USA > Virginia > Some prominent Virginia families, Volume IV > Part 30
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When Mrs. Madison was married to her first husband, Mr. Todd. Anthony Morris, of Philadelphia, was one of the grooms- men, and he attended her funeral from St. John's Church. He was given a seat in a pew, where sat his bridesmaid, then Mrs. Bland Lee. The meeting was altogether accidental.
Col. James Madison, Sr., had six sons and four daughters. Much might be written that is interesting of each, but we have not the space to give them all in this record. His eldest daughter :
Nelly Conway Madison, born at Montpelier, Feb. 14, 1760, mar- ried (January 2, 1783) Maj. Isaac Hite, Jr., of Belle Grove. Issue :
I. "James Madison Hite, was born on Thursday, April 10, precisely at 12 o'clock, 1788. He died Dec. 8, 1791, aged 3 years and 8 months."
II. "Nelly Conway Hite, was born Tuesday p. m., half after seven, on the first day of Dec., 1789."
III. "Their second son, James Madison Hite, was born Jan. 29, 1793, at 2 o'clock p. m."
II. Nelly Conway Hite, daughter of Maj. Isaac Hite, of Belle Grove, married Dr. Cornelius Baldwin, of Winchester, Va. They had six children :
1. Eleanor Conway Baldwin.
2. Mary Briscoe Baldwin.
3. Isaac Hite Baldwin.
4. Ann Maury Baldwin.
5. James Madison Baldwin.
6. Robert Stuart Baldwin.
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1. Eleanor Conway Baldwin married Edward Jaquelin Davi- son of Winchester, Va. Their descendants will be given in the Davison branch.
2. Mary Briscoe Baldwin, daughter of Dr. Cornelius Baldwin and Nelly Conway, née Hite, was born May 20, 1811, at Belle Grove. She was a child remarkable for her intelligence, thought- ful and fond of study beyond her years. On almost every sub- ject which presented itself, she formed her own opinions, which she advanced invariably with a reason and great originality. Mattered not how much she admired, she was never known to imitate. Soon after her confirmation she became desirous of entering domestic missions, but thinking she was not fully pre- pared for teaching, she accepted a position in Miss Sheffy's select boarding school in Staunton. While she was teaching there, Dr. and Mrs. Hill, Protestant Episcopal missionaries at Athens, Greece, applied to the Board of Foreign Missions for an assistant. The position was offered Miss Baldwin, she accepted, and in the spring of 1835 took passage in a sailing vessel, accompanied by Miss Frederika Mulligan, for Greece. They reached their destination at midsummer, after a long and uneventful voyage. Save Palestine, "the cradle of Christianity," there is no land in either continent possessed of so many stirring memories and asso- ciations as classic Greece. Mary Baldwin felt their power and, under the shadow of Mars Hill, addressed herself to the task of uplifting the people, with the characteristic wisdom and energy which crowned all her undertakings with success. She soon be- came invaluable to the mission and was known throughout the city of Athens as the "Good Lady Mary." She labored here most happily and successfully, until about 1867, when her nephew, the Hon. J. Baldwin Hay, was appointed Vice Consul from the United States to Jaffa, the only seaport of Palestine. He soon became interested in the intelligent Arab boys that thronged its streets. He purchased a lot outside the city wall, adjoining that of the German Colony, and built a house containing six rooms besides the school room. This building he imported from America and. employing native teachers educated in Beirut Protestant Syrian College, established a ragged school. This school he superintended himself until he was appointed Consul General of Syria, which
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necessitated his removal to Beiriit. His mission, which had pros- pered well, was now without proper supervision and Miss Bald- win thought her services more needed there, than in Athens, so she applied to the Board of Missions for a transfer to Joppa. It was given and in 1869 entered on her new field of service, where she worked with unremitting zeal for eight years, dying 1877, after having spent forty-two years in active work in foreign missions among the Athenians, Cretans and Arabs. In all those years she visited her home in America but twice, first in 1846, and again in 1872. She was buried in the Greek Church Cemetery at Joppa in a spot overlooking a large part of the scene of her labors in the Holy Land. A beautiful shaft of white Italian marble, erected by her brother, Dr. J. Hite Baldwin, Sr., in the United States Navy, marks the spot. Miss Baldwin's life has been written by Mrs. Emma R. Pittman. It is entitled, "Mission Life in Greece and Palestine."
