was Mrs. Susan Robertson (Shelton) Buford of Pittsylvania county, Virginia.
From earliest years, decided strength of character and indi- cations of exceptional ability marked the boy. His primary edu- cation was given him in the school taught by his father; and under his father's care at home, he acquired a thorough practical knowledge of agriculture. As a young man he "spent much time between the plow handles;" and like other thoughtful young men whose early years are passed in the country, he pondered much upon the conditions of life in his state and the problem of how to meet those conditions for the welfare of his fellow-citizens. Determining to become a teacher, he saved his earnings with the purpose of studying at a university ; and for two years he taught in preparation for a course in law at the University of Virginia. In 1848, he was graduated from a two years' course at that insti- tution, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws.
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ALGERNON SIDNEY BUFORD
He began the practice of his profession in his mother's native county, Pittsylvania ; but his professional circuit included the neighboring counties, and while he was still a very young lawyer, he was called to cross swords in legal combat with some of the leading men of the Virginia bar. Widening acquaintance and broadening experience led to the wish for better opportunities for winning fame and fortune in a more populous community; and he removed to Danville, Virginia. Here his facile pen and his fluent and thoughtful speech quickly brought him prominently into notice; and in addition to his professional work, he became owner and editor of the "Danville Register." Editorial work led naturally to politics, and political preferment was thrust upon him. In 1853 he served a single term in the Virginia legis- lature from Pittsylvania county, declining a reelection. Return- ing to his work at the bar and at the editorial desk, he steadily grew in strength and popularity throughout his section of the state. After the passing of the ordinance of secession, in the spring of 1861, he abandoned a lucrative law practice and enlisted in the Confederate States army as a private soldier from Pittsyl- vania county. He served in the Army of Northern Virginia until the fall of 1861, when the people of Pittsylvania again elected him to the house of delegates; and in this official position he was continued until the end of the war. While a member of the house he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel by brevet in the Virginia militia by Governor John Letcher, and was assigned to special service in aid of the campaign in the field. While per- forming this duty, he established what was affectionately known .as "Buford's Home;" and many were the soldiers who enjoyed its comforts, while multitudes of Confederate soldiers profited by his watchful care of the supplies which were designed for those in the field and were by him forwarded to their destination.
At the close of the war he returned to Danville and, in October, 1865, he was elected president of the Richmond and Dan- ville railroad. When he assumed this office, that railroad had but one hundred and forty miles of trackage. To its develop- ment he devoted that executive talent with which he was so largely endowed, and the untiring energy which always char- acterized his life-work.
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ALGERNON SIDNEY BUFORD
In 1887, after he had carried the load for twenty-two years of masterful management through the depressing and continued difficulties which stood in the way of its development and laid heavy loads financially and personally upon his own shoulders, he turned it over to his successor in the presidency with a track- age of three thousand miles. The Southern Railway company is under very great obligations to him for the labors and hardships he underwent in building up this very important part of the Southern railroad.
Perhaps his crowning industrial achievement was the build- ing (with the most meager resources at his disposal, and without available cash capital,) of the Atlantic and Charlotte railway. Of the thousands of passengers, pleasure-seekers from all parts of the country as well as Virginians, who are now delightfully hur- ried over this favorite route of the country's pleasure-seekers, but few think of the miles of toilsome riding in the saddle in search of the most economical route which the zealous, industrious and self-sacrificing president of this line, Colonel Buford, put into the establishment of the railroad; or of the hours of anxious and courageous planning required in the building of the first great railroad built by any Southern man after the war.
In 1866, he removed from Danville to Richmond, Virginia. He represented Richmond in the legislature of Virginia in 1877. When after twenty-two years of continuous reelection as president of the Richmond and Danville railroad, interests adverse to his established policy of administration came into control of the property, his own high spirit and his sense of loyalty to what he believed to be the best interests of the people of his state, led him to tender promptly and positively his resignation of the office of president; although earnest assurances were made to him that his continued cooperation was regarded as a factor of the great- est importance in the further development of the company.
Freed from the especial official responsibility which had rested upon him for twenty-two years, he turned his attention toward the reconstruction and enriching of Virginia's great farm lands. For years he was an active member of the Virginia Agri- cultural and Mechanical society, and he was its president for four years, establishing it upon a safe and sound basis. In 1893
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ALGERNON SIDNEY BUFORD
he was appointed by the governor of the state at the head of the Virginia board of managers of the Columbian exposition at Chicago.
In May, 1893, a persistent and most complimentary call from many parts of the state demanded from him an announcement of his candidacy for the office of governor of Virginia; and although the long existing organization of the political powers of the state led to the choice for this office of Colonel Charles T. O'Ferrall, Colonel Buford in the contest proved himself a most worthy foeman.
