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[Page 168]
Marshall, Charles, born in Warrenton, Virginia, October 3, 1830,
son of Alexander John Marshall, and great=grandson of Thomas Marshall, born 1655, died 1704; was
a student of the University of Virginia, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in
1849; was professor of mathematics at the University of Indiana from 1849 to 1852; then studied
law, was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of his profession in Baltimore, Maryland; in
1861, at the outbreak of the civil war, he returned to his native state, joined the Confederate
army the following year, and served on the personal staff of Gen. Robert E. Lee as assistant
adjutant and inspector-general, with the rank of first lieutenant; from 1862 to 1865 he served as
major and aide-de-camp to Gen. Lee and served with him in the Army of Northern Virginia; attained
the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and with Gen. Horace Porter he arranged the terms of the
surrender of the Confederate army at Appomattox, and he prepared a general order containing Gen.
Lee's address to his army; Mr. Marshall wrote a book entitled "Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee;" he
practiced his profession in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1865 to 1902, a period of almost four
decades; his death occurred in Baltimore, Maryland, April 19, 1902.
[Pages 168-169]
Duncan, James Armstrong, was born in Norfolk, Virginia, April 14,
1830, died in Ashland, Virginia, September 23, 1877. His father, David Duncan, was a graduate of
the University of Glasgow, emigrated to the United States, and for forty years was professor of
ancient languages in Randolph-Macon College, Virginia, and at Oxford, South Carolina. James was
graduated at Randolph-Macon in 1849, and joined the Virginia conference of thee Methodist church.
During the civil war he was pastor of the Broad Street Church in Richmond, and throughout this
period preserved a conservative attitude, never permitting politics to enter into his religious
discussions, and endeavoring in every way, after the struggle, to promote good feeling between
the sections. From 1868 until his death he was president of Randolph-Macon College. Dr. Duncan
was a leader in the councils of his church. For many years he was editor of the "Richmond
Christian Advocate."
[Pages 169-170]
Dickinson, Alfred Elijah, born in December, 1830, in Orange
county, Virginia, and came of a strong and sturdy stock. At an early age he entered Richmond
College, from which he graduated. He then attended the University of Virginia for special
courses, and while there, became interested in the Baptist church at Charlottesville, and at the
conclusion of his course of study became its pastor. In this work he was eminently successful,
reaching many of the university students, and building up the church in every department of its
work. Later he became superintendent of the Sunday school and colportage work of the Baptist
General Association of Virginia, and in his nine years in this position, he organized many new
Sunday schools, strengthened those already in existence, enlarged their libraries, and improved
their facilities for work. During this period he was especially active and useful in colportage
and missionary work in the Army of Northern Virginia Dr. Dickinson finally resigned to accept the
pastorage of the Leigh Street Baptist Church in Richmond, which grew rapidly and steadily under
his ministry. In 1865 he formed a co-partnership with the late Dr. J. B. Jeter, for the purchase
of the "Religious Herald." This paper, founded in 1872, had been published continuously except
for occasional interruptions during the war. The of the war found it greatly crippled and the
labor of re-establishment was a discouraging task, but under the guidance of these strong men it
soon entered upon a prosperous career. Dr. Dickinson's editorial connection with it has continued
since 1865 until the present writing, making him, in period of service, the dean of Baptist
editors in the whole world. More than half of his long life has been spent in this work, and his
editorial career extends over more than one-half of the life of the paper itself. Dr. Dickinson's
work on the paper was only one form of his activities. He was frequently engaged in special
meetings; churches all over the state, seeking to rebuild their houses of worship and to rebuild
their houses of worship and to gather their scattered membership, had his help. His success in
regathering members, in collecting money, in enlisting the sympathy and securing the help of
generous persons outside of the state, made him a notable and useful figure in those trying days.
After the death of Dr. Jeter, it was decided to erect a building on the grounds of Richmond
College to his memory. Dr. Dickinson was the active agent, and speedily brought the movement to a
successful issue. In his earlier years he visited the state meetings of his denomination
throughout the South and a great may in the North. In physical proportions Dr. Dickinson was
notable. Of unusual height, broad shouldered, deep chested, with a massive head, he would command
attention in any assembly. As a speaker, his style was colloquial and familiar. A keen sense of
humor was a distinguishing trait and often served to relieve the tedium of lengthy and serious
discourse. As a writer, his style was plain and unaffected, simple and lucid. He wrote no volume,
but his contributions to the "Religious Herald" would, if gathered up, make many volumes of
charming miscellany. He was the author of a number of monographs, one of which attained a
circulation of over a million and has been reprinted in several foreign tongues. Dr. Dickinson
was married three times. His first wife was the daughter of James B. Taylor, Sr., D. D., for many
years a prominent and useful Virginia Baptist minister. His second wife was Miss Craddock, of
Halifax county, Virginia. His third wife was Miss Bagby, of King and Queen county. Furman
University, Greenville, South Carolina, conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
[Page 170]
Gildersleeve, Basil Lanneau, born at Charleston, South Carolina,
October 23, 1831, son of the Rev. benjamin Gildersleeve, D. D., and Emma Louisa (Lanneau)
Gildersleeve, the former of English descent, and the latter of French and German descent. Rev.