3. Isaac Hite Baldwin, son of Dr. Cornelius Baldwin and Nelly Conway, née Hite, b. 1813, took his degree in medicine at the Penn. Medical College in Philadelphia, and was appointed surgeon in the U. S. Army. He served throughout the Florida war and for a while was stationed at Tampa, but he tired of a soldier's life in time of peace, so resigned and made his home in Frederick County, Va., where he died, leaving a widow, but no children.
4. Ann Maury Baldwin, daughter of Dr. Cornelius Baldwin and Nelly Conway, née Hite, was born -1817. After the death of her parents she lived at Belle Grove with her step-grandmother, Mrs. Isaac Hite, née Maury. In 1844 she married Mrs. Hite's nephew, Isaac Hite Hay, a lawyer in Vicksburg, son of Mr. John Hay, of Berryville, Clark Co., Va., and his wife, Mary Grymes, néc Maury. (John Hay, of Berryville, was grandson of the Hon. John Hay, of Kilsyth, Scotland.) Ann and Isaac Hite Hay had one child, John Baldwin Hay, b. 1845. Not long after his birth his father died and Mrs. Hay made her home in Jefferson City, Mo., with her sister, Mrs. Edward J. Davison. Three years later both Mr. and Mrs. Davison died, leaving three children. Mrs. Hay brought these children to Virginia. The two eldest were taken in charge by other aunts, but the youngest, Edmonia Louise Davison, she adopted. In 1853 Mrs. Hay joined
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her sister, Miss Baldwin, in Greece, Europe, taking with her the little Edmonia and her son, Baldwin Hay, whom she wished to educate abroad. In 1856 Edmonia died and was buried at Athens, in the Greek cemetery. When John Baldwin Hay finished his collegiate course, he secured an appointment as Vice Consul at Joppa, Palestine. A few years later he was appointed Consul General of Syria. Mr. Hay established a ragged school for boys while at Joppa. His aunt took charge of it in 1869. Later, after her death, it was developed into the "Mary Baldwin Memorial ·Mission."
While living at Beirut, Mr. Hay married Miss Cornelia Badger, of Philadelphia, Pa., who died 1879, leaving three sons and two daughters, who, after her death, were brought to America and given to the care of their maternal grandmother, then Mrs. Arthur Morehead, of Philadelphia, Pa. About this time Mr. Hay received a severe sunstroke, which ended his career of usefulness. The youngest daughter died soon after her arrival in America. The eldest, Alice, is now Mrs. John Leeds, of Morristown, New Jersey. The three sons were educated in Philadelphia; two are living there still. Frrol married in New York City and makes his home there.
6. Robert Stuart Baldwin, son of Dr. Cornelius Baldwin and Eleanor Conway, née Hite, graduated in Medicine at the Uni- versity of Virginia and married (1847) Letitia Jane Speck, niece of Mr. James Haggarty, U. S. Consul at Liverpool, Eng- land. He made his home in Southwestern Virginia where his descendants still reside.
III. James Madison Hite, son of Maj. Isaac Hite, of Belle Grove and Nelly Conway, née Madison, b. January 29, 1793. at 2 o'clock p. m .; graduated at William and Mary College in 1814, and married (January 12, 1815) Caroline Matilda Irvine, of Lynchburg, Va. In order to secure for his bride of sixteen summers greater social advantages than the neighborhood of Belle Grove afforded, Maj. Hite purchased for the youthful pair a plantation in Clarke Co., then a part of Frederick Co., and called it Guilford. He paid for it sixty thousand dollars in cash. James Madison Hite, Sr., died Jan. 11, 1860. leaving four children, namely :
1. Caroline Matilda Hite, Jr.
2. Isaac Irvine Hite.
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3. James Madison Hite, Jr.
4. Ann Eliza Hite.
1. Caroline Matilda Hite, Jr., daughter of James Madison Hite, Sr., married at sixteen Maj. Alexander Baker, of Clarke Co. Only two out of their eight children survive them : Alexander Baker and Lillian Baker. Neither has married, and they make their home near Millwood, Clarke Co., Va.