Colonel Buford in 1854 married Miss Emily W. Townes, of Pittsylvania county, Virginia; and their daughter Emily is now Mrs. Clement Manly of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1872, he married Miss Kate A. Wortham, of Richmond, Vir- ginia. They had one daughter, Miss Katie T. Buford. Some years later, Colonel Buford married his present wife, Mrs. Mary Cameron Strother (née Ross,) by whom he has three children, Algernon Sidney, Jr., Mary Ross, (now Mrs. Frederick E. Nolt- ing, Richmond, Virginia,) and William Erskine Buford.
In the successive official positions which he has filled, Colonel Buford has always been conspicuously considerate, courteous and kindly, alike to men of low or high degree. While he has held himself under the strictest obligations to render justice to all those with whom he has dealt, and has held his whole life subject to the fine old maxim, "fiat justitia ruat coelum," yet he has been liberal in his gifts, and his charities have been limited only by the length of his purse and by the opportunities presented him. His many friends feel that a life-work like his, reaching to an old age which has already passed four score; furnishes an example to young Virginians, and to all who know the facts of this life of active service.
Faillefully yours Chos Naumy love
CHARLES VENABLE CARRINGTON
C ARRINGTON, CHARLES VENABLE, was born in Charlotte county, Virginia, the son of Alexander B. Carrington and Frances Isabelle Venable. On his father's side he is descended from Dr. William Cabell, who came to Virginia from Warminster, England about 1725, settled in Albemarle county, and procured extensive grants of land along the James in the present counties of Buckingham, Amherst, Ap- pomattox and Nelson. Among his sons was Colonel Nicholas Cabell, born October 29, 1750. He was lieutenant-colonel in the American Revolution, and afterwards served as a member of the state senate from the district composed of Albemarle, Nelson and Buckingham counties. He died August 18, 1803. By his wife, Han- nah Carrington, he had, among other sons, William H. Cabell, who served as governor of the state, and judge of the state su- preme court. By his second wife, Agnes S. B. Gamble, daughter of Colonel Robert Gamble, Governor Cabell had, among other children, Emma Catherine Cabell, born March 10, 1808, who married May 9, 1826, Paul C. Carrington, a farmer of Charlotte county, son of Judge Paul Carrington, the younger, and grand- son of Judge Paul Carrington, the elder. Their son was Alex- ander Broadnax Carrington, born in August, 1834, who married Frances Isabelle Venable, daughter of Nathaniel E. Venable, the son of Colonel S. W. Venable, of Prince Edward county.
Charles V. Carrington, son of the Alexander B. Carrington just named, was educated in the public schools of Charlotte county and by a private tutor, Mr. Marshall Jones, who prepared him for the University of Virginia, which he entered in the year 1885. At this institution he took the academic course for a year, and afterwards spent three years studying medicine, taking the degree of doctor of medicine in 1889. For a time before going to the university, he taught school and was also a clerk in a law- yer's office. Upon his graduation from the university, he be- came the resident physician of St. Luke's hospital, Richmond, Virginia, the private hospital of the distinguished Southern sur-
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CHARLES VENABLE CARRINGTON
geon, Hunter McGuire, of that city. He was resident physician during the summer at Natural Bridge, Virginia, and was after- wards resident physician at the Alleghany Springs in the same state for five years. He was associate professor of clinical sur- gery at the University College of Medicine at Richmond, Vir- ginia; visiting surgeon at the Magdalene home; and surgeon to the State penitentiary, the Richmond Traction company and the United States Recruiting station.
He is a member of the Richmond Academy of medicine and surgery, of the Virginia Medical society and of the American Medical association. He is also a member of the Association of miltary surgeons and examiner for a number of life insurance companies, including the Mutual Life Insurance company of New York, the Washington Life of New York, the Manhattan Life of New York, the Sun Life of Canada, and the Hartford Life of Hartford. He was surgeon-general of the state of Vir- ginia on Governor J. Hoge Tyler's staff; and prior to this was the surgeon of the 1st Virginia regiment, and later surgeon of the Richmond Light Infantry Blues battalion. He is a contrib- ntor to the "Virginia Medical Journal," and to other medical journals. He has never held political office, but has been chair- man of the finance committee of the city Democratic organiza- tion of Richmond. While at the university he was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity and the Eli Bananna society. He is a member of the Westmoreland, the Commonwealth, the Albe- marle, the Virginia, and other social clubs of the city. In politics he is a Democrat.
On the 6th of June, 1894, he married Avis Walker, daughter of Major D. N. Walker, of Richmond. His present address is 932 Park Avenue, Richmond, Virginia.
