USA > Virginia > Virginia and Virginians; eminent Virginians, executives of the colony of Virginia, Vol. I > Part 22
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He now announced himself as a candidate for Governor of Virginia, and was elected to this office by a large majority in May. Early in August, 1863, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General. He entered upon his duties as Governor, January 1, 1864. He found that local defence was greatly needed, from the frequent raids with which the capital was menaced by the enemy. He accordingly organized two regiments for this purpose from those who by reason of disability, as foreigners or contract- ors, or by age or non-age, were exempt from duty in the regular service. To each of these regiments was attached a company of cavalry. When called to the defence of the city lines, Governor Smith always assumed command of them, and the service thus rendered was in several exigen- cies highly important. Another great want in the State was supplies of every description -- food for man and beast. Towards this provision Governor Smith assumed the authority to employ as a purchasing fund the sum of $110,000, which he drew in part from the State contingent fund, and borrowed the remainder from the State banks. He commis- sioned agents, some of whom were supplied with cotton with which to secure through the blockade such supplies as could only be obtained from abroad; others procured from the South corn, rice, and other need- ful supplies. The measure was signally successful, and profitable to the State, as an advance of ten per cent. upon the cost was charged to cover transportation and contingent expenses, whilst the public was protected from speculative extortion. It greatly assisted the Confederate Com- missariat in times of need, and upon the conclusion of the war the Con- federacy was indebted to the State in the sum of $300,000 for such supplies.
Upon the evacuation of Richmond, April 3, 1865, Governor Smith determined to remove the seat of government to Lynchburg. General Lee surrendering to General Grant three days after his arrival in that city, he determined to remove the State Government to Dan- ville, Virginia; but here, again, rapidly maturing events frus- trated his hopes. Returning home, he surrendered himself to the dominant Federal authorities, and received his parole. In the mean- time, however, a reward of $25,000 had been offered for his apprehen- sion, and it is a gratifying commentary upon the Virginia people that no one had thought of securing it by discovering him.
Governor Smith, since the war, has resided in Warrenton, Virginia, devoted to agricultural pursuits. He married, in 1811, Miss Bell, with whom he blissfully lived for the long period of fifty-eight years, being bereaved of his excellent companion January 7, 1879. They had issue :
i. William Henry, born 1822; entered the United States Navy as a midshipman ; obtaining leave of absence, in 1850, entered into a private maritime enterprise, and was lost at sea in that year somewhere off the Sandwich Islands.
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ii. James Caleb, was licensed a lawyer, and, removing to California, was appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of San Francisco; member of the California Assembly; became a member of a great land company in Central America, was elected its presi- dent, and died at New Grenada of fever.
iii. Mary Amelia, born in 1827; unmarried, and resides with her father.
iv. Austin E., born 1829; in February, 1853, removed to San Fran- cisco, California ; appointed by President Buchanan naval officer of that port; resigned in 1861, and, going to Washington to settle his accounts, was held as a prisoner of war; finally exchanged, he entered the Confederate States Army as an Aid on the staff of General Whiting ; died from the effects of a wound received at the battle of Gaines' Mill.
v. Ellen, vi. Catherine, and vii. John, all died in infancy.
viii. Thomas, born 1838; graduated A. M. from William and Mary Col- lege ; after attending a law course of two years at the University of Virginia, settled in Charlestown, West Virginia; served as a volunteer in the suppression of the John Brown raid ; appointed. in 1861, Major of the 36th Virginia Regiment ; commanded it at Fort Donelson ; captured a battery of the enemy under special orders, armed his regiment with superior arms from the field, and successfully retreated ; promoted to the rank of Colonel, and gallantly commanded his brigade to the close of the war. Since has served as Judge of Fauquier County, and at present efficiently represents it in the State House of Delegates.
ix. P. Bell, born 1839; graduated A. M., William and Mary College, and A. B., University of Virginia. In 1859 commenced the prac- tice of law at Warrenton, Virginia. Having lost an arm by acci- dent in youth, he was disabled from service in the Confederate Army; served in 1864 as Governor's Aid to his father. Acci- dentally killed himself October 13, 1865.
x. Littleton Moore, born 1840; died March 10, 1849.
xi. Frederick Waugh, born 1843; volunteer in the 49th Virginia Regi- ment; wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg; appointed Sergeant-Major ; later served on the staff of his father, and sub- sequently joined the command of Colonel John S. Mosby, in which he continued to the close of the late war. Is married, and now living in Arizona Territory.