2. Isaac Irvine Hite, son of James Madison Hite, Sr., born 1820. Married, first, Susan Burwell Meade, daughter of Col. Richard Kidder Meade, of "Lucky Hit," Clarke Co., in 1838. He was eighteen and she seventeen. She died leaving six children. In less than two years he married a second wife, Mrs. Ann Maria Cutler, daughter of Dr. Arthur Hopkins, of Lovingston, West Virginia. There were no children by this last marriage. Only three of his six children attained maturity. William Meade Hite enlisted in the Confederate service, at sixteen and was killed in his first engagement a few weeks later. Isaac Irvine Hite, Jr., also died in the Confederate service before he was twenty. Two daughters, Susan Randolph Hite and Mary Meade Hite, married two brothers, Messrs. Baker, and removed to Florida, where their descendants live. Mr. and Mrs. Hite both died in Florida.
3. James Madison Hite, Jr., son of James Madison Hite, Sr., was born at Guilford, Clarke Co. Married Harriet Green Meade, daughter of Col. Richard Kidder Meade, of "Lucky Hit," and Rebecca, née Green, on December, 1849. Both died in Baltimore. Md., leaving but one child, Drayton Meade Hite, a successful business man also living in Baltimore.
4. Ann Eliza Hite, daughter of James Madison Hite, Sr., was born at Guilford, 1831. Married (June 12, 1848, when seventeen ) Thomas Julian Skinker, Sr., of Stafford Co., Va. Issue eight children, only four of whom lived to be married, viz. :
I. Thomas Julian Skinker, Jr.
II. Hampson Skinker.
III. Cornelius Hite Skinker.
IV. Hugh Garland Skinker.
I. Thomas Julian Skinker, Jr., son of Thomas Julian Skin- ker. Sr., and Ann Eliza, née Hite, b. 1849. Married (1822) Nannie Brown Rose, daughter of Fontaine Rose and Betty, née
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Maury, of Stafford Co., Va. They moved to St. Louis Co., Mo., where Mrs. Skinker died, leaving a large family, who have settled in the west.
II. Hampson Skinker, son of Thomas Julian Skinker, Sr., and Ann Eliza, née Hite. Married, first, Maria Carr, daughter of Judge Carr, of Roanoke, Va. She died, leaving no children, and he married. second, Annie Mai Kennerley, daughter of Capt. Joseph Kennerley and Josepha Beale, of "Greenway Court," Clarke Co., Va. Mr. Skinker died, leaving two children, Mary Clothilde Skinker and Dorothy Ann Skinker. "Greenway Court" was the home of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, and was left by him to his nephew, Mr. Martin, who, dying a bachelor, it passed out of the family.
III. Cornelius Hite Skinker, son of Thomas Julian Skinker and Ann Eliza, née Hite, is a successful lawyer in Bolivar, Polk Co .. Mo. He married (1888) Minnie Lee Gravey. Issue, three children : Howard Skinker, Cornelius Hite Skinker, Jr., and Lois Evelyn Skinker.
IV. Hugh Garland Skinker, son of Thomas Julian Skinker, Sr., and Ann Eliza, née Hite. Married Annie Lee Rucker, of Loudoun Co., Va. Issue :
1. Hugh Garland Skinker, Jr.
2. Julian Hampson Skinker.
3. Susan Hite Skinker.
Nelly Conway, née Madison, first wife of Maj. Isaac Hite, of Belle Grove, died December 24, 1802.
Maj. Isaac Hite, of Belle Grove, was married a second time to Anne Tunstall Manry, December 1, 1803. She was born September 14, 1782, and was daughter of Rev. Walker Maury, son of Rev. James Maury and Mary, née Walker, of Albemarle Co., Va.
FONTAINE-MAURY FAMILY.
Coat-of-Arms-Argent a fesse, embattled between two elephants' heads, erased, with tusks depressed in chief, on base. Three masted ships, with sails and pennants spread.
C'rest-An elephant's head erased, with tusks depressed.
Mon. Jean de la Fontaine, son of Jaques de la Fontaine, born in the Province of Maine on the borders of Normandy in 1500, was a cultured man of rare ability and strict integrity. When he
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VIRGINIA FAMILIES
attained his majority his father procured for him a commission in the household of Francis I, of France, in "L'Ordonnance du Roi." Jean retained this commission, not only through the reign of Francis I, but during those of Henry II and Francis II and until the second year of Charles IX, when he resigned.