ROBERT CATLETT
ATLETT, ROBERT, was born in the city of Petersburg, Virginia, May 27, 1855, and his parents were John Robert Catlett, a tobacco manufacturer, and Celine Henry. On his father's side he is descended from Colonel John Catlett, who represented Essex county in the Virginia house of burgesses in 1693, 1695, 1700 and 1702. This first ancestor emigrated from Kent county, England, where his people were men of landed estates. On his mother's side Mr. Catlett is descended from Colonel John Henry, who came to Virginia from Scotland about 1729 and settled in Hanover county. Colonel John Henry's son, the famous Patrick Henry, " one of the few, the immortal names that were not born to die," was Mr. Catlett's great-grandfather. Since he attained the age of a school boy at the time the War be- tween the States broke out, Mr. Catlett had many difficulties to overcome in acquiring an education. But his experience was unlike that of many Southern youth, for his circumstances were not such as to require him to undertake any manual labor of a regular kind. He attended Charlotte Hall in Maryland, and sometime after graduated in the academic course at the Maryland Agricultural college. In 1876-1877 he took a course of professional study in the law at the University of Virginia, and soon after entered upon the practice of his profession in Charlotte county, Virginia. While the influence of his mother upon his intellectual, moral, and spiritual life was great, the choice of his profession was his own; for the accurate, methodical habits of a lawyer were born with him and were suited to his genius. In 1887 he was elected a member of the house of delegates for Charlotte county, and served two years. Then he was elected commonwealth's attorney of Rockbridge county, Virginia, and served eight years. In 1904 he served for a short time as superintendent of schools. As a lawyer Mr. Catlett stands very high and he is popular in all circles, being possessed of that calm dignity of character which guarantees his descent from the best Virginia blood. As a merited endorsement of his high legal acquirements, he has been
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ROBERT CATLETT
lately appointed by the attorney-general of Virginia his assistant, under the recent action of the legislature creating the position. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and grand chancellor of the Knights of Pythias.
His chief amusement is found in taking long walks, and reading improving books. His wife was Jennie Daniel, whom he married September 7, 1881. Three children resulted from this marriage, of whom two survive.
Mr. Catlett's present address is Lexington, Virginia.
FRANK PATTESON CHRISTIAN
C HRISTIAN, FRANK PATTESON, lawyer and judge, was born in Lynchburg, Campbell county, Virginia, November 18, 1858. His father was Edward D. Chris- tian, also a lawyer, and at one time commonwealth's attorney for the county of Campbell. His mother was Cornelia Burton.
Judge Christian's ancestry is a distinguished one in Vir- ginia. His earliest progenitor in America was Thomas Chris- tian, who emigrated in 1687 from the Isle of Man, where the family still flourishes, and, coming to the colony of Virginia, settled in Charles City county. Among his descendants have been many prominent lawyers and judges of the name in the colony and the commonwealth.
One of Judge Christian's ancestors was Henry Christian, his great-grandfather, who served with distinction in the American army in the war of the Revolution under Major-General the Marquis deLafayette.
Judge Christian's early life was spent in the city of Lynch- burg, where he evinced the normal boyish fondness for outdoor sports and exercise. As a youth he showed a predilection for metaphysical studies. He attended the private and public schools of his native city, but never had the advantage of a col- legiate or university course. Having determined as a youth to become a lawyer, he studied law privately, and later pursued for two summers a course of study in the summer law school con- ducted by the late Professor John B. Minor for a number of years during the latter part of his life, and with great distinction, at the University of Virginia.
Judge Christian began active life in 1873 as a messenger boy in Lynchburg for the Western Union Telegraph company. For a while he was in mercantile life, and later became principal of one of the Lynchburg city schools, a position which he filled from September 1879 to July 1887. Having been admitted to the bar, he was elected commonwealth's attorney for Lynchburg, and held the office from 1890 to 1894. In January, 1895, he be-
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FRANK PATTESON CIIRISTIAN
came judge of the corporation court of the city of Lynchburg, to which position he was elected by the general assembly. He dis- charged the duties of this responsible position to the satisfaction of the public, and with such credit and distinction to himself that he was reelected for a second term beginning in January, 1900; and this term he is now filling.
Judge Christian has been a director of the First National bank of Lynchburg since 1894, and is president of the Imperial Colliery company, the Black Wolf, and the Stonewall and Terry Coal and Coke companies. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; and is a Democrat in his political faith. He voted with the gold Democrats on the money issue in the national presidential campaign of 1896.
On January 28, 1890, Judge Christian married Mary L. Dearing, the only daughter of the distinguished Confederate general, James Dearing, who was a cadet in the United States Military academy at the breaking out of the War between the States in 1861, and resigning, entered the Confederate army in which he rose successively from lieutenant to captain, major and colonel, and was finally promoted to the rank of brigadier-gene- ral for gallantry at the battle of Plymouth. General Dearing died in April, 1865, from a wound received by him in a personal encounter with Brigadier-General Theodore Read of the Union army on the retreat of the Confederate forces from Petersburg to Appomattox, in which the two combatants met each other at the head of their respective forces, and in which General Read was shot dead, while General Dearing survived his wound but a few days.
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