Governor Smith retains in a remarkable degree his entire faculties, mental and physical. His erect and alert carriage misleads one as to his age. He is still a most effective speaker, as his present earnest advocacy in public of the cause of temperance fully evidences. There is a fine portrait of him in the State Library at Richmond.
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JOHN BUCHANAN FLOYD.
The worthy descent of the subject of the present sketch has been quite fully presented in preceding biographies in this serial. John Buchanan Floyd, the eldest son of Governor John and Lætitia (Preston) Floyd, was born at Smithfield, Montgomery (now Pulaski) County, June 1, 1806. After a course of private tuition, he entered the College of South Carolina, from which he was graduated in 1826. Having studied law, he was admitted to the bar in 1828, and commenced practice in his native county. In 1836 he removed to Helena, Arkansas, where he continued to reside for three years in the successful practice of his profession. In 1839 he returned to Virginia, settling in Washington County. He had from the outset of his career taken a deep interest in politics, and rendered efficient service to the party of which he was an enthusiastic follower-the Democratic-as a public speaker. In 1847 he was returned by Washington County to the State House of Delegates, and, whilst still a member of the Assembly, was elected by it Governor of Virginia, succeeding Governor William Smith, January 1, 1849. It is of interest to note that the noble work of art, the Wash- ington Monument, which graces the public square at Richmond, was authorized and commenced during the term of Governor Floyd. It was erected in accordance with the act of Assembly passed February 22, 1849. A premium of $500, offered for the best design, was awarded Thomas Crawford, of Rome, for the model submitted by him, and which was selected. The ceremony of laying the corner-stone took place on the 22d of February, 1850, in the presence of a large concourse of people. Zachary Taylor, President of the United States, and many prominent dignitaries were in attendance by the invitation of the Gen- eral Assembly. On the 27th of June articles of agreement were en- tered into with Crawford, stipulating that the equestrian group (in bronze) should be fifteen English feet from the upper surface of the platform to the top of the chapeau, and that the surrounding six statues should be ten feet in height. On the 10th of October, 1857, Crawford died in London, after completing models of all the statuary, except Lewis and Mason, and the " trophies." A contract was then made with Randolph Rogers, of New York, for the completion of the work, and the statues were cast at the Royal Foundry at Munich. The eques- trian statue arrived in Richmond in November, 1857, and was drawn through the streets of the city, from the river landing to the square, by the citizens themselves on the 24th of the month. It was erected with the statues of Henry and Jefferson, and unveiled on the 22d of February, 1858, with appropriate ceremonies, General Winfield Scott and others of distinction being present. The statue of Mason was re- ceived and erected carly in 1860, and, the civil war coming on soon
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after, the monument remained in statu quo until 1867, when the statues of Marshall, Lewis, and Nelson were received. The allegorical figures were all received in 1868, and with their erection the monument was completed. The following indicates the disposition of the statuary and the inscriptions on the shields of the allegorical figures:
Finance, opposite Thomas Nelson, Jr. J Yorktown, Saratoga.
Colonial Times, opposite Andrew Lewis, § Point Pleasant,
Justice, opposite John Marshall,
Valley Forge.
f Great Bridge,
Stony Point.
Revolution, opposite Patrick Henry,
S Eutaw Springs,
Trenton.
Independence, opposite Thomas Jefferson, Princeton.
King's Mountain,
Bill of Rights, opposite George Mason, Guilford C. H.,
Bunker Hill.
The total cost of the monument was $259,913.26, of which, from do- nations and the interest thereon, was realized $47,212.67. A faithful representation of the monument and its interesting surroundings, from a special photograph, is presented in this work.