Jean and his father were converted to Protestantism in 1535, while he was living at court. During that time he had also mar- ried and had four sons. For several years he had been desirous of retiring from the service of the king, but remained, thinking it a safeguard for himself and family against persecution, and it also afforded him many opportunities of shielding his Protestant brethren, he being much beloved by his brother officers, as well as the men under his command.
In 1561 the "Edict of Pacification," commonly known as the "January Edict," was granted. He now resigned and retired to his paternal estates, thinking in private life to worship accord- ing to his convictions of right, unmolested. It was a fatal mis- take. In 1563, by order of Charles IX, a band of soldiers, at midnight, entered his house and ruthlessly murdered him, his wife and their faithful valet. His son, James, b. 1549, only fourteen years of age, fled with his two younger brothers to Rochelle, then a Protestant stronghold, where friends cared for them.
James became a merchant, married, and had a son called for himself, James, born 1603, who entered the ministry. While studying for orders he became tutor to the sons of the Countess of Royan. When he was ordained he took charge of the "United Churches of Vaux and Royan." In 1628 he married a Miss Thompson, of London, who was said to be a most accomplished lady, "speaking French fluently and playing well upon the spinette." She died 1641 and the Rev. James de la Fontaine married Mlle. Marie Chaillon, of Pons, in Saintonge. This James is described as "a very handsome man, of rare attainments and most persuasive eloquence." He died 1666, loved and honored of all. He left a large family and four of his sons entered the ministry. His son James was one of the four. He was born at Jenonville, 1658, and later wrote his father's memoirs. Just as he completed his college course his mother, Marie Chaillon, died
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and he came at once into a handsome property, these estates lying at Jenonville and Jaffa. He was the youngest of the family and like his predecessors, devoted to the Protestant cause. He suffered accordingly. Several times he was imprisoned and heavily fined. Benoit, in his history of the "Edict of Nantes," gives an account
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REV. JAQUES DE LA FONTAINE, b. 1603 Rector of the Churches of Vaux and Royan
of his trial and imprisonment on one occasion. Vol. 3, pp. 744 and 245.
In October, 1695, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes and nothing was left for Protestants but recantation, death or flight. James determined on the latter if possible. He went to Trem- blade, taking with him his niece and god-daughter. Jeanette
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VIRGINIA FAMILIES
Forester, his fiancée, Anne Boureiquot, and her sister Elizabeth. After overcoming innumerable and almost insurmountable diffi- culties and dangers, this party, with eight others, entered a little shallop and put to sea, aiming to reach a point near the Isle of Oberon, where they hoped to waylay an English vessel with a Protestant captain. The plan succeeded, and after the English vessel had been searched for refugees, de la Fontaine and his party boarded her, in sight of the French frigate, and, December 1, 1685, were safely landed at Appledore in the English channel. Their first settlement was made at Barnstable, where about a vear later James de la Fontaine and Ann Boureiquot were married, February 8, 1686.
The de la Fontaines made their home in England, until 1694, when Mr. Fontaine accepted an invitation to take charge of a church in Cork, Ireland. In 169? the city presented him with the freedom of the borough.
After the de la Fontaines lost their property they gave up the prefix of de la to their name, as it marked them as belonging to a position in life which they could not maintain.
In 1698 Mr. Fontaine left Cork and removed to Bear Haven and thence to Dublin. Here he opened a school of ancient and modern languages. In 1721 his wife died and his children be- came scattered.
Peter was ordained in the Church of England in 1715. Mar- ried Elizabeth Founeau, emigrated to Virginia and became first rector of Westover Parish on the James River. Here his wife died, leaving two children, a son and a daughter, Peter Fontaine, Jr., and Mrs. Isaac Winston. The Rev. Peter Fontaine married a second time and had five other children, viz .: 1Moses, 2Sarah, 3 Elizabeth, +Joseph, and "Aaron. The eldest son, Peter Fontaine, Jr., became a noted surveyor in Lunenburg Co., on the borders of North Carolina. He made one of the earliest maps of that section. The youngest son, Aaron Fontaine, settled in Louisa Co., and is mentioned in early records, as Capt. Aaron Fontaine, in 1797. His son, Col. Fontaine, was one of the first presidents of the Virginia Central Railroad, now a part of the Chesapeake and Ohio system.