Benjamin Gildersleeve was a Presbyterian clergyman, a teacher, and for many years editor of
religious periodicals; his father and grandfather served in the revolutionary war, the family
being among the early setlers of Connecticut and Long Island, and the father and
grandfather of his wife also served in the same struggle. Basil L Gildersleeve acquired his early
education in his home and in the private school of W. E. Bailey, in Charleston, and this was
supplemented by study at the College of Charleston, at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, and at
Princeton College, New Jersey, from which he graduated in 1849, with the degree of Bachelor of
Arts, and received the degree of Master of Arts in course. In 1850 he taught the classics in Dr.
Maupin's private school in Richmond, Virginia, and then went abroad, studying in the universities
of Berlin, Bonn, Göttingen for three years, obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
from Göttingen in 1853. Upon his return to the United States, he engaged in teaching as
private tutor for two years, and in 1856 was elected professor of Greek in the University of
Virginia, which chair he held until 1876, in the meantime, from 1861 to 1866, having the
additional subject of Latin. Upon his return from service in the war between the states, in which
he served as aide-de-camp on the staff of (Confederate) Gen. Gilham, and later on that of Gen. J.
B. Gordon, he returned to his chair at the University of Virginia, where he remained until he was
called to the professorship of Greek in Johns Hopkins University, upon its establishment in 1876.
He has published a number of text-books and editions of the Greek and Latin classics, served ad
editor of the "American Journal of Philology," which was established in Baltimore in 1880, and is
a frequent contributor to the magazines. William and Mary College conferred upon him the degree
of Doctor of Laws in 1869, received the same honor from Harvard in 1886, and the degree of Doctor
of Civil Law from the University of the South in 1884. He is president of the University Club of
Baltimore, and a member of various learned societies. he married September 18, 1866, Elisa
Colston.
[Pages 170-171]
Henry, William Wirt, son of John Henry, the youngest son of
Patrick Henry, was born at the old Henry place,"Red Hill," Charlotte county, Virginia, on
February 14, 1831. He entered the University of Virginia in 1847, and was graduated therefrom in
1849, with the degree of Master of Arts. In 1853 he came to the bar in his native county, where
he soon acquired the reputation of being a sound and successful lawyer. In 1861 he volunteered as
a private soldier in an artillery company commanded by Captain Charles Bruce. He was
commonwealth's attorney of his county for years. After the close of the war he removed to
Richmond, Virginia, where he enjoyed a large appellate court practice. He served four sessions in
the legislature of Virginia where he was regarded as one of its most influential members. He
naturally took great pride in the history of his country and delivered many addresses upon
subjects connected therewith. He was an ardent member of the Virginia Historical Society, and
delivered an address in Philadelphia upon the centennial of the resolutions for independence. He
was a member of the Peabody board at the time of his death. His great work was "The Life of
Patrick Henry," which is a noble biography. Mr. Henry was a brilliant conversationalist and a
charming companion. Some years ago he was president of the American Historical Association. His
wife was Lucy Gray Marshall, daughter of Col. James P. Marshall.
[Page 171]
Barksdale, Randolph, born in Amelia county, Virginia, October 25,
1831, son of William Jones Barksdale, and Marianna Tabb, his wife, daughter of John Tabb, of the
committee of safety, and granddaughter of Sir John Peyton, of Isleham, Gloucester county,
Virginia. He was educated in private schools, and at Amelia Academy, from which he entered the
University of Virginia in 1848, where he remained three years. From there he went to the
University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in medicine in 1852. After spending twelve months
in the Pennsylvania Hospital (Blockley), he went abroad, studying medicine and attending clinics,
for a year and a half in Paris. In 1856 he began the practice of his profession in Richmond,
Virginia, where he remained until the beginning of the civil war. In June, 1861, he joined the
Confederate army, and was first assistant surgeon. He was afterwards surgeon on Gen. Longstreet's
staff, where he remained until the surrender at Appomattox Court House. From 1870 until 1896 he
was superintendent of the Central Lunatic Asylum of Virginia. He was a member of the Virginia
Medical Society, and was a Democrat in politics. His first wife was Elizabeth Macfarland, of
Richmond, Virginia, whom he married in 1858, and by whom he had three children. His second wife
was Miss Patteson, of Petersburg, Virginia, whom he married in 1890.