Upon the expiration of the term of Governor Floyd he was succeeded. January 1, 1853, by Governor Joseph Johnson. In 1855 Governor Floyd was again returned to the House of Delegates by Washington County. In 1856 he served as Presidential Elector, and voted for James Buchanan, for whose nomination he had warmly exerted himself in the Democratic National Convention, and in whose favor, during the Presi- dential canvass, he had made many effective speeches in different parts of the country. In March, 1857, Governor Floyd was appointed by President Buchanan Secretary of War. His administration of the War Department was energetic, and it is claimed by his friends that his measures were actuated by a desire for its greater efficiency. The hos- tility of the Indian tribes in the West requiring the presence of troops, they were ordered thither by Governor Floyd. This measure and the distribution of arms among the fortifications of the Southern ports, sub- jected him to sectional animadversion when the great civil war was unhappily inaugurated. When Major Robert Anderson moved his gar- rison from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, December 20, 1860, and President Buchanan refused to withdraw the United States troops from Charleston harbor, Floyd resigned, and retired from Washington to Virginia, and was an earnest advocate for secession by the Southern States. He was appointed, May 23, 1861, a Brigadier-General in the Confederate States Army, and commanded with Generals Henningsen and Wise in Western Virginia. The operations of General Floyd for a time were marked with considerable success, but on the 10th of Sep- tember, from an unfortunate want of concert between himself and Gen-
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eral Wise, the forces under their respective commands were divided by the Gauley River, a deep and rapid stream. The force of General Floyd lay near Carnifax Ferry. Here General Rosecrans, by a rapid march of sixteen miles, threw a largely superior force upon Floyd, at- tacking him vigorously. Night put an end to the struggle, when Floyd withdrew in the darkness. The Federal loss was 225, whilst the casu- alty of the Confederates was only twenty men wounded. New differences developing themselves between Generals Wise and Floyd, disturbed their unity of action and rendered their commands ineffective. Floyd lingered for awhile in the mountains, had some desultory engagements with the enemy, subsequently retired to Southwestern Virginia, and from there was transferred by the Confederate Government to the department of Tennessee and Kentucky. He was in chief command of Fort Donel- son when it was besieged by General Grant. The Confederate authori- ties being dilatory in measures of sustenance recommended by General Floyd, and further defence of the post being impossible, Generals Floyd and Pillow, declining to surrender themselves as prisoners, turned the command over to General Buckner, and with about 3,000 men of the garrison retreated on the night of the 15th of February into Tennessee. The fort was surrendered by General Buckner the next day, February 16, 1862. Its fall was a serious blow to the Confederacy, and the re- treat of General Floyd was severely criticised. He never again held a command in the Southern army, but the Legislature of Virginia, indignant at the treatment he had received, conferred on him the commission of Major-General, and directed him to recruit and organ- ize a division of troops from among the classes not embraced in the Conscription of the Southern Confederacy. These classes were so re- stricted that the task was not easily performed. By the autumn of 1862, however, General Floyd had succeeded in raising a force of nearly 2000 men, with which he moved into the country embracing the head- waters of the Big Sandy River, where he several times surprised the troops of the enemy in that section, and captured and destroyed their depots of supplies. The exposure to which he was subjected in this incessantly active service seriously affected his health, and he was ultimately obliged to return home, to be prostrated upon what was destined to be his death- bed. His disease finally assumed the form of cancer, or, more definitely, schirrhus of the stomach,-which, it will be recollected, caused the death of Napoleon I. He died Angust 26, 1863, at Abingdon, Virginia.
General Floyd married in early life his cousin Sarah Buchanan, daughter of General Francis Preston, but had no issue. He was of commanding physique, and possessed oratorieal powers of a high order. There is an excellent portrait of Governor Floyd in the State Library at Richmond.
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VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS. JOSEPH JOHNSON.