Moses, second son of Rev. James Fontaine and Elizabeth, née Bourciquot, studied law, married and made his home in England.
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John, son of Rev. James Fontaine and Elizabeth Bourciquot, purchased a commission in the English army, but not liking the service he resigned. He spent some years in America, and accom- panied Gov. Spottswood in his exploring expedition to the Eu- phrates River in 1716, when the Governor took possession of the
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JEAN DE LA FONTAINE
country for King George I, of England, and instituted the order of the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe." John Fontaine was one of his knights. He kept a journal of his stay in America, which is now accepted as reliable history. John Fontaine returned to England and married.
Francis Fontaine, son of Rev. James Fontaine and Elizabeth Bourciquot, took his degree of M. A. in Dublin, Ireland, and
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VIRGINIA FAMILIES
then studied for orders in the Church of England. The Arch- bishop of Dublin gave him a most complimentary letter to the Bishop of London, from whom he received both Deacon's and Priest's orders. The Bishop of London gave him a letter to the Governor of Virginia, and soon after his marriage he sailed for the Colony and took charge of St. Margaret's Parish in King William Co., Va. While in Cork, Ireland, Mary Anne Fontaine, daughter of Rev. James Fontaine and Elizabeth Boureiquot, met, and, in 1697, married Matthew Maury, a Huguenot exile from Castle Mauron, Gascony. He was the son of Abram Maury and Marie Feauquereau, also Huguenots. Mathew Maury and his wife came to Virginia in 1719. She lived but a short time and died at Westover Rectory, while on a visit to her brother, Peter Fon- taine. James Maury, eldest son of Mathew Maury and Mary Ann, née Fontaine, was ordained in London in 1724 by the Bishop and became first rector of Walker Parish in Albemarle Co., Va. He was also chaplain under Col. George Washington in his un- fortunate campaign against Fort Duquesne, near Pittsburg.
The Rev. James Maury married (November 11. 1743) Mary Walker, daughter of James Walker, and niece of Dr. Thomas Walker, of Castle Hill. Walker Church, now Grace Church. in Walker Parish, was his first and only charge, holding it thirty- five years. He was much beloved, and his monument, which marks the site of the pulpit of old Walker Church, is still standing. The following inscription is on it, "Sacred to the memory of the Rev. James Maury, first pastor of Walker Parish, born April 8, 1:12 : died June 9, 1260. This monument was erected by Elizabeth Walker, as a tribute to his piety, learning and worth."
Dr. Channing Page and some other genealogists have said the Rev. James Walker, first rector of Old Walker Church, married (in 1723) Elizabeth or Susanna Walker. They are mistaken. In a "Tale of a Huguenot," by Mrs. Ann Maury, she quotes a letter from the Rev. Peter, uncle of Rev. James Maury, in which he says, "he married a niece of Dr. Thomas Walker." This Dr. Thomas Walker was further identified, as of Castle Hill, in the letter which speaks of him as prominent in "the great Ohio scheme," in which the Rev. James Maury was also interested. This Dr. Thomas Walker in the family Bible is accorded but one brother. called John, but he must have had another called James.
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whose birth is not put down. In the Rev. James Maury's Bible we find the following entries :
"James Maury, son of Mathew Maury and Mary Ann, his wife. was born April 8, 1717. (O. S., April 19, 1717.)
"Mary Maury, daughter of James Walker and Ann, his wife, was born November 22, 1724.
"My dear Mollie and I were married November 11, 1743."
These two extracts settle the vexed question of Mrs. James Maury's parentage. Her husband's uncle, Rev. Peter Fontaine, says: "Col. Walker, chief person in the Ohio scheme, is her uncle, and the family record in her Bible, written by her husband, says her father was James Walker." The inference is that Col. Walker had a brother James who was Mrs. Maury's father, although his birth is not recorded in the Walker Bible.
Family record of Rev. James Maury and Mary, nee Walker, copied by J. S. B. Davison from his Bible :
"James Maury, son of Mathew Maury and Mary Ann, his wife, was born April 8, 1717. (O. S., April 19, 1717.) Died June 9, 1760.
"Mary Maury, daughter of James Walker and Ann, his wife, was born Nov. 22, 1724, and departed this life March 20, 1798.