[Pages 171-172]
Trent, William Peterfield, born in Richmond, Virginia, November
10, 1862, son of Dr. Peterfield Trent, and Lucy Carter Burwell, his wife. He prepared for college
at a school taught by Mrs. Hobson and Mrs. Wise, and at Norwood's University School. In 1880 he
entered the University of Virginia, from which he graduated, in 1884, with the degree of Master
of arts. After some teaching, he became a student at Johns Hopkins University, devoting himself
to graduate work in history during the session of 1887-88. In 1888 he was elected professor of
English and history in the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tennessee, which chair he filled
until 1900 having also served as dean of the academic department from 1894 to 1900. He resigned
these positions in 1900, having been elected professor of English literature in Columbia
University, New York City. He became known as a writer through many works, among them "The Life
of William Gilmore Simms," published in the "American Men of Letters" series; he is also the
author of "English Culture in Virginia," "Southern Statesmen of the Old Règime," "A
History of American Literature," etc., etc. He is a member of the Author's Club, the Century
Association, and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. In politics he is an independent. In
1896, Mr. Trent married Alice, of East Orange, New Jersey.
[Page 172]
Marye, John Lawrence, Jr., born November 4, 1823, in
Fredericksburg, Virginia, son of John Lawrence Marye, and Anna Maria Burton, his wife. He was
educated in the private schools of Fredericksburg, and in 1840 entered the University of
Virginia, where he was a student for two sessions. Upon his return home he studied for his
profession in the office of his father, and soon entered upon a successful career as a lawyer. he
served in the legislature of Virginia from 1863 to 1865, and as a member of the state convention
of 1869, he returned great service to the commonwealth during the reconstruction period. In 1869
he was nominated for attorney general upon the first Democratic ticket after the civil war, but
it became necessary to withdraw this ticket in order to unite the best element of the state
against the carpet-baggers. This plan was successful, and resulted in the election of Messrs.
Walker and Lewis as governor and lieutenant-governor. Subsequently, when Lieut.-Gov. John F.
Lewis was chosen to the United States senate, Mr. Marye was elected lieutenant-governor in his
place, a position which he held from 1870 to 1873. For years he was a member of the board of
visitors of the University of Virginia, and serv ed as rector of the board. He was an able
debater, and popular upon the hustings. As a citizen and churchman, he was faithful to the duties
about him He was a successful lawyer, and the tribute of bar and people at the time of his death
in August, 1902, attested his worth and character. His wife, whom he married in 1846, was Mildred
S. Browne, a daughter of Dr. William Browne, of Fredericksburg, Virginia.
[Pages 172-173]
Guigon, Alexander Barclay, born in Richmond, Virginia, February
13, 1831, son of Auguste Guigon and Ellen Smithey, his wife; his father was a Frenchman who came
to Richmond, where he was a teacher. He was privately educated, and as a youth became a page in
congress, where he formed the acquaintance of many of the distinguished lawyers of the country,
which aided in determining his selection of a profession. After attending private schools in
Richmond, he studied law and upon attaining his majority entered upon the practice of his
profession shortly before the war. He was one of the original company of Richmond Howitzers,
formed by the late George W. Randolph. When war broke out in April, 1861, the Howitzer company
had so many members it became necessary to organize a battalion of three companies, which were
mustered into the service of the Confederacy, April 21, 1861. Guigon, then a private, was made
orderly sergeant of the second company, commanded by J. Thompson Brown. Guigon was with a section
of this company, which was sent to Gloucester Point and fired on the gunboat Yankee, on
May 10, 1861, the first gun of the war fired in Virginia. He served in the Peninsula campaign
under Gen. John Bankhead Magruder; was at the battle of Bethel, and from the battle of Bethel
(June 10, 1861), to the advance of McClellan up the peninsula (April, 1862), Guigon was, with a
short interval of sickness, continuously with his company. On April 15, 1862, Guigon was
commissioned captain in the Confederate army, and authorized to raise a company of artillery. The
project was unsuccessful and he joined the First company of Richmond Howitzers as a private, but
later was appointed ordnance sergeant of a battery commanded by his old partner, Capt.