The honored career of Joseph JJohnson was the just result of intrinsic merit and resolution of character. No factitious advantages of birth or education attended him. He was born December 19, 1785, in Orange County, New York, and was the second son of Joseph and Abigail (Wright) Johnson. His parents were poor, but their virtues com- manded esteem. His father had been a soldier in the war for Inde- pendence. Joseph was but five years of age when his father died, leav- ing a widow with five children. The family moved to Sussex County, New Jersey, in 1791, Joseph then being six years old. They resided there until 1801, when the mother, with a married daughter and son- in-law, and her two little sons, moved to Harrison County, Virginia. Joseph was then fifteen years of age, and was the chief stay and protec- tion of his mother and younger brother. He, of his own volition, soon formed an engagement to live with a respectable farmer in the neighbor- hood named Smith, and whose health was delicate. This proved to be an auspicious business contract. Joseph soon won the regard of Mr. Smith, became his chief manager, and lived with him until his death. He subsequently, before attaining his majority, married the daughter of his late friend and employer. This was a mutually fortunate and happy union. Mrs. Johnson was noted for her gentle and amiable character. She lived and died an earnest Christian, without an enemy, and beloved by all who knew her. Four years after his marriage Joseph Johnson pur- chased the interests of the remaining heirs in the farm of his wife's father, and it continued his home through life. It adjoins the village of Bridge- port, a depot on the Parkersburg branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road. Harrison County is now in the new State of West Virginia, carved from the old mother. At the time of Mr. Johnson's marriage, that por- tion of Virginia was almost covered with primeval forest, educational facilities were limited, and, as the time of Joseph Johnson by day was fully occupied, the simple rudimental knowledge which he acquired was the result of study by night, and later in odd moments. His application was continuous, extending into manhood, and he was thus truly, so far as his knowledge extended, a self-educated man. The demand upon his time as a farmer continued exacting. As a means of improvement he originated a debating society, which met at night in the village near him, and subsequently became famed for the ability of its members, many of whom were honored with publie station. Here the talents of young Johnson attracted attention. His analytical and logical powers of mind, and skill as an orator were rapidly developed and acknowledged. In the discussions pending the last war with England, Johnson at once took position with the Republican party. as the advocates of war were then called. As the Captain of a rifle cempary of militia he was first brought into public view. When the Atlantic sea-board was threatened, in 1814, he called them together, and by a stirring speech influenced
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ARMORIAL BOOK-PLATE Of the eccentric "JOHN RANDOLPH OF ROANOKE."
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them to a unanimous tender of their services to the General Govern- ment. They were promptly accepted, and the company marched to Norfolk. There, in the front, Captain Johnson continued in the service until peace was announced in the following year, when with a small remnant of his company he returned home.
Now commenced the long and useful political career for which his talents, decision of character, and unsullied integrity so eminently fitted him. In 1818 he was elected to the House of Delegates, defeating the noted old public servant, John Prunty. In 1822 Mr. Johnson was again elected to the House of Delegates, but declined a re-election on the expiration of his term. In 1823 the Hon. Edward B. Jackson, of Harrison County, declined a re-election to Congress, and persuaded Mr. Jolmson to offer himself as a candidate for that body. He did so. The opposing candidates were Edwin S. Duncan, afterwards a Judge of the General Court of Virginia, Colonel Thomas S. Haymond, and the cele- brated Philip Doddridge. After a meeting of the candidates in the city of Wheeling, the first two withdrew from the canvass, leaving as com- petitors Doddridge and Johnson. Doddridge was the senior of Johnson, an eminent lawyer, a forcible and eloquent speaker, and in ability com- pared favorably with any public man of the period. Yet, after a heated and exciting contest, Johnson triumphed. He took his seat in the eighteenth Congress in December, 1823. Henry Clay was made Speaker of the House, and there was then convened in the two branches of Congress the most imposing array of intellect that has ever graced the National halls. It was during this session that the election of Presi- dent of the United States devolved on Congress. In this memorable contest Mr. Johnson voted alone for Andrew Jackson from first to last. In 1825 he was re-elected to Congress over Philip Doddridge in a spirited contest. In the spring of 1827 Mr. Johnson returned to private pursuits, and was succeeded in Congress by Isaae Lefler, and he in turn, after a single term, by Philip Doddridge, who served until his death, November 19, 1832, when Mr. Johnson was elected to fill the vacaney, and served during the last session of the twenty-second Con- gress. He declined re-election in the spring of 1833, and recommended and supported John J. Allen, subsequently a distinguished Judge, who was elected. In 1835 Mr. Johnson again offered himself for Congress, was elected over Mr. Allen, and served continuonsly until 1841, when he declined re-election, and supported Samuel L. Hays, who, however, was defeated by the Whig candidate, George W. Summers. In 1845 Mr. Johnson was again elected to Congress, over Colonel G. D. Camden. This was the seventh time he had been elected to Congress. At the close of the twenty-ninth Congress, in 1847, Mr. Johnson issued an ad- dress to his constituents, thanking them for their past confidence, declin- ing re-election, and expressing his wish and purpose to retire perma- neutly from public life; but his constituents demanded his service in
1
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. the House of Delegates, in which he served in the session of 1847-48. In 1850 he was elected a member of the State Constitutional Conven- tion, and served in that body as chairman of the committee on suffrage. Whilst a member of the Convention he was elected Governor of the State by the Legislature, under the provisions of the then existing constitution. In the antumm of 1851 the constitution which he had helped to frame was adopted, and under its provisions Mr. Johnson, who had been nominated by the Democratic party, was elected Gov- ernor over George W. Summers, by the popular vote, for the term of four years from January 1, 1852. This was the first election of a Governor of Virginia by the votes of the people, and Johnson was the first and only State Exeentive from the section now comprised in West Virginia. In his first message to the General Assembly. in 1851, Governor Johnson recommended the completion of the James River and Kanawha Canal to Clifton Forge as its western terminus for the time, and the extension of the Central Railroad (now Chesapeake and Ohio) from Staunton, by Clifton Forge, westward to the Ohio River, at or near Guyandotte; together with a general system of railroads for the residne of the State. His recommendations were adopted by the Legislature, and the work on the different lines began and rapidly pushed forward until the breaking out of the civil war in 1861. In the same message he called attention to the importance and critical temire of the relations of the State with the Union, and foreshadowed the culmination which was so mmhappily realized.