"Leonard James Walker, son of James Walker and Anne, his wife. was born 1720 in November; died May, 1733.
"My dear Molly and I were married November 11, 1743.
1. "Mathew Maury, son of James Maury and Mary, his wife, was born Sept. 10, 1744. Departed this life May 6, 1801.
2. "James Maury, son of James Maury and his wife, Mary, was born Feb. 3, 1746. Departed this life Feb. 23, 1840.
3. "Leonard Maury, son of James Maury and Mary, his wife, was born June 3, 1747. Departed this life 1747.
4. "Anne Maury, daughter of James Maury and Mary, his wife, was born Nov. 16, 1748. Departed this life Jan. 8, 1822. Married Dan. Clayborn, King William Co.
5. "Walker Maury, son of James Maury and Mary, his wife, was born July 21, 1752 ; died Oct. 11, 1788.
6. "Catherine Maury, daughter of James Maury and Mary, his wife, was born July 15, 1754; died July 26, 1786.
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7. "Elizabeth Manry, daughter of James Maury and Mary, his wife, was born April 1, 1756.
8. "Abram Maury, son of James Maury and Mary, his wife, was born April 28, 1758.
9. "Fontaine Maury, son of James Maury and Mary, his wife, was born Feb. 3, 1761; died Feb., 1824.
10. "Benjamin Maury, son of James Maury and Mary, his wife, was born Jan. 17, 1763; died Feb.
11. "Richard Maury, son of James Maury and Mary, his wife, was born May 19, 1766; died Jan. 31, 1843.
12. "Matilda Hite Maury, daughter of James Maury and Mary, his wife, was born Oct. 28, 1769; died Nov. 7, 1821.
Among the descendants of these thirteen children of the Rev. James Maury and Mary, nee Walker, there is a large number whose lives are worthy of note, but our limited space forbids us to make special mention of any excepting Matthew Fontaine Maury and Gen'l Dabney Herndon Maury.
Matthew Maury was the son of Richard Maury (son of Rev. Matthew Maury, second rector of "Old Walker Parish"), who married (1790) Diana Minor, daughter of Maj. John Minor, of "Topping Castle," in Caroline Co .. Va.
When Matthew was about five years old his father moved to Tennessee and settled near Franklin. His daughter says in his biography, his parents were good and kind, but the day of obedient parents had not then dawned, so early in life young Matthew learned unquestioning obedience. At twelve he had a fall from a tree and was so much injured that his father thought him unfitted for the life of a farmer, so gave him better educational advantages than he would otherwise have received. Matthew determined to enter the navy, but there was some opposition and many obstacles. In 1737 he met with a second accident which at first was thought would incapacitate him for active naval service. but he was finally accepted by the naval authorities.
His first book "On Navigation." soon became the text-book of the Navy and won most complimentary notices from the highest nautical authorities in England. "Scraps from a Lucky Bag," a series of papers on naval reform, next attracted attention, and when his identity became known he at once became an authority on naval questions and soon after he was put in charge of the
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"Depot of Charts and Instruments," upon the recommendation of his brother officers. This office he developed into the well known "National Observatory and Hydrographical Department of the United States Navy." In 1848 his wind and current chart so pleased the Boston merchants they offered fifty thousand dollars to purchase a vessel to be kept at his order: but he declined, as four vessels were using his charts already. Maury's "Physical Geography of the Sea and its Meteorology," was so highly approved by Humboldt, Quintette and others, as to attract the attention of the world. It was translated into Dutch, French, Swedish, and Italian, and in a short time twenty editions were published in England. This interest enabled the author to assemble at Brussels, under the auspices of King Leopold in 1853, a "Congress of Na- tions interested in Commerce." England, Russia, Belgium, France, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Portugal, and the United States were represented. It resulted in establishing a uniform system of observations, applicable to sea and land. Prussia, Spain, Sardinia, the free cities of Hamburg and Bremen, the Republic of Chili, and the emperors of Austria and Brazil, afterwards offered him their cooperation. The Pope established distinguishing flags, to be used at the masts of all vessels from the States of the Church, whose masters used the new system at sea. In war these observa- tions were to be continued and the abstract to be held sacred by all nations. At the close of the "World's Congress," Maury re- turned to his post at Washington laden with honors, rich in fame. The great Humboldt declared he had "created a new science."
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