(afterwards Colonel) Marmaduke Johnson, and served in that capacity with the Third Corps of the
Army of Northern Virginia up to its surrender at Appomattox. After the surrender of Gen. Lee's
army at Appomattox, Capt. Guigon resumed the practice of the law in Richmond. In 1870 he was
elected judge of the hustings court, being the first elected to hold that office after the war.
After serving as judge for eight years, he died, February 22, 1878, and the event was the
occasion of the largest meeting of members of the bench and bar of the city of Richmond and its
vicinity ever assembled, and the resolutions passed by them express far more than the ordinary
state formalities. Judge Guigon founded, in 1856, "The Quarterly Law Journal," the first law
journal published in the south, which he conducted until shortly before the beginning of the
civil war. He was a master Mason and member of Joppa Lodge, No. 40, in Richmond. Before the war
he was a Whig, but when the war terminated he allied himself with the Democratic party. He was a
regular attendant of the Monumental Episcopal Church in Richmond. On August 20, 1857, he married
Sarah Bates Allen, daughter of James Allen of the firm of Davenport & Allen, Richmond, and
formerly of New Bedford, Massachusetts.
[Page 173]
Buchanan, John Lee, born in Smyth county, Virginia, June 19, 1831.
In 1856 he was graduated from Emory and Henry College, Virginia, and at once entered upon what
was destined to be a long and successful career as teacher and professor of ancient languages in
his alma mater, which position he held from 1856 until 1878. He then taught Latin in
Vanderbilt University, after which he became president successively of Emory and Henry College,
and of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. After serving as superintendent of
public education of Virginia, 1886-90, Buchanan held the positions of professor of Latin in
Randolph-Macon College, Virginia, 1890-94, and president of the University of Arkansas,
1894-1902, after which he retired.
[Pages 173-174]
Barnes, Thomas H., born May 28, 1831, son of James Barnes, and
Elizabeth Barnes, his wife, and a descendant of immigrants who settled at an early date in
Hertford county, North Carolina, and from thence removed to Nansemond county, Virginia. James
Barnes was a well-known citizen of Nansemond county, and for many years was a magistrate and a
member of the county court. Thomas H. Barnes was a student at Kinsale Academy in Nansemond
county, Virginia; Buckhorn Academy, Hertford Academy, North Carolina; matriculated at the
University of Virginia in 1849, studying there three years; then took up the study of medicine at
the Medical College of Virginia, and graduated with the class of 1853. In 1854 he commenced the
active practice of his profession, with which he was occupied until 1888, at the homestead where
he was born. He was for a long time chairman of the county Democratic committee, and was for many
years a member of the house of delegates and the senate of Virginia. He was of imposing height
and dignity in bearing, and was known as the "tall sycamore of Nansemond." For a long time he
served as a member of the board of visitors of the Medical College of Virginia, and that of
William and Mary College. He was a delegate to the constitutional convention which assembled in
Richmond in 1901, was chairman of the committee on county government, and rendered excellent
service in the deliberations of this body. In his earlier years one of his chief recreations was
found in fox hunting. He never married.
[Pages 174-175]
Williams, John Langbourne, born July 13, 1831, in Richmond,
Virginia, son of John Williams, who was brought up in England, of Scotch-Irish descent, came to
America in 1820, where he married Sianna Armistead Dandridge, daughter of William Dandridge, and
granddaughter of Bartholomew Dandridge, a member of the house of burgesses and brother of Martha
Washington. John L. Williams was educated in private schools and at the University of Virginia,
from which he graduated with the degree of Master of Arts in 1851, having been distinguished in
the school of mixed mathematics. He taught school for a year at Loretto, Essex county, Virginia,
and practiced law for a few years in Richmond, where he subsequently went into the banking
business. During the civil war he was a member of the firm of Lancaster & Company, financial
agents of the Confederate States. After the war he founded the banking house of John L. Williams
& Sons, of which he became senior partner. His firm had a large share in many of the large
financial operations in the south; in the establishment of the Georgia & Alabama Railway, the S.