In addition to the stations enumerated, Governor Johnson had sev- eral times served as Presidential Elector; and now, upon the expiration of his term, December 31, 1855, having attained the allotted age of the Psalmist, three-score and ten years, he finally retired to private life. His mental and physical powers were happily but little impaired. In his home of more than fifty years, surrounded by life-long friends, be dispensed a generous and joyons hospitality. In all the relations of private life he was a model of excellence. Proverbially punctual, his morals were pure and lofty.
In person he was below the medium height, but with robust physique. He was dark in complexion, with brilliant black eyes that were singu- larly expressive in debate. He was permitted to remain in peaceful quietude for but a few years. In 1860 he discerned the pending frat- ricidal conflict, and was sorely grieved. A striet constructionist of the Federal Constitution, regarding it as a written compact between the States composing the Union, he held that the Union was the creature of the States. He was never a secessionist per se. He loved the Union of our fathers, and always advised moderation and patience. He ear- nestly hoped for a peaceful solution of the sectional differences intil President Lincoln called upon Virginia and other States for troops to
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subjugate those of their own blood. At this critical period he was called upon by his old constituents to address them publicly at their court house on their duty in the trying exigency. Though in the sev- enty-sixth year of his age, he promptly acceded to their request, and urged them to side with their near kindred and to protect their friends. During the war the section in which Governor Johnson lived was over- run by the Federal troops, and for personal safety he was forced to leave his home in the charge of a daughter and retire across the mount- ains with the Confederate army. Soon after the close of the war Governor Johnson returned to his home, where he lived peacefully until his death, February 27, 1877, in the ninety-second year of his age. The next day a public meeting of the citizens of Clarksburg was held to give expression to their sense of loss and appreciation of his worth. An excellent portrait of Governor Johnson is in the State Library at Richmond. Of the surviving children of Governor Johnson, a daugh- ter, Mrs. John A. English, resides in Baltimore, Maryland; another daughter, Mrs. C. S. Minor, resides in Bridgeport; Henry G. Johnson is a farmer in Harrison County, J. S. Johnson a successful lawyer in Grafton, West Virginia, and Dr. G. W. Johnson is a practicing physi- cian in Missouri. A granddaughter, the daughter of Mrs. John A. English, is the wife of Dr. George H. Eyster, New York City.
HENRY ALEXANDER WISE.
The ancient family of Wise deduces definitely from William Gwiss, or Wise de Gaston, who located in County Devon, England, about A. D. 1100 .* From Sir William Wise, of this lineage, knighted by Henry VIII., sprang John Wise, who migrated to Virginia about the year 1650. He was granted, March 24, 1655, 200 acres of land in Northampton County, on " Nondrice's Creek," in consideration of the transportation of four persons, one of whom was Hannah Wise, presumably his wife. (State Land Records, Book No. 4, p. 52.) He also received, Septem- ber 24, 1668, a grant of 1,060 acres in Accomac County (formed from Northampton), "between Skiskanessok and Annaneock Creeks." (No. 6, p. 176.) The tradition is that he also secured an Indian title and the friendship of his aboriginal neighbors by the payment of " six Dutch blankets," and from this circumstance his extensive plantation was known as the "Dutch Blanket Tract." He was a Justice of the Peace
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