A. L. Railway, and in building and organizing city railways and manufacturing industries. He
never held public office, but took a deep interest in the welfare of the community. In politics
he was a Gold Democrat, and was an active and interested member in the affairs of the Protestant
Episcopal church, belonging to what may be called the conservative, or Virginia school. He was
for years a delegate to the diocesan council, and was a deputy to the general convention of the
church which met in San Francisco, California. He was devoted to the classics, and deemed by many
to be one of the best informed authorities upon the English classics in the state. He was always
a warm friend of the University of Virginia, where he educated his sons. In many ways he showed
his affection for his alma mater, having presented to her many valuable gifts, which
include contributions to her library and the portraits of Chief Justice Marshall and Commodore
Matthew F. Maury. To him also is due the completion of the capitals of the pillars of the
rotunda, which was done in his honor by his son, the distinguished railroad president, John
Skelton Williams. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society of William and Mary College, to
which he was elected in 1900 in appreciation of certain articles published as "Observations of a
Philosophical Friend," and on account of his loyalty to learning. In 1864 he married Maria Ward
Skelton, daughter of Dr. John Gifford Skelton and Charlotte Randolph, his wife, of Powhatan
county, Virginia, she being the granddaughter of Gov. Edmund Randolph.
[Page 175]
Tompkins, Christopher, born in Richmond, Virginia, September 17,
1847, son of Col. Christopher Tompkins, Confederate States army, a graduate of West Point
Military Academy, and Ellen Wilkins, of Baltimore, Maryland, his wife. On both sides of his
family he is descended from the early English colonial settlers. His early education was obtained
in private schools of Richmond, Virginia, and at William and Mary College, from which he
graduated in 1868 with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. He entered the University of
Virginia, where he studied for one year in the academic department. After leaving the university
he became a student of medicine in the Medical College of Virginia, and graduated with the degree
of Doctor of Medicine in 1870. After leaving the medical college he continued his medical
education in New York City. He then returned to Richmond, Virginia, and began the practice of his
profession, which he has since continued. He has been professor of anatomy and obstetrics in the
Medical College of Virginia, and he was dean of the faculty. He is ex-surgeon of the Fourth
Battalion of Virginia Volunteers (militia), and is one of the medical examiners of the Mutual
Life Insurance Company of New York. He has been deputy coroner of the city of Richmond, assistant
city physician, and is president of the Southern Medical College Military Association. He is a
member of the medical staff of the Memorial Hospital of Richmond, Virginia; medical referee in
Virginia for the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company of Newark, New Jersey; a member of the
Medical Society of Virginia, ex-vice-president of the Southern surgical and Gynecological
Association, and a member of the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. He has written a
number of papers upon medical subjects. On November 8, 1877, he married Bessie McCaw, daughter of
Dr. James B. McCaw, of Richmond.
[Pages 175-176]
Pollard, Edward Alfred, born in Nelson county, Virginia, February
27, 1831, son of Maj. Richard Pollard and Pauline Cabell, his wife, and a direct descendant of
Col. William Cabell, of the committee of safety during the revolutionary war, he was also a
nephew of Hon. Alexander Rives. After attending Hampden-Sidney College, and the University of
Virginia, from which he was graduated in 1849, he began law studies at William and Mary College,
and completed them in Baltimore He spend several years in travel in California, Mexico and
Nicaraugua, and afterwards in Europe, China and Japan, and during this time won
considerable fame as a writer. during the administration of President Buchanan, he was clerk of
the judiciary committee of the house of representatives. while under deep depression on account
of the death of his wife, his
relative and intimate friend, Bishop Meade, induced him to study for the Protestant Episcopal
ministry. However, journalism soon reclaimed him, and he gave himself to the duties of
co-editorship on the "Richmond Examiner," in which, from 1861 to 1865, he supported the struggle
for southern independence with sustained enthusiasm and ability. Toward the latter part of the
war, in order to promote the sale of his published books, he sailed for England, but, while on
the voyage, was captured by the United States officials. He was held a prisoner in Fort Warren
and Fortress Monroe for eight months, and was then released on parole. He now established the
"Southern Opinion," and "The Political Pamphlet," neither of which continued over two years. His
literary laurels were chiefly won during the civil war, when he was undoubtedly the ablest writer
in behalf of the Confederacy. Moreover, his position in this respect was somewhat unique, for he
was a ruthless denunciator of President Davis. The later years of his life were passed in New
York City and Brooklyn. His publications included: "Black Diamonds in the Homes of the South"
(1859); "Letters of a Southern Spy in Washington and Elsewhere" (1861); "Southern History of the
War" (1861-66 published in various forms and at different dates, in Richmond, New York and
London); "Observations in the North, Eight Months in Prison, and on Parole" (1865); "The Lost
Cause, a New Southern History of the War of the Confederates" (1866); "Lee and His Lieutenants"
(1867); "The Lost Cause Regained" (1868); "Life of Jefferson Davis, with the Secret History of
the Southern Confederacy" (1869); "The Virginia Tourist" (1869). He died at Lynchburg, Virginia,
December 12, 